Link Click
Using superpowers to enter their clients' photos one by one, Cheng Xiaoshi and Lu Guang take their work seriously at Time Photo Studio, a small photography shop set in the backdrop of a modern metropolis. Each job can be full of danger, but nothing is more important than fulfilling every order, no matter the scale... or peril involved!
Nothing sad ever happens in Link Click. Don't trust me? Go watch it and find out for yourself.
Oh boy this show. oh man. whew.
So, I first found out about Link Click from an artist that I follow on Instagram. She posted some fan art of it and of course because I'm me I had to go and immediately check it out. At the time there were only 5ish episodes of the first season out. I was a little wary to start watching it at first because it was only in Chinese and I was not at all used to hearing Chinese voice over, and I was just worried I wouldn't be able to get used to it.
Well, I got used to it; by the last episode that was out (the basketball one, iykyk) I was bawling my eyes out like a baby, and Link Click was cemented as one of my favorite shows of all time. Season 2 only further confirmed this feeling for me, and then the Bridon Arc just made be sad (but it was also very good too). And here I am a week after finishing the most recent season, not being able to stop thinking about it, what's new am I right?
Basically, the premise of the show is that our main characters, Lu Guang and Cheng Xiaoshi, have some cool powers. Lu Guang can look into a photo and see the events that happened 12 hours after the photo was taken, and Cheng Xiaoshi can dive into the photo, possess the one who took the photo, and actually change the past through this person.
With these powers the two of them fulfill requests from people who come to the shop, whether it be to find out a secret recipe for noodles or to relay a message to an old friend. And of course, because they're messing with time, things are bound to get weird eventually.
This show has ripped out my heart, stomped on it, and buried it six feet under the ground. I will never be able to emotionally recover from the end of Season 2, and I don't think the creators of the show want us to either. Pretty sure they just wanna set us up for a depression ending, but I will keep inhaling copium that somehow everyone gets a happy ending.
Spoilers Ahead!
Seriously don't spoil yourself with my rant just go watch the show I promise you won't regret it.
So the weird stuff I mentioned earlier? Just a little tiny thing: Lu Guang has been repeating years of his life in order to stop Cheng Xiaoshi from dying, breaking his own rule of not changing the past. According to Lu Guang, death is a node that cannot be changed, but still he struggles against this in order to save his friend. Absolutely heartbreaking.
I can't even imagine being Lu Guang, seeing the most important person to you die over and over again and being powerless to stop it (despite literally having powers to travel in time).
Link Click is so good that it has been forshadowing this plotline since the beginnig, specifically in the OP and ED songs (which have all made their way into my playlists, not to mention intoducing me to Fan Ka who is now one of my favorite artists. Seriously go check out his music other than the stuff from Link Click it's so good).
Chase you to the end of the world
Just to say your name once more
If I had only got it right before
Every minute that I dialed back in time
Every single existence rewinds
Something secretive hidden inside your mind
All the heartaches and the smiles never faded
I know you'll be by my side when we make it
Come back from the dive back in time
-Dive Back in Time (Jaws)
Like, you've got to be kidding me right? They told us the whole plot right in the beginning of the OP but only now can we finally understand it? At least this is kinda forshadowing a happy ending (copium).
Knowing it all, am I destined to fall?
Like once you did for me
-Vortex (Jaws)
I remember sitting there parsing through all of the song lyrics and what had happened in the most recent episodes and being like, oh god this is gonna get really sad really quick isn't it.
And there's nothing I can do
And there's nothing I can say
No there's no running away
From the darkness and the pain
-Until it Dies (Qin Yun)
This doesn't have anything to do with the story it's just how I feel after catching up with every episode of the show.
It's just about the time to say this: LU GUANG IS IN LOVE WITH CHENG XIAOSHI!!!! IF YOU DO NOT BELIEVE THIS THEN YOU HAVE NOT WATCHED THE SHOW!!! LOOK AT THIS SHIT AND TELL ME THEY AREN'T IN LOVE:
Ok I'm gonna be honest, when I started this show I had no idea that it was gonna be at all bl coded (source: watch the show). I was just like 'yo these guys are doing fun time superpower stuff this is interesting.' Ngl I did lowkey ship them in the beginning just cause they had good chemistry, but as Season 1 ended I was pretty convinced that it was actually just Chinese censorship ridden bl. Joe and I even had a debate about it and he wasn't convinced, he still just thought that they were just close friends.
Then Season 2 happened. If you have seen season 2 there is absolutely no way you could come out of it thinking that those two are anything but in love with each other. Even Joe was convinced that at the very least Lu Guang was in love with Cheng Xiaoshi. I mean, I love my friends, but the only person I think I would witness their death countless times and endure a never ending 3 year time loop for would probably be Joe, who is in fact by partner who I am in love with.
You especially cannot deny this ship if you've seen Bridon Arc. Bro half of one of the episodes was literally just a cute montage of them doing silly things together like every other romance anime to exist. Like you cannot tell me that they aren't supposed to be together. Somehow the bl always finds me (not complaining about that).
There was even a MDZS reference in the first episode of Bridon Arc, MDZS being ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR BL's IN CHINA. Bruh, BiliBili even posts ship videos on their social media!!!
These brothers are sworn, y'all. Ain't no doubt about it.
The artists/ social media team/ whoever is involved is putting thier everything into promoting this show too. The amount of official art that the team makes is crazy, not to mention tons of original songs between seasons (which yes, they are all bangers). Not just the amount, but the quality of everything is top notch too.
I know I've talked about the story a whole lot, but the animation of the show just keeps getting better as the seasons go on. You can tell a lot of the animators want to flex their fight scene animating chops, but hey I love fighting so I've got no problem with it.
You can tell that every aspect of this show has had a lot of thought and care put into it. They had an idea in the beginning and have been working hard to bring that idea into the world (and have been doing a top notch job of it too).
I just love this show so much and think that everyone should watch it even if you're not into animation. We made Joe's mom watch it and even she loves it (even if the storyline/ character names confuse her a bit lol). Whenever she comes over she asks to watch more episodes, which luckily we have Bridon Arc to watch with her now.
The one thing I wish for is for there to be more Link Click merch available here in the US because ya'll know I would buy all of it in a heartbeat and make a real shrine on my bookshelf.