Sword Maiden’s Former Party

Goblin Slayer II Episode 9 starts off with a flashback of Sword Maiden’s party. This was pretty interesting to see. But, I have a few complaints about it. The first and biggest complaint is that a grainy filter was placed over this whole section.

I get that the point of this filter was to make it obvious that this was a flashback. But, there are so many better ways to do that. Why not just add a date or text that says something like “10 years ago” in the corner at the start of the scene?

There was no need to make the whole scene look like garbage to tell us it was a flashback. I’m not going to call it “lazy,” since my solutions are arguably even easier to implement. But, I’m going to say that this was the wrong artistic choice.

The other complaint I have isn’t so much a complaint as a want. I wanted to see more of this party. I know there’s a spin-off light novel that covers it. But, why couldn’t we have this entire episode dedicated to Sword Maiden’s former party? They and their adventure seem pretty cool.

Also, as far as I know, we were never given the “names” of Sword Maiden’s party members in the anime. But, since they exist, we can assume their names were revealed by this point in the manga. And, with that assumption in place, allow me to reveal them here.

Obviously, we know Sword Maiden was a member of this gold-ranked party. But, she wasn’t the leader. That’s Captain, the samurai guy. There’s also Half-Elf Scout, Female Wizard, Female Warrior, and Myrmidon Monk. I have no idea if these other party members are still adventurers or even still alive.

Escorting Sword Maiden to the Capital

Back in my review of Episode 5, I said I wanted this series to give us a map of the region. Maps are pretty important in fantasy series. They let us get a better understanding of where locations are in respect to each other.

Without a map, I have no idea where Water Town is in relation to Cow Girl’s farm. I don’t know how far away the Elves’ Domain is from the Capital. And where is the fortress from Goblin’s Crown? A map would make it easier to follow Goblin Slayer’s adventure.

Well, Episode 9 finally gave us the map I’ve been asking for. And, much to my dismay, it’s so low-resolution that we can’t really make out anything on it. We know there’s a small town between Water Town and the Capital. That’s about all the info we got.

Anyway, Sword Maiden hires Goblin Slayer’s party to escort her to the Capital. She does this because there have been goblin attacks along the route. So, who better to protect her from goblins than Goblin Slayer? But, to be honest, I didn’t believe her at first.

I thought Sword Maiden was just saying there were goblins so that Goblin Slayer would take the job. I forgot that she’s genuinely terrified of goblins and not only in love with Goblin Slayer. But, that makes complete sense when you consider what she’s gone through.

Does this mean that the goblins were the only reason Sword Maiden hired Goblin Slayer, though? Or, is there a bigger threat she hopes Goblin Slayer will help take down? As we know, she deciphered the ancient tablet Goblin Slayer’s party found. And, as far as I know, Hero’s party is investigating that lead right now.

The Black Hand Goblins

The most interesting thing to come out of Episode 9 is the “black hand” goblins. Not much is known about this group of goblins. But, let’s go over the things we do know.

First, these goblins all have a black tattoo on their back that resembles a hand. I say “resembles” a hand because Goblin Slayer points out that it might not be a hand. It certainly looks like one. However, calling it a hand could be an oversimplification.

Sure, it might end up literally being a handprint. But, what does it mean? That’s the important part. Why is this the symbol of this particular group of goblins? And why do they even have a symbol, to begin with? These are the things Goblin Slayer is thinking about.

Something else we “know” about these goblins is that they don’t have a nest. Though, I’m not convinced that’s actually the case. The goblins killed by Goblin Slayer’s party only had the remains of a few people in their stomachs. And, the implication here is that the other people they attacked are being held somewhere.

Are they with a larger group of roaming black hand goblins? Or, are the black hand goblins keeping them in their nest somewhere? For now, we don’t know. But, I assume they have a nest — or, at least a home base — somewhere. These goblins seem to be part of a larger organization.

There’s been a lot of weird stuff happening lately. There were the goblins attacking boats along the river. There were goblins controlling Mokele Mubenbe. And the gillmen said that someone was controlling the sea serpent. This is probably all related to the tablet’s prophecy that Sword Maiden deciphered.

Final Thoughts

What do you think of Goblin Slayer II Episode 9? Do you want to see more of Sword Maiden’s old party? Did you believe Sword Maiden when she said the escort quest involved goblins? And, what do you think the significance of the black hand is? Let me know in the comments.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to share it with everyone you know. Also, follow me on your social media of choice so you don’t miss out on any future articles — links are in the footer.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman and JasonHK for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about supporting this blog, check out DoubleSama.com/support.

Defeating the Goblin Shaman

Goblin Slayer II Episode 8 was probably the weakest episode of the season, so far. There were a few interesting bits. But, for the most part, it didn’t have much substance. Also, while some of my easy predictions came true, the others did not.

To start off, what did I get right? Well, I said that there was going to be a goblin shaman, and there was. That was a pretty simple prediction, though. And, unfortunately, a goblin shaman was all there was. There was no champion, lord, or anything more powerful.

The good news is that even though it was only a shaman, Goblin Slayer’s party still had some trouble. They were almost defeated by the shaman’s spell. But, they weren’t. And to make matters worse, all those death flags for Goblin Slayer in Episode 7 were for nothing.

Now, of course, Goblin Slayer wasn’t going to die here. But, as I mentioned in the previous review, something could have happened to him. He could have been captured by the goblins and his whereabouts unknown. We would know he’s still alive. But, his party, Cow Girl, and Guild Girl wouldn’t have.

When the shaman used his dark mist spell, I assumed this was where things were heading. The party would be split up and wouldn’t know what happened to each other. But, no. Instead, Priestess uses a miracle and saves the day. That was way less interesting. However, it wasn’t all bad.

Priestess’s miracle was one of the few intriguing parts of the episode. Usually, her miracles are defensive. But, this time, she purified the blood of the shaman, killing it in the process. And, the fact that her miracle led to a death seems to have shaken Priestess’s belief in the goddess.

The Hero in the Underworld

I feel like it’s been a while since we last saw Hero. Is this her first appearance in Season 2? I don’t remember. But, we don’t get to see her very much since the story isn’t about her.

However, something we should keep in mind is that Hero is the “protagonist” of this world, not Goblin Slayer. Goblin Slayer is the protagonist of the story we’re watching. But, he’s a supporting character in the grand scheme of the world. He’s not the one who’s going to save the world and he’s not the center of it. Hero is.

Goblin Slayer being a supporting character is something I like, though. It gets boring when the main character of every fantasy anime is the one who’s going to save the world. Goblin Slayer highlights the minor characters who do their own little parts.

So, why am I bringing all of this up? Currently, Hero is fighting her way through the underworld. She’s there thanks to the stone tablet Goblin Slayer found. After his party found the tablet, Sword Maiden deciphered it and Hero acted upon its prophecy. That’s a perfect example of Goblin Slayer’s role in the world.

Also, it appears that the underworld is literally under the world of the living. It’s not some other dimension. After Goblin Slayer’s party damaged the dam on the surface, Sage comments on the change in the water. And, Hero responds by saying other adventurers must have done something above them.

Again, this shows how Goblin Slayer’s actions affect the world at large. But, he’s still not the main focus of the world. His actions only serve to help Hero along on her journey. And, he doesn’t even realize it. Though, I doubt he’d care anyway.

Elven Weddings

Personally, I would have liked to spend more time in the structure the goblins turned into their base. But, instead, Goblin Slayer and his party returned to the elven city for the wedding. And, hopefully, most of you agree that the wedding isn’t interesting content.

I’m not saying that Goblin Slayer & co. had to miss the wedding or anything. But, couldn’t we have pushed that back until a later episode? We still don’t know very much about the structure in the jungle or why the goblins were using it.

Was the goblins’ presence connected to the prophecy? It sure seems like it. But, we don’t have confirmation that that’s the case. It could have been a coincidence that the goblins decided to set up shop there. And, it’s not like everything at the structure is resolved. Goblin Slayer even says the elves will have to go back and clean up.

I understand why the wedding scene is in the series. It’s one of those scenes that’s there to break up the action and give the characters a bit more depth. I previously discussed this in terms of fan service in my review of Episode 6.

But, again, I don’t think the content of this episode or arc at large warranted a break. There hasn’t been very much action. They fought a dinosaur that didn’t take much to bring down. Then, they fought some goblins like they always do. And finally, they took down a shaman.

Considering how recent the previous break in action was, the wedding came too soon. But, if there’s one thing the wedding (existing) gave us, it’s a new character ship. 1,000 years from now, High Elf Archer and Lizardman (then Dragon) Priest are going to get married.

Final Thoughts

What do you think about Goblin Slayer II Episode 8? Were you hoping there would be more than a goblin shaman waiting for Goblin Slayer’s party? Do you expect Goblin Slayer and Hero to ever team up? And, how do you feel about the wedding scene being included in this episode? Let me know in the comments.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to share it with everyone you know. Also, follow me on your social media of choice so you don’t miss out on any future articles — links are in the footer.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman and JasonHK for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about supporting this blog, check out DoubleSama.com/support.

My review of Episode 9 is available now.

Mokele Mubenbe

Goblin Slayer II Episode 7 didn’t have as much to do with The One That Stops the Waters as I expected. But, I believe we did get some new information about it. As far as I remember, its true name, Mokele Mubenbe, wasn’t revealed in Episode 6.

But, even if the name was previously revealed, I’m going to discuss it now. But, why does this name matter, in the first place? Mokele Mubenbe (Mokele-mbembe) is a cryptid from the Congo River basin in Africa. A cryptid is a legendary creature for which there’s no physical evidence.

Basically, the Mokele Mubenbe is central Africa’s version of the Loch Ness Monster. People believe the Loch Ness Monster is a Plesiosaur that’s somehow still alive. And, people believe Mokele Mubenbe is a sauropod that’s somehow still alive. I’m sorry to break it to everyone, but neither of those is true.

So, as I mentioned, there wasn’t as much Mokele Mubenbe content in this episode as I expected. It seems like Mokele Mubenbe itself isn’t necessarily important to the story. However, it’s the second piece of evidence we have that ties the domain of the elves to the African continent.

Back in Episode 5, High Elf Archer was trying to explain to Goblin Slayer what an elephant is.

The elves’ domain being the equivalent of Africa is pretty cool and unique. I can’t think of another fantasy series that does that. Usually, elven domains are forested locations, but not African jungles.

Now, I’m curious to see if there are going to be other references to Africa. Could the giant structure the goblins are using be a reference of some kind? What about whatever they’re trying to do by releasing blood into the river? Is that based on folklore?

Every Day Might Be Your Last

There was a lot of talk about every day possibly being Goblin Slayer’s last in Episode 7. Were these death flags? Is someone (obviously not Goblin Slayer) going to die in this arc? I doubt it.

This first came up when High Elf Archer was talking to her sister. Her sister was reminding her that her comrades will die long before she does. But, High Elf Archer isn’t worried about this. She knows that she’ll continue to live long after her friends are gone. And she wants to be with them while she can.

As adventurers, they could die any time they go out on a quest. So, her friends dying before her isn’t something High Elf Archer worries about. It’s something that all adventurers have to come to terms with. And, as we’ve seen in this series, they usually have to face it very early on.

Cow Girl also comments on the dangers of being an adventurer in this episode. She tells Guild Girl that she always makes sure to see Goblin Slayer off when he heads out. And the reason she does that is because there’s always a chance he won’t return alive.

Oh, and Goblin Slayer and High Elf Archer’s cousin discuss death, as well. High Elf Archer’s cousin asks Goblin Slayer to look out for her. And Goblin Slayer asks him to look out for Cow Girl and Guild Girl if anything happens to him.

So, what was the point of all these apparent death flags? It seems clear that something’s going to go wrong. And the party may even return without Goblin Slayer. But, of course, he’s not going to die. We’ll have to wait and see what happens and how he manages to escape from it.

Goblin Shaman, Or Something More?

In my review of Episode 6, I explained why I thought a goblin shaman might be around. The goblins in this region appeared more advanced than your typical goblins. And, we know this tends to be the result of them having a leader.

A goblin shaman is the leader that makes the most sense. From what we’ve seen, shamans are more common than champions, lords, and paladins. Champions are like goblin heroes. The goblin leader at the end of Season 1 was a lord. And the leader in Goblin’s Crown was a paladin.

Previously, my only evidence for the existence of a goblin shaman here was technology. We’ve seen before that when a shaman exists, goblins are able to use more advanced technology. And, the goblins in this region are doing just that. They’ve even (crudely) copied the elves’ arrows.

Now, however, we have even more evidence pointing toward the existence of a shaman. Within the structure in the jungle, there’s evidence of a ritual. The goblins have been killing people and draining their blood into the river. Killing people is one thing. But, how they’re doing it and the draining of the blood isn’t normal.

Goblin Slayer points out that this could be a form of biological warfare. But, Lizardman Priest also says that this might be evidence of a curse of some kind. If true, that would definitely point toward a shaman being involved.

There’s one thing missing from this scene, though. We don’t see any idols within the sacrifice room. I forget the god/goddess the goblin shamans worship. But, they usually have idols or other religious symbols around. We didn’t see any of that. And that leads me to believe there’s something more dangerous than a shaman around.

Final Thoughts

What do you think about Goblin Slayer II Episode 7? Did you know what Mokele Mubenbe was referencing before I explained it? What do you think the death flags in this episode are setting up? And, what sort of leader do you think is behind the goblins’ movements in the elves’ domain? Let me know in the comments.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to share it with everyone you know. Also, follow me on your social media of choice so you don’t miss out on any future articles — links are in the footer.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman and JasonHK for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about supporting this blog, check out DoubleSama.com/support.

My review of Episode 8 is available now.

Goblins on the River

Goblin Slayer II Episode 6 did the unthinkable. It included fan service. But, I’ll get to that in the next section of this review. First, I want to go over the attack on Goblin Slayer’s raft by the goblins along the cliffs.

This was a pretty unusual attack for a few reasons. But, the first is that it happened so close to the elves’ domain. It’s assumed that the elves don’t worry about the goblins very much. So, that could explain why they didn’t do anything about them. However, that doesn’t make too much sense.

From what we saw, the river is one of the primary ways to get to the elves’ domain. And based on the number of boats the goblins sank along the river, it seems pretty popular. So, why would the elves allow this blockade to stay in place?

My initial assumption was that not many outsiders go there. But, again, the number of boats the goblins sank on the river seems to dispute this. And if there was regular trade between the elves and the capital, this would be a major disruption.

Another reason for this attack being unusual are the methods used by the goblins. They’re using copies of elven arrows and they built a dam. Since they’re using technology like this, to me, that implies they have a leader, like a goblin shaman. And, we see there are a lot of goblin riders, which also implies their nest is quite large.

I know High Elf Archer’s cousin claimed to have wiped out the goblins Goblin Slayer’s party missed. But, I have a feeling that’s not true. He might have killed the goblins he could find. But, my guess is that there’s more work for Goblin Slayer to do.

Fan Service Time!

Okay, so, in my review of Episode 5, I was going back and forth over whether or not this arc would include fan service. At first, I thought it would because of the addition of Cow Girl and Guild Girl.

But then, I thought that there might not be fan service. Maybe the point of including these two is that Goblin Slayer and his party will have to protect them. After all, we know that women are prime targets for goblins. So, their inclusion in the arc would raise the stakes.

Ultimately, both reasons for including Cow Girl and Guild Girl may be true. But, we now know for certain that the fan service reason was true. And, I’m not mad about that at all. I know some people hate any and all fan service. However, I think there’s a time and place for it.

So, what isn’t the time and place for fan service? Well, look at how Fire Force uses Tamaki. We’ll be in the middle of a serious battle, and her clothes will somehow fall off. That’s the worst time to use fan service because it detracts from the main focus of the scene.

The fan service scene in this episode of Goblin Slayer wasn’t in the middle of the action. Instead, it was used to separate the action from the next part of the episode. And, seeing the party in a situation like this reminds us that they’re not slaying goblins 24/7.

But, it’s still worth asking, is there ever a time and place for fan service in a series like Goblin Slayer? It’s dark, violent, and features sex crimes. So, I can understand not everyone being comfortable with sexualizing the female characters.

The Elven King’s Forest

In the final part of the episode, Goblin Slayer’s party makes it to the main city within the elve’s domain. I’m not all that interested in this city. It’s pretty standard for an elven city in fantasy series with big tries converted into homes.

Something I’m more interested in is whether or not we’ll get “names” for High Elf Archer’s family members. Am I going to have to keep referring to High Elf Archer’s sister and cousin? Or, are they going to formally be called the High Elf Princess and Prince?

Sure, I could call them that anyway. But, they seem like important enough characters that they’d get names. Even if we never see them again after this arc, they’re still important. And, based on the title of Episode 6, I’m assuming Elven King is going to be the “name” of the king, High Elf Archer’s father.

And, of course, I can’t finish this review without talking about the “elephant” in the room. I was actually surprised that High Elf Archer’s description of an elephant came up again. But, I guess Goblin Slayer isn’t only good at slaying goblins. He also has impeccable comedic timing.

So, what is the beast that attacks the Elven King’s forest at the end of Episode 6? The elves call it The One That Stops the Waters. And, according to High Elf Archer’s cousin, it’s been coming closer to the city recently. Though, High Elf Archer wasn’t sure if it existed at all.

From its appearance, it’s a dinosaur. Specifically, it’s some kind of sauropod. And, the fact that it’s a dinosaur may be important. After all, Lizardman Priest prays Bao Long from the Cretaceous period. Could this dinosaur be that very same god?

Final Thoughts

What do you think of Goblin Slayer II Episode 6? Do you think there’s something more going on with the goblins that attacked boats along the river? Who do you think looked best in their bikini, Priestess, High Elf Archer, Cow Girl, or Guild Girl? And, are The One That Stops the Waters and Bao Long one and the same?

If you enjoyed this review, remember to share it with everyone you know. Also, follow me on your social media of choice so you don’t miss out on any future articles — links are in the footer.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman and JasonHK for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about supporting this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

My review of Episode 7 is available now.

High Elf Archer’s (Sister’s) Wedding

Goblin Slayer II Episode 5 didn’t exactly go in the direction I was expecting. Right at the start, High Elf Archer started talking about it being time to get married. And, like the rest of her party, I assumed she was talking about her own marriage.

But, that wasn’t even the most unexpected part of the episode. The most unexpected part was how, because of the wedding, it almost turned into a filler episode. It wasn’t a filler episode. But, it felt like it was going down that path.

High Elf Archer temporarily leaving the party to attend the wedding, would be one thing. Even if she brought along the rest of the party, that’s fine. But, where it started feeling like filler was when other characters were invited. Why are Guild Girl and Cow Girl tagging along?

Obviously, the in-universe reason is that Guild Girl and Cow Girl are High Elf Archer’s friends. That makes sense. But, I’m looking at this from an anime perspective. So, why would these additional female characters be going? Because we’re about to get some fan service filler.

Now, after finishing the episode, that seems unlikely. There may be some fan service. But, I highly doubt we’re going to get fan service filler like a beach episode. So, I’m waiting to see what Guild Girl and Cow Girl bring to this next arc. They must be more than eye candy, right?

Well, let’s remember what series we’re watching. This is Goblin Slayer. And if there’s one thing you should know about goblins, it’s that they like women. That may be the real reason for why these two are in this arc. Their presence adds complexity because Goblin Slayer will need to protect them.

Returning to Water Town

Goblin Slayer’s expanded party heads south toward High Elf Archer’s homeland. And on their journey, they pass through Water Town. This is where Sword Maiden lives. And, it’s been a year since Goblin Slayer’s party was last here.

I’m not sure if this series has ever given us a map of the region. But, I really found myself wanting one in this episode. All we know is that the domain of the elves is to the south and that there’s a river that flows in that direction.

Personally, I’d like to see where Water Town sits in comparison to other locations. A good map can go a long way in making a fantasy world feel real. And right now, we’re missing that. We don’t actually know if Water Town was on the way or if they had to go off-course to stop there.

Was the party always going to be passing through Water Town? Or, did they decide to go out of their way after finding the stone tablets in the church? Also, speaking of the stone tablets, I hope we eventually learn what’s written on them.

The fact that they were stored in a church doesn’t mean too much. it looked like the church was housing a lot of documents. But, these were much older than the others and written in an ancient script. Even if the text on them isn’t applicable to Goblin Slayer’s story, it can be a cool world-building tool.

It might turn out that these tablets foretell the revival of the demon lord. And if that’s the case, that information could be passed on to Hero who will do something about it. That would all be in the background. But, it brings the world to life.

Heading South Along the River

Did you notice the title of Episode 5? It’s “Beard-cutter, to the Southern River.” That refers to Goblin Slayer traveling to a river in the south, which is what happens. But, what’s interesting is the use of the name “Beard-cutter.”

Beard-cutter is the name the dwarves use for Goblin Slayer. However, this episode didn’t have anything to do with dwarves. Elves were arguably the more important race in this episode. After all, Goblin Slayer’s party is heading south to a wedding in the elves’ domain. So, why not use the name Orcbolg in the title?

I don’t have an answer to that, in case you were looking for one. It’s just something I found interesting. Going into the episode, based on the title, I thought it would have something to do with Dwarf Shaman. But, that turned out not to be the case.

Anyway, Goblin Slayer’s party decides to take a raft down the river to get to the elves’ domain. This was likely the easiest way to travel in that direction. But, there’s also another implied reason for choosing this mode of transportation.

Sword Maiden told Goblin Slayer about boats being deliberately sunk along the river. Since this is Goblin Slayer we’re talking about, he assumes goblins must be to blame. And, also since this is Goblin Slayer we’re talking about, he’s not going to leave those goblins alone. If he suspects goblins are afoot, he’s going to slay them.

So, one reason for traveling down the river by raft appears to be to use the raft as bait. Goblin Slayer knows there’s a good chance that the raft is attacked. And then he can deal with whoever’s responsible. Considering the series, it’s most likely going to be goblins.

Final Thoughts

What do you think of Goblin Slayer II Episode 5? Did you think High Elf Archer was the one getting married? Are you expecting increased fan service in this arc due to Guild Girl and Cow Girl? And, who do you think is behind the sinking of the boats on the river? Let me know in the comments.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to share it with everyone you know. Also, follow me on your social media of choice so you don’t miss out on any future articles — links are in the footer.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman and JasonHK for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about supporting this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

My review of Episode 6 is available now.