Honey Lemon Soda was the only one I received two episodes for review, and yet it was the one that after one episode I was ready to fully recommend. The second episode changed what I was thinking and then made me excited about the show in an entirely different way.
Uka Ishimori is a smart but incredibly shy high schooler who barely talked in middle school because she was bullied and called “Rocky” for keeping a blank face. Kai Miura, a blond-haired popular boy, runs into her on the street after she drops brochures about high schools. He gives her a few words of encouragement and suggests the school he is going to which, while not elite, is a place where he thinks she will have fun. It isn’t a lot but it is more than Uka has had, and that leads her to attend Kai’s high school.
When she first shows up he accidentally splashes her with the honey lemon soda he always drinks, causing the kids that bullied her to start up again, and for Kai and his group of friends to step in and try to help her out. But Kai’s overall reaction to Uka is at times conflicting. He seems frustrated that she cannot stand up for herself, and yells at her to say what she wants. He can appear to be annoyed and avoid her at times, but then be mad he doesn’t have her attention. She is not following him around like a puppy or asking for his help but he sees her and it is like he cannot help himself. All of this has made him an incredibly interesting hero. He is not just the gallant hero helping the woman, he wants to help but he also wants her to not need him for everything. How much he likes Uka can be debated, but if anything he is not indifferent to her.
Which is why Uka likes him. First she admired him for simply standing up for her just that little bit. It inspired her to try to be more outgoing and make friends and do something for herself. She is trying on numerous levels to be better, but she has been something for so long it is hard for her. With Kai’s and his friends’ help we see her try new things and stand up for herself. Yet she never wants to assume anything. When she sees them all as a group she doesn’t go right over till they invite her. It was a small thing but it told me that she doesn’t want to leech on them, she wants things to be genuine. With all that, she admits she loves Kai for what he has done and wants him as a boyfriend, but wants to make herself better so that can happen.
This show got to me quickly, ironically with how slowly it was building everything that was happening. I gasped with joy at little moments where Kai shows concern or shows he simply remembers something about Uka that both she and we as viewers would think is insignificant. Things are progressing to make these two a couple but it is going in a roundabout way due to internal issues. Uka’s we know, but Kai’s are a mystery that I am very curious about. Even his friends who are not front and center are potentially making Uka not just feel welcomed but are observing the two of them and are trying to either make sense of it or help it along.
Besides the character work, the visuals and design overall for the show were beautiful. The music had an air of melancholy and yet hopefulness at the same time that equally fit the tone of the show. When Uka was first walking to school the design of the trees was already grabbing my attention. As was the subtle touch in the design of the two leads having yellow eyes like the color of Kai’s hair and of the famous honey lemon soda he always drinks. It jumped out, not in an in-your-face way, but in a manner that felt pleasant.
That is what is great about Honey Lemon Soda. It has that sense of enjoyment and joy as well as a complexity of characters; a balance that is hard to create. I want to see the progression, not just with these two but how they change each other, and how I want the full friend dynamic to end up being. This was one of the shows I was most excited for, and two episodes in it already has me hooked!
Honey Lemon Soda will air on January 8 on Crunchyroll.
