From episode 1 to the current episode—which is 10 at the moment of writing this article—Yuzu Aihara shows one thing first and foremost: Her incredible fashion style and the way she holds herself in public and at school. Yuzu is known as a Gal or a trendy girl who goes against the norms of rules in Japan by wearing flashy clothes and a lot of makeup even at an early age. However, Yuzu might be classified as a gal but that doesn’t mean she acts like a traditional one. Let us explain why we think Yuzu Aihara is just fashion eccentric and upbeat modern gal.

If you look up traditional gals in Japan you will see girls with tons of makeup to the point their face even changes color tones. Yuzu Aihara doesn’t wear even close to that much makeup and really relies on bare minimum to just doll her face. Yuzu’s clothes might go against school regulations—a trait about most gals—but even this isn’t that outrageous. Often, Yuzu just wears more colorful clothes—like her pink school top with the blazer across her waist—which really isn’t as outlandish as more traditional Japanese gals that exist. That’s why many of us here at Honey’s Anime just think Yuzu is trying to look good to impress and not really doing it to cause a scene or represent a message like the older gals and is more representing her own style of gal at the end of the day.

It’s no surprise that Yuzu Aihara likes her step sister Mei Aihara after their first encounter in episode 1 and the numerous romance attempts—like all the episodes since 1—but that doesn’t mean Yuzu only like Mei as a potential partner. Yuzu cares about Mei’s happiness and this is seen in numerous episodes of Citrus as she tries to make Mei smile in whatever way she can. There is an episode specifically though that we wish to mention Yuzu’s sisterly devotion at its apex. This is where Yuzu puts her love for Mei on hold and focuses on being her sister.

Episode 6 is where Yuzu tries to reunite her recent stepfather and Mei’s actual father together. When Mei’s father decided on abandoning his school duties as an important figure at Mei’s school, Mei became depressed and found herself unable to talk with her dad or even read the letters he sent to her from overseas. Luckily, Yuzu kicks into super sister mode and tries to understand what happened so she can remove the wall that build between the father and daughter. Episode 6 ends with Mei finally talking with her dad and realizing that she could still love him despite not fully understanding the reasons for his decision to become a traveler. It was a sweet scene and one that truly was one of the best moments in Citrus to show Yuzu being a good sister.

Yuzu Aihara isn’t just nice to her stepsister Mei or even her best friend Harumi Taniguchi, but in general, almost everyone Yuzu has met in Citrus she’s shown kindness to and a high level of compassion. Don’t believe us? Look at episodes 3 and 4 where we begin to see our first love rival appear in the form of Himeko Momokino who just so happens to be Mei’s earliest friend. Despite the threats and harsh words spewing from Himeko’s mouth to attack and weaken Yuzu in her advances for Mei’s heart, Yuzu still goes to defend her when Mei attacks her friend during her lapse in judgment and even reminds Mei of their friendship and bond causing Himeko to worry about her. Love is usually a battlefield where there is no compassion towards rivals for the heart but for Yuzu that doesn’t apply.

Here at Honey’s Anime, we’ve had our moments where we sometimes falter emotionally, who doesn’t though, right? There are times where life can be tough and equally, it can be even harder when you like someone but just can’t find your relationship heading in the direction you want it to. This, in many ways, sums up the issues Yuzu faces as she deals with the constant trouble of trying to love Mei as both a potential lover and as a sister. There are numerous reasons why Yuzu should just become a wreck but somehow, she stays strong. Why don’t we highlight some of those moments of strength that are seen in Citrus so far?

Episode 5 is one of our favorite examples of seeing Yuzu’s strength first hand. Halfway through the episode when Yuzu and Mei go to the burial spot for Yuzu’s father, it is here where Yuzu realizes she needs to suppress her feelings for Mei and be there as a sister first and foremost. This leads to episode 6 where—as we mentioned before—Yuzu provides aid with Mei’s father issues. Then when you add in the appearance of Yuzu’s friend Matsuri Mizusawa—who also happens to be a love rival for Mei as she likes Yuzu—Yuzu finds herself caught in a whirlwind of emotions after a sudden confession from her childhood friend. Needless to say, Yuzu has a lot on her plate from love triangles, to unrequited and a slew of troubles that seem to brewing in the latter episodes. We give this girl credit, if we were Yuzu we’d just sit down in our beds and cry our eyes out.

Now besides Yuzu’s strength, sisterly devotion, strong spirit and killer style, let’s point out the obvious. Yuzu is cute and adorable! Yuzu acts constantly tough but often you can see that she’s just a high school girl who wants to get that happy romantic moment in life. From the way Yuzu constantly gets flustered when Mei puts the sudden moves on her to those moments where she comes to a sudden realization of something, Yuzu constantly looks cute and truly fills our eyes with waifu heaven when she is on screen. We won’t lie folks. We are quite jealous and envious of Mei as she gets to hang out with Yuzu whenever she pleases. Anime can sometimes be very cruel indeed…