Have you ever had a moment when you recognized that you were getting older, and wished you could get back to when you were younger? What would you do in that hypothetical situation? Now, what if that situation wasn’t hypothetical? I know that a situation like this no longer being hypothetical wouldn’t happen in reality, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t make an anime about it!
The episode begins with Shouzou (Grandpa) and Ine (Grandma) keeping up typical grandparently conversation, like what they would do if they could be young again. The two head to where they grow apples, finding a tree that had snapped in half and fallen over in a typhoon that they managed to get to be upright again, and they also notice something a bit odd…the only fruit on the tree is one golden apple.
Either later that night or the next morning, Grandpa goes to the bathroom to get ready for the day and splashes water in his face and takes a look in the mirror…and sees that he appears younger. He runs to see Grandma, and also seeing that she’s younger, he launches out and says that they should go on their honeymoon.
From here, the episode takes a format of “shorts that still link together to form one coherent plot”. The only reason I’m labeling it as such is because in-between some of the main story bits, there are still images with text and voice acting that seem like they’re small funny extras you’d see in a manga. I won’t cover those extras in my reviews extensively, I’ll only bring specific ones up if I think they’ll have some impact on the plot in the future.
Anyway, Mino goes to visit her grandparents, getting surprised to see their transformation…and also getting really attached to her grandfather now that he’s younger. Mino tells her father about this, and he doesn’t understand what she means.
Later at the park, some of the people there talk about the two and how they don’t commonly come anymore, and how they’re back and somehow turned younger. The elderly women are infatuated by Grandpa, and when Grandma offers the two that are watching tea, one of them takes it…and spills it when he becomes infatuated by Grandma.
And as it turns out, the day before, Grandpa got in an argument with Mino’s dad, and refused to leave the property, with Grandma apologizing to Mino’s mom, Kaede, with Kaede saying that it’s alright. But that day, Kaede came to visit Grandpa and Grandma…and got to see the now young Grandpa. She dropped off what she came to deliver…and Grandma gets a “sudden chill”. This probably isn’t a good sign.
Mino’s father comes to see Grandpa and Grandma, meaning now he knows that they’re younger. A conversation begins, with Mino saying that Grandpa knew what she was playing at, and even uses him as a barrier. This leads to my favorite line in the episode: “A granddaughter with her grandfather? That isn’t even allowed in fiction!” Thankfully, it seems that the anime won’t have the two get together, though Mino doting on her grandfather may end up becoming a running joke. An argument ends up breaking out, though it seems to resolve somewhat peacefully by the end of this section. Grandma even pats the head of Mino’s father…which of course results in Mino asking for headpats.
And now comes the titular part of the episode…the sports festival! To set up for it, Grandpa gets asked to come to the community center, where he is pretty much told that he has to participate in the sports festival. After meeting the members of the opposing team, the competition begins. The first event we see is tug of war, and after it seems like the team we want to root for is going to lose, Grandma cheers, which convinces them to work to win. The second event we see is a three-legged baton pass relay, and despite the people before having been half a lap behind, Grandpa and Grandma work together to clinch the win. They also excel in the other events, causing their team to win.
We see the opposing team sadly eating their food together, where it’s revealed that the leader was pining after Grandma when the two were younger, but that Grandpa took Grandma. Grandma comes and offers food to the opposing team, which they seem to accept. After the sports festival, one of the grandsons goes to deliver something, with Mino answering the door. The two spend some time alone, and this is when we learn more about Mino: she’s admired by the other students in her class, and seems to be on good terms with the grandson. Grandpa, Grandma, and Kaede are revealed to be listening in, and things escalate a bit.
Later, the three decide to join Mino and the grandson and have a discussion, with there being what I can only think of describing as “predatory stares” from Grandma and Kaede. After the grandson leaves, Mino wishes that she could’ve spent some more alone time with him. And with the grandson asking to run another errand, it makes me pretty confident that this isn’t the last that we’ll see of him.
The final short in the episode involves Mino asking Grandpa and Grandma about how they got together, and even getting Grandma to pretend that Mino is her love rival to recreate that moment. Hearing about how the grandparents got together at the end of the first episode was the icing on top of this sweet cake.
I found myself enjoying this episode, and I genuinely can’t wait for more! There were some scenes that I felt were animated really well, even if most of the episode had the animation quality you’d expect from a typical anime. This’ll be a nice slice of the wholesome pie, and I can’t wait to see where this series goes! So far, it’s earned nine and a half golden apples out of ten from me (lost half a golden apple due to how Mino appears to be reacting to her grandpa, but if this dies down in future episodes, I’m willing to raise my score), and I’ll definetly be coming back next week!
Additional posts about Grandpa and Grandma Turn Young Again:
Sara Talks Anime 
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