Anime: Shinryaku! Ika Musume 1i67

I was eating instant ramen while watching the first episode... I never thought I'd start a review with that sentence, but it leads to a point. I almost threw up when Ika Musume did you-know-what to the pasta, but then I was choking from laughter by the time the episode ended. The entire series left me a similar impression, from disgust and rejection to appreciation and attachment.
'Shinryaku! Ika Musume (Invasion! Squid Girl)' is an anime series that appears to be flawed in almost every way imaginable, but somehow... somehow, I found this series to be extremely enjoyable and memorable. Ika Musume has invaded my mind.

Case 1: Premise.
Incompetent invader from another world appears, and gets her butt kicked in the very first encounter with human beings. After that, the "invader" s the family, but still plans for world invasion while easily getting distracted by all the unfamiliar things on Earth. It's baffling how similar the premise of this series is to 'Keroro Gunsou'. In fact, if they toned down yaoi and violence by a bit, it would totally for a children's show. While nothing can excuse the show's lack of originality in premise, 'Ika Musume' has a lot going for it that makes it different from an average show.

Case 2: Lack of Direction.
One would expect a simple friendship comedy from such a premise. Ika Musume bonds with family and others in town, then gets inspired by their kindness, right? While that's one of the themes of 'Ika Musume', there are also a lot of other things going on. A lot of actual battle scenes with Ika Musume's tentacles, a lot of slapstick comedy, a lot of depth in some episodes (Mankind's triumph over nature? Bonding with the mini-Ika Musume? The umbrella episode?), a lot of romance, and slice of life? Loli moe-blob? Other than comedy, it's hard to say what this series is, as it's packed with themes despite the triple episodic chapter format. Ironically, the lack of direction (central theme) in the story was offset by the direction (presentation by the director). It didn't exactly feel like this series went all over the place and got nowhere, it felt like I got to see many sides of Ika Musume's story.

Case 3: Characters
At first, Ika Musume seems like nothing more than a moe-blob dewa naika? A deliberate attempt for cuteness de geso. The squid hat, the dress, and over-sized eyes seem like obvious moe ploy de geso. But, her appearance actually is a part of the story ja naika? Her character really grows on you dewa naika? Other characters were also stereotypical cardboard cutouts de geso. Especially the way they random appear in different episode limits their character development ja naika? Still, they somehow manage to leave an impression, and their personalities are very distinct ja naika? What all characters possessed, was inherent charm that makes you care about them de geso. Despite how incompetent she is at invasion, you would find yourself rooting for her dewa naika?

Case 4: Buildup
Yes, every one of Ika Musume's sentence ends with "jana/dewana-Ika(Squid)?", homophone of "Isn't it? / Don't you think?", or "de-geso(tentacle)", a cuter(?) version of "desu". It was kind of cute at first, but gets annoying very quickly... and this persists for almost the entire duration of the show. However, just when you're totally sick of it, she stops talking like that, and just like the ing cast in this show, I felt like it's not her without her quirky speech. The director has done an excellent job in building up for moments like this, mixing in a couple of slow and emotional chapters with fast-paced slapstick chapters.

Case 5: Retro
The physical and pun-heavy comedy in this series is really old fashioned, but I found myself laughing through the stupid and predictable jokes nonetheless.
The character design other than Ika Musume, and the atmosphere also had a really retro anime feel to it. The way Ika Musume, the Invader From the Bottom of the Sea, and the action/scary scenes stood out from the rest of the show was really wonderful. This is my first series fully produced by Diomedea, and I have to say I'm really impressed. Color specification and consistency of drawings were particularly stunning.

Case 6: OP
The OP 'Shinryaku no Susume (Advance the Invasion)' is SUCH a bad otagei song with strained anime voice, but the way it starts and the beat is just so addictive. I found myself skipping it after the second episode, but listening to the whole thing by second half of the season. ED was a poignant song that makes you reflect back on the story, and has a nice simple touch with an object variation added to each episode.
BGM was rather simple, and didn't play a big part in the show.
Ika Musume's voice by Kanemoto Hisako was absolutely perfect, which made her character all the more adorable. Everyone else also sounded like they should.

I was very skeptical about this series, but I've been captured by the tentacles of Ika Musume.
Dream and magic is what traditional anime is supposed to be all about, and this series takes it back to the roots. I can't guarantee you would like it, but 'Shinryaku! Ikamusume' is definitely worth a shot if you haven't seen it already.