Anime 47160 Goblin Slayer Ii Reviews

Not what the 1st season was...

This anime made a name for itself by not shying away from the dirty and gritty realism of what goblin fighting truly means. It showcased the hardship and the strain. In a world where goblins aren't recognized as a threat, this anime portrayed the reality of that naivety and it wasn't afraid to depict the consequences either. It didn't just imply the danger, it made it real as it took us on an uncensored journey like none other before. Or at least the first season did...

Goblin Slayer season II feels like a watered down, feel good, slice of life version ... of its initial airing. This new season has all the examples of a run-of-the-mill generic anime, complete with battles that are completely skipped over, victims saved after the fact so you don't have to see what they endured, and even when bad things happen the heroes still inevitably win every skirmish.

Now let me give the included carnage some justice. There's still blood and violence. You still see some innocents cut down in ambushes. And goblins still target female victims in terrible ways. But there's no trapped sensation of dread that comes from witnessing an entire party wiped out before your eyes. This is just... a normal anime that includes human and monster death on both sides of the conflict. There are dozens of other animes just like this and season II hasn't shown anything spectacular going for it one way or another. Now there are only 6/12 episodes released at the time of this review. It's possible it would still make a big traumatic ending. But while the first season stood out making a name for itself from the first episode to the last episode, season II has just been a run of the mill, fantasy hack and slash adventure. It's not bad, but it's disappointing compared to what it was before.

So after this season finale today I decided to write a review for this.

So season 1 I enjoyed it a fair bit enough to wanna watch season 2, but i'm giving this season a 4 overall because I felt like the whole show was watered down and kinda felt more like a "FeelsGoodMan" show. Season 1 left me with a gritty and realistic view on fighting goblins and stuff. Season 2 IN MY OPINION had a lot of filler and I kinda got bored and stopped watching for a few weeks then binged the rest of it. I understand seasons can't have the same kind ... of drama if that makes sense, but still I got rather bored with most of the episodes. There were maybe 2-4 I enjoyed and watched the whole way through. I understand the season was for growth for some of the characters, but we go from most of the characters were able to handle their cool in tough scenarios to freaking out and needing the Slayer to do the heavy lifting. I get that he's the main MC and needed the spotlight, but come on... I feel like growth isn't good in season 2 when you showed us how strong some of the supporting cast can be in season 1. I probably won't watch another season, if I do. Hopefully they find a way to take us back to what season 1 felt like.

Again, I understand that seasons and character growth is important, but season 1 felt good with how everything played out, then we got handed a watered down season. THAT IS MY OPINION.

Thanks for reading.

Welcome to one of the most controversial shows in modern anime, though, with each year, you'll find least one or two others that also meet that target, for each of their own. But while each one of those slowly gets forgetting about, Goblin Slayer always seems to pop up again, like a nasty smell that just won't go away. But if you're not squeamish from it's content, more than likely you'll enjoy Goblin Slayer for what it is.

Here is why.

Story and characters: 8
What Goblin Slayer really establishes, is that names and stuff like it aren't a major factor. People are referred to what they are, ... or a nickname, or a class. But what it does well in around that, is the personalities. When you think of Goblin Slayer, you'll remember the characters faces, and who they are, from their personalities alone. Take Goblin Slayer himself for example, I already found myself laughing once again like before, with how he speaks. How he responds. How the elf and dwarf constant banter with each other. Making for a fun party overall, but also, other cast members really making their presence known throughout.

But what the second season has done, is establish it further. With it's newest face coming into the picture, and further detailing it's world and such. Giving a much needed development for GS himself, and the world in general. Progression such as this, will take it far. As if the anime carries on from where it left off, never missing a beat, and ready do business once more.

Art and sound: 9
Honestly, with each passing installment of Goblin Slayer, is it just me, or has the quality in it's style and presentation improved every time? The art style looks like it's had more polish than ever before. Really looking colourful in scenes when its more light, while also really nailing the more dark and disturbing scenes. Really capturing each and every moment scene by scene. While having a matching sound behind it, to make each and every moment that more impactful then it already is.

Goblin Slayer season 2 has been a long time coming, and for sure, a long time welcomed. Fans of GS, will certainly enjoy it for sure.

The first episode of Goblin Slayer season 1 is one of the most iconic episodes in anime history. An extremely traumatic experience for many that set the tone for one of the generation’s premiere dark fantasy stories. In the 7 years since that episode, we’ve waited patiently for more of the story(movie aside), and I’m personally really content with this second season. It’s not as edgy and gory as season 1, but still retains much of the same charm that made me fall in love with this series.

So right off the bat I’ll let you know that Goblin Slayer season 2 is quite different from ... the first. Whereas the first season had a clear narrative thanks to the wild first episode, that Goblins were evil and needed to be eradicated for the good of the world, season 2 kind of floats all over the place. It’s a lot more slice of life oriented, has more fan service and does a better job of showing the human side of Goblin Slayer. That’s not going to be for everyone, but I enjoyed it a lot more than season 1 actually. Yea, killing goblins is cool and all, but getting to know the side characters on a more intimate level has really taken my enjoyment of the series to the next level. I felt like after season 1, I still didn’t even know priestess and high elf archer were, now I feel like I have a pretty good understanding of what makes them tick as people.

Goblin Slayer himself feels more human and down to earth in this season too. We see a vulnerable side of him that makes him a more compelling character. There’s an arc in the beginning of the season with a new character, where we actually see the big guy breakdown and shed tears! I mean, for someone who seems so robotic and hell bent on a revenge mission, it can be easy to forget he’s a regular human fighting to protect those he cares about in a seemingly nevernding struggle.

For those who don’t know, the Goblin Slayer books are pretty episodic. There’s not a continuous overarching arc other than the theme of GS wanting to eliminate Goblins. The second season really reflects that with 4-5 major mini arcs over the course of the season. I enjoyed all of them, some more than others, but on the whole they were all pretty good. The action does feel a bit toned down compared to the first season, which I had a feeling would happen with the studio change, but it’s still pretty good as well.

Speaking of the new studio, on the whole I think they did a good job of replicating White Fox’s look and feel. Production quality is very solid, in fact I believe some of the old staff still worked on this so the transition wasn’t as jarring as it sometimes is.

The world of anime has changed a lot since the first season dropped. There’s more dark fantasy shows than ever now and so GS might not stand out as much as it once did to some people. The lack of an overarching story could also be a turn off for some. For me, I just love this world, I love GS as an MC and clearing out a Goblin hideout never gets old. I enjoyed this season and I’ll miss it a lot.

GS II gets 8, out of 10.

Honestly not sure how well this holds up, compared to the first season of goblin slayer which was really gory and had dark themes season 2 is a lot more tame, the animation is honestly not great and there a very little fight scenes/ or too brief. I was excited to watch season 2 because i wanted to watch one thing goblin slayer slaying goblins, instead most of the fight scenes are either quick cuts of goblins dying or really bad or uncreative fights. Honestly season 2 feels more in line with a shonen/slice of life with too much dialog.

Almost-perfect sequel, 9/10.

Goblin Slayer Season 2, like Vinland Saga Season 2, focuses a lot more on the philosophical-esoteric aspects of the story and main cast rather than the fights. That being said, the sequel may not be for everyone who came for the fights - don't get me wrong there's still plenty of cool fights but the combat was more intense with higher stakes and cooler set pieces in Season 1.

However, this change allows more of Goblin Slayer's party, personality, and history to be fleshed out, as well as more of the DnD setting to be explored. He gets to explore elven lands, go ... to the royal capital, etc. with my favorite running gag being him casually and efficiently dispatching monsters way above his weight only for him to nonchalantly brush it off and state how goblins are more troublesome. Meanwhile characters such as the Priestess and Elf Archer get their own side stories focusing on themes like Priestess' struggle with her faith in her earth goddess, her inexperience and maturity relative to her party, and the Tolkienian theme of mortality and love between a long-lived race and short-lived race. The show communicates this pivot towards more DnD worldbuilding by showing off races we never saw in the first season, which was very human-centric, such as a centaur waitress at the guild within the first episode and more exotic monsters.

The show also makes Goblin Slayer experience a Ryan Gosling moment by the end of the second episode but he bounces back by the end of the arc, reminding viewers he's only human and though he makes mistakes he's still a real hero. This alludes to the more mature themes this show later explores in detail regarding our protagonist's gradual re-humanization, his long term goals, his dreams, his larger macroscale impact on the world around him, etc.

On the surface, the premise is simple but the worldbuilding and themes this season explores gives it a lot of depth, just like the novels. The ending (credits animation) places a lot of emphasis on Cowgirl, Elf Archer, and Priestess highlighting their increased presence in the spotlight this season. The opening alludes to this a bit with that closing shot of Goblin Slayer walking towards Cowgirl and the farm as a place of peace and refuge similar to how Russell Crowe's character walks the Elysian fields in Gladiator, but I digress. I can go on analyzing every frame, episode, etc. but just watch the show and/or read the novels - you'll see what I mean.

All in all, this sequel is a perfect follow-up to Season 1 in my professional, biased, but based opinion as it places more of a focus on the human aspects of Goblin Slayer, his party, and the side characters they interact with. People from Season 1 (and the movie) make reappearances and contribute to the story, Goblin Slayer gets to kick goblin ass in fashion, and his folk legend status grows ever more.

Basically if you like mature stories with depth, good worldbuilding, and goblin genocide, then this season is right up your alley!

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

When I first heard Goblin Slayer S2 was out I was happy. I thought they dropped it, but here we are, and this had me excited then I started watching.

So I find it hard to figure out what this season was about, but from what I see there's a little character growth in all the characters mainly Goblin Slayer as he learns there's more to life than just killing Goblins, but killing Goblins is still his sole task. We can see how inexperienced he is with other creatures by not knowing what they are, but he gets a general just based off of similarities he ... hears about. I think that's really it though. The show has some very pretty art styles that compliments the women in the show. And that opening is really awesome. However, I think that's really about it.

I like the show, but I feel something is missing. I think what's missing may be an overall plot/goal to the story because lately it's just been random missions. I guess it makes sense if everyone was just a typical adventurer just trying to make a living in order to survive, and weren't main characters in a story. But as main characters I feel like there should be more like Goblin Slayer trying to figure out a way to eradicate all the Goblins in the world, or work towards something other than "another day another group of goblins to kill." Because a lack of an overall plot makes me feel disinterested in some episodes, and it feels like we're going no where. While some episodes do get interesting like the end of the recent episode 10 preparing them for another mission. I often feel I'm sometimes looking at how many minutes I have left of an episode to see when it's over. Overall 7/10 maybe leaning 6/10.

WARNING: This is gonna be a short review cause I have a life.
Concept & Story (5) - The concept was average and so was the story. The story/concept is about a guy who kills goblins because of his childhood trauma regarding goblins.
Characters (2) - Watching the characters felt like watching a group of 1D characters talk. There was no chemistry between the characters. Another reason why the characters were HORRABILE is the animation. They literally had no facial expressions. They were like Ayonokoji in a HORRIBLE way.
Animation (5) - Except for the NONEXISTENT FACIAL EXPRESSIONS, the art was average for an anime in 2023.
Overall Enjoyment ... (2) - This was one of the only shows this season which's episodes are a DRAG to go through. I literally have to do other things while I watch the episodes so I don't get bored. This may be one of the only disappointments of this years fall season.
Overall Lesson - First season was way better.

Decent art/animation -- not bad but nothing crazy.
Decent audio/sound quality -- good voice acting and sound effects; little to no soundtracks throughout the episodes; solid opening and ending songs.

It was nice getting to know new characters this season, but there wasn't a lot of development. I'm not attached to any one of these characters, which is a letdown for me. There also was little to no character development. In fact, my perception of Mr. Goblin Slayer has perhaps went down, just b/c of how stagnant he is. At least he knows what he wants and continues to chase that? (Slaying goblins)

Moreover, I actually really ... liked season 1 b/c of how intense and fast-paced it was. Season 2 was a lot slower, which again, is a bit of a letdown for me.

Overall, this was a fine sequel -- nothing crazy but not bad either. But I do think this deserves a watch if you're a Goblin Slayer fan. And the last episode actually sets up season 3 pretty well. (The not revealing of the face of two new characters.)

Goblin Slayer is beautiful and provokes great feelings of nostalgia for anyone who has played old-school MMORPGs. It's not an isekai, but it makes you feel like you're gazing through a mirror into a classic MMO world.

In a nutshell, it's a pleasing show with fair amounts of, in its setting, realism. Nothing feels overpowered or broken. Everyone in the main crew resembles a level 30 adventurer that has chosen their role at the town a week prior. Character design is great, the environment is great, lore allows for lots of fill-in-the-blanks but still good... it just makes you hope you could be reincarnated there – ... without being an isekai. Great to add to your watching list for some fantasy!

Story: 7/10. Not quite episodic storytelling, but the arcs are somewhat short and there's no big plotline other than killing goblins. Linearity is not an enemy to a good story in certain situations—this is one of them. The plot, although it feels pointless, allows for the exploration of the beautiful world and slow introduction to characters + their desires. This feels, as I have not read the manga, like an extended journey into the life of our protagonist in overcoming his trauma, a trauma we haven't touched even 10% into yet. This is good. It allows for a lot to happen before the real issues of the show are addressed (plus they are never forgotten, you are reminded of everyone's personal trajectory as you watch). Albeit, there is slow progress done every episode to the protagonist's main stories, as you feel negative qualities be slowly eroded by an exposure to various simple plot devices.

Overall, it gets a 7 not because it's anything special, but because it does nothing special very well.

Characters: 7/10. I hate likeability as a factor for character design approval, but if that is what you are looking for, everyone is likeable—except for a red-haired mage. In my opinion, a well-designed character makes the audience get even more invested in the anime. All characters, especially side characters, achieve that purpose. You wish you could be there in the guild having a cold one, telling tales of great peril, fighting monsters in caves, or rizzing up a lass around the town. Characters are confronted constantly with life and death situations, the fragility of life, and their puny capacity to overcome situations of peril.

The most important characters in the show, goblins, act like a force of true evil that continuously endangers the life of our heroes. They are the driving force and have a well-thought-out design. They symbolize the adaptability of evil to inflict pain on humans. A simple enemy in any MMO, a force to be reckoned with in this anime.

Animation/World/Setting: 8/10 I think that this is self-explanatory from what I have said previously. They borrowed from amazing source material that is all MMORPGs from the good old days, and the animators adapted the world perfectly. The guild feels alive, the scenery draws you in, the art is neat, the girls are beautiful, the men are cool-looking Ichigos. Absolutely nothing to complain about. It's not mushuku tensei, but it's very good!

Music/OST/Openings/Endings: 6/10 Nothing too special in this department. The music achieves its intended purpose; it submerges you into a fantasy world and contributes to the illusion adequately. The OST is not The Witcher 3 or Uncharted 3, but it's Call of Duty—you never really notice its greatness, but for it to be good, you don't have to. Openings are over the top, and I personally did not like the songs in them or the endings.

Overall, 7.33, repeating, of course.

PS: Everyone who says this anime is dark and "too much" is right but slightly incorrect. The anime is not for people under 18, technically, because of blood and sexual abuse themes. However, if you're over 18, you've seen this a million times on television. However, I am biased since I think even Redo of Healer is an interesting exploration of sexual abuse and mental disorders, and I like when sex (+ its negative counterparts) is included in anime since it makes it more human and realistic on a completely different axis.

With the change of studio also came a change of direction and I really don't like it. The changes are overwhelmingly bad and some downright bizarre. Of course, what they were trying to accomplish with these changes became apparent almost immediately. They tried to turn Goblin slayer into a much less edgy, more generic and family friendly fantasy without realizing that those qualities were what made the first season good.

The first and most obvious change would be in the artstyle. Most of the character went through a completely unnecessary redesign. I don't think that a single character looks better, most are about on par and ... there are some real stinkers. By far the worst would be the Lizardman. His body looks fine, but what the hell did they do to his face? He looks like he got run ower by a road roller. Some of these changes even have unwanted character implications. Case in point, why the hell is Goblin slayers' armor so fucked up? In the first season, the armor had clearly seen some heavy use, but it was still in good shape. Does the preparation autist no longer care about his gear or what? The voice acting went through a similar change and, once again, some are more affected than others. Keep in mind that these are the same people who voiced the first season, so this clearly is a direction problem. The worst offender would be the Witch. In the first season she comes off as the femme fatale seductress, but now, because of her design getting severely nerfed and her voice actress completely toning it down, she comes of as mentally retarded since ... she ... still ... speaks ... slowly ... like ... this. The rest of the show doesn't fare better. The brutal violence and gore has been severely toned down and many of the edgier effects (like the famous glowing eye) don't get used nearly as often and when they do, they are nowhere near as cool as they used to be. The soundtrack is similarly disappointing. Both the opening and ending are complete ass. I am honestly shocked that Mili produced a song this boring. The rest of the soundtrack is fine and there were a few tracks I would consider to be above average, so it's not as bad as the rest of the presentation, but man, the opening really stings.

So what about the story? The second season continues with the episodic approach, covering three separate arcs. The first arc is about helping some newbies. In all honesty, this arc had some potential. Goblin slayer helping people (albeit indirectly) was a thing in the first season, so him taking a more hands-on approach could have worked. The wizard boy having a connection to the party and becoming a new member of the cast could have worked. Sadly, it doesn't. The Wizard boy is way too annoying and up his own ass to take him seriously. His connection also never gets revealed to him and fundamentally leads nowhere. The arc ends with some goblin slaying as is the tradition, and then the newbies fuck off to bother someone else. In short, this arc had some potential but it doesn't go anywhere with it. The other two arcs cover an elven wedding and a missing princess. Both of them are complete waste of time with little redeeming about them.

Another problem with season two would be the world in general. In the original, goblins were a weak but cunning race that mostly just killed farmers and beginner adventurers. The silver adventurers didn't fight them, not because they couldn't handle it, but because they simply didn't give a fuck. Goblin slayer wasn't some big shot adventurer who overwhelmed everything he fought with raw stats. He was in fact quite weak when compared to people of similar rank, and he mostly got by simply because he had his preparation down to a fetish-like level, and he fundamentally knew what he was doing. It wasn't exactly competence porn, but it was close. This, combined with the occasional thinking outside the box, made him really fun to watch. He also had his "Florida man too angry to die" moments, but there were relatively few of them and they were very much the exception. He was an intelligent but mentally broken /pol/tard who knows goblin on farmer crime statistics by heart and can't help himself but think about goblins every waking hour of his life. Now, even the first season wasn't exactly blameless here and the conga line of women who can't wait to get it on with a mentally deranged creep was a bit awkward at best. The second season pretty much completely gives up on this premise.

The goblins are now a nation-destroying threat that everyone ignores because they don't like being alive, I guess. This is by far the worst in the third arc when a princess gets abducted by goblins, and they hand this job to Goblin slayer. They try to explain why the army can't interfere (although very poorly), but it's not like they can't hire some higher-ranked adventurers. I mean, it's not like the king himself is a super ultra legendary turbo knight megalodon 3000, who could solo the entire thing in a minute or anything like that. What a shame. Goblin slayer has also gone through some changes. No longer the cunning professional, he has turned into the one stat checker to rule them all, putting old Aatrox and Sion to shame. Even the studio realized that this simply wasn't going to work, and so they attempted to give him some 200 IQ moments, but they were lacking at best and completely nonsensical at worst. I mean, I am not exactly a font of practical knowledge, but even I know that drinking alcohol to get warm during a blizzard would not only not make you warm, but seriously speed up your death. How that scene made it into the show is beyond me, but I guess it might be in character for the new Goblin slayer, since he had a personality change as well. No longer the anime version of Doomguy (or that chaos dude from Final Fantasy), the new goblin slayer could be described as a mentally unstable boy with a dark past from Tumbler. Of course, the ladies love this new version of him even more than the old one, with Sword maiden pretty much throwing herself on her knees and begging him to fuck her. It's bewildering.

In short, the second season of Goblin slayer has abandoned its own premise and did away with most of the more "problematic" parts of the story in order to appeal to a wider audience. This resulted in the season turning into a gray fantasy sludge with its only distinguishing feature being the name of a once beloved franchise. Not recommended.

To quote Goblin Slayer himself from this series: "Nothing changed. We accept a quest, head to the location, slay goblins, save any prisoners, and go home. That is everything. [...] This road doesn't end. It's neverending. [...] That's all there is."

I enjoyed the first season of this show, it had a lot of promise. However, everything in this season is filler, you could skip to the next season when it comes out and you probably wouldn't notice much difference. It isn't a spoiler to say so, because there is nothing to spoil. Whenever a new plot element is introduced, it is immediately resolved with no ... lasting consequences, usually not even through the work of the main cast.

We even had what was effectively a beach episode, AS WELL AS a bathhouse episode this season, further showing the author's complete bankruptcy of imagination. Having irrelevant minor details that no one cares about carry over between episodes is not a narrative through-line, it can't even really be called connective tissue, especially when it sets up nothing and leads nowhere (other than one good joke, even if the setup was very forcibly shoe-horned in and doesn't really make any sense to have been brought up in context).

The show's strengths at its peak were some aspects of the worldbuilding (the goblins in particular are great antagonists), as well as the creative combat tactics and well-done fight scenes. However, even these aspects of this season were mediocre compared to past instalments.

Most of the characters were always shallow, but had potential and could've been made into something more with actual development.

- I have more affection for Lizardman this season, whose weird sayings and philosophising are endearing.
- Goblin Slayer himself is generally quite intelligent and his struggles at socialising are somewhat compelling, even though he doesn't make any real progress beyond hinting that maybe he is starting to want something more than just killing goblins. Shocker.
- Priestess had (note the past tense) grown so much by the end of Season 1, yet here she is flanderised and forced to relearn what she already learned, and fails to develop further.
- Dwarf and Elf pretend to do the Legolas-Gimli thing as always, but they're just running through the motions without any substance behind it, and are basically there for their fight utility rather than bringing anything to the table as people.
- Musume the farmgirl redhead is very wholesome, but does nothing new.
- Blind Archbishop Chick is pathetically needy and loses what was left of her mystique, boiling her down to the sole character trait of "horny for the protagonist".

None of the other side characters have anything useful to contribute, and in many cases are just boring or annoying (especially the Mageboy Lemming who insists on being incredibly obnoxious) and therefore are a detriment to the show.

Oh, and of course, it's not just the Archbishop; all of the female characters take it in turns drooling over Goblin Slayer. I wouldn't mind if it was one, or two, or even three of them. But all of them? Really? It gets a bit much after a while, no other men exist in this show apparently. Nor does this infatuation cause any complications for them. There are no rivalries between them, no drama, no bad decisions, just a couple of pining monologues while they stare longingly at our favourite Goblinslaydalorian from afar.

And the goblins just follow them around everywhere, even when they leave their initial zone and travel to a distant land. There isn't any variety in enemy types, or really even in action scenes. It's just "wow, we stabbed and clubbed them goblins real good" for the umpteenth time, with occasional gimmicks that are a bit weaker than past instalments.

Shame. I hope the author gets their act together, because it's a waste of this show's potential to carry on like this.

Goblin Slayer 2 for the amount of time we had to wait for it... Could be better. There are parts of GS2 that I welcomed, but as a whole it wasn't all that engaging to follow, especially considering the OVA was pretty good and it was fun to watch.

Let's get it out the way with the better parts of the show. It does give is a lot of exposition, lots of worldbuilding and expands our (as a viewer) understanding and knowledge of the world. And it always shows how goblins are this menace that you have lurking in the background of the world never to ... leave it alone and where our band has to fix this issue time and time again while the majority choose to ignore it, until too late.
Sounds good and it brings some fun moments and a fresh perspective to the world, however it's not that fun as the pacing of the show is atrocious. It wastes simply too much time on camera pans, static shots and slow routine dialogues that don't have any deeper meaning.
Character development is barely present, besides the Priestess the rest are static throughout and considering we had S1 and OVA it makes not much sense in this regard. Same skills will be used, same weapons and tactics will be applied.
Is the MC any different? No, not really. While they had moments of him showing a difference in behavior and some reactions, generally speaking they are far in-between. He, again, doesn't really grow.

Are the fights themselves fun and interesting? Sadly they feel all the same, where there are barely any truly dangerous moments for the party, not really any new challenges or interesting solutions. We've seen it before. And while it might make sense that killing goblins is a routine, maybe we should have something more engaging to develop the party as well.

I wanted GS2 to actually progress us forward by any meaningful step, but it barely did. With a whole season there was an opportunity to do much more, but I guess this ends up being a budget issue. While not boring it was disappointing.

I am obsessed with this anime, and upset that I put it off for so long. If you love gore anime, but don’t enjoy this, I’m sorry but you have bad taste. 😂 This show is a masterpiece to me!

I love how raw this show it; the brutality, cruelty, and realism about what truly can happen in a war. The little bits of comedy are placed in the show just right, and every episode leaves me wanting more. Goblin Slayer sounds like he’s s simple, straightforward character such as only wanting to kill goblins, but there’s so much depth and complexity to his character, and ... the fact that he remains mysterious throughout the show, I find to be really intriguing. For once an anime isn’t focused on attractive MCs, but the story that is happening and how to love a character without knowing what they look like and fawning over them.

Each episode is exciting. I didn’t find it to be slow moving at all since S1E1. It feels like it’s so short because watching it makes time go by so quick because I’m engaged with the story appreciating every character and there’s some type of action happening in every episode. I’m loving the development of the party and excited to see them get stronger and getting to know new characters.

It’s everything that a gore anime should be. I recommend this to everyone including all my friends, but if you can’t handle sensitive topics like rape, torture.. it’s probably not for you.

This is just... boring. It's so watered down it feels almost like a soap opera.

Characters talk really slowly about very menial things. Every time they plan an attack on goblins, it's like they're going on the first quest of their lives - they're discussing the most basic strategies imaginable or pointing out things everyone should know already.

The priestess should be experienced at this point, but is clumsy. Can only cast like 2 spells.
The elf brings a bow to a cramped area and complains that the fights are close quarters. Why not practice using daggers?

Seriously, one of my biggest complaints is that magic is trash. You ... have an old mage capable of only casting like 4 spells before they're tired. The priestess can only cast "light" twice or so. How is magic not obsolete in favor of carrying a bunch of magic scrolls or gunpowder or something?

Story-wise, everything seems to very slowly build up to "Bam! Goblin Slayer's here out of nowhere to wreak havoc against the goblins" in every arc. Everything else feels like filler for that purpose. It never lives up to the reveal in Episode 1 of the first season.

And once they end up in a battle, they fight for like 10 seconds, then stop to talk for a minute while the horde of goblins waits. Also, the goblins themselves, despite being shown to be very cunning, are extremely stupid in battle. They simply run towards the adventurers pretty much one at a time. They're hardly ever shown to surround the party and *not wait for them to finish talking*. They only attack in groups when the story seems to need "something dangerous" to be happening.

There are lots of these details that just make this a very tedious anime to watch.

Here is my review of this anime in 2023!

Story (9)
The story is about the continuation of the first season where they are still taking a quest related to the goblin. In the middle of the story, there are several new characters that are involved in the quest. Not only that, they also found a new dungeon where it might be the base camp of goblins.

Art (9)
The art in this anime is excellence! I like the color, glow, and shadow they used for this anime. The animation style is the same as the first season. I love the last episode where there is a huge ... magic being cast.

Sound (9)
All the sounds that they used were suitable and adjusted to the animation.

Character (9)
The main and supporter characters are very memorable since they have their unique personality.

Enjoyment (9)
It's delightful to watch this movie in 2023.

Overall (9)
It's recommended to those who love adventure, action, and fantasy anime!

Goblin Slayer II doesn’t really have much of an interesting story to tell.
That's mainly because season 1 already did a good job at telling what needed to be told. And things were wrapped up pretty nicely.

They pad out the story of season 2 by focusing on things that aren't really that interesting.
Like the priestess wanting to go up in rank. Or some new brat who wants to kill goblins but dislikes the Goblin Slayer. Or attending the wedding of some elf.
Its just a bunch of different plots... featuring the Goblin Slayer.

Season 2 is much more generic and watered down. It adds absolutely nothing ... to the overall story.
Its not bad by any means. But doesn’t need to exist.
Even the climax is just whatever.

This season of Goblin Slayer was about what I expected – a series of adventures centered around killing goblins. It feels like you’re watching a D&D campaign, but with only the good parts shown.

There was some more focus on certain characters and their hopes, dreams, fears and so on this season. It was an alright change of pace. That said, each character is still as stereotypical as before and I don’t mean that in a bad way. It’s just that to make the series work everyone has a very strong, somewhat simple, identity. Again – not too dissimilar to how some people roleplay their ... characters.

I was surprised at how much the gore was toned down. For some viewers that might be an issue, for me it’s just a neutral observation. This was in general a less dark and violent season. In fact, there was less action overall, but I found the content and storylines engaging nonetheless.

The moments I enjoyed watching the most were when Goblin Slayer makes a battleplan and they execute it to achieve victory (with a few hiccups here and there). These situations are tense and the tactics used to defeat their foes are quite clever.

I do hope there will be another season.

"Good to be back, finally we can sit down together again and- where the heck is Fate!?"

"Dude isn't here, said that we were making too many jokes last time. *Chance immitates Fates voice* This was supposed to be a dark fantasy world!"

"Hahaha. Guy just can't catch a break. Anyways, I wanna be the Lizard Priest, same as last time. Does Goblin Slayer still have that silly trait of rolling snake eyes doing the most damage?"

"Does the pope **** in the woods? That's why I'm the leader of the party!"

"Didn't you say you wanted to give Priestess a chance too?"

"Did I? Wouldn't that be a ... bit out of character?"

"Haha, cut it out guys. Me and High Elf Archer will lead the crew this time."

"Stop arguing yall, grab your notes and get this thing on the road!"

The first series of Goblin Slayer was pretty good on the whole but even here there were elements of all the female characters being in love with the MC. But in the second series, it's been almost every episode. If this anime was just a fantasy anime about killing goblins, revenge, and similar fantasy elements, it would be much better. Goblin Slayer, for me, is one of those anime that you have to be ashamed of in front of people who don't watch anime for the exact reason that it's full of half-naked girls.
The animations are pretty okay but even the dialogues of the characters ... are not much. Most of the dialogues are like AI generated and overall each episode looks pretty weak.