Chitose Is in the Ramune Bottle

Insults aimed at Saku Chitose are a dime a dozen. Nicknamed "Class 5's womanizing scumbag," he is constantly slandered online by those jealous of his popularity. Luckily, that barely makes a dent in Saku's confidence. Outside niche internet forums, he is the reputable figure his schoolmates admire and a model student his teachers trust. As his second year of high school commences, Saku reunites with his old friends and befriends new ones, all belonging to the school's social elite. However, the fun is cut short when Saku's homeroom teacher instructs him to convince his shut-in classmate, Kenta Yamazaki, to return to school. Wishing to wrap things up quickly, Saku visits Kenta's house the very next day. But the task proves more challenging than he expected when he discovers that Kenta is firmly and fully on the Saku hate train. If he wants to preserve his impeccable image, Saku must find a way to win over Kenta and bring him back to school. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

The series won the Award of Excellence in the 13th installment of the Shogakukan Light Novel Award in 2018 under the title Ramune no Bin ni Shizunda Biidama no Tsuki (ラムネの瓶に沈んだビー玉の月). It was later renamed to Chitose-kun wa Ramune Bin no Naka for the official publication. The novel ranked first in the 2021 and 2022 Kono Light Novel ga Sugoi! for the Light Novels category; it also ranked second in the guidebook's 2023 list. Chitose-kun wa Ramune Bin no Naka has been published in English as Chitose Is in the Ramune Bottle by Yen Press under the Yen On imprint since March 15, 2022. The city of Fukui launched a collaboration campaign to highlight various locations the series features throughout the story in 2022.