Sweeping 3.5 billion yen at the box office and 12 trophies at the Japan Academy Awards, Yamazaki Takashi's nostalgic blockbuster Always - Sunset on Third Street was the runaway winner of 2005. The cast and crew return to even greater acclaim and box office in 2007 with Always - Sunset on Third Street 2. Based on Saigan Ryohei's popular manga, Always 2 picks up the story shortly after the events of the first film, returning to the bustling lives of the residents of Third Street as they carve out their own small worlds in 1959 Japan. The film has the same winning formula of heartwarming drama and stunning CGI, recreating the sights, sounds, and sentiments of 1950s Japan with crowd-pleasing precision. The second time around, the characters feel like old friends thanks to great performances from the returning cast of Tsutsumi Shinichi, Yakushimaru Hiroko, Horikita Maki ( Hanazakari no Kimitachi e), Koyuki ( The Last Samurai), child actor Suga Kenta, and of course Yoshioka Hidetaka, who won his second Best Actor trophy at the 2008 Japan Academy Awards with the same role.

Bad-tempered, but soft-hearted garage owner Suzuki (Tsutsumi Shinichi) isn't any closer to becoming the next Toyota, though country girl Roku (Horikita Maki) is shaping up to be a great mechanic, and attracting some romantic attention, too. Suzuki's family of four plays host to seven-year-old relative Mika (Koike Ayame), but the spoiled city girl is less than impressed with their humble living conditions. Across the lane, struggling writer Chagawa Ryunosuke (Yoshioka Hidetaka) wants to prove himself to adopted son Junnosuke (Suga Kenta) and romantic interest Hiromi (Koyuki). Desperately holding on to his makeshift family and fading dreams, Chagawa is aiming for nothing less than the Akutagawa Prize with his great Japanese novel - and all his neighbors seem to be in it somehow. The frustrating process and financial worries, however, are more likely to push him to the end of the road than great literary fame.