Given Anime Review

Title: given

Genre: Yaoi, Drama, Shounen Ai, Romance

Written By: Natsuki Kizu

Synopsis: One day, Ritsuka Uenoyama meets Mafuyu Sato and his broken guitar. Seeing the guitar gives Ritsuka feelings of nostalgia, so he decides to repair it. Ritsuka feels like he has no choice but to teach him the guitar, but when he hears Mafuyu’s singing, it pierces his heart. Ritsuka invites Mafuyu into his band and the distance between them changes. However, it seems as if Mafuyu, who can’t express his emotions well, is trapped in his own past. (https://given.fandom.com/wiki/Anime) 

Thoughts: 

After a series of BL animes that were aired like Dakaretai Otoko and Papa Datte Shitai, "given" was introduced to have its anime adaptation. It was a perfect timing since the fujoshis (like me) are on heat because of the season of BL anime adaptations. This is due to airing of Banana Fish last year. 

I haven't read the manga of this anime since it is still ongoing (the fact that I am not fond of reading ongoing manga series hehe). So I will be reviewing this based on the anime perspective. 

YUUMA UCHIDA AGAIN! HAHA. Alright, I got hyped. Yuuma Uchida is getting really popular ever since he voiced Ash in Banana Fish. Now he is the seiyuu of one of the protagonist in the series, Uenoyama and actually it is a great impact to this anime. 

As for the plot, it is not your usual plot. Yes, we have these kinds of stories where the past lover died because of the protagonist himself but one thing that is very unique on its plot is, the protagonist actually tried to live in the kind of life that his past lover did have. I don't know if there are other stories like that in BL (I'm sure there are, please recommend me some!) but this is the first for me so I was into the plot of given.

This anime made me cry. The studio made a good effort to address Mafuyu's feelings to the viewers. This anime made my heart thud, flutter and in pain. Given has the qualities of a good shounen ai anime. 

Animation: 10/10

The new type of animation has come! I now noticed it that somehow it is almost the same animation with ufotable's Kimetsu no Yaiba (Demon Slayer). They are using 3D animation to make the scenes more realistic and smooth. It's a big thumbs up for me!

Soundtrack: 10/10

Opening song: Kizuato- Sentimental

A good song if you want to relax but has a deep meaning on its lyrics. The song tells about the feelings of Mafuyu in which he can't express throughout the series. This song has a good impact on me. The instrumentals are good and the lyrics are heartbreaking.

As for the OST (Original Soundtrack), since the anime series is kind of comedy, the OST are very light and funny as well. most of it's instrumentals are light as if this anime is a shoujo romcom type. I would gladly have its OST in my playlist.

Overall: 10/10

A good recommendation for people who are into BL. Of course the viewer must be BL or Shounen Ai fan.