The Comics-Strips bookstore is one of the 100 French bookstores chosen by the publisher Glénat to sell a preview of volume 102 of One Piece. See you Tuesday, September 13 from 7 p.m.
When they opened Comics Strips, nine months ago in the rue du 11-Novembre, Ludovic and Alexis Chudzinski did not expect such enthusiasm. Sète is well endowed with generalist bookstores, but a place was still to be taken in the field of manga obviously. “It’s been a hit and, since June, it’s exploded!“smiles Ludovic Chudzinski in this shop, all in length and rich in nearly 700 references, in which the comfortable sofa is not the least appreciated accessory by customers. For several years, he sold figurines in the neighboring store before switch to all manga at number 9.
The consecration for these two brothers passionate about manga and pop culture is to have been chosen by the publisher Glénat for the One Piece night on Tuesday September 13 from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. That evening, only 100 bookstores in France will sell a preview of volume 102 of the famous Japanese manga One Piece written by Eiichiro Oda. The author releases three volumes per year of this cult series initiated in 2012 and whose end is announced in ten volumes.
“It’s a special appointment for all One Piece fans with gifts and a 2m long frieze with all the characters offered by the publisher in addition to the author’s videos shot for France. We , we will offer hats of the character. We are expecting more than a hundred people because we are the only ones in the sector” continues the bookseller with a hipster look. When he hesitates on a date or a name, it is to his younger brother, Ludovic, that he speaks. An encyclopedia of manga questions since their publication in France from 1991. “One Piece”, like all other manga, “reach wide, from children to teenagers without forgetting the pre-teens and adults who grew up with Akira, Dragon Ball and Dorothée and her Clubdo. Manga exploded during confinement and, today, it has supplanted comics. She’s not selling anymore.”
Japanese authors take the lion’s share and Japanese culture is popular among young people. Some even embark on learning kanji, these signs which make it possible to read part of the Japanese language. The small guide, at 2.99 €, “800 expressions to say everything in Japanese” is snapped up. “What people don’t necessarily know is that manga deal with societal themes such as disability (“Ranking of kings”) school bullying, old age, blended families, the LGBT movement in which young people identify. At the start, the LGBT theme, we didn’t believe it and we didn’t bet on it, but the girls read a lot of manga on this subject.
The Frenchy family is not left out. Let us quote the Montpellier Reno Lemaire who had a huge success with Dreamland, soon adapted into an animated series and “Ripper” by the designer Jeronimo Cejudo “which works super well.”