groundzeroes | *puts on tinfoil hat*

hello folks. it's time for

WHAT THE FUCK IS REI'S DEAL

because while we know rei is playing 4D chess with the whole of japan, we don't really know WHY yet. with the power vested in me by being (unfortunately) a rei player, here's my best guess as to Rei's motivations for doing..... whatever the fuck he's doing.

here's a timeline with all the stuff we know about Rei thus far! Spoilers abound, of course.
My theorycrafting for Rei's motivations will be at the bottom.

22 years ago

REI JOINS ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT

Rei Yamada is 24 years old. Tensions are rising across the globe. He is enlisted in the Japanese military's Development and Engineering Department. At some point in this time frame, Rei's work with the military becomes involved with Sairou Tohoten, the head of a powerful, old-money politician family.

19 years ago

ICHIRO YAMADA IS BORN

babby :)

17 years ago

REI MEETS OTOME

Rei is 28 years old. As seen in the Femme Fatale drama track, Otome's father brings Rei to the estate to discuss military tech matters. While there, Rei seeks Otome out to praise her ideas in politics and hand over evidence of her father's crimes "if she turned out to be the kind of person [Rei] thought she was." Rei also mentions that in the future "Words will have more power than they do now," so hypmic development and Scheming is in full tilt at this point.

JIRO YAMADA IS BORN

:) babby! Ichiro is 2 years old.

16 years ago

WORLD WAR THREE BEGINS

WELL

14 years ago

WORLD WAR THREE ENDS

Rei is 32 years old. WWII ends, but scattered armed conflicts continue. Rei, who had started the Hypnosis Mic with the military, resigns to form his own independent HypMic development team.

SABURO IS BORN

:) Babby!!!!! Ichiro is 5 years old. Jiro is 3.

Somewhere in this 7 year gap, the Buster Bros are inflicted with wounds "from the war" that will scar. They keep these scars a secret between family (jiro and saburo assuming this just means between the brothers, but Rei knows as well). Assumably, somewhere in this timeframe Rei separates from his three children (the circumstances not yet known) and assumes his new identity as Rei Amayado.

7 years ago

REI completes hypnosis mic

Good job you sorry motherfucker
Rei buys (steals) a house and Sasara and Rosho break in for funsies.

SIX YEARS AGO

Otome purchases the Hypnosis Mic

Otome purchases Rei's version of the Hypnosis Mic. (With whose money is a mystery-- possibly her family's, or possibly the Party of Words'?)
The military has also completed their own version of the Hypnosis Mic, based on the prototypes Rei started while he worked there. Their version of the Mic is more powerful, but more difficult to use.
Rei also begins working on the Hypnosis Canceler, a tool designed to negate Hypnosis Mic effects. (This is also the years Rosho and Sasara break up. RIP)

5 years ago

true hypnosis mic completed

Rei completes the True Hypnosis Mic, a tool capable of brainwashing opponents. However, its use causes the death of the user. (How Rei figured this out is a mystery).

4 years ago

party of words coup

Otome begins her takeover of the Japanese government using the power of Hypnosis Mics. Rei completes the Hypnosis Canceler, and turns over the "original Ramuda" to Otome. How long Ramuda existed before this point is unknown.

3 years ago

the h age begins

Otome completes her takeover of the Japanese government. She defeats and dissolves the military (Riou getting out with one of the military's versions of the Hypmic). Otome purchases the True Hypnosis Mic from Rei for, like, a million bazillion yen, and claims that its Death Problem is currently not a problem because she can use the extant Ramuda clones to wield it for her. (Rei, terrible person extraodinaire: "Wow thats kinda inhumane lol")

2 years ago

we're finally in canon oh my god

In-canon plot starts happening. Rei is seen making more Ramuda clones. Notably, the Party of Words begin cracking down on the use of and destroying hypnosis mics outside of Chuuoku. (Assumably, illegal knockoff mics go into production at this point, or mics start getting put on the black market in general.)

1 year ago (but it's december so technically current year)

CODE BY

this is still a wip lol
Okay! ~~watch me get jossed in January when the new division battle starts~~
A few questions crop up in this:

Why did Rei start building the Hypnosis Mic?
Why did Rei LEAVE HIS KIDS AND CHANGE HIS NAME HELLO WHAT THE FUCK?
What is his grudge against (or plan for) the Party of Words?

So going thru one by one, here are my guesses.
Why did Rei start building the Hypnosis Mic?

We've seen Rei compliment Otome on her early party of Words ideals-- and claim that words will (/should) have more power in the future. (2) He also chides Rosho for using outdated fistfighting to solve his problems (5), and responds to a gun shoved in his face with nonlethal Hypmic usage. (6)
I think it's safe to assume that, for all of Rei's willingness to use whatever tools are in front of him no matter how morally questionable, he has some disdain for physical violence-- or at least puts enough stock in the art of language to prefer it.

Why the FUCK won't Rei pay child support??????

Given the way Hypmic has written its other parent villains (Otome) with sympathy, Rei's decision to leave his children probably has a reason behind it that's deeper than just "no longer gave a shit" (Moral weight notwithstanding-- shit move, my dude!). Also, if Rei never intended to raise a family, it would be really odd for him to have three children with the same (assumed) woman over the course of six years.... UPDATE 2/23: CONFIRMED FOR HAVNGI WIFE (CROWD GOES WILD)

If you look at the timeline, Rei left the military when Saburo was born to complete the Hypnosis Mic as his own design. Late on, the military made their own version of the mic-- which was more powerful and harmful. If we consider Rei's above aversion to physical violence, it's possible to attribute Rei's leaving the military to a clash in vision between the top brass and himself about the power and use of Hypnosis Mics. Being the brains of the operation (and probably never intending to leave his best work in the hands of The State anyway), it was easy enough for Rei to just walk off and establish himself.

But... With all that in mind, I think Rei was probably pursued-- and threatened in no uncertain terms. Government officials had no problem threatening Otome and Ichijiku (and her family) with violence in their time-- there's no reason why Rei and his family wouldn't be subjected to the same treatment. Considering that Rei and his children all have scars from "the war"-- even though the war had ended by the time they were wounded-- I think it's possible the military is responsible for the attack that scarred them. Perhaps then, in a bid to throw the military off of his children, Rei scrubbed out his existence from their lives (this is super spitballing but possibly staging his death so the military stopped looking?) and took on a new name and persona.

Definitely not ideal to abandon his poor freakin kids to a shitass orphanage run by a scammer... but heyyyyyy there it is ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ And obviously Ichiro did not take this well and told his brothers that their parents simply died, which only helps Rei's intention. update 2/23: (Screaming) fill this in later LMAO

What are Rei's plans for/against the Party of Words?

This question is perhaps the most obfuscated one. Hypmic's plot pretty much rests upon it, so nothing I can guess is set in stone, haha. Still, it's a fun question. Rei seems to have no love for Otome, nor she for him, despite their years of working together towards what seemed to be the same goal. They're almost actively antagonistic to each other.

I think Rei set up the Party of Words to take the first steps toward a new paradigm shift in Japan, but never intended for that to be the end. Whatever he intends on happening after that is unclear, because Rei's motive is unclear. Rei could have designs on the throne himself (SPOILER: I HOPE IT'S NOT THIS ONE)... or he could be orchestrating a future more in line with his vision, whatever that happens to be. This is the part that will determine whether Rei is a cartoonishly evil mastermind or merely a morally ugly one. If his admiration of dramatic bad guys is anything to go by(source: that one ARB quote about manga villains lmao) though, Rei definitely sees himself as the last boss. A last boss, however, needs a hero to be vanquished by: and I can only imagine that will be his son.

update 2/23: WIFE REVENGE?

Sources:
1.Hypmic Guidebook timeline (translation)
2.Femme Fatale drama track (translation)
3.Helter Skelter drama track (translation)
4.TDD Era manga (translation)
5.Aikata Back Again drama track (translation
6.DH & BAT manga, chapter 3 (translation)