Natsuki Kizu – författare

Sometimes a song can save your life.Love of music unites the four members of the band Given: hotheaded guitarist Uenoyama, playboy drummer Akihiko, gentle bassist Haruki, and Mafuyu, a singer gifted with great talent and burdened by past tragedy. Their struggles and conflicts may drive them apart, but their bond to the music—and to one another—always brings them back together again.Ritsuka Uenoyama is bored with it all—with school, with his basketball club, and even with his one true passion: playing guitar. That is, until the day he finds his favorite hidden napping spot occupied by a strange boy cradling a broken-stringed guitar. At first, Uenoyama is nonplussed by Mafuyu Sato and his slightly odd behavior, but when, on a whim, he asks Mafuyu to sing, the power of that song pierces him to the core.

Sometimes a song can save your life.Love of music unites the four members of the band Given: hotheaded guitarist Uenoyama, playboy drummer Akihiko, gentle bassist Haruki, and Mafuyu, a singer gifted with great talent and burdened by past tragedy. Their struggles and conflicts may drive them apart, but their bond to the music—and to one another—always brings them back together again.Mafuyu continues to drag his heels about making the decision whether or not to go pro, causing Hiragi to worry that snagging Ritsuka for his own band may have hurt the singer. But Shizusumi throws Hiragi for a loop when he asks out of the blue if he too was in love with Yuki, forcing Hiragi into a confession he isn’t ready to make.

Sometimes a song can save your life.Love of music unites the four members of the band Given: hotheaded guitarist Uenoyama, playboy drummer Akihiko, gentle bassist Haruki, and Mafuyu, a singer gifted with great talent and burdened by past tragedy. Their struggles and conflicts may drive them apart, but their bond to the music—and to one another—always brings them back together again.Now that Given has an offer to record their debut album, each of the band’s members must decide whether to get serious about trying to go pro. Though Ritsuka doesn’t have a single doubt in his mind, Mafuyu isn’t ready to commit. Frustrated by Mafuyu’s indecisiveness, Ritsuka shifts his focus to playing in the band of his formal rival Hiragi, but Hiragi is having his own troubles with bandmate Shizusumi.

Sometimes a song can save your life.Love of music unites the four members of the band Given: hotheaded guitarist Uenoyama, playboy drummer Akihiko, gentle bassist Haruki, and Mafuyu, a singer gifted with great talent and burdened by past tragedy. Their struggles and conflicts may drive them apart, but their bond to the music—and to one another—always brings them back together again.As the band races toward their first live concert, Mafuyu struggles to write lyrics for their new song but can’t find the words to express the emotions burning within him. Meanwhile, Uenoyama hears rumors about Mafuyu’s past and is bewildered by his own feelings. The tension builds until the night of the show, when the band explodes into a raging, life-changing performance.

An ensemble of interconnected romance stories from one of the hottest creators of yaoi manga.A collection of intertwining stories covering four not-quite lovers as they find what links them together.Akiha plays the piano and ponders his relationship with Yahiko, a friend with benefits he can’t quite bring himself to call his lover regardless of how freely Yahiko cares for him.Despite their constant bickering, Sado and Nakajo appear close enough to be lovers. But Nakajo has convinced himself he can never have Sado, which leads him to seek out reasons to hate him even as he stays by his side.Shibata is an overly friendly older man who rather insistently hits on Sekiya, a socially awkward radio DJ. Even with his DJ persona, Sekiya has a hard time expressing the roiling emotions within him.A stray cat brings Kameda and Ogikawa together. The two spend lazy days eating, drinking, and playing with their cat, all without calling it love.

Sometimes a song can save your life.Love of music unites the four members of the band Given: hotheaded guitarist Uenoyama, playboy drummer Akihiko, gentle bassist Haruki, and Mafuyu, a singer gifted with great talent and burdened by past tragedy. Their struggles and conflicts may drive them apart, but their bond to the music—and to one another—always brings them back together again.As the band focuses on creating new songs and preparing for a music festival tryout, Haruki grows more and more intimidated by the talents of younger members Mafuyu and Uenoyama. Worried that he’s holding them back, he accepts his ex-girlfriend’s request to play in her band. Meanwhile, Akihiko realizes that Haruki has fallen in love with him, setting the stage for a major change in their relationship.

Sometimes a song can save your life.Love of music unites the four members of the band Given: hotheaded guitarist Uenoyama, playboy drummer Akihiko, gentle bassist Haruki, and Mafuyu, a singer gifted with great talent and burdened by past tragedy. Their struggles and conflicts may drive them apart, but their bond to the music—and to one another—always brings them back together again.Hiragi’s band—with Uenoyama’s help—is ready to make their big debut. And Mafuyu, who’s been wishy-washy about becoming the singer for Given, is now equally as indecisive about his own singing. Uenoyama invites Mafuyu to the debut concert, but he doesn’t accept the invitation, leaving Uenoyama even more confused by his boyfriend’s recent behavior.

Sometimes a song can save your life.Love of music unites the four members of the band Given: hotheaded guitarist Uenoyama, playboy drummer Akihiko, gentle bassist Haruki, and Mafuyu, a singer gifted with great talent and burdened by past tragedy. Their struggles and conflicts may drive them apart, but their bond to the music—and to one another—always brings them back together again.Uenoyama realizes he’s in love with Mafuyu and steals a kiss from him backstage at their first live performance. But now he’s even more confused—he hasn’t shared his feelings with Mafuyu and has no idea how Mafuyu feels about him. In contrast to their naive romance, Haruki has been harboring a secret desire for bandmate Akihiko, who’s already entangled in an intense, conflicted relationship with someone else.

Sometimes a song can save your life.Love of music unites the four members of the band Given: hotheaded guitarist Uenoyama, playboy drummer Akihiko, gentle bassist Haruki, and Mafuyu, a singer gifted with great talent and burdened by past tragedy. Their struggles and conflicts may drive them apart, but their bond to the music—and to one another—always brings them back together again.The final round of the music festival tryout is about to begin, but that’s not the only source of tension in the band. Mafuyu, who’s been spending a lot of time at Ugetsu and Akihiko’s place, learns about the complicated history between the two and realizes that Haruki’s heartbreak is part of that romantic tangle. Things come to a head during the band’s performance, where the emotions unleashed by Mafuyu’s new song will change the course of their lives forever.

Sometimes a song can save your life.Love of music unites the four members of the band Given: hotheaded guitarist Uenoyama, playboy drummer Akihiko, gentle bassist Haruki, and Mafuyu, a singer gifted with great talent and burdened by past tragedy. Their struggles and conflicts may drive them apart, but their bond to the music—and to one another—always brings them back together again.Mafuyu arrives in Shibuya, where syh’s concert will be held. Clutching the tickets both Ritsuka and Hiragi have given him, Mafuyu stops dead in his tracks when he runs into someone who shouldn’t be in Tokyo—Ugetsu. What does his presence there mean, and could this be the catalyst Mafuyu needs to finally move forward and make a decision?

Sometimes a song can save your life.Love of music unites the four members of the band Given: hotheaded guitarist Uenoyama, playboy drummer Akihiko, gentle bassist Haruki, and Mafuyu, a singer gifted with great talent and burdened by past tragedy. Their struggles and conflicts may drive them apart, but their bond to the music—and to one another—always brings them back together again.Ten years have passed since Mafuyu and Ritsuka graduated from high school and made their professional debut with their band, Given. Both have continued to thrive as professional musicians, with Ritsuka also busily supporting Hiragi and Shizusumi’s band, syh. The two have argued, run away from home, and made up under the covers, and ten years of their lives have passed in a dazzling blur. This precious epilogue depicts their current lives, their growth, and the important people surrounding them.