Well it depends. If it's something that clearly has had a lot of work put into it no matter how similar it seems to another work, go ahead and publish it. It's hard to create something that is similar yet different enough in such a short time span (ex. say I released my work A on the 1st of December that is extremely similar to yours work B. Both are very long novels that clearly have had plenty of time poured into both that follow a rather similar plot line. If you release your work say on December 4th, it would be hard to accuse you of having plagarized my entire story that quickly).
I don't mean to revive the thread again just to put all the attention on me. Well, to be honest, I asked because I passionately worked on a shoujo manga series that was first inspired by
Sailor Moon, but it never took off. I worked on it since about 1999, when I was 13-14 years old. Back then, if I launched it when I was that age, it would have turned out much differently than how I want it to be now.
The title is
12 Gems, or until I find a better title. The themes are birthstones and the Zodiac. The main character is a girl who wishes to change her identity--or mostly her outer appearance because she thinks that would make her life so much easier. But with all wishes come prices, and since her desire is to change most of what she was born with, she sacrifices a lot. It was supposed to be like
The Nutty Professor, only much better written, and more politically correct. She's a Gemini, born on June 6, 2006, and because I want her to be born on that specific date, the events of the series take place in the year 2020-2024, when she will be 14-17 years old. There are other protagonists as well, however, I don't want them to be cookie cutter stereotypes of their signs, like how in
Hetalia, each country is perfectly personified. However, there is a good reason why I gave them their birthdays. Their powers represent what traits they already have, but if they express a meaning of their gems that they need to express, then their individual gem on a magic breastplate will shine brighter. If all 12 gems shine their brightest, then anyone can wear the breastplate to gain immense power.
The sub themes are extremes vs. balance (because the main character thinks in extremes, like in feminism, she is either a damsel or a Leeroy). The "butterfly vs. moth" theme which is why she gets butterfly wings when she transforms, and goes with the "love makes beauty but beauty doesn't make love" theme. And the theme of the "star" and the worth of a person is explored, because her element is air, and stars are her power. There are also people who are considered stars, like the most popular students in school, and even people who have reached celebrity status all on the same team. She can reposition stars, and even send comets to earth, and sometimes conjure up a star while she's still on earth, maybe even black holes. But because she sort of sacrifices her own morals, she could prove to be extremely dangerous. The protagonists are people of different ages (you can activate your astral energy at age 12-31, depending on what month you were born), different races and ethnicities, different religions, different social-economic backgrounds, and different body types.
The villains are 4 people, born in each season, whose powers are elemental. Their mission is to kill anyone who stands out too much in society, and their bodies automatically become mindless drones, with all white skin and hair. Their targets can be people who stand out in a good way, like famous actors, musicians and scientific geniuses. Or, in a bad way, like mentally and physically disabled, poor people, and criminals. And the whole thing goes with the "individuality vs. conformity" theme.
And because the series is mainly focused on the girl who is a Gemini, wich represents communication, all the protagonists and antagonists will be thrust into situations where their communication and individuality is hindered in some way. The theme of gems represent the worth of a person. And I'm focusing on the American birthstone for June, alexandrite (Alexandrite is the Russian birthstone of August), which means something like love or life. And birthstones have many different meanings, and probably won't have the same meanings in 2020 as they did in biblical times. If I did a prequel on a Taurus character, then I will go with the themes of music, nature, and a woman's fertility and nurturing. And if I did a sequel on any other sign, I would change the theme according to that.
Back then I didn't realize or even care that there were so many magical girl series cloning one another, even before the classic
Sailor Moon. But because I was so young, I didn't think I had the resources, or even the skill to release my series. And then in 2005, when I was in the middle of college, Avatar was released, which became a threat to my originality because the theme was elemental powers. My series also relies on elemental powers due to the theme. I guess that was ok, because it wasn't about the birthstones or how they relate to the Zodiac. And actually,
Captain Planet has elemental powers in it, and it has been released in 1990. I got inspired to create my old series after hearing some music, and getting some encouragement when I went to my second college, in about 2009. I worked on it fervently, with much clearer character parameters and plot lines than before.
But then
Homestuck came in around 2010, which took my Zodiac theme, complete with each protagonist to represent each sign, like I wanted, and Steven Universe came in 2013, which took my gemstone warrior theme, and turned it into complete garbage. Now I'm left with nothing. Worst of all, those are popular and mainstream, so I would certainly lose any legal issues. I can't even draw anymore, now that I'm in this deep depression. I don't even buy any more art supplies. I got expelled from art school in 2008, and I can hardly remember any good times there. I'm just like one of those losers who fell in love with their first idea, like they told me not to be. I have other ideas, but they're not as well thought out as 12 Gems. I did so much research on the subjects, bought books, and even took classes just because I loved my series. I get that there are billions of burger chains in America. I get that there are many different ninja stories, but only one Naruto. So, should I still even attempt to do it, am I just another Fleischer Brothers case?