Given” has many fans as a supreme BL work, and in 2024, the final story of the main story will be released as a two-part movie, making it a year of endless topics. To commemorate the release of the final chapter, “Given: To the Sea,” which will be released on September 20th, we will introduce the profiles and personalities of the main characters, as well as notable scenes.
*This article contains spoilers.
Vocalist and guitarist for the band “Given”
(red Gibson ES-330 guitar)
Birthday: February 28th (16 years old, 2nd year of high school)
Star sign: Pisces
Blood type: AB
Height: 173cm
Mafuyu lives with his mother and their dog, Kedama. Kedama is a Pomeranian that Mafuyu’s mother bought for him for his birthday because he was feeling down. Mafuyu calls him “Tama.”
The guitar given to Mafuyu by Yuki’s mother, which he had thought was like a curse, was the starting point of his musical career. Through the broken guitar, Mafuyu met Rika, was exposed to music, and after his first live performance, he began to think, “I want to sing more” and “I want to write songs.” He
began to perform in earnest under the name “Given,” and Mafuyu absorbed more and more music. He even went so far as to go to a classical music concert with Akihiko, where he became fascinated by the performance of violinist Murata Ugetsu.
Although he has a husky and beautiful voice, when he sings he has an impressive voice that is filled with passion. Mafuyu had a good ear to begin with, and through hard work he listened to music. Once he began to understand music, he was truly a “genius.”
Mafuyu was in a relationship with his childhood friend Yuki. They had needed each other and been attracted to each other since childhood, but when they entered high school and Yuki started a band, Mafuyu felt lonely and started arguing with Yuki over small things… Then, Yuki suddenly disappeared in front of Mafuyu. This was a
phrase that Mafuyu often hummed while spending time with Yuki. Ritsuka, who arranged Mafuyu’s song in his head and made it into a song, asked him if he would like to write the lyrics. Mafuyu resisted, saying that he couldn’t do it, but he decided to try. It was because there was something he really, really wanted to tell Yuki, whom he loved…
Mafuyu’s heartfelt song, “Fuyu no Hanashi”, is the biggest highlight of “Given”.
Although he had asked Ritsuka to teach him how to play the guitar, Mafuyu avoided joining the band, and when Ritsuka told him she liked his singing, Mafuyu joined the band as the guitarist and vocalist.
Mafuyu was always a little pushy, but Ritsuka always led him around, and before he knew it, he felt saved by her, and he was grateful to her for bringing him to the point where he could put his feelings into words. Realizing that his feelings were love, Mafuyu suddenly smiled at Ritsuka, a change from the lonely look on his face before – and the two became a happy couple.
On the day of the concert, with Mafuyu’s lyrics still unfinished, Ritsuka and Mafuyu get impatient and start arguing. Mafuyu gets too tense and ends up breaking the guitar strings… Just as they’re about to give up, Haruki’s words bring Ritsuka back to her senses and she replaces the strings just like when he first fixed the guitar for her.
Hoping to heal Mafuyu’s wounds even a little like fixing the strings, Ritsuka talks about himself since he met Mafuyu and says, “I’m bad at putting things into words too.” Hearing these words, Mafuyu begins to sing in response to Ritsuka, who understands his inability to express his emotions well.
Mafuyu, who is absorbed in music, visits Akihiko’s house early in the morning. There he meets Akihiko’s roommate, Ugetsu. As Ugetsu listens to a song he’s been working on, Ugetsu begins to talk about his relationship with Akihiko. Mafuyu asks why he told her. Ugetsu responds, “I wanted someone to understand.” “Even if just a little bit is fine.”
Mafuyu feels that Ugetsu is feeling the same things he felt during their first live performance, so he delivers the song in the same resonant way that Ugetsu did at the concert. So that he can tell Ugetsu, “It’s going to be okay.”
With that encouragement, Ugetsu once again takes flight and takes off into the world. Later, the two meet again, and when Mafuyu receives an offer to debut and pauses, Ugetsu gives him a push, telling him, “It’ll be okay.” The two musical geniuses share a strong connection, which is why their words resonate so strongly with each other.
メジャーデビューが決まった柊たちのバンド「syh〈シー〉」のサポートにつき、ライブの準備に追われる立夏。真冬は由紀たちの時みたいに自分だけが置いていかれたような淋しさを覚え、気づけば歌えなくなっていました。
人よりも考えるのに時間がかかり、不安に思ったり怖いと感じてしまうと立ち止まってしまう真冬。突然「さみしい」「会いたい」と連絡し、終電間際なのに駆け付けてくれた立夏にホッとする真冬でしたが、ライブに来てほしいと誘われた瞬間、立夏の前で“音楽”を拒んでしまいます。
衝撃的なシーンから始まる本作品。一瞬にして真冬に感情移入した自分は、ライブの歌唱シーンで感情が溢れた真冬を涙なしでは見ていられませんでした。
由紀との恋に決着をつけ、立夏との新たな恋を始めた真冬は笑顔も多く、奥手の立夏に対して意外にも真冬がリードする情景にほっこりします。原作のラストシーンも2人らしいやり取りで終わるので、ぜひそこにも注目していただきたいです！
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