For those of you who have seen Castle in the Sky...

I've had a webcomic project tentativley titled "FreakOut" on the backburners for some time now which deals with two characters who end up on a flying island called Laputa. I posted an early version of the story on a board a year or so ago, and people layed into it calling it a Castle in the Sky ripoff.

I haven't seen the movie, and probably won't any time soon - I'm having a devil of a time finding it here in the UK - but I've read some reviews and here are the similarities:

-First and formost, the presence of the Laputa. It's not as damning as it might seem - Laputa originates in Gulliver's Travels, and is therefore in the public domain.

-The two heroes. Stomptokyo's review describes the main characters of Castle thusly: "Sheeta is a cute and innocent, and you can't help but feel her plight. Pazu is a tough little scrapper, a little bulldog." That'd be a pretty accurate description of FreakOut's main characters, Davy and Wend. Still, these personality types are pretty much archetypal, particularly when you're dealing with cartoon children.
Another thing - Pazu's earthy colour scheme and the pair of goggles perched on his hat make him look a little like Davy, who dresses in a Biggles-esque old-style pilot's outfit. Ever seen Kids Next Door? Think of a slim Nmbah 2.

-The setting. From what I've seen, Castle in the Sky takes place in a steampunky, Renaissance Italy-esque world. FreakOut's Laputa is totally different, being closer to Fritz Lang's Metropolis, but it DOES share its world with a country named Magonia, a steampunk interpretation of Renaissance Italy.

So, what do you think? Would an open-minded reader be able to chalk it all up to coincidence, or do you think I Should take it in for a heavy redesign?

While it's coincidental, the otaku-types won't forgive you for "ripping off" Castle in the Sky, since Jonathan Swift isn't Japanese. You might want to consider just renaming the island...

What's your island like? What purpose does it serve? The original Laputa was a haven for philosophers, the anime one was an ancient superweapon... I'd stay away from those two.