A fantastic LGBT series!

This is a series I discovered in 2020 and I am so happy I did! If you’re a music fan, or a fan of slow burn romance, this would be a great suggestion for you. Volumes 1 and 2 do a great job of setting up the characters and the general storyline of the series, but volumes 3 and 4 continue and grow this into something a lot deeper and more emotional.

The relationship between Oenoyama and Mafuyu is the focus of the first two volumes, but with volumes 3 and 4 we get way more information about the other two members of the band, Haruki and Akihiko. This series is a fun romance since it involves older people, and by “older,” I mean some high school seniors and college/grad students. Teenage romance is sometimes too much for me to handle lately since I don’t really relate to it anymore, but having characters who are concerned about work, friends, money and more “adult” issues is a breath of fresh air.

There’s a lot of will they/won’t they in this series, as well as dealing with the emotional aftermath of trauma and bad romantic choices. I find all the characters to be relatable and understandable, and they all have motivations I can relate to or at least understand. Cheating and terrible relationships is a through line through this series, as is using music to cope with trauma and emotional pain, so this may be a great pick for anyone trying to get through something similar. I really appreciate how real the situations feel rather than being so over the top and dramatic as is commonplace with manga romance.

Highly recommend!

Title: Given Vol. 13& 4
Author: Natsuki Kizu
Format: Paperback
Pages:  160 // 162
ISBN:  9781974711840 // 9781974711857

Three Descriptors: Honest, Emotional, Hopeful,