What if I tell you tall, brown, wearing a straw hat and hungry? Well some will have recognized Luffy, the main character of the Japanese series One piece. Originally it is a manga, which is declined in animated with episodes programmed on the television channels. This manga, One piece, is a real phenomenon: 490 million books sold, with all the volumes, all languages combined, for nearly 25 years. Volume 100 was released last week. 250,000 copies were printed in bookstores, it is quite simply biggest launch never seen in the manga in France, according to the publisher Glénat. It is the equivalent of drawing a Goncourt prize.
Around thirty copies sold in 30 minutes
One piece it is the story of a young boy, Luffy, determined to become the Pirate King and his quest for hidden treasure. And the manga has been causing a stir for over 20 years. Like the raid during the release of volume 100 collector. Amaury is the comic / manga department manager at the Ravy bookstore in Quimper in Finistère: “It’s simple, we opened at 9:30 am, I arrived at 10 am and there was already nothing left. The thirty copies of the collector’s version of volume 100 are gone in minutes. Then throughout the day, people came to get the tome or ask for the collector. I’ve never seen that “, says the manager.
I grew up with One Piece – Quentin, 20
Moreover in the aisles of the department we meet Quentin, 20 years old for whom “This is the manga of [sa] life”, smiles the young man: “I’ve been reading it for 13 years and I am completely passionate about the universe and history. I grew up, I laughed, I cried with One Piece », confides Quentin. Next door, Elliot is scouting. At 17, he is impatiently awaiting the pass culture next year: “For 2 years, I watch the animated series on TV. When I have my culture pass, I will come and buy the tomes. I think I’ll take the first 30. I give myself two or three months to read them ”, rejoices the teenager.
The culture pass boosted sales
A culture pass that enormously amplified bookstore sales. Amaury confirms: “There are young people who came and went with whole bags filled with all the books in a series, sometimes 30 or 40 books! I had never seen that in 10 years of selling here », exclaims the manager. The culture pass allows young people to do not advance the costs ; the amount of the books is taken directly from a separate account. The craze for One piece can be seen in young people, but not what Amaury says: “It starts around 9 years old and there is no age limit! Those who started buying the first volume in 2000 must have been 15 or 16 years old. Today they are in their forties and they still read it. They also pass the manga on to their children. We have never seen a series whose success lasts so much », details Amaury.
Christmas parties in manga mode
As the Christmas holidays approach, it is the rush to shops that offers derived objects from the Japanese series. Cyril is the store manager Shop for geek in the city center of Quimper: “We are asked for it every day. We have figurines, they are the ultimate collector’s item; but we also offer clothes, cups or posters. The bestseller are the models of the boats of the series “, explains the manager. It completes: “The confinement fueled sales since people wanted to be entertained at home and online video platforms broadcast many episodes of the animated series taken from the One Piece manga”, observes Cyril.
France is the 2nd largest consumer of manga behind Japan. So for those who are tired of series that end in a few hours, know that the author, Eiichiro Oda, still writes episodes of One piece. The saga has held, since 2015, the title of the most printed comic strip in the world, according to the Guinness Book of Records. For the anecdote, when he came to Japan for the Olympic Games in the summer of 2021, Emmanuel Macron received an original drawing from Eiichiro Oda, the creator of One piece.