The Summer 2026 anime season has started, meaning it’s time for the arrival of new series, and one of the earliest premieres is set to be one of the strangest entries of the year. This is refreshing, as the season continues the trend of balancing brand-new anime with returning favorites. The list of upcoming returns includes Bleach, which is arriving with its final installment and bringing one of the biggest anime of all time to an end, while new series include Tomb Raider King, which is already being dubbed the replacement for Solo Leveling. However, one strange anime could emerge as one of the season’s biggest successes for several reasons.
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The anime, Chainsmoker Cat, is poised to become one of the standout hits of the Summer season thanks to its adult themes, which are vastly different from what other anime will be offering this season. Announced earlier this year, the anime adapts the manga of the same name, and its trailers have already made an intriguing impression, especially because of the surprisingly high animation quality for such a niche adaptation. While that has certainly driven interest, the biggest reason this anime could become even more popular is its plot.
Chainsmoker Cat Could Become 2026’s Strangest Anime Hit for Both Good and Bad Reasons
The upcoming Chainsmoker Cat anime is set in a world where cat girls exist as a common occurrence and follows a cat girl who is so obsessed with smoking that she spends the last of her money on cigarettes, often causing trouble for her human landlord. While the premise makes it seem like a straightforward comedy, the series is actually a story about adult hardships, tackling themes of loneliness and depression. The protagonist, Yankio Sato, has even been shown picking up discarded cigarettes from the side of the road, highlighting the depths of her addiction.
As the anime progresses, it will also introduce new characters, each dealing with different hardships of their own. This is something the anime industry has been missing amid the wave of fantasy series largely catered toward younger audiences, and it could become a hit much like Smoking Behind the Supermarket With You, another anime centered around smoking that emerged as one of this year’s highest-rated series. While Chainsmoker Cat could be a breath of fresh air, there are also reasons why it could become famous for the wrong reasons.
First of all, the popularity of cat girls in anime will naturally draw attention to the series, an appeal that is only amplified by its fan service elements. The fan service may even be quite extreme, considering that both edited and unedited versions of the anime will be released. Meanwhile, the smoking aspect could also draw criticism for potentially encouraging smoking, even if that is not the series’ intended message. Still, there is no denying that Chainsmoker Cat is shaping up to be one of the freshest anime of Summer 2026. The series is only a few days away, with its first episode releasing on July 2 and becoming available on Netflix in some regions as well as on the new streaming platform, OceanVeil.
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