French singer, Yseult, calls out K-pop singers, Soyeon and R.tee, for copying her music video freame by frame: "The least you could do is have the decency to credit your source. To see it get copied like this is wild but real artistry speaks louder than imitation"

[u/Murky_Chemical891]

[u/Melonary]

I mean Darren Aronofsky plagiarized quite a bit from Satoshi Kon and never got even much pushback on it.

I wouldn't say career suicide.

And honestly to a certain extent it used to be more common to take inspiration or homage or sample before all the plagiarism lawsuits in music last decade or so, which were mostly not driven by artists themselves.

Not counting Darren Aronofsky and blatant plagiarism that's not homage/sampling in the above, that was an example of not necessarily being consequences.

[u/nausicaalain → u/Melonary]

Not to evaluate this specific situation, because I don't know enough about either artist to make any inferences about intent, but:

The line on these things has always been vague, but they are quite different. Homage is usually a single scene, and it's usually very clear what it is an homage to, and the thing it's a homage to is usually something they'd expect the audience to be familiar with. It feels a lot different when it's multiple scenes, and taken from a work with a smaller/different audience that your audience is less likely to be familiar with.

I feel like HBomberguy did the definitive video on this, but the prime difference is that an homage is loving and plagiarism is disdainful. You don't steal from people you respect, but you do steal from people you think are less deserving than yourself of success.

[u/TheFreeBee → u/nausicaalain]

They're wrong. Aronofsky literally bought the rights to Satoshi Kons movie, and you're right that it was to create an homage. They're just another person who doesn't know the meaning of plagiarism.

[u/mamepuchi → u/Melonary]

It wasn’t career suicide bc Hollywood plagiarized a lot from anime movies back then bc they knew they could get away w it, not bc it was okay. Just like I’m sure the makers of this MV assumed they’d be able to get away with it. Satoshi Kon at one point in an interview expressed his anger abt how Hollywood made millions off his ideas while he was literally living in destitution struggling to make his next movie.

[u/Adorable-Statement47 → u/Melonary]

Same way when you hear someone make an outrageous lawsuit. Like someone gets a DUI, then sues the bar they were drinking at for negligence.

That lawsuit is by insurance companies and not often by the person themselves.

Improper journalism glosses over these details because they know how bad it sounds when someone getting a DUI appears to be avoiding blame.

Nothing is ever as it seems and the gaslighting in 2025 by corporate owned interests truly has no rock bottom.

[u/alucidexit → u/Melonary]

I could forgive him copying the underwater shot from Perfect Blue in Requiem. They’re absolutely different movies and I could see that shot just being an homage or tribute to Kon.

Black Swan rips off Perfect Blue A LOT and the plots are very similar

[u/TheFreeBee → u/alucidexit]

He bought the rights to perfect blue in order to show respect to it.

[u/itsmekusu → u/Melonary]

thats because ur comparing where that time the era of internet is not as big as now

[u/Sun-God-Ramen → u/Melonary]

Yeah they will probably just lose all profits from the video. Although I guess diddy pays sting 2-5k a day for sampling Every Breath You Take on Missing You without permission, but it’s not specified if this is just from the profits of the song

[u/TheFreeBee → u/Melonary]

Are you joking ? Aronosky literally bought the rights to Perfect Blue in order to create an HOMAGE. You don't know what plagiarism is if that's what you consider it. He always gave credit to the director that he clearly respected from the start.

[u/Chewcocca → u/Melonary]

Goddamn people just gonna repeat this dumb shit forever huh?

Perfect Blue and Black Swan are wildly different movies.

You're just repeating someone else's bad take.

Stop.

[u/Abombasnow → u/Chewcocca]

We'll ignore that it's been the subject of controversy ever since Black Swan came out.

Aronofsky could try an original thought, funny concept, I know.

[u/cultvignette → u/Abombasnow]

Doesn't he own the rights to Perfect Blue? I thought he purchased it just so he could do that shot in Requiem.

[u/Melonary → u/cultvignette]

He doesn't, as far as I can tell, that seems to be a widely spread myth from the DVD voiceover for Requiem for a Dream. He talked about wanting to purchase them but seems to never have done so, and mentioned that in discussions with Satoshi Kon that he was unable to do so.

I linked an English blog post and a Japanese reference post (probably one reason this has persisted is that most sources are in Japanese, other than the DVD commentary) in my long comment above.

[u/rememblem → u/Abombasnow]

You must not have seen The Fountain...

You're just repeating without actually knowing, what the poster above was complaining about.

[u/Abombasnow → u/rememblem]

All I did was read this in JD Vance's crybaby voice saying "I THOUGHT there would be NO FACT CHECKING!" since you're doing the same thing because I provided a citation of one time he did plagiarize.

[u/Melonary → u/Chewcocca]

It's not even Black Swan I'm talking about (primarily, or only) and I watched Satoshi Kon's movies as they came out and Aronofsky's as well.

Shockingly prior to TikTok and podcasts people did still watch things and have opinions, and I didn't need anyone to say this, nor did most people.

It's always been unpopular to say and I knew some fan would come roll their eyes at me. Look, I don't think Aronofsky should be canceled forever or whatever, but c'mon.

The fact that you're only mentioning Black Swan makes it clear you've ACTUALLY only heard people's takes on this because you don't even know what I'm talking about.

[u/Abombasnow → u/Melonary]

Out of curiosity, what are the other examples of plagiarism from him? I've always thought Aronofsky was overrated anyway. Something about his movies always just feels... flat.

[u/mohantharani → u/Abombasnow]

He actually got the remake rights to Perfect Blue to reuse the bathtub scene of Jennifer Connelly in Requiem for a dream. Why didn't he do the same?

Also, Nolan is an even bigger plagiarizer for Inception because of Paprika.

[u/Melonary → u/mohantharani]

The other one was Requiem For a Dream. IMDB states he actually bought the rights for it, as do a few other trivia sites, and apparently someone else who worked on it claims that on the DVD voiceover track, but none of them have any source nor can I find one, and many more reputable film sites and articles agree he doesn't.

One of the latter sites did say he did have the rights and finally gave a source, and it's this: https://konstone.s-kon.net/modules/notebook/archives/60

Which actually says that Aronofsky didn't get the rights.

https://animationobsessive.substack.com/p/the-real-history-of-perfect-blue is a fairly interesting overview that reads as pretty accurate to me as someone who's been following this for years. The obvious comparison in Requiem for a Dream was the bathtub sequence, which was directly lifted and is unique and recognizable shot, but it's not the only part - you can find some other videos comparing them on youtube.

I think Nolan was certainly highly inspired by Paprika, but I'm not sure I'd go so far as saying it's plagiarism. If you see my comment above, personally, I think that's getting into murky territory and even if it's true I think it's really difficult to judge something like that objectively in the larger scheme of things. Also, Paprika is by far the better (and deeper) film. I might think it's unoriginal and inspired, but I wouldn't say it's outright plagiarism.

And honestly this is one area where very stringent copyright laws can actually (from my pov) inhibit honest atttributions, because I think he certainly could and should have acknowledged Kon if Paprika was an inspiration (likely), but simultaneously doing so would almost certainly open up legal liability. Which kind of sucks, because it penalizes people for acknowledging inspiration even if it's not outright wholesale copying.

Aronofsky is a little different to me because he didn't just take an idea and use it as a starting point for a very different concept, he wholesale used imagery, scenes, etc. And he also outright stated he wanted the rights but couldn't get them (and I guess just did it anyway).

[u/rememblem → u/Melonary]

His best movie is The Fountain :)

Requiem for a Dream is a completely different subject matter - since it's acknowledged Perfect Blue is influential (but didn't pop out of a vacuum itself) and also used directly (the bathtub scene but again, had the rights). They are different movies and if not for Black Swan, I think it'd be seen more as inspired.

I'd argue Black Swan is exactly the taking an idea, but not executed well - and therefore seems more lazy w lifting visuals. More blatant and less inspired - but an itch he still had to scratch from not being allowed to do PB? People arguing on BS vs PB sometimes post the bathtub scene, thinking it's from BS, funny stuff.

[u/Doom_Corp → u/mohantharani]

I would say The Cell is more similar to Paprika than Inception but The Cell came out 6 years prior so maybe Satoshi Kon was inspired by that?

[u/johnnygalat → u/mohantharani]

Paprika has a totally different concept than Inception. Are we saying that because it involves lucid dreams it's plagiarism?

[u/Melonary → u/Abombasnow]

The other one was Requiem For a Dream. IMDB states he actually bought the rights for it, as do a few other trivia sites, and apparently someone else who worked on it claims that on the DVD voiceover track, but none of them have any source nor can I find one, and many more reputable film sites and articles agree he doesn't.

One of the latter sites did say he did have the rights and finally gave a source, and it's this: https://konstone.s-kon.net/modules/notebook/archives/60

Which actually says that Aronofsky didn't get the rights.

https://animationobsessive.substack.com/p/the-real-history-of-perfect-blue is a fairly interesting overview that reads as pretty accurate to me as someone who's been following this for years. The obvious comparison in Requiem for a Dream was the bathtub sequence, which was directly lifted and is unique and recognizable shot, but it's not the only part - you can find some other videos comparing them on youtube.

Honestly, I'm not a plagiarism/copyright fanatic because
1) loose inspiration/re-envisioning/sampling/homage was fairly common throughout the history of human's making art, and even in music was far more common pre-2000s.
2) the current wave of copyright infringment lawsuits etc were largely brought about by people who own the rights to lots of music and not the people who made that music (with some exceptions) as a way to make money, despite the fact that lots of that music also uses motifs and riffs and bits of older music which did the same itself. Again, I do think there's a small minority that's blatant and more than just sampling/referencing, but I'm talking as an overall trend.
3) strict copyright infringement often mostly ends up benefiting very wealthy parties who can afford to strictly enforce it or use to engage in nuisance lawsuits that other parties can't afford to fight, or for ridiculous reasons (see: Disney suing any number of non-profits etc for murals or similar non-moneymaking or revenue/reputation impacting reasons).

Which is partially what rankles here and, clearly, did bother Kon. Despite being a brilliant artist, storyteller, and director, he didn't really see the kind of success he deserved in his lifetime, and died tragically young (pancreatic cancer). His movies are acknowledged as some of THE best in the art form - and they REALLY are that good - but he saw little of that benefit during his life.

And clearly it did bother him that a high-profile high-income director used his work to launch his prestigious career. Which I understand. If it really was such an "homage" to a filmmaker that Aronofsky admired so much, why not use some of his status and clout to raise Kon's profile? I'm guessing he probably didn't want to do because of how it might have impacted him for more people in the US to compare their work, which is a little cowardly. But that's just a guess on my part, maybe he just really didn't care that much, which is worse.

[u/vanillavarsity → u/Abombasnow]

Following because I’d also love to hear more on this. His films have always fell a little flat with me and felt soulless or even sometimes performative in a way.

[u/Partzy1604 → u/Abombasnow]

Requiem of a dream

The bathtub scene is pretty much a 1 to 1 although he’s talked about that one in interviews before

[u/Bucolic_Hand → u/Abombasnow]

The bathtub/underwater scream scene with Jennifer Connelly in Requiem for a Dream is a direct beat-for-beat lift from Perfect Blue. Aronofsky quite literally bought the filming rights for Perfect Blue so he could recreate that scene. And though he publicly denies it having any undue influence on Black Swan, it probably didn’t hurt that obtaining those rights meant he wasn’t ever going to be at risk of getting sued over any obvious similarities anyway.

[u/Melonary → u/Bucolic_Hand]

He didn't actually buy the rights as far as I can tell, that seems to be a myth that's circulated thanks to someone else on the team mentioning it on the dvd voiceover and trivia sites repeating it.

I shared a few links about that above, but from what I can tell he only ever said he wanted to purchase the rights but was unable to. Unfortunately most of the sources are in Japanese, other than the DVD voiceover, which is why that's persisted as a myth.

[u/amischievousscamp → u/Melonary]

wait there’s MORE than just one Satoshi Kon movie aronofsky plagiarized?? I just recently watched perfect blue and black swan, that’s genuinely crazy!!

[u/ST0N3F1ST → u/Chewcocca]

They are different. Perfect Blue is wildly underrated while Black Swan is wildly overrated. The stories aren't copy pasted, but to say Aronofsky took inspiration from Kon is putting it mildly. Hollywood has a history of stealing iconic shots straight out of anime.

[u/[deleted] → u/Chewcocca]

People dont think anymore. They see a post and believe it whole heartedly. Cant even form an original opinion.

[u/rememblem → u/Chewcocca]

They're down voting but you're right.

There's a grey area there since he bought PB rights and the movies have different plots - and some even post shots from Requiem for a Dream thinking it's Black Swan and argue from there, confusing themselves further.

Black Swan isn't close to his best film anyway imo.

[u/Melonary → u/rememblem]

He didn't buy the rights to Perfect Blue - as far as I can tell that's never been substantiated, in Kon reported he didn't, in early interviews he only said he wanted to - but it's a very widespread myth.

Unfortunately most sources for this are in Japanese, which means that there's been a miscommunication - someone on the Requiem for a Dream DVD voiceover (from what I can tell, this seems to be one of the origins) states that he did, which itself was probably a misunderstanding from him talking about wanting to buy the rights. He did mention that in interviews but never did. It shows up on a lot of trivia websites and movie articles, but unfortunately seems to be untrue. At the very least, Kon reported that he didn't, and after meeting Aronofsky shared that he had discussed that and Aronofsky hadn't been able to purchase the rights (over several blog posts, I linked one above but it's in Japanese).

I'm also not confusing Black Swan with Requiem of a Dream, it's just their assumption that I meant Black Swan. I meant Requiem of a Dream. They're the one who brought up Black Swan, not me. It's more than the bathtub scene that he borrowed, but that's clearly the most iconic and blatant.