---
title: 'I Watched This Anime (And You Should Too) | Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=fIZdPQ_rrRk'
video_id: 'fIZdPQ_rrRk'
date: 2026-06-18
duration_sec: 1046
---

# I Watched This Anime (And You Should Too) | Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You

> Source: [I Watched This Anime (And You Should Too) | Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You](https://youtube.com/watch?v=fIZdPQ_rrRk)

## Summary

The video discusses the anime series 'Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You', which premiered quietly on Crunchyroll as 12 mini-episodes. The host analyzes its premise, characters, and the central mystery of a double identity, arguing that while marketed as a romance, the show works best as a slow, character-driven hangout series.

### Key Points

- **High Score and Quiet Release** [0:10] — The anime scored 8.46 on MAL and was dropped as 12 mini-episodes without fanfare.
- **Main Characters and Setup** [0:46] — Sasaki (45) works at a black company and is cheered by Yamada, a supermarket clerk. He often smokes behind the supermarket with Tayama, who is actually Yamada off-duty.
- **Origin as a Side Project** [2:51] — The author created it as a writing exercise on Twitter, which got 200,000 likes; the manga now has 3 million copies in circulation.
- **Lack of Romantic Interest from Sasaki** [4:14] — Sasaki does not pursue either woman romantically; he is content simply having them in his life.
- **Criticism of Will-They-Won't-They** [5:29] — The host hates this trope because it only has two boring outcomes and prefers a different approach.
- **Unusual Release Schedule** [6:27] — The 12 mini-episodes are halflength cuts of 6 full episodes; the series officially airs July 9th, but it's unclear if they will repeat or continue.
- **Desire for a Hangout Show** [8:48] — The host wishes the anime were just about two friends hanging out and smoking, without forced romance.
- **Age Gap Concerns** [10:13] — Sasaki is in his 40s, Yamada in her early 20s; the age gap feels problematic if a romance becomes explicit.
- **Show as a Cool-Down Moment** [12:00] — The anime replicates the feeling of taking a break and unwinding, focusing on stillness and character interaction.

### Conclusion

The host enjoys the anime for its calm, repetitive formula and hopes it avoids romance, embracing its identity as a slow, adult hangout show. The final verdict depends on the back half of the series.

## Transcript

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