BLog: Given Vol. 2
BLog reviews recent boys love, yaoi and LGBTQ+ English translation manga.
[image error]Given Vol. 2
Story and art: Natsuki Kizu
Translation: Sheldon Drzka
Publisher: SuBLime Manga
Release Date: May 12, 2020
(☞ﾟヮﾟ)☞ Spoilers for Given Vol. 1 ☜(ﾟヮﾟ☜)
A week before their first concert with quiet, sleepy-eyed, enigmatic Mafuyu Sato as frontman, the band Given finds tensions running high. Drummer Haruki Nakayama and bassist Akihiko Kaji have never played better since Mafuyu’s addition, but guitarist (and Mafuyu’s high school classmate) Ritsuka Uenoyama are both in a rut.
Mafuyu was supposed to come up with lyrics for his song the band has crafted from a melody in his head, but he hasn’t come up with a word. Hot-headed Uenoyama is struggling with his own playing and lashes out at his bandmates, and Akihiko thinks its because he’s distracted by Mafuyu.
But… what kind of distracted? Is it really about the fact that Mafuyu hasn’t written lyrics, or could it be something else entirely?
I mentioned in my review of Given Vol. 1 that when I tried the first episode of the anime I got BL vibes without knowing much about it. Clearly given the things Vol. 2 explores I should have stuck with it and these feelings would have been validated.
After losing his temper with Mafuyu in the rehearsal studio, Haruki pulls Uenoyama aside and confronts him about his feelings for the vocalist. The drummer points out Uenoyama’s obvious crush, apparent whenever the guitarist looks at their new frontman. “Am I weird?!” Uenoyama asks, suddenly confronted with the truth.
No, why? Haruki asks, because Mafuyu’s a guy and guys are supposed to like women? That’s what Haruki used to think…
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If Vol. 1 was about Uenoyama’s discovery of this strange little sad boy in his favourite napping stairwell and exploring his connection to music, Vol. 2 is Mafuyu’s chance to step to the front of the stage. As we get closer to their concert we get closer to the truth of Mafuyu’s relationship with Yuki, his childhood best friend turned boyfriend turned lost love; raised in broken homes, as children they became closer than close, so it didn’t surprise their friend Hiragi when he caught them kissing.
We already knew through rumours that Yuki died and Mafuyu was somehow involved, but I was dubious how they’d handle the death–you never know with media, it could be handled sensitively or it could be, “I’M GAY I DON’T DESERVE TO LIVE.” Fortunately, as we delve into Mafuyu’s memories of Yuki, moments of tenderness and tragedy, we learn why he is the sad little space case he is, and why it would be so hard to put his love for Yuki into words.
Given, the manga, is full of surprises; on top of being quality BL with cute boys and all the feels, it’s also a story that’s handled artfully, both narratively and the actual art on the page. The story explores pain, loss and loneliness alongside moments of levity and outright hilarity. As we get to the end of the volume, Given taking the stage melds with Mafuyu’s most painful memories sung wordlessly for an audience for the first time, and the manga about a band manages to musically capture, without music, his raw pain.
This series may be building into one of my favourites. Looking at all of the themes coming together: beautiful boy with big eyes and a tragic backstory and the hot-headed guitarist boy not realizing he’s falling in love with him, pain and heartbreak that doesn’t feel overwrought or unearned, loveable secondary characters you want to follow just as much as the main characters. Especially for BL it always manages to find harmony and hit all the right notes.
Level of Problematic: Very sad, very gay boy singing about his dead boyfriend; Yuki’s death was the only thing that I was worried about and it’s handled exquisitely, summoning up a pain and loss that can be understood without being put into words. Bonus points for Akihiko and Uenoyama’s conversation about liking guys at the beginning, which was delightful.
Level of Adorable: A bunch of cute boys in a band who are all gay for each other; Given is like a BL two-for-one sale: you thought you were just getting one set of gay boys, but oh boy were you wrong. Mafuyu’s flashbacks to him and Yuki as kids were also ADORABLE. MORE!!
Level of Spiciness: Sad gay tears stream as sad gay lips meet; again, this is more pure BL as opposed to smut (both have their place in the universe), but I was worried this would be one of those stories that just skirts around how gay these boys are for each other. BOY WAS I WRONG.
