Reiga Sakamoto

坂本レイガ

**Reiga Sakamoto** is a psychologist and social worker in Metro City. He is assigned by the Metro City Police Department as Dr. Umataro Tenma's social worker. Sakamoto appears as a major character in the serialized fan fiction "It Will Come Back to You."

## Biography

Reiga was born and raised in Metro City, the oldest son to two parents, a police constable father and a roboticist mother. The Sakamoto children did not take their father's last names as part of a security measure, which Reiga came to appreciate later in life.

From an early age, Reiga showed a strong interest in reading and researching things. While Reiga's father was generally open-minded - he was notably an early supporter of AI robots - but was greatly disappointed in his non-athletic son. His regular berating and verbal abuse caused Reiga to move out when he was sixteen years old. Reiga went to live with his aunt, doing farm work in exchange for rent.

When he was 24, Reiga graduated from university and was to enter a therapist internship program. Reiga has remarked fondly on his graduation day, noting it was the first time in his life he got to see his father genuinely proud of him. Unfortunately, one year later, Constable Toyama was stationed at an anti-AI robot rally outside a robot repair facility. Extremists in the crowd detonated a bomb near an exit for robot workers, and three officers - including Toyama - were killed saving the robots. In the years since, Toyama has been referred to publicly as a hero. The irony is not lost on Reiga, and he refuses to talk about his father with others.

Three years after the final episode of *Astro Boy Tetsuwan Atom*, Sakamoto is assigned to work with Dr. Tenma's rehabilitation program. Despite a rocky start, Reiga and Tenma eventually bond as colleagues, and Reiga begins to try to help Ochanomizu and Astro with the aftermath around them.

## Personality

For the most part, Reiga is an outgoing, friendly young man. He usually gives a first impression of being careless, due to his casual and slightly dishevelled appearance. He is indeed laid-back and prone to scatterbrained moments, but he does take his job seriously. Outside work, he is an avid collector of novelty wristwatches.

Reiga's "dark" side comes when others try to ask him about his father. The lack of true closure with Yuusuke coupled with his father's hero status have caused Reiga great insecurity about his own accomplishments. When frustrated or re-traumatized, he becomes cold and distant until he can physically leave the room.

## Appearance

Reiga is a 29-year-old man of average build. He is above average height for other Japanese men, standing at about 6'1" in imperial measurements. His hair is short and black, and especially scruffy; it is naturally wavy but tends to get out of place quite easily. He is fond of wearing linen fabrics and anything else soft.

## Trivia

According to creator Shalalu, Reiga was created as a replacement for a different character in a prototype version of "It Will Come Back to You." The character previously in his role was named "Nanora", a play on the term for a nanolaser beam, "nano ray." Likewise, Reiga's given name is adapted from the romaji for "ray gun", *rei gan* (レイ・ガン).