The main couple is fine. Uenoyama is quite okay as a character. I like him, but his boyfriend ... he's such a dull, shallow, and boring character that he's like your typical shounen main character.
I will come back to my beloved Akihiko and Haruka after that.
In typical yaoi, the author also makes such love chemistry that everyone screams that they are a couple and kiss 24/7. In the case of Given, it is somewhat shallow in the sense that it is well between the main couple but they lack some of that love chemistry. But it's good.
The plot cannot be called PWP. We have some common ideas for a music group here. The initial chapters are quite boring, but then the action takes place in a more interesting way. Some chapters are a bit boring, but not bad, it's fun to read. Sometimes there is too much drama, as befits BL.
I don't like the design of the characters because they look quite the same. The only character that stands out from the rest is Akihiko. Others look the same; even the hairstyles are similar, let alone the faces. What I don't like.
For characters, I can give 5, max. 6 out of 10. They are not hysterical, with the emotional development of an elementary school student, and behaving as if they grew somewhere away from people and society in some amoral world like the characters Junjou Romantica or Sekaiichi H. But some really lack that personality and depth. Especially Mafuyu. But it is OK.
And now the problem starts because we have Haruka X Akihiko's reports here. And with this relationship, the series shoots itself in the leg, because it has done what can be called a "classic" BL relationship. And I can already see these screams about how Given is different. But criticism of authorities is also important because remember one simple thing. If something is considered good, or even the best in the eyes of the public, it does not mean that its problematic aspects cannot be questioned or criticized. Yes, we're talking about a sexual assault, a scene that looks a thousand times creepy and rapey in the manga. Hell no. No rape devices, please. And they say it is not romanticized in one of the meanings of the term, yes, but it is not, but it may be about normalization. The term romanticization refers to the fact that something is presented as, for example, normal or even romantic while being bad. The thing yaoi manga writers love even more than I do is the bad boy-good boy thread. In the case of Given, part of the talk may be about normalization. Why? Because Akihiko and Haruki end up together after that. So the series says it's okay to meet the person who attacked you. And this matter is swept under the rug, it is not moved as if nothing happened. Given had potential here, but it blew it with a bang. Akihiko was supposedly a bad guy with problems, but then he realized he was acting badly ?? and he has changed, but this is so stupid and unrealistic. Aki for me personally, as he was an asshole and he was (I invite you to check my given movie review). Haruki, so he's Akihiko's boyfriend, he's fine, I just feel sorry for him because he's too light-hearted and a little naive.
Overall Given is fine, I can recommend it, but somehow I don't consider it a BL masterpiece.
