I Made Friends with the Second Prettiest Girl in My Class

Maki Maehara, a shy, lonely, high school student, unexpectedly becomes friends with Umi Asanagi after Umi learns about Maki's interests in scary movies. Umi, a popular student, is considered the second prettiest girl in their class behind Yuu Amami, who is Umi's best friend. Despite having seemingly different backgrounds, Maki and Umi share many of the same interests, which strengthens their bond together and leads to them hanging out after school often at Maki's house. As Maki and Umi become closer, Umi's best friend, Yuu, learns about their bond and joins Umi in befriending and hanging out with Maki. However, due to Umi having previously been abandoned by her two old friends in middle school for Yuu, Umi fears that Maki will also abandon her as Yuu begins to hang out with them more often. This ultimately leads to a confrontation between Umi, Yuu, and her two old friends, as Umi expresses how she feels inferior to Yuu. This causes Maki to advise Umi to temporarily stop hanging out with him in order to fix the relationship between her and Yuu, but Yuu refuses to allow this to happen, instead encouraging Maki and Umi to hang out together. This leads to Umi confessing that she has fallen head over heels in love with Maki after staying over at his house late one night, but Maki hesitates to accept as he worries about not being fit for Umi as a shy outcast in his class. Thus, he temporarily rejects her, but decides to stay friends with her for the time being.

Maki Maehara (前原 真樹, Maehara Maki)

Voiced by: Haruki Ishiya (PV, anime)^[2][3][4]

A high school student who has a loner personality. He is interested in anime, video games, B-movies, and other hobbies. After Umi reaches out to him, they start hanging out as they share similar hobbies. He has trauma over his parent's divorce, subconciously thinking all relationships will eventually fail. Initially, he rejects Umi's sudden confession, feeling like he's not fit to be her boyfriend and believing he doesn't want to have a relationship with anyone. But as they spend more time together, he realizes he actually does have a crush on her, getting flustered when she does cute things or shows him appreciation. Eventually, he confesses to her and becomes her boyfriend.

Umi Asanagi (朝凪 海, Asanagi Umi)

Voiced by: Manaka Iwami (PV, anime)^[2][3][4]

Maki's classmate, who is often referred to as the "second prettiest" girl in class. She has short black hair and is considered very attractive. She is good friends with Yū. She harbors an inferiority complex toward Yū due to often being overshadowed by her, which she hides behind a composed front. However, this slowly wears her down and makes her more guarded around Yū. She reaches out to Maki after learning they share similar tastes, and they begin hanging out often. She tends to go to his apartment, which leads to their mothers finding out they are close. She falls in love with Maki, and often gets jealous when he interacts with other girls or becoming flustered when he shows appreciation to her. She also becomes extremely angry and defensive when people insult Maki. Though he rejected her initial confession, she eventually becomes his girlfriend when he finally returns her feelings.

Yū Amami (天海 夕, Amami Yū)

Voiced by: Sayumi Suzushiro (PV, anime)^[3][4]

Maki and Umi's classmate, who is considered the prettiest girl in their class. She has long blonde hair and is of foreign descent. She is childhood friends with Umi. She starts taking an interest in Maki and begins hanging out with him after noticing his honesty, kindness, and respect toward others. She struggles to read the room despite having good intentions, which can create awkward situations. She also seems to have growing feelings for Maki, albeit much slower than Umi. However, she decides not to pursue those feelings for Umi's sake, and remains good friends with Maki.

Nina Nitta (新田新奈, Nitta Nīna)

Voiced by: Ikumi Hasegawa (anime)^[4]

A red-haired girl in Yū and Umi's friend group, who rarely hangs out with Maki. She often forgets Maki's name, instead calling him "class representative" (委員長, Iin-chō). She also often falls for older males who cheat on her.

Masaki Maehara (前原真咲, Maehara Masaki)

Voiced by: Yūko Kaida^[5]

Maki's mother. She works very hard and cares deeply about Maki. Similar to Sora, she is quite fond of Umi.

Sora Asanagi (朝凪空, Asanagi Sora)

Voiced by: Shizuka Itō^[5]

Umi's mother. She resembles an older version of Umi. She enjoys teasing Umi about her relationship with Maki and is quite fond of Maki herself.

Miki Yagisawa (八木沢美紀, Yagisawa Miki)

Voiced by: Minami Tsuda^[5]

The first-year homeroom teacher of Maki, Umi, Yū, Nina and Nozomu. During their second year, she continues to be the homeroom teacher for Maki and Yū's class.

Nozomu Seki (関 望, Seki Nozomu)

Voiced by: Rikuya Yasuda^[6]

A boy in Maki's class who has a crush on Yū, and as a result, is initially at odds with Maki due to Yū's perceived closeness to him. After a failed attempt to confess to Yū, Nozomu seeks Maki's companionship in order to get along with Yū. As a baseball player aspiring to turn professional, Nozomu also helps Maki improve his physical fitness for the sake of his own relationship with Umi.

Itsuki Maehara (前原 樹, Maehara Itsuki)

Voiced by: Shinji Kawada^[6]

Maki's estranged father due to a divorce. He encounters Maki for the first time in months at the start of December.

Kyoka Minato (湊 京香, Minato Kyoka)

Voiced by: Yurina Amami^[6]

Itsuki's secretary, who owes her position at the company to Itsuki's trust in her. Her feelings for Itsuki deepen after she discovers Itsuki's divorce papers, but she willingly abandons those feelings after seeing how Itsuki's divorce affected Maki.

Takata became a member of Kadokawa Corporation's user-generated novel publishing website Kakuyomu in February 2016.^[7] He chose Kakuyomu over Shōsetsuka ni Narō to start writing web novels because there were few people on Kakuyomu,^[8] which officially began its service in February 2016.^[9] 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),^[8] 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.^[10] 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.^[8][11]

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.^[38] The novel series ranked seventh in the Next Light Novel Award 2022,^[8] and won the Next Light Novel Award 2023 in the bunkobon category hosted by Kimirano.^[39]

The series has over one million copies in circulation.^[34] It has received very positive reviews from critics for its writing, characters, artstyle and emotional depth.