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) is a 12 episode romantic comedy based on the light novel series of the same name by Takata.  The series originally aired during the Spring of 2026.

      Maehara Maki is a loney who spends his time obsessing over horror movies, the cheesier the better.  During introductions for the first day of school he lets that fact about him slip out.  He wasn't hoping to change his life around in high school anyways so he lets it go, comfortable in his isolation.  Then he runs into one of the girls in his class, Asanagi Umi, the so called second prettiest girl.  She wants him to be her guide to the world of schlock horror films, much to his surprise.  Quickly the two fall into a comfortable pattern of watching terrible movies after school on Fridays, growing to enjoy each others company.  While they try to hide their friendship from their classmates, Asanagi's best friend, the s called prettiest girl, Amami Yuu, suspects something is going on.  She quickly injects herself into the mix, seeing Maehara as a good person that everyone else ignores.

    Maehara, used to being the outcast loner, is suddenly the center of attention for the two most important girls in his class.  Unfortunately not all is fun and games.  One of the things that drew Asanagi to him was a sense of unease and isolation when it came to her friendship with Amami.  The more outgoing Amami always did everything she could to include everyone in everything.  Asanagi, whose popularity is partially due to her long friendship with Amami, does not tend to enjoy large boisterous gathering with everyone.  Beyond the initial connection with Maehara over horror films, she realized that she could use the time spent with him truly being herself.  With Amami suddenly in the mix her true moments of relaxation are suddenly in danger and she has to resolve unspoken issues between her and her best friend.  All the while, Maehara tries to be a person that both girls can rely on as a confidant and companion.

   During the 2026 Spring season we had 2 titles that told a very similar story about a well meaning loaner becoming friends with the two most popular girls in his class.  A wish fulfillment trope. The other series was Gal's Can't Be King to Otaku?  In both, the hapless protagonist finds himself in his enviable position through no effort of his own.  What starts as innocent curiosity turns into admiration and trust once the beauties recognize the nerd for his good qualities and generally agreeable personality.  In reality a far cry from reality.  Too often said outcasts are bitter and arrogant and the popular girls typically will swing wide due to a variety of reasons, many of them being unconsciously accurate.  Maehara is largely devoid of personality, making a good vessel for self insertion by the viewer.  Asanagi and Amami are largely unrealistically genuine and honest.  The story becomes interesting when it begins to do something that rarely occurs in similar titles, the characters parents become involved in whats going on and broader relationships add to the story.

    Aside from the early conflict between how Asanagi and Amami define their friendship, we begin to learn about Maehara's less than perfect home life.  His parents divorced relatively recently, and his mother has been burdened with the fall out of that coupled with her high self respect.  In recent months she has been working herself ragged, not out of a necessity, as his fathers alimony is enough to allow them to life comfortably.  His mother is driven to be truly independent, capable of supporting she and her son on her own, closing the door on her failed marriage.  As Maehara and Asanagi's friendship blossoms into something else he begins to feel the pressure of his own guilt when compared to her family life.  He struggles with his parents divorce and the stress its put on his mother.  To compound his tension, reuniting with his father reveals a point of contention that he was unaware of that might have contributed to his parents separation.  Outside of the impossible set up the series does tell a decent story and has some honest character growth.  It never really becomes about Maehara choosing which of the girls he wants to be with and focuses on building everyone's friendship while growing Asanagi and his closeness and deepening emotions.

The series was simulcast on Crunchyroll.