Nozoki Ana

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"Nozoki Ana" is a decent adult style romance drama that's has copious amounts of hentai scenes and overall good writing but suffers from a main protagonist who is an insufferable wimp and emotional/psychological overtones that are frankly immature and incomprehensible.

The problem is actually quite simple - The mangaka could not figure out a way to draw out the romance between the two leads without having them act like idiots. Okay, mostly it's the male lead acting like an idiot, but veteran manga readers will know exactly what I'm talking about.

That being said, it's not all bad. There are some parts that are interesting, but ... there are also a lot of parts that are pointless sex scenes in terms of plot and frankly kind of boring for their "h content". If you're going to have a pointless sex scene, at least make it good, right?

If you can stomach a male lead that is probably the pinnacle of the typical shonen wuss protagonist, and I'm not saying this lightly, he's a complete waste, then you might get a decent amount of enjoyment out of this manga - but chances are you'll probably be perplexed at phenomena as to why he can't seemingly shove a 80lb japanese girl off him, or how he has the inability to say things like "Hey, get away from me!"

Nozoki Ana is a manga that at first seems like a typical erotic manga that takes every opportunity to show nudity and bouncing boobs all the time.
And when you start reading it you realize that it really seems to be like that.

I'm not going to lie, I had to have a lot of patience to really get interested in the story, as it takes its time to form the personalities and characteristics of each of the characters.
But always including the occasional sex scene in between, so I didn't quite connect with the characters when some of the sex scenes sometimes seemed convenient and stupid.

The hole ... plot is something that is dealt with during almost the whole work (besides having a quite important background for Emiru's character) and including the espionage theme from the beginning of the work, it is what forms the main axis of the whole manga.

Mind you, the main romance is so slow probably because of how strangely poorly written the protagonist is and how some situations force him to act like someone idiotic and cowardly.

And because it's these situations that conveniently provoke the erotic scenes. The protagonist gives the impression of a guy who doesn't act even though he himself knows that what he is doing is wrong.

Still, Nozoki Ana makes use of its "Erotica" genre to deal with themes such as infidelity, physical/psychological abuse, toxic relationships, homosexuality, etc. and it is these that save the story a little.

Although that doesn't take away from the fact that certain parts of the manga have unnecessary drama that if avoided could have made this journey a little more enjoyable.

If you came looking for a manga specifically to look at +18 stuff you'll probably enjoy this work. But if you came to this manga thinking to read some romance combined with psychological themes (like me) then it's ok....

But don't get your hopes up.

[Spoiling content free but will set some flags]

There isn't another story I've read so far that has made me rub my head as hard as I've had than Nozoki Ana. I am sorry for not seeing this through to the end but I really can't and don't want to read another page any time soon, and I'm going to explain why with this review.



Nozoki Ana isn't an average ecchi or rather, hentai manga. The author seems to have the plot thought out well and it was fairly engaging, originally. For the first 40 or so chapters (about half of all I've read), I was able ... to occasionally predict how the major events would turn out and I think this is mostly due to the main character - Kido being somewhat easy to relate. I felt for him, our emotions were in tune and we both saw exactly where he had made bad decisions. That's all good because I find this synchronisation enjoyable, as if I'm in his mind.


Up to this point, the Story is fair. As I've mentioned before, it was sad to watch his mistakes unfold into disasters but there's always some comforting at the end. The characters are fine, I could relate to Kido's thoughts. His friends are lacking in presence but can easily be overlooked anyway. The center is always Kido, his peeping neighbour (unpredictably troublesome) and his love/sex interest (always lovable). So far it's enjoyable and I've spent whatever free time I have to continue reading.


From somewhere in chapter 40-50 to beyond, the story brighten up well and it really dragged me into it further. Tears of joy were shedded, for an ecchi manga. I was so glad to be reading this. I was loving it, so very much. Whether it's the story where problems were satisfyingly resolved or the relationship between the characters being strengthen.



However, however, I really really regret reading past around chapter 75-80. Maybe I should've read some reviews before I read the manga but I didn't. If you haven't read past those chapters yet, I beg you to please stop around here. Sorry, I might just be reflecting too much of my own dread into this review but if you are not too well versed with dread, please do not read past chapter 80. I'm going to start explaining without revealing too much now.


To me, it felt like the author, changed. Kido's thought process became different. I couldn't grasp the reason of his decisions. I was, desynchronised from him and from that, I started to lose the story. And then, it headed further down south. As I've hinted before, I was very connected to the story just before and at this point, it's as if the author yanked all of it away from me and flung me out of the story like an extreme rollercoaster suddenly decided to derail from its sharpest turn, with me on it. Maybe I can also liken this to a heartbreak but it happened so quickly my heart was disintegrated without a speck of trace. Not to veer to far off, the author suddenly added a lot of plot devices in a span of too few chapters. And this broke me and my engagement to the story. Chapter 75-80.


My rating for the STORY dropped to 3, surely they still follow a logical order, AFTER an illogical turn.
ART remained somewhat consistent throughout all I've read, about an 8. It's a different style to other mangas. I think it made facial expressions more easily exaggerated but still acceptable and more importantly still enjoyable. They do sometimes look odd. As for the art of body-drawing, I have no complaints.
CHARACTERS at this point was disappointing, a 3 or 4. As said before, Kido started making too much illogical choices, his peeping neighbour remained consistent and his current love interest remained very lovable. The center is at Kido and the point of view has always been him. Therefore, his relationship with others is the main determinating factor of my score here, and at this point, his relationship with other major characters was overly problematic and could've been avoided.
ENJOYMENT dropped of course, 1 is fitting. I HATE the turn the author had made for the story. I might never continue where I left off. I am sad and I want to cry when I think about it. I once had a month long of nightmares from watching 2 horror movies and I'd rather have that than to ever be reminded of how this manga took a wrong turn.


OVERALL, for the whole manga that I've read, 5. I've always been indecisive and I'm soft on giving low scores but I also didn't finish this story. I don't like unfinished stories but to have me not want to finish one, this is a first. I'm sorry, Kido and I'm sorry Emiru but I can't. Nozoki Ana started off with decent speed, rarely slowing down, then took off and reached a paradise that I enjoyed every moment of. But illogically, it then decided to teleport into the nothingness of space. The sudden change suffocated me, to death.



Chapter 75-80.

I started reading this after my friend told me about a hentai manga that can make you cry, and it nearly did. It was only once that I felt like I was about to cry and it shook me to my core. Alas after that one and only time, the story steadily declined. It was one forced feeling after another and it became one of my least favorite manga of all time. I was confused at the reasoning behind characters actions and feelings, the ending was the worst piece of written literature I've ever read.

also the last 10 chapters are just sex, and it ... wasn't even arousing

Imagine my surprise going into this thinking it was just going to be a goofy pure hentai romp, only to find out that it had some actual depth behind it's "plot". Now to preface, this is a purely character driven story where the characters are slowly developed and through that we get to move the plot along.

It starts off with the typically infamous "only in anime" style set-up and then gradually reveals a few more layers. For a (hentai?) manga, it tries to weave in a tale of romance while also exploring the human psyche (relating to attraction & relationships) within it's story. Now I ... haven't completed the manga so I dunno if that rings true until the very end, but at the preliminary stage, it feels like it's laying in the ground work. The art is good and the writing is okay for the most part.

So then, why do I dislike it?

I felt that too many of the situations and character interactions were too "contrived". While I'm not expecting utter realism from a (hentai?) manga of this genre, I thought that maybe from the initial "unexpected yet welcome surprises" in the story, that this manga would at the very least be a bit different (in the way that it would approach situations). But it just unnecessarily creates new developments that is commonplace in this genre. As the plot progresses, there was just too many "only in anime" type situations that were created to either "set-up" or "resolve" whatever plot point, which only made the story gradually lose it's initial intrigue. It ends up feeling more like pure fantasy rather than a "social experiment" which it seemed like at the beginning.

The premise of Nozoki Ana is extraordinarily stupid with a plot hole WAY bigger than the story’s infamous peephole (just call the police, your parents, and landlord anyway despite being blackmailed?), but I’d be as much a liar as the MC if I said this story wasn’t simultaneously thrilling and emotionally gripping, especially for smut.

First, if you are struggling with porn use or are not comfortable seeing nude female bodies, I do not recommend this manga and you shouldn't read it. Literally every chapter includes some degree of nudity or sex.

As Gigguk has already pointed out, Emiru is what keeps the story genuinely interesting. Her ... mysteriousness, cleverness, obstinance about the rules, and consequent maliciousness is offset by unexpected displays of compassion and bravery that make you question all of your (correct and healthy) assumptions about Stockholm syndrome. Similar to Makima from Chainsaw Man, Emiru puts the reader in a dilemma where this person is clearly not trustworthy, but even after all she does is still likeable.

Kido to some is a typical, indecisive harem protagonist, but I disagree. He’s quite decisive, he just makes consistently poor decisions and regrets them. Yet, it’s useful to keep in mind (and be reminded) these poor decisions are done under a constant state of duress for most of the story. Despite that duress being avoidable, the author’s commitment to the premise turns what could be a bland protagonist into something more like a psychological case study for how one may respond to this situation (emphasis on “something more like” given these situations are mostly timing when he has sex). Consequently, his escapades with love interests at odds with his complicated relationship with Emiru create some interesting moral quandaries prompting questions about privacy, truth-telling, duress and romance, and sexual trauma.

There’s more to say about the other characters, who I would say are generally well-written and multi-dimensional. Yet, despite being unexpectedly emotional and well-written, it is still smut so by principle I can only give it a mixed recommendation. Lastly, please do not become voyeurs hoping that you’ll find the love of your life if you decide to read this manga. You will go to jail.