Fans of the hit anime series "Yuri on Ice" have accused Hallmark's "Love on Ice" as a rip-off, but the company said none of the members of the movie team knows about the anime. The filming schedule of Hallmark's movie also makes it impossible to be a rip-off of the hit anime.
The storyline of the anime series and Hallmark's movie looks the same as the company describes "Love on Ice's" storyline as centering on 27-year-old female skater Emily James. She is already a relic in the figure skating world, but gets a chance for glory when a young male coach, who she'll fall in love with, sees greatness in her.
"Yuri on Ice," on the other hand, centers on a disgruntled male figure skater who's considering retirement, but falls in love with his new male coach who helped turned his career around.
Though the movie and the series have somehow similar storylines, a representative from Hallmark told Kotaku that none of the members who worked on the movie has heard about the anime. Even the anime series creator Mitsuro Kubo said on Twitter that she thinks Hallmark's movie is different from "Yuri on Ice."
The scheduling of the movie's filming also makes it impossible for the company to copy the hit anime series. The Daily Dot reports that "Love on Ice" started filming as early as November 2016. The anime series premiered in Japan on October 5 and it became popular in the U.S. throughout November and December, about the same time the movie started filming already.
Kotaku adds that a petition was made on Change.org that demanded Hallmark to take down the TV movie. But after Kubo's tweet, the author of the petition told the website that she no longer believe the move was a rip-off.
Check out the preview of "Love on Ice," which will air on January 7 in the U.S., in the video below. In other news, find out where in Saga Prefecture, Japan Yuri Katsuki would have lived in real life.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
