Dr. Senbei and his crew don't go to space to save the world, they go to save their teacher, and the whole thing plays like a field trip that keeps accidentally working out. Arale's innocent destructiveness becomes the actual solution to every problem, which means watching her punch alien warships makes perfect sense. The movie knows exactly what it is: a comedy that doesn't need stakes to be funny, just a robot girl who doesn't understand how fragile everything else is.

Local teacher Midori Yamabuki gets an urgent summons calling her back to her home planet, but the message is really a trap laid by Dr. Mashirito, a warlord of the galaxy. To rescue her, Dr. Senbei Norimaki sets off into space with a group of students and his robot daughter Arale. The result is a comic space rescue with a slice of life flavor, released as a feature film in 1982.