Smoking Behind The Supermarket With You Has Finally Landed On Crunchyroll, And It’s A New Classic

From Hana Kimi to In the Clear Moonlit Dusk, Tamon’s B-Side, and You and I Are Polar Opposites, 2026 has been a very strong year for romance anime so far. And, for the most part, Crunchyroll has been leading this charge. Many of the above-named series have been huge successes, and the demand for renewals is already on the rise.

That said, in the middle of all this, keeping up this recent streak of strong romance releases, Crunchyroll has just dropped what might be its most unique and compelling romance anime of the year. Amidst all the high school and teenage romances, Crunchyroll finally has a romance series for its most overlooked demographic, and it’s already a hit in the making before its full release.

2026’s Most Relatable Romance Anime Is Finally Here

Ahead of its full and formal debut on July 9, half of Smoking Behind the Supermarket With You was dropped early on Crunchyroll as a mini-series, and it’s already shaping up to be the sleeper hit of Summer 2026. With its gorgeous character designs and simple yet clean animation, Smoking Behind the Supermarket With You is drawing eyeballs already, and pleasantly enough, it fully lives up to the hype of its initial perfect five-star rating on Crunchyroll.

The series follows a middle-aged Japanese salaryman named Sasaki, who, much like any typical salaryman, is overworked and constantly weary after his shift. Seeking a refresher after a long day’s work, Sasaki visits a local supermarket after every shift, all to be greeted by the sunny and cheerful cashier, Yamada, whose smile alone rejuvenates him.

That said, one day after getting off work late, Sasaki chooses to go for a smoke when he comes across a mysterious woman named Tayama, who henceforth invites him for a smoke behind the supermarket. Unbeknownst to Sasaki, however, this cool, enigmatic woman donning leather jackets and multiple piercings is in fact the same cheerful Yamada. However, due to her wildly different demeanor and the absence of her customer service smile, Sasaki is unable to tell that the two women are one and the same, which is where the fun begins.

With Yamada being in her mid-twenties, Smoking Behind the Supermarket With You is admittedly an age-gap romance, but, tricky as these may be, the series executes it with maturity. Two adults crossing paths and becoming friends over a smoke after a long, tiring day of work is about as realistic as it gets. Furthermore, Sasaki and Tayama’s dynamic grows sweeter with every episode, especially when fans learn that she sees Sasaki as a “refresher” much like he does her.

Crunchyroll May Have Finally Found Its Wotakoi Successor

All that said, Smoking Behind the Supermarket With You’s relatability isn’t just restricted to its romance. In fact, perhaps one of the most relatable moments in the entire series is when Sasaki accidentally undoes all his changes to a spreadsheet in Episode 2, followed closely by Yamada’s struggles to maintain her pleasant customer service persona.

In this regard, Smoking Behind the Supermarket With You might be the closest modern successor to Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku, another classic adult romance anime. Granted, a huge chunk of Wotakoi’s relatability stems from how heavily it incorporates otaku culture of all kinds. But the biggest reason the series is as popular as it is years later, even without a second season, is that it is centered around working professionals, much like Smoking Behind the Supermarket With You.

In terms of the woes of adulthood and being a working professional, series like Life Lessons with Uramichi Oniisan have also previously hit similar highs, though Uramichi Oniisan may have been lacking in the romance department compared to Wotakoi and Smoking Behind the Supermarket With You. All things considered, Smoking Behind the Supermarket With You’s rising popularity proves anime fans are looking for more romances for adults and new, different stories as opposed to the same old high school romances revolving around teenagers. The seinen and josei genres have so much more to offer, and hopefully, Smoking Behind the Supermarket With You is the first of many more such anime adaptations to come.