DESCRIPTION

CAST

CHAPTERS

ANIME ComedyYofukashi no Uta
ANIME ComedyYofukashi no Uta 2nd Season

REVIEWS

• 

  imnap

  74/100
  Finding light in the night

  Subject to change due to "Yofukashi no Uta" still releasing

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  What the Night Brings

  Freedom. Something that everyone yearns for, but nobody can truly achieve. It’s a feeling that I’ve come closest to experiencing in it’s true form at night, when the world is asleep, silent, yet engulfed in an unnerving blanket of darkness. You feel truly at peace and alone, but never lonely, as you watch the same places you see each and every day be abandoned, giving a sense of tranquility. As you see each and every light flickering in the distance, every occasional car passing by and every random person stumble back home, you realize everyone has their own story.

  

  That’s where this story starts. A young boy tired of a boring and rudimentary life goes out one night to discover a new world that was right under his nose all this time paralleling the one he’s so used to and grown tired of. For once in his life he can feel freed from the responsibilities and monotony of everyday life, however small those are. But what meets him once he takes a step into this new world that opened up right before him is, fittingly, an other-worldly entity – a vampire. Introducing him to quite literally a new society and things that he never heard of, this is what gave color to his life, brought him freedom and started his own little love story. This is what the ambiguous night brings.

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  A Love Story?

  Yofukashi no Uta is definitely a hard manga to describe, because it’s quite chaotic. Part of it is just slice of life, part of it is a romantic comedy, part of it is action and a big part of it is just the atmosphere. It manages to subvert expectations in some cases and purposefully avoid clichés while baiting you, whilst managing to maintain the initial appeal it has on first glance. But at its core it's a story about a boy wanting to become a vampire and discovering himself. The thing that keeps it all together are the characters and their interactions with each other, specifically the main duo Nanakusa Nazuna and Yamori Kou.

  

  The protagonist in question never falls under a specific stereotype like “the righteous young boy” as you would expect and the main girl is more than just the “waifu.” Although I can’t speak much since Yofukashi no Uta is still serializing so their character arcs are obviously not completed yet, the story still manages to develop them immensely. Both of them start off having their own problems and character flaws, but slowly start changing over time as they spend more time together and learn to grow. From Kou questioning if his goal of becoming a vampire is truly what he wants, to Nazuna steadily coming to terms with the idea of “love” that she detests so much. The interactions between each other are also just simply a joy to read through. While the main cast is the highlight, the side characters also manage to bring life into the nighttime world. The main example here would be the vampire detective Uguisu Anko, giving the cast a sense of threat whilst spicing things up for the audience and others like Kou’s childhood friends and the other vampires like Midori and Seri all going through their own mini-character arcs, further adding to the amazing character dynamic between the cast. Some of my favorite moments in the series are the side stories exploring smaller characters like Akkun a.k.a Menhera-san, a character that initially strikes the reader as the stereotypical crazy stalker leading us to already expect how the arc is going to play out, but the manga goes to great lengths to show that he is an actual human and not so two dimensional, going through development and resolving his problems or the overworked office lady that rediscovers the joy and silence of nighttime that she had forgotten about. Yofukashi no Uta somehow manages to make these small characters and their problems sensible and relatable, leaving a strong impression on the reader. There was a moment when Kou goes to a pool party with Nazuna and realizes that there are different sides and aspects of nightlife. It's not all so black and white.

  

  It's these small details that make the cast and world so charming and make you fall in love with the series.

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  Peace in Darkness

  This isn’t exactly a story for everyone, having themes ranging from eroticism to coming of age with rather chaotic pacing and an identity crisis, but it’s definitely fun as hell. It manages to give a vibe that I can relate to and love, focusing on the peacefulness and fun of nighttime and how truly freeing it can be. There have been moments in my life where the only time I could feel at ease from everyday worries and other people was at night. It’s only then that I could be in my own sanctuary and headspace, unbothered by anything or anyone else even if just for a moment and it’s truly comforting to know that I wasn’t the only one.

  
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• 

  haipa

  80/100
  I had so much fun reading this!

  This review is mostly spoiler free.

  Meeting a vampire in the dead of night sounds straight out of a horror story, but for Kou Yamori that couldn't be further from the truth. Meeting the vampire would give him an oppportunity to obtain a key to escape his boring daytime activities and into the exciting clutches of nighttime.

  For his plan to work, he would need to become a vampire. Luckily for him, Nazuna Nanakusa is one vampire that doesn't mind him to become her underling. The condition to become one is simple enough, Kou Yamori would have to fall in love with Nazuna Nanakusa.

  There's just one problem, Kou Yamori doesn't know how. Love and romance never made sense to him, dating a girl is just something Kou Yamori isn't interested in.

  But the problem seems simple enough to solve. Kou Yamori just had to learn to love Nazuna Nanakusa. If he can do that succesfully, then he would become a vampire and achieve his desire to live happily in the night.

  Here you have an inexperienced young boy trying to fall in love with a flirtatious vampire to fulfill his escapism wet dream. It doesn't sound very interesting, in fact it just sounds like a generic rom-com but with vampires! ... Which isn't entirely false, but hear me out when I say that this has been one of the most fun reads I've had in a very, very long while.

  

  If I can root out one aspect of the series that made it so fun to read, I would say it's how they potray the characters, with the dynamic duo of Kou and Nazuna taking the main stage.

  Describing the relationship these two lovebirds convey is similar to an exciting game of tennis that never ends. The story unfolds with Kou as a beginner player and Nazuna as a veteran, as Kou learns more about what it means to love, he inevitably gets better at hitting his shots, sometimes flustering the poor vampire with the rate of his improvement. The vampire doesn't give in though, as she also learns to fix her flawed techniques and add more tricks up her sleeve.

  This back-and-forth banter where they slowly but surely discover their wants, faults and desires throughout the story is just the cutest shit ever, seriously.

  What I also love about this series is the lack of any two-dimensional characters, sure tropes do exist but most if not all of the people we meet possess a side to them that gives a sense of character that makes them feel real, well, as real as a series about vampires and romance could be.

  Special mention, but if you like a brash, smug heroine with a witty sense of humor and a sprinkle of dirty jokes, you're in for a treat.

  

  So far I've talked high praise, but what about the cons?

  Honestly? I'm having a hard time thinking of anything that ticked me the wrong way. If I'm being very nitpicky, it sometimes have an identity crisis of switching between themes here and there, but other than that, I genuinely enjoy this.

  Before you read this, I highly recommend you do some digging and find a good translation of it. I've compared two translations and the one I've read had a good flow that made it very enjoyable to sit through, meanwhile the other one felt very stiff and awkward to read through. Thankfully, I lucked out on my first read.

  I came in expecting a simple romance with a vampiric twist but I came out with a banger of a read that's filled with banter, romance, drama, self-reflection and hot vampires. Possibly developed a new kink as well in the process, good shit.

  
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• 

  Benji302080

  80/100
  Vampires, Humans, and everything else brought together by the night

  At the time I am writing this I have just completed volume 7 I am not the biggest fan of reading things digitally, or reading fan translations and such so as the series is released and translated into physical copies my opinions can change, but for now, this is my review of Call of The Night (Yofukashi no Uta) by Kotoyama

  

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  Synopsis

  The story follows 14-year-old Ko Yamori who suffers from insomnia and is tired of everything, family, friends, school, so he escapes into the dim-lit street, pondering a multitude of thoughts where he bumps into a mysterious girl who he will soon discover a vampire named Nazuna Nanakusa who after tasting Ko's blood is taken aback by how delicious it is, and Ko longing for more experiences in the night decides to become a vampire and why not become one with the help of the one before him, but to get turned he has to fall in love with Nazuna and that's how the story of a vampire girl and a human boy begins.

  

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  Nighttime

  The thing that I feel is the most unique about this manga is that it fully takes place during nighttime, the night is a place where people don't care, you can go up to complete strangers and start up a conversation and give them a high five, the night is a place to mourn, to party, a place to do anything, as you are free from the expectations and responsibilities of the day. Each person has a special story to tell each with their reason for being out at this time, and this story highlights and captures the essence of nighttime giving an appreciation, peacefulness, and showing how fun the quiet, dark night can be through the events Nazuna and Ko go through.

  

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  Story

  I would describe the story as a rom-com between two individuals with little bits of action and mystery, Ko and Nazuna both have clear flaws and are both inexperienced in the world of love go on a journey of discovery finding out what love means, and what the difference is between friends and lovers. Aside from the main duo of the story what I enjoyed most was the side stories, Ko meets many new people, one of them a 24-year-old office worker who is tired of her job, co-workers, and putting on fake emotions note Ko is 14 and at first I was taken back by the age gaps shown in the story but with this, it enhances the story as it is able to explore the adult world and the teenage/student world all falling together under the night finding connections, and relatability, it also explores Ko and Nazuna's worlds, a human and a vampire, where instead of finding connections they differentiate from each other. Ko also reconnects with his old friends giving more insight into his past and their opinions on his decision to become a vampire supporting him along the way, but aside from all of this I love the vampires, their past, and why someone would choose to become a vampire other than love, in the end to me this story is about letting go, letting go of the stress, letting go of the past, and letting go of your humanity for something much better, freedom.

  

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  Cons

  I found it quite hard to find many things that rubbed me in the wrong way or something I highly disliked but it does like to jump around a lot with themes, and with the pacing, it can get quite chaotic, and some side stories did get me a little sidetracked, but I understand as the night is short and there are only a number things you can fit into a single night.

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  Conclusion

  In the end, it's not a manga for everyone, but the atmosphere, the interesting stories, characters, and worlds not held back by social differences and hierarchies, all able to collect together in the night. Somebody reading this manga could obtain some new fetish, and some people might enjoy the story for Nazuna's sex jokes, her face, and personality, but whatever it might be that pushes you to read it I do hope you give it a try, as it is a vampire story like no other. (it is late and I am tired, thank you for reading)

  
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