LeaF and Optie respond after Honkai: Star Rail Sparkle trailer accused of “copying”

Honkai: Star Rail’s trailer for Sparkle had been accused of “copying” LeaF’s music videos.

Honkai: Star Rail, or HSR, is a turn-based strategic role-playing game developed by miHoYo and published globally by HoYoverse. The game features an immersive world with a rich storyline.

The game had its version 2.0 update back on February 6, 2024. This introduced a new planet called Penacony and many new characters, such as Black Swan, Acheron, Aventurine, and Sparkle.

With Sparkle’s upcoming banner debut, Honkai: Star Rail’s social media began releasing her trailers. One of these, titled “Monodrama,” is under a Reddit user’s suspicion of whether it is a copy or a homage.

Another Reddit user shared that the two music videos on the left, “Ka” and “MARENOL” are from the artist LeaF and Optie Animation. LeaF is a popular music creator and a household name in the rhythm game community.

These rhythm game songs have a dark theme and history, so the user thought it was wild that HoYo chose to reference them. With the recent storylines in Penacony, it’s not too farfetched for them to have such themes.

LeaF, the song creator of the music video, shared a clip showing their similarities. They stated that it’s almost the same frames as MARENOL and Ka. They clarified that Optie, Fiz, and themselves were not directly involved but saw no problem with it. They wanted everyone to take the time to introduce them.

本日「崩壊：スターレイル」というゲームPVで明らかに「MARENOL」や「彁」の動画があって突然たくさん質問が来ました

LeaF, Optie, Fiz は誰も関わってません！でも全く問題無いのでもっとやっていいぞ！💊💊

公式や皆さんはせっかくならウチも紹介してくださいhttps://t.co/OwqC3ewzvs pic.twitter.com/Ps2AxtmBic