given The Movie: Hiiragi Mix

Throughout the entire Given story, Hiiragi Kashima has always existed on the edges — the prickly childhood friend, the one carrying grief he doesn't quite know how to express. This movie finally puts him at the center. In Given Movie 2: Hiiragi Mix, Hiiragi and Shizusumi Yagi are gearing up for their band syh's debut when their support guitarist bails. The solution? Convince Ritsuka Uenoyama — the guy dating Hiiragi's childhood friend Mafuyu, and someone Hiiragi can barely stand — to fill in temporarily. What starts as a reluctant collaboration becomes something more layered, as Hiiragi asks Uenoyama to finish an old, unfinished song left behind by Yuki, Mafuyu's late ex-boyfriend. That request alone carries so much weight if you know the backstory. Studio Lerche handles the musical performances with real care, and the soundtrack does a lot of heavy emotional lifting throughout. The whole film has this quiet, introspective energy — it's less about drama exploding and more about people sitting with complicated feelings and slowly finding ways to move forward. If you connected with the tangled emotions in Doukyuusei or the way Banana Fish handled grief between its characters, this hits a similar nerve. You don't strictly need to have seen all of Given before this, but it lands harder if you have. A genuinely affecting movie that gives a side character the depth he always deserved.