Mark my words, this manga is going to be big in due time. Unfortunately, as a monthly manga, that may take a while. For now enjoy this mostly spoiler-free review and decide for yourself whether this is worthy of your time. The spoilers you find in my review are from chapter 1 and 2 to give examples of the setting.

Story: 7
As the synopsis said, the story unfolds with a shy young girl - a priestess - who wants to become an adventurer, deciding she should help those in need. Applying in a lobby of sorts between all kinds of typical rpg characters (witches, shamans, berserkers, paladins etc), you are invited into a joyful setting in a fantasy world where many people can become an adventurer if they wish to do so. She gets invited by a party to hunt goblins and follows the group who thinks killing goblins is no big deal because they are the weakest character in most games. Overconfident and zealous, they enter the dungeon marked as the goblin nest and at that point, you are pulled out of the jolly RPG setting of cheerful characters and welcoming parties and thrown straight into a berserk-esque hell. Goblins may still be relatively weak, but they attack weak groups or lone villages and farms to set the buildings on fire and take their women for their own lust and mostly getting away with it. (This includes rape to a certain extent! This can put off some readers, but don't let it cloud your judgement) If it wasn't for one man: Goblin Slayer. He is hell-bend to kill the goblins due to some childhood trauma and only takes on goblin quests. Being a high ranked adventurer, some others scorn him for only taking on those weak monsters. Nevertheless, he accepts all goblin quests and continues to do his job, ignoring the others who despise him. Think of this as edgy, arrogant, selfish or anything you want, he doesn't do it for the glory or fame. His attitude is not the "Fuck all goblins, they should cease to exist" kind, but more the "I don't want others to experience the same thing I did" kind. If it wasn't for that, this manga would have a severely lower rating for me.
As this has an RPG setting, there should be other monsters, demons and dragons to defeat. However, those battles are fought elsewhere, as the main focus here is how much of a treat goblins can be to new adventurers, while the experienced and higher ranking ones scorn the goblin quests.

That is why the first couple of chapters show the merciless world out there and the tactics to use. Simply being powerful doesn't mean anything against a horde of goblins, accompanied by shamans, hobgoblins or higher ranked enemies. One needs tactics and that is one of the reasons why I like it. The MC, Goblin Slayer, is rational and thinks of the best solutions regardless what others may think. The most spoiler-free example I can give is that in the first couple chapters, he shows that even the gobin children must not be left alone, for they will harbour hate toward the humans that killed their family and will strike back when grown up.

Art: 10
A monthly manga usually has the advantage of having more time for artwork and that is definitely the case here. We can enjoy detailed goblin faces being smashed and spot-on character outfits fitting with the characters, flowing with emotion and amazing scenery. The surroundings are never left out, most empty spaces are filled with a simple item, such as a hay-car on a farm and tables with chattering people in buildings. There are a wide range of manga out here, but only a handful (literally) have received full marks for art from me, Goblin Slayer included. Dynamic fights, detailed, ugly goblins, interesting outfits and beautiful female characters (this doesn't mean all points go to boobs of course). This ideal world depicted is only set off by the contrast of the dark reality that is facing the goblins and their malevolence. Truly stunning to see, nothing to add.

Character: 7
Goblin Slayer is a man among men, let that be clear. His objective is killing goblins and that's what he does. If that means harming some others, so be it. He is clear, calm, just and for me, relatable. This is how one should act in a world such as this.
The priestess - Onno Shinkan - is a typical shy priestess. like Asia Argento from Highschool DxD and her decision to go with Goblin Slayer feels forced purely to continue the story. After that, she has more character development than Goblin Slayer or any other character here. She tries hard for the sake of others, but is not always able to due to her beginner rank. She displays a wide range of emotins, even including sadness for the goblins, even though they are the ones who put her in her misery.

The supporting characters however, all contain a certain archetype (elven archer, dwarf shaman, etc) and retain that type. During a journey, you come to know some of them, but my phone has had more development in the last year than they have had. They never break the archetype, yet some of them show more concern than they used to do. The most interesting supporting character is the receptionist who likes Goblin Slayer for helping people with goblins where most others would not even look at the quest as they are not rewarding or challenging enough.

Enjoyment: 9
Despite some flaws I mentioned, the enjoyment rating of Goblin Slayer is high for me. The chapters are usually over 30 pages yet felt like I was reading the short chapters of Dolly Kill Kill or the later Naruto ones. Every month waiting for a new chapter is slowly killing me as I want to continue reading, but there are only so few chapters out. Sometimes I even read it again for the sake of enjoyment of seeing those goblins being smashed most outrageously and brutally with melee weapons and amazingly drawn magic spells.

Overall: 8
Goblin Slayer is rated as seinen and with reason. Gory deaths and captured/victimized females play a part of it, but that didn't cloud my judgement as it added to the seriousness of the settings. There is occasional humour with simply drawn faces later on, but the cold blooded seriousness and zeal of the MC is mostly what kept me reading, combined with amazing artwork which eases the reading and is a feast for one's eyes. I never get bored of a fantasy setting like this with tactical fights, bloody kills and a festive return.
As said at the start of my review: this is going to be big over time and I can only eagerly await each new chapter until that time has come.