So there's something I noticed about the character designs of Lilisa Suzunomiya and Otoha Kurogane. I'm not sure how obvious this is to other people, but I can't stop thinking about it.
Lilisa's hair looks like it's a variation on what TV Tropes calls "Ojou Ringlets," commonly called some variation of "drill hair". Take a look:
Pictured: Mami Tomoe of Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Isuzu Emi of Tenjho Tenge, Erika Shindou of Gonna Be the Twin-Tail!!. Found through TV Tropes Image Links.
It's not always this long or bulky (a lot of the examples on TV Tropes were just a few curled strands), but being long and bulky exaggerates its association with wealth and class: It's impractical. Getting otherwise-straight hair to curl in big ringlets like that takes time and effort, both for initial curling and to keep it clean and neat. It's exclusive to women who can afford to spend lots of time on their hair and know it won't get ruined by bad weather or a work accident or sweat.
As a tangent, ringlets aren't exactly a native Japanese hairstyle. Their historical roots lead not to Kyoto or even somewhere in mainland Asia, but to Rome. (This will be on the test.) But it's still a popular signifier of wealth and class in Japanese media, because it looks cool.
Lilisa's hair is less dense than many examples, but it's twisted enough to evoke ojou ringlets. And it's big, too big to be called ringlets. Lilisa can't walk through a door without both rings smacking against the wall.
It's almost like Lilisa is trying to show that she belongs in the upper class by adopting an over-the-top version of an upper-class hairstyle, even more ostentatious and impractical than the other ojous at school. Which, y'know, is what she's doing.
Contrast these ringlets with Otoha's hime cut.
The hime cut is another haircut associated with elegant upper-class ladies in Japanese media. I'm sure it takes effort to maintain, but it's less ostentatious than most ojou ringlets (especially oversized ones like Lilisa's). It's classy, but subtle. Effortlessly noble, for a young lady whose place in society has never been questioned.
Also: Unlike ringlets, the hime cut is traditionally Japanese, strongly associated with royal courts from the Heian Period to the Meiji Revolution. An appropriate character design choice for someone born into the modern Japanese aristocracy.
Lilisa and Otoha's hairstyles both communicate their status as Proper Ladies to the world around them, but they do so in contrasting ways, fitting their contrasting relationships to the social class they share.
