Hataraku Saibou (Cells at Work!) is a manga series written and illustrated by Akane Shimizu. The manga features various cells of a human body and has gained huge popularity thanks to its humorous story and unique take on such a complicated subject. Cells at Work! was serialized in Monthly Shonen Sirius by Kodansha from January 2015 to January 2021.

An anime adaptation of Cells at Work! premiered on July 2018 which ran for two seasons as of February 2021. In January 2021, the anime adaptation of Cells at Work! spin-off series named Cells at Work! Code Black also premiered.

Both anime series have received positive feedbacks, not just from normal viewers but from professional medical workers as well, for their fun and accurate portrait of the way cells work in a human body. Biology teachers at a high school affiliated with China’s Southwest University were so impressed with the educational aspects of Cells at Work! that they assigned it has homework for students.

The story of Cells at Work! takes place inside the human body, where trillions of anthropomorphic cells each strive to do their job to keep the body healthy. The main protagonists of the manga are a rookie red blood cell – AE3803, and a relentless white blood cell – U-1146.

Red Blood Cell has just started her job to deliver packages of oxygen, carbon dioxide and other nutrients that the body would need. She was clumsy and would often get lost, but Red Blood Cell was determined to perform her job to the best of her ability.

On her way to the lungs, Red Blood Cell encountered a pack of bacteria trying to infiltrate the body. While the bacterium was about to attack Red Blood Cell and other cells around her, someone suddenly came to the scene. It was a white blood cell.

White Blood Cell immediately carried out his duties and exterminated the bacteria to save Red Blood Cell.

White Blood Cell had a serious face and would always be covered in blood as his job was to protect the body and remove all invasive foreign entities. Everyone was scared of him and his teams but Red Blood Cell wasn’t.

She thanked White Blood Cell for saving her life and the others’. White Blood Cell intended to walk away, but he reluctantly turned back and said “You’re welcome”, showing a softer side behind that scary demeanor.

After the incident, Red Blood Cell went back to her delivery job and tried to find the way to her destination. However, she kept getting lost. Then, she wandered into an unfamiliar room and found......

......a bacterium that survived the earlier extermination has sneaked further into the body!

Red Blood Cell was about to be attacked again when White Blood Cell came to the rescue. White Blood Cell tried to exterminate the bacterium but it put up a smoke screen and escaped.

That bacterium was pneumococcus and if not dealt with properly, it could multiply fast and cause illness such as pneumonia in the respiratory system. White Blood Cell decided to guide Red Blood Cell to the lungs as he also needed to go there and find the bacteria. The receptor that would detect bacteria being attached to White Blood Cell’s hat kept ringing as they hurried to the lungs.

After arriving at the lungs, both cells parted way. Just as Red Blood Cell went the other direction, White Blood Cell’s receptor suddenly stopped ringing.

That was when Red Blood Cell also realized something was wrong with her package. The bacteria teared its way out of the package and laughed manically. “Thank you for bringing me here”, it said. She didn’t know she was carrying the bacteria all along.

The bacteria tried to eat Red Blood Cell because these cells are a valuable source of energy for the germs and invasive entities. Lucky for her, White Blood Cell were able to slip through the walls of blood vessel in order to quickly get to where the enemies were. White Blood Cell tried to fight the bacteria but it put up such a strong shield that his attack seemed futile.

When the fight gradually became further unfavorable for White Blood Cell, he noticed something. White Blood Cell gave a secret signal to Red Blood Cell and both of them quietly moved closer into a special zone.

Being ignorant of White Blood Cell’s plan, the bacteria thought that it has won and charged in to deal the final blow......

......the moment that bacteria stepped into the area of bronchial tube, it was instantly captured and put into a rocket that represented a sneeze.

It was explained that once the bacteria entered the bronchial tube, a reflexive response would be triggered, where foreign entities like dust and bacteria were ejected out of the body.

“Bye bye, germ!”, White Blood Cell hilariously saluted the rocket that was carrying the bacteria and flying off into the distance.

Red Blood Cell expressed gratitude to White Blood Cell for saving her many times and said she wished to meet him again. Even though there are trillions of red and white blood cells working in the human body, as long as they work in the same body, they would surely meet again.

A sweet and short moment passed between them as the receptor rang again, White Blood Cell then quickly returned to the never-ending, harsh battle against viruses and bacteria to defend the body.