About:
Warning:
This review will contain spoilers for the manga and anime series He Calls Me Every Night. While the manga may vary slightly from all other forms of media, it may have similar story elements and could be considered spoilers.
Content Warning: There may be references to incest, dubcon, noncon, mentions of male pregnancy, death, murder, blood, ableism, arranged marriage, age gap, social gap, power imbalance, grooming, divorce, cheating (not between the main couple), child abuse, child neglect, child abandonment, confinement, enslavement, war, violence, kidnapping, gossiping, attempted statutory rape, pedophilia, sexual assault, animal abuse, bullying, self-harm, strained familial relationships, manipulation, prejudice, altering memories, mentions of religion, BDSM (including dangerous and forced), arson, as they appear in the manga.
Synopsis:
Sumito Tokitsu has returned to his rural hometown after being sent to his grandmother’s house to attend school while his father works back in the city. He isn’t excited or upset, having very little recollection of his time there, and his relationship with his parents is tenuous at best. But his relationship with his grandma is very close, and he’s glad to be doted on for a change. Unfortunately, his peaceful days are followed by less-than-peaceful nights. When he leaves his window open one night, he ends up with an uninvited guest. The guest doesn’t seem to want to steal or hurt Sumito, but he has an odd obsession with touching him instead. What’s even stranger is how much Sumito enjoys their nightly romps.
The village Sumito has returned to praise a being known as the crow demon. It’s a silly story that Sumito doesn’t put much stock in until he meets his nightly visitor at school. The stranger introduces himself as Gaku, the next head of the crow demons. Sumito quickly dismisses such a claim, even as Gaku shows off his wings. But after some magical nudging, Sumito has no choice but to accept that crow demons are real. However, what he can’t accept is that, by Gaku’s claim, Sumito is his fiancee. Sumito has no intention of marrying a strange demon, but as a love rival makes himself known, Sumito finds himself wanting to defend his unwanted position; all the while, his body reacts to Gaku like it knows something Sumito doesn’t.
Review:
First off, the art is nice. It’s very smooth with very soft shading. I wouldn’t say the style is unique or perfectly consistent, but there are really stunning panels. Plus, the grandma? Precious. I love how small and tiny she is, adding a nice level of humor to this story, which gets very dark as we go along, but we’ll discuss that later. Overall, if you want pretty art, albeit inconsistent at times, look no further. I liked it enough to find some stands and order them if that tells you anything. Be on the lookout for my future BL hauls to see the physical merch I got for this title.
While it may not appear like it, this is a major age gap title. As a crow demon, Gaku is much older than Sumito. I love age gaps, don’t get me wrong, but only between consenting adults. As it’s eventually depicted, Gaku actually met Sumito when he was a small child, and though Gaku took the form of a child, too, he very much was not. It gives super grooming vibes, which gives me the ick. I can understand Gaku caring for little Sumito and wanting to protect him, but going through a brief pairing ceremony with him when he’s barely a grade-schooler just felt icky to me. That’s not to say it wasn’t cute, as they are both depicted as children, giving it a very sweet and innocent tone, but knowing that it is an adult under the guise of a child with an actual child just makes it super uncomfy. I wish it had been truly between two children, as I love this concept, but I don’t find this particular depiction of it meets my tastes.
I also found it somewhat disconcerting how drastically different the tone of the first story is from the second. While the first isn’t necessarily the sweetest and fluffiest thing in the world, it is much lighter than the second, and they bleed into each other. Not necessarily timeline-wise, but as far as the structure of this series goes, you go from the end of the first story with the two having their fluffy happily ever after to immediate rape, torture, and violence. It’s very shocking. I’m not necessarily bothered by those things, but I imagine the sudden tonal shift would be a lot for most readers. I actually really like the distinct differences in tone, as I think it fits with each set of characters, their personalities, their experiences, and their goals, but I almost feel like they should’ve been separate series. Just be warned, if you finish the first story, prepare yourself to be thrown into some darkness without warning.
Moving on, this has something I love to see: mpreg. Of course, as an mpreg fanatic, any time it’s mentioned in a series, I’m excited. That does have the unfortunate side effect of raising my expectations, as I immediately crave pregnancy, birth, and child-rearing content. Both couples mention pregnancy, but it ends before we get to see anything from either of them, which hurts my soul. The first couple mentions the possibility of pregnancy with no pregnancy, which was actually appreciated since this was the couple between the adult and the teen. The second couple, though, actually had a pregnancy announcement, which I was excited about, but then the series ended. I can’t tell you how hurt I was not to see their little birdy baby, whatever it might be. They had gone through so much pain and suffering together that I wanted nothing more than to see them break the cycle of abandonment and neglect from their parents with their own child, but alas. No baby. If you have to have a baby in your mpreg to be satisfied, this is going to hurt your feelings.
However, something I do adore about this is the foreshadowing. It’s very, very subtle, and I honestly failed to see it all my first time reading this, but upon reading it for the review… wow. It’s eventually revealed that Nibi was a baby crow that Sumito tried to help, but before that, we see some super sweet intimacy from them that really doesn’t make much sense without this added context. There are, of course, moments where Sumito seems to almost remember something but can’t, calling back to his memory being taken from him. But maybe the most subtle is Sho’s haircut and relationship with Kaname. We randomly see them together, intimately close, despite Kaname clearly being a crow, unlike Sho. Then, with Sho’s hair, one of his eyes is constantly covered, seeming to be a stylistic design choice, only for it to be a key plot point in the second story. I love that it all culminates in Sho’s greatest scheme, taking over both the crow and demon clans, inadvertently putting Kaname back in his rightful place as head of the crows, getting his revenge, and solidifying his role as head of the demons. It’s all very subtly done, so the story of the first and the second lines up very well together.
Results:
I actually really like this. It has some elements that I’m not a fan of, but I think the narrative’s overall structure is solid. I do think this could’ve benefited from being split into separate titles, but I don’t think the reveal of the subtle foreshadowing would have been as strong if that were the case. The change in tone can be jarring, and I’m not a fan of the age gap between the first couple, but there are so many things I like about this one that I just can’t dislike it. Ultimately, I recommend this one.
Have you read He Calls Me Every Night? If so, what do you think? Do you agree with my assessment? Do you not? Let me know, and comment below!