Audience reviews
20 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
Aan1m
Absolutely peak - this series is easily one of my favorite music focused series of all time - the way this season builds up to the lethargic and so heavily emotional performance is mind blowing - the lyrics of the song the actual song itself is absolutely top quality - the lyrics hit so damn deep and encapsulate grief and loss so well that you just can’t help but listen to it with a damn heavy heart - the vocals are absolutely incredible and every song within this series is perfection - I enjoy every single character and the chemistry between every one of them is just great stuff overall and - absolutely fantastic first season and a bummer that it’s so short
Read at the sourcepheebee
How the story is keep build up to the end of the last episodes makes it really really worth watching. I regret put this series on hold this whole time and only watched this just now, really urge you to watch it the first time you find this ❕❕
The balance of romance, psychological and what happen behind the scene of a band and music industry while not being pushy about gay community and well balance of light and heavy story. Really worth to watch.✨ Finished watching the whole anime series, movies, ova & specials in just 2 days! Me being under-expectation at the beginning of watching this anime, only to be sucked into their world and story the whole I watch whole Given stories! 😅
Currently their songs is looping on my playlist & will be collecting their whole manga in the future!
Read at the sourceClarii01
fav anime really love, given it really touched my heart with the music, the story, backstory
This series also made me find my favorite artist that is centimillimental
The relationship between each of the characters is emotional and has deep meaning, from childhood friends to lovers. It shows
each character's struggle with grief, trauma, and emotional repression, especially after loss, showing how unresolved feelings can lead to isolation and difficulty expressing oneself. The story highlights healing through connection, music, and gradually confronting painful memories rather than avoiding them. Overall, the art style is amazing, the story is wonderful, and I really enjoyed this show. It made me cry
Read at the sourcebubbakinz
I had never experienced a gentle BL story until Given. I have seen this show countless times now, and I cannot help but find something new to enjoy each and every time. Mafuyu is a character that you continue want to root for. His story as the main character is nonlinear yet so very human and realistic in nature. Uenoyama's personality acts in a similar way for the audience. Even the side character are immensely compelling and interesting in their own ways. This is no doubt a Boys' Love classic for all to witness. For some of you, this may be a tear-jerker, so I advise against watching this if you have to look presentable afterwards. Given combined the traditional tropes of high school love with hard-hitting markers of grief, identity, and tension. This show is truly a masterpiece with its…
Read at the sourcemifla
Watching given was an intense and deeply personal experience for me. As a former musician, I recognized so many of the emotions the anime portrayed. Feelings that are hard to put into words, yet were captured here with remarkable honesty and care. I was genuinely amazed by how beautifully it conveyed the relationship people have with music: the thrill of discovering a new passion, the pain of growing to resent music when comparison and self-doubt creep in, and the realization that a person’s unique “sound” is something deeply tied to who they are, and the emotions they experience.
I started this anime on a whim, with no particular expectations, and ended up giving it a rare 10/10. I’ve never watched a boy love series before, but that distinction ultimately felt irrelevant. Love is simply…
Read at the sourceAshParth
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, which was 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 mor…
Read at the sourceher_reads3
NO ANIME has messed with my heart strings like this one. I am now emotionally destroyed! Their story, especially Mafiyu's, has broken me and then mended my broken heart. And when Mafyu started singing I couldn't hold my tears!! Every damn time!! I don't know what to say, literally. It made me speechless in every way. The character development, the storyline, the beginning, the ending, and the music, everything was perfect and emotionally abundant. I am not going to lie about me crying when the first song began. It was so nostalgic even for me, considering it shattered Mafyu is an understatement!
Read at the sourceCurlybrace101
There’s no question that Given is *the* BL anime of the modern era. It is the most watched BL on MAL, constantly tops popularity polls, and whenever anyone these days gives BL recommendations, the first thing you hear is Given, Given, Given.
It’s also disappointing.
Here’s the thing: Given is a drama. It takes itself extremely seriously, so I will take it extremely seriously as well, and thus come to the conclusion that it is not as deep and intelligent as it markets itself as.
Now, Given isn’t bad. It’s a competent story and the relationship between the leads, Ritsuka and Mafuyu, is well done. They had good chemistry, their relationship was well developed, and I liked how the top was the awkward and inexperienced one paired up with a more self-assured and experienced bottom. It’s a mo…
Read at the source1l4xis
I can't imagine you would enjoy this show unless you are strongly into Boys love. The plot could of had some potential but failed to develop anything apart from the relationships between the main characters. I was only interested in the musical aspect of the show and was very dissapointed. Mafuyu went from learning basic chords to basically playing like a normal guitarist in the space of one episode (with barely any practice and no time). I was also so dissapointed they only managed to create one song including the whole band and barely spent any time showing them performing it or creating it. I felt as though the show was just about sexual deviance and if you compare it to 'Nana' or 'Beck' (musical animes), it fails to achieve anything of value in any aspect. This is more fit to be a soft…
Read at the sourceRymirox
Want to watch unique and cool vibe story with these relatable characters in a band/music? You should watch this!
We can be all relatable to it as gives rollercoaster ride of emotions! The love, self-discovery, grief, loneliness, hatred, and happiness!
I love the atmosphere of the anime; it feels soft and calming but I know those two are cool haha!
This anime could be a representation of a LGBTQ+ relationship and I love how genuine the characters there!
Overall, you should watch this if you want a slice of life genre that has both cool and deeply moving vibe in an anime!
Read at the sourceLEGOmyEGGOdude
This anime will leave you intrigued, sad, and giddy all at the same time. The characters were interesting, and although it's a very short series, they definitely shined in their own ways. The introductions and flashbacks were smooth, and the love and care that was put into the music and jam session scenes were very impressive. Overall, the story is a short and emotional one, worth giving a watch. There is one reason I gave this series a 9 instead of a 10. There were certain relationships that I felt developed beautifully, but they were just missing that extra little push (Which may or may not be resolved in the "Given" movie.) If they had that, this series would be an easy 10/10.
Read at the sourcebreezehill
its a cute warm anime with slight tensions.
if your looking for a cute yaoi this is defintly one to watch with a convincing relationship and chemestry between the two male leads.
for the music/ band part of the anime is were it kind of lags, especially the music department.
the finale song is worth all the build up given to it and is a great addition to your average play list.
the problem is beyond that their is a sever lack of music besides a few vague chords and drumming. and the 'La's.' By the end of it i was ready to murder someone if i heard one more La out of their mouth.
i understand that the writers wanted ot hold back on the vocie untill the big reveal to make it have as much punch as possible. but a simple soft lullaby or something would have worked as well and changed things…
Read at the sourceMickeyMinaj
Considering BL as a Genre which is MAJORLY just full of Cliche, Cringey and non-consensual harassments, this show was a bliss. An amazing show that deals maturely and delicately with the gay characteristics of seemingly Masculine men, and how that leads to a lot of miscommunications and fabricated feelings at display.
I also liked the way how the characters' emotions were as raw as they can get. The Music aspect of this show is a cherry on top with some amazing tracks, especially Shougo Yano, Mafuyu's VA, did an amazing job. The pain in that voice could be felt, more so in his 'Fuyu no Hanashi' performance. Overall a great show and definitely my top 3 in this Genre.
PS: The Genre information exists for a reason. When you see a BL tag, please know that it's there for obvious reasons and…
Read at the sourcehbaby1093
THIS STORY WAS SO FREAKING CUTE AND FUNNY AND HEARTFELT!
Given surrounds Uenoyama and Satou and a fateful meeting in the staircase that puts them on a path of discovering and pursuing their true passions - both emotional and physical!
Watching these two grow together was a thrilling experience! I genuinely laughed out loud, teared up, was audibly rooting for these characters to get together, and by the end of it was devastated that there wasn’t more for me to immediately devour. The show also was done in a way that felt so natural. I felt like I was truly watching people in real life interacting with each other and falling in love!
The characters were created beautifully, never pretentious, never moments that felt “too perfected.” Again, they felt so real and relatable, making everyt…
Read at the sourceBlackBusterMAL
English.
A series of bands, love and trauma. It is quite difficult to define what this is about, but the easiest way to say its plot is an adventure in which we are going to see our protagonists discover what they are passionate about and little by little they will see how they are progressing. their human relationships, now saying this small introduction I think I will automatically go on to say that I liked this series a lot more than I thought, it is not a masterpiece that tells us little by little the goals of the characters or that we can see their growth after passing the episodes individually in their own lives, of course it focuses more on the relationship of our protagonists (more specifically the black-haired guy and the red-haired guy), but that doesn't do it in a bad way, He ex…
Read at the sourceDKtheist
This is by far of of my favorite BL series. I really enjoyed the emotion shown through the characters and the development of the characters. The creator of the show knew what they were doing and there is a character for everyone to love. It was so easy to get attached to a character in this show.
Also the soundtrack is amazing. Usually in my opinion romance/musical animes excel in only one category but this anime has both great romance AND music.
The way characters reacted to certain things really made the watcher feel something. This plus the art style really gave emotion and if something bad happened the watched felt that and could almost feel what the characters were feeling.
10/10 would reccomend.
Read at the sourcetsunderebrat
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 and dedication. 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 sto…
Read at the sourceInfinityquartz
At this point IDC, yes I'm giving this a 10. Its so nice and refreshing to have an actual good romance between dudes in a show and for it to be normal and cute and genuinely engaging while keeping the gayness of it open and confident. I loved this season not only for thebincredibly written romance, but it was genuinely funny and the music genuinely kicks some ass. Hell yes
While the romance isn't what I'd call "uniquely written" it is for a gay romance and it makes it all the refreshing.
The art and animation was genuinely great as well and really freaking fit the show.
ALl the characters were incredibly well rounded and have their own actual personalities and lives and genuinely had realistic reactions to everything, if a little anime touch to em.
Honestly if you dont like romance…
Read at the sourcebeaniehead
oh my gosh i enjoyed that one soo much!
i watched it a long time ago but i remember the emotional rollercoaster. it was amazing. i loved every moment.
i loved the characters, almost every single character had their own story, they were more than just plot devices.
the music i think, was the best part.
my favorite episode i think, will be the one where uenoyama realized he had feelings for mafuyu and there was this whole scene in his head it was adorable and i think it gave us so much more to his character.
overall, great anime, i really recommend. i think theres something in it for everyone :)
Read at the sourceDigiCat
Anime Genre Roulette 🎰 Review 2 🎰 School
JACKPOT!!
Though i won this anime in the school genre roulette, the school serves mostly as just a location rather than it being about school life, yes they have exams, play basketball, and sleep in class, but the main focus of this show is the music, some dark and mysterious drama, and a cute little love story
Given doesn't shy away from serious and more mature themes throwing you straight into the deep end with it's opening scene
While it does have a lighthearted side to it, showing the sweet but awkward journey of young love and the adrenaline rushed ride of blossoming new talent, it has an everpresent darkness to it, with deep and intense feelings of loss and regret trying to come to the surfice, all of which culminates in the band's first l…
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