I Made Friends with the Second Prettiest Girl in My Class anime revealed the first teaser visual, along with the main voice cast, staff, a teaser trailer, and a 2026 release date.
Studio CONNECT will be handling the animation, while the main voice cast consists of the following members:
- Haruki Ishiya as Maki Maehara
- Manaka Iwami as Umi Asanagi
- Sayumi Suzushiro as Yu Amami
- Ikumi Hasegawa as Niina Nitta
The main staff for the I Made Friends with the Second Prettiest Girl in My Class anime includes:
- Director: Hideki Tachibana
- Series Composition & Script: Keiichiro Ochi
- Character Design: Shoko Takimoto
- Animation Studio: CONNECT
I Made Friends with the Second Prettiest Girl in My Class (Kurasu de Ni-ban Me ni Kawaii Onna no Ko to Tomodachi ni Natta), also known as Kura Nika, is a light novel series written by Takata. The series first started on Kadokawa’s Kakuyomu platform in November 2020 and was later picked up for print publishing by Kadokawa’s Sneaker Bunko imprint in December 2021.
The first volume featured illustrations by Tom Osabe, with Azuri Hyuga taking over from Volume 2 onward. As of October 2024, seven volumes have been released. A manga adaptation by Rin Ono began serialization on Comic Alive+ in July 2022, with five volumes published so far. Yen Press has licensed the manga and light novel in English publication, describing the story:
Maki Maehara is always on his own at school. He has no friends or hobbies others share, and he doesn’t expect the upcoming academic year to be any different, even surrounded by new faces. And six months later, it seems like he was right—until he runs into his popular classmate Umi Asanagi at a video store! Always at the center of attention and called the “second prettiest in class” by the boys, Asanagi’s from a totally different world. But it turns out the two have more overlapping interests than just the B-grade movies they came to check out…and Asanagi asks Maehara to be her friend!
In September 2023, during the Sneaker Bunko 35th Anniversary livestream, the anime adaptation was first announced. The series has reached over 900,000 copies in circulation. Its recognition includes the 21st place in the Kono Light Novel ga Sugoi! 2024 ranking and first place in the 2023 Next Light Novel Award’s bunkobon category.
Kadokawa previously also released a voice drama adaptation featuring Manaka Iwami as Umi Asanagi and Haruki Ishiya as Maki Maehara.
Source: I Made Friends with the Second Prettiest Girl in My Class Official X
© Takata/Kadokawa/KuraNika Production Committee
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