English Dub Review: Cells at Work: Code Black “Smoking, Bacteria, and the Beginning of the End”

Overview:

Cells at Work: Code Black is the slightly darker, slightly more adult sister series to Cells at Work. It also follows a rookie red blood cell who is learning how to do his job of delivering oxygen to the body. This isn’t an average person’s body however, no this person smokes and does not eat well and that is just in episode one. There is also a badass white blood cell that helps kill bacteria whenever possible. Here though the red blood cell is male and the white blood cell is female so a bit of a genderbend. Those are the main differences from the main series so let’s get to it.

Our Take:

The episode starts like most of our jobs start. With a boring, cheesy orientation video that doesn’t really let us know what the job will be like. Reforms are mentioned that will make it a better easier place to work. What exactly is the workplace in question you ask? The human body of course! If you’re unfamiliar with Cells at Work it’s a story about you! How all your cells and organs work. Just with a cute anime spin, other than a few dark moments the main series (only one season dubbed so far) is mostly cute and fun. Not so much here, it’s pretty clear this will be going in a darker direction (it is called Code Black after all).

Getting back to the first episode of Code Black, our main character is Red Blood Cell AA2153 (Kyle McCarley) who gets no training time. They were under the impression that they would get weeks of buddy training but instead are told “Work until you drop.” letting them know exactly what they’re in for. Red Blood Cell goes a separate way from his mentor and gets yelled at by a citizen who wants to know when they will get some oxygen. He doesn’t really know what to say but luckily a more seasoned Red Blood Cell played by Patrick Seitz shows and tells them a ton of oxygen is coming their way. My favorite line was here, our main character asks if that’s true and he responds with “Nooooooo, I made that up!”.

This new red blood cell is clearly jaded as his motto is “Suppress your emotions and just keep smiling.” a decent sentiment if not a little depressing. It’s clear this body is in bad shape from the bad cholesterol getting dumped blocking the way, to carbon monoxide being leaked into the vessels. Red Blood Cell’s mentor is caught in the gas along with other cells and essentially becomes a zombie. They are then attacked by bacteria as well.

This is when the White Blood Cell 1196 (Allegra Clark) makes her appearance. If first impressions are important White Blood Cell wins on all counts. She immediately gets to destroying the bacteria, the carbon monoxide is still blocking the path though. Oxygen still needs to be delivered and this is where the previously jaded Red Blood Cell goes out like a hero. Our hero gets the oxygen to the lungs where he discovers the cause of the carbon monoxide. The person began smoking again after ten years! If you ever needed a reason to not smoke just watch this show.

As a first episode, it wasn’t bad but not really great. I’m still intrigued and will definitely continue to watch. The voice acting was good but nothing too special stood out to me. I will say J. Michael Tatum as a brain cell is like perfect casting, and I hope he has more of a role as the season progresses. Kyle McCarley does well as the main character in the past and I think he will do well here. The biggest disappointment is I wanted more of Allegra Clark as White Blood Cell but I am sure we will get that in future episodes. Now I am gonna feel guilty anytime I have a soda, thanks anime.