Translation  110922 High Kick 3’s Plagiariasm Controversy

MBC’s new daily sitcom ‘High Kick! The Counterattack of Short Legs (High Kick 3)’ has begun its 120-episode journey but has already been swept up in a plagiarism controversy.

Though only three episodes have aired since it began on the 19th, the sitcom is being attacked by netizens who have made claims that certain aspects of the show are similar to other productions. One netizen said, “The show’s copied the main flow of the famous American sitcom ‘How I Met Your Mother (HIMYM)’.”

The scene in question is the very beginning of the first episode, where a 70-year-old Lee Jeok appears on a TV program and talks about his book ‘High Kick, the Counterattack of Short Legs’, reminiscing about his past. A variety of issues are shown, including the Japanese earthquake, the democratic rallies in the Middle East and Africa, the death of Bin Laden, Twitter, Hyun Bin, the audition craze and Ahn Cheol Soo. But the part that is being criticized is the introduction that attempts to deduce who Lee Jeok’s wife is. The claim that this is exactly like the concept of ‘How I Met Your Mother’ has been shared by many netizens on Twitter as well as the viewers’ thread on the ‘High Kick 3′ webpage.

Also, in the drama, Baek Jin Hui witnesses a crime in a somnambulant state and is chased by a gang without knowing why she’s being chased. Some netizens have claimed that this is similar to Jennifer Connelly’s ‘Phenomena’ while others are claiming that it’s similar to the TVXQ fanfic ‘Happy Together’. In this piece of fanfiction, Junsu witnesses a murder in a somnambulant state and though he doesn’t remember anything about that night, he’s chased by the mafia and is later found to have multiple personalities.

Regarding this, the production company Green Snake Media stated in a conversation with Kuki news, “This is the first time we’ve heard about these plagiarism claims,” and “The happenings that go on in ‘High Kick 3′ change every day as it deals with what people go through in their daily lives, and we have a total of 240 happenings that will occur in the sitcom. We believe it would be impossible for there to be no overlapping themes with other productions with so many happenings planned.“

They also added, “There were many instances in the first and second seasons of High Kick in which similar situations were set up as parodies,” and “We just starting airing the show, we think judgment should be made after watching the show for a longer period of time.”

But some netizens have been sending online news sites material that they say is proof of the plagiarism in ‘High Kick 3′ . A representative in the broadcasting industry stated, “It would be harder to find a drama that hasn’t been swept up in plagiarism,” and “Most of these instances are small happenings or things that are only slightly touched upon, making it hard to say that they are instances of plagiarism.”

Source: [kuki news]
Translated & Shared by: dongbangdata.net

OT (or is it..?): I’ve read this fanfic before, it’s amazing T__T It’s considered one of the ‘Five Major TVXQ fanfics of all time’. It’s written in Korean and I’ve never seen a translated version of it floating around but, wow, I cried buckets reading it ;A;