Film Review : I Want to Eat Your Pancreas

What will you do if you know that you are going to die in one year? Of course, most people definitely want to live their life to the fullest, fulfilling anything they want, going to places that is impossible to go, or maybe devoting themselves to a spiritual journey in the name of God. This anime film definitely will reminded you of death that eventually come to us whether you like it or not, how you should leave your mark in this world and how it could change other person to a better one. Having the most misleading title I have ever heard, I Want to Eat Your Pancreas definitely became an inspiring anime for you to be a better person for somebody else and of course, yourself.

Just like any other anime that set on high school, the story begins with an encounter between a boy and a girl. The boy found a book that belongs to the girl who actually has a pancreas disease and will die in one year. No one knows about this fact except for her family and now, him. The girl took an interest to the boy because he did not pity her for her condition and from then, their journey to fulfill what the girl wants begin. It may sounded simple at first but the boy was not a sociable person, a complete opposite of the girl, Sakura, who was very bright, sociable, and cheerful. This is why Sakura is an important person for the boy's character development from the beginning of the movie to the very end of the movie. Sakura helped the boy to be more open by showing him good things those came out from a friendly relationship. And not just that, Sakura became an integral part for anyone else who knew her as her good friend as she was able to shape them into accepting each other. And for me, this movie ended satisfyingly good with a perfect closure for every questions those surfaced through the entire movie. From there, let's continue to an aspect that I love about this movie.

The level of this anime's details. Yes, I noticed that this anime puts a great heart into making the details brighter and thus, made the main story better. One example of details I love is the gum guy who is the boy's and Sakura's classmate. This gum guy really love to offer the boy a gum and persistently doing so over the course of the movie. Simple, right? But the gum guy really affect how the audience judge the boy's character development by that simple move. Many times the gum guy trying to offer his gum to the boy and rejected over and over again, and for the boy to accept the gum guy offer, it showed how much the boy grown after he met and spent his time with Sakura. Eventually the gum itself signed a bloomed relationship between two people whether it is from the gum guy or others later. Not just gum, there are many details those have not mentioned here and worth to note as those are all part of how the story and plot flow.

Then, let's discuss the animation. Well, the animation itself is something expected from a feature length budget anime but there's one thing that is worth to note and that is background illustrations. The backgrounds in this movie is visually stunning as those were beautifully drawn. I just love the colors of the cherry blossoms as it resonated with Sakura's name. It made me fluttery inside like some kind of teenage girl who just spent her time with a boy she like and I think that was what Sakura's thinking while smiling in front of those blooming cherry blossoms. It successfully brought out the mood that the scene wanted to convey visually and for that, it is a huge kudos for the guys who worked on that department.

I will not say much about the soundtrack as for me, it is not remarkable but it managed to set the mood right for the scenes. Hmmm... Maybe, I would say that the opening song of this movie performed by sumika is worth to check and listen, so try to listen to them!

Overall, this anime has became a great ride for me as it has been a long time since the last time I shed my tears over watching an anime movie. It served as a perfect reminder to leave a good mark for people around you as they may changed for you or because of you. Either for better or for worst. In the end, it is your decision for how you will continue to live and what marks you will carve to this world.

(This review was previously written in MAL : https://myanimelist.net/reviews.php?id=296912)