For a lot of anime fans, there’s an unspoken rule when it comes to English dubs: if a show finishes airing without one, hope slowly starts to fade away.

That’s exactly why Crunchyroll’s surprise Tamon’s B-Side Eng Dub Release announcement caught so many people off guard this week.

Months after Tamon’s B-Side premiered during the Winter 2026 anime season, Crunchyroll officially began streaming the English dub on Thursday, and fans immediately started celebrating online. The unexpected announcement quickly turned into a larger conversation about backlog dubs and whether Crunchyroll may finally be putting more focus on series that missed the original simuldub window.

Honestly, a lot of fans had already assumed Tamon’s B-Side simply wasn’t getting dubbed at all.

One Reddit user wrote, “Wow really was not expecting this one! Figured it was popular/anticipated enough that if it wasn’t getting a simuldub that there was something on the JPN licensing side of things preventing a dub from happening at all. What a nice surprise!”

That feeling seemed to echo throughout the anime community after the Tamon’s B-Side Eng Dub release was announced. Instead of quietly disappearing after the Winter 2026 season ended, the romantic comedy idol series suddenly found itself back in the spotlight.

Fans Think Crunchyroll May Be Changing Its Eng Dub Release Strategy

Another fan posted, “YES! THANK YOU CRUNCHYROLL! Backlog dubs are getting crazy!”

And honestly? They’re not wrong.

Anime fans have noticed Crunchyroll slowly experimenting more with backlog dubs lately, especially for shows that built strong word-of-mouth support after airing in Japanese. One commenter even pointed out that Crunchyroll now appears to be handling some backlog dubs with weekly episode releases instead of dropping an entire dubbed season all at once.

“Looks like Crunchy is now doing their backlog dubs as weekly releases instead of full season drops,” one fan wrote. “I’m hoping this means we’ll start getting more backlog dubs more often!”

That possibility may actually be one of the biggest reasons the Tamon’s B-Side Eng Dub release generated so much excitement online. Even fans who admitted the series personally wasn’t for them still viewed the announcement as a positive sign for the future.

“Although Bean Counter & Tamon’s B Side aren’t shows I’m particularly interested in, it’s nice to see them doing some backlogs from Winter 2026,” another Reddit user commented. “And I’m happy for those who wanted them for these shows. Here’s to more backlogs in the future!”

Why Fans Fell in Love With Tamon’s B-Side

Based on Yuki Shiwasu’s manga of the same name, Tamon’s B-Side follows high school student Utage Kinoshita, who works part-time to support her obsession with Tamon Fukuhara, her favorite member of the boy band F/ACE. But after unexpectedly ending up inside Tamon’s home through work, she discovers the “perfect idol” persona fans know is basically a complete lie.

Instead of a confident superstar, the real Tamon is insecure, anxious, emotionally messy, and dangerously close to quitting the entertainment industry altogether.

Which is honestly a huge part of why fans fell in love with the series in the first place.

Tamon’s B-Side leans hard into the “boy-failure idol” energy anime fans adore. Tamon may look cool on stage, but behind the scenes he’s an absolute disaster in the most lovable way possible. Utage essentially becomes his emotional support fangirl while trying to keep him from self-destructing.

The anime originally premiered on January 1 and streamed on Crunchyroll while airing in Japan. The English dub is directed by Helena Walstrom and features Abigail Blythe as Utage alongside Conner Allison as Tamon.

And judging from the online reaction so far, fans are more than ready to revisit the chaotic idol romance all over again.

“So happy to see Tamon as a backlog dub!!!” one fan wrote shortly after the announcement dropped.

Looking forward to the Tamon’s B-Side Eng Dub release?

Now anime fans are already starting to wonder what other overlooked seasonal shows could eventually get the same treatment. Because after the surprise Tamon’s B-Side Eng Dub release, that tiny little flicker of “maybe there’s still hope” suddenly feels alive again.

Crunchyroll started dropping weekly episodes of the Tamon’s B-Side Eng Dub on May 7, 2026. Episodes will continue to drop weekly until the season concludes.