In 1974, manga artist Moto Hagio published the first volume of The Heart of Thomas. This was one of the earliest works of shonen-ai manga. Although it never won an award, due to Hagio’s reputation as one of the most beloved shoujo manga artists of all time, The Heart of Thomas is often cited as the publication that pioneered the Boy’s Love (BL) genre. Decades later, BL saw a steady climb in popularity in Japan, and in 1981 The Door to Summer film adaptation became the first full animated shonen-ai work. By the early/mid-2000s BL had skyrocketed into popularity both in Japan and overseas. Looking back, it felt like one or two new BL anime was announced every season.
In recent years, the BL genre has seen a decline in the number of anime productions. While the manga industry continues alongside fan-made content, compared to the early 2000s, those adapted into television series (or at least an OVA) has been cut in half. If the series hasn’t been written by Shugiku Nakamura (Junjou Romantica, Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi) then there’s little hope in any new television series being announced. Thankfully, BL fans can rejoice. The new summer anime line-up includes a new series from Studio Lerche (Danganronpa, Assassination Classroom) titled Given. It is the first series written and illustrated by artist Natsuki Kizu.
The story centers around two high school students and two college boys who come together to form a rock band with their sights set on stardom. Ritsuka Uenoyama first encounters Mafuyu Sato when they are both napping on the stairs between class, and Mafuyu just so happens to be hugging his guitar with a broken string in his sleep. When Uenoyama fixes and tunes Sato’s guitar for him, Sato admits he knows nothing about the instrument and insists that Uenoyama teach him to play. While Uenoyama is reluctant to do so, his bandmates take a liking to Mafuyu and so their lunchtime lessons begin! It all seems to be going well, until Mafuyu shows that he has been hiding an amazing singing voice. With the help of his bandmates, Haruki and Akihiko, Uenyama is ready to whip Mafuyu into shape as their new guitarist/singer.
While the premise of a BL music story has already been fulfilled by Maki Murakami’s 1996 series, Gravitation, Given still offers a fresh new take of a queer romance with a slight punk rock attitude. Themes such as communication, diversity, teamwork, trust, and artistic expression appear frequently in how the four main characters dynamically clash, but still hold together at the end of each rehearsal. Also, each character has their own internal struggle, whether it be loneliness, regret, family matters, acceptance, forgiveness, or jealousy. They each deal with these issues on their own time when not in the music studio. Every band member has their friendly and supportive moments with everyone else. The story doesn’t limit any character’s relations to just their romantic partner. It’s a breath of fresh platonic love.
Because of all this, Given, for the most part, feels just like any other music anime, but with queer characters front and center.
Several tropes common to BL stories are completely skipped over. Sexual content is nonexistent. Thus, acts of rape are not used as plot devices, or to justify a characters’ inability to communicate. A character’s tendency to sexually harass their partner isn’t dismissed as “just part of their personality.” Age gaps of 10+ years between romantic couples are nowhere to be found.
Keep in mind, it is still an anime, and thus comedic behavior tropes are to be expected just like with any other cartoon. However, the cartoon-like behavior is played down during scenes of internal monologue and more serious character communication. This makes Mafuyu’s “Blank Slate” and Uenoyama’s “Hot-Headed Punk” archetype feel less generic and more human.
As a result, Given can be very approachable for younger viewers, as well as anime fans who have never watched a BL series and are wondering where to start.
The anime’s opening theme, “Kizuato” is performed by Centimillimental, marking his fourth single, and first time appearing in an anime. It is available now on Apple Music, Spotify, and Google Play Japan. As a special treat, the in-anime group the four main characters create performs the ending theme song “Mirutsuke,” with Mafuyu Sato’s voice actor, Shogo Yano.
Currently, Given has aired five episodes of the season. Catch the simulcast, now streaming on Crunchyroll. The manga has released its fifth volume in Japan, and is also still an on-going series. The English localization is planned to start release in February 2020, by Viz Media and SuBLime.
