Episodes 1-3 – Call of the Night Season 2

It feels good to be back in the saddle as ANN’s critic of choice when it comes to episodic coverage of Call of the Night. I am thankful and humbled to yet again be your nocturnal guide through the gently horny affairs of vampires, detectives, delinquents, and other devious denizens of the dark. Just give me a moment to sharpen my canines. In the three-year interim between episodes 1 and 2, the manga wrapped up and cemented itself as one of my contemporary favorites, and I’ve been eagerly anticipating the adaptation of this particular arc ever since the second season was greenlit. Also, in the interest of not repeating myself too much, let me link you to my detailed impressions of the first two new episodes here in the Preview Guide. The bottom line is that very little has changed about this adaptation’s philosophy, and I’m delighted.

What has changed, however, is Call of the Night. The first chunk of the manga, which the first season covered, is a predominantly light romantic comedy with shades of horror and deviance. The narrative frames Ko’s journey into the urban underworld as a laudable act of liberation. He doesn’t entirely cut himself off from the day—he keeps in touch with his friends Akira and Mahiru—but his dissatisfaction with the waking world is portrayed as valid. Through his relationship with Nazuna, he sees himself and civilization in a new and purple-hued light. Although there are brushes with danger, particularly in the form of Nazuna’s older vampire acquaintances, there’s no doubt that Ko is where he needs to be.

The direction of the manga changes when Anko enters the fray towards the end of the first season. Her slaying of a frenzied vampire forces Ko to confront the bloody and grimy reality of becoming the walking undead, a desire further clouded by his and Nazuna’s mutual unfamiliarity with romantic attraction. The night transforms into equal parts sanctuary and minefield, and that’s the twilit zone we find ourselves amidst at the start of the second season. On one side, you have Kiku, a far more experienced vampire whose relationship with Mahiru paints a sinister reflection of the story’s lead couple. On the other side, you have Anko, who knows how to kill and isn’t afraid to confront her enemies head-on. Therefore, the alternately morose and action-oriented OP, while a far cry from the chill vibes of the first opening, is an appropriate declaration of intent for this new side of Call of the Night.

I don’t mind this evolution. I think you can argue for the unique merits of the series’ initial incarnation as a meandering slice of nightlife, and perhaps it’s true the current direction skews too closely to boilerplate shonen action. The deciding factor for me is that it still feels like Call of the Night. Ko remains Ko, and his emotional intelligence and proclivity for getting his neck sucked haven’t gone anywhere. Nazuna remains Nazuna, and it’s still fun to watch her carefree attitude run aground on her better instincts. And the persistence of the staff between the first and second seasons helps maintain that sense of continuity. In other words, the adaptation has adapted well to the circumstances.

The first part of the third episode is a great example. Anko’s first appearance is saturated with light and lens flare, as if she’s come to take the gang’s night away. Miyuki Sawashiro‘s unhinged performance accentuates the brutality of her attack on Akkun. And while the action is quick and not particularly dynamic, the individual shots possess impact, utilizing filters, more lens flare, depth of field, and a closing postcard memory to make the scene memorable. The thrust of this part is that Anko is a serious threat with a personal vendetta, so her attack needs to look intense and deranged, and I’d call that a mission accomplished.

When Nazuna and Ko finally get a scene together, Call of the Night dips into more familiar territory. This material in particular highlights the series’s good sense of humor and the adaptation’s tight grasp on comedic timing. I love the smash cut between Ko’s reassurance that Nazuna won’t be mad and a visibly pissed off Nazuna giving him the stink eye. While it’s a subtle distinction, the adaptation has a similarly keen eye for when to punctuate a gag with a close-up and when to pull the camera away for a chibi-fied reaction. This episode also has one of the funniest bits in the whole manga, which is Nazuna’s mortified reaction to being outed as 30 or 40 years old instead of the classic impression of a wizened vampire who has walked the Earth for centuries. As Ko puts it, that’s a little too real. Bless him for saying that 40 is still young, though. I’m in the latter half of my thirties myself, so speaking as an unbiased commentator, he is correct.

The most reassuring part of the episode’s second half is how little Nazuna and Ko’s chemistry has changed, despite the shift in Call of the Night‘s storytelling. While they had some time together in the premiere, Nazuna barely showed up at all last week. Here, the hospital scene is a charming display of their proclivity for banter. Maybe I’m easily amused, but I think Ko’s skepticism about ghosts is funny considering he hangs out with multiple vampires on the regular. It’s also really cute that Ko spends the latter half of the sequence giving the easily spooked Nazuna a piggyback ride. In all, the scene plays up the horror tropes of an abandoned hospital well, with its many lingering shots of the long and dark hallways.

The last moment I want to touch on is Akkun and Seri’s post-fight denouement. This is a benefit of Call of the Night dipping into serious life-or-death drama, because doing so creates opportunities for bigger emotions. We learn that vampires eventually lose most, if not all, of their memories from their mortal lives, either due to supernatural physiology or the incessant passing of time. Our memories are us, and even though Akkun is already a vampire, that full severance of his previous life is a looming and definite psychological wall marking his transformation into a different person. That is, self-evidently, a scary prospect. He’s also scared of forgetting how he met Seri. If he loses touch with that part of himself, then who is to say that the person left behind will still love her? Seri, however, reassures him that they can continue to create new memories together. As his tears fall, the shards of his smashed glasses glisten similarly in the starlight. Becoming a vampire isn’t a panacea, but it is a chance to start over, to the extent that any of us can.

Episode 1 Rating:

Episode 2 Rating:

Episode 3 Rating:

Call of the Night Season 2 is currently streaming on
HIDIVE.

Steve is on Bluesky for all of your posting needs. They like Anko Uguisu a normal amount. You can also catch them chatting about trash and treasure alike on This Week in Anime.