First Impressions / Shinryaku! Ika Musume

If paper dolls hung by their necks bring good weather, imagine what impaled ones could do!

「てるてる坊主じゃなイカ？／好かれなイカ？／野球しなイカ？」
(Teru Teru Bouzu Janai ka? / Sukaranai ka? / Yakyuu Shina ka?)
“Isn’t that a Teru Teru Bouzu? / Aren’t I Liked? / Won’t You Play Baseball?”

Ika may draw like a two year-old with her hands, but it’s a completely different story when her tentacles grab hold of a pencil and she churns out masterpiece after masterpiece. Best of all, her drawings were in “squid vision” and gave us an inside look at how she perceived everyone. Eiko and Chizuru’s amazement over her artistry combined with their shock from her perception of them as a killer robot and demon respectively resulted in some priceless reactions. That was nicely led into by Ika claiming that they’re complicated to draw, whereas Takeru is simple (read: plain) with no distinguishing features. Ika’s way of insulting everyone without even trying to had me amused to no end, especially with her zombie interpretation of Sanae that Eiko befittingly called “Sanae of the Dead”. And here I thought this first skit was going to be about teru teru bouzu.

 

These drawings explain a lot, particularly the demon rendition of Chizuru and the robot one of Eiko.

“Sanae of the Dead” was in a league of its own though.

Well, I guess this explains the traumatic-like fear Ika has of Chizuru and why there was a one-eyed robot version of Eiko back in episode eight. I just love how Gorou’s defining feature to Ika is his swim cap, since it’s reminiscent of when she couldn’t discern Takeru from a fellow squid person when he had a paper hat on. Nagisa on the other hand will forever be an angel in her eyes, which is pretty ironic considering that she just wants to prey on her fear. As for Sanae, I can see the whole creepy clingy part of her resembling zombies, but she also capable of booking it at high speeds after Ika. Last time I checked, those kind of undead abominations don’t come flying at you like Sanae does.

 

Takeru isn’t too bad himself, despite what Ika has to say about it. Manga squid chick!

Ika should really stop and look in the mirror if she thinks that the fearsome invader aura she exudes. The whale in her mouth is a nice touch though.

According to Ika, a smiling face on someone getting strangled to death is creepy, so ones that are suffocating to death are apparently better. I have to respectfully disagree.

A life-size teru teru bouzu just won’t cut it without the noose!

Unwilling to let a Takeru get disillusioned at such a young age, Ika is determined to make the mother of all teru teru bouzu.

It sure was effective, if scaring the shit out of Takeru were the goal.

There is a good chance that Takeru wet his pants. You know, considering the evidence and all.

The self portrait portion of this skit could have been a standalone one on its own, so it felt like a bonus one of sorts when the teru teru bouzu portion of it turned out to be just as hilarious, if not more so. I probably laughed more than I should have when Ika got fed up from being an ineffective life-size teru teru bouzu and gave into the idea that the whole hanging aspect was essential to make it work.

 

Ika’s 360 degree defenses are ready to squid slap Sanae in a heartbeat.

It’s about time Eiko stepped in to do something about her pitiful friend, starting with stepping in to trip her up.

Sanae manages to act normally around Ika in an attempt to improve her friendship with her, but that doesn’t hold up very long.

She deletes all her Ika pictures and burns all the costumes, but the heartbroken tears won’t stop over her failed “love”.

I actually thought Sanae was doing really well maintaining a respectable behavior around Ika after Eiko suggested that this would actually improved her opinion of her. That is, until I saw how those suppressed urges were eating her up from the inside as if she were going through a severe withdrawal like a drug addict. Part of me felt sorry for her after she deleted all her Ika pictures from her computer and burned all the cosplay costumes she dressed her up in. However, the other part of me enjoyed watching the impeccable screenplay of her mental breakdown that I couldn’t help but laugh at the humor they were going for with that semi-serious ambiance. Between seeing Sanae in this state and having her back as her usual Ika-obsessed self, I dare say the latter is much healthier for her.

 

Sanae is reborn anew, until Ika extends a warm welcome and reawakens the true desire within her.

The beast is unleashed!

So this is what it looks like to be sent flying a thirty some meter with your nose leaving a trail of blood.

That “healthy” teenage Sanae we know is back and she couldn’t be happier.

She can’t catch, but Ika’s ready to show these middle school girls how to play ball. It’s time to take these kids back to school. Squid school!

While baseball isn’t my sport of choice, I always look forward to how it’s portrayed in anime since it’s absolutely huge in Japan. The preview from last time had me really looking forward to this skit, and it delivered when Ika offered to fill in on Kiyomi’s club and found herself at odds with the opposing team’s ace Tanaka (Komatsu Mikako). Much like the first skit, Ika’s true potential wasn’t realized until she let her tentacles come into play, after which it was a completely different ball game.

 

This reminds me of Taishou Yakyuu Musume, albeit with the series invaded by Ika Musume.

Who need hands! Super Squid Triple Play coming right up!

With Kiyomi’s hand spent, Ika steps up to the mound and pitches one hell of a bat-shattering game.

Forget hips, Ika just had to put her tentacles into it to get that monstrous home run.

“Booyah! Who’s the squid!? Who’s the squid!?”

It doesn’t come as too much of a surprise to see Ika steal the game in the late innings, but it was a lot of fun seeing her invader-like confidence kick in when she took over for Kiyomi as the pitcher. After seeing how quirky this baseball game played out, I’d definitely like to see how Ika handles some other sports. It’s doubtful there will be time for that with only two episode to go; however, I wouldn’t rule out the possibility of seeing a sequel in the future given how popular this series has become among Japanese audiences. It’s probably going to go down as the surprise hit of the season.

 

With new-found respect for Ika, Tanaka tries to coax her into joining Oosagami.
Ika wasn’t able to invade much this week, but Mini Ika Musume takes the ending sequence by storm!

Preview

A squid girl goes mountain climbing. Oh this should be good.

42 Comments

  4. Gotta agree with your entire review. Felt sad for Sanae too when she forced herself to not be herself. Only realised it when Ika said it herself but it really is disturbing for the teru teru bouzu to be hanging.

    Ika winning the baseball match was expected but great since it was obvious Kiyomi did her total best and never got mad at Ika’s silly actions like throwing her glove instead of the ball. Having her BFF coming to the rescue was a good thing.

    Ika being concerned with Takeru was also a nice touch with Chizuru pointing out Ika was part of the family also being a good barometer of the family’s feelings, though both Chizuru and Eiko pawning off Ika as the picture model seems to smack of neither wanting to sit still for an hour. It would be a nicer touch if they showed Ika declining dinner rather than the 3 happily eating while Ika stands there

    Zaku Fan
    Reply

  16. I loved Ika’s interpretive drawings.

    She should really stop using her hands and rely on her tentacles. She’s been relying on her limbs more often than not lately.

    Really liked the use of first person in this episode.

    Sanae is such an extremist lol.

    unlisted
    Reply

  17. THIS WEEK’S EPISODE IKA MUSUME WAS SO AWESOME<3
    From Sanae going insane to Baseball to Mini Ika walking all around the ending. It was such a great episode. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

    Takaii
    Reply

  22. This ep was so full of win, Ika Musume shows another talents of hers, and when she thought about Takeru’s dreams being broken, it makes you think she’s not that immature. She must have lived through a lot to know to think like that, like she said during her birthday back in ep 2 or 3 she’s much older than she looks.

    Sanae ‘s breakdown, oh god, it was so well portrayed, I felt sorry for her too, but it was also so funny, and when she started sniffing those clothes I thought she’d masturbate thinking of Ika Musume YnS style lol. And when she started hallucinating and all, it even made me start thinking about things like Higurashi.

    That baseball match was so typic of anime, I loved it. And it remembered me of a DBZ scene, when Gohan was at high school playing baseball, he did the exact same thing, jumping several meters to catch the ball, without thinking about people seeing him.It was so funny. I even wonder if it wasn’t’ a reference, the scene being identical.

    Speaking of which there was a video game reference to Bare Knuckle/Streets of Rage btw, and it put a really big smile on my face, I played it when I was a kid and I keep playing this game with my family even after all these years. Escpecially the second one, it’s one of the best Beat Them Up ever.

    Rockmanshii
    Reply

    2. yeah, caught the SOR reference too. Man it was fun playing so many years ago.

      BTW, check out Streets of Rage Remake, or SORR. They’re remaking the game, and check out the screenshots 😀

      HoTsHoT
      Reply

  24. I swear I wanted to run after all those Mini Ika-Musume! HNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNG!!!
    I really did feel sorry for Sanae, the withdrawal and the hallucinations but like you said, D, it was for the best…Alas, it didn’t last all that long!
    Holy crap, we are getting close to the end of the season and I’m also feeling withdrawal syndroms if I don’t get a fix of Ika musume (Oddly enough, I passed by my Japanese store and felt guilty looking at the dried Ika….)

    Shinjiro
    Reply

  27. I laughed so hard during the baseball scene. How to stop a sure home run? Use your tentacles to launch yourself into the air for the catch. Want to know the secret to lighting up the radar gun or hitting ridiculously long home runs? Duh, use your tentacles.

    Yuri Rocks
    Reply

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