Hataraku Saibou!!

The cells of the human body never rest for too long; there is always something new to do and learn every day. At least, that is what Hakkekkyuu U-1146 feels as he rushes to and fro, searching for any pathogens that could cause harm to the body. Despite his dangerous line of work, it is all worth it to protect the happy smiles of Sekkekkyuu AE3803, the platelet crew, his fellow neutrophils, and the other cells he meets along the way.

In his latest pathogen-hunting adventures, Hakkekkyuu U-1146 discovers how important cells can sometimes make mistakes, and that not all bacteria are actually bad. Everybody has their bad days, but everything eventually works out when their comrades have their backs. In the end, it is just another normal day for these hardworking cells!

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Hakkekkyuu U-1146 Main

Maeno, Tomoaki Japanese

Sekkekkyuu AE3803 Main

Hanazawa, Kana Japanese

Ippan Saibou 1 Main

Kobayashi, Yuusuke Japanese

Kesshouban Supporting

Naganawa, Maria Japanese

Macrophage Supporting

Inoue, Kikuko Japanese

Jujou Saibou Supporting

Okamoto, Nobuhiko Japanese

Killer T Saibou Supporting

Ono, Daisuke Japanese

Gan Saibou Supporting

Ishida, Akira Japanese

Kousankyuu Supporting

Ichimichi, Mao Japanese

NK Saibou Supporting

Yukinari, Toa Japanese

Wakamatsu, Tsuyoshi Producer

Ogura, Hirofumi Director, Episode Director, Storyboard

Ueno, Souta Episode Director, Storyboard

Chiba, Daisuke Episode Director

Reviews

Oct 6, 2025

Cain_Virethorn

Recommended

[color=green][size=130]I nearly dropped this series within the first ten minutes of season one, episode one, but decided to power through it, and I'm glad I did. As the show progressed, it grew on me and I came to love it. It reminded me a lot of 90s-00s health and healthy food based commercials where companies tried to make something look good by having singing, dancing and/or crime fighting. Cells At Work! was goofy and completely over dramatic, and that was its charm.

From an educational standpoint, it was very informative. I certainly learned things, and I appreciate that the writers wanted to make ... an educational show that was fun. Further, I understand it's not easy, and here is a fine balance to be had.

Season 2 specific feedback: The first few episodes had two stories in one, both about 15-ish minutes or so each. This was extremely disappointing, and felt like:

1. They were rushing to cover all the topics they wanted to.
and
2. We weren't getting the same episode quality. Topics were rushed.

Thankfully this only lasted a few episodes.

One issue I had was the show trying to humanize certain harmful cells/bacteria. I get they had to do it from an anime perspective, but trying to humanize things like cancer is an extremely poor choice.[/size][/color]

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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Sep 14, 2021

DoubleJEspejwan6

Mixed Feelings

After reintroducing myself back to the Cells at Work series with Code Black, I thought I'd take a crack at watching the second season to the first one which I rather liked. And after watching, I can only think of one word to describe this season: Unnecessary.

Not BAD, but I feel like this season didn't need to be made. A lot of the same issues are being dealt with as in past episodes with little variation to be seen. "Bump" is very similar to "Scrape Wound" from the first season, and "Dengue Fever" and "Mumps" feel like derivatives of varying parts from "Cedar Pollen Allergy." ... There's just no exciting material that vastly differs it from the first season. The only ones that felt like new material to me were "Acne" and "Peyer's Patch." And technically, the use of cytokines and H. pylori were new, although compared to how they were used in Code Black, they felt underwhelming and dorky. (Although these shows have wildly different thematic elements, so I'll let that slide).

Adding that in, the central conflict didn't feel like it posed any real threat to the body. Whereas "Hemorrhagic Shock" and "Cancer Cell" felt like legitimate issues that the body had to tackle, and were great as unique threats to the cells, I couldn't find anything in this season that truly felt dangerous. No, for this season, the writers just brought Cancer Cell back as the main villain, and instead of being strangely sympathetic like he was in his introduction, he felt cartoonishly evil and annoying. (And also the interaction with Regulatory T Cell was bizarre since IIRC, she didn't have the same reaction or role in the first season).

That being said, I still think the series was fine. I wish the focus was more on AE3803 since I felt like her role in this was largely diminished. Not that I dislike U-1146, but they had about the same screentime in the first season and he vastly overshadowed her along with the epithelial cell that took care of the lactic acid bacteria.

Animation was good; fight scenes felt a little underwhelming comparatively. Music still had a fun, upbeat manner and the characters were still kinda hokey, but in an endearing way. There wasn't much of any character growth also though, which kinda sucked.

(And guys, I get this is first and foremost an 'edutainment anime,' but I don't need to have scenes paused to explain lactic acid bacteria six times in the span of two episodes. We're not goldfish here).

If you liked the first season (like I did), you'll like this one too, since it's largely a bunch of the same things with a new coat of paint.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Feb 26, 2021

SanaeK10

Not Recommended

Hataraku Saibou S2 is a mediocre followup to the surprise hit that was the first Hataraku Saibou. Even as a fan of the first season I didn't find myself liking much of S2's content as much as I did with the first season.

I chalk most of this due to a lack of focus with its topics and plot. While the first season followed an inexperienced worker around her first day at work, having the benefit of the audience resonating with her journey of discovery throughout the human body, the second season is a lot more unfocused and scatterbrained. For the most part, you follow ... along WBC on his patrols but there is no real cohesion between each episode beyond fighting the Villain of the Week.

The writing in terms of comedy and plot progression do feel weaker. I don't know if it's because BLACK is airing right now in the same season, but having BLACK as an immediate comparison point with S2 doesn't do the latter any favors. The jokes feel bland and juvenile at times and don't hit nearly as much as they once did in S1. The edutainment stuff is still fascinating, and like S1 it blends naturally into the show itself. Character-wise WBC is the blandest cell in the whole body, and the side characters aren't nearly as whimsical or interesting as they were in S1, even for returning characters. Everyone just feels bland and uninteresting. Compare this season's Cancer Arc to S1's one for a good comparison on how both seasons approach the same topic. S1's writing was good enough that it manages to humanize Cancer Cell, while S2 is just some messy action fight that isn't very much interesting to watch.

Overall a rather lacking season compared to S1. With the bizarre decision to only have 8 episodes running you do wonder if the series creator ran out of steam with the overtly family-friendly Hataraku Saibou series, given that the manga also has had hiatuses every now and then.


4/10

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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