Alisa Mikhailovna Kujou is one of the most enigmatic students at the elite Seiren Academy. Half Russian on her father’s side, her uniquely beautiful appearance has caught the eyes of everyone in her year. Combined with her excellence in academics and her role as treasurer of the student council, she’s referred to as the school’s “solitary princess” and is unapproachable to everyone. Everyone, that is, except for the lazy and underachieving Masachika Kuze, whom she personally chides for being such a poor student, but otherwise seemingly tolerates. He’s also the only student with the guts to call her by her nickname, Alya. This confuses everyone, but little do they know that she often states her true feelings about him in Russian, which no one else can understand.Except for Masachika, of course.
Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian (Japanese: 時々ボソッとロシア語でデレる隣のアーリャさん, Tokidoki Bosotto Roshiago de Dereru Tonari no Ārya-san), or Roshidere (Japanese: ロシデレ) for short, is a light novel series written by SunSunSun and illustrated by Momoco. It was initially self-published as two one-shots on Shousetsuka ni Narou in May 2020 and was later picked up for publication under the Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko imprint in February 2021, and the novels are licensed in English by Yen Press. A manga adaptation illustrated by Saho Tenamachi began serialization in Kodansha’s Magazine Pocket in 2022, and an anime adaptation has been announced to air sometime in April 2024.
Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings In Russian provides examples of:
- The Ace:
- Alya is extremely good at her studies, and excels at anything she sets her mind to by working hard to achieve it.
- Yuki is multitalented, being a child of the Suou family, who have had a long line of diplomats. She’s incredibly clever and cunning, which she uses to achieve her aims, and is also popular amongst the students.
- Masachika is a downplayed example of this. While he’s normally a slacker, when something has to be done, he’ll make sure to get it done well. This trope is actually played straight, as it is revealed Masachika is naturally talented in pretty much everything, even more so than Yuki. He chooses to underachieve because he believes he isn’t deserving of his accomplishments because he didn’t work for them.
- Bilingual Backfire: Alya has no idea that Masachika knows Russian.
- Bilingual Bonus: An in-universe example. Thanks to his paternal grandfather being a fan of Russian cinema, Masachika understands Russian and can tell what Alisa is saying, often getting to know her true thoughts in a situation.
- But Not Too Foreign: Alya is half-Russian and half-Japanese. While she's fluent in the latter language, she has a habit of voicing her true feelings about Masachika in Russian.
