# Cells at Work! (はたらく細胞) (2024 film)
**Cells at Work!** ([はたらく細胞](https://www.edgepedia.org/cells-at-work), *Hataraku Saibō*) is a 2024 Japanese live-action comedy-action film directed by Hideki Takeuchi that adapts Akane Shimizu's manga *Cells at Work!*, in which the cells of the human body are depicted as anthropomorphized workers, together with its spin-off *Cells at Work! BLACK* by Shigemitsu Harada and Issei Hatsuyoshiya.[1](https://eiga.com/movie/99128/) It was released in Japan by [Warner Bros. Pictures](https://www.edgepedia.org/warner-bros-pictures) on December 13, 2024, runs 109 minutes, and stars Mei Nagano as a red blood cell and [Takeru Satoh](https://www.edgepedia.org/takeru-satoh) as a white blood cell, with Sadao Abe and Mana Ashida as the human father and daughter whose bodies the cells inhabit.[1](https://eiga.com/movie/99128/) • [2](https://jfdb.jp/en/title/10376/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | December 13, 2024, Japan; distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures[1](https://eiga.com/movie/99128/) |
| Director / writer | Hideki Takeuchi (director), Yuichi Tokunaga (screenplay)[1](https://eiga.com/movie/99128/) |
| Source material | *Cells at Work!* by Akane Shimizu and *Cells at Work! BLACK* by Shigemitsu Harada, Issei Hatsuyoshiya, and Akane Shimizu, both published by Kodansha[1](https://eiga.com/movie/99128/) |
| Leads | Mei Nagano as Red Blood Cell AE3803; Takeru Satoh as White Blood Cell U-1146 (Neutrophil)[2](https://jfdb.jp/en/title/10376/) |
| Opening box office | 844 million yen (about 5.48 million USD) from 611,000 admissions, December 13–15, 2024, a first-place debut[3](https://www.crunchyroll.com/news/latest/2024/12/17/cells-at-work-live-action-movie-number-1-japan-box-office) |
| Total box office | 6,003,011,870 yen from 4,480,147 tickets as of February 12, 2025[4](https://www.crunchyroll.com/news/latest/2025/2/14/cells-at-work-live-action-movie-six-billion-yen-japan-box-office) |
| Awards | 48th Japan Academy Prize (2025): Best Art Direction (Masumi Miura) and Newcomer of the Year (Rihito Itagaki)[5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt27192829/awards/) |
## Spoilers
### Premise and cast
The film sets two contrasting bodily worlds side by side. High school student Niko Urushizaki (Mana Ashida), who lives with her father Shigeru (Sadao Abe) after her mother's early death, is serious-minded and keeps healthy habits, so the cells in her body work happily; her father drinks, smokes, and keeps irregular hours, and his exhausted cells complain about their harsh working conditions.[1](https://eiga.com/movie/99128/) • [6](https://www.wowow.co.jp/detail/204546) Inside Niko, a directionally challenged rookie red blood cell, AE3803 (Mei Nagano), delivers oxygen through the bloodstream while the white blood cell U-1146 (Takeru Satoh), a neutrophil who is dutiful but awkward about expressing emotion, hunts invading bacteria.[6](https://www.wowow.co.jp/detail/204546) • [7](https://jffau.jpf.go.jp/film/cells-at-work/) When pathogens begin to invade both bodies, the cells fight what the marketing called the greatest battle in the body's history, with the Urushizaki family's future at stake.[8](https://www.warnerbros.co.jp/home_entertainment/hfozviq72ubt/)
The supporting cast maps other cell types to actors: Kōji Yamamoto as Killer T Cell, Riisa Naka as NK Cell, Wakana Matsumoto as [Macrophage](https://www.edgepedia.org/macrophage), Shōta Sometani as Helper T Cell, Rihito Itagaki as a rookie red blood cell, Ryō Katō as a senior red blood cell, Mikako Ichikawa as Platelet, Kyōko Fukada as a hepatocyte, and Fukase of the band SEKAI NO OWARI in an undisclosed role.[1](https://eiga.com/movie/99128/) • [8](https://www.warnerbros.co.jp/home_entertainment/hfozviq72ubt/) Action direction was by Takahito Ōuchi of the *Rurouni Kenshin* films.[1](https://eiga.com/movie/99128/)
## Production
The live-action adaptation was announced with Takeuchi Hideki, director of the *Thermae Romae* and *Fly Me to the Saitama* films, attached to direct and Yuichi Tokunaga writing the screenplay.[9](https://natalie.mu/eiga/news/517243) The source manga, serialized in Kodansha's *Monthly Shōnen Sirius*, had already spawned a television anime and multiple spin-offs and surpassed 10 million copies in cumulative circulation before the film was made.[8](https://www.warnerbros.co.jp/home_entertainment/hfozviq72ubt/) The music is by Face 2 fAKE, and the theme song is "50%" by Official HIGE DANdism.[6](https://www.wowow.co.jp/detail/204546)
## Box office
**Opening.** The film opened across Japan on December 13, 2024 and earned 844 million yen (5.48 million USD) from 611,000 admissions over its first weekend, topping the box office ranking. That opening ranked third among live-action Japanese films released in 2024, behind *Kingdom: Return of the Great General* (1.629 billion yen in July) and *[Last Mile](https://www.edgepedia.org/last-mile-2024-film)* (978 million yen in August).[3](https://www.crunchyroll.com/news/latest/2024/12/17/cells-at-work-live-action-movie-number-1-japan-box-office) It held the No. 1 position for four consecutive weekends.[4](https://www.crunchyroll.com/news/latest/2025/2/14/cells-at-work-live-action-movie-six-billion-yen-japan-box-office)
**Cumulative total.** On February 13, 2025 the film's official account announced that domestic grosses had passed six billion yen; per Animate Times, the total stood at 6,003,011,870 yen from 4,480,147 tickets as of February 12, 61 days after release. This made it the second top-grossing Japanese film released in 2024, behind *Kingdom: Return of the Great General* at 8.03 billion yen, and the biggest box-office hit to date for the director, both lead actors, and the distributor.[4](https://www.crunchyroll.com/news/latest/2025/2/14/cells-at-work-live-action-movie-six-billion-yen-japan-box-office)
## Reception and awards
Critics responded to the film's mixture of comedy, action, and physiology. James Hadfield of *The Japan Times* described Takeuchi as rare among Japanese filmmakers in making manga adaptations whose characters feel as if they have stepped straight out of the comic's pages.[10](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/cells_at_work) At the 48th Japan Academy Prize in 2025, Masumi Miura won Best Art Direction and Rihito Itagaki won Newcomer of the Year; the film also received Excellence Awards for supporting actress (Mana Ashida), music (Face 2 fAKE), sound recording (Takashi Kanasugi), and editing (Hiroshi Matsuo).[5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt27192829/awards/) • [1](https://eiga.com/movie/99128/)
## Streaming
The film is available on Netflix, with audio in Japanese, English, Brazilian Portuguese, and Chinese and subtitles in English, Japanese, Korean, Brazilian Portuguese, and simplified Chinese; Netflix holds the international streaming rights.[11](https://www.netflix.com/jp/title/81779207)
## References
1. [はたらく細胞 : 作品情報・キャスト・あらすじ・動画, 映画.com](https://eiga.com/movie/99128/)
2. [Cells at Work! (Hataraku Saibo), Japanese Film Database](https://jfdb.jp/en/title/10376/)
3. [Japan Box Office: Cells at Work! Live-Action Movie Debuts at No.1, Crunchyroll News](https://www.crunchyroll.com/news/latest/2024/12/17/cells-at-work-live-action-movie-number-1-japan-box-office)
4. [Cells at Work! Live-Action Movie Reaches 6 Billion Yen at Japanese Box Office, Crunchyroll News](https://www.crunchyroll.com/news/latest/2025/2/14/cells-at-work-live-action-movie-six-billion-yen-japan-box-office)
5. [Cells at Work! (2024) – Awards, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt27192829/awards/)
6. [はたらく細胞 | 映画, WOWOWオンライン](https://www.wowow.co.jp/detail/204546)
7. [Cells at Work! (はたらく細胞), The Japanese Film Festival Australia](https://jffau.jpf.go.jp/film/cells-at-work/)
8. [はたらく細胞 | ワーナー・ブラザース公式サイト](https://www.warnerbros.co.jp/home_entertainment/hfozviq72ubt/)
9. [「はたらく細胞」が実写映画化、監督・脚本は「翔んで埼玉」の武内英樹と徳永友一, 映画ナタリー](https://natalie.mu/eiga/news/517243)
10. [Cells at Work! – Critics Reviews, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/cells_at_work)
11. [はたらく細胞を観る | Netflix](https://www.netflix.com/jp/title/81779207)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Films by genre, form, and subject › Adaptations of literature, stage, and other media › Films based on comics and graphic novels*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license