Question: How does one make Cells at Work good? I say this because Im of the opinion that Cells at Work is not good. At best its a harmless disposable piece of educational anime that plays like every cringey video your seventh grade science teacher put on when he couldnt be bothered to teach himself. The only novelty it has is seeing how various cells and bodily functions are realized as generic anime stock characters and once that novelty wears off theres nothing in the way of actual character emotional weight or even just visual imagination to keep you coming back. The first season was an unremarkable 5/10 saved from sheer boredom solely thanks to the obvious fun all the voice actors were having. And the second season makes the baffling decision to sideline Kana Hanazawas genki doofus Red Blood Cell easily the shows most entertaining character and spend five episodes focusing instead on a pointless Normal Cell who says nothing interesting does nothing interesting has no good jokes or really any jokes and has no good reason to take RBCs protagonist spot from her. Its one of the most misguided choices Ive seen in a long time and it drags season 2 down to a 4/10 and thats me being generous. At this point the franchise is little more than a black void of personality and I cant see it ever turning into anything worthwhile. But if thats the case then why did I like Cells at Work Black so damn much? Cause on paper CAW Black sounds like a surefire recipe for disaster. An edgy spinoff that explores the more mature aspects of biology that regular Cells at Work didnt touch? Sex and disease and all manner of gross ugly bodily functions? With a genderswapped protagonist duo including a while blood cell with big honkin titties spilling out of her unzipped army jacket? And the original manga was written by a guy best known for horny comedies like Ore Tama? Yeah there is no way this shouldve worked. This should have been the most puerile easily mockable laughingstock of the season. This should have been nothing but grossout jokes dumb fanservice and superficial trappings of maturity that are only mature to dumb 14yearold edgelords whove just discovered sex and violence for the first time. There is no universe in which Black should have turned out good. And yet... it is good. In fact in some respects its really good. Sure its still no masterpiece and Lidenfilms production is decidedly weaker than DavidPros instantly striking designs and slick moments of sakuga but this is the first time that Cells at Work actually well worked for me. Why? Because unlike its vanilla counterpart Black isnt just a lame recitation of biology facts loosely held together by empty anime archetypes. No Black is an actual story with actual characters and themes its exploring through the lens of its educational aspects. This isnt just a rote science lesson cheaply disguised as an anime this actually IS an anime. And its one of the shows I found myself most looking forward to in this very stacked anime season. See for those of you who dont know Cells at Work Black gets its name from the concept of a Black Company. In Japan these are companies that severely mistreat their workers pushing them to the breaking point for the sake of profit and staying afloat. Theyre exploitative lifedestroying organizations that speak to the worst excesses of corporate greed. And if the body in original Cells at Work was a functioning company where everyone did their jobs happily and without complaint the body in Black is a black company for the poor cells working within it. Its constantly breaking down its immune system is compromised its overworked and overstressed it gorges on unhealthy food alcohol and cigarettes to cope and its afflicted with all sorts of conditions. Amusingly this implies that the person this body belongs to is also working in a black company environment and the toxicity of that environment has turned them into an equally toxic work environment for the cells keeping them alive. But whatever the reason this body is breaking down its turned the cells jobs into a living hell. Theyre understaffed and overworked they barely get a chance to breathe and theyre constantly being pushed to sacrifice more and more for the sake of a company that doesnt seem to care much if they live or die. In other words CAW Black isnt just a story about a failing body it uses that failing body as a metaphor to comment on the horrors of late stage capitalism. And it is not subtle about pushing that metaphor. Basically every episode takes some bodily function or condition and turns it into commentary on what this kind of work culture does to people. Episode 2 portrays the liver as a night district full of hostess clubs where cells come to detox which is used to basically say Hey dont be shitty to sex workers just because it looks like theyre living the high life were all suffering under this garbage system. Episode 5 tackles overwork headon when the bodys T cells go berserk from overwork which also doubles as commentary on how toxic masculinity reinforces dangerous selfdestructive tendencies in men who work themselves to exhaustion out of pride. Episode 6 takes us to the kidneys a silent Shintoesque shrine and uses it to say that forcing yourself not to process your emotions to just power through a bad situation because you dont want to make a fuss is a bad idea and you should really let yourself cry when youre feeling stressed out. Even the weird detour into STD tentacle rape monsters in episode 4 which is greatly toned down from the manga I should add still finds meaning in asking us to respect garbage men service workers and other people with dirty and unsanitary jobs because the fact theyre willing to get so dirty is proof of their courage and dedication to doing something that makes peoples lives better. And yes there are actual characters leading us through this journey. Our protagonist is freshfaced red blood cell who quickly learns that the happy working life he was promised was a lie and through his eyes we see the human cost enacted by exploitative company practices. RBC faces so many horrible ways this body is failing its cells but he refuses to give into despair like so many of his colleagues. He fights against the pressure to shut down to bottle up his emotions and turn into a corporate zombie to work mindlessly with no regard for who or what needs to be sacrificed. Hes just a single worker in a massive sprawling system but his small voice is a beacon of hope that this body isnt done for yet. Theres a welcome acknowledgement that at the end of the day workers can only do so much to improve their conditions when theyre this shitty. If things are gonna get better under capitalism its gonna have to come from the top down by completely reforming our systems until theyre no longer so destructive and predatory. Much in the same way a bodys cells cant save a body from selfdestructing all on their own the person has to be willing to change whatever unhealthy habits are dragging them down and make their body a healthier environment. But its the refusal of the little guy to give up the Red Blood Cells of the real world who refuse to crack under the pressure of thinking things will never get better that gives us that chance to reach that revolution in the first place. And all this from a show that started as a way to teach kids about whats happening in their body. But thats the magic of Cells at Work Black. It takes a premise that should have been an instant failure from a franchise thats never really succeeded to begin with and turns out something with genuine merit. Its got actual endearing characters who go through arcs and struggle with complicated emotions. Its got consistently great commentary on the nature of capitalism and the fight against it. It works both as education and entertainment never sacrificing one for the other. Its also a fantastic adaptation I read a couple chapters of the CAW Black manga and most of the choices that make the anime work so well from toning down the tasteless fanservice to reordering chapters into a more coherent arc and even adding new characters are a result of the anime team adding on what was already there not being content simply copying and pasting the pages onto screen. That more than anything is proof of why this works so well while the original Cells at Work was such a snore. This show is a product of people who really cared about what they were making who took a questionable source material and made it their own who didnt settle for a safe bet when there was something far more valuable they could achieve. Cells at Work Black may not be the best show of the season but its a show I find myself respecting more and more every time I think about it. And if you passed it over thinking it was just gonna edgy garbage like I did you might want to consider giving it a second look. It may just surprise you.