Chainsmoker Cat anime captures how poverty keeps the cycle of addiction alive

There are plenty of anime protagonists I’d gladly spend an afternoon with, whether it’s Megumi Fushiguro from Jujutsu Kaisen or Kikuri Hiroi from Bocchi the Rock!Yet Yaniko, the titular star of Netflix’s Chainsmoker Cat, isn’t one of them. The young “beastfolk” is filthy and reeks of stale cigarettes. Her apartment is a biohazard of overflowing ashtrays, empty bottles, and garbage that seems to have fused with the floor. She’s perpetually behind on rent, chronically broke, and so dependent on nicotine that she’ll rifle through discarded cigarette butts just to get another drag.