#i know a lot of ppl are uncritically obsessed with alnst

[pigeon-toes]

Alien Stage's final round was really underwhelming for me.

It was visually appealing yes, the song made me bop my head, but it doesnt have me in the throes of obsession like most others have.

Most likely because it's incredibly straightforward. The vast majority of the screentime is Luka and Till singing, and that's it. Where the others have had the majority if their visual runtime taking place in the past, memories, or generally outside the events of the stage, this one has very few cutaways, and those cutaways aren't relevant to the characters on-stage outside of Till's final memory.

The only exception to this is Round 5, where Luka toying with Mizi's emotions was the main focus. The entire round was spent building and emphasizing that emotion, with a big cathartic climax at the end.

Round 7 feels like its trying to hit the exact same beats, but without the climax and without either of the characters being as invested in their feelings/actions.

Where Mizi's universe is clearly and visibly shattered from the start of round 5, leading up to a complete breakdown, Till seems like someone initially determined who slowly and unceremoniously loses steam over the course of the song.

Where in round 5 Luka's emotional manipulation is notably intense and aggressive, here it seems like a last-second, halfhearted tease from someone who already knows he's going to win.

Till and Luka are both the least-explored characters in the series. We know next to nothing about either of them outside of the people they desire and their surface-level personality.

Despite the fact that we know next to nothing about either of them, the episode chose not to delve into their motivations or history any further.

I would've liked Till's thoughts and memories to be explored more. All we know is that he's rebellious and likes Mizi. We don't even know how he truly felt about Ivan, before or after round 6. Round 6 was almost entirely dedicated to Ivan's feelings towards Till, with no insight on the other direction.

There were brief flashes of the kiss in round 7, but outside of Till looking uncomfortable, there's no indication in the series that Ivan makes him feel anything more than that-- uncomfortable.

You have to look at patreon and art-book information to even find out that he cares about Ivan in a positive way at all. The final round patreon interview stated that Till has a "love-hate relationship" with Ivan, but they didn't show that at all-- and now they're both dead, so it's never going to be shown.

The final round felt something like a filler episode. Where Ivan's death felt ceremonious, Till's felt sudden and anticlimactic, especially with the last-second appearance from Mizi just before he suddenly died.

I just would've liked more emotion and buildup. Even the song didn't carry the same emotional weight as the others outside of the name.

My clematis, black sorrow, and cure- they all could bring me to tears from multiple different angles depending on who's singing the song.

Unknown, all-in, and ruler of my heart all feel like they're sung directly about the character's feelings and motivations.

Blink-gone, while catchy, doesn't feel like it has any significance other than that.

Overall, I'm just disappointed. It wasn't bad by any means, but its far less than I've come to expect from alien stage.