English Dub Review: Cells at Work! “H. Pylori / Antigenic Shift”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

In “H. Pylori” a Normal Cell walks by a stream the ordinary cell spots a group of small creatures crying for help. He saves them and they follow him. The cell brings them home, but White Blood Cell U-1146 and Red Blood Cell AE3083 find out about his little friends. Then U-1146 gets a call for backup in the stomach and encounters the H. Pylori. Normal Cell then rescues the little creatures as H. Pylori wrecks the stomach lining. The little creatures’ real identity is lactic acid bacteria, in other words, good bacteria for the digestive system. After saying farewell to one of the good bacteria, U-1146 tells the cell that he could come along on his patrol through the digestive system.

In “Antigenic Shift” U-1146 gives Normal Cell a tour of the digestive system starting with the small intestine. They see a worker scolded by their boss for pulling in too much purine. One of the lactic acid bacteria loves to eat purine and decides to stray from them for the food. Larger forms of that bacteria appear and start feasting on the purine and are pretty docile. U-1146 and Normal Cell leaves for another section. However, one of the good bacteria drops into the storm drain and it is swept away. Despite Normal Cell’s plea to alert the other immune cells not to attack it, U-1146 says that he doesn’t have that kind of authority. Normal Cell calls him a monster and then NK Cell arrives from above them.

Our Take:

In this episode, we get a longer plot with the Normal Cell finding small creatures crying out for help. These adorable creatures are later to be revealed as good bacteria for the digestive system. The build-up to that revelation was good with the pointed reminder of U-1146’s job. His lack of authority within the system as a foot soldier in the body gives him some freedom, but not to that extent.

It’s good that these two shorts are together to form a plot around the Normal Cell who is bored and wishes to be a hero. It’s understandable that he’d find the immune cell’s actions repetitive. However, he’s not like the immune cells who would gladly give their life to protect the body. This leads to the lactic acid bacteria and the hijinks thinking that their germs with U-1146 and AE3083 were amusing. Normal Cell helps expand on the world of the body through his tour with U-1146 while learning about the other cells and bacteria. Normal Cell developing outside of his mob character personality was great too.

U-1146’s tour with the Normal Cell around the digestive system was informative and cute. The purine being pudding and the lactic acid bacterias feasting on it was cute at showing their role in the digestive system. However, there’s the conflict after one of the lactic acid bacteria falls into the river and separates from them. Normal Cell’s words of calling U-1146 a monster could make for a good conflict with NK Cell’s appearance. U-1146 is a kinder immune cell than the others. The lengths he’s willing to go to to help Normal Cell and the lactic acid bacterias throughout this episode are proof of that.

Overall the episode was good with the cute lactic acid bacteria getting their moments to shine. Hopefully, we get to see the Normal Cell guy growing from that insensitive comment of the immune cells as he continues his tour.