As a fan of the series, I was excited to know they were making a live-action adaptation. What was a little worrisome and disappointing was the fact that there's only six episodes that are supposed to cover everything from the very beginning of the series until right after the live performance. They did cover that, and for the most part they did surprisingly well with it, but there were still fundamental parts missing that made the series feel somewhat incomplete. I don't know why they skimped out on time- maybe it was a budget thing or something else, but I still feel like they could've afforded to flesh it out just a little bit more.

That being said, I'll move onto the praise. The music in this series is great, to start off. The characters and the changes made to the characters were great, too - I liked that they switched things around, added and removed a few things to create a somewhat different feel for the series than the manga and anime go/went for. I feel like the actors filled their shoes very well, and I was surprised by how much I loved Haruki, Akihiko, and especially Hiiragi here. The changes made to their characters made me appreciate them even more somehow, and obviously that's a plus.

With what they had, they did well. It also feels like they almost consciously built up a few things to make it possible for a second season to take place at some point in the future. If there IS none, I'm very confused as to why they even chose to start delving into some plot points, but I guess we'll have to wait and see. For now, with what we have in this live-action adaptation of Given, it's good. Worth a watch, definitely. But it had the potential of being even better.