Flora ♡

as a parallel to sua embracing mizi, we see a quick cut to mizi's mother (?) hugging mizi as a child.

i'm honestly not sure what the second panel below means, but it'll probably be discussed further in later media pieces vivimeng releases.

as a result, we see mizi lash out at sua.

mizi completely snaps, likely lying about how she's content with her idol career (as hinted by her smile in the first panel below). however, feeling so overwhelmed with this sudden confrontation and the stress of her career, she breaks down before running away.

we then see a better glimpse into the infection-swarmed world.

during the scene where mizi is running away from sua, we do see a zombie following behind her, likely hinting at how mizi got infected.

as the infection grows worse, sua, who hasn't been infected yet, sneaks into the heavily guarded base where mizi has been contained.

sua finally finds mizi in this pale, infected state. however, rather than appearing horrified, she looks both devastated and relieved to finally have mizi in her arms.

sua then kisses mizi to make herself be infected.

remember from the scene where sua is sneaking in? there are signs and caution tape that warn uninfected humans about the "one bite infection." sua is planning on kissing mizi to infect herself—both out of obsession and care for her.

i think sua's further obsession and care for mizi can be implied by the lyrics below. sua is fine with infecting and destroying herself, as long as she can be beside mizi.

she is built up on this codependency for mizi, where she'd cross any lines to be together with mizi. in her opinion, even if they are both physically "ruined," it doesn't matter since they're together. their love is the only thing that's important.

it's honestly so heartbreaking how unhealthy yet entranced the two are for each other in zomst, especially sua's raw emotions towards mizi.

near the beginning, we know that sua and mizi's dreams are to become kpop idols together.

however, after performing, sua was likely rejected by the judges, while mizi was allowed to move on.

we can clearly tell below by the change in mizi's expression. while sua maintains a blank, maybe even indifferent look, mizi looks devastated. her pupils shrink from the realization that she'd be separated from sua.

during mizi's first debut, she looks nervous and guiltridden. although it was her utter aspiration to become an idol, she feels lost at the idea of accomplishing her dreams without sua by her side.

still, sua adores mizi to no end. even if she herself isn't able to become an idol, she is perfectly content with cheering mizi on from the sidelines.

after a bit of reassurance from sua, mizi is able to gain more confidence, finally moving up to the stage for her debut.

my analysis for some of the panels below isn't focused on mizisua, but i'd like to assume that the "hypnosis" circle implies mizi's idolized and idealized image as a kpop idol.

her idol image is rendered to "hypnotize" and enchant others with her face and body.

moving further into the mv, we see the beginnings of mizi's idol image. her idol persona is based on seduction, where her body and expression (e.g. hooded eyes) are meant to attract the audience.

we also see one of the masked performers do some sort of circus act where they throw knives at her.

i think the knife began directly thrown at her eyes (also the area where mizi is infected) has to do with her real self deteriorating and rotting.

one of the most primary ways people can assess you are through your eyes. however, we know that mizi's idol persona isn't her true identity. even in the seduction cameo, the only reason i inferred that mizi wasn't truly "happy" was bc of her eyes. there is no energy in them.

hence, her eyes are the only hint towards mizi's true emotions.

the infection and knife being targeted towards her eyes forces mizi to hide her eyes, or in this case, her real thoughts and identity.

i also thought it was interesting how mizi's eyes were sold as

"The Eyes of Love"

even when she becomes an infected idol, her real identity is continuing to be supressed by her idol identity. her eyes (one of the only ways we could assess her true emotions) are being posed as a way to entrance the fans instead, likely for the male gaze.

we can continue to see the company showing off mizi's body in order for her to gain more viewership.

her company's plans do work. for most corrupt kpop companies, they focus more on bringing idols fame. it doesn't matter if it's hate or love, as long as the idols are getting attention.

in mizi's case, controversies arise. discussions begin to spiral around her career. youtube videos and articles pop up about mizi, specifically about her body.

yt video: "[RANGNAM NEWS] Oh shit, Mizi's legendary Waterbomb fancam... Is this a bit too revealing? #MiziControversy #KpopNews"

article: "This year's Waterbomb goddess... Who's number one?"

mizi is able to gain fame but at the cost of her body. notice how the youtubers focus on her revealing outfit, and how the article chose a photo of her appearing seductive and sluggish.

in this world, mizi to them is nothing more than an object they can rant and gossip about.

sua then begins to grow more worried for her.

now we all know how IMPORTANT flowers are in alnst!

the flowers that sua brings mizi are called "Platycodon grandiflorus," or "purple balloon flowers." they symbolize everlasting love, devotion, and sincerity.

however, when mizi receives these, she simply tosses them to one of the staff members without much of a glance, and sua notices this.

symbolically, not only is mizi tossing aside their love and honesty that they once shared as children, she is prioritizing her career over her relationship and connection with sua.

is it because mizi supposedly "fell out of love" with sua? no.

i'm too lazy to find the school zomst comic, but we all know that from both the zomst school comic and alnst, mizi cares a LOT about her identity. she plasters a bright-eyed and bubbly personality to make herself feel more secure and likable towards others.

we can tell by her fake smile towards sua, as shown by the panels below. she is choosing to replicate her idol persona towards sua, even if it is destroying herself in the process.

sua, realizing how far mizi has deteriorated herself, reaches her breaking point. she lashes out at mizi, most likely arguing with her about what she's doing to herself as an idol. sua is clearly concerned for mizi's mental and physical state.

as a result, mizi snaps, slapping sua. due to her overwhelmed and stressed state, all the pressure she feels being an idol bottles up into this violent reaction.

still, we see sua try to confront her. she embraces mizi tightly, being the only one in this sick and cruel world that craves for something real and honest.

sua cares for mizi so deeply, desperate to see mizi's real personality come back, not the idealized version the kpop company has enforced. she is the only one that feels sick at the idea of mizi being taken advantage of.

I keep seeing people say how crazy Mizi is and how innocent Sua was in comparison, but that’s just not true. I adore both Mizi and Sua, by the way. This isn’t criticism of either of them. But you can’t ignore what Sua does here if you want an accurate portrayal of their relationship in this world.

When Mizi becomes an idol, she’s manufactured into a sex symbol, crafted into something that can appeal to the male gaze despite how we KNOW she’s a lesbian. Specifically, we can see how Mizi’s breasts are often framed promiscuously to further her objectification:

So this shot where Sua finds Mizi, tied up and helpless, incoherent, and the first thing she does is frame an unaware Mizi’s breasts as if in a photoshoot—bitterly, ironically, before relief takes over—it goes to show something major about Mizisua’s relationship in both the ALNST and ZOMST verse.

In ALNST, Sua enables Mizi’s infantilization (something often levied against women in a misogynistic context) of herself by keeping Mizi “in the dark” (although Mizi is more aware than either of them want to acknowledge). People rightfully criticize Till for his innocent vision of Mizi to comfort himself with, but Sua has a version of Mizi in her head that she uses to comfort herself, too. She and Till aren’t incredibly different in this regard.

In ZOMST, this translates not to infantilization, but to objectification. Sua is bitter over Mizi’s decision to let the industry use her in this way, she’s disgusted by it, but then she wields it herself when Mizi is finally helpless and incapable of pushing Sua away again by miming taking a photo of Mizi’s breasts.

Together 💗