I've seen a lot of people say they think that the mizisua and ivantill dynamics are switched in this au but I think they're wrong. I think mizisua has the same dynamic as alnst but because theyre in a different setting it plays out differently.
Like in alnst mizi and sua are very close because they grew up in anakt garden together. They didnt grow up in a normal human society so there also isnt the preconceived notions and expectations weighing down on them. In zombie stage they grow up in a world closer to our but with zombies. They audition to be idols and we can see once mizi becomes an idol she is sexualized for the male gaze and we know in alnst that mizi has zero attraction to men but in both alnst and zmbst mizi toys to keep up her "perfect" facade but because of the different settings perfect has a different meaning. In alnst she has to be the perfect pet and be kind. In zmbst being perfect means being exploited and sexualized by the industry to gain more fans.
In alnst we dont see much of sua but what we do see is her being very close to mizi, she sings because mizi also sings, she stops mizi from jumping off the cliff in karma because she cant lice without her, she literally gets herself killed and rehearses her death every night so that she wouldn't have to live without mizi. We see the same actions from her in zmbst. She auditions to be an idol with mizi she stays by her side even when mizi pushed her away and she turns into a zombie so she could be with mizi. I wouldn't be surprised if she intentionally lost zombie stage so mizi wouldn't be hurt (there's not evidence for that tho).
So mizisua's personalities and characters are essentially the same but because theyre in a different setting they act differently and a lot of people are bitching about it and its making me mad
It starts of by showing us immediately that Mizi has violent tendencies. It is unclear where they originate from, but we can guess that her mom was connected in some way.
Sua goes on to hug Mizi while Mizi doesn't really hug back. She just sits there, blank. It's here that we get a peak into their dynamic. Mizi suffered through something and Sua tries to stop her spiralling. But it doesn't work.
The universe us set in modern times, and we find out that Mizi and Sua have been aiming to be Kpop Idols since their school days. They have gone to audition after audition, but they got rejected. But they were happy and very much implied to be reciprocating feelings, though not entirely together at this point.
They graduate and try out for one more audtion. And it goes well!...But only Mizi manages to actually pass. Mizi is upset but Sua supports her wholeheartedly and pushes her to follow the dream, even without her. Mizi takes this 'blessing' and goes onto become a very popular idol.
It came at a cost though. She was subject to sexualisation and objectification. The passion she once held seems to actively die from her eyes, and she becomes more and more uncaring and numb. She's drifting away from everything, including Sua.
All this that was boiling comes to the surface when Sua scolds Mizi for smoking, taking away the cigarette. Mizi doesn't have a reaction at all. Not on her face. Not in her body language. She just looks at Sua with a blank face, and slaps her.
This escalates as Mizi turns to leave. Sua grabs her and hugs her tight. She's saying something while crying into her chest. Likely something about what the idol life is doing to her and how she's changed. Mizi is still angry. She snaps and shouts and cries. She finally shows somereaction, some part of who she used to be. Then she runs away. And we can see a zombie follow her.
Sua breaks into the area where infected Mizi seems to be kept and brings her to her apartment. She is exhausted and dissociating, smiling as she stares at Mizi tied in her room. She leans in to kiss her, and we can assume that she got infected this way.
It's not exactly clear how they ended up in Zombie Stage, but it perpetuates the horrific cyclic life of an idol. Even as they are rotting away, and losing their identity, they have to perform for an audience.
This version of Mizisua is far more complex in terms of their feelings for each other. Their is a layer to it that causes issues to form and turn them toxic. They become a victim of the circumstances, but they have more control than they did in Alien Stage. That's what makes this horrific. They are hurting each other, with more awareness in them.
The Censorship of queerness/lgbtq+ in Media and restriction of relationships in idols
In a lot of media, whenever there is a queer relationship, countries always try to either portray their obviously romantic relationship for each other as either platonic or just entirely cut it out. Additionally, it's common knowledge that whenever Idols have relationships with each other. Fans are riot. They face heavy backlash due to the fact of their own parasocial relationships and feeling "betrayed" as idols are portrayed as romantic ideals.
How do this apply to Mizisua? When Sua grabs Mizi's face to lean into a kiss... before she can actually kiss Mizi.
It quickly zooms in instead of the slow zoom it was going for. To end on a "happy end" screen. For censorship, as if their love is something that should be hidden, kept from the audiences eyes. Whenever a queer relationship goes "too far," the episode is either entirely cut or the scene where they kiss is cut from the episode.
For idols relationship, as they can't be in a relationship. Mizi can't. Sua can't. They have to be single for their audience. We already seen this in Mizi's idol career before. She wears proactive clothes, seen with males, and having to film ads that portray her as single. As if her fans can have a chance. All despite her being a lesbian and already having a relationship with Sua.
Another one of the issues Vivinos brings attention to in the entertainment industry.
Or
2. The Fetishization of Queerness/Lgbtq+ (primarily) by a male audience
The primarily is added because there is a couple women in the audience. When they do finally kiss, off screen, the fans screams with joy. Some are even blushing and I do not know what the other one is doing besides Hyuna.
Commonly lesbians are harassed by straight males. That they aren't straight and just needs a good guy or even worse to turn them straight. Like their identity is just choice. That they need to be fix is a common idea or it's this idea of them being a savior. A fantasy. And how even they ask lesbians to let him watch them kiss. Or even just watching them have romantic PDA with each other like it's a show for him.
Sua's public affection for Mizi, one that is heavily personal as it's Sua saying goodbye to Mizi when she is taken off to get her arm chopped off, is treated like another addition to the show to this audience. As the audience cheers and blush at the kiss. Something to enjoyed when it's a normal thing between a couple. Just because they are both women.
When this is tragic final kiss. Before they pull her away like an object from someone she loves. So she can get a body part sold off to her fans, we already know how much her arms/hands play into her body language.
With the way Mizi sings, perhaps it's the only way she can communicate to Sua, "where are you going" As she gasps before ending her singing, either mimicking the knife cutting into Sua... or her realizing what is happening at the end.
Read somewhere long ago that maybe they removed Till's GUTS to get rid of his GUTSY AND REBELLIOUS NATURE. While Ivan's HEART is missing due to his HOLLOW AND OBSESSIVE BEHAVIOR for Till. Like that again makes sense- but I still cannot get over the theory of dead rat with spilled guts transitioning to Ivan. Save me from this💔
zombie stage round 1 thoughts! Lots of implications in the first round which is lovely, the direction is seriously as good as ever. I put a cut off thing here because I ended up having a lot of thoughts ^^’
Character design is as amazing as ever
is Sua’s hair an indication of how much time has passed? Or is it a wig, and an indication of feminity being put upon her?
Mizi is always winning, isn’t she? For better or…for worse. As far as I can tell the line distribution was pretty equal (not that I think either of them have the mental capacity to write lyrics), and yet. With her popularity pre-apocalypse, isn’t she set to win most of the rounds?
I love how she’s wearing bright pink, and her hair is fully pink. Tons of potential symbolism, but for now I’ll take it as— society is really putting femininity upon her. Sexualization in life and stereotypical ‘girlhood’ in death.
the former point is actually quite fitting, because society loves to angelicize and idealize people after their deaths. Of course, maybe her body isn’t in a state to be sexualized (but you’d be surprised). But to me it’s more like, after she dies, they pretend their sexualization never happened. Oh, Mizi, with the eyes of love. The lovely idol. What sexualization? She belongs in frilly dresses and cute hairstyles.
another possible reason is that maybe in her current state, she can’t think and is just obedient. Doll like. Dolls are often dressed in frilly clothing. Could be connected to infantilization of women, too, BUT the societal perception of ‘overly cute = infantile’ isn’t universal and I’m not sure where Korea stands on it.
honestly seems very doll like. Enough cognition to memorize choreo and lyrics, evidently, but it also looks like a lot of cognition isn’t there. Exactly how much do they have? Writing lyrics? Composing? Conversation?
it’s fun how you can tell it’s the second series. Alien stage had more reveals and we didn’t know about the characters until the relevant stage. In zombie stage, we can already tell Hyuna will have a large role. It’s fun to see creators adapt according to circumstances~
im really excited for the next stage (assumedly Ivan), because it seemed like a lot of the audience is men? Stories about misogyny and patriarchy are cool, but I’m not sure how that’ll fit in with Ivan and Till and Luka, who are oppressed men in positions of little agency. So. Maybe the audience this time is mostly men because it’s Mizi, and it’s not actually the norm. We shall see!
if the latter is true AND someone in the next round was also an idol, then it implies the fans may be the ones keeping Zombie Stage going. It’d be a bleak commentary on entertainment over humanity, even if these fans are just clinging to what little happiness they have left in the midst of an apocalypse. I’m not the one to say if this reason justifies the actions.
honestly I wouldn’t be surprised if the audience actively dehumanizes and ‘others’ the zombies. ‘They’re not human if’ they can think, ‘they’re like animals’ because they want human flesh,’ ‘they’re monsters’ because they look disgusting. This sort of propaganda has been used historically so~ I can see how the audience might justify it to themselves. Their own comfort comes first to them, right? ⭐️ (it’s not a good thing. Empathy is important)
lowk the fanchant words don’t really match the song, even if the rhythm is nice. Indication of mindless consumption? As in, the audience doesn’t care about the lyrics or the intention or the content, just the fact that it is content and it sounds nice?
I assume during the audition, Mizi was told she was accepted. Her expression was SO interesting. There’s not a single moment of joy, just horror, because Sua didn’t make it with her. What if. What if Mizi didn’t even want to be an idol that badly? What if she wanted it because Sua wanted it? No, what if they both wanted it because it’s ‘their’ thing? It could’ve been anything, and it just so happened to be idols.
so, what if Mizi continued to be an idol despite how much it killed her, because she felt guilty? ‘I need to fulfill our dream’. ‘I made it and Sua didn’t, so I have to make the most of it.’ Guilt for being chosen. And maybe the stress weighs on her, so sometimes she hates Sua, and then she hates herself for hating Sua. And then she pulls away, and hates herself for that too. It’s a never ending cycle
i I think the messaging about ‘women and young adults/teenagers being taken advantage of by the entertainment industry and society as a whole’ is pretty obvious, so I won’t say more on it
and the reason it’s obvious is because of what we already knew about Mizi! Plus 1 Kudo to the ‘creators adjusting their storytelling according to circumstances’.
I don’t really have a way to end this, but super fun :> if the theme of alien stage is “even if it didn’t matter, this love had meaning”, then I wonder what the theme of zombie stage will be.
summary of everything that happened in the first round for anyone who missed anything
- Mizi crushes a rat/small mammal with a rock.
- Cut to a zombie lying on the ground chained up, clearly in a great deal of pain with a zombie stage poster and a ‘sale! 80%’ sign next to them. A person approaches, nonplussed.
- Sua joins Mizi, who is crying, and hugs her.
- A shot through a dark, grimy street with zombies lurching about, to a bright carnival area with people walking about casually, and a tent up ahead. A sign saying ‘welcome’ with a rabbit with a cracked eye and a heart in the eye.
- Zombie Mizi and Sua are shown inside the tent dressed up in a manner similar to k-pop idols. The audience seems to be mainly older men.
- There’s visible decay on both of them. Mizi’s eyes seem to be covered and her collar and shoulder are decayed. Sua’s left eye is decayed along with her left leg and left side of her body.
- Mizi starts singing.
- Theres a cut to a scene where she falls over, clearly in school attire, with a sign mostly in korean with the words K-POP highlighted. Sua is also in this flashback scene and she seems to be singing loudly or harshly.
- Cut to Mizi and Sua staring at their phones anxiously, both in school uniform. Their phones show a red box and korean words, seemingly a rejection/fail notice.
- Cut to Sua singing on ZOMST. “When you’re out of breath, SOS, me!”
- Theres another flashback cut to Sua braiding Mizi’s hair.
- “You are My God, You are My universe.” Flashback cut to seemingly their graduation. Mizi holds up her phone to Sua, showing her a k-pop audition flyer.
- Sua and Mizi at the k-pop audition. It cuts between them on zomst and them at the audition.
- Sua and Mizi are shown distressed in front of the judges, and by the cut to Mizi in a show outfit, it seems that Sua failed but Mizi got through.
- Mizi in her show outfit looks a lot like in ruler of my heart. Sua kisses her hand and Mizi runs on stage.
- Cut to Mizi on zomst. a wheel with a ‘hypnotic’ spiral descends down behind her while she poses. Two masculine looking figures with black goat heads come either side of her. One is shown spinning a knife whole the other raises Mizi’s hand onto the board.
- Cut to Mizi being recorded, visibly exhausted, cut to her hand strapped onto the board, cut back to her being recorded, cut to her foot being strapped, cut back to her being recorded and her smiling.
- A knife is thrown at the board. It seemingly shatters the image of mizi smiling.
- Numbers on the signs above the stage flash. If paused at the right time, Mizi’s pink shows ‘87’ and Sua’s blue shows ‘86’.
- Cut to Mizi shown on big billboards modelling. She’s clearly become very famous. Lots of cuts where Mizi is shown being very famous
- The arm of an infected person, decay at the shoulder. ‘Minho, rare and pure’. The face of sweet innocent, decay taking up most of the face. ‘Of Kate’. Two green eyes. ‘Mizi. The eyes of love. Perfect Gift’.
- Mizi on a livestream, water being splashed at her. Mizi in a youtube video, a guy (ew)’s hand on her hip, seemingly a commentary video. Mizi on a news channel, splashing water over her face. Mizi and the guy (EEEWW), both undressed.
- Mizi and Sua walking, Mizi about to light a cigarette. Sua snatches it and looks visibly distressed. Mizi’s face is empty of emotion. She slaps Sua. The music changes to a minor key. Sua goes to hug Mizi and Mizi shoves her off and yells at her, before running away crying.
- A zombie is seen following her.
- Cut to Sua on zomst, singing in the dark softly. A news channel is shown seemingly talking about the outbreak.
- Sua is seen ducking under a sign that says one bite = infection, a guard sleeping nearby.
- On zomst the upbeat music starts afain.
- Mizi is shown with visible decay, tape or rope or something around her eyes. she’s been zombified. Sua stands over her, her expression blank with a mask covering her nose and mouth. she takes off fhe mask and smiles, crying.
- Mizi and Sua on zomst are holding hands, standing on the stage.
- Flashbacks to sua and mizi being lesbian
- The signs show 87 and 86 and then Mizi to have won and Sua to have lost, just like in alnst. They switch to ^u^ and ToT seemingly trivialising sua’s loss.
- Sua is shown back at when she found mizi as a zombie, opening her mouth. she assumably is forcing mizi to bite her so she can be a zombie with her.
- Back on zomst, sua turns mizi’s head toward her, and it flashes through when she found mizi as a zombie, the original scene with the rat, and on zomst, them kissing on all three.
- The scene shows a pink background with whitebtext saying ‘happy end’ in a grimy font.
- black and white. hyuna stands, shocked, amongst a crowd of (creepy) fanboys (fanmen?) she seems visibly disgusted.
- sua is dragged away by the men with bunny heads while mizi sings about a bunny running away. sua is set on a table and a knife is raised above her arm. shes smiling.
- cut to the dead rat.
- cut to ivan whistling the bunny tune. a chain is around his neck, his hair is grown over his eyes, and theres decay on his hand, face an dneck. he smiles and ‘heh’s.
Instagram and Youtube have somehow decided that Mizi is worse than Sua and that she is the abuser in their relationship. And arguing that Sua is also toxic can somehow come across as victim blaming?
There are many MANY things wrong with that mindset.
But the most important thing to note is, we have no idea if they were even in a relationship at that point. They may have known there were reciprocated love there, but there aren't any moments that we see of them doing something explicitly romantic while they were auditioning and while Mizi was an idol.
Another thing that this misses, is how detrimental being an idol was to Mizi. She lost control over everything in her life. She was subject to sexualisation and objectification. The person she loved was not there by her side enough to rectify it. We already know that she had a massive issue with being the 'powerless' person. She wanted power and control over her own life and choices. In a very twisted way, she got that with Sua. It was unhealthy and it was likely toxic. In Zombie Stage, there is no Sua. Notnin the way that matters. So one choice that she does get to make is likely smoking. When Sua took that away, regardless of intention, she reacts violently. It's not a full excuse but it explains a lot about her mindset. This is likely the first time something like this happened, and this is after what is probably years of feeling powerless.
Mizi has her arguement with Sua and she runs away. She gets turned into a zombie minutes later and loses any chance she had of feeling 'power' again. She is now stripped of her autonomy completely.
This is where Sua becomes very toxic, in my opinion. She loves Mizi but she didn't know how to help other than in minor way of protecting her 'innocence' like she does in Alien Stage. She provides support in whatever way possible, and while it was enough in Alien Stage, it is not enough in Zombie Stage. Because she is not around enough for those things to be truly impactful. This isn't her fault. She did the best she could.
But her perception of Mizi is toxic, in a weird way. She wants to protect Mizi when she can, but she also makes choices that aren't good while Mizi is vulnerable. When she sneaks in to the containment camp to find Mizi, she uses her fingers to 'frame' Mizi's chest then lips. She could be relieved, but it seems more obsessive than that.
Sua proceeds to kiss Mizi and get infected herself. That seems romantic on the surface, but there is the aspect that we know they weren't on good terms before this and Mizi is incapable of consenting here, so Sua took advantage of a situation where Mizi was vulnerable for her own wants.
She did this before in the past, when Mizi had killed a rat and was upset over it. Sua goes to hug Mizi, and Mizi does not reciprocate. She doesn't even respond. Sua goes ahead and kisses her despite this.
She kisses her present time, after she loses their round. Mizi is very clearly not mentally all there. She is much more childlike and oblivious. Sua chooses to kiss her on stage again, despite knowing that it would not be reciprocated.
Mizi might have still loved Sua, but we do not get to know this. It's left perfectly vague, with small frames here and there showing that at present time, Sua is the only one aware of their love.
