| Reika Kuze | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Japanese name | 久世 零華 / 雪代 零華 |
| Romaji name | Kuze Reika / Yukishiro Reika |
| Other names | Reika Yukishiro Tattooed Priestess Imprisoned woman Woman in Shrine |
| Age | Unknown |
| Hair color | Black |
| Eye color | Unknown |
| Occupation | Tattooed Priestess |
| Cause of death | Impalement Ritual |
| Encountered in | Various locations Abyss of the Horizon |
| Family | Yukishiro family Kuze family (adopted as priestess) |
| Appearances | Fatal Frame III: The Tormented |
| Voice actor (Jp) | [[Junko Minagawa]] |
| Voice actor (Eng) | Kimberly Brooks |
| “ | I never wanted to leave you. . . I wanted to be with you. . . I'm here I'll always be here. . . | ” |
—Reika to Kaname Ototsuki | ||
Reika Kuze is a powerful hostile female spirit and the main antagonist in Fatal Frame III: The Tormented. She is the last Tattooed Priestess.
Before becoming the tattooed priestess and adopting the Kuze name, her full name was Reika Yukishiro. Upon the failure of her Impalement Ritual, the Unleashing occurred and The Rift engulfed the Kuze Shrine.
Reika was made the Tattooed Priestess after her entire family was murdered. The Kuze household adopted her because she wanted to help to ease the pain of others who experienced the same pain as her.
Story[]
Reika is the main antagonist of Fatal Frame III: The Tormented. She is the last Tattooed Priestess, and she haunts the dreams of those consumed by grief and guilt over the loss of loved ones.
Background[]
Reika grew up in a village near the Kuze Shrine, the same village where Kaname was smuggled out to as a baby. It was there that the two met and fell in love.
Kaname left the village at some point to study, leaving Reika the Echo Stone Earring his mother had given him. While he was gone, an unspecified disaster occurred (believed to be an avalanche, many of which occurred during the later years of the Edo period in the eastern Tohoku area.) Reika's whole family was killed. With no way to contact Kaname and poor future prospects as a young woman without a family or a husband, Reika agreed to serve as a Tattooed Priestess, hoping that she could help people who had experienced pain and loss like her. She went to live at the Kuze Shrine and adopted their last name. During this time, she wore the ritual attire of blue and white, similar to the Handmaidens.
Fatal Frame III[]
As a priestess, before the rituals, Reika spent her days in the Hanging Prison, where she was cared for by Amane Kuze, and took comfort in talking to Amane about the outside world. At some point, unaware that Amane was Kaname's half-sister, she showed Amane the Echo Stone Earring. Amane recognized it, and wrote in her diary of her suspicion that Reika's friend was Kaname.
In preparation for the Piercing of the Soul ritual, Reika etched her grief into the Mirror of Loss so that it would not interfere with the pain of the parishioners. Much of her pain had to do with Kaname and her desire to see him again. During the ritual, Reika's body was etched with tattoos by the Engravers to represent the pain of the living and the dead. She was tended to by Handmaidens during this time, who had the duty of singing the Handmaiden's Song to her and impaling her during the Impalement Ritual.
Once the tattoos covered her body, Reika was required to break the Mirror of Loss and cast her love away. At some point after receiving the tattoos, Reika wrote about a dream she had of Kaname, revealing that her love for him still existed inside her. She hoped to dream of him in her eternal sleep. At last, she was impaled in the Chamber of Thorns.
Wanting to help Reika, Amane lead Kaname into the Kuze house. Kaname wishing to save Reika entered the chamber of thorns and awoke her from her sleep. However, Yashuu Kuze found out what Amane had done, determined to preserve the Commandment, she followed Kaname into the shrine and murdered him in front of Reika. Reika was so distraught that she allowed the tattoos to enter her eyes, causing the Unleashing. Reika then began to wander the manor, and everywhere she wandered was engulfed in the Rift. Despite the efforts of Yashuu to contain the Rift by making sacrifices and sealing the Manor into a dream, Reika's pain continued to spread and spill into the dreams of those who had lost loved ones.
In the end, Rei defeated Reika, and then cast both Reika and Kaname off in a boat together, letting them cross the ocean to the Other Side.
Strategy[]
Reika, upon leaving the Chamber of Thorns, will immediately teleport from the chamber's gate to the Abyss of the Horizon. Her attacks consist of her Sending the winged skull above her towards Rei, or moving towards her, hand outstretched to touch her if she is on the ground, and a heavily damaging double aerial lunge, in which she soars airborne, and swoop down towards Rei, but actually narrowly missing her to reach a different high point, and only now that Reika aims for Rei. Quite oftenly, Reika will enter a "miasma state", turning the entire battlefield monochrome and giving her a one-hit-kill touch, should Rei remain too close to her. During this state, Rei has to run away as far and quickly as possible for a certain time period, and the normal battle will resume.
When Reika is on the ground, she is very easy to dispatch. Simply aim the Camera Obscura towards her as she advances on Rei and wait for her to come close, which she will use either the touching attack, or send the flying skull above her towards Rei. Either way, as soon as the capture circle flashes red, click the shutter, and Reika will be repelled before teleporting away. Swing the viewfinder around to find her before she approaches. If she continues to stay on the ground, repeat this strategy, or if she soars airborne, then keep her in the viewfinder, because her lunge is very fast. If Rei has good timing, then when Reika passes her during the first lunge, she can snap a Fatal Frame chance, interrupting the second lunge altogether. If she doesn't snap the first lunge, then wait for Reika to come to her in the second lunge, in which the Fatal Frame chance is a bit more difficult to photograph, requiring Rei keeping the viewfinder low enough. If a Fatal Frame chance is achieved, then try to prolong the combo chain for as long as possible and keep Reika from attacking, even though chaining a following hit is quite difficult. If she enters the "miasma state", run away from her as fast as possible, and keep the distance for about 10 seconds, and the fight will resume. The recommended films to use against Reika are Type-61 and above, while recommended Upgraded lenses are:
- "Pierce". To maximize the amount of points earned, use the lens in the exact moment of a shutter chance for at least the Shutter Chance, Boost Shot and Special Shot bonuses.
- "Crush". Especially useful during a Fatal Frame chance, effectiveness even further increased with the films Type-90 or 00. Also, if Rei has obtained the Festival Equipped Function (granting all photographs the properties of a Fatal Frame shot, in terms of damage and knockback effect. The alarm light will always be flashing), then combining it with good film and the Crush Upgraded lens will result in an especially lethal effect, killing Reika in one hit."
Photograph all Shutter Chances and Fatal Frame moments, while staying away from her in the "miasma state", and Rei will emerge victorious.
Files Authored[]
Etymology[]
- The name Reika means "zero" (零) (rei) and "flower" (華) (ka).
- Reika's current surname Kuze means "long time" (久) (ku) and "world" (世) (se/ze).
- Reika's former surname Yukishiro means "snow" (雪) (yuki) and "generation, era" (代) (shiro)¥
Quotes[]
- "I will shatter my memories... these shards... these pieces of me..."
- "I can feel the thoughts of so many people being etched into me. So many voices... so much pain... please don't forget me. This is my voice... my memory... my pain..."
- "I feel like you've been in my dreams for so long. Over and over. But I don't want this dream anymore."
- "I want to see you again. I know I can't see you again, but still, if I could just see you once more... once more... just one more time..."
- "No one has been saved from this curse."
- "Let me sleep... forever..."
- "I found you!"
- "No one will survive... no one."
- "There's no escape."
- "You've finally come."
- "You can't escape me!"
- "I don't want to see any more..."
- "Please... let me sleep..."
Trivia[]
- Reika shares the same initials as the main protagonist of the game. Reika Kuze - Rei Kurosawa. Both also share the same voice actresses in the Japanese(Junko Minagawa) and North American(Kimberly Brooks) versions.
- Reika was voted in a 2023 Poll in Japan as the ninth scariest enemy in the series.
Gallery[]
