Honeymoon Salad is a brooding romance story about the main character's relationship with two troubled women. It contains a sobering account of codependency, domestic violence, estrangement, and the depression that comes from contemporary urban adult life, into which the main characters' loves and joys are mixed. Despite some comic scenes with the main character early in the series, as well as the sex scenes, this is not a 'fun' story to read. The pessimism and themes of loss get more prevalent as the story goes on before culminating in a bizarre and dark ending.
Overall, I can't help but compare this story unfavorably to Nozoki Ana. Both are frank and at times sordid accounts of young adults' personal lives, but Honeymoon Salad doesn't bring the same range of emotions and experiences, while taking itself much more seriously. This failing affects it's eroticism as well, with many of its sex scenes being blatantly depressing. And while having a tiny cast is not in itself a bad thing, it ends up making it impossible to vary the tension of the story, which is something Nozoki Ana does very well. Oppressive tones work best when they're contrasted with things like joy, but the characters seem to turn to squabbling or depression when they should be happy.
Ultimately, I feel let down by this story's failure to fully explore it's themes. I actually expected the story to eventually be about how a polyamorous relationship could work - the idea is even brought up by a side character early in the story.
The problem is that this storyline ends when Youko refuses to join Ichika in bed during the vacation arc
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The fact that their relationship ultimately pushes the characters apart instead of together is what makes the ending so unsatisfying. The story could have built up emotional tension, and then find solace when the characters realize that they can't function without one another. There is a degree of payoff, as the characters do reconcile with their estranged families, and Ichika does overcome her codependency and set out on her own. But the ending left me hating the main characters and feeling like much of the story was pointless. The story could have really used an epilogue arc after the massive twist in the very last chapter. This could have given the author the chance to at least reconcile the main characters with one another.
For a dark and sobering story about romance and adult life, I give this story a 6, with points taken off for failing to contrast tones and for a sudden and unfulfilling ending.