Shinryaku!? Ika Musume continues the squidly adventures of our favorite, delicious squid girl, Ika Musume, in her quest to invade the surface world. [1] The second season is mostly just more of the first—Ika Musume and the oddball cast approach mundane things in life with fresh eyes and crazy ideas—although there is a slightly less emphasis on invading. The comedy follows a similar vein as well: silly exaggerations, slapstick jokes, and non sequiturs.
Unfortunately, the first season is quite bland, and more of that mediocrity is not very exciting. Sure, season two does offer a bit more variety. In particular, I found the jealousy theme that threads many of the stories refreshing, such as Sanae’s interactions with Ika’s friends, the dog’s attempts to regain Sanae’s attention, and the teacher’s reactions to Ika’s popularity among her students. These sketches bring these new characters into the anime fluidly, as well as give them more depth than the usual nonsense and hyperbole would.
Still, these new characters grow tired quickly. While I am glad the second season gives us a few more dimensions to the sketches, they are not enough to outweigh the boring, used jokes carried over from the first season. This anime just is not that funny.
In fact, I have trouble recalling any memorably funny sketches. To be fair, I probably chuckled here and there, but those were likely out of dry amusement mixed with boredom and a hint of distaste at its immaturity. Compared to the first season, a third of which I heartily enjoyed, the second season leaves me with nothing.
Here is a little anecdote about my experiences with the two seasons.
Ever had that feeling when you enthusiastically invite someone to watch a show that you had thought was just so awesome and so funny when you watched it alone earlier, only to feel super embarrassed once the show started playing? That was how I felt when I asked my brother to watch season one of Shinryaku! Ika Musume with me. The moment the first joke was cracked, I wanted to hide under covers .
My brother did not have to say anything. I could feel his stare and his unasked question: “Are you seriously not embarrassed to show me this?” [2]
That was first season. Now second season evokes the same exact feelings, except without even having to involve anyone else. The comedy is at times so unfunny that it is not only painful, but inspires shame in the audience—I could once again feel that judging stare, but this time from my inner self.
The majority of the sketches all revolve around the same laughing points, which, after two seasons, have already grown old. The stalker Sanae is predictable, as is the pretty but deadly Chizuru, or the scientist trio, or any of the recurring side characters. There is no more surprise, and no more fun. The series just goes through the motions of putting the same story and the same characters in different situations.
A further consequence of this repetition, besides dampening character development, is that Shinryaku!? Ika Musume loses some of the sentimental values so essential to these types of comedic, slice-of-life anime. This season does not quite have that heartwarming charm. I would not mind even mawkish stories in place of all the staleness. I would have rolled my eyes less then.
With that said, however, the last episodes are great steps toward redeeming the series. It offers that human touch—or in this case, tentacle touch—the series sorely needs. Ika gets into a fight with Eiko, and the two ignore each other out of anger. But when Ika gets lost at a festival, they both display some very believable emotions: worry, guilt, regret, sadness… etc. When they they finally find each other (and their friendship) again, their joy really brings warmth to the audience. This short story is a welcomed break from all the ridiculousness. It gives the anime a bit more meaning, even if it does border on the slightly sappy side. Furthermore, the arc also developed Ika and Eiko into human characters with more depth, finally giving us a cast that is not completely filled with only comic reliefs.
Of course, the success of the last arc—and of the series—lies almost entirely on the squidly back of Ika Musume. In lieu of an interesting cast, we have one super fun, adorable, fascinating squid, who has more human personalities than most other characters, and whose excitement for life rubs off on the audience. (Just look at her bright smile!) Shamelessly confident and naive, Ika is the bratty little sister that we love to spoil.
Once again, she has easily invaded my heart. [3]
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- Review of the first season, Shinryaku! Ika Musume.
- This is not the first time I have felt this way. The last time I watched anime with my brother was a much much more awkward and embarrassing experience:
So I watched Ore no Imouto with my Onii-chan… - Yes, I know. This has been said before by me, by others, and even by Chizuru.
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As I mentioned in my review, I felt the same way… Although there were a handful of jokes I found really funny (the little girl playing house, the English sketch, invasion club, Ika giving up shrimp cold-turkey and oddly enough, the scenes that involves the three stooges), there were sketches that I didn’t laugh at all. It was bound to happen considering that the second season is more of the same, but it seems that the cuteness of Ika makes me continue watching this despite the flaws. Also, I agree that the last episodes were rather good.
Now that I really think about it hard, there are some decent comedies here and there. I liked the little girl playing house, but not so much the other ones you mentioned. And mostly, I was not laughing. I guess that’s the thing. Without any reminders, I still don’t remember which sketches were funny, if any. The anime just didn’t impress.
You’re right on Ika for sure. Her cuteness kept me watching as well! She’s just so adorable and has a great, fun personality! I love her!
I’ll keep my opinion short and to the point. I liked the 2nd season as much as the 1st one because it didn’t change anything and you know what they say: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
Progress wasn’t made because there wasn’t any need for progress. Just look at Working 2nd season. Despite it being superior to the 1st season imo, what exactly changed in the grand scheme of things? Absolutely nothing.
There IS one thing that was made clear in Squid Girl 2: It’s a yuri harem in disguise…in case you haven’t noticed. It’s true, all the girls want a taste of squid ink pie for themselves, making it even harder for Sanae to stand a chance.
“If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it”
That is true in most cases. However, with Ika Musume, I felt like the first season is “broken” in a sense. It wasn’t a stellar anime. It was mediocre, and it did need some fixing. In fact, the second season didn’t just stay the same for me, it got worse.
Working! on the other hand, from what I know of it, is a case of more of something good makes it better.
Loll, I have to agree with the yuri harem vibe though. It’s actually probably not just not a yuri harem. Everyone wants her tentacles. ^ ^
Like my reply to your comment at my castle, I didn’t explain my conclusion as accurately. Mostly because it’s the exact same conclusion I gave Working 2.
To explain my conclusion again: If you liked the 1st season, you’ll like the 2nd. Clearly you didn’t like the 1st season that much so as expected, you didn’t like the 2nd one either.
I admit Working had a more successful 2nd outing than Ika Musume, but I enjoyed both, though W2 is clearly superior.
Hmm…nah. The girls showed more of a romantic desire for Ika than the men. Goro still wanted Chizuru, Takeru still hasn’t hit puberty (Such a cute lad), the 3 stooges are idiots and the boys club were just there.
Compare that to the girls:
Eiko and Ika have a seme x Uke type relationship.
Chizuru did show SOME human emotion…once.
Sanae clearly still loves Ika romantically.
Cindy CLAIMS to only want to experiment on Ika but we both know what she really wants.
Kiyomi is also showing “more than friends” like affections.
As for the Invasion Club…all of them want Ika too.
there you go.
There I go then. ^ ^
Well, I’ll have to *partially* agree with you on this one. While I welcome the fact that they made another season for Ika Musume, the show did have some incredibly unfunny moments. The thing is with comedy oriented 4-koma manga is that it will be harder and harder to come up with new jokes to please the audience as it goes on. So eventually, it will try to reuse things that it finds to be successful.
Ika Musume takes a big hit from this. The sketches weren’t as funny as they were before (with some exceptions), and most especially, the Mini Ika segments just weren’t very good anymore.
Like you said, this installment did bring some humanity into the characters in the last few episodes. But there’s still something that makes me not like it as much as I want to. I believe that a certain degree of emotional investment is needed for one to appreciate those final moments – something that I didn’t have. It was just too sudden a development for me to actually care.
But that said, there were still some good bits in this season with regards to comedy. I particularly liked the part where Ika tried to learn English. Those were the best laughs I had the whole season.
It seems like we’re on the same page on almost all the points. I didn’t find the sketches as the first season, and yes, the lack of a good Mini Ika really hurts, especially since the rest of the series really lacks that sentimental touch, except the last arc. Even with the last episode, it still feels like too little, too late. It’s a step in the right direction though.
Personally, my favorite funny sketch is probably the little girl playing house. Other than that one, I can’t remember anything else especially chuckle-worthy. I suppose 4-koma adaptations are hard to get right, especially if the comedy is fairly one-note.
Ika!! I just love this character so much, she is hype and crazy and lots of fun to watch…you never know what she is going to do next. Favorite sketch easily playing house, learning English and every mini Ika special ❤
Sanae and Ika = best pairing ever.
Ika is easily the best squid girl ever!! She really carries the show. And yea, I really enjoyed the playing house sketch as well.
Sanae x Ika… We can hope, right?
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“…continues the squidly adventures…”
“…on the squidly back of…”
Why, Yi? Why?? 😦
I just squidding had to. She’s stuck in my squidly head. Squid. ^ ^
THAT ISN’T EVEN A PUN!! I understand something like, ‘I ink ‘squidly’ isn’t a pun’, or ‘Oh no, pirates! Calamarines!’, but what is ‘squidly’ supposed to squidly mean?! 😦
Squid you! D:<
Most of the time when I watch comedy like this, I will always comment the show as stupid. There will be times when the term “stupid” in this case actually means hilarious. Of course when we talk about slapstick for me it will always be “stupid”. In this context whether or not “stupid” means funny depends on the show itself.
But I guess sometimes it’s those not so hilarious shows that would be the ones to stick with us in the end. Just look at the Spongebob series, quite a bunch of the jokes are recycled, yet it is still adored by the world.
P.S. If you don’t get my first paragraph, I forgive you. XD
Haha yes, some anime can be stupid funny indeed. I recently started reading Nichijou, and a lot of it feels very “stupid” funny. That manga is hilarious! Even some of the slapstick, I found funny. But unfortunately, I didn’t quite feel that way about Shinryaku!? Ika Musume. 😦 Recycled jokes are usually fine, but they have to be at a certain level of interesting or funny first…
Ika is adorable. This is war Nagatsuki!! I’d prob lose though.
I agree this second season was too similar to the first, even though it still had its fair share of laughs. But I kind of like the slapstick. I’d say it did pretty well for an anime that revolved around pure comedic relief.
Oh yes, Ika totally is adorable!
I think I just am not that fond of slapstick in general, but I guess yes, it did well for an anime that revolved around pure comedic relief. And, who doesn’t love Ika-chan?
I have the same opinion regarding this series. As much as I enjoyed it even a tiny bit, and I do find Ika-chan herself to be amusing in some way, the series is extremely bland. I found the second season to be worse than the first. It’s the same thing over and over again. The same formula, the same jokes disguised as different lines… There’s no change.
Another anime which I feel the same towards is Kill Me Baby… Slightly. KMB is a little better when it comes to jokes, especially because it doesn’t take itself seriously at all. But it still suffers from sever repetition.
Ika’s case, I believe, is much worse. I tried my best to enjoy the second season, but I couldn’t. I only liked it a bit, but unfortunetely it’ll fall into the obscurity of my mind alongside many other anime I’ve seen.
Yea totally. Ika-chan is amusing, but not enough to make the series interesting. It’s just so formulaic and lukewarm.
Anyway, I haven’t seen Kill Me Baby, and I doubt I will. It doesn’t seem that good.
Like you, I’ll probably forget all about this series after some time. But at least I’ll probably still remember Ika-chan,
Interestingly, I thought KMB was funnier in the original manga. Probably because of the 4koma format. This kind of manga is difficult when adapting to anime, since it may have not been made with an animated series in mind.
But yeah, it’s still not for everyone. Just to give you an idea, while Ika has its own set of characters, KMB has a grand total of 3. No more, no less. There’s a so called unused character that appears in the manga’s omake, and some parts of the anime, but overall it just ends up getting repetitive.
I actually read Ika Musume manga long before I saw the anime, and I actually thought it wasn’t too bad. Lots of laughs here and there. But for some reason, it just doesn’t quite translate that well into anime. I had a similar experience with Yuru Yuri.
Interestingly, K-On! for me was the reverse. I read the 4-koma manga first, and I wasn’t very impressed, but the anime blew me away.
Anyway, maybe I’ll give KMB a try when I’m bored and have enough time. ^ ^
I think I actually preferred the majority of the 1st season more than the 2nd because it didn’t lean so heavily on moral lessons at the end of each episode the way that the 2nd season does. I do, however, appreciate the later arc that you also mention, between Eiko and Ika-Musume. There, the focus on character made sense, and it was a touching end to a series of which I am very fond. Guess that just goes to show how much comedy really does turn out hit or miss depending on its viewers.
I was surprised that you ended on a positive note of adoration for little Ika. Like you, I wouldn’t mind her invading my home any time she pleases.
Hm… I didn’t really notice the moral lessons about second season, but maybe that’s because they just didn’t impress on me much at all. The set up just wasn’t there. In any case, the first season I enjoyed more as well. The sketches there are hit-or-miss, but at least there are fewer misses than second season.
Loll. I may not have enjoyed the series, but I like Ika-chan. And yes, I’d love it if she invaded my home… or me…
Just of curiosity, why do you always force your brother to watch medicore or slightly below anime? XD
I think I can stay away from this franchise, without missing anything, aside from the cute squid girl of course ^^. I watched a few episodes of season one, but I just felt sorry for the Squid girl at the parts you were supposed to laugh, so I gave up on watching it.
I don’t know… That’s a good question. He asks me the same thing from time to time too. Though to be fair, I actually enjoyed both Ore no Imouto and Railgun (which he hated. :()
Anyway, yea, I’d say this series isn’t really worth the time. If you really really need something to kill boredom, then maybe pick this up, although there are probably better choices.
Ika-chan is cute though~
Must confess that some episodes of this sequel season didn’t seem as funny as the first season which had me laughing none stop even when I watched it a second or third time, so overall might consider it a weaker season.
But honestly for me it’s a hilarious comedy. Sure not all the jokes are good or original, but these days in anime or any series, movie,… what is really out there and original? Not all that much if anything.
As to feeling embarrassed about it, sure that’s because of this source material and not a general embarrassment that others might see this what you like as too simple, childish, alien, silly,… etc (pick any or more)?
Because it just as easily could be that you’d be feeling embarrassed because a hobby or something is exposed of your life that others might not understand and dismiss of as not being cool. The embarrassment might more stem from a feeling of simply put “What will they think of me?” and not just “What silly thing did I like?”. Society is very good in molding people into those preconceived and socially accepted/acceptable occupations and traits.
Yea, I think much of it comes down to our individual tastes in comedy and humor. The first season wasn’t too bad, but I really just couldn’t get into the second. It’s a shame. I think although it is true that there are only so many stories that can be told, there’s still a lot of room for variations and creativity. And even if the individual sketches aren’t brilliantly original, it could have maybe incorporated more types of humor.
As for the embarrassment thing, I’m pretty sure it’s not “what will they think of me?” (I’m usually pretty comfortable around my brother. There’s nothing not already exposed.) It is indeed “what silly thing did I just watch…?” It’s a sudden realization of just how silly this anime is… It’s true what you said about society, but it doesn’t quite apply this time. ^ ^
I’m a little harsh on this series, but yea… I just didn’t like it.
“There’s nothing not already exposed.”
いやああ~ はずかしいです。
So bold!
Sorry, couldn’t resist. XD =P
^///^
I remember there being a lot of hype around Ika Musume, but I was in the same shoes as you, I just didn’t find it all that funny after a while. While Ika is cute and adorable, the jokes are dull and overused. I didn’t watch the last few episodes of the second season, but it sounds like something that I remember other anime doing as well when coming to a close.
The second season needed to change things up more. It did try some things, including adding new characters, but in the end, it wasn’t enough. The humor is just too one-note.
If you’re already far into the second season, it might not be a bad idea just to watch the last arc. That redeems the series somewhat, and could be worth watching.
Woah it’s been ages since we’ve watched the same anime (or at least you’ve blogged about). Although saying that I’ve not actually watched the second season of Ika Musume.
I have however watched the first season after reading your review from way back. Admittedly it wasn’t until the Autumn ’11 anime season that that happened. I actually quite enjoyed watching it in the end, mainly because I was able to watch in small chunks which helped keep things fresh. I could easily drop out midway through an episode and pick up a few days later to continue.
But from this review the second season doesn’t really sound that great. Would you say it still works as something to watch in bite-size chunks or was it just too dull overall?
Haha yea. In fact, it’s probably been ages since I blogged or watched anime at all. 😉
That’s actually a great point you noted. I watched second season marathon style, which is probably the worst way to watch something like this. On the other hand, I watched the first season week by week. So maybe this felt old and tired simply because of the high density, whereas the first season felt better, much like an old joke is funny again after a while.
In any case, I suppose this is a good time killer/ filler in that we could just drop it anytime and pick it up again anytime without having to worry about remembering plot and such. And yes, this is probably much much better in bite-size chunks, although I still don’t think it will be that great even then.
With all of that said, we all have different tastes in humor. This just isn’t my thing.
Imported both seasons and don’t regret it one bit. Just needed to get fansubs for watching purposes without those brain-numbingly embarrassing squid puns. Crunchyroll’s translator should be utterly ashamed of him or herself. Quite possibly the worst translation (or editing if an editor deserves the blame for the puns) I’ve ever seen this side of trollsubs.
It was a hilarious show though. And quite sweet at times – always a good combination.
Haha, no love for the squidly puns?
I thought it was sweet at times, and maybe funny here and there, but there just wasn’t enough of either for me. 😦
Btw. I don’t think I’ve seen you around here before. Thanks for visiting and even commenting! ^ ^
Wow, a stern review, I must say that agree w\ it, though. While I was charmed by Ika Musume during her debut season–particularly the umbrella & mini-Ika scenes–the series suffers from a lack of interesting characters outside its title character, which means, for me, that its comedy suffers. I still enjoyed mini-Ika’s brief appearances, though!
Yea, Ika-chan isn’t the namesake for nothing. And the anime is also nothing without Ika-chan, since everything else is just sooooo boring. 😦
I found even the mini-Ika’s sketch this season to be far inferior to last season’s . It wasn’t all that touching, and not as cute either. I was really looking forward to it too. Oh well…
p.s. Good to see you again. I didn’t know you had a baseball-centric blog! (Been away from the blogosphere for too long.) Cheers~
I enjoyed the second season, but like you, not quite as much as the first. It wasn’t as funny, but the Engrish part was great. If it wasn’t for Ika’s charm I probably would have gotten tired of watching it altogether, but she’s just such a fun and lovable character.
Indeed. What kept me watching to the end was mostly just Ika-chan. There were some good moments here and there–I enjoyed the little girl playing house sketch the most–but they are too few. Ika is super fun and lovable though!
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sorry been a little busy, got me a standing job( -.-) realy it hurts like hell. anyway i have always been a yuri fan but there was this other yaoi anime that was funny exept for the gay parts kan remember the name will post some other day.
Sure sure. ^ ^
And congrats on getting the job, and good luck with it. Take care of yourself, sweetie~
[..] <—- blackberry be gone . im startin to hate blackberry. Yi have you played the game koihime musou, its nice fun and i loved the anime of it i wanna watch the second season of it.
I haven’t played the game, but I have seen some of the anime. It’s pretty cute, but not really something I loved. I wouldn’t mind a second season though. It seems like a lot of people really like it.
I feel almost the same exact way. I actually liked the first season a lot, and thought it was pretty funny, but so far (I’ve still only watched about 8 episodes of the second season), this season is just….meh. The only sketch I liked was when they all spoke engrish all of a sudden, and the main reason I thought it was funny was that everyone learned to speak English in about 1 minute, which is impossible. I’m 24. English is my native (only) language, and I still haven’t mastered it. But yeah.
I think a GREAT way to improve the show is have Ika and her lesbian stalker actually start going out, fall in love, and join forces to successfully enslave the human race. That would make it awesome.
“Ever had that feeling when you enthusiastically invite someone to watch a show that you had thought was just so awesome and so funny when you watched it alone earlier, only to feel super embarrassed once the show started playing? That was how I felt when I asked my brother to watch season one of Shinryaku! Ika Musume with me. The moment the first joke was cracked, I wanted to hide under covers .”
I feel like you’ve written that before…
Yea, the number of decent sketches in this season is just so low. I think in the whole season, there’s that Engrish one and the playing house one that I actually found funny. That’s pretty bad for a whole season. 😦
Anyway, I love your suggestion! It will definitely spice things up way more.
“I feel like you’ve written that before…”
Probably. I wrote something similar in an Ore no Imouto post, but yea… I constantly get myself into these embarrassing situations with my brother. Maybe deep down inside, I’m just a masochist who loves humiliation play~ Who knows?
THAT’S the post I was thinking of. Ore no Imouto.
It’s linked in one of the footnotes I think. ^ ^
Yi i have a link to a yuri game( don’t know if you played it before) Katahane.
The story takes place in a world with 3 kingdoms, the Red, White, and Blue Kingdom. In this world, they have highly-advanced dolls with some closely resembling humans. These dolls occasionally need maintainence which done by a “tuner”.
A young playwright named Wakaba writes a controversial play about a traitor named Ein who killed a ruler of the White Kingdom, Christina. In Wakaba’s play, she presumes that Ein did not betray Christina, but was actually her loyal supporter.
When Wakaba’s history major friend needs to make a trip to get Coco, a genki doll that lives with Wakaba, maintainence, Wakaba and her brother Light travel with him. Wakaba travels in the hopes of finding some actors for her play. Along the way, they meet a beautiful doll with one wing named Belle and an aspiring actress named Angelina.
Download links:
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?lrb9pd0u697j6lf
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?dy0wfv1eij8xgr1
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?575kbg13ze05bm3
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?xdioxv32e3orird
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?a6m1x1na7seruiu
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?zivnm3ff261tfj7
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?ufonq3nefvlvur7
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?fpe0gc0a8fkfbgl
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?c4oh9ucgg3cz6kx
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?5k468inqbu2zzmy
English patch:
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?asffb6ibkzk5u4z
^ ^ Let me know if you like it.
Is there a way to compile all these DLs into one complete package, cept’ of course the English patch?
The file size is pretty big, so I doubt it. 😦
Thanks for the links! This will really help a lot of people~
I’ve been aware of this lovely yuri game for a while now, and I actually started playing it a few summers ago. But then, since this is a pretty big, lengthy visual novel, I never got too far before life caught up to me, and my time became soooo limited. 😦
I suppose this is a good time to pick it up again once I find the time.
Thanks, Vampire(G)Girl! Really great suggestion. ^ ^
p.s. I love you, honey, and I love talking to you. But if it’s all right with you, this post is actually about Ika Musume, so it’d be great if the comments here could be somewhat related.
Still, thanks a lot for the links to Katahane!! I just checked, and I don’t have the game anymore, so this will be great!
Sorry, ToT. You dont have a part where random stuff can be posted, maybe if you could make a page about this please or make a space for random yuri game posts, i will update games there on a regular basis if you like, im realy sorry about my random posts Yi. Will you forgive me????
Oh Vampy~ It’s not a big deal. ^ ^ No apologies necessary.
Anyway, I have a recommendation page if you want to recommend me stuff public. And if you just want to chat about random stuff in private, I have both a Twitter account–not sure if you also have one–or a contact page (via email).
I dunno… I enjoyed Ika Musume 1 & 2 at least as much as K-ON and much more than Nichijou which I can’t make head or tails of. I guess I’m just immature enough to laugh at the sketches XD Perhaps it also helped that I watched the first half of 2 without realizing there’s a 1 and had to go back to 1 later to check the background on some of the sketches in 2
“Eat this! Rolling shower attack!” XD XD XD (I know, that’s from season 1)
Haha, well, there is no right or wrong or better or worse when it comes to humor. If you find it funny, then definitely!
Personally, while I found Ika charming, that’s unfortunately all I found. Season 1 does a better job though. ^ ^
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