Call of the Night, Vol. 1: Boy meets vampire, falls in love?

In Call of the Night, Vol. 1, a young boy named Ko Yamori meets the vampire Nazuna Nanakusa and wants her to turn him into a vampire, too.

Unfortunately for Ko, he finds out that turning into a vampire isn’t as simple as getting bitten by one. Instead, he has to fall in love with the vampire. As someone who’s a huge Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan, I know how crazy human-vampire love affairs can get, but it’s even more complicated in Call of the Night, Vol. 1. Ko doesn’t have friends, let alone fallen in love, while Nazuna isn’t interested in creating vampires and just thinks of him as a tasty meal. This fascinating vampire manga that’s coming out from VIZ Media on April 13 is a supernatural adventure that’s part comedy, part romance. Spoilers ahead.

Music of the night

When we first meet Ko, we find out that he’s a 14-year-old who’s in the second year of junior high school. The night fascinates him, and for the first time he goes out on his own without telling anyone.

We learn that he has insomnia. That he feels the night is where he belongs, and that he hates the fact that he needs to sleep at night because he’s supposed to go to school.

Ko is also someone who doesn’t believe in dating, as we are shown a flashback of how he rejected a girl who asked him to go out with her.

It’s while enjoying this night walk that he meets Nazuna, who surprises him while he’s trying to get a beer — illegally, since he’s underaged — from a vending machine. He tries to run away from her, but she holds on to him and reassures him that she won’t rat him out to the cops.

“Are you… having trouble sleeping… boy?

“I can help you.”

Set him free

And it does look like she can help him.

Unlike the timid and uptight high school boy, this mysterious girl seems to revel in her freedom and fully embrace each moment.

She wants to teach him how to let go. To have no care in the world. To enjoy life.

Ko starts wondering if there are girls he can actually fall for, and when she asks him if if he thinks he can fall asleep now, he immediately regrets saying yes.

Because he doesn’t want to go home.

Because he wants to stay with her a little bit longer.

But then she surprises him.

“Let’s head over… to my place then.”

And that’s when everything changes.

She sells sanctuary

She drinks his blood. And discovers, to her shock, how tasty it is.

He wakes up. And wonders why there’s blood on his neck.

“It was… um… a mosquito. A pretty big mosquito.”

“Oh, really…”

“Yeah, and I squished it.”

And that’s how the boy finds out she’s a vampire. In fact, that’s how Ko and Nazuna find out each other’s names, when they finally introduce themselves to each other.

It’s the beginning of a beautiful… well, not necessarily friendship.

And that’s how Ko realizes that he wants to become a vampire. That he wants to embrace the night forever.

Only, it’s complicated.

“What’s the big secret? Is there some terrifying, bizarre ceremony involved?”

“The truth is… ahem… Fine. How does a human become a vampire…? By falling in love with a vampire.”

“L-L-L… Uh… I see. Love. Love…”

Who said becoming a vampire would be easy?

(Editor’s note: This review is based on an advance review copy provided by VIZ Media. Call of the Night, Vol. 1, with story and art by Kotoyama, will be released on April 13.)