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- "I wanted to kill you. Of course, my father was wrong for falling in love with you with a family around... But that doesn't mean I was able to understand that. I've only been thinking about killing you for the past ten years. Now, I... 'Revenge or whatever, doesn't matter...'"
- ―Kyouko Mejiro to Kiku Hoshimi[src]
Kyouko Mejiro (
Ten years after her investigations began, Anko encountered Kou Yamori, a teenager who Anko was aware had been friends with Nazuna.
So far, she is the only human who managed to kill a vampire, although the amount she has managed to kill is unknown.
Appearance[]
Anko has brown hair, which she partially ties to a bun or ponytail, and brown, lusterless eyes, over which she wears round glasses that belonged to her father.
Her primary outfit consists of a beige trench coat, under which she wears a dark turtleneck t-shirt, a black skirt with a zipper, and light-brown boots with heels. She wears black gloves that cover half of one hand each. Later, she wears her coat less frequently and cuts her hair short, making it resemble the haircut she had in the past.
As a teenager, Anko wore a baggy blue seifuku while going to school. Her regular outfit was the same as her current one. In her youth, her pupils were more frequently visible and her eyes generally had more light in them as opposed to her vacant eyes in the present. Her facial expressions also tended to be more lively.
On Halloween, she wore two different costumes as a disguise, first dressed like a grim reaper and then like a policewoman. [1]
Gallery[]
Miscellaneous
Personality[]
Anko is a very straightforward, observant, and sociable woman with a primarily casual attitude who enjoys messing around with others; however she can change her mood in the blink of an eye and quickly unsettle someone, either by becoming completely serious or displaying the more unstable side of her personality. In the latter case, it becomes apparent that she isn't fully sane.
Her profession aside, Anko doesn't strictly keep herself within the bounds of law, as evidenced by her owning a handgun and a butterfly knife, as well as not reporting Kou for working illegally under Nazuna's snooze shop. She explained in her youth that she cares less if something is "just", but whether it goes against her personal beliefs.
As a teenager, Kyouko Mejiro was a loner, though still well-adjusted. She was a member of the literature club and preferred spending her free time in the club's room, where she frequently read books, being particularly interested in detective stories. However, she was disillusioned with the profession and knew detectives such as those she read about in crime novels were an exaggeration, whereas in actuality they were mostly hired for cases far less important or interesting. Kyouko had issues with men and rejected a boy who asked her out, with the boy leaving in tears, but she was very open about her attraction to girls. Underneath the surface, Kyouko was highly affected by her toxic household and liked to stay at school until late at night for that reason.
Anko enjoys hurting Akihito.
One of her most defining traits was her hatred for vampires. She was extremely ruthless and determined to wipe them out, exhibiting sociopathic behavior. Her actions were sometimes noted to be reckless, having little regard for her own life or well-being, such as when she attacked two vampires head-on. Anko often showed little to no empathy when injuring them and was even shown to be somewhat sadistic and psychotic, such as when she maniacally laughed while repeatedly stabbing Akkun in the gut[2].
Anko plans on taking her life.
Later in the story when Anko lost this hatred for vampires, she began to realize that she was a scarred woman, one who had spent her entire youth on hatred and killing, even wanting to die while taking all vampires with her. Her enmity gave her a purpose in life, one that she was only able to keep by taking out her anger against one vampire on all vampires. Anko had regular suicidal thoughts but was afraid of dying, and used her anger to give herself a reason to live[3]. After her plan failed, she described herself as "an empty shell" since she could no longer keep up her anger, calling herself a "boring woman who has gained nothing but age."
Anko has difficulty following a conversation while staring at Susuki's body.
Anko also has a goofy side that is shown on some occasions, for example, early on in the story when she genuinely thinks that Kou wants to be in a relationship with her, and subsequently feels awkward when she turns out to be incorrect[4]. When drunk, she occasionally makes dirty jokes and becomes a "sexually harassing geezer." Kou once even remarks that she attempts to strike a dramatic pose whenever he enters her office. Anko is serious about romance, and is starved for a romantic relationship. She is attracted to both men and women, including children of middle school age. She has little to no self-control when staring at female bodies.
Anko after being brought back on solid ground.
Dissimilar to someone like Kou Yamori, who quickly becomes accustomed to flying while getting carried by vampires, Anko appears to have acrophobia; in the two instances that she was in the air alongside a vampire, she reacted with extreme fear, and her legs shook uncontrollably after landing.
After getting a new chance in life, Anko gave up hunting vampires, feeling completely exhausted and regretting her actions for a variety of reasons, even sincerely apologizing to Nico Hirata for shooting her. Adjusting to a normal life felt difficult for Anko as she never experienced anything an average adult would, like friends and romance. While she isn't interested in killing vampires after choosing to turn her life around, Anko feels homey in an abnormal life, being determined to find Kiku Hoshimi and help Kou. After the Halloween incident, Anko became more of a calmed-down analyst who often makes blunt and sarcastic remarks. She still doesn't value her own life much, remarking that any vampire intending to kill her is "free to come."
Despite giving up on revenge, Anko still hadn't healed from her trauma and harbored pent-up frustrations, longing for some satisfaction she couldn't get. After confronting the person who caused her trauma, she spent some more time closing that chapter of her life for good. Eventually, Anko decided she had no purpose in her hometown anymore and decided to go to Vietnam with Susuki to learn more about the vampires there, saying that it was uncertain whether she would return home. Despite this, Kyouko would eventually return to Japan, but the exact location therein is unknown[5].
Relationships[]
Family[]
Allies[]
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Enemies[] |
Notable Relationships[]
Nazuna Nanakusa[]
When Anko attended school at night as Kyouko Mejiro, Nazuna entered the literature club room, and Anko welcomed her in. One of her first interactions with Nazuna was almost kissing her while she was asleep. Despite spending most of her time alone, Anko was friendly and welcoming towards Nazuna, and they quickly became friends, with Anko even displaying sexual attraction towards Nazuna.
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"Help me..."
Anko would recommend books to her. She was often baffled by Nazuna's personality and lack of common knowledge, playing an essential role in shaping Nazuna into the person she became later. Soon, she would entrust very personal information to her, like her father having an affair, and they would investigate it together. Nazuna revealed to her that she was a vampire not long after. Anko eventually broke down in tears because of her pent-up frustrations regarding her family and begged Nazuna for help.
Nazuna tried to make Anko her first servant but couldn't because Anko wasn't in love with her. They wanted to meet again, but after Anko's father turned into a vampire and destroyed her family, she became resentful of Nazuna and left her after a short exchange.
They wouldn't see each other for the next ten years. When they met again, they engaged in small talk regarding their current lives, the conversation marked by an underlying sadness from both parties.
When she met her on Halloween, Anko attacked Nazuna and brutally injured her, including shooting her in the eye. She told Nazuna to stop meeting with Kou as she felt sorry for him and then intentionally tried to bait Nazuna into killing her by threatening to kill Kou. After her plan got exposed, she confessed to Nazuna that if anyone were to kill her, Anko hoped it would be her. Later, after Kou was hospitalized, the two met on the rooftop of the building. Anko told Nazuna that she genuinely wanted to love her but couldn't.
Afterward, they made up and became friends again. Their dynamic became very similar to the one they had in the past, and Anko still lusts over Nazuna.
Kou Yamori[]
Anko and Kou first met when he was scouting for potential customers for Nazuna's snooze shop and approached her. Anko teased him by saying he was hitting on her and expressed interest in Kou. She explained that she doesn't necessarily follow the law and, therefore, wouldn't report Kou to the authorities, despite the illegal nature of Kou's job. After talking more, Anko quickly noticed that Kou knew something about Akkun's case but left the place after initially scaring him. She would appear at Kou's school, where she killed a vampire in front of him. Anko knew Kou was dreaming of becoming a vampire, berating him for it since she believed all vampires cause suffering.
Anko offers her body to Kou.
Anko explained that she didn't want to hurt him but would be forced to if he remained loyal to Nazuna and said she would protect him from other vampires, offering him to "use her however he wishes." She repeatedly teased him and is genuinely interested in a relationship with him.
Despite threatening to kill him, Anko cares a lot about Kou. She pretended to invite him to her location so she could kill him in order to provoke Nazuna into attacking her but actually sent Kou a message meant to be her last will. In the message, she told him not to look for her and to stay away from vampires. Anko believed that, just like her, he won't be able to turn into one and that he's still young, with a long life ahead of him, even if he remains human. After accidentally shooting Kou, Anko was distraught and started to cry.
After Kou woke up in a hospital and got discharged, Anko apologized for telling him he might be missing the emotion of love, reassuring him that his love for Nazuna was genuine. While drunk, she requested to sleep with Kou. They talked about what defines an adult, and Anko forced Kou to lie next to her. She told him how living a normal life was difficult and cried into his chest.
Relief after Kou comes back from Kyouichi's memories.
After they returned from Hokkaido, she invited Kou to a sushi place to cheer him up, comforting him while they enjoyed their food. She then asked him to accompany her to Kiku's former hideout since she felt scared going there alone. Upon discovering a fridge that contained her father's blood, the detective knew a vampire had to drink it to access its memories, but didn't consider Kou as an option and only accepted the latter's offer after he insisted on drinking it. Anko was stressed about Kou's well-being and was relieved when he came back from the memory trip.
Kiku Hoshimi[]
Kiku was the source of Kyouko's trauma and the person who ruined her life, also being the cause of Kyouko's hatred for vampires in general. She developed an obsession with Kiku, so much so that she lost track of her emotions, chasing her for ten years. She was unable to understand Kiku and wanted to know what she was thinking before killing her, but her investigation left more questions than answers. One night, Kiku confronted Anko in her own office, leaving her frightened.
"Who are you?"
After the Halloween incident, Anko wanted to give up on her chase but changed her mind after being persuaded by Kou and Nazuna. While unsure if she wanted to kill her anymore, Anko still wanted to confront Kiku. When meeting her, Anko revealed that her feelings hadn't changed and threw knives at Kiku, piercing her hand. She knew that she couldn't kill her but still did it because she felt annoyed. She proceeded to pour out her bottled-up emotions and tell Kiku everything she had wanted to say for the past decade, breaking down in front of her. Kiku started to remember her name and told her the location of her former hideout, a place related to her father, and apologized. Those words made Anko let go of Kiku and watch her walk away.
Abilities[]
- Detective skills: As a detective, she is very skilled in finding information about specific people and even stalking them. Whether through deduction or investigation, she described Kou's life and personality with frightening accuracy, including small, trivial details.
- Knowledge of vampires: Having spent 10 years hunting vampires, she has gained a decent amount of knowledge about them, though there are gaps; for example, she didn't know that vampires could faze through solid objects until Hatsuka Suzushiro demonstrated said ability. Because of her father's death, she knows of their weakness, which is touching something from their human pasts. Even without killing them, she knows of a few ways to survive an encounter with them.
- Weapon proficiency: She knows how to use throwing knives effectively and used them to attack Kiku Hoshimi. She also knows how to wield a gun, owning a revolver.
- Foul-tasting blood: Since she got her blood sucked by a vampire ten years before the story started and didn't turn into one, it's now impossible for her to become a servant, which makes her blood repulsive for any vampire who tries to suck it. She is aware of this and uses it to her advantage.
Trivia[]
- Like a few characters in Call of the Night, Anko resembles a character from Kotoyama's previous work Dagashi Kashi. Specifically, she resembles Hajime Owari.
- Anko is currently the only known human who knows how to kill a vampire.
- Her raincoat and smoking habit are likely inspired by the titular protagonist of the TV show Columbo.
- Her half-gloves are inspired by gloves used for drawing on tablets, likely stemming from Kotoyama's background as an artist.
- According to Anko, her feet are swollen because of her job.
- Because of her smoking habit, she has very short stamina, quickly running out of breath.
- In her youth, Anko had fights with the boys at school.
- Her revolver can also serve as a lighter.
- She doesn't like drinking alcohol since she gets drunk easily.
- After Kou and Nazuna, Anko is the character who appears on most volume covers, being the main focus on four and featured on two more.
- Anko has terrible eyesight and can't recognize a person without her glasses unless they are very close to her.
Quotes[]
- (To Kou) "And hey, you might as well properly hit on me next time, okay? If you don't mind older women, that is." [6][7]
- (To herself) "Dad...had some shitty eye-sight..." [8]
- (To Kou) "Living normally is hard" [9]
References[]
- ↑ Call of the Night Manga: Chapter 85
- ↑ Call of the Night Manga: Chapter 55
- ↑ Stated by Kyouko herself in Manga: Chapter 93.
- ↑ Call of the Night Manga: Chapter 43
- ↑ Chapter 200.
- ↑ Call of the Night Manga: Chapter 36
- ↑ Call of the Night Anime: Episode 11
- ↑ Call of the Night Manga: Chapter 82
- ↑ Call of the Night Manga: Chapter 97