©Sunsunsun,Momoco/KADOKAWA/Alya-san Partners
Alya Sometimes hiding her emotions in Russian sometimes feels weird to me. Even though the show revolves around the main character, it doesn't feel like a story about her. I give credit to the last few episodes for building Alya into a more likable character that I want to see succeed. However, this episode highlights Alya as the least interesting character in the cast. She may be the main character, but Kuze and Yuki can easily steal the show with their witty, funny, and engaging backstories. They're the ones who drive the plot and make this show work for a lot of people, myself included.
I was surprised to see that this episode didn't build up much from last week. We got a little flashback to Kuze's rocky relationship with his mother. Part of the reason he works so hard and is considered a prodigy is because he wants to earn the praise of his mother, who at first seems to give it to him but then gradually comes to despise him. It's disappointing that this very compelling plot point is dropped because the season is so close.
While I liked a lot of the creative and directing choices in this episode, like some of the camera angles and the rather bold choice to leave half the episode without a soundtrack, there wasn't as much actual substance here as I was hoping for. It was essentially a setup episode for what I thought would be the climax of the season. The problem is that this setup was only made possible by once again emphasizing that Alya, as a character, really doesn't have much going for her, which makes me want to side with her. If anything, I have every reason to side with Yuki, since she's a much more interesting character and has real motivations for pursuing the role of student council president.
It's a little ambiguous whether Yuki's actions are entirely intentional and presented as a competitive force or if she has actual emotional involvement in the competition. It's possible that she really means what she tells Yuki, but it's also possible that this is all an act, and Yuki just commits to playing the villain a little because she finds it fun. However, Yuki can live out her fantasies when there's a reason based on genuine emotion. I'm not sure what the role of student council president means to Yuki, but that's what makes me want to keep watching.
I'm worried about whether I can root for Alya to be that person to come out on top because we're nearing the end of the season and this episode may have lost some of the goodwill that was established. Am I buying Alya and Kuze together? Yes. Do I think Alya has the potential to be the underdog in the story? Also, yes. Do I think she deserves the position she's going for? No. She can't even answer why she wanted to run in the first place. She's manipulative and a little too evergreen in situations that call for more skepticism, but there are genuine moments in the show where it seems like she's not taking the situation as seriously as she claims to. I want to like Alya as a character, but the writers need to work harder on showing what makes her compelling.
Rating:
Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian is now streaming on Crunchyroll.
Disclosure: Kadokawa World Entertainment (KWE), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, is the majority owner of Anime News Network, LLC. One or more companies mentioned in this article are members of the Kadokawa Group.