Nariyuki Yuiga, an impoverished third-year high school student, works tirelessly to receive the VIP nomination, a scholarship that would cover all of his college tuition fees. In recognition of his hard work, the headmaster awards him the renowned scholarship.
However, this scholarship is given under one condition: he must tutor the school's geniuses in their weakest subjects! Joining his new brigade of pupils are the math maestro Rizu Ogata, who wants to study humanities; the literature legend Fumino Furuhashi, who wants to study science; and Yuiga's sports-savvy childhood friend, Uruka Takemoto, who is hopeless at everything else.
Bokutachi wa Benkyou ga Dekinai follows Yuiga as he tries to teach his three eccentric tutees in a series of strange and comedic antics. But as Ogata's and Furuhashi's ambitions conflict with their talents, will Yuiga be able to help his students achieve their dreams?
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
Nenhum episódio encontrado.
Comentários
ohtrololo
TL/DR first: It's trash This anime is so bad I actually went ahead and looked up my old MAL login credentials just so I could login and talk about how bad this series is. Let's start with Setting/Story: Setting: Dude starts tutoring a bunch of generic chicks coming straight out of a bullshit bingo of stereotypes in regards to character traits, background and looks. Dude is a generic glasses intelligent guy and obviously a total pushover and goody-two shoes who cannot ever refuse anybody. In any other anime he would be like Minor side character C with a tendency to die first depending on the genre. You got theflat-breasted (and very conscious about it who would've guessed) blue haired chick who sucks at math but is a genius at linguistics or whatever
Then you have the opposite big tiddy math chick who apparentl seems to have some form of undiagnosed asperger or another form of autism given how bad she sucks at both social interactions and any subject related to that.
Finally you the sports chick which is bad at English but can swim. yay. Her most notable features are probably her tan lines oh and the childhood friend wave gets ridden a little bit but only back to middle school.
These are the main "heroines". There are two notable side character, one being the graduated senpai chick who currently fails at getting enrolled at uni and ronins around and the pink haired teacher who would've failed to get a teaching license in any anime not being a complete pile of garbage since she too seems to have some form of autism impairing her communication skills to one word lines or one liners at best which as we all know is the most desirable trait in a teacher. But common sense or any sense really is the last thing you're going to find in this anime so just don't bother looking for it.
Oh yeah before I forget: All three main chicks have an obvious crush on the bimbo protagonist but you probably figured that out by the harem tag already you sneaky smart person you.
As for the story:
There is none really. No notable development aside from some basic adjustments to the premise like pink haired teacher chick changing her mind from previously against him tutoring to acknowledging him. It's basically episodical.
Dude tries to teach these so-called geniuses their bad subjects. The rest of the show you can imagine as someone checking off every item on the unofficial list of mishaps, misunderstandings and other generic anime events all of which would've not even being a thing if only one of the involved characters respectively showed the slightest amount of common sense (including the blue haired social"genius" chick). This is apparently supposed to be funny and entertaining but unless this is your first anime ever you probably have seen this shit like 50 times by now. There is frankly nothing original in the entire series and the implemented and re-used stuff is just badly done.
Art: Talking about badly done so is the Art. Animations are poor. Backgrounds are poor. Characters are poor. Not really much to say except that it's incredibly poor quality. You can probably produce the show with MS Paint as your only tool and it wouldn't be much of a downgrade if at all in regards to the art.
Sound: Well probably the best about the series which means that the sound at least isn't horrible but also nothing worth of praise. It's just a big whatever.
Characters: Yeah as already stated above. Just a boring patchwork of generic stereotypes with a disposition towards one or another form of slight to heavy autism and if you'd take the combined common sense of all characters involved it would amount to around the level of a cow. You can probably take any (not even so much) advanced AI, give it a database of traits and tell it to come up with some characters. Probably wouldn't be worse than the characters in this show but at least a couple dozen times more entertaining.
Enjoyment: None. It's bad and cringe.
Overall: See TL/DR at the top: It's trash. It's bad. It's boring. It's unoriginal. Nobody ever should be forced to watch this waste of time and ressources. It's an insult that this pile of garbage got a 2nd season.
Thanks for reading and have a good time (you won't with this anime though)
Stark700
With the ever growing list of rom-coms coming out every season, Bokutachi wa Benkyou ga Dekinai (We Never Learn) honestly isn’t anything home to write about. We just had a similar show called “5-toubun no Hanayome” that aired a few months ago. That show came together as a teenage rom-com with harem content. Bokutachi wa Benkyou ga Dekinai tries to be something on its own but ends up being a fallout of stupidity. On the plus side, I do applaud that the manga has been running as long as it is right now. Too many shounen jump series ends being victims of the dreaded axe yetthis one managed to evade that. Trust me, I do want to see a shounen jump show succeed with romantic elements. The anime offers a 13-episode adaptation although from what’s shown, it’s far from a complete adaptation. For what’s worth, the anime is more of an advertisement of the manga that touches the main story with its cast of characters. But if you are actually expecting your mind to be blown with some masterful storytelling, then I’m afraid I got some bad news.
The English title is translated as “We Never Learn” and spells out the story for itself. A straightforward premise like this is the way to go considering we have a set of goofball characters. To get the boring part out of the way, we got 3rd year Nariyuki Yuiga, the hardworking guy with a dense and dull personality. I can’t fandom how such a guy can be so oblivious when it comes to the feelings of certain people but alas, he’s our male protagonist. Not long after, we are introduced to Fumino, Rizu, and Uruka. All of them are talented in certain subjects but needs help in other areas. It shouldn’t take long for viewers to realize that some of these girls have feelings towards Yuiga. Unfortunately, the show loves to dance around the thought of building a relationship between Nariyuki and these girls. What ends up happening is little to no development with a senseless form of romance, if you can even call it that.
Now, I do want to mention that We Never Learn’s storytelling feels more like skits with an intention to humor. It seems that every chance it gets, the show pokes fun of the idea of studying and the way characters interact with each other. Even Mafuyu Kirisu (the teacher of Ichinose academy) gets dragged into certain shenanigans despite her more mature personality and older age. Taking a look back at the trio of students though, there’s not really much special about any of them. In fact, they fit under archetype characters that you can find in just about any rom-com shows these days. For instance, Fumino is the sensitive girl with few friends. Rizu is the serious genius type who has trouble interacting with others. And finally, Uraka is the energetic girl who easily makes friends with others. With this character roster, it’s easy to distinguish each one of them but the show itself lacks concrete characterization. Sure, we see a good degree of their character traits and even some background storytelling. However, the show doesn’t make an impact to make these characters truly stand out. Forget Nariyuki. The girls only attracts my attention when they interact with certain circumstances. They never draw more on their own. On the other hand, I do find myself invested in some of the other supporting characters. Name such as Kominami Asumi and Sawako Sekijou managed to capture my attention more than the main cast.
On the other hand, I do give praise to making the story entertaining on occasions. School can be a boring setting but the author is able to take advantage of the setting to make humorous drama. It’s one of the perks of being a romantic comedy where the author can stretch their imaginations. For a rom-com harem, I believe the show stands out the best when it seeks to entertain. If the characters were better written, this would have easily stood out as a solid show. Unfortunately, that’s not the case.
With a collaboration between studio Silver and Arvo Animation, this pretty much stands out as an average looking show. To be honest, A-1 Pictures would have been my first guess considering the license. Nonetheless, the animation quality lacks impact with its uncharismatic character designs. Nariyuki has a punchable face while the main girls lacks any distinctive features. I will say this though, the anime likes fan service. It’s slightly tamer compared to the manga but in later episodes, it’s more and more fleshed out. Uraka is the big target eye candy for this for her status in the swim team and well-toned body. However, Fumino and the other are vulnerable too. Considering that this is a rom-com, you should expect a lot of shenanigans coming your way. The character expressions also speaks for itself when you see them react in ridiculous manners.
Should I be surprised that We Never Learn ended up being no more than a mediocre show? Not really. As a manga reader, I kept my expectations in check. This anime lacks a bold story with a weak cast and borderlined forced comedy. It may draw out a few laughs on occasions but once you realize what you’re in for, there’s really much more to see. If you want to give the manga a shot, then be my guest. Just know that We Never Learn dropped the ball and there’s much better rom-coms out there.
Fircoal
When I was young and first was getting into anime the harem genre was one of my favorites. It was a pleasure to watch a lot of cute girls do cute and lewd things, as well as have the excitement of seeing who would win and fighting in waifu wars with friends that had objectively inferior taste (unless they happened to pick actual best girl, and in that case they're fine.) However after watching more and more of these, it became clear that while some were well made and had lots of life to them, there were others that were not well made and endedup being cheap vehicles for a show that they assumed a horny teenage fandom would eat up, and they did. Often the cast wouldn't be fully developed and were either just archetypes with less more going for them, or where way in the background causing one girl to take the center stage and defeating one of the points of a harem. While many seasonal harems ended up disappointing in these ways, We Never Learn, is a return to the good old days.
It doesn't take that much to make a good harem that's a joy to watch. While I do love deep character development and interesting meanings and points that are made in a show, not every show needs to have them, and in particular a good harem isn't defined by having those. In my opinion, the most important parts to a harem are having a varied and likeable cast of girls, and having good fan-service. And Bokuben happens to have both of those.
The main cast is a whole lot of fun. They interact with each other and play off of each other and are very clearly friends with each other. They don't exist just for the sake of the male lead but they have goals of their own and friendships outside of the male lead. They have charming personalities that makes it easy to root for them and very easy to like them. And while they don't have a great amount of development they have enough development that they feel like unique characters and not archetypes. Some of the silly things they can get into are a lot of fun and overall it made me happy to watch this show.
And it fills it's role as a harem very well. There are three main girls and they all have their own charms that are quite distinct. There's an airhead who is much more emotionally connected to everyone but herself, a brainaic who can't understand others or herself, and a tomboy childhood friend who is pretty hyper and excitable. And while the archetypes are certainly there, they're vibrant enough to outshine them, and feel unique. Each of them gets screen time with the main lead, and each of them have a reasonable claim to him. Unlike many harems in the past it actually does feel up in the air who will win and not just a forgone conclusion that was turned into a harem for some reason. They each have their own dynamic relationship with the lead and it's a lot of fun.
Furthermore the show also gives a good deal of fanservice so that we can see the more echiii situations with them and capitalize on their cuteness. And while most of them happen by accident, of course, a staple trope of these harems. The girls are aware enough to not blame him, and if they do blame him it doesn't last longer than 30 seconds. Too many harems like to go off on the blame game for too long which detracts from the show and ruins the vibe they have going. If anything what Bokuben does so well is it allows this vibe to continue throughout the show, and rarely becomes too much of a drag. The art and sound also help with this a lot as the art is pretty high quality and always looks nice. The sound is better jovial and helps accent the more comedic parts of the show. While it may not be impressive on its own it really works in the show.
It may not be the most impressive show, but Bokuben is a good solid harem, and I very much enjoyed watching it. I'd recommended it to all other harem fans.
Pipe
Sometimes the best things in a romcom are found in the contrasts: Silly jokes, the most stupid series of events, perhaps a clumsy teacher, or a grow up student with the face of a kid, whose actions serve as a booster that helps us to appraise the differences between all the cast. All this nonsense works as a preparation for the future action now that the second season is announced in the last episode with the simple words "tsuzuku" (続くor つづく). Maybe I shouldn't be praising this series, but the season was too average, and I couldn't find an acceptable series. Although Bokutachi waBenkyou ga Dekinai is an unexpected finding with small but potent pleasures that can hook an avid anime enthusiast like you. This silly show has a lot of similarities with “5-toubun no Hanayome” to the point that it could be a copy. The question is: who copied whom?
On the other hand, the plot is delightful because it does not follow the typical harem settings. In this series a guy, Nariyuki Yuiga needs to teach a group of girls that are considered geniuses in some fields and stupid in some other areas of knowledge. However, ironical as it may seem, these "geniuses" want to study a career where their abilities are useless. This setting leads to a series of silly events where we can enjoy the differences between each character, their feelings, and we could smile on the stupid jokes. Sadly, after some episodes, the series can give the impression that something is missing and perhaps you could end dropping it because it is tedious or lacks romance and the storytelling is average. Nonetheless, this first season only works as an introduction that shows the main characters and paves the path for the future season, where I do hope to see relevant plot twists, romance, and new jokes.
The characters are acceptable, they have a big contrast. From my perspective, Yuiga, the ordinary guy, good at studying, poor, hard worker, is a neutral character that understands the girls' decisions but lacks any romance comprehension. This romantic aspect can be complemented with Fumino, who acts like the cupid of the story. I can explain this behavior because she is a literary genius, so her way to understand the human emotions is by far more different than Yuiga and the other girls such us Rizu or Takemoto. On the other hand, as silly as it looks, Rizu is the typical genius stereotype. However, she is a hard worker, and she cannot understand her feelings. And talking about feelings, the story introduces Takemoto, the athlete, full of energy and finds herself in a never-ending dilemma (cliche?).
The other characters, Mafuyu, the silly teacher and Asumi, the sempai, are a healthy complement to the plot because they refresh the story when the author needs to change some repetitive jokes.
The characters design is acceptable. Even if for some persons it looks weird, I want to say it is consistent. The animation follows the graphics from the manga and tries to keep closer to them. Asking more from this kind of design could be wrong.
Mostly, the show is entertaining: For Yuiga to teach these girls, and for the girls to understand their feelings and to experience romance. Together, create an acceptable comedy that is just beginning.
JustAnotherShiro
Bokutachi wa Benkyou ga Dekinai is without a doubt one of the best harems I’ve seen. And I watched a lot of those. Part of its strength is that it wasn’t carried by single strong point, but rather was solid all around: The most important part of harem are, obviously, waifus. It’s pretty normal to have one main girls and “fodder” that is meant to lose. Or even if that’s not the case, harems rarely offer more than 1 or 2 interesting picks. BokuBen wins at both of those. Not only all girls get more or less equal development and chances to win, they also allhave top tier waifu potential. Yes, to my surprise, every single of them is great, to the point that I can’t decide which one I’d call “best girl” or pick myself. On top of it, Yuiga himself is not a bad character too.
Being a rom-com, this anime doesn’t offer much in terms of story. At the same time it’s still executed nicely. All the comedic moments, developments, fanservice etc scenes are rather reasonable and don’t feel forced. Pacing is good and comedy level above average. What more could I ask for?
What really helps with everything else is art. It’s awesome. No, it’s not some crazy quality, high budget stuff. On that front it’s rather average. What makes it special is style that fits sooo well with the characters and lighthearted atmosphere of story. The way girls are drawn is both cute and pretty and their emotions are shown in really captivating way.
Overall it is, as I said, very solid harem. Some might find it forgettable and doesn't bring anything new to the table ("generic" lol), but I believe any fan of the genre will appreciate what it has to offer.
OhsnapitsDavid
This is anime is awesome! I don't know why many casuals are hating on it. It has great production value, enjoyable characters, and a hilarious story line. I haven't see harem-comedy be this intense since Gamers! and School Rumble. I honesty did not expect myself to laugh as much as I did while watching this show (and I haven't laughed or smiled in weeks). To underline the show, it has a trio-harlem, with two other candidates. It doesn't just center in a school, it also shows adult themes such as work, which is a rare delight. If you love slice oflife shows, give this a watch.
Towards the end, even I had trouble deciding which of the leading female characters was the
best choice for the main guy.
Also, this anime is very impressive being done by two lesser studios. I guess Japan has no
shortages of talented artists! Great show, high recommend.
PyraXadon
The easiest comparison I can make for this show is either a soap opera where drama WANTS to happen but doesn't, or your typical harem with a gimmick setup in order to get things off the ground. Well, there're worse ways to start your story I suppose. Story: Nariyuki Yuiga is an average high school student whose highest selling point is being a jack of all grades in school, doing well in all subjects but not really excelling. One day he's informed by his school's headmaster that he'll be able to get the school's VIP recommendation for college on one condition: he must tutor the school's mostvaluable honor students Rizu Ogata and Fumino Furuhashi in their worst subjects to a similarly proficient level.
The show's translation title of 'We Can't Study' is really only partially true to the setup of the series's story. Taking roughly two chapters of the manga per episode, the story can largely be explained as a romcom school series where studying primarily serves as the series's backdrop than its main focus. There's definitely progress with how the girls' grades improve as the series goes on due to the numerous amount of study scenes we see in the series, but this isn't really what the series wants to be even though it really should make academics its main focus.
A typical episode setup involves the main cast spending time studying in some manor before the situation spirals out of control through random acts of god in order to further Nariyuki's relationship with two females that progressively increases to five by the end of the series. Sometimes it improves the girls' proficiency in studying, sometimes not.
Depending on who Nariyuki is interacting with dictates the direction of the episode, which either creates a massive air of awkward dialogue where no party knows what to say, or completely coincidental encounters that were handcrafted by the twisted machinations of a higher power. Because of this, episodes can feel largely disconnected from each other because the narrative relies so heavily on the 'status quo' of the characters' relationships that it feels like filler with millimeters of progress for characters too nervous to just spit out what's on their minds. As such, the pacing for progress feels very stop and go with a rare episode having some large changes while the next four or something episodes either have nothing of note happen afterwards or features the awkward fallout.
Characters:
Yuiga Nariyuki is a bingo card of harem protagonist traits and tropes. Dense? Check. Lucky pervert situations? Yup. Nice to everyone, apologizes profusely, and doesn't know how to handle women? Fuck, we got a winner here folks! Yuiga's character is less of a protagonist or character, and more of the starting gun to whatever shenanigans is destined to happen. He constantly studies but usually gets flustered by either a passing comment said by a member of the female cast, or notices something about them (like being close or seeing that they're weirdly pretty today). He consistently does this and it's not very exciting to see his character amount to what we see even though it's possible to create an actually fun harem protagonist. We get vague inklings about his past and how he became obsessed with studying, but it doesn't come to light enough to matter.
Ogata Rizu, Takemoto Uruka, Kirisu Mafuyu, and Kominami Asumi are the 'harem' members of the female cast who largely serve the "studying into perverted/funny/romantic" moment that makes up the basis of this series. Each of them have a very different dynamic with Yuiga to the point that the show devotes entire episodes to his interactions with each of them as a way to give each of them a moment in the spotlight. (Budding interest, First love, Teacher & Student, and Senpai and Kohai respectively.) They're also the show's way of raising 'flags'/add character traits to the girls as Yuiga, through usually comedic means, accidentally finds out more about them and either gets them or someone associated to them to spill the beans on their motive for doing better. While the content's different, the setup and payoff usually follows the same formula and I'm not really interested when a lot of the dialogue in the interaction has the protagonist stutter. A lot. Give me characterization sure, but please spit some words out, man.
Then there's Fumino Furuhashi. Usually I talk about harem girls as a collective "collect them all" kind of deal, but I'm giving her her own section cause this one's special. While Furuhashi does share most of the girls' motives at getting better at school, her role is being practically the only person with common sense and can read the room. Without her, the show would be dead in its tracks because she's the only one who knows the shit that goes on around Yuiga and is the one who makes him confront the holes he's dug for himself. She's an extremely refreshing character in a show like this because her motives aren't (mostly) based on any attraction towards the protagonist and really helps get the story going once it hits its many, many awkward roadblocks. I actively cheer any time she's on-screen because she always manages to get the ball rolling whether or not she's the main focus of the scene.
There aren't really many side characters to note of, and most of them are character-based, pertaining to their one relationship with a specific character (since each girl basically has their own support team...) and as such aren't really important to the story unless it's for a gag or when the show thinks not enough wrenches have been thrown into the current scene. I'm actually more pissed that most of the girls have at least one or two members of the cast dedicated to pushing them to pursue a romance with Nariyuki. It's as if the girls don't have enough agency themselves to express their feelings or something.
Aesthetics:
Produced by a collaboration between Silver and Arvo Animation, the art for Bokutachi feels extremely bland to me. Art-wise, the show relies heavily on a lot of really saturated and bright colors which are not only somewhat blinding, but is also a style that doesn't have a lot of depth to it. This is mostly apparent with how exceedingly brightly colored each girls' hair is, which even looks unnatural by the standards of a medium with this as a mainstay feature. There's also a surprising amount of fanservice which is only made worse when breast size jokes are a mainstay due to Furuhashi carrying a vastly smaller cup size compared to the rest of the female cast.
There's also not a lot of animation in the show's typical animation, reserving most of that for quick, sped up frames during the show's many, many comedic moments where the character's models squish and chibify themselves to express their current emotion. There's also a constant use of tiny heads that pop up on the screen with one or two clear traits associated to each head to make sure you know which girl it is, which suspiciously reminds me of another series. Hmm... Since comedy's a mainstay of the series, this is where the series sits at for a greater minority of its runtime, so expect to see a lot of this when watching.
"Seishun Seminar" and "Never Give It Up!!" by the convenient artist name of 'Study' are a pair of OP and ED tracks that aren't really all that interesting. Super poppy songs that invoke the casual, school comedy setting aren't really my cup of tea, and aren't really the kind of songs are all that memorable. They serve their purpose, but personally I think are songs worth skipping.
Personal Enjoyment:
When I first started reading the manga, I said to myself, "Wow, this reminds me of Nisekoi, and not in the good way". The characters seemed to share a similar style, the setup to the story seemed to be largely forgotten for the sake of adding more slice of life moments with individual members of the female cast, and there were even tiny heads on the side of the screen/panels with one striking detail. After a bit of digging, I found out that the series's author, Tsutsui Taishi, was responsible for the mahou shoujo Nisekoi spin-off, which leads to believe that he must've also been an assistant for Nisekoi at some point prior. So why the lengthy research report? Well because Bokutachi is basically the middle hundred chapter section of Nisekoi where it's just the character faffing about instead of figuring out who's the right girl with the key.
I don't really have much that can be said about my thoughts about the series that hasn't been said prior. Episodes can either feel like there's story progress, or a massive slog with only a millimeter of progress to make it seem like it was ultimately worth it even though the show's just gonna return back to its status quo. It's a frustrating cycle that can go largely unnoticed because the show is built around making these near pointless situations as comical as they can be for the sake of entertainment. I just find it difficult to enjoy something when the characters' default reaction to everything is acting flustered because Kami-sama decided to play a prank again on Yuiga that day. Furuhashi is undoubtedly my favorite part of the series because she mostly manages to skirt around these issues with her sheer presence by pushing both Yuiga and the show in the right direction, and I shudder to think what the story would be like without her.
Because of this, I find it hard to really recommend this show to many people. Maybe to Nisekoi fans, because it's basically the same schtick where you fall into a camp and cheer for that particular girl to get the largely uninteresting protagonist trophy with a few interesting traits. But beyond that I think the show is trashy entertainment at best. Maybe season two will spend time on the girls' arcs and explain the trials, tribulations, and reasons why the series' females want to take the direction contrary to what they're best in in academics, but for right now, the show's a typical harem with only one character trying to push it in the right direction. Godspeed, Fumino. Godspeed.
AbnerA
Bokutachi wa Benkyou ga Dekinai is a high school romantic comedy. The setting here is that our protagonist Nariyuki is great in academics. However, he is not going good financially and needed to get a VIP scholarship from his school. To his delight, the School Principal decided to give the VIP scholarship ti Nariyuki with a condition, Nariyuki must tutor two of his classmates. Rizu Ogata is a genius at science but struggles at literature. Fumino Furuhashi is the opposite, excelling in literature but is horrible at science. In the beginning, this anime tackles the reason Rizu and Fumino try to enter a major opposite totheir talent. It is touching to see the reasons and how Nariyuki empathizes with it. We also get a third character, Uruka Takemoto. She is amazing at swimming but bad in academics. While all of this is great, it is a shame because it doesn't last throughout the anime.
About halfway through, a pattern becomes clear to be seen. Nariyuki and everyone else gets put in a situation, which may or may not be related to their studies. These situations are used to show the series' true colours, Fanservice. All the plot that have been introduced are just a setting, it tries its best to protect the status quo as the show focuses on getting more fanservice to the screen. It becomes clear that as the harem's being formed, the original focus is thrown away.
The true colours of this anime extend to the whole cast. This includes Fumino, Rizu, Uruka, and their teacher, Mafuyu Kirisu. Late in the show, another character gets introduced, Kominami Asumi. She is older than Nariyuki and failed to pass the college entrance exam last year. Her introduction is actually a refreshing breeze for the anime, as it starts to get stale with its pattern.
So should you watch this anime? It depends. If you're hoping the anime explores more on the characters and how they are pursuing subjects they are struggling with, go look elsewhere. In the other hand, if you're looking for a light-hearted school romantic comedy with minimal plot progression and some fanservice, this is a good anime to watch. Bokutachi wa Benkyou ga Dekinai is good at that with some slightly amusing scenes and characters.
KANLen09
Riding on the exploding success that is Negi Haruba's manga and Tezuka Productions' anime adaptation of The Quintessential Quintuplets, this series is more of less the same, except with one caveat: it managed to pull out a pentuplet (with a teacher and a senior graduated student)! Such ingenuity and admiration that it managed more than just the usual harem rom-com that's plastered all over the place. And just like said series, Season 2 is coming soon too (Fall 2019), so for fans, the excitement isn't over yet! Just...for now. Based on Taishi Tsutsui's manga of the same name, We Never Learn: BokuBen is about a youngand uprising scholar by the name of Yuiga Nariyuki, whom despite his poor performance, is desperately trying to earn the prestigious VIP recommendation to fix his future's studying financial problems and give his home some peace of mind. Problem is, in order to achieve that status, he has to tutor students who are high-flying achievers in their own study and craft, yet are complete failures when it comes to achieving their passions. Just like Fuutarou Useugi, he takes up the challenge from the school's principal (who offered him the recommendation in the first place).
The waifu contestants are:
- Fumino Furuhashi, excellent in Mathematics, but fails spectacularly at literature, and one that is secretly (and unconsciously) pushing her way to Yuiga's heart, and the closest yet.
- Rizu Ogata, excellent in Literature, but fails spectacularly at Mathematics, her decent-sized "weapons" helping a bit, but not much. The weakest of the trio.
- Uraka Takemoto, excellent in sports (swimming to be exact), but just like the 2 waifus, extremely poor grades, and her massive boobs give Nariyuki the sense of incoming danger. But as a childhood friend, she exhibits the same tropes of confessions and whatnot.
- Senior (ronin) Asumi Kominami, working part-time in order to pay for her school fees (without the knowledge of her parents), and just like the trio, working and studying hard through justification that Yuiga (seen as the "boyfriend") help her get her groove together.
- Kirisu Mafuyu-sensei, Furuhashi and Ogata's former cold-hearted tutor, but yet is a very, very messy and clumsy person when all her teachings are stripped away, and unfortunately for her, being exposed to Yuiga meant that her facade is gone.
All waifus, in the course of the series, try their best to get tutored by the self-proclaimed work-in-progress "protagonist", not knowing that more than just the effects of studying hard for their own sake, the usual harem rom-com that's reminiscent of Nisekoi (but lesser to a degree) shows indefinitely, allowing for some random moments of affection between Nariyuki and the various waifus, in their own shine and glamour.
And I'm sure that many of us have been complaining about how the rom-com was really sub-par and sometimes didn't help that one waifu was anchoring all this while unconsciously being the CLOSEST to him (if you have watched the anime, you can easily guess who). But all in all, while this aspect didn't resonate with many who have seen the tropey formula a million times over, it was certainly a breath of fresh air somehow.
So, before the start of the series, even if you have never cared about this aspect, I feel like it is worth mentioning: the co-studio collaboration of low-profile key animations - veteran Studio Silver (founded in February 2001) and newly-founded Arvo Animation (founded in July 2017). Considering that this is the first time both studios are doing a major production work, I felt that it was done well. Not the greatest, but certainly not Hoods Entertainment-level bad. Even though their works are outsourced (like just about every anime), my first impressions are closer to the levels of high-tier Silver Link and low-tier Brain's Base. Artwork was inconsistent and rough at best, but at some points did it manage to pull out nicely. Same goes with the animation, stiff and unconceiving, but when compared to the original manga source, it fits, and that's all that matters.
On the musicality side, the OST is somewhat lacking, but for all intensive purposes, it did its job adding (mostly) into the comedic moments, and tying into the anime gives it a rather generic extent that has both hits and misses. As for the OP and ED (by Furuhashi, Ogata and Takemoto), they are decent-sounding, fit into the themes nicely which gives the overall series a non-serious, laidback feel. Or maybe it's my senses telling me wrong that it's good.
Whatever the case, love it of hate it, BokuBen is defintely one of the hidden gems of the lackluster Spring season, a worthy 13-episode series that shows how even minor companies can pull off a major work, even with the backing of director Yoshiaki Iwasaki, of works like Last Period, Love Hina and Zero no Tsukaima (1st and last seasons).
Regardless of how this series turned out in its full-on generic-ness, this was quite the watch that turned out fine. Here's hoping Season 2 (announced just the day before this review) will be more of the same, and the confirmation of one of the waifus being Yuiga's partner (or it could turn out to be like the last moments of The Quintesstial Quintuplets on who Fuutarou married which Nakano).
LegendAqua
An anime where the main protagonist who being both poor and needs to teach a harem of girls in order for them to go to their preferred university?..are we talking about Bokutachi wa Benkyou ga Dekinai or Go-Toubun no Hanayome? Bokutachi wa Benkyou ga Dekinai is another line of great harems in the 2010's by utilizing the basic harem cliches and use them in more unique and interesting ways. In Bokutachi wa Benkyou ga Dekinai's case is how greatly balanced the harem it is (well LA anyways) due to how it was extremely hard to pick "best girl" and through this allows the harem to begreatly developed in the sense of their romantic endevours to the main protagonist.
Nariyuki Yuiga voiced by Ryota Osaka is one of those harem protagonist who is pretty much the nice guy, slightly dense in the sense but has a strong sense of helping anyone in trouble or in this case, helping the girls going to their college of choice. The main strength of Nariyuki is the mere fact that though he goes through MANY harem hijinks, how he handles it subverts from the cliches (and sometimes thanks to certain harem members) of it. His kind-hearted nature is more in the case of his father telling him that useless people CAN be useful and Nariyuki is dutiful in both studying AND teaching as a result. Nariyuki MAY seem the typical cliche harem dense male protagonist but he quickly does get a personality of his own that nicely gives his harem great chemistry with him...
The harem really does make this harem anime all worth it, be it through their interactions with each other and/or with Nariyuki. Starting from Rizu Ogata voiced by Miyu Tomita who LA can personally relate to the most in terms of her personality, but her wanting to pursue literature arts but is the genius in mathematics (another relation for LA, maths not the genius part), LA especially LOVES her pouting comical facial reactions and her reactions was funny. In relation to Nariyuki, she's one of the firsts to interact and develop feelings for Nariyuki and how she doesn't know how to know her feelings for Nariyuki and as a result confines in Fumino Furuhashi voiced by Haruka Shiraishi. Fumino is the other of the harem to first interact with Nariyuki at the start of the anime, being a literary genius but utterly sucks at maths. Although her gets latter development in the latter half of the anime and though she helps the other girls with their feelings towards Nariyuki, she's something of a confident towards Nariyuki and teacher in romance to him and as a result she also starts falling for Nariyuki but with her friendship with the rest of the harem as well as her genre savviness makes her interesting in her position in the harem. Uruka Takemoto voiced by Sayumi Suzushiro is Nariyuki's childhood friend and the genius athlete, yet she sucks in English. Her deal is pretty much the childhood friend who can't spit it out to Nariyuki but is confides in Fumino in helping her, she becomes regulated to Ms. Fanservice of the harem while keeping her childhood friend status and is pretty much "twice shy" towards Nariyuki though she has her moments even with all these elements in.
Mafuyu Kirisu voiced by Lynn is a teacher in the harem's school and was Rizu and Fumino's former tutor, having an outlook in having Fumino and Rizu to take the college where their academic strengths are in, she is at first quite the obstacle for Nariyuki as a result but latter on she becomes a part of the harem as we learn more about her daily life and more of her personality as to her beliefs of pursuing academics. Nariyuki essentially becomes her confidant as he becomes known to her secrets while still keeping their teacher-student relationship at a safe distance. To say this is the most intriguing thing in the harem is an understatement and though it took LA a while, LA grew to like Mafuyu whenever she appeared...yeah LA rooted for Mafuyu by the end of the first season. Finally we have Asumi Kominami voiced by Madoka Asahina, a graduate of the harem's cast school but her wanting to be a medical doctor yet sucking in science and her meeting Nariyuki in cram school, but even though she has the last and furthest appearance in the harem, what screentime she got, she was a welcome addition to the harem, especially with her playfully aggressive personality let alone that she's just as sharp in the uptake of Nariyuki's harem much like Fumino.
To say that the harem itself is the biggest strength of Bokutachi wa Benkyou ga Dekinai is an understatement and again, with LA not able to pinpoint LA's favourite character (as the harem members were ALL interesting) until Episode 12, yeah Bokutachi wa Benkyou ga Dekinai put harem back into balanced harem anime, let alone the fact that the harem members themselves just don't fawn over the main male protagonist and actually interacts and be friends with the rest of the harem at that to not only help each other academically but romantically as well so the multi-layer the harem elements and thus make it MUCH more interesting.
Back to why Rizu is much more relatable to LA, as LA was great in maths in high school but LA is now writing anime reviews, so LA can relate to Rizu ALOT, thus kinda showing off Bokutachi wa Benkyou ga Dekinai notion of the characters wanting to pursue their academic weaknesses as it's ACTUALLY a real thing.
Rizu is LA's most relatable, Fumino is the most genre savvy, Uruka is the fanservicey childhood friend, Mafuyu is best girl and Asumi is the fun factor.
The structure of most if not all episodes does tend to focus on one of the harem members but when the entire harem concidentally gets to play around with certain scenarios, well the entire harem (depending on if they have been introduced or not) gets equal screentime. To this end, it allows the harem interact with one another, develop them romantically and iindividually as well as increase screentime for the entire harem as a result and well, makes for a really good balanced harem with how the anime is structured.
The animation done by Silver and Arvo Animation and man, if there was one thing LA loved about the animation, that would be the character designs, so poppy and distinct and with the VERY comical facial animations of MANY of the characters that even the more comical features though looking "light" made itself all the more expressive and yes Rizu for LA was this though the rest of the cast gets this and LA loved it. Of course since this is mostly a character-focused harem anime, though the background work was great, the character deigns as well as the MANY costumes some of the characters goes through was the much more interesting element of the animation, but nonetheless good animation.
Voice cast-wise, LA thought Nao Touyama voiced most of these characters (seriously they sounded like multiple cadences that Nao Touyama does), no but seriously the voice cast was great and with the harem having a balanced screentime, LA will give MVP's to well ALL the harem VA's...that being Haruka Shiraishi as Fumino, Lynn as Mafuyu Kirisu, Sayumi Suzushiro as Uruka Takemoto (probably the closest to sounding like Nao Touyama's genkiness), Miyu Tomita as Rizu Ogata and Madoka Asahina as Asumi Kominami. Ryota Osaka as Nariyuki also did a great job especially with some of the one-liners and great reactions from him. Really and obviously, LA LOVED this voice cast.
LA did mention Go-Toubun no Hanayome and though both this and Go-Toubun no Hanayome has similarities towards it, they have differing strengths and weaknesses, as Go-Toubun no Hanayome has the mystery element that makes the anime all the more intriguing and though the first season of Go-Toubun no Hanayome makes it as an unbalanced harem, whereas Bokutachi wa Benkyou ga Dekinai doesn't really have the mystery element and more so in "shipping" who the main protagonist but as a result, has a solid balanced harem to back it up. Bokutachi wa Benkyou ga Dekinai has it's strengths but if LA had a gun to LA's head and had to pick between the two.....Go-Toubun no Hanayome, but Bokutachi wa Benkyou ga Dekinai is still a great harem anime to watch as it's weakness doesn't detract from the overall great strength of a balanced harem.
And those weaknesses that Bokutachi wa Benkyou ga Dekinai has, well for LA mainly is from Uruka and her "twice shy" and "can't spit it out" and though this was something LA did find and that is the MANY misunderstandings the harem goes through (well sans Fumino and maybe Mafuyu) with the victims mainly going to Uruka and Rizu as a result, sure to these flaws Bokutachi wa Benkyou ga Dekinai still handles these cliches pretty well all things considered, even Uruka's childhood friend dilemna and her not spitting it out...well the harem cliches was STILL utilized quite well. Really even with these flaws, it doesn't detriment the experience due to how the harem cliche subversion and the solid balanced harem aspects.
Bokutachi wa Benkyou ga Dekinai was just another enjoyable harem to watch in many aspects, from the balanced harem and structuring of the anime, likable harem members as well as an interesting main protagonist and much like Go-Toubun no Hanayome, utilizing it's harem cliches and subverting it away from the tired and old harem hijinks. Bokutachi wa Benkyou ga Dekinai is getting a second season and LA would VERY much like to know what's happening next as well as giving the harem alot more hijinks and alot more romantic push...
We Never Learn, no Bokutachi wa Benkyou ga Dekinai LEARNED from it's harem predecessors and much like the harem members pursuing their academic weakness', LA hopes Bokutachi wa Benkyou ga Dekinai's 2nd season will do the same and make Bokutachi wa Benkyou ga Dekinai EVEN BETTER.
Youbamii
One of the greater Harems out there, at first I thought it would be boring seeming as there are using studying and such as their base for the series and the main character being smart, but I'd say if you are a fan of Harems then this is up your alley because it's pretty good to be honest yeah it's a bit cliché but who said being cliché is bad it's only bad when you use it badly but the author of this series is doing a good job with giving his characters such a cute/lovable personalities. For a new studio that isn't well knownI'd say they handled the animation and art pretty damn good especially the facial expressions they are all so cute that you'd end up screen grabbing most of them I know I did, also the main character is pretty likable my problem with past Harems was mainly the main character I found some of them can be a bit annoying but this guy in this anime just wants to help people out although I do think there is something going on between him and that tan girl but yknow that's just me shipping them together lol also the ecchi moments are there as well not as bold as heavy ecchi series but it's ok. I pretty much enjoyed this anime and this what I mainly look for when I'm rating an anime/series if I enjoy it, if the soundtrack is good, if the animation/art is decent and if the plot is good or interesting and so far this series nailed it for me currently waiting for S2 give this series a go if you want a slice of life ecchi harem with a studying theme for its base oh and the voice actors are so adorable.
ejaz-san
Bokutachi wa Benkyou ga Dekinai boasts everything about an unusual time in high-school. This anime can make you feel a whole lot of emotions based on your situations in real life and how 'relatable' they can be. Personally, I loved it, it was addicting, funny and more importantly interesting to watch. The soundtrack is awesome, there's alot of work gone into thinking of fully developed characters for each person featured. This anime was amazing, and there has not been anything like it. A burn for this anime was the clear ending and the obvious boring storyline to the last few episodes of the season, itwasn't going forward or anywhere at least not until the next season had come out.
KouhaiSenpai
So the premise of this show is that there are some girls who are geniuses in one subject but terrible at the one they want to pursue. The main character is there to tutor them in their chosen subject. The show is very much a romcom harem show, so if you don't like those I would steer clear. It is a harem but not in the competitive way. But of course there's a dense protagonist. Lots of sugary sweet scenes, jealousy, and misunderstandings galore. There are also plenty of lewd scenes, many of them are really awkward. It's basically everything you would expect from atypical romcom harem.
The art is really well done, there's a lot of comedic art swaps. Plenty of beautiful art as well as chibi art.
The music is pretty great. The opening is really cute and well animated.
It's one of those shows that have little epilogues at the end of the episodes so don't skip right after the ending song starts.
shimrai
Okay, I have watched a decent amount of ecchi, harem romcoms but for some reason, this feels special to me. I already felt this way before since I read the manga before the anime aired. Bokuben, a RomCom with harem and studying, feels familiar right? Though this kind of plot has been used in a couple animes this still has a special place in my heart. Story 8/10: The plot was pretty interesting. It pretty much circles around the "studying plot" if it's not yet obvious lmao. a poor guy teaches a couple of girls with their weaknesses in studying and starts to like our mc, Nariyuki,no shit.
Art 9/10: The colors used here was very nice. It's very bright,cheerful and vibrant . The colors aside, the art here compared to the manga is definitely better and improved. In the manga, Furuhashi's hairstyle was Twintails but here is straight. I wonder why they changed it. All the characters are still very pretty nonetheless.
Sound 9/10: The sounds are something I don't really mind because I'm too focused into the anime but I'll just say what I recall. I'll start first with the amazing OP, Seishun Seminar. The op was very cheerful and lively, and it really fits the anime. Just listening to it will make you want to study. Too bad Kirisu Sensei didn't have a part in the OP. About the ost's, it also fits the situation and really brings out its true magic, it's really nice.
Character 8/10: The characters were pretty okay, it's what you expect from a harem Romcom. The characters portrayed different attitudes and that really makes it fun to watch
Enjoyment 9/10: I definitely enjoyed this ALOT, from the opening until the end. I don't even know why this is rated lower than I expected. If you are wondering if this is worth watching,
YES DEFINITELY.
Overall 9/10: Out of all positive things I say about this, I still can't count this as a masterpiece anime, though this is really amazing and fun to watch. It's because you can already see a lot of animes that has the same pattern as this so it makes it easy to predict. Don't get me wrong, this is really great and fun to watch. I recommend it to anyone.
equipo_simpatico
Another series of an average teenager who becomes a teacher and casually gets a harem. It is practically the generic series that we have seen many times. His style is nice and very simple, having all the same faces, nor has history and less character development, being simply an episodic comedy where they will show us erotic scenes all the time. The characters are so unoriginal, that we can classify them by archetypes: Nariyuki as the kind and silly protagonist, Fumino as the insecure, Rizo as the antisocial or the one who has trouble understanding people and Uruka as the childhood friend. But this is notenough for the series, so they add more characters like Asumi, the one that makes fanservices and a teacher.
Unfortunately, it is a series that goes for sure, with a predictable and innocent comedy, erotic scenes too explicit and such a superficial development, that you prefer to skip it. But if there is something that seems curious to me, it is that the girls have a special talent that they will not use throughout the story, so we realize that that detail does not contribute anything.
So I will take advantage of the fact that in these anime they always usually compete for which one will win and I will place my bet, Fumino (the one with blue hair) will win.
kchakrak
Another harem comedy based on a tutor and a group of females. Yes, I'm also a big fan of the other major one as well. To be honest I can't really say what specifically I like about Bokuben, what made me decide to collect the Manga (a first for me), or what keeps me rewatching the occasional episode. It's a good time with good characters in a fun environment and the story isn't suffocated by romance and fawning over some half-baked idiot. Although to his credit Yuiga isn't your standard protagonist, he has a genuine belief that helping those who wish to improve what they aren'tgood at, helping those who aren't talented is the right thing to do. He's not particularly shy, and he knows he's clueless about romance, but his single-minded focus is studying. The rest of the main cast all play off of each other really well.
To be clear I really don't think this is a harem comedy as that insinuates some level of romance, and it's stated very early on Yuiga isn't interested in romance until the entrance exams are over so while there's a lot of 'who feels what for who' it's obvious it's never going anywhere real. The real art of this show is the chemistry between the characters, and it's primary objective of comedy. That's my main point here to be honest, that this isn't really a romance show, it's a comedy with some romance sprinkled in where it's funniest. I don't think this is much of a spoiler as it's really up to interpretation but for the record I don't even think all the girls actually like Yuiga romantically, in fact it's only really obvious one of them likes him that way and another might.
This show really is just a good time and absolutely nails that tone. It's refreshing to see a harem/romance comedy which avoids turning anyone into a weak willed pathetic drone or a sexual predator. If you want a slice of life show that's more sitcom than romcom look no further. In fact this isn't too far off of 'anime Friends' really.
Snapshot426
Do you smell it? The smell of salt spreading all over the keyboard and the sweat of angry internet users. Do you hear it? The sound of a keyboard being furiously used and the disgruntled noises. Do you see it? The sight of avid internet users defending themselves on the internet. For you see, we are entering a war. A new war. Yet a war we have seen many times. It is The War of the Waifus. Sit back, relax and barricade your house to protect yourself from the avid swarm of haters of your chosen best girl as I present to you the animereview of We Never Learn. Lets begin.
Story: 5/10
Nariyuki Yuiga strives himself in his studies to become a top student and provide a better life for his family by getting a VIP nomination to help cover all of his university Intuition fees. One day, the opportunity arrives to obtain the VIP nomination. But there is a catch. He must tutor the school’s top two students, Fumino Furuhashi and Rizu Ogata, and help with the subjects they are weak at in order for them to pursue their dream careers. With the VIP nomination on the line, Nariyuki must help them improve their grades before time to submit their university application runs out.
What was a simple case of helping out students with their studies slowly (and predictably) turns into a case of awkward meetings because the main female characters start to develop feelings for Nariyuki and Nariyuki is too dense to realise. This is amplified when you add characters Uraka Takemoto, Mafuyu Kirisu and Asumi Kominami to help set the harem. It mainly uses the tutoring aspect as a way at getting these female characters together and is mainly used to get to know more about them and why they want to succeed in the academic areas they struggle at. But slowly but, surely, the gimmick this show starts with is slowly not the focus of the show and what we get is another bog standard harem comedy with a diverse cast of female characters and a dense protagonist. It loses focus on what kind of story it wants to tell in favour of doing tropes and cliches that we’ve seen in other harem comedies.
As for the comedy of this show, it’s one of those rare cases where the comedy arguably gets better as the show goes on as the awkwardness increases. That’s not to say that it wasn’t funny at the beginning because there were humorous moments but the humour only got better as the show got on. But it does over-rely on using the misunderstanding card to humour the viewer quite a bit and can start to get tedious but there were plenty of humorous moments throughout the show to make quite amusing overall, but it can get tedious at times.
Another thing I criticise the story for is them balancing the screentime of the girls throughout the show. Rizu gets arguably pushed to the back as the show goes on past the halfway point. Whereas Asumi was introduced too late into the show despite being a breath of fresh air for this show. So it does have problems when balancing its girls and when we get to see them. Granted in Rizu’s case, we do get to see plenty of her in the first half and she moved aside for the other characters, but when you start adding characters, you need to start balancing it out. But the show struggles to do that at times.
Characters: 7/10
Nariyuki does have aspects of his character and personality that would be considered cliched. The main aspect (which is shared among MCs in this situation) is him being dense to the girls’ feelings when it comes to love and such. Well not all of them, but some of them. I would say it is on the rather endearing side because all he wants is to make sure that he helps these girls in their studies. Sure there is the VIP nomination, but his attention rather turns to helping them, which causes them to develop feelings. But the genericness really does kick in at times and it really does feel like he does not want to act on this and is just let things happen. I know he’s focused on his studies but come on man.
Now the female characters, the harem, is a diverse cast which is supposed to be because you want each of these girls to have their own personality and stand out of in their own way. What this show does great though is that each girl have certain qualities and quirks that make interesting and endearing and have set goals they want to achieve in life. So it’s hard to decide which girl is best because, Fumino is best girl, Rizu is best girl, Uraka is best girl, Kirisu is best girl and Asumi is best girl. This show is in a weird position where you can make a case why which character is the best one and you would have good reasons why.
Animation: 7/10
If I had to describe this show’s animation with one word, it would have to be, “Vibrant.” The show’s art direction is very colourful with plenty of striking scenes to make it vibrant. It matches the light hearted tone this show has so I see it as being very appropriate. There are the typical facial expressions and movements used to add humour to a scene by exaggerating it. Some of them are amusing though (Rizu’s pout face will always be adorable). Honestly, the show’s art style makes me feel comfortable, as if the usual day to day lives of our characters are something you can just relax and see how well they can get along with each other.
Sound: 8/10
I didn’t expect the ost to be as dramatic as it is but does consist of some of the more memorable soundtracks from the show. It is normally used when we get to know more about our characters to add some humanity to a scene. While there are other soundtracks that are used mainly for comedic timing the soundtracks for the show’s more touching scenes are more memorable.
I very much enjoyed this opening mainly for its cinematography and how well some shots in this anime opening and has some very good animation. The song “Seishun Seminar” by study was a nice, uplifting song to get you hyped for the episode and timed well with some of the scenes in the opening. The ending sequence was also really good and is my favourite from this season, just beating out Isekai Quartet and Sarazanmai’s ending sequence. I’m a big fan of the chalkboard art style used to match the school setting. Study also does song; this time being called “Never Give It Up,” which was another nice uplifting song to match the tone of the show and is good to end off the episode.
Conclusion
I will say that this show struggles to have an original bone in its body as the show consists of aspects we’ve seen from other shows like this. Its protagonist is generic at times and the whole gimmick of this show slowly boils down and is heavily downplayed so we can focus on the romance element. Yet it also has a good cast of girls and the shows animation is good to look at and a good soundtrack. No doubt this show will probably be remembered for the arguments as to who was best girl in this series. But if you are looking for a fresh take on the harem comedy, then this ain’t it. It tried to be with the focus on these girls getting better with their studies, but the standard harem comedy tropes kick in and we get a show of two halves, one that is generic, the other is not. While it is entertaining and the humour is funny, it isn’t what I consider to be a must watch but it is the kind of show that it is best to formulate your own opinion on. While I did enjoy my time watching this show, there are aspects from the show that I didn’t like. But who knows, maybe my criticisms will be addressed in season 2 (hopefully).
My personal enjoyment: 7/10
Overall score: 6.8/10 Recommendation: Consider it
Alex796
I would say, first and foremost, that if you like Slice of Life and Romance, this is definitely something that's worthwhile watching! This anime has a surprisingly strong well-written story! Just like most harem shows, it gets a lot of uncalled for hate. What I found really special, is that in this anime, teach is explicitly up for grabs! That's right, you read it! The super cute pink-haired young sensei is very much a part of the harem. In a lot of anime series out there, if you actually go read the manga or play the visual novel (if it even has one) having a teacher routeis actually quite common. But you don't see that a lot in anime, that's for sure!
By the end of season 1, it's pretty obvious that Uruka is the girl who's going to win. Which is precisely how the manga ended. I don't mind spoiling it, as I don't believe spoiler-protection should be applied to stories that ended years ago.
You see, Uruka very obviously got the best moments written for her with Yuiga. By the ending of episode 8, it became crystal clear that she's the one. Also, she's the only girl that Yuiga clearly caught the feels for, during this season.
Although Fumino Furuhashi definitely achieved some very tall peaks with our MC, in this season. It's actually quite a shame for Fumino, in my opinion. Her, and poor Kirisu-sensei, who really deserves some love :'(
As for Ogata and Asumi - who came last and kinda late - it was obvious that their routes are pretty much dead. Ogata had that one kiss in the mountain moment, and that's the last time we saw her doing anything. To the point that if you have two brain cells to rub together you get the clue that she fulfilled her role in the harem.
Maurice_5
So, basically Go-Toubun again? Sounds good to me... We Can't Study is... well, it's hardly original, we can say that much. Those who followed Winter 2019's Go-Toubun no Hanayome will find the premise eerily familiar - although in truth neither manga is 'ripping off' the other, as they started serialisation at pretty much the same time and the authors are known to be friends. Despite the surface similarities, however, BokuBen takes itself in much more of a lighthearted direction, with the focus on comedy, character gags and unlikely conicidences rather than Go-Toubun's heavy character drama... ...which meant this was always going to have todo a lot of work to distinguish itself from any of the other gag-driven harem rom-coms out there. Did it succeed? Well, kinda sorta. The show's not doing anything new, and anyone who's ever seen... erm, anything at all before will be able to predict the story beats as they happen. You could almost tick off the story devices on a sheet of harem comedy bingo.
But, despite that, it executes on these well. The characters are familiar - but charming and with a spark of life that endears them to us. The jokes are classic - but they land with superb comic timing, leaving us laughing along rather than at the show. The romance is by-the-numbers - but hey, if it ain't broke don't fix it, right?
So just a basic harem comedy that pulls off the basics well, with nothing to stand out? No, not that either. BokuBen has one massive advantage over its competitors - and I'm not talking about the show's loyal manga fanbase.
The sound design on this show is, quite honestly, incredible. I've never seen - sorry, never heard - anything like it. Once you notice it, it's impossible not to keep on noticing and appreciating how much work has been put in. The soundtrack is part of it, with a dizzying array of background tracks all used to their fullest extent to enhance a mood or cut out to emphasise a point. The voice acting is part of it, with strong performances all round and incredible direction making the most of the VAs' talents.
But it's most noticable in the sound effects, where the attention to detail is like nothing else. When two characters fall into a pool, there's two splashes. When one character is in wooden sandals and the other is in sneakers, we hear both the clop of wood and the squeak of rubber. When someone twists their ankle, there's a crunch that makes you wince in sympathy.
I'd have followed - and liked - this show just based on the strength of its manga, and I'd have been pleasantly surprised with the adaptation based on the visuals and direction. But the sound design has raised BokuBen into my AOTS, and an unexpected delight every Saturday. I'll be keeping a lookout for sound director Motoyama Satoshi's next work - my hat off to him and his team.
Ufotable and KyoAni shows may be a feast for the eyes, but if you want a treat for the ears, give BokuBen a go.
