Summary
- The Cells at Work live-action film will be available on Netflix starting June 13, 2025.
- The live-action adaptation adds a human host and daughter, enhancing the story's emotional depth.
- The film is a faithful adaptation with incredible performances, which helped it become a box office success in Japan.
When we think of anime live-action adaptations, the first one that comes to mind is always Netflix's One Piece. Of course, Netflix delivered an extraordinary live-action adaptation of Eiichiro Oda's One Piece, and it may have broken the anime live-action curse. OPLA deserves every bit of love it has been getting from the community worldwide, but unfortunately, there are some anime live-action adaptations that went unnoticed despite being good.
One such live-action film adaptation is Cells at Work, an underrated movie that had a theatrical release in Japan on December 13, 2024. Interestingly, the Cells at Work live-action comes straight from the Japanese creators who understood the essence of the source material, and maybe that is why the film received positive reviews from fans and newcomers alike. Unfortunately, though, despite being a great adaptation, the film remained underrated because of its limited availability. Well, that's going to change now, as the film is finally set to get released globally.
Cells at Work: Putting a New Spin on Slice of Life
Cells at Work presents like a standard slice of life but has a fun twist that makes it unique. So what is it about the series that stands out?
Cells At Work! Live-Action Will Be Available For Streaming On Netflix
The Film Will Arrive On The Streaming Platform In June
Earlier this month, Warner Bros. Japan confirmed that the live-action adaptation of Cells at Wor k will arrive on Netflix on June 13, 2025. The film had a theatrical release in Japan last year, and while there were some minor complaints, the movie was mostly well-received by the fans. The studio also released a brand-new trailer for the film to hype up its streaming release. There's hardly any marketing effort for the upcoming film from Netflix, but despite that, the trailer and news caught the attention of anime fans, especially those who are familiar with the Cells at Work anime or manga.
Cells at Work is mainly about the anthropomorphized cells of the human body. In the anime and manga, the host, or the human, is irrelevant; instead, it's the struggles and functioning of the Cells that get the spotlight. A Red Blood Cell and a White Blood Cell take the center stage as the main protagonists, and you go through their journey inside the human body. It's surely a unique concept, where you see these cells getting human personalities, as they fight against threats that may cause harm to the human host.
It may sound silly, but Cells at Work might compel you to follow a healthy lifestyle. Regardless, Cells at Work is more than just an educational story; it's an action-packed adventure that features some great fight sequences. The story makes you care about the world established inside the human host, and you actually feel bad when that same world starts to get destroyed just because the human host is addicted to an unhealthy lifestyle.
It's usually hard to adapt such complex anime or manga concepts into live-action, but just like One Piece Live Action, Cells at Work handles that complexity quite well. Hideki Takeuchi did a great job as the director of the film, and his direction and vision were complemented by an incredible performance from the cast. The cast, including Mei Nagano and Takeru Satō, does a phenomenal job portraying the Red and White blood cells. So, it's no wonder that Cells at Work ranked number one at the box office in Japan when it released in theaters. The film was a commercial success and earned more than $5 million in the first three day s. But now, it's almost time for the global fandom to find out if the film truly holds up strong against other anime live-action projects.
How Cells At Work! Live-Action Compares To Anime And Manga
It's The Same Story, But Much Darker
Cells at Work is mostly faithful to the source material; however, it is different in one major and crucial aspect. Apparently, in the anime or the manga, we aren't introduced to the human host, ever. The live-action, on the other hand, introduces us to the human host as well as his daughter. The man is an alcoholic who finds peace in his unhealthy lifestyle, which gives the cells in his body a lot of trouble. At the same time, his daughter leads a healthy life but succumbs to a deadly disease.
Best Slice of Life Anime for Comfort and Calm
With comedy, drama, romance, and more, slice-of-life anime brings day-to-day moments to a whole new level.
Unlike anime and manga, the live-action gives us a heartwarming relationship dynamic through the father-daughter duo. It's great to see the red and white blood cells going through all the trouble to keep the host alive, but the live-action makes the struggle feel more real and empathetic by showing us what the hosts are going through. When you see the daughter lying in the hospital bed, you can actually see her life fading away as the cells do everything in their power to save the host's body, which is also their home. In the end, the implementation of the father-daughter relationship helps viewers connect to the story and makes it more personal.
- Release Date
- December 13, 2024
- Runtime
- 110 minutes
- Director
- Hideki Takeuchi
- Writers
- Yuichi Tokunaga
- Producers
- Atsuyuki Shimoda, Atsuhiro Iwakami, Naoya Kinoshita, Hiroyoshi Koiwai, Yoshiro Hosono, Ikumi Taguchi
Cast
-
Mei NaganoRed Blood Cell -
Takeru SatohWhite Blood Cell
-
Mana AshidaNiko Urushizaki
-
Sadawo AbeShigeru Urushizaki
WHERE TO WATCH
- Main Genre
- Adventure
