Welcome to Anime Rants! The final episode of Given was great. There was a lot of humor and it was pretty light-hearted rather than dramatically romantic, sappy, or intense. I wouldn’t have minded either way, but this ending does seem a bit more natural. The important thing is that Mafuyu and Ritsuka are together. Here’s a recap of the episode which is all I can think to do at the moment.

When Mafuyu confesses that he loves him in a romantic way, Uenoyama is stunned. He didn’t expect his love to be mutual. There follows a hilarious and oh-so-relatable scene of the many “selves” inside Ueno’s head, debating over what to do. They eventually come to the conclusion that there’s an obstacle in this romance: dating a band member is generally not allowed. So Uecchi and Mafuyu go to see Haruki to ask if he’ll allow them to do this. I like how nobody even considers that the “issue” could be the both of them being guys. No homophobia! Always refreshing.

Eventually, Haruki agrees to allow it if the two of them keep it under wraps for the most part and be careful. That’s again, because of worries over the band reputation, and not over the two of them both being male. After that, Ristuka and Mafuyu tell the news to Akihito, who congratulates them and gives Mafuyu a huge collection of CDs to listen to. Ritsuka helps Mafuyu take it home. When Mafuyu meets with Hiiragi and that other guy, he asks them what promo photos are, because Given (The Seasons) is having a promo photo shoot at a real studio.

The photo shoot goes well, although the guys have a difficult time keeping straight faces because of the urge to laugh. They also find it embarrassing, which I fully understand. When that’s done, Akihito, Ristuka, and Mafuyu throw a surprise birthday party for Haruki. By himself later than evening, Haruki admits to himself that he’s lonely and that he wishes for a girlfriend if he can’t have Akihito. His story doesn’t get much more resolution. I feel pretty bad for him, really.

On their way home from the birthday party, Mafuyu and Ristuka run into a street festival and have an unofficial date there. The episode ends with the two of them under the stars, sitting apart from the crowds, and wondering about what to do for summer vacation. Ritsuka asks what Mafuyu’s new song will be about. Then the end credits start as well as the ED, “Marutsuke” by Given. I think it’s pretty clear that means “Marutsuke” is Mafuyu’s second song. If you read the English translation of the lyrics, it seems to be a song about Mafuyu’s thoughts and questions as he’s together with someone he loves. ❤

Thank you kindly for your time and attention today! Jya, ne!

Previous Posts About Given
Given Episodes 1 and 2 Review
Given Episodes 3 and 4 Review
Given Episodes 5 and 6 Review
Given Episodes 7 and 8 Review
Given Episodes 9 and 10 Review

PATREON

(Images from: Given. Dir. H Yamaguchi. Lerche. 2019.)