Kissing Discretion Shot

Did they kiss? Well, their lips are sealed...

Grandpa: And as they reached for each other... (stops reading)
Grandson: What? What?
Grandpa: Ah, it's kissing again. You don't want to hear that.

— The Princess Bride

So, after all the Unresolved Sexual Tension, Alice and Bob are finally going to kiss... wait, why is the camera looking away?

The Kissing Discretion Shot is what happens when a kiss is implied, but not shown directly, usually by creative camera angles or by cutting away right before the characters' lips touch.

Usually, this is done for at least one of these reasons:

1. To help avoid potential controversy. This is particularly common with homosexual and interracial couples in older works, but now its on its way to becoming a Discredited Trope.
2. The actors weren't comfortable with kissing, for whatever reason.
3. The imply that the characters want some privacy, often away from the Fourth Wall.
4. To play up the "Did They or Didn't They?" angle. These tend to cut a little earlier than the others.
5. In Machinima, including in-game Cutscenes, the character models and/or rigs can't articulate a kiss well without being distracting.
6. Some things are funnier (or sexier) when left to the imagination — plus the clever use of Reaction Shots can indicate how cute... or wild... the action has become.
7. The characters are Funny Animals (e.g. two birds) and it's unclear how exactly a kiss would work with their beaks, so it is hidden from view.

See also Sexy Discretion Shot for the naughtier variant. Different from Almost Kiss where the kiss is interrupted instead of blocked.

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Examples:

Anime and Manga

• Done with Ryoko and Kitano in the Grand Finale of Angel Densetsu. Also an in-universe example, since Ryoko deliberately distracts the Date Peepers so that they don't see her kissing Kitano. Of course, the said date peepers were quick to voice their disappointment.
• The last TV broadcast episode of Bakemonogatari pans to the sky rather than show us Senjogahara and Koyomi kiss. Rather than avoiding controversy or anything, most likely it was because an actual shown kiss would be a bit of a let down after the preceding dialogue.
  • Nisemonogatari, episode 8. While waiting for their younger sister to return home to murder them, Koyomi and Karen are shown embracing and falling toward the bed, faces tantalizingly close to each other. Cue an image of white feathers flying up toward a bright blue sky.
• In the manga Black Lagoon, incredibly Creepy Twins Hansel and Gretel are introduced with a kiss, but the "camera" pans down right before their lips meet. Strangely, the next time they kiss right before splitting up, this trope is averted.

• A variety occurs in Blue Drop, where Hagino and Mari's big moment gets obscured by massive bubbles. That's what you get when kissing underwater—or being lesbian.

• In Change 123, this trope was used twice (so far) by showing a panel with a big sound effect on it instead of the actual kiss scene - both times when Hibiki kisses Kosukegawa. But in this case it's not about discretion, but to indicate how powerful Hibiki's kisses are.
• Subverted with a lesbian kiss in Destiny of the Shrine Maiden: the camera cuts away right before their lips meet...and a few seconds later, it cuts back, and the kiss continues for several more seconds!
• In Dragon Ball Z (the anime only), Goku had just recovered from being deathly ill and is about to join the rest of the Z-Fighters. In a rare display of affection, he says farewell to Chi-Chi. The viewer only sees up to their shoulders but from the embarrassed reaction on Master Roshi's face and the way Goku's hand squeezed Chi-Chi's shoulder, leaning a little bit closer to her, it's very possible that Goku gave his wife a goodbye kiss. However, Dragon Ball Super later contradicts this by revealing Goku didn't even know what kissing is.
• Most likely due to limitations of a All-CGI Cartoon, in EX-ARM kisses between Minami and Alma are obscured by the Lens Flare Censor, so the series can get away without animating it.
• In Fairy Tail, Jellal and Erza finally kiss after the Time Skip. Except maybe they don't, because after they spend three pages with their lips slowly getting closer and closer the actual kiss is silhouetted. They may still be about to kiss when Jellal suddenly decides he has no right to kiss her and shoves her away, making up a story about a fiancee so she'll give up on him.
• Done towards the end of the Fate/stay night anime, between Saber and Shirou. No ambiguity, though, and it's handled rather well.
• In Genshiken, in the scene of the final resolving of Unresolved Sexual Tension between Sasahara and Ogiue, their first kiss is shown by hiding the face of one character behind the head of the other.
• Kaguya-sama: Love Is War:
  • Played for Laughs when Kashiwagi gives a rather lewd kiss to her boyfriend after receiving definitive proof that he wasn't cheating on her with her best friend. They're only shown from the neck down, while the Student Council provides reactions.
  • Kaguya and Shirogane's first kiss has their lips blocked off by one of the hundreds of heart-shaped balloons from Shirogane's Grand Romantic Gesture, though it is shown in full at the end of the next chapter. It also helped to hide the fact that Kaguya was directly imitating the aforementioned kiss between Kashiwagi and her boyfriend due to her sheltered upbringing keeping her from realizing that you usually don't start a relationship with a french kiss. Also, the entire theme of the next arc is about both of them learning to drop their personas around each other, so both the fact that we don't see it represents how they were both essentially kissing though a mask.
• Entirely averted in Kanamemo, in which canon lesbian couple Yuuki and Yume kiss outside the newspaper office in the first episode, requisite flower background and all.
• Done particularly well in Macross Frontier when Sheryl, breaking down from her possibly fatal illness, clings to Alto for support. The tension of the scene combines with the affection they feel for each other, and the camera discreetly pans upwards as they kiss. The aftermath of the scene is extremely ambiguous about whether it went even further than that.
  • Word of God says they did have sex that night.
• In the second season of Magic Knight Rayearth, just before Caldina and Lafarga kiss, Caldina holds up a sash in between their faces and the camera.
• The camera slides away during a kiss in the anime adaptation of Maria Watches Over Us, but it's pretty clear that they were in fact kissing.
• The Mobile Suit Gundam Wing manga Blind Target features what looks like one between Heero and Relena, probably explaining its low popularity with a certain segment of the fandom.
• There is one in Naruto, between Yahiko and Konan. There is a scene where the latter is attending to the former's wounds on a bed, and then they gradually lean in as though for a kiss. The next scene is outside the door, where Nagato is smirking. It's ambiguous if it was merely a Kissing Discretion Shot, or if they went further.
• Nisekoi literally ends with Raku and Chitoge sharing their first and only visible kiss this way, as it pans out to a falling leaf covering their silhouettes.
• Happens in One Piece between Sanji and Pudding. The manga depicts her taking the cigarette out of his mouth, standing on tiptoes, and... the next panel shows the aftermath.
• In the manga adaption of Persona, this happens between Kazuya and Eriko. Interestingly enough, he did it as a way to Force Feed her a candy to heal her from a status effect.
• Happens at the end of Pokémon the Series: XY when Serena bids farewell to Ash. She runs back up an escalator to him and leans in, then the camera cuts to her feet as the escalator pulls them apart again. Serena, Bonnie, Pikachu, and Clemont are blushing after it's done. Word of God confirms that she did kiss him and it was heavily suggested that it was on on the lips because it was actually a result of forced censorship as the writers were not allowed to show the actual kiss in the first place. Kisses on the cheek like Ash getting kissed by Jessie and James disguised as hula girls, Melody, Chikorita, and Bianca/Latias were shown on screen before, even onscreen kisses happened in Sun and Moon.
• Used twice in Revolutionary Girl Utena: the only time Utena and Anthy are seen kissing is in the second ending credits, and it's just barely offscreen. Likewise, there's a "did they or didn't they?" kiss between Kozue and Anthy in "Miki's Nest Box" which takes place off-camera. However, this trope was thoroughly averted in The Movie.
• Sailor Moon Crystal:
  • In the Act 1 Cold Open, Usagi's Dreaming of Times Gone By is interrupted by a wakeful Fade to White and her alarm clock, right as the music swells and the dream prince and princess lean in for a kiss.
  • The very end of the Closing Credits shows Serenity and Endymion clearly reflected in shallow water as they lean in for a kiss, only for luminescent water ripples to disrupt the image.
• In one episode of Saint Beast, Luca and Rey lean in really close to each other, Rey grabs Luca's hand and put it on his cheek, presumably so he can mind-read the Love Confession that Rey cannot spit out, and then the screen fades to black. Did They or Didn't They?, indeed.
• The final episode of Sands of Destruction features a Cooldown Hug from Morte to Kyrie that's implied to have turned into a kiss, but the camera is too far away and there's quite a lot of sand swirling around obscuring things.
• The School Rumble manga has (at least one) example of this, with an implied kiss between Akira and Hanai being distracted by a panel showing the pair's feet.
• Shaman King had a scene where Yoh and Anna were talking with their silhouettes leaning forward and Amidamaru quickly looking away while blushing.
• The final scene of Super Robot Wars Original Generation: The Inspectors: after a tender conversation, Kyosuke and Excellen draw close and fade to black.
• When Yasuko and Fumi in Sweet Blue Flowers share their first kiss in the library, the viewer is confronted with a view of the steel bookshelves—though the kiss can be seen in full view at the start of the next episode.
• In the eighth episode of the OVA adaptation of Tales of Symphonia, Lloyd closes his eyes and moves his head closer to that of the still-soulless Colette. During this time, the camera zooms in on their eyes, then simply lingers on the shot where their mouths are out of frame, strongly implying Lloyd did, in fact, kiss Colette.
  • This was averted much earlier in the OVA, though. More specifically, in the ending credits of the very first episode; the final shot is on a sketch of Lloyd and Colette sitting next to each other. Suddenly, the sketch comes to life, showing Colette giving Lloyd a kiss on the cheek.
• It happens in Touch (1981) when Tatsuya and Minami are going to finally kiss and the "camera" pans down to their feet.
• Parodied multiple times in the Violinist of Hameln manga with Hamel and Flute. Every time it seems the two of them are having a "moment" and one or the other draws in for a kiss, the panel cuts away... and cuts back to reveal that Hamel has somehow accidentally kneed her in the face.
• This happens in Windy Tales, when Miki and Jun make up after a fight.
• This happens in Yuri!!! on Ice between Victor and Yuri. You may not see lip-on-lip contact, though the scene that occurs beforehand features their faces slowly inching closer and closer, their lips particularly highlighted, with Yuri's eyes widening in shock and Victor's eyes closing. Then when it happens, the kiss is blocked by an arm, although the angle of their faces and the reactions of the other characters makes it clear that they were not just sharing a hug.
• In the end of one episode of Zatch Bell!, Wonlei and Li Yen are sailing away and standing on the prow of a ship. They hold hands, look deeply into one another's eyes, their faces move together, and the camera cuts away just before we see their lips touch. It seems like a silly thing to cut, considering kisses have been considered appropriate fare for all ages for a long time now, but there is a different factor there— Li Yen is human while Wonlei is a creature from another dimension (and, literally, a demon in the Japanese version).

Asian Animation

• Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf: In episode 495, Paddi kisses Sparky during a performance of Sleeping Beauty, but another goat appears in front of them, blocking the kiss from the audience. However, we do get to see the kiss in episode 496.

Comic Books

• Batman: Black and White: In "The Bet", Poison Ivy bets Harley Quinn she can make every man in Arkham Asylum kiss her. Partway through the subsequent montage, the audience watches Harley getting increasingly annoyed while Ivy kisses Penguin, Two-Face, and Killer Croc off-panel, since actually seeing any of those kisses on-panel would probably break the mood.

Comic Strips

• Garfield: In the December 23, 2022 strip, Liz kisses Jon Under the Mistletoe after turning the light off.

Fan Works

• Rei and Kaworu's First Kiss in Advice and Trust played out this way during New Year's.^note First romantic kiss, that is. They had kissed several days prior at the Christmas party, and Rei claimed that it was supposed to be platonic. The two of them lean towards each other and the scene ends with the words "Midnight struck", though it's clear that the kiss actually happens.
• In Naru-Hina Chronicles, the First Kiss between Naruto and Hinata has never been shown.

Film — Animated

• 5 Centimeters per Second had this near the end of the first arc. The camera shifts to Akari standing on her tiptoes.
• La Muerte and Xibalba get in a few smooches in The Book of Life, but always obscured by La Muerte's enormous hat. It serves dual purpose- Xibalba is a lot less humanoid than La Muerte, so actually showing the characters sucking face might look rather strange, and the combination of his hat plus Xibalba's spread wings forms an image of the Sacred Heart.
• Ginger and Rocky almost kissing was a Running Gag in Chicken Run, initiated because the animators couldn't figure out how to make two chickens kissing look anything but ridiculous. When the big kiss finally comes, it is with the characters turning away from the camera, obscuring any actual contact of "lips".
• Howl's Moving Castle has Sophie leaping towards Howl and the next scene is the Heel–Face Turn Witch of the Waste covering a young Markl's eyes.
• Ladybug & Cat Noir: The Movie: Marinette and Adrien dance at the Masquerade Ball and lean in to kiss... THE END.
• Occurs in the ending of The LEGO Movie, as after Lord Business is defeated and everyone throws a huge party, Batman finally gives Wyldstyle/Lucy his blessing to have a relationship with Emmet. The two hold hands, and the camera pans out to show the party in full force. Closer inspection shows that the two do kiss! Wyldstyle even lifts up her leg while doing this!
• Happens to Joe and Jenny at the end of the first segment of Melody Time, as their sleigh goes back through the covered bridge.
• In Penguins of Madagascar, when giving Kowalski a Smooch of Victory, Eva uses her wing to block the camera’s view of the actual smooching.
• Played straight in Puss in Boots (2011). Finally, after all the Unresolved Sexual Tension between the two, Kitty and Puss finally kiss. Which is hidden behind Puss's hat which Kitty lifts off his head and holds over their faces. Likely done just the give the two some privacy, though they hadn't really been discreet about their attraction before. Could also count as a (covered up) The Big Damn Kiss, because of the dramatic lighting behind them. The discretion's also a handy way of dealing with the fact that cats can't kiss without straying down the Alternate Animal Affection path.
• In one scene in Shrek, just as Shrek and Fiona start to kiss, Shrek breaks the fourth wall and covers up the camera. Which then cuts to them kissing in full view at their wedding.

Film — Live-Action

• The "big clinch" in An Affair to Remember. You don't see it, you see them FILMING THEIR FEET. (Oddly enough, smaller kisses go on throughout the movie.)
• The shot is pulled back and seasoned with a shooting star when Doc Brown and Clara Clayton kiss in Back to the Future Part III, probably because Christopher Lloyd was deemed too old to do so up close.
• The Brazilian film Casseta & Planeta: A Taça do Mundo É Nossa, by comedy group Casseta & Planeta, employs it for "man and a man playing woman" action. Their TV show does it sometimes as well.
• Possible Ur-Example: in the 1919 Conrad Veidt film Different from the Others, when Paul and his boyfriend are caught kissing. Before their lips touch, the camera cuts away to the teacher's shocked face.
• Any film where Kirk Cameron or Chelsea Noble have to kiss anyone other than each other will have this, as neither believes it is acceptable for them to kiss other actors. Films of note have been: Left Behind (Camera cuts away as Chelsea kisses Brad Johnson) and Fireproof (where the woman is actually Chelsea in a wig).
• Free Guy: The kiss scene between Millie and Keys literally has a Smash to Black right before contact is seen.
• Double Subverted in Friday the 13th (1980) when Barry and Claudette go to second base.
• Kamen Rider
  • When Nadeshiko bids farewell to Gentaro Kisaragi at the end of Kamen Rider × Kamen Rider Fourze & OOO: Movie War Mega Max, she wraps her hands around his face and leans closer before it pans to their feet.
  • At the end of Kamen Rider Drive Saga: Kamen Rider Mach, the titular character Go shares a kiss with Reiko Nishihori as the scene pan out and started to get blurry.
• The kiss between Will Smith and Anthony Michael Hall in the otherwise-awesome Six Degrees of Separation. Rumor has it Denzel told Will not to do it.
• In Swing Time, when Penny and Lucky reconcile in the dressing room. They move closer ... closer ... and then someone opens the door, blocking the audience's view for a few crucial seconds. Screams of frustration must have been heard in many theaters in 1936. ^note (Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers had only done hand kisses and short pecks onscreen so far, and teasing the audience was becoming a game. They'd already had an Almost Kiss earlier in the same movie. They wouldn't do a full-scale romantic kiss until Carefree in 1938.)
• Used a lot in the Twilight film when Edward and Bella kiss.
• Vertigo plays with a restriction not against kisses entirely, but a kiss being shown for longer than 3 seconds. In a passionate kissing scene, the camera pans around the two and something always obscures their lips every 3 seconds.
• In Who's That Girl, the two male police detectives that were following Nikki Finn throughout the film end up kissing each other in the car, with a pan away shot to Benny the mook being tied to the roof of the car at the moment they kiss.

Literature

• Harry's first kiss, with Cho Chang, in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix: The paragraph ends with a description of Cho moving in closer until Harry can see her eyelashes, and then... The next paragraph has Harry stumbling into the Gryffindor common room in a daze.
• Used in John Dies at the End with David and Amy's first kiss.
  It's funny, pretending that it's normal to have a conversation with somebody standing three inches away.
  She leaned in and-
  • It then cuts to David looking out the window, describing a taste "vaguely like secondhand Altoids" in his mouth.
• Lampshaded in the A Series of Unfortunate Events book The Slippery Slope. A scene involving Violet and Quigley sitting on a ledge halfway up a cliff is interrupted by the author's monologue. The next thing we're informed of is the two of them continuing on their climb with 'small, secret smiles on their faces.'

Live-Action TV

• As the World Turns had one where popular gay couple Luke and Noah declared their love for each other, lean in for a kiss, and the camera pans up to the mistletoe. However the fans fought back hard and now kissing is a nonevent. The next battle is now against the Sexy Discretion Shot.

• Xander's naughty dream about Willow and Tara in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer ep "Restless." We see Xander ogling them, but not the kissing (In fact, they were forced to cut the ogling since it took too long Yes, that is right, the reaction was cut down... Then in season 5, production dispensed with it and showed them kissing in "The Body."
• Averted on Glee with Kurt and Blaine's first kiss, which is also a spectacular aversion of But Not Too Gay.
• Done inconsistently on Hannah Montana where Miley's kisses are usually shown, but when Lilly and Oliver become a couple it always cuts away from their kisses.
  • This is taken one step further in the final episode. As each couple start to share the "last kiss" before Miley and Lilly fly off to Paris, a piece of large luggage moves past them, just long enough to show both couples leaning back after their "kiss".
• Interview with the Vampire (2022): In "...The Ruthless Pursuit of Blood with All a Child's Demanding", Lestat de Lioncourt sneaks into Louis de Pointe du Lac's coffin and snuggles next to him. The last thing Claudia sees before Louis shuts the lid is Lestat caressing his lover, but then she hears smooching sounds.
• Parodied in a The Kids in the Hall sketch where the Steps guys go to see an Oscar Bait gay-themed film. The romantic leads don't even kiss until the end, and the garage door closes so you don't actually see anything. Made even funnier by the fact that this trope is defied within the sketch itself — Scott Thompson's character gets bored and makes out with another guy in the theater, which is shown on screen.
• All of Matt's kisses on Melrose Place, which were nicknamed the "Cutaway Kiss" by Entertainment Weekly.
• Power Rangers in Space had a daydream where the Silver Ranger kissed the Big Bad. Only the shot kept getting blurrier the closer their lips got, and then immediately cut back to the Silver Ranger's reaction of said daydream.
• In episode 43 of Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Usagi and Mamoru are on the beach at sunset, and as Usagi lifts herself up for a kiss, they both disappear completely into a silhouette.
• Scrubs season 6 ended with this trope. Subverted, since they actually didn't kiss.
• Once on Seducing Cindy, Cindy Margolis took Leighton Stultz in to a closet where they made out at third base. During the scene, the camera is behind the two and we only see Cindy taking Leighton's shirt off; Then there's a brief camera shot from behind of Cindy and Leighton dry humping and they're French kissing during the make out session.
• Smallville: Mixed with Shadow Discretion Shot, Lana being pinned down by a sorority of Lesbian Vampires and turned into one of them is relegated to the shadows after their leader cuts her tongue open and kisses Lana to force-feed her vampire blood.
• Star Trek: The Original Series: Despite the controversy over Kirk and Uhura's famous kiss in "Plato's Stepchildren", the two of them are never actually shown locking lips. (However, the scene does not cut away; the camera angle simply blocks the details.)
• Also parodied on Will & Grace when Will, Jack, and Grace are disappointed that a widely-hyped male/male kiss is subject to one of these. Most likely a Lampshade Hanging of the show's squeamishness when it came to showing same-sex physical affection, although Will and Jack kiss in protest later in the episode.
• Xena: Warrior Princess had Xena leaning in to kiss Gabrielle in a dream-like situation, and just as the lips were about to touch they cut to Gabrielle kissing Autolycus because Xena was possessing his body.
• Done in one episode of Zoom reenacting a fairy tale, likely because the actors were still preteens. The actual kiss is covered up by the knight's shield.

Theatre

• Done for the purpose of a joke in Essgee Entertainment's The Mikado. This is played out by having Ko-Ko obscure Yum-Yum's face while he makes slurping noises. The "kiss" ends when he turns back, leaving a clearly-revolted Yum-Yum to say "Thank goodness that's over.

Video Games

• Blinx: The Time Sweeper Upon beating the game, a cinematic cutscene shows Blinx watching the sunrise as World B1Q64's time is flowing becoming stable once again. The recently rescued Princess Lena is sitting and sleeping on a nearby bench. Blinx reluctantly says goodbye and runs off to the portal to back to his home world. Maybe because he has a crush on her, but he thinks he can't be together with her because he's a cat and Lena's a human. Lena chases after him wanting to thank him, but he gets away. She realizes it's too late, and for some reason, she can't live in his world. Blinx gets teleported back to the time factory in his home world, being thanked in a Celebrating the Heroes moment by all the other cats. The credits roll. But after the credits finish, a surprise plot twist comes, with a letter of thanks from Lena telling Blinx, "I will use the time crystals for the most important thing of all.". In a sudden plot twist, the credits rewind, back to the ceremony, and all the way back to the scene where Blinx is staring off into the distance and Lena sleeping on the bench. When Blinx reluctantly says goodbye to the princess again, Lena runs up to him before he could get away. Then in silhouette, we see Lena give Blinx a thanking hug. But the player doesn't know if she kissed him or not.
• Eternal Sonata does this - Allegretto and Polka share a passionate hug and then begin to kiss, but the camera pans away to the view of the scenery just as they begin to kiss.
• Final Fantasy
  • In Final Fantasy VII, Tifa tells Cloud that words aren't the only way to tell someone what you're feeling. The camera slowly pans up to the Highwind. Cut to the early morning, with them Sleeping Cute.
  • Final Fantasy VIII: The camera cranes away at the end of the game, when Squall and Rinoa finally kiss.
  • Similarly, in Final Fantasy IX we see Zidane and Garnet leaning toward each other for a kiss until a Fade to Black leads to credits.
• Jade Empire does this with the homosexual kisses, but renders the het ones.
  • Apparently, homosexual kisses were supposed to be included, but got edited out in the final release. The scripting is still present, but has to be reactivated with a fan-made patch.
• In Jak 3, Jak kisses Ashelin in the final cutscene, but it is obscured by the camera panning down. This comes almost out of nowhere, since Jak had been teased with Keira since the first game and the previous game had already established Ashelin and Torn as the Beta Couple in its ending, and is never mentioned again, with the following game re-establishing both couples.
• In Kingdom Hearts II, Sora enforces this on Flounder by covering his eyes so that he doesn't see Ariel and Eric kiss.
• In Knights of the Old Republic the screen blacks out during the kiss scene (apparently because the engine couldn't render it).
• Although you see it very briefly, in Lunar 2: Eternal Blue, the camera pans away right as Hiro and Lucia kiss in the true ending.
• In Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Revolution, this is used in the matchups where Konohamaru's Ultimate Jutsu ends this way (instead of in a surprise Rasengan). Probably because the involved clone(?) is actually a disguised underage boy('s clone). Yeah, the gamemaker's decisions have to be questioned on that one.
• Persona 4 does this between the main character and Margaret, if you max out her Social Link and talk to her on the last day.
• The controversial trailer of Rule of Rose ends up with two characters about to kiss. The cut is understandable, since they are both about ten-year old girls. Nevertheless, it's not a "dirty" scene, but quite innocent and adorable, after the dark stuff just before it.
• Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World has one for Emil and Marta.
• Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. Right before the credits, Zelda approaches Link, but a curtain comes down and covers their faces leaving it up to the viewer to decide if they are kissing or not. Although this was likely more due to lack of sprite animations than modesty (you just see the sprites move together).

Webcomics

• In Erfworld, the scene◊ where Wanda drops off Jillian to stage her "escape", with a panel showing their mouths close together followed by one showing their feet close together and the rest of them hidden behind a dwagon.
• In Fanboys, the 'did they or didn't they' type of Discretion Shot is used in a comic between Paul and Lemmy after Sonic the Hedgehog was announced for Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Of course, a follow-up comic revealed that they didn't actually kiss, but Paul was lifting Lemmy to reach Shenanigans the Pink Lightbulb.
• Occurs when Garanos tells the story of how she and her fiance fell in love. The motivation there was artistic, according to the author.
• Gunnerkrigg Court : Bud and Lindsey share a kiss through the ether, while Antimony is spying, and she gets rather distraught.
• In Homestuck, Dirk kisses Roxy to revive her dream self, but before he does, it's censored by Squarewave's speech bubble exclaiming "YEAH DOGG!!!". Later, in Act 6 Act 6 Intermission 5, Roxy and Calliope are implied to kiss with an instance of this trope employed, but it may have only been a hug.
• At the end of the Video Game Within a Webcomic Kid Radd, the protagonist and his love interest move towards each other to kiss, which fades to the credits. This really frustrates Radd; since the scene ends right then, he never actually gets to kiss her.
• In Megan Kearney's Beauty and the Beast, the two title characters' climactic first kiss is hidden by Beauty's flowing hair. This neatly avoids the potential awkwardness of showing her lips meeting his muzzle.
• In Namir Deiter, any kissing couples are shown from the back of one partner's head, with the other kisser barely visible. It's not clear if it's some form of self-censorship or Isabel Marks has no confidence in the way she draws kissing characters.
• Yumi's Cells:
  • When Woong's Love Cell makes his way into Yumi's village, his only way out is through a wormhole caused by people kissing. When Yumi affirms her desire to be with Woong, he leans in, and the scene cuts to Yumi's cells bidding Woong's Love Cell farewell as he goes through the wormhole.
  • When Yumi and Babi kiss, their Tongue cells are shown visiting each other's houses.

Web Original

• Echo Chamber has Gaelyn and Zack's kiss obscured because the scene is shot in a first-person view from the cameras they are both using at the time.
• In The Guild's Bollywood-style music video, "Game On", Codex and Zaboo share a "Forward slash almost kiss" (referring to emotes like /kiss in MMORPGs).
• In this video compilation of the "Don't let your kids watch it" meme from LazyTown, the scene in Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) in which Elise declares "Sonic, come back! To me... to us" before kissing him is cut off by Robbie pulling down the curtain and declaring "Don't let your kids watch it!"

Western Animation

• Ace Lightning: The only time anyone is seen kissing it's either on the cheek, or in Mark and Kat's case, in sillouette in the last episode. The digital characters, however (this is a Mixed media show) are a lot less disguised about it.
• Avatar: The Last Airbender had an infamous one when Aang and Katara are trapped in a tunnel lit only by their torch, with the clue that "love will light the way". The torch's light goes out just as they're leaning in...and then glowing crystals come on, but it's deliberately unclear whether or not they actually kissed.
  • According to the crew, they do in fact kiss. It should also be noted that subsequent kisses were not cut away from, so in this case it was definitely for effect.
  • The sequel series, The Legend of Korra ends on one, sadly for censorship reasons. The last scene of the series shows Korra and Asami leaving for a trip to the Spirit World together, holding hands and gazing lovingly into each other's eyes... and then the camera pans up to show the big "The End" card. Word of God states that they did kiss, but Standards and Practices wouldn't allow them to show it, so they intentionally made the scene reminiscent of the big kiss at the end of Last Airbender so that the audience would still know what was happening. Fortunately, the comic picks up right where the cartoon left off, and so they kiss on-panel.
• Beast Wars: In The Agenda Part 1, Blackarachnia and Silverbolt were about to kiss, when the camera cuts to a ground view shot showing her close the distance and Foot Popping as the items they were holding drop to the ground. This could have been to preserve the kids' virgin eyes (but then again, given the the various ways in which BW mauled its characters...) or because good ol' Silvy has a muzzle, being a wolf-bird. Good luck animating that, guys.
• The Bee-Bees: At the end of "The Enchanted Pumpkin", the birds riding the pumpkin carriage blow out the candles inside the vehicle, making the screen pitch-black. Then, we hear a kissing sound, implied to be from the birds themselves.
• In Ben 10: Alien Force, the first time we see Gwen and Kevin kissing each other, the camera is put behind Gwen's head blocking everything. In Ultimate Alien, there's another kiss between them blocked the same way but by the end of the first season finale, they get a third kiss and this time the camera is very well placed and there's nothing blocking the shot, so we get to see the kiss in all its glory.
• In the ChalkZone episode "The Smooch", the titular bird is never shown kissing anyone on-screen. All we see is her bending over and the aftermath, where Penny, Snap and Rudy are covered in lipstick marks.
• Frequently in Classic Disney Shorts, two characters kissing at the end would cover themselves for the sake of modesty. Often subverted by having the faces silhouetted through the cover, or by removing the cover too soon.
  • They've done it as recently between Mickey and Princess Minnie in Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers at the end of the "Sweet Wings of Love" sequence, with the help of Mickey's hat.
• Kissing has shown several times in Danny Phantom, but mostly with the main characters. Curiously, the married Maddie and Jack always have their kisses hidden from view whenever they do it. This also happens in an alternate timeline between the married Vlad and Maddie's whose only kiss isn't shown either. What gives?
• Ed, Edd n Eddy: Whenever the Kanker Sisters are ready to show their love to the Eds this usally happens. Viewers usually see them next Covered in Kisses. Poor Rolf and Jonny received this as well once.
• In Family Guy's Something Something Something Dark Side, Peter Griffin as Han Solo says [to Leia] "I'm going to kiss you so hard, the scene is going to change to something different."
• Happens in the Fanboy and Chum Chum episode "Fanboyfriend" between Fanboy and Lupe. It is covered up by a card reading "Smooch!", and we only see Fanboy's disgusted reaction after the kiss.

• In one episode of Freakazoid!, when the titular hero goes in to kiss his girlfriend, the picture is obscured by the Relax-o-Vision Running Gag. This is the last straw for Freakazoid and he beats up the creator of the Relax-o-Vision.
• Kim Possible: Kim and Ron in "Mentor of Our Discontent". Much to the anguish of fans who were looking forward to seeing more of the Relationship Upgrade onscreen.
• Occurs twice at the end of the PAW Patrol episode: Pups Save a Wedding; between newlyweds Farmer Al and Farmer Yumi, the former using his hat in both instances.
• Popeye did this from time to time as well. One notable example has them pulling down a window shade from out of nowhere to block the view of a peeping Centaur they happened to be riding at the time. Notable in that A: the positioning of the shade only blocked the view of the audience, not the Centaur, and B: the shade was clearly marked as being made of Asbestos...
• The Raccoons: In "Spring Fever!", Bert daydreams about being in love with Lisa. During the Fantasy Sequence, Bert dressed as a mountie (it's a Canadian series) kisses Lisa on the lips, but he blocks it from the audience's view with his hat.
• Teen Titans Go!: The episode "Mouth Hole" ends (cutting to commercial/credits/whatever) just before Robin's and Starfire's lips make contact.
• Totally Spies!: In "Evil Valentine's Day", we cut away to the girls' disgusted reactions when Jerry and Myrna kiss. Good thing too; there would've been a lot more Fan Disservice.
• Seeing as how VeggieTales is a Christian preschool show, and that all the characters are fruits and vegetables, it would be rather odd to see any characters kissing. The closest it's ever gotten was the Silly Song, "Macaroni and Cheese", where it almost shows Larry's great (etc.) Grandparents about to do so, but Larry cuts away just before, finding it awkward to describe and see it.
• Winx Club:
  • The first "real" kiss between Bloom and Sky in the S2 finale.
  • Another between Bloom and Sky in S4, with thanks to Belle doing a photobomb.

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