Reiko Nagase

Reiko Nagase
Ridge Racer character
Reiko Nagase in Ridge Racer 3D
First appearance	Rave Racer (1995)
First game	Rage Racer (1996)
Designed by	Kei Yoshimizu

Reiko Nagase (永瀬麗子, Nagase Reiko^?) is a virtual idol fictional character in Namco's Ridge Racer series of racing video games who is its most prominent race queen and one of Namco's mascot characters. Reiko has first appeared in Rave Racer in 1995, before her official introduction in Rage Racer in 1996. She has gained an iconic status and an enduring high popularity among the fans of the long-running series, resulting in her being brought back by Namco after an attempt to substitute her was met with fan backlash, appearing in many other games and other creations, and the creation of a series of characters named Kei Nagase in the Ace Combat series, one of whom is her younger sister.

Reiko Nagase is a fictional race queen from Tokyo who is the digital mascot and host of the Ridge Racer series. Not counting an original cameo in the arcade game Rave Racer (1995), Reiko officially first appeared and was named in the racing game Rage Racer (1996), in the game's full motion video intro directed by Kei Yoshimizu from Keica, also appearing in-game. In R4: Ridge Racer Type 4 (1998), she was given more prominence, as the opening animation, which used a song by Kimara Lovelace, was a short story starring her.Type 4 also introduced a redesign to her 3D model by Kei Yoshimizu. This is when Namco started giving more exposure to the character, heavily using her image to promote the game. She also appears in the Nintendo-developed Ridge Racer 64 (2000).