Honey Lemon Soda - Episodes 1-2

It's hard to deny that Honey Lemon Soda is wish fulfillment – but what kind of wish you see in it depends heavily on your own experiences. For me, as someone who went through bullying in school, the wish isn't that a Prince Charming comes and saves you. But that someone, anyone, says that you are worth saving at all.

The problem with the bullying that Uka Ishimori suffered in middle school is that it makes you believe you deserve it. That you yourself are the reason for your misfortune and have to apologize for your mere existence. What Uka experiences in the first two episodes from Kai is not that he saves her on a white horse – but the reminder that she is a human being who deserves to be there at all. Kai doesn't save her, he sees her.

He himself doesn't seem to know exactly why he does it. When Uka and Kai meet for the first time, she stumbles on the street and cries. He is the only one who stops.

This illustrates how he perceives her, while others look away – not because they don't see her, but because they consciously ignore what makes them uncomfortable. Uka's despair is embarrassing to the others, and that suggests that it has always been this way for them.

Surely there were classmates who wanted to help her, but they refrained for fear of social ostracism. Kai is the first to recognize her distress and act – to Uka, this seems incredibly brave and kind. Pay attention to how often she apologizes in these episodes: Part of her fears that Kai and his clique will be "tainted" by contact with her, because "Stony" is just a "stone in the shoe of society."

Episode 1 of Honey Lemon Soda fails to grab my interest.

That doesn't mean there aren't moments of ridicule or condescension. Kai's attempts to socialize Uka can certainly be read as the latter – although I think the intention is more to show that he, too, is still a kid who doesn't know how to deal with the situation (which at least one friend notices in episode 2).

In a way, he treats Uka like a stray dog, which isn't ideal. But his heart is in the right place, as the basketball scene shows: He recognizes how much she wants to be part of the game. (I also like to believe that she secretly practiced and instead gets away with the silly excuse of "imagination training.")

His abruptness when he realizes that Uka has left the classroom without talking to him speaks volumes about his feelings – and that he himself doesn't understand them. Just because girls adore him doesn't mean he likes it or can handle it. He seems like a teenager who was "with someone" because everyone does it – without knowing why or what it means.

The series finds its footing in its visuals.

The source material, Mayu Murata's manga, is one of my favorite current shoujo titles, and I admit: The anime adaptation doesn't do Murata's art justice.

The yellow color theme makes sense, but it comes across more as "electric banana yellow" than "honey or lemon yellow." The eyes don't work at all in the anime – just because Murata uses golden-brown tones in her illustrations doesn't mean the anime should copy that.

The bodies also look awkward, probably because they stick too rigidly to the manga style: Depicting movement is different than just suggesting it.

Despite the visual weaknesses, it's worth watching the anime. The manga is better in almost every way, but stories like this need to be told. Those who have been in Uka's position understand why. Those who haven't will learn here that it's not about being saved – but about realizing that you deserve to save yourself.

Honey Lemon Soda is currently airing every Wednesday on Crunchyroll.