I had watched a lot of "tearjerker" animes in my spare time, however, this one hit differently. The inevitability of death, and the importance of like struck me as a guy who is lazy as hell and double as shy. Sakura and Haruki's story taught me so much about living life to its fullest that when the inevitable moments came, I mourned for the prospect of such a wondrous life ending and cried over how much more could have been done. Unlike Anohana, which deals with resolving your guilt over events of the past, or Maquia, which deals with the permanence of being, or even Your Lie in April, who hints at the event but illustrates at the glimmer of hope for life, Pancreas starts off by letting you know that the main character will die. Its in the description, its the first minute of the movie, its everywhere, and that is what makes her death all the more painful.
The plot followed conventions when it came to "cancer/terminal illness anime". The girl is diagnosed with a fatal condition that will kill her, and its up to the boy to make sure her last days on this planet are the best of the best. The film certainly didn't think out of the box, but instead they painted it gold. Every single moment was dedicated to strengthening our bond between the husk of a man that is our main character and the overwhelming ball of positivity that is Sakura. We see Sakura reach out to our MC and slowly teach him how to live; to enjoy life and every single prospect of it. This progress is hinted at slowly by a classmate offering gum, as our MC goes from apathetic to reluctant to actively asking for it. He is learning how to interact, make bonds, and live. Meanwhile, Sakura is planning her exit, she is setting things up for when she inevitably kicks the bucket. While she embraces the fact, there are significant moments of weakness that amount to her desire to keep living despite knowing its impossible.
The plot did a really good job of hiding themes and references in it. However, the source of inspiration that this movie drew best to had to be Antoine Saint-Exupery's The Little Prince. It was mentioned in the movie, it was the one noteworthy book Sakura owned, and it was the one book our bookworm MC has yet to read. In the Little Prince, it depicts an airplane pilot crash landing in the Sahara, where he encounters an extraterrestrial Little Prince who regularly tends to his asteroid and the rose living on it. A Little Prince who one day decided to leave to visit neighbouring asteroids and finding out what the locals are like. When he arrived on Earth, he tamed a fox, and then later encountered the pilot. The novel ends with the Little Prince returning to his home planet, leaving behind his body since it is too heavy for him to leave the atmosphere with. The movie drew so many references to this it might as well have been a parody of the book. Both of our MCs was the Little Prince at some point. Our male MC was the Little Prince, tending to the weak and powerless rose that was Sakura, yet Sakura was also the Little Prince, taming the fox that was our antisocial MC, and ultimately, it was Sakura who left the Pilot, us, alone. The amount of connections to this book makes it so that I will never see the novel the same again.
Pancreas did a phenomenal job with its art and music, the music is vivid and matches the art in mood, and it stops dead along with our hearts in the most heightening of moments. The art is beautiful. Colorful, vibrant, and way better than what our world can bring to match. Each and every scene was thought through so that it plays a pivotal role in its angles. The fireworks scene was absolutely bombastic, and was some of the best fireworks I've seen in anime.
With characters, the movie once again raised the bar of conventional thinking. Sakura and Haruki are, as clearly stated in the movie, polar opposites. One's an antisocial husk of a man while the other is an extroverted life-loving upbeat lass. From the moment Haruki picked up Sakura's dairy, we as viewers know that their interactions will be interesting. It is no dispute that the way Sakura was towards Haruki changed the way he acted even after her death, and you could see that from literally their first outing. While initially reluctant, Haruki eventually agreed to even go out on a 2-day trip with her just to take her to see places. The carrying scene was also an illustration for Haruki's outer shell breaking. Its because he's the main character. Sakura is fated to die, and while she does show vulnerability for it, the main show here is how Haruki is changing, he becomes human, and he learns how to live from a girl who is fated to die. Each moment they spend is even more heartwarming than the last. Until it all comes crashing down like a raging torrent of tears. We knew Sakura was going to die, just like Haruki, and like Haruki, we were supposed to come to terms with that. But after seeing the way she lived, and also the way she died, I for one just couldn't come to terms with it. A stunning illustration at the power of characterization.
Overall, this was a great movie, a stunning display of the teachings of life from a person contracted with death. it teaches us the age-old lesson that death is inevitable, but it shows just how colorful life can be. As I like to say it, Death is a one-way ticket, but its up to you to take the train with the most scenic route.
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