I Made Friends with the Second Prettiest Girl in My Class
I Made Friends with the Second Prettiest Girl in My Class (Japanese: クラスで2番目に可愛い女の子と友だちになった, Hepburn: 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'), shortened as Kuranika (クラにか) 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 nine 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 seven tankōbon volumes. An anime television series adaptation produced by Connect is set to premiere in April 2026.
Article
I Made Friends with the Second Prettiest Girl in My Class
I Made Friends with the Second Prettiest Girl in My Class (Japanese: クラスで2番目に可愛い女の子と友だちになった, Hepburn: 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'), shortened as Kuranika (クラにか) 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 nine 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 seven tankōbon volumes. An anime television series adaptation produced by Connect is set to premiere in April 2026.
Plot
I Made Friends with the Second Prettiest Girl in My Class
Maki Maehara, a high school student with few friends, recently befriended Umi Asanagi. Umi, a popular student, is considered the second prettiest girl in their class, making him conscious about how he was able to befriend such a popular student. Despite seemingly having similar backgrounds, he is surprised to learn that he and Umi share the same interests, leading to them hanging out after school and strengthening their relationship.
Characters
I Made Friends with the Second Prettiest Girl in My Class
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, films, and other hobbies. 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 is good friends with Yū. Yū 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. Nina Nitta (新田新奈, Nitta Nīna): Voiced by: Ikumi Hasegawa (anime) Masaki Maehara (前原真咲, Maehara Masaki): Voiced by: Yūko Kaida Sora Asanagi (朝凪空, Asanagi Sora): Voiced by: Shizuka Itō Miki Yagisawa (八木沢美紀, Yagisawa Miki): Voiced by: Minami Tsuda
Production
I Made Friends with the Second Prettiest Girl in My Class
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, with illustrations by Tom Osabe and Azuri Hyūga, under Kadokawa Shoten's Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko light novel imprint on December 24, 2021. Nine volumes and a side story volume have been released as of October 2025.
<table><thead><tr><th>No.</th><th>Release date</th><th>ISBN</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>1</td><td>December 24, 2021</td><td>978-4-04-112034-7</td></tr><tr><td>2</td><td>July 29, 2022</td><td>978-4-04-112035-4</td></tr><tr><td>3</td><td>December 28, 2022</td><td>978-4-04-113287-6</td></tr><tr><td>4</td><td>June 1, 2023</td><td>978-4-04-113731-4</td></tr><tr><td>5</td><td>November 1, 2023</td><td>978-4-04-113732-1</td></tr><tr><td>6</td><td>May 1, 2024</td><td>978-4-04-114918-8</td></tr><tr><td>7</td><td>October 1, 2024</td><td>978-4-04-115434-2</td></tr><tr><td>7.5</td><td>May 1, 2025</td><td>978-4-04-116154-8</td></tr><tr><td>8</td><td>October 1, 2025</td><td>978-4-04-116641-3</td></tr><tr><td>9</td><td>April 1, 2026</td><td>978-4-04-117277-3</td></tr></tbody></table>
Manga
A manga adaptation illustrated by Rin Ono began serialization on Media Factory's Comic Alive+ website on July 27, 2022. Seven tankōbon volumes have been released as of December 2025. The manga adaptation is licensed in North America by Yen Press.
<table><thead><tr><th>No.</th><th>Original release date</th><th>Original ISBN</th><th>English release date</th><th>English ISBN</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>1</td><td>March 1, 2023</td><td>978-4-04-112034-7</td><td>July 1, 2025</td><td>979-8-8554-1126-3</td></tr><tr><td>2</td><td>May 26, 2023</td><td>978-4-04-811220-8</td><td>November 25, 2025</td><td>979-8-8554-1128-7</td></tr><tr><td>3</td><td>October 27, 2023</td><td>978-4-04-811245-1</td><td>June 23, 2026</td><td>979-8-8554-1130-0</td></tr><tr><td>4</td><td>May 28, 2024</td><td>978-4-04-811289-5</td><td>—</td><td>—</td></tr><tr><td>5</td><td>November 28, 2024</td><td>978-4-04-811378-6</td><td>—</td><td>—</td></tr><tr><td>6</td><td>June 27, 2025</td><td>978-4-04-811512-4</td><td>—</td><td>—</td></tr><tr><td>7</td><td>December 26, 2025</td><td>978-4-04-811708-1</td><td>—</td><td>—</td></tr></tbody></table>
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 is set to premiere on April 7, 2026, on Tokyo MX and other networks. RegretGirl will perform the opening theme song "Submarine Youth" (サブマリンユース), and Koresawa will perform the ending theme song "Zutto Ichiban ni Shitene" (ずっと1番にしてね). Crunchyroll will stream the series.
Reception
I Made Friends with the Second Prettiest Girl in My Class
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 million copies in circulation.