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.

First of all, I'm caught up with the manga, so I've already seen this arc in the manga. Secondly, I'm a gay boy, so I seriously treasure this adaptation since this is the only realistic anime with proper gay relationships that I can enjoy.

Given is the best Shounen Ai anime in my own opinion and I'm so thankful for this continuation. I'm pretty sure the staff and the mangaka worked hard on this movie, because it shows. It must have been hard to fit this WHOLE arc into 59 minutes, but I think they did a great job. Did it feel rushed sometimes? Yes. Would ... I love to see more Mafuyama scenes? YES. But other than those, they did justice to the manga as much as they could with the time they got. The soundtracks were amazing. Yoru ga Akeru is such a great song. They also released a mini album just for this movie! The animation and the art were fine as usual. It wasn't better or worse than the first season. Overall, the movie was enough for the audience to grasp this arc and the characters. My only regret is that... I wish they showed more of Akihiko's development. In the manga, we saw more of his progress. But anyways, it's understandable with the amount of time they got.

Also, it must not be hard to guess why they had to make a movie with this arc. The first season was about Mafuyu and Uenoyama's wholesome relationship and their band journey. Overall, it was cute. This arc tho? This was deep. This was much more serious. I remember reading this arc right after finishing the anime, and I thought to myself "WOW. I have never thought Given could get better, but kudos to the manga." She truly outdid herself with this arc in the manga, because EVERYTHING was so realistic and well written. Everything. Every single detail. It was such a well thought out and executed arc. However, it wasn't cute like the previous one. This would be hard to watch for other viewers expecting to see Mafuyu and Uenoyama's relationship progress etc. This movie also had lots of more serious and more mature scenes, like some sexual scenes. So I'm not surprised the staff decided to make a movie. This is like a side project for Given "fans" who wanted more. And I'm sure there will be a second season. I felt it while watching the movie. They almost cut out all the Mafuyama scenes, which means only one thing, they are saving them for the second season! It's a clever move to be honest. They are going to be like "Hey! Here's a second season, let's continue from where we left off! Mafuyu and Uenoyama! Oh, there's also a movie but it's pretty short and it's not about Mafuyu and Uenoyama haha so it's not that necessary."

I would give this movie a 9 out of 10. It wasn't masterpiece, obviously, but they did their best with 59 minutes and I'm satisfied with the adaptation of this arc. It was good enough to understand Akihiko's relationships with Haruki and Ugetsu, their developments, and their backstories. However, if you feel like it wasn't enough for you, you should definitely read the manga.

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?

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.

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.

I'm not the type of person to write a review but here I go. I'm not gonna waste yall times by making it overally professional or whatevaaaaa. Anyways Chile. SPOILERS:

Here we go. IT IS PROBABLY ONE OF MY ALL TIME FAVORITE ROMANCE FILMS. I WAITED 7 MONTHS AND WAS NOT DISAPPOINTED AT ALL. The story was realistic and so beautifully written from the past lovers and trauma to the healing and moving forward. It was written so eloquently and beautifully. I can't even explain how amazing it is. The narratives to the music to the characters. Everything about it was glorious. There would be ... small lines that would have me in tears due to such significant meaning. Times where I would cry from frustration and the pain in my heart. I don't think I've watched such a beautifully written movie. The pureness of the love they shared towards the end. I loved how engaging the story was as well. It didn't seem to continue towards one pathway but rather explore different emotions and feelings. I'm not the type of person to cry for a romance but this had me in tears. I'm too lazy to re-edit this and make it pretty 💀 but these are my genuine though messy feelings written down.

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

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.

This review comes from someone who follows the manga, so take that in consideration. I already knew what was gonna happen and since the manga gives you more depth and emotion, when you watch a scene you kinda feel the emotion you felt when reading, because you know more about the characters and the story, you have bonded more deeply with the characters, etc. so you're basically just revisiting all the emotions /pain/ you have felt before.

I loved it. I've been waiting for this for almost a year and it didn't disappoint. Has always, given is really well adapted. The ost is amazing, eventhough we've ... had the music for months they still make me emotional and fit so well with the scenes.
Altough the adaptation is really good, I do have some issues with it. The scenes that were cut out. The scenes that lost some of their meaning. The things that were so well explained in the manga and here they were rushed. Complex characters like Ugetsu and his relationship with Aki deserved better. Aki's redemption arc deserved more depth. etc. For example (light spoiler until almost the end of the paragraph), the scene where Haruki leaves his home and is crying while walking on the street had such a huge impact on the manga (because honestly Haru is baby and one of my favourite characters after Ugetsu so that might have something to do with it) but here I didn't feel the same kind of impact. I mean, there was feeling but it was just not the same thing. The same happened with some other scenes. Not something that ruins the movie but I've read the manga and I'm a little biased.

Of course this, as following the manga, has the same scene that has problems and was considered unnecessary for a lot of ppl. It's not terrible (coming from a person who has read/watched a lot of this genre) but it's something I definitely did not expect from given and that could've been handled differently. But that was the manga's author choice and already a problem on the manga so I won't be discussing it on the movie review, since it doesn't concern here. And since I already knew it would happen and had enough time to muddle over it and be kinda mad at the character in question, it didn't impact much my enjoyment of the movie. I'm not sure how it would be for anime-onlys tho, you'll probably be mad about it like we all were.

That being said, as I am a huge fan of given, I really am biased and that's what made me like this movie so much. Seeing this finally animated, even if it isn't perfect, was a source of joy and well, tears, because I love these characters a lot.

Also if you haven't read the manga I recommend you do so. The manga is absolutely amazing and way more profound.

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.

I don't think this movie lived up to my expectations. The love story between Akihiko and Haruki did not feel in the slightest comparable to the depth and amount of development that occurred with Mafuyu and Uenoyama. It felt rushed and no sense of progression; just a mish mash of events that didn't feel natural. Yes, in season one we see the seeds planted of the future conflict between the two, however no amount of foreshadowing could make the plot itself any less boring. I have concerns that Given itself as a concept does not have much interesting material to keep it fresh and interesting. ... There's so much you can do with characters - so many avenues you can take them, tribulations you can put them through, and this particular segue into these two (and Ugetsu) was not gripping enough for me. As always, colors are amazing. I like the art a lot. There's not much to complain when it comes to the visual eye candy. I just wish the story had more substance. Something to latch onto. I hope this series can further develop. The potential is still there and I am rooting for it.

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.

*Spoilers are included in this Review*
this is my second time reviewing so pls do criticize me so I can be better at this

"I changed because I wanted to be a man worthy of you!" -Akihiko
"It's okay." -Mafuyu

Intro:
Given. Probably one of the most unique Anime/Manga names I've ever encountered.
But you probably thought that the "Given" title was about the guitar given to Mafuyu from his late lover, But it's much more than that. The salvation and the second chance that was "given" to Akihiko, the need and hurting but beautiful love that was "given" to Haruki, and the sense of excitement, love, and also the ... remembrance that was "given" to Uenoyama.

Damn, I just love Given.

Getting into the point:
So, the movie Given was released on August 22 and it took us months to finally watch the movie itself internationally with the annoying virus spread going on. And most of us probably had enough time to read the manga of what this movie was going to be about, and I'm one of those people.
The story this time focuses on entirely Haruki and Akihiko's relationship backed with Mafuyu as he understands music more, and help finally breaking the toxic relationship of Akihiko and Ugetsu, and giving a little push to entirely change Akihiko for Haruki. The story first of all felt rushed. In the anime movie only I guess. Everything went well in the manga as we had time to process what the fuck was happening to the characters and why it hurt so much, instead of switching to events and situations every minute like in the anime. Take-chan confronting Haruki to not go back to Akihiko and my most awaited scene of Mafuyu staying over to Uenoyama's place, which actually helped in solidifying Mafuyu's feelings to writing new lyrics and I am so mad they skipped that. Can't be helped I guess as this movie is all about Akihiko and Haruki so they skipping the Ue and Mafuyu Fuwa Fuwa parts. Ugetsu's POV felt rushed too and out of nowhere. The execution of feeling and tension in this movie was kinda bad but it still kind of delivered some parts that I would say "ok, average." Well, it probably was because they tried to put everything about Akihiko, Haruki, and Ugetsu together in one movie that only had 59 minutes. Let's just hope for a Season 2 that won't skip my Ue x Mafuyu ship, and the upcoming sad storm Shizusumi x Hiiragi.

Characters:
Mafuyu, still as cute as always, and I was kinda shocked with the added hair clippers on his hair, I probably missed that in the manga but oh well. The best scenes in the movie were Mafuyu's interactions with Ugetsu that was far too quick yet sweet. He still played a major role even being skipped at times.

Uenoyama, which had very minor cameos and lines was still relevant with his Sharpness. I love how they showed Uenoyama opening up more with Mafuyu with that hug. His working, not forced fluffy, realistic relationship with Mafuyu is a truly happy sight to see. Pulling off relationships like that in BL that don't need smut or any kind of major conflict is a Natsuki Kizu specialty and we love that.

Akihiko. They stayed true with the manga and his VA is great, but I wished he put a little more emotion then and there. Can you hate Akihiko? I hope you won't. As far as I know, the Japanese fans hated Akihiko after this movie and I kinda hated that. You might think Akihiko was such trash to Ugetsu and that he almost raped Haruki and he cannot be forgiven for that is alright. But please do not hate the character entirely. It just shows how human they are. His character development wasn't as complex and outstanding as other characters in other shows, but the simplicity of his development is one of the best you can see in genres like this.

Ugetsu. yes. He is one of my favorite characters, ngl. I hated him at first for playing with Akihiko like that. But I'm sure we've come to understand these characters more, and the hatred for them has settled down. Ugetsu loves Akihiko but knows his presence would just destroy Akihiko's future. Lost and unable to let go, he tries drastic methods that to be honest, was a scum move. But what can we do? they both won't let go and just went along with everything, even though it was obvious the toxicity of both was drowning them. Sometimes love can't just work even with both being mutual to each other. Such wise cringey words coming from an inexperienced 12-year-old kid lol.

So in conclusion, the movie was great.
Though the failed tension and emotion delivered in some of the important parts were disappointing, the movie still had its good points.
I've come to think now too that I wouldn't have cried if I didn't read the manga and knew what was going to happen. I cried at the manga and yes, I still cried in this one.
I really recommend watching Given, and this movie if you're into realistic BL or just the romance genre itself. But the manga in this part was better though.
Thanks, Lerche and Blue Lynx. We Appreciate it.

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.

I'd been waiting to watch this film for so long and i had very high expectations for it. But i´m afraid to say, now I've already watched it, that it turned out to be quite mediocre and a disappointment.

As some other reviews of the Given Movie suggest, one of its biggest problems was its pacing. The flow of the overall movie feels out of place: the plot portrays itself as a very emotionally complex one, but the tempos are all over the place, which ends up messing up with some of the subtleties and deep moments throughout the film. Scenes, no matter how dramatic ... they are, develope in a rush, one dialogue after the other, one scene after the other, in what seems like a frenetic race so as to not exceed the 1 hour long limit of the film.

The animation goes from a really high quality and beautiful one, with lots of details and light effects, to the most plain animation ever made in a matter of one scene to another.

I´m a huge Given fan and i feel bad about this outcome. But on the bright side of things, i got to see my boys again after a very long times. But still, this was quite a disappointment.

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.