“Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian” is a show about a girl who speaks in code and a boy who pretends not to understand. The Tokyo MX series, produced by Doga Kobo, ran from July to September 2024 across 13 episodes, split across two seasons. It follows Alya Kujō, a transfer student with silver hair and a reputation for aloofness, and Kuze Masachika, the sleepy, unmotivated classmate who sits next to her.
The premise is simple: Alya is popular, aloof and brilliant. She speaks in Russian to Kuze, who understands perfectly, but pretends not to. The show is built on this gap between what Alya says and what she means, and between what she shows and what she feels. The result is a comedy about misunderstanding, affection and the way two people talk past each other until they finally learn to read each other.
Trailer, via Crunchyroll.
Alya’s Cold Shoulder, Kuze’s Blank Stare
Alya’s character is the engine of the show. She is beautiful, talented and cold, which makes her popular among her classmates. She earns high marks and ignores her nerdy classmate, Kuze Masachika, except when she blurts out a flirtatious line to him in Russian. The show plays this contradiction for comedy: Alya is the queen of the school, but she hides her feelings in a language only one person understands.
Kuze, on the other hand, is a sleepyhead and a lazy student. He just stays up late at night and drifts through the day. He sits next to Alya, watches her, and pretends not to understand the Russian she throws at him. His performance is the other half of the engine. He is flustered, bewildered and confused, and the show leans on his reactions to carry the comedy.
The dynamic is clear from the first episode. Alya is the one who speaks; Kuze is the one who reacts. Alya is the one who hides; Kuze is the one who pretends. The show sets up this mismatch in the first few minutes and spends the rest of the series trying to resolve it.
The Voice Cast Behind the Comedy
The series is an adaptation of a light novel series written by SunSunSun and illustrated by Momoco. The anime is voiced by a cast of young talent, led by Sumire Uesaka as Alisa ‘Alya’ Mikhailovna Kujō and Kohei Amasaki as Masachika Kuse. The other voice cast includes Wakana Maruoka as Yuki Suō, Yukiyo Fujii as Maria ‘Masha’ Mikhailovna Kujō, Saya Aizawa as Ayano Kimishima, Maki Kawase as Chisaki Sarashina, Kaito Ishikawa as Touya Kenzaki, Ikumi Hasegawa as Sayaka Taniyama, Yoshino Aoyama as Nonoa Miyamae, Koudai Sakai as Takeshi Maruyama and Taichi Ichikawa as Hikaru Kiyomiya.
The series was originally published online as two short stories on the novel publishing website Shōsetsuka ni Narō in May 2020. Kadokawa Shoten acquired the series and has published it since February 2021 under their Sneaker Bunko imprint. The manga adaptation by Saho Tenamachi began serialization online in Kodansha’s Magazine Pocket app and website in October 2022.
The anime is the latest in a line of adaptations that stretches from the light novels to the manga to the television series. The 2024 Tokyo MX run is the first full adaptation, and it carries the same light, romantic tone as the source material.
The Love Story Built on a Secret
The show is a wacky love story, and it takes its time getting there. Alya is secretly in love with Kuze, but she never says it directly. Instead, she makes flirtatious remarks in Russian, a language she knows he understands. Kuze, for his part, harbours a secret crush for her, but he never admits it. He pretends not to understand her Russian, and he pretends not to care.
The comedy comes from the gap between what Alya says and what she means. She is aloof and cold on the surface, but her Russian remarks show a different side. Kuze sees this, but he pretends not to see it. The result is a show that is built on misunderstandings, but the misunderstandings are deliberate. Alya is hiding her feelings, and Kuze is hiding his understanding.
The show also follows the two characters as they become friends. Alya and Kuze eventually choose to run for Student Council together, with Alya as president and Kuze as her running mate. Their quest to be elected soon begins to unravel their mutual pasts, including their complicated family histories and the real reason as to why Masachika can understand Russian.
The Running Mate Gambit
The Student Council arc is where the show shifts from comedy to character drama. Alya and Kuze are thrown together as a team, and the show uses the election process to force them to work closely. They spend time together, they argue, they help each other, and the show uses these moments to show that the two of them actually care about each other.
The arc also introduces the complicated family histories that the show had set up earlier. Alya comes from a Russo-Japanese background, and her family history is a factor in who she is. Kuze’s family history, meanwhile, explains why he can understand Russian. The show uses these histories to explain why the two characters are drawn to each other, even though they are so different.
The Student Council arc is the heart of the season. It takes the wacky premise and turns it into something more substantial. The show proves that it can do both: the comedy and the drama, the misunderstandings and the resolution.
The Secret Behind the Russian
Kuze understands Russian, but he pretends not to. The show never explains why he does this until the Student Council arc, where the reason is revealed as part of his complicated family history. The reveal is a turning point for the show. It explains why Kuze has been pretending all along, and it gives his character a depth that the early episodes hint at but never fully show.
The show uses the Student Council arc to tie together the threads it has been weaving. The family histories, the election, the growing friendship between Alya and Kuze — all of these come together in the final episodes. The show resolves the misunderstandings that defined the early episodes, and it does so by showing that the two characters have been changing all along.
The reveal is not a twist. It is a payoff. The show has been setting up the answer from the first episode, and it delivers it at the right moment. The reveal gives the show a sense of closure, even though the story ends with a question mark about what happens next.
What Works, What Falls Short
The show is at its best when it is playing with the gap between what Alya says and what she means. The show is at its best when it is playing with the gap between what Alya says and what she means. The humor comes from Alya’s aloofness and Kuze’s confusion, and the show is smart about how it uses these two poles to create comedy.
The show is also good at building the friendship between the two characters. The show takes its time, and it rewards that patience. The early episodes are about misunderstandings, but the later episodes are about the friendship that grows from them. The show shows that Alya and Kuze are actually good friends, even when they are pretending not to understand each other.
The show is less successful when it relies on broad comedy. Some of the jokes are predictable, and some of the reactions are over-the-top. The show is at its best when it is subtle, and it is at its weakest when it is loud.
The show also has pacing issues. The first season is stronger than the second, and the second season feels like it is stretching the story to fill its run. The show is at its best when it is moving forward, and it is at its weakest when it is circling back.
“Let’s see where this wacky love story takes them!”
Weighing the Score
The show is a good adaptation of its source material. It captures the tone of the light novels and the manga, and it uses the voice cast well. The show is at its best when it is playing with the gap between what Alya says and what she means, and it is at its best when it is building the friendship between the two characters.
The show is less successful when it relies on broad comedy, and it has pacing issues in the second season. But the show’s strengths outweigh its weaknesses. The show is a solid piece of romantic comedy that knows what it is doing.
The show is not a masterpiece, but it is a good show. It is worth watching for the voice cast, for the comedy, and for the way it handles its central premise. The show is a good adaptation of its source material, and it is a good show on its own terms.
The show earns an 8 of 10.
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