Hallmark Claims That 'Love on Ice' Movie unrelated to 'Yuri on Ice' Anime
Hallmark has inadvertently angered a lot of anime fans as one of its upcoming movies has now been accused of completely ripping off the title and premise of an anime television series produced by MAPPA. Hallmark's upcoming figure skating romance movie, "Love of Ice," had enraged some fans who have claimed that the company was just copying the popular Japanese sports anime television series, "Yuri on Ice."
The anime, "Yuri on Ice," itself had just finished airing its final episode back in Dec. 21, 2016, with a total of 12 episodes. The anime centered around a male Japanese figure skater named Yuri Katsuki. The story involved his journey towards the figure skating championships and his romantic relationship with his male coach, Russian figure skating champion Victor Nikiforov.
According to Otaku, Hallmark claims that they had actually never heard of "Yuri on Ice" and that they did not in any way copy the show's title and premise. Fans, of course, could not be blamed as the company's new movie also centered around a former figure skating champion who eventually falls in love with her coach. The main different however is the sexual orientation of the characters, something that fans were quick to point out as being "homophobic."
Several fans went on to sign a petition on Change.org demanding that Hallmark ceases the production and the release of the movie. The petition has thus far reached over 3,600 signatures in its first two days. Several fans expressed their anger toward Hallmark and labeled their movie to be a "whitewashed" and "homophobic" rip-off of the "Yuri on Ice" anime television series.
According to the IMDB page for the upcoming movie, slated to be released this week, the concept of the movie is apparently from an adult romance novel series that was published in 2009. The novel, however, involved a gay hockey player instead of a figure skater.