I WANT TO EAT YOUR PANCREAS

This is one of my favorite! It’s so beautiful making me cry my eyes out. I want to eat your pancreas is not a zombie film,
but it doesn’t really sound like a romantic drama either. The film is an anime based on Yoru Sumino’s novel which was
also adapted into a serialized manga and a live-action film. It deals with a girl with a terminal illness, a boy who keeps her
secret, and the unnamed relationship they create. At first glance it looks like another sappy melodramatic romance meant
to make you cry. But also, it shows a beautiful celebration of life with some interesting ideas about fate.

The film starts with an unnamed boy being bothered by a girl in their high school library. She is fascinated by a supposed
Japanese belief of eating a body part from a loved one to cure a disease afflicting the same body part. Our nameless
protagonist is an oddball loner, withdrawn and unpopular by choice, according to him. He spends his time working at the
school library because he believes books are better than people. It doesn’t take long to notice that he isn’t as stoic as he
thinks he is, and he’s just a guy fighting against himself and against his own self-professed beliefs. One day, he happens to
find a diary in a hospital. The diary belongs to his classmate Sakura, the girl from the library. Sakura is an exuberant,
cheerful and popular girl from his school; the only problem is that she has a terminal pancreatic illness and only a few
months left to live. Once our silent main guy discovers this fact, Sakura explains that he is the only person other than her
family who knows about her condition, as she wants to maintain a regular school life for as long as she can. So, the boy
promises to keep her secret. The film then deals with Sakura as she decides to spend her last few months latched onto
our loner protagonist, whose point of view carries the story forward.

The biggest surprise in the film is how funny it is. Sakura is well aware of her impending death, so she copes with it with
deadpan gallows humor. There’s also the not-so-typical relationship between Sakura and our protagonist (I swear they
say his name before the film ends, but it’s a thing that he won’t say it at first). Their initial misjudgments are quite funny,
as Sakura keeps forcing her nameless friend to help her check crazier and crazier things off her bucket list, but their banter
and dynamic becomes quite sweet to see and the dialogue feels natural. When Sakura can’t understand why her new
friend won’t talk to anyone at school, the resulting tension between them also rings true to our own struggles in relating
to and engaging with people.

A key part of the film’s theme is the colors that dominates it, especially color pink which dominates Sakura’s world and
parallels the cherry blossoms that follow wherever the camera goes. Sakura’s journey takes her through sunshine-soaked
outdoor scenes and brightly lit interiors as her backlit figure contemplates the eternal light of the world she will soon stop
being a part of. This is all contrasted with the dark and rainy streets our protagonist is often walking down, the wet ground
reflecting headlights from night-time traffic. There are even a couple of scenes where the animation enhances the film,
particularly a night-time scene with fireworks that will both make your jaw drop and your tear ducts work overtime.

There’s also the theme of “chance versus fate” that runs through the film, the idea that fate is nothing but the result of
thousands of choices we make though life. It’s a sentiment that makes you look at certain characters in a different light,
and one that makes the “girl wants a boy to enjoy life” part of the story more profound than you’d think coming from a
film with a title like this one.

I Want to Eat Your Pancreas may look like a traditional romantic drama about a dying character, but it is a heartfelt
celebration of life and friendships with a tight script and round characters. It is honestly amazing that this film works as
well as it does, and that it still manages to surprise you with a few twists and turns that will have theatrical audiences
crying in their seats.
 GARDEN OF WORDS

Garden of Words is probably one of the most beautifully written and scored film that I have ever seen! It is groundbreaking because
it addresses distance in a socially controversial/unacceptable relationship between a student and a teacher. The characters are
depicted realistically instead of heroic protagonists, with everyday psychological struggles and flawed human personalities, this is the
depiction of social misfits that is rare. Adults which are often depicted as burdened by everyday life and no longer living the same rich
emotional life as younger people.

I also strongly admire the use of dialogue in the film, it is remarkably minimal but more impactful than most films. Each word count,
whether its purpose is creating an atmosphere, telling a little backstory, a little friendly banter between family, etc. The minimal use
of dialogue also makes it difficult to keep track of the character’s emotional states and how they feel about the other. The first time I
watched the final dramatic confrontation, I was rather surprised because it didn’t go how I would expect. After having rewatched it
and getting better at noticing the subtle social cues at play in Japanese culture, the final confrontation really does make sense, though
what’s remarkable is that the characters still resonate as fully separate, fully conscious and feeling and thinking human individuals. I
feel like the story between the two characters does not hand-hold the audience at all. Many stories rely on inner monologues and
thought expositions to help the audience understand the inner thoughts of characters, but that wasn’t the case in the film, which is
more challenging for the audience, but keeps more mystery in our personal understanding of the character. Overall this is much more
similar to how we interact with people in real life, and to me this really fleshed out the characters in the film as full human individuals
despite the film only lasting 50 min with fairly sparse spoken dialogue.

The symbolism of the story addresses the human experience at a different angle. It addresses a facet of Japanese culture (though also
broader human culture). The shoes are the most powerful imagery in the short film, the student is an aspiring shoe-maker, and over
the course of the film, he makes a pair of shoes for a woman who experiences physical anxiety when living a normal life in the public
realm (working at her job — going to a park instead of working is odd, bad, and not typical of what society expects you to do in public).
In Asian culture you take your shoes off when entering a home, a private space. Shoes are clearly a tool used when individuals enter
into a public space. More generally, homes are the space where family resides, or friends, or yourself if you are living alone, while the
public space is where you interact with human society at large. In the public space, there are strong expectations to conform to: use
the right honorifics, be polite to strangers, have a job that helps society in general, not complaining about working overtime, etc.
Society is a difficult beast and our individual relationship to society is complex and one of the most important relationships we have
as a person. A common struggle throughout adolescence to adulthood is transitioning from largely receiving from society to being
expected to give to society. The story of Garden of Words is about an adult who struggles with her relationship to the public space, to
society in general. She meets a boy, a social outcast, at a time of mutual emotional need. At the ending, a gift of hand-crafted shoes
represents healing in her relationship to the public space.

I was practicing how to walk, too. I believe that now. One day, when I can walk much further on my own, I will go see her.

Similarly to the lady, the boy doesn’t quite fit within society (though not as extreme as the lady). His life is no cakewalk either, and at
the end his dialogue cements the interpretation that he was in need of healing, too. Another interpretation of the entire theme about
walking is, more straightforwardly, being able to walk through life.

I think Author of the film explores abnormal human connections by asking the question, “what if two people came to know each other
strictly through private means, instead of starting in the public space?” It makes lots of sense through this question why both
characters would be somewhat social misfits, and I think what cements this interpretation is the fact that neither of them knows each
others’ name or occupation (other than the boy’s obvious high school uniform) until the end, after seeing each other at the park for
months. Name and occupation, clearly, being some of the first things you discover when you meet someone new, but they have it
completely inversed — the very first observations are of their private shameful pleasures (beer/chocolate during the day, sketching
shoes).

To sum it up, I particularly like this story personally because I love getting to know people deeply without having to play the public
social game first. I crave late night talks about anything and everything, rather than the stifled set of appropriate conversation topics
at meet-and-greets and mixers. I like The Garden of Words for its presentation (art, use of dialogue) and for tackling a story that few
other filmmakers have attempted.
 THE GIRL WHO LEAPT THROUGH TIME

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is also one of my favorite anime film! Based in high amount of realism, the
twists of science fiction make this movie that much more special. While it starts off a little slow, once the twists
start coming into play, the viewer cannot help but be drawn into this highly imaginative tale.

The plot revolves around Makoto, a student who discovers how to leap through time. Her antics are incredibly
hilarious and realistic. Whether it is something a mundane as retaking a failed test or wanting to redo a night of
karaoke over and over again, I was fascinated with the idea of traveling in time just to have those small moments
back. The main characters are extremely likable and easy to relate to. They also add an extra amount of realism
to the movie. They act, talk, react, etc. just as normal teens. You just cannot help but to like them. The plot takes
a swift dramatic turn in the second half, when the main conflict finally reveals itself. To be honest, I found much
of this part to be mind-blowing and completely unexpected, I love this movie that much more kinda way.

Even though there are some slower moments, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is full of hilarious and poignant
moments that will make you laugh, cry, and think. If you are a fan of any of the Hayao Miyazaki films, then this
is a great movie for you. It is filled with a perfect blend of fantasy, humor, and a great message.