....
I Want to Eat Your Pancreas.
.....
April 15, 2015 | LIE Studios | 3:47 PM
The room had been occupied for the past two hours - Regal, Gwendolyn, Samantha, Simon, Darren, and Rock, all gathered around the table with bound scripts in front of them.
The atmosphere had started optimistic, even excited.
Now it felt like soone had died.
Gwendolyn stood abruptly, her chair scraping against the floor with a sound that made everyone flinch.
Her eyes were red, wet, and she clutched the script in both hands like she wanted to throw it but couldn’t quite bring herself to let go.
"How could you be so cruel, Regal!"
The accusation ca between sobs, muffled against his chest.
Gwendolyn was practically strangling him with how tightly she was holding on, her face buried in his shirt, tears soaking through the fabric.
Her whole body shook with the force of her sobs that ca from sowhere deep and real.
Gwendolyn managed between gasps. "This is just so sad..."
Another sob.
"When did you beco so heartless!"
"I am leaving. Don’t try to contact about this topic anymore." she said, voice tight with emotion. "It has nothing to do with ."
She walked toward the door, movents stiff and deliberate, like she was holding herself together through sheer force of will.
Regal stood as well. "Gwen—"
"I am serious, Regal." She didn’t turn around. "I can’t - I don’t want to talk about this right now."
The door closed behind her with a soft click that sohow felt louder than a slam.
Silence settled over the room.
Samantha was the first to speak, her voice carefully neutral. "I think this is the first ti you two have had such a major fight."
"There’s no need to think about it." Darren said, leaning back in his chair and rubbing his face. "It is. And actually, I don’t bla Gwen either."
Regal turned to stare at him. "Not you too, Darren."
"What? I am just saying—"
Whatever Darren was about to say was drowned out by a muffled sound that had been running in the background for the past ten minutes, which everyone had been politely trying to ignore.
Simon sat with his face buried in his arms on the table, shoulders shaking, making sounds that were sowhere between sobbing and hiccupping.
Occasionally a few words would erge - sothing like ’why would you’ and ’so unfair’ and ’I can’t believe’ - but mostly it was just incoherent weeping.
The last ti Simon had cried like this was after reading [The Hangover] script, but those had been happy tears, laughter mixed with emotion at the absurd brilliance of it.
This was different.
This was the kind of crying that ca from sowhere deep and wounded, the kind that made grown n look like children who’d had their favorite toy taken away.
And in the back of the room, Rock stood tall as always, posture perfect, expression neutral and stoic.
Except for the tears running down his face.
Silent, steady, completely at odds with his usual impassive deanor.
"I—I don’t know people could cry like that." Darren said, staring at Simon’s hunched form. "No, forget people. I didn’t know anything could make Rock cry."
Regal looked back over his shoulder. He hadn’t noticed Rock crying because he’d been too focused on Gwendolyn’s outburst and Simon’s theatrical breakdown. But now that he actually looked—
Yeah. Rock was definitely crying.
Tears tracked down his face in straight lines, catching light from the overhead fluorescents. He didn’t make a sound. Didn’t move to wipe them away. Just stood there like a statue that had sohow learned grief.
Regal’s shoulders slumped slightly.
"I already told you." he said, more to himself than anyone else. "Rock is actually all muscles and not much of a thinker, very sensitive and emotional guy under all that-"
He gestured vaguely at Rock’s imposing fra, trying to convince himself this was normal, expected, not at all concerning.
Samantha reached for a tissue from the box on the table, dabbing at her eyes with movents she probably thought were subtle.
Darren did the sa a mont later, turning slightly away like that would hide the fact that he was also affected.
Regal sat back down heavily, staring at the script still open in front of him.
And then he rembered his first experience watching this film in his past life.
The theater had been packed - a random Tuesday evening, mostly young adults and couples. He had gone alone, drawn by word-of-mouth recomndations and critical praise, expecting sothing sad but beautiful.
What he’d gotten was devastation.
By the final scene, the entire theater had been crying.
Not quiet, dignified tears. Actual sobbing. The kind where you could hear people trying to muffle it and failing completely.
He’d left feeling emotionally wrecked, like soone had reached into his chest and rearranged everything inside.
And now he was planning to do that to millions of people.
Yeah. This movie was going to leave a lot of people in tears in theaters.
....
Earlier that Day | 1:30 PM
It had started simply enough.
Regal had called everyone - the people whose opinions he trusted most, who understood his work well enough to give honest feedback without filter.
"I have decided on my next directing project." he had announced once everyone was settled.
Imdiate interest. They had been waiting for this - wondering what Regal would choose to follow up Superman, what could possibly follow a film that had redefined the superhero genre.
"It’s a love story." Regal continued.
Gwendolyn had actually gasped, a smile breaking across her face. "Finally! You’re finally doing a romance!"
"About ti." Samantha had added. "Your action films are excellent, but I have been saying for years you should try sothing more character-driven."
Simon had looked intrigued. Darren had raised an eyebrow but seed interested.
Even Rock had shifted slightly, which for him was the equivalent of enthusiastic anticipation.
"What’s it called?" Gwendolyn asked, leaning forward.
Regal had paused, knowing the title would throw them.
"I Want to Eat Your Pancreas."
Complete silence.
Darren blinked. "I am sorry, what?"
"I Want to Eat Your Pancreas." Regal repeated calmly.
"That’s-" Gwendolyn started, then stopped. "That’s the actual title? Not a working title?"
"That’s the title."
"It sounds like a horror film." Simon said. "Or a really weird dical drama."
"It’s neither." Regal assured them. "You will understand the reason behind the title within the first five minutes of the story. Don’t judge a book by its cover."
He had distributed the scripts then, bound copies with the full title printed on crisp white covers.
"This is also going to be one of my lowest-budget films." Regal explained as they examined the scripts. "Nowhere near [Following] micro-budget, but compared to the superhero films - this is nothing. I am estimating around eight to twelve million total."
That got their attention for a different reason.
"Eight million?" Samantha asked. "For a theatrical release?"
"It’s a character piece. Two leads, minimal locations, no special effects beyond basic post-production. The story relies heavily on performance, visual storytelling, and music." Regal leaned back in his chair. "I am planning to hire new actors - unknowns or relatively unknown. People who can disappear into the roles without bringing baggage from previous work."
"And you’re directing this yourself?" Gwendolyn asked, already opening to the first page.
"Yes. I want to try sothing different. After coordinating massive productions with hundreds of people, I want to work on sothing smaller, more personal."
He had watched them begin reading, seeing their expressions shift from curiosity to engagent as the story unfolded.
....
The title page was visible:
[I WANT TO EAT YOUR PANCREAS]
–Written by Regal Seraphsail–
Regal had been thinking about this project for months.
Starting from [Spider-Man] to [Superman], making the MDCU into sothing massive and unwieldy that required constant supervision - he had wanted sothing different that didn’t require coordinating fifty VFX artists and managing franchise continuity.
He had considered several options. Small character studies, intimate dramas, and various romance scripts that all felt too conventional, too safe.
Then he had rembered–
I Want to Eat Your Pancreas.
The Japanese animated film had gutted him when he had first watched it - a deceptively simple story about a high school boy who discovers his classmate is dying, and the strange, profound friendship that develops between them.
It wasn’t a typical romance.
And it was absolutely devastating.
However it was done in 2D animation in his past life, and his decision to adapt it had been surprisingly easy.
First he used one the [Search Token] he had with him lying around for a while and he still has around [Search Token] x4, [Title Token] x2.
The story was universal enough to translate across cultures without losing its core. The thes - mortality, connection, the masks people wore, the courage it took to truly live - those worked anywhere.
The story was deceptively simple:
A high school boy discovers his classmate is dying from a terminal pancreatic disease. And against both their natures, they form an unlikely friendship that transforms both of them before her inevitable death.
But the execution - that’s where it beca sothing more.
Absolutely destroyed him emotionally in ways he hadn’t anticipated. And he knew imdiately it would work in any cultural context because the thes were universal: mortality, connection, the masks people wore, the courage required to truly live rather than just exist.
For the Arican adaptation, he had kept everything essential.
The structure, character dynamics and emotional beats.
The ending - especially the ending - remained exactly the sa.
What changed were the cultural specifics.
The setting: an Arican high school in a mid-sized city, sowhere that felt real without being identifiable.
Haruki beca Elliot.
–whcih ans ’the Lord is my God.’ Which fits soone who is emotionally isolated, searching for aning without realizing it.
However, he kept Sakura’s na unchanged, as it works in English, and there’s a symbolic resonance to cherry blossoms that stayed in the script.
....
.
[To be continued...]
★─────⇌•★•⇋─────★
Author Note:
Visit Patreon to instantly access 1 Chapter for free, available for Free mbers as well.
For additional content please do support and gain access to 15 more Chapters.
--> /OrgoWriters
User Comments
0 comments from readers