Season aired: Summer 2019
Number of episodes: 11
Genres: Drama, Romance, Slice-of-Life, Music
Thoughts: Yuri on Ice broke a genre barrier back when it aired in 2016 by proving having a gay couple in the forefront does not require a story to be labeled as BL or Yaoi. Yuri on Ice is a sports anime, and there is nothing else to say about its genre apart from that. Since then, the anime industry began releasing more series that are more than just what the BL genre had built itself up to be. They told complex love stories with complex characters, and they touched people past the usual fandoms who sought these genres for fanservice and nothing else.
Such releases include Banana Fish and Bloom Into You, two series I praised heavily for their storytelling while paying homage to the main LGBTQ couples. Given quickly made its stance clear coming from a BL manga adaptation, but just from the promotional pictures, I could already sense that there would be more to the story than just cutesy, fanservice love between two boys. Lerche also leaped in line with MAPPA and TROYCA to release a love story of an LGBTQ couple that is not only heartfelt, complex, but also genre-breaking. Despite its original BL tag, I would say that three words describe Given perfectly: drama, romance, and music.
Given starts out with Ritsuka Uenoyama, a guitarist high schooler who stumbles upon a boy on the stairway of his school holding a fancy guitar with broken strings, looking lost and listless. After nonchalantly suggesting the boy to get the strings replaced and fixed, the boy quickly latches onto Uenoyama’s advice, and the two boys bond and move forward with their shared passion for music.
Given upheld my expectations of a good LGBTQ love story, but it also surpassed it by covering incredibly hard topics that need to be covered in today’s media. Suicide is a big conflict that affects all the characters, especially Mafuyu, the boy who begins the series with a guitar of broken strings, but even more surprising is the addition of parental abuse and the hardships of single mothers. By mixing in such heavy yet real-life topics people face every day, it added a layer of color I hadn’t seen coming, which only increased my enjoyment and praise of the series more.
However, this wouldn’t work if the story didn’t pay special attention to the development of the relationship between the two boys, and the series certainly did. The romantic feelings grew small and subtle, like a gentle drizzle that smoothly transitioned into consistent falling rain. Before I even fully realized it, before even Uenoyama realized it, I had watched love blossom between two characters that started off as total strangers. It’s a “slow burn” as some people have coined it, and I always like watching and experiencing that sort of relationship. To me, it feels much more realistic and in fact is healthier than the sudden influx of love that series like to portray as romantic.
The romance, however, never overshadows the other important aspects of the series – the music and the entire teamwork of the band. The series made sure to show the audience how each character progresses in their musical pursuit. As Mafuyu is the newest member and the most inexperienced with an instrument, all three other band members would pitch in to show him the ropes. From instrument caretaking to the equipment and reading music, the story shows how romance and living the other parts of your life come hand in hand.
As a result, this meaningful pacing between character development and plot progression could feel slow for those who aren’t fans of the slice-of-life genre. And while that certainly sat perfectly fine with me as a fan of slice-of-life stories, I can see why other people might find the series to be a little boring to sit through.
This ultimately led to another problem as the series reached the end of its eleven episodes. Due to the deliberate pacing, the supporting characters’ arcs are widely unfinished, and it almost felt like the middle when the last episode aired. At this point and time, as someone who hasn’t read the manga, the introduction of certain supporting characters, namely a mysterious violin player, just seemed out of place because the character ultimately made no impact on the story. I am sure that the violin player would become an important player in the upcoming Given movie, but judging the series by itself, he definitely disrupted the flow on what was supposed to be the end of an arc.
The good news is that when the climax episode hit, the slow buildup completely paid off. Airing what I considered to be one of the best climactic episodes ever, episode nine proved just how dedicated the entire team at Lerche is because the animation of instruments takes quite a bit of time and budget. As a result, CGI was utilized and mixed in, but even with the CGI, the animation felt smooth and the instrument playing was dynamic on top of its accuracy.
When Mafuyu’s voice actor, Yano Shogo, began to sing, goosebumps rose from my arms. Yano Shogo is a very new seiyuu. His debut into the anime industry took place in 2014, and he only had one other main role before he was cast for Mafuyu. Despite Uchida Yuuma voice acting opposite to him as Uenoyama, Yano Shogo was the one who shined more out of the two. His listless tone contrasted sharply with the flirty Nanao from Tsurune that he voiced last year, and he breathed true pain and grief into Mafuyu’s complicated character. After this amazing performance, he has certainly put himself onto other people’s radars, and I definitely think he carried the voice acting performance of the series.
All in all, despite the few criticisms I had of this series, I think Given is one worth trying if you are a fan of music, romance, or character development as a whole. As its narration tells, just because two guys love each other does not make them any more special than a boy and a girl or two girls. They’re just two people seeking each other out through their mutual passion of music, and I think people, regardless of sexuality, can understand this human pursuit of companionship.
Rating
Plot: 8
Characters: 8
Voice acting: 8.5
Art/Animation: 8
Soundtrack: 9
Total: 41.5
Multiplier: 2
FINAL SCORE: 83
