Chainsmoker Cat (known as Yani Neko in Japan), Bibury Animation Studiosâ currently airing anime about a cat girl who loves smoking, has recently cropped up as a topic of discussion during the 292nd Youth Committee meeting of Japanâs Broadcasting Ethics & Program Improvement Organization (BPO) due to its depiction of âillegal drug useâ in a scene featuring âself-injection.â

When plans to adapt NyanNyanFactoryâs 2023 manga Chainsmoker Cat into an anime were first announced, fans were understandably surprised and somewhat concerned that it would be heavily censored considering the focus on various kinds of addictions in its story, as well as other adult-oriented elements. Then the first episode of Bibury Animation Studiosâ adaptation was released on July 3, and everyone else figured out why its fans were shocked that the manga was chosen for adaptation in the first place.

Nudity, drug use, poop stuffâit all made its way into the anime in (mostly) uncensored glory. However, as spotted by Automaton, where once fans were worried that the series might be stripped of its identity, instead the presence of all these elements has resulted in a different kind of concern and criticism. On July 28, Japanâs BPO watchdog debated the appropriateness of the show’s content after soliciting âopinions from viewers.”

It’s important to note here that the BPO never actually mentioned Chainsmoker Cat by name in the meeting, but instead refers to it as âa late-night weekday anime set in a society where humans and âbeastmen’ (characters that personify cats) coexist.â Given the date of the meeting and the animeâs description, though, itâs pretty clear which show theyâre referring to.

Viewers apparently took issue with the fact that (per machine translation) there âwere scenes of the use of what appeared to be an illegal drug,â with one of BPOâs members specifically making note of âa scene of self-injection.â Based on the date of the meeting, this is presumably referring to the second episode of Chainsmoker Cat, in which the protagonist’s friend, Yakuko, is shown injecting a needle into their arm. When caught, Yakuko, who is quite clearly very high, hurriedly exclaims, âThis is a vaccine!â

For context, in the manga, Yakuko is a frequent drug user, although the anime never explicitly refers to the substance they are injecting as âheroin.â Japanâs BPO didnât reach a consensus on Chainsmoker Catâs depiction of drug use, but the committee member in charge of the meeting stated that they believed the scene in question âis within acceptable limits in terms of freedom of expressionâ and that the anime deserved leniency due to âbroadcasting late at night, a time when children are not watching.â