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karma & the anakt flower analysis

one of the most important parts of karma is when till shows the kids a drawing of the anakt flower, but it's the real anemone instead of a plastic recreation. narratively, showing this version of the flower to the freed children is a smart move to gain their trust and curiosity. it's a familiar flower shown in a different way — a promise of freedom. but what's more interesting is how it's used symbolically.

throughout the mv, the anakt flower is used to represent mizi, and how she views human relationships. she thinks human love is an instinct designed for the purpose of benefiting from each other, as visualised by the veins. the flower then blooms from the portraits of the losers of each round, symbolising how her continued survival is rooted in the death of others, how her beauty is a guise concealing her true, villainous love that does nothing but take.

this is why mizi makes her judgement that humanity is innately sinful, because of her overwhelming survivors guilt, all because of how anakt has taught her to relate to other people. at anakt, this is the only flower they know, and the only way of loving too.

however, the turning point comes when she realises till is alive, and decides to save him at no cost to herself. this is at odds with her perception of humanity, so it makes sense that till then redefines the meaning of the flower in the epilogue.

till often represents freedom (of expression), and it's no different here. in a garden made of simple, artificial shapes, he draws the complexities of the real world. it's the same with the anemone. instead of the one dimensional way mizi learns to view love through her grief, till draws the real flower, something alive, imperfect, and beautiful.

so the significance of the drawing is ultimately character growth, and a deeper understanding of love than what is cultivated in anakt. to show the children (and us, the audience) a real anemone is to show a world larger than the cage that is the garden, and to show a definition of love that is multidimensional and complicated.

#alien stage #alnst #there is so much i can say about flowers but i'm trying to be brief and stay on topic #eg that anakt teaches one sided love and worship and nothing else #also how its good character growth for till specifically who was so attached to the fake flower and therefore his naive version of love #didnt even mention how they finally show the camera in the flower shuttering #flower analysis #analysis post #alnst mizi #alnst till #mizitill

tomorrowillbeyou

You see, when a man and woman love each other very much, and nobody has any concept of "mixed gender friendships", and it's evil to ship them because it isn't yaoi, sometimes they might do something very special called "Becoming Siblings". then they can live happily ever after and talk to each other like they're in a smart speaker commercial.

#，ha. ha

the general alnst analyst's inability to engage with anything outside of the theme of love & sacrifice as character motivation is indicative of an understanding of the show with all the depth of an inflatable pool. as the main theme of the show, it is spoonfed to the audience (especially in karma), so it's completely understandable why that would be someone's starting point for analysis. however, it is extremely telling when someone cannot engage with the main symbol used to represent that theme, the symbol that is constantly being flashed in front of the audience's eyes: the anakt flower. if you attempt to talk about love & the twisted version of it alnst showcases without discussing the use of the flower in karma if nothing else, you have failed to engage in the primary method of communication of the text.

alnst uses imagery, symbolism, and metaphor for efficient communication of ideas. in karma, the anakt flower is introduced with its roots feeding off other children - love as exploitation. mizi narrates this exact idea, and if you are also paying attention to what is happening in the video you are watching, you can connect these two things together and understand them as one. then, it's extremely clear that the open question Isaac leaves for the audience at the end is answered, at least partially, by till showing rescued children his drawing of the real version of the fake anakt flower. it is all in front of your eyes. you just have to connect the dots laid out for you.

the second pitfall is the inability to engage with the text on a level that doesn't require falling back to searching for a diegetic answer to an often metaphorical question. people can often pick themes apart using a character as base, but cannot extrapolate it out to a broader theme that encompasses more than just an in-universe understanding of how a character feels. why does till show a drawing of a flower to the children? is he stupid? the mistake lays in trying to engage with this as an in-universe action of till's. the fact that he drew a flower in his notebook is mostly unremarkable. I'm so glad he has access to coloured pencils now. however, as mentioned earlier, if you are able to engage with this on a symbolic and thematic level, it becomes immediately clear what it means. the flowers the children knew were all fake, and till can now emulate the real. the children are free, and their worldview opens up as their world does - they can start loving without exploitation as the sole basis of all relationships.

you must engage the text at the level it presents itself at to understand it. if you fail this, then you must at least be willing to learn. it is okay to be stupid, I am often stupid. we can learn. we must learn.

#the nerd #do not watch alnst youtube you will be filled with hatred and anger #worst mistake of my life #even this is barely paddling the surface of the kiddie pool or whatever the fuck I said #where is the child abuse. where is the criticism of the nuclear family. where is the criticism of the idol industry. where is anything

murder-kill

#you see the ogre is in fact smarter than a lot of people in this fandom because at least the ogre demonstrates a willingness to learn #yes watching alnst youtube is killing me slowly #incredible quote from this video I'm watching “my opinion remains exactly the same after 7 months”#so you admit it? that you have not thought critically once in the span of over half a year?

i find it very hard to subscribe to the "we are the segyein audience" theory. since there's no audience interaction, and the characters are fictional, there are no actual consequence to critique. however, that does not mean that the idea doesn't have merit either, i think it's just slightly zealous. alnst does invite the audience to critique the treatment of idols and other people in general, and in turn, the audience's own attitudes. but this does not necessarily mean condemning the viewer for taking part in the viewing of alien stage itself. its implications are untrue

#the nerd #it's just like #you're so close. so close #it's just kinda immature

paragayyy

ivan’s birthday art this year was definitely a bit of a surprise, and of course the fandom’s reaction was to go insane over this, because ivan is one of the most popular (and covered up) characters and so you get a lot of posts thirsting over him. (i am not immune to this. you can see his belly button actually)

the fact that he’s presented this way at all is super interesting to me though. it’s a subtle 4th wall break and i really like that it’s been consistent throughout the entire series: you, the viewer, are part of the audience. the segyein are objectifying and dehumanizing them, and so are you. YOU ARE PART OF THE AUDIENCE.

it is also extremely telling that they do this the MOST with ivan. he’s the fan favorite for a reason, both in-universe and in fandom. we like his aesthetic beauty, but the allure is part of his persona. and what i mean by “this” are the glamour magazine shots. because sua and luka are both pretty and have their own fanbases, but neither of them have art like this. sua doesn’t have any like this, even though we know she did advertisements while in anakt garden. luka has glamour shots of his own, but they’re much more detached/artistically oriented than ivan’s, with logos displayed both on the magazine and on himself too. ivan's a commodity, as it were. a lot more accessible than the lofty “prince of the stage” luka.

and ivan knows he’s hot and knows exactly how to wield that to his advantage. the short one page comic in the bday post & the anakt garden kit show him as seemingly a playboy type.

what makes this more interesting though, is that while he may be aware of how other people perceive him and how to use that to his advantage, he doesn’t actually believe himself to be all that attractive. like he knows objectively that people find him attractive but he personally doesn’t think that he is… which is probably one of the most human insecurities one could have, but he doesn’t have the words to understand that feeling.

but also… he has to. in this cutthroat world, he must play his role perfectly or else be discarded. he’s not like till, with his raw musical genius, or luka, who’s already won a season and the fanbase to support him. so of course he has to sell himself.

also, given everything about the karaoke scene, and also knowing that ivan has had r18 fantasies about till, i wonder how much he resents that 1) he allows this to happen to himself but also 2) the fact that he has desires towards till at all. like he just submits to the segyein, but he knows till wouldn't. and they don't understand what kissing is and their sex ed is basically only as far as a biological function, so i think this would just reinforce his warped perception of himself and his desires as perverse or disgusting. in his eyes, these desires make him no better than a segyein.

#first bit reminds me of some post i saw where someone in midst of thirsting over this art zoomed the picture in and cropped out his eyes #to further objectify him with seemingly no self awareness about the intention of the artwork #it asks of the audience to reflect in their role in sexualisation and how it reduces someone's autonomy for the sake of the audience #and they responded by perpetrating it #obviously it's not that serious since ivan is a fictional character and not a real person. but it's funny #its also very funny to remark that he's a fan fave in universe while also posting the image of him placing last in popularity rankings

are there even any good alnst youtube videos

#the nerd #it took me two hours to get through a video that's half an hour long #I don't know what to say

hallucivan

Alien Stage fans will look you dead in the eyes and say "this scene doesn't have sexual assault overtones because SA is wrong, which as we all know, wrong means that it cannot be depicted"

meanwhile the character is sensually posed (not even including that one other frame of Till here) in warm saturated lighting with their clothing askew and eyes lidded and covered in sweat and LOOKING LIKE A STRIPPER WITH MONEY THROWN AT HIM

hallucivan

This reddit post haunts me because I keep comic across it (I look at this art a lot, sue me) and this person sounds like they are... not aware that Ivan is a. drawing. You don't have to draw realistic clothing unless you Want To and are trying to show something. Also why the hell would he be sprawled out over a couch for a random totally kid friendly modeling gig. Why would he then go find Till completely disheveled and not react at all if he didn't know what was going on.

#that post that goes like #do you think they implied it for shits and giggles #anyway extremely obvious criticism of the idol industry #when a person is a product - an object - there is no end to the violations commited to their person #SA is business as usual

murder-kill

i wonder what she meant by this

#alnst #alien stage #alnst mizi #mizisua

murder-kill

"stil alive, it HRTs."

that's right, we're getting TRANSGENDER STAGE in the big '26

#get ready to trans your gender and change your sex #whenever this comes out lol

amregretto

#alnst ivan

murder-kill

now do we understand that Ivan's callousness is something he turns towards himself twofold

murder-kill

i don't really have a point with this one rn but know i am thinking about it. it's not just applicable to ivan, if anything, the imagery of spikes is more evocative of till (his spiky blob mascot). it's just a general coping mechanism thing imo

#a child that has only known pain and can only inflict the same #the nerd #once again vaguing the fandom's tendency to make everything about ivan and ivan only when half the time its not only his thing #and the other half they're just wrong and its about a different character entirely