Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You

Episode 4

Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You is a show that lives or dies based on how cute and likable its leads are in a given episode, and I'm thrilled to say that Sasaki and Yamada/Tayama maintain their adorkable charms outside of the first three episodes of this season. I don't even really care if they get together or not when this season wraps, if Sasaki ever figures out that these two cute girls are actually the same person, or any other long-term plot points the show has set up. I'm coming to Supermarket Smoking week after week for moments that make me blush and gags that make me smile, and this latest episode delivers both in spades!

The opening act of Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You's fourth episode focuses on Sasaki needing help figuring out his new smartphone after his old flip phone finally breaks. While I was initially worried that this episode would dredge into over-explored territory of “zoomer helps grandpa figure out their new phone,” what this episode actually does is much more entertaining and relatable. It's clear pretty quickly that Sasaki's tech illiteracy isn't primarily motivated by his age, it's instead a consequence of his anxieties over breaking this new device or looking foolish while using it. While still not necessarily a novel premise, this did resonate with me as someone who's been meaning to switch my PC over to Linux for half a year now, but my own fear of wrecking a device I need for my personal and professional lives keeps stopping me.

The second act features Sasaki and Tayama reading a kind of personality quiz based on their preferred brand of cigarettes, with Sasaki petrified that he accidentally offended the young women when her insight ends with a crass sexual remark. Beyond featuring some good golden retriever boyfriend moments from Sasaki, this bit also further reinforces how meaningful this relationship and dynamic is to Tayama, as she fears that Sasaki accidentally discovered her deceit over the course of it. The inciting event of Sasaki not being able to tell that Tayama and Yamada are the same person rides right up to the limit of my suspension of disbelief for this kind of grounded show, and seeing Supermarket Smoking try to push that envelope is a lot of fun.

In the third act, the summer heat has arrived early with Yamada switching to her short-sleeved uniform and Tayama bearing her midriff while she and Sasaki are hanging out…with Sasaki making a bigger deal out of the former much to the young woman's chagrin. It's really cute seeing Tayama/Yamada get flustered as she tries and fails to get a sexually charged rise out of this incredibly innocent man, and to witness Sasaki's earnestness loop around to throw this tease off of her game.

Is this the best episode of anime to air this week? Not by a mile, but it does hit exactly how I need it to after a day of running around and trying to do too much professionally. My serotonin levels are way up after watching this episode of Supermarket Smoking, and that means this show is more than meeting my expectations for it.

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Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.