Funimation announced on Friday that it will stream simulcasts of the Cells at Work!!, Cells at Work! Code Black, and The Promised Neverland anime in January 2021. In addition, Aniplex of America confirmed that Funimation will stream the Sk8 the Infinity anime in January 2021.
Funimation stated new episodes of both Cells at Work!! and Cells at Work! Code Black will stream two days before they debut in Japan. Cells at Work!! will debut on Funimation on January 7.
The anime of Shigemitsu Harada and Issei Hatsuyoshiya‘s Cells at Work! Code Black (Hataraku Saibō Black) spinoff manga will stream in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Ireland on January 7. Funimation will stream the anime on AnimeLab in Australia and New Zealand, and will confirm the steaming dates for Mexico and Brazil at a later date.
The second season of the television anime of Kaiu Shirai and Posuka Demizu‘s The Promised Neverland manga will stream in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Ireland on January 7. Funimation will stream the anime on AnimeLab in Australia and New Zealand, and on Wakanim in France, Germany, Scandinavia, and Russia.
Director Hiroko Utsumi (Banana Fish, Free! – Iwatobi Swim Club, Free! Eternal Summer) and animation studio BONES‘ (Eureka Seven, My Hero Academia) original anime project Sk8 the Infinity will stream on January 9.
Cells at Work!!, the second season based on Akane Shimizu‘s Cells at Work! manga, will premiere in Japan on January 9.
Hirofumi Ogura (Black Butler II, Null & Peta) is the new director of the second season (and the accompanying theatrical anime) at David Production. Yuuko Kakihara is returning to write and oversee the series scripts. Takahiko Yoshida is returning as the character designer, and Kenichiro Suehiro and MAYUKO are returning to compose the music. The anime will also feature a returning cast. The cast is singing the opening theme song “Go! Go! Saibō Festa!” (Go! Go! Cell Festa). The duo ClariS will perform the ending theme song “Fight!!.”
The first television anime of the original manga premiered in July 2018 and aired for 13 episodes. Aniplex of America streamed the series on Crunchyroll, and Funimation added the show in February. The company released the anime on Blu-ray Disc with an English dub in August 2019. A new anime special aired in December 2018, and Crunchyroll is streaming the special.
The Cells at Work! Code Black anime will premiere on the Tokyo MX, Tochigi TV, YTV, and BS11 channels on January 9 at 24:00 (effectively, January 10 at midnight). It will then run on MBS, TV Aichi, Hokkaido Broadcasting Co., Ltd., and RKB Mainichi Broadcasting. The anime will air right after the second season of the main Cells at Work!! anime for the “Cells at Work! Hour.”
Hideyo Yamamoto (Strike the Blood, Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka) is directing the series at LIDEN FILMS. Hayashi Mori (The Snack World, Layton Mystery Tanteisha: Katori no Nazotoki File) is supervising and writing the series scripts. Eiji Abiko (Last Hope, Baby Blue) is designing the characters, and Yūgo Kanno (Psycho-Pass, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Diamond Is Unbreakable) is composing the music. In addition to performing the opening theme song “Hashire! with Yamasaki Seiya (Kyūso Nekokami)” (Run!), the rock band POLYSICS is performing the ending theme song “Ue o Mukaite Hakobō with Sekkekkyū/Hakkekkyū” (Look Up and Carry on with Red/White Blood Cells” with lead cast members Junya Enoki and Yōko Hikasa.
Junya Enoki is playing Red Blood Cell (AA2153), Yōko Hikasa is playing White Blood Cell (1196), and Kenjiro Tsuda is narrating the anime.
Kodansha Comics licensed the manga, and it describes the story:
In this new spinoff of the hit manga, a newbie Red Blood Cell is one of 37 trillion working to keep this body running. But something’s wrong! Stress hormones keep yelling at him to go faster. The blood vessels are crusted over with cholesterol. Ulcers, fatty liver, trouble (ahem) downstairs… It’s hard for a cell to keep working when every day is a CODE BLACK!
The manga and anime Cells at Work!! showed you what happens when a young, healthy body gets in trouble… but what if the body wasn’t so young, and was never very healthy? This new take stars a fresh-faced Red Blood Cell and his friend, the buxom White Blood Cell, as they struggle to keep themselves and their world together through alcoholism, smoking, erectile dysfunction, athlete’s foot, gout… it’s literal body horror! Whoever this guy is, he’s lucky his cells can’t go on strike!
Harada and Hatsuyoshi launched the manga in Morning and the Weekly D Morning digital manga magazine in June 2018. Kodansha published the manga’s seventh compiled book volume on September 23. Kodansha Comics published the sixth volume in English on October 27.
The Cells at Work! Code Black anime has a separate staff and cast from Cells at Work!! (with two exclamation points), the previously announced second anime season of Akane Shimizu‘s Cells at Work! manga.
Mamoru Kanbe is returning as director from the previous season of The Promised Neverland for CloverWorks. Toshiya Ono is also back to supervise the series scripts, and is joined by original manga writer Shirai for the second season. Kazuaki Shimada is returning as character designer and chief animation director. Takahiro Obata is returning as composer, with Katsunori Shimizu as sound director. Kiro Akiyama will perform the second season’s opening theme song “Identity.” Singer-songwriter Myuk will perform the second season’s ending theme song “Mahō” (Magic). Eve (Jujutsu Kaisen opening) contributed to the music in the song.
The second season will premiere on Fuji TV‘s Noitamina programming block on January 7. Shin’ichirō Kamio joins the cast as the new character Sonju, while Atsumi Tanezaki joins as Mujika. The rest of the cast return from the previous season.
The second season was scheduled to premiere in October, but was delayed to January 2021 due to the effects of the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on the production.
The first season of the anime premiered in January 2019. Aniplex of America streamed the anime on Crunchyroll, Hulu, Funimation, and HIDIVE as it aired. Toonami began airing the anime in April 2019.
The Sk8 the Infinity anime will premiere on ABC TV and TV Asahi‘s “ANiMAZiNG!!!” programming block starting on January 9. The show will air at 2:00 a.m. on Saturdays.
The show stars:
Ichiro Okouchi (Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion, Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress) is writing and overseeing the series scripts, and Michinori Chiba (Basilisk, Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans) is designing the characters. Ryō Takahashi (ACCA: 13-Territory Inspection Dept., Argonavis from BanG Dream!) is composing the music. Yūri will perform the show’s ending theme song “Infinity.” Rapper Rude-α (Dr. Stone ending theme) will perform the show’s opening theme song “Paradise.”
The anime centers on Reki, a second-year high school student who loves skateboarding, and gets caught up in “S,” an underground and dangerous skateboard race at an abandoned mine with no rules. Langa, who has returned to Japan from Canada and has never skateboarded before, also gets wrapped up in S along with Reki. Dirty racers, AI racers, and other unique individuals compete in the “youth skateboard race battle.”
Sources: Funimation‘s website (link 2, Nicholas Friedman), Aniplex of America‘s Twitter account
