A friend request with a lost love sends a man back into his memories of the ’90s, when life seemed to burn a little brighter

Barbara is an adult-orientated fantasy tale filled with love and the occult from Osamu Tezuka’s reimagining of “The Tales of Hoffmann”. Its story deals with the erotic and bizarre experiences of a famous novelist called Yosuke Mikura whose life is tossed upside down by a mysterious girl named “Barbara”.

Akemi suffers from a sense of loss after his cat dies. He decides to buy a used book and discovers a business card inside the book. The phrase of the book, which touched Akemi, has been underlined. Akemi becomes curious about the person Akane from the business card. He decides to contact her and they meet. Akane is a woman with a bright personality and Akemi develops feelings for her, but they are both in relationships. Akemi is dating Yayoi and Akane is dating Yuji. Akane’s boyfriend Yuji doesn’t have much time left to live.

After one of their shoplifting sessions, Osamu and his son come across a little girl in the freezing cold. At first reluctant to shelter the girl, Osamu’s wife agrees to take care of her after learning of the hardships she faces. Although the family is poor, barely making enough money to survive through petty crime, they seem to live happily together until an unforeseen incident reveals hidden secrets, testing the bonds that unite them.