Anime Recommendation: I Want to Eat Your Pancreas

Despite what the title suggests, this isn't an anime about cannibalism.

I got the opportunity to see the film I Want to Eat Your Pancreas in theaters yesterday and while I don't want to exaggerate or oversell this film, I will admit that it stuck with me. I originally wasn't going to write anything on this blog about the film, but I think writing will help me process what the film meant to me. It also wasn't bad and I would definitely recommend it so, I figured, why not?

The main character of I Want to Eat Your Pancreas is a high school student who is antisocial and would rather read books and keep to himself than interact with his peers. One day, he meets a girl, Sakura Yamauchi, and finds out that she's dying from a pancreatic disease; a secret she's been keeping from her friends. However, since the main character knows her secret, Sakura makes him promise to be her friend until she dies and takes the him along with her as she enjoys her final days.

With a set up like this, it's pretty apparent that I Want to Eat Your Pancreas is not exactly going to have a happy ending. Going into the film, I had a pretty good idea on where the story was going to go and halfway through, I was able to somewhat predict the ending. But even though I found I Want to Eat Your Pancreas to be predictable and familiar, it was still able to hit me with some feels.

One of the main themes of I Want to Eat Your Pancreas is discovering what it means to be alive and how relationships, whether they be friendships or romances, make life worth living. The main character learns what it means to live and he grows through his experiences with a girl who only has so much time before dying. While it may be a little cliche, I Want to Eat Your Pancreas is still beautiful and able to convey feelings of sadness and joy. 

That is what I found so amazing about the film. There were moments where I was thinking to myself, "Okay, this is where it's going to get sad", and even after bracing myself, the sorrow still hit me hard. I Want to Eat Your Pancreas is an anime that does a really good job of delivering its emotion and message. After watching the film, I just wanted to tell all my friends, family, and loved ones, "I want to eat your pancreas."

There are also two other aspects of the film that I think also make it worth watching: the animation and the music. While there are montages of still images that probably help cut costs, there are still plenty of moments that are amazing to look at and challenge the beauty and grace of reality. The music is also fantastic, especially "Shunkashuutou" by Sumika. I can't stop listening to the song and I'll probably be listening to it for the next few weeks.

*The MAL score has actually gone up to 8.69

I do not think that I Want to Eat Your Pancreas is still playing in theaters and I have no idea whether it will ever be available on any streaming services. But if you ever get an opportunity to watch this movie, I think it is definitely worth your time. If you have seen I Want to Eat Your Pancreas, let me know what you thought. If you've read the manga or the light novel, let me know if they're worth checking out as well.