Given (2019)
Tightly clutching his Gibson guitar, Mafuyu Satou steps out of his dark apartment to begin another day of his high school life. While taking a nap in a quiet spot on the gymnasium staircase, he has a chance encounter with fellow student Ritsuka Uenoyama, who berates him for letting his guitar's strings rust and break. Noticing Uenoyama's knowledge of the instrument, Satou pleads for him to fix it and to teach him how to play. Uenoyama eventually agrees and invites him to sit in on a jam session with his two band mates: bassist Haruki Nakayama and drummer Akihiko Kaji.
Seasons & Episode
Ritsuka introduces Mafuyu to his other bandmates, Haruki and Akihiko. After some convincing from the other two, Ritsuka finally agrees to teach Mafuyu how to play guitar. Mafuyu is so excited about playing guitar for the first time that he can’t hide his excitement. One day, Haruki and Akihiko tell Mafuyu the most important thing about playing music...
Ritsuka is floored after hearing Mafuyu’s singing voice and invites him into the band, but Mafuyu declines. Ritsuka just can’t take no for an answer and keeps trying to invite Mafuyu into the band, but now, Mafuyu is avoiding him. Then during band practice, Haruki asks Ritsuka to actually think about if he ever thought about how Mafuyu felt...
Ritsuka realizes how he truly feels and ends up taking out his frustrations and confusion on Mafuyu. Ritsuka ends up talking to Akihiko, who tells him that what he’s feeling is completely normal, but Ritsuka still wonders if it’s okay to admit these feelings. As Akihiko watches over Ritsuka and Mafuyu, he remembers his past with Ugetsu.
As the day of the live show approaches, the season heads into the rainy season and the high school boys have finals. While Mafuyu has trouble coming up with lyrics, he gets visited by his childhood friend, Hiiragi Kashima, who was also Yuki’s childhood friend.