Let's see,
10 years is easy to say. But keeping an entire generation hooked on a school
romance is not achieved by everyone. And just when we thought that
sweetness had no limits, the news fell on us. On April 3, the Honey
Lemon Soda manga will officially publish its 124th chapter in the May
issue of Ribon Magazine. Yes, you read that right. It is the final
goodbye to one of the most beloved stories of the last decade.
The
names that marked this successful shoujo
Saying
goodbye to a series of this magnitude always leaves a huge hole. Even more so
when you became fond month after month with the evolution of its protagonists.
Although Mayu Murata's work has not announced any consolation
spin-offs for now, it is worth applauding the pillars that made these pages
shine under Shueisha's editorial imprint:
- Uka
Ishimori.
Our shy
protagonist who taught us that personal growth takes time, but
that it is always worth daring to come out of the shell.
- Kai
Miura.
The
popular boy with lemon-colored hair. His bold and carefree attitude was the
perfect trigger to change Uka's life in high school.
A decade
dominating the market of feelings
How much
did this work achieve in 10 years? Pure madness. We are talking about more than
16 million copies sold globally. A monumental figure! And the story obviously
didn't get stuck on paper. We had a hugely successful live-action movie
in July 2021 that pocketed a billion yen at the Japanese box office, and of
course, that gorgeous animated adaptation by J.C.Staff that
brightened up the winter of 2025 with its 12 episodes. They even came close to
glory with a nomination for the Kodansha Manga Awards. To close this journey
with a flourish, volume 30 came out just last December, preparing the ground
for the final volume (number 31) to sweep bookstores this
coming May 25, 2026.
How did
this whole tangle of juice and first love begin?
If by some
miracle you lived under a rock and have no idea what this is about, I'll
summarize it quickly. Uka had a high school stage to forget, suffering constant
harassment and hiding from the world. As you enter high school, you swear that
things are going to be different. Her plan to start from scratch undergoes a
drastic turn during her first week, when she accidentally ends up soaked in
juice. The culprit? Kai, the most striking boy in school. Despite being polar
opposites, he becomes her greatest support to open up to others. What started
as a simple accident with soda, ends up transforming into a story of overcoming
and a tender first love.
