Extraordinary Attorney Woo vs Extraordinary Attorney Minami: Episode 1 Compared

How closely does Japan’s Extraordinary Attorney Minami follow the Korean original? We compare both first episodes scene by scene, with similarities and differences.

- October 24, 2026 | 5:49 PM IST

Extraordinary Attorney Woo & Extraordinary Attorney Minami ( Photo Credit – Netflix )

Extraordinary Attorney Woo follows Woo Young-woo, an autistic rookie attorney hired by a major Seoul law firm. Now Japan has its own version. Extraordinary Attorney Minami premiered on October 19, 2026, and stars Mana Ashida as Minamida Minami. A remake’s first episode shows how much it borrows and how much it changes. This article compares both pilots in the order their stories unfold.

Spoilers for episode 1 of both shows follow.

Extraordinary Attorney Woo & Extraordinary Attorney Minami Plot Summaries

Extraordinary Attorney Woo is a Korean drama about a young autistic woman who becomes a lawyer at one of the leading law firms in South Korea. The story follows her determination to do her job well, while managing her autism. Extraordinary Attorney Minami is a Japanese remake of the Korean drama. It features several similar plotlines, albeit with a few changes to suit the remake tone.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Netflix Philippines (@netflixph)

Extraordinary Attorney Woo & Extraordinary Minami: How Are The Leads Similar?

The two pilots follow the same blueprint for their characters. Both heroines graduate at the top of their class and still face prejudice because of their autism. Woo Young-woo introduces herself with words that read the same forwards and backwards, and the Japanese remake recreates that wordplay in Japanese. Each is hired over a senior attorney’s doubts and given one case to prove herself.

Furthermore, both characters eat the same meal everyday to avoid a shock to their senses. Both of them are fascinated by whales, and find solace in whale noises and imagery. The best friends to the female leads are similar as well. The Japanese remake also mirrors the greeting between the friends to suit the Japanese adaptation.

Supporting cast In Extraordinary Attorney Woo & Extraordinary Attorney Mimani

We also have the female leads’ fathers who run a small restaurant and are single-handedly taking care of their daughters. Then we have the male lead, the female lead’s prospective romantic interest. The male leads in both, the original and the remake are easy-going and calm figures who help the female lead out without holding any prejudice or expecting anything in return. Fumiya Takahashi plays Minato Funai, who fills the romantic-interest role that Kang Tae-oh’s Lee Jun-ho holds in the original.

Woo and Minami also handle a similar case of an elderly woman fighting the charges of attempted murder against her husband who suffers from dementia. They manage to solve the case, despite the initial hiccups, thus removing their bosses’ doubt that they won’t be able to do their job well.

The remake is not a full replica of the original, but it carries with it the warm and understanding essence that we saw in the Korean version. The revolving doors were replaced by the escalator in the remake, but the rhythm to cross that hurdle remains the same. The remake’s run time also came down by about 20 minutes than the original, sticking to the Japanese style of making crisper narratives within dense durations.