Audience reviews
20 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
Brotato07
Cells at Work had quite a bit of hype when it came out but it was also one of those shows that just entirely disappeared right after it finished, even with a second season and a spin-off.
Watching the anime makes it pretty obvious why though and why over time the anime dropped from around an 8/10 when it was first released to where it is now.
The first few episodes are funny enough, they're a good mix of goofy humour, some education and some random bloody violence. Red Blood Cell is likeable enough and so is White Blood Cell. It's fun seeing the characters interacting and hanging out, and the villains are fun enough (in the most basic types of ways).
Then as time goes on, you'll find yourself checking your phone. You'll begin to notice the repeated animations, you'll notice the pointl…
Read at the sourcemspoopfingers
great anime for all ages just says a few no no words here and there like bastard or damn. it might not go into insane detail about cells just basic things but its very easy for kids to understand or an idiot i really enjoyed when i first watched it and iv recommended it to a few people its a very calming anime making something thats very difficult to learn about simple and fun especially for kids.
the art style is very bright and cheerful which is a plus i liked how over exaggerated the characters personalities were its added a nice bit of comedy to something educational.
Read at the sourceSilent_Seinen_
Hataraku Saibou comes with a clever and refreshing idea: turning the human body into a living, breathing world where cells are characters working nonstop to keep everything running smoothly. The first season does an excellent job blending education with entertainment.
The story follows red blood cells, white blood cells, and many other types of cells, with each episode focusing on a specific problem the body faces, such as bacterial infections, viruses, allergies, or physical injuries. What really stands out is how complex medical concepts are explained in a simple, story-driven way that’s easy to understand even for viewers with no medical background.
Character-wise, the series is full of charm. The red blood cell AE3803, with her kind and often clumsy personality, represents the everyd…
Read at the sourcemaya_kotori
This honestly had me thinking “like what the hell” in the best way possible. I’ve definitely seen better anime, but this one wasn’t bad at all :33 It’s fun, educational in the weirdest way, and surprisingly adorable. Sometimes it did feel a bit rushed, but even then, it still managed to keep its charm. And let’s be real… those two characters absolutely belong together. Don’t even try to deny it. If you’ve seen the show, you know exactly who I’m talking about XD The chemistry is there, the dynamic is there, the vibes are there, it’s basically canon in my heart. Also, the fact that another series was supposed to come out in 2021 had me so excited. I really, really hope it actually releases because I’m looking forward to it owo The world inside the human body has never been this entertaining,…
Read at the sourcebreddie_sucks
Inferring scientific details in an entertainment media is a tough job, more or less. You could get your stuff soggy very easily, overwhelmed with false parallels and unnecessary windups. But what makes this one worth it is that it neatly skimmed itself from going that way; it adopted the most richest of countenance, by obeying the Hippocratic oath, which is my central theme I elaborate here.
There is one running theme in this anime, that is, relentless repetition of certain behaviors; red blood cells getting confused with the circulations and white blood cells neutralizing yet another antigen, all while platelets are busy patching the pavements. This may seem senseless and rather boring for few; but it is the best part for this anime. "First do no harm" is a very important countenance; th…
Read at the sourcenerdbunnyarchive
I'll admit it. I thought it was cute. I even thought it was really cool, seeing the human body functions as little characters. It would have definitely made Human Anatomy class much easier.
But that's all it is. It's cute. If you're looking for a quick watch, with a few thrilling episodes and cute friendships, this is good for you. It's fun to watch the Red Blood Cell slowly grow up and navigate her way around, and you'll learn a lot. Even the White Blood Cell has his adventures. But it isn't exactly some thrilling show.
But the platlets were so cute! I love them sm!
Read at the sourceJustMonika-
I watched all the episodes of this, wanted more, and then finished the manga, wanted more, and then finished all the manga spin-offs I could find. And I'm not even a medical student.
I even watched the live action movie when it came out, and that was one of the best live actions in my opinion, even though the movie incorporated a bunch of extra stuff in there.
The plot manages to be deep at times and made me so into the story I had to step back and remember that I could NOT be crying over some cells dying, nor finding a red blood cell and white blood cell to be so cute together. But that's how invested I was.
Read at the sourceuchu_no_otaku
This show honestly surprised me. I went into Hataraku Saibou out of curiosity—I’d seen the memes, the Red Blood Cell cosplays, and thought it’d just be a quirky, gimmicky anime. But wow, I ended up learning a lot more than I expected.
What really pulled me in was how educational it is without feeling like it’s forcing facts down your throat. It's the kind of anime that makes you pause mid-episode to Google something, and not because you’re confused, but because you’re genuinely interested. I’d catch myself checking if the cells or processes they were talking about were legit—turns out, a lot of it is pretty spot-on from a biology perspective.
The way they personified the body’s systems is clever. From Platelets being portrayed as adorable little kids (which is surprisingly accurate in te…
Read at the source051819
It’s not every day where one has the energy to watch something educational. Cells at Work is far from the documentary type of educational, since documentaries are rarely defined by cuteness. Personifying things is nothing new, but to do it cells is a new concept. Now I can’t test attest to how accurate the more obscure stuff is, for example, the different types of germs, so at most it serves as a decent rabbit hole to go down. Most of Cells at Work is marked by a generic plot structure and characters meant to tell rather than show.
The story is a basic sequence of events involving blood cells maintaining a human body. It’s geared more towards the educational side of things rather than entertainment. Because of this, a lot of the series can be a bit boring depending on one’s investment in…
Read at the sourceAyemAFK
Hataraku Saibou
This was a great and educational anime to watch, im gonna go give a 8.49 ratings for the anime.
A unique anime, packing an ordinary story with science as its attraction. It's an original concept and that's why I love it. The story offered basically only adapts to the theme brought by this anime which is a story about red blood cells. The illustrations and analogies of the characters depicted as cells in our bodies are really well executed and provide useful knowledge to the audience so that they are not only entertained but also educated. Although it is true for story lovers, this anime looks more like a learning video because the story is not so weighty and too objective. Because this anime does feel as an education related to cells in the body that is animated and illust…
Read at the sourceLegendLostSoul
It's actually a very unexpected anime for me. At first I thought it would be very boring and typical. The same characters, the same situations. But I was wrong. The functioning of our body cells, viruses and bacteria and the battles between them made this anime a good show to watch and relax. Sometimes you even forget that all the events are happening in someone's body that can actually be very vulnerable. By this I mean that the owner of the body is not important and for cells - person`s body is a home at first place which they have to secure and protect.
In the end, you may not consider this anime to be a masterpiece, but it will at least is can give you some ground for reflection and improve your biology knowledge a little bit (though keep in mind that this is an anime, not some scienti…
Read at the sourceRi-chan
I think the rigidity of this anime is both its strength and its weakness. Cells at Work is an anthropomorphic portrayal of the inner workings of your body, where every cell is a person, every bodily process is a machine, and every bacterium is a monster. Every episode is self-contained and teaches a new lesson about how our bodies work.
What this means is that we see very little character development over the course of the series, the episodes sometimes don’t feel connected, and you’re constantly suspending your disbelief about how it all fits together.
However, that also means the episodes are very consistent, the writing is rigorous and accurate, and show is always finding real human drama in the ways our real life bodies respond to problems. On top of that, the animation is excellen…
Read at the sourceFAKECROSS97
Ah, yes, Hataraku Saibou, the anime about anthropomorphic cells working hard inside the human body. What a masterpiece of storytelling. I mean, who needs complex plotlines or deep character development when you can have white blood cells beating up germs and platelets doing cute things?
The animation style is certainly unique, I'll give it that. It's like someone took a biology textbook and brought it to life with a bunch of chibi characters. And let's not forget the occasional "edutainment" segments where the show tries to teach you about how the body works, because who doesn't love being lectured by a cartoon?
As for the characters, well, they're certainly memorable. There's Red Blood Cell, who spends most of her time getting lost and chased by bacteria. And then there's White Blood Ce…
Read at the sourceLeon_Trotsky_
Cells at Work sets out to tell the story of a new (and very clumsy) red blood cell struggle to learn her job as a cell, a hardened white blood cell in his day-to-day defence of the body, and their unexpected friendship.
Humanizing the microorganisms and cells of the body into characters just doing their job, laying out the arteries as highways, fat tissue as housing, and the body as a sprawling city of billions of regular workers. Plus, it's educational!
The concept itself isn't half bad, and I was excited to see what kinda story they would be able to make with this extremely unique setting.
The animation is nice, the music is upbeat, and the fight scenes are good, the two main characters are enjoyable, especially the red blood cell.
However, to my disappointment, the anime was unbeliev…
Read at the sourceinkytypo
Cells at Work is like being in grade 9 biology class again, except this time I’m in my 20s and still only know that the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell. And instead of my 60 year old science teacher, animation company David Production has done the impossible and made learning about cell division interesting.
The anime is exceptionally clever at visualising the various systems in the body including the circulatory, respiratory and digestive. With its simple art style, thin line art and distinct character designs, Cells at Work’s animation is enjoyable but perhaps nothing to write home about. The story’s main character is red blood cell “AE3803” who is directionally challenged and forgetful, but nevertheless passionate about her work transporting oxygen and nutrients throughout t…
Read at the sourceHoochfox
Here's another one for the 'better than it should be' file. It lacks the ingredients for a good show, but substitutes science and humour for them in a way that actually makes it both very enjoyable and educational. I feel like my life might have gone very differently if my education had focussed on turning education into entertainment instead of boring, unpaid child labour. I've tried learning about the immune system before, but watching this show helped me to absorb and retain vastly more information than any textbook could.
There are a lot of intriguing, subtle nods to scientific facts. This is really cool, but sometimes leaves me wondering whether some things are intentional references or just random filler detail. For example, is Red Blood Cell's inability to navigate her way out of a…
Read at the sourceCouch_Queen
NO SPOILERS
This anime is basically about the basics of how the human body works alongside cytology, dumbed down. It's really enjoyable for me as I love human anatomy and cytology.
If you have never tried to learn of cytology, (leaning of the cells and the like) but you're interested, I do really recommend this to you. If you don't know what it is, keep reading.
To put it in a better light, it's about groups of cells and they're job to maintain the 'system'. The show presents how each cell treats another cell. Some kill, some bump heads with other cells, some cells get along with everyone, excluding viruses and bacteria of course. You learn more than just what role they play in protecting and maintaining the system.
I do wish they had expanded beyond basics. Biology is very complex and…
Read at the sourceMaiGalaxy
Educational and fun? Check. Characters based on real life cells in your body whom you will grow to love? Check. Easy to watch and understand and not hard to watch at all? Check, check, check a roonie! Ok but seriously, one of the reasons I didn't intend to watch this was because I find it hard to look at blood and body parts. Thankfully Cells at Work! TV S1 AND S2 made this SUPER easy. I also didn't find myself worrying as this is another thing that is why i avoided it because I was worried I'd learn something that would cause me to worry. Thankfully that was not the case with either season and the anime was SUPER easy to watch and fun to boot. I, however, CANNOT say the same thing for the spin off, Cells at Work! Code Black! I would STRONGLY encourage everyone to watch S1 and 2 of the OG…
Read at the sourceGrimmsDream15
First - I kind of liked this show, but have one big trouble with it: for which audience is it?
It feels like it’s for a more mature target with the more complicated word and descriptions, but everything is so childish. First the opening; don’t get me wrong, I like catchy and sweet openings when they light the mood and fit in general. But you see it and think: mhm looks a little too childish for me. I don’t get my finger on it. Then you proceed to watch the show and you notice that it’s the same formula for most of the episodes. First, it looks interesting and is a fun anime where you can learn something, and yes it’s kind of like that but a bit boring.
On one side you get the feeling that this anime avoids too much violence and death with light comedy and on the other side the white ce…
Read at the sourcepoisonousfay
This is my first review here on MAL and this anime deserves it (:
"Stuff like this is always happening around me!" -Red Blood Cell.
This is an awesome anime that teaches you about what goes inside your body at all times, it will leave you wondering how strong your body really is and how many different kinds of mechanisms it has to keep YOU safe.
It might seem like a boring idea at first but fight scenes are incredibly well done and they leave you wondering how it will turn out, because sometimes it looks like the bad guys are stronger than the good ones.
It's not only enjoyable but it will also help you learn a lot of interest things about how the human body works, I'm a health science student at university and i even learnt things from it; seriously it's very much worth watching.
Stor…
Read at the source
