Aimitagai Deluxe Edition Blu-ray + DVD

Aimitagai follows the small acts of kindness that connect people who have never met, gradually helping them move forward after loss. Haru Kuroki stars as Azusa, a wedding planner who keeps sending everyday messages to her best friend's phone after learning that she has died. Even without an answer, the conversation remains part of her life.

Unable to take the next step toward marriage with her boyfriend, Azusa finds herself looking back at the friend who always encouraged her. Meanwhile, her friend's parents receive a card addressed to their daughter from a children's home, and the phone among her belongings continues to register new messages. When Azusa visits an older pianist to arrange music for a golden wedding celebration, the sound recalls a moment the two friends shared in junior high school. She sends another message admitting that she cannot move forward alone. Suddenly, the messages that should have remained unread are marked as read.

Director Shogo Kusano weaves the linked stories of Tei Chujo's 2013 novel into an ensemble film about support that travels from one person to another and eventually returns in unexpected ways. Masahide Ichii developed the screenplay's framework, continuing a project championed by the late Kiyoshi Sasabe. Alongside Kuroki, the cast includes Aoi Nakamura, Sawako Fujima, Mitsuko Kusabue, Tamae Ando, Toshio Matsumoto, Takeshi Masu, Naomi Nishida, Tomorowo Taguchi and Jun Fubuki. Kuroki also performs the theme song, Yoake no My Way.

The deluxe edition contains the 105-minute film on Blu-ray and a separate DVD with approximately 83 minutes of supplementary material. The extras cover the making of Aimitagai, recorded premiere and release-stage appearances, and trailers. A booklet accompanies the two discs.

The film is presented in 16:9 1080p with Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and 2.0, plus a Japanese 2.0 audio-description track and Japanese subtitles for the hearing impaired. The extras DVD uses Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo and has no subtitles. The Blu-ray is region-free; the DVD is Region 2.