Goblin Slayer


Goblin Slayer is a Japanese dark fantasy light novel series written by Kumo Kagyu and illustrated by Noboru Kannatsuki. A manga adaptation by Kōsuke Kurose is serialized in the Monthly Big Gangan magazine, and a second adaptation by Masahiro Ikeno runs in the same magazine. A prequel manga by Kento Eida runs in Young Gangan. Both the novels and the manga adaptations have been licensed by North American publisher Yen Press. Three audio drama CDs have been released, bundled with the fourth, sixth, seventh, and eighth light novels. An anime television series adaptation by White Fox aired from October 7 to December 30, 2018. An anime film titled Goblin Slayer: Goblin's Crown premiered on February 1, 2020.

History

Goblin Slayer was posted on an online textboard starting from October 2012, as a work that combined ASCII art with dialogue. The series was then rewritten into the format of a novel and submitted to competitions organized by publishers. As such, the novel version was completed before the online version. The novel was subsequently amended to match the ending of the online version, which was created according to real time feedback from users on the internet. Although the novel version failed to win awards in the Fujimi Fantasia Contest, it was picked up by GA Bunko editors when the author enrolled his other works into their competition. As such the work started publishing commercially via GA Bunko.
The author and the publisher both consider the ASCII art version to be distinct from the novel. They do not consider the published novel to be based on the online version. Instead the published novel is said to be based on the version that was submitted to Fujimi Fantasia Contest.

Plot

In a world of fantasy, adventurers come from far and wide to join the Guild. They complete contracts to earn gold and glory. An inexperienced priestess joins her first adventuring party, but comes into danger after her first contract involving goblins goes wrong. As the rest of her party is wiped out, she is saved by a man known as Goblin Slayer, an adventurer whose only purpose is the eradication of goblins with extreme prejudice.

Characters

The characters in this story do not carry proper names but are named by their classes.
;Goblin Slayer
;Priestess
;Cow Girl
;Guild Girl
;High Elf Archer
;Dwarf Shaman
;Lizard Priest
;Witch
;Spearman
;Sword Maiden
;Noble Fencer

Light novels

The light novels are written by Kumo Kagyu and illustrated by Noboru Kannatsuki. The series was originally published online. SB Creative published the first volume under their GA Bunko imprint on February 15, 2016. Twelve volumes have been released in Japan as of February 2020.
A spinoff novel written by Kagyu and illustrated by Shingo Adachi, titled "Goblin Slayer Side Story: Year One", was published in March 2018. A prequel series that reveals Goblin Slayer's past and the events that led him to become an adventurer with the sole purpose of exterminating all goblins from the world.
Kagyu will launch a new spinoff, titled "Goblin Slayer Side Story 2: Daikatana of Singing Death", in the Gangan GA online magazine. The series will run for nine chapters.
The fourth volume of the light novel included an original audio drama CD written by Kagyu, as did the sixth, seventh, and eighth volumes.
Yen Press licensed the novels for publication in North America, and released the first volume in English on December 20, 2016. Yen Press has also licensed the Goblin Slayer Side Story: Year One spinoff.

Manga

A manga adaptation by Kōsuke Kurose began serialization in the June 2016 issue of Square Enix's seinen manga magazine Monthly Big Gangan on May 25, 2016. Yen Press licensed the series at the same time as the light novels, and are simulpublishing the chapters in English as they are released in Japan. In July 2020, the manga became one of seven titles to be removed from Books Kinokuniya in Australia for claims of promoting child pornography.
Artist Kento Eida launched a prequel manga, titled Goblin Slayer Side Story: Year One, in Square Enix's seinen magazine Young Gangan on September 15, 2017. As with the main manga, the prequel is simulpublished by Yen Press.
A second adaptation of the main story, this one titled Goblin Slayer: Brand New Day and illustrated by Masahiro Ikeno, began serialization on Square Enix's Monthly Big Gangan on May 25, 2018. The story adapts the light novels starting with volume four. Yen Press is also simulpublishing Brand New Day. The story follows the lives of the many other characters the main series' protagonists have encountered throughout their adventures, providing background on minor characters which further explores the world that Goblin Slayer takes place in.
Takashi Minakuchi will launch a manga adaptation of the Tsubanari no Daikatana novel on Square Enix's Manga Up! app and on the Gangan GA website.

Anime

A 12-episode anime television series adaptation by White Fox premiered from October 7 to December 30, 2018, and was broadcast on AT-X, Tokyo MX, Sun TV, and BS11. The series is directed by Takaharu Ozaki, with scripts penned by Hideyuki Kurata and Yōsuke Kuroda, character designs handled by Takashi Nagayoshi and music composed by Kenichiro Suehiro. The opening theme song is "Rightfully" by Mili, while the ending theme song is "Gin no Kisei" by Soraru. Funimation produced an English dub for the series, while Crunchyroll simulcasted the series internationally.
A film for the series titled Goblin's Crown with returning staff and cast premiered on February 1, 2020.

Reception

The light novel ranked fifth in 2017 in Takarajimasha's annual light novel guide book Kono Light Novel ga Sugoi!, in the bunkobon category.
The first volume of the manga reached 39th place on the weekly Oricon manga rankings, selling 20,360 copies in its first week.
Goblin Slayer: Goblin's Crown Blu-ray DVD will be released on July, 29 according to official twitter handle and .