Call of the Night is a paranormal anime from Liden Films that is based on the manga written and illustrated by Kotoyama. The first season of thirteen episodes was Tetsuya Miyanishi and Tomoyuki Itamura. It was streamed to HiDive for a North American audience who worked with Sentai Filmworks for an English dub.

Ko Yamori (Gabriel Regojo) is a teen Japanese student who is skipping school after getting embarrassed for rejecting a girl’s love note. Struggling with insomnia, he sneaks out one night and encounters a woman named Nazuna Nanakusa (Natalie Rial). To his surprise, she sucks his blood, revealing herself to be a vampire. He begs her to turn him into a vampire, but she tells him he has to fall in love with her. Not understanding, he quizzes his friend Akira Asai (Juliet Simmons), but she grows suspicious. However, Ko maintains his resolve wanting to become a vampire and enjoy the night.

Liden Films has some incredibly talented animators. They do an excellent job of making your skin crawl when things get creepy, clap when the action happens, and reflect on scenes that carry emotional tension. It was a cut above.

As for the story, it was interesting to watch as Ko goes from a deliquent to a nightstalker and begins to question his humanity. The teen drama was a bit annoying, even though it was taking the content seriously.

Now, I do wonder where him and Ko’s parents are. They are clearly alive because he twice panics when adults threaten to call them, but they are strangely absence. This seems to be a recurring theme in anime. We see this consistently and it goes hard on this show.

Aside from that, one thing I find interesting is the discussing of humanity. While Ko wants to be free from his his, Nazuna has long abandoned hers. Her past life is never revealed and even other vampires do not seem to know about her or how she changed. As she hangs out with Ko and his friends, she begins to rediscover it. I enjoyed that aspect of it and I found it compelling. I am excited to see what is next for it.

Check out the trailer below:

This review is based on the English dub.

PARENTAL CONCERNS: Suggestive and rude humor, Minor foul language, Violence with minor blood, Some sexual overtones

What do you think? Let me know in the comments below. Tell me if there is a comic book, movie, or novel you would like me to review. While you are at it, check out my reviews of the second season of Vampires in the Garden and Konosuba 2. Don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe for more posts like this one.

Connect with me on social media. Consider supporting StudioJake on Locals.