Master Of Side Quests – ‘Goblin Slayer’ Episode 6 Review

What’s the show? Goblin Slayer, Episode 6.

So how’s this episode? Well the episode opens with a bunch of new characters we’ve never met facing off against a giant skeleton man who looks like he’s out of ‘Overlord’ and the heroes are a group of wisecracking, badass women and they rescue the damsel in distress and blow the shit out of the skeleton boss man and it’s legitimately the most interesting thing this series has done so far. And then we cut back to reality where one of the adventurers at the guild is telling that story. And I’m like “why can’t we be watching that show! That’s way more interesting than ~generic Goblin Slaying quest #426~”!

This screencap is very strange out of context.

Oh dear. Have you turned sour on the show again? Not exactly. I mean the show’s still good I suppose, I just don’t care about Goblin Slayer killing goblins. And I know what you’re thinking “well then why are you watching a show called ‘Goblin Slayer’ then?” And I don’t have a good answer to that! I think there’s just something incredibly limiting about a show that narrows its scope to what would amount to ~side quests~ in an RPG when there’s battles with Demon Lords going on elsewhere in the world. And I KNOW what you’re thinking, “didn’t you just say last week you’d watch a show that’s ~just~ set in an adventurer’s guild and is about the minutiae of everyday life in such an establishment?”! Yes. I did. I’m a complex individual, cut me some slack.

Come on elf, you can do better than Goblin Slayer…

I, uh… are you alright? Watching ‘Goblin Slayer’ is an exercise in frustration–it’s constantly doing so much right but then backs it up by doing a bunch of things poorly. Maybe I just don’t get this ~style~ of DnD anime. And that is what this is by the way, I had a commenter point out to me that the writer of the light novel is an avid DnD player and based this after one of his campaigns, and that’s fine, more power to him. But it feels like so strictly adhering to a DnD campaign and the whole “only slaying Goblins” shtick has robbed the show of some much needed scope. That said, I’m fully willing to eat my words when the group goes on that other non-goblin related quest that Goblin Slayer promised he would participate in. But it better make up for everything else, that’s all I’m saying.

Okay, so ignoring external influences and promises of future “adventures” what are you thoughts on this episode? Is it good? Yes it’s ‘good’. That’s about as much as I can offer this episode is a hearty ‘good’. I liked that we got to meet the Sword Maiden, she seems… interesting. I like that some of the goblins where clothes and armour… guess that means our party has levelled up and is going against some tougher mobs. But it ain’t over as there’s the boss of the sewer level to contend with next week! Sorry if this comes off as snarky but other than baiting controversy in its first episode this series isn’t doing anything especially remarkable, not with its setting, not with its characters and not with its content. If it had been just another fantasy series amongst the throngs of other I probably would have been liking it a lot more, or at least more forgiving of it. But until it does something more substantial with its subject matter and characters, I’m just left with saying it’s ‘good’.