INTERVIEW/The Lion in Manga Library: Cartoonist delves into theme of love in Go manga

By Chao Yen-hsiang, CNA staff writer

It has been rare in the past decade for multiple books in a Taiwanese manga series to be translated into French, but "The Lion in Manga Library" (獅子藏匿的書屋) by Xiaodao (小島) is one of the few exceptions.

As of Sept. 8, all three books in the series have been published by the Lyon-based startup publisher, Komogi Éditions.

Although the fact that the series is based around the board game "Go" could suggest it would mainly be of interest to a niche reader base, the 34-year-old manga artist hopes the deeper message of her story will appeal to a wider range of people.

In an interview with CNA, Xiaodao shared how the theme of love threads her narrative together, how she explores the challenging dynamics of parent-child relationships in Taiwan, and how these themes will play out as the series draws to an end.

In the beginning, failures of love

Set in Taiwan in 2020, the "The Lion in Manga Library" series (hereafter referred to as "Lion") begins with a reunion of two Go players -- the main characters -- who share a common experience of dealing with traumatic parental relationships.

Fang Hsia-sheng (方夏生), a 16-year-old Go prodigy who recently won his first pro major title in Taiwan, has managed to escape his mother's grip and seek temporary refuge in a rental bookstore run by his former Go teacher Winter Yuan (元冬季, or "Yuan Tung-ji" in the French version), a 24-year-old former pro master who has not placed stones for a long time.

As the story unfolds, readers soon learn that Yuan and Fang are battling similar demons.

Often given the cold shoulder by her mother during her childhood, Yuan has been plagued by a psychosomatic disorder which led to her pro career coming to an abrupt halt a few years earlier.

The relationship that the two develop is considerably different from the parent-child relationships they endured during their youth, "as different as the black and white stones on the board," according to Xiaodao.

By the beginning of the third book -- which was published in Chinese and French in 2023 -- the two have cultivated a romance and are working together to conquer the challenge posed by a Go AI developed by Fang's older brother in order to release the teenager from his family's grip.

"If those of our generation (around 30) look closely at the relationship they have with their parents, most of them will have experienced similar problems and they are in a sense inevitable because of the suffering that generation endured while growing up," Xiaodao said when asked about why she chose to focus on this in the series.

The exploration of love, as well as the inclusion of Go AI and Taiwan's declining rental bookstore industry, is what differentiates "Lion" from the Go manga classic "Hikaru no go" by Yumi Hotta and Takeshi Obata, Xiaodao said.

The series by the Japanese manga artists was such a masterpiece that her work would never be able to compete, she added.

However, Xiaodao said, it was only when looking back on her work that she realized just how present and significant the theme of love was in her books.

Indebted love

Originally, Xiaodao said her main idea was to create a story about two individuals brought together by the board game, but as she continued drawing, the scars and the shadows plaguing the two characters continued developing, probably because of her awareness of the phenomenon in Taiwan.

"Asian parents' love for their children is based on a kid's social value.

"How much love you receive depends on how successful you are at school or in society. They're lying if they say they will love you regardless of what grade you score on a test," Xiaodao said.

This means that things like income, job position and relationship status are thrust into the spotlight on occasions like school reunions after people enter their 30s because people are used to earning love and recognition from others based on their level of success as defined by wider society, Xiaodao elaborated.

These social values led to the conflicts Xiaodao experienced with her family while pursuing her dream of becoming a manga artist, according to the artist.

She said the particularly fierce fights were with her mother, who has never stopped questioning her as to when she was going to get a "proper job," even after she won the grand prize of the 2021 Golden Comic Awards, the top manga award in Taiwan.

"They (mom and dad) had never even heard of it until I won it. Why would they recognize it as an achievement?"

Yet, the cartoonist said she was one of the lucky ones in Taiwan society. Some of her friends had their work torn into pieces by their parents.

Describing these conflicts as common in Northeast Asia, Xiaodao said relentlessly brutal parenting is to blame, but that she could also understand why parents could be like this, "because no one is obliged to back another's dream."

Xiaodao said she feels most encouraged when fans tell her how much they appreciate her work, and that she has no regrets about her decision to dedicate her life to the art of manga, even though that means working as a part-time Go teacher and physical therapist to supplement her income.

Dream job continues

In late September Xiaodao revealed that the Ukrainian translation of the first volume of "Lion" had been completed. She told CNA that she looks forward to meeting with Ukrainian fans and that she hopes Kyiv will be victorious in the war.

Although Xiaodao said she was still focusing on the series finale and had no concrete plans for her next work, she mentioned she had been inspired by the performance of pro Go player Hsu Hao-hung (許皓鋐) at the Asian Games this year.

Hsu, who was ranked 35th according to the unofficial Go Ratings, upset the world's top three players in the men's individual competition in Hangzhou, China, on Sept. 28, winning Taiwan's first Asian Games gold in that board game.

Describing Hsu's feat as "more dreamlike than manga," Xiaodao said she would consider modeling her next story on the Hangzhou Asian Games -- but only after she completes the "Lion" series.

"If I do draw the Asian Games, I expect it to be one closer to documentary manga," she said.

[Editor's note: "The Lion in Manga Library" is the title for the French version of the series, whose original title was "Crouching Lion in a Bookstore." The first episode in English can be accessed for free at the Books From Taiwan platform.]

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