Roshidere: When Love Speaks Russian at Seirei Academy

Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian

Have you ever wanted to speak but couldn't because of circumstances or people? That internal scream is very real, and it is something we must put up with when living in society. This is precisely why some of us write it all down in a private diary or just scream into a pillow when all alone. There are numerous methods to mitigate the impact, some of which may even be unconventional, but the key lies in our ability to maintain self-control in a particular situation.

Roshidere: When Love Speaks Russian at Seirei Academy | Pinnedupink.com

“Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian,” also known as “Tokidoki Bosotto Russia-go de Dereru Tonari no Alya-san,” “Alya-san, who sits besides me and sometimes murmurs affectionately in Russian,” “Arya Next Door Sometimes Lapses into Russian,” or simply “Roshidere,” is a 23-episode TV anime series that aired from the 3rd of July till the 18th of September in Summer 2024. Sega, Delfi Sound, and Kadokawa produced it, while Studio Doga Kobo brought it to life. The main staff behind it include Kobayashi Ryou, Kamata Hajime, Arai Kousuke, and Hasegawa Shunsuke as producers. It features the genres of comedy and romance alongside the school theme, each episode spanning 24 minutes and earning a rating of PG-13 for teenagers 13 years of age or older. Originally scheduled to premiere in April 2024, the series experienced a delay until July 2024. It was later released on Blu-ray and DVD in three volumes from the 25th of September till the 27th of November, 2024.

The anime series is based on the light novel of the same name, which began publication on the 27th of February 2021 and is still ongoing. It is the work of author Sun Sun Sun and artist Momoco. While it began as a web novel on Shousetsuka ni Narou back in May 2020, Kadokawa went ahead and released a revised and illustrated version on the 27th of February 2021 under the Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko label. It ranked 9th in the 2022 Kono Light Novel ga Sugoi! under the Light Novel division. Yen Press, under the Yen On imprint, has been publishing the English version since November 2022. Furthermore, the LN’s protagonist Alisa debuted as a virtual Youtuber on the 29th of July 2021 to celebrate the release of the second volume, becoming the first-ever official announcement of its kind in LN history! A manga adaptation with the same title began publication on the 29th of October 2022 and is still ongoing. It was done by the same author and artist, Tanamachi Saho, whose work was serialized in Magazine Pocket. A sequel anime series titled “Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian Season 2” has already been announced, but no further details are known.

The prestigious Seirei Academy, a special school that caters to the best students in all of Japan, serves as the setting for the story. Here we are introduced to the protagonist, Alisa Mikhailovna "Alya" Kujou, who is half-Russian and half-Japanese and treasurer of the school's Student Council. She is well renowned for her intellect, stunning looks, and rigid personality, but there’s no way someone so perfect can exist in a show like this, right? In sheer contrast to her, her completely unmotivated classmate Masachika Kuze is known for slacking off during lessons and even seemingly has no interest in her. This indifference clearly irritated Alya at first, but his behavior caused her to become more and more intrigued by him, and she even started expressing her affection towards him in Russian.

However, she is completely oblivious to the man’s secret: Kuze understands Russian quite fluently! Why? He had a classic childhood friend who temporarily stayed in Japan, and he has been studying the language in hopes of reuniting with her. Regardless of the reason, the main duo starts spending more and more time together, allowing their playful and eccentric relationship to evolve into something far more profound. Their growing feelings for each other are the biggest challenge, but neither will back down!

While Roshidere certainly has its charms, it doesn’t have what it takes to become a totally unique work of art amidst the countless other romcoms out there. The narrative itself is quite straightforward, so it suffers from a lack of depth and originality in terms of story, thus failing to maximize the intriguing premise it has from the onset. This is a plethora of unrealized possibilities brimming with "could have been" and "should have been" scenarios, which is truly disheartening. The transition from a lighthearted tale to a more serious one initially felt entirely forced, especially in key moments. As for the comedy, especially those surrounding Yuki herself, they were a nice touch, and I enjoyed most of it. But some were seriously out of place and ruined the show's flow. For instance, there was a scene that featured hypnotism, which was abruptly introduced, and the scene immediately before it featured a serious conversation.

The point? Fan service, I guess; I can’t really think of another reason why they HAD to do that. This is not to say there weren’t any solid serious moments, because there are numerous ones I would say were handled expertly, but even some of those lacked proper character buildups and motivations at times. If I had to guess why, it would probably be because they lost sight of the actual proper focus of the story, which lies outside of the overly repetitive comedy and romance: the student council election. So the placement of key incidents leading up to it lacked a coherent order, failing to intensify said highlight. intensify the main focus: the student council election, not the comedy or the relationships. It suffers from the usual issue of having limited episodes to work with, forcing it to follow overused tropes and losing any uniqueness it had, outside of Alya's occasional Russian, of course. Thus, do not expect anything very deep or soul-touching from the story department, which isn’t precisely antagonistic from every angle. If you're looking for complex human issues, intense drama involving romance, or chaotic comedy, this anime has everything you're looking for, but it lacks balance. If you are a general RomCom enjoyer, you’ll see almost nothing wrong with the story, and that’s fine too.

Three units dominate the character department: Alya, Masachika, and Suou Yuki. Starting with the titular protagonist, she uses a rather unique and intriguing gimmick of occasionally speaking in Russian, which also acts as a language barrier. Although you won't find yourself endlessly repeating those sentences in your mind, it does enable this show to stand independently in the larger context. The Russian dialogue does not significantly impact the story, though, because such an improvement requires Masachika’s involvement as well. I particularly enjoyed how Masachika pretended not to understand Russian, which adds more complexity to their relationship, but it was not explored far enough in Season 1. Thus, Alya didn’t meet my expectations as the main heroine, because they seemed to rely more on her outer appearance than any solid character development; she’s just another tsundere. Her final speech was great, and it gave me hope for future installments, but the fact that they overlooked so many opportunities for independent growth bugs me. This girl relies on her looks way too much, using them to compensate for her sheer lack of assertiveness and social skills, traits that should be obvious in a student council candidate. Meanwhile, her moments with Masachika are in typical tsundere territory, and I am not a fan of this archetype, so the lack of directness frustrated me.

But if you like tsunderes in general, you may see her as endearing, complete with bashfulness and moments of jealousy. Moving on, Masachika is a tough one to judge. I appreciated his unique approach as a RomCom male MC, as he genuinely engages in refreshing interactions with Alya, avoiding the typical clueless and dense approach when it comes to matters of the heart. The constant reminder that he was a child prodigy annoyed me! It is overused, and the “child prodigy turned laid-back high schooler” thing is just overplayed. Last but not least, Yuki; this girl has to be my favorite character in the show, and I honestly enjoyed all her scenes. She is the local otaku who is both amusing and likable, occasionally even breaking the fourth wall and a sadist who works as an entertaining wingman. Don't dismiss her as just another little sister character, as she seizes every opportunity to do something completely unexpected. Being able to single-handedly surprise your audience like this isn’t easy, so props to her for that! However, she is not superficial; she grapples with her own issues, enhancing her moments' brilliance. The remaining supporting characters received little attention in the show; units such as Kimishima Ayano, Taniyama Sayaka, and so on had a few moments, but not enough to say anything meaningful about their depth, backgrounds, or even archetypes.

The art and animation department's excellence should not be surprising. Everything from the art style, character designs, animations, and color palette is just downright beautiful, and most would agree that Alya is one of the prettiest girls of 2024. Her looks are just striking, and this is great for a titular character who basically sets the tone for the whole anime. All the others stay loyal to the source material as well, which I will always have respect for. Even though this is a romcom, the animation is extremely well done. I also need to point out how they used a grand total of 12 distinct ending themes, each of them featuring unique visuals, for this show.

In the Sounds and Music department, I need to talk about the Russian. Alya speaks less Russian than expected and has a unique accent, which I like. Her VA, Sumire Uesaka, did an amazing job with both the voicing and singing, so props to her! The opening theme is “1-Ban Kagayaku Hoshi" by Sumire Uesaka, and the ending themes, all done by Sumire Uesaka, are "Gakuen Tengoku," "Kawaikute Gomen," "Omoide ga Ippai," "Hare Hare Yukai," "Chiisana Koi no Uta," "Himitsu no Kotoba," "Love Story wa Totsuzen ni," "CHE.R.RY," "World Is Mine, and "Koi no Uta." I enjoyed the opening sequence quite a bit, but it’s nothing to go back to and rewatch. While having your lead VA perform 12 different songs is a feat in itself, it made each song less memorable, and I can't recall a single one that particularly stood out. The OSTs are decent, but once again not noteworthy.

Overall, “Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian” is not a must-watch masterpiece, but it is a decent show that is very visually pleasing. It has its charms and would very much appeal to general romcom enjoyers, but it lacks a spark of uniqueness in Season 1. That said, I expect a lot from Season 2, which has so much room for better story and character development. For example, I’m particularly looking forward to more on Kujou Maria Mikhailovna, a.k.a. Masha, whose past relationship with Masachika intrigued me. Finally, if you typically enjoy romcoms and like tsunderes, I recommend this show to you. But if you’re picky with your romcoms and are searching for something truly unique, look elsewhere.