‘The squid game’ has already starred in several controversies since its triumphant premiere in Netflix. Starting with the use of a real phone number causing multiple annoyances to its owner, followed by a lawsuit in South Korea for triggering Internet consumption and the last one so far were accusations of misogyny. I say so far because the latest Netflix bombshell too has been accused of plagiarism.
“Mere coincidences”
Specifically, many viewers have noted the remarkable similarities between ‘The Squid Game’ and ‘As the Gods Will’, a film directed by Takashi miike in 2014 from the manga of Muneyuki Kaneshiro and Akeji Fujimura published between 2011 and 2012. However, Hwang Dong-hyuk denies the possibility of plagiarism as follows:
I started planning ‘The Squid Game’ in 2008 ‘and writing the script in 2009. The similarities that have been pointed out are mere coincidences and no one has copied anyone. I don’t want to claim ownership of the story, but if I have to say it, I’ll say that I did it before.
In another interview, Dong-hyuk also acknowledges the similarities between the first test of ‘The Squid Game’ and that of ‘As the Gods Will’, this being one of the aspects most pointed out by those who believe that there has been plagiarism. However, the creator of the latest Netflix bombshell is clear that this is not the case:
It is true that the first game is similar, but there are no similarities after that. I worked on ‘The Squid Game’ in 2008 and 2009. By then, it was already decided that the first game was “Red Light, Green Light”.
That does not mean that some Internet users have insisted that the similarities are also found in the staging, noting that Dong-hyuk has been “inspired” more than the account in the one made by Miike at the time. On this point, the creator of ‘The Squid Game’ has not come to pronounce.
As the Gods Will 🤝 Squid Game pic.twitter.com/Yk3RDthme4
– zam 🐺 (@ zammz7) September 20, 2021