English Dub Review: Rock Is a Lady’s Modesty “Lady Version: Good Day to You/ Rock Version: Quit Playing the Guitar!”
Overview (Spoilers Below):
Lilisa had to adapt to her new life of privilege and pretended to be someone she wasn’t at Oushin Girls Academy. That is, until she catches Otoha drumming in the music room.
Our Take:
There’s no doubt that girls want to have fun, even in the midst of being “perfect”, but on some occasions, they also want to rock out to their hearts’ content. One such occasion is the series’s protagonist, Lilisa Suzunomiya, a young, music-loving girl whose mother is remarried into the prestigious Suzunomiya family. However, it also resulted in her being forced to give up her musical passion by her estate tycoon stepfather, thrusting her into an elite Oshin Girls’ Academy to attain the revered “Noble Maiden” title. Though seen as the school’s most popular student, Lilisa was only putting on a show to please her wealthy stepfather.
Of course, her perspective changed upon meeting another student, Otoha Kurogane, who’s secretly a skilled metal drummer. Though reluctant initially, Lilisa’s discovery of Otoha’s secret compelled her to reignite her passion to play guitar, though that’s easier said than done. This should’ve been the moment when the two girls became fast friends over their shared interest in music and immediately formed a band together within the first episode. However, given Otoha’s ill-mannered comment towards Lilisa’s performance, it seemed that that wasn’t the case, as Lilisa found something else to be pissed at, not just her pretending to be prestigious.
The music genre in anime has certainly become another popular trend for the medium’s followers, especially one involving girl bands, thanks to such shows as Bocchi the Rock. With Rock Is a Lady’s Modesty, it seemed that the genre would be hitting more notes in the future thanks to its successful run in Japan. Upon watching the English dub, I can understand why it became successful. The dub cast, including Luci Christian (Lilisa) and Natalie Rial (Otoha), was a bit wooden occasionally regarding the line delivery. However, they provided enough moments for me to tolerate this version for now, mainly Rial’s handling of Otoha’s profane behavior towards the tail end of the episode.
But the real standout of the episode is the rock sequences, notably due to the motion capture performances of Band-Maid members, Kanami (Lilisa) and Akane (Otoho). Speaking of the latter, Akane’s “Ghost Dance“ was featured in the episode, and, despite my minimal experience with Japanese rock music, I actually found myself having a blast listening to it. The CGI effects can take a bit to get used to, but at first glance, it’s quite an ambitious way of conveying the authenticity and stylization of the characters’ wildly aggressive energy. Overall, this is a solid start to this musically electric yet oddly seductive and vulgar addition to the music anime sub genre.
