Super no Ura de Yani Suu Futari
Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You

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I don't usually like the romance kind of manga, I actually didn't realise it was one when I picked this one.

I started this because the title intrigued me, barely reading the plot. And damn it, I was hooked after chapter one.
After each chapter I loved it even more. It's actually feel good, and as someone who usually feel the oposite when reading/watching romance stuff I was flabbergasted.
The chapter are 40/50 pages wich is also amazing.

I'm not a reviewer that's my first time so I'll keep it short.
If you like romance, I have no idea if you'll like this. You probably will. But if ... you don't, just try it you might be surprised.

A story that really makes me want to grow old like Sasaki and enjoy my youth like Yamada.

The manga knows very well who its characters are and what their roles are within the story. In this way, it is possible to get the maximum potential of each of them, generating moments that will undoubtedly remain recorded in the reader's memory.
Although it is a romantic comedy, the manga also leans into giving some speeches about aging or issues of daily life that all humans have or will experience at some point. That the cast is so varied in terms of age adds a lot ... of depth to the topics they want to show. Birthdays, jealousy, love, job performance, etc. "Each person is a world" and I must say that this manga is the perfect representation of that phrase.

If I had to choose something from this story to highlight it would be Sasaki and Yamada's relationship. It cannot be classified as a normal relationship, since it is something that started from nothing and can be gone in the blink of an eye. They both have feelings for each other, but in order not to leave their comfort zone, to settle for what they have, they do not want to take that step they need to be something more. The tension that one day one of the two may simply disappear, move, or simply stop frequenting the smoking space makes you keep reading, because you really don't want the magic that exists between them to end out of nowhere.

The issue of the age gap is something that I put on the table in every work that decides to use it, only in this manga that there is an age gap in the relationship is necessary. You couldn't have this same story with two people of the same age, you need that youth-old age contrast. That is why for this time, I cannot be so critical of the age difference, because it is not there to generate morbidity, but to be a narrative resource. This manga teaches how the Age Gap should be used.

Without a doubt, it is a reading that I would recommend to more than one, whether you like romantic comedies or slices of life with meaningful conversations. This is a work that may touch some of your feelings.

The best slow burn slice of life and romance series excel with engaging characters, relatable moments, and interesting dialogue, often accompanied with solid comedy. But in Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You, none of that exists. The personalities in here are incredibly flat, the conversations are dull, and the chemistry between the characters is one-note.

A big reason why is because Sasaki doesn’t realize that Yamada and Tayama are the same person (does he have working eyes?), which leads to repetitive jokes centered around Yamada teasing Sasaki and him getting embarrassed. Sometimes, these gags can get you to crack a smile, but generally they fall ... flat. The age gap between the two leads is probably the most interesting selling point here though.

However, even though this manga has adult characters regularly talking about work over a smoke, many of the interactions feel recycled from teenage school year, slice of life manga. Whether it’s the 45 year old man getting teased by the 24 year old “cheeky kouhai” or reacting to a change in Yamada’s appearance, he acts like an inexperienced grade schooler, immediately blushing and stammering his words, rather than behaving as the far more experienced adult that he is. Workplace stress and troubles do play a big part in the story as well, so them being adults is still relevant, but that only makes the embarrassed reactions feel more like they don't belong. Based on how he reacts, you'd think he's renting a girlfriend rather than taking a smoke break.

The character designs look great. Sasaki’s worn out, wrinkled appearance contrasts heavily with Yamada’s youthful face, though they both share sharp facial features. The difference between her neat and tidy workplace appearance and her punkier casual attire helps highlight the different sides of her personality pretty clearly, to everyone besides Sasaki that is. Beyond the characters, the art is fine but nothing exciting. Backgrounds are kept fairly clean with standard screentones and the paneling is functional.

There’s nothing in here that’s egregiously bad. The age gap, where Sasaki is nearly double the age of Yamada, is handled tastefully, and occasionally cute and funny moments pop up here and there. But this manga doesn't do enough to distinguish itself and is ultimately forgettable.