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. 

Anime Review: "Triage X"

It’s 2021. I’m at home. My Crohn’s disease is flaring, and I’m debating on whether it’s safe or not to go to the emergency room because Covid-19 is still quite widespread, and despite being vaccinated, the risk of infection is still there, especially with new variants on the rise. Health care workers are setting their safety aside to do battle on the front line in order to treat those who suffer and keep the general public safe. Given this current state of events, I thought it was only right that I should watch Triage X, an R+, hardcore echi series created by the character designer from Highschool of the Dead, Satou Shouji, which stars a varied cast of buxom women (and a token guy they can fawn over), who live as doctors and nurses by day, but by night, don their hidden personas as Black Label: a vigilante group of super-spy, ninja-assassins that move under the command  of a genius surgeon. Their mission – to purge the world of the many cancers that plague society (with bullets, swords, and explosives).

Let’s be blunt. You will watch this show for the medical theme, just as much as you watch High School of the Dead for the parts with the zombies.  The veneer of medical atmosphere around it plays out more like weird fetish cosplay than it works practically to set up plot, character backstory, or setting. In fact, the plot of the series is bad, no, it may actually be pretty terrible. Not only that, but by the end of the series, the story doesn’t actually give you any closure, instead setting up for a future OVA, or maybe a season 2 (lord knows if it’ll get one, but you never know). So not only is the story bad, it’s incomplete. That’s a major deal breaker for me when it comes to anime, even if the show is just an echi one.

The characters, and their backstories, were confused, and filled with the standard tired tropes. Several of them didn’t even get a backstory at all (maybe we’ll learn about them in the sequel). One of the characters doesn’t seem to have any tie-in to the rest of the team, from what I could tell, and works as an Idol and TV star by day. My best guess was that she was added to the cast by the series creator to fill a certain character archetype, and he thought, “Meh, why not, make her an idol, that’ll sell well with this demographic.”

Honestly, the plot behind the scenes for both the story and characters is pretty much garbage.

But honestly, you’re not watching this series for the plot, just like you’re not watching it for the medical drama. You’re watching it because you’re highly cultured and you’re interested in the PLOT i.e. the sexy ladies. In this case, the PLOT of the show is very attractive, mostly focused, in extreme close-up on the boobs (sasuga Satou-sensei). All the women have massive assets, which have been painstakingly animated with more care than some entire series will ever get (looking at some of the newer releases, it’s really quite painful). The series is presented in a fully uncensored version, as well as the “safe for TV” one, so of course I watched the home video release, because nobody needs weird beams of light, or dark black boxes all over their screen when they’re watching anime.

I saw someone comment the other day on twitter, “that show is entirely carried by the fan-service”, and generally people replied that yea, of course it is. “It’s an echi series, what do you expect?” At the time, they weren’t talking about Triage X, but I think the same argument applies here. If you’re watching this show, you’re watching it for the lewd jiggle physics, not the story, and not the action.

That being said, the action was actually really good. The guns were shooty, the swords were swingy, and the explosions possessed sufficient boom. The chase scenes on motorcycle, and fight scenes were all well-choreographed, taking into account the best way for each of the women to show off her character design. The male lead, was actually not a wet blanket. He was likable, in a serious, “let’s get down to business” kind of way.

At the end of the day, I don’t really recommend this show. It’s in the category of anime you probably watch when you’re horny, and alone, or bored and have nothing else to do, and that doesn’t really have much going for it other than the eye candy; the overly serious tone of it, combined with all the sexual abuse in the plot, just kinda kills the mood. If that doesn’t deter you though, the series is out legally on multiple streaming platforms such as Crunchyroll and Hidive.

*****

Please note, in all seriousness, support your health care professionals who are putting their lives on the line in the fight against Covid. That shit is getting absolutely out of hand. Wear a mask, get vaccinated. Don't be a dick.