Ever since Goblin Slayer episode 1 came out, I’ve been seeing a mixed reception towards the explicit content that was shown in the anime. Some saying that the anime is fine and is just staying true to the source material while others are saying that the anime took it too far and should in fact be stopped from appearing in sites like Crunchyroll. Today, I want to share my own thoughts on this matter and why I feel like this whole thing is blown WAY outta proportion.
I’m not going to drag this answer too long so I’ll get right to the point. For me, I don’t think that Goblin Slayer went too far with anything that was shown in the episode. I’ll address the rape scene first since that’s what everyone and their mama seems to have their knickers in a twist. Let me ask you this, did the episode in any shape or form PROMOTE the idea that rape is cool, acceptable, funny and that it’s OK to do it? No, of course not! What people have overlooked is the context of the episode. I know that it’s 2018 and everyone suddenly became super sensitive and offended by everything but this is getting kinda ridiculous.
Keep in mind that in that very same scene, the goblins brutally and mercilessly massacred the young warrior boy as well. His screams of agony could be heard echoing across the cave but that apparently didn’t bother anyone, but the rape scene naturally did. Seriously, I haven’t seen anyone bring that scene up once during their complaints.
To clarify, I do NOT nor will I EVER condone any types of assaults towards any human, but this is anime hasn’t done any of that and what’s even worse is that this isn’t even the first an anime has done this before. There’s plenty of anime out there that have depicted rape scenes in the past. Even, media’s like the Games of Thrones have done it the much larger scale. Yes, am aware that they too got slack for it, but just like them, the context is what mattered.
What’s important is the context. In Goblin Slayer, they wanted us to understand right off the bat, just how evil, vile and horrific these goblins are in nature and why the main character has such a massive hatred towards them. In a funny twist, the main protagonist is faceless for a reason. It’s to try and get us the viewers to see ourselves in the Goblin Slayer, and see our fostered hatred for the heinous crimes these goblins unleashed by him.
I’ve always felt that anime has been the media that never held any punches when it comes to telling a story and is why we all tend to prefer it as our go to for media entertainment. I fully understand that maybe the anime should have given us a warning as this may trigger PTSD for those have actually gone through something like this and would rather not have go through that again. That argument I can understand. But to outright control what can and can’t be depicted to me comes off as censorship and I don’t necessarily agree with it.
The freedom for anyone to tell a story exactly how one see it is important and shouldn’t be hindered by anyone. Especially if it’s about a controversy topic. This anime only crime was to show the true horrors of violence and assaults, never once glorifying it. Am I saying that this anime is top tier because of it? No! It’s interesting but hasn’t really done anything we haven’t seen before.
I think that the people who’ve gotten offended and triggered by this anime are those who’ve just joined the anime community or are snowflakes because trust me…they’re worse things out there.
This isn’t a one-way discussion, so please, let me know your thoughts in the comments below and lets discuss.
