I’m very excited to be reviewing Honey Lemon Soda, one of my favorite manga, in English for the first time after years of following the series in Japanese.
Chapter 1
Our female protagonist is Uka Ishimori, a shy but kind high school freshman wishing for a memorable high school life. Unfortunately, with a nickname like “Rocky,” things haven’t been going well so far. In many ways, she reminds me of Sawako of Kimi Ni Tododke.
Enter Miura-kun (Kai), the school’s popular blonde boy, self-assured and admired by Uka.
Miura-kun accidentally soaks Uka with the titular Lemon Soda when some classmates annoy him and dodge the beverage.
We soon discover that the soda incident isn’t the first time Uka has encountered Miura-kun. Shortly before high school began, one day, when Uka was feeling lower than the rent on a burning building on her way home from school, classmates bullied her about what school suited her personality. Miura-kun, a stranger at the time, encourages her and tells her that the school she wants to attend will suit her unexpectedly well. He also tells her he will attend that school next year.
Uka has this flashback to the first time she met Miura-kun after she happily and nervously tells him good morning the day after the soda encounter. Uka was having a good day and even happily interacted with other classmates until she bumped into some junior high classmates who casually mentioned how shy she was and bad-mouthed her. Feeling the need to disappear, she escapes to the library.
Unsurprisingly, Uka runs into Miura-kun at the library. He encourages her to be strong and that it’s okay to ask for help when she truly needs it. The next day, the same former classmates that bad-mouthed her tried to bully her into being their errand girl. When things are about to go from bad to worse, Miura-kun appears and tells Uka to say the word, and he’ll help her. Fortunately, Uka finds the courage to ask him for help, and Miura-kun is happy to oblige.
When Uka’s bullies are finally gone, Miura-kun tells her not to cry on the floor anymore. Making it evident to Uka that he also remembers the first time they met and he helped her. Uka feels her curse of being insignificant and “Rocky” has finally been lifted.
Chapter 2
The next day, Uka finds the courage to say good morning to Miura-kun and his friends, including a girl named Ayumi, who was kind to her the day before.
While in gym class, Uka is as still as a stone outwardly because inwardly, she fretts about being in the way despite wanting to join the fun. Miura-kun is clued into Uka’s inner turmoil and gets Uka to participate in basketball with a little help from Ayumi.
To the surprise of her classmates, Uka is good at sports.
While Ayumi tells Uka that Miura-kun told her to help Uka join the class, Miura-kun wanders away from the group. He accidentally overhears Uka’s dad, expressing concern for her. Uka’s parents are kind but a little worried about whether or not her school life is going well. Having overheard Uka’s dad, when Uka starts telling Ayumi why she is happy to attend their school, Miura-kun harshly tries to dissuade her from staying there.
Hearing Miura-kun say what she has always feared makes Uka feel terrible.
When Uka finds herself alone in the classroom, hooligans invade the school looking for her and Miura-kun. They charge in, claiming to want retaliation for Uka and Miura-kun embarrassing their girlfriend the day before. (The mean former classmates who wanted to make Uka their gopher. To the girl’s credit, she did not ask her boyfriend to do anything to them) After hearing Uka’s cry for help, Miura-kun arrives.
Once Miura-kun chases off the bullies, he confesses to Uka about overhearing her worried dad. He promises Uka that he will make all her dreams of a happy school life come true.
After all of Miura-kun’s kindness towards her, Uka realizes she’s falling for him.
Chapter 3
Uka freaks out about her crush on Miura-kun but somehow manages to get through the next day. On her way home from school, Uka runs into more former schoolmates who are casually mean and dismissive to her. (Our girl has rotten luck in the former schoolmates’ department.) Miura-kun and one of his friends, Takamine-kun, arrive a moment too late to save her from embarrassment.
Miura-kun and Takamine-kun invite Uka to hang out, but Miura-kun and Uka bicker due to her early curfew. Their bickering amuses Takamine-kun.
Miura-kun decides to walk Uka halfway home. As they walk, he tells her that she isn’t bound by who she used to be. Miura-kun tells Uka she doesn’t have to be “Rocky” because she’s a gemstone.
Miura-kun continues encouraging Uka. reassuring her that her happiness has already begun. When Uka declares that she won’t bother him in the future, Miura-kun is so amused that he lends her his hat.
When Miura-kun meets up with Takamine-kun, they briefly talk about how attached Uka seems to Miura-kun. Takamine-kun says that Miura-kun’s act of kindness towards Uka must mean the world to her. Takamine-kun mentions that he finds Uka cute, but when Miura-kun seems a bit taken aback, Takamine-kun jokes that he finds all girls cute.
The next day, Uka asks Ayumi to be her friend. Since Ayumi is such a chill and cheerful person, she already considers herself Uka’s friend, but the two girls officially declare themselves to be friends anyway, just to be clear for Uka’s sake. This development makes Uka happy.
Moments later, the miraculous classroom seat change occurs. Naturally, Uka hits the jackpot and ends up seated between Miura-kun and Takamine-kun.
Chapter 4
The next morning, Uka does her best to keep it together as she finds herself at the center of an eye candy sandwich, with Miura-kun on her right and Takamine-kun to her left. Miura-kun and Uka are put on the spot when a classmate asks if they are an item. Uka is nervous, but Miura-kun simply says he is restoring her non-existent social skills.
After Uka hears the offhand comment that she’s probably not Miura-kun’s type, she decides she wants to learn more about him. She then decides to observe him more in class. Uka realizes he is observant and smart but also prone to sleeping in class. When a classmate realizes how nice Uka is, Miura-kun encourages the class to get to know her. He reassures them she’s actually pretty cool.
As if Uka needed another reason to admire him, right? Later that day, the two have a humorous and heartfelt exchange when Uka finds him in a storage room catching some z’s while returning his hat.
Miura-kun and Uka keep where he was a secret from their curious classmates, who are left wondering about their relationship status.
Overall impression? 9/10. Not because it reinvents the wheel in volume one, but because of the fluffy early 2000s cute vibes it gives. The art style is reminiscent of Arina Tanemura’s early works as well, but that may have something to do with the fact that it runs in Ribon magazine. The publisher of Tanemura’s early works. I look forward to the shoujo shenanigans of volume two!
