He does not let anyone roll the dice.
Creative Staff
Story: Kumo Kagyu
Art: Noboru Kannatuki
Translation: Kevin Steinbach
What they say
Goblin Slayer’s lone-wolf days are over. Now he has a whole entourage dragging him out on brand-new adventures—where he still somehow manages to find goblins. This time, the revered Sword Maiden has an important task for the party in water town. Evil forces have been preying upon the young women, meaning Goblin Slayer and company need to head into the labyrinthine waterways beneath the city to root out the vermin…
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
While Goblin Slayer remains a controversial series due to the highly graphic depictions of death, rape, and other incredibly dark themes, I can’t lie and say the series hasn’t been an enjoyable gritty story. It’s a bit weird since I normally don’t like dark themes such as this, but I guess the odd blend of incredibly moe artwork and violence has fascinated me.
The protagonist, Goblin Slayer, is slowly changing after the events at the farm in the previous volume. He has even agreed to go on an adventure with High Elf Archer. This is where our story starts this volume. The group are traveling to a ruin that belonged to an ancient civilization. High Elf Archer is in great spirits, though she does become thoroughly frustrated with Goblin Slayer’s one track mind at every turn. Probably the most interesting aspect of this series is how Goblin Slayer is beginning to change. He still thinks about nothing but goblins, but you can see the subtle differences between now and when this series first began as he interacts with Cowgirl, Priestess, Guild Girl, and the others. He’s becoming more thoughtful and considerate toward them, though he still has a long way to go.
Their next adventure takes place in water town. Goblin Slayer has taken on a quest—to slay goblins, of course—which was given to him by Sword Maiden. She is a new character. A big-breasted woman with golden hair and beautiful features. As always, Kouseke Kurose’s artwork is absolutely gorgeous, and Sword Maiden’s appearance is so aesthetically pleasing it almost made my heart skip a beat. She tells them about the task she has. Goblins have been killing women in the city. It looks like they are inhabiting the sewers deep underneath water city, and so our group journeys into the sewers.
What follows is a very standard DnD quest where the group travels underground to slay monsters. I give Kumo Kagyu points for creating a story that really does feel like I’m being taken on my own Dungeons & Dragons adventure. Following the tale of Goblin Slayer and his companions as they journey through a sewer system and slay goblins is a treat.
However, while the goblin slaying goes well, the group encounters a mystery. Goblins are known in this series for being smart enough to use tools but not make them. They are scavengers who use what others have made and never make their own appliances, but in this volume the goblins they face have boats. This leads Goblin Slayer to believe someone gave them these boats and taught them how to sail, but just who and what gave the boats to them remains a mystery. I have a feeling this particular bit of information is foreshadowing events to come. It feels like something big is going to happen later on down the road, though I have no idea when or what will happen.
In Summary
Goblin Slayer volume 4 continues to give fans of the series what they crave—a dark and gritty story with surprisingly cute artwork. I am still not sure how Kouseke Kurose does it, but he creates art that can be cute and gory in equal measure. Sometimes Goblin Slayer is cutting through goblins, blood spraying everywhere as body parts fly, and other times we have a fan servicey scene featuring Priestess as she takes a bath. While the changes in tone can be jarring at times, I feel like the ability to switch between gritty and adorable makes for an interesting contrast. This particular volume ends on a cliffhanger, which means I’ll have to read the next volume to find out how Goblin Slayer, Priestess, and his party deal with being ambushed by a large swarm of goblins!
Content Grade: A+
Art Grade: A+
Packaging Grade: A
Text/Translation Grade: B+
Age Rating: M
Released By: Yen On
Release Date: November 11, 2018
MSRP: $13.00
