Alisa Mikhailovna Kujou is a girl of many faces…and every one of them is presented stunningly in this very first artbook for Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian! Packed with exquisite, full-color pieces from the celebrated illustrator Momoco, this collection features illustrations from Volumes 1–8 of the light novels, plus promotional artwork, chibi illustrations, and even an exclusive short story by the original author, Sunsunsun!

Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian: Momoco's Art Book has a story by Sunsunsun and art by Momoco. English translation is done by Matthew Rutsohn and lettering by Chiho Christie. Published by Yen Press (December 16, 2025). Rated T.

Rebecca Silverman
Rating:

Let's get the obvious out of the way first: you will enjoy this artbook more if you're already a fan of Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian, and even more if your favorite images come from the original light novels. Filled with art by Momoco, the illustrator for the novels, this is a collection of all of the color and black-and-white art from the books, with two bonus pages of chibis, a double-sided fold-out poster, and a few special illustrations from anime announcements, Alya's birthday, and so on. While I would without reservation suggest that anyone pick up the Witch Hat Atelier artbook, I feel like this one (and the Fairy Tail one) will go down better with series fans.

In part that's because knowing who the characters are will lessen the issues present in some of the artwork. No, it's not foot stuff – that seems to belong primarily to the anime – but rather that bodies don't always feel like they're put together quite right. Heads don't mesh with torsos, hips don't attach to waists smoothly, and thighs sometimes look like they were drawn without much regard for the rest of the girls' figures. It's not immediately obvious in most cases, but if you look at an image long enough, it starts to become unsettling.

That goes for the ways skin is colored as well. Momoco has a flair for color on clothing and in backgrounds, but the brushstrokes on skin don't always feel finished or like they were done with the same enthusiasm as some of the other colors. (There's no mention of whether these images are digital or traditionally drawn, but I don't think that matters in this case.) Again, thighs seem to have the most issues, although necks also don't fare particularly well. I'm fully willing to admit that these may be the result of needing to really look at the images for review purposes, though, and if all you want are pinups of the female cast, you'll probably still be perfectly happy. (The guys get a few images, but this is very cheesecake-centric.)

Although we don't get much of Momoco's commentary – just a few pictures have artist statements – it's still clear that a lot of care went into this book. Along with the art, there's also a special short story in the back, although the print is almost absurdly tiny, which isn't great. Franchise fans should enjoy this, though if you're just looking for an artbook of cute girls in general, I'd suggest Prism instead.