Bokutachi wa Benkyou ga Dekinai

Just to be clear, you should definitely read the manga and only watch the anime as an option, the manga is way better and has a way better ending and storytelling.
It's one of those harem mangas where i can't seem to hate any girl, all of them had amazing story arcs focusing on their characters and they all deserve to stay together with the protag in some way, it would be nice to have a harem route but don't believe it will happen.
It's very funny most of the time but the serious parts usually focusing on one of our characters past are amazing, sensei's arc made me cry with happiness and she isn't even my fav character (Rizu is beautiful btw)
But if you are like me you will probably be struggling to cheer for one specific girl even i can't seem to cheer for my fav since all girls are so gentle and worry so much about our protag to the point where you feel bad for the others on the end of each route

Well, i'll be short.
The manga is your "normal" harem school life that you might expect.
The pacing of the manga its pretty good in the first 30 chapters. A lot of story progression and character development. But from the chapter 30 to 55-60 the story slows downs a bit...
My point is, its a good harem school life manga, the fact that the main protagonist is in a "superior" role as their teacher creates a lot of interesting situations. All the girls are good additions to the story and all of them have a unique and awesome personality that fits the manga. The events are also really cool. Of course, you have your clichés, but since this a study based anime the situations that the writer shows to us are pretty unique.
But, its problems are the same as in all harem manga, the story gets stale at some point.. But one thing that the writer does pretty well is to cycle the chapters so we don't feel that staleness.
If you enjoyed the first 20 to 30 chapters, you'll really like the whole thing. Just stay strong and don't give up while reading through chapters 31 to 55

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.

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.

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.

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.

This is a very typical harem manga and I kinda enjoyed the simplicity I could critique a lot of things but the comments have already done it for me. And while I did enjoy the manga I didn't enjoy everything after 149. Spoiler. So after the main story is done the author basically makes it a telltale game and is making a different story for each girl. Which made me mad from a personal viewpoint because the girl I chose won. But then it made me mad as a reader because they're doing what SAO did. Its like dude notice after the ain story was done no one asked for more let it go.

The manga is more complete than the anime, and also those that watched the anime and felt like it is a cliffhanger, I would suggest come and read the manga because in the manga the author cover all the route endings on Yuiga choosing all the girls one at the time. Well it is still ongoing and currently its on the Route 3, which is Fuminos route.

Honestly, I felt relieved knowing that after the cliffhanging anime, there was an manga that continues the story, after watching the anime I felt no closure, but then after some searching the manga really gave me a closure. And from the routes the difference is that it actually shows sadness, when you read it you felt sad for some characters that will be gone so on and forth. Which is really interesting because in the anime you wont be able to feel this, in the anime it will always be happy happy happy, and I dont think that will always be good.

So Im really grateful for the manga continuation! :))

Slight Spoilers ahead:

Character - 9
The character development is strong in this one - this one of the rare shows where EVERY GIRL IS BEST GIRL. I can proudly admit that I'm aboard all ships, as all the characters have their own unique traits, and exemplify their respective character archetypes. If i had to say though, I'm aboard team Fumino, but all the other girls aren't far behind (Fumino's ending was just finished so yay!)

Story - 7
The story has the typical cliches you'd find in any romcom harem, but not once did I think that it was boring. BokuBen was able to put a twist on it that couldn't help but make me laugh. As of now, the series is reaching its conclusion, and to my delightful surprise, each character gets their own written ending, that's thought out and logical.

Art - 8
The art is nothing too special, but is perfect for this type of plot, as it is able to capture the tone of the story; no problems here.

Enjoyment - 10
Needless to say, there wasn't a single point that I didn't enjoy, and thus the 10.

Overall - 9

From the start, be aware this manga isn’t special from any other rom/com ecchi/harem mangas that you may know. And if you really want to read a good manga in this genre, I could recommend you ‘Yamada-kun and the seven witches’ (if you want the same amount of ecchi but with a way better story) or ‘Gotoubun no Hanayome’ (which is very similar to ‘We Never Learn’, but has a much better storytelling and success without ecchi). However, in one point it is special, at least from the mangas in this genre which I know, and that is the ending. So be warned, it will contain few spoilers, but I will mark it and try to spoil as little as possible. Also I will compare this title with the previously mentioned 2 mangas and to ‘Nisekoi’ a bit.

Short spoiler-free version
- Overall (6/10):
If this may be your first manga in this rom/com ecchi/harem genre, then it is a good first step. If it's at least your 10th, then you will get nothing special. Same generic minimalistic story with poor storytelling and mostly mainstream characters for every preference. Ecchi scenes get with the time more and more, to a point where you may ask yourself “Was there ever a story or was it always full with A’s and B’s?” How it ends is unusual, but also not flawless. Solid 6/10, nice for beginners, but wouldn’t recommend to advanced rom/com readers.

Long version
- Story (6/10):
First of all, I really don’t like ecchi Manga/Anime (but I love rom-coms). And this is an important aspect of the story, because at least 60% if not 80% of it is based on the protagonist’s “pervy luck”, which shows the mangakas poor story writing skills. But that wasn’t so at the beginning. It had some good, some excellent jokes and a relatively good base story with a slowly good developing chemistry between the characters. However, due to the poor story writing these jokes repeat themselves but with more and more ecchi, while the base story goes nowhere. This is a very well-known mistake in this genre, so nothing special.
But back to the beginning. Our overall best student has to tutor 2 (later more) one-subject geniuses in their worst field. However, very soon this teaching falls mostly out of the story and develops to the generic rom/com ecchi/harem story. Nonetheless the extra is the immediately starting 2 equally love-interests, and I repeat equally! While in most of these kinda manga you know from the start who will end with our protagonist, just like in ‘Nisekoi’ (which was the main reason why I didn’t like it, because it made the whole plot unnecessary), here you are totally in the dark about how it will end. And this gives this one extra point which makes this average story to a little bit above to a weak 6.
Note: A very similar base story has also ‘Gotoubun no Hanayome’ where this premise gets way more importance and with even 5 (almost) equally love-interests, with (in my opinion) a nice unpredictable ending.

So, let’s turn to the ending, because the generic middle is not even worth mentioning. In my experience, harem manga/anime ends in 2 typical ways. Either it ends with the protagonist chooses every/noone or it ends with the first girl. In the later falls ‘Nisekoi’ or ‘Yamada-kun and the seven witches’ (however, in this one it was different anyway due to the first girl was never really questioned. But I don’t want to spoil anyone, so I stop right now). But here we have 2 “first girls”, so the only way it could end is the former? To answer this either read the manga or beware of spoilers!

*spoiler mark*
If you can’t choose, you choose everyone, but here comes the twist, you also choose just one! How does this work? Easy, you create for every girl (5 in this work) different endings, just like in dating simulators. I experienced similar endings, however, there the routes changed (partly) the complete story, while here just the ending was different. And it was totally unclear until the certain point. This seems like the perfect way to end a harem, but let me explain what disturbed me.
To make different endings based on the same story is really hard, and as I mentioned the mangaka is not the best story writer. So to make it possible he has to overwrite a lot of things, like character developments or story parts, and create plot holes. There are parts where you ask yourself “Does this flashback was really in the previous chapters? Or is it part of this overwriting?”. To make things worse, this turnpoint happens relatively at the middle of this work, and if you read it week to week, you will totally forget what happened 50-80 chapters ago…
Now let us talk about the different endings. I won’t tell which girl has which scenario, so I just mention them as first to fifth. What I should mention is which was my “favorite girl”, so you know it could be a little bit subjective, and this girl was the second, while the last one was the fifth.
The first was definitely the author’s “favorite” or his main route at least. It’s also the best written, most developed and logical, because it either has plot holes or overwriting, and maybe the most romantic too. The second was a catastrophe! It wasn’t really focused on the girl, it was more about the side character. It had complete nonsense parts, plus was not really romantic. The third was okay, mostly generic. But oh boy, the fourth was unexpectedly amazing! It had it’s overwriting too, nevertheless it matched perfectly to the characters and to the previous story. By the fifth I felt the most overwriting, reused events and plot holes, like completely forgotten character developments. Also this felt the most dragged and unnatural.
*spoiler mark ends*

- Art (7/10):
For me unnecessary ecchi is one of the most hated parts in manga/anime. This is full with that, but at least it has more class than the currently ongoing ‘Ayakashi Triangle’... And even if it has a lot of ecchi which I think is unnecessary, it doesn’t mean that I can’t appreciate the mangaka’s artwork. He shows the readers all kinds of ecchi elements, which are nice drawn and detail-rich. Especially the character designs are above the average for a rom/com manga. Meanwhile the comedy elements are appropriately stupid and good drawn. What it lacks are the changes. Even if the characters are getting several years older (or younger in flashbacks) their designs do not really change. Also, the romantic scenes are detailed, but sometimes it still lacks the feeling of romance.

- Characters (5/10):
As I said excluding the nice artwork and the ending it’s a really generic rom/com manga, and so are the characters too. They are just some massproducted average rom/com characters. In addition, due to the poor story writing the characters are also just 1-2 charastics without any deepness or big developments. They felt like one joke comedians, showing us the same thing again and again.

- Enjoyment (5/10):
I really enjoyed the first 20-40 chapters and the last 40-50 chapters. Also the chapters where the story or the character developments were in the spotlight. Unfortunately, the good jokes from the beginning got repeating and unfunny while the ecchi ratio increased, so proportional my enjoyment decreased. However, if you are into classy ecchi stuff I think you may enjoy it way more than I did. On the other hand, the romance part was solid especially for the last chapters.

- Comparisons and recommendations:
In my opinion this title is better than ‘Nisekoi’, however it has way more ecchi. So for non-ecchi fans ‘Nisekoi’ could be the better option for starter rom/com readers. On the other hand, compared to 2 of my favorites ‘Yamada-kun and the seven witches’ (contains ecchi) and ‘Gotoubun no Hanayome’ (doesn’t contain ecchi) it struggles a lot. If you are more into story (like me) or an advanced rom/com-fan who does not read these 2 I truly recommend them. However for the (ecchi) art this manga is maybe better for you.

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.

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.

Well this is my first review on this site so I don't have anything to say about this manga but It has Great ability to attract people even though there are some people who did'nt like it...well just to say we need to appreciate peoples work...I really appreciate this because the author give his best to this manga...also to those who easily bash a manga just because of the story or anything well just finish it and wait for the improvement....I really did not want to read a manga but I better try it...just like that..this is just an opinion.
This manga has a great quality of story lines it really focus on love comedy tutoring staff and this has some kind of motivation quotes every chapters well its a harem though...well its "GREAT" Manga so please support the AUTHOR.anyway this is just an opinion and just Fantasy made by imagination..

This manga was quite enjoyable to read. Potentially it could get an anime because the plot was rather interesting. Personally, I like the characters and can relate their struggles.

The concept of two geniuses aims at their weakest subjects as a career caught my attention. The strongest points of this manga would probably be the characterization. The heroine's characteristics (contains a tsuntsun, airhead, and sports girl) It gives off a nice balance.

I enjoy reading this manga a lot and I'm glad that Jump deiced to run this manga. Especially since Nisekoi ended a while ago, which it lacks the Slice of Life and School-based kind of theme.

I recommend giving this manga a try. It will give you a good laugh.

If you're looking for some amazing romance show or a show that blows your mind with unique storylines and plot this isn't it. We never learn is simply a fun show with fun character that work great together. It's a harem show that has no problem using plenty of cliches, but it ends up creating a harem where every girl really is likable. The main character has great moments with every one of the main girls and you really find yourself rooting for all of them. Although Kirisu Sensei is girl who stands above the rest. In the end the show delivers and left no readers disappointed.

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.

Bokuben is probably my favorite harem manga due to it shows us the diferent point of view of each girl and is not only focus in one of them like whatever manga with a clear winner since the start. I've loved all the routes mades for each protagonists and this idea has been absolutely full of creativity that made me delighted of reading the story of my favorites waifus, something that obviously don't happen 'cause I never like main heroines.
Resides, the art is beautiful, well done. All the characters have personalities well worked and very attractive. The story is the funniest that I've see in my life.
This is one of the best harems that you can read in your life, 100% recomendated, specially if you enjoy this genre. 10/10.

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)

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.

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.

To start with, there is absolutely nothing new that Bokuben brings to the table. 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. But 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.