Reiko Hinomoto is a playable character in both the original Rumble Roses in 2004 and sequel Rumble Roses XX in 2006. She fights under the moniker of "The Zero Fighter". Her Japanese voice actress is Noriko Hikada. She was dubbed by Bianca Allen in the first game, with Michelle Ruff voicing her in the sequel.
Background
From a young age, Reiko grew up learning martial arts from her mother- the famous female wrestler Kamikaze Rose. However, when Reiko was only nine years old, she died in the ring under mysterious circumstances while on tour in America. Five years later, Reiko's older sister Fujiko set out uncover the truth behind their mother's death, only to go missing herself, leaving the then fourteen year old Reiko on her own.
Despite this, she spent the next five years building her reputation as a fighter in her own right, while working part time as a "Race Queen" (a Model in car photo-ops). One day, she found an advertisement for the Rumble Roses Championship Tournament and signed up in the hopes of emulating her mother's wrestling achievements and perhaps of finding clues to the whereabouts of her sister. Along the way, she soon made friends with two of her fellow competitors- Dixie Clemets and Makoto Aihara.
By the start of the second game, Reiko joined with Dixie to creat the tag-team "Tequila Sunrise". She later teams up with her elder sister Fujiko (now as Noble Rose) to form "The Kamikaze Typhoon".
Personality
While Reiko is very energetic and enthusiastic both in and out of the ring, she is also more introspective and less conceited than some of the other wrestlers. In fact, Reiko will often pray to her mother before the start of a match, hoping that she is 'watching'. However this does not make her any less ambitious; her ultimate goal is to follow in her mother's footsteps and become the world's greatest wrestler.
Reiko also seems eager to impress those who she cares about and respects, such as Dixie. When they enter the ring as a team, Dixie holds her hand up just out of Reiko's reach. Reiko clearly recognizes the intent of this, and leaps up to high-five her (even though she misses the first time!).
Reiko highly values honor and loyalty, and will go out of her way to help her friends. She has a fierce determination that drives her on, and this ultimately allows her to break through Fujiko's mental conditioning and free her from the evil influence of Anesthesia. Even after freeing her, Reiko still believes that she must continue to earn her respect. Nevertheless she goes against Fujiko's instructions by remaining in America to continue fighting in the Tournament.
In regard to her self-image, Reiko is clearly confident about her looks. Back in Japan (prior to the tournament), she worked as a Race Queen, a high-end car cover model at photo-shoots. When Reiko is first introduced, she is revealed wearing a white and red boxing robe with the hood up. In an instant, she casts off the robe and sprints along the runway to leap into the ring, where she performs some fast-paced martial arts and then strikes a series of poses. In the Queen's Matches, she happily poses while dressed in her bikini, and waves at the audience. She's also not camera-shy, and responds enthusiastically to Photo-Shoots (especially when accompanied by Dixie).
Appearance
Due to her martial arts background, Reiko has a lean muscular build. Like all the Hinomoto women, she's surprisingly tall at 5'7"- putting her above the average height for both Japanese and American women. She is fair-skinned and has hazel eyes and her collar-length dark brown hair is layered distinctively with tapered edges and long bangs and is parted on the far left. Even more distinctively, Reiko also has a small mole above her left breast.
The default color of her normal in-ring costume is mainly a bright crimson red color, with black trimming. The outfit includes a pair of bright red leather short-shorts (presumably to show off her legs) with the top button undone to expose the hem of what appears to be a black bikini-style undergarment with the word "Zero" (in white) written in english on the black hem.
She wears a matching low-cut, bikini-style top (that laces up in the front) and also has the word "Zero" enscribed (in white) on the trim on the black trim over the right breast. She wears red and black traditional wrestling gloves and knee-high wrestling boots. She also wears a narrow red and black sash around her neck with the ends hanging down along her back. During her intro, she arrives wearing a white and red hooded boxing robe- with the iconic image of Japan's red Rising Sun on the back. When Reiko wins enough matches and becomes popular enough (80% plus) she achieves Super Star status. Her hair is depicted as having grown out, now coming almost halfway down her back. And it's at this point, that she looks almost identical to her mother (Images of the "Kamikaze Rose" can be seen in the reliefs over gates leading to the beach).
Reiko's flashy new upgraded outfit has a white and red color scheme- the same as the Japanese flag (but with a silver trim). Fittingly, the colors and the overall style of the outfit syncs up with Dixie's Super Star costume quite well. Whether the simularities in the designs were intentional or a coincidence is not clear, though it makes sense as they are Tag-Team Partners. The overall design motif of the entire costume appears to be based around the Imperial Naval Flag of Japan- the red rising sun (and its rays) against a white background.
The outfit includes red and white high-heeled boots and matching cuffed chaps-like garments on her legs. Reiko also wears a short white and red skirt with a silver belt and a sleeveless matching top with the rising sun on the front and silver belt fixed to the bottum of the top. Red and white striped 'sleeves' cover her arms and she wears red and silver gloves and a long white and red scarf tied around her neck and hanging down her back. Reiko also has an inverted five-point silver star (a piercing?) right over her navel.
When Reiko takes part in a Queen's Match (or a Mud Match in the first game), she arrived dressed in a relatively modest two-piece (the default colors is white with red spots). The bottom is tied above her hips on either side and the top is tied around her neck and behind her back. She also wears a pair of sandals.
Fighting Style
As the daughter of the legendary Kamikaze Rose, Reiko learned her mother's brand of martial arts from a young age. In the ring, she blends this with elements of traditional wrestling to form her own fighting style. Reiko's moves are largely based around her speed and agility, as well as flexibility. Her overall style is the most 'balanced' of all the wrestlers, and she's able to strike and throw with equal ability. Her aerial moves are also excellent and, with good timing, she can deliver powerful dropkicks.
Her Lethal move Angel Dive involves her leaping off the turnbuckle to pin her opponent (it's necessary for them to be knocked down first). Her punches and kicks somewhat lack the sheer brute force of some of the other characters, but she can strike faster and has a longer reach. Reiko is also fast on her feet and is good at evading attacks. However, she only has basic reversal skills and little ability to inflict humiliation (at least in her normal mode). As a result of this, Reiko can be at a disadvantage in Pure Humiliation Matches. She can also only soak up so much abuse before she gets injured.
However, if the player is particularly adept with Reiko, they can learn to reverse their opponents attacks and (ideally) transition into her signature Killer move Sunrise Suplex which automatically delivers a pin. Her reversal skill will also increase if used frequently.
Trivia
- Reiko's first name means "Beautiful Child". While her family name, Hinomoto, means "The Origin of Fire".
- Reiko's title- "The Zero Fighter"- is likely a reference to the iconic WW2-era Japanese Fighter Planes of the same name. This also links up with her mother's name, as Zeros would carry out suicide ("Kamakazi") attacks during battles.
- Reiko's anthem, "Look to the Sky", was composed and performed by Konami in-house musician Sota Fujimuri (with guitar work by fellow Konomi musician Atsushi Sato). The Lyrics were written by Anna Quin and performed by "Yoshiko".
- Reiko is one of the only two characters who appears on the official release covers of both games, the other character being Dixie Clemets.
- Reiko (as well as her "Heel" alter-ego) was much more central to the two games' advertisements in Japan, featuring in numerous posters and alternate game covers and soundtrack covers. To this extent, she can be considered the 'flagship' character in Japan.
