Given (2021)

Confusing mess if you dont know the manga or anime

Well.... this isnt that good. Im just going to say it. If i'd watched the anime maybe id underrated better but otherwise its an incomprehensible mess in the end. Also also i only eatched this because of Suzuki Jin who was in mr hirigi's classroom and my live mix up! Hes really cute and i wanted to see him in a bl and was surprised that he was. I liked him. And his band mates but it was just way too short way to fast and just i didn't like Manfuyu cuz he just didn't have any personality and gets over Yuki very quick. I wanted more from Mafuyu's friend becaue he actually cried when listening to the song and I felt bad. They resolved almost nothing by the end other than Manfuyu getting over Yuki what happens to the other band mates? Or the secret or ex boyfriend? Its just very annoying to not know. Long story short watch it if youre bored because its only 6 episodes long so you wont lose much.

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Someone lied to her several times.

This is an honest opinion from someone who is a fan of the manga and the anime series: This drama was unnecessary.

~Story:
It would be one thing if this drama had taken a different approach with the story. Retell it in a different way, captivate the audience with exclusive content. However, what we got was an extremely glossed over version of a story that's supposed to be deep, intricate, beautiful, and heartbreaking.
This isn't a drama for the ones of us who are looking for a plot, this is a drama for those who want some lackluster fan service.
Given is a story told in different perspectives that interconnect in a harmonious way to form the bigger picture: we have Uenoyama's perspective, Mafuyu's perspective, Haruki and Akihiko's perspective, Hiiragi's perspective, and lastly Ugetsu's perspective. Unfortunately, this drama focused on Uenoyama's perspective and barely touched on Mafuyu's, the latter being the core of it all yet being undermined as if the writers weren't paying attention to the original plot. That being said, the entire plot contains huge holes that are very important for a clear understanding of what is truly going on. Everything is so shallow you can't even feel the despair or any type of emotion that should be there.

~Cast:
Nothing impressive. The actors provided little to no personality to the characters and left nothing remarkable to remember them at the end. Okay, you know what? I kinda take that back because Mafuyu's vocals are the best thing about this whole thing.
Sanari's vocals are to me the vocals anime Mafuyu should have had. No offense to the VA, but his vocals always made me feel as if he had breathing problems; on the other hand, Sanari's vocals felt like the wails of someone who's so deeply hurt they can't help but to cry in pain. It was B E A U T I F U L. When he started singing "Melody Lane," my heartstrings were being pulled by his voice in all the right ways.
Going back to the topic. None of them were bad actors, but it just felt as if they had never seen the anime or read the manga before. All of those moments that showcase the personality of each character were not there, and it is a shame because the characters have pretty great personalities and even better interactions with each other. All that is gone here.

The music is the one thing about this drama that truly deserves the spotlight. I already mentioned Mafuyu's vocals, but the musicians also deserve some credit because this soundtrack was IT.

I am going to be very honest with you, the reader: PLEASE DO NOT WATCH THIS DRAMA AS YOUR INTRODUCTION TO THE STORY. It is not even a shadow of how good the original source material is. This drama should be your LAST option because it's truly not at the level. DO NOT let this drama shape your opinion about the manga or the anime in any way.

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Given LA - A beautiful narrative that needed a little more time *extremely light spoilers*

I just finished watching the show for the first time because I never got around to finishing it when it first came out.

After binging the show, I can say with confidence that this is one of the better J-dramas I have watched. Yes, I have watched the anime and the manga.

I believe that many people go into live adaptations expecting them to be complete carbon copies of the source material - they aren't. They are adaptations for a reason. Different mediums carry with them varying conventions and ways of protraying stories. I believe that this show was a great translation of the manga to the screeen.

The cinematography was beautiful. The acting was clean and realistic that was only aided by a well written script that didn't feel unnatural. The music, THE MUSIC. I admire their choice to change Mafuyu's song in this adaptation, it allowed to feel all the same emotions I felt when I first watched/read Given, even now years later.

The ONLY thing I regret about this show is that it really should have been longer, perhaps closer to 10 episodes - even 8 would have been great. Mafuyu and Yuki's backstory should have been an entire episode on its own. I would have loved to see Yuki's mental health struggles protrayed in more clarity as I believe it is very important for understanding the events following it. Akihiko and Haruki's relationship could have been wrapped up a little cleaner considering that this is a drama but the anime didn't really do that either so...

My favourite part of this drama was Uenoyama's character. I loved him in the manga, even more in the anime, and I love him here. Once again, his characterisation was not a direct copy of his character in the manga, but he felt more real here. An impulsive, moody, teenager who is able to fall in love with guitar again due to Mafuyu. I really liked that aspect.

Also the kiss scene was so beautiful. One of the best scenes I've seen.

All in all, I understand most people were carrying expectations from the anime/manga but, to anyone considering watching this adaptation, I would highly recommend to do so and make your judgement for yourself. I, personally, really loved it. It is not at all what you would think it is from reading these reviews.

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Nice, but kinda disappointing

I love Given quite a lot. It's absolutely my favorite BL story. I watched and rewatched the anime (still couldn't get enough), read the manga and God knows how many times I searched for Mafuyu's song on youtube.

But the drama tried so much to compact the events until the band's live concert and summarize the story in 6 episodes that I felt like some of Given's most touching aspects were basically thrown aside.

Many of the moments between the characters (mainly Mafuyu and Uenoyama) that portrayed the great development of their relationship weren't in the show, which made me think that them falling in love had no ground at all and was rushed . Sorry, but I just couldn't grasp the feelings between them! It felt kinda apathetic.

Yeah I know they couldn't possibly show every single one of these moments in the drama, but there were many slow scenes where the characters took sooooo fck long to say a single sentence, which kinda annoyed me (even though it's something common in j-dramas). They could've turned these eternity-lasting minutes of Mafuyu staring at the void into some good scenes to develop sufficiently and convincingly his relationship with Uenoyama, or at least to display a little bit more his daze and confusion towards what happened to Yuki. That would've made the scene where he sings more thrilling and heartbreaking.

The songs were fine. I won't say much about Mafuyu's song because I wasn't able to avoid expecting something as good as Fuyu No Hanashi and comparing both songs, but in a sense it was okay.

The cast was great though! Haruki's actor was perfect! They look so much alike! I also liked Uenoyama's actor. He did a good job in keeping up Ue's awkwardness, kindness and strength, things that make him my very favorite character in the story. Since he's our protagonist, it's amazing that the actor could really get the character essence.

Overall, this drama is not actually bad, but it lacks pulse and life. It doesn't make my heart quiver neither bring tears to my eyes like Given usually does.

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Gentle slice of life story with an edge

(minor spoilers)
Content Warnings: dealing with trauma/grief, suicide that happens off screen in the past

I would describe this as a slice of life story, on the slower moving (I watched it on 1.5 speed)/gentle side but with a sharp edge related to dealing with grief and past regrets. FYI that there is also an animated series and and animated movie, all with the same title (all based on the manga Given)

What I Liked
The main thing that I really like is the moral of how words hurt and even if we apologize that might not fix things. Those words that may have been spoken in anger, not well thought out or even believed in, can be very dangerous and we need to think carefully before we speak. Hope there's a season 2 to delve more into what happens after this and also more about the two other bandmates.

Room For Improvement
- At the end, I really liked the hug and would have been totally happy if it ended at that. Mafuyu is obviously dealing with grief. If there was a kiss, I wanted Mafuyu to initiate it.
- The two kisses, yeah we got the dead fish lips recipient, bleh. The 1st was a surprise so okay, but the second was a no from me.

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