I've seen a lot of people saying that this scene of Hyuna is her showing disgust for what these girls are going through. But I don't see it that way.
Because to me this scene isn't disgust of the men or what these girls are being put through. To me it's disgust with herself.
We know Hyuna knew what was going on with Zombie Stage to some extent. She knew they were being mutilated, she knew they were being exploited.
We see her being in awe of what she just saw. She's enraptured by the show. The next photo we see her realizing she fell into the trap. She fell into the draw this show brings. And finally full disgust, anger even.
Yes Hyuna is mad this is happening to Mizi and Sua, but this scene to me shows more anger at herself. At the fact she could be drawn into this horrible thing. And to me that matches her character much more than being visibly disgusted by the crowd or those sheep fucks.
REALLY interesting how much conflict Mizi and Sua seemed to have even before the idol industry drove them even further apart, and while I'm immensely curious to learn of Sua's past it's nice to see even more evidence of how Mizi's own affects both herself and Mizisua's relationship.
In both ALNST and ZOMST, Mizi is in an abusive situation that causes her harm both physically and mentally. In ALNST, it's largely due to negligence and lack of understanding or proper care for her at the hands of Shine. In ZOMST, it seems to be at the hands of a mother who takes out her frustrations on her, however apologetic she may or may not be after the act. In both ALNST and ZOMST, she has the same issue as a result: she doesn't want to be seen as small. Treated as lesser. Seen as cute, or as some decoration, or pitied. When her options are crush or be crushed, she wants control, which leads to a lot of dysfunction in her relationships with other people, but especially with Sua.
Not some pet you keep around the house, huh?
Sua means well, at least to a degree, suggesting Mizi can stay with her at zero cost. She may have ulterior motives driven by immense love and a desire for total codependence (which, again, makes me wonder of Sua's own past and how she could have gotten here albeit we have her ALNST counterpart to go off of), but she would obviously never wish to see her lover harmed. It's just that by housing her and by asking for nothing in return (and really, having Mizi beside her is enough), she can kill two birds with one stone. Not only will Mizi be safe, but Mizi will rely on her. Finally, Sua will be needed as much as she seems to need her. But what Mizi once again longs for in this world is a certain level of control to feel safe, whereas Sua wishes to be one with Mizi in a way that strips her of the very autonomy she craves. Ultimately, Mizi's needs win out over her own. Sua will prioritize her until the very end, if only in hopes that one day, the same devotion will be returned. If Mizi needs solace, she can find it in Sua. If Mizi needs to lash out, get angry, Sua can be on the other end of that, too. She won't mind.
Sua frames her "desire" for it as an attempt to finally understand her, but there's almost a sort of twisted thrill in it for her too, I think, to be who Mizi's attention is turned towards, whether for better or for worse. I think this is another means of Sua wishing to 'belong' to her, another way of insisting that Mizi is fully hers, too. An attempt to frame it all as romantic. It is also, of course, a way of Sua wishing to forget her own emotional pain that I'm sure she's feeling, replacing it with physical pain. While Sua says such things, she leans in for a kiss, distracting Mizi from both the harm she's brought to the rat and from the argument they're having, further supporting the fact that she has an incredibly unhealthy idea of what love is. It seems they once again have no plans to discuss the elephant in the room when it comes to how much they hurt each other both with words and actions, instead focusing as much as they can on this fantastical idea of their romance that isn't actually as soft or as pure as they try to pretend.
Mizi doesn't actually return any of it here. No slap, and no leaning in for the kiss herself, merely staring. She doesn't want to hurt her, as much as it's inevitable. She doesn't actually want to pretend everything is fine, either, to lose herself entirely in this idealized version of their relationship until the very end. She'll take the latter over the former, but it hurts her. It hurts them both.
No matter the universe, Mizi will always want to have just a bit of power, to have a choice. And it seems that just like in ALNST, in this world, that choice will be taken from her in the very end by the one she loves most. Just like how, in every universe, Sua would do anything but live without her.
What are your opinions on the webtoon/fandom making Kim Dokja more likeable? Forgive me if I’m missing something (I’m only 40 chapters in the novel) but he seems a lot more selfish/self-serving in the novel than he does in the webtoon. At least, the webtoon frames it more heroically or necessarily, whereas the novel is more blatant about it. I don’t mind it at all, in fact I really like the rawness of it, I’m just curious to hear other’s opinions about it because the fandom seems to treat KDJ as this adorable guy who *needs* to ruin lives for the sake of his brooding alpha bf who he’s obviously in love with /sarc
I've talked about similar stuff before, but I'm always happy to reasonably fart on the webtoon and the fandom, so.
The webtoon does unfortunately cut out A LOT of moments, smooth out many KDJ's rougher edges and make him an overly emoting clown, and yeah, it made him wayyy more likeable and marketable. But in doing so, it pretty much loses the core of who he actually is—someone who's genuinely selfish in ways he won't admit, but also genuinely trying, and that exact tension is what makes him so compelling imo. Novel KDJ is...idfk. KDJ. He's a jerk in ways that aren't cute, he's manipulative af, he lies to others constantly (tho he'd say "it's not lying, it's just not telling the whole truth" or some bs like that), and he makes choices that aren't just "heroic necessity" or whatever the fyck. But the webtoon's narration style can't really show all of that because it doesn't have access to his internal monologue the way the novel does, so it ends up framing his actions as more "greater good" than they actually are. Also KDJ doesn't have to go after those who wronged YJH in his regressions, but mf goes out of his way to fuck over people who hurt YJH when it's not necessary to do it this way for his plan, he just does it out of spite and his protectiveness over his protagonist.
But if I'll be real, allat is not just a webtoon issue. Even without this shit, I think a lot of people would still flatten him, because that's what fandoms do. People's brains are so rotted by cliche yaoi tropes and consumable templates that they can't process characters as anything other than what they've already decided they are. It's easier to shove KDJ into the "adorable soft blorbo who needs to be protected and saved uwu" mold (and YJH into the "big strong alpha daddy wolf boyfriend who growls at anyone who looks at his baby wrong" mold) than to sit with the discomfort of him being a genuinely messy, a bit cruel and complicated person who sometimes does bad things for reasons that aren't selfless.
It's kind of sad, honestly. They're missing the whole point of his character because they're too busy trying to make him fit into something they already understand just to claim they understand him. And it's not even that they can't understand the characters—they just don't want to, because understanding them would mean letting go of the easy, comfortable templates they've built their whole enjoyment around.
KDJ isn't my favourite and I don't adore him as a person, but I love him as a character. Novel KDJ is way better and you can't tell me I'm wrong. Webtoon KDJ is just not the same guy.
Everything is gathered from online threads and reports of panel attendees, so take this post with a grain of salt, they can be debunked or changed later!!
Those who attended the live panel event say that anime will have a different director (Alien Stage's main director is Vivinos and co-director is Q-meng), and they hope that the fans will be supportive when they reveal new director's identity. Vivinos will still be involved but mainly focus on Zombst.
Rumors online also say the anime will be produced by Xenotoons, the same studio that produced "Make A Girl". That one is a bit uncertain as the official account didn't reveal the studio yet
(To be honest, this kinda scares me about the anime...)
In correlation to Kim Dokja, King Ivan Yaoi The Third is frequently brought up, but if any character holds the title of Dokja, it's literally Sua. Zombst Sua is Dokja if he was assigned a freak by the narrative.
Her sacrificing herself in every universe? Mizi being hapless to just watch? To live with knowing that between she and Sua, Sua would make sure she bears the brunt of her pain every time?? Not to even mention the motif of her in white clothing.
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.
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