Goblin Slayer II (Episode 1) – An Ordinary Spring Day
It’s been a year since Priestess headed out on her doomed first adventure. Since then, she has gotten a lot stronger, but the guild wants her to prove that she’s not just riding on the coattails of the other silver-ranked adventurers!
Goblin Slayer II (Episode 1) – An Ordinary Spring Day
What did you watch?
I missed the beginning of season one but became aware when there was the sudden outrage about the first episode. Of course, that just made me want to see it, and so I did. I remember sitting there after the end of the first episode with my mouth hanging open. It was horrific… but that was the point. I don’t see how anyone can watch that and claim that it did anything to be sexy or in a fan service context. It was supposed to be brutal. It was supposed to show us that goblins are not just the mindless grunts of the fantasy world. They are dangerous and disgusting and they need to be exterminated. Luckily, we know a guy who’s quite good at that. Let’s see what he’s been up to lately!
What happened?
After being saved by Goblin Slayer and the party in their last adventure, the Nobel Fencer dedicated some money to help train new adventurers. As such, there was a boom of rookie adventurers all looking to get in on the action. The guild house had never been so busy and surprisingly everyone’s attention was on Goblin Slayer. Of course, he didn’t notice or care. He was just there to pick up some quests. All the goblin ones to be precise. He asked the receptionist if any of the rookie groups had taken on goblin quests and if they were ready for them. He took those quests too and headed out with the group.
They came back after completing two quests. Priestess was already asleep on Lizardman’s back so Goblin Slayer went into the guild alone to sort out the paperwork. However, when he stepped inside, there was no sign of the receptionist. The lights were on and a body appeared to be lying on a bench. Goblins! He drew his sword and was ready to attack when the receptionist jumped up from behind her desk. There was also a rookie adventurer sleeping on a bench. When Goblin Slayer heard that there were no more rooms at the guild, he took the rookie mage back to the farm and allowed him to sleep there. The next day, Priestess discovered that she needed to shine on her own to get promoted. The rookie mage caused a scene that drew everyone’s attention until Paladin suggested that he work under Priestess. Everyone thought it was a good idea, even Goblin Slayer.
What did you think?
I love this series. I have all of the manga, I’ve read some of the light novels, I have started on my quest to read the side stories and am loving them too. Everything about this world is fantastic. It’s dark and brutal which is what you should expect from a world fighting against a demon lord with his minions attacking on every front. And yet, even when this story is so dark, we get a wonderful tale of friendship and comradery. I’ll never forget the way the guild pulled together to help Goblin Slayer and how his hard work and dedication made that happen. This was a relatively light return to that world, but I’m sure it’s going to take a turn pretty soon.
What was your favourite moment?
Goblin Slayer obviously saw something in the rookie mage that he recognised from himself. Was it the determined goal of killing goblins alone? Probably, but I think there’s a little more to it than just that. I like how he helps the younger adventurers even when his speech doesn’t come across that way. He’s incredibly blunt and he never seems to get flustered. It’s interesting seeing the veteran adventurers and how they all understand that about him and accept that it’s just how he is. So, seeing him going out of his way for a rookie with nowhere to stay wasn’t a huge surprise. Being all right with Priestess leading a party was more of a shock. I wonder if he’ll really be able to stay away.
Who was the most impactful character?
Despite everything that happened, there really wasn’t much action or development of anything. This was a reintroduction to the characters and the world in the nicest way possible, even with the flashback to the first episode at the beginning. As such, the biggest impact is from the rookie mage. Something happened to them to push them to be so gung-ho about killing goblins to the point that he would willingly upset every adventurer in the guild to do so. It shows how different they are from Goblin Slayer. Either they are going to learn a very hard lesson very soon or end up dead.
What have you learned?
There are several series where I would watch anything that is made. This is one of those. There are so many wonderful characters who are all so varied that you can get by without names. Even in one of the light novels, there was a scene in the guild where a number of adventurers were talking about Goblin Slayer. There are no names to know who’s saying what, but at no point in the conversation, which was between seven or eight people, did I not know who was talking. Their voices are so distinct that you know instantly who’s talking and that’s a truly incredible skill to have as a writer. Getting lost in dialogue is a pain because you could end up rereading a section trying to work out who said what and that’s no fun.
Other posts 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! |
People expressing outrage at an episode of an anime, esp. the first one of the run, makes people want to see it to see what was so outrageous.
If you really don’t want an anime to thrive, just say it was boring, you didn’t enjoy it, and leave it at that. Maybe the show counted on you being outraged to get free publicity.
Unless of course you ere enjoying your outrage. Performative outrage can be fun.
True. I only really discovered Goblin Slayer because of the outrage and I’m delighted I did. I ended up buying the manga and light novels so it’s a win for the publishers and the author.
As you say, if people had just ignored it, I doubt as many people would have jumped on board. Maybe, it wouldn’t have been as popular.