Voglio mangiare il tuo pancreas (2017)

I haven't finished reading the novel but decided to just watch this one in cinema anyway since I'm a huge fan of Shun Oguri. Need to remind you guys that this movie isn't really focusing on love as in romance, it's about connection to things that we love. It's about love for life, and lives.

This movie is not for those that want something exciting all the way through, in fact the movie is quite slow in the beginning. However, the cinematography is beautiful hence I don't have problem with the slow plotline. It didn't really follow the flow of the novel, but the storyline still delivers. The transition between current timeline and the past are not confusing at all since they are using different actors so you can figure out when is the current and past timeline easily. I love the climax, it was delivered nicely.

Just to let you guys know, the movie focused on the past timeline the most so Takumi Kitamura and Minami Hamabe are the one that appeared the most in this movie. Shun Oguri acted as the storyteller and Keiko Kitagawa as the friend that also effected by the main issue. All of them played their roles perfectly, especially Takumi Kitamura. I really love the tone of his voice that he used in this movie, it suited his role perfectly. Minami Hamabe is perfect as the cheerful girl and you just can't help to like her since she always smiles brightly. Both of them connected naturally despite them being strangers in the beginning and the differences in their personalities.

The music is subtle, easy to the ears, suited perfectly with the storyline. Though I'm not sure if I will rewatch this again, this movie surely isn't forgettable. Enjoyable.

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“If I said that I’m really afraid of dying, what will you do?”

Despite the initial reaction one might expect from reading a film entitled, “I Want to Eat Your Pancreas”, this movie was earnest, heartfelt, and devastatingly beautiful, albeit tragic. I started watching this due to its casting, unique title, and overall ratings and reviews on MyDramaList, and can easily say I was not disappointed! Originally the description did not entice me as it seemed dull, and sad, both of which are direct opposites to my primary performance, romantic comedy. However, I am so happy that I watched it because it a movie that truly makes you feel and leaves an undeniable impression much like the drama Hours of My Life.

The casting was great! I was even pleasantly surprised by many of the new faces, in addition to the wonderful performances by veteran actors, such as Oguri Shun. The title is also integrated in the films several times and I enjoyed that it had a much deeper meaning in the words then just in the literal sense. The runtime of the film is on the lengthier end, at approximately 2 hours which did make it feel a bit slow and  drawn out in parts. However, although not paced evenly throughout, the director successfully weaves together this incredible story of both past and present, death and moving on, and above all love and hope. The story in and of itself is not completely original but it is through its storytelling that this film comes alive and makes this film not only memorable but one worth re-watching.

*Disclaimer* Please have tissue boxes ready before watching film!

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This is an absolutely stunning wonderful beautiful movie. I was interested in the movie due to the "intriguing" title which made it sound like a zombie film. Never would I know that the scary sounding title was such a beautiful line before watching the movie. After watching the movie, to me, this line encompasses more emotions than "I love you", "I need you", or any single sentence which expresses emotions. It left a very deep impression in me and just for this, the movie has succeeded.

The movie has a sad ending which is not a spoiler because it is a fact that the female lead is going to die soon. It was a fact that I was constantly reminded over and over again in the course of the movie that there was not going to be any miracle. Despite knowing that the female lead was going to die, I gradually became attached to her role and started wishing for her not to die, just like the male lead. The movie did a great job in allowing the audience to like her character in a gradual manner. All these feelings were required for the twist in the movie to be impactful. It drove a message which was mentioned before across which everyone had forgotten including the male lead and ourselves.

It made me reflect upon my attitude towards life. It made me think about my relationship with other people. It made me love life more.

The main actors are young but well suited for the roles. The male lead (Kitamura Takumi) had a beautiful soothing voice. It was a joy hearing him speak. The female lead (Hamabe Minami) might be 'irritating' the male lead all the time but she never once came across as 'annoying' to me. I love the relationship between the female lead and male lead. I would not classify it as pure friendship or love. Was it budding love? Was it just two humans coming close together? It would be too stereotypical to categorise their relationship into anything that we have known. And I shall brood over it myself. I have thought about it so much that I read the book. The book did make the relationship seem more obvious, and it described some of the thought processes better as well. It is worth reading the book for sure.

I had rewatched the movie twice and read the book once in a span of a week. It made me experience withdrawal effects after finishing the movie which was very rare. The second time I rewatched it, it felt slightly different from the first time I watched it. Absolutely amazing movie.

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It's been a while since I had a tearjerker show and I'm glad that this was the one. First off, wonderful storyline by Sumino Yoru, and direction by Tsukikawa Sho. His direction gave me a very fulfilling 2 hours packed with emotions and was handled very well through his skills and cast.

The story flits between flashbacks and current day scenes, not a revolutionary technique, but the director weaves the scenes perfectly through the cinematography and music alike. The OST was subtle and lead to good scene transitions, especially the major one near the end - it's still going on in my head 2 hours after I watched the show.

I personally wasn't that into the lead actress at the start but her bright smile that remained thematic throughout the show slowly won me over and I have to say, damn she is great at tugging at the audience. The lead actor (both the younger and older) showed how the character matured through the 12 years in between. Side characters weren't that heavily emphasised on the show, but their appearances were not done without a good closing at the end.

Overall, the skillful directions and great cast brought together a wonderful bittersweet romance story that screams ?? all over.

BTW I have not read the light novel before this so my opinions are just based on this being a movie on its own.

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A masterpiece for the Ages

This is really a masterpiece for the Ages. It's not my first japanese movie, far from it. But it's one that strongly reignited my interest in Japanese entertainment and it brought me to Minami Hamabe, one of my favourite actress.

It's hard to imagine how such young main leads, Minami Hamabe and Takumi Kitamura are able to carry a movie on such a tough subject to perfection, but they did and boy did they do it with aplomb.. Yes, terminal illness movies are plentiful. However this is so very different from the typical run in a mill terminal illness shows.

There's no heart-wrenching sorrowful sad tale, at least not until the very end. It's actually a pretty cheerful movie up until the major twist at the very end.

My favourite quote in the movie was that every meeting between people is not due to fate or coincidence, but is solely due to the choices we make. This is so very true in our everyday life. Your own choices determine the outcome of your life.

I have watched the film, the anime and read the book. All the adaptations are so well-done. However I do advice that you watch the anime after you watch this film, because it will perhaps make you feel abit better, like it did to me.

As I said, a masterpiece for the Ages.

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I at first read the dramalist storyline before I watched the movie. 5 minutes in the video and you already get the hint that the protagonist is having flashbacks and memories of the girl from the past that impacted his life. I was prepared for the ending to the sad. The character change and the casting was on point and the part where they both went on a trip together was super cute. Although it ended tragically, I feel that the script writer already prepped the audience for it all. It is true Sakura died however the author really emphasized how she tried living her life to its fullest with the protagonist by trying new things and checking things off of her bucketlist. Overall, yes, I did cry a couple times during this movie, but it was very heart-touching, deep, and moving. <3 I highly recommend this~

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Life in the face of death = (TEAR-JERKER)

"I want 2 eat ur pancreas", is a movie wid tragedy. It's abt an outgoing girl who has a pancreatic illness which she hasn't told anyone except her family dat she has dis illness. A boy frm her class stumbles upon her diary dat she left in de hospital & she comes back 2 fetch de diary only 2 realise dat he read it so she ends up telling him abt her illness. Due 2 this secret knowledge of theirs dat none of deir classmates knw abt, dey start 2 grow closer. It offers generic school settings wid rather superficial teenage characters.

VERDICT _ De movie tells a touching coming-of-age story dat celebrates life in de face of death, though a more subtle delivery would have made it a stronger film....I loved this movie &I cried my eyes out. We want 2 experience something dat will truly take us away frm our lives & make us feel something so strong dat we are moved 2 tears. This movie did just that.

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I Want to Eat Your Pancreas is sure a very unique title - however I can't really say the same about the story line.

Don't get me wrong, I loved the movie. The premise was interesting, about life and death and love and friendhip. The casts made me feel for them especially Kitamura Takumi as the young shy Shiga and then Oguri Shun as the lost older Shiga. Shiga is one very relatable character to me. As a loner as well, to me his hesitance at first to accept Yamauchi's friendship was very adorable yet sad at the same time, why, kindness befuddles people like us. Hamabe Minami's character as Yamauchi was so adorable and easy to love as well. Her cheerfulness was nice to see as a contrast to Shiga's silent looks lol Together, the three of them delivered the story pretty well in my opinion.

However, like I said earlier, the story line was too familiar to my liking, the dying hero/heroine is sadly too overused in Japanese shows in my opinion (and this came from someone who hasn't even watched much Japanese movies). Some parts in this movie feel like a copy of Koizora to me except for some minor differences and although I cried a lot watching "Koizora", I didn't cry that badly with this movie because although I personally think that "I Want to Eat Your Pancreas" is much well delivered in terms of acting and cinematography than "Koizora", I think it lacks 'important moments' that can make it one memorable movie. In other word, it's slightly 'bland' compared to "Koizora".

But still, I like the movie because despite all, it was a very nice movie.

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I knew this movie is based on a novel, which I haven't read yet but might do in the future. Instead, I read the manga, and I am not sure if that is the reason why I wasn't as invested in the movie as I thought I would be.
I loved the manga..I bawled my eyes out. However, I didn't feel the same towards the movie.. it brought tears to my eyes but didn't have the same impact on me.

I would say it is a calm and slow movie. Some might find it boring. But that's what I love about Japanese movies. It is emotional and heartbreaking. You will smile and feel emotions while watching it. So I still recommend watching it.

Acting wise, I think my favorite was Oguri Shun, and I am not surprised because he is one of my favorite actors. Oh man.. his acting makes you feel things and in seconds he makes you cry. I specially liked the last scene in the movie because of how he brought it to life. He is always amazing!

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I want to eat your pancreas puts you off with the odd title. However, it is a beautiful story. The acting was very good. I also enjoyed how the story was presented. But the hilight was the characters. Both of them were so different and yet so right for each other (not in a romantic way, but a human way). The girl was possitive, bubbly, and simply adorable. The boy was quiet, unsociable, and kind of a calm force. Also, the cinematography was beautiful, with the cherry blossoms (sakura) and the school background. It served the innocence of the movie well. However, the story, in the final conclusion, kind of lacked the intensity that would have brought the whole tragedy to a climax. So, eight out of ten, because, the pace was also slow.

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It's the usual story.

Girl has an illness. She impacts a boy's life. Then she dies. The end.

I did like the acting from the main leads. Their chemistry felt very natural, although it always felt like she was manipulating him into doing what she wanted (I seriously didn't like that). It felt like she was taking advantage of him being a gloomy and quiet person. But the way he opens up little by little because of her existence in his life was nice to see. I also liked that we got to see a little bit from her perspective too. The music and cinematography was good.

It definitely is slower paced, although it wasn't too slow. I will admit though, I did check the clock a couple of times.

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Overall I recommend to anyone that thinks they will enjoy it. It is worth a shot.

Story
I really liked this story. It was sweet and touching and great. The way that the present-day was actually during the adult life of the characters and the main story is then sharing the incidents that happened. I actually really like to see how the characters had ended up due to the past and how everything was connected.

Acting
All the characters were great and the cast was amazing.
Hamabe Minami is truly great. Her portrait of Yamauchi Sakura was touching and emotional.

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