A review by rapitash
I Want to Eat Your Pancreas by Yoru Sumino

emotional reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

I only heard about this story because it was mentioned in a livestream I watched once, and the title seemed intriguing. People in the livestream were confused by the name too. What the heck was the story about? It was kind of funny how quickly into the manga the phrase was addressed, actually. 

This is a bittersweet story with a heartwarming message embedded into it: life is too short not to be lived to the fullest! And while I think it did successfully impart that message, I don’t know if it had the emotional weight that a story like this should have. I wasn’t really connected to the characters, certainly not enough to
feel sad when Sakura died, or when the [Main Character] was worried about her dying
. I also felt that the ambiguous nature of the relationship between the [Main Character] and Sakura didn’t really work for me. While it was clear to me that the [Main Character] overall seemed to value Sakura as a friend (which is a good thing), I felt it was unclear whether or not Sakura was happy to be friends with him, or if she was attempting pursue him romantically. The ending tries to keep everyone happy, but I think a definitive direction either way would’ve made the story more impactful. 

When I finished reading, I sent my friend a message saying, “If I was PMSing, this would’ve made me cry”. I still stand by that! But I do think that it’s not as sad as I feel like it should be. It does make me wonder if the manga is not the best adaptation for the story, and if the live action, the anime, or the original light novel might be better at tapping into those emotions. 
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