Sometimes,
love is not in the first place of popularity, but in who you least
expect. ASMIK Ace on Wednesday revealed the main promotional
video for the anime adaptation of Takata's light novels, I
Made Friends with the Second Prettiest Girl in My Class (Class de
2-ban Me ni Kawaii Onna no Ko to Tomodachi ni Natta). The trailer came with
the confirmation that the series will officially premiere in April 2026.
The video
allows us to hear for the first time the opening theme titled "Submarine
Youth", performed by the band reGretGirl. The
animation is in charge of the CONNECT studio, under the
direction of Hideki Tachibana (known for Is It Wrong
to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? and Armed Girl's
Machiavellism).
The scripts
are being overseen by Keiichirō Ōchi (The Angel Next Door
Spoils Me Rotten), while the character design is the work of Shoko
Takimoto. In addition, an extensive list of additional staff was announced,
including Takumi Shibata as assistant director and Michiko Morokuma as art
director.
Lead
Voice Cast
The
chemistry between the protagonists will be in the hands of a talented cast:
- Haruki
Ishiya as Maki Maehara
- Manaka Iwami (Mahiru Shiina in The
Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten) as Umi Asanagi
- Sayumi Suzushiro (Nijika Ijichi in Bocchi
the Rock!) as Yū Amami
- Ikumi Hasegawa (Vladilena Milizé
in 86: Eighty-Six) as Nina Nitta.
About
the original work
Takata began publishing the story
on Kadokawa's Kakuyomu website in November 2020,
where it won a special prize in the site's sixth web novel contest. The series
tells the story of Maki, who befriends Umi, the girl considered the
"second cutest" in the class, discovering that social labels do not
define a person's true charm. Are you ready for this school romantic comedy?
