Rei Sakuma

Personality 1

Rei, at first glance, appears to be distant yet wise, taking upon the persona of an immortal vampire with boundless knowledge. During his time in Yumenosaki, he spent most of the daylight hours sleeping in his coffin, and was very disconnected from the rest of the school. He still has a soft spot for his little brother, Ritsu. However, deep down, he is highly empathetic and loves humanity greatly, yet consistently struggles with isolation and loneliness. During The War, Rei was best described as a slave to humanity’s whims and his own empathy. During his last year at Yumenosaki Academy, he had become unnaturally distant and closed off as a means of self-preservation. Post-Repayment Festival, Rei finally becomes able to move forward, and consolidate these both extremes into one human, and enter society as himself; not as a god or a vampire high above society. Most of Rei’s actions and feelings stem from a lengthy history of loneliness and isolation, ever since he was a child. Growing up, his disease prevented him from living a normal life outside and making friends; he instead developed an affinity with books and would read in excess. Even as just a child, he was considered more well-read and more intelligent than most adults. He is a highly empathetic person, and loves humanity to the point that he cannot ignore a person who is suffering. However, this high emotional intelligence of his led him to his reputation as a “god”. His high intelligence and proficiency in giving advice resulted in him beginning to be exalted as a god-like figure, as adults would approach Rei to have their problems solved by him.[3] Unable to refuse a person in need, Rei took on that emotional burden and began to attribute being a vessel for advice and guidance as a core part of his existence. Rei began to notice people his age fearing him and avoiding him, isolating him further.

Personality 2

By his first year in Yumenosaki Academy, he was disillusioned with the world, and by his second year, he was bored of the world and continually sought out excitement.[4] However, he never was able to distance himself from humanity, and continues to take on burden after burden of helping others. Hyper-aware of his place in the world, Rei felt he had to continually prove himself out of fear. If he couldn’t respond to the constant demands of people around him, he was scared he would be deemed a failure, and lose his place.[5] And so, he disciplined himself and responded to every demand in order to “affirm his existence”. This need for affirmation ultimately led to his destruction and execution during The War. Every time Rei went abroad, he would make acquaintances, get deeply and emotionally involved in them, and then become loved and relied on by everyone. The emotional burden of catering to everyone’s needs, and then having it be weaponized against him[6], finally took its physical toll on Rei; resulting in the Rei we see in the !-era. Rei from then on resolved to change himself, as a means to protect himself. He began to make efforts in distancing himself from humanity, no longer meddling in others’ personal matters—and if he did, he would take a backseat approach. He begins to take on the persona of an “old man”. When asked about it by Tsumugi, Rei tells him that it’s because he's physically weakened from The War.[7] In truth, this new persona of Rei’s grants him the image of feebleness, so people wouldn’t demand or expect things from him. Through this, Rei is able to alleviate himself of the unconscionable burden of his intelligence and prowess. In another attempt to detach him further from humanity as he heals, Rei also strengthens his vampire persona, taking on an inhuman identity and describing himself as more akin to a monster.

Personality 3

In the end, however, Rei cannot fully reject his core values, and remains to crave connection with others.[8] He still continues to meddle with other’s affairs, often without permission, as seen in Setsubun Festival and Romantic Comedy. However, when it comes to himself, he has become rather careless and forgetful. He's been shown to forget to eat and drink expired tomato juice without paying attention.[9] Once, Rei wanted somewhere cool to sleep and ended up sleeping on the cafeteria floor, despite Mao's concerns about how that may be unsanitary.[10] Both UNDEAD and the Aoi twins are shown to look after Rei, who teasingly plays up how helpless he is (being elderly) without assistance.[11][12] However, Rei often does make genuine blunders and requires physical assistance, but he acts as if he were merely playing up his old man persona so he is often not taken seriously.[13][14] As time passes, Rei’s able to rediscover his own humanity through both UNDEAD, and later Ritsu[15]. By the time the Repayment Festival comes around, Rei’s persona as an “immortal vampire” has broken down, and he is able to accept himself as human. Using Keito’s words; time begins to move forward again for him[16], and Rei’s growth is able to come to fruition. A self-proclaimed vampire who possesses a wealth of knowledge, but is vulnerable in the morning. He has a strong connection with the comrades he considers family despite being so philosophically profound. Dotes on his younger brother Ritsu Sakuma. With a mellow voice that entices the audience, his performance is tender yet powerful. UNDEAD's leader.

Family

Not much is known about the Sakumas, they tend to keep familial matters private as can be and appear mysterious to the public to really sell the image of a vampire clan; "living in the darkness", as Rei describes it. They resort to extremes in order to do so, such as when they threatened a detective sent by Eichi to gather information on the Sakumas[18] while plotting Rei's downfall. Ritsu warns Eichi from there on out that his family dislikes their affairs being looked into. Eichi describes the Sakuma clan as a "social minority".[18] The Sakumas have a long history of worshiping vampire mythos and see the symptoms of their hereditary illness as a mark of pride because they resemble vampiric characteristics, such as the sustenance for blood (which can be linked to anemia, which Rei suffers from) and weakness in daylight, causing the Sakumas to be more active after the sun sets which in turn results in preferred nocturnal sleeping habits. Due to the pride in their lineage and worshiping habits, they actively choose not to find a cure for their illness, going as far as stopping Rei from looking into it when he was overseas. Rei's brother, Ritsu, is especially affected by his condition, disabling him more noticeably than Rei. This played a major part in why Rei was eager to find a cure. The Sakuma clan appear to dress in Victorian Era clothing in modern times, as seen when Rei greets them in Resurrection Sunday. They also annually host a family gathering at Transylvania, where the infamous Count Dracula originally hailed from, and celebrate Easter by drinking the blood of a "sacrifice", which Rei has expressed distaste for, despite the clan abandoning the idea of actually sacrificing someone as time went by.

Trivia 1

He shares the same birthday as Izumi Sena. Rei is the only one to not have a spoken line in the first verse of Melody in the Dark. He can play the violin, and, like Ritsu, he can play the piano. It is shown he can also play the drums.[19] He used to play the electric guitar, but has since stopped some time in his second year, as he is shown giving it away to Koga.[20] He can't stand the taste of blood and takes iron tablets instead and prefers tomato juice.[21] Rei uses kaomojis in his texting habits, having sent one to Wataru when telling him he couldn't be at his party.[22] Rei is often so careless he'll forget to eat and drink expired tomato juice without paying attention.[23] Rei states that his coffin, built by Natsume[24], also doubles as a living space, and by tricking it with excellent arranging skills, he's able to fit in items such as manga borrowed from one of the Aoi twins, gardening magazines, clothes and even a refrigerator full of dry-cured ham. Madara is Rei's successor.[25] Though it's unclear what exactly being Rei's "successor" entails, Madara has referenced he's learned a number of underhanded means of persuasion from Rei.[26] Ritsu states that Madara is often over at their home for that reason.[27] Rei, despite his vampiric persona, is actually not adverse to garlic. Once with the light music club, he begins admiring garlic bulbs that Koga had grown before Adonis comments on it, reminding him that garlic and crosses are not something vampires should come into contact with.[28] Rei used to be the student council president until Eichi took over.[29][20] Rei states he only took over this position because Keito asked him to, as he considered Keito a friend from childhood. Rei implies his fondness for Keito initially from the fact that, whereas the people around him would be taken in by his charisma and grow dependent on him, Keito, as a child, would continue to try and defy Rei. Rei, Keito, and Koga were once a part of a unit called DEADMANS.

Trivia 2

Leo states that Rei would often fall unconscious around school and Leo would often be the one to find and help him.[31] Ever since Rei was a child, he was considered beautiful and intelligent. He would wander around graveyards and adults would come to him for advice, and he accidentally developed a following of devotees who would live by his every word despite his young age. This continued even as he grew.[20] Keito describes this as being reduced to "zero," like Rei's namesake, as Rei was so capable and intelligent that, in his opinion, it meant there was no point in existing so long as Rei did. Koga states that while during his second year Rei spoke and behaved in a free-wheeling, punk-like manner, after "breaking down," Rei began to speak like an old man.[32][20] Ritsu and Rei's vampiric condition is a genuine illness that makes them nocturnal, weak to sunlight, and thirst for blood as sustenance.[20] This condition is hereditary, and Rei explains that much of his family, which worships vampire mythos, sees it as a mark of pride. Their family believes themselves to be vampires, and perform a "blood drinking" ritual on Easter, and have a yearly reunion in Transylvania.[30] Because of this condition, he has a coffin which he sleeps in a lot. The only way to wake him up is the sound of a flute or when it’s night time.

UNDEAD

A wild musical unit led by Rei Sakuma. Each member acts in their individual way during fanservice. UNDEAD members mainly join variety show as hosts, work as radio personalities, fashion models or commercial ambassadors, and participate other media work that fully displays their appearances and characteristics. The theme color is purple. Members: Rei Sakuma- leader Kaoru Hakaze- The kind of guy who gets motivated when women spoil him. Surfing is his hobby. In spite of the easygoing, flirtatious behavior, Kaoru is considerate and cares for his friends. He's got a mellow, husky voice that goes along with his gorgeous performances. Koga Oogami- A lone hunter whose purpose in life is rock. He hates a conservative approach. Although hot-blooded and short-tempered, Koga's pretty sensible. He goes all out in his flashy performances with a passionate, powerful voice. Adonis Otogari- A young idol that came to Japan from the Middle East. Being kind in nature, Adonis hates violence and is eager to protect the weak. His singing voice is gentle and as if capable of embracing everything, along with the powerful yet tender performances. his looks do not match his kind nature, he’s tall and strong and looks a bit threatening.

Appearance

Rei is a tall young man with a good build. He has slightly long, wavy black hair that stops at his shoulders and curves inward, and red eyes. He wears a black-striped, loosely-fit mid-sleeved shirt with a cross chain around his neck, tucked under his shirt. He also wears dark-washed jeans with a long link chain clasped to the side and red stud earrings. On stage, Rei wears UNDEAD's uniform, a black jacket with a small fur collar, silver accents and a dark purple lapel. The jacket has a black and gold epaulette with thin silver ropes flowing from it on the right side, as well as gray side strip on the sleeves outlined with silver, and a strap on the lapel tied and clipped to look like a small belt. Attached to the jacket is a long, black/purple layered tail coat with a silver outline. On Rei's left arm is a purple arm-band embroidered with a gold design, resembling a bat. Underneath the jacket is a gray v-neck shirt. He wears a black belt with a silver buckle and chain accessory hanging from the loop. Rei wears black jeans with small yellow buttons, and knee high lace-up black boots with silver lining and gold buttons, a flap in the front and a small zipper on the side. Rei wears a black choker with a gold belt buckle, as well as a black pointed cap with silver lines. He also wears black palm gloves with gold lining.