Plagiarism controversies often arise when viewers notice the similarities between Korean dramas and Japanese productions that were released earlier.
Squid Game – Korean hit survival series, despite many outstanding achievements, has received many negative comments, especially because the games in the drama remind viewers of several popular Japanese series and films of the same genre. This is also not the first time a Korean drama has been suspected of plagiarism and criticized for having a similar plot to a Japanese production.
1. Youth
Released in 1999, Youth was supposed to become one of the legendary works of actor Jang Dong Gun, unfortunately while it was broadcast, the drama was accused of plagiarising the storyline and the characters of Japanese TV drama Love Generation (1997). It was also for this reason that the Korean series was canceled even though it already aired 11 episodes.
2. This Is My First Life
In 2017, tvN released the drama This Is My First Life with the main character being a young girl who fails in life, loses her job and doesn’t own a home, so she decides to sign a marriage contract with an IT worker. Initially, the drama received a lot of positive reactions, however, the audience quickly discovered that the male and female leads are similar to the characters of We Married As A Job – the Japanese drama adapted from the manga Nigeru Wa Haji Da Ga Yaku Ni Tatsu. The similarities between the two series are so noticeable that Korean viewers didn’t even bother to defend This Is My First Life and even listed out the evidence that the writer of the Korean drama had copied ideas from a number of Japanese novels to use in their scripts
3. Happy Together
Happy Together – the 1999 Korean drama was criticized because the plot is almost identical to Hitotsu Yane No Shita (1993). Both revolve around the lives of children who are separated after the death of their parents. The Korean drama’s writer “skillfully” covered up the plagiarism by adding a few different details such as removing a main character and changing the profession of the oldest brother.
4. Let Me Introduce Her
Aired in 2018, KBS’s Let Me Introduce Her was accused by the Korean production company – DK E&M of plagiarizing the Japanese TV series Utsukushii Hito. According to DK E&M, both dramas tell the story of a girl who is determined to undergo plastic surgery. Her doctor then makes her a clone of someone he holds dear. After the surgery, the female lead’ personality also suddenly changes.
In fact, even if not for the alleged plagiarism, this drama is not appreciated in Korea because the plot is quite average.
Let Me Introduce Her
Utsukushii Hito
Sources: kenh14
