MANGA REVIEW | "Call of the Night" - Volume Fourteen
After a plethora of exciting volumes of Call of the Night, perhaps now is the time to take a chill pill. Considering this series started as a lounge-friendly narrative, the fact that it took a fast left turn into Shonen Jump City would surely shake anyone up. But the time to fight has drawn to a close for now, and Ko needs a little recharging to get back to 100%. However, in its fourteenth volume, Ko gets a little rude awakening, in the form of his mother.
Okay, it’s not so much “rude” as it is “surprising”. It’s funny seeing how Ko’s taken to his mom’s late-night mentality, with her chatting it up with rich folks at cabaret clubs while he gets his vampire on. That’s why it’s sort of refreshing to see her be so supportive of him and his current lifestyle. After all, if you’ve got a cutie like Nazuna to hang out with, then that’s certainly winning at life.
But she’s got a little info that winds up being helpful in the long run: Ko’s school is about to embark on its annual trip. With Ko playing hooky, his thoughts on such a matter are understandable. I mean, why would he go on a school trip when he hasn’t been attending in the first place? That’s when Ko has a flashback involving Mahiru, who has recently told Akira that he’s disappearing from town.
The flashback showcases Ko and Mahiru at a young age skipping school, on a day when everyone was going on a school trip. They do the one thing kids that age dream of doing: playing video games all day long! It’s in an instance of victory when the two plan to go on a trip somewhere in the future, to the very place their schoolmates were going. And as soon as Ko’s flashback ends, he puts two & two together.
A lot of this volume of Call of the Night is buildup to the next arc. Nazuna and the other vampires know that there’s bound to be more trouble brewing, and Mahiru may be key to it. As such, much of what happens in the main plotline is a bunch of strategy talk and planning. However, there is a good redemption moment for Ko, as he has the opportunity to apologize to a girl whose heart he broke.
And in order to do that, Ko does the very thing he has dreaded: go back to school. Most of his return is greeted with smiles, save for two friends of the girl who failed at her love confession. But it’s all for the plan, which involves heading north to Japan to seek where Mahiru may be. Thankfully, the friends of the night are close by, and the quest to find Ko’s estranged pal can begin…soon after a little fun on the Shinkansen.
Volume Fourteen of Call of the Night is a good breather, filled with some closure involving two people in Ko’s life. But this break will certainly be short-lived, as Ko has a run-in with a person with you-know-what kind of vibes. Dangerous territory is about to be entered, but fortunately, we all know Ko, Nazuna, and the rest can handle a little mayhem. Things are about to heat up in Call of the Night, despite the fact that everyone’s now in the coolest part of Japan! (Literally, not metaphorically.)
FINAL GRADE:
Promotional consideration provided by Chantelle Sturt of VIZ Media.
