Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian

Episode 7

It says a lot that this show feels best when Alya is barely present. There are some side gags and a lot of conversations revolving around Alya but most of what happens in this episode doesn't involve her directly. While she is off being rather petty and indecisive about things, everyone has these complex character arcs and dynamics around how they present themselves to others. It's a thoughtful and interesting character episode that shows off the strengths of the show.

I was right that the introduction of Ayano helped bridge the gap between the family drama with Kuze and the upcoming student council president race. I'm glad that the show is finally answering a couple of the questions that they've been setting up for the first half of the season. It seems like sometime after the divorce, Kuze was more or less disowned by his mother's side of the family and isn't allowed to directly interact with them anymore. But now his grandfather is using the family as an excuse to potentially guilt trip or strong-arm Kuze into stepping out of the upcoming student council race. Kuze points out the hypocrisy in this and there are a lot of moments throughout this episode that point to a larger theme of people trying to work within the framework of what others set for them. Kuze and Yuki are forced to pretend like they're not siblings because of what was established by their boomer grandfather. It makes sense that Kuze's actions could be seen as a direct act of defiance and there is probably a little bit of that in his decision to support Alya but I'm sure the answer is far more complicated than that and will probably be answered later down the road.

I love the scene where Yuki more or less understands the role that she plays in everything. You get the sense that this isn't exactly what she wants as she's arguably denied a lot of things at every turn. She's forced to act as the head of the family, she is expected to run for student council president and now she doesn't even have the option of having her brother run alongside her. Still, she tries to make the best out of every situation. As long as she can act like a gremlin around those that she can be natural around, she's happy. She wants to try to make the situation fun and exhilarating.

Finally, there's the final scene with Kuze and Maria as they're trying to get drinks for everybody. I like how Maria explains that while she is more or less being true to herself, her disposition is at least a little bit calculating. She acts a little bit more airheaded than she is so that Alya will let her guard down a little bit more but she also likes the idea of exhausting those around her so that way they have no choice but to relax. I like that she says all of this to Kuze who has also made it clear that he is also very calculating. He's a lot smarter than he lets on, a great communicator, very observant, and very used to people relying on him.

He's very much doing everything he can to make as many people around him as happy as possible whether he's willing to admit it or not. I like that because similar to Maria, he is arguably being true to himself and his interests but you wonder if he'll ever get to a point where he can truly rely on somebody else. The show feels like it's setting up Alya to be that person but it's got A LOT of work to do in establishing that so hopefully she can catch up with everybody else in terms of being well-written and likeable.

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Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.