Yani Neko

Picture an ash-covered apartment, a trail of cigarette butts across every surface, and a catgirl who cannot stop smoking no matter how hard she tries. That's Yani Neko in a nutshell, and it's way more entertaining than it has any right to be. Yani is an anthropomorphic cat woman living in a contemporary city, and her life is... not going great. Her apartment reeks of ash, cigarette butts cover every surface alongside piles of general mess, and every attempt to quit smoking collapses within minutes. Her sister drops by to scold her, a close friend shows up to help her clean, and Yani keeps lighting up anyway. The comedy comes from how relatable her cycle of motivation and failure actually is — just swap cigarettes for whatever bad habit you can't shake. What makes this work is the tone. It's a seinen comedy that treats addiction with enough honesty to land its jokes without feeling mean-spirited. Bibury Animation Studios is handling production, and the character designs lean into the absurdity of a catgirl whose biggest enemy is nicotine. There's a warmth underneath the mess, literally and figuratively, as Yani's relationships with the people around her keep pulling her toward something better even when she keeps slipping. If you liked the offbeat slice-of-life energy of My Deer Friend Nokotan or the anthropomorphic charm of The Everyday Tales of a Cat God, this hits a similar sweet spot — weird premise, surprisingly grounded character writing. It's a low-stakes comedy about a high-stakes personal battle, and that contrast keeps it compelling.