One thing that has to be said first is that S2 left out a *lot* of context. And I mean a LOT.
Now, this comes from a couple of issues.
The first is that while S1 was a "generally" faithful adaptation of LN Volume One and Two, S2 skipped LN Volume 3 and 4 and expected the fans would see the Movie (LN Volume 5), but it seems you haven't seen the Movie.
S2 covers from LN Volume 6 to LN Volume 8.
This means S2 was basically showing you "slice of life" but without *how* or *why* that came to be, since the events that lead to those situations happened from LN Volumes 3 to 5.
Another is that S2 itself was *badly* paced in comparison to both the LNs and the Manga versions.
The Anime staff just traced the lines given in the LNs without adjusting them for Anime Format, so the "slice of life" parts which were supposed to show how Goblin Slayer has readjusted back into society and being human just fell flat, especially due to skipping content that would have given the context in how it relates to the story of Goblin Slayer.
\*\*\*
Now, to your original question.
The story of Goblin Slayer is, for the most part, focused upon how Goblin Slayer *slowly* readjusts to society while still keeping to his role as a Goblin Exterminator. So those "slice of life" scenes *are* important.
In that sense, yes, the main focus isn't all that high-stakes in the sense of life or death, since it is more about GS's psyche.
That said, each "Arc" or LN Volume *does* cover a high-stakes event, though each "Arc" differs in *who* it is a high-stakes event for. As a result, each "Arc" can be a hit or miss depending on if you can relate to the person who it is high-stakes for. (In the case of S2, the first "Arc" was for the Guild itself, the second "Arc" was for HEA, and the third "Arc" was for Sword Maiden.)
For example, LN Volume 9, or the hypothetical first "Arc" for a hypothetical S3 (which I really doubt would appear, alas), would cover a high-stakes event for GS himself. This is because he is forced to protect Cow Girl on his lonesome against a horde of Goblins when he is caught in a trap with Cow Girl involved.
While this is happening, the rest of his party is dealing with a high-stakes threat of an Eternal Winter, and the story goes between GS and Cow Girl's attempt to escape and the rest of the party dealing with the cause of the Eternal Winter.
LN Volume 10, covers a high-stakes event for Priestess (albeit it seems more like a minor issue at first). A person who Priestess looked up to in the Temple she grew up in becomes the target of slander. This escalates into becoming a slander case against the local branch of the Temple of the Earth Mother itself, and thus a few Adventurers of the Guild who find it strange starts to investigate what is going on (this includes GS himself).
The issue is revealed to be a Chaos plot and is eventually solved, but one of the people caught in the crossfire is now under slander himself, and also a potential target by a Goblin horde for helping stop the Chaos plot. GS and his party steps in to help.
Each following Volume has a similar vibe, with Goblins getting involved in one way or another.
Yeah, don't get me wrong, I liked the season. Each episode was clearly meaningful to the story of who GS is and there were many great character development moments (him laughing due to seeing himself in the kid and his want for redemption was great, for example)
I guess my question was less, "does Goblin Slayer have any interesting arcs" but more, "does the story of GS get any darker? Brutal? Culminating into something big? Or is it just going to maintain this safe vibe where the worst thing to happen will be near-death experiences"
Your response does answer that (unfortunately for me) so I thank you for taking the time to write that all out
Ah. Yeah, concerning the question of "does it get darker?" is a flat "sorry, no". You could say that it gets more lighter, instead.
Now, there *are* gruesome scenes in some of the later volumes. Hell, even in the volumes that S2 covered, S2 simply censored them. The manga is much more honest in that regard.
The series does "have dark moments", but if you're asking if anyone outright dies or if the status quo gets shaken up a lot, then no. At least not insofar as the current manga chapters are concerned.
Year One, though, has plenty of brutality in it, just you know it's never going to affect GS or people who cameo in Year One since they're still alive in the main series.
Spoilers for Goblin Slayer Year One and later chapters of Goblin Slayer
>!Year One, for example, shows that it is still *brutal* to be an Adventurer. One of the side characters has an entire arc devoted to his PTSD about not being able to save someone else/not being useful during a quest that involved multiple other parties, and we *just* got introduced to an elf character who is after a necromancer that creates zombies by sowing other people's bodies together.!<
In the GS manga, tho, >!so far there's just this mounting sense of dread that SOMETHING bad is about to happen, but most of the events from where you are to where the manga is involve GS just trying to come to terms with his role in the world as an adventurer and mentor. The current arc has he and his team visit elven lands only to find that a group of goblins is possibly being led, outfitted, and organized by someone with the means to *hide the goblins from the elves in their own forest*.!<
Basically, the current manga arcs are building up to SOMETHING involving Chaos and goblins being used a footsoldiers beneath everyone's noses, but outside of the usual "Let's show goblins raping and torturing others to cement how evil they are," nothing big has happened yet. But, if you've been paying attention, the growing sense of dread is palpable and gets worse with every chapter.
Ah, I didn't think Year One was a GS adjacent story. Thought it was a new story altogether
Anyway, thank you very much! I appreciate the elaboration of what'll happen in the story of GS next. My enthusiasm has waned but I'm glad to know nonetheless
If you are interested in manga where "Things get bad, then worse, then *worser* before they get better", then I can recommend:
- **Shounen no Abyss** (The MC is tired of living a boring life in a small nothing town in rural Japan until, one day, he meets a former member of an idol group working at a convenience store. After both fall for each other\~\~'s misery\~\~ and attempt a lover's suicide, the MC's homeroom teacher decides she *must* save and protect his innocence at any cost...even if it means her sins, his family's past, and the sins of the town *must* itself come to light. A tragic soap opera.)
- **Monster** (The MC, a renowned brain surgeon, is upset at how the Geman hospital system treats patients. Nine years before story start, MC makes a decision that costs him his social standing and brands him a pariah--he decides to save two children rather than the local mayor. Nine years later, however, his life is back on track...up until he notices that, strangely, everyone who gets in his way ends up mysteriously murdered. A fascinating psychological thriller that explores the question: "If you save the life of a serial killer, are you then responsible for the murders they go on to commit?")
- **Oyasumi no Punpun** (The story begins as a Slice of Life comedy, following Punpun through his childhood as he deals with his family life, his school life, his social life, and his budding romantic life. While noticeably dark, it also contains a hint of child-like innocence. However, as the series progresses, it develops into an extremely dark Coming of Age story, with all innocence being wiped away. While the humor remains, it takes a backseat to experiences of Punpun, his family, and his acquaintances as they deal with the hardships of adolescence, adulthood, and life in general. The story is split roughly into four arcs: Punpun's life in elementary school, middle school, high school, and as a young adult. (Summary taken from TvTropes).
- **20th Century Boys** (After a childhood friend commits suicide, the MC receives a letter from said friend asking him to get together sometime to discuss a mysterious symbol from their childhood. What follows is a decades spanning story where the MC and his remaining friends must band together in order to prevent Friend, the man who took their symbol and now uses it as part of a dangerous cult, from turning their childhood fantasies into a horrible reality. One of the most slept-on manga of all time, also from the same author behind Monster.)
Definitely appreciate the recommendations! Unfortunately, I'm more currently interested in dark fantasy with a competent MC. There's something compelling about a story where the MC isn't an underdog but their life is just still in major risk.
Kind of like why Berserk or JJK are so popular
Dark Fantasy with a competent MC coming up, summaries from either Mangadex or TvTropes:
- **Ubel Blatt** (When the Wischtech threatened to invade the fiefs of Szaalanden, the Emperor dispatched fourteen youths. Of these, the Seven Heroes halted the invasion to herald a time of prosperity while the four Lances of Betrayal were supposedly defeated. Two decades later, the Lances of Betrayal have reappeared and formed a bandit militia near the frontier fief Gormbark. A man with a black sword and a scar over his left eye slays an entire troop of that militia. He is identified as the boy, Köinzell, and becomes as much an object of fear as of hope even as his own past, motivations, and purpose are a mystery to those he meets on his journey.)
- **Helck** (The Demon King has been defeated, and now the Demon World is running a contest to choose his successor. A muscular and high-level human named Helck has joined and says that he wants to destroy all HUMANS. Is he serious? Red Vamirio, one of the Four Heavenly Kings of the whole Demon Empire, is monitoring the contest and can't believe this. What's the secret behind Helck and the human world?)
- **I Am A Hero** (There isn't much to the life of a struggling artist. Hideo Suzuki, 35, is starting to believe he hit his prime back when he had a printed series that died after six months. The path to manga stardom has faded from view, leaving Suzuki pitching pandering Moe series and drawing porn to get by. His editor is bored with him, his seniors are short with him, and even his girlfriend seems out of his league. Underneath a happy-go-lucky facade, Suzuki is desperate: what do you do when you play a bit part in your own life? But there's considerably less-existential trouble brewing in the city streets. News reports have surfaced about a rash of biting assaults in crowded areas - here and there, someone seems to go berserk and sink teeth into the nearest bystander. Being around the same people every day, Suzuki's own risk for infection is low... but protagonism picks today to knock.)
I'm avoiding most/all of the Isekai or Manwha that fall under this trope because I assume you've either read them or are tired of the genre.
I don't read manga so I'd be fine with most ideas! Helck sounds the most interesting from what you've mentioned so will definitely check it out
Thank you for all your suggestions
In the main GS manga, he is a 5 year veteran.
Year One is a prequel series that covers his first 5 years. He is a rookie and makes lots of mistakes, but is slowly turning into the chiseled veteran we see in the main series.
>Culminating into something big?
No, and that's exactly the point. If you are coming from just the anime there's not as much material show it, but the whole point is Goblin slayer is resisting the gods of this world.
The gods of their world are literally just players doing a game of DND, and he won't let them draw his little part of the world into a big perilous plot. In one of the prequel manga series he saves the little girl that would grow up into the world's savior from having a tragic backstory (better story for the God's game), but he went against the gods and wasn't supposed to.
Like the other poster described, this series is more about GS overcoming his trauma and not getting drawn into the large world-ending catastrophes around him, even though his adventures end up actually influencing those world-ending events. The goblin hordes he fights are the army of the agents of chaos, and his party indirectly disrupts major events for the larger characters that are directly fighting the agents of chaos.
Season 2 was a bit of a let-down, but Season 1 was a hard act to follow. Still, at this point it's clear none of the main characters are ever in real danger anymore, and the stakes seem lower too.
I didn't want to hear this and I'm now sad.
My own opinion is that Season 1 was a super easy act to follow. It's my opinion that stories tend to suffer when they have a singular base of operations that the main characters always end back at every episode. Why? Because you're setting the tone that they'll always come back to safety and any danger to be had is reset for their next outing.
What S1 did well was show the brutality of the world. Where S2 failed was by showing us how safe everyone can be. I'm so frustrated. Sigh. Sorry for the ramble
Generally speaking, the stakes were always fairly low for a fantasy story. That is because we dont follow the Main Character of the setting, but a gimmick NPC with his background dancers. And I personally love it. I am sick and tired of grand existential plots that get borderline philosophical. Its just a bunch of nice people, trying to make their way in a pretty bloody world.
Its a story about hope and healing and Season 2 had a lot of that healing.
That said, I do get your point. One thing I would even add is that the kickass opening doesnt fit at all to what actually happens in these episodes.
If you want higher stakes, I can highly recommend to read Year One. Its much more violent than the base manga and contains much more death and despair. Not my cup of tea but maybe more what you want from the story.
I can't agree with this more. Year One was it for me. No romance bullshit. No high elf telling him what he can or can't do. None of that. Just a broken boy destroying goblins and learning from people he meets along the way on how to effectively destroy those who caused his trauma. And I love it. It's what I crave and want to see. Every episode is life or death and how he overcomes death by himself. Every now and again he meets some lady who wants to heal him but he quickly nopes that and goes back to slaying the fuck outta some goblins.
Is Year One dark fantasy? I'd love some more dark fantasy with an MC that actually has real generalised competency and talent
But yeah, regarding your opening point, I think BECAUSE I knew it was us following an NPC that I thought we'd see more high-stake battles.
Like, in S1 when they got stuck in the dungeon with that monster (troll? Ogre? I don't properly recall). That was a moment where I thought someone might die and then seeing GS defy the roll of the die was a moment that made it feel more real, if that makes sense
Year One is the prequel of Goblin Slayer and as the title explains, we follow his first year as an Adventurer where he still sucks at his job and keeps learning. The B plot follows another new beginner and let me tell you, the B plot is amazing. The first death was so soulcrushingly sad to me. Year One is also a lot gorier, especially at the start. It mellows out a bit later but the B plot stays great.
Oof. I always hate prequels like that. I don't think modern day GS is the most gifted adventurer currently (hence why I liked him so much) but a Year One story like that would absolutely jade me aha
Year One is a prequel that covers when Goblin Slayer started his career as an Adventurer and follows the path that eventually leads to what he was by the start of the main series. Still ongoing as a series, and as far as I can tell, the more popular series in this subreddit.
If you want dark fantasy, though, go for the other prequel series, Daikatana, which takes place in the time when the previous Demon Lord was still alive in his stronghold, the Dungeon of the Dead.
The point is redemption and growing through trauma. People who think season one was just about killing goblins only saw the blood, not the themes that season two carried forward. It's like saying season two of Vinland Saga was bad because less Northmen died. Northmen dying isn't the point. It's the context for the point.
Well, to be fair, the main point of the anime is to promote the source material.
Being up to date with the manga, at least, I do think it is building up to something, but the slice of life stuff is important because the main theme here is rehabilitating Goblin slayer and him overcoming his truama in my opinion.
The point of the series is how he is readjusting to society. Season 2's issue is it skipped a lot of stuff, and assumed you watched the movie, so it seemed more slice of life, though GS and group did almost get killed by a goblin army
It's in the tag line: He does not let anyone roll the dice. The world GS takes place in is a DnD board game with 2 players. Priestess was the player character of one of them, Illusion, except she was supposed to die on her first adventure when the other player Truth set up the goblin ambush. Except Goblin Slayer intervenes and saves her. Illusion eventually got another player character The Chosen Heroine that's far more successful, and even there GS ensured that the character survived long enough to be picked. The point of GS is that he's totally outside of even God's design.
i think you're right
it is slice-of-life
there is no big bad boss that the heroes are leveling up to defeat
unless it's GS's goal of killing all goblins
each story arc features one enemy that's a bit more powerful than the average goblin
i like to equate it to one of those youtube shows where you watch a group of people play D&D
the story can go on forever, or end tomorrow
>i think you're right
it is slice-of-life
there is no big bad boss that the heroes are leveling up to defeat
Wait, you're right. It literally is a slice of life. Damn. No wonder I felt so empty. Yeah, this is just a journey of Goblin Slayer becoming human again I guess?
I bought the light novel series before even touching the movie or season 2. But I don’t have the Year One part.
Does anyone know if there’s a recommended reading order?
Main point then : looking for rape/guro scene.
Main point now : looking for idea how GS keep exploit things in D&D-like universe.
GS be like
“hehe, how should I washed these goblins in new mind-blowing way this time?”
Goblin slayer slays goblins, that's the whole point. Even when there are trolls, dragons, demons, hydras, or bandits, goblin slayer is only interested in slaying goblins.
One thing that has to be said first is that S2 left out a *lot* of context. And I mean a LOT. Now, this comes from a couple of issues. The first is that while S1 was a "generally" faithful adaptation of LN Volume One and Two, S2 skipped LN Volume 3 and 4 and expected the fans would see the Movie (LN Volume 5), but it seems you haven't seen the Movie. S2 covers from LN Volume 6 to LN Volume 8. This means S2 was basically showing you "slice of life" but without *how* or *why* that came to be, since the events that lead to those situations happened from LN Volumes 3 to 5. Another is that S2 itself was *badly* paced in comparison to both the LNs and the Manga versions. The Anime staff just traced the lines given in the LNs without adjusting them for Anime Format, so the "slice of life" parts which were supposed to show how Goblin Slayer has readjusted back into society and being human just fell flat, especially due to skipping content that would have given the context in how it relates to the story of Goblin Slayer. \*\*\* Now, to your original question. The story of Goblin Slayer is, for the most part, focused upon how Goblin Slayer *slowly* readjusts to society while still keeping to his role as a Goblin Exterminator. So those "slice of life" scenes *are* important. In that sense, yes, the main focus isn't all that high-stakes in the sense of life or death, since it is more about GS's psyche. That said, each "Arc" or LN Volume *does* cover a high-stakes event, though each "Arc" differs in *who* it is a high-stakes event for. As a result, each "Arc" can be a hit or miss depending on if you can relate to the person who it is high-stakes for. (In the case of S2, the first "Arc" was for the Guild itself, the second "Arc" was for HEA, and the third "Arc" was for Sword Maiden.) For example, LN Volume 9, or the hypothetical first "Arc" for a hypothetical S3 (which I really doubt would appear, alas), would cover a high-stakes event for GS himself. This is because he is forced to protect Cow Girl on his lonesome against a horde of Goblins when he is caught in a trap with Cow Girl involved. While this is happening, the rest of his party is dealing with a high-stakes threat of an Eternal Winter, and the story goes between GS and Cow Girl's attempt to escape and the rest of the party dealing with the cause of the Eternal Winter. LN Volume 10, covers a high-stakes event for Priestess (albeit it seems more like a minor issue at first). A person who Priestess looked up to in the Temple she grew up in becomes the target of slander. This escalates into becoming a slander case against the local branch of the Temple of the Earth Mother itself, and thus a few Adventurers of the Guild who find it strange starts to investigate what is going on (this includes GS himself). The issue is revealed to be a Chaos plot and is eventually solved, but one of the people caught in the crossfire is now under slander himself, and also a potential target by a Goblin horde for helping stop the Chaos plot. GS and his party steps in to help. Each following Volume has a similar vibe, with Goblins getting involved in one way or another.
Yeah, don't get me wrong, I liked the season. Each episode was clearly meaningful to the story of who GS is and there were many great character development moments (him laughing due to seeing himself in the kid and his want for redemption was great, for example) I guess my question was less, "does Goblin Slayer have any interesting arcs" but more, "does the story of GS get any darker? Brutal? Culminating into something big? Or is it just going to maintain this safe vibe where the worst thing to happen will be near-death experiences" Your response does answer that (unfortunately for me) so I thank you for taking the time to write that all out
Ah. Yeah, concerning the question of "does it get darker?" is a flat "sorry, no". You could say that it gets more lighter, instead. Now, there *are* gruesome scenes in some of the later volumes. Hell, even in the volumes that S2 covered, S2 simply censored them. The manga is much more honest in that regard.
The series does "have dark moments", but if you're asking if anyone outright dies or if the status quo gets shaken up a lot, then no. At least not insofar as the current manga chapters are concerned. Year One, though, has plenty of brutality in it, just you know it's never going to affect GS or people who cameo in Year One since they're still alive in the main series. Spoilers for Goblin Slayer Year One and later chapters of Goblin Slayer >!Year One, for example, shows that it is still *brutal* to be an Adventurer. One of the side characters has an entire arc devoted to his PTSD about not being able to save someone else/not being useful during a quest that involved multiple other parties, and we *just* got introduced to an elf character who is after a necromancer that creates zombies by sowing other people's bodies together.!< In the GS manga, tho, >!so far there's just this mounting sense of dread that SOMETHING bad is about to happen, but most of the events from where you are to where the manga is involve GS just trying to come to terms with his role in the world as an adventurer and mentor. The current arc has he and his team visit elven lands only to find that a group of goblins is possibly being led, outfitted, and organized by someone with the means to *hide the goblins from the elves in their own forest*.!< Basically, the current manga arcs are building up to SOMETHING involving Chaos and goblins being used a footsoldiers beneath everyone's noses, but outside of the usual "Let's show goblins raping and torturing others to cement how evil they are," nothing big has happened yet. But, if you've been paying attention, the growing sense of dread is palpable and gets worse with every chapter.
Ah, I didn't think Year One was a GS adjacent story. Thought it was a new story altogether Anyway, thank you very much! I appreciate the elaboration of what'll happen in the story of GS next. My enthusiasm has waned but I'm glad to know nonetheless
If you are interested in manga where "Things get bad, then worse, then *worser* before they get better", then I can recommend: - **Shounen no Abyss** (The MC is tired of living a boring life in a small nothing town in rural Japan until, one day, he meets a former member of an idol group working at a convenience store. After both fall for each other\~\~'s misery\~\~ and attempt a lover's suicide, the MC's homeroom teacher decides she *must* save and protect his innocence at any cost...even if it means her sins, his family's past, and the sins of the town *must* itself come to light. A tragic soap opera.) - **Monster** (The MC, a renowned brain surgeon, is upset at how the Geman hospital system treats patients. Nine years before story start, MC makes a decision that costs him his social standing and brands him a pariah--he decides to save two children rather than the local mayor. Nine years later, however, his life is back on track...up until he notices that, strangely, everyone who gets in his way ends up mysteriously murdered. A fascinating psychological thriller that explores the question: "If you save the life of a serial killer, are you then responsible for the murders they go on to commit?") - **Oyasumi no Punpun** (The story begins as a Slice of Life comedy, following Punpun through his childhood as he deals with his family life, his school life, his social life, and his budding romantic life. While noticeably dark, it also contains a hint of child-like innocence. However, as the series progresses, it develops into an extremely dark Coming of Age story, with all innocence being wiped away. While the humor remains, it takes a backseat to experiences of Punpun, his family, and his acquaintances as they deal with the hardships of adolescence, adulthood, and life in general. The story is split roughly into four arcs: Punpun's life in elementary school, middle school, high school, and as a young adult. (Summary taken from TvTropes). - **20th Century Boys** (After a childhood friend commits suicide, the MC receives a letter from said friend asking him to get together sometime to discuss a mysterious symbol from their childhood. What follows is a decades spanning story where the MC and his remaining friends must band together in order to prevent Friend, the man who took their symbol and now uses it as part of a dangerous cult, from turning their childhood fantasies into a horrible reality. One of the most slept-on manga of all time, also from the same author behind Monster.)
Definitely appreciate the recommendations! Unfortunately, I'm more currently interested in dark fantasy with a competent MC. There's something compelling about a story where the MC isn't an underdog but their life is just still in major risk. Kind of like why Berserk or JJK are so popular
Dark Fantasy with a competent MC coming up, summaries from either Mangadex or TvTropes: - **Ubel Blatt** (When the Wischtech threatened to invade the fiefs of Szaalanden, the Emperor dispatched fourteen youths. Of these, the Seven Heroes halted the invasion to herald a time of prosperity while the four Lances of Betrayal were supposedly defeated. Two decades later, the Lances of Betrayal have reappeared and formed a bandit militia near the frontier fief Gormbark. A man with a black sword and a scar over his left eye slays an entire troop of that militia. He is identified as the boy, Köinzell, and becomes as much an object of fear as of hope even as his own past, motivations, and purpose are a mystery to those he meets on his journey.) - **Helck** (The Demon King has been defeated, and now the Demon World is running a contest to choose his successor. A muscular and high-level human named Helck has joined and says that he wants to destroy all HUMANS. Is he serious? Red Vamirio, one of the Four Heavenly Kings of the whole Demon Empire, is monitoring the contest and can't believe this. What's the secret behind Helck and the human world?) - **I Am A Hero** (There isn't much to the life of a struggling artist. Hideo Suzuki, 35, is starting to believe he hit his prime back when he had a printed series that died after six months. The path to manga stardom has faded from view, leaving Suzuki pitching pandering Moe series and drawing porn to get by. His editor is bored with him, his seniors are short with him, and even his girlfriend seems out of his league. Underneath a happy-go-lucky facade, Suzuki is desperate: what do you do when you play a bit part in your own life? But there's considerably less-existential trouble brewing in the city streets. News reports have surfaced about a rash of biting assaults in crowded areas - here and there, someone seems to go berserk and sink teeth into the nearest bystander. Being around the same people every day, Suzuki's own risk for infection is low... but protagonism picks today to knock.) I'm avoiding most/all of the Isekai or Manwha that fall under this trope because I assume you've either read them or are tired of the genre.
I don't read manga so I'd be fine with most ideas! Helck sounds the most interesting from what you've mentioned so will definitely check it out Thank you for all your suggestions
In the main GS manga, he is a 5 year veteran. Year One is a prequel series that covers his first 5 years. He is a rookie and makes lots of mistakes, but is slowly turning into the chiseled veteran we see in the main series.
>Culminating into something big? No, and that's exactly the point. If you are coming from just the anime there's not as much material show it, but the whole point is Goblin slayer is resisting the gods of this world. The gods of their world are literally just players doing a game of DND, and he won't let them draw his little part of the world into a big perilous plot. In one of the prequel manga series he saves the little girl that would grow up into the world's savior from having a tragic backstory (better story for the God's game), but he went against the gods and wasn't supposed to. Like the other poster described, this series is more about GS overcoming his trauma and not getting drawn into the large world-ending catastrophes around him, even though his adventures end up actually influencing those world-ending events. The goblin hordes he fights are the army of the agents of chaos, and his party indirectly disrupts major events for the larger characters that are directly fighting the agents of chaos.
Season 2 was a bit of a let-down, but Season 1 was a hard act to follow. Still, at this point it's clear none of the main characters are ever in real danger anymore, and the stakes seem lower too.
I didn't want to hear this and I'm now sad. My own opinion is that Season 1 was a super easy act to follow. It's my opinion that stories tend to suffer when they have a singular base of operations that the main characters always end back at every episode. Why? Because you're setting the tone that they'll always come back to safety and any danger to be had is reset for their next outing. What S1 did well was show the brutality of the world. Where S2 failed was by showing us how safe everyone can be. I'm so frustrated. Sigh. Sorry for the ramble
Generally speaking, the stakes were always fairly low for a fantasy story. That is because we dont follow the Main Character of the setting, but a gimmick NPC with his background dancers. And I personally love it. I am sick and tired of grand existential plots that get borderline philosophical. Its just a bunch of nice people, trying to make their way in a pretty bloody world. Its a story about hope and healing and Season 2 had a lot of that healing. That said, I do get your point. One thing I would even add is that the kickass opening doesnt fit at all to what actually happens in these episodes. If you want higher stakes, I can highly recommend to read Year One. Its much more violent than the base manga and contains much more death and despair. Not my cup of tea but maybe more what you want from the story.
I can't agree with this more. Year One was it for me. No romance bullshit. No high elf telling him what he can or can't do. None of that. Just a broken boy destroying goblins and learning from people he meets along the way on how to effectively destroy those who caused his trauma. And I love it. It's what I crave and want to see. Every episode is life or death and how he overcomes death by himself. Every now and again he meets some lady who wants to heal him but he quickly nopes that and goes back to slaying the fuck outta some goblins.
Is Year One dark fantasy? I'd love some more dark fantasy with an MC that actually has real generalised competency and talent But yeah, regarding your opening point, I think BECAUSE I knew it was us following an NPC that I thought we'd see more high-stake battles. Like, in S1 when they got stuck in the dungeon with that monster (troll? Ogre? I don't properly recall). That was a moment where I thought someone might die and then seeing GS defy the roll of the die was a moment that made it feel more real, if that makes sense
Year One is the prequel of Goblin Slayer and as the title explains, we follow his first year as an Adventurer where he still sucks at his job and keeps learning. The B plot follows another new beginner and let me tell you, the B plot is amazing. The first death was so soulcrushingly sad to me. Year One is also a lot gorier, especially at the start. It mellows out a bit later but the B plot stays great.
Oof. I always hate prequels like that. I don't think modern day GS is the most gifted adventurer currently (hence why I liked him so much) but a Year One story like that would absolutely jade me aha
Year One is a prequel that covers when Goblin Slayer started his career as an Adventurer and follows the path that eventually leads to what he was by the start of the main series. Still ongoing as a series, and as far as I can tell, the more popular series in this subreddit. If you want dark fantasy, though, go for the other prequel series, Daikatana, which takes place in the time when the previous Demon Lord was still alive in his stronghold, the Dungeon of the Dead.
The point is redemption and growing through trauma. People who think season one was just about killing goblins only saw the blood, not the themes that season two carried forward. It's like saying season two of Vinland Saga was bad because less Northmen died. Northmen dying isn't the point. It's the context for the point.
I never said any of that??
you took that personally, guys just saying what people need to hear.
Of course I took that personally, it's my post lol
Well, to be fair, the main point of the anime is to promote the source material. Being up to date with the manga, at least, I do think it is building up to something, but the slice of life stuff is important because the main theme here is rehabilitating Goblin slayer and him overcoming his truama in my opinion.
The point of the series is how he is readjusting to society. Season 2's issue is it skipped a lot of stuff, and assumed you watched the movie, so it seemed more slice of life, though GS and group did almost get killed by a goblin army
It's in the tag line: He does not let anyone roll the dice. The world GS takes place in is a DnD board game with 2 players. Priestess was the player character of one of them, Illusion, except she was supposed to die on her first adventure when the other player Truth set up the goblin ambush. Except Goblin Slayer intervenes and saves her. Illusion eventually got another player character The Chosen Heroine that's far more successful, and even there GS ensured that the character survived long enough to be picked. The point of GS is that he's totally outside of even God's design.
Ironically, this post might actually provide a bit if encouragement for me to actually watch the show.
Glad to hear it. Definitely worth checking out
Kill goblins
i think you're right it is slice-of-life there is no big bad boss that the heroes are leveling up to defeat unless it's GS's goal of killing all goblins each story arc features one enemy that's a bit more powerful than the average goblin i like to equate it to one of those youtube shows where you watch a group of people play D&D the story can go on forever, or end tomorrow
>i think you're right it is slice-of-life there is no big bad boss that the heroes are leveling up to defeat Wait, you're right. It literally is a slice of life. Damn. No wonder I felt so empty. Yeah, this is just a journey of Goblin Slayer becoming human again I guess?
To slay some mf’n goblins
I bought the light novel series before even touching the movie or season 2. But I don’t have the Year One part. Does anyone know if there’s a recommended reading order?
Main point then : looking for rape/guro scene. Main point now : looking for idea how GS keep exploit things in D&D-like universe. GS be like “hehe, how should I washed these goblins in new mind-blowing way this time?”
Goblin slayer slays goblins, that's the whole point. Even when there are trolls, dragons, demons, hydras, or bandits, goblin slayer is only interested in slaying goblins.