Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian episode 8 review: Doga Koba's masterclass direction gives Masachika the spotlight

Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian episode 8 was released on August 21, 2024. The animation studio of the series keeps delivering, without holding anything back, in every episode, and the same could be said about episode 8, which featured the showdown between Taniyama and Masachika.

Titled Student Congress, episode 8 was all about the direction and voice acting. Taniyama's frustration with Masachika and Alya's urge to help her partner despite the discrimination from the audience were perfectly portrayed. Moreover, Taniyama's despair at the end of the episode was heartbreaking.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers from Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian episode 8.

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Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian episode 8 review: An absolute cinema at the Student Congress

Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian episode 8 was centered around the Student Congress debate between Taniyama's and Masachika's sides. As expected, the episode focused more on the direction than the visuals because the debate was all about the dialogue exchange between the two sides.

Taniyama's start of the discussion was really something as all of her complaints were directed towards Masachika, who the Student Council President personally requested to join his team. She also mentioned a few more points to her debate, adding weight to her discussion, which could pressure the opposite side.

Alya, as seen in Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian episode 8 (Image via Doga Koba)

To her surprise, Alya wasn't fazed, and her counter-argument even caused a discussion amongst the masses. The credit in this aspect also goes to Alya's voice actress, whose tone of speech made her character look calm and collected.

However, due to the weird comments of the audience regarding Alya's background as an outsider, her face showed horror. The facial expressions of Alya, in this case, were of key importance because the room was a battlefield, and she was shocked when her opponent made an unexpected move.

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The animation studio gave Masachika's win the spotlight

Although Alya's counter-argument was decent, she couldn't cope with the comments from the audience. This was where Masachika took his chance and gave his partner a moment to rest. What made Masachika's speech afterward special was how his voice actor sounded confident and how the composition of the scene looked flawless, even though his argument could be countered.

As Masachika used the example of such a model student to support his case, Taniyama's emotions went astray, and she couldn't help but run away from the battlefield (the congress room).

This finally gave the series' male protagonist a character development in the right way because he was only portrayed as a supporting character until now. His true aim is to be one of the supporting roles, but plot armor will always assist him in his journey through the series.

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Final thoughts

Miyamae Nonao, as seen in Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian episode 8 (Image via Doga Koba)

The introduction of Miyamae Nonao in Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian episode 8 gave the fandom another moment to appreciate the series's eye-catching and smooth character designs. Compared to the light novel and manga adaptation of the series, which feature artistic character designs, the anime took it to another level.

Momoco, the illustrator for the series light novel, assisted by Yuuhei Murota, an anime industry professional working in the industry since the late 2000s, created some amazing character designs for the anime, which could be considered one of the spotlights of the series.

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Related Links

• Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian episode 1 review
• Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian episode 2 review
• Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian Episode 3 review
• Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian episode 4 review