Chainsmoker Cat ‒ Episode 12
There was a period of time about halfway through this season where I thought Chainsmoker Cat might make a genuine swerve towards dramedy, or at least dark comedy as pitch black as Yani Neko's lungs. These catgirls all live such ramshackle, hardscrabble lives that I was certain one of them would end up six feet under before the season ended. My money was on Aruko, whose incredibly visible alcoholism was teetering right on the edge of self-annihilation from the moment we watched her almost choke on all of that rainbow-sparkle vomit.
Here, at the end of the line (for now, at least), I am glad that Chainsmoker Cat didn't go for such a dark shift in tone. Yes, our characters remain dysfunctional addicts and enablers whose worst instincts are constantly colliding against the barriers and restrictions placed upon them by their poverty and their minority status, but damn it if they don't keep on trucking despite it all anyways. If the show has anything to say about addiction and immaturity keeping people stuck in their lives, it's that none of us on this side of the screen are really any different from Yani Neko and her pals (feline features notwithstanding). Everybody farts, poops, shares tasteless jokes with their friends when they think nobody else is listening, stinks if they go too long without a shower, indulges in a vice or two, and at the end of each day, tries to do their best to make it to the next one.
In that sense, it is only right that Chainsmoker Cat straddles the line of darkness and destitution without ever losing sight of its wackiest and weirdest sensibilities, because that's just how life goes for most people, I reckon. The world is, on its best days, an absolutely deranged place to try and carve out your little corner of existence in peace. Sometimes it's more sad than funny, but I'd like to think that the weird days outnumber the woeful ones, by and large.
This final episode of Chainsmoker Cat's remarkably consistent and engaging season does nothing more or less than give us another day in the lives of these stinky fuzzballs, and I don't think I would want it any other way. Yani Neko helps Saori find a little enjoyment in a tasty crepe snack before our resident human attempts to get back into the saddle of publishing comics. After getting mad at a game, Hameko loses her mind and goes absolutely feral in a wonderfully animated little sequence. Another hilarious bit involves the Landlord discovering the extent of his beastfolk fetish when Shunran plays along with Saori's gambit and creates a whole drag persona. Then there's Yakuko, always the most empathetic and relatable of the gang, who goes on a bender of her own after being fired for what sounds like discrimination over her vaguely felonious history.
You'd think I'd be used to it after twelve whole episodes, but I am still marveling over how the anime with the extended jokes about giant, sentient erections and reality-altering farts has become one of the year's most genuinely cozy comfort watches. Anyone who knows me will understand just how much it means for me to drop the “cozy” label with such casual abandon. I am usually the curmudgeon that rejects any of these new games or shows that seem to be aggressively catering to the “cozy” alternatives of traditional fare. I guess I just need all of those stories to feature more fetid halfway-houses filled with criminals, addicts, sex-freaks, and mercurial tricksters.
It helps that there are still glimpses of hope, even in the darkest crevices of Yani Neko's many different yet equally noxious orifices. I worry for how long Imoko can hold on to her innocence and dignity if she keeps orbiting the antics of her older sister. At least there's someone in this anime besides Yakuko and the Landlord who is mildly concerned about Aruko living in this booze-soaked den of iniquity. As much as I love all of the gremlins shacking up in this apartment, there's no question that they're a questionable influence on the next generation of catgirls. While I am not sure that Yomuko serving as a bikini model for Saori's smutty manga is a literal sex crime, you can't blame Officer So-and-So for being more than a little suspicious of just what the hell is going on in this apartment.
Then again, maybe living life a bit closer to the edge (and in closer proximity to Yani Neko's sanity-destroying butthole) is exactly the kind of life experience that Yomuko needs to take her writing to the next level? After all, as we've seen time and again, these girls always come back around to lift and spur each other forward, even if that spurring is occasionally in the direction of dangerous misadventures and addictive chemical substances. I can only hope that we get more of this wonderful show sooner rather than later, because I think I'm in the same boat as Yani and Co. There's no better way to shave years off your lifespan by indulging in self-destructive behavior and immature shenanigans than by doing it with a bunch of great friends.
Episode Rating:
Chainsmoker Cat is currently streaming on Netflix and OceanVeil.
James is a writer with many thoughts and feelings about anime and other pop-culture, which can also be found on BlueSky, his blog, and his podcast.
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