Review of given
I missed out on watching Given when it first came out, as at the time, I was still going through anime burnout and couldn't muster the energy or motivation to watch anything besides Pokemon or titles that really interested me. Plus, having watched K-On way back when, I thought Given was just going to be K-On but with guys and I didn't give it a second thought. But now that I've finally clawed myself out of burnout and upon hearing news that it finally received an English dub after years of not having one, I decided to give it a chance. Especially since now Iactually have a Crunchyroll subscription. Now, having seen Given, I'm kicking myself for having misjudged it, because this is everything I wish K-On had been. Plus, Crunchyroll just announced that it, along with the movie, is going to come out on home video later in the year, and I actually like it enough to want to own it!
Every day, quiet high schooler Mafuyu Satou carries around a red Gibson ES-330 guitar, formerly owned by a friend he tragically lost. One day, while napping on the stairs, an abrasive classmate named Ritsuka Uenoyama encounters him and scolds him for letting his guitar strings rust, offering to help fix them right afterward. Stunned by Ritsuka's knowledge, Mafuyu begs him to teach him how to change strings and play the guitar. Ritsuka is a talented guitarist, but doesn't feel like he'd be a good enough teacher for him. But Mafuyu is persistent, and eventually, Ritsuka not only relents, but lets Mafuyu join his band. At one point, Ritsuka hears Mafuyu sing and is mesmerized, wanting Mafuyu to become his band's vocalist. With this, Mafuyu's once dark world becomes a little brighter, and with help from his new friends, there's a chance he might finally be able to heal from the tragic loss of his guitar's previous owner.
The animation was done by a studio called Lerche, who you may know worked on shows like Astra: Lost In Space and Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun. The overall look of the show is pretty decent, but the show itself has very little in the way of actual animation. But it does manage to come to life when it matters, like for the band's first performance in episode 1 and during their big concert. It does use some clunky CGI during that same sequence as well, but thankfully they're not used too much. Plus, what Given lacks in overall animation, it manages to make up for in its love for its subject matter. One of the things I didn't like about K-On was that for a good portion of the series, it was much more focused on showing the characters eating cake, drinking tea, and talking about anything except music despite being a series based on music. Given goes all in on its themes of music and bands in a way that shows that the producers knew what they were talking about, like explaining what effects pedals are, the importance of taking care of a guitar's strings, how taxing it is to come up with lyrics, and so on. Speaking of music, the soundtrack is pretty good as well, and you can't have a music anime without good music...though I'm admittedly not a fan of both the opening and ending songs.
Noitamina anime tend to have better characterizations than most (with some exceptions, i.e. Fractale and Guilty Crown, along with many other duds), and Given is no different. Part of the charm comes from the fact that while the two main characters are teenagers, most of the supporting cast consist of adults, and the show is careful not to shoehorn in any unnecessary angst and drama. At least, no more than is necessary. Instead of relying on unnecessary twists, Given thrives on letting the characters just interact naturally with one another and create their own tension. The show does a great job at showing all the different sides to the characters to the point where you can't really describe them with just one sentence and that's it. There's a huge amount of subtlety in the relationships between the various characters, and none of it feels shallow. Plus, I feel Ritsuka is a much better take on a character who's abrasive and isn't good at being honest than, say, Kaito from Tsurune, because unlike Kaito, Ritsuka, and by extension the show itself, actually realizes when he crosses the line or says something he shouldn't and makes efforts to make amends, though Haruki's my favorite.
If you're a person who dislikes slow paced anime or even LGBT-themed anime at all (And yes, Given has characters that are VERY explicitly canonically gay), you're probably not gonna like Given. But it really is a must watch for people who love a decent romance and want something more meaty and substantial than most anime of similar fare. The show's only real flaw is that the ending is very open-ended and leaves quite a bit of loose threads hanging, though the 2020 sequel movie would rectify this. Though I'm admittedly hesitant to watch the movie because it apparently has one character doing something he really shouldn't to another. But Given as a show is still really good and deserves all the love it can get. It's a show that actually gives a damn about its subject matter and a good reminder that Noitamina can still churn out great shows.
Given may not be breaking any molds, but I highly recommend it if you want a sweet, wholesome time killer that's still substiantial enough to leave you wanting more.