READING & WRITING 01 | 05 | 2024

BOOK REVIEW

I Want To Eat Your

Pancreas By Yoru Sumino

“Living and Dying”

Presented To: Mrs. Fatima Dioneda | STEM - Ingenuity

 “Living…… Means
Information having bonds with others.”

Yoru Sumino is a Japanese novelist and the author of the

light novel “I Want to Eat Your Pancreas” (Kimi no Suizou
no Tabetai), one of her most notable works. It has been
adapted to anime, manga, and also a live-action film. Its
genres are fiction, drama, and teenage romance. The light
novel was published in 2015, followed by an anime
adaptation in 2018. It is one of the best-selling and one of
the most award-winning (5 awards) coming-of-age novels
that has been fully adapted into manga. The story tackles
the ideas and concepts of friendship prevailing in the face of
death. The story is about making life worth living by sharing
joys and disappointments with someone you love and care
for. The story shows that opposite experiences and
personalities learn a lot from each other, which changes them
throughout their lives and strengthens their relationship by
giving them a deeper understanding of each other. We
recommend the novel as well as its anime adaptation, which
will melt your heart through different scenes and moments
that will satisfy and be worth your time.

“I want to eat your pancreas” 02

 “Everyone is where they
Main are because of the choices
Characters they’ve made.”

Haruki Shiga
“You’re no longer here. I’ll learn
to stand on my own two feet.”

Haruki Shiga is an introverted high school boy who loves

reading books and is in charge of the library of the school.
He is friendless, unfazed, and always heavily reserved.
However, his life changed when he discovered his soon-to-
be friend Sakura and found out about her dairy, which
revealed her illness, pancreatic disease. Haruki is the only
person, aside from Sakura's family, who knows about her
disease. He hung along with Sakura, completing her to-do
list before dying. At first, he didn't know why a girl like
Sakura would want to be with him before she died, but as he
hung out more with her, he developed a deeper connection
with her. He understood her, he changed, and cared for her.

“I want to eat your pancreas” 03

 “The most important thing
Main is how you live your life.
Characters Not how long you live.”

Sakura Yamauchi
“Perhaps I’ve spent 17 years
waiting to be needed by you.”

Sakura Yamauchi is an extroverted and cheerful high

school girl. She always has a bright smile on her face and a
positive personality. After learning about her illness, she
started making a diary about her life with the title of
“Living and Dying” and also made a list of what she wants
to do before she dies. She hasn't told anyone about her
pancreatic disease aside from Haruki, who found her diary
and gave her the reality and normalcy in life that she always
wanted. Along with her bright personality, due to her health
concerns, she pretends that everything is fine and puts up a
smile in front of others, while deep inside she's scared of
dying and cries by herself when she's alone.

“I want to eat your pancreas” 04

 “If you’re all alone, you can’t
Supporting tell that you exist. Your
relationship with others is
Characters what defines being alive.”

Kyoko Takimoto has been Sakura's best friend since

junior high. In the story, she comes off as cold,
aggressive, and quite stubborn toward those people whom
she finds suspicious, especially Haruki, since she doesn't
like his personality or how he and Sakura have gotten
close. However, she is actually sweet and caring towards
Kyoko Takimoto her friends, especially Sakura. In the last part of the
story, both Kyoko and Haruki eventually became friends.

Issei Miyata's not a very close friend or classmate of

Haruki. He always tried to approach him during class by
offering him chewing gum, even though Haruki was
uninterested in him or his chewing gum. He has a playful
personality and is supportive of others. As the story
progressed, the two eventually became friends.
Issei Miyata

Takahiro is the class representative and the ex-boyfriend

of Sakura. He is said to be the ideal boyfriend due to his
being good at what he does. He keeps his reputation and
display as good as possible. Later in the story, his true
personality is revealed to be that of a jealous, violent, and
stubborn person, which is why Sakura broke up with him.
takahiro

“I want to eat your pancreas” 05

 “Every day is worth the
same as any other. What
Summary I did or didn’t do today
doesn’t change its worth.”

The light novel "I Want to Eat Your Pancreas" by Yoru

Sumino revolves around the life of Haruki Shiga and his
experiences with a girl named Sakura Yamauchi. Sakura is a
high school girl who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer
and has a diary where all happenings in her life are written
down. Sakura did not want her friends, especially her best
friend, Kyoko Takimoto, to know about her disease because
she did not want to see other people worrying about her.
That's why she writes about her disease in her diary.

Sakura's diary slipped off while she was in the hospital,

and Haruki Shiga, an introverted high school student,
noticed it. He discovered it contained a secret about her
illness, which made Sakura laugh. Haruki, who works in the
library, so Sakura began following and working there to be
with him. The next day, Sakura teased Haruki about ancient
cultures and about eating the part of an animal to cure
diseases, which made her say "I want to eat your pancreas"
to Haruki.

“I want to eat your pancreas” 06

Summary “It’s not like I’m going
to live forever.”

Sakura and Haruki started hanging out together, but their

classmates found out about them. Kyoko, Sakura's best
friend, became annoyed. One rainy day, they couldn't hang
out outside, so Sakura suggested they go to her house so
that he could borrow her favorite book.

As school break arrived, Sakura planned to go on a travel

trip with Haruki. They had fun and got to know each other
better. However, Sakura had to be hospitalized, and Haruki
came to her. They hugged and bonded, but Kyoko caught
them.

One night, Sakura asked Haruki to come to her, and they

went to a hidden place. Haruki was worried about her and
promised to tell her when she would die. Their relationship
strengthened. On Sakura's discharge day, they planned to
go to the cafe where they first hung out. Haruki arrived first
and sent her a message, saying "I want to eat your
pancreas" as a way to show his feelings.

“I want to eat your pancreas” 07

 “Sakura, I promise
to always remember
Summary you.”

Haruki returns home after Sakura's absence, only to learn

about a stabbing near their town. Sakura Yamauchi, a high
school girl, dies on arrival. Haruki is devastated and unable
to return the book she lent him. He doesn't attend Sakura's
funeral. After a long wait, Haruki visits Sakura's home and
asks her mother if she left a diary with the title "Living and
Dying." He reads the diary and cries, and was glad Sakura
was able to read the text he sent.

“I want to eat your pancreas.” That way, I can be with you

forever.” — Haruki Shiga

“But still, it’s not fair that my life is ending before it

really even began.” — Sakura Yamauchi

“I want to eat your pancreas” 08

 “If I told you that I’m
actually really scared
of dying, what would
Overview you do?”

I Want to Eat Your Pancreas, also known as Kimi no Suizō

o Tabetai, is a well-liked novel. The ebook version of it was
read by our group, and the book cover is astonishing. It has
that captivating look while still giving off gloomy vibes. It
was well depicted and served as a hint to the book's
content. The book cover added eagerness for us readers to
read it.

After reading the book, we've noticed lots of things. It

was greatly focused on the main characters positively,
making their decisions and actions explained and understood.
We admired the main characters greatly since they weren't
difficult to perceive for us readers. However, since it did not
focus on the supporting characters, it lacked the opinion and
perception of the supporting characters toward the main
characters and a lack of understanding of their motives,
which resulted in some questions remaining unanswered.

“I want to eat your pancreas” 09

 “You’re not allowed
to die! You hear
Overview me?”

Moving on, the settings chosen are common in modern times.

It produced scenes that were enjoyable and relatable to
young readers. It provided the readers with the opportunity
to visualize the scenes appropriately and creatively. The
novel made a huge impression on us about friendship, love,
death, and different perceptions of life. It taught us that life
can be tough, but we need to have fun. We commend them,
as they are all well depicted in the novel and have inspired
us. The story is great, but the twist was shocking since we
did not pay much attention to the slight hints given prior.

We know for sure that it is not going to be a happy ending,

but it's still painful to end the life of Sakura like that. It's
sad, but because of Sakura's death, Haruki has become a
better version of himself. He became the person that Sakura
wanted him to be. It has a bittersweet ending. However, it
would have been better if Sakura survived and continued
living, in love, and happy with Haruka. This seems
impossible, but how we wish it could be like that.

“I want to eat your pancreas” 10

 “Living means
having a bond with
Overview others. I think that’s
what living refers to.”

Over all, the book is a great story. It provided commendable

life lessons through the characters. It deeply moved us and
made us emotional. It has flaws, but it can be considered a
good novel.

“I want to eat your pancreas” 11

Strengths

The book's content is really that fascinating, leaving the

audience encouraged and inspired by the story, even at just
the beginning. It depicts a story that most teenagers would
love to read or watch. It is relevant to the current
generation, which is one of its strengths. It is easy to read
and will definitely be enjoyed by the readers because the
language used is familiar, making it easy to understand.
Aside from that, the book itself or the movie, to which the
audience would prefer, portrayed an organized flow of every
scene and encounter by all the characters in the story.
Having that said, it beautifully presented the story, leaving
the audience to use their imagination creatively and attach
their emotions as well. The choice of settings was planned
accordingly, which contributes even more to the story's
awaiting scenes. The traits that the main characters, Haruki
Shiga and Sakura Yamauchi, and the supporting characters
have impersonated charming roles made the readers enjoy the
story throughout.

“I want to eat your pancreas” 12

Strengths

The author's use of telling the story inspired the readers

in every way possible because its content talks about the
reality that one would surely encounter: living and dying.
Sakura's approach to her situation, being ill and knowing
that she only has a few remaining days to live her life to the
fullest, led to the interpretation that one should be brave
enough to face any suffering but not forget to conquer it
with a smile and positive manner. Haruki Shiga's way of
accompanying his friend Sakura in every way he can provides
hope to the girl, who only desires to fulfill all written on her
wishlist before her farewell. Having these good and positive
personalities of the novel's main characters made an impact
on encouraging the readers to value life and never waste
time. Moreover, it made the story flow more exciting and
engaging for the readers. It taught a lesson and gave
inspiration. With these, it was able to touch the readers'
emotions and points of view of reality. This novel was indeed
successful and engaging, and it gave a good experience to all
the readers and/or viewers as well.

“I want to eat your pancreas” 13

Weaknesses

The novel is great, but somehow some weaknesses were

noticed and needed improvement, though there are no
perfect books or stories at all. The downfall of the book I
Want to Eat Your Pancreas was that maybe it gave confusion
to the readers at the beginning because the sorrowful scene
of Sakura Yamauchi at the funeral was already shown, which
was supposed to be at the end. It somewhat made the
audience curious about the reason for this character's death.
Aside from that, the following scenes were already
flashbacks of the story. It's just a memory narration of the
boy Haruki Shiga and his cherished, beautiful, and
unforgettable encounter with a woman named Sakura
Yamauchi. Because of that, the audience was more likely
unrefreshed with the following scenes, leading them to
expect no happy endings at all. Moreover, the revolving of
the story was found a bit irrelevant because of the
characters' portrayal of their emotions.

“I want to eat your pancreas” 14

Weaknesses

There were parts of the story where their emotions were

too much to expect, especially from Kyoko, Sakura's best
friend. She often tends to be overprotective toward her
friend, which leads her to scold and think negatively about
Haruki; hence, it annoys the audience. Another is that
Sakura's death was a bit unexpected and ungenuine because
it was like, it did not come to its words that she would die
because of pancreatic disease, but then it happened to be a
crime. With these, at the end of the story, a happy ending
did not happen, which readers look forward to in every story
and even in reality.

“I want to eat your pancreas” 15

Closing
Summary

The light novel entitled I Want to Eat Your Pancreas

successfully became widely read and deeply loved by readers
who were touched by its inspiring story. It is a story about
the lives of a young man and woman who encountered each
other most genuinely and memorably. It taught so many
lessons and once again reminded the readers of the value of
life, friendship, and love. It was undoubtedly a good story,
and its strengths are far greater than the downfalls that
needed to be achieved. It had indeed become a delight to sit
awhile, read the book, and visualize the scenarios.

“I want to eat your pancreas” 16

Closing
Summary

The novels "Bridge to Terabithia" and "Silent Voice" are

similar to the novel I Want to Eat Your Pancreas in some
aspects. The characters have some similarities because of
their traits. Character developments in all three are similar,
wherein one of the characters becomes a better version of
themselves because they've been inspired and influenced by
the other characters. The plotlines are also comparable
because all three novels emphasize life, friendship, young
love, and self-growth. And most importantly, it is all
considered a bittersweet novel.

that is all,
Thank You

“I want to eat your pancreas” 17

 Presented By:

Antero Jetajobe
Jeremy Tuquero
Mary Liezel Ansus
Chloe Labrador
Angeline Santillan

“You don’t want to say my name

because you might attach a meaning to
it. You’re afraid to define someone
you’re going to lose as a ‘friend’ or
‘girlfriend.’”