News

Ani-One Asia Also Removes Chainsmoker Cat Anime From Streaming Lineup

Medialink Entertainment's anime streaming service Ani-One Asia has removed the television anime of Nyan Nyan Factory's Chainsmoker Cat (Yanineko) manga from its lineup on Thursday. The service posted a notice that explained the removal was to "comply with local government regulations in relevant markets."

Taiwanese streaming service Bahamut Animation Crazy halted its streaming of the anime in Hong Kong on Monday after Hong Kong's Department of Health sent the service a letter telling it that the show's content was in violation of Hong Kong's Smoking (Public Health) Ordinance, which prohibits placing a smoking product advertisement on the internet. Medialink Entertainment is based in Hong Kong, but removed the anime from all of its regions where the anime is available, including in regions in Southeast Asia.

Lo Su-ying, the head of the Tobacco Control Division of the Taiwanese government's Health Promotion Administration has stated that images from the anime might be in violation of the country's Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act, which bans the promotion of tobacco products through television, movies, recordings, the Internet and other methods.

The show prominently features real-life cigarette brands, especially the Japanese cigarette brand Mevius.

In addition, the anime's official X (formerly Twitter) account announced on Friday that the anime's ninth episode will not air until September 2, with a special program featuring the cast airing instead next week. The announcement does not mention if it is related to the recent spate of removals from overseas streaming services.

The anime has two versions, an "Evil Dragon Unleashed" version that "respects the work's directorial intent" on some of the episodes, and an "On-Air" version that is made for terrestrial television broadcast. The "Evil Dragon Unleashed" version is available on the AT-X premium subscription channel and the AnimeFesta, DMM TV, Fuji TV On Demand, Hulu, Netflix, and Anime Times streaming services in Japan. (AnimeFesta ;and Anime Times will also have the "On-Air" version.) 16 other streaming services only offers the "On-Air" version in Japan. OceanVeil streams the "Evil Dragon Unleashed" version of the anime.

Seven Seas is releasing the manga in English, and it describes this comedy set in a world where humans, catgirls, and similar species co-exist:

Yani is a catgirl with a seriously bad smoking habit. She smokes so much that her apartment smells like ash and is littered with cigarette butts—and plenty of other trash! Every time she tries to quit, she becomes weak to the cravings and gives in almost instantly. Will she ever get her life together, or is she doomed to live as a chainsmoking slob forever?

The original manga contains toilet humor, gross-out comedy, and characters regularly consuming drugs and/or alcohol.

The anime stars:

• Yūko Natsuyoshi as Yani Neko (real name Yaniko Satō)
• Misato Matsuoka as Yaku Neko (real name Yakuko Koshimaru)
• Yurie Funato as Hame Neko (real name Yurufuwa*Tenshi Hameko)
• Ayaka Shimizu as Kansai Neko (real name Kaoruko Nishi)
• Shiori Izawa as Aruko Neko (real name Aruko Sakai)
• Riko Akechi as Tatsurō Ochinpo
• Tetsu Inada as Landlord
• Rina Honnizumi as Imoko
• Niina Nakabayashi as Jikaki Neko
• Yū Kobayashi as Penpen Neko

Studio Lemon's Taku Kimura (Kairyū to Yūbinya-san, Star Wars: Visions' "Tattooine Rhapsody") is directing the anime at Bibury Animation Studio, and Takashi Aoshima (Himouto! Umaruchan, The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You) is writing the scripts. Riki Matsuura is designing the characters, and Keiichi Suzuki (Saint Young Men, Tokyo Godfathers) is composing the music. Rock band Wasureranneyo performs the anime's opening theme song "Nanmonee," while Necry Talkie performs the anime's ending theme song "Kemuri to Blue" (Smoke and Blue). Other staff members include:

• Art Directors: Atelier Musa's Yukiko Maruyama, Shōtarō Yoshino
• Color Key Artist: Yuiha Ōta
• Compositing Director of Photography: Hisashi Yonezawa
• Editing: Mutsumi Takemiya
• Sound Director: Takatoshi Hamano
• Sound Production: Magic Capsule

The anime premiered on July 2 at 24:30 (effectively, July 3 at 12:30 a.m.) on the Tokyo MX and BS11 channels. The anime also started airing on AT-X on July 25. WWWave Corporation's anime streaming platform OceanVeil is also streaming the anime as it airs.

Nyan Nyan Factory has been serializing the manga in Kodansha's Young Magazine, and Kodansha published the 13th compiled book volume on August 6. Seven Seas published the third volume in English on June 16.

Sources: Ani-One Asia's YouTube channel, Taipei Times (Jake Chung), Chainsmoker Cat anime's X/Twitter account