Yofukashi no Uta (Call of the Night)

[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

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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

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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

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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.