Watched on: 15-17 May 2025
Having been released the preceding year, this anime gleams like a rare crystal amidst languishing railroad tracks: a superb amalgamation of romantic comedy and high school drama. With all honesty, it is a delightful mix of humor and sincere moments that took me by surprise with its charm.
Let me try to break it down - from the very first scene, we can see that the heroine Alya often flirts with the hero Masachika in Russian but that she is unaware of the fact that Masachika understands the Russian language perfectly well. The whole fun begins with Alya dropping casual romantic or emotional lines in Russian, and while she thinks that Masachika is unaware, he actually understands every single word.
Many times we viewers can pretty much guess what Alya is saying from her expressions. And yes - I, myself, would pause the episode and Google for the translations for words such as:
"Milashka," "Ya tee-BYA lyu-BLYU," "ty ta-kóy mí-lyy, glúpiy, moy mál-chik, slát-kiy" - and many more. Honestly, I feel so Milashka (cute) hearing these lines that I can't even describe it with words.
Masachika understood every one of those but never let Alya know that he did. That sort of secret romance and unspoken tension made this show downright enjoyable for me.
Besides their romance, the anime also covers various school activities and gently touches upon the intrigues of student politics, so not to say that Alya and Masachika are the only things going on.
In short - if you're into rom-coms, school dramas, or slice-of-life anime, then this is the one to give a try. No anime is perfect;
