Review of given

Someone let me know if I should mark this as spoilers - I have attempted to stay vague but there is some references to how the story ends tone wise. I had this anime at a 9 previously and after a rewatch of the masterfully adapted last three episodes (9-11) I have come back to respectfully pay it's owed 10/10. I realized the only thing this show lacked was a proper budget. The animation, effects, and practically anything that money gets you in this industry may fall a bit short sometimes. But what is lacked in proper funding it makes up for in charm anddedication. The team that worked on Given clearly loved it enough to put their whole hearts into bringing it to life. They chose to put resources into what really mattered when telling this story - the music, the characterization, the story boarding, etc. The payoff of episode 9 is so heart wrenching, bittersweet, and well executed anything less than a 10 feels like saying they didn't do enough. They did exactly what they needed to to convey this story in a new medium, one that enhances the story with real music and a moment where you get to feel like you are in the room experiencing their show in all its power. Everything that follows is perfectly charming and the soft pillow of sweet interactions and "working it out" I needed to see to recover from the breakthrough Mafuyu makes in episode 9. That after credits scene destroys me like no other.

Episode 9 will always be the stand out from this show for obvious reasons - but everything that follows feels so genuine. I had to recognize the immense efforts that went into giving this story an exceptional anime because there was no falling short when it comes to the love poured into every scene. 10/10.

P.S. It took me until my third rewatch to truly appreciate what a savage Mafuyu is lol. You spend so much of the story seeing him in Ue's eyes as someone a little bit lost and helpless that I didn't catch the first few times around how often he is pulling the strings and poking fun at people. Makes me adore his character writing that much more.