Highlights
- Goblin Slayer's upcoming second season will adapt chapters 30 through 40 of the manga, which bridge the gap between the first season and the 2020 movie Goblin Slayer: Goblin's Crown.
- The second season will feature a balance between intense action and slice-of-life moments, with the action becoming more intense and the slice-of-life becoming more dramatic and heartwarming compared to the first season.
- The battles in the second season will be hardcore and exhilarating, with the goblins becoming more resourceful and employing various tactics and leaders, such as Trolls, Dark Elves, and shamans, to pose a greater threat to the adventurers. Goblin Slayer will come up with outlandish strategies to defeat his prey.
Although the first season of Goblin Slayer only had 12 episodes, it was easily one of the most popular animes in 2018. After all, this series was not one to shy away from the violence, blood, gore, and other horrifying things that could happen when an adventurer goes into a goblin nest. In a way, Goblin Slayer was a breath of fresh air in a genre that has become overly saturated with stories that are highly similar to one another.
And now, five years after the first season, we finally get the chance to see a new season of this series. So here are some of the interesting things that you can expect to see in this upcoming Goblin Slayer season 2.
The State of Goblin Slayer Anime Adaptation
Before we go any further, let’s talk about the story arcs that have already been adapted to anime thus far. As mentioned earlier, the first season of Goblin Slayer adapted the first 29 chapters of the manga into 12 episodes of anime.
While the story was relatively the same for the two mediums, the anime did change the order of events that happened in the manga. The anime told the story of the Water Town arc before the Goblin Lord arc, while it is actually the other way around in the manga and the original light novel. That being said, the overall context of the story itself didn’t really change because of this decision. So whether you’re a dedicated manga reader or only watch the anime, you didn’t miss out on anything.
The next adaptation came in the form of a 2020 movie called Goblin Slayer: Goblin’s Crown. This movie adapted chapters 41 to 54 of the manga. This means the upcoming second season will adapt the chapters between the first season and the movie, which are chapters 30 through 40. Assuming the second season will have a similar number of episodes as the first one, then we can expect chapters 54 through 70 to be adapted into the new season as well.
More Action, More Romance
Now it’s time to talk about the content of the new season. Although Goblin Slayer mainly focuses on action fantasy, there are also numerous moments in the story where we get to see the daily life of the characters. Be it shopping for some new equipment, talking with fellow adventurers in the Guild, or simply hanging out together with their teammates. This wholesome slice-of-life aspect of Goblin Slayer provides a much-needed downtime from the intense action and violence. It is also a chance for us to get to know more about Goblin Slayer and the other supporting characters of this series.
You will find the same balance between action and slice-of-life in the second season. The biggest difference, however, is the fact that everything will be turned up to eleven. The action will become much more intense and dangerous, while the slice-of-life will get more dramatic and heartwarming than the first season.
The anime will adapt about two or three story arcs of the manga. Each story arc will have its action and slice-of-life moments. We’ll get to see Goblin Slayer and the other adventurers exploring an underground cave and fighting against herds of delirious goblins in certain episodes. Meanwhile, in other episodes, we’ll also get to see the overly serious man who is always covered in dirty full-plate armor going on dates with some of the beauties in this series.
Hardcore Goblin, Hardcore Battles
In a world of swords and magic, with dragons, demon lords, and all kinds of menacing monsters roaming freely, telling a story that solely focuses on goblins seems to be such a limiting approach. And yet, Kumo Kagyu (the original author of Goblin Slayer) can always somehow find ways to make every single story arc so thrilling and interesting.
The reason behind this accomplishment is variety. Just because the enemy will always be goblins, doesn’t mean every single fight will go down the same way. Putting different leaders in charge of the goblins, forcing the battle to happen in different settings, adding new variables like new members or a new objective, all kinds of things can be done to keep the action fresh and interesting. That’s what happened in the first season, and a much more hardcore version of that will happen in season 2 as well.
Our heroes will fight against armies of goblins that are led by different kinds of leaders, such as Trolls, Dark Elves, and shamans, just to name a few. The goblins will become much more resourceful, by using different kinds of tools, setting up all sorts of elaborate traps, luring the adventurers into their nest, and even causing a ruckus as a diversion so they can freely execute their secret goal. There will be some rookies who join the team and end up causing massive problems during a heated battle against hordes of angry goblins. And similar to the first season, Goblin Slayer will also come up with all kinds of outlandish strategies to defeat his prey.
So as you can see, you can expect lots of hardcore and exhilarating battles in the new season of this series. Goblin Slayer season 2 will be released in October 2023, so be sure to watch it when it's available to you.
Goblin Slayer is available to stream on Crunchyroll