‘TAKE MY BROTHER AWAY’
Twin Chinese comic artists You Ling discuss their sibling success
Love, hatred, shared memories of growing up and a lifetime of understanding and support… for many this is what defines a sibling relationship. In the Chinese mainland, this has become an increasingly popular topic of discussion after the launch of the government’s second-child policy in 2015. Now, the discussion has reached an all new climax due to the incredibly popular comic Take My Brother Away, which has a liveaction film adaptation coming to Chinese theaters this Friday.
Created by celebrated twinsister cartoonists Liu Lufei and Liu Shuangfei, the comic series follow a lovely pair of siblings who must rely on each other after their parents divorce: the violent Shi Miao and her older brother Shi Fen. Debuting on September 2015 on major Chinese online comic platform Kuaikan Manhua, the first two volumes of the work have been a huge success, with each chapter receiving an aver- age of 10 million views.
Now with a third volume and a new movie about to hit the market, the sisters who created the entire franchise have reached an all new level of popularity.
Creation of love
The cartoonists, in their 20s, go by the combined penname of You Ling, You referring to elder sister Lufei and Ling the younger Shuangfei.
The Take My Brother Away series is not the duo’s first work. Diary of Steamed Bun, a story about a little homeless orphan who pursues love and friendship, was the true launching point of the sisters’ career.
The sisters began the comic while in college as sort of a hobby. Publishing each issue on online platform U17.com, the two were able to pull in a little bit of spending money. However, when a family crisis struck the two were spurred to make the project a bigger part of their lives.
In 2011, their father was diagnosed with cancer and the huge cost of medical treatment soon became a heavy economic burden for the family.
To save their father’s life, the two young girls began working night and day to publish Diary of Steamed Bun comics in the hopes of earning enough money to pay for his treatments.
“That was a hard time for us. It was the first time that I felt having a sibling was such a blessing. We relied and supported each other,” You told the Global Times. The two were a perfect team, with You writing the story and Ling handling most of the drawing.
Diary of Steamed Bun became a huge success on the platform and a print version came out later that same year. In 2013, an animated adaptation began to stream online. Well received, many Chinese netizens called it “the most heartwarming animated work” they had ever seen. With the earnings from their work, the sisters were able to ease the financial burden on their parents and eventually their father managed to beat cancer.
True to life
Among all their works, such as Ming Lie 748 (Ghost Train 748), Tou Tiao Dou Shi Ta (He’s Always Making Headlines) and Hero, Take My Brother Away has been their biggest success so far.
The comic has been adapted into different cultural products – books, short animations, live-action TV series and a movie – both at home and abroad over the years. In 2017 and 2018, the first and second seasons of anime There’s No Cure for My Brother, an adaptation of You Ling’s work by Japanese companies Fanworks and Imagineer, aired on Japan’s Tokyo MX and major Chinese streaming platforms Tencent Video and Bilibili. In late June, a 30-episode live-action TV series version of the comic began to air on Tencent Video. To date, the show has received more than 1.2 billion views.
Writing the comic, the sisters have included many of their own real life stories into the mix, which makes the humor and fun in the work feel more natural and appealing to audiences. For example, the story in which the brother Shi Fen goes out to buy food for his sister but ends up eating it all before giving it to her is a scenario that frequently happens with the sisters.
“Tears or laughter, at the end of the day you will find that a sibling is the strongest source of support in your lifetime,” said You.
Discussing the various adaptations, Ying said that she feels the animated version is the closest to the original comic, but that the live-action TV versions are more rich and complete when it comes to storytelling and the characters.
The sisters have also been pleasantly surprised by their Japanese fans’ deep love for the series.
“We (Chinese and Japanese) laugh and cry about the same things. That’s the beauty of comics, they can cross cultures and boundaries,” You noted.