The serialization of the new webtoon 'Imae Mangryang', which was recently released on Naver Webtoon, was suspended after being accused of plagiarizing the Japanese cartoon 'Chain So Man'.
'Imae Mangryang', which started serialization on Naver Webtoon on the 10th, has been criticized by readers for saying that various concepts, specific lines, and narrative structure of the Japanese cartoon 'Chain So Man' are similar after publication.
A reader who saw 'Lee Mae Mangryang' left a comment in the comment section saying, 'Looks like a chainsaw man wearing hanbok', and the comment was selected as the 'best comment' and received sympathy from netizens.
In response, Naver Webtoon announced on the 17th a notice related to the work.
Enlarging an image
According to the post, Naver Webtoon countered the plagiarism controversy, saying, "We have confirmed that we did not infringe copyright in the design of the work with the author, and also checked the discriminatory factors from the mentioned work in advance."
Nevertheless, "I feel responsible for the fact that the similarity should have been reviewed more rigorously and closely." "I apologize for causing confusion to readers who have high expectations for the completeness and individuality of the Naver Webtoon series." said.
'Imae Mangryang' writer Joo Joo also explained, "I did not refer to the direction or development of a specific work," and said, "I will come back with reorganization so that I can faithfully convey the story of 'Imae Mangryang', including improvement of the points you pointed out." added.
Previously, the Naver webtoon 'Her Principle of Six Children', which started serialization on the 19th of last month, was also criticized for being similar to the popular webtoon 'Girl's Trial', sparking controversy over plagiarism.
Il Sam-koo, the writer of 'Her Principle of Six Children,' acknowledged that he was influenced by the 'Girl's Trial' and revised similar parts.
In the past two months, as controversy over plagiarism of new webtoons has continued, Naver Webtoon announced that it plans to operate a work monitoring group in which readers participate.
An industry official said, "There is a limit to how a person can check whether a work has been plagiarized."
(Photo = Naver Webtoon)