As the hottest name of JYP this month, NMIXX promises to create resounding successes after
joining the K-Pop’s race.
But it seems things never go easy on any rookie.
Right after their debut trailer was released, NMIXX was entangled in a big controversy over
plagiarism from senior’s MV ideas to other designer’s costumes.
1.
NMIXX allegedly “copying” ENHYPEN
Since before NMIXX debuted, HYBE's ENHYPEN is said to be the first group that NMIXX copied
from their debut product.
Specifically, after JYP released a video introducing the appearance of NMIXX members, titled "New
Frontier: Declaration," through their official SNS accounts, some ENGENEs and netizens pointed
out that there are certain similarities between the two groups’ products and it's hard to
think it's a random coincidence.
First, netizens said that both groups' debut introduction videos are in narrative form.
While this is not strange in the K-pop scene, a netizen still noted that the scenes, words
and phrases in the two clips are the same.
This netizen mentioned that the style of NMIXX's trailer came across very close to ENHYPEN's.
Moreover, the message which the narrator said in the video also resembled ENHYPEN's.
Second, the fandom symbols of ENHYPEN and NMIXX both use the "chromosome" symbol.
Although this is a shape that is not owned by anyone, in the K-pop industry a logo plays
an important role because it represents the identity of the group.
If all groups possess a symbol with the same meaning, the group's essence will lose.
Finally, netizens assumed that the titles of the 2 intro videos bore some similarities.
The NMIXX clip is titled "New Frontier: Declaration'' while ENHYPEN's video is titled "Border: CARNIVAL
'Intro : The Invitation”.
Specifically, netizens pointed out the way of using the word “Frontier” and “Border”
- “Declaration” and “Invitation” and the way they add “:” in the title.
From the above evidence, ENHYPEN’s fans are quick to express their disappointment.
Some people criticize JYP for releasing new girl groups while having no original ideas,
others are demanding that HYBE should do some acts about the plagiarism issue related to
NMIXX and JYP.
On the contrary, NMIXX fans also immediately defend JYP and the group, expressing that
similarities are said to be common in the K-pop industry.
Some people counter that it is normal and there is no reason for netizens to hate NMIXX.
In response to that, ENGENE clarifies that they don't have anything against JYP's upcoming
girl group but they need an explanation for this similarity and JYP needs to clear up
these misunderstandings.
2.
NMIXX allegedly “copying” LOONA
Not stopping at being accused of plagiarizing ENHYPEN, just a few days later, LOONA fans
spoke out that JYP "plagiarized" the idea from an MV of the Blockberry Creative’s
girl group 2 years ago - Why Not?
In NMIXX's 2-minute debut video with a voiceover where the story of a revelation is told, where
the girls discover that there's also darkness in the light, but they also share their determination
to show off their talents.
Netizens have pointed out not only one but many unexpected coincidences between these
two music products.
Such as the details of shoe prints on the sand ground, whirlpools, standing between
planets, spinning cars, floating objects, etc.
In addition, the scenes in NMIXX's debut MV make us imagine a hurricane from space like
the MV Why Not?
When the issue was brought up, it created many opinions among netizens, some claiming
it is inspiration, others calling it plagiarism.
Meanwhile, some people argue that this similarity is because the music videos of NMIXX and LOONA
were both created by DIGIPEDI.
However, after the CEO of DIGIPEGI personally said that he did not participate in the production
of the trailer for NMIXX, netizens have more reason to doubt that NMIXX "copying" LOONA.
3.
NMIXX allegedly “copying” ATEEZ
Besides ENHYPEN and LOONA, NMIXX was also called out by netizens as a plagiarism of
ATEEZ.
On social forums, ATEEZ’s fans are simultaneously asking JYP to speak up about the above incident.
Specifically, fans believe that NMIXX's O.O
MV reuses ideas and worldview of ATEEZ's music products.
While many fans are impressed with the well-thought-out and beautiful visuals of NMIXX's O.O
MV, some people have noticed clear similarities between NMIXX's MV and ATEEZ's MV.
the scene of the pirate ship floating above the pink clouds in NMIXX's "O.O" can't help
but remind ATINY of ATEEZ's song "Illusion".
It is known that the pirate concept has been one of ATEEZ's standout essence since their
debut, and the ATINY are always proud that it is an irreplaceable mark of the boy group.
Therefore, similar scenes in NMIXX's MV were accused of stealing ATEEZ's ideas.
Many people believe that DIGIPEDI, the studio in charge of producing “O.O”, have worked
with ATEEZ before so this may partly explain the similarity between the two groups' MVs.
But It should be noted that ATEEZ's “Illusion” was produced by a different studio, not by
DIGIPEDI.
This further prompted ATEEZ’s fans to resolutely call some scenes in NMIXX's "O.O" MV "blatant
plagiarism" and ask JYP to immediately solve the problem.
Therefore, the hashtag #JYP_Plagiarism_Explain in Korean, started trending after NMIXX's
MV was released.
Currently, the hashtag on this issue is at the No.1 and No.2 trending positions of Twitter
Korea.
On the other hand, ATEEZ’s fans also stated that they only focused on criticizing JYP
and did not want to attack NMIXX.
4.
NMIXX allegedly “copying” costume ideas
Not only being accused of copying concepts, MVs or logos, NMIXX also continues to be engaged
in accusations of plagiarizing costume designs from a designer on Twitter.
Specifically, the designer whose Twitter account named @friskmegood, who is famous for corsets
modified from Nike shoes, posted a tweet about how NMIXX's clothes are too similar to her
designs.
Specifically, it was a purple corset outfit worn by member Lily M.
The designer's status line stated, “Still crazy I been doing this for 3 years and these
motherfuckers got 13,000 likes off my design and I can barely get that , no tea no shade
just an observation.”
After that, netizens realized that Doooho - the company that produced the outfits for
NMIXX - then edited the caption on its Instagram photo and added credit with the content "Friskmegood
inspires me".
However, this action did not satisfy the audience and Friskmegood herself.
The designer continued to express her outrage at the blatant theft and called on Twitter
users to demand justice and feedback from the NMIXX’s costume maker.
According to netizens, the images of the two products are 95% similar so they think that
Doooho completely stole the idea instead of taking inspiration or asking permission from
the author of the outfits.
This made the public even less sympathetic towards JYP's rookie group while their management
company still did not give any feedback on the issue.
Netizens said that even if NMIXX's management company or stylist was not careful in researching
and evaluating clothes before using, they still need to clarify and be responsible for
this so that the reputation of NMIXX will not be affected more.
Netizens even vented their frustration on NMIXX’s debut song after the above controversy.
Many people even call this the worst debut song in the history of JYP girl groups because
while the debut songs of Miss A, TWICE, and ITZY all have addictive and easy-to-listen
tunes, NMIXX's song doesn’t make too much impression and is like a messy mix of different
songs.
A minus is also given to the lyrics as it is said to be meaningless.
Furthermore, the members were also criticized for their poor pronunciation which made it
difficult for listeners to understand their songs.
There is a fact that Netizens are holding high expectations for NMIXX to continue the
success of their seniors in the same company, so it's easy to understand why many people
feel disappointed and confused this time.
Currently, the song "O.O" is continuously falling on many Korean charts and not entering
the Melon chart, which is understandable when NMIXX mainly receives negative reactions.
This is not the first time a new K-pop group has been caught up in a plagiarism scandal.
Few months ago, aespa, also encountered a similar incident, leading to controversies
that reduced the group's positive image in the eyes of netizens.
That was when aespa was promoting their first mini album in their career called 'Savage'.
Accordingly, the idea of ​​​​wearing a mask in aespa's photo is accused of plagiarizing
the mask idea of ​​British designer James Merry and their photo concept is also said
to have copied ideas from the 2020 work of artist Hajime Sorayama.
Netizens even later discovered that the process behind these scandals was that SM negotiated
with the author to get the matter resolved smoothly.
Even so, 'plagiarism' is still 'plagiarism', and this happens so often that many are convinced
that this is a deliberate strategy by SM to PR (noise marketing) for aespa.
Similar to the case of rookie NMIXX, many people also think that JYP is using the same
method as SM to attract interest in the new girl group.
If this is really a media trick that JYP and some other companies apply to the GEN4 idol
groups, then they have really succeeded in attracting attention.
However, this also creates a big controversy and even severely negative impact on the debut
of a new group and broadly the future of Kpop.
So, do you think NMIXX really plagiarized their seniors?
Or is it just a mere coincidence and some people are just being too sensitive?
Feel free to share your thoughts with us.
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