Gemeilia: Kokko & May

Gemeilia: Kokko & May

The first volume of Kokko & May (English), including two issues.
Author	Eddie See Yew Lee
Country	Malaysia
Language	Chinese, English and Malay
Genre	Humour, education and lifestyle
Publisher	United Publishing House Sdn. Bhd. (distributor) G. Apple Studio Sdn. Bhd. (publisher) Pinko Creative Sdn. Bhd.（publishing unit)
Published	Gemeilia: The First Volume (1997) The Mischievous Siblings (1999) Gemeilia: Kokko & May monthly issues (2003)
Media type	Comic
No. of books	200 and above
Website	i-pinko.com

Gemeilia: Kokko & May (哥妹俩), simply known as Kokko & May, is a Malaysian Chinese comic series that created by Eddie See Yew Lee, began in 1997.

Gemeilia: Kokko & May tells the daily life stories of the two interesting siblings, Kokko See and May See. Apart from interacting with the See family members (such as their parents and uncle), Caihua Primary School (now Nankai Primary School) classmates and teachers, and also one shot characters are included into the stories, inspiring children to encounter ups and downs and also learning cultural characteristics beyond school textbook teachings.^[1][2]

Gemeilia: Kokko & May features a pair of male and female young siblings. The inspiration did not stem from Eddie See's own children, but rather from the concept of gender role balances. Since a mischievous young boy could lead to a wider variety of story developments, Eddie See chose the male character, Kokko See, as the primary lead of the narration. Initially, Eddie See intended to title the work “Xiong Mei Lia” (Chinese: 兄妹俩; trans. "older brother and younger sister"), however, the Chinese character “Xiong” (Chinese: 兄; trans. "brother") is also a homophone of “Xiong” (Chinese: 凶; trans. "fierce/violent"), which disrupted the tone and rhetorical effect of the title. In the end, "Ge Mei Lia" was decided, and later changed to Kokko & May, making the series more accessible and memorable for English readers.^[1][2]

In 1997, leveraging the lack of children's comics in the Malaysian comic market, Eddie See Yew Lee launched Gemeilia: The First Volume (Chinese: 哥妹俩创刊号) as the debut of his professional career. The work was published by United Publishing House (M) Sdn. Bhd. (Chinese: 联营出版（马）有限公司) However, the first volume released that same year performed poorly, with about two to three thousand unsold copies remaining. Its 1999 sequel, The Mischievous Siblings (Chinese: 淘气哥妹俩), also received a lukewarm response, with its initial print of 5,000 copies taking about a year to sell out. The underwhelming sales were mainly due to the thick volume, black-and-white interior pages lacking visual appeal, and a high price point for the perceived quality.^[3]

Moreover, during the late 1990s and early 2000s, the Malaysian education system generally viewed comics as harmful materials, often associating them with violence or adult content, rendering them banned items in schools. It was not until 2002 that Eddie See, after receiving numerous feedback and suggestions from readers of Gemeilia: The First Volume and The Mischevious Siblings, decided to reorganize and republish these books through a subsidiary of United Publishing House, G. Apple Studio Sdn. Bhd. (Chinese: 青苹果工作室有限公司). The books were split into four small volumes; One-Shot Comics (Chinese: 单元漫画), Struggles (Chinese: 奋斗), Guests at Home (Chinese: 家有稀客), and Siblings Affection (Chinese: 手足情深), to resolve the issue of them being out of print. Drawing inspiration from the Hong Kong children’s magazine Ertong Leyuan, Eddie See aimed to transition the series into a monthly publication suitable for school readership.^[4]

This transformation plan was initially met with skepticism from the publisher’s executives. Although it was originally intended to become a bimonthly magazine, Kokko & May was eventually published monthly from 2003. That same year, the first issue of the monthly series, titled Apprieciate What You Have (Chinese: 珍惜拥有), was released. Eddie See personally visited Chinese primary schools across Malaysia to promote the comic, leveraging the opportunity to bundle it with 20,000 copies of textbooks. The strategy proved effective, and within a few years, Kokko & May became increasingly popular among Chinese primary school students in Malaysia, Singapore, and Brunei.

In 2009, Kokko & May achieved a monthly circulation of 150,000 copies. During the same year, a new spin-off magazine, Kokko & May: E-Learning (Chinese: 哥妹俩之e起学习), was launched, focusing on children’s science and technology education. It complemented the original comic’s emphasis on life education, thereby expanding the thematic scope of the brand. In September 2009, Eddie See established Ge Mei Art Studio to offer art courses for both children and adults.^[5]

By 2010, Kokko & May had influenced other Malaysian children's publications, with some segments featuring striking similarities to the original’s on-site visit format. Around the same time, the short animated series Kokko & May: Idiom Animation (Chinese: 哥妹俩动画成语) premiered on Astro’s educational program Xiao Tai Yang, marking the brand’s entry into animation.^[6]

In September 2011, due to health concerns, Eddie See announced in Kokko & May: I Am the Team Leader (Chinese: 哥妹俩之我是组長) that the 200th issue would be the final installment of the series’ regular publication. In 2012, he founded Pinko Creative Sdn. Bhd. (Chinese: 品口动漫有限公司), a subsidiary of United Publishing House, aimed at promoting high-quality Malaysian comics and nurturing local talent. The publication rights for Kokko & May were subsequently transferred to this new company. In the same year, a trilingual version (Chinese, English, and Malay) of Kokko & May was launched as an iOS app developed by HBL, marking its expansion into digital platforms.

In 2013, Malaysia’s first movie adapted from a comic, Gemeilia 2013 (Chinese: 哥妹俩之惊历48), was officially released. The following year, a new magazine titled Mini Kokko ＆ May (Chinese: 迷你哥妹俩) was launched to provide children with a fairytale-themed platform for comic creation and publication.

In 2016, Sasbadi Holdings Bhd. acquired United Publishing House (M) Sdn. Bhd. and its subsidiaries. By 2018, Pinko Creative faced constraints due to limited personal resources, reduced publishing and promotional capacity, and technical disputes with Sasbadi over publishing rights. Eddie See decided to let Sasbadi take over Pinko Creative under the name of United Publishing House (M) Sdn. Bhd. to effectively resolve issues related to the publication of Kokko & May.^[7]

The acquisition price was based on Pinko Creative’s 2016 profit and asset valuation (excluding royalty income from Kokko & May). The deal granted Sasbadi the publishing and distribution rights for the Kokko & May monthly series, while Eddie See retained the copyright to the work and the right to operate Ge Mei Art Studio.

Due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, five planned issues of the Kokko & May monthly magazine, originally scheduled for release in the second half of 2021, were delayed to the first half of 2022. With the Malaysian Movement Control Order in effect, planned school visits and tourist site reporting were suspended, resulting in thinner magazine content.

In 2023, although Eddie See considered fast-tracking the series' finale, he ultimately decided against it, fearing that doing so would negatively impact the related industry chain. Instead, he shifted the magazine's release schedule to irregular publication and announced plans to implement a new publishing model within the next two to three years. Despite reaching its 200th issue milestone, Eddie See has yet to find the right inspiration to conclude the Kokko & May series.^[8]