"It's too obvious"— Fans give mixed reaction to alleged plagiarism accusations of Red Velvet's Chill Kill for LE SSERAFIM's comeback

On Friday, November 1, LE SSERAFIM released the concept photos and trailer for their upcoming comeback, the Japanese version of their latest track, CRAZY. However, the photos and trailer soon garnered a lot of attention as Red Velvet fans and other netizens began to accuse the group and agency of plagiarism.

Many expressed that the concept looked too similar to Red Velvet's previous comeback, Chill Kill. On one hand, netizens criticized LE SSERAFIM and the agency for allegedly copying the group's concept, on the other hand, fans of LE SSERAFIM and other netizens began to defend the group.

They stated that the girl group has been known for their horror-related concepts since their comeback last year with the album, UNFORGIVEN. Additionally, fans also expressed that Red Velvet doesn't necessarily own the concept and it had been executed by several other artists, both inside and outside the K-pop music industry.

Lastly, fans also highlighted the photographer who worked on these concepts. The three albums, UNFORGIVEN, Chill Kill, and CRAZY Japenese Version, were all shot by the same photographer, Choi Gi-seok. Therefore, plagiarism doesn't stand still in this regard as it is the same artist who worked on these concept photos. Here are the mixed reactions to the girl group's latest concept photo release:

"Maybe lesserafim staff is getting out of an ideas concept so they decided to be the 2nd Red Velvet lmao. Its too obvious," a fan wrote.

"close enough welcome back red velvet chill kill era" said a fan on X

"red velvet will always be the trendsetters for concepts in kpop" added another fan

"not red velvet being on the mood board again" commented an X user

Following the criticism and comparison to Red Velvet's Chill Kill, fans defended LE SSERAFIM and their concept for their latest comeback.

"‘this looks like ch-‘ no it looks like unforgiven bloody rose, u don’t own that aesthetic" stated an X user

"don’t know how to break this to the qrts but le sserafim have BEEN doing this sorta vibe for concept photos" commented a netizen

"since people have alot to say about this it's literally cho giseok's style and they've worked with him before for unforgiven" added another netizen

"referencing the shining and having general moody vibes isn’t plagiarising rv god" said another X user

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All you need to know about LE SSERAFIM and their recent activities

LE SSERAFIM is a five-member K-pop girl group that debuted under HYBE Labels' subsidiary, Source Music in May 2022. The members, Sakura, Kim Chae-won, Huh Yun-jin, Kazuha, and Hong Eunchae, debuted with the release of their first mini album, FEARLESS.

The group's name comes from the anagram of the phrase, "I'm Fearless". While none of the members have a fixed position in the K-pop girl group, their leader stands as the member, Kim Chae-won.

Following their debut, the group soon began to garner attention for their explorative songs and impressive performances.

Some of the famous tracks include UNFORGIVEN, ANTIFRAGILE, Smart, EASY, Sour Grapes, and Fearless. Most recently, they rolled out their fourth mini album, CRAZY, on August 30, 2024. The song's title track, CRAZY, and its other exciting songs like 1800-hot-n-fun, Pierrot, and the like, soon went viral. Following the same, the group is geared up for another comeback.

On December 11, the five-piece K-pop girl group will be releasing their third Japanese single, CRAZY. The single album will hold a total of three songs, the Japanese versions of their previous tracks, CRAZY and EASY, and another original Japanese song which is yet to be unveiled.

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As the group continues to put forth exciting content and comeback, fans are thrilled to see what the members have in store for them.