Content Warning: Smoking/drug use, addiction, nudity, some fan service, objectification, bodily fluids (vomit, diarrhea, spit), filth (in the unhygenic sense and the John Waters sense)
What’s it about? Yani is a catgirl eeking out a meager existence for the sake of feeding her nicotine addiction. Her house is a mess, her hygiene is abysmal, and her wallet is constantly empty. She swears to her sister that she wants to quit, but that’s a lot easier said than done.
Calling Chainsmoker Cat an acquired taste feels akin, if you’ll forgive the hack metaphor, to calling Malort an acquired taste. You’re basically taking a dare by even engaging with the the thing, which is designed to revolt you on purpose. But it’s doing it with undeniable craft, and there’s a little note on the end that kind of makes you want to go back for another sip.
Please do not let this imply that you should be in the same zip code as food or drink when watching Chainsmoker Cat. They’re coming out of the gate swinging with graphic vomit, diarrhea, and spit cup leavings, and I don’t doubt they’ll find a way to check off more bodily fluids over time.
Obviously, if you’re sensitive to depictions of smoking this probably isn’t going to be a show for you, but I do find the show’s attempt to straddle tones interesting. Yani’s smoking habit is both over-the-top nasty and mundanely disgusting, but it’s also clearly going for the gross-hot vibe that’s been back in vogue since Fujimoto blew up (Chainsmoker Cat even has its own references to Hollywood films). The episode ends with Yani declaring that she wants to quit smoking, but she’s doomed to fail because otherwise there’s no joke. She smokes a real brand, Mevius, and there’s absolutely no way some viewers won’t pick some up for the meme. On the other hand, it’s a show for adults and does have a nominal warning on it about secondhand smoke. It could definitely be clearer, but I’m surprised it’s in there at all. Obviously there’s a larger conversation about the normalization of smoking and regulations and etc., but it almost feels beside the point to get into with such a self-confident shitpost.
The show’s approach to nudity is similarly scattershot. Yani takes her shirt off in the opening scene and her boobs are pretty nondescript and obey something like the laws of physics…but also it’s also the prelude to her landlord barging in on her and then running home to jerk off, screaming about this woman being “lewd” by changing clothes in her own house. Later, she breaths smoke in his face and unwittingly triggers a flashback of his abusive father (a scene that is in itself treated with straightforward horror with a punchline of Yani not getting his extreme reaction).
The comedy’s not light, is what I’m saying. This type of humor is going to split very hard on whether people find it cathartic, exploitative, tasteless, or tryhard. I’m fairly certain I cycled through all of those emotions while watching, but I was kind of focused on trying not to notice how disturbingly relatable I found a couple of Yani’s emotional breakdowns. Did I write this review in cat ears and boxers while holding a joint for the bit, or would I have done it anyway? The world may never know (it may, however, have suspicions).
What ties the effort together is Yani’s relationship with her little sister (so far nameless outside the title). There’s the occasional pratfall, but Lil Sis isn’t the butt of the joke for wanting to help her sister get her life together. The heartfelt scene of Yani admitting she wants to quit smoking is followed by the punchline you’ve already predicted, but it doesn’t undo the sincerity of the moment leading up to it, and I can vibe with a story about addiction as a round-about path with a lot of setbacks.
The tipping point for me might be about whether I’m supposed to be pointing at the screen and saying “she’s just like me frfr” and treating it like an episodic comedy, or if this is supposed to be a character piece with jokes. Neither is the wrong choice, but it will definitely change how I set my expectations—and honestly, if this is mainly gags and one emotional arc at the end, I’m probably out. That said, I have to tip my cap to the episode for winning me back after the masturbatory opener, not just thanks to my soft spot for out-there artistic choices but some pretty decent comedic timing. Also I saw some catgirl yuribait in the opening, which might be a queer subplot or two girls standing next to each other and waiting for the doujinshi creators to work their magic. Either way, it’ll get three episodes out of me.
For everyone else…maybe hold off if shock dark comedy doesn’t appeal to you. It feels too soon to say how the tonal balance will shake out and how it will balance fan service/general horniness with neutral or comedic nudity. It’s a big, weird gamble right now. I think I kinda dig it.
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