The cutest thing to come out of Cells at Work!! has to be the blood platelets. Personified in the form of school children, they work hard to repair the body whenever the skin is broken. Season 2 adds to the growing list of characters by introducing us to the cell that produces the blood platelets, the Megakaryocyte! She is dressed in similar attire to the blood platelets, but as their mother, she is best described as an adult platelet. Her demeanor is strong and unyielding, and when things get really tense, Megakaryocyte can encourage her platelet children to work even harder! The best part is all the yelling she does with a sleeping baby strapped to her chest!

Episodes 4 and 5 saw the introduction of arguably the cutest little microbes in the human body – lactic acid bacteria! Forming an important part of the stomach flora of a healthy human being, the lactic acid bacteria are first shown as adorable, infantile germs that an average cell saves from a stream. After he saves them, they become incredibly attached to him despite his best efforts to leave them be. Even worse, because they’re foreign microbes, they set off the receptors of our favourite white blood cell, 1146!

Hilarity ensues when White Blood Cell 1146 learns that the lactic acid bacteria are in the care of the cell who saved them, and he sadly explains that his job requires that he eliminate them. However, they are interrupted by the emergence of a formidable germ causing havoc in the stomach. Helicobacter Pylori leaves the stomach lining in tatters and the white blood cells have their work cut out for them in trying to suppress the ensuing infection. Just as things were looking bleak, one of the lactic acid bacteria steps up and engages the enemy in an epic display of the benefit of the body’s good bacteria.

While usually the strongest cells in the show, the immune cells had a tough time dealing with the second coming of the influenza virus. Having mutated and changed from the earlier strain, this one did not seem affected by any of the efforts of the immune cells, which greatly frustrated them. Meanwhile, our favourite bacteria-loving body cell accidentally loses one of his lactic acid bacteria friends in a storm drain.

It is found unconscious by Dendritic Cell, who becomes the main hero of this infection when he uses the lactic acid bacterium to create polysaccharides which enable Dendritic Cell to become activated. Once activated, he gains the ability to create cytokines in the form of embarrassing photos of the various immune cells engaging the flu in combat. Once threatened with unending embarrassment, the immune system cells power up and dispatch the enemy!

One of the funniest scenes in Cells at Work!! comes at the very beginning of the season in the second episode. T Memory Cells, specialized immune system cells responsible for the “memory” of the immune system, are responsible for retrieving the memory of previous infections to speed up the immune response when a foreign agent enters the body. In Cells at Work!!; however, Memory ironically struggles with memory problems, with the memories of past battles against infectious agents coming to him as premonitions, rather than memories. Memory battles with visions of an apocalypse brought on by a mumps infection, but the “visions” turn out to be the memories of an earlier encounter with the pathogen! In episode 5, Memory is shown in absolute despair when the flu returns as a different strain.

The Langerhans Cell is a type of Dendritic Cell found in the skin. Their role is to bring foreign agents or substances to the immune cells. Characterised as an old man butler type, Langerhans gets his main character moment when the body experiences a mosquito bite. After the mosquito’s proboscis exits the skin, it leaves a strange mask that clings to Langerhans’ face – a blatant Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure Easter Egg! Now infected with Dengue Fever, the sense of humour evident throughout Cells at Work!! uses Langerhans to make a well-welcomed reference to a legendary title, while making it both hilarious and ominous!