“Genius and X Are Two Sides of the Same Coin”
What They Say:
There are two geniuses at Ichinose Academy: Fumino Furuhashi, a liberal arts prodigy, and Rizu Ogata, a scientific whiz. Nariyuki Yuiga is a talented student who has contempt for them, especially as he’s aiming to get a “special VIP recommendation.” But then, as a condition for receiving it, Nariyuki is ordered to tutor Fumino and Rizu so that they’re accepted at their first-choice university. Nariyuki rolls up his sleeves but is dismayed to find that Fumino wants to be a science major and Rizu a liberal arts major, the exact opposite of where their talents lie. Moreover, they seem to have no aptitude whatsoever for the subjects they’re interested in. Nariyuki advises the geniuses to change their minds, but…
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Based on the manga Bokutachi wa Benkyō ga Dekinai, the We Never Learn anime adaptation comes from studio Silver and Arvo Animation under the direction of Yoshiaki Iwasaki from scripts by Go Zappa. The anime is getting a solid push through multiple outlets and I wouldn’t be surprised if a dub comes for it sooner than later. The original work began in 2017 and has eleven volumes already by Taishi Tsutsui and spawned a novel as well written by Hamu Bane. The property got attention here early on with Viz Media releasing the manga and having a couple of volumes out before the anime itself landed, which is a nice change of pace.
The show is an amusing educational based project focusing on Nariyuki, a talented student in the school who is tasked with helping three genius female students to get into their first choice schools. If he accomplishes this, he’ll get a special VIP recommendation for his own work. The problem is that because of his own talents and the personalities of the girls he has a real distaste for them, which makes it an unpleasant venture (at first) for him to get on board with. Nariyuki has what it takes to go where wants to but he suffers from coming from a poor family, which makes him dislike those that just have it so easy in his view with how they accomplish their work. You feel for Nariyuki to a good degree because he has put in the work, hasn’t been a problem, and is now assigned to help those that makes his work feel pointless to some degree.
The problem that Nariyuki is running into is that their particular talents and gifts aren’t where they want to focus on. Fumino’s all about excelling at the liberal arts side but wants to be involved in the sciences yet is horrible at math. Rizu is the opposite in that she’s the science whiz but wants to be the arts major. You can see why the school administration wants them to succeed but also why they want to just hand the whole thing off to someone else as it’s a real problem. Nariyuki kind of writes the whole thing off himself and tells them they should follow what they’re good at, but their reactions get him to really listen to what they’re saying and realize that he can help them. Their ease and disinterest in the fields they excel at frustrated him but only because he didn’t realize that it’s not a challenge and not anything that they’re actually interested in. So he becomes focused on helping them but does it in such an awkward and confusing way that he practically confesses to them – which they hate that they kind of like. Rinse and repeat going forward.
In Summary:
We Never Learn in its own way really feels like an Aniplex show, giving me Nisekoi vibes with how it operates and comes across. Nariyuki gets himself into a difficult situation with real reward and understands that there’s hard work for all involved with it compared to what he thought it would be like. That’s going to challenge himself along the way and you know there’s going to be a lot of miscommunication and awkward moments as the three work together toward the future – and as others get involved as well, I’m sure. I like the look of the show and some of its stylish choices, and I’m going to enjoy watching it later just for Furuhashi as something about her just clicks for me. But I can imagine that this is a series that’s going to find itself a nicely devoted audience that will really enjoy the tales being told. It’s one that I can enjoy in chunks as opposed to weekly so I’ll hold off on it for a bit and just be glad that it’s getting wider streaming across three services alreay.
Grade: B-
Streamed By: Crunchyroll, Funimation, Hulu