English Dub Review: Goblin Slayer “Goblin’s Crown”

After over a year of no updates regarding a second season, Goblin Slayer returns with a brief update to the material…after about a half hour recap and then maybe an hour of actual new content. Goblin’s Crown covers the fifth light novel of the series after the first season covered the first two, which makes me wonder why they didn’t just go in the expected order, though they could be waiting for the second proper season to do that. Regardless, I’m not sure I could really count this even as a movie with how much of it is not new material, and this is keeping in mind that plenty of anime films are simply recaps of their shows prior to a new season starting. Heck, I honestly don’t think it was a very good recap, as it skims over a LOT of details that new viewers, or even old viewers who need a refresher, may need to be fully caught up, the main example being no mention of the Sword Maiden, which may seem minor until you notice that the “film” portion of this opens with a letter from her to the Goblin Slayer’s party asking them to take this quest.

The plot of the actually new portion of the movie pretty much touches on a lot of the aspects of the first season: There was a group of adventurers who underestimated the threat goblins really posed, they got lost and/or killed, and Goblin Slayer and his group have to go find and rescue them while having their usual banter. In these ways, the kind that make this feel like there’s no real character progression or plot development, this DOES feel like your usual anime movie, which then makes it odd that this is actually one of the books it’s adapted from. Still, it has just about everything in it that I enjoyed from the series, which likely means that others who are fans of the material will as well, likely forgiving the near half hour of recap (or even out right skipping it). Everyone acts in character, utilizing new skills and tricks to face newer threats, like there apparently being a Goblin Paladin of all things, while the newer character gets to have a similar arc to that of the Priestess after her initial trauma, which I guess partially explains the recap if they wanted to draw those parallels.

Overall, Goblin’s Crown is a long awaited addition to the animated adaptation of this story that made waves in late 2018 and reminds those who enjoyed the series why it had such strong staying power even after its controversial first episode. It continues to show a well written cast engaging in fun but tense D&D style antics in a new location and fighting different but similar challenges, which will hopefully tide fans over until we can get a proper take on the following light novels. The recap feels like it takes up a bit too much time than it should and it may have sacrificed time that could have been used adapting more of the material, but it doesn’t keep this from being fun little side adventure. Check it out while it streams until November 5th.