This series, which ran for a massive 243 episodes, made Dr. Slump even more popular, cementing Akira Toriyama as a household name and turning Arale into one of Japan's most popular characters.

At first, Toriyama made Senbei Norimaki, the inventor of the robot girl Arale, the main character of “Dr. Slump.” Toriyama intended to kill her off after the first segment. When Torishima saw ...