Call of the Night Volume Two continues to explore the character dynamics between Ko Yamori and Nazuna Nanakusa.

Call of the Night Volume Two
Written by: Kotoyama
Publisher: Shogakukan
English Publisher: VIZ Media
Release Date: June 8, 2021

The volume opens with Ko feeling a little confused after getting a kiss from Nazuna in the previous volume. After a little bit, he thinks it feels like he’s in love, and he demands that Nazuna suck his blood and turn him into a vampire. Obviously, what he’s feeling isn’t love yet, because the manga series isn’t going to see Ko attain his goal this early on. Also, he’s only 14 years old and has no experience in this department, so he obviously doesn’t really know what love feels like.

We then get a story that includes Ko’s childhood friend, Akira Asai. In this section, she gets out and about earlier than usual and runs into Ko. She ends up spending time with Ko and Nazuna, and at first things seem pretty normal, such as playing video games into the early morning hours. But things get uncomfortable for Akira when she’s asked to stay the rest of the night, and it becomes even more awkward when Nazuna sucks on Ko’s blood right in front of her. Ko finally admits to Akira that his dream is to become a vampire. She thinks this is a little odd but is glad to hear that Ko has a dream that he’s trying to achieve. However, she still wishes that Ko would return to school.

When Akira was introduced in the first volume, I had assumed that her role was to serve as a potential love interest for Ko and become a rival with Nazuna. But from what I read in Volume Two, it appears that, at least right now, Akira doesn’t have any romantic feelings for Ko. This could potentially change as the series progresses, though, so it’s going to be interesting to see what role Akira will ultimately play in the series.

We get a chapter that focuses on Nazuna and how she spends her time after she wakes up until she goes to meet up with Ko. I really appreciated getting this chapter, since all we’ve ever really seen of Nazuna up to this point is what she does at night while hanging out with Ko. It was also nice to get a chapter where Nazuna is by herself and has the opportunity to show the reader what she’s like when Ko isn’t around. This ultimately leads into a chapter that brings Ko and Nazuna back together at night for another chance to hang out.

There’s also a chapter of Nazuna and Ko going to a midnight pool party, and we see that Nazuna emanates an innate glamour due to being a vampire. Nazuna starts getting hit on by three guys, and Ko becomes jealous. He also wonders how many other people’s blood she’s drank, and as he does, she points out an old man whose blood she’s had. Ko gets a little jealous at this point as well. He obviously has some kind of feelings for her. Not necessarily love, at least not yet. But perhaps those feelings could evolve over the course of the series.

This ultimately leads to Nazuna revealing that before she started hanging out with Ko, she worked as a professional cuddler. Unfortunately, because of all the time she’s spent with Ko and all the money she’s spent, she’s broke. But they get a surprise when Kiyosumi Shirakawa, a previous client of Nazuna’s, shows up for a massage. Nazuna, who had just finished giving one to Ko, claims to be worn out and insists that Ko do it for her… with a bribe of giving him half of what she’s paid. He ends up doing it and hears about the woman’s issues with working a job, especially having to drink and socialize with the men in her office and laughing off sexist comments. We get a scene between Ko and Kiyosumi, but he’s seeing the situation from a 14-year-old’s point of view while she sees the situation from an adult perspective. I thought this interaction between these two characters came across realistically. With the way the storyline with Kiyosumi ends, though, I have a suspicion that we’ll be seeing her again at some point in the manga, especially with a promise that Ko makes to her.

After reading the first volume of Call of the Night, I thought it was a style of supernatural manga that I normally wouldn’t go out of my way to read. However, I was pleasantly surprised when I found myself engrossed and engaged with what I was reading in Volume Two. After reading this volume, I think I can safely say that Call of the Night is a better series than I was initially giving it credit for. I’m actually looking forward to getting an opportunity to read the third volume to find out what happens next.

If you’ve already read and enjoyed the first volume of the series, I believe you will enjoy Call of the Night Volume Two as much, if not more than, the first volume.

The reviewer was provided a review copy by VIZ Media

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