One of Team Rocket's elaborate plans to capture Pokémon is foiled early, so they instead wrap the target Pokémon with some whips and begin easily tugging them away from their owners. Cut to this brilliant piece of dialog:
James: Why didn't we just do this in the first place? Jessie: We have to fill a half hour!
Another episode ends with them remarking "We wasted this whole episode cheering for the good guys."
One episode directly acknowledges a mechanic from the video games. Meowth says he can't learn Pay Day because he used up all his move slots. It's later established that the only attack Meowth can use is Scratch or Fury Swipes, because he used the rest of his move slots to speak human language.
In Tsurupika Hagemaru-kun, Hagemaru suffers from this and Genre Savviness.note These lines are from the Hindi version.
Hagemaru: Hey, Kaka, don't sneeze like this while you're naked or the censor guys will cut the scene!
Hagemaru: I can do anything, I'm the hero of this series!
The Gestalt OVA depends on this trope for half of the episode in which Ohri is under a spell of silence. She communicates using video game style text boxes. Her master Olivier even asks "what is that thing?".
Hayate the Combat Butler has the characters being aware of commercial breaks, the Narrator, and so forth. At one point Tama is able to figure out 8's identity by remembering the show's Title Sequence. Medium Awareness is constant in the manga, as well.
In the first season of Slayers, Lina grows so angry with Gourry that she grabs a hold of her own Sweat Drop and hits him over the head with it.
The commentator during the Davy Back games announce that the main event will commence after these commercial messages.
The Straw Hat crew yell at Crocus to stop doing his "good running gag".
The manga of Dragon Half does this. For example, one character is explicitly describing objects with their colors, only for another to point out that the previous page was the last one to be in color.
The anime takes it further to make it a plot point, not to mention reference another from the manga that was Adapted Out - Dug Fin is mad that Mink swore to kill his father, but Mink has no recollection of this. To settle the matter, Fin pulls out a VHS copy of the first episode and watches it (and discovers, to his shock, that his scenes were "edited out").
In the rather naughty Kekko Kamen anime, the bad guys are caught by surprise because there is no heroic music for one of her arrivals. Granted, in the original manga her appearances are also preceded by a soundtrack, so the music seems to be on their side of the fourth wall.
In one manga chapter, Miu counters Matsuri's assertion that her pet ferret, John, is a good boy by reminding her that she said he was wiggling around "three panels ago".
On the first page of Chapter 3, before even the chapter's title page:
Chika: Miu... and Matsuri... don't get along. [Nobue looks at Chika as if to say, "Um... who are you talking to?"] Nobue: And nobody cares. [The words "The End" appear] Chika: No! Not "THE END!"
This happens constantly in several of Ai Yazawa's works, such as Neighborhood Story and Paradise Kiss (manga-version only). Characters complain about lack of lines or comment on other characters' thought bubbles. She has also used it in Kagen no Tsuki and Tenshi Nanka Ja Nai, albeit in a less over-the-top way.
George: Oooh, Isabella! Your first full-color shot was really impressive! It's a pity it will be b&w in the tankobon edition...
Coming off an anime filler arc, the writers used half of the first non-filler episode for Inoue to explain to Ichigo where they'd left off in the main story, using slides with pages of the actual manga to bring him back up to speed.
During Uryuu's fight against Szayel-Aporro, the batty Pesche reaches into his loincloth for something to help and Uryuu informs the audience it's a little too risque to air. Later, Mayuri decides to fix Nemu up and Uryuu says that was DEFINITELY too kinky for television.
Also in anime-only filler episode (ep. 214), Karukura-Raizer Erotic "in Hyper Erotic Mode, gains several techniques that can't be shown on TV."
In the first episode of Ouran High School Host Club, Tamaki can be seen leaning on a notice which pops up on the screen explaining the real meaning of Kyoya's words.
In the manga, Goku's first fight with Yamcha had him getting kicked into - and bouncing off of - the panels of the page by Goku.
Gags like this were also used in Akira Toriyama's earlier series Doctor Slump.
In an episode of Dragon Ball Super crossing over with Dr. Slump, Vegeta goes up against Arale and quickly realizes he's up against "a gag manga character" who is as strong as she needs to be, and standard fighting tactics are just going to be ineffective against her. He tries using some gags himself ("Look! A UFO!") but it doesn't work, and he gets launched over the horizon. Afterward, he declares he's never fighting a gag character again.
When characters have Imagine Spots, they're displayed in the background; the people around them sometimes turn to watch and comment.
Jack Rakan once watches another character's flashback.
In the Tenchi Muyo! manga, someone comments that Mihoshi resembles some other characters, to which Mihoshi replies that she's shaded with a different screentone than they are.
Washuu turns off the narrator while pushing a button. She also makes a pun with the title. Tenchi Muyo essentially means 'right side up', like seen on boxes. She says that despite the title, things can flip around.
One chapter starts with an intense fight between Aeka and Ryoko. The page that follows the title page has Washuu with a Ryohoki robot bonking the two and commenting that she's 'too late to appear in the first pages'.
Aeka tells Kiyone that she won't appear anymore if she doesn't cooperate, to which she answers that she'd like to keep her limited role as much as possible.
Sasami and Tenchi's grandfather also have a moment that when a hard question is asked, they are looking for 'the expert' to appear and explain it. Sasami looks under a rock saying "Where are you?"
There's frequent mentions of 'Tenchi being the main character', sometimes himself lamenting his current role (where he's cleaning by lack of having anything to do in that chapter).
Mentions of the anime are semi-frequent. One example is in the Jurai tree arc, where Washuu starts talking about her rival Yume. Mihoshi mentions the Doctor seen in the anime, as if it didn't make sense anymore. Washuu answers to 'forget about him' instead of trying to conciliate the two storylines.
Azaka and Kamidake also have a bit where they appeared some 6 volumes later. Washuu has a 'long time no see' moment, and they precisely say the volume and page of their last appearance (and even longer time since they had spoken lines).
The Princess Princess characters regularly comment on backgrounds and other elements. Late in the manga, they even complain when Ensemble Dark Horse Arisada receives a very large close-up.
In Haruhi Suzumiya, Kyon's narration is sometimes overheard by the characters, leading to the idea that Kyon just mumbles narration to himself everywhere he goes.
In the Fullmetal Alchemist manga, Edward lets Winry know how something happened by flashbacking to it and pointing towards that panel.
In one instance, when someone mentions his actual height, he covers up the number in that person's speech bubble.
Bakemonogatari has Senjougahara complimenting her own seiyuu. Then again, she did so in the original light novel.
Honey Honey was already entirely silly, with copious lampshade hangings. More than once characters address the commercial break or writers, depending on the dub.
When the GA: Geijutsuka Art Design Class students are talking about typography, one strip actually has the characters discuss the sound effect typeface on that strip.
In Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo, the characters show a certain amount of medium awareness when not directly parodying anything, such as one note in the English version of the anime where Bobobo has to have a pause between words while talking about traveling in order to accommodate for the translation, and he says after "I hope I can talk normally when we get there", actively acknowledging that the dub had just had to mess up. They also show that they are aware that a narrator is explaining things and will sometimes even talk directly to him. The end of the anime also has all characters bemoaning the fact that it's finally the end, and one even notes that it cuts off in the middle of an arc.
In Mon Colle Knights, Rokuna at one point dumps the visualized letters of her scream at an attacking group of enemies, Beginner once pushed aside a scene with a resistant Count Collection on it and from time to time the characters will interact with the narrator. At the end of the show, Count Collection talks directly to the audience about his Status Quo.
In Saiyuki the characters occasionally comment during some of the comic relief on things like Sanzo's fan coming out of nowhere, the fact that they can't prove to the reader that Kanzeon is really a hermaphrodite as the rating isn't that high and Gojyo wonders why Hakkai has launched into the recap of what the sutras are and their significance is while they are surrounded by murderous yokai.
The characters of Student Council's Discretion begin the first episode arguing how being an anime will affect their story which is being adapted from a series of Light Novels.
In episode 4 of Magical Witch Punie-chan, after Punie's mascot Paya-tan is squished and Punie defeats the badguy, Anego tells Paya-tan "Your status on this show is getting closer and closer to mine." That's not a good thing around Punie.
The stinger of the first episode of Kotoura-san has Haruka do a Dirty Mind-Reading... on the "tons of people on the other side of the TV." This show is aired during Otaku O'Clock, so viewer sexualization of Haruka is clearly unavoidable. Manabe is jealous.
Nyaruko: Crawling with Love! has several characters exhibit Medium Awareness as dictated by Rule of Funny; for example, the first episode of the second season practically has Nyarko recap the entire premise of the series and introduce the entire cast...while Mahiro wonders what the hell she's doing. Before that, the episode starts with a parody of the opening to Bewitched, with Nyarko as Samantha and Mahiro as Darrin; we later see it's just a video she's having made. Interestingly, the opening includes credits for their actual voice actresses (Kana Asumi and Eri Kitamura respectively), a fact that not even Mahiro seems to notice.
In that same episode, Nyarko and the other aliens use Kamen Rider Wizard's Transformation Sequence to change from their pajamas to their school uniforms; afterwards, Cuko comments that the "magic circle effect" is pretty expensive so they decided to use it early on while there's still plenty of money in the show's budget.
Mahiro himself exhibits it in an earlier episode, where he can apparently see the little numbering bubbles used to count up the guests for his mother's hot springs trip (since he remarks on the fact that Nyarko's pet Shanta-kun is counted as a guest despite being, well, a pet).
In the very first episode, Nyarko is rambling endlessly until a frustrated Mahiro grabs a nearby fork and plunges it into the table next to her hand. After the title card, a frightened Nyarko asks "What are you trying to do, get us cancelled?!"
In the manga of K-On!, Mio seems to have this in a couple of instances:
When she and Azusa are beside each other in the bath, Yamanake remarks that she can't tell them apart without her glasses (even though Azusa has acquired a significant tan and Mio has not). Mio wonders if it's a criticism of the manga artist.
In college, something happens to Yui at some point, making her punctual, not snackish, focused, and uncomfortable with being clung to. Ritsu feels for lumps, thinking maybe she hit her head, since that's what would happen if it were a manga. Mio says it is a manga.
In the Lupin III franchise, there exists a Semipermeable Fourth Wall nature. It is usually Lupin interacting with whatever element of the work is on our side of the Fourth Wall, but any of the cast can do it for a Rule of Funny. (Monkey Punch has even turned part of a panel over to show how upset he was when Zenigata had a Leaning on the Fourth Wall line, claiming the current case was as simple as a comic book)
A Lupin III: Part 1 episode has Lupin stepping off of a plane and calling, "Title!" to summon the episode's name.
The manga stories use many more Fourth Wall jokes than the anime stories do. In "Impression Impossible", Lupin has paid someone to roll a panel aside and declare that Lupin III is handsome.
Characters in Sonic X frequently make reference to being in an anime (though only in the original Japanese version) - usually Sonic, but Dr. Eggman occasionally does it too. In one memorable episode, Eggman actually took over the show, changing the name of it to "Eggman X" (complete with new title card). Sonic eventually defeated Eggman by sending him down a maze where the right path was marked by the correct answer to a Yes/No question. The last question was "Who's the main character of this show?" with one path marked with a picture of Sonic and the other with a picture of Eggman. Eggman, naturally, went down the "Eggman" path (even though his robots actually admitted the right answer was Sonic), which naturally led to a trap. (The 4Kids Entertainment dub changed the last question to "Who's the coolest guy around?".) In another episode, Team Chaotix learned what had happened while they were away by watching Sonic X on DVD, even arguing about whether to skip the opening song or not.
The cast of Sgt. Frog displays this a number of times: in chapter 69, the threat of a lecture from Keroro leads to the following exchange:
Fuyuki: We've just been made into an anime, and we're already going to lose fans. Keroro: Shut up! I shall only lecture you for about two of your Pokopenian pages!
She also hijacked the ending theme before the final episode, just so she could show off Ragyo's Shinra Koketsu.
Practically everyone has demonstrated some degree of this in Gintama. Among other things, they know they're in an anime/manga, and are able to notice the censorship of their dialogue and the scenery at times.
One story arc has the Yorozuya gang trying resolve a time stop that's affected everyone but them. The only reason they're even able to make any progress is due to the fact that they're able to read the speech bubbles of the frozen characters, though Gintoki later tries abuse this by editing what some of them are saying using a marker. They can even see the sound effects, and Gintoki ends up saving Otae's life by editing the sound of her being hit with a rocket punch into a stick figure saving her from the rocket punch...which she ends up marrying.
One Franken Fran chapter has a doctor refuse Fran's services, because he is all too aware of the Body Horror she inflicts on her patients in the name of saving their lives. How does he know all this? He holds up Franken Fran Volume 1.
Case Closed generally leaves the Fourth Wall alone, but there are occasions where they breaks just a little bit for laugh.
One episode end with Conan sharing his thoughts from a panel as usual. But with Ran, instead of looking where he actually is, look at said panel and response to it.
In one instance. Conan thought that an incident wouldn't conveniently happens with the main characters because this isn't a manga.
In The Circumstances Leading to Waltraute's Marriage, several characters do this. Some of Waltraute's sisters complain that it's not fair they have less screen time than her. Freyja at one point boasts that she's so sexy she has to be censored.
Chapter 8 of The Familiar of Zero has several girls look up at theImagine Spot depicting Saito's sexy dream of Louise, and in the next panel Louise is waving her arms through it to dissipate it.
In Chapter 162 of Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple, Apachai grabs and peeks out from behind a speech bubble like someone peering around a doorframe, acting confused about its presence.
In one chapter of Cyborg 009, 009 and 007 are chasing several shady men. As they set off, 007 (who, for maximum funny, has shapeshifted into a dog), notices a taxi.
007: Well, whaddaya know, a taxi! I love living in a comic!
Mashin Hero Wataru Series: Himiko is keen on Soukaizan's Strictly Formula system and uses them to her absolute advantage. When competing ninjutsus with Chuta Oniwaban of Seikaizan, Chuta shows off by transforming himself into a cool dragon, but then Himiko one ups him by transforming herself as Ryujinmaru, and forced smack Chuta as "the background dragon of Ryujinmaru;" you know, the dragon in all of Ryujinmaru's Dynamic Entry sequences.
Jotaro:[burrowing out of the ground] "Oh? And who's going to replace me, Jotaro Kujo, as the main character? You didn't think it would be you, did you?"
Done for a gag in Aggretsuko: A Very Metal Christmas. When Fenneko proclaims that Instagram is eating Retsuko's soul, Haida comments that "they're not going to like this episode".
Zettai BL ni Naru Sekai VS Zettai BL ni Naritakunai Otoko: The protagonist is aware that he is inside a BL manga, and that he is just an extra. The manga follows him trying to keep things like that because he doesn't want to date a guy.
The 1985 Osamu Tezuka short Broken Down Film has the cowboy hero both able to do things like grab a speech balloon and use it as a weapon, but also take advantage of (or be pestered by) things like scratches in the film, a hair stuck in the projector, and jittering frames.
The Big O: In-universe example. Gordon Rosewater, the former ruler of Paradigm City and effectively the former protagonist, became aware that his world was one big "Truman Show" Plot. While he was okay with being an actor in his own life, he got sick of the show's 'director' nosediving the show - and his empire - into the ground while she refused to take any input from the people living in her nightmare. He decided to 'negotiate' with her. The ratings-fluctuating robot war ended the world, but defeating his own director was the killing blow. Quite literally, as the previous series' canon was scrapped entirely, and then a new canon was created that only imported a few characters, like Rosewater - and potentially the 'tomatoes'. By the end, Gordon remembers he orchestrated Roger Smith's journey in order to make him a true Negotiator between authors and their characters. Though Roger doesn't quite understand, he eventually breaks the in-universe Fourth Wall and manages to properly negotiate with the Director.
Spy X Family: In the manga, Anya’s telepathy is frequently depicted as her directly looking at other characters’ thought bubbles.
has the cowboy hero both able to do things like grab a speech balloon and use it as a weapon, but also take advantage of (or be pestered by) things like scratches in the film, a hair stuck in the projector, and jittering frames.