Nicknack is the culmination of layers upon layers of branding quasi-copying, and also home to some very unusual Pikachus.
copy
Promotion for Eva streaming in China looks an awful lot like French illustrator’s artwork.
Is the storied L.A. franchise ripping off the uniform of the Japanese club, or is this just a case of “What goes around comes around?”
I’m pretty sure that by this point Nintendo is used to being one of the giants on whose shoulders many other video game developers stand. After all, just about every platformer or action RPG owes a debt to the company’s Mario and Zelda franchises, and its Metroid series was so influential in the design of similar exploration-heavy titles that gamers just threw their hands up and decided to call the genre “Metroidvania” (somewhat unfairly giving half the credit to Konami’s Castlevania, which wasn’t nearly as groundbreaking in establishing the category).
Still, it’s one thing when some third-tier software publisher or homebrew video game outfit toes the line between being inspired by your creation and outright copying it, and another when it’s world-famous Disney.
Lenovo, which happens to be the fourth-largest smartphone vendor in China, just released a new phone that looks almost identical to Apple’s iPhone 6.
The Lenovo S90 Sisley features the same metal unibody design and curved edges as the iPhone 6. The speaker placement is even exactly the same, as shown in photos obtained by tech blog Gizmobic (via Android Authority).
Yujiapu, in China’s Tianjin Binhai New Area, was modeled on Manhattan and expected to become the financial center of the world. But it languishes as many wasteful Chinese ghost cities have. At one point it was reported that the Juilliard School had signed an agreement to set up an institute in Yujiapu. And there were plans for a Rockefeller and Lincoln Center as well. But construction in this Manhattan hopeful has ground to a halt.
Smartphones and tablets improve almost faster than consumers can keep up with, and the apps designed for them change even more quickly. That means that there is a lot of opportunity for plagiarism. But surely sometimes it’s just a coincidence, right? It’s not out of the question that two developers could realistically be trying to fulfill the same need.
This week has brought us one more heated internet debate: Is hotel application Tonight by Japan’s GREE a rip-off of North American app Hotel Tonight, or are their similarities just coincidence?
Nowadays, when it comes to knock-offs of popular products, most people think of China. We’re not just saying that to pick on our neighbors to the west, there’s just an awful lot of suspect copies. Korean bootlegs have had their time making the rounds as well, but everyone seems to leave Japan alone. That is until now. A video uploaded by Japanese YouTube user, msdoom99, has surfaced with the goal of giving all those Japanese netizens who have laughed at Chinese and Korean knockoffs a taste of Japan’s little-known copies. Take a look at just a few and ask yourself, “So who’s laughing now?”
North Korea isn’t exactly renown for its footwear industry, but the recent appearance of a new pair of sneakers on North Korean television has caused quite a stir in the Asian media.
Featuring an “extra-supportive heel section” and a red design with a series of white stripes, the North Korean design bears a striking resemblance to Japanese company Asics’ own model.
Is this a simple coincidence or are we looking at an all-out rip-off?
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Monthly
Japan announces sudden 400-percent increase in visa fees for foreigners entering the country
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Japan triples departure tax, foreign tourists and locals now must pay more to leave country
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Starbucks Japan releases new drinkware and goods for Valentine’s Day
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Japan reportedly adding Japanese language skill requirement to most common foreigner work visa
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