The currently airing anime adaptation of Alya sometimes hides her feelings in Russian is receiving positive reviews from fans for its characters and setting.

However, if Sansan SUN (Sunsunsun), the author of the series, had stuck to the original concept of the story, then we would have an isekai story on our hands.

According to a 2021 interview, the author originally conceived the story as an isekai novel.

In the interview, SUN shared that the original inspiration was to write about a “cute but disappointing heroine who gets all flustered and smug because she thinks the other person doesn't understand her language, saying 'Hehe, you don't understand what I'm saying~' and feeling superior“.

This idea led SUN to consider an isekai reincarnation plot.

In this version, the reincarnated heroine spoke Japanese to the protagonist, confident that he would not be able to understand her.

The twist would be that the protagonist was also a reincarnated person who could understand Japanese perfectly. This humorous misunderstanding was intended to form the core of a short story.

However, the isekai genre's need for comprehensive world-building and contextual explanations led SUN to simplify the story by setting it in the real world.

“…as I thought about it more, I realized, 'Wait, couldn't I just do this with a foreign language in a normal setting?' The isekai setting required a lot of worldbuilding and explanation, so I decided to keep it simple and set it in a real-world romance.“

After considering several languages, the author chose Russian, attracted by the idea of a “mystical, fairy-like beauty” often associated with Russian women.

“So when considering which country’s language to use, I thought English was out because not many people understood it. Since the heroine would have foreign blood, I wanted her to be a beautiful girl with a completely different appearance from the Japanese. When I thought about it, I intuitively felt that Russia would be a good choice. For some reason, I had this image that Russian beauties have a mystical, fairy-like beauty. That’s why I chose Russia.“

Alya sometimes hides her feelings in Russian is a Japanese light novel series written by Sansan SUN and illustrated by Momoco.

Before the light novel was published by Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko, two short stories were published on the Shosetsuka ni Naro website.

However, the stories and characters in the web version are completely different from the published novel.

A manga adaptation by Saho Tenamachi began serialization online on Kodansha's Magazine Pocket app and website in October 2022.

An anime television series adaptation produced by Doga Kobo premiered in July 2024.

Source: Da Vinci Web