Movie Digest
Given is an anime adapted from the manga by the same name. The author of the manga is Kizu Natsuki. It’s a story about a group of boys who form a band. Primarily revolving around two high school boys Uenoyama and Mafuyu. Uenoyama is a talented guitarist who also happens to be a good player at Basketball. Mafuyu has a guitar and does not know his way around the strings. They meet when Mafuyu takes a nap at the spot Uenoyama usually takes on at. As a result of that meeting, Uenoyama proposes to teach Mafuyu the guitar. Upon hearing the latter sing, Uenoyama asks him to join the band he is part of. Mafuyu agrees because he believes he has a good voice. Much to the surprise of the viewers, this anime is not about music with romantic elements to it but the other way around. This is a romantic anime with music as the driving force for the plot.
The Feel-Good Part
the subject matter of being attracted to the same sex is dealt with in this how tastefully. The romance is not too overbearing and builds up slowly over time allowing the viewers to experience the feelings between the boys as it matures. All most all of the characters shown are queer in the show. Romance at the end of the day whether directed away from the heteronormative way is still romance and this series nails it perfectly. The characters that are the four main leads are very distinct from each other in terms of their personalities. Visually as well the character designs are very polished and aesthetic. Extremely compelling characters and wonderful drama make up this series to be a perfect coming-of-age anime. There are backstories involving domestic abuse and suicide and these topics are dealt with in how the characters emote on screen. Outside of the individual drama, we have the band preparing for their performance which keeps the story afloat plus moving forward.
The Disappointing Factor
The slow burn is very tiresome at the start. It would be a turn-off or outright boring, this drama would also not be the one for you if you dislike too sweet drama romance. The musical element is not developed much because that was used as a way to make the story float while the makers dealt with the individual drama. The quality restriction is a bit of an eyesore at some points but nothing one can’t ignore. But apart from this nothing majorly goes wrong in the anime. It’s a matter of personal choice at the end of the day whether to watch it or not.
In-Depth Analysis
The voice acting in this series is exceptionally good. Including the songs. The characters are amazingly developed too. Mafuyu is a really cute character and viewers are bound to like him almost immediately. The story category is much stronger than what yaoi or BL presents. Given is a proper romance anime with two young boys of the same age navigating their feelings for each other. There is no sexual harassment or overblown drama as is the case with most yaoi series. What strikes the bat for the hit in the series is that it is not a fetish fuel for the masses as with BL and Yaoi genres. This means as viewers and consumers of queer romance, the audience can still have hope for decent stories like this to appear in the future.
Star Power
Yano Shougo voices MAfuyu in this series, he has previously lent his voice in the anime series Yu-GI-Oh. Uchida Yuuma has voiced Uenoyama in the given series and has also lent his voice to Fushiguro Megumi from the popular series Jujutsu Kaisen. Eguchi Takuya has worked for Ousama ranking, Spy x family as a voice actor.
Overall Opinion
In my opinion, Given as a series should definitely be on your watchlist. This series does not have an override of tropes as such. A very simple connection between two boys is utilized in a beautiful manner to showcase the emotions that adolescents go through. That and the added pressures of being good at what they do in this case the music band. With prominent themes in the story, there is much to look forward to in this anime. Throughout the run of the episodes, the story leaves the viewers reeling over its brief and powerful run.
