Japanese vocaloid artist Kagome-P’s track “Wonderful Nippon” (lit. Wonderful Japan) has stirred controversy for its supposed similarity to PSY’s mega-hit “Gangnam Style”. Part of the origin for this suspicion is the fact that when this track first emerged on YouTube it was specifically described as being an “original song.” Kagome has gone on to defend himself in his blog, but has tweeted his admiration of PSY, further fueling the controversy.
The news is the latest installment in a series of cultural spats between Japanese and Korean netizens, where articles and netizen comments are translated and fed back and forth between the two sides, inciting even more angry comments.
In the case of “Wonderful Nippon”, netizens’ responses have predictably been a mixture of anti-Japanese sentiment and direct accusations of plagiarism. However some have come out to defend Kagome, with others claiming that they see no real similarity between the songs. One of the key causes of controversy is the dance of one of the cartoon characters in the music video, which could be a parody of Gangnam Style itself.
From MT:
“Gangnam Style” Plagiarised? Japanese “Wonderful Nippon” Controversy.
A Japanese song has been engulfed in suspicion, accused of plagiarising ‘Gangnam Style,’ arousing debates among netizens around the globe.
On January 3, a 4 minute 10 second music video was uploaded on the video sharing site YouTube. It is known to be a music video of a song called “Wonderful Nippon” by the songwriter, KagomeP.
This video quickly caused controversy. It was suggested that a considerable amount of the song sounds similar to PSY’s “Gangnam Style”. In fact, the song’s key, holding and resuming rhythms, etc. are very similar to Gangnam Style.
Some are of the opinion that it is not a parody but a case of plagiarism, a result of the video’s title ‘original song MV’.
The controversy was further fueled by the appearance of a girl character repetitively showing similar dance moves.
The video has been debated by international netizens on YouTube and international forums. Many foreign netizens have given the opinion that a large part of “Wonderful Nippon” is similar to “Gangnam Style”.
One netizen voiced the opinion that: ‘The problem is that the songwriter indicates this is an original song and is selling the parody as if it was written by him.’ Another netizen said: “Some people say this is a parody, but if that is the case, the question is why he hasn’t inquired about giving PSY royalties.”
Meanwhile there are also advocates of Kagome. One netizen said: “Kagome is famous for his sense of humour. This is just a parody of Gangnam Style. It’s just for fun.”
A netizen has also argued: “The song’s melodies and arrangement are all different. We have become so used to Gangnam Style that we find some similarities.”
On January 4, Kagome explained himself on Twitter as controversy grew: “Anyway, I wanted to express that I like Gangnam Style and wanted to make a song beyond it. I intended to make a parody but I don’t think it is up to me to judge whether it is plagiarism.”
The tweet:
Comments from Naver:
dmsg****:
Let it be~ It’s reflecting that Japan has an inferiority complex against Korea. If it’s a problem, the company will deal with it.
wh57****:
You’re pathetic for going as far as doing what a Janggae would do.
cas5****:
Even Japan is hitting the rock bottom, ke ke ke.
ykjy****
Ke ke ke, when Gangnam Style was at its peak worldwide, you guys were bashing it, ke ke ke. Tsundere monkey bitches, ke ke ke.
dead****:
Ke ke, they pretended to be indifferent but I guess they were jealous.
kill****:
Parody blah blah… Even if it’s a parody, if it’s indicated that the song is original in the video, of course, the songwriter has to pay royalties to PSY. If it’s not a parody, it should be reported as plagiarism.
good****:
You reporter bastard, I thought you were saying Gangnam Style is a rip-off [just from reading the article title].
numo****:
Just cut them some slack. The song won’t even be a hit.
ahnj****:
They will be in denial just like with Dokdo or the comfort women. Since they are monkeys, they would be like ‘uki uki’.
vlff****:
Let’s let it slip. Japanese guys are embarrassed about it. There are still more things we have copied since the beginning of the modern era. Next time Japanese nationalists call us copycats, we might as well use this for counterattack. It’s good to have ammo like this, ke ke.
wkdk****:
Ke ke ke tsk tsk…. Japanese copying it with an inferiority complex…ke ke ke. Foreign people will laugh at him a lot, ke.
ambi****
Just admit the tide, monkeys.
dead****:
Ke ke ke, parody or not, what is even Wonderful Nippon? Ke ke ke, that sounds so old. If you were to plagiarize, do it right so the original song sounds better.
hsso****:
I thought you were saying Gangnam Style plagiarised something. Banana peel bastards.
wnte****
Why did he plagiarize internationally known Gangnam Style out of all things? There should be strict penalties. It’s unacceptable especially in the US.
