Goblin Slayer Episode 2 Review: Goblin Slayer

Over the last week, it’s been clear that Goblin Slayer’s first episode brought controversy, encouraged heated discussions, and divided opinion in the anime community. From fans condemning the show to vulgar rape jokes, it appears everyone and their grandma had a say on the series. Goblin Slayer has done exactly what it wanted with its first episode, using shock to create interest, but let’s see if Episode 2 has any content to keep viewers hooked.

But before we get into it, a quick note. As Crunchyroll has put a warning before Goblin Slayer episodes, I believe it’d be apt for me to follow suit. If violence doesn’t bother you, cool, just ignore this, but for those who can be upset or distressed I hope this helps informs you. I’ll be using Episode 1 as the baseline to measure future episodes.

Episode Two Violence Levels – Low (some blood / flashbacks to Episode 1)

Japanese Original Episode Title: 小鬼を殺す者

Plot

Opening with a childhood flashback scene, the episode introduces us to an unnamed girl (AKA Cow Girl in the manga) and a young Goblin Slayer. Returning to the present day, the episode follows them into the town center where Goblin Slayer accompanies Cow Girl on various chores as well as a visit to the guild to pick up some new goblin hunting quests. As they go about their duties, various flashback scenes and monologues inform us of what happened in Goblin Slayer’s past that put him down his blood-soaked path.

Episode Highlights

A traumatic past: Gotta be honest, I didn’t expect to get Goblin Slayer’s backstory so quickly! But, I’m glad it came early as it gave some much-needed depth to the anonymous masked adventurer.

The cruel eyes of others: In Episode 1 we’re introduced to Goblin Slayer as this badass, almost invincible adventurer. You can’t help but look at him in awe. But this episode completely flipped this, showing how fellow adventurers scorn him, even newbie adventurer joke about his ‘ugly’ armor! Goblin Slayer did appear bothered by this – will we see more chinks in his armour?

Priestess has leveled up: Although it was a brief scene, it was exciting to see how much the priestess has learned during the last month. From gaining a new spell to putting forward her own ideas to Goblin Slayer – she’s no longer that scared girl in the cave!

Themes & Trivia

Mili: The anime’s opening song is from Japanese indie group ‘Mili’, whose songs can be found in English, Japanese, and Chinese. Some members of the group perform under pseudonyms and rarely do their MVs feature them in it.

Post Credit Scene: Make sure to keep watching after the ending song. There’s a short scene teasing characters that will appear in future episodes!

Did I spot a reference? Probably not, but the red hair adventurer flirting with the guild administrator looks a lot like Cu Chulainnfrom (Lancer) from Fate/Stay night… if he dyed his hair

Fanservice for Cow Girl: Goblin Slayer taking on a quest? Better add in a random shot of Cow Girl having a bath!

Comments

As great as it was to get some insight into Goblin Slayer’s character, I did find this episode quite weak. His past was shoved into the viewers’ faces with an awkward monologue that seemed to scream ‘feel bad for me’. Combine that with the nasty comments from other guild members and you’ve got a pretty forced feel fest that didn’t really do much. Between all of this, there’s a big info dump of world building, most of which is also done via monologue! I do miss that old adage – show don’t tell.

Overall, the episode only covered one chapter of the manga (chapter three). But while you may think that the episode would be stretched thin as there wasn’t much content to include. It somehow managed to skim over some really great tidbits that answered points I had last week! So, story-wise, this episode wasn’t a great use of time, parts could have been condensed into half and others should have been expanded upon.

I’m still trying to get used to none of the characters having names. If a character is referred to at all, it’s by a title like ‘Goblin Slayer’ or ‘Priestess’. The more I think about it, the more I notice it and it throws me off! I still can’t wrap my head around the childhood friend being called ‘Cow Girl’, it just sounds like a really unfortunate superhero name.

On to the next Goblin Nest!

For a lot of viewers, this episode will be a sharp contrast to the previous one. It’s up to viewers to decide if they enjoyed the break from violence, but I felt it odd and a little disorientating. My hope for the rest of the series is that it can balance the action with some storytelling. At the moment, it seems like episodes either lean too far on one end of the spectrum or the other. Goblin Slayer seems to still be finding its feet and with ten episodes to go it better find them soon.

NEXT TIME: Unexpected Visitors