Guys, Karandi didn’t even realize that Kaji was a talented violinist. I’m pretty sure I deserve him more that she does now. Have no clue what I’m talking about? Then you should absolutely read this!!!!
That’s a link to my review of Given episode 4 with Karandi. I wanted to be cute but then I lost confidence in my ability to pull it off. And now I’m babbling… Quick, distract them with pictures of cute boys!
This is just the before OP tag (and the last picture of the actual OP because I like it). See how neutral and creamy the colours are. Everything feels still and quiet. I noticed a few clock and time shots. Especially the hour on their phones. They insisted of the symbolism of time a lot more this week. It feels like the calm before the storm, guys….
See what I mean about that girl looking a lot like Mayufu (first column, third row). Hide the skirt and you could think they just messed up a bit with Mayu’s hair shape. Oh, I mentioned this over on Karandi’s blog… You should go read it!
The stairwell light continues to be a source of fascination for me. It,s a super subtle shift but it gives the scenes this dreamlike atmosphere. That one spot is really Uena and Sato’s private world and you can visually see it with how the shadows play out the the palette changes just a little bit.
Also Mayu’s way too happy face is the best!
If there is one word to describe Given’s visual style, I think it would be comforting. Every single scene has a warm but subdued colour palette, soft lines, lots of curves and gentle shadows (except in the staircase scenes where the shadows get considerably sharper for that dreamlike effect).
The light feels inviting and even the darken streets give the impression of being refreshing rather than menacing thanks to the large amount of orange everywhere. (Not only actual orange but some of it thrown into the levels of the other colours.
It’s of course more relaxing and less aggressive than red, but it’s also not as high impact and occasionally unnerving as yellow.
*** I found out from the character sheet that Haruki is supposed to have light brown hair***
Someday, this girl will discover her fujoshi side and regret she didn’t take the time to fully appreciate this moment! I like that the two girls look like funhouse reflections of Mayu and Ueno.
See how much colder the train station is compared to everything else. It was a nice little pop of contrast that really makes all the other scenes come together in harmony.
Why did Ueno carry his guitar? Mayu needed it to try out pedals but Ueno just had it for show. It’s pretty bulky and impractical to carry around like that.
Given is not a visually adventurous show and I have seen some blogs call it cheap looking. But there is a lot of little touches in the images that make it come to life. The colour story is one of the best I’ve seen in a while. Beyond that, the realism of the music shops really bright back some memories and the restaurant looks like somewhere I would love to go at the end of a long night.
I like the visuals. Perferctly expressive and consistent.
I like it too – I have read quite a bit of criticism of it but that’s ok