"Given: To the Sea" (directed by Hashimoto Noriko) is the second and final part of the two-part film series of "Given," an anime based on Kizu Natsuki's popular BL manga. The "Given" series depicts the youth of the members of rock band "Given," and one of its charms is the many songs performed in the film. Artist Atsushi's solo project, Centimillimental, who worked on the song "To the Sea" in "Given: To the Sea," shared behind-the-scenes stories about its production.
"To the Sea" is a new song by "syh," a band formed by Sato Mafuyu's childhood friends Kashima Shu and Yagi Genjun. The unfinished song was left behind by Mafuyu's ex-girlfriend Yoshida Yuki, and was completed by Uenoyama Ritsuka, who is temporarily joining "syh" as a support guitarist. Atsushi said about the song, "It's not Mafuyu, Hiiragi, or Ritsuka, but a song written by a character named Yuki, and it's also the song that concludes the series, so I felt the most pressure. Mafuyu's humming, which is also a familiar melody from 'Winter Story,' was what inspired Yuki to write this song, and the title of the film was already set to 'To the Sea,' so it was hard to create a song that was different from previous ones while keeping that in mind."
Regarding Yuki, he said, "I think of her as a person with a somewhat philosophical outlook," and reflected, "When I decided to give her a song with a humming melody to go to the sea with Mafuyu, I didn't think she would simply write a song that traced the memory of that time. I imagined that she would answer based on the events of that day, based on her own realizations, and incorporate that into the song 'To the Sea,' and created the structure of the lyrics with that image in mind."
"I hope to be able to encompass all the charming characters who have colored the series so far, the four members of Given, the two members of syh, Ugetsu, and Yuki, in one piece of music. I created this song with that wish in mind," he said.
New scenes were also released, including live performance scenes of Mafuyu and Hiiragi.
"Given" is a manga by Kizu Natsuki that was serialized in the manga magazine Cheri+ (Shinshokan). The story is about Uenoyama Ritsuka, who was losing her passion for music in her daily life, accidentally hearing Sato Mafuyu's song, and the distance between the two of them begins to change...
The TV anime aired from July to September 2019 on Fuji TV's late-night anime slot Noitamina. The theatrical version of the anime, "Given the Movie," was released in August 2020 and was a hit, attracting over 150,000 viewers. It was also made into a live-action drama, which became a hot topic. The first part of the two-part anime film series, "Given Hiiragi Mix," was released in January. The second part, "Given: To the Sea," was released on September 20th, bringing the Given anime series to its conclusion.
