Cells at Work!

Hataraku Saibou or Cells at Work has been highly praised despite his lack of story and the lack of characters just because it's unique and innovative. If Hataraku Saibou can do something is to show that originality is not a guarantee of a good anime. The show lacks something that i still cannot precisely explain. After the initial shock you quickly realize that despite its originality this anime is incredibly generic (does that make sense? i dunno but thats how i felt while watching this). Story: There is no story, this is kind of a simpsons slice of life where at the end of the day everything isfine and dandy. Episode 12 and 13 were the most entertaining of all of them because the story felt real even if just a little. Sadly i personally felt that the ep 13 was the worst animated of all them so it took a little bit of the magic of the finale to this anime. Art: It's David Production. It's good. Sound: The VA's were perfect and both the opening and the ending are incredibly catchy. Characters: Probably the lowest point of the anime and the most cringy side of the anime fanbase stems from this part. Aside from probably the MC the rest of the characters hold no value. Yeah yeah platelet is cute but its a one trick pony that on my opinion exhausts its charm fairly quickly. White Blood Cell is interesting but we never get to know him at all so he ends up at being plain and it feels like he is just a secondary character that its there. In the last episode we barely see him a few seconds until the finale. Enjoyment: If you like gag mangas where nothing really matters then you might enjoy Hataraku Saibou. Overall: The show lacks value and intensity. If i were to be a weeb i still wouldnt like it because there is no waifu material fight me. If i were to treat Hataraku Saibou as a normal anime i wouldnt give it more than a 6.

It’s almost impossible to ignore biology when it comes to the human body. Hataraku Saibou (Cells at Work!) has the confidence to be its own series. It’s like you take the cartoony Osmosis & Jones and turns it into an educational exploration. The human body is complex and that alone really made me wonder how this show could capture its magic. I’d say making this show takes a creative mind and the audience should feel connected when watching this anime. Right from the start, the show reveals the human body and what it’s made up of which is essentially red blood cells. It takes place inan anonymous person but one should presume that it’s healthy until it faces conflicts inside. This is where the meat of the show really comes in. The human body is vulnerable and we face consequences every day in our lives. But that’s not really the problem, is it? The main course of the anime is composed of human body anatomy. Main characters are composed of Red Blood Cells, in particular one girl voiced by Kana Hanazawa. There’s also a variety of others cells that includes white blood, Killer-T, Macrophage, Memory, and in general, the types that you’d find in any human body. Let’s face it, our human body is made up of trillion of cells. Every cell has its own role whether it’s providing oxygen, getting rid of carbon dioxide, or muscle strengthening. Manga creator Akane Shimizu made this work through innovative thoughts of the actions going on in our bodies. With 6+ volumes and counting, the show is only consists of 13 episodes. It became obvious that the story had to limit itself with exploring the full potential of what the human body can do. However, I will say right off the bat that this shouldn’t be something to overlook. Because the more I watched this show, the more I realized how informative it can be. Surprisingly enough, the details of the human body is explored with an accurate representation. There’s information that details with the context of the cells while also examining at the invaders that enters our body. This include germs, virus, and any foreign pathogen that threatens a person. From the first few episodes alone, we realize that our human body is very vulnerable if we don’t take care of it. God gave us our bodies but didn’t make us immortal. Hataraku Saibou definitely shows why. Naturally, anyone coming into this show should be wondering how the plot will be structured. While not following a direct linear plot, there’s common recurring themes with pathogens invading the human body. The major selling points of the show is examining how our body works with an innovative way of storytelling. Every action has a consequence and it’s easy to see why. The first few episodes shows this when a group of Pneumococus bacteria attacks a red blood cell before being recused by a white blood cell. The traditional concepts of the show is how characters deal with their problems like the way our human body does. As I mentioned before, our body is very vulnerable and is exposed every day. Even a simple wound opens opportunities for catastrophe if the body isn’t prepared enough. This almost happens in some of the earlier episodes. Other times, the body may not be ready in the first place such as against cases of allergies, heat waves, or food poisoning. When it comes down to it, I think the creator really looked at exploring our bodies’ problems in many ways. When the show deploys its character cast well, it’s definitely hard to take eyes off of them. From the variety of cells to the foreign pathogens, there’s colorful cinematography. It would be nice to live in a world where our body is perfect but accidents happen. When they do, your body has to fend them off or there could be disastrous consequences. This is where our cells comes in to take care of the problems and the action in this show wastes no time to showcase that. It’s thrown with an innovative style such as the White Blood Cells brutalizing pathogens or Macrophages showcasing their terrifying skills. Even the cute little platelets in this series has their own duties by reconstructing our body. Many other T-Cells (Helper, Regulatory, Effector) perform their own duties to make sure our body is healthy. I’m not going to lie though, watching this series reminds me to take care good of our own bodies. Realistically, more people die by diseases than any other causes in the world. You can blame that on heart disease, cancer, strokes, infections, etc. The big picture here is that the show also feels very real when we see what our body can do. Creative ideas take a creative mind. And I say this with the belief that we definitely needed a talented staff and studio to make this show believable. Thankfully, director Kenichi Suzuki applied his craft that made the show as stylish as it can be. His previous work with Jojo: Stardust Creators and Drifters can occasionally be noticeable with the amount of bizarreness going on. There’s personality injected into the various characters while cinematography is beautifully crafted. There’s also respect to be given to talented voice cast too especially for taking on the roles of these characters. Everyone in the show felt meaningful and there’s not one moment that should be discarded as meaningless. Similarly, the theme songs has a playful energy and atmosphere that never leaves the show. I won’t say this anime is easy to watch from first glance. It’s about the human body and in my many years of watching anime, there’s very few that took on this concept. (the closest one that came to mind is Moyashimon) As such, Hataraku Saibou is quite unique with how it manages its ideas, selling its craft, and making it into a reality.

This series was one of the most unique ones that most have been anticipating since the start of the year, and when it arrived in the lackluster Summer season, aside from the certainty that does not disappoint, it is entertaining to the mildest degree, while having a lot of *pokes* at the function of the most important system: us human beings. Now, I don't care that whether you have studied subjects that are close to this, but I'm fairly certain that no matter our background as people whom have learned about cells in one way or another, Hataraku Saibou, or Cells at Work!, will definitely pleaseyour senses that you are learning about yourself, and the cells that work hard to be able to sustain you in the long run and grow stronger. With that said, everyone, be it otaku or non-otaku, have at least witnessed this anime, and it really broke the conventional walls that this is something that speaks to everyone, as it did magnificently. The story is as clear-cut as it gets: Everything that you see within a microscope, are your daily drivers, the cells at work where every funcion is as important as the other. Now, I get it, it's a series that's worth the educational take, but thankfully it's not like a heavy plot pointer of info-dumped force-wrecker, and at least just demonstrates just about right and doesn't force it on us, which is a good thing. And as usual, the Black Clover aesthetics come back with the usual body-explaining capped-repeat to make sure that you understand what is going with your own body, and then addresses the episodic issue at hand. Honestly though? This is about as entertaining as it gets for anime to get very personal with its viewers, and it succeeds well in that regard. The host of characters, oh sorry I mean cells, are the strongest suit of the series. As with portraying the exact minute details of the cells right down to the extreme, I'd say this is a faithful adaptation of the human body. I mean sure, we all know what the Red (Erythrocyte) and White (Neutrophil) blood cells (voiced by the wonderful Kana Hanazawa and Tomoaki Maeno) do and their properties that keep our body safe from harm, but have we ever wondered: "What about the other cells, like the silent killers Macrophage, the disease-preventing killer and helper T cells, the body reconstructing Platelets (ravioli, ravoli, don't lewd loli platelets!), the weak-willed but strong Eosinophil, to name a few?" The monster designs were weird as hell, especially for the viruses like the mucus-grotesque cedar pollen ones that are easy to kill to the major ones that could cause a disease that could cause serious consequences like heat stroke, hemorrhagic shock and food poisoning. Overall, props to character designer Takahiko Yoshida for his pretty work here. David Production, the same studio behind Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, was a surprise pick for a studio to work on because their work of repertiore really varies from strength to strength, and adding to this, Hataraku Saibou becomes a fan favourite due to their quality of work done here. For example, the "sneeze" segment (that was meant to feel like an explosion) right at Episode 1 was hilarious and insanely funny, and right after that in Episode 2 we're introduced to the children-like loli platelets (which has become a favourite meme and the pivotal point of the "pressing the loli cheek" smiles), not to mention that to put the icing on the cake, the killer T cells in Episode 3 are the perfect reference to Jojo with the bastardized character figure and the single ponytail hair, that was anything but a fine reference. And in order to make our cells feel like they're at "real" work, the action scenes around the white blood cells in all types against the numerous viruses with the bloody scenes and over-the-top action. The reason for the drop in score is because some episodes had a minor drop in quality (but not by much), but it is still a visual treat nonetheless. With careful planning and perfect replication, this is a good series to boot its animation quality. The music is one where it might get on your nerves, but for what it is, I liked it a hell lot. The OP which is just a collaboration work between the character VAs for Red and White Blood, Killer T and Macrophage really sounded like the mission to keep the human body working, is mundane but the essence is what gives it a home-run strike. There was one episode where the OP was replaced with Killer T and Macrophage VAs, and people are wondering what was that, and that's just the 2nd cour of the song, which still is good to boot. And oh good god the ED, ClariS nails it once again (as is with every song that they made) with the happy visuals and tones. The background scenes were just as adequate to provide much needed movement for the overall setting, and it's A-OK! If there was that one definite show that will stand the test of time, it will be this one, much lauded for its "breaking the fourth wall" attention that aside from many casual anime watchers, EVEN the workers of true professions (doctors etc.) find that this anime is really a testament to how much knowledge it is given and took all of that into great consideration to keep it as linear as real life as possible. For the Summer 2018 season alone, this one could be many people's AOTS material and for excellent reasons. if you were skeptical of how the anime medium takes cells into consideration, I highly, HIGHLY plea you to watch this anime, it's definitely very responsive, reliant and relatable to all of us as imperfect human beings. Now, if you excuse me, I'm gonna take notes and learn as much as I can to regulate my body for the better! ...Or is it, waiting until the spin-off, Cells at Work! BLACK to be made???

The Summer season of 2018 seemed to rely heavily on original adaptations when compared to the previous seasons of the same year, especially Spring, when more than half of the top ten most popular anime on this site were sequels. Various well-received returning and continuing anime fought for the position of best show of the cour, all of them with very high ratings; but new releases also held up competently, bringing both classic manga and recent visual and light novels to the screen, along with its fair share of originals. Among the new names of Summer 2018, Hataraku Saibou (Cells at Work!) deservedly warranted muchattention, establishing itself as one of the most hyped shows over the course of its successful run. Brought to life by David Production, the show also acted as a testament of the staying power of the relatively new studio as one of the most relevant producers in activity today. In a year that kicked off with the lovely Earth-chan springing up everywhere and followed on with other original creations like Tidepod-chan and Explorer-chan, it was guaranteed that the next anime with characters based on inanimate objects would generate a large amount of buzz. And with the premise of showing us a fantastical interpretation of the adventures of the cells in our bodies, Hataraku Saibou drew in countless viewers and absolutely left its mark on the community. As a Pharmacy student, I waited eagerly for this show to start ever since it was announced, and the final result was still way beyond my expectations. STORY: 7 Some people describe Hataraku Saibou as an educational anime, a label with which I disagree. Its purpose is pure, unadulterated entertainment, only using scientific concepts as a background, quite like how the Fate franchise handles History in its unique way. Hataraku Saibou avoids simply relying on its gimmick. Its structure is similar to many popular anime, particularly from the shonen genre/demographic, and incorporates exciting action scenes, short but well-crafted character arcs and frenzied twists in the latter parts of each episode. The first episode is a excellent summary of the basic formula and will most certainly captivate everyone who's open to the experience within its 24 minutes. Personal opinion incoming: anyone who didn't enjoy the conclusion of that first episode, where after a long chase, a lone germ is contained and put inside a missile named "Sneeze" which is then launched and detonated as cells all around rejoice and salute may be just too cynical to enjoy any work that's more light-hearted than Berserk. Latter episodes up the game by incorporating more intricate concepts that interpolate artistic vision and scientific knowledge, such as Memory Cells being portrayed as conspiracy theorists who warn other cells against an improbable catastrophe - just the way we know how allergy works - taking that chance to present conflicts among the characters. Drugs are represented as robots whose actions expire after a certain time and are seen as a total mystery by the human-styled cells. There are also episodes that provide backstory to some of the main characters and a moving redemption arc for a major villain later on. ART: 7 Overall, the art style is nice and the animation is decent, though there is some variation in quality at times. The recycling of sequences and some visible bail-outs in regards to animation were noticeable in the TV broadcast, though DP is already known for its drastic retouches in its blu-ray releases. The overtly detailed and vibrant backgrounds may just be the greatest part of the art direction. Location design gets increasingly captivating with every new episode and we also have a major change in ambience in a final, more serious arc. The visual gags, one of the most universal aspects of Japanese comedy, are also very solid. Fights are extremely over-the-top, with blood flying everywhere and staining the white bodies of the Neutrophils, something which decidedly requires some effort to animate. The carefulness of the work is even surprising, knowing that at that moment, David Production was also busy with the year-long series Captain Tsubasa '18 and the much expected new season of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. CHARACTER: 10 Aaaand here we have the strongest suit of Hataraku Saibou. The character design is simply one the best and most charismatically handled in recent memory, with the likeness of the main characters featuring heavily in fanart sites and in social networks. Even without any given names or complex backstories for many of them, we see an incredible, unique method characterization whose charm lies in its simplicity and faithfulness to the original concept - the human body itself. Knowing the biological properties of the cells beforehand, one can already expect some of the characters to have some specific traits, such as the Macrophage being an insanely powerful fighter. The Basophils and T-cells were also other personal favorites of mine. The monster design is spectacularly creative and all of the locations, as I implied before when praising the backgrounds, are evocative and very well-constructed. Trust me, you'll find yourself eagerly waiting to see how the next group of cells or organs look like. And of course, there's still the moe side of it all. The Platelets, for one, were an instant hit with the anime community and it's very easy to see why. The show goes all out on wives, too; fan favorites include Macrophage, NK Cell and Eosinophil. Fan theories, like the main character being a defective sickle cell, also run wild, showing the strong engagement that's already formed between these amazing characters and the fandom. SOUND: 7 The soundtrack is fairly competent, with tense tracks playing during the fights and crises faced by the characters, triumphant fanfares at arc conclusions and comfy mood music during the Slice of Life sections. The opening theme is a fun collaboration among the voice actors; the ED is more on the generic side, but that is already decent enough for ClariS. Nevertheless, who steals the scene in the sound department are the CVs themselves, an all-star cast of seiyuu such as Kana Hanazawa, Daisuke Ono, Tomokazu Sugita, and a personal favorite as the narrator: Mamiko Noto. The snippets with them exclaiming the show's title between breaks will put a smile on your face. ENJOYMENT: 10 Your mileage may vary on this one. Over the past few years I've been studying Histology, Immunology, Hematology and Microbiology, among many other subjects, and all of them converge into the deliciously entertaining mix that is Hataraku Saibou, covering my overlapping interests in both Biology and anime. Yet, in my opinion, the final result is so ridiculously appealing that being overtly familiar with the subject matter is not a prerequisite to fully enjoy the series. One might even learn a thing or two here, or just sit back and enjoy the ride. Hataraku Saibou is definitely worth the try as one of the most relevant anime from its season and hopefully, it will stand the test of time, bringing along the adaptations of the manga's next chapters and of its spin-offs.