Given Movie 1

As much as I do like the story of Given and the characters, the AkiHaru arc is my least favorite for a lot of reasons. Reasons you may agree or disagree with but nonetheless, I didn't really enjoy it as much as I did with Mafuyu's and Uenoyama's arc. Here's the thing, I don't absolutely hate the AkiHaru arc but I was left disappointed by how things turned out for the characters and the romance for Aki and Haru.

Given has an issue of the characters not properly communicating with each other which causes problems when if they were just honest with their feelings, the problems ... wouldn't be an issue. Aki, Haru, and Ugetsu all had this issue where none of them were completely honest about what they want. They weren't honest in conveying their feelings which resulted in miscommunications which then lead to *that scene* with Aki and Haru.

Between the three of them, Haru is my favorite whereas Aki and Ugetsu are not. This story arc didn't do them any justice with how much miscommunication there was. Why did Ugetsu do the things he did instead of being honest to Aki. Why was Aki not truthful to Haru when things were getting complicated. There were many, and I mean MANY opportunities for the two of them to be honest. Except they didn't.

And what happened with Aki and Haru during *that scene* (trying to keep this spoiler-free as possible) made me all the more disappointed with the story. It had to go with the assault trope in BL stories and seeing Haru going through that much pain made me mad at Aki. What's worse is that the issue is sort of brushed under the rug and we have the two of them together. And I hated it. I hated that things had to turn out that way for them to be together. The saying "this needed to happen" does not apply to this. What happened in *that scene* did not need to happen for them to be together.

As much as I wanted to like Aki and Haru as a couple, the way things went about for them to be together was not great. They deserved better. Their love story deserved better. This arc deserved better.

"Given the Movie" finally came to Crunchyroll, and I stayed up until 4 AM to watch it as it streamed live. I'll preface this by saying that I'm all caught up with the manga and I've listened to all of the drama CDs, which both means nothing was a surprise, and I also had some media to compare the film to.

The film starts off practically right after the anime series ended, but instead of focusing on Mafuyu and Ritsuka, it focuses on Akihiko, Ugetsu, and Haruki, much like how the manga is structured. What stuck out to me first thing was how great it was ... to see how Mafuyu has changed after experiencing that catharsis post-Fuyu no Hanashi/episode 9. He's way, way more expressive not just verbally but overall, which Ritsuka helpfully points out in the film (side-note: best boyfriend? Best boyfriend. Mafuyu is LUCKY.) as he tries to cheer Mafuyu up. Seeing the progression of Mafuyu's and Ritsuka's relationship, albeit in a minor way, was nice, too.

I feel like I can relate a lot more to the main characters of the film- not to put down Ritsuka or Mafuyu by any means, but they're high schoolers with high schooler issues, feelings and levels of maturity- and I'm a lot older than that. So, having characters like Akihiko, Ugetsu, and Haruki in the spotlight is kind of refreshing considering the problems they're facing are more relatable to myself. They're all well-written characters, even those that ended up in the background this time around, but it was just really nice to see the complexity of especially Ugetsu and Akihiko, not to mention their relationship. The build-up to the mature scene of the film is incredibly solid and though it happens fairly early on in the film, it certainly didn't feel that way (mostly because there are eleven anime episodes preceding the film, of course). The conflicts feel realistic and Akihiko's 'redemption arc' is a tough read and watch, but it's all so, so, worth it in the end.

Overall, the only real issue I had was that it was too short of a film and that it felt rushed sometimes. That's only to be expected, though, considering everything they crammed into less than 60 minutes, and when seeing it that way, it's also impressive that it for the most part DIDN'T feel rushed with everything that was covered. They stayed very true to the source material of the manga, and since I absolutely adore the manga, both the anime and the film are great as a result.

Here is the review before spoilers.

as a manga reader, its an okay adaptation. the pacing is a HUGE ISSUE and it borerline ruins the film. However if you do like given and Aki/Haruki and dont mind the pace being a HUGE issue, then watch it. Given fans will enjoy it. Go read the manga afterward, its short and alot of stuff was cut out due to the short runtime. the music is outstanding and its worth it to watch just for the music, weither youve read the manga or not.




SPOLIER WARNING REVIEW:

the pacing is bad. the big assult happens a mer 20 ... minutes in and the breakup happens in a whole 3 minutes with 4 minutes to establish a relationship makeup and confession between haru and aki. some mafuyu and uenoyama stuff was cut but it makes sense with the short cut time. asside from the pacing, its a soild film, the manga is definetly better and id so suggest reading that before this.

Kaji is a piece of crap. Sure the story ends well... be he straight up ran from everything in his life and messed up everyone else's. He also raped Haruki. WTF. WHY IS THAT OKAY to people?! Why does Haruki say he consented? He didn't. Kaji... you are trash. If you read through the manga he is an even worse piece of crap. I don't care if someone tries to turn their life around, that doesn't mean it makes everything they did okay.
There are SO many other animes that have better stories, with romance, that is about music.

I liked the original anime so ... much better. This movie ruined it. I originally wanted a season 2 to see what became of the band and the romance, but I don't care anymore. Any future season 2 can go burn.

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

Given was a pleasant surprise to me. The first of the series was a wonderful story about friendship, trauma, and putting pieces of yourself back together that you'd thought impossible. They throw some pretty dense issues at us but I found the topics handled with care. We had time to go into character's hurts, pains, and insecurities and watched the beautiful story of them building upwards into better versions of themselves.

And then...

The movie happened.

Firstly, I was already wary when I logged onto Crunchyroll and saw that the movie was only ONE. HOUR. LONG. This was a bit troubling to me as I knew ... I'd heard from other fans who've read the manga that this movie was supposed to cover a decent chunk of the series, so thought we were looking into an hour and a half at least. And I was right to be wary.

What we were...Given...was an incredibly rushed tale rife with issues that couldn't possibly be solved within the limit they gave us...at least, not properly.

So I'll start with the worst of it. That scene.

Potentially triggering content incoming! ALSO! SPOILERS! FINAL WARNING!

First, to find out that Akihiko was aware of Haruki's love the entire time already put me in a bad mood. Then he assaults Haruki as the man weeps below him and Haruki, compromised as he was, took note of Akihiko's pained expression more than the egregious act being committed against him, and immediately went to acceptance, forgiveness, and understanding. Absolutely not. Absolutely the eff not. Akihiko eventually comes to his senses, apologizes, and then proceeds TO STAY IN THE HOME OF THE MAN HE ABUSED EVEN AFTER SAID MAN ASKED HIM TO LEAVE??????? Gtfo, asshole! Sleep on the streets! Sorry for the language but I'm appalled. I couldn't find his abundant apologies comforting the morning after because not only did he violate Haruki, he proceeded to overstay his welcome with the knowledge that Haruki was in love with him and would eventually allow it. It was grossly manipulative. His toxic relationship with Ugetsu is not enough. His sally sob story about his parents is not enough. None of that was enough to excuse his abhorrent behavior and what was once a cute but sad tale of unrequited love turned to something tainted and manipulative and I wish it'd never happened. Where is the respect? Not just because he's in love with you. He is also your bandmate, and your friend. Tf is that. Then, after what was probably one of the worst nights of Haruki's life, he runs to his friend and cuts off his hair. If that's not a trauma response I don't know what is. I don't know if they intended for that moment to be seen as him moving on but...literally...too soon. It was a tragedy imo, to see Given go down the unfortunate BL trope of rampant sexual assault with little to no consequences. How annoying. And I'm hearing that scene is worse in the manga?

How delightful. :)

After we witness that disaster, we watch a fumbling attempt to redeem Akihiko's character while we also watch the sad mess that is his relationship with Ugetsu. Now. I don't have issues with the fact that they had issues. I found them scrambling to cling to something doomed to fail heartbreakingly real and rather well done. My problem, though, was that we spent more time working through their inevitable breakup than we did with consequences for the assault and the rebuilding of his and Akihiko's relationship. Because of that, I felt stronger feelings towards the moment when Ugetsu sobs while fighting the urge to turn around and run back to Akihiko than I did when Akihiko fumbled that messy and random as hell confession to Haruki at the end.

LOL. That confession????? After what, three hastily drawn scenes of us watching Akihiko "coming into his own"? That's what we get? And then it's over????????

I think what this movie truly needed was...time. It should have been a second season. You cannot throw a sexual assault between two members of the same band, which is a central focus of the series as a whole, and tie everything together in an hour. There are going to be problems. The band will inevitably suffer. People have to atone. Others have to heal. Trust must be regained. You cannot throw a years long toxic relationship and drawn out breakup and again, tie everything together in an hour. Feelings must be sorted through. Again, healing must take place. It isn't believable, and even if we suspended our disbelief, plot wise, it just doesn't flow. It comes across as rushed, sloppy, and poorly written.

Part of Given's charm was the time and care taken to hash out our character's struggles, so by the end when it all came together, the audience reveled in a sense of triumph. We hurt with them, cried with them, healed with them, and soared with them.

Most of that charm was lost in this continuation and I'm left...disappointed and even a little sad. I still plan to give the manga a read to try and get a better experience of the story, and hopefully it comes together better than this.

Thankfully, not all was bad. Mafuyu remains a delight. It's so lovely to see him grow, mentally and musically. What a sweetheart. While it's clear Mafuyu and Uenoyama's relationship wasn't the focus, the few scenes we got together with them were adorable. I also didn't mind the glimpses we got into Ugetsu.

And of course, the songs. If nothing else, the songs truly delivered and I added a few to my playlist. Mafuyu's emotions come across so strongly and I truly feel the band's music.

That's all for now. I just can't help to wish that we were...Given...more.

Many manga pieces were cut from the movie. The atmosphere is quite bland, the dramatic moments look lackluster, Mafuyu's song is great as always, and the relationship between Akihiko and Haruki is ... typical ... And I don't think I need to tell you what it is.

Akihiko is a bastard. Why? Because, in the first place, he sexually assaults Haruki by attacking him on the couch. The scene is not as bad as in the manga, because in the manga it was much more rapey ... I don't need to say what. Terrible isn't it?

But you will tell me. ''But Given doesn't use it like ... other BLs''. Sorry, but we're in a romantic movie, not in a documentary crime movie. There are a thousand other ways to show a dramatic moment, but using a proven thread is easier. You know what? This situation is swept under the rug. Seriously. Even despite the fact that she is not shown in some romantic light. No, it's not. So even in some of the "problematic BLs", it will not be discussed later. What next ... The film is supposed to show Akihiko's development as a character. Only that Akihiko has the nerve to use Haruki after he attacked Haruki. For example by staying in his apartment for a while. So for a deeper look, Akihiko has a hard time with Ugetsu. Because he can be said to be abusive towards Akihiko. Total drama in a relationship. And his boyfriend is supposed to be presented in a thin light here. Akihiko's spoiler will leave him and he will be with Haruki. Why should Haruki be about their relationship drama? Haruki, he's not mad. He is a good, slightly naive person who is ready to help. I have nothing against him. Akihiko helps Haruki soon, helps a lot. Gives him advice related to music. But sorry, I can't take Akihiko in a second light. He hurt and used Haruki. You could say that everyone makes mistakes. Sexual assault/harassment is not a mistake, it is a cr.... okay, I will not mention it anymore. You can see Aki regrets what he did, and it's true. Maybe it works in an imaginary world, but it doesn't work in the real world. I have nothing against this couple, but what is happening here is absolutely unrealistic.
I'm not saying that all of Given is bad. Absolutely. The original series is great. And he showed that BL can be realistic. Can tell a realistic, interesting, non-toxic story, with characters that resemble people, not sexual fantasies about gays. But this movie isn't very bad, it's just not very realistic, and it has some not very bad plots. Compared to other shounen-ai, of course, it keeps the level a bit above average, but it doesn't deserve SUCH a high rating, which just pisses me off. In addition, what is the chance that a toxic person is actually changing? What is the chance he won't attack you anymore?

Given was one of the first bl series I tried and I obviously loved it so much. With that said, the prequel series might have raised my expectations so much and it might’ve made the sequel movie quite underwhelming for me in a way that it didn’t offer the same emotional impact on me as the first season did. That may be because I’ve already read the manga, but there is definitely something missing in the movie.


The movie skipped a lot of scenes, and not just random scenes, they skipped the most important scenes from the manga which I am not gonna talk about ... much anymore since everyone else already did. Let’s go on to talk about how these skipped scenes affected what we would have experienced from the movie. The movie, skipped most of Akihiko’s development. It’s like he suddenly became a better person and was able to build a relationship in a span of 3 minutes, which is not how things play in the manga. Everything happened so fast, it’s like the creators of the movie assumed that everyone already knew what was going to happen since the audience might've already read the manga so they might as well skip through everything and get to the good part.

When the singing part of Mafuyu came I wasn’t as excited as I was in season 1. In season 1 it felt like everything that was built up through the previous episodes are suddenly coming out. In the movie, I didn’t feel any building up of emotions and instead its like things just happened, there wasn’t any real feeling in it, it didn’t weigh as much as it did in the manga since some things that are happening doesn’t seem to be justified because they SKIPPED through a lot. They could’ve easily added another 30 minutes for the movie to properly do things. It’s not like the movie was so lacking, It had good audio-visual elements(for me) and Yano Shougo’s singing and Centimillimental's composed song is just as good. Also, Centimillimental’s ending song was so fitting for the movie and it should’ve been more emotional for me, but because of the movie’s shortcomings it felt like I was more emotional when I just finished this arc in the manga and searched for the songs (and lyrics) on youtube compared to when I actually watched the show, since the manga definitely resonated with me a lot more than this movie did.


Now for someone that doesn’t have knowledge on the manga and would want to watch this, I suggest reading the manga first and enjoying the music and other audio-visual elements in the movie afterwards. It’s not like the movie is completely trash, it just lacked a lot of things that the season 1 did that could’ve made it a lot better.

The Movie has Arrived, Thanks to Crunchyroll, my Sister and I watched it together.
Here is my Review about the Movie.
Just to Note, I'm a Manga Reader so I won't spoil for any later stuff, its just gonna be my Review on the Movie.

Can I just state that Given is a breath of fresh air when it comes to Shonen-ai series, I love Yaoi but at times you just want something chill with romance, something sweet, with a bit of drama and we got it. Of course the Movie continues from where we left off, and right away I was brought back into the story ... like I haven't been away from it that long, and I remember what happened previously, so that was great.

So the Story of course is amazing, we dive into Akihiko and Uegetsu's relationship and learn more about them and more about Haruki and his feelings and how he feels towards Akihiko and himself and the band and just some of those scenes were emotional, you could feel it, especially with that Akihiko and Haruki scene in the beginning it hurt and you could feel the emotion, even those scenes with Uegetsu at the end just hurt so badly that you felt bad for him, and cried for him. But yes of course I would notice they skipped some scenes and one of them was with Ritsuka and Mafuyu and I was a little peeved but I was more in for the story with Akihiko and Haruki so I let it slide since to me its not a big deal, I can always read it.

The Animation, don't have much to say, the visuals for certain scenes just looked so beautiful especially Uegetsu's scene around the Autumn leaves it just looked stunning, and especially near the end the visuals just made it better, it look so good. I also have to say how well they made the characters look so similar to the manga, personally to me I thought that was amazing how well they replicated it.

All the Characters were just well done, but I already knew it since I've read the Manga so there is not much to say. But besides that the Voice Acting going into these Characters were amazing the VA for Akihiko, he portrayed his character so well in certain scenes that you could feel the emotion going in them all through out the Movie, and a big shout out to Uegetsu's VA as well he was great that ending scene, it was impactful.

The Music.... Amazing, Top Tier, Beautiful, so many things to describe how great it was. All this time reading the Manga I always wanted to hear Mafuyu's song and how it would sound and during the series I was blown away and in tears, and the Movie did the same thing. Right away I loved the song and especially the lyrics you could feel even the emotion going into it, and I have to give it Mafuyu's VA, it was just another great song to add to my playlist. And that end credit song... my god was it sad, it was amazing don't get me wrong but the song itself was so sad I literally cried half way through it, this song suited the Ending of the Movie so well I loved it, and its another song to add to my playlist.

Overall, even though I know they skipped some stuff, personally I didn't care. I didn't notice it until someone mentioned it, and you know what I didn't feel like they rushed it so that's good, and that's why personally this will be my rank for the Movie, 10. You can either agree, or disagree. They handled the story with care as much as they could, the Characters were fleshed out and they even made me feel bad and care for Uegtsu a bit, when before I never really cared much. Overall everything was perfect especially the music it fitted so well the movie and especially if it gets you teared up you know the music and songs are great.

So these are my thoughts. It sucks, it was short but it was great every second of the way. So I hope you liked The Given Movie as much as I did. I do wish it'll get a Sequel, maybe in the near future. Until then I'm gonna re-watch the "ENTIRE" Given Series again and then the Movie again. So if you haven't started the series yet and chose to look at both my Reviews before diving in to it, thanks a bunch I hope it helped you all like this series as much as I do. Thanks Everyone.

A movie following the Given series always had large shoes to fill. I was aware of this going into my viewing.

Initially I felt disappointment, the film was lackluster and there were several moments that didn't feel on par with the quality of the original series. This being said, I felt it picked up as time went on.

The film falls just short of an hour, but it felt fitting, and, by the end, I was satisfied by how the story progressed. The characters were the same that I enjoyed watching before, but this time with a more obvious focus on Haruki and Akihiko, as well as ... Ugetsu to an extent.

In fact, while I enjoyed the progression of Haruki and Akihiko's relationship, it was Ugetsu that really shines in this, leaving me with equal amounts sympathy and dislike for his character.

The music, of course, is still fantastic. The main lyrical piece is, while not as good as the first, still raw and emotional, leading to a climax that was rather beautiful and unexpected.

If you enjoyed Given, you should watch this, while hoping for another full season in the future.

Gay gang movie where everyone likes each other. We followed the plot that the anime had left us, the love triangle between the two blondes and one's boyfriend. It is solved in a very correct way, I love it but I need them to have sex with each other, I would have liked to see that. Taking that all out very well as the film arises and how they carry it I think it is very successful. If you saw the anime, you can't not see it and if you want to see the movie, run to see the anime.

En español:
Película de la banda de ... homosexuales donde todos se gustan entre si. Seguimos la trama que nos había dejado el anime, el triangulo amoroso entre los dos rubios y el novio de uno. Se resuelve de manera muy correcta me encanta pero falto que tengan sexo entre ellos, me hubiera gustado ver eso. Sacando eso todo muy bien como se plantea la película y como la llevan creo que es muy acertada. Si viste el anime no podes no verla y si quieres ver la película anda corriendo a ver el anime.

I do want to mention that I personally have yet to read the manga, so my opinion will probably change later on but I want to say that this was a really good movie.

Although it was basically only focused on the side couple, I have grown attached to the characters and could say that they all reached a stage of growth and it made me really happy.

I would say that it was really fast paced, even for a movie, and could've had a few more scenes with Mafuyu and Uenoyama, I was overall really pleased.

It was overall a good movie and something I ... would definitely watch again.

I absolutely adore this series. The movie is beautiful and was well worth the wait. The art and music are both phenomenal.
I know this was a movie less than an hour long but as someone who is reading the manga. I am little upset about the little parts that were left out. Even though this is an Akihiko Haruki arc, I would have loved to see more from Mafuyu and Uenoyama. (MANGA SPOILERS!!!) I was really looking forward to their sleep over being animated because the clock scene held so much emotion, I wanted to see the "kissy?" "no we're in the hallway" scene ... animated because it shows how the two have gotten so comfortable with each other, most of all, I wanted to see more Hiiragi. With that I know I being a little selfish because if there is another adaptation there will be a lot of Hiiragi in it, but I feel like he was more important to this part of the story than the movie let on.
Still, 8/10. I am not mad but could have been more pleased. aka im rly petty

Content Warnings: Sexual assault

As a manga reader for this series, I disliked the Akiharu arc because of what Akihiko did. However, I still decided to watch it. I wouldn't necessarily say it was a bad adaptation however there were things that definitely needed to be fixed.

I want to start off saying that Ritsuka was NOT a main character so please change it. He doesn't have much to do in this movie. I'd say the only main characters in this Akihiko, Haruki and maybe Ugetsu.


Spoilers //

A lot of important scenes were cut: the classroom scene with Mafuyu and Ritsuka, the clock scene. I understand ... that this movie was centered around the adults (Akihiko, Haruki, Ugetsu) however I believe those scenes were very important for those characters. The classroom and clock scene was essential for Mafuyu and Ritsuka's relationship and I don't think their story will be as impactful without it if they'd like to continue the series.

The pacing for the movie was absolutely terrible, it would've been better if they had made this movie way longer. Within the first twenty minutes of the movie, Akihiko has already sexually assaulted Haruki. Next three minutes, they "break up" and within the next five minutes, Akihiko tells Haruki he's good.

The BGM was weird sometimes, especially the scene where Haruki was at Take's apartment. It was playful when it shouldn't be because o what happened approximately a minute ago.



I don't do reviews but I felt that I needed to make one here. I still have more problems with this movie that I don't really want to think about more. The manga was way better than this and I'd highly recommend it compared to this movie.

Story: 5/10
Art: 7/10
Sound: 6/10
Character: 6/10
Enjoyment: 5/10
Overall: 6/10

this anime is very aspiring to me. I'm a type of person that is never sure of what they truly want, and I try to please people and tell them what they want to hear but that's never how I actually feel. Sometimes I get so tired of human interactions and want to ghost and shut myself from the world. I don't usually say this much about myself but. this anime made me want to. And I really loved it. and I say thank you to the person that thought of this anime. And I will forever truly love music. Shi this anime got ... me cryin like, cmon dawg

SPOILER WARNING


The Given series is a story about moving on and finding passion. I loved the show so much, it went down as my first BL anime ever. I read the manga as well, and I enjoyed that to(except the movie portion I'll get to that soon).
STORY 6/10
The story this time is based on Haruki and Akihiko. I was anticipating them as a couple at first, but then after reading the manga their relationship clearly has problems. Sure, Aki changed for Haruki but that doesn't excuse what he did. Most people pass the *one scene* as a mistranslation, but I disagree. Haruki was clearly ... in distress, and the way he reacted in the aftermath shows it wasn't consensual. Sure, he says it was but as I said earlier, the way he reacted he clearly wasn't okay with it. The story also surrounds Ugetsu and Aki, a once couple that broke up. I did almost cry over it, the both of them were clearly broken over this and it's one of the one things I did like about it.
ART 7/10
The art and animation is good. Nothing else to say.
SOUND 9/10
AGAIN MAFUYU'S SONG WAS AMAZING. It sent chills down my spine and honestly I could listen for hours.
CHARACTER 6/10
Aki's growth was fair. He made a mistake, and he tried to fix it. It's the way Haruki forgave so easily.
ENJOYMENT 6/10
While the story had so many flaws, I did at least enjoy some bits. Would I recommend? Sure. If you have just finished given then I guess you could watch the movie. But I recommend the manga if you can buy it.

I read the manga prior to watching both the anime and the movie so I already knew what was gonna happen, many others who were manga readers expressed their disappointment with this film especially with the pacing and lack of depth(?) which I didn't really see a problem with. But re-reading the AkiHaru arc, they really did cut out quite a bit of content. Quite a lot of UenoMafu content, as well as the preparation of the concert, and also the depth behind Haruki's feelings and Ugetsu and Akihiko's relationship. The movie was fine, but definitely read the manga for more!

I would just like to preface this review with: I have not read the manga. I plan to, but just haven't gotten around to it yet.

Overall, I thought this was a very average film. I enjoyed a lot of the Given anime, and was excited to see Haru and Aki's relationship develop as I enjoyed their dynamic. However, practically five minutes in and I was confused.

One particular scene (if you've seen it, you know) left me in a state of shock. My love and respect for Aki plummeted, and I was left wondering how this issue was to be resolved. This was a major ... issue for their relationship, and delves into some dangerous territory. I wonder if it's an issue of time or just poor pacing, but the resolution came off as peculiar and out of character for Haru. Yes, at this point he has deep feelings for Aki, but I never saw him as the type to just forgive what he did almost immediately.

Speaking of poor pacing and time, I felt like extending the length of the movie for at least another half hour would have benefited this film immensely. While the relationship between Aki and Ugetsu was handled well in my opinion, other relationships just come short. I wanted more between Mafuyu and Ugetsu especially; they're two interesting personalities spending time with one another, and it's clear that Mafuyu means something to Ugetsu. But, this isn't really explored outside of two scenes.

While the anime series made me yearn for more Uenoyama and Mafuyu, I appreciate that their relationship was practically set aside for this film. On the other hand, while Mafuyu still had some screen time through his growing bond with Ugetsu, I wish Uenoyama also had someone new to spend time with. I felt like he was almost forgotten in this movie.

Overall, while this review outlines my more negative opinions, I did still enjoy aspects of this film. But, my enjoyment didn't come without concern.

Why does this series have to assault my emotions like this?

Where do I even begin with this review? Well, I guess I'll start with the fact that I skimmed the manga chapters that this film covered after Given, the series, finished airing; as such, I've noticed that there's a few Uenoyama/Mafuyu scenes that've been missed out in this film that were pretty cute. However, given the potential for further anime material, depending on the manga, I'll let that slide. Plus, this film seemed to want to center on Akihiko and Haruki's story, which I thought was just fine because I loved their story when I ... (briefly) came across it in the manga.

Something I noticed with this film was that it was in sharp contrast to the series, and that kind of storytelling was really interesting to partake in. Spoilers if you haven't seen the series, but Mafuyu's story was really dark while the love he found was quite innocent. With this film, it's the opposite. The conflicts these characters are going through are pretty typical, as far as romances are concerned, but the central romantic relationship was rife with adult experiences and emotions. It was an interesting comparison between the two romances in Given (though, I believe the manga is pursuing a third right now?).

I feel like I'm stating the obvious by reviewing the story in this series because it's so damn good, and it builds upon such powerful themes. Of course, in the series, you're getting themes about dependence and loss and self-discovery and love. In this film you get those themes, as well, but it does it in a totally different way. It explored Akihiko and Haruki in such an interesting way, and it made them into real people with realistic emotions and reactions. Plus, the overhanging message of this film is as good as Given has ever done.

Also, this film was an hour long. How they can pace it to tell a complete story without rushing it or sacrificing any substance is beyond me, but they did it. The music, of course, was poppin', but I think we all knew that. It wasn't as poppin' as the series, but I think that's appropriate because it's a reflection of what and who Mafuyu's music is being written for because it doesn't have to be about pain anymore.

I don't know what else to say besides Given is hella underrated for how well it delivers on everything. It's phenomenal at using music to represent people and how people use music to understand themselves. It's not afraid to put real people on screen and show you their lives. And if that isn't enough, the love stories it's able to tell are, honestly, the best I've seen in anime. That includes all the classic romance anime that are, inevitably, all the same.

If you haven't been exposed to Given yet, watch it. It's way more than a romance and way more than a music anime. It's got a lot of heart and a story that will fill your soul with music.

So, remember that missing arc from the given anime that was described involving the relationship between Akihiko and Haruki? Well, this movie shows where that missing arc has been. To be one hundred percent honest, this movie should've been at least two or three episodes included in the anime to make a little more sense and how the anime would end. Does that mean that this movie is a bit misleading after saying that? Sure. So, the story is what I had mentioned and goes as follows. Akihiko is going through an emotional roller coaster due to his relationship with his ex-boyfriend, Ugetsu, going south. ... So he was jumping from place to place to sleep for a night until he ended up staying at Haruki's place. Funny enough, Haruki is actually in love with Akihiko. Yet the love story wasn't the only focus between the two. The focus with Akihiko also shows his love for not only the drums but the violin, too. It isn't just Akihiko that's going through an emotional roller coaster. Haruki and even Ugetsu go through their own feelings. Mafuyu, the best boy of the anime, in my honest opinion, does help out whenever he needs to listen since it was thanks to them pulling him through his feelings back in the anime. I have to admit the focus was thought out well, yet it feels like there should have been more constructed between Akihiko and Haruki. Rather, the middle part had felt a bit rushed. What also irked me is that one scene where Akihiko was kinda forcing himself on Haruki. He is confirmed bisexual as I did my research when he was staying at a woman's house. I know they love each other, and they did make up later, but again, that felt a little rushed. Anything that does involve forced sexual intercourse or what would look like being sexual assault would make plenty of folks uncomfortable, which I would give a bit of warning for those who have been a victim of such who are looking to give this movie a watch. It is an hour long movie, as it shows how I think this could've been about two or three episodes in the anime as it's all about the third act between Akihiko and Haruki. You rarely see Ritsuko and bits of Mafuyu, who does help with Ugetsu, which led to a subtle ending of the movie. The music is still amazing, whether from the score of the film or the song Mafuyu had sung during that showtime with given. The animation is still great. The voice acting is still on point. Watched this in Japanese. If you one hundred percent know Japanese, you would feel free to play this in the background. If you are a dub person, you would also feel free to play this in the background. Sure, it was a middle of the road kind of review, but it is what it is. It felt a bit underwhelming despite having a decent time with this. So I'm gonna give this movie six Akihiko smoking a cigarette at the balcony out of ten. 6/10. Couldn't help but see that as a meme, if you ask me.

*Spoiler Free*
I quite enjoyed the movie. My review might be a little biased because I love Given, and also because I chose to watch the movie with an anime only.

I was a little disappointed by the end of the movie when they didn't announce who won the competition because that is one of the main transitions into the next parts. Some things were cut it felt a bit incomplete in regards to the character and story.

I already knew that they decided to change some things in the anime because in the manga stuff is kinda happening at the same time.

Story - 8
Like before ... they cut some stuff out or just moved it to a later scene. The story is mainly focused on the characters so I'll get to that later. I understand it's a movie so they can't include everything but there are just some things I feel really shouldn't've been cut.

Art - 9
No complaints. Very pretty. My only problem is the transition between 2D and 3D which was actually really good!

Sound - 9
Music and sound effects great as always in my opinion.

Character - 8
Because stuff was cut out or moved (probably not moved because it happened between this) it felt like the characters just weren't fully fleshed out. Something just didn't feel the same and I was left with a sense of disappointment and emptiness. This may be biased because this was my favourite part in the manga and everything but... the side characters were more present through this. I feel like Ugetsu's character just felt a bit incomplete(?). There was a reason I went from completely hating him to really liking him and wishing him the best that I felt wasn't represented well in the movie.

Enjoyment - 9
I watched this with a friend so I enjoyed it lots. Very amusing because they're anime only so that makes the enjoyment score a 9. But again, for the reasons I stated again, the fact that they cut some stuff just made me a little bit sad. I didn't end up crying, which surprised me.

Overall - 7
Overall, I was satisfied with the movie but yea, for the reasons stated above I put it as a 7. For me it didn't have the same charm the anime had, yet that didn't have a 1-2 hour time limit and instead had 5ish hours to introduce us to the characters.

Ah well, this may just be my personal thoughts on someone who was so utterly moved by this part in the manga and cried over it.