Rock is a Lady's Modesty

Episode 12

This week, Rock is a Lady's Modesty breaks new ground with a heretofore unseen character archetype: boys. The first half of the episode is silly and contrived, but not fatally so. Following up one battle of the bands with another is less creative than I would have liked, and the drama from the venue owner's big stipulation immediately evaporates when their opponents walk through the door. I thought she posed the girls a challenge—finding a rival to take them on—that could have opened interesting narrative doors. Maybe the band goes deeper undercover into the music scene in pursuit of a fight, and maybe that provides an even more illuminating contrast against their school lives. I'm just spit-balling. Instead, the plot moves forward through the power of incredible coincidence, and that feels cheap.

Regardless, I respect that the new boy band comes out swinging as a cartoonishly vain squad of buffoons (note the phonetic similarity between “Bacchus” and “bakas”). Rock Lady is well aware that it is a designated yuri-only zone, and there's a wide gulf between the girls' set of endearing quirks and the boys' annoying braggadocio. Per Lilisa's observation, they're also an extension of the privilege that surrounded Yayoi last week—they're all rich, they go to a prestigious university, they can hire professional songwriters, and they have oodles of online clout. In other words, they each have the luxury of seeing music as a diversion, so they dismiss all music as a diversion. Their manager is the lone sympathetic man because he's an outsider dazzled by Bacchus' glitz and glamour.

Gender is at play here, too. The guys push Alice aside in their first meeting and threaten her with violence before the concert. They take up as much space as they want and shove anybody who gets in their way. And their general attitude towards Lilisa and company, as well as towards their cadre of female fans, stinks of misogyny. This is toxic masculinity to a T. By contrast, while Lilisa, Otoha, and Tamaki are hardly demure little flowers, the outlets for their aggression aren't oppressive or stifling; they're liberating. They sublimate their frustrations into their music and their performances together. When they talk trash like sailors on shore leave, they do so in a way meant to inspire improvement in themselves and others (results may vary). And frankly, they turn their repressed energy into a mutually beneficial sexual act that relies on trust and communication. It requires them to be in harmony.

Unfortunately, that harmony turns discordant when Otoha doesn't approve of this venture. It surprises Lilisa, but it's in concert with Otoha's prior attitude and opinions. She only wants to get hot and sweaty with women who interest her, and she couldn't care less about honor, morality, or victory. Moreover, Otoha is still a cipher. While we know most of the mental machinations that make Lilisa, Tamaki, and Tina tick, their drummer is like a capricious Muse gracing mortals with her presence because she feels like it. Otoha is human too, and I expect Rock Lady will explore her psyche at some point, but I don't think we'll get there before the season wraps up.

Despite her mysterious motivation, Otoha raises a good question: do they play music to please themselves, or do they play music to please an audience? This is a leftover thematic concern from the previous arc, and it's much louder this time around. Naturally, it isn't an all-or-nothing quandary either. Any art form requires the consideration of both the artist's vision and the intended audience, even if done subconsciously. As for me, I usually love it when an artist succumbs to their indulgences, because that feels more authentic, but those works are still ultimately packaged for the consideration of others. It's about finding the right balance, and that is often a lifelong journey, so Lilisa and her bosom bandmates have a long road ahead of them. Still, the added incentive of wiping the floor with those Bacchus bozos should help accelerate things.

I'll wrap up by praising Alice as the MVP of this episode. Her subterfuge antics have been fun diversions ever since Lilisa blew her away at the jazz show, but she steps up her game this week. First, she correctly intuits that there is a lesbian polycule afoot, although her imagination is far more chaste than the reality. Her sister complex also worsens in the best way when the rest of the band unofficially adopts her as their mutual imouto. And most importantly, Alice stands up for her stepsister in the end; she doesn't back down an iota, even after Bacchus' lead singer grabs her by the collar. Lilisa rewards her with a heartfelt hug afterwards, so I'm sure Alice feels adequately compensated for sticking her neck out, but her affection and admiration for her big sister are genuine. Music brought them together and dissolved any previous animosity between them. Hopefully, the girls can pull off a similar trick with the legion of rabid Bacchus fans raring to rend them apart.

Rating:

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

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