Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You ‒ Episode 11
While I knew Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You was likely going to dial up its emotional intensity in its final stretch of episodes, I did not expect these last couple of storylines to feel like they were targeting me specifically! I did not expect a storyline with as simple a premise as “Tayama/Yamada has to take a sick day” to so perfectly capture many of my own hangups about labor, rest, and anxieties over burdening other people; but it's just further proof that the secret sauce of this show is how it captures peoples' relationship with their careers in the world today.
Beginning with Tayama/Yamada collapsing next to Ohno and the still cute but far too flustered Obata, the episode then establishes that the end of year holidays are one of Sasaki's rare reprieves from his overbearing job while simultaneously being the grocery store's busiest stretch of the year. Sasaki gives up on his hopes of seeing Yamada in the check out line, but manages to catch Goto yelling at someone over the phone in the smoking area behind the market. Being revealed to be a still ailing Tayama/Yamada, the young woman gets another call from her boss' phone with Sasaki on the line this time. After a bit of tension over which persona she should be filling, Sasaki assures his friend that she doesn't have to feel bad about taking a sick day and that her peers at the store want her to prioritize her health and recovery.
As someone who repeatedly struggles to take days off because I feel like I'm too busy professionally to take a break and has fallen asleep at my desk while working from home with a one-hundred-and-two degree fever, this episode hit me where I lived. I have been in Tayama/Yamada's shoes more times than I care to admit, and Supermarket Smoking does an amazing job of conveying just how meaningful it is to have someone you care about give you permission to rest. I've genuinely used every excuse Tayama/Yamada utters in this opening act over why she should come into work instead of taking another sick day, and seeing her go through this experience is helping motivate me to figure out what I should do with my vacation days as I'm on the precipice of having more than I'll be able to use up before the year's end.
The final third of this episode gives us a peak at the home lives of some of these characters, with Tayama/Yamada and Sasaki each spending New Year's Day with their respective families. While it is fun to see these characters in different backdrops and costuming than we're used to, this was a weaker close to the episode. Maybe it's just because I liked the opening and second act so much, but I was hoping for a little more from this episode's ending than just Sasaki and Tayama/Yamada once again confirming how meaningful this relationship has become to them.
Of course, with this episode helping me sort through some of my own professional baggage, I can't be too harsh. It's rare for a piece of media to feel so hyperrelevant to my personal and professional life, and I needed the little nudge this episode gave me to get my work-life balance back in order. Even if the ending is a bit more of the same, I'm going to take this episode's opening message to heart.
Rating:
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.
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