Review of given

Note: There may be some [Spoilers] Overview: I would have never thought of watching this series if I didn't know the premise of it (I asked someone to spoil it for me to see if the narrative was worth investing in considering it was a BL series) but I felt like it was a pretty good series because of the BL integration. That being said, I am not a total fan of BL or music series so for this to be good means it was probably amazing... hehe Story: We follow a quiet, introverted high school student, Mafuyu in his musical journey that had been inspiredby his new band-friends and his former friend(s). At first, the story is very vague in that it starts with Mafuyu and Ueyonama but eventually branches out to other characters and Mafuyu's past time line, this is what kept me hooked. In 11 episodes, we are given a satisfying feeling of betrayal, love and reconciliation through music. I doubt this series is finished just yet so I will hold off on any long term judgement, Given is definitely an 8/10 in terms of story.

Art & Sound:
This series is very reserved in animation, up until the concert segment of the series there were very little animation movement apart from talking, walking etc. which was surprising to see, a series in 2019 having very minimal actions but I guess the budget was limited and it made up for it during the concert episode - both visuals and audio were amazing, the CGI was a good decision because of all the sudden movement as well as the vocals. Both A & S are 9/10 in that aspect.

Character:
Character development can be seen throughout the series but begins stagnation at episode 9/10 after the concert because of Mafuyu's past being revealed. However, I really enjoyed the character rivalry between Mafuyu and the girl that likes Ueyonama as well as Ueyonama's sister and Akhiko. The character palette is well managed for smaller scale story, I'm excited for new contributions in the next season. 7/10

Enjoyment:
Story and character development aside, I didn't really find the BL elements entertaining so I often skipped ahead - however, I understand and fully support the use of these elements to provide a heavy-hitting story. I'd say in terms of enjoyment this series was a 7/10.

Overall:
Great series, 8/10 is a well deserving rating. I'd love to see other new additions in these story lines.