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Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: Cells at Work!
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Stark700
 Posts: 11762 Location: Earth |
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One of the most refreshing shows I've seen so far this year. I love the idea of it especially with how these characters all resemble traits of the human body. The comedy gags and action feels well done too.
Oh and those platelets are super adorable. |
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zrnzle500
 Posts: 3768 |
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I'm not sure that it is primarily aimed at children. I'm not saying it couldn't appeal to kids, but if they were primarily trying to appeal to kids, they certainly didn't pick a good time slot to do so (it airs at midnight). Perhaps it seems unusually bloody for a kid's show because it isn't one. Just because a show is educational doesn't necessarily mean it is for kids. Moyashimon comes to mind, though that has other indicators of the target audience, such as the college aged cast. Outside anime, there are a number of educational youtube channels not aimed at children, and Bill Nye's new(er) show on Netflix seems aimed at an adult audience.
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meiam
Posts: 3450 |
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I'm a bit worried that they seems to be mainly focused on defending the body from pathogen, with at least half of every episode being dedicated to this. It'll get pretty repetitive soon enough if they keep this up.
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11588 |
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Except for Red Cell. She should make it through the whole series unless killed prematurely. I thought it was kind of odd that Macrophage was hacking and slashing instead of chowing down, but okay. That could've gotten weird. 
This is much fun though, even if their metaphors are sometimes a bit off. |
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space.
 Posts: 44 |
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Really great show.
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Sahmbahdeh
Posts: 713 |
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I am mostly enjoying this, but I will concur with some others and say I really don't think this is a kid's show at all. Just looking at the original manga, and a lot of the character designs, really indicates this is a show for otaku.
And it feels more like an homage to edutainment shows than an edutainment show itself; adding to the above point about being otaku-aimed, while this show is educational, the presentation makes it seem like it's more for biology nerds who also like anime (or vice-versa) than for the uninitiated. Lastly, I think the manga works better because I find myself getting exasperated at the educational biology explanations for cutting in and taking up so much time; the difference between manga and anime in this regard is that in a manga, this occurs in side-panels or in textboxes adjacent to the action, while in anime it takes up the whole screen, forcing the audience's gaze to it. Add to this the fact that people can read a whole lot faster than they can speak aloud, and what happens is the educational asides in anime-form cause the action/plot of the episode to temporarily grind to a halt, whereas in the manga they are integrated much more fluidly making for a better presentation of that information. With that in mind I think I'll continue with this series in manga form, and just watch the anime highlights. |
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mangaka-chan
 Posts: 283 |
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I echo the sentiments of the previous commentators and think Cells at Work! is not meant to be "a kid's show". As someone who works in immunology/microbiology I love the fact that Cells at Work! is able to present the concepts I work with in a fun, easy to grasp way to a wider audience. But statements like "this is a kid's show" is not so different from saying shows like Dragon Ball Z or Naruto are meant to be "boys shows", and oh hey, girls and adults can some times enjoy it too. Why can't everyone enjoy it? Other popular science themed shows like Mythbusters and Battlebots are enjoyed by children and adults alike, and I think by calling it a "kids show" we are discouraging some viewers who would otherwise give the show a chance and the opportunity to learn something new along the way.
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S0crates
 Posts: 227 Location: Banned - Noticed our poor ethics |
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I find the design of the "priestess" Macrophage genius. She runs the church, because it's where all cells go to die eventually, yet she also kicks ass with the cleaver as her removing cells that has been infected is a secondary feature. Overall the imagery is off the charts, even making mother bleeping Persona references. (◕‿◕)
Also, the platelets are so cuuuute. |
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Princess_Irene
ANN Reviewer
 Posts: 2653 Location: The castle beyond the Goblin City |
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I never intended "kids' show" to be a put down, which I think some people are getting from the phrase (and if you're not, sorry!!) - my specialty is children's literature. I love "kids'" stuff.
I was using it more as interchangeable with "family show," which implies a range of ages.
The narration is the most child-friendly aspect of it, and I agree with Sahmbahdeh that it doesn't work all that well in anime format. I'll probably get into that more next week. Mangaka-chan, as someone who works in immunology, I hope you'll let us know if the show is simplifying something too much! Anyway, I'll keep the semantics of "kid" versus "family" show in mind going forward. |
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mangaka-chan
Posts: 283 |
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Thank you for the clarification. I think what we have is a different definition and interpretation of what "kids" and "family" series are. When I hear the word "kid's show" I imagine something geared towards toddlers or younger elementary school age children, like Blue's Clues or Dora the Explorer. I think the term "family show" also has the potential to be misleading. In the US at least, "family shows" implies something widely viewable by a young family and is generally bloodless and not too violent, like a G or PG rated Disney movie. If we're to continue to use the US TV rating system as a guide, I'd say Cells at Work! would probably end up around PG-13, mainly for the violent ways the cells kill bacteria. That makes me question whether "family" show is a good terms to use, because it could potentially give some readers the wrong impression that this is something they can watch with their 7 year olds. Some children probably won't mind, but some children can be more sensitive, and they might be frightened by shows like this where there is a lot of yelling and fighting. I would suggest, based on the level of violence and depth of material, that adolescents to adults are most likely to enjoy this show. Pre-teens may also enjoy it, but the amount of information may be off putting to them. (steps down from her soap box) As for the show's presentation of the immune system, I think it's brilliant! I work in research and have worked with neutrophils, macrophages, and whole blood, and some of the things the show has, like WBC being a super dedicated killer of bacteria, is very true in my experience doing bacteria killing assays (as an aside, not everyone's immune cells kill the same bacteria equally well. Some people's are super gun-ho and energetic, while other are...less so). I think besides the novelty factor that comes with anthropomorphization, the show's ability to introduce cells and give them distinct personalities and illustrate their roles and functions in a easy to comprehend way is very cool. Adaptive immunity (all the T cells and B cells, as well as how they mature and become activated) in particularly is highly complex. Learning all that in school has been a dry, often times confusing process of memorizing a list of abbreviations and names. Cells at Work! has simplified this to something that makes sense in the context of its universe while also remaining simple enough for a non-biologist to grasp. Certainly different people will have different opinions on how well some of the simplifications worked out (personally, I thought dendritic cells' way of activating naive T cell by showing him old photos was a bit odd) but knowing how complex and jargon heavy the biological process is, if that was the best the author could come up with, then I'm okay with it, because I sure as heck can't think of a simpler way to present the information without getting technical. |
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Princess_Irene
ANN Reviewer
Posts: 2653 Location: The castle beyond the Goblin City |
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Thanks, mangaka-chan. I think part of the confusion arises from the fact that, academically speaking, "children's" refers to board book through young adult, so I forget that that won't mesh with everyone's definitions.
Also, thanks for your expert input! Back when I was reviewing Altair, belvadeer gave us Turkish language lessons for each episode and I love getting that kind of extra info.
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EricJ2
 Posts: 4016 |
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Yeah, I had the same Seven Deadly Sins reaction, ie. "This would be a really cute and appealing show, if the characters didn't keep GUSHING TV-MA BLOOD every few scenes..." I'm starting to wonder whether that's something the frustrated Japanese teen-male actually wants more than Western audiences. Lot of helplessness and anger over there right now. (And yes, fandom has already explored the question of, when a White Cell wins a battle, does that enemy's gush of blood have its own hardworking Red and White cells in it, and so on?)
When we get detailed explanations of Pneumococcus bacteria, I put it into the same category as "Kemono Friends", "Time Bokan 24" and "Marie & Gal"--Where it could be perfect educational anime for kids, if it was only put in a kids' timeslot so that other audiences weren't distracted to make it something else. Still, whatever else we get, I can enjoy the bit of info-tainment. And the suspiciously adorable Platelets. 
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Kendra Kirai
Posts: 187 |
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For what it's worth, I think it's less 'blood' and more the cellular...whatever it's called, cytoplasm? The stuff that's inside a cell.
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yuna49
 Posts: 3804 |
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I think there's a pretty big gap between Cells at Work! and something like Time Travel Shoujo. That show featured episodes on eight famous scientists and inventors through the mechanism of a middle-school girl using her lost father's time machine to find him. There was some rough-housing in a couple of episodes, but no blood, and certainly not the level of violence that we see in this series each week.
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11588 |
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What I want to know is who are the "visitors" that would make use of the vistors' area?
One thing that's been really bugging me is the depiction of red blood cells carrying nutrients around. While rbcs do transport some glucose, it's not anywhere close to being a primary function, and the anime seems to suggest it's more than half of what they spend their time doing. I wonder if Basophil is going to lose his cool and totally overreact to the allergens next week.
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