Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian

https://i.imgur.com/u86HSGQ.jpeg

Alternative title:
Tokidoki Bosotto Russia-go de Dereru Tonari no Alya-san (Japanese)
Иногда Аля внезапно кокетничает по-русски (Russian)
時々ボソッとロシア語でデレる隣のアーリャさん (Japanese)

Genres: comedy, romance
Themes: ecchi, Russia, school

Synopsis:
Smart, refined, and strikingly gorgeous, half-Russian half-Japanese Alisa Mikhailovna Kujou is considered the idol of her school. With her long silver hair, mesmerizing blue eyes, and exceptionally fair skin, she has captured the hearts of countless male students while being highly admired by all others. Even so, due to her seemingly unapproachable persona, everyone remains wary around the near-flawless girl.

One of the few exceptions is Alisa's benchmate Masachika Kuze, a relatively average boy who spends his days watching anime and playing gacha games. Despite his nonchalant demeanor, Masachika is the sole student to receive Alisa's attention. Unable to be fully honest, Alisa is frequently harsh on Masachika and only expresses her affection in Russian. Unbeknownst to her, however, Masachika actually understands the language yet simply pretends otherwise for his own amusement.

As the odd pair continues to exchange witty and playful remarks, their relationship gradually grows more romantic and delightful—and Alisa might finally learn to freely convey her true feelings. -MAL

Links: ANN, AniDB, MAL, Official.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by KrayZ33

Okay.

2nd ep of Russian Girl was good too.
It's cute and foxy sis is funny.
Simple but hits the spot. My favorite so far.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by shinta|hikari

It was very waki.

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The troll sister upped the fun. There's no dense MC; in fact it's quite the opposite. Given that she's his sister, they kept it logical that she'd know he studied his ass off to learn Russian and knows exactly what Alya is saying.

The two girls are going to be running for president with him nominated as VP for both teams.

Fuck Russia. Not the time for adapting such manga.

Crazy thing to say. Not all Russians are the Russian government or even their supporters. Many of them are just normal people.

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Originally Posted by shinta|hikari

Crazy thing to say. Not all Russians are the Russian government or even their supporters. Many of them are just normal people.

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Most of them support Putin.

Maybe? There are still millions of others who don't. They don't deserve censure for what others did.

Bold thing to argue, considering we are Germans and this show has basically nothing to do with Russia and just features a person of Russian descent living in a different country.

I mean, I'm actually agreeing with you more than with Shinta, in regards to that most Russians (especially older ones) support Putin and are batshit insane.
But this anime has nothing to do with Russia.
Do you go up to German-Russians living here and insult them or something?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by KrayZ33

Do you go up to German-Russians living here and insult them or something?

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I just don't go near them unless I hear that they're outspokenly against Putin.

This anime would be fine 5 years ago or (hopefully) 5 years from now. But you wouldn't want to watch a "My German friend is so Cute"-anime during WW2.

...would a "My jewish friend is so cute" series/movie be different or the same?
Or a comedy featuring a Rabbi, or... just some jewish person?

I mean, it's crazy anyway... like putting every Russian that no longer lives inside Russia under the general assumption that they are even remotely interested in Russian politics and that they support Putin.. so it's apparently better to not interact with them unless they openly condemn them.

I'm just wondering if you do the same for jews... and maybe you should do the same for Americans...
and Polish people too.. and other countries with a very strong right wing.
And lets not forget the Turks + Erdogan, who are still killing Kurds and Syrians on a daily basis in Syria.

And don't forget the vast majority of Asia.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by KrayZ33

...would a "My jewish friend is so cute" series/movie be different or the same?
Or a comedy featuring a Rabbi, or... just some jewish person?

I mean, it's crazy anyway... like putting every Russian that no longer lives inside russia under the general assumption that they are even remotely interested in Russian politics and that they support Putin.. so it's apparently better to not interact with them unless they openly condem them.

I'm just wondering if you do the same for jews... and maybe you should do the same for Americans...
and Polish people too.. and other countries with a very strong right wing.
And lets not forget the Turks + Erdogan, who are still killing Kurds and Syrians on a daily basis in Syria.

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Strong "if you own product XYZ then you can't be against capitalism, GOTCHA!" energy.

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Originally Posted by MFauli

Strong "if you own product XYZ then you can't be against capitalism, GOTCHA!" energy.

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Hard to advocate for veganism if you eat meat, isn't it?
Or: why is eating chicken okay, but not beef. That's the question?

E3

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The setup gets even more spicy.
-Alya's sister is Kuze's childhood friend.
-Kuze had to separate from his sister. They're still blood related, but now their dynamics will be.. more different. Almost like step siblings or soemthing.

Kuze hiding his Russian is really throwing a spanner in the works. Masha will reignite her love for him, and Alya will fall harder.

Yeah, this is going to be spicier than any ramen Kuze's ever eaten.

I kinda wonder if it will happen by accident or if he will confess his game.
Almost thought it's gonna happen this episode by him simply answering/following her by accident.

Just watched... this is too fun!

I expect his reveal will be later, when a climax is needed to progress the story.

I'm a little confused, though. Is the implication that he spent time with both sisters, separately, years before, and neither recognized him in current day (and vice versa?)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by neflight86

Just watched... this is too fun!

I expect his reveal will be later, when a climax is needed to progress the story.

I'm a little confused, though. Is the implication that he spent time with both sisters, separately, years before, and neither recognized him in current day (and vice versa?)

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Assuming they're currently in highschool, he met the older sister in like kindergarten or something while he met the younger sister in in middle school. Communication with the younger sister never stopped.

It seems like to the MC, he remembers that he learned Russian because of a girl, but doesn't actually remember the girl all that well. I don't even know if he actually identifies that feeling as (puppy) love or whether he just thought of her as an old play buddy that he got along with well.

Gotcha. Thanks for the clarification!

This is fun. I was wondering if the childhood friend would come into play, but didn't expect it to be this soon. Or this directly connected.

E04

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-Alright, that slap was unwarranted. Totally unwarranted. You're not even dating.

-The sneaky kiss, damn....

-What do you mean you don't love him? You've been calling him cute the whole time and shit.

-What's Kuze going to do about the fact that his sister would've also wanted his backing for her run as president?

Listen, show. If you're going to sing the Haruhi song in your ED, you have to do the Haruhi dance.

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Originally Posted by DarthEnderX

Listen, show. If you're going to sing the Haruhi song in your ED, you have to do the Haruhi dance.

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Oooh, that's why it felt so familiar.

I didn't even realize she was still in the denial stage with all the Russian flirting. Its fine for her to be dumb in love, but the show could have communicated better that she has a mental block about it. To be fair, she was denying it to her sister, but I figured that was out of embarrassment; not that she believed it internally.

E05

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I don't know man, all 3 girls are entertaining (less so Masha, but she's had limited screen time). I don't know which one to cheer for.

His sister is easily the most fun character.

E06

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https://i.imgur.com/vmuwSAd.jpeg

And even when she's not around she's a menace.

https://i.imgur.com/cKHbcXo.png

EP07


The girls are really likeable in this show.
The servant is funny as well.

Well, started watching this, because it seems to be must for this season. The incest-sister is the best part so far.

Episode 2:

Totally don't get her "skirt too short" reaction at the end, lol. Her regular school skirt is WAY shorter.

Episode 3:

Could have done without the random "sad back story" for the guy. Kinda makes this whole anime way more tropey than it needed to be.

The revelation that Alisa's big sister is the guy's childhood friend is interesting. I just doubt this is the type of anime where ANYONE but the main girl has a chance at getting together with the hero, so it's just a little extra drama.

Alisa being like "we're not like that" when she and the guy have a defacto romantic relationship is super dumb, though, lol.

Episode 4:

Solved the baseball vs football club situation by quasi-pimping the girls, LOL

Episode 5:

The little sister is the best new character this anime-season.

And Kuze seriously needs to fap one out before going to school. Way to be horny, lol.

Episode 7:

Not a fan of the "servant". That's the first element in this anime that feels implausible, fantasy, like from a gag-anime like Kaguya. Totally out of place.

Also Idgaf about that glasses girl. Boring.

Episode 8:

Eh, that debate scene was rather longwinded and dull. Was hoping for a more eventful duel of speeches. And I really dislike the glasses girl.

Also, can they become a couple alreadY? I've never seen an anime where both parties exchange so much love, yet pretend "it's not like that". ACtually tiring. Come on.

Yuki remains the star of the show. Her meta is literally incorporating her own loss at the end. True queen.

This election arc is just what Alya needed. Some conflict to raise the stakes a bit and pit Masachika against his cringle-lord sister. Might as well throw in the 'estranged authoritative traditionalist family pulling the strings' trope in as well...

Typically, a character like Masachika being built up as a prodigious slacker makes me roll my eyes, but it isn't played up enough to get annoying.

Am I counting right in that there are three sets running for stuco? MC, lil sis, and glasses pair, or could they introduce more?

9

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"Tiddies truly are great."

Reading the solutions seems like a given.

This show gets the comedic timings right.

Also, I know the point is that they don't understand Russian. But everyone knows what "nyet" means! You can't say that and assume nobody is going to realize you just said "no"!

The hypnosis was kinda letdown. Not enough fanservice and no secret information revealed, boo!

Hatsune Miku ending was nice

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DarthEnderX

Also, I know the point is that they don't understand Russian. But everyone knows what "nyet" means! You can't say that and assume nobody is going to realize you just said "no"!

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Wasn't it, however unrealistic that is, revealed that she does this unconsciously?

I just assumed that nobody but the guy actually hears her Russian.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by KrayZ33

Wasn't it, however unrealistic that is, revealed that she does this unconsciously?

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I think it was just that one time that she did it unconsciously. Not every time.

Otherwise, she's have a hell of a time dealing with actual Russian people as someone who constantly involuntarily vocalizes their thoughts.

Episode 10:

Okay, Masachika should make a change of plans: Forget about Alya. Conquer her mom! <3 Wow, what a hottie. *looks at her hairstyle* Too bad she's gonna die soon, lol.

Interesting..

So the "bad grandpa" is the maternal one, and the sad mum is the actual biological daughter of the bad grandpa.
Good grandpa digs anything Eastern European, thus he straight up ignored Alya's mum.

Episode 12:

Tbh these last couple episode were somewhat lame. All those council candidate speeches weren't special in any way.

Also, why can't we have a vocal love confession? They BOTH behave in a way that CLEARLY says "we are in love with each other", so stop beating around the bush. This would be mildly interesting if neither knew about the other's feelings, but they both know from the other's behavior. It's just lame to treat their relationship as some sort of secret.

I loved how we freaked the shit out of his sister. I wish he crushed her a bit more though.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by shinta|hikari

I loved how we freaked the shit out of his sister. I wish he crushed her a bit more though.

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That's exactly what made the whole anime lame at the end: Moments like this being half-assed. It would have been so much more fun if he had truly crushed his sister. And then she would have gone full-villain mode, meaning more fun for us.

It's like the writer of this story intentionally kept himself back, trying to make it milder a story. For the worse, imo.

Oh, one thing I really have to rant about, too: Alya is SO helpless without Masachika. He tells her afterwards "you made this happen, Alya", but that's bs. She would have completely faltered without his help. Kinda ruined Alya as a character and turned her into a pretty bimbo. Which is weird, because when the anime started, she was portrayed as an all-capable character.

Her whole thing was that she gave up on working with people, but then she decided to become a student council president which involves working with people.

Sister was doing this all so she could rub her tits against Alya's and that's okay.

Humour was what was missing in this past episode.

I thought the stuco debates were the best part of this show/season. The Rom-Com stuff fits in neatly between and never got tiresome because of the greater narrative. The politics were much more interesting, even if they lacked a grand a-ha twist, they were handled deftly.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MFauli

That's exactly what made the whole anime lame at the end: Moments like this being half-assed. It would have been so much more fun if he had truly crushed his sister. And then she would have gone full-villain mode, meaning more fun for us.

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The show works perfectly fine without an earth shattering evil villain; the sister playing up as one is plenty fun as she brushes close a few times, but no one has to be fully irredeemable in the end.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MFauli

Alya is SO helpless without Masachika.
...
she was portrayed as an all-capable character.

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Being capable and a hard worker has nothing to do with taking on something you have no experience with, like politics. He was right in that those people, assembled on that stage with applause raining down would never have happened without her desire and reputation combining with her charm combining with her helpful assistant (who was in a slump before this) into this situation. You don't have to be an author to write a book; you write a book to become an author.

Season ended rather abruptly.


Personally, I was bored to death by the election stuff. I wanted more cute relationship stuff.

I liked the season during the first half with:

-trolling sister.
-Alya having to eat hot foods.
-Teasing us with how MC used to know a Russian girl

The election stuff gave the characters something to do, but I didn't find it enjoyable. Nobody actually gave a good reason to vote for them besides the girl who lost.

Yes, the whole election arc just wasn't that good. I think back to how "Love is War" handled its election arc and it was lightyears better.