Goblin Slayer (anime! light novel!)

Which also makes it easier for its fanbase to downplay or even excuse the atrocities their favorite factions commit. But then, that's because none of the factions are intended to be a true Hate Sink devoid of sympathetic qualities, because they are after all playable factions.

It's also why stuff like the Fall of the Eldar, the Dark Eldar's actions, and everything about Slaanesh doesn't get as much focus. All of the implied rape is for the most part just that — implied.

There's also the fact that the makers of the game do want to be able to market it towards a demographic besides adults.

Edited by M84 on Oct 8th 2018 at 10:24:43 PM

WH 40K was originally a borderline parody of this sort of darkness it turned to play straight later. And it often doesn't shove rape out in the open, at least not that I'm aware of.

Goblin Slayer has like zero self awareness to it. There's no wink and nod, no trace of ironic humor. If WH 40K wa devoid of that, Ciaphas Cain wouldn't exist

Edited by Lightysnake on Oct 8th 2018 at 7:27:32 AM

The problem is that the Imperium was intended to be straight up antagonist in a fascist parody. Then it became a protagonist faction.

Like I said, the rape is not up front because a) that would make it harder to market it to younger demographics, and b) Geedubs knows not many people would actually want to play a faction with explicit rape — which would mean fewer models are sold.

They aren't afraid to use the Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil trope as shorthand for how bad the Dark Eldar are, but they also want people to keep buying the Dark Eldar models.

Edited by M84 on Oct 8th 2018 at 10:31:16 PM

For whatever reason, though, it isn't there. I mean, I'm not some huge WH fan so I have little at stake in defending the setting in general. It's also a thing that this is the first thing that happens to female victims here. One gets poisoned fatally and sexually assaulted, the other violently gang raped.

And from what I've seen, two of the more major characters later both have Rape as Backstory which...isn't helping matters.

Edited by Lightysnake on Oct 8th 2018 at 7:33:21 AM

Ironically, Ciaphas Cain is one of the few works that acknowledges how awful the Orks really are. They are disgusting, brutal, pyschopathic monsters who work prisoners to death and occasionally eat them.

Edited by M84 on Oct 8th 2018 at 10:30:29 PM

Goblin Slayer is actually very self aware about how dark it is. Saying anymore would spoil why that is.

All I'm going to add is that while I understand certain topics tend to...be sensitive (putting it mildly), M84 made a good point in that while rape in fiction tends to be tasteless, it served it's purpose here.

Its not supposed to be titillating, it's supposed to make you feel very uncomfortable and set the tone for the series. Now as for how it was used here, I won't deny just setting up characters for the sake of it is indeed a really poor way of using it just to show off how incompetent they are.

That being said, I thought it was a good way of establishing the threat of the goblins in a way that instantly makes you hate them. COULD the author have done something different? Yes, but he didn't and that's the reality of it.

So...either drop it or just chug along.

Honestly that's one of Warhammer's strength's and a reason I'm getting into the verse in the first place. It's Merchandise-Driven nature means that every faction will have to have some cool factor to them in spite of some being 2-dimensional villains. So they don't have to resort to onscreen rape to show how evil a fascist, omni/genocidal slave-owning, torture happy faction is the way other "dark" fantasy does.

The thing is is that the anime actually did a great job of showing how scary the goblins are that by the time the rape happened it was just eye-rolling at best. It basically had the opposite of its intended effect.

Edited by Rynnec on Oct 8th 2018 at 9:51:42 AM

I really don’t think the goblins here are supposed to be cool in any way.

Unlike the orcs in Middle-Earth: Shadow of series they never show any quirky or likable characteristics.

YMMV on that given how much everyone across the internet is reacting to it. If it was just as you described, it wouldn't be getting all of this attention right?

Edited by BlackYakuzu94 on Oct 8th 2018 at 10:53:52 AM

It doesn't need to be titillating to be in bad taste or to treat female characters poorly. I feel that's a point that's missed here.

It's not mature. It's just the opposite. Just "look how edgy we are....and please ignore the gargantuan leaps of logic we have to make for this setting to even work and that guild girl is pretty clearly a sociopath sending these people to horrible fates without any proper warning whatsoever."

Edited by Lightysnake on Oct 8th 2018 at 7:58:24 AM

Most of the reaction just seems to be annoyance than anything. The only people I see that are terrified by it were people that had bad experiences in the past.

As someone who was introduced it by manga, the manga IS so much worse in comparison regarding trashy scenes that anime doesn't feel as bad

Like seriously, I could fear manga artist has fetish to it

The fact remains, if it was just a simple eyeroll worthy thing, it wouldn't be getting anywhere near this much attention.

The fact that so many people are reacting to it at once, and people actively voicing their discomfort shows that yes, the author has succeeded in his intent.

Whether that's a good or bad thing is up to you.

Look, I'm not going to get into this with you because I know how you are about these types of topics.

So all I'm going to say is take it or leave it.

Edited by BlackYakuzu94 on Oct 8th 2018 at 11:05:06 AM

Talking about something doesn't mean it had the necessary intent.

I said my piece, I'm not getting into a 5 page debate about this.

Nobody forced you to start with "this is awesome, fuck the haters."

Things can get attention because they're bad or because they're tryhard. Goblin Slayer didn't succeed as some amazing work of art that showcases a deep conversation about why Goblins must be exterminated, it's mostly "whoaaaaah this si so dark and awesome and edgy and cool" versus "this was trying way too hard and in bad taste." That's not the writer doing his job, that's people talking about how he did a shitty one.

Edited by Lightysnake on Oct 8th 2018 at 8:11:03 AM

I think everyone can agree that you could remove rape parts of the Goblin Slayer and it would still essentially be same story without tonal change, right?

That isn't commenting on whether author is allowed to use that trope or not, just that its not actually necessary for the story especially considering how much anime and light novel downplay it compared to manga?

It makes it bad from the series points of view since including it will just make some viewers uncomfortable or angry but it doesn't really bring anything to series

Edited by SpookyMask on Oct 8th 2018 at 6:07:48 PM

And that's how you feel, have a nice night.

I'm not doing this.

That is true, but like you said. There's no rule saying you can't use rape in fiction, so the author isn't inherently wrong in using it itself. HOW it's depicted, fine. But the use of it itself is perfectly valid.

Not necessary to keep on screen in most adaptations at least, it doesn't help that the manga's emphasis on it made a lot of sickos flock to it and then start bitching whenever rape doesn't happen. That's not even getting in to the plotholes that it causes for the wider world of GS.

Edited by Rynnec on Oct 8th 2018 at 10:12:48 AM

Can we please not strawman criticism of using rape gratuitously as some attempt to censor writers? Nobody is claiming the writer doesn't have the right to use it. It's a literary product and subject to criticism the same as any other product.

Nevermind the victim blaming undertones of "man, you all took this so lightly and see what happens to you" in addition to "Goblins are horrific rape machines who raise numbers that can wipe out entire villages and have done so for over a decade but nobody thinks they're remotely credible threats."

Edited by Lightysnake on Oct 8th 2018 at 8:14:52 AM

Wasn't the lore behind it that because Goblins are a male only race, they need females to reproduce to prevent themselves from going extinct?

And where did goblins come from then?

You almost have to go with A Wizard Did It literally there. It's such an absurd plot device of "see, they have to rape because there are no female goblins"

I will say this. While I get why it was used, and while it's not an outright dealbreaker for me (I'm still following this series after all)...I don't like that it was used, I don't like the way it was used (though it was at least better than the manga), and I wouldn't blame anyone who decided to go "Nope!" after this and stopped watching.

We've all got our different thresholds.

Edited by M84 on Oct 8th 2018 at 11:19:11 PM

Well it’s a fictional world.

The author can justify any excuse as to how they first came into existence.