Goblin Slayer Episode 8 Review

Good morning/afternoon/time is relative readers and fellow anime fans! With the recent holiday time, BAYOG had a bit of a lull because real life so apologies for the less than consistent content being put out the past week. I admit I’ve been doing other things like relaxing and hanging with family and friends, as well as watching random shows like Luther (Idris Elba is a boss) and reading things like the Konosuba and Overlord LNs (also Komi-San because she’s amazing). However, one thing to definitely get me motivated to write things up is this recent episode of Goblin Slayer. It sits as one of my favorite parts of the manga and I’m glad to have seen it start out strong and adapted even better than I could have hoped.

We left off the awkward credit-less credit scene of the canary and jump to a flashback of Goblin Slayer as a child before he became Goblin Slayer as we know him now. He was learning from his abusive and effective Rhea instructor on how to fight and survive. Through life threatening lessons and riddles to stimulate and train his mind and body, he is taught how to combat and kill goblins. After a creepy moment we are brought back to reality where we find Goblin Slayer in a grand room in bed next to Priestess, naked and finding out apparently he shared the bed with her and Shield Maiden in order to perform the Resurrection Miracle, requiring the use of a virgin. We also are given a bit of insight into Shield Maiden and get confirmation that she was in fact captured and defiled by Goblins, and that she isn’t quite blind. Also, damn if Goblin Slayer isn’t absolutely jacked, like seriously the dude has like an 8 pack.

After a brief rest, the rest of the party appears and finds them all happy, with Goblin Slayer actually inquiring how Canary was doing as well. Before setting off once more to explore what was beyond the tomb they found (which isn’t really explained well here but oh well), they plan to eat and re-arm. The group feasts at a riverside cafe that looks like Venice, then Priestess and Goblin Slayer head out to repair and replace their armor and weapons and afterwards eat some ice cream. In a scene reminiscent of a date, the two of them discuss what happened the previous day and Goblin Slayer’s childhood fears and how to overcome fear itself. Before anything else happens, Spearman and Witch come by with a strange sack and somehow use it to kill goblins.

This is where things hop back to the farm and we see Cow Girl and her uncle discussing the inevitable scenario where Goblin Slayer will not return. She however keeps the faith that he will always return and its rather sweet at heart. As the party delves back down, they encounter a multi-tentacled eyeball that is honestly a Beholder that should bring about some sort of WOTC lawsuit but whatever, Goblin Slayer’s already clearly an anime based off of D&D. Using it’s “totally not Disintegrate Ray” it proves to be a sentry against the party entering a chapel looking area, however Goblin Slayer has a plan that doesn’t involve fire, poison, nor water. Releasing the very fine flour into the air, and then casting protection to keep the chapel room contained, the beholder uses its beam and explodes itself, while Goblin Slayer somehow knows how to avoid pressure from explosions.

At the end of this, our party begins to banter and finds that the Beholder was in fact guarding some sort of mirror. What’s coming next is a grand scene and I highly advise anyone to watch it, since it kicks off very well and gets to being an even better fight than the Ogre or last episode’s fight. With how well they animated this (even with some of the lower quality CG of the show) and just how well they adapted Goblin Slayer’s Master, (and a bit of knowing whats to come) I’m only left complaining that they skipped a few details about the hollow coffin and that the path they found leading to the beholder was omitted as that’s also stated in the manga to be the only real reason why Goblin Slayer didn’t die on impact last episode. Other than that very minor of complaints, I’m absolutely stoked and have to rate this episode at 9.5 charred beholder eye stalks out of 10.