Review of given

Before I say anything: I think I might have liked it? Give is a story of four boys coming together to create a band. Oh, and did I mention that they're all in love? With each other? The story itself wasn't anything to write home about. It was a slow burn, music, high school drama series about the slow progression into love - nothing we haven't already heard about. But with that said, between all the fast paced love or death, kissing at every corner boys love(popularly known as "yaoi") genre, the cliche was appreciated and very heartwarming to watch. While the soundtrack to the serieswas great (minus the 'la la la' in the beginning of the series (you know what I'm talking about), I can't say the same for the characters. The main leads kind of fell flat for me. It just felt very cliche for me: the genius guitarist who lost his passion for music and the heartbroken boy who would awaken the guitarist's love and passion. These characterizations, while there were some growth, didn't really change much even by the end of the episodes.

But with that being said, I still enjoyed the series. I've seen better, but I've also seen much worse. It was a slow burn story that, given the patience to flourish, eventually bore fruit. It was atmospheric and healing, the opposite to the exciting, more striking series that are the title headpieces of the title "anime".

The series was an open recommendation that I found online, so going into the series, I didn't have any real expectations. Next to all the other, high tension series that we have nowadays, the story felt dull and lagging in comparison. I could understand the people who gave up after the first three episodes in. But if you have the time and a love for something more soothing and paced, I'd suggest you give it a little more time to spring up on you. You won't regret it.

And if you don't have the time or patience to stay for the whole series, at least give the soundtrack a chance; it's really good.