Honoka Kōsaka attends Otonokizaka Academy as a second-year student, living above her family's traditional sweets shop Homura with her parents and younger sister Yukiho. Her mother and grandmother both graduated from Otonokizaka. Childhood bonds link her to Kotori Minami through their mothers' friendship and to Umi Sonoda after a game of hide-and-seek. In manga stories, she joins the kendo club with Umi, winning tournaments through skilled performances. Her hobbies span swimming and sticker collecting, complemented by a quirky talent for spotting street coins she calls luck. Despite her family's confectionery trade, she avoids red bean paste and bell peppers, favoring strawberries and bread. Driven by boundless optimism and spontaneous energy, she pursues goals with tireless determination, often pushing to physical limits. This fervor sparks the creation of the school idol group μ's after seeing rivals A-RISE perform. To save Otonokizaka from closure, she recruits peers, names the group, and becomes its spirited yet initially undisciplined leader. Her magnetic stage presence secures her frequent center positions, galvanizing group unity through sheer charisma. Her journey faces pivotal trials. Early obsession with μ's causes her to overlook Kotori's overseas study plans, triggering a rift that forces Honoka to quit temporarily and confront her impact on friends. As student council president in the second season, she embraces responsibility. A stress-induced weight gain teaches her self-care and balanced leadership, leading to thoughtful gestures like organizing farewell activities for graduating seniors. The film tests her growth when μ's disbands after graduation. A mysterious guide helps her realize the group's legacy will inspire future idols, transforming their final performance into a joyous tribute. In spin-offs like *School Idol Festival All Stars*, she mentors newer idols from Nijigasaki High. Chika Takami later credits her as the catalyst for forming Aqours. Her appearance features orange-brown hair in a side ponytail, blue eyes, and a slim frame. Orange serves as her image color for merchandise, though stage costumes often blend pink. Notable details include a practice shirt marked with "ほ" (ho) and third-person self-references in game adaptations. Trivia connects her name to Homura's ohagi sweets, representing September's rice harvest. A cameo by her child likeness in *Love Live! Sunshine!!* symbolically motivates Chika at Otonokizaka. She remains the franchise's sole second-year student council president and holds multiple center election wins in μ's songs.