“Alien Stage” has recently released a new episode on YouTube.
“Alien Stage” is an anime style Korean YouTube music series.
If that description sounds complicated, don’t worry; the only complicated thing there is the story itself.
“Alien Stage” has already been reviewed, but that was when the story only had three episodes. Since then, there have been five new episodes and two shorts; needless to say, there’s a lot more to comment on.
In general, the storytelling is still strong. Up to this point, the singing competition portion of “Alien Stage” is over. The winner was not someone who won through plot armor, rather, someone who has had a track record of winning, which was refreshing.
Our protagonist, Mizi, escaped the competition and has a fresh new haircut. With these things, she tried to save her last alive friend from the competition, Till, and failed — or so it seems. There are clues that he may or may not be alive. (I could just be coping).
Thus getting us to the new episode, “Wiege.” “Wiege” means “cradle” when translated from German.
The song composed for this episode is, fittingly, a lullaby. It is about Luka, the winner of the competition, someone blinded by hubris, and Hyuna, the leader of the rebellion against the alien society. They have a complicated past.
Not much happens in the present in this episode. Maybe 30 seconds pass. The rest is in the past, showing the audience things to confirm theories.
This may seem counterintuitive, however, this allows for some new information and “what-ifs” to be passed around.
For instance, there is a flashback sequence showing all the main characters as children living their lives.
How tragic for them, then, seeing how they wound up, right?
That’s the intent, partially, behind “Wiege:” to show humanity persevering the best way they can. To show that love will continue to live on despite the horrors. Despite everything, Hyuna still loves Luka, even if he did all these wrong things. Despite everything, Luka is still human.
On a more technical level, “Wiege” is beautifully animated. The colors picked for each scene were done with precision and tact.
The bright yellows and greens for the childhood scenes compared with the brooding purples of the current scenes really exemplify this.
Overall, I encourage you to take a look at “Alien Stage” if musicals or tragic stories tickle your fancy. Seeing the art progression over time is really satisfying, and you might just find a new favorite song.
