Shelf Life

Squid Girl

Squid Girl is the kind of show that sounds less appealing on paper than it actually is. The idea of an anthropomorphized squid hanging out at a seaside restaurant and having adorable adventures calls to mind a long list of forgettable anime starring bland or annoying mascot characters. As always, it's the details that make the difference between good and bad, and in the case of Squid Girl it's a combination of clever writing and a little bit of heart that elevate this series above the genre crowd. Approachable yet entertaining, it's an example of what happens when someone gets this particular formula right.

Our protagonist Squid Girl (or Ika Musume if you're a stickler for Japanese character names) is a self-described invader from the sea, who makes her way onto dry land in order to exact revenge for humanity's pollution of the world's oceans. She gets as far as a little beachfront restaurant, where she punches a hole in the wall. The restaurant's owners, sisters Eiko and Chizuru Aizawa, are less than impressed and force Squid Girl to wait tables in order to pay for the repairs. As is often the case with comically incompetent invaders, she eventually gets used to living with the Aizawa family and ends up working full-time at the restaurant.

If you've heard of this 2010 series at one point or another, you might know it as the show with a million squid puns. Squid Girl's speech is peppered with squid-related wordplay, and translating her verbal quirks into English is somewhat difficult. Japanese grammar creates lots of opportunities to say “ika” without going too far out of one's way, while English is less helpful when it comes to sneaking “squid” into an otherwise ordinary sentence. The subtitles and dub script compensate by tossing in as many aquatic puns as possible, and while the results can be quite amusing on occasion, it often feels like too much of a squidding gimmick. The good news here is that while the squid-talk may be one of this show's more unique elements, it's not all that essential to the comedy.

Most of the actual jokes don't depend so much on Squid Girl's speech as they do on her interactions with the world around her. There's a lot of fish out of water humor (no pun intended) in this series, with Squid Girl constantly getting the wrong idea about everyday items and situations. She's terrified of inflatable toy orcas, she thinks a cheap umbrella is the pinnacle of human innovation, and she derails a superhero stage show by cheering for the squid-themed villain. She also has a long list of special abilities that fall into the “amusingly useless talent” category, like using her tentacles to rock out on a drum set. While these bits are backed up by the quirky personalities of the humans around her, the comedic success of any given episode is usually determined by how much mileage it gets out of Squid Girl being Squid Girl. Thankfully, the writing has far more hits than misses, and even the show's less entertaining moments at least make for harmlessly pleasant viewing.

Some of the credit for that consistently pleasant experience goes to the show's mild-mannered content. The setting essentially makes every episode a beach episode, and the protagonist has tentacles instead of hair; the potential for copious fanservice is obvious, and yet Squid Girl never really goes down that route. In fact, I'd almost go so far as to call it kid-friendly. Many of its episodic storylines are built around themes of friendship and acceptance, and the humor typically steers clear of anything too raunchy or mean-spirited. From time to time, the writing even throws some light but heartfelt drama into the mix. It may not always be obvious while you're watching it, but Squid Girl's ability to deliver laughs while remaining accessible to a broad audience is pretty impressive.

From a visual standpoint, this is a pretty ordinary production with one very big exception: Squid Girl's character design. She's instantly recognizable with her blue tentacle hairdo and dopey white squid hat, and her special abilities help to set up quite a few sight gags. The English audio track in this collection is something of an unusual case: Media Blasters dubbed the first season back in 2011, but they never got around to releasing the second season. This new set from Sentai Filmworks keeps that old dub of season 1, but nearly every role is recast for season 2 aside from keeping Christine Marie Cabanos as Squid Girl. For consistency's sake alone, I'd recommend sticking with the subtitled version. There's a special edition available if you've got the cash and want the physical extras, but even this standard version has more on-disc extras than the average release. Of particular note are a couple of short videos starring the adorable mini-Squid Girl, along with an episode commentary track done in character by Squid Girl's Japanese voice actress.

So yes, this is an odd little comedy with a few elements that get lost in translation. It's also funny, charming, and far more accessible than a show about a talking squid has any right to be. You could watch it with someone who's never seen anime before and they'd still probably find it cute. As a fun diversion for a broad audience, Squid Girl hits the mark.
-Paul[TOP]