So I have thoughts about your thoughts, 'sage.
RE: Goblin Slayer as a 'story'.
Goblin Slayer doesn't have a very compelling story because, I think, I don't believe the story is the point of this series. People that are celebrating 'the story' or even 'the characters' of Goblin Slayer are, in my opinion, the eager anime sheep that see familiar things so they are naturally inclined to like them. Are their waifus with big eyes, squeaky voices and easily recognizable archetypes? That and the echoes of trash tier emotionally validating character arcs are all they need to be on board. This is a community that spends an unhealthy amount of time analyzing OPs and EDs. I am locking up even typing such an insufferable notion.
I want to be clear here. I don't begrudge someone for enjoying these things. But ani-tube has, in my opinion, done this medium no favors by ramping up its disposability by a factor of 85208570279548378. It's all about the content mill, consuming and discussing just enough to get clicks and then moving on to the next thing. Mother's Basement, Anime America, Glass Reflections and so many others believe they can say things like 'Gundam 00 is the most accessible Gundam series' or even do 'top ten fantas anime' lists' and forget Record of Lodoss War, spawned from what many consider to be the first light novel worthy of adapting, was ever a thing. Light novels, in and of themselves, are not good sources to adapt from, more often than not. Not, at least, if you care about the medium of anime. The industry is challenged and this is where it is now, so I get it. But it's no wonder the visionaries have all left.
Anyway...
Goblin Slayer's strength is in its metatextual examination of a tabletop RPG fantasy game translated into a story. Lodoss War WAS a tabletop RPG that the author, Ryu Mizuno, turned into a novel series, but it would work just as well if the author had never heard of Dungeons & Dragons. Goblin Slayer, on the other hand, is ALL ABOUT Dungeons & Dragons. The main character 'won't let anyone roll the dice for him'. The characters don't even have names. They are challenged economically because they 'take jobs at an adventurer's guild', there are different 'levels' of adventurers and so forth. All of these elements have become tropes of not only this genre in anime and manga, but n the medium itself as a whole. But Goblin Slayer isn't, in my opinion, simply 'adhering to a formula'. The formula feels like an inevitable byproduct of the story's intentions to re-interpret tabletop RPG elements as plot mechanics, character relationships and consequence.
Gaming has influenced the medium to such an incredible degree that the writers today are sad parodies of the giants of yesterday (in general, there are some exceptions). In a sense, Goblin Slayer is trying to be a RPG in narrative form. Other stories of this type (today) are half baked stories that aren't capable of being more due to a variety of factors.
If this sort of thing isn't your cup of tea, Goblin Slayer isn't going to give you the jolt you're looking for. I, however, am a lifelong Dungeons & Dragons player and I see what Kumo Kagyu is doing. I'm good with that.
Also, it's not a hentai disguised as a fantasy anime. If it were, then the rape would have been more graphic, would have lasted longer on screen and the girl probably wouldn't have been saved. These lurid elements of the story aren't there for their own sake. They are world build elements of the story meant to imperil the characters (players) and remind them that their enemy is ruthless and depraved in their methods and biological needs.
RE: Goblin Slayer as a protagonist.
He is proof that 'Doom Guy' can work as a lead in something other than a video game. The trick here is not in what he is saying or even what he is doing. It's the effects that follow. How the goblins die at his hand. How the other characters react to him. Even how the story puts him in dominant positions in the frame and lingers on him to give him monolithic importance. He's not just a badass on the screen. His words are like the simplest of spears but with the sharpest points. That, in itself, is metatextual: Goblin Slayer doesn't waste time with fanciful things, better weapons or armor. He just strikes for the target every time, be it in battle or in social situations. And the way everyone reacts as a result is where the character's true potency lies.
Anyway, enough word vomiting.
