The production team of Netflix’s drama“Black Knight” revealed their position regarding the plagiarism controversy.
Regarding the suspicion that “Black Knight” plagiarized the Japanese game “Death Stranding”, Netflix explained on May 16th, saying “The drama ‘Black Knight’ is based on a webtoon of the same name by Lee Yoon Kyun that began to be serialized in 2016”.
Set in the fictional future Korean Peninsula where people cannot live without oxygen respirators due to extreme air pollution, “Black Knight” depicts the story of legendary delivery driver 5-8 (Kim Woo Bin) and refugee boy Sa Wol (Kang Yoo Seok) confronting Cheonmyeong Group that controls the world.
Released in 2019, the Japanese game “Death Stranding” is about the protagonist delivering goods from and to the U.S. in a chaotic world and rescuing Amelie, the daughter of a deceased President, from a terrorist organization.
Right after the release of “Black Knight” trailer, some Internet users raised plagiarism suspicions, saying the setting of the main character who delivers packages is similar to that in “Death Stranding”.
However, Netflix insists that it’s not plagiarism since the original webtoon was serialized three years before “Death Stranding” was introduced.
Despite Netflix’s explanation, some people still argue that “Black Knight” seems to have taken the inspiration and idea from “Death Stranding” because the teaser video for this Japanese game was first revealed at the ‘E3 Sony Press Conference’ held in Los Angeles, the U.S. in June 2016.
According to the OTT ranking site FlixPatrol, “Black Knight” is gaining popularity as it ranked No.2 in Netflix’s Worldwide TV Show chart within only a day after its release on May 12th.
Source: Wikitree
