GIVEN

DESCRIPTION

CAST

MANGA DramaGiven
MOVIE DramaGiven Movie

REVIEWS

• 

  ow9n

  95/100
  How BL anime should be done -- a genuinely powerful story

  (this review contains spoilers)

  When I first heard about Given getting an adaptation, I was overjoyed. Finally, we got a tasteful BL manga where no one is getting fetishized, there isn't any problematic subtext, and the anime has an actual plot beyond their relationship. All of these things are what makes Given great and stand out from all the other popular BL anime. The anime (especially the first half) tends to be more focused not on the romantic development of Mafuyu and Uenoyama, but rather telling a story about the evolution of their band and how Mafuyu impacted them.

  

  Story
  At the outset, the story of this anime seems quite basic - a somewhat stagnant band is trying to light their fire again, and a mysterious person comes along and shakes things up. However, what comes with that person in this instance is quite complicated. The way the anime explains Mafuyu's backstory over time is very well done; we slowly learn why he has trouble expressing himself, why he carries around a guitar despite not playing it, and much more. Most of it was done through interactions with Mafuyu's former classmates, which I thought was a very good strategy of getting the audience up to speed with his past, and most importantly, puts ourselves in Uenoyama's shoes. The only thing Uenoyama knows at this point is that Mafuyu has a beautiful voice, but rumors start to circulate around the school about Mafuyu's past and Uenoyama is intrigued. We learn even more when Mafuyu clashes with Hiiragi, a friend who brings back painful memories of Mafuyu's former boyfriend. As the pieces of the puzzle start to come together, Uenoyama starts to develop feelings which eventually turn into love. I don't seem to remember too much agonizing over the whole "we're both guys" thing either, which is such a tired trope I roll my eyes after more than one instance of it. The story veers off occasionally to talk about the other members of the band and their relationships, but providing more context for the character's actions and emotions (especially when it comes to Haruki having a crush on Kaji for years) is helpful. It also provides good setup for the upcoming movie, which we just learned today is happening.

  One very interesting metaphor that comes up throughout the anime was equating love to music, and I think this is quite interesting. We see it with Kaji meeting Ugetsu for the first time, and in the second episode where Uenoyama said that Mafuyu's song "shook him to his core." Although Kaji (in his flashback) stated that hearing Ugetsu play the violin was love at first sight, it was very clear that music was a part of that attraction. The same applies to Uenoyama, at first he was amazed by Mafuyu's previously unknown singing talent, but this develops into physical and emotional attraction as they get to know each other better. Music is used most prominently as a vehicle for emotion in Given, and not only romance. When Mafuyu sings his song about his former love, the whole crowd can feel the emotion coming from his performance, and I thought this was very powerful.

  This is my BL-loving self talking, but I wish the ending was more fluffy. Mafuyu's confession was very well done, but I wish that we'd seen a more cute reaction from Uenoyama. We didn't even get to see them have a fluffy "I love you too!" scene, although what happened afterward was consistent with the focus of the show (music).

  *How it all started*

  Character
  I thought the characters in this anime were all very well done, especially when it comes to gay romance. There weren't many instances (as I stated earlier) where Uenoyama agonizes over liking Mafuyu, which is good. However, most of Uenoyama's reactions to things are just "eh?" whenever something surprising happens. This is both good and bad; Uenoyama doesn't have a negative reaction towards surprises: after learning Mafuyu was gay, he didn't say anything negative about that, which was good, but this reaction happened so often I wish they'd mixed it up a little. It's part of his character, but I would have liked to have seen Uenoyama be visibly happy after Mafuyu's confession. Mafuyu is a great character as well, his tragic backstory provides for a lot of interesting reflection by him, especially when it comes to expressing his emotions. Since music is the focus of this anime, it fit quite well for Mafuyu's ultimate expression of grief to be a song, and it was incredible. Although Mafuyu acts indifferent towards most things, his real moments of development were when he was pushed to face his dark past and come to terms with it. The best example of this is when Uenoyama is scolding Mafuyu for not having a song ready on the day of the concert and Mafuyu breaks his strings in anger. To me, the most compelling aspect of this was the fact that Uenoyama fixed them for him, just like in the beginning of the anime. The message being that if things are broken, they can be fixed, even if what was damaged before seems irreparable. I haven't mentioned Haruki and Kaji too much, but their characters are also quite good. Haruki's subplot of crushing on Kaji for years is very apparent and makes its way into many many cute moments. His realistic attitude towards everything has somewhat prevented him from confessing, but that is also a valuable trait to have when managing a band. Kaji is a much more carefree guy but his advice really helps Uenoyama and Mafuyu's relationship move forward; his perceptiveness about what's going on in the band was very good to watch. The last character I want to briefly mention is Mafuyu's ex-boyfriend, Yuki. I appreciate how they made him actually a good person. So often you see exes portrayed (not just in anime) as totally horrible people, but the amount of exposition behind Yuki's personality was quite nice! I didn't mention this in the story section, but the anime actually has quite a good sense of humor! The band's interactions with each other are usually fun and lighthearted. Kaji and Haruki add a lot of comedy to the group and seeing the band's internal relationships improve is always nice to see.

  *Okay, Uenoyama had his cute moments. Haruki was really cute the whole time as well.*

  Art
  The art in this anime was surprisingly good! The character designs are all very nice, although I think some of the characters (particularly Kaji and Uenoyama) have unusually wide necks. Where the anime comes into its own in terms of art is during the performance in episode 9, which had some awesome CG with the guitars, drums, and bass. The detail of the instruments was always good throughout the anime. However, the art was not always stellar. There were moments in the anime where the characters were drawn with no faces for longer than I expected (I especially noticed this in the last episode). There were also 2 or so times where the anime would portray the passage of time by doing a slideshow to some background music (when the band was writing the new song and in the last episode where the school year just plays out). This was effective I guess, but I would have liked to see some animation in the background rather than the iMovie-style "image pan" slide show. Minor complaint, however.

  I'll mention the song Mafuyu sang in episode 9 in this section, since I think it deserves to be mentioned somewhere. It was amazing. The first time I heard Mafuyu sing his "la la la" song, I wasn't too thrilled, but his live performance was incredibly well done. Both the lyrics and the song that went with it were so emotional, not to mention the fact that it sounded great.

  Overall
  I'm really happy with the way this anime played out. It's a great example of how BL can be done tastefully: none of that "dubious consent" nonsense, no age gap, just straightforward romance. Although some people do enjoy those aspects of BL, I think they make the genre a lot less accessible for your average viewer, and when they see the "gay" tag (shounen-ai, boys' love, whatever you wanna call it), some people get turned off immediately. Given is different, however; it's a straightforward romance with satisfying development and conclusion. I don't think we've seen an anime that does this so well since Doukyuusei, and I hope more BL like this comes out in the future. If there's any complaints I have about the anime, it would be that there wasn't as much romance as I'd like. It's a genuinely good drama, but it wasn't until the last few episodes where we got kisses and what their relationship actually looks like romantically. In the end though, this is still an incredible anime that I would recommend to anyone, not just BL fans. Given does an incredible job integrating LGBT characters and themes without making it seem taboo or weird, just people who are in love.

  Thanks for reading!
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• 

  wheatsquares33

  100/100
  Given is a wonderful, brief, and naturally flowing band drama with a perfect amount of restraint

  The past few years have really gifted us with some quality gay anime. With LGBT romance in anime long-time being portrayed as overly melodramatic, rape-y, and fetishistic, this new crop of shows over the past few years that aim more for realism and positive representation is quite refreshing. Doukyuusei, Yagate Kimi ni Naru, and Yuri on Ice stand out as the most notable examples, and Given is another worthy addition to this (hopefully ongoing) list.

  I loved this show. And I wasn’t really expecting to. I had no experience with the manga going in, and even now after finishing the show I don’t know what happens past the anime’s stop point, but when I saw this on the seasonal chart I approached with the same level of wary excitement that I do any seasonal BL show. And it really delivered, was absolutely not expecting Given to be a 10/10 but here we are. And my reasons for liking this show as much as I do aren’t super cerebral or have anything to do with like realism in its portrayal of gay romance like Bloom Into You, it just does what it does as well as can be done. Given’s not only a very good BL-romance show, but more importantly an extremely good music and teen drama anime that really excels in handling its characters and melodrama that not many anime do, gay or not.

  At its core, despite it’s more dramatic elements, Given is a slice of life anime about a band coming into its own and how Mafuyu becomes a part of that narrative. It’s very lowkey, especially for a “gay show”. Right off the bat Given exercises a great amount of subtlety that carries through element of the show. It is very slow paced and mellow, and feels good to watch. The 4 main characters have great chemistry and all their interactions are a joy to watch. The show has this dry wit about it as well as an above average realism in the way it presents the characters and their relationships, and that’s really what carries the top half of this show before it gets into the more serious stuff.

  It’s the story of some kinda dumb guys fumbling around with guitars while living their own lives outside of that, and that’s nice to see, especially with this presentation. As I mentioned before, this is a very subtle and patient show for the most part, the soundtrack is very atmospheric, the visual direction is strong. And even though the visuals themselves aren’t incredibly high gloss and the animation is nothing really exceptional, there’s this very soft warm color palette that makes this a very nice show to look at. I feel like brown or kind of red outlines are used a lot on the characters that give it this really unique, pleasant appearance that I can’t compare to anything else. Also, all the characters are super expressive, I do love shows that really nail characters’ facial expressions, and they really have it down in this one, so many screenshot worthy moments.

  But of course this is a BL show, so it does evolve past this point of being just slice of life band stuff, and it does this in a way that feels very natural. The main focus of Given’s narrative is Mafuyu coming to terms with his past while moving on to a new chapter in his life. And just in general, this show does feel very transitional just in general. The anime is only 11 episodes, the manga is much longer and I’m sure goes more into the Akihiko-Haruki-Ugetsu romance, goes more into Mafuyu’s past with his father, etc., but one of the things about this adaptation that I like the most is what parts of this bigger story it chooses to show. It stays away from hard drama and presents a snapshot of all these guys’ life where they seem...happy.

  There are definitely elements that could come across as “oh this is just an anime adaptation, they brought up so and so plot thread without any resolution, that’s lame”, etc. but the biggest appeal of this show to me is its restraint in melodrama, and if it were to be longer and go more in detail into these more dramatic elements it would undercut what makes the show so unique in the BL landscape in the first place. The 11 episode run time feels kind of smart in a way, it presents these characters living their lives just as it is. And if the story stopped here, I’d be content with that, there’s a very real world element to it that I like, just showing what these characters are like in this small window of their lives. Yes there may be more to see, but that’s not to diminish the fact that I’m sure any of these guys would look back at this very specific time period and say “oh yeah remember those old days when we first met Mafuyu” or whatever. I like it.

  Well anyhow, yes, there is a core narrative here about Mafuyu reconciling with his past and Uenoyama getting a crush on him. It’s pretty standard I think, without going into spoilers. If anything, the actual drama in Mafuyu’s past is the least interesting part of this show. I wouldn’t say it’s bad or overblown or anything, just kinda...blehh expected, unexceptional, etc. However, my feelings on the events themselves do not diminish my admiration for how the script handles their aftereffects.

  By all means, this show has every right to reach its climax in some heated argument between the band mates with screaming and characters running off, things being awkward afterwards until they confess their love, you’ve watched anime. But instead of using the Mafuyu melodrama to manufacture tension in the cast it uses it to progress the band’s development. While I was enjoying this show for the first 8 episodes a lot, it wasn’t until episode 9-11 that it became a 10 for me. The concert scene in episode 9 is brilliant and powerful. This is really the climax of the show, it sees the b+and finding an identity in itself, as well as giving Mafuyu a platform to not only find his own identity within the band but to finally have closure with his past that kind of recontextualized all the events leading up to this point, and all over the tune of a genuinely great song.

  This is a music anime obviously, and with any music anime I’d expect the music itself to be exactly as good to my ears as it is to the world around the characters. And fuckin, they really do a great job here. I wouldn’t say that any of the instrumental performances by the original 3 members or even the great song with Mafuyu on vocals is amazing or even extremely notable in the broader landscape of anime music, but...that’s kind of the point isn’t it? None of these guys are prodigies, they’re all just young kids doing it for fun, and that’s exactly how these performances sound. I wasn’t a huge fan of Mafuyu’s singing voice in the ED or when he sings without the backing instrumental, but he kills it in this performance. There’s this amateur rawness to his voice that just really works, so impressed by this voice actor’s singing here. And lyrically the song is kind of what you’d expect from an anime song but in the context of the show and the place Mafuyu is coming from when he writes and sings it, it really hits hard.

  So maybe things were simmering a bit leading up to the extremely cathartic episode 9, but everything after this is so...sweet and good. The plot really starts moving along in the last 3 episodes, make of that what you will. The band has made a name for themselves at this point, Uenoyama and Mafuyu’s feelings for each other have become more clear, and the last two episodes are about the characters coming off the high of that performance as well as some genuinely adorable BL fluff to go along with it. This show is never super gay, and I like it a lot for that, I definitely value the more restrained presentation versus epic thug seme wall pushes.

  And well, Uenoyama and Mafuyu really are the core of this show, Akihiko and Haruki definitely feel a bit more...accessory. I do find both of these guys super likable and their lives aren’t uninteresting, but I definitely appreciate them more as side characters showing up every now and again. As marriageable as I find Ugetsu to be, I did find the episode about his backstory with Akihiko the weakest of the whole show.

  So this was just a really good, organic BL show with a sense of realism you don’t usually see in the genre (calling this a part of the BL “genre” might be a bit unfair, as it definitely transcends the trope you would see in something that would rightfully wear such a tag though). Given just really knocked everything out of the park for me and was a joy to watch weekly. Nothing is in excess, the developments and characters feel natural, and the high points really soar. Very impressed by this one, don’t let the shounen-ai tag scare you away. If you have any interest in teen dramas or music anime give it a shot, it’s good stuff.

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• 

  quirklessfanboy

  97/100
  Spoilers! Like I said before, not one for reviews but heeeere we go!

  If anyone had told me back in 2013 that we'd one day get a BL anime with proper pacing, an actual story with a plot and emphasis on the emotional aspect, that dealt with LGBTQ issues properly, I would have laughed in their face.

  Well, I guess I'm still laughing now, but this is a laugh of pure joy because given is nothing like I'd expected before. I came across this anime on my Twitter timeline, when I saw someone tweeting about it. Specifically, it was a clip of that scene from Episode 9. I guess you could say I was mildly spoiled into watching it, but trust it, nothing could have prepared me for Episode 9 so rest assured not all was ruined.

  (Yes, I am aware Yuri On Ice! exists, but that's something for another day)

  The characters are quite well developed, personality wise. Although, I can't say for sure how much because I've only read a few chapters from the manga, but enough so that it made the anime enjoyable. I love how almost everyone's personality is at odds with their physical appearance, namely Akihiko. Underneath that pierced, muscled and laid back veneer there's a thoughtful dude who helps out his younger friends when they're undergoing a mild sexuality crisis and actually addresses said crisis instead of brushing it off like it was some sort of joke.

  Yes. given differentiates itself from the other BL anime I've seen by actually addressing the 'being gay' aspect of the story . I was so surprised when I saw that I rewound it a couple of times to make sure I wasn't dreaming. Also, Uenoyama's reactions were pretty comical.

  Finding out about Mafuyu's past hurt, I'm not gonna lie. It made me think about how relationships can have a lasting impact on you, in some cases the effects are so significant that they can change your entire life. It also made me think how nice it would be to be in a relationship with somebody, a person who loved you back as much as you loved them. Truly, it had me, as how the kids say it these days, 'in my feels.'

  I also like how it offered some insight into band life. I'm not musically talented or anything, but I do enjoy music as much as the next person and while anime aren't an exactly accurate source of information, I did like how they showed us various aspects of that kind of life.

  And I do appreciate Haruki-san very much and do sort of feel a kinship of sorts with him, because one-sided love is a bitch. Yes. Also, I wish I had hair like his.

  Also, Kedama is such a cute doggo and I love him, I wish I had a Pom like him.

  I'm not sure if we're going to get another season, but if we do, I hope it's as good or even better than the first season and that we get to see more of our favorite band members.

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