Cells at Work! (はたらく細胞, Hataraku Saibō) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Akane Shimizu. It features the anthropomorphized cells of a human body, with the protagonist being a red blood cell. The manga was serialized in Kodansha's shōnen manga magazine Monthly Shōnen Sirius starting in March 2015. It is licensed in North America by Kodansha USA. An anime television series adaptation by David Production debuted on July 7, 2018.[1]
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.
A ditzy red blood cell who has just started her job, delivering oxygen, carbon dioxide, and nutrients all over the body. She meets Neutrophil when he saves her from an attacking pneumococcus germ. She is clumsy and gets lost often, but determined to perform to the best of her ability.
A type of white blood cell. His job is to kill foreign germs and viruses from the body. Despite his ruthless occupation, he's actually quite soft spoken and gentle.
A type of white blood cell. She and her kind appear as lovely maids, with large knives and heavy blunt objects to fight viruses and germs, and are often shown smiling cheerfully even in the middle of combat.
A type of white blood cell that recognizes and kills any foreign material. He's loud and obnoxious, and quick to anger. He especially frowns on white blood cells forming friendships or relationships with non-white blood cells, like Neutrophil's friendship with Red Blood Cell. He has something of a rivalry with Helper T Cell. In his youth, he was considered to be weaker than the rest of the T cells, and he was only able to survive training through the help of Helper T Cell.
A type of cell responsible for reconstructing the body when it has become injured. They are depicted as small children due to their small cell size, and act as construction and repair crew within the body. One platelet serves as their leader and she is most prominently featured in the show.
A type of T Cell that determines strategy and course of action for dealing with foreign invaders. He's the main commander of the Killer T Cells and has an intellectual disposition. He and Killer T Cell do not get along well, despite having gone through T Cell training together.
A T Cell who normally acts as Helper T Cell's secretary, though she is capable of fighting when necessary. She went through T Cell training alongside Killer T Cell and Helper T Cell.
A large, muscular, and powerful T-cell who transformed from the Naive T-cell. His design and mannerisms are a parody of the various protagonists from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.
A type of white blood cell who is acquainted with White Blood Cell since they grew up in the same bone marrow. She feels inferior to the other immune cells because of her inability to fight off bacteria, but she shows her true worth by killing a parasitic Anisakis when the other cells could not. She carries a large bident as her weapon of choice.
A paranoid and neurotic cell whose job is to remember past infections and allergies so that the immune system can be ready for them. However, he is scatterbrained and it is difficult for him to sort out his memories.
A cell whose job is to monitor and release histamine in response to allergic and inflammatory reactions. She always follows the instructions in her book no matter the situation and is unpopular due to her lack of consideration of what her actions do to the other cells. She gets annoyed whenever anyone else refers to her as "Fat Cell".
Senpai Red Blood Cell (AA5100) (先輩赤血球, Senpai Sekkekkyū)
The antagonist of the first episode, the Pneumococcus is depicted as a purple humanoid alien with long tendrils sprouting form his body. He first appears with a horde of his own species, invading a blood vessel, but all are killed by the Neutrophils except him. He then escapes and stows away in Red Blood Cell's cargo and tries to invade the lungs, but is defeated when he is launched out of the body by a sneeze.
A white blood cell who carries a weapon that fires antibodies. He is often annoyed about not receiving as much credit as the Killer T-cells do. He also has an antagonistic relationship with Mast Cell, as their combined functions only cause disaster for the other cells.
A mysterious and poetic character whose real occupation is unknown, appearing during a parasitic infection to make cryptic commentaries on the events unfolding.
The manga was launched in Kodansha's shōnen manga magazine Monthly Shōnen Sirius in March 2015.[6] Kodansha has collected the manga into five tankōbon volumes as of October 2017[update].[7]
The manga received a spinoff in the May 2017 issue of Nakayoshi called Hataraku Saikin (はたらく細菌; "Bacteria at Work") by Haruyuki Kichida, which follows the lives of good and bad bacteria in the intestines.[8]
Another spinoff, titled Hatarakanai Saibō (はたらかない細胞; "Cells That Don't Work") by Moe Sugimoto, about immature red blood cells (erythroblasts) that do not want to work, was launched in the September 2017 issue of Monthly Shōnen Sirius.[9]Kodansha USA announced that it had licensed Cells at Work! in North America on March 21, 2016.[6] The manga is also licensed in Taiwan by Tong Li Publishing.[10]
The manga received another spinoff titled Hataraku Saibō Black (はたらく細胞 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.[11]
24. "Cancer Cell II (Part I)" (がん細胞２（前編）, Gansaibō Tsū (Zenpen))
25. "Cancer Cell II (Part II)" (がん細胞２（後編）, Gansaibō Tsū (Kōhen))
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, character designs by Takahiko Yoshida and music by Kenichirō Suehiro. The anime series will premiere on July 7, 2018 on Tokyo MX and other channels.[4][21] The series will run for 13 episodes.[22]Aniplex of America have licensed the series in North America, and will simulcast it on Crunchyroll.[23] The opening theme is "Mission! Ken - Kō - Dai - Ichi" (ミッション！ 健・康・第・イチ, Mission! Health First) by Kana Hanazawa, Tomoaki Maeno, Daisuke Ono, and Kikuko Inoue,[4] while the ending theme is "CheerS" by ClariS.[24]
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.[25] Sean Gaffney of Manga Bookshelf called it a "very fun shonen action manga", complimenting the manga's ridiculousness and humor.[26]
The 2016 Kono Manga ga Sugoi! guidebook listed the manga as the seventh top manga for male readers.[27]Paul Gravett included the manga in his list of "Top 22 Comics, Graphic Novels & Manga" for October 2016.[28] As of July, 2017, the manga had over 1.3 million copies in print.[29]The manga had over 1.5 million copies in print as of January 2018.[30]
