honey lemon soda review

oha-luckies! y'all know ur in for a treat when a show has pulled me out of a year-long slumber. =w=)zzZ sign of affection really did tug at me but i just didn't have the writing motivation. maybe it'll come out of our draft heap someday, but today is not that day ^_^

i've started to write this review on march 23, before the final episode has aired. let us all pray that the ending of this gem doesn't dull its shine (人*′Д｀*)

to everyone's surprise, ghost has become somewhat of a seasonal-watcher. can't say what exactly pulled me in to watch this one besides the title, but after seeing prettyboy kai it would have been hard to get me to stop. now I KNOW this show has mixed reviews, and honestly i had my doubts at first here, so just hear me out ok? OK???

as usual, let's start with our cast!

ishimori uka, a fairly typical shoujo romance heroine. from her bullies in middle school, uka was given the nickname "stony" because of her lack of reactions.

our story begins with uka entering highschool, turning in a blank application test to a high-end school so that she could end up in a more free "delinquent" school.

as we follow uka through the series we get to watch her butterfly metamorphosis. from a shy pushover to the heart of her class, her earnest efforts earn her real results. i really loved seeing such clear character growth. its not linear of course, and she recognizes herself that insecure mindsets can be really hard to fully shake. love her bro (ಥ◡ಥ)

beautiful miyura kai. mysterious. cool. he also shares in my passion for sleeping. kai becomes known school-wide as uka's protector. he's also pretty typical within his tropes, but he's a type i feel like we haven't seen in a while. prince-charming rescuer and mentor but with that classic cold bad boy exterior that i can't help but drool for. sue me.

miyura's biggest role is in the guidance he gives to uka to help her make friends and enjoy her highschool life. it's said to be quite unusual for him to have any interest in a girl, and their unique relationship is quite a spectacle in the school. for some reason no one has the capacity to believe someone like kai could be romantically interested in uka- like its not even theorized (is she that plain? poor girl like DAMN T_T) so people find comedy in his caretaker behaviour.

while there is a colourful class that all end up pretty close, names aren't super memorable besides uka's best friend ayumi (blonde) and kai's ex from middle school, kanno serina (redhead). the ex plot is a bit of a derivative from the norm as serina is actually really lovely to uka and becomes her friend, despite them both having a thing for kai. ayumi likes the minty guy to the left of her and at the far right is a guy i really don't know what the purpose of is. he's kinda a dick to uka at times but is like so irrelevant just to pop up and stir something. he's kai's friend i guess. loser guy, whatever. he also looks like the fuck from say "i love you" so yea, fuck him lol

ok. let's address him.

so people don't love this show. they say it's generic. ...ok and? lol. i'm fully aware of the tropes and i still think this show can be appreciated on its own without comparing it to shows with similar dynamics. yes, we've seen a lot of shy girls lately. bitches be nervous ok!! let them liive lol but fr i saw people say that they couldn't really emphasize with uka, but i disagree. i vividly remember going "aw shit she's just a giiirl" which to me basically means yea thats typical but like soooo real of her. does that me IM the typical shoujo heroine? yea prob. im just a girl.

so yes some of the features of this show have been done before. what hasn't? there's still 18 identical isekai coming out every season being watched and probably enjoyed. some of those isekai, despite having the same premise, some of those isekai are going to be executed better and made more enjoyable than others.

one of the key features of this show that made it 'good' in my head is uka's actual growth. kai helps her get the ball rolling, pushes her in the right direction and keeps her on the path when necessary, but it's uka's hard work to change herself that get the results. it's not linear, and when things go wrong she is prone to regress into her negative self, but that's just how it be. the difference is that she becomes aware of this, and dislikes when she becomes too negative. she becomes beloved by her class, and it's really dang heartwarming. how can people not root for her when she tries so hard?

of course what kind of romance review is this without reviewing the romance. obviously, i love kai. obviously, uka loves kai. and i mean of course kai loves uka but he's real tsun about it and too cool to admit his own feelings. whatever, typical lol but we can see the love in his actions. running to her rescue, sometimes literally, and always protecting her. he even says the classic "depend on me" shit kya like that gettss me man X_X plenty of doki moments from this guy because every little thing is like a gesture yk

throughout watching i was having a great time. at first i couldnt tell if it was actually a good show or just that i was enjoying it, but i was beyond doubt sold by the 11th episode, with the sports festival. its was beautiful! always been a pretty show with the sparkly- but not moeshit- eyes and single hair strands i found cute and unique, but this one did some unique animatey things that tell my monkey brain wow good show. we also get to see kai in a Situation. iykyk ahem.

final episode out and im about to to watch lets gooooo-oh. it was kinda lame. i mean it was fine,, but just fine. kinda typical of romance to struggle with ending, bc the whole point is the buildup right, but yea it was kinda lame. esp after the shock-end of ep 11, the tension just didn't carry and uka cried so damn much im sorry. we got our confessions (yay) but then were left with half an episode of the "are we actually dating tho?" bleh. not a huge fan of the trope usually, and it kinda made the pacing weird since there was what was supposedly a climax and then 10 minute of an impatient secondary climax? this is just stream of consciousness here, but yea while i think its hard for a romance to end well, i think they coulda reworked what they had to end on a higher note. (ik this was already a manga and they probably just followed that with less time but im judging just the anime here)

this little smirk made the ep worth it tho. swoon.

we've gotten a bit carried away in length here so lets summarize all my r̶a̶m̶b̶l̶i̶n̶g̶ thoughts. i thought honey lemon soda was a great show. cute motif. ikemen with hard-hitting doki lines. heroine with actual growth. visually appealing with great op and ed by &team. many say its tropey and typical, but i say idgaf. tropes get popular for a reason, and i don't think that automatically makes something a bad anime. i could see this being a "classic romance anime" if it hadnt come out in 2025. weak ending shou-ro killer unfortunately.

in conclusion...

★★★★☆ 4 lucky stars.

a sparkling love story that stayed true to itself. complete with character growth and a citrusy prince.