'Goblin Slayer'

My manga library has been limited in the past few years with me not venturing too far from the tried and tested selection I like. I tend to stick to the likes of Berserk and Battle Vixens to get my fix. They offer the right amount of sex, violence and quality artwork expected of a manga. The Japanese don't pull their punches when it comes to the brutality of reality in their comics which is the same for the above books. If someone gets killed in a nasty fashion, you're going to see it in every panel. While Western comics steer relatively clear of the more grotesque crimes; the Japanese tend to embrace it. Which brings me to the subject of my interest for today which the infamous manga Goblin Slayer.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Japanese animation/art, manga is a comic variation of a series while anime is its animated counterpart. I was embarrassingly corrected a few years ago when a friend of mine stated, "One does not watch a manga good fellow."

That said most manga gets made into an anime as a way to sell more books so, the confusion is forgivable. I stumbled across Goblin Slayer when someone in one of the various Facebook groups stated they were going to read it. Curious, I went over to the Manga Rock website and over a month read the initial series from start to finish.

A Hero in a Dark World

I was enjoying it so much that I was disappointed when I reached the last issue. Luckily for me the initial series is still ongoing, so I eagerly await the next book's release. The story follows an adventurer known only as the Goblin Slayer who was orphaned from a young age due to a goblin attack on his village. During said attack he watched his legal guardian get raped and killed with other villagers. Clearly mentally scarred from the experience he gains the necessary training to become an adventurer. He's not just any adventurer though. He becomes a specialist in slaying goblins. The people in this graphic novel tend to underestimate the intelligence of the goblins and often face a gruesome fate. The army in this medieval world won't even go near goblins as a result. Even amongst adventurers goblin quests are considered the worst because of hassle and low pay. Goblin Slayer being the hero that he is does the jobs anyway despite their low income. He's a bit of an odd ball and his obsession with goblins is a bit unnerving. Yet he displays the characteristics of a true hero, always putting others before himself. The artwork of this manga is pretty decent and the story uses all your favourite fantasy stereotypes. This is both clever and annoying as no one has a real name in the story. Characters go by titles such as Guild Receptionist and Cow Girl which makes it hard to relate to them. I'm hoping this might change as the story continues and the manga becomes more popular.

R Rated!

While I did enjoy reading this manga, it did get nasty at times. For a story that's based around fantasy stereotypes there is a lot of rape throughout. Another puzzling thing is it's mainly done by the goblins. I didn't even know goblins did that type of thing?

Luckily it was toned down for the anime, but not so much for the manga. The first issue of this series is both the most entertaining and brutal entry as we see a group of young adventurers venture into a goblin nest. It's a male warrior, a female warrior, a witch and a priestess who have a major wake up call. Clearly skilled, but arrogant they underestimate the goblins to have one of the most awful fates throughout the books. This initial issue sets the tone for the rest of the series which slap stick tone is brought to life with its brutality. Luckily for some of these adventurers Goblin Slayer comes in time to save them. He carries around a Judge Dredd mystique around him as you never truly see his face. Yet unlike Dredd he's much more heroic and is driven by protecting people. He eventually gets an adventure group of his own which consists of an elf, a lizard man, a dwarf and a priestess. It's entertaining stuff but the reality of it might make people's stomachs turn at times. When Goblin Slayer has to kill the baby goblins as a result of their attacks that was enough to put me off my next meal. I give this manga a three out of five; entertaining but some concepts are stupid and the brutality might be a bit much for some.