is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Jinushi. It began as a webcomic published on Twitter in March 2022, before it was serialized in Square Enix's Monthly Big Gangan magazine in August 2022. An anime television series adaptation produced by Asahi Production aired from July to September 2026.
The manga won the 2022 Next Manga Award in the web category. The series has received largely positive reviews for Jinushi's writing and chemistry between the two main leads.
Story Sasaki, an overworked salaryman, finds a release of his daily tensions in the customer service of Yamada, a winsome, cheery supermarket cashier. One day he finds himself working late, and finding Yamada already done with work for the day, goes for a smoke, he finds a mysterious woman, "Tayama," who invites him to the smoking area behind the store. Yamada has a one-sided crush on Sasaki, and enjoys teasing him, though Sasaki remains completely oblivious of her feelings and of "Tayama" being her secret alter ego.
Characters
The male protagonist, a tired 45-year-old businessman working in sales at what Tayama describes as a "black company". He is often refreshed by visiting Yamada's checkout because of her friendly customer service and does not realize that his favorite cashier and his new smoking friend, Tayama, are the same person. He has very low self-esteem, constantly apologizing and trying to be considerate of everyone. As a result, despite respecting Yamada/Tayama, he doesn't want to pursue a relationship, holding both of them in extremely high regard, thus remaining completely oblivious to her feelings and show no signs of reciprocating whatsoever.
The female protagonist; a 24-year-old employee of Super S who started as a part-timer eight years ago. As Yamada, she is demure and the perfect customer handler, while her true self—whom she introduces to Sasaki as "Tayama"—is much cooler, wearing a leather jacket and sporting several ear piercings. She invites Sasaki to the smoking area behind the store, which he then begins visiting regularly. She is both amused and slightly frustrated that Sasaki cannot tell Yamada and Tayama are the same person, and is also bothered by how he places Yamada on a pedestal while treating "Tayama" with extreme respect and consideration. She has a crush on Sasaki because of his kindness and acceptance of her true personality as Tayama, and she loves teasing him, though is often left frustrated of how he doesn't want to reciprocate. She is also unaware that Sasaki is the person who once helped her when she was still a part-timer.
The manager of Super S, a supporter of Yamada (and what she observes of her relationship with Sasaki). Enjoys romance novels, and real-life approximations thereof. She's supportive of Yamada and Sasaki's relationship, although frustrated at the slow progress and Sasaki's unwillingness to reciprocate Yamada's feelings. Sasaki's boss
A bald man who repeatedly critiques and gives extra work to Sasaki as well as creates a harsh work environment for his employees.
Another senior of Yamada's at Super S who is addressed as "Chief Maezawa" and is in charge of the cashiers. She recounts the story of a ghost in the store's smoking area to Yamada. She is good at helping out "lost" kids who need to find their parents.
An assistant manager at Super S who is approaching retirement age. She appears vague and mild-mannered, but is actually very opinionated.
The head of the Produce Department at Super S. He is a tall, quiet, and reserved man.
Sasaki's sympathetic blond co-worker; father of Megumi.
Production At the time, Jinushi was serializing Rokurei — Tenseishi Rinne Kuyakusho Dairokkanbu Joreika Katsudouki in Monthly Big Gangan. He received advice from his editor to draw a short manga as an exercise in creative writing, which led him to creating the series. Since Rokurei was a supernatural story, the manga was drawn to be more realistic, and since the author had a background in customer service sales, the story was set in a supermarket.
Media Manga When the first chapter was posted on Twitter, the tweet received more than 190,000 likes (as of June 2, 2022), creating a huge response. As of June 25th of that same year, the total number of likes for the series had surpassed 2.5 million.
On August 25, 2022, the serialization in the magazine began in Monthly Big Gangan. In this issue, it appeared on the cover and in the opening color. On the same day, the first volume of the book with newly written chapters was also released. As a result of this, the title was changed from to , with chapters 4 to 16 that were posted on Twitter deleted, but announced that it will still continue on Twitter without change.
The manga is licensed by Square Enix's Manga UP! Global app and website. At Anime Expo 2023, Square Enix Manga & Books announced that they licensed the series for English publication, with the first volume being released on February 20, 2024.
Volumes
Uncollected chapters These chapters have yet to be published in a volume.
Smoke 63 Smoke 64 Smoke 65
Anime An anime television series adaptation was announced on July 18, 2025. It is produced by Asahi Production and directed by Masato Suzuki and Aoi Mori, with Mio Inoue handling series composition, Yasuka Ōtaki designing the characters, and Shin Kono and Sayaka Aoki composing the music. The series aired from July 10 to September 25, 2026, on TBS and its affiliates. For the television broadcast, the opening theme song is , performed by Zutomayo, and the ending theme song is "Fiction", performed by Imase. For the Abema streaming broadcast, the opening theme song is , performed by Zutomayo, and the ending theme song is "Night Dancer," performed by Imase. Crunchyroll is streaming the series. Netflix is also streaming it in select regions of Asia. An English dub by Ocean Productions debuted on the same day as the show's Netflix simulcast and two weeks later on Crunchyroll on July 23, 2026.
Episodes
Reception By January 2026, the manga had over 3 million copies in circulation. Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You won the 2022 Next Manga Award in the web category. The series ranked seventh in the 2023 edition of Takarajimasha's Kono Manga ga Sugoi! list of best manga for male readers. It also ranked eighth in the 16th Manga Taishō. The series was ranked fourth in the Nationwide Bookstore Employees' Recommended Comics of 2023 and first in the Nationwide Publishers' Recommended Comics of 2023. In 2026, the series has been nominated in Daruma for Best Manga at the Japan Expo Awards. It has over 200,000 copies in circulation as of volume 1.
Notes
References
External links