Love isnt always sunshine and rainbows but during a relationships best moments the couple would be so cute and sweet that just looking at them would give you diabetes. A lot of these moments happen when the relationship is as healthy as one can be but not all of the healthiest relationships start out so well as it eventually becomes. Sometimes its just a matter of whether or not youre willing to look past first impressions and see a potential partner for who they are inside. For example someone who might look scary and coldhearted may actually have the warmest heart and most gentle personality. Wouldnt a relationship with someone like that just be sweet? After reading this manga that was given to me by a friend I definitely would think so. Lads ladies and nonbinaries here is my review of Honey So Sweet known in Japan as simply Honey. Honey So Sweet begins when Taiga Onise a high schooler who is believed to be a delinquent due to his frightening appearance and some unfavorable rumors about him asks out his schoolmate Nao Kogure with the possibility of marriage in the future. Aaaaand the diabetes have already settled in. Nao is originally scared of Taiga for the reasons mentioned earlier but as she gets to know him she discovers that hes not the delinquent people believe him to be he even refuses to hit other people without a good reason Still Nao originally cant return Taigas feelings due to her own feelings for her uncle Sou who has been looking after her ever since her parents died when she was small thus the two agree to just be friends. Over time however Nao comes to realize that she too has feelings for Taiga and they end up dating with marriage in mind of course. From there the manga follows their relationship and how they ultimately change each other for the better. Honestly Im a little conflicted about the story. On one hand I can understand how some people may not be entertained by this manga. The whole toughlooking guy turns to be a big softie who possibly likes cute things kind of plot has been done time and time again and its possible that it will continue to be done several more times in other words its completely unoriginal and some people may be sick of it. Theres also the amount of real conflict in the story theres not a high amount of conflict and even the conflict there is in the story doesnt hold a lot of weight because we all know that our lead couple will just get through it. Finally this is just a nitpick but I wish that we got more of what happened to the characters at the end we see a bit of Nao and Taiga as adults in the final chapter and some of the other characters in a bonus comic at the end of the final volume but I just wish the direction their lives went was explained in more detail. All of my gripes about the story aside though I just cant hate it in fact I actually really like this manga. The main reason for this is just how cute the relationship between our two leads is. On their own theyre good characters Nao is a sweet girl who got a decent amount of development during the story and Taiga is just a big sweetheart who makes it easy to root for him. Together however they present one of the healthiest relationships in shoujo manga. They pretty much always communicate with each other treat each other with respect and help each other grow as people. It may not seem like anything special but when compared to for example Honey x Honey Drops its more of what a loving healthy relationship should be like. Nao and Taiga arent the only characters in Honey So Sweet however. This manga also includes a colorful cast of supporting characters who are mostly likable in their own ways. One character Id like to mention is Miyabi Nishigaki who appears rather late in the manga given her actions it would typically be easy to hate her but when you think about her personal struggles its hard not to feel bad for her. Ayaha Futami is at an earlier point in a similar boat to Miyabi but although he doesnt necessarily have the same problems as Miyabi I honestly wanted to see him happy too as he seemed like a genuinely nice guy despite my worries that I was going to hate him. Theres also Kayo Yashiro and Ayumu Misaki two of Nao and Taigas mutual friends theyre fun characters on their own and although the direction their relationship with each other went was highly predictable it was still nice to see it develop. Then theres Sou. I was originally worried about his relationship with Nao due to her initial crush on him but seeing their familial relationship and how it developed my worries quickly went away it was a perfectly healthy relationship between two family members. Although its of course not in a romantic way Sou repeatedly demonstrates how much he loves and cares for Nao throughout the manga. I also liked his relationship with Taiga although Taiga hadnt actually married Nao yet it already seemed like he and Sou were family. As for Sou himself his character development was slower than I was hoping it would be but I like to think that he had grown a little bit by the end. As for the art....what can I say about the art? With a cute fluffy manga like this a cute art style is essential and fortunately mangaka Amu Meguro manages to deliver on that front. The character designs are great the backgrounds are welldrawn and the art is adorably simplistic when its necessary for it to be. The art style is perfect for a shoujo manga like this and I honestly feel like that its an eversoslight improvement from the mangakas previous works like Chiguhagu Planet. What else can be said about it? Overall Honey So Sweet is an enjoyable manga with plenty of cute moments. People looking for something incredibly unique wont find it here but if you just want a simple romance that is as sweet as honey roll credits Id recommend that you give it a read. Just dont be disappointed by the pet name honey not being used though.