The anime series adaptation of the novel Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian (Tokidoki Bosotto Russia-go by Dereru Tonari no Alya-san) by Sunsunsun It is Momoco will premiere in July, but a recent trailer is causing a lot of criticism.
The story of the Russian tsundere who thinks her love interest doesn’t understand her when she says things in Russian (even though he actually speaks the language) definitely piqued the interest of internet users.
It turns out that Sumire Uesaka, the voice actress who plays the protagonist, is a big fan of Russia, its culture and traditions. In April 2010, she enrolled at Sophia University’s Faculty of Foreign Studies, majoring in Russian language, and announced that she had finished her studies in March 2014.
However, the latest promotional video has received negative comments from supposed Russian netizens, who say that Sumire Uesaka’s accent is so bad that they don’t understand anything she says when she speaks in Russian:
- As a speaker, it is very painful to hear Alya’s accent. As the story goes, she was half-Russian and had lived in Russia for so long that, at worst, she would have had a minimal accent. Yes, as my compatriots have already noticed, Jenya Davidyuk, who voiced Zoya in “Akiba Maid War”, would have been perfect for the role. After all, it’s not up to me to judge. I’m interested in seeing Alya’s words translated into Russian, but I’ll wait for the well-known unofficial translation and narration. Good luck everyone and we look forward to the premiere!
- I wonder if the writers (or, generally, at least someone on the team) talked to any native Russians about this. Half of what is said in “Russian” makes no sense!
- They could have even hired a Russian actress to do the dubbing. Her accent sounds like she has some kind of illness.
- They just needed a Russian seiyuu to oversee all of this, was it that difficult?
- I would like the seiyuu to improve their accent a little. Without the additional subtitles, I couldn’t even hear the Russian sentences, let alone understand what they were saying!
- The accent gave me goosebumps and drove me crazy, all in the worst possible way. The only thing more disgusting are all the commenters and idiots celebrating this with their comments.
- To be honest, it’s difficult to understand her speaking Russian. I’ll have to resort to subtitles.
- Why not at least put a real Russian speaker as the protagonist? Was it that complicated?
Many people around the world, including the Japanese, do not speak foreign languages because they have no motivation to do so. In Japan, mainly because it is an island country and, therefore, very homogeneous, with almost all of its inhabitants being native Japanese, speaking only Japanese is sufficient for personal life and also for a professional career.
Japanese people are required to take English courses in school, but once they graduate and enter the job market, they are rarely encouraged to maintain the English skills they acquired before graduating. They are much less motivated to learn another additional language, which is perhaps why it really must have been difficult for the production to get a Japanese seiyuu who spoke “decent Russian”, based on the comments.
The animation is from the studio Doga Kobo (Oshi no Ko, New Game!, Ikebukuro West Gate Park), the direction and script are by Ryota Itoh (My Senpai Is Annoying, Shikimori’s Not Just a Cutie) and the character design is by Yūhei Murota (Love Live! School idol project).
Synopsis for Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian
Alisa Mikhailovna Kujou is the “lonely princess” of Seiren Private Academy. She is a half-Russian beauty with gray hair, top of her class, the student council’s accountant and… completely unapproachable. For some reason, she also took it upon herself to scold the slacker who sits next to her in class. Masachika Kuze is constantly frustrating her by falling asleep, forgetting her textbooks and just being a less-than-exemplary student. Or at least that’s how it looks from the outside.
She may pretend to be tough, but she doesn’t care about Masachika as much as others think. She even allows him to call her by her nickname, Alya. Anyone who hears the comments she mutters in Russian under her breath can know how she really feels, but since none of her colleagues understand the language, she is free to say whatever she wants! Except… there’s one person who knows what she’s saying. Masachika listens to her embarrassing revelations, pretending to be clueless, and wondering what her flirtatious comments really mean!
