Call of the Night Season 2

Episode 6

This episode is a hoot and a half. While I'm consistently impressed by how well Call of the Night handles its dramatic ambitions, I feel equally reassured that its comedic sensibilities haven't dulled. The anime also continues to rise to the occasion with appropriate visual flourishes and impeccable voice casting. Those factors, and more, add up to a great time.

Before we descend into the madness lurking in Akihabara, the first section of the episode functions as an epilogue to Kabura's story. Haru's fate was left unspoken yet obvious to the audience last week, and here Kabura confirms that Nazuna's mom passed away, as did her father. While sad, I like that this is as much a moment of closure for Kabura as it is for Nazuna. I don't think Kabura would have ever told Nazuna this if push hadn't come to shove via Anko's vampire hunt, and that secret would have pressed down on any relationship they might have had. Now, with everything in the open, she and Nazuna both have a better idea of where they stand in their pseudo-familial connection. Kabura can give her encouragement to become a “proper vampire,” and Nazuna can see her off with a smile. That's progress.

Then, in possibly her most outwardly romantic gesture to date, Nazuna takes Ko to a scenic overlook she now recalls from her hazy past. The adaptation's cool palette and knack for cinematic staging turn the city below them into a dreamlike sea of stars mirroring the sky above. It's beautiful, and that lets us experience some of Ko's awe at being brought there. Nazuna, meanwhile, definitely inherited some of her mom's fascination with humanity, as she reflects on the unfathomable number of people living an unfathomable number of lives out there in society.

As someone who could have once been described as a sensitive adolescent, I can relate to Nazuna's musings. The scale of the world, let alone the universe, is dizzying, but it's also freeing to consider how small and unremarkable one is in the grand scheme of everything. Nazuna, of course, isn't unremarkable—she's a vampire—but that only causes her further vexation. Ko, not to be outdone by Nazuna's prime date spot, activates his smooth talker mode and reminds her that they wouldn't be together in that moment if she weren't a vampire. In this genuine, honest, and vulnerable exchange, we can anticipate the realization of Kabura's wish for these kids to forge a reciprocal and healthy bond. This is quite possibly the sweetest and most heartfelt the series has been to date.

Then LG shows up. Call of the Night pulls a tonal 180 when Ko and Nazuna visit Akihabara alongside Midori, which quickly devolves into a farce laden with otaku humor. Nazuna's quaintly antiquated ideas about Akiba prove to be not cliche enough, as LG, or Love Green if you want to be fancy (please note that “midori” is Japanese for “green”), proves to be an undead embodiment of a decades-old stereotype. Accentuating the absurdity is Sugita's gut-bustingly earnest performance. I laughed at every other line out of his mouth, delivered in Sugita's silky and unfaltering baritone. This adaptation is simply too good at picking the perfect seiyuu for each role.

This episode in particular is also excellent at creatively adapting the manga's gags, and I'd say the storyboards are the real highlight. That's especially impressive considering that, as far as I can tell, this is Nao Miyoshi's first time storyboarding an anime episode. Miyoshi worked with Itamura on The Case Study of Vanitas and directed Itamura's boards on the first episode of this season, and you can see that Shaft school influence trickles down onto the screen. I detect a lot of Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei and Monogatari vibes in many of the cuts and edits, like the cartoony close-ups of Nazuna and the rest, as well as the brief foray into GameBoy mode during Nazuna's explanation of doujinshi. There's also the fact that LG does a Senjougahara pose in front of a spiral staircase. You can spot plenty of other anime references throughout LG's room and the scene overall, like the K-ON!-adjacent poster and the body pillow resembling Nadeko from Monogatari. Under different circumstances, the density of allusions to other material might be obnoxious, but here it's a fun fit for the otaku theme. I'm eager to see how Miyoshi's voice develops from here.

In between the gags, though, the emotional strength of this section lies in how surprisingly wholesome Midori and LG's relationship is. While she's quick to admit that “male virgins and otaku creeps” are her type, her infatuation with LG takes on a giddy, almost clownish timbre. LG, too, is blunt but eloquent in his admiration of Midori. We can tell the crush is mutual. In short, they match each other's freak. Get yourself a partner willing to publish an entire smutty fan comic about you—although, ideally, make sure they're also a partner who runs that by you first. I think that was LG's only mistake.

Rating:

Call of the Night Season 2 is currently streaming on HIDIVE.

Steve is on Bluesky for all of your posting needs. They like Anko Uguisu a normal amount. You can also catch them chatting about trash and treasure alike on This Week in Anime.