Call of the Night (2021)

[よふかしのうた]

Volume 9

Author/Artist: Kotoyama
Publisher: Shounen Sunday Comics

Synopsis:
On the night Mejiro planned to become a vampire, something unexpected occurred that changed everything.

Story/Characters:
We start off by closing off the flashback from ten years ago. We already know that Nazuna hadn't sired any offspring, so I was wondering how things went awry and I was quite surprised with how things played out. I'm sure it doesn't surprise anyone, but Mejiro is Uguisu and that gets confirmed the moment the flashback ends. All the pieces have fallen into place and now that Halloween is coming up, Uguisu plans to use the anniversary of the event that changed her life to launch an all-out attack on the entire vampire coven.

The setting for the Halloween event is interesting, as it's a big public area crowded with people. Kou is on a date with Rira as a decoy while the vampires are milling about. Uguisu's goes around attacking the vampires, drawing a lot of attention, but people shrug it off as some sort of movie shoot. It soon becomes clear that she's deliberately provoking the vampires. It's less about killing them as it is about "ending the night" for Kou. She wants to push the vampires into killing, believing that when they cross that line, Kou will reject them. Interestingly, Kou calls out Nico as she's hardening her resolve, arguing that the vampires (at least these ones) are no more willing to kill than the average person. It's nice seeing him become so assertive.

We close by kicking off the confrontation between Nazuna and Uguisu. Neither one really wants to kill the other, but Uguisu is dead-set on pushing Nazuna that far and she does so by threatening Kou. I'm not entirely sure about Uguisu's game given how things play out. Maybe it's just instinct the way she starts to panic a bit when Nazuna steps up her game and the way she looks in the cliffhanger really seems to make it look like what she said she wanted to happen isn't really what she wanted to happen. I guess we'll have to find out more next time.

Art:
I really like the one-and-a-half-page shot of Nazuna carrying Mejiro in the air in Chapter 80 and the incident where everything goes to crap is quite visually striking. There are several actions scenes that look really nice, especially the throw-down between Uguisu and Nazuna. Also, Kou is adorable in his vampire costume. It'll be hilarious if he actually turns while dressed like that.

Other:
We get an afterword from Kotoyama, talking about cooking, reflecting on the series' run and looking forward to the upcoming anime adaptation.

Conclusion:
The culmination of Nazuna and Mejiro's backstory is quite well-executed and the Halloween event is a fine set piece for what may be the finale for the series. I don't know if we're building up to the climax of the current story arc or if this is meant to be the climax for the series. Dagashi Kashi was eleven volumes, so I could see this wrapping around the same length. I'd definitely welcome more, but if we're heading towards the ending, it's been a good run so far. This is worth adding to the collection, so be sure to get it.

Rating:
Own It