This Romantic Adult Comedy Took Crunchyroll By Storm Even Before It Released

It’s hard to predict what will land with audiences versus what won’t. This is a fact that most studios have to contend with, and sometimes, it’s a complete gamble. Sometimes it may be as simple as releasing a great movie, as was the case with Obsession (2026), but then you can have good movies like Minions & Monsters (2026) that fail to land through no fault of their own. Additionally, there are shows like Chainsmoker Cat (2026) that are controversial yet strike a chord with audiences. So what’s the secret?

I would argue that it’s an issue of relatability. Audiences can tell when a show is made out of love and passion and when one is made because data-driven executives are trying to make the most money. Audiences, now more than ever, are gravitating to personally crafted experiences, and one big example of that is happening on Crunchyroll. A show just premiered over there, but even a month before its release, audiences were praising it for being a universally relatable anime perfect for adults, reaching as high as #140 on the streaming charts off of a handful of clips. It connected with audiences in a way that few anime could, and it’s shaping up to be one of the best anime of the summer season.

What Is ‘Smoking Behind The Supermarket With You’ About?

To address the elephant in the room, yes, it’s weird that there are two different anime this season about adults who smoke to escape the drudgery of life, but that’s life. However, Smoking Behind the Supermarket With You (2026) is the classy exploration of adulthood that audiences are raving about, while Chainsmoker Cat is the one you’d get from Temu.

Smoking Behind the Supermarket With You is the story of two adults. There’s Sasaki, a middle-aged salaryman who leads a mundane life. It’s not a bad one, but it's not very fulfilling, and he’s overworked. He enjoys two things in life—having a smoke after work and talking to his favorite cashier at his local supermarket, a bubbly twenty-something-year-old named Yamada. When he has to work late one day, instead of seeing Yamada at the store, he sees a cool, mature woman named Tayama smoking outside. Sasaki doesn’t realize that Tayama is what Yamada is really like outside of work. He approaches her, which leads to the central premise of each episode—Sasaki and Tayama share a smoke after a long day of work.

The one thing that’s clear with Smoking Behind the Supermarket With You is that there’s a maturity to the series that’s uncommon in today’s anime landscape. It’s a show targeted for adults with adult characters dealing with adult problems. There are some comical moments to it, but for the most part, it’s very grounded without the usual over-the-top trappings you would get from an anime. It’s a slow, low-key romance in the same vein as The Ice Guy and His Cool Female Colleague (2023), and people vibe with it because it treats adult relationships with the respect they deserve.

How Did the Series Get So Popular Before It Released?

Cool premise aside, how did a series that didn’t have much of a presence in the West earn as much attention in such a short amount of time? Because of its unconventional release structure.

Normally, seasonal anime, especially those on Crunchyroll, are shown on a weekly basis. A season lasts about 11 to 13 23-minute episodes, depending on the scale of the production, and then that’s it. But Smoking Behind The Supermarket With You opted to release 12 shorts all at once. It’s not exactly clear why Crunchyroll did this, but there are some theories for this reason. It’s no secret that younger audiences are more prone to short-form content and anime, so Crunchyroll's decision to break up the first six episodes of the series into 12 smaller chunks could have been to appeal to changing tastes.

It was also a smart decision because it allowed viewers to gauge if they would like the series. Smoking Behind the Supermarket With You doesn’t have a grand narrative like One Piece (1999). You can very quickly tell after a few minutes whether the tone of Sasaki and Tayama’s post-work smokes is your thing or not. Plus, with 12 shorts releasing all at once, if you do manage to click with it, then you have a bunch of bite-sized episodes to engage with and spread the word about, making for easy publicity on social media.

Is ‘Smoking Behind The Supermarket With You’ Good?

So was its unique release schedule the only reason that Smoking Behind the Supermarket With You became popular? Of course not. It’s because audiences could tell from a few clicks just how authentic a show it was.

Sasaki and Tayama are very sympathetic and believable characters. Much like the average adult, they’re okay with where their life is, despite not envisioning this being what their life would be like. It’s not ideal, but it keeps the lights on, and that’s what matters at the end of the day. They deal with the same problems that normal people do and take pleasure in the small things. Some people, after a long day of work, relax with a drink, watch movies, or play games. For Sasaki and Tayama, it’s having a smoke, and that’s perfectly okay. Whatever helps them get through the day. It gives the show a stress-free atmosphere that feels real. The hard part of the day is over; now they can relax, and we can relax alongside them.

If you think of the show as a rom-com, then you’ll probably be pleasantly surprised with how normal it feels. There are some cute gags, like Sasaki not realizing Tayama and Yamada are the same person, but it feels like how a normal relationship between two strangers would develop. They talk about their day, get to know each other, and find companionship, even if it isn’t overtly romantic at first. Audiences are flocking to Smoking Behind the Supermarket With You because they love the genuine emotional honesty. It’s rare to see that in shows these days, and here’s hoping it continues to succeed.