This approximately 60-minute film is a direct continuation of the TV series, although the focus is less on the main characters and more on the supporting band members Akihiko and Haruki. Even after the story moves on from Mafuyu's struggle to come to terms with the death of his first boyfriend, the themes of this anime remain consistent: This is an ordinary tale at heart about young men moving on and finding new love while cherishing what their past relationships have given them.

There are a few reasons why this arc does not quite reach the emotional heights of the TV series. The shorter length of the film, which corresponds to around three episodes of a TV anime, means that the story lacks the meticulous feeling of buildup to its climax that the series had. Also, there's less pathos in a messy breakup compared to the finality of death. I wouldn't consider the latter to be a flaw, though, because there's a sense of groundedness to the relationships depicted here that you wouldn't find in a tragic love story about a young couple separated by an untimely death. That said, if you go into this film expecting it to continue exploring Mafuyu's grief directly, you may come out underwhelmed.

It's also worth noting that, perhaps because this arc is about the relationship between adults, it does explore some more adult territory. It's not as explicit as Blue Lynx's previous offering, Twittering Birds Never Fly: The Clouds Gather, but there is an attempted sex scene which is more graphic than anything shown in the TV series. It's also non-consensual in nature, which may make some viewers uncomfortable even if the consequences of it are addressed within the narrative. It's one of those moments that makes you realize that Given isn't just about cute and fluffy first love or teenage angst; there are some murkier aspects of romantic relationships being explored here.

As you may expect, Mafuyu and Ritsuka somewhat fade into the background in this film, but the role that Mafuyu plays is pretty interesting. In the climax of the TV series, his song was a raw expression of his own grief, but as he grows as a musician he becomes able to express the feelings of other people through his lyrics. He becomes an observer to the dynamics between Akihiko, Ugetsu, and Haruki, and shows that he's very sensitive to their feelings. He's the ideal kind of supporting character in this context, because his journey as a musician complements the role he plays as a conveyor of emotions. That said, I will admit that I found it a bit voyeuristic of him to write a song about relationship drama that he's not a part of.

Speaking of songs, the music in this film is just as solid as the TV series. The rock ballad in the climax hits a lot of similar notes to its counterpart in that iconic scene from episode 9, meaning that it's an instant ear worm with some haunting lyrics. The CG in the performance scene still looks a bit awkward, but the editing mitigates this problem significantly by never lingering on a single shot for very long. Also, shout out to Tchaikovsky and Brahms for getting their pieces performed in this film! The bread and butter of this series may be rock music, but the classical violin performances are also important to the characters, and I really liked how this film was able to portray both Ugetsu and Akihiko as skilled violinists who nevertheless produce very different sounds.

Really, the only significant problem with this film is that it is too short. All the essential plot points do get represented, but the pacing feels a little abrupt, especially when it comes to portraying the passage of time. Aside from cues in the dialogue itself, it's hard to get a sense of just how long Akihiko and Haruki spend cohabiting, for instance. A film was never going to capture that slow and gradual sense of buildup that the TV series had, but I think this film could have benefited from having at least another twenty minutes of runtime to set the scene. Also, I really would have liked to see more of Mafuyu and Ritsuka's relationship, as it feels like Ritsuka essentially became a non-person in this arc. Even from an anime-only perspective I couldn't help but get the feeling that certain scenes were probably cut to make things fit the one-hour length.

Overall, I will say that I was satisfied with this continuation, even if I didn't like it quite as much as the original series. It's a given (heh) that fans of the series will be interested in this film, but if you haven't seen the TV anime yet, you owe it to yourself to check out one of the best BL anime series out there. Hopefully this film also makes it way to an English-speaking audience in some form.