Call of the Night (2020)

[よふかしのうた]

Volume 3

Author/Artist: Kotoyama
Publisher: Shounen Sunday Comics

Synopsis:
Kou encounters a girl with dangerous nighttime escapades, but little does he realize that he is the one who is in danger.

Story/Characters:
It's impossible to talk about this volume without some spoilers and the preview last volume does give some hint at this, so I don't feel quite as bad talking about it. Nazuna isn't the only vampire out there and her fellow vampires don't take kindly to what she's been doing. When we're introduced to the vampire coven, we learn more about their culture. Because romance is a key element to siring vampiric offspring, they seem more like a gang of players competing over technique and the effectiveness of their technique on Kou is amusing to watch. I look forward to seeing them get further developed. For now, Seri comes back around and we get to explore her character some more, but before then, we're introduced to another childhood friend of Kou's, Mahiru, who's recently started to get involved in the night life. There's something more going on there and I'm curious to see how it unfolds. It is interesting to see the contrast between him and Kou. I find it interesting when a story portrays the popular kid as a genuinely nice person whose interactions with the more socially inept protagonist doesn't have any strings attached to it.

I liked the four-parter focusing on Seri quite a bit. She could easily have been a rather shallow side character, but there's a fair bit more going on with her and the way she interacts with Kou is nice to see. Seri's relationship with Akiyama was also rather interesting. The series is ultimately about human interaction and the vampire story is just the vehicle to explore the subject from various angles.

Art:
I wasn't expecting vampire fights in this romcom, but Kotoyama has some good action chops. The comedic timing is spot-on and the actual emotional moments are effectively delivered. I rather like the designs of the newly introduced vampires, particularly Seri and Midori.

Other:
We get some concept art of Seri and Nico and an afterword where Kotoyama talks about how he's changed his style for this series.

Conclusion:
You might worry that adding a host of other vampires to the cast might dilute the core story of Kou and Nazuna, but as it appears right now, they're welcome additions that will allow us to explore our main characters in new and interesting ways. If Seri's treatment is any indication, we've got some good stuff waiting for us. This is one for the collection.

Rating:
Own It