In the Bible, it is stated in the Book of Genesis that there exists the Garden of Eden, which has the duality of the Trees serving different purposes: the Tree of Life, and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. God does not give the prohibition for the Tree of Life, and it's free to be consumed...so why not take this idea, and turn it into an original work? And that's what you get with mangaka Kagiri Araido's Twitter/Pixiv web manga series: Jiisan Baasan Wakagaeru a.k.a Grandpa and Grandma Turn Young Again, a rom-com series about elderly people's regression when they eat from the supposed "Tree of Life", and live life to the fullest, as portrayed in their young adult days.
They say, "Second Chances are hard to come by", and this context is given to the main elderly couple of the Saitos: husband Shouzou and wife Ine. After building their apple orchard for much of their lifetime and noticing that one particular tree has grown a golden apple, they don't think much of it and consume it just like any other normal apple, only to find themselves regressing in age. Manifesting romance back in their lively days, and serving as the comedy gag, both Shouzou and Ine begin to re-experience the days of their youth once again, inspiring the people around them and taking the jab of professing how great it is to be young again.
The one-word-liners to describe this show, would be heartwarming, surprising, wholesome, and uplifting, because that's the motive of the original source material to weave daily moments into life that can be enjoyed once again. That being said, Shouzou and Ine's direct influence being their son of Yoshiaki, his wife of Kaede, and their child-cum-granddaughter Mino, it's just relentless comedy gags aimed at the young to ever be so surprised that their parents/grandparents, with all of their infinite wisdom and adding their regression, makes for lots of hijinks that even affect their neighbours and especially the grandchildren, forming their own rom-com circles that you can't help but chuckle at (even if the jokes may be hit and miss). The fact is that while this show doesn't have a plot around it, it uses its setting to good effect, and ultimately comes up as a decent-to-good show that you can watch in your free time. And for that, the show does its sole job well.
Like everything else in the anime, you can take it or leave it as it is. The production by studio Gekkou is rather decent (with a few eye-popping comedy moments), as well as the OST alongside Koresawa's OP and Shouzou and Ine's ED, both of which I feel are just mind-numblingly slow (given that this is a show that has "young" in the name) and giving them the speedbump up would've helped things be livelier.
It's a chill anime that definitely screams the one-off episodic treatment, but if this show is your jam, then feel free to just rest in the laurels of the feel-good show that's just a comfort to watch.
