There is something alluring about the nighttime. It can open up a small town or make familiar locations feel entirely different. As the noisiness of the daytime fades away, the blanket of nighttime can bring about a peaceful silence and solitude. In Call of the Night Volume 1, Ko Yamori, a 14-year-old who has recently developed insomnia, discovers the night's pull as he takes walks alone at night to help clear his mind and ease his anxiety.

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One night, he encounters a free-spirited vampire girl named Nazuna who teaches him to embrace the night. Despite not taking an interest in romance or relationships at school, he finds himself drawn to this girl. He envies her lifestyle and carefree attitude and decides he wants to become a vampire himself. Unlike most vampire stories, it's not as simple as being bitten by another vampire. In this universe, the human must fall in love with the vampire before being "turned."

Call Of The Night Nazuna

Nazuna is a bit of an enigma, so while Ko finds aspects of her captivating, he's not totally sure he could fall in love with her. However, he's determined to do so if it means he can become a vampire. What follows is a story of two people messing around in the night while working through their feelings and trying to figure out what love is.

Those familiar with Kotoyama's previous work Dagashi Kashi (the anime, since the manga isn't licensed in English) will find that, despite being labeled a rom-com, Call of the Night is quite different from the ecchi edutainment and candy shop shenanigans of Dagashi Kashi.

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Call of the Night, overall, feels more subdued and is more concerned with Ko's headspace. Ko has a lot on his mind, and while he tells himself there is no deeper meaning to his feelings, it's clear that there are emotions there that haven't been fully explored yet. While this story feels more like a romance than Dagashi Kashi, there is still plenty of sexual humor and some mild ecchi. Kotoyama does like to highlight Nazuna's "features" from time to time, but not to the degree of their previous manga.

Call of the Night is actually quite tame in comparison, especially since Dagashi Kashi relied on a lot of visual innuendo for its jokes. Instead, it mostly likes to joke about sex through character dialogue. Nazuna has a habit of making things sound dirty, and it's genuinely funny to see Ko react to her teasing.

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Call of the Night Nazuna and Ko

That said Kotoyama does like to frame blood-sucking in a rather sensual way. Nazuna actually describes her and Ko's relationship as "purely physical," since he lets her feed on him in return for hanging out. It's clear that Kotoyama is purposely using her intimate "feeding" on Ko as a representation for sex, which makes this manga feel more mature than your typical shonen romcom.

Fittingly, the first volume takes place exclusively at night, which is a nice break from manga set during school hours. The nighttime setting provides a more intimate, quiet setting that allows readers to really focus on Ko and Nazuna's relationship. It sets a specific mood to the manga that feels unique and captures what makes the nighttime so special.

Learning that this is the same author as Dagashi Kashi, it's easy to come in expecting a lewd romp, but at its heart, this manga is about relationships. It tackles questions about love, friendship and what it all means. For those looking for a supernatural rom-com with some depth, Call of the Night is looking to be a solid choice.

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