Alien Stage (original) (raw)

The general first impression of Alien Stage is probably: Hunger Games but as a single-elimination singing tournament set in a human/alien society.

In every round, two singers are forced to compete onstage 1v1, their lives on the line as they sing to the alien audience members who view the humans as pets and the competition as popcorn entertainment. The winner moves on to the next round, while the loser dies on the spot. At the end of each tournament, only one winner will remain. Alien Stage tells the story through a series of animated music videos - each featuring at least one of the six main... characters and not only depicting what occurs on stage, but also giving a glimpse of the characters' background, past, and relationship with other characters. Every video offers twists and turns, highlighting the unpredictability and complexity of the characters as they act based on their individual values and motivations. At the center of many of these motivations are varying forms of love - pure love, tragic love, toxic love, self love, and unrequited love. With the show tagged as "psychological," there are inevitably some dark topics touched on and actions made by the characters themselves that may be uncomfortable to the viewers, but it's important to keep an open mind and remember these characters are raised in an abnormal society - by aliens, not by human parents - and grew up with warped perceptions of what's right or wrong.

The Alien Stage music videos aren't the kind where you can understand with just one simple viewing. With each video being only at most 5 minutes long to tell a story, a few rewatches are required to understand what's happening and even more to peel past the surface. It's no exaggeration to say every single frame is important as even some snapshots, which are only a split second long, offer hidden details. But the multiple pauses, rewinding, and rewatching that are inevitably required to obtain a better understanding of the story, characters, and lore are very rewarding.

The art, music, and cinematography are nothing short of captivating. The animation is limited, but enough is given to highlight the important details/scenes, and the animation evolves with each video released. Clearly, the staff has thrown a lot of passion and love into this project. From the beads of sweat forming on the female singer onstage just before tragedy hits, to the light reflecting on the characters' pupils while looking at a loved one, to the flower symbolisms, to the color of the clothes the characters wear onstage - everything was clearly carefully crafted with an intended purpose. The songs are top-notch and are undoubtedly a highlight of the videos, ranging in tone from slow and wistful, to fast and punk rock, to upbeat and haunting. The songs and lyrics themselves are just as important to understand the story, each one conveying the thoughts and emotions of the characters. However, with no narration or dialogue offered in-between, some scenes are left ambiguous and open to interpretation. It's up to the viewers to form their own theories and fill in the gaps.

Overall, Alien Stage is a must-watch for any fan of the psychological and suspense genre, as well as those who simply want to delight in listening to good music, and/or enjoy digging through layers of a video and forming/reading through theories/analyses to gain a bigger picture of the story and lore.