Hataraku Saibou!!

There are a few episodes that sync up with Code Black, which aired at the same time. For example, both shows may talk about hair or something. So that might be more fun for you to watch both simultaneously.

Too many corners are cut in the animation department. CGI red blood cells walking around.
Educational value is decent except for the last two episodes which is nothing but action scenes and a bacteria that wears a fox fursuit.

Two episodes with platelets and a few more with the lactic acid bacteria. So you won't completely waste your time watching this, but you can tell they're trying ... to make do with very little content. Even for eight episodes.

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