English Dub Review: Cells at Work! “Dengue Fever / Acne”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

In “Dengue Fever,” Mast Cell releases histamines after getting a notice on toxic levels which floods the bloodstream. The other cells complain about her actions which sent her into a rage and refuses to do her work. Then a mosquito attacks and leaves behind the dengue virus which sticks to the Langerhans cells and they start attacking other cells. Mast Cell hesitates, but Basophil encourages her to do her job. She releases the histamine which alerts the immune cells who swiftly take care of the infected cells.

In “Acne,” White Blood Cell U-1146 reports a pore that has acne ruling over the hair cells of the pore now turned pimple. He falls into a crack with the young hair cell he saves from the army of acne bacteria. The young hair cell shows him the pus made of the other white blood cells who came to help and cries in helplessness. U-1146 reassures him that as long as he’s around he won’t let the germs have their way. U-1146 fights the king of the acne germs while the hair cells overload the pore with sebum. After liberating the pore from the acne U-1146 gets a hair cell hat as a present from the young hair cell much to his embarrassment.

Our Take:

Cells at Work makes learning about the cells in bodies fun with the common incidents that the body encounters like mosquito bites and pimples that interrupt the workflow of the cells. The voice acting is good and the action is exciting. I was wondering how the acne germs could dominate the pore with the white blood cells on the clock.

It’s interesting how the anime portrays the dengue virus with the tengu masks and wind fans. The Basophil’s dialogue is long and cryptic, but he gets the point across to Mast cell on triggering the histamines. She saves the day by alerting the immune cells who violently eliminate the infected Langerhans. The conflict between Mast Cell and the ordinary cells gets solved with the cell’s apology to Mast Cell. Although I must admit I have to admire Red Blood Cell AE3083’s luck in getting out of that mess. The scolding she gets from her senpai is amusing with U-1146 trying to help out.

Then in “Acne,” the short is pretty straightforward with the horrible conditions that the hair cells are being put through by the acne germs and U-1146 saving the day. His actions made him a hero in the eyes of the young hair cell. U-1146’s words to the young hair cell about his job and completing it to the end inspires the young cell to get the other hair cells to fight back. Their plan to overflow the sebum was good as U-1146 defeats the acne germ. Then U-1146 popping out of that small hole while covered in sebum was hilarious with the other cells’ reaction. Also, the little hair cell’s gift to him was cute. Not even U-1146 could refuse the floppy hat.

Overall it was a fun episode with the gushing demise of infected cells and heartwarming endings to both shorts.