Despite having such a simple premise, I was hooked from the very first episode and ended up watching the whole first season in 3 days. Ika Musume is a very emotionally impacting anime, with a level of sweetness that soothes your soul and gives you a feeling of optimism. While I think anybody could enjoy it, I would especially recommend this anime to anybody who is feeling sad or down for whatever reason.
The first reason why the anime feels so warm is how well the beach vibe is captured through the art. Everything is wonderfully colorful and cheerful. Its almost like you can feel the warmth of the beach through the screen. The sounds of the ocean and tropical sounding music along with the imagery added greatly to the immersion. Personally I've always thought of beaches and tropical locations as being among the most cheerful environments, so the setting was great for this anime.
The second biggest reason is the characters. In order for slice of life to be done as well as this one is, you need to have characters that audiences connect to so well that you are interested in watching them even when they are doing relatively simple things. If you like the characters enough, something as simple as a hike up the mountain can feel great to watch. By the time I finished this season, I had this odd feeling that I had known the characters all my life even though I only started watching 3 days ago.
The sweetness of all the characters is inspiring. It was very heart-warming to see this girl who is such an oddball be treated so warmly and with such acceptance from all the other characters. There are many cute moments in this show that will make you want to hug one of the characters.
I'm sad to see that this anime only has two short seasons. I feel like this series has enough potential that it could've been turned into a long running show. But I do think this show has a lot of re-watch value. I can easily see myself re-watching this a few months down the line.
I am certainly in no hurry to part ways with little Ika and the beach community, but I also can't seem to stop myself from watching at a fast pace and writing this review early despite not having seen the second season. To conclude this review, I'd recommend this to anybody who's looking for an anime with a very warm atmosphere that will soothe your heart, but I especially recommend it to anybody who's feeling sad or down in any way. Watching something so sweet can be very therapeutic when your down on negative thoughts. Shows like this are a major reason why I love anime.
