Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You launches with same-day Canadian dub [Updated 7/23]

Coinciding with the show’s debut on Japanese television earlier today, an English version of Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You is available on Netflix across select countries in Asia and is slowly rolling out through Crunchyroll in North America. The animated series is an adaptation of Jinushi’s ongoing Monthly Big Gangan romantic comedy manga of the same name. Produced by Ocean Media in Vancouver, the dub stars Caitlyn Bairstow as Yamada/Tayama and Giles Panton as Sasaki. Andrew Francis, Ruth Alexander and Brian Dobson are also featured in the first episode. The English version is directed by Karl Willems from a script adapted by Jack Cox.

Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You is being directed by Aoi Mori and Tadato Suzuki at Asahi Production for broadcast on TBS in Japan. Mio Inoue is the lead writer, with music by Sayaka Aoki and Shin Kōno.

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.”

The show’s rollout has not been simple. In addition to the differing streaming platforms depending on your region, the show also had an early launch. While today marked its broadcast debut, the first 6 episodes were made available through 10-minute recuts early last month. Crunchyroll is streaming both versions subtitled in Japanese. As of this writing, the dub for the first 23-minute episode is available on Crunchyroll on some devices, but not all. That will presumably be fixed shortly.

This marks the first all-new anime series dubbed in Canada since 2024’s Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction. Coincidentally, another title with a convoluted rollout featuring much of the same English cast and crew. In both instances, the dubs were likely commissioned by the Japanese rights holders. The bulk of Ocean’s modern anime work has come directly from them and their subsidiaries. Recent collaborators include Bushiroad, Nippon Animation, Toei Animation and TV Tokyo.

Update (7/23): Crunchyroll is now streaming the dub in North America, with a two-week delay. Netflix is still simultaneously releasing new dubbed episodes in Asia alongside the Japanese broadcast.