Believers
ビリーバーズ (Believers)
Demographic	Seinen
Genre	H manga, drama, romance, slipstream
Manga
Authored by	Naoki Yamamoto
Publisher	Shogakukan
Serialized in	Weekly Big Comic Spirits
Original run	May 1999 – November 1999
No. of volumes	2

Believers is a seinen manga by Naoki Yamamoto and is his first weekly serial manga created entirely without the help of any assistants.^[1] Believers was first serialized in Weekly Big Comic Spirits between May and November of 1999 and is published in two tankōbon by Shogakukan. The plot to Believers revolves around themes of sexual desire and the line between dreams and reality. It must be noted however, that while Believers contains many scenes of pornographic nature, the sex and nudity is used intellectually and not merely as fan service. Look up belief, believe, believer in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 429 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (788 × 1100 pixel, file size: 1. ... Seinen not to be confused with adult )) is a subset of manga that is generally targeted at an 18–30 year old male audience, but the audience can be much older with some comics aimed at businessmen well into their 40s. ... H manga is ero manga, which refers to any adult-themed comic books. ... This does not cite any references or sources. ... A romance novel is a literary genre developed in Western culture, mainly in English-speaking countries. ... Slipstream is a kind of fantastic or non-realistic fiction that crosses conventional genre boundaries and doesnt sit comfortably within the confines of either science fiction/fantasy or mainstream literary fiction. ... “Original manga” redirects here. ... Naoki Yamamoto ) is a mangaka. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Japan. ... Headquarters of Shogakukan in Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan Shogakukan ) is a Japanese publisher of dictionaries, literature, manga, nonfiction, childrens DVDs, and other media in Japan. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Japan. ... Weekly Big Comic Spirits is a weekly Japanese seinen manga magazine published by Shogakukan, aimed at males 20-25 years old, and originally launched on October 14, 1980. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... This article is about the year. ... Look up November in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... This article is about the year. ... Tankōbon ) is the Japanese term for a compilation volume of a particular series (such as a manga or a novel series, magazine articles, essays, craft patterns, etc. ... Seinen not to be confused with adult )) is a subset of manga that is generally targeted at an 18–30 year old male audience, but the audience can be much older with some comics aimed at businessmen well into their 40s. ... “Original manga” redirects here. ... Naoki Yamamoto ) is a mangaka. ... Weekly Big Comic Spirits is a weekly Japanese seinen manga magazine published by Shogakukan, aimed at males 20-25 years old, and originally launched on October 14, 1980. ... This article is about the year. ... Tankōbon ) is the Japanese term for a compilation volume of a particular series (such as a manga or a novel series, magazine articles, essays, craft patterns, etc. ... Headquarters of Shogakukan in Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan Shogakukan ) is a Japanese publisher of dictionaries, literature, manga, nonfiction, childrens DVDs, and other media in Japan. ... Pornography (from Greek πορνογραφια pornographia — literally writing about or drawings of harlots) is the representation of the human body or human sexual behaviour with the goal of sexual arousal, similar to, but (according to some) distinct from, erotica. ... Fan service ), sometimes written as a single word, fanservice, is a vaguely defined term chiefly used for Japanese visual media—particularly in anime fandom—to refer to elements in a story that are unnecessary to a storyline, but designed to amuse or sexually excite the audience[1][2]. It is...

Plot summary

"Believers"^[I] is the word for members of the "Smiley Face Center", a cult organization with the goal of achieving purity of self and reaching "the land of comfort". Believers follows the events of three such people that have been left stranded on a deserted island off the coast of Japan. The three "believers" are referred to only by their rank and they practice various activities in an effort to purge their bodies from the perceived evils that society has subjected them to, such as lust and possession. But the "believers" are not able to resist their past temptations so easily, and the faith in their "organization" gradually weakens as the "believers" begin to question what is right and eventually what is even real.

Main characters

The main characters of Believers (left to right): The "Chairman", the "Vice Chairman", and the "Operator".

The "Chairman" is the highest ranking of the three "believers" on the island. He is a failed novelist but believes this is due to society rather than himself. Every night he has a continuing, epic dream that he can never remember upon awakening but believes that if he could reproduce his dream in print that he would be a best selling novelist. He rationalizes that this it is for the best that he is unable to; stating that if it wasn't for his inability to replicate his dreams, he would have never joined the "organization" and would have been stuck in the evil material world. He is slowly resented by the other two "believers" when, after having a fever due from food poisoning, he begins to act delusional and his sanity begins to come into question. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Foodborne illness or food poisoning is caused by consuming food contaminated with pathogenic bacteria, toxins, viruses, prions or parasites. ...

The "Vice Chairman" is the only female on the island and is the second highest ranking of the three. She was married to an abusive husband who accused her of adultery and hit her after she began to talk to a man referred to as the "3rd Division Chief". The "3rd Division Chief" then helped her leave her husband and join the "Smiley Face Center". She credits the "3rd Division Chief" for helping her denounce the filthy world and it is evident that grew to have feelings for him. She is the most doubtful "believer" in the group and often ends up going against the teachings. “Domestic disturbance” redirects here. ... Adultery is voluntary sexual intercourse between a married person and a partner other than the lawful spouse. ...

The "Operator" is the main protagonist of Believers and also the lowest ranking "believer" on the island. He learned of the "Smiley Face Center" through his mother, who was also a member. However, later, when the "Operator" was a member himself, his mother had had the effects of the brainwashing reversed and begged him to come back. The "Operator" refused to listen and chose to stay. The relationship between him and the "Vice Chairman" is a focal point of the manga, as he begins to find himself thinking forbidden, sexual thoughts about her. A protagonist is the main figure of a piece of literature or drama and has the main part or role. ...

Inspirations for the manga

The Aum Shinrikyo and the Japanese Red Army

Naoki Yamamoto's first inspirations for Believers came after the Sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway in 1995. The attack caused him to become interested in researching the Aum Shinrikyo, the terrorist group behind the attack. However, the Aum Shinrikyo had thus far kept their members quiet, leaving little research material. This led Yamamoto to instead read a book on the Japanese Red Army, a different Japanese terrorist group that has former members who have written about their past experiences. After reading the book, Yamamoto began to wonder what would happen if a group of fanatics who believed radical ideology were isolated together. This thinking would eventually lead to the creation of Believers.^[1] A wanted poster in Japan. ... Year 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full 1995 Gregorian calendar). ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...

The Second Sea Fortress

Example of landscape inspired by the Second Sea Fortress.

The setting for Believers was modeled off of the Second Sea Fortress: a small, artificial island built off of the coast of Tokyo Bay in the late 1910s. The island had been destroyed by the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 and had been relatively untouched in the 80 years that followed. It was this desolation that intrigued Yamamoto when he first discovered the island in the Big Comics magazine "100 Ruins". Yamamoto used his connections with Shogakukan to borrow the pictures for reference use. Later, about half-way through the series, Yamamoto had the opportunity to visit the Second Sea Fortress in person, along with a model and some staff. The nude photo shoot drew the attention of some passing fishboats and the entire crew ended up with sunburn. Many of the later landscape backgrounds of Believers were taken directly from the photos of that shoot.^[2] Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Main article: Artificial island Currently, man-made islands are an expensive but in some cases lucrative option for many cities having lack-of-land problems (such as Tokyos Odaiba and Fukuokas island city project. ... Before Mexico City, Tenochtitlan was an artificial island of 250,000 (Dr Atl) Dejima, not allowed direct contact with nearby Nagasaki Formoza (Gdynia) The World in Dubai An artificial island is an island that has been formed by human, rather than natural means. ... Tokyo Bay from space Tokyo Bay ) is a bay in the southern Kantō region of Japan. ... // The 1910s represent the culmination of European militarism which had its beginnings during the second half of the 19th Century. ... The 1923 Great Kanto earthquake ) struck the Kanto plain on the Japanese main island of Honshu at 11:58 on the morning of September 1, 1923. ... Headquarters of Shogakukan in Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan Shogakukan ) is a Japanese publisher of dictionaries, literature, manga, nonfiction, childrens DVDs, and other media in Japan. ...

Critical response

A reviewer at the French website Lost-Edens has praised the manga; saying, "Believers is a work which could be only enriching."^[3]

Notes

References

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External links

This article contains Japanese text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of kanji or kana.

• (Japanese) Page at Naoki Yamamoto's official site
• (English) Page at Anime News Network