While scrolling through Given twitter, I saw a couple of posts that sparked my imagination. Being a fan of the work, I felt like sharing these thoughts and so, here goes…
We all know that one of the most attractive aspects of Given is the emotion it conveys, right? Therefore, it is not an uncommon occurrence for characters to cry especially if they hit their “breaking point”.
(Please be reminded that when I use the term “breaking point”, what I was trying to mean was the point where you are so overwhelmed with emotions and everything you are going through that you just tend to get lost in your thoughts and feelings)
All of the characters above (Haruki, Ugetsu, Mafuyu, Akihiko, and Hiiragi) have experienced their “breaking point”. To be clear, the point in their journey where everything boils or topples over. This may be a positive or negative experience but one thing is for sure, it is frequently the catalyst for a major change in their life or a sign that something is changing. In the manga, this scenario is often accompanied by the character, who is experiencing the conflict, to cry. (My heart cries with them too, I bet all of ours do.)
Now. If my memory serves me right, there is only one person out of the main characters that haven’t reached that yet. Yes, you guessed it. Uenoyama Ritsuka.
I have quite a lot of ideas on how he will reach that, especially due to the route that the manga is taking, but what if it’s something else? One of the prominent conflicts in Ritsuka’s life is how his environment, family and friends which he cares for very much, and himself, to a certain degree, reacts to his sexuality. Though he loves Mafuyu a lot, there are still a lot of things he is confused and worried about especially since he just realized (because of Mafuyu) that he can like the same sex too and is suddenly currently dating someone he loves. This is quite evident on how this was conveyed in the manga at least twice. The first one with Akihiko which was a positive experience and the second one with Yayoi which was quite negative.
Now, what if the one that causes Ritsuka to finally cry is when he comes out to his family, sister excluded? What if the one that makes Ritsuka hit his “breaking point” is how his family will react? I feel like he won’t really care about strangers’ opinions but from what we have come to know about him, he deeply cherishes the opinions of the people he cares about. That is one of the main reasons why he instantly became defensive and hurt when Yayoi questioned his relationship with Mafuyu. That is why he felt so relieved when Akihiko voiced a positive reaction towards his discovery that he is attracted to their bandmate. Just. Just what if we get this family moment similar to what happened in Love Simon?
One thing is for sure though, no matter what his “breaking point” might be. Seeing Ritsuka reach that point or cry will tear our hearts into pieces. I just hope that when that time comes, the change to follow is one for the better.