It has been announced that the TV anime series "I Made Friends with the Second Prettiest Girl in My Class(KuraNika)," based on the light novel from Sneaker Bunko (KADOKAWA), will begin airing in April 2026. A key visual featuring the protagonist, Maehara Maki, a shady boy who passes by the protagonist in the school hallway, and the heroine, Asanagi Umi, who is the second cutest in the class, as well as a promotional video featuring Umi, the most beautiful girl in the class, Amami Yuu, and Umi and Yuu's friend, Nitta Niina, have also been released. It has also been announced that the band "reGretGirl" will be performing the opening theme "Submarine Youth."
The popular light novel, written by Takata and illustrated by Hinata Azuri, won the grand prize in the paperback category of the Next Light Novel 2023. Maehara Maki, a loner in class, becomes friends with Asanagi Umi, a girl who is always the center of attention and is rumored by the other boys to be the second cutest in the class. The series has sold over 1.3 million copies in total.
The anime will be directed by Hideki Tachibana and produced by CONNECT. The voice actors for Maki will be Manaka Iwami.
◇Staff (titles omitted)
Director: Tachibana Hideki ▽ Assistant Director: Shibata Takumi ▽ Series Composition & Screenplay: Ochi Keiichiro ▽ Character Design: Takimoto Shoko ▽ Clothing Design: Hayashi Natsuna ▽ Chief Animation Director: Takimoto Shoko, Hayashi Natsuna ▽ Art Director: Morokuma Michiko ▽ Background Studio: Studio Tenjin ▽ Color Design: Tsukino Erika ▽ 3D Director: Saito Takeshi ▽ 3DCG Studio: Wired ▽ Director of Photography: Yanagida Takashi ▽ Photography Studio: EXPLOSION ▽ Sound Director: Tsuchiya Masaki ▽ Sound Production: Bit Groove Promotion ▽ Music: Kawada Ruka, Sekimuki Yayoi, Mutsuki Shuhei ▽ Editor: Sendo Maki ▽ Editing Studio: REAL-T ▽ Production Studio: CONNECT
◇Cast (titles omitted)
Maehara Maki: Ishitani Haruki ▽ Asanagi Umi: Manaka Iwami: Sayumi Suzushiro ▽ Nitta Niina: Ikumi Hasegawa
