Most people seem to be doing this
So I guess I’ll try it.
Goblin Slayer.
By now, people have been hearing the complaints and/or seeing various youtube videos/posts defending it or saying why it’s the worst thing ever.
Yeah, I don’t think anyone was expecting the first episode of what looked to be a stock shonen/harem anime give them what Goblin Slayer gave them.
In Japan, this show is aired late at night with content warning. Those in the Land of the Rising Sun know it’s not for kids and know it’s mature- right now, the western fandom is the one who’s freaking out because the show had a PG rating by accident.
I think that that is one of the biggest reasons for detractors: the fact that when CrunchyRoll put it out, they (accidentally? I’m going to assume this was an accident) gave it a PG rating rather than M, R, or NC-17. So when people watched it, they thought it was going to be a regular shonen.
Until that scene.
You know the one.
It’s the one that people have been using for justification for wanting this anime series- only one episode long- to die slowly and painfully in a fire.
But even detracting the “PG” rating from that… what happened there isn’t anything that anime hasn’t done.
Berserk has shown far more of this- more explicitly- and gone on for far longer yet it hasn’t been as harshly decried as Goblin Slayer’s one episode. Psycho Pass’s first episode has on-screen rape. Akame Ga Kill has a mother and young daughter suffer this together and then be brutally murdered. Revolutionary Girl Utena features statutory rape in first-person. SWORD ART ONLINE has the female protagonist molested on-screen in the second arc.
Yes, whoever gave Goblin Slayer a PG rating made a huge mistake. Yes, the scene in question was upsetting and to anyone who was traumatized (by this or something that happened in your past), you have my sincere condolences and empathy. Yes, you probably went into it expecting a typical series.
But just like other anime titles (Revolutionary Girl Utena, Gundam, HunterxHunter, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Madoka Magica), your expectations were subverted as the real intent of the story was shown.
And as for the people who are saying that scene was done in a sensual manner…
NO IT WASN’T.
I will never condone or defend rape or any other form of sexual assault/abuse. It is a horrific, vile thing that only the most twisted, cruel creatures would attempt- which the goblins are so clearly established.
It’s a scene clearly conveying horror, helplessness and disgust- there is nothing in that scene that’s played for fanservice. It’s to show that the goblins, the antagonists, are utter scumbags who deserve to die slowly and painfully in a fire- a fate that the epitomes Goblin Slayer is happy to give them.
And that is what the series is about. It’s in the title. It’s the name of the main character.
GOBLIN SLAYER.
The first episode was there to establish the tone of Goblin Slayer- this isn’t a typical stock shonen, this isn’t a light-hearted adventure, or a disguised harem (one dude and three girls? The light novel flat-out says set-ups like that are under suspicion on the guy’s character and intentions). This is about one man’s journey to rid the world of the most foul and disgusting creatures that world houses, going about it as an RPG (Which, spoilers, it technically is)
As someone who’s already read the manga and knows what’s going to be coming up, I don’t want to miss the story that’s going to be animated. I know the first episode was there to establish the tone of the series, the goblins being utter bastards and what happens if you don’t take the lowest-tier monsters seriously.
And if you don’t like the show, then don’t watch it.
No one is making you.
