Given Anime Gets Another Film Sequel

Fuji TV announced today that Given, the popular BL anime based on Natsuki Kizu’s manga of the same name, will be getting a second film adaptation. The staff of the film also released a promotional video featuring teaser art by Kizu.

The art is of the story’s six main characters – band members Mafuyu Sato, Ritsuka Uenoyama, Akihiko Kaji, and Haruki Nakayama, alongside Mafuyu’s childhood friends Hiiragi Kashima and Shizusumi Yagi.

The manga, which ends on March 30, launched in 2014 in Shinshokan’s Cheri+ magazine and is published in English by VIZ Media’s SuBLime imprint. An anime adaptation was greenlit in 2019 and ran for one season (11 episodes). The first film adaptation was released in Japanese theaters in 2020 and began streaming on Crunchyroll in 2021.

The original series centered around Ritsuka rediscovering his love for music thanks to Mafuyu, who was trying to escape the painful memories of his late boyfriend. Given the Movie focused on their bandmates, Akihiko and Haruki, and their fraught path to a relationship.

It’s likely that the second film will adapt the next arc from the manga, which involves Ritsuka temporarily (or not?) joining Hiiragi’s and Shizusumi’s band, and the tension this brings to his new relationship with Mafuyu. It also delves into the relationship between Hiiragi and Shizusumi. This is the final arc of the story, as the manga comes to an end later this month.

When the ending of the manga was announced in January, it was paired with the news that there would be an “important announcement” with the final chapter. I’m not sure if we should assume that the movie is the news, because I’d wager that they would have waited to announce it if that were the case. So it stands to reason that we still have a major announcement coming when the final chapter publishes next week. There is a lot of fan speculation as to what the news might be (people are hoping for a spinoff), but I guess we’ll just have to wait and see!

This news is very exciting for us here at The Geekiary, as many of us are fans of the anime. I love that we’re getting another film, and that they’re hopefully adapting the rest of the story. We’ll keep you posted with any upcoming information!

Author: Jamie Sugah

Jamie has a BA in English with a focus in creative writing from The Ohio State University. She self-published her first novel, The Perils of Long Hair on a Windy Day, which is available through Amazon. She is currently an archivist and lives in New York City with her demon ninja vampire cat. She covers television, books, movies, anime, and conventions in the NYC area.

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