Honey Lemon Soda episode 1: Ishimori and Kai begin their friendship

Honey Lemon Soda episode 1 premiered on January 9, 2025, at 12:55 am and faithfully depicted the origins of Ishimori and Kai's relationship. The episode mainly adapted chapter 1 of the manga, which focused on Ishimori's encounter with her bullies and her personal growth that allowed her to stand up to them.

The series is primarily adapting the Honey Lemon Soda manga at a pace of one chapter per episode. It mainly pertains to the shoujo genre, with a focus on social anxiety, bullying, and its aftereffects, with romance as a backdrop. The series is currently confirmed for a total of 12 episodes.

Disclaimer- This article contains spoilers for Honey Lemon Soda episode 1.

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Honey Lemon Soda episode 1 highlights

Ishimori Uka as shown in the anime (Image via J.C. Staff)

Honey Lemon Soda episode 1 starts with Ishimori Uka reminiscing about her brief encounter with Kai before joining high school. The episode then swiftly cuts to the present, where Ishimori finds herself witnessing a confrontation between a few delinquents and Kai. Although the delinquents try to pick on Kai by commenting on his lemon-colored hair and how it makes him stand out too much, Kai remains calm.

Kai then exercises restraint and uses a bottle of carbonated lemon soda to douse the delinquents, who then decide to flee the scene after the entire ordeal. Unfortunately, Kai also ruins Ishimori's uniform with the lemon soda. Although Ayumi, one of Kai's friends, reaches out to Ishimori to apologize, Ishimori, overwhelmed by the sudden interactions, flees the scene as well.

Miura Kai as shown in the anime (Image via J.C. Staff)

Eventually, Ishimori grows closer to Kai, Ayumi, and the rest of Kai's friends after helping Ayumi with a math problem. Unfortunately, Ishimori soon runs into some of her middle school bullies, who are attending the same high school. The bullies start picking on Ishimori once again, while she continues to endure their torment. Kai observes from the sidelines and eventually gets frustrated at Ishimori's lack of reaction and anger. As a result, he urges her to ask for help.

A few days later, Ishimori once again finds herself being harassed by the bullies. However, she soon mimics Kai's retaliation method and douses the bullies with a bottle of lemon soda. The situation escalates into a confrontation, which results in Ishimori gathering all her courage to ask for Kai's help. Honey Lemon Soda episode 1 ends with Kai and his friend group siding with Ishimori and fending off the bullies.

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Final thoughts

Honey Lemon Soda episode 2 will premiere on January 16, 2025, and will depict the evolving dynamic between Ishimori, Kai, and the rest of the friend group. Honey Lemon Soda episode 1 made it clear that Kai couldn't tolerate bullies and people who don't stand up for themselves.

While Ishimori did stand up to her bullies, Kai's relationship with her will be put to the test numerous times in future episodes throughout the Winter 2025 anime season.

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