Story:
This is a very episodic Anime and doesn't really follow a story, so all I can rate here is the premise and how it is dealt with. Ika Musume is a squid who is fed up with humans who throw their trash into the ocean, so she decides to conquer the humans. Too bad she is just a little girl with no knowledge about the human world. The idea is very interesting and reminds me a little of Yostuba&!, though the main characters are quite different. The premise is often made fun of, as it is a mere excuse for all the comedy. This show never takes itself very seriously and it shouldn't. I would've liked for some more conquering failure, but I'm okay with what we got.
8/10 (Premise & Usage)
Art:
The artwork is very simplistic like in most comedies. This allows for better focus on the characters and the gags. On occassion it showed us what is could be capable of, but never did it really inspire awe. It still works quite well, so I won't go to hard on this category.
6/10
Sound:
That opening...it will be stuck in your head for days. This is Ducktales level catchy. Sure, it's a very stereotypical cutesy song, but it's just so damn good! The ending is very calm and relaxing, almost like a heavy axe coming down to end the wacky ride, but I like it. The Anime itself doesn't use much music, the sound effects work well. Nothing spectacular, but nothing terrible + a good ending song + a really, really catchy theme tune.
9/10 (it's really that catchy)
Characters:
Are these characters bland? Maybe a little. Does it hurt? Not at all. They all fill out their roles perfectly and combine to an eccentric cast with great chemistry. The hothead, the secretly scary one, the innocent boy, his mean friend, the Ika addict, the scared one, the alien believer...they all work and that's what counts. Ika herself is easily the best written character of the show. She does not fall into a stereotype, she's not brave, not completely dumb, not a tsundere, not innocent, not even a bad luck magnet. She's a little of everything, almost like a real person. Sure, she isn't very deep, but did you expect or even want that? No, you don't.
9/10
Enjoyment:
I had a lot of fun. 12 episodes is a perfect length for this show. Long enough to provide you with lots of good comedy, but just short enough to not bore you if you marathon it. I gotta admit, at times I wasn't too pleased with its episodic nature (there's 3 mini episodes per episode), but I never got bored by it. I expected mindless, lighthearted fun and that's exactly what I got. I know there's a second season and I will very likely watch it.
9/10
Overall:
8.2/10
