Writing Lessons from Anime: Cells at Work!

Two of my good friends recommended this anime to me and I was sold on the pitch “It’s like Hetalia but with the human body.” So started to watch it and I finished it in just a few days. It’s such a cute educational anime! I’ve found microbiology fascinating since high school so this was right up my alley.

There are 37 trillion cells in the human body and all of them are working to keep you well. This anime focuses on Red Blood Cell and White a Blood Cell as they nourish the body and defend the body from germs respectively. This anime follows the adventures of these two cells while teaching you about the human body at the cellular level!

1.) Edutainment

Each episode in Cells at Work! has a plot that has something to do with the human body whether that be allergy season, the flu, or even cancer, and how the cells deal with it. Within the episode, the narrator will interject facts about the human body which allows the viewer to know what’s going on and give them a crash course in microbiology. I’m so impressed how things that seem so small to us like scrape creates an entire scenario as the cells work to repair the damage and fight off germs.

How this applies to writing: Education does not have to be boring! I feel like as a 90s kid I knew this best with PC games like Super Solvers, Putt-Putt, and Reader Rabbit targeting elementary and middle schoolers, but Cells at Work targets high schoolers or even college students! I feel like if more people made learning science this fun we’d have a lot more educated people. 😂

2.) Personifying Objects

Of course, cells don’t actually have personalities or other human characteristics but the creators of this anime did such an amazing job with fusing the world of cells with relatable characters. Red Blood Cell wears red clothing and travels through the body delivering oxygen, carbon dioxide, and nutrients to the proper places. White Blood Cell is completely white, detects germs, can pass through cellular walls, and proceeds to scream DIE GERM as he slaughters any germs he come across. Natural Killer Cell is like an elite assassin who goes after cancer cells.

How this applies to writing: I find it so creative how shows like Cells at Work and Hetalia take non human things and personify them. Pixar’s Inside Out comes to mind too as they gave emotions their own personification. There’s so many characteristics taken from objects that can be given as clothing or hair colors or even abilities to personified characters!

3.) Keeping Research Accurate

Though the characters in Cells at Work! have many human-like characteristics, it’s also important to remember that they’re not human. They have supernatural abilities or limitations characteristic to what the truly are. White Blood Cell and Macrophage have the capabilities to kick germ butt, but Red Blood Cell and the Platelets can’t do that. It’s just not how cells work, so though it’s common to want Red Blood Cell to turn into a germ fighting machine that’s just not scientifically accurate.

Another example is there are instances where events happen to the body that are too strong for the body to handle like when they experience heat stroke or shock. Outside intervention has to save them. Or when the cells do really dumb things like the Mast Cell adding way too much histamine during an allergic which is hilarious but also just what the body does when they’re allergic to something.

How this applies to writing: Cells at Work! Is so accurate and well researched that doctors actually are surprised. Keeping everything realistic to the show makes this story concept even more unique and special.

4.) An Arc Across Episodic Stories

There isn’t an ovearching plot in this show but a bunch of events that happen to the body and how the cells handle it. But that doesn’t mean character development can’t happen. Red Blood Cell is basically the main character and she begins the show as a cell new to the job and is very directionally challenged. Over time she gets better at her job and she even gets another cell to take under her wing. Though the new cell is very composed and has a lot of knowledge about her job, she still learns from Red Blood Cell dedication doing her job no matter what is happening in the body. Red Blood Cell becomes someone to be admired not looked down upon.

How this applies to writing: This holds true with episodic TV shows like Star Trek or Cheers but also for books like Redwall or novella compilations like Assassins’s Blade by Sarah J. Maas. And a way to do that is …

5.) Make events target character development

There are many events in Cells at Work! that force the characters to grow such as Naive T Cell with the influenza virus or Eosinophil and the parasite. The characters have to step up or there are dire consequences and these events particularly target them since they’re the only ones that help. Though it’s hard for them in the end they’re better for it.

How this applies to writing: What events can you have happen in your story to force your character develop? Can you have her encounter her greatest fear? Can you have him find an area where only his skill will help? What sacrifice can your character make that requires character growth?

Conclusion

If you like adult edutainment definitely check this anime out!

Have you watched Cells at Work!? Have you noticed these writing aspects? What movies have you noticed have good writing? Let’s geek out together!