Dengeki Prize Winner Guilty of Simmonsing

shirokitsune-master-plagiarist-001.jpg

Award-winning illustrator Shirokitsune has been found guilty of first degree Simmonsing by 2ch’s Plagiarism Police.

The artist in question, responsible for illustrating a number of magazines and doujinshi, was found to have freely helped himself to art from various manga and Pixiv profiles.

As is the custom with such shameless types, he splashes “unauthorised reproduction of modification of these works is forbidden” around his (now defunct) homepage.

Some of the comparison images used to ascertain his guilt:

shirokitsune-master-plagiarist-002.jpg
shirokitsune-master-plagiarist-003.jpg
shirokitsune-master-plagiarist-004.jpg
shirokitsune-master-plagiarist-005.jpg
shirokitsune-master-plagiarist-006.jpg
shirokitsune-master-plagiarist-007.jpg
shirokitsune-master-plagiarist-008.jpg
shirokitsune-master-plagiarist-009.jpg
shirokitsune-master-plagiarist-010.jpg
shirokitsune-master-plagiarist-012.jpg
shirokitsune-master-plagiarist-013.jpg
shirokitsune-master-plagiarist-014.jpg

shirokitsune-master-plagiarist-011.jpg

Notably, he won a coveted Commendation in the Dengeki Taisho awards, a prestigious set of awards which includes tens of thousands of dollars in prize money.

Top illustrator Yoshitaka Amano, renowned for his work on the Final Fantasy series, is said to have singled out Shirokitsune’s work for high praise.

Once the plagiarism came to light, the CEO of publisher ASCII Media Works himself publicly apologised and revoked the honour.

2ch for its part actively hounded the wicked plagiarist, forcing him to close homepage, Pixiv and all; his current status is unknown save for the fact that he is obviously keeping a low profile.

Nonetheless he is unrepentant, apologising whilst saying he intends to “keep practicing and continue” his demi-artistic activities in future, but carefully avoiding mention of what it is he actually did and stressing that it “has no connection to my commercially published work.”


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    Comment by Anonymous
    09:55 13/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    i dunno what's worse...this guy or nick simmons

    Avatar of kamiru
    Comment by kamiru
    13:15 13/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    nick simmons doesn't admit his fault. he claim it "homage".

    Comment by Anonymous
    10:00 13/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    Simmonsing xD , in UrbanDictionary.com the word has not the real meaning.
    somebody do something about that xD.

    Avatar of celcius_01
    Comment by celcius_01
    03:19 14/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    I wonder why they call it "simmonsing" anyway? Is the first guy who got caught doing that is Simmons?

    Avatar of Carrie
    Comment by Carrie
    14:29 14/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    Hahaha. I actually didn't realize what he was referring to at first and kept trying to think what the word meant.

    But to answer your question: no, of course not. Plagiarism happens all the time - Artefact is just using topical humor as he is wont to do.

    Comment by Anonymous
    09:29 13/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    Seems a bit of a stretch....

    Avatar of rikarika
    Comment by rikarika
    09:20 13/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    What's funny is all the bastards that must be crossing their fingers and praying 2ch doesn't find about their plagiarized stuff lol.

    Comment by Anonymous
    08:27 13/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    it's a lot less obvious than nick simmons at least, i'll give him that.

    Avatar of Tateha
    Comment by Tateha
    08:24 13/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    he's not a very good illustrator, but he is good at photoshopping stuff so at least you have to give him that.

    his only error was that he was discovered. probably got lazy in even trying to make his tracing more discrete.

    Comment by Anonymous
    08:39 13/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    That is so sad, cause he didn't need to copy stuff, he was just lazy.

    Comment by Anonymous
    08:56 13/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    The interesting part is: No one would've even noticed if it wasn't for 2ch.
    And here's the thing that should get you: If no one had noticed that, everyone would still be happy with it.

    Including the plagiarized authors.

    Yeah, the guy ripped off other people's work, but he did it in such a way everyone appreciated...

    I wonder the real reasons behind this though.
    Is it lack of talent, or lack of time?

    The fact that several good artists are doing this (I'm not talking about Simmons) seems to point out some sort of problem in the whole business...

    Avatar of motaku96
    Comment by motaku96
    08:59 13/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    A shame. I liked his pictures.

    Comment by Anonymous
    01:58 14/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    I guess 2ch has a new and fun activity now.

    Comment by Anonymous
    14:12 13/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    Simmonsers are condemned to the eigth circle of hell.

    Avatar of Kinny Riddle
    Comment by Kinny Riddle
    01:37 14/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    LOL at "Simmonising". Is that the new term to describe such activities now?

    Comment by Anonymous
    17:38 13/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    nothing escapes the eyes of 2chan @_@

    Comment by Anonymous
    17:24 13/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    Oh, Momo-san~ I think I've come up something new about 2ch.
    2ch:
    Wound people's heart and spoil their hard work. w w w w w

    Comment by Anonymous
    15:49 13/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    I wonder how many other illustrators do the same practices. A pose here, a flower here, a skyline there- save a few hours on rendering all the mess the guy didn't feel like doing.
    Here's the thing though about that way of viewing it- if he is an illustrator and he didn't feel like doing all that work but felt pressured to do it- in my opinion he should have drawn what he wanted in the first place. Then no problems generally arise, unless you want to be a simmonsing and try to think you can pay 'homage' to a piece of work in a commercial format demanding original material.

    If you like it so much, draw it for yourself- you get the experience and no flak for no properly acknowledging the artist you so called 'paid homage to.'
    I do that a lot, and artists before have done that as well, and it's unfortunate that this douche-bag never got the memo.

    Avatar of davaeron
    Comment by davaeron
    21:24 13/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    2ch is a cake!

    Avatar of Meimi132
    Comment by Meimi132
    10:52 13/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    Anyone who knew Izumi Rei's artwork would be able to tell that first image was an imitation or whatever.
    It was the thumbnail that tipped me off before I even saw the ToHeart2 fanart pic lol.

    Comment by Anonymous
    10:41 13/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    【http://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=606405】
    and
    【http://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=2592540】

    Avatar of xaeroak15
    Comment by xaeroak15
    11:30 13/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    OK, if I and you draw a picture of same egg from a same egg, is it alike?unlike?

    Comment by Anonymous
    12:12 13/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    Unlike because I can't draw and will most likely end up with a circle instead of an oval.

    Comment by Anonymous
    10:32 13/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    This is called "sampling" people from the music industry do it too, like Jay Z's Big Pimpin sampling from the Egyptian piece "Khosara"

    It would surprise you that people who do all those CG and Matte paintings for movies and concepts do the same thing, but with photos because it's harder to trace photography to one particular source. We do it mostly for textures and backgrounds.

    But for this case, of course it's always a bad idea to sample from pre-existing artwork because such artwork already has a distinct feel to it, like if Leonardo cut and paste something from Michelangelo's works- it wouldn't be less noticeable because Michelangelo's rendition of what was cut and pasted was truer to the real thing he was trying to draw and paint- it would be noticeable because it was Michelangelo's particular rendition of that object. So of course, it would stick out in a Leonardo painting- even if both Leonardo and Michelangelo's works both reflected the era that they lived in.

    Avatar of yuzu
    Comment by yuzu
    05:26 13/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    First off, how in the hell does 2chan Find all of these things? Are they that bored?

    second, everything he copied didn't seem to bad...Its not like he's just tracing the image..

    whats the big deal?

    Comment by Anonymous
    07:58 13/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    the big deal is that if you allow this... where does it stop?

    Avatar of Zavalix
    Comment by Zavalix
    05:23 13/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    This artist drawing style is a homage to Simmons way of drawing... I hope it stop spreading though.

    In other copie... homage news:
    It's REALLY sad how mediocre people wins any kind of award with crap like this...

    Comment by Anonymous
    08:53 23/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    Coincidental similarities, that's it.

    Comment by Anonymous
    05:26 13/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    Simmonsing. I love it. I might have to use that word, or would that make me guilty too? =P

    Avatar of Tokeijikaku
    Comment by Tokeijikaku
    05:27 13/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    ...and one of my favorite Miku pics turns out to be... this.

    *groan*

    Avatar of Artefact
    Comment by Artefact

    Imagine how Yoshitaka Amano feels.

    Comment by Anonymous
    05:36 13/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    The next top Simmons

    Avatar of kamiru
    Comment by kamiru
    07:51 13/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    they should have a simmons award!

    Avatar of OTIKA
    Comment by OTIKA
    11:53 13/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    No there is not.
    Do not bring people down to his level.

    Comment by Anonymous
    05:30 13/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    I have to commend their sharp eyes. Nothing escapes them

    Comment by Anonymous
    05:27 13/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    Wow i didnt know Simmon is a verb now

    05:04 13/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    Well, he's still light years better and less stubborn than Nick (Simmons)..

    And same flower species = Plagiarism....?
    (Referring to the Yuyuko pic btw)

    Avatar of patokite91
    Comment by patokite91
    05:18 13/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    is not the same tipe of flower, but THE SAME flower, cutted and pasted

    100% plagiarism

    Comment by Anonymous
    09:32 13/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    You know he could have bought the exact type of arrangement or is there only one type in the world?

    Avatar of kamiru
    Comment by kamiru
    07:59 13/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    look carefully, one is round, and the other is slightly elongated

    Comment by Anonymous
    11:10 13/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    I think it is originally the same flower which has been rescaled (elongated). If you look carefully at the detail of the flower, you will see they are practically the same, minus the deformation of the overall shape and the layers over it.

    Avatar of patokite91
    Comment by patokite91
    00:58 15/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    on photoshop ctrl+T > Free Modification

    done.

    Comment by Anonymous
    06:24 13/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    Actually, he can have drawn it himself and cut and pasted it, so that they all look identical is no reason to pretend to be Lady Justice here.

    That's usually what artists do to save themselves time.

    Avatar of yaku
    Comment by yaku
    05:15 13/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    That's the one I found completely ridiculous (probably they did it for the lulz)

    Also, the slice of background lights. thousands of mangaka copy entire backgrounds from photos and whatnot, can't see how that was any different.

    But shame on him for simmonsing characters.

    Comment by Anonymous

    But how....how do people notice these little things..

    Comment by Anonymous

    People who have too much free time in their hands...

    Avatar of Gitami
    Comment by Gitami
    10:07 13/03/2010 # ! Neutral (-0.2)

    A country with Neets. They're like private detectives of the internet just unpaid and anonymous.

    Avatar of Sithreis
    Comment by Sithreis
    04:53 13/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    Couldn't the same similarities be said of all Anime related works?

    Note the tongue-in-cheek sarcasm here people....

    Comment by Anonymous
    23:04 10/10/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    2ch and people here don't know shit about drawing and what plagiarism is.

    Comment by Anonymous
    11:58 21/04/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    Wow, even this guy copied off Sayori.

    Sad. He didn't have to do this.

    Comment by H-Ero
    04:57 13/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    People like this really piss me off. It's bad enough that they trace someone else's work but for them to try and make money off of it is just pathetic and an insult to any real artist.





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