Reiko Yoshii is one of the supporting characters of Ultraman Gaia. She is a newcomer reporter at KCB who befriended Hiroya Fujimiya and played a major role in Hiroya's return to fighting for humanity.
Personality
As a reporter for KCB, Reiko always upholds objectivity and prudence in her reporting and conscientiously carries out her job. However, when she is with Tabata and Rinbun in private, she shows an innocent, cheerful, straightforward side and communicates with others with sincerity and liveliness.
According to what she mentioned, she had previously been a shy and introverted girl who was not good at talking to people. However, this made her observant and sensitive, allowing her to perceive the thoughts and emotions of strangers and use this to encourage or comfort them. As a result, she is portrayed as both empathetic and resilient in the series, and she always trusts in the inherent goodness of humanity, making her a key character in the story.
History
Ultraman Gaia
As an adult, Reiko initially applied for a job as a broadcaster at KCB, but due to a mistake, she was reassigned to the team of reporters led by Kenji Tabata and Michifumi Inoue, known as the "Tabata class." As her popularity with viewers gradually increased, she also became a popular TV anchor for KCB.
As a frontline reporter, she provided live coverage when C.O.V. appeared in the sky over Tokyo and witnessed the birth of Ultraman Gaia. After that, she was impressed by Gaia and the existence of XIG, considering them friendly partners even though the mysteries of the situation were difficult to solve at that time. She began to provide live coverage of Gaia's battles against monsters.Seize the Light!
However, her commentary during the coverage caught the attention of Hiroya Fujimiya, who saw her as "The medium for communicating with humanity" and engaged with her for the first time with coercive language.His Name is Gaia
During a report on the strange incidents in Shiroiwa Town, while working alone, she was almost attacked by brainwashed police officers. However, she was rescued by Fujimiya unexpectedly. Despite their opposing stances on peace and Fujimiya's desire to eradicate humanity, after several conversations and being saved by Ultraman Agul, she came to understand Fujimiya's beliefs and established a deep emotional connection with him. The Night of the Marionettes With Fujimiya's help, she also discovered that Ultraman understood human language.When the Rain Stops
During a conversation with Fujimiya, she learned about his true identity as Ultraman Agul. Agul vs. Gaia However, she also sympathized with Fujimiya's violent tendencies and hoped that he would prioritize his own thoughts and take actions that would truly help the Earth. She even asked Fujimiya's former colleague, Kyoko Inamori, about his past. Gamu Expelled!
In the middle of the series, when she rescued Fujimiya with Gamu Takayama in the forest from being wanted by the GUARD special investigation team "Lizard," she decided to escape with Fujimiya and was subsequently reported missing, with the outside world believing she was kidnapped by Fujimiya. The Determination of Agul During this journey, besides criticizing Fujimiya's idea of eradicating humanity, she also wholeheartedly supported Togami and protected his dreams. When they were followed by Gamu and Lizard, Fujimiya transformed into Ultraman Agul and took her flying over the sea, where she couldn't help but be amazed by the vitality of nature. The Showdown for Tomorrow
However, she was still powerless to stop the battle between Agul and Gaia. She witnessed both sides suffer a crushing defeat, causing her to cry as the Radical Destruction Bringer's plan succeeded. The Final Resolution
After the incident, she lost contact with Fujimiya and became emotionally depressed, locking herself in her room and refusing to work. But after reading encouraging letters from her fans, she mustered the courage to return to her job and decided to forget about the unpleasant experiences in the past that were affecting her work. The Advent of the Heatwave
Later on, when she received information about Fujimiya's reappearance, she and Gamu were able to reunite with him in the ruins through information. She felt disappointed with Fujimiya's self-destructive behavior once again. The Sky of Reunion However, as Reiko's influence on Fujimiya's heart gradually increased, Mezard targeted her and became the bewitch for Fujimiya. When Mezard transformed into the form of Kyoko Inamori, Reiko was kidnapped by her at KCB but was eventually rescued by Fujimiya, who regained his sense, and Gamu, who arrived in time. The Fourth Symphony of a Nightmare
For a while, she became a target of Deathbringer's threat to Fujimiya again and got kidnapped to space. When Deathbringer began to lure Fujimiya with illusions and claimed that "humans are the virus of the universe and must be destroyed," Reiko thought that Deathbringer's idea was too arrogant and exposed his lies. She believed that humans were also life born from the universe and took the opportunity to express her feelings to Fujimiya. Even though Fujimiya hated humans, he had repeatedly saved her and others with his kind beliefs and believed that as long as humans still possessed "kindness" and sincere "love," the earth and the universe would be saved. After that, she was rescued by Fujimiya and decided to work harder to assist him. XIG Destroyed!?
During the final battle, she worked as a frontline reporter broadcasting Ultraman's fight to the world and witnessed Gaia and Agul being defeated by Zog. After contacting her friends, including Gamu, she and Tsubasa, and Inoue rushed to rescue Gamu, who was surrounded by citizens. The Cry of the Earth
Later, they went to the Particle Observation Research Institute to meet with Fujimiya and began live broadcasting their efforts to repair the Earth's network, urging humans not to give up. With their assistance, Fujimiya and Gamu regained Ultraman's power. In the end, they witnessed Gaia and Agul defeating Zog together, and finally, the Earth gained a moment of peace.
After experiencing these events, she learned that Ultraman was not the savior of the Earth but rather a hope born out of the desire to survive as a human living on the planet.Earth is Ultraman's Star
SPECIAL EPISODE: A Day with Reiko
Sometime after the end of the final battle, Reiko served as the host of a special show on the theme of "Ultraman and the future of Earth" and summarized the entire series of Ultraman Gaia.
After the show, in addition to keeping in touch with Gamu on the phone, she also received a message from Fujimiya. A Day with Reiko
Ultraman Gaia: Gaia Again
Sometime after the final battle, she got promoted to host of the show. She acted as a live anchor during the disaster caused by Gakuzom and continued to support Fujimiya. Ultraman Gaia: Gaia Again
Counterparts
Superior 8 Ultra Brothers
In this film, she married Fujimiya and attended the launch ceremony of the Nippon Maru with their daughter Hinaka. They congratulated Gamu and Atsuko, who were about to leave Earth. Superior 8 Ultra Brothers
Gallery
Ultraman Gaia
SPECIAL EPISODE: A Day with Reiko
Ultraman Gaia: Gaia Again
Superior 8 Ultra Brothers
Miscellaneous
![Reiko at TSUBURAYA CONVENTION 2023[1][2]](/ultra/wiki/File:Reiko_Yoshii_2023.png "Reiko Yoshii 2023.png (2.84 MB)")
Trivia
- Reiko Yoshii's actress, Yukari Ishida, is married to Hiroya Fujimiya's actor, Hassei Takano, in real life. When they appeared as a married couple near the end of Superior 8 Ultra Brothers, their daughter Hinaka portrayed their in-universe daughter, Hinaka Fujimiya.
- According to Chiaki J. Konaka, the decision to cast Yukari Ishida as Reiko was his. During the audition process, which he attended with Naoyuki Eto from the planning department, he was impressed by Ishida's cheerful personality and engaging interactions. Although the primary purpose of the audition was to cast members of the XIG team, Konaka felt that Ishida’s presence was essential to the series. He strongly recommended her to director Hirochika Muraishi for the role of Reiko, the TV reporter, as a representative of ordinary citizens in the story.[3]
- Regarding the relationship between Reiko and Fujimiya, Keiichi Hasegawa shared his thoughts in a 2000 interview:[4]
- When discussing the direction of Fujimiya's conclusion in the series, there was initially an idea that "perhaps Fujimiya might die." If that were to happen, Hasegawa felt it was essential to have someone who truly understood him, particularly a female character, by his side.
- In reality, Hasegawa considered "Fujimiya and Reiko" to be an entirely unimaginable couple. Since the concept of KCB was proposed by Chiaki J. Konaka to approach the story from a civilian perspective, the notion of Fujimiya connecting with Reiko seemed unlikely. However, Hasegawa realized there was no rule stating that a female lead must be a defense team member. This realization inspired him to break the convention.
- The scene in Episode 3 where Reiko witnesses Fujimiya was intentionally crafted. During the initial planning meeting, Hasegawa proposed this idea, which gained the support of the production team. As a result, in Ultraman Gaia, the decision to depict semi-recurring female characters as civilians may have been influenced by this concept.
- In the series, Reiko introduces the concept of "the randomness of encounters." Hasegawa explained that what truly matters is what happens after the encounter. Instead of questioning the meaning of the encounter itself, it is more important to consider that "the act of meeting inherently holds significance." This idea also parallels the experience of "becoming an Ultraman."
References
- ↑ https://m-78.jp/news/post-6942
- ↑ https://animageplus.jp/articles/detail/55835
- ↑ http://www.konaka.com/alice6/ultra/gaia_ps.html
- ↑ Earth Is Ultraman's Planet: Ultraman Tiga, Dyna, Gaia, pg 407-408