Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You – Review of the first volume

Two years ago, when I started writing about Akiba Gamersone of the first articles to bear my signature concerned mini reviews of all or almost all the volumes that could be found for free through the Free Comics Book Day. For those who don’t know, the latter is a real event that consists of sending small previews to participating comic book stores that we can take home for free. The point of that article, therefore, was to make known the most interesting titles to follow and possibly buy when they come out. tankobon. Over time, my habit of having every single preview kept aside has diminished, also because to be honest the titles I was interested in reading have become fewer and fewer. This year in particular there is only one that I recommended to my trusted “comic book writer” to keep aside for me: Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You.

Even if it doesn’t seem like it, since I often prefer to read works for a mature audience or at least for a young one. shonenI don’t even disdain love stories, especially if they have an original plot. Smoking Behind the Supermarket with YouIndeed, At first glance it almost seems like a romantic manga but in reality, reading it I would almost classify it as a slice of life.

A great romantic comedy

The reason is very simple, the protagonist, Mr. Sasaki From the very first pages he tells us how, at least according to him, what he feels for Yamadait’s not love. Speaking of the plot, in fact, the latter is very “simple”. Sasaki is the classic middle-aged Japanese employee, exhausted from his job who, to vent from the daily stress, goes shopping at the supermarket where Yamada works, always choosing to get in line at the young woman’s checkout even though sometimes there are some free colleagues.

The protagonist, in fact, feels almost “relieved” to see the smiling face of the cashier and for this reason, even though a part of him feels guilty, he will stop by the store every day, even if he never really manages to start a discussion.

As for the first impression Sasaki gave me, it was that of a loser in love, so much so that I even found his personality stupid. “I go to visit her but I don’t like her”the latter is not the only one to have a bizarre attitude. Even the sweet and kind Yamada hides a secret that I will not reveal to you, leaving you the pleasure of discovering it and hypothesizing on what it could be. Moving on to the strong points, Jinushi’s work has managed to intrigue me page after page. The plot is certainly not that deep and yet the curiosity to understand how the relationship between Yamada, Sasaki and another mysterious colleague of hers will evolve is really high.

Yamada is hiding a terrible secret that Sasaki is unaware of.

As mentioned, we are certainly not faced with an unmissable masterpiece but fans of romantic comedies will find it a great pastime. Moving on to the curious title of the manga, the latter refers to Tayamathe previously mentioned colleague, who at the end of the first chapter will invite the protagonist to smoke in the designated area reserved for the market’s employees. The latter, moreover, unlike Yamada is very outgoing so much so that she had no problem insinuating that Sasaki is clearly in love with her friend and colleague.

The two, therefore, will become more and more intimate over time and despite a relationship made of jokes and teasing, it will be evident how they will feel more and more attracted to each other. To top it all off, she thought about it J-POP Mangawhich packaged the volume with its classic dust jacket format. Finally, I don’t mind the drawings either, in fact such a realistic and not hyper-stylized trait makes the story even more credible. Surely, in fact, it will be much easier for the Japanese to identify with these characters, but I also see myself a lot in Sasaki, especially because of his shyness. As I always say, a work that is able to make you feel so close to the characters is definitely well written.

Who do we recommend Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You to?

Personally, I would recommend reading the work to any fan of romantic comedies but paradoxically I would exclude it for those who prefer only one of the two aforementioned categories. The reason is very simple, today it is difficult to imagine how Sasaki, a man decidedly older than the two cashiers at the market, could seriously end up together with one of the two and for this reason, those looking for a love story with a happy ending could be disappointed. At the same time, those who want to laugh could equally be left with a bitter taste in their mouth. Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You I did enjoy it but I never laughed out loud. The irony, in fact, is based entirely on the naivety and clumsiness of its main actor, if that’s not your type of comedy, then you might even find the reading monotonous.