First Impression: Cells At Work!! Season 2

Remember that episode of The Magic School Bus when Miss Frizzle took her students inside the human body? Well, Japan looked at that particular episode and asked, “Hmm…what if we did this…but BETTER? The answer was Cells at Work, the literal personification of what makes our bodies work and keeps us healthy. It was a hit back in the Summer of 2018 with it’s catchy OP, cute characters, surprisingly bloody and vicious battles, and an engaging story of what makes up who we are and what keeps us going. Cells at Work season 2 promises more of the same, but is the same good enough? In case you didn’t know, I’m Josh, and this is my First Impression of Cells at Work!! (And no, that extra “!” is not because I’m extra super excited—that’s how they denote the 2nd season—an extra “!”)

This second season kicks off with our adorable, adorkable Red Blood Cell AE3803 going about her regular day delivering oxygen and nutrients to the various cells in the body along with her other RBC’s in the world of our body while showing her trainee the works.

Wait, hold up…

…okey-doke. Well, you know what? Let’s just keep moving and not think about that too hard.

Meanwhile, White Blood Cell 1146 is on patrol destroying invading bacteria in his typical over-the-top way, when he comes across a Platelet-in-Training known as Backwards Cap. Our little cutie was recently chewed out for being weak by Megakaryocyte, the “master” of all the little platelets, and is training on her own to be stronger. After an encouraging word from WBC, he guides the little platelet back to safety. However, things are quickly put into turmoil as the “ground” shakes beneath them, sending the Red Blood Cells flying. It seems as though our dear body has sustained yet another injury; White Blood Cell deduces that, as there are no Red Blood Cells flying out of the body, and as they are close to the head, the body in question has sustained…a bump. Whoever this person is, they are really clumsy. In any case, It’s up to our adorable backwards cap and the other platelets to work together and prevent a catastrophic hemorrhage. Just another day in the life of the cells at work.

As a lab courier, Cells at Work has always been one of the most interesting shows I’ve ever come across. Seeing the personification of the different cells I carry around in my vehicle day in and day out is a source of both amusement and a depression as I think about these characters living their lives and working hard before being drawn up into a needle, placed in a tube, spun around in a centrifuge, refrigerated, and hauled off by me to their certain doom. But I digress. Cells at Work season 2 is pretty much the same formula as the first season with the same characters we’ve come to know and love. It keeps the whole “Monster/Situation of the Week” layout, which is alright, but can get a little tedious. I mean, how many times do we need to see White Blood Cell and the T-Cells fight bacteria and germs? There are so many other things our bodies are capable of that I would love to see them tackle in this format. Maybe Cells at Work: Code Black will tackle more bodily functions. Heck, by the looks of it, the show is clearly darker and the body our cells inhabit is not in the best of shape. Ah well, I’m positive that Samuru will offer up prodigious commentary about Code Black; he always does, and that’s what makes him awesome.

So where does that leave Cells at Work season 2? if you liked the first season, then season 2 will be right up your alley; it picks up right where the first season left off, and even new comers won’t feel too lost watching. As for me, I think I’ll stick around for a while…I just hope that it doesn’t get TOO repetitive—both for my sake as the viewer, and for the body our dear cells are inhabiting. I mean, good grief, this body really needs some Vitamin C or something.

Cells At Work!! can be streamed through Funimation. Read our thoughts on all the new winter anime series, in addition to comments from our other writers, on our winter 2020 anime first impression master post.

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