The second week of Summer 2026 is nearly over, meaning many of the new anime that began airing this season are expanding their stories with a second episode. This has been an especially interesting season for the anime industry, as more standout new anime have emerged than returning series. While several returning titles, including Bleach, are still set to premiere, the season has so far been a feast of fresh anime with compelling new premises. Though Crunchyroll has once again showcased its dominance in the anime industry by carrying the majority of Summer 2026’s new anime lineup, Netflix is following closely behind.
Videos by ComicBook.com
The streaming platform is arguably home to one of the year’s most distinctive anime as well. Chainsmoker Cat, announced in February 2026, caught fans’ attention with its unusual premise of a cat obsessed with smoking, alongside its mature themes and nearly flawless, crisp animation. However, once the anime premiered, Chainsmoker Cat proved to be just as disgusting, portraying smoking addiction in a way that actively repels viewers from the habit. Now, in the series’ second episode, Chainsmoker Cat introduces even more bad habits, showing how they can also affect a person’s life.
Netflix’s Strangest 2026 Anime Is Also a Lesson in Avoiding Bad Habits
Chainsmoker Cat‘s premiere episode made it clear just how harmful smoking is, showing how it affects every decision in a person’s life and pushes everything, including loved ones, away because of that lifestyle. It was a powerful portrayal that prompted fans to openly acknowledge just how damaging smoking really is. While this was expected to remain a recurring theme throughout the series, it could have eventually become repetitive. However, just the second episode of Chainsmoker Cat introduces two new characters with their own distinct nuances, expanding the series’ portrayal of disgusting, life-affecting habits that viewers should avoid. One of the new characters, Yakuko, is shown to struggle with drug abuse.
Her portrayal is similarly presented in a way that emphasizes how the habit has negatively affected her life. Meanwhile, the series also introduces another cat girl, Hameko, who is hot-headed and foul-mouthed, to the point that her anger drives nearly every decision she makes, affecting both her appearance and her relationships with others. Despite not struggling with substance abuse, she is shown living alone and in constant agony, much like Yani and Yakuko. Additionally, Hameko is also a streamer who constantly puts on a fake persona in front of her viewers, an act that repeatedly fails.
Essentially, Chainsmoker Cat is emerging as an anime that features a cast of characters burdened by different kinds of bad habits, portraying them in such an effective way that it encourages viewers not to imitate them but instead see them as cautionary examples. With this approach, Netflix’s strangest anime of 2026 is emerging as arguably one of the year’s most valuable anime, standing apart from more fiction-heavy series built around power tropes, while also helping Chainsmoker Cat establish itself as an adult slice-of-life anime that broadens the genre.
What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
More Anime
-
Image Courtesy of CloverWorks -
Image Courtesy of Toei Animation -
Image courtesy of Doga Koba -
Image Courtesy of Ufotable -
Image Courtesy of Studio Bones -
Image Courtesy of J.C. Staff / Triangle Staff -
Courtesy of TOHO Animation
