New Romance Anime Proves is an Instant Classic For a Simple Reason That's Easy to Miss

There are hundreds of romance animes available to watch, but out of all the genres of anime, romance might be one of the hardest to do right. There are so many pitfalls a romance anime can run into. Some feature unconvincing lead characters and unrealistic worlds, or rely on tired tropes that bring the quality of the series down. While there are some great romance anime series out there, more are bad than good.

Luckily, Honey Lemon Sodacomfortably falls into the good category of romance anime. It's a sweet, endearing series with believable characters, an interesting setting, and a main couple with immediate chemistry just waiting to be explored. After only its first few episodes, Honey Lemon Soda has quickly become an exciting romance anime perfect for anyone who already loves the romance genre or someone looking for a quality series to introduce them to the world of romance anime.

Honey Lemon Soda's Character Designs Are Stellar

Each Character Stands Out as Unique, With Clever Details That Differentiate Them From the Crowd

One of the biggest pitfalls a romance anime can stumble upon is having forgettable characters. There are a lot of romance anime series out there, so it isn't the easiest task to create stand-out characters that viewers will remember long after they finish a series. Any great character starts first with a genius design. They can't be too outlandish, because they won't be relatable, but they can't be too boring, because they won't be memorable.

Honey Lemon Soda strikes a great balance between the two through both its main characters and its side characters. Male lead Kai Miura stands out right away. He has bright blonde hair, resembling his favorite drink, the titular Lemon Soda. He also has earrings and a hat that almost never comes off, making him unique from other main characters. The eyes in Honey Lemon Soda don't look like any others in anime. They are big, beautiful, and expressive enough to tell an entire story without any words.

The First Few Episodes are Absolutely Unforgettable

Honey Lemon Soda Hits the Ground Running, Kicking Off the Main Story Immediately

The "three-episode rule" is a common trope that seasoned anime watchers are familiar with. With the sheer number of phenomenal anime series out there, most anime-watchers will only give a series three episodes to find its footing before moving onto the next series on their watchlist. Thankfully,Honey Lemon Soda hits the ground running and does not suffer from this issue. The characters do a fantastic job of expressing themselves early on, creating memorable moments in their school setting and outside of it, but the most unforgettable moments are the series' set pieces.

During the first episode, in a moment of defiance, Kai Miura sprays some people that were annoying him with his Lemon Soda. The people he aimed for dodged, and he wound up hitting the shy Uka Ishimori instead. It was an awkward accident that brought the pair together quickly, and it wound up becoming an inspiration for Uka to finally stand up for herself. When she was getting bullied by some mean classmates later in the series, she remembered Kai's advice to get them back and pulled out a Lemon Soda of her own. She shook up the drink and sprayed her bullies, pushing back against them for the first time in the series.

These scenes are two memorable moments that happen early enough to make anyone want to keep watching. While other romance series might need a few episodes to get their stories going, Honey Lemon Soda captured viewers' attention in just one.

Uka Ishimori Has Plenty of Reasons to Like Kai Miura

He's Everything She Isn't, In a Good Way

The best romance anime series are defined by their main characters. It's a given that the two main characters are going to wind up together, so the main question doesn't become if, it becomes how. How the two main characters end up falling in love with each other is the most important part of romance anime, and it's an area Honey Lemon Soda does very well in.

Uka Ishimori quickly likes Kai for a few relatable reasons. He has a lot of the qualities she wishes she had in herself, including bravery, audacity, and an unflinching level of confidence. Nothing is more understandable than seeing the best in someone else by considering one's own flaws, and Uka sees everything she likes in her new classmate, Kai.

Kai Has Just As Many Convincing Reasons to Like Uka

Kai Hasn't Met Many Girls Like Uka, And He Appreciates Her Genuine Care for Him Beyond His Looks

One of the worst tropes in anime is unrequited love. All too often, a boring main character will attract scores of love interests for seemingly no reason at all. These characters don't have any appealing qualities and only get to be in relationships because they're the main characters of the series that they're in. These characters are dry, unrelatable, and downright unwatchable. When Uka develops a crush on Kai, it's easy to see why, and Honey Lemon Soda does a great job of giving Kai plenty of reasons to like Uka back.

Uka is one of the first girls who appreciates Kai for more than just his good looks. She likes him for who he is as a person, and she couldn't care less about the status and popularity he has gained as an attractive person in their school. She giggles when he reveals that he wears a hat because of his bedhead, allowing the two to express sillier sides of themselves that they normally don't. Where other romance anime series falter, Honey Lemon Sodaexcels with its character design, pacing, and the chemistry between its two leads, making it a stand-out romance series within just the first few episodes.