Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You

Episodes 1-3

Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You is such a vibe, man. Maybe it's because I'm exactly in between the ages of the main characters, or maybe it's because I've worked the kinds of gigs that both characters fill in these first three episodes, but this anime just speaks to my own relationships with labor, social recreation, and mellowing substances. While the aggressively serviceable animation and this work being expressly for an older audience means that it's not likely to be the show stealer of the summer season, Supermarket Smoking is still a damn fine way to take the edge off once a work week.

Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You, though the title sequence still reads Behind the supermarket, smoking with you., follows Sasaki, a forty-something salary man whose demanding job and similarly toxic culture leave him exhausted and burnt-out on life. He copes with this stress through little pleasures, like smoking and the kindness of the cute twenty-something cashier at his local super market, Yamada. However, Sasaki only knows Yamada's customer-service persona, and begins forming a relationship with her true, cooler and more sardonic, persona of “Tayama” as they begin smoking behind the supermarket together.

I thought after three episodes the gag of Sasaki not being able to tell that Yamada and Tayama are the same person would wear thin, but this central gag never wore out its welcome, and it's actually pretty fun that Sasaki is too zonked either from work or illness throughout these episodes to put together that he's talking to the same person. It's also really refreshing to see characters with this kind of age gap be in a pleasant and respectful relationship with each other. While the first episode does gesture a little bit towards both characters getting a kick out of talking to someone so much younger/older than them, their conversations are so sweet and supportive that it never feels like anyone is being objectified to either the audience or each other.

A great example of this is in the second episode, where the two end up giving each other advice and helping each other through challenging moments at their workplaces. Yamada/Tayama gives Sasaki advice on how to navigate accidentally making a new coworker cry while giving her feedback, and Sasaki gives Yamada/Tayama a confidence boost after a customer complained that she smelled like smoke. Beyond how sweet these scenes are, it really endears me to these characters that they both care so much about their work and work ethic, despite both likely being aware how bogus both of their gigs are. I've hustled and tried my best at stopgap gigs like Yamada's when I was in my early twenties and I've churned through crunch at jobs that weren't giving me enough in return like Sasaki, and seeing them want to do well at their jobs for themselves was deeply relatable to me.

While Asahi Production uses the same establishing shots and animation cycles just often enough to be distracting in these opening episodes, the voice acting in both the sub and the dub is on point! Takuya Satō's performance as Sasaki is filled with a “tired, soft boi” energy that captures the character well, and Giles Panton gives the character a nervous energy that matches dudes I've known who are in similar places in their life. Seena Hoshiki also shows off her full and impressive vocal range in capturing the, sort of, dual role of Yamada/Tayama, but Caitlyn Bairstow's performance in the dub is far and away the stand out performance. The way she jumps between Yamada's bubble gum retail voice and Tayama's teasing and detached affect while still clearly sounding like the same person is as impressive as it is entertaining.

While there are plenty of high profile and more impressive anime coming out this season, Supermarket Smoking is the one I most enjoy cracking open a cold one and vibing out to, and am excited for these hangouts to continue as the summer goes on.

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Lucas DeRuyter is your one stop shop for smoking hot anime takes, and you can read the best of those by checking out his portfolio. You can also catch him filling a double shift as a columnist for ANN's recurring This Week in Anime segment, where he shares his insights into that week's news, trends, or special topics.

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