Hataraku saibó

"One of the best things about this anime series is the fact that it will give you cancer." I read in the discussion about one of the episodes, and I can basically agree because the episode with the cancer cells was one of the best (along with the two-part finale). Anyway, I think it was a great idea to make a purposeful anime series that teaches audiences a lot about their bodies, and if it makes at least one person take better care of their body, then I consider it a job well done. However, this is nothing new of course (which I fully realize, unlike some of the people discussing it on various forums in America and Asia), because I loved and devoured every episode of the French animated series Once Upon a Time... Life when I was a child, so I simply cannot avoid the obvious comparisons. Both of the shows have their own charm and many likable characters, both of the shows provide a lot of information (although this anime series is much more factual due to its explanations and descriptions), both shows depict a lot of normal bodily functions and also some unusual experiences. Of course, the French show is the one which I would be more likely to let my (imaginary) child watch, as it is much less violent and probably more enchanting overall. This anime series is aimed more at a more mature audience, and I would happily watch it as a supplement to biology and human anatomy classes in high school for example. I definitely want to highlight the ending among the positive aspects of this show, as it is really adorable (and so it immediately went into my anime music collection) and of course, I would like to also mention how incredibly cute the blood platelets are (which just had to end up being part of my profile). Still, even though Cells at Work! is undoubtedly one of the best anime series of anime season Summer 2018, the fact is that Once Upon a Time... Life still somehow wins out for me in the end (because this anime series rekindled my youthful desire to become a doctor, which I had lost when I first saw footage of real-life heart surgery...) and leads me to be unable to award it more than 8.3/10. (07.01.2021)

First of all, I am slightly disappointed that the second season of Cells at Work! is so short. Eight episodes is really not that much, especially when half of it is actually just the Cells at Work!! The Movie (that have already been aired) split into four episodes . However, I think you have to appreciate that there was not much source material left for a second season (as actually, only the sixth volume of the original manga series remains unadapted). Plus, it is forgivable considering the new episodes are still more or less as good as in the previous season. Again, some interesting new facts emerged, and I enjoyed watching the engaging depictions of some of the processes in the human body that I was somehow already familiar with. In addition, they also tell you things you can know from even a simple Actimel commercial (did you know that there are billions of friendly bacteria living in our bodies that have a beneficial effect on your digestion? I did!). It was also quite tempting to compare all of this to the spin-off series Cells at Work! Code Black, because both series sometimes had episodes that featured the same part of the human body that were aired in the exact same week. Of course, the atmosphere of this show was still quite light (again, especially compared to Cells at Work! Code Black), which was only disturbed by the great comeback of a familiar enemy. This great enemy does not seem like such a terrifying threat which would make me throw my pack of cigarettes in the trash and never go back to them, and still somehow strikes me as more like a misunderstood cell that I almost sometimes sympathize with... Anyway, I quite enjoyed these few new episodes, I perhaps even learned something, and I even smiled occasionally - so, I am now satisfied. 7.8/10. (27.02.2021)