Our favorite lovebirds are back, and this time, they will be participating in the classic school festival. Here is our review of Grandpa and Grandma Turn Young Again episode 4.
"Grandpa and Grandma Turn Young Again" Episode 4 Recap
The beginning scenes of Grandpa and Grandma Turn Young Again episode 4 show Ine and Shozo working in the apple orchard, followed by Shozo helping Mina’s love interest Shouta with cleaning his father’s storehouse to be demolished. Shozo shows interest in school, and the Saitos participate in their granddaughter Mino’s cultural festival at school.
Plot Twist: The end of episode four revealed a shocking plot twist, foreshadowing what’s to come. During Ine’s hourglass dream, she looks back to how she was when she was younger, goes to flip her hourglass over, and trips. She shatters part of the hourglass frame, which not only reverts her back to her younger self, but loses her memories. Her hair is black and she refers to herself as Ine Sasaki, her maiden name.
Review
From a first watch-through, I was concerned that this episode had reverted back to similar problems I had with the series early on, where the storyline structure had too many unrelated stories with little connection to the previous scene. The first scenes about the apple orchard, clearing of the storehouse, and Shozo at the school library don’t seem connected at first. However, upon seeing the cultural festival, there were many parts that ultimately wove the whole piece together.
The key theme of this episode is remembering your roots and how your past experiences shape who you have/will become. Shozo connected with Shouta at the beginning of the episode about what Shouta wants to do when he grows up, with Shouta saying he wants to be a professional soccer player in Tokyo, but wouldn’t mind if he contributed to his grandfather’s farm in the future.
“A soccer player, a businessman, a farmer. Whatever work I may do, that future only exists because of this land that helped to raise me, right?” Shouta says the Shozo.
The theme continues with Shozo, when he discusses how he missed out on going to school due to finances. It’s evident Shozo had an interest in school: He visits the school library, shows an interest in going to the school festival, and even participates in the maid cafe during the festival. Despite showing this great effort, Shozo tells Ine that even if he had the option to go to school, he wouldn’t go because he met Ine and would choose being with her over school.
Final Thoughts
This episode really makes you reflect on your own life and look at how little moments shape you, and you can grow to appreciate them. While frustrating at first, Shozo’s inability to attend school turns out to be one of the best things that could have happened to him. On the other end, Shouta has his life ahead of him and he recognizes the sacrifices his family has made that could help him get the life he wants, yet he will always go back the path to help those who raised him.
This episode’s plot twist presents so many issues our main characters will run into in the following episodes. Now that Ine has lost her memories of the last 50 years, how will she go about remembering Shozo, her family, and returning to her present self? Will Ine want to turn the clock forward to remember Shozo and her family, and is it possible now given the damaged hourglass? I look forward to finding out how the anime will continue this story into the following episode(s) and what our characters will do to help Ine remember her life (if she wants to remember it).
New Grandpa and Grandma Turn Young Again episodes are released weekly on Sundays, available to watch on Crunchyroll.
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