We Never Learn: BOKUBEN - The Church Bells Bless [X]

ぼくたちは勉強ができない！「チャペルの鐘は[X]を祝福する」 (Bokutachi wa Benkyou ga Dekinai! Chapel no Kane wa [X] wo Shukufuku Suru)

7.4(23,942)

MAL Score

Ranked #2796

Popularity #3749

Comedy
Romance
Harem

Episodes: 1
Duration: 23 min
Aired: Apr 3, 2020
Status: Finished Airing

Synopsis

Bundled with the limited edition release of volume 16, “We Never Learn: BOKUBEN - The Church Bells Bless [X]” presents a standalone story built around a wedding ceremony.

Fumino, Mafuyu, Uruka, Rizu, and Asumi find themselves participating in the event, setting the stage for a light romantic comedy scenario with the cast gathered under one set of vows.

Otaku Consensus

The Church Bells Bless [X] works best as an omake-style capstone: its brisk single-episode pacing, Arvo Animation/Silver character polish, and compact ensemble banter preserve the main series’ easygoing after-work appeal. Critics and viewers respond to how it keeps the harem comedy warm rather than abrasive, but its most common weakness is also built into the format: it is a low-stakes bonus episode with fanservice-adjacent, sexualized imagery and little room for meaningful romantic progression.

Why You Should Watch

Watch this if you want the comfort-food side of harem romcoms without the heavy melodrama or route-war bitterness. The appeal is not revelation; it is seeing Bokuben’s five heroine dynamics compressed into one polished special, with the kind of quick reaction comedy and soft romantic teasing that made the TV series easy to binge after work. It scratches a gentler version of the itch served by The Quintessential Quintuplets or Nisekoi: lots of competing chemistry, but with a lighter, more slice-of-life tempo. Because it was made as a limited-edition manga-volume OVA rather than a full arc, it plays best for existing fans who already know why Fumino, Mafuyu, Uruka, Rizu, and Asumi each have their own faction.

Key Characters

F
Fumino Furuhashi(VA: Haruka Shiraishi)
Fumino remains the franchise’s emotional pressure valve, the heroine fans gravitate toward when the comedy needs a gentler, more perceptive counterweight.
M
Mafuyu Kirisu(VA: Lynn)
Mafuyu’s appeal comes from the contrast between her composed teacherly image and the awkward, human cracks that make her one of Bokuben’s most discussed characters.
R
Rizu Ogata(VA: Miyu Tomita)
Rizu brings the deadpan, logic-first rhythm that lets the series turn romantic misunderstanding into character comedy rather than pure chaos.
U
Uruka Takemoto(VA: Sayumi Suzushiro)
Uruka is the athletic, openly expressive presence whose energy gives the ensemble its most direct and emotionally transparent romantic charge.

What Makes It Stand Out

1
This is a one-episode OVA bundled with the limited-edition release of manga volume 16, making it a collector-oriented side entry rather than a televised continuation.
2
Arvo Animation and Silver are the credited studios, and the special leans into the TV anime’s clean, bright character-comedy style instead of trying to sell itself through spectacle.
3
The structure puts all five principal heroines, Fumino, Mafuyu, Uruka, Rizu, and Asumi, into the same concentrated scenario, so the draw is ensemble chemistry rather than a single-character mini-arc.
4
Its Japanese title, Bokutachi wa Benkyou ga Dekinai! Chapel no Kane wa [X] wo Shukufuku Suru, keeps the franchise’s academic joke alive by framing the romantic variable as [X].
5
Streaming metadata for the series lists Japanese audio with English, Latin American Spanish, and Brazilian Portuguese subtitle options, alongside a content advisory for sexualized imagery.

Fun Facts & Trivia

Fun fact 1: The OVA aired/released on Apr 3, 2020, after the TV run had already established Bokuben as a light comedy-romance franchise rather than a plot-heavy romantic drama.
Fun fact 2: Even as a single bonus episode, it has a sizable MyAnimeList footprint: 23,919 votes, a 7.36 score, rank #2793, and popularity #3748 in the provided data.
Fun fact 3: Crunchyroll metadata places Bokuben not only under Comedy and Romance, but also under Shonen and Slice of life, which explains why its harem setup is usually paced more like weekly gag-romance than prestige drama.
Fun fact 4: The rights line credits Taishi Tsutsui/Shueisha and the Bokuben Committee, tying the special directly to the manga’s publisher-backed production ecosystem.
Fun fact 5: The main credited heroine cast for this special includes Haruka Shiraishi, Lynn, Madoka Asahina, Miyu Tomita, and Sayumi Suzushiro, reflecting the franchise’s ensemble-first appeal.