#metapotato

[magicpotatoobsession]

NEW OFFICIAL ART ALERT

I’d like to think that they all planned to be in neutrals for a photoshoot then ritsuka just about had it with Hiiragi because he came in pastel blue (the calico cat wants to stand out) only for him to then give Hiiragi a free pass seeing that he is just wearing both of the bands’ merch for extra promo 😂😂😂 Ritsu is absolutely thinking “Hiiragi don’t ruin the fucking photo” and there is our cat boi being cheeky with a little RAWR 🐯 Shizu’s and Mafuyu’s little smile like “ah yes we’ve had to deal with years of this behaviour”

It’s canon in my head that Take-chan is just relieved that they are all acting natural and not pissing themselves laughing like their first shoot

This is the design of the shirt Hiiragi is wearing from a previous Kizu official art release

Masterlist of my Given Metas

[kaihavertz5]

MrPotato

MrPotato is using blockchain technology to build a decentralized ecosystem that empowers people and communities around the world.

 MrPotato is a new and exciting idea that mixes the thrill of DeFi with an attractive environment centered around potatoes. It stands apart from other projects in the crypto world thanks to its community-based approach, farm produce and betting system, charitable endeavors, emphasis on transparency and security, and instructional resources. MrPotato is without a doubt a project worth joining as it is growing and improving a lot. Whether you are a cryptocurrency lover or a casual investor, MrPotato offers a special opportunity to be part of a community-driven project and want to have fun while making a profitable impact.

New ventures with cutting-edge approaches are constantly emerging in the cryptocurrency market. MrPotato is a single token that seeks to disrupt the industry with its original features and community driven approach. This is one initiative that has generated a lot of interest. To fully understand MrPotato's potential for crypto enthusiasts, we'll examine the website, white paper, and Twitter presence in this post.

Innovative projects are constantly emerging in the realm of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology, attracting the interest of both investors and enthusiasts. MrPotato is one of the projects that has experienced significant growth recently. We will discuss the characteristics of MrPotato in this article and examine what makes it unique from other market tokens. MrPotato made a name for himself in the cryptocurr market

Website overview:

The main source of all project related information is the official MrPotato website ( https://mrpotatotoken.com/ ). The user-friendly and aesthetically pleasing interface of the website is created to immediately catch the interest of the users. It offers a brief but thorough summary of the token's purpose, main features, and purpose. Users can explore the many sections of the website, such as "About Us", "Tokenomics" and "Roadmap", to learn more about MrPotato's goals and plans for the future.

White Paper Evaluation:

Explore the MrPotato white paper at https://mrpotatotoken.com/white-paper for more information. The technical details of the token, including the underlying blockchain technology, token distribution, and governance methods, are fully explained in this document. The revolutionary idea of ​​“staking the potato,” which allows token holders to actively engage in the project decision-making process and receive rewards, is explored in detail in the white paper. This further explains how MrPotato intends to implement strong security measures to guarantee the protection of users' cash and guard against potential weaknesses.

Mr. Potato Ecosystem

Mr. Project Potato is also dedicated to bringing together a diverse and enthusiastic community of experienced cryptocurrency traders and liquidity managers, metaverse players, and collectors of rare NFTs and digital trading cards. Whether you are a seasoned crypto investor or just starting out, there is a place for you in the Mr. potatoes.

So take advantage of this exciting opportunity to invest, collect and earn rewards with Mr. potatoes. Join us today and participate in the future of NFTs and cryptocurrencies!

Customizable NFT and GameFi

But that's not all — Mr. Potato also offers a unique "GameFi" element, in which you can use NFTs to participate in player-versus-player (P2P) battles and earn rewards. These NFTs are ranked by their rarity and "MetaScore", which can be increased through the acquisition of special "MetaParts" in our marketplace.

Personalize and Improve Your NFT with MetaParts

One of the main features of Mr.  Potato is the ability to customize and upgrade your NFT through the acquisition of "MetaParts".  These parts are token attributes that can be traded or purchased on the MetaParts Marketplace, allowing you to personalize your MetaPotato and increase its MetaScore value.  The higher the MetaScore, the more valuable and powerful your MetaPotato will be in the GameFi environment, where you can earn rewards by participating in P2P battles.

Liquidity Bridge Converts Potato Tokens and NFTs seamlessly

But what distinguishes Mr.  Potato is our liquidity bridge, enabling the conversion of ERC20 Potato Tokens to Mr.  Potato ERC721, and vice versa.  This means that you can easily liquidate NFTs at any time while still being able to participate in the growth and success of the Mr.  potatoes.

So why wait?  Join Mr community.  Potato today and start investing, collecting and getting rewards like never before!

Personalize and Improve Your NFT with MetaParts

One of the main features of Mr.  Potato is the ability to customize and upgrade your NFT through the acquisition of "MetaParts".  These parts are token attributes that can be traded or purchased on the MetaParts Marketplace, allowing you to personalize your MetaPotato and increase its MetaScore value.  The higher the MetaScore, the more valuable and powerful your MetaPotato will be in the GameFi environment, where you can earn rewards by participating in P2P battles.

NFT and Potato Land Staking

Besides the MetaParts Marketplace, Mr. Potato offers several investment mechanisms for those who wish to benefit from the growth and success of the project. These include the sale of the “Land of Potatoes” NFT, which allows investors to earn returns on the sale of Mr Potato NFTs, and staking opportunities for Potato Tokens and Mr Potato NFTs. This mechanism offers high yields and a liquidity-backed exit, making it easy for investors to participate in price hikes, growing potato economics, and GameFi FOMO without affecting the liquidity of Mr. Potato Tokens or NFTs. Potato.

Multi-Chain Trading and Liquidity

One of Mr. Potato is to unlock the potential of NFTs by creating the first liquidity-backed multi-chain series of 8,888,888 NFTs tradable on the CEX, DEX, and NFT markets. This is made possible through our liquidity bridge, which enables easy conversion of Potato Tokens (ERC20) to Potato Master NFTs (ERC721) and vice versa. This helps increase the liquidity and trading frequency of bridged tokens while offering ERC20 investors the ability to liquidate their NFTs through the NFT market as an alternative to CEX and DEX.

Easy Token Exchange and NFT List

Mr. Project Potato is designed to be accessible and user-friendly, with a straightforward process for exchanging tokens, checking for scarcity, and listing NFTs for sale on the NFT marketplace. It is also designed to be inclusive and friendly to all, with a diverse community of experienced cryptocurrency traders, liquidity managers, metaverse players, and collectors of rare NFTs and digital trading cards.

MrPotato is a project that has attracted attention due to its unique strategy and commitment to the local community. This initiative aims to successfully define its goals and provide a platform for consumers to engage actively through its aesthetically pleasing website, thorough white paper and active Twitter presence. By providing its community with special features and benefits, MrPotato hopes to carve out a foothold in the ever-changing cryptocurrency market. MrPotato has the ability to make a big impact on the cryptocurrency market by adhering to the core values ​​of openness, diversity and innovation. This will interest crypto enthusiasts worldwide. The project gains an interactive element due to the MrPotato Twitter account, which allows direct connection between staff and community members.

Q3 2022

Expand the Potato Population Metaverse concept

Design 728 Unique Potato Population Metaverse Attributes

Q4 2022

UX and NFT Liquidity Bridge contract design

UX contract design and Lucky Win Spin

UX contract design and NFT Bridge

Ux contract design and Mr Potato NFT Staking

GameFi Play2Earn Game UX and MetaPotato contract design

Mobile App Design

Potato Token Betting contract design

K1 2023

Mr Potato Token smart contract in ETH

NFT smart contracts on BSC

Develop Liquidity Bridge smart contracts

Develop a MetaPotato GameFi Play2Earn Game P2C smart contract

Develop Lucky Win Spin smart contract

MrPotatoNFT.com website for PC/Tablet/Mobile

website SEO

K2 2023

Mr Potato project launch

Mr Potato Token smart contract cancelled

Telegram community marketing

Community marketing discord

Twitter community marketing

Mr Potato Token DEX liquidity pool

List of CEX Mr Potato Token Tier 1

Q3 2023

List of CEX Mr Potato Token Tier 1

MetaPotato MetaParts ERC1155

MetaPotato Marketplace launch

NFT Bridge multi-chain smart contracts

Play2 gets Game Design

Play2 get Game Launch

Conclusion

In conclusion, the power of community empowerment in cryptocurrency investing cannot be overstated. The success story of MrPotatoToken showcases the potential for community-based projects to revolutionize the industry. By actively engaging and engaging investors, projects like MrPotatoToken enable individuals to participate in shaping the financial future. Join the movement, embrace community based investing and unlock the full potential of the cryptocurrency space.

For more details please visit:

#MrPotatoNFT #Airdrop #metoken

Website:  https://mrpotatoken.com/

Telegram:  https://t.me/mrpotatoken

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/Mrpotatoken

Forum Username: KaiHavertz Forum Profile Link: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=3508922

[daamselkat]

Metapotato of linguistics

[sleeepwalker-mfr]

Metapotato of linguistics

[magicpotatoobsession]

@sillyfanturtle, sorry for the delay but I finally got around to answering the second question you had in your ask!

THE "TRIGGER" TO EVOLVE:

Kizu I think specifically kept in ambiguous so that the reader can read it in many different ways so here I am just presenting my interpretation. Let's talk about Ugetsu for a hot second. In retrospect, every jab like "show me music that's worth listening to" is actually Ugetsu's own way of trying to trigger Akihiko to love music and MAKE music wholeheartedly again. Ugetsu puts himself on a pedestal to hopefully ignite the fire within Akihiko. But it's actually been causing the opposite effect on Akihiko, the hurtful words and actions chipping away at his self-esteem and confidence in music. But Ugetsu doesn't seem to realise that...

Then, it was at that first performance that Ugetsu saw how Mafuyu and himself are similar, he strongly believed that they were musical genius-types who use music as a form of emotional outlet.

So in Ch 13, Ugetsu thought that he can also be the trigger for Mafuyu to not only use music as an emotional outlet, but to truly love and create music.

The "he" Ugetsu is referring to here is I believe Mafuyu. He is thinking, I, a successful musician, can be both Akihiko and Mafuyu's triggers to fall in love with music and create music wholeheartedly. Ugetsu at this point in the story means well but his approach is quite ego-centric; which is to have people be consistently in awe of you or put yourself on a pedestal.

Now i want to defend Ugetsu for a tangent, Ugetsu has been conditioned to think that loneliness and genius is tied. He grew up lonely, then when he found music, other people only ever saw him as a genius including Akihiko, which further alienated him from people. Society has attributed his self-worth akin to that of a musical genius, so that's all he has ever known, that's the only language he knows to show others that he cares.

Hence Ugetsu invites Mafuyu to his concert. And it works! (to a degree) Mafuyu, in awe of Ugetsu, says, "Akihiko, I want to make music".

---

Then we come to Ch 26. Where Akihiko has a huge fight with Ugetsu when he mentions he wants to move out, then the moment Akihiko sees Haruki, he says, "it's good to be home". Now this is very important. While Haruki doesn't actively do anything like Ugetsu to trigger Akihiko, Haruki was the one was founded the band and indirectly created a HOME for all the members of Given, including Akihiko.

Then Ch 27, Akihiko was just about to spiral when Haruki bonked him on the head to snap him out of it.

REMEMBER, Ugetsu is there, Ugetsu sees all this.

Later, Akihiko says, "When did I start hating music? Even though I once loved it so much, even though I once remember shivering in awe like I am right now, the first time I heard Ugetsu play...That's right...I love music".

Same chapter, a realisation dawns on Ugetsu.

He himself is not the trigger. Haruki is. He doesn't know quite what Haruki has done, but he could see over the past few months that Akihiko isn't latched onto him anymore, Akihiko is finding the confidence to leave him, to evolve, because Akihiko has finally recognised Haruki as a place to come home to.

Given implicitly demonstrates that the trigger to get someone to commit to music wholeheartedly isn't to create distance between yourself and them but putting yourself above them, but to create a HOME, a safe space with love and support. Loneliness and genius isn't inherently tied, but love and music is.

(this is all implied) Mafuyu was able to accurately capture his own emotions as well as Akihiko and Ugetsu's emotions in Yoru Ga Akeru because he had Haruki, as the bass, the foundation of the band supporting him to do so (and Uenoyama guiding him). Mafuyu becomes more daring and confident on stage because of his new found family of the Given band.

The fact that Akihiko realises he love music is because Haruki and Given is a home he can go to.

I hope I answered your question!

My Given Metas

[magicpotatoobsession]

My favourite panel in chapter 50/Mix_20 of Given is actually this 😂😂😂

I LOVE how Kizu drew the smokey miasma of emotions behind Mafuyu. This is after the FIRST time that Mafuyu has full blown bawled in front of Hiiragi, Shizu and Uenoyama, potentially the first time he’s cried so much in front of anyone. Previously, we’ve only ever seen him cry (fuyunohanashi) after Uenoyama returned to the stage. Mafuyu is always on the verge of tears but he actually never allows himself, consciously or subconsciously, to feel his emotions fully, to even go there. This panel is so so precious to me because he’s feeling the COMPLEX AFTERMATH that encompasses not only

the catharsis of finally being able to meet Yuki again

the catharsis from coming out of an extended period of emotional shutdown and bottled fear

his love for music and Uenoyama BUT ALSO

the discomfort of showing his vulnerable, and most probably uncontrollable outburst of tears in a public setting (I mean the gucci eyebags with the mildly annoyed expression really screams “how dare you make me feel my emotions but also I love you”).

That’s sooo many inexplicable feelings for our poor little Pomeranian! He must be exhausted! 😭😭❤️ I bet my money that Mafuyu is taking another sick day off school after SYH’s live from crying so much. But that’s also why Uenoyama is so good for him, he encourages Mafuyu to be vulnerable with him, to “not be on the verge of tears holding these emotions in all by himself” when Ue is around. Uenoyama means Mafuyu should give himself the space to cry, to laugh when they are together.

Masterlist of my Given Metas

[magicpotatoobsession]

I was so happy to see you grace my tl again - if only for a few posts. I miss your given metas and would LOVE to hear your take on syh's Straight and Parade and any predictions you might have for Umi e!

Thanks for the ask! It has been a while! I was going to do a proper analysis of the songs once I've seen the mix movie but I thought I might share some initial observations for Straight!

EASTER EGGS in SYH's STRAIGHT

Mafuyu's key in C minor, the relative minor key. The song is in Eb major, the relative major key. It's also what I call the sunshine key (Uenoyama's key) ☀️ which is the same key as all the songs on the Given mini-album release.

Chorus 0:22 has the same chord progression as the first part of Fuyunohanashi, which can indicate that Hiiragi and Shizu are also trying their best to heal from Yuki. Seriously, try singing the chorus of Fuyunohanashi on top of Straight's first chorus, they literally layer perfectly on top of each other!!!

CHORDS ARE SO INTERESTING HERE

Chord progression diverges from Fuyunohanashi in the second part of the chorus 0:41 to go from VI -> VII -> I, which is the same tiers di picardie chordal progression as Kizuato's (Given OP) ending as well as Yorugaakeru!!! This chord progression finishes in major to show that the boys are healing from Yuki and trauma.

Lyrics in that chord progression are super meaningful here

Kizuato "Whatever you left behind has now become my life".

Also Yoorugaakeru lyrics are "Look this Dawn is about to break that's why it'll be ok"

Straight: "I will keep singing until it reaches you"

Doesn't that sound like Hiiragi/Yuki/Uenoyama talking directly to Mafuyu???!! 🥹😭❤️🙏

Guitar Solo by Uenoyama has a delicious easter egg

1:01 same as the lyrics "Time and Time again" in Given's mini album track stagekara kiminisasagu. Meaning that time and time again he'll be here for Mafuyu ❤️😭

I am almost 100% certain that every other part of that solo is a reference to lyrics in Given songs because all the other bits are so I'll have to have another proper listen.

That's it! Hope this made sense coming from a music nerd's ramblings! ____

My Given Metas

[magicpotatoobsession]

Hi! You convey your thoughts so well that I wanted to ask you: what do you think about (chapter 48 summary spoilers because I don’t know if you’ve read it from Keru!!!) Ugetsu trying to help Mafuyu reconnect with Ue/music at syh’s show? At first Ugetsu’s energetic mission to get him there felt out of character for me, but I think it’s going to read differently seeing Ugetsu having moved on and moved forward with his life in growing outside of his own codependent relationship with Kaji.

Hello! Thank you for being patient, I am back! I personally think that mix_18/chapter 48 was done ✨~SUPERBLY~✨. @morievna captures it pretty perfectly in her meta on Mix 18. I believe that Ugetsu was very much in character and he is, as you said, displaying some differences due to his growth as a character.

GIVEN | Ugetsu 1.0 and 2.0 similarities and differences

Remember, Ugetsu and Mafuyu are 🎶MUSICAL MIRRORS 🎶  because they both use music as an outlet to express, understand their own AND other people's emotions. Ugetsu therefore knows that Mafuyu NEEDS to attend the SYH concert in order to know how he is feeling.

Ugetsu and Mafuyu's mentorship is mostly Ugetsu taking the lead to drive Mafuyu to confront music. So Ugetsu has always been quite energetic when it comes to talking to Mafuyu.

Code_16 Ugetsu 1.0

Mix_17/Chapter 47 Ugetsu 2.0 👇

However, the energetic attitude back then was laced with criticism and a bitter pain. His liveliness was lined with a sense of falsehood. We see that in Code_16/Chapter 16, Ugetsu 1.0 who organised the Tchaikovsky tickets for Mafuyu and Akihiko. However Ugetsu liked inspiring by showing Mafuyu how cool he was at the violin concert, he was hoping for Mafuyu to also join the "lonely genius bubble" club, to become like himself, to rely solely on music to process trauma and communicate with others to avoid difficult conversations.

Mafuyu doesn't want to turn out like Ugetsu 1.0. And just like you said, having moved on and moved forward with his life in growing outside of his own codependent relationship with Kaji, Ugetsu 2.0 here realises that this

1. stagnation of feeling he has to choose between Akihiko and music 2. never properly communicated with Akihiko on how the other party was feeling

that led to their toxic relationship. Ugetsu smiles knowing that Mafuyu doesn't quite understand that yet. Then Ugetsu says,

"Either way, there is no going back for me."

and later on

"Didn't you pretty much neglect factoring what the other party thinks about this?

Ugetsu is hoping that Mafuyu will learn in his own time that being in shutdown and avoid the other party will ultimately make Mafuyu end up like him. So it's not too late for Mafuyu and Uenoyama!

What Ugetsu 2.0 does differently is rather than showing off or critiquing, he tells Mafuyu:

how he is not great and still working on building his human relationships and taking care of himself

how he has no idea what the future holds, maybe he'll be in NY longterm, he doesn't know

shows vulnerability but is being a realist that he can't go back in time to change things with Akihiko.

What he demonstrates here is the imperfect humanness of being a professional musician. Professional musicians don't have certainty and don't have it all together. He is telling Mafuyu that uncertainty about life is perfectly normal. Ugetsu also knows that Mafuyu, just like himself, connect with others best through music. So if Mafuyu wants to figure his feelings and connect with Ue, he NEEDS to go to the concert. But Mafuyu is putting too much pressure on this event to give him complete clarity. Pre-debut and post-debut is still full on uncertainty. So why not just "learn more about it?" Why not just listen?

I find it so funny that Mafuyu says "did you even hear me" because Ugetsu has been the best listener and actively doing something to help him. Ugetsu is still musically driving Mafuyu to confront music like before. However, he doesn't place himself on a pedestal for Mafuyu, or let Mafuyu process music on his own (like in CODE 17)

or feed into the unhealthy mindset of the "lonely genius".

He holds Mafuyu's hand to face the music together.

Just a sidenote but I LOVE that even though Ugetsu is running and leading Mafuyu, look at how gently he holds Mafuyu's wrist. 🥺 It's like he is holding a new violin bow, understanding how delicate Mafuyu's temperament is right now 😭😭😭

Also observe how tenderly and genuinely Ugetsu smiles now compared to before. It's now grounded in wisdom and self-reflection. Kudos Ugetsu 2.0 also being able to listen to Mafuyu talk about his issues while before, he tended to emotionally dump on Mafuyu about his own issues.

Of course what I love is that the crowd then separates the two and and Mafuyu is pushed further to the front. Ugetsu reassures Mafuyu that he is strong enough as an individual to face Uenoyama, paralleling the "It's okay" in Code_27 where Mafuyu first said to him that he is strong enough as an individual to face a life without Akihiko.

To summarise, Ugetsu in my opinion was very much in character and displayed tremendous growth. We can all learn from Ugetsu:

Face changes in life with vigour and keep facing it despite feeling scared, uncertain and unclear. Change is just a fact of life. Avoidance, rumination and stagnation makes things worse.

---

If you like what you read, all I post is basically Given analysis content!

Masterlist of my Given Metas

[magicpotatoobsession]

THE NEW CHAPTER DROPPED. I JUST SAY THE SPOILERS KERU POSTED ON TWITTER AND I CAN'T ADJKASFHSKGDLHDKFZIDYK 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭!!!!

IM GOING TO MISS THEN SO MUCH WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

Did you see them yet?

I was at rehearsals all day so when it was actually happening 😭😭😭 and I couldn't take the risk of breaking down at work so XD

Chapter 51/Mix_21 Initial Thoughts

Spoilers below the cut, my thoughts, not in order:

I AM FULL BLOWN CRYING 😭😭😭 my Given boys, they've graduated and debuted!

I love that Mafuyu and Kasai formed some sort of a friendship, Kasai grew to be bigger than her jealousy of Mafuyu and that's wholesome AF

I LOVE that Kizu still had Mafuyu not loving that Uenoyama is playing support for SYH (just like Akihiko a few chapters back LOL) but they are all learning to put their ego aside a bit and their partner's happiness first

Haruki apartment hunting 😳😳😳

Mafuyu posting Given's CD to Ugetsu is literally my fav. Ok if Uegstu received Mafuyu's CD and he's only been in Paris for like a day, that means Ugetsu probably received the CD in NY and had time to listen to it for a while and think about what he was going to say before calling Mafuyu. So him "calling on a whim" is actually him calling after much thought as to what he was to say to Mafuyu. But I LOVE THAT SO MUCH because Ugetsu 2.0 has grown so much where he's not just emotionally dumping on Mafuyu, he's really thinking through how his words affect other people (MY BABY 😭❤️)

I love that Mafuyu offered Uenoyama icecream, one of Mafuyu's love language is definitely sharing food, we see that in one of the initial chapters with him offering meat to Haruki when Aki and Ue but dug in without much thought at the grill.

AND I LOVE THAT Uenoyama is learning to reciprocate by giving Mafuyu coffee. (another cute thing he probably also picked up from Papa Aki when he was trying to live up to be a man worthy of Haruki by getting coffee for him)

MAFUYAMA KSS WHERE UE INITIATES: *CHEFS KISS* Our munchkin cat boi comfortable enough to PDA in public YESSSS

Uenoyama falling asleep all the time still kind of concerns me. Musician burnout is real and he's so young still so I hope he's looking after himself 🥲

I don't think this chapter necessarily means that Mafuyu is "FULLY OVER" Yuki, I think Mafuyama going to the beach means that Mafuyu feels comfortable to TALK ABOUT himself and his past openingly with Uenoyama. The journey of healing from grief is not a linear one, but it is about open communication and letting loved ones in. And because Mafuyu finally is about to show his vulnerable self fully to Uenoyama,

OUR BOY FINALLY GRADUATED, BOTH FROM HIGHSCHOOL AND FROM BEING A VIRGIN HELLL YEAHHH

So much of the manga is angsty so I kind of loved that it was a really fun end without completely sexualising minors. Also this doesn't really feel like a gag to me because it's both Uenoyama overcoming internalised homophobia and being able to openly display his love to Mafuyu in public and Mafuyu able to open himself up to Ue. I think the timing is great.

My Given Metas Masterlist

[magicpotatoobsession]

I’m not sure if there is already an answer to this. But do you think Uenoyama has like a hero complex or something? Why does he feel responsible for Mafuyu’s moods? I get that we don’t want to see our loved ones be sad but to feel like we are somewhat responsible is kinda a bit much

Hello! I'm back! Short answer, not really. Hero's complex is saving someone or a situation because it is a self-ego boost, where the individual does something "good" in order to receive some recognition or validation. Uenoyama isn't like that at all, especially in the first arc, he fixes strings for Mafuyu not because he desperately needs Mafuyu to be happy or to sing, but he wanted to connect with Mafuyu, to understand truly where he is coming from, and to apologise properly. When Mafuyu was eventually able to sing, he is SOOO SURPRISED and PROUD OF Mafuyu. Even when afterwards he visits Mafuyu and then gets asked out by Mafuyu, he doesn't expects it or demands it from Mafuyu, he just genuinely cares for him.

If Uenoyama has a hero's complex, Uenoyama would have been feeling like he must heal Mafuyu in order to give his band a chance at performing well at the live. Or in the most recent chapters, the manga would literally have Ue say something like "Mafuyu is stunting the band's success and I need to get him back on track so that he can thank me for making him happy." Uenoyama is none of that, he just wants to connect with Mafuyu through music, the result is something he hopes for but not that something he feels entitled to gain for doing something good.

However I will say that he has some codependency issues. He internalises Mafuyu's sadness as his own. You're definitely right that it's a bit too much but hero's complex is different from codependency in that one is doing "morally good deeds" for a selfish reason while the latter is an unhealthy selflessness by compromising one's own needs and feelings (i.e. staying up all night to write the demo, neglecting sleep, some obsessive thought patterns etc.)

[magicpotatoobsession]

Hello!! I recently, very recently, fell into the Given fandom - what started as a laze watch of the Given anime, ended up with me reading the fan translations, getting all 😱, reading posts and comments on official translations, reading the official Eng version, followed by devouring almost all of your Given meta posts and of those others on tumblr (they were ALL fantastic and I cannot stress how much I appreciate the nuances that were explained for all three couples in the manga by all of you meta writers).

However, I still have a couple of questions and was wondering if you could kindly clarify? Firstly, what's the deal with Masashi - Haruki's "stand"?

Second: Who is the "he" Uegetsu was referring to in V03, C13 and V05, C27? I initially thought he was referring to Mafuyu (and official English translations seem to support this); however, fan translations seem to leave it as "he" and it is assumed to be Akihiko as the next shots show Haruki with Uegetsu thinking, "so he (Haruki) was the trigger for the evolution." I honestly thought maybe Mafuyu was referring to some extent to Akihiko and Uegetsu and not so much Haruki (I get the feeling Mafuyu already understood that while Haruki was badly hurt, he was going to be okay) but maybe both Uegetsu and Akihiko needed that "letting go" push? I'd like to hear your thoughts on why Uegetsu thought it was Haruki instead - if I understood that correctly from the panels.

Thanks once again for all the meta - they have been fuelling my Given obsession and I can't wait for the sequel to be out soon!

hi @sillyfanturtle, thank you for your questions!

Haruki's stand "Mathathi"

Honestly, this was something I am super baffled with as well! And short answer is, I honestly don't know! I've done a bit of digging and one theory is that he is Martin Mathathi, a Kenya long distance runner, which matches the name but not the aesthetic because Martin Mathathi is this super thin guy.

but what is sort of interesting is that he did win bronze in the 10,000 metres at the 2007 World Championships in Osaka, and many other medals in Fukuoka Cross Country races. If Kizu referred to him, then it could mean that Haruki is the "patient" type, happy to endure the long-game in order to see through people's growth.

Another theory is something I saw on reddit, according to this reddit post,

@jefcat and a few other Given fans were wondering if Haruki's stand is Inoue Takehiko, who is the Vagabond and Slam Dunk mangaka. Aesthetically, he does resemble the Kizu's drawing a bit more but I would not be able to guess for the life of me why Kizu would reference him as Haruki's stand????? Maybe Haruki or Kizu herself are big fans of him? I mean it's already a bit baffling and jarring as to why other Given characters are all animals but Haruki's a creepy kind of looking man 😆😆🫠🫠 Kizu's very mysterious LOL so your guess is as good as mine 😂

I will answer your other question in a separate post, thank you for your patience!

Masterlist of my Given Metas

[magicpotatoobsession]

Given will end next month and I'm so sad 😭😭😭😭😭

Don't remind me I'M IN FULL BLOWN DENIAL, but hey, lowkey not gonna lie, I kind of had a feeling.....

Zoom closer

Given Manga came out in:

March 30th 2023 will be about 10 years exactly.

fucking called it

[magicpotatoobsession]

Hello! I hope your having a nice day. I was thinking abt this and I thought that you could give me some insight. What do you think Yuki's and Shizu's relationship was like? We know that him and Hiragi got along very well. As Hiragi admired him. But it seems to me that in that chapter (I don't remember the # sorry!) Were Mafuyu asks Shizu advice for music and his relationship abt Ritsuka. That when Shizu gets WAY of topic and says that the group was super Yuki-centered and how that was irritating. It seems to me that maybe he didn't like how much everyone revolved around him and admired him? As if it irritates him? Idk we don't really have much insight from him what his relationship with Yuki was like. So we might not be ae to tell for sure.

Hello friend! Thank you! Hope you are having a good one too! I'd like to point you towards this meta of mine, Discovering the true intention behind Shizu’s actions in Mix_8 completely changed how I saw the Shizuragi ship! This meta, although it doesn't address your question directly, I think it clears a lot of things up so PLEASE READ before proceeding.

Shizu and Yuki's relationship explained

In my opinion, Kizu never fully goes into the details of the dynamics between Shizu and Yuki but out of everyone, Shizu felt least close to Yuki compared to Mafuyu and Hiiragi. Shizu feels like

Yuki adopted the abandoned Pomeranian and calico cat and he's just tagging along. But Shizu feels like he doesn't belong to the squad/isn't as close to Yuki is his own doing due to:

his own abandonment issues resultant from being a LITERAL foster child

him joining the childhood squad later than the rest of the three

thinking that his three friends as being better than him from birth.

In mix_9, Kizu's placement of Yuki, Mafuyu and Hiiragi on stage is literally so telling of how Shizu felt. Of course he could choose to be on that stage as well, but he needs help to make he feel like he is worthy of being on stage.

Hiiragi is amazing, because Hiiragi noticed that Shizu needed help, Hiiragi had always been leading Shizu ever since he was a little kid. Hiiragi is absolutely that kid who is annoying but makes everyone feel included. And Shizu, is so happy and appreciative of that

to the point of feeling possessive over Hiiragi.

Sometimes, people with abandonment wounds feel possessive and jealous easily. This is because they are always scared that everything good can disappear at any moment. It may result in a person feeling super clingy emotionally. In Shizu's case, he is outwardly nonchalant but inwardly super clingy. Shizu, at some point in his childhood started to romantically idolise Hiiragi.

SO, Shizu's felt irritated towards Yuki because Hiiragi idolised Yuki.

BUT, Shizu's own abandonment wounds clouded his judgement because he mistook Hiiragi's idolisation of Yuki as a romantic one instead of a paternal one. Shizu mistook Hiiragi as being in love with Yuki when Hiiragi actually put Yuki on a pedestal like a child admiring a fatherly figure.

Yuki I think for the most part didn't do anything objectively irritating to make Shizu dislike him. Neither did the squad, they were always hanging out together. Shizu's inferiority complex and attachment towards Hiiragi made him look for someone contrasting his own circumstances to blame, which was Yuki.

Yuki - most panels depict him as the popular kid

Shizu - the literal foster child

Yuki - has both Mafuyu and Hiiragi's attention

Shizu - feels like he has none, but in truth Hiiragi is quite observant of Shizu's hesitation in participating fun things to make an effort to include him.

It's basically like the song Heather by Conan Gray.

Because Shizu also saw Yuki as being better than him in the literal sense, this actually didn't allow Shizu to really understand Yuki as a multi-faceted person. I think Shizu for the most part just accepted Yuki as someone with better circumstances than him, even beyond death. BUT AGAIN, that doesn't make Shizu a bad person. It makes him a human one. On top of that, Shizu's abandonment wounds were exacerbated when Hiiragi continued to emotionally dump on him whenever he wanted to but look towards Yuki for motivation and inspiration. And those are pretty VALID feelings which needed to be communicated and addressed for healthy healing, which they were in mix_4 to Mafuyu and mix_8 to Hiiragi. As you pointed out, Shizu gets off topic with Mafuyu, this is a great thing because for once, he is acknowledging his own feelings outwardly rather than keeping them inside. This then led him to realise that he needed to clarify things with Hiiragi rather than let these feelings of abandonment brew longer.

Currently, I personally think he is no longer irritated at Yuki. Please remember that Shizu also lost Yuki. Grief for him could have also manifested as irritation. It’s all very complicated when you lose someone right? I think Shizu’s probably found the new song “To the Sea” just as healing as Hiiragi and Mafuyu, he’s just not really the outwardly expressive type. But Kizu Natsuki did put in some tender faces in the recent chapters.

Again, please read Discovering the true intention behind Shizu’s actions in Mix_8 completely changed how I saw the Shizuragi ship! (sorry for pasting again, it's just so important, I go into Shizu's insight so much more here).

As for Yuki, we never really get to have an insight into how Yuki feels about anyone, because he's passed away. We are only ever receiving second hand accounts of Yuki. But Kizu wrote it that way to highlight the fact that life is precious and if you're alive,

there is hope for you to tell your story and communicate clearly.

---

If you like what you read, all I post is basically Given analysis content!

Masterlist of my Given Metas

[magicpotatoobsession]

GIVEN | Uenoyama Ritsuka's face-rubs must be protected at all costs

Ue holds his face in his hands as

1. a way to make himself come to terms with something.

(here he realises that he forgot that he kissed Mafuyu BAHA)

2. as a self-soothing technique whenever he's feeling vulnerable.

(This is where Akihiko asks him whether something happened between him and Mafuyu and he turns beetroot red BAHAHAHA)

AND GUESS WHAT?! THIS IS SO FREAKING CUTE LOL

He does the same to Mafuyu!

1. when he wants Mafuyu to come to terms with something.

(This is the scene where Ue's trying to get Mafuyu to write lyrics)

2. When he uses his own self-soothing technique to sooth and comfort Mafuyu when Mafuyu is in a vulnerable state.

(This is the scene where Mafuyu is sick and Ue asks Mafuyu if the song he sang last night was about heartbreak)

Which makes this scene below just THAT MUCH MORE TENDER 😭❤️🙏

Ue is trying to comfort Mafuyu while trying to say just how proud and how much he loves Mafuyu

🥺THIS SHIT IS TOO CUTE MY HEART IS ABOUT TO BURST🥺

EDIT: There is an important follow-up post!!!

---

If you like what you read, all I post is basically Given analysis content! Give my blog a follow to be notified of future posts! #metapotato

Masterlist of my Given Metas

[magicpotatoobsession]

GIVEN | Discovering the TRUE intention behind Shizu's actions in Mix_8 completely changed my view on the Shizuragi ship

I've gotta admit at first, I really didn't like Shizu. What he did to Hiiragi in Mix_8/Chapter 38 almost made me lose all respect for him. But upon rereading the manga,

HOLY SHIT I REALISED THAT

SHIZU is actually one of the MOST SELFLESS characters in Given 😭❤️

There is TOTALLY A DEEPER REASON AS TO WHY Shizu did what he did and it made me appreciate

JUST HOW WELL WRITTEN THE SHIZURAGI ARC IS 🤯

[manga spoilers ahead!]

To understand his actions, we have to jump around the manga a bit haha.

So in Chapter 41, we find out through Hiiragi's flashbacks about the Golden origami paper that baby Shizu never actively tries to get what he actually wants. 😞 😞 😞

This is quite odd because normally kids fight over things they want and Shizu kind of gives up before trying.

Foster Kid Struggles

Now jumping back to Chapter 33, the way Shizu behaves with origami paper makes sense if we remind ourselves that he's a foster kid T_T

Being a foster kid made him grow up believing that he doesn't have the right to have nice things, that he is not deserving of what he wants, what he loves, because in the end, he'll be ABANDONED anyway. He probably got passed from foster homes to foster homes, families to families, nothing he wanted stayed permanent.

---

So now let's look at the earlier conversation that he has with Mafuyu in the same chapter. Mafuyu actually goes to Shizu to ask him for advice about whether to commit to Given and music. However, Shizu accidentally goes on a bit of tangent about how even though he is in love with Hiiragi and Hiiragi is basically all he has, he suspects Hiiragi is in love with Yuki because of HOW MUCH HIIRAGI IDOLIZES YUKI. In fact he points out that their childhood squad was actually entirely YUKI-CENTRIC.

Without actually intending to, this is Shizu's abandonment insecurities coming through. Unfortunately, Shizu's whole life affirms to him that he is ALWAYS LEFT OUT in everything he does. HE FEELS LIKE HE HAS TO just endure the pain of living in Yuki's shadow to continue to stay beside Hiiragi. As we see from the origami paper flashback, Shizu has just always lived life without complaints, taking what he gets because that's all he's been able to get growing up as a foster kid. T_T

And when he says

"I totally went off topic huh..."

This line says everything about how much it actually hurts Shizu. Shizu isn't a character who displays a lot of emotions on his face but he loses composure in this very small panel and this is very telling about how this actually really bothers him. He then says,

"That's why I'm okay with it even if it'll be an endless struggle."

This line (above) is so important because the question we gotta ask ourselves as readers is,

IS SHIZU ACTUALLY OK WITH IT THO?

The next page, Shizu tells Mafuyu that if Mafuyu doesn't have the resolve and tenacity to continue with Ue and music, the right thing to do is to LEAVE.

Only for Shizu HIMSELF to realise the contradiction in his own words.

Shizu right after his conversation with Mafuyu starts to realise that he's being a hypocrite and goes on a MASSIVE INNER MONOLOGUE about all the amazing qualities that Hiiragi has. He then says

"I want to defile that."*

*I'll talk about this quote in more detail later

Shizu feels like Hiiragi is becoming even more amazing as of late and he feels the distance between himself (who he views as "embittered, apathetic") and Hiiragi is growing further apart.

And even more importantly, according to Shizu, Hiiragi is now on par with Yuki's level of "dazzling"ness, a league that previously both Shizu and Hiiragi deemed UNTOUCHABLE.

While Hiiragi retrospected in Chapter 39, that he was happy being the spectators of MafuYuki's world, it's clear that Shizu thinks of Hiiragi as being as amazing as Yuki.

✨The Glittering Pebble Symbolism✨

What this tells me is that Shizu, who feels like he is not deserving of having his needs and wants fulfilled, is coming to terms with the fact that

he might be HOLDING HIIRAGI BACK, he is KEEPING HIIRAGI from realising his full potential.

Taking in the context of his conversation with Mafuyu, Shizu realises that

the right thing to do is to let Hiiragi go because he no longer has the resolve or tenacity to keep being Hiiragi's emotional support while also trying to keep up with Hiiragi's level of 'dazzling'ness because ultimately, he believes that he is no longer worthy of Hiiragi.

That's why in that last panel, he thinks to himself

"Shit...I'm a real arsehole huh...."

Shizu feels guilt. He was only trying to treasure Hiiragi like a glittering pebble because he wants to keep Hiiragi all to himself.

BUT TO SHIZU,

Hiiragi has now evolved to match the level of 'dazzling'ness of Yuki, the league of the Sun*

*I'll cover why Hiiragi is compared to the sun in a second. Chapter 33's glittering pebble symbolism marks the beginning of Kizu's setup for a series of celestial body metaphors and astrology metaphors to describe Shizuragi in the later chapters.

---

Which brings me to Chapter 38.

THIS COVER NOW MAKES SO MUCH SENSE.🤯😭

His intention all along was to

PROVOKE HIIRAGI TO LEAVE HIM.

Shizu knows that the moment he speaks his truth, Hiiragi is going to get triggered and defensive because Hiiragi won't be used to Shizu confronting him with a hard truth. But we gotta realise that Shizu is PURPOSELY NOT LISTENING TO HIIRAGI. His actions are purposefully amplified to be extra awful!

THIS IS COMPLETELY IN CHARACTER! Referencing the origami flashback, just like Shizu can't actively pursue what he wants in life, it hurts him too much for him to make the final hard decision so he leaves that up to Hiiragi.

Up until this point, Shizu's been so incredibly kind and caring towards Hiiragi by being a great emotional support. BUT HERE, Shizu is trying to be the worst version of himself on purpose

so that Hiiragi will not view himself as below Yuki, but on par with Yuki in the league of the dazzling Sun.

(Are you crying I'm crying)

The cover of Mix_4/Ch 33, is a direct reference to Mix_8/Ch38! Shizu expects Hiiragi to storm away when he said and did all these confrontational things. Because he finally spoke his truth, Shizu believes that he just killed any chance of them being together (he just ended their world) but that means Hiiragi can be broken from Yuki's shadow for good. But he had to speak the truth because he doesn't have the tenacity and resolve to keep up with Hiiragi like this anymore. As a foster child with abandonment issues, Shizu internalised that he cannot have what he wants, he has to live in suffering to not be abandoned. He wanted to kill any hope within himself of a potential Shizuragi relationship so that the last glimmer of his hopes of dreams will die and he will be able to commit to Hiiragi without anymore pain. Shizu is trying to commit “emotional suicide” for himself and help raise Hiiragi's self-esteem by provoking Hiiragi to hate him.

Shizu/Ugetsu parallels

Just a small observation but something I found interesting, Shizu is a foil to Ugetsu in a way. Ugetsu breaks up with Akihiko but finds it hard to fully let go because Akihiko is all he has. So Ugetsu keeps provoking Akihiko to try and get Akihiko to finally leave him.

(P.S I actually read this really interesting post by @morievna after I finished writing this meta where she also pointed out the parallels between Shizu and Ugetsu where they both accidentally reveal their dark states of mind to Mafuyu. Ugetsu and Mafuyu talk in Chapter 17)

Hiiragi is Shizu's whole world just like how Akihiko is Ugetsu's whole world. However, Ugetsu provokes Akihiko by equating him to dirty trash while Shizu provokes Hiiragi by scaring him that he may have to get down and dirty if he is to stay with Shizu.

Ugetsu puts Akihiko down while Shizu puts himself down.*

*THIS IS ABSOLUTELY FASCINATING. I will come back to talk about this point as well.

BUT LUCKY FOR SHIZU,

Hiiragi pulls an uno reverse card 😍😍😍

Yes, Hiiragi may have been shaken for a moment in Chapter 38-39,

but he comes back evermore sure that he loves Shizu.

___

💫CELESTIAL BODY METAPHORS💫

While Shizu views Hiiragi like the dazzling SUN 🌞, Hiiragi realises what Shizu is trying to do. He comes to the conclusion that he doesn't need to become the Sun. Instead, Hiiragi returns to Shizu who he now realises is the MOON 🌙 that has always been there for him.

Shizu being the moon 🌙 makes Hiiragi the earth 🌎

Kizu is also absolutely referencing Shizu and Hiiragi's astrological signs. Hiiragi is a TAURUS which is a...you guessed it, EARTH SIGN!

@raine-kai and @edragoon had a discussion a while back about when Shizu says this line in Chapter 33,

*"I want to defile that"

the word "defile" has DIRT, SOIL and GROUNDING symbolism in the original Japanese character. 🤯🤯🤯(KIZU YOU'RE SO FUCKING POETIC WHAT THE HELL)

Shizu is saying that he wishes Hiiragi to be the earth that could just have Shizu and only Shizu tending to him. Now it totally makes sense as to why Shizu has been following Hiiragi his whole life! Shizu has always been ORBITING around Hiiragi 🤯🤯🤯

But Shizu realises this is incredibly selfish because in his eyes, Hiiragi is already like the sun, someone with lots of fans and followers. But Hiiragi himself doesn't believe this because he still thinks of himself as below Yuki. Shizu wants to PROPEL Hiiragi's self-esteem in Chapter 38 by putting himself down so that Hiiragi will not want to stay in his orbit but aim to fly higher.

*What hints us that Shizu sees Hiiragi as the Sun?

In Chapter 39, while for a second Hiiragi gets transfixed by

“the blazing sunset”

he realises Shizu is the one who stops him from literally going OFF the RAILS!!! Shizu may have felt guilt for wanting to cherish Hiiragi for himself only but Hiiragi actually found that emotionally grounding. @nikinramblings does a great meta on the railing metaphor, definitely check it out! In Chapter 41, Hiiragi realises that Shizu was trying to AMPLIFY Hiiragi's need for SELF-IMPORTANCE so that Hiiragi himself can feel like the Sun and dissolve his idolisation of Yuki. We know this because the Hiiragi says,

"you made me your god with a single sheet of golden origami"

the words "god" and "golden" all alludes to the Sun. Hiiragi sees through Shizu's actions and comes to terms with the fact that he doesn't want that. He says,

"I want to belong to him (Shizu)."

Hiiragi realises he doesn't need to be the Sun, a star that burned too bright and too quickly. Through the Yuki-Ueno song demo, it dawns on Hiiragi just how much Shizu's lunar orbits (emotional support) have been saving him. What he envied about MafuYuki, he actually had with Shizu all along, a love that is genuine and simple. Hiiragi finally accepts his role of being the 🌎Earth 🌎 because he's happy with just Shizu by his side.

What's more mindblowing is that the moon orbits the Earth once every 27 days. It also takes approx 27 days for the moon to rotate once on its axis.

While the moon is held in orbit around the Earth by force of gravity, the moon keeps the same face pointing towards the Earth AT ALL TIMES! 🤯🤯🤯

(Is Kizu an astronomer? Using a moon and earth metaphor to THIS EXTENT to describe how enamoured Shizu is with Hiiragi just sends me straight to heaven holy shit)

Hiiragi metaphorical growth from glittering pebble -> provoked to become the sun -> then realises he is happy being earth is WHY Shizu is ecstatic and can't believe that Hiiragi comes back in Chapter 41. Shizu then wants to test just how committed Hiiragi actually is towards him, just how much Hiiragi is willing to get his hands 🌎"dirty" and "soiled" 🌎for him.

Why does he want to test Hiiragi you ask? Well, Shizu's whole life has been witnessing Hiiragi idolizing Yuki day and night, of course he wants to be sure that Hiiragi is not just spewing empty words! He wants to make sure Hiiragi follows through with his actions!

Chapter 41, let's talk about it

I wanted to clarify some things about Chapter 41 as well. It seems like "Hiiragi is suffering" 😰(dw that's what I thought at first) BUT now with everything in context, that’s not the case at all:

1. Hiiragi has probably been thinking about having sex with Shizu since Chapter 22 thanks to Mafuyu LOLLLLL. (refer to Point 7 of the post I linked) Also it was Hiiragi that came into Shizu's room implying that he's ready to take their relationship to the next level.

"Don't put on airs and give up on the things you want! Don't act so cold and detached!"

This quote shows us that Hiiragi wants Shizu to actively go after what he wants.

2. Shizu actually asks for consent FOUR TIMES.

First time, when Shizu says "It's like you're offering a sip of water to a person wandering in the dessert parched" and Hiiragi says while blushing and taking off his jacket, "Well it's ok if you drink...every drop" (this is actually so freaking adorable and sooo hot now that I finally understand Shizuragi (⁄ ⁄•⁄ω⁄•⁄ ⁄)⁄ . Also, KIZU's earth/nature symbolism but let me remind you too that Shizu's star sign is SCORPIO, which is a WATER SIGN 💦🤯

Second time, Shizu says "Do you understand what I am about to do? You're gonna bawl for sure" and Hiiragi says, "I WILL NOT" (defensive Princess Hiiragi is so cute)

Third time, Shizu says "I'm gonna put my fingers in here too, are you ok with that?" and Hiiragi says, "Shut your face I know tha-" (Hiiragi is trying to hide how much of a freaking virgin he is LOL)

Fourth time, Shizu says "wanna stop?" and Hiiragi outrightly shouts "SHUT IT! DON'T STOP! STOP ASKING FOR PERMISSION for EVERY LITTLE THING YOU IDIOT" and this is where Hiiragi gives Shizu his full consent.

THIS IS A PIVOTAL MOMENT FOR SHIZURAGI. It's no longer Hiiragi leading the relationship here. In the intimacy department, it's Shizu leading.😍👏😍

That's why Shizu is SOOOO OVERJOYED that he does that creepy-ass smile (lol that smile scares me). He probably doesn't even know how to smile because this is probably the SECOND time in his life that he's smiled (awwww T_T)

3. When Hiiragi is wailing "ahhh no way" "what is this" "I'm scared" according to my Japanese friends, NONE of them meant a hard "no" or telling Shizu to "stop". They were more like "omg this is overwhelming, what is happening?!" Which is perfectly normal if this is your FIRST time having sex EVER and with the person you LOVE.

4. Hiiragi crying can also be perceived as cathartic crying because he is finally seeing an emotionally expressive side of Shizu and that's understandably pretty overwhelmingly relieving! Like imagine seeing someone you love smile for the first time in such a long time, someone who never goes after what they want finally going after what they want, I reckon I would also be pretty emotional!

Hiiragi the earth sign TAURUS 🌎, the planet with water, is "emotionally" quenching the thirst of Shizu the water sign SCORPIO 💦, a dry desolate 🌙 moon, with his tears so that Shizu can smile!

(Kizu-sensei, the dual astrology and celestial body symbolism I can't I can't- you're too amazing)

Now up until this point in Shizu's existence,

Shizu's never been given this level of FREEDOM while also being LOVED UNCONDITIONALLY by someone before.

While previously Hiiragi got emotional about anything and anyone else but Shizu while always coming to Shizu for emotional support,

Chapter 41 is Shizu, the moon, finally causing Hiiragi, the earth, to have tidal waves of overwhelming emotions.

Now with everything in context, Shizu's confession isn't dramatic at all, it makes total sense, he really did put it in as simple words as he possibly could. This is everything he could ever want!!! The Shizuragi romance is explosive because it was previously clouded with Yuki trauma and idolisation. The moment the fog started to clear, everything clicked into place.

That's why in Chapter 42, it feels like Shizu has a sudden ~peRsOnaLiTy sWiTcH~ where he went from previously having such low self-esteem to suddenly obnoxiously bragging to Ue. Hiiragi's reciprocation gives him a renewed sense of purpose in life where he is willing to do whatever it takes, MORE THAN EVER BEFORE, to stay by Hiiragi's side now knowing that Hiiragi loves him too.

(Bruh. Holy shit. Everything makes sense)

___

So, going back to this question...

*Why did Akigetsu end and Shizuragi work out?

I think this is SOOO interesting to think about. Both couples, all four of them give us the sense that they grew up from broken families where they had NO ONE but each other. As children of abandonment, both couples' love are so intense where they couldn't help but cling onto each other.

(there are a lot more reasons but I'm just going to stick to the ones that compare the two couples)

Akigetsu ended because Ugetsu realised that even though Akihiko understood him on a level that no one else ever would, Akihiko still idolised Ugetsu, and that caused him suffering. But Ugetsu's attempt to break them up is to continue to exacerbate that insecurity, to elongate that distance by putting Akihiko down as lower trash. Akihiko then feels worse and worse causing him to lash out and shut down rather than actually be able to view the situation objectively.

Shizuragi worked out because Shizu idolised Hiiragi and realised that Hiiragi had low self-esteem and idolized Yuki. Shizu's reaction is to put himself down rather than glorify Hiiragi verbally, he elongates that distance by leaving Hiiragi where he is and SCARING him into thinking that he has to stoop down to Shizu's level of lower trash. Therefore, Hiiragi just has to stay where he is and look at everything with clearer eyes. And thankfully, Hiiragi, with the help of the Yuki-Ueno song, does gain a more objective view on the situation and decides to still choose Shizu even after all the provoking.

Shizu and Akihiko are mirrors as well. Akihiko was not good at holding Ugetsu accountable and just endured Ugetsu's self-sabotaging actions (the mug scene is a great example). But Shizu held Hiiragi accountable for emotionally dumping on him in Mix_8. YOU NEED THAT IN A RELATIONSHIP, TO HOLD EACH OTHER ACCOUNTABLE.

Hiiragi and Ugetsu are also mirrors being the ones that are more overtly idolized in their relationship. But Hiiragi did what Ugetsu should have done, Hiiragi encouraged Shizu to go after what he wants, that Shizu is worthy to not give up on his dreams and hopes. So if Ugetsu encouraged Akihiko to practise harder so that they can be together rather than belittle him, Akihiko I reckon would have been able to stay where he was and view the situation more objectively.

(DO YOU SEE HOW WELL THE SHIZURAGI RELATIONSHIP IS CRAFTED?! FURTHERMORE, I LOVE THAT THE ALL GIVEN COUPLES ARE CROSS-MIRRORS OF EACH OTHER IN SOME WAY!!!)

Shizuragi, as children of abandonment, are now bound to each other more than ever. Of course this means there is heightened level of co-dependency (as we can see that Shizu now brags about how he still revolves around Hiiragi hmnnnnn....not healthy) so I hope that Kizu will address this at a later point.

-> I have a theory.... I feel that SYH might disband soon after their debut, not because Shizuragi will break up, but because they might realise they don't need music and the band to stay together. The reason why I think this is because the moment Mafuyu joined, the Seasons rebranded as themselves as Given the band. SYH stayed as SYH even though the vibe and style of the band has changed a lot since Yuki's passing. Isn't that fascinating? As much as I love SYH, I think disbanding is potentially a good thing, I don't think either Shizu or Hiiragi are truly passionate about music as they are just trying to use music as a way to hold onto each other and to hold onto the past (at least in my eyes). They might disband or they might rebrand, that's my feeling.

With Given,

you have to read in between the lines and constantly question the deeper meaning behind the characters' actions and words.

Kizu specifically chose a non-linear way of storytelling because it reflects real life where you don't have all the pieces of the puzzle handed to you at the same time. You have to figure it out, bit by bit, remember the details of people's past, notice how and why people contradict themselves at times, have the patience to listen and be supportive even when things don't immediately make sense. Given is a masterpiece because it shows us that

People are both flawed and beautiful.

Masterlist of my Given Metas

If you like what you've read, all I post is basically Given analysis content! Give my blog a follow to be notified of new posts! #metapotato

---

-> IMPORTANT NOTE: I just want to say that as a woman interpreting Given, I do not have any lived experiences of being in a gay relationship so my interpretations may lack certain nuances. But as a gay-ally, I think it is so important to keep listening to those who have lived experiences. So I highly recommend you reading @a-voice-of-my-own's AO3 fanfic GOLDEN. I read this fanfic after I wrote this post and it was a fantastic read! I think it provides some wonderful insight into Shizu's inner monologue during this arc!

[magicpotatoobsession]

GIVEN | How head-pats in Given headcanons can predict Ue's CAREER in music

So Ue gives Mafuyu these really cute ass head-pats right?

Guess who he learnt that from?

AKIHIKO 😍 😍 😍

He learnt that from seeing Daddy Akihiko giving head-pats to Mama Haruki during band practices from time to time.

Akihiko does this to reset Haruki whenever Haruki's feeling insecure or sad. Yes Ue isn't present in this scene below but Akihiko often teases Haruki during rehearsal so it's not a far-stretch to assume that Ue saw this at some point and internalised this as an act of comfort since he really looks up to Akihiko.

Basically it's learned behaviour for Ue and therefore he does the same thing to Mafuyu 🥺🥺🥺

Also I completely forgot but in Ch 8, Akihiko also head-pats Mafuyu! OMG! I wonder if Mafuyu noticed that Akihiko and Ue both head-pats him to comfort him HAHAH! I wonder if Mafuyu is like "oh wow Akihiko and Ue share one braincell" LMAOOOOOO

But... head-pats in Given are apparently a

🥁drummer 🥁 thing??!!

Because our dark-prince baby-sitter SHIZU, also does this to Hiiragi!!!!

Given anime/Chapter 6 Shizu ruffles and head-pats Hiiragi to comfort him after Hiiragi shows that he is worried about Mafuyu doing music for the wrong reasons.

Also Chapter 32, Shizu does this again to sort of reassure Hiiragi that Uenoyama will come through with the Yuki song and this also makes Hiiragi flustered it's so fucking adorable I can't I-

WAIT HOLD ON HOLD ON HOLD ON.....

Is this Kizu-sensei hinting at us that Ue might learn the drums or Ue might already know how to play the drums? 😂🧐🥁Hahah, surely this is just silly speculatio-

🥁 Uecchi can actually play the drums holy shit!!! 🥁

In the Akihiko's birthday post on Given's twitter a while back on @given_ssn, it could be assumed that the band is pretending to do an instrument swap for social media, but I DON'T THINK SO! I THINK UE CAN ACTUALLY PLAY DRUMS!!! 😍😍😍I mean just look at Ue's face of total concentration!!!!

Think about it, Akihiko is lately getting really busy with violin practice (Chapter 37), he might even become a professional violinist who needs to go on tour! Since Ue looks up to Akihiko so much, Akihiko could potentially be Ue's drum teacher! Ue will definitely be a great understudy drummer for Given the band since he has the most musical training out of the other three members.

THEORY....

Ue mostly likely plays the drums or will eventually play some drums as second instrument later in the manga 😏😏😏

Trust me.

---

If you like what you read, all I post is basically Given analysis content! Give my blog a follow to be notified of future posts! #metapotato

Masterlist of my Given Metas