The Anime Guide to Immunology – Cells at Work First Impressions

Back when I was a kid, Osmosis Jones was a staple for biology class and the spin-off show Ozzy and Drix was just as good. Now, we have that but in moe anime form, welcome to Cells at Work. Cells at Work is more episodic and educational than Osmosis Jones was but is still very much a delight to watch. Especially when the platelets are featured.

Cells at Work is very much an episodic show. Each episode tells its own story and there is absolutely zero continuity between each, aside from the main characters knowing each other. Each episode usually covers how the body reacts to certain conditions, such as an infection, or a wound, and how it recovers from it. Each time a new cell is introduced, the show gives a brief spiel about what they do and their main functions, sometimes saving their biggest feature for later in the narrative of the episode, like how the Eosinophil fights parasites but they never mentioned it until she had the opportunity to fight one.

I love the design of the show. Each cell has their own unique style of design. The red blood cells are all messengers with a typical courier outfit but in red. The Neutrophils are all pale white and in a complete white jumpsuit, which always gets stained red with the blood of their enemies. The unintentional star of the show is the platelets. Portrayed by basically Japanese kindergarteners, they do a lot of the heavy lifting in the cutest ways possible.

Personally, I wish the show had some sort of overall story. I need something, aside from the platelets and the main red blood cell, that brings me back to the show. Ozzy and Drix had an overarching story of their host body going through his life and puberty, while here, all we get are the cells. In addition, the characters don’t exactly have that much of a personality, they’re all very cookie cutter. And speaking of the characters, there’s quite a bit of CG in this show, it doesn’t bother me but it’s noticeable.

Overall, the show is great. It’s a decent anime representation of the immune system (the only system covered so far, really) and very educational. I definitely recommend it to anyone who was a fan of Osmosis Jones. Let me know what you think in the comments! Is it worth the weekly watch or is it a better binge show?