—charmy

I’ve been thinking a lot about biyoo, or specifically the scene where she gets her name.

We all know how important names are in ORV and in Korean culture in general. Dokja was named “Dokja” because his mother wanted him to be a reader, and his father wanted him to grow up independent, someone who does not rely on others. And he becomes exactly that. A reader. Alone. A “dokja” in every sense of the word.

In Korean, “Biyoo” means “metaphor” or “analogy.” I have been thinking a lot about how Biyoo serves as a metaphor in the story. Honestly, it is hard to narrow her down to just one thing, because she embodies so many.

But the first thing that came to mind was “change”. She has been the 41st Shin Yoosung, a disaster, a wandering soul, a reincarnation, a dokkaebi. She takes on multiple forms throughout the novel. She is never just one fixed existence.

Dokja’s name put him in a box. It defined him before he had the chance to define himself. He was the reader, the observer, the one outside the story. But Biyoo, the “metaphor,” is not confined to one literal meaning. A metaphor shifts depending on context.

While Dokja’s name trapped him, Biyoo’s name allows her to become something fluid. Something that changes. Something that can mean more than one thing at once.

(I doubt this was the intended meaning, but honestly I don’t think it matters. Death of the author and all that)

But anime and video game boob jiggling is like. The most uncanny valley shit I've ever seen nine times out of ten. You would think people this horny about tits would have actually looked at some but I guess not.

The Kpop Industry and Zombie Stage 1, along with other references I found:

btw content warning of exploitation and sexual assault

Please read part one of this post before reading this

Moving on to these scenes. Mizi is being mentally and physically drained and exploited for her sex appeal by the idol industry. We can see this in her photoshoot where we eventually undresses on camera, as well as other photos of her in revealing clothing, and her getting dragged online. This reminded me of two things: Perfect Blue and Revolutionary Girl Utena. 

In perfect blue, Miwa was an idol that quit to become an actress. This led to her getting exploited for her body. She took on a role as a prostitute in a movie that included a rape scene, even though she despised it. And she was coerced into taking nude photos by a photographer. During Miwa’s photoshoot, she is wearing a similar outfit and in a similar setting as Mizi, notice the plain white shirt and white bedsheets. 

There is also a specific pose Mizi is in during the photoshoot that reminded me of Revolutionary Girl Utena (yes we are back with the RGU references in ALNST. Thank you ViviMeng for bringing back more trauma for me). In episode 33 of the anime, Utena does this pose right after she is raped by Akio, the chairman of her school and main antagonist of the story due to being a manipulative, grooming, incestuous, abusive piece of shit. Utena, like Miwa and Mizi, was taken advantage of men and those with power over her. 

Oh also Nayeon, the idol I mentioned in my previous post when comparing Mizi’s outfits to her’s, she has been seen in very revealing tops and short dresses/skirts. She has also been seen to be visibly uncomfortable in them, either constantly covering herself with her hands or moving her skirt downward to adjust it while walking.

I think she also showed up to an event in a really short dress and people were concerned because she was also underage at the time.

Moving on to something more lighthearted. There’s a screenshot of Mizi at an event on stage with water everywhere. This is clearly a water bomb festival. The water bomb festival takes place in the summer and it’s a time for kpop idols to be in revealing summer outfits and throw water at the fans. Everyone gets splashed at, including the idols, but it’s more known for the idols getting the fans wet. 

 Also I’d like to point out this scene where Mizi is smoking. It’s actually quite common for idols to smoke, especially male idols. Female idols have gotten into controversies for smoking though. 

Now here’s something messed up. After Mizi runs off frustrated, mentally and physically drained because of what the idol industry has done to her, we are in Sua’s pov. She stands there doing nothing. Not even when a zombie passes by in Mizi’s direction, leading up to her getting infected. Sua let it all happen. Lowkey I think Sua did this on purpose. 

Cause look how happy Sua is when she has Mizi tied up. It’s giving Ivan when he’s beating up Till.

Then Sua kisses/assaults her, causing her to get infected as well. Now why would Sua do this? Why would Sua want Mizi to become a zombie? Well knowing how bad her mental stability is and that if she were to win round 1 in alien stage and not Mizi, she would break because she can’t live in a world without Mizi. In the world of Zombie Stage, Sua is losing Mizi to the idol industry. We literally see the light in her eyes die. So what does Sua do? She lets Mizi get infected by a zombie so she can live forever. And then Sua gets herself infected by kissing Mizi so she can live forever with Mizi. Ngl that’s messed up because Mizi loves Sua. Cause like the idol industry, Sua disregarded her autonomy. And now Mizi is forced to perform as an idol forever.

Lowkey this reminded me of Vivinos’s My September animation. The one where the black haired girl assaults the corpse of her unrequited crush.

And finally, I want to point out a small part of the fanchant. It’s a bit of a stretch but it reminded me of the song Like Ooh Aah by TWICE. TWICE is known for being overworked and having a majority male fanbase (wow it’s like I mentioned something like that before in this post. It’s all connecting).

Oh but there’s more. The music video for Like Ooh Ahh takes places in a ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE. 

BUTS THERES MORE. BECAUSE WHAT IDOL GROUP IS NAYEON FROM. NAYEON IS FROM TWICE. 

ITS ALL CONNECTING OMGGG. 

Heyyy sooo about the water bomb reference @reyaint pointed out that it could be a referring to Kwon Eunbi, aka the Queen of Water bomb. She got into controversy for “prioritizing sexual appeal over artistry” which is crazy because men in kpop don’t get dragged online for being shirtless at water bomb or any other setting. Mizi annd Kwon Eunbi also have similar outfits.

also to anyone saying that Mizi is bi now look at how dead in the eyes and uncomfortable Mizi looks. And compare it to how dead in the eyes and uncomfortable Utena looks when her abuser is close to her.

First of all Mizi and Sua’s zombie idol outfits. I’d say they are very Jpop inspired. Female kpop outfits usually don’t have this much frills, unlike Jpop. However there are kpop groups that have taken inspiration from Jpop for their concert outfits that I can point out, like Illit and IVE. This makes sense because in this world the creepy aliens are replaced by creepy old male fans, which is somehow worse. The Jpop inspiration for their outfits is to make them more childlike and girly because it’s more attractive and profitable for a female idol in Japan to be childlike and girly because it’s seen as sexy. This also applies to idols in Korea but Japan doesn’t have mature concepts and aesthetics for their female idols, unlike Korea. 

Sua specifically reminds me of Illit’s outfits when they did their debut song Magnetic. This is also a bit unsettling because the majority of the members of Illit were minors when they debuted (two of them were 16).

As for Mizi I couldn’t find much. I will say that her boobs are hanging out and on full display on the screen. I feel like those frames when she’s doing aegyo (Korean for acting cute and childish, mostly for fanservice) were to show you the pov of her male fans. The fact she lost her eyes is unsettling because it makes her more unaware and childlike for her male fans. The same can be said about the disfigured face and untouched torso. It really shows how the fans only care about Mizi for her body. Also that part where Mizi trips… I feel like they got a kick out of that.

Speaking of the male fans, Mizi’s entire fanbase is male. Sua also has majority male fans, with the sole exception of one female fan.

Moving on, it appears that Mizi and Sua tried to get into kpop auditions before as students. A lot of kpop trainees are actually still in school. And it’s been getting worse and worse over the years because the industry keeping pushing out younger and younger idols. Mizi and Sua eventually do get their opportunity after graduating. 

Oh also these lyrics.

AUGHHH KILL ME PLEASE

Anyways moving on

Next we see Mizi in her first idol outfit. I like how this scene is a direct parallel to MiziSua’s scene in Karma. Mizi’s earrings are even in the shape of the hearts in Karma. 

I also want to point out how her outfit is similar to Nayeon, a kpop idol from the very popular girl group TWICE. In fact, this is what started this whole post. Middle parting of her hair, the outfit, it just screams Nayeon to me.

For instance, look at this outfit Nayeon has for their performance at a Victoria Secret fashion show. The knee high boots with the fur. The pinks. 

As for the headwrap thing, that was harder to find because the way Mizi wears it isn’t how it’s commonly worn. It’s more common to see kpop idols wear it in a way that covers their hairline and forehead. But Mizi wears it past the hairline. Well guess what. I found Nayeon wearing it in the same way TWICE (haha pun intended). 

Oh and I wanna point out Mizi has protection shorts on. Female idols tend to wear these to prevent their underwear showing while dancing in short skirts. It is sad that we end up see it fully in view on Mizi. Cause it’s kinda weird if protection shorts are constantly seen when an idol moves around in a super short skirt. There are even idols with protection shorts longer than their actual skirts. 

In this scene, we get to see some very buff sheep men. Idk if these are zombie idols that are also part sheep or they are buff guys with sheep masks. Regardless it’s interesting how ViviMeng specifically chose black sheep for their heads. Black sheep are known for symbolizing those who don’t fit in with society or the mark of the devil.

This could mean two things: 1. They are people who assist in humiliating idols, like reports or people who help set up cruel pranks on idols, or 2. they represent how even male kpop idols aren’t safe from oversexualization. Because why is one of them humping the target? Also the only thing human part about them is their body, kinda like Mizi. 

Also in this scene, Mizi is subjected to a knife throwing performance. This reminded me of games idols would play on tv shows. Kpop idols would sometimes go on tv shows to participate in games. A lot of times these games are cruel to the idols and are physically exhausting. 

This also reminded me of how female idols would often be ridiculed live on tv by the show hosts or dragged online by tabloids, like Dispatch. Or even abused and overworked in their own companies. 

Yangchen: Mitski, Sheena Ringo, Marina and the Diamonds

Kuruk: Maneskin, Rammenstein

Kyoshi: Malice Mizer

A little animation I did while ignoring work.

Pick your fighter or Avatar

sabito for 4th wife

Yes what Duke Ergi said was technically true, Mistresses are easily replaceable but I absolutely love it (I don't) that plenty of the fandom like to pretend Ergi manipulating a uneducated Rashta is some yes king power move.

Rashta is afraid of being a slave again, the trauma the slander the straight up abuse both physically and emotionally she had to deal with by that entire family.

I have not read the novel, nor do I plan to, but I'm going off by what I know from the webtoon and some tik toks.

Sovieshu may have indirectly ruined his life but is that a reason to use Rashta and ruin her life? (Again, I'm going off of what I've read about Ergi's backstory) She was just wanted to be loved and cared for, once it was clear Sovieshu wasn't gonna love her the way she hoped she turned to Ergi who was using her the way everyone else around her already was.