From the studio behind JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure (2012-present) comes an anime series about cells in the human body battling it out with dangerous diseases. The series leads a White Blood Cell and a Red Blood Cell as they survive the inner workings of the human body one day at a time.

Cells at Work is a 2019 shounen anime series, it is produced by David Production and licensed by Aniplex of America. It is currently available on DVD and Blu-Ray in English.

Editor’s Note: This review may contain near complete to complete spoilers for Cells at Work. This is a condensed version of our initial review for the series’ first season as it aired which can be viewed here.

Cells at Work may very well be David Production’s next big series following its ongoing 2012 adaptation of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure. A spinoff called Cells at Work Black (or “Code Black” in some countries) based on the second main manga of the same name is currently out and in regular serialization & may be receiving it’s own anime adaptation if a video by publisher Kodansha is to be believed as a teaser. Followed by the second season of the original series which is currently in production. The original series has received universal acclaim for its comedy and use of education through its story.

THE GOOD: Cells at Work is an anime series that focuses on the human body and its daily inner workings. While the series doesn’t offer up a major single arc it does feature several plot threads that builds the world. This ranges from the complex personal and work relationships between the different cell types, the lead Red & White Cells’ own budding relationship which is hinted to be romantic, and the many different ways & roles the cells use/have to protect their host body from deadly viruses and diseases. More often than not each episode acts as one presented with its own self-contained story outside of a couple that continue into each other. If you’re into rough, gory action then you’re in for a treat because there’s blood a plenty in Cells at Work. I’d argue there’s more here than the average shounen or even seinen anime series. This is due to the fact that the characters are cells so the animators can get away with a bit more blood than usual and it’s executed rather brilliantly. Every episode contains several facts about how the cells behave within the human body.

They’re presented within the screen usually after a new cell or disease is introduced. Followed by an educational bit on how they work & and operate. What’s interesting about Cells at Work is that every cell regardless of purpose receives a backstory that not only explains their job, but also their own personalities and character within the story. Cells at Work also has a rather uncanny attention to detail mainly thanks to mangaka Akane Shimizu’s ideals for the character designs which range from simplistic to complex. For example the Platelet cells are depicted in the series as loli children due to the fact that platelets are actually quite small in real life. Shimizu also uses real world structures to depict the parts of the human body within the series.

THE BAD: The education is heavy in Cells at Work nearly every second to fifth scene per episode has some kind of educational bit about germs, cells, etc. With this being a David Production series some viewers may think it gets in the way of the action. The anime actually has a better approach at how it handles the educational bits compared to the manga so there’s that at the very least.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: If there was ever anything to accurately represent the phrase “making education fun” I think Cells at Work is a pretty good candidate. Full of witty banter about the human body and enough action to keep eyeballs glued to the screen the series has enough life in it for more than a little bit of longevity. Otaku Dome gives the Cells at Work Season One Blu-Ray a 95 out of 100.