25/10/24
what is alien stage?
for the uninitiated, alien stage is a project by animators vivinos, qmeng and supported by studio lico! it's a free-to-watch series of youtube videos featuring aliens, a dystopian future and singing to the death. when i put it like that, it sounds a little overdone... but it's amazing! plus, if anything, you could watch it to support art from less huge companies.production team background
vivinos
vivinos is an animator who's been publishing videos on her youtube account for 4 years. iomg enough about me. i think some of her earlier work is super underrated! there's a lot of cutesy and/or grimy stuff there. one of my favourite works of hers is my september, which i won't say anything about in favour of you just watching it without any knowledge going in. i think tili tili bom and pink bxxch club are also super great, and i'm kinda bummed the latter series got dropped (?), but i'm glad for all of vivinos' published work.
qmeng
honestly, i don't really know that much about qmeng or her projects, but i love her animation and i think she's really talented. in fact, i think she did my favourite animation of all of 2024 (so far.) there's also a cool thing we've seen snippets of called messiah project that qmeng's lined up for some point in the future.studio lico
studio lico produces a lot of animation, and hosts all the songs and alternative character covers in alien stage. but, i'll save more of that for the music section.visuals
alien stage has beautiful visuals, and i don't know it it was the recent explosion in popularity or something with funding/more staff that i don't know anything about, but the quality of animation has soared recently.music
imo, i'm not a fan of every single track. but there are some that i really love. i catch myself humming black sorrow almost every day at this point (ivan's cover is my favourite) and i really like sweet dream and all-in too!! there are also alternative covers, which are songs that have other characters with crazy parallels singing eachother's songs. i think it's a great testament to how well thought-out the story is. here's all of the (main) songs with it's alternative cover on the right.⬅ SUA + MIZI | IVAN + TILL ➡
i don't have too much to say about this song, except that i think the lyrics are very sweet. and the alternative cover's till's reactions are kinda funny.
⬅ TILL | MIZI + TILL ➡
until i began relistening to the alien stage ost on my commutes, i never realised what a cool intro this song has. the notes feel off somehow (are they in minor key? i can't tell i'm really bad with music terminology) but also like a love letter with the gentle string plucking... and then the "glitch" effect and the more hardcore part, altho tbh its very funky for something so supposedly edgy. everything after the intro has musical vibes, something set in new york maybe? lol. anyway, mizi's vocals fit together really well with till's (he wrote it for her..!!!!sjhwoaihd), which makes listening to the original feel kind of hollow.
⬅ IVAN | MIZI ➡
this is my emo anthem, 100%.... i even wrote english translation lyrics for it. i've listened to it so many times that i can't really comment on the music itself authentically, and the lyrics aren't too special compared to the other songs. the build-up is really nice, and i like the general feel of the whole song. it sounds very desperate, very hopeless. the final verse is really special, ivan's version especially. the second-last "black sorrow" has a great feel of despair and a kind of yell that i adore. mizi's verion is good but i much prefer ivan's. though, i think this is more due to personal preference; mizi's sounds more vengeful or angry (although tapers off depressingly at the end) while ivan's is more at-a-loss, and i think a sad voice fits the sad song better.
⬅ LUKA + MIZI | SUA ➡
-M feels very elegant and jazzy. i didn't want to delve into lyrics too much (i plan to have a segment on that in the future!) but the line "make me your god, i can give you everything" relates so evilly to the line "my god, my universe" in my clematis, and it's another example of how great i think the alnst crew is at weaving together the story. also in luka/mizi's version his voice goes really high at that line in a way that makes me snicker every time, idky. sua's version is a few pitches higher, which fits her voice well. it's very gentle, i really like it. also, sua doesn't rudely whistle at mizi like luka. (#1 luka hater!! pulverise him!)
UPDATE! hyuna's low voice doesn't really match this song imo but i still think 6FU nailed it.
⬅ HYUNA | TILL ➡
apparently, the heartbeat sfx from round 6 are in till's version during the flashback part, neat detail. apart from that, not much to say. killer beat. hyuna's voice is to die for... till's has a good growl though. it's nice to hear him somewhat happy.
⬅ TILL + IVAN | MIZI + SUA ➡
when i said black sorrow was my emo anthem i meant it, but this comes a close second. that might just be with association with the mv, though. feels really hopeless in a cute way. the lyrics read like love poetry, especially the last verse (not mentioning translation discrepancies etc etc.) the guitar distortion at the end and tinitus ringing at the start feel really lethargic in a fitting way i can't explain. the yearning in their voices is real, regardless of for love or for death- i'll die on this chuunibyou hill!!
UPDATE! the new cover came out!! it sounds just as emotional but a little less loud, if that makes sense? i hate to make it seem like their cover is less intense, because it's not, but it's sort of more mellow, in a way... i guess it's the same as mizi's cover of black sorrow; i just don't think these sad, mournful songs sound as good when sung by someone with a requited love.
TILL + LUKA
the songs just keep getting better and better. there's so many english parts in this one? you really feel the time slipping through your fingers. also even though luka's probably my least favourite character, his vocals are my favourite, maybe... and they work really well with till's here. it's crazy how the violin outshines the guitar!! its all so metaphorical.
i also wanted to add- the album covers are really nice. apart from hyuna, they all have in-universe branded album covers with their monochrome faces against black backgrounds in harsh lighting. hyuna's escaped, so she has her own custom album covers. i think it's a neat detail.
links
- official playlist
- official twt account
- vivinos instagram account
- proxy for the above (i hate insta)
- fandom wiki (kinda mid tbh, very few pages)
- vivinos' patreon (free posts available)
coming (never)
- less shitty, more fleshed out visuals section
- round-by-round reviews
- lyrics analysations
- merch documentation