Cells At Work! Code Black

Cells at Work! CODE BLACK by Shigemitsu Harada Issei Hatsuyoshiya Akane Shimizu

In this new spinoff of the hit manga Cells at Work!, a newbie Red Blood Cell is one of 37 trillion working to keep this body running. But something’s wrong! Stress hormones keep yelling at him to go faster. The blood vessels are crusted over with cholesterol. Ulcers, fatty liver, trouble (ahem) downstairs … It’s hard for a cell to keep working when every day is a CODE BLACK!

The manga and anime Cells at Work! showed you what happens when a young, healthy body gets in trouble … but what if the body wasn’t so young, and was never very healthy? This new take stars a fresh-faced Red Blood Cell and his friend, the buxom White Blood Cell, as they struggle to keep themselves and their world together through alcoholism, smoking, erectile dysfunction, athlete’s foot, gout … it’s literal body horror! Whoever this guy is, he’s lucky his cells can’t go on strike!

I read the first chapter of this manga and I’m intrigued. It’s very OSMOSIS JONES in concept, but more grounded and with less comedy. The original series reads a bit more like an episode of the Magic School Bus at times but this new one  is dark and deals with a body experiencing some serious health issues. I’ll finish the volume and report back.