Romantic comedies are often sought-after when it comes to different kinds of genres in the anime space. The smile it provides and how it tingles your heartstrings are its tricks for keeping you hooked. These kinds of shows would often stand out amidst the countless amounts of anime in a season, and if it hits well in its first few episodes, it becomes an audience darling. In 2024, it's pretty quiet when it comes to the romantic comedy scene. One that stands out is Season 2 of The Dangers in My Heart, which provided a joyful ride and a heartfelt conclusion for the series. Aside from that series, there isn't much to offer this year. And if there is, it certainly didn't hit the highs in terms of story or the heartstrings of the audience.

In the Summer Season of 2024, Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings hit the Russian anime space and surprised audiences over for not just being a great anime this year but a great romantic comedy of this year so far. Here are the reasons why: ***

__Part 1 “Romantic” Comedy__

Romance is often dealt with as the “reason” for falling in love with someone. It can be hard for the audience to connect with the characters depending on the reasons the characters in the show make, especially when it comes to choosing the person you choose to give your heart to. The romantic comedy genre mainly puts this “reason” usually at the middle or end section of the series as an easy scapegoat on a glaring issue. The anime in question relies on repetitive tropes in hopes that you'll eventually get hooked, and it often doesn't work.

This anime might look like it started that way, especially with the romantic leads of Alya (Sumire Uesaka) and Masachika (Kouhei Amasaki) in episode 1, where the series presented them in a more odd light with each other. As you watch the episodes, the series gives subtle hints in between, along with major ones that let viewers puzzle out why these characters are actually falling for each other. One notable example is in Episode 3, where the series shows Alya’s perspective on the first sign of love. These romantic subtexts are sprinkled all over the series across different episodes, and it's such a joy to watch that it never fails to keep you blushing. ***

__Part 2 Romantic “Comedy”__

Comedy shows generally have one thing to achieve: make the audience laugh. In romantic comedy shows, they have to rely heavily on the little in-betweens and interactions of characters to get a chuckle because a scene depicts an embarrassing moment for the characters. This doesn't usually work, especially when the gag has been running at a constant speed without any in-betweens or originality apart from the one joke they set out at the start. With an anime titled “Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian," you'll have the assumption that the entire series mainly revolves around that quirk, but it didn't, and that is a huge plus. Dynamic ways of dealing with comedy across different scenarios with different characters that show no signs of stopping are a step in the right direction of comedic diversity and can guarantee an unexpected chuckle or two.

On the other hand, this anime brought something refreshing, and that is to focus on its comedy with the characters’s actual personality traits. Normally, this is how normal comedy works, as proven by Romantic Comedy Animes across the years, but you would be surprised by the countless number of anime that do not use character personality as part of their comedy. And in the case of this anime, it took advantage of that underused tool. It comes to the point where characters aren't even making jokes in the moment, and it still comes off as hilarious without adding a punchline or exaggerated music around it, which is also sprinkled with animation that complements each scene with subtle exaggeration that works surprisingly well and an engaging voice delivery, especially from Yuki (Wakana Maruoka), that you just can't help but smile at the funny moments. ***

__Part 3 The In-Betweens__

Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian isn't just your typical romantic comedy providing a “will they, won't they” trope, but a series that also provides a well-diversified cast of characters casually interacting with each other in a flawless manner that works as a slice-of-life high school comedy in and of itself. One main highlight of this is the dynamic between Masachika and Yuki. Aside from the incentious manner, which is definitely not for everyone, it does provide a genuinely accurate portrayal of sibling relationships that people can find relatable and/or hilarious. Their moments together magnetize you on screen and refuse to let you go, even when it's just a millisecond to spare. The moments between Alya and Masachika, aside from the romantic moments, can be seen as a genuine relationship between two high school students getting by. There is also the student council, where you don't really connect as much, but their presence, especially from Masha (Yukiyo Fujii), is a delight to see.

Despite being labeled as a “romantic comedy," the series already presented its goal from Episode 1, which is Alya wanting to be the Student Council President. Instead of taking the lazy route, there is a clear objective in the series with what the characters want, and we follow through that journey and see characters react, fail, get up, and learn, with a sprinkle of goofing around in a couple of episodes. ***

__Part 4 Enjoy It for What It Is__

At this point of the review, I have shown how much I have praised this show, since I am a romance junkie and eager to watch this show weekly because I am intrigued to see where the series goes episode by episode. However, I would be lying if I didn't mention that this show is not “that” special in comparison to the vast amounts of romantic comedies that are available. There's Kaguya-Sama, which provided the hardest of laughs; Horimiya, with its sweetest of moments; and many shows in between that fit that specific niche in its specific audience. But why do I love this series even after that information?

With shows like Alya, it mainly aims to drop your objective thinking hat and just let your brain go on autopilot and enjoy the sequences you see on screen. In other words, it is a comfort anime for a specific group of people like me who enjoy these types of shows. It might be boring and uninteresting, especially for the types of people who are seeking something new or something else other than a high school romance that somehow involved the Student Council as its plot. But for romance junkies like us, this is a show that hits the spot by filling in the gaps with the highs we felt after finishing shows such as Kaguya-Sama and Horimiya. It doesn't have to replace the ones that we've already loved, but an additional roster from a growing collection of romantic comedy shows we watch and smile at as the season goes by. ***

Conclusion

With how fast seasons come and go and animes show up and get lost with time, there is always a risk of loving the show now but getting absolutely forgotten once a brand new thing appears. With this year's quiet portfolio of romantic comedies, Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian will ultimately stand out deservingly. It hits all the Romantic Comedy formulas to the tea, as well as providing decent characters with decent character dynamics along with its decently told cohesively consistent story all throughout, outputting an above-average show that will certainly be part of the minds of fans a bit longer when the seasons go by. ***