- Title (English): Cells at Work!!
- Title (Japanese): はたらく細胞!! (Hataraku Saibō!!)
- Year: 2021
- Studio: david production
- No. of Episodes: 8
- Streaming: Crunchyroll and Netflix
Cells at Work!! is the second season of the TV anime series of the same name, denoted by a second exclamation point in the title (which doesn’t get confusing at all). Like the first season before it, the show features anthropomorphized versions of human cells and it depicts their daily lives as they work their respective jobs to keep the human body they live in healthy.
Part of Season 2 is of course providing an expanded look at some select members of the cast and for the most part, these efforts work to good effect. A particular example is the very first episode which finally puts the spotlight on the Platelets, who I stand by are some of the most adorable anime characters ever. It does make the odd decision to not focus on the group’s leader (Maria Naganawa) and instead on her backwards cap wearing teammate (Manaka Iwami) but I don’t care. It’s still the Platelets. The season also succeeds in providing some much needed screentime for some of the less prominent characters in Season 1 such as the Dendritic Cell (Nobuhiko Okamoto) and the Regulatory T Cell (Saori Hayami). Unfortunately, the show fails at providing any memorable additions to the cast and you’ll likely continue to gravitate towards the returning characters instead.
A good chunk of the first season starred the clumsy yet hard working Red Blood Cell (Kana Hanazawa). Curiously then, Season 2 features this character at lot less prominently and few plots that she is in only gives her a minor role. Season 2 largely hands over the POV duties to White Blood Cell (Tomoaki Maeno), who is just as likable as Red Blood Cell but him taking the wheel is just not same. I get that the Red Blood Cell can’t be involved in everything that’s going on in the human body, her smaller role this time around is nevertheless a mistake. It was a lot of fun watching this character get lost and react with either panic or confusion to all the crazy stuff happening around her. By having very little of that, Season 2’s comedy just doesn’t land as effectively as its predecessor.
From episode 4 and on, Cells at Work!! shifts to a more serialized approach. There’s an overarching plot in which an Ordinary Cell (Yūsuke Kobayashi) befriends some Lactic Acid Bacteria and must travel through the human body to bring these little critters home. Parallel to that, the Immune Cells band together as they confront the return of the Cancer Cell (Akira Ishida), which I guess is a spoiler but the guy is in the key visual so whatever.
In a way, this is Season 2 at its most interesting. The addition of the Lactic Acid Bacteria creates a compelling grey area in the plot in which Ordinary Cells questions the Immune Cells’ hostility towards all germs, when some benevolent and helpful germs do exist. At the same time however, there’s the equally valid counterpoint that without the Immune Cells fighting the good fight, the human body would succumb to diseases and it is therefore necessary for them to be wary of everything. The discourse works well in parallel with the Cancer Cell’s odd yet interesting character, how he desires a world in which cells no longer have to destroy one another. There is also some good humor in this overarching plot such as Ordinary Cell and White Blood Cell trying to make sure the latter’s teammates don’t find the Lactic Acid Bacteria and accidentally kill them on sight, as their sensors can’t detect if a germ is benevolent or not.
Conversely, I frankly grew tired of Ordinary Cell and his bacterial buddies by the end of the season. The Lactic Acid Bacteria are cute enough but it eventually becomes grating seeing them mug to the “camera” and say their catchphrase every episode. Ordinary Cell is an even weaker link. For most of his appearances, all he does is walk around and act as the show’s POV character and he’s neither interesting nor entertaining in the role. The show does give him an arc where he wants to protect the things he cares about but this is only addressed at the very end of the season and it does little to justify the increased presence of the character. While I give the overarching plot a point for doing something different, it unfortunately should’ve been a one and done deal and the show should’ve moved on from there.
I quite enjoyed the first season of Cells at Work! so I was looking forward to continuing the show with its second season. It’s kind of disappointing then that Season 2 is just okay. I appreciate the expanded take on some select characters and the greyer look at the conflict between the cells and germs. That said, the show is held back by how it treats some of its characters and it’s just not as entertaining as the one before it.
Score: 6/10
Pros (+): A welcomed revisit to some returning characters; more interesting take on the relations between cells and germs; the Platelets finally have their own episode.
Cons (-): Giving less screentime to Red Blood Cell is a mistake; Ordinary Cell and Lactic Acid Bacteria overstay their welcome; still not enough Platelets.
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