Eiga Given

This was an unpleasant surprise. The Given anime series appealed to me, due to the ease and credibility of the way the band's story was portrayed, the development of relationships and the evolution of the four main characters in an almost perfect balance, all of which the producers managed to spice up with a healthy dollop of good music. In the movie follow-up, however, two of the characters are completely sidelined, the band's story and music basically take a holiday, and the mainstay of the story becomes the relationship between the other two characters, where irritating BL tropes begin to creep in, and where in the space of just an hour the pace starts to falter, spoiling the original lightness and natural vibe. Of course, the movie also managed to preserve its civil nature, the high-quality character portrayals, and, in the end, gives us a bit of good music as a band-aid, but what appealed to me about the series is irredeemably blown away. The ending with its kind of inevitable fated relationship outcome also did not help me gain a good impression, and it was then I began to regret that I did not just stick with the series. Yaoists can boldly put their feet up on the table and enjoy this audiovisual fodder, but I would have to reconsider watching the eventual sequel. I give it a weak 3 stars. (21.03.2021)