Our favorite grandparents are going to the summer festival! The Saitos visit the local jinja (“shrine”), eat sweets, play games, and receive an unexpected visit. Here is our review for Grandpa and Grandma Turn Young Again episode 9.
Grandpa and Grandma Turn Young Again Episode 9 Recap
The Saitos prepare for an evening at the local jinja. Ine and Mino pick out their summer kimonos, Shozo enjoys some drinks with neighbors, Ine eats candied strawberries, and the grandparents win a stuffed bear from a shooting game. At the end of the night, Ine reveals devastating news to Shozo: She only has seven days left to live.
Shozo prays to the tochigami (“land god”) at the jinja for a miracle, and the two get transported to the “dream.” The tochigami reveals that in order to extend Ine’s life, the sand/time must come from somewhere else. Without hesitation, Shozo gives half of his life to Ine and keeps it a secret from her.
Grandpa and Grandma Turn Young Again Episode 9 Review
Much of the beginning of the episode symbolized the grandparents’ deaths. In addition to last week’s episode foreshadowing Ine’s death, the opening scene of Shozo and Ine watching the horror movie Ring was a clever hint that Ine only had seven days left to live. Granddaughter Mino is thinking about her future and expresses interest in learning about how to take care of apple trees. She wants to eventually take over the Saitos apple orchard.
Restraint was drilled into Ine when she was younger. She struggles with wanting small things for herself, such as eating a 500 yen candied strawberry, wearing a nice yukata, and winning a stuffed bear from the shooting game. To see Ine let her guard down and allow herself to enjoy the festival, knowing she has days left to live, is bittersweet.
Grandpa and Grandma Turn Young Again episode 9 ultimately satisfied my craving for backstory about how the magic apples came to be. Legend has it, a couple watered a sacred tree during a famine, which produced apples that could heal illnesses and satisfy their hunger. Nowadays, these magical apples have been turning people young again. While it seems to be a legend according to Satoshi Takahashi, and seeing firsthand in this episode that the gods do make wishes happen, I have full confidence that this legend is true.
Shozo giving up some of his lifespan to Ine to live the rest of their days together is another level of love. It shows how well Shozo knows his wife and how scared she is to leave him behind. Although Ine will be upset with Shozo if she finds out his sacrifice, I hope Shozo tells her. This way, they can both die knowing they won’t have to live without each other.
Final Thoughts
This episode was a whirlwind of emotions. I loved seeing Ine spend time with Shozo. She accepted the experiences presented to her, despite having a rough life growing up and showing restraint. This episode is best described as bittersweet. While I’m happy the grandparents won’t have to live without each other, I can’t help but feel sad for their granddaughters. They especially have a hard time coming to terms with their grandparents’ deaths. I anticipate these next few episodes will also be tearjerkers. However, I look forward to seeing how Shozo and Ine spend the rest of their days together.
New Grandpa and Grandma Turn Young Again episodes are released weekly on Sundays, available to watch on Crunchyroll.
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