Jeon Somi's agency to remove illustration from her music video following plagiarism accusation

K-pop

Published: 10 Aug. 2023, 11:01

Jeon Somi's agency to remove illustration from her music video following plagiarism accusation

Singer Jeon Somi [THE BLACK LABEL]

Singer Jeon Somi's agency will remove an animated character from the music video of her latest song "Fast Forward" after viewers pointed out it resembles a Japanese cartoon character.

"Fast Forward" was released on Monday as the lead track of Jeon Somi's new EP "Game Plan," featuring an animated character as an avatar of the singer within the video.

Since the video's release, viewers have pointed out that the character's illustration resembles the characters in Japanese cartoonist Rumiko Takahashi's "Urusei Yatsura" (1978–87). Takahashi is famous worldwide for her fantasy romance series "InuYasha" (1996–2008).

An image of an animated character used for singer Jeon Somi's new album, left, and a Japanese comic series by Rumiko Takahashi that the character is being accused of plagiarising [THE BLACK LABEL, SEOUL MEDIA COMICS]

"We have reviewed the issue as soon as we were made aware of the criticisms that the animation within 'Fast Forward' reminds viewers of a character from another animation," the singer's agency The Black Label said in a press release on Wednesday evening.

"We have decided to delete and change the scenes at issue. We will be replacing them as soon as possible, and we will take all measures possible. We deeply apologize for not having taken more care with the work and promise to work more prudently so as not to make the same mistake in the future."

Somi won first place on the first season of Mnet's audition program "Produce 101" and spent the subsequent nine months performing with I.O.I, the 11-member girl group made up of contestants from the show in 2016. The project group disbanded in early 2017.

In 2018, Somi signed with The Black Label and made her solo debut in 2019 with the single "Birthday."

BY YOON SO-YEON [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]