Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You Releases Creditless Opening With ZUTOMAYO’s Fig Smoke
Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You has released its creditless opening video, giving fans a clean look at the anime’s warm, smoky and quietly romantic introduction.
The opening is set to “Ichijiku Kemuri” by ZUTOMAYO, a song that matches the series’ unusual atmosphere: soft adult loneliness, everyday exhaustion, small gestures of comfort and the strange intimacy that forms in the smoking area behind a supermarket.
The TV anime premiered in Japan on July 9, 2026, airing on TBS and its affiliated network. The series is also streaming internationally on Crunchyroll, making it one of the more distinctive romance and slice-of-life titles of the Summer 2026 anime season.
Based on the manga by Jinushi, the story follows Sasaki, an overworked middle-aged salaryman, and Yamada, a cheerful supermarket employee who becomes his small source of daily relief. But when Sasaki starts sharing quiet smoke breaks with a mysterious woman named Tayama, he fails to realize that Yamada and Tayama are actually the same person.
The Creditless Opening Highlights the Anime’s Quiet Charm
The new creditless opening removes the on-screen text and lets viewers focus completely on the animation, mood and music.
Rather than presenting the series as a loud romantic comedy, the opening leans into small moments: Sasaki returning from work, Yamada behind the supermarket register, Tayama lighting a cigarette and the pair spending time together in the smoking area behind the store.
The video uses the image of smoke as more than atmosphere. Smoke becomes a symbol of pause, relief and emotional distance. It rises between the characters, softens the setting and turns ordinary silence into something meaningful.
The opening also shows the passing of the seasons, suggesting that the relationship between Sasaki and Tayama is not built through dramatic confession scenes or sudden romantic spectacle. It grows through repetition, routine and the comfort of meeting in the same hidden place again and again.
ZUTOMAYO Performs “Ichijiku Kemuri”
The TV broadcast version opening theme is “Ichijiku Kemuri”, performed by ZUTOMAYO.
ZUTOMAYO’s music is a strong match for this anime because the band often blends emotional loneliness with energetic, stylish arrangements. That contrast fits Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You perfectly.
The series is not gloomy, but it is filled with quiet adult fatigue. Sasaki is tired from work, emotionally worn down and searching for small moments that allow him to breathe. Yamada’s customer service smile gives him comfort during the day, while Tayama’s blunt, casual presence gives him a different kind of comfort behind the supermarket.
“Ichijiku Kemuri” supports that mood by making the opening feel bright without erasing the sadness beneath it. The song gives the anime a pop rhythm, but the images remain grounded in ordinary life: work, cigarettes, supermarket aisles, night air and casual conversations that begin to matter more than either character expected.
The Opening Is Different From the ABEMA Special Version
Before the regular TV broadcast, Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You received a special early release through ABEMA.
That early version used different creditless opening and ending videos, including the special opening theme “Kuzuri Nen”, also by ZUTOMAYO, and the special ending theme “NIGHT DANCER” by imase.
The TV broadcast version now uses “Ichijiku Kemuri” as its opening theme and “Fiction” by imase as its ending theme.
This distinction matters because the anime has essentially offered viewers two musical introductions. The early ABEMA version helped build anticipation before the full broadcast, while the TV opening now defines the main weekly version of the series.
For fans following every release, the difference gives the anime an unusual promotional rhythm. The series did not simply arrive with one standard opening. It eased viewers into its world through multiple versions, much like the story itself slowly reveals different sides of Yamada and Tayama.
What Is Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You About?
Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You follows Sasaki, a tired middle-aged office worker whose life has become defined by work stress and emotional exhaustion.
His small comfort is visiting his usual supermarket, where a cheerful cashier named Yamada always treats him kindly. Her smile and customer service become a rare bright spot in his routine.
One night, after another long day, Sasaki arrives at the supermarket hoping to see Yamada. Instead, she is no longer there. Disappointed and unable to find a place to smoke, he is approached by a woman named Tayama, who invites him to the smoking area behind the store.
Tayama looks and acts completely different from Yamada. She is more casual, sharper, more mischievous and far less polished than the smiling supermarket employee Sasaki admires.
But unknown to Sasaki, Tayama and Yamada are the same woman.
From there, the story follows the quiet, funny and emotionally subtle bond that grows between Sasaki and Tayama during their smoke breaks behind the supermarket.
A Romance About Adults, Not Teenagers
One of the reasons Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You stands out is that it is not a school romance.
The main characters are adults dealing with adult exhaustion. Sasaki is not a nervous high school boy trying to confess to a classmate. He is a worn-out worker whose life has become heavy, repetitive and lonely.
Yamada is not a typical idealized romantic heroine either. She has a public-facing version of herself at work and a more relaxed alter ego as Tayama behind the store. The series plays with that difference, but it also uses it to explore how people behave differently depending on where they are and who is watching.
This makes the romance feel more mature and understated.
The relationship does not begin with grand drama. It begins with routine. Two people meet behind a supermarket, smoke, talk and slowly become part of each other’s day.
Sasaki Is the Heart of the Anime’s Quiet Melancholy
Sasaki is central to the emotional tone of the series.
He is a tired salaryman who has become used to pushing through work, stress and disappointment. His life does not seem catastrophic from the outside, but it feels emotionally drained from the inside.
That is why Yamada’s presence matters to him so much.
Her cheerful service at the supermarket becomes a small rescue from his daily routine. It is not romance at first, at least not in a dramatic way. It is comfort. It is the feeling that someone’s kindness, even in a brief customer interaction, can make the day easier to endure.
When Sasaki meets Tayama, that comfort changes shape. Unlike Yamada, Tayama does not simply smile at him from behind a register. She talks to him, teases him and shares space with him in a more personal way.
The irony is that Sasaki does not realize both women are the same person, which gives the story both comedy and tenderness.
Yamada and Tayama Create the Series’ Central Mystery
The relationship between Yamada and Tayama is the main hook of Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You.
Yamada is the friendly cashier Sasaki admires. Tayama is the woman who meets him behind the supermarket to smoke. To Sasaki, they seem like two completely different people.
To the audience, the truth creates a gentle dramatic irony.
We know what Sasaki does not. We watch him open up to Tayama while still admiring Yamada from a distance. We see how Yamada can express different parts of herself depending on the role she is playing.
This makes the anime more interesting than a simple hidden identity joke.
Yamada’s double presentation raises questions about work, image and privacy. At the register, she performs the bright role expected of her. Behind the supermarket, as Tayama, she can be looser, sharper and more honest. The smoking area becomes the place where she can step outside the customer-service mask.
The Smoking Area Is More Than a Setting
The smoking area behind the supermarket is the emotional center of the story.
It is not glamorous. It is not romantic in the usual anime sense. It is a small hidden space behind an ordinary store, a place for brief pauses rather than dramatic life decisions.
That is exactly why it works.
For Sasaki and Tayama, the smoking area becomes a neutral zone. It is outside work, outside customer service, outside the pressure of public performance. They do not need to be impressive there. They only need to exist together for a few minutes.
The creditless opening understands this. It does not try to make the setting look grand. It makes it feel intimate. Smoke, night air, passing seasons and repeated meetings turn the ordinary location into something emotionally important.
The Anime’s Adult Atmosphere Sets It Apart
Many romantic comedies rely on misunderstandings, confessions, school festivals and youthful nervousness.
Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You has misunderstandings too, especially around Yamada and Tayama’s identity, but its emotional texture is different.
The characters are older. Their conversations are quieter. Their loneliness feels more grounded in daily life than melodrama.
Sasaki does not need someone to save him from a fantasy threat. He needs a place to rest emotionally. Yamada does not need to be a perfect romantic ideal. She needs space to be more than the smiling employee customers see.
That makes the anime appealing for viewers looking for romance that feels slower, softer and more adult.
The Main Cast
The main voice cast includes:
- Takuya Sato as Sasaki
- Seena Hoshiki as Yamada and Tayama
- Toa Yukinari as Goto
- Megumi Toyoguchi as Ono
- Rikuya Yasuda as Obata
- Yoko Hikasa as Maezawa
- Shinya Takahashi as Suzuki
The casting of Seena Hoshiki as both Yamada and Tayama is especially important. The role requires two different presentations of the same person. Yamada needs to sound warm, bright and professional, while Tayama needs to feel more casual, teasing and relaxed.
If the performance makes both sides believable without making the connection too obvious to Sasaki, the anime’s main dramatic irony becomes much stronger.
The Main Staff Behind the Anime
The anime is directed by Masato Suzuki and Aoi Mori.
Mio Inoue handles series composition, while Yasuka Otaki provides character design. The music is composed by Shin Kono and Sayaka Aoki, with Kohei Yoshida serving as sound director.
Animation production is handled by Asahi Production.
The creative team’s biggest challenge is tone. This is not a story that needs constant exaggeration. It needs pauses, glances, awkward silence, soft comedy and a sense that ordinary conversations can carry emotional weight.
The creditless opening suggests that the anime understands that rhythm. Its strongest images are not loud action cuts, but quiet emotional fragments.
The Opening Shows the Story’s Seasonal Rhythm
One of the most effective parts of the opening is its use of seasonal imagery.
By showing Sasaki and Tayama across different times of year, the video suggests that their bond is built through time. This is not a single dramatic encounter that changes everything immediately. It is a relationship that forms through repeated meetings.
That seasonal rhythm is important to slice-of-life romance.
Small interactions gain meaning because they continue. A conversation that seems ordinary in spring can feel different after it has been repeated through summer, autumn and winter. The same location becomes familiar. The same habit becomes comforting.
In Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You, that habit is the smoke break.
Why the Opening Works So Well
The opening works because it understands what kind of anime this is.
It does not oversell the story as dramatic romance. It does not pretend the supermarket is a magical place. It does not force the characters into exaggerated romantic poses.
Instead, it focuses on mood.
Sasaki is tired. Yamada is kind. Tayama is playful. The smoking area is hidden. The city keeps moving. The smoke rises and disappears. The relationship grows quietly in the space between work and home.
That is the entire emotional language of the series.
ZUTOMAYO’s song gives the opening enough energy to feel catchy, but the visuals keep it grounded in the adult stillness that defines the anime.
imase Performs the Ending Theme “Fiction”
The TV broadcast version ending theme is “Fiction” by imase.
While the opening introduces the series with a pop and upbeat sense of movement, the ending appears to settle more deeply into Sasaki’s daily life. The ending video focuses on his routine, his exhaustion and the comforting moments that connect him to Yamada and Tayama.
This creates a strong contrast between the two theme sequences.
The opening feels like the start of a small emotional journey. The ending feels like a quiet exhale at the end of the day.
That contrast fits the series perfectly because Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You is about people who are not trying to escape into grand adventure. They are trying to find small places where they can breathe.
The Manga Began as a Webcomic
The original manga by Jinushi began as a webcomic before becoming a serialized manga in Square Enix’s Monthly Big Gangan.
Its rise makes sense because the premise is immediately charming. A tired office worker finds comfort in a supermarket cashier, then unknowingly becomes close to the same woman in a completely different form behind the store.
It is a simple setup, but it has emotional depth.
The story works because it captures a very specific kind of adult loneliness. Sasaki is not looking for adventure. He is looking for relief. Yamada is not only a perfect smile behind a counter. She has another side that wants to relax and speak freely.
The anime adaptation now brings that quiet tension to motion, voice acting and music.
Why the Series Became a Surprise Favorite
Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You has become one of the more surprising romance titles of the season because it does not follow the usual formula.
There are no flashy supernatural rules, no school club setup, no grand love triangle and no constant dramatic shouting. The appeal is much smaller and more specific.
It is about two adults repeatedly meeting in a place where neither of them has to perform perfectly.
That kind of intimacy can be powerful precisely because it is so ordinary. A cigarette break, a few words after work, a familiar face at a supermarket, these are not dramatic events. But when someone is lonely or tired enough, those small things can become the most important parts of the day.
The creditless opening captures that feeling clearly, which is why it matters as more than just a promotional video.
A Romance Built on Misrecognition
The central misunderstanding between Yamada and Tayama gives the story its romantic comedy structure.
Sasaki admires Yamada, but he relaxes around Tayama. He does not understand that both sides belong to the same woman. This creates comedy, but it also reveals something important about how people connect.
With Yamada, Sasaki sees ideal kindness from a distance.
With Tayama, he experiences imperfect closeness.
The difference between those two relationships is what makes the story interesting. Sasaki thinks he is dealing with two different people, but he is actually learning two different versions of the same person. The question is not only when he will realize the truth, but what that truth will mean emotionally.
Yamada’s Double Identity Makes Her More Human
Yamada could have been written as only a cheerful supermarket angel, the idealized worker who brightens Sasaki’s day.
Tayama prevents that from happening.
By giving Yamada a second persona, the story allows her to exist beyond customer service. Tayama can be messy, direct, relaxed and strange. She can smoke, tease Sasaki and talk to him in ways Yamada never could while working at the register.
This makes her feel more human.
People often act differently at work than they do in private. Yamada and Tayama exaggerate that difference for comedy, but the emotional truth behind it is relatable. Everyone has versions of themselves shaped by environment, duty and expectation.
The anime’s opening visually reinforces this by showing both the supermarket side and the hidden smoking-area side of her life.
Why the Anime Needs a Gentle Pace
Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You is the kind of anime that benefits from patience.
If the story moves too fast, the relationship loses its quiet charm. If Sasaki discovers everything too quickly, the emotional build-up disappears. If the anime exaggerates every joke, the adult atmosphere becomes less believable.
The best version of this series is one that lets silence matter.
Small pauses, brief smiles, cigarette smoke, tired footsteps and unfinished conversations are all part of its language. The creditless opening suggests that the adaptation is leaning into that gentler rhythm rather than forcing the story to become louder than it should be.
That is good news for fans of the manga.
What the Creditless Opening Tells New Viewers
For viewers who have not started the anime yet, the creditless opening gives a clear sense of what to expect.
This is a romance, but not a dramatic melodrama.
This is a comedy, but not a frantic gag series.
This is a slice-of-life story, but not one without emotional stakes.
The opening presents Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You as a soft, adult and slightly bittersweet anime about the comfort people find in each other during the most ordinary parts of life.
It is not about changing the world. It is about surviving the day, then finding someone waiting in a quiet corner behind the supermarket.
Where Is Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You Streaming?
Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You is streaming on Crunchyroll as part of the Summer 2026 anime lineup.
The series premiered on Japanese television on July 9, 2026. In Japan, ABEMA and Netflix are listed among the fastest streaming platforms, with other services following later.
The anime also received an earlier ABEMA-exclusive advance version, which helped introduce viewers to the first part of the story before the regular broadcast began.
For international viewers, Crunchyroll is the main place to follow the series as the full TV version continues.
Why the Opening Video Is Worth Watching
The creditless opening is worth watching because it captures the anime’s emotional identity in under two minutes.
It shows the workplace fatigue, the supermarket routine, the hidden smoke breaks, the playful distance between Sasaki and Tayama, and the slow passage of time that makes their bond feel natural.
It also gives ZUTOMAYO’s “Ichijiku Kemuri” room to breathe without credits covering the animation.
For a series as understated as Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You, that matters. The small visual details are part of the appeal. The way characters look away, light a cigarette, walk home or stand together quietly can say as much as dialogue.
The opening understands that this anime is not selling a fantasy. It is selling a mood.
When Did Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You Premiere?
Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You premiered on July 9, 2026, and is now streaming on Crunchyroll.
The TV anime is directed by Masato Suzuki and Aoi Mori, with series composition by Mio Inoue, character design by Yasuka Otaki and animation production by Asahi Production.
The opening theme is ZUTOMAYO’s “Ichijiku Kemuri,” while the ending theme is imase’s “Fiction.”
Sasaki is a tired worker looking for a little peace.
Yamada is the supermarket cashier who brightens his day.
Tayama is the woman behind the store who gives him a place to breathe.
He does not know they are the same person.
And in that gentle misunderstanding, Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You finds one of the quietest, strangest and most comforting romances of the Summer 2026 anime season.
