Given

Given has an overabundance of what, for example, the aforementioned Carole & Tuesday is sorely lacking - a quality focus on the characters. On the other hand, at least Carole & Tuesday gave you one new song per episode, and showed you, albeit rather unrealistically, how it was composed. However, Given does not come out with even the first whiff of a song until (I think) the third episode, when Mafuyu finally launches into song and showcases his angelic voice (which is rather late for a musical anime series...). Instead of the music that they promised, we are rather just left with the characters, their problems, their insecurities and misgivings, their emerging love for music, and, of course, romantic relationships that develop slowly and quite naturally. This show teaches you to appreciate its characters and to sympathize with them. In other words, it is more about being entertained by and interested in the drama of the show, rather than the music. It also pushes you to root for the characters in following their slow steps to musical stardom (rather than in C+T, where you immediately see that the girls are very talented and that it is all about trying to make it as fast as possible). In other words, this anime series has a narrative which is much more focused on the characters and their relationships rather than the music itself. However, this, therefore, creates a problem for anyone who signed up mainly for the music… In conclusion, I have decided quite firmly that romantic relationships take up way too much time for a music anime series (and for me personally), I do not want to wait for all the relationships to be sorted out (which will probably take a long time because of the pacing), so I am going to pack up my instruments and head off into the maelstrom of crappy isekai or silly comedies and leave this anime series to those who are able to enjoy it. I wanted to rock and roll, damnit, not get dramatic! Dropped after the fifth episode and 6.2/10. (20.09.2019)

Given is exactly the type of anime production that is needed these days. It is a very relaxed, adult, cleverly paced story about a band, in which music and drama play an equally big role. It is driven by well-written characters, who you will have no problem with, as their actions and profundity are very credible. Everything flows very naturally, and even with the way the story about the band and dealing with different generations works well together here. I was often reminded of Kids on the Slope, where I experienced similar moments of enthusiasm. So far so good, but why should there be more anime of this kind? I think it is mainly because it is one of the few positive exceptions, where a relationship between characters with different sexual orientations is depicted and incorporated into a story that is so believable, human and not a superficial tawdry representation. When someone tells me that there is such a relationship in an anime, based on my experience, I most often imagine a shallow, dull serving of thick sleaze for greedy fujoshi, which is intended to satisfy them exclusively through a gift-horse of sighs, adorable glances, moments of fawning and gentle or rougher forms of physicality between two or more boy actors. It is usually difficult to find any high-quality there, plus, if it were a heterosexual relationship, nobody would give a shit about such an anime. So it is pleasantly surprising that Given is not like those anime at all. It is a shame however, that some tropes were not completely avoided by the production company here - the male characters in general are sometimes a bit more physical with each other than in other anime, and the main protagonist's reticence combined with his cute cuddly crap and glances irritated me initially and made my face go red- but fortunately it gradually becomes clear that there is a good reason for everything and it is not just a fan service for female viewers. I give it a solid 4 stars, and it is a shame that the instrumental ending from the first episode was not left to play out more. (18.03.2021)