时光代理人
Link Click
Two friends, a photo studio, and the power to relive the past — at a heavy price
Synopsis
Cheng Xiaoshi and Lu Guang run a modest, seemingly unremarkable photography shop, the Time Photo Studio. In reality, they hold the power to enter their clients' photographs and relive a moment from the past — as long as they never alter its course, or face unpredictable consequences.
Carried by polished direction and critically praised writing, the series builds intimate mysteries around photographs, where each mission gradually reveals the cracks and secrets of the two protagonists themselves.
After two widely praised seasons, Link Click returns with a third season airing from August 2026, extending an increasingly personal plot around Xia Fei's disappearance and the troubled past of Cheng Xiaoshi's family.
World
The story unfolds in a contemporary Chinese metropolis, where Cheng Xiaoshi and Lu Guang's photography shop serves as a discreet anchor point for cases blending emotion, family secrets and the consequences of traveling into memories frozen by photographs.
Power system
Lu Guang can enter a photograph to relive the scene from the photographed subject's point of view, while Cheng Xiaoshi can then take possession of that same subject's body — with both of them responsible for preserving the timeline's integrity without ever altering it.
Reception & popularity
Praised by critics from its very first season for the originality of its writing, Link Click established itself as a reference point for donghua outside the cultivation genre, enough to justify a third season produced for the show's fifth anniversary.
My take
Link Click is my first recommendation for anyone coming from Japanese anime. No cultivation here: two friends dive into photos to relive their clients' pasts in a tightly built time thriller.
The short format, sharp editing and top-quality 2D make it a series you devour. And its season finales hit hard, emotionally as well as narratively.
Who is it for?Watch it if you want to discover donghua without going through the codes of cultivation.
Main characters
More character profiles are coming.
Trivia
- The series is written and directed by Li Haoling, produced by Studio LAN with support from Haoliners Animation League.
- Unlike most popular donghua, Link Click isn't built around cultivation but around a contemporary mystery in the style of a psychological thriller.
- The third season, announced for the show's fifth anniversary, is split into two parts, with the second expected in 2027.
If you liked…
More donghua to discover after Link Click: same author or same genres.
