I Want To Eat Your Pancreas is an anime that I didn’t really care for before watching it since the synopsis made it seem like a very formulaic romance film similar to stories designed to make you cry like the ones made by KEY, which although I respect their work, all felt extremely repetitive and predictable after playing a few of their visual novels. However, this movie is thankfully so much more than that. I actually watched the movie 3 months back but never bothered to write a review for it since I didn’t really have time and thought that most people understood it the same way I did. However, after reading some comments about it online and listening to my friend talk to me about it recently, I decided to write a review to hopefully clear up some misconceptions, maybe convince those skeptical of watching it to give it a try and to help those who have already seen it to view it in a different way.

This review will contain SPOILERS so skip to the end if you just want to read a general summary of my thoughts on the show.

Story - 9/10
The plot of the movie is very straightforward but the purposeful twists in the anime’s storytelling surprised me in a good way. The very basic synopsis of the movie is that the male lead, Haruki Shiga, finds out about the female lead’s, Sakura Yamauchi, terminal illness by accident. The story follows the two characters as Haruki spends Sakura’s remaining time left with her going through her to-do list.
First, I want to quickly talk about how this movie differentiated itself at the very start by literally showing Sakura’s funeral within its first few scenes, immediately telling me that this was not the average romance tearjerker film which leads me to the next thing I want to discuss.
Perhaps the biggest misconception that a lot of people seem to have about this film is that it is mainly a romance movie which it really isn’t. A lot of complaints I’ve seen points out how the romance felt incredibly forced and didn’t make sense since the main characters “fall in love” for no reason and without proper development. I would completely agree with all of that if their relationship with each other is really simply a romantic one. I also disagree with the notion that their relationship goes beyond romance or anything like that, because that just doesn’t make sense since they barely know each other. Rather, I want to argue that the MCs’ relationship is really just two people in a very complicated situation depending on each other for very personal and arguably selfish reasons and becoming better people together. Romantic feelings between the two were definitely developing and if Sakura were still alive, I’m sure they would most likely start to try and date by the end of the movie, however, them being magically in love is far from the truth and is not what the movie is about.
I’ve talked a bunch about how the movie defined my expectations and how it isn’t what people think it is, so what is this movie about if it’s not a sad love story? In my opinion, I Want To Eat Your Pancreas is a theme focused movie about sending the message of taking action, appreciating life, and exploring the idea of what it means to be alive which the movie suggests to be, at least partially, human connections. First, another misconception people have with the message and Sakura’s character is one very similar to Misaki from Welcome to the N.H.K. Both of these characters are not meant to give the message of waiting for some magical perfect girl to show up in our lives and save us from whatever depressing state we are in, but instead, the message Sakura gives off is the idea of taking initiative and to actually try to befriend people. This was shown pretty obviously when the reason Haruki made friends by the end of the movie was because of him changing himself and not because of waiting for Sakura to give him everything. Next, I believe that the controversial fate of Sakura makes the theme of the movie so much stronger than it would have been otherwise. Sakura’s sudden death through an accident and not through her illness is not a cheap way to surprise the audience like many have suggested, but her death is very clearly purposefully anticlimactic, surprising and random because that is the point. The accident that happened to Sakura could’ve happened even if she didn’t have an illness because just like real life, things out of our control can happen and the best we can do is try and live the best way we possibly can. The many ways the movie defies expectations are not done simply for the sake of surprising the audience but rather for the purpose of telling and in my opinion strengthening the message of how interacting with people and having human connections is one way to have a fulfilling life. Whether or not you agree with this message, the idea of living everyday as if it’s your last is, although cliché, something that many people, especially introverted teenagers and young adults today (like myself), tend to forget.

Art - 9/10
The art and animation is absolutely gorgeous. Every scene could be a wallpaper and I was definitely not disappointed in this department at any point throughout the movie. The reason this is not as high as it could have been is that although the art is great, it didn’t feel very unique and it is not on the same level as something like Your Name in terms of consistency and quality.

Sound - 8.5/10
The music is very solid and from what I remember nothing felt out of place during different scenes, however, it just wasn’t too memorable for me personally. The voice acting is very high quality especially the two main characters whose voices and tones closely resemble their personalities.

Character - 7/10
The characters (especially the side characters) are perhaps the weakest aspect of the movie. Most of these characters are underdeveloped and most are straight up just unlikable, and a few character arcs also felt unfinished. The main characters themselves are definitely also not the most memorable nor the most well written, however, this is somewhat expected because this movie is not really character-driven in the first place, and the story/theme is where it really shines.
One thing I do want to expand a little more upon from the story section is the idea that Sakura is too cheerful and perfect (much like a manic pixie dream girl), which is simply not true. Sakura is a character that is far from perfect and her goal in the movie isn’t to save the boy, Haruki, but to save herself (at least mentally) and try to enjoy the time she has left with someone she doesn’t care about or know. She pretty much used Haruki for her own selfish plans and an important part of her character development throughout the film is to become more selfless by being someone others, like Haruki, can depend upon by the end of the movie. It is true that Sakura is a more joyful person, but if you watched the movie, it is pretty clear that her overly cheerful attitude is just the face she puts in front of people who are close to her, and in reality she is actually depressed and is scared to die.

Enjoyment - 9/10
It is very clear by this point that I enjoyed this movie a lot. The only complaint that I have is that it dragged a bit by the end and the scene of Haruki reading Sakura’s journal lasted a little too long because I remember tearing up at the beginning of the scene and it was very awkward when it was still supposed to be sad but my eyes couldn't keep shedding tears for that long.

Summary
I Want To Eat Your Pancreas does not have the most developed characters, the most well-crafted and complicated story, and it certainly is not the best anime ever made. However, it does tell a very well conveyed and important message that I think a lot of people need to hear. Am I biased in liking this because it is one of the anime that really spoke to me on a personal level? Perhaps, but at the end of the day, I walked away from this movie having learned to appreciate and to view many aspects of my life in a different way. I hope you will give this anime a chance (or a second chance) and maybe it will have an impact on you as it did on me.