Given Season 2: Renewed or Cancelled? + Release Date Predictions
Given Season 2, will it ever happen?
Shounen-ai, or Boys’ Love, is an anime category encompassing the romantic interactions between men with different degrees of intimacy.
Instead of targeting the sexual components, shounen-ai focuses on the emotional angle of characters with a backdrop of mutual affection.
Series like Hitorijime My Hero, Sekaiichi Hatsukoi, and Love Stage are examples that have showcased romantic storylines among boys.
While there are not many shounen-ai animes, Summer 2019 was privy to one such series as the adaption of Natsuki Kizu s’ manga series, Given, hit the small screens.
The story follows Mafuyu Satou, who steps out of his dark apartment to begin another monotonous day of High school. While taking a nap in the gym, he encounters Ritsuka Uenoyama, who lashes at him for letting the strings of his guitar rust and break.
Satou is impressed by Ritsuka s’ knowledge of the instrument and requests to teach him how to play. While hesitant initially, Ritsuka agrees and invites Satou to observe his practice jam sessions with his band members, bassist Haruki Nakayama and drummer Akihiko Kaji.
During one of their lessons, Mafuyu sings an original melody to Ritsuka. Who is stunned by his voice and invites Mafuyu to join the band.
How does Satou s’ life change after he meets Ritsuka and becomes part of the band, which eventually gets named Given, is the central plot of the show.
Given season one was a massive success and was received with positive reviews amidst the critics. However, fans of the show are wondering if and when will be the second installment of Given come out.
To find the answer, keep scrolling as we bring you all the latest news and updates on Given season 2.
Given is rated 8.3/10 and ranked #220 with 519k members on MyAnimeList
WHAT IS THE GIVEN SEASON 2 RELEASE DATE?
Given Season one aired from 11th July 2019 to 19th September 2019 for 11 episodes.
As of writing, there is no update from studio Lerche on the renewal of Given Season 2.
| SEASON | RELEASE DATE |
| Given Season 1 | 11th July 2019 |
| Given Season 2 | Yet to be Announced |
Production studios consider various commercial and financial metrics before announcing a renewal.
Given season one was the best romance drama of 2019 and was one of the top-rated animes of Summer 2019 behind the likes of Dr. Stone, Vinland Saga, and Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon.
Despite releasing amidst such a mainstream series, Given did well in ratings and reviews wise, which is further backed up by its IMDB user episode ratings.
| EPISODE | RATING |
| Given Episode 1 | 7.5 |
| Given Episode 2 | 7.3 |
| Given Episode 3 | 7.7 |
| Given Episode 4 | 7.4 |
| Given Episode 5 | 8.0 |
| Given Episode 6 | 7.5 |
| Given Episode 7 | 7.6 |
| Given Episode 8 | 7.7 |
| Given Episode 9 | 9.3 |
| Given Episode 10 | 7.8 |
| Given Episode 11 | 7.8 |
While the reviews and ratings are positive, a crucial factor that goes into renewal is the availability of the studio.
Studio Lerche, albeit a well-known production house, isn’t exactly known to produce sequels, with only Assassination Classroom getting multi-installments.
Furthermore, the Given series has received an anime, OVA, and Move, which by common consent has ended the story on a satisfying note with story arcs already covered.
Nevertheless, fans want to see more of their favorite boy band, and with one more arc left to be adapted, Studio Lerche might just be tempted.
The official Twitter account of Shinshokan’s Cheri+ magazine announced on Monday that Natsuki Kizu’s Given manga will end on March 30 with an “important announcement.”
Could the important announcement be Given in Season 2 after all, only time will tell.
Hence if the studio does revisit the series for a sequel, we can expect Given Season 2 trailer and Given Season 2 release date by Summer 2024.
GIVEN MANGA CATCHUP
Given manga is written and illustrated by Natsuki Kizu. It began serialization in Cheri+ magazine in April 2013 and is scheduled to end on 30th March 2023.
The manga has been collected into eight volumes, with the latest issue released on 3rd October 2022.
The second volume of Given reached #39 on Oricon, selling 17,484 copies in its second week for a total of 30,308 copies as of February 2016.
The third volume reached #37 on Oricon and sold 24,345 copies in its first week.
The series ranked #7 in the boys’ love category on the digital book service BookLive! in the first half of 2019
Given manga is rated 8.5/10 and ranked #97 with 54k members on MyAnimeList
GIVEN SEASON 2 PLOT
In the finale of Given Season one, “Song2”, Mafuyu confesses that he loves Uenoyama in a romantic way which leaves the latter stunned. The pair wonder if dating a fellow band member could be good as it’s generally not allowed.
They go to Haruki to seek advice and permission if the new love can blossom despite both being in the same band. Haruki allows them, but only if they keep things quiet and under wraps while not harming the band s’ reputation.
Mafuyu and Uenoyama inform Akihito, who is thrilled to know about the news and gifts a huge music collection of CDs to Mafuyu.
Later that evening, after a photo shoot, the band celebrates Haruki s’ birthday and admits that if not for Akhito, he still wishes for a girlfriend.
The episode ends with Mafuyu and Uenoyama attending a street festival while wondering what they will do during the summer vacation.
Given season one covered the first 15 chapters of the manga, and the movie adapted from Chapters 16 through 28 which means Given season will begin by adapting Volume 6: Chapter 29.
Now that Given has the offer to record their debut album, each band member must decide whether to get serious about trying to go pro.
Though Ritsuka doesn’t have a single doubt in his mind, Mafuyu isn’t ready to commit.
Frustrated by Mafuyu’s evasion, Ritsuka shifts his focus to playing in former rival Hiragi’s band, but Hiragi is having trouble with bandmate Shizusumi.
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GIVEN CAST, CHARACTER, AND CREW
Given anime is directed by Hikaru Yamaguchi and scripted by Yuniko Ayana. Music is composed by Michiru, and the characters are designed by Mina Osawa.
Kohei Honda directs the art, while the sound is produced by Hiromi Kikuta. Animation is developed by studio Lerche with Mina Osawa as the chief animation director.
You can find the list of Given characters and voice cast below:
| CHARACTERS | VOICED BY |
| Mafuyu Sato | Shōgo Yano |
| Ritsuka Uenoyama | Yūma Uchida |
| Akeno Kasai | Ayaka Asai |
| Hiiragi Kashima | Fumiya Imai |
| Ryô Ueki | Hirosato Amano |
| Shôgo Itaya | Kengo Takanashi |
| Haruki Nakayama | Masatomo Nakazawa |
| Koji Yatake | Ryōta Takeuchi |
| Ugetsu Murata | Shintarō Asanuma |
| Akihiko Kaji | Takuya Eguchi |
| Yayoi Uenoyama | Yu Shimamura |
| Tsubaki | Mitsuki Nakae |
| Shizusumi Yagi | Taito Ban |
| Hanaoka | Tarusuke Shingaki |
| Yuki Yoshida | Yūki Shin |
CONCLUSION
Given Season 2 should be a no-brainer considering its popularity, but with the manga ending and the first season as well as the movie culminating the story arcs, it could be a tad farfetched.
