It's not about the streaming services, it's about the shows.
With more than four dozen shows debuting during the Anime Summer 2026 season, it's inevitable that more than one show will feature the same or similar theme.
Previously, I covered the first episode of Chainsmoker Cat, when it debuted a couple weeks back on Netflix. The episode took a gleefully crass approach to a catgirl's addiction, paying only lip service to the idea that nicotine might be bad for your health.
In the subsequent two episodes, the hard-smoking catgirl Yani makes some effort to deal with her habit, though she quickly relapses. Will she ever learn? New episodes will premiere every Thursday.
The same day as Chainsmoker Cat premiered on Netflix, another show centered around smoking debuted all 12 mini-episodes on Crunchyroll. (It's also on Netflix outside the U.S.)
Smoking Behind the Supermarket With You
All 12 mini-episodes are now streaming on Crunchyroll. The series is also being presented in more usual 23-minute episodes, the first two are now streaming, with more to follow.
Rather than the outrageous approach of Chainsmoker Cat, Smoking Behind the Supermarket With You is the sedate story of 40-something salaryman Sasaki stopping by a market every day on the way home from his hectic job for the cheery smile of cashier Yamada. One night, looking for some place to smoke before he goes home, he encounters a 20-something supermarket employee who invites him to smoke with her behind the store.
Calling herself Tayama, her cool, calm exterior helps him with his nerves and gives him someone to talk to before he returns home. Sasaki is very, very slow, however, to realize that Tayama is Yamada, on whom he has a crush that is amply obvious to everyone but himself.
Always apologizing, always nervous of offending, always shy, it's no wonder that Sasaki has never found anyone to share his life with. Initially dismissive of Sasaki's clumsy manner of expressing himself, and his slowness to recognize that the young woman he smokes with every night is the same woman he is crushing on -- amazing what slight changes can make all the difference in one's appearance -- Yamada/Tayama teases him mercilessly, commenting several times on his slowness, even incorporating the word "slow" into her comments about him.
Yet, over time, she sees beyond their age difference -- she stops calling him "geezer" after a while -- to observe Sasaki's innate consideration for others, and his kind concern for his favorite cashier, which becomes more attractive to the young woman. At heart, the show is meant as a slow-burning romance, which makes it easier to live with Sasaki's complete and utter slowness. (I mean, c'mon, man! Pay attention!)
Admittedly, the idea of a show like this, which minimizes the dangers of smoking, goes against my grain. It's in the spirit of Hollywood films from the 1930s through the 1990s, which have had a disastrous effect worldwide.
The show buys into the idea smoking is not so bad. Episode 11 shows Sasaki taking his annual physical, and then receiving a diagnosis that he needs to stop smoking. He worries that he will no longer have a reason to see Yamada/Tayama, which prompts her to want to reveal her true identity. Before she can do that, he receives a phone call in the nick of time, informing him that his tests were a misdiagnosis, and he is perfectly healthy. Thus, he can resume smoking! Yay!
Er, no. Frankly, that was disappointing.
The season's final episode provided a flashback to Yamada/Tayama's first days at the supermarket, which was sweet and almost made up for it, but then it added to the mixed messages that the show is delivering. (No more spoilers.) It's beautifully drawn and the voice performances are good, but I was left with a queasy feeling. As always, your mileage may vary.
The show began as a webcomic published on a social media site in 2022 before becoming a manga series the same year, written and illustrated by Jinushi. The anime series comes from the Asahi Production studio (Dara-san of Reiwa.)
Official synopsis: "Sasaki is an overworked salaryman drifting through the corporate grind, sustained by cigarettes and the cheerful service and smile of Yamada, the clerk at his favorite supermarket. But one night after a grueling shift, he arrives late to find Yamada nowhere to be seen. With nowhere left to smoke, his spirits sink--until a pierced young woman calls out to him: "You can smoke here."
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