Cells at Work! 1
2 journalers for this copy...
I spotted this new manga at Barnes and Noble and couldn't resist it - it's about anthropomorphized blood-cells as they go about their daily chores, and it's both entertaining and educational.
Each of the many different blood-components is represented by unique characters - with a helpful chart on the title page, a good thing as there are sooo very many of them. While the two on the cover - cute little girl red blood cell and pale, stoic-looking white blood cell - seem to be the main characters, everything from macrophages to mast cells to helper T-cells are included.
Much of the story does hinge around the attempts of newbie red-blood-cell to deliver her load of oxygen, with many perils along the way - from some humorous ones involving her getting lost to more frightening ones involving invading organisms. The scenes in which the white blood cells battle bacteria are pretty darned gruesome!
The dramatic scenes are a setup for extensive explanations as to how the various parts of the body work, whether it has to do with potentially-lethal bacteria or mildly-inconvenient allergens, and all of it is turned into Very Serious Business - with some quirky humor around the edges. (The bit with the alarmed memory-cell reacting to the presence of an allergen made me laugh, as it's rendered as if it was a fantasy-world seer reacting to the omens of a long-dreaded prophecy. "It's just like the legend says...!")
At one point, the various blood components are in mid-battle against an invader when a weird robotic entity turns up, blasting nearly everything in range - it's a steroid, which the human host took for allergies, but which has its own side effects (and which can screw up the body's natural defenses).
The "influenza" arc shows a terrified "naive T cell" (one that has not yet encountered an antigen) seeing its first zombie-like virus-infected cells, which the white blood cell destroys in very gruesome fashion. This leads to a whole new set of characters, lots of variants of T-cells with specialized functions in battling viruses - a very informative and lively chapter.
Farther on there's a chapter on a "scrape wound", showing how the blood components deal with wounds - including a terrifying panel of blood-spattered white cell commandos madly hunting for any invading bacteria. Makes a simple cut or scrape seem like high drama - which, I suppose, it is at a cellular level! (Given the high drama and the macho, warrior-like white blood cells, I was tickled when the platelets turned out to be drawn as a bunch of very cute little children...)
All in all, a very entertaining and educational series!
A more in-depth book about blood is Five Quarts by Bill Hayes. And another entertaining manga in which cells feature prominently is Moyasimon, though it focuses on bacteria and yeasts outside the body rather than those inside.
[There's a TV Tropes page on the series with some entertaining tidbits. And check out the delightful YouTube channel Dr. Hope's Sick Notes; a UK doctor comments on medical aspects of pop culture, including a series based on the "Cells at Work" anime!]
Each of the many different blood-components is represented by unique characters - with a helpful chart on the title page, a good thing as there are sooo very many of them. While the two on the cover - cute little girl red blood cell and pale, stoic-looking white blood cell - seem to be the main characters, everything from macrophages to mast cells to helper T-cells are included.
Much of the story does hinge around the attempts of newbie red-blood-cell to deliver her load of oxygen, with many perils along the way - from some humorous ones involving her getting lost to more frightening ones involving invading organisms. The scenes in which the white blood cells battle bacteria are pretty darned gruesome!
The dramatic scenes are a setup for extensive explanations as to how the various parts of the body work, whether it has to do with potentially-lethal bacteria or mildly-inconvenient allergens, and all of it is turned into Very Serious Business - with some quirky humor around the edges. (The bit with the alarmed memory-cell reacting to the presence of an allergen made me laugh, as it's rendered as if it was a fantasy-world seer reacting to the omens of a long-dreaded prophecy. "It's just like the legend says...!")
At one point, the various blood components are in mid-battle against an invader when a weird robotic entity turns up, blasting nearly everything in range - it's a steroid, which the human host took for allergies, but which has its own side effects (and which can screw up the body's natural defenses).
The "influenza" arc shows a terrified "naive T cell" (one that has not yet encountered an antigen) seeing its first zombie-like virus-infected cells, which the white blood cell destroys in very gruesome fashion. This leads to a whole new set of characters, lots of variants of T-cells with specialized functions in battling viruses - a very informative and lively chapter.
Farther on there's a chapter on a "scrape wound", showing how the blood components deal with wounds - including a terrifying panel of blood-spattered white cell commandos madly hunting for any invading bacteria. Makes a simple cut or scrape seem like high drama - which, I suppose, it is at a cellular level! (Given the high drama and the macho, warrior-like white blood cells, I was tickled when the platelets turned out to be drawn as a bunch of very cute little children...)
All in all, a very entertaining and educational series!
A more in-depth book about blood is Five Quarts by Bill Hayes. And another entertaining manga in which cells feature prominently is Moyasimon, though it focuses on bacteria and yeasts outside the body rather than those inside.
[There's a TV Tropes page on the series with some entertaining tidbits. And check out the delightful YouTube channel Dr. Hope's Sick Notes; a UK doctor comments on medical aspects of pop culture, including a series based on the "Cells at Work" anime!]
Journal Entry 2 by GoryDetails at MC Square (formerly Carriage Depot) in Amherst, New Hampshire USA on Friday, January 27, 2017
Released 7 yrs ago (1/27/2017 UTC) at MC Square (formerly Carriage Depot) in Amherst, New Hampshire USA
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
I plan to leave this book in or near A&E Roastery in the square at around 12:30 or so; hope the finder enjoys it!
Update: left as planned, inside the Hippo free-newspaper box at the A&E door. Tucked a clipping of upcoming regional blood drives in the book too.
[See other recent releases in New Hampshire here.]
*** Released as part of the 2017 Clean Start for the New Year release challenge, for the embedded "ell" in the title. ***
Update: left as planned, inside the Hippo free-newspaper box at the A&E door. Tucked a clipping of upcoming regional blood drives in the book too.
[See other recent releases in New Hampshire here.]
*** Released as part of the 2017 Clean Start for the New Year release challenge, for the embedded "ell" in the title. ***
Found during a visit to A&E Roastery in Amherst, NH.....Currently reading