Every day, artists around the world make the brave decision to put their work out there on social media, where literally anyone can see it. Sometimes people like it. Sometimes they hate it. Often it gets lost in the mass of other artists trying to get people’s attention. For Jinushi, the mangaka behind Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You, a post on social media turned into a monthly serialization and, a few years later, one of the most interesting anime of 2026 for me.

In 2022, Jinushi already had one manga series being published in Square Enix’s Monthly Big Gangan magazine. That series, Rokurei – Tenseishi Rinne Kuyakusho Dairokkanbu Joreika Katsudouki, was a supernatural story about government-backed exorcists playing mediator between the living and the dead. As a writing exercise, Jinushi’s editor suggested that they try something more grounded in reality. Not for publication but for fun and to stretch their creative muscles. 

According to Jinushi, he has a background in customer service, so the new series was set at a supermarket. It featured Sasaki, an overworked office worker who has a secret crush on Yamada, the cheery, upbeat cashier at the shop where Sasaki often bought coffee and snacks. Meanwhile, he was spending time behind the store in the smoking area with a mysterious woman named Tayama, not realizing that Yamada and Tayama are, in fact, the same person.

This is a classic pseudo-love triangle situation (I call it the Superman Love Triangle for obvious reasons), and it very quickly gained a huge audience on social media. It was first posted on Twitter on March 9, 2022. By June, it had more than 2.5 million likes and had been picked up for serialization in Monthly Big Gangan. Now, in 2026, eight volumes of the series have been published, and the first season of Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You is currently airing on Crunchyroll.

It is such a simple premise, but it includes so many tropes that I adore. The mistaken identity and the slowly blossoming romance between people on very different paths in life. Jinushi has described the pair as being kind people who also express that kindness in different ways, which I love to see. But more than anything, it shows the bonding that can happen in those quiet moments, away from responsibility and the prying eyes of the world. The smoke break in this story could be anything: a cup of tea or a walk in the park. A comic book that you read on the train home after a busy day. We all have our version of smoking – in the case of Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You, this becomes something that connects two people and allows love to bloom.

Of course, it helps that the animation for Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You is gorgeous and the characters are memorable, but what really struck me in the first few episodes is the sound design. The way the episodes let the audience linger in the supermarket. The familiar click of Sasaki’s shoes on the tile floor. Even the gentle hum of the fridges along the aisles. It all makes the Super S supermarket, the place where Yamada works, feel alive and real, which, in turn, makes their relationship feel more real.

The world is a rough place, and we all need a break sometimes to keep us sane, so the core concept of Smoking Behind the Supermarket is instantly relatable, but watching people connect while having that reprieve is a kind of magic that I’ll never get over. It is why I love seeing live music and conventions and talking to strangers about movies (whether they want me to or not). And it is why I already know that Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You is going to become one of my favorite anime of the season; in an industry flooded with isekai after isekai, the most mundane story feels the most unique.

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