Goblin Slayer (Episode 1) – The Fate of Particular Adventurers
A rookie adventurer joins a party to eradicate some goblins and rescue their captives. Goblins are the lowest of the low, so this should be easy… Unfortunately, no one told the goblins that!
What happened?
A young priestess arrived at the Adventurer’s Guild in hope of becoming an adventurer. After signing up, she was assigned the rank of porcelain which is the lowest level. She is given an explanation of how it works. Either find a solo quest or join an experienced party. Luckily for the priestess, a group of adventurers have a quest and are in need of a healer to join their party. They are going after some goblins that recently stole supplies and kidnapped some girls from a small village.
Having agreed to join them, the priestess soon finds herself having second thoughts. The goblin lair is deep inside a mountain, hidden within a long dark cave. But it’s goblins. There’s nothing to worry about. However, the party is ambushed from behind and the wizard is stabbed with a poison dagger. The priestess tries to heal her, but it’s not working. The swordsman attacks the goblins, but his long sword if useless in such confined quarters and it slips from his grasp after hitting the roof. The goblins don’t waste any time in killing him.
The fighter, however, isn’t so lucky. A hobgoblin throws her against a wall and then leaves her for the goblins to play with. She tells the priestess to escape with the wizard, sacrificing herself to their evil desires. The priestess tries to escape, but his struck by an arrow. The goblins jump on the wizard, ripping her clothes to shreds. They’re about to turn on the priestess when a mysterious man covered in armour and carrying a short sword and shield approaches.
What did you think?
I originally watched this series when it first aired amidst the controversy of the graphic nature of the show. Even then, I loved it and was left utterly bewildered that anyone could see this episode and think that it was glorifying anything. This is a dark and brutal series, and this episode does an incredible job of setting that up. It reminded me of a cautionary tale of the dangers of taking an enemy for granted. It’s like the Goblin Slayer said, they may be stupid, but they are no fools. To view goblins as fodder does all living creatures a disservice. All around us, nature is in a constant state of war.
Even then, when we’ve witnessed the furious rage that is Goblin Slayer, we’re shown that he is just another aspect of that brutality when he kills the goblin children. The priestess would have let them live and that may well have come back to haunt them. I loved this episode in all of its brutality.
What have you learnt?
I thought the foreshadowing in this episode was excellent and really set things up for the party’s downfall. We saw the swordsman getting cocky and swinging his sword around only for it to hit a rock. That was his warning, but he didn’t listen. Before that, the receptionist at the guild tried to warn them against taking the quest, but only the priestess seemed to notice. The group went into unfamiliar territory and they were not prepared because it’s just goblins.
The other thing that this episode did well was to show us how ruthless and evil the goblins are. No one is coming away from this thinking that it was sexy, and if they are, that’s their problem and I hope they seek help. They were brutal and terrifying. It allows us to accept Goblin Slayer as our hero because he’s doing what we all want to do at that point and that is to kill every one of those little bastards. This is a very effective first episode. It sets the tone perfectly. We know exactly what we’re going to get from the rest of the series.
Other reviews in the series
Series Information
| English Title | Goblin Slayer |
| Japanese Title | Goblin Slayer |
| Genres | Action, Adventure, Dark Fantasy |
| Demographic | Seinen |
Anime
Season One
Movie
| English Title | Goblin’s Crown |
| Japanese Title | Goblin’s Crown |
| Released | Winter 2020 |
| Animation Studios | White Fox |
Season Two
Manga
| Series | Side Story II: Dai Katana |
| Author | Kumo Kagyu |
| Artist | Shougo Aoki |
| Volumes | Ongoing |
| 1 | The Fortress City |
| 2 | There’s Always Tomorrow! |
| 3 | Help and Help Alike! |
| 4 | I Can Smell Blood! |
| 5 | If You Let Your Guard Down, You Die! |
| 6 | Be Thankful to Everything! |
| 7 | Let’s Go Shopping!! |
I loved the anime, loved the movie, and am eagerly awaiting the second season!
I haven’t seen the movie yet, so I figured I would rewatch season one in preparation. I loved it the first time, and watching it again is just as much fun.
One of my absolute favorites. I loved the movie as well. I remember watching the first episode and being blown away.
Yeah, I was about a week late to the first episode and had seen the uproar online, but I loved it all the same. It was such an effective way of showing us just how brutal and violent this world is. I am looking forward to getting to the movie, but also rewatching the rest of the season too.