I was wondering if you listen to "Alien Stage". If you haven't heard any of the songs, it's an animation project directed by Vivinos and Qmeng about a group of people participating in a death games singing competition in a dystopian world where human are colonialize by Alien. It have a deep lore in the series. But you can listen just to the songs, because each of the songs have the same theme of "Love" And the different types it's interpretation.
I want to suggest it to you because I think some of the lyrics of the song fits the story of the characters in Oshi no Ko. The best part is the song can be interpreted to different feeling of the characters.
My suggestion are "Black Sorrow" And "Cure".
And this is my interpretation to Aqua and Ruby internal struggle.
The song "Black Sorrow" takes the theme of longing and yearning for an unreachable love. But it can also be an interpretation of grieving someone you love and they are out of your reach. Forever yearning for their presence.
The original version of the song that's by the character "Ivan" Fits with Aqua. With how in the beginning of the song start calm like how he try to hide his pain of Ai's death but as the song progress the intensity of the voice gets stronger and you can feel the longing and regret. Despite his effort to hide his pain he's still scarred by Ai's tragedy and the last part of the song end with a climax of his voice, represent the huge feeling of grief he felt of Ai death.
In the cover version that's by the character "Mizi" Fits more how Ruby handles her grief. The song start off strong in contrast of the original version. The way Ruby handle her grief is in a much more uncontrollable, it have more rage to it. There's much more visible resentment. Especially after she discovered Gorou's death. And it's strengthen by how she does her revenge is much more impulsive that Aqua. It contrast how in the original version the voice have more control while the cover version have a more uncontained rage.
The song "Cure" Represent the desperate plea for their pain to be notice. To finally their pain to be console. A plea to be "seen". In my opinion the first verse of the song fits Ruby with how in the lyrics it's a plea for someone to console them. To relieve them of their pain. Like how Ruby longing for Ai and Gorou presence as the people she loves. While the second verse fits Aqua with the lyrics is putting him in the position of someone who will carry the burden of someone pain and he will let them ruin him. But in the end there still a desire in him to be notice too, to be notice of his pain. In the chorus part they take turn to lead and support each other voice. As if they are reaching each other to finally connected to one another. This song can also be a representation that the twins can't show their real feeling to protect themselves in the entertainment industry. It's basically their expressing their pain through the song.
I hope you will check out the other songs. The songs are in Korea but each MV provides subtitles so you don't have to worry.
hi! I actually know and LOVEE Alien stage. I have fanart that I made about it right here in tumblr where I depicted Aqua and Ai in the cover style of Cure :)
Anyways, back to your ask!! Thank you for writing this beautiful analysis!
First. Before we get to the state of matters, I heavily believe that Alien Stage is a perfect and direct commentary of late stage capitalism. It probably wasn't intentional, because the main team of alnst is undying love and regret, but it plays so well into the statement you're saying I had to expound on this first.
Late stage capitalism is what is happening to the world right now. Not only does the ideology and theory speculate on the fact that human services are treated as the same or the vis a vis as direct and pricable commodities to be sold the same as products, the entertainment industry or the K-pop genre really accelerates the dystopic reality of this subject.
There are wonderful videos talking about this topic in a more nuanced and detailed way, if you're interested in them, give it a watch!
Anyways, I do think that alnst is a perfect representation of the K-pop industry. Like yeah it’s a sci-fi death game and the contestants literally get killed if they don’t perform well, but thematically?? It hits way too close to how idols are treated irl. Not in the literal death way (obviously), but in how the industry works. if you don’t stand out, if you don’t build a strong enough fanbase, you just… disappear. You debut, you promote, and if you’re not enough, not popular enough, not pretty enough, not viral enough, not sponsored enough, you’re basically forgotten.
And what really drives it home is how the aliens treat the contestants. They’re not seen as beings with mistakes, flaws, emotions. They’re just… entertainment. Just singing monkeys on a stage. And that is real to how idols are often treated. Misused. Mismanaged. Abused. As products, not people. it’s all about views, rankings, merch sales, stream counts. if you can’t sell, you’re useless to the system. and alnst doesn’t even try to hide that. they made it the entire plot.
I'm telling you, peak late stage capitalism commentary. Humans literally reduced to performers fighting for survival for an ounce of success in front of an audience that doesn’t care if they live or die, as long as they’re entertaining. Everything is monetized. everything is about number value. there’s no humanity left, no soul left, just content.
Also, the fact that the audience in alnst gets to vote and judge without consequences? Does that sound familiar to you? It's not just the system that's broken. it's the complicity of the consumers, too. The idea that fans in real life (or alien overlords) think they care, but ultimately treat performers as disposable once they stop being interesting. It’s very “support the arts until it’s inconvenient.”, And its not even arts. It's pure slapstick entertainment is what these aliens look at these humans. Same goes in real life.
The way that aliens treat humans in alnst is the same how people treat idols. its called this word called 'dehumanization'
The way you describe Black Sorrow having two contrasting interpretations through Ivan and Mizi covers, like they're contrasting both Aqua and Ruby is actually genius. I didn't think about that.
I love the idea that Aqua’s grief is oppressed and hidden behind perfection (considering he does hide his true emotions in canon) but it builds in intensity like a dam cracking until the final flood of emotion. I feel like that happened in the manga as well. That idea of putting on a calm face while rotting from the inside... it's what makes his character so devastating.
And then Ruby’s version being all sharp edges and uncontrolled feeling is exactly how she handles grief. She's fucking impulsive and her greatest weakness is that she acts before she thinks and all of it comes from a place of bottomless pain and confusion and rage from getting the last to know about the truth about her father. Even when she’s smiling after she gets her revenge arc, there’s something uncanny behind it. Like she's trying to imitate something pure. Like Ai.
Then your breakdown of Cure is wonderful in the best way. That desperate desire to be seen, not as an idol or a “perfect” anything, but as a human being who’s suffering — someone who they can hug and fucking understand what they're carrying... it’s so them. Ruby longing to be held again by the people she lost, Aqua carrying everyone's burden and "fixing" peoples problems instead of his as a coping mechanism. And then… the idea that they alternate who leads and who supports in the chorus… that’s such a beautiful image of how twins could be for each other, if they’d just stop hiding.
Also the way you tied this back to how they can’t show their real feelings because of the industry? OWWWWW that hurts.
This is genuinely such a meaningful and emotional take. I love it so much I kinda want to use it in the fic somehow LOL. But I'm scared that I'll ruin it with my lukewarm writing that I'll just keep it as a suggestion for now.
Thank you for this ask!!! <3333
