SHINRYAKU! IKA MUSUME

DESCRIPTION

CAST

ANIME ComedyShinryaku!? Ika Musume
MANGA ComedyShinryaku! Ika Musume
SPECIAL ComedyShinryaku! Ika Musume Specials
MUSICShinryaku! Ika Musume: Ika Ice Tabena-ika?
MUSICShinryaku! Ika Musume: Kore ga Umi e no Ai Jana-ika!

REVIEWS

• 

  TheRealKyuubey

  70/100
  It is truly tentacular.

  For decades, mankind has taken the vast, epic ocean environment for granted. As our technology has advanced, so has the scale our pollution, with oil, garbage and toxic waste killing millions upon millions of innocent aquatic life forms. But now, the world below the surface has finally taken enough abuse from the world above, and they’re sending their most powerful, most terrifying soldier to deal with us.

  All 1,000 of us.

  Okay, so it’s information may be a bit dated, but it’s desire to enslave us and force us to pay for our crimes is no laughing matter. She’s coming, and we have no choice to prepare ourselves… For the most adorable invasion of mankind since Night of the Lepus.

  Yes, it’s not Godzilla, it’s Squidgirl, a vertically challenged moppet who looks almost human, save for the series of blue tentacles that make up her hair. Or Ika Musume, as Japan calls her. She comes ashore one day, bursts into the Lemon Beach House, and announces to the first gathering of humans she sees that this world… And all the people in it… Now belong to her!

  Unfortunately for her, this declaration is met with laughter, and she soon winds up working a low level job at the very beach house she just threatened. Like Ika, this beach house is owned run by a small family of siblings… They have no parents, because it’s an anime. The most important of the three is Eiko, a high school student who acts as a foil for all of Ika’s hare brained schemes and delusions. Takeru is a little boy who… genuinely acts like a child, surprisingly. He gets along very well with Ika, as he’s more than willing to play along with her. And their oldest sister, Chizuru… Well, telling you about her personality would spoil one of the greatest moments of the series, even though it happens in episode 1, so I’ll just leave it at ‘she’s awesome.’

  The animation is nothing special, but it’s a little above average by Slice of Life standards. There are a lot of key frames, but when it wants to impress you, it will not hesitate to do so, saving it’s budget for moments that really need it. Yes, the allocation of the budget may be a little too noticeable for some people, but you can’t argue with results, because whenever there’s action or physical comedy going on, there’s really nothing to complain about. Aside from the main character, the character designs are a little on the bland side, but they still have kind of a natural feel to them. Well, natural by anime standards.

  And speaking of our hero, the animation style works particularly well in favor of the Squid Girl herself, whose various cephalopod abilities make up the bulk of that action and physical comedy. For a good idea of how her tentacles work, think of her as a really mean parody of Lucy from Elfen Lied… the four deadly vectors have been swapped out for ten mostly harmless hair-tentacles that seem to have even more impressive abilities than Ika herself has. They’re powerful enough to break through a wall, strong enough to lift heavy objects, and fast enough to create a sonic boom, yet they’re also delicate enough to thread a sewing needle. And they can seemingly stretch indefinitely. On top of this, she can breathe underwater and use bioluminescence to glow in the dark.

  And yet, beyond these abilities, Ika herself is… Well, I don’t want to say stupid… Perhaps ‘naive and gullible’ would be better. Her knowledge of the human world seems very arbitrary and inconsistent. She’s able to do complicated math problems in her head, but she doesn’t know that she can’t eat the images on a 3D TV. It’s odd, but hey, it’s an episodic children’s show. Even My Little Pony had problems like that. And for what it’s worth, while Ika may be a little inconsistent, she’s a very entertaining little pain in the ass.

  As enjoyable as the title character may be… Your choice of dub or sub will influence this, but more on that later… I can’t really say as much about the supporting cast. I wouldn’t go as far as calling them bad or unlikeable… Okay, maybe a few of them are… They’re just not all that interesting on their own. They’re mostly used as props for Ika to interact with, and to be fair, this is done to great effect. They support her, as a supporting cast should, but none of them ever really stand out, as they either get too little screen time to justify their presence or so much screen time that their best qualities become Flanderized. The only one that ever really rubs anybody the wrong way is Sanae, Eiko’s childhood friend, who has a lesbian crush on Ika… Which would be fine, if she weren’t so damn creepy and obsessed about it. Honestly, she’s the only real element of the series that I wouldn’t call kid friendly.

  The English dub, for the most part, is pretty underwhelming. It’s a parade of no names and small timers, with the only big actors being Carrie Savage and the increasingly impressive Christina Vee. for the most part, the performances are either bland or adequate, although nobody really bombs it. What really surprised me was the performance behind Ika, who’s played by Christine Marie Cabanos. I’ve never really liked her as an actor… I thought she was miss-cast in K-ON!! and Madoka Magica, and while I didn’t mention it in my review, I freaking HATED her in Oblivion Island. But here, she was actually kind of good. She won’t be winning any Oscars any time soon, but her “every ridiculous thing I say sounds completely normal to me” delivery was a pretty good approach to take.

  The Japanese track is infinitely better than the dub, however, and Hisako Kanemoto blows Cabanos completely out of the water. Actually, the performances are better all around, even if you can’t understand the language. Which I can’t. The dub isn’t horrible, and it should be enough to please those who insist on watching it, but unless you’re eager to hear a barrage of fish-related puns, the Japanese track is definitely recommended.

  I mentioned earlier that, aside from Sanae, this show is pretty kid-friendly, and I meant it. The stories are simple enough for a kid to comprehend, without ever really feeling too dumbed down. It’s episodic, split into threes like a Nickelodeon cartoon, but there’s still a sense of progress and development with the characters. It’s set on a beach, so there’s naturally a lot of scantily clad bodies walking around, but aside from that, there’s barely any traditional fan-service at all. It’s the story of an incompetent Invader losing touch with their origins as they adapt to human culture, and while we’ve seen that about a million times, it’s done pretty well here, with the constant otaku pandering that almost ruined Sgt. Frog left completely out of the equation.

  The writing can get corny, and the characters can get a little stale at times, but it still smells of genuine effort and imagination. It never stays in a rut for too long, and there’s always a good laugh waiting around the corner. Actually, the writing in this show is a lot like the animation… It;’s hit or miss, but when it hits, it REALLY hits, and it doesn’t always need to rely on comedy to be enjoyable. There are some surprisingly touching scenes, including a chibi segment in episode five that’s so brilliant and creative that, with different music, it probably wouldn’t feel out of place in a Fantasia movie.

  Squid girl is available from Media Blasters, surprisingly. They’ve released the first season stateside. You can stream it legally on Crunchyroll, buy the DVDs on amazon, or just watch the whole thing for free on Netflix. There’s a second season, but it hasn’t been licensed, and I haven’t seen it yet. I will see it eventually, and when I do, I have some pretty high hopes for it… I want to see Ika’s home world be explored and explained a little more, I want a few certain characters to get some more screen time, and I want a few other certain characters to die in a fire.

  In the end, Squidgirl is kind of a mixed bag. It’s a bit of an underachiever in almost every category, but it still makes for some great light-hearted, mostly family friendly fun. I guess the base breaker for most people will be Ika herself., seeing as how the best points of the series Some of you may find her unconscionably annoying, and I can understand that sentiment completely. This show is not for you. For the rest of us, myself included, she is nothing sort of adorable and charming, and if the rest of the cast has to act as her props, then good job… This show is hilarious. It’s not one of the best comedies out there, and repeated viewings over a short period of time may leave you feeling cold… Once or twice a year at best is advised… But for what it is, I loved it. I give Squidgirl a 7/10.

  Continue on AniList
• 

  Ciaora39

  68/100
  Decent Attempt at Cute Girl Comedy with a Squid Girl

  I’m not going to lie, this show is a weird one to talk about. Not because of the actual premise, although it does add a little to it, but on the way it’s structured. It reminded me of my childhood shows with three separate story arcs that had a basic theme. With an anime plot involving a cute squid girl trying to invade the entire planet by herself only to be undermined by many people who own a food court near a beach, you’d think that would speak of random hijinks that will only appeal to prepubescent girls. Fortunately, there can be some merits here that could appeal to any age group.

  Squid Girl has a plot that is hardly focused or has any substance to the original goal that the squid character, Ike, intended to do. It mainly involves her trying to learn about humanity and the culture of Japan that she is settling in. It’s essentially a show based on culture shock and how foreigners try to adapt to a different country that they have no idea about. The tone of the series is light-hearted and comedic; they handle it pretty well without hampering the basic premise conflicting with the comedy. It’s pretty entertaining to watch and, at times, funny to see Ike acting very holier than thou upon the people she meets when she has no power over the others whatsoever.

  With a show like Squid Girl, you need to supply great characters that are both funny and memorable to watch. While some garner a lot of entertainment, others are not fully realized and don’t add much depth to the comedy. The best ones that I liked the most were Ike, Eiko, and Chizuru. They all have so much great chemistry together and make many great gags work perfectly. Chizuru provides some of the best scenes involving her having a friendly personality. Still, once something terrible happens to her or the workplace, she turns menacing to the person doing the trouble-making. Ike herself, voiced by the always charming Hisako Kanemoto, gives the show a great sense of passion towards making this Slice of life atmosphere into an entertaining comedy with her constant alluring presence in every scene.

  Unfortunately, not all of the cast hits the level of greatness and our three main characters. Sanae, Takeru, and Goro all don’t have the same great chemistry with Ike as she does with Eiko and Chizuru. That’s not to say they’re terrible, they do have some funny moments, but it’s essentially just them acting very googly-eyed over Ike’s presence in the world that quickly doesn’t have much to go for in the grand scheme of things. For example, Sanae’s only gag for existing in the show is to be all lovey-dovey over Ike and nothing else. Sure it does get a few laughs, but after a while, the joke falls flat and gets old quickly. If it weren’t for Kanae Itou’s sweet voice playing Sanae, I would probably think lesser of Sanae, to be honest.

  Another problem with the show was how each plot arc ended so abruptly. There are times when a plot arc would end, and it didn’t feel like that particular scene felt any closure for it. It ends relatively quickly, and we’re brought up in a different scene. The problem is that they interlude between a different arc by showing a cut of arrows that are supposed to tell us that we’re doing a different arc. Still, it happens so fast that you barely notice it because the arc beforehand hardly had an ending. In turn, some of the arcs felt rushed or weren’t finished in the writing process during production.

  In short, I thought there wasn’t anything special to be found in Squid Girl. It might be something that you might show to your younger daughter to have some fun with, but on the other hand, there is some decent humor for adults. It might be a stretch to say that this is Japan’s answer to Spongebob. The only difference is that Spongebob had a lot of great memorable characters while Squid Girl only had three that are even worth discussing over. It’s a harmless show for what it is, a decently entertaining show for older kids. Even with some of the adult innuendo thrown in, that’s at least something that most kids' shows are hardly about these days.

  Grade: B-

  Continue on AniList
• 

  BriForABri

  79/100
  She's a Kid Now, She's a Squid Now

  Having friends and peers who share a common interest with you is a blessing that I, for one, have too often taken for granted. I have a variety of different hobbies, each of which is shared by at least one person with whom I share a strong friendship and continued connection. Anime is one such interest of mine that continues to introduce new shows that I've never even heard of through my network of other like-minded peers. And through said network of peers, I was recently introduced to one such anime called Squid Girl.

  If I were to be brutally honest, upon hearing the title, Squid Girl for the first time, I legitimately thought it was going to be some garbage show that I've never even heard for good reasons. Classic case of judging a book by its cover on my part, and I could not have been any happier to have been proven so very, very wrong.

  Beneath its incredibly childish appearance and frighteningly cute OP is an anime that had me laughing from start to finish, whether it was the amusingly exaggerated plot or the charming cast of characters. Quite honestly, I would not be shocked if Squid Girl was meant to be targeted towards children, what with the incredibly bright colors, cutesy music, lack of fan service, and subtle subliminal messages on preserving our oceans. It may very well be an anime for children for all I know, but even if it is, my friends and I got more enjoyment out of it than plenty of other anime with more mature themes.

  I'm not sure how it's translated in other available streaming services, if there's even any difference at all, but one of the more cheesy and amusing aspects of the show was the Japanese puns implemented in the titles of each episode/mini-episode. It does require a slight understanding of Japanese grammar and vocabulary to get the jokes, but a very basic description is that the word for 'squid' in Japanese is ika (イカ). This word's pronunciation is very similar to a lot of Japanese grammatical phrases, such as janaika (じゃないか), or "isn't it?" It's incredibly stupid humor, but I personally find it to be quite amusing.

  __Personal Ratings__

  1. Music: 83/100 - They say people can recognize a favorite TV show almost instantly within a few seconds of the opening theme song - the two tend to go hand-in-hand. Well, after having watched all 12 episodes of Squid Girl S1, I can safely say that its OP and the show in general go better together than milk on cereal, syrup on pancakes, or wheels on a bike. It fits the overall ridiculousness and energy of the show so well, that I'd be hard-pressed to find anything that could suit it better. The ending is a nice contrast with a soothing melody as opposed to the chaos the opening presents, but both songs do a wonderful job at matching the theme that Squid Girl presents.

  2. Plot: 68/100 - I can't imagine too many people saw the title, Squid Girl and expected to bear witness to a life-changing, mind-altering story that would change the very way they viewed the world and those who live there. Which is good, because that's precisely the opposite of what they would get. Squid Girl is literally an anime about an anthropomorphic squid-girl that invades the surface world with dreams of world and human domination. It's as childish as it sounds and, while there are charming undertones about preserving the environment, what you see is general what you get.

  3. Characters: 93/100 - Hands down, my personal favorite aspect of Squid Girl by a country mile. The very concept of this anime is ridiculous, which is completely fine, but if you're going to make that the central focus of your show, you'd better take care to make sure that the cast of characters is aware of just how stupid it is. And I believe the creators of Squid Girl did an incredible job of achieving exactly that. Characters such as Eiko, Chizuru, Nagisa, Sanae, etc. do a great job of not only recognizing how stupid the concept of an anthropomorphic squid-girl trying to take over the world is, but also in taking their attitudes to a variety of different extremes, such as parenting, loving, exaggerated fear, and even romance. The cast is what brings it all together, in my opinion.

  4. Art & Animations: 74/100 - The first season of Squid Girl released towards the tale-end of 2010 - a factor made clear by its art and animation style. The show is, at the time of me writing this review, nearing 13 years-old. It definitely does show its age, but that's not necessarily a bad thing at all. I mentioned eariler how I strongly believe Squid Girl could be a show marketed towards a younger audience - something that, I believe, is heavily supported by the art style and its incredibly bright, solid colors. The colorful setting and bright animations catch the eye and make for a potentially great show in which young children could easily get lost.

  __Conclusions__

  She's a kid now! She's a squid now! She's a kid, she's a squid, she's a kid, she's a squid, she's a - well, you get the picture. In all seriousness, Squid Girl is an anime that really goes to show how you should never judge a book by its cover. Had I stumbled across this show on my own with no incentive to watch it, I would have likely passed it up. But since my friends wanted to watch it with me, I obliged - a decision that I do not regret one bit. I would highly recommend this anime to anyone looking for a good laugh without being subjected to any fan-service or unnecessary filler. I am incredibly excited to watch the 2nd season - something I plan on watching with the same friends who recommended the first season.

  Continue on AniList

SIMILAR ANIMES YOU MAY LIKE

• ANIME

  ComedyGabriel Dropout
• ANIME

  ComedyHataraku Maou-sama!
• ANIME

  ComedyAzumanga Daiou THE ANIMATION
• TV SHORT

  ComedyNamiuchigiwa no Muromi-san
• ANIME

  ComedyKobayashi-san Chi no Maidragon
• ANIME

  ComedyMachikado Mazoku
• OVA

  ComedyLucky☆Star OVA
• TV SHORT

  ComedyKeroro
• ANIME

  ComedyNon Non Biyori: Nonstop
• ANIME

  ComedyKeroro Gunsou
• ANIME

  ComedyHimouto! Umaru-chan
• ANIME

  ComedyHeppoko Jikken Animation Excel Saga