Honey Lemon Soda

Episode 5

Every time I think I'm going to give this series a lower score, it does something so real it hurts. I realize that's not going to be universal, and there are certainly enough awkward visual moments this week to merit a lower grade, especially the overreliance on chibis. But Uka's story continues to prove that the series understands her and what it's like to be in her position that, for me, it overcomes those other obstacles.

The major event of this week isn't the reveal that Serina isn't a terrible person (a nice change in a rival character) or that she's probably still carrying a torch for Kai – it's the way Uka steps in front of Serina to prevent her from being slapped. When Uka says that she's “used to it,” she doesn't mean that she's been slapped before (in fact, she doesn't and tells Kai as much); she means that she's used to being on the receiving end of bullying. She may not have been physically abused in middle school, but she still knows what it's like to be the target, and she doesn't want anyone else to have to experience that. In her mind, she's already been hurt. There's not much more the other kids can do to her, so why not step up and prevent someone more worthy, like Serina, who stood up for her, from the same pain?

That one little comment about being “used to it” is central to this episode. We can see how very much being picked on and bullied is ingrained in her when Serina's “friends” start harassing her in the diner – she doesn't fight back, she doesn't run away, she just sits there and takes it in with a wide-eyed, blank expression that says that she's learned this is the best defense. Just sit there like a stone, and the pain will slide right off of you. Maybe it won't even leave a mark.

Kai notices both of these things, although he doesn't initially act like it. It's a little jarring to see him go off with Serina instead of Uka after the fight by the shoe lockers, and that he doesn't stand up for Uka at the diner, but this might be the moment to remember that, no matter how Uka sees him, he's just a regular teenage boy. He's not a superhero, and he's not the perfect gentleman of many a shōjo romance (and he's not the abusive asshole of others). He's got his own baggage he's dragging around with him, and Serina is part of it. We know they dated and broke up, possibly in a relatively short amount of time, and there's at least a little bit of implication that Serina was, like Uka, socially on the outside. The way she doesn't want to throw away her little friend group even though they're mean to her and others may indicate that she had a hard time fitting in in middle school – being beautiful could have been more a hindrance than a help. If Kai stepped in to save her, she might recognize that he was doing the same thing for Uka, as might Takamine, who had warned Uka previously. A piece of Kai might like to be seen as a savior, and that could be a problem down the line because what Uka needs is to be seen, not saved.

Still, I think there's a decent chance he sees her for who she is, as we see at the end of the episode. Calling attention to her immediately after she was slapped might have been uncomfortable for both of them, but he was clearly thinking about it. He was worried that there might have been physical abuse on top of everything else in her past. The way he just grins and rests his arm on her head for a moment might be all he's capable of in the immediate aftermath, and he goes out of his way to check on her. We've mostly seen Kai through Uka's admiring gaze, and that's not a realistic portrait of him – and probably not comfortable for him, either. Maybe telling Yuru to help Uka with her hair again because he likes it up is the best he can do in his awful teenage boy way.

Uka is making progress, and like it or not, Kai is part of that. While her volunteering to be on the school festival committee was meant to be the standout moment of the episode on that front, for me, it was the fact that she left her hair up. It's safer to leave it down, to let it hang in your face like a curtain between you and the world; I didn't start doing anything with mine until college when it felt safe. But Uka keeps rocking that ponytail even before Kai says something. She's moving forward, one slow step at a time.

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