Tokiko Kofudo– Author –

Silence, in a lot of stories, is something to be filled. Someone gets quiet, and then someone else says something. Feelings get named. Explanations get offered. The silence doesn't last, because the story needs to keep moving. Given works differently. In Given, silence is not a gap between meaningful moments. It is the meaningful moment. What Japanese Fiction Does With Silence There is a saying in Japanese: chinmoku wa kin (沈黙は金). Silence ...

This manga series is a must-read for any fan of the genre! Grab a copy and dive into the story. Mafuyu Sato still goes to school. He still carries a guitar—the broken one, the one that used to be Yuki's. He moves through his days. He functions, in the way people are expected to function. But somewhere inside him, time stopped the moment the fight with Yuki went unfinished. For a long time, I assumed every grief story was eventually reaching for the same destination: the mo...

If you have spent any time watching Japanese anime or reading manga, you may have noticed something. The words I love you almost never appear. Characters fall for each other. Deeply, painfully, completely. They carry feelings for years. They make enormous sacrifices for the people they love. And they almost never say it out loud. In Western fiction, I love you is often the emotional climax — the moment everything has been building toward. In Japanese fi...

No major spoilers in this article. If you are wondering what order to watch Given in, use this complete sequence: Given — TV anime, all 11 episodes given the Movie given: on the other hand — officially classified in Japan as the OAD Given: Uragawa no Sonzai given The Movie: Hiiragi Mix given The Movie: To the Sea That is the full anime watch order. Start with the TV series, then follow the releases in sequence. To the Sea is the official conclusion of the anime series, so ...

This manga series is a must-read for any fan of the genre! Grab a copy and dive into the story. No spoilers in this article. Given is a Boys' Love series. It is also the series I would recommend first to someone who has never watched Boys' Love before. Not despite that. Because of how it's made. "I'm Not Sure BL Is for Me" You might have a particular image of what Boys' Love is. Stories about male romance, made for a specific audience. Something that might not speak t...