Review of given

Carole and Tuesday was the first music related anime that I had gotten invested in most of the genre. Given was the second anime that had me fall in love with the genre as a whole. I've watched this back in 2019 before the COVID pandemic had hit and now over five years later, as there have been movies including a recent one that I'd never knew existed, I decided to give this a re-watch as I was due for one. Plus, I'd mentioned one of the couples from this anime for one of the days of Pride Month last month, whichwas another reason that I decided to give this a re-watch since it's been a while. This was wholesome and comfortable whether you're into boy love or not.
The story centers around two young men. A bored guitarist of a small all-boy band named Ritsuka Uenoyama, who loves to nap more, fixes some guitar strings of another young man named Mafuyu Satou, who is a shy and quiet one. Mafuyu wishes Ritsuka to teach him how to play the guitar, even though Rituka had fallen off a bit despite being passionate about guitar play since he was younger. To Ritsuka's surprise, Mafuyu had shared his singing talent and was invited to join the band. The other band members, Haruki Nakayama and Akihiko Kaji, were impressed with Mafuyu and decided to make this band happen and practice as much as they could. However, Mafuyu doesn't know how to write lyrics since there is more to what's going on with his life until Ritsuka has discovered much on what's happened, including the guitar that belonged to Mafuyu's ex-boyfriend who'd committed suicide.
Now, upon research, this anime had three arcs involved. The first arc is the relationship between Mafuyu and Ritsuka. The second is the band being formed. The third arc is about Akihiko and Haruki, which happens as soon as the band is becoming well-known. This might be a weird take, yet the focus felt more on Mafuyu and Ritsuka, which I was honestly invested the most. I like Akihiko and Haruki, too, though there wasn't too much unless that's explored a lot in the movies that take place after the anime. Although they are still likable since they are the moral support for both the band and for Mafuyu and Ritsuka. The relationship, development and the chemistry between Mafuyu and Ritsuka works well as it reignites Ritsuka's passion in music as well as Mafuyu learning to move on after his ex-boyfriend's suicide, even though it wasn't explored too much. To be fair, it was mentioned a few times throughout the anime despite being an eleven episode series.
Not to mention, there isn't much on boy love anime that involves two young men connecting with one another, and this anime is a perfect example of doing so since Mafuyu and Rituka are a perfect example. Though it isn't just the chemistry that carried this anime, it's the music, too. It also takes about both lost love and moving on. Courtesy of Mafuyu learning about moving on from his ex's suicide before moving onto Ritsuka's, who had entered his life upon fixing his guitar strings. Learning from Ritsuka in exchange for being the vocalist was pitch-perfect on how their relationship goes on that even the other band members had picked up, suggesting that it would benefit on rekindling Ritsuka's passion. With that, it had made the band, given, a hit.
The animation also carries on how wholesome the anime is when it's above your standard quality. Like how each character expresses their happiness, sorrow, anger, and even depression. Most of the time, you see a little gloom. But thankfully, you'll see more joy as the series goes. The motion of the band performing was also a standout for the series since it is a musical anime, after all. Oh, and there's this little dog that Mafuyu keeps that is cute despite not being on screen too much. You also have Ritsuka's sister, who teases her brother a fair bit. You have a friend of Mafuyu's ex-boyfriend who brings the suicide up a couple of times, yet he does go off a little. Then you have the other classmates, who I have to admit are forgettable most of the time.
Especially with their given voice acting. Mafuyu's voice actors do well when expressing emotion along with his character. His la la's, though, are a little toned down. Shogo Yano and Brandon McInnis voiced Mafuyu. Yuma Uchida and Jessie James Grelle voiced Ritsuka. Masatomo Nakazawa and Y. Chang voices Haruki. And Takuya Eguchi and Jonah Scott voices Akihiko. Again, most of the side characters are pretty forgettable even with the voices they were provided with. I guess in all fairness, the main four are the center of attention, hence why they take on the stage more, pun intended.
As far as this anime goes, this is one hundred percent pure comfort if you were to play it in the background or just want to binge with the emotion and music that it provides. I admit there could've been more, but you can't win them all, as some folks would say. Still, this is worth a watch if you're into music in anime. I'm gonna give the band eight Mafuyu giving Ritsuka sparkling eyes out of ten. 8/10.