Review of Honey Lemon Soda

Woof. This was definitely one of those shows where I had to pause often to recover from secondhand embarrassment, and when I say often, I mean often. This is classic shojo faire; we have an awkward/shy girl and a popular/sometimes-harsh guy. Nothing here is offensive, but I did have a difficult time getting into these two. First and foremost, I’ve seen Uka described as “autistic-coded,” and if that’s what the original author was going for, I certainly see the vision. She often has a difficult time reading social cues (or the “vibe” as the show describes it in what ends up being a pretty consequentialscene) and has a difficult time articulating her feelings. As such, I did have a hard time with the ways that Kai tried to “motivate” her in the beginning. I won’t get into detail, but it felt overly harsh sometimes and often too big of a push for someone who experienced what Uka did. Based off of the pretty even mix of reviews for this, I see that others felt the same way.

Where this show does shine, however, is with its supporting cast. The entire class felt really vibrant in this one, and I loved seeing Uka’s friend circle expand (in a kind of Komi-san fashion).

So, in summary, this is a mixed bag for me. I have a feeling that I might like the manga a little more, but I likely won’t be picking it up anytime soon based off of my experience with the anime.