Kana Koumoto and her friends live a routine life in their small Japanese town. Each day is similar to the previous one, leaving them feeling unfulfilled. To break the monotony, they decide to build and launch a bottle rocket into space. Although it may not reach its destination, the experience brings excitement to Kana's otherwise mundane existence. However, just as they are about to launch the rocket, a robot crashes into and destroys it, followed by a pink-haired woman claiming to be a "Galactic Investigator." Suddenly, Kana's life becomes filled with new experiences, emotions, changing friendships, and even boy troubles. Life can pass by in the blink of an eye, making it easy to miss its beauty. So, what is it about these robots that seem to appear at the most inconvenient times?
FLCL Alternative aired in the United States as a six-episode television series as part of the Toonami line-up on the Adult Swim programming block of Cartoon Network.