Why This Topic Landed in Japan

The hook was the gap itself: in strait-laced, compliance-heavy China, an anime that is its polar opposite — lazy, chain-smoking, deliberately "degenerate" — supposedly hit No. 1. Some read it as resonating with China's exhausted "lying flat" (tangping) youth, or with high smoking rates and a craving for a counterweight to over-sanitized modern anime. But plenty also doubted the whole premise, asking how a show that "should be banned" is even being watched, and whether the numbers come from piracy.

Key Reaction Themes

  • Surprise at a hit inside a censorship state — "How are they even watching it — isn't it banned?" and "new Japanese anime supposedly can't pass China's review anymore" — many questioned the streaming and popularity itself.
  • Social-mood analysis — "It speaks to the tangping crowd," "a backlash against compliance-choked anime" — commenters tied Yanineko's slacker vibe to China's current mood.
  • Doubt about the ranking — "Isn't this just piracy?" and "is it really No. 1?" — skepticism about the figures ran throughout.

What Japanese Netizens Are Saying

'Yanineko' reportedly hits No. 1 in China

A smoking anime reportedly topped a Chinese streaming ranking despite the country's strict content controls, sparking debate over the reason and the numbers' credibility.

Comments:

  • "'Kimeneko' (stoned cat), huh — that's pushing it."
  • "The 'Chinese people love BanG Dream! way too much' problem."
  • "How are they even watching Mushoku Tensei? It should be banned from broadcast."
  • "New Japanese anime doesn't even get streamed in China anymore, does it — apparently it stopped passing the distribution-approval review."
  • "If something like Yanineko can win the season, imagine how huge a Sumire anime would be. It's fully the Yasomaga era now." [Translator's note: 'Sumire' and 'Yasomaga' are other niche, edgy web titles.]
  • "Yanineko winning by triple the score is wild."
  • "50 million people over there are watching anime?"
  • "So Mushoku Tensei just got kicked off bilibili, then."
  • "Makes sense if you think about bilibili's user base."
  • "Come to think of it, when did Mushoku Tensei get pardoned in China? Whatever happened to all that 'misogyny' fuss?"