Forum - View topicI Made Friends with the Second Prettiest Girl in My Class (TV).
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Edjwald
 Posts: 3507 |
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I Made Friends with the Second Prettiest Girl in My Class (TV) Source: Light Novel (ongoing @ 9 volumes, written by Takata, illustrated by Tom Osabe [volume 1], Azuri Hyūga [volume 2+]) Demographic: Animation Studio: Connect Genres: comedy, romance Themes: school Plot Summary: Maki Maehara, the class outcast, finally makes his first friend: Umi Asanagi, the second-prettiest girl in class and the center of everyone’s attention. He’s convinced she’s out of his league, but as their unlikely friendship grows, Maki starts to wonder…could there be more than just friendship between them. Air Date & Platform: April 07, 2026 (Tuesday) Available on: Crunchyroll Episode Count / Runtime: 12 episodes Trailer [EDIT: Fancy opener stuff edited. -TK] |
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Edjwald
Posts: 3507 |
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It used to be that when Hollywood was in a much better place financially than it is now, whenever one of the big studios put out a movie - romance, disaster, action, period piece, whatever - other studios would find out about it and rush out similar projects to compete with it.
The anime industry currently seems to operate on the same principle. One season will be dominated by sports shows, another season by fantasy action, another season - like this one - by romances. A big reason that Isekai got so much hate during the Isekai goldrush was that the genre was a player every season for about three years running. Just to put this in perspective, yesterday, there were more romances than I could shake a remote at even if Marriagetoxin and Pardon the Intrusion, I'm Home aren't set in the traditional high school (thank God), and I still haven't seen the latter and Even A Replica Can Fall in Love yet. Next week, I Want to End This Love Game premieres on the same day. Today, Gals Can't Be Kind to Otaku? which has a similar premise to the anime of this thread will premiere to go along with Go For it Nakamura. That's not mentioning the other four high school romances that have already premiered on different days or assuming Ramparts of Ice will become one. I'm not sure if I should include the romance fantasies, but there are a number of them too. Anyhow, back to I Made Friends With the Prettiest Girl in Class. I guess my point was that this anime has its work cut out for it if it wants to be distinct with a plot about a popular girl befriending a gloomy, unpopular pseudo-Otaku. And I'd say it does a decent job. The main female lead, Umi, comes across as likably lively and self-aware without being a caricature. At present, her reason for hanging around the male lead seems to be that she feels a little confined by her role as the most popular girl's entourage and wants to carve out a little quiet space for herself. The main upcoming conflict will probably involve the popular girl not taking that well. The nature of that popular girl's clinginess isn't clear yet, but it seems extreme. The male lead isn't an Otaku caricature or a strange combination of extreme low self-esteem and wild arrogance. He's just an introvert with his own brand of integrity. Not as fun as Umi, but not unlikable. I found the anime watchable with the potential to be very watchable. The show's biggest challenge as I see it (and the reason for my lengthy introduction) is that its low-key charm is centered around a premise that's been portrayed many times - and in fact, two other shows this season Gals Can't Be Kind to Otaku and The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten are variations of the same theme. But I'm rooting for it. |
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smurky turkey
Posts: 4990 |
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What helps a lot is Maki being better at communicating than I expected. Sure, he is not good at presenting himself but once he got to know Umi he became fairly chill with hanging out and just having fun while talking about things. In far too many other similar anime the mc would be too shy/insecure to say anything or would blush every 10 seconds. Umi clearly has some things she is dealing with too with her friend indeed being very clingy and her reaction to that confession seeming a bit off.
Agreed Edjwald, though I would say that the three most common ones are isekai, romance and villain(ness) themed seasons. |
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smurky turkey
Posts: 4990 |
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2:
The show getting into group dynamics and expectations has me rather interested. The second episode provided plenty of it. Umi indeed desperately needs a friend she can be her true self with since she is so stuck in her role with her other friends. Kudos to Maehara for standing his ground and telling Amami that not everyone wants to do large group activities. Amami seems to be not great at reading the room. Nitta is... no idea what is up with her. |
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Edjwald
Posts: 3507 |
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I'm going to have to drop at least 10 of the anime that I've given 3 episode passes to, but I'm pretty sure that this one isn't going to be one of them. I like the two leads, and I like the dynamic between them. The BFF being a complicating issue is being handled a bit differently than the usual tropes I'm used to seeing, and I'm interested in seeing what other complications start spinning out of control as Umi and Maeharo try to keep their secret..
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zfunk
Posts: 546 |
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I like this series, and I am impressed with some things it does. Though timing is everything, I would like this show more and be more impressed if I never saw You and I are Polar Opposites.
What strides this show takes to be different and less troupe than other shows, YAIPO moved way past those tropes and are moving past other tropes. The biggest example, Amani the "prettiest girl in class" is not a antagonist, I kind of thought she would be. Especially when Maki rejected her invitation for a group activity, I thought this is when she shows her true colors, she is going to go crazy, she is going to make Maki's life miserable for embarrassing her in front of all these people. And they don't go down that route, in fact she is the character I feel for most at the end of episode 2 giving the situation, why are two leads keeping secrets from her. They are just making things worse, the more hurt she will be when she finds out. And that is an example is what separates it from You And I are Polar Opposites, that wouldn't happen in that series, everyone would be open and be mature to not be a shame to hang around with different sets of friends that have different interests. I wish Miyu could talk to Umi and tell her she is making things more difficult than they have to be, though the better character for this job would be Shino to tell them all to stop all this over dramatic crap and just be honest. |
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TJ_Kat
Posts: 870 Location: Saskatoon, Canada |
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I wasn't sure about Umi at first. She came across as aloof and unapproachable, not just to Maehara, but to the viewer too. But when she's alone with Maehara, that persona slips and she does a lot of playful (not mean) teasing.
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zfunk
Posts: 546 |
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Amami at the very end, why isn't she the lead girl? But between Amami, Mimi in Always a Catch, Bertia in An Observation Log of my Fiance Who Calls Herself a Villainess, it is the season of girls who just say what ever is on their mind and don't give a dam.
I do wonder if Umi towards Amami for trying to befriend Maki, like someone who discovered something, and now their friend want to get on the action, but the first person wants that part to themselves. To quote George Costanza "Why can't there be some things just for me, is that so selfish." Both moms are freaking cool. So far we have not have the distant cold hearted parent trope yet. Last edited by zfunk on Tue Apr 21, 2026 2:59 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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smurky turkey
Posts: 4990 |
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3:
I know that Yuu means well but she sure is a lot. She does not read the room at all and can be really pushy at times. That bit at the end can become very awkward depending on how it is handled next week. I can't help but feel bad for Umi for being stuck with her so to speak. She is always compared to the number one and given how Yuu is she will stick her nose into anything Umi finds interesting. The moment when Umi was convined that Maki would cancel on her was just sad. |
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zfunk
Posts: 546 |
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I am not sure, I think Umi is the weird one, she is the one who needs to work on things. Maki and Yuu are the normal ones. Yuu wants to be friends with Maki and when question says because he is nice, Maki telling Yuu he can't hang out on Fridays because he has plans, and Yuu is fine with that and they schedule around that, that is what normal people do.
Umi is turning into mole hills more than she has to. And how can you not be on Yuu's side, those classmates had it coming, someone needed to take them down a peak. |
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smurky turkey
Posts: 4990 |
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In theory I do not disagree with you but it is clear that Umi always being compared to Yuu is a source of pain for her and has been for a while now. I can understand her fear of losing a friend she really connects with because Yuu has entered the picture, I would not be surprising if that has happened before.
As for Yuu addressing the class... she means well but it can make things even worse. |
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Edjwald
Posts: 3507 |
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I do wish Umi and Maki could have had their bubble for a few more episodes before things got to this point. Anyhow, it looks like a large part of this anime is going to be about the complications arising from Umi needing to have a heart to heart with Yuu,
I kind of suspect that the reason Yuu and Umi both transferred from that all girls school together is that Umi transferred because she was desperate to get her own space, and Yuu found out about it and followed after her. It may be unintentional because Umi can't bring herself to tell Yuu to #@$% off (partly because she really does like Yuu and partly because it feels vulnerable admitting she's insecure or whatever), but Yuu still feels a bit like a low grade stalker (don't forget her sneaking around to spy on Umi getting confessed to). I think Umi started her relationship with Maki and kept it a secret for the same reason, and now it feels like Yuu's crowding in on that too. |
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TJ_Kat
Posts: 870 Location: Saskatoon, Canada |
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Didn't they already mention at one point that that's exactly what happened? (I could be mis-remembering) Yuu has a big personality and dominates any room she is in. Umi likes Yuu, but she doesn't want to be defined in relation to Yuu. She wants to be her own person, with her own space, doing her own things. She gets that with Maki, but seems afraid - maybe due to past experience - that Maki will get pulled into Yuu's orbit the more time they spend together, and seems a little oblivious that Maki is actually into her specifically. |
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Edjwald
Posts: 3507 |
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Actually, Yuu might have said something to the effect that she followed Umi in the first episode now that I thunk about it...but I can't precisely remember either.
Another piece of this is that Yuu is generally nice to everybody, but she hounds the people who don't have a worshipful attitude towards her, as if the idea that she isn't loved by everyone panics her. That seems to be a big part of what's driving her with the MC - the more he tries to distance himself, the more she tries to be around him. Her friendship with Umi might be part of the same process...she hounds Umi so much because she senses Umi is trying to pull away. |
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smurky turkey
Posts: 4990 |
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4:
Yeah, I agree with Umi that is time to address her inferiority complex, the situation can not go on any longer. Her having said complex makes complete sense given all that we have seen up until now. That bit with the two girls made clear why Umi was so scared of Yuu getting closer to Maki. It is selfish on her part for feeling that way and some might argue that it makes her a bad friend but the situation is not healthy and I would argue that Yuu is co-dependent on Umi. I am not sure if Yuu will be able to properly understand the explanation though. Plus even if she does, what is she supposed to do with it. At least the class hating Maki bit ended relatively well. |
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