Hataraku Saibou!!

TLDR: if you liked the first season - you will most likely like this one. If you did not - don't waste time. Story: basically it is more of the same stuff, out cells doing their work and overcoming different situations. It is really nothing much to speak about, considering this season is only 2/3 of a normal season in length. Art, sound: the same as S1, solid but nothing stellar. Characters: once again, more of the same. Most of the characters were already established in the first season (or at least had episodical role), so you know what to expect. No real character progression if bychance you expected any. Enjoyment: like I said, you will like it if you liked S1. I sure did and I kinda enjoyed S2, but without novelty of S1 it felt kinda stale and due to being only 8 episodes it also felt short. Overall I don't regret the time I spent on it, but there sure are more interesting things to watch.

I feel like this show needs no introduction for the myriad of you who've watched Season 1 way back in 2018. The TL;DR is this: our favorite body cells are back at it again, resuscitating a healthy body from many of the immune diseases as inspired and suffering from real life, but giving it the anime flare and feel that's basically one and the same from Season 1. The only reason why we have a Season 2 in times like now, is because the spin-off (which is Hataraku Saibou Black, or Cells at Work: Code Black) is chosen to air in Winter 2021, so both mangakaAkane Shimizu and David Production had the perfect idea to release them both at the very same time in Japan, leading to that 1-hour back-to-back TV broadcast, and that by itself is a great call to advertise more of the mangaka's works. The main gripe that I have with Season 2 is that while nothing has changed (and to be honest, this works for the better), it's more of the same to push the near-perfect body back to health through different means of immunities and diseases, and with only 8 episodes, I'd feel it's the right length to finish off this show, along with all the translated manga chapters so far (as of the time of this review). In a nutshell, you can tell that mangaka Akane Shimizu spends MORE time on her part supervising the countless spin-offs (which are far more interesting) than progressing the main series, and that by itself is kind of both a blessing and a curse. Not to say that it's all bad, but generally a creative mix of ideas from different mangakas is a good way to establish the main series further, however in turn, trades off for a solid foundation of "returning the series to its roots" and leaves no room for more creativity of what the main series could have offered as potential. But rest assured: if you like or love Season 1, this sequel is a good follow-up of the countless adventures of the main character cast of cells working together to alleviate naughty, bad cells and old enemies from raging within the body. OST is pretty much the same atmosphere as the previous season, so at least there is consistency in an otherwise well-known series. If you're wondering about the movie that was released before Season 2 came out, save your money (if you're intending to watch it), as it covers the 2nd half of the show in its entirety (from Episodes 4 to 8) for another TL;DR, you're welcome. I'd thought that the movie itself would compensate for the remainder of 2 hours (or 5 episodes equally) worth of new content, but it wasn't meant to be, so, oh well. All in all, while Season 2 was just as bombarding as a marketing gimmick, it should come as no surprise that it's still worth watching all the way through. Not as amazing as how Season 1 landed the expectations, but hey, that's OK. P.S. Watch the spin-off Code Black, it's reverse gender-bender, but better.

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 tryingto make do with very little content. Even for eight episodes.

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