“We were immersed in mangas so, over time, I told myself that I would like to create a story“, explains the 22-year-old young man to AFP, in his studio, which looks like a fake jungle and is overlooked by his mountaineering outfit.
Created in collaboration with Basile Monnot, the director of “Kaizen”, and the designer Charles Compain, the 212-page work, the first plates of which appeared discreetly at the start of the documentary, tells the story of a young man with the power to perceive the aura and intentions of the people around him.
Inoxtag, whose real name is Inès Benazzouz, became known on YouTube, where he published content on video games since 2015.
The release in mid-September of the documentary retracing his ascent of the highest peak in the world was a resounding success: more than 38 million views on YouTube, 340,000 spectators in theaters during a single session and a broadcast on TF1.
A big fan of manga – he never takes off his favorite straw hat in honor of Luffy, hero of “One Piece” – Inoxtag decides to take the plunge in February 2023 when he meets his designer.
“At the time, I was a business engineer but I already had the ambition to become a manga artist.“, remembers Charles Compain, 29 years old, who is signing his first manga.
Taking advantage of the internet star’s (20 million subscribers on social networks) visit to the Agricultural Show, he offers him his services while slipping him one of his sketches.
French manga
“A lot of people ask me to work with them,” says Inoxtag. “But when I met Charles, I had this click. I thought about it all night. The next day, I called him and said, ‘Quit your job and come work with us.’“.
He smiled: “Following your instinct is important“.
To support him, the YouTuber affiliated with the Webedia group called on Tony Valente, the author of “Radiant”, a French manga sold over a million copies and the only one to have had the honors of an adaptation as an animated series in Japan.
A destiny that makes the eyes of the young man shine, who “dream” to one day see an animated version of his book.
He also produced a trailer produced by Toro Animation Studio, founded for the occasion by two French people, Julien Cortey and Dorian Coulon, who have worked on several Japanese series.
But Inoxtag is not the first French content creator to attempt the manga adventure.
Since 2016, Kevin Tran (5.6 million subscribers on YouTube) has sold more than 1.5 million copies of the six volumes of “Ki&Hi” with Michel Lafon, who also publishes “Instinct”.
“Inoxtag has been able to unite and build loyalty in its community. His communication power is extraordinary“, explains the publisher who regularly collaborates with Webedia.
“Political recovery”
Two months after the release of “Kaizen”, in which he advocated moving away from screens, what remains of the YouTuber’s good resolutions?
“It’s hard to change all of a sudden“, he concedes. “And I always try to have that little voice inside me that says: ‘Don’t forget what you’ve been through’“.
He allows himself “breaks” of several days and prepares a new ascent.
Although he claims to have learned from criticism, notably from certain mountaineers denouncing overtourism and its ecological issues, Inoxtag is annoyed by the “political exploitation” to which he may have been subject.
“This is something I want to denounce“, he argues, while the president of the National Rally Jordan Bardella sent him “his support” on X at the beginning of November after the burglary of his home.
“I don’t want to get involved in politics because I don’t want to talk about politics.“, he insists, even if he recognizes his “influence” among young people.
“Political recovery aims to divide people“, he regrets. “My only job is to transmit optimism and good values.“
