Goblin Slayer Mid Season Impressions | Friendly Talks With Karandi

Hello everyone and welcome to our place 🙂

It has been a while since Karandi and I talked about Goblin. This way, it’s time for some mid-season impressions! Is the story going what we were looking for? Are you already fed up with it, or are we still enjoying it? That’s, more or less, what we will be talking about today. At this point, we are talking until episode 4.

On Karandi’s side, we discussed Dakaichi’s evolution and how is it behaving as a shounen-ai Anime show.

– Goblin Slayer Mid-Season Impressions –

Hey there Karandi and welcome to my place! Please, Make yourself comfortable because we have a lot to discuss. So since at this point, you were only able to watch episode 4 we’ll be covering it until then. So, I think the first question is… What do you think about it until now?

I’ve really been enjoying Goblin Slayer so far. After the opening episode, it has settled into some character introductions and world building with a bit of a quest to bring the core group together. It is very much following along what I expected from the light novel but seeing it play out has been fantastic. I’ll admit, as a series overall, it is probably average, but I really like the tone of it and I already liked the characters so I’m having a lot of fun. How about you?

I have to say that I don’t share the same opinion… I loved episode 2! It showed that Goblin Slayer did not need all of that action, gore, and violence to be a good show. However, episodes 3 and 4 were a bit… average for me.

Let me explain. From episode 1 and episode 2 I really got my expectations high. Goblin Slayer showed me that he would go for a more dark twist when it came to dungeon crawling, which I loved. And, then, in episode 2, showed me that they would also make a really good work when it came to character and world construction.

However, episode 3 was just… Dull. And, episode 4 was just too generic for my liking. In fact, that episode could be part of many of the dungeon crawling, RPG-ish Animes which already have been aired or are airing right now. It just made me a little mad…

I think where episode 4 distinguished itself from other dungeon crawling stories for me is the way Goblin Slayer continues to use every advantage against his enemies. He has no hesitation in using his spellcasters to knock the goblins out and slaughter them in their sleep. I’ll admit, it isn’t as dark or dramatic as earlier episodes, but the basic concept is the same. Goblins are nasty creatures so use whatever works.

I also liked that Priestess really stepped up and pushed her miracle to the limit to save the rest of the party. It really shows how far she’s grown since joining up with Goblin Slayer.

That said, I can kind of see why episode 3 would be dull for people who haven’t read the source and I strongly believe anime should always stand on its own feet and that’s where Goblin Slayer is flailing a little. Episode 3 was exciting for me because I was anticipating these characters and I really love future interactions with them. It is necessary to set up in establishing who they are and how they relate to one another. But it isn’t great viewing in and of itself and if you have no idea who those characters are then I kind of get where it might come across as dull. That’s why I said initially this is only just kind of average as an anime series because it isn’t really taking into account episodic viewing and it means we’re probably going to have some episodes where very little happens while something else is being set up. If you know what that something else is, great. If not, you are just stuck watching what seems like pointless chatter.

Didn’t think with that point of view and you are probably right. To me, there is a lot of information lacking, but I will go in there in a second.

I think for episode 4 I was expecting more. I don’t really need rape or something like that to make it “dark” for me. However, I felt that the visuals were not as dramatic as the others, as you said. However, if that it is something that made Goblin Slayer something different for me, it was a little sad to see that they did not push it forward.

I also felt that the evolution of the priestess was too sudden. Yeah, it was a cool thing to watch. However, at the same time, I don’t think we actually had the time to actually see that build up. However, I understand (and almost forgive) that since the show is supposed to have 12 episodes, which means there is a lot to be said in such a little time.

Something that also troubled me was how weak the elf, lizardmen and the dwarf seemed to be. I don’t know if I accidentally did not catch some part of the story. But, what it seemed to me was that they were some kind of special agents that took the huge responsibility of fighting against the demon lord (or what he is called) but then they seem not to be able to even scratch the ogre. Is the anime lacking some info or was bad at my side who did not pay enough attention?

They weren’t supposed to fight the demon lord (or whatever, I forget what he’s actually called to). They were meant to be dealing with the goblins and other creatures that were attacking their homelands because the humans and the armies are all busy dealing with the demon lord meaning that there’s no one really worrying about these ‘minor’ threats. That said, they are all supposed to be silver class adventurers and I will admit, even in the books, they came off as a little bit weak compared to Goblin Slayer and it wasn’t until later on that they started really stepping up.

I guess they didn’t want these guys to take over the story given Goblin Slayer is supposed to be this tough, lone warrior figure and then they’ve surrounded him by a party. However, there is definitely a logical gap here where we see High Elf Archer looking greener than the Priestess even though she’s supposedly a ranked adventurer. It might be a minor gap in the world building in general for the sake of making Goblin Slayer look cool. At least that is my take on it.

THANK YOU! Finally, someone who seems to understand my problems with the elf character! I got so much slack because I just said she did not make any sense as a character that you wouldn’t believe…

And, actually, it was what I was going to speak next. The Elf… I don’t understand how the hell a 2000-year-old elf throws up by seeing someone of her kind with blood due to torture. I know she is supposed to be still a teen or something when it comes to elf aging. I also know that she lived a protected life inside her forest and so on.

However, how the hell, as an experienced adventure and as a silver ranking, she seems to be so freaking green?

What I take from this is that they need a dumb character so they can explain the smaller things to the viewers (it’s a fantasy world so they need to explain everything to us). However, I don’t understand how taking an elf of 2000 years old to be a good idea.

For me, fantasy worlds can be created whatever the creator wants to. However, it needs to make sense. And, this elf just does not make any kind of sense. Or at least, we are not provided with enough information in the Anime to make some sense out of it. Maybe the elf forest has a strong barrier and monsters never enter there. Maybe, in 2000 years there was never a SINGLE war with elves being one of the parties… It can all be true, but from the information I got until now it does not make sense at actually debunks the world structure a little for me.

I think I just went with this even when reading the books because the rank system as a whole hasn’t been really adequately explained at this point in the story. Like, what actually makes someone a silver rank in the first place? We know porcelain ranks are the lowest but the stages of progression and what qualifications someone needs to go up a rank haven’t been discussed (and I know we get more detail much later in the story but at this point, the audience is in the dark). So when the elf claims she is silver rank that really didn’t mean much to me at all, so I just kind of shrugged and put that to the side to worry about later.

However, what that all adds up to is that the world building here has a bit of a hole (or at least a lot of fog over the top of it that needs future clarification). And for a fantasy that is definitely a problem because when you are creating a world it kind of needs to make internal sense at least even if it doesn’t make sense from a reality point of view. I still love the world constructed here and I love how bleak and dangerous they’ve managed to make it and how they’ve managed to make adventuring actually seem like a risky profession where you do have your life on the line. But… yeah, there’s a reason why as much as I enjoy parts of this one I am not jumping up and down saying this is a must read or watch. I really enjoyed the books (though I’m only up to the fourth volume of the light novels), but I am taking my time getting through them. I am really enjoying the anime, but there are plenty of shows this season doing a better job at their set up.

I also like the world building… A lot! That’s why I go so upset with episodes 3 and 4 because they did create some problems under that building. But, well, we’ll see if it’s able to come back to its feet. As you said, there is still a lot of grey areas and things to be explained so it may actually come up fine.

I do have to say that Goblin Slayer is losing a little bit on the building up to a scene part. For example, the scene where the 4 different races trade food and drinks to each other. I can see that it should be a deep scene with a lot of emotion. I mean, from what I could gather these races are still in a stage where they do not work together. However, everything is so fast that I ended up not feeling anything at all… Is that the same when it comes to the books or they were able to make you more interested in the environment before throwing this kind of scenes?

It’s hard to say because books have the advantage of readers filling a lot of the detail and visuals in themselves. What might not be very well written may have a huge impact on a reader if they imagine it in a way that really has an effect. For me, these characters and races coming together were fantastic in the book and I loved the dialogue between them. I really did enjoy the Lizardman trying cheese. I had so much fun with these sorts of scenes. But thinking back, I can’t remember if that is because it was written well or if I just visualised something really fun. I’d probably need to re-read.

I would like to say though that one thing the anime has kind of lost in the past couple of episodes, and you kind of touched on it already, are the dramatic visuals. Episode one we had Goblin Slayer walking through the cave toward the Priestess with the music in the background and it was such a fantastic scene and one that can become instantly iconic. Episodes 3 and 4 lack any such scene with the possible exception of Priestess blocking the fireball and even then it kind of just reminded me of Gandalf on the bridge, only a little bit lamer.

Do you think they are toning it down a little bit because of all the “hate” they got because of the violent content?

I’d really hope not. That scene with Goblin Slayer in episode one was really cool and if they were toning it down because of the audience response, they are missing the point. The core audience that was going to keep watching the show, loved the dramatic visuals and music. So it seems counterproductive.

Yeah, I’m with you… I still am not sure if that is the case though… For example, in episode 4 there could be some of the characters in the party to get some kind of damage for the visual effect, something they did not.

However, I do have to say that after watching episode 5 (spoiler not spoiler since you already read the books) it seems they are being able to get a balance. I mean it is a calm episode but it was interesting to watch! There was not utmost violence or gore, but it was able to maintain itself with that dark twist.

So, maybe we are just experiencing the creators trying to adjust after the first impact?

The problem is, you will never please everyone so they would have been better off sticking to their guns. That said, it isn’t as though the books don’t have lulls and things. While bad stuff happens to adventurers if they killed them off every other day they’d have no one left. As they keep telling us, it is all about the roll of the dice and sometimes things go bad and other times not so much.

Is there anything you want to discuss with this one?

Nope, I think we covered everything. Yeah, of course 🙂 I was speaking into some kind of wound, not actually kill some character ahah!

I also think the same as you, they did a very good job in the first 2 episodes so they should go with it! Better to have a smaller but strong fanbase than none at all ahah Related to the rolling of the dice, I still have to actually understand that a little better since I still have not got it at 100% XD

If there is anything you want to discuss at your side we can wrap this up.

I think I’ve covered everything I wanted to say. Thanks a lot for having me over to chat. It is interesting discussing this anime because there is so much about it that could be amazing and yet it isn’t quite managing it so it will be interesting to see how it goes as it builds towards its season climax. I’m really looking forward to seeing what your thoughts are when we get there.

Thank you for coming 😀 I make your words mine! It’s really fun to discuss this one with you, especially since you have the inside scoop of reading the books, something I did not do which always make me think about the story itself in another perspective! Hopefully, the creators will get everything together and when we come back some weeks from now we are absolutely happy with the show! 🙂

And that’s it! As we can see Karandi and I have a small divergence of opinions when it comes to the story evolution and world building. What about you? Where do you stand? Are you happy with the show so far, or as me, do you think it had more to give than it did? Tell us all in the comments 🙂

Don’t forget to check Karandi’s post!!!