If only she could apply her talents to something useful.

Shinryaku! Ika Musume by Masahiro Anbe is about a squid girl from the sea who invades the landmass of Earth. The end.

As pitiful as it is to admit, Squid Girl is indubitably the only serious anime on the air. Dealing with environmental issues that ring close to home, Squid Girl has children giving their trash a second glance in between the laughs and giggles, or moans depending how old you are. Japan’s treatment of their ocean is simply atrocious. I have never seen another port that allows you to pump sanitary waste straight into the harbor. One would also have to consider the amount of trash an island housing 120 million people must produce. It’s not surprising so much of it ends up in the ocean.

Japan, is also known by zookeepers around the world for having the strangest tastes in pets. Turning the city of Tokyo upside down and shaking would unearth a wider range of species than the continent of Africa. So perhaps to the average audience, this adorable depiction of a captured rare species being duly abused and exploited is just clever fun and game. However, know that it is happening all around you; and possibly closer than you think.

So how is it possible a gag comedy churns out pressing world issues and satirize human ignorance in five minutes clips, whereas other series waste fourteen episodes having accomplished nothing? I don’t really know, but at this point I really don’t care. Even when Squid Girl is wasting her time doing absolutely nothing, she fills every minute with drama and cuteness. I find myself crying with her at the end of every episode. I may be crazy for empathizing with an animated squid girl, but we all know I’m not.

The saddest scene in anime this season, for many reasons.