Call of the Night (2023)

[よふかしのうた]

Volume 15

Author/Artist: Kotoyama
Publisher: Shounen Sunday Comics

Synopsis:
Kou squares off against the vampire he and his classmates encounter in Hokkaido.

Story/Characters:
We pick up from last volume's cilffhanger with tense faceoff between Kou and the vampire, but the vampire relents and withdraws. This would be fine, but then Saki ends up missing. Kou takes it upon himself to go find her. The cliffhanger of Chapter 140 shows the vampire with an unconscious Saki and the next chapter fills in the blanks with Saki, under the influence of the the vampire's charm, goes to meet up with him and, after a brief chat, gets knocked out by hypnosis. Whatever the vampire had planned, Kou shows up shortly thereafter and he isn't fooling around. We then cut to Saki being carried back to the hotel by Kou. After she's reunited with her friends, Akira follows after Kou to ask him what happened. We then fill in the blanks with Kou's fight with the vampire. It's uncertain how things would have gone if Nazuna, Uguisu, Azami and Susuki hadn't showed up, but their intervention ensured a more peaceful resolution to the encounter. What particularly catches the vampire’s eye is Nazuna. We then learn that his name is Haruka and that he was sired by Nazuna’s mother Haru. He goes on a little emotional rollercoaster of being angry at Haru for abandoning him and sad that he’ll never see her again. However, because he loved Haru, he starts to transfer that affection to Nazuna, which doesn’t go over so well with Kou.

We then get to see what was going on with Mahiru after his encounter with Akira at school. In anticipation of being turned, he’s destroying his personal effects. However, upon seeing a picture of him with Kou and Akira on his smartphone, he ends up pocketing it just as Kiku comes back. He then distracts her by offering to watch some movies he likes. As he’s watching, he reflects on the fact that she likes tragic love stories where one or the other dies at the end. In the business, we call this foreshadowing.

Next is time for some of the good ol’ hadaka no tsukiai in the baths. Azami has brought along Haruka and there’s a sort of burying of the hatchet that takes place, though Kou is still a bit on the hostile side. On the ladies' side, Akira joins up with Nazuna, Uguisu and Susuki. Between the two sides, we move the conversation forward about Kiku. Haruka has answers, but he has a condition. He wants a date with Nazuna. Naturally, Kou isn't too happy about this, and neither is Nazuna for that matter, but she's willing to take a hit for a team if it means they can get a lead to help Kou in his efforts to reconcile with Mahiru. So what info does Haruka have that's worth getting semi-cuckolded over? Well, shortly after Haruka was turned, he was there for Haru and Kiku's discussion of how to turn human again. Naturally, the freshly turned Haruka wasn't too happy to find his sire ("dam" in this case?) was trying to stop being a vampire after turning him, but as he was suicidal pre-turning, Haru considers herself to have done him a favor. He later confronts Kiku separately and she reveals her theory that the way to turn a vampire human is for the vampire to fall in love.

We then return to Kiku and Mahiru. She is filled with doubts about whether or not her dream can come true, but she's also too afraid of what might happen if she confides in Mahiru with those doubts. He tries to get her to open up, but she's reluctant to admit to more than her fear of him coming to hate her. He takes her out to a movie and without prompting, Mahiru echoes her own thoughts about the film, and it's this moment of them being on the same wavelength that assures her that her feelings are real and that her wish is going to come true. The next morning, Mahiru hits the town on his own, something Kiku encouraged him to do to enjoy his last day as a human and square himself with how his life is going to change. For the most part, he's square with it, but he still finds himself thinking about his friends, and that's when Uguisu shows up. She lets Kou know where Mahiru is, and even though he supposedly doesn't want to see Kou, he seems to be enjoying the chase... until Kou catches up to him, that is. With the two wooden swords in hand, Kou challenges Mahiru to a fight. Mahiru... misinterprets the situation and what started as a merry little chase turns into a mad dash for his life. (Kou looking utterly deranged certainly doesn't help matters any.)

Art:
Kou's fight with Haruka is lovingly rendered, especially a great two-page spread when the rest of the gang shows up. You might be looking to the bath scene for fanservice purposes, but honestly, there's a show of Uguisu that has a bit of the opposite effect. Some people just look better with their clothes on, I guess. The final page of Chapter 147, where Kiku has her little epiphany, is amazing. I can remember when I first read this, I had to send a picture to my sister entitled, "A woman in love." And then there's deranged Kou. You feel the subsequent terror in poor Mahiru.

Other:
In the afterword, Kotoyama talks about his love of gaming with a bonus illustration of Nazuna playing a GBA SP.

Conclusion:
I like how we get both the payoff of a big blowout between Kou and Haruka while also doing a bit of a bait-and-switch that segues into his backstory and how it ties into everything. It's interesting seeing more of Mahiru and Kiku's development, especially seeing her emotional vulnerability in a character who can be so ruthless. Lastly, the hilarious misunderstanding at the end makes for a good hook for the next volume. There's more than enough good stuff to keep the fans happy and this fan is going to recommend this one for the collection.

Rating:
Own It