Chinese Sports Mascot Accused of Plagiarising Pokemon

Qiang Qiang, the new mascot for the 21st Shandong Provice Sports Game (Shandong 21st Game) was recently unveiled to the public. However, the new mascot was met with severe criticism as its design was accused of being copied from a creature in Pokemon. The pokemon in question, Jirachi, first appeared in Nintendo's Pokemon Ruby and Pokemon Sapphire in early 2003.

The designer of the mascot responded by saying that he had idea that Pokemon even existed. The design of the mascot, which went through a panel of other designers, was based on a starfish.