If you’re going to change the things you don’t like about yourself, that which led to relentless bullying during your middle school years and kept you from making meaningful connections…
Jan 8, 2025 • Subscribe
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First Impressions – Honey Lemon Soda
Setting aside (though only for a moment) its intrinsic quality as a series, Honey Lemon Soda says something about the state of shoujo anime.


First Look: Honey Lemon Soda
Manga Adaptation by J.C.Staff Streaming on Crunchyroll Premise Previously bullied in middle school, Uka Ishimori is determined to make her high school experience a more positive one. However,…


Honey Lemon Soda
Honey Lemon Soda is currently streaming on Crunchyroll on Wednesdays....
Honey Lemon Soda, Vol 2
Honey Lemon Soda Volume 2 by Mayu Murata Shy girl in love with popular boy is a fairly common subgenre of shoujo manga, but with the second volume,…


Honey Lemon Soda – Episode 1
A gently fizzy take on a familiar shoujo story that's very human and sweet as a dollop of honey.
Honey Lemon Soda, Vol 2
Honey Lemon Soda Volume 2 by Mayu Murata Shy girl in love with popular boy is a fairly common subgenre of shoujo manga, but with the second volume,…


Anime Like Honey Lemon Soda
After being bullied in middle school for her shyness being misinterpreted as coldness, Uka Ishimori hopes that she can get a fresh start in high school.
A Condition Called Love, Horimiya, Kimi ni Todoke: From Me to You, My Happy Marriage, A Sign of Affection


Honey Lemon Soda GN 1
Is this romance about a bullied teen all sweet and no substance? Rebecca Silverman checks out Honey Lemon Soda to find out.


Second Impressions – Honey Lemon Soda
This series is seriously, seriously shoujo.


Honey Lemon Soda GN 2
What sets Honey Lemon Soda apart from its brethren? It's the willingness to understand that it's not a quick or easy thing to break free of the things…


Honey Lemon Soda Episode 1 Review – Soaked In Lemon Soda
What if Uka was actually in love with the soda and not Kai?


Honey Lemon Soda – 02 – Gemstone Dreams
Ishimori arrives at school not sure if everything she experienced yesterday wasn’t just a dream. Even so, she manages to say good morning to Miura, though he isn’t…


Honey Lemon Soda – 03 – Magic Seat
Taking Kai’s advice, Uka starts taking steps forward. When the class changes seats, she asks Ayumi if they can be friends, only to learn Ayumi has already been…
Honey Lemon Soda – 01 (First Impressions) – Disobey Your Curse
While the title is fun and refreshing, Honey Lemon Soda is a very familiar flavor of shoujo romance, but well-executed and full of novel details. The titular soda is…


Honey Lemon Soda Episode 7 Review – Codependency
Let’s just hope that Kai and Uka won’t have a toxic codependent relationship later on…


Honey Lemon Soda Episode 12 Review + Final Thoughts – A Love Like Lemon Soda
A story about a no one becoming a someone.


Honey Lemon Soda Episode 2 Review – A Gemstone
Uka and Kai are warming up to each other.


Honey Lemon Soda Episode 4 Review – Wet Camp
I can relate to Uka in some aspects!
Honey Lemon Soda Vol 1 by Mayu Murata
Honey Lemon Soda Volume 1 by Mayu Murata I was aware that there was a great deal of anticipation when Honey Lemon Soda was licensed, and the first…


Honey Lemon Soda Episode 11 Review – Crushing It
It feels like they skipped a few things to wrap things up…


Honey Lemon Soda Episode 8 Review – Phone Numbers
Uka had a phone all this time???


Honey Lemon Soda Episode 1 Review: An Emotional Introduction
This episode left me wondering about hidden backstories and potential character growth—and I’ve shared all my thoughts in my review. If you enjoy a romance anime with emotional…


Honey Lemon Soda Episode 10 Review – The Kai Introspective?
Kai’s been here since the beginning yet we don’t know anything about him.


Honey Lemon Soda Episode 3 Review – Expanding Her World
Uka’s awkward, but it’s endearing.


Honey Lemon Soda Episode 2 Review: Heartfelt Growth and Romance
This episode left me wondering about hidden backstories and potential character growth—and I’ve shared all my thoughts in my review. If you enjoy a romance anime with emotional…


Honey Lemon Soda Episode 9 Review – Overbearing And Overprotective Father
Why isn’t Uka’s mom doing something???
Why Honey Lemon Soda is the Next Big School Romance Anime
Discover why Honey Lemon Soda is 2025's must-watch school romance anime. Anxiety, growth & a love story that redefines courage. 🍋
Fruits Basket, Honey Lemon Soda, Kimi ni Todoke: From Me to You


Honey Lemon Soda Episode 6 Review – Culture Festival At 2x Speed
Come on JC Staff, you can do better than this!


Airy and sweet but missing some zest – Honey Lemon Soda (movie review)
Ah yes, I am back in the realm of those sappy sweet shojo movies. This time being the long awaited Honey Lemon Soda, given that that manga is…


Winter 2025 Impressions: Honey Lemon Soda, Red Ranger Isekai, Baban Baban Ban Vampire
Honey Lemon Soda Short Synopsis: A high school wallflower becomes enamored with a blond-haired boy who later stands up to a trio of bullies on her behalf. Wooper:…


Reader’s Corner: Honey Lemon Soda, Doomsday with My Dog, and A Galaxy Next Door
Relationships take central focus in this week’s Reader’s Corner: that between would-be lovers and those seeking to take the next step in intimacy; between adventurers who have trust…


Reader’s Corner: Helck (Vol. 3), Honey Lemon Soda (Vol. 2), and Horimiya (Vol. 16, Final)
Does the abstract nature of Yokohama Station SF translate to manga for? Is Chitose in the Ramune Bottle better as a light novel or manga? Is Suzune Magica…
Earl and Fairy, Helck, Horimiya, Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World-, Spy Classroom


Reader’s Corner: Honey Lemon Soda (Vol. 5), The Remarried Empress (Vol. 6), and The Uncanny Counter (Vol. 1)
It’s a big day for manga, manhwa light novel releases, and we’ve got reviews for you of a number of those hitting shelves today! Romance, slice-of-life, fantasy, and…


First Impression: Honey So Sweet, Vol. 1 by Amu Meguro
Honey So Sweet is the kind of romance story that I would’ve enjoyed reading in my teen years. Here is my first impression of Amu Meguro’s shōjo series.
First Impressions: Honey and Clover
“It is not only well-written, but well executed on the part of Studio Shaft, whose odd style of animation lended even more personality to the show as a…
First Impression – ID:INVADED
Have you ever wanted to enter the mind of a murderer? There have been several shows that have attempted to explore this in detail, to see why criminals…


SSSS.Dynazenon (First Impression)
“One day, Yomogi Asanaka, a first-year student at Fujiyokidai High School, runs into a mysterious man named Gauma who claims to be a “kaiju user.” The sudden appearance…


Sakugan (First Impression)
“Far in the future, the human beings were pushed into the deep underground world called Labyrinth and they are living shoulder-to-shoulder. The Labyrinth has several colonies with severe…


First Impression: Tonbo!
Kazuyoshi Igarashi accepts a job on the remote Hinoshima island, where he meets the island’s only middle schooler, Tonbo. The girl is energetic and rambunctious, but more curiously,…


First Impression: AYAKA
As an island breaks apart, with magna spewing from the earth and scorching the surface, two boys escape to the beach where they and other islanders are being…


First Impression: Uzumaki
Do you ever feel that your life is spiraling out of control? Like things are just swirling downwards into an endless pit of despair towards a void of…


First Impression: Horimiya
Kyoko Hori: Smart, beautiful, popular, but for unknown reasons, she rushes out of school instead of spending time with the rest of her clique. Izumiya Miyamura: Quiet, introverted,…


First Impression: UniteUp!
Akira may be a bit of a curmudgeon (as far as perky 17-year-olds go), but he’s a good son and devoted friend. He’s just been a little bit…
First Impression: Pet
The physical world is immense and full of possibilities—good and bad. But the world inside our minds is even more vast, full of imagination, potential, and horror. There…


First Impression: Cue!
Action music. A deep blue sea with emerald green coasts. Pursued by their enemies, a boy and a girl are entering the fantasy world where she was born.…


First Impression: Ishura
It’s the first day of school in a vaguely medieval Ottoman-like world (with robots) when timid Yuno first encounters Lucelles, the sparkling, confident girl who quickly becomes her…


First Impression: Onipan!
Three typical slice-of-life girls arrive in the big city. There’s Himawari, the confident blond sporty one, Tsuyukusa, the sleepy-eyed, dessert-loving blue-haired one, and Tsutsuji, with the reddis…


First Impression: Bucchigiri?!
Arajin Tomobishi has a habit of losing things. First, he leaves his bass guitar in the classroom on his first day at a new school, then he leaves…
First Impression: Tamayomi
As children, Yomi would toss a “magic ball” to Tamaki, a curving pitch that the latter wasn’t able to catch. The two agreed that when Yomi mastered it…