Fans have noticed many similarities…
Koreaboo
THE SERAPHINSThe recently shared teaser images and trailer for their upcoming return to Japan were met with negative reactions from both international and Korean fans. The group has been hit with new accusations of stealing the photoshoot concept Red Velvet — the allegations started on X (formerly known as Twitter) and then went viral, even reaching Korean forums.
SSERAFIM will release the Japanese version of their hit song “Crazy” on December 11th. As with most Japanese comebacks, the girl group has already started teasing their comeback with a series of beautiful images and clips. However, the reception was not what the group and their agency expected.
As the teaser wizards – which showed the members dressed in black and white outfits with vintage filters and an eerie vibe – many K-Pop fans drew comparisons between the LE SSERAFIM concept images and the iconic concept Red Velvet’s “Chill Kill” and its viral teaser images.
In 2023, the SM Entertainment girl group once again made waves with their unique and original concept when the visuals of “Chill Kill” hit the Internet. Red Velvet are famous for their ability to realize most concepts, with haunting and beautiful atmospheres among the most popular. Therefore, it was no surprise when “Chill Kill” went viral and earned huge praise.
Now, in 2024, LE SSERAFIM are facing accusations of stealing the concept for their teaser images. Many fans and netizens online seem beyond disappointed. On TheQoo, a post highlighting the similarities reached over 50,000 views and hundreds of comments, becoming one of the hottest topics of the day.
According to Korean netizens, not only is the concept a copy of Red Velvet, but it is also of much lower quality.
- “Now they try to brush it off by saying it’s just because the writer is the same. Why do these problems continue to arise? If it was just a couple of times, we could ignore it, but it’s clear by now that this is intentional.”
- “There they go again, LOL. No originality, so they do it constantly.
- “Even when they copy, the quality is always low…ugh.”
- “First of all, I have no idea why they casually inserted this concept into ‘Crazy.’ It seems like they wanted to copy something, and this is the result. It’s not like they don’t know the original song, so why suddenly horror?”
- “You can clearly see that it is of low quality.”
- “Wow, in the first photo, I seriously thought it was Red Velvet for a second.”
- “The quality is just… meh.”
Likewise, K-Pop fans on X (formerly known as Twitter) also pointed out the similarities between the two photoshoots and concepts.
I honestly don’t understand Hybe. I’m not saying they copied red velvet, but I think it’s really strange how effortless there is in their concept: just taking what’s trending or out of someone’s pocket. https://t.co/fBHZIb9JOH
— 十 (@preciouwss) October 31, 2024
close enough welcome back red velvet chill kill era https://t.co/DEV8sDpYOj pic.twitter.com/AhNoC9Rklp
— on (@sasuvno) October 31, 2024
They will never be like these iconic queens https://t.co/1czA8Frfyt pic.twitter.com/Qh0jFJHRj7
— Tami (@luvietullie) October 31, 2024
As a result, a heated debate began between fans of both groups. LE SSERAFIM fans claim that the reason for the similarities is the use of the same photographer, Cho and Seok. The famous artist has already worked with LE SSERAFIM for their UNFORGIVEN return teaser.
While most of the accusations pertain to “Chill Kill,” parts of their concept clip have also been cited for similarities to another Red Velvet comeback, “Birthday.”
It remains to be seen how this latest plagiarism scandal will affect LE SSERAFIM and whether Source Music will address the allegations. You can watch the trailers for “Chill Kill” and “Crazy” below:
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