A boy who cannot sleep meets a vampire, and to become one he first has to fall in love with her.
Call of the Night is a romance about walking around at night, and we think no anime has made the empty city look this good. It is funny, a little strange and warm in a way vampire stories rarely are.
The premise - A boy who cannot sleep
Ko Yamori is in middle school, has stopped going to class and cannot sleep. One night he slips out to walk the empty streets and meets Nazuna Nanakusa, a vampire who loves the night as much as he does.
He asks her to turn him. There is one condition: a human only becomes a vampire by falling in love with the one who bites him.
Why it works - The night is the main character
Tomoyuki Itamura, a director from the Monogatari series, fills LIDENFILMS' city with neon blues, purples and empty vending machines, and makes a convenience store at 3 a.m. feel like an adventure.
Creepy Nuts, whose song gave Kotoyama's manga its title, perform both theme songs, and their music is the night's heartbeat.
The verdict - One night is enough to know
The first season, from 2022, is thirteen easy episodes. It is a romance where neither side knows what love is supposed to feel like, and it never hurries them.
Watch the first episode late, with the lights off. If you stay up for a second one, you are in.
Where to watch
Call of the Night was listed on HIDIVE, Amazon Prime Video and Hulu in the USA when we last checked, in October 2026. Catalogues change by country and by month, so check the service where you are.
Shop the Call of the Night collection
Liked Call of the Night? This is where it leaves the screen: every Call of the Night design we carry, in one place.
Source: the Anime Crush Anime Guide.
