On my HR-V (2019 Face Lift model), if you have Automatic Brake Hold on, you can release the brake pedal and the brakes stay on. If you had depressed the pedal sufficiently to invoke the stop/start, then it will also retain that when the pedal is released.
The pre Face Lift models didn't do this, they acted exactly as you all have previously described. So I guess Honda saw the issue and fixed it.
I seldom push the pedal hard enough for the engine to stop (deliberately) but when I do, I find a good technique to start off again is to gently touch the accelerator (which causes the engine to start) and then depress it further to release the brakes. You can just press the accelerator all the way from the get go, but this seems a bit brutal to me as it starts the engine and tries to take off all in one go.
I'm not sure if the above was ever adopted on the Jazz, but would be interested to know.