One Piece effect: French YouTuber climbs Mount Everest sporting Luffy's straw hat

One Piece fans have given their thumbs-up of approval to 22-year-old YouTube star Inoxtag, who charismatically and effortlessly pulled off a mountain-sized feat of climbing Mount Everest. The buzzworthy franchise's enthusiasts applauded not only his courageous achievement but also for doing it all in style as the French content creator flaunted his “unlimited aura,” donning Monkey D Luffy's signature straw hat.

Otakus are convinced that “it took him less time to climb Mount Everest than it did for Luffy to reach the rooftops,” as quipped by an X/Twitter user. Someone else hoped that Eiichiro Oda, One Piece’s legendary mangaka, would add Inoxtag to the straw hat crew.

A third hailed him the “King of the mountains,” while numerous others crowned him the “GOAT,” praising his inspiring documentary and daunting accomplishment. Yet another One Piece fan pointed out, “That’s my straw hat power.” On the other side of social media - on Instagram, a fellow anime-phile said, “One piece inspires everyone to reach their goals. Oda is the goat.”

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French YouTuber Inoxtag is a certified One Piece

It’s safe to say that the “GOAT of YouTubers in terms of climbing” has once again united all One Piece fans under one roof. It is also worth noting that the streamer is a fan of the iconic anime series himself, as his X/Twitter profile picture is also a Luffy image.

The YouTuber, whose real name is Inès Benazzouz, teased his movie on August 31 with a trailer heavily referencing Luffy and his hat, highlighting the rousing influence of the timeless character and the anime. Erasing all and any kind of doubts on the matter, the online star previously confirmed how Oda’s creation served as one of his greatest inspirations. “If he [Oda] comes across my documentary, I’d just like to say thank you for making me believe that dreams can come true,” he told AFP, as France 24.com reported.

Inoxtag's Mount Everest adventure is documented in ‘Kaizen’ documentary

Additionally, on September 13, French film group MK2 behind Anatomy of a Fall released the theatrical offering of Kaizen, a documentary film featuring the YouTuber across France and French-speaking territories. Per Variety’s report, Inoxtag took off on an epic mission to climb the world’s highest peak after just one year of preparation without relying on practising sports. The film’s title captures the essence of the inspiring feat undertaken by the Inoxtag, as the Japanese compound concept (Kai + Zen) refers to “continuous improvement” or “change for the better.”

Directed by Basille Monnot, the documentary dropped for free viewing on YouTube a day later. The family-owned film company’s CEO, Elisha Karmitz, said it marked the first time a film was launched for free on YouTube a day after its theatrical premiere. The experiment soared all thanks to Inoxtag, who “turned out generous offers from paid platforms to have his film play on the platform for free so that would bring together his community,” said Karmitz.

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More about streamer Inoxtag

Inoxtag has over 8 million subscribers on YouTube. He started posting content related to video games in his mid-teens. The streamer’s rambunctious and force of nature positioned him as a standout internet personality. Years after obsessing over Minecraft and Fortnite, he jumped into action for an adventure of his own. “I’ve always liked to have adventures – when I was younger, they were on video games,” he said in the AFP interview.

His two-hour-plus documentary's theatrical release has helped film group MK2 break the box office record for French alternative programming. According to Variety, Kaizen sold an estimated 350,000 tickets from 1,000 screenings in a single day.