Dr. Reina Soho (蘇峰 玲奈 Soho Reina) is a secondary character of the anime. She is the most powerful of the first-generation Cloneblade Sisters, the wife of Reiji Takayama and the biological mother of Rihoko Amaha.
Biography[]
Early Life[]
Reina is a first generation Neogene and one of the only few Cloneblades to be introduced into the anime who is the head medical researcher at the NSWF.
Six years prior to the start of the series, she worked alongside Reiji Takayama from Doji Group on a collaboration research team on the Witchblade. It was noted during that time that Reina tested high compatibility to the Witchblade, but the staff at Doji wouldn't hear of someone from NSWF to be compatible to the Witcblade. One day, Reina steals the Witchblade and goes into hiding.
Some time later, both Doji and the NSWF located Reina and the Witchblade. Doji sent X-Cons while the NSWF sent in Cloneblade Sisters to retrieve the Witchblade. At the moment the X-Cons and Cloneblades attacked, the Witchblade awoke from its slumber and caused a huge cataclysmic earthquake known as "The Great Quake". Sometime afterwards, Reina returned to the NSWF and was given a Cloneblade.
The New Witchblade[]
Reina makes contact with Masane Amaha at the end of Episode 4, saying that Masane, with the Witchblade, is disappointing. As Shiori Tsuzuki (Reina's assistant) begins to breakdown from her first confrontation with Masane, Reina begins to study the full capabilities of the Witchblade from the research she has, and that one day she will eventually breakdown as well.
After she learns of Shiori's fate, she begins to question whether or not Rihoko Amaha is her biological daughter. To prove so, she goes as far as taking a maternity test to see if they are related. In Episode 13, Reina takes custody of Riko to see how she would react to motherhood and at the same time experiences her breakdown after the fight she had with Nora.
As she begins to breakdown, she experiences maternal feelings, such as when she begins to cry unexpectedly. During this time, she comes in contact with a second generation Neogene named Maria, who says that Reina is her mother.
After leaving Maria in her home to give Riko and herself some time to get as far away as possible, Reina senses the incredible power Maria holds. Later, Reina's car gets stuck while at the same time she notices that Maria, along with a few X-Cons from the city, is catching up. She leaves Riko in order to keep her safe from the psychotic Neogene and promises that she'll be back for her.
Then after Maria finds Reina somewhere in the woods, she threatens to get rid of Rihoko for getting in her way of being with her "mom". Reina replies by stating that she will not get rid of Rihoko and transforms. Then, Maria asks why she hates her and says that she'll get rid of her, too, and attacks.
As Reina's fight with Maria continues, Maria begins to get irritated that Reina is dodging her attacks to a point where Maria injures Reina and manages to crack her blade. Then Maria prepares for another attack, only this time, she uses her extendable claws to pierce through Reina's shield, the tree behind her and back again. She retracts her claws and exclaims that this battle was way too easy.
As Maria checks to see if Reina is down, she gets ready to find Rihoko. Before she can have a chance, Reina grabs her by the ankle to stop her. As Maria asks why Reina's stopping her, Reina doesn't have an answer for her. So, Maria calls Reina weak and that she can't be her mother, then she gets flung to a tree and is impaled by Maria with her bare hand. Reina cracks a painful smile and manages to wound Maria in the process, which in doing so managed to break her blade. She then states that Maria has incredible power and that she musn't abuse it.
In the end, Reina has a final talk with Reiji Takayama and asks if Rihoko is safe. As she is dying, she reveals that she felt pleasure during the fight and other feelings she had for Takayama many years back. As she finishes her sentence, she begins to crystalize, giving her the appearance of slumber.
Personality[]
Reina was initially shown to be a nonchalant, intelligent, tactical and emotionally detached woman with a somewhat cold-hearted and robotic demeanor. This was most likely due to her being created as a Neogene and her relative sheltering under Tatsuoki Furumizu, causing Reina to not have much emotional development, despite her advanced intellect and accelerated aging.
Due to this, Reina was shown to primarily spend her time studying herself more than anything, including having to keep an audio log of her actions and thoughts during the course of her life in order to properly analyze herself. Due to this constant analysis of herself, Reina was stated to have performed several "tests" on herself in order to learn more about herself. Having entered into a relationship with Reiji Takayama and having her daughter, Rihoko Amaha, for the sole sake of seeing what it was like and her emotional reactions to them.
Due to her poorly-developed emotional senses, Reina was shown to be highly confused by herself whenever she experiences strong emotions. This is seen where she was incredibly perplexed by her strongly-developing maternal love and protectiveness for Rihoko and was seen constantly wondering why she was so drawn and protective of her.
Powers & Abilities[]
Transformation[]
Reina's Cloneblade form.
As a Cloneblade wielder, Reina's nickname is "Lady". Out of all of the Neogene First Generation Sisters, it was stated that Reina was the most powerful and that her genetics and incredibly powerful potential made her a perfect match for the Witchblade.
In fact, her genetic potential was so powerful that it was implied that the immense power and potential that her two biological/genetic daughters, Rihoko Amaha and Maria, the former of whom was the true intended bearer of the Witchblade, and the latter being the strongest Neogene surpassing her in power, were all inherited from her.
Reina was stated to be the strongest Neogene on record of the First Generation of Cloneblade Sisters and was stated to have been undefeated by them prior to the emergence of Maria.
- Cloneblade Form: In her armored form, Reina wears white and pink armor with wing-like appendages that give her a variety of abilities to use.
- Partial Transformation: Reina showcased the ability to transform selective parts of her body into her Cloneblade form while maintaining her normal form, as seen where she transformed her arm into a bladed appendage and her hair into blades, respectively.
- Shields: Reina has shown to use the two large "hair" appendages of her Cloneblade form to act as shields, having been shown that they were strong and durable enough to repel the attacks and bladed appendages of X-Cons and her fellow First Generation Neogene Sisters' Cloneblades.
- Blades: Reina has also shown to be able to use these large shield hair appendages as blades, having been shown to be sharp enough to slash through and kill a fellow Cloneblade user. Reina has also shown to be able to manipulate them enough to also use them as hooks to suspend herself in ledges.
- Broadsword: Reina's Cloneblade form also grants her the ability to grow a large broadsword from her left wrist that she uses as her primary offensive weapon.
Although originally, Reina was stated to be at the peak of the genetic potential and power as a Neogene, she was noted to have dropped dramatically in power after giving birth to her biological daughter and was stated to no longer be a suitable candidate to be the Witchblades bearer.
Physical Abilities[]
- Peak Physical Abilities: As a member of the first generation Neogene's and a first generation Cloneblade user, Reina has showcased several peak physical abilities. Reina in particular was stated to be the strongest of all the First Generation Neogene's to date and was superior to her other "sisters".
- Peak Physical Strength: As seen during her battles and her having successfully restrained Shiori Tsuzuki during her mania, Reina possess peak physical strength.
- Peak Reflexes and Speed: Reina was shown to possess peak physical speed and reflexes, having been able to battle and stay ahead off X-cons and even fellow Neogenes. As seen where she was able to easily dodge and evade all of Nora's attacks and easily outmaneuver her. Reina was also shown to be able to initially stay ahead of her Genetic daughter Maria's attacks while in her Dual Cloneblade form and dodge all of her attacks and put up a descent fight against her despite all other Neogene's to have fought against her being one sidedly beaten. Later she would be the first combatant to injure her.
Mental Abilities[]
- Genius Intelligence: Other than her powers granted to her by her Cloneblade, Reina has also shown to possess immense intelligence and was noted to be a highly intellectual and skilled scientist. Having been shown to have worked on the development of the Cloneblades and X-Cons through her research with the Witchblade and was shown to possess in-depth knowledge on the biological and genetic changes done by the Cloneblade and X-Con operations. Her intelligence was also shown to have been passed down to her children, with Maria having been shown to have an IQ of 200 and Rihoko being stated to be far more intelligent for a girl her age.
Etymology[]
- The name Reina means "the tinkling of jade" (玲) (rei) and "apple tree" (奈) (na).
- Reina's surname Soho means "be resuscitated, revive/revived" (蘇) (so) and "peak, ridge" (峰) (ho).
Gallery[]
