| “ | Sis, what should I do? | ” |
—Reiko in the manga. | ||
| Reiko Mikami | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Kanji | 三神怜子 |
| Romaji | Mikami Reiko |
| Personal Information | |
| Born | 1968 |
| Age | 30 |
| Gender | Female |
| Height | 164 cm |
| Eye Color | Brown |
| Hair Color | Brown |
| Occupation | Homeroom Teacher |
| Family | Ryouhei Mikami (Father) Tamie Mikami (Mother) Kouichi Sakakibara (Nephew) Ritsuko Sakakibara (Sister) † Yousuke Sakakibara (Brother-in-law) |
| Vital Information | |
| Affiliation | The extra one |
| Status | Deceased |
| Cause of Death | Accidentally drowned in the Yomiyama River during a period of high rain and river swell (originally, novel, manga) Killed by an unknown assailant (originally, anime) Impaled with a pickaxe on the head (post-resurrection) |
| First appearance | |
| Manga | Chapter 1 |
| Anime | "Rough Sketch" |
| Voice Actors | |
| Japanese | Naoko Sakakibara |
| English | Molly Searcy |
Reiko Mikami was Kōichi Sakakibara's idolized aunt, whom he lived with after moving to Yomiyama. She was at Yomiyama North Middle School along with Katsumi Matsunaga and Ryoko Akiyama in 9th Grade Class 3.
Appearance[]
Appearance in the manga.
Appearance in the live film.
Reiko looked young for her age, and was seen wearing a plain yellow top with long green pants at home. She had long, straight brown hair, and brown eyes. She also had her hair tied in a ponytail, wore a pink clip, and spectacles with squared lenses.
Personality[]
Reiko gave Kōichi lots of advice on how to get by living in Yomiyama. Many times, she stated that she hated the family pet bird, Rei. She seemed to get very upset whenever someone talked about the incident 15 years ago, when she was in the 9th grade in Class 3-3. Also, at that time she didn't believe in the curse until her best friend, Ryōko Akiyama, died. When she saw that day by day, more classmates and their relatives are dying, she wanted to find out how to stop the calamity, asking Mr. Chibiki about it. Reiko claimed that her eldest sister, Ritsuko, was the woman she admired the most and also her idol and that she was very happy when she came to Yomiyama. She loved her very much, and Reiko frequently visited her at the hospital after she gave birth to Kōichi. Also, before Kōichi came to live with her she claimed the fact that she would protect him, as Ritsuko said that she will protect him shortly before she died. At the end of the manga, Tamie Mikami said after her death that she would offer herself to take care of Kouichi as Yōsuke Sakakibara can't do it, even if she met Kouichi a few times.
Reiko was fond of alcohol and often ended her days with a drink. In the manga she seemed to be a fan of Sapporo, a popular domestic Japanese beer, and in the anime, she was seen fixing herself a "Red Eye."
Plot[]
Kouichi asks Reiko questions.
In Another 0 Chapters, Reiko is seen in her younger days, when she was a student in the 9th-grade Class 3-3. At that time, she claimed the fact that she didn't believe in the calamity. Also, she often visited her eldest sister, Ritsuko, who was in the hospital shortly after Kōichi's birth. After her best friend Ryoko dies, she tries to find a way to stop the calamity.
In Episode 1, Reiko first appears at the hospital, when she visited Kōichi when he was recovering. While there, she tells him information about how to live in Yomiyama, and which school he was going to attend. When Kōichi becomes suspicious about his class' curse he asks her about it, but she yells and says that she can't help him. She is Kōichi's aunt from Ritsuko's side and Class 3-3's deputy homeroom teacher. She gives her nephew advice about Yomiyama Middle School through a series of "rules". One of them, is to separate their private life from their school life, thus Kouichi addresses her as aunt or Reiko at home and Ms. Mikami at school.
In "Hair Stand", Reiko takes Kōichi and the others to the beach resort to look for Katsumi Matsunaga. They had fun on the beach and at the end of the episode, they witness Junta Nakao's death on shore.
In "Glass Eye", while Kōichi and Mei Misaki were looking at the pictures inside the box, they found a picture of Reiko painting. Mei then asked Kōichi if Reiko paints at home. He told her that his aunt does, and she considers painting her real job. In the anime, there were no episodes showing Reiko painting. There is an episode showing Ms. Mikami supervising an art class at school.
Reiko changes to Mikami.
In "Stand by Oneself", the connection between Reiko and Ms. Mikami is revealed. Also, it is revealed that she is the Extra this year. Reiko was stabbed by an unknown assailant and thrown in the river in October of 1996 where she drowned. Mei saw her death, but didn't remember due to the curse altering her memories. She had known that Ms. Mikami was the Dead One, but had said nothing because, so far as she knew, nothing could be done about it. After Reiko was killed a second time in August 1998, nobody remembers her presence in 1998 or sees her in the photos made on the class trip except Kōichi and Mei, who were present during her second death.
Relationships[]
Kōichi Sakakibara[]
Kōichi and Reiko were very close and often spoke. She often gives her nephew advice while at home; their relationship is very different at school. Sometimes in the manga, they have more relationship. Kōichi was shocked upon realizing that she was the "Extra" and before killing her himself (instead of Mei), he said "Goodbye mother" suggesting that he saw her as a mother figure rather than an aunt. In the manga, he sometimes attaches "-nee" to her name, a shortened form of nee-san, or "big sister." They are seen to have a stable relationship.
Ryōko Akiyama[]
Reiko and Ryōko were close friends. Reiko was shocked after her death, believing that the "Calamity" had begun.
Ritsuko Sakakibara[]
Ritsuko is Reiko's sister by eleven years. They were friends and Reiko admired and idolized her older sister and was very affectionate towards her son as seen in Chapter 0.
Mei Misaki[]
Not much is dwelled upon between them. In the climax, Reiko was willing to shield Mei from an angry mob when they thought she was the extra. When it turned out Reiko was the Extra, Mei attempted to kill her, to spare Kōichi the heartache. Reiko herself was obviously terrified and confused, going as far as calling Mei a liar when the accusation flew. Mei is the first to realize that Reiko is the dead one.
Katsumi Matsunaga[]
In Episode 8, Reiko along with Kōichi, Izumi Akazawa, Naoya Teshigawara, Yūya Mochizuki, Takako Sugiura, and Junta Nakao met Katsumi on the beach to try and get information involving the Curse. Katsumi and Reiko were in the same class 15 years ago and seem to have a comical and good relationship as Katsumi says Reiko was a "shrimp" and Reiko says he is an "old geezer". They reconcile and talk about what they've been up to, with Katsumi bringing up another point on Reiko's death as he sought he saw and heard something about her recently.
Trivia[]
- Although in the manga (and film), she has her hair down and doesn't wear glasses as Reiko, and ties her hair up and puts the glasses on while teaching as Ms. Mikami, in the animated version these were switched. So in the anime, Reiko has glasses and tied-up hair while Ms. Mikami has no glasses and her hair down.
- Reiko and Mikami-sensei are the same person whilst having different hair color.
- Her home address is 5-1 Furuikecho Yomiyama City.
- Reiko means "wise child", while Mikami means "three gods".
- In the manga, Kōichi said that Reiko is a lot younger than his mother. More exactly, with 11 years.
- In the manga, Mei didn't witness her "real" death.
- When she was in 9th Grade Class 3 her best friend was Ryōko.
- In the manga, the relationship between Reiko and her eldest sister, Ritsuko, is more pronounced and also closer than in the anime. In the first chapter of Another 0 she is seen standing at her memento and talking to her.
- Also, Kōichi is more affected by her death. He is seen crying as everyone remembers how gentle she was. Reiko's relationship with Kōichi is more pronounced in the manga than in the anime.
- Reiko's personality differs from the manga to anime. In the manga, she is more gentle, kind and heart-warmed while in the anime her personality isn't that complex.
- It is revealed by Tamie at the end of the manga that after her "original" death, Ryōhei bought a bird and named it Rei, which is the abbreviation of Reiko.
- Reiko was the third person the audience saw the color of death in Mei's POV. The first was the photo of Misaki Yomiyama, the second was Izumi Akazawa and the fourth (chronologically the first) was Misaki Fujioka.
- Molly Searcy, Reiko's English voice actress is also known for voicing the titular character Akame in Akame Ga Kill! with Jessica Boone (Izumi Akazawa), Emily Neves (Takako Sugiura), Chris Patton (Naoya Teshigawara), Brittney Karbowski (Yukari Sakuragi), David Matraga (Shoji Kubodera), Clint Bickham (Yuuya Mochizuki), the now deceased Christopher Ayres (Kouichi's Father), Margaret McDonald (Aya Ayano), and Carli Mosier (Sanae Mizuno).
- There are some hints that she died throughout the series:
- Kouichi's grandmother saying that she think it was "a year and a half" since they bought the bird, after Reiko's funeral.
- As Mikami, Reiko was the art-clubs faculty adviser and as she died one and half year ago, there was no art club during the next year, 1997, as Yūya Mochizuki stated.
- Kouichi's dad saying to him that it was a year and a half since they last visited Yomiyama, although he didn't mention the purpose of their visit (funeral).
- Izumi remembering hitting Kouichi with an empty soda can and then getting helped up after she fell down the slope, and Kouichi is mentioning that he also lost someone.
Quotes[]
- "Talent is a key factor, of course, but without some luck on your side you're likely to fail."
- "If you want to drive that slow, get out from the fast line!"
- "I'm sorry Kouichi. There was nothing I could do."
- "I wonder if my adulthood has increased since then. What do you think, nee-san?"
- "I have changed. I...grew up."
- "I want to become like my sister someday."
- "Back then, I wasn't able to do anything. But now I must...If the disaster begin again this year, I will protect Kouichi. Don't worry, nee-san."
Gallery[]
- Main article: Reiko/Image Gallery