Everyone eventually will have problems to fall asleep. I had to decrease my coffee intake, but there are days something more subtle, complex and scary keeps me awake: Negative emotions about the life. Picture this: You had a so-called good day, got your stuff done and all, but something is wrong, but you cannot tell what. Maybe you did something that you shouldn't. Maybe you are not handling your routine. Maybe you are forgetting why you fight so hard every day. Discussing what it means to have a good day is a philosophical problem by itself. It would be too much of a hassle. Let's keep things simple and pay attention at Yofukashi no Uta.
When you go to bed tonight, will you be satisfied with your day? Yamori Kou didn't. Apparently he was doing well at school. Had friends. Good grades. But something feels off. He didn't find any fun, or more importantly, meaning to that boring stuff at school. Maybe he needs a change of pace? He has an idea as briliant as it's simple: It's late, I won't be sleeping either, let's have a little walk. And let me tell you, walking around at night in this anime/manga feels amazing.
Kou is relatable since before the first step out of his home. He accepts the Call of the Night, and it's about to open the door to a whole new world. The thrill of going outside at night for the first time run through his veins and the reader's. Even when he eventually forgets it, you can't help but imagine the wonders and dangers reserved to him. Fortunately, something good happens, when a girl named Nanakusa Nazuna finds him about to buy booze illegally. They walk together for the rest of the Night, as she show him the paths to a novel, irresistible lifestyle.
The Night of Yofukashi no Uta seems like an entity. The author nailed on capturing the freedom, a mysterious and adventurous fashion, otherwise pictured like scary and dangerous by other works. Let it be playing on a park, buying booze from a machine vendor or hi-fiving some drunk dudes almost falling on the pavement, the Night allows you to "release a part of yourself", said Nazuna. On top of that, all of these shenanigans are fairly simple to do. Their hangouts unmistifies and decomplicates the art of being authentic. It's only during the Night, in the Night, that you are allowed to be your real self. That feeling captivates me.
The urban spaces are something you see everyday, but never pay attention to it. Once you do, you start to appreciate it.
Nazuna has this nocturnal routine because she is a vampire. Kou, enchanted by the charms about the Night, starts desiring to also be a vampire. The problem is, apparently, a vampire can only make offspring if the one falls in love with it. The boy instantly accepts, which Nazuna finds it utterly vulgar and blushes. Nazuna being pure even though she likes dirty jokes is a very welcomed gap moe, because it is in line with one of my all-time favorite anime: Seitokai Yakuindomo (will get a post somewhere in the future). Yamori Kou having his social limitations even though he was fairly sociable is a refreshing concept, meaning even though you are around people does not mean you don't have problems. This helps to ground the character, making him feel more relatable.
Every single one of us would like to have a peaceful sleep. While you cannot have a silver-haired vampire waifu to suck your blood, you can have that little lesson on life on vol. 1. When you go to bed tonight, will you be satisfied with your day? Taking one day at a time it's not a wrong way to live. Nazuna and Kou invites us to live like them, and that does not mean the completely giving up long-term goals, Kou wants to be a vampire too after all. It means living at our own pace, experimenting, finding the things we actually like to do, our passions. Keeping moments to take care of ourselves.
Whether our Night is metaphorical or literal, perhaps, by doing this, maybe we get to know ourselves better.