Yofukashi No Uta / Call of the Night

Episode 9: The other vampires have been ragging on Nazuna for keeping Yamori around but then the gyaru decides to have a change of heart about the heartthrob vampire lifestyle. Go figure.

Episode 10: Kind of a drag since it’s painfully obvious who the peeping tom is, but I do like the message that everyone has a little bit of crazy and that’s okay.

Over these two episodes I can therefore conclude that the other vampires are honestly pretty weak additions to the cast. They barely show a difference in perspective in the way vampires should act, even the gyaru conveniently decides to care about humans as more than feed and potential groupies.

Then comes episode 11, which introduces us to the hunger-mad, wild beast kind of vampire and a detective lady that loathes the idea. It’s a bit too much of a Contrived Coincidence for Yamori, Akira and Miharu to encounter the ravenous vampire; felt like that half pf the episode would have worked better as a breather and build up their relationship more. But it’s also a challenge to the idea that vampirism is a good thing and that’s more interesting than what the spotlight characters of the last few episodes had to offer.

Episode 12 has Ko wracking his brains over his wish to become a vampire, when even Nazuna says that being a vampire is boring. I’d expect that the answer will ultimately be Ko wanting to stay with Nazuna.

Episode 13: Ends exactly as I expected with Nazuna kissing Ko. The dialogue was somewhat off this episode (where did the “men and women can’t understand each other” thing come from?) but in terms of cinematography and scoring it was excellent. Really too bad that I don’t think the content in the scenes were all that intriguing, despite how well it was directed.

Just watched the first episode of the anime.

...Holy shit, the anime went all out. No wonder this has consisted ranked among the best anime of 2022, which was already one of the best anime years of all time.

Have you read the manga?

I’ll be interested in how your impressions develop over the course of the series. I personally loved the earlier episodes a lot more than the latter ones.

Not really and I'm not planning to at the moment. Just like with Oshi No Ko and Demon Slayer, this feels like one of those works where the anime is such a superb adaptation that I don't even need to read the manga.

(and yes, I'm aware of the author's previous work)

Adaptations have been on a roll recently, honestly.

Haha, I haven’t read the manga too, I just thought you did.

Ah, gotcha.

Just finished watching episode 6. There are many things to love about this anime and I don't even know where to start with.

To be generic, I absolutely love the sheer atmosphere. I don't think I've ever seen night being portrayed this colorful and beautiful in any anime. It reminds me how the world of the dead is portrayed much more vibrant fashion, both in Corpse Bride and more recently Zom 100. No wonder why Kou and almost every character so far is in love with the night in this series!

Speaking of which, I don't know how it gets later in the manga but I also love how most main characters are generally nice people. While obviously the most central character is Nazuna, I personally absolute adore Akira and just how absolutely respectful and accepting she is about...well, anything including Nazuna straight up revealing her true nature.

Edited by dRoy on Jul 31st 2023 at 9:27:22 PM

Yeah if there’s one thing Call of the Night captures superbly, it’s the vibes of the quiet night. Cool air, cozy silence, star studded.

Finished ep 9. Man, I can't remember the last time I consumed so much anime in such a short amount of time.

The anime is showing hints of getting steadily serious, and I can already guess the manga has far more in store.

And I gotta say, Yamori's ability to actually communicate with people and deescalate matters is an amazing talent.

You mean his lack of skill at reading the room, yeah? Haha.

That's the thing: He is a weird combination of super perceptiveness AND blindness, yet it actually works out.

Just finished ep 12. I see that the anime (and no doubt the manha) touches more upon the darker side of vampire and nightlife.

I already miss the (relatively) carefree vibe of the earlier episodes. XP

You’re not alone. I was also less in love with the series once it started tackling more serious subject matter, especially since, in my opinion, the topics were not handled satisfactorily.

Just finished the anime.

What an absolutely amazing adaptation and I can see why this has been consistently cited as one of the best anime of 2022. Not only the art direction and general atmosphere absolutely stellar, I also love how there are no truly unlikable characters. As of this point, at any rate.

I also love the relationship between Yamori and Nazuna, and how it eventually grows into a mutually caring and selfless one. And of course, I gotta mention how they played the same vending machine meeting scene from the first episode, only with the characters reversed.

With that said...while the anime itself is pretty much objectively great, I personally am going to stop right here and not bother with the manga. As much as I think the drama of the story is quite well written, to be honest that's not really what drew me into the series.

I rather dislike how the comforting and socially liberating world of the night has its own dangers and rules imposed by the society of vampires. I'm aware that this point was fairly explicitly pointed out by the main duo themselves and very much intentional on the behalf of the creator. So I'm not gonna call it a bad writing or anything, just not something for me.

Anyhow, 3.5 stars out of 4. Will recommend.

Definitely have to feel out a second season if it arrives. The overall trajectory of the story doesn’t seem like something that will hold my interest.