...it does a great job of capturing that distinctive feeling of smoking out the back of the shop the intimate yet rough environment. The brevity of the moment the relief of the cigarette. Wilzahttps://anilist.co/user/Wilza/ The Japanese supermarket as portrayed in various forms of media often presents itself as a middle ground between many different groups of people. From elementary schoolchildren looking to buy an afterschool snack with their allowance to balding middleaged managers whose wives await them with another lecture about leaving the toilet seat up there are nearly limitless interactions that can happen between the most diverse of people. A Story About Smoking at the Back of the Supermarket is exactly what its title suggests. It follows the budding relationship between Sasaki an overworked middleaged salaryman and Yamada a cashier at the supermarket he frequents. Sasakis defining trait is his unchanging nature. Every day he works himself to death at his office job. Every day he comes to the same supermarket to buy a pack of cigarettes. And every day he lines up to get checked out by the same cashier: a gorgeous young woman named Yamada who seems to be the only person in his life who ever shows him a genuine smile. Sasakis fervent adherence to this routine leads him to develop a nearparasocial relationship with this random cashier to the point where seeing her smile is just as important as smoking his cigarettes. Unbeknownst to him Sasakis obsession has not gone unnoticed. Yamada who spots him leaving the store takes this opportunity to invite him to smoke with her though not before donning a disguise. Yamadas character is predominantly defined by her two faces: at work she is the cool and collected cashier at the supermarket never abandoning her perfect smile and treating everyone with the same calm professionalism. But on her breaks she transforms into Tayama: the mischevous young woman who ties her hair up speaks brashly frequents the back of the store to smoke and starts teasing the much older salaryman that she meets there. Yamada is the perfect girl that receives endless praise and admiration from strangers and Tayama is a disguise that she uses to be her true self if just for a moment. Tayama initially confronts Sasaki with hostility asking him about his intentions with the cashier that he idolizes so. But as they share a smoke the two come to a mutual understanding and begin a tentative friendship. Tayama teases him endlessly and Sasaki goes along with her antics even when they cause him grief both physically and mentally. This manga puts its main focus on the little things the daytoday conflicts that these two share with one another the little things that they mention in passing the gripes and feelings that they could never mention to anyone else. And really its in these little interactions that their relationship begins to gradually bloom. This isnt a slow burnits a seed in a pot on the windowsill waiting to blossom into a gorgeous flower. If shoujo is the flatchested blond tsundere of manga then adult romance has to be the mature career woman who looks amazing in a business suit. Whether youve skimmed this wordy review or simply skipped to the bottom to see my score I hope that you will be interested enough to check her out and give her the love that she deserves.