I have had quite good calamari. There was something in Japan that I believe was nicknamed "chin-mi", which was translated for me as "smells bad". It was basically squid jerky--squid that was dried and smoked. It tasted quite good and I often used it as a snack while travelling there, but it made your breathe smell like fish that had been in the sun a few days too long.
The Asians have a broad array of pungent things, many of which come from the Pacific (I used to work for Nippon Electric here in the states.) I love a good Pho soup (it's on the short list of things I miss about DC, along with the Asian markets.) One of the condiments they always have on the table is Fish Sauce. Regardless of which variety fish or crustacean that may be involved, the name pretty much says it all. "Umami" is the polite term. That being said, I don't recall encountering squid in any of the meals I had with my NEC coworkers. I recall nori, but not squid.
I will stick with most fish, shrimp, lobster ,crab meat, salmon, tuna .. you can have the rest. As for not eating bugs- you do know we all have been eating them for years ? There was some documentary ont that years ago. And, bugs, along with GMOs and plant based foods will become the norm at some point. In the meantime, I intend to eat as much of the real food that is left
Ah yes, the kingdom of movies. Alas, according to some artist rendered documentation, vengeance seeking squids and octopuses often ransacked ships on the coast of Egypt. (Sheesh, it would take me at least 3 days to clean and prep that thing)