After fumbling his self-introduction, Maehara Maki settles into what will probably be a lonely, uneventful high school life. Yet, as the class social circles start to take shape, a popular girl named Asanagi Umi enters his life. Dubbed the “second cutest girl in class” thanks to her radiate best friend Amami, Asanagi ends up befriending Maki, even going so far as to spend every Friday at his house playing games, snacking, and watching movies.
While they cherish this private time together as they become closer and closer friends, there are others who begin to notice Asanagi’s interest in Maki.
We don’t need to be special to everyone, just one single person is enough. If you are looking for more anime recommendations like I Became Friends with the Second Cutest Girl in the Class, head on down below.
Anime Like I Became Friends with the Second Cutest Girl in the Class
For Fans of Girls X Nerds
Gals Can’t Be Kind to Otaku
Takuya Seo is an otaku who sits behind two popular girls, Ijichi and Amane. Takuya expects that he wouldn’t have much in common with them, but one day, after a borrowed eraser strikes up a conversation, Takuya finds himself talking about his favorite anime only to be corrected by Amane just a little too quickly and accurately.
While Amane denies being a fan, the door has been opened and Amane and Ijichi both find themselves becoming good friends with Takuya.
Similarities Between I Became Friends with the Second Cutest Girl in the Class and Gals Can’t Be Kind to Otaku
- One nerdy guy, one nerdy girl, one vivacious blonde girl become a friend group.
- Low-key tug of war between the girls over the guy.
- Slice of school life plot as they slowly become besties… and more?
Differences Between I Became Friends with the Second Cutest Girl in the Class and Gals Can’t Be Kind to Otaku
- Gals Can’t Be Kind to Otaku is less dramatic and less serious. It has very little focus on insecurity or anxieties like Second Cutest Girl does.
- Gals Can’t Be Kind to Otaku keeps blonde girl as a viable romantic choice.
- The male main character is less socially advanced in Gals Can’t Be Kind to Otaku and far more skittish around the girls.
Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki-kun
Fumiya Tomozaki is the top player in Japan at a fighting game called TackFam. Despite holding such a title, he is a failure at everything else, blaming it on the unfair rules and mechanics of life.
One day, the second best TackFam player asks to meet up.
Tomozaki discovers that they are actually Aoi, one of the most popular girls at school. She, however, is disappointed that someone she respected is a failure at life.
Now, she aims to teach him how to succeed at the glorious game of life.
Similarities Between I Became Friends with the Second Cutest Girl in the Class and Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki-kun
- Nerdy guy and secret nerdy girl have an encounter and become friends
- Girl and guy hang out, but keep it a semi-secret at school
- Main girl is not the only potential love interest
- Slice of school life and interpersonal drama
Differences Between I Became Friends with the Second Cutest Girl in the Class and Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki-kun
- Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki is a rehabilitation series for the male main character. The girl is trying to help him not be such a basement dweller.
- The romance in Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki happens with a girl you don’t actually expect. (i.e. not the first girl he meets)
Makeine – Too Many Losing Heroines!
Nukumizu Kazuhiko is a high school boy that is content with just blending in with the crowd. One day, he watched a popular classmate, Yanami Anna, get dumped by her childhood friend that she had confessed to.
Feeling like he should comfort her, Nukumizu ends up increasingly entangled with Yanami as well as several other girls who he witnesses get turned down by their unrequited loves.
Similarities Between I Became Friends with the Second Cutest Girl in the Class and Makeine
- Girl has an encounter with the class outcast, they become friends
- The friend group is slowly expanding as others learn of the friendship, and suddenly he has many female friends with complicated feelings for him.
- Main character observing the interpersonal issues of his friends, and being pulled into them.
Differences Between I Became Friends with the Second Cutest Girl in the Class and Makeine
- Makeine is an actual harem, but the main character just attracts girls that got rejected by their crushes, so it is trying to subvert things.
- The male main character in Makeine wants to not be involved in this story to a comical degree (he is just pulled into everyone’s problems)
- The main romance in Makeine, because it is a harem, is more vague.
For Fans of Does This Overly Affectionate Girl Love Me? I Can’t Tell.
The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten
After seeing the “angel” of his school, Mahiru Shiina, sitting in the rain, Amane Fujimiya gives her his umbrella and catches a cold because of it.
While he expected her to return the umbrella eventually, he is surprised when she, a girl who is also his neighbor, comes over to take care of him.
Seeing the unsightly state of his apartment, she helps him get that in order and suddenly he finds that she is doing small household task for him every day after school as they spend more time together.
Similarities Between I Became Friends with the Second Cutest Girl in the Class and The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten
- World’s most averagest guy attracts a cute girl by doing almost nothing.
- Cute girl spends a lot of time at his house alone with him.
- They keep it a secret at school until a a spare few side characters find out
- External drama for the characters, peaceful wholesome romantic relationship
Differences Between I Became Friends with the Second Cutest Girl in the Class and The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten
- Both characters in The Angel Next Door are gloomy, quiet folk with emotional trauma. They aren’t exactly dripping with personality outside of the trauma either.
- The Angel Next Door doesn’t have a third-party attempting a love triangle
My Friend’s Little Sister Has It In for Me
After becoming friends with a boy who lived next door, Akiteru Oboshi finds himself the target of constant pestering by his little sister, Iroha. Drawing them even closer together, Akiteru, Iroha, and her brother Ozuma formed the 5th Floor Alliance, a game development group that has celebrated some success despite all three being in high school.
After being approached by his uncle, Akiteru agrees to start a relationship with his cousin Mashiro in exchange for financial support for the company, much to Iroha’s shock.
Similarities Between I Became Friends with the Second Cutest Girl in the Class and My Friend’s Little Sister Has It In for Me
- An average gamer attracts the laser-targeted affections of a popular, vivacious girl
- The popular girl is sociable, but also a game enjoyer
- They spend a lot of time alone at each other’s house
- They ignore each other at school
- Love triangle elements despite such a clearly strong main couple
Differences Between I Became Friends with the Second Cutest Girl in the Class and My Friend’s Little Sister Has It In for Me
- My Friend’s Little Sister requires some suspension of disbelief as the main character is in high school, but runs a fairly successful indie game dev company.
- The love triangle in My Friend’s Sister comes from the fact that the main character is pretend-dating his cousin for… insane reasons.
For Fans of Love Tug of War (With An Obvious Winner)
Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian
Seirei Academy is renowned for on accepting the most prestigious students, and the student council members sit at the pinnacle of this elite group.
Alisa Mikhailovna “Alya” Kujou, the half-Russian and half-Japanese treasurer of the school’s student council, is idolized in the school for her intelligence and good looks, but isolated for her rigid, cold personality. This is in stark contrast to Masachika Kuze, her unmotivated and easy-going classmate.
While Alya was initially irritated with his laid-back attitude, she has become increasingly intrigued by Kuze and occasionally lets her true feelings seep out in Russian.
What Alya doesn’t know is that Kuze has been secretly studying Russian in hopes to reunite with a childhood friend who moved away, and understands the too-nice things she has been saying about him.
Similarities Between I Became Friends with the Second Cutest Girl in the Class and Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian
- A boy has a special relationship with a girl in his class with a secret to it
- Flimsy love triangle with a clear main girl
- Stoic, clear-headed main characters watch girls have interpersonal drama.
Differences Between I Became Friends with the Second Cutest Girl in the Class and Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian
- Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian is about a girl who voices her love for the main character in Russian, and doesn’t know he can actually understand Russian. That’s the secret, they’re not actually very close friends like in Second Cutest Girl.
- The titular Alya in Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian is an ice queen type.
- The other side of the love triangle Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian is the main character’s sister.
- The male main character in Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian has his own problems going on in his life, which lends to the show’s heavier, more melancholy drama.
I’m Getting Married to a Girl I Hate in My Class
Saito Houjou gets along easily with just about everyone in his class—except for Akane Sakuramori. With her temperamental attitude and their contrasting personalities, the two have been locked in endless animosity for as long as they have known each other.
They are surprised when they learn that their grandparents not only know each other, but have arranged a meeting between them. They are further shocked when their grandparents announce that they two of them should get married.
Not wanting to go against their grandparents wishes, Saito and Akane move in together. Now under the same roof with the prospect of marriage looming over their heads, can they turn contention into love?
Similarities Between I Became Friends with the Second Cutest Girl in the Class and I’m Getting Married to a Girl I Hate in My Class
- Guy is spending lots of time with a girl from his class at home in secret
- That girl has a more vivacious blonde friend that also starts to get close to him. Jealousy ensues.
- Slice of school life with interpersonal drama
Differences Between I Became Friends with the Second Cutest Girl in the Class and I’m Getting Married to a Girl I Hate in My Class
- I’m Getting Married to a Girl I Hate in My Class is indeed about two classroom enemies getting engaged by their families and living together.
- The main couple doesn’t get along very well at first in I’m Getting Married to a Girl I Hate in My Class .
- The blonde girl is very obviously romantically interested in I’m Getting Married to a Girl I Hate in My Class. Amami is more ambiguous about her feelings.
- The female main love interest in I’m Getting Married to a Girl I Hate in My Class is a big tsundere.
Can A Boy-Girl Friendship Survive
Himari Inuzuka and Yuu Natsume became best friends after Himari agreed to help Yuu market and get his flower-based fashion accessories in stores. Now in their second year of high school, they are both starting to look to the future.
While their friendship has been peaceful and pleasant for years, when Yuu reconnects with his childhood crush, Rion Enomoto, both Himari and Yuu have to come to terms with feelings that they didn’t know lurked under the surface of their relationship.
Similarities Between I Became Friends with the Second Cutest Girl in the Class and Can a Boy-Girl Friendship Survive
- Guy is caught in a fight between two women
- Clear main love interest, with a second woman involved for various reasons
- Two friends, in a slow burning fight due to a lack of communication
Differences Between I Became Friends with the Second Cutest Girl in the Class and Can a Boy-Girl Friendship Survive
- Boy-Girl Friendship is a proper love triangle in which two girls are fighting over a man.
- The fight between friends in Boy-Girl Friendship is between the boy and a girl trying to deny their romantic feelings, so it is a different dynamic compared to Asanagi and Amami’s tension.
- Boy-Girl Friendship is the far more dramatic show.
Do you have more anime recommendations like I Became Friends with the Second Cutest Girl in the Class? Let fans know in the comments section below.
