South Korean survival drama “Squid Game” accused of plagiarizing Japanese film “As the Gods Will”; decision-makers react

South Korean survival drama ‘Squid Game’, which has become a hit on streaming platforms, is accused of plagiarism.

The nine-part series, which debuted last week, follows a group of characters who put their lives on the line in an attempt to win 45.6 billion won in a survival game. As the K-drama climbs the popularity charts around the world, netizens have claimed that the series blatantly plagiarized scenes from the 2014 Japanese film “As the Gods Shall”.

Fans of the Japanese film took to Twitter to point out the similarities between the series and the film. Among the many “similarities” were the fact that the two involved survival death matches using childhood games, close-ups of giant doll heads in the game “Red Light Green Light”, the countdown, among others. several others.

오징어 게임 일본 작품 표절 입니다 https://t.co/5kS1oZL5Su https://t.co/rAfQEWXAm3

– 7 (@ Fra77777777) 1632046049000

squid game reminds me of a Japanese movie, as the gods will. it’s a game-based survival movie. but the Japanese … https://t.co/vFokZMwzLu

– (@mikazwki) 1632027064000

If you like Squid game you can also watch As the God will it’s Japanese movie. They also play tradition… https://t.co/i3BB745ZvY

– Flower (@kimbaeson) 1632049076000

#squidgame I talked about the similarity between game of gods and squid game. I noticed that Japanese worked… https://t.co/HzVStdDsSX

– miji (@mikodoesstuff) 1632067627000

#squidgame is a good watch but the only reason it is compared to AiB is its only exposure to these surv… https://t.co/rXdFM2oyEq

– Mikays (@ Mikays16) 1632024453000

In defense of the series, series director Hwang Dong-hyuk mentioned that the script has been in the works since 2008, according to The Korea Herald.

Not denying that the scenes are similar, the director said he had been working on the project for over a decade and at the time the first game had already been patched as “Red Light Green Light “. Not wanting to claim full ownership of the story, he said that at such times he was forced to say “I did it first”.

The game in question is said to be a popular children’s game played in Korea and called “Hibiscus flowers bloomed”. The other game, which involved competitors jumping on glass tiles, was said to have been inspired by the manga version of “As The Gods Will”.