History PoorCommunicationKills / AnimeAndManga

* The entire "White Devil incident" from ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaStrikerS'' and a good deal of angst on Teana's part could've been avoided with either more feedback from Nanoha or a single mention from Teana about Nanoha's own training (presumably leading to her [[spoiler:learning about the latter's HeroicRROD earlier]]).

* In ''Manga/{{Kurokami}}'', had the BigBad simply explained that he was out to kill off a whopping third of the entire human population because [[spoiler:if he didn't, a GreaterScopeVillain would come along and kill off ''every single living being on the planet'']], at the very least, the good guys might have been at least more willing to sit down and talk things out. It didn't help that the BigBad seemed to only employ ObviouslyEvil {{jerkass}}es into his organization.

** When the Zentraedi first arrived to Earth, the United Earth Government ''wanted'' to talk. Then the SDF-1, formerly a Tirolian battlefortress containing [[MacGuffin a Protoculture Matrix and the seeds of the Flower of Life]] that Zor didn't want to fall back in the hands of the Robotech Masters or their Zentraedi soldiers, fired the [[WaveMotionGun Reflex cannon]] at them and blew up two Zentraedi scoutships, at which point the Humans guessed the Zentraedi wouldn't be willing to talk anymore and the Zentraedi guessed the Humans never wanted. Here starts the First Robotech War;
** When the Robotech Masters arrive to Earth, they sit up in the atmosphere for a while, with them and Earth's Army of the Southern Cross studying each other before trying to communicate. Then a trigger-happy Southern Cross officer fires a volley of missiles at one of the Masters' motherships, damaging it and starting the Second Robotech War. The United Earth Government decided then and there they wouldn't talk to the Masters unless from a clear position of superiority (impossible to achieve, given the Masters' technological superiority), and the Masters only opened communications near the end to demand the evacuation of Earth explaining they needed the Protoculture to deal with the incoming Invid... That the Southern Cross never even ''heard'' of (after that ultimatum the supreme commander of the Southern Cross wonder who the Invid are in his thoughts);
** The Third Robotech War, between the Invid of the Regis occupying Earth and the Robotech Expeditionary Force trying to reclaim it, comes entirely from both sides ''refusing'' to talk things out in spite of the Invid's occupation being relatively peaceful (as long as you don't oppose them or try to get your hands on Protoculture without their permission, they leave you alove, and they even repaired the damage done to Earth by the Zentraedi bombardment). This is actually {{Justified}}: the Invid Regis thinks of Humans as barbarians who can't understand the marvels of Protoculture and the dangers of having it (and is perfectly right about the dangers), while the REF has just won a very destructive conflict with the Regent's Invid, who devastated the Robotech Masters' former empire and their homeworld of Tirol, and have no reason to think that the Regis' faction, having suffered the same things the Regent's has at the hands of the Masters, are any different. [[spoiler:That and the REF was being covertly manipulated by the Haydonites, the ancient enemies of the Invid, but nobody knew until, during the final battle, the Regis recognized a few pieces of Haydonite tech being used by the REF]];
** [[WesternAnimation/RobotechTheShadowChronicles The Fourth Robotech War]] between the REF and the [[spoiler:Haydonites]] would have happened anyway, but this trope made it worse: before leaving at the end of the Third War, the Regis left behind a very specific warning about those they call Children of Shadows having [[spoiler:been manipulating the REF and supplied technology that was likely boobytrapped]] and being about to launch a genocidal attack, but the REF leadership, given the source of the warning, didn't heed it until after being caught with their pants down. That was after [[spoiler:receiving evidence from their own men that one piece of technology coming from the Haydonites was not a giant nuke but a bomb that would have created a black hole]].

* In ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist: Brotherhood'', Hohenheim could have said, for instance, "Alphonse. Edward. Dad has something very important to do and might be gone for a long time. Take care of each other and your mom until I get back okay?" Instead, he gives his kids what amounts to a DeathGlare with the expressions on Al and Ed's face making it look like they think their dad hates them and having "Dad abandoned us" issues when their mom dies. [[SarcasmMode That's good parenting right there]]. This might have been intentional, however, given how much Hohenheim hates himself, and it could have also been meant to be a deterrent to keep them from seeking him out and getting themselves killed.
* In ''GakuenTengoku,'' Oshino's inability to articulate the fact that he's a new teacher got him his ass beat.
* ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry'' takes a very... er... literal angle on this because most arcs are OneSideOfTheStory, and that the series in general contains proliferation of [[CrypticConversation Cryptic Conversations]] and characters who CannotSpitItOut. In fact, the latter point becomes a major {{Aesop}} of the series. In some cases the use of this trope is mildly justified by the fact that the 'main' character hasn't really known the rest of the cast for that long -- and the things they're not talking about are often rather more serious secrets than is usual for this trope. Like, say, the fact that you just murdered someone.
* ''Manga/DetectiveConan'':
** One case had an injured American tourist recuperating in a Japanese household and falling in love with a young woman. Because of a mouth injury, at first he could only communicate by writing out Japanese phrases phonetically. As he was leaving, the young woman asked if he loved her, and he wrote down the word "shine", referring to his earlier words that he wanted a "shining bride", but which she quite naturally interpreted as "shi-ne," which happens to be Japanese for "die". The woman committed suicide after he left, and when he came back he ended up murdering her father and a family friend in revenge. WhatAnIdiot.
** Another one: A manager murders the lead singer of her rock band because he was an abusive {{Jerkass}}. It turns out that the singer was in love with the manager, but was upset over her getting rhinoplasty because he liked her the way she was. His rude behavior was him lashing out when he was really mad at himself for inspiring her to change herself just to please him.
** Only barely averted in a more recent story about a wife who tends to go overboard and her fed-up husband who thought she was ruining his relationships with his workmates by emailing them with her suspicions she was actually thanking them for taking him out on camping trips but to be careful because of his rare blood type; because they didn't want to accidentally hurt him they stopped asking him out. Unfortunately he didn't realize this until after ''he tricked her into attacking him to cure his hiccups so he could kill her''. Fortunately she survived and even forgave him -- after all they're going to be parents!
** A woman killed her sister because she stole her boyfriend. Turns out the boyfriend was actually the one who initiated everything by falling for his girlfriend's sister and telling the sister to pretend that she was the one who initiated things, not the guy.
* ''Anime/MazingerZ'': In episode 26, the conflict between Kouji and secondary character Saijyo could have been averted if the latter had explained that his dog stole Kouji's little brother's chickens because she had puppies to feed.
* ''Manga/{{Monster}}'' sometimes relies on this trope. The show is full of characters who know bits and pieces of the overall puzzle; two of them will often unknowingly meet up, but fail to say the right things. Examples include Tenma's first meeting with Grimmer and Nina's first meeting with Lotte (who even mentions her friend Johan, just never by ''name'').
* ''Manga/ElfenLied'' is also a noteworthy offender. The good guys have almost enough information to explain the whole plot and background story, but never get the idea that any of their friends might be interested in their personal side adventures.

* Episodes 6 to 8 of ''Anime/AfterWarGundamX'' are driven by this. With Garrod having worked solo up until now, he accidentally injures a crewmate through a moment's inattention and then hares off on his own to try and rectify the problem, without informing anyone where he's going or what his plan is. As a result, he gets in ''way'' over his head and Jamil is hurt bailing him out of a nuclear explosion.
* This was ColonelBadass Sergei Smirnov's FatalFlaw in ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundam00 Gundam 00]]''. His inability to reach for his son Andrei after the death of his mom Holly, leads to Andrei growing so embittered and hateful that he ends up ''killing'' his father in battle, believing him to be a traitor on top of [[YouKilledMyFather responsible for Holly's death]].
** In TheMovie finale to the series, the ELS attempt to understand humanity by absorbing and assimilating them, apparently not realizing that doing so is killing the humans they're trying it on. They also attempt to contact Innovators and proto-Innovators telepathically, but the sheer amount of information they transmit sounds like screaming to these telepaths, and basically {{Mind Rape}}s them.
* In ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEED Gundam SEED]]'':
** A significant amount of the angst had Kira (or anyone else on the Archangel) felt the need say to ZAFT something along the lines of "Hey, there's about 30 civilians on board this ship". Then again, [[HotBlooded Yzak]] would most likely just shoot them anyway, believing them to be fleeing soldiers.
** Athrun telling Nicol that the pilot Strike was a friend of his whom tragic circumstances forced him into reluctantly fighting, and not evil and hell bent on slaughtering them would have likely saved Nicol's life later on. Instead Nicol suicides into Strike in a vain attempt to save Athrun's life, which was never in danger because Kira would likely have just left Athrun alone.
** In ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEEDDestiny'', after destroying the Freedom and apparently killing Kira, Shinn goes up to Athrun (who's his team leader) and says "I got revenge, for both of us"...and Athrun punches him in the face. Shinn was referring to how Freedom destroyed Athrun's Saviour Gundam and left him badly injured, and is completely unaware that Kira and Athrun are childhood friends, so he's incredibly confused and angry at this expression of anti-gratitude.
** ''Destiny'' is good at this. The entire conflict between the old and new cast could have been entirely avoided if both sides would at least have made an attempt to speak to each other. Kira and his friends intervene when Orb faces the Minerva to try to get Orb to back off, but after this fails Kira proceeds to just shoot at everyone (non lethally of course) without even trying to say anything to Minerva. Not even explaintion their intentions or a "Lay off of Orb and we'll help you get out alive." nothing. And Minerva instead of contacting Kira's side to ask what the hell they are doing, just kind of silently glares at them. Later on, when Zaft's invading Orb to get Djbril after the corrupt administration insists on protecting him, Kira and co show up halfway to take over control of Orb again, ordering everyone not currently fighting Zaft to go find Djbril to kick him out. But they don't tell Zaft this. Instead they keep fighting them, while trying to get Djbril with limited manpower instead of trying to work something out. As a result Djbril gets away.
** ''Anime/GundamReconguistaInG'' enforces this trope with Minovsky particles, which disrupt communcations and are spread as a matter of routine in battle. The only way to get around them is with direct metal-to-metal contact, which early on causes a lot of problems (and tragedy) that could have been averted if pilots were able to talk to each other for half a minute. Later in the show, they're better at grabbing each other's mobile suits so they can chat.
* In ''Manga/{{Appleseed}} Ex Machina'' the government advises the general public to hand over very handy Connexus-devices by saying that they've been "deemed harmful." Instead of simply saying, "These devices turn you into insane cyber-zombie and may force the police to shoot you." Needless to say, few listen.
* ''Anime/MaiHime''. Let's count the ways, shall we?
** Mai gets involved with the [=HiME=] Festival by being told she'll have to risk the most important thing to her. She assumes it's her life, as does apparently every other [=HiME=]. [[PoweredByAForsakenChild Not quite.]]
** Nagi informs the [=HiME=] that the [=HiME Star=] is descending and will continue to do so until someone gains its power. The earthquakes and weather shifts caused by its movement make the [=HiME=] consider that it will destroy the world otherwise. Not really, but the perceived time crunch forces several of the more impulsive [=HiME=] into actions they might've waited before taking otherwise.
** Yukariko blames Nao for attacking her after the above revelation, in reality [[WoundedGazelleGambit an illusion projected by her CHILD]]. Nao, already a bitter, cynical girl by nature, assumes the [=HiME=] coming to confront her about attacking Yukariko are attacking her first, and [[EyeScream loses an eye in the resulting fight]], firmly shoving her from Anti-Hero into an antagonist slot.
** Yuiichi has no idea how deep [[{{Yandere}} the feelings]] his UnluckyChildhoodFriend, Shiho, are. Naturally, she ends up trying to MurderTheHypotenuse multiple times, and her defeat in the end causes his death.
** Mikoto's training and arguable brainwashing at a young age repeatedly spawn DiabolusExMachina, killing Takumi and Yuiichi both.
** Shizuru's failure to inform Haruka she was leaving the school to look after her grievously hurt best friend leads to Haruka tracking her down, seeing Shizuru's private actions while Natsuki is asleep, and jumping to all the wrong conclusions. Her eventual accusations of her molesting Natsuki while she slept, in Natsuki's hearing, cause Natsuki to react...poorly to Shizuru's attempts to reassure her, and the perceived rejection causes Shizuru to have a psychotic break and kill lots of people that "could threaten Natsuki", ending in the deaths of Haruka, Section 1, Nao's mother, and Shizuru and Natsuki themselves in the final showdown.
* In the manga ''Manga/SaitamaChainsawShoujo'', the main character is a bad speaker with self-confidence issues whose only two friends suddenly stop talking to her after a transfer student joins the school and steals her boyfriend. She doesn't take it well, feeling crushed and friendless, and soon decides that [[{{Yandere}} revenge followed by suicide]] is the only option she has left.
* ''Literature/{{Another}}'': Seriously, you couldn't tell the NewTransferStudent that the entire class's lives depended on [[{{Unperson}} ignoring a student's existence]] so you could avoid an evil ghost curse BEFORE he started attending class and tried making friends with said ignored student and not trust you because you chose to be threateningly vague about it until [[RuleOfThree THREE PEOPLE DIED]] and it became obvious that the "Charm" was no longer an option...
** Of course Mei acting ambiguously and not letting anyone know her long lost twin sister was actually the first victim in the curse didn't help things either. Nor did Akazawa blaming her for everything since it seemed that at that point in the anime/manga mostly everyone was so past the DespairEventHorizon that they were willing to agree and...[[FromBadToWorse well]], [[UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom things just]] got worse after that...
* The entire series of ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'' is made of this trope. This is lampshaded at least once, after Akane beat up Ranma who was trying to get a scroll with a secret technique, which was incidentally in the Hotspring Akane was in. After Akane's father explains she says Ranma could have just told her. His rather accurate response is "And just how often do you listen before clobbering me?"
* Parodied in ''Manga/HayateTheCombatButler''. There is an episode that has Hayate spending the night at Hinagiku's house; then Hinagiku end up bumping with Ayumu, Hayate's other love interest and Hina's new friend as well. That's when she says this is bad, and the narrator detailedly explains this trope, commenting that Hinagiku fears that Ayumu will find out somehow that Hayate is inside the house, then will run away and get frustrated because of a misunderstanding. And then it happens.
** Although it hasn't killed anyone yet, Hayate seems to be a master at this. The entire story was started because he couldn't articulate himself correctly.
** The time it nearly resulted in someone getting killed was in [[spoiler:Izumi]]'s arc. Her father asks him if his child, [[spoiler:Izumi]] loves him, and he answers 'yes' [[spoiler:Kotetsu]]. Hayate ends up having to fight in a lava pit, what is supposed to be a fight to the death. [[spoiler:Izumi gets closer to dying because she's wearing silk.]]

* In ''Manga/{{Sekirei}}'', the protagonist's sister gets a Sekirei named Shiina. His goal is to find Kusano, his sister (whether they're actually related is unknown, but Shiina is #107 and Kusano is #108). Yukari proceeds to [[CurbStompBattle heartlessly beat]] any Ashikabi she comes across (she's become a massive bitch in the process somehow, even though some of her victims deserved it) and then ask them where Kusano is. Kusano is one of ''her brother's'' Sekirei.
** Even if she thinks she can't call him (you're not allowed to talk about Sekirei to {{Muggles}}, and she doesn't know he's an Ashikabi), visiting Izumo Inn would have resolved this whole subplot [[spoiler:and now she's been kidnapped by [[JerkAss Higa]]]].
** There are numerous small scale incidents of this, mainly because everyone likes to keep everyone else LockedOutOfTheLoop, especially Minato.
* Near the end of ''Anime/TheVisionOfEscaflowne'', Van attempts to kill Dilandau and Allen leaps to his rescue, apparently having never bothered to let Van in on the fact that [[spoiler:Dilandau is actually Allen's younger sister who has been sex-changed and driven psychotic by Zaibach.]] Rather than explain, "Hey, don't kill him, he's [[spoiler:my kid sister]], Allen tells Van that Allen himself should be held responsible for all of Dilandau's crimes. And rather than ask for further explanation, Van's response is along the lines of, "Okay, sure, then let's fight to the death."
** It could be argued that they just really, really wanted to beat the crap out of each other. Both knew full well that Allen's statements were "crazy" and begging for explanation, but further discussion would take away their long-awaited excuse to fight.
* This happens often in ''Manga/MyBrideIsAMermaid'', most notably the time when Nagasumi was MistakenForCheating with Lunar (he was drying her off), and nearly killed by her father as a result.
* The entire "White Devil incident" from ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaStrikerS'' and a good deal of angst on Teana's part could've been avoided with either more feedback from Nanoha or a single mention from Teana about Nanoha's own training (presumably leading to her [[spoiler:learning about the latter's HeroicRROD earlier]]).
** Poor communication leads to at least three-fourths of the fights in this series. The antagonists usually have very good reasons for their actions, it just takes a few [[WaveMotionGun Starlight Breakers]] before they're willing to talk about it.
* In the ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' movie ''Anime/PokemonLucarioAndTheMysteryOfMew'', poor communication between a few non-villainous scientists and a kleptomaniac Legendary who supposedly could have ''[[PsychicPowers read their minds]] at any time'' resulted in a giant tree nearly killing half the cast and [[spoiler:Lucario KilledOffForReal]].
* In a filler arc of ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' ended with the 6 Tails being captured, likely entirely because ''no one decided to warn him about the Akatsuki.''
** Add to that Utakata being to afraid to tell any of the heroes that he's a Jinchuuriki in the first place in the end did more harm than good.

* Kanade Tachibana in ''Anime/AngelBeats''. Bad enough that it's caused a war with a nearly 100% death toll for all its participants, ''regularly''. It's a good thing nobody stays dead there.
* ''Manga/MaisonIkkoku'' features a lot of this, while playing with or subverting it at other times. Godai attempts to explain himself several times, but the situations he finds himself in are often ''so'' outlandish that Kyoko doesn't believe him. It's played straight for Coach Mitaka and his potential fiancee Asuna by the end, though- it ends up removing him from the picture entirely.
* In ''Manga/NotSimple'', the protagonist Ian commits suicide after hearing that the woman he loved (and whom he planned to run away together with once they reunited) died since he last saw her three years ago. This was told to him by a girl named Irene, whose mother had recounted the story of Ian and her Aunt to her since the Aunt died. However, it all turned out to be a mistake, as Irene was unaware that it was actually ''her mother'' who had met and planned to run away with Ian... she was just lying to protect her daughter's feelings.
* In ''Manga/KatekyoHitmanReborn'', the newest conflict with the [[spoiler:Shimon Family]] could've been completely avoided if not for [[ClicheStorm an important note that was blown into a bin by a convenient breeze]].
* Used heavily but then averted in ''Anime/HeroicAge'', in that the aliens attack and war against humans without warning, but when several actions make it clear they have a hard time understanding each others' motives, [[spoiler:both sides enter negotiations and call a truce]].
* The two major conflicts in ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'' could theoretically have been mostly avoided, had the {{Big Bad}}s just sat down with everybody else and explained [[WellIntentionedExtremist the situation and proposed solution]], rather than causing massive amounts of trouble and not telling anyone why they're doing what they're doing. Case in point, if Chao and/or Fate would have taken the time to explain that [[spoiler:Mundus Magicus was in danger of collapsing]] rather than going freelance and causing tons of collateral damage, they probably would have solved the problem by now.
** In later chapters (300+), Negi seems to have understood this, but most of his opponents are too pissed off against him to listen. He's also been pretty vague about what he's going to do about that, so it at least goes both ways.
* In ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'', a filler villain [[spoiler:spent the majority of his lifetime becoming a captain so that he could kill Yamamoto for killing his father, spending countless years researching and acquiring a [[EvilWeapon bakkoto]], which his father had told him about in his last words, and he assumed Yamamoto had killed him for using one to become more powerful.]] Then it turns out [[spoiler:his father's last words were "Beware the Bakkoto," telling his son to STAY AWAY FROM the things which had killed him. Because Amagai didn't hear ONE WORD, he completely misinterpreted the meaning of his father's last words, and died.]] [[EpicFail Yep.]] Furthermore, when he confronts Yamamoto about this, Yamamoto doesn't bother to justify his actions and explain what really happened.
** Another filler villain [[spoiler:got his master sealed away for a hundred or so years because their relationship deteriorated, causing him not to be able to hear his call, and come to his side.]] So[[spoiler:Muramasa spent a century and a half trying to recruit a force to free his master Kouga.. Only to be stabbed to death by said master because the fact that Kouga was a {{Jerkass}} to him before he got sealed away meant that Muramasa couldn't hear him calling him.]] Again, [[EpicFail yep.]]
** During the Fullbring arc, half of the problems could have been avoided if [[spoiler:Ishida had shared his suspicions about Ginjo earlier]]. Ryuuken even calls them out on not sharing information. Although he's the one to talk, considering the number this trope's done on his relationship with his kid...
*** Really almost ALL the problems could be solved with proper communication. Ichigo never really tries to explain to his friends that Tsukishima isn't what he appears to be, instead he has emotional breakdowns and attacks him in front of everyone (every bit appearing as insane as they accuse him of acting). Ichigo's father and Urahara never tell him that they're [[spoiler:working on a way to restore his powers]], instead just having secret back alley meetings behind his back giving him every reason to feel paranoid and isolated. And one of the only major problems that DOESN'T come to pass, [[spoiler:that Soul Society has been secretly keeping tabs on him]], comes out well BECAUSE Ukitake let Ichigo know about it ahead of time so Ichigo could reciprocate with a little trust.
* This is a RunningGag with Princess Vivi in ''Manga/OnePiece''. She constantly forgets to inform the Straw Hats about very important things from Baroque Works agents to the Alabastian desert wildlife until they have already happened.
** A more serious example occurs when Luffy and Usopp were arguing about whether to keep the Going Merry, who was beyond fixing. Usopp misinterprets Luffy's decision to not fix Merry as "dumping" whatever became useless (and Usopp had been dealing with confidence issues since the beginning). Usopp fails to mention that [[spoiler:he believes that the ship is ''sentient'']] which goes a long way to explain his behavior.
** Works to the good guys' advantage at Enies Lobby. Due to a scout being knocked out during Luffy's rampage, Spandam thinks that it's just one pirate running around who only took out five soldiers. Because he didn't hang up his phone properly, the rest of the garrison can't tell him that the Straw Hats and allies have at least fifty men, thousands of soldiers have been taken out, and their two giant guards (Literally, the two were giants) have defected. By the time someone manages to fix things, the Straw Hats are just before the Tower of Justice and ready to take Nico Robin back!
** A ''very'' serious example occurs during the Fishman Island arc. It's revealed that Princess Shirahoshi had known all along that Hody Jones, the local [[ANaziByAnyOtherName anti-human extremist]], was the one who murdered her mother Otohime for supporting human-Fishman coexistence, but deliberately withheld the information in order to honor her mother's last wish to bear no ill will against her killer, and prevent the others looking for vengeance. While her intentions were noble, her decision to keep quiet allowed Hody to gain enough power to easily overwhelm Fishman Island's military and plot a coup; Hody even takes the time to [[EvilGloating rub it in her face]].
* The Stand user Tizziano from ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'' can actually invoke this with his Stand Talking Heads. It attaches to it's victim's tongue and makes them say the opposite of what they intended. This also extends to writing and gesturing. Useless as an offensive stand, but it works to silence the one witness to another, more offense-based stand.
* In ''LightNovel/MayoChiki'' this happens a lot, mainly something to due with Kinjiro trying to hide the fact that [[UnsettlingGenderReveal Subaru is a girl]].
* ''Manga/{{Tsukigasa}}'' would have no story if it weren't for this trope. Nobody remotely discussed what exactly happened when Azuma cut Kuroe's arm off or their feelings for each other, leading to everyone having a completely different idea of what went on and who regretted what. When Kuroe comes back it still takes them a long time to finally come out with the truth. Kuroe is also nearly arrested by Tatsumi because he was too stubborn to reveal he wasn't actively a criminal in front of Azuma.
* In ''VisualNovel/{{Kanon}}'', Yuichi Aizawa used to visit his aunt Akiko and cousin Nayuki in their quiet little town every holiday, but one year something happened and he left for seven years. The entire plot would be brought to a halt if not for this and ThereAreNoTherapists.
* In ''Anime/TheIdolmaster'', The Producer doesn't clear Miki's misconception about her entering the idol unit that Ritsuko created, which almost ends up with Miki quitting being an idol for good a few episodes later.
* The main character in ''SteinsGate'' apparently doesn't think it's worth mentioning to anyone that [[spoiler:one of the people they know is a spy and is going to murder one of them and kidnap the rest.]] He goes through ''countless'' iterations without it ever occurring to him at any point that he might want to discuss the situation with his friends, who are directly endangered by their own ignorance. Worse, this means that if he ever screws up, [[spoiler:he won't be able to change the past to reverse it and have another attempt; if he made sure to tell a friend on each iteration, they could reverse things even if he were killed.]] He did end up realizing this and [[spoiler:told Kurisu because she was the most reliable and only person he realized would take him seriously]].

* ''Manga/SailorMoon'':
** A good chunk of the main arc of the '90s anime adaptation's R saga. Mamoru gets a series of dreams that suggest something horrible will happen to Usagi if they stay together. Rather than warn Usagi, Mamoru decides to push her away. It takes him about 20 episodes to finally tell Usagi about the dreams, by which point Usagi is driven to the DespairEventHorizon and nearly killed by the arc's BigBad in at least one occasion.
** The Infinity arc, especially in its earliest stages, pretty much runs on the steadfast refusal of Sailors Neptune and Uranus to tell Sailor Moon and her team anything about what's going on, even after it becomes clear that the Sailor Team is involved whether Neptune and Uranus like it or not.
* ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'':
** In ''Different Story'', Mami misinterpreted Kyoko's "I see you a little differently than a friend" as she was seeing Mami as senior, whom she will abandoned after she got strong. In reality, Kyoko's thinking Mami as ''[[TearJerker family]]''.
** Subverted with Homura. She uses CrypticConversation since [[spoiler:the last time she goes open, nobody believes her, and when the truth comes out, [[GoneHorriblyWrong it goes horribly wrong.]]]]
** And invoked repeatedly and at length by [[spoiler:[[ManipulativeBastard Kyubey]], who specifically withholds AwfulTruth revelations until the most dramatic possible moments in order to coerce the girls' [[DespairEventHorizon despair-driven]] transformations into {{Eldritch Abomination}}s.]]
** Sayaka hates Homura because she thinks Homura [[spoiler:deliberately waited until after Mami was killed before showing up to save the day]]. Madoka was there and knows that [[spoiler:Mami tied Homura up with magic ribbons that only [[NoOntologicalInertia dissipated when Mami died]]]], but is unable to speak up before Sayaka leaves.
** ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagicaTheMovieRebellion'' much of the plot is driven by the fact that [[spoiler:Homura misunderstood what Madoka meant when she says she would never want to be apart from everyone she loves. Ultimate Madoka ''isn't'' apart from everyone she loves, they just can't see her unless they join her in her magical girl heaven, but Homura takes it to mean that Madoka ''didn't want'' to make that sacrifice in the first place. On the other hand, during the end of the anime when Homura asked Madoka if she was alright with being forgotten about, Madoka never really answered yes or no (though the implication was that she would willingly bear with it to save people). The result is that Homura concludes that Madoka is not happy with her ascension to godhood and, [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy wanting to make Madoka happy no matter the consequences]], [[LoveMakesYouEvil she undoes Moadoka's sacrifice, usurps her god powers, and essentially becomes the Devil.]]]]
* Many of the skits in ''Manga/DailyLivesOfHighSchoolBoys'' could have been resolved in a far less humiliating way if the character(s) involved had actually spoken out instead of InternalMonologue-ing for five or so minutes. The frequency of this theme is actually one of the main points of that brought the suspicion for the author being the "Bomber Grape," as most of the latter's ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' comics use it for {{Running Gag}}s.
* In ''Manga/ACruelGodReigns'', Jeremy tries to tell Sandra, Ian, and William a couple different times that Greg is abusing him. However, due mostly to {{Cannot Spit It Out}}, his efforts are trampled and he [[spoiler:eventually tampers with Greg's car and kills him, and by accident, Sandra.]]
* During the Cell Saga ''Anime/DragonBallZ'', Goku completely fails to explain his plan for defeating Cell. Had he taken a moment during the several ''days'' of prep time that Cell gave them to explain that he intended for Gohan to fight Cell, someone - Piccolo, maybe, or even Gohan himself - could have told him just why this was a bad idea. Yes, Gohan was the only one strong enough to have a chance against Cell, but if Goku had been a bit more open from the beginning, at the very least he might have taken the fight more seriously. Instead, we ended up with the fiasco that resulted in his death and very nearly resulted in his son's.
** Keep in mind, he didn't exactly drag Gohan towards Cell so that he could fight him. Also, his interaction with Gohan had the latter [[UnskilledButStrong doubting whether he could take Cell]], so Goku was at least aware of Gohan's self-doubt. He chose to assuage his son of it with his support, and some would say, a great deal of pressure. It wasn't ''just'' Piccolo [[WhatTheHellHero yelling at him]] that got him to consider it might be a bad idea. After all, he and the others were calling him out on it throughout Gohan's fight with Cell. He had to see for himself that his son was in ''real'' trouble for it all to sink in.
** For that matter, Bulma apparently didn't think it was important to tell 16 that she removed the nuke inside his body. This comes back to bite them when he tries to self-destruct in order to kill Cell and can't because the bomb was removed.
** During the Buu Saga, the Supreme Kai has a very bad habit of neglecting to tell the Z-Fighters certain information until ''after'' it's needed, such as Dabura's [[TakenForGranite Stone]] [[SuperSpit Spit]] or certain details on Babidi's fighters. Most notably, he completely fails to mention Buu's [[TheAssimilator absorption]] abilities.
** Minor comedic example. When Chi-Chi sees Goku and Gohan as Super Saiyans for the first time, she freaks out and gets pissed, accusing them of turning into JapaneseDelinquents and dyeing their hair. For some reason, they don't even attempt to explain or demonstrate that it's a transformation, just awkwardly say they haven't dyed their hair.
* Holy crap, ''Manga/{{Berserk}}''. This is probably one of the biggest themes of the manga, in that Griffith's downward spiral, leading ultimately to the Eclipse, the merging of the worlds and all that other stuff ''could all have been avoided'' had he and Guts ever simply talked things out with one another. The phrase "the world's most tragic misunderstanding" has been used on more than a few occasions to describe the series, and it's pretty accurate.
* In the case of ''VisualNovel/SchoolDays'', [[spoiler:literally]]. This trope's role in the series really can't be overstated -- ''every time'' a misunderstanding can happen, it does. The worst part is that the characters know it's happening ("Wait, he's dating ''her''? But ''she'' said..."), yet they never make the effort to sort it out. Lives are destroyed because the right people are never all together in one conversation.
* In ''Manga/{{Kurokami}}'', had the BigBad simply explained that he was out to kill off a whopping third of the entire human population because [[spoiler:if he didn't, a GreaterScopeVillain would come along and kill off ''every single living being on the planet'']], at the very least, the good guys might have been at least more willing to sit down and talk things out. It didn't help that the BigBad seemed to only employ ObviouslyEvil {{jerkass}}es into his organization.
* In ''Manga/MagicKnightRayearth'', Clef's failure to give the girls the full version of the legend of the Magic Knights results in a fair bit of trauma.[[note]]It's true that he was separated early on, but he still had a way to communicate.[[/note]] But because he CannotSpitItOut, he tells the girls a MetaphoricalTruth (or, in the Darkhorse translation, an outright lie) [[spoiler:and they are subsequently shattered when they learn that they were summoned to ''kill'' Emeraude, not save her]]. The girls spend most of Part II trying to subvert this trope, making sure to discuss with the various invading parties ''why'' they're trying to conquer Cephiro.
* In ''Anime/SuitePrettyCure'', Hibiki and Kanade's friendship is shattered prior to the series starting because they told each other that they'd wait for each other by a tree at the school entrance on the first day of school. Their school has ''four'' entrances and they didn't say ''which'' one. It takes a year, the two become Cures, and two children doing the same thing to realize where they messed up.
* In the first chronological arc of ''Manga/{{Ooku}}: the Inner Chambers'', [[EvilMatriarch Reverend Kasuga]] takes every opportunity to convince the young abbot Arikoto that he was selected to become a catamite for the pleasure of the Shogun (with everything from imprisonment up to and including murdering people before his eyes to secure his "consent"). Had she taken him aside and told him that the actual Shogun Iemitsu [[ElCidPloy had been dead for years]] and she was trying to avoid a catastrophic SuccessionCrisis by getting his [[HiddenBackupPrince teenaged bastard daughter]] [[HeirClubForMen knocked up]] to begin with he may have been less resistant to the idea if for no other reason than avoiding civil strife being a better reason to abandon his priestly vows than the amusement of a corrupt ruler[[note]](she had no plans to let him leave Edo alive anyway, so if he still refused she could start cutting bits off his entourage ''then'')[[/note]].

* PlayedForLaughs in the manga version of ''Anime/TenchiMuyo'' with one light-hearted comic. Sasami gets her first case of the hiccups and the gang starts trying to let it go its way. However, Mihoshi accidentally took her superior's old wives' tale about how one hiccuping 100 times would kill them as a real threat and tells everyone before he could mention it. The gang quickly tries to figure out how to solve her problem, but as she reaches the 100th hiccup, Tenchi hits a low-grade GodzillaThreshold - he startles her [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments by saying he loves her]]. It works and later Washu approaches Tenchi and mentions that the whole thing ''was'' a old wives' tale and she really was in no danger.
* In ''Anime/UmiMonogatari'', Kanon never told Kojima she liked him out of fear and naturally assumed he was going to dump her, which made him grow distant from her because he felt she didn't reciprocate his feelings.
* In ''LightNovel/DemonKingDaimao'', this is Junko's FatalFlaw; in her EstablishingCharacterMoment, she physically assaults Akuto because she saw him with her grandmother and just jumped to conclusions that he was trying to mug her. After Akuto is prophecised to be the next Demon King, Junko alternates between being friendly with him and just trying to kill him because she constantly misinterprets his attempts to do good as being evil and rarely, if ever, gives him a chance to explain. Her tendency to do this is even lampshaded in episode 3: after Keena [[LaserGuidedKarma causes the lynch mob Junko assembled to turn on Junko as well]], Junko insists that it's all a misunderstanding, only for Akuto to inform her that he's been trying to tell her the ''exact same thing'' all along, and the mob is unlikely to listen to her any more than she did to him.
* In ''Anime/TigerAndBunny'', Kotetsu has a habit of making things more difficult for himself by communicating poorly with people. For instance, When he's helping Barnaby investigate the murder of his parents, [[spoiler: he beats around the bush and keeps giving non-answers when trying to tell him that he's losing his powers and plans on retiring. This causes Barnaby to think Kotetsu is only helping to convince ''him'' not to retire so he won't feel as guilty. He chews Kotetsu out, goes off on his own and ends up getting captured by the BigBad]]. Also Kotetsu [[spoiler: promises to retire and spend more time with his daughter Kaede but has to help Barnaby with the aforementioned situation]]. Instead of explaining to his family that he's in the middle of a murder investigation, he just gives really vague excuses whenever they ask why he hasn't resigned yet, once again hurting the relationship between him and his daughter (who doesn't even know he's a superhero), which had ''just'' been repaired an episode ago.

* In the first volume of LightNovel/HighSchoolDXD, Rias tells Issei he is to call her Buchou. Later in the series, after she has developed feeling for him (but not told him in direct, concrete manner), she despairs that he won't call her by name. That despair allows an enemy to take control of her.

* PlayedForLaughs in the manga version of ''Anime/TenchiMuyo'' with one light-hearted comic. Sasami gets her first case of the hiccups and the gang starts trying to let it go its way. However, Mihoshi accidentally took her superior's old wives' tale about how one hiccuping 100 times would kill them as a real threat and tells everyone before he could mention it. The gang quickly tries to figure out how to solve her problem, but as she reaches the 100th hiccup, Tenchi hits a low-grade GodzillaThreshold - he startles her [[HeartwarmingMoments by saying he loves her]]. It works and later Washu approaches Tenchi and mentions that the whole thing ''was'' a old wives' tale and she really was in no danger.

* A good chunk of the main arc of ''Anime/SailorMoon'''s R saga. Mamoru/Darien gets a series of dreams that suggest something horrible will happen to Usagi/Serena if they stay together. Rather than warn Usagi, Mamoru decides to push her away. It takes him about 20 episodes to finally tell Usagi about the dreams, by which point Usagi is driven to the DespairEventHorizon and nearly killed by the arc's BigBad in at least one occasion.
* In ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'', a ''lot'' of grief could've been avoided had Sayaka [[CannotSpitItOut been able to confess her feelings to the boy she loves]]. Likewise, it could (possibly) also have been avoided had said boy [[ObliviousToLove been able to figure out Sayaka's crush on him]] ([[ItMakesSenseInContext as long as he said so within a certain timeframe]]) or if [[UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom a certain someone]] [[YouHave48Hours didn't put down a deadline]].
** Otherwise, in ''Different Story'', Mami misinterpreted Kyoko's "I see you a little differently than a friend" as she was seeing Mami as senior, whom she will abandoned after she got strong. In reality, Kyoko's thinking Mami as ''[[TearJerker family]]''.

* In ''Manga/{{Kurokami}}'', had the BigBad simply explained that he was out to kill off a whopping third of the entire human population because [[spoiler:if he didn't, a BiggerBad would come along and kill off ''every single living being on the planet'']], at the very least, the good guys might have been at least more willing to sit down and talk things out. It didn't help that the BigBad seemed to only employ ObviouslyEvil {{jerkass}}es into his organization.

* One ''Manga/DetectiveConan'' case had an injured American tourist recuperating in a Japanese household and falling in love with a young woman. Because of a mouth injury, at first he could only communicate by writing out Japanese phrases phonetically. As he was leaving, the young woman asked if he loved her, and he wrote down the word "shine", referring to his earlier words that he wanted a "shining bride", but which she quite naturally interpreted as "shi-ne," which happens to be Japanese for "die". The woman committed suicide after he left, and when he came back he ended up murdering her father and a family friend in revenge. WhatAnIdiot.

* The third ''RebuildOfEvangelion'' film takes place [[spoiler: fourteen years after the events of the last movie.]] A very confused Shinji wakes up from a coma, but despite his best efforts to get a straight answer, nobody will tell him what's happening. He eventually [[spoiler: runs off with Rei II, which ultimately leads to a FromBadToWorse situation.]] Misato was understandably very angry, but if she'd simply told him that [[spoiler: the girl was a clone of Rei, and that the real one was gone,]] and that [[spoiler: Shinji's actions brought about third impact, killing a large amount of the population,]] perhaps he wouldn't have been so quick to flee, which means [[spoiler: Kaworu]] probably wouldn't have died, and Shinji wouldn't have suffered a [[HeroicBlueScreenOfDeath mental breakdown.]]

* Most trouble in ''BinbouShimaiMonogatari'' stems from the two sisters simply not ''talking'' with each other about what's bothering them.

** During the Buu Saga, one of the Supreme Kai's [[NiceJobBreakingItHero numerous screw-ups]] is neglecting to tell the Z-Fighters that [[SuperSpit anything Dabura spits on]] [[TakenForGranite turns to stone]] until ''after'' Dabura had petrified Krillin and Piccolo.

** Then again, this ''is'' [[IdiotHero Goku]] we're talking about here. Keep in mind, he didn't exactly drag Gohan towards Cell so that he could fight him. Also, his interaction with Gohan had the latter [[UnskilledButStrong doubting whether he could take Cell]], so Goku was at least aware of Gohan's self-doubt. He chose to assuage his son of it with his support, and some would say, a great deal of pressure. It wasn't ''just'' Piccolo [[WhatTheHellHero yelling at him]] that got him to consider it might be a bad idea. After all, he and the others were calling him out on it throughout Gohan's fight with Cell. He had to see for himself that his son was in ''real'' trouble for it all to sink in. So, a simple talking to wasn't gonna fly with this guy. He had to see for himself.

* ''VisualNovel/HigurashiNoNakuKoroNi'' takes a very... er... literal angle on this because most arcs are OneSideOfTheStory, and that the series in general contains proliferation of [[CrypticConversation Cryptic Conversations]] and characters who CannotSpitItOut. In fact, the latter point becomes a major {{Aesop}} of the series. In some cases the use of this trope is mildly justified by the fact that the 'main' character hasn't really known the rest of the cast for that long -- and the things they're not talking about are often rather more serious secrets than is usual for this trope. Like, say, the fact that you just murdered someone.

* ''Anime/{{Monster}}'' sometimes relies on this trope. The show is full of characters who know bits and pieces of the overall puzzle; two of them will often unknowingly meet up, but fail to say the right things. Examples include Tenma's first meeting with Grimmer and Nina's first meeting with Lotte (who even mentions her friend Johan, just never by ''name'').

** In ''GundamSEEDDestiny'', after destroying the Freedom and apparently killing Kira, Shinn goes up to Athrun (who's his team leader) and says "I got revenge, for both of us"...and Athrun punches him in the face. Shinn was referring to how Freedom destroyed Athrun's Saviour Gundam and left him badly injured, and is completely unaware that Kira and Athrun are childhood friends, so he's incredibly confused and angry at this expression of anti-gratitude.
** Destiny is good at this. The entire conflict between the old and new cast could have been entirely avoided if both sides would at least have made an attempt to speak to each other. Kira and his friends intervene when Orb faces the Minerva to try to get Orb to back off, but after this fails Kira proceeds to just shoot at everyone (non lethally of course) without even trying to say anything to Minerva. Not even explaintion their intentions or a "Lay off of Orb and we'll help you get out alive." nothing. And Minerva instead of contacting Kira's side to ask what the hell they are doing, just kind of silently glares at them. Later on, when Zaft's invading Orb to get Djbril after the corrupt administration insists on protecting him, Kira and co show up halfway to take over control of Orb again, ordering everyone not currently fighting Zaft to go find Djbril to kick him out. But they don't tell Zaft this. Instead they keep fighting them, while trying to get Djbril with limited manpower instead of trying to work something out. As a result Djbril gets away.

* In ''AppleseedExMachina'' the government advises the general public to hand over very handy Connexus-devices by saying that they've been "deemed harmful." Instead of simply saying, "These devices turn you into insane cyber-zombie and may force the police to shoot you." Needless to say, few listen.
* ''[[MaiHime Mai-HiME]]''....ohhhh yes. ''[[MaiHime Mai-HiME]]''. Let's count the ways, shall we?

* In the manga ''SaitamaChainsawShoujo'', the main character is a bad speaker with self-confidence issues whose only two friends suddenly stop talking to her after a transfer student joins the school and steals her boyfriend. She doesn't take it well, feeling crushed and friendless, and soon decides that [[{{Yandere}} revenge followed by suicide]] is the only option she has left.

* In ''{{Sekirei}}'', the protagonist's sister gets a Sekirei named Shiina. His goal is to find Kusano, his sister (whether they're actually related is unknown, but Shiina is #107 and Kusano is #108). Yukari proceeds to [[CurbStompBattle heartlessly beat]] any Ashikabi she comes across (she's become a massive bitch in the process somehow, even though some of her victims deserved it) and then ask them where Kusano is. Kusano is one of ''her brother's'' Sekirei.

* Near the end of ''The VisionOfEscaflowne'', Van attempts to kill Dilandau and Allen leaps to his rescue, apparently having never bothered to let Van in on the fact that [[spoiler:Dilandau is actually Allen's younger sister who has been sex-changed and driven psychotic by Zaibach.]] Rather than explain, "Hey, don't kill him, he's [[spoiler:my kid sister]], Allen tells Van that Allen himself should be held responsible for all of Dilandau's crimes. And rather than ask for further explanation, Van's response is along the lines of, "Okay, sure, then let's fight to the death."

* This happens often in ''SetoNoHanayome'', most notably the time when Nagasumi was MistakenForCheating with Lunar (he was drying her off), and nearly killed by her father as a result.
* The entire "White Devil incident" from ''MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha [=StrikerS=]'' and a good deal of angst on Teana's part could've been avoided with either more feedback from Nanoha or a single mention from Teana about Nanoha's own training (presumably leading to her [[spoiler:learning about the latter's HeroicRROD earlier]]).

* ''Anime/{{Another}}'': Seriously, you couldn't tell the NewTransferStudent that the entire class's lives depended on [[{{Unperson}} ignoring a student's existence]] so you could avoid an evil ghost curse BEFORE he started attending class and tried making friends with said ignored student and not trust you because you chose to be threateningly vague about it until [[RuleOfThree THREE PEOPLE DIED]] and it became obvious that the "Charm" was no longer an option...

* ''MaisonIkkoku'' features a lot of this, while playing with or subverting it at other times. Godai attempts to explain himself several times, but the situations he finds himself in are often ''so'' outlandish that Kyoko doesn't believe him. It's played straight for Coach Mitaka and his potential fiancee Asuna by the end, though- it ends up removing him from the picture entirely.

* In ''MayoChiki'' this happens a lot, mainly something to due with Kinjiro trying to hide the fact that [[UnsettlingGenderReveal Subaru is a girl]].

* In ''{{Kanon}}'', Yuichi Aizawa used to visit his aunt Akiko and cousin Nayuki in their quiet little town every holiday, but one year something happened and he left for seven years. The entire plot would be brought to a halt if not for this and ThereAreNoTherapists.

* In ''LightNovel/IchibanUshiroNoDaimaou'', this is Junko's FatalFlaw; in her EstablishingCharacterMoment, she physically assaults Akuto because she saw him with her grandmother and just jumped to conclusions that he was trying to mug her. After Akuto is prophecised to be the next Demon King, Junko alternates between being friendly with him and just trying to kill him because she constantly misinterprets his attempts to do good as being evil and rarely, if ever, gives him a chance to explain. Her tendency to do this is even lampshaded in episode 3: after Keena [[LaserGuidedKarma causes the lynch mob Junko assembled to turn on Junko as well]], Junko insists that it's all a misunderstanding, only for Akuto to inform her that he's been trying to tell her the ''exact same thing'' all along, and the mob is unlikely to listen to her any more than she did to him.

* During the Cell Saga ''Anime/DragonBallZ'', Goku's utter failure to explain his plan for defeating Cell. Had he taken a moment during the several ''days'' of prep time that Cell gave them to explain that he intended for Gohan to fight Cell, someone - Piccolo, maybe, or even Gohan himself - could have told him just why this was a bad idea. Yes, Gohan was the only one strong enough to have a chance against Cell, but if Goku had been a bit more open from the beginning, at the very least he might have taken the fight more seriously. Instead, we ended up with the fiasco that resulted in his death and very nearly resulted in his son's.
** Then again, this ''is'' [[IdiotHero Goku]] we're talking about here. Keep in mind, he didn't exactly drag Gohan towards Cell so that he could fight him. Also, his interaction with Gohan had the latter [[UnskilledButStrong doubting whether he could take Cell]], so Goku was at least aware of Gohan's self-doubt. He chose to assuage his son of it with his support, and some would say, a great deal of pressure. It wasn't ''just'' Piccolo [[WhatTheHellHero yelling at him]] that got him to consider it might be a bad idea. After all, him and the others were calling him out throughout Gohan's fight with Cell. He had to see for himself that his son was in ''real'' trouble for it all to sink in. So, a simple talking to wasn't gonna fly with this guy. He had to see for himself.

* Holy crap, ''Manga/{{Berserk}}''. This is probably one of the biggest themes of the manga, in that Griffith's downward spiral, leading ultimaley to the eclipse, the merging of the worlds and all that other stuff ''could all have been avoided'' has him and Guts ever simply talked things out with one another. The phrase "the world's most tragic misunderstanding" has been used on more than a few occasions to describe the series, and it's pretty accurate.

* In ''Manga/MagicKnightRayearth'', Clef's failure to give the girls the full version of the legend of the Magic Knights results in a fair bit of trauma.[[note]]It's true that he was separated early on, but he still had a way to communicate.[[/note]] But because he CannotSpitItOut, he tells the girls a MetaphoricalTruth (or, in the Darkhorse translation, an outright lie) [[spoiler:and they are subsequently shattered when they learn that they were summoned to ''kill'' Emeraude, not save her]]. The girls spend most of Part II trying to subvert this trope.

* In her EstablishingCharacterMoment in ''LightNovel/IchibanUshiroNoDaimaou'', Junko physically assaults Akuto because she saw him with her grandmother and just jumped to conclusions that he was trying to mug her. After Akuto is prophecised to be the next Demon King, Junko alternates between being friendly with him and just trying to kill him because she constantly misinterprets his attempts to do good as being evil and rarely, if ever, gives him a chance to explain. Her tendency to do this is even lampshaded in episode 3: after Keena [[LaserGuidedKarma causes the lynch mob Junko assembled to turn on Junko as well]], Junko insists that it's all a misunderstanding, only for Akuto to inform her that he's been trying to tell her the ''exact same thing'' all along, and the mob is unlikely to listen to her any more than she did to him.

** The Third Robotech War, between the Invid of the Regis occupying Earth and the Robotech Expeditionary Force trying to reclaim it, comes entirely from both sides ''refusing'' to talk things out in spite of the Invid's occupation being relatively peaceful (as long as you don't oppose them or try to get your hands on Protoculture without their permission, they leave you alove, and they even repaired the damage done to Earth by the Zentraedi bombardment). This is actually {{Justified}}: the Invid Regis thinks of Humans as barbarians who can't understand the marvels of Protoculture and the dangers of having it (and is perfectly right about the dangers), while the REF has just won a very destructive conflict with the Regent's Invid, who devastated the Robotech Masters' former empire and their homeworld of Tirol, and have no reason to think that the Regis' faction, having suffered the same things the Regent's has at the hands of the Masters, are any different.

* The third ''RebuildOfEvangelion'' film takes place [[spoiler: fourteen years after the events of the last movie.]] A very confused Shinji wakes up from a coma, but despite his best efforts to get a straight answer, nobody will tell him what's happening. He eventually [[spoiler: runs off with Rei II, which ultimately leads to a FromBadToWorse situation.]] Misato was understandably very angry, but if she'd simply told him that [[spoiler: the girl was a clone of Rei, and that the real one was gone,]] and that [[spoiler: Shinji's actions brought about third impact, killing a large amount of the population,]] perhaps he wouldn't have been so quick to flee, which means [[spoiler: Kaworu]] probably wouldn't have died, and Shinji wouldn't have suffered a [[HeroicBlueScreenOfDeath mental breakdown.]]

* Used heavily but then averted in ''HeroicAge'', in that the aliens attack and war against humans without warning, but when several actions make it clear they have a hard time understanding each others' motives, [[spoiler:both sides enter negotiations and call a truce]].

* ''EurekaSeven'''s Holland. If you take a shot for every time he conceals important information from other people (especially Renton), don't expect to be awaken by the end of any given episode. No, nobody necessarily dies because of it, but he was the source of much pain and frustration for everyone just because he ''wouldn't talk''.

** A significant amount of the angst had Kira (or anyone else on the Archangel) felt the need say to ZAFT something along the lines of "Hey, there's about 30 civilians on board this ship". Then again,[[HotBlooded Yzak]] would most likely just shoot them anyway, believing them to be fleeing soldiers.