Taiwanese artist grabs 2 top awards at Japanese manga contest

Tokyo, Oct. 13 (CNA) A Taiwanese artist known by his pseudonym Gene has won two top prizes at this year's Kyodo International Manga Anime Award, a Japanese contest that is held annually for aspiring manga artists from around the world.

Gene, who entered the competition with two separate entries this year, won both the Grand Prize and the Excellence Award.

The winnings also came with cash prizes of 100,000 yen (US$948) and 50,000 yen, respectively.

"(Gene's work) is very detailed. The artwork is beautiful and the story is cute. It is easy to like this manga," a panelist named Arito said in a review of Gene's top-winning manga, titled in Chinese as "稻草人的守護者," which literally translates into English as "Guardian of the Scarecrow."

"The artwork is cute and has a trendy style. It was very easy to read," said another panelist, named Rin.

"Guardian of the Scarecrow" tells the story of a young boy who one day discovers that a scarecrow on his farm is able to suddenly move but is missing some crucial parts before it can become fully human.

Gene's second winning entry is titled "慶典路上" in Chinese, which translates as "On the Path to Celebration."

Submissions to the 2020 Kyodo International Manga Anime Award were opened online to international artists between June 1 and July 31, with the winning entries announced recently on the organizer's website.

This year, there were 1,621 participating entries from 87 countries, including artists from Taiwan, Japan, China and the United States.

The competition has been held since 2015 and is part of the Kyoto International Manga Anime Fair.

The award ceremony will be held in Kyoto on Nov. 21.