Goblin Slayer

Episode 3

An elf, a dwarf, and a lizardman walk into an Adventurer's Guild. Setting aside the issues I've taken with Goblin Slayer, I at least admire its commitment to economical storytelling. A real story arc kicks off in this episode, as the Goblin Slayer picks up a proper adventuring party alongside Priestess, who accompany him on his goblin-slaying simply because they've got nothing better to do. This seems fine considering that this series is so informed by tabletop adventuring (down to an opening narration of ‘gods’ determining the world by rolling polyhedral dice). So many campaigns I've played consciously started with “You meet in an inn and decide to go squish some monsters”, so it's an acceptable way to get the show on the road.

That aside, this episode of Goblin Slayer doesn't actually kick off the adventure properly, instead spending a shocking amount of time building up more background details for its setting. There's some to-be-important details about GS's previous witch companion and some magic scrolls he acquired with her. There's also a clever bit where it's revealed that an epic demon-lord-battling quest is building up in the background, which Goblin Slayer doesn't actually care about since he's entirely focused on slaying goblins, of course. Slayer generally takes the piss in this episode, with his attentive reaction to any mention of goblins already reaching memetic levels. This episode seems less concerned with painting him as a singular badass and more as a central excuse to start a plot that only currently features goblin-slaying.

That may be for the best, since the internal consistency of that portrayal is still in as much flux as it was before. The “other adventurers don't respect Goblin Slayer for slaying goblins” bit gets trotted out again for the second time in two episodes, and it still doesn't gel. The crowds around him act like goblins are easy pickings that he shouldn't be considered impressive for wasting his time on, but the whole point of that shocking first episode was to demonstrate that this wasn't the case. Goblins are both a nothing threat no half-decent adventurer needs to bother with and also potentially dangerous enough that the trio introduced in this episode have to seek GS as a specialist to help them take out their targeted nest.

Arbitrary storytelling issues like that shouldn't be as big a deal to enjoyment as they seem to be, but they're emblematic of the dissonance Goblin Slayer has settled into at this point. This gritty fantasy world still has fanservice-heavy designs, complete with slow zoom-ins on the witch's bountiful breasts and stock gags about the elf archer being flat-chested. We're constantly told how ugly and lame the Slayer's armor looks, despite it being an objectively striking design that the entire franchise is marketed on. Slayer's an always-alert badass who doesn't ever take his armor off in case of a sneak attack, but then he goes and overindulges on wine and passes out inside his helmet for the sake of a gag.

For what it's worth, the snippets of personality that the new adventuring crew contribute are appreciable compared to the pragmatic dryness that characterized the first two episodes. These characters may not have names (and the script dancing around that fact does get awkward at times), but they've already got an amicable chemistry with each other, Goblin Slayer and Priestess included. Nearly half this episode is dedicated to the characters just sitting around a campfire talking about being adventurers, and it does well on that level. The scene actually sneaks in some world-building details we haven't heard already, speculating on the space-based origins of the goblins in a way that feels somewhat natural, especially given that I totally believe a socially-awkward walking tank like GS would just casually blurt out that he heard goblins come from the moon.

All this breather time being used to actually set up a long-term story is appreciated, but right now I feel like Goblin Slayer is stuck between the priorities of its two different mediums. The detailed descriptions and world-building logs might've worked well in novel form, where a detached and names-free approach to narrative is easier to accept. But the anime version tries to pack in all the character gags, fanservice, and thrilling action set pieces you might expect from a more typical series, which rubs up against other aspects of the story's intended tone. We'll see if this balance clicks more next episode, as the series goes into another of its potentially-harrowing goblin battles.

Rating: B-

Goblin Slayer is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.