English Dub Review: Rock Is a Lady’s Modesty “Lady Version: My Heart is Racing/ Rock Version: Whip Yours Out, Too!”

Overview (Spoilers Below):
Lilisa and Otoha vow to wipe that cocky grin straight off Jun’s stupid face with a performance to remember!  Little do they know, however, that Alice is in the audience.

Our Take:
Performing live for the first time can be both exciting and nerve-wracking for various reasons.  In Lilisa’s case, she and Otoha had to make a great first impression after weeks of practice…without yelling at each other.  However, that’s easier said than done when Red Familia’s tempo is much slower compared to their aggressive rhythm.  Of course, that all changed when the conductor’s rival, Jun Ishitani, came along to shit on their parade, forcing the two to go all out in their performance, despite the musicians struggling to keep pace.  This is another sequence that benefits profoundly from the motion-capture performances by Kanami and Akane.  It also enhanced the intense aura of the performance with director Shinya Watada’s approach to its metaphorical reflection of a tornado threatening to blow the amateur musicians away.
The episode also showcases an instance of character growth, with Alice uncovering Lilisa’s secret in the audience.  However, it resulted in Alice gradually seeing the real Lilisa after being deeply moved by the latter’s incredible performance.  This will likely mean that Alice may have to help Lilisa keep her guitar-playing hidden from their family, although Lilisa doesn’t seem so calm about the whole scenario.  There’s also a mystery involving Lilisa’s mother’s strange behavior when asked about her daughter, which will likely play another role in Lilisa’s coming-of-age journey.  In short, the episode effectively showcases Lilisa and Otoha’s first live performance as one that’ll get viewers’ hearts racing, thanks to its animation and crude humor.  I’m not going to lie when I say that Lilisa’s colorful language never fails to make me laugh, even when I saw it coming a mile away.