BODY: No money. No life skills. No redeeming qualities. And yet, somehow, you can't stop watching them light another one. Japan's beloved web manga Yanineko β literally "smoking cats" β is officially getting a TV anime adaptation, with broadcasts starting July 2, 2026 on TOKYO MX, BS11, and AT-X.
The main PV dropped this week, confirming what fans have been speculating about for months since the staff teased "big news" earlier in the year. The series follows a cast of grimy, nicotine-stained cats living the kind of dead-end lifestyle that would be tragic if it weren't so weirdly charming. Think Aggretsuko's workplace despair filtered through a smoky ShΕwa-era izakaya, except everyone has whiskers.
Created by manga artist Rakida (γγγ ), Yanineko built its following on X (formerly Twitter), where short, punchy strips about feline lowlifes complaining about rent, hangovers, and unemployment racked up millions of views. The official site (yanineko-anime.com) and X account (@yanineko_anime) are now live, with the hashtag #γ€γγγ trending among anime fans the day the PV launched.
Production details on staff and cast are still rolling out, but TOKYO MX's involvement signals this is being positioned as a late-night staple β the slot traditionally reserved for edgier, more adult-oriented series rather than family-friendly fare.
The insider take
In Tokyo, Yanineko hits a very specific cultural nerve. Japan's smoking rate has dropped sharply over the past decade, and tighter indoor smoking laws since 2020 have pushed the aijin (smoker) demographic into a kind of nostalgic subculture. Yanineko isn't pro-smoking propaganda β it's affectionate satire of the kind of scruffy, undisciplined adult life that ShΕwa-era salaryman manga romanticized and that Reiwa-era Japan increasingly frowns upon. The anime arrives at a moment when audiences seem hungry for characters who are unapologetically, even gloriously, messes.
Originally reported by γ―γ¦γͺγγγ―γγΌγ― (Japanese).