"It's a miracle," acknowledges Ryuji Kochi, president of Europe, Middle East and Africa of Toei Animation, the Japanese company that has produced the animated series since 1999.

"At the beginning, it was not easy to have a broadcast on TV or to have fans," he told AFP.

"But we persisted and it was only after 13 years of broadcasting that One Piece became a phenomenon."

And multiplies the records.

With 490 million copies of the manga sold, the author and designer of the work Eiichiro Oda (46) was even awarded a "Guinness World Record" in the category "highest number of copies of a same comic book published by a single author ".

By way of comparison, some 400 million copies of Asterix have sold around the world since its first publication.

Enough to make the release of episode 1,000, scheduled in 80 countries, a global event and a symbolic milestone for fans.

In Tokyo, a long poster representing the main characters of the manga adorns the busy station of Shibuya.

Fans from Europe, the Middle East and Africa tackled the world record for selfies on a platform launched by the producer, with 20,000 shots against a Western-style wanted poster background.

Characters from the One Piece manga river on a wall of the Tokyo subway on November 18, 2021 Behrouz MEHRI AFP / Archives

In France, the second world market for manga and Japanese animated series, more than a hundred cinemas of the CGR network are planning a "marathon" of screenings on Sunday before the broadcast of the 1,000th episode.

The operation will also be organized in Belgium and Luxembourg.

"It speaks of all subjects"

"I've been a fan of (the series) One Piece for 20 years! I watch it since college and I still appreciate it, even growing up", enthuses on Twitter a Japanese net surfer, in a hurry to see on the screen the continuation of Luffy's adventures.

A statue of Luffy, the main character of the One Piece manga river, in a shop in Tokyo on November 19, 2021 Philip FONG AFP / Archives

How to explain such longevity?

"What makes this manga so special is above all the script and the intelligence of Eiichiro Oda," said Ryuji Kochi.

"It's complete, it speaks of all subjects. There is social, action, humor. One Piece manages to make links with the real subjects of society", testifies the Frenchman Alexis Poriel , 26, and founder of a manga group on the social network Discord.

Excessive industrialization, racism, slavery, geopolitical intrigues ... Beyond the themes addressed, the immense universe of One Piece is crossed by cultural and geographical references (ancient Egypt, Venice, Andalusia, medieval Japan ...) which give it a universal dimension.

"What is important with One Piece is that we have several levels of reading. This makes it possible to reach all age groups: both the young readership in search of adventure and the slightly older readership. who likes a bit of complexity, "Benoît Huot, manga editorial manager at Glénat, who will publish the 100th volume of the manga in France on December 8, told AFP.

"By offering totally different universes, the author makes it possible to never bore the reader in the narration. All this makes us have a fresco, an epic which has lasted for an extremely long time and where we cannot say that it turns in round ", he adds.

While the plot still promises many twists and turns for several years to come, what does One Piece lack to reach an even larger audience that goes beyond fans of Japanese animation, like cultural franchises like Star Wars or Harry Potter?

The upcoming release on Netflix, the streaming platform with more than 200 million subscribers, of a series adapted from the universe of One Piece is supposed to help it, want to believe its producers.

The announcement of the official casting on social networks, which ignited the web in early November with more than 3 million views, gave a first glimpse of the expectation aroused.

© 2021 AFP