Alternative Names: Bokutachi wa Benkyou ga Dekinai
Score: 8/10, 5/5
Length: 13 Episodes
Genre: Romance, Comedy, School Life, Harem, Ecchi, Moe
Summary: Striving to overcome your natural flaws and become the person you want to be is never an easy task. Self-doubt, criticism, and societal pressures will always get in the way of those who want to be better but that doesn't mean it isn't worth doing. Following the death of his father, Yuiga Nariyuki took that lesson to heart as he threw himself into his studies in the hopes of becoming someone useful. With that dream, he has already seen great success, having earned a scholarship to a prestigious high school and now the change to have that same fortune carry on to his college years as well. The only catch is that he must now tutor two of the school's brightest stars in their worst subjects. Furuhashi Fumino, though a master of language arts, dreams of being an astronomer despite her struggles with the sciences. Ogata Rizu, while a master of the sciences, struggles to understand the intricacies of human emotions and thus wants to learn psychology. Difficult as his task might be, though, Yuiga is determined to help these kindred souls and anyone else struggling to overcome a personal weakness that's getting in the way of making their dreams a reality.
Review: Out of all the words to describe a harem anime, "wholesome" is not one that I'd ever expect to use. Raunchy would be an obvious choice. Personally, I'd be more inclined to call harem titles gross. Thanks to Nyaruko-san, I'd even expect to use "eldritch" before considering a term as categorically disparate as "wholesome" to describe a harem series. Yet, despite how oxymoronic it sounds, "wholesome" is the best way I can describe how We Never Learn functions as a series. While still relying on most of the same old character quirks and ecchi scenarios you see in most harem titles, this series manages to make its cast lovable and lewdable but also believable. Rather than just being walking, talking fetishes and character quirks, the female cast of We Never Learn feel like actual people. They all have their quirks and characteristics that speak to particular fetishes, sure, but they're all given some solid flaws and life goals that make them worth knowing and loving. Meanwhile, the male lead also displays much more humanity than his thirsty counterparts. Like the girls, he has his own flaws and quirks that make it clear that he's not your average sock puppet protagonist. More importantly, though, we learn to like him as well because he takes the time to know these girls and goes out of his way to encourage them like a real friend would. At the same time, though, he isn't necessarily one of those "good guy" protagonists either. Dense as he might be at times, it is clear that he is romantically interested in each of the girls to some degree but he also understands that he has far more pressing things to worry about than romance. So, strange as it sounds, We Never Learn manages to feel much more wholesome than other harem series because it takes the time to balance things out, giving equal attention to both its characters and the ecchi hijinx that are a staple of the genre. What might be even stranger, though, is that I can say I love this series without reservation.
Coming from a prude like me, that's some really high praise.
Now, obviously, the end goal of this series is always going to be the same as it is with any harem. We are meant to fall in love with and/or lust after the show's various female leads and just enjoy the ride from that point on as the story proceeds to put them in compromising situations, making them that much more desirable. That much hasn't and likely won't ever change--not without losing those ecchi and harem tags in the process anyway. The way the series works with that goal and blends it into the overall intrigue of the story's narrative, though, is what makes it feel like a whole different kind of harem anime. Specifically, with the narrative focusing on the struggle and importance of overcoming personal weaknesses for the sake of a dream, the cast quickly proves that they are much more than the sum of their character quirks. Instead of being just being attractive because they look good or possess a specific trait, the female leads all legitimately work to earn the male lead's attentions in much the same way a normal person would. All their outward beauty and personality quirks are little more than an initial hook that gets us interested in them. Then, as the series goes on to showcase both their outward beauty and inward charm as they struggle with their lofty dreams or, we steadily learn to like them as people. Achieving that, the series' ecchi moments are simply turned into yet more reason to like a particular character or appreciate another that didn't initially catch your interest. In other words, rather than being the be-all-end-all of this series' character engagement, all the harem aspects of the series are simply turned into yet another reason to love these already fantastic characters.
And that's more or less the crux of this series.
With all that said, though, one of the show's other amazing factors is the way it manages to give its fairly large cast fairly equal representation. Despite there being five different female leads by the end of the first season, the show manages to give each of them several moments to shine and reengage the interest of fans who only latched on to one of the girls. Yet, while a couple of girls will get a segment each episode, the series also gives Yuiga a good deal of attention as he struggles to help each of the girls individually while also dealing with some of his own problems. As I mentioned already, Yuiga is a little different from your average harem protagonist in that he's an actual character, rather than a "good guy" or a sock puppet for the audience. While his dreams aren't particularly well defined, he manages to strike a balance between being your typical clueless idiot and a shameless horndog, making him an instantly more compelling character. More to the point, though, he regularly proves himself to be a believable character with mundane problems that get in the way of his dreams and blind him to any distractions from that dream. Like most high school students, Yuiga has a lot on his mind ranging from his academics to his family life and his vague ambitions of being useful to others, functionally making him about as self-centered as any other teenager. While he's undoubtedly a good person with a high tolerance for helping people deal with their problems, he's often completely oblivious to those problems until they're spelled out for him. Yet, even when certain problems are brought to his attention, he still occasionally chooses to ignore them until he's in a better position to address them. Most notably, when asked which of the girls he might want to pursue, he simply tables that line of thought until he's finished what they set out to do: help the girls improve on their weaker subjects. In doing this, the show properly showcases how thoughtful Yuiga is as well as the harm his stoicism might cause in the long term since that decision ultimately means that he plans to ignore his feelings and their advances until its convenient.
After all, most people would take getting romantically sandbagged as a hint that they never had a chance in the first place.
So, on the whole, my love for this show begins and ends with its characters and the thought and care the show puts into their romantic hijinx. I've already said it a half-dozen times by now but I can't emphasize enough how great it is to have a romance with actual characters for once, rather than walking fetishes. It means the world to me that, while those character quirks and traits are still a part of the series, those aspects don't entirely define who the characters are or what they want. Rather, We Never Learn works because it manages to strike a happy medium between those aspects that people want and expect from the genre and the finer points of a romantic comedy grounded around the interactions and troubles of believable characters. While all the girls can certainly be lumped into a particular romantic trope and often adhere to that role throughout the series, they all are given the time and attention needed to wake those conventional roles more realistic. For example, while Takemoto Uruka is definitely fashioned after your average tomboy/childhood friend character, her concealed insecurity and frequent self-sabotage go a long way to establish where she is in life and what exactly is getting in the way of her making her feelings for Yuiga known. Along similar lines, the show also goes out of its way to peel back the masks these characters wear to hide their insecurities and weaknesses. Like how the show quickly reveals that Uruka's brashness is partly an act, the show manages to give even a supposed enemy enough time and attention to prove that they're just as flawed and confused as anyone else. That level of thought and consideration is rare in most series, even more so in this particular genre, and that alone shows just how good this series is.
Granted, I'm willing to give an A+ to any series with a convincing tsundere.
Simple but also thoughtful, lewd but also wholesome: We Never Learn is more or less my idea of a perfect harem series. Oxymoronic as it might be in concept, it was still one of my favorite shows of the past season and something I always looked forward to. Obviously, this series isn't going to be for everyone. I'm sure some people lost interest the minute I labeled this series as a harem and I don't necessarily blame them. On the other hand, I'm sure ecchi fanatics might get bored to death from all the talking and feelings that are on display in this series. For me, though, it fits a perfect and ideal niche that allowed me to enjoy a harem title like never before. So, I guess if you're a bit of a prude that's at least willing to tolerate ecchi like I am, then I wholly recommend giving We Never Learn a chance. For anyone else, I guess you're free to flee to whatever extreme of the lewd v. lewd-free spectrum suits your personal preferences.