Call of the Night

Episode 9

The garlic-averse gal Seri sits at the center of Call of the Night's most emotionally gnarled character arc yet. We get our first real look into the interiority of a vampire who isn't named Nazuna, and despite their violent proclivities towards each other, she and Seri turn out to be more alike than either of them would prefer to admit. Because feelings are messy no matter how pointy your canines are. The tension between friendship and romance has always been a main thematic concern of the series, even in its silliest moments. That sometimes fuzzy border between the two is, after all, the main thing Ko seeks to understand and traverse on his journey to vampiredom. But Seri and Akiyama's karaoke confrontation is the first time Call of the Night really sinks its teeth into the struggles of one's heart, and the blood it draws is dark and rich.

Seri, fundamentally, is not happy. While Ko saw through her outwardly chipper demeanor the first time they met, this episode gives us a clearer idea of her depression's specifics. Similar to Nazuna, she's disaffected with the tenets of vampire society, but unlike Nazuna, she still feels an obligation to acquiesce to them. Our societies exert pressure on us whether we're living or undead. They're huge, complicated, self-reinforcing systems that are nearly impossible to escape. Even Nazuna's laidback rebellion was met with violence from her peers, and the terrible irony is that the opening salvo came from a peer who was similarly suffering. Being the way she is, Seri's internal conflict manifests as external fisticuffs. It's no surprise at all, then, that she decides murder is the best rebuttal for Akiyama's annoyances this week.

It's also important to note what those pressures are and how Seri thinks she needs to accommodate them. She has to find food. She has to make offspring. While these are basic biological impulses, the how of them stems almost entirely from culture. Nature doesn't tell Seri to subconsciously flirt with anything that bears a pulse. She was taught that to survive, but survival alone is frequently miserable. Look at the cynical way she opens the episode. She isn't dressing like a high school girl; she's dressing like the fictional idealized concept of a high school girl that exists in the collective unconscious. If you'll allow me to strip away some of the vampire symbolism, she's performing in a way that society expects women to perform. Women are supposed to be sexy, flirtatious, and obsessed with romance. She is judged on her capability to woo a partner. She has no other value. With all those twisted expectations rotting in her mind, of course Seri is miserable.

Furthermore, this explains why Seri took such an interest in Nazuna and Ko's relationship. They have something that goes against and transcends the usual vampire-human bond. It's not adversarial. It's not a romance. It's definitely a lot more intimate than your average friendship, but it's a friendship nonetheless—a friendship with benefits, if you would. While it's still complicated and prone to conflict, it's warm and rewarding, and it gives both Nazuna and Ko something to hold onto as fellow outcasts. That's all Seri wants. And if she can't have that, she at least wants a sympathetic ear she can talk to about it. It's cute to watch Seri work through her hangups in her typically aggressive fashion, but this episode finally gives her the depth she deserves, as she lowers her defenses and allows herself to be wistful and melancholy around Ko. Without saying as much, she accepts his offer of friendship.

And, as we learn, Seri does have another friend of her own. Kinda. Akiyama's role here is fun, because he's introduced as this dangerous creeper, but steadily gains insight and depth the more Ko talks to him—more or less the same M.O. the show used with Seri. Obviously, the message here is not that all stalkers are just misunderstood, but rather more specifically that romantic feelings can fester without open communication and mutual vulnerability. Falling in love with a friend isn't something either party has control over. If they did, Ko would be a vampire already. So it's neither Seri's nor Akiyama's fault that things got awkward, but what they can control, and what they do have a responsibility towards, is how they handle it from there. And in that regard, they both screwed up. Seri blamed herself and gave into hopelessness, and Akiyama went off the deep end into obsessiveness. Prior to that point, they had forged a bond that could have weathered some tough conversations, but instead of showing their weaknesses to each other, they gave into their weaknesses individually. Until Ko prods and pushes them back together, that is.

True to that aforementioned sometimes fuzzy border between friendship and romance, I really like the ambiguity of their resolution too. Akiyama accepts Seri as a vampire, and Seri accepts Akiyama as her offspring. Does that mean they're lovers now, or are they still just friends? I don't think either of them knows at this point, and that isn't the point to begin with. What matters is that they were honest with each other, and whatever their future together is, they will be together to face that future. The tenderness of Seri sucking Akiyama's blood out of his arm is all the resolution they need right now.

I'm sorry for hyperfocusing on Seri and nothing else in this episode review, but the truth is I love her character a lot, and I'm very happy to see the anime do her arc justice. A gal who suffers from ennui is a powerful enough concept on its own, yet Call of the Night takes it a step further and gives Seri pathos, catharsis, and a place in the series' overall thematic ambitions. I can see myself in her. I look up to Nazuna and Ko rebellious excursions, but I most truly relate to Seri's depressive guilt—the feeling of being stretched thin between her purported duty and her honest desires. While the silly vampire slacker antics and distinct flavor of horniness are definitely strong draws for Call of the Night, it continues to surprise and delight me with its frank writing on complex feelings.

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Call of the Night is currently streaming on HIDIVE.

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