My Friend's Little Sister Has It In for Me!

With one ironclad rule — no romance, just work — Akiteru Ōboshi is laser-focused on getting his indie game dev crew, the 5th Floor Alliance, a spot at his uncle's global entertainment company, Honey Place Works. The problem is his uncle's condition for that support — Akiteru has to pretend to be the boyfriend of his cousin Mashiro Tsukinomori, an ice-cold second-year who clearly wants nothing to do with the arrangement either. Meanwhile, his best friend Ozuma's little sister Iroha keeps finding ways to get under his skin with relentless teasing and flirting that Akiteru writes off as meaningless, because every girl he's ever dealt with has treated him like a joke. He's probably wrong about Iroha, but he's too stubborn and too busy to notice. This is a 12-episode TV series from Studio Blade, adapted from a light novel, and it sits comfortably in that fake-dating rom-com space. If you liked Nisekoi's forced relationship setup or Oreshura's "contractual girlfriend" premise, this hits similar notes but adds the game development angle, which gives the cast something to actually do besides fumble through misunderstandings. The dynamic between Iroha's aggressive teasing and Mashiro's cold-shoulder act keeps things from getting stale. It's not reinventing anything — it's a school romance comedy that knows exactly what it is and leans into it. Fans of Toradora's sharp character banter will find a lot to like in how these relationships bounce off each other.