#Piano#
I know what you’re thinking.
What a ridiculous title...for a film
and for this review
but I promise that I won’t be eating your organs in any minutes or less
however I hope it will only take me 5 to convince you to see this film.
It may be pretty predictable in places,
it panders to a lot of cliches...
...
and it tugs on the dramatic side at times
but its overarching message is one I’ve been pondering since leaving the cinema
...
what does it mean to be alive?
And if I throw that question over to you what would you say?
I’d say this film does a damn good job of making you question that answer.
My name is Isla and this is my review of Studio Voln’s I Want to Eat Your Pancreas
...
If you’ve read the manga or the light novel or seen the live action
then you’ll understand the meaning behind this films name
but I hadn’t seen any prior material before going into the anime
so I assumed it was either about a pancreatic disease
or the beautiful artwork was a clever marketing attempt
to hide a film of the cannibalistic variety,
well it was the first
but our secondary protagonist Sakura makes no attempts to hide how much she enjoys eating animal organs
however she goes through great lengths to hide her illness from everyone.
#Slow piano#
Until one day our nameless main character finds her diary
that she’s called ‘Living with Dying’
Sakura decides to tell him everything
and he promises to keep her disease a secret
but their shared knowledge brings them closer together
and the film follows their growing relationship in Sakura's final months of living.
#Emotive piano continues#
Death is the ever growing, over arching shadow that permeates this movie.
It cuts through each sweet, funny scene that our protagonists share
as the knowledge of Sakura's imminent end is around every corner
making the entire movie feel bittersweet.
But the sadness is always balanced against humour
and the way the extroverted Sakura bounces off our introverted MC makes for some shared lovely scenes
and those moments are a mix in terms of animation.
There are points I was struck by how genuinely life like it felt
such as the way Sakura thumbs through a book
or that moment in the rain
...
but just when the animation is reaching its peak
it switches to still shot montages that while well drawn
take us out of the animation
going from feeling like a theatrical cinematic experience to a TV Movie.
However if you closed your eyes for a few moments
the quality of voice acting is what shines through -
especially Lynn’s
she speaks chemistry without visuals
and is able to portray Sakura's cheerful personality and underlying sadness all at once
notably during the fireworks scene.
...
This moment is I Want to Eat Your Pancreas's triumph piece
and is set in a place that is so very dear to my heart,
it gave me goosebumps,
made me wish we were heading for a happier ending
and really highlights the talents of not only our leads
but the animation staff,
the composer Hiroko Sebu
and the unlikely writer director of this film Ushijima Shin`ichirou.
#Soft emotive piano#
For a man who has only ever directed episodic action anime
Ushijima is a surprisingly emotive writer,
translating the novels saddest moments into beautiful animated snapshots.
But he’s still a work in progress,
the films final half runs on a little long
and could have had a more devastating impact if 20 minutes had been cut off the end.
...
Yet throughout its almost 2 hour run there are a few smattering moments of brilliance
that made me think...given time
Ushijima could develop a style that sweeps the audience off their feet.
And while this doesn’t have the emotional euphoria of a Shinkai film
or the imagination found in Hosadas
or the heart in Yamadas
it does shine brightly enough to move an audience to tears
and powerful enough to deliver its message -
finding meaning in being alive.
#Soft Guitar#
While I Want to Eat Your Pancreas isn’t quite the powerhouse that it could have been
it’s still more than worth a watch
and is full of small surprises
the most notable in our Nameless Protagonist -
he is without a name for a reason so keep that in mind as you watch this film to the very end
don’t skip the credits and don’t skip this anime
because I’d like to leave you with three final point
first my recommendation that it is certainly the underdog anime film of 2018,
second I’d like to assure you that the ridiculous name goes on to make sense
and I’d lastly with a quote from Sakura that I can’t stop thinking about.
Everyday is worth the same no matter how you choose to spend it.
So spend yours exactly how you want to.
#Sad J-pop song#