Creating Anime In A Fantasy World

“What if one day, the place you live is suddenly attacked by a group of monsters? They walk around as if it’s their own territory, killing your friends, your family, and looting everything in sight. Worse yet, what if your sister or some other loved one is assaulted, raped, turned into a plaything, and then murdered…?”

“And what if you’re hiding, holding your breath, watching all of this happen from start to finish…?”

“You could never forgive such creatures. You’d pick up a weapon, train yourself, grow stronger, and swear revenge. You’d take action, track them down, corner them, wage war, attack, kill, and keep killing…”

“Some foolishly kind people might smile smugly and say to spare the young, but they don’t realize those ‘children’ will raid villages, steal livestock, and do whatever they must to survive…”

“Those goblins who survive and accumulate experience will grow stronger. Before long, they’ll become leaders of nests or bodyguards…”

“In the end, victory doesn’t come down to strength but to luck. Which means humans are no different from goblins. To them, I’m just the goblin in their eyes.”

…

In the wake of Goblin Slayer’s long monologue, the theater was gripped by an oppressive silence.

Watching this, Wycliffe, the Knight Commander, unconsciously closed his eyes.

The crease of his brow reflected the same deep contemplation as that of the Goblin Slayer on screen, eventually turning into a long sigh.

On the other hand, as the audience began to grasp Goblin Slayer’s thoughts, many of them were either shedding tears or clenching their fists.

The simplest way to describe it was that they had become fully immersed in the character.

Most of the audience consisted of wealthy individuals from the Southern Territory who had never faced the threat of non-human races or been in combat.

These experiences, which they would never have considered in their daily lives, were now laid bare before them through Goblin Slayer’s story.

The brutal and bloody world crafted by Goblin Slayer tapped into the audience’s deepest fears and, in the same breath, helped them experience humanity’s most primal courage through the protagonist.

The movie continued, and in the following sequences, new companions found Goblin Slayer and asked him to join them in exterminating goblins.

This part of the plot was much lighter than the earlier scenes, and as a result, the audience finally felt they could relax and enjoy the adventure.

But no matter how traditional the storyline seemed, the world of Goblin Slayer was far from the hopeful, adventurous place that KonoSuba presented.

Many of the young viewers, who had once fantasized about becoming adventurers after watching KonoSuba, now found themselves reconsidering their own capabilities and courage.

Do I really have what it takes to become an adventurer?

As these thoughts spread through the audience, the story reached a climactic event. Goblin Slayer unleashed a barrage of creative, ruthless strategies to defeat the goblins.

As the audience finally reclaimed a bit of that adventurer thrill, they suddenly realized their entire worldview had shifted.

They no longer cared what means were used to defeat the enemy, so long as they were defeated.

Far from feeling ashamed by this realization, the audience eagerly anticipated what other ingenious and brutal methods Goblin Slayer would employ next.

Meanwhile, General Wilhelm and Knight Commander Wycliffe were similarly captivated by the story unfolding before them.

General Wilhelm remained calm, given his ability to navigate social gatherings with ease.

However, Knight Commander Wycliffe, who in the past could ruin an entire banquet with his presence, was now utterly engrossed in the film.

The fact that even Wycliffe, notorious for his disdain for trivialities, was so absorbed spoke volumes about the allure of Goblin Slayer.

For Wycliffe, banquets and stage plays had always been insufferably fake—both the performers and the audience were drenched in artifice, which disgusted him.

As a result, Wycliffe had long distanced himself from the aristocratic circles of the capital, earning himself unflattering nicknames like “Iron Block” and “War Maniac.”

He would much rather spend months fighting enemies in a brutal war than endure two days at one of those pretentious events.

So when he saw Goblin Slayer, it was no surprise that he couldn’t look away.

In his eyes, the world depicted in the film felt real.

He could even sense the killing intent radiating from Goblin Slayer in battle, and he momentarily forgot he was watching a fictional story, perceiving it instead as a reality unfolding right before him.

At one point, he even found himself wondering if there truly was such a person—a Goblin Slayer—living in the northern wilderness, someone who checked his surroundings for goblin tracks every morning before heading to the Adventurers’ Guild.

Among the crowds of adventurers scrambling for quests, Goblin Slayer would silently observe before taking up all the goblin extermination tasks no one else wanted.

Perhaps it was the presence of such individuals that allowed the perilous Northern Territory to retain even a semblance of safety and granted the terrified villagers a sliver of hope.

Having come to understand Goblin Slayer’s character, Wycliffe’s greatest wish now was to recruit him into his own ranks.

But he knew that a man who lived solely to kill goblins would surely refuse.

This thought brought an involuntary smile to his face.

That rare smile from Wycliffe did not go unnoticed by the young knight sitting beside him, Rhine, who couldn’t help but look at his mentor in astonishment.

Since becoming the Knight Commander’s disciple, this was the first time Rhine had ever seen his teacher smile.

It was as surreal as seeing a Headless Horseman greet you on the street in broad daylight.

But at the same time, Rhine understood why his teacher smiled.

It was surely because he saw someone similar to himself in the story, or perhaps it was because he hoped that this hopeless soul, steeped in vengeance, could slowly find redemption…

As the movie wrapped up the arc in the Water Town, the audience collectively breathed a sigh of relief.

They were not only thrilled by the intense, life-or-death battle scenes but also pleased to see that Goblin Slayer was slowly starting to overcome the shadows of his past.

With everyone eagerly anticipating what kind of stronger foes would appear next, the final battle began as Goblin Slayer opened a path through the grass, revealing footprints leading deeper into the wilderness…