Call of the Night is a manga written and illustrated by Kotoyama; it premiered in 2019 and just recently, at the end of January, ended after 200 chapters. It is a peculiar piece of work and in my opinion, it is hard to confine to a single genre: it is much about growth as it is about abandoning society and its rules, it is a slice of life as much as it is a romantic story, and finally it has supernatural elements. And yes, as a Romanian myself, I am going to talk about a manga that features vampires (although they are used more as a narrative plot pieces).
The night, mistress of mysteries
First thing’s first, the setting of this manga more than anything else is reflected by a particular timeframe, the night. The main protagonist, having had enough of his school life and faking being part of society, decides to stop going altogether and to live his life at night. His decision is quintessentially an act of rebellion against living as intended: day becomes a normal routine and a meaningless grind while night becomes freedom and liberation. In the first chapters, various pages and panels reflect the tranquillity that comes when the rest of the world is tucked away under the blankets. Darkness paints the streets with a different colour and a sense of peace is reached by the protagonists; rules don’t apply as much when the sun sets behind the horizon.
On a personal note, for a writer that usually prefers working at night, this setting spoke to me. The freedom that is reached through the late hours is something that reverberated with my own being.
Anyway, it is during his nightly escapades that the protagonist of the manga meets a vampire and it is she who will introduce him to a world beyond compare.
The fangs of the bloodsuckers
I don’t want to spoil too much of the plot, of what happens between the two protagonists and how the romantic aspects and rules that regulate the lives of the vampires affect the story. Within the setting, the society of vampires that is depicted, their laws and quirks become a normalized element, one that seems almost to come naturally with the depiction of the nocturnal hours.
To be fair, the story can be perceived as a bit of a hit or miss, and maybe I appreciated it more than I should have because of the fascination that is described for the time of night. I think the author, like myself, is accustomed to working at night.
A conclusion
On a final note, I could agree with who would argue that the ending falls a bit flat, but here is my opinion and why I choose to talk about this manga: it partially reflects the whole setting of the manga. We tend to romanticize the time of night and want to see something that is not necessarily there, veiled by the shadows, but at the end of the day (quite literary) night is just a natural phenomenon. It comes and it goes in an endless cycle and it will always be there. That is why a seemingly romantic story with supernatural elements fits perfectly with an ending that is quote on quote uneventful. Call of the Night does not need to exaggerate or to go out in the blaze of glory; it’s ending goes just as it arrived, obscured in the darkness of the night.