Sakura is an interesting character in the sense that I never really knew if I was ever seeing the real her at points. She's very eccentric on the outside but is hiding how terrified she is of her situation from other people. In her decision to hide her illness from her friends, she basically decided that she would keep up a mask at all times and in a way that became her personality, even if it wasn't true to everything that she was feeling. Haruki was like a saving grace in that regard to her. He was indifferent to practically everything, so when he found out about her illness, he was the perfect one to help her live life a little, and in a way that was comfortable for her. She could vent her insecurities while also trying to have fun. I think it was an interesting point of view from Sakura on how we treat those we know are fragile. Even if it's with good intentions in mind, people don't tend to give a sense of normalcy to people in those situations. A constant reminder that they are in a different situation, a different world from the rest of us is something that I'm sure feels painful. Sakura's "meaning of life" is the relationships formed with others being proof of that life. Can you really feel alive if your bond with others is built on their pity for you? It's why she keeps her illness secret. It's so that her friends will treat her the same as other friends, and why she was able to confide in Haruki, because from where he starts off as a character, he treats everyone in the same general manner. Knowing her life will never be the same as other people's is something she has to carry as a burden every waking moment, never knowing when she may not open her eyes again, so having someone to break down in front of who can pretend like nothing ever happened afterward is a space of relief.
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Haruki
Haruki is a simple character. The archetype he follows is one that has been done before a million times. He's a character with no sense of what life is, and in meeting someone else, he is exposed to the beauty of the life he is just coasting through. I feel it's a slightly different dynamic in this situation, however, which keeps the character fresh. He isn't just simply being lifted up by an eccentric character who teaches him to love. With Sakura and her situation, he learns to care and he learns to hurt. Most characters of Haruki's type simply learn life's beauty and not much else, but with him, it's both sides of the spectrum that build him as a character. Sakura does show him the fun sides of life. They go out to eat together and a multitude of places, they went on a trip to another area of Japan, they've gone to all sorts of places to learn the fun of life, but at the end of the day, it all comes back to who Sakura really is. She has limited time left and untimely hospital visits during the movie remind us of that. It is through this pain that I believe Haruki was able to appreciate life even more. It's a perspective thing in a way. He began to value his time because he knows he is blessed in having it. He values Sakura's time because he knows she's short on it. Even if Sakura gains relief from being treated normally, the thoughts of what she's really dealing with don't just stay out of Haruki's mind. In some way, it affects him. This is most obvious when Sakura is killed and out of a sense of guilt, he doesn't attend the funeral. It obviously isn't his fault for what happened, but he knows to some degree what he is to Sakura and as her light, he wasn't there to help her when she needed it more than ever. It was a terrible situation that he couldn't have changed, but even if he couldn't, with the way people think, it was always going to linger in his head. Haruki had already grown as a person, but Sakura's death pushed him just a bit more to be a person who took opportunities in life. Refusing the offer of gum is a small throwaway gesture at the start of the movie, but by the end, it becomes symbolic of who he's become. It's a small thing, but it's an experience to interact with someone and accept their kindness.
Art
There really aren't any moments that will blow you away when it comes to art style and animation. Perhaps the fireworks scene, but otherwise everything just sorta gets the job done. The movement of characters is fluid though, and in a slice of life, that's probably what matters most. It all simply gets the job done and you can't ask for much more than that.
The music for the anime is solid. Sumika does a solid job on the opening theme, the inserts, as well as the ending. It's just a good, solid soundtrack that adds a bit of emotion to the overall piece.
This anime isn't very complicated, so there's not much to say about the general art.
Entertainment Value
It's a slice-of-life anime so there's not too much to say on the front of entertainment value. I love character work and character interactions so this movie was entertaining for me to watch, though if you're looking for something outside of that, this anime won't provide in that sense. That's fine though because the point isn't to have you glued to your screen because of fights or anything of that sort, it's meant to show character, not much more.
Themes
Personally, I'm of the camp that the idea of themes is super overrated, but this movie handles them extremely well, and so that's the extra area that I will praise. I talked about it earlier, but plenty of media pieces can talk about life. I think one that most people know is the IRL film, "The Fault in Our Stars." This is handled with a different sort of grace than movies like that, however. This film's twist is so sudden and heart-wrenching that you're probably just as shook as the main character is. You feel his worry when Sakura doesn't show up to their meeting, and you feel despair when you find out how she died in such a way that it feels disgraceful. A random news story breaking the news about the death of someone you truly care for. It just feels unfair. He never got to say a true goodbye, even if his final message in fact reached her.
Conclusion
I Want to Eat Your Pancreas is a packed title. People are going to be put off by how it reads, but obviously, it has meaning outside of the surface value of the said title. It's a watch that you expect to be hurt, and so you think you can handle what's going to come, but nothing can ever truly prepare you for loss. I feel that holds true to real life. We're all going to take our turn on the old wheel of death eventually, we all know that, but that doesn't make it any easier. We still hurt when we lose those we love, it's just part of being human, and that's okay. It's good to hold people close, even if we know eventually that love will meet its end. This film was truly beautiful in that regard.