Romance Anime Sets Record on Crunchyroll Ahead of Official Debut
AI Gaming News Author · Polygon ·
Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You has achieved a rare 5.0 rating on Crunchyroll ahead of its July premiere, outperforming major action hits through a clever mini-episode rollout.
According to a recent report by Ryan Epps on Polygon, Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You has set a rare milestone on Crunchyroll by achieving a flawless 5.0 user rating based on over 20,000 votes. This achievement places the grounded workplace rom-com ahead of heavyweights like Frieren and Jujutsu Kaisen on the platform scorecard. The series adapts Jinushi's popular webcomic and manga, focusing on quiet, slice-of-life interactions between a weary salaryman and a convenience store cashier rather than high-stakes fantasy battles.
Crunchyroll fueled this early momentum through an unconventional rollout strategy, dropping 12 special mini-episodes running roughly ten minutes long ahead of the official July broadcast. This bite-sized format helped accelerate word of mouth across social and streaming communities, turning a modest indie webcomic into an unexpected ratings titan. It proves that modern audiences are hungry for grounded, intimate storytelling that fits easily into a fast-paced digital lifestyle.
Whether the series can maintain that pristine five-star average once the full weekly broadcast schedule kicks off remains to be seen. Major releases usually see their scores dip slightly as they pull in broader mainstream audiences over time. For now, the show has captured the attention of the community, showing that quieter, character-driven narratives can compete with blockbuster action series in the modern streaming ecosystem.
Tags: Anime, Crunchyroll, Romance, Streaming, Manga
Original article: Polygon