Bootleg food, cars, and movie characters: The diverse world of Korean knock-offs of Japanese products

It has been suggested that there are no more original ideas in the world anymore, that every thought or invention has already been considered by someone before. Whether you believe this particularly pessimistic theory or not, the line between coming up with the same idea and “borrowing” one from someone else may not be quite as blurry as you may think.

Japan, like many other countries, is no stranger to cheap knock-offs of its products circulating in the global market. China is most commonly under fire for making bootleg Japanese merchandise to sell in their own country. However, today’s featured product pakuri (slang for “rip off” or “steal”) comes from Japan’s next door neighbor, Korea. The following are a bunch of slightly “modified” products sold in Korea that are liberally inspired by their original Japanese counterparts.

There isn’t a country in the world that doesn’t love snacks, but some of these food brands might look a bit familiar to people who have visited the land of the rising sun. After all, chocolate mushrooms and candy coated sticks aren’t exactly what you’d call common snack foods. Take a look at the old lady on the cracker packaging to the bottom left. She seems to have given up her quiet life of tea-drinking to make soup in Korea.

▼ Maybe at least change the packaging a little next time, okay guys?

▼ Reach for the sky! You’ve been caught red handed!

Sometimes it’s hard to fault car designs for looking similar, since they are all made up of the same basic components. But even a layman like me is seeing double in some of these shots.

▼ Is mine that silver one, or the silver one right next to it?

Cars aren’t the only mode of transportation that may have seen a bit of Korean remodeling. Just look at the paint jobs on the Honda and Yamuda motorcycles.

▼ When Yamaha and Honda collide!

Japan is famous for its electronics, but that doesn’t seem to stop Korea from wanting to catch up. Someone seems to have cloned ASIMO.

▼ Nice to meet you, but haven’t I seen you somewhere before?

Even musical artists aren’t completely immune from a bit of identity theft. GLAY made playing with an incandescent light bulb look so fun that this Korean artist decided to try it, too.

▼ Perhaps one could make an argument for who rocks it harder?

You’d think that stealing the network symbol for Nippon TV might be crossing a line somewhere, but apparently not. Just flip the little piggy on its side and you’ve got a whole new character, Bobos!

▼ Cute, but this might be what they meant by the art style “super deformed.”

Fukuoka’s signature omiyage souvenir pastry, Hiyoko, now has a slightly more smashed version for Korean tourists to buy without the hassle of crossing an ocean.

▼ Somehow, it still manages to look like it was shoved into a suitcase.

TV and manga characters tend to make appearances on some unofficial merchandise, as well. Did Astro Boy ever travel to Korea?

▼ Maybe this runner is just a die-hard fan?

And last, but not least, what could be more iconic than the original Japanese monster movie, Godzilla!… So who is this miniature version hanging out on Korean TV? Perhaps the Sea of Japan, which is next to Korea, wasn’t exposed to as much radiation as Godzilla’s stomping ground in the Pacific?

▼ Korean Godzilla needs to eat more trains if he wants to grow up big and strong.

They say that imitation is the highest form of flattery, but something tells me that Japan may have preferred that Korea came up with its own ideas instead of relying on Japanese “inspiration.”

Source: ThaiLog

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