Smoking Behind the Supermarket With You: Femininity, Split Into Two

Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You is more than just a sweet slice-of-life anime: its nuanced portrait of femininity begs anime watchers to finally understand the multifacetedness of women.

Perhaps at first glance, it’s easy to understand that Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You is a tenderhearted slice-of-life series that unconditionally welcomes romance. Sasaki, Yamada, and Tayama’s relationships allow Yamada (or sometimes Tayama) to explore the varying degrees of who she is, understanding that she’s not bound to the constraints of customer service behind the cash register of Super S.

Simple in premise, Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You is sharp and telling in one of its core messages: the self is not singular. As Yamada and Tayama are seemingly interchangeable, there’s also the understanding that self-expression is completely fluid. There’s never a true ask for Yamada or Tayama to define who they are, especially at the age of 25, where life has yet to offer new experiences for them. Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You’s insistence on featuring an older woman as a central protagonist is greatly refreshing, subverting the idea that women in anime must subscribe to a certain standard.

Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You Changes Romance Anime Forever

Women in anime have not always been subjected to the most fair treatment, subliminally reiterating the idea that women in fiction must act, look, or behave in a certain way. However, Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You understands well that Yamada or Tayama are simply examples of how women may present themselves. The split identity shared by one person is a direct display of how women in anime should unapologetically embrace the layers of their personality without showing fear of exposing their more vulnerable sides. While Yamada’s softness contradicts the intensity of Tayama, there’s also enough room for balance between the character’s two sides. Romance anime rarely lets women be anything but vulnerable or ache with a sense of burning longing.

Anime’s complicated misunderstanding of women is apologized for in Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You. Yes, it may be a traditional romance anime with a gentle slice-of-life feel, but that doesn’t mean that Tamada is ready to settle for whatever tropes may be pushed upon her. There’s been an ongoing misunderstanding of women in anime, depending on the genre, where subsets such as isekai have compartmentalized them into being romance interests, limited their potential, or are forced to face unwarranted oversexualization. Modern trends in the industry walk back on the objectification of anime women, though it Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You that really signals an ongoing positive change.

Much like Dandadan, Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You introduces an unconventional love interest to an (adorably) nervous target of affection. Yamada and Tayama both offer attractive traits, yet neither of them feels like they’re completely bending at the will of the romance anime tropes, predictably. Each is allowed to fully own their sense of being while still understanding their feelings for Sasaki.

Anime Has Needed Duality In Femininity

Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You allows anime to explore how duality allows characters to feel a bit more human in their own right. The interchangeable identities of Yamada and Tayama aren’t identical by any means and instead offer insight into how romance anime should step away from the well-trod path of predictability. Anime has become more understanding that femininity isn’t completely binary. Instead, it’s open to interpretation. Yamada may welcome more traditional aspects of femininity: softness, warmth, gentleness, and care, while Tayama interrogates the standards of being feminine. No two women are the same, nor should they be treated as such.

Tayama’s harsher exterior and playful nature are a necessary mirror for Yamada’s more delicate nature. Between the two, Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You reiterates that the expectations for true “femininity” have shifted into something without grating expectations. Dismantling the notion that women can only fit into one archetype. Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You refuses to scold Tayama for her bold style or abrasive attitude. The anime knows well that hyperfemininity can feel like a performance and instead asks the protagonist to show her true self from a series of angles.

Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You has successfully touched upon the key notes that any romance anime needs to promise that it has a sense of heart, yet introduces just enough originality through a dual-personal love interest. Through a wickedly clever premise, Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You examines how a woman’s complexity is the key ingredient that the romance genre has been longing for.

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

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