I Made Friends with the Second Prettiest Girl in My Class

Plot

Maki Maehara, a shy, lonely, high school student, unexpectedly becomes friends with Umi Asanagi after Umi learns about Maki's interests in scary movies. Umi, a popular student, is considered the second prettiest girl in their class behind Yuu Amami, who is Umi's best friend. Despite having seemingly different backgrounds, Maki and Umi share many of the same interests, which strengthens their bond together and leads to them hanging out after school often at Maki's house. As Maki and Umi become closer, Umi's best friend, Yuu, learns about their bond and joins Umi in befriending and hanging out with Maki.

Characters

Maki Maehara (前原 真樹, Maehara Maki)

Voiced by: Haruki Ishiya (PV, anime)

A high school student who has a loner personality. He is interested in anime, video games, B-movies, and other hobbies. After Umi reaches out to him, they start hanging out as they share similar hobbies. He has trauma over his parents' divorce, subconsciously thinking all relationships will eventually fail. Initially, he rejects Umi's sudden confession, feeling he's not fit to be her boyfriend and that he doesn't want a relationship with anyone. But as they spend more time together, he realizes he actually does have a crush on her, getting flustered when she does cute things or shows him appreciation. Eventually, he confesses to her and becomes her boyfriend. At the end of the series, he is working at city hall and is married to Umi.

Umi Asanagi (朝凪 海, Asanagi Umi)

Voiced by: Manaka Iwami (PV, anime)

Maki's classmate, who is often referred to as the "second prettiest" girl in class. She has short black hair and is considered very attractive. She is best friends with Yuu, the prettiest girl in class, though she harbors an inferiority complex toward her, which she hides behind a composed front. However, this slowly wears her down and makes her more guarded around Yuu. She reaches out to Maki after learning they share similar tastes, and they begin hanging out often. She tends to go to his apartment, which leads their mothers to find out they are close. She falls in love with Maki and often gets jealous when he interacts with other girls or becomes flustered when he shows appreciation for her. She also becomes extremely angry and defensive when people insult Maki. Though he initially rejects her confession, she eventually becomes his girlfriend when he finally returns her feelings. At the end of the series, she and Maki are 30 years old, with the two having a young son and daughter.

Yuu Amami (天海 夕, Amami Yū)

Voiced by: Sayumi Suzushiro (PV, anime)

Maki and Umi's classmate, who is considered the prettiest girl in their class. She has long blonde hair and is of foreign descent. She is childhood friends with Umi, as well as her best friend. She takes an interest in Maki and begins hanging out with him after noticing his honesty, kindness, and respect for others. She struggles to read the room despite having good intentions, which can create awkward situations. She also seems to have growing feelings for Maki, albeit much slower than Umi. However, she decides not to pursue those feelings for Umi's sake and remains good friends with Maki.

Production

Takata became a member of Kadokawa Corporation's user-generated novel publishing website Kakuyomu in February 2016. He chose Kakuyomu over Shōsetsuka ni Narō to start writing web novels because there were few people on Kakuyomu, which officially began its service in February 2016. He wrote several novels, and one of his works, Toshiue Elite Onna Kishi ga Boku no Mae de dake Kawaii (年上エリート女騎士が僕の前でだけ可愛い), which won the grand prize in the 4th Kakuyomu Web Novel Contest for the romantic comedy category, was acquired by Kadokawa Shoten who began to publish it as a light novel with under their Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko imprint between 2019 and 2020 with only two volumes published. I Made Friends with the Second Prettiest Girl in My Class won the special prize in the 6th Kakuyomu Web Novel Contest for the romantic comedy category, but this time the story takes place in modern Japan, instead of a fantasy world.

Media

Light novels

Written by Takata, I Made Friends with the Second Prettiest Girl in My Class began serialization on Kadokawa Corporation's user-generated novel publishing website Kakuyomu on November 30, 2020. It later began being published under Kadokawa Shoten's Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko light novel imprint, with the first volume being released on December 24, 2021. Tom Osabe illustrated the first volume of the light novel, but was replaced by Azuri Hyūga starting with the second volume as Osabe could not continue due to "various circumstances". Ten volumes and a side story volume were released. The series ended with the release of its tenth volume on July 1, 2026, with Takata leaving open the possibility of doing a spin-off.

Manga

A manga adaptation illustrated by Rin Ono began serialization on Media Factory's Comic Alive+ website on July 27, 2022. Eight tankōbon volumes have been released as of June 2026. The manga adaptation is licensed in North America by Yen Press.

Anime

An anime adaptation was announced during Kadokawa's "Sneaker Bunko 35th Anniversary Festa!" livestream on September 24, 2023. It was later confirmed to be a television series produced by Connect and directed by Hideki Tachibana, with Takumi Shibata serving as assistant director, Keiichirō Ōchi handling the series composition, Shoko Takimoto designing the characters, and Ruka Kawada, Yayoi Sekimukai, and Shūhei Mutsuki composing the music. It aired from April 7 to June 23, 2026, on Tokyo MX and other networks. RegretGirl performed the opening theme song "Submarine Youth" (サブマリンユース), and Koresawa performed the ending theme song "Zutto Ichiban ni Shitene" (ずっと1番にしてね). Crunchyroll is streaming the series.

Reception

In the 2024 edition of Takarajimasha's annual light novel guide book Kono Light Novel ga Sugoi!, the novel series ranked 21st in the bunkobon category. The novel series ranked seventh in the Next Light Novel Award 2022, and won the Next Light Novel Award 2023 in the bunkobon category hosted by Kimirano.

The series has over 1.6 million copies in circulation.