1. My newest anime discovery is Cells at Work, a lighthearted edutainment series that personifies the cells of the body. The main characters are a rookie Red Blood cell, who delivers oxygen and nutrients throughout the body, and a stoical White Blood Cell, who defends against germs. We also meet other cells, like the Platelets (who make repairs), the Killer T cells (more elite immune system soldiers), Eosinophil (who defends against parasites), Basophil (who…makes hilariously flowery speeches?), and so on. Naturally, the Immune System gets the most attention, as it has the opportunity for high-octane action scenes.

It’s a very fun, very cute series. It’s almost all one-shot episodes, with only a few two-parters for major events. Each episode sees the cells dealing with a different health issue, such as battling the flu or dealing with food poisoning from bad fish. These are mostly both very creative (seeing an allergic reaction from the point of view of the immune system is essentially a comedy of errors) and, apparently, highly accurate and well-researched, according to doctors’ comments on the show.

2. More than that, it’s probably the most anime anime I’ve seen. What I mean is that we’re ticking pretty much all the standard anime boxes: the cute, clumsy heroine trying to make her way in the world; the indomitable hero with a compassionate heart; the adorable child mascots; the overachieving commander and his sensible female subordinate; the over-the-top monsters; the world-threatening villain with a sympathetic backstory, etc.

Personally, I think that adds to the charm, especially since it’s such a lighthearted story.

3. That, and it’s a very Japanese story. Not only is the body designed very much after a Japanese model (e.g. the heart is a temple, the nasal cavity has hot springs and bathhouses, etc.), but the depiction of different kinds of people all dedicated to doing their particular jobs for the common good is very much an older idea, one almost unheard of in the hyper-individualistic West of today, but still prevalent in Eastern fiction.

In this regard its interesting that we get no details about the person whose body this is. The theme song even says “Though we don’t know who you are / For your sake we’re working hard.” It isn’t for the cells to know or care what kind of person they operate within, or what his goals or motivations might be; they just have their own jobs to do to try to make the body work. Now, the person must and ought to take care of his body, to try to make things easier for his cells, because the two aren’t separate or competing entities, but one. What’s good for one is good for the other

There’s only one character who is selfishly fixated on his own well-being without regard to the whole, and though he invites pity for his genuine tragic situation, his nature and attitude render him an existential threat whom the body must destroy. Because not only will he kill every other cell, but by bringing down the system he will inevitably destroy himself on top of it.

Apply this idea however you like.

4. I also really like the pseudo-romance between Red Blood Cell and White Blood Cell (I say ‘pseudo’ because, of course, they’re cells: it can only go so far). Again, it’s a bit of normal humanity which Japan has largely retained and which the mainstream western media has largely sought to purge from itself; the cute girl gets repeatedly rescued by the kind and capable guy, so naturally they form a bond. It’s charming, it’s real, and that’s all there needs to be to it.

5. There is an argument which we might call the “but then the story couldn’t happen” fallacy. The way it usually works is that a character in a story will do something stupid or out of character or there will be a gigantic plot hole somewhere, and when it is pointed out, advocates will say “but otherwise the story couldn’t happen.” So, “why would you go into the dinosaur cage before checking the electronic tracker to see if it’s in there?” So the movie can happen, because we’re incompetent writers who can’t think of anything better.

There is a version of this that works, which is something that both fundamental and does not depend on specific actions of the characters, so we can let it slide for the sake of the story. The fact that no one should have been around to hear Kane’s final words in Citizen Kane, for instance, is a famous example. Slur over that and assume someone somehow did, and you get the movie. Slur over the exact mechanics of time travel in the first two Terminator films, and you get the movie. Both of these are baked into the premise and don’t really affect any of the actions that the characters make.

Similarly, in Cells at Work there is the fact that, with so many cells in the body, the odds of the same Red Blood Cell being repeatedly rescued by the same White Blood Cell are quite literally astronomical (37 trillion cells in the body, as the theme song reminds us). But if we were to play this realistically, assuming such a thing could be done at all, then it would be impossible to have recurring characters or relationships, so this element is slurred over after the style of a fantasy-fable.

6. One of the lessons that everyone must learn sooner or later is that is does not take any special talent to throw huge amounts of money at aging actors and meticulously recreate old sets or aesthetics, and therefore film studios should not get any credit for doing so.

In other words, I have zero interest in Avengers: Doomsday.

7. I’m taking a strict ‘wait and see’ approach to all international news. That said, as a general rule my attitude is “only interfere with the internal affairs of other countries if you are willing to fully commit to all that may imply.” Or, to paraphrase Machiavelli, “You must either tickle men or kill them, but never just hurt them.”