This was the chapter(s) in the manga where I really felt the transition from  A Story About Smoking at the Back of the Supermarket to Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You. It was, in a word, serious. Serious in a way earlier chapters almost never were. I don’t think there was a huge material shift in terms of the series mythology or anything. But there definitely was a shift in outlook. It was pretty clear that Sasaki’s life was miserable and these little supermarket interludes were the only thing that provided a respite. But now we’re considering just how depressing that is.

Let’s put it this way – getting drenched with a hose by Gotou-san was probably the best thing that happened to Sasaki-san this episode. And awkward as it started out, this is really a woman he should be more comfortable having a conversation with than Tayama-san. Gotou is nothing if not direct – “tactless” is not a word I would take issue with. She speculates on his age, shares her own, and expresses shock that he never asked Tayama how old she was (I’m with him here, why would he?). Unfortunately because Sasaki is such a schlimazel Tayama happens by just as he’s more or less admitting he likes her.

Sasaki’s work situation really is incredibly depressing. It’s all too common in Japan and now we have a leader who brags about getting zero sleep and aims to undo the meager reforms that had reined in some of the worst excesses of black companies. The worst thing about this is that Sasaki-san is such a doormat. He lets everyone at the office take advantage of him, not just his boss. And that just worsens when said boss is on vacation, something it’s very unlikely any of his employees are allowed to do. Sasaki’s co-workers know he always says yes, and knows more about how things operate than anyone else. A horrendous combination.

So yeah, life sucks for this guy and all he’s living on is cigarettes, beer, and salty snacks. And a couple hours sleep a night. He can’t even enjoy smoking in the rain (which is a pretty pathetic thing to take pleasure in) because he’s working 14 days straight. When he finally makes it to the smoke break spot he’s so spent that he falls asleep with a cig in his mouth (which is incredibly dangerous, as I assume most people know). And what does he do when he finally does get a day off? Go to the supermarket.

So now look at it from Yamada’s perspective. Sasaki-san shares his “jinx” (I find it funny that the Japanese use that word for superstitions) with the cigarette pack with Tayama, and in the process makes it clear how much his brief encounters with Yamada mean to him. Sure, any idiot should have figured this out by now but he hasn’t. So not only does she feel guilty for tricking him, but she has to deal with the fact that he exalts someone who isn’t even her, just a facade to puts up to face people she doesn’t care about. The whole affair was set up to be played for comedy, but somewhere along the way the inherent tragedy in it took over and became impossible to ignore.