I came here watching the anime mainly for its visuals and the tooth-rotting fluff between the main characters, and came to contemplate the plot after watching the last episode thinking: "Why Russian specifically?" It could be a good gimmick, as the show's premise lies in the main protagonist, Alya, hiding her honest feelings behind her mother tongue and the male protagonist, Masachika, understanding everything she said but keeping it a secret to save her from the embarrassment, but I think it could've been replaced with any other nationalities and it would still work regardless. There is a sub-plot beneath with the childhood friend past, but my point still stands, making the whole gimmick weaker than it should've been.

That aside, some strong points of the show is its visuals, be it during the episode, the OP, or all the different EDs at the end of every episodes. It's always fun for someone who's delved into Japanese music before to observe their choice of songs and expecting which one is going to be next. It's just hard to say the anime "looks bad", it's quite literally not, with artstyle debates aside. The interactions between the characters are also really sweet, be it between Masachika and Alya who is an actually cute Tsundere, Masha being a really sweet sibling and gentle caretaker, Yuki's antics always making the episodes entertaining, and Ayano being a really nice addition for both Masachika's and Yuki's character.

That being said, the characters have been spared quite unproportionate time spent with them, which should be understandable given the amount of episodes offered in a single episode. Ayano especially was introduced quite late, and we didn't get to learn as much from her compared to Masha who have gotten two episodes to explore her character deeper. I think this imbalance can be felt the most with how Yuki overshadowed a lot of the characters, getting the most depth with all her antics and actually being the driving force behind the plot for the latter half of the season. This is quite ironic, remembering that Alya is the actual female protagonist of the story. We have seen her trying to be developed throughout the span of 12 episodes, but it just didn't felt quite right there yet at the last episode when everything she tried alone always break down the moment there is not Masachika around to give her a hand. It almost felt like she didn't deserve that win at the last episode, and I'm just hoping she gets more development in the later season (if there is going to be at all) because it just didn't feel satisfying at all in the end.

As my closing words, I will say I really enjoyed it, but I know what I'm expecting from this series and my expectations were met. It's quite predictable, but it's sweet, makes you smile so long as you are not so much a bitter person, but it left me wanting at the conclusion of this season. I recommend watching this just to enjoy the antics and interactions the characters has served with really good visuals. This was the expectation I had with me coming into the series.