Yofukashi no Uta (Call of the Night)

[Ryllharu]

https://i.imgur.com/OuZseMv.png

Ko Yamori is relatively good at studies and amiable with his classmates, but he puts a lot of effort into maintaining this facade. One day after developing insomnia, he decides to sneak out and take night walks alone. Eventually Ko meets a weird girl who diagnoses the cause of his sleeplessness: despite making changes in his life, he is still holding himself back from experiencing true freedom. She says that he won't be able to sleep unless he is satisfied with how he spends his waking hours. The girl, Nazuna Nanakusa, invites him back to her apartment to share her futon as a way of curing his insomnia, which she claims is her hobby. Unaware that he is only feigning unconsciousness, which he has gotten quite good at practice, she leans over him—and bites his neck!

---------


As far as first episodes of a vampire series go, this covers very standard staples of the genre. Dissatisfied person meets stranger, stranger turns out to be vampire, person discovers their secret, and their relationship starts from there. Nothing even remotely surprising, innovative, or nuanced.

Vampire is charming (in her weird way), potential victim sees something in the vampire that might change their stagnant life, someone declares their intention to love to the other, and of course the victim's blood is super delicious.

But I do recommend watching the first episode anyway, at least.

The atmosphere of this series is completely different. There's a peaceful stillness to all of it, even with the soundtrack imposing itself at times. There's a vibe of timelessness and a slight chill to it all. I think it perfectly captures that extremely late-night calm that you only get where there's really nobody around but you and your companions. The entire city (or park, or field) is yours, and yours alone. That brings in that little euphoria of catching a moment/place that is up for grabs, and you got there first.

[Ryllharu]

Eps 2

------------


The music is so chill and relaxing in this series. I find it is actually something I can't finish if I start watching it too late because I just start to pass out from how cozy it feels.

Ko is a bit of a lonely kid, but I got the impression this episode that Nazuna has also been a little detached from everything before she met him. Sort of stuck in her own fugue state of consoling those still awake and feeding off of them. She looks for him every night too, to the point that they miss each other, and she gets really engaged in the activities they're doing because she's been a bit out of the loop as the city has changed around her the past 30 years or so.

[neflight86]

Took me a minute to try this one out. Agreed that the color palate and stillness, along with the almost synth BGM give this a unique feel. I like the character designs, though the plot isn't doing anything for me yet. The strongest draw currently is simply vibe. OP is unique too, in that it actually stops and starts up again mid-roll obviously on purpose. May not watch much more, but additional characters might give this some life.

[Ryllharu]

Eps 3

---------

I'm partial to the ED over the OP.

Yeah, the vibe of the series is the main draw. There's a stillness to the whole series, but it never for a moment even feels like a slideshow anime. It has that same static-yet-dynamic feel of a Shinbo-era SHAFT series. I mean...it should, given the director, and it works.

The voice cast really does the majority of the work selling this series, and this episode was a great example. These are some pretty capable VAs doing stellar work here. At least so far, roles that they'll excel at where others would falter.

Nazuna's expletive-laced shitfit is a great example. You don't even need to know a word of Japanese and you know exactly what she's saying. Akira's VA doing some of her best understated stuff. There's subtle hurt and longing behind most of her voicelines, and we really only understand what's causing the latter. And the noise when Ko tripped...I watched that five times.

[neflight86]

The kaleidoscope cityscapes really saved this episode for me. I'm struggling with such low stakes drama to stay engaged. That, and I'm not sold on the motivation of Ko yet. Saying he randomly decided that interacting with others isn't worth the effort (but becoming a vampire is!) is unrelatable to me and I think the show is relying on subtext too much to get that point across. One new character isn't enough- lets fill this place out so we can get some more stories/arcs going!

It almost crosses into spooky how empty the streets are.

[Ryllharu]

That, and I'm not sold on the motivation of Ko yet. Saying he randomly decided that interacting with others isn't worth the effort (but becoming a vampire is!) is unrelatable to me and I think the show is relying on subtext too much to get that point across.

Ko's problem is that he didn't want to deal with the drama. His issues are more deeply rooted than he's been letting on. He struggles to make friends because his interests aren't particularly mainstream to begin with. He'd rather watch bugs than play active games with others. He comes off as a very strong introvert to me. He longs for companionship, but really struggles with groups. His cognitive center believes that he struggles to feel that attachment, and thinks also he can't make friends. But that's obviously not the case. He always had Akira, and he's gotten instantly attached to Nazuna and vice versa.

On the other hand, it's also true that his limited energy for social activities means he struggles with wanting to be situations where he's uncomfortable. I've known that feeling where someone says they like you and you don't want to lie to them and tell them that you feel nothing for them. People want to be polite about it. Pressed into that situation, Ko turned her down because he's honest, and got ostracized for it. He had gathered a pretty decent social group (per himself and Akira), and when the drama happened, he had an epiphany about it. He was going to stop pretending to be a social person, and went back to being a pro-introvert full time.

So, he didn't randomly decide to stop interacting with others. He decided to stop faking that he was a social person and be honest to himself as well. He'd always been that way. Akira even said she was surprised that he had become a lot more outgoing and had made a lot of friends...and noticeably, "missed her chance."

Akira is the same way, which makes her equally fascinating. The "missed her chance" thing got straight up passed by this entire episode, but it is very obviously a confession of regret. Throughout the episode, Akira throws flags all over the place that she has an equal number of issues that Ko has. The obvious stuff is the regret and longing she has for Ko specifically, culminating in her subtle plea to choose her over this creepy new weird older woman who claims to be a vampire and looks like an exhibitionist.

Putting aside the constant hints about how much she still romantically likes Ko now, Akira has always connected with Ko more than anyone else. She cherished the gift "he left her" more than anything else. Akira leaving early and going for hours long walks is very similar to what Ko's doing and indicates some problems at home or at least disengaged parents like his are. Akira isn't really as straight-laced as she came off, because she didn't disapprove that he's out late, just that he's having "risky fun" with this strange woman. But she isn't really bothered or hurt by the fact that he's interested in Nazuna either (maybe she's relieved that he does feel those kinds of things?).

I really like the way they've set up Akira to be Nazuna's complete thematic opposite. She's the girl he hangs out with at dawn instead of midnight. She's awkward instead of charismatic. She holds her problems in close like whispers instead of yelling in the street (though both are pretty open about them, a very un-Japanese trait). She's accepting of his interest in other women instead of throwing a tantrum over it. She's authoritative and direct instead of teasing and roundabout. She's got big boobs instead of small ones, heh.

And they're both upset that Ko is drawn to the other.

The series might be low-stakes and subtle, but it is comprehensive, very elegantly crafted, and detailed about interpersonal stuff while being indirect about conveying it. I'm glad I never got around to reading the manga, because the voice acting adds so much to it.

[Ryllharu]

Eps 4

-----


The series has outstanding sound design. The soft subtle tap-tap-tap as Nazuna's fingers press against Ko's jacket before she bites him, the noises of Akira's pencil tapping on her desk, the teeth brushing, the squeak of the bed, the mpah noises Nazuna makes.

You can 100% tell this was directed by the -monogatari pervy spinoffs guy. But now he's leveled up in elegant use of it. Their Sound director also has some impressive titles in her portfolio.

[Ryllharu]

Episode 5

---------


Nazuna has got it bad.

[neflight86]

Late catching up. Thanks for the in depth analysis, Ryll. You are certainly getting more out of this than I am, buy your insight is appreciated.

That massage was sultry, indeed. I'm looking forward to how Ko screws up his first time giving a paid massage course to some office lady.


Episode 5

---------


Nazuna has got it bad.

Has got what, exactly? I'm not getting a particularly romantic vibe from her yet, though she was restless at the beginning of the episode, it didn't point to her awaiting Ko, did it?

[Ryllharu]

Has got what, exactly? I'm not getting a particularly romantic vibe from her yet, though she was restless at the beginning of the episode, it didn't point to her awaiting Ko, did it?

She's definitely in love with Ko already, just like Akira.

Wakes up too early anticipating meeting him again; kills time playing video game, vows never to play it again, only to immediately think about playing it with him in the future; can't stand smelling like a stray cat before they meet so she takes a bath; immediately leaps out of it when he sets off the 2-way radio watch; hasn't bitten anyone else since they met; actually doesn't want to see an old and reliable previous client, etc.

She's using her teasing to cover it up.

[neflight86]

When you spell it out, it all adds up. I guess I'm not paying much attention to this as all of that flew over my head. I promise I understand the concept of romance, at least!

[David75]

I knew it felt like watching a monogatari like show.
With some chill instead of hyper hyped Durarrra atmosphere+music

Although everything is extremely well knitted, it gets a little boring.

A nice chilling anime.

[Ryllharu]

Although everything is extremely well knitted, it gets a little boring.
We have a lot more cast to go through, and when they added Akira, it got a lot more interesting. Because now there were opposing philosophies going on, and even more hints that all really isn't that well.

If it was just Nazuna and Ko playing around, like a rehash of SHAFT's Tsukuyomi MoonPhase, I wouldn't enjoy it this much.

[David75]

I'm more interrested in Nazuna's background and who she loved that made her a vampire for example. Unless it was a lie or there are other ways... or none, you are just born a vampire.

Akira feels like a lifeline, a connection to Ko's everyday life. But for now she's not much of a threat to Nazuna's and Ko's little world.

I skip OP and ED's (unless I love the music) to not get spoiled with staff and characters.

[David75]

Latest ep
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

So we get a massive new characters appearance.
All female vampires. Since they want to either turn Ko into a vampire or kill him... we know for sure male vampires exist.
We also confirmed that you have to be in love with the vampire sucking your blood to turn into one.
I'm somewhat surprised by their way of handling people : vampire or death.
Ok they need to remain hidden. But killing people will attract attention. Though their targets are outcasts with night lives-almost nobody cares enough to provide quality info about them- and it might be easy to sink their bodies far from the coast since they can fly and all.

Ko qualifies as a good vampire candidate since he wants to be one and wants to have offspring, the only problem is choosing Nazuna it seems.

I like the conclusion scene, it seems Ko doesn't have years ahead of him... since that show follows most vampire codes, maybe Ko turning into a ghoul is the problem ahead ?

[Ryllharu]

I really loved the record scratch sound effect used to emphasize the punchlines as Ko devastates the ego of each of the other female vampires, especially when it isn't actually interrupting any BGM. It's a neat stylistic touch to hit the vibe of the show, but also still chill in the silence that this series excels at. You just hear the faint wind & general city noise in the background of that whole discussion scene, which is brilliant sound design.

But wow, what a genre shift. Feels right.

Nazuna's an outcast because she plays around. The others kill their food if they get found out. Nazuna doesn't really care, and she's generally just making them feel good. I also kind of understand her aversion. The others seem obsessed with Girls Talk subjects in a very obnoxious gyaru manner. Nazuna seems to appreciate much deeper connections like with Ko and Akira.

I was kind of hoping one of the new women would try to make a breast size appeal to Ko, and he'd fire back with a quick comment that his childhood friend is bigger.

[shinta|hikari]

I was kind of hoping one of the new women would try to make a breast size appeal to Ko, and he'd fire back with a quick comment that his childhood friend is bigger.

This would've been epic. What a waste of opportunity!

I actually liked Ko for the first time since I started watching this. The dood is totally aromantic, even though he is clearly NOT asexual. It'll be an uphill battle to get him to fall in love with, not just have love for, anyone.

I don't understand how these vampire girls are so confident with their looks and appeal. I only remember the suit lady, and the rest sort of blended into one black-haired type. They must've been targeting incels or something...

[Ryllharu]

I don't understand how these vampire girls are so confident with their looks and appeal. I only remember the suit lady, and the rest sort of blended into one black-haired type. They must've been targeting incels or something...
It wasn't meant to be their looks that are distinct. Their personality aesthetics are meant to differentiate them, though I couldn't tell you what the last one is. The normal anime tropes of the -dere types don't apply because they're all actively pursuing "sex." They explained most of them in significant detail and even showing off their techniques in a mini-battle with each other. They're low key and blend in because they're vampires, in stark contrast to the gyaru one and Nazuna.

Seri is pretty obvious, as is Niko.

Kohakobe (https://anidb.net/character/123883) is the type who fakes being shy, "suddenly gets interested" in someone, and then drowns an individual (specifically virgins) in attention to make them rapidly fall for her. Then throws them away when she's done. It's really neat that the OST shifts to align with the vibe she goes for in a poppy synth, before shifting back to the calculated faster beat track when they jump to the others analyzing the technique being used.

The whole episode does this with the soundtrack actually, from cutting out the refined strings track that the vampires start when Ko tells them he only wants Nazuna, and then bouncing through multiple tracks that cut out to emphasize a joke. It's incredible.

Kabura (https://anidb.net/character/123885) is the type who either steals others' boyfriends or specifically hunts younger men. Her track is a faster-paced track dripping in danger vibes. The mature older lady, seductive where Niko is more mature ("I think we'd get along" casually said).

Suzushiro (https://anidb.net/character/123886) supposedly uses the same techniques as Niko, but I guess targets virgins more, so I guess she's somewhere between Niko and Kohakobe. She didn't get a lot of time this episode, probably because she's actually the most dangerous to Ko for Nazuna's goals.

[David75]

A little surprising was how calm Ko is. Ok he knows he stands no chance and he'd already be dead if the vampirettes decided so.
And he already felt the fear of death.
It's also probable he doesn't care much for his life provided he doesn't suffer dying.
But he felt both detatched and sharp.

Regarding the vampire secret, I guess Nazuna is a special case ? Because she doesn't care Akira and that office lady knows about it. Ko's bite marks are easy for anyone to see.
We have to infer the other girls kill most of their preys ? Because it feels it's not that easy to get your prey to love you without them spilling your secret.

[shinta|hikari]

@Ryll - I included their "personality" and approach when thinking about their appeal. I just barely remember the details because they felt absolutely meaningless to me. Like, are normal humans really susceptible to these "tactics"? Seems like only desperate people will fall for them.

[Ryllharu]

@Ryll - I included their "personality" and approach when thinking about their appeal. I just barely remember the details because they felt absolutely meaningless to me. Like, are normal humans really susceptible to these "tactics"? Seems like only desperate people will fall for them.
Normal humans go to bed on time.

The series is very successful about sorta playing it off, but also not letting us forget that these are deeply vicious vampires. We just finally saw it first hand when Nazuna and Seri clashed. The vampires of this little coterie are in every way predatory.

Seri goes after the enjo kousai client crowd with her generic high school uniform that doesn't match any of the schools around Ko's neighborhoods, Kohakobe takes sick pleasure in ferreting out the desperate virgins of insular circles (presumably university or maybe otaku), and Niko, Kabura, and Suzushiro must have their own niches so as not to cover similar territory. They're absolutely going for the weak like any carnivore does.

Nazuna is the odd one out because she targets insomniacs and the stressed-out black company workers with some degree of genuine compassion since she hates romance stuff and Girls Talk so much.

[neflight86]

The genre shift and expansion of stakes did certainly get my interest in this renewed. Didn't notice any of the soundtrack stuff, but it's good to know care is being taken in more than just the visuals.

[David75]

Finally Ko understands his ordeal.
And another characters pops-out. Well it felt artificial somehow, eventhough Mahiru appeared in the same sequences, but after Akira, it felt unnatural. Also we get to know that Ko doesn't understand frienship or love but he knows he has friends.
Akira was quite sharp when wondering why someone with good wits can be so socially dumb, or maybe a psychopath ? A serial killer with vampire powers... well too bland by now in fiction, haha

I wonder if there's a need for Mahiru to date a vampire too. But hey, there are so many around already, so I guess the probability skyrockets if your dates are nighttime only in that city

[Ryllharu]

I came away from this episode only liking Akira more and more. Hanamori Yumiri forever.

Still a little wary of Seri. I thought she was going to be the vampire that Mahiru is meeting up with, but then again, she definitely goes for older men trying to pick up high school girls. Initially wasn't sure if she was just taunting Nazuna again, but it turns out Seri actually has a weakness for pure-hearted shonen.

A few cute moments from Nazuna though. She kissed Ko to show off to the other vampire bitches. She relented and did go back for Ko to complete their date.

[David75]

So Nazuna keeps tabs on Seri and is confident enough to state Seri never killed a human before.
All in all Seri's character is a bit boring, her VA was great though.
I guess that sub arc is useful in telling us vampires need more than their species needs and musts.
We also get to know what happens when a human turns vampire. Daruo-kun doesn't need glasses anymore. The process seems fairly quick, though we don't know for strenght and flight

[Ryllharu]

Eps 10

------



A maid cafe voyeurism detective episode was not at all what I expected when the episode started, but it was surprisingly well done, even better than many detective series!

All the facts were presented to both Ko and the audience, and he piled it all together.

Even if it felt a little out of character for him to be so assertive and socially adept, they even covered that with the joke/insult that he's surprisingly competent when it comes to Peeping Tom cases only.

[neflight86]

8-10

Just caught up. Now that Ko's life is on the line, Nazuna's indifference to his plight rubs me the wrong way. I get that, as vampires, they see morality differently (which we're supposed to take at face value), but I'm not sold yet.

I liked Seri's mini arc more than I thought I would, given her whole persona. She has best appeared as an old being who's age has eroded her connection with the more transient aspects of her humanity; namely friends and casual relationships. She forgot how to process affection and instead cuts troublesome elements off to avoid painful commitment. Perhaps an allegory for relationships and the vulnerability they bring in general? Either way, glasses-kun was more interesting and makes a good match for her.

Ero-Columbo... What can I say? It was cute, and no one was actually hurt, so it served as a fair proper introduction for Midori, though I doubt much more will be done with the character. Aside from that the 'we're all messed up' justification Midori offered didn't really bring anything new, but the reconciliation was nice.

[Ryllharu]

I liked Seri's mini arc more than I thought I would, given her whole persona. She has best appeared as an old being who's age has eroded her connection with the more transient aspects of her humanity; namely friends and casual relationships. She forgot how to process affection and instead cuts troublesome elements off to avoid painful commitment. Perhaps an allegory for relationships and the vulnerability they bring in general? Either way, glasses-kun was more interesting and makes a good match for her.
My takeaway was that Seri is much more like Nazuna than she is like the other four. She likes human companionship, and really hates the "game" that the other vampire women do to sustain themselves. They're narcissists at their core while Seri and Nazuna aren't.

When she finally found a true friend, she just had it a little easier than Nazuna does with Ko, since her friend doesn't have the problems Ko does.

[Ryllharu]

Eps - 11

---------


Well, if it isn't basically Aozaki Touko...

[David75]

Now we have to know why that teacher was rogue and lonely vampire when Nazuna and the others seem to live a lot better.
I was surprised with sunlight turns vampire to ash.. So they choose what vampire trivia they need.
Ko effective chair smash was surprising, said vampire should be a lot stronger.
Or was he weak because he didn't suck blood for ten years ? But he was fast.
I guess 10 years is a time limit ?
We need to get a rules explanation.

[Ryllharu]

Episode 12

---------




Okay, not quite Touko, but similar bitter air. I'm now of the impression that Detective Anko is lying about her reasoning to Ko about what she wants to kill all vampires. Nothing altruistic about it.

Those dead eyes of hers. She says things in a very cold, calculating manner, almost sociopathic. She is just as manipulative and cruel as we've seen the other vampires capable of being, but with the completely opposite goal behind it. The vampires do it for ego and to feed. Anko also preys on fears and insecurities just like they do. She manipulates Ko's friends to get another voice echoing hers.

The impression I get is that she just likes inflicting emotional pain on others, and channels it into being a Private Investigator so she gets to do it all the time. Perfect profession for someone like her because she focuses on revealing infidelities and other personal drama.

As for why she goes after vampires too on the side? Maybe she thought she fell in love with one and was rejected because she hates everyone?

Ko is right. Vampires like hanging around humans. They like teasing and playing with them. But we also see in Nazuna and Seri that vampires need humans to satisfy their own emotional needs too.

Nazuna channels it in a good way, helping others with the cuddle time even though she's as romantically stunted as Ko is. Seri likes finding kinship even though she takes it too far with her hunting strategy. Sure, the others are just narcissists, and maybe not the better examples, but they need and crave the attention and love.

Maybe Anko was rejected, because she isn't capable of love? Or what looked like love to vampires wasn't and they found out? Hate and love can look the same a lot of the time. Or the vampires fled from her because they found her to be too dangerous? Too risky to keep their existence secret.

Is she accusing Ko of being the same because she's also seeking out kindred spirits, just like Nazuna and Seri?

[David75]

Anko might be a vampire too, that would explain why her blood did what it did.
That would mesh well into her character, hate and will to kill all vampires.

[neflight86]

She gives me Hellsing flashbacks in her character design and some of the shading decisions used on her shots.

I don't entirely disagree with her trying to prevent the creation of more vampires, though. Ko really is making a long term decision on essentially a whim and, as was mentioned, knows nothing about vampires.

[KrayZ33]

Episode 13:

I liked that it wasn't all slice&life with no stakes and that it got quite serious later on.
Hoping for 2nd season and will probably look up the manga.

edit: Oh and the ED was slaying it. And that "UWU" song as well.

[neflight86]

Agreed. A strong finish for an ultimately fairly vapid story. Emotional children feeling their way through the hurdles of relational friendship. While I didn't like Ko very much, he was a pretty convincing adolescent and the supporting cast did all I could hope for: flesh out what was happening and provide a sounding board for the different interpretations of intimacy and longings for belongings.

It was so laid back that it was difficult to muster the desire to watch this week-to-week, but I don't regret it for a second in hindsight.