The staff for the live-action film adaptation of Akane Shimizu’s Cells at Work! (Hataraku Saibō) manga revealed four new cast members and a poster visual on Wednesday.
The newly announced cast members are (image above from left to right):
– Kōji Yamamoto as Killer T Cell
– Riisa Naka as NK Cell
– Wakana Matsumoto as Macrophage
– Maika Pugh as Platelet
Previously announced cast includes:
– Mei Nagano as Red Blood Cell
– Takeru Satō as White Blood Cell
– Sadao Abe as unhealthy father Shigeru Urushizaki
– Mana Ashida as healthy daughter Niko Urushizaki
Cells at Work! Film Set to Premiere December 13 with Hideki Takeuchi Directing; Manga and Spinoffs Continue to Expand
The film will premiere in Japan on December 13. Hideki Takeuchi (live-action Nodame Cantabile, Thermae Romae, Fly Me to Saitama) is directing the film, with a script by Yūichi Tokunaga (live-action Kaguya-sama: Love is War, Liar x Liar, Princess Jellyfish). Warner Bros. Japan is distributing the film.
Shimizu launched the original Cells at Work! manga in the March 2015 issue of Kodansha’s Monthly Shonen Sirius magazine and concluded it in January 2021. Kodansha USA Publishing is releasing the manga in English.
The first television anime adaptation of the original manga premiered in July 2018. The second season premiered in January 2021, alongside the anime adaptation of the Cells at Work! Code Black spinoff manga.
Kodansha USA Publishing is also releasing the following spinoff manga in English: Cells at Work: Bacteria!, Cells at Work!: Neo Bacteria!, Cells at Work! White Brigade, Cells at Work! Baby, Cells NOT at Work!, Cells at Work! Code Black, Cells at Work and Friends!, and Cells at Work: Platelets!.
The latest Cells at Work! spinoff manga to conclude is Kae Hashimoto’s Hataraku Saibō Illegal (Cells at Work! Illegal), which ended in July 2023. This manga focused on a body that takes illegal substances and is subjected to physical violence.
Akari Otokawa and Shigemitsu Harada’s Hataraku Saibō Lady (Cells at Work! Lady) spinoff manga ended in September 2022. It centered on adult women’s physiology, including menstruation, pregnancy, and childbirth.
Harada also wrote the separate Cells at Work! spinoff manga Cells at Work! Code Black, which ended in January 2021. Yū Maeda’s Hataraku Saibō Muscle (Cells at Work! Muscle) spinoff manga launched on Kodansha’s Morning two manga website in February 2023.
Choco Aozora and Meku Kaire’s Hataraku Saibō Neko (Cells at Work! Cat) and Koma Warita and Ryō Kuji’s Hataraku Saibō Okusuri (Cells at Work! Medicine) both recently launched in Kodansha’s Monthly Shonen Sirius magazine in May 2023.
