Bokutachi wa Benkyou ga Dekinai
We Never Learn

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So far, I think this series is rather enjoyable, but I don't think it will last that long in the magazine. The plot is nothing interesting, and the story seems as though it will be yet another cliche Harem like To Love Ru or Nisekoi.

The artwork isn't much to talk about, since it really resembles a lot from the series Nisekoi. I don't know if this was intentional, since the mangaka may have been an assistant to the author of Nisekoi in the past.

Only time will truly tell how this series does in the future, since it isn't doing anything new.

For the longest time the romcom/harem genre is something that I have always enjoyed watching and reading. Every season there seemed to be a new “waifu war” airing, and based on watching those particular shows I would always check out the source material if I found it interesting enough. Bokuben was one of those seasonal waifu wars that I actually did decide to pick up reading after watching the first episode. I caught up on the manga within a couple of days of watching the first episode, and let me say that I am so glad that I was able to read this manga.

1. Story ... (9/10)
If you are looking for some groundbreaking or genre-breaking story, then I’m sorry Bokuben is not the story for you. Bokuben uses a lot of common tropes and cliches to tell its story, however if you don’t mind that or appreciate those types of stories then you may actually enjoy Bokuben. For me personally, I don’t always 100% enjoy when animes/mangas just dump cliches for plot, but for Bokuben it really was one of the most enjoyable parts about it. For example, one particular chapter that I loved was the chapter in which Nariyuki’s mother couldn’t make it to work, in which he proceeds to take her spot for the day. Little does he know that his mother was working at a lingerie shop, and that he would get stuck alone in that shop while also stuck in a costume that hides his identity. And of course every single one of the main female characters would proceed to walk in and ask for help one by one. Despite it being cliche and having these crazy one in a million types of encounters, I couldn’t help but smile and enjoy these small and simple interactions that happen throughout the course of this series. And although I have only talked about these small moments and plot elements, the moments in which the series actually turns serious and wants to establish things is done really well too.

2. Art (8/10)
The art in Bokuben is really good. The character designs, both main and side characters, are drawn really unique and all have their own charm. All of the female characters are drawn in a way that really makes them stand out from each other and the rest of the characters. The reason that the art is not rated higher is that the art for Bokuben cannot compare to the other shonen powerhouses that also publish in Weekly Shonen Jump, but at the same time, it really doesn’t need super crazy double panels to portray its story adequately. All of the artwork from the beginning to the end is solid and doesn’t waver in quality.

3. Character (10/10)
The one aspect of Bokuben that impresses me the most is the characters. Personally, in most romcom/harem series, I typically always only really like one of the girls and at most two. But in Bokuben, there was a certain point in which I really liked each of the five girls as the best girl. Something that Tsutsui-sensei did really well with this series that stands out above most other series in this genre is really give a platform for all of the characters to grow and shine. Nisekoi, for example, has a similar amount of girls as Bokuben, however as a reader you know at a pretty early point which girls that the main character was going to end up with, meaning that any development between the mc and those side characters were really just useless side plots. However, in Bokuben, all the girls are well-defined and all go through their own personal development throughout the course of the story. All of the girls work well both together as well as individually and all of their development is towards both the characters personally as well as their feelings towards the mc. I don’t want to spoil anything, but no matter which girl you pick you will be satisfied that the author does that character justice in the end.

4. Enjoyment (10/10)
When it comes to just about every romcom/harem series, I always enjoy the ride, but always the ending is the thing that overrides everything because I either get really happy or really salty based on how the author ends the series. I’m not gonna lie, in most cases I am on the salty side because the girl that I think is the best girl almost never wins, so when those particular mangas end, I always end up not liking it in the end because of the recency bias. Without saying too much, I can say that with the ending of Bokuben, I was very happy and satisfied in the way that Tsutsui-sensei decided to end this series. It was a pretty unique ending that I have never read or watched from another series in this genre and I promise no matter which character that you like, you won’t be disappointed with the ending. Everything that happens throughout Bokuben, whether it be the small cliche in-between moments, or the deeper moments of development that occur throughout the story, they all compile into a great story with tons of enjoyable moments.

5. Overall (10/10)
Honestly, Bokuben is a fantastic series that really stands out among other romcom/harems for its development and use of ALL characters rather than just a select few. The ending sequence that Tsutsui-sensei chose to do was really great and I hope that future series consider doing the same, because it would make the series a lot more enjoyable in the end for everyone. Thank you Tsutsui-sensei for the great ride and I look forward to your future works.

"We Never Learn" is not a good romance story. It is neither good, nor a romance, nor a story.

tl;dr:

Story: 0. This isn't a story, there is no story. There WAS a story but it lost its legs ages ago.

Art: 4. Same as everyone else's. Nothing special. Just like the Japanese masses like it.

Character: 4. What started off as promising devolved into tropes and cliches rather quickly.

... Enjoyment: 2. There were some funny jokes that got to me every once in a while, but "some funny jokes" can't save this trash heap.

Overall: 3. The definition of bland. So scared of being different it erases everything that made it special. What a disappointment.

There are many aspects that one comes to expect from romance stories. At least two complex characters that, by bridging the barriers that separate them, learn to accept each others' feelings and help one another become better people. A romance story is like any other story in that it comprises of a status quo, a conflict, and the most important part: a RESOLUTION.

It is this lack of such an essential piece of storytelling that prevents this cookie-cutter harem trash from being enjoyable at all. Instead, insisting on brutally twisting the legs off an otherwise interesting premise, leaving the story spitting blood as it gingerly limps itself forward, dragging its two gnarled leg-stumps on a circular path, forever going in circles until the day the Shonen Jump gods become tired of planting their seed all over what used to be a promising premise, now a bloodied, beaten, broken shadow of what could have been.

Shitsurei kamimashita. I shouldn't be rambling so much.

"We Never Learn' is yet another "harem manga with a twist" designed to go on for ages without any actual payoff. As it progresses the characters, art, and humor slowly reveal their hidden forms as cookie-cutter anime tropes and cliches, copying situations from the harem manga bucket and tweaking them to fit the premise. At this time the inventive story and characters from ch. 1 have been replaced with a typical harem plot where nothing happens, following the high-school adventures of Harem Protagonist no. 8713 and Girls no. 1, 2(my personal favorite), 3, 4, and 5 as they do literally nothing for however many chapters Master Shonen Jump wants.

This was fun, can't wait to do it again. Writing reviews I mean, not reading this trash.

Bokuben is designed to satisfy, to put it lightly, the concupiscent youth. If you are one among them, all the power to you, enjoy your time reading it. But if you like terrific character writing or unique plots, I’m afraid you will have to look elsewhere. Though Bokuben has its flashes of brilliance, its cliche plot, run-of-the-mill setting, and stereotypical characters will be tiring to read for many readers. That will be a recurring theme in this review, that Bokuben isn’t something universally enjoyable, rather enjoyment derived from it greatly varies based on one’s preferences.

It was made clear from the start that Bokuben is just ... a giant excuse for delivering fan-service with its nicely designed female characters, and the author delivered precisely what he promised. But its blind pursuit for such a goal has compromised other important aspects of a story, namely unique plot progression and characterisation. Though personally I don’t think that is a tradeoff worth taking, I’m sure some of you would love Bokuben regardless.

After reading all that, I shouldn't need to tell you that there is absolutely nothing new that Bokuben brings to the table narratively. It's the same school harem plot we have seen a million times over; with hot spring mishaps, cultural festivals and school trips alike. You the reader probably could’ve come up with those on a whim. However, though its lack of creativity is a complete bore to read for me, I am sure that the familiarity it provides would come as a delight for some of you.

The characters are slightly better, but still some do stand out like a sore thumb as extraordinarily bad. And I think to best illustrate this is to take a look at their respective endings.

Uruka had the most “meh” ending out of the five, mainly because she is such an average character. Anime viewers may recognise this ending they deemed so terrible, but since the manga had much more time to flesh it out, it ended up okay. There is some sketchy stuff that I can’t delve deeper into for spoiler reasons, let’s just say it really showed how submissive Uruka and Nariyuki are, their dynamic as platonic friends in later chapters is much better IMO. But all in all, this is quite a mediocre arc. 4/10.

Especially since its shortcomings pales in comparison to how bad the Ogata arc is. Because of Ogata’s awkward and dense character, everything in her arc ended up being a Sekijou hard carry. Ogata and Nariyuki’s lack of chemistry is on full display, and the author had to stretch real hard to make this pair work. It is not as apparent when she is standing among the many harem girls, but when she is put under a spotlight, her character clearly crumbled . Without going into the details, this ending is easily the most boring, tedious and forced one out of the five. 2/10.

Furuhashi’s ending, in stark contrast, is much more natural and satisfying. Being the comparatively shrewd and composed girl, she stands head and shoulders above the rest. Her interactions with Nariyuki is refreshingly ordinary and the progression of the arc is very organic—a big ask for Bokuben. She didn’t need any crazy shenanigans, retrofit back stories, or external forces to get Nariyuki to fall for her, a testament to her (relatively) great character. 7/10.

Likewise, Kominami’s arc also had something quite uncharacteristic of Bokuben, foreshadowing. We readers have long known how much of a detractor Kominami’s dad is on his daughter’s decision to pursue a medical degree, in this arc we got an answer. Obviously I won’t say much because spoilers, but plot-wise, this arc was definitely the best. Though the two needed some push to make it happen (it was definitely not as smooth sailing as the Furuhashi arc) but that’s due to the nature of their senpai kouhai teasing relationship. 6/10.

Frankly, after two surprisingly good endings, Kirisu’s ending pales in comparison. Don’t get me wrong, I see the extreme gap-moe is appealing. But I simply didn’t think it would work just based off of the interactions Nariyuki has had with her in the main storyline. And I was half right. Kirisu’s character development was uninspired, point taken, but Nariyuki’s character bending over backwards for this arc was actually a good thing, as he became much more of a personality than before, but it’s a nightmare to anyone who likes consistency. 5/10.

As a whole, the endings have quite a bit better writing and thought put into it compared to the main plot, that’s because the main plot had no intentions in furthering the story in any meaningful way. Rather, there is nothing but fillers in and banter dreadful to read. And personally I don’t think it is not worth a day of your time to binge through the first 140ish chapters just to see development on characters you won’t care about. If I were to give a score to the main storyline like what I did with the endings, it would probably be a 3/10.

I guess the art (and furuhashi, but I digress) is the saving grace of this manga. Unlike many other manga, the art is already great from the start. The girls look great and are refined without big changes in looks as the years went on. Nariyuki though looked way softer when compared to Bokuben’s first chapters, but regardless that is just nitpicking and does not influence the experience much. All things considered, the art is nothing incredible, but nonetheless serves its purpose very well.

Read Bokuben only if you desperately need some harem or fanservice in your life, otherwise just don’t bother. But credit to where credit is due, I feel the five-way ending really captured what Bokuben is all about. It had achieved its goal immaculately. It is not to tell an earth-shattering story, but to condense the most titillation into the least material possible. It’s unfortunate that my personal preferences, and I believe many of you guys’ tastes just don’t match with that goal well.

I find a lot of enjoyment in romcom manga. It's very fun seeing all of these characters get into wacky situations, as they slowly discover the feelings that they have towards the main character. And Bokutachi wa Benkyou ga Dekinai is no different. It's an incredibly fun manga, filled with fun and enjoyment.

When I first saw the story of Bokutachi wa Benkyou ga Dekinai, I thought that it would be a typical harem romcom manga, with the usual tropes and clichés. And ultimately, this manga was exactly that. It was a typical harem romcom manga, with the usual tropes and clichés. Furthermore, the story progresses ... quite slowly, with minimal romantic development happening throughout the manga. However, despite this criticism, the story is surprisingly fun. There's something special in seeing all of these girls not only learn about the subjects that they're studying, but also learn about romance, and the feelings they hold towards the main character, Nariyuki. In addition, a lot of my enjoyment came from seeing these characters get into crazy situations. The story never tries to diverge into something completely different, and mainly sticks to showing funny events to the reader, although this does hinder the potential for romantic development. In other words, in terms of romantic development and originality, perhaps the story isn't all that great. However, in terms of fun and enjoyment, the story is very good.

To put it simply, the art is good. The character designs are decent, their facial expressions are great, the backgrounds are neat, and overall, the art complements the story and characters quite nicely.

Just like the story, the characters can initially seem like typical harem characters, with each character seemingly being quite clichéd. However, as you learn more and more about these characters, you see that each of them feel very unique, with everyone having their own personality and personal character traits, which is generally something that is found to be lacking in harem manga. Each character has their own charm, and they are all very likeable. In addition, when you bring all of them together, they accompany each other perfectly. The interactions between each of them were hilarious, and it was really fun seeing them get into these unusual situations. Furthermore, a part that I really liked about this manga is that none of the female characters felt like the "main girl". Each of them had a fair amount of pages and arcs to themselves, and it really increased my enjoyment, as I really wanted to know which girl Nariyuki would choose in the end. It also allowed all the characters to be fleshed out equally, without one being brought more focus than the others. Overall, the characters were really good, and their personal charms brought together resulted in my enhanced enjoyment.

Also, the romantic events between the female characters and Nariyuki were really adorable.

Overall, I really enjoyed this manga. I had a fun time seeing all of these characters interactions and the crazy situations they got themselves in. Despite the various clichés and tropes that were used throughout the manga, the utilisation of these was not detrimental enough to prevent me from enjoying this manga.

In conclusion, Bokutachi wa Benkyou ga Dekinai is a really good harem romcom manga. It sticks to its conventions, and presents a fun and entertaining story featuring a group of likeable characters. Whilst following the character's path in learning about romance, you'll find yourself having a really enjoyable time reading this manga filled with fun and laughter.


Also, I really wanted to give my thoughts regarding the ending, but I aim to keep my reviews spoiler-free. Let's just say that I initially had mixed feelings about it, but in the end, I absolutely loved it, and thought it was an amazing way to wrap up this manga.

Bokutachi wa Benkyou ga Dekinai is an enjoyable manga despite being very cliche in the world of romcom. There's an unwritten balance within the characters that shines in a fun way and that is unique.

For the start, to be honest, i feel the story is poorly written, without almost any significant progress starting from chapter 5-7 onwards. Add to that, harem and ecchi (yes, this manga has ecchi genre actually, rather a light one) are two genres that im not a fan of. Then how can i enjoy this manga?

The answer to that question is the characterization. In my opinion, characterization is the strongest point ... that this manga has.
Speaking about characterization, those characters themselves are usual and some will find them cliche (tsundere, airhead, sports girl etc), but there's a balance within them. In this manga, we can't really say who will the male MC end up with. Even the popularity pool that took place before ch 61 was surprising. If the mangaka wrote this phenomenon as "the hardest race between heroines", then yeah, that describes the balance that i speak really well.

This manga consistently keeping each of its heroine in their own track, then developing it in a somehow relatable manner. One just being a friend to the MC, one fell in love with the MC without realizing it, one also fell in love but she aware of it, etc - all of them have their own track, and from this track the story make its progress. I guess this is the source of that balance. Then adds some light comedies and this manga become interesting piece of art.

I watched the anime before getting into the manga. The anime was good, and the Anime original ending was ok, but then I read the manga.

I loved this manga from start to finish! All routes were great. Well. Thumbelina Super computer route was weird but it was alright. Great, Great, Great read!

Nariyuki was a standard romcom protag, but the girls really did well to make the series shine. The childhood bestfriend, the smart shortstack, the reserved rich girl, the upper classman and the teacher. Can't get a better set of tropes to make the series what it was!

Can't wait for another story by ... the author.

I am not the type of person who writes reviews like this but I could not help to make one to give justice to this manga. This is not like Love Hina or any other harem manga out there. The author takes into careful consideration the characters' development. Despite some people seeing some flaws of this manga, probably due to mediocrity, I truly appreciate that the manga made wonderful endings that truly give justice to each main girls. Yes. There are multiple routes and this what made this outshine other harem manga for that matter. It could be seem dull at first, but eventually it ... would become enjoyable and would not deny I had my share of laughs and giggles while reading it.

I would highly recommend this manga for those who are looking for a very good harem manga with magnificent endings.

Hello everyone,this is going to be my very first review,and I'm happy that Bokuben will be my start.
Ok first my analytical review:

Firstly is the story:I'd give the story a 9/10,even though some people or fans might say that bokuben had a plot that was oddly similar to most school harem mangas and animes.But in my viewpoint,it wasn't as cliched as how you'd expect it to be.There were parts where I just couldn't predict what Yuiga would do,or say at a specific scenario.I don' t want to make my review too long so long story short I think that choosing to make arcs for each ... route was the best option.

8/10 for the art style,I didn't find anything different or unique that separates them from other mangas.But on each end route of each arc,the vivid and sparkle of the heroines blows them off to a good direction.

9/10 for every character on the series,especially for Yuiga.He's a character that I can proudly say that he is one of my favorites of all the mc's I've encountered so far.The heroines of bokuben,I don't have time to explain them one by one so I'll just mention my favorite,which was Fumino.She had the perfect senses to become one of the best and lovable heroines.She had to be the purest character that I have ever met before.She even sacrificed her own love,just to support her friends' love instead,and I found that very admirable but also at the same time felt really unbearable.

10/10 for the time and joy this manga gave me.I've read this at a fast pace,but at the end I made sure to take it slow and read each route,at different times.

So overall I'm dignified to say that overall I could say that this manga was great!And I would definetely recommend this to everyone who is interested to read.
Thanks for taking the time to read my first review.

I love romcoms, which is a nice way of saying: "I really love ecchi harems". Now, I don't need the ecchi, but I do like good ecchi. And I could go on and on about what, in my opinion, makes a good ecchi; and I will later.
90s and 00s ecchi harems are a big part of the reason why I am a manga reader. A lot of my first reads were part of that genre, Love Hina was one of my very first manga and since then I tried to consume the most I could of it. That's why I came across Nisekoi and I ... loved it, so I'm going to talk a little bit about it.
"Oh, but this is a We Never Learn review!" I hear you say, look don't downvote this, I swear I will talk about We Never Learn soon, I promise I'll write more than enough about it. Okay?
Okay, Nisekoi. I loved it, the characters, the comedy, the way that Naoshi Komi does visual comedy is just perfect. And Raku and Onodera, man, it hits me in the heart. And sure, the pacing is the most outrageous thing to ever exist, so I understand if you don't like Nisekoi, but rest does save it for me. Now if you do like Nisekoi there is another manga from mangaka Taishi Tsutsui that I recommend reading, it's... No, it's not We Never Learn. Look, we'll get into that soon, but first! Magical Patissier Kosaki-chan! A Nisekoi spin-off about Onodera being a Mahou Shoujo. It's a good read, but curiously, Nisekoi doesn't have any ecchi in it, but Tsutsui looked at it and said "No, we need boobs", so we get to see everyone naked in Kosaki-Chan. That's not why I'm rec'ing it, I just think it's pretty funny, but if you read Nisekoi and wanted nudity... well, there IS a solution. However, it's funny that Tsutsui wanted to write Nisekoi with ecchi, because as soon as he got a serialization in Jump, that's very much what he wrote. Yes, I'm talking about...
WE NEVER LEARN.
So let's get on it.


Some of you may argue that Quintessential Quintuplets is a more apt comparison, since We Never Learn tells us the story of Nariyuki, a very poor boy who is given a chance to enter a big university, all he needs is to tutor two beautiful girls, with others joining later on. And yes, it's very similar in plot to Quintuplets, who was released just a couple months after We Never Learn started, but both are handled completely differently.
We Never Learn is more of an episodic manga, with each chapter having Nariyuki with one, or more, of the girls in funny situations or misunderstanding, with a lot of visual/reactionary comedy, very similar to Nisekoi. Of course, a lot of that comedy comes from ecchi situations this time around, except it's more the girls that end realizing just how riské the situation is, and it's our main character that ends up being oblivious to a lot of what's happening. This helps give We Never Learn a more wholesome and innocent feel than most ecchi manga. Which, yeah, is exactly the ecchi I like.
Rather than just have girls be naked due to situations just because you want to show them naked, We Never Learn's ecchi is made for the comedic effect and more often than not, ends up advancing the plot of that particular chapter. Although it does have ecchi in pretty much every chapter, I also would argue that it never exaggerates, contrary to... Magical Patissier Kosaki-chan! And I guess that makes sense, as this is a full on Weekly Shounen Jump series.. but then Ayakashi Triangle also exists.

The strongest point of the manga, however, is the characters. As tends to be the case in both manga that I like, and good romcoms. Ecchi harems generally work only if they have a good cast of female characters, and while WNL does include the ever annoying little sister who wants to marry his brother, she is just a minor part of the cast, and the real female leads are great. At first we have only Fumino and Ogata, who perfectly balances each other in terms of personality, strong points and breast size, Fumino being the best student in liberal arts, but horrible at math, and Ogata, which is a genius at math and horrible at liberal arts, which wouldn't be a problem if both didn't want to follow courses in their respective weaknesses. That's the gist of the first couple chapters, but soon Nariyuki's childhood friend, Uruka, appears, which is a sports freak, but needs better grades all around, and finally Asumi, a part-timer worker who is in the same cram school class as Nariyuki. Finally, the last main female character doesn't really study, in fact Kirisu is the teacher. Each chapter generally follows Nariyuki and of these five as we learn more about them through funny shenanigans. Each of them has their own personalities which fits greatly with their goals and respective strong and weak points, and their character designs.
I do think that the artstyle of the characters in general is good from chapter 1, but to me it does only get better and better, because it slowly morphs into a rounder, cuter, nicer version of the original designs, so much so that I kinda don't like looking at early WNL now. The biggest difference is probably seen in Nariyuki. I do think the later artstyle fit the manga style more, as it does help with that innocence feel that I mentioned earlier. Also the mangaka took notes from Nisekoi's Naoshi Komi, because the visual comedy and the character reaction are fantastic. I especially love Rizu's Grump face.


But while harem manga may give you the feeling that it's all about the girls, a good main character can do wonders for the manga, and that's where Nariyuki comes in. At first glance Nariyuki may not look that different from the normal main harem characters, and I'd even argue that he is NOT that different, but he's one of the more well executed.
Nariyuki is tasked to help these characters and that's what he does. Pretty much everything he does he does it for the female characters, constantly helping them in daily activities and in fighting for their dreams, and it feels genuine. One of the hardest things in harems is to make a believable reason for every single female character to like a guy who, generally speaking, tends to be a massive loser. It helps a lot that Nariyuki isn't a loser, and his obliviousness, to a point, for anything perverted helps as well. I have no problems in understanding how every single one of the girls ended up liking him or admiring him. Because I did too. By virtue of being the main character he has the slowest character development of the cast, but he still has it in the end, which makes me have no problem in declaring him one of the best main characters in the genre.

However, probably the biggest problem in the manga is the early middle part. The manga very rarely develops past the slice-of-life comedy situations with ecchi flavour. I wouldn't say that this manga has pacing problems, I think the story evolves at a nice pace, but it can get tiresome for some, specially for people who have a low tolerance for ecchiness. But if you manage to keep up till the second half I would say that you'd be rewarded. Not to say that the manga evolves and changes much, it very much stays true to its genre, but it does start to explore more the goals of the main cast, and that's when this manga turned from "fun ecchi harem" to "one of the best in the genre". By this point we are already familiar with what each female character wants, but we start to explore more about why they want it and how far they are willing to go for it.
It helps a lot at developing the female characters and making them even better. Because they are not just generic personalities like yandere, tsundere, and they are not just there to be ecchi victims and have the audience declare who is the better "waifu". No, they are deep and have reasons and goals and more things to them than just romance and sex appeal. I think that is a good example of a shounen manga handling female characters right, and from an ecchi manga nonetheless. And it doesn't take much, all it does is give them something they are working for for themselves and not just for the boy.
The core message of the manga is to study, if you couldn't tell from the title. To work hard for our dreams, and sure, the message is present in a lot of battle shounens, but personally I relate more to a girl who's struggling with math, but really needs it for the degree she wants, than a pirate using his rubber powers to punch marines in order to reach an hidden island. And I tell you "needing to study for your goals" is a good lesson to have. It's not too different from what your parents and teachers may tell you, the difference is that We Never Learn never feels preachy about it. It just has people doing their best and it makes us want to do it too.

Finally I wanted to talk a little bit about the ending, I will try to not spoil anything major, but if you rather go in blind, then you can skip this part.


I have one problem with the ending, and it's the fact that it has multiple ones. The truth is that over the course of the manga, while the romance between the girls to Nariyuki was well developed, the feelings of Nariyuki for the girls kinda wasn't. You reach the final part without really any idea of who the final girl may be, or if there will be one.
Of course, then the mangaka pulls multiple routes and has Nariyuki end up with all of them, each on their own little arc.
The first route isn't too bad, it connects with the main story perfectly. And I'd say that actually, for most of the routes, it did a good job at developing Nariyuki's romance between the characters in 9 chapters. The third route does it better because I think it was the one with more roots on the main story, and the fourth route is my overall favourite as I think tells the better story. The second one... is bad. It really doesn't develop the romance at all and just spends 9 chapters following what feels like a side story.

But what I enjoy the most out of the routes is their variety. It would be easier to just pull an Endless 8 style arc and just have every route being slight variations of the others, but each route takes place in a different time, different location, developing different characters and different things that had been left unsolved in the main story. It makes each story feel interesting even if it's not your favourite girl's route. The final chapter actually does a good job at connecting everything, which I wouldn't think possible, but it's great to be proven wrong. Yet, it still feels a bit of a cop-out, while I don't hate the ending as is, I'd very much appreciate a real decision from Tsutsui's part.


But alas, We Never Learn has a few moments in it's run that could use some perfecting, but I do think it's overall pretty great. It's called very often a Nisekoi spiritual successor and the influence is very visible, but I do think Tsutsui took notes of some of Nisekoi's flaws and didn't make the same mistakes.
The result is a great romcom, and a great harem ecchi. I think it's one that can be enjoyed by people who aren't fans of the genre, and specially if someone wants to read an harem with good female characters there is nothing wrong in going with We Never Learn.

So to start it of. This manga was like a movie. This is how it felt to me as it seemed to be too short when i finished it. I enjoyed this one from end to finish. In short for me it was a complete 9 , in every aspect. Talking about art style it was great. I saw the characters and the environment and i loved them all. Speaking about the characters, they were diverse. Not one of them was bad, but it was clear which was the best in my opinion. It was easy to place them in a list from 1 ... to...Well about how many find out by yourself. I found this almost in some moments making me want to cry, especially when my favorite was...and she saw... you will see what i'm talking about if you read it:))
The mc was how others are usually in this kind of stories, but here it worked well. Great chemistry between the characters, good romance, nice ecchi moments, and overall a solid light hearted action packed story. I loved how they all evolved, and reading the finale, it was clear as to how clever the author was by doing it in this way. Reading this will not give you a sense of dread, or headache, just sweet moments, some moments will make you feel somewhat depressed, but it's not at the level of other stories of this kind. I loved that i could learn something about how to interact with people, what being in love really means, and that leaving your life means making choices, that can result in great rewards or awful situations, but in the finale, that is the life you have built for yourself, by yourself, together with others. Don't try to force yourself to love or befriend someone just because the world seems to work that way. Live your life as you think is right and you will for sure make connections with others. Yes it may be harder for others, as we all are different, but that's why there are so many people on this earth. The world is a big place when you are alone, but a cramped space when you are with others. It's all about what you feel with your heart, not what your brain tells you. So life your own life, don't try to copy others, and by the end, you will have your summary which be reading it again, moments and feelings will once more reveal you the joy you felt to be alive.
The brain is just a storage space, the heart is the one who process it all.
And this is what this manga brought upon me reading it. It's a fine paved road if you want to walk it so don't hesitate. Now for the moment with this i finish this and i hope others will enjoy it as much as i did. Thanks for reading it, and goodbye for now. Be safe out there and farewell.

This is a very interesting manga. Eventually it could get an anime, but not for awhile. I haven't read one quite like this before. The characters are likable and very relatable.

The concept of having two genius characters aim for their weakest subject for careers is brilliant. The only downside is that it lacks in action, however that can be covered up with intense sense; like how death note did with it's exposition.

I enjoy reading this manga a lot and im happy that Jump deiced to run this manga. Especially since Nisekoi ended awhile ago, they were lacking in the slice of life, school ... department.

if you haven't read it yet i highly recommend it. (the lols are pretty funny too)

School + Harem = Cliche over dramatic Slice of life garbage that should be burned, is what I should say to this manga. But for some reason I find it enjoyable despite the fact it is a harem manga. The reason for this is the some-what related to the plot. I myself is striving for a scholarship in a university so maybe that is the reason I was enjoying this manga, Though the cliche romance and sometimes cringe worthy since can turn you off I can say this manga would be decent if the author can actually portray and emphasize the life of the characters ... and how they struggle to enter the university they prefer since it is the main plot of the show and minimize the fan service and cliche romance and this manga would be a good manga.

It's been a year and a half since I started reading BokuBen manga weekly. Every week, getting a quick chapter, which usually doesn't add much to the story but some random comedy and fluff, with occasional serious arcs.
And today, with the release of the 187th chapter, the manga is now complete.

Looking back, I feel like BokuBen lacked quite a bit throughout the manga. Some girls getting more development than others, some naturally having better chemistry with the main character than others, but overall how much it was lacking in actual progress.

But even with that, it has caught a special place in my heart. It doesn't ... do anything too groundbreaking, and the Harem romcom genre has pretty much shown us all we have to see in the genre, yet - BokuBen was able to play it off all nicely.

Misunderstandings were almost always played for the jokes and rarely (if ever?) was used as a long-term drama driver.

The girls are cute and quirky, although are pretty much falling into previously known archetypes (Tsundere, Genki childhood friend, Ice Queen, etc.).

The main character, Nariyuki, suffers a lot from the usual antics of being a main character of a Harem. But luckily he does develop over the series, even when he's on the back burner. And he also becomes more confident and bold over the series, which I liked.

Finally, the ending of the manga (which I will not spoil) was satisfactory. Which is pretty rare for Harem manga, but 22i handled it very nicely. I applaud the man.

All in all, it's a 8/10 from me. I can recommend it if you're looking for a chill Harem romcom, although there isn't too much to see if you're digging deeper.

I am a generally easy person to please. I started this series with almost no expectations and generally like most rom-com high school stories. But when I continued to read this manga after keeping up with the anime that is currently airing, I couldn't stop myself from finishing all the released chapters. Yes, it is an overplayed stereotypical high school rom-com, but there is something about the story and characters that hit home for me. In the later arcs, you really get a chance to learn about everyone ( ill try not to spoil) and seeing how everyone grows gives the series a different enjoyment ... level as a reader. It is a character-driven story and it does a good job of developing these relationships, whether it is romantic, friendly, etc. This is my first review and I do not know how to address what I feel about the series in words but just know if you do end up giving it a read you're in for a pleasant surprise because for me it was a fresh take on the genre. if your reading this far lol feel free to comment or something I'm always to discuss ships and stuff :) part of the fun of reading rom-com's imo ty


UPDATE: I was pleasantly surprised with this series good series overall and fully worth the read if you are into rom-com manga 10/10 experience if you ask me.

I was so ready, so, so ready, to give this a 3/10, say it was just another High School Harem Ecchi Manga that had 95% of its humor and plot be through simple misunderstandings and could not go a single chapter without somebody being in their underwear or found in what looked like a compromising position.

But the simple fact is, it's a lot more than that. A lot more.

The drawings are expressive, the humor pops out of the pages and works every time, the stories and arcs each and every character go through are wonderful and at times heartbreaking, and main plot serves as a ... perfect catalyst for every situation the manga wants to show off and as a great representation for each of the main character's feelings.

It's hilarious, inspiring, ridiculous, and yet realistic. The main character is as dense as any harem manga protagonist (so, you know, supermassive black hole levels), but always does his best, every day, to improve the lives of those around him. Sometimes, well, actually quite often, he doesn't succeed. I really like that. He has a lot of the qualities of a Gary Stu, but also many flaws and personal issues he has to work through. A number of small arcs are focused on him having to surpass some emotional roadblock, and each time it's done very well.

The three main girls of the harem are actually maybe the best characters I've ever seen in a manga of this type. Their personalities are eccentric, yet relatable, their goals are strange, but interesting, and their personal lives are unique, and still believable. What I like most about them is their friendship with one another; a harem manga this may be, but if they ever have to pick between their friends and a relationship with the protagonist, it's always, always their friends. They're all different people, but they're all genuinely good people. They support and love each other, and will be more than willing to sit down and talk through any sort of emotional problem, or even publicly embarrass themselves for the sake of their friends. They make every chapter come alive, and each one's unique relationship with the protagonist feeds perfectly into the meat and the flow of the story.

The other two harem members are separated from the others through story means. Whenever a chapter focuses on one of them, it's almost always JUST them, or them and the protagonist. They themselves are just as unique and wonderfully strange as anybody else, but each hold their own understanding of the world and love. Their personalities are always on display, and are never boring.

Maybe one of the best ways to describe why these girls are so different from many other harem manga would be through Kominami, one of the members that is somewhat separated from the rest. Kominami is introduced to both the protagonist and us dozens of chapters after the beginning, and immediately sets up a unique relationship with the main character, setting a precedent that he's lower on the food chain than she is (which she proves by easily working her way through schooling problems the main character had extreme trouble with) and, while not denouncing his existence as a worm or anything like that, showcases a difference in their ranking in life. This is shortly afterwards challenged when he learns that she works in a maid cafe in order to raise money to get through college. But, instead of flaunting it over her, or her becoming deeply embarrassed or owing him in any regard, she instead decides to reveal to him her other main weakness: that she's failing at science, but wants to become a doctor. Being good at science, he helps her out for a number of hours. The arc ends not with the shoe on the other foot, or with her joining the rest of his harem as just another pretty face, but with the two gaining a mutual respect for each other and their own problems in life.

Over the course of dozens of further chapters and many further small arcs, the two become good friends, find themselves in a number of ridiculous situations, will hang out together to study or to just take some breathing room from the rest of their lives, and accidentally convince Kominami's dad that they're engaged. Throughout all of this, they grow closer and gain further understanding and respect for each other. They even confide their fears and secrets to the other, and often trade friendly jabs (with Kominami always getting the upper hand in such arguments). Throughout NONE of this is any real romantic implication shown. For the first hundred chapters of the manga, the two simply grow closer as friends, and showcase a unique and happy relationship that neither really has with anyone else. Until a much later chapter, where the main character finds out more about Kominami's family, the reason behind her dreams, and what being a doctor actually means for her. It's a surprisingly emotional arc that ends with her crying in his arms...and she realizes that somehow, somewhere along the line, she fell in love with him.

And yet, somehow, Kominami is still my least favorite of the five. Because she's amazing. But the rest are even more so.

What's also fantastic is that each and every main character has incredible chemistry with every other main character. We can spend an entire chapter with just a single character, and we leave totally satisfied. We can spend an entire chapter with just a single character and the main one, going through a humorous situation or going through a touching moment, and we leave totally satisfied. We can spend an entire chapter with just a single character and any other main character just hanging out as friends, and we leave totally satisfied. Some of my favorite chapters didn't involve the main character at all, or only involved him to a minor extent. Everyone has specific ways they interact with every other specific main character, and each and every one of these routes is explored and grows over the course of the manga. This gives you so much time in only 130 chapters to grow to know and love everyone involved, no matter where they are or what they're doing.

Also, this manga has an extremely unique and extremely welcome characteristic: multiple endings. Like a visual novel, after Chapter 130, you can choose which path to take for the character you most want to end up with the main character, following it down to one of five endings. We've gone through two so far, and I was shocked at how well-written and perfectly handled both were. Both are extremely true to every character involved, and are quick to show you the only real difference in each timeline is that the main character and that specific girl love each other just a little bit more than they did originally, and how that changes everything. The arcs are solid, the plotline excellent, the humor great, and the confessions amazing in both endings. I was rooting for someone else entirely, and yet I did actually come to tears out of happiness at the endings for the two characters so far.

We're in the middle of the third route now (my personal champion, Fumino) and I can't wait to see how it ends. It, and the rest of the routes to come.

How did this happen?

I don't know.

But I'll never regret reading this.

There's something about Author and Artist Taishi Tsutsui that just naturally draws me to his manga. I have kinda dropped off of reading Manga for a while but the Art style and the Premise just got to me. This is the Third manga of his that i red: I finished Fukashigi Philia, and still i'm still getting through Esprit.
Right off the bat the manga kinda gets a hold of you with the plot were as 2 girls that are considered geniuses in 2 specific classes want to actually Major in there worst classes, and when i say ... worst i mean comically bad test scores.
The art is fantastic the girls are very well designed and with only slight drops in quality when it comes to outside character for obvious reasons.
Now the biggest drawback is the development of the Characters, mainly the original 3 girls and the MC. But up until around Chapter 30 or so I probably would of scored this a 8 or 9 but the story is progressing for girl I don't exactly care for but....what are ya gonna do i have tastes.
I'm still Enjoying the manga thoroughly despite my griping. Im still holding out hope for my specific Coupling here.
I'm hoping the manga doesn't go to long on me cause if i get my wish this will have a place as one of the few series i actually buy to keep.

149 chapters, 14 volumes and I dropped it. I'm just letting you know that this is NOT an unbiased review.

Positives first: it's very rare for a comedy harem series to have all of its cast be equally "best girl" material but Bokuben (this series) has that. Every single girl has not only a trait (sporty, brainiac-like, teaser-master etc) but has an overarching arc and good chemestry with the main character. Aside from fandom banter you can't say that any girl is worst girl.

Also, the soft lines help a lot to impart characters feelings and blend well with the many many funny faces these people make. ... It's actually amazing how most of the comedy in this manga flows so well, visually speaking. It relies on tropes but not in excess - yes we have the classic lingerie-oriented, wardrobe malfunctions and misunderstandings from bystanders but it works. In my opinion, it works because we are connected with these characters thru its blend of nice and fluffy comedy and please-cry-now drama.


WITH ALL OF THAT BEING SAID, SPOILERS FOR THE "WHO GETS THE BOY" BIG QUESTION BELOW.


I'm a osanajimi type of person and kinda dislike that outside of porn we don't get a lot of good endings for them. I like the idea that a love can grow from simple and familiar settings and be shown in small but meaninful gestures and, for the most part, childhood friend characters go well with this kind of history (hello Tamako Market).
It pains me but I was team Furuhashi on this one and I lost. Rather, I did not win~

You see, the main story ends with Yuiga (our MC and best boy) getting together with his childhood friend. Despite the fact that she gets in a plane to travel abroad to perfect her talents and leaves him there (which was a good decision fight me). So, he rejects all the others to... not be with any of them. Huh.
Bold decision by the mangaka, I'll concede that.
Bold decision that gets smashed by the decision of "now I'll make alternative endings for each of the girls!". This is NOT a light novel. Those characters got arcs, beginning and end. They grew, they learned, they loved and got rejected, one by one. You don't get to do a VN pro move, mangaka.
Ok, you get to do it since you ARE doing it but it doesn't fit on me, sorry.

I won't make it a Furuhashi defense piece here, tho. I'll just say that not owning their decision makes the ending a tad weak, imo.

It's NOT a BAD story, at all.

But I do feel betrayed, somehow.

I have an unreasonable love of Bokutachi wa Benkyou ga Dekinai.

While I find the art beautiful and characters relatable and compelling, I acknowledge that the harem-like setup and virtually every situation the characters find themselves in (beach, festival, onsen, etc) are well worn tropes, I assert that true originality isn't the most important aspect of a romance story. Instead, we want to root for our characters to understand each other, form meaningful relationships, find their ideal fit, and ultimately understand themselves.

For me the key elements are likable characters, realistic-ish situations, cute interactions and banter, plot development at a reasonable velocity and a satisfying conclusion, ... all while avoiding overly cringey dialogue, poor character choices and excessively artificial plot devices to force action.

I'm not saying that Bokutachi lacks originality, as the setup has interesting twists and each character has their own motivations and quirks. The main character's drive to overcome his own challenges provides balance to his personality and forms the core message of the story, motivating others around him and justifying the attraction the girls have for him. Like all good stories, the rewards are mostly earned after overcoming difficulty and struggle, not merely gifted to an undeserving overpowered but dense protagonist with unnatural charm.

Well OK, this story is set up as a harem and there is no way any nerdy, studious guy could actually attract so many intelligent and beautiful girls as in this story. However, as I admitted at the start, this isn't a groundbreaking experimental work of art so enjoying the dynamics of the girls competing for acknowledgement while revealing their personalities as well as the tension of young adults discovering what they want and their true feelings is what makes a story like this fun and interesting.

For me Bokutachi puts all the elements together in an almost perfect way that is rarely found elsewhere. So much of what we like is influenced by our personal situation, other similar stories we use as comparison and how far along a series is when we start. I'm writing this at the Ch.52 mark and look forward to each additional chapter, expectantly and more than a little impatiently.

11/10 Couldn't be happier for the route 5/5. If you a fan of the sensei and the MC you should be pleased that the author included them. Tears of joy to my eyes. THANK YOU. At first it all seemed slow, and I thought it was the end of the manga until the author included the different endings, and because of that it deserves every credit it deserves, it pleases everyone for different fans. Although it was quite short for the 5/5 route, I wish it was longer, but at least with this ending, I can sleep in peace at night, knowing it ended this ... way.