Shinryaku! Ika Musume

I'll be honest:

The first time I watched this anime, I thought it was quite possibly one of the worst shows ever made in history, mainly because at the time, I thought Squid Girl was obnoxious and the plot of the series didn't seem to develop that much, as it was supposed to centre around a squid girl living in an ocean who was fed up with the pollution of the sea, and wanted to get revenge on all humans, only to result in her actually just playing around with other children and the owners of the beachside restaurant and not really accomplishing her supposed mission.

If ... you're looking for a certain anime that is somewhat plot-heavy, Shinryaku Ika Musume is most definitely NOT the show for you. However, as time went on, I decided to give this show another shot, and not take it as seriously as I did the first time, and I actually found this show to have quite a lot of potential, despite its misleading plot.

I really regret being harsh on this show at the time, as the humour in this anime is very similar to that of Azumanga Daioh, a famous slice-of-life show that is known to have quite a lot of hilarious slapstick comedy, such as Chiyo-chan and Osaka getting smacked in the face with a volleyball time and time again, and similar humour can be shown in this show, as there is a scene where Squid Girl throws up squid ink all over Chizuru after sneezing.

At least Azumanga Daioh gives us a more genuine description of what to expect in its respective show, whereas Shinryaku Ika Musume just misleads us into something we did not expect.

Anyway, let me give my ratings for the six key anime elements:

Story - 6/10

To be honest, I thought the story set-up was excellent. When I read a description of this anime, I was expecting it to be jam-packed full of action. It was supposed to be about a little girl in the form of a squid vowing to get revenge on the human population for polluting the sea, but as soon as she sets foot on earth above the ocean surface, that's when the show instantly begins to lose its plot, as she doesn't really do much to accomplish her mission, and instead just goofs around with other kids and the owners of the beachside restaurant by doing things such as having a fake birthday party for her, and having her consume shrimp to get over an illness that she just caught.

Art 10/10

I'm in love with the artwork. It is all bright and colourful and the character designs look adorable with their blobby-looking faces.

Sound 10/10

The voice acting is cute, and the opening theme song is extremely catchy, though to some people, it may seem annoying as many people dislike high-pitched anime girls singing.

Characters - 9/10

Squid Girl is hilarious, as she doesn't understand the concept of everyday human life. For example, when she sees children playing with inflatable sharks and fish, she mistakes them for being brought out of the sea and murdered so that the children can take advantage of them.

Eiko is another hilarious character, as she is often portrayed as being embarrassed by squid girls antics, an example being when squid girl gets sick from consuming so much seafood that in order to cure her illness, she has to consume some more shrimp.

Enjoyment - 9/10

Like I said, this anime does mislead you into thinking that it is a plot-heavy show, but It's still a good slice-of-life comedy if you don't take it too seriously. If you liked Azumanga Daioh, you are guaranteed to enjoy this show as well.

Overall 9/10

This anime is a must-watch, as it is jam-packed full of comedy. It may not have much in the way of a story, but the witty humour of this show is what gives this anime lots and lots of potential. :)

I've seen the character of Ika Musume around the anime sphere for a while, especially in the meme culture, so it was finally time I get around to watching this one. It's very reminiscent of a lot of the other comedy anime I've enjoyed that involve some sort of alien/demon/outsider adapting to regular life in a modern human society. It's kind of like a reverse isekai in that way.

Ika Musume herself is a pretty funny character, but a lot of credit has to be given to the ensemble cast. The characters and their interactions really make or break a show like this as I find ... character driven comedy to be the best for this kind of setting. I really like the attention to little details like how the hole Ika busts in the wall in the first episode is always still there in the background until it gets patched up, but even then it's done obviously on the cheap and is still really obvious.

I like a lot of the running gags like how her weakness is shrimp and how stupid she acts when tempted by it or how she's always tormenting the one girl who's afraid of her. Overall it's a decently funny show and probably a good one to watch with friends. 8/10

I had thought that this anime was suitable to watch with my family (underage children), but after I watched it again I just remembered that Sanae is a Masochist who is obsessed with Ika the MC (LOL). And others are just swimsuits, the rest is nothing.
Tells the daily life of Ika Musume (the squid girl) who is trying to conquer land creatures, especially humans because they have damaged the ocean. Even so, she lives with the Aizawa family and works at her restaurant on the beach not far from his house.
Seeing Ika's silly behavior in invading and learning new things for her is what makes ... this anime interesting. Not only Ika, the other characters around her are also funny. Even though Ika comes from the sea, most of them are not afraid of Ika. Precisely interested in Ika especially the children are very happy with Ika who likes to play with her tentacles.

This is my first review, please forgive any mistakes. Besides that this was my very first anime and honestly very great show. Lots of funny, entertaining, classic, and relatable moments I recommend giving this show a watch! Still probably will make me laugh once I revisit this great anime! All the characters have charming moments to them and the show overall is just a treat to see. This show also has a very fitting art style that just adds a lot to the overall plot of the show which I think lots of people will grow to like. If you also like the ocean ... there are plenty of jokes related as such so you will get a kick out of that. There was also a collaboration with Splatoon 1 which actually was the reason I discovered this show! The "Inkling Girl" outfit in Splatoon 1 was the main reason for me ever discovering this anime and I'm grateful for noticing because this anime is great. Splatoon is also my favorite video game franchise ever so that helps too. I truly recommend this show go watch now!

Recommendation: A fun little slice of life comedy. It's not going to blow you away or have you rolling on the floor with laughter, but it's cute and relaxing and should be broadly appealing to just about anyone that likes anime. Review covers both seasons and the 3 OVAs

Positives:

+ Ika Musume is adorable, both in design and behavior.

+ The cast of side characters is very good with a few exceptions. The 3 Stooges in particular made me actually laugh out loud a couple times.

+ Not really very "haha" funny most of the time, but it's sweet and pleasant in the way that ... the best slice of life anime is, and will probably get you to smile at least.

+ Art and animation is pretty great for such a simple show. People serving food in a restaurant is given the same level of craft and dynamism as you would see in battles in other shows.

+ Pretty light on fanservice despite the fact that many of the characters wear swimsuits since it takes place on the beach. It's the kind of series you could show to people who aren't into anime and not be embarrassed by Anime Bullshit.

Negatives:

- I realize this conflicts with the point directly above this, but Sanae is an exception to the rule and the scenes with her are often cringeworthy. Mostly by design, but that doesn't make them any more enjoyable to watch.

- Characters can be a bit one-note. They often just repeat the same gags over and over with slight differences each time. It's the kind of show where you can watch any episode out of order and it will still work, but that also means that there's no overarching plot and the characters are no different than when the series started.

- Feels a bit repetitive when you watch it over the course of a few weeks rather than week-by-week as the episodes come out, for reasons mentioned above

This anime is highly recommended for those of you who like anime that tells the daily lives of the characters. Yes, this is Ika Musume, when I first met me I really liked this anime, with its funny comedy and cute characters.

But unfortunately when I re-watched it for the second time, this anime felt bland, is it because I already know the plot? No friends! A good anime is an anime that you can watch repeatedly without getting bored, that's what is called the best anime.

It's a shame that this anime isn't one of those, when I watched it for the second time ... it was very boring, the story was boring, it just tells about ordinary everyday life, d and slowly adding new characters.

Even so, I would still recommend this anime, because despite all the disappointments, I liked this anime, but for the first time watching it and not to be watched again.

This anime almost made me spit up ink... unfortunatly though I'm not a squid... yet. Any who, This anime is wraped around Squid Girl (or Ika Musume in the Japanese anime), who intends on ink-vading the Earth to protect the sea. To be honest... when I first saw this anime I thought it was going to be about a hippy trying to get mankind to take better care of the ecosystem, but it actually isn't like that very muchat all. The show's a comedy about a freaking Cthulu (H.P. Lovecraft) wanna be trying to gain the control of the land for squid sake.

Let's just say... my friends say that I am most likely to grow up and start a religion called "Squidgirlism"

Story:
Ika Musume features short, cute stories (3 per episode) and most of them are stand-alone. There really is no plot, aside from Squid Girl wanting to invade humanity and failing, but it is incredibly entertaining and I loved every minute of it. It is one of the few comedy anime to make me burst out in laughter many times over.

Art/Sound:
The art is, again, cute, and Squid Girl's design is very memorable. Both the Japanese dub and the English dub are good (quite surprising), ... and the OP "Shinryaku, Ika Musume!"/"Let's invade!" is probably one of the most comedic and memorable OPs that I have ever seen. I loved it!

Character:
Though there is little character development, each character has a distinct personality, and you can always count on them to follow their norm. It's enjoyable to see them thrown into odd and funny situations again and again.

I love Ika Musume, and I'm sure you will too. ;)