#live akihiko + haruki reaction

[magicpotatoobsession]

GIVEN | Hiiragi Mix Thoughts Part 1

So I haven't been super active on this blog not because I don't love Given anymore, but any ounce of brain energy dedicated to Given means I have to feel the agony of waiting for the two movies to release. BUT ALAS the time has come because @aarinfantasy is the GOAT thank you thank you thank you~~~ Spoilers and screenshots below the cut 👇👇👇

GENERAL NOTES:

How can Mafuyu be animated even cuter than before? Like I don't even know how but how can he look even more adorable???!!

I love the intentional placement of sound and music in Hiiragi mix, moments of silence are so effective in highlighting tension, awkwardness, release, nervousness. Like even 1 minute into the movie, you hear the boys breathing as Uenoyama is tuning the guitar and Mafuyu is sitting beside him. It's those little details that show the atmosphere between characters perfectly.

I like the balance of Hiiragi/Shizu's storyline and Mafuyama's storyline, it's following the manga closely and shows the complexity and intertwining of their stories. It's a good way to juxtapose the different struggles between the two couples and what they needed from each other to overcome their miscommunication! I think the team took feedback from the Given Movie 1 2020 and OVA broken up into two parts when it should have worked better as one longer movie.

I saw on reddit I think that Hiiragi's VA is still relatively new to the industry but I saw a HUGE improvement in his voice acting in this movie, the range he gave to Hiiragi is amazing!

SCENE REACTIONS

This scene was so funny I CACKLED Uenoyama and Hiiragi with their catty energy I LOVE THEM

2. I fell off my couch at this scene HHAHAHA

While Uenoyama's face is funnier in the manga, something about the animated rocket launch from earth JUST GETS ME HAHHAHA. Ok serious talk though how did I not notice that when Uenoyama got confessed to and when Haruki told him he's about to debut, his brain turns into astronaut footage? I think it's a very smart way to illustrate that for Ue, music = love and one cannot exist without the other.

3. OMG Uenoyama's face HAHAH awww man I know he's bummed as hell at Mafuyu's "I'll think about it later" (to the debut proposal) but his face, Ueki and Itaya's faces send me straight to heaven

You know how Ue feels? Our munchkin cat feels like he just proposed to his lover and his lover said, hmnnn I'll think about it. 😭 Chemical, emotional, physical, psychological damage right here>>>

4. The voice acting here from Hiiragi's VA Fumiya Imai SLAPS SO HARD

It's definitely giving deja vu, similar energy to Uenoyama panicking about Mafuyu, gosh I love Hiiragi and Uenoyama's baby gay panics it's so cute.

5. Kageyama is that you?!

6. The sound design and use of silence in this entire scene....incredible, showstopping, amazing, impactful yes yes yes

7. This scene animating Shizu's flashback to childhood was really well done.

It's interesting that in the movie they didn't speak too much about Shizu being transferred from foster home to foster home, or what he had to do to get by. But also, in the manga, I'm pretty sure that they didn't have this scene of a child Shizu closing his hands over "precious stone" but I think it absolutely elevated my connection to Shizu as a character. It really shows that he believes he has been selfishly holding Hiiragi back and that he has been trapping Hiiragi all this time. It gives so much more context to what he did next which if it wasn't clear already, he tried to push Hiiragi away in order to free Hiiragi from him. 8. HOLY SHIT wow goddamn I would not want to live where Akihiko is living oh my 💀💀💀

Watching this scene animated with the noise of the highway really highlights how bad Akihiko's living conditions are. I flagged this because in the Given Manga sequel 10th mix [SPOILER AHEAD], there is this whole thing of Akiharu's disparity with their living conditions so....this is interesting....just putting it out there.....

I also don't remember this scene in the manga, but I really appreciate it, it shows the contrast of Akiharu in the first Given movie vs. this one and how their love and care for each other has evolved! Very cute! I'll make a part 2 soon!

____

My Given Metas

[completeanduttermess]

I-

I'm so sorry I don't know how this happened-

[x0401x]

Screen+ Interview with Yano Shougo and Uchida Yuuma

“I was very, very happy to watch the continuation of ‘Given’ as a fan!”

Originally scheduled to come out in May, “Given the Movie” was finally released on August 22nd. Mafuyu, Ritsuka, Haruki and Akihiko can be seen on the big screen. The story of this work has its spotlight on Haruki and Akihiko, as well as on Akihiko and his roommate, Ugetsu. How will things go for Mafuyu and Ritsuka, who are in a band with Haruki and Akihiko? We have talked with the person in charge of Mafuyu’s voice, Yano Shougo, and the one in charge of Ritsuka’s, Uchida Yuuma, about the movie, which was a much awaited continuation of the TV series.

——“Given” was broadcasted back in 2019 as a TV anime. How were the reactions at the time?

Yano: I could feel that there were fans of the original work from all over the world. Fans from other countries said they liked my acting and my voice, which I was truly grateful for.

Uchida: When the casting was decided, I was told that the original work itself is very much loved, and when my participation was announced, many comments saying, “I’m looking forward to the broadcast” reached me. I keenly felt the high level of the expectations.

——During the time of the TV series, the fact that it was going to be “Noitamina’s first adaptation of a BL comic” became a hot topic. Did you have any particular feelings about this back when you were working on it?

Yano: I had next to no knowledge of Boys Love, so I tried reading the original work first of all, in order to see what kind of series it was. In doing so, I felt that the series really cherished a vibe that seemed to have been cut off from daily life. As I kept on reading, I found myself inserted into that world in a natural manner, as if I was actually there.

Uchida: I did not have much enthusiasm regarding the Boys Love part. If I had to say it, it was a series that depicted the machinations of people’s hearts in a sensible way, so I put an emphasis on pursuing this with care. What turns out to be the key point changes depending on each series, so I gave proper thought to what the most important part of this work was in that sense, and performed while hoping that I would be able to express it.

——What were your impressions when you heard that this work would be shown on the big screen?

Yano: I was overjoyed to be able to play Mafuyu again and very, very happy to watch the continuation of “Given” as a fan.

Uchida: During the phase of the TV anime series, I had heard that it would lead to a movie. That the things depicted in the original work were planned to be depicted in a movie too. For this part, I was always conscious on the inside that, on top of my performing for the TV anime, the story was going to be portrayed up to that far.

——What were you careful of and what did you keep in mind when playing Mafuyu and Ritsuka?

Yano: I was conscious of being a high school boy. Mafuyu has a complicated past where he lost someone who was important to him, so a gaping hole opened in his heart and he was in the dark, unable to take even one step forward. But when you see him talking to his friends and playing basket with a smile in his daily life at school, you find that he is a normal high schooler. As he absorbed himself completely in music, I thought he was a high school student living youth itself. 

Uchida: Ritsuka is not very good at expressing himself with anything other than a guitar, so I made sure to properly feel the difference in sense of closeness from when he talks to his bandmates and when he talks to Mafuyu. And also the sensation that “he’s in there”, as part of the series, so to say. There are quite a lot of scenes where the conversations overlap naturally. I aimed to carefully pursue the sensible aspects of those parts, as well as the mood of the exchanges and such.

——In this movie, there is a close-up on the romance between Haruki and Akihiko. From your point of view, how is the nature of their relationship?

Yano: Haruki-san is like a lubricating oil within the band, so I think there is a side of him that ends up pushing down his own feelings. Akihiko-san lives the way he wants to, so they mesh, but they are not in gear at all when it comes to their love lives, and I guess this comes with “understanding each other’s feelings” as adults. From the perspective of the viewers, I belive Haruki-san is in the most emotionally easy-to-relate position, but I think Akihiko-san’s existence only establishes itself because Haruki-san can strongly impact him. I think Akihiko-san is the only one for Haruki-san, and all the more, Haruki-san is the only one for Akihiko-san.

Uchida: They can rely on one another and probably respect each other in some aspects, but they are people who have a kindness that they do not put into words, as well as an unfairness that they purposefully do not speak about, so I have the impression that they “can’t say things straight”. They are still at an age where they just barely graduated from college, but they are grown-ups when compared to Ritsuka and Mafuyu, so looking from where I am now, I think this sense of distance in which they are unable to frankly express that they long for each other is “well, something that would happen”. As expected, we start worrying about all sorts of things as we get older.

——Please tell us the highlights of “Given the Movie”.

Yano: The presence of the person named Murata Ugetsu, whom Akihiko used to date and continues living with despite breaking up, is pretty big. He is a prodigy like Mafuyu and adores both music and Akihiko-san to death, but his music will be ruined if he keeps up like that, so he chooses to throw away Akihiko-san. Regardless, he is unable to throw him away, so they are stagnated in the same spot all along. I think that Ugetsu, who wants someone to understand his feelings and pain, is very similar to Mafuyu. There is a song that the band Given plays during the movie, and it is obvious that they want to deliver the song to somebody, but there is a part of it that I sang while putting my feelings towards Ugetsu in particular into it, so I think people can enjoy the movie even more by linking up with the song as they watch it.

Uchida: From the TV series, it carefully portrays the sense of distance between one person and another, as well as relationship values. Even if there is not that big a meaning in every single thing, there is nothing in vain, and the accumulation of this moves the hearts of those two. I think “Given” is a series that literally embodies the fact that the accumulation of small things transform into colossal feelings. If you watch from the TV series all the way to the movie, won’t you be able to enjoy it while sensing the developments of their feelings even better?

——Please give a message to the fans who have been waiting for the release all this time!

Yano: Thank you very much to everyone who eagerly waited for “Given the Movie”! The TV series was about a high school duo, but this tone is centered around the adult group that consists of Haruki, Akihiko and Ugetsu. I think the parts where they react to love will be, from start to finish, a time where your chests will tighten. I think there are aspects of it that anyone can feel a connection with, so please watch over them warmly.

Uchida: It would be great if everyone could watch the members of Given as they embrace all sorts of feelings and try to change little by little, as well as the beauty of their changing. There are also scenes in this work that cleanse your heart. By all means, go enjoy it in the big screen!

[roger-maylor-brian-tay]

Given Boys Daily Chat About: YouTuber

From @given_anime on Twitter.

Do not repost anywhere, please.

Mafuyu: how do you

Mafuyu: become a YouTuber?

Akihiko: oh!

Akihiko: is Given finally going to make their YouTube debut too?

Haruki: well, we upload live videos and such.

Ritsuka: why all of the sudden?

Mafuyu: I was watching many videos

Mafuyu: and the musicians will explain the songs and the lyrics

Mafuyu: it looks fun.

Haruki: is that so.

Akihiko: Hello~~~!!!!!

Haruki: we are

Akihiko: Gi

Akihiko: bu

Ritsuka: so

Akihiko: n

Haruki: !!!!!!! (there's no English word that needs to be put here, so I'm just going to say that Haruki is excited here)

Mafuyu: Gibuson (Gibson).

Akihiko: oi.

Haruki: oi, Ue sama.

Mafuyu: Gibuson.

===

In Japanese, "Given" is spelled "Gibun" using the alphabets and ギブン using the Japanese "katakana" characters, while "Gibson" is spelled "Gibuson" ギブソン.

The katakana for "n" [ン] looks similar to "so" [ソ], and Ritsuka wrote "so" instead of "n".

It never crossed my mind that Ritsuka would be the one messing around here 😂

I don't know if Ritsuka made a typo there or that he intentionally used "so". I personally liked to believe that he meant to do that because it'd be funny- so why not! And because Gibson is a well-known guitar manufacturer, and so being a guitarist he pulled out that joke 😆.

I think the boys should make reaction videos! That would be interesting.

August 22, 2020

[morievna]

My problems with Haruki’s arc and why it could be done better

Hello, a bit late but still happy halloween ^^

Something a bit different this time - more of rant than meta. As maybe you noticed I don’t post usually about Haruki – it is not that particularly dislike him, just his storyline is not that engaging to me and I feel a bit lukewarm about him. Don’t get me wrong – in real life I think it would be great to have friend like him, but fiction works differently. I was thinking why I feel this way about him and I wanted to put it into words.

Since it is my personal opinion therefore goes disclaimer first - my intention is not to bash Haruki or anything like that. Most of my criticism is more about story, because I think Kizu Natsuki could done it better. Some of choices regarding his arc are really weird to me. Although I love Given a lot, it is not that I consider it perfect story. Nothing is perfect after all.

Okay, so let’s get started.

Honestly, to me it feels like Haruki is more of sidekick even though he is one of main characters. To me it stands out how Haruki’s story is done differently than rest of the band. He is usually there to support other characters or help them moving on, but in regards of his characters development there is not that much going on. I mean – at beginning we had learnt that he is kind, caring and dependable person and currently… we don’t really know more aside that. Of course, these traits are admirable, but it is not how character arc should be ^^

For why it is important:

We tell stories because there is a universal lesson. It’s why we feel humanity in far away galaxies and in magical worlds, it all relates back to the same, very human need. Maybe it’s overcoming trauma, or learning how to be independent, or just bettering ourselves in some way through universal experiences. There must be something your character learns about themselves. They should be a very different person at the end of your story than they were at the beginning, otherwise the story isn’t really about them, they’re just in it.

[source]

The last two lines are especially good explanation why I have problem with Haruki.

For rest of main characters we have characters development going in two ways – honing their music skills and more personal side – working on their flaws, overcoming trauma, following the dreams. Even though their family background is vague, it still gives some explanation for their behavior. We see them interacting with various characters and see how they relate to others. Live performances served as important plot points, where we see them reflecting on themselves, making  decisions and moving on with their life.

But with Haruki with have very little of all of that.

There is no information why he started playing music or why it is important to him. We just know that he is doing it for fun, which is very little comparing how much time was spent on Mafuyu writing songs or Akihiko reminiscing on his dreams about violin. I mean – is it his passion or is he doing it just to be close to Akihiko? I am not really sure. Though Haruki considers his abilities as mediocre, we don’t really know why he thinks like that. His music skills are not really in the focus of the story – only comments are like “ bass and drums are in good sync”, which don’t really are about his skill, but more about what state is his relationship with Akihiko.

On the other side, there is no better situation with Haruki’s character growth. We can see that he has not much of self-esteem and always puts others before himself. But it is done rather in sketchy way and comparing to other characters it is not given that much attention and time.

Let’s look on it closer.

Haruki’s arc started for good after first live - we got more of his POV chapters after that. As mentioned earlier, he believes to be mediocre at everything and later we see him feeling inadequate and not at the same level as others.

Even though both of them are talented he seems to idealize it very much and kind of assume it all came effortlessly – it is a bit weird to me especially considering how much time they all spend practicing in the studio, but I guess it is to show how low his self-esteem is.

Then the issue with his self-doubt skyrocketed after whole situation with Akihiko – although Akihiko had done a lot wrong to him, what mattered the most to Haruki was fact that he refused his help and didn’t even wanted to share his worries with him. It seems like the most he fears that he is not needed by others.

He tends to put others before himself even not thinking about his own well-being beforehand.

And then all of it is suddenly solved by this scene after Haruki playing badly at practice and never brought up again *facepalms*

Though I get from that scene that Gusari’s intent is to tell us that leadership and soft skills are as much important as music skills but still… the way it is executed and whole context is just not satisfactory to me.

Akihiko telling Haruki that it is his own fault for playing badly – sure Akihiko it has nothing to do with what you done *facepalm*

Akihiko telling Haruki that he should focus on solely him  - surely it feels like good solution to focus only on person who hurt you a lot not that much time ago *facepalm*

Overall, i also don’t like how it kind of feels like Haruki’s music skill doesn’t matter and he just should be supporting others and not thinking about anything else.

Though Akihiko’s words helped Haruki, it is very unconvincing to me. This scene feels to me like it was done without thinking through what happened earlier between these two. Even though there is good intent, execution is could be way better – because it makes Akihiko look arrogant and not really being empathetic to Haruki’s situation. I preferred if it would be more emphasis that is okay that Haruki played badly this one time and more like assuring that it is okay for him to take time to heal after what happened.

So in short – we got character which is dependable, who is anxious whether others find him dependable and then his love interest told him that yes, he is dependable and problem solved xD

Which is disappointing to me. I mean  - obviously positive feedback is important and valuable, but still imo self-esteem should grounded not only on that.

What I dislike about all of that is that it puts Haruki in box of being dependable. It is like only that matters when it comes to him. Even more background characters like Hiiragi, Shizu or Ugetsu are given more nuances, but he is defined just by this trait. It looks like his main role is to support other characters and hence he isn’t given more characters development and stay the way he is whole time just to preserve current dynamics in the band.

Next ~~

The other problem I have is that Haruki’s storyline orbits too much around Akihiko. I mean I get it that he is his main love interest and sometimes love stories are like that, but it is just too much. Because of that it feels to me like Haruki is more passive as character – like he is not in center of his story just only reacting to what Akihiko does and wants. Even conversation he had with other characters are mostly about Akihiko. Even when he is not main topic he is briefly referenced. All of it feels like in Haruki’s arc it is Akihiko who matters the most.

Especially looking close on his subplot about playing as support:

he started that to cheer up because was feeling lonely and his one-sided crush for Akihiko weighted down him

Haruki didn’t want to tell Akihiko about playing as support, because he suspected that he will not like it  

Haruki put on hold playing as support because Akihiko was displeased about that greatly

later when their relationship was on better terms he decide to play with other band

It is like what Akihko wants and thinks of him is most important to Haruki. Like that he that matters to him the most and makes his decisions because of that.

Maybe I wouldn’t mind that much if their dynamics were interesting to me. However, their interactions feel to much repetitive to me – it is always Haruki acting flustered around Akihiko or commenting how he is handsome/adorable/whatever.

On the other side, it is a bit odd to me how different Akihiko treats Haruki than Ugetsu. With the latter he is often more patient and understanding, but around Haruki he usually behaves like big spoiled kid. In addition, there is problematic stuff that happened between them that is well, problematic and could be better resolved imo.

Don’t get me wrong – it is still better done than most BL, but still the way it is executed is a bit off-putting to me. It feels like only one aspect is brought up the most – that Akihiko didn’t rely with his Ugetsu problems on Haruki – and the rest are kind of forgotten by the story. Besides, sometimes I not even sure if Akihiko know how much he hurt Haruki by his action – he looks so much shocked by Haruki’s reactions multiple times to the point it is just weird to me.

Because of that his apology rings a bit empty too. It is not like I want Akihko to apologize more or having to prove himself. For me it would me enough if it would be line somewhere like “i know I’ve hurt you a lot” . But no, even during confession scene he talked mostly about himself all the time XD Though he admitted to be childish - it is not the same as regretting wrongdoings. What he done was too severe to be so overlooked even though Haruki forgiven him completely. Or dunno maybe it is again just me being too much of Capicorn.

To sum it up, for me Akiharu relationship is much too close to het romances in mainstream media (like in Marvel movies), where usually you got main male character who has to save the day and his love interest which main role is supporting him on the sideline. And usually she is his kind of reward for his “manning up” when they got together at the end of the story. Therefore these characters are often flawless embodiment of being pure, kind and innocent. They exist as safe haven for protagonist and don’t have usually any arc in the movie. 

And it is the way  Haruki was framed in the story – as being only Akihiko’s salvation and not full-fleshed character who matters as much as him.

Okaaay, so I am done complaining. I don’t want to end here on negative note, so I will add where I hope story would go^^

Basically I want  Haruki to think of himself more, to realize that he doesn’t have to be genius to be good at something, to find out that there are things he is really good at, to realize that he is too hard on himself. That he doesn’t have only to support others, but he matters as person and musician too.

I also want to him to be more independent and be more assertive sometimes. To not putting others before himself and finding out that is okay to selfish sometimes. Even though it would means some tensions and challenges for Given. But I think it is necessary for his growth as person.

If Akiharu is endgame for real, then I want their relationship to be more balanced and it should be shown that Haruki’s needs and wants matter as much as Akihiko’s. And Akihiko should be more understanding and not that he is still too insecure about Haruki’s playing as support (like in the last chapter *sigh*). If not, then I would preferred them to stay as friends.

To put it shortly – I want some proper epiphany for Haruki that he is the one he should love in the first place ^^

Thank you for reading and stay healthy <3

[notthatiwilleverwriteit]

Since you answered about given I wanted to know your thoughts on akihiko trying to sexually harass haruki

Hello, dear anon!

“your thoughts on akihiko trying to sexually harass Haruki”

I’ve seen Given fans discussing that topic a lot, and it seems to somewhat divide the fandom. I’m sure everyone feels that Akihiko’s behavior was wrong and he hurt Haruki a lot, but some people are less upset about it than others. Personally, I don’t really have a dog in this fight. I felt the pain Haruki went through because of it, but it didn’t make me hate Akihiko. I think the situation showed what sex meant to him. And if you take that into account, I would say his reaction wasn’t that surprising – albeit still wrong, of course.

As I mentioned in my previous Given ask, in a lot of ways sex had become about power and territory to Akihiko while living together with Ugetsu after their break-up. Unable to let each other go, they were treading water as “roommates”. They weren’t together anymore but they weren’t not-together, either. Their relationship was a painful cycle of repeating the best and worst parts of what had together.

Sex was a part of that cycle. Ugetsu had sex with other guys which piled up frustration on Akihiko. As I said, they weren’t together anymore but they still kind of were. To Akihiko, it felt like Ugetsu was trying to pull away from him by having sex with other guys. Especially after their relationship had momentarily gotten better and he had tasted how they had used to be. Those times must have always felt like their final break-up was going to happen. And things always escalated because that last step would have been the most painful one. 

In their current relationship, sex was about mental pushing and pulling. It had rather dark undertones. It was about Akihiko feeling like he still had Ugetsu, like he belonged somewhere, but also about Akihiko taking his frustration out on him. He pushed Ugetsu down and claimed him without a warning as if he was afraid Ugetsu would refuse him if he asked for permission. They weren’t supposed to be having sex anymore, after all.

In addition to that, sex had also been currency to Akihiko whenever he was pushed out of the apartment.

Sex had bought him places to sleep but those people had never meant anything to him. He was ashamed of basically selling his body for favors and often called himself a “gigolo”. It was something he wanted to hide from people who mattered to him, especially Haruki. Haruki was the one person he didn’t want to see him like that – cheap and fickle. Haruki deserved a better man than that.

So, in short, sex was a way for Akihiko to keep people (Ugetsu) connected to him and take his feelings out on something. I think that was the base for a lot of what happened between him and Haruki when he got forceful with him. First of all, Ugetsu trying to rush to end their relationship by sleeping with someone else in front of Akihiko’s nose was all built up for the situation with Haruki. All of those emotions were very much right under the surface for Akihiko and he was on edge.

Secondly, he sensed that Haruki was keeping something from him. Again, the feeling of being pushed away. Haruki was not only hiding something but refusing to tell him, he was shutting Akihiko out. When it turned out that Haruki was considering going to play support for his ex-girlfriend’s band, it was the last push for Akihiko. Even Haruki of all people didn’t need him anymore.

A of lot Akihiko’s reaction to Haruki’s words was about him being angry but also about him trying to use sex as a way to keep Haruki from walking away. He knew Haruki liked him, so if he gave Haruki what he wanted would he stay with Akihiko and not go to the other band. Would he not push him away and, in their case, give up on his feelings for Akihiko. I think Haruki was pretty much the only person who made Akihiko feel better about himself in his current situation with Ugetsu and everything. He was someone around whom Akihiko wanted to act better and be a better person even if he was faking and hiding. It was one of many ways Haruki was always saving him. I think Akihiko would have been ready to do anything to keep Haruki from pulling away from him. And he figured if Haruki liked him, he must want to sleep with him. Sex would tie him tighter to Akihiko again. In a lot of ways, he entered that same mindset he had about sex with Ugetsu at that moment.

But of course, that wasn’t what Haruki wanted. He would have never wanted it like that. I’m sure he had spent a lot of time fantasizing about sleeping with Akihiko, but those fantasies were about them being in love with each other, certainly not Akihiko looking at him like his heart was breaking. In a way, the whole incident woke Haruki from the dreamlands he had been building for a long time. Not that there’s anything wrong with his dreams per se but he didn’t know all of Akihiko, the things he was hiding from him. He said he would do anything for Akihiko – and I very much believed him – but his urge and need for that was largely based on his own image of Akihiko. He wanted to help, but it’s difficult when you don’t know what the problem is. But despite that, my heart still ached for Haruki. You could see how much he loved Akihiko and wanted to help him but also how this side of Akihiko hurt him and the feelings he had had for Akihiko for years.

I don’t know if by “my thoughts” you wanted me to say something about the question of right and wrong regarding Akihiko’s behavior. How I see it might be somewhat of an unpopular opinion. I don’t think Akihiko’s behavior was justified. What he did was very wrong, and nothing could excuse it. However, I think it’s important to always view things in their context. The role that sex played in Akihiko’s life and how the situation was like to him do matter and they explain his actions. They don’t excuse his behavior but they do explain it, and there’s an important distinction between those two. To fix something, you first need to figure out why it happened in the first place. That’s how you can prevent it from happening again. Sex obviously meant very different things in AkiUgetsu than it will mean in AkiHaru, and I think that incident was a first step of sorts of figuring that out.

But I get that not everybody would agree with me on that. I know some fans of Given can’t and probably never will be able to forgive Akihiko. Especially when Haruki is probably the biggest fan favorite and people are very protective of him. As I said in the beginning of my answer, I don’t really have a dog in this fight. I like both characters very much, but the incident between them didn’t make me upset with Akihiko or hate him. It didn’t make me feel like Haruki should never have anything to do with him anymore or that he was stupid for forging Akihiko. Rather than that, I was interested in the incident for its emotional and character development reasons.

I also think Given used the incident between Haruki and Akihiko in a very good way compared to most BL stories. BL is known for having a lot of sexual assault content, but it’s often not really seen as harassment or rape by the characters. I have lost count on how many times the first time A and B had sex was the seme forcing himself on the uke or just straight up raping him. After which their relationship somehow still continues. I think Given had a different kind of discourse. Haruki was hurt and upset with Akihiko. He was angry and disappointed and it took him a while to forgive him. It changed their relationship and them as characters. The way Akihiko forced Haruki also wasn’t just him being the typical BL seme but his behavior had an actual emotional background and built up. It was a point of waking up and growing for him. I’m sure he will learn a new way to view sex and physical intimacy in the future of AkiHaru.

Thank you for your question, dear anon! (_ _)

[julianwolski]

#34 - Why should you watch Given (movie)?

Heartbreak is painful. It’s difficult to recover from it, and it’s hard to qualify from personal experience how it feels. It’s something hard to watch from the outside too, even if that perspective is very different from what the person in the middle of it feels. And what comes after, the reaction to losing a part of who they were until that point, is a determining factor in how this will affect them in the future.

However, ending a relationship that has been a part of your life is not the worst thing that can happen, because living with someone that hurts you might be worse. Love is a fickle thing sometimes, and people don’t realize they are in a fight against themselves as they realize not everyone is right for them. Some people were never meant to fall in love and stay together, even if they worked for one night. Some are better off as friends, and never really should get together in the first place.

It’s terrible when people can’t see that, as they cling to that sense of normalcy just because they don’t want to lose this one thing they thought was going to be it for them. That false perspective is just a hindrance and a façade. It’s not there to help you and lift you up, it’s just there to occupy space that would be better left empty.

The movie sequel for Given is almost a completely different story than the one from the first season. In the series we see two kids falling in love through music and the loss of important people in their lives, how that brought them together, and now we see two men trying to forget about the past and move on. In this story, we get Akihiko trying to forget about the man who’s been a part of his life and who’s not someone that makes him feel good anymore, and Haruki, whose love for Akihiko exists in him for a time now, but it never really got the chance to be shown.

If you already followed them on their journey, you know that all of this will happen while they continue to work on their band, showing their talent in order to get some more chances to play, yet this love business gets in the way, especially when Ugetsu, a man from Akihiko’d past comes to haunt him.

There’s no mistaking the fact that some people might not feel like this is the same Given they’ve watched before, because the atmosphere is definitely more somber and grown-up. The relationship between the three main characters in this part is messy, and if you go a little bit deeper and read the manga, you’ll see how understandable this clash is.

I think there’s a great discussion to be had about abusive relationships, and how it warps the way people give their affection afterward, how people make mistakes when in love or when devoid of their complete mental faculties. And there’s an incident in the movie that’s definitely complex and it might leave people unsatisfied, or triggered because of it: it’s an assault scene.

That left me certainly uncomfortable, but this was definitely how they wanted us to feel, although in the movie it’s more explicit than in the manga, in a way. But the reasons behind it are the same. 

As I mentioned, there’s some context missing for people who only watch the movie, but the development of all relationships feels very real, as much as it felt in the series. I’m not here to say how you should feel about abusive relationships or digress about how people can change after something that happened in their past--this is something you have to do for yourself. But I think it’s pretty impressive that I actually enjoyed the movie after the hard parts, and I feel like it’s just an incursion into complex relationships, and how they exist and we can’t really expect everything to be black and white.

It felt very real to me because we all do things we’re not proud of, and that’s how these characters felt in the movie too. It’s a completely different story from how abuse is portrayed in other manga and anime, but then, there’s also a bigger discussion to be had about how relationships are generally portrayed, and how they develop in real life. As we know, queer people are still at the frays of society in Japan, and it’s impossible not to have that impact on the way those relationships are written. And lived.

If you haven’t read the manga, the movie doesn’t go as far as it could, but that’s not to say is not good. One of the things I liked the most was that it doesn’t really make you feel stupid because things are not spelled out. You have to connect the dots, you need to try to understand what these people are going through, so then you can actually get the full picture. But it’s also easy to relate to some of the things that happen here because they are very real.

It’s not all doom and gloom, though. There’s still that humor we’ve got used to seeing in the series, although the incursions of music felt far too few in between. I would have loved to see more of those, but the runtime didn’t let it happen.

I think some of you might not like the whole experience of the movie, but the ending is happy and hopeful for most characters because it talks about love and the power of moving on. The latter is definitely one of the most important things were can learn about in life, when things are not good for us, it’s not worth fighting for them because we’ll just get hurt in the end.

Moving on is a sign of growing, evolving. And also a sign that you love yourself too.

You should watch Given. The series, the movie, and then go read the manga.

[shinymixedbag]

In the aki/haru arc, after the incident between them, do you think the aftermath of it was handled good or not so much? There's been some discourse about this and people saying that the incident was brushed under the carpet without there being a proper apology from aki.

Hmmm? While my immediate reaction to the incident was very negative, I realized I ignored Haruki’s reaction and simply went off on my own. Haruki knew Akihiko was hurting and was clearly more bothered by the realization that he meant nothing to Akihiko. That he couldn’t help Akihiko. Why did he not react to the violence inflicted on him?

Haruki did react. He got away from Akihiko and he only went back after a day. He was angry, he rejected Akihiko’s apology twice. He also tried to kick him out of his house, until Akihiko begged him to let him stay. To “save” him.

I won’t try to defend Akihiko’s actions but I will not downplay what happened: It was satisfying to see that Akihiko didn’t try and defend his own actions. He always blamed no one but himself. He’d known about Haruki’s feelings of love for him and imo, Akihiko liked him too but he thought Haruki would be wasted on a shitty guy like him (Akihiko’s self-esteem is non-existent. Fact.) And after Haruki left him alone that night, he was frustrated with himself and worried about Haruki. He realized that he’d been spoiled by Haruki’s kindness. He knew he fucked up royally. The realization that he’d deeply hurt Haruki truly dawned on him after seeing Haruki the next day. Akihiko didn’t try to apologize verbally again, instead he changed himself (Ofc Haruki didn’t have it easy living together with someone who he’d loved for so long and had his heart broken by and caused him to have a serious existential crisis.) Akihiko was aware of that and he did what he needed to- he worked really hard to become someone who he thought deserved Haruki. He was making amends through his actions.

Akihiko didn’t run away from the suffering he caused Haruki, he didn’t try and insult Haruki by just talking about it and apolgizing. Haruki witnessed Akihiko going all out to turn his life around... and after confronting him (in ch 28) he realized that not only was he was the catalyst, but Akihiko did it for him. 

IT’S BEAUTIFUL.

Tl:dr; I still maintain that it was handled well (and realistically)

[givenplus]

柊 Mix_02 (Chapter 31) Thoughts & Reaction

If you haven’t read this chapter yet. Stop reading as my thoughts and reactions do contain spoilers.

Again, thank you to @spring-turtle-scans for all their hard work and giving the fandom such great scanlations. I also have a few questions regarding this chapter and would like some readers’ perspectives and opinions.

So Haruki got an email from a major record label and spilled the information to Uenoyama. I find that to be so great but with every blessing comes with a few problems and questions. Do they have the intention to debut? How will Mafuyu and Akihiko feel about it? It just brings out a new can of worms. I’m looking forward to when all four of them sit down and talk about it as a band (if they do).

I’m a bit confused with Uenoyama’s reaction though. I’m sure it’s overwhelming to hear that your own band has a chance to debut and that his dreams are at his fingertips. But why did he ask Hiiragi about feeling conflicted on having to decide how to live? That part confuses me. Why the hesitation?  Aside from that, Hiiragi already knows what he’s living for so I’m glad Hiiragi was there to give Ue some clarity.

Now we’re at Mafuyu and Ue’s school. They really are hot shots now! People are calling Mafuyu senpai! That’s amazing!

Ue finally tells Mafuyu about the debut news and that he’s extremely happy and Mafuyu just says, “I’ll think about it later.” Oooooooh boy! Like I said, it brings out a new can of worms. Imagine following the footsteps of your dead ex-boyfriends dream and actually on your way to achieving it. It must be a lot of Mafuyu which is why he was pretty dismissive of it. I feel a bit bad for Uenoyama though, I wish Mafuyu can just communicate better.

Then we’re at Hiiragi and Shizu’s school. Shizu skipping class? What a rebel. Haha! And is Shizu, somewhat of a tsundere to Hiiragi? Lol! 

In Hiiragi’s internal monologue, he says, “How to live my life? When I started up the band again after Yuki died, I’d already made my mind up about it.” So Hiiragi’s reason to live is continuing the band? Hiiragi continues saying that if he keeps with the band, he can bind to Shizu a little while longer. I think Hiiragi’s reason to live is Shizu as well? Why does Hiiragi say, “a little while longer?” like that their time is fickle?

Also where is daddy Akihiko?

[candysams]

Entr’acte: Haruki

This is a chapter from my ongoing fic, Practice Room 1021. All chapters can be read as standalone and I’m really proud of this one! Overall the fic is Aki/Uge focused, but this chapter is Aki & Haru.

Chapter Rating: G

Chapter Summary: Akihiko thinks Nakayama from lecture is... interesting, to say the least.

*****

On the first day of class, Akihiko ended up sitting next to a man named Nakayama Haruki.

It was completely by chance that he’d mindlessly chosen a seat and wound up next to such a pretty face. Judging by the expression on Nakayama’s face when they first spoke to each other, he hadn’t been expecting to sit next to Akihiko either—he had a reputation, and it was rather unsavory. They had passed each other on campus a couple times, but this was their first official meeting. Akihiko could only hope that rumors trickled slowly from the music undergrads to Nakayama’s circle of film postgrads.

If Nakayama knew about the whispers surrounding Akihiko, he didn’t bother to mention them. Instead, they filled the spaces between their professor’s ramblings with blissfully mundane subjects like smoking, papers, and music. Akihiko loved when they talked about music.

Nakayama hadn’t dedicated his school years to music, but it was clear he held an easily stoked passion for the subject, hidden by his outward love for film. He had been playing the bass for nearly as long as Akihiko had been playing the violin and could read all four music clefs. He had a wealth of experience performing on stage with various bands, and the way he described the rush of a live show gave Akihiko goosebumps. Nakayama may not sell out a concert hall, but his confidence and passion intimidated Akihiko.

He wanted to steal some of that fiery passion, even if it was only enough to light a candle. He longed for the day he could pursue music simply because he loved it, without others pulling him in like a fish on a hook. He dreamed of the heat of the stage lights, sweat sticking his shirt to his back as he poured his soul out with every hit to his drums. He wished he got a dreamy look in his eyes whenever he thought about music, the same look Nakayama boasted when he shared a new bass line he had composed.

It was the same music Akihiko had always loved, just in a different package. Akihiko would chase it to the ends of the earth if it brought him a shred of happiness.

Akihiko had been blind before meeting Nakayama. There was a plethora of music and passion and opportunity hidden just past the scroll of his violin, but he had been ignorant to it until his classmate offered to share his earbuds. Akihiko wanted his music to be free, just like Nakayama’s.

Somehow, Akihiko had a bad habit of wanting things he couldn’t have or couldn’t keep.

Nakayama had asked about Akihiko’s snare once, but nothing had come from that conversation just yet. Akihiko wasn’t quite sure what he wanted to come from the sideways glances Nakayama snuck of him and his instrument during class, but he didn’t bother to ask Nakayama. Still, he brought his snare every week, hoping it would trigger a further reaction from his classmate.

It was nothing more than wishful thinking. Nakayama’s last band had disbanded before the semester started, but there was no way he didn’t have other options to explore. Akihiko had listened to a recording of him improvising and it was clear he was talented, even more than some of his fellow music majors. There was a chance Nakayama just wanted to focus on film for the time being, or maybe he was playing support for a couple groups, or maybe he just didn’t want someone like Akihiko to taint something so special to him.

Akihiko didn’t blame him, but he continued to bring his snare to class. Just in case.

He had almost completely dozed off when he felt an elbow nudging him awake. Nakayama was staring at the board at the front of their room as if he hadn’t done anything, dutifully copying down the details of their next assignment. Akihiko straightened up, copying down the due date as his classmates started to file out of the room. He tried not to sleep during class, since the risks of him being caught chewing in his sleep by Nakayama were far too high, but a long night in someone else’s bed had left him completely drained.

“Smoke break? Nakayama offered, holding up a fresh box of cigarettes. Unlike Akihiko, he looked too wired, like someone had spilled a container of sugar in his morning coffee. “You look like you need it.”

Akihiko scoffed. If he hadn’t been so tired, he would have mentioned that Nakayama spent the entire class period fidgeting in his chair, tapping his foot at varying speeds like a metronome gone haywire. His constant movement and leg-shaking had made it a little harder for Akihiko to doze off during class until the very end, when he finally took a breather and stopped fidgeting long enough for Akihiko to close his eyes.

They meandered to the rooftop, where a couple other students were milling about and smoking their own cigarettes. It was windy, but not windy enough to put out the light of a cigarette. Nakayama lit his first, then passed his lighter as if Akihiko didn’t have his own.

Nakayama was just like that. He offered his lighter—and cigarettes—without asking. His notes were detailed and color-coded with impeccable handwriting. He once showed off pictures of his bass with the same amount of excitement and wistful longing that someone would devote to a beloved pet or newborn child. If a joke was funny enough, he laughed so hard his face turned bright red and he started to hiccup. Even in the nastiest of breezes, his honey-blond hair looked soft and tangle-free, framing the pale skin of his face.

If he couldn’t have a purpose and he couldn’t have his best friend, perhaps he could have this?

He wanted this. He wanted Nakayama Haruki in whatever capacity he was allowed, even if it was just for the occasionally smoke break after class.

“Stop staring at me like that.” Nakayama snatched his lighter back, a raging blush coating his cheeks. Akihiko hadn’t realized he had been staring long enough to be noticed, but it didn’t matter. Nothing would come of this anyway.

He pressed his cigarette to his lips, directing his attention to the smoke he exhaled drifting away with the breeze. If he timed his breaths right, the smoke mingled with Nakayama’s before dissipating.

“You’re acting weird.” Nakayama said.

“So are you.” Akihiko replied. Nakayama squawked, his face turning pink, as if he hadn’t expected Akihiko to notice. It was hard not too; Akihiko’s ear had been pressed to the table, amplifying Nakayama’s excessive pen-tapping.

“Can I say something crazy?” Nakayama asked, squeezing his cigarette between his fingers until it gave in the middle.

“Go ahead.”

“I want to start a new band!” Nakayama exclaimed, loud enough to garner stares from a couple students passing by on the sidewalk below them. Akihiko didn’t doubt that he’d see more curious eyes if he turned around to look at the other roof occupants. It sounded like a bad love confession, an expulsion from his heart because his chest couldn’t bear the weight of it anymore. Akihiko guessed that everything he said came so honestly from his heart, with varying degrees of excitement and anxiousness. Nakayama didn’t seem like one to hide himself from the world.

“I think you should do it.” Akihiko wasn’t sure what he was expected to say, but reassurance was probably close. For someone of Nakayama’s caliber to feel like this confession was ‘something crazy’ meant he probably just needed the confidence to go through with it. The rest would click into place once he got the ball rolling.

Nakayama spun around to face him, so suddenly that Akihiko nearly dropped his cigarette. His eyes were wide and honest and… desperate?

“I want you in my band!” A finger poked his sternum, so unapologetically bold that Akihiko wondered if Nakayama was actually home sick and had sent his more confident twin brother to class in his place.

“Me?” Akihiko was so stunned that he couldn’t get out more than a word in protest.

“You’re a drummer, right? I’m a bassist.” Nakayama took a step closer, eyes sparkling with hope and determination. Akihiko wasn’t sure how he’d be leaving the rooftop if he dared to say no. “I met a guitarist last week who might consider leaving his current band if we got together. I’m sure we could convince him, together.”

Akihiko found that he really, really didn’t want to say no.

“Even if he doesn’t join us, we can still make music!” Nakayama continued. “We can try composing together and work on finding a different guitarist! Then we could play at lives and—”

Akihiko had to stop him. Nakayama wanted too much, his hopes were too high. Akihiko didn’t know how to hope without it biting him in the ass later, and he didn’t want to crush Nakayama’s spirits or hurt him later. Regardless, he had already made up his mind.

This could be fun.

“I’m in.” He grinned, bringing his cigarette back up to his lips to disguise anything that might give away his excitement. It didn’t matter, given the way Nakayama’s face lit up at his words. He was starry-eyed enough for the both of them.

“Really?” Nakayama pumped his fist in the air, too excited to notice his cigarette falling onto the concrete under their feet. Akihiko stamped it out, amused. “Yes! This is going to be great; I promise! This kid’s incredible, I think you’ll really like him.”

Akihiko laughed. “You talk too much, Nakayama.” He pulled out a fresh cigarette and lit it, passing it to Nakayama to make up for his loss.

Despite his cool tone, he couldn’t help but feel just as excited as the bassist.

“Haruki.” Nakayama giddily accepted the offering, although he simply let it rest in between his fingers. “Call me Haruki.”

“You talk too much, Haruki.”

[serienzacharysblog]

Details in " Given "

Part two

____________________________________

Welcome to all of you today. I wish you a good day and full of success. I'll talk to you today about some of the details of GIVEN and from my personal perspective. I hope you like it and have fun reading it. And  without prolonging. Let's get started..

____________________________________

ﾟ･:*✿ [♯̲̲̅̅R̲̲̅̅є̲̲̅̅ℓ̲̲̅̅α̲̲̅̅τ̲̲̅̅i̲̲̅̅σ̲̲̅̅ท̲̲̅̅s̲̲̅̅н̲̲̅̅i̲̲̅̅ρ̲̲̅̅s̲̲̅̅ ̲̲̅̅✎̲̲̅̅.̲̲̅̅.̲̲̅̅ ̲̅] .｡.:*♡

━━━━━━━━━★         

For relationships in this anime, it's going to be like this..

• Mafuyu & Yuki relationship in the past

• Mafuyu & uneoyama relationship at present

Akihiko's relationship with Haruki and Ugatsu, which is divided into ..

▸ Haruki & Akihiko Relationship

▸ Ugatsu & Akihiko Relationship

The relationship that will deal with most of the events of manga or anime is the relationship of Akihiko to both Haruki and Ugatsu and some anime events will be concentrated at this point, because it is a confusing relationship in every sense of the word. Especially since those who haven't seen Chapter 28 and 29 will be suspicious..

- And that's what's already happened to me -

In fact, I didn't understand Akihiko's attitude to Ugatsu, nor his feelings for Haruki and Ugatsu until chapter 29, when Akihiko finally admitted to Haruki that he loved him.

*I know how stupid I am*

But.. Believe me!.. Who's going to read the manga for the first time?

- Especially for those who arrive in that class yet - they will be confused and will not understand anything from the state of that strange trio..

In short, i don't know what you're talking about. Akihiko loves Ugatsu and Ugatsu loves him as well, but he wants to push Akihiko to leave him by force because Ugatsu loves the musician more and does not want to give it up, and here - at the same time - Haruki loves his friend Akihiko hidden from him so, but for that he lengthens his hair in order to keep Akihiko next to him

- Because Akihiko likes long hair -

As for the relationship uneoyama and Mafuyu, it is currently constant and unchanging. And there are no serious differences between them.

Unlike this weird trilogy we've already talked about..

And to shorten the relationship of this trio so you don't get confused while you're reading the manga, it's like this..

It was initially a one-sided love between Akihiko and Ugatsu and this was by Akihiko, let's take things realistically..

Akihiko fell in love with Ugatsu because of his play, and he was the one who confessed his love for Ugatsu after hearing his play and this shocked Ugatsu , Akihiko was always the one who shows his emotions towards Ugatsu whether by his reactions or his attempt to stick to Ugatsu even after all ugatsu absurd behaviors with him, even after the end of chapter 28

Which was supposed to have akihiko end his relationship with Ugatsu,But Akihiko eventually gave up on reality and ended his relationship with Ugatsu in Chapter 29.. 

And he acknowledged his feelings for Haruki..

Even if Ugatsu loves Akihiko as he said in front of Mafuyu once, but this does not give him an excuse for being a coward unable to admit his feelings to Akihiko, and does not give him the excuse to do all those things with him to force him to leave him and cause him to get into trouble with others here and there ..

- Which proved how cruel and rude it was to Akihiko in their last fight - why she pushed Akihiko at all for what he did against his friend Haruki in chapter 20 for manga..

Let's face it. If it wasn't for ugatsu cheese, he wouldn't have made him leave his house for days and nights, leaving him on the street to sleep with others because of his repeated expulsion. And if it weren't for Ugatsu's repeated fights with him

Ugatsu, in fact, never paid attention to how much pain he left for Akihiko, and the fact that Akihiko might think about trying to get back to him again, surely when he came back the second time he came back only to end his relationship with him - and that's good for him - even if Ugatsu himself didn't mean to cause all this harm and all that For Akihiko's problems, he has no excuse for what he has done with him during that whole period, no blame for Akihiko that he left someone he wanted to be the only party in their relationship. That is my personal opinion of that subject, frankly..

As for the relationship between Akihiko & Haruki, it also began with a one-sided love affair, Haruki..

As a matter of fact.. Although I admit haruki's little folly to falling in love with someone because of his appearance at first sight and not for his essence. However, I commend Haruki's position after that incident between him and Akihiko in Chapter 20, he did not show his weakness to Akihiko, despite his deep love for him.

He tried to end his relationship with Akihiko..

And in fact, i'm not going to be able to do Akihiko's magnanimity also became clear to me in Chapter 21, which I truly commend! That is, even after the truth of what Akihiko did to Haruki in the past, but he helped him as a friend and band mate and did not leave him - as Ugatsu had left him before - and at that time he did not let his feelings and love towards Akihiko drag him away It was Haruki. 

- Without noticing - he is the one who pushed Akihiko to acknowledge his love for him, and he is the one who pushed Akihiko as well to realize the value of Haruki in his life - without noticing also - and ultimately pushed him to see the truth before him clearly and realize that he is better than his love and feelings..

________________________________✁

As for the relationship of yuki & Mafuyu, it was based on the close friendship between them since childhood, but according to Hiraji , a disagreement between these two led to the death of Yuki, and he said, "It was a normal disagreement, it was like a child fight . But. Yuki drank alcohol on his usual habit, and he became confused and exhausted. And then. This happened. "

And this is suicide..

As for the relationship between Mafuyu and his old friend Yuki, it was , for yuki colleagues, one-sided love, which is yuki.. This will be the case for the viewer at first sight, but it is - in fact - mutual love on both sides, but that does not appear mostly because Mafuyu can not always express his feelings accurately either in words or in reactions, even after the death of yuki did not show strong reactions like that shown by a person who loses loved one

- Even with Uneoyama sometimes - he just hides all his feelings inside him, does not mean that Mafuyu is unable to translate them into verbs or words that he does not feel anything - quite the contrary -

That's because from the depth of those feelings he has, he's even unable to describe them in words or reactions..

- Because he knows that these things will not contain the depth of his feelings -

This is true, if Mafuyu did not have deep feelings towards yuki, he would not have kept the broken yuki guitar all this time, and he would not have insisted on learning to play this guitar at all costs, and he would not insist on singing a song that expresses his inner feelings towards yuki..

Mafuyu's constant calm next to the people he loves, such as Uneoyama and Yuki, actually makes him believe that the people who love him are just those who exchange him for love, and that he does not exchange that love with the same degree or strength as his lovers, and that is not true in reality. But that's what the viewer only alludes to for the first time. But he's going to make that belief wrong later..

As for Mafuyu and Yuki, I admit that the relationship they had was the most beautiful relationship I had between two friends. And that it was frankly one of the most beautiful relationships i have seen in anime so far, yuki became a colleague and close friend of Mafuyu since childhood - Despite the age difference between them - because of his meeting with him in childhood playing by plane, and since then yuki and Mafuyu together anywhere and everywhere are not separated. No matter how much yuki's friends quarrel with him because of his constant attachment to Mafuyu, he never left him..

It's like they're both part of each other's lives..

It's like they're complementing each other..

*Oh,.. I want to cry. That's so touching!*,

that yuki once told him "I'll do anything for you."

On the other hand.. Despite the beauty of Mafuyu and Yuki's relationship, which has been since their innocent childhood, I believe that Yuki has exaggerated his love for Mafuyu to the point of folly, I mean. To be honest and honest with you. A fight between you and the one you love, for example, doesn't mean the end of the world or the end of life. Isn't it?.. That's supposed to be..

And despite mafuyu and yuki's brawl already. But it was a simple fight and he didn't need that lullaby that Yuki did - even whatever Mafuyu said at this time, he certainly didn't mean his words literally..

I mean.. Yuki is supposed to be the most knowledgeable person with Mafuyu, and Mafuyu didn't even mean it. If Mafuyu had known what yuki would have done if he had told him those words, he would not have said them to him in the first place, and the yuki of things was a real folly of him. Mafuyu was eventually left alone in this world, and Mafuyu, who came to check on him, was surprised by his suicide! ..

And so. Overall, what I can say about what happened with yuki is that love has limits as everything has its limits in the world, no matter how much we deny everything has its pros and cons in the end. And the cons of blind love is indiscretion, and despite my great respect for yuki - Because he's been around Mafuyu all his life, even after he died. But I don't agree with him in this exaggerated love for Mafuyu, this exaggerated love led him to do something foolish to himself and to the one he loves. However, Mafuyu is still faithful to him with his memories of him even after his death..

✃--------------------------------------------

As for the relationship between Mafuyu and Uneoyama

It was initially a relationship of interest by mafuyu, when Uneoyama repaired his guitar, however. Things changed quickly, and that relationship became a loving relationship and an interest on both sides in the meaning of the word..

But the beauty of Mafuyu and Uneoyama's relationship is that they both take matters into their own hands slowly and quietly, and that their relationship is quiet and steady and no serious problems, no matter how different these two are, or they fight or do anything.All in all, i don't know what you're talking about. Their relationship was a relationship that was destined for her. It now runs quietly and beautifully, like the flowing river with clear, clear water and green grass on its banks..

And, of course, These are the fundamental, constant and unchanging relationships of this anime. As for the sub-characters of anime, they also have other sub-relationships that will appear in anime - one of which is currently featured in anime and the rest appeared in manga - which appeared in the program is akihiko & yayoi - any relationship of Uneoyama's sister to his friend akihiko -

But it was one-sided love and it is yayoi. She was eventually rejected by him, and she cut her hair because of it and promised to find someone better than him for herself. This person was eventually the executive director of the show, who was credited with recording the band's initial song, which was Haruki's friend..

*Yes! It's Take-Chan. *It's ironic..

This is what anyone watching the new manga chapter 30 will realize, and there is another relationship - but not necessarily necessary - that has not yet been hinted at in the anime series, but only in manga.. It's Haruki's relationship with his ex-girlfriend, which, of course, is over. In fact, much of it in manga was only hinted at in Chapter 20/19, which is not even necessary, but it will be a major reason for the controversy between Akihiko and Haruki in Chapter 20, that's just it..

Course.. That's all I know so far about anime relationships. But. Who knows about the upcoming events that the author might want to put for us?..

✄--------------------------------------------

[sorbonagre]

Given — Chapter 12 Summary

This is for @things-all-love and the lovely anon who asked.

I’ve never done summaries, so bear with me. My comments are in brackets like that: [my comment]. The direct thoughts of the characters are in italic like that: the character’s thought. My translation is sometimes very litteral, I hope it’s not too unpleasant to read.

First scene at the bar

The two strangers praise the group’s live performance, saying things like: "I got goose bumps down to my feet" "Wasn't the song really awesome?" "The vocalist was really bad at the guitar, but is he a beginner?" "If he's an amateur, I think he will for sure improve a lot."

Kaji-san and Haruki are sulking because they aren't being praised.

Take-chan, the bartender, was extremely impressed by Mafuyu as a vocalist and asks where they found him. But Haruki and Kaji-san just want to toast again and again. Since it's getting serious, Take-chan asks if they have created social media accounts for their band. But before he can fully answer, Haruki burns himself with his lighter. He worries that he's burnt his bangs. Kaji-san looks at it and says: "It's because it has slowly gotten long". Haruki is flustered so he backs off, and says that he will have to trim the ends later.

At Uenoyama's place, enf of page 5

Uenoyama's big sister, Yayoi, starts cutting her own hair off. Uenoyama and their dad  are terrified and ask her what she's doing. She answers with a death stare that she's been dumped and that it was a one-sided love. She screams that she'll find a much better guy, just bring it on. Uenoyama realizes that Kaji-san rejected her!!! The sign p.07 reads : Kaji Akihiko (20) ~ Impregnable ~

We see Uenoyama's memories, the one time in the past that Yayoi told him she'd been dumped but it was like that: "When I confessed as a joke, I got softly rejected"

This prompts Uenoyama to start thinking about love: Love is a strange thing… love…… mm? He remembers the night before and his beautiful kiss with Mafuyu. Then he suddenly realizes. So much happened during the concert: the band dying over the rehearsal, the broken string, the vocalist who suddenly starts to sing… Is it love? So much that he somewhat lost consciousness and was suddenly home. I… Didn't I kiss Mafuyu!!? (he did)

We follow Uenoyama's reasonning: Become conscious that it must be love! -> I like him! kiss! And a new idea pops: I don't know what Mafuyu thinks of me!!! It's terrible… I forgot the most important thing: How does Mafuyu see me? He then spirals into the cosmos. [Uenoyama is so cute and dramatic, haha]

In the classroom, page 10

Sakatani-kun speaks about the concert of the day before with Waka-san: she asked her boyfriend to take her there. Sakatani asks about this boyfriend: Waka-san and him were in the same middle-school, alongside with Satou-kun (Mafuyu). Mafuyu and her boyfriend were in the same class. He was surprised when he heard that Satou was that guy, and so was she.

Then she starts to think: And yet, since I could somehow understand the meaning of this song,  when Satou-kun let his voice rise, a shiver ran up from the bottom of my feet, to the point that it got unbearable. At that time, I had somebody next to me whose hand I could hold, but Satou-kun, on the stage, was standing alone. Wondering  how much courage was needed for that, it was absolutely unbearable.

Waka-san and Sakatani-kun say that they want to hear the song again and turn to Uenoyama to ask if the date for the next concert has already been decided on, only to see Uenoyama, whose hair has turned completely white, seemingly passed out on his desk. They worry about him, wondering if the concert burnt him out. "Speaking of burn-out, it seems Satou-kun is also taking the day off," says Kasai-chan. "Didn't he get a fever from the exhaustion after this extrem tension? This often happens to him after events." Did Uenoyama go check on him? This brings Uenoyama back to life and he looks at his cell  (the messages tell him the same thing that Kasai-chan just said).

At the bar, page 14

Haruki thinks Mafuyu is like a kid who gets a fever the day after an excursion.

Take-chan enters: he isn't coming to work, he just stops by while being on the move. He asks for an ice coffee and gives Haruki a USB stick, because he has edited their video and audio footage of the day before. Haruki is extremely touched but then realizes that Take-chan probably hasn't slept because of it. Take-chan explains that he only started looking at it when he got home, but he got obsessed after the first half and somehow finished it. Haruki is very touched and asks how he can repay him. Take-chan answers: "Do other concerts. I finished it because I got worked up, but in the end, it's probably that I got affected by your energy. I want to see what you'll do next". Haruki blushes furiously and Take-chan finds this reaction cute. But he has his errands to run. Haruki turns around and Kaji-san is standing there!

At Mafuyu's, page 18

Uenoyama, who has had a bad feeling since the day before, just got to Mafuyu's house (after asking him his address) out of worry. His heart is pounding really loudly. Now that he's come there (and brought Pocari and pudding), he has to go in. He doesn't care about himself anymore, thus attaining enlightement and hoping it at least be a quick death. He (very nervously) rings. Mafuyu opens and apologizes for the mess. Uenoyama internaly freaks out because the whole house smells like Mafuyuuuuuuuuuuaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, he has to go quickly. The dog is called Tama [Tama is the stereotypical cat name]. Isn't Uenoyama coming in? No, he wants to give the supplies and go at once. He's only come check on Mafuyu because he heard that his mom isn't there for the moment. "Oi, oi, don't collapse here!" screams Uenoyama. "………for now, I'll see him to his futon,…… then I'll go… at once…" Once Mafuyu is tucked in bed, Uenoyama says that he left the Pocari here and put the pudding in the fridge. Then he says he's going home, since his staying would be a nuisance if Mafuyu wants to sleep. Mafuyu says it's ok, Uenoyama finds him pushy. Mafuyu says "Just 5 minutes" with his lost-puppy eyes and Uenoyama is defeated. Uenoyama then asks if the lyrics of Mafuyu's song were about an unrequited love, and Mafuyu says "Yes. Next… no, this song, I want to make a sequel for it." Then Uenoyama starts thinking: So he also thinks about what's "next". Yesterday, when the song bursted, Mafuyu was terrific, to the point that I was thinking "I don't want to listen to Mafuyu's love song", but I was overwhelmed. How can this slender body contain that much loneliness? If there is a "next", I want to be this "next".

Back to Haruki and Kaji-san, page 28

Haruki trims his burnt ends. As he thinks back to his earlier conversation with Kaji-san, Kaji-san comes in. He notices that Haruki is tying his hair up and asks with excitement if he can do it, thinking that he's actually quite good at it. He's again talking like a lady-killer. And Haruki starts thinking: I started growing my hair out when I met Akihiko. At the end of autumn, one and a half year ago, the first time I saw him. When our eyes met, I got a shiver, like a chill. Since then, I've been growing my hair out, like a prayer for Akihiko to come to like me.

[notthatiwilleverwriteit]

Not related to 19 days so you don't have to answer. but I'm curious to know what are your thoughts on given specifically about akihiko&ugets "relationship" and how they still were having that "relationship" even after the initial break up in highschool. and how it completely ended in chapter27. i think that it was heartbreaking but at the same time it was needed? If that makes sense

Good evening, dear anon-san! (_ _)

I’m so sorry I have kept you waiting this long. I needed to catch up on the manga to answer your question and then my inbox got suddenly filled with 19 Days asks and I thought I would go through a couple of them first. Again, I apologize for the wait. Thank you for your patience! (_ _) Also, I don’t mind questions about other stories than 19 Days at all! This was very refreshing and exciting.

My thoughts on Given and AkiUgetsu

I absolutely loved Given. I have read a lot of yaoi and shounen-ai works but I would have to say Given is the best BL I have come across. (The very close second would probably be Hodokeru Kaibutsu and Hadakeru Kaibutsu by  Ogeretsu Tanaka.) Given’s characters and relationships are complex, the development is well-paced and realistic, the premise is unique, and all of that is wrapped nicely in the blanket theme of music. The anime adaptation was great, too, and Mafuyu’s song ripped my poor heart to shreds.

Perhaps not surprisingly given my track record of the type of characters I tend to fall in love with, Ugetsu immediately became my favorite character. He was dark and a little twisted, insanely talented, beautiful and sensual. To me, Ugetsu was and still is the most complex and interesting character in Given. Also, as soon as it was clear his and Akihiko’s relationship status was very much in the realm of “it’s complicated”, AkiUgetsu became my OTP. I was instantly drawn to them as a couple. They stroked my need for dark, twisted, complicated, and dysfunctional so good.

My thoughts on the AkiUgetsu development

I think Akihiiko and Ugetsu’s relationship was sparked under unfortunate signs and was doomed to fail from the get-go. Mentally it was painful and violent right from the start.

Akihiko’s love was entwined with his envy for Ugetsu. He was drawn to Ugetsu but at the same time resented him. When faced by Ugetsu’s mass of prodigy talent, Akihiko felt defeated and gave up on the violin despite being fairly confident in his music prior to that. He loved Ugetsu and cared about him, but that love made him give up on his dreams and run away from challenges. Gradually, he lost sight of his passion for music. Even if the love was real for both of them, that is not the kind of foundation that could carry a happy relationship.

Ugetsu saw Akihiko slowly but surely lose his motivation and passion, too. I’m sure he just didn’t know what was causing it and he didn’t know how to help him.

He wanted to find a trigger that would spark a change in Akihiko and return him to how Ugetsu remembered him in the beginning. The thing is, though, I don’t think Ugetsu is a comforting character. He’s not the type who would stand in the sidelines cheering for Akihiko or have a heart-to-heart about his lost motivation. Akihiko’s attitude bothered him and made him sad but to me, it always looked like he didn’t think it was up to him to raise Akihiko’s spirits. No one but Akihiko himself could rekindle his passion and find the drive to improve. He didn’t want to see Akihiko’s half-hearted efforts and was pretty open about it. I’ve always felt like he thought Akihiko was settling for less and on some level, he looked down on Akihiko for playing the drums in a band.

What makes Ugetsu’s position heartbreaking is that I don’t think he saw it was him and their relationship that ultimately snuffed out Akihiko’s passion. Or that it was his talent that had planted that seed from the beginning. At least not in so many words. He came to realize the change and what had probably triggered it at the second live performance. Akihiko had found his new trigger and he had found it somewhere else than with Ugetsu. I don’t think any of that was Ugetsu’s fault, though. It wasn’t his fault that Akihiko gave up. Their relationship was just doomed from the beginning.

I think their first break-up in high school was what made Ugetsu’s such an interesting character to me. It spoke volumes of how complicated of a person he was. I think being in control and keeping a distance around himself is very important to Ugetsu. 

When Akihiko bought the mug and moved in, he breached Ugetsu’s sense of space and control. I’m sure his reaction to Akihiko’s gift surprised both of them, and Ugetsu felt bad for shattering the mug. It looked like his heart was torn in two directions. Later on, he got used to Akihiko’s presence, but I think the mug incident was a sign that Ugetsu needed the feeling of having a tight grip on his own priorities. He loved Akihiko but…

…his love for Akihiko ultimately distracted his love for music. Creating and playing music was who Ugetsu was as a person. It consumed him as a whole and having that kind of single-track mind was Ugetsu’s lifeline. Anything or anyone disturbing it made him feel uneasy and like he wasn’t in control of his own feelings and freedom anymore. Because he loved Akihiko, he became something Ugetsu started to chase instead of music. Ugetsu chases big emotions in his music but his love for Akihiko was threatening to come in the way of that by occupying his mind with something else.

I don’t know if I’m projecting too much but I resonate with that feeling. When I get into something, it quickly becomes my passion and drives my ambitions. I become obsessed and consumed and feel like other interests threaten my relationship with that special thing. They threaten my sense of “control”, so I push them away. I make a choice to not follow some other paths next to what I’m interested in, and I feel like that was going on with Ugetsu when he decided to break up with Akihiko the first time. That, and he could see Akihiko’s passion for music slowly withering away next to him.

But instead of separating completely, they stayed as “roommates” and fell into this back-and-forth of a relationship that was painful for both of them. Neither of them was able to pull the plug on their relationship. They were unable to let go but hurt each other by staying together.

They weren’t just roommates even after breaking up. Their relationship had become stale and repetitive - a painful cycle of both their good and bad times going around over and over again. After being apart for a while, they reminisced what they loved about each other but soon after, Ugetsu would find a new man which painfully crashed Akihiko back to earth. It was like breaking up a hundred times instead of just once.

It seemed they also had sex occasionally after breaking up. Another thing that further complicated things.

I think the sex between them as “roommates” took a rather dark tone. Sex was about power and territory and a way for Akihiko to take his frustration out on something. As Ugetsu kept trying to push Akihiko away by sleeping with other guys, Akihiko had the growing need to assert his status and reclaim Ugetsu via sex. Seeing Ugetsu with others was painful, and the more it hurt, the more he tried to cling onto Ugetsu physically. And Ugetsu let him.

Before long, though, this whole cycle became suffocating for Akihiko. The place he had once cherished and felt like he belonged to had become a pit he couldn’t climb out of. He couldn’t get out and nothing from the outside could get in.

Again, I’m not blaming either of them for that. Or if I did, I would say they’re both guilty. Neither of them was able to take the final step despite seeing how much they were making each other suffer. Overall, AkiUgetsu has beautiful parallels to how Mafuyu was (and still is) struggling with letting go of Yuki’s ghost and moving on with the precious memories still in his heart.

As someone who loves Ugetsu to death, the buildup that eventually led to their final break-up was probably the most heartbreaking part for me. Firstly, there was the time Ugetsu waited for Akihiko to come home.

How distracted and pained Ugetsu was by Akihiko’s absence spoke volumes of how close to Ugetsu’s heart Akihiko had managed to nestle over the years. Despite their first break-up, he loved Akihiko to death, and to finally come face-to-face with the possibility that Akihiko wouldn’t come back must have felt like dying. Akihiko had seen parts of him that no one had probably ever seen before, and every one of those parts Akihiko had touched must have hurt.

I must admit, watching Ugetsu in so much pain while Akihiko was having fun with Haruki made me…angry. It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair that Akihiko is the one needing to be saved and was helped by Haruki while Ugetsu had no one to catch him. It wasn’t fair that Ugetsu had become this suffocating thing for Akihiko despite loving him and someone Akihiko needed to get away from. So yeah, I was angry and bitter.

However, I want to stress that it was only because my heart was aching for Ugetsu. I don’t hate Akihiko for trying to break free from his suffocating pit and finding someone who can restore his breathing. I don’t hate him for wanting to see the fireworks again. I’ve been in his position in real life and know how freeing that time with Haruki must have felt. It was something he needed to do for himself. My frustration stems purely from my own bias for Ugetsu and how I relate to him. I don’t hate Akihiko, Haruki, AkiHaru, or think the author somehow wronged the characters. I think it was rather realistic how it all went down.

What broke my heart for Ugetsu the most was that he was essentially left behind. I always feel for those kinds of characters. Despite waiting for Akihiko to finally leave, Ugetsu still panics when Akihiko tells him he’s going to move out.

Ugetsu had tried to leave Akihiko many times and been waiting for him to let go of Ugetsu. But when the time finally came, it was as if Ugetsu’s instincts kicked in and he lashed out. He wanted to stop hurting Akihiko but not being with him hurt even more because it was a sudden surge of pain instead of a steady undertone, so his knee-jerk reaction was to protect himself from that. And it was painful to come to realize that Akihiko was the one walking away. He had found something outside their basement apartment that was giving him the courage to leave Ugetsu. I’m sure it all - the good and bad of their relationship - wrapped together in Ugetsu’s head, and to him, it felt like Akihiko was also walking away from how much he loved Ugetsu. It hurt, and he didn’t want to hear it. It was him about getting mad at the person finally doing something they both knew had to be done.

Before I continue, I want to thank you, dear anon-san. I had been putting off reading the chapter about their final teary goodbyes for the longest time, but your ask finally gave me the push to get it over with. I had always known they were going to break up and I had seen panels of it floating around, but that part had always been an emotionally wrecking hump in Given that I’ve been avoiding. So, thank you for ripping off the bandaid for me.

To my surprise, their goodbyes weren’t as painful as I had dreaded. It hurt my soul but it was painful in a different way than I had expected.

I could feel Ugetsu’s pain and bitterness in my teeth but also - and perhaps a bit surprisingly - Akihiko’s comfort for him despite what they were going through. He didn’t want Ugetsu to think that while Akihiko was walking away from him, it meant he hadn’t loved Ugetsu from the bottom of his heart. He had. He admired Ugetsu and cared about him, but their relationship was also partly why Akihiko’s own drive for music had been fading out. Akihiko had loved the violin more than anything and poured a lot of effort into it. And even though he was now playing a different instrument, he was never going to forget the violin or let that spark and passion, now rekindled, die out. He was going to keep at the violin but it was going to be to a different tune.

I think that’s comforting. I didn’t have the feeling of left behind for Ugetsu as strong in my heart anymore. Ugetsu’s love wasn’t poison but something that had made Akihiko very happy in the past. 

I also think it was very telling how Ugetsu still turned around to reach for Akihiko in the end.

It was that hard for him to let him go. Ugetsu feels big and deep, and his love for Akihiko was no different. I’ve always been grateful for Mafuyu and Ugetsu’s bonding. How Mafuyu had managed to affect Ugetsu was no doubt a big comfort in the turmoil of Akihiko leaving him. New dawns were breaking for both Ugetsu and Mafuyu, and it was scary and painful for both of them.

I was also comforted by how despite the pain AkiUgetsu had gone through, there had always been “music”. It had surrounded them in the enclosed cocoon of the basement apartment and allowed them to be just for each other. Over the years, it had soaked in all their good times, memories, and their love for each other. And after Akihiko left, Ugetsu wished that the music alone would always remain in the house.

In conclusion, despite how much I ship AkiUgetsu, I would agree that their break-up made sense and was needed in the story. They were both unhappy in the relationship, and I don’t know if there would ever have been a way to make them happy and content with each other. I believe they loved each other and they had a lot of happy times, but they were kind of heading towards a dead-end from the beginning. If Akihiko’s reaction to Ugetsu’s talent had been different or if they had found a solution by communication about their problems, they could have perhaps stayed together. But I don’t know if any of those changes in characters would have been possible while they were still around each other.

And yet, I ship them. I ship them to hell and back. They are very much my jam. I love Ugetsu’s sensual darkness and him being a little mischievous and twisted. I love how big his emotions are and the contrast they create with his seemingly distant and hard-to-approach demeanor. I would kill human people for his genuine smile. I love Akihiko’s big build and rough appearances. I love his possessiveness and strength. I love how Ugetsu gets under his skin sometimes. I love how he can be both gentle and forceful with Ugetsu. I love how he’s made Ugetsu feel like he can trust Akihiko. I love the angst of them loving each but also kind of bringing out the worst in each other. I love them creating their own little world in that basement where it’s only them and music.

I just love them. Also, I can’t wait for the movie to come out so I can have my AkiUgetsu heart ripped out of my chest in animation.

Thank you for your question, dear anon-san! (_ _) I hope it was worth the wait.

[morievna]

Mix_6 quick reaction

So spoilers are out ~~ so a bit of escapism these days

Because of Cheri+ cover I expected chapter to be about Shizuragi, but it turned to be Mafuyu-centric. But it is very nice too and there is some drama buildup for Mafuyama. Since I mentioned in several times that I expect them to have some crisis, I felt like that after reading:

Ritsuka being more and more enagaged with Shizuragi band – checked

Ritsuka spending most of time practicing with Shizuragi band or working part-time - checked

Mafuyu feeling isolated and anxious since this situation reminds him of past with Yuki – checked

So drama continues. At this point, I think it is more of question how it would be:

Small – Shizuragi will get new guitarist soon, Mafuyu and Ritsuka will settle things up like in chapter 18 by talking up to each other properly

Big – full blown drama in Akigetsu style with miscommunication and misunderstandings XD I don’t want to worry you all, but I think this is more probable.

Another thing, it was interesting scene when Ritsuka and Hiiragi wanted to invite Mafuyu to eat something, but he refused. It was understandable to me – he was feeling uneasy from whole situation and I got impression– hmmm how to put it – that he would be more like guest than at the same page as rest of them. I still want them all to work on music and perform together, I hope it will go in that direction.

I am looking forward to Mafuyu and Akihiko conversation - especially it was long since previous one. I wonder whether it will be focused on Mafuyu’s doubts about debut or his current worries about relationship with Ritsuka as well. Hmmm I think the former is more likely, but we will see. Of course, I hope that maybe when they will talk we will get some Ugetsu in flashback or something like that. Gusari please~~

Though I won’t be surprised that if Ritsuka finds it out, he will be jealous again that Mafuyu is spending time with Akihiko *drama intensifies* Btw I am not sure, but it seems that Akihiko is living separately from Haruki? Besides, I wonder how Given meeting will go without Ritsuka. So to sum it up – there is a lot of things to wait for ^^

[shinymixedbag]

Do you think that Aki was flirting with Haru just to play or take advantage when he needs him, or was it part of him being genuinely attracted to him? As you've said, Aki was a mess atm, but do you think he at least at the back of his mind knew he had more than platonic feelings for Haru? And do you think he always knew about Haru's feelings? I think he would've played his 'gigolo' card on him when they met, but band membership stopped him. But he never really stopped. Why?

Hmm...

I don’t think it was just the band membership that deterred him from playing his gigolo card. Akihiko is a sensitive being, I think he figured out pretty quickly that Haruki was a GOOD person, so he was cautious at first and eventually decided that he simply didn’t want to fuck things up with someone so nice. I also think Akihiko was protecting Haruki (and himself) in his own way. Like, “what Haruki doesn’t know won’t hurt him”. Haruki was always important to him. It just took time and a lotta bullshit happening for him to acknowledge his changing heart (and growing feelings for Haruki)

As for him never stopping, I think Akihiko was unwilling to move on and he thought the was stuck because of Ugetsu. Being dumped out of the blue affected his self-confidence and self-esteem so he kept putting himself down. It’s like he was afraid that good things aren’t meant to happen to him. That’s why he felt like he couldn’t do anything but live destructively I guess...?

Which brings us to the main question: yes, I believe Akihiko was flirting with Haruki just to see his reactions because Akihiko thinks Haruki is cute and he knew Haruki liked him. Over time, he must’ve noticed he had some feelings for Haruki too when he was (according to himself) only supposed to exist(?) with his broken heart. He must’ve been confused and unwilling to accept it.

[morievna]

Ugetsu and mugs

Little late gift for Santa ^^ I wanted to write about this theme for some time actually.

What’s interesting once you are conscious of mugs, they are literally everywhere – in almost all scenes with Akihiko and Ugetsu. Of course, they aren’t present during flashback from high school – but it is intentional too. They represent Akigetsu as well as a broken aspect of their relationship, but school was more like golden times for them. Besides, mugs appear very often in anime too – even in additional scenes mugs are always present. In short mugs are important. Very.

Few examples - ch 8, 13, 25

In addition, a mug appeared too when Haruki mentioned Ugetsu in ch 24

It’s a bit funny that Akihiko immediately got about who Haruki was talking xD

In the same chapter Haruki commented earlier that Akihiko looked like “lost somewhere deep in his thoughts”. I assume that he was thinking about his life and Ugetsu – rethinking everything and a bit of preparation before going to him in next chapter with declaration about moving out.

Let’s move to THAT scene:

Ugetsu: “Around the time we had started to live together, when he brought me my first present, somehow… I hated that very much and I refused it saying – “I don’t want it!” Even though it was only a mug. Back then, I should’ve just say – “I am happy”.

I like so much double meaning in this monologue. It is not only about receiving a mug as present, but about receiving Akihiko’s love too. Overall it sums up Ugetsu’s situation perfectly – him being overwhelmed by first gift/Akihiko’s love and rejecting it because of being afraid of these feelings. And then there is regret that he should’ve react differently and accept it happily.

I also want to point out some difference between fan-translation and official polish translation about rest of that monologue:

Fan translation: “I want to be with him. But, I’m in love with music. Still... never more than that. Really.. he is good guy, isn’t he”

Polish translation: “I want to be with him. But, I love music and him equally. Even though I will never experience anything good as that again*. Really.. he is good guy, isn’t he”

*I am not sure if my rough translation from Polish to English is good enough, but it originally sounds like he consider that relationship with Akihiko is best what happened in his life.

I found it interesting how translator decided for less vague but more straightforward option. Though it way more sad too. I am curious how it will be translated in SuBLime’s release btw.

Another thing about this scene what makes me ponder is Akihiko’s carefree reaction. Like breaking that mug meant no big deal for him. I wonder if we get his POV on that someday.

To me it feels more that Ugetsu doesn’t like new mug because it reminds him of that regret and dilemma (to be with Akihiko or not to be). Since his feelings are “exponentially larger” I think that he remembers them more vividly too.

But it doesn’t mean that mugs are not important for him – just look:

Ch 24:

Ch 25:

The perspective in these frames is almost the same, so they are meant to be compared. Even though there is more mess (which itself tells a lot about Ugetsu’s state), mugs are still in their places. It even seems like he is not using them when Akihiko is gone. To me it is like showcasing that he is still waiting for him to come back.

Theoretically it could be end of my meta, but no.

What always intrigued me the most was that Kizu Natsuki specifically chose broken ceramics mug as symbol for this pairing. Because it is not like it can’t be repaired – it is actually opposite.

It’s called kintsugi (金継ぎ), literally golden (“kin”) and repair (“tsugi”). This traditional Japanese art uses a precious metal – liquid gold, liquid silver or lacquer dusted with powdered gold – to bring together the pieces of a broken pottery item and at the same time enhance the breaks. The technique consists in joining fragments and giving them a new, more refined aspect. Every repaired piece is unique, because of the randomness with which ceramics shatters and the irregular patterns formed that are enhanced with the use of metals. The glue traditionally used to bring the pieces together is the urushi lacquer, which is being sourced for thousands of years from the Rhus verniciflua plant.

Message it conveys is very in line with Given:

When an object breaks, it doesn’t mean that it is no more useful. Its breakages can become valuable. We should try to repair things because sometimes in doing so we obtain more valuable objects. This is the essence of resilience. Each of us should look for a way to cope with traumatic events in a positive way, learn from negative experiences, take the best from them and convince ourselves that exactly these experiences make each person unique, precious.

[source]

Another quote that I like very much:

The only willfulness in the process is the effort to assist with the rebirth of something whose existence has been threatened, something that has held value for others. [...] Simultaneously we have the expression of frailty and of resilience, life before the incident and life after. Yet the object is not the same. In its rebirth it assumes a new identity that incorporates yet transcends the previous identity.

[source]

I hope that we see more of character development of Ugetsu – that he will realize that he made some poor life choices and will try to repair his life and relationship with Akihiko in some way. I think he will want Akihiko’s forgiveness for hurt he caused. And in the end they will reconcile and their relationship will transform to the different and more beautiful quality. Besides, the fact that Akihiko is taking violin seriously now bodes well too – after all it was one of reasons why Ugetsu broke up with him because was feeling guilty that Akihiko abandoned his dreams (“my existence means fundamentally suffering for him”). So I think it will be sorted out too.

Given is about healing and second chances - this phrase is not only about letting go of past and starting something new, but also rectifying past mistakes and repairing broken things. I believe that it will be outcome of Akihiko’s and Ugetsu’s story.

As always thanks for reading. Of course, this is just my interpretation, but I will be reaally baffled if all that mugs were put in the story with no deeper meaning. But we will see.