{"id":69486,"date":"2026-07-11T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-10T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=69486"},"modified":"2026-07-10T18:40:40","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T09:40:40","slug":"chainsmoker-cats-cast-was-told-to-treat-that-was-terrible-as-a-compliment-during-production-yaniko-and-yakuko-voice-actresses-talk-about-their-roles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/chainsmoker-cats-cast-was-told-to-treat-that-was-terrible-as-a-compliment-during-production-yaniko-and-yakuko-voice-actresses-talk-about-their-roles\/","title":{"rendered":"Chainsmoker Cat’s cast was told to treat \u201cThat was\u00a0terrible\u201d as a compliment during production. Yaniko and Yakuko voice\u00a0actresses\u00a0talk about their roles\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Bibury Animation Studio\u2019s Chainsmoker Cat <\/strong>(Yani Neko), based on the original manga series by NyanNyanFactory, started airing last week. The anime\u2019s harrowing depictions of addiction, juxtaposed with slapstick poop humor, have made it one of this season\u2019s most fervently discussed titles, and it has certainly been a \u201cnew\u201d experience for its Japanese voice cast as well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a pre-premiere interview<\/a>, seiyuu Yuko Natsuyoshi, who voices the titular protagonist, talked about her role and thoughts on Yaniko\u2019s character. As she had been reading the manga herself before the anime was announced, she admits that her first reaction to being cast was a mix of happiness and a feeling of \u201cWhy did I get this role?\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Commenting on the Chainsmoker Cat\u2019s original manga, she says \u201cThe story is outrageous, and you can basically smell the cigarette smoke wafting through the screen, but I think it has a certain magnetic pull that makes you keep reading. All the characters are terrible people, but I like how they\u2019re all charming in their own ways.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Natsuyoshi shares a similar opinion of her own character Yaniko, whom she describes as delightfully nonchalant. \u201cSince she has no attachments, she seems to enjoy her day-to-day life in her run-down apartment, and even when she goes through something horrible, she\u2019ll cry her eyes out for a moment, only to be back to casually puffing on a cigarette the next\u2026 But when it comes to her sister Imoko-chan, she shows a bit of familial love, or rather, she\u2019s such a complete mess of a person that she doesn\u2019t help Imoko-chan one bit, yet she still tries to act like a big sister in some way. I think her charm lies in the fact that you just can\u2019t hate her, despite everything.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asked about what actually working on the anime was like, Natsuyoshi says normally \u201cforbidden\u201d words were flying about during recording sessions to the point that she was worried she\u2019d start losing her personal filter. Interestingly, Matsuoka Misato, who voices Chainsmoker Cat\u2019s second most memorable character Yakuko, notes that the anime\u2019s sound director instructed the cast to treat \u201cThat was terrible\u201d as a compliment during recording, which they fully embraced with generous amounts of \u201ccrude\u201d ad-libbing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Funnily, Natsuyoshi says the experience of voicing Yaniko for the anime has influenced her personal life, as she suddenly became a lot more proactive about cleaning her bathtub after recording the anime\u2019s bath episode. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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