Reiko Nagase

Nihongo|Reiko Nagase|永瀬麗子|Nagase Reiko is a fictional character, a CGI race queen featured in the Ridge Racer series of videogames, as one of the girls holding cards before the start of each race, and appearing in the FMV cutscenes, most of which have been directed by Kei Yoshimizu from Keica inc. [ [http://www.keica.jp/ Keica inc. website] ]

Profile

Taken from Ridge Racer 6 [ [http://namco-ch.net/ridgeracer6/imagecharacter/index.php Ridge Racer 6 official website] ] , as her profiles tend to have minor differences between games. Originally her birthdate was set in February 14, 1975 [ [http://psx.ign.com/articles/062/062296p1.html Happy Birthday Reiko at IGN] ] , but it hasn't been mentioned in recent appearances, probably to avoid aging her.

*Name: Reiko Nagase
*Birthplace: Tokyo
*Date of birth: February 14th 1975
*Height: 165cm
*Weight: 48kg
*B/W/H: 85/58/86cm
*Feet Size: 23cm
*Blood Type: A
*Skills: Swimming
*Hobbies: Driving, making soufflé
*Favorite foods: Minestrone, potato chips
*Favorite games: Pac-Man, Minna Daisuki Katamari Damacy
*On days off: Driving with her sister, scuba diving
*Dream for the future: being an astronaut, of course!

Overview

[
right|thumb|Reiko_Nagase,_as_seen_in_Ridge Racer 6] An unnamed girl resembling Reiko first appeared in the real-time arcade intro for 1995's Rave Racer, but she was officially reintroduced (and named) a year later in Rage Racer [ [http://www.clubskill.com/article/1644 Ridge Racer Retro Special at Club Skill] ] [ [http://www.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3153582 All About Reiko at 1up.com] ] . Whether the Rave Racer girl is supposed to be Reiko is unknown, but Reiko's Ridge Racer 6 outfit bears a resemblance to the Rave Racer one.

In 1998's , she was given more prominence, as the opening animation, which used a Kimara Lovelace song, was a short story starring her [ [http://namco-ch.net/r4/develo-diary/diary-03-00.html R4: Ridge Racer Type 4 official website] ] , and introduced a redesign to her 3D model by Kei Yoshimizu [ [http://www.lomag.co.za/AJK/2007/07/25/anime/lo-magazine-issue-8-10/ Lo Magazine #8 interview] ] . This is when Namco started giving more exposure to the character, heavily using her image to promote the game. [ [http://www.bandainamcogames.co.jp/gallery/wg/r4-calendar1999/ R4: Ridge Racer Type 4 desktop calendar 1999] ] [ [http://www.bandainamcogames.co.jp/gallery/wg/reikonagase/ Reiko Nagase 2000 calendar] ]

Due to her newfound popularity she went to make many appearances in games outside of the Ridge Racer series (see list below), most of them featuring her white and red outfit from the R4: Ridge Racer Type 4 promotional artwork. [ [http://namco-ch.net/cspark/wallpaper/r4.html R4: Ridge Racer Type 4 promotional wallpapers] ] In the year 2000 she also appeared in the Nintendo-developed Ridge Racer 64, but notably they reused older Reiko artwork on it.

While still appearing in other games, Namco decided to replace Reiko in 2000's Ridge Racer V with newcomer Ai Fukami (深水 藍) [ [http://www.bandainamcogames.co.jp/press/release/namco/2000/jun/press-01.html Press release for Ai Fukami] ] . In 2001, Namco created an image girl for their Namco Sports line named Hitomi Yoshino (吉乃ひとみ) [ [http://www.bandainamcogames.co.jp/press/release/namco/2001/nov/press01.html Press release for Hitomi Yoshino] ] , and while the Ridge Racer series doesn't belongs to that line she was featured in a Ridge Racer trailer shown in the 2002 edition of the E3 [ [http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/game/docs/20020525/nam.htm GameWatch coverage of the E3 2002] ] .

Since her popularity with fans still was strong [ [http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=3153828 RR7 Team Speaks at 1up] ] , Namco decided to bring back Reiko Nagase for 2004's Ridge Racers [ [http://namco-ch.net/cspark/wallpaper/ridgeracers.html Ridge Racers promotional wallpapers] ] . Featuring a revamped 3D model for the introductory animation, again by Kei Yoshimizu [ [http://www.lomag.co.za/AJK/2007/07/25/anime/lo-magazine-issue-8-10/ Lo Magazine #8 interview] ] , said model has also been used for her subsequent appearances, in the intros for Ridge Racer 6 (2005), Ridge Racer 7 (2006) and Ridge Racers 2 (also 2006).

She is prominently featured in the Ridge Racer pachislot to be released in 2008 [ [http://www.bandainamcogames.co.jp/press/release/pdf/53-036.pdf Ridge Racer pachislot press release] ] , along with a PlayStation 2 version [ [http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/game/docs/20080326/ridge.htm Ridge Racer pachislot article at Gamewatch] ] .

She has been featured in many products licensed by Namco [ [http://namco-ch.net/goods/license_title.php?title=s10 Namco licensed products - Ridge Racer section] ] , including the first and sixth wave of Namco Gals gashapon. [ [http://namco-ch.net/goods/license_title.php?title=26&category=3 Namco licensed products - general section] ]

A character named Kei Nagase, with a notable resemblance to Reiko, plays a role in . In Ace Combat 2's details (where she is available to be chosen as your wingman), it is stated she is Reiko's sister.

An vague and unsourced article in the short lived Incite Video Gaming magazine [ [http://virtualwomen.blogspot.com/2006/11/thats-not-woman-thats-man-baby.html Virtual Women blog] ] revealed that Reiko Nagase was modelled after Kei Yoshimizu, but he has denied it since then, and there is no visible resemblance [ [http://www.asiagraph.jp/program/seminar/ Asiagraph 2007 guest list] ] .

Appearances

*Rage Racer (PlayStation, 1996)
* (PlayStation, 1998)
*Smash Court Tennis 2, and its European version Anna Kournikova's Smash Court Tennis: as a playable character [ [http://namco-ch.net/smashcourt2/special/main01/sr-17.html Smash Court 2 official website] ] (1998, PlayStation)
*Super World Stadium '99, 2000 and 2001 (PlayStation, 1999,2000,2001)
*E3 pre-launch tech demos for the PlayStation 2 [ [http://ps2.ign.com/articles/072/072823p1.html PS2: Demos to Die For at IGN] ] (1999)
*Ridge Racer 64 (Nintendo 64, 2000)
*: as an obtaniable costume (2000, Game Boy Color)
*Namco Wonder Classic: as a playable character (2001, Wonderswan)
*Pac-Man Fever: as a playable character (2002, PlayStation 2).
*Ridge Racers (2004, PlayStation Portable)
*Ridge Racer 6 (2005, Xbox 360)
*Ridge Racers 2 (2006, PlayStation Portable)
*Ridge Racer 7 (2006, PlayStation 3)
*Family Ski: featured in many of the unlockable skis (2008, Wii)
*Ridge Racer pachislot (2008, Arcade and PlayStation 2)

References