Reito Kanzaki
Encyclopedia
is a character in the anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....

 and manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...

 series My-HiME
My-HiME
is an anime series, created by Sunrise. Directed by Masakazu Obara and written by Hiroyuki Yoshino, the series originally premiered in Japan on TV Tokyo from September 2004 to March 2005...

. In the alternate universe
Parallel universe (fiction)
A parallel universe or alternative reality is a hypothetical self-contained separate reality coexisting with one's own. A specific group of parallel universes is called a "multiverse", although this term can also be used to describe the possible parallel universes that constitute reality...

 My-Otome
My-Otome
is an anime series created by Sunrise. Directed by Masakazu Obara and written by Hiroyuki Yoshino, it is a spinoff of My-HiME anime series and as such My-Otome takes place in a new setting with new main characters....

, he has become a cyborg called Rad (ラド Rado). He is voiced by veteran seiyū Toshihiko Seki
Toshihiko Seki
is a Japanese voice actor and member of 81 Produce. Apart from voice actor work, Seki sometimes does live action drama stage work. He is sometimes mistaken for another voice actor, Tomokazu Seki, sharing the same last name but are unrelated.-Person/Career:...

 in Japanese and Ethan Cole in English.

My-HiME anime

Reito Kanzaki is the Vice President of Fuuka Academy's Student Council alongside President Shizuru Fujino
Shizuru Fujino
is a fictional character in the Japanese animated series My-HiME and My-Otome. In My-Otome, her name has been changed to Shizuru Viola. Though her role in both series was that of a secondary character, she has a wide range of admirers among the show's fans...

. A calm person, he is popular with the female students of the school, but shows romantic interest in Mai Tokiha
Mai Tokiha
is a character from the My-HiME and My-Otome anime and manga series. She is voiced by Mai Nakahara in Japanese and Carol-Anne Day in English.- Common characteristics :Mai is depicted with short orange hair and a rather large bust...

. Reito's calm and reserved personality often clashes with that of Executive Committee head Haruka Suzushiro
Haruka Suzushiro
is a character from the My-HiME and My-Otome anime and manga series. Her name is Haruka Armitage in the My-Otome series. She is voiced in both series by Ryōka Yuzuki. In the English dubs she is played by Lori Barnes-Smith...

, whose annoyance with him is made evident several times. Reito shows kindness by taking Mai's brother Takumi and his roommate Akira with him on official business to a fancy restaurant free of charge.

He witnesses Mai use her powers against an Orphan, and forms something of an alliance with her as the events of the HiME festival progress.

The first sign that he is more than he seems appears when he somehow saves Mikoto Minagi
Mikoto Minagi
is a fictional character from the My-HiME and My-Otome anime and manga series. Her name is simply Mikoto in My-Otome. She is voiced in both series by Ai Shimizu in Japanese and Caitlynne Medrek in English.- Common characteristics :...

 from a pile of debris despite having been nowhere in the vicinity mere seconds ago. Another is that he has a pendant suspiciously similar to the one Mikoto wears, but denies being her brother and initially claims not to have a sister despite his extreme resemblance to the boy in Mikoto's memory.

After Mai goes through a period of extreme psychological stress, in which she sees her brother vanish because of Mikoto's attack and then seemingly the death of Mikoto herself, Reito finds her wandering the streets aimlessly and brings her to his home to give her shelter.

It is eventually revealed that he is the host of the Obsidian Lord, the main villain of the series. Nagi also divulges that he is actually Reito Minagi, the missing elder brother of Mikoto. Using this fact as leverage, the Obsidian Lord controls Reito into making Mikoto fight the other HiMEs, but he is eventually defeated and Reito is freed of the possession.

In the Mai-HiME short which is set after the end of the series, "Black Dance/The Last Supper", Reito is shown to hold more malevolent tendencies than would have been previously noted, though he keeps them hidden from others. He is also much less reserved when provoked, becoming angered when Mai tricks him into coming to the beach so the cast can force him to consume spicy foods, which like Mikoto, he seems to hold a vulnerability and distaste for.

It is completely possible that his actions beforehand weren't entirely at the hands of the Obsidian Lord, or that his actions afterwards might be due to the long-term influence being the Obsidian Lord's host had.

My-HiME manga

Reito does not appear in the original My-HiME manga. Instead, the Obsidan Lord possesses Takumi Tokiha
Takumi Tokiha
is a supporting fictional character in the anime series My-HiME and a minor character in the alternate universe sequel My-Otome. He is voiced by Yugo Takahashi in the Japanese version, Cole Howard in the English dub, and Miyuki Sawashiro in the My-HiME PS2 Game....

.

He appears in the My-HiME EXA manga due to the similarities between it and the anime. It is unknown at this time if he still plays host to the Obsidian Lord.

My-Otome anime

Reito actually appears in My-Otome as a cyborg named Rad. Rad is a cyborg
Cyborg
A cyborg is a being with both biological and artificial parts. The term was coined in 1960 when Manfred Clynes and Nathan S. Kline used it in an article about the advantages of self-regulating human-machine systems in outer space. D. S...

 and member of the Aswad. While originally human, the mysterious disease that plagues the Aswad progressed to a point where he had to have his nervous system
Nervous system
The nervous system is an organ system containing a network of specialized cells called neurons that coordinate the actions of an animal and transmit signals between different parts of its body. In most animals the nervous system consists of two parts, central and peripheral. The central nervous...

 and brain implanted in a metal body to continue living. 14 years prior to the main events of My-Otome, he was one of the attackers on the Windbloom Kingdom, coming into conflict with the former Otome Lena Sayers
Lena Sayers
is a character in the My-Otome anime and manga series. She is voiced by Tomo Sakurai.- My-Otome anime :...

 and killing her. He can summon a dog-like slave similar to a Cerebrus and fights with a double-bladed spear. His body is now expiring, as all cyborgs in the Aswad eventually do, which will result in his eventual death.

In one episode, Yohko Helene looks at a photograph of herself and Midori that was taken when they were younger. Reito can be seen in it. She proceeds to call Rad Reito when they meet, confirming that Rad is indeed Reito, although the cyborg disowns his past identity.

The second episode of My-Otome 0~S.ifr~
My-Otome 0~S.ifr~
is a 2008 anime OVA produced by Sunrise and directed by Hisayuki Hirokazu, the former My-Otome character designer. It was developed as a prequel to the other My-Otome films of the time. The peculiar name "0~S.ifr~" relates to the number zero....

 Reito is shown as a young boy and the brother of Shiro, a biologist working in the desert. After Lena punches Shiro away for seeing her naked Reito chastises her, but he is distracted by the arrival of Miyu
Miyu Greer
is a character in the anime and manga series My-HiME. She also exists in the alternate universe My-Otome, where she is known simply as Miyu. She is voiced by seiyū Kiyomi Asai in Japanese and Maizun Jayoussi in English.- My-HiME anime :...

. Shiro later tells Reito to go back to the village, and that he will look to find a cure for their people on his own. If, as it is implied, Shiro is Lena's future husband and Arika's father, then Reito/Rad is Arika Yumemiya
Arika Yumemiya
' is a fictional character and the protagonist of the My-Otome anime and manga series. She is first introduced in the first episode where she travels through the desert to Windbloom to find out more information about her mother, whom she was told was an Otome. After seeing the power of the 3rd...

's future uncle.

My-Otome manga

Rad in the My-Otome manga is a "Perfect Cyborg", one of the products of Schwarz's forbidden "Black Science", who retains only the nervous system and some internal organs after cybernetic enhancement. The manga does not explain why he underwent the conversion, as the Black Valley plague found in the anime does not exist in the manga. He does not know Yohko and in fact has absolutely no contact with her.

He first appears before the attack on the Artai embassy in Windbloom and is one of the attackers. A formidable warrior with his staff, he manages to cut an artillery piece in half with one strike and draw in battle against Shizuru even with the latter using her Robe.

Interrupting a battle between Miyu and the Otome in an attempt to assassinate Mashiro, Rad springs the Star Wars
Star Wars
Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...

-esque revelation that he was Arika Yumemiya
Arika Yumemiya
' is a fictional character and the protagonist of the My-Otome anime and manga series. She is first introduced in the first episode where she travels through the desert to Windbloom to find out more information about her mother, whom she was told was an Otome. After seeing the power of the 3rd...

's father.

When Mashiro and entourage arrive at the Black Valley, Rad is shown to be well-loved by its inhabitants and a role model of sorts that the children desire to emulate when they reach maturity.

Despite his earlier attempts on Mashiro's life, Rad eventually has a change of heart and protects the boy from the attacks of Akira while the boy is formally making his contract with Arika.

Rena identifies him as truly being Reito after reminiscing about his old persona and flashback panels are shown depicting Rena and Reito in earlier times, before she became an Otome and he a cyborg. Given that Rena should be over 40 years old by now, this Reito is the oldest of all the incarnations of him.

Reito does not survive to the end of the manga. In order to protect Mashiro from the attack of Cardair's Scale Sisters Otome trio, he lets himself get stabbed by them and self-destructs, presumably killing them at the same time. Before he dies, he beseeches Mashiro to be a good monarch and calls on Arika to be a star of hope. It is here that Arika gives in and finally acknowledges him to be her father.

Name Origins

  • The kanji
    Kanji
    Kanji are the adopted logographic Chinese characters hanzi that are used in the modern Japanese writing system along with hiragana , katakana , Indo Arabic numerals, and the occasional use of the Latin alphabet...

     of Reito's given name literally are read as "black
    Black
    Black is the color of objects that do not emit or reflect light in any part of the visible spectrum; they absorb all such frequencies of light...

    " and "person". Likewise, Kanzaki can be broken down into "God or Deity" (Kami
    Kami
    is the Japanese word for the spirits, natural forces, or essence in the Shinto faith. Although the word is sometimes translated as "god" or "deity", some Shinto scholars argue that such a translation can cause a misunderstanding of the term...

    ) and "rough or jagged" (zaki).
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