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The newly released Chinese online suspense series apologized on Sunday for similarities between promotional posters for the show and those for the 2012 Japanese drama Legal High and promised to take down all the online posters. The apology comes after netizens accused the show of plagiarizing the Japanese posters.  

The resemblance "was unintentional, but there are both creative and typographical similarities so we still bear the main responsibility," said the apology from the drama Who is The Murderer, produced by Chinese online streaming platform iQiyi.

The first episode of Who is The Murderer debuted on iQiyi on Sunday evening. It tells the story of an investigation into a 16-year-old serial murder case in a small city in southern China that restarts after new information comes to light. 

The posters for the drama released online earlier feature the two main characters, in one of which the finger of one character covers the lips of the other in a "be quiet" gesture. 

Many Legal High fans noticed a similarity between the newly released poster and a poster for the 2012 Japanese drama, which also has its two main characters in a similar pose, and accused the Chinese series of "copying" the Japanese poster. Other netizens noted that the other posters also bear a striking resemblance to the other promotional posters for Legal High.  

Despite the apology, netizens on Sina Weibo seemed unwilling to forgive the show. 

"I don't see the whole point of copying the posters. It is embarrassing for the show to do this. Just stop the parody," read one comment on a post comparing the posters from both shows.

Some insiders say they suspect that the similarities between the posters may be part of an "intentional" plan to stir up drama and bring more attention to the show. 

"Anyone can tell from the typography to the design that this is a case of copying. But one possibility that cannot be ruled out is that they are deliberately doing it to attract more attention to this show, and then apologized right after," an entertainment business insider surnamed Meng told the Global Times on Monday.

This is not the first time a recent online variety show or drama has been accused of copying works from other countries, especially South Korea and Japan.

In October, Chinese streaming platform Youku came under fire for copying Netflix's hit show Squid Game after it announced a new variety show named Squid's Victory. Just like the Netflix drama, the show will focus on people competing in different kids' games. Even the posters for the show feature elements, such as red rectangles and round shapes that are similar to those in the South Korean drama. 

More insiders warn that the Chinese entertainment industry urgently needs to embrace more original content to gain true popularity in the world rather than constantly copying popular ideas from overseas.

"It is very easy to copy existing IPs from the market, but it will not last long. It's just like that you can never plagiarize someone else and then show it to them. Staying original is the first step to heading overseas," a film and drama critic surnamed Shi told the Global Times on Monday.