Honey Lemon Soda Episode 6: Kai confirms his feelings for Ishimori as Takamine tries to split them up

Heading into Honey Lemon Soda Episode 6, fans expected a typical rom-com–style cultural festival episode with no major shakeups. Officially released on Wednesday, February 12, 2025, the installment did exactly that, relying primarily on the backbone of the series that is Uka Ishimori and Kai Miura’s relationship.

However, Honey Lemon Soda Episode 6 did throw fans some unexpected curveballs in the form of Ishimori’s significant development. The installment also saw some begin to take grievance with the pair’s relationship, most notably in the form of Kai’s friend Tomoya Takamine.

Honey Lemon Soda Episode 6 further implies Takamine has feelings for Ishimori

Brief episode recap

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Honey Lemon Soda Episode 6 began with Uka Ishimori’s classmates being impressed by her volunteering for the job of cultural festival committee member for their class. Kai Miura offered words of encouragement in his uniquely aloof but caring way, while the rest of their class shouted out ideas for what kind of cafe to do. Ishimori told her parents about this later on, also confirming their suspicions that she was enjoying class and having fun.

She confirmed this, and internally thanked Kai and the others for being the reasons why she was having so much fun. As Ishimori lost control of a bike due to carrying too many materials for their cafe on it, he saved her from hurting herself at the last moment. It was then revealed that Ishimori’s detailed plan for her class’ cafe is what won them the opportunity, persuading some of the girls in her class who were initially complaining about being asked to collect boxes for it.

Honey Lemon Soda Episode 6 shifted focus back to Ishimori and Kai, where they discussed how she ended up with the job of carrying all the materials. The conversation then progressed into Kai saying he was an idiot because he breaks rules set by adults. He left before she could probe him for any more significant info, with Ishimori fully losing control of her bike the next day by carrying all of the boxes by herself yet again.

Ishimori takes a major step forward in her growth in Honey Lemon Soda Episode 6 (Image via J.C. Staff)

The girls who were complaining and refused to collect boxes before then came over to apologize, offer help, and show their dedication to the cafe. Ishimori then pushed her class to participate by deciding on a menu, with her enthusiasm spreading to everyone else. The faith she showed in them also spurred them on, with Ishimori growing closer with everyone in her class throughout the entire process.

Honey Lemon Soda Episode 6 saw Ishimori truly come out of her shell during this process as a result, with her classmates even saying she now understood vibes. Ayumi Endo stopped by Ishimori’s class one day, with Satoru Seto also joining in their conversation, oblivious as ever to her feelings for him. As people speculated on the pair finally starting to date during the cultural festival, Ishimori thought about Miura and Serina Kanno being such a good fit for each other.

She said that while it’s bright by Kai, it’s also bright with her new friends too. However, she made it clear she still had feelings for Kai, and simply wanted to focus on both her job with the cafe and the new friends she’s making likewise. She also added that in addition to making sure the cafe was a success, she wanted to start a conversation with Miura before the cultural festival ended.

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Honey Lemon Soda Episode 6 showed the cafe to be incredibly popular, with Ishimori eventually working as a maid after spending time cooking food. After running herself ragged, she eventually got a break, and was able to see the “Crazy Cool” presentation which would feature Kai. She decided to watch this, where she realized he said in his video “leave Ishimori to me.” While she was confused about this, she was still happy as some other girls surrounded her.

The other girls were clearly concerned with what their relationship was, relieved to hear her describe him as her caretaker. However, they said that once she can stand on her own, he’ll be done with her, which clearly upset her. She secluded herself in the storage room where he would nap, with him eventually finding her there. She revealed that she had seen his message in Crazy Cool, and then tried showing her emotions by saying she’d speak to him all the time.

Honey Lemon Soda Episode 6 saw some girls outside the storage room question if the pair were dating, which one of the girls dismissed. Another said there was no way he’d be romantically interested in her, prompting him to lead Ishimori out of the room and hold her hand while walking by the girls. Tomoya Takamine then borrowed Kai from Ishimori, asking him if he’d push her away before she became totally dependent on him, or if he’d protect her forever.

Takamine seems intent on splitting up Kai and Ishimori in Honey Lemon Soda Episode 6 (Image via J.C. Staff)

Kai argued this wasn’t as serious as he was making it out to be, which Takamine argued against due to it being Ishimori specifically. He implored Kai to think about it before walking away, while Ishimori decided to enjoy whatever time she had left with Kai before he left her life. Meanwhile, Ayumi’s class was doing their performance, with Seto cheering her on in the front row. Ishimori overheard that Serina wanted a replacement for the show, prompting her to volunteer for her.

Honey Lemon Soda Episode 6 saw Ishimori seemingly regret this as the event started, immediately being recognized as “the famous Ishimori.” As she awkwardly laughed at the emcee’s bad jokes, she thought about how Kai would likely jump up on stage if it was Serina instead of her. He did so as she said this, telling the emcee that Ishimori wasn’t participating and that she’d be okay without him, clearly speaking in the long-term.

She thought to herself that she wanted to be as close to him as possible, promising to get stronger likewise while starting to cry. Kai responded that he’d watch her do it “the whole time,” implying that he had no plans to abandon her. Takamine later joked to Kai that he said he had no romantic feelings for Ishimori. The episode ended with Kai saying that wasn’t the point and he’s “sick of this” before taking back what he said earlier, implying he had fallen for Ishimori.

Final thoughts

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With Honey Lemon Soda Episode 6 ending with a clear confession of romantic interest in Ishimori from Kai, fans can expect Takamine to further intervene in their relationship. He’ll likely do so primarily via influencing Ishimori, with Kai also making it clear in Episode 6’s final moments that he’s done discussing it with him. In turn, fans can expect this to serve as the central conflict for the second half of the season, which will begin with Episode 7.