Zanilia Zhao’s new drama, “Who is the Murderer?” has recently been accused of plagiarism, after netizens noticed that the poster resembled the poster of Japanese series, “Legal High”.

As reported on Epoch Times, the issue sparked earlier this week, when the series released its promotional poster ahead of its broadcast, showing its lead stars in three different poses, one with Zanilia shading co-star Xiao Yang’s eye, on with Xiao shutting Dong Zijian’s lips with his finger, and the bottom showing Zanilia’s hand on Dong’s ears.

Netizens who saw the poster couldn’t help but compare it to a poster of “Legal High”, which features its two leads Yui Aragaki and Masato Sakai doing the same thing, with each images stacked on top of one another as well.

Following the backlash, the designer of the said poster issued an apology on 5 December, saying that the direction for the design was inspired by the plot of the series and the relationship of the three protagonists, based on the three wise monkeys’ maxim, “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.”

“It was unintentional, but for the similarities in the concept and typography, I bear the responsibility,” said the designer.

On the other hand, the drama also forwarded the apology and promised to delete the said poster.

Poster of Zanilia Zhao's new series accused of plagiarism, celeb asia, zanilia zhao, theHive.Asia
The mystery-thriller’s other poster is approved

(Photo Source: SOHU)