![WEIRD TRIVIA - This box art isn't the final version used in the UK. How so? The BBFC rating is wrong! Because of 'moderate sex references and comic violence' on Disc 2 (according to the BBFC) The Squid Girl is actually rated 12 in the UK. The first disc is just PG. To give you a wider frame of reference, the BBFC gave Strike Witches a 12 and- wait for it- Puella Magi Madoka Magica A 15 RATING (apparently because of the strong language on Disc 2). NOT FOR KIDZ.](images/thesquidgirl.jpg)
EDITOR'S NOTE:
C'mon, really? Are we that desperate for article ideas?
WRITER'S NOTE:
Oh, Ed, stop being so... Crabby.
EDITOR'S NOTE:
oh my god did you really just say that you are the worst human alive
Proof my sense of humour is broken: I found Squid Girl pretty funny.
I'm a sucker for fish puns, what can I say?
![OK, we're done here. Shut the website down. Best image I'll ever upload. FINISHED. DONE. FINITO. PERFECTION ACHIEVED.](images/squidgirlikahuggingamegadrive.png)
Anyway, I'm not here to talk to you about how the dialogue in this show is stuffed to the gills with fish jokes [AUGH - Ed]. Instead, the reason Squid Girl (or Shinryaku! Ika Musume if you can't bear the thought of calling it anything else) is on this site is because of Mega Drive love. While the original manga, created by Masahiro Anbe (who, by the way, has drawn Arle Nadja fanart and it is the best) has a fair number of game references, they're usually more abstract and generally include a Famicom-alike (thanks to dilligent reader Al for going through the manga meticulously to find these references!). However, the staff of the anime adaptation clearly had an undying love for the Mega Drive. Several times throughout the show, Squid Girl and her friends are shown playing video games, and not only is it almost always a famous Mega Drive title, the game console they're playing it on is a Mega Drive. As the Mega Drive is my favourite console of all time and I'm certain you all know by now that I'm a card-carrying Sega die-hard, this pleased me. They're nice little nods to Sega, and they don't get cloying or obnoxious because they're usually in the background rather than stretched out to a whole joke.
So, we gathered all the game references from Season 1 & 2 & the OVA for your viewing pleasure.
Some notes before we begin, though. The Season 1 screencaps have been snapped straight from the UK DVD Season 1 release by Manga, which has two sets of titles for the various 'sections' in each episode- the one used in the show itself is used first, then the title used in the DVD inlay. Because the US Media Blasters release of Season 2 was cancelled, it was never dubbed into English or released on UK DVD (and probably never will be) so the screencaps for Season 2 are from Crunchyroll's videos. As the OVA hasn't been made available anywhere in my country, though, it had to be located elsewhere, hence the lower-quality shots.
Just remember, though...
![9000 hours in ms paint. Also, you're gonna have to zoom in to identify the six Mega Drive games on offer.](images/gogsquid.gif)
Let's get kraken, then! [NO - Ed]
Enjoy?
Season 1 Opening
![I'll level with you, Dragon Quest is my go-to-name when it comes to referencing old RPGs. I DON'T KNOW ANY OTHERS OK I'M NOT BIG ON RPGS GIMME A BREAK](images/squidgirldragonquest.png)
It's a generic Japanese RPG. Probably Dragon Quest.
Note that instead of Magic Points (MP), Squid Girl has Ika Points (IP). 'Cause Ika is Japanese for squid, etc.
![gif of the year](images/squidgirlvictory.gif)
Naturally, the chests are full of shrimp.
![Squid Girl, jamming that cartridge in, yesterday.](images/squidgirlmegadrive.png)
Also, we get a good look at the console played throughout the series.
It's definitely a Mark I Mega Drive, no doubt about it.
Season 1 Episode 4: Wait a Squid, Aren't You On My Side?
Section 2: Care to Come Aboard? / Aren't You Intruding?
![I was leaning towards this one being Puyo Puyo simply because I hate Columns. It puts me to sleep. But once again, Gaming Hell was wrong.](images/squidgirlpuyopuyo.png)
I was um-ing and ah-ing over whether this was Puyo Puyo (1992) or Coumns (1989).
Twitter reader @inobscurity points out that it's Columns because it has a mode with this layout and the checkerboard border background.
Season 1 Episode 9: Squidzooks! Aren't You a New Recruit?
Section 1: Want to Ring and Jet? / Won't You Doorbell Ditch?
![<insert reference to Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt here>](images/squidgirlstockingfighter.png)
Kiyomi and Squid Girl play Stockings Fighter IV. The dialogue calls it 'SF4' before you see the cover. How clever
![Other playable characters in Stockings Fighter IV include Mr. Uppercut, Mr. Wrestles-with-Bears and Mr. OH COME ON THAT PSYCHO CRUSHER IS SUCH BULLSHIT](images/squidgirlmryoga.png)
The game also has a thinly-veiled Dhalsim knock-off, called Mr. Yoga.
![I could've just zoomed in on the cartridge here, but I decided to use the bigger picture simply because Kiyomi's face (she's the schoolgirl) amuses me in this screenshot. So goofy.](images/squidgirlhedgehogkart.png)
Eiko also says she's brought Squid Girl a copy of Hedgehog Kart, although you can only barely see the cover.
(Season 2 Episode 5 Section 1 refers to Hedgehog Kart 2 in dialogue, but the subtitles spell it wrong. It's not 'Cart', silly Crunchyroll.)
Finally, Kiyomi says 'You're ten years too early to beat me' in the English dub. It's Akira Yuki's catchphrase from Virtua Fighter.
Season 1 Episode 10: How Much is That Squiddy in the Window?
Section 1: Maybe She Inks You're Annoying? / Won't You Be Loved?
![i call dibs on skate, ok](images/squidgirlstreetsofrage.png)
Come on, if you owned a Mega Drive, you know what this is! It's Streets of Rage II (1992).
If you squint, you can just about make out Axel, Blaze, Adam (as an enemy?) and the purple Galsia palette-swap.
Season 1 Episode 12: You're Phonier than an 11-Tentacled Squid!
Section 2: We're in Squid Trouble? / Isn't This A Crisis?
![I'm sorry, I don't do strategy games. A bit of Command & Conquer in the late 90s, and R-Type Tactics, but that's as far as I go.](images/squidgirldaisenryaku.png)
A bit of a change, this time they're playing Advanced Daisenryaku (1991).
Kind-of fitting, seeing as Squid Girl wants to take over the world.
Season 2 Episode 4
Section 2: Ink You Can Stop It?!
![why can't i play as siba it's not fair](images/squidgirlvirtuafighter.png)
Eiko and Squid Girl have a brief round of Virtua Fighter on the 32X (1995) as clones of Akira ('Akio') and Kage ('Onin').
![This is the most confusing screenshot on this page- a 32X but no Mega-CD? C'mon, Squid Girl, aren't you down with Road Avenger?](images/squidgirl32x.png)
See? They're playing it on a proper 32X and everything!
Season 2 Episode 7
Section 2: Ink That Amnesia?!
![AAAAHHH MONSTERS WITH GIANT MICKEY MOUSE EARS AND NO FACES AAAAAAAAAAA](images/squidgirlgoldenaxe.png)
Rather obviously, this is Golden Axe (1989). No attempt to hide it.
Although... I'm sure they tried to replace the blue dragon with an alpaca.
(Also, Tyris Flare's magic levels are wrong and they're using the Gilius sprite for an enemy but shush)
Season 2 Episode 8
Section 1: Watch My Shell While I'm Out?!
![WE'RE GOING TO CAPTURE ALL OF YOUR VALUABLE TREASURES!! HERE WE GO, YOU GANG OF CLOWNS!!](images/squidgirlbonanzabros1.png)
Not only does Squid Girl play Bonanza Bros. (1991), showing the animators have superiour taste in video games...
![This thief is the best.](images/squidgirlbonanzabros2.png)
... But she also plays it co-op with a burglar who's invaded her house. See, it's fitting!
(Here's a screencap of her co-op buddy's sprite- he enters the house in a similar get-up. Art imitating life, obv.)
![Three buttons? That's for punks!](images/squidgirlmdpad.png)
Also, we get a better look at the Mega Drive pad.
Season 2 Episode 8
Section 2: Didn't We Have a Squidrrangement?!
![That's... Pretty grim.](images/squidgirlnobunaga.png)
OK, this one's tough, but I'm reasonably sure it's Nobunaga no Yabou: Bushou Fuuunsoku (1991).
This is mostly due to the mention of Motonari Mori, and the borders on the game window.
Season 2 Episode 12
Section 2: Ink That A Festival?!
![I'll level with you, this was a total guess simply because I knew whoever was behind these video game references wouldn't stray from Sega. Not at this point, not the final episode! AND I WAS RIGHT.](images/squidgirlshiningforce.png)
Before you say this is a Final Fantasy game... Look at those unusual weapon icons.
Weapon icons like this appear in Shining Force (1992) and Shining Force II (1993)...
But this screen has got to be from Shining in the Darkness (1991).
Squid Girl OVA 1
Section 1: Won't It Break?
The 2012 OVA is a little different. The first section is entirely about video games...
And none of them are Mega Drive games! It's all Nintendo! No!
![CURSE YOU, SPINY BLUE SHELL.](images/squidgirlova2.png)
It starts with the three stooges (graduates from MIT) playing a Super Mario Kart (1992) rip-off...
... Where one of them wins by using a rocket launcher just before the finish line. Ohoho.
![Now, if you dropped a Game Gear from the same height...](images/squidgirlova4.png)
They're playing on Nintendo DS-alikes... Apparently made by Mintendo.
However, one of them drops their DS, smashing it to bits.
(If they were playing on Game Boys, no problem- I dropped mine down a flight of stairs. Still works.)
![I'd come up with a witty line for this one, but the awkward use of the word 'men' here makes me think of Super Hans saying 'men with ven' in Peep Show and I can't think of anything else funny SORRY](images/squidgirlova5.png)
So, the three stooges make their own, completely indestructible portable console, called a Game Men.
However, it's so sturdy that Eiko and Squid Girl end up wrecking their hands playing it.
![The text under the title reads 'There is no impossible we were graduating at the top MIT. Good to know.'](images/squidgirlova6.png)
This is the first game they play, Super Eiko. Hmm.
![ika's got a gun. we're doomed.](images/squidgirlova8.png)
Obviously, it's Super Mario Bros. (1985), but with impossible obstacles and enemies.
![Is this one of those High-Speed Zones I've heard so much about?](images/squidgirlova9.png)
Oh, and here's a Moai from Easter Island. Or Gradius, whichever.
![Aw, where's Ika Musou? I like that one.](images/squidgirlova10.png)
The other games on the Game Men reference other famous video games:
The Mystery of @tlantis is a nod to The Mystery of Atlantis/Atlantis no Nazo (1986), an infamously-difficult Sunsoft game.
The Game is Life is probably referring to the Japanese adaptation of The Game of Life, Jinsei Game (1988), ported to many game systems.
Takeru's Challenge is a play on Takeshi's Challenge/Takeshi no Chousenjou (1986), the most famous 'kusoge' (shit game) in the world!
![It's not that I don't like RPGs! It's just I haven't played enough that've kept my attention. Notable exceptions: Resonance of Fate, Final Fantasy VII, Earthbound (NES and SNES).](images/squidgirlova12.png)
They end up playing an RPG very much in the style of Dragon Quest. It's what you expect.
![OK, weird survey- when holding a SNES pad, do you put your index fingers on the shoulder buttons at all times, or just if you use them a lot? I kinda reach up with my fingers. Answers on a postcard, etc. etc.](images/squidgirlova14.png)
After throwing the Game Men away, Eiko and Squid Girl try to play F-Zero (1990) on their Super Famicom
(Or, as it is in this world, E-Zero on their Super Mintendo)...
![CRUSHER IKA-CHAN](images/squidgirlova16.png)
... But their time playing with the Game Men means they're a little too rough with it.
!['This wouldn't have happened if we had a Neo-Geo.'](images/squidgirlova17.png)
I guess the Mega Drive really is the strongest games console in the world.
![I decided, in the interests of science, to make my editor watch a few episodes of this show with me. This is what he looked like when it was over. What a wimp! It's not like I forced him to watch something like, I dunno, The Melancholy of Haruhi Su- oh, wait, I did. HA.](images/squidgirledissuffering.png)
... OK, that's that over with, then. I'm not squiddin' around, this article's gilly over!
[No more fish puns. Please no more fish puns. I'm begging you, in the name of humanity.
- Ed]
Don't worry, Ed. I know you'd krill me if I made any more.
[... If that's not a typo, I'm going to scream.]
Incidentally, if you find another anime with overt game refs like this... Don't tell us. We won't bother.