It has been a hard fought battle in the Cells at Work! Code Black manga, but it seems that signs of hope are starting to appear. Only briefly, though, before the cells are plunged into their next crisis in the seventh volume. It’s a threat seen before in Cells at Work!, but this time we have a Code Black take on it.
This volume contains chapters thirty-seven to forty-one.
Front cover of the seventh volume Cells at Work! Code Black, featuring Cancer Cell, Killer T Cell and Red Blood Cell
BEFORE FIRST LIGHT
After years of struggle against the ill health of this body and the despair in its heart, the first glimmers of hope have begun to appear. Could the body finally be taking control of its health and looking to the future? Alas, even amid this turnaround, the costs of the life the body has led are still coming due. In a hidden corner, a copying error occurs, then repeats itself, then repeats itself again. A new, unnoticed threat is getting out of control: Cancer.
Well, it only felt inevitable that Code Black would be tackling cancer sooner or later, After all, the body made conditions ripe for it to occur; I’m just surprised it took this long. The original Cells at Work! also had a couple of chapters focusing on cancer, but what happened there is very much light-hearted compared to what Code Black gives us.
Code Black‘s version of the NK Cell is introduced here, but unfortunately she doesn’t get much attention. Instead, it is a Naive T Cell, who becomes a Killer T Cell during the crisis, who gets most of the action.
The body has faced some pretty dire situations so far, and this one continues that trend. Not everyone is coming out of it alive, either. Many of the cells are frustrated with the body’s condition, and it is plain to see why. They have to deal with so much beyond their control.
In some cases, though, all the cells can do is muster up the resolve to keep pushing on, even in the face of overwhelming odds. Some find it easier to do than others; the newer cells in particular struggle to overcome a crisis of this magnitude.
Some cells can not fight, but their support is key to ensuring that the body can keep going – well, that and some external factors as well.
Sometimes the body just isn’t equipped well enough to fend off certain disasters. However, all those external things do come with a ray of hope; the body wants to continue living.
A pretty solid volume of Cells at Work! Code Black here, and it treads some familiar territory in a way that feels new whilst communicating the hows and whys of cancer. The darker tone certainly helps to contribute to that; this isn’t your happy-go-lucky Cells at Work!.
I still stand by my statement that the original is best, though I’m happy to say that this spin-off does a good job, too.
Rory Muses 