Call of the Night
Ja kanjiよふかしのうた
Ja romajiYofukashi no Uta
Genre
Call of the Night
manga
AuthorKotoyama
PublisherShogakukan
ImprintShōnen Sunday Comics
MagazineWeekly Shōnen Sunday
FirstAugust 28, 2019
LastJanuary 24, 2024
Volumes20
Call of the Night
tv series
Director
Producer
  • Hana Sugawara
  • Shigetoshi Sato (S1)
  • Kazuki Adachi (S2)
WriterMichiko Yokote
MusicYoshiaki Dewa
StudioLiden Films
LicenseeSentai Filmworks
NetworkFuji TV (Noitamina)
FirstJuly 8, 2022
LastSeptember 19, 2025
Episodes25
Episode listList of Call of the Night episodes
Call of the Night: Paradise Arc
manga
AuthorKotoyama
PublisherShogakukan
ImprintShōnen Sunday Comics
MagazineWeekly Shōnen Sunday
FirstJuly 2, 2025
LastAugust 27, 2025
Volumes1

Call of the Night (よふかしのうた, Yofukashi no Uta) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kotoyama. It was serialized in Shogakukan's shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Sunday from August 2019 to January 2024. In North America, the manga is licensed for English release by Viz Media. An anime television series adaptation produced by Liden Films aired from July to September 2022 on Fuji TV's Noitamina programming block. A second season aired from July to September 2025.

In 2023, the manga won the 68th Shogakukan Manga Award for the shōnen category.

Plot

Unable to sleep or find genuine satisfaction in his daily life, Ko Yamori withdraws from school and begins wandering the streets at night. During one of his nocturnal outings, he encounters Nazuna Nanakusa, a vampire who introduces him to the appeal of life after dark. Ko becomes interested in becoming a vampire himself; however, to do so, he must first fall in love with her, as required by the transformation rules.

Characters

Main

Ko Yamori (夜守 コウ, Yamori Kō)
Ko is a 14-year-old junior high student whose growing dissatisfaction with life drives him to wander the streets at night. He hopes to escape his humanity by becoming a vampire through loving Nazuna. Gradually, he gains the ability to enter a half-vampire state, first triggered by emotional turmoil or physical blood loss, including minor wounds. Anko supplies him with an ear-piercing kit to control these transformations, theorizing that frequent use or stronger romantic attachment could complete his transition into a full vampire.
Nazuna Nanakusa (七草 ナズナ, Nanakusa Nazuna)
Nazuna is a unique born vampire, the hybrid offspring of a vampire mother and a human father, who meets Ko during his nightly walks. She appears as a young girl but is estimated to be 30 to 40 years old. Her unusual heritage causes her to mature rapidly while retaining childlike traits, making her an outcast among other vampires. A playful but socially awkward figure, she often teases Ko and enjoys crude humor and beer. Having learned about the world primarily from television, games, and manga, her behavior often subverts traditional vampire stereotypes. Her sole weakness is her own preserved umbilical cord.

Humans

Akira Asai (朝井 アキラ, Asai Akira)
Ko's childhood friend, who lives in the same apartment complex as him. She attempts to try and convince him to return to school, but also, reluctantly, is supportive of his dream of becoming a vampire. She treasures her relationship with Ko and Mahiru.
Kiyosumi Shirakawa (白河 清澄, Shirakawa Kiyosumi)
A busy-body office worker and one of Nazuna's clients from her massage gig. After hearing about her struggles in life due to her heavy work schedule, Ko vows to help her, as he feels they share the same plight, and will offer to turn her into a vampire when he becomes one himself.
Mahiru Seki (夕 真昼, Seki Mahiru)
A popular boy at school, and one of Ko and Akira's old friends, who also starts to hang out at night. He is initially apprehensive of Ko's dream of becoming a vampire after they are attacked by one, but after learning the woman he fell in love with, Kiku Hoshimi, is also one, he decides to let himself be turned too.
Akihito Akiyama (秋山 昭人, Akiyama Akihito)
Seri's vampire underling. He befriended Seri, and after a situation where he was saved by Ko who helped the two of them understand their feelings, he asked her to turn him into a vampire. He is often referred to as "Draggo", "Menhera-san'", or "Mr. Mental" by Ko.
Anko Uguisu (鶯 餡子, Uguisu Anko)
A chain-smoking vampire hunter who initially opposes Ko and the vampires, specializing in killing them by exploiting their personal mementos. She is later revealed to be Nazuna's first friend and attempted familiar. Her hatred stems from her vampire father murdering her mother, an act for which she subsequently destroyed him using his weakness. After a suicide attempt meant to expose vampirism, she reconciles with Nazuna. With Ko's help, she confronts Kiku Hoshimi, the vampire who turned her father, and finds resolution. Although initially incapable of love due to severe mental trauma, she eventually recovers and displays attraction to both men and women.
Sakura Asakura (浅倉 さくら, Asakura Sakura)
Sakura is a student who goes to the same school as Ko and confessed to him. Ko rejected her and stopped going to school after getting harassed by her friends.
Lira Echigo (越後 リラ, Echigo Rira)
Lira is a student at the night school Niko Hirata teaches at, who falls in love at first sight with Ko. Her character was cut from the anime, only showing up in the background.
Kei Yamori (夜守 ケイ, Yamori Kei)
Kei is Ko's mother. She gave birth and got married at the age of twenty and got a divorce when her husband cheated on her. From that point on, she has been raising Ko as a single mother and works in the night entertainment industry.

Vampires

Seri Kikyo (桔梗 セリ, Kikyō Seri)
A flirtatious vampire who resembles a gyaru. She approaches Ko when she hears that Nazuna is spending the night with a human where she attempts to suck his blood, until she is stopped by Nazuna. The two do not get along well, as she questions why Nazuna is spending so much time with Ko while not having turned him yet.
Niko Hirata (平田 ニコ, Hirata Niko)
A vampire who doubles as a teacher who teaches night classes. She is not as accepting of Ko in her first encounter with him, but becomes willing to let him stay with Nazuna so long as he fulfills his intentions on becoming a vampire and Nazuna continues to suck his blood.
Kabura Honda (本田 カブラ, Honda Kabura)
A vampire who wears elegant dresses, she works as a nurse and is Nazuna's adoptive mother. Hopelessly in love with Nazuna's mother, Haru Nanakusa, the woman who turned her, she projects these feelings onto Nazuna due to their similar appearance. This results in her acting as an overbearing and doting parental figure. Although becoming a vampire allowed her to feel attraction to men, she still prefers women, holding onto the memory of her first love for Haru.
Midori Kohakobe (小繁縷 ミドリ, Kohakobe Midori)
A long-sleeved shirt-wearing vampire works in a maid cafe and is highly aware of her own good looks, which can make her seem self-absorbed. By her own admission, she is attracted to shy virgins. To find a suitable partner among that demographic, she actively takes up various geeky hobbies and activities.
Hatsuka Suzushiro (蘿蔔 ハツカ, Suzushiro Hatsuka)
A male vampire possesses a notably feminine appearance due to his slender body, shoulder-length hair, cute face, and choice of clothing. His group of familiars includes both men and women, though his own personal identity remains unknown.
Kiku Hoshimi (星見 キク, Hoshimi Kiku)
Kiku is an enigmatic, sociopathic vampire who has turned countless humans into servants. Obsessed with testing unproven vampiric theories, she seeks to validate a rule suggesting a vampire who loves a human will kill them through biting. Her current target is Mahiru. Eventually, her true motive emerges: she aims to become human by drinking the blood of someone she loves, believing this will reverse her vampirism.
Haru Nanakusa (七草 ハル, Nanakusa Haru)
Haru was a vampire night-nurse and a friend of Kiku Hoshimi who investigated a method to revert back to being human, which eventually led to the birth of her daughter Nazuna.
LoveGreen
LoveGreen—or LG (エルジー, Eru Jī) for short—is Midori's offspring and an otaku superfan of hers, referring to themselves in the third person.
Azami (アザミ)
Azami is an underling of Kiku Hoshimi who spent the last thirty-five years resolving any issues in human society caused by Hoshimi's other underlings.
Susuki (ススキ)
Susuki is an independent vampire vigilante who has made it her mission to silence anyone who poses a threat to the prosperity of vampires and makes them stand out in society, leading into conflict with Uguisu and Yamori.
Haruka Nanakusa (七草 ハルカ, Nanakusa Haruka)
Haruka is a scam artist in Hokkaido and an underling of Haru Nanakusa, whose name he took inspiration from for his alias after Haru's disappearance. Over forty years afterwards, Haruka crossed ways with Ko and met Haru's identical-looking daughter Nazuna Nanakusa.

Media

Manga

Call of the Night is written and illustrated by Kotoyama, his second manga series after Dagashi Kashi. Kotoyama named the series after the song of the same name by Creepy Nuts, which later became the ending theme song for the anime adaptation.[2] It started in Shogakukan's shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Sunday on August 28, 2019,[3][4] and finished on January 24, 2024.[5][6] Shogakukan has collected its chapters in 20 tankōbon volumes, released from November 18, 2019, to March 18, 2024.[7][8]

On July 3, 2020, Viz Media announced an English release of the manga in North America.[9] They released the volumes from April 13, 2021, to June 10, 2025.[10][11] On May 9, 2023, Viz Media launched their Viz Manga digital manga service, with the series' chapters receiving simultaneous English publication in North America as they were released in Japan.[12]

A short story series, titled Call of the Night: Paradise Arc (よふかしのうた-楽園編-, Yofukashi no Uta: Rakuen-hen), was serialized in Weekly Shōnen Sunday from July 2 to August 27, 2025.[13][14][15][16] The collected volume was released on September 30, 2025.[17] Viz Media has licensed it and the volume is set to release in Q4 2026.[18]

Anime

See also: List of Call of the Night episodes

In November 2021, an official website opened to announce an anime television series adaptation produced by Liden Films. It is directed by Tomoyuki Itamura, with Tetsuya Miyanishi serving as chief director for the first season, Michiko Yokote writing the series' scripts, Haruka Sagawa designing the characters and serving as chief animation director, and Yoshiaki Dewa composing the music.[19] The first season aired from July 8 to September 30, 2022, on Fuji TV's Noitamina programming block.[20][b] The opening theme song is "Daten" (堕天, lit. 'Fallen Angel'),[21] while the ending theme song is "Yofukashi no Uta" (よふかしのうた, lit. 'Call of the Night'), both performed by Creepy Nuts.[22][23] The duo also performed the insert song "Loss Time" (ロスタイム, Rosu Taimu).[24]

At the Fuji TV Anime Lineup Press Conference 2024 event in March 2024, a second season was announced,[25] which aired from July 4 to September 19, 2025, on the same programming block on Fuji TV and its affiliates.[26][27][28] The opening theme song is "Mirage",[29] while the ending theme song is "Nemure" (眠れ, lit. 'Sleep'), both also performed by Creepy Nuts.[30]

Sentai Filmworks licensed the series for streaming on Hidive in North America, Europe, Oceania, and selected Latin American and Asian territories,[31] which at their Otakon panel in July 2022, announced that the series would also receive an English dub, which began streaming on September 8 of the same year.[32][33] Sentai Filmworks also licensed the second season for streaming on Hidive, with the English dub beginning its streaming on September 3 of the same year.[34][35]

Reception

By June 2025, the manga had over 5.3 million copies in circulation.[24]

Accolades

In 2020, the Call of the Night manga was nominated for the sixth Next Manga Awards and placed seventh out of the 50 nominees with 15,134 votes.[36] The series ranked eighth on the "Nationwide Bookstore Employees' Recommended Comics of 2021" by the Honya Club website.[37] In 2023, the series won the 68th Shogakukan Manga Award in the shōnen category, along with Ao no Orchestra.[38]

The anime adaptation was nominated at the 7th Crunchyroll Anime Awards in three categories: Best New Series, Best Romance, and Best Ending Sequence ("Yofukashi no Uta" by Creepy Nuts).[39] The second season's opening theme "Mirage" by Creepy Nuts was nominated for Best Opening Sequence at the 10th edition in 2026.[40]

Critical reception

In Anime News Network's Summer 2022 preview guide, contributors generally responded positively to the series, praising the narrative, unique take on the common trope of vampires, and high production value, comparing it favorably to the Monogatari series, which series co-director Tomoyuki Itamura had previously worked on at Shaft.[41]

Notes

  1. ^ Credited as Chief Director (チーフディレクター)
  2. ^ Fuji TV listed the series premiere as airing on July 7 at 24:55, which is effectively July 8 at 12:55 a.m. JST.

References

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  3. ^ Sherman, Jennifer (July 30, 2019). "Dagashi Kashi's Kotoyama Launches New Manga". Anime News Network. Archived May 28, 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved July 4, 2020.
  4. ^ "ja:恋は夜に生まれる「だがしかし」コトヤマの新連載「よふかしのうた」開幕" (in Japanese). Comic Natalie. Natasha, Inc. August 28, 2019. Archived April 10, 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
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  19. ^ "ja:夏アニメ「よふかしのうた」キャラ勢ぞろいのキービジュアル公開！ 追加キャストに喜多村英梨や伊藤静ら" (in Japanese). Anime! Anime!. May 10, 2022. Archived May 10, 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved May 10, 2022.
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  24. ^ "ja:Creepy Nutsが再びアニメ「よふかしのうた」OP曲担当、新曲「Mirage」流れるメインPV公開" (in Japanese). Music Natalie. Natasha, Inc. June 6, 2025. Archived April 23, 2026 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved August 2, 2025.
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  29. ^ Mateo, Alex (June 5, 2025). "Creepy Nuts Return for Call of the Night Season 2 Anime's Opening Theme Song in New Trailer". Anime News Network. Archived June 5, 2025 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved June 6, 2025.
  30. ^ Pineda, Rafael Antonio (July 3, 2025). "Call of the Night Season 2 Anime Casts Tomokazu Sugita, Reveals Creepy Nuts Ending Song". Anime News Network. Retrieved July 4, 2025.
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  32. ^ Pineda, Rafael Antonio (July 30, 2022). "HIDIVE Adds Orguss, Dubs for Made in Abyss Season 2, Call of the Night, More". Anime News Network. Archived July 31, 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved July 30, 2022.
  33. ^ Hazra, Adriana (September 2, 2022). "Call of the Night Anime's English Dub Premieres on September 8". Anime News Network. Archived September 3, 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved September 2, 2022.
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