Squid Girl Episode 9

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.

In the space of one episode, the show goes from sweetly silly to lunacy. Squid Girl discovers makeup, the dangers of doorbell ditching, and that being fought over is not as much fun as it sounds. But things are not all bad as she makes a friend.

The misadventures of Ika Musume aka Squid Girl are at their best when they mix a dash of sentimentality into the antics. Since most of the stories have a basis in every day events, there is ample opportunity to do so. It is the first story that uses this recipe to best effect and I judge it the most memorable in the episode.

Want to Ring and Jet?

I knew other kids who doorbell ditched when I was younger, but I never found it amusing. Usually the targets were old folks who would become very confused and flustered, which irked me. So when the episode opened with Takeru and his friend doing it, I was prepared to be annoyed. Especially when Squid Girl is taunted into playing “ring and run.”

Seen ringing the doorbell by Chizuru, the hapless girl freezes. Luckily for her, the woman answering the door provides her an out by assuming she a friend of her daughter’s. Bluffing her way out of it, it almost works – until the girl shows up.

Panicked, Ika yanks the girl to a neighboring park and begs for her help in covering up the lie. Kiyomi turns out to be a bright and sweet girl, not to mention forgiving. Her solution to Squid Girl’s dilemma is clever, very clever indeed.

Having made her first friend around her own age, Ika gets carried away and invites Kiyomi to her house the next day. Just one little problem: she never asked for permission from Chizuru, the one person capable of annihilating her. Guilt ridden and paranoid, the big question is whether or not Squid Girl will survive long enough to be friends with Kiyomi.

Do Mollusks Wear Makeup?

The discovery of a tube of lipstick belonging to Eiko awakens the girly side of Squid Girl who cannot wait to experiment with her new look. Delighted that makeup can attract more attention, she finds that it draws even more unwanted advances from the ever annoying Sannae. There is power to be found in style though.

But what style should she go for? Looking around the Lemon Beach House, Ika and Eiko find a wide menagerie of styles. Some are amusing riffs based on other animes, but others are horrific examples from reality. Overhearing a pair of girls talk about how they wrap men around their fingers piques the fish out of water’s interest.

But just how far will Squid Girl take things in her quest for power? And who else in the cast will receive a dramatic makeover?

Aren’t You Armed with a Secret Weapon?

The sudden appearance of Cindy the alien researcher on a sweltering hot day unnerves the staff of the restaurant. Her persistent efforts to haul Ika Musame off to be studied draws the attention of the tentacle haired girl’s main stalker. Yes, Sannae has shown up and will brook no competition. Soon a fight is brewing, complicated by jealousy of Eiko’s spending time with Squid Girl.

As if that was not insane enough, the three idiots from MIT show up in beach wear. Of course, for them that also means lab coats so that the nerds can carry their experiments with them. A very dangerous, if seductive, offer is made to Ika and things escalate out of control quickly.

What horrific events could lead to the above screen captures? What could enrage Chizuru so? It is time for the cast to find out just how deadly the mild mannered young woman can be…

Thoughts

Episode 9 is one of the better entries in the series, mainly due to the first segment that introduces Kiyomi to the ever growing cast of characters. The friendship that starts there becomes a source of some of the sweeter stories later on. One has to like Kiyomi, since she is a refreshingly nice girl without any odd quirks. Her assumption that Eiko and Chizuru are Ika’s sisters is never refuted and the sense that they are family has grown quite strong by this point.

The makeup focused story is great fun too. It serves as a chance to make fun of extreme styles, while also showing Ika becoming a little more normal. But only a little, as the ending shows. I really enjoyed Goro’s lines and the odd relationship he has with his fellow protector of the sea.

Sheer insanity dominates the final story and the ridiculous spectacle of Sannae and Cindy competing over Squid Girl is mad enough, but then the mad scientists drive sanity right over the cliff. But the real star of this segment is Chizuru.

This review is brought to you by Chizuru’s death glare. You really do not want to upset her enough for her to open her eyes.