Shinryaku!? Ika Musume - Episode 1

She's back, and ready to invade ~de geso!

Episode Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ (5/5)

Welcome back, Ika Musume!
For a show that barely has a plot, Shinryaku!? Ika Musume continues to deliver the comedy and entertainment that many viewers enjoyed back in Season 1. For me, I thought it was a lovely first episode, reminding me how much I enjoyed the show last year. Just as expected, I got my fair share of laughs throughout the 24 minutes. For those who are still deciding on watching this and haven't watched Season 1 yet, don't worry; one of the advantages of plot-less anime is that you can start from any point in the series and not miss anything important. Judging by the first episode, I have a feeling that the next 11 weeks (assuming it's 12 episodes like last year) are going to be great as I'll be, once again, getting my weekly dose of "ika?" and "~de geso." Next week needs to come sooner...

侵略しなイカ!？ (Won't You Invade!?)
After watching a movie about alien invaders being eliminated, Ika Musume is reminded of her role as an "invader from the sea." This story, which is also used to reintroduce the other characters, shows Ika Musume wandering around, being cautious of the possible "dangers" around her, making it obvious that the movie has gone to her head. As she confronts every character, over-thinking causes her to view everyday objects as a threat to her invasion. She then attempts to destroy the "weapons", leaving everyone else to wonder what is wrong with her. As this "success" gets to her head, she confidently stands atop a table in the Beach House Lemon (there's an identical scene in Season 1) and proceeds to steal and eat the shrimp from one of the customers' shrimp pilaf. She follows that up by unleashing squid ink, which ends up hitting Cindy and Sanae. Unfortunately, for Ika Musume, Chizuru switches to her beast mode and quickly humbles the squid girl, preventing further damage. A swift change back and a kind Chizuru apologizes for the commotion. I don't blame Ika Musume for being scared as Chizuru's beast mode is something that would scare the living hell out of anyone.

恋敵じゃなイ力!？ (Isn't that a Love Rival!?)

For those that watched Season 1, you should remember that Sanae has an unrequited love for Ika Musume. So when Ika Musume starts getting friendly with Kiyomi, a female friend, Sanae starts getting jealous. To top things off, three juniors from the baseball club (Season 1) also pay a visit to the Beach House Lemon and start to converse with Ika Musume. Quelling the rage building up inside of her, Sanae begins to eavesdrop on the group. Unconsciously, she makes her eavesdropping too noticeable and ends up trying to make an excuse for her actions. In the midst of panicking, she declares her love for Ika Musume by accident and, thinking that the others would laugh at her, prepares to be ridiculed. But instead of that happening, the other girls tell her that they, too, love Ika Musume, a fact that is relieving and yet, makes her realize that she is probably the only one that is hated. Her fears then come true when Ika Musume, in tsundere fashion, tells the other girls that she doesn't dislike them. But when Sanae asked if that included her, Ika Musume's curt reply of "I dislike you" crushed her hopes. This story ends off with Ika Musume deciding whether to pity Sanae (telling her that "I dislike you" is something she wouldn't say) or not (not taking back her "I dislike you."

クラゲじゃなイ力!？ (Isn't that a Jellyfish!?)
Outside the Beach House Lemon, a man is scene with red gashes on his leg. After seeing a long line in front of the first aid building, Gorou reveals to Ika Musume that the sea is being invaded (yes, I meant to use that word) by jellyfish. Thinking that this is payback for what the humans have done to the sea, Ika Musume decides to side with the jellyfish and runs into the water. Moments later, she returns, with stings on her leg. This caused her to switch sides, as she blames the jellyfish for attacking her for no reason. In an attempt to get rid of them, Ika Musume and Gorou start to pick out the jellyfish and put them into plastic bags. What was supposed to be a competition between them to see who can collect the most jellyfish eventually became an open competition for everyone at the beach thanks to Chizuru's idea. With her tentacles, Ika Musume easily dominated the competition. Or so she thought. The winners of the competition turned out to be Cindy and the three idiots. But after they reveal their strategy of taking one jellyfish and repeatedly cloning it using their cloning ray gun to multiply them, the three receive a kick straight to the head from an angry Eiko. Ika Musume ends off this story with the ironic line of "You should never cheat under any circumstances." *cough* Your tentacles, Ika-chan. Your tentacles... *cough*