《TAIPEI TIMES》 Taiwanese bags silver in Japan manga awards

/ Staff writer, with CNA

Taiwanese artist Cory Ko （柯宥希） on Friday won a silver Japan International Manga Award, while two other Taiwanese artists were awarded bronze prizes.

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Ko entered CliniClowns: Last Goodbye （小丑醫生 — 最 後一次說再見）, which saw her tied with Ukrainian artist Nataliia Rerekina, who presented Moonchosen, and Spanish artist Jordi Lafebre for his work Always Never.

The 15th iteration of the competition received the highest number of entries ever: 484 from 76 countries. One gold, three silver and 11 bronze prizes were awarded.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the awards ceremony was held online, but the winner from Ukraine, which has been under a Russian attack since Feb. 24, could not appear virtually.

Ko’s CliniClowns: Last Goodbye tells the story of Hsiao-han （筱涵）, a 17-year-old high-school student who does not see her sister before she dies because she wanted to escape the atmosphere of the hospital’s terminal illness ward.

Hsiao-han regrets her actions and lingers in the hospital all day until she meets a clown doctor with a red nose who helps her find her way out.

She then decides to train to become a clown doctor so that she can bring happiness to sick children.

Ko’s work is based on a story written by Taiwanese writer Feng Shih （逢時）.

Taiwanese artists Chang Ki-ya （張季雅） and Evergreen Yeh （葉長青） won the bronze prizes for Formosa Oolong Tea Vol. 4 （異人茶跡4:茶迷大稻埕） and Mayfly Island （蜉蝣之島） respectively.

Aimee de Jongh from the Netherlands won the top prize.

The competition was founded by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2007 to increase international exchanges and mutual understanding through manga.

At the awards ceremony, Japanese State Minister for Foreign Affairs Takako Suzuki conveyed a message from Rerekina, who said she believed the war in Ukraine would end and she would continue to create manga, because comics can be encouraging to people in peril.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES