That's unexpectedly sad when the chimera died. I hope that snake is alright.

It most decidedly isn't. Having your partner die before you can make up with them after a trivial fight is one of the most surefire ways to mess up your psyche.

Monster girls couple, Uteee!

I only noticed it after re-reading it, but page 11(?) of chapter 4, in the second to last panel made a joke reference (hero's coffin joining a monster?) to the monster taming system where defeated monsters can be picked up as part members.

I only noticed it after re-reading it, but page 11(?) of chapter 4, in the second to last panel made a joke reference (hero's coffin joining a monster?) to the monster taming system where defeated monsters can be picked up as part members.

hmmm. I'm not sure its referencing that system, I read it as another joke about the goblin encouraging aki to stop crying so much about being murdered, cuz the coffins actually love aki and just want to be her friend.

Pretty sure it's just a joke about how Aki wouldn't be able to ask Wasabi to be her friend once they finish because she'll be dead.

mobile gaming in nutshell

Pretty sure it's just a joke about how Aki wouldn't be able to ask Wasabi to be her friend once they finish because she'll be dead.

Welp. Yeah, thats definitely what the joke was. I think it was the "flock" text that threw me, I had this adorable mental image of coffins flocking around aki, welcoming her back.

Edit: My bad, after finally googling the dragon quest monster recruitment scenes, I think the OP was right after all.

last edited at May 2, 2017 3:07AM

Weird af.

Definitely not for me.

I only noticed it after re-reading it, but page 11(?) of chapter 4, in the second to last panel made a joke reference (hero's coffin joining a monster?) to the monster taming system where defeated monsters can be picked up as part members.

hmmm. I'm not sure its referencing that system, I read it as another joke about the goblin encouraging aki to stop crying so much about being murdered, cuz the coffins actually love aki and just want to be her friend.

no the joke was directly a jab at how monsters want to join your party in Dragon Quest. The text is basically the same and the series is already full of dragon quest references.

I meant as far as the intent of the joke.

I highly doubt it was meant to be deep enough to foreshadow a plot point that large.

so boring and ain't even yuri

Yuri crush

Looks like Aki has some rather useful perks, even if she doesn't know how to use them. And that's why she have such huge level adjustment.

This is kinda... It looked fun at first, but when it lingers so long on the torturous death scenes and the isekai girl's utter despair at being trapped in this world where she's forced to fight and die endlessly for the chance to go home again... I don't know, it's not really funny anymore? Or at least, I stop being in the mood for jokes when cute girls are desperately trying to run for their lives and being brutally stabbed to death for the trouble. I really thought I'd be into this, but it just makes me feel weird and depressed whenever I try to give it another shot, so I'm probably just going to give up.

I liked this at first. Then it hit me just how much the relationship between the hero and the goblin is based on the the hero being afraid of death and wanting to be on the goblin's good side, rather than any actual relationship. Same goes to pretty much everyone else in the story. I usually dislike it when a series abandons it's core premise, but I seriously believe this series should already move away from its "everyone crossing goblin-chan suffers a soul crushing defeat and abandons all their hopes and dreams" before it becomes even more mundane.

last edited at May 30, 2017 7:53PM

Just kill u

The thing is this is almost a Left series in a way. None of the heroes consider that if a monster dies, that's it. They only realize how awful that is when it faces THEM, and worse, once the danger passes - thanks to the monster - they're back thinking monsters are evil. The monster is essentially a working-class, punch-clock "villain." So she's unsentimental but empathetic.

This series always makes me so happy whenever I see it. It's hilarious and I really like the world building as well.

The monster is essentially a working-class, punch-clock "villain." So she's unsentimental but empathetic.

That is a major point in the psychological of the characters to me. Death doesn't matter to the adventurers. It's like man-flue for them; something they'll inevitably get over.

You could almost go as far as saying the monsters are the righteous people, fighting to preserve their temporal lives, and the lives of their people. The main goblin girl is completely friendly to the non-combatants, and when death might actually occur, the last chapter showed that she was sympathetic and compassionate. She even went out of her way to ensure that the ex-knight captain would not put herself in serious danger anymore (even paying out of pocket for the last revival on a non-profitable day).

This is kinda... It looked fun at first, but when it lingers so long on the torturous death scenes and the isekai girl's utter despair at being trapped in this world where she's forced to fight and die endlessly for the chance to go home again... I don't know, it's not really funny anymore? Or at least, I stop being in the mood for jokes when cute girls are desperately trying to run for their lives and being brutally stabbed to death for the trouble. I really thought I'd be into this, but it just makes me feel weird and depressed whenever I try to give it another shot, so I'm probably just going to give up.

you just gotta learn to enjoy it. Watch Madoka Magica ten times. All of it.

My instinct tells me this is going Madoka Magica in the end. My instinct is not that good so I hope it's really really wrong.

Love this.

The monster is essentially a working-class, punch-clock "villain." So she's unsentimental but empathetic.

That is a major point in the psychological of the characters to me. Death doesn't matter to the adventurers. It's like man-flue for them; something they'll inevitably get over.

You could almost go as far as saying the monsters are the righteous people, fighting to preserve their temporal lives, and the lives of their people. The main goblin girl is completely friendly to the non-combatants, and when death might actually occur, the last chapter showed that she was sympathetic and compassionate. She even went out of her way to ensure that the ex-knight captain would not put herself in serious danger anymore (even paying out of pocket for the last revival on a non-profitable day).

To me, this whole manga is like a giant metaphor of growing up. The adventurers are children who play around believing they can be anything they want and not realizing that there will be consequences to everything. Goblin, meanwhile, is an adult (a child who had to grow up too fast?) who works for a living and has no empathy towards little brats. Even so, however, she has, deep inside, a compassionate streak she does her best to hide, which makes her likable in my eyes.

Goblin is a grumpy old man trapped in a playground with ignorant but self-important kids tasked with the ungrateful job of opening their eyes to the harsh reality of the outside world. You cannot blame her for not being nice about it in a long run.

last edited at May 31, 2017 2:11AM

To me, this whole manga is like a giant metaphor of growing up. The adventurers are children who play around believing they can be anything they want and not realizing that there will be consequences to everything.

Sure, that could be a theme, and if the main human character was, say, the knight girl from chapter 5, then sure, I'd even find it pretty convincing. But the first introduced and most frequently recurring human adventurer character is literally a child herself, who has no choice but to become an adventurer if she ever wants to go back home and see her family and friends again, and is certainly not treating this like a trivial game. She even points out that, even if she revives after death, she's still left with the vivid memory of being violently killed, and that's a pretty serious consequence in itself. If someone stabs you repeatedly with a knife, but you survive and make a full recovery, it's not like nothing happened at all. You were still brutally attacked, and that's pretty traumatic in itself. And it's not like Goblin takes the permanent death of monsters any more seriously than the temporary death of adventurers.

I don't know, I can see how you could get a "metaphor for adulthood" reading from the setting in general, but I'm not really convinced that the characters and story as written actually support it. It just seems like a dark comedy parody of old RPG mechanics.

last edited at May 31, 2017 9:11AM

Goblin is such a softy.

This story is really conflicting, on the one hand the characters are very fun and light-hearted and yet at the same time the kind of 'game mechanics' of the world are really dark. Still got to admit it's probably one of my favourite ongoing series.