Can Naruto use Wood Style? After the Great Ninja War, Naruto's right arm was replaced by an artificial arm made up of Hashirama Senju's cells. To perform Wood Style, user requires a vast amount of chakra and Naruto can easily manage that.

Wood Style requires water and earth affinity as it's a combination of these, while Naruto has wind affinity.

Using Combined Styles also requires Kekkei Genkai, which Naruto doesn't have.

So unless the author comes up with something in the future (like somehow forming his own chakra into the one he received from Hagoromo or into the chakras he received from the tailed beasts) Naruto is highly unlikely to be able to use Wood Style.


What was omitted/skipped from the end of Sakamichi no Apollon? A friend told me that they crammed two whole volumes of the manga into the final episode of Sakamichi no Apollon (Kids on the Slope) which, obviously, forced some things to be skipped over.

What were some of the main things that were skipped? I don't need every detail, just a concise list is fine.

Missing content

The manga has 9 volumes and one extra volume (titled 'Bonus track').

The "I'm happy Sen is gone" scene with Kaoru failing to convey his feelings to Ritsuko and afterwards telling her that he'll be going to Tokyo is the end of the manga's 8th volume. This scene is at 6 minutes into the anime's last episode.

In short, the following content of manga volumes 9 and Bonus is:

  Kaoru leaves to study medicine at a Tokyo university where he rekindles his love with jazz. He kind of makes up with Ritsuko, then finds out she seems to be with another man and cuts all ties. He becomes a doctor at a Kyushu hospital and through a hint by Yurika (who lives with Junichi and later has twins) finds out that Sen became a priest on a nearby island. Sen arrived there after initially having decided to leave everything behind after his sister's accident. Only after realizing how much he loves to work with children does he change his mind. Kaoru meets Ritsuko again many years later, learning she never was in a serious relationship. The manga ends with everyone meeting for a jam session on the island, listened to by Ritsuko who is pregnant with Kaoru's child.

Here's a more detailed breakdown by chapters. For the sake of brevity Ritsuko is R. and Kaoru is K.

Volume 9:

ch41: On graduation day R. ignores K. He keeps thinking about Sen, but tells people that all this will soon be behind him and he will focus on his studies in Tokyo. K. shouts his apology at R.'s window, same as in the anime. The following train scene is slightly less dramatic - they have time to exchange a few words. R.'s dad thinks that Sen might have gone to Tokyo, too.
ch42:  K. is at university in Tokyo. With the student strikes still underway life seems easy going. He meets a girl at a party who invites herself over to his place for the night, but thinking of R. he sends her away again without anything happening. While visiting his mother, she sings Lullaby of Birdland waking old memories in him.
ch43: The strikes end and instead of partying, K. starts playing piano again after joining the jazz club at university and taking on a part-time job in a Shinjuku bar. The stress of both the job and upcoming university exams has K. at a low when he finds a photo of him and Sen in the bag R. gave him on his departure. The note on the back reads To the two idiots. Friendship is for life. Since 1966, and forever.  Inspired by this K. changes his mind and begins asking around at work for Sen. He also finally answers a letter he received from R. in ch42.
ch44: Junichi shows up at K.'s work and promises to help looking out for Sen as well. K. quits his job in favour of his studies but keeps exchanging letters with R. Over time, her's become less frequent and shorter. One day a telephone number is on a postcard from R. Upon calling the number K. is greeted by a man telling him to leave R. alone. K. assumes the obvious. At his grandfather's funeral K. is told the he is expected to inherit the formers hospital and become 'the pillar of the Nishimi family' (implying upcoming marriage interviews). K. sees Seji, who is now a celebrity, in the TV and realizes that unlike Seiji, he hasn't been following his dreams. Shortly after K. looses the photo of him and Sen and fails to find it again. Yurika (Junichi's girlfriend) visits K. in the hospital and gives him the photo of Sen as a priest together with the address on the island.
ch45: We see Sen as a priest in training on the aforementioned island. He seems popular with the kids and islanders. The sound of Moanin' being played on the organ draws him back to the church where he meets K. and they promptly have to run away from the head priest angry at the unauthorized organ usage. After a jump in time we learn that K. turned down the inheritance of the hospital and instead joined a hospital in Kyushu. At Sachiko's wedding (in Sen's church), K. meets R. again and learns that she never really was and certainly isn't in a relationship with the guy on the phone anymore. R. learns that K. isn't going back to Tokyo.

Bonus Track (Volume 10):

Track 1: Yurika is living with Junichi and is having trouble finding a job because she didn't graduate high-school. By chance, she finally finds one in painting sign-boards. While she is increasingly occupied with work, Junichi seems to act  cold and shows that he does not seem to think of a future for him and Yurika. It takes another train station scene with Yurika on the verge of moving out and out of the city for Junichi to admit his feelings.
Track 2: Kouta (one of Sen's brothers), now 14, is shown picking up jazz drumming in the record store's basement. He spends some time with R. who is over around the time of New Year's and they meet the guy who answered the phone when K. called R. back then. He doesn't take No for an answer which leads to an intervention of Kouta, and R. openly admitting to both of them that she still loves K.
Track 3: Backstory of Tsutomu (R.'s dad). He was introduced to Jazz by a guy called Kenji. Kenji often played Jazz with his brother and Tsutomu used to stop to listen to the sound he heard from the street, until Kenji invites him in one day and starts teaching him bass cello. There he also meets Fumi who has an unnamed illness and sneaks away from the hospital to spend time at Kenji's. With the second world war intensifying, Kenji goes off to join the naval band and Tsutomu is drafted for factory work. Kenji dies in the war and Tsutomu spends some hours with Fumi (who is still in the hospital) after not having seen her for a long time. During the following air raid Tsutomu saves Fumi's life but afterwards finds himself devastated by the destruction. To cheer him up she drags the cello to him and he plays solemn notes to gathering survivors amidst the rubble. Opening the record shop is fulfilling the dream Kenji had ('to spread the music of the world to this town and gather musicians to play together every day').
Track 4: Explains what happened to Sen after his sister's accident. Sen is found, almost drowned, by a fisherman. While staying at the latter's place to earn money for traveling on, Sen becomes friends with a younger reclusive orphan. Playing on improvised drums with her and the other kids in the village Sen remembers how much fun he has a around children and decides on his future career. it is initially suggested Sen might have tried to commit suicide by throwing himself into the sea. However, when he leaves the town we learn that he jumped into the water while trying to retrieve the orphan's necklace and passed out in the process.
Track 5: Kaoru, Sen and Junichi all meet up for a Jazz session on the island and learn that Yurika had twins. Sen sees Junichi for the first time since their argument years ago, but seemingly overcame all bad feelings and congratulates the two. Shortly after, Tsutomu and the pregnant Ritsuko arrive as well. The guys start arguing about the instrument the child will pick up, everyone of course vouching for their own, until Ritsuko reconciles the discussions with her suggestions of the saxophone.

Reasons

Concerning chirale's comment, I did not find anything specifically mentioning whether the series was originally planned to be longer. However, be aware that the Bonus Track Manga was announced only in January 2012, while the anime started airing already in April 2012. It is very possible of course, that the people involved were talking to eachother, but depending on how fleshed out the story for the additional Manga was (not) at this time, there probably wasn't enough time to fit it into the Anime as well.

In addition, as can be seen above, there isn't really enough story missing to warrant a second cour and some of the stories from the Bonus Track are rather episodic in nature, and therefore hard to adapt into a coherent episode.


Does the people remember the comet incident? I assume that you guys have already watch Your Name this fabulous movie that directed by Makoto Shinkai. Recently there's a movie which also directed by Makoto Shinkai and the movie also seems like kinda related to Your Name.

HUGE SPOILER!

  In the film Weathering with You, there are two character from Your Name appear in this film. One is Mitsuha another is Taki.

So we know that in the film Your Name, there is a comet piece going to crash on Earth which destroy Itomori city. So my question is does the people who live in Weathering with You know the comet incident?

I don't think there's ever been official confirmation that those characters appearing is anything more than a cameo, so it isn't even clear whether the meteor incident occurred in Weathering With You. (As I recall, there was never a clear view of the region of Japan where it happened to show whether or not there's a crater.)

That said, if they did occur in the same universe then people would have remembered it - it was a fairly major event that destroyed an entire town - but it could well be something that has already faded from most people's minds because it wasn't a cause of many deaths.

   Since, if Mizuha is living in Tokyo, then this must take place in the timeline where they managed to bring everyone to the school before the impact.


Ratio of key frames to in-between frames in anime In your average piece of animation, how many of the frames are key frames drawn by the animator, and how many are drawn by an inbetweener?

Even a small difference would have a huge impact; for example, having about a third of the frames be keys is a little over half the work for the animators compared to having half the frames be key frames, so this would obviously have a huge impact on budget, as fewer keys means you don't need as many key animators. I feel like a third or a fourth of frames being keys is probably average, but I haven't been able to find anything to support or debunk this hunch.

Anyone working in the anime industry, or familiar enough with it to give me a ballpark?

The answer is relatively simple when looking only at the ratio (ie. not at the number of keyframes over the course of an episode or minute of anime).

Since keyframes are used at the start and the end of a smooth transition, each movement, or transition, only has 2 keyframes, regardless of how many people or objects are moving over a period of time.

From clicking around on Wikipedia's Keyframe page we get that a movement can be drawn in about 12 frames.
With frame 1 and 12 being keyframes, the rest are inbetweens, resulting in a 1:6 ratio of keyframes/inbetweens, where the ratio can move to 1:12 if the movement/transition takes a full 24 frames, or may even drop down to 1:3 (for example) if additional keyframes are introduced successively in order to complete different motions starting and ending at different times.


Why does Gaara still have dark circles around his eyes? It is stated that Gaara has his dark circles around his eyes because Shukaku won't let him sleep because Gaara will lose control if he does.

After the extraction of Shukaku, Gaara still has these circles around his eyes. Why? Is it only style or does he still suffer from insomnia?

I'm more inclined to agree with SingerOfTheFall's answer.
Upon Gaara's birth (Shipuuden episode 297 and Naruto chapter 547, page 4), he already had his dark rings around the eyes.

I know he already had the Shukaku sealed inside him, but I find it a bit odd that he was born suffering from insomnia.
Plus, the translation I read of chapter 135 does not refer to the dark rings, but rather to the 'bags under his eyes' (although this could be a problem with the translation...):

Furthermore, as SingerOfTheFall said, there are several other Suna shinobi that have dark rings around their eyes, including Gaara's father when he uses his Gold Dust:

On a side note, I think it can also be the influence of the tanuki (the 'inspiration' for the Shukaku) in the character conception, since the tanuki too has dark rings around his eyes.

So this trait could be somewhat similar to the whiskers Naruto has from the Kyuubi. He had these whiskers even prior to being the Kyuubi's host:

This could mean that the dark circles are a character trait (conceived upon character design) that were a result of the Ichibi being sealed in Gaara even before his birth, thus being present even after the Bijuu's extraction.


Are Vegeta and Goku of the same age, or do they have several years of difference? The second trailer of the movie Dragon Ball Super: Broly seems to show Goku and Vegeta were born at the same time.

Is this so, didn't the series state differently? If so, which version of Dragon Ball story would be canon now, the series or this movie?

There is no doubt that Vegeta is older as Goku was only an infant (about 0-1 yr old) when he was sent to Earth, while Vegeta was already fighting in another planet (about 5 yrs old), so Vegeta is about 5 yrs older than Goku.

Note however, that both Goku and Vegeta have died several times (both twice I think) and both have trained in the "Spirit and Time Room"* where staying 1 day is equal to 1 year in the outside/real world. So their physical bodies are several years younger than their actual ages.

*I don't know how they translate this in the English dub/sub, but this is how I would based on the original Japanese 精神と時の部屋.

Sources (Japanese):

https://matome.naver.jp/odai/2141825142662556801
https://unotarou.com/anime/33645/


Besides the mecha, space and aldnoah technology displayed in the show, how technologically advanced is Vers compared to 2014' real world Earth? Vers was colonized in 1980 according to the official timeline. Since Rayregalia cut ties with Earth shortly after, lets assume the scientific development was split, save for the occasional espionage or exchange.

There is much Mecha, space and aldnoah technology on screen, but what about the other fields? They should be really advanced in physics (having firsthand opportunity to build those special mecha), but in some ways it seems they have regressed. Like in social sciences.

How is Vers' knowledge, compared to our own?

The best way to describe it is not by knowledge, but freedom. The people who were sent to Mars were not all "scientific minds". There were some normal people (as seen in the current Mars colonization efforts), but these people were easily manipulated, as seen in how the "knights" swore loyalty in return for Aldnoah, and thus suppressed the masses.

The people have no freedom. They are starving, eating krill to survive (refer to the scene where Count Saazbaum eats chicken for the first time), so the recent scientific advancement since the 1980s has not been "learned" nor "taught" to, or by these people. Instead, it has been kept under wraps by the knights and "king". This is why Princess Asseylum wishes for peace between Earth and Vers, so that the people no longer suffer without knowledge or freedom, so that a trade route for both can be obtained and thus the people can be "happy".

So to answer the question: Ver's knowledge is a lot better, but it is not as effectively used, as there is no fresh thought or freedom of thought.
If "knowledge = power", then the people have neither.


What is this Doc Tear Popper MAGES is looking for? in Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth, MAGES asks the party if they know were she can find Doc Tear Popper. what exactly is it?

Doc Tear Popper is a drink and a play on the name Dr. Pepper.

the character MAGES, like other human characters in the series, represents a real world games company, in this case 株式会社MAGES. one of the known games which ties into MAGES's own appearance is Steins;Gate which in the anime had product placement featuring the drink Dr. Pepper

I don't know however wether the obscuring of the name is some legal thing as Code Geass had it's Pizza Hut product placement removed in the English Release or if it's a joke like Vert's overheating in the original game begin a joke on the X-Box 360's initial cooling problems


Why did V.V kill Marianne? Since Marianne also agreed to Charles's plan, why did V.V kill her? Was it just because he "thought" Charles will deviate from the plan because of his closeness to Marianne.

Actually it was just that V.V was jealous of her

In a flashback, it is revealed that V.V. was the one who assassinated Marianne, having done so out of jealousy. He lies about this to Charles, breaking his promise of mutual honesty between him and Charles.

Source: V.V - Character History - Second Season (final paragraph)
but why was he jealous? probably because he thought that Charles was getting closer to Marianne and further away from him, enhanced by the fact they are twins and have that extra bond twins are thought to have

He is the older twin brother of Charles zi Britannia, but as he has become immortal at the early age of 10
...
Charles and V.V.'s childhood years were marred by an internal feud in the Imperial Family called the Emblem of Blood. This period filled with deception and assassination resulting in the deaths of various members of the royal court including their mother. This event convinced the two to create a Geass contract to create a world without lies and to do so, they intended to destroy the "Gods". Several years later, Marianne Vi Britannia and C.C. joined in their venture as well.

Source: V.V - Character Outline
As you can see from the quote above the two went through hell with the Emblem of Blood and created the contract between them to destroy Gods to create a world without lies. then years later Charles marries some commoner unlike Charles other wives and she joins in on their plans along with her Geass Contractor/Master.
Also after Marianne was killed Charles had her body taken away in the event she could be returned too it, sealed Anya's memories, made Nunnally blind and sent her and Lelouch to Japan to protect them. even though all of that came after the fact it does show that in a way Charles cares for Marianne and her children so V.V does have some ground in thinking his younger twin brother is being stolen by some woman.


Does Princess Renner have other hidden personality as depicted in the 2nd season's ending credit? From the ED song, it seems like the Princess has dark/other personality which we all don't know about.

Is it true? Is there any story of hers to begin with?

The specific scenes from the ending:

It seems Princess Renner does have another personality. You can also confirm from the anime (Season 2 episode 09)

Renner's Personality:

   Renner is known publicly as the Golden Princess for her benevolence and kindness. While Renner is believed to be a saint, in reality, she has a psychopathic personality and doesn't care about the feelings of others. The only exception to this is Climb. When Climb was wounded, she declared that anyone involved would be ruthlessly killed. After being secretly affiliated to Nazarick, she doesn't hesitate to betray her family, her bloodline and her people without a shred of regret. Renner is a human yet inhuman and she's described as a spiritual heteromorph. Her mind comprehended both good and evil; she is the type who was not bound by the petty constraints of morality, but who calmly worked to advance her own agenda.

Renner's relation with Climb:

   Renner treats Climb like a pet dog and loves him greatly, as he is the reason she started to act innocent, kind and caring greatly about the country in front of him after picking him up. When Climb is not around, she reverts back to her psychopathic personality.

Renner's relation with Albedo:

   Aside from secretly being her subordinate, Renner is in a particularly friendly relationship with Albedo, openly talking with each other about the obsessive love they hold for the men they love.

Lastly a dialogue which will sums it all:

   "Yes, it would indeed be difficult to do while putting up a front as Princess. Plus, there is no use if it's done by force. His gaze, I want to chain him up completely and raise him like a dog." - Renner to Marquis Raeven about Climb.

Source: Renner Theiere Chardelon Ryle Vaiself - Overlord Wiki


Who was Makarov in Edolas? When in Edolas, the story reveals that there is an alternate version of every person there, with similar yet opposite characteristics. One of the main people I could never get a confirmation on being there was Makarov. At one point, a Edolas Fairy Tail guild member says that the Guildmaster is dead, but then later Natsu believes Makarov was the evil king in Edolas. Is it either of them, or is it something else?

Faust has been confirmed to be Edo-Makarov by Mashima. In the wikia it is stated that Faust is the Edolas version of Makarov.

  Faust (ファウスト Fausuto) is the former King of Edolas, banished and succeeded by his disowned son, Mystogan. He is the Edolas counterpart of Makarov Dreyar.

They got this information from (the last paragraph of) the afterwords of Volume 29 by Mashima. Basically Mashima had to do cutoffs due to space or time limitations and had to remove Edolas Gajeel and Edolas Makarov('s confirmation) from the manga. Though those scenes were still added to the anime, thus making them canon as they were originally planned by Mashima himself. Both Faust and Makarov even had the same voice actor.

[Screenshot van de anime should be added here, but I can't seem to find it.]

Source


Can Sasuke use his Rinnegan to bring Jiraiya and Itachi back to life? After achieving both Rinnegan and Sharingan in his left eye, can Sasuke use Rinne Rebirth Jutsu to bring Jiraiya and Itachi back to life?

If you are talking about Gedō — Rinne Tensei no Jutsu, then there are some restrictions:

First of all you need the body of the dead person

  To perform this technique, the user summons the King of Hell, which then releases the souls of the deceased from its mouth. With their rejuvenated bodies acting as an anchor, the deceased individuals' souls are able to leave even the crossroad between life and the afterlife, returning back to their physical vessels.

The person who used the jutsu dies

  Ultimately, once the technique is finished, the user inevitably dies.

I don't know about Itachi's body, but Jiraiya's was lost that even Kabuto was unable to find it.


Anime about boy who can accelerate objects; also meets girl with wooden katana It's about a boy with a supernatural power. He discovered his power when he was attacked by a black monster. As he threw a can towards the black monster, his power was activated, and a circle figure formed in front of him, which accelerated the can as it passed through and killed the monster. He also met a girl with a wooden katana who had the same power as him.

Pretty sure you're thinking of Gate Keepers.

  It is Tokyo, 1969. Earth is under the attack of the "Invaders." Fortunately, though, the public is unaware of this. But to the secret orginazation, A.E.G.I.S., the threat is very real, and it is up them to stop this invasion. One day on his route to high school, Ukiya Shun observes a battle between a young girl and a group of Invaders. He ends up helping her and discovers that much like the girl, he possesses the ability to generate a "gate" of special power that only a few other people are gifted with. As a result, Ukiya then joins A.E.G.I.S. in an effort to recruit other Gate Keepers in order to protect the city, all while doing his best not to imitate his late father, whom he dispises.

The main character boy was trying to defeat the black iron ball monster attacking his house by throwing a can at it. He is the one with the wooden katana (Special Bokken Sword). The main girl uses a bow to fight.


What's the reading order of the God Eater manga? I wanted to read God Eater manga but I found that there are quite a lot of manga series in the franchise. What is the reading order of these manga?

What is the reading order of these manga?

Read them in the order they were published in.

Some may not know but God Eater indeed has a manga.

It has, but the manga itself is based on the original game, so it has nothing to do with the anime. (The anime itself is different because of the MC)

AFAIK, there are 4 mangas and here is a brief description:

Return of the Messiah -> takes place in the original GE timeline

  The story takes place in Fenrir America Branch, 1 year after the events of God Eater Burst.

Spiral Fate -> takes place after the GE timeline

  a manga that offers an alternate reality to the main continuity of the God Eater series, since the protagonist is Ryo Kagami, not Yu Kannagi.

Summer Wars -> side story about romance & stuff

  Alisa Illinichina Amiella develops a feeling similar to respect for the 1st Unit leader, Yu Kannagi. Meanwhile, Alisa and Yu are dispatched to Aegis Island on a protection mission.

2nd Break-> takes place in the GE2 timeline

  The manga is a prequel to God Eater 2 in the manga continuity.

The protagonist of each manga is different though, and it seems like they only appeared exclusively on that manga.

Here are the Mangas in other of Publication:

  The game received several manga adaptations written by Namco Bandai. The first is titled God Eater: Kyūseishu no Kikan (GOD EATER - God Eater -Return of the Messaiah) was illustrated by Osan Eijii, published by Kodansha, and serialized in Rival Comics magazine. As of December 28, 2011, the series was completed and compiled into five volumes.^ The second is titled God Eater: the spiral fate and was illustrated by Saito Rokuro, published by Dengeki Comics and serialized in Side-B.N Magazine. As of November 27, 2010, the manga was completed and compiled into two volumes. A third manga titled God Eater: the summer wars was illustrated by Okiura, published by Kadokawa Shoten and serialized in Dragon Age Comics Magazine. The series was completed and compiled into a single volume on May 7, 2012.

God Eater 2nd Break

  was Published: Dec 27, 2011 to Aug 27, 2013 with 3 Volumes and 18 chapters


Were the War Hammer Titan and the Cart Titan ever shown in the anime? I've just watched the Attack on Titan anime series I havent read the manga. In the Attack on Titan wikia they mention the War Hammer Titan and the Cart Titan as part of the 9 titans. I've watched the whole one, two and three seasons of the anime, but I dont remember they been showed in them. Were the War Hammer Titan and the Cart Titan ever shown in the anime or they are supposed to appear later in the story?

Neither the Cart or War Hammer Titans have appeared by the point the anime has currently reached.

The most recent episode at time of writing is roughly equivalent to chapter 60 of the manga while the Cart Titan does not appear until chapter 75 and the War Hammer Titan in chapter 100.


Who were the survivors in Danganronpa? In the last episode, many survivors were shown in the outside world. Who were these people? Is there any reference anywhere telling about these people, who they were and how they managed to survive?

I haven't seen the anime yet, but in the game's version of events the survivors  who are living in the outside world are the general public who have fallen into despair (and somehow gained monokuma heads)

You can see them rioting in the image above, and it wouldn't be a wild stretch of the imagination to say that they were probably looting stores also. [note the broken window at the very right] which is where they could get themselves provisions and other necessities.

The academy was sealed off by the students themselves so that they would not succumb to the miserable world outside.

At the end of the game, the students mention that there are people out there who are still clinging onto remnants of hope, and that they will go out, meet them and join forces. But as far as I can tell, it's just conjecture on their part.


Is the Japanese well-translated to "kalos" here? In episode 9 of Kamigami no Asobi, time mark 6:54, the following conversation occurs in the English subtitles:

(Yui) Um, Apollon-san, are you ok?
(Apollon) I'm just fine.  I'm kalos.

I had to look up kalos, and found an article for kalos kagathos (Greek καλὸς κἀγαθός) at the Wikipedia.  It means "the chivalrous ideal of the complete human personality, harmonious in mind and body, foursquare in battle and speech, song and action".

On the one hand, I think it is probably a bad translation in that very few English viewers will know the word.  (Well, unless this is a point where I happen to be ignorant.)  On the other, the original Japanese may well have used a concept of the same ideal, and the translator found the best English match.

BTW, Apollon was not fine, being in the midst of an emotional breakdown.  So if the Japanese had him overemphasizing his well-being, maybe it was a good translation.

The two lines you quote are:

  YUI: あのう、アポロンさん、大丈夫ですか。

  APOLLON: え？ああ、僕なら大丈夫。カロスだよ。

The word I have emboldened above is カロス karosu, which is just Greek "kalos" written with the Japanese syllabary.

Of course, just as no English speaker (save perhaps a Classicist) will know what the word "kalos" means, no Japanese speaker will know what it means either. This being the case, retaining the word "kalos" when rendering the line into English seems like an acceptable choice; it's equally incomprehensible in either language.

If the show never explains what Apollon means by "kalos", I suppose that the Japanese audience is also supposed to infer what he's on about from context.


Symbolic meaning red apples I noticed that red apples seem to have symbolic meaning in Anime and I wonder if it is in line with western interpretations.
Erased:
After waking up in the hospital, Satoru's nemesis Yashiro sits besides his bed and peels a red apple.
AnoHana: When Jinta's mother explains the concept of reincarnation to Menma, she peels a red apple.
Death Note: Well... Ryuks favorite food and he's a Shinigami, a death god...
So yea, common theme, must have to do with death.
From what I gather, a typical western interpretation, among others (e.g. sin) is rebirth, which does fit the bill regarding the first two examples and to some extend also the third.
So my question: Is it what it seems or is there yet another meaning attached in eastern symbolic that I don't know of?

Forbidden fruit - Death Note makes many references to Christianity. The apple is popularly thought to be the forbidden fruit in Genesis, which the snake told Eve would make her smarter, open her eyes, and elevate her to the status of God. ... Eating the apple was the Original sin and the first symbol of temptation.
Here is an answer to a similar question.
Many anime use this symbolic meaning of apples.
Hopefully that answers your question :)


How does Himiko Toga quirk replications habilities work? Supposedly Himiko Toga can copy for a short period (a day or so) another person's appearence. But also, while experiencing intense emotions, she can replicate quirks. Yet, if I understood correctly, she could replicate Ochako's quirk long after she copied her , many days after that happened. How does Himiko Toga quirk replications habilities work? Is she capable if having strong emotions to use any person quirk she copied long time ago?

From the wiki,

  The amount of time the Quirk allows one to stay transformed is proportionate to the amount of blood that is consumed. One cup of blood equates to roughly one day’s worth of transformation. If the blood of multiple people has been ingested in one go, this will allow the user of the Quirk to transform into any of them, without having to return to their original shape between transformations.

With enough blood, yes, she can transform to anyone even days after she ingested them. If I understand correctly, the quirk of the user she copied can only be used as long as she stays transformed and as long as she understands how it works. So, if she's within the time that her ingested blood allows her to, she can still copy the quirk of someone.

Also recall that she did not copy Ochaco initially but rather, drained her blood and fled. She copied her days after. I'm not sure if this was stated but the quirk's description seems to imply that the time limit of copying someone starts and ends only when she changes into them, regardless of when she ingested their blood.


Can Chiaki play any instruments besides violin and piano? Chiaki is a talented violinist and pianist, and also an aspiring conductor. In the classical music industry, it's fairly common for people who are that talented at multiple instruments to know at least a few more. Is Chiaki known to play any other instruments besides violin and piano?

As @Looper mentioned, Chiaki only plays the violin and the piano. The lack of additional instruments can be attributed to his dedication in becoming a world-class conductor.


Can Boruto really use water style? So far in the anime, Boruto doesn't seem to have actually used water style on his own. The only times he's done it has been with the ninja tool from that scientist dude.

Even though the Wikia stated that Boruto's nature types include Water Release, but when I think about it, he got wind from Naruto and probably inherited lightning from Minato (maybe a dormant trait), so the water style doesn't add up.

To rephrase the question in a less arguable way, does Boruto actually have water nature type?

Yes, he can. In the manga, Chapter 16,"Vessel", Boruto is having a match against Naruto and uses Water Release: Billowing Wave and mixes it with Lightning Style. The wiki probably just updates stuff according to the manga as well. Although he might just not use Water Style as much as Wind or Lightning.


A metal song on season 3 episode 3 of Boku no Hero Academia where the villains are starting in the wood There's a song which starts at 21:20 at season 3 episode 3 of Boku no Hero Academia where the villains are starting in the wood. It sounds like metal.

What is the name of the song?

Vanguard Action Squad -All-out Attack-

The full soundtrack just got released. You can listen to all of it here:
https://youtu.be/Js7BIXiHQ8I

Song starts at 1:17:53.


Why does Yuuki's room change? During Vampire Knight (the first season) Yuuki shares a room with Yuri. During Vampire Knight Guilty, though, when they are all out for break, Yuuki's room only has one bed in it. Why isn't she staying in the dorm anymore? Where is she staying instead?

There are a number of guest rooms that Kaien has for guests; I'm quite sure Zero uses one of them himself, and you see one used when Hanabusa stays behind when the Night Class goes off for their break. I'm also quite sure Maria stays in another one after the end of the first season.

The room Yuuki is in, I think is a "special" room saved just for her by Kaien (if his mentality is anything to go by). Keep in mind that Yuri might have left the campus to visit family, so it's quite possible that Yuuki only stayed in the same room with Yuri because she was there, and that the room in which she is seen in Guilty is probably her original room.

But, the reason why she's in there may be related to Kaname.

   Even Shizuka's death was a part of Kaname's plans to draw out the Senate, have them release Rido, and then have Rido killed using Zero. Kaname knew that while he wasn't around, and Yuuki's memories were still repressed, she could become a target since Rido was always targeting her. Remember that Ichiru did try to get Yuuki to drink a vial of blood while she was sleeping, but Hanabusa stopped him; hell, knowing Kaname, he probably knew what Akatsuki said to Hanabusa and knew the exact reason why he stayed and knew that Hanabusa would protect Yuuki for him.


How did so many people get away with cheating during the written portion of the Chunin Exam? Disclaimer: I never read past the Sasuke Retrieval Arc, so it is possible that my question may be answered if I had read further. However, I do believe that the Chunin Exam arc, which is what my question is about, is far enough from the Sasuke Retrieval Arc that my question would have already been answered by the time the story arrives at the Sasuke Retrieval Arc.

I will be referencing the part of the Chunin Exam Arc where the characters take the written portion of the exam. This is in volume 5 of the Naruto tankoban (which covers chapters 37 - 45).

During my trip down memory lane with my re-reading of what I have read of Naruto, this question occurred to me: how did so many characters get away with, at least to me, seemingly obvious, cheats during the written portion of the Chunin exam?

Here is a list of cheats in particular that went unnoticed that I would like to know how they managed to do so:

Akamaru was barking the answers to Kiba. We know that dogs are used a fair amount by skilled ninja, including Kakashi himself, so would it not be logical for the proctors to assume that a dog could be used to cheat? I can believe Shino's insect trick because ninja-insect interaction is much rarer than ninja-dog interaction since it is an ability exclusive to Shino's clan and also a fly buzzing is much more inaudible than a dog barking.
Naruto and Hinata were having a full-blown conversation, it was whispering, but still a conversation nonetheless. How did none of the proctors notice?
Also going along the lines of communication with other ninja in the room, how did Tenten manage to communicate to Rock Lee to raise his head band to notify her that he was able to see her mirrors in the ceiling/how did she communicate to him that the mirrors were even there without getting caught?
How did Tenten get those mirrors up in the ceiling undetected in the first place? I cannot imagine that it was done before the exam started, unless she was planning to cheat from the very start, without knowing what the exam was going to be like. I can believe Kankuro and his Crow cheat because it is much easier to set-up Crow as a proctor undetected in the masses of ninja in the room than it is to set-up a mirror system in the ceiling.
Ino's Mind Body Switch Technique requires hand seals. How did she get away with using it on Sakura without being seen? I would imagine that hand seals would be the very first thing that the proctors would look out for considering it is an exam for ninja.
Proctor Ibiki himself actually SEES Gaara making a hand gesture that could pass as a hand seal if the next panel had not revealed that he was just using that hand gesture to cover his eye so he could create the sand eye. But even so, Ibiki did claim to count "anything out of the ordinary" as cheating, and a suspicious hand gesture resembling a hand seal, I would say, qualifies as "out of the ordinary", so why did he not call Gaara out?
I realize that this last point is a bit too hypothetical and assumes too much, but  we do know that there are ninja who can sense chakra usage. I do not recall this directly from the manga, but taking a look at Ino's Wiki page here, it says that she is one of such ninja (eventually, but that is not the point; I am just linking to show that there does exist chakra sensing ninja). Surely [I know, this is a large assumption here], there must be some proctor in the room who would have such an ability since it is a ninja exam, so why did no one detect the chakra expenditure that was going on in the room?

I watched this in the anime recently and this is what I recall.  Most of this is actually explained throughout the exam or at the end.

First, the exam was set up that each person started off with a full 10/10 score one the test.  For each answer they got wrong they lost 1 point.  For each time they were caught cheating they lost 2 points.  Anyone caught cheating 5 times failed and he and his team were disqualified.

As Sasuke realized early on, the questions were so hard that no one would know all the answers and that cheating was actually encouraged (this is also confirmed by the fact that there were "students" planted in the room who had all the answers to cheat off of).  The test really wasn't one of knowing the answers (as the end of the exam proves), but rather one of how well they could gather information.  I don't believe it was expected that they would never get caught, but rather that if they were doing this on a real mission that they wouldn't be so sloppy as to get themselves killed.

So is it possible that someone noticed Gara or Tenten cheating?  Certainly.  Did they get caught enough to get thrown out? No.  And that's the key.


Is it possible for an author to just write a story and let someone else make a manga or anime of it? Is it possible for an author to just write a story and let someone else make a manga or anime of it?
I have no idea where to find the answers. I have searched and only came up with typing here. I cannot try anything because I do not know where you start.

Sure, although it depends heavily on your talents, language, and most of all luck (or alternatively, massive amounts of money).
You basically have three paths:

Get published as a Light Novel or Webnovel, and get a manga adaptation.
Become a story writer for a manga.
Commission someone to draw your story into a manga.

for all intents and purposes, to break into 1 or 2, you will need to write in Japanese (or to a lesser degree, Chinese or Korean) and post your work to a fiction posting site like 小説家になろう or pixiv. Ride the trend (currently it would be Isekai), promote your work on the likes of Japanese Twitter, and with a massive amount of luck (with the tosh that gets published these days, I am not sure talent is that necessary), you will rise above the massive sea of LN writer hopefuls to get selected for a publishing deal - and if you are even luckier and sell well, you might get a manga adaptation.
I am not going to say it is impossible to get a manga adaptation as an English writer, but Japanese publishers really have no reason to look for talent elsewhere when there are thousands of amateur writers committing millions of words in their own language online for free hoping for that big publishing break, even at bottom barrel rates.
Submitting your work to publishers directly rather than online is of course an option, but that seems to have been mostly phased out for the online model.
Lastly, for 3, if you have plenty of money and don't care about actually selling your work, you can just commission an artist or (amateur or freelance) mangaka to draw your story (although it will likely cost you an arm and leg for what is in essence a vanity project)
EDIT: this is a response to OP's comment that became far too long for its own good, so I am adding it here. Mods, please tell me if this isn't appropriate.
I will be frank; it is nearly impossible for an English writer to break into the Japanese manga market directly, regardless of talent.
The manga market is absolutely saturated with talented hopefuls (most of whom will never even get a oneshot published, let alone a series), and the LN market even more so. Thus like I have said, Japanese publishers have very little reason to turn to foreign talent - why risk the legal and communication pitfalls when there are hundreds of Japanese who are eager to replace them for little recompense?
I'd say that the best chance for a foreign writer to get published in Japan is to be either A. To get an internationally bestselling book or B. work with an artist (as @Mary has said) to get a bestselling comic, and have a Japanese publisher pick up rights for localization of your work.
For A., there are cases of foreign books getting a manga adaptation (e. g. The Unwomanly Face of War. Note that this book is by a Nobel Literature prize-winning author), but they are very rare, and generally reserved for the bestselling of books or classics in the public domain.
For B, while foreign comics (e.g. Chinese and Korean webtoons and Western comics) have recently made decent headway in penetrating into the Japanese market, most of them deviate signifcantly from the cliches and customs of the manga genre (and are successful at least partially thanks to that difference).
If you really want keep it limited to manga form, I suppose you could find a mangaka who is willing to collabrate with you via both translating and drawing your work, but that honestly isn't much more likely than getting a bestselling book.
TL;DR: It is really bloody difficult, especially if you can't write in Japanese.


Can Escanor be skinny and weak during daytime? Supposedly the power Escanor has make him to be strong and bulky during day and skinny and weak during night. But in episode 7 of season 3 if I recall correctly, Nanatsu no Taizai members are seen in what apparently is daytime, (there is fog around) and Escanor is skinny.

Short answer: Escanor can remain in his (skinny) nighttime form during the day due to his glasses, a magic item given to him by Merlin which allows him to suppress his powers.

Longer answer: In regards to why Escanor would opt to stay in night form during the day we need to understand him better. Escanor's ability is called sunlight, during the night, Escanor is in his true form and has the lowest power level recorded in the series (15) with a timid and cowardly personality to match but as night turns to day he gradually bulks up and his demeanor becomes arrogant or "prideful" which continues until he reaches a peak for one minute at high noon before slowly weakening until nightfall. While his power is active his physical might and endurance is unparalleled, he can scorch enemies merely by standing near them and generate a pocket sun to fling at people. Escanor was born with this power and has made it known he has despised it his entire life because it has caused him to hurt the people he cares about and be called a monster by everyone else. The power it grants him is immense but is not without drawbacks, his nighttime personality is more or less his actual personality but he cannot suppress the change in persona that comes over him when his power activates. In addition, while the ability is powerful it was never intended for humanity to wield,

   Sunlight is the power of Mael, one of the 4 Archangels of the Goddess clan whose power somehow manifested in Escanor

as a result, Escanor drains his lifespan due to the strain put on him by the power. Finally, he's supposed to be laying low, it is made apparent in Chapter 148 when Jericho stumbles into Escanor's bar that he hasn't gotten the news that the sins' name has been cleared of their supposed crime from 10 years ago. When Garlan knocks Escanor out and his glasses off only to find his sunlight powered form the next morning it allows Meliodas and Merlin to easily track him down by detecting his overwhelming aura, a task that would've been drastically quicker if he'd been activating sunlight everyday.

I could not find the chapter the magic glasses were explained, although in chapter 162 right before Gloxinia and Dolor's tournament Gowther lands on Escanor shattering his glasses which causes him to shriek that 1. they were a gift from Merlin and 2. without them he... (he gets impaled by Gloxinia before he completes his sentence). The wiki describes his magic glasses as a gift from Merlin which when removed in daytime causes his sunlight to instantly activate. He later gets a new pair of glasses off-screen and it should be noted he only appears in nighttime form during the day while wearing his glasses.


Why is Giorno's clothes color different between the manga and anime version? On Jul 5, 2018, there was an announcement about Jojo Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind that will be aired in October 2018.
When I see the first pic of the anime version of Jojo part 5, the color of Giorno's clothes looks like this.

While originally, Giorno's clothes look like this:

I know that some of Jojo part 5 manga's cover has this color (pink) for his clothes like volume 54 and volume 55 but it's only the cover, like many other Jojo manga's cover that have many colorful clothes, background, lips and so.
Why did they choose pink for Giorno's clothes?

Why not blue?
Because apparently there is no canon color scheme to JoJo's.

Hirohiko Araki stated in notes from his lecture from 2006

  When Jojo became an OVA, one of the animators asked Araki "what color if Jotaro?" however Araki had no such concept. He colors everything based on calculation. For example, in Volume 54 Giorno's clothes are pink, but in Volume 63 they are blue.

As praraphrased by Super Eyepatch Wolf, "he doesn't view his world or characters in any consistant color palet".

Why pink?
Dunno. Looks good on him? I'm betting the production staff had some freedom when it came to the color palet given Araki's attitude towards colors.
Also, as stated, the color scheme has been seen in past media such as the covers mentioned.

The production staff may have also wanted to differentiate themselves from previous color choises. The blue was the color of choise for the DIGITAL COLORED COMICS version, which I think the picture in the question originates from, as well as games such as All Star Battle and Eyes of Heaven.


Who is that at the end of episode 2? At the end of every episode of Puella Magi Madoka Magica there is an artist's drawing while one of where characters is narrating the next episode preview. In Episode 2 we see this:

Who/what is that behind Homura? And why is he there?

So, uh, this is kind of weird.

According to a guy on Chiebukuro (which is basically Japanese Yahoo! Answers), the artist of this end card, HIKAWA Hekiru, is a fan of the movie Mad Max 2, and one of the characters in that movie is a dude named Humungus, who is the guy pictured here.

Also according to the guy on Chiebukuro, Humungus has apparently popped up in other works by Hikawa. I'm not familiar with any of Hikawa's works, so I don't know whether this is actually true or not, but the guy in the endcard certainly does look like Humungus.


Why did barragan turn against Aizen before he dies? In the fight against Hachi and Soi-Fong after being mortally wounded, Barragan the way he called them ants throughout the fight why didn't he want to take out Hachi or Soi-Fong my reasoning being he should have wanted to take out the people who costed him his life but instead suddenly turned against Aizen all of a sudden? Why did he do that?

He decided to take on the one who cost his pride than his life. He was initially the God-King of Heuco mundo and the arrogant overlord of all hollows until Aizen with Gin and Tousen made his entry and dethroned him from Las Noches with a display of his Shikai. Barragan had merely been reduced to being a henchman of a renegade shinigami from that of a king of hollows which hurt him deeply and towards his last breath decided to take out Aizen who had brought him this dishonor.


Can anyone give me a short, concise lore summary on One Piece? I got into anime from watching Death Note; then moved on to My Hero Academia, during the hiatus between season 3 & 4, I'm looking for an anime to watch. I heard about One Piece from a friend; all I know about it so far are devil fruits(sort of?), but can anyone give me a short simple explanation on the show and its lore. Thanks!

One piece is a very long and interestingly annoying anime. I label it "interestingly annoying" because of the speed of the entire series. Unlike most other animes, One piece is very slow paced and a fight could usually take way too many episodes. If you aren't into really long and awesome animes then One piece Isn't for you. I say this because the anime is currently on 855 episodes but yet it hasn't reached half of its enitre story.

Now that I've got that out of the way, I'll briefly summarise the show from my perspective. The One piece anime revolves around Luffy, a boy who sets out to become the King of Pirates.
However, before he can reach his goal, he would have to assemble a very good pirate crew and then navigate his way to Raftel.

In order to get to Raftel, Luffy and his crew would need to find the map to Raftel, the problem thou is that the map can only be gotten from combinning Poneglyphs (ancient texts left by an ancient civilization).

Also, the World Government (a political organization made of majority of the world) rules pirates as threats to the world and so Pirates are kinda illegal. The World Government uses the Marines  by placing bounties on Pirates that prove themselves to be notorious. This makes it very difficult for Pirates to sail around freely. And so luffy must constantly fend off the Marines that try to capture him and his friends, while facing the difficulties of pirate rivalry.

And finally, the best part. Devil fruits. These mystical fruits give whomever eats them special abilities which vary from (1) being able to control elemental forces of nature like water, wind lightning and all those good stuff (Logia types) to (2) becoming an ancient or mythical creature (Mythical zoan type) to (3) having abilities other than the first and second. AKA paramecia type. However, whomever eats such fruits looses the ability to swim.

I hope this helps but then pls bear in mind, the One piece anime is way too broad to completely compress into a definitive short summary.


How did Brook know what his devil fruit was? What I'm wondering is...is it possible to know what devil fruit power a devil fruit holds before a character eats it? Don't devil fruit eaters find out what their devil fruit powers are by experiencing the powers first hand.

I'm asking this because how on earth would Brook know that he ate the revive-revive fruit if he hasn't died yet? (For reference, in a flash back before he became a skeleton, the crew members ask him how his revive-revive devil fruit power works, to which he replies "I'm not exactly sure, I haven't died yet, so I wouldn't know." -I'm paraphrasing of course)

From the manga/anime, we do not know how Brooke learned which devil fruit he had eaten, but we can safely speculate on different possible scenarios.

As the answer in the possible duplicate says, there is a "Devil Fruit Encyclopedia" which lists the names and abilities of the known devil fruits (the encyclopedia is not complete). Some devil fruits come with illustrations. This is how Blackbeard was able to identify the Yami Yami no Mi fruit and steal it from his nakama Thatch.

It is possible that the entry for Brook's  Yomi Yomi no Mi fruit was illustrated and therefore he knew what the fruit was before he ate it. However, note that this fruit is rather peculiar in that it does not grant any abilities while the user is still alive. Even though this is speculation, this may be the ONLY fruit with that characteristic. Therefore, even if there were no illustrations, one could have identified his fruit by the ability it came with, or lack thereof.

EDIT: (After Kaine's comment)

In chapter 676, when the salamender Slime dies and turns into gas, the powers of the artificial devil fruit he had eaten are re-introduced in a nearby apple. That means that if a devil fruit user dies near another fruit, and that fruit changes shape, one can know which type of devil fruit it is based on the deceased user's powers.


Why did the Magic Council make so many Faces? If Face can eradicate all magic on Fiore, why did the council make so many of them?

Magic is their first line of defence, after all, they are the Magic Council. But even if something did come up where they needed to eradicate magic, why would they make so many Faces, especially if they were trying to keep them a big secret?

I could understand if there are 2 or 3, but why hundreds?

If they had multiple, it would make more sense to spread them out, but why would they keep them all in the same place?

My guess is because of people like Zeref.

It's the last line of defense. If all else fails, they had enough Faces to make sure the eradication of magic would be complete. Of course, that plan failed too.

That would be my thought process: if magic couldn't stop magic, eradicate it.


How is it that Scanlations are still faster than Licensed releases? Yen Press is expected to release Volume 14 of Watatemote on September 2019

however the scanlations have already been translating Volume 14 and beyond

The above is the first page of chapter 150 that was scanlated and was uploaded to the site i got it from a month ago while the same site lists up to Chapter 152.

also said site also posted a Bookwalker special edition chapter Chapter 144.5 and this was posted 4 months ago

and as you can see in the image it says Volume 14 went on sale in January (assuming this year).

these 2 pages suggest that in Japan Volume 14 is already out and being sold. yet despite this for an official translation we have to wait 9 months for. but since Yen Press already has the licenses why does it take them so long to release when a scanlation group, which doesn't get paid and done in the group's free time (since they have lives and their jobs) can release it much faster? is this some sort of bottle neck that all licensed releases have?

This might be a case-to-case basis but here's what I noticed and what I think:

As we know, the Japanese release of manga is always the first thing that happens before it is licensed for an English translation. Using your example, the first chapter of Watamote released on August 4, 2011, and the first scanlation released two weeks after. Yen Press, however, did not announce that they licensed the series until on Sakura-Con in March 2013. That's a gap of almost 2 years. This gap cascades and builds on until the recent volume release. This gives scanlations quite a lead in terms of time since they started earlier in translating the series. This I think is the reason why the release is much later than scanlations.

Also, using Watamote again as an example, the scanlation team and the Yen Press team more or less have the same manpower (around 2-3 persons; Yen Press has Krista and Karie Shipley doing translation and Lys Blakeslee on lettering in Watamote), not to mention that the official release has an additional job of lettering (especially on Japanese 'sound effects' in some panels which scanlations usually, if not always, leave it as it is), stricter proofreading and sometimes, censoring.


What's the name of the music played during the final battle of Tokyo Ghoul √A episode 9? What is the name of the music playing from 20.00 to the end of the episode in Tokyo Ghoul √A episode 9?

That song's name is Das zweite Kapitel (disc #1, track #26).


Goku new transformation grey eyes light blue aura is it related with the other picture released? So a new photo of a Goku transformation has been released by a japanese magazine, a transformation we havent seen in the series yet.

But before, we got another picture of a possible Goku transformation from a Dragon Ball Super producer, he stated it was "Goku as he tries to break new ground in order to face off against the mightiest of foes in the midst of the fierce battle that is the Tournament of Power! "

So are these 2 pictures supposed to be Goku new transformation or one is and the other isnt? They have the same hair but different aura, what does that suppose to mean?

Happy to update this when Dragon Ball Super tells us, but I'd have to go with the new form.

The hair is the same as you've pointed out

New Style
Grey-ish streaks

But also quite importantly his eyes have changed to Grey, and we have Super Saiyan, Super Saiyan God, Super Saiyan Blue, and Super Saiyan Rose as evidence of new eye colour meaning a new form!

As to the aura, that could be just a choice made for the images to make it look good in advertising. If I had to pick one as the actual Aura, I'd pick the top image as it makes more sense for the Aura to be a close colour match the hair and eyes. I expect it may look closer to grey in Dragon Ball Super than it does in either of the images.


Why is Cassano called the "Devil of the Right Arm"? In the chapter 136, it shows Cassano saying:

Why is Cassano referred to as the "Devil of the Right Arm" and not Horyang?

They both have the same "devil" inside them, but Horyang has it on his right side:

Even though Horyang made a name for himself as the "devil of the right arm", he stopped climbing the tower after reaching the 20th floor (as he explains in chapter 122, page 28). Cassano, who appeared later, rode on Horyang's fame and borrowed his fearsome "title". People mistook Cassano for the real "devil of the right arm"; some people, including Koon's party, are searching for this newly appeared "devil of the right arm".


Why Masashi Kishimoto did not author Boruto? I mean he successfully completed Naruto, so why not continue it ?

He needed a break!

An excerpt from an interview he did at New York Comic Con (per Anime News Network):

  Christopher Butcher:
  72 volumes of Naruto. Did the editors of Shonen Jump want you to keep going? Some of the Shonen Jump series go for a hundred volumes or two
  hundred volumes. Did the editors want you to keep going on Naruto?

  Masashi Kishimoto: I would be lying if I said there wasn't some pressure from management, the powers that be as they were, but I had a
  pretty clear idea of how I wanted the story to come to a close, so I
  had to put my foot down and say, 'No, I'm sorry, this is it.'

It's also the case that during the creation of Naruto, Kishimoto got married and was supposed to go on his honeymoon with his wife, but never did.  After the series was completed, he was finally able to do that, even though his son was (at the time) about as old as Boruto would be in-canon.


Where do the ethics of Shonen anime come from? In shonen anime, there's a type of "ethics" that emphasizes on someone reaching their potential, becoming the greatest, trying no matter what, persevering, etc. But, whenever I've heard about modern Japan, it's always as a very business oriented society that pressures people to work and things like that, so I wouldn't expect that kind of ethics to be a part of actual Japanese society (I don't know much about this topic, so if I'm wrong on that, please tell me).

If that's true, how did that ethics end up in a Japanese medium? The only answer I could think of is through older Japanese and Chinese literature, but I just don't feel like that's good enough to fully explain the problem.

Anime is very derivative. But with each new iteration things change a little. Some masterpiece comes along to redefine the genre and then everyone else derives from the latest masterpiece.
The shounen genre is like that. So to answer your question, we have to trace the genealogy back to the roots.
Let's start with some shounen anime that's relatively new: Boku no Hero Academia (2016). It's about someone without a superpower in a world where some people have superpowers and his journey to become the best hero or whatever.
It's clearly a derivation of that one anime about a somewhat talentless boy attending a school with other kids who all have superpowers, while dreaming of becoming respected by everyone from 2002 called Naruto. This older anime also has the aspect of the hero wanting to follow in his fathers footsteps of becoming the village head. Not to mention everyone is a ninja and the guy is somewhat of a simpleton.
Which in turn is a derivation of that anime about this kid from some remote village setting out to follow in his fathers footsteps by attending an exam in the middle of nowhere to officially get the same job his father has. Afterwards he also gets powers related to martial arts. I'm of course talking about Hunter x Hunter (1999).
Or I guess the Naruto manga (1997 as a pilot) predates the Hunter x Hunter one (1998). So let's take another step back.
Remember that anime about the boy with a special constitution that is kind of an idiot, but really strong and sets out on an adventure but first makes a stop to learn martial arts and then only gets stronger and stronger? I mean Dragon Ball (1986).
Other than ripping off the ancient Chinese story Journey to the West from the 16th century it also was inspired by some anime. And since Journey to the West didn't feature the desire of self-improvement within the protagonist, only the idiot-protagonist part, we are getting closer.
Our next stop is that one anime about this delinquent guy who scams people, but got caught by the police and is thrown into a juvenile prison, where he learns how to beat everyone up using techniques from a sport that he should become very proficient in. Getting better in this sport isn't necessarily the driving force behind the story, it's more about life in general, but it's an important part nevertheless. The sport I'm talking about is boxing and the anime is called Ashita no Joe (1970).
Now we're still not at our destination, since Ashita no Joe was just a derivation in itself and like with Hunter x Hunter and Naruto, Ashita no Joe wasn't the only contender. Otoko Ippiki Gaki Daishou (1969) was very similar, just without the sports aspect of the story.
If you go further back it's mostly baseball manga and after that manga didn't even exist. Here's where my expertise on the topic begins to thin out.
But it's enough to answer your question. The strive to get better and better originated from sports manga and anime. Baseball turned into boxing with Ashita no Joe and later into martial arts with Dragon Ball. After deriving Dragon Ball the sports aspect was fully removed and substituted with general fighting, maybe throwing in a tournament again, like in Yuu Yuu Hakusho (1992). But the spirit of having the protagonist not give up and become stronger was kept over all these decades.


Can more than one person use the same type of Take Over magic? In Fairy Tail there are Take Overs like Satan Soul, Beast Soul, etc. Would it be possible for more than one person to use a specific type of Take Over magic (like there would be 2 users of Satan Soul)? I wasn't sure if this magic changes depending on the individual so that all users have their own type of Take Over or if it is just learned this way.

Take Over is an advanced Caster-Type Transformation Magic. The different type of take overs shown in the Manga/Anime are Beast Soul, Animal Soul, Machina Soul, God Soul and Finally the takeover done by animals such as the Vulcan.

The description that we receive is that one can only take over the forms of "things" that you "know". In addition to these there may be other requirements for this magic. Most of the times its the defeat of the target is necessary.

In the canon ALL the Take Over Magic have been shown by unique users. The exact way to obtain any of the transformations is currently unknown. Thus it is unconfirmed if multiple users can use the same Take Over Magic.

However, from the nature of the transformations I personally classify them into the following. Thus it would be speculation to say if any of them are unique, I consider them to be of either kind. However, I consider the Lost Magics to be most unique. The answer below follows mostly my logic and speculation.

Beast Soul: Known User Elfman; Not Unique
Animal Soul: Known User Lisanna; Not Unique
Machina Soul: Known User Jenny; Not Unique
Satan Soul: Known User Mirajane; Unique
In the battle against Tartarus we learned a bit about Mirajane's abilities. It seems that she has some form of "Demon Factor" that allows her to use this powerful take over. She is immune to the Demon control techniques even opposing them. Thus it seems to be a unique transformation for her.
God Soul: Known user Dimaria (Spriggan 12); Unique
In this case we have a clear source of the unique nature of her takeover.

  As the Valkyrie summons the ancient God of Time into her own body, Chronos explains to their audience that he has chosen her as his host as she is a descendant of the people of Mildian, an ancient city that worshiped him, also claiming that he and his host are a single being in this form. Source: Chapter 475

Thus the god Chronos chose Dimaria as the Vessel.


In which episode does this picture from the opening of K-ON! appear? In the first opening of K-ON!, the following appears at 35 seconds.

Which episode is that picture with Ritsu in the green clothing from? And what is the time mark in the episode?

Many of the scenes from the K-On openings don't ever happen in the anime or manga. They're things that we can imagine might have happened off camera sometime. I'm fairly certain this scene of Ritsu is one of those.

For example, this image of Mio wearing Nodoka's glasses never happens:

And Azusa never licks the whisk like this:

Clannad does the same thing—the opening contains scenes that look like they're repeated from somewhere in the series, but actually aren't, like this one:

And this one:

It's obviously difficult to present hard proof for this, especially hard proof that that specific scene with Ritsu never appears, but I'm 99% certain that those two scenes I mentioned with Mio and Azusa never appeared anywhere. I'm about 85% certain the scene with Ritsu never happened in the anime, and about 75% certain it was never in the manga. However, there might have been a similar or related scene; Azusa did make a cake, so we can imagine she might have licked the whisk while doing that, and this might be a similar case.


Is Vivi's Peacock Slasher based on a real life weapon? Princess Vivi is a former member of Baroque Works with the code name Miss Wednesday.
She fights using her weapons, the Peacock Slasher.

Her weapons can easily cut off human heads, as we can see when she cut off Crocodile's head (even though it's because he is a sandman).

I want to know whether the Peacock Slasher is based on a real life weapon or not.

The closest I can think of is this weapon used by ninjas.

  The kyoketsu-shoge or rope-and-dagger weapon is one of the Ninja's
  unique specialty weapons.

This should be the inspiration for Peacock Slasher.


I need a location to buy the eureka seven ao bracelet silver edition The bracelet is made by jam home made. There is a gold, silver and other editions. I need silver or whichever is closest to the real color. I need a website that isn't Japanese or at least ships to America. Thank you.

Also please be sure to specify if they are sold out.

After looking around a bit on the jam site itself and plenty of other sites that offer the bracelet. Which by the way can be browsed in English using the O so lovely google translate engine for example. I found out that most of them are out-of-stock, and marked the product as the following.

Release date 2012 SS [spring and summer release items]
The item is sold out already, and it is no longer in production. It won't become available again for orders.

leading me to believe that this is a special/limited edition collectors item by now, which is not obtainable through online stores any more.
Most likely you have to find somebody that already owns one, and wishes to sell it if you really want a original. If you just want it because of how it looks or for a cosplay, you could most likely get a jeweller nearby you to recreate the actual bracelet, after which you probably only have to rope it yourself. Unless off course the jeweller also can do this for you.


In season 2, how did Koichi manage to obtain Aoi Tsunemori's ear? Note: The whole post is a spoiler.

How did Koichi come to be in possession of Aoi Tsunemori's ear?

In Episode 9 of Psycho-Pass 2, Koichi Kuwashima gave a present to Akane Tsunemori before turning himself over to MWPSB. That present was revealed to hold Aoi Tsunemori's ear.

Given the circumstances, I assumed that Koichi or Kirito Kamui and company abducted Akane's grandmother, but given Akane's reaction I suppose Aoi wasn't killed up until that time.

However, earlier in the same episode  Sakuya Togane ordered Mika Shimotsuki to determine the whereabouts of Akane's grandmother. Also, in the scene next to Akane's reaction after seeing Aoi's ear, the expressions on Togane's face implied (as I saw fit) that he was involved in that brutal act.

In the last episode, Togane had revealed that he was the one behind the brutal killing of Aoi, whose body was found in Warehouse district (not sure whether it is the same district where she was living; an earlier episode revealed that she was living in a  nursing home with considerable drones guarding the place).

All of this doesn't seem to add up to a coherent plot.

Kirito and company knew where Aoi was living and they were able to hack the drones guarding the place, as witnessed in an earlier episode.
Togane came to know about Aoi's home via Mika.

Following are the two events that I suppose happened in the story but were not revealed and left to ponder:

Koichi or friends stormed the house, took away Aoi's ear, and left off. Later, Togane came and killed Aoi brutally -- too many flaws in this plot.
Alternatively, Togane first reached the house, killed Aoi and left the body in Warehouse district. Koichi or friends later visited the house or the place where the body was dumped, took away the ear, and went off -- I have high hopes with this theory.

There are some theories floating in some places on web that Togane and Koichi were working together, so after finishing off Aoi, Togane handed over her ear to Koichi since both had the intention to blacken Akane's hue. This doesn't follow any logic in my opinion since Koichi remained a loyal friend of Kirito, and Kirito and Togane were enemies.

So, what really happened? Or, what is the most logical conclusion for the story?

What really happened, based on the evidence in the anime was:

[Intro] Togane really wanted to color Akane's Psycho-Pass black.
Togane told Mika to find where Akane's grandmother (Aoi) lived. The plan was to make Akane's playing role as Kamui's killer (by assuming that Kamui did something bad to Aoi, and Akane would take a revenge)
Togane knew that Koichi had a connection with Kamui when Yayoi were doing the investigation.
Koichi received a call, and after the call, he told Kamui that he had a doubt about the intel (possibly Togane), but they got their trump card (possibly Aoi's ear). However, Kamui didn't approve Koichi's plan since he believed that Akane's Psycho-Pass wouldn't be affected anyway. Koichi responded it as a test to Akane.
Akane and her team came, Koichi shown "the vision of hell" to them, and lastly before he gave in, he gave a present to Akane.
[Outro] Togane killed Aoi inside the car where she was held as hostage.

Actually, it wasn't clear who cut Aoi's ear. There are 3 possibilities:

Kamui knew the location in the first place and told Koichi.
After Mika found Aoi's location, Togane came, cut her ear, captured her and gave the ear to Koichi.
After Mika found Aoi's location, Togane told Koichi her location, and he did it instead of Togane.

The first one is impossible, based from Kamui's reaction to Koichi's plan. Second one is the most believable, judging from Togane's act & expression. But the third could be the the truth, based on Aoi's last word to Togane, "Are you one of Akane's colleague?", implying that she never encountered Togane before, and how the cut was taken care off, something that Togane could never do it (he killed anything).


What exactly is a guild mark? All guild members have a mark of their guild, what exactly are they? Is it just a regular tattoo or is there some kind of magic contract?

Guild Mark is a kind of magic contract which is printed magically on each guild member. It helps in identifying a mage's guild.

Sometimes it can be used to perform group magic, for e.g., during the Tenrou Island Arc the members of Fairy Tail combined their power against Acnologia to defend against its attack.

Also, during the Grand Magic Tournament Mavis says only those having the Fairy Tail guild mark are able to see her.


How many people kiss Usagi in the Sailor Moon anime and manga respectively? My wife is a big fan of Sailor Moon, a series I know little about.

How many people kiss Usagi in the manga and anime respectively?

In the manga, Usagi/Sailor Moon/Princess Serenity/Neo Queen Serenity is kissed by:

Prince Endymion kissed Princess Serenity (Moon Kingdom, consensual)
Chiba Mamoru/Tuxedo Kamen kissed Usagi/Sailor Moon (present day, in every story arc, non-consensual and consensual)
Prince Demande kissed Usagi (Black Moon arc, non-consensual)
Neo Queen Serenity kissed King Endymion (Black Moon arc, the King was asleep so technically non-consensual)
Sailor Uranus kissed Sailor Moon (Mugen [Infinty] arc, done by Uranus before Sailor Moon could react, so technically non-consensual, but Sailor Moon did not seem to mind). Tenou Haruka also almost kissed Usagi (consensual) but they were interrupted by Mamoru. Usagi also imagined herself being kissed by surprise by Haruka (her face expression in her mind's eye is one of shock, so she was imagining a non-consensual kiss, but since she is the one who thought it up, it could be that she subconsciously wouldn't mind if it happened).
Seiya Kou (Stars arc, done by Seiya before Usagi could react, so technically non-consensual, but Usagi did not seem to mind)

In the classic 90s anime:

Prince Endymion kissed Princess Serenity (Moon Kingdom, consensual)
Chiba Mamoru/Tuxedo Kamen kissed Usagi/Sailor Moon (present day, in every season, non-consensual and consensual)
Prince Demande kissed Usagi (R season, non-consensual)
Sailor Chibi-Moon kissed Sailor Moon (SuperS season, during transformation sequence, non-romantic on the cheek, consensual)
Seiya Kou kissed Usagi (SailorStars season, on the cheek, Usagi pulled back so technically non-consensual, but Usagi seemed more sad to have to reject him than disturbed by his farewell kiss)

In Sailor Moon Crystal:

Prince Endymion kissed Princess Serenity (Moon Kingdom, consensual)
Chiba Mamoru/Tuxedo Kamen kissed Usagi/Sailor Moon (present day, non-consensual and consensual)
Prince Demande kissed Usagi (non-consensual)
Neo Queen Serenity kissed King Endymion (the King was asleep so technically non-consensual)
Sailor Uranus kissed Sailor Moon (Mugen [Infinty] season, done by Uranus before Sailor Moon could react, so technically non-consensual, but Sailor Moon did not seem to mind). Usagi also imagined herself being kissed by Haruka.

A few examples:

Non-Consensual:

(Tuxedo Kamen kisses drunk sleeping Sailor Moon)

Consensual:


Why didn't Father simply capture and imprison the Elric Brothers? The Elric brothers are able to decipher the plan of Father only due to them not being killed. Thus, all Father had to do was to capture and sedate them and leave them imprisoned. This way, both brothers would not cause trouble until Promised Day.

I think this was the simplest solution, isn't it?

Father simply didn't consider them a threat.  Like all the homunculi, he looked down on humans, saw them as, at most, resources and overall useless.  We get this exchange the first time Ed and Al meet Father with Ling after Father healed the Elrics:

  Ling: I don't like him. I can tell he looks down on humans and calls
  us fools.

  Father: When you notice an insect on the ground do you stop
  to consider it a fool?  The life of an insect is so beneath you that
  it would be a waste of your time to even consider judging it.  That
  would be an accurate summation on my feelings towards you humans.

Why bother going through the effort of chaining up something that can't possibly hurt you?  Why even consider such effort?  You have a number of incredibly powerful homunculi who could subdue the Elrics at any time, not to mention the power to shut off their alchemy and reduce them to nothing.  As far as Father is concerned, why bother?

On top of that, it's probably harder to keep them alive in captivity than to let them run free and hold their friends hostage.  The brothers could decide to kill themselves if they felt they had no reason to live.  They might be motivated to do so if they thought it might save the people of Amestris.

So if you believe that the Elrics are incapable of thwarting your plans and keeping them captive and alive might be more trouble than it is worth, why bother?


Does Akito the Exiled have anything to do with Code Geass? Does it have anything to do with Lelouch and what happens after R2? I need to know whether or not they continue his story or did he become immortal from his father's code?

In a sense, it does relate to the 2 seasons but not as a continuation of R2, Akito of the Exiled is set between the 2 seasons of Lelouch of the Rebellion during the 1 year gap, in it Britannia is putting pressure on it's EU Front.

Now I haven't watched the series yet however from screenshots we see C.C in this wearing a white hood and a man who looks like Lelouch with Suzaku (having been made a Knight of the Round) going by a different name with one of his eyes covered. In episode 3 of the OVA series it's revealed that Julius Kingsley is infact a brainwashed Lelouch. The brainwashing however is somewhat unstable as "Lelouch" reappears briefly, also his Geass has yet to be sealed.


Do cell phones and email exist in Gankutsuou? For the most part, Gankutsuou is set in Paris in the year 5053. Technological advancements shown in the series include:

Space travel and moon colonisation
Danglars' communication with Michelle, his assistant, over a wireless connection
Noirtier de Villefort's prosthetic arm
The pen inside Noirtier's arm, which auto-writes and which is used to access his memories
Lucien Debray's use of headsets to access government records through a VR application
The Count's pocketwatch, which is revealed to be a bugging device

With this taken into account, I was surprised to realise that the main characters never seem to use cell phones or email, even in situations such as:

Albert's failed attempted to see Eugénie after her engagement to Andrea Cavalcanti
Eugénie's thwarted attempt to see Albert after the Morcerf scandal breaks out
Eugénie's failed attempts to contact Franz while he was in Marseilles (although it is also possible that Franz intentionally made himself unreachable)

Do cell phones and email exist in the world of Gankutsuou? If they do, why do the characters not use them? Or are the technological advancements in Gankutsuou just constructed so that the original social structure  of the novel is not changed?

Gankutsuou's is an adaptation of The Count of Monte Cristo written by Alexandre Dumas and published in 1844. This is shown by the series' full English title: Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo.

The events of the original book take place in late 1830s France and as such the characters did not have access to technologies such as the telephone which would not be invented until the 1870s.

The futuristic setting of Gankutsuou is an adaptational choice and is very different setting to the original novel. This massive change in setting creates Adaptation-Induced Plot Holes such as this.

So your final question would be correct: Advancements such as cell phones are simply ignored in order for Gankutsuou to properly follow the plot of the original novel.


How do I watch canon Kenshin content? I have watched the anime in full. I understand that canon stops at ep 62. What are the other animated contents that cover the canon story to the fullest?

Referring Wikipedia, there were two OVAs. Rurouni Kenshin: Trust & Betrayal seems canon without controversy. Rurouni Kenshin: Reflection was declared non-canon by the author, but I guess it was sourced from canon.

So my best guess is, I must watch Trust & Betrayal and then Reflection to get the canon story. Is my guess correct or did I miss something?

What parts of the manga have been not-animated? Are there upcoming projects that cover the canon story?

You're gonna want to watch Trust & Betrayal, then Reflection.  While the ending is not what the author wanted, its still semi-canon and good.  It also covers some of the final arc (Jinchuu Arc) at the end of ova 1 and beginning of ova 2.  Also the fight animations and soundtrack are great. Also worth watching if for nothing else than the reinvented fights (which are more realistic) is Rurouni Kenshin: New Kyoto Arc.

Then I would go back and read the manga after where Trust & Betrayal left off, it covers a lot of details that really add to the story and overall depth to characters (like sanosuke's past)


Where was Hamura when Madara decided to steal the Ten-Tails' Gedo Body? The main reason Hamura and his family went to the moon was to watch over the Ten-Tails' outer body. So, how was Madara able to steal the Ten-Tails' outer body so easily? It seems like a plot crack because the Otsutsuki would have been protecting it, right?

It is true that Homura Otsusuki went over to the moon to watch over the Juubi's husk (Ten-Tails' Gedo Body) but then, he most definitely died around the same time that his elder brother did, and that was long before Madara's time.

In The Last: Naruto the Movie, Toneri Otsutsuki spoke about this when he told the story  of the clan to Hinata.

  Apparently, the Otsutsuki Clan that followed Homura to the moon died out and Toneri Otsutsuki became the last surviving member of the Otsutsuki branch family, which explains a lot actually.

By the time Madara attained the Rinnegan and decided to summon the Husk of the Juubi, the majority of the Otsutsuki Clan on the moon, along with Hamura Otsutsuki, had died off. So, it was not being guarded at that time and Madara could easily just summon it.


How are animals able to get stands in the world of Jojo's Bizarre Adventure? In the series, multiple animals were able to conjure and use their own stands.

Some of them include:

Iggy the dog
A hawk
An orangutan
Coco Jumbo the turtle

How were the animals able to get their stands?

   Were they all  pierced by the arrow at some point?

Or did they get them some other way? Is there extra backstory that was explained somewhere else that I missed? (I've only watched the anime, I have not read the books).

Approximately 50,000 years ago, a meteorite crash-landed on Earth around an underpopulated region of Cape YorkW, GreenlandW. In 1978, a mineral excavation team uncovered an unknown virus within the rocks of the surrounding area and determined that it had been lying dormant inside the meteorite that hit Earth long ago. Despite extensive research, government doctors were unable to determine the alien virus' purpose outside the total elimination of human life. Akin to the theory of evolution, it was discovered that certain people possessed a quality that would enable them to survive when exposed to the virus, additionally granting them supernatural abilities. ~JJBA Wiki

Stands are the result of the extraterrestrial virus and the host's immunoresponse to it, which explains why Holly Kujo's stand was killing her and which makes it entirely possible that animals such as Iggy, Pet Shop, Forever, and Bug-Eaten in Part IV contracted the virus into their bloodstreams through various means.
On the surface, rogue stands such as Silver Chariot Requiem and Notorious B.I.G. in Part V, Stray Cat in Part IV and Anubis in part III might initially seem to present a glaring hole in this theory, but the fact of the matter is that viruses are microscopic life forms and the one in question is of alien origin, which means its interaction with both organic and inorganic matter after the incubation period is bound to have unpredictable results and allows for a wide range of creative freedom on Araki's part.
To sum up it up nicely, "It's an alien virus, I ain't gotta explain S#!t." - Hirohiko Araki


Which reasons are there to use super saiyan god instead of super saiyan blue? From japanese magazines, dragon ball super staff twitter accounts and Dragon Ball Super episode 104th preview we know that,

   Goku is going to use super saiyan god again

Which advantages does it have using super saiyan god instead of super saiyan blue?

In the Manga, Goku and Vegeta both thought up methods to conserve stamina when using SSB. They demonstrated these in their fight against Zamasu. Vegetas in particular is what we want, but understanding both is important.

Goku, in chapter 24, around page 33, sealed his power in his body. By doing so, the SSB aura disappeared. This is exactly what what he and Gohan did in the Hyperbolic time chamber for SSJ 1. The aura they release costs them power, draining stamina. By containing that aura in their body, they reduced the stamina drain down to almost nil, and so were able to stay transformed for extended periods of time. Goku replicated this with SSB, and so it can drain little stamina to keep active. As Vegeta put in, he was "fighting at a constant 100% of his power". He was able to fight on near equal footing with Fused Zamasu for a while at least.

Vegeta had a different solution, one that I think addresses the question quite nicely, albeit indirectly. On the same page as the quote I just said from Vegeta, he also noted "the fact that its only able to output full power for a very short time is blues greatest weakness". Vegeta's solution to this was displayed a few chapters earlier. In chapter 22, around page 15, Vegeta transformed into SSG, the Red form. He then revealed that that was his answer to the stamina problem. Red drains far less stamina than Blue, and so he used Red which he had mastered (He managed to contain the aura like Goku did for Blue), and then would transform into blue right as he attacked for an instant. His attacks had all the power of Blue, but the stamina drain of Blue was only in effect for an instant at a time, so he could maintain his max power for longer.

So, why is Goku using SSG, probably because its his most powerful form that doesn't cut his power in half after a minute of use. He has not mastered Blue yet in the anime that we know of, but it is known that the Aura they release when transformed is a huge drain on stamina. Red just drains less than Blue.


Is use of schools' rooftops a common thing in Japanese culture or just a cliché? In many manga and anime involving modern schools, there is a scene on or at least showing the rooftop of the building. It is a place students can freely go to, often depicted with having a bust-height railing along the edge and the typical 'small building' from which you leave the school building, often also having a ladder to get up (nonetheless being a popular 'hiding' or 'being alone' spot even without one).

I wanted to ask: is this one of many clichés about Japanese culture that appear throughout the whole media type, or are they a common thing in Japanese schools?

I am sorry, but they look like just a cliché....

From this Quora answer (yes Quora!):

  While many Japanese schools do have flat rooftops, they are usually off-limits and properly locked. So, eating your lunch on the roof or confessing your love at sunset up there... not gonna happen.

Source: Quora

Another source directly from our own Anime and Manga StackExchange: AM StackExchange

A quick Google search also reveals this (unfortunate) truth.


Can anyone tell me the name of this manga? Think it's a manhwa but don't know which one so I was wondering if anyone could please tell me where it's from

The manga is

Shin Am Heng Eo Sa (Shin Angyō Onshi) Manhwa

Check here


How is Uub related to Maitibu? Dragon Ball fans out there, please explain why Goku says that Uub is related to Maitibu. Please solve my childhood mystery.

We know that warriors can recognize someone's aura by feeling it.

In Chapter 519, Goku asks Buu to use his magic to fight Uub. But we all know Goku isn't the smart type, he just has this feeling. Goku is the one who fought the most with Buu, its probably normal he's the one who's able to recognize him.


Are guns in Kenshin historically accurate? I noticed:

Private citizens with small pistols
Private citizens with hand-cranked machine guns
Soldiers of the old order with guns killing Sano's friends
Soldiers of the new order storming Yutaro's mansion after the rebels camped in it
Revolutionary soldiers practising stabbing motions with special sticks, while the teenage Kenshin practises swordsmanship in Trust and Betrayal

Seems like the opposing factions could acquire guns in the Kenshin universe; it seemed to come from totally unregulated trade with foreigners, or the same army which is in #2, #3 and maybe #4. Is this historically accurate? Where did they all get their guns from?

Remember, Rurouni Kenshin is set during the late 19th Century. This is just after the American Civil War, during the British Victorian Era: the height of the British Empire, and a time when the Western powers were very interested in the riches of the Far East.

The Western powers were mostly laissez-faire capitalists who would allow their people to trade anything with anyone; read about the British opium trade in China to get an idea of how trade worked at the time. Western traders would trade whatever they could for Eastern gold, silver, tea, and silk; that included guns, which were plentiful and relatively inexpensive in the West—the Japanese Meiji Era began just a few years after the American Civil War ended, and there were guns everywhere in America. The factories of Britain, France, and Germany were also constantly spitting out rifles, revolvers, and cannons. In this period, the European powers would still have a major war among themselves every few years (the Franco-Prussian War broke out during the same timeframe that Kenshin takes place), so they all wanted to build up stores of arms in preparation for the next struggle.

Given that guns were everywhere in the West, that they were highly desired in Japan, and that Western traders desired Eastern riches, it makes sense that the Western traders would trade guns to the Japanese. Although we don't see it in Rurouni Kenshin (to my knowledge; I only watched the anime up to the end of the Kyouto Arc), I always assumed these factions got their guns by trading goods like silk and tea to Westerners, or by buying them from Japanese merchants who had traded for them with Westerners. This did happen historically, as the article on Firearms of Japan linked by @nhahtdh tells us.

As for the regulatory side, things in general were much less regulated back then. The Western governments of this era had little power to regulate trade, due to corruption and cronyism. Even if they were able to regulate trade, they didn't have any incentive to do so; Western governments wanted their merchants to trade in Japan and bring the riches back home. The Japanese government had no power to regulate trade on its end either; it had seen what happened when the Chinese tried to stop the opium trade, and knew it could do almost nothing to regulate foreign trade until its military was modernized.

From what I can remember, the guns in Rurouni Kenshin are historically accurate to the period; the Gatling gun was very new at the time, having been invented during the American Civil War. Revolvers, like the famous Colt, were also common in the West. According to the article @nhahtdh linked on Firearms of Japan, firearms from before the Tokugawa period were matchlocks based on the Portuguese arquebus. Many of these were destroyed during the Tokugawa period, but some remained, and after the arrival of Perry, they were converted to flintlocks as part of the modernization effort (see also the fourth paragraph, here).