|
|
||||||||||
| Overall | Art | Animation | Character Design | Music | Series Story | Episode Story | Reviewer | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unevaluated |
 Stretch
|
[series:4910#628] | ||||||
|
(Ten episodes watched): It has been three years since season one of Call of the Night aired, and I had only a vague memory of where it stood. When I started watching episode one of this second season, I thought at first that things were in a state of crisis and action was imminent, and maybe I should re-watch at least the final episode of season one before watching this one. But I gave it a second chance and found that the seemingly serious situation was basically a joke. Nazuna is more-or-less at peace with her fellow female vampires and in fact they are intrigued by her sort-of romance with Ko and want to help out. It also quickly became clear that this show is pretty funny--it has a sly, clever, sophisticated sense of humor unlike the weak comedy we get from most anime. Ko is whisked away by the other girls who want to get an idea of where things stand between him and Nazuna. "You know, I just assumed you all wanted to get some juicy gossip out of me to drink to" Ko remarks (He was right). There are a couple of mentions of how Nazuna hopes to 'turn' him (into a vampire or vampire supporter?) within the next ten months; I recall she made some sort of deal at the end of season one with the other girls who didn't like the way she was getting so close to a human. He has to sincerely fall in love with Nazuna within that timeframe or else. But they haven't made much progress so far; Yamori says he has yet to have a first crush, and Nazuna's attitude is that "romance is a gamble and no one in their right mind takes that chance". Maybe I should completely re-watch season one before watching season two. But either way, this show looks like great fun. Ah, that's right: way back in episode one of the first season, Yamori had asked Nazuna if he could fall in love with her, and she didn't definitively say No. I had forgotten that. I did a complete rewatch of season one, and was reminded of what a neat show this is. Then I rewatched episode one of this season and it made much more sense. I knew that Hatsuka is actually a guy, for one thing. The OP sequence suggests a battle between Nazuna and the private detective woman who hates vampires is coming. She's a tough and multidimensional character, and I'd rather this show not get too serious since it is fun as a comedy. I get the feeling that one way or the other a good character may be lost, but there are plenty in this show. I wish the OP and ED songs from season one had been kept, however (I thought the OP song was being sung in Spanish until subtitles of it appeared). In episode two we learn that Mahiru has a girlfriend, Miku Hoshina, who--guess what?--is actually a vampire. This girl is an oddball even among vampires, having 'turned' something like 50 people yet apparently she has never bitten Mahiru. Maybe her love for him is sincere or maybe she is deceptive and evil (in most anime we'd be able to tell just by the look on her face!). One person who is definitely not nice is the female private detective. She viciously attacks a minor character in episode three. The tone of the series is moving from comedy to drama, and I just hope that this works out well. We learn some more details of the human-to-vampire transformation sequence; it seems that each vampire has some artifact from their days as a human that can be used as a potent weapon against them, and the PI is good at this. But with time vampires forget more and more about their human lives, and Nazuna has forgotten pretty much everything. Ko can't help wondering, did she, too, once fall in love with a vampire? An object Ko finds leads him and Nazuna to a hospital late at night, where they run into Kabura, another female vampire. Being a nurse seems to be a popular occupation for vampires, which makes sense since they can pilfer blood that was intended for transfusions. In episode four a little detective work determines that Nazuna and Kabura have known each other for a good while and who was a vampire first. But why doesn't Nazuna remember something as big as a former career she once followed? She was already a vampire at the time, so her memories shouldn't have faded away altogether. Oops, episode five makes clear that I was completely wrong. 'Haru' wasn't just some sort of nickname for Nazuna, it was a completely different person who looked just like her—her mother. We learn that unlike most vampires, Nazuna was born in the conventional manner as the result of Haru having sex with a human man (I guess she hadn't sucked his blood). This means A) Nazuna hasn't already fallen in love, and B) she shouldn't have any artifacts that put her at risk. For some reason she remained listless until she was full-grown and Kabura took charge of her. Ko and Nazuna warn Kabura that she had better get rid of the sentimental objects she still holds onto, which she does. But will she dispose of the bag of her human blood, which allows her to remember her previous life? In episode six Nazuna and Ko go to Midori, another of the female vampires, with the same warning. In search of her vulnerable objects the three of them go to an odd guy Midori turned, 'Love Green' an Akihabara otaku (or 'wotaku', whatever that means). The PI is looking more frightening than ever in her insane determination to kill all vampires. I hope that doesn't spoil the fun, silly side of this show. It had gotten to the point where I almost dreaded watching a new episode for fear that everything would collapse into violence (as the OP sequence seemed to suggest), but episode seven was fun. Nazuna has a vague idea that she once attended a certain night school, so she and Ko pay another nighttime visit. They find Riko, another female vampire, is a teacher there. We flash back to ten years ago, when Nazuna met a girl named Mejiro and became sort-of friends with her. Can a person be the thing that makes a vampire vulnerable? It wouldn't be so easy to get rid of one of those. Episode eight makes clear that in one sense that won't be the problem and in another that will be exactly the problem! Mejiro feared that her father was having an affair and Nazuna helped her investigate. It turned out that she had an even bigger problem: her father was a vampire who carelessly killed her mother by completely draining her of blood. And Mejiro is none other than present-day PI! So that's why she hates vampires so much. I was thrilled when I made the connection; it's not often that an anime is written with such style and cleverness. I have a lot more confidence now that the series will end well. In episode nine PI offers Yamori one last chance to give up his quest to be a vampire, but he refuses. He reasons that since Nazuna has never been completely human, she shouldn't have an achilles' heel object. We see that PI has mental health issues. On Halloween she goes on a rampage, shooting two vampires. This part confused me; it had seemed that her revolver was actually a cigarette lighter, and vampires can't be killed in this manner anyhow (though it does hurt), and ordinary people weren't all that shocked (they jump to the dubious conclusion that a movie is being filmed). It does infuriate the vampires, however, and they vow to kill her. Nazuna asks to be allowed to settle things with her, and the two confront each other at the end of the episode. Alas, I do not like the way this show is reaching a climax. For one thing, PI seems more superhuman than even a vampire. At one point in episode ten PI is standing something like twenty feet from Nazuna—then, in the blink of an eye, she's on top of her before she can react. I could tolerate Akkun's embarassment in episode nine, but this is too much. We are warned that this episode will contain potentially disturbing matter, but I cannot believe that someone as strong, clever and agile as this would have the slightest self-esteem problem. PI's real intention was confusing and difficult to discern. And did her long-term plan to deal with vampires really make much sense? Can't they go ten years without blood if they must? And what would keep them from breaking into houses? Also, it seemed to me that Ko was very lucky to guess where the fight between PI and Nazuna would be taking place. So, I am deeply frustrated by the way this previously neat show is reaching a climax. Maybe the lesson is that if you're producing an excellent comedy, don't try to transform it into a drama. Last updated Tuesday, September 23 2025. Created Friday, July 11 2025. | ||||||||
