To preface this review I must say that Goblin Slayer is my favorite anime to come out this year even if i didnt watch many this year. The way that this anime doesnt feel like a regular fantasy world anime but a tabletop RPG in which the players roleplay as the characters included in the cast makes this an enjoyable ride. The way this anime works is not a focus on plot no story to speak of actually or the characters individual growth but instead the characters growing closer together as friends in an adventuring party through the many adventures that they will go through all of them including goblins of course. There are some spoilers throughout the review but nothing major. Story: 5/10 I must admit to being generous with this score because the story and plot are clearly not the main focus here. In fact they are practically nonexistent. The adventures that the cast goes through are very random and pretty much is just oh heres a quest it involves goblins lets go. The quests themselves dont have a story to them with one exception which is the Sword Maidens but even that is scratching the surface of a story. Mentioning the Sword Maidens quest I feel there was a huge missed opportunity with the mirror and the goblin world on the other side. They could have used that for a setup to a future arc in which they raid the goblin place in the mirror but instead the mirror was just buried under a layer of concrete probably never to be touched again. Also for side story/not involved very much with the main cast is the Hero and the Demon Lord. The Hero is almost considered to be the protagonist of the Goblin Slayer world and is only briefly mentioned by the main cast and only seen defeating one of the servants of the Demon Lord on screen. The Heros adventures are what would be considered the main plot of an RPG with the final boss villain being the Demon Lord. The Heros party not appearing very much on screen or being involved at all with the Goblin Slayer party further emphasizing the point that the cast is not the main focus of the world and rather just a group of adventurers doing quests. This also serves to show that the show tries as hard to deviate from its genre of adventure fantasy which usually involves the main cast being the Hero vs the Demon Lord The names are also very telling here. Characters: 9/10 Ladies and gentlemen the main focus of the show. Now Im not going to say that the characters are deep and have emotional troubles stemming from their dark past because thats just not true except for Goblin Slayer. In fact the characters are very much what you would see in a fantasy world setting but thats where it most shines. The callbacks to regular tabletop RPGs are extremely apparent here where the main cast consists of a High Elf Ranger a Mage Dwarf a Summoner Lizardman a Cleric Priestess and of course Goblin Slayer not pertaining to a certain class but a high affinity for anything that kills goblins. You might have noticed that I didnt mention their names and thats because they dont actually have names. They are mentioned by the other characters and each other by nicknames and their races and of course Goblin Slayer as Goblin Slayer. It definitely paints the image of newbie players who have made their generic characters and are new to tabletop RPGs not getting into the roleplay enough to have a decent backstory or names for their characters. And even the initial awkwardness for being strangers to the other players is present in the beginning but thats one of its biggest strengths and why I like this show so much. As they get to know each other through their quests the initial awkwardness fades making it clear that as the players got to know each other better the characters also got closer together as a party. Goblin Slayer himself needs his own paragraph. For being a sort of main character debatable the priestess could also be he is probably the best to be put in the limelight because he is essentially the veteran players character. Fully equipped with a designated role designed for gathering the most experience the fastest way possible further emphasized by how he counts the goblins as he kills them and his silver rank despite only killing goblins a backstory that itself has other minor characters and depth and an actual name. Goblin Slayer by himself is incredibly boring as a character BUT that is only in his introduction. After Goblin Slayer joins the party and the priestess it becomes obvious that the player is starting to enjoy not only playing the game but playing the game with friends by his side. And this obviously reflects on Goblin Slayer towards the party that we see in the show where Goblin Slayer is opening up more to his fellow adventurers. Visual and Sound Design: 7/10 The visuals in this anime are very much grotesque. The goblins facial design is a prime example and very much fitting into the tone of the anime. A LOT of blood is present when damage is done so youve been warned. The character designs are very obviously trying to go for what I previously mentioned in the character section. Goblin Slayer and the Sword Maiden having unique character designs affirms the point that Goblin Slayer and the Sword Maiden are the veteran players having characters with fleshed out backstories previous adventures and character designs with unique gear to reflect as much. The other characters look generic probably on purpose to accentuate how they are new. Good to mention here that there is CGI present usually when there is a pack of goblins or Goblin Slayer himself is also CG I dont mind the goblins since Im used to crowds having CG but not a fan of Goblin Slayer being CG at times. The art is good at its best its not exactly Your Name levels but its passable though having read the manga I prefer the mangas. The sound design is pretty good the music shines where it counts and the blows actually have an impact and you can feel how hard a hit really is very much like this since its usually a gripe I have with action anime. Enjoyment: 9/10 The pacing in the anime is great introducing the main characters and cast in the first couple of episodes naturally. No episode felt boring and as long as the cast was present having adventures or just simply talking about why they wanted to become adventurers it is fun. Conclusion: All in all this show is a solid 8/10. Its pretty much DnD the anime. Its great Need season 2.