Movie titles are often delusional. Instead of showing the film's real meaning, they are designed to attract attention by being unusual. "I want to eat your pancreas " is such a case. For, it is not about cannibalism, but rather about how love can make death sweeter.
Sakura, an attractive, lively seventeen-year-old girl seems no different from her classmates. She has to hide nothing from them, anyway. Or so it seems, until Haruki, a shy bookworm, discovers her diary, entitled "Living with dying ". He finds out that Sakura is suffering from a terminal disease, affecting her pancreas. Knowing he has learnt her secret, she decides to befriend him. They seem to be so different; why would the popular, beloved, emotional Sakura want to hang out with the passive, anti-social Haruki? The reason is one: with his unsentimental behaviour, he is completely suited to her treating of her condition. Sakura knows she will die, that she has little time left. But she prefers to put on a brave face and not let anyone know about her fate, so as to protect them. Kyoko, her best friend, can't put up with the thought of her friend and Haruki being together, and warns him about Sakura's vulnerable nature. In reality, she is the easily hurt. Haruki can complement Sakura because, in his phenomenal indifference, he can shoe feelings more honest than her more sensitive friends. Not only titles can be delusional, but appearances too.
It is difficult to understand what kind of relationship the two heroes have. They don't have the fondness that characterizes friendships, and calling them a couple would be an exaggeration. Their relationship combines the best elements of the two; devotion, care for the other, honesty. Not every boy expressing interest for a girl is in love with her , contrary to what the heroes' classmates think. To believe that the two are in love would be, again, delusional.
In contrast to many similar films, especially American, "I want to eat your pancreas" doesn't center on the heroine's condition, showing her fade away to her untimely death. Instead, Sakura adopts a more mature behaviour, treating her illness with humour and enjoying life, as if her time on Earth were infinite. Infinity, this word that fascinates us so much, since we know we can't achieve it. Sakura acknowledges that, and so spends her remaining time with the people who mean the most to her, her friends, thus rendering these moments infinite. This is a life stance of the most admirable kind.
That the film is animated just goes on to show how the Japanese see this as a medium of telling serious stories. Live actors would have probably added a degree of artificially in the story, while animated characters, served excellently by the voice actors, deliver a result that feels more honest in its traditional, two-dimensional nature.
"I want to eat your pancreas " is a film that uncovers the truth behind many delusions; that death is always painful, that relationships between girls and boys are invariably ones of love, that appearances aren't deceiving. Above all, it is a movie with more feeling than many live-action ones. A feeling that makes us cry, live with and love the characters, as I'd we had known them for years. As if we were their closest friends. Would you give your pancreas to such a close friend to eat it, if this was the only way they could be cured? I truly don't know. But by seeing the film, I found out how much love is entailed in that question.
Sakura, an attractive, lively seventeen-year-old girl seems no different from her classmates. She has to hide nothing from them, anyway. Or so it seems, until Haruki, a shy bookworm, discovers her diary, entitled "Living with dying ". He finds out that Sakura is suffering from a terminal disease, affecting her pancreas. Knowing he has learnt her secret, she decides to befriend him. They seem to be so different; why would the popular, beloved, emotional Sakura want to hang out with the passive, anti-social Haruki? The reason is one: with his unsentimental behaviour, he is completely suited to her treating of her condition. Sakura knows she will die, that she has little time left. But she prefers to put on a brave face and not let anyone know about her fate, so as to protect them. Kyoko, her best friend, can't put up with the thought of her friend and Haruki being together, and warns him about Sakura's vulnerable nature. In reality, she is the easily hurt. Haruki can complement Sakura because, in his phenomenal indifference, he can shoe feelings more honest than her more sensitive friends. Not only titles can be delusional, but appearances too.
It is difficult to understand what kind of relationship the two heroes have. They don't have the fondness that characterizes friendships, and calling them a couple would be an exaggeration. Their relationship combines the best elements of the two; devotion, care for the other, honesty. Not every boy expressing interest for a girl is in love with her , contrary to what the heroes' classmates think. To believe that the two are in love would be, again, delusional.
In contrast to many similar films, especially American, "I want to eat your pancreas" doesn't center on the heroine's condition, showing her fade away to her untimely death. Instead, Sakura adopts a more mature behaviour, treating her illness with humour and enjoying life, as if her time on Earth were infinite. Infinity, this word that fascinates us so much, since we know we can't achieve it. Sakura acknowledges that, and so spends her remaining time with the people who mean the most to her, her friends, thus rendering these moments infinite. This is a life stance of the most admirable kind.
That the film is animated just goes on to show how the Japanese see this as a medium of telling serious stories. Live actors would have probably added a degree of artificially in the story, while animated characters, served excellently by the voice actors, deliver a result that feels more honest in its traditional, two-dimensional nature.
"I want to eat your pancreas " is a film that uncovers the truth behind many delusions; that death is always painful, that relationships between girls and boys are invariably ones of love, that appearances aren't deceiving. Above all, it is a movie with more feeling than many live-action ones. A feeling that makes us cry, live with and love the characters, as I'd we had known them for years. As if we were their closest friends. Would you give your pancreas to such a close friend to eat it, if this was the only way they could be cured? I truly don't know. But by seeing the film, I found out how much love is entailed in that question.