Alien Stage Theories, Symbolism Explained, Etc. (contains spoilers)
Please click to the pink arrow at the top to uncover, this was hidden in order to not accidentally spoil Alien Stage for people who have not seen the show
- Ivan's Red Eyes When watching Black Sorrow, Ivan is shown at the beginning to have no red in his eyes. This was during his childhood where he lived in the slums. Even after going into Anakt Garden his eyes were fully black. The first time we see the color is when he notices Till walking past him to go to Mizi. We know Till as a rebellious person, someone who lashes out against the aliens and tries to fight for himself. It makes sense why Ivan is so obsessed with him, Till is the face of revolution and breaking rules. (the exact opposite of him) This red is not only a reflection for his obsession with Till, but also the act of rebellion. Ivan is one of the most obedient characters in Alien Stage, for example, he's known to not need a collar when in Anakt Garden unlike other kids (the collars are the white choker things that restrict you) because he does what the aliens want without it. Also he knew already knew how to escape Anakt Garden and could leave anytime but chooses not to. The red is his curiosity and his want to be defiant, which is one of the reasons why he loved Till so much. When Ivan and Till are seen in the meteor shower, Till chooses to stay in Anakt Garden for his feelings for Mizi instead of trading it for freedom. Ivan still has the red in his eyes despite not going through with this act of rebellion because Till is more important.
- One reason why Till is so rebellious is because he's already experienced love Till was loved throughout his childhood with his mother, Lo. She cared for him, and they both had a deep bond for each other like mother and son. Most of the children in Alien Stage don't have parents, because they are artificially made in a lab with clones. This is seen in Wiege with Luka and all his other clones that died with Luka killing them but having the intention of saving them, and even in the end of Karma where you see the Alien Stage museum that has children from the DNA of all of the contestants. Because Till was able to experience the love and bond between his mother, he was able to understand the aliens and their cruel acts and that what they were doing was wrong. His rebellious nature is from his trauma of having to leave his mother and of his past. Even if he didn't remember his mom, he experienced love and affection which changes his view of abuse from the aliens.
- All of the main ALNST ships are toxic or unhealthy People say that MiziSua is the least toxic ship, but this is not true. This is because it is revealed in one of the comics that the reason why Mizi loves Sua so much is because she feels powerful and can control Sua saying she wants to "crush her." All her life, Shine has seen her as a pet and something that can be controlled. Even when Sua sometimes makes remarks Mizi gets mad because she doesn't want to be seen that way. For example, in another comic Mizi tells Sua about how everyone doesn't acknowledge their love for each other and vents to her about her problems. Sua dismisses this, and Mizi ends up slapping her in the face because she doesn't want Sua to dismiss her problems even if she went through worse hardships.
- Shine (Mizi's alien owner) is toxic despite having good intentions Shine views Mizi as an owner views a pet dog. She views Mizi as cute and acts as if she's her plaything. Even though Shine doesn't have cruel intentions, she still ends up hurting Mizi, as seen in a picture of Shine pulling on her hair and even being too rough with her, showing how humans are seen as very delicate or else they could be crushed. Shine's behavior not only hurts Mizi physically, but also mentally. The way Shine views Mizi causes her to not want to be seen that way and be too overbearing with Sua, wanting to control her instead of being controlled like with Shine. Despite Shine showering Mizi in gifts, just like the other aliens she doesn't understand Mizi and controls her instead.
- IvanTill could have ended very differently (lol of course Vivinos just wanted us to suffer though) For example, if Ivan was never found in the slums or if he left Anakt Garden, he could have been part of the rebellion and potentially save the rest of the Alien Stage cast. Also, if Ivan knew that Till drew him and not only Mizi, he said things would have ended very differently. He might have changed his approach with Till, or he would have revealed his feelings to him and they would be together because at the end of the day, Till had underlying feelings for Ivan over his idolization love for Mizi. For example, in Karma when showing the symbolism of the two characters with Ivan shoving his crystal heart into Till's mouth like his sudden reveal of his love in round 6 and forcing his feelings onto Till as a confession by kissing him, Till also had his heart hidden under Ivan's collar. This showed that Till did feel something in between them that was hidden and unknown, never to be noticed by Ivan. Proof of this is also in "Mi Vida Loca," which will be in a more in depth analysis in a later claim, and the fact that Till not only didn't like Ivan due to his bullying, but he was also his best friend and the person who he was closest to with in Anakt Garden with him not being that close with Mizi due to his idolization and the fact that because he was aware of his feelings he could never properly be himself around her. Another thing that could have changed the course of their relationship is Ivan's attitude. Till wanted to be friends with Ivan and even tried giving him a flower crown, but it ended up being crushed by Ivan instead. If Ivan hadn't acted out toward Till with violence or instead explained to Till that the flowers were actually cameras, Till would have been closer to Ivan and it wouldn't have turned into a love-hate relationship.
- Hyuna's rocket project actually references real world expeditions we did today Hyuna's project was to get pet human records and to send them with the rocket as a symbol of hope and to communicate with other humans in the galaxy. This idea is very similar to the Arecibo Message or the Voyager Golden Records. The Arecibo Message was a message sent to space carrying basic information about Earth and humanity to show the advancement of human technology. The Voyager Golden Records on the other hand were phonograph records that contained sounds and data of Earth and life for any extraterrestrial life like a time capsule. The Voyager Golden Records in particular was a sign for hope that there is life out in space that can reach us through that like Hyuna's rocket was for other humans. This project in Alien Stage tries to connect viewers to this moment in time and how humanity is still intact even after so much change since Alien Stage takes place in the fictional future. The whole story of Alien Stage is to show people's relationships and people's core, raw, emotions in a society that is broken.
- There are so many flowers in ALNST used as symbolism Many flowers are shown in Alien Stage, the two that are the most important are the Clematis and Red Anemone flowers. Another thing that is associated with flowers that is shown is flower crowns. The Clematis is shown in Alien Stage in the chorus and song in Round 1 with Mizi and Sua singing the duet of it with part of the chorus being "Oh my Clematis." Clematis' outside Alien Stage means mental strength and spiritual growth. In the song and in the series, they represent love and passion, with Mizi and Sua singing against each other until Sua dies.
- There's a reason why "Wiege" is called "Weige" The word "Weige" is German for "cradle." It can also be used figuratively to refer to the early stages or starting point of something. This word is clever because it not only relates to the style of the song, but also how the characters are affected afterwards. For instance, Weige is put in the 3/3 time signature, which sounds like a waltz. Hyuna and Luka are singing softly, with the orchestra as instrumental showing how it relates to the word "cradle." Another thing is that in the song, the lyrics are "Hush my child," which refers again to the word. I suspect the song is a lullaby sung by Luka and Hyuna to their child in another universe because in the middle of the episode, Vivinos and Qmeng show us and alternate universe where Mizi, Sua, Till, and Ivan are alive and in school while Luka and Hyuna are married and happily together because they are shown with rings on. "Weige" relates to the figurative meaning of it as well because at the end of the episode, Hyuna dies, Till is found to be alive, and Mizi is labeled as a witch. The word relates to Luka and Hyuna because it's the start of Luka being exploited again from the aliens and losing the one person he loved. Till relates to "Weige" because it's a new start for him joining the rebellion and getting on the path to healing, and the word applies to Mizi because it's the start of her becoming a witch and hating and blaming herself for what happened. This word also applies to the story overall because it's a new era with the show Alien Stage shutting down seen in the last scene with the museum.
- Even though ALNST is not over, it will be probably be different Alien Stage fans have just received news that STUDIO LICO and Vivinos' partnership is ending. This means that if there is another season with videos being animated, it will be totally different. I do suspect that Vivinos and Qmeng will continue Alien Stage in their work like comics and possibly songs but not necessarily in animation. Recently I have found a post online complaining about how it is really hard to story build and understand details by only watching the videos, which I do agree, but I view Alien Stage as a multi-format story. In order to understand the characters and the story, you need to be able to not just watch the videos, but also listen to the songs and read the comics.
IvanTill is toxic due to Ivan's obsession and his way of showing his love for Till by bullying him in order to get attention from Till. This is partially because Ivan doesn't understand how to act due to how he grew up in the slums and with his alien owner. For example, Ivan regualrly tries to mimick other people's emotions in order to seem "normal" like practicing how to smile. The only true time happiness is shown by him is in a scene where Ivan is punching Till when they were childern. Despite them brawling, Ivan has a look of pure glee because he has the attention of Till, who is always focusing himself on Mizi. He also ends up crushing the flower crown Till made because he knew it was made of flower cameras which made Till dislike and distrust him. Also even after Ivan dies and Till recognises his feelings, his ghost haunts him and his trauma from Ivan sacrificing himself causes him to have selective mutism.
MiziTill is toxic because not only does Mizi not reciprocate Till's feelings, but she loves Sua. Shipping these two goes against canon events and even mischaracterizes Mizi and Till simultaneously. I wrote that this ship mischaracterizes Till because Till doesn't have true feelings for Mizi. Till loves Mizi like a fan loves their idol, it's only a facade they are seeing where they don't acknowledge that they are either projecting or they are falling for someone who is not themselves. Till even says when he is older in a comic that it was a very immature crush like a crush someone has at school.
HyuLuka is toxic for multiple reasons. First of all, Luka has no idea how to act and doesn't understand what his wrongdoings are. For example, after he kills Hyunwoo, he smiles and laughs and just goes to Hyuna, ignoring and not noticing the severity of the situation. This is a similar reaction seen in Blink Gone, where he laughs and covers his mouth while Till and Luka are singing against each other for their lives. It could be that he does this as a coping mechanism, he thinks it's a game, or probably because he still thinks like a child due to not growing up to be mature because of the abusive and messed up environment he grew up in. This is confirmed because in Wiege, he goes to Hyuna like a little kid and it's even shown that he drew a picture back when they were kids in Anakt Garden showing how he acts very child-like. Hyuna's feelings are toxic because her feelings were built on hate. She hated Luka for killing her brother and she also started hating herself for still loving Luka despite that. When Hyuna died, her death was not only seen as an act of love for Luka by sacrificing herself for him, but also an act of revenge because she showed Luka that she did care for him and now she was dead.
The red anemone flower represents romantic and forsaken love, death, and the loss of a loved one. The red anemone flowers represent the relationships between the characters with all three couples having an unfortunate end. Another thing that needs to be taken into account with the anemone flowers is that in the story the flowers are used as cameras to spy on the kids in Anakt Garden. This shows the deception and the lies to their reality, as well as Ivan's awareness to everything and his loss of innocence from a young age because he was the only one who knew that the flowers were actually cameras. This is one of the reasons why he destroyed Till's flower crown because he didn't want them spying on them and also because that was the only way to get Till's attention from Mizi.
The last flower that is important in Alien Stage isn't actually a flower, it's the way flowers are presented, in the form of a flower crown. In multiple Alien Stage works from Vivinos and Qmeng, the six main characters have been seen playing and making flower crowns. They are also shown in some of the rounds like in Round 1 with "My Clematis." The flower crowns are always paired with the younger version of the characters, probably representing how they are young and innocent. This is tied to my previous story about the red anemone flower crowns and Ivan.
What's Alien Stage:
I feel like it took me a while to add to this part of my shrines collection is because it's my biggest obsession and there's so much I want to say. First of all, Alien Stage is a music video series that you can watch on youtube under the creator's channel, Vivinos. The whole series is so much more ellaborate tham just a music video series though, and I feel like if you just watch the videos on Vivinos's channel, you don't really get the whole story or you might be confused. With just the videos is good but with the other content she has, it's soo much better and it really goes in depth on the lore and background. Vivinos posts comics, pictures, interviews, and Alien Stage even has sub songs that don't have a video with it but are super amazing. (You can click on Alien Stage for the whole master doc) There are 6 main characters, Ivan, Till, Mizi, Sua, Hyuna, and Luka.Here's some background to how I discovered Alien Stage:
Back at the begining, I saw the teaser and the first episode (Round 1) and I thought it was fine. I kind of kept along with the episodes when they posted but I think I really got into the series when Round 2 or "All In" was posted. This was because I thought the songs were such a bop and the year that "All In" came out I had it as my number one song of the year on Spotify. (lol now that I realize writing this I really went "All In" on Alien Stage back then)