Honey Lemon Soda

First-year high school student Uka Ishimori wants a fresh start. In middle school, Uka was given the nickname "Rocky" by her peers, being misunderstood as having no emotions when she was actually shy and introverted. As a result, Uka was relentlessly bullied and experienced a lonely, isolated school life. Now, Uka is determined to change.

During the first week of school, Uka accidentally gets drenched in lemon soda by her classmate Kai Miura—whose cool personality is the complete opposite of hers. After the incident, Uka is surprised when Kai performs small acts of kindness for her, encouraging her to gradually break out of her shell. Like a lemon soda, bubbly and exciting feelings are beginning to stir.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Miura, Kai Main

Yano, Shougo Japanese

Ishimori, Uka Main

Ichinose, Kana Japanese

Kanno, Serina Supporting

Takahashi, Rie Japanese

Endou, Ayumi Supporting

Nemoto, Miyari Japanese

Seto, Satoru Supporting

Yashiro, Taku Japanese

Oikawa, Tao Supporting

Nukui, Yuka Japanese

Takamine, Tomoya Supporting

Toki, Shunichi Japanese

Furuichi, Musashi Supporting

YUMA Japanese

Noa Supporting

Koichi, Makoto Japanese

Rino Supporting

Kawaguchi, Rina Japanese

Shibata, Aoi Assistant Producer

Nishikiori, Hiroshi Director, Episode Director, Storyboard

Ootera, Fumihiko Sound Director

Yamamoto, Yutaka Episode Director, Storyboard

Reviews

Mar 26, 2025

Marinate1016

Recommended

Well-written

The lonely socially awkward, slightly autistic girl who gets saved by the popular “prince” of the school who’s hiding his own trauma will always be one of my favourite anime tropes and Honey Lemon Soda does that as well as any show. For people who were fans of Kimi ni Todoke, you will see a lot of similarities. The bullying, the shy girl slowly coming into her own, the wholesome vibes, this really felt like I was back in 2010 watching peak shoujo, while the production values leave a lot to be desired at times, the characters and story are so sweet that I didn’t ... even mind. There’s just something so charming and heartwarming about this show that leaves you smiling like an idiot after every episode. Taking the first step to be a better person is the hardest thing you can do and seeing Uka do that is very inspiring. If you’re a shoujo fan, it goes without saying Honey Lemon Soda is a must watch, but it’s also a good recommendation for those who enjoy seeing personal development.

I don’t want to take away from what Honey Lemon Soda itself is about and does, but the Kimi ni Todoke vibes truly are strong and the author was clearly influenced by it which is a plus for me since I love that series and have been craving more since season 3 ended. Uka is an absolute angel of a character and her progress is perfectly paced, going from being unable to hold basic conversations to holding leadership positions within her class and being able to freely express herself. It’s also a believable situation given her backstory and the way she was raised. I enjoyed the budding romance between she and Kai and while it definitely has some wish-fulfilment vibes to it, it’s sweet enough that it didn’t bother me. Kai serves as a positive influence on her and ideal for her to strive towards, but it’s not a project he can do alone. The other characters in the show help push Uka further too, whether it’s Ayumi and Serina being kind to her or the annoying gyaru clique who bully her, all of the supporting characters feel like they exist to help Uka grow as a person and stand on her own two feet.

One criticism I’d bring up with the show is at times Kai’s interventions feel too convenient and again that goes back to the wish-fulfilment aspect. Like sometimes he will magically solve a problem and it’s like dude, you’re in high school too there is no way you were able to figure this out. It’s definitely a series you don’t want to analyse too critically. There’s some leaps in logic and it relies on plot conveniences at times. Again, for me this isn’t a deal breaker because I know to expect that sort of thing from a series like this and ultimately we are here for a cute girl improving herself and cute romance moments.

Production quality is really where this show struggles. It looks rough for large portions, but episode 11 was one of the best of the season thanks to Honda Takeshi working on it. Uka’s design is really pretty as is Kai and the voice acting is amazing. It’s not a horrible looking series, but it does feel stiff at times.

Honey Lemon Soda is not a complex series by any stretch, it is very much a straightforward watch and one of those things you either like or you don’t like. As a massive shoujo fan and cute girl self improvement enthusiast, this was everything I need. If you’re expecting some earth-shattering writing and story, you won’t find that here, but if you like romance, character development and wholesome watches, this is a must watch!

Honey Lemon Soda gets 8 out of 10!

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Mar 26, 2025

KANLen09

Mixed Feelings

Honey Lemon Soda — Old-school Shoujo at its finest, or is it a hidden symptom of much worse?

It used to be the belief that when one formula works, others will follow in their own interpretations, though successes will vary depending on how authors usually like to carry their approach towards known genres, even if it has to be done from tropes already existing and (usually) having been done better. This is most certainly the case for Shoujo series in the mid-to-late 2000s to the early 2010s, where works like Karuho Shiina's Kimi ni Todoke and Kanae Hazuki's Suki-tte ii na yo a.k.a Say I Love ... You prove most evident of that time period. At the same time, more prolific authors would come to push the genre into relevancy when the genre was at its peak in the 2010s, though it would come to fizzle by the time the Isekai/fantasy genre was just taking off. And one example of this would be female mangaka Mayu Murata's Honey Lemon Soda, which rode the Shoujo wave of the 2010s being one of the best-selling Shoujo series of all time since its serialization in December 2015.

Let's not beat around the bush: Honey Lemon Soda's female MC, Uka Ishimori, given her extreme introvertedness, is pretty much like Kimi ni Todoke's Sawako "Sadako" Kuronuma in every regard: the quiet and shy girl who's misunderstood for various reasons, but in Uka's case, a rather terrifying life of being bullied and called names (Stony for one), which only deepens her insecurity after constant sheltering from the retreat of the people who treat her badly as she is. Fast forward to high school, and Uka's facing the same proposition she had once again, but with a twist: the blonde-haired Kai Miura, whom, for some reason, Uka describes as akin to lemon soda (with the Honey part coming in as the start of the forgiving development), whom she faces her regular fears in school, only to have the upstanding popular boy help her in ways that only he can muster to his own credit, without ever putting a spotlight on himself and making sure that she follows up to the end. And as they say, love paints a picture of a thousand words...or rather, the efficacy for the shy girl to get along with the bad-ass popular boy, to surround herself with friends that she would've otherwise have easily given up by the skin of her teeth, and obviously, have an intimate relationship with said boy.

From the get-go, the Shoujo genre has only so many cliches and tropes that you'd expect, and Mayu Murata exploits that to the nth degree. You might just think that the stereotypes here are just blatant copies of character archetypes done before but better elsewhere (you could even label this a trashy Shoujo work if you so wish to). Uka, for one, does exactly what Sadako would've done in her own state of mind: an introvert who finds it difficult to converse with people, let alone fit into the surrounding nature, which overwhelms her to the point of overthinking. But instead of Sadako, who tries hard from the get-go to persist, Uka is the exact opposite, where her exponential trauma has gravely beset her to the point where fate travels with her everywhere she goes and wash-rinse-repeats the process no matter how many times to the point of insufferability she must. This unfortunately doesn't instill confidence in the audience that Uka will ever improve if she goes nowhere, but this is exactly where Miura comes in as her guardian saviour to notice her unspoken troubles and give her just the right amount of advice to figure out the issues on her own and to start taking flight by overcoming those issues, as difficult as it seems at first glance (from her POV).

Miura being the popular guy in class meant that Uka came under direct fire for all the things she did to catch his attention, intentionally or not, though he tried to play hooky and be discreet with her, not for the fear of reprisal, just the attention from the friends around him. He knows that Stony is the centerpiece of her own issues, and she must overcome trials and tribulations of her own, despite being the bad boy character who sometimes goes after her and gives reassurance only when it matters. Sure, while her and Miura's class can be dramatic with over-the-top reactions that might look staged from different POVs to the point of being unrealistic and overdramatic, it's this same cliche that pushes Uka to the breaking point at times alongside the many friends that she'll come to befriend, from classmates to exes that'll support her when effort is genuinely given. You may love to hate Uka "Stony" Ishimori for her many episodes of inaction that will inevitably frustrate someone to get her going, but we as humans that all have different wavelengths to take matters into our own hands, Uka may be the slowpoke compared to Sadako, but you'll come to root for her as time progresses, and the seeds of love can then be grown between her and the blonde bad boy who grows from being her watcher (from a distance) to genuine caretaker to love.

If anything, characters are the centrepiece to Uka's development. Be it her close friend Ayumi Endo, the ex of Serina Kanno, or her bullies from middle school (which she comes back to fight them with her words), not one character is wasted for effectiveness to show just how much Uka has grown out of her comfort zone, and Mayu Murata would make sure that you don't forget each and every character that came and went in Uka's way to reiterate that the point is reached across.

It's an almost given that Shoujo shows look just as bright and beautiful, and Honey Lemon Soda certainly got that treatment alright. Courtesy of TMS Entertainment under their Unlimited Produce brand, J.C.Staff and Toaru Majutsu no Index a.k.a A Certain Magical Index director Hiroshi Nishikori sought the best the studio has to offer for the Shoujo range since the last work that was undertaken (that being Winter and Summer 2023's Sugar Apple Fairy Tale). For certain, everything got a glow-up in terms of animation; even the eye colours are big and apparent, and it's just a marvel of beauty.

The OST by Akira Kosemura, if I didn't know any better, feels calm, collected, and smooth. This is a given from the composer who brought you Ao no Orchestra a.k.a Blue Orchestra and Summer Ghost, so knowing the latter movie certainly raises some hopes for a decent soundtrack that's not too flashy yet not undercooked at the same time. The OP and ED songs by fusion J-Pop and K-Pop band &Team are both visually creative and made to impact, and they get the job done for the most part.

In the end, what you're watching is a trash Shoujo in the works...good trash, that is. With such an outlandish story and resolutions that just make you question more than you can answer "How the hell did it derive to this kind of unrealistic outcome?" of scenarios, Honey Lemon Soda pins the "realistic" coat of the Shoujo paint out of the picture. Yes, you could argue that this paints a stark contrast to the much more affable and relatable Kimi ni Todoke, but Mayu Murata sure as hell isn't going to go the safe route and create yet another similar derivative. Does this make sense from a story perspective? This is a Shoujo built on hopes and dreams, amped by its drama being like a soap opera, that'll still get you the major vibes, by hook or by crook.

Is it worth a watch? Yeah...if you're the kind who wants to venture the road less travelled, but for everyone else, keep your expectations in check.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Mar 27, 2025

Spast1c

Not Recommended

Honey lemon soda has got to be the corniest anime This season.

Honey Lemon Soda Is a sub par Shoujo Romance anime with horrible characters and is just overall unlikeable. Alot of the things about this show are just so over the top unrealistic and just hard to watch. Most of the time the anime was about Uka's fantasy esc (Like romance fantasizing) monologues about Kai and her being like "Oh my gosh has so hot' Blah blah blah. The characters are just plain unlikeable and annoying, Treating Kai like a god and most of the characters are just plain annoying, Especially the MC ... Uka was just unrealistically written and plain annoying.

The plot in the anime is just horrible, The backstory for Uka has got to be some of the sloppiest writing I have seen before, The bullying backstory was some of the most unrealistic garbage that we've seen in a long while. The rest of the plot is Uka just navigating through different troubles from her past bullying issues and her parents being overprotective and blah blah blah but all of it being extremely unrealistic and just portrayed horribly and alot of the time just borderline horrible.

The animation is not bad but not good either all of the characters design's are just way to bright and sometimes a Eyesore to look at. The backdrops are extremely average and you can tell that the main focus was to make the male characters just as attractive as they possibly could which alot of other anime do but there is just such an emphasis on it especially with Kai.

Sloppy mediocre garbage. 3/10

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

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