Manga Review: "Call of the Night" #11 (UNCENSORED + SPOILERS)

This volume was exceptional. It’s very hard to talk about what happens in it though without spoilers, so I’m going to keep this review pretty short, but elaborate on things down there, near the bottom of the review, so if you don't wanna be spoiled, leave after the cover art. There was a point in this book that I literally jumped out of my chair from a combination of shock and hype (I'll talk about what part that is down below). The way that Kotoyama does the paneling in this is a thing of beauty. It’s weird to praise a cover, but I’m gonna do that too. That ALL WHITE cover is just so damn clean. This series remains pretty firmly in my top 10 ongoing manga at the moment (position fluctuates based on my mood) despite the fact that the tone of the series has changed dramatically from the first few volumes. What started out as a more laid-back, romcom has evolved into a much more serious series with very dramatic twists and a good deal of action. I’m not sure it’s an improvement, since I liked the laid-back vampire romcom, but this is also good.

Stick around afer this cover art for some more spoilery content.

OK!!! You've been thoroughly warned.

From here on out there be spoilers and discussion of content.

So, in volume 10 Ko became a vampire! Congratulations I guess? But, unfortunately the transformation is only half-baked and he can’t really control it. This begs the question – what does this mean for Ko’s one-year time limit on vampire transformation??? We still don’t really know. However, with volume 11 we get to see him really VAMP out when he confronts his friend Mahiru regaring the relationship Mahiru’s having with a vampire who’s significantly played up as the series’ main villain to this point. Kiku’s been revealed to be the big bad evil gal who turned Anko’s dad, and is generally a very bad bitch. Now, Mahiru’s cuddling up to her, and trying to get turned just like Ko, but basically everyone is against the idea though, except of course the dumb boy in question.

Now, what happens when Mahiru doesn’t like the fact that Ko’s confronting him about it.

Fist fight in the street.

Only problem with that is that Ko’s now a pseudo-vampire and the man unleashes hell on Mahiru.

(This is the part, by the way, that had me out of my chair. Page 71 to be precise. Nothing like a fat middle finger to your BFF followed by a vampire-rage fueled sucker punch to the face.)

Soooooooooooo, things between Ko and his human friends are in a rocky position, but it’ll all work out in the end… right? However this leads into one of the funniest sequences we’ve had in volumes, in which Nazuna abducts Akira to try and have her talk some sense into the two boys. But first… she’s gotta drag her to the maid café so they can set up this hilarious gag.

The vampire training sequence toward the end of the book actually had me on the edge of my seat the whole time as well, though I didn’t jump out of it. It was a bit hard watching Ko kick the shit out of Nazuna though. Damn man, don’t hold back huh?.

Pre-Orders for vol. 12 are up – releases June 13th 2023.

This book can’t come soon enough, because this is a series I actively seek out as soon as I can get my hands on it. It’s a must-read each time, because I’m trying desperately to avoid spoilers from scanlations. The cover of volume 12 has me intrigued though, because it looks like we’re going to meet some new characters.