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There's No Freaking Way I'll Be Your Lover! Unless...

TV anime2025–2026

1 season17 episodes

Original: light novelみかみてれん

Looking for the manga? This page follows the light novel; the manga adaptation has its own volume numbers.

Suggested reading (English · Seven Seas Entertainment): Season 1 · Part 2 ends at Ep 5. Continue with Vol. 5. As of 2026-10-08, the original light novel is still being published; the latest is Vol. 8. The English edition (Seven Seas Entertainment) has reached Vol. 8.

Renako Amaori is leaving her awkward and lonely junior high school life behind, determined to become a normal girl with normal friends in high school. Glamorous, confident Mai Ouzuka is Renako’s total opposite: wealthy, outgoing, and a literal fashion model. Against the odds, the two girls form an immediate connection. Renako thinks she may have found the best friend of her dreams…until Mai’s romantic confession sends her into a tailspin. Renako wants to prove to Mai that being BFFs is better than being girlfriends, but Mai is dead set on convincing Renako that they’re destined to be lovers.

Book language
EditionSeven Seas Entertainment

Season 1 · Part 1

Medium confidence

12 episodesJul 2025 – Sep 2025

Anime ends at
Ep 12

After the first 12 episodes, continue the original light novel from volume 4. This is the material adapted in Next Shine, so choose volume 5 instead if you have also watched episodes 13–17.

There's No Freaking Way I'll be Your Lover! Unless… (Light Novel) Vol. 4

Seven Seas EntertainmentEnglishPaperback

Buy Vol. 4 on Amazon
Also in other languages:
Also in manga:
  • There's No Freaking Way I'll be Your Lover! Unless...Vol. 8After the first 12 episodes, continue the manga adaptation from volume 8. Its opening overlaps the anime, so read through the volume before moving on; the manga and original novels use different volume numbers.Buy on Amazon

Season 1 · Part 2

Medium confidence

5 episodesJan 2026

Anime ends at
Ep 5

After Next Shine (episodes 13–17), continue the original light novel from volume 5. These five episodes adapt volume 4; the manga adaptation has a different pace and numbering.

There's No Freaking Way I'll be Your Lover! Unless… (Light Novel) Vol. 5

Seven Seas EntertainmentEnglishPaperback

Buy Vol. 5 on Amazon
Also in other languages:
1 side entryRecapreading notes
  1. There's No Freaking Way I'll be Your Lover! Unless... ~Next Shine~ (Theatrical Edit)RecapNov 2025This theatrical edit combines the five Next Shine episodes (13–17). For what comes after the film, use the Next Shine reading guide for the original light novel.

All volumes

Seven Seas EntertainmentThe English edition is at Vol. 8.

  • There's No Freaking Way I'll be Your Lover! Unless... (Manga)

    Adaptationmanga

    I’m going to win myself the best school life ever! Determined to change after spending her middle school years alone, Amaori Renako reinvents herself as she starts high school. But an introvert at heart, she can’t settle into the outgoing life she’s always dreamed of, and she’s on the verge of suffocating… Then, through an unexpected turn of events, she hits it off with the school’s superstar, Oduka Mai. They share their troubles and become each other’s one-of-a-kind friend—or so she thought… “I’ve fallen in love with you…” Hold on, what happened to being friends!? Lovers or best friends—which relationship is right for them? A youthful girls’ love romantic comedy about deciding what the two of them will be to each other begins!

    • Season 1 · Part 2: After Next Shine (episodes 13–17), a continuation point in the manga adaptation has not been confirmed. The original light novel and manga adaptation progress at different speeds, so the novel’s starting volume cannot be used for the manga.
    Buy Vol. 1 on Amazon · English

Before you read

集英社: The Japanese edition is at Vol. 8.

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