Given (2021)

First of all, I apologize :D

I am not a fans of anime or manga, so I don’t really give a damn about the manga/anime version. For me, this show was fantastic!

In the first episode they did actually drive me crazy to fell in love. I do love the idea, the concept, the acting, the story, the music or even the atmosphere. The one and only thing that I hate of this series was the duration. Why did you give us a short time duration in a single episode in every single week? :((((

I really wish that I could see more of them, especially the side story.

Oh my god! the last 2 series that I just finished were pretty amazing!

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A live action remake of a popular anime

So my favorite things in the world: BL, Anime, Manga, Japanese Rock. My kids, political Twitter, and BTS might be in there too, but mostly, just those things, so for obvious reasons Given is one of my favorite Anime and Manga stories. When I saw a live action was coming, I was curious but kept my expectations low.

Making an anime come to life is hard, for obvious reasons, Manga characters are not always easily converted into real people. In this case, the casting was not terrible. I thought they cast Uenoyama perfectly, he was also the focus of the LA more than Mafuyu, who got more back story in the Manga and anime. I understood why they cast Mafuyu the way they did, because they wanted to use the actor's voice, but he wasn't quite perfect. Kaji was not well cast, I was so annoyed he was one of my favorite characters. The rest were OK.

The drama follows the manga/anime pretty closely but had to cut out a lot due to being only 6 episodes. So the story goes only up to their first live (episode 9 in the anime, Mafuyu's Song). Because of the compression, Mafuyu doesn't get a lot of back story exposition, there's really not much character development around Haruki and Akihito, it's mostly just Uenoyama and the preparation for the first live.

It's hard for me to judge this as a drama on its own because I already knew the story. I felt like the compression and loss of back story made the final song less dramatic. Also, tbh I just liked the song from the anime better. But overall the drama exceeded my expectations by being well acted and produced and staying pretty true to the story.

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Your past is your best teacher.

At first, I was really confused of what is happening and what will be the story flow. As the story goes, it really showed how our sad past haunt us everyday, like how our decision we make can make a huge impact either it will become good or bad. We often sometimes regret our decision because it causes us a lot of pain and suffering, but somehow it is okay... it only teaches us a lesson that could make us grow in the long run.

They say, communication is important in every aspect of life. We always tend to misunderstood actions because sometimes words can deceive us. We often neglect to say what we truly meant or what we truly feel towards a judgment. We are always afraid of words because it can create a million possibilities of answers and feelings after that.

It really pains to see Mafuyu still holds on his past lover but how beautiful it is because your truly love that person no matter what. He still hold on his memories like the person is still there for him. It is somehow a good thing that he met Uenoyoma which help thim to open up and let go all the regrets he made from his past lover. He somehow embrace the truth and choose now to move on while cherishing his memories without any regret and continue what his past lover left for him.

I just felt bad to Uenoyoma that he was somehow rejected by Mafuyu but it's part of life. I still admire him that despite he gave his best to be seen by Mafuyu, he still respect Mafuyu's decision after half-confessing his feelings towards him. I can see that he will support and will be there for Mafuyu from now on.

The story was short but gave me a lot of emotions in a span of 6 episodes. Their story gave me hope to not give up on what we truly want, that we can't force someone to do things for us, that we can be a good support to anyone who is in need, and that we can love freely without asking for anything in return.

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A captivatingly beautiful BL with a pensive quality

Given is a highly underrated, visually beautiful Japanese BL centred around a high school student learning to play the guitar from a fellow schoolmate.

Music becomes a key focal point in which relationships are set into motion. For Uenoyama and Mafuyu, it is through the language of music that they discover new vocabulary for speaking to others and each other.

After Uenoyama listened to Mafuyu's voice, something in him was stirred and he knew that his life would never be the same again – composing a song was his way of immortalising that moment. For Mafuyu, the same song bridges his past and future. As he verbalises the lyrics, he engages in a process of healing from a traumatic past, but also acknowledges that he has found someone whom he wishes to co-create music with in the future.

As a relatively short series with only 6 episodes of around 25 minutes each, the pacing is surprisingly slow. However, because every scene is so deliberate and purposeful, some concentration is required to fully appreciate the storytelling.

Read my full review here: https://asianblreviews.wordpress.com/2022/01/02/given-2021/

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Ultimately it doesn't matter if you've read the manga or seen the anime

Having never seen the anime, or read the manga, I loved this. And I disagree 100% (and more if I could) with any commenters who said that Suzuki Jin's acting was disappointing in this. On the contrary, that young man is a freaking star in the making, and this drama helps to confirm that. His eyes, his facial expressions, the way he tightens up his chest and shoulders, the realizations that pass from inner monologues to outward expressions - all of it was authentic, with not a false note in sight. (Btw, for anyone who might need to hear this - anxiety can cause involuntary eye and facial twitches and for as much as Ue seemed to be on the verge of panic throughout the entire drama, it makes perfect sense that he would be a little twitchy at times.)

I read so much complaining about live action adaptations of manga and anime and partly I understand that - folks have a picture in their head when they read something and they get attached to it, and disappointed when it doesn't match what they had imagined. But each medium is different, and the creators should be allowed to interpret the story to fit the medium chosen. And each creation should get a chance to stand on its own, and say things its own way, but in the end fit within the trilogy, if you can call it that - of manga, anime, and live action. Carbon copies can be kind of boring, but totally different interpretations are risky as well. This drama had so many lovely and touching scenes, and I enjoyed them without having seen anything else before them. I got to experience the story for the first time, and it might even push me towards actually reading the manga or watching the anime if I wanted to see more. Good stories, and interesting live action productions of stories based on previously published works can propel us toward their source material without having to be the exact mirror copy of it.

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QUITE FAITHFUL TO THE ANIME BUT….

Since I’ve watched the anime version before this one, I can’t help but compare the two, of course.

This live action version is okay it’s faithful to the anime. The memorable lines were also retained.

BUT…

1 The irritating twitching of Uenoyama’s face is clearly meant to approximate or imitate the anime character. Why??? These are REAL people now, so why try to be an anime character?

2 THE CASTING: Akihiko and Haruki in the anime are hunky, lovable characters. Here, they’re not. To think that the next focus of the manga (and the anime MOVIE) are those two! The casting here was a big mistake.

Also Yuki’s actor. Can’t they get a better looking actor? This one has no appeal AT ALL! Makes it hard to believe that Mafuyu could’ve fallen for him.

I’m also not sure if Mafuyu’s actor was the right one. He has this facial expression that is clueless or, sorry fo the word, dumb.

3. The character of Ugetsu appeared from nowhere. He just popped up without any background. We don’t even know that he is a famous violinist.

4. Mafuyu’s background is lacking. Like there’s no mention of his dad beating him up – or what happened to his dad.

5 The concert number has lots of dead air – both at the start and the end of their set. Lots of awkward silence there.

6 That SUPER DRY kiss! That’s one of the WORST kisses I’ve seen in a BL series. Can you even call that a kiss? And they shot it closeup!!

7 The song in the anime is a lot more moving that this one.

8 In the anime, it was clear in the end that Mafuyu has developed feelings for Uenoyama and in the end is hopeful for their relationship. Here, it wasn’t even evident that Mafuyu has feelings for Uenoyama.

9 The ending: Why did it end with Mafuyu and a supporting character? What happened to Uenoyama? That’s the reason why folks who didn’t watch the anime feel that this is incomplete.

I give the anime 10/10, I give this live action 8/10.

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The melancholic, cinematography vibe is actually what makes the story more accurate.

Hmm... I just passed by through comments and reviews and it seems a lot of casual BL watchers here shared their personal disappointments, and someone even rated a 2.0 stars over this drama, which for me I found it very ridiculous as it seems. But in the end, we do not share the vibes and I generally respect on people who shared their sentiments regarding the drama. If you're a casual BL watcher, then I suggest to read the manga or watching the anime one if you are looking for something more detailed plot/story.

I'll try my best to look into the detailed review cause I'm not a casual critique in criticizing dramas/live actions.

For me, I personally found the vibe in this drama MORE ACCURATE than what it was in anime, since the original story as shown in the manga has always been realistic since the beginning. The cinematographic, melancholy touch is just what I really needed for this drama to be. The storyline/plot on the other hand, generally lacks of important details as what people also talking about in the comments. There's nothing else you can expect much on this six episode drama because this generally focuses more on RitsuMafu's love story that you can almost tell that Shizusumi is almost non-existent in the drama. There's been lot of cut in details on some important scenarios, considering the length is only 25 mins per episode, compared to 45 minute-ish each episode in the anime version. Mafuyu (Sanari) almost lacks of screentime since they pointed too much on Ritsuka (Suzuki Jin) w/ the other members in the band. Even when the time Hiiragi debunked the side-story of Mafuyu's relationship with Yuki, it certainly wasn't enough for 25-min lengthy drama. Their version of Mafuyu's song, titled "Melody Lane" is actually good, but the emotions never been as strong as "Fuyu No Hanashi" (A Winter's Story) used in the anime one. The ending on the other hand, just suddenly ended abruptly for no reason at all which I did not get the point of ending of it. The actors on the other hand were acted completely natural, and I don't personally found it really overreacting since it might just ruin the feels in this drama. So yeah, it was really an roller-coaster emotional experience for me, and I really enjoyed playing with feelings and emotions while watching this drama. I was expected to be 10 or 12 EPs in total so we can totally see in details more, and probably we're able to see the stills of AkiHaru.

Perhaps, for a casual BL watcher who have higher standards in criticism would probably disappointed for this drama. I would recommend the anime one instead if you want a bit uplifting that this one, and if you want to be more something detailed, try to read the manga as well. If you want a BL that is something emotional, then I would recommend it.

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A different kind of given (worth watching)

So I'm like a hardcore Given fan and I still liked this adaptation for 3 reasons:
1. The song that replaced fuyu no hanashi was so fitting for the drama! i understand why people don't want another song, but fuyu no hanashi makes sense for the anime because the story was told like the manga. the drama took a different approach to the story, so the new song made more sense and fit it better. neither song is better or worse than the other, they just make sense for their adaptions. the ost in general was really nice.
2. The acting was great for almost everyone (i have a thing against mafuyu's actor's acting because it's just too monotone for me, but some people enjoyed so i won't say nun about it) but i LOVED uenoyama's actor! he was so expressive and i could feel the emotions through screen. i really liked the rest of the cast, you could feel their energy and it was just enjoyable to watch because of them. also, yuki and hiirage's actors were PHENOMENAL like my heart broke even more from watching the added romance scenes between yuki and mafuyu and hiirage's pain.
3. boi support good bl adaptations so we can get more! i want a ten count or hitorijime my hero adaptation jdkshfsdjkhdj

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La serie mi è piaciuta molto, trovo che la trasposizione a live-action sia stata fatta molto bene. Ad essere sinceri, ero molto preoccupata di rimanerne delusa, essendo molto appassionata del manga e dell'anime, ma credo che sia stata fatta con molto rispetto per la fonte, nonostante siano state cambiate alcune cose.

Uenoyama e Mafuyu sono stati resi molto beni, si sono capiti i loro caratteri e il loro amore; allo stesso modo Akihiko e Haruki sono stati sviluppati in modo magnifico. Ho sentito ogni singola emozione e non vedevo l'ora che uscisse un nuovo episodio.

Consiglio moltissimo la visione di questo titolo e suggerisco di recuperare l'anime e il manga, nel caso in cui non li si conosca, così da approfondire ancora di più i protagonisti e la storia.

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FINALLY ...

Finally, a modern BL drama!!! with true characters who don't look like magazine models, with true music instead of the light pop tricking with good feelings and sung by a gauzy voice...
The drama is very short, only six episodes but they are dense enough to keep the story alive. Mafuyu is a troubled young man who has difficulties to go over a former tragic love story. His voice reflects exactly the pain and Uenoyama feels it immediately. He is struck by Mafuyu’s voice as soon as he hears it and is intrigued by the mystery that envelops Mafuyu. Mafuyu is the opposite of a hero, he is not a radiant, glamorous young man. This is what is interesting in this drama: it’s not based on the same keys than the typical BL dramas. Uenoyama is the first one who associates this voice with his band music and he will be the first one who will win again Mafuyu’s heart. It’s a beautiful concept and a beautiful story. Japanese are so good at that.

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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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