Why Is Rejet So Good At This ? - Blog Posts

Psychological Analysis of Reiji Sakamaki

This is going to be a massive analysis of Reiji Sakamaki's character - focusing on his mental and emotional patterns, as well as his behavioural habits and where they stemmed from. I shall split this analysis into sections for easier reading and as a way to organise the points I will be making throughout this post. 

I often find Reiji to be an overlooked character, or one who’s considered boring in comparison to the other brothers and their respective routes; and so, my analysis was born, as his route reminds me of Laito’s quite a bit, due to them both being quite manipulative towards Yui.

All the transcripts used were translated and created by the lovely @dialovers-translations 

Note: This analysis will focus on just Haunted Dark Bridal and everything in it, from the route itself to his character song. However, I may make analyses on his routes in the later games depending on how this turns out, but I hope you enjoy reading this nonetheless.

Trigger Warning: Abuse, Manipulation, Stockholm Syndrome, Co-Dependency, Narcissism, Dehumanisation and Depression

Word Count: 40,473 words

To begin with, I'll point out that Reiji is an extremely complex and complicated individual; I believe the main issue that people take with this character is that his actions seem incomprehensible and unrelatable if you’ve never been in a similar situation. His words can often contradict his emotions, he's also incredibly harsh and a person who lives and strives for perfection. In addition, his personality can often become unbearably obstinate at times, such as when he lectures Yui in relation to her manners, which brings me to my first point:

Verbal Behavioural Patterns

Throughout the entirety of Reiji’s route within the game, we are presented with a strict, perceptive, controlling and an utterly abhorrent character; within the first few chapters of Haunted Dark Bridal, we are given the interaction between Yui and Reiji, in which he feels the need to discipline her for her lack of manners when it was time for them to share a meal:

Reiji: I find it very displeasing that the woman sitting next to me does not know her manners

Reiji: Allow me to thoroughly lecture you

Yui: Huh ? Lecture me ?

Reiji: Yes, exactly. Is that not to your liking ?

Yui: Um...thank you very much. I’ll do my best

Reiji: You seem to be quite eager about this. However, your resolve is worth nothing

Reiji: I’d simply like to erase this unrefined aspect of your existence, as it is an eyesore...that is all

Reiji: Please do not misunderstand me

Reiji: This has been a waste of time. I’ll begin immediately 

-----------

Reiji: Wrong! How many times must I tell you ?

Yui: I-I’m sorry

Reiji: Never would I imagine you’d be a lady with a memory this poor

Yui: (...It’s because Reiji is way too strict)

Reiji: What is it ? Honestly...

Yui: N-Nothing. I’m sorry...

Reiji:...I do not want to hear those apologetic words. They are displeasing to the ear

Reiji: Although...I don’t necessarily dislike it when you wear an expression as bewildered as you are now

Yui: Huh...?

Reiji: Quiet. I told you that your voice is displeasing to the ear, didn’t I ?

Reiji: Please stay silent so that you don’t worsen my mood and further...

If we take this interaction here, it can be implied that if a person does not fit into Reiji’s desired qualities then he will mould them into his desired outcome. This can be implied from when he asks “Is that not to your liking ?“ in relation to lecturing Yui. The phrase itself poses as an interrogative yet it is in actuality a rhetoric - he’s manipulating his words to appear somewhat polite or ‘genuine’ but in reality, he’s forcing the matter at hand to occur, Yui does not have a choice in wishing to receive a lecture since it will be forced on her either way. Phrases such as this are often used in reverse psychology as a strategy for getting what you want by demanding or suggesting what you don't want; it’s often named a strategic self-anti-conformity, because your communicated demand goes directly against what you want, or in this case, what Reiji wants - this can be interpreted through the inclusion of the negative adverb “not”, as he’s suggesting that Yui doesn’t or shouldn’t want the lecture to occur even though he himself does (strategies like this are often used to ‘guilt trip’ others, which is exactly what Reiji is doing here in order to get his own way). In addition to this, Reiji also directly states what I have already implied in a much later chapter (that he will mould Yui to his fitting):

Yui: (W-What am I saying!? My mouth is talking on its own…!!)

Reiji: Oh dear…You sure are bold. I do not dislike that.

Reiji: It makes me want to bend you to my will

It can be interpreted that Reiji uses his language in order to manipulate Yui; this will range from rhetorical lexis and patronisation to positive and negative face. The two faces are a product of Goffman's theory of politeness -  positive face refers to the need to feel accepted and liked by others while negative face describes the will to do what one wants to do with freedom and independence. Throughout Reiji’s route, this can be seen fairly regularly, such as in the Prologue, where Reiji suggests that Yui should feel the necessity to know her place in order to please him; this feeds into positive face. Reiji manipulates his language in order to pressure Yui to conform to his standards in order for her to be appreciated by him. Yet, Reiji provides the opposite to that - he serves as the negative face -  as he holds the standard that he should be able to do as he pleases both freely and independently as opposed to Yui.

Reiji: Is something the matter?

Yui: Ah, well…I was wondering if I could have some tea as well…

Reiji: Aah…My apologies. How careless of me…

Yui: No, it’s okay…

Reiji: I completely forgot to teach you your own position.

Yui: Eh?

Reiji: I am deeply sorry. However, I did not expect to have to teach you something as simple as this…

Reiji: To think you would believe you have the right to enjoy a cup of tea with me, please do not get ahead of yourself. It’s highly imprudent.

Reiji: Do you understand?

Yui: …Yes.

Yui: (Does he really have to put it like that…)

Reiji: …Do you truly understand?

Yui: Y-Yes!!

Reiji: Very well. Well then, please stay put there until I’ve finished drinking my tea.

Reiji: Good grief, you sure are a troublesome servant.

Yui: Servant…!?

Reiji: Is something the matter?

Yui: No, nothing…!

Reiji: I see. I would hope so.

Yui: (This is way worse than I even imagined. I’m being treated like a slave…)

Yui: (Will things stay like this from here on out…?)

The aforementioned negative face can clearly be seen within Reiji’s phrases of: “To think you would believe you have the right to enjoy a cup of tea with me, please do not get ahead of yourself. It’s highly imprudent.” and “ Very well. Well then, please stay put there until I’ve finished drinking my tea”. It is made evident that Reiji desires his independence to do as he pleases - no matter how small the task at hand may be - however, he becomes stern and degrading when Yui attempts the same - she takes the initiative to ask for something rather than standing idly by -. The conflict between the two desired faces pose as a power dynamic...to put it simply, Reiji desires to do as he pleases and expects Yui to be obedient to that - he expects her to lose her initiative and follow in what he deems is acceptable for her to do -. Given the fact that all the brothers are each highly abusive, it comes as no surprise that Reiji implements a power dynamic through his words moreover physical violence. The added factor that he uses terms of address such as “servant” implements this further, not only is it a means of degrading and patronising Yui, but it directly establishes the dynamic Reiji desires.

Throughout the entirety of Reiji’s Haunted Dark Bridal route, he often uses his language in order to manipulate and break Yui down (though at times he does resort to violence, which he deems ‘punishments’). He does this in order to break down Yui’s sense of self-worth; by breaking down Yui’s positive attitude linguistically, it allows him to mould her thought process to his desired standards - the most prominent way for this to occur is by inflicting Yui with an array of humiliation and a sense of embarrassment. Embarrassment, shame, guilt, and humiliation all imply the existence of value systems. Where shame and guilt are primarily the outcome of self-appraisal, embarrassment and humiliation are primarily the outcome of appraisal by one or several others, even if only in thought or imagination. One critical aspect in which humiliation differs from embarrassment is that, whereas we bring embarrassment upon ourselves, humiliation is something that is brought upon us by others.

The Latin root of "humiliation" is "humus", which means "earth" or "dirt"  (this is most likely where the phrase “being treated like dirt” derives from). Humiliation involves abasement of honour, dignity and, with that, loss of status and standing. We all make certain status claims, however modest they may be, for example, "I am a competent doctor", "I am a happily married mother", or even "I am a human being". When we are merely embarrassed, our status claims are not undermined - or if they are, they are easily recovered. But when we are humiliated, our status claims cannot so easily be recovered because, in this case, our very authority to make those status claims has been called into question. People who are in the process of being humiliated are usually left stunned and speechless, and more than that, voiceless. This is exactly what we see in regards to Yui and with that, she will often retreat into her thoughts. 

It can be implied fairly easily that Yui is subjected to chronic manipulation by Reiji; chronic manipulation in close relationships - such as the one we follow through his route - can have a similar effect to trauma, particularly when the victim of manipulation is made to feel either guilty or ashamed (which Reiji clearly does) but why does he manipulate her in the first place ? Chronic manipulation can often be used as a survival mechanism to cope with a challenging or competitive environment, especially when one lacks relative power and control. Pathological manipulation may also be the result of family, social, societal, or professional conditioning. This will be addressed in a later point as this is only half of Reiji’s abusive tactics, as he (if pushed too far) will resort to physical abuse moreover just mental and emotional, which brings me to the second section of his analysis.

Physical Behavioural Patterns

Throughout a handful of scenes within Reiji’s route in Haunted Dark Bridal, we see him become physically abusive towards Yui - however, much like Laito, Reiji’s go-to abuse towards Yui is predominantly psychological, he opts to manipulate her through humiliation and degradation moreover physical violence.

Reiji: ーー Is that truly the only thing Shuu told you?

Reiji: If you don’t want to be struck by the whip any further, I’d recommend you stop lying and tell me the truth.

Yui: P-Please believe me…I told you everything…

Reiji:…Very well.

Reiji: As your reward, I’ll engrave you with even more whip marks.

Yui: Cut it out already!

Yui: (H…Huh? I…Why am I shouting like this…?)

Yui: (It’s almost as if I’m not being myself…)

Reiji: Hmph. I did not expect for you to suddenly bare your teeth at me at this exact timing…

Reiji: It sickens me!

Yui: (It probably does not matter what I say…)

Reiji: …You look defeated. So you no longer have the power to even fight back?

Reiji: Fufu, I’m nowhere near satisfied, you know?

Reiji: In fact…It only makes me want to hurt you more and more.

Yui: !!

Reiji: Listen carefully…From here on out, you shall never speak a word to that good-for-nothing again.

Yui: !!

Reiji: This is a definite decision. You have no right to choose.

Reiji: You understand, don’t you?

Here is one of the instances where Reiji resorts to physical abuse in order to maintain control over Yui and limit her interactions - specifically with Shuu moreover any other brother -. By Reiji acting on a more physical scale to gain Yui’s complete obedience, it presents his sadism as a means to keep control; it can also be implied that his violence towards Yui serves as an emotional outburst (in this scenario, the outburst is the result of her talking to Shuu, which Reiji found displeasing).

Controlling individuals can be described as perfectionists defending themselves against their own inner vulnerabilities in the belief that if they are not in total control they risk exposing themselves once more to childhood angst. Such people manipulate and pressure others to change, so as to avoid having to change themselves, and use power over others to escape an inner emptiness. 

We already know that Reiji can be easily categorised as a perfectionist and as I have stated in the previous section, that if an individual does not fit his overbearing standards, he will break them until they do. If we follow the implication that the physical abuse Reiji subjects Yui to is due to a need to maintain control and power moreover than a lack of empathy, which one could associate either Kanato or Ayato with depending on the routes you play. I have inferred this from when Reiji states “Listen carefully“, although he does enjoy the sadistic thrill of causing Yui pain and suffering, the fact that he uses this declarative implements the notion that this is a power movement; gaining back the control that he might have thought he lost when Shuu made his presence known. I have derived this interpretation from Yui’s end of chapter monologue, in which she states:

Even after all of my senses had been numbed,

Reiji’s whip continued to assault my entire body.

I do not know what kind of hard feelings he bears,

towards Shuu who is his blood-related older brother

However, what I am certain of, is that I tried to touch upon,

something which I definitely shouldn’t have…

The scars engraved deeply across my entire body,

could they be a representation of the pain Reiji feels in his heart…?

Thinking about it that way,

might just be a little too convenient though.

From this, the implication arises that this is both the reinforcement of control as well as an emotional outburst - as though he’s stuck in a haze and unable to stop even after Yui’s body became numb. Whether you’ve played the game or not, it’s common knowledge within the community that Reiji bears a great deal of resentment towards Shuu, and this resentment will be explained in a later point as I still feel Reiji’s abusive behaviour needs to be addressed.

When it comes to physical abuse, there can be extreme and subtle variants of it; in this case, I’m referring to when he poisons Yui’s drink - it’s not as violent as when he beats, whips or assaults her but he is still causing her physical harm.

Yui: (So he does have a soft spot after all…I might have misjudged him.)

Yui: …Huh…? The fragrance is slightly different from before.

Reiji: …Oh ? You noticed ? As to be expected.

Reiji: I prepared a special tea for you.

Yui: T-Thank you very much.

Reiji: Fufu…Well then, have a taste.

Yui: (H-He’s much kinder than I thought…? Reiji has this side to him as well, huh ?)

Yui: I’ll give it a try!

Reiji: Yes…

Yui: …!!

Yui: (W…What’s this? My lips that touched the tea suddenly feel numb…!)

Reiji: …Oh dear. Seems like it was not to your liking.

Yui: R-Reiji, uhm, this is…?

Reiji: Did I not tell you earlier? It’s a tea I brewed especially for you.

Reiji: One with poison in it, that is.

Yui: P-Poison…!?

Yui: (T-Thank god I didn’t drink it all… )

Reiji: What are you looking relieved for?

Reiji: Getting down on your knees and lapping up the spilled tea comes first, does it not?

Yui: Eeh!? I-I can’t do that!

Yui: For starters…Why did you do this?

Reiji: Why ? Even if you ask me that…

Reiji: I had just finished the development of a new drug. It is not normal to want to try it out when an ideal test opportunity presents itself ?

Reiji: Furthermore…You did not truly believe that I would pour a cup of tea for you, did you ?

Yui: …!!

Reiji: Fufu…

Yui: E-Either way! Please don’t do these kinds of things!!

Reiji: Those who fall for such an obvious trap have no worth to be kept alive.

Reiji: Additionally…I genuinely did not think you would be this much of a foolish, incompetent person…

Reiji: Good grief,  I’m disappointed…I am the one who wants an apology.

Yui: (Uu…That’s horrible…)

Yui: (For starters, why is he making poison…It doesn’t seem like my life is in danger…But I’m still scared..)

Although Yui’s life is not exactly endangered from this, it still leaves her feeling scared of what Reiji could be capable of. In my opinion, this can plainly be identified as ‘Operant Conditioning’, developed by B.F Skinner. Operant conditioning is a way of learning by means of rewards and punishments. This type of conditioning holds that a certain behaviour and a consequence, either a reward or punishment, have a connection which brings about learning. The term "operant" was used by Skinner in order to give us a good overview of his theory. By this term, he meant that this type of conditioning involves only external factors that affect behaviour and its consequences; in this case, that external force would equate to something such as an interaction with Shuu, or anything that displeases Reiji. My point is that on one hand, the physical abuse Yui suffers by Reiji’s hand can be viewed as an outburst of emotions, but it can also be perceived as a display of power and control. One part of the operant is reinforcement - this is a process of increasing the frequency or rate of a behaviour by means of presenting a stimulus shortly after the display of behaviour. The event that intensifies the likelihood of the behaviour to be repeated is called a reinforcer. To put this plainly, and in context, Yui offhandedly converses with Shuu, Reiji in turn chooses to punish her via a whipping and the next time Yui encounters Shuu, she opts to pass by him and is then rewarded by Reiji - by him forcing that violence on her, it’s implemented a sense of fear towards repeating the cause of the violence; it therefore allows Reiji to control Yui’s behaviour and, in essence, her loyalty. 

Reiji: …Three seconds tardy.

Yui: S-Sorry.

Yui: (Uu…He’s upset after all…)

Reiji: Take a seat over there, and tell me your reasoning.

Yui: Y-You see…This and that happened…

Reiji: That’s too vague. That doesn’t tell me anything.

Yui: Uhm…I crossed paths with someone…

Reiji: With who?

Yui: That’sーー

Yui: Well…It was Shuu.

Reiji: That good-for-nothing…I feel like my ears will get sullied just from hearing his name.

Reiji: So, what did you do?

Reiji: Don’t tell me…You did not do something as foolish as to talk to him, did you?

Yui: Y-Yes.

Yui: After all, I…I made a promise with you.

Reiji: I see…

Reiji: Very well. I’ll give you a reward.

Yui: …! With the whip again…!?

Reiji: Oh dear? Do you want to be hit?

Yui: N-No.

Reiji: Fufu, no need to be so frightened…Well then, come here.

Yui: Yes…

Reiji: …

Yui: (I-I wonder what he’ll do…)

Reiji: Well done

Yui: Eh…?

Yui: (Uhm…Did I imagine that? There’s no way that Reiji would…)

Reiji: You feel honoured, don’t you? To get complimented by someone like me.

Reiji: Oh, it’s time for my tea.

Reiji: Of course, there isn’t any for you. Just enjoy the fragrance for now.

Yui: Y-Yes!

Yui: (Reiji’s no different from usual but…)

Yui: (Yeah…This might have really been a reward…)

Following on from this; and linking to one of the first claims I made during the introduction, Reiji appears to contradict himself - throughout the majority of this route we see him manipulating Yui’s thoughts and behaviour in order to align with his respective views, however, we sometimes see him ‘break’ this rule of his as within his Maniac 03 section we are given this interaction:

Reiji: You seem to be polishing all of them rather meticulously.

Yui: Yes. After all, I have to make sure not even a single fingerprint remains on them, right?

Reiji: Haah…This is boring.

Yui: Eh?

Reiji: Your overly obedient attitude. I don’t like it one bit.

Yui: …Eh?

Reiji: This calls for a punishment. I’ll strike you with my whip.

Yui: …What are you saying!? Please don’t tell such weird jokes!

Reiji: Jokes? …Fufu, is that what this looks like?

Yui: Kyah!

Reiji: Oh dear, I missed.

Yui: No…Please cut it out!

Yui: (I was doing exactly as he asked, yet he still doesn’t like it, that’s just too much…!)

Yui: (Besides…That whip, it has a bunch of thorns stuck to it…Just thinking about being struck by it once…)

Reiji: It is no fun when you obey every single command. …Understand?

Yui: Eek…

Yui: …!?

Yui: (…Huh? This time I didn’t even dodge, yet he missed…?)

Reiji: Fufu…I have to say, I’m surprised you saw right through me.

Yui: …?

Reiji: As you said, I was simply joking around. Good job on figuring it out.

Yui: A-A joke…?

Reiji: I simply don’t have the time to waste on punishing someone like you over something so trivial…Fufufu.

Yui: …!?

Reiji: Several devices have gotten damaged by the whip just now.

Reiji: Please put all of them away.

Yui: …O-Okay.

Reiji: Fufufu…It’s wonderful to see you so obedient.

Yui: …Thank you very much.

From this we can very, clearly see his sadism showing - he enjoys punishing Yui and will go out of his way to find a ‘valid’ reason to do so. Throughout the majority of his route we are shown time and time again that Reiji likes to bend others to his will, so that would imply that he values obedience, so then, why would he state “your overly obedient attitude. I don’t like it one bit.” ? I think the answer lies with his mother, Beatrix. We know that she was a strong-willed woman. Despite being the second wife and enduring horrid treatment from both Karlheinz and Cordelia, she still kept her head held high and did what she thought was right - even if Reiji was resentful of her not giving him the attention he needed, he respected her attitude. Reiji would never have tried so hard to please his mother if he did not truly respect her and it’s because he respected Beatrix so much that her apparent rejection of him cut him so deep; so, despite always trying to get Yui to exhibit more dignity and better manners, Reiji doesn’t want her to be meek and weak-willed - which is why I believe this interaction was included within the game, Reiji desires someone who is obedient, loyal and dignified but not faint of heart. With that, I believe that his contradictory actions serve a purpose, Reiji desires Yui to be obedient but not docile.

From both these sections, we can clearly understand that Reiji is an incredibly sadistic and controlling character, however, like most things, behaviour such as this often derives from a complicated childhood or simply an event that was highly significant to them, leading me to the next section.

Childhood

Depending on if you’ve played the games or have simply seen the anime adaptation, it’s common knowledge that Reiji was neglected by Beatrix; out of all of the brothers, he was neglected by a significant amount - the only one close enough would most likely be Kanato, but even then, he still got some form of recognition by Cordelia, twisted though it may have been. So, if we take that into account, we can decisively infer that what Reiji desires most of all would be recognition, which I why I believe this interaction to be highly important in order to understand his mentality:

Seiji: The woman on this picture is the target?

Reiji: Yes, without a doubt.

Reiji: …However, this sure is strange.

Reiji: To think that like this ーー

Reiji: There would come a day on which I would exchange words with you, a Vampire hunter.

Reiji: I will be counting on you?

Seiji: …I’ll fulfil the request without fail.

Seiji: And eventually, I will come to kill you as well.

Reiji: Yes, please come at any time. I shall be awaiting your arrival.

Reiji: Seems like…Our relationship won’t end any time soon.

Seiji: Hmph…

Reiji: Fufu…

Reiji: Soon enough, you will get to know first-hand.

Reiji: Who is the most admirable, that is…

Reiji: Don’t you think so too, mother…?

When it comes to the lore and customs of vampires within the Diabolik Lovers universe, it’s known that they often kill one another as an act of love, or a declaration of love. However, by Reiji opting to seek out a vampire hunter to kill Beatrix, it can be interpreted to serve as a means to make her suffer. It’s in my opinion to believe that Reiji never hated his mother, he resented and revered her, but I don’t think he hated her - not truly anyway -. So, once the realisation dawned on him that he’d never be recognised for his perfection, then he’d be noticed for his skills instead; I’d like to argue that it’s precisely because he didn’t hate her that he couldn’t bring himself to kill her the way the triplets killed Cordelia.

If we think about the psychology of neglect, most prominently, emotional neglect, it’s suffice to say that it might be as bad, if not worse, to be on the receiving end of indifference as of physical torment. As the psychologist William James stated “If no one turned around when we entered, answered when we spoke, or minded what we did, but if every person we met “cut us dead”, and acted as if we were non-existent things, a kind of rage and impotent despair would before long well up in us, from which the cruellest bodily torture would be a relief”.  Rage and impotent despair are precisely what a child may feel when it registers the extent to which it doesn’t matter to those who brought it onto the earth; far more likely, these emotions will mutate into feelings of shame, mingled with continued admiration and respect for those who elicited it. By using this, it can serve as a means of understanding why Reiji chooses to respect both of his parents. I implied earlier that he wishes for Yui to bear a strong will much like how his mother did, and as for Karlheinz, Reiji is the only one of his brothers who has an inkling of respect for him. It can also be implied that this is one reason why Reiji lets Cordelia whip him, but by following this approach, it’s clear to say that - from a psychological standpoint - physical pain blocks out the mental pain, the physical inflictions serve as a distraction to the emotional torment - even though he did state that he was “attuned to pain inflicted on the flesh”, I’m still inclined to believe that this still holds significance within this analysis. 

Furthermore, if we look into the symptoms of childhood emotional neglect - CEN for short - it can be said that those who have suffered from this tend to avoid conflict. My point is that by letting Cordelia treat him how she does, he’s avoiding the problem; he’s avoiding conflict. By Cordelia and Yui essentially being one in the same (since Cordelia has taken over Yui’s body), causing conflict or attempting to rival Cordelia would likely cause more harm than good to Reiji’s wants and desires - that being Yui’s safety and ‘return’ -. Conflict avoidance is a type of people-pleasing behaviour that typically arises from a deep rooted fear of upsetting others. Many of these tendencies can be traced back to growing up in an environment that was dismissive or hypercritical. 

Going back to the psychology of the matter, the child will do anything rather than entertain the idea that an injury has been done to it by its own progenitor - especially if the parent is charming to other people and impressive in the professional sphere (much like how Karlheinz and Beatrix were/are important amongst the demon world). The child will just assume that there must be something deeply wrong with itself to justify the indifference. It must have failed in some way, it must in its essence be profoundly ugly, repulsive, deformed or lacking. This is the only conceivable explanation for the blankness with which their existence is received. Therefore the adult who emerges from such a complicated, veiled childhood is likely to be in a confused state. On the surface, they may experience only good will and a continued desire to please their early caregivers. But deep within themselves, they may feel lacerating doubt, paranoia and self-contempt. To numb such feelings, they may take to calming addictions to keep themselves from constant encounters with their perceived repulsiveness. When it comes to Reiji, these ‘calming addictions’ would relate to his scheduling and experiments, they allow him to disassociate from himself and lessen the burden of his lacking self-worth.

Reiji’s Relationship With Yui

When it comes to Yui, we often see the many different faces of Reiji; we, in essence, follow his story. Though Yui takes to every trial and tribulation that Reiji throws at her, she is still determined to help him - and try as she may -. This shows us that Yui’s innate moral compass is intact, she learns to understand the type of person that Reiji is, and yet she still lingers - she doesn’t opt to run from him in the end, though she is worn and broken by that point, but it shows that Yui’s kind, almost motherly, attitude can allow someone to mellow. What I mean by this is that as Reiji’s route continues, his strictness and abhorrent behaviour fluctuates.

Reiji: Were you asleep? As I thought, you aren’t in top shape.

Yui: …Yes, a little.

Reiji: I figured that would be the case, so I’ve brought you some medicine. Please drink it all with some boiled water.

Yui: …

Yui: (The medicine Reiji brought me…I’m grateful if he truly is worried about me…But…)

Yui: (Just the other day, he tried to kill me…)

Yui: …I’m sorry. I can’t drink this.

Reiji: …Well, I figured you would say as much.

Yui: I just…can’t trust you right now…I’m sorry.

Reiji: …I do not believe there is a need for you to apologise.

In this instant, Reiji drops his guard, his usual attitude and sternness has softened - even if only a little -. It allows us to view his progression as a character and how the presence of Yui has inadvertently helped him. Our introduction to the character showed him drugging Yui, punishing her and showing no remorse for his actions; now he is pandering to her, the question is why ? 

We know that Reiji is a character with a copious amount of flaws and trauma from his childhood. He prefers to close himself off from the world and silently resent everything around him - it paints him as a bitter, broken man who deals with his problems by suppressing them; by doing this process for many, many years, it leaves him out of touch with his own feelings. Reiji’s quick to scorn and scold Yui for her more empathetic and naïve personality; he often tells her to not apologise, as though it disgusts him. I believe his attitude towards Yui started off so utterly abhorrent because she reminded him of himself. CEN - Childhood Emotional Neglect - we know Reiji has prolifically suffered from this, we know that he tried to perfect everything he did in order to please those around him both internally and externally; if he failed those expectations from others and himself then he most likely deemed himself as not ‘good enough’ to be rewarded with the attention that he so desperately needed as opposed to Shuu, who we’ll get onto later. These are all traits that we see Yui output during this route, and so, by initially resenting her, he is resenting his problems - yet as the route continues, he slowly becomes a little more lenient with her, implying that he is in some way coming to terms with his abuse and trauma; slowly accepting it. I think this is why he ‘panders’ to Yui in this scene, by accepting her, he’s accepting himself...though this is only in a small quantity, hence why he’s still stern with her - he wants to help but he lacks the ability to convey those emotions, it’s as though he’s unaware of his own feelings because he’s suppressed them for so long.

Being so unaware of your own wants, feelings and needs can make you over-focused on those of the people around you. Many CEN people have very little awareness and compassion for themselves but an excess of both for others. They may end up wrapping themselves up in providing their spouse with everything they want and need while inadvertently missing the one thing they need the most: you. The real you, the inner you. They need your emotions. This is what we’re seeing here. Reiji’s still closed off and strict, however, the notion that his actual feelings are present makes Yui happy. She’s happy because she’s actually seeing Reiji, and not just the façade and walls he puts up.

Reiji: Fufu…I admit it is rather difficult to ask you for your trust.

Reiji: However, right now I am speaking nothing but the truth.

Reiji: This medicine has been made especially to improve your health. I can assure its effectiveness.

Yui: For…me? …Really?

Reiji: Yes. …Believe it or not, but I have actually reflected upon my actions a little as well.

Yui: Reflected…?

Reiji: My attitude that night was somewhat childish, I reckon.

Yui: (S-Somewhat? …You call that ‘somewhat’…?)

Reiji: Therefore, I earnestly made said medicine for you. Well then, drink it please.

Yui: …Fufu~

Reiji: …? Is something funny?

Yui: N-No.

Yui: (It’s just…When I consider this is Reiji’s way of trying his very best to apologise, I got a little happy…)

Yui: I understand. I’ll take this medicine. Thank you very much.

Reiji: No need to thank me.

If we follow the interpretation that Yui somewhat reminds Reiji of himself - or at least, his younger self - it can feed into why he becomes ‘protective’ of her once Cordelia appears. Following this narrative, by protecting Yui during the Maniac chapters, he is, in essence, protecting himself. Yui reminds him of himself and that’s the conclusion I’ve come to - her need to impress and please others, her meek and timid attitude, and the fact that she’s overlooked by others despite her drive and determination to achieve; these are all traits that Reiji possessed as a child, and by ‘protecting’ Yui, he’s subconsciously protecting his childhood self - hence why the verb ‘protecting’ is abbreviated, his fight with and against Cordelia is more so for selfish reasons rather than out of ‘love’ for Yui. By Cordelia attacking Yui’s personality and her as a person, she’s also attacking that same fragment within Reiji - we all know that he’s a bitter man, but he knows where he stands in comparison to others, yet once faced with Cordelia, he outwardly displays his distaste. He opts to not fight back physically, but fights back verbally, and I think that this is quite significant to his character; in essence, he’s taken the role of the inferior - the dynamic both he and Yui had - however, instead of him being the one in control and using his language to project that, he’s now on the receiving end of that, like how Yui was, and he fights back with quips and sarcasm - much like how Yui would protest and sometimes come out with a quip herself -. 

Cordelia: I love the softly swaying moon reflected on the surface of the lake.

Reiji: So you favour unsteady things? That’s a perfect fit for someone as unstable as yourself.

Cordelia: Nfu, are you complimenting me?

Reiji: It’s the biggest compliment I could give you.

I find this parallel quite significant as it puts Reiji into the position of Yui, the inferior, the ‘unimportant’ one; yet, if they’re both so similar, then why is Reiji so hell-bent on being above her ? Why does he invalidate her ? And why does he grow to become somewhat narcissistic from his abuse ? Well first of all, we need to establish what NPD (Narcissistic Personality Disorder) is, and how it applies to Reiji before we continue analysing his relationship with and to Yui. 

Narcissistic personality disorder is a mental condition in which people have an inflated sense of their own importance, a deep need for excessive attention and admiration, troubled relationships, and a lack of empathy for others. But behind this mask of extreme confidence lies a fragile self-esteem that's vulnerable to the slightest criticism. A narcissistic personality disorder can cause problems in many areas of life, such as relationships, work, school or financial affairs. People with narcissistic personality disorder may be generally unhappy and disappointed when they're not given the admiration they believe they deserve. They may find their relationships unfulfilling, and others may not enjoy being around them.

This fits in line with Reiji’s character, especially his sense of importance, fragile ego and the notion that neither of his brothers enjoy his company - obviously, his ego is not as inflated as Ayato’s and his company is not as unwanted as Kanato’s, but they’re different cases entirely -. Within the official Diabolik Lovers Vandead Carnival fan book, there’s a character Q & A in which Reiji states this interaction:

Me? Losing? Do you truly believe that would happen? Hmph. Please cut the ridiculous questions. Me - who is perfect at everything from academics to household chores…If you have your doubts, feel free to come to the manor tonight. I shall serve you various wonderful dishes prepared by none other than me.

I’ve opted to include this as it directly presents his overzealous, inflated ego and perfectionism - and it means that I don’t have to shoehorn in copious amounts of dialogue where I can only imply and speculate. To begin with, I’d like to address his sense of self worth and ego; this is recognisable within his declarative, that he “is perfect at everything”, but in reality, he’s not, and the notion that he used the verb ‘perfect’ speaks volumes to that. ”Perfect” can have many connotative implications of being flawless, idealistic, almost ethereal in its lack of faults and this mindset of his allows this seemingly small inking of narcissism to come forward and be on full display - there’s a difference between thinking highly of oneself and that of perfectionism, which I shall be addressing -.

For some people with NPD, this sense of superiority isn’t as evident in how they behave. Some may be shy or withdrawn, but they may still firmly believe they’re superior in one or many aspects compared to other people; and this is where Reiji falls into the category - he’s not bombastic like Ayato, who we can clearly understand has NPD straight off the bat - and I think this is very in line with his character, Reiji prefers to stay in his laboratory and occupy himself, he’s reserved and withdrawn both physically and emotionally yet he still retains the mindset that he is above everyone else; that he is “perfect” compared to others.

Reiji: …!? You…Do you have any idea who you are embracing right now?

Yui: I know. It’s…Reiji.

Reiji: Oh dear. I assume the little bird has become quite meek after being locked up in her cage.

Oh well, it’s fine. I shall forgive you just for now. Including the fact that I am carrying you in my arms right now.

I find this section of dialogue to embody this quite well in regards to his superiority complex towards Yui and he does this in the form of metaphors - he calls her a “little bird”, which can imply that not only is Reiji pointing out Yui’s physical shortness in comparison to himself, but also her status and the fact that he views her as below average in regards to her skills and intellect. It presents his derogatory nature towards Yui, however, the fact that he calls her a “bird” could imply that he deems her somewhat beautiful and helpless - something to be admired but not anything to be weary of, as though she poses no threat to him. In addition to this, the inference that he’s openly compared her to an animal poses the suggestion that to him, she is nothing more than a mere pet; it’s in our innate social standpoint to carry the belief that we are better than our pets, that we are on the more ‘perfect’ side of evolution in regards to an animal’s mental capacity; therefore, they are nothing more than something pretty to look at, we lock them up in cages to be admired and looked down upon at the same time - yes we do care for our pets and develop a loving bond but we can also treat them as though they are babies, a child to be looked after and doted upon; a lesser form of ourselves. I think this is the point Reiji is making here, yes he does hold some form of care for her, but it imitates that of an owner and its loyal pet (which is the dynamic Reiji expects Yui to conform to, a pet, a servant) and even though that care exists, he still holds the deep-rooted belief that he is superior to her, that he is perfect compared to her - she has flaws and he doesn’t, which again brings us back to “Me - who is perfect at everything “. 

Furthermore, by him using the phrase “locked up in her cage” emphasises the implication that she is a pet to be observed. Conversely, it could also imply that Yui has become worn down by not just the mental constraints of being a vessel for Cordelia, but also the emotional confines of being with and around Reiji, being under his overbearing influence - Yui has become a flightless bird subjected to Reiji’s whims and influence, an influence that now constrains her, and that has now caged her. It’s assumed that Reiji prefers Yui to have a strong will as opposed to meekness - for her to follow in Beatrix’s resilience and determination -, and so by him declaring Yui as meek, is him shedding light on her flaws, and the implication that she needs to be ‘retrained’ much like a pet would in order to fit his ‘perfect’ standards. This inference can subtly present Reiji’s mild narcissism and perfectionism towards Yui, but what is perfectionism ?

Perfectionism is often defined as the need to be or appear to be perfect, or even to believe that it’s possible to achieve perfection. It is typically viewed as a positive trait rather than a flaw. People may use the term “healthy perfectionism” to describe or justify perfectionistic behaviour. Perfectionists set unrealistically high expectations for themselves and others. They are quick to find fault and are overly critical of mistakes. They tend to procrastinate a project out of their fear of failure. They shrug off compliments and forget to celebrate their success; instead, they look to specific people in their life for approval and validation. There are three subcategories of perfectionism, which are:

Socially Prescribed Perfectionists:

Socially prescribed perfectionists are very self-critical. They feel immense pressure to be the best and worry others will reject them. Perceived external standards (which can come from family, workplace, society, etc.) can lead to anxiety and low confidence.

Other-Orientated Perfectionists:

Perfectionists who are other-oriented. They hold others to high standards and can be critical and judgmental which can leave destruction in their wake. It’s hard to build working relationships under these conditions, which is one reason this variety is so detrimental.

Self-Orientated Perfectionists:

Self-oriented perfectionists are organised and conscientious. They set high standards for themselves in their lives and careers, but are able to go after their goals. High self-oriented perfectionism is generally associated with the most “adaptive” traits correlated with greater productivity and success, including resourcefulness and assertiveness. They show higher rates of positive emotion and motivation.

Perfectionism can often develop and occur due to a frequent fear of disapproval from others or feelings of insecurity and inadequacy, mental health issues like anxiety or obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) can lead into perfectionism. While a correlation between OCD and perfectionism has been found to exist, not all people with perfectionism have OCD, and not all people with OCD are perfectionists. Having a parent who exhibits perfectionistic behaviour or expresses disapproval when their child's efforts do not result in perfection can also factor into perfectionism developing. Some parents may encourage their child to succeed in every area or push perfection on them to an extent that can be considered abusive and an insecure early attachment. People who had a troubled attachment with parents when they were young may experience difficulty self-soothing as adults. They may have trouble accepting a good outcome as good if it’s not perfect. 

I believe this links quite nicely to Reiji’s character as we know he was dealt a troubled childhood full of neglect and comparison - opting to memorise an entire novel rather than simply enjoy reading it, in hopes that it would catch his mother’s attention; I believe that this is where his perfectionist persona developed from. By him developing this behavioural pattern at an early age, it allows his world view perception to change - if he must raise himself to an impossible standard, and be ‘perfect’, then so must everyone else; this feeds into his development both as a character and as a person, he desires to be recognised for his perfection, and so, when Yui does praise him for it, he revels in it - it allows his fragile ego to grow, and for him to feel acknowledged; though he often puts Yui down, degrading her, he also allows her to prosper and learn too, as though he’s trying to subtly repay her kindness. CED and perfectionism can be interlinked; by not having the emotional praise and approval as a child, you begin to internalise the possibility that there is something wrong or inadequate with you, and so you try to ‘fix’ that and become ‘perfect’ in hopes of achieving the closure that is so desperately needed; by Yui providing this acknowledgement to Reiji, it not only fuels his ego and perfectionism, but it also allows him to gain closure and comfort, for a moment his insecurities vanish and I believe he enjoys that, it makes him feel content and gives him some form of care to latch onto - why would he risk so much to try and save Yui if he didn’t care ?. It can be implied that the relationship between Reiji and Yui ‘softens’ over time due to her providing him with the emotional stability he needed as a child and him clinging onto that - we know that his brothers don’t really care for or about him, and so naturally, he would cling onto the one person who does...that being Yui.

Additionally, NPD can not only be linked to perfectionism, but also CEN. One of the causes of CEN is being raised by a narcissistic parent. Narcissistic parents are a major source of childhood emotional neglect. Narcissistic parents are unable to see the true nature of their children or respond to them emotionally. They are taken up trying to get their own needs met, and are not capable of giving emotionally to anyone, and that includes their child. So children of narcissistic parents often have their emotional needs ignored or discouraged, the very root cause of CEN.  The extreme type of CEN that contributes to narcissism happens when your parents not only ignore your emotions, they actively squelch your feelings and your true self.  Narcissism may be partly determined by genetics, but to become a narcissist, you generally must grow up with a complex mix of being emotionally squelched in some ways, and overly indulged or excessively praised in some kind of superficial or inaccurate way. CEN is at the core of every narcissist. When you have CEN, you tend to take up little space. Deep down you feel unimportant and invalid, so you don’t ask for much, and you don’t allow yourself to want or need much. On the other hand, those with narcissism are the opposite. Narcissists put their own feelings and needs first, and feel most comfortable when taking up lots of space. This predisposes people with CEN and narcissists to feel comfortable with each other. They often fall in love with each other, but its seldom works out well; this links to Reiji when I mentioned that he contradicts himself - he puts his own needs first during the beginning of HDB yet behind closed doors, he still feels invalid. He outwardly possesses the belief that he’s better than Yui, and better than his brothers yet once he’s in the comfort of closed doors, once he’s on his own, that mask drops and his bitter resentment and festering insecurities take hold. He’s self-contradictory in his beliefs and wants, both presenting traits of NPD and CEN.  This is because when the parents are emotionally neglectful, the various levels of sensitivity of the children combine with the differing ways the emotional neglect comes across to each child. One may grow up with the struggles of pure CEN and another sibling may end up with narcissism - or in Reiji’s case, both. The hidden inner cores of narcissistic people and those with CEN are very much the same; since CEN is a contributing part of the development of narcissism, this is not surprising. The shared inner core of these two very different styles is a shared inner feeling of being empty, alone, and insignificant.

By explaining how NPD and CEN parallel each other, it better helps explain Reiji’s contradictory nature from his outward behaviour and his inner feelings. Emotionally, he can relate to Yui as she presents traits of his younger self to him and so, emotionally, he wants to ‘protect’ and ‘fix’ that. However, physically, intellectually and socially, he does not relate to Yui. Physically, he is stronger and of a completely different race to her; intellectually, we know he is far above average and prides himself in that, and socially, he is again, above Yui. It’s clear to say that vampires and humans are going to have a difference in status and hierarchy - humans are nothing more than food to vampires, food, slaves, pets, and by that being the social hierarchy for them, it’s going to be imbedded and ingrained into people like Reiji who are in a position of power; just because Yui can be implied to remind Reiji of his childhood naivety and self, doesn’t then mean that she is on the same wavelength as him, she is not and Reiji likes to bring awareness to that. Reiji poses as a highly sadistic and manipulative man and, when he can, he chooses to indulge in that, such as when he and Cordelia tighten the corset around Yui’s body, causing her pain.

Cordelia: Nfu~ Well then, tighten the corset please. So my waist looks nice and slim, okay?

This girl is especially lacking, so we have to try and emphasise the curves.

(Wha!? So mean!!)

Reiji: ーー I’m tightening it, okay?

Cordelia: Go ahead…!

(…It’s so painful, it feels like I might die.)

Reiji: Do you want it even tighter?

Cordelia: Yes, you can still keep going.

(…Please stop! If you try and make it any smaller, it’ll just look creepy!)

Oh, is that so? Reiji, what do you think? This girl is screaming for you to stop.

Reiji: I see. In that case…Let’s tighten it just a little more.

By including this interaction between the three characters, it re-establishes Reiji’s sadism - yes, he mirrors Cordelia’s expectations for him towards her in order to bring Yui back, and so one might say that the ends justify the means. However, I am not prepared to overlook his fall-back into his more sadistic tendencies - does this tie more into his physical and psychological behaviour ? Yes, but does it also tie into his relationship with Yui ? Yes.

The moment before Cordelia took control of Yui we saw Reiji’s ‘true colours’ emerge - the fact that he cares and has grown to care and show affection towards Yui - yet as soon as Cordelia takes the limelight and pushes Yui into the background, he openly takes to causing her pain; inflicting his darker traits on her once again, and this time she can’t fight back whatsoever...not even with her words, and Reiji indulges in that - such as him tying the corset tighter even though it’s causing Yui physical pain, and knowing that it’s causing her pain too. Interactions like the one listed above reinforces how dark of a character Reiji is - he has his softer moments, but he also has his more sadistic ones too; this being one of them, it’s a subtler interaction and display of his sadism, but it’s there nonetheless.

It's evident that some pathological personalities have a sadistic quality about them. Narcissists will torture with put-downs to keep their ego afloat; antisocial personalities may make people suffer into submission to get a need met, enjoying the sense of power it provides them. However, the aforementioned are not usually openly hostile and destructive as a general way of relating to others. In these circumstances, such acts of cruelty are really means to an end; a part of the disorder.

While no longer addressed in the ‘Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders‘,(DSM), sadistic personality disorder (SPD), similar to the passive-aggressive and masochistic personality, has continued to be recognized as a condition by many psychologists. First written about as a psychological construct by Krafft-Ebing in the mid-1800s, the sadistic character was then recognized as someone who enjoys instigation of pain, cruelty, and humiliation as sexual dominance. This was expounded upon by Freud, who discussed sadism and masochism as “bipolar dimensions of the aggressive component of the sexual instinct”; looking beyond this sexual basis, however, Eric Fromm later found that sexual sadism wasn’t the only form of expression of some people's need to humiliate: "Mental cruelty, the wish to humiliate and to hurt another person's feelings, is probably even more widespread than physical sadism. This type of sadistic attack is much safer to the sadist... the psychological pain can be as intense or even more so than the physical... the core of sadism...is the passion to have absolute and unrestricted control over a living being. To force someone to endure pain or humiliation without being able to defend oneself is one of the manifestations of absolute control..."

The most common traits of SPD can include:

Use of physical cruelty or violence in relationships to establish dominance (not simply for the sake of secondary gain, like robbery). 

Humiliation of people in the presence of others. 

Unusually harsh treatment or discipline towards someone under their control. 

Amusement from witnessing the psychological/physical pain of others, including animals. 

Lies to inflict pain on others. 

Operating through intimidation or terror to get others to comply. 

Restricts the autonomy of people they are close to (their spouse must always be accompanied, children aren't allowed out of the home etc). 

Fascination with violence, weapons, and torture/injury.

The psychologist Millon furthered that those with SPD tend to be noticeably abrasive with sarcasm, criticism, and hostility; they also tend to be strongly opinionated and unwilling to consider others' views, and may harbour an eruptive temper. This latter component is especially important, as those with SPD cannot handle vulnerability - much like Reiji -. Therefore, at the first sign of a threat, no matter how insignificant, their preferred tactic is "offense is the best defence" to show they're not to be played with. It can be implied that we see this throughout the beginning of Reiji’s route, opting to push pain onto Yui for seemingly no apparent or valid reason - he’s outwardly showing Yui what he’s capable of and that he’s not a person you’d wish to cross -. However, this display of offence and emotional coldness could also be seen as his defence mechanism, since we’ve already implied him to suffer from CEN, the best way for him to cope with this is to shut everyone out so that there’s no chance of him being hurt emotionally again.

If we take Reiji’s apparent childhood neglect and abuse, alongside the formulaic ‘bully’ psyche, we can understand his sadistic tendencies more. We know that Reiji was dealt with humiliation, absence and emotional turmoil; so to more or less, subdue that on his part, it can be implied that he mirrors the behaviour he was dealt with and inflicts it onto others as a way to deflect his own suffering: it takes the phrase “hurt people hurt other people” or to put it in a clearer tone “people who are hurting, hurt other people” and takes it to a darker state. To compensate for his own misfortunes, Reiji opts to hurt others the way he was hurt, and how that emotional misfortune took to becoming more and more physical, giving him the desire to physically punish others and force them to mirror his inner turmoil - we know that Reiji let this trauma and unresolved problem fester, turning him to resent his family and over the years, that would grow, the hate would grow and worsen, and so would his desire to punish others the way he was punished; as they grew, so did his sadism - which is why he can act so heinously towards Yui, who in turn only wants to help Reiji. Yui’s put in a bad position and her first instinct is to try and make good of it, and I think that factors into why the dynamic between Reiji and Yui changes throughout the entirety of HDB.

Yui: Ah…Are you awake, Reiji?

I’ll pour you a cup of tea right away.

Reiji: Yes…

Did you stay by my side the whole time, perhaps?

Yui: Yes, I didn’t want to leave your side for even a split second.

…Was I in the way?

Reiji: Not at all.

Yui: Thank god…In that case, I’ll go get theーー

Reiji: Hold up. Before that, come here.

The inference that can be drawn from this interaction here is that Reiji is hesitant yet willing to drop his guard and let Yui in. His interrogative of “Did you stay by my side the whole time, perhaps?“ presents Yui with the hint that he is prepared to lower his guard if she is prepared to stay, that he is willing to be vulnerable if she’ll keep him company. It’s interesting to point out that as a character who prefers his own company and for people to leave him be rather than simply follow him around or annoy him for their own satisfaction, is openly asking if the person he at first deemed unworthy of wasting his time stayed with him. It puts his insecurities on full display, that he’s lonely; the fact that Reiji doesn’t say “you stayed...” and instead asks “did you stay...” exhibits his hesitation and uncertainty but also hope - just a little bit, but it’s there -. He’s unsure but hopeful for Yui’s answer, and I think that parallels his early-stage behaviour pleasantly; it shows his willingness to help himself and lower his defences as long as Yui is willing to stay with him through it. By this interaction occurring, it lets the relationship between the two develop - yes Reiji is still stern, rude and somewhat obnoxious, however, he begins to acknowledge Yui as a person, key word being ‘begins’, as he’s still got a long way to go in order to overcome his many deep-rooted problems, and the interaction for that has been set-up.

Interactions such as this present Reiji with a more mellow attitude towards Yui than what he did during the majority of his route - he’s still stern and holds strong to his sense of self and perfectionism however, it’s become lesser than it was, since Reiji willingly let Yui in and lessened his guard around her. It shows that his progress as a person is occurring, though it is at a rather slow pace - which is fitting for someone like Reiji.

Reiji: …You really helped me out earlier. Let me thank you.

Yui: Eh? Did I do anything?

Reiji: You called out for me in the classroom while I was being forced to lecture those girls on the continuation of class.

I thought that was very quick-witted of you…But since it’s you we’re talking about, I suppose that was not the case.

----------

Reiji: …Humans are bothersome creatures after all.

Yui: Eh?

Reiji: Say I would refuse to help them with their studies, I am certain bad rumours would spread in no time.

‘That guy is unfriendly’, for example. Although I wouldn’t mind if that’s what they think about me.

Take the witch hunt for example.

Yui: Witch hunt?

Reiji: Yes, after even the slightest disagreement, they would claim someone to be a witch, falsely accusing them.

Although in the current era we live in, witch hunts should no longer exist.

That being said, it would be foolish of me to purposely trigger a bad situation.

Nor do I wish to shake up my current lifestyle.

So I’ve been trying to remain kind to a certain degree, avoiding other people developing some sort of resentment towards me.

Above all, the overall image of the Sakamaki household could not be worse because of the other brothers.

I have to at least keep up a good impression, or else I will be treated as their equal. …There you have it.

Here we see Reiji praise and acknowledge Yui’s behaviour and opts to thank her - yet he quickly follows that with one of his usual remarks -. It presents his softening façade but also his sarcasm, it can be implied that he covers up his relief at Yui’s actions with feigned annoyance - he’s not ready to completely drop his guard and let someone in after so many years of festering in his own trauma and turmoil; it’s not always that simple and it shows his struggle to do so. Additionally, this is one of the very few times within this game that Reiji ever mentions his brothers as a collective, and I’m inclined to believe that it shows how distant he is from them. By him using the phrase “the [other] brothers” moreover “my brothers” displays that emotional distance, he’s not using the possessive pronoun ‘my’ because he doesn’t feel as though they are his brothers - he doesn’t feel connected to them -. Furthermore, the notion that he states  “‘That guy is unfriendly’. Although I wouldn’t mind if that’s what they think about me.”  emphasises the fact that he is still very much stuck in his ways through his self-contradictory and self-anti-conformity tactics, he tells Yui that he could care less what others thought of him, yet we know that this is not true - he doesn’t care for people’s opinions of him yet opts to “at least keep up a good impression, or else I will be treated as their [his brothers’] equal”, it’s rather ironic don’t you think ? He states that he doesn’t care yet in reality he does, he’s invalidating his own feelings and using his brothers as an ‘escape goat’ for that; even the fact that he uses the declarative “there you have it” displays his somewhat reluctance to lower his guard completely.

Keep in mind that through Reiji’s mentality and the fact that his mind is a boiling pot of negativity towards himself and others, it’s likely to assume that he lacks a concept of love and how to separate it from his manipulative tendencies. Once Yui has become content with being dragged into Reiji’s emotional mayhem and depreciating manipulation, he lowers his guard - little by little - but as Reiji becomes ‘better’ in a sense, Yui becomes worse - feeling more and more broken as the route continues, and I think this can be implied to hold significance to the relationship between the two. 

Reiji: Just like this…I’ll continue to love you…Till you can’t think of anything else.

This is your punishment for being so doubting. …Well, to be honest.

I doubt this will even count as a punishment to you. …Fufu.

Yui: …Haah…

Reiji: Well then, where would you like it next…? I’ll give you my fangs thoroughly…wherever you want…

Yui: Aah…

(Is this happiness…? Yes, it has to be.)

(Reiji…Is loving me after all.)

The important thing to note in this interaction here is how the words “love”, “punishment” and “fangs” are grouped together. Both “punishment” and “fangs” include connotations of pain, and discipline, implying that Reiji will continue to ‘train’ Yui with rewards and punishments (again, manipulating and abusing her) however, the added factor that “love” was included in this exchange could imply that Reiji subconsciously views love as another form of pain and punishment; as though instead of him viewing his abuse of Yui for what it is - abuse - he’s glossing over that fact and instead calling it “love” since canonically, vampires are known to kill as an act of love; they murder the ones they love:

Cordelia: In that case, I’ll kill you. And then I’ll kill him…

Killing him would be the ultimate proof of my love.

I shall be the one fulfilling his greatest desire to die. Haah…Isn’t it wonderful?

Reiji: You have no interest in being the person he loves the most. In short, you just want to force your own love upon him, am I wrong?

Conversely, due to his upbringing, and the vampiric logic of DL, maybe by imprinting this kind of behaviour on her, Reiji is trying to say that he has enough emotion towards her to consider melding love and pain together. It can be considered that vampires drink each other’s blood in the DL universe under three circumstances: food, love, and pleasure; I think Reiji melds those three together. I’ve implied this mainly through the actions of when Yui turns into a vampire when following Kanato’s route; Kanato even comments at times that it makes no real difference for him, “she’s just as sweet as before” in relation to her blood. By Kanato continuing to drink Yui’s blood is not the same as drinking it for nutrition, as it was before. Thematically speaking, it can be implied that sucking blood is what Rejet uses to symbolise intimacy and sadism in the franchise - and from that we can interpret that by drinking their own blood, it acts as a means of giving pleasure to one another as well as food and sustenance. The ‘love’ aspect of this is a little harder to explain given the notion that basically none of the characters (aside from Yui) understand the concept of love, and of loving someone, however, I believe a phrase from one of the chapters in Laito’s route can explain why pain melds into ‘love’; he states “do you know how it feels to love someone so much that you end up hating them?”, which I think describes the brothers’ mentality towards love quite well. Family-wise, they were each damaged, and so their understanding of familial love vastly differs that of someone who grew up with a caring and stable family - applying this to Reiji brings us back to his CEN, his neglect came as a form of ‘love’ - which hurt him - and so by him harbouring feelings for Yui, he’s going to mirror and perpetuate that, hence why I think his later punishments come as a form of ‘love’ from him.

Going back to the subject of the matter, Reiji’s walls are still very much up, they’re just not as high as they were before - his stern attitude still remains and somewhat prevails, but his caring nature begins to grow.

Reiji: Haah…I wanted to believe you were sincerely listening to my words, but it seems my message did not get through in the slightest.

Yui: I’m sorry…

Reiji: …When do you have to hand it in?

Yui: By the end of today…

Reiji: Do you know what time it is right now? Honestly you are unbelievable…I suppose I have no other choice.

Yui: Eh…?

Reiji: Where’s the assignment? Do you have it with you?

Yui: Y-Yes!

(Could it be, he’ll help me?)

It’s this one.

Yui pulls out the assignment

Reiji: …You’ve already made a mistake in your first answer.

Yui: Eh? Where?

Reiji: It does show that you solved it with your own abilities, but do you honestly intend to submit it like this?

Yui: Uu…Sorry…

Reiji: Please show me your notes.

Yui: Y-Yes…

----------

Reiji: Over here, and here…On these pages as well, there’s errors.

Let us fix these mistakes first. Then we can proceed.

Yui: T-Thank you very much…!

The school setting for this interchange is quite refreshing, but it also reinforces the academic differences between Reiji and Yui - he’s been alive for a very long time while Yui is only seventeen - and it goads the ‘redemption’ of Reiji’s overbearing nature, as previously, Reiji was displeased with trying to help his fellow classmates yet here he’s willing to help Yui of his own initiative - though he does show reluctance to do so, again establishing his slow growth and progression -. If this scene were to take place during the beginning of the game, he would no doubt chastise and degrade Yui for her mistakes and inability to understand the question, however, he does not take that chance to berate her here; yes he does chime in with his usual remarks, yet he offers to help her fix her mistakes together - he’s extending and reaching out to her and letting her take hold of that hand - naturally, by comparing his beginning chapters and his later chapters, it’s not difficult to see why Yui is ecstatic in this exchange. 

On the contrary, whilst Reiji’s character goes through growth, so does Yui’s - Reiji more for the better and Yui more so for the worst, and I’d like to bring attention to that. I’m not going to discuss her entire character but I’d like to bring awareness to her contribution to their relationship, starting with this:

Reiji: That too. I’ll prepare you a hot drink, but first eat thiーー

Yui: My blood is disgusting, huh? …To the point where you don’t ever want to drink it again.

Reiji: Yui, calm down. I haven’t said any of that, have I?

If you’re in bad shape, this could possibly affect your blood as well.

Therefore, you don’t need to think that waーー

Yui: But! You wouldn’t want to drink disgusting blood, would you!?

If you won’t have my blood, then what am I supposed to do!?

Without good-quality blood, I won’t be of any value to you…!

At this rate, I won’t be able to remain by your side…!

(I don’t want that…!)

Reiji: …You truly are a foolish person.

Who said you aren’t valuable to me?

Yui: Because…!

He embraces her

Reiji: Haah…

They’re bad at dealing with things. They always assume the worst right away. They pretend to understand even though you don’t.

Honestly…They really are a handful. …Do you know who I am talking about?

Yui: Eh…?

Reiji: I’m talking about you, Yui.

To think you still don’t understand after being told so many times…Listen carefully, okay?

Yui: Y-Yes…

Reiji: The taste of your blood is irrelevant.

I am most definitely a Vampire. As long as we are living together, drinking your blood is an essential part of it…

Even so…

I don’t mind how disgusting your blood may be. …Yui, as you remain yourself.

This exchange shows the changes that Yui’s character undergoes in order to satisfy Reiji’s; even the notion that he’s being uncharacteristically soft in this dialogue presents how they both have changed and how the narrative has changed - the beginning contrasts the end. Reiji opts to put his own feelings to the side in order to accompany Yui’s, which shows his progression to take others’ needs into consideration, as well as learn to accept his own feelings and let himself validate them - I find this progression quite powerful due to where his character started: bitter, resentful, controlling and utterly sadistic in his means of manipulating Yui. However, we see this stark contrast in Yui - a character who we know likes to help others, stay rational and open minded but most importantly, we know that Yui is a genuinely kind soul; so to see her throw a fit of distress and rage is quite shocking to behold. Additionally, the fact that she actively interrupts Reiji mid sentence provides us with how she’s changed - she’s becoming more erratic in her behaviour; as per the fact that she cuts Reiji off by stating, “My blood is disgusting, huh? …To the point where you don’t ever want to drink it again. “ reminds me of Kanato, and his erratic behaviour - the inclination that you take one thing to mean another and instantly go off the rails, which is what we see here and I think that it can be implied to serve as a good test to Reiji’s slow progression and betterment.  The end segment of the transcript above is particularly valuable in this interpretation of Reiji’s character development, especially in regards to his perfectionism; the fact that he’s practically declared that he’s willing to push aside the notion that her blood is no longer perfect (for the time being) as long as Yui remains true to herself truly speaks volumes - we’ve been through how and why Reiji possesses perfectionist traits, and for him to then consider pushing his own morals aside for someone he initially saw as beneath him genuinely allows not only Yui but also the audience to view Reiji’s ‘true colours’ so to speak - in this small segment, we see Reiji’s core as it should be, not hell-bent, resentful nor scorned, we see the little shards of tenderness and affection that he’s locked away for so long; he’s becoming ‘true’ to himself and he wishes for Yui to remains true to herself too. 

Yui’s Relationship with Reiji and her Deteriorating Mind

However, as I vaguely touched upon before, Reiji’s development also takes a toll on Yui; her character changes as Reiji’s does, and that’s bound to have an effect on the two.

Those who weren’t treated with respect by their family and have low self-esteem, will tend to deny the abuse and won’t expect to be treated better than how they were controlled, demeaned, or punished by a parent. Denial doesn’t mean we don’t know what’s happening. Instead, we minimise or rationalise it and its impact; and may not realise it’s actually abuse. Research shows we deny for survival to stay attached and procreate for survival of the species. Facts and feelings that would normally undermine love are minimised or twisted so that we overlook them or blame ourselves in order to keep loving; by appeasing our partner and connecting to love, we stop hurting - love is rekindled and we feel safe again.

When we fall in love, if we haven’t worked through trauma from our childhood, we’re more susceptible to idealizing our partner when dating. It’s likely that we will seek out someone who reminds us of a parent with whom we have unfinished business, not necessary of our opposite-sex parent - this is able to link to Reiji’s hatred of Yui’s meekness and how he wishes for her behaviour to intertwine and parallel Beatrix’s -. We might even be attracted to someone who has aspects of both parents. This is known in Freudian parlance as ‘Repetition Compulsion’ and helps us overlook signs that would be predictive of trouble. However, cases like this can often instil what’s known as ‘Stockholm Syndrome’.

Stockholm syndrome is a psychological response. It occurs when hostages or abuse victims bond with their captors or abusers. This psychological connection develops over the course of the days, weeks, months, or even years of captivity or abuse. The ‘captors’ in this case can often have the uncanny ability to sense a weakness or vulnerability in another person and is followed closely by the charm of first impression and then reinforced by the promises of meeting the unmet needs of the other. The Stockholm syndrome or ‘trauma bonding’ in the relationship does not come into play until after the ‘capture’ has taken place. It is after the veneer of first impression has worn thin that the captor now has to use the ‘good guy/bad guy’ scenario to set the bonding. The captors in this case are adept at making the captive feel sorry for them by telling stories of their own abuse as children and making excuses for their temper and aggressive behaviour. This combined with small acts of kindness ingratiates them to the captive after the abuse that sets the fear of reprisal up in the captive. Some cases of an abusive relationship can have the scenario where the captive gains the insight and strength to leave, and the captor murders the captive and the common motif for this is “If I can't have you, nobody can”.

Now here is where it gets a bit difficult. It would be simple to say that all hostages or captives that fall prey to this type of person are ‘weak’ or ‘needy’. That is not the case; however, as we trace back as investigators we often find indicators that made the captives more susceptible to the wiles of the captor. The attribution error allows us to transpose our beliefs about what ‘normal’ behaviour is onto those who behave differently. Too often we just shake our heads in disbelief as a captive returns to the captor voluntarily and despite the urges not to by family and social supporters. Others throw up their hands and cite Stockholm syndrome as the culprit without understanding the dynamics and the context of the situation.

Emotionally bonding with an abuser can actually be a strategy for survival for victims of abuse and intimidation. What might have begun as a normal relationship has turned into a controlling and abusive situation, or in our case, the opposite. They are trying to survive. Their personality is developing the feelings and thoughts needed to survive the situation and lower their emotional and physical risks. The fear of outbursts from the abuser becomes a controlling factor in the victim's life. For survival, the goal becomes to anticipate anything that may result in an outburst for the controlling person and avoid it at all costs. The abused person becomes preoccupied with the needs, desires, and habits of the abusive controlling person. The outcome of this survival mode or ‘freeze’ reaction versus ‘fight or flight’ reaction can result in a captive who experiences a loss of self-esteem, self-confidence, and psychological energy and who is ‘burned out’ and too depressed to leave; another possible outcome is a return to a childish infantile pattern of bonding with the aggressor - in our case, the latter is visible within Kanato’s route in Haunted Dark Bridal -.

In many cases, it's not simply feelings for a captor that keeps individuals captive in an unhealthy relationship - it's the totality of the investment and the types of investment:

Emotional Investment - They've invested so many emotions, cried so much, and worried so much that they feel it necessary to see the relationship through to the finish.

Social Investment - They've got pride, and to avoid social embarrassment and uncomfortable social situations, they remain in the relationship.

Family Investments - If children are present in the relationship, decisions regarding the relationship are clouded by the status and needs of the children.

Financial Investment - In many cases, the controlling and abusive partner has created a complex financial situation. Many captives remain in a bad relationship waiting for a better financial situation to develop that would make their departure and detachment easier.

Lifestyle Investment - Many controlling and abusive partners use money or a lifestyle as an investment; captives in this situation may not want to lose their current lifestyle.

Intimacy Investment - They often invest emotional and sexual intimacy. Some captives have experienced a destruction of their emotional and or sexual self-esteem in the unhealthy relationship. The abusing partner may threaten to spread rumours or tell intimate details or secrets; a type of blackmail using intimacy is often found in these situations.

Throughout Reiji’s Haunted Dark Bridal route, we see Yui slowly adapting to the physical and mental abuse Reiji instils on her, and in a way, her kind spirit betrays her and is manipulated by Reiji. I’ve mentioned previously that Reiji uses Operant Control on Yui; so when she’s rewarded for ‘good’ behaviour, her innate compassion allows her to somewhat overlook the heinous actions that are inflicted upon her. This can be implied by the notion that she wants to believe that there’s good in Reiji, that he’s not entirely bad and abusive. Yet, once Cordelia is out of the picture and Yui has returned back to ‘normal’, she displays a more erratic streak compared to her usual tender personality, opting to assert herself more, however, that assertion comes in a frantic nature moreover stubbornness - such as when she declares to Reiji that he won’t want her anymore because she thought her blood wasn’t good enough. The question is, why would she say that in the first place ? She’s endured so much pain and suffering from Reiji yet she doesn’t want him to leave her...why ? From what I’ve inferred, it’s quite simple, she’s broken. What I mean by that is that she’s become so worn down over time, having what little confidence and self-esteem she has etched away time and time again, being ‘retrained’ by Reiji’s cruel manipulation and then having Cordelia take over her body on top of that - she’s mentally exhausted from dealing with Reiji’s regime and it’s taken its toll on her.

Throughout the route as a whole Yui barely interacts with any of the other brothers; therefore she’s isolated for the majority of the game, she doesn’t have anyone to turn to and once Cordelia strikes, the only person who more or less comes to her ‘rescue’ is none other than Reiji. Mental exhaustion, isolation and pressure all factor into how a person as a whole ‘breaks’, in essence, once Yui has become undeniably worn out, it allows Reiji to mould her mind into his desired outcome - which is what was mentioned all the way back in the first few sections -. By him casting Cordelia out, it leaves Yui vulnerable, tired and confused; by him posing as her ‘rescuer’ so to speak, Yui’s exhausted brain is going to jump to the conclusion that everything she was put through was due to an act of ‘love’, “Reiji’s here because he loves me” was most likely the basis of her thoughts at that moment - she was at first valuable to him due to her blood and she doesn’t want to lose that status of importance to him. So, when Reiji decides to pay attention to other people, it can be implied that Yui feels threatened by that, and becomes frantic that he’s going to leave her - Yui’s been isolated for the entire game, and through that, and everything else she’s been through, she’s going to depend on him; and follow the rules he sets out for her because that mindset has been ingrained into her. 

Reiji: Our bond should not be able to be broken over such a trivial thing.

Furthermore, do you fully realise that you have captured the heart of a Vampire?

I’d like to bring attention to this small piece of dialogue above within the After Story chapter, more so for its irony at the fact that Reiji uses the verb ‘captured’ even though he is technically the ‘capturer’ since he enforced this life on Yui when she chose him. Even the word itself carries connotations of imprisonment and subjugation, displaying the utter irony of the situation - Reiji has physically and mentally restrained and constrained Yui’s whole person, yet through her acts of kindness, he instead feels imprisoned - it’s baffling yet it provides us with the implication that Reiji feels content with her, enough to subtly change his character and climb up the hill of betterment; furthermore, this could then imply that as Yui feels depended and devoted to Reiji due to Stockholm syndrome, Reiji may also feel this string of attachment to Yui because he can’t better himself without her - it can be implied that their relationship is a double-edged sword -. 

Reiji’s broken Yui’s psyche to the point where she feels unsafe if Reiji is not with her or around her. She’s been isolated and tortured into developing a form of twisted attraction which may have all started due to her empathetic character - she’s attached with no one else to turn to, she’s cut off from the world and her only means of purpose is by serving Reiji.

Reiji: That way, you’ll learn much more. I’m saying this for your sake as well.

Yui: B-But, if I do that, we won’t be able to head home together any more.

Reiji: So you’re practically ordering me to teach you because you don’t want to? You’ve sure become quite assertive with your words, haven’t you?

Yui: That’s not true…! I just don’t want to become unable to head home together with you!

As I’ve stated previously, Yui can often become quite unstable when faced with separation from Reiji and the dialogue above perfectly encapsulates that. Throughout the opening of the route we see Yui try her best to go about her daily life, often left on her own when she’s not being ‘trained’ by Reiji’s strict demands - it paints her as someone with initiative that can cope on their lonesome - whereas now, that fragment of Yui has completely flipped; where she could cope on her own, now she can’t. It all ties back to Reiji’s many problems but it also speaks volumes about Yui’s own personality and quite frankly, lack of self-esteem.

Due to her implied low self-esteem, Yui believes the abuser’s belittling, blame, and criticisms, which further lessen her self-esteem and confidence in her own perceptions. Reiji intentionally does this for power and control. She’s brainwashed into thinking she has to change to make the relationship work; she becomes easily manipulated, blames herself and tries harder to meet her abuser’s demands. It can be implied that Yui may interpret sexual overtures, crumbs of kindness, or just absence of abuse as signs of love or hope that the relationship will improve; thus, as the trust in herself declines, Yui’s love and idealization of Reiji remains intact, and she may even doubt that she could find anyone better.

Many of us can have empathy for the abuser, but not for ourselves. We are unaware of our needs and would feel ashamed asking for them. With this in mind, it makes us susceptible to manipulation if an abuser plays the victim, exaggerates guilt, shows remorse, blames us, or talks about a troubled past if they have had one. Our empathy feeds our denial system by supplying justification, rationalisation, and minimization of the pain that we endure. Most victims hide the abuse from friends and relatives to protect the abuser, both out of empathy and shame about being abused; secrecy is a mistake and gives the abuser more power, which is exactly what we see.

Going back to a point I made at the beginning of this section, about how people can often fall for those who remind them of a parental figure, I believe this has relevance to Yui and her attachment to Reiji. We know that she grew up with the church and that her father, Seiji, was strict on her as a child - I don’t think Yui suffers from CEN like the rest of the brothers, and we know that she did have friends before she moved to the mansion. However, I’d like you to keep in mind that Seiji was the one to kill Beatrix by Reiji’s command; therefore a relationship between those two characters has been established in the past - no doubt Reiji was just as controlling then as he is now. The Reiji we see during this game is quite brutal in his manipulation, but he is also strict....’strict’ being the key word. It can be implied that Yui may have seen the same strictness in Reiji that was in her father, possibly leading her to find a strange form of comfort in that - she wishes to please Reiji’s firm nature much like how a child wishes to appease a strict parent.....by getting on their good side; we can predominantly see this through the Heaven chapters of the game.

Yui: I’ve brought your tea.

Reiji: Yes…Right on time. Not even a single second off.

Yui: Of course. You are very punctual after all, and so am I.

Reiji: I see. That is a very favourable way of thinking.

Yui: (I did it…! Reiji is pleased! I’m so glad!!)

One of the first instances where Yui was to meet with Reiji she was three seconds late, in which she encountered a nasty punishment from him - here, after she’s been completely broken and worn out, she’s right on time, she’s punctual because Reiji’s ways of living have been ingrained into her; she’s been ‘trained’ properly by him, like an owner would do with their dog (again bringing us back to the pet power dynamic) and therefore has become co-dependent.

Co-dependency  is an emotional and behavioural condition that affects an individual’s ability to have a healthy, mutually satisfying relationship. It is also known as ‘relationship addiction’ because people with co-dependency often form or maintain relationships that are one-sided, emotionally destructive and or abusive. 

The concept that Yui’s eager to please him, and the fact he states that it’s “favourable” of her implements Yui’s development in regards to their relationship, and how Reiji’s overbearing control has practically obliterated Yui’s original self - her former self has been completely lost to him.

Cordelia and Mirroring

Within this section, I’d like to talk about Cordelia and how Reiji mimics and mirrors her behaviour and expectations in order to ‘kill’ her...but first, what exactly is mirroring and mimicry ?

Mirroring, also known as ‘Limbic Synchrony’, is the act of mimicking those around us. It’s an ingrained social behaviour that typically yields positive results, mirroring can help to establish a rapport between humans, with research finding that it improves interpersonal skills in children. It is widely known that individuals frequently imitate each other in social situations, and that such mimicry fulfils an important social role in the sense that it functions as a social glue. With reference to the anticipated action effect, it has recently been demonstrated that individuals do not only imitate others, but also engage in anticipated action before the observed person starts engaging in that action. Interestingly, both phenomena (mimicry and anticipated action) rely on tracking others’ social behaviour. However, this act of mimicry and mirroring can also be used by those of a controlling nature, who wish to use these tactics to benefit their own circumstances; this leads us back to Reiji. 

Going through his Ecstasy chapters, I often found that in Ecstasy 10, Reiji displays an almost completely different attitude towards the end, opting to display the qualities and traits that Cordelia wishes to see - more or less giving her what she wants -, which I at first found rather strange due to him spouting the exclamative “Don’t touch me! You’re filthy! You are the most disgusting slut I’ve ever met!” back in Ecstasy 05, so why then does he decide to provide this interaction:

Reiji: Of course. This dress is almost no match for your fair skin…

On top of that, your skin is so smooth…It puts even this velvety fabric to shame…

Yui: (…! What am I getting all flustered for!?)

Am I beautiful? Reiji.

Reiji: Yes, you are more beautiful and charming than anyone else. My precious…

Yui: Compliment me more! More!

Reiji: So much so, I wish I could rip that dress off your body at the very instant and completely ravish you.

If I don’t…I fear other guys might just try and gobble you up in no time…

Yui: Haah, I don’t mind. Reiji, get on your knees. And please put on my shoes.

Reiji: Yes. My precious darling.

Yui: (Reiji’s kneeling down…!)

Exactly. Now, put my foot on your knee.

Reiji: Fufu…You are beautiful as ever…Your legs are slender and elegant like those of a crane.

These feet as well…So precious and small, they fit right into the palm of my hand.

It’s rather simple really, Cordelia wants to be complemented, she wants to be praised and adored; showing her overall narcissism in the process, and Reiji plays into that, he mimics and mirrors her emotional desires in order for Cordelia to drop her guard. The irony of this scene is that he’s in fairness, complementing Yui’s body, he’s not praising Cordelia’s personality, her intellect or even her original body yet we see her present more leniency once her desperation for praise is fulfilled. This need of Cordelia’s is what inevitably causes her downfall.

Cordelia: Fufu. That settles everything then. I’ll enjoy watching you resurrect Beatrix and killing her afterwards.

Reiji: Yes. Before that, Cordelia, would you like to seal our vows with a kiss…?

Cordelia: Oh dear, you’re surprisingly a romanticist.

Reiji: ーー Come on.

Cordelia: Very well. Go ahead…

Reiji leans in

Reiji: Cordelia…

Cordelia: (…No way, why…? Reiji…Do you not care about “me” at all?)

He kisses her

Reiji: Nn…

Cordelia: …Nn…!?

*Thud*

Cordelia: (Eh!? Cordelia pushed…Reiji away?)

What is…this? What’s the meaning behind this!?

Reiji: …You fell for it, Cordelia. I made you…ingest a certain drug.

Cordelia is a character who demonstrates openness in what she desires and that leaves Reiji to mimic and mirror that in order to coerce her to lower her guard - she becomes blinded by her own narcissistic needs and Reiji is able to take advantage of that; I think this is a nice way to bring us back to how manipulative of a person he is. Reiji’s able to lure both Yui and Cordelia into a false sense of security, and once their defences are down, he’s able to enact his own plans.

Reiji’s Paradoxical and Parallel Relationship with Shuu

For this section of my analysis, it’ll be impossible to talk about Reiji without talking about Shuu; in Shuu’s third ending, he finds Reiji’s old diary in which he talks about setting fire to Edgar’s village. It’s not made clear exactly what the diary said or what Reiji’s tone was, just that Reiji does admit in the diary to causing the fire and Edgar’s ‘death’. When asked if all this is true, Reiji’s response is that it was something he did as a child.

Shuu: That day, you followed me and went to Edgar’s village.

Yui: Edgar is…?

(That’s…the name of the friend Shuu mentioned before…)

Shuu: And then…You set fire to the entire village, did you not?

To rob me from my best friend. Because of your own resentment towards the guy who had something you didn’t have yourself…You wiped clean an entire village…

Was it fun to burn Edgar to death?

Reiji: …

Yui: Reiji…Killed Shuu’s friend…?

(With fire, on top of that…So that’s why Shuu hates fire so much…)

Shuu: No matter how much we may view humans as inferior living beings, it does not make sense for us to mindlessly slaughter them for our own pleasure.

If Vampire hunters were to find out…Our entire race would be in danger…

Kanato: Say…Reiji, is he speaking the truth?

Reiji: …It happened when we were children.

Personally, this response from Reiji is rather odd, his hatred of Shuu isn’t exactly a secret; and being vampires, killing doesn’t seem to be that big of a deal. In Reiji’s route, he reveals quite early on that he killed his own mother. With that in mind, if Reiji really had meant to kill Edgar all those years ago, wouldn’t he just admit to it ? The fact that he says that setting fire to the village was something he did as a child could hint that he feels guilt - and to an extent, shame - towards it. Even in the current timeline, he refers to his action as “setting the village on fire”, not as “killing Edgar”; while his actions did lead to Edgar’s ‘death’, it seems unlikely that he actually set out to murder. Reiji has always resented Shuu due to his mother valuing Shuu more than himself. But more than that, it was the fact that even though he worked incredibly hard, Shuu thrived by doing absolutely nothing. In addition to that, Shuu often ran away and tried to escape the pressure of living as the apparent heir. To Shuu, the strict attention that Beatrix gave him was suffocating, and Reiji envied that attention. 

Reiji naturally has a personality that nurses grudges for a long time, as evident by how much he still resents Shuu years later. From Reiji’s perspective, it can be implied that he sees a brother who didn’t and still doesn’t appreciate any of the things he has - things that Reiji wants so badly but can never obtain. It may be inferred that if Shuu took his life and role as the heir seriously, Reiji might not hate him as much as he does, if at all. The sense that you get of Reiji from Shuu’s route is that rather than wanting Shuu to disappear, Reiji just wants him to better himself.

Reiji: …Someone like you, it isn’t just your actions and appearance, but even down to the very depths of your heart, you are nothing but a filthy fiend it seems.

I wonder if it’s because you were spoiled during your upbringing due to being the eldest son…Our caretakers have created a monster.

No…This level of disgracefulness can only be attributed to someone’s true nature. I don’t sense a single grain of refinement in you.

Shuu: …I have no idea what you’re talking about. You’re noisy so go away, Reiji.

Reiji: You are the eyesore here. You too, why don’t you make yourself at home underneath the ground where you’ll be out of sight.

Shuu: …Don’t wanna, it’s cold. If you don’t want to see me, then leave.

Reiji: Wha…You good-for-nothing!

Yui: C-Come on guys…

(It’s rare for Shuu to talk back this much…)

(Reiji is usually calm and collected as well, but when it comes to Shuu, I feel as if he’s purposely trying to attack him…)

(None of the brothers seem especially close, but these two in particular…)

(It could be that amongst all of them, they are like cat and dog…)

Reiji’s responses in regards to Shuu are often filled with malice and disgust, but here, he directly states the problem he has with him by saying “you were spoiled during your upbringing”. We’ve thoroughly implied and analysed Reiji’s overwhelming CEN and how that’s affected him growing up, however, due to Shuu being almost suffocated in what Reiji longs for, he’s naturally going to become envious of his brother because of that, and begin to resent him.

Reiji is a character who’s suffered from CEN, however, by following Shuu’s route, we learn that Beatrix was quite an overbearing mother due to Shuu’s placement in the family - Shuu was dealt with an unhealthy amount of attention and Reiji was devoid of any -. I know that in Reiji’s More Blood route, we do see instances of Beatrix checking up on Reiji and his studies, sometimes praising him, however, just because a parent asks how you’re doing once in a while, does not constitute to a child not being neglected...he very much was, at least, emotionally. They’re both two ends of the same spectrum, and although Reiji is emotionally closed off for the most part, he’s also emotionally volatile in his own ways - punishments - whereas Shuu is the flip-side of that and is emotionally apathetic; here’s how they paradox each other.

What I mean by this, is that both Shuu and Reiji’s behaviours contradict themselves even though at their cores, they are inherently the same. So, what is apathy ?

Apathy involves a lack of interest in different aspects of life, including normal daily tasks and social activities. It is often seen in varying degrees in healthy people, but it is also a symptom of a number of different mental health conditions including depression.

The origin of the term apathy comes from a form of the prefix “a” meaning “without”, and the Greek pathos meaning “emotion, feeling, suffering”. Thus, apathy was originally defined as freedom from suffering. During the 18th century, the meaning changed to “a sense of being without emotion or feeling indifference, especially to matters that are important or appealing”.

Apathy is characterised by feelings of indifference and lack of emotion. The term is often used to describe a lack of caring or concern, but in mental health contexts, this loss of interest in different aspects of life events is often a sign of a condition. There are different types of apathy consisting of:

Emotional apathy - Characterised by a lack of both positive and negative emotions

Behavioural apathy - Characterised by a lack of self-initiated behaviours

General apathy - Characterised by less motivation, poor emotional responses, and lack of social engagement

Research suggests that apathy and anhedonia (lack of pleasure) are closely linked, with people experiencing higher levels of apathy also reporting more anhedonia.

Two other forms of apathy that people may experience are:

Bystander apathy - This is related to the bystander effect, a phenomenon in which people witness someone else in need of help, but do nothing to intervene or offer assistance. There are many reasons why people may not take action in these situations, including indifference or apathy to the other person's plight.

Compassion fatigue - Sometimes people care initially, but become overwhelmed or physically and emotionally exhausted. This leads to a decreased ability to feel compassion or empathy for others.

When it comes to Shuu, I believe his apathy has formed over time. I’ve implied this through his regiment as a child; given the fact he is the eldest son and therefore the heir, it’s no doubt going to put pressure on both Shuu and Beatrix to succeed in that - often having Shuu cooped up in the castle spending his time studying - much like Ayato - and just like Ayato, they’d both rather not be suffocated in strict demands by their mothers, and would rather venture and explore their surroundings. By Shuu garnering the vast majority of his mother’s attention and dealing with the copious amounts of stress in regards to his education, he’s naturally going to feel overwhelmed by that, and possibly view his mother’s aspirations for him as overbearing. This leads us to compassion fatigue, at first, Shuu would’ve cared about what his birth right entails but over time, that would have started to wear him down, exhaust him due to the importance of the role he needs to fill; by becoming exhausted, Shuu may have grown to care less and less and his motivation to succeed the family may have decreased alongside it. He no longer had motivation because he constantly felt drained - not to mention, he wasn’t permitted to leave the castle, and so he’s going to feel even less motivated to succeed....he felt trapped by his place in the family - it’s really no wonder why he wanted to escape so badly.

Beatrix: Shuu, are you making selfish requests again?

Shuu: Mother.

Beatrix: You are Father’s precious heir. You do not need to see the filth of the outside world.

Everything you need has been provided inside the castle. …You mustn’t trouble your wet nurse and the others.

Shuu: Yes…

*TIMESKIP*

Shuu runs through the forest

Shuu: Haah….Haah…!

Phew…~ I’ve come quite far from the castle.

I’ve come this far, so I doubt granny and gramps will be able to find it.

If they find out I went out by myself…Will I get scolded?

But just a little bit of venturing should be…

I quite like this flashback section in Shuu’s route as it displays him running away from his responsibilities (a common theme in Shuu’s character), he wants some piece of mind without drowning in everyone’s demands, and the fact that Beatrix openly frowns upon what Shuu wants - to explore outside - and chooses to look upon that as selfish allows the audience to sympathise with his character and somewhat understand why he’s developed such a lack of care towards everything and everyone.  

Beatrix pushed Shuu to his limits more than the other sons; he was forced to become the best by his mother so she would win Karlheinz's favour against Cordelia. This led to Reiji being neglected and quite obviously harbouring feelings of hate and resentment towards that. Throughout all the commotion and harshness, it resulted in Shuu running away from home. While running away, Shuu met Edgar and became the best of friends, often playing together. However this happiness did not last long enough; in an attempt to impress his mother and gain her fleeting attention, Reiji destroyed Edgar's village, resulting in Edgar's ‘death’. Naturally, Shuu began to blame himself for what happened and soon lost interest in everything; thus his apathy came to the forefront.

They paradox each other because they each cause one another pain in their differences, one was neglected for a large portion of their life and tried everything in their path to garner that attention - and going to extreme lengths to do so - and became bitter, controlling and manipulative; one lost the one friend who cared for him and treated him as a person in order to escape his overbearing home-life and became depressed and apathetic. Reiji wanted what Shuu had and Shuu wanted what Reiji had, and the irony of that realisation is honestly quite devastating. The difference between the two at that point in time, is that Shuu tried to wade through his circumstance whereas Reiji let his perfectionism, envy and malice grow, choosing to take his frustration out on Shuu.

Shuu: Edgar! You can’t! Don’t go!

Edgar: Shuu, you should head back home already. Don’t you dare follow after me!

Shuu: Wait, you can’t! You’ll die!!

Edgar: I’ll be okay…See you later…Let’s play in the forest again.

Edgar runs towards the fire

Shuu: Edgar…!!!

Why…Why did you go…!

Humans will die instantly if they get swallowed by such strong flames…!

Edgar…Come back…Please come back…

Reiji arrives to the scene

Reiji: …Wah, such impressive flames.

Shuu: Reiji…? Why are you here…

Reiji: That doesn’t concern you, does it?

More importantly, your friend sure is a little fool. He just jumped right into the fire.

Shuu: Wha…Do you intend to ridicule Edgar!?

Reiji: No, not at all~ You are the only one I’m blaming…Shuu.

Shuu: Eh…?

Reiji: You are unbefitting of succeeding the throne.

You can’t do a single thing, so you should just spend your time in the very back of the castle, wasting your days away like a mute flower that can only sit there and breathe.

Ah…However, putting it that way might be insulting to the flowers.

Shuu: Wha…!?

Reiji: Aah, if I stay here, the smell will get in my hair.

I’ll return to the castle. I’m sure gramps will come and drag you back soon enough.

Fufu…You…Good-for-nothing.

Reiji walks away

Shuu: I’m a…good-for-nothing…?

The fire grows stronger

Shuu: Ah…No good…It can’t be stopped no more…

Am I…A good-for-nothing…? Hey…Edgar…

From what I can recall, this is the first instance where Reiji calls Shuu “good-for-nothing”, which is pretty significant within the timeline of events. Shuu’s basically just lost everything dear to him and the first thing Reiji does is chastise and mock him - clearly this is out of jealousy and resentment, he wants Shuu to hurt like he does - and once Reiji lets his famous nickname out, Shuu buys into that...he’s lost his friend, was too scared to do something and his brother has just called him useless - he’s going to believe him, because he feels responsible for it.

Looking through Shuu’s route, we gain a clear perspective of how utterly horrible Reiji can be. In that flashback it’s heavily implied that Shuu is distraught, and is Reiji concerned for his brother ? No, he shows no ounce of care, opting to fixate on the smell of his hair instead...and in his brother’s bereavement, declares “You can’t do a single thing, so you should just spent your time in the very back of the castle, wasting your days away like a mute flower that can only sit there and breathe”. It reinforces Reiji’s bitterness and how his hate and envy has taken the limelight in his head. What’s truly sad about this interaction, is that Shuu follows suit with what Reiji said - once he’s older all he does is sleep. He lazes around the house, earbuds in and music drowning everything out, he barely speaks, and stays out of the way...sleeping on the floor, sofas, and even outside, which is exactly how Reiji wishes him to be here, not seen nor heard because he’s jealous that Shuu’s seen by his mother and he’s not. The fact that Shuu even question’s Reiji’s lecture by posing the interrogative, “Am I…A good-for-nothing…? Hey…Edgar…” could imply that he feels so exhausted by everything that maybe he does feel useless, and that he does feel worthless because he couldn’t even save his friend; this could be implied when he calls out to Edgar, as though the weight of the situation hasn’t quite dawned on him yet, and neither has the depression yet to follow.

As common as depression is, it still eludes complete understanding. The trigger for depression can be almost any negative experience or hardship. Triggers can be external, such as losing someone, or they can be internal and invisible, such as brooding over the most common of experiences, a failed relationship. People differ in their susceptibility, both by virtue of their biological heritage, their parenting heritage, their styles of thinking, the coping skills they acquire or deliberately cultivate, and the degree to which situations afford them the ability to control their fate. Depression can often be implied to be most associated with the number of stressors experienced in life, and the effect is cumulative - the more stresses that accrue over time, the greater the likelihood of becoming depressed. The loss of an important relationship by death or divorce is experienced by most people as a major stress requiring significant adjustment. Loneliness is both a physical and emotional stressor, and in the absence of a wide array of coping skills, even minor bumps on life’s journey can become significant stressors.

Brooding over mistakes or unpleasant experiences, jumping to catastrophic conclusions from one or two setbacks, overgeneralizing from limited evidence - all are errors of thinking, or cognitive distortions, strongly linked to depression. Such thinking mires the brain in negativity and, if unchecked, breed self-doubt and hopelessness. Research documents that there is a strong relationship between adverse experiences in childhood - such as verbal or physical abuse or household dysfunction caused by a mentally ill parent - and the lifetime risk of depression. Studies show that verbal abuse more than doubles the lifetime risk of depression. Adverse experiences are a significant source of stress. But whether they summon resources for successful coping or lead to despair depends in part on the situation and in part on the person. A child facing verbally or physically abusive treatment at home or school who has no means of escaping continuing injury is at an elevated risk for developing depression. Situations may not be subject to change - but attitudes, interpretation, and meaning of experience are always under individual control and can confer resistance to depression and other disorders..

It can be inferred that Shuu suffers from depression after Edgar’s ‘death’, it’s natural to go through the stages of grief but when those feelings linger - which they do in Shuu’s case - it often leads to depression manifesting. The totality of Beatrix’s demands, Reiji’s animosity and the loss of Edgar would naturally wear Shuu’s mentality down, causing his apathy to grow stronger and his self-worth to shrink, and that’s how we’re faced with the Shuu we see now, the Shuu that Yui sees and the one Reiji still resents. And that’s the paradox, Shuu became what Reiji wanted, and in a sense, became what Reiji was...quiet and out of the way; Reiji became what Shuu was, studious, envious and to some degree, the head of the house - he takes care of everything -. They each want what the other has and that’s how they’re inherently the same, their contrast comes in the form of their behaviour and how they deal with the situations they were dealt with.

Now for the parallel. or how they’re more similar than what they display. I’d like to bring Reiji’s perfectionism back up for some more analysis as I feel it fits better within this portion of the analysis. What I’m referring to, is how perfectionism can link to depression just as much as grief and apathy can. Perfectionism is like an endless pit of negativity. Those in its grip don’t just hold high standards for themselves, they are perpetual self-critics, always judging themselves harshly. They focus on the very thing they want to avoid most - negative evaluation and failure. Perfectionism keeps people completely self-absorbed, always finding fault with themselves, a mindset that prevents them from taking on potentially-rewarding challenges. Even when perfectionists complete a task, they cannot enjoy a sense of achievement - such as when Reiji killed Beatrix -. Relentless concern with mistakes leads them to be haunted with uncertainty about their performance. The constant negative focus leads to a negatively distorted view of themselves, self-doubt, and feelings of inadequacy and worthlessness. Perfectionists are vulnerable to depression because their self-worth is contingent on fully achieving goals - a condition that, by definition, they can never meet. 

Now, am I saying that Reiji also has depression ? No, but I believe that this at least needs addressing - I’m not saying that he does suffer from it and I’m not saying that he doesn’t, I’m not entirely certain of either one but the possibility does need to be mentioned. Reiji is a raging perfectionist who deals with CEN and mild NPD; with that in mind, it can be implied that his self-worth and ego are substantially fragile - which could imply that he might suffer from depression but given the fact that we don’t see inside Reiji’s head, this possibility can’t be confirmed -, as we can sometimes see him lose his composure when confronted with failure, being wrong or having something be out of his control, such as the cave scene in Lunatic Parade. Reiji focusses on being ‘perfect’ in order to prove his worth to his father, and prove that he is the most capable to succeed within the family. Shuu, who was supposed to be the successor could care less about the importance of the family’s heritage; that’s how they paradox, how they parallel is through how they fail to move past their painful circumstances and choosing to let their rampant trauma simmer.

Learned helplessness is a state of mind in which people come to believe, often through experiences of childhood abuse or neglect, that they have no way of escaping difficult or painful circumstances and therefore exert no effort to change distressing situations even when it is possible to do so. The resulting passivity can keep people from taking any measures to avoid a problem or to help themselves when one arises, or to seek help from others, compounding their own suffering and precipitating such feelings as hopelessness that are the hallmarks of depression. Because the helplessness is learned, the belief that no action matters can be unlearned; part of the cure is also gaining a realistic understanding of what can and can’t be controlled in life. Reiji wants to control everything and Shuu wants to control nothing. Shuu within the contents of Haunted Dark Bridal is an apathetic self loathing man with symptoms of PTSD and depression, and has issues attaching himself to anything. He is borderline suicidal and doesn’t want the connection of love with anyone. He is afraid of hurting the people around him and he cares whether he causes it or not. He desperately wants a connection to hold onto to feel something other than emptiness and pain; and Reiji has a severe inferiority complex regarding his older brother. He was severely neglected by his mother and believes himself unworthy of being loved and maintains an intelligent, gentlemanly nature in order to help distance himself from the brother he despises. Both brothers want to be loved unconditionally, and though they both go about different ways of achieving that, their end goal is still the same - hence why they parallel -.

All-in-all, their relationship is very turbulent due to one not accepting the troubles of the other and vice versa - mainly Reiji but the point still stands - and instead of trying to work out their differences and focus on their similarities, they each choose to fester in their own crippling self-worth.

His Bond with The Other Brothers

This will primarily focus on the Prologue due to Reiji’s overall lack of brotherly interactions within the majority of his route. I’m choosing to section the Prologue and the Dinner Banquet Drama CD separately due to the Prologue also including Yui in their interactions, whereas the latter is just the brothers on their own, which could possibly hinder my analysis - hence why I’m separating the two.

Once Yui’s presence is made known to the brothers, their conversations tend to revolve around her rather than the brothers simply conversing with each other.

Kanato: Hey…Why is this girl here?

Laito: Isn’t she part of tonight’s meal?

Ayato: As if! Why don’t you use your imagination for that? This one’s already mine. I’m the one who found her first after all! Hehehe.

Reiji: ーー But you let her get scooped off your plate.

Ayato: Fuck off, Reiji! Don’t mention that!

Subaru: Heh. Lame.

Here we get to view Reiji’s more light-hearted sarcasm, rather than insults and condescension; the fact that it’s directed towards Ayato of all people - a character who can be implied to be his polar opposite - shows that he doesn’t naturally harbour any ill-will towards everyone and can almost ‘play along’ with their apparent traits, such as Ayato’s prolific narcissism and Laito’s perversion. Here we see Laito refer to Yui as a “part of tonight’s meal” - this can be taken both literally and metaphorically - as they do need to feed off Yui’s blood to sustain themselves, but in the context of both Ayato and Laito, the ‘feeding’ part can be taken in a more Freudian direction. However, instead of Reiji chastising the two of them - like how he usually does - he plays into the conversation by suggesting that Ayato “let her get scooped off [his] plate”; by him giving this type of response, it plays into both implications of Laito’s query, not only showing Reiji’s self-contradictory nature but also his hypocrisy. Reiji’s character poses as someone who thrives off of order and serenity, yet he actively instigates Ayato; this could imply that though he prefers to have tranquillity, he also can’t help but have to have the last say in something.

I also find it quite strange that although Ayato is Reiji’s opposite, they both seem to have quite a sarcastic rivalry between themselves. It’s light-hearted and lenient for the most part which is odd since Ayato prefers to cause a ruckus - which could be implied that he represents chaos -, and Reiji tends to pick up the pieces - which could be implied that he represents order, and their relationship to each other demonstrates the balanced yet tolerant dynamic of order and chaos since one cannot exist without the other - ; it’s not hate-filled like how his relationship with Shuu is, and I think that shows Reiji in a better light and somewhat proves to both Yui and the audience that he’s not always full of malice and can be quite tolerant towards the triplets and Subaru’s more reckless tendencies. 

Conversely, by implying that Reiji holds more tolerance towards his siblings, does not therefore mean that he has complete tolerance...I assure you, he does not.

Laito: Phew~ As short tempered as ever, huh? Hahaha.

Subaru: Shut up, you hormonal bastard! Just know that I don’t think of you as my older brother!

Kanato: …This pisses me off. If you don’t shut that foul mouth of yours, I’ll cut it up into pieces.

Subaru: Heh, I’d like to see you try with that stature of yours, shorty.

Kanato: …Teddy. Take a good look. He’s going to be our next target.

Reiji: For god’s sake… Can you people cut it out? No matter how calm and collected I may be, I’m starting to get irritated as well.

I don’t care what you do with this person…Or at least, that’s what I would like to say

I just can’t stand to watch my mischievous little brothers fight it out over you in front of my eyes.

First of all, please tell me loud and clear how you wandered inside of here.

When compared to Shuu, Reiji appears to be the more active party, however, when it comes to his other brothers, he appears to be quite passive, opting to cut in once the conversation has a breathing period. What I mean by that, is when the conversation stops for a second, when everyone catches their breath, that’s when Reiji interjects. He allows Subaru and the triplets to have their say before he ends the conversation entirely - which could be implied to display his ‘politeness’ and ‘gentlemanly’ nature, however, it’s to my belief that it shows his passivity moreover his façade. Furthermore, Reiji specifically uses the adjective “mischievous” to describe his brothers rather than call them “troublesome" or "irresponsible", as “mischievous” can be implied to be quite a playful word - further implying that he may not even view his brothers’ behaviour as ‘delinquent-like’ but more impish, like children playing a prank. However, this does not stop him from chastising them as he asks them to “cut it out”; even the fact that Reiji chooses to vocalise his displeasure through that phrase shows his lax behaviour, he’s not telling them to stop, but to simply “cut it out”, which is the lenient way of saying it - how a parent would say it, firm but not too strict -.

I do enjoy character interactions like this, especially from Reiji because it puts his entire character paradox on display. He doesn’t reprimand Ayato for his language, Kanato for his outbursts or Subaru for his destructive temper...yet he quite literally ‘whips Yui into shape’ for being late, the hypocrisy is crying out to us. I do enjoy how his passivity is presented within the Prologue, as though he just lets his brothers run rampant and he simply picks up the pieces; yet once we follow his route, we see him take complete control and his untreated trauma take a hold of the limelight. However, that’s not to say that he still does not show that passivity - he does -, such as when he lets Cordelia order him around, whip him, and insult him. On one hand he’s simply biding his time; on the other, he’s being passive - yet the two are intertwined since passivity is a form of adaptation, or maladaptation, in which the individual adopts a pattern of submissiveness, dependence, and retreats into inaction - .

Diabolik Lovers Drama CD: The Dinner Banquet by Moonlight

I wanted to mention this specific Drama CD in relation to Reiji’s character, moreover his mini Drama CD since it allows us to view his character in the company of his brothers, and his brothers alone in order to give us a more full perspective of their overall dynamic as siblings.

*Cling*

Reiji: Haah...I simply cannot get enough of the fragrance of this tea. During this short timespan given to me, I get to indulge in the highest of luxuries. At dawn, when everyone is falling asleep, enjoying a cup of tea by myself. A wonderful time just by myself. I even find myself wishing that the fools in this household would just never wake up again.

The door opens.

Shuu: ー Sorry to crush your dreams, but I’ll have to interrupt your ideal time.

Reiji: Hm? ...Tsk, Shuu. You truly do appear at the worst possible times. Hmph. Thanks to you, the best time and space changed to the worst time and space in the blink of an eye.

You usually do not wake up over the slightest thing, so what’s the matter?

Shuu: Hm...For some reason I couldn’t fall asleep. There’s this certain thing missing from my bed after all.

Reiji: ...’This certain thing?’

Right at the beginning of this CD, it’s pointed out to us that Reiji rarely gets his own time, he’s always busy with something and never really has any time to himself to relax - bringing us back to his perfectionism and how that can cause people to become restless until something has been ‘perfected’, leaving sparse amounts of time to simply sit back and enjoy your own company; yet that becomes interrupted, and Reiji’s sour mood returns.

It’s quite fitting that out of all the brothers, it’s Shuu who decides to deflate Reiji’s mood - if you’ve played or followed Shuu’s route, then you know that he’ll frequently do things to intentionally irritate Reiji, and I think that is exactly what he’s doing here. Shuu has a trivial problem, an inconvenience, and who does he annoy ? Reiji, and him being the way he is, voices his disdain for Shuu’s presence. What I find to be quite apt is how Shuu gives a vague hint to his problem and expects Reiji to know what it is. The reason I’ve said that it’s quite fitting of Shuu’s character to do this is because he does the same thing but with his emotions throughout his route - not only does he not elaborate on his inconvenience, but he purposefully makes Reiji question the circumstance; and we all know that Reiji despises not understanding things. To link back to a prior section, notice how Reiji only vocalises his displeasure, he doesn’t physically remove Shuu at any point, implying that he may not hate Shuu as a person, but he doesn’t condone his behaviour. Shuu catches Reiji’s attention and then promptly cuts him off, annoying him. Furthermore, notice how Reiji was the first person Shuu went to, yes Reiji is the most mature, but Shuu still went to him to fix his problem; that could imply that in this scenario, Reiji acts as the ‘caretaker’, the mature figurehead who deals with everything from financial affairs to personal problems - this further shows his need to succeed at everything, and be ‘perfect’ -.

Shuu: Nn...I’m tired...Oh well, I’ll sleep.

He drops down on the couch.

Reiji: Ah...! Wait! Please do not sleep on the couch!

Shuu: Zzz...Zz...

Reiji: Ugh...You...Vampire version of Sleeping Beauty! Shuu! You’re in the way! If you fall asleep there, it’ll ruin my long-awaited tea time! You’re an eyesore, so please disappear from my sight!

Shuu: ...Hm? ー Zz...Zz...

Reiji: ...! Kuh...He won’t wake up. This guy really...!

Hm. Oh well, it’s fine. I suppose he wishes to be killed by me. I’ll grant your wish right now.

Reiji pulls out a blade.

Reiji: Fufufu...If that’s what you want, Using this silver knife I’ve spent days and nights sharpening, I’ll chop off your head in a single motion. This is your punishment for corrupting my wonderful space. You deserve to die while writhing in pain.

Shuu: Nn... (sleep-talking) I can’t...suck no more...Zz...

Reiji: Heh. Dream on for eternity, Sakamaki Shuu.

Notice how Reiji still keeps up his politeness, even when practically yelling at Shuu - it’s fairly easy to see how much Reiji resents his brother, and with that in mind, it’s a natural response to be quick to anger. Yet, with Reiji’s annoyance growing, you’d think that his form of speech would differ and grow more irascible in his wording. I find it quite apt for Reiji to call Shuu “Sleeping Beauty”, not only for the fact that he usually just sleeps all the time, but the fact that Aurora/Talia/Briar-Rose (depending on what source you’re reading from) was a princess within the fable...and given that Karlheinz is the current Vampire King, that would give Shuu a ‘princely’ status. To add onto this, just because I thought it was neat, in the Disney adaptation of the fable, Aurora only speaks 18 lines - which reminded me of how little Shuu tends to speak. There’s not much to analyse for that part but I thought I’d mention it since I thought it was quite apt of Reiji to draw this comparison.

Something that did strike me as strange, was how Reiji decided to draw his sharpened knife at this point in the narrative - if Reiji truly hated Shuu (which I don’t think he does) why wait until now to attempt his murder ? In all honesty, I don’t think Reiji would’ve actually killed Shuu; in my opinion, I think it was more of a ploy to wake Shuu up - put him on high alert - and get him to leave the room. It’s in a vampire’s nature to have higher senses, so one should be able to detect another and or possible danger and it can be implied that Reiji was attempting to use those senses to his advantage in order to get Shuu to leave of his own accord. Additionally, how Reiji claims, “This is your punishment for corrupting my wonderful space. You deserve to die while writhing in pain” could be inferred to refer not only to Reiji’s current dilemma - his “wonderful space” being his time to himself without being interrupted, being surrounded by his own company and relishing in the sparseness of their occurrence; since Shuu has interrupted that, it has therefore become corrupt - however, it could also relate back to Reiji’s childhood and his CEN. It could be implied that if Shuu had been different, Reiji’s childhood might have been different too, but due to that not occurring, Reiji’s once ‘pure’ childhood has now been tarnished and 'corrupted' - pure in the sense that as an infant he would’ve received the care he needed, yet due to Shuu’s importance, that pure, ‘motherly’ care and acknowledgement was lost, and his once “wonderful space” was then only full of loathing and solitude; to me, that makes sense as to why Reiji says “You deserve to die writhing in pain”. Overall, this inference might be considered a long shot, however, it did pique my interest and I thought I’d share it.  

Approaching footsteps can be heard in the distance.

Ayato: ...Aaah!!

Kanato: Trying to kill him in his sleep...What a boring way to murder someone.

Laito: Nfu~ Are we interrupting something, perhaps?

Ayato: Oi!! Don’t try and kill him here, you idiot! Take that kind of stuff outside! You’re in the way!

Reiji: Why are you three here? Did you not say you’d be going to bed and headed to your rooms earlier?

Ayato: Ah, yeah, we did say something like that! But you see, I’m hungry so I just couldn’t fall asleep.

Laito: Nfu~ What were you trying to do while we were asleep, I wonder~?

Kanato: If you want to kill him, it’s the most fun when the other person is wide awake. You wouldn’t want to miss out on their suffering face, would you?

Ayato: Kanato, you really are messed up, huh?

Laito: Eeeh~? But you know, I can understand what Kanato is saying.

Kanato: Fufu...~

Reiji: Haah...

Shuu: (yawns) ...Shut up. Don’t make a fuss right next to the couch.

Laito: Oh dear? Have you awoken?

Shuu: Anyone would wake up if it’s that noisy...Che

Ayato: ...This is the living room, you know!? It doesn’t belong to you, so don’t go clicking your tongue like that! This is my turf!!

Laito: It doesn’t belong to you either, Ayato.

Ayato: Haah!? Every single thing in this house belongs to me!

In this section of the CD, we see Reiji take the passive role when faced with the triplets - which is evidently different from how he is with Yui, or Shuu for that matter - and this could possibly be due to their vast differences. It is to my interpretation that compared to Reiji, Shuu and Subaru, the triplets are rather unhinged and far more bombastic in their whims, desires and means of keeping control - more so Ayato and Kanato moreover Laito since he’s easier to negotiate with -. In addition to this, Reiji’s lack of dialogue in this part could imply back to his passive behaviour compared to the three, as well as present their character differences; and they also tend to listen more to Shuu over Reiji, which would no doubt cause friction, and could potentially link to why Reiji’s presented as passive towards the triplets - there wouldn’t be much point in trying to control their behaviour if they never planned on listening to Reiji in the first place -.

Kanato: Ah...I’m so...terribly hungry...

Ayato: Haah?

Kanato: I...I... *sniff* This whole time...

Ayato: ...Oh fuck.

Reiji: Hm? Kanato, what’s the matter?

Kanato: I’M TELLING YOU I’M HUNGRY, AM I NOT!? I’ve been telling you OVER AND OVER with the look in my eyes! What’s your problem!? Don’t make fun of me!!

Laito: Aha~! He snapped!

Kanato: You see, when I get hungry...I completely lose control...I just get so incredibly angry, I can’t help it!

*THUD*

Shuu: Aah...Noisy...

Ayato: Calm down already! If you throw a tantrum like that, you’ll only get even more hungry!

Kanato: Shut up!!

*THUD*

Kanato: As if you would understand how I feel!?

Ayato: ...!? Fuck, this pisses me off! Oi, Reiji! This is your responsibility!

Reiji: Haah? I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t spout such nonsense. For starters, if you guys had just minded your own business...

I quite like this interaction between Reiji and Ayato here from the declarative “Oi, Reiji! This is your responsibility!“, it not only paints Ayato as a bit of a brat, but it also implements the theme that Reiji is the ‘caretaker’ among the brothers - he cooks, he cleans, he makes sure everyone is okay; more so Kanato, but that’s for an obvious reason. There’s also the implication that the triplets view Reiji as more of a ‘paternal figure’ since their actual father is absent from the majority of their lives, and due to Reiji’s strict and stiff personality, he would naturally be considered as the ‘responsible’ member of the household; hence why Ayato is quick to pass the responsibility of his brother’s hunger onto him - it reminds me of how a child would complain to their parent and then expect them to fix their problem -.

I’d also like to mention the use of aposiopesis, the ellipsis at the end of Reiji’s sentence implying that his dialogue is trailing off or ‘breaking’ and is left unfinished. For instance, it could imply that as he’s talking, he’s had the realisation that the triplets wouldn’t have listened to him anyway, but it could also represent his passiveness in the situation. He was on the verge of ‘killing’ Shuu and now he’s allowing his siblings to run rampant around the living room and declare him to fix Kanato’s problem...that doesn’t seem like the authoritative figure we follow through his route with Yui and I think Reiji’s purposely taking the back seat, and his unfinished sentence could be implied to demonstrate that. From my interpretation, it seems that Reiji’s initial thought process is to simply ‘stick it out’ until the triplets leave, and he can once again attempt to have his moment of relaxation.

Kanato: Uu... *sniff* Anything will do...Anything...Just...FILL MY BELLY!!

*THUD*

Laito: Nfu~

Shuu: Aah...What a pain.

Reiji: ...I understand. I understand so please calm down! I will make you a homemade meal. ESPECIALLY for you guys’ sake, I will do that.

Shuu: It isn’t really special or anything. You’ve always been the one in charge of cooking.

Reiji: Shuu!!

Laito: Nfu~ Either way, we don’t want Kanato to cry and complain any longer, so please get right to cooking~

Reiji: Good grief... (mumbles) Why do I have to do all of this...One day, I’ll kill these guys for sure...

Kanato: Did you say something!?

It’s evident to see that compared to all the brothers, Reiji often goes overlooked or simply does not hold more of a notable presence; and I think scenes like this display that quite well. Phrases such as “I understand. I understand so please calm down! I will make you a homemade meal. ESPECIALLY for you guys’ sake, I will do that” portray Reiji as a character who tries to conform, reason and reassure the situation at hand; the fact that he repeats the verb phrase “I understand” implies that he’s opting to reason with Kanato’s demands and let him know that the problem will be addressed and sorted. By following Reiji’s route, we understand that he’s a character who abhors unnecessary drama and complaints; therefore, he’s attempting to solve the problem quickly and avoid any possible tantrums from Kanato’s end.

*TIMESKIP*

Reiji: Here you go, now there’s nothing to complain about, is there?

He drops the plate on the table.

Laito: Nfu~ So violent! The pudding you took your time making will become a mess!

Reiji: Even if it looks bad, as long as your stomach gets filled, it shouldn’t be a problem, right?

Ayato: ...Are you happy now, Kanato?

Kanato: ...Pudding! Sparkling...Pudding!!

Reiji: I present to you, Sakamaki Reiji’s special iron-packed pudding, topped with raspberry sauce.

Kanato: *munch much* Mm...~

Reiji: Hey! At least give your impressions first! Like ‘it looks good’, or ‘thank you’ to express your gratitude!

Kanato: Haahn...*munch munch*

Reiji: ...The cold shoulder!?

The notion that Reiji drops the plate on the table alongside his remark presents a passive-aggressive tone, which I think is quite fitting since he likes to display a more ‘gentlemanly’ façade - he’s obliged to Kanato’s whims even though he didn’t want to; passive-aggressiveness naturally comes hand-in-hand with that sort of behaviour, that sort of passive behaviour. Additionally, Laito’s remark of “so violent” could imply that he doesn’t take Reiji’s sour mood too seriously and opts to play off of it - it can be further implied that none of the triplets take Reiji’s efforts seriously at all. This inference can be found when Kanato gorges the pudding without uttering a word, which causes Reiji to grow more irritated since he feels like he’s entitled to an utterance of praise to “express your [Kanato’s] gratitude “. It not only displays Reiji’s passiveness to ‘give in’ to Kanato’s anger, but it also displays his incessant need for praise, acknowledgement and attention from others - which we can clearly see throughout his route, as it stemmed from his childhood and CEN -. It also explains why Reiji becomes quite expressive when given “the cold shoulder!?” by Kanato.

Ayato: Haah...Oh well, he calmed down so whatever? By the way, Reiji, isn’t there any for us? Aah!?

Reiji: ...Why would I have to cook for you guys as well?

Shuu: ...I’m hungry.

Ayato: Exactly, hungry!

Laito: Right~? We’re totally starved!

Reiji: I do not care! Why not cook for yourself?

I find it quite humorous that Ayato expects for there to be food for him and the others, it not only shows his entitlement, but also his treatment of Reiji - the caretaker, the figurehead, the paternal figure, the butler -. It’s at this moment that Reiji shows his more authoritative side towards the brothers and attempts to cut their interaction short - evidently it doesn’t work, but it shows how the other brothers are willing to take advantage of Reiji’s efforts in order to sate their own needs. It both displays the brothers’ selfishness, but also Reiji’s lack of presence - which could imply why he’s as brutal and manipulative as he is throughout the entirety of his route -.

Ayato: If we were allowed to, we would...But are you sure? If we were to cook, who knows what will happen to the kitchen...

Laito: Right? Weren’t you the one who lashed out at us for using the kitchen the other day?

Shuu: Ah...That was...Because you guys made the whole thing explode, right?

Ayato: It wasn’t an explosion! We were only cooking!

Reiji: Would the kitchen really explode from just cooking? ...It can’t be helped. I’ll make an exception and make something for you guys as well.

Shuu: Try and make it as quick as possible, okay?

Reiji: ...! For some reason I just don’t feel satisfied... Oh well, I suppose it’s fine. I will make you something.

Kanato: ...I’m looking forward to it.

Reiji: You’re still planning on eating more!?

Here we see both Ayato and Laito display their slyness, a little bit of reverse-psychology in order to get their way - to eat without cooking -. I find it quite fitting that Shuu also plays into this, not only due to his apathy and laziness, but also because he knows that it’ll irritate Reiji; in turn, their ploy works, Reiji questions himself, something that he does internally quite frequently, showing his more doubtful side, and gives in to their demands. Interactions such as this show how the brothers tend to treat Reiji as a servant of sorts - and can explain why Reiji treats Yui as such, he’s treating her how he himself is treated. It’s both sad and ironic. However, Shuu’s quick remark of “Try and make it as quick as possible, okay?” not only shows his gall, but his ungratefulness towards Reiji, and how far he’s willing to go in order to annoy him; and Reiji’s reluctant to that, he yet again gives in and becomes passive, this can be seen through the phrase “it’s fine”. It’s a phrase we all use when we yield or back down from something, even if we’re not fine with it; it presents our own passivity towards something that may cause conflict. I also wanted to bring attention to Kanato’s dialogue here, as it again presents the brothers’ entitlement, and how they each expect Reiji to rally round each and every one of their problems or inconveniences - but also, the exchange is quite funny to me -.

*TIMESKIP*

Reiji: Now you can’t complain.

He drops the plates on the table again.

Laito: Nfu~ What a brute. There’s no reason to slam them down like that.

Ayato: Woah!! Despite everything, in the end Reiji’s a good guy! He made all of our favourite dishes! I’m digging iiin~ *munch munch*

Delicious, this Takoyaki!!

Laito: These macaroons as well...They’re sublime~ Almost as if they’re straight from a famous store in Paris. Nfu~

Shuu: *munch munch* The steak’s good...

Reiji: ...!!! Unconsciously...I ended up...making everyone’s favourite dish...I almost seem like you guys’ mother at this point! Damnit!

He slams his fist against the table.

Reiji: ...I can’t forgive myself.

Again, we see Reiji’s passive-aggressiveness through his mannerisms, for which Laito states “What a brute”. The phrase itself holds no deeper meaning in the context and is mainly used to display Laito’s ‘playful’ personality and mockery towards Reiji. Additionally, the praise that Reiji lacked from Kanato earlier is made up for here by Ayato, Laito and Shuu as they each state that: “The steak’s good”, “They’re [the macaroons] sublime” and “Despite everything, in the end Reiji’s a good guy”. I wanted to bring attention to the third comment - made by Ayato - as I find it quite significant towards Reiji’s character. It can not only be used in the context that he’s gone out of his way to please the others and their ravenous stomachs, but it could also relate to his route in general - throughout Reiji’s route he (at first) treats Yui quite poorly yet, when the time calls for it, he’s also there for her; he’s got Yui’s back when all else fails is what I’m trying to say. That despite everything, Reiji does care for Yui, it’s just in his own messed up way.

Furthermore, I find the notion that Reiji subconsciously cooked their favourite meals to be quite telling - implying that as much as he claims to hate his brothers, he’s still meticulous in their preferences; inadvertently showing that he does, in retrospect, care for them. The added factor that Reiji seems to despise the fact that he’s catered to everyone’s favourite dish, and can’t forgive himself for it could imply that to some degree, Reiji views himself as a ‘bad’ person - or that he likes to think that he’s a bad person in order for him to make sense of his childhood; again bringing us back to his CEN and the belief that a child has to be ‘wrong’ in some way for their parents to not love them, and with that in mind, it therefore makes a little more sense as to why Reiji becomes frustrated with himself after this situation.

Footsteps approach

Subaru: ...Oi!!

*THUD*

Reiji: ...! That startled me! ...Subaru?

Subaru: Che...Makin’ a fuss down here...You’re all far too loud, I can’t sleep!!

Reiji: Aah...My apologies for the inconvenience. However, it should be resolved now. Their bellies have been filled, so they should soon...

Subaru: Oi, make something for me as well.

Reiji: Haah...?

Subaru: ‘Cause of these guys I woke up and when I came downstairs, the air was filled with nothing but delicious smells. Now I’m hungry as well.

Ayato: *munch munch* Aah? If you snack at night, you’ll get fat!

Reiji: Speak for yourself!

Subaru: ...Che! Hurry up! I’m starved!

Reiji: Heh. I refuse. I’ve been cooking non-stop since earlier, and I do not wish to return to the kitchen over and over again.

Subaru: Haaah...!?

Reiji: Seeing you sulk that much makes me uncomfortable too, if you are dissatisfied, why don’t you...

*CRASH SHATTER*

Reiji: ...!?

Laito: Ah-aaah~ Look at that hole in the cupboard. Now we get a nice view of the moon.

The added appearance of Subaru to this scene allows us to view Reiji from different perspectives and scenarios. Subaru also desires food and Reiji puts his foot down and denies - showing assertiveness towards his sibling - and from that, Subaru begins to destroy the house - throwing a makeshift tantrum if you will -. It could infer that if either the triplets or Subaru don’t get their own way, they’ll resort to violence, which would no doubt cause Reiji an unending amount of hassle; it links back to the point I made previously, that Reiji is treated as some form of servant by his brothers, and in order to avoid a large scale conflict, he must oblige and become passive (to a degree, he still remains his usual snarky self). It could be implied that when Subaru creates a hole in the cupboard, it’s as if to say “don’t test me”, and we all know that Reiji is a man who prefers to avoid unnecessary risks, and so, he becomes complaisant. It’s a good tactic on Subaru’s end, yet form Reiji’s perspective, it shows his lack of assertiveness towards his brothers, and how he allows himself to be pushed around by them - which obviously allows all that negativity to bubble and fester for him to later take out on Yui -.

Shuu: Nn...It’s cold...

Subaru: Oi...Shall I do more? Aaah!?

Reiji: Haah...

Subaru: I don’t mind wrecking every single wall in this damn place.

Ayato: Oi, oi, cut us some slack. It’ll become something even worse than a haunted house.

Shuu: Father will go on a rampage so cut it out. This is a pain.

Reiji: ...!! Father will!? That’s...You leave me with no other choice, I understand. I’ll make you something.

Subaru takes a seat.

Subaru: Make it quick, got it?

Reiji: Just sit still there and prepare yourself!

Laito: Nfu~ He may be complaining, but he sure looks after us well.

Reiji: Laito! Did you say something just now?

Laito: Noo~ Nothing at all. Nfu~

Once Reiji realises that their “Father will go on a rampage”  if any more damage is done, he’s quick to null Subaru’s behaviour. We know that out of all six brothers, Reiji is the only one to value his father’s opinion and presence - I’ve mentioned why earlier on during the childhood section, but it again links back to his CEN and need for approval. Reiji wants to prove that he’s capable and successful to his father so that he may receive the love he lost out on, he wants to be acknowledged by him and prove he’s worthy enough to be loved. 

I also like how not only Ayato calls out Reiji’s ‘soft spot’, but Laito also points it out too, and - in typical Reiji fashion - Reiji’s quick to dismiss the statement by goading Laito to repeat his phrase, which Laito promptly denies. It links back to the point I made of it earlier, that Reiji doesn’t want to think of himself as a ‘good’ person, this could be due to a multitude of things such as his upbringing, race, resentment of Shuu, the fact he had his own mother killed, his treatment of Yui etc. However, in my opinion, it could also be implied that Reiji doesn’t want to believe that he’s a ‘good’ person because that could allow his brothers to take advantage of him further; that his ‘politeness’ could be his downfall and no one would take him seriously or see him as a threat - especially in regards to Yui -.

*TIMESKIP*

Reiji: This is the last dish for the night, got it!?

*THUD*

Subaru: ...Haah!? What’s up with that attitude!? ...By the way, what’s this?

Reiji: Hmph. You’re always saying how you don’t have a favourite meal, so I made this from the leftovers.

Ayato: Aah? What’s this? Pasta?

Laito: It’s Reiji’s favourite Carbonara, right?

Reiji: Heh. Despite complaining about being hungry earlier, in the end, you have a small appetite. Since I assumed you wouldn’t have much, I figured it would be best to make my own favourite meal, so I could eat it afterwards.

Subaru: Che...Fuck. You made me this sloppy, slimy dish...

Reiji: Exactly. That’s why it might be wise for you to pass up o...

Subaru starts wolfing down the pasta.

The more this scene continues, the more apparent Reiji’s passive-aggressiveness shows; the irony of Subaru asking what Reiji’s problem is, is honestly brilliant. It really shows how out of touch each brother is with one another. I also quite like how Reiji just assumes that Subaru won’t eat the meal and it backfires exponentially - it demonstrates that Reiji not only underestimates Yui but also his brothers; yes, it also shows his manipulation since he more or less goads Subaru into not eating the Carbonara since it’s Reiji’s favourite dish, again linking back to Reiji’s reverse-psychology and anti-conformity tactics.

Subaru: *munch munch* Mm...

Reiji: You’re actually eating it!?

Kanato: Smells nice...Let me have a little too.

Subaru: (talking with his mouth full) Just go ‘head and take some...

Kanato: Okay. Thank you very much. Bon appetite.

Reiji: Hold up! My share! Make sure to leave some for me too!

Subaru: Haah? As if I care...

*Sluuuurp*

Reiji: Aaaah! Scarfing it down like that...! I made a larger portion so at least leave some behind!

Kanato: Thank you for the meal~

Ayato: Woah! They ate it all in one go!

Reiji: ...You’ve got to be kidding me!? That amount...By just the two of them, all at once...

By having Subaru eat the dish, and Reiji consequently being surprised by that, it presents the implication that Reiji’s intellect and ego can sometimes precede him and thus demonstrates his overconfidence. He’s overconfident in himself to always be right, but he also underestimates everyone else around him to play into his tactics. I also enjoy how Kanato also digs in too, it not only shows both Subaru and Kanato getting along for once, but I just find it funny how someone as petite as Kanato is eating so much; it’s also amusing how they both disregard the fact that Reiji made the dish for himself and yet by the end of it, he’s the only one who’s not eaten. Reiji’s dialogue of “Hold up! My share! Make sure to leave some for me too!” could be interpreted as a plea, he’s almost begging for his two siblings to leave him some of his own dish; the ellipsis during the statement, “...You’ve got to be kidding me!? That amount...By just the two of them, all at once...” sells his disbelief at the prospect of the situation he’s just caused himself. I like to think that this shows how his usual cocky behaviour can, at times, backfire. It shows that he’s not as perfect as he likes to think he is and that assumptions can do more harm than good.

Subaru: ...Phew~ It didn’t taste bad.

Reiji: Ugh...Why did you not leave my share behind? Today’s carbonara turned out excellent as well!

Subaru: You made it for me, so I get to decide what to do with it. Stop complainin’...!

Reiji clenches his fists.

Bearing that in mind, we again see Reiji become a little more assertive towards his sibling yet he quickly becomes passive once more. We see this through Subaru’s retort, and again shows how Reiji’s usage of words can backfire; therefore, that then gives him no logical argument to present to Subaru, and so, he clenches his fists. Reiji’s body language within this section is telling of both his passiveness and also his anger, it can be implied that clenching your fists is the result of pent up anger and frustration; with that in mind, this can therefore link back to Reiji and his ‘control issues’ - his perfectionism, his narcissism and his need to monopolise everything -. I particularly enjoy how Subaru calls Reiji out on this by telling him to “Stop complainin’...!”. The declarative itself presents Subaru as a reckless character, but as someone who has more presence than Reiji; it also presents the difference between Reiji and Shuu compared to their respective siblings - both Shuu and Reiji are a lot quieter and reserved in their ways, whereas Subaru and the triplets are vocal, disruptive and reckless in their behaviour. However, this section could also imply that Reiji knows when to hold his tongue so that conflict does not break out on his end, it can be implied that he clearly wants to argue back against Subaru due to his clenched fists (showing his irritation) yet, he holds back. He holds back because as we know, Subaru’s temper and sheer strength can often be a loose cannon, and I don’t believe Reiji would challenge that; hence why his fists are clenched - he’s ‘biting his tongue’ so to speak -.

Reiji: Kuh...

Laito: Aah~ My belly’s filled and we get such a nice view of the moon from here.

Ayato: Yeah! I finally feel satisfied!

Shuu: I feel you.

Reiji: Ah...That’s right! All of you were finally able to fill your empty stomachs, weren’t you? All because of me! That being said, hurry up and...

Laito: Nn...

Ayato: I’ve gotten sleepy... *yawns*

Shuu: Zz...

Kanato: Good niiiiight~

Reiji: Hold up! Will you all be sleeping here!? I was just about to pour myself a cup of tea to lift my mood! Return to your rooms at this instant!

Ayato: ...That’s a pain. Who cares if we sleep here?

Reiji’s frustration becomes more and more apparent as the CD continues and this section displays that, especially through his need for recognition, “All because of me!”. This exclamative demonstrates both his aggression and his thirst for acknowledgement - he wants thanks for his aid -. The personal pronoun “me” can be implied to present Reiji’s self-importance, as he’s stating that his siblings’ stomachs would still be in ‘peril’ if he hadn’t been ‘generous’ enough to provide what they wanted; yet again, he and his remarks are completely and utterly ignored, it demonstrates that his brothers don’t take him seriously and that he’s just the ‘parental’ figure, he’s the butler to them. When you see Reiji’s treatment from the other brothers, it becomes easier to understand why he’s the way he is with Yui, especially his need for reassurance and praise.

Reiji’s demands are again ignored; each line he speaks at the end of this section is an exclamative, he’s quite literally shouting at them and he goes disregarded - as the CD continues his mood decreases and decreases until he more or less gives up and gives in to his brothers’ anarchy. I’d like to link this back to Reiji’s relationship to Yui, much like how over time Reiji wears Yui down into becoming more or less subservient to his whims and desires, here we see almost the same thing - their situations parallel each other - as all the brothers exhaust Reiji and wear him down until he inevitable gives them what they want. It all inadvertently links back to Reiji wanting to cause others the same pain and struggles he feels and this circumstance is no difference; if anything, it displays it to a bigger extent.

Laito: *yawn* Napping in the light of the moon...is another one of my ways to have fun. Nn...I’m sleepy...

Reiji: Don’t actually fall asleep!

Kanato: Uu...*sniff* I’m tired but...You’re being noisy...

Reiji: ...! What is you guys’ problem!?

Subaru: My thoughts exactly! Getting sleepy after eating...You’re all Vampires, aren’t ya!? This is the pinnacle of laziness.

Reiji: Exactly...Indulging in human food and then falling right asleep...Heh! This is unbelievable.

Subaru: As a Vampire...It has to be ‘that’, or I just can’t feel satisfied. Isn’t that true?

Reiji: You’re right.

Reiji licks his lips.

Reiji: In the end...Nothing beats drinking the blood from a fair lady’s neck. Otherwise, our hunger and thirst can simply not be quenched.

Subaru: Heh, so simple-minded.

Reiji: What?

Within this section Reiji’s mood changes rather quickly from Subaru’s remark at his brothers’ laziness, and then it reverts back to his usual sour mood. What I wanted to bring attention to here is how Reiji’s mood lifts when someone is in accordance with him, they have either similar or the same views as him; it relates back to Reiji’s need for approval and reassurance, and for a brief moment, Subaru allows him to indulge in that which therefore lifts his mood.

I do find it quite humorous how Subaru calls Reiji of all people “simple-minded”. It could imply back to Reiji’s lack of presence, he doesn’t stick out all that much compared to the others; therefore he could be viewed as bland by both his brothers and us as the audience, so by Reiji declaring that drinking from the neck is best, it wouldn’t stick out all that much - it’s the typical place to bite within most Vampiric fiction -. With this statement from Reiji alongside his more passive presence, “simple” would be the first word to come to mind - if you weren’t aware of the complexities of Reiji’s character, or, from the brothers’ perspective, the inner struggles and complexities of Reiji behind closed doors, it’d be natural to label him as “simple”. With this implication in mind, it could be seen as quite a meta joke from our perspective.

Subaru: Drinking from the neck is too orthodox, it’s boring. Besides, the taste of the blood is too rich, it’s not my cup of tea.

Reiji: ...Is that your way of indirectly ridiculing me?

Subaru: I just meant to say that an old geezer’s tastes are different from mine.

Reiji: O-Old geezer...!? There isn’t that large of an age gap between us!

Subaru: Hah! Then at least your appearance is that of an old geezer! You’re barely any different from our old man. ...When it comes to blood, you see, it’s best when sucked from a woman’s ankle. When you bite her there, you get a perfect view of how she tries to reject you with her entire body.

Shuu: Heh...Hehehe...

Reiji: Shuu! Weren’t you asleep?

Shuu: No, Subaru’s childish lecture on blood-sucking was simply too hilarious...I couldn’t help myself.

Subaru: Haah!? Child, you say!?

Shuu: If you’re going to call Reiji an old man, then so am I, right? In that case, you’re nothing but a brat. A child.

Subaru: ...Ugh.

It can be implied that when Reiji uses the interrogative, “Is that your way of indirectly ridiculing me?“ he’s not just asking if he’s wrong, he’s posing the question “are you mocking me ?”; therefore, ‘ask’ in this context could be implied to mean ‘demand’ instead - it all depends on how you yourself interpret the tone of this dialogue -. However, with Reiji’s character in mind, it could be inferred that he’s almost offended by Subaru’s comment, as if to say “are you saying what I’m doing is wrong ?” and we all know that Reiji loathes being wrong or seen as “simple-minded” as Subaru put it; Reiji’s a character who enjoys using his intelligence to overpower his prey and back them into a corner mentally - therefore, to have that pulled into question would most likely cause some form of offence to Reiji, he’s intelligent and he’s a man of tradition; I doubt he’d enjoy having that mocked. It also links us back to his ‘retraining’ of Yui, throughout Reiji’s route in HDB as Yui barely calls out Reiji’s behaviour and she never mocks him whereas the brothers do; most likely if Yui went against Reiji she’d be punished with something truly abhorrent. However, in other routes (I’ll pick Laito’s HDB route since it’s the closest to Reiji’s in terms of psychological abuse) she ‘bites’ back a lot more - such as when she quite literally bites Laito’s lip when he kisses her against he will...and what does Laito do ? He plays it off and treats Yui like a game - both Laito and Reiji treat Yui as a psychological game, something to crack and break until they’re subservient, in essence, it’s a game of cat and mouse to these two. I wanted to compare this little section because compared to Laito, Reiji wouldn’t stand for Yui fighting back and would most likely view it as ‘bad manners’, later punishing her for it. My point is that Laito’s the type of character who doesn’t let mockery or resistance offend him, or get under his skin, whereas Reiji is, and I think that’s due to the mockery he endures from his brothers - Reiji is quite often the ‘butt of the joke’ whereas Laito is not and treatment like this would undoubtedly effect Reiji’s tolerance towards his siblings as well as Yui’s resistance. 

I also like Shuu’s interjection here; how he calls Subaru a child when Reiji is called an “old geezer”. It’s not just Shuu saying that Subaru’s the youngest and he doesn’t know what he’s talking about, it’s also Shuu retaliating since he’s just indirectly been called old, but it’s also Shuu inadvertently defending Reiji. By Shuu naming Subaru a “brat”, he’s unintentionally defending Reiji and fighting his corner even though he’s most likely only trying to save his own feelings since he’s the eldest and he’s basically just been told through Subaru’s remark at Reiji that he also looks like an “old geezer”. Shuu - who we know likes to wind up Reiji - has just haphazardly defended the brother he has so many quarrels with; it’s both unintentionally funny and endearing to me.

Shuu: In that case, I can understand why you would suggest something as childish as drinking from the ankle.

Subaru: Then which place do you prefer!?

Shuu: Me...? I...Let’s see...It has to be the chest, right? Piercing through the veins closest to the heart and sucking her blood suits my tastes best. The blood flowing from those veins is so sweet, it’s almost like syrup, you know?

Subaru: Che...So you are an old geezer after all!

Shuu: At least call it an adult’s acquired taste, youngster.

Reiji: Okay, no fighting! Besides, don’t be engaging in such ridiculous quarrels here, but take them elsewhe...

Laito: ...I can’t help but like drinking from the thighs best, I suppose~ Drinking from a young maiden’s second softest spot makes the blood slightly greasy, it sticks to my throat...Nfu~

Subaru: Che...Laito! You were awake as well?

I’d like to bring attention to the aposiopesis that Reiji uses within his dialogue here. Aposiopesis is the device of suddenly breaking off in speech, which can be found within “elsewhe...”, it shows how Reiji’s speech is trailing off in tone, but if we pair it with the ellipsis at the beginning of Laito’s sentence, it can be interpreted that Reiji is once again being interrupted by his siblings, and with the inclusion of the ellipsis at the end of Reiji’s dialogue, it can be further implied that he knows he’s about to be ‘cut off’; hence why aposiopesis has been included, Reiji trails his sentence off - possibly growing quieter depending on how you interpret ellipsis - because he knows he’s going to be interrupted again. It’s a regular occurrence for Reiji’s character to be cut off by his brothers or just ignored in general. I didn’t want to say too much about this section or derail into a tangent since I’d just be repeating myself but I did want to mention the aposiopesis.

 Laito: I was finally thinking of getting some rest, but you guys’ started talking about something interesting so I woke up again.

Reiji: In that case, please use this opportunity to take your leave! All of you have been given your own, proper room after all!

Kanato: Uu... *sniffles* ...Shut up...! I can’t sleep...I CAN’T SLEEP LIKE THIS!! Teddy...My Teddy is saying he can’t sleep either...It upsets him!

Reiji: ...! Don’t suddenly scare me like that!

Kanato: I...Such thing...Whether it’s the neck or the feet, the chest or the thighs...I don’t care about all of that!

*THUD*

Kanato: I...The place I like best...are the fingers. In particular, the little finger - which looks as if you could just bite it off - is my preference.

Subaru: Basically...What you’re trying to say is that, right?  You might just accidentally eat the whole pinkie ー That’s what you mean, isn’t it?

Kanato: Fufu...Haha...What happens, happens, but it’d be twice as delicious.

Shuu: Ugh...I’ll pass up on human flesh.

Laito: Likewise. Picking out the bones is a pain after all. If I were to eat it, it would have to be properly seasoned.

Something to note here is Kanato’s outburst, as soon as Reiji proposes that they all retire back to their rooms so that he may indulge in his own privacy Kanato has one of his famous outbursts - which then scares Reiji -. However, once Kanato begins to talk again, he brings the conversation back to blood drinking; the very ‘argument’ that Reiji was trying to dissipate between Shuu, Subaru and Laito. It not only displays that Kanato uses his violent emotions to get his own way (as per usual with him) but that Reiji’s interests and pleas are of no concern to anyone - Kanato has basically just shut Reiji up in order to carry on the conversation at hand between the other siblings; it genuinely shows how dismissive of Reiji all the brothers are.

Reiji: Right, right. Putting this talk about flesh and bones aside, now that you are all awake, hurry up and...

Ayato: ...If you’re gonna suck her, it has to be the nape, right? I don’t like it to be too fatty. Something a little more refreshing is exactly my taste!

Reiji: ...!? Ayato, you too...

Subaru: But that’s lacking, don’t you think? Then it feels like you barely even had any.

Ayato: That’s not true! To make up for it, you just have to drink plenty!

Reiji: Well, Ayato has always been quantity over quality. That being said...

Shuu: Jeez...Both Ayato and you guys don’t know a thing.

Reiji: Shuu...Please don’t stir up this conversation again...

Kanato: ...Saying we don’t know...*sniff* That’s just...Too cruel! Both me and Teddy...*sniffle* did our best to come up with an answer! Yet you completely disregard it like that...

At this point it’s growing quite clear that Reiji’s giving up on the conversation - he has his little quip at Ayato’s expense, but aside from that and the usage of ellipsis and aposiopesis, it can be implied that Reiji’s grown tired of trying to be assertive towards his brothers; opting to replace his strict orders with reluctant pleas - something we tend not to see during his actual route - and it shows the difference between Reiji and his siblings.

Laito: Exactly! Right above the chest is standard just like the neck, isn’t it? Or perhaps the eldest son standing at the head of this long-lasting Sakamaki household has no other choice but to protect such traditions?

Shuu: Are you trying to insult me? A ‘fake’ pervert like yourself probably doesn’t even understand the profound meaning behind standards.

Laito: A fake pervert? ‘Pretending’, you say?

Reiji: Fine, fine! Who cares if it’s just an act? If you were a true pervert at heart, it would be disgusting anyway. So, everyone, pleaseーー

Ayato: This kind of pisses me off...The way you’re looking down on us. I don’t give a damn ‘bout you being the eldest son of not...The greatest person in this household is this Ore-sama over here!

Shuu: Hah. You’re lame.

Ayato: Aah?

Subaru: He really is. Being the ‘greatest’ or the ‘strongest’, bullshit.

Ayato: What did you say? You wanna fight!?

Subaru: Fine by me. ‘Cause I had my fill earlier...

He cracks his knuckles.

Subaru: ...I’m overflowing with energy now. I need a little something to let off some steam.

First and foremost, I wanted to draw attention to Shuu calling out Laito’s façade, I don’t intend to do a deep dive into the subliminal meaning of this interaction since this is a psychoanalysis of Reiiji but I did think that it was quite funny to see Laito become irritated at the fact that Shuu’s basically just called out his entire defence mechanism with little to no effort at all. Secondly, I like how Reiji chooses to ignore this, his irritation has come back, since by almost removing himself from the conversation at hand, he’s allowed Kanato’s outburst to derail the situation further and allowed for Shuu to cause conflict between the brothers. The exclamations are back and his snappy attitude is coming to the forefront; this can be implied through “Who cares....”. It can be implied that Reiji’s becoming aerated once more since he’s once again trying to control the situation - to no avail again -, everything’s getting out of hand and it’s doing so at a quick pace, and Reiji’s attempting to defuse this; it once again demonstrates Reiji’s control issues that we see quite prominently through his route and his treatment towards Yui.

Reiji: Honestly...So hot-headed. Are you listening to what I’m saying? You lot, I would GREATLY appreciate it if you would all take your leave. Right now!

Laito: Nfu~ If you want us to leave, you might have no other choice but to use brute force.

Reiji: Haah...?

Kanato: Horrible...Telling us to leave...Even though we’ve been expressing our will to stay here...Isn’t there a single place for me and Teddy in this whole manor...!?

Reiji: Hold up, I never said that. I’m simply telling you to rest in your own roー

*CRASH*

Reiji: ...!?

Laito: Ah-ahh~ Here we go.

Ayato: Heh...You vandal! Even if you try to scare me off by destroying our surroundings, you won’t get your way!

*CRASH THUD*

Subaru: Heh! Lame! You’re nothing but a fraud! Nobody has ever thought of you as ‘amazing’ or ‘strong’!

Ayato: What did you just say...!?

*CRASH*

*CLATTER*

The situation quickly devolves into madness and as it does, Reiji’s dialogue reflects that, he emphasises his words alongside his exclamations - and what happens ? It devolves even more, Laito takes this opportunity to aggravate Reiji further by taunting him; and Kanato takes this to an extreme, interpreting Reiji’s words to mean that he [Kanato] has no place within their house and that he doesn’t belong there. 

Reiji: Waiー! The manor...The manor will fall apart! Shuu! Didn’t you say that father would be enraged!? Please stop them!

Shuu: Ugh...What a hassle.

Reiji: It isn’t ‘a hassle’!

*SHATTER*

Laito: Hm...But stopping those two once they’re like that is rather difficult, don’t you think?

*THUD*

Laito: More importantly...Shuu...Let’s continue our discussion from earlier.

Shuu: Hm? What do you mean?

Laito: That I’m a fake pervert. I’d like you to explain yourself.

Shuu: What? You’re still talking about that? You’re surprisingly one to hold grudges.

Laito: Nfu~ I get told that a looot~ ...Well then, tell me your reasoning. Depending on what you say, even I won’t forgive you.

*CRASH*

I genuinely enjoy how Reiji becomes frantic at the realisation that their father would be “enraged” by their reckless commotion. It not only displays how much Reiji’s values his father’s opinion but it also removes him further from his brothers - the rest of them could care less about what their father thinks or feels, yet Reiji persists, he doesn’t want to displease him because he wants to be acknowledged by him; it all brings us back to his raging CEN, but at this point Reiji’s losing his usual calm composure - his composure drops and his control of the situation decreases. The situation has become out of hand and Reiji’s becoming quite desperate for the commotion to end; I think that’s why he states “It isn’t ‘a hassle’!“, Reiji’s genuinely asking for help in order to rein his brothers in. Additionally, the notion that Reiji uses single quotation marks in regards to Shuu’s statement could imply that Reiji’s showing some form of sass towards the situation, and what happens ? Latio cuts in - meaning Reiji is promptly ignored and avoided - so that his and Shuu’s ‘discussion’ can continue, which then spurs another argument to arise.

Reiji: Ugh...These two are starting an argument as well...Just cut it out already!

Kanato: *sniff sniff* Why is...everyone...so loud!? Shut up! SHUT UP!! I don’t understand!

Reiji: You are plenty noisy yourself!

Kanato: ...! That’s why...That’s why you tried to drive us out earlier, didn’t you?

Reiji: ...! ‘Drive out’, you say?  It might have sounded that way but...

Kanato: You’re admitting it, huh? You just admitted it, didn’t you? That you tried to get rid of us!

Reiji: Ah...So what!? I simply wanted to enjoy a cup of tea by myself, that’s all!

Kanato: Shut up!! ...In that case, please brace yourself. Teddy, he is the embodiment of all evil trying to strip us of the place we belong. You don’t have to hold back, okay?

Reiji: Aaah, come on! Why...Why does it always turn out like this!??

Kanato: Teddy...GO!!

*Pow pow pow pow pow*

Reiji: ...Don’t attack me with your stuffed bear! Aah, please!! Just cut me some slack! Whatever happens, don’t come crying to me afterwards...!!

*CRAAAASH*

ーー THE END ーー

Something that I wanted to place emphasis on is the notion that Reiji and Kanato are the only pair left. What I mean by this, is that it’s quite apt for these two to be the only ones left - we know that Reiji is treated as an outcast by his brothers for his dictatorial personality and strict need for rules and control however, Kanato is also viewed as an outcast by his brothers too, most prominently Ayato and Subaru with Ayato calling him a “hysteric” for his unbearable personality and incomprehensible actions. Notice the similarity ? None of the brothers can bear to be around Reiji due to his uptight personality and none of the brothers can stand to be around Kanato due to his mania. The outcasts are grouped together however, it’s also the dynamic of a parental figure and a child being presented too since Reiji tends to look after Kanato - it’s a mature and immature dynamic -.

I also wanted to bring attention to when Kanato exclaims “I don’t understand!”, it’s quite sad from his perspective since it showcases how much of an outcast he is compared to the other brothers, again something we see with Reiji. However, I like how Reiji genuinely shouts back at him with “You are plenty noisy yourself!“, it shows Kanato’s lack of self-awareness and it also displays Reiji’s irritation - he’s lost complete control of the situation and now he’s watching from the side-lines unable to do anything because no one will bother to listen to him. I also wanted to give weight to when Reiji says “It might have sounded that way but...” towards Kanato’s statement as it can be implied that in this moment, Reiji is attempting to show compassion towards Kanato yet he quickly justifies his actions; it presents the implication that Reiji is willing to compromise but he will remain logical towards whatever circumstance is thrown his way - much like how he is with Cordelia within his route -.

Additionally, the image of Reiji being attacked by Teddy is honestly hilarious. But, I wanted to bring attention to Reiji’s last piece of dialogue: “Just cut me some slack! Whatever happens, don’t come crying to me afterwards...!!”. It poses the implication that Reiji is practically pleading with Kanato to leave him be - he’s worn out and frustrated - but it’s the implication that Kanato goes to Reiji when something goes wrong that’s somewhat endearing to me, and it reinforces what I implied earlier, that there’s a parent/child dynamic between the two - one outcast looking out for the other, if you will -. I just think that it’s quite a sweet implication to make between the two given that they are ‘pushed out’ compared to their siblings.

In conclusion, Reiji is mostly dismissed and ignored by his brothers, and can be implied to only be viewed as the butler façade he tends to display; and if you think about it, it’s honestly quite sad, but it gives us the understanding as to why he’s so controlling of Yui and why he craves attention and acknowledgement for his actions. If his brothers are barely willing to appreciate Reiji’s ‘good manners’, then it can be inferred that he’s going to try and find it somewhere else; that being through Yui and her kind nature which Reiji promptly takes advantage of in order to quell his own needs.

A Certain Prophet’s Fate

A Certain Prophet’s Fate, or Toaru Yogensha no Unmei is Reiji’s first character song; it’s introduced to us within the HDB Drama CD package. I didn’t want to dive into his specific mini CD since I’d just be repeating everything I’ve already said and implied; and it would not just bore me, it would probably bore you too - no one wants to listen to the same points being regurgitated for the millionth time -. So, I thought I’d hone in on his character song. A song is also a poem and the two can often become highly metaphorical in their meanings and interpretations; a poem is a story and it’s to our interpretation as to what that story means. 

I’m going to split the song up into single lines and lines of two so that it’s easier for me to analyse without it becoming a jumbled mess - basically, I’m going to analyse it the same way I did the Banquet Drama CD -. So, shall we begin ?

What I found when reading through the lyrics, is that the story being told could be Reiji’s thoughts and perspective - the song may act as his inner thoughts and him trying to articulate them in a metaphorical way. The song itself is quite beautiful to listen to but I wanted to address the lyrics and their hidden meanings in relation to Reiji’s character. We know that Reiji likes to use his intellect to his advantage; so it can be argued that he wouldn’t outright admit his state of mind within this song, naturally, he’d create a more elaborate way to let his ‘story’ unfold, and I think this is what we see here.

In the dense black forest of Schwarzwald, In doting adoration of a virgin, riding on a unicorn’s back

First of all, Schwarzwald simply means 'Black Forest' in German; it relates to a forest so dense that almost no sun ever reaches the forest floor - those who enter are surrounded by darkness -. This can create quite dark imagery, not just physically but also metaphorically as the darkness contrasts with the imagery of light - "a virgin, riding on a unicorn's back" - and this can be implied to relate to the story of Faust as well as the character of Yui.

Within the story, we’re introduced to two virgins, one being named Gretchen and the other is the Virgin Mary herself - both contain imagery of purity and religion, Gretchen prays to God for her soul to be cleansed and Mary carried the son of God. What I wanted to draw parallels on is how that imagery applies to Yui, she was raised in a church - showing that she’s a child of God, and we know that her religion plays a rather big part in her life; she prays to God quite frequently, and - in the literal term - she is also virginal. Virginity can connote to a multitude of things, such as physical virginity (the hymen is intact) but also religious virginity - purity - and not being ‘tainted’ by darker forces at play. If we take the “virgin” to mean Yui - someone pure of heart and spirit, someone who’s not been corrupted by the dark side of humanity and holds truth in her beliefs - then what does the unicorn signify ?

Unicorns can often be linked to purity, freedom, gentleness, virginity, innocence, divinity, and magic. Christians believe that the unicorn symbol is that of Christ and Mother Mary themselves - both being devoted children of God -. By posing the imagery of “a virgin, riding a unicorn’s back”, it could be implied to symbolise Yui and her many virtuous traits - or, to put it simply, Yui is riding on the back of her virtues -. Additionally, symbols such as unicorns and virginity can also be implied to carry imagery of light - the concept of unicorns are more often than not depicted as being pure white and flying up to the Heavens - past the white clouds and into paradise, a place that is also depicted as white or ‘pure’ -. Virginity can also contain those same ‘white’ qualities as white lilies are typically the symbol of virginity. The reason I’m honing in on the colour white is due to its connotations of purity, innocence and light. To put it plainly, purity represents light, and Yui (in this context) represents that purity.

That being said, if Yui is the second part of that phrase, it’s likely to imply that the first relates to Reiji himself. “Dense black forest”, let’s unpack that: both “dense” and “black” contain connotations of darkness and something impenetrable; it contrasts the imagery of light and purity we’ve just discussed. Themes of light are often representative of religion and themes of darkness represent those of hellish qualities; if Yui represents light in this case, then Reiji must consequently represent the “dark”. The “forest” could connote to Reiji’s emotional state as traditionally, the forest has come to represent being lost, exploration and potential danger as well as mystery and other worldliness - all traits we see within Reiji -. Due to Reiji being the narrator (since he’s singing) it can be implied that he’s metaphorically describing his internal struggles, he’s stuck within his own turmoil - and emotions such as this are often referred to as a ‘dark place’, which links us to the symbolic imagery of the “black forest”. It not only symbolises his Vampiric nature - something not of God nor Heaven but the darker depths of Hell itself; hence why they originate from the Demon World within the Diabolik Lovers canon - but it also symbolises his emotional distress and his inner darkness that he oppresses Yui with. The light and dark imagery reflect Yui and Reiji as well as their religious counterparts - Yui represents light, and Heaven, whereas Reiji represents the dark and therefore Hell.

The noun “adoration” could imply that Reiji desires to be ‘free’ of his traumatic ties while Yui rests atop her kindness. However, it could also imply that Reiji wishes to drag Yui down into the “dark forest” with him and corrupt her pure nature.

The brightly shining moon, a stirring breeze, With the fairies’ boisterous rituals, driving pounding hearts ever faster

The adverbial phrase “brightly shining moon” could posses connotations of light - referring to Yui as we’ve previously implied - however, the word “moon” could imply that the ‘light’ is pale, and it’s cold as opposed to the warm light associated with the sun - they both can also be associated with God as he created both the sun and the moon; they both produce Heaven’s light however, one is pale and cold in comparison to the other, leading darker forces to claim the night -. Within the Bible, night represents a lack of faith in God. With this symbolism in mind, it can be implied that once the cover of daylight has faded, Yui is vulnerable, and the “dark forest” would consequently grow ‘stronger’ - which is something we see within the route as Vampires are canonically weaker within daylight.

Conversely, the phases of the moon can symbolise immortality, eternity, enlightenment and the dark side of nature itself. Something that clearly applies to the character of Reiji - Vampires are immortal and spend their eternity feeding into their trials and tribulations, their ‘enlightenment’ in this case, is to be killed and be set ‘free’. It could be implied that as the moon shines, not only is Yui vulnerable in her faith, but Reiji is biding his time to strike her down into his ‘eternity’.

Fairies are often associated with plants and springtime, depicted as pure figures who possess magical powers. However, in the tales of fairies, they are, more often than not, mischievous creatures with dark and evil intentions. The Latin root word for fairy is ‘fay’ meaning fate; this could signify the purpose of fairies within myths, fairies in stories are constantly messing with the fates of humans. Fairies in these myths may be of the more cartoonish variety and signify simply love, magic and springtime, but most signify things like death, sexual depravity, abduction and general immorality. I wanted to draw attention to the imagery of fairies and their ‘rituals’ as their connotations can vary from divinity to Satanism.

It can be implied that this section refers to Yui, as within the first interpretation of fairies, they symbolise purity and life - and given Yui’s age at the beginning of the story, her youth displays the life her body has and the life it can give, she’s pure, untainted and brimming with life. However, ‘fairies’ could also relate to the brothers. With the interpretation that fairies can also derive from a darker ilk, and like to cause mischief, it could represent the brothers - they each have dark intentions for Yui no matter who’s route you play, and they do it for their own entertainment and their own benefit. Reiji purposely dehumanises Yui and turns her into a loyal pet. Reiji’s “ritual” is to strip Yui of her virtues so that she’ll play into his incessant need for control, driving her pounding heart even faster - what I mean by this is fear, throughout the beginning of Reiji’s route, Yui was undoubtedly afraid of Reiji and the threat he posed to her; he implemented fear into Yui in order to break her.

Conversely, this line can also be interpreted to contain sexual connotations. We’ve dived into how fairies can also be symbols of sexual intimacy and depravity; if we take into account that sadism can also occur within intimate situations like this, it could link back to Reiji. By him essentially breaking Yui, it can be implied that he gains gratification from doing so; “driving pounding hearts ever faster”, Yui’s heart could be inferred to be beating from fear whilst Reiji’s could be implied to be pounding from the pleasure his sadism grants him.

While unknowing that the contracted “Devil” follows after—

This line could serve the implication that while Yui’s vulnerable in the night, she still holds that naivety; she hasn’t figured out the situation she’s in and Reiji’s closing in on her. I’ve interpreted the “contracted ‘Devil’” to relate to Reiji - a narrative self-reference, if you will -, he’s referring to himself while posing the situation that Yui is unaware of his darker intentions for her. She holds firm to her beliefs in God yet she is ignorant to her state of vulnerability.

Ah, such a foolish thing you are, little girl (Falling to ruin) That glass mask of yours is (beginning to crack) Decide, without looking back at the promises shredded by your sins

Firstly, I’d like to point out that Yui is referred to as a “foolish thing”. This noun phrase could insinuate that Reiji’s chastising her naivety, and the fact that she was blissfully unaware and ignorant to the position she was in. To add to this, the noun “thing” also displays the difference in power as it’s established early on in Reiji’s route that ‘sacrificial brides’ are merely nothing more than blood bags - right from the get-go Yui is beneath Reiji -. However, from a psychological standpoint, it’s clear to say that when one person intends to ruin another’s life in some way, shape or form, they tend to distance themselves - either physically, emotionally or both - as it’s easier to hurt someone when you barely view them as a person at all; and I think this is what that line means, Reiji’s pushing Yui into “falling to ruin” - she’s falling to her (spiritual) ‘death’, she’s losing herself and who she is.

The second line strikes me as ironic as the phrase “glass mask” can predominantly refer to a person’s façade. In the context that Reiji is implying Yui’s innate kindness to be a façade of some form, he could be posing the implication that those who are kind often ‘hide away’ their darker counterparts; their ‘sinful’ side. Throughout most of Reiji’s route, Yui has been posed with the question that she should let her dark and carnal self prevail - proving to Reiji that in all her humanity, Yui is nothing more than a pet, an animal who thrives on her carnal instincts, and we see this within the second ending, when Yui poses herself as Cordelia - enslaving Reiji - and essentially living at the ‘top of the food chain’. In that ending, Yui lets her darker side prevail and - in the context of this particular phrase - it therefore poses the implication that her ‘kindness’ was simply a façade, her “glass mask”. The noun “glass” can have connotations of fragility; that the ‘face’ she ‘prefers’ to show is not how she actually feels. The overall implication that Reiji is giving us, is that Yui expresses feelings that are not her own; and the ‘mask’ she wears is as fragile as glass, and once she’s distracted or vulnerable, that mask will break and her ‘true’ self will show.

This is obviously very ironic since Reiji is the one to hide away his true feelings - he plays the role of a ‘polite butler’ yet we know he is anything but that - he uses abuse and manipulation to cover up his own insecurities and turmoil. If anything, he is the one who wears a mask of glass. Glass is fragile, much like his ego and self-esteem, and that mask begins to crack as his route develops - indulging in Yui’s naïve compassion.

The third line could be implied to mean that Yui must make her decision to stay with him - commit to Reiji without hesitation, without the desire to run and give in to her carnal sins with him. He’s asking Yui to take the plunge into sin with him, revoke her religion and commit to him.

“You still do to that extent, even though I’ve told you so firmly.”

This dialogue strikes me as odd, it doesn’t refer to much within the song, however, it could pair with the second piece of dialogue, implying that Yui is still trying to run from her situation; she’s not ready to fully commit from God to the “Devil” - the “Devil” in this case being Reiji, and quite obviously, “Devil” has quite sinister connotations; given that Yui was raised by the church, her commitment to something demonic (and vampiric) is not going to be an easy or nice feat for her.

It can also be implied that this is taking place throughout the beginning of her ‘training’ as it can be inferred that she’s still resisting him even though he’s “told [her] so firmly”, further insinuating that she still has her willpower at this point. She’s not fully succumbed to Reiji’s abuse yet.

A single enraged horn, able to thrust its way up to the heavens Like a chaotically blooming rose, it’s splattered across your face

This first line could possess many different interpretations, the first could relate back to Faust, a man who sold his soul to the Devil yet still tried to force himself into Heaven, only to fail. However, it could also relate back to the relationship between Reiji and Yui, and insinuate something of a sexual nature. Not only are horns associated with devils and demons, but the noun “horn” can posses connotations of a phallic symbol and sexual imagery. Within Greek mythology, strength, power and supremacy are a part of the symbolism of horns. The other connotation is virility - procreative vigour. Within the story of the ‘Plough’, even the use of the oxen to pull the plough had its sexual connotation. The plough drew its furrow in the soil, and was pulled by reins attached to the oxen's horns. The horns were the force behind the plough’s coitus with the earth; therefore, horns grew a sexual connotation. Alongside the noun “horn” the verb “thrust” also contains sexual connotations; with this semantic field in mind, it could imply that “heavens” relates to Yui’s purity and virginity. Additionally, the imagery of roses also feeds into this interpretation as white flowers are a common symbol of virginity; the imagery of a flower blooming can often be associated to metaphorically represent becoming a woman (losing your virginity) and the flower turns from white to red as the blood pours - and roses are often red or at least associated with the colour red as opposed to white.

Conversely, it could also refer to Yui and Reiji’s emotional relationship, and the dark and light imagery could be a metaphysical representation of that. It could imply that Reiji’s abuse is starting to infect Yui - a child of God being corrupted by something demonic -. It can also link back to her “glass mask” as the corruption allows Yui’s kind nature to drop and her weak and vulnerable state to be “splattered across [her] face”. It could insinuate that the “blooming rose” is Yui’s corruption starting to grow and infest her; yet she’s still trying to fight it - she’s infected by Reiji, and the rose imagery could represent that. Roses are often associated with love and throughout Reiji’s route, we see Yui start to fall into the categories of stockholm syndrome and co-dependency, that ‘love’ is starting to bloom yet it is a twisted form of love.

This deep crimson curse is our family’s fate A damned soul, never again to…

The imagery of a “deep crimson” can connote to blood, and not necessarily just Yui’s. The notion that it’s referred to as a “curse” and “family’s fate” offers the interpretation that Reiji views his heritage as a source of evil and misfortune and that tribulations are inevitable and unavoidable for him. It not only relates to each brother’s misery and the misery they force upon Yui, but it also relates back to their mothers and Karlheinz himself as Christa dealt with severe mental illnesses, Cordelia suffered from a multitude of issues and Beatrix was severely bullied by Cordelia - and Karlheinz foresaw all of this and made it his personal experiment to cause each one misery and make sure that instability was passed down onto each brother; with that information in mind, it would be natural for Reiji to interpret this theme to be something akin to a family curse, a terrible privilege that each of them share. In addition to this, “A damned soul, never again to...” could be a self-reference from Reiji, if he views his heritage as a “curse”, then it’s likely that he appoints himself as a “damned soul” - with “damned” giving connotations of misery and turmoil -. I’d like to bring attention to the aposiopesis found within this line as what Reiji aims for is left ambiguous, however, what I interpret this unfinished phrase to mean, is that he’s a “damned soul, never again to” reach the ‘light’ and achieve happiness and genuine love and affection. If Reiji interprets himself as a cursed child, it would be natural for him to crave the love and stability he was never given, he wants what he can’t have and he can’t have it because he’s “damned” to be awarded nothing but tribulations, turmoil and misery.

“You know you can never escape!!”

I’ve interpreted this section of dialogue to link to the other - it uses the passive voice. The passive voice is used to show interest in the person or object that experiences an action rather than the person or object that performs the action. In other words, the most important thing or person becomes the subject of the sentence, for example: ‘the plate was dropped by Yui’ rather than ‘Yui dropped the plate’. The most important part of this sentence is that “[Yui] can never escape”, yet it comes secondary to “I’ve told you so firmly”  - which is the least important part of the phase, yet it is spoken first; further implying that Reiji is using the passive voice to ‘chastise’ Yui into submission.

The phrase itself could pose a few interpretations, one being that she can never escape from Reiji - Yui’s his prey and he’s not going to let her go idly by -. The second is that she can never escape her fate; I think this is the overall theme of Reiji’s song. Reiji is fated to live out a torturous, Vampiric existence, and Yui is damned to be tied to Reiji’s fate due to her father’s involvement. Yui’s fate was decided once Cordelia’s heart was instilled in her; she was damned from the beginning and I believe Reiji knows this - he’s trying to drag her into damnation with him.

A dying science,

Your impressions destroyed, at the hand of a shameless fist

The first line here could be interpreted as an oxymoron, as science is often connected to discovering something new or creating something new - discovering a new ‘life’ so to speak - and this connotation would naturally contrast with “dying”. Science can relate to a multitude of things, biology, chemistry, physics and psychology to name a few. this phrase could link to both Reiji and Yui if we take the psychological approach - the phrase itself could be metaphorical of Reiji breaking Yui’s self-worth. Throughout his route, Reiji has undoubtedly used Yui as an ‘experiment’ of sorts, a ‘science’ to explore and break down into its basic fundamentals; her “impressions” - impressions of herself, those around her and trying to help them as best as she can - are “destroyed”, her self-worth and confidence are decimated by Reiji’s cruelty, by the “hand of a shameless fist”.

However, it could be interpreted in a more literal sense and instead link back to when Cordelia inhabited Yui’s body and chose to destroy Reiji’s laboratory; and in turn, destroy the potion he was devoting himself to that would resurrect Beatrix, devoting himself to a “dying science” if you will. In that moment, Reiji’s impressions of coming to terms with his CEN were destroyed by Cordelia’s self-importance - her “shameless fist” destroyed the very thing (aside from Yui) that was pivotal to him.

As these sins pile up like the falling snow, there is no hope of redemption Their height surpassing even your castle walls, it’s far too late to even pray to God

This section here could be implied to be metaphorical and represent Yui’s inner self and her emotional walls and boundaries. First of all, comparing sins to snow alongside with the sibilance in both can be implied to connote to something light and cunning; the ‘s’ sound can also give off snake-like imagery - which takes us back to the religious themes threaded throughout the game and this song. The snake that bit Eve (the Devil) and ‘awakened’ her can make quite a nice parallel to Reiji and Yui. Throughout this song, it can be inferred that Reiji references himself to be the “Devil” - he’s not the Devil but he is demonic - and Yui (throughout the games) is named Eve in relation to her ‘awakening’; both the Adam and Eve theme threaded throughout More Blood, and the other games hold quite Biblical references and imagery.

Snow also continues this religious imagery as it often symbolises purity, which could mean that this contrast is posing the implication that Yui’s sins are pure (as in [something] is pure envy or [insert sin here]’. However, snow tends to fall slowly and lightly, which could imply that Yui’s submission into Reiji’s abuse is slow and light at the beginning but like snow, it culminates over time. We could even go as far as to compare her submission to the sin of sloth. Sloth has been defined as a failure to do things that one should do; in this case - or rather, in Yui’s case - that failure is the failure to overpower her abuser.

The second part to the first line - “there is no hope of redemption” -  could apply to both Reiji and Yui. Yui has no hope for redemption once she submits to Reiji - to submit to Reiji, a vampire, a demon, she is effectively turning her back on her faith; she’s made peace with her fate and therefore, there is no redemption for her in Yui’s own eyes. As for Reiji, he has no hope for redemption due to the abhorrent cruelty he bestows on Yui; his treatment of not only her, but Shuu, Beatrix and Edgar too. Reiji cannot achieve redemption because he cannot accept when he is at fault. His behaviour towards others and his sadism prevent him from becoming better; therefore, for him, there is no redemption. At least, redemption cannot take place just yet, remember, this is a story being told by Reiji about Yui - his perception of her is going to be vastly different from ours as the audience; therefore, he cannot see ‘redemption’ for her, and in his own way of thinking, he poses the question that maybe she cannot see redemption for herself either.

The imagery of Yui’s sins growing higher than her “castle walls” could be implied to be metaphorical. When a person hides away their feelings, we often use the phrase ‘putting up walls’ to describe their emotional cut off. I believe this can be referential to Yui as throughout the beginning of Reiji’s route, we often see Yui hide away her deeper affections; she keeps her larger thoughts and feelings to herself most of the time - her distaste, longing, uncertainty is wrapped away in her mind (we as the audience see those thoughts and feelings, but Reiji doesn’t). In order to keep herself from facing Reiji’s uglier tendencies, she’ll sometimes lock her emotions away (not all of them, but quite a few). Overall, it could be implied that Reiji’s influence is starting to take a hold of her internally and she can’t block it out or subdue it, and because it’s festering in her mind, it’s already in her subconscious; therefore, it’s “too late” for her to pray to God to help her. Reiji has wormed himself into Yui’s mind and her faith in God cannot overpower that.

Unable to grasp that ‘nothingness,’ that eternal price—

The noun “nothingness” can connote to the state of being nothing, something that is non-existent, lack of being, unconsciousness or death and I think the latter is the main connotation for this noun within the context of the song and Reiji as a character. We know that Vampires within the DL universe crave death, and being killed is the ultimate way for someone to confess their ‘love’ - to die is something that all Vampires crave. This line, to me, could imply that Reiji longs for death, to have the misery end and finally rest for eternity; we know from following Kanato’s route that he [Kanato] is jealous of humans since we can die quite easily whereas he cannot - he can’t grasp that “nothingness” that is death - and I think this can apply here. It can not only be implied that Reiji wants to - in some capacity - die, but that he’s almost chastising Yui for the fact that she can reach death easier than him. The dash (or hyphen) at the end of this sentence poses the inference that he’s being ‘cut off’ or ‘cut short’, not by his brothers or Yui, but by himself; he’s purposely cutting his sentence short and I think this links back to his internal struggle of opening up and lowering his front. Throughout Reiji’s route, his character has always been to-and-fro with his emotions - he’s reserved yet malicious - however, I think this line in particular allows us to see into his head more and could even pose the theory that Reiji may be suffering from depression. Neglect, abuse, perfectionism, paranoia (of being ‘outed’ for his feelings and of Yui leaving him - this is seen throughout Cordelia’s interference), they all add up one on top of another and paired with his need to impress his father and prove his worth, it all culminates to him possibly wanting to be the “nothing” that he feels - that his childhood made him feel -. He’s giving us insight into his mind yet at the same time, it could be implied that he’s scolding Yui for how easily she can die and fade into that “nothingness” yet he is unable to do so himself.

Aah, the punishment you dreamed of (Why did I see it?) This spiral labyrinth is (never-ending) In conclusion, unless I suck you dry, the rules of logic won’t survive

Linking back to the previous line, the “punishment” Reiji’s mentioning could be death. Again, this is a story from Reiji’s point of view and we know for a fact that he implements his own views and beliefs onto Yui; it would be no different how he would force his views of death onto her too. Consequently, it could then be implied that he also believes Yui to crave death as much as he does - which would then make sense as to why he says “the punishment you dreamed of”. As the audience, we know that Yui doesn’t want to die, but Reiji can’t accept that and instead views it as her denying her ‘true feelings’ - he needs to have that corrupt control over her mind in order to relax around her -.

Ironically, the very word “labyrinth” is often used to illustrate confusion and complexity. As such, the symbol of the labyrinth can represent an enigma, a puzzle and confusion. Some view the labyrinth as a metaphor for a spiritual journey, with the entrance representing birth and the centre symbolizing God, knowing or enlightenment. Getting to the centre requires a long, arduous journey of growth. First of all, the spiral is a symbol of change, as all things in this world must change over time. Nothing can live and be stagnant, and as scary as change is, it is also wonderful, because that means that everyday we have a new chance, a new choice, to change ourselves. I think this overall line is Reiji speaking out on his subconscious, he as a person is constantly changing and conflicting with himself - and this is mainly brought about by Yui -. He’s trapped pondering the same path and as he walks on, he delves deeper into his own psyche; however, this “spiral labyrinth” is “never-ending” because he can’t come to terms with who he is - who he is underneath his trauma, his privileges, his race and status - because, in my interpretation, that person is something Reiji would see as weak and powerless, which is the same thing he loathes in Yui - which brings us back to the interpretation that in some ways, Yui subconsciously represents Reiji’s inner self, and his childhood. Due to Yui possibly representing these things, the spiral never ends because Yui’s representation is something Reiji wants to run away from, but no one can run from their past, and until he learns to accept the better things about himself and the things he’s done out of spite and hatred, he can never fully leave that labyrinth.

The third line links more to what we see during the route, which is him biting Yui. However, in this subliminal context, this line could be implied to implement the power dynamic - and the importance of said dynamic -. Overall, this phrase basically states that if Reiji doesn’t drink Yui’s blood, then logic won’t survive; this could imply that Reiji has to drink from Yui in order to continue the power dynamic between them, he needs to be the one in control, the predator, and Yui needs to stay in the position of weak prey. By furthering this interpretation, it could imply that in regards to their races, predator and prey is the only logical dynamic to establish and for that to be disturbed would imply that logic no longer exists; it would mean that Yui has the upper hand, and not Reiji, he would no longer hold the control he desires. If we compare this interpretation to the Manservant Ending, we see that power dynamic flip. Instead of Reiji instigating the blood sucking, this time it’s Yui - she’s in control and she does as she pleases, he can’t drink the amount he wants (he can’t suck her dry) - and therefore, all logic has disappeared, the prey has become the predator and logic has died, Reiji’s control has died, and his self-worth has died.

Following Reiji’s route, we quickly learn that Reiji is a man who values intelligent and logic - his intellect fuels his self-esteem - and unless he has Yui at his mercy (with the threat of draining all her blood) the logic of the Vampire/Human dynamic won’t survive, it’ll die along with his frail ego.

“Kukuku…Or rather, would you like to die right now?”

This piece of dialogue links to the previous ones we’ve seen throughout the song; it’s a string of dialogue weaved into the story, a cross between Reiji’s ‘fantasy’ and reality. He’s told Yui that she can never escape and now he’s giving her the ‘option’ of dying - in reality, there is no option, it’s reverse psychology of giving her the choice of doing something that he knows she would protest against (that being death). It acts as Reiji essentially keeping Yui under his control.

Additionally, the fact that Reiji laughs when saying this could imply that he doesn’t take Yui seriously enough to consider her a threat; furthermore, it could be implied that he’s choosing to mock her in her time of distress - Yui wants to leave but she can’t and Reiji’s taking this opportunity to laugh at her misfortune.

In a storm driven mad with desire, my mind calms, all thoughts cut off Like a vanishing rose, cutting across my mind

When you think about a storm, you probably don’t have many pleasant meanings to connect to it. It’s a symbol of chaos, negativity, trauma, difficulty, weakness, and even depression. Storm symbolism also signifies change and transition since storms are only temporary. However, in literature, storms play a completely different role. They’re used as elements of foreshadowing, which is the act of predicting the future in the story. It’s a very frequently used symbol that can be used in almost any setting. Normally, it predicts something unpleasant, tragic, or even scary.

The storm itself could be implied to represent Reiji’s inner turmoil; how by focusing on that one specific thing can in fact calm him, his mind is steady - it could be interpreted as ‘ordered chaos’, which refers to a complex situation or process that appears chaotic while still having enough order to achieve progress or goals. The idea of organised chaos is more than saying you know where everything is in your messy bedroom or office, even if no one else can make sense of it. It’s also the idea of a looser set of rules and giving yourself a little more freedom to find your own success. it can be inferred that the “storm” is Reiji’s subconscious, or at least his mental state, yet his mind is able to be calm due to him being able to navigate that chaos - it’s something only he can understand, both giving him the satisfaction of surpassing everyone else’s psychological skills but also the satisfaction of being able to hide the mess that is his mind so well.

The last line of this phrase could be implied to mean that Reiji’s mind has become blank, his usual thoughts of resentment and jealousy have ceased, they’ve vanished and so, his mind has become blank. Additionally, ‘blank’ can have connotations of calmness - since the mind has become devoid of thoughts and emotions, it becomes oddly calm in its emptiness. Here we also see the noun “rose” make another appearance, however, roses not only symbolise love and purity, but it also has other connotations too. In the Middle Ages, roses were hung from the ceilings of meeting rooms; it was understood that everyone under the roses was sworn to secrecy. With this in mind, it could be implied that the noun “rose” symbolises secrecy, Reiji’s desires and detriments are to remain a secret - a secret that he and Yui will later share but a ‘secret’ nonetheless -. However, the notion that the rose is “vanishing” could imply that his unchecked mind is starting to dissipate; the thoughts that haunt him so much are ‘disappearing’ from his conscious mind. However, the verb “cutting” gives off the interpretation that his vanishing thoughts are quite abrupt, as though Reiji’s trying to forcefully forget the chaos in his brain - implying that Reiji’s trying to forget his turmoil in order to calm his mind.

This memory is our family’s fate A damned soul, never again to…

Memory can often connote to both remembrance and forgetfulness; however, it can be interpreted that “memory” relates to the previous line, of Reiji trying to forget his tribulations. Each person that holds a substantial relationship with Karlheinz is dealt with nothing but despair - whether that relationship is founded from genetics or courtship is of no relevance, as each person is given their own cruel hand by “fate” -. Therefore, it’s possible to assume that Reiji’s memories of pain is shared throughout the family; each brother is wallowing in their own trauma, yet they cannot talk about it or cope in a healthy way, they each let their emotions fester and try to forget their memories, and because that mechanism of trauma is passed through the family, it has therefore become their “fate”.

Here we also see the repetition of the line “A damned soul, never again to…”. The adjective “damned” can have connotations of  being condemned or doomed, especially to eternal punishment - which is quite similar to how the brothers view their long-lasting lives. With this in mind, we can again imply that Reiji is ‘doomed’ to suffer the consequences of ‘fate’s’ cruel hand; he can never again revert to the past, before his trauma was dealt to him, and that is his family’s fate.

“…─I will never let you go”

Once more, we are presented with Reiji’s dialogue, however, this phrase has both sorrowful and threatening connotations. The phrase “…─I will never let you go” has obvious menacing implications, since Reiji’s holding Yui hostage in this overall situation - if Yui tries to leave, then he’ll punish her, or he’ll kill her. This threat enables Reiji to carry on implementing his control over Yui and bending her to his will - breaking her in the process -. Conversely, this threat can also possess quite sorrowful and forlorn connotations. Following Reiji’s route, it can be implied that Yui’s inadvertently and subconsciously helping Reiji come to terms with the type of person he is; without Yui, his bitterness will only fester to a higher capacity, and his abuse tactics and sadism will only grow - thus, it could be implied that Reiji can’t let Yui go because of this, and when you think about it that way, it’s quite melancholic.

“Kukuku… You should understand by now, right?”

“It is your fate to continue to have your blood sucked by me.”

Reiji yet again insults Yui’s intelligence by condescending to her that she should be able to understand the situation she’s in, and how it’s her “fate”. Throughout the entirety of Reiji’s route, his use of language towards Yui is typically demeaning, and here is no exception.

The noun “blood” can have many different connotations and symbolisms, one of which is that it represents life - this is mainly derived from the fact that blood is the very substance that flows through our veins in order to keep us alive; with this connotation, it could be implied that Yui’s “fate” is to have her life drained by Reiji for his own satisfaction. However, blood can also be seen as something that’s a person’s ‘essence’. If there’s something that is so core to your sense of identity or your beliefs, you could say that “it’s in my blood”. This interpretation could imply that Reiji intends to finish ‘training’ Yui until every last part of her has been taken away, her ‘core’ has been “sucked” out by Reiji in his attempts to perfect her - all her aspirations, hope, pain and suffering have been removed by Reiji, as blood can also connote to pain and suffering; something that can be implied to be Reiji’s fate - his fate is to suffer, and he will inflict that same punishment upon Yui, since her fate is to become broken and damned along with him.

“…─This prediction is absolute.” “……So, wake up…”

Firstly, the line “This prediction is absolute.” could imply that both Reiji and Yui’s fates are “absolute”, they’re established and universally decided upon that this is the path they must both follow. The noun “prediction” carries connotations of both science and philosophy. The first comes from the fact that during an experiment, predictions are made in relation to the outcome - the experiment at hand however, can range from physical chemicals to the inside of someone’s mind. Additionally, “prediction” can also connote to something being prophesied. The inference that I’m trying to make, is that both connotations are linked; though this insinuation is mainly derived from More Blood and Dark Fate due to us learning more about Karlheinz and how he’s monopolised his bloodline. Both Reiji and Yui’s fates have already been decided due to Karlheinz effectively using his sons as ‘experiments’ - therefore, the life that Reiji and Yui are to live has already been predicted; thus, it is “absolute”.

The phrase “wake up” is honestly quite a strange line to include in this song however, it could imply that Yui needs to wake up from the dainty person she was, and accept her fate - a ‘wake up’ call if you will -. Conversely, it also reminds me of a darker theme within dreams, that to ‘die’ (in a dream) is to “wake up”; with that in mind, it could infer that Yui’s past self needs to ‘die’ in order for her to “wake up” and accept who she is now, who she is presently while being under Reiji’s control. No longer is Yui pure and untainted, and so from Reiji’s perspective, she needs to “wake up” from that ‘act’.

“Awaken and become a part of our family.” “In the darkness, unable to see anything, with you…” “…─I want to feel it!”

Following my interpretation that Yui needs to let her past self die in order to “wake up” could link to this section here, and it could imply that Reiji believes that Yui needs to let herself go, let her religion, beliefs and self-worth diminish and die in order for her ‘true’ self to “awaken” - let Reiji remould her to his desire and welcome her ‘retrained’ self into his arms.

We’re brought back to this imagery of darkness, and this imagery could link back to the “dense, black forest” we saw in the beginning, showing the song’s cyclical structure. Much like the beginning, the theme of darkness could infer that Reiji desires Yui to fall from her ‘heavenly grace’ and join him in his misery - “unable to see anything” but despair and longing -. Throughout Reiji’s route, it’s been made clear that Reiji wishes to shatter Yui as a person, and rebuild her to his design; therefore, Reiji wants Yui to fall into despair with him, so that he’s no longer alone in his turmoil. The last line of “…─I want to feel it!” could reinforce this implication, that Reiji wishes to have company in his damnation and he wants to know and feel that every part of Yui belongs to him - from her determination to her compassion, he wants to feel ‘loved’ by her, yet he wants to break her in that process so that she can never escape from his abuse.

A single enraged horn, able to thrust its way up to the heavens Like a chaotically blooming rose, it’s splattered across your face

Here the cyclicity of the song is made clear with the repetition of the chorus - it reinforces Reiji’s desire to corrupt Yui and drag her down to ‘Hell’ with him. Conversely, it may simply be the poetic voice (Reiji) attempting to reiterate a certain point, reflecting the continuing nature of time, entrapment through repetition and re-living events - re-living Yui’s downfall and her entrapment in Reiji’s cruel schemes.

This deep crimson curse is our family’s fate A damned soul, never again to… A damned soul, never again to…

Again, this section is repeated, implying that it’s significant, that Reiji’s “fate” and turmoil is significant - and it is, it’s significant to Karlheinz. Each brother’s fate is significant in one way or another as it all ties into Karlheinz’s ‘plan’, their fates have been preordained; therefore, they’re all “damned souls”, they have been from the beginning and Yui is no exception to this, and I think Reiji knows this. The last line is repeated twice, and contains the same wording and grammar; this gives the impression that the ending is inevitable and nothing can be done to stop it. The sense of repetition created through this element of the structure also creates a sense of hopelessness, reflecting the lack of choices that Yui has in this position and how Reiji will inevitable dictate her entire existence.

“…─Have you understood? Very well, in that case, become mine for all eternity.”

This first line is in fact a rhetoric, Reiji’s not asking a genuine question to Yui, he’s establishing their power dynamic and that she should already know to obey his every whim. He’s patronising her intelligence just like how he does throughout his route - it infers that overall, nothing has changed and Yui is still hopeless and Reiji is still bitter and resentful towards others and towards himself.

The very last line however, displays that even though Reiji is as heinous as they come, he still wishes for Yui’s company while he waits for his “fate” to consume him. The pronoun “mine” shows Reiji’s possessiveness and how he wants Yui’s compassion to himself - implying that she gives him the comfort and ‘love’ he’s so desperately wanted throughout his life. He’s dragged Yui down into the pits of despair and she’s had no choice in whether she wanted that or not, that is her “fate”. Though Reiji’s bitterness may not have changed, and his abuse may not have corroded, this line implies that he wishes to have Yui’s company throughout his misery; to not be completely alone.

To conclude, this song is overall, quite sad and it gives us insight into Reiji’s mind; how he wants to corrupt Yui for his own gain, yet he doesn’t want to lose her company because he doesn’t want to be alone. The song doesn’t justify any of Reiji’s actions towards Yui - instead it shows how cruel he can be - but it also shows just how alone he feels, and by the end of this story’s analysis, the overall feeling that comes to mind, is pity.

Miscellaneous

Basically, everything under this section are just little things that I found in relation to Haunted Dark Bridal that had some analytical potential. They don’t really fit in anywhere else without them extending the sections even more, but I thought it’d be a shame not to mention them - like I said, these small sections are nothing more than little titbits of analysis, since I gather that your brain’s pretty exhausted from reading everything above.

Reiji’s Haunted Dark Bridal Popularity Poll Dialogue:

“I am not particularly interested in winning over the hearts of many. Just a handful of people will do... ...Ah! No, it’s nothing! Besides, I already have my hands full with your training. Well then, hurry over to my room!”

First of all, the notion that Reiji only desires to impress a select few of people could link back to his need to feel wanted and needed by his father - he wants to prove his worth to those he cares about; this can even extend to Beatrix - though she’s dead, her image is still alive within Reiji’s mind, which offers the inference that he’s trying to prove himself to her memory.

The fact that Reiji becomes, almost startled, with his interjection of “Ah! No, it’s nothing! Besides” could show that he’s outputting more information that he normally would to Yui; and by doing so, it would give her more ammunition towards him - by Yui gaining more information about Reiji, it would consequently give her the high ground. We know that Reiji’s talking to Yui here since he diverts the conversation and uses the phrase “your training”, the pronoun “your” relating back to Yui. Reiji cuts the dialogue short and quickly makes Yui the subject, rather than his attitude to people’s thoughts of him - this could imply that Reiji doesn’t like to share his more personal thoughts and feelings with others and the inclination that he states “No, it’s nothing“ could suggest to us that he devalues his emotions. Reiji uses the negator “No” after the first section of dialogue ends, which could imply that he was possibly going to carry on with the theme of opinions yet cut himself short; implying he either realised that he was compromising his strict persona or thought that his feelings weren’t worth being spoken about. When people use the phrase “it’s nothing” in contexts like this, it often means “it’s not worth your concern/attention, don’t worry about it”, and people who tend to be conflict averse or passive use this phrase more than most people as they devalue their own opinions and emotions as to not burden anyone or cause trouble; I think this is what Reiji is doing here, he’s realised that he’s caused intrigue for Yui and so he cuts himself off and devalues what he’s thinking in order to bring the conversational control back to himself - and promptly order Yui around.

Haunted Dark Bridal Official Fan Book:

[ CREATOR’S COMMENT ]

“The second son of the Sakamaki household and Shuu’s younger brother. The most book-smart out of all the brothers. His attitude and speech are careful and polite like those of a butler, but the words that come from his mouth are nothing but harsh insults and condescending remarks.

He establishes a relationship of owner and property between himself and the heroine and forces his own rules upon her.”

There’s not too much to look at here since the comment basically just reinforces the analytical conclusions we’ve already come to - it’s just a nice way to sum up Reiji’s outward behaviour. The second section to this is primarily what I wanted to focus on, but I thought I’d leave this bit in since it’s just a little summary.

[ TASTE CHECK ]

“You sure are thoughtful for a servant, wanting to know my preferences.”

- I will not allow my possession to defy me

- Follow my rules

- Honesty is a must

- I hate lies and excuses

- You can rely on me

“Reiji is the type of person who makes the hierarchy between the two of you very clear, so it’s best to listen to everything he says. Furthermore, avoiding lies and interacting with him in an honest and genuine way is the key to his heart.”

The first few lines of this section emphasise how Reiji views Yui, he sees her as a “servant” and a “possession”, two words that establish a power dynamic - something we see that’s crucial to Reiji as a character, he needs to be the one in control and the one to display dominance; therefore, he views Yui as someone who is beneath him.

Furthermore, this section also induces irony, Reiji desires honesty and detests lies and excuses yet he quite often berates Yui for telling the truth. In some chapters, Yui runs into Shuu by accident, or rather, he trips her up - prolonging her arrival to Reiji’s room - yet when she states what has happened, once she tells the truth, Reiji is quick to dismiss it as an excuse or lie (even though we know as the audience that Yui’s telling the truth). With this in mind, this section offers the implication that Reiji deems anything he doesn’t like to hear as a lie or an excuse - which is an unhealthy way of coping with something that has factored into his abuse so much; it’s an unhealthy way of coping with Shuu and a means to deflect his insecurities - the insecurity that Yui will leave him in favour of his brother, which is something we see during the Ecstasy chapters with Cordelia. However, once Reiji begins to mellow throughout the route, we quickly see him admire Yui’s honesty - which is “the key to his heart“ according to the creator’s note.

The last bullet point of, “You can rely on me” could factor into Yui’s growing co-dependency throughout the Heaven chapters - she’s treated almost like a pet and is expected to be somewhat reliant on Reiji’s lead and his desires. Additionally, this could also infer that Yui is to rely on Reiji emotionally. Throughout Yui’s internal battle with Cordelia, Reiji constantly has Yui’s back, he’s protective and though he may be harsh, Yui is able to rely on him to help her gain her body back, and I think this is what this point means overall - that Yui can emotionally rely on Reiji.

Diabolik Lovers Anime Official Fan Book Interview:

Question 01: Why do you remain so well-mannered even towards a human like Yui?

“Please do not ask me such ridiculous things. It should be obvious. Regardless of whether they are human or not, acting in a bad-mannered way is something only people who lack a proper education do.

Therefore, I maintain a proper attitude towards her, and I am also strictly training her so she can become a proper, well-mannered lady as well.”

Reiji’s answer here provides us with a core aspect to his character - his butler-like manners -. It could be implied that he developed this habit from his mother Beatrix. Beatrix was an only child from a high ranking family; her being an only child means that she had to marry well in order to continue her legacy. Due to her lack of socialisation from being an only child, she can be interpreted to be an awkward person. What I’m bringing awareness to here, is her lack of social skills and choosing to be stern and silent - much like how a butler would behave in the presence of others -. Part of Beatrix’s creator note is that Reiji takes after her “serious personality“; “serious” can connote to a multitude of traits, such as being firm and wholehearted. It can be implied that Reiji observed her behaviour from the flashbacks we see within both Haunted Dark Bridal and More Blood, therefore, it could insinuate that he may have ingrained those behavioural traits in order to garner her affection - to be stern and well-mannered, like a butler - and those traits have followed him into adulthood and play a major part in his internal conflict as well as his abuse, which is why he values it.

Question 04: Well then, teach us your favourite brand of tea cups as well!

“Just as with the tea, I like them all. I change up the tableware depending on my mood as well. Let’s see...If I had to point out similarities between the tea cups I’ve purchased, it would have to be the delicate and beautiful designs. When the cup has lines on it which are even just slightly crooked or don’t look very pretty, it makes me want to break them on the spot.”

The most important aspect of this dialogue, to me, is the last line. The fact that Reiji outright states that anything less than perfection makes him want to break it, and that can link directly to Yui. Yui’s a character who has both a beautiful and delicate nature to her, she’s youthful - which is something most people find beautiful - and she retains a delicate frame and personality, much like the tea cups Reiji is describing. However, her naivety and obliviousness can often irk Reiji, she’s not perfect but she’s not broken; therefore, she is “crooked”, and Reiji in turn wishes to perfect that by breaking her spirit and willpower. In a metaphorical way, it could be inferred that within this section of dialogue, the tea cups represent Yui.

Question 09: How do you feel about Yui?

“She’s still miles away from becoming a proper lady. That’s why I will discipline her until I’m satisfied, turning her into a beautiful woman whom I can show to anyone without having to feel embarrassed. That’s all.”

The most important factor here is that Reiji feels embarrassed by Yui, he feels ashamed and sheepish to show her off. Embarrassment is considered one of the self-conscious emotions, quite at ease in the company of guilt, shame, and pride. Given that embarrassment happens in relation to other people, it is a public emotion that makes you feel exposed, awkward, and filled with regret for whatever your wrongdoing happens to be. Potential negative evaluations concerning standards about actions, thoughts, and feelings that govern our behaviour are at the core of embarrassment and other self-conscious emotions. The experience of embarrassment alerts you to your failure to behave according to certain social standards, which threaten the beliefs you hold concerning how others evaluate you as well as the ways in which you evaluate yourself.

Reiji feels embarrassed to show Yui to anyone since during the majority of his route, she defies everything he strives for - he wants Yui to remain calm, collected, reserved and obedient, whereas the Yui we see is bubbly, naïve, oblivious and determined. By Yui possessing those characteristics, her personality contrasts Reiji’s; therefore, he would feel sheepish to present her to others since she lacks what he desires, she’s not perfect to Reiji’s image and standards for her. By Yui contrasting Reiji so much, he would most likely feel shame alongside embarrassment, not only because of who Yui is, but because of what she is. Throughout the DL lore, we know that humans are nothing but prey to vampires, so by Reiji garnering feelings towards Yui, it defies all social normalities and he would most likely face scrutiny from others and face both internal and external humiliation.

5th Anniversary Character Interview:

Question 09. Tell us your most vivid memory with your brothers!

“When we were still children, there was a time when Kanato escaped the castle and got lost. I had coincidentally headed out that day as well and met up with him. I wonder if he was exhausted, but Kanato complied with my offer and we returned to the castle together. Thinking back to it now, that was the first and last I ever saw of Kanato’s obedient side.”

I wanted to include this section for the simple reason that Kanato listened to Reiji. If you follow Kanato’s route, it’s fairly easy to come to the conclusion that he doesn't really enjoy listening to others no matter what the situation is, he’s erratic and temperamental due to his hysteria. However, the interaction between the two here is rather wholesome, instead of ignoring Kanato like the other brothers would, Reiji takes it upon himself to help him, and what does Kanato do ? He complies and follows Reiji. Kanato’s compliance could simply be due to him being exhausted but I would like to offer the interpretation that both Reiji and Kanato have some unspoken bond between them. I’ve covered this interpretation before throughout the Banquet CD since it alludes to Kanato crying to Reiji to ‘fix’ his problems in the past - not to mention the two outcasts are paired together -. It can even be inferred through their Vol 3 Versus Drama CD: Kanato has a problem and Reiji is the one to deal with it. The main difference between these two points is age - we know that Kanato uses tantrums and blackmail as an adult in order to make Reiji cooperate. However, that sort of behaviour isn’t as prominent in Kanato when he’s younger; therefore, it can be suggested that Kanato would be more inclined to quiet down and be compliant in order to have Reiji resolve the problem - being lost -. This interaction shows that Reiji is willing to help others, he’s younger here and so his façade has most likely not completely formed yet.

I mentioned that there may be some unspoken bond between the two, and that mainly derives from the fact that both Reiji and Kanato are pushed aside and treated like outcasts by their brothers; when this happens, they usually stick together instead of being stubborn and going their own ways. I also wanted to mention that this dialogue is in relation to Reiji’s most vivid memory, “vivid” being the key word. It implies that this memory holds a form of significance to him, and I think that’s in relation to Kanato’s obedience. This memory is the only time Kanato has ever been obedient, and it wasn’t to anyone but Reiji - façade or not, he’s going to feel accomplished by that - hence why it’s vivid and therefore significant.

QUESTION 15. What does she [Yui] mean to you?

"I feel like this is not exactly the type of information I should share with someone else though...Let’s see, I like her quite a bit. While she does often cause me trouble as well, I have learnt to perceive that as part of her charm. However, I do not enjoy how vulnerable she leaves herself, so I’d love for her to be more cautious in that regard. She might think of me as nosy...However, I hope she realises that I am saying it for her own wellbeing. Well, no matter how many times I mention it, it might just be a lost cause.”

This section here is exponentially significant to Reiji’s character and his development. Instead of chastising Yui or opting to degrade her, he chooses to praise her - his words aren’t condescending or rude, they’re genuine. This is significant since it’s just Reiji answering these on his own, Yui herself is not present and with that, Reiji drops his guard and offers more sincere feelings. Reiji states that Yui’s clumsy recklessness is a part of her charm, which could imply that he enjoys the fact that she’s not completely predictable - she’s dedicated and that can sometimes land her in quite a troubling situation but it’s inferred that Reiji admires that or at least finds it endearing.

When Reiji says that he does “not enjoy how vulnerable she leaves herself”, I don’t think that’s in relation to how vulnerable Yui is to Reiji but more so to everyone around her - her obliviousness and naivety leaves her exposed to the other brothers, meaning that Yui’s open to be taken advantage of; and that’s what I think this phrase implies. Reiji’s not being cautious for Yui’s sake, but more for his own - we know that Reiji’s naturally insecure and paranoid, so to have the possibility of Yui preferring Shuu or the others over himself is going to affect him greatly and cause his jealousy to spiral out of control. He doesn’t want Yui to be cautious for her own well being, instead he wants her to be cautious so that her loyalty can fuel his ego and his jealousy can mellow.

Conclusion

To conclude, Reiji appears to be a very complex character, his exposure to forms of abuse such as neglect have led him to harbour envy and resentment yet his status allows him to display a small scale of narcissism. As his route continues, and as his character develops, his insecurities are laid bare for us as the audience and for Yui to see - it’s honestly quite sad that his entire façade was born out of a need to feel loved and wanted. His actions and abuse can never be justified but they can be understood and by delving into his psyche, what we find is just a lonely, bitter man who craves the love and attention he never got. His actions are explainable but they’re not excusable and the abuse he’s inflicted onto Yui is only going to add to his guilt. The actions he takes are nothing short of cruel and sadistic, but underneath all his hate and resentment lies a child who felt abandoned by their family.

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