First Impressions / Shinryaku! Ika Musume

A doorbell dash doesn’t work so well when Chizuru’s around.

Ika begs you to watch her show!
“Dogeza de geso~” orz

「ピンポンダッシュしなイカ？／メイクしなイカ？／秘密兵器じゃなイカ？」
(Pinpon Dasshu Shinai ka? / Meiku Shinai ka? / Himitsu Heiki Janai ka?)
“Won’t You Doorbell Dash? / Won’t You Put on Makeup? / Isn’t That a Secret Weapon?”

For whatever reason, this series isn’t getting nearly as much attention as it should be among English-speaking fans, so I thought I’d spark some more interest by having Ika Musume invade Random Curiosity in the form of a banner. Those who have stopped by the IRC channel have already heard me go on and on about this series, so for everyone else who hasn’t been checking out this little gem of the season, I’ll say the same thing I’ve been saying there. Go watch Ika Musume! (…and Samurai Girls.) You know what they say, once you go squid girl, you can never go back (…or something like that).

For everyone else already on board, I never really know what to expect from each skit based on its title, and this time was no different as the doorbell dash one turned out to be much more hilarious than I would’ve ever imagined. I was hooked right from the get-go when Ika rang a stranger’s doorbell thinking it would reinforce her invader image, only to wind up begging Sakura Kiyomi (Kikuchi Kokoro) to pretend to be her friend when her attempt to hide the prank from Chizuru failed. From that point on, it was nothing but Ika’s traumatic-like fear of Chizuru driving all the comedy, even though there was no killing intent radiating from her. As if to make her eat her own words, it starts off with Ika declaring that she’s not afraid of Chizuru after she genuinely befriended Kiyomi and invited her over without asking first.

 

“Bring it on Chizuru! I ain’t scared of you!”

Ryu throwing a Hadouken in stockings is a little disturbing. Diomedea + Capcom = diomedecom?

It looks like Ika could use some Street Stocking Fighter IV lessons. I’d gladly teach her some zoning techniques with Dhalsim Mr. Yoga.

Chizuru’s look of approval for making a new friend doesn’t quite look that way to Ika.

I’d love to see Chizuru perform a one-inch punch with the speed of her hands. It’d probably send someone flying a few… kilometers.

With Ika’s self-induced fear of Chizuru, Eiko’s show of support and Takeru’s invitation to play are terribly misunderstood.

I’ve always enjoyed comedy that stems from misunderstandings, so Ika’s one about Chizuru wanting to kill her was pretty golden in my eyes. I just loved the way that Ika was trembling in fear from every nice thing Chizuru and Eiko were doing to make sure everything goes well with Kiyomi’s first visit. Of those, the one involving Takeru that she basically interpreted as, “Get the hell out of the house before it’s too late!”, was just too funny.

 

Consumed by fear, Ika goes tumbling down the stairs to escape Chizuru’s “poisoned” drinks.

“It was a short friendship, but I won’t forget you even in death Kiyomi!”

Melodrama at its best. This has to be right up there with Kanemoto Hisako’s performance as Kanata in the So-Ra-No-Wo-To bonus episode. I just love how Kiyomi didn’t question what was going on and left when she was asked to, while Ika resigned herself to whatever punishment Chizuru had in store for her. i.e. Nothing. It’s been a while since Ika’s fear of Chizuru has come into play like this, so I enjoyed every moment of this skit.

 

Ika was probably better off with lipstick all over her face than having it on properly and acting as a Sanae magnet. It was like a moth to a flame.

Ika’s facial expression speaks for itself as she turns around and hightails it.

As Sanae dives into the water after the lipstick, Nagisa is in disbelief at how far she’ll go to recover it, Eiko respects her zealousness in a way, and Chizuru is impressed by her butterfly stroke.

A moth to a flame might even be an understatement to describe Sanae’s uncontrollable urge to kiss Ika, seeing as she completely lost sight of what she was after when Ika threw the lipstick into the ocean. Well what was Sanae believed to be the lipstick anyway, as Ika tricked her into fishing for the Aizawa family stamp instead. Leave it up Sanae to yell out that Ika’s a liar after finding that out, only to quickly add that she loves her regardless. If there’s one thing in this series that’s just as fun to watch as Ika’s fear of Chizuru, it has to be her fear of Sanae’s unconditional love for her.

 

Even after that dreadful experience, Ika isn’t intent on giving up the makeup yet as she scopes out the beach. Yamanba, male cross-dressing, visual-kei. Just your everyday Japanese styles.

Ika’s glammed up like a porcelain doll and ready to make mankind fall for her.

Eiko evidently isn’t a fan, so she goes to Gorou of all people for advice.

Now that’s the face of an invader! She’ll only find out later that oil-based permanent markers don’t wash off.

I don’t know what to say about Takeru outshining the competition and making all the girls fall for him, but it sure got Ika riled up for all the wrong reasons.

Makeup-wise, Ika’s powered up face was kind of creepy, but pretty stylist at the same time with her curled side bangs. Somehow, the two girls she asked for a makeover managed to thicken her eyebrows from their usual thin line as well. As they would put it in their hip slang, the look was so “chou ikeru”. I would’ve loved to see what Sanae’s reaction to it would’ve been, had Eiko not completely drilled her face with a rag to get it off.

 

Not once, but twice does Sanae run Ika into something to get her away from Cyndi.

I can’t think of many series where a girl demands to be tentacle raped and have sticky fluid splashed all over her, but Sanae does just that after Cyndi boasts about having it done to her.

After learning that Chizuru had a life and death struggle with Ika, they both want to experience a violent bonding as well. What’s an invader to do when she’s scared to lay waste to creepy masochists?

It’s definitely a first for a girl to be demanding that she receive equal tentacle rape treatment — and preferably more vehemently so — but Sanae’s love for Ika truly knows no bounds. It’s like she doesn’t care what Ika’s doing to her as long as they have some sort of bodily contact. As creepy as that sounds, it sure was funny as hell to see her in ecstasy from getting tentacle slapped and having ink splashed all over her face. The best part of all that was how Ika didn’t want any part of her masochistic pleasure nor Cyndi’s, and Chizuru just kindly asked her to take it outside. Nobody cares what Ika wants that’s for sure.

 

Word of a bullet that can turn people invisible has Sanae’s nose bleeding uncontrollably.

Would American scientists develop a weapon that brings out the true power of an invader or one that simply vaporizes things?

Good thing Ika tried it out on something other than herself, because it was definitely the latter.

She wasn’t too happy about it either and demanded that they demonstrate. Now you see Lemon…

…and now you don’t.

I’m going to take a wild guess and say that Chizuru’s not happy about her beach house getting vaporized.

Three naked repenting scientists later seems to confirm that idea.

The return of Harris, Clark, and Martin in their swimsuits and lab coats really did make them look like a bunch of perverted exhibitionists, whereas their ecstatic reaction to their ray gun’s results without a care in the world about how it could’ve killed Ika continues to show how ridiculous they are. That definitely warranted a lifetime of facepalming, but I did get a good laugh out of everyone’s reaction when Ika vaporized a watermelon. Combined with the two prior skits, this was definitely one of the funnier episodes to date. Here’s to hoping the baseball one next time is as good as it looks.

 

Chizuru’s happy to know that they’ll rebuild Lemon at least, whereas everyone else learns first-hand where Ika’s traumatic fear comes from.

Despite Ika’s unusual behavior, Kiyomi is still friends with her.

Preview

These have to be the creepiest teru teru bouzu ever. Hurray for a baseball episode though!

54 Comments

    1. I assume you’re talking about the new one at the top, I don’t mind it but i would prefer ika alone in all her cuteness, like it how it’s changing every now and then.

      I hope this doesn’t start another one of those long list of replies of what people would like to see…

      crazystudyguy
      Reply

  3. Chizuru, for some reason i would find her my ideal wife. She’s reserved,modest,calm,composed she can take care of herself and can probably get anything she wants done if she really wants it, while still remaining graceful and womanly.

    crazystudyguy
    Reply

  4. One of the best episode yet, with Sanae’s antics making me rofl each time. The jokes were flying in fast this episode, and I had a big grin plastered on my face from start to finish lol

    gandalf8
    Reply

    1. I thought the same thing. I said to myself “oh nice she finally found a friend”. Was also a nice touch with the end credits to show the 2 of them holding hands (usually Ika is alone).

      Karmafan
      Reply

  7. I thought I have to say this,..I’m one of those guys who’s reading every single comment in this series and yet still fail to comment anything, yeah this is really a great show, and I agree with Divine too that Ika Musume and Samurai Girls, (and also Sora no Otoshimono Forte) deserves more attention than they are usually getting (I remember Divine declaring that his goal is at least 50 comments) in this website.

    Ghostalker
    Reply

  8. Not sure if this is a spoiler but from the manga the gun only made things disappear (aka invisibility) so restoring Lemon was relatively easy.

    The cross dressers remind me of Utena, french nobility style.

    Its great that the Lemon family is now being shown as caring, which was missing in the first few episodes (but always present in the manga).

    Ika surrendering to being cooked is cute 🙂

    Zaku Fan
    Reply

  10. Well, I know the show’s got quality, but I just can’t stand the bullying Ika has to face through by the humans she knew… It’s like bullying some animal (I’ve only watched the first few episodes, but judging from the recent reviews, perhaps a deeper friendship will change things?), ridiculing her and treating her like some pet.

    Just my opinion, though I’ll probably be flamed for it.

    KKK
    Reply

  11. This was the best episode so fare. I couldn’t stop laughing, and when those three american scientists made the shop disappear and then tried to talk English, tt was hilarious. Can’t wait for the next episode.

    Pera
    Reply

    1. There are actually 5 gems this season. This series, Bakuman, Hyakka Ryouran Samurai Girls, Star Driver, and Otome Yokai Zakuro are all a cut above everything else (for new animes). All 5 of them are beautifully drawn, well voiced, and are a fun ride from beginning to end.

      There are others I like as well but they have up and down episodes like Ore No Imouto, Yosuga No Sora, Soredemo Machi Wa Mawaheiru, and Psychic Detective Yakumo.

      Karmafan
      Reply

    2. Ahh, yes, you have a point there, friend. Ika-chan, Bakuman, Mawatteiru, and Zakuro-san are also worthy of the title. Though I think Bakuman, Mawatteiru, and Zakuro deserve just as much hype as Shinryaku! Ika-Musume (Which I can see getting as popular as K-ON!) It’s just one of those shows.. ♥

      I haven’t found myself looking as crazed to watching the other shows as I have the ones I mentioned above. That same eagerness isn’t as ripe, y’know? 😛

      Shirt
      Reply

  14. Yay Divine go and convert everyone into SHINRYAKUSHINRYAKUSHINRYAKUSHINRYAKUSHINRYAKUSHINRYAKU IKA MUSUME ~~KYUUN-ism. …And Samurai Girls.

    The misunderstandings, the sexual innuendo, everything was gold in this episode. And Ika Musume imitating The scream painting when she vaporized the watermelon. And Nagisa finally realized the real threat to mankind is Chizuru going berserk, she would rip the earth apart bare-handed.

    Rockmanshii
    Reply

  18. I found this weeks episode pretty funny. Seeing how I’m tackling this show RAW, it feels so rewarding when I actually get the jokes. While it’s nice Ika kind of made a new friend close to her in age, it was too funny watching her freak out over how she “thought” Chizuru was going to kill her.

    From reading some of the comments from past posts, I’d really like to see an episode where Eiko and Ika bond together. With all this talk of how she’s extra mean in the anime adaptation, I don’t see it. I’d glad to be proven wrong and see more Eiko (:

    That and I want that mini Ika special to come out already.

    Takaii
    Reply

  19. Alright, Divine. You win lol. I’ll join the Ika Masume love and start watching the series; it does seem cute after all. Guess I’ll pause those Soredemo Machi wa Mawateirru torrents :O.

    Rin-kun
    Reply

    1. I am joining in. At least for this episode. If I like it, then I might also check out the rest. 😉
      Didn’t really enjoy, i.e. didn’t find them particularly funny, recent series like Seitokai Yakuindomo, B Gata H Kei or Mitsudomoe that much, so I am bit skeptical when it comes to new comedy series.
      I love SnO though.

      Will also check out Samurai Girls. I waited for the Blu-ray release anyways.

      boingman
      Reply

      2. Yeah, ever since the disappointment that was the 2nd season of K-ON!! I’ve had a hard time falling in love with these “cute every day slice of life” shows. I’m going to skip Samurai girls. As good as it looked and as excited that I was for it, the artistic approach they chose just makes it look like really shitty quality for me.

        P.S.: Before I get called a troll for saying K-ON!! was disappointing, I felt that eps 1-13 were just completely pointless and I loved the 1st season very deeply.

        Rin-kun
        Reply

  21. Would Japanese parents allow their kids to watch this shounen anime even if it has sexual innuendo? I’m referring to the pre-13 age group, although shounen is also aimed towards the 18+ group.

    Yo
    Reply

  23. I always love it when they have people trying to speak with an American accent, the three mad scientist guys were great. I’m sure if I tried to speak Japanese I would sound the same way. “Ohayo GOzaimasu”

    j.j.j
    Reply

  25. This show had better be either ongoing or get a second season, since there’s so much source material they haven’t covered and it’s one of the most consistently funny shows I’ve seen in a while.

    And if I remember the teru teru bozu chapter from the manga correctly, they get a LOT creepier than the ones above. I can’t wait to see how they adapt it.

    caramel_cod
    Reply

    1. i find it awesome because it’s light-hearted and hilarious X) it doesn’t try hard to be a funny show too. it’s simple but enjoyable..=) i love slice-of-life shows XD RocK-oN! *shot*

      keiOnDaisuki
      Reply

  29. Another awesome episode
    Wow, I was surprised Takeru activated his trap card

    and

    When watching the third part, I thought “Sanae needs to get laid”
    ….then this happened…
    https://randomc.net/image/Shinryaku%20Ika%20Musume/Shinryaku%20Ika%20Musume%20-%2009%20-%20Large%20Snapshot%2010.jpg
    &
    https://randomc.net/image/Shinryaku%20Ika%20Musume/Shinryaku%20Ika%20Musume%20-%2009%20-%20Large%2021.jpg

    Yep….~blows kiss~
    Goodnight Everybody!!!

    Akumaten
    Reply

  30. This show is beyond awesome, it never fails to make me laugh. This episode especially was ridiculously funny, i was laughing from start to finish. Ika musume is my number 1 pick this season it’s just that awesome

    Animora
    Reply

  33. yea, at first the “de geso” thing was kinda getting on my nerves but after you get past that the show is actually pretty funny. and its pretty clean and nice humor (which is kinda weird that divine is into this show ^_^) definitely nice to just pick up and watch when ur bored

    keroro
    Reply

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