He dreamed of it, he did it: Cyprien, the most famous French-speaking youtuber and one of the most eclectic, made a short film in Japan at the beginning of April, the cradle of a culture that fascinates his generation.

The 13 million subscribers to its YouTube channel have understood for a long time: like the rapper Orelsan whose nickname consists of his nickname (Orel) and the Japanese suffix "san" (Mr. or Mrs.), this key -at-tout autodidact (comedian, screenwriter, draftsman) feeds a special appetite for the archipelago and his creations, "a source of inspiration".

For a week, he shot with a Franco-Japanese team a film of a dozen minutes whose theme the tribulations of a young French man who wants to become a manga artist in Tokyo is the very illustration of this tropism Japan .

"Since I have memories, this culture has been served in incredible stories through mangas, cartoons," says the actor between two taken by bike, hair discolored for the occasion, in the middle of a residential area of ​​the Japanese capital.

The YouTuber and French actor Cyprien riding a bike while filming in Tokyo on April 2, 2019 Photo Credit : AFP | Kazuhiro NOGI

"I was fascinated by style, dynamism, fun," says the young man who is on his fifth trip to Tokyo. "I remember very well, for example, the first Dragon Balls that were hilarious, and as I went on, I continued to read manga, more for teenagers then adults, and learned a lot about Japanese society through that. "

His ability to "tell stories" comes to him also from the authors of Japanese novels he has read. "Even literature has influenced me".

"On the moon"

Whoever turned 30 in May and was one of the pioneers of self-produced online video, between rants, parodies and social cartoons, did not want to be content with being a tourist in Japan. "I wanted to come back with a larger project, work with Japanese people, be more in touch with them".

Whereas previous generations only had eyes and ears for American culture and, from Japan, the image of a "country of ants" trimming day and night, Cyprien belongs to this youth who finds in the archipelago something else. "I like old countries with a strong history and with very different habits of life in Europe," he says.

"Japan is both a capitalist and highly developed country like France, but at the same time I feel like I'm on the moon, I feel good and I do not 'feeling completely lost, but in fact, I am still.'

The French YouTuber Cyprien, April 2, 2019 in Tokyo Photo Credit : AFP | Kazuhiro NOGI

In his own way, with his false-true naivete, Cyprien, who also makes fun of his banter in the Japanese language, also likes to find out the peculiarities of Japan and the Japanese who are as much foreign to French glances. Repetitive greetings in shops, electronic toilets, visor grannies bike...

"Just to show the real life of the Japanese, I think it's good, the real Japan is much more interesting than the clichés, I could sit on the floor and watch the Japanese live".

After the short film and a vlog (video report) that will be broadcast soon, the next dream? A long film in Tokyo, or an animation project. "I love to vary the pleasures, YouTube being the cornerstone of all that, but I like to try to surprise and Japan is a good raw material for that".