Audience reviews
20 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
missingstar
Shinryaku! Ika Musume is a series that definitely deserves a higher rating, largely because of the incredibly cool twist it brings to the table. Blending a relaxing slice-of-life comedy with a supernatural, fantasy-lite premise—an arrogant but naive squid girl coming from the ocean to conquer humanity—is a fantastic hook.
However, it is held back by one glaring flaw: certain episodes make absolutely no sense and feel like blatant filler. In these moments, the show completely loses its story and flow. The events don't feel like they fit within the established rules of their own world, making it painfully obvious that the studio likely just threw 2-3 filler episodes together purely to pad out the runtime and finish the season.
But when the anime actually leans into its strengths, it truly…
Read at the sourcepukesquid
(This is a review of the whole series rather than just season one)
I believe that everybody no matter who you are has an anime that will resonate with you to an extreme level, Shinryaku! Ika Musume is that anime for me.
The anime follows the daily life of the titular character Ika Musume living in earth, a place due to her origins as a squid in the sea she has zero knowledge of, which makes her seem as somebody who is harmless which is the whole opposite of what she wants due to her intentions of trying to invade humanity, most of the plots of the chapters and comedy of the anime is based on that premise, this can be compared to works like The Great Jahy Will Not Be Defeated! Where a character who wishes to be feared doesn't get taken as seriously, I believe that this is one of the stron…
Read at the sourceTheRawTruth
It is with the heaviest, yet most exultant, burden upon my venerable shoulders that I undertake this critical odyssey. For decades—nay, centuries of cultural decay compressed into the frantic, dopamine-deprived spasms of the Twentieth and Twenty-First—humanity has languished under the oppressive yoke of a medium so fundamentally, ontologically corrupted that its very nomenclature induces a visceral recoil in the cultivated sensibility. I speak, of course, with the utmost scholarly precision and barely contained moral revulsion, of that leitmotif of contemporary aesthetic collapse: Japanese "Anime." To the vulgar herd, swaddled in the cradle of their own intellectual indolence, it represents little more than flashing lights and adolescent power fantasies masquerading as art. But to the trul…
Read at the sourceDan_VS_Anime
It's a fun anime if you're in the mood for silly slice of life. Watching it again makes me miss that early 2010s style of anime. The overall flavor of anime has changed a lot since then, not that it's all bad but I feel like there's a lot of poorly written crap coming out now.
Now, Shinryaku! Ika Musume can hardly be called a master piece but it's so much fun to watch that it doesn't matter. Poor writing these days is so bland and the characters feel so flat, but the characters here have so much energy and personality.
watching it reminded me of why I became an anime fan to begin with. It totally reenergized me.
Read at the sourceweegee_cool
This was my first ever anime I actively put on to watch. Somewhat forgettable but a neat premise nonetheless. It centers around a "Squid Girl" who tries to overtake humanity, but gets stuck at a seafood job to pay off some debt for property damange. She meets a colorful cast of characters along the way but I'd be damned if I actually remembered their names. I vaguely remember their personalities but now that's all of the anime I remember. It's your run-of-the-mill animation for the era and lower stakes for what it could actually be.
Overall it's decent for putting on in the background to fill the void of silence. Other than that I wouldn't reccomend watching it if you want something to be engaged in.
Read at the sourcehaus444
About as good as a comedy anime could hope to get. The show is very reliant on it's protagonist, and a lot of the comedy comes from each side characters unique relationship with Ika Musume. Although this could be a weakness, Ika Musume it works, plus all the characters are unique and interesting in their own ways, but having them play off Ika just works so well for the comedy of the show. All the other characters interact with one another in unique and interesting ways as well such as Sanae and Cindy becoming fast friends due to their infatuation with her. It really plays off of character dynamics masterfully, it didn't get stale in the 418 chapters of the manga and it definitely doesn't get stale here. The show also has a lot of genuinely heartfelt and sentimental moments. The mini Ika ep…
Read at the sourceGabisDB
"Isn't this a Shinryaku! Ika Musume review?".
Of course there is a anime of a girl that is a squid, what a suprise! And the title really reveal how basic it is, not being bad at all, everyone likes a quick and healthy entertainment. It could have had a little more development of everyone and everything, some elements asks to shine more, specially "Eiko n' Ika".
The series style is made to not be taken serious, the interactions are not canonical between episodes, that's how it works with "Eiko n' Ika" too, but it's clear that our main duo is treated with more care, they relationship subtly grows into small and precious moments, and every great changes is well deserved, it's not a organic relationship but it is special your development, it makes you wish more and more of them two acting s…
Read at the sourceAyyi2014
Cute squid girl. Classing Ending animation. For opening is so-so. Both opening and ending song is not bad. The story is good, balance of the comedy and SoL. Some episode are predictable, for SoL watcher of course. As for character, each of them are unique. they have their roles well within the story. For Art style, like other SoL anime, simple and classic. Realistic? Definitely not, it's a Squid Girl.
For me, i enjoy this anime.
Recommended for you to spend your days in chill sofa with big TV and snacks. Not recommended for Action fans anime, Obviously. For them, they will say "boring anime".
Read at the sourceRian_Rahmat
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…
Read at the sourceBagel_Bro
'Shinryaku! Ika Musume' is an extremely wholesome and cheerful show with a touch of misanthropy. Things can get pretty goofy or whacky, but there are also times where it might make you cry (in the good way). The characters are oddballs, but that's what makes them so lovable. Squid girl's attempts to take over humanity are as cute as they are amusing. It might even motivate you to take better care of the environment. This show may be too childish for some audiences, but it's quite heartfelt and positive so you might like it anyway. IMO, this show is pretty underrated.
Read at the sourcelamaraptor
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…
Read at the sourceAnimeEnjoyer420
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…
Read at the sourceGREED_Adherent
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 childr…
Read at the sourcePyro81300
DISCLAIMER: This is more a review of both seasons, but it works just fine as a review of s1. There won’t be any spoilers for s2 either (not that there’s really much of anything to spoil).
SoL and Comedy anime are 2 genres I have a weird history with. I often enjoy them, but they have to be paired together with some other genre to usually interest me. If a show’s genres are just SoL and Comedy I often am not interested in it. HOWEVER, Squid Girl is one of the few exceptions, and it’s quite the delightful little show. Years ago when I saw this show cross over with Splatoon I didn’t think much of it, but I’m glad I finally got around to checking out.
--STORY—
Using the absurdity of Ika as a character and the generally ridiculous cast, Squid Girl is about the misadventures of a well…Squid G…
Read at the sourceRyuk9428
Ika Musume is a perfect example of how to create an amazing moe, slice of life anime. The premise is so simple, its a squid girl who invades humanity after becoming frustrated with how humans have treated the ocean by polluting it. When she actually does come to the surface though, she finds that the humans are surprisingly tolerant of her despite her repeated threats to invade all of humanity and she quickly builds close bonds with the owners of a small restaurant on the beach, as well as many of the people who frequent the beach.
Despite having such a simple premise, I was hooked from the very first episode and ended up watching the whole first season in 3 days. Ika Musume is a very emotionally impacting anime, with a level of sweetness that soothes your soul and gives you a feeling of…
Read at the sourceUchiSan
Squid Girl was my childhood anime, so I'll try not to be biased about my review. From what I remember, the story itself was good. The plot was interesting, a squid girl who leaves the ocean because it's polluted? Pretty original, if you ask me. The art is relatively good, and the voice actors were pretty good (even for the dubbed version)
Each of the characters were very special in their own way, but of course Squid-Girl stood out the most, with her peppy and cute personality. Overall, the show was enjoyable and very worth the while. I'd recommend this anime to anyone that enjoys comedy and slice of life.
Read at the sourceAaronHinn
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 seriousl…
Read at the sourceABPAEAE
Shinryaku! Ika Musume is a lesser known gem that excels in a genre that did not become popular until many years later.
Shinryaku! Ika Musume is a lighthearted, comedic slice of life in which many traits of modern anime within the same vein can be traced back to earlier titles like this. I loved things like Gabriel DropOut and Dragon Maid, but Shinryaku! Ika Musume seems to have done many of the things those more modern anime prior even to their conceptualization. The comedy is of good quality, and the characters are funny. The art is moderately above-average for its time, and the music is catchy with a lot of uniqueness and character to it. Sadly, the second season drops this for a much more generic and unrelated opening theme.
Overall, I really liked this. With a new job, I hardly have…
Read at the sourceDiscordLexia
What's not to love about an anime with the english tidetle, "The Squid Girl: The Invader Comes from the Bottom of the Sea". In truth, I was inkspecting this anime to be trash, and I was not dissapointed. It is trash; simply the best kind of trash. If you were to look at my ratings you would see a wall of 7s followed by a 9 for enjoyment. This is because my enjoyment of Shinryaku! Ika Musume massively exceeded the show's actual quality. There were moments where I was laughing uncontrollably, but the fact remains that in terms of actual quality the show is fairly simplistink.
Shinryaku! Ika Musume sinks or swims on its main character, Ika. All the other characters feel a squiddle one-note with the inkception of the other major character, Eiko. However, Eiko's role as the "Mature one" limits…
Read at the sourceSovietWeeb
First episode was kind of rough in my opinion. It gave me an idea of what the show was gonna be like and i was not liking it. Thankfully episode 2 i got really into it and enjoyed the rest of the show.
Squid Girl herself is pretty awesome and kind of adorable in her own way. I always liked the idea that she is some ancient being from the sea but just has the body of a middle school girl and isn't the brightest.
Each episode i found myself laughing. Even the 1st episode that i didn't think was the greatest. There is even one episode that is more like a side story that the crazy girl made up that is actually kind of sad. They even changed the color pallet to be more grey and less colorful. It's kind of weird with it being in this comedy show but it is nice.
Easily for me the thing i dis…
Read at the source
