The Moon and Other Lore Things at the AAA 2025 Performance
Alright, @thirstkanaphan encouraged me to ramble about all the fun details and concepts in the AAA performance (particularly the dance break). So let’s do this!
Starting off we’ve got an overhead screen of a full crimson moon.
It slowly wanes throughout Man On Fire (though the effect looks more like a solar eclipse). The moon pairs well with their vampire-esque outfits and Man On Fire, where they sing of a burning desire for “the red sun that is you.”
Outside of that, the moon is quite significant to the diary lore. The Cromer’s power is tied to the moon. We last saw the specific image of a red moon at the end of the Crazy Form MV!
This is notably the last album and MV taking place in World Z before Ateez were sent back to World A. This specific shot (the moon was blue earlier in the MV) also shows a blue bird flying away, carrying the Sopro- which takes over from the Cromer as the powerful artifact of interest in the Golden Hour series.
Next, the interlude! First off, have to note that Yunho’s outfit is very similar to what he wore in the In Your Fantasy MV (which the dance break transitions us to).
His interlude starts off the same way as San’s in the KGMA’s, titled “Phantom” (keep that title in mind!)- the sound of overlapping, whispering voices. While San is physically crowded, Yunho is alone and tries to cover his ears and block out the sound.
He then walks over to a table that has a tall candelabra (!), takes a goblet, and drinks from it. Another nod to IYF, where we have Seonghwa drinking wine, and another piece of vampiric imagery.
This next section is just me briefly yelling about Phantom and candles and voices with no serious intent to connect to the lore- My brain just couldn’t help but think “Haha, nice Phantom of the Opera reference!” I mean, the outfits, masks being prominent in the IYF MV, the candelabra and the chandelier imagery that replaces the moon.
Both the “Phantom” and AAA interludes feature a member getting haunted by mysterious voices- Christine Daaé, the protagonist of Phantom of the Opera, hears the disembodied voice of who she later discovers is the Phantom. In the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, candles feature heavily in the Phantom’s lair. The musical’s Big Setpiece is also a chandelier, which they really draw your attention to before it drops at the end of Act 1.
All this to say… It’s clear that Ateez’s current year-end award show performances have a consistent theming revolving around In Your Fantasy. I’m excited to see how this might continue in the Golden Disc Awards!
