Nozoki Ana ("A Peephole") is a completed manga series by Honna Wakou. It tells the tale of Kido Tatsuhiko, a small town boy who's come to Tokyo to attend art school. Just after moving into his new apartment he discovers a small hole in his wall and in checking it out gets a major eyeful of his sexy new neighbour, Ikuno Emiru. When she learns about the hole Emiru isn't mad. She's turned on. Kido quickly decides he wants nothing do with a perv like Emiru but Emiru isn't the sort of girl who takes no for an answer.
Has a spiritual successor of sorts, Nozo × Kimi, which is basically a Lighter and Softer version of Nozoki Ana, and set in a high school instead of college.
An OVA was released on February 28, 2013. It was the last work done by Studio Fantasia before its bankruptcy on November 16, 2016.
This manga provides examples of:
- Accidental Pornomancer: Kido full stop. No matter where he is or what he's doing, drop-dead beautiful women and sex just seem to follow him around like he was born under a special star or something. Lampshaded by Yoneyama, who always exclaims "him again?!" whenever something sexy happens to him.
- A Man Is Always Eager: Goes with this and subverts it. Kido is happy to roll with it when Yuri wants to sleep with him. But he wants nothing to do Emiru's games despite clearly being attracted to her. It doesn't help that one of the first things Emiru did was to take blackmail photos.
- Played horribly straight in chapter 47. Kido is happy to finally admit he likes Emiru, and prepares to sleep with her to cement their relationship... but it was just a plot by Emiru to get more blackmail material to ensure he can never stop their "games".
- All Women Are Lustful: Or at the very least they're unashamed of their kinks.
- Attempted Rape: Multiple times throughout the manga by the local villain.
- And some by other characters most of which are aimed at Emiru.
- Babies Ever After: Used as a joke in the omake of the final chapter, which shows Emiru caring for a crying child... that turns out to just be a doll. Further when Emiru tells everyone to look forward to "Nozoki Ana 2 The huge family edition"
- Beneath the Mask: This trope represents the ENTIRE manga from start to end. It is what Emiru looks out for in every significant character she interacts with.
- Big Brother Instinct: Invoked and played up to a disturbing extent. As narrated in flashbacks, Emiru's stepbrother Tomoya Ikuno treasured her more than the rest of his family and lover, so much so that he agreed to marrying Tsugumi only because Tsugumi got along well with Emiru, tolerates his mother's high expectations so as to protect Emiru, and even made a peephole so that he can spy on Emiru. It was clear that Tomoya does not view Emiru as a mere sibling.
- Bigger Is Better in Bed: Downplayed. Kido is quite good at sex and well endowed, but not ridiculously so on either fronts.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Chisato Komori, introduced in chapter 32 is this. Her entire reason for attempting to seduce the main character is "wonder what kind of face she (Yuri) will make when she learns that her boyfriend cheated on her."
- Emiru has shades of this as well. She will go to any lengths to protect her hobbies.
- Bowdlerise: The version of the manga put on the legal English Manga Box app was heavily censored to Apple/Google Play guidelines. Chapter one in particular is so censored that it makes the series look like hentai. What makes the censorship even worse is that it's happening in an app already restricted to 17+.
- Broken Bird: Eventually we learn that Emiru was that from the start, and slowly heals up as the series progresses.
- Character Development: Although this is a character-driven story, only the main male character (Kido) gets significant characterization growth from start to end. Kido started off as a naive and easily tempted guy who detests Emiru, and ended up a determined and responsible man who realized he is in love with the one he initially detested.
- Chick Magnet: Lost count after 6 girls whom Kido has gotten through.
- Cuckold: A very huge, hurtful example that many readers were predicting for ages. Not only was Yuri Kotobuki, the girl in this situation, cheating on weekends, but she decided she'd rather have sex with her rich boyfriend instead of spend Saturday with her other boyfriend, the lead male Kido. On Kido's own birthday.
- Chivalrous Pervert: Kido. He's a sex hound who struggles to resist his many temptations, but he's very polite by default and is rarely rude to any women aside from Emiru. He's also somewhat of a Covert Pervert in that he admits to his lust but tries to hide it anyway (which usually doesn't work).
- Cruel to Be Kind:
- Emiru taunted Madoka during the confrontation about the wall hole, also effectively taking the entire blame for her voyeuristic relationship with Kido so as to avoid destroying Kido and Madoka's relationship.
- Kido eventually ends up having to do this to Madoka via break-up.
- Cute Little Fangs: Yuri develops these when she's in a playful mood.
- Despair Event Horizon: It all started going downhill when Emiru discovered the hole her step-brother had drilled to peep into her room, but when said brother dies with her being indirectly at fault for it, she broke.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Emiru's Sugar-and-Ice Personality surfaced when she realized that she doesn't understand other people's true selves. It was sparked off from her beloved step-brother's death, which occurred after the revelation of his disturbing obsession with his own step-sister, and Emiru's confession of that revelation unexpectedly earned hatred from Tsugumi.
- Double Standard: The premise itself, as par for the course when it comes to portrayals of men and women in Japanese manga/anime. As clearly demonstrated by the existence of this manga, readers are not adverse to the story idea of a woman blackmailing a man for voyeuristic activities. If the genders was reversed in the premise, the situation would be different.
- Double Standard Rape: Female on Male: Clearly averted. The manga had shown rape attempts of both male-on-female and female-on-male variety, and none were treated as enjoyable on the victim's part.
- Chisato attempts this in chapter 33, and Kido clearly does not want it. not that he can resist: she throws him into a room so hard he ends up with a concussion. It also helps that he's too shocked to move. When Kido still refuses her advances, telling her he won't cheat on his girlfriend, her response is to slam his head into the wall and keep going. She's stopped just in time by Emiru, who was already in the room, having seen through the plan completely..
- Averted again by Tsugumi, who's clearly portrayed as villainous when she successfully drugs and briefly rapes Kido.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: Yes, both Kido and Emiru suffered in their own way throughout the manga in order to achieve the happiness they are looking for. Kido with his failed relationships and one year of waiting along with Emiru's sacrifices, made a satisfying ending.
- Everyone Can See It: Lets just say there's a reason people keep mistaking Kido and Emiru for a couple.
- Everybody Has Lots of Sex: They sure as hell do. Even our main character Kido went through 4 TIMES once.
- Even the Girls Want Her: Emiru is so sexy even girls want to try to sleep with her.
- Friends with Benefits: The manga skirts it so close you could practically cut butter with the sharpness. Going into more detail... Kido and Emiru has slept together naked (no sex), he's felt her up more than you can count on both hands (didn't go all the way), They've gone through some foreplay (still not far enough to be called sex).
- A more straight example occurs with the new juniors Shirou & Rie.
- Girl on Girl Is Hot: The only time Emiru closes the peephole was when she was about to get it on with another girl.
- Hot for Student: Played With. Kido's professor comes onto him hard while she's drunk, but he and Emiru convince her the next morning that it was a dream and nothing more comes from it.
- Internal Reveal: Try as they might to keep it a secret, the fact that Emiru and Kido are neighbors does not remain hidden to certain prying eyes, and the knowledge of their peeping relationship often follows shortly thereafter.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Emiru pretends to be utterly crazy stalker in front of Madoka, in order to take entire blame for the "peeping", allowing them to be happy together. She even mocks him for the fact that she is still virgin, even though he could have her anytime. It works, and Madoka is not happy
- And then, believing he would be happier without a Broken Bird like her at his side, Emiru disappears from his life twice, first after taking the blame for the peeping to protect his relationship with Madoka (not that it lasts), and then at the penultimate chapter, after they'd already confessed their love to each other. In the second case, if it wasn't for Kido's desperate pleas and giving her one year to sort herself out, she would have really disappeared from his life forever.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Seiji (Who had a crush on Madoka) clearly shows his competitive disdain for Kido, and tells him off for mistreating Madoka, which is actually true, given that Kido was distracted by his feelings for Emiru while dating Madoka, which contributed to the drama.
- Jizzed in My Pants: Part of the Peep Hole Agreenment between Emiru and Kido. Usually when it's the one or the other's turn to peep, expect this. Also pants optional.
- Karma Houdini: Quite a few people in this series commit sexual crimes but no one suffers any serious consequences except Emiru's step-brother. That also counts as Redemption Equals Death.
- Knight of Cerebus: Things had already gotten dark every now and then, but once Tsugumi walked into the picture, what followed was merely a build up to a series of Wham Episodes, mostly about Emiru's past.
- Lampshade Hanging: The omake (A comedy sketch not canon to the main storyline) right after Chapter 36 explicitly pointed out the implausibility of the setting revolving around the peephole in real life. Specifically, it mentions that a real-life peephole is unlikely to have a field of vision as wide as what was shown in the manga, and that it is also unlikely for a peephole to facilitate a clear verbal exchange through a wall.
- Likes Older Women: Kido's girlfriend Madoka (volume 9+) was 3 years older than him. Also a friend of hers who's in love with her is also 4 years younger than her.
- The Lost Lenore: Emiru's late stepbrother Tomoya Ikuno. Tsugumi is his mourning girlfriend, and she was angered at the revelation that her boyfriend was actually in love with Emiru instead of her, and thus sought to ruin Emiru's happiness as well. Tsugumi and Emiru eventually made peace with each other towards the end of the series.
- Love at First Sight: Emiru started off with a simple crush on Kido, and schemes to get him into a peeping relationship, which kicks off the plot.
- Manipulative Bitch: We're introduced to some during the story so far, but the crowner must be Emiru. Any problem/situation that comes up with Kido or herself that involves trouble she has a plan to do something about it. Or she planned it in the first place.
- Her method of defusing a pair of would-be rapists is to arrive with a bucket of gasoline, throw it on everyone, then threaten to light it on fire, all with a straight face. She then reveals that she has a second lighter when one tries to disarm her.
- When Chisato tries to rape Kido, Emiru deliberately makes it seem as though she's had sex with him: "Kido does better sex with love, I know it."
- Emiru specifically lets Kido think she's open to him having sex with her, just to get fresh blackmail material.
- Nice Guy: Kido, for the most part. He's kind and trusting to a fault and his only real character flaw is his tendency to give into physical temptation easily.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Emiru struck Tsugumi for attempting to hurt Kido. This hints at her Dark and Troubled Past involving Tsugumi.
- The Peeping Tom: Emiru of course. Several other characters get in on the peeping too, though.
- Porn with Plot: Our main character Kido is just a young man from the country, attending college just trying to get himself a normal life. Happened to have lots of sex with different beautiful and willing women, but over time he grew more mature and responsible about relationships.
- The Pornomancer: Emiru, who fluctuates between finding her uncanny ability to attract sex amusing or just annoying. This is in contrast to Kido, who's an Accidental Pornomancer and usually finds it stressful.
- Posthumous Character: Tomoya Ikuno, the step-brother of Emiru Ikuno, was killed in a car accident before the start of the series. His character, personality, and actions were only narrated via flashbacks.
- Really Gets Around: Kido, naturally. In fact, just about everybody in the manga has several sex partners except Madoka and Yoneyama, who were virgins when first met. Emiru is kind of a subversion because while she doesn't ever go all the way or even have any real interest in anybody but Kido, she tends to end up in sexual shenanigans with a lot of people one way or another.
- Rescue Sex: Emiru offers to Kido after he saves her. He turns her down.
- The Reveal:
- Makiko being in love with Emiru.
- The fact that Yuri has been cheating on Kido the whole time, and her excuse of spending time with her family on weekends was a lie.
- The biggest one has to be Emiru's Dark and Troubled Past.
- Romantic Fake–Real Turn: It’s revealed that the relationship between Tatsuhiko and Yuri originally began as her attempt to make her real boyfriend Mamoru appreciate her more, but not only did he not seem to be at all fazed, she ended up realizing that she loves Kido more and ruined it by being unfaithful.
- Romantic False Lead: Several for Kido x Emiru, mostly on Kido's side as he goes through various girlfriends and flings. The most heartbreaking one is probably Madoka though, a Nice Girl who didn't cheat on, lie to, or ever give Kido any valid excuse to dump her; he only breaks up with her because he just loves Emiru more.
- Satellite Love Interest: Madoka's primary role in the manga was being a perfect partner for Kido. She had little character development outside of that.
- Shameless Fanservice Girl: Emiru. Its almost an expected trope, given the manga's subject matter.
- She Is Not My Girlfriend: Kido's reaction to anyone who thinks he and Emiru are a couple.
- Single-Target Sexuality: Kido is Emiru's single target. In fact, it's not long after meeting him that she can't seem to get off with anybody else or get herself off to anybody but Kido.
- Single Woman Seeks Good Man: Emiru actually fell in love with Kido before officially meeting him from just watching him through the hole and seeing what a nice guy he was. Madoka also falls in love with him for this reason, specifically after he defends her being a 22-year-old virgin from her Jerkass friends mocking her.
- Stalker with a Crush: Chisato again.
- Emiru herself actually has shades of this early on before Kido falls for her himself.
- Sugar-and-Ice Personality: Emiru comes off as more or less completely emotionless, unless Kido is involved, especially if she's able to enjoy her voyeurism and exhibitionism fetish with him. She's so desperate to protect her connection with him that she'll go to any lengths to protect it. Even if it means resorting to blackmail, or sexually and emotionally torturing him.
- It's eventually revealed that Emiru was a Genki Girl when she was in high school, until her Despair Event Horizon.
- Then Let Me Be Evil: After breaking Madoka's heart and earning a punch from Seiji, Kido finally stops caring about what people think of his unfaithfulness; when Saki asks him for sex in exchange for info on Emiru's whereabouts, he wants to see Emiru so bad that he actually goes through with it (at least until she gets guilty and stops), accepting that he's the bad guy.
- The Tease: Emiru, Kotobiki, Saki, Tsugumi, etc... it's probably easier to list the women in this manga who aren't teases.
- Time Skip: One year, between the penultimate and final chapters.
- Tsundere: Kido is a rare male example. He is nice to almost everyone except Emiru, and mostly because he finds her manipulative. His confused feelings towards Emiru constitute a huge part of the story.
- Unresolved Sexual Tension: If you've read this far you know who the couple it is pointing at.
- Walking Spoiler: Tsugumi, who appeared late in the series. Her motivations and background are linked to Emiru's Dark and Troubled Past.
- We Used to Be Friends:
- Emiru and Tsugumi used to be as close as sisters.
- Emiru and Madoka's friendship did not end well after Madoka found out about the voyeuristic relationship between Kido and Emiru.
- Will They or Won't They?: Kido and Emiru have had close calls, she even confessed to him somewhere along volume 4.
- They almost do in chapter 47. Except it was all a plot by Emiru.
- They will. As of 108, which marks the beginning of several chapters of sexual hijinks.
- They FINALLY did it in 114.
- Wham Line: There was one at the end of Volume 4 Kido getting fed up with Emiru asks her what does she want from him, and does she like him or something. Her response? "I Love You". Cue Silence...
- Also in volume four, again Emiru, this time to Chisato: "You wanted him, like a child wants her toy."
- In volume 6, chapter 47:
Kido: "Then, about me, when you said 'I love you' "Emiru (holding up videocamera with Kido's shocked face on it): "In my eyes, the peeping rule is everything."- Chapter 85 has this gem: "I killed her beloved..." (talking about Tsugumi)
- Wham Episode: Several, but chapter 47 in volume 6 takes the cake.
- Taken up to eleven once Tsugumi enters the picture. Plus a few chapters of Volume 10, nearly everything from Volume 11 to Volume 12's end is a Wham Episode in some form or another. It ebbs when we reach the final Volume. Until we get hit with one final wham in the penultimate chapter.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Seiji punches Kido in the face for hurting Madoka, and Kido accepts this punishment.
- Yandere: Madoka, once she finds out about the hole.
