CLASS DE 2-BANME NI KAWAII ONNANOKO TO TOMODACHI NI NATTA

DESCRIPTION

CAST

MANGA ComedyClass de 2-banme ni Kawaii Onnanoko to Tomodachi ni Natta
NOVEL ComedyClass de 2-banme ni Kawaii Onnanoko to Tomodachi ni Natta

REVIEWS

• 

  melamuna

  90/100
  wait… this anime is actually PEAK?

  ---

  

  First impressions alone, looking at its awful title and generic art style, you’d immediately think this is one of those series you’d brush off as just another light novel romance adaptation—something you either watch the first episode of and enjoy casually, or skip entirely. I initially did the latter.

  But then I actually started watching it, and from the very first episode, it began to carve out an identity of its own.

  That said, I should preface that it definitely contains elements that are undeniably generic. Beyond the things I already mentioned, there’s the familiar school setting, which we’ve seen countless times before and doesn’t offer anything particularly new. There are also characters who fall into recognizable archetypes, which can be frustrating in their own right.

  Yet despite relying on so many familiar ingredients, the series still manages to deliver not only one of the best comfort romance anime of the season, but potentially one of the best coming of age stories of the year. More importantly, it tells one of the most compelling stories about navigating romance and adolescence—and it all comes down to one crucial ingredient: making the characters feel real.

  From the romance side of things, we follow Maki Maehara and Umi Asanagi. After their paths collide, we get to witness one of the most natural portrayals of two characters gradually growing closer and eventually falling in love. The series handles this progression remarkably well, especially for characters who are trying their best not to disrupt the social status quo before eventually breaking out of their shells—a dynamic that feels true to adolescent romance.

  The hobbies they share and the way they interact with one another are undeniably cute and wholesome. You never seem to get tired of simply watching them spend time together, largely because the series refuses to reduce them to mere archetypes. Instead, it treats them as layered individuals with distinct personalities, which already puts this anime above many others in the same genre.

  However, despite presenting itself as a wholesome romance, that’s only half of what makes it great. What truly surprised me was how convincingly it handles relationship dynamics—not just between the two leads, but among the people surrounding them as well.

  One example is Umi’s circle of friends, particularly Yuu Amami, who initially comes across as a fairly generic archetype. As the story progresses, however, she becomes a genuinely caring and fleshed-out character alongside the main cast, all without stealing the spotlight. The same can be said for many of the other friend groups that appear throughout the series, even if their roles are relatively minor.

  Another pleasant surprise is the way the anime handles family relationships. While many of these moments are soft and wholesome, they are also grounded in a realism that reflects how family members actually interact with one another. On top of that, the series introduces some unexpectedly emotional and gut-wrenching drama through Maki’s family circumstances, adding a level of depth that immediately elevates the story even further.

  Because this anime respects its characters and treats them as real people rather than generic blueprints, it succeeds in delivering the story it wants to tell. ***

  Don't let the cover or title fool you, because this anime offers far more than it initially lets on. It stands as one of the best romance anime released this season, not only because of how comforting and heartfelt its portrayal of adolescent love is, but also because of its ability to deliver gut-wrenching dramatic moments that feel genuinely rooted in reality.

  It may not be the flashiest series, nor the most outrageous or attention-grabbing, but in an era where many romance anime rely on gimmicks and familiar formulas, a story that dives this deeply into human relationships is a rarity that not a lot of animes can provide. ***

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• 

  kadarakt

  84/100
  First impressions can be deceiving

  After finishing the first two episodes I was lukewarm on the show. It seemed like just another cliche romantic story for high school boys. Loner boy with no friends just so happens to have close interests with the manic pixie dream girl who enters his life and changes everything. Couple that with the show's title almost making it seem like the value of the girl derives from her beauty, and I though I could take a good guess at the kind of show this was going to be, some low quality wish fulfillment slop. However, that is not how the show turned out to be at all.

  Some minor spoilers for the show ahead

  Both the male and female lead are shown as nuanced characters with their own set of troubles and their own set of reasons for why they act in the way they do. The female lead is focused on first, depicting her struggles with being the "second" prettiest girl and being friends with the "first" prettiest girl, leading to the people around her to use her as a stepping stone to get closer to the first prettiest girl rather than actually building intimate human connections with her. Even close friends she knew since childhood would eventually scheme behind her back in order to achieve this. Her eccentric and lively attitude is shown as more of a mask she dons in order to fit in with the social dynamics around her, and is the reason why she approached the male lead, as she felt like she could finally build a genuine connection with someone through shared interests, someone outside of this weird circle of social standing politics.

  After focusing on the female lead's troubles, the focus is shifted on the male lead's issues, usually relating to family matters. The male lead is first shown as a complete loner, having never made friends, and a socially anxious wreck. However, as the story progresses, he is shown as a more nuanced character. He knows when to say no and draw boundaries. The divorce of his mom and dad has greatly effected him, even if he does not fully realize it yet, and he has to face that before feeling like he can become a man who can proudly say he is dating the female lead. We see him become quite proactive in order to face these insecurities of his, and yet also very sensitive, regularly tearing up and even crying, depicting a picture of bravery and "manhood" I enjoy far more than the emotionless "be a man" type. We also learn much of his loneliness and social ineptness stems from their family moving around a lot due to his father's job, although it is only mentioned and not really focused on.

  Another great point about the show is how the relationship develops between the two leads. In anime, romance is very binary. Either you're going out or you're not, with everything leading up to a grand confession scene. I don't hate that in principle but it can be very tiring and annoying from a viewer perspective when it's dragged out for a while. In the show we see in the first few episodes a friendship blossom slowly into love, at which point your average romantic anime would drag it out for a cour or two or three. But here a confession happens at the end of episode 5, where it is very clear both characters reciprocate each other's emotions. Although the male lead delays the "official" relationship for a while, as he wants to sort his own problems first, from then on they are practically lovers in all but name, going out on dates while still maintaining their friendly bond. That was an aspect I also greatly enjoyed, as once the two characters start having feelings for each other other romance anime tend to completely ignore the friendly bond the characters shared before in favor of making all scenes purely romantic and doki doki from then on, which feels unnatural and almost sad, like I lost out on a dynamic I liked for no reason.

  In conclusion I was very pleasantly surprised by this show, which I thought was just going to be generic wish fulfillment, but turned out to be far more mature and nuanced than my initial impressions of it. I don't think it's a perfect romance or anything, in fact there are some romance anime that I enjoy more than this one despite them engaging in the cliches that I applauded this anime for not falling into. But I think it was a really great watch and I would recommend it to all romance enjoyers.

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• 

  terasel

  60/100
  Quite the balanced romcom experience, but it's not for me.

  "I Made Friends with the Second Prettiest Girl in My Class" was a romcom that I unexpectedly got around to watch. I did not have much expectations at the start but surprisingly, it managed to catch my attention. I was enjoying it, I was ready to like it with passion. But some things in the story, especially our main couple in question prevented me from savoring what this story presents in its fullest. So let's talk about why.

  I don't need to do the reintroductions about what this anime is about, as I have already given a spoiler warning (and because I am lazy) so I'll head right in. In this anime, a group of people finding out about themselves and discovering their feelings was the main premise. And this was delivered spot on actually. That, I do not have any conflicts with. The anime is doing what it needs at correct times to flesh out the characters. Like one of the episodes teasing about Umi having an inferior complex, and at the end of it, fully acknowledging that she has it and telling us the fact that she is aware of it. The story is self-aware of what it is presenting to its viewers and manages to lead the way for them to explore its characters and world. The details are given to you at right moments so you actually feel like you are learning about the characters in a natural way and get invested on their journey at your own pace. It doesn't shove up things your ass to teach you about a character and expect you to feel a certain way for its gimmick to function. The show knows where to draw the line, acknowledges that you may not be invested in some characters and keeps things vague until it is ready for a big lore drop. This is a good way to respect your viewers. The story knows what it has conveyed and what the implications of it will be further down the line. And another big positive is that it DEALS with the problems it has created. Quite a few of the romcoms I watched, likes to create problems and takes their SWEET ASS TIME dealing with it so they can get more chapters/episodes out of the material. But this show gets to the point, or even if it takes a long time; they make sure that the payoff is actually worth your time. Not something they stitch in a pinch to keep the ball rolling. The structure of the story is great! You can still get enjoyment out of different levels of emotional investment. While some shows fail to function if you are not invested like you are told.

  And this is where my problems start to arise. You can only keep things vague so much with your main characters on a romcom. If there is no romantic shenanigans among the main couple, it loses heat, quick. So what happens when you do not like the main couple but still like the show?

  This anime deals with delicate topics from time to time and it decides to, it is not able to cover the entire spectrum. To say that Maki and Umi have been on the receiving end of good fortune wouldn't be far stretched. I want to talk more about Maki as his parents getting divorced is quite an important character arc for him. Parents divorcing is something I had to go through as well. I was not as fortunate as Maki though, my mother couldn't afford to stop working and we would be flat out broke if not for that. Why did I talk about myself? Well I want to mention about Maki's mother. She was working and trying her absolute best to not use the funding she was receiving because of her pride. But she could afford not working and still being able to live the comfortable life she has built up with her son. Maki was in no real danger of having the fundamentals of his life being stripped away from him. This can be both good and bad depending on what you expect from the story. If you genuienly care about the world and its characters, this is a good thing for you. But if you fall on to the second case, in which you still respect the world but do not feel too attached to it; the quirk of characters being in no real danger, yet acting like their world is falling apart can get a little frustrating at times. Maki being selfish on some occasions and acknowledging it is selfish is good character growth, but at the same time it feels quite unrealistic and hard to relate to. Supposedly I went through a similar situation as Maki. So on paper, I should like him as a character but sadly that is far from being the case.

  There are other factors that add to my reservations for this show though. Umi as a character is quite the scaredy-cat at the start. If you just think about the sheer amount of prep-work she did just so she could have a successful conversation with Maki, you'd think if anybody would go to the extra distance in most cases. But this question just gets shrugged off entirely and is never elaborated on. Why? Because the connection the story wanted was already in place. No need to fix something that is not "broken" right? For conveniences sake! Anyway, the miracle Maki needs to fix his life just happens to fall on his lap. Quite easily I should add. Isn't that very convenient and lenient? Everything that these two seem to be doing eventually figure themselves out and in a favorable way for our couple.

  Even though the show is dealing with the conflicts in a good way, they do not feel significant and they could be disregarded if you really wanted...

  This is the story that I am supposed to care for. These two are the characters I am supposed to take seriously. So I can get enjoyment out of the romance aspect of the story. But with how power fantasy esque their journey feels, it was impossible for me to really care about where they ended up or how they felt at the end. There are many more details I could nitpick that contributes to me feeling this way but we both don't have the time for that. So let's finally talk about why I stuck around amidst that.

  Side characters.

  Yes, I am serious. I love how characters like Yuu or Nina break things up and allow the narrative to change its shape entirely. I especially liked the fact that Yuu being the cupid for Umi and Maki, allowing Umi to get that final push she needs to get things running. I love the way those two tease the main couple is one of the only reasons why this story felt really fresh to consume even though I was not getting the enjoyment I hoped I would get.
  The last episode was quite saddening though... It elevated my problems to eleven basically. I never thought after all the character development Maki had, that my opinion of him would do a complete 180. After all that he has done, he was summarized to your typical dorky main character, by his own words. Which was quite disappointing to see...

  Well this anime was quite the journey and it taught me one thing: Good characters carry a show. Even if it is just side characters, it can do way more than you think. So, do you have any examples of an anime you don't like but have a character in it that you really adore?

  Thanks for reading, this review was quite different from what I am used to write so I am curious about how it turned out. I quite literally dumped how I feel in its ugly form. With that I'll take my leave, bye!

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