Two worlds hang in close proximity, each one above but upside down the other. Immediately, I noticed the floating cars, the forcefield, and the stark red hair of the curious looking man, no other than Hyunjin. He looks up to the camera, his blue eyes indecipherable. What looks like webbed lightning in his veins or maybe white smoke appears on his cheek, seemingly a remnant of the forcefield that's making the cars float. Then, the beat enters and the song begins.
Listen to Maniac here:
“Maniac” is like a rebel hero comic book that has come to life, with Stay Kids as a group of ragtag protagonists, embracing their own oddity and uniqueness while pushing everyone to do the same. It's like watching a YA sci-fi movie as Felix literally jumps from one rooftop to another, the view of the opposing world above him. He arrives in an underground tunnel, and there, we find the rest of the team. "Relax everyone, stop pretending to be normal. All of your smiles look weird. When the lock is released we're all the same," Bang Chan urges the viewers as Stray Kids make their way out of the tunnel. Seeing them with their colorful street clothes, their vibrant hair, and their strong but laidback energy, I'm inclined to listen carefully and follow along their journey.
The camera leads viewers into a diner, where the members are all wearing different but equally hip clothes. I.N. sings, "The real self has been released. Barely holding on." Day turns into night and, suddenly wearing a normal worker's outfit, Seungmin sings, "Again, back to cosplaying as what society defines normal to be." This part made me pause in my seat. The song starts fun, but like with all Stray Kids songs, the lyrics were starting to suggest a deeper message. Han appears next in a moving train full of everyday commuters wearing typical office clothes. A man passes in front of the camera and the people disappear as Han raps about who he is inside. The train is transformed into a dark, urban jungle as Bang Chan and Changbin, who maniacally laughs at the mention of monster, dangle from straphangers behind Han. The graffiti painted all around the train and colorful, comic-like animations make it clear that we’re no longer in a world of commuters and busy train rides – This is a new world entirely. Han has just transitioned to the city above.
Back in the opening shot, Hyunjin stood on the roof of a neat skyline, with a darker, more chaotic cityscape looming overhead. If the world of the music video so far was punctuated by neat color palettes and 9-to-5 jobs, then this boisterous and gritty scene must represent that alternate, upside-down reality. Swirling with colors and special effects, the world of Maniac is where Han can be himself. Though it looked strange when surrounded by people in suits, his pink and white outfit doesn’t seem out of place in this version of the train car. Here, he fits in. He belongs. And as the music video continues, the Stray Kids members continue to switch between these two worlds, serving as representations of the normal lives we “cosplay” to fit in with and the true selves that we hide.
Stray Kids are able to build these fully imagined worlds by seamlessly combining the auditory experience, cool and sharp lyrics, with the visual effects and smooth transitions. They blend reality and the visual effects and animations not just for aesthetics, but to serve a purpose in depicting the story.
Right before the chorus hits, the buildup stops, and orange birds peacefully fly and chirp around the bright and sunny street where Felix is. Felix drills the screen and breaks the glass, and the camera clears to reveal the members in their all-black outfits – It’s a transition to the second city, the Maniac world. As the chorus drops, the city wildness hinted in the first verse and pre chorus becomes darker: “Maniac / Going crazy like I have a loose screw Maniac.'' Their fists imitate the motion of unscrewing bolts from their heads. With the beat, they hit their head as if trying to make the bolts fall. Han answers with “Pingping dorabeorigetji,” the “Pingping” resembling the sound of a bolt falling to the ground. Before the drop of the second chorus, the bolts are referenced again. Instead of holding a drill, the world itself turns upside down: Stray Kids are the bolts as the members spin around at the sound of the drill.
“Maniac / Walk like Frankenstein Maniac.” This is a reference to the widely known Frankenstein’s monster, who was the result of an unorthodox scientific experiment. In the story of Frankenstein, the monster was outcasted. Visibly different, being an undead amalgamation of multiple bodies, he was feared and seen as dangerous. But in Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein’s monster didn’t want to cause harm. He was misunderstood, and just sought acceptance. When Stray Kids urge the viewers to walk like Frankenstein’s monster, they are telling us that we don’t need to hide the things that other people might not understand. While the people in Frankenstein feared the monster and cast it away, society has a tendency to cast aside the people it doesn’t deem “normal.” But Stray Kids embrace the “maniac” in themselves, and by proudly showing off the things other people call crazy, show us that it’s ok to do the same.
Felix's deep voice resonates control, but the chorus progressively escalates as it’s passed to the rest of Danceracha – first to a ferocious Hyunjin on the first chorus and and the beginning of the second chorus, and then to a frenzied but fierce Lee Know as seen in the last parts of the song. This is a simple but effective way to show the progression from being cool and tamed to fully embracing the chaos of the Maniac world.
One more thing to admire about “Maniac” is the way it’s able to highlight every single member. Besides what I mentioned with Danceracha’s choruses, each member has their moment to shine and tell their story. From Chan’s high kick entrance to I.N.’s charming refrain, they’re all distinct, but their parts still manage to flow well, as if they’re just taking turns in conversing with the listeners.
Stray Kids continue with a second verse: ”Like the seam of a torn doll / Eventually, you'll expose your real self / In this not easy life / It ain't "live," it's "holding on," / Relax everyone, stop pretending to be normal / All of your smiles no fresh / When the locket is open, we're all the same.”
“Your eyes can't fool me.” Lee Know looks straight at the camera and in a blink, viewers are transported inside his head. It’s there that Changbin raps, “This street I'm walking on is a minefield / Like a dormant volcano, never know when it'll all explode / Never know when the calm winds will change / Everyone lives hiding themselves like a sealed tornado.” As he continues, I can’t help but notice the walls around them pulsing like synapses of the brain. This makes sense while they’re inside Lee Know’s head, but what’s interesting is that those pulsing walls look exactly like the forcefield in the beginning of “Maniac,” and are also similar to what was on Hyunjin’s cheek. This further emphasizes that the second world, the city where they wear colorful outfits and laugh and play, represents their inner selves.
There is also symbolism in the orange birds that appear throughout the video. In some scenes in the normal world where they’re wearing conventional clothes in the diner, the bird is caged, which may represent the loss of freedom of the odd self. “Eyes filled with lunatic / All senses are tense / Locked up while wrapped up in that pretty package.” Right before the first two choruses drop and right before the worlds shift from normal to Maniac, the bird flies. The flying bird is the turning point, emerging from its cage to be free. In the bridge of the song, Hyunjin reaches up to the bird above him.
The scene cuts to a bird in a cage suddenly flying to freedom. “As time goes by, it'll eventually be revealed / The inner self that was hidden.” Eyes filled with determination, Felix runs from a building rooftop and jumps, not into another building but into the air as if he’s floating. It defies the law of physics and what is deemed logical and normal. Like the uncaged bird, Stray Kids in the Maniac world are finally free.
Throughout their promotional interviews, Stray Kids continued to emphasize that we all have an “odd” part inside of ourselves, something different from what everyone considers ordinary. But if we all have something different from the norm, doesn’t that mean it's ordinary to be odd? Maybe “ordinary” doesn’t even exist. As Chan explained in an online press conference, the name Oddinary sends the message that “what is odd will soon be normal.” And if we keep the “odd” side of us locked up, it’s going to spill out eventually. Stray Kids tells us to let go of the cage that’s limiting us and let ourselves be Maniacs, be ourselves truly and fully, without the preconceived notion of what is and isn’t okay.
The movie-like cinematography that people have compared to blockbusters such as Inception or Dr. Strange. The witty choreography. The compelling concept. The impactful message. The insane music. It’s something that only Stray Kids can make and pull off. They push boundaries and stretch the imagination. They’re a bullet train that never slows down, never runs out of ideas, only grows creatively and musically with every release. “God’s Menu” and “Thunderous” were big and booming statements about who Stray Kids are while viewers and listeners were only spectators, but “Maniac” is an untamed, eye-opening invitation to step out of the ordinary and just let oneself be free.
Stray Kids have released over a hundred songs, dozens of official music videos and performance videos, yet “Maniac” doesn’t sound or look like any of their previous releases, even if it’s connected to their past storyline. “Maniac” shows a fresh and unique side of Stray Kids: rebellious but heroic, fun and wild but also controlled, with a tinge of mature and dark energy. It’s engaging and undeniably addictive. So with confidence and pride, I can say that Stray Kids have done it again.
Edited by: Malo
Listen to Stray Kids latest mini album: