Review of given

when i first came upon given, i originally scoffed at it because it was labelled as a "shounen-ai" genre of anime; but, when i actually caved in and watched it, i was super surprised! given doesn't give you the whole bullshit dynamic of "uke/seme" or stuff like that, instead they treat the main characters as though they were a real couple, and not as a pair of boys to fetishize. it allows the characters to be openly gay, with none of that questioning sexuality stufff; and while that kind of setting isn't necessarily bad, it is a fresh take on the topic that i can appreciate. allthe characters act as though they're real humans. mafuyu's a boy who is trying to come to terms with what happened to his past beloved and his feelings, etc etc. i enjoy that they didn't make uenoyama someone who immediately felt sympathy for mafu; because, let's face it, would you feel bad for someone you barely knew and thought of as a weirdo? extra points for haruki's patient character too, most definitely my favourite character in spite of the fact that he had the least amount of screen time from the main four.

mafuyu's singing (in the scenes where he sang without any music) made me feel a bit awkward at times, and the art wasn't as spectacular as that of the manga's; but, other than that, i can truthfully say that given is a pretty good anime! i would happily recommend it to someone interested in romance animes.