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.

Chainsmoker Cat frequently plays these moments for laughs and uses Yaniko’s condition for lighthearted comedy beats, but the punchline is never that addiction is funny. The joke is that addiction has a way of humiliating you. It strips you of your dignity. That's a distinction Chainsmoker Cat understands better than most stories willing to tackle this rather touchy subject, one that so few seem to get right.

I've struggled with addiction myself, and one of the most agonizing things about the condition is how grotesque it makes you feel; not necessarily in a physical sense, but mentally. Even when your apartment is clean and your clothes are washed, addiction makes your brain feel like it's rotting from the inside, like no amount of shampoo or detergent will wash away the stink of........

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