Review of given

“It all started with that chord I played. I had no idea that I was strumming hard on his heartstrings with my own fingers.” Uenoyama stumbles upon Satou, a sleepy stranger with a broken guitar on the stairs of their high school. Recognizing it just needs the strings replaced, and also seeing how bummed Satou was, he begrudgingly flies into action. One strum on the newly-fixed guitar, and well, you read the opening quote. This first, chance meeting not only does a terrific job at introducing us to these characters and their personalities, but it also encapsulates so much of what I loved about this show,specifically its symbolism. In a way, guitar strings are not unlike a person’s heart. Yes, they can break often. But they can also be fixed, although sometimes you need a helping hand. And then, if the right chords are struck at the right time, something beautiful can blossom. Now, does this symbolism sound a little cheesy and heavy-handed? Maybe, but it works. And besides, a little cheesiness in a love story is not necessarily a bad thing.

To quickly get this out of the way: as a straight guy, I realize this show was very much not made with me in mind, but I heard positive things, so I decided to give it a shot. Did I regret it? Well, let’s read on.

The cast is a small, but strong one. I’ve already mentioned the two main characters, Satou and Uenoyama. The former plays the role of the quiet understudy. He wants to learn the guitar, but despite carrying around a fairly expensive one, has little to no knowledge. But you know who does? Uenoyama. Personality-wise, he’s very much the Yin to Satou’s Yang, or vice versa. Although he’s not a mean-spirited guy, he can be prone to angry outbursts. Just based on that little knowledge, you can see how this might lead to some interesting interactions. And without getting into spoiler territory, one of these guys has some serious demons of the past to conquer, and obviously that plays a big role in the story.

Then we have the other two members of Uenoyama’s band. Akihiko is the cool, calm, and collected drummer. Haruki is sort of the reliable older brother of the group. They’re not super involved in the main pair’s relationship, but they are able to dole out some timely advice, and have a unique dynamic and history themselves. They’re strong additions to a small, but very likeable cast. In fact, I found myself quickly attached to all four.

The animation might not blow you away like Kimestsu no Yaiba, but it’s quite effective at capturing the mood of the scenes and the emotions of the characters. And, although I’m not the one to ask, I do think the female audience will be satisfied with the male characters in the show.

For a series about music, I wasn’t necessarily blown away by the music, outside of the opening. It wasn’t bad, but the band doesn’t have a song that got stuck in my head the way some of the songs from, say Nana, did. The voice acting was however, quite good. I feel like the VAs did a great job at capturing the essence of these characters.

The story, while not spectacular, does its job. It may seem like a straight-forward story about four young guys and their band, but the romance, along with one of the character’s dark past casting a giant shadow over everything, keeps you interested. Then there's the issue of romance within the band that presents a bit of an obstacle, as well.

Overall, I really enjoyed Given. I think some might be skeptical, given some of the slightly sleazier shows the genre has offered up in the past, but those people would be pleasantly surprised if they gave this show a shot. Is it perfect or ground-breaking? No, but it has a tremendous amount of heart, and I’d recommend it to any anime fan.

A solid 9 out of 10 from me.