The world has been split in two areas: one where humans live and another where demons reside. And by the border of these two regions is a place where man and demon coexist. This place is called the “Symbiosis Zone”. One day, the commander of a rescue squad within the Symbiosis Zone came to discover a young babe. To save this child from certain death, the commander would eventually negotiate with the demons. Years later, a rescue squad member named Taesee would head out towards the Symbiosis Zone with hopes of helping the people living in the region. In the process, Taesee would come to make contact a youth who was not befitting of the region. And at that moment demons would appear ready to attack the pair. And before the demons stands an unfazed boy laughing. What is his purpose...
雅：It is so great that this work won the grand prize. As this was unexpected, I’m a little self-conscious, but my, is this great! I would like to express my gratitude towards the judges who selected this piece. Personally, I love this story. It holds a number of themes of great interest such as the concept of what it means to be human and the depths of the human heart. I would also like to thank my partner who was able to render this story perfectly. It took a great deal of effort to properly express this story visually, so I feel I have a lot of work ahead of me in the future. Especially since I believe we as a combo have plenty more stories to share. Finally, I’d like to thank my family. The words and support from my family were able to fill me with the utmost strength.
紳：To my parents, my brother who was my first “judge”, the friends who have supported me, my partner’s family and to the judges...I would like to extend my thanks. As this was completely unexpected, knowing that this work has taken the award has me very thrilled! With that in mind, I must thank Professor Lee from my college days for giving me the idea for this story. Lee taught me that while other beings have organs that pump blood through their bodies called “hearts”, the human heart in reality is a much more mysterious thing. That led me to consider the reasoning of “the union between man and demons”. Finally, I want to thank my partner. It has been a fantastic journey, and I would like to continue with it together.
We are introduced to a world where man and demons co-exist, through a story where fate has brought together a woman and a demon youth. The facial expressions were abundant. We enjoyed the lead character, the young demon, in particular, with his “sense of fear” and “charm”. He had us wondering, “where will this child go from here?” This was very consistent, from a story perspective, and we felt as if the author purposely wanted to surprise their readers. While there were a few places that warranted some work, such as some difficult to understand composition and paneling, amongst this year’s entrants it was on level of perfection and thus selected as the grand prize winner.