Given is nothing if not frustrating at times.  But fortunately it’s definitely not nothing – there’s an awful lot of good happening here, and the things that frustrate me about it would probably be feathers in its cap if it were a 39-episode series or something.  But it’s not – it’s 11 eps, and that means only three more til the end.  Even in a medium where I’m used to manga adaptations that serve mainly as extended commercials for the source material, that annoys me quite a bit in Given’s case.  Character studies are always hard to walk away from in the middle, and it’s a music series that will end up having almost no music.

The simple fact is, for a short series it’s quite notable how many episodes Given has where nothing really happens.  Character arcs inch along certainly, but the plot itself tends to be moving on glacial time.  The obvious upsides of that are that it allows the narrative to flow in a way that feels very naturalistic, and it allows the characters and relationships to be developed in a very subtle and nuanced manner.  But the downside is no less obvious, and Given has an awful lot left unfinished with only an hour or so of screen time left.

As The Seasons (have we heard that name before this week)?, prepare for their first gig with Mafuyu, the three tenured members of the band fret over that in their own way.  They’re musicians enough (even Ritsuka, who’s apparently a Shimokitazawa legend despite his age) to realize they’re probably fucked.  They’re about to take the stage with a vocalist who has no songs to sing, who’s also a guitarist who can barely play the guitar.  Given that, it’s interesting that Akihiko chooses to invite Ugetsu anyway, given that he’s certain to be a tough audience and Akihiko obviously still cares very (too?) much about his opinion.  Perhaps Aki has a vibe that things aren’t as bad as they seem?

In fact, most of the episode again focuses on Mafuyu, this time around with the inclusion of Hiiragi.  He’s feeling badly about the way he’s treated Mafuyu, clearly, but even more about the role he played – or didn’t play – in Yuki’s death.  Not much of what Hiiragi says in his narration (not a huge fan of exposition by narration, but it’s a minor matter here) is surprising.  He, Yuki, Mafuyu and their friend Shizu were a quartet all through grade and middle school (and eventually a literal quartet).  Yuki and Mafuyu were the classic opposites attracting, and Yuki’s death came from alcohol poisoning after they had a fight.  It’s not made clear if it was suicide or just incredibly reckless, but the survivors are clearly spending much of their lives blaming themselves.

The more we’ve dug into his psyche the more clear it’s become that Mafuyu is carrying some serious baggage.  We’ve only ever seen him alone at home – he was a latchkey kid – and it turns out his father hit him as well.  Whether that’s still going on or even if his father is still around it’s not clear, but it’s impossible to overstate the impact that would have on a boy.  Mafuyu can be an incredibly frustrating person to relate with (as his bandmates are finding out), but the fact that he seems to recognize that his subjugation of his own feelings is at the heart of the problem feels like genuine progress for him.

As for the live, it’s almost tempting to believe we’re going to get an actual performance next week – but I’m not counting my chickens with this series.  Haruki is hedging his bets by asking his friend Take (Amano Hirosato), whose band is anchoring the concert, to extend their set if needed, and Ritsuka declares that The Seasons should give up on the idea of vocals this time.  That upsets Mafuyu (mostly because he hates to see Ritsuka compromise with reality) but in truth, however valid his reasons Mafuyu hasn’t really given his friends any choice.  Maybe he’ll hit the stage and wing it (it seems pretty clear this isn’t his first time singing) but whatever happens, I’d really like to get some actual performance next week.