Squid Girl is a show I consider to have potential, but doesn't really do as much with it as it could. Indeed there are some very funny jokes and some very nice character arcs, but at the same time there are more holes in the story than Swiss Cheese, a ton of unanswered questions, it gives into Anime traits just a few too many times, and a lot of jokes that could have worked if they'd had a bit more development.
So what's the mish-mash? Angered by the pollution of the oceans, Squid Girl comes to the surface and attempts to invade the land and conquer humanity. Unfortunately her first obstacle, a Beach Bar, proves to be more than a match for her as the customers and bar staff don't take her the least bit seriously. In an attempt to prove she is a world dominating Squid, she accidentally puts a hole in the wall of the Bar and is forced into work so as to pay off the damage, all while meeting a selection of colourful, but all very odd characters.
As mentioned, with a premise like that this could be the most brutally funny thing you ever did see, but instead it is rather underwhelming, and there's a lot of questions you find yourself asking about the characters that do remove you from the situation.
For starters, why is Squid Girl a girl? It's never explained! She's a human girl in a white/blue dress with Squid tentacles for hair, and that's your lot! Although other Squid are shown throughout the series which look like regular Squid, she's just human! Is she a hybrid? Can she change form to become human? Were her parents...?
Anyway, she comes to the surface to enslave humanity, yet she constantly gets distracted and ends up delivering food and drink orders even before she's been forced into labour. Not to make a cruel joke, but I feel she may have an Attention Disorder.
Other characters include three siblings, Eiko, Chizuru and Takeru. Eiko I consider the most normal character because she's frequently confused by Squid Girl and indeed everyone else's antics, as well as violently losing her temper every five minutes when Squid Girl goes out of line. Chizuru is the quiet eldest sibling who for some reason has the power to travel at the speed of light and may or may not have an underlying psychotic streak. Takeru is the younger brother who tries to play around with Squid Girl, but she has absolutely none of it.
Aside from the trio, there's Gorō, a butch lifeguard who secretly has the hots for Chizuru, a trio of American scientists who want to experiment on Squid Girl, and Sanae, a neighbourhood friend of Eiko who forms a rather sporadic lesbian relationship with Squid Girl, often being beaten down and painfully thrown away in response.
Again, this could be the funniest thing ever, but a lot of the jokes do fall flat because they're not followed through enough. At the same time the stories, while funny, can be inconsistent, and sometimes earth-shatteringly annoying, as is the case with the Mini- Squid Girl episodes which drive me mental. Also, the series does fall into the same trap as many Anime series, where it literally takes 5 to 10 minutes out so as to indulge the animator's racy side, and sometimes entire episodes such as those involving Sanae's unhealthy sadomasochistic relationship with Squid Girl.
But there are many good points to this series. The animation is top notch, the art style is cute and fun, the characters, though unrelatable at times, are funny to watch, but on the whole there are a few too many questions you find yourself asking that take you out of it.
Would I recommend it? Yes, I'd say give it a watch, because at the end of the day it's still a funny show, Lord knows it got a fair few laughs out of me!
So what's the mish-mash? Angered by the pollution of the oceans, Squid Girl comes to the surface and attempts to invade the land and conquer humanity. Unfortunately her first obstacle, a Beach Bar, proves to be more than a match for her as the customers and bar staff don't take her the least bit seriously. In an attempt to prove she is a world dominating Squid, she accidentally puts a hole in the wall of the Bar and is forced into work so as to pay off the damage, all while meeting a selection of colourful, but all very odd characters.
As mentioned, with a premise like that this could be the most brutally funny thing you ever did see, but instead it is rather underwhelming, and there's a lot of questions you find yourself asking about the characters that do remove you from the situation.
For starters, why is Squid Girl a girl? It's never explained! She's a human girl in a white/blue dress with Squid tentacles for hair, and that's your lot! Although other Squid are shown throughout the series which look like regular Squid, she's just human! Is she a hybrid? Can she change form to become human? Were her parents...?
Anyway, she comes to the surface to enslave humanity, yet she constantly gets distracted and ends up delivering food and drink orders even before she's been forced into labour. Not to make a cruel joke, but I feel she may have an Attention Disorder.
Other characters include three siblings, Eiko, Chizuru and Takeru. Eiko I consider the most normal character because she's frequently confused by Squid Girl and indeed everyone else's antics, as well as violently losing her temper every five minutes when Squid Girl goes out of line. Chizuru is the quiet eldest sibling who for some reason has the power to travel at the speed of light and may or may not have an underlying psychotic streak. Takeru is the younger brother who tries to play around with Squid Girl, but she has absolutely none of it.
Aside from the trio, there's Gorō, a butch lifeguard who secretly has the hots for Chizuru, a trio of American scientists who want to experiment on Squid Girl, and Sanae, a neighbourhood friend of Eiko who forms a rather sporadic lesbian relationship with Squid Girl, often being beaten down and painfully thrown away in response.
Again, this could be the funniest thing ever, but a lot of the jokes do fall flat because they're not followed through enough. At the same time the stories, while funny, can be inconsistent, and sometimes earth-shatteringly annoying, as is the case with the Mini- Squid Girl episodes which drive me mental. Also, the series does fall into the same trap as many Anime series, where it literally takes 5 to 10 minutes out so as to indulge the animator's racy side, and sometimes entire episodes such as those involving Sanae's unhealthy sadomasochistic relationship with Squid Girl.
But there are many good points to this series. The animation is top notch, the art style is cute and fun, the characters, though unrelatable at times, are funny to watch, but on the whole there are a few too many questions you find yourself asking that take you out of it.
Would I recommend it? Yes, I'd say give it a watch, because at the end of the day it's still a funny show, Lord knows it got a fair few laughs out of me!
