Warning: This blog post will contain discussion of graphic violence and rape. Viewers who are sensitive to such matter should not read any further.
You may or may not have heard about Goblin Slayer, a light novel series about a group of adventurers in a fantasy setting that has received an anime adaptation. You may also have heard about the rather infamous first episode, which shows an unprepared adventuring party suffering a grisly fate when they raid a goblin next.
If you find discussion of graphic violence and rape to be too disturbing for you, or something that triggers past traumas, then the warning should speak for itself when it comes to explaining why this is not an ideal way to begin a series. If, however, you are willing to proceed, this blog entry will analyze the first episode.
Incidentally, I'm well aware that the Goblin Slayer anime is an adaptation of a light novel, but since many people, myself included, became aware of it through the anime, I will focus on that adaptation.
Setting The Scene
The first shot of the first episode shows a robe-clad girl on her knees, trembling and covered in blood. A warrior covered in armor walks toward her, his intentions unclear.
The story then flashes back to the girl at the adventurer's guild, filling out her registration while some adventurers talk in the background.
The girl says that she's 15, which is an adult by her world's standards, and that she is a priestess by trade. The receptionist hands the girl an ID tag, and says that adventurers are ranked by materials- platinum is the highest rank, silver is the highest out in the field and she, being a porcelain, is the lowest rank. The receptionist advises the girl not to lose the tag, since it will identify her if anything happens to her.
The receptionist then points the girl to a bulletin board full of quests, suggesting that she find one appropriate for her rank or join a veteran party. At that point, a party of three people- a male swordsman, a female martial artist and a female mage- approaches the girl, saying they need a priestess for an urgent quest. That quest involves killing goblins, and while the receptionist asks if it would be better for them to wait, the swordsman says he's confident they can handle it. His female companions are willing to have the priestess, and she agrees, although the receptionist is concerned.
You may notice that none of the characters are referred to by name. One might assume that it's because these characters are so unimportant that the author sees no need to give them a name, but that isn't the case. All characters are referred to by their occupation- the receptionist is Guild Girl, the new adventurer is Priestess(who eventually becomes a main character), the apparent leader is Warrior, and his companions are Fighter and Wizard. Only Goblin Slayer, the eponymous protagonist, is addressed by his name. It makes it a bit easier to remember who everyone is, but it's a bit jarring that no one calls each other by name,
An Adventure Gone Wrong
This section is where the disturbing content begins. If you are sensitive, this is your last chance to back out.
The party arrives at the goblins' cave, and Priestess is nervous about going in, as the camera zooms in on a totem outside. Once inside, she asks whether they should prepare a bit more, and the Wizard asks why she's bringing it up now. The Wizard is rather foolish to dismiss the Priestess's perfectly valid point, but the Priestess probably should have brought this up back in town. The Warrior laughs and says Priestess is a worrywart, since goblins are the weakest monsters and he chased some away from his town, something Fighter says isn't worth bragging about.
As Warrior brags about one day becoming a dragon slayer, he brandishes his sword, which clangs against the cave ceiling. Fighter reassures Priestess that even if the "idiot" Warrior can't handle things with her sword, her fists will strike down the enemy, and the Wizard graduated from the Sage's Academy. It's a good discussion of their skills, but it doesn't convince Priestess.
Priestess asks if the group has potions, and Warrior says no- they didn't have the time or money to do shopping and are confident Priestess can heal them. Priestess says she can use miracles of healing and light, but can only use them three times. This is a bit reminiscent of Dungeons and Dragons, in which mages and priests must prepare spells before resting, and can only use them a finite number of times; for example, if a Cleric has five first-level spells, s/he can prepare three castings of Cure Light Wounds and two of Protection from Evil.
The Warrior spots a totem and the party recognizes it as the same as the one at the entrance. The Priestess chants a prayer, but she and the Wizard fall behind the group. As they try to catch up, the Priestess stops as she hears a sound from behind. The Wizard doubts that anyone came up from behind, since they went straight from the entrance... and then the goblins show up.
Wizard takes down a goblin with Firebolt, but as she prepares a second spell, the others seize her, breaking her glasses and snapping her staff in half. Priestess tries in vain to fend off the goblins by swinging her staff, but to no avail, and the goblins stab Wizard in the gut with a knife.
Warrior and Fighter get back, with the former swinging his sword to drive off the goblins and the latter telling Priestess to heal Wizard. Fighter is unable to get close to the goblins because Warrior is swinging his sword, but he insists that she protect the other two. He then gets stabbed in the ankle and hits his sword on the top of the cave, knocking it out of his hands. Once Warrior is disarmed, the goblins waste no time pinning down and brutally killing him.
As Fighter looks on in horror, Priestess notices that her Heal miracle is having no effect on Wizard. Fighter then offers to hold off the goblins and defeats a few until a large goblin grabs her by the leg and slams her against the wall. The goblins then rip off her clothes and gang-rape her. Tears streaming down her face, the Priestess flees, apologizing to her dead companions.
Eventually, a goblin hits Priestess in the shoulder with a dart as she comes upon Wizard, then knock her aside as they do to Wizard what they did to Fighter. Priestess then wets herself as she prays to her goddess.
Enter Goblin Slayer
Now that we're back to the beginning of the episode, we see the armored man from the beginning, who makes short work of the goblins and introduces himself as Goblin Slayer. Priestess notices that Goblin Slayer is a silver-rank adventurer, showing he's a professional. After confirming that Priestess can talk, he yanks the dart out of her and gives her a potion. Priestess asks him to give it to Wizard instead, but Goblin Slayer says Wizard's been poisoned, and it's too late to use an antidote. Wizard begs Goblin Slayer to kill her, and he complies.
Priestess drinks the potion, and tells Goblin Slayer about the larger goblin, or hobgoblin, she saw. Goblin Slayer then sets out to kill some more goblins, and when Priestess asks to accompany him, he has her tell him what she can do before bringing her along. He then covers each of them in blood to disguise their scents, telling her to get used to it. All this shows that Goblin Slayer is much more competent and better about preparation than the doomed party.
Upon reaching Warrior's corpse, Goblin Slayer notes that Warrior's sword is too long to swing, since the blade is twice as long as Goblin Slayer's own sword. Goblin Slayer then points out the totem, and says that was meant to distract the party from the shadows along the wall, preventing them from realizing they'd be ambushed from behind. He also realizes that there's a shaman in the group of goblins.
After concluding that the Fighter, the only surviving member of the party, has been taken deeper into the cave, Goblin Slayer dispatches a goblin by throwing his sword to hit him in the neck. He couldn't see the goblin, but fought enough of them to know where their necks are. He then leaves behind the sword, which has too much blood on it.
Upon reaching the inner sanctum, Goblin Slayer orders Priestess to use Holy Light before retreating, and throws his spear to dispatch the shaman. They fall back, and lure the Hobgoblin over some tripwires, with Goblin Slayer finishing him off once he's down. He dumps gas on the hobgoblin's corpse, shoves it into the inner sanctum and sets it on fire, killing a few more goblins, before striking down the last few.
As Priestess comforts Fighter, Goblin Slayer finishes off the shaman, then finds some goblin children. Knowing how dangerous goblins will be if they grow up, Goblin Slayer kills the young goblins without any mercy or remorse.
The episode ends with the girls being rescued, but Fighter is so traumatized that she retires from being an adventurers. Priestess monologues about how tragedies like this are supposedly commonplace in the world. She then continues as an adventurer, having invested in some chain mail, and accompanies Goblin Slayer.
Analysis: Positives
As harsh as the title is, I would be remiss if I did not mention what the first episode does well.
First, it effectively establishes the setting through the eyes of a rookie adventurer, revealing such things as the age of majority and how the adventurer ranks work. It provides an effective balance of story and action, showing what the series is all about.
It also provides a good introduction for the title character, particularly by contrasting him with the Warrior. While the Warrior is ill-prepared for the raid, wielding a sword that's too large for the cave and not taking any potions, Goblin Slayer has a shorter and more practical weapon, as well as multiple potions and other gear. In stark contrast to the Warrior's baseless confidence, Goblin Slayer has an almost encyclopedic knowledge of goblins' tricks.
The episode provides good foreshadowing for events later in that episode. The camera zooms in on the totem outside the cave, clueing viewers in to its significance. The Warrior's sword hitting the ceiling is initially played as a gag, but ends up being his undoing.
The episode is mostly self-contained but helps set up the series by showing Priestess joining Goblin Slayer.
Lastly, for all the negatives, one can hardly deny that it proves that this is not a lighthearted fantasy adventure, but one in which carelessness and lack of preparation are punished with grisly deaths. If nothing else, people who quit after the first episode will probably spare themselves from a rather unpleasant experience.
Analysis: Negatives
Unfortunately, most people won't be talking about these storytelling devices, but rather, the carnage and rape depicted onscreen.
In all fairness, I won't go so far as to say this was done purely for shock value. It's revealed that goblins need to rape women in order to make them bear their young, a fact that makes the entire affair more horrific, but provides a plausible explanation for it.
Unfortunately, since the bit about the goblins needing to rape captives to reproduce comes a bit later on, not everyone will know about it when they're forming their first impressions of the show, and those who drop the series after the first episode never will. For many, nothing justifies the horrors shown in the first episode, and nothin will convince them otherwise, but perhaps they might not have reacted so strongly if they hadn't been shown that at the very beginning.
Another problem is that most of the characters introduced in this episode are rather irrelevant to the story, especially those who die. The Guild Girl is a bit player, the Fighter mostly drops out of the story after the trauma, and the Warrior and Wizard die. Killing off characters early on can be an effective story device for shock value, but it's most effective to kill off significant characters. In this case, it's hard to be invested in characters who don't even get a name and barely get any personality.
It doesn't help that many people conclude that the series is all about gratuitous violence that tries too hard to seem mature. This isn't necessarily fair, but the content of the first episode doesn't do much to dispel this assumption.
In short, for these reasons, the disturbing content of Goblin Slayer's first episode overshadows other aspects of the narrative, and ultimately ends up being remembered the most.
Conclusion
First impressions are rather important, even if they're done with limited information. There is more to Goblin Slayer than goblins' atrocities and the comparably brutal methods used to fight them, so it's unfortunate that the first episode gave many people the impression of the series that it did, resulting in many people being turned off and never giving the rest of the story a chance.
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