Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You

Episode 6

While every episode of Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You is emotionally resonating, this sixth episode was an especially weighty gut punch! Still not content to just depict a cute, wholesome interpretation of an age-gap relationship, this episode goes further, exploring the anxieties these people face at different stages of their lives and how the other helps them overcome those hardships. While this is still far from the most lavishly produced series of the season and its use of montages to convey information is becoming a bit of a narrative crutch, with scripts this affecting and voice acting this impactful, I can't help but fawn over this latest episode of Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You.

This episode's cold open features Sasaki expressing anxiety about his upcoming annual medical exam, which, as a thirty-one-year-old acutely aware of recurring aches and pains I wasn't dealing with even a few years ago, I can relate to! Tayama/Yamada gives him a pep talk and assures him that he'll be fine…which turns out to be empty comfort when the second act opens with Sasaki telling Tayama that his doctor ordered a scan of his lungs to screen for cancerous growths. Considering that the main hook of Supermarket Smoking is the relationships and connection that are fostered by a shared activity in a third space, I wasn't expecting this flagrant reminder of how terrible habitual smoking is for a person's lungs and their overall health, but I'm glad we get this reminder PSA!

The rest of the second act focuses on Tayama/Yamada working up the nerve to tell Sasaki about the trick she's been playing on him (and likely confessing her romantic interest in the process), but he gets a call at the last second that reveals that his organs are fine! While this reveal is a bit of a rug pull that undermines the previous narratives, this is still a very cute sequence, and it's fun to see Tayama/Yamada on the back foot for a change!

We see even more of Tayama/Yamada out of her element in the third act, which is a flashback to eight years ago when she had just started at the grocery store and had yet to perfect her retail voice. As she's being harassed by a disgruntled customer (proving Karens exist in every culture), an adult man who's definitely not Sasaki steps in and offers the young woman terrific career and life advice. I understand that I'm predisposed to liking this show, as I'm halfway between the ages of these characters and, as such, relate to both of their experiences extremely well, but this really is one of the sweetest episodes of anime I've seen in a minute.

God, do I wish I had someone like Sasaki to lift me up when I was younger, and boy am I grateful that I have people like Tayama/Yamada to ground me and make my life more fun now that I'm older.

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