Call of the Night

Call of the Night (Japanese: よふかしのうた, Hepburn: Yofukashi no Uta) is a manga by Kotoyama, who both wrote and illustrated it. It ran in Shogakukan's shōnen magazine *Weekly Shōnen Sunday* from August 2019 to January 2024, and its chapters were compiled into 20 paperback volumes. Viz Media handles the English-language release in North America. An anime adaptation, produced by Liden Films, aired as a 13-episode season on Fuji TV's Noitamina block from July to September 2022. The manga took home the 68th Shogakukan Manga Award in the shōnen category in 2023.

The story follows Ko Yamori, a 14-year-old junior high student who can't sleep or find real satisfaction in his daily life. He stops going to school and starts roaming the streets at night. On one of these walks, he meets Nazuna Nanakusa, a vampire who shows him the charm of the nighttime world. Ko wants to become a vampire himself, but the rules of transformation require him to first fall in love with her.

Ko Yamori is voiced by Gen Satō in Japanese and Gabriel Regojo in English (with Sayaka Senbongi and Katelyn Barr voicing his younger self). His growing unhappiness pushes him to wander at night, hoping to escape humanity by loving Nazuna and turning into a vampire. Over time, he can enter a half-vampire state, triggered by emotional stress or blood loss from even small injuries. The vampire hunter Anko gives him an ear-piercing kit to control these shifts, suggesting that frequent use or stronger romantic feelings might complete his change.

Nazuna Nanakusa, voiced by Sora Amamiya in Japanese and Natalie Rial in English, is a rare natural-born vampire, though her exact parentage remains unspecified. She looks like a young girl but is estimated to be 30 to 40 years old. Her unusual nature makes her mature quickly while keeping childlike traits, leaving her an outcast among other vampires. Playful but socially awkward, she teases Ko, enjoys crude humor and beer, and learned about the world mostly from TV, games, and manga, often flipping vampire stereotypes. Her preserved umbilical cord is a significant item, but she is not immune to other vampire weaknesses like sunlight and holy water.

Among the human characters, Akira Asai (voiced by Yumiri Hanamori in Japanese, Jade Kelly in English, with Juliet Simmons as her younger self) is Ko's childhood friend who lives in the same apartment complex.