Hataraku Saibou
Cells at Work!

Edit

What would you like to edit?

SynopsisBackgroundAlternative TitlesPictureChapters/VolumesPublishing DatesRelationsTypeExternal Links  

As someone who thinks that the immune system is the most exciting feature of the human body, I always waited for a day I would find a manga like "Hataraku Saibou", otherwise known as "Cells at Work".

Story: 9
The story mainly focuses on a red blood cell (Ae 3803) and a white blood cell (U-1146). They aren't given names, but numbers. The red blood cell has a hard time trying to find routes through the body, so the white blood cell helps her out. Through this, we get to know what exactly happens in different parts of the body and encounter different types of cells ... as well.

Each chapter focuses on a certain pathogen's invasion, a part of the body and cancer. I personally liked the chapters about cancer the best, since that's when the most fighting happens (both between immune cells and against cancer cells... )

Now the main question people might ask is - how accurate is it? From what I've learnt in Biology, I don't think it's high level Biology, but it's not too low either (in UK terms it would be between GCSE and A-level). The information they give is not complicated to understand (maybe not for names...) and they make sure to give the necessary parts.

Art: 10
This is amazing- very detailed. A manga about cells represented as humans would mean that it's hard to show their functions properly and structures within the body - heart, lungs, kidneys... - without straying too much from scientific data. But this manga nailed it. Of course, it's not 100% accurate - e.g. when bacteria are killed they spill out blood.

The way they represent harmful bacteria/viruses is sometimes a bit odd for me - some of them look more like aliens... (but I guess that's the impression they want to give to show that they don't belong in the body)

Character: 9
I like the white blood cell a lot. Let's say... He's much better at teamwork than the rest of the cells of the immune system... He is kind to other types of cells unlike the killer T-cell, who is pretty aggressive since he has to kill infected cells...

There is some development for the red blood cell, as she starts to know the routes within the body properly thanks to white blood cell.

Can't forget the platelets - so adorable!!!

Enjoyment: 10
Please, just read the first chapter. It won't be a waste of your time, it's really worth it.

Overall: 9
I'll give this a 9 - for now everything looks good but since it's still ongoing...

This is one of the my most anticipated adaptation after reading it on a whim, an exceptional story about Cells, by turning them into characters, emphasizing the similarities of humans and cells through comparing them by how they do their job.

This manga is entertaining so far, for an author to be able to make great characters even if they are cells, an action packed story which centers around White Cell's adventures along with blood cell, this is truly one of the most interesting stories that I've ever read.

Story: 7
I don't think this manga was made for biology, anatomy or even medical students, this manga ... focused on the entertainment value which was about the "Daily Life of Cells", but let's just throw out accuracy out of the picture. The story introduces a small number of cells/characters, and most of them are the generally known cells which are made in bone marrow without going further to the complicated ones(like specialized cells for the organs, brain cells for example) same could be said to the foreign bodies(like virus or bacteria). It focuses inside the body, showing how the cells react, cells doing their job, or even how the body affects the cells when somethings happens no matter how small or big it is. It's simplicity but ironically a complexity made it a different story from the rest, it's like I'm watching One Punch Man or Boku no Hero Academia, but in a world of a fictionalized analogy of a body.

Art: 8
Great artwork, especially to the background(which is the body) which always gets destroyed by the antagonist and to the awesomeness of character (especially Cancer). The design for the characters is kinda similar to FMA or Silver Spoon, though the monsters are still the same as your basic antagonist, except that they are actually depicted good for their own image.

Characters: 9
Oh, the characters, they are the best in this series, after reading them, I felt that I have to improve my body(which I really have to) they have unique personality, entertaining reactions, rationale behavior, baddass moments, I can't help but to see how beautiful seeing cells alive. The characterization was executed so good that there's a lot of character development, and even the antagonist are well written. It's so weird that there's a lot of time that I want to see a romantic development in this story, when it isn't possible, that's how good it is, the interaction was good which never bores me and the reactions lives up to their existence.

Enjoyment: 10
I have an emotional roller coaster while reading this one, this is one of the manga that I easily enjoyed in different emotions, it has the creativity of something I didn't expect, I've learned a lot of things, and I recalled a lot of things which I haven't understand in biology when I was in middle school.

Overall it's a must read manga, a refreshing story with original setting based on Microbiology, it showed me just how complicated cells is, while simplifying their functions, nevertheless it has a good accuracy about cells(thanks to the Medical Editor)

This was cute. You do actually learn a bit about how your body works.

Very episodic, which might really hinder it in terms of storytelling, because none of the cast are stand out enough to have real fun with on an episode to episode story. The romance between White and Red was super cute though, I love heterosexuals. The world building is interesting, but sometimes leans a bit too much into the education content, which makes me loose interest. The art is nice, and I'm always appreciative of character designs that have women wearing clothes.

I'll recommend it, but it's not life changing. I wouldn't ... mind reading the other sequels, though.