An apple a day doesn’t only keep the doctor away. Sometimes, it’ll reverse your age by 50 years. At least, that’s what happened to Shozo and Ine Saito. Here is our Grandpa and Grandma Turn Young Again review.
About Grandpa and Grandma Turn Young Again
Grandpa and Grandma Turn Young Again focuses on elderly couple Shozo and Ine Saito, who have been together for 60+ years and regret not doing life differently when they were young. Although now they have a successful apple farm business, they weren’t well off before; Shozo expressed regret for not taking his wife on a real honeymoon once they got married.
The two find the tree they planted following their wedding, which grew a magical golden apple. So magical, the two became young again after consuming it! Although they appear young, that doesn’t stop them from acting like the old souls they really are. The series follows young Shozo and Ine as they adapt to their new looks and bodies, as well as friends and family adjusting to the new version of the beloved grandparents.
The following review contains spoilers for episode 1 of Grandpa and Grandma Turn Young Again.
Episode One Review
Episode one takes us through Shozo and Ine finding the magical golden apple, meeting their family, and participating in a sports festival.
The anime begins immediately with Shozo and Ine finding this magic apple. Besides knowing they were not well off when they were younger, that’s the only information we know about this couple prior to them becoming young again.
Although I would have liked to see an anime-original beginning with more backstory of the Saitos’ love and life story, I think the rest of the show will reflect their love enough. Unfortunately after reading some of the original work, the magic apple is not canon, so we most likely won’t receive any explanation for it.
With grandpa and grandma reverting to their 20s, it’s to be expected that the people around them will find them attractive. The older men notice how attractive Ine is, or how muscular Shozo has gotten, which are more age-appropriate scenes. The jokes that made me uncomfortable are between Mino, the granddaughter, and Kaede, the daughter-in-law,* such as Mino asks Ine if “she can have grandpa,” and Kaede blushes and expresses how handsome Shozo has gotten. Luckily, the anime introduces a love interest for Mino, so I’m hopeful the anime will not continue those jokes.
Aside from the inappropriate comments, this is a cheesy, humorous and wholesome slice-of-life. The sports festival had humorous scenes, showing how in tune Shozo and Ine are and how they work together with their younger bodies.
The original work’s chapters are very short (4-5 pages), but the animation studio did a great job coming up with original content to justify the Saitos becoming young, as well as extending the episode’s runtime. The grandparents kept their elderly voices and do the same hobbies, which was a great touch to show that while they look young on the outside, they aren’t losing sight of who they really are.
I would recommend this anime as an easy watch / not have to think while watching, but from first impressions, I don’t expect it to be anything groundbreaking or revolutionary.
Grandpa and Grandma Turn Young Again’s episodes are released weekly on Sundays, available to watch on Crunchyroll.
*Edited 4/16/2024 9:31 AM
i wanna see that