Given is a series that rewards going deeper.
This page collects everything written on this blog about Given — every character essay, every cultural exploration, every film analysis — in one place.
Whether you’ve just finished the TV anime and want to know more, or you’ve seen everything and want to sit with what it all meant, this is where to find it.
Start Here — If You’re New to Given
Not sure what Given is, or whether it’s for you? These are the best places to begin.
✅ What Is Given? — A Story About Music, Loss, and the Feelings We Can’t Put Into Words What the series is about, why it stays with you, and what kind of story it is. The best first read.
✅ Given Watch Order — How to Watch the Complete Series Without Getting Lost Five releases, one clear order. Everything you need to know before you press play.
✅ Why Given Works Even If You’ve Never Watched BL Before Never watched Boys’ Love? Here’s why Given is still for you — and why the genre label is the least important thing about it.
✅ What Is Boys’ Love? A Beginner’s Guide for Western Fans New to the genre entirely? This is where to start — what BL is, where it came from, and why it has travelled so far from Japan.
Character Essays
Each of these goes deep into one character — not just who they are, but what they’re carrying, why they are the way they are, and what their story reveals about love, grief, and what it means to keep going.
Mafuyu Sato ✅ Mafuyu Sato from Given: What His Silence Is Actually Made Of His silence isn’t emptiness. It’s overfull — with things that have no way out. This essay traces where it came from, and what it cost him to finally let something through.
Ritsuka Uenoyama ✅ Ritsuka Uenoyama from Given: The Boy Who Acts Before He Thinks He kissed him. Then panicked. Then thought about what he’d done. An essay on the particular sincerity of someone whose feelings always arrive before his words do.
Yuki Yoshida ✅ Yuki from Given: The Character Who Isn’t There — and Never Really Leaves He appears only in memory, only in fragments. And yet he is never fully gone. An essay on the boy who left before the story began — and what he left behind.
Akihiko Kaji ✅ Akihiko Kaji from Given: Why the Most Put-Together Person in the Room Was Falling Apart Calm on the surface. A mess underneath. An essay on the four words that contained his entire arc — and why his imperfection is exactly the point.
Haruki Nakayama ✅ Haruki Nakayama from Given: The Person Who Always Put Everyone Else First He held everything together quietly, for a long time, without asking anyone to notice. An essay on what it means to finally be received — after so long spent doing all the receiving.
Hiiragi Kashima ✅ Hiiragi Kashima from Given: The Boy Who Was Pretending to Be Fine Strong on the outside. Cries easily. Kept the wrong person at a distance without knowing why. An essay on the boy who figured himself out — eventually.
Shizusumi Yagi ✅ Shizusumi Yagi from Given: The Person Who Understood Everything — and Said Nothing He knew. He understood the whole situation with clarity. He chose, again and again, to say nothing. An essay on the deepest kind of quiet.
Film Essays
✅ When Your Partner Finishes Their Ex’s Love Song — What Given: To the Sea Understands About Love Ritsuka completed a song written by Mafuyu’s first love. This essay on what that choice cost him — and what it revealed about the kind of love he was offering.
Culture Essays
These essays use Given as a starting point to explore something larger — about Japanese storytelling, Japanese culture, and the feelings that cross every border.
✅ When the Person They Loved Didn’t Leave — They Died Loving someone with an ex is one thing. Loving someone who lost someone to death is something else entirely. An essay on grief, love, and the particular courage it takes to stay.
✅ Why Japanese Characters Never Say “I Love You” — And Why That Makes It Hit Harder Japanese characters rarely declare their love. But somehow, the feeling hits harder than any declaration could. An essay on the cultural reason behind the silence.
✅ How Japanese Stories Handle Grief Differently — What Given Taught Me Western stories say grief is something you get through. Japanese fiction suggests something different — that you carry it with you, and keep going anyway.
✅ The Beauty of Silence in Japanese Fiction — What Mafuyu Sato Made Me Understand Mafuyu’s silence isn’t emptiness. It’s overfull — with things that have no way out. An essay on why Japanese fiction treats silence as meaning.
✅ Guilt Without Closure — Why Given’s Unresolved Endings Feel So Japanese Mafuyu and Yuki’s fight never got resolved. The reason Yuki died is never explained. An essay on guilt, closure, and the honesty of leaving things unfinished.
✅ Why Music Becomes the Voice in Japanese Storytelling — What Given Understands About Feeling In Given, music doesn’t just sound good. It says what the characters can’t. An essay on why Japanese fiction uses music as emotional language.
✅ Why the Band in Given Is More Than a Band — Belonging in Japanese Youth Culture The band isn’t just where the music happens. It’s where four people — each carrying something they couldn’t put down — found somewhere they were allowed to simply be.
About This Blog
This blog is written by a Japanese writer who loves shojo manga and anime — and wants to share that love with readers around the world.
The goal is not just to summarise stories, but to go deeper — into the emotional detail, the cultural context, the things that are hardest to put into words.
Given was the first series explored here in depth. And it turned out to be the right place to start.
New articles are published regularly. If you want to know when the next one arrives, follow along.
Thank you for reading.