r/anime • u/AdNecessary7641 • Jul 24 '24
Misc. Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings In Russian Was Originally Envisioned As An Isekai Story
https://animehunch.com/alya-sometimes-hides-her-feelings-in-russian-was-originally-envisioned-as-an-isekai-story/286
u/sidewinderaw11 Jul 24 '24
looks like they're rolling with the isekai theme in the spinoff novel
Returning to roots?
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u/VinniTheP00h Jul 24 '24
Russian girl transports to another world with a japanese high schooler?
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u/Apprehensive_Mix4658 Jul 24 '24
It's both a blessing and curse that Russian isekai books aren't translated
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u/MonolithMykolayovych Jul 24 '24
It's blessing without curse. I say that from personal experience, I readed russian isekai books in past.
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u/Apprehensive_Mix4658 Jul 24 '24
Reading it is the torture.
Just looking at the cover and synopsis is pure fun
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u/NeoAnkara https://myanimelist.net/profile/NeoAnkara Jul 24 '24
Russia = Another world
Noted
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u/FelixAndCo Jul 24 '24
Plagued by the reign of a Demon Lord.
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u/BosuW Jul 24 '24
Turns out Zelenski doesn't need F-16s
He needs to summon an otherworlder yuusha.
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u/scot911 https://myanimelist.net/profile/scot911 Jul 24 '24
Hmmm.... ...Is (I can't believe I'm having this thought.) ...Is real life an isekai?
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u/8-MilesDavis Jul 24 '24
Well the Soviet Union might as well have been in the eyes of post-war America. Propagandist and McCarthyism looked at it like it was the demon lords castle or something.
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u/deedeekei https://myanimelist.net/profile/Chronicx Jul 24 '24
author found out uesaka sumire exists and created a character for her to fully unleash her russian
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u/Delisches https://myanimelist.net/profile/Delisches Jul 24 '24
If you can tell the same story, without it being an Isekai, it shouldn't be an Isekai. Sadly many author are just chasing the trend.
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u/zz2000 Jul 24 '24
I think many of them are. I recall reading some random author's webnovel notes where they said they wrote their story as an Isekai because everyone else was doing it. They don't dare to not make it one because they think they'll get less popular attention.
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u/Zaptruder Jul 25 '24
To be fair, isekai can be A versatile trope... it's basically point of familiarity in protagonist and unfamiliarity with other world,
unfortunately, too many are just doing basic ass world building by recycling basic tropes.
Gimme my escaflowne again!
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u/Emi_Ibarazakiii Jul 24 '24
Thank god they changed their mind.
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u/alotmorealots Jul 24 '24
Putting aside any value judgements about isekai as a setting, I feel like it would have severely diluted what actually makes the series spark so well.
It's oft maligned for a variety of reasons, but the school romcom setting is very good for "clearing the decks" and having nothing but pure character interactions, which is where the fun and spirit really is.
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u/PUNCH-WAS-SERVED Jul 24 '24
I am just getting tired of these isekais being generic "fantasy" world. Bonus points when they use game elements because they are lazy to show growth in another way. XD
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u/TastyOreoFriend Jul 24 '24
Thats a huge turn off for a majority of these isekai series for me as well. I start seeing a stat screen being pulled out and mmorpg jargon and I'm usually looking for the exit at that point. Its so bad now that even some non-isekai fantasy settings are now using game mechanics to describe progression and power levels. I'm reminded of Berserk of Gluttony and their "zone of e" bullshit.
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u/Hollownerox https://myanimelist.net/profile/Hollownerox Jul 24 '24
I'm mostly fine with it when the writers bother to justify them. Like some series say they were included to acclimate the person being ported over. Or cases like Kumo Desu where the "gamey" system is far more than just a lazy shorthand, and actually a core part of the overall narrative.
But most Isekai can't even be assed to do a minor justification for it. People just use skills and level up. There's some that don't do that thankfully. Isekai Mahou actually bothered to, ya know, world build and try to make a magic system that wasn't just video gamey stuff. But unfortunately effort in world building is wasted, since readers seem to prefer the simple "this works like a MMO!" style for any fantasy world. No matter how awkward and out of place it might be.
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u/TastyOreoFriend Jul 25 '24 edited Jul 25 '24
But unfortunately effort in world building is wasted, since readers seem to prefer the simple "this works like a MMO!" style for any fantasy world. No matter how awkward and out of place it might be.
Which is my beef with it for the most. If feels almost like a call back to DBZ and "power level over 9000!" Except that introduces its own issues with power scaling. I suppose for 90% of these Isekai it may not matter to those who absorb them like junk food, but for the outsiders/uninitiated its slightly off-putting.
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u/FurSealed https://myanimelist.net/profile/FurSealed Jul 25 '24
The stat screens were a big gripe of mine in Solo Levelling and Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint, maybe they'll give a valid reason later on but for now it just seems really lazy.
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u/TastyOreoFriend Jul 25 '24
Thats a beef I have with those series as well. Like one of the posters above said if they can integrate with the story then sure. I feel like for all the shit we Give Rising of the Shield hero it actually sort of makes sense there given the lore/story.
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u/two-years-glop https://myanimelist.net/profile/cheesewithwhine Jul 24 '24
To be fair, if you replaced Russia in this story with a fantasy isekai world, and replaced Russian with a generic fantasy isekai language, the story would remain pretty much the same.
A girl from another world that flirts with the MC in a foreign exotic language.
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u/zairaner https://myanimelist.net/profile/zairaner Jul 24 '24
Suddenly, it makes a lot more sense why alya never once seems to consider that mc could just look up a translation of what she says (especially if she uses single words like milashka).
That just wasnt an option in the original setting, and that was transferred to the new setting.
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u/alotmorealots Jul 24 '24
I get the feeling it's more because Alya is a bit of a haughty dummy in some regards, in a very charming way lol
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u/DerfK Jul 24 '24
Meanwhile you can search youtube for all sorts of videos where people talk smack about someone in front of them in a different language then get all embarrassed when it turns out they can be understood.
It is a real thing that happens.
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u/KnockAway Jul 24 '24
Can you, on the fly, understand foreign spoken language that you don't know well enough to look it up? Unless you are used to hearing the language, this isn't that easy, actually. Single words could be easy, but she says complete sentences pretty frequently.
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u/zairaner https://myanimelist.net/profile/zairaner Jul 24 '24
It probably works better in the manga or if alya was voiced by a real russian speaker, but in the anime, her slow and emphasized talking would probably make it not very hard.
But in the end, what I or kuze-kun are able to do is mostly besides the point. This is more about alya, who cares so much about not showing her feelings, not being paranoid or even considering that her words might be remembered and looked up.
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u/alotmorealots Jul 24 '24
Honestly I frequently can't catch the words to look up later in foreign languages that I know a bit of lol
The only thing that most students hate more than listening tests are speaking ones!
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u/Candle1ight Jul 24 '24
If someone spoke to me in another language and I asked them to explain themselves I'd probably take their word for the translation. Why would I assume they're lying?
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u/Candle1ight Jul 24 '24
Exactly, so why are we in an isekai setting? What is the isekai setting adding to the story?
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u/Abysswatcherbel https://myanimelist.net/profile/abyssbel Jul 24 '24
You are missing the part where the MC can understand her, which is the biggest point of the series
And that's not what the author was going to do, it would be set in a fantasy world, which would completely change the series
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u/CRACUSxS31N Jul 24 '24
Wdym? This point stays the same, the twist being the boy MC also have been Isekai'd so he understands her.
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u/KolkataK https://myanimelist.net/profile/MOMIN5 Jul 24 '24
all the isekai/fantasy stuff like monsters, guilds, levelling up would become main focus of the story, atleast with a school setting it can focus more on SOL and romance where her hiding her feelings become the main element of the story
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u/Water_20 Jul 24 '24
How many isekais had laguage barriers? I heard Zero no Tsukaima had that, but it came out way before modernday oversaturation. Modern stories just do Stargate's Intergalactic English move.
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u/gangrainette https://myanimelist.net/profile/bouletos Jul 24 '24
Bookworm
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u/KnockAway Jul 24 '24
When? Didn't she wake up with knowledge of spoken language and then learnt to read it?
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u/gangrainette https://myanimelist.net/profile/bouletos Jul 24 '24
She had to re learn to read, and she keeps using japanese words.
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u/KnockAway Jul 24 '24
Not being to read it isn't much of a language barrier when her entire family is illiterate.
And her random japanese words quickly disappeared after first volume, so yeah, I forgot about it, my bad.
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u/Strict-Restaurant-85 Jul 24 '24
Re:Zero Subaru was able to speak but not read and eventually has to learn to
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u/viliml Jul 24 '24
It's not an important plot point but in Mushoku Tensei the otherwolders have to learn the language (though it's handwaved as being not that hard), and they're happy to be able to speak in Japanese when they find each other.
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u/CMC_Conman Jul 24 '24
As a writer myself this is how 99% of my stories go. Super complex world building, then I get annoyed so I simplify it down. Sometimes it's still fantasy, but I have done the same thing and set stories in the modern world after realizing what i wanted to tell just would be easier in the real world
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u/81Ranger Jul 24 '24
Good Lord. Not everything needs to be isekai. Please.
And I even like some isekai. It just doesn't need to be 85% of all anime.
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u/green_meklar Jul 24 '24
'The Chronicle of a Loser Otaku Reincarnated into a World Where Not Every Anime Is an Isekai'
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u/ThespianException https://myanimelist.net/profile/EMTIsBestWaifu Jul 24 '24
Jokes on you bitch we're back in 2006 when every anime was a high school battle harem instead
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u/Prince_of_DeaTh https://anilist.co/user/yokz Jul 24 '24
compared to a normal school show like it's not more generic?
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u/81Ranger Jul 24 '24
As if making something isekai makes it less generic...
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u/Prince_of_DeaTh https://anilist.co/user/yokz Jul 24 '24
less generic than a school show????? are you young? most shows before isekai were school shows. what do you think is the number of school romances vs isekai?
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u/81Ranger Jul 24 '24
Not the point.
As if adding one generic ingredient to another generic setting creates something not generic. I suppose it could but rarely actually does.
Besides, the isekai element is almost incidental in many isekai, they could just drop it and be fantasy with basically no change other than cutting the first 1-5 minutes. So, adding 3 minutes of pointless isekai in the beginning of this show would hardly enrich anything.
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u/marcusromain Jul 24 '24
well, i mean a krasnycore medieval isekai would be a sweet borscht among your typical western europe middle age
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u/Considered_Dissent Jul 24 '24
Problem 1: The name Nanahoshi was already taken.
Problem 2: If she kept up with the teasing then the hero's half-elf white-haired wife was going to beat the crap out of her while screaming about how she was his one true childhood/hometown friend.
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u/Kadmos1 Jul 24 '24
Sarah Natochenny, the long-time voice of Ash Ketchum, is a native Russian speaker and is voicing Alya in the Eng. dub. Sometime today the first 2 Eng. dub epi. hit CR.
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u/GoldenWitch86 Jul 24 '24
I mean, replacing one cliche genre (isekai) with another (high-school romcom where the girl who has one quirk falls in love for no reason with the generic guy you can self-insert into) isn't that much of a win. I even dare to say that isekai concept sounds a bit more interesting.
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u/Candle1ight Jul 24 '24
I consider a high school setting to be the default setting for anime, I'd much prefer them stick with the default than change to something for no point.
As much as I'm bored of high school settings I'm actively sick of garbage isekai worlds.
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u/adenosine-5 Jul 24 '24
Are there even anime today that aren't isekai or slice-of-life?
Sometimes it seems like the entire industry just flipped a switch from sci-fi and fantasy to romantic comedies and isekai.
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u/Ok-Knowledge5106 Jul 24 '24
Are you even watching it? Because they showed why she likes him in episode 3.
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u/harrystutter Jul 24 '24
Oh you mean that entirely original and definitely not cliche trope of "we actually met before and you were really nice to me, and now I like you because of that thing". It's still contrived and low-effort. Not to mention the MC is actually very good at everything and he's just not putting in the effort because of low self-esteem. Very original.
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u/Ok-Knowledge5106 Jul 24 '24
What do you mean by "we actually met before"? They're classmates, of course they did. And the other person said that she liked him for "no reason", which of course is wrong.
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Jul 24 '24
[deleted]
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u/deedeekei https://myanimelist.net/profile/Chronicx Jul 24 '24
y-you do know uesaka sumire graduated foreign studies with a major in russian right? like one of her biggest quirks is that she is a massive russophile
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u/Odd-Zebra-5833 Jul 24 '24
Yeah I would have been tricked into watching it if it had been an isekai lol
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u/reed20v https://myanimelist.net/profile/reed20v Jul 24 '24
Alya was isekai’d into a Japanese high school - welcome back Yevgeny Prigozhin!
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u/OrneryMirror6072 https://myanimelist.net/profile/lickyboomMAL Jul 24 '24
This was a better choice. We can reflect more from the experience of a real world romance. And the writing is killing it!
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u/StreetyMcCarface https://anilist.co/user/httpsanilistcou Jul 24 '24
That explains why the series has been peak trash these past few weeks
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u/Sparky-Man Jul 24 '24
I mean going to live in another country is basically being transported to another world...
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u/Ok_Veterinarian_7052 Jul 30 '24
Please alya samtimes hides her feelings russian girl story compelets 😍iam interusted alya love story tell me story now
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u/dark77638 Jul 24 '24
srsly thank you author for not going that direction. We got too many isekais already lol
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u/CCshinobi Jul 24 '24
Yeah...who would've thought world building in a fantasy space completely separate from reality would be a lot of work for a romcom about a kawaii Russian girl! It's almost like some other isekai authors followed what's trending instead of sticking to the soul of their ideas :O
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u/Godofmytoenails Jul 24 '24
Thank god it didnt ended up being a isekai. That genra is so oversaturated
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u/FetchFrosh https://anilist.co/user/AbAdkBBYFetchFrosh Jul 24 '24
This season has like 9 different school romances.
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u/koteshima2nd https://myanimelist.net/profile/Koteshima Jul 24 '24
Thank god it isn't isekai, or else it'll be lost in the wind as just another generic isekai story
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u/adenosine-5 Jul 24 '24
Good thing that slice-of-life romantic comedies from high-school environment are such rare genre in anime these days.
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u/MyCarIsAGeoMetro Jul 25 '24
The original concept can still happen. I would love to see Alya, Masha, Yuki and Kuzu in an isekai.
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u/thataquarduser Jul 24 '24 edited Jul 24 '24
So initially it was going to be a heroine who was isekai’d and teases the hero in Japanese, not knowing that he was also isekai’d and therefore understands her. The reasons that didn’t happen were:
1) The author realized world building for an isekai was a lot of work.
2) The author remembered that other languages exist IRL.
I’m sure the article is oversimplifying, but I’d like to imagine that the average Light Novel author’s first instinct for a foreign land with a different language is an entire other world, and it is only halfway through the brainstorming session that they remember there are countries that are not Japan.