18x2 Beyond Youthful Days Blu-ray + DVD Set

18x2 Beyond Youthful Days follows a first love across eighteen years and a journey between Taiwan and Japan. Directed by Michihito Fujii, the filmmaker behind The Last 10 Years, it stars Greg Hsu and Kaya Kiyohara as two people whose brief summer together leaves a lasting promise.

Eighteen years earlier in Taiwan, high-school student Jimmy works at a karaoke shop and meets Ami, a backpacker from Japan. Her open, carefree personality gradually draws him in, until she unexpectedly announces that she must return home. Seeing his disappointment, she proposes a promise for the future. Years later, after difficulties in his own life bring Jimmy back to his hometown, he finds a postcard she once sent him. Memories of that first love return, and he decides to travel to Japan to fulfil their promise.

His route takes him from Tokyo through Kamakura, Nagano and Niigata to Ami's hometown in Fukushima. Travelling on local trains and meeting people along the way, he remembers their summer and approaches the truth about the feelings she could not express eighteen years before.

The film grew from Jimmy Lai's Taiwanese travel essay, with Chang Chen developing the adaptation as executive producer and Fujii co-writing the screenplay with Hirokawa Hayashida. Joseph Chang, Shunsuke Michieda, Haru Kuroki, Yutaka Matsushige and Hitomi Kuroki join the cast. Takashi Ohmama composed the score, Keisuke Imamura handled cinematography, and Mr.Children performs the theme song Kioku no Tabibito.

The feature Blu-ray contains the 123-minute film, commentary by Kiyohara, Fujii and producer Hiroko Maeda, trailers and a special theme-song video. The accompanying DVD contains making-of footage and recorded appearances from the release celebration, Japan premiere and special screening. A special booklet and Ami's illustrated diary booklet are enclosed in a slipcase.

The feature is presented with DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround, with its original track designated Japanese by the distributor. Separate Japanese accessibility audio and commentary tracks use DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 stereo, and Japanese accessibility subtitles are included.