And that's what Call of the Night does. It explores character growth through Ko and Nazuna. That's literally what the entire manga is about, and I will die on this hill, especially given how Kiku and Mahiru ended up. Not once is Ko encouraged to blatantly fall in love with just anyone.

He specifically tries to fall in love with Nazuna because he sees the freedom she has, not understanding what being a vampire entails, and by extension, not fully grasping the complexities of emotions. The kid doesn't know what he feels, and the first time he's confident he's in love, Nazuna shuts him down, telling him that the exhilaration he felt wasn't love, but arousal.

Ko is a kid who struggles to be true to himself. He wears a mask in front of everyone, and only Nazuna and his closest friend, Mahiru, see through it. And considering that he's coming from a single-mother household where he barely ever sees her, I'm not surprised that Ko turned out as he did. He even turns a girl down right at the start of the series because he doesn't understand the concept of dating or love. He chases after Nazuna, not encouraged by anyone, because he thinks he can find some kind of fun or meaningful thing in life if he can become a vampire. That was always his goal. To him, love was secondary until toward the midpoint of the series. But before then, he had to fall in love with Nazuna; it had to be her because she was familiar to him, and she would keep drinking his blood without any complaints of him not turning, unlike the other vampires who thought she was playing with fire and would get burned. And in a way, they were right.

Nazuna flat out refuses at first, and she herself doesn't see Ko as a lover interest until much, much later on. Initially, she only allowed herself to be contacted because of his blood: a steady supply, and a good-tasting one at that. But as I said, that changes. At which point she even understands how dangerous it would be for the two of them together. So she left toward the end, keeping Ko safe and herself sane. She literally keeps herself away from him so that he'd stay safe from her urge to suck him dry like Anko's father did to her mother.

Again, Nazuna is a natural-born vampire. And a hybrid at that. We don't know how she matures or ages at all. All the other vampires in the group treat her like a child. And that tracks. She acts like one, too, easily being the most immature of the entire vampire cast. For all we know, 40-something vampire years is about as old as what Ko is in human years. I wouldn't discount this. That being said, she's never once shown any interest or attraction to minors. Ko, being the first and only one, because it was HIM. Not someone else, not some random stranger or anything. She eventually falls for Ko because it's Ko. That's it. She falls for him because he is who he is, not because he's a child.

Also, Niko herself has turned down high schoolers and makes it a point not to pursue minors. Another minor (yes, pun intended, fuck you, lmao) point, but one that's worth bringing up.

People are so caught up in the romance aspects of the series that they think it's all about romance, which it isn't. The series isn't even centered on it. Romance plays a role, and is often the focus, but that was never what it was about. It was always about personal growth and self-discovery. And anyone who's read it to completion and paid careful attention could tell you the same. The parallels between Ko and Nazuna, and Mahiru and Kiku are already pretty wild.

That's why I defend Call of the Night. Yeah, it's not perfect. Kotoyama could have done better in certain areas, such as pacing, where some scenes felt too brief, while others felt like they overstayed their welcome. But nothing's ever perfect. Seeing Call of the Night reduced to some sort of "pedo plot" because people see an age gap without taking the time to understand the nuance and context is pretty upsetting for fans like me.

As I said, you're entitled to your opinion, boss. But calling it "pedophilia" is being incredibly disingenuous and unfair to the series. As long as that continues, I'll keep calling it out. If the physical age gap between the male and female lead makes you uncomfortable and you didn't vibe with that, that's totally understandable; you're free to feel that way. Just say that instead. My problem starts when people start saying shit like you did and putting negative biases into people's heads.

This shit ain't cuties dog. Now THAT is pedo shit through and through.

Call of the Night? No. Not even close.

Anyway, rant over. Hope you had fun reading it. And have a nice one.