Given Vol. 09

Given Vol. 09. Sometimes a song can save your life.

Love of music unites the four members of the band Given: hotheaded guitarist Uenoyama, playboy drummer Akihiko, gentle bassist Haruki, and Mafuyu, a singer gifted with great talent and burdened by past tragedy. Their struggles and conflicts may drive them apart, but their bond to the music—and to one another—always brings them back together again.

Mafuyu arrives in Shibuya, where syh’s concert will be held. Clutching the tickets both Ritsuka and Hiragi have given him, Mafuyu stops dead in his tracks when he runs into someone who shouldn’t be in Tokyo—Ugetsu. What does his presence there mean, and could this be the catalyst Mafuyu needs to finally move forward and make a decision?

Series overview: Ritsuka Uenoyama is bored with it all – with school, with his basketball club, and even with his one true passion: playing guitar. That is until the day he finds his favorite hidden napping spot occupied by a strange boy cradling a broken-stringed guitar. At first, Uenoyama is nonplussed by Mafuyu Sato and his slightly odd behavior, but when, on a whim, he asks Mafuyu to sing, the power of that song pierces him to the core.

Biographical Notes:

Natsuki Kizu made her professional debut in 2013 with Yukimura Sensei and Kei-kun, followed by the short story collection Links and her breakout series, Given, which has been adapted into drama CDs and an animated TV series.

More details on Natsuki Kizu:

Natsuki Kizu’s Twitter Page

More works by Natsuki Kizu