Television series
Cells at Work! Code Black
A spinoff of the cheerful Cells at Work! that trades wholesome biology lessons for dark comedy about a body in crisis. Meet a hapless red blood cell navigating a dystopian internal landscape ravaged by stress, poor diet, and neglect. Anarchic, crude, surprisingly touching—it's what happens when your body's comedians get the night shift in hell.
Should you watch it?
Watch it if you enjoy workplace comedy where the office is the inside of a human body, and you find the bureaucracy of white blood cells and platelets funnier the more seriously it is played.
Skip it if you want an absorbing plot, since each short episode is a loose run of gross-out gags about unhealthy habits, and the jokes repeat their setup more than they build momentum.
What it asks of you: Thirteen episodes of about half an hour each, with quick cuts and a lot of shouting, and little need to follow a continuing story across them.
Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.
If you liked this
Cells at Work!2018
The original series that started it all: charming, educational, and genuinely funny. Watch a white blood cell warrior and a red blood cell rookie learn immunology together in a body that actually works.
But It's relentlessly upbeat and earnest in ways Code Black deliberately inverts. If you want bleakness and body horror, the original might feel too wholesome.
Daria1997
Deadpan comedy about an outsider navigating a broken world with sardonic wit. Like Code Black, it finds absurdity in everyday dysfunction and never breaks character to wink at you.
But It's a 90s high school sitcom. The pacing is slow, the animation is intentionally flat, and there are no action sequences or anthropomorphic organs.
Inside Job2021
Adult animated comedy about dysfunction at work, but the workplace is a shadowy conspiracy. Sharp, layered humour, characters drowning in systems that don't care about them, and genuine heart beneath the cynicism.
But It was cancelled after one season. The story doesn't conclude, which stings if you get attached to the mess these characters are in.
Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Cells at Work! Code Black
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Paprika2006
Both use the human body/mind as a landscape in crisis, finding humour in the grotesque and meaning in the breakdown.
Satoshi Kon's fever-dream film about a drug that lets therapists enter patients' dreams. Like Code Black, it uses surreal body-horror imagery and anarchic comedy to explore how systems collapse when pushed past their limits.
But It's deliberately disorienting and non-linear. The visual complexity can be exhausting, and there's no neat resolution—it trusts you to sit with ambiguity.
More like this (8)
Mob Psycho 1002016
A comedy-action anime about a socially awkward boy that somehow balances real emotional stakes with ridiculous humour and kinetic fight scenes. It cares about its characters even when being totally absurd.
But The animation style is deliberately rough and experimental. Some viewers find it off-putting, and the tone can whiplash between silly and genuinely disturbing.
BoJack Horseman2014
American animated series that mines comedy from self-destruction and poor life choices. Darkly funny, surprisingly wise about how bodies and minds deteriorate when neglected. You'll laugh and then feel sad about it.
But It's relentlessly bleak and often cruel. The humour frequently punches down, and the depression is genuine, not just a backdrop for jokes.
Aggretsuko2018
Japanese office comedy about a red panda screaming into the void (literally—she does death metal karaoke). Cute aesthetic, brutal workplace satire, and a protagonist too tired to maintain composure.
But The cuteness factor might undercut the comedy for viewers wanting something with teeth. Seasons get increasingly melodramatic about romance and life goals.
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners2022
A stylish anime about bodies as systems that can be upgraded, exploited, and destroyed. Dark, kinetic action sequences with surprisingly tender moments about what it means to be used up by the world.
But It's grim and tragic. The ending is a gut-punch, and if you're not into cyberpunk aesthetics or body-horror concepts, the setting might feel needlessly bleak.
Great Teacher Onizuka1999
A raucous comedy about an ex-gang member becoming a teacher. Chaotic energy, weird humour, characters who are fundamentally broken but keep trying anyway. Genuinely heartfelt despite the madness.
But It's 25 years old and the animation shows it. The humour is broad and sometimes relies on stereotypes. The pacing can feel draggy by modern standards.
Kill la Kill2013
Over-the-top action anime that's absurdly funny about bodies, uniforms, and systems designed to control you. Visually gorgeous, technically brilliant, and completely unhinged in the best way.
But The fanservice is relentless and often uncomfortable. It's intentional, but 'it's ironic' doesn't make constant sexualization easier to sit through for everyone.
Pleasure2013
Code Black's body-in-crisis premise meets Pleasure's commitment to showing degradation without flinching. Both find dark comedy in watching systems destroy flesh.
A Danish dark comedy about a young woman entering the adult film industry and destroying her body for money. Crude, shocking, and painfully funny in ways that expose how bodies are exploited in systems that don't care.
But It's extremely graphic. There's explicit sexual content, degradation, and body trauma played for dark laughs. This isn't sanitized or safe—it's designed to make you uncomfortable.
The Midnight Gospel2020
Both pair bright, cartoonish aesthetics with bodies and systems in crisis, using weird comedy to explore what it means when everything fails around you.
A surreal, visually stunning miniseries where a spacecaster interviews people in simulated worlds that are falling apart. Absurdist comedy paired with genuine conversations about suffering, mortality, and acceptance. Strange and profound.
But It's deliberately slow and meditative. If you want constant action or plot, you'll be frustrated. The spiritual vagueness bothers some people, and the finale is unexpectedly heavy.
