We can't study!

So, this series seems to basically take the romantic comedy niche left by Nisekoi. After five chapters it's hard to say how it will fare in the long run, but there are some elements that I already like and which give me some hopes for the series future.

Firstly I find the main character to be really likable and easy to root for. He comes from a really poor family and has to work really hard because he's not actually very talented, but he keeps a positive attitude and tries to make the best of every situation. He doesn't resent his charges for being geniuses and does his best to help them . I really want to see him succeed because he's just such a good guy who deserves a break.

Also, I have no idea which girl is going to win. Both of them got introduced at the same time, get the same amount of attention and development, and it's generally impossible to tell which one is supposed to be the real love interest and who's a false lead Compare that to Nisekoi (and really almost any romcom) where right from the start it was obvious that Chitoge is going to win and the others were just there to pad out the cast. It's actually kind of interesting not knowing who's in the lead, and it makes all the interactions seem more meaningful.

So yeah, what are your thoughts on this?

First off: I prefer the title We Never Learn as it encapsulates both the academic incompetence and stubborness both female leads display.

Things I like about the series: The main character, Yuiga, is a very likable MC, who is several notches above the typical harem lead trait of basic human decency. He's actually my favorite character so far. I am rooting for him. The girls are cute (big fan of Ogata). The art is clean and pretty.

The bad: a bunch of niggles in the writing. The author falls into the problem of having genius characters whose genius he cannot satisfactorily portray. Pacing is way too fast, what with the immediate, unsubtle reveal of both our heroines' motivations crammed into a single chapter, not to mention the introduction of a third haremette when the first two have yet to be properly fleshed out. Heavy-handed writing of children in one chapter. The list goes on.

edited 12th Mar '17 7:26:54 PM by fillerdude

Yeah, I too have my reservations about those. The pacing is way too fast and could benefit from slowing down. The third girl is especially not needed at this point.

I sort of disagree. it looks very much that we just got the setup out of the way in the first couple of chapters and the series can now settle down to harem antics.

Nisekoi had a similar approach to the first twenty chapters. I remember wondering if they intended to finish it within a year.

I might check out it's supposed successor, either to see if it's actually better, or if I have something else to be annoyed at.

edited 13th Mar '17 12:59:31 PM by Kayeka

Which is my issue with it; it felt like the author just wanted to get the setup out of the way. Granted, this is vanilla harem rom com so his approach still works, but it feels very phoned in to me.

edited 13th Mar '17 7:07:22 PM by fillerdude

I've been reading this series as well, and I'm in a somewhat love/hate relationship with it. I like the MC. He's relatable and definitely a notch above the typical romcom MC, and his circumstances are somewhat similar to my own. However, I'm still on the fence with the first two females. On the one hand, they do have some endearing traits. On the other, their absolutely inane insistence on trying to get into university based on the subject they are absolutely terrible at rather than on the subject they are completely gifted in just infuriates me. Yeah, if some kid wants to work at NASA and be a rocket scientist, I'm not about to crush their hopes and dreams. But if that kid can't even do their basic multiplication tables, I'm not about to go and encourage them, either. I think largely it's because, they're already unfairly gifted in some subject matter, yet they just squander it.

I really don't like the chairman either, since he's basically blackmailing the MC into performing a nigh-on Sisyphian task, rather than just granting him the scholarship based on his merit. And that these girls somehow managed to get as far in school as they did. Doesn't matter if you get straight As in one subject; if you're absolutely failing another subject, you shouldn't be graduating, much less going to college.

The writer runs into the same problem that writers of other Genius stories such as Super-human High School Students in Another World run into. Mainly that since they themselves are not geniuses in the topics at hand, their supposedly "genius" characters come off as somewhat ordinary, and the people proclaiming them to be geniuses somewhat dumb. Write What You Know very much in play here, and Shown Their Work conspicuously absent.

edited 15th Mar '17 9:18:16 AM by danime91

Yeah, this is a bit irritating to me too. I mean yeah, people should be able to try and forge their own paths in life, but watching them throw away their absolutely amazing talents so they can stubbornly try at things they are obviously terrible at is really such a waste. At some point and admirable determination turns into just being plain obstinate.

This is especially irritating because I think their reasons are kinda weak. I mean, loving stars and looking for you "mother's star" is all well and good but it's a far way from that to being an astronomer.

Ogata reason is even worse, like way worse. She wants to become psychologist to understand people emotions so she can win at analog games. Putting aside her skewed priorities for a moment, I just have to call bullshit on the whole premise. See, I'm pretty big fan of analog games myself and I can tell you that for most of them, being good at math is way more important that any kind of social skills. They even choose 6 nimmt! of all things, a game that is 90% luck of the draw ,10% being good with numbers... and 0% being able to read your opponent emotions. It was hilarious really how much they missed their mark with this one.

Oh yeah, the chairman is an total ass, and in any place remotely connected to reality would have an superintendent on his ass for this, but unfortunately this is a manga, so an authority figure that is merely unreasonable or incompetent - as opposed to an outright evil villain - will most likely not face any repercussions for his actions.

I though that you just made up the title to mock the general trend of overpowered high school students that are sent to other works, but nope this apparently a title for a specific manga that exists.

You thought I was making that up? Oh, you poor, sweet summer child. That is a very real, based-on-yet-another-shitty-webnovel, manga about so-called geniuses who are written by someone who obviously has very little familiarity and done little-to-no research in any of their chosen fields.

edited 15th Mar '17 2:51:39 PM by danime91

I mean, I'm well aware that there's a lot of awful novels with terrible titles out there. This one just sounded so utterly generic that I took it for an sarcastic description of the whole isekai genre.

edited 15th Mar '17 2:57:46 PM by Shlugo_the_great

Ah, in that case, yeah, it doesn't get too much worse in terms of actual titles, though they certainly do get much longer. Jeez.

I actually know that Super-human High School Students in Another World manga. That's the one where it's like a cast of Danganronpa characters got thrown into an isekai story. It's actually pretty entertaining even if their "genius" is at best moderate competence.

There's definitely an interesting discussion to be had regarding he moral obligations surrounding the responsibility in utilizing your talents versus doing what you want to do, but, well this is not the manga for that.

Our two lead girls' motivations are definitely half-baked. Like I mentioned, it shouldn't have been the sort of thing a writer should cram into a single chapter.

Personally I took the the half baked motivations of the first two girls and evil principal forcing our hero into this scheme at face value, as plot devices and nothing more to get the real story started, of about as much relevance as the feuding gangster families of Nisekoi got that started. It will only be brought up again if it needed to progress or stall the story and cue the harem hijinks for the rest of it.

A better story could've done it better and more naturally, but this isn't that kind of story, so this was at worst a minor irritation for me.

Apart from that, here's hoping sporty girl, who is the only one who actually seems to have feelings for the protagonist, wins. Would be nice to not have a love triangle.

You're rooting for sporty girl, too?

I can agree with your point, but even so. Harem rom coms live and die by the quality of their heroines. Half-baked characterization runs counter to that idea. I mean, I like the girls, but more because they're generically cute rather than being actually engaging characters to read about.

Unfortunately, she both came in late and is a childhood friend, so her odds are not good.

Though for fans of the swimmer, good news, the new chapter is about her. I'm glad that Yuiga finally succeeded in properly tutoring someone.

Eh, this chapter seems a bit confused. First Yuiga is like "Studying things you aren't good at can suck. There are no fun shortcuts, you just have to tough it out." and the literally two pages later they use a fun shortcut to make Uruka learn.

After a careful consideration, I decided that Fumino is the best girl, followed by Rizu, and with Uruka in a distant third by default. She really is the weakest link here.

Thankfully the next chapter will be about Fumino, who's a peach.

What he was actually saying was that it's natural to find something boring because you're not good at it. But if you can tough it out and improve, you'll start enjoying it. He just had to give swimmer girl the right push.

If I had to pick a best girl, it would be Rizu. She hits quite a few of my preferences.

I think there's a difference between"powering through the sucky parts so it's gets fun when you are better" and "linking it something you already like so it's instantly becomes fun and easy."

I dunno, Rizu is a fun character for sure, but I have a hard time taking her seriously for some reason.

That would be because Rizu is a supposed math whiz, but can't even explain her equations (even with vague genius BS like synesthesia or some crap). Not to mention, again, her half-baked character motivation which really doesn't make sense at all, and even it did it's not a very sympathetic one.

That said, she's still a short, math whiz, hates-to-lose, glasses-wearing cutie, so there.

Chapter out:

Aww, that's not what the last chapter end text promised. Those things are worthless.

Man, the Principal is such an ass. Basically extorting work out of Yuiga.

Yuiga is such a good guy, he has no intention of giving up even though it would be easier that way.

Next chapter is gonna be sick.

Yes, because it will be a sick visit chapter. :P

Great Ogata chapter. I love her expressions. It was also nice to see a concrete study hack from Yuiga.

Meanwhile principal and his secretary (?) are more or less confirmed to be more interested in getting the two geniuses to change their career choices.

Yeah, this study hack was much better than the last one.

Typical authority figures who think they know best.

New chapter out. Have some Furuhashi fanservice. Dat scrunchie.

Though for me Uruka is the actual star of the chapter. For starters, she can cook.

Furuhashi was just so cute this chapter. She really wanted to get above average score on the test so Yugia can stay her tutor. Adorable.

Also, damn, that's one fancy house.

I find Uruka and her delusions to be kinda tedious really.

Chapter 10:

At this point Uruka is just obtuse.

When she finally confesses only when it's far too late, I'll be hard-pressed to sympathize with her.