The original Cells at Work was an enjoyable season, but it didn't really feel like being anything more than a good edutainment show. While it did accomplish that goal, its goal wasn't to push the boundary as to what the genre of edutainment could be. Code Black fully taps into that potential, being the truest representation of what edutainment show could be.

Code Black stands out from most edutainment shows in the fact that is in its story. Most edutainment shows don't exactly bother with establishing a well written story or characters. This is usually due to the fact that it isn't exactly part of creating educational value. The original Cells at Work didn't fall into this pitfall, by having an adequate enough story to tell. While it wasn't the best written thing in the world, it manages to develop its characters enough so that the first season's final arc felt like a great payoff. Code Black takes this idea of having a developed story, characters, and world in an edutainment show to an extreme that this genre has never really seen before.

The dark world of an unhealthy body that Code Black portrays consistently manages to be absolutely horrifying. While some may argue that the lower production value that LIDENFILMS provides takes away the show, I would actually argue that it works in the show's benefit, since it greatly bolsters the atmosphere of very scene. As a series, Code Black capitalizes on the fear of the loss of control. Every single episode presents a problem caused by the unhealthy body, and while the problem usually gets solved by the end, they are never without their consequences. The prevailing fear of death is always a factor in Code Black, which always exponentially heightens the tension of every situation. I was always on edge in every episode, because the show consistently does such a great job at building up its situations.

One of the main surprises that this series brought was in its plot and characters. The plot of Code Black isn't just okay like in the original series. Code Black's story passes good and goes straight into greatness. While there is a semi-episodic structure present throughout the series, nearly every single main character goes through a convincing character arc. The main Red Blood Cell's character is easily the highlight here. How his arc of learning how to adapt to his environment slowly develops throughout the series shows a level of mastery that I absolutely wasn't expecting. The characters of the Red Blood Cell friend, the White Blood Cell, and every other character that was dedicated to a singular episode have incredibly written too. Every high stakes scene has an extra layer of anxiety just due to the fact that I actually cared for them. This dedication to character development massively pays off in the second half, with some of the most shocking and heart-wrenching moments that caught be extremely off guard.

Code Black's consistent brilliance in how it weaves its themes together elevate it way more than being just a great series. The main mantra of the series that we should always keeping on working. Work. Work. Work. Work. The barrage of demands from the cells of a higher status make everything end up feeling hopeless at a certain point. However, something very important that this series does is to ask, why do we work? Why work under circumstances so increasingly harsh? Why work in a time when nothing seems all for nothing? Code Black answers that question in saying that we work to make things better. If we just give up at a certain point, then nothing will ever get better. The world will never shine brightly with glee ever again. Even when all seems hopeless, we can only gain hope again if we work. Even if we contribute very little, our work can still have impact. No matter how big or small we are, we can always just move on. Even if our chances have changed from a 0% to a 0.1%, we still at least have a chance.

Cells at Work Code Black may just seem like just a darker Cells at Work at first, it manages to be more than that. It is an amazing work of storytelling, world-building, and character development. By taking its time in establishing and developing every aspect of its story, it actually manages to teach way more than edutainment shows that don't even bother with plot development. Code Black is the absolute paragon of what an edutainment shows can be.