This Life is Our First Screenwriter Yoon Nan Joong in Multiple Plagiarism Controversy

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• After watching two ep of this show, i discontinued it because it did look like NigeHaji without proper credits. It is sad to see shows getting popularity when they are basically someone else's work. I hope it wasn't a ditto copy because many people seem to be liking it.

• I knew it! Even thought it was a remake but I search and no creditis to the japanese dama/manga so drop this drama. So bad dear screenwriter, so bad.

• she should give proper credits... most audience notices the resemblance.... I still enjoy the drama, but I do not agree with the conduct of K-drama industry these days...

• It is similar...but the male lead is taking a very different avenue in why he is the way he is...and even their reasons for getting in the contract marriage were different. Contract marriages are a huge trope in K-drama! The similarities..in my opinion are really only that the male character is quirky and not easily emotionally moved. But the male character in First Life is much more likeable and changing than the one in NigeHaji. I'm liking First Life much better.

  • Quite a few people who have watched both say they prefer the narration in Because this is our first life.

    • Because this is my first life is on a whole other level. I started it with the We Married as a Job rumour in mind, and ended up completely abandoning that train of thought as they looked to be completely different shows, both original in their own right. The writer may have done this is in the past but you have to give her credit on this one.

  • I think theyre similar enough for the korean drama to put in credits of the japanese, even if they have different takes on several parts~ regardless of which you enjoy more..

    • Nah, I don't think so. But to each their own.

      Apart from the contract marriage, they're very different, right down to what drives the characters and how they act and that's probably what makes a drama - the characters.

    • I agree with peeps on this.

• Let the courts handle the alleged plagiarism. Meanwhile, I'll continue watching this drama!

• Is this like Park Ji Eun with LOTBS and MLFAS again?

  • Serious question ... is it possible to plagiarize yourself? Or are you referring to Park plagiarizing someone else?

    • Park plagiarizing someone else two different times

• I cant bring myself to continue watching this drama cause I dont know like its maybe predictable and im really fed up with this kind of stories plus the male lead's boring character not my cup of tea.

• I haven’t watched the Japanese version yet. I may do after I finish BTIOFL. I have heard there are similarities but it isn’t the same. The writer definitely took inspiration from We married as a job especially the main couple but not the other two. Full House also has contract marriage so this idea isn’t new. If this drama was not so popular, I’m sure no one would have bat an eyelid.

  • this drama isn't even that popular though... in terms of ratings and talk, it's doing mediocre in Korea. And as someone who has seen the Japanese version and watched this drama, I immediately assumed that this was a remake until I read this article. People should give credit when it's due.

    • i thought for a cable drama, over 3% is considered good?... its rating is even better than Black. But regardless, BTIOFL is doing well among iFans. There is similarity, but the two side couples are new stories not in the Jap version. The writer has used some ideas in the Jap version to create the main couple, it is obvious, so she has to give credits imho...

    • @candycane I didn't say it's a flop, but it's mediocre in terms of rating and popularity. The person I replied to said that this drama is so popular in Korea, which is not the case. In order for a TVN drama to be considered successful nowadays, they should at least surpass 5% imo. And Black has lower ratings because it's on OCN, which usually has less viewers compared to TVN. And the rating difference isn't even that big. Black had hit over 4% a while ago and consistently close to 4% for every episode.

    • BTIOFL is popular internationally, but the most popular drama in Korea at the moment is Go Back Spouses. So yeah, it's actually doing mediocre in terms of both ratings and hype.

    • @kitai with such a lousy ratings and you are saying Go Back Couple is the most popular drama in korea hahahaha don't make me laugh get your facts together GBC ratings are pathetic! 5%-6% in KBS is nothing but a flop in korea!!

    • @euna sure, Go Back Couple's ratings are not that high but what @kitai was saying is correct and @kitai really did get his/her facts together. GBC is really popular in Korea and having a really great buzz about it. During its run, it trended on the media so often, it was widely and positively talked about amongst netizen on korean drama related boards. Even now that the show ended, most of GBC related news/cast after drama interviews became the most popular articles on Naver with great reactions and thousands of upvotes. There are even articles talking about the possibility of it having a season 2 and a lot are wanting that to happen.

    • @Mstar, I meant BTIOFL is popular overseas. I am not talking about South Korea. I know weekend drama ‘My Golden Life’ is popular in SK.

    • Go Back Couples was actually shown at a new Friday-Saturday late night time slot outside the usual family drama watching time. You can't therefore apply the usual network rating as benchmark. It's rating is considered to be good therefore.

    • @day_dreamer: Exactly, people here don't seem to have any knowledge about the Korean entertainment industry. GBC was the most hyped drama among Korean netizens.

  • Not a good reason to escape giving credits to "Nigeru". Those who have watched the original J-dorama could spot the similarities right off the bat. And agree with @Mstar... The drama is just doing average domestically but popular among international fans due to heavy promos. 4% ratings for cable drama is just mediocre. The ones that happened to do great at TvN this year and buzzing domestically are LUTYN and BRC which happened to be least promoted yet gained more than 6% ratings,though they are least popular among I-fans due to less to no promo at all.

    • I'm loving this drama but is getting mich more buzz oversea like you said and I of course think its duly deserved for once. WYWS also had alot of positive buzz online in Korea bu it did not translate to TV ratings.

  • ahhh... i guess popularity in Korea is different... Anyways, K-Drama sucks these days, repetitive stories, those that seem ok are plagiarized... that's tell you something about those K-writers, correct? lolol.... I have been watching some J-dramas also lately... some quite interesting :-)

    • Plagarised? I can name so many good ones not plagarised.

      Age of Youth, Signal, Misaeng, Go Back Couple, Mad Dog... etc, even if we take Because This is My First Life out. It seems a little too generalising to say that a certain country's dramas are better than another when each have their own fantastic ones and each have some that tank - all not plagarised.

    • name a J-drama that's been accused of plagiarism?

    • They don't bother plagiarising. They just take the whole show and show it in Japan to the apparent annoyance of the Japanese public because they once aired too many after getting too many good responses.

      But the point is besides that. The point is that Korea has got its good dramas too like Japan and they're not plagiarised. So to accuse an entire country's entertainment of being sub-par compared to another is uncalled for.

      You can't just take the rubbish half of Korea's dramas and pit them against the good half of Japan's dramas and call Korea's dramas shit. That's just unfair. If you want to compare, compare accross the board and both countries have their good and bad.

    • It is funny how no one is talking about Go Back Couple plagirizing a webtoon called "Do It Again" the plot is the same !!! minus the adult stuff!! Did the writer gave credit to the original author ?? if not this is blatant plagiarism too

    • @euna if you read info about Go Back Couple you'll know that it was obviously stated that the drama was based on that webtoon though

    • @Peeps - there is no fairness in this world. Once you are caught with Plagiarism, you will be forever labelled a "plagiarizer"... btw, the word is spelled with an "i" between "g" and "a". I am not siding with any nation, I am just stating the fact that K-writers plagiarize sometimes, again one drop of black ink will discolor that whole industry... this is only my opinion, not a condemnation.

    • @day_dreamer: I think @euna is probably one of those delusional BTIOFL fans who's trying to pull everything else down with the drama.

  • Gallup poll for most popular TV shows for November is just out. Golden Life is at no.1, the second drama to top the chart in 2017, after Goblin in January. Go Back Couple is at No.12, Witch's Court is at No. 14, and Black is at No. 18. Two daily dramas get NO. 8 and No. 13. No other drama makes it to the top 20, not This Life is the First, not When You Were Sleeping or Temperatures of Love, not Revenge Club. All other top spots go to variety shows.

• I am watching this drama but in no way am I enjoying it as much as "Nigeru", plus I could not get over the creepiness of LMK. TLIOF should at least give credits and acknkowledge that her works if not that totally but still inspired by Nigeru. It's grossly unethical to enjoy rave reviews, earning credits and praises when the idea as a whole is not even originally hers to begin with. There is no escape, though TLIF offers some difference in the parts of the male lead and reason for cohabition, the premise and set up is still the same. Shame on this K-writer.

  • The premise is the same as Full House too.

    If everyone were to demand that writers come up with distinct ideas with no tropes or cliches, we'd have a lot of plagarism suits in this world. Honestly, I don't believe in pure originality anymore. Everyone's always inspired by someone - how one executes the idea seed is what differentiates them and makes them "original".

  • LMK has some really strong sponsor it seems ?

    • @prettyautumn It's really interesting that you said that. Is that mere speculation? Curious.

    • My speculation, that’s what it is, has a rational reasoning behind it. Lee MIn Ki isn’t a particularly talented actor with critical acclaim backing up his reputation. He doesn’t have the prior domestic and hallyu popularity either. He used to be a side character prior to his service time in army. He was never loved for his looks either, the way Seo Kang Joon was. He had a rape scandal during his army time and that was very quickly swept under the rug. This case isn’t as clear as in Lee Jin Wook's case so it’s more than shady how it was so quickly dealt with.
      Then he gets a major lead role with Jung So Min. What kind of production team wants to have a guy like LMK as a male lead when there are eligible actors with skills, looks and good image? The writer is probably pissed that a guy like him got to star in her drama, which incorporated a lot of feministic themes. The way I see it, he definitely comes from an influential family, just like Jin Se Yeon.

    • @prettyautumn: That's really dangerous, to go round spreading rumours about others only based on speculation.

      Anyway, there are a few misleading statements in the reasoning that led to your conclusion.

      1. Lee MinKi has critical acclaim, but in Chungmuro, not so much in dramas. Because This Is My First Life is his drama lead comeback in 10 years. Before that, he was lead in dramas like Dalja's Spring and in the movie circles, his movie Very Ordinary Couple was a hit at the box office and received rave reviews. And that was all before his military service. To say that he was shot to leading man roles with no basis is frankly, I believe, unfair. He might not be superstar level, but he definitely wasn't nothing either.

      2. Regarding the rape allegations that apparently happened at a bar, it was very quickly settled because the lady very quickly retracted her statement, almost immediately after giving it, stating specifically that she got the wrong person. How that happened is beyond me, but it's again unfair to imply that it was swept under the rug quickly because of some cover up. There was perhaps no case at all, which is why it was settled so quickly. If there were something amiss, we usually tend to hear additional details because of the open nature of Korea's information network (aka, fast internet and no one can really stop them) but this time, there was nothing more. I don't know what happened, but there is very little to base on to accuse him of being a rapist and getting away with it.

      3. Whether the writer or the production team is pissed that they got MinKi or not is up for grabs but she has neither implied nor stated anything of the sort. They seem happy in the Behind The Scenes clips.

  • I am laughing at all these sockpuppets coming out of the woodwork to defend their decrepit j-drama industry. Contract marriages has been done waaay before Nigeru. Also, Nigeru is a boring plodding pile of mediocrity.

• I watched Nigeru Haji for the first episode and couldn't bring myself to finish it as I dislike the male lead. Maybe it works for some people but I couldn't bring myself further to finish it. I watched the Korean version and while LMK is not your typical "handsome oppa", he could deliver so many emotions as Se Hee. I've read the premise sounds the same but the executions take different routes. I agree the "contract marriage" thing is very common in Korean dramas, or any other dramas, it sounds super predictable but the charm of BTIMFL is how well they execute it, and the narrations give you space to think. Not to mention how you would invest yourself in other relationships other than the main one, which I don't usually do, but this one is an exception.

  • Yes I agree with you

  • if you haven't passed the 1st ep how can you see the other similarities??
    and I am sorry that hiramasa is not you handsome type,

    this kinda prove my theory that suspected by this life that woman doesn't like shy guy, they just like a shy guy that is handsome, tall, well build, rich and taylored to you, you don't need to change yourself or asking their unusual habit, they perfectly understand you and will do anything for you because he knows how to do that from the start,

    you said it not predictable because you matched your expectation with kdrama contract marriage but ofc jdrama contract marriage is fresh, it's not your usual watch but since you can't deal with imperfectness as jdrama tend to show, you'll be more comfortable with the sugary , handsome package version so you don't hurts your eyes and you can live vicariously with the idea that "I don't strive for appearance" while in fact you never got an ep with hiramasa looked, you never want to looked past his introduction stage

    • first of all, I said it is predictable, not NOT predictable. its good if you pay attention to what people have stated before debating about it. I like jdrama in general, how simple and realistic the story is. whenever i feel bored watching kdrama, I switched to jdrama, so it is too judging for you to say so. and I guess I didn't say I dislike the male lead because he is NOT handsome (since when I said that?). Well, your theory fall short while judging someone's comment.

      Let me be clear, I said it might work for many people (including you of course), I watched NigeHaji because I was curious when people pointed the similarities, and since I also LIKE jdrama, I brought myself to watch it, not even to the point when I obsessed with BTIMFL. But it felt a little bit flat for me, seems like it doesn't have sort of deep narration that BTIMFL has to offer. Yes, I haven't watched the rest of the episodes like you do so I might not be in place to judge, but based on first episode, while I was noticing few similarities, it felt lacking for me. Well, I said LMK is not your typical handsome oppa, so the reason why I stick watching it not because you said that sugary, handsome package version that doesn't hurt my eyes, but rather the character the he brings to life that works for me (maybe it doesn't for you)

      If they are indeed similar for the rest of the episodes (as you or the rest of watched), I think they are still different in terms how they deliver it. I don't know if it is still called plagiarism, with similar premise but different execution. If it is so, then so many plagiarisms have to filed, because the idea of originality is hard to find nowadays.

  • I Agree with you