Call of the Night Manga
Manga Info :
This story is by the same mangaka who made Dagashi Kashi, so including the artwork, you’ll find a lot of similarities. A confused young man trying to understand himself, and a female lead who’s whimsical and fairly detached, but slowly acknowledges her feelings and opens up over time. Lots of slice-of-life elements and philosophical musings about life interweaved throughout. Side characters play a more meaningful, perpetual role rather than episodic.
I’d say the biggest difference is that Call of the Night is a more mature offering – Kotoyama has gotten better at pacing his stories and weaving in the right situations and conflicts to drive character development. His art has also gotten cleaner.
The premise is also a lot more interesting-there are vampires, but you’re not subject to any nonsensical, fantasy world-building. These are not your typical vampires who can’t be in the sunlight or are weak against garlic or silver stakes. Your characters are not fighting vampire lords or evil masterminds-they are fighting themselves and their sense of belonging. In this story, vampires are more symbolic of something deeper: freedom. Being comfortable with oneself Doing and saying what you want instead of what others want. These are vampires who live in the modern world and face the modern world’s problems in existential crisis.
In this way, everyone is extremely relatable and endearing. There are a few fun character tropes here and there, but they don’t overshadow genuine human bonding, self-reflection, and self-doubt. Depending on your life situation, you find a slice of yourself in each character you meet, and you hope for a bright future for them just as you hope for a bright future for yourself deep down.
It’s a slow burn, but not mind-numbingly slow like Dagashi Kashi was. The developing events happen at just the right time, almost as if you had gone an entire day without eating and finally bit into your favorite meal. It’s satisfying and alleviating.
I genuinely love this story and its characters—I highly recommend it to others who are looking for something aimed at the older, more mature end of shounen and more meaningful in its pacing.
Source: anime-planet.com