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

Endou, Ayumi Supporting

Nemoto, Miyari Japanese

Kanno, Serina Supporting

Takahashi, Rie Japanese

Takamine, Tomoya Supporting

Toki, Shunichi Japanese

Seto, Satoru Supporting

Yashiro, Taku Japanese

Oikawa, Tao Supporting

Nukui, Yuka 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

Apr 3, 2025

valchurie_

Recommended

For most, it's just a simple romance anime but for me it’s a deeply relatable story for anyone who has struggled with social anxiety or the scars of bullying. Uka who was bullied in the past, and it completely altered the way she views friendships. She constantly fears being a burden and walks on eggshells around others, not because she’s weak, but because it’s a defense mechanism.

As someone who was also bullied in high school (and even in college), I deeply relate to Uka’s avoidant nature. The way she hesitates, overthinks, and second-guesses herself is painfully accurate. This anime beautifully portrays how past trauma can ... shape a person, but it also highlights the importance of kindness and true friendship.

Despite its emotional weighted plot, the director managed to keep things light with fun and cute animation. While some moments feel a bit silly, there are visually charming scenes; like the bouquet of flowers and the moment when Uka injures her foot on a box. These little details make the anime feel more expressive and heartfelt!!!

Overall, this anime is a reminder that not everyone is like the bullies from our past. There are people who genuinely care, and true friends will always be there when you need them.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Mar 27, 2025

kiyo_seibah

Mixed Feelings

Okay, so first of all, shoujo isn't really my cup of tea. Especially classic school romance shoujo. And bcs it's a shoujo anime, the target audience are teenage girls so the drama or conflict in this anime are your typical "i have a crush on this popular guy, but I'm just an ordinary girl" so it was very cliche and boring.
So yea the story wasn't really great. And so is the characters. The main character is ur typical "to be so so" shoujo mc, and yes she cried in every episode. But tbh i get her struggles and i do relate to her a ... bit (like her awkwardness and anxiety) but yea she's annoying to be fair. But she has a bit of development tho (and more in the manga or so i heard). For the male lead, tbh i don't get what makes him attractive (besides his pretty face) i mean his personality or something. He's pretty basic guy and I don't see him as a husbu material (unlike miyamura or Kyo sohma)
Graphic are ur standard shoujo anime graphic and scoring are pretty spot on.
Overall, nothing really special, it was cliche and has nothing to standout. Both stories and characters aren't great.
But plus points for a vibrant opening and ending!

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Apr 11, 2025

erinxia

Not Recommended

This show is incredibly frustrating, and you'd have to be something like 14 to enjoy it. If you are going to watch it, it's not aimed at viewers wanting a more mature show. It's incredibly immature in it's writing and the way they portray the characters. This review does mention the general plot direction, but doesn't spoil how this happens so be aware if you don't want to know anything about the plot apart from characters to ignore the 2nd paragraph.

Uka and Kai are such stereotypical "shy quiet girl" and "bad tough guy," and it's excruciating to watch, like something straight out of Wattpad. ... To summarise, Uka is a shy girl who is socially awkward and basically bullied by everyone, and Kai essentially takes her in and opens her eyes to the world. And when I say they fit the stereotypes, I mean textbook. It's not a creative plot at all, and it's boring. I forced myself to finish this series because I had some hope it would get better, but if the writing is bad, the second-hand embarrassment from this show is EVEN WORSE. Uka just acts so unrealistically, and manages to be seethingly cringe every time she is on the screen. It's like a worse version of any show which is centred around a shy character - sometimes it feels like a worse version of A Sign of Affection (great anime by the way). I know Uka may be implicitly suggested to be autistic, but if that is the direction the show wanted which I think would've been better, they should've put more explicit emphasis on it.

I actually think in terms of characters, Kai is bearable and somewhat likeable, but his savior complex can be cringe at times and painful. The way he coddles the main character means you never really get to see her character development individually. He genuinely always jumps in, never lets her answer for herself and therefore we never get to see Uka do anything herself. He's genuinely kind of controlling and it's dressed up as him saving her and looking after her like she's some child so I suppose that's meant to be 'cute'? Uka's character development is done poorly and is only really surface level, and the fact that she is so unlikeable from the way she acts, overly pathetic pains me. Maybe she's just not my sort of main character, but the entire show is cringeworthy. Not to mention her character development is very stereotypical in itself - 'strict parents' and learns to sort that out, 'gets bullied' but stands up to her bullies' and 'learns to find love'. Like come on, be original. However, I'll give the show credit where credit is due to that the side characters (specifically the female ones) are really likeable and honestly how I wish Uka was written. Why the hell is Uka always crying or babbling? It might've been better if they portrayed her slightly differently.

Also, the intro is a banger to be fair - &TEAM did a really good job on it, it's really enjoyable to listen to and maybe the only part I think was enjoyable. Outro is ALSO a banger. The animation is decent, and I do really like the artistic design and that is what saves the show from a critical view since the plot is absolutely miserable.

I do NOT recommend this show for the fact that it's a stereotypical, Wattpad, and cringeworthy mess. I should've given up watching it when it became unbearable from a few episodes in, it's genuinely not worth the commitment. 4/10 and that's being generous from my perspective. I'm not even sure me when I was 14 could've coped with how much of a mess this show is.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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	Poll: Honey Lemon Soda Episode 12 Discussion ( 1 2 3 ) Stark700 - Mar 26	102 replies	by SenseiSempai-san »» Apr 14, 4:58 AM
	Poll: Honey Lemon Soda Episode 11 Discussion ( 1 2 3 ) Stark700 - Mar 19	127 replies	by SenseiSempai-san »» Apr 14, 4:56 AM
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	Poll: Honey Lemon Soda Episode 9 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Stark700 - Mar 5	87 replies	by SenseiSempai-san »» Apr 14, 4:33 AM
	Poll: Honey Lemon Soda Episode 8 Discussion Stark700 - Feb 26	49 replies	by SenseiSempai-san »» Apr 14, 4:00 AM