Review of given

I have been following the manga for this work since 2014. I am a big fan of it and it keeps having a major impact over my life even now and let me tell you I was LIVID when I heard one of my favorite BL manga was getting an anime adaptation. After seeing the trailer, I did not have too much hope for the animation quality however, I was nevertheless still very excited to finally show people that there are hidden gems amongst the BL genre which is not esteemed highly among the casual audience. I would like the start off by talking aboutwhy this adaptation falls short from the source material and hence why I will give a lower score like 7 compared to the 9 I gave to the manga:

1. The animation quality:

It's not exceptionally horrible per se however there is not much life to the animation. Do not look for sakuga or exceptional background design here, you won't find it. Animation quality wouldn't necessarily be a game-changer if Kizu Natsuki's drawings were not beautiful works of art yet they are amazing and gorgeous so you can't help but feel the inevitable downgrade which makes the experience not as fun as it could be. Many important scenes (trying to avoid spoilers here) were not able to deliver the complex emotions they were supposed to deliver just because they lacked the original author's dynamic drawing style and intricate posing.

2. It really drags out the content:

Given tries to fit a very short amount of manga into an 11 episode series as the rest is concerned with adult topics that are not fit for tv broadcasting. As you might have guessed this means a lot of filler content that doesn't really do anything and also very slow pacing in most episodes.

3. Missing lines in one of the most important scenes:

Like I'm actually pissed off about this. Why they would refrain from adding one of the most important dialogues and monologues that is probably the key element in understanding the characters' motivations and reasons for being the way they are is beyond me?

Why it may be better than the manga:

1. It has sounds:

Given is about music. So hearing the songs and the voices adds a lot to the story and the voice actors do an exceptional job. Especially Mafuyu with his singing. Hearing Given songs irl is an experience I will probably never get over and is something I would not dream ever happening and it did. I am thus very thankful.