Anime Review: Hataraku Saibou Black

Also Knowns As: Cells at Work! CODE BLACK!
13

Rating

★★★★

Drama Digest

Horrible lifestyle decisions push a particular human’s body into a state of constant disarray. As germs, bacteria and other harmful substances swarm the body, the cells are thrown into a frenzy trying to keep the body in shape. Hakkekkyuu U-1196 and Sekkekkyu AA2153 slave over accomplishing their duties as they watch their comrades perish while carrying out their responsibilities.

A massive subversion from the parent story, Cells at Work! Code BLACK! portrays the cells struggling to preserve the body’s health as it descends to its ruins. Watch this series to determine if the cells’ efforts bear fruit or ultimately go down the drain.

The Feel-Good Part

Code BLACK! is not an extension of the enthusiastic biology lesson that its predecessors were, it is a blaring red warning about how every wrong lifestyle choice has consequences. Each episode reminds us how smoking messes up our system, how consuming too much caffeine is harmful, how unprotected sex is dangerous, and the like. The cells are always alert and overworked, and there is something particularly terrifying about watching personified cells get tortured to death because of every “small” reckless choice we make. Code Black keeps the cells in a death grip, and their work environment is similar to a corporate conglomerate in the current capitalistic economy. The overarching arcs of hectic and irresponsible lifestyles and the horrors of capitalism are interesting and well-depicted. This achieves the goal it set out to because once you finish watching, you find yourself reeling from the deaths of the cells and rethink every lousy move that you would have otherwise made nonchalantly. The animation is crisp and the characters are well-designed. The sound is also excellent.

The Disappointing Factor

The entire overarching metaphor about leaving the systems or the frameworks that suck the soul out of you, and taking care of your body is excellent, but it is also a little superficial. Proper hygiene and access to healthy food are primarily available to abled people who have access to money. People who are not privileged enough to access these things cannot just extract themselves from the cycle. This narrative could have been handled with more nuance as we can see that the screenwriters can do so.

In-Depth Analysis

This show makes us empathise with the cells on screen and inside our bodies, and urges us to take care of ourselves. It can be pretty gory, watching these cells in human form getting tormented to death when the host body takes in drag from a cigarette. They are stressed, traumatised, and tired, and we see them pushed to the edge because of the hostile situations where they cannot even take an opportunity to grab some well-deserved rest. The metaphor about capitalism is not in your face, exaggerated, and neither are the PSAs. Instead, there is a mature presentation of how every problem has one leeway out, and it’s choosing ourselves and inducting ourselves into a framework that does not lead to the demise of our mental and physical health. The metaphors do have drawbacks, expectedly, but also there is enough nuance to them.

Star Power

Hikasa Youko and Junya Enoki are great V.A.s and casting them is an excellent decision.

Overall Opinion

This is one of the best edutainment animes out there, with social and economic themes and undercurrents. This should definitely be on everyone’s watchlist.