After Hong Kong, Taiwan has also taken down Chainsmoker Cat for violating the Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act. (tw.news.yahoo.com)

submitted 1 month ago by populator@sopuli.xyz to c/anime@ani.social

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[-] wjs018@ani.social 7 points 1 month ago

Alright, I am locking this thread now due to several reports and, frankly, I don't feel like letting some of these comment chains keep spiraling off into incivility.

For those wondering why this series is getting removed but not the concurrently airing Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You, it is likely due to Chainsmoker Cat portraying irl tobacco brands. This would be much more subject to rules aimed at advertising tobacco within these jurisdictions. Or something like that...I'm not a lawyer...

[-] Antitoxic9087@slrpnk.net 15 points 1 month ago

showing actual tobacco brand is a clear violation of the act. I think the anime will be restored with the brand masked soon.

[-] LemmyPlaceDN@europe.pub 2 points 1 month ago

I've watched a few episodes and I felt the series lacks substance (pun intended)

[-] scytale@piefed.zip 2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Will they remove Smoking Behind The Supermarket with You as well?

[-] mo_lave@reddthat.com 1 points 1 month ago

They should take notes on how F1 does this.

[+] snoons@lemmy.ca -12 points 1 month ago

Honestly, I have to agree with that. Cigarettes are gross. Tobacco is gross. And watching an episode of this made me feel gross.

Not that removing it will stop most people from watching it lol, but it is a message: "Cigarettes are bad, m'kay?"

[-] rklm@lemmy.dbzer0.com 35 points 1 month ago

I only saw a couple episodes, but it seems that making you feel gross is the point...

I've seen a lot of media that glorifies smoking, but little that makes cigarettes look as disgusting as chainsmoker cat.

For that reason, I kinda feel like banning it on the basis that it encourages smoking is misguided.

[-] rozodru@piefed.world 13 points 1 month ago

as someone who smoked for years watching this hit close to home and made me not want to smoke. The first few episodes were like "yeah I've done that". smoking butts, finding a "long one" and being thrilled about it. being broke and trying to make a pack last until next pay day only to smoke them all in a day. smoking one that had a bit of "slime" on it. It's pathetic and indeed gross and i think that's the whole point of the show. you can't watch that and idolize the characters, they're gross.

[-] Unboxious@ani.social 7 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

For that reason, I kinda feel like banning it on the basis that it encourages smoking is misguided.

Perhaps it's less about whether it encourages smoking and more about whether it runs afoul of laws concerning the depiction of real-life cigarette brands on TV. I don't know Taiwanese advertising law though!

A cynical part of me wonders whether the people making the show did this on purpose to generate headlines since anime are usually carefully made with no direct references to real-life brands.

[-] snoons@lemmy.ca -5 points 1 month ago

Fair. I suppose the episode I seen was more blase about it, like it was just normal for all the characters in the show to smoke which isn't good, but could be worse.

[-] rklm@lemmy.dbzer0.com 10 points 1 month ago

In episode 1, the main character is so addicted to cigarettes she smokes a few that had fallen into feces on the street...

[-] snoons@lemmy.ca -1 points 1 month ago

I see, and was the series removed then?

[-] DragonTypeWyvern@midwest.social 1 points 1 month ago

You can just admit your take was bad and you didn't read the article or watch the show but insist on talking anyways.

[-] snoons@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 month ago

I still don't think it's a bad take (despite all the... opinions people shared with me) and I didn't read the article because it's in Mandarin lol (did you read the article? >_>). The ironic thing is I only watched the most recent episode where it portrays smoking as normal and then it gets banned. So, if it was banned because of this episode I understand and agree with that because cigarettes slowly kill people in fucked up ways and this episode portraying it as a normal thing that everyone does is extremely irresponsible. Cigarettes and tobacco are shitty, awful drugs governments banning their portrayal in media that is broadcast for public consumption is saving lives and preventing suffering. Have ever seen someone dying of cancer? I have. It's fucking awful. So I'm not going to change my "take" on this no matter how big of a selfish asshole anyone shows themselves to be.

I'm also not going to stop replying if you keep trying to goad me on so you should just block me. It's really quite simple. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Also, here's a link to the English article for your reading pleasure:

https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2026/08/21/2003862881

this post was submitted on 21 Aug 2026

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