Honey Lemon Soda manga is currently ongoing with chapter 54 being the latest. It’s a refreshing manga that doesn’t go through the story in a cliché manner. You will love the characters and will feel connected to the story.
Story
Ishimori Uka is a very shy girl and has a sheltered home life. This makes her come off as a non-social person making her a target for unpleasant things in her middle school life. When a chance meeting happens between her and a lemon color haired boy, it propels her to choose the same high school the boy goes to. With this, the manga takes us around the story of Ishimori Uka trying to come out of her shy self and become friends with Miura Kai – the boy with lemon color hair.
Characters
Ishimori Uka is honestly a treat to read about. She starts as this timid, reserved person but when Miura Kai gives her the right push she starts to grow into someone who expresses herself. She eventually doesn’t hesitate to voice her feelings and communicate with others. There is a gradual character development of Uka that is shown. As you continue reading the manga, you can’t help but feel proud of her for coming so far.
Miura Kai is a mystery. You don’t get a feel of him until way later into the story. You see him as a protector of sorts for Uka and the way his character handles tough things makes you like him. He is a charming, handsome protagonist who will capture your attention. I like that there is so much more to him than what meets the eye. It keeps things interesting.
Relationship
Uka develops feelings for Kai as the story progresses which is the general way of things happening in the shoujo world but what I liked is she is not super dependent on him for things. Yes, her character gets the extra push and encouragement from Kai but she can hold her own and this makes their dynamic fun. This personality trait of hers makes sure they are both are at equal footing when it comes to their relationship. The art is beautiful and the love confession, little sweet scenes are bound to make your heart go boom and make you feel all the flutters.
Friendship
The friendship theme in this manga gives you a warm feel. Also, some interesting characters make you second guess things so they keep you on your toes while reading the manga.
What do I like about Honey Lemon Soda?
I like that so far nothing annoying has happened. When you see the premise you are bound to think how it’s a theme that has been tried and done so many times in the shoujo world. But what makes this different in my opinion is the characters of this manga and how they move forward in the story. We come across all types of drama and unpleasant characters. The catch is they are only unpleasant at first. No character is bad as such in this manga, rather the author has taken a creative approach in showcasing character growth in each of the characters. It makes things light-hearted and does not give you bad feels while reading this manga.
The manga title comes from the fact that Kai always carries around lemon soda and for Uka it depicts a refreshing feeling which she only ever felt when she came in contact with Kai. And her feelings towards him are similar to that of honey so we have Honey Lemon Soda. I thought this was interesting and cute.
Conclusion
If you are looking for something light-hearted, sweet which will leave you feeling good and at times swoon then this manga is a good choice to read. Also, the exciting thing is it’s been adapted into a live-action movie which is releasing on July 9, 2021. The trailer gives similar vibes to the manga so that makes it fun and something to look forward to.
More information about Honey Lemon Soda can be found here – http://ribon.shueisha.co.jp/
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