BL Manga Artist Called Out For Allegedly Using RIIZE Wonbin’s Likeness

A manga artist recently got called out by a RIIZE fan for a surprising reason. The fan found that their manga’s main character looked eerily similar to Wonbin.

Looking at them side by side, both sport the distinctive features that Wonbin is widely identified by, including his long wispy bangs, sharp cat-like eyes, thick lips, straight brows, and piercings.

Fans also identified similarities such as the number of piercings the character has, as well as Wonbin’s accessory styling.

| theqoo

Fans were even more angered due to the fact that the manga was a BL. They found it to be crossing the line.

“The fact that it’s a Japanese BL manga sucks,, and also is Wonbin some sort of free source? LOL. It’s just totally a copy, but there’s a portion of the QRTs saying that fangirls are just being overly-sensitive, but it’s not new for webtoon artists to draw the likeness of male idols, so it’s just hilarious how people are denying it. Everyone needs to go to the eye doctor in a group.”

Of course, there are some who completely do not agree.

무슨 다 ㅇㅂ이래ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ 안닮았는데 https://t.co/QBiNcuLb4u

— 보리 (@you_borii) April 17, 2026

Y’all are saying anyone looks like Wonbin atp LOL. They totally don’t look alike.

you_borii

While the accusations have gone viral with over 4 million views on X, a netizen on theqoo pointed out a crucial fact. The manga was published on May 31, 2024…

…while RIIZE’s concept photos which bear the likeness to the character was published on June 12, 2024, later than the manga’s debut.

On the other hand, it is not the first time that idols have served as inspiration for webtoon artists. True Beauty artist Yaongyi has once admitted to taking inspiration from idols’ outfits!

True Beauty FL and IVE’s Wonyoung.