Even when a baby turns over in bed, there are many cells working hard behind the scenes to make it happen! This second volume of the manga featuring anthropomorphized cells working in a baby's body is dedicated to all the busy moms and dads out there, as well as everybody else who was all once babies! Even after a baby is safely born, they'll bump their head, get vaccinated, and catch a cold... There's just never a moment of rest for the cells in a baby's body!!
The problem with having a healthcare/science background is remembering that in actuality red blood cells will always outlive white blood cells by a lot.
I was a big WBC/RBC shipper in the OG Cells at Work! and man that hurt. WBC is cute in this but I see it as more of a friendship on RBC's part. But maybe that is because I ship her with F. Yes, I know it's weird to ship blood cells and that this isn't that kind of comic. But I still ship it lol
In this volume the baby deals with its first bump, gets its first vaccination, gets the RS virus, has constipation, and almost suffocates, presumably in its crib. We meet Killer T Cell, some rectal muscle cells, and Red Blood Cell (RBC) gets into a fight with F.
Once again, I don't know enough to say how accurate the information is or how good the advice for parents is.
Platelets are in this volume, and they're even tinier than they were in the original series.
The author comments on this themselves, but wow, there are a lot of terrified immune cells in this series. White Blood Cell was a dedicated and frightening killer in the original Cells at Work! - here, White Blood Cell does his job while constantly terrified he's going to die. Killer T Cell acts like a big shot when in reality he doesn't 100% know what he's doing and worries that this will be obvious if he's ordered to do something.
The weirdest part of the volume was the section devoted to constipation, which includes RBC drooling in happiness at witnessing stools (represented as a pile of garbage bags) get expelled and several of the cells talking about how good it feels when feces are expelled.
Baby's body systems are starting to get the hang of things. But it is still hard work keeping baby healthy. In this volume baby gets a bump on the forehead, a vaccination, RS virus, is constipated, and chokes. Red Blood Cell also meets White Blood Cell and Killer T for the first time, and talks to F about how he's been treating her.
Just as educational as the original series. If I were still teaching Biology I'd totally include this series and the original in my curriculum. It teaches the parts of the very complicated immune system so memorably, and also includes great bits on other body systems. These are super educational and it doesn't feel like you're getting educated. These baby ones are kept more middle grade appropriate than the original with no swearing (heck is the worst thing said) and the takedowns of bad invaders are less bloody.
Notes on content: No language issues. No sexual content. Some viruses are destroyed in a fight, but it is more implied than shown. The baby faces some potentially serious threats, but is ok.
The life of a baby continues in the second volume. This series reads more like a nonfiction book than the original series did, so I recommend it to those who want a deeper understanding of neonatal biology.
"If I had to use one word to describe what I feel when when all the piled up stools leave the body through that anus . . . It'd be 'blissful!'" Finally, a writer that's not afraid of the deep truths.
Cute, pleasant artstyle and funny personalities make this another good entry. I especially like the calm kinda stoic platelet in contrast with to red blood cell. I did think F was going to die in the end. good :)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
For a super cute series, it got really scary in this volume, real fast too. The RS virus was interesting as I didn't know about most babies getting sick with in a year of life.
Introducing the new takes on some old favorites: Platelets, B Cell, Memory Cell, and Killer T Cell.
Chapter 9 explains why it's important to vaccinate your kids!
In Chapter 14, I learned that babies aren't always going to poop their diapers (and how to fix baby constipation).
But Chapter 15 give me too much anxiety...I've got a nephew due this month and I'm not even confident about holding a baby let alone taking care of one.