Chitose Is in the Ramune Bottle

Saku Chitose is the guy everyone at school wants to be friends with. He is good-looking, athletic, and always surrounded by a lively group. But that polished image comes at a cost. Behind the smiles, Chitose is constantly performing, carefully saying and doing whatever keeps his social standing intact. The cracks start to show when a teacher asks him to reach out to Yua Ogata, a quiet girl who has been isolated by the class. What begins as a favor turns into something deeper as Chitose sees his own hidden loneliness reflected in her.

Hiromu and illustrator raemz build a story that moves between lighthearted school days and sharp, introspective moments. The series launched in Japan on June 18, 2019, under Shogakukan's Gagaga Bunko imprint. Each volume runs roughly 250 to 300 pages, and the series is still ongoing. Its honest look at identity and social masks has connected with readers. The series won the grand prize in the light novel category at the 2022 Next Light Novel Awards and has sold over 1.2 million copies as of January 2025.

The world has expanded beyond the books. A manga adaptation by Bobcat ran in Square Enix's Manga Up! from April 2020 to February 2025, collected into eight volumes. An anime by studio Feel is scheduled to air in two cours: the first from October 2025 to March 2026, and the second in October 2026. A stage play was announced in March 2025, running in Tokyo and Hyogo in July of that year.[edit]