I Made Friends with the Second Prettiest Girl in My Class

I Made Friends with the Second Prettiest Girl in My Class (クラスで2番目に可愛い女の子と友だちになった, Kurasu de Ni-ban Me ni Kawaii Onna no Ko to Tomodachi ni Natta, lit. "I Became Friends With the Second Cutest Girl in Class") is a Japanese romantic comedy light novel series written by Takata and illustrated by Tom Osabe (first volume) and Azuri Hyūga (from second volume). It began serialization online in November 2020 on Kadokawa's user-generated novel publishing website Kakuyomu. It was later published by Kadokawa Shoten with seven volumes and a side story volume since December 2021 under their Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko imprint. A manga adaptation with art by Rin Ono has been serialized online via Media Factory's Comic Alive+ website since July 2022 and has been collected in five tankōbon volumes. An anime television series adaptation produced by Connect is set to premiere in 2026.

I Made Friends with the Second Prettiest Girl in My Class
First light novel volume cover
クラスで2番目に可愛い女の子と友だちになった (Kurasu de Ni-ban Me ni Kawaii Onna no Ko to Tomodachi ni Natta)
Genre	Romantic comedy[1]
Novel series
Written by	Takata
Published by	Kakuyomu
Original run	November 30, 2020 – present
Light novel
Written by	Takata
Illustrated by	Tom Osabe (volume 1) Azuri Hyūga (from volume 2)
Published by	Kadokawa Shoten
Imprint	Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko
Demographic	Male
Original run	December 24, 2021 – present
Volumes	7 + 1 side story
Manga
Written by	Takata
Illustrated by	Rin Ono
Published by	Media Factory
English publisher	NA: Yen Press
Magazine	Comic Alive+
Demographic	Seinen
Original run	July 27, 2022 – present
Volumes	5
Anime television series
Directed by	Hideki Tachibana
Written by	Keiichirō Ōchi
Studio	Connect
Original run	2026 – scheduled

Characters

Maki Maehara (前原 真樹, Maehara Maki)

Voiced by: Haruki Ishiya (PV, anime)^[2][3][4]

Umi Asanagi (朝凪 海, Asanagi Umi)

Voiced by: Manaka Iwami (PV, anime)^[2][3][4]

Yū Amami (天海 夕, Amami Yū)

Voiced by: Sayumi Suzushiro (PV, anime)^[3][4]

Nina Nitta (新田新奈, Nitta Nīna)

Voiced by: Ikumi Hasegawa (anime)^[4]

Production

Takata became a member of Kadokawa Corporation's user-generated novel publishing website Kakuyomu in February 2016.^[5] He chose Kakuyomu over Shōsetsuka ni Narō to start writing web novels because there were few people on Kakuyomu,^[6] which officially began its service in February 2016.^[7] 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),^[6] 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.^[8] 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.^[6][9]

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, with illustrations by Tom Osabe and Azuri Hyūga, under Kadokawa Shoten's Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko light novel imprint on December 24, 2021. Seven volumes and a side story volume have been released as of May 2025.^[10]

No.	Release date	ISBN
1	December 24, 2021[9]	978-4-04-112034-7
2	July 29, 2022[11]	978-4-04-112035-4
3	December 28, 2022[12]	978-4-04-113287-6
4	June 1, 2023[13]	978-4-04-113731-4
5	November 1, 2023[14]	978-4-04-113732-1
6	May 1, 2024[15]	978-4-04-114918-8
7	October 1, 2024[16]	978-4-04-115434-2
7.5	May 1, 2025[10]	978-4-04-116154-8

Manga

A manga adaptation illustrated by Rin Ono began serialization on Media Factory's Comic Alive+ website on July 27, 2022.^[17] Five tankōbon volumes have been released as of November 2024.^[18] The manga adaptation is licensed in North America by Yen Press.^[19]

No.	Original release date	Original ISBN	English release date	English ISBN
1	March 1, 2023[20]	978-4-04-112034-7	June 24, 2025[21]	979-8-85-541126-3
2	May 26, 2023[22]	978-4-04-811220-8	—	—
3	October 27, 2023[23]	978-4-04-811245-1	—	—
4	May 28, 2024[24]	978-4-04-811289-5	—	—
5	November 28, 2024[18]	978-4-04-811378-6	—	—
6	June 27, 2025[25]	978-4-04-811512-4	—	—

Anime

An anime adaptation was announced during Kadokawa's "Sneaker Bunko 35th Anniversary Festa!" livestream on September 24, 2023.^[1] It was later confirmed to be a television series produced by Connect and directed by Hideki Tachibana, with series composition by Keiichirō Ōchi, and character designs by Shoko Takimoto. It is set to premiere in 2026.^[4]

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.^[26] The novel series ranked seventh in the Next Light Novel Award 2022,^[6] and won the Next Light Novel Award 2023 in the bunkobon category hosted by Kimirano.^[27]

The series has over 900,000 copies in circulation.^[18]