Review of Goblin Slayer: Goblin's Crown

tl;dr: A film that is pretty much just more of what the main series was at a similar level of quality. Goblin Slayer: Goblin’s Crown is a sequel film to Goblin Slayer, though not exactly a direct sequel. This film is an adaptation of volume 5 of the light novel, while the main series adapted volumes 1-2 and a short story from volume 4. The parts that were skipped aren’t much of an issue though, as Goblin Slayer for the most part isn’t really a series where much matters in the long term, at least not yet. This was true when the main series adapted thefirst two volumes partly out of order without issue, and is similarly true in how the parts that were skipped don’t seem to have any negative impact on this film.

The film begins with an episode length recap of the first season, though to be honest it really wasn’t necessary. The plot of the main series was incredibly simple and recapping didn’t feel like it brought up anything important that I didn’t already remember despite having watched the anime long ago. After that it pivots into the main story, which involves a group underestimating the goblins and Goblin Slayer and his party basically having to clean up the mess. The goblin group they’re fighting have a goblin paladin, which is basically just a bigger, smarter, stronger Goblin, not too different from a Goblin Lord. As such, this film is pretty much just straight up more Goblin Slayer. The party goes in and uses their various techniques and tricks in order to defeat the goblins. There’s a bit more with a goblin attack survivor, Noble Fencer, temporarily joining their party for the duration of this film and it focusing a decent amount on her trauma, which was still fresh, and her overcoming it, which is a bit different from past arcs.

Still, it’s not substantially different, and thus the film just feels like another Goblin Slayer arc. Just as with previous arcs, the characters are likable enough and it’s satisfying seeing them just take down goblins in a brutal fashion. However, that’s it. There’s a bit of development in Noble Fencer but not really any for anyone else that feels like it went further than the main series. The art and animation is also incredibly similar to the main series, and it even still uses the not so great CG for goblins and Goblin Slayer himself. The soundtrack is also incredibly similar, and the credit roll uses a song that feels pretty similar to both the OP and ED of the main series. As such, it’s largely pretty average Goblin Slayer for better or worse. Not the best it’s been, but not the worse either, largely middling I’d say. For a film I suppose that’s somewhat disappointing as films usually try to do more and go beyond their TV counterparts in some fashion, but in and of itself it’s incredibly similar to and just as solid as the main series overall was. If you like the main series and go in with expectations of just getting more of it, you’ll probably enjoy this film. If you didn’t like the main series, this certainly won’t change your mind, and if you’re expecting something better than the main series, you’ll be disappointed.