Cells at Work!


Cells at Work! is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Akane Shimizu. It features the anthropomorphized cells of a human body, with the two main protagonists being a red blood cell and a white blood cell she frequently encounters. The manga has been serialized in Kodansha's shōnen manga magazine Monthly Shōnen Sirius since January 2015. It is licensed in North America by Kodansha USA.
An anime television series adaptation by David Production ran from July to September 2018. A theatrical anime titled "Hataraku Saibō!!" Saikyō no Teki, Futatabi. Karada no Naka wa "Chō" Ōsawagi! will premiere in September 2020. A second season is scheduled to premiere in January 2021.

Plot

The story takes place inside the human body, where trillions of anthropomorphic cells each do their job to keep the body healthy. The series largely focuses on two such cells; a rookie red blood cell, AE3803, who often gets lost during deliveries, and a relentless white blood cell, U-1146, who fights against any germs that invade the body.

Characters

;Red blood cell
;Neutrophil / White Blood Cell
;Cytotoxic T cell
;Macrophage / Monocyte
;Platelet
;T cell
;Regulatory T cell
;Naive T cell
;T cell
;Eosinophil
;Dendritic Cell
;Memory B cell
;Mast Cell
;Senior Red Blood Cell
;Junior Red Blood Cell
;B Cell
;Basophil
;NK Cell
;Cancer Cell
;Narrator

Media

Manga

The manga was launched in Kodansha's shōnen manga magazine Monthly Shōnen Sirius on January 26, 2015. Kodansha has collected the manga into five tankōbon volumes as of 2017.
Kodansha USA announced that it had licensed Cells at Work! in North America on March 21, 2016. The manga is also licensed in Taiwan by Tong Li Publishing. Kodansha USA also announced that it has licensed Cells at Work! Code Black. Kodansha USA has also licensed three other spinoffs Cells at Work!: Bacteria!, Cells at Work!: Platelets! and Cells at Work!: Baby!.

Spin-offs

The manga received a spinoff in the May 2017 issue of Nakayoshi called Cells at Work!: Bacteria! by Haruyuki Yoshida, which follows the lives of good and bad bacteria in the intestines. On June 3, 2020, it was announced that Cells at Work!: Bacteria! would end in July 3, 2020.
Another spinoff, titled Hatarakanai Saibō by Moe Sugimoto, about immature red blood cells that do not want to work, was launched in the September 2017 issue of Monthly Shōnen Sirius.
The manga received another spinoff titled Hataraku Saibō Black, set in a "black" environment of a human body suffering an unhealthy lifestyle, that runs in Weekly Morning since June 7, 2018. It is written by Shigemitsu Harada, with illustrations by Issei Hatsuyoshi and supervision by Shimizu.
The manga received another spinoff titled Hataraku Saibō Friend, which centers around a Killer T Cell who is normally strict with himself and others, but wants to have fun during his free time. He also wants to make friends but does not want to ruin his reputation. The series began running in Bessatsu Friend on January 12, 2019. It is written by Kanna Kurono, and illustrated by Mio Izumi.
Another spin-off series focusing on the platelet characters, titled Hataraku Kesshōban-chan written by Kanna Kurono and illustrated by Mio Izumi, began serialization in the June issue of Monthly Shōnen Sirius that was released on May 25, 2019.
Another spin-off series focusing cells inside the body of a baby 40 weeks since conception and nearing delivery, with the cells knowing nothing, titled Cells at Work! Baby illustrated by Yasuhiro Fukuda, was launched in the 45th issue of Weekly Morning on October 17, 2019.
Another spin-off series focusing on cells in the body of an adult woman, titled Cells at Work! Lady written by Harada and illustrated by Akari Otokawa, was launched in the March issue of Monthly Morning Two on January 22, 2020.

Volume list

''Cells at Work!''
''Bacteria at Work''
''Cells that Don't Work''
''Cells at Work! Code Black''
''Cells at Work! Friend''
''Platelets at Work''

Anime

An anime television series adaptation was announced in January 2018. It is directed by Kenichi Suzuki and animated by David Production, with scripts written by Suzuki and Yūko Kakihara, and character designs by Takahiko Yoshida. The series' music is composed by Kenichiro Suehiro and MAYUKO. The anime series premiered on July 8, 2018 on Tokyo MX and other channels. The series ran for 13 episodes. Aniplex of America licensed the series in North America and simulcast it on Crunchyroll. Madman Entertainment simulcasted Australia and New Zealand on AnimeLab, while Animax Asia simulcast the series for the Southeast Asia region. MVM Entertainment acquired the series for distribution in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The opening theme is "Mission! Health Comes First" by Kana Hanazawa, Tomoaki Maeno, Daisuke Ono, and Kikuko Inoue in Japanese and Cherami Leigh, Billy Kametz, Robbie Daymond and Laura Post in English, while the ending theme is "CheerS" by ClariS. A special episode premiered on December 27, 2018. Aniplex of America released the English dub on August 27, 2019.
On March 23, 2019, the official Twitter account announced that the series will receive a second season. The season will premiere in January 2021. The main staff at David Production is returning for producing the second season, with the exception of director Kenichi Suzuki being replaced by director Hirofumi Ogura.
In April 2020, the 20th issue of Morning magazine revealed that an adaptation of Cells at Work! Code Black would air in January 2021. The series is being directed by Hideyo Yamamoto with series composition by Hayashi Mori. Yugo Kanno is composing the music, Eiji Akibo is designing the characters for animation, and Liden Films is producing the series.
TitleOriginal air date

Film

A theatrical anime titled "Hataraku Saibō!!" Saikyō no Teki, Futatabi. Karada no Naka wa "Chō" Ōsawagi! was announced on July 4, 2020. The main staff at David Production is returning for producing the film, with the exception of director Kenichi Suzuki being replaced by director Hirofumi Ogura. It will premiere in September 5, 2020.

Light novel

A light novel adaptation of the manga titled as Shōsetsu Hataraku Saibō was published on July 12, 2018 by Kodansha. It is written by Yui Tokiumi and illustrated by Akane Shimizu.

Stage play

A stage play adaptation titled Tainai Katsugeki Hataraku Saibō was announced in the August issue of Kodansha's Monthly Shōnen Sirius magazine. The play was held at Tokyo's Theatre 1010 from November 16 to 25, 2018. The play which was directed by Tsuyoshi Kida, starred Masanari Wada as U-1146 and Kanon Nanaki as AE3803, while Keita Kawajiri wrote the script for the play. The last performance, which was held on the 25th, was also distributed live.

Mobile app

A game app for iOS and Android mobile devices titled Always Cells at Work has been announced and is accepting pre-registration for players.

Reception

Rebecca Silverman of Anime News Network highlighted the educational aspect of the manga despite flaws in presentation of information, and ultimately found the manga entertaining with likable characters. Sean Gaffney of Manga Bookshelf called it a "very fun shonen action manga", complementing the manga's ridiculousness and humor. Ian Wolf of Anime UK News gave the British Blu-ray release of the anime a score of 9 out of 10, and described the show as the most bloody on television, because so many of the characters are blood cells and thus means it contains more blood than shows depicting lots of violence.
The 2016 Kono Manga ga Sugoi! guidebook listed the manga as the seventh top manga for male readers. Paul Gravett included the manga in his list of "Top 22 Comics, Graphic Novels & Manga" for October 2016., the manga had over 1.3 million copies in print. The manga had over 1.5 million copies in print,.
Dr. Satoru Otsuka, postdoctoral fellow in the molecular neuro-oncology department of Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia, praised the series' depiction of cancer cells during the series' seventh episode. Biology teachers at a high school affiliated with China's Southwest University were so impressed with the accuracy of the series that they assigned it as homework for their students.