A kid gets a magic invention kit in the mail and has to figure out what it actually does by building it wrong on purpose. Every episode is basically "what happens when you follow the instructions but skip the one step that matters." It's the opposite of every other kids' show that punishes you for messing up.

Eiji Tōmatsu is a fifth-year elementary student whose dog Pochirou is his partner for inspiration. One day he comes across a mysterious volume called the Pikachin Research Book, which describes a set of seven tools forming the Pikachin Kit. When he presses a button inside the book, a Future Amazon delivery shows up at his door carrying the kit. Eiji puts it together using the blueprints in the box, yet a final 1% of it still seems to be absent. In this comedic sci-fi TV series, Pikachin names a sudden spark of insight, the lightbulb moment of a fresh idea, and the franchise is built on the notion that invention is 99% plastic models and 1% inspiration.