ANN Buried Treasure article. (Read it. It's good!)

Only the bubble economy could've made this. It's one of those things that just wouldn't get made currently because anime studios have gotten a bit more conservative than throwing money into a suspiciously flame-filled pit just in case it might possibly lead to a huge hit. There's nothing about Call me Tonight that seems to even remotely suggest economic success. Call me Tonight seems to come from an anthology of likewise poor ideas, such as the hentai-that-wasn't Body Jack. Considering they also funded the shoddy Cosmos Pink Shock, AIC was apparently determined to pursue bad ideas.

So could Call me Tonight be a pearl among swine? Ehh. Consider it more of a novelty than anything. The linked Buried Treasure article covers the themes quite well so I won't regurgitate them here, but on the execution question, I find this a bit wanting. Or rather, overly aggressive with its premise, thrusting its point in your face while loudly whispering in your ear: "Get it? Huh? Ya get it?" It reveals a lack of deftness on the part of the writer. Although to be fair it's not like some other films I could name where everything stops so characters can monologue at length on their pet causes. But it's still a fault.

As Sevakis notes, this has aged, and not too gracefully. You will not be able to shake the reality that this is old and was not particularly technically great for its time, either. Which leaves something a bit visually dull and antiquated, and it doesn’t hold up much better in the audio department, either.

So just why is anime and manga so sex-negative? Goodness me if these mediums aren’t libido-charged while also simultaneously fearful, reproachful and patriarchal about sex. So often sex is either depicted in the aesthetic of or literally as assault. Sex in anime and manga harms. Physically, emotionally, socially, you are not allowed to simply have enjoyable sex. And I do not mean this as a knock against those who enjoy things a bit rougher and kinkier (Shine on, you crazy diamonds). That’s not what this is. This is about the inherent negative valuation of sex and sexuality. A woman who enjoys sex? A vile slut. Consider how often female antagonists are also promiscuous, just to show an additional layer of their awfulness as opposed to the pure madonna that is the female protagonist. Males who enjoy sex tend to fare better, but not necessarily positively. Ah, well, maybe I should save it for a blog post or something before I entirely derail this. But it does relate back to Call me Tonight, of course, which you’d grasp if you’d read the Sevakis piece in the first place like you were asked to. But it’s just a thought just like how My Little Monster brought a bubble to the surface that, like I’m now realizing for this one, had to be popped elsewhere because it extends beyond this work and it’s better to just separate it off than go on about it here any longer than I have already.

Shifting off that point for now, Call me Tonight just isn’t particularly good. Once you unquestionably get its message, it’s just a largely dull ~30 minute wink. I see your pastiche, Call me Tonight, but I don’t see you taking it anywhere very interesting. Because outside of your core theme, there’s not much. And that’s what Call me Tonight is: not much. Not much action, not much interesting animation, not much humor, not much plot, not much worth watching. You won’t necessarily regret it if you go in only expecting a minor curio, but doesn’t your time have better uses?

Meh.