'Heartsping' film distributor warns against buying scalped tickets to greeting event

Showbox, distributor of upcoming animated film “Heartsping: Teenieping of Love,” urged the public not to buy scalped tickets for the film's ongoing stage greeting event.

Animation character Heartsping [SHOWBOX]

Showbox, distributor of upcoming animated film “Heartsping: Teenieping of Love,” urged the public not to buy scalped tickets for the film's ongoing stage greeting event.

“It has come to our attention that tickets are being traded illegally on some social media platforms, secondhand trading apps and online communities,” Showbox said Tuesday on Instagram.

The stage greeting event has been on the road since Saturday, with a person wearing a costume of Heartsping — the main character of the film. The event has visited fans in various theaters in Seoul ahead of the film’s release on Aug. 7.

Showbox told fans to report illegal ticket reselling through the film distributor's or franchise's official Instagram accounts.

“Purchasing tickets through illegal channels other than the designated ticketing outlets and engaging in scalping are actions that harm a healthy theater culture,” said the distributor.

“Heartsping: Teenieping of Love” is part of the TV animation franchise “Catch! Teenieping: Fairies of Emotion,” (2020-) which is about a magical girl named Romi catching mythical creatures called Teeniepings. The film focuses on a particular Teenieping named Heartsping, which is based on the emotion of love.

“Catch! Teenieping: Fairies of Emotion” first aired on KBS2 TV in March 2020 and was broadcast on JEI TV from September 2021. “Heartsping: Teenieping of Love” is the first feature film of the franchise.

BY KIM MIN-YOUNG [kim.minyoung5@joongang.co.kr]