CELLS AT WORK! – EPISODE 4 (REVIEW)

By: ZelyhonIn this week’s episode, the Stomach is the main action location.  Mr. or Mrs. Host seems to have eaten some bad seafood and is having a rough time of it.  RBC and WBC start out taking a tour of the Stomach when the detector goes off.  WBC goes to investigate and finds Eosinophil.  She’s having a rough time of it fighting against a random germ.  WBC dispatches it quickly before the stomach begins to shake.A much larger bacteria from the seafood breaks loose and begins causing trouble.  WBC and comrades take it down, though Eosinophil gets in over her head and WBC almost gets killed for it.  Some of the other cells begin to talk badly about her.  In the middle of this, though, other parts of the body are realizing that the bug was not the worst of it.  In fact, a parasite has entered the body, causing a much bigger problem.  The damage fills the vomit meter, causing the stomach to erupt.  However, this is precisely what Eosinophil is there for.  She swiftly dispatches the parasite and the rest of the team realize her value and cheer her on.I continue to be charmed by this series.  My cellular biology isn’t strong, but the show makes it very accessible to understand and enjoy what is going on.  As mentioned last week, they also do an amusing job of working in some stock anime tropes.  This week’s is somewhat similar to last week, where the tropes played are relating to the “weak” member of the team being accepted for their own particular skills.  It was still amusing to me, but it feels like it could have been spaced out a bit from last week’s episode.  Maybe put one or two episodes between last week’s and this week’s for pacing reasons.The germ and monster designs are also thoroughly enjoyable.  Both the unnamed germ at the beginning and the Enteritis Vibrio continue the trend.  In particular, that first germ looked like a monster out of some shounen series was really interesting, for as short lived as it was.I have to say, though, this series is somewhat more difficult to write for.  It’s quite episodic, without much to discuss from week to week as far as themes or character developments .  It’s definitely fun to watch, but lacks some substance to dive deeper into and analyze.  That’s fine for watching, but sometimes leaves a review like this with some slim pickings. With that being said, we'll probably pick up our next Cells at Work! review in a few weeks to recap a handful of episodes all at once. Look forward to it!