Goblin slayer year one is a manga adaptation to the Goblin Slayer: Year One light novel that takes place before the original light novel series. This manga explores Goblin Slayer's early adventures ONLY. The story is primarily based on the main character, Goblin Slayer, before he met his team mates in the sequel series. This series isn't much different to the sequel. It's the same ol'guy killing goblins before he met his team mates. But in all honesty it is just as intriguing as the original series. However if you didn't enjoy the premise of the original series, the sequel manga, then don't expect anything new or changed in this manga. It's the same dark, gory, edgy fantasy manga. We also still don't yet fully understand what happened to Goblin Slayer when he was younger and his past yet. I do recommend reading the sequel manga or Light novel before you read this series because the sequel did come out before the prequel did. If you came here expecting if this manga will show any more part of his childhood other than of what you already know, then you'll be disappointed, we don't get any new info yet; but we do explore his early expeditions.
Unlike the many isekai's that have been coming out lately, Goblin Slayer explores the darker side of the fantasy world. Instead of the shitty generic trash isekai we have seen so many times. Instead of the nice, unrealistic world with very little blood shed with villains evil just for the plot we get a isekai villains with actually reasons to be evil. The goblin's aren't evil just to show how OP the Mc is (Well...Kinda, but there are other legitimate reasons) but because they have to reproduce. They aren't evil because they want to be, they're evil because they have to be. The manga is just as dark and gory as the sequel is so if you just want more of Goblin Slayer then you have come to the right place.
As I've said, the story is mostly on Goblin Slayer only and his early adventures so we don't get to see too much of any other characters besides Goblin Slayer. There are some new characters introduced here but haven't yet shown in the sequel yet. If you're expecting any of his party member to be in this manga then you're going to be disappointed. It's the same badass, cool Mc that is not an exceptionally over powered, nor is he blessed with unique gifts/powers that elevate him to the status of being “one of a kind” being or Mc like you're used to seeing so many times in other fantasies. He uses legitimate tactics to kill goblins which is much better than just killing them easily because how op you are. He kills Goblins because he knows how they think, what they're going to do next, and their weaknesses. Like in real life when facing an enemy.
The art is pretty similar to the sequel. Dark, detailed, and overall quite beautiful. You know exactly what is happening during the fight scenes that you don't have to stare at the pages wondering what the hell is going on. You can tell that the artist wasn't lazy with his work. Although, there might be others who dislike it for being, idk, too dark or gory but i think it fits the mood of the manga and does a good job portraying what's happening.
Overall, it's very similar to the original sequel series. Don't expect it to be much different. Goblin Slayer isn't a story that is supposed to be meaningful or deep with compelling themes but rather just mindless enjoyment. By far it isn't the greatest manga out there nor is it the worst. It's quite unique in a sense how it shows the cruel reality of life and probably the more realistic side of the isekai/fantasy world we aren't used to seeing very often. I definitely recommend to give it a shot if you love dark, gory, edgy fantasy stories or you just want more of Goblin Slayer. It's a good prequel.
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