We Never Learn (2020)

[ぼくたちは勉強ができない]

Volume 17

Author/Artist: Taishi Tsutsui
Publisher: Jump Comics

Synopsis:
Yuiga and the gang go skiing for a graduation trip and he has to figure out how to respond to Takemoto's confession.

Story/Characters:
If you've been following this series, it's probably not a surprise, so I'm going to go ahead and say that Tsutsui decided to end the series by showing us the conquest route for each of the five main girls. This volume covers the Uruka Route. I was surprised at the end of the second season of the anime that they presented Takemoto as the winner, but this would seem to be the canonical path (though Tsutsui says it's up to the reader to choose the route they prefer). I'm curious to see how things play out in the other routes, if Takemoto's confession is the jumping off point for each or if we have different permutations for each one. Anyway, as far as this volume is concerned, Yuiga has to really examine his feelings for Takemoto and what he thinks would be best for her given her plans to study abroad. Interestingly, the other girls aren't just brushed away, so there has to be some squaring with their feelings as well. I rather like how it's handled here, but I would be interested to see things play out differently in the other routes. Maybe things won't go as smoothly under different circumstances.

A lot of the emotional weight of this route comes from the flashback sequence and how Takemoto influenced Yuiga's life at the critical juncture in middle school after the death of his father. Probably the only other character that's going to come close to this is Kurisu-sensei due to her connection with Yuiga's father. Anyway, the execution of the emotional beats are really solid and we get a good payoff in the end.

Art:
You know what to expect from the art and Tsutsui really delivers on the big notes. It's nice getting to see the characters grown up a bit post-time skip for the finale.

Other:
We get a teaser image of the point of diversion for the five routes (the winner of the route being the one who took Yuiga's hand during the fireworks at the festival).

Conclusion:
Takemoto may not have been my first choice, but I appreciated her route and if this was where the series ended, I would be satisfied. It looks like we have a volume apiece for the remaining four routes. I'm interested to see what Tsutsui does with it. In the meantime, this is worth adding to your collection.

Rating:
Own It