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r/WantToEatYourPancreas • 4 yr. ago

Posted by wot0

The meaning of the title: "I Want To Eat

Your Pancreas"
I see a lot of people talking about the meaning of the
title so I want to break down what I think the definitive
meaning is, and give the full context. *spoiler alert!!*

The character Sakura has an illness, her pancreas is

diseased. According to what the manga says it might
be pancreatic cancer.

From what she has read and discovered (I think in a

documentary), people would eat a specific organ to
heal that specific organ in their own body. So you eat a
liver if you have something wrong with you liver, same
with the heart, or pancreas.

A lot of people think that THIS is what the title is

referring to, as Sakura says "I want to eat your
pancreas" to Haruki.

This is not the case from what I can tell.

Sakura also mentions a folk tale that if you eat flesh or

organs from a loved one that their soul will live within
you.

Just like in the film Your Name *SPOILER ALERT FOR

YOUR NAME* the title of the film is one of or the last
thing that the two main characters say to each other. I
found that really powerful.

*end spoilers for Your Name, but spoilers continue for

IWTEYP*

In the same vein, the title 'I Want To Eat Your Pancreas'
is used in such a way that makes it very meaningful,
more so than Your Name in my opinion.

Haruki was an introverted loner and when he

accidentally discovered that Sakura had pancreatic
illness she decided to get close to him and together
they crossed things off her bucket list. Slowly he
changed from not wanting to get involved with anyone,
to finally letting someone into his heart.

It was right after he confessed to her that he cared, the

very next day, that she died. Not from pancreatic
illness, she was horrifically murdered.

Before she was killed, both of them were messaging

each other, she wanted him to compliment her. He
thought for a while about it, and then simply texted "I
want to eat your pancreas".

It was a statement that she would understand as

incredibly meaningful and an expression of connection
and caring.

What made this so impactful for the film, and why I

believe that the title of this film is PERFECT, is that she
didn't respond to that.

The film starts of really sad, it starts off acknowledging

she had died, then it tells the story from the beginning.
The viewer expects the death to be from pancreatic
disease, but the sudden turn of events really is
shocking.

After he sends that text, and you see him waiting

longer and longer your heart just sinks.

Right after that she was murdered. There had been

brief mentions throughout the film of a serial killer.

I like to think that she didn't respond right away

because she wanted to respond in person.

It turns out at the end that Haruki went to Sakura's

house and spoke to her mother, he read her diary that
Sakura promised Haruki he could after she died and
then he requested to see her phone. He saw that the
message was opened, that she had seen it. This is
where Haruki cries.

It's the first time he really shows emotion in the film,

marking huge character development.

The guy was so beaten down as a person that he

actually asked for permission to cry before he did,
almost as if he felt he was a burden for expressing
himself.

Overall I think the movie is awesome, and the name is

highly fitting.

I remember when I first heard of the name, I laughed.

But when you see the movie it is so fitting. The fact
that they pulled that off is amazing!

So go live life and connect to people.

68 14

14 comments sorted by Best

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Firelv2 • 4 yr. ago

I want to add that another meaning that was
briefly mentioned and maybe not paid much
attention was when Sakura said that the
expression could also mean that eating another
person's organ is a way to make the other person
live on in the world within someone else.

While it might not be the case, I feel as if the

meaning of the phrase "I want to eat your
pancreas" towards the end on the surface could
be viewed as Haruki just lamenting about Sakura's
eventual death from her illness, but I believe that
he was finally on the same wavelength as Sakura.
Not only did he finally accept and understand
what it meant, but essentially both of Sakura and
Haruki's last words to each other we're "I want to
eat your pancreas". It's symbolic of Haruki finally
developing into the person he wanted from his old
extremely introverted self as he's now more like
the super bubbly Sakura since he's spent so much
time with her.

I'm not sure how I can really wrap it up, but the
phrase "I want to eat your pancreas" started as a
weird and quirky way to describe Sakura's illness
and her attitude towards it, to a phrase that has so
much more power and emotion. It became a
symbol of the power someone has on another to
change their life and to bring new life. It's no
longer about death and wanting to stay alive, but
it's about giving life to someone else so they can
live forever not just on Earth, but for eternity in
everyone's hearts, mind, and souls.
8 Reply

wot0 • 4 yr. ago

Nicely said.
3 Reply

cartoonshow57 • 4 yr. ago

Wait i don't remember Sakura's last words
being "I want to eat your Pancreas". Could you
tell me the part where that happened?
1 Reply

2 more replies

Ghistriam • 3 yr. ago

At the end, when she's saying she can't use
normal words to describe their relation, Could 'I
wanna eat your pancreas' be a way to say : I love
you ?

I may be wrong but i felt it that way. Tell me what

you think
3 Reply

wot0 • 3 yr. ago

The phrase 'I want to eat your pancreas'
conveys multiple things:

1. It is believed that consuming part of

someone will allow their spirit to live with
you forever, so by saying this it is
implying they want to be with them
forever.
2. It is also believed that when you have a
diseased organ, that by eating that same
organ you can heal that, so it is also that
she wanted to live.

I think I summed it up pretty well in the post

the meaning of the title and why I think it was
the perfect title for the film.

Sakura did love Haruki. He loved her. I think if

they were to have formed a relationship and
she wasn't struck with an eventually fatal
illness that they would have actually become a
couple.

I think Sakura held back because she knew it

would make it harder for Haruki to move on
afterwards. I see that in the scene where she
hugged him and then he forced himself upon
her before running away.
4 Reply

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