I Want to Eat Your Pancreas
After his classmate and crush is diagnosed with a pancreatic disease, an average high schooler sets out to make the most of her final days.
The film earned $33.7M at the global box office.
Plot Structure
Story beats plotted across runtime
Narrative Arc
Emotional journey through the story's key moments
Story Circle
Blueprint 15-beat structure
Arcplot Score Breakdown
Weighted: Precision (70%) + Arc (15%) + Theme (15%)
I Want to Eat Your Pancreas (2018) exemplifies deliberately positioned story structure, characteristic of Shinichiro Ushijima's storytelling approach. This structural analysis examines how the film's 15-point plot structure maps to proven narrative frameworks across 1 hour and 48 minutes. With an Arcplot score of 7.6, the film showcases strong structural fundamentals.
Structural Analysis
The Status Quo at 1 minutes (1% through the runtime) establishes Adult Haruki stands in an empty library, alone and isolated. He is now a teacher, still disconnected from others, establishing his solitary nature before we learn how he became this way.. Structural examination shows that this early placement immediately immerses viewers in the story world.
The inciting incident occurs at 12 minutes when Haruki finds Sakura's "Living with Dying" diary in the hospital waiting room, discovering she has a terminal pancreatic disease. His isolated world is disrupted by this impossible secret.. At 12% through the film, this Disruption aligns precisely with traditional story structure. This beat shifts the emotional landscape, launching the protagonist into the central conflict.
The First Threshold at 26 minutes marks the transition into Act II, occurring at 24% of the runtime. This demonstrates the protagonist's commitment to Haruki actively chooses to accompany Sakura on her trip to Fukuoka. This is his decision to enter her world and engage with life, despite knowing she is dying. He crosses from observer to participant., moving from reaction to action.
At 54 minutes, the Midpoint arrives at 50% of the runtime—precisely centered, creating perfect narrative symmetry. Significantly, this crucial beat False victory: Haruki and Sakura share an intimate moment where he admits she matters to him. They seem to have overcome the barrier between them. But this makes the stakes higher - he has more to lose when she dies., fundamentally raising what's at risk. The emotional intensity shifts, dividing the narrative into clear before-and-after phases.
The Collapse moment at 79 minutes (74% through) represents the emotional nadir. Here, Haruki receives a call: Sakura has been murdered by a random attacker. She doesn't die from her disease - she is killed suddenly, senselessly. The whiff of death becomes literal death, and all their plans dissolve into nothing., indicates the protagonist at their lowest point. This beat's placement in the final quarter sets up the climactic reversal.
The Second Threshold at 85 minutes initiates the final act resolution at 79% of the runtime. Haruki receives Sakura's diary/letters addressed to him. Her final words give him permission to live, to connect with others, to not waste the lessons she taught him. He synthesizes grief with purpose., demonstrating the transformation achieved throughout the journey.
Emotional Journey
I Want to Eat Your Pancreas's emotional architecture traces a deliberate progression across 15 carefully calibrated beats.
Narrative Framework
This structural analysis employs a 15-point narrative structure framework that maps key story moments. By mapping I Want to Eat Your Pancreas against these established plot points, we can identify how Shinichiro Ushijima utilizes or subverts traditional narrative conventions. The plot point approach reveals not only adherence to structural principles but also creative choices that distinguish I Want to Eat Your Pancreas within the animation genre.
Comparative Analysis
Additional animation films include The Bad Guys, The Quintessential Quintuplets Movie and Fate/stay night: Heaven's Feel I. Presage Flower.
Plot Points by Act
Act I
SetupStatus Quo
Adult Haruki stands in an empty library, alone and isolated. He is now a teacher, still disconnected from others, establishing his solitary nature before we learn how he became this way.
Theme
Sakura says, "I want to eat your pancreas" - explaining the belief that eating the organ of someone who is sick will cure you. This establishes the theme: true connection means absorbing and becoming part of someone else's life.
Worldbuilding
Flashback to high school. We meet teenage Haruki, a loner who reads alone and avoids human connection. Sakura is the popular, vibrant classmate. The contrast between them and the ordinary school world is established.
Disruption
Haruki finds Sakura's "Living with Dying" diary in the hospital waiting room, discovering she has a terminal pancreatic disease. His isolated world is disrupted by this impossible secret.
Resistance
Sakura insists Haruki spend time with her, making him her confidant. He resists, preferring isolation. She persists, introducing him to new experiences. He debates whether to open himself up to someone who will die soon.
Act II
ConfrontationFirst Threshold
Haruki actively chooses to accompany Sakura on her trip to Fukuoka. This is his decision to enter her world and engage with life, despite knowing she is dying. He crosses from observer to participant.
Mirror World
During the Fukuoka trip, Sakura and Haruki share genuine moments of connection. She represents everything he lacks: openness, courage to connect, living fully. Their relationship becomes the vehicle for exploring the theme of meaningful human connection.
Premise
The promise of the premise: a dying girl teaching a closed-off boy to live. They share adventures, conversations about life and death, moments in cafes and hotels, creating memories. Haruki slowly opens up.
Midpoint
False victory: Haruki and Sakura share an intimate moment where he admits she matters to him. They seem to have overcome the barrier between them. But this makes the stakes higher - he has more to lose when she dies.
Opposition
Kyoko (Sakura's best friend) grows suspicious and confronts Haruki. Sakura's health visibly declines. The class trip and daily life continue, but the reality of death closes in. Haruki's growing attachment makes impending loss more painful.
Collapse
Haruki receives a call: Sakura has been murdered by a random attacker. She doesn't die from her disease - she is killed suddenly, senselessly. The whiff of death becomes literal death, and all their plans dissolve into nothing.
Crisis
Haruki spirals into grief and regret. He cannot attend the funeral. He withdraws completely, devastated that he never told Sakura how much she meant to him. The dark night of realizing connection matters, but it's too late.
Act III
ResolutionSecond Threshold
Haruki receives Sakura's diary/letters addressed to him. Her final words give him permission to live, to connect with others, to not waste the lessons she taught him. He synthesizes grief with purpose.
Synthesis
Haruki reaches out to Kyoko, Sakura's best friend, honoring Sakura's wish for them to connect. He visits Sakura's mother. He chooses to live as Sakura wanted - openly, connecting with others, carrying her forward in his actions.
Transformation
Adult Haruki in the library is no longer alone - he has students, colleagues, relationships. He tells Sakura's story to Kyoko. The final image mirrors the opening, but he is transformed: connected, open, living the life Sakura taught him to live.