Genre: Romance, drama, music, boys love
Rating: PG-13
Studio: Lerche
Episodes: 11
Overview:
Uenoyama Ritsuka loves both playing the guitar and playing basketball but lately the two have become rather boring to him. One day Uenoyama encounters a boy named Sato Mafuyu at school carrying a guitar with broken strings. Uenoyama helps Mafuyu by changing his strings for him and from that moment the two are intertwined within each others lives. Mafuyu ends up singing in front of Uenoyama which then sparks his musical passion within him once again whilst also developing feelings elsewhere for Mafuyu. From that point on both beautiful music and romance begins to blossom.
Review:
Given is everything I wanted and more. When I originally saw the promotion video for the series I knew it would be filled with lots of teen angst, cute band members and drama to boot and that is exactly what Given provided to me as a viewer. It was raw and powerful and truly struck a chord with me (heh, get it?).
The characters and the romantic development within Given is what really make it worth watching. It is fairly obvious from the beginning that there is going to be some romantic interest and involvement between certain characters throughout the anime alongside the musical aspects.
I thoroughly enjoyed the musical aspects to Given as I found certain things to be funny and relatable considering I play the guitar and have worked within a band dynamic when I was in college. Small things such as Mafuyu realising his guitar can be fixed with new strings was just really cute and funny to see as a player myself and watching Uenoyama fall so deeply in love with music is what happened with me a few years ago. I just really understood how the characters felt about certain things and I really loved that I could connect with them in such a way.
Given had a great balance of both romance and drama throughout the series and it knew when and went not to be funny and/or serious. The anime deals with heavier topics such as loosing a partner, suicide and overdosing and it did so in a respectful way which got the point across without being too graphic or distressing. The more somber moments also gave room for backstory and character development whilst somehow making the romance between certain characters that much more sweeter and/or heartbreaking.
One of my main criticisms I have with Given is I wish the musical aspects could have been more fleshed out. Whilst romance takes priority in this kind of story, it would have been really rewarding to see the group Given progress more as a band. Seeing Mafuyu progress as a guitar player and overall musician seems like a bit of a missed opportunity within the anime along with seeing more of the band’s dynamics. I feel more could have been fleshed out in this respect but I still enjoy the musical elements nonetheless and I found their first big performance as a band to be truly moving and hard hitting as a scene.
Another issue with Given was some of the side characters. There is nothing wrong with having a whole range of characters who help add to the today but certain characters just seemed to be there for the sake of filling space. I felt that especially with characters such as Murata who just seemed to lull around in Akihiko’s apartment. I guess I was expecting to see more of his character and was curious to see what his role in the story progression would be but there just didn’t seem to be much. I’m guessing that the original manga series has him much more fleshed out but I feel he didn’t bring a whole lot to the anime.
Overall Given is a beautifully done and pretty healthy romance anime that doesn’t focus too heavily on the typical BL tropes in order to move the story along. It is a pleasure to watch and is sure to quench your thirst if you’re looking for some good drama and romance to sink your teeth into.
Overall rating: 8/10
Until next time thanks for reading and I hope you’re having a great day!
Keep up to date with me on:
A Nerdy Perspective 
Nice review. I really loved watching this one and I kind of hope it eventually gets another season so that characters like Murata can get a bit more time to be fleshed out. It would be great to see what happens next for the band given they seem to just be getting started.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks so much 😀 Yeah same here, I know there will be a new film for it dropping next year but I would love a whole other season for both character and story development 😀 I would love to see where the story goes.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Given was such a great show! Though I agree that it would’ve been nice if we’d been able to see more of the band’s dynamic and if there had been time to flesh out some of the side characters more. Hopefully there will be a continuation that will cover some of that.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It really was! And I hope so. I hope they eventually do a second season (alongside the new film) so they can flesh more of that stuff out as I would love to see much more development. 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
Haven’t watched the show, but I am shaming you for that pun, how dare ye
Jokes aside, Yaoi K-ON! looks great.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Haha I couldn’t resist myself with that pun, it was too perfect to not include it XD
And omg haha yaoi K-ON! is a brilliant description. I love it!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Good review there. Well, Given had been the biggest surprise for me from the last season despite of having it among my early favorites, it simply caught me offguard as I didn’t expect it to be so good based on my own preferences. I love how daring and at the same time filled with innocence the atmosphere is. Uenoyama is such a ‘virgin’ is so many ways ^^, though Mafuyu is as deep as the sea and the secrets he’d been hiding were overwhelming. Nonetheless, I could feel his pain and grief. While Uenoyama and Mafuyu characterize the dramatic side of the anime, I am really happy for the existence of Akihiko and Haruki that really brought some of the cutest moments in the anime. I wish to see a continuation soon, maybe after the movie, a 2nd season will be great.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, I’m glad you liked it 🙂 I couldn’t agree with you more with the points you made and I definitely agree with how daring yet innocent it is! I loved how much of a virgin character Uenoyama was and that scene in his brain really made me laugh so hard haha. I really hope for second season alongside the film as this series has so much potential!
LikeLike