Starting life as a series of light novels by author Kumo Kagyu (with illustrations by Noboru Kannatuki) Yen Press has picked up the license to the manga by Kōsuke Kurose for release in the West, though another manga adaptation by Masahiro Ikeno is also running in Monthly Big Gangan Magazine alongside this one. The series has proven to be popular in native Japan, with a prequel series in Young Gangan Magazine and an anime adaptation this year.
It has to be said that I'm not typically a fan of violent manga or anime, especially when it comes to violence against women. But often-times I'll pick up a mange from the shelf on a whim, and despite the explicit content warning on the front of the book I thought "this looks interesting". I really should have paid more attention to that warning...
Goblin Slayer is less Fairy Tale and more Berserk, with some extreme violence, explicit rape and a lot of death. If someone had to design a manga that wasn't "my thing" then this, dear reader, is the blueprint. In volume one we see a party of youngsters unwisely elect to enter a goblin cave - backstory is given for each of the team as students gaining their skills and signature weapons and the atmosphere is pretty jocular for the most part. And then the attack comes, and bloody hell, it's... well, it's a bloody hell!
I won't go into detail, but things go badly, and it's only due to the intervention of the hyper-violent Goblin Slayer himself that anyone makes it out at all. The deaths are extremely graphic, and the nature of the deaths, which include rape, may prove upsetting to those with a softer side, so I'd recommend caution before jumping into this one.
All this said, if you like graphic fantasy violence, there is much to commend in the book. Kōsuke Kurose's artwork is absolutely sublime - detailed, kinetic and richly toned, there's certainly no lack of graphical quality to the pages within. Likewise the story, whilst full of cheesecake imagery, is certainly no less graphic than Game of Thrones, which is a title that kept coming to mind when thinking of the overall tone. It's a book with precious little mercy, that takes delight in making the characters suffer (some of the character fates are mirrored in Martin's novels) but with an underlying narrative that can make a character as faceless and violent as Goblin Slayer almost likeable. No mean feat.
Where the book makes an odd choice is in the lack of names it provides for characters. Every character is pretty much only referred to as "Priestess" or "High Elf Archer", and no names are ever uttered. I'm sure it's an artistic choice, but it creates an odd disconnect between the reader and the protagonists.
I'm in two minds here. On the one hand, I think if the manga could tone down the violence I'd find it much more palatable, but equally that'd be betraying the style it has created for itself. I'm glad to have experienced something so visceral and raw, but unfortunately I may be too squeamish to continue on the journey. I stuck with Berserk for about 15 volumes before I had to quit - I may make volume 2 here, but I'm not sure my stomach will tolerate much more.
Time will tell on my next visit to Travelling Man as to whether or not I dare go any further...
Goblin Slayer is released by Yen Press. This volume was purchased by the author.
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