Two of the Summer's Hottest Romantic Comedy Anime Have One Key Thing in Common

If there could only be one good aspect of Crunchyroll, it would be that the streaming platform does an incredible job of simulcasting a diverse array of anime every season despite there being so many of them. And yet, every now and then, a few sharp viewers will notice some themes within the seemingly endless anime titles on Crunchyroll, and one of them this summer season can be found in Pseudo Harem and Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian.

Both romantic comedies feature a female protagonist who uncharacteristically expresses her true feelings to her love interest, but the unique delivery of what they convey is meant to distort or mask the true meaning. Of course, a common trope in anime romantic comedies involves a lack of communication. Or, on the off-chance that the unofficial couple actually communicates with each other, there’s a slew of misinterpretations of what was communicated or there’s some quick backpedaling when the truth is unintentionally shared.

And yet, the eponymous Russian-speaking Alya and Pseudo Harem‘s Rin actually say what’s on their mind, but they either say it in a different language or attribute it to another character they’re acting as, respectively.

Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian Gives The Male Lead Way Too Much Power

Based on the light novel series by writer SunSunSun and illustrator Momoco; produced by Doga Kobo

Although similar, the two quickly differentiate themselves from each other in one key way. The person whom Alya is telling her true feelings to in Russian, Masachika, can actually understand Russian, while Eiji doesn’t know when Rin is being serious or not. The former example is a more uncommon type of dynamic in anime romantic comedies, since very rarely does one character actually know how the object of their desire feels about them, especially when that girl or boy is unaware that their secret is common knowledge to their love interest. Most of the conflict early on revolves around Masachika trying to hide that he knows what Alya is saying in Russian, while giving him the courage to say certain things and enjoying her reactions.

The only downside to this is that the anime keeps this formula for quite some time without introducing anything groundbreaking. That said, Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian makes do with a greatly implied form of conflict that could happen, which is undoubtedly keeping viewers who are aware of this possibility at the edge of their seat.

A girl from Masachika’s childhood who’s the reason why he can understand Russian will undoubtedly enter the fray at some point. When this inevitably happens, Alya will likely learn that Masachika has known what she has been saying since the very beginning, and that will likely lead to her feeling betrayed and exposed.

Pseudo Harem May Be More Common, But The Execution Is A Little More Nuanced

Based on the manga by Yū Saitō; produced by Nomad

Even though very rarely does one character have so much knowledge and power over their love interest, Pseudo Harem does a much better job earlier on at exploring the nuances of its unique scenario, even though it’s much more common to see a series’ unofficial couple skirt around their feelings the way they do in Pseudo Harem. Other than being a fun deconstruction of various “dere” types of characters in anime, Pseudo Harem’s main appeal is how Eiji reacts to Rin’s impersonations of each “girl”, an interesting activity that Rin does to fulfill one of Eiji’s fantasies, which is another obvious highlight.

While it’s enjoyable when the topic of Rin’s true self comes into topics of conversation, there are certain scenarios that veteran viewers will find more enjoyable based on how Pseudo Harem‘s shtick reinterprets famous tropes. In episode 2 for example, Rin undergoes the rom-com rite of passage when she must take care of Eiji at home when he’s sick. Interestingly, the anime completely skips over what are usually the best moments. If this were conventional, Rin would have spoken and reacted to Eiji as he slept, possibly even confessed. However, the anime completely skips over this and jumps to when he wakes up.

The reason why the original mangaka likely chose to circumvent these scenes is because all the main interactions in Pseudo Harem depend on them both being awake, so he can react to her “dere” impressions. In most cases, an easy way to subvert such a trope would be to follow this example, but the reason why it happens in Pseudo Harem is more enjoyable because it was done to accommodate its overall formula.

Only one other anime has done this in recent memory; My Clueless First Friend. In that case, it was undoubtedly done as a result of each character being quite young, and since the show is much more innocent for obvious reasons, its subversion of this not-so-innocent trope was perfect. Regardless, there was no other anime at the time My Clueless First Friend was simulcasted on Crunchyroll that was similar to it. That is not the case with Pseudo Harem or Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian.