The Cells at Work! animated show fits the "edutainment" trend in anime, where a show can explain much about science and history while also making the subject matter come to life in a compelling story. With equally compelling characters, Cells at Work! isn't the first piece of fiction to re-imagine human cells as people, but it's likely among the best.
What's more, the concept of Cells at Work! is expanded upon in the spinoff series, titled Cells at Work: CODE BLACK. It's the same premise, but in a different, more troubled body where the cells struggle with issues ranging from tobacco use to alcoholism and extreme stress. Here's a beginner's guide for diving in to the microscopic world of cells.
Reading The Cells At Work! Manga Series
The original manga series, simply titled Cells at Work!, is six volumes long and is available in both print and digital form from several reputable sellers. Manga fans can try out Barnes & Noble's online catalog to find the original series, along with printed volumes of the many spinoffs, too. This includes the aforementioned Cells at Work: CODE BLACK (with eight volumes currently out), in addition to Cells at Work!: Baby (currently with three volumes out), Cells NOT at Work! (three volumes so far) and Cells at Work and Friends, which currently has five volumes in circulation. These manga series can also be found at Right Stuf Anime's online catalog, and Amazon's online catalog as well. So far, it appears that there are no omnibus collections of the Cells at Work! manga series or any deluxe hardcover editions, likely since the core series is short and its many spinoffs are still ongoing.
Fans of digital media can try out the NOOK reader version of the Cells at Work! manga, which is slightly cheaper per volume, if they visit the Barnes & Noble catalog. Similarly, Amazon offers a Kindle version of the manga volumes via comiXology.
Watching Each Cells At Work! Anime Series
As of now, the Cells at Work! franchise has two animated series, one each for the core Cells at Work! and one for Cells at Work: CODE BLACK. The core anime series has two seasons, with the second season recently concluding with Episode 8. That anime can be found on Crunchyroll, though as of this writing, Season 2 has only its first five episodes available for streaming. Crunchyroll also streams Cells at Work: CODE BLACK, but only the first seven episodes are currently available.
Meanwhile, Funimation is streaming the original Cells at Work! anime, all dubbed in Japanese and also offering all current episodes of Cells at Work: CODE BLACK, totaling 11 episodes so far and dubbed in Japanese. Elsewhere, Netflix also has the core Cells at Work! series, offering the entire first 13-episode season.
Fans might want to try out the Blu-Ray edition of this series. If so, they can visit Amazon and find the first season on Blu-Ray. Customers should note however that this particular set is formatted for the B/2 region, meaning it will only play on certain Blu-Ray devices depending on region. Right Stuf Anime offers an exclusive Blu-Ray edition of Cells at Work!'s first season, which ships only to the U.S., Canada, Central America and South America, but not to Japan. This particular Blu-Ray set also contains a special episode and booklet, among other bonus items, and it is dubbed in both Japanese (with subtitles) and English.
