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About as good as a comedy anime could hope to get. The show is very reliant on it's protagonist, and a lot of the comedy comes from each side characters unique relationship with Ika Musume. Although this could be a weakness, Ika Musume it works, plus all the characters are unique and interesting in their own ways, but having them play off Ika just works so well for the comedy of the show. All the other characters interact with one another in unique and interesting ways as well such as Sanae and Cindy becoming fast friends due to their infatuation with her. It really plays ... off of character dynamics masterfully, it didn't get stale in the 418 chapters of the manga and it definitely doesn't get stale here. The show also has a lot of genuinely heartfelt and sentimental moments. The mini Ika episode which came out of nowhere was a well made standalone short story that almost made me cry (okay to be honest I actually did cry). I think my issue with a lot of other comedy series, My Deer Friend Nokotan comes to mind, is that it never really takes the time to have you grow close to the characters or make their relationship seem genuine, but in Squid Girl seeing Ika Musume grow closer to those around her and become a member of the Aizawa household is really sweet. I think theres a line in episode 10 where Takeru has to draw a family member for a school assignment and Chizuru says "why not draw Ika Musume, she's basically a part of our family now right?" That moment really cemented this show as something special in my mind, it's doesn't just work as a comedy but it really is a heartfelt show. Ika may never invade the world but she's invaded my heart (corny I know, I just love this show so much)

10/10 one of my favorites

I am at risk of coming off as really pretentious talking about a seasonal rom-com show the way I'm about to, but whatever. I believe the subject matter of this show elevates it and makes it something special. This isn't a show about a guy falling in love with a normal anime girl that just happens to be a robot, Mina is made out of metal, she cannot feel emotions, her love for Takumi is explicitly an emulation, she is pre-programmed to be loyal to him. By engaging with this anime the same way we engage with any other rom-com show, the viewer is forced ... to deal with the question of whether or not Mina and Takuma's love is real or if it ultimately matters that Mina's displays of affection are coming from mechanic programming. Obviously the writer has an answer for this already, he clearly thinks that love between man and machine can be sincere, but I think he does a really good job of tackling the question in a nuanced manner. Because of this I really do believe this show is genuinely fascinating, and it concerns a topic that will be way more important as we move into the future.

Also Mina is really really cute

Wasted potential :( The first 12 volumes are fantastic. Tomoko is such a popular character because she's relatable, duh. But on top of that, to see such an unabashedly disgusting loser painted so earnestly was really refreshing. Much of the comedy came from the misunderstandings and awkward situations she would find herself in, giving the manga endless fuel to create comedic situations. You felt for her as she navigated through this world while clearly suffering from mental illness. It had a simultaneously tragic and comedic tone while never compromising one over the other.

Sadly, the manga loses serious steam around 12 volumes in. The story ... arc was always going to be about Tomoko making friends and coming out of her shell. I looked forward to it. But it happens way too fast. It feels like the authors dumped a dozen characters into the story who are all weirdly obsessed with being her friends; it doesn't feel organic at all. But much worse is that Tomoko just becomes an entirely different person. She goes from a tragic, cute, and unpredictable mess that feels like she may never be able to fit into society to a pretty bland protagonist that will sometimes get shy or say something vulgar. Again, I must emphasize that the issue is not that Tomoko changed. It's that it happened far too early and unorganically in the story.

The manga has transformed from being a tonally unique story, with an engaging protagonist with equally hilarious gags and painfully uncomfortable situations, to a sllightly above-average slice-of-life manga focused on melodrama. The characters are likeable enough, but I've decided to drop the manga because I can't get over that tinge of disappointment when I remember how good it used to be.

Okada has a talent for potraying sexual deviancy in an extremely empathetic manner. Ibitsu has this standard slice of life atmosphere to it, which is juxtaposed by these scenes of extreme sexual strangeness, until it isn't. At a certain point they feel like they become routine for these characters. Okada is trying to get us to understand sexual deviancy from the eyes of the protagonists, this is helped by the tenebrist lighting he uses in many of the sexual panels, where the characters are illuminated against a black background as if the sexual act is something beautiful and shining. It's only until the final act ... when the two leads are threatened to be torn apart did I realize that this strange little fetish manga I wanted to gawk at, made me not only empathize with these two characters but also that I'd accepted their sexual deviancy and their right to view it as beautiful. That realization definitely hit harder when I reached that ending. A very compassionate piece of art. Definitely not for everyone. Definitely one of my favorites.