Liu's classmate Hsu Chi-lin, who also ended up creating comics, explains that although he had the highest score on the entrance exam to the art program in the school, Liu ended up graduating first in the class. Back then schools required students to take midday naps, but Liu never slept, Hsu recalls. Instead he would go by himself to the art studio and sketch.
劉興欽的同班同學，日後也成為漫畫家的徐麒麟說，當年他是以第一名的成績考取北師專藝術科，劉興欽卻是以第一名的成績畢業。