The television anime is currently airing its first cour on Tokyo MX and streaming on Crunchyroll, with three new cast members announced in May 2026.
The anime adaptation of I Made Friends with the Second Prettiest Girl in My Class premiered on Tokyo MX on April 7 and streams on Crunchyroll. Hideki Tachibana directs at studio CONNECT, with Keiichirō Ōchi writing the scripts and Shoko Takimoto designing the characters. The story follows isolated student Maki Maehara after he befriends popular classmate Umi Asanagi at a video store. The original light novel by Takata launched on Kadokawa's Kakuyomu platform in November 2020, and Kadokawa's Sneaker Bunko imprint began publishing it in print in December 2021. Rin Ono's manga adaptation runs on the Comic Alive+ website.
In May 2026, the series added three cast members: Rikuya Yasuda as classmate Nozomu Seki, Shinji Kawada as Maki's father Itsuki Maehara, and Yurina Amami as Kyoka Minato, a subordinate of Itsuki. A third promotional video featured the reGretGirl song "Hi no Ataru Kotoba" from 2025.
Anime Feminist reviewed the premiere and criticized the title for framing Umi as a consolation prize and reinforcing harmful ranking systems among teenagers. The review praised the depiction of Umi reaching out to Maki based on shared interests and the realistic portrayal of teens having different friend groups in and out of school. However, it noted the camera occasionally leers at girls' bodies, and Umi's jokes about Maki being a pervert do not land well. The review called the episode bland and generic, with potential for romance but nothing exciting beyond the protagonists expanding their friend group. It expressed hope the story values platonic friendships as much as romantic ones, but remained cautious about a possible love triangle.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the cited Yomimono stories below, each itself
sourced, then editorially reviewed. Every
fact links the story it came from.
May 31
Anime Feminist reviewed the premiere of "I Made Friends with the Second Prettiest Girl in My Class," a high school story about Maki Maehara, a boy who has no friends at school and eats alone. After an awkward self-introduction, he is befriended by Ami Usanagi, the girl the title calls the second prettiest in class. The review criticizes the title for framing Umi as a consolation prize and for reinforcing harmful ranking systems among teenagers. It praises the depiction of Umi reaching out to Maki based on shared interests and the realistic portrayal of teens having different friend groups in and out of school. However, it notes the camera occasionally leers at girls' bodies, and Umi's jokes about Maki being a pervert do not land well. The review calls the episode bland and generic, with potential for romance but nothing exciting beyond the protagonists expanding their friend group. It expresses hope the story values platonic friendships as much as romantic ones, but remains cautious about a possible love triangle. The reviewer concludes the show is not for them but may interest other readers.
May 16
The ongoing television anime I Made Friends with the Second Prettiest Girl in My Class revealed a third promotional video and three new cast members on Tuesday. ASMIK Ace announced the additions. Rikuya Yasuda joins as Nozomu Seki, a classmate of protagonist Maki Maehara. Shinji Kawada plays Itsuki Maehara, Maki's father. Yurina Amami voices Kyoka Minato, a subordinate of Itsuki. The new trailer features the reGretGirl song "Hi no Ataru Kotoba" from 2025. The series premiered on Tokyo MX on April 7 and streams on Crunchyroll. Hideki Tachibana directs at studio CONNECT, with Keiichirō Ōchi writing the scripts and Shoko Takimoto designing the characters. The story follows isolated student Maki Maehara after he befriends popular classmate Umi Asanagi at a video store. Takata launched the original light novel on Kadokawa's Kakuyomu platform in November 2020, and Kadokawa's Sneaker Bunko imprint began publishing it in print in December 2021. Rin Ono's manga adaptation runs on the Comic Alive+ website.