Shinryaku! Ika Musume
| Shinryaku! Ika Musume | |
|---|---|
 From left to right: Eiko, Ika Musume, Chizuru. | |
| Original Manga | Masahiro Anbe |
| Director/Artist | Tsutomu Mizushima (Season 1) Yasutaka Yamamoto (Season 2) |
| Format | Anime (TV), Manga |
| Made By | Diomedea |
| # of Episodes | 12 (Season 1) 12 (Season 2) 1 OVA |
| # of Volumes | 14 |
Contents
Genre
Sum it up in a Sentence:
A squid girl wants to conquer humanity by starting with a beach in Japan.
Main Description
Season 1
Ika Musume (aka Squid Girl) comes from the sea to seek revenge on the damage humanity is causing to her precious home, the ocean. She wishes to do so by forcing humanity to bow to her, but is ironically taken under the employ of the Lemon beach house refreshment stand after tearing a hole in the wall and works to pay it off.
Most of the series is composed of Ika Musume's antics due to her lack of knowledge of land-based life and her failed attempts to conquer those around her. She starts living with the family that runs the Lemon beach house: Eiko, the red-haired girl who is the most annoyed of Ika Musume's schemes, Chizuru, the blue-haired older sister cook, and Takeru, the friendly younger brother. They eventually meet others who frequent the beach like Gorou the lifeguard, Sanae who has an obssessive crush on Ika Musume, a team of American researchers, a friendly schoolgirl named Kiyomi, and people from the rival beach house called The Southern Winds.
Season 2
The second season of Ika Musume bears the same name, but denoted with an added question mark: Shinryaku!? Ika Musume. Continues with the same format while introducing a few new characters.
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Personal Opinions
Willsun
Episodic fun. There's no story, and I like that the main character is ignorant about everyday life without being infantile or sickeningly cutesy about it. I don't like the second season as much because the timing and direction is off at times, most likely due to the new director they brought in.
a kitten
Way funnier than it has any right to be, a show about a girl with tentacles for hair that isn't sexualized or even fan-servicey. Instead it has piles of good jokes and visual gags, a great sense of comedic timing and in general is just a whole lot of fun. There's no overarching plot, and it doesn't need one, just a series of shorts about an inept invader and the amusing cast of characters she interacts with.
Redcrimson
It's rare for a slice of life moe comedy to have a real sense of comedic timing. Squid Girl is one of those rare instances. The jokes are short, direct, and on the mark. The titular mascot character is cute and endearing without the usual moe pitfall of being incredibly annoying. This is the only anime where the phrase "tentacle gag" doesn't refer to something unspeakably horrible. I'm not squidding around, this is a shell of a good time. Missing this would be a calamarity degeso.
Keyboard Kid
There's really no excuse not to watch this show. It's a perfect, light comedy that anyone can get into. You will be sold by the first episode. The animators know exactly what they're doing with the show and it looks fantastic, the characters aren't trite or overplayed (well, okay, maybe Sanae but that's another story), and the series isn't rooted too far into Japanese culture and puns like many other 'slice-of-life' style shows. If you think this is going to be another K-On (I hate K-On) then you're wrong.
PotU
I first started watching this when it aired and for some reason I stopped after the third or so episode. This was huge mistake you shouldn't make. It's absolutely cute and adorable and funny and you should definitely watch it if you haven't yet. I just didn't the subs I had, which of course isn't the shows fault. It just gets kinda old replacing every other word with "squid". Still better than putting de geso at the end of every sentence though, I guess. If you think this is going to be another K-On, then I'm sorry that I have to disappoint you, but Ika Musume is still a very enjoyable show!
Cappy
This is a great comedy anime. No matter how stupid it may look, give it a chance. You should be hooked by the first episode if you're going to enjoy the rest of it. There were very few wordplay jokes in the series, despite every title having a squid pun in it. There was also a lack of fanservice in the series, which was a refreshing change of pace.
If you enjoyed the kind of humor in this series, then I would definitely recommend checking out the manga.
Robert Denby
"Pinky is the Brain." That's how I imagine the pitch meeting went for this show.
First off, you should know that this is from the director of "Hare+Guu". Like that show it's a lot different from anything else that's out there, but it's not nearly as weird. It's a nice, calm slice-of-life comedy about a squid girl who just wants to take over the world. Lots of slapstick, lots of goofy humor. It's a hard sell, but give it a watch, and definitely read the manga if you want some more squid.
Hungry Gerbil
The comedic potential of incompetent evil is vast and immeasurable and this show uses it to the fullest extent. It's a funny and lighthearted show, that is guaranteed to make you laugh. The appeal of the Ika Musume's humor is pretty broad and I can recommend this show to everyone.
