[0:00] So, Crunchyroll quietly dropped the
[0:02] first half of a new anime series not too
[0:04] long ago. 12 mini episodes, no fanfare,
[0:08] and it's already got a score of what,
[0:10] 8.46 on Mal or did when I wrote this.
[0:13] Who knows what it is now. The show is
[0:15] called Smoking Behind the Supermarket
[0:17] with You. It's got a reasonably sized
[0:19] following behind it, and everybody is
[0:21] looking at it right now and calling it
[0:23] the best new romance of what will be the
[0:25] upcoming season. But, you know, now
[0:27] having watched this mini episode series,
[0:31] which is really just like half of what
[0:33] the actual series is going to have, it's
[0:35] slightly complicated. This is new
[0:36] territory here. Having watched it, I
[0:39] almost don't want to call it a romance,
[0:42] and I think it would be better if it
[0:43] wasn't. So, here's the general premise.
[0:46] You got this guy, Sasuki. He's like 45
[0:48] years old. He works at one of those
[0:50] Japanese companies that you may have
[0:51] heard of, black companies, the kind of
[0:53] place that like grinds you into the dust
[0:55] and overworks you to death. But the
[0:58] thing that gets him through the day,
[0:59] that gets him to survive this grind and
[1:02] working in this environment, is that
[1:04] almost every day on his way home, he
[1:06] stops by the supermarket and he gets to
[1:08] see the wonderful smile of one of the
[1:10] employees there, a young woman named
[1:13] Yamada. and she's always there, always
[1:16] smiling, and it just brightens his day.
[1:18] But on one particular night, he goes to
[1:20] the supermarket and she's not there.
[1:23] He's feeling terrible. He's not doing so
[1:25] well. And he's trying to find a place to
[1:28] smoke because there's not many public
[1:30] places to smoke in Japan. It's a thing.
[1:32] And he runs into this woman, Tayama.
[1:34] She's got a leather jacket. She's got
[1:36] piercings. And she goes to him and is
[1:37] like, "Hey, want to share this spot
[1:39] behind the supermarket where the
[1:41] employees smoke?" And so he does and
[1:43] they talk. And I would say that that's
[1:46] the show except it's kind of missing the
[1:48] key important part in that Yamada and
[1:51] Tayyama are the same person. Yamada is
[1:55] her customer service face. She's very
[1:57] polite. She is sweet. She's
[1:59] professional. But as soon as she's off
[2:01] the clock, she's back to her more quote
[2:03] unquote real self. She's sharp. She's
[2:06] teasing. She doesn't give a about a
[2:08] lot of things. And Sasuki
[2:11] doesn't realize this. It's basically the
[2:14] whole Clark Kent is actually Superman,
[2:15] but Lois Lane doesn't realize it sort of
[2:18] shindig. All of the clues that they are
[2:20] the same person are right there.
[2:22] Sometimes it feels like he clocks it,
[2:24] but it's all part of the humor that he
[2:27] never will. That's the whole bit, right?
[2:29] He puts this woman Yamada on this
[2:31] pedestal as an angelic figure that
[2:34] brightens his day and makes it worth
[2:36] living. But then also he goes behind the
[2:38] supermarket to smoke with this other
[2:40] woman. This cool stranger he's just
[2:43] happens to be lucky enough to know and
[2:45] be able to share a smoke with despite
[2:47] the fact that they are the exact same
[2:50] woman. So the whole series started
[2:51] apparently as a side project. And that's
[2:53] how I first heard of it. The author was
[2:55] working on a fantasy manga at the time
[2:57] and like his editor told him, "Hey, as a
[2:59] writing exercise, you should do just
[3:01] something completely different, a
[3:03] different genre entirely." And and so he
[3:05] did. He created this this more modern
[3:07] setting with a guy that just goes out
[3:09] and ends up having to smoke with a
[3:11] supermarket employee behind the building
[3:13] and he released it to social media on
[3:16] Twitter and then you know it got like
[3:18] close to 200,000 likes and everybody
[3:21] looked at that and it was like huh there
[3:23] may be something here and now the manga
[3:25] has like 3 million copies in circulation
[3:28] and you know now we're here with an
[3:30] anime adaptation and it's it's being
[3:32] touted as a slowburn romance and I can
[3:34] see why it would be because there is at
[3:37] least a little bit of tension there. You
[3:39] think that Yamada actually likes the
[3:42] guy. She's teasing him. She doesn't
[3:44] really She enjoys the relationship that
[3:46] they have, but she doesn't really want
[3:48] to push further. It It is that like
[3:51] almost common trope of I don't want to
[3:53] ask out my best friend despite actually
[3:56] wanting to be in a relationship with
[3:57] them because what if they say no and
[3:59] then this relationship that I have been
[4:01] enjoying just crumbles to dust. it it's
[4:03] relatable from that perspective. But the
[4:05] thing to me that shows that I would much
[4:07] rather this not be a romance is because
[4:11] Sasaki doesn't seem to actually want to
[4:14] court either of these two women. He
[4:18] doesn't look at Yamada as a oh, she is
[4:20] like out of my league. If only I were
[4:23] like a braver person or uh had my life
[4:27] together more, maybe I would propose to
[4:29] her or ask her out or do any of these
[4:32] things. But he doesn't think that way
[4:34] because he has been presented with her
[4:38] best friend as Yamada has positioned
[4:41] herself. And like if he really did want
[4:44] an inn with her, he'd only have to ask
[4:47] his new smoking buddy if a there was a
[4:51] chance, b more about her. He doesn't
[4:53] like grill her to try and find
[4:55] information about his idol. He's just
[4:58] very content in being able to come here
[5:01] and see the smiling cashier to brighten
[5:04] his day or go to the back and smoke with
[5:07] this other woman. He's perfectly fine
[5:09] with this situation and this setup. If
[5:11] there is romantic tension, it's entirely
[5:13] from her side. There is still enough
[5:16] there to have the will they won't they
[5:18] because, you know, she could confess and
[5:21] then maybe he would start thinking about
[5:23] it and deciding whether or not that's
[5:25] something that he actually wants. BUT I
[5:27] HOPE NOT. I would I actually wish that
[5:30] they got away from the will they won't
[5:31] they. Will they, won't they? One of the
[5:33] my most hated things about romance
[5:36] because as someone who says that the
[5:38] ending of any story is paramount. How
[5:40] you end a thing is very very important
[5:42] to how you perceive the entire thing as
[5:45] a whole after it is all done. The will
[5:47] they won't they only has two answers.
[5:49] They will or they won't. And that's
[5:51] really boring to imagine from an ending
[5:54] because you're like okay well they will.
[5:55] Then why don't we get there? We don't
[5:57] get there very often. We don't have a
[5:59] lot of stories that like to do the whole
[6:02] after story very much. That would be
[6:04] great if we did, but we don't. And then
[6:07] if they if they don't, if they won't, if
[6:10] the will they won't they is the won't
[6:11] they, then what are we here for? That's
[6:14] why I hate will they won't they. And I
[6:16] really hope that it's not like it
[6:18] doesn't become like the bedrock of this
[6:20] entire series. We haven't seen the whole
[6:21] series. So that's that's the other
[6:23] thing. This is a mini episode series and
[6:24] I haven't seen a show released like this
[6:26] pretty much before. So, Crunch World
[6:28] just dropped it on their service. And
[6:31] essentially what this miniseries is is
[6:33] 12 episodes, but they're all halflength.
[6:36] So, really what it is is they've
[6:37] released six episodes. They've just cut
[6:39] everything up into 12, added the OP and
[6:42] ED every time. And I'm assuming that
[6:45] when the new season starts proper,
[6:47] they're going to air it or release the
[6:50] proper episodes that are just combined
[6:54] in total. I don't know if it'll change
[6:56] or have any differences from the mini
[6:58] episode or if this is I don't understand
[7:00] this release schedule is basically what
[7:02] I'm saying because it's supposed to air
[7:03] on July 9th. That is when we have been
[7:05] told this show is airing. But I haven't
[7:08] been able to fully nail down whether or
[7:10] not airing means that they're going to
[7:11] be starting with episode 1 and then
[7:13] we're going to have 6 weeks of just
[7:15] essentially repeated content of what
[7:18] we've already seen. Or maybe what we're
[7:20] going to get is in July they're going to
[7:21] drop episode 7 and we're going to
[7:24] continue on from there and we're only
[7:26] going to go half the series. That
[7:28] doesn't make sense. A lot of this just
[7:29] feels really weird and off. I'm thankful
[7:32] that we've gotten all of this material
[7:34] early. It's quite nice. I feel like it's
[7:36] a nice little package of info because
[7:39] like six episodes isn't all that much in
[7:42] the grand scheme of things. And I know
[7:44] why the show is considered a romance
[7:47] because hey, you can't have a male and a
[7:49] female character interacting with one
[7:52] another and not hope or pray that it's
[7:55] going to go down the romantic route. But
[7:57] having not read the manga, and I'm sure
[7:59] the manga leans into it far more, at
[8:01] least past a certain point, cuz there's
[8:03] only so much of this particular gag that
[8:05] you can handle at once, uh, having not
[8:08] read the manga, I really hope that it
[8:10] doesn't. Sasaki isn't trying to flirt
[8:14] with either of these women. He is just
[8:16] happy to be in their lives and to have
[8:18] them in his life. And that's enough. We
[8:21] don't need romantic tension. I'm fine
[8:23] with the level of just comfort here.
[8:27] It's a very comfy series, even if it
[8:29] involves smoking, which is something
[8:31] that I just don't like. I know smokers
[8:34] say that you just get used to it after a
[8:35] time. And I mean the addiction and the
[8:37] nicotine kicks in eventually, but like
[8:39] I've never like being around smoking. So
[8:41] I just try to like not imagine that
[8:43] particular aspect of the series as I
[8:44] watch. I would much prefer if this was a
[8:48] essentially just a hangout show, just
[8:49] friends hanging out, chatting, having
[8:52] their own normal lives and then
[8:56] hopefully all of the romantic stuff was
[8:57] just stapled on for marketing purposes.
[8:59] I would find that much more interesting
[9:01] than a will they won't they. We don't
[9:02] get many uh boy girl essentially boy
[9:05] girl or manw woman relationships that
[9:08] don't have a romantic bent and I wish we
[9:10] had more of that. But I do worry that
[9:12] that's not going to be the case going
[9:14] forward because you know there's the
[9:16] Clark Kent problem. He's going to find
[9:18] out eventually but it's one of those
[9:20] questions of once he finds it out is
[9:22] that the end of the show is like the
[9:23] whole framework of the show. the fact
[9:25] that he doesn't know and he is able to
[9:27] interact with these two women and that's
[9:29] the bit and you know once he finds out
[9:32] we're done and then he's like oh well
[9:34] I've been friends with you now now let's
[9:36] go out let's go get married or something
[9:38] I don't know none of that seems like it
[9:40] fits these characters at all because
[9:41] like when he when he does find out what
[9:43] what happens then if the answer is
[9:45] romance suddenly this entire premise
[9:48] well not only does it disappear but it
[9:49] becomes less interesting cuz it's like
[9:50] oh okay then then they just get together
[9:52] and we're done or the does that just
[9:54] like somehow build their relationship
[9:57] further. Not in a romantic sense, but
[10:00] just like he's been essentially able to
[10:02] see two sides of the same person and he
[10:05] appreciates different things about them.
[10:07] And that could be interesting to look
[10:09] into. Not everything needs to be a
[10:10] romance. And I mean, there's the awkward
[10:13] part of the romance thing, too, cuz he's
[10:14] in his 40s. She's what, in her early to
[10:18] mid20s. The age gap is a is a bit of a
[10:21] thing if it's in the context of just two
[10:23] people having a smoke or and talking
[10:25] with one another back behind the
[10:26] supermarket. Like that's fine. There's
[10:28] no problem to that context. It only gets
[10:30] a bit dicey if you start wanting to
[10:32] shove the romantic context in there a
[10:34] bit. And it's also why I think like
[10:36] Sasaki doesn't seem to have that mindset
[10:38] in his mind at all. He probably
[10:40] perfectly clocks and identifies that
[10:42] this angel that smiles at him every day
[10:44] is far younger than he should be
[10:46] considering for an actual relationship.
[10:48] And maybe that's fine. Maybe it's just
[10:50] the marketing people that want to push
[10:53] this forward. It's just really odd to me
[10:55] because from a writer's perspective, if
[10:57] you wanted to get them together, you
[11:00] didn't need to write Yamada as someone
[11:02] in her early 20s. You could have had her
[11:04] in her late 20s or early 30s and not
[11:06] much probably would have changed. Or you
[11:08] could have had Sasuki in his mid30 in
[11:12] his early 30s to mid-30s. you could cut
[11:14] 10 years off of his lifespan and the
[11:16] show would probably still land. So, the
[11:18] age gap's there on purpose and I have to
[11:21] question why. And and I'm really hoping
[11:24] the answer is because the romance is not
[11:26] going to be a thing. But, you know, I
[11:27] bet like 50 people in the comments have
[11:29] already told me about the manga and how
[11:30] I'm absolutely wrong. And no, this is
[11:32] fine. Actually, you just don't get it,
[11:34] old man. But that's not what I like
[11:36] about it. I'm enjoying the series. I
[11:39] mean, it's kind of cliche to say that
[11:40] it's my favorite show of the next season
[11:42] because nothing's nothing else has aired
[11:44] yet. So, of course, it is, but I like
[11:46] that it's slow. I've always loved more
[11:48] slice of life, more calm and like
[11:51] reflective, and then just just like not
[11:54] narrative driven shows, but plot and
[11:58] charact, but but character-driven shows.
[12:00] Those are some of my favorites. And
[12:02] that's what this is. It's slow. It's
[12:04] deliberately slow. Each episode has the
[12:06] same general formula and it's nice and
[12:08] comfy. They arrive, they smoke, they
[12:11] talk, they leave, and that's enough. I
[12:14] don't feel like there needs to be drama
[12:16] or tension. At least not at the moment.
[12:17] We might need to get there in some
[12:20] respects just to like keep up the keep
[12:24] the interest happening because yeah,
[12:26] yeah, there are a lot of people that
[12:27] will not like it if that's literally all
[12:30] it is. And we already have that for just
[12:32] six episodes. So, the other six probably
[12:34] need to do something before the end of
[12:36] the core, but like I feel that's the
[12:39] vibe that should be maintained. They're
[12:42] both having a smoke out back at the
[12:44] supermarket. Now, he doesn't work at the
[12:46] supermarket, but if he did, like the
[12:48] action and the fast-paced and the drama
[12:50] and the tension, that's when you're
[12:51] working at the supermarket. When you
[12:53] take your break and you go out back and
[12:55] you light up a smoke, that's supposed to
[12:57] be the downtime.
[12:59] That's the the cool down moment. And
[13:02] that's what this show is. It's a cool
[13:04] down moment. It doesn't need the other
[13:06] things. We'll probably get it because
[13:08] it'll be that's what society and and
[13:10] narratives have demanded, but we don't
[13:12] need it. It's rare in anime to have like
[13:15] the focus on that stillness that um that
[13:19] that quiet downtime. It's basically
[13:21] asking you, the viewer, to sit with them
[13:24] and just be right. You don't need to be
[13:28] carried on by the plot or the drama or
[13:32] what have you. You just need to pull up
[13:34] a crate, sit on it, and have a smoke or
[13:38] not have a smoke. Get a drink. I I have
[13:40] whiskey. That's what I was doing. You
[13:42] just need to unwind with the show.
[13:44] That's all you need. You don't need to
[13:46] It doesn't need to be more than that. I
[13:48] don't want it to be more than that. So,
[13:49] the show is basically four people. I
[13:51] want to say like me. That's the thing.
[13:53] It it just these first six episodes.
[13:56] Yes. 12 mini episodes. This first six
[13:58] episodes of what the final show is going
[14:00] to be is just so slow and comfy. And
[14:04] maybe it's because I'm getting older.
[14:06] I'm in my mid30s now. So yeah, I'm much
[14:09] more likely to relate to a guy in his
[14:10] early to mid-40s than anyone in their
[14:13] younger 20s. I like having characters
[14:16] that are adult and they're dealing with
[14:19] adult exhaustion problems that teenagers
[14:22] won't have. You're not going to have
[14:24] Japanese high school students have these
[14:25] types of scenes, are able to uh relate
[14:28] in these ways. The atmosphere around how
[14:31] they act and interact with one another.
[14:33] That's the point. And it's very specific
[14:35] and we don't get it very often. Now, it
[14:37] might be frustrating to you if you don't
[14:38] like the the repetitive nature to it cuz
[14:41] again, all it is is arrive, smoke, chat,
[14:43] leave. That's kind of it for almost
[14:45] every episode. There's a little bit of
[14:47] variety there when like her manager
[14:49] finds out and is like, "What are you
[14:51] doing? Why? Why does this guy think that
[14:53] there's another employee here that
[14:56] happens to look like you do when you're
[14:57] on your time off? What What is What is
[14:59] your game here? But then she also like
[15:01] loves romance, so she's just like
[15:03] totally in for it. And maybe maybe
[15:06] that's why it's heading that way. And
[15:08] I'm like, but why though? I wanted to be
[15:10] closer to the vibe of things like
[15:11] Bartender where it's just you just have
[15:13] adult characters doing a very adult
[15:15] thing just smoking or in bartender's
[15:17] case drinking and they have lives and
[15:19] they discuss it and you're fine with
[15:21] that. You have a good evening and then
[15:24] you go home and your home can be
[15:26] whatever. That can be where you watch
[15:27] your shownen. That's fine. This is the
[15:28] anime equivalent of going out back and
[15:30] having a smoke cuz that's all it is and
[15:32] that's all I want it to be. The
[15:34] interesting thing about this show should
[15:35] not be to me it should not be whether
[15:38] these two get together. It's a question
[15:41] of does the show even need them to. Cuz
[15:44] right now we're halfway through. It's
[15:46] just a show about this quiet comfort and
[15:49] having someone to share a cigarette with
[15:51] after a bad day. That's enough. Whether
[15:54] it stays enough, well, that's a question
[15:56] for the back half of the series to
[15:58] answer. We will have to see. I've given
[16:00] you my hopes. I'm sure the manga readers
[16:03] will tell me otherwise and tell me how
[16:05] wrong and how I'm not actually enjoying
[16:07] the series properly, but that's uh
[16:10] that's for future Tristan to find out.
[16:12] So, if you want to go and watch the the
[16:13] mini episode, the 12 mini episodes,
[16:15] which will make up the first six
[16:17] episodes of the series proper, they're
[16:18] go they're over available on uh
[16:20] Crunchyroll. The manga is probably
[16:21] available from whichever app hosts
[16:23] Square Enix's content. I think it's
[16:25] Manga Up is the one that they own. So,
[16:27] you can go check that out if you want to
[16:29] read ahead. I'm not because I already am
[16:30] pretty sure I know what the answer is
[16:32] and I'm not going to be happy with it.
[16:33] Uh I I'm hopeful that I'm wrong and that
[16:36] whatever answer the show has I am happy
[16:38] with. But you know, we're going to find
[16:40] out. We're all going to find out
[16:42] together. Except not because manga
[16:44] readers already know. So So thank you
[16:46] for watching. Subscribe if you haven't.
[16:48] Click the like button if you enjoyed the
[16:50] video. Thank you to my patrons who uh
[16:52] allow me to make these videos and these
[16:54] rants and to just wish I could have more
[16:58] of this show in the way that I want. And
[17:01] a very special thank you of course to my
[17:03] patrons Rifen Bonapart Omar Showman Ross
[17:06] Emerson Hector Monttoa Aiden City Yamako
[17:11] and Geekwig. I can't do this without
[17:13] you. So however much you are able to
[17:15] help I am immensely grateful. And until
[17:18] next time, whenever that may be, ladies,
[17:20] gentlemen, and others, watch more anime,
[17:22] watch this anime, and stay frosty.