Squid Girl, known in Japan as with the subtitle The invader comes from the bottom of the sea!, is a Japanese manga series by Masahiro Anbe, which was serialized in Akita Shoten's Weekly Shōnen Champion between July 2007 and February 2016. An anime television series adaptation produced by Diomedéa aired on TV Tokyo between October and December 2010, with a second season airing between September and December 2011. Three original video animation (OVA) episodes were released between 2012 and 2014.
Premise
Vowing to take over the world as revenge for polluting the ocean, Squid Girl attempts to make her base of operations the Lemon Beach House (alt. Lemon Beach Shack), a small beachside restaurant run by the Aizawa siblings. However, when she accidentally breaks a hole in their wall trying to demonstrate her power by trying to swat a mosquito, she is forced to work as a waitress to pay off the damages. Thus, Squid Girl begins her life on the surface, learning new things and encountering many curious visitors.
Characters
Main characters
Squid Girl appears as a young humanoid girl with blue cephalopod tentacles for hair. Her goal is to take over humanity as punishment for the pollution done to the sea. However, after causing damage to Lemon (which she planned to use as a base), she was forced to work as a waitress to pay for the damages. She possesses numerous squid abilities including extending her tentacles, regenerating severed ones, spewing squid ink from her mouth, glowing in the dark like the firefly squid, swimming and breathing underwater. She also has bracelets that enable her to have weight-shifting abilities. It is later revealed that what appears as her white squid-shaped skullcap is actually part of her head, so fatal consequences might occur if someone was to attempt removing her "cap". The two fins on her "cap" can move like actual squid fins, although she was initially ignorant of the fact. Her favorite food is shrimp, and she greatly fears natural predators of squids like sharks and killer whales to the point that even swimming floats of such creatures terrify her. Although generally immature at first and often getting herself into mischief from the start, she is a fast learner, able to master complex things such as math and other languages in a short period of time.
A 17-year-old high school student and the co-manager of the Lemon Beach House with short red hair who lives with her siblings Chizuru and Takeru. She is a strong-minded girl and constantly has to keep Squid Girl in check. Despite her frequent irritation towards Squid Girl, Eiko does seem to care for her more than she is willing to admit and the two eventually become good friends. When not minding the shop, she enjoys playing video games, but studying is a weak point for her. As a tomboy, she loathes wearing girly clothes and even skirts.
Eiko's older sister and manager who has long blue hair and narrowed eyes; she is the main cook at Lemon. She has the appearance of a kind person, but every so often, she exhibits extraordinary abilities and a fearsome aura which she will direct at anyone looking to cause trouble to Lemon or threaten her family and friends.
Eiko and Chizuru's little brother. Takeru is a third-grader with black spiky hair who enjoys playing with Squid Girl, whom he calls Ika Nee-chan (lit. "Big Squid Sister").
Supporting characters
Eiko's childhood friend who works as a lifeguard; he is dedicated to protecting the sea and the people on the beach. He is usually serious about his job but will sometimes get riled up when Squid Girl messes about, most often when she pilfers shrimp from his meals. Despite being attractive to many girls, he himself has a crush on Eiko's older sister Chizuru, but does not have the courage to confess his feelings to her.
Eiko's classmate and neighborhood friend who develops an obsessive crush on Squid Girl. She keeps a vast collection of Squid Girl photographs and memorabilia, and often stalks her. Although Squid Girl often retaliates violently to her advances, she enjoys it. She has a pet dog named Alex who's jealous of Squid Girl.
A surf-loving girl who works part-time at the Lemon. Unlike everyone else, she takes Squid Girl's conquest talk seriously and fears her greatly. Squid Girl, on the other hand, enjoys the fact that there is finally someone who fears her and thus she constantly teases Nagisa whenever she can. For a short period, Nagisa started dressing up as a guy in order to attract female customers and stop Squid Girl from teasing her, but she gave up after assuming she needs to be the one who recognizes her as an invader.