The Summer 2025 Anime Preview Guide - Call of the Night Season 2

How would you rate episode 1 of
Call of the Night (TV 2) ?

Community score: 4.2

How would you rate episode 2 of
Call of the Night (TV 2) ?

Community score: 4.3

Ko has spent his young life aimlessly living up to people's expectations and nothing more. But now he finally has a goal: to have his vampire friend Nazuna turn him into one as well. There's just one problem, to become a vampire, he has to be in love with the vampire who turns him—and Ko has not only never been in love but also doesn't know if he even can fall in love. It doesn't help that Nazuna is far from the sensual seductress vampires are supposed to be. Thus, the awkward pair wander the night together, having fun and dealing with problems caused both by the other vampires in the city and those who hunt them.

Call of the Night Season 2 is based on the manga series by Kotoyama. The anime series is streaming on HIDIVE on Fridays.

What really impresses me about Call of the Night is its emotional maturity – though not necessarily as embodied by its characters. Ko and his friends are middle schoolers, so perhaps not best placed to make radical choices that will irrevocably alter their futures. Ko isn't exactly the poster boy for sensible decision making; after all, he's a society-shunning truant who sleeps all day and hangs out at night playing retro video games with an emotionally stunted, scantily-clad vampire lady. So it's unsurprising that his human friends are worried for him. Female childhood friend Akira just wants whatever is best for him – she admits that him hanging out with vampires is “creepy”, and if he wants to become one, then he'll need to be prepared to drink humans' blood, and with that comes the possibility he could produce vampire offspring of his own. It's clear he hasn't thought this through. As Akira later tells Mahiru, Ko can be so decisive because he's dumb and makes decisions with his gut.

Conversely, Mahiru tends to consider his actions more carefully – perhaps this is what triggered his previous falling-out with Ko. However, being attacked by a crazed vampire late last season probably didn't help. He doesn't want his friend to end up like that. So it's kind of ironic that, unknown to Mahiru, Kiku, his new love interest, is a vampire. It seems she isn't-yet-interested in feeding from him, seemingly intent on spending time with him instead. Without even knowing the full context of his new relationship (romantic or otherwise), Mahiru still comes to the same conclusion as Akira: should Ko become a vampire, they'll both offer him their blood! It's good to know Ko has two such good friends to watch his back.

Kiku is a real mystery, though, and throughout the entire episode, we second-guess her intentions with Mahiru. She exudes unsettling vibes, and she's drawn in a way that exaggerates her sensuality. It's often this way with vampires in media: sex and death in intimate embrace. Mahiru's so far under her spell that he's willing to throw away his previous objections to vampirism. On first meeting her, Ko immediately knows what's up, recognizing her vampiric nature and sprinting off in a panic. When she chases him, our natural thoughts are “she's going to threaten him”. When she instead acts completely civil and open with Ko, it throws us off our guard, so when she 180s and unleashes the full terror of her monstrous nature on the terrified boy, it leaves us reeling.

Not even the other vampires know what to do with Kiku; she's so inscrutable. Apparently, she's made over fifty offspring over her long life, a vast number more than average. That she claims not to have done it deliberately is suspicious, and her barely-concealed grin at manipulating Mahiru into chasing after her is little short of devilish. “I've got this one,” she smirks. She succeeds in getting Mahiru to start alienating his human friends (the two nameless boys he says he doesn't like hanging with), and also causes Ko to second-guess his motives in looking out for Mahiru.

The bathhouse meeting between two vampire-attracted guys looking for advice and two male vampires is fun for what it adds to the characters. Ko and the usually flamboyant Hatsuka's discussion is fairly serious, while Mahiru and recently turned Akihito's is more humorous, with Mahiru adopting his conversation partner's idiotic, meaningless jargon. With Anko making a reappearance, though, it looks like fun may be the last thing on anyone's mind for a while.

With peerless character exploration, unsettling atmospherics, and just the right mix between dorky humor and supernatural dread, this was one of Call of the Night's best episodes so far, and it barely even features poor primary vampire Nazuna at all!

Even though I'm not much of a night owl, I'm still irrepressibly attracted by Call of the Night's impeccable nocturnal vibes. The excellent soundtrack, once again supplied by Creepy Nuts whose flamenco-accented opener, "Mirage", maintains their incredible anime song hit rate. It is, as always, perfectly accompanied by the stunning visuals. With oversaturated, exaggerated colors, dramatic contrasts between neon purple, cyan, and yellow, no other anime looks quite like Call of the Night. Simply put, I'm delighted that the show has returned with the same studio, director, and musicians.

Central duo Ko and Nazuna are a lot of fun to watch—whether together, or interacting with the rest of the eclectic (though mostly vampire in this episode) cast. Ko is dragged off by a quartet of vampire women, ostensibly for them to give him relationship advice, but mainly to provide themselves with entertainment. Nazuna spends time with cross-dressing Hatsuka Suzushiro who takes her clothes shopping and also gets her drunk. Everyone seems to have ideas on how the two should get closer in order for Ko's dream of becoming a vampire to come true. It's a shame that Ko has no idea about “romance”, and Nazuna struggles to even think about the subject without blushing or breaking out the dirty jokes.

Their trip to Tokyo to observe the nocturnal activities of other couples makes a fair point about the sometimes fraught relationships between men and women. Just because a relationship begins with physical attraction doesn't mean it won't become deeper “true love” with time. Nazuna and Ko's relationship is nothing if not physical, as she memorably says that for her, drinking his blood is “both feeding and copulation.”

While Ko remains pretty clueless about matters of the heart, it is worth mentioning he's only a middle school student—so around fourteen or fifteen years of age. I've seen other commenters suggesting he's perhaps aromantic, or ace, but could it be that he's just something of a late bloomer? Hell, I never had my first relationship until I was past the age of seventeen, and I don't even think that's unusual. Sadly, with a time limit looming over their heads, Ko and Nazuna may be forced to escalate their odd relationship faster than either are quite comfortable with. Given how gorgeous and sensitively written the show is, I'm delighted to follow them on their journey.

It was nice enough easing back into Call of the Night with that first episode of the second season. The vibes were right, the atmosphere was reestablished, that was fine. But this episode has everything and it truly feels like we're back. The backdrops aren't the fresh, varied vistas of Tokyo and the zoo, but they do bring the riot of distinctive yellows and purples that so defined the previous season. Viewers are in familiar territory on these streets now, which just makes it easier for Call of the Night to shift things out from under them to unnerving effect.

The cast is coming back together to keep the ideas moving at a clear clip, for one. Mahiru and Akira return, delightfully independently iterating that they'd let Ko chow down on them if he became a vampire (totally platonically, of course). More importantly though, Mahiru's lady of the night pal Kiku turns out to be... a lady of the night. If Ko is going to be drawn deeper into the vampire world, that means encountering it in compounding aspects through his nightlife. This is Call of the Night, so it knows how to keep the audience guessing. It's fair enough to presume that Kiku is, as several others have been, a chill-ass vampire who just wants to vibe. But that distinctive glow of the night can shift to threatening whenever the show wills it, and the question of how deep and dark Kiku's intentions actually go informs this episode's efforts.

In general, the tale told so far is a microcosm the question Ko's been mulling over since last season. The innuendo that being turned into a vampire serves as is not subtle at all, with the implicit uncertainty of Kiku's numerous partners—I mean offspring—leading on how much she might actually care about Mahiru. To say nothing of Mahiru's thoughts about just jumping into this situation. It's honestly a neat shift from so much of the sexualized vampire mortality revolving around Ko up to this point, as he and Akkun/Draggo (remember him?) use their experience to take Mahiru through his preferences in this commitment. Hatsuka also comes along, which is fine because Hatsuka rules, and it's all an amusingly allegorical instance of talking your buddy through the process of taking a relationship plunge.

And then Anko shows up, catapulting this cute little plotline into must-watch intense plot territory.

Really though, even before the most threatening/sexy character in the show makes her triumphant return, Call of the Night is carried by the multitude of tones it encompasses. Kiku's conversations see her swerving through visible faces and expressions to get viewers to question how she might be concealing her true intentions. And that's before even getting into the anime indulging its always appreciated use of the unchecked eroticism of hands. This is Call of the Night tuning its tonal efforts as effectively as possible alongside its appealing vibes—the discomfort is the point. And it's doing so while dialing up a key, forward-moving plotline at this stage. It looks and feels great, which is precisely what I want from this anime's wielding of its atmospheric visual medium.

Call of the Night is back, and so are Creepy Nuts, with a track over an enticing new opener. It's shows off everyone's favorite terrifyingly sexy (or is that sexily terrifying?) vampire hunter Anko—tantalizing us with the possibility of revealing more about her own past connection to Nazuna. It's an arresting way to immediately draw returning viewers into the inky expanse of this night that's been made for them.

It's also a tease for elements of the story that we'll have to wait on a bit as this season premiere is all about simply settling back into the vibes that Call of the Night showed off so spectacularly in its freshman year. It opens with Ko and Nazuna playing Street Fighter III: Third Strike—the hangout-ability of our heroes has never been more immaculate. The first half of the episode is even specifically predicated on the other vampires just chilling and catching up regarding their relationship and intentions with each other. There is some natural tension to these proceedings—ranging from Midori's drunken remarks about awkward virginity to Hatsuka inducing the panic in Nazuna that Ko might not actually be turned on by her at all. It's all very appropriately adolescent in its execution. There will be time for these kids to be menaced by malicious murderers later.

Rather, as a return, the conversational tone of this episode reminds me of nothing so much as something from the Monogatari series. And as far as sexually charged supernatural hangouts go, that's absolutely a compliment. There's growth in poking at the idea that Nazuna's tendency toward dirty jokes is a defense mechanism for her own romantic awkwardness. On the other side of things are Ko's hurdles formed by own presuppositions about love and sensuality that he needs to get over.

The visit to Tokyo turns that into an appropriately clear metaphor. It's funny to have Ko attempt to sagely opine on the insensibility of loving the city only for Nazuna to immediately fire back that she does, indeed, love the city. That's the point, whether or not it was her intent to impart it to him. A big part of Ko's hang-ups on romance revolve around the pretenses he's built up in his head (to say nothing of the scripting he got from being in a romance anime). Real relationships aren't like that, and even casual hook-ups (blood-sucking or other methods of swapping bodily fluids) can validly translate into loving, long-term commitments. As well, the question of Tokyo versus his hometown functions as a symbol of the fork in the road Ko faces regarding his own future, choosing where he's going to go next. That's appropriate for a new season and characters preparing to take their next steps.

It's all plenty to marinate on in Call of the Night's signature strong style. It delivers character advancing interactions alongside those broader ruminations on topics that are important to all of us here in our own lives. And it looks as rich as ever, with the wide, beautiful nighttime shots here encompassing the populated city stretches of Tokyo. These are complex subjects with simple starts to them, and I couldn't think of a better way to ease back in on these nightly breezes. Now I'll just be keeping my eye on the shadows for when Anko ominously emerges from them.

Given the opening and how the last episode ended, I'm a little surprised at how front and center Mahiru was put throughout this episode. It's interesting that he is being used as a sort of parallel between Ko and Nazuna's relationship. Ko and Nazuna come off as similar ages, plus they have a strong understanding based on clear communication. Ko wants to turn into a vampire and the two agreed to that so it's up to them to just figure out what it means to fall in love. Mahiru, on the other hand has fallen in love with the vampire and now needs to figure out how to actually turn into one. However, there is a clear lack of communication between Mahiru and Kiku so this episode is all about the beginning of trying to figure out facts that don't quite match up initially.

Unlike Nazuna who never turned anybody and is a lot more insecure about the idea of romance, Kiku has turned multiple people and also seems very upfront about the fact that she is in love. So then what's the problem? It's interesting that the show is sort of taking the initial concept that it started out with and is sort of turning on its head. Turning into a vampire and enjoying the nightlife seem to be a sign of liberation, but now it's almost being framed as something scary—which is how you would initially think it would be framed.

Things feel very duplicitous and it looks like we're also starting to explore the idea that looks can be deceiving. Kiku flip-flopped between being incredibly threatening to incredibly innocent to right back to being incredibly threatening all in the span of five minutes. Mahiru seems to possess all the social skills that Ko lacks but he opens up and says that he actually hates how he is. There's a lot here showcasing that he might even be jealous of Ko's passivity and insensitivity. I like this direction, even if I feel like we could've transitioned into the storyline a lot smoother. I wonder how far or dark it's willing to go.

As someone who just recently finished the Manga for Call of the Night, it's good to see the anime come back in full swing. It doesn't feel like any time was wasted, and this premiere does a good job of establishing the status quo of our two main leads. Ko and Nazuna's dynamic has always been a treat as the two perfectly fit this idea of teenagers being in that weird, emotional transitional phase of their lives. It's such a precious thing to look at and appreciate. In fact, I feel like this episode was teasing me a little bit by having a lot of the other vampire characters acting like I was acting.

They want to be there for Ko and they're trying to gas him up—but they're also in it for the drama and for the emotional developments. They're asking the questions that I wanna ask him and that is something I appreciate about this series. It's not self-aware in a fourth wall breaking sense, but it is self-aware in that it feels as if it's very in tune with what the audience is looking for. We can see the writing on the wall in this episode and it definitely foreshadows a lot of the romantic developments between our leads. A lot of physical barriers were crossed but now we're finally getting into the introduction of those emotional barriers being talked about. If anything, these two have conversations about emotions that are more mature and insightful than I think most adults have these days.

But I think what I miss the most about the show is the nightlife. Whereas the manga definitely leans a lot more into the pitch black and quiet beauty of the night, the anime definitely makes it feel like a different world of its own—because in a lot of ways it is. Going to the zoo at night is different compared to going to it during the day or watching romance blossom in Tokyo during the nighttime definitely gives us a different feel than people-watching during the day. It feels very intimate and that line from Ko at the end of the episode where he explains that this is their world really hit home for me. I am a little bit concerned about how much this relationship will take priority for this season because based on the opening, we might be leaning more into the action, vampire hunting element of the series that was touched upon in season one. That is cool, but I don't want Ko to get lost in the same way that he was kind of lost in that opening.

This adaptation just gets it. I know it's my duty as a critic to be more eloquent than that, and I will explain myself in a bit, but Call of the Night's second season is smart. While it can't replicate Kotoyama's intricate and angular pen lines, the anime uses other attributes of its medium to its advantage. I've been extremely happy with the results so far.

Kiku, the centerpiece of this chapter, is a perfect example. You need to walk away from this episode knowing that her vibes are rancid, and the adaptation works on that assignment from multiple angles. In the opening scene, the soft bar lighting enhances the heavily perfumed atmosphere of seduction, with the camera moving appropriately (or, in another sense, inappropriately) to capture her carefully calculated movements. When she later confronts Ko, however, the park scenery turns monochrome and sterile, as if frozen in time. Even when she retracts her proverbial fangs, the scenery doesn't change, portending the dramatic shift to red when she reveals her true colors to Ko.

However, when we flash back to Mahiru's first encounter with Kiku, the anime uses the usual purple palette we see in Ko's misadventures with Nazuna. The text of the episode also asks us to consider if Kiku and Mahiru's budding romance differs significantly from Nazuna and Ko's. The parallels are obvious, and the nuances are less so, but the earlier visual language helps guide us. While Nazuna is technically older than Ko, in vampire years, they're about on the same page—indeed, the appeal of their relationship is that we see them work through a lot of adolescent awkwardness together. Kiku, though, is clearly coded as mature, which Hatsuka later confirms when he says that Kiku has the highest offspring count of any vampire he knows. Kiku, in other words, is dangerous.

If there was any other doubt, when Mahiru bikes happily away from his chance encounter with Kiku, there's a quick cut to a stop sign painted on the road, which the camera pans past without slowing down. This is imagery ripped right out of episode 33 of Revolutionary Girl Utena, which also centers around a predatory relationship between an adult and adolescent. That sign isn't in the manga either, so the adaptation chose to add it there to unnerve us. That's what I mean when I say we're watching a smart anime. Even if the allusion to Utena isn't intentional, it functions in the same way.

We're early in the season, though, and it isn't in Call of the Night's nature to rush headfirst in melodrama, so Ko organizes the rest of the episode around a guys' night out in order to patch things up with Mahiru and better understand where his friend is coming from. Despite the earlier emphasis on Kiku's sex appeal, I think the bathhouse scenes with the boys contain the episode's most flagrant displays of fanservice. Finally, gender equality! This gaze also skews closest to Kotoyama's bony perversions—especially when the camera focuses on Hatsuka's sharp clavicles. And overall, the scene functions as a chill counterbalance to the first half's severity. That is, until Anko shows up to ruin their fun, hitting them with a cliffhanger equivalent of Columbo's “just one more thing.” That's why I love her.

I can't tell you how much I've missed Nazuna and Ko. As a big fan of Kotoyama's manga, I thought the first season of Call of the Night was an excellent adaptation that retained and often enhanced the offbeat vibes of its chill vampire romantic comedy. They didn't need to change much, and this premiere understands that assignment. It looks and sounds like more of the same—with director Tomoyuki Itamura channeling his years at SHAFT into an attractively storyboarded reintroduction. He even resurrects the Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei “triptych of despair” in one scene. Now that's what I call fanservice!

“Vibes” is a word I kept coming back to in my weekly reviews of the first season, and it remains paramount to Call of the Night's success. This episode opens on purple-tinted pans of the city under the stars, immediately evoking the surreal allure of Nazuna and Ko's nighttime antics. Creepy Nuts return for both the opening and ending songs, and although their sound has exploded in popularity in the past couple years, their relaxed hip hop is, to me, synonymous with this series. The narrative content is also low-key, stepping back from the horror and drama that creeped into the first season's conclusion in favor of gossip and gussying up. While the OP portends more action, the anime eases us back into the story by focusing on the charming and occasionally awkward chemistry between Nazuna and Ko.

The premiere also does a good job highlighting the other vampires in Nazuna's circle, which does double-duty reacquainting the audience with the main plot line: Ko wants Nazuna to turn him into a vampire, and he needs to fall in love with her in order to do so. They split them up in the first half of the episode, which seems counterintuitive for a romance, but works by forcing both of our leads outside of their comfort zone (which, in this case, was in front of a PlayStation). The older vampire women poke and prod at Ko to spill the tea with increasingly drunken fervor—which is a fun dynamic—while Hatsuka utilizes his fashion know-how to get Nazuna to understand the appeal of gap moe. Note, too, that Nazuna wears a button-up shirt and blazer on her Tokyo date, so clearly some lessons got through her blood-brain barrier.

The second half is a strong snapshot of what makes Ko and Nazuna a compelling couple. They are both misfits floating through life at heart who have only recently discovered the power of gravity. Nazuna contrasts her first lonely Tokyo experience against the fun people-watching she can now enjoy with a partner. Ko, meanwhile, muses that he's never felt an attraction to any place, but he knows he wants to stay near Nazuna. While the quintessence of romance eludes both of them, their mutual curiosity in the concept and in each other brings them inexorably closer to an answer that might work for them.

Finally, I'd like to thank Tetsuya Miyanishi for catering the new OP to me, specifically. Anko is my favorite Call of the Night character, and while she doesn't show up in the episode proper, she's the star of the opening. The rhythmic shots of her lighter, the noir tinge of her apartment, the badassery of her takedowns, and the sadness behind her smile are all rendered exquisitely. I may not be a vampire, but I'm going to be eating well this season.