18/40 Futari nara Yume mo Koi mo Blu-ray Box

An original story about two women who build a sisterhood across their difference in age.

Eighteen-year-old Arisu Nakagawa, pregnant as she takes her first steps towards her dream of becoming a curator, and Toko Naruse, an art specialist nearing forty who has put romance on the back burner, form a bond that transcends their age gap. Each also falls in love with a man whose circumstances are complicated.

Arisu is bewildered by becoming pregnant so young while beginning to pursue her dream. Toko believed she could have everything: a career, marriage and children. Instead, she finds herself still single as her fortieth birthday approaches, and something happens that shakes her heart. Through two women who meet at major turning points in their lives, this original story explores the ways women live today, their worries and conflicts, from each woman's perspective.

Their growing sisterhood is accompanied by two love stories involving men with complicated pasts. The warm, bright theme song “Himawari” stays close to the women and brings further warmth to the drama.

March 2023. Arisu Nakagawa has just turned eighteen. Inspired by her beloved late mother, she dreams of working in a museum and eventually becoming a curator active overseas. She has been accepted into university and is preparing to leave her father, Ichiro, to live on her own. On the day of her high-school graduation, however, she discovers that she is unexpectedly pregnant. Slipping out of the graduation party, she tells her university-student boyfriend, Kosuke Aso…

Meanwhile, Toko Naruse is a talented art specialist who connects art and business at a company dealing in contemporary art. As she approaches forty, she is fed up with messages from her mother, Kimiko, who worries about her future: “I want to hold a grandchild” and “When are you getting married?”

During these anxious days, Arisu receives a message from Kosuke asking, “Can we meet tomorrow?” But at the restaurant where they arranged to meet, it is his mother, Yumiko, waiting for her instead. Confused, Arisu hears something shocking from Yumiko and leaves the restaurant in anger.

On her way to the Shibasaki Ladies Clinic run by her close friend Kaoru Shibasaki, Toko encounters Arisu clutching her stomach and looking as though she is about to collapse. Toko instinctively supports her, discovers that she is pregnant and takes her straight to the clinic.

A chance meeting brings together eighteen-year-old Arisu, newly an adult, and Toko, who is nearly forty. Where she begins living alone, Arisu meets Yuma Kurosawa, an aspiring dancer. During a work visit to her hometown of Kanazawa, Toko has a fateful encounter with Ibuki Kase, a driver who specialises in transporting works of art.

Even as they clash, a friendship grows between Arisu and Toko despite their difference in age. Where will that friendship lead, and how will each woman's difficult romance with a complicated man unfold?

Bonus footage offers unreleased scenes and cuts, Yuma Kurosawa's dance performances, the production announcement and special interviews. It also includes the “18/XX” highlight interviews, the “Himawari” segment from “18/40 × Gutto Phrase”, a special drama movie, filming wrap-ups and television spots.