In theaters this Wednesday, one piece: red, the fifteenth film based on the popular manga by Eiichiro Oda, is one of the most anticipated films of the year. And its premiere, as expected, was quite an event. With 119,311 admissions at previews this weekend, the film is already a hit. But no one had imagined that it would set off the crowd so much, and that it would nearly overshadow the main release of the week: Boopthe new film from Oscar-winning director Jordan Peele (Salt Y U.S).

In theaters, part of the public exults to discover this new film, whose premiere comes just four days after Japan, and coincides with the twenty-fifth anniversary of the manga. In videos shared on social media from this weekend, half-naked young men jump and scream in a Marseille cinema as they discover the film’s final fight.

The staging?

On Saturday night, at the Grand Rex, in Paris, the public remained dressed, but did not hesitate to boo and insult Uta, the new female character of the saga, when she began to sing or opposed Luffy, the hero of One piece. Every fight and every appearance of a character beloved by the public, however, was acclaimed to the point of shaking the walls of the venerable cinema.

The phenomenon is not a recent one: for years, fans of Japanese animation have been divided between lovers of quiet and fans who have come to “set the mood”. In January, the preview of My Hero Academia: World Heroes Quest they had been disturbed by shouts, whistles and jeers – some spectators had even climbed on the couches to dance.

The same scene happened in March for Jujutsu Kaisen 0. In both cases, the excesses were filmed and the footage garnered millions of views on Twitter. However, these videos seem to be staged by their protagonists, in order to create a stir on social networks. Since the premiere of My Hero Academia: World Heroes Questwe witness an escalation among Internet users.

“A very important moment for the fans”

These excesses, it must be said, are not the prerogative of fans of Japanese animation. As remembered on Twitter by critic Joachim Lepastier, sessions at the Grand Rex Science Fiction and Fantasy Film Festival in the 1970s and 1980s already drew boos from ruthless audiences. “Every time I do something, I think of the Rex audience and wonder what will make them scream,” director Sam Raimi said one day.

In the case of one piece: red, several elements allow us to understand these overflows. The excitement is linked to the possible revelations that the film contains about Shanks Le Roux, one of the most mysterious and charismatic characters in Eiichiro Oda’s manga. The film also features a new character: the singer Uta, who is none other than Shanks’ daughter.

“This year there have been many revelations and One piece He’s at a point in his career that’s very important to the fans,” recalls animator Vincent Chansard, who worked on the film. Red. “There’s a lot of fan engagement and there’s been a lot of news: Netflix’s live-action series, Oda’s break, the announcement of the latest arc… It’s an accumulation of phenomena that have participated in this hype.”

The surprise of ‘Gear 5’

And if we trust the videos circulating on social networks, the outbursts seem to be related to the surprise caused by the final fight of the film, where Luffy adopts the “Gear 5” fighting technique, which has just made its appearance in the sleeve. a few weeks ago, in chapter 1044. Nobody could have imagined that such a recent element of the manga would be in One piece: red.

Even the animators who worked on the film didn’t know what director Goro Taniguchi was doing: “In the early storyboards, he wasn’t there,” recalls Vincent Chansard. “The whole question is was he added along the way or was he not purposely storyboarded to only reveal the information at the end of the story? Stage host?” Despite this surprise, one piece: red disappointed fans, who consider this film mediocre inconsistent with the manga.

Despite the interesting references to what Eiichiro Oda is doing, one piece: red suffers from rhythm problems. And despite a scenario similar to that of Doctor strange in the multiverse of madness, the film is not as rich as the manga, an adventure story that denounces excessive industrialization, racism and slavery. Fans will be able to catch up with volumes 102 and 103, scheduled for September 14 and December 7 respectively, with some big surprises on the schedule.