Few manga have hooked me as much as Call of the Night. The world aesthetic in volume 2 continues to be breathtaking, showcasing the beauty of night life. Nazuna and Ko's banter also continues to be enjoyable, and Ko's friendship with Akira has been emotional compelling as well. The end of the volume alludes to the cast further expanding, and I'm looking forward to seeing how that further changes the narrative dynamic.

Call of the Night Volume Two continues to explore the character dynamics between Ko Yamori and Nazuna Nanakusa.

Call of the Night Volume Two
Written by: Kotoyama
Publisher: Shogakukan
English Publisher: VIZ Media
Release Date: June 8, 2021

The volume opens with Ko feeling a little confused after getting a kiss from Nazuna in the previous volume. After a little bit, he thinks it feels like he’s in love, and he demands that Nazuna suck his blood and turn him into a vampire. Obviously, what he’s feeling isn’t love yet, because the manga series isn’t going to see Ko attain his goal this early on. Also, he’s only 14 years old and has no experience in this department, so he obviously doesn’t really know what love feels like.

We then get a story that includes Ko’s childhood friend, Akira Asai. In this section, she gets out and about earlier than usual and runs into Ko. She ends up spending time with Ko and Nazuna, and at first things seem pretty normal, such as playing video games into the early morning hours. But things get uncomfortable for Akira when she’s asked to stay the rest of the night, and it becomes even more awkward when Nazuna sucks on Ko’s blood right in front of her. Ko finally admits to Akira that his dream is to become a vampire. She thinks this is a little odd but is glad to hear that Ko has a dream that he’s trying to achieve. However, she still wishes that Ko would return to school.

When Akira was introduced in the first volume, I had assumed that her role was to serve as a potential love interest for Ko and become a rival with Nazuna. But from what I read in Volume Two, it appears that, at least right now, Akira doesn’t have any romantic feelings for Ko. This could potentially change as the series progresses, though, so it’s going to be interesting to see what role Akira will ultimately play in the series.

We get a chapter that focuses on Nazuna and how she spends her time after she wakes up until she goes to meet up with Ko. I really appreciated getting this chapter, since all we’ve ever really seen of Nazuna up to this point is what she does at night while hanging out with Ko. It was also nice to get a chapter where Nazuna is by herself and has the opportunity to show the reader what she’s like when Ko isn’t around. This ultimately leads into a chapter that brings Ko and Nazuna back together at night for another chance to hang out.

There’s also a chapter of Nazuna and Ko going to a midnight pool party, and we see that Nazuna emanates an innate glamour due to being a vampire. Nazuna starts getting hit on by three guys, and Ko becomes jealous. He also wonders how many other people’s blood she’s drank, and as he does, she points out an old man whose blood she’s had. Ko gets a little jealous at this point as well. He obviously has some kind of feelings for her. Not necessarily love, at least not yet. But perhaps those feelings could evolve over the course of the series.

This ultimately leads to Nazuna revealing that before she started hanging out with Ko, she worked as a professional cuddler. Unfortunately, because of all the time she’s spent with Ko and all the money she’s spent, she’s broke. But they get a surprise when Kiyosumi Shirakawa, a previous client of Nazuna’s, shows up for a massage. Nazuna, who had just finished giving one to Ko, claims to be worn out and insists that Ko do it for her… with a bribe of giving him half of what she’s paid. He ends up doing it and hears about the woman’s issues with working a job, especially having to drink and socialize with the men in her office and laughing off sexist comments. We get a scene between Ko and Kiyosumi, but he’s seeing the situation from a 14-year-old’s point of view while she sees the situation from an adult perspective. I thought this interaction between these two characters came across realistically. With the way the storyline with Kiyosumi ends, though, I have a suspicion that we’ll be seeing her again at some point in the manga, especially with a promise that Ko makes to her.

After reading the first volume of Call of the Night, I thought it was a style of supernatural manga that I normally wouldn’t go out of my way to read. However, I was pleasantly surprised when I found myself engrossed and engaged with what I was reading in Volume Two. After reading this volume, I think I can safely say that Call of the Night is a better series than I was initially giving it credit for. I’m actually looking forward to getting an opportunity to read the third volume to find out what happens next.

If you’ve already read and enjoyed the first volume of the series, I believe you will enjoy Call of the Night Volume Two as much, if not more than, the first volume.

*I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.*

So, still an entertaining read, but I'm still not happy with how things are going. Teens are sharing their jaded, cynical thoughts with others who are just accepting it. Will anyone ever tell them about how perhaps there are good parts of living in normal society? There is also a romantic subplot which is interesting, to say the least. I am curious how that will go.

This was a fun follow up to the first volume. I enjoyed the growing friendship between Ko and Nazuna and the antics they get up to at night. Looking forward to the next volume!

Thank you to NetGalley, VIZ Media, and Kotoyama for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Just like I mentioned when I reviewed volume one, I really like the different take on vampire lore that this particular manga has. Ko still wants to be a vampire, even though he is only fourteen. He wanders the night and finds enjoyment in the different perception of the night. In order to become a vampire, not only must one drink his blood, but he has to be in love! Figuring out feeling and what love is can be quite complicated. When another girl comes on the scene, Ko has some new feelings--not love, exactly, but the compassion of connecting with another human being living with similar troubles.

I found this manga to be fun and fast-paced. I enjoy Ko's quest of becoming a vampire one day, and I very much want to see how his feelings change over time and how he learns what love feels like.

I have to be honest, and I didn't enjoy volume 2 as much as I did volume 1. Having 2 really jaded teens taking up teaching other people about their jaded thoughts is currently rubbing me the wrong way right now. I want to give it at least one more volume to know my full thoughts on the series.

The furthering adventures of the human Ko and the vampire Nazuna. Ko is still convinced he can fall in love with Nazuna so she can turn him into a vampire but so far no dice. The triangle between him, Nazuna, and childhood friend Akira is rather interesting. It is really hard to tell how Nazuna really feels about Ko so it is hard to predict which way the story will go. There are some funny moments if you don't mind salacious humor and sexual situations.

Ko continues on his quest to fall in love with vampire Nanakusa so that he may become a vampire himself. Nanakusa reveals that she teases him so that he will experience more emotions and his blood will taste better. They spend some time with his neighbor and schoolmate who is worried about Ko.