Who is Masachika Kuze's childhood friend in Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian anime? Identity explained

According to Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian anime, Masachika Kuze shared a special childhood bond with a blonde-haired girl. It was revealed that the boy learned to speak and understand Russian to converse with the girl. However, the anime has yet to reveal the identity of the mysterious girl from Masachika's past.

Interestingly, the third episode of Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian strongly hinted at who the mysterious girl could be. While fans who have read the light novel already know the answer, those who only follow the anime may like to know that the person was none other than Alya's elder sister, Maria Mikhailovna Kujo, aka Masha.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers from Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian light novel

Exploring the identity of Masachika Kuze's childhood friend in Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian

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SunSunSun's narrative for Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian is replete with complexities of emotions. Although Alya and Masachika Kuze's relationship serves as the narrative scaffold, the boy's past bond with a mysterious girl is equally essential to the story.

If it weren't for the blonde girl with whom Masachika shared a deep friendship, the boy wouldn't have had the urge to understand Russian. Consequently, he wouldn't have comprehended Alya's feelings of affection in Russian that way.

Masachika and his childhood friend (Image via Doga Kobo)

As such, Masachika's relationship with his childhood friend was a pivotal point in the narrative. However, the question is, who is Masachika Kuze's childhood friend in Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian? As mentioned, it's Alya's elder sister, Maria, referred to as Masha in the anime.

Maria Mikhailovna Kujo was Masachika Kuze's childhood friend before the boy changed his surname from Suou to Kuze due to his parent's divorce (Kuze chose to be with his father). Back then, Maria's hair was slightly longer and bright blonde, instead of the present light brown hair. She also had blue eyes back then.

Maria, as seen in the anime (Image via Doga Kobo)

As per the light novel, Maria was saved by Masachika Kuze from a past dog attack. As a result, the boy has a large scar on the back of his shoulder. In childhood, Masachika and Maria shared a deep interest in each other. That's why the boy learned a foreign language, so that he could converse with the girl.

Gradually, the friendship turned into a stronger affection. However, Maria and her family had to return to Russia, thus ending their friendship. Years later, Maria Mikhailovna Kujo returned to Japan and unexpectedly reunited with Masachika.

In the third episode of Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian anime, Maria met Kuze in the student council's office. She held his hand and deeply stared into his eyes, only to realize that Masachika was the boy from the past. However, she didn't reveal it to the boy.

Maria hugs Masachika in episode 3 (Image via Doga Kobo)

Later in the same episode, when Maria hugged Masachika, the latter felt a familiar warmth. All of these subtly hinted at Maria Mikhailovna Kujo's identity as the mysterious girl from Kuze's past.

However, fans may like to know that the fact that Maria was Masachika's childhood friend doesn't get revealed until volume 5 of the light novel series. Considering the pace of the anime adaptation, fans will unlikely witness the moment in this season.