Squid Girl Episode 1 and Season 1 Part 1 DVD Set Review

UPDATE September 4, 2018

More DMCA take downs have hit the blog despite screen captures long being considered fair use. Due to my not being able to afford a lawyer, I have no choice but to remove them or have the blog suspended. Only the words will be left.

TVTokyo is proving to be foolishly draconian in targeting posts meant to get people interested in seeing the Squid Girl anime and perhaps even purchasing it on DVD or Blu-ray. Being anti-piracy myself this is infuriating that they are targeting posts I wrote hoping to encourage people to try out a delightful show.

A ferocious being from the depth of the sea sets forth to invade the surface world and wreak havoc on humanity in retaliation for pollution. Another Japanese giant monster movie? No, it is Squid Girl and she is here to dominate all you minnows! Well, if she could get over her shrimp addiction and pay off the putting a hole in a wall. It is squidtastic fun as we follow Squid Girl’s dealing with life in on the surface.

In late 2010, an anime debuted in the wee hours of the morning  (2 AM) in Japan and the world was never the same. A little heralded manga character suddenly became an Internet meme and amassed a cult following world wide. Her name? Ika Musame, or Squid Girl!

Each episode adapts three of the original short manga chapters, with each segment having an equally punny title. Be warned, Squid Girl is all about the puns, but interleaved with often witty observations about modern life. On to the review and Squid Girl’s weird and silly world, degeso!

How About an Inkvasion?

The show opens with a female voice ranting about the pollution in the sea and threatens an “inkvasion” of the human world. Ominous tentacles and a Jaws like camera point of view set a dark horror movie mood.

Which is promptly demolished by the aural assault on the ears that is the main theme. It is quite horrible the first time you hear it, but then it grows on you and I’ve become quite fond of it -- especially after reading the lyrics. The opening montage has quit a few spoilers for the series and makes it clear there will be no scares.

The creature approaches the beach, which is rather picturesque and home to a seaside restaurant, Lemon Beach House. Like Amity Island, the tourist spot has no clue what is about to hit it.

The creature leaps upon a table and makes a declaration of war.

The customers are stunned.

You would be too, if a blue haired girl in her early teens espousing world domination laced with fish puns interrupted your lunch. Alas, the waitress is not impressed and hauls the invader out back for a few choice words.

In back of the restaurant, Squid Girl explains who she is and why she is there. Thinking that she is just a cosplayer, Eiko listens to her demands and nicely tells her to go home. Showing the temperament of a Humboldt, Ika dashes in to tell her off only to be told by the gal running the place to take a couple of orders to a table.

Which she does without question.

The azure haired would be conqueror finds herself bussing the tables and quickly overwhelmed by the requests from the customers. A crisis follows causing her to remembers why she is there and it is time for another talking to out back.

It seems our little aquatic invader had miscalculated the number of humans in the world and can’t even handle 30 customers. The shock of finding out there are billions of humans is almost too much for her, but a mosquito turns into another challenge to her competence at warfare. Consequently, Squid Girl loses her temper and shows that she isn’t human after all in a hilarious battle to the death with the insect.

But there is collateral damage from the fight and her fate is not what she had expected. Now she is a waitress slaving to pay off the damage to the building.

What the squid?! This isn’t how inkvasions are supposed to go!

Aren’t We Brothers in Arms?

Settling in to her new job, Squid Girl finds herself being followed and one panicked encounter later has a willing soldier under her command. Sadly, he turns out to be Eiko’s little brother, Takeru. So much for relying on humans!

Spurned by the speciesist Squid Girl, Takeru comes up with a cunning plan. It involves paper and scissors, mistaken identity, and the gillibility of certain squid.

With a willing comrade in arms, what could go wrong? Well, err… lots?

Who’s the Mightiest Squid of All?

In the final segment, Squid Girl’s many faces are shown to great comic effect when things move to a horror movie like setting of an isolated Lemon Beach House. How can it be isolated on a busy beach, you ask. Rain. That foe of fun in the sun has driven all the customers away.

But it does give Squid Girl a chance to ask who the gal with the gill long hair is. She knows that the woman runs the place but is clueless otherwise. It turns out it is Eiko’s older sister, Chizuru.

The cold temps trigger a sneeze from Ika and that sprays ink all over Chizuru. She takes it calmly and goes off to shower, leaving the place in the care of Eiko, Takeru, and Squid Girl. Ah yes, the old divide and conquer opportunity arises. But first, the young invader (or is it inkvader?) is horrified to find out that squid ink is used as a sauce for spaghetti. Even worse, squid meat is consumed with it!

It is eat or be eaten time!

Easily besting the two kids, Squid Girl gloats when Chizuru of the ever closed eyes returns. One final boss to beat and it will be INVASION TIME!

So begins the tales of Squid Girl and her attempted invasion of humanity. Loopy, silly, filled with puns and more than a little sweetness, Squid Girl has to be one of the most improbable hits in anime history. Episode 1 does a good job of setting up the main characters for this slice of life comedy, degeso.

Thoughts

Squid Girl is great fun and always leaves me with a smile, which is something I have come to value more as I have grown older and the world darker. A lot of comedies could learn from this adaptation as it shows impeccable comic timing in direction and line delivery. That made it something of a worry when I read it was going to come out with an English dub on the DVD alongside the original Japanese.

While I still give much higher marks to the voice actors of the original, the American cast does a good job, especially the voice of Squid Girl. Though she doesn’t have quite the bombast when Ika is in scheming mode, the voice actress has caught her character well. The puns are slightly different than in the subtitles, but all are witty and convey the charm of the original.

The decision to dub should broaden the audience and that is a good thing. Everyone could use a little Squid Girl in their entertainment diet. Or at least squid ink spaghetti.

The show is aimed at teenagers and older, not little kids. In fact the case says “13 AND OLDER” on the back. But there will be things that will amuse younger ones, so I leave it to the discretion of parents to judge for themselves whether their kids should see it.

Technical

The 1:78 anamorphic widescreen transfer is gorgeous and I hope the screen captures show that well. Since there are no plans for a Bluray release in the States, this is as good as it gets.

Sound is good, with Dolby Digital surround actually using the rear speakers at times. That kind of surprised me, since this was a relatively low budget anime.

Language options include English, English with subtitles, Japanese, and Japanese with subtitles.

On Disc Two, extras are found which include:

Textless Opening

Textless Closings for all six episodes (subtle visual changes in each), but you can’t choose to watch them individually.

Interview with Hisako Kanemoto, the Japanese voice actress who plays Squid Girl.

Hat Folding video which is a continuation from the interview. Fans on the Internet figured out how to make Ika’s hat like Takeru did.

Trailers for other titles put out by Media Blasters. WARNING: the first preview is of a smutty series and is out of place on this set.

The DVD Case:

Oddly enough, this is the second time this month I feel that the presentation of the DVD case merits mentioning.

First off, the layout is rotated ninety degrees, which is very unorthodox. But given how off kilter Ika Musame’s world is, it seem appropriate. It also allows the whole cast to be shown and the art conveys the lively energy of the series.

The second thing to note is something I noticed when I found Disc 2 rattling loose from shipping. Take a look at the center plastic holder for the DVD. The prongs are Squid Girl’s tentacles! Very clever.

The case itself has a chemical smell to it, but I imagine that will pass in time.

Media Blasters and Anime Works deserve a lot of credit for putting this out in the first place and even more for the quality of the DVD’s. Nobody expected this to be a hit, not even the producers of the show. I for one, would like to thank them for helping us submit to our new squid overlord.

And so in tribute I will leave you with 8 bit Squid Girl from the opening to admire: