iorn said:
With all that being said why do you think anyone would think goblin slayer is deserving of an 8?
You give anything that dares to have received critical acclaim a 1 (e.g. Fate Zero, DBS of which you've watched 113 eps, and Deathnote) and you gave Afro Samurai a 10. I can only assume that you are determined to hate Goblin Slayer due to its success, and when you're determined to hate something you'll find reasons to.
But now to address your points, not for your sake as I have no doubt you'll just ignore them but, for the other Goblin Slayer fans who you have quite reasonably annoyed.
Point A: Goblin Slayer - The Characters
While Goblin Slayer is the most important character, as for the most part he directly drives the plot, he is not the only character. To imply otherwise is to seriously devalue the value of other characters, especially Archbishop and Priestess for reasons I'll get into later but first Goblin Slayer himself.
A tragic backstory, a stoic personality, and learning to open up are certainly tropes, however tropes are like ingredients. You don't make a cake with 7 Litres of water and a teaspoon of flour and, in the same way, you don't make a show over using tropes. Shows that overuse tropes are criticised while shows that get the balance right are praised. So let's see how Goblin Slayer used some of its tropes
Trope 1: Tragic backstory - I would argue that this is the most carefully handled trope in the series. At no point is GS backstory given without purpose. It is either given to contextualise current events or to flesh out characters and character dynamics. Shows that seem edgy are just shows that overuse tragedy.
Trope 2: PTSD - Is a thing that actually happens to most people who undergo highly traumatic stress. To say that PTSD is common in modern media is like saying the sun is hot, but, while it is everywhere it is almost always misused. When dealing with a traumatic events as a key plot points you need to have a knowledgeable character which in turn requires they live through the event which then leads to PTSD. Otherwise the character comes off as fake or inhuman, which GS is definitely not as he reacts and changes over time.
"But why use PTSD at all?"
Because when it's used to say something it's incredibly powerful, especially when used as a sort of a, "This is what action 'x' does to people." Now in Japan, where rape and statutory rape (loli) are in the top 10 porn tags and is often shown as little more than foreplay, Goblin Slayer paints the brutal reality. That rape doesn't just mess up the victims but also them victim's family and friends. That it destroys, humiliates, and terrifies even the most powerful people. This is why Archbishop's character is so important as it shows the victim's perspective and how even someone as powerful as her can be completely immobilised by fear of rapists and the shame that goes with being a victim. All this is used to help support the main theme of Goblin Slayer - That rape should not be glorified as it destroys people.
Trope 3: Opening up - I mean I don't know what you want from this one. You might as well say talking in film is a trope. Everyone opens up to people around them and share their feelings eventually, it's just what humans do. Some people take longer than others for different reasons, and some don't show it in the most clear spelt-out way but everyone does. The way people open up is called character. Goblin Slayer's characters never seem to break character and always act in the way that is appropriate for their personality. In fact it's because of the personality of the cast, especially Priestess, that GS opens up in a way that is believable for his established character.
Trope 4 (Bonus Round): Harem - I'm not talking about best girl, that shit can go somewhere else. All of the characters that are attracted to GS are for reasons that are quite reasonable and believable, which is rare for harems. Usually it's just "MC lemme smash" but in Goblin Slayers case every character has fairly decent reason to be attracted to GS.
They are:
Elf - 2000 years old yet GS is a mystery to her. That mystery is what attracts her.
Priestess - GS saved her from physical goblin and in the process of trying to save GS from his psychological goblin forms an attraction to him
Archbishop - GS killed her worse nightmares figuratively and literally.
Childhood Friend - Is desperately holding onto the last part of her original home that wasn't destroyed by goblins and hoping that she will eventually break through to the guy she once knew.
Guild Clarke - GS does all the goblin slaying jobs even though they don't pay much which she assumes he is doing to protect people from what happened to him (well she's half right).
Point B: Goblin Slaying
Boring? Really? It took the D&D theme and ran with it, not so much in enemy types but methods. GS comes up with some ways to kill goblins that are so creative it makes agent 47 look like a toddler. Ambushes and counter-ambushes, disguising using blood, using protection magic to crush a guy to death and to seal a fire escape, and not to mention using a teleport scroll linked to the bottom of the ocean as high pressure cutter. It's not the D&D, "How do get out of this without fighting?", but more the D&D, "How creatively can I kill it?"
I can't comment on Akame Ga Kill or Mirai nikki as I haven't watched them nor do I have any interest in watching them but I can comment on SAO. SAO was not made big by rape or gore, it succeeded due to the core premise being an escapist power fantasy for gamers. SAO doesn't handle rape well, has never handled rape well, and probably never will handle rape well.
This is the part where I'd love to say that GS anime handles rape well but then episode 1 exists, where Fighter's rape scene is overly sexualised, which ironically shows how important Goblin Slayer's message of "Rape should not be glorified" is to the anime industry because the animators heard rape and instantly thought, "Gotta make it sexy," which just reinforces why it is so important that GS's message is heard so this kind of crap stops. So that rape is treated more seriously and isn't just used as a quick marketing stunt.
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