What is it with anime and smoking?
There’s no limit to the kind of anime that can be adapted. It can be as fantastical as having an alternate universe where magic is part of daily life, or as mundane as following a few high schoolers navigate growing up.
School-themed anime is often inspirational—carrying themes of following your dreams and coming out of your shell to make friends. But what about what comes after? While nine-to-fives and the monotony of adulthood don’t always make for the best material, anime has found magic and beauty in something as simple as taking a smoke break.
In fact, smoking isn’t all that unique in anime. But two popular shows about smoking in succession? Now that’s something. Or with Japan being among the biggest smokers outside of Eastern Europe, perhaps it’s simply a reflection of ordinary life in the Land of the Rising Sun.
“Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You”
If we’re talking about mundane, then taking smoke breaks at work is an experience many could resonate with. “Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You” follows Sasaki, a salaryman who gets by the corporate grind through cigarettes and seeing Yamada, the clerk at his favorite supermarket.
“But one night after a grueling shift, he arrives late to find Yamada nowhere to be seen. With nowhere left to smoke, his spirits sink—until a pierced young woman calls out to him: ‘You can smoke here,’” reads the anime’s synopsis.
Where much of the mainstream market deals with magical worlds and battles between good and evil, the slice of life anime has garnered praise since its release for being a grounded and comforting watch. It’s pretty much the perfect anime for adults who find themselves in a similar position.
“Chainsmoker Cat”
With depictions of smoking, over-drinking, and drug use, “Chainsmoker Cat” could throw off viewers. But there’s more to that, as the anime also tackles themes of redemption and finding oneself. That said, this comedy anime isn’t just all laughs.
“Yani is a catgirl with a seriously bad smoking habit. Every time she tries to quit, she becomes weak to the cravings and gives in almost instantly. Behind on her rent and unable to hold down a job, her friends and sister rally around to help her out,” the anime synopsis reads.
Catgirl or not, there’s something intrinsically human about addiction. Whether it’s a guilty pleasure you can’t help but indulge in or an unhealthy habit gained from a desire to escape from something, addiction can be anything, and it can affect anyone.
If anything, there’s something hopeful and all-too-relatable from seeing someone try to beat their addictions.
Is smoking cool again?
“Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You” and “Chainsmoker Cat” are the latest in cigarette smoking’s resurgence in pop culture.
According to the nonprofit Truth Initiative’s Lights, Camera, Tobacco? Report, this is influenced by tobacco imagery seeing an uptick in online visibility—particularly on streaming platforms.
In 2022, 53 percent of the top 15 shows most popular among 15- to 24-year-olds are said to contain tobacco imagery. These shows include “Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story,” “Euphoria,” “The Simpsons,” “Stranger Things,” “The Walking Dead,” “Family Guy,” “Bob’s Burgers,” and “Law & Order.”
As of 2023, 28 percent of the most popular songs, according to Billboard charts, saw double the amount of tobacco imagery compared to 2022. These music videos were viewed almost seven billion times on YouTube.
But what is exactly causing this resurgence? Some point to culture’s cyclical nature. Trevor Risk of CBC Life compares the return of cigarette smoking to the repopularization of Y2K—the flared jeans, the flip phones, maximalism.
Culture rarely ever completely fades into obscurity; it merely finds its way back.
A response to the world today
Though some may also argue that the modern cigarette wave is a response to current trends and issues the modern generation faces. In a report by People, Melissa Little, associate professor in Public Health Sciences at the University of Virginia, shares how cigarettes may represent a resistance to artificial intelligence (AI), a declining job market, and outcome uncertainty.
“There is disillusionment in this generation—they are feeling a lot of pressure overall. They’re graduating from college and finding that it’s not a great job market. AI is booming, and they’re questioning their role in the workforce and how they fit in.”
I think cigarette smoking kind of harkens back to an older time when things were simpler, and you could just go outside, smoke a cigarette, be with your friends.”
That said, we all look back to the past in nostalgia—to simpler days when AI didn’t threaten jobs, when the daily news wasn’t filled with wars, suffering, and uncertainty.
And cigarettes are also undoubtedly a part of that past. But before anyone starts lighting a stick for the aesthetic, it’s best to also remember that there’s a reason why we’ve mostly moved away from them.
