Rock is a Lady's Modesty

Episodes 1-3

I was skeptical of Rock is a Lady's Modesty. I've been a vocal fan of the “girls form a band…with a twist!” genre ever since Bocchi the Rock! and BanG Dream! It's MyGo!!!!! dominated their respective seasonal dockets, but no good thing lasts forever. Not to mention the fact that Ave Mujica just finished taking this movement to heretofore unprecedented heights of absurdity. What else is there to do in this space except ride coattails?

Well, it's a good thing I was dead wrong. After three episodes, I am happily munching on some crow, because Rock is a Lady's Modesty kicks ass. In my defense, though, I don't believe the outline of the series encapsulates the spark that truly makes it shine. When I heard it was about a group of girls at a hoity-toity private school forming a secret hardcore rock band, I thought that I understood it. This was going to be a comedy series playing up the juxtaposition between an academy full of debutantes and the heroines' secret lives slathered in KISS makeup—amusing, but disposable. While that's not inaccurate to some of Modesty's jokes, it doesn't give the full picture.

The first key component that makes this story work is Lilisa, our protagonist. She's not a one-note vehicle for gags. She's an instantly likable character thrust into a situation that makes you want to root for her. She wasn't born with a silver spoon in her mouth, but she now finds herself having to blend in with the blue bloods after her mom's remarriage into a wealthy family. Her motivation, while misguided, is unselfish—she just wants her mom to be accepted into high society—and this undercurrent of class tension helps ground the drama. As someone who attended an expensive private college only thanks to a hefty scholarship, I definitely had my fair share of conversations where I had to smile and nod to get by.

In school, Lilisa puts on a similar performance, and she's good at it. She works hard at it. She's aiming to be at the top of her class in this Class S academy, and she's garnered a gaggle of googly-eyed girls following in her wake. But that performance isn't Lilisa, and it wears on her. That exhaustion and anxiety pull her, like gravity, into Otoha's orbit. Otoha, like Lilisa, is a model student, and like Lilisa, she also has a face beneath the mask. The difference is that Otoha doesn't fester with the same darkness that plagues Lilisa, because Otoha has a sanctuary on the outskirts of the school where she lets all of that out. Otoha accepts the parts that Lilisa wants to forget. While Lilisa initially hesitates to join her, Otoha has the cunning of a spider, and by the time she enters that classroom, Lilisa is already trapped in her web.

This is the seduction at the heart of this story, and I do mean seduction. There's no heterosexual explanation for any of this. Dressed in BDSM leather and coated in the sweat of passion, Rock is a Lady's Modesty is loud, vulgar, sapphic, and proud. Lilisa's inner color commentary throughout their performances clearly spells out their collaboration as an act of courtship, letting their instruments speak when words won't do. These aren't light flirtations either. This is dirty talk. Otoha, whipped up in a post-drum frenzy, calls Lilisa a “c*nt-shlicking guitarist.” Lilisa imagines two different scenarios where they swap roles as dominatrix. Subtlety has left the building. This is sex. Screaming, sweaty, animalistic sex.

And I do mean sweaty. I can't overstate just how wet this show is, and furthermore, I don't think it would work if it were any less moist. It's important that we see both Lilisa and Otoha completely lose themselves in their performances, and having them sweat buckets is a perfect visual cue for that. It's a brazen rejection of the traditionally dainty femininity being drilled into them by their school and society. They're following their passions, and they don't care if they look gross doing so. In fact, they have to look gross to do so. That's what makes it so exciting for them. Naturally, this also aids the sexual metaphor at the core of their relationship. They are literally going at it until the room stinks. A pair of sopping wet flowers lying on the floor is also as blatant a symbol for lesbian intercourse as it gets. And did you see them hold hands afterwards, fingers interlocking and everything? Talk about NSFW.

The commitment to utter audacity is this adaptation's most powerful asset. It matches the freak of its material, and I'd put it at about par with Kakegurui in terms of understanding the assignment (and in terms of gut-busting yuri ridiculousness). The girls are allowed to make all sorts of cartoonish expressions. The storyboarding is consistently inventive, utilizing angles, reflections, and all sorts of creatively placed objects when it comes to framing its scenes. I especially like the POV shot from inside Otoha's bass drum in the premiere. Director Shinya Watada, alongside other members of the team, has roots in the legendary Aikatsu!, so that may be where this courage to be silly comes from. Visual director Yasufumi Soejima is also a JoJo's anime veteran, and we can see echoes of that in some of the weirder imagery and neat color choices. Overall, it's a fun treat for the eyes, and the passion behind the scenes is palpable.

The music choices are great, too. BAND-MAID are a no-brainer for the OP, but that's not where their involvement ends. Kanami, their guitarist, and Akane, their dummer, are credited as the mo-cap actors for the 3DCG scenes. That's pretty cool, and they, alongside the animators, bring the necessary intensity to those performances. If I had to quibble, though, I'm not as big a fan of the musicians name-dropped in the show so far. I have no complaints about Led Zeppelin, but The Red Hot Chili Peppers and Linkin Park aren't exactly at the top of my rock-and-roll tierlist. Then again, those were a huge part of my own high school experience, so I can't say their inclusion is inaccurate. It can take a while to develop a taste for good music.

So far, Rock is a Lady's Modesty is a refreshing tale of liberation and libidos. Otoha is still a bit of a cipher, but Lilisa's corruption has been a sufficiently compelling thread uniting these first three episodes. I'm eager to see how these characters and their band grow. But first things first: they should invest in a mop for their post-practice cleanup.

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Rock is a Lady's Modesty is currently streaming on HIDIVE on Thursdays.

Steve is on Bluesky for all of your posting needs. He is modest as a mouse. You can also catch him chatting about trash and treasure alike on This Week in Anime.