Once again, we have an anime title that is a lie: I Made Friends with the Second Prettiest Girl in My Class. While it’s true that the main character, Maki Maehara (Haruki Ishiya), does make friends with the very pretty Umi Asanagi (Manaka Iwami), she is not deserving of a red ribbon. Nay, I argue that she deserves the blue ribbon, even if the class-chosen first place winner, Yuu Amami (Sayumi Suzushiro), is quite the stunner too. But as the show goes on, Maki and Umi soon find themselves becoming more than what the title leads viewers to believe.

But first, let’s dive more into the plot of the series. At the start of I Made Friends with the Second Prettiest Girl in My Class, Maki acts more like a loner, distancing himself from the other classmates. When Umi reaches out to him, they start hanging out thanks to their common hobbies. They play video games together, watch really bad schlockbusters, and truly enjoy their time together. That’s when Yuu, who is Umi’s childhood friend, adds herself to the equation, and the three find themselves enjoying school lunch together and taking part in student council activities.

One of the great things about I Made Friends with the Second Prettiest Girl in My Class is how Maki’s life is presented. He comes from a broken home, with his father (Shinji Kawada) leaving his mother (Shizuka Ito), and the mother almost never being home and working herself to the bone. Because of this, Maki is almost always home alone at night, waiting for his mom to come back from another late night at work. At first, he doesn’t seem to be bothered by this too much.

However, when Umi becomes an important part of Maki’s life, he starts to realize that what happens in his daily life shouldn’t be normal. A moment that this becomes clear is when Umi invites Maki to have dinner with her family. There, he sees the parents and the siblings acting chummy and filled with happiness. At that point, he awakens to the truth about his own home life. How it bothers him leads to one of the most emotional moments between Maki and Umi, and it happens in a way that allows Umi to get closer to Maki in a heartfelt way.

All of it leads to a great moment near the Christmas break. Maki and his parents meet up, and the teen just lets his emotions take over. He feels angry that the two can’t get along, even if they’re no longer in love with one another. So much so, that he finds it hard to even consider himself a son to his father. It’s so surprising and refreshing to see divorce and how it affects a child, and I Made Friends with the Second Prettiest Girl in My Class does it so well.

It’s thanks to Umi that Maki is able to come out of his shell and not just say what he’s wanted to say to his parents, but also become a true part of the student body. Here was a guy who was being dunked on by his classmates, all because he never really gave them a chance to get to know him. With that being said, the things these students say at first are pretty harsh, and it takes Yuu to spout some proper sense at her classmates and wake them up. As time goes on, not only does Maki find his place at school, but he also winds up being near the center of its progress.

There’s also a nice natural feel to how Maki, Umi, and Yuu become close pals. Although both of the girls start to have feelings for the former loner, it becomes apparent to one of them that the other is a much, much better fit for him than she would be. As a result, we have a romantic comedy that attempts to veer away from the jealous and friendship-breaking moments, and instead allow the characters to go with the flow. Thanks to that, we witness Maki and Umi grow into a couple that any viewer can root for.

The voice cast does an excellent job with their character portrayals. Ishiya first keeps Maki sounding reserved, but as the story goes on, his voice becomes more powerful. Iwami knows when to put on the charms as Umi, but when it comes time for a tender moment, her performance shines like a comforting angel. Meanwhile, Suzushiro goes mostly the cute route with Yuu, only to bring about a beast of emotions when she needs to confront someone over their wrongdoings.

Perhaps the only thing that doesn’t stand out about this anime is its animation. It’s not bad by any means, but CONNECT (Senryu Girl, Slow Loop) brings about a style that feels like one too many of these high school rom-coms. In fact, I thought this was originally a Project No.9 production, seeing how closely their high school-based series look in comparison. However, when the series reaches an emotional moment, CONNECT does a really good job capturing the heart and soul of these characters.

Opening theme “Submarine Youth” by RegretGirl is a well-done pop rock song, one that sets the mood and feelings of this anime. It’s also nice seeing the bear-masked Koresawa bring about a hearty end theme via “Zutto Ichiban ni Shitene”, reminding this reviewer of an early YUI track. As for the main score, it’s pretty okay. However, considering it has three people making the background music (Ruka Kawada, Yayoi Sekimukai, and Shuhei Mutsuki), you’d think there’d be room for variety in there.

I Made Friends with the Second Prettiest Girl in My Class is an endearing and well-grounded romantic comedy. Although some things might be enhanced for dramatic effect, its portrayal of a high school dealing with his parents’ divorce is shockingly powerful. Thankfully, the love that blossoms between Maki and Umi helps the guy out with the toughest moments in his life, as the series goes to great lengths to show the importance of being there for a person in need. It’s that added heart and care that helps Umi be the true prettiest girl in her class, as her outer and inner beauty are truly unmatched.

I Made Friends with the Second Prettiest Girl in My Class can be viewed on Crunchyroll, and has been licensed by Crunchyroll. Episodes 1-11 were observed for review. Promotional consideration provided by Crunchyroll.