Key art for the 2025 Japanese BL series School Trip: Joined a Group I'm Not Close To
School Trip: Joined a Group I'm Not Close To (2025) key art. © ABC Television. Image via TMDB, shown solely to identify the series being reviewed.

School Trip: Joined a Group I’m Not Close To

CompletedTV Series🇯🇵

What happens

School Trip: Joined a Group I'm Not Close To (Japanese: 修学旅行で仲良くないグループに入りました) is a Japanese boys' love television drama. Hioki Asahi is separated from his close friends and left on his own when groups are formed for the trip. A boy he has known from earlier years invites him, almost by force, into a group of four popular, good-looking friends. Inside that group, Watarai Tsukasa gets to know him better, and the two spend more and more time together.

Fujimoto Kodai plays Hioki Asahi and Kan Hideyoshi plays Watarai Tsukasa. Sakuragi Masaya plays Morisaki Naoya, Fukuda Ayuta plays Nakasato Haruki, Shimizu Kairi plays Hotta Hayato and Yamada Kento plays Tsujitani Raiku.

The series adapts the novel by Kakuregi Uzura, published by Starts Publishing under its BeLuck Bunko label. Yamashita Subaru wrote the scripts, and Shindo Takehiro, Fujisawa Hirokazu, Hasegawa Takuya and Yasumi Goro directed. ABC Television produced it with production cooperation from The icon, and DXTEEN performs the theme song.

Ten episodes aired weekly on Saturdays at 1:00 on ABC Television in the Kansai region, from 18 October to 20 December 2025, with catch up on TVer and ABEMA and exclusive viewing on FOD. The first season passed 7.3 million views on TVer.

The story continued in an After Story of two episodes on FOD, aired from 28 December 2025 to 4 January 2026. A second season begins on 17 October 2026, on Saturdays at 1:00 on ABC Television, with the same two leads.

CONTENT DETAILS

Native Title
修学旅行で仲良くないグループに入りました
Original Title
School Trip: Joined a Group I'm Not Close To
Also Known As
Shugakuryoko de Nakayokunai Group ni Hairimashita, I Happened To Join A Group Of Cool Guys On A School Trip
Adaptation
Adapted from the novel Shugakuryoko de Nakayokunai Group ni Hairimashita by Kakuregi Uzura, published by Starts Publishing under its BeLuck Bunko label.
Genres
ComedyDrama
Themes
BL
Key Themes
Group TripGroup AssignmentsOutsider Among Popular FriendsNovel AdaptationLate Night Japanese DramaShort Follow Up EpisodesAnnual Autumn Season
Country
Japan
Language
Japanese
Networks
ABC TelevisionABEMAFODTVer
Seasons
1
Episodes
10
Duration
30 min
Aired Start
Aired End
Release Year
2025
Production Co
The icon

Where to watch School Trip: Joined a Group I’m Not Close To

TVer

Before You Watch

  • Release: ten episodes on ABC Television, Saturdays at 1:00, from 18 October to 20 December 2025.
  • Source: the novel by Kakuregi Uzura, published by Starts Publishing under its BeLuck Bunko label.
  • Leads: Fujimoto Kodai plays Hioki Asahi and Kan Hideyoshi plays Watarai Tsukasa.
  • Where to watch: catch up on TVer and ABEMA, with exclusive viewing on FOD.
  • Audience: the first season passed 7.3 million views on TVer.
  • Continuation: a two episode After Story aired on FOD, and a second season begins on 17 October 2026.

Reviewed by Renkaze

A trip that starts with being left out

The story begins with an ordinary event, forming groups for a trip. Hioki Asahi is separated from his close friends, and he is left on his own. A boy he knew from earlier years then invites him into a group of four popular friends, and the drama builds its first episodes on how Hioki behaves among people he does not know well. The situation is small and familiar, being the one person without a group, which keeps the stakes close to everyday life.

The group of four

The popular friends each carry a distinct label in the series. Watarai is the one with the standout looks, Morisaki is the cool one, Nakasato is the cute one and Hotta is the sociable one who knows everyone. Because every member of the group is defined by a single quality, the group reads as a ready made social world that Hioki, an ordinary young man, has to find a place in.

Local broadcast, wide reach

The series aired on ABC Television in the Kansai region on Saturdays at 1:00, a late night local slot. Catch up on TVer and ABEMA and exclusive viewing on FOD carried it beyond that region, and the first season passed 7.3 million views on TVer. DXTEEN performs the theme song, and the opening song is credited to the band Genin wa Jibun ni Aru.

A story that kept going

Between the two seasons came an After Story of two episodes on FOD, aired from 28 December 2025 to 4 January 2026. Fujimoto Kodai and Kan Hideyoshi carry the lead roles across all three releases, and the second season starts on 17 October 2026 in the same Saturday slot as the first.

Source and credits

The drama adapts the novel by Kakuregi Uzura, published by Starts Publishing under its BeLuck Bunko label. Yamashita Subaru wrote the scripts, and four directors share the episodes: Shindo Takehiro, Fujisawa Hirokazu, Hasegawa Takuya and Yasumi Goro.

Themes

The series is built on the gap between a young man with no group and a social circle in which four friends are treated as the popular centre. Being placed with them by invitation, almost by force, puts Hioki in a setting where he has to speak and act for himself instead of staying in the background.

The trip works as the frame because group assignments make social standing visible. Each of the four friends stands for a different kind of popularity, and the story follows how Hioki and Watarai move from sharing a group to spending time as a pair. The follow up episodes extend that development.

Interesting facts

  • The first season's start on Saturday 18 October 2025 and the second season's start on Saturday 17 October 2026 fall one year, less a day, apart.
  • DXTEEN performs the theme song Ryokatakomoi, and the opening song Tremolo is credited to the band Genin wa Jibun ni Aru.
  • The story is adapted from a novel published under the BeLuck Bunko label of Starts Publishing.

How it was made

ABC Television produced the series with production cooperation from The icon, and the creative credits are shared between one screenwriter and four directors.

OFFICIAL TRAILER

OFFICIAL OST

Episode guide: School Trip: Joined a Group I’m Not Close To

10 / 10 episodes aired · Completed
EP 1
18 Oct 2025
Aired
EP 2
25 Oct 2025
Aired
EP 3
01 Nov 2025
Aired
EP 4
08 Nov 2025
Aired
EP 5
15 Nov 2025
Aired
EP 6
22 Nov 2025
Aired
EP 7
29 Nov 2025
Aired
EP 8
06 Dec 2025
Aired
EP 9
13 Dec 2025
Aired
EP 10
20 Dec 2025
Aired

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

When did the first season air?

Its ten episodes aired on Saturdays at 1:00, from 18 October to 20 December 2025, on ABC Television in the Kansai region.

Where can it be watched?

Catch up is on TVer and ABEMA, and FOD carries exclusive viewing.

Who stars in it?

Fujimoto Kodai plays Hioki Asahi and Kan Hideyoshi plays Watarai Tsukasa.

Is it based on a book?

Yes, on the novel by Kakuregi Uzura, published by Starts Publishing under its BeLuck Bunko label.

Is there a second season?

Yes. It begins on 17 October 2026, on Saturdays at 1:00 on ABC Television, and streams on TVer, ABEMA and FOD.

What is the After Story?

Two episodes on FOD, aired from 28 December 2025 to 4 January 2026.

Who made it?

ABC Television produced it with production cooperation from The icon. Yamashita Subaru wrote the scripts.

Written and verified by Renkaze · Last updated 3 October 2026

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