Category: Shinryaku! Ika Musume

Three very different stories this episode. The first was the least interesting, but that was mostly because it was yet another one of those stereotypical portrayals of Americans. It packed some great jokes, though, especially in the way that she managed to convince Squid Girl that she’s an alien, only for a bunch of shrimps to immediately break that spell.

The second part was hilarious, though, in the way that Squid Girl actually tried to take over the local high school. I love how subtly everything escalated: things all started very harmlessly, with Squid Girl finding out about the new terms starting. It’s hilarious that when left alone, Squid Girl just kept searching more an more trouble, in which she eventually ended up kidnapping the headmaster and forcing him to eat shrimps he’s allergic to. I also loved how Eiko at first thought that letting Squid Girl roam around the school would be harmless enough.

The third part was… pretty unique and charming, and really well animated. There is no dialogue, and instead of the regular set-up we see some dream-like sequence about Eiko picking up a really cute miniature Squid Girl. It’s great to see how much the creators were able to say here, without actually saying anything and made excellent use of the fact that it’s animation.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

This episode started a bit questionable when it immediately started to repeat some jokes from the previous episodes: the scared girl and the fangirl. Some of the hilarious jokes of the rest of the episode made up for it, though.

I was especially afraid for that fangirl to turn stale by now, but I really have to admit that this episode found something interesting, taking her obsession to the absurd by stuffing herself into a shrimp suit. I especially loved the way in which it was delivered: well built up and intertwined with the other stuff that was going on in this episode, with a great comedic timing.

The funniest part of this episode was when the fake squid girl appeared, though. I’m not sure whether it was meant to be a parody of Squid Girl herself, but it was completely ridiculous and hilarious in the way it made a mockery of Squid Girl’s powers, especially the way in which it produced its seasoning. And really, whenever this show uses a cliche, it introduces this one quite subtly: I’m sure that we’re going to get the big boobed chick who has all of the guys around her instantly mesmerized more often in this series, but to introduce her with such a ridiculous mask on top of her head was a really neat idea.

It also helps that Squid Girl is still such a wonderful character. Even when this show isn’t trying to make a joke, just having her on screen is fun enough to keep watching. I loved how she ended up using the 10000 yen of a reward, completely on buying shrimps, or how she when she was bored started playing with the soy sauce. It’s especially the way in which she’s animated that brings her to life.

There are more jokes that are in the danger zone of being milked out now, though. Especially Chizuru needs some new material now. All she did this episode was poke fun at Squid Girl while looking threatening.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

This episode had a few less sketches than last week, so it was a bit slower than the first two episodes. It was still hilarious though, it came with new material, and I can really see that the creators were going for a fear-themed episode: first of all we see the things that scare the human characters, then we get some sketches on the things that scare squid girl, only for the episode to close off with someone who’s actually scared of her.

I liked how this episode showed in what kind of a different environment and culture Squid Girl grew up in, in the way that she had completely no concept of the meaning of ghosts, and instead of ghosts, she’s scared of the big predators that are roaming around the sea. There was also this point at which actual ghosts show up, and I loved how many different ghosts the creators actually put there, from disgruntled authors, surf accident victims and even a bunch of samurai. I love the deadpan delivery of these guys.

As for the rest of the cast, we learn a few of the phobias of them, like the lifeguard is scared of the dark, while a newly introduced surfer girl has this strange fear of squids. Or whatever squid girl makes her think of. The way in which she instantly believed that Squid Girl was a threat to humanity was a bit too much, but I can understand the creators of having some kind of character for Squid Girl to scare. She was indeed hilarious once she found that out. This episode also introduced a few quirks that could become overused running gags, like that classmate’s obsession over Squid Girl, and the lifeguard’s crush on Chizuru (though I like how subtly this was introduced in this episode). Those are the biggest potential pitfalls for this series.
Rating: * (Good)

As for the series I’m not going to blog:
– Hakuouki ultimately remains cheesy and boring.
– Yosuga no Sora has actually some decent drama, but at the same time it also tries way too hard to be a harem.
– I’ve also decided not to blog Otome Youkai Zakuro, despite seriously considering this. In the end, I really could not feel any potential from it. It did well in showing the pasts of the different characters at such an early stage, but the second episode was pretty shallow in terms of its message about peaceful coexistence, and too many of the characters are simple stereotypes. The first episode really was excellent, but I fail to see whether the creators can add anything more than what was shown in these first two episodes.

In any case, I’m not yet 100 percent sure whether or not I’m going to continue blogging Squid Girl: if Kuragehime turns out awesome it will probably be swapped out. But I really wanted to try my hands again on blogging a pure comedy. I really don’t blog these kinds of shows often, and there are two basic reasons for that:
1. With most comedies, it’s impossible to predict whether they will remain fresh and funny through their entire airtime.
2. Quite a few of the good comedies are impossible for me to write about on a weekly basis. To take an example, one of my favourite comedies of 2010 is Gag Manga Biyori +. It was awesome in its hyperactive delivery, but I would have gone absolutely crazy, trying to come up with something to write for every single week.

Squid Girl has been the first pure comedy that fell in neither of those points since GA Geijutsuka Art Design Class, and I really want to give it a whirl. I’m really confident that this is a series that will remain funny for at least thirteen episodes: all of the jokes so far have been fresh and diverse. This series never bothered to repeat itself so far, and that’s a great sign. Usually you see great comedies that dull in after a hilarious first episode (take Otome Youkai Zakuro, whose second episode was significantly less funny than its first, even though it’s not a full comedy), but Squid Girl’s second episode was just as fun to watch as the first.

On top of that, the characterization is also pretty good here. The characters here aren’t a bunch of walking stereotypes: instead they are a bunch of normal people with some weird personality traits here and there: they’re all colourful, but they also know how to act normally. The titular Squid Girl meanwhile is very dynamic and lovable with her innocent curiosity. The way the creators have animated her also really brings her to life. Compare that to Panty and Stocking, in which the characters try way too hard to follow their own stereotype so that nothing else remains.

Anyway, about this episode: it was about half an introduction of two new characters (a life guard and one of Eiko’s classmates). Especially that life guard turned out to be a very good straight man for Squid Girl; he treats his job seriously, but not too seriously, like what many characters in his place end up doing, preventing his job from turning into some boring caricature.

The best jokes came from Squid Girl, though. My favourite parts in this episode were the point in which she tried to blow out the candles on her birthday cake, and the scene in which she realized that she forgot how to swim. I like how this series did well in showing her get accustomed to human culture, on top of portraying her like a little kid who’s trying to heckle people whenever she gets bored.

Diomedea is far from my favourite production company; heck, the best thing they made before this season was Kodomo no Jikan and that was about the only decent series I’ve ever seen from them. But you know what, in a season in which a studio like Madhouse has put out its worst performance in all of the five years that I’ve been blogging, I’m really wondering how they’ll pull this one off. So far at least, they’ve really succeeded in breathing life into Squid Girl, making it a very good adaptation (from the perspective of someone who has not read the original, of course).

Oh, and I also love how that hole that Squid Girl blew into the wall during the last episode is still there. Points for continuity.
Rating: ** (Excellent)