The cold opening of Given‘s first episode was my favorite six minutes of any anime this year. Despite not knowing anything about the story going into the series, these first six minutes floored me with their beauty and focus through framing, cinematography, and willingness to be quiet when necessary. (Too few pieces of media in general, not just anime, know how to be quiet when necessary).
Revisiting it having watched the entirety of the series showcases just how much care they put into this opening sequence.
When I first watched this episode, I was struck by the immediate focus on hands. Mafuyu Satou’s hands reach for his guitar, unplug his phone from its charger, pet the top of his dog’s head in a silent farewell, and turn a key to lock his apartment door. They clutch at his guitar as Mafuyu says he’s been having the same dream over and over again. We later learn that this dream is his memory of his former boyfriend Yuuki’s suicide. The guitar is the only thing that Mafuyu reaches out to hold onto until he meets Ritsuka. All of his other hand movements indicate a goodbye or disconnection — from his apartment, his phone charger, and his dog. Even on the train, Mafuyu doesn’t hold onto anything but the guitar. He leans against the doorway while on the train rather than using the handhold.
Ritsuka Uenoyama’s hands wave off his friend’s request to play basketball, wave at a different group of acquaintances while they’re playing basketball, reach out to open a door, and cover his mouth as he yawns. He too is disconnected from others, but it’s presented more casually — a lackluster wave or acknowledgement because he feels like he has to perform the minimum amount of social interaction required while in school. His yawns inform us of his lost passion for playing guitar before we are told anything about his band or relationship with music. The only time Ritsuka reaches out before meeting Mafuyu is to open the door that leads him to the stairwell where the two meet for the first time.
When the two meet, they begin enthusiastically reaching out to each other. Ritsuka’s hands are shown replacing the strings of Mafuyu’s guitar with an almost angry flurry of activity. From the moment pictured above, where he yells at Mafuyu for allowing his guitar strings to rust to his first chord, Ritsuka is actively reaching out to Mafuyu physically.
The chord snaps Mafuyu out of his apathy long enough to make his first purposeful move. He grabs Ritsuka by the collar and asks if Ritsuka can teach him to play. It’s the first time we see Mafuyu grasping at something that isn’t the guitar, and the first time his body isn’t physically curled inwardly.
And this is just the first six minutes of the show.