Where To Read Yani Neko (Chainsmoker Cat) Manga Online After Season 1
If you somehow made it through Chainsmoker Cat Season 1 without asking yourself, “What the hell am I watching?”, congratulations. I honestly mean that as a compliment.
Also known by its Japanese title Yani Neko, NyanNyanFactory’s manga has become one of those strange anime that you either completely understand or spend half an episode wondering how the production committee managed to get this thing on television. It follows Yaniko, a catgirl with an absolutely disastrous smoking addiction, terrible financial decisions, questionable hygiene, and a remarkable talent for making every ordinary situation ten times worse.
And somehow, it works.
After finishing the anime, I immediately had the same question a lot of other viewers seem to have: where do you read the Yani Neko manga after Season 1? More importantly, should you actually jump ahead, or is it better to start from the beginning?
My answer is pretty simple: if you like the anime, read the manga from Volume 1. You can try to continue from roughly where the adaptation leaves off, but this is one of those series where skipping earlier material means missing a lot of the little jokes and ridiculous details that make Yani Neko special.
What Makes Yani Neko Manga Worth Reading After the Anime?
The basic premise sounds like something that should have been a five-minute joke.
Yaniko smokes constantly. She is broke, struggles with work, has trouble paying rent, and lives in an apartment that looks like it has lost a war against cigarette ash. Her friends and family keep trying to help her, but Yaniko’s ability to make terrible decisions somehow exceeds everyone’s expectations.
The manga began serialization in Kodansha’s Young Magazine in February 2023, and it has continued as an ongoing comedy and slice-of-life series. The English edition is being published by Seven Seas Entertainment, with the first English volume released in December 2025.
What surprised me most when looking into the manga is how well its format suits the story. This isn’t a traditional manga where you have to remember twenty different factions, power systems and historical events. A lot of the fun comes from watching Yaniko get herself into increasingly stupid situations.
You can read several chapters in one sitting and suddenly realize you’ve been laughing at a fictional catgirl’s terrible life for an hour.
Honestly, that’s the appeal.
Where Can You Read Chainsmoker Cat Officially?
If you’re looking for the official Yani Neko manga in English, Seven Seas Entertainment is the name to keep in mind.
The publisher’s English release is available in physical and digital formats through various retailers. The first volume was released on December 9, 2025, and the English release is still catching up with the Japanese edition.
Here are the options I’d personally consider:
| Platform | Best For | My Take |
|---|---|---|
| Seven Seas Entertainment | Checking official releases | Best place to verify the English edition |
| Amazon / Kindle | Digital reading | Probably the easiest option for most readers |
| BookWalker | Digital manga collectors | Great if you already use the platform |
| Kobo | Alternative digital option | Convenient for Kobo users |
| Physical bookstores | Collecting volumes | Worth it if you like owning manga |
The English release is still rolling out, so don’t expect the English edition to immediately match the latest Japanese material. For example, Volume 4 is currently scheduled for September 15, 2026, showing that the English publication is still progressing volume by volume.
And personally, I would rather wait for the official release than ruin the experience by reading some terrible machine-translated version on a suspicious website.
What Chapter Should You Start After Season 1?
This is where things get a little complicated.
Because Yani Neko is heavily episodic, the anime doesn’t necessarily follow the manga in a perfectly straight, one-chapter-at-a-time fashion. Short manga chapters can be rearranged, combined or adapted into a slightly different television structure.
That’s why you’ll see different chapter numbers mentioned by fans when they discuss where to continue.
Some guides suggest jumping somewhere around the mid-30s, but I wouldn’t treat a specific chapter number as gospel. If you absolutely want to continue beyond the anime without rereading everything, check the final adapted material against the corresponding manga volume first.
But here’s my honest recommendation:
Start from Volume 1.
I know that’s not the exciting answer if you’ve just finished 12 episodes and want hundreds of new pages immediately. But Yani Neko is exactly the kind of comedy where knowing the basic joke doesn’t mean you’ve experienced every version of it.
There are small character moments, background gags and visual jokes that are easy to miss in an anime episode.
And the manga’s artwork has its own personality.
The Manga Feels Dirtier — In a Good Way
This might be my favorite thing about the source material.
The anime looks surprisingly polished. Bibury Animation Studios managed to turn an intentionally trashy premise into something that can actually look gorgeous from time to time. The contrast between cute character designs and Yaniko’s unbelievably degenerate behavior is a huge part of the joke.
But the manga has a rougher feeling.
The messy linework, exaggerated facial expressions and cramped environments make Yaniko’s lifestyle feel even more miserable. Her apartment practically becomes a character by itself.
You can almost smell the cigarette smoke through the page.
And that’s important because Yani Neko isn’t really funny because Yaniko is a catgirl who smokes. It’s funny because the series constantly takes an absurd premise and commits to it far harder than you expect.
Yaniko doesn’t just have a bad habit.
She has made smoking an entire lifestyle.
What About Fan Translations?
Yes, you will probably run into discussions about fan translations and unofficial scans if you start searching for the latest Yani Neko chapters.
That’s understandable. The Japanese manga is considerably ahead of the English release, so readers who become obsessed with the anime naturally want to know what happens next.
You will also find plenty of discussions on Reddit and other anime communities about catching up with the manga. One recent Reddit discussion, for example, had fans talking about the gap between the English volumes and the material they wanted to read next.
Still, if you’re able to buy the official volumes, that’s the route I’d recommend.
Not because I’m trying to be the manga police, but because supporting the official release is one of the few ways international fans can tell publishers that weird, risky titles like Yani Neko actually have an audience.
And let’s be honest: if you want more bizarre catgirl manga, supporting the stuff you enjoy is probably a good idea.
Manga vs. Anime: Is the Manga Better?
I wouldn’t say one is automatically better.
The anime has the advantage of timing. Voice acting, music, animation and facial expressions can make certain jokes land harder than they do on paper.
The manga, meanwhile, lets you experience NyanNyanFactory’s original artwork without the adaptation filtering everything through television pacing.
For me, they’re almost two different flavors of the same joke.
The anime is the perfect introduction. The manga is where you go when you realize you’re unfortunately invested in Yaniko’s terrible existence.
And judging by how much Yani Neko has been popping up in anime discussions and memes, I’m definitely not the only person who ended up in that situation.
My Recommended Reading Order
If you’re completely new to the manga, I’d go with this:
- Finish Chainsmoker Cat Season 1.
- Start Yani Neko from Volume 1.
- Read through the material adapted by the anime.
- Continue into the later volumes once you’ve caught up.
- Buy the official English releases as they become available.
If you are absolutely determined to skip the adapted material, you can look for the manga chapters corresponding to the end of the first season. Just keep in mind that chapter-to-episode comparisons aren’t always perfectly one-to-one.
For a comedy this chaotic, I’d rather reread a few familiar jokes than accidentally skip something hilarious.
Final Thoughts: Should You Read Yani Neko After Season 1?
Absolutely.
If Chainsmoker Cat somehow became one of your favorite anime discoveries of Summer 2026, the manga is an easy recommendation.
It’s weird, shameless, occasionally disgusting, surprisingly charming and completely committed to its central joke. More importantly, it doesn’t try to turn Yaniko into a secretly perfect protagonist. She’s a mess, and the manga is perfectly happy to let her remain a mess.
That’s what makes the series work for me.
There are plenty of anime where finishing Season 1 leaves you thinking, “I need to know what happens next.”
With Yani Neko, my reaction was slightly different:
“I need to see what stupid thing Yaniko does next.”
And honestly, that’s probably the best reason to read the manga.
The official English edition from Seven Seas is already underway, with more volumes scheduled to follow. So if you’re looking for something to fill the post-season hole, grab the first volume, get comfortable, and prepare yourself to spend way too much time inside Yaniko’s absolutely disgusting apartment.
Just don’t expect her to quit smoking anytime soon.
