Cells at Work! re-imagines the human body as a megalopolis wherein cells
are depicted as persons devotedly working on their respective jobs. Red Blood Cells (Erythrocytes) are
deliverymen. White Blood Cells (Neutrophils)
are bloodthirsty grunts who will stab, slash, or tear apart pathogen invaders
without a second thought. Platelets are cute
children working as a repair and construction crew. Macrophages, Killer T Cells, Helper T Cells,
Regulatory T Cells, Naive T Cells, Effector T Cells, Eosinophils, Dendritic
Cells, Memory Cells, Mast Cells, B Cells, Basophils, and NK Cells are also
shown performing personified depictions of their functions.
The show has a multitude of
characters, but the two main protagonists are Red Blood Cell (AE3803) – a
rookie who usually gets lost while on her delivery routes – and White Blood
Cell (U-1146) – who looks a bit like Death
Note’s L, and is as vicious as the rest of his kind when it comes to
fighting germs, but is gentle and friendly to other cells, especially to Red
Blood Cell. Save for one (which is a
flashback story focusing on the T Cells), they are part of all the storylines of the 13-episode debut season.
The summer 2018 anime season started with Cells at Work! as my
most favorite among all new series, and it ended with it still my most favorite. It’s truly a brilliant show – not necessarily
because it’s the first one to have ever thought of anthropomorphizing the
microscopic world inside the human body, as the concept has been seen already in other
cartoons in the past, like Osmosis Jones
and Once Upon a Time… Life (a.k.a. Micro Patrol) – but because it’s probably
the best one to have done this.
It can be easily observed that there’s a great amount of creativity and cleverness involved in how the show translates real-life biological
characteristics into tasks, personalities, designs, sets, technology, and other
details of this world and its characters.
And the plotlines it reinterprets from actual cases the body undergoes are incredibly
thrilling, humorous, and even poignant.
Heck, in one episode, it even manages to make its audience feel sympathy
for cancer cells – I kid you not!
Furthermore, by listening to or
reading analyses of it from those with medical backgrounds, the more one is blown away by the genius of its writing and production.
Simply speaking, Cells at Work! is a wonderful, worthwhile anime
show. And a season two needs to happen ASAP!
Postscript:
By the way,
I learned that the manga has a spin-off called Cells at Work! BLACK, which deals with more mature and darker
themes, like unsafe sex, drinking alcohol, smoking, and stress. Surely, Cells
at Work! BLACK deserves to get an anime adaptation as well.
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