Said misadventures usually involve another of Senbei's inventions going awry, Senbei trying to woo Arale's teacher, the lovely Midori Yamabuki, or Arale and her friend Gatchan (an androgynous baby with wings, antennae, and a tendency to eat cars who hatched from an egg) interacting with the other bizarre denizens of their hometown of Penguin Village. Said denizens include the town police force (which includes a guy in a Star Wars Stormtrooper helmet, a trigger-happy lady cop, and two officers who keep getting their car wrecked by Arale), Suppaman (a short, pudgy, dim-witted Superman wannabe who supposedly gets his superpowers from pickled plums), King Nikochan (a goofy, would-be space pirate stranded on Earth) and Dr. Mashirito (Senbei's rival in mad science who happens to be a caricature