Hello
안녕하세요
(Annyeonghaseyo)
こんにちは
(Konnichiwa)
你好
(Ni Hao)
Given is a Japanese BL manga series written and illustrated by Natsuki Kizu.
It has been serialized in the bimonthly manga magazine Cheri+ since 2013 and has been collected into 9 tankobon volumes by Shinshokan.
Volume 1 was published November 29th 2014 in Japan and February 11th in English.
The series has been adapted multiple times, with an audio drama in 2016, an 11-episode anime series in 2019, an anime film in 2020, and a live-action drama in 2021.
The series follows a group of four students in an amateur rock band and the dual romantic relationships that form among them: between electric guitarist Ritsuka Uenoyama and vocalist Mafuyu Sato, and between bassist Haruki Nakayama and drummer Akihiko Kaji.
Love of music unites the four members of the band Given: hot-headed guitarist Uenoyama, playboy drummer Akihiko, gentle bassist Haruki, and Mafuyu, a singer gifted with great talent and burdened by past tragedy. Their struggles and conflicts may drive them apart, but their bond to the music - and to one another - always brings them back together again.
Ritsuka Uenoyama is bored with it all - with school, with his basketball club, and even with his one true passion: playing guitar. That is, until the day he finds his favourite napping spot occupied by a strange boy cradling a broken-stringed guitar. At first, Uenoyama is nonplussed by Mafuyu Sato and his slightly odd behaviour, but when, on a whim, he asks Mafuyu to sing, the power of that song pierces him to the core.
I'm a massive fan of Given and I make it no secret that I love this series. I have read the whole original manga series, as well as watched the anime, I have started the live-action and will eventually get through it but sometimes I struggle with live-action adaptations if they differ from the original look.
Volume 1 really gives us a good introduction to the series, I'm not surprised why everyone eventually falls for Mafuyu because he's just too adorable. You know straight from the get go that he's shy and reserved and seems to have some dark history, which we see peek it's head when he bumps into some old friends. As we get further into the volume we find out more of what happened to him as well as what traumatised him in his past.
From the get go in volume 1, Uenoyama seems very sure of himself, he confident and skilled in everything he does, especially when it's to do with music. The more he's around Mafuyu the more he starts to question his own feelings, especially when he's told rumours of Mafuyu's past, as well as from what Mafuyu himself tells him.
We pretty much know from that start that Hikaru harbours one-sided feelings towards Akihiko, just from the way he blushes and reacts around him. You also know from the get go that he's really friendly and is open to meeting new people, he seems to take to Mafuyu straight away and helps him.
In volume 1 we meet Akihiko, but we don't really get to know much about him other than he's a bit of a playboy.
I love that we also get some info about the 4 main characters and members of Given as well as sketches of them with a little more info.
We also get short side stories about the characters.
I will always recommend this series as I love the characters and the story, it touches on a lot of topics that people often try to push to one side, like mental health, suicide and sexuality, especially when it comes to school age.
It's one of my favourite series' in the BL genre as well as overall, it's definitely one of my favourites to read all over again.
See you soon!
안녕
(Annyeong)
さようなら
(Sayonara)
再见
(ZaiJian)
Bye
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