Last March we reported that a “season two” for hit anime series Cells at Work was set for a January 2021 premiere. Turns out, the said anime project is actually an anime adaptation of Cells at Work! Code Black, one of the many spinoff series from the original Cells at Work manga series by Akane Shimizu. This news was announced in the cover of Kodansha’s Morning magazine, which ships Thursday.

Cells at Work! Code Black (Hataraku Saibou Black) was written and illustrated by Shigemitsu Harada and Issei Hatsuyoshiya, respectively.

A movie has also been announced earlier for the series. The movie is set to adapt a story from the manga’s 5th volume and is entitled Tokubetsu Jōei-ban “Hataraku Saibō!!” Saikyō no Teki, Futatabi. Karada no Naka wa “Chō” Ōsawagi! (Special Screening Edition: “Cells at Work!” The Return of the Strongest Enemy. A Huge Uproar Inside the Body’s “Bowels!”) The movie is set for a September 5 release in Japan.

Cells at Work! Code Black tackles how cells work in a body that is not healthy. Kodansha USA, which holds the license to the manga’s English release, describes it as such:

“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!”

The upcoming anime adaptation of Black is set to be directed by Hirofumi Ogura (Black Butler II), who replaced season 1’s Kenichi Suzuki (JoJo’s Bizarre Adventures). Yuuko Kakihara (Persona 4 the Animation) is set to return to oversee the series’ scripts. The series is still helmed by David Productions.

Written and illustrated by Akane Shimizu, Cells at Work! was first serialized in Kodansha’s Monthly Shonen Sirius in 2015. It features the anthromorphized cells of the human body, with the story mostly told from the perspective of a clumsy but lovable Red Blood Cell along with her reliable friend Neutrophil, who almost always ends up saving her from pathogens. The series depicts their daily activities and respective responsibilities as cells in the human body.

The manga series has already received several spinoff mangas, such as Hataraku Saikin (Bacteria at Work), Hatarakanai Saibou (Cells That Don’t Work), Hataraku Saibou BLACK (Cells at Work! Black), Hataraku Saibou Friend, Hataraku Kesshouban-chan (Platelets at Work), and the latest, Hataraku Saibou Lady (Cells at Work! Lady).

Cells at Work!’s first season, which was produced by David Productions, aired from July to September 2018. Its success among fans had led to a stage play adaptation that ran last November, and a mobile game entitled Itsudemo Hataraku Saibou.

Source: Anime News Network