This is thirty-odd minutes that reset your nervous system. It is a Toei Anime Fair short, which means no arc, no stakes, no lesson, just Arale Norimaki barreling through Penguin Village with her glasses on and her 'N'cha!' aimed at anything that moves. The previous outing had her flatten a pocket-sized Dodongadon in seconds and then get an entire kaiju-scale mom, Mamangadon, dropped on her head as punishment, and the summer chapter carries that same logic: the punchline always escalates before it resolves. Senbei is still the worst adult in the village, Gatchan still eats what should not be edible, and Toriyama's roundest character designs still make destruction look adorable. If you came from Dragon Ball and only know Arale as the gag cameo who punched Blue, this is the register she actually lives in. Put it on when the day was too long and you want cartoons to just be cartoons again.

Summer vacation arrives in Penguin Village, and the Norimakis and the Soramames set off for a holiday resort, with Suppaman and Dr. Mashirito coming along too. The getaway boasts arcades and hot springs, but the grounds are secretly a monster-infested haunted castle. Waiting there is Vandora, a beautiful vampire who wants to make a meal of the visitors, and the whole group ends up caught in her grip.