Rei Suwa

"We have to protect her. Think. What can we do to help Miri? You're the brains between us, remember? Kazuki! We can change. This time, we'll make Miri happy!”"

- Rei Suwa in Everyone Will Be Hypocrites Episode

Rei Suwa (諏訪 零) is one of the main protagonists of the anime series, Buddy Daddies. Along with Kazuki, he is an assassin who is silent but has strong physical ability as well as exceptional shooting. He's a recluse who spends practically all of his free time playing video games.

Overview
Rei is a man of few words who doesn't mind that Kazuki has already moved into his house. He is physically strong, and his fighting abilities and marksmanship are among the best in the industry. He has a clear separation between his professional and personal lives and spends most of his time at home playing video games. His family is a large underworld family, and his parents have been training him as a gifted assassin since he was a child. He has not been able to escape the family feud and has no comprehension of normal parent-child relationships.

Appearance
Rei is an average-sized young man. He has dull black eyes, thick brows, and mid-length black hair that he usually pulls up and ties into a man-bun, leaving half of it loose. When he wears his hair down, especially on casual days, his bangs fall unevenly across his forehead and reach past his brows, giving his hair an unkempt appearance.

He would dress in a three-piece suit for work. His suit consists of a black blazer paired with black dress pants and a gray waistcoat. Within his suit, he has a white collar. His collar and cuffs are decorated with rectangular connections, and his black and maroon tie is clipped with a tie bar. He also wears black gloves that match the rest of his outfit's color, along with dark brown leather.

Rei would only wear a faded black shirt underneath, a zipped style uncollared blue jacket with navy blue fitted pants and some black shoes for casual wear.

He has a far more threatening appearance than Kazuki, which is accentuated by the fact that his eyes are constantly veiled, even when his hair is pulled back.

Personality
Rei presents himself differently depending on if he is at home or on a mission. At work, he is focused and shows little emotion. He is an expert shooter and sticks to the task at hand. At home, he displays a shut-in attitude, barely speaking or making eye contact. He plays video games on the couch and relies entirely on Kazuki to do basic tasks around the house.

Despite his aversion to expressing them, Rei does have emotions. He attempts to adopt a stray cat and accepts Miri as his daughter, although he is not well taught in how to care for either of them.

When he's not at work, he acts a little more childlike. Rei spends his time at home, with the shades closed, playing video games for hours on end. His eating habits closely resemble Miri's. For example, choosing the sugary porridge and hamburger steak over Kazuki's more well-prepared dishes. He, like many of his kind, has no concept how to function as an autonomous adult, relying on Kazuki for tasks as simple as warming dinner.

Background
He is a part of a large underworld family that is presently undisclosed in the series. His parents taught him how to be a skilled assassin since he was a child. As a result, he is unable to fully understand the parent-child relationship. During his upbringing, his father was both physically and emotionally cruel to him, sending dogs after him to fight and refused to even accept himself as Rei's father.

Kazuki Kurusu
Due to his gloomy temperament, Kazuki is likely his only friend. Kazuki is also his coworker in their line of work. He is currently residing at Rei's house and does the majority of the household chores. Though Rei acts a little bit distant towards Kazuki, he admits that he is important to him since the moment they met, and during time, he even confesses to his father he loves him and Miri and is willing to abandon everything for their safety. In the end they go to live overseas to become a family.

Miri Unasaka
Miri refers to him as "Papa," the same way she does to Kazuki. According to Miri, fathers are individuals who come to your rescue when you're in trouble, which made Rei realize he needed to adjust to Miri and let her call her "Papa" particularly during times of difficulty. Despite the fact that Miri is a vibrant child and Rei is the polar opposite, he appears to care about the child's feelings. Over time, he begins to care more and more about Miri, such as panicking when he realized Miri caught a cold.

Etymology
The name Rei is broken up into two syllables “RE-I,” but only one kanji character - 零.


 * 零 (REI): Silently Falling Rain, Spill, Overflow, Become Visible, To Escape (Smile, Tears, etc.), Not Much, Small Amount, Zero, Spirit, Ghost
 * Comparison to the series: We can see how this fits his character, given that he was chosen for the more covert aspects of their plans (though, he seems to prefer being more loud, direct, and flashy). He's also quieter and less energetic than Kazuki. Meanings such as "spill, overflow, become visible, and escape" are intriguing and will most likely fit well once we see Rei open up to Miri more.