One of my favorite BL animated series is GIVEN. Not only did I like the story and relate with the characters, but I also enjoyed listening to its soundtrack... especially the songs performed by the characters.
A year after they released the series (2019), they also released a movie focusing on the characters Haruki (bassist) and Akihiko (drummer).
By the way, GIVEN is their band name and the main characters of the series were Mafuyu (vocalist/guitarist) and Uenoyama (main guitarist).
Last year, a two-part movie was released, but only one is available to watch online at the moment. So yeah... let me talk about GIVEN: Hiiragi Mix Part 1.
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From the title itself, the main characters in this film are different. They're not from the band Given, but they're two of Mafuyu's childhood friends... Hiiragi and Shizusumi.
NOTE: The rest of the photos are screenshots from the movie.
Hiiragi and Shizusumi's band is going to debut, however, their guitarist left the group. Because of this, Hiiragi tried to convince Uenoyama (his childhood friend's boyfriend) to be a temporary member of their band.
Although they don't get along well with each other and bicker a lot, it's not a secret how they also respect and admire each other as musicians.
The movie also showed how Hiiragi and Shizusumi's love story unfolds. (This is actually one of my favorite pairs in the manga, so seeing their scenes in the anime made me happy!)
Seeing bits and pieces of their childhood is heartwarming... and their chibi versions are so adorable. :) There were also flashbacks of when they formed a band with Yuki, another childhood friend of theirs who was also Mafuyu's ex-boyfriend.
Speaking of Yuki... he had a song that he couldn't complete while he was still alive. And Hiiragi wanted Uenoyama to complete it. (This is a really crazy thing to do in my opinion... If you watched the series, you'd know how Uenoyama struggled with his feelings towards Mafuyu who's stuck in the past. But I too am curious how the song would sound like.)
Of course, GIVEN won't be complete without a performance... Hiiragi's performance with Shizusumi and Uenoyama was amazing! Let me share a short version of their music video below.
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His voice suits this kind of song... and Shizusumi on the drums is just so cool. Lowkey he's looking like a lovechild of Akaashi and Iwaizumi of Haikyuu! --- what's wrong with my brain??? FUJOSHI ALERT!
The movie ended pretty well for Hiiragi, but it was a cliffhanger in terms of other aspects. It's understandable, though... it's a two-part movie and I think the online version for part 2 would come out in the first half of this year... maybe after the Blueray version is released in March.
Anyway, the movie was great as expected. I kind of know the story since I read the manga before, but I also forgot some of the parts... I'm debating whether to read the manga again or just wait for the second part of this film. haha
I want to see GIVEN (band) perform again. I miss Mafuyu's voice...
If you don't mind BL and are interested in music, you should watch this anime. I recommend you watch at least the series first. The first movie and this one aren't that connected, but the songs from that movie are also really good!
This movie got me into the band (or artist) Centimillimental. <3 You should check their songs out, too!
I'll end this post here. Thanks for reading and see you around! (^^,)/