Elephants in the Living Room in Anime and Manga.
- The big one from Ah! My Goddess, eventually brought up in a recent Light Novel for the series: what will happen to Keiichi and Belldandy's relationship as Keiichi grows old? Interestingly, Keiichi and Peorth did have a rather evasive conversation about it. Keiichi's biggest concern, to Peorth's surprise, was how it would hurt Belldandy.
- In Attack on Titan, during his Rousing Speech, Commander Pixis states the awful truth that everyone knows but refuses to talk about: that they are fed and alive today because thousands were sent to their deaths five years ago, after the fall of Wall Maria, to "reclaim lost territory from the Titans", simply because the land inside the two remaining walls couldn't support everyone. He goes even further and says all of them bear the weight of that sin and that things will get worse for humanity if Wall Rose falls as well. This harsh realization is what motivates everyone to stand their ground.
- Bleach:
- It's revealed that Captain Komamura, whose face was concealed up to that point, has the head of a wolf. Some characters are surprised by it, but literally no one questions why he looks like that. It's (much) later revealed Komamura comes from a werewolf clan that was cursed for their ignorance a long time ago; the curse traps them in an animalistic form, and the further into ignorance they descend, the more animalistic they become. Full descent results in a member of the clan becoming a proper wolf.
- In one filler arc, Ichigo indignantly demands to know how the members of two noble clans didn't figure out that the others were noble in spite of using their distinctive clan names. Rukia hastily convinces him to ignore the issue.
- In Case Closed, Conan's increasingly noticeable failure to act as a normal little boy arouses suspicions from just about everyone in the cast not privy to his secret, yet nobody really thinks of just sitting the kid down and asking him just how on earth does he know so much, rather preferring to harbor vague suspicions relatively forever.
- Code Geass: Villetta Nu is one of the people who informs the Black Knights about Geass. The Black Knights do not put her to task for her connections to Britannia or her secret tryst with Ohgi, who isn't questioned for the latter either, or threatening to gun down Kallen along with Lelouch on suspicion of being Geassed, or jumping to conclusions regarding Lelouch himself. (Then again, neither is the fact that Schneizel is the most notorious of the opposing royals, in the case of R2 19.)
- In Cromartie High School, no one but Kamiyama and Hayashida seem to realize that Mechazawa is a robot, and even they never directly say it. This and the general weirdness is lampshaded in the last scene of the anime: Hayashida and Maeda ask Kamiyama what they're going to do with their lives. Kamiyama then points out the window to Mechazawa, Freddie, his horse, and Gorilla, stating that's whatever the three of them might do doesn't interest him nearly as much as what those other guys might do.
- Dragon Ball:
- In the original series, Goku's nature was an open question among the cast. He was a strange boy with a tail who was exceptionally strong to the point several characters questioned whether he was human before eventually saying nothing more about it. It becomes a wonder why anyone was surprised when they learned that he was an alien. Then again, there are many strange things in this version of Earth.
- Goku's friends deliberately don't tell him about his Oozaru transformation, since nobody wants to tell Goku he was responsible for his grandfather's death. Goku eventually learns the worst way possible, when he witnesses Vegeta transform into an Oozaru and overpowers Goku while gloating about how all Saiyans with a tail can do this.
- At the end of Dragon Ball Z's Cell Saga, it's blatantly obvious that Krillin has developed feelings for Android 18; when he tries to use a wish to turn her and 17 human, only Gohan doesn't get why...but then he realizes it and just blurts out "Hey, you've got a crush on her, don't you?", prompting an exasperated Krillin to punch him in the head.
- One of Kousaka's major character traits in Genshiken is that he has absolutely no awareness that the elephant in the room is supposed to be hiding. As a result, he says what everyone's thinking without hesitation. A key example is when the rest of the club is unsure of whether Ohno and Tanaka are dating; as everyone else vacillates, he just yells, "Hey! Are you two going out?"
- Kaiju Girl Caramelise: The first time Rairi's face gets doused in front of Kuroe, she frantically reapplies her makeup and subsequently tries to act like Kuroe didn't just see her gorilla face. It isn't until she and Kuroe have a heart-to-heart at the makeup store about why the latter wants to look cute that she decides to directly acknowledge the situation.
- Kanokon. The female lead is some 25+ times older than the male. That means, by the time he dies of old age, she'll only just have got out of adolescence. Yet no-one mentions it, ever. In the manga, Kouta does angst about it a bit.
- Naruto:
- Kishimoto rarely, if ever, touches upon the largest example in the series: The subject of Child Soldiers. Late into the manga, though, there's some talking about it.
- It wasn't until The Last: Naruto the Movie that Hinata's love confession to Naruto during the Pain arc was acknowledged. Granted, immediately after the Pain Arc, Naruto was faced with the issue of Sasuke being marked for death, and shortly afterward, the Fourth Shinobi World War broke out, so there wasn't much of a chance to sit down and talk with Hinata about it. In-series it took Naruto three years to mention the elephant in the bedroom. The reason given is that because of his background as an ostrasized orphan, Naruto has trouble understanding the different types of love. He thought that Hinata's confession was platonic for three years.
- The anime of Oreimo doesn't touch upon the Brother–Sister Incest aspects of the series (past subtext), especially compared to the manga and light novel.
