Why is Ryuunosuke Akasaka's hair so long? Why is Ryuunosuke Akasaka's hair so long? It makes him look like a girl. Is there some explanation to that in the series besides this being a possible consequence of being a hikkikomori?

Also, Maid-chan (the AI created by him) has a similar appearance. Ryuunosuke said that he wants to turn her into a real person (sentient AI?) one day. I suspect this may be related.

Also! Ryuunosuke has gynophobia (he's so afraid of females). This might also be the reason (in a way).

I would imagine his long hair is probably only to make him look like a  hikkomori and support his personality traits. Perhaps it was decided that long hair and an androgynous figure would lend itself well to a reserved character.

His maid is suspected to be based on an old classmate, perhaps a first love or childhood friend. So it appears that isn't related.

Personally, I wouldn't imagine his fear of women would be a factor in his hairstyle choice, There are many other characters in anime that have a fear of the opposite gender, but there's no obvious trend for those characters to have hair of the opposite gender's style.

Overall, I think his hair is long for no other reason than the original mangaka's design decision.


Why do Black Organization members use alcoholic drink names as code names? As far as I know, all of Black Organization's members using the names of alcoholic drinks as their code name, like Gin, Vodka, Sherry, and Vermouth. Is there any reason behind this?

There is a reason behind this.
Gosho Aoyama stated that there is a reason behind all the names of the, as we call it, Black Organization. He also said, that if we would knew the real name of the Organization, we would know the boss.

Now, we just have to wait until Mr. Aoyama reveals the real name. And it better be something better than "Bar", "Club" or "Organization of Alcoholic Drinks".


Is Tooru Mutsuki male or female? In the story, some people refer to Mutsuki as him/her. Additionally, in the wiki, it stated that Mutsuki's gender is male, sex is female.

Is Tooru Mutsuki male or female?

Here's my updated answer, with facts from the manga itself, since the manga has long been over and the answers here might still confuse someone, especially since the anime skipped some of the facts I'm about to present.

To start with, the difference between sex and gender is that the former is biological (male or female) and the latter 'can refer to either social roles based on the sex of the person (gender role) or personal identification of one's own gender based on an internal awareness (gender identity).'

Is Tooru Mutsuki male or female?
Tooru Mutsuki is, biologically, a female. In the early part of the story she prefers to be identified as a male but later on, she seems to accept herself and her feelings as a girl.

In Vol. 1 Chapter 4,

  Torso rips open her shirt inside his cab, revealing what her sex is immediately:

In Vol. 1 Chapter 5,

  a flashback is shown where people from the CCG Academy Junior school is talking to her and she tells them that she does not want to be a girl and that from that moment on, she wants to be a guy.

In Vol. 7 Chapter 73,

  it was revealed that she was constantly abused by her father, and it was hinted that his father may have sexually abused her since he focuses his gaze on Tooru's wet clothes:

In Vol. 10 Chapter 100,

  Toruu reveals to Saiko that she is a girl but Saiko remarked to herself that she already knows:

Finally, in Vol. 15 Chapter 155,

  Tooru was seen naked as Sasaki walks in, implying that Haise knows that she's a girl but chose not to say anything about it to the squad:

While she initially prefers to be identified as a guy, in the later part of the story, however:

  after the Rushima Landing Operation and towards the end of the manga, she is more open towards her feelings and I think she accepts that she is a female. In Vol. 12 Chapter 126, she reveals to Urie that she loves Haise. And from the events that happen throughout the rest of the manga, it can seen that she is somewhat like a yandere, going so far as to want to kill Haise and Touka. One time, she was seen stripping down, getting on top of and embracing a corpse of someone representing as 'Haise' after killing it.


What's the anime with the girl that everybody wants to kill? I remember it having a girl who everybody wants to kill, as well as her guardians. It took place in what felt like a middle-ages universe, but it ended up being post-tech after some sort of apocalypse happened. One of the recurring characters was an AI.

This sounds like Scrapped Princess:

Where the girl that everyone wants to kill is named "Pacifica Casull", the "Scrapped Pricess", and her 2 guardians (a brother and sister). The story looks like a fantasy world but it's actually set in the future. When Pacifica reaches 16 years of age, she's supposed to cause the world's destruction so everyone is out to kill her. In the show, there are these things which are A.I. weapons systems, called "Dragoons".


Is there an incidence of a Hiden (Meaning Secret) Jutsu being used by someone OUTSIDE the clan? Hiden Jutsu: http://naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Hiden

I answered this question : Is it true that hiden jutsu can be taught?

I've researched quite a bit and tried to build an  understanding on these Jutsu. The OP asked for example instances where the jutsu is used by someone outside the clan sine they can be learned by anyone. I however could'n't find any such instance.

Can anyone else remember/find such an instance in Naruto (preferably Canon). Boruto movie doesn't count cos the Scroll Stores the original jutsu casted by someone from the clan.

Neji learned the Eight Trigrams Sixty Four Palms and Eight Trigrams Heavenly Rotation techniques through his own genius and skill - these techniques were not taught to branch members thus he would never have been taught them.

Ref: http://naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Eight_Trigrams_Sixty-Four_Palms

Edit: though not in the spirit of the question, technically Hashirama's Deep Forest Creation technique was his Hiden jutsu, but after his death was used by Madara after gaining Hashirama cells without any training.

Ref:http://naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Wood_Release_Secret_Technique:_Nativity_of_a_World_of_Trees

Also, in the Boruto movie Momoshiki can absorb and then use Hiden techniques


Can someone identify this girl in Nurarihyon no Mago? I left the title ambiguous as my question is slightly spoiler-ish.

   Who is this girl who killed Nura Rikuo's father, Nura Rihan?

Did they actually say who she was? Or am I right that they never flat out said it?

   Hagoromo Gitsune was still sealed, so it couldn't have been her. But I know it has something to do with Hagoromo Gitsune's curse.

She is...

   young Yamabuki Otome (Hagoromo Gitsune's host).

who is actually...

   Rihan first wife.
 Abe no Seimei and Sanmoto Gorōzaemon brought her back to life in her younger form to become Hagoromo Gitsune's host.


What chemical compound is shown in episode 17 of Monogatari Second Season? In episode 17 of Monogatari Second Season (the first episode of Onimonogatari), when Koyomi and Mayoi see the strange "darkness", an image of the structure of a chemical compound is displayed, repeatedly:

Shortly afterwards, a number of different chemical compounds are displayed (numbers not present in original):

What are these compounds?

The first image is the structural formula of epinephrine (or adrenaline, depending on where you live).

Epinephrine is a neurotransmitter that plays a significant role in the fight-or-flight response, and so its appearance here makes sense - Koyomi is certainly about to take flight upon seeing the "darkness".

The second image contains the following compounds:

dopamine
serotonin
α-Neoendorphin
epinephrine (again)
(Leu-)enkephalin
norepinephrine (or noradrenaline)

All of these are neurotransmitters, as well, though none of them are as localized to the fight-or-flight response as epinephrine is.


What is the origin of this alternate ending to Captain Tsubasa? A while back, I stumbled upon this video which shows an ending to the Captain Tsubasa series. However, I quickly found out that it is not the real ending.

In this video (which is in Spanish, I could not find the same video in English), we see a young Tsubasa playing with a football, which eventually ends up on the road, leading to Tsubasa being run over by a truck. It then jumps to a scene where Japan is playing Brazil in what seems to be a final. Finally, it jumps to a scene where we see an older Tsubasa lying in an hospital bed.

At the beginning of the video, a subtitle goes by saying something similar to:

  This is the closest to another ending in which Oliver (Tsubasa) has no legs in the hospital.

I ended up finding another video (also in Spanish) that elaborates on the story.

It explains that on the first chapter of the original manga, Tsubasa is hit by that same truck from the other video, but since he has a football, the impact is absorbed by it. He then starts to think of the football as his friend, and so the story we know unravels.

The video then states that in the final against Brazil, after Tsubasa scores a goal, the scene jumps to him waking up in the hospital and hugging his mother, telling him that they had won. The video states that if we look close enough, we will notice Tsubasa has no legs, because he really lost them in that accident, and is just waking up from a coma, having imagined all of the storyline. The video even states that there is a theory that this might have been part of the original plan by the author, since the word 'dream' is present in many of the titles, basically claiming that this is the original ending to the series.

All the information regarding this alternate video seems to be in Spanish, and I have not found much relevant info in English. The few English sources I found state this is fan-made. I tend to lean toward that possibility, as the one proposed by that last video seem pretty farfetched.

Whichever may be the case:
What is the exact origin of this alternate ending?
Was it really supposed to be the original ending?
Or if it is fan-made, where did it originate? When was it first seen?

I have not seen much of the series. The little I have seen was when I was a kid, and from a Portuguese dubbed version. So I know basically nothing about the storyline of the series.

I remember looking into this a while back, but never found where the theories about this 'true ending' originally surfaced.

The reason you see so much information about it in Spanish though is because Captain Tsubasa was one of the first Anime to ever air on TV (at least in Mexico), and it was extremely popular at the time. The theory probably surfaced there, and once it got into the internet it became an 'urban legend' of sorts.

But yeah, the alternate is purely fan-made. As far as I know the manga is still running.


Why did Tokyo Ghoul √A completely deviate from the manga? The first episode of Tokyo Ghoul √A aired today, and at the end (obvious spoiler), Kaneki went with Aogiri (we don't know why yet). However, I read that in the manga, he did the exact opposite. Instead, he tried to create a group to fight Aogiri. Why did the second season completely deviate from the manga? Was it by the choice of the mangaka or the anime producers?

It's inaccurate to say it completely deviated from the manga. I read the manga first until the end as Tokyo Ghoul aired. Spoilers ahead.

   The season 2 would seem to deviate from the manga because of the "main difference" people constantly point out: Kaneki joined Aogiri in the anime while he created his own group in the manga.

There are two points to note here.

First: Kaneki, both in the manga and anime, looked for the same thing: the strength to protect his comrades.

   In the manga, we later found out he did this through character development and explicitly stating this. In the anime, it was only explicitly stated why he joined Aogiri. It would always be better when in accompaniment with other developments to support this rather than plainly stating it. The anime riddled itself with Kaneki's identity; the manga thoroughly went through his identity mixed with progression of the story.

Second: This makes most sense when taking into account the impressive and risky compression of over 100 chapters into around 20 episodes.

   You will notice differences in the manga and anime, but they always ended up with the same conclusion. The anime makes impressive compression, most especially in the first season, then it started crumbling and destroyed itself by the end of the second season. The anime made thorough emphasis on different things, like Rize's appearance and later crucial catalyst to Kaneki's power & identity. The manga, most of the time, would contribute at a normal pace to the story development and the CCG's side.

In spite of all that, Tokyo Ghoul always wound up with the same conclusion and same point. Fights are compressed to one scene; multiple events occurring at different times are made into one event.

In conclusion, it never mattered at all if Kaneki would join Aogiri (anime-only) or form his own group (manga). This may be my only speculation, but this was a nice move by the director, writer, producer, or anyone who handled it because this meant the manga followers/fans would be baited to watch the second season if there were any developments that would lead to a different ending when it was as close as the manga, except:

   showing Hide flat-out dead in the anime.

I, myself, was caught with the hype after reading the manga with the sudden turn of events at the end of the first season, even though I expected they would use the same formula (minor changes and compression of events to make the same conclusion as in the manga).


Do we know the timing of all of the events in the anime? To the best of my knowledge, in the Joker Game anime, we are not consistently given information about when the different events shown occur. I do know the following:

"Joker Game" clearly occurs shortly after the founding of D-Agency in autumn of 1937.
"XX (Double Cross)" occurs in spring of 1939.
"Robinson" and "Asia Express" take place in 1939.
"Double Joker" includes a flashback that takes place six months before the main events. In the flashback, the D-Agency has recently been created; the main events then probably are in 1938.
The spy in "Miscalculation" had a one-year stay in France planned, starting from June 15, 1939. France was occupied in June 1940, so it seems likely that "Miscalculation" is set in 1940.
"Pursuit" makes reference to the events of "Robinson", and so must have occurred afterwards.

We also see a character in "Coffin" comment that a behind-the-scenes three-way alliance between Japan, Germany, and Italy has been formed. This restricts the possible dates of the main events of that episode, but I still do not have anything narrow enough for want of sufficient historical knowledge.

I am left without knowing when "City of Temptation", "Pursuit", "Codename: Cerberus", and "Coffin" take place. (It is obvious, for instance, that "City of Temptation" takes place when Shanghai was occupied by the Japanese, but the resulting timeframe is still rather large.) Is there any official information on when the various events happen? If not, can we make any inferences (based on details we see, or details in other adaptations of the same material) to make educated guesses?

https://www.reddit.com/r/anime/comments/4p5nh4/spoilers_joker_game_episode_12_discussion/

the chronological order of the episodes goes as follows:
D Agency founded in autumn 1937
Episodes 1 & 2 ("Joker Game Part 1 & 2") - Spring 1939
Episode 12 ("XX - Double Cross") - Spring 1939
Episode 6 ("Asia Express") - July 25, 1939 (this is the only episode with a specific date)
Episode 5 ("Robinson") - Autumn 1939
Episode 7 ("Code Name: Cerberus") - Early summer 1940
Episode 10 ("Pursuit") - Summer 1940
Episode 3 ("Miscalculation") - Summer 1940
Episodes 8 & 9 ("Double Joker Part 1 & 2") - Early autumn 1940
Episode 11 ("Coffin") - Autumn 1940
Episode 4 ("City of Temptation") - Summer 1941

Image from the official website of the anime : http://jokergame.jp/story/


Why does it take so long for the translated version of tankoubon volumes to be released? As far as I know, the English versions of tankoubon volumes for most manga series seem to be released within several months, if not years, of their original release in Japanese.

Even very popular mainstream series like Naruto and Fairy Tail have their English tankoubon counter-parts released months after their initial Japanese release.

Why is this the case?

If you consider the time it takes for subbed anime to be released, or even the (legal) translation of individual manga chapters done by companies like Crunchyroll or Shonen Jump, which happens on the order of days from the initial Japanese release,  it doesn't make much sense to me that releasing an English translation of tankoubon volumes would take so long, especially in the case of individual translation of the chapters, since all the companies would have to do is just compile them together.

I got the answer but it's in the Indonesian languange and it's from an Indonesian publisher's perspective. Feel free to edit and improve my answer.

Elex Media is one of the most popular publisher companies for a manga/manhwa in Indonesia who licensed many popular manga series for decades such as Naruto, Doraemon, One piece, Toriko, Hayate no Gotoku and many others. Elex Media has a discussion forum which allows manga reader/enthusiasts in Indonesia who want to see the progress of the manga that would be sold in Indonesia (planned/on-going/etc).

The admin who took control of the forum is also the editor who works for Elex Media, that means, the answer that are all in in this discussion website are mostly a fact. Apparently, the admin always got the same question from users, similar to:

  When will Manga B available in bookstores?

  Why did Manga C take forever to have a next volume ? It's been years since the last volume (e.g D-Grayman, Katekyo Hitman)

  Why didn't Manga B that "was" popular back in Japan get licensed yet? It's been 10 years since Japan had published this manga.

So they made a FAQ page for answers to all of those similar questions. Some of them are able to answer the OP's question.

FYI: an Indonesian edition for a manga is around Rp 20.000 - Rp 50.000 ($1.5 - $4.5), while in Western edition it costs as far as I know around $10, but the Western quality is better than Indonesian edition.

The publisher also mentions about "ILLEGAL" scanlations:

  PS: Never compare with mangascan that circulated ILLEGAL on the
  internet because

  (1) Illegal means without a permit process, obviously
  faster than the legal sources.

  (2) Mangascan (illegal sources) is the usual source of comic magazines, not
  tankoubon (see paragraph 3 above on the length of the process from
  comic magazine to tankoubon).

  TL;DR

  New comics can be confirmed as soon as they get their license from the original publishers.

  QI.01: When does Manga A release in Indonesia?

  A : If it is not listed in the weekly schedule (Forum or Blog), it means that it is still in process, either in Japan (in its comic
  artist / Japanese publisher) or in Indonesia, therefore the exact date
  can not be accurately informed.

  Relevant Image:

  Explanation about the relevant image : Why it takes forever for Japanese to decide: This is based on true story from my Japanese friend, that they need meetings to discuss when to hold the next meeting! Consensus from everyone is important but this delays making decisions..."

  Taken from : Evacomics

  The process of publishing comics is relatively long because many of
  the processes require the approval of the original publishers, either from the process for each chapter.
  in Japanese comic magazines or tankoubon forms (comic units), especially if the comics are published in "Comic Magazine, Indonesia version", then the process will be a little longer ( In indonesia, the title that "soon" would be licensed were included in Comics Magazine. Indonesia have their own comic magazine that published once a month. The content of this comic magazine were a bunch collection of many manga title that appear one chapter only per one comic magazine ).
  (This is why it's sometimes informed that the title pauses are published in
  Japan, to illustrate the density of comic and publisher activity
  against the title).

  In Japan itself has a break between the volume, normally an
  average of 4-8 months, sometimes more. Depending on this series how
  many pages per chapter are published in Japanese comic magazines and
  depending on the Japanese comic magazine is published weekly, biweekly
  or monthly. If 1 chapter of 32 pages and 1 comic takes approximately
  200 pages, then 1 tanko (short for tankoubon / comic unit) takes 6
  chapters. If 1 comic magazine only published 1 chapter / month, then
  at least 6 months new enough material collected for tankobon version;
  and the fastest 1.5 months if the magazine is published weekly. And
  remember, that if 1 chapter 32 pages, there are some comics that the
  number of pages less than that.

  Then after that, this material will be their new process of licensed as
  a tankobon in Japan. Note that This new comic status in Japan are currently on-going manga series

  Trivia 1: Do you know that there is a publisher requesting to submit approval repeatedly simply because the comic-panel retouch should be
  done in such a way that it should not be about the objects they
  specify a semilimeter?

  In Indonesia, after the Japanese tankobon is issued, the raw material is sent to Indonesia and then still processed here, including the process of permitting the contents to be printed which must get Japanese permit every volume (which is the MOST LONG process, ie waiting for the print / approval of contents & cover from Japan). Because once the permit is there, all will be done smoothly, Elex Media just takes 2-3 weeks process and your favorite comics are already spread nationwide to all bookstores.

  Trivia 2: Do you know that there is a publisher who can request to submit
  approval repeatedly only for color control of only one certain illustration image?

  In addition, the Japanese publisher representative agency and the responsible editors in Indonesia do not only handle the 1 title or 1 publisher only, but there are so many other series & publishers handled. So the handling of manuscripts and the preparation of the published schedule also lapse with other series. Elex publishes 50-90 titles each week, just imagine .. more than 200 titles are published every month! ^^

  Trivia 3: Do you know that there are editors who have to outline around every single comic strip, just to check the comic edges should be a distance of a certain millimeter size, so that the results can meet the standards of one of the Japanese publishers?

  Sometimes there are also comics that are stagnant in Japan itself for one reason or another, for example a vacuum comic for research (such as Naruto, One Piece, etc.), comic artist / injury (such as Crayon Shinchan, Princess, etc.), internal problems (such as Topeng Glass, etc.) and so on.

For the western Audience, they have discussed on this thread (Indonesian language).

    Anon: ... let alone see a neighboring country that can release the latest one piece volume in just 2 months after japan releases its latest volume, with price below 20 thousand rupiah and thicker paper which somehow how

  for this one seems to have been discussed on the previous page. The
  greatest possibility can be analyzed from this thread. There it
  is seen that in Indonesia, either because of online pirated read
  prefer or what, the sale of the results received by the Japanese
  publishers to the OP (One piece) as a condition of publication is not
  as good as in other countries. In the thread it's even clear OP does
  not even reach his 1/2 of Naruto's report card and is still far behind
  compared to Detective Conan's report card.

  The usual practice is that the better his report card (after being
  sent to Yen, so the exchange rate also affects), the fair is
  increasingly prioritized in Japan. So if you compare the other titles
  with other publishers that you call, it would be much the opposite is
  also the titles in Elex licensed is faster than other country.

  It is also possible that in other countries, the comic title published
  by the publisher is not as massive as Elex, which currently publishes
  about 15,000 comics with its current cycle of about 100-150 comics
  every month. If the info on this website, the number of titles dealt by the
  publisher is much less (only 8.5% of Elex) so reasonable that the
  bureaucracy, the total title held by the editor, and the process at
  the publisher is slimmer, a little queue.

  FYI if before the permit process, there are many other processes that
  must be passed such as the process of payment of royalties, taxes,
  sales proceeds, delivery of materials, etc., where the process is not
  all per title but there are per batch. :D

  For example the process of permission of comic title I can not be
  processed because waiting process X which processed in batch Y along
  with title of comics II, III, IV, etc which still queue up in other
  process.

Elex Media F.A.Q page


What is the relationship between the male and female character? In the short Me Me Me, the male character seems to be mentally tormented by a female character. There are various hints in the short about the relationship of the two. Is there anything official describing the relationship between the two characters?

In the western side of the web, probably not. The only official description is

“You are attacked and ravished by many girls”

That really does not answer the question. But looking up for explanations of the symbolism, I came upon two analysis of the video: the first one by NewVagabond.tumblr, the other one on the Ask John column of animenation.net. They are lengthy and detailed, full of screenshots and worth reading. Go read them, I'll wait.
At the end, the writer behind "Ask John" says:

After composing my own interpretation, I did a web search for other criticisms and interpretations. I encountered a number of analysis that interpreted the video entirely oppositely to the way I did. I encountered several interpretations that suggest that the video represents the boy’s effort to stop being an otaku, that the video is a criticism of hikikomori otaku culture.

He did his homework, it seems. But one other thing on his closing thoughts caught my eye:

(...) Hideaki Anno’s influence and involvement in the production (...)

Anno-sensei is well-known for his "Death of the Author" philosophy, where what the author meant with his work is replaced with what the viewer felt when consuming said work. From Anno-sensei's roundtable discussion at Anime Expo '96 convention:

"Animation makes sense to people in the process of their seeing it. (...) There has to be a relationship that comes into being between the person watching and what the character's saying in the animation itself."

I am inclined to assume that the production staff of Me!Me!Me! follows the same ethos. But all this about Anno's philosophical influence is totally an assumption on my part.
Since even the know your meme page (and the linked articles therein) also do not point to an official explanation (but do comment on the confusion the viewership feels when watching the video), I end my report with:

Is there anything official describing the relationship between the two characters?

No, to the best of my Google-jutsu, there is not.

Appendix

Link to the translated lyrics.

Yet another translation, with Kanji and Romaji lyrics by newvagabond.tumblr.

The official site of Japan Animator Exhibition (Japanese) also have the Kanji lyrics.

Yes, I also felt like this:


If you had two automail arms, could you still use alchemy? So, say someone in the Fullmetal Alchemist world lost both of their arms.

Could they still preform alchemy with their automail arms? Is there a way to adjust the automail so you can use alchemy?

Yes, they could... sort of.
As Scar mentions in episode 5, the only requirement is for the person to produce a circle. Izumi states that this is what lets the transmutation energy flow (or "power", depending on your sub/dub). Most alchemists draw transmutation circles, but those who have seen beyond the Gate of Truth instead create their own circle with their body.

Izumi: A basis of a transmutation circle is the power of the circle. The circle displays the circulation of power, and by sketching the construction symbol in it, it becomes possible to activate its power. This is also a circulation of power. It's best to experience it for yourself. Now... Review it until lunch is ready!
Alphonse: Okay, so... The circle displays the circulation of power, and by sketching the construction symbol in it, it becomes possible to activate its power. But you were transmuting by just slapping your palms together, weren't you, Master? Do you not need to sketch the construction symbols?
Izumi: I am like a construction symbol.

Ed is able to do his through clapping his regular hand with his metal hand (or gloved hand) because the flesh pushing against the metal creates a circular seal for the energy flow.
Al is able to do this because both his "hands" are gloved, so the fabric can compress together enough to create the same kind of circular seal as above.
So, as long as the two metal arms could compress together in a circular pattern, the user could create the required energy flow, and would be able to use alchemy (as long as they had been through the Gate).


Why didn't Light Yagami tell Teru mikami that he can kill people using just the paper? What I'm trying to say is should Light tell Teru that killing from scrape paper is possible, then if Teru kept a real deathnote paper with him 24/7, surely that in the final showdown, whoever names written on that piece of paper they surely will die, won't they?

That way you don't even need to worry about the book switching scheme.

Whole point of Teru was to be a decoy. If SPK had seen Mikami using a seperate paper of the real death note would be a give away. For example. Instead of visiting the bank to retrieve the real Deathnote, Megami might have used the paper. Which would still give him away.

Light made sure the Mikami had NO access to the real DeathNote and explicitly said him to only take it out on the D-Day.

This is basically an speculative question containing the What-if Scenarios. You can plausibly say that something might've worked out, but as I have just said above... Chances are it would have blown up more easily. Because SPK would have been dead if Mikami had trusted Light and not gone to retrieve the Real DeathNote from the bank.

EDIT: I get the question was why didn't Mikami keep a seperate real piece of DN paper for the day of the final D-Day instead of the DN. I answered this What-if scenario with a plausible explaination that Mikami may have used it to kill Takada. Then I went on to explain this was why Light didn't want ANY piece of real Death Note with Mikami, to keep the plan full proof.

Tl;dr Mikami didn't keep the DN paper because Light told him not to. This was because Light just like Near wanted to play complete and full proof game but lost to the external factors of Mello and Mikami


Why does Alucard have so many eyes? When showing his power, Alucard tends to exhibit multiple extra eyes.  I'm wondering if this signifies something.  I've seen this trope in other Anime before when somebody or something is being shown as being powerful and creepy.  I want to know if there's some sort of deeper meaning than that.

Alucard has so called release states those make him less weak. In the manga (Chapter 9 Page 23), when he uses them the first time, you can clearly see that a lot of eyes open on his whole body. The eyes that you see on the picture are most likely the same ones. The reason why he has them is unknown.

It could be that all those eyes belonged to other humans that he consumed during his lifetime. However, this is just an assumption.


Is the manga Kingdom based on historical events? Is the manga Kingdom based on historical events and/or entities?

and if so, how historically accurate is it?

and finally, if possible, where can I read about the history of China in these times (~245 B.C.)?

Yes, most and maybe even all the events in Kingdom are based on historical events during the Warring States Period of ancient China (475-221 BCE). As for accurateness, of course there are some exaggerations and more spectacularity due to it being a manga/anime. But it tends to be pretty close to the historical facts we know of that time.

One of the most accurate fact list I could find can be seen on this forum.

  we are making a thread on historical facts about characters and events in Kingdom. We will be comparing characters and events in the Kingdom manga with what was recorded in the history books(as much as we know). This thread will contain mainly information on characters, both real and fictitious, in Kingdom while we will (hopefully) make another thread on events. This will hopefully answer questions that you guys might have, bust some myths, and increase your overall interest in this manga. Since we are merely history enthusiasts and not a history professor or anything, do feel free to contribute and/or point out any mistakes here. I will be using the character's pinyin names as I am more familiar with them but their Japanese names will be there under the character's "Name" section for easy reference.

As for your last question, some basic information and history can be read on Wikipedia and there are also plenty of books out there as mentioned in the comments.

Funny side note: this manga will go down in history itself as well, as it is a world record holder recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records for manga written by most people.


Why are people of Paradis Island called spawn of devil? In Attack on Titan, why are people within the walls called devils? Also, why didn't they know that they are on an island?

Why people within the walls are called devils?

Because Marley government (run by the tybur family) taught their people and eldians that, and especially their warrior candidates, since they are so young and can easily believe it.

why they didn't know that they are on an island?

Simply because how would they know if they didn't reach the ocean? and besides that, even Eren didn't (probably, since it's wasn't mentioned in anime) tell them they were on an island.


Where did Princess Kaguya come from? In the English release of Princess Kaguya, it's translated that she originally came from the moon. And it seems that way, as she looks up at the sky above a lot when the moon is out.

My question is though, is she actually from the moon - or is it something lost in translation, because during the ending scene:

   The buddha and other celestial beings come down to retrieve her.

I thought he was not from nor went to the moon, but an exceptional human being. This has me thinking that there is something out of place here.

Is 'moon' the correct translation? Is my understanding of the film off?

Yes, she is originally from the moon (月), in both the original fairytale 『竹取物語』 (Taketori Monogatari, meaning The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter) from the 10th century (a classic of Japanese literature) and in the Studio Ghibli film. She feels sad when she looks at the moon because she doesn't want to go back there.

Wikipedia's plot description of the anime film says,

  A bamboo cutter named Sanuki no Miyatsuko discovers a miniature girl inside a glowing bamboo shoot. Believing her to be a divine presence, Miyatsuko and his wife decide to raise her as their own, calling her "Princess". . . . When the girl comes of age, she is granted the formal name of "Princess Kaguya" for the light and life that radiates from her.

Spoiler:

   Kaguya then demonstrates the ability to disappear at will. . . . Kaguya reveals to her parents that she originally came from the Moon. Once a resident of the Moon, she broke its laws, hoping to be exiled to Earth, so that she could experience mortal life. When the Emperor made his advances, she silently begged the Moon to help her. Having heard her prayer, the Moon will reclaim her during the next full moon. Kaguya confesses her attachment to Earth and her reluctance to leave. . . . When the Moon shines upon Kaguya, she begs Sutemaru to hold her tightly. Despite Sutemaru's best efforts, Kaguya is torn from his grasp out of the sky. . . . On the night of the full moon, a procession of celestial beings descends from the Moon, and Miyatsuko is unable to stop it. An attendant offers Kaguya a robe that will erase her memories of Earth. . . . The attendant then drapes the robe around Kaguya, and she appears to forget about her life on Earth. The procession ascends to the Moon, leaving Miyatsuko and his wife distraught, as Kaguya looks back one last time with tears in her eyes.

The 10th century characters associate (or, we might say, conflate) the moon, which is impossibly far away, with heaven (天, ten), and therefore they think of people of the moon as living in heaven (similar to the humans in Marvel's Avengers universe assuming Thor and his friends are gods because they have superpowers and are from another place... though from Thor's own perspective, he is not actually a deity).

Spoiler:

   This is why, in the original version, the Emperor asks where the tallest mountain is so that he can be as close to heaven (where Kaguya-hime will be when she is on the moon) as humanly possible: Mt. Fuji, which is the tallest peak in Japan.

In the original fairytale, the Buddha was not named among the celestial beings, but they were clearly described both as being from the capital (city) of the Moon (月の都/京 Tsuki-no-Miyako) and also as being from heaven. It is Studio Ghibli's creative license to portray one of the heavenly beings as either being, or looking like, the Buddha. Buddhism has been practiced in Japan since at least 552 AD, as dated in Nihon Shoki, the second oldest book of classical Japanese history. Buddhism began to spread throughout Japan during the Heian period, so the original author of the fairytale might have been aware of the religion, but it is unknown how the author viewed it.


Looking for the name of an 80s anime movie involving a spaceship of girls fighting aliens I saw a great anime movie on TV when I was young, but I don't remember its title.

I suppose it is an anime movie from the early 80s.

The movie opens with a space battle with a lot of fighters and a spaceship whose crew consisted of only girls.

I think one of them is called Ruby. When the battle ends, an alien life form enters the spaceship. In an attempt to kill this intruder, one of the girls dies and the rest of the crew eject her body into outer space.

Later, for some reason, the spaceship starts to become unstable and everyone must evacuate the spaceship using a smaller emergency ship.

The controls for the release mechanism for the emergency ship does not work. One of the girls, who is revealed to be a robot, sacrifices herself in order to release the ship. The spaceship then explodes. All the survivors then land on a nearby planet.

One of the passengers on the ship is a baby which has the ability to grow supernaturally fast.

After a while, the alien enemy locates the planet and starts the attack. The movie concludes, when the baby, now a fully grown woman, does something in the ship that causes all the aliens to die in a huge wave explosion.

Based on this link from AVClub, I think it could be Gall Force: Eternal Story.


How much is One Piece's currency worth? There are many transliterations of the currency: Berry, Beli, Berri.  Which one is the official one?

The Navy just give large bounties for pirates, Buggy has a 15 million bounty and Luffy has a 30 million.  Would Luffy's bounty be an equivalent to 30 million Yen?

What would be the real world value of the currency used in One Piece?

In the original, it's called Beli in English. However, if the Japanese word is translated correctly, it's Beri - it's a feature of the Japanese language (look at SingerOfTheFalls answer). However, it differs in different languages: for example in Germany, it's Berry.

To compare the prices:

One cabbage loaf: 150 Beli
A Bon Chari: 500 Beli for renting, 10,000 Beli for buying
A Doskoi Panda brand shirt: 10,000 Beli
Nami's Jacket: 28,800 Beli

Regarding Luffy's bounty would be an equivalent to 30 million Yen,

   30 million Beli on Luffy's head is a little bit old; his current bounty is 400 million Beli.

Quote:

   Fourth Bounty: Defeating yet another Shichibukai (Gekko Moriah), attacking a World Noble, causing an unprecedented breakout from Impel Down, participating in the Whitebeard War, and by intruding Marine Headquarters a second time and ringing the Ox Bell 16 times (which was taken as a declaration of war), Luffy's bounty has gone up 100,000,000 more to make a total of  400,000,000 making it the third highest active bounty known. The public revelation of his relation to Monkey D. Dragon may also have influenced it.


Anime where androids have super powers I want to find an anime where there are so many android which have superpower. The main lead have power of speed (In one instance he achieve more speed then light and everything appears to him as still objects). Others have power like shape shift etc. I think the main lead is a member of a group and every member have different power such as shape shifting etc. At one instance they meet a group of androids which thinks they are god and they really have similar power resembles of god. I think Greek gods but not sure. There are some half animal half human look like android too with god androids.

I watched it on an Indian entertainment Chanel approx 8/9 years before. Its full action pack but sometimes contain silly jokes too.

You're most likely looking for Cyborg 009 which is about:

  Nine regular humans are kidnapped by the evil Black Ghost organization to undergo human experiments which resulted in nine cyborgs with each one having super human powers. The nine cyborgs band together to fight for their freedom and to stop Black Ghost. The evil organization's goal is to start the next world war by supplying rich buyers with countless weapons of mass destruction.

In 2012, Production I.G., in association with other studios, produced a reboot of the series, called 009 RE:Cyborg, consisting of a 3DCG movie (written and directed by Kenji Kamiyama) and a manga series by Gatou Asou.


Why the Survey Corps doesn't find a human body inside each titan? In Attack on Titan (anime), up till now we are given information that the "dumb" titans that wonder outside the walls are probably humans. Given that both "smart" (Eren/Annie/Yumir/etc) and "dumb" titans share the same weakness this has always been a possibility.

However, its not clear why the Survey Corps never finds the bodies of the humans inside the "dumb" titans? They should at least find the bones of the human. Is this a logical flaw of the series?

BTW: please, no spoilers from the manga, only info available in the anime up to season 2 episode 12.

No. This is not a logical flaw in the series. Unfortunately, that information was only touched on in the last episode of Season 2. You've stated you don't want to hear spoilers about the manga. The anime ended right when the humans suspect regular titans are humans too. The last episode of Season 2 of the anime actually cuts out part of the conversation between Pixis, Hange, Levi, and Erwin where they address this. I assume either they will pick up in season 3 at that same discussion or use a flashback at some point to reveal the rest of what was said there. There's really nothing more I can say without spoilers, because I don't think the anime has given enough information to deduce what's going on at this point.


Where is Vampire Knight set? It seems plausible that Vampire Knight could be set in Japan, but I'm wondering if there is any more specific or concrete than that given either in canon or by one of the authors. If it is set on earth, where are the vampires from, because most of them are blond and blue-eyed, which would imply that they aren't from Japan.

Is there any evidence of whether Vampire Knight is set in Japan, or even on Earth?

I'm not sure how reliable is this source but according to TvTropes,

  It's easy to miss the fact that the series is set in the far future, after the apocalypse, long enough after for things to have been rebuilt to about the same level. In a recent flashback, Juri tells a story of her adolescence to the young Yuuki; we've heard before that she was about three thousand years old, and the architecture and setting appears to be roughly modern day Japan, certainly within the last 30 years or so.

But I think the setting where Vampire Knight is set most likely fictional.


What is the meaning behind the titles of Tokyo Ghoul OVAs JACK & PINTO? For reference, the dictionary definition of the word "pinto" is

  Marked with spots of white and other colors; mottled; spotted.

It can also be used to refer to a piebald horse which has irregular patches of two colors such as this one:

My guess is that "Jack" is a reference to "Jack the Ripper" because in the OVA, the main characters are chasing a serial killer. It could also be a reference to "Jack-o'-lantern" since the serial killer wears a pumpkin mask and is referred to as "Lantern". On the other hand, the only two things I can come up with for Pinto is that it's a reference to (spoilers ahead):
1

   The hidden bruises on the elderly patient which look like the spots of a piebald horse. The patient's skin was thus like a "pinto" horse.

2

   The dual personalities that the nurse had because "pinto" could mean the she had spots of white (good) and black (bad).

I think theory #1 on the elderly man is more likely to be right than the nurse theory.


Why can't Edward get back his power to do alchemy? Roy Mustang's vision was restored, so why can't Edward Elric try to use something to exchange back his gate, like using another philosopher's stone? Is it that he didn't need alchemy anymore because he fulfilled his wishes?

Edward's actions when he recovers Alphonse indicate that he probably would not want to get his alchemy back, much less do so by using a philosopher's stone.

Ling offers Edward a philosopher's stone to use to recover Alphonse. Edward refuses because he and Alphonse had promised not to use a philosopher's stone (and more generally, human lives) to restore their bodies. Alchemy is surely less important than Alphonse is to Edward, so he would not want to use a philosopher's stone for recovering his alchemy (were it possible).
Edward tells Truth that he will be fine without his alchemy: he has always been an ordinary person who was not able to achieve everything he wanted, and even without alchemy, he has his friends. Edward accepts this result, so it would be unlikely for him to want to reverse it.

More generally, exchanging something for one's gate would probably count as a transmutation of sorts. If someone already gave up his ability to do alchemy, it would then seem contradictory for him to be able to exchange it back. (It is unclear whether another alchemist could initiate the exchange, but it seems unlikely in light of the personal nature of the gate.)


What is the song when Usopp is defeating Sugar by using his Haki? In One Piece episode 697, there's a song when Ussop is defeating Sugar using his Haki. It starts at 0:53 in this YouTube video.

What is this song? Is it already released as a soundtrack?

It is "The Straw Hats Gather and Head to Battle!" from the album "New World", track #44.

According to the OP's comment,

  Ah, the song I was looking for was the one that sounds after that. And since it was answered, here it is:
  youtube.com/watch?v=TBKUNyxItyM


Why did Goku recruit Frieza but not gotenks Goku didn't recruit goten and trunks because they charge at their enemies like an idiot. But isn't Frieza like that as well? Why did Goku recruit Master Roshi who can't even beat Raditz? He can't even scratch the fighters from other universes. Roshi & Tien can be removed and leave space for Gotenks.

Gotenks has a time limit plus we dont know if fused characteres are allowed. Probably not, since fusion would end before the tournament and you would have 11 members in the arena when 10 members are allowed.

Freezer is way much stronger than Gotenks. Gotenks SSJ3 was less strong than duplicate Vegeta in base form https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1Jxo4gDdzs . Vegeta and Goku are in a similar level. Freezer is said by Beerus to be in the same level than SSB Goku.

Roshi can beat Raditz by far now. He could handle many Freezer soldiers, he could beat Tien who was able to defeat Burter and Jeice who were over Vegeta's 30000 power level of that time (probably between 40000 - 45000) . Tien could also hold second form Cell, deflect a Majin Buu Gohan absorbed attack, resist a punch in the stomach from mystic Gohan and not pass out, etc. Also Roshi, Krilin and Tien experience are taken into account. In a sparring match, Krilin defeated Gohan by pushing him outside of the arena, outsmarting him. He almost outsmarts Goku in a sparring match too, in spite of being much less weaker than them just like Tien and Roshi are.


How did Mari manage to pilot EVA Unit 02? I distinctly remember, in the Anime anyway, a scene where Eva Unit 02 sorties to fight an Angel without Central Dogma's authorization (If I find the scene online, I will link it here), seen when EVA Unit 01 descends back into Central Dogma for reasons I can't remember (damage, maybe?).

Seeing that EVA Unit 02 has the soul, at least the maternal part of Asuka's mother, imbued into the EVA itself, piloting the mech would be impossible for everyone except Asuka, going on the basis of EVA Unit 01's connection with Shinji.

My question is this, if EVA Unit 02 has a soul that is only known to work with Asuka, how did Mari manage to pilot EVA Unit 02 without any known difficulties?

If you watched 2.22 you will see that the cores for Asuka and Mari were switched out before Mari took control of Unit-02.

Depending on the language, you csn hear in the background the crew rewriting Unit-02's access keys when Mari's gearing up to fight Zeruel. One assumes this has some bearing with how Mari is able to take control.

There's no clear-cut canonical explanation of why but there are theories, one involving the time loop theory and Kyoko. But that's a topic for another question.


Why do I have to light up the room before watching anime? When watching anime, sometimes at the beginning of the show, I come across the warning message

  テレビアニメを見るときは部屋を明るくして、テレビからはなれて見てください！

which can be translated as

  When watching anime, light up the room, and leave some distance between the TV and yourself!

I understand that not staying too close to TV is important for eye health. But why is it so important to light up the room? What is the purpose of this message, and why do some shows display this warning message while the others don't?

This is less to do with eye health as it does with photosensitive epilepsy (PSE):

Television has traditionally been the most common source of seizures in PSE. For patients with PSE, it is especially hazardous to view television in a dark room, at close range, or when the television is out of adjustment and is showing a rapidly flickering image (as when the horizontal hold is incorrectly adjusted). Modern digital television sets that cannot be maladjusted in this way and refresh the image on the screen at very high speed present less of a risk than older television sets.
Some PSE patients, especially children, may exhibit an uncontrollable fascination with television images that trigger seizures, to such an extent that it may be necessary to physically keep them away from television sets. Some patients (particularly those with cognitive impairments, although most PSE patients have no such impairments) self-induce seizures by waving their fingers in front of their eyes in front of bright light or by other means.

Since many anime contain rapidly flickering images (think flashing lights), the broadcasters ask to turn the lights on as it is especially hazardous in a dark room, for those susceptible.

This is happening even recently:

In some cases, specific television programs featuring certain types of visual stimuli have provoked seizures in a small minority of television viewers, including some viewers with no prior history of seizures of any kind. The "Dennō Senshi Porygon" episode of Pokémon is the most frequently cited example ... broadcast of the program in Japan, which includes strong flickering scenes, produced seizures in a surprising number of viewers, even though the proportion of viewers affected was extremely low

See the Public Responsibility section of the page for more examples.


What was it that the "Cocoon l'Cie" summoned against Ragnarok in the Pompa Sancta Parade? During the Pompa Sancta Parade in Nautilus in Chapter 8 we see a number of familiar Final Fantasy Summons.

Carbuncle comes out from the disk Vanille is holding
the "Pulse l'Cie" summons Ifrit
the "Cocoon l'Cie" summons Ramuh

when the "Pulse l'Cie" Transforms into Ragnarok we see the "Cocoon l'Cie" summon or transform into something aswell to fight it. though i'm not sure what it is and wouldn't put it past the game to have made up something new (like with Vanille's and Sazh's Eidolon).

So i am wondering what was it the "Cocoon l'Cie" summoned against Ragnarok in the Pompa Sancta Parade?

During the parade, Cocoon l'Cie transformed into Valefor

  A recreation of Valefor appears at Nautilus's Pompa Sancta parade. In the play, the Cocoon l'Cie transforms into it to face Ragnarok

Valefor's first appearance as a summon was Final Fantasy X.


Dr. Stone: How Senku could have made gunpowder without guano? In Dr. Stone Sekku couldn't make gunpowder anymore because Tsukasa has the control of the cave full of bats, source of saltpeter used in gun powder and nitric acid. So in which other way could Sekku create the required saltpeter?

Also could Sekku make gun cotton or TNT instead of gunpowder and use that for explosive instead of gunpowder? If yes how could do that?

In Ch. 8 when they make the gunpowder Senku already had a bag of potassium nitrate (saltpeter) prepared which he says he prepared long in advance. Remember, before Senku and Taiju brought back the petrified Tsukasa and heard his cull the herd ramblings they had a monopoly on the cave with the nitric acid which gave Senku ample time to make the useful chemical saltpeter. Besides its use as a component of gunpowder which was certainly one of Senku's considerations potassium nitrate is a good fertilizer in case they wanted to plant some crops and one of the easier chemical oxidizers for him to make.

As to why he didn't try for a different explosive is not explicit but TNT would not have been a viable alternative for a myriad of reasons. I'm mostly reading off wikipedia for this but the first step is to nitrate toluene in the presence of nitric and sulfuric acid, while they have some nitric acid they do not obtain sulfuric acid until much later as the process for making sulfuric acid isn't something they had the tools to do. Both of those chemicals are very dangerous and they don't yet possess glassware to store them safely. TNT also started out as yellow dye, people of ages past were not really dumb and really dead though as TNT is incredibly stable in standard conditions which is one of its most important features. To detonate it you need some sort of blasting cap which is itself a small explosive and at that point you'd probably just want a different explosive. Gun cotton is similar as it can be made using plant fibers and nitric acid but is very unstable in that form and in its proper form also requires sulfuric acid. They theoretically could have made something else that involves none of sulfuric acid, oil or better containers but gunpowder is stable and powerful enough for the limited time and resources they had


Mecha anime with a "mind control virus" Before I describe what little more about it I know, let me clear two things up. I will be referring to a "virus", but I don't know what it actually is. I may sometimes say Gundam instead of mech. That's because I just spent 30 minutes looking up Gundam, not because it's a Gundam anime (although it might be).

So, I know it's a mech anime. When they enter the mech, they pass through a circle that applies a form fitting suit that they use to control the mecha. (I'm actually not totally sure about this).

One of the episodes involved a conference and/or other group of people collected together talking about the "virus". One of the attendees is infected (and there's something about them they have to hide to prevent people from finding this out).

The "virus" bas stages (I think) eventually takes over the infected (while they are in a mecha), and the infected loses control (becomes controlled?). If I recall correctly, the inside of the mecha now looks like a fleshy hell pit created by the "virus".

I'm fairly certain it was on Toonami. I'm 100% certain it was on T.V. in the US sometime between 1998 and 2005.

Your anime might be: Mobile Fighter G Gundam

Firstly it was aired in Toonami in 2002, so it fits the initial bill.

Then in the wikipedia page, The plot section has this one specific fragment:

  As they encounter Gundam pilots who had come in contact with the Dark
  Gundam, Domon and Rain learn of its unique cellular properties to
  regenerate, multiply, and evolve by infecting organic matter and
  causing violent behavior in living things.

So we know that this anime is about mechas and there is a virus thing, namely the Dark Gundam, that has abilities to corrupt organic matter and evolve in/with it (or something along those lines).

Then as I searched for footage of the anime, I came upon this video of the first episode which in its first seconds shows the character going through a circle in order to wear a suit, just like you also told.

I'm not sure about the meeting part, for I haven't watched it, but as for everything else you've told, it's a dead giveaway.


Why didn't the Dragon slayers disappear when the eclipse gate was destroyed? During the Grand magic games, they were not able to actually defeat all the dragons that came out of Eclipse gate. The dragons as well as future Rouge and Lucy just disappeared and went back to their own timeline when the Eclipse gate was destroyed.

But as Zeref stated, Natsu and the other dragon slayers are from the past and traveled to current timeline using the same Eclipse gate.

So why didn't they disappear as well when the Eclipse gate was destroyed?

Possible plothole??

First (and more importantly): According to the Wikia page of the Eclipse Gate (sorry, I couldn't find the actual chapter where the princess actually explains this):

  Many years later, after a different Eclipse Gate is constructed, following the conclusion of the fourth day of the X791 Grand Magic Games, Arcadios and Yukino bring Lucy, Natsu and their friends before the gate while attempting to persuade Lucy to help with the Eclipse Project.

So this is not the same Eclipse Gate that was constructed by Zeref and used by Anna and Layla to bring the dragon slayers into the present, therefore destroying it can't have an effect on whether the dragon slayers are present in the current timeline or not.

Second: Evil Rogue and his dragons disappeared, because the gate that he used in the future to come back to the present was destroyed in the present, therefore he won't be able to use it to come back to the present, therefore he wouldn't be able to bring the dragons from the past. This same logic doesn't apply for time travel which brings people to the future: no matter what you do with the time travelling device after they arrived, they will be still there as there is no need for the time travelling device to keep them there.

(Other than this, yes, time travel in most of the stories sucks and is usually full of plot holes. Fairy Tail is no different, there are lots of open questions. With Eclipse destroyed why didn't we go back to the original timeline with 10000 dragons destroying everything? Or why did the city remained destroyed after the dragons disappeared? Well, at least we didn't get a "Back To The Future"-like "timelines slowly change, there's still time to save your parents' marriage" plot hole.)


What was Suguru's relationship with his counselor? After Suguru died, his heart was implanted into Kakeru. Suguru's former counselor seems to play a psychiatric therapist role for Kakeru and says certain things to shake him up. Why does she do this? What kind of relationship did she have with Suguru to make her play mind games on his younger brother?

Mine Ayaka was Suguru's former counselor as you said in your question. When he was alive he approached her for counseling on how to deal with pressure, because he had to live with all expectations for being the best Japanese player in his age and the future of Japan's soccer.

So they begging to be very close in this time, because almost nobody, even his brother, knew that Suguru had this kind of feeling, behind his apparent cool-headedness. As a professional, Mine Ayaka could listen to him, and he felt that could talk to her.

Then, Suguru's death surprised everyone, including her. And Suguru's heart was implanted in Kakeru. In this time, Mine Ayaka was the one who made the theory that Suguru's soul and memory were still living inside Kakeru's heart.

Answering your question, Ayaka is a psychotherapist, but she is addicted to spirituality and human mind. She also became very close to Kakeru, as she was to Suguru. According to Area no Kishi wiki:

  Despite her position as a clinical psychotherapist, she is fascinated
  by spirituality and the human mind as shown by her strong interest
  towards the theory of Suguru's soul still living in the heart that was
  transplanted into Kakeru.

So, she became very interested in their case, trying to convince him to keep playing soccer, fulfilling his brother's dream, as she can study better this theory of memory transfer.


What happened to the last two Bastard!! OVAs? Bastard!! (1992) is a series of 8 OVAs, but only 6 were produced.

The manga currently has 27 Volumes and is one of Weekly Shōnen Jump's best-selling manga series selling more than 30 million copies.
Ref.

If the manga was so popular, how come the final two OVAs never got animated!?

It appears that Bastard!! was discontinued due to issues with someone in charge of the series, and there was not enough interest or commitment to reviving it later on. According to AnimeNewsNetwork:

  Bastard!! was suppose [sic] to be eight episodes, but the creator was arrested during the making of the seventh episodes [sic] and was never continued.

I found this statement mirrored by some fan reviewers and forum threads, but unfortunately it does not seem that there are many reputable sources confirming it. This is partly because I was not able to track down who they referred to as the creator (since they are not referring to Kazushi Hagiwara, the manga's creator), and partly because the internet doesn't always have particularly good information on lesser-known events from the early 1990s.

However, I did find out that screenplay writer Hiroshi Yamaguchi[ja.wikipedia] retired some of his roles, including his role on the production committee, in 1992 (the year the Bastard!! OVAs were produced) and went to work with a smaller group before going independent in 2001. This may have contributed to the cancellation as well.

Lastly, based on reviews and threads talking about the OVAs, it seems they are not as in-depth and were never as popular as the manga. This may have been a contributing factor to the decision not to resume it with a more willing crew.


What does the epitaph on Alexander Row's tombstone say? The captain of the Silvana, Alexander Row, died heroically after killing Delphine with his bare hands. He was buried with a very modest tombstone with an epitaph in some language. What does the epitaph say?

A quick search in wikia tells me that:

Alex's epitaph, "Κοιμάστε αιώνια," means "eternal rest" in Greek.

http://lastexile.wikia.com/wiki/Alexander_Row


Can Cumber transform into a super saiyan in the anime? Someone pointed in Youtube that Cumber might be unable to transform into a super saiyan. Is this so? We see he transform in Oozaru, an orange Oozaru many including myself have assumed to be the golden oozaru (saiyan + oozaru transformation) but he never transforms first into a super saiyan for later turning into an oozaru, and whe he turns back to human form after Fu made the artificial moon disappear, he doesnt retain his supposed super saiyan transformation. Could it be that his oozaru form is not the golden oozaru form but the regular oozaru form and that he can't transform into a supersaiyan?

I don't know about the Orange Great Ape form but in the fifth episode which is the most recent he was able to transform into Super Saiyan Three before he fought against Super Saiyan 4 Vegito, so he at least has SS1 and SS2.


What manga is Mur Mur reading? In the anime Mur Mur reads manga sometimes. What are these manga?

It's a fictional manga magazine featuring a few different chapters from different series.  The word シュシュ in japanese means an elastic band of some sort.


Is it logical that Enel's power is ineffective against Luffy? According to the One Piece wikia's Enel page, Enel's power won't work against Luffy because he is a rubber-man. But at some point, I'm confused from this fact since lighting that strikes at 1 Million Volts would burn anything, even rubber.
Also, he melted gold and placed on Luffy's hand.

So my question is, is there any logical reason why is it that Luffy doesn't feel any hurt when Enel strikes him?? I will not include what episodes this happen.

No, it isn't logical, but it was deliberate. TVTropes has a trope which perfectly summarizes this kind of phenomenon: "Acceptable Breaks from Reality".

  A Willing Suspension of Disbelief is a must for almost any work of fiction. There are certain elements of story or gameplay where realism would simply make a work tedious, difficult, or confusing for the audience. Thus there are ways in which works will be blatantly, unabashedly unrealistic, and nobody really minds.

The manga deliberately takes liberties with certain inconvenient real-life physics rules for the sake of drama or balance; Most Logia Devil Fruits would have been way overpowered and/or impractical if the manga followed the laws of physics faithfully. Akainu's magma powers, for instance, would have made him unapproachable because his magma would have vaporized everything without even needing to make contact. For the same kind of reason, Luffy is completely immune to electricity; Enel would have won way too easily otherwise.


Is there a slug based Sage Mode? As we know, Naruto (Jiraiya's apprentice) has mastered the Sage Mode of toads. Also, Kabuto (Orochimaru's apprentice) has mastered the Sage Mode of snakes. So, my question is, is there a Sage Mode of slugs (related to Tsunade)?

The Sage Mode of the slugs is somewhat related to the Sage Mode of Hashirama Senju (First Hokage). He learnt Sage Mode in Shikkotsu Woods/Forest, a legendary place that is equally famous as Mount Myōboku (toad) and Ryūchi Cave (snake). It is the home of the slug Katsuyu, parts of which are summoned by Tsunade and one of her disciples, Sakura Haruno.

Evidence:

In Hashirama's fight with Madara, it appears that he enters a Sage Mode (bottom right corner) similar to Tsunade's, with a diamond shape tatoo-like symbol in her forehead.

Though it is not explicitly said neither in the manga nor in the anime that Tsunade enters Sage Mode, it is clear that Hashirama did.


How was it possible for Sailor Moon to be referenced in Codename: Sailor V? I just read Codename: Sailor V and there were many references to Sailor Moon (Usagi and the other guardians making cameos, etc.), in spite of the former being created and published first. It was especially prominent towards the end, but Usagi made an appearance pretty early on. I'm interested in knowing what the publication history of Codename: Sailor V was like. And if any edits were made, what they were and when they happened. A timeline of Sailor V and Sailor Moon might also be sufficient to answer the question, if my assumption about edits is incorrect.

Codename: Sailor V first appeared as a one-shot on August 3, 1991.
The actual manga was then written pretty much simultaneously with the Sailor Moon manga, which started only a few months later (December 28, 1991) and which was updated much more frequently.
It even ended later (July 3, 1997) than the Sailor Moon manga (February 3, 1997).
That allowed for the cameos between the series.
Sources:
Codename: Sailor V Wikipedia
Sailor Moon Wikipedia
Sailor Moon Wiki


What is the meaning behind Ginji's vow to Yukio? In final arc of the second season of Black Lagoon, in Episode 20 "The Succession", when Ginji swears his loyalty to Yukio, heir to the Washimine group, he says, "although I'm unworthy, I am Matsuzaki Ginji, acting boss of Washimine group. Please allow me to protect you with all seven of my incarnations."

What does he mean by "all seven of my incarnations?" Is it a religious reference or something else?

Where does this phrase originate from?

There are a few distinct mentions of cases of the Seven Incarnations, which are each plausible in their own rite.
Notable mentions of incarnations
Incarnations of Immortality
The Incarnations of Immortality is a series in which seven books each focus on a single incarnation, a mortal which becomes the personification of Death, Time, Fate, War, Nature, Evil, or Good. Most people feel the effects caused by one or more of these incarnations. So, Black Lagoon may be referring to how Ginji is affected or composed of each of these seven things; he could be more or less saying, "Please allow me to protect you with my entire being."
Vishnu's incarnations
The second possibility is a reference to Vishnu Purana, a religious Hindu text. According to legend, Vishnu created incarnations of himself to eradicate evil and balance the world. Vishnu Purana states that there are seven such incarnations1:

Vishnu Purana says that there were seven incarnations of Vishnu including Yajna, Ajit, Satya, Hari, Manas, Vaikuntha, and Vamana.
  — Mythology of Vishnu and His Incarnations, pp. 44–45

These incarnations allow him to become Supreme God2. Thus, Ginji may be stating that he will use any power (the incarnations) available to him to protect Yukio.
However, based on how Ginji phrases this in the manga, these two possibilities seem unlikely.

(Black Lagoon, chapter 27, pp. 17)
Buddhist incarnations
One of Buddhism's more significant points is their concept of reincarnation, or rebirth. In Buddhism, as you are born and reborn, you fulfill a cycle known as the "Cycle of Life". However, you must be born seven times (in any form) to achieve moksha, a liberation from this cycle (which eventually leads to the ultimate peace: nirvana).

Calm and unmoved the Pilgrim glideth up the stream that to Nirvâna leads. He knoweth that the more his feet will bleed, the whiter will himself be washed. He knoweth well that after seven short and fleeting births Nirvâna will be his....
  — The Voice of the Silence, pp. 69

As you can can conclude, this cycle involves going through seven incarnations, each of the births that you endure, before achieving nirvana. In some forms of Buddhism, these components are believed to be partial aggregates of your consciousness, thus could be considered a large portion of your "whole" being.
What makes this the most plausible explanation is that Ginji is a member of the Yakuza. Many Yakuza are focused around the ways of the samurai and their teachings. In Japanese history, samurai were largely centered around Zen, a form of Buddhism3.
Putting this Zen relationship in context with the manga, which states that Ginji will "protect [her] for the entirety of his life", we can conclude that Ginji intends to spend all seven of his rebirths protecting Yukio.
Footnotes
1 Wikipedia has an extensive list, but according to the Vishnu Purana, only seven of these avatars truly exist.
2  Further reading: Vishnu, Wikipedia
3 Further reading: The Religion of the Samurai


What does "Non Non Biyori" mean? Non Non Biyori is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Atto. The series is still ongoing until this day, it has anime adaption in 2013 and 2015. After maybe 7 years later since 2013, i don't understand what does Non Non Biyori mean. I have read all the 10 volumes but still didn't understand what does the title mean or ever explained.

Was it the only author know what the meaning of Non Non Biyori ? Or it's just some random word with no meaning at all ?

While there's no official statement from the author, it's possibly a combination of nonbiri (のんびり, carefree) and hiyori* (ひより, 日和, fine weather), which can be interpreted as "fine weather (or fine days) to be carefree."
This is strengthened by the fact that:

Outside of the manga/anime, there was also 「のんびりくえすと！」(Nonbiri Quest!) radio corner
The ending theme was 「のんのん日和」 ("Non Non Biyori"; here, hiyori is read as biyori due to rendaku/sequential voicing)

From the lyric of the ending theme,

のんびりと歌うから　のんきな風が吹いた
nonbiri to utau kara　nonki na kaze ga fuita

it might even imply that Non Non Biyori is a combination of nonki (easygoing), nonbiri, and (h/b)iyori.


Is Goku using God ki when he uses Ultra Instinct? We know Goku in Super Saiyan God and in Super Saiyan Blue uses God ki. And apparently, he can also use God ki in base form. So, my question is, is Goku using God ki when he uses Ultra Instinct? Does the anime show something about this?

The answer is YES. In Dragon Ball Super Manga Chapter 60, Vegeta clearly states that Goku is using God Ki when in the Ultra Instinct Omen State.


Corrupted Grail Fragments inside Sakura, and Illya's heart Do the corrupted Grail fragments that Zokuen synthesised with his worms which were later placed in Sakura have a direct connection with Angra Mainyu inside the Grail? I know the fragments are the remnants of the Lesser Grail of the 4th HGW and are corrupted because Angra used the Lesser Grail to activate the Greater Grail and unleash his curses but can he control the fraagments after they were implanted inside the worms? And what about Illya's heart which is the Lesser Grail of the 5th war?

Do the corrupted Grail fragments that Zokuen synthesised with his worms which were later placed in Sakura have a direct connection with Angra Mainyu inside the Grail?

yes, in the Visual Novel close to the end

   after Sakura realizes the love Rin has for her she starts trying to resist. when Shirou arrives after defeating Alter Saber he finds the "ribbons" that make up Dark Sakura's dress are now being used to wrap her up and restrain herr. since at this point Dark Sakura has already pruged all of Zouken's worm from her body the only force that could do this is Angra Mainyu, further enforced by the fact that they dispelled when Shirou stabbed Sakura with the traced Rule Breaker, severing the contract between her and Angra Mainyu

however she probably need to submit to Angra Mainyu as

   Dark Sakura doesn't appear until after she kills Shinji (to tried to rape and blackmail her) and realizes she was The Shadow

and up to then she didn't even want to fight in the war

however this is only the case because Sakura is a Master. in Fate and Unlimited Blade Works, as she gives it up to Shinji and in both cases Rider is considered defeated without Sakura's identity as her True Master being revealed one can assume that she had fully given up being a Master in these 2 routes while in Heaven's Feel she hadn't and it's only in this route does the Shadow appear. also during the period between the 4th and 5th wars Angra Mainyu didn't do anything with Sakura.

  And what about Illya's heart which is the Lesser Grail of the 5th war?

supposedly uncorrupted. given that the main source of the corruption is the Greater Grail and the Einzbern knew of it's state (as it was Ilya who revealed Angra Mainyu's existence to Rin and Shirou) it would not be hard for them to create an uncorrupted lesser grail, however this would not stop them connecting to the corrupted Greater Grail as Irisviel's lesser grail connected to it, so i'm not sure how the Einzberns planned to get around Angra Mainyu to get the 3rd Magic (or maybe they would just accept the destruction because all they care about is reclaiming it)

  Angra used the Lesser Grail to activate the Greater Grail and unleash his curses

actually he didn't. if he could his wish to be born could have been done without anyone getting in the way, but while he is not manipulating Kotomine he did need him to wish for his birth, and by his own will Kotomine wants Angra Mainyu to be born.

just like in Fate and Unlimited Blade Works, the connection between the lesser grail and greater grail is the reason for the black mud to be spilling out and in Fate/Zero the fire caused by the spilled contents is hinted to be because Kotomine, before dying, wished for humanity to die aswell

  In Kirei's last moments, the Holy Grail appears to him in his mind. Filled with hatred and envy for Kiritsugu, Kirei reaches out and touches the cursed artifact. He prays for an end to humanity before his death and his wish is granted in the form of the fire.

Source: Avenger (Fate/Stay Night) > Role > Fate/Zero (6th paragraph)


In which countries was Dragonball Z aired (dubbed) before Dragonball? I know this is true for the United States but my question is mainly if this was a phenomenon in other places as well. Personally, having grown up in Austria \ Germany, I saw Dragonball on TV as a kid long before they finally aired Dragonball Z.

Recently, I've been coming across lots of comments on various web platforms suggesting that "most of the western world" saw Dragonball Z before Dragonball (if they saw the latter at all). Are these people making poor generalizations from the US to the entire western world or was Dragonball skipped in other countries as well?

A simple google search takes us to a result compiled by Derek Padula about the history of Dragon Ball Z in various countries. Countries in North America and others where the Funimation dub was aired first usually had Dragon Ball Z aired first.

http://www.kanzenshuu.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=30285

The list of countries is not exhaustive. However, I'd like to point out "Why most of the countries (western world, and to Japan that is nearly the rest of the world) Dragon ball Z aired first.

Anime was an experimental thing in most nations outside of Japan. Dragonball was an exceptional manga and its first Anime adaptation did well in Japan. Dragon Ball creator was not happy with the first adaptation though and had a reboot in form of Z when Goku grew up. This was even more popular.

  Kazuhiko Torishima, Akira Toriyama's editor for Dr. Slump and the first half of Dragon Ball, felt that the Dragon Ball anime's ratings were gradually declining because it had the same producer that worked on Dr. Slump. Torishima said this producer had this "cute and funny" image connected to Toriyama's work and was missing the more serious tone in the newer series, and therefore asked the studio to change the producer. Impressed with their work on Saint Seiya, he asked its director Kōzō Morishita and writer Takao Koyama to help "reboot" Dragon Ball, which coincided with Son Goku growing up. The new producer explained that ending the first anime and creating a new one would result in more promotional money, and the result was the start of Dragon Ball Z. Source - Dragon Ball Z (Wikipedia)

Western media channels decided to pick up Dragonball Z as an experimental thing. It started airing in 1996, but halted after some episodes. However, when it began airing on Cartoon Network's Toonami block, it got huge boost in the popularity. Due to the success of the reruns, FUNimation began its in house dub of DBZ.

It is reasonable to assume that, due to the success of DBZ, the media houses decided to cash in on all the positive reviews and started airing Dragon Ball as well. After the success of DBZ in North America other markets also started airing DBZ and then followed by Dragon Ball.


Kaiki Deishu and Tooe Gaen Relationship What is the relationship of Kaiki Deishu and Tooe Gaen?

Why Kaiki Deishu decide to help to deceive Nadeko for the sake of Tooe Gaen's child, Suruga Kanbaru?

Kaiki Deishu also treat Suruga Kanbaru nicely and show warm concern toward her, what make Kaiki Deishu show such concern?

To your 1st and 3rd question. Tooe Gaen and Kaiki were both in the same Occult Research Club in college. Later on, Kaiki was revealed to have feelings for Tooe Gaen, and has made a promise to keep her daughter, Kanbaru, safe - Source

To answer your 2nd question, he helped deceive Nadeko because it would indirectly help Kanbaru. If Araragi was killed by Nadeko in that arc, it would:

Make Kabaru sad
Cause Kiss-Shot to regain her full strength and eventually destroy the town, killing everyone, including Kanbaru.


How does Erza get her armor and weapons ready for Requip? In Fairy Tail, Erza can use Requip, but I wanna know how she gets her weapons and armor there in the first place? Her ability in Fairy Tail is not to put and leave items there, it's only for switching, so how did she place all her weapons and armor there in the first place?

Lets see what wiki has to say about this.

  Requip is a type of Spatial Magic and Erza's signature form of Magic, over which she possesses great mastery. It is a type of Magic that allows her to swap weapons, armor and clothes at will. Her particular form of Requip is called The Knight.

Lets look at what spatial magic means.

  This Magic revolves around the manipulation of space, which can allow the user to harass the asset for battle, travel, accessing alternate dimensions, and so on. This Magic is also used in conjunction for summoning concrete material or extraterrestrial beings to their stead, such as being able to conjure up armor and weapons or allow Celestial Spirits access to the human world.

This means her ability is to manipulate that space. So you're wrong to suggest she can't put items in that space.
This means Erza can store, as well as take back armors, swords etc using her spatial magic. Her Armors disappear after being damaged supposedly back to the same space.

I would like to address that the size of the pocket Dimension is limited. So Erza can infact put weapons and the rest are stored in her house. Again from the wiki

  Erza owns over 100 different types of armor, and over 200 different types of weapons.
  This Magic allows the user to store weapons and armors in pocket dimensions and summon them during battle.[...]
  The only known user, Erza, stated that there is a limit to how much the pocket dimension can store, and as a result, she leaves some of her armors in her room in Fairy Hills.

I don't know how Erza creates new or repairs damaged armors. From a different question it was answered

  Erza is an user of requip magic, in other words, she can summon weapons and armors during the battles, but she does not create them.Answer Source

Other Sources on the Wiki:
Erza Scarlet
The Knight
Spatial Magic


Why did they need to use an identikit to reproduce Makishima's face? I've been watching Psycho-Pass. Makishima has been working as an art professor at a women academy. During an investigation, an audio clip is retrieved where a girl (this particular case's culprit) speaks with him, mentioning his name. So now the investigators know that there is some guy called Makishima within the academy.

After a brief encounter between Tsunemori and Makishima, he escapes. Later, Tsunemori uses an identikit to relive the experience to reproduce his face. After the face is generated, they go to the academy and confirm that he was indeed a professor there.

To the left is the identikit image, and to the right what I imagine is the academy's archive photo. They compare them (wow, powerful hairspray) and they match.

But why an identikit? They already knew his name, so all they had to do was go to the academy and mention his name. Then they show the archived photo and Tsunemori would recognize it without having to relive the experience.

Actually Makishima didn't use his real name to register as a professor at Oso Academy but use his alias "Yukimori Shibata". Only one who knew the truth in the school is Rikako Oryo.


Which chapters from the manga that haven't been made as anime yet in "Detective Conan"? I watched all episodes of Detective Conan anime, and I want list of manga chapters that haven't been made as anime yet.

According to this list the anime adaptation of chapter 975-980 is scheduled to air in the next four weeks (March 3, March 10, March 17 and March 24), while chapter 984 and above are not scheduled as animation yet.

To go the other way around as of now the following manga chapters have aired as anime:

Everything up to chapter 974
Chapters between ch. 981 and 983

Note: My answer shows the state of releases on Fepruary 28, 2018. I'm also assuming the asker has watched every episode released as of this date, so up to episode 893.


How could Deku hit 1000,000% One for All punch when he had no memory of it? In his fight against Bloodthirsty Muscular, Deku hits a 1000,000% One for All punch when we haven’t seen even All Might use that much power. How can this be possible?

It was confirmed by the Author that it wasn't actually 1000,000%. Deku said that to pump himself up.

This is explained in this article, as well as the image below:


Why does Sasuke still have the Rinnegan? Hagoromo took back his Yin and Yang chakra from Sasuke and Naruto respectively (in chapter 690). So if the Yin chakra was responsible for the Rinnegan development in Sasuke's eye, why didn't it change back into his original eye after the chakra was taken back? Why does it become permanent?

Well, we have seen several instances where even losing Six Paths Power still makes one stronger than most, as described by Kakashi after he obtained Obito's power.  I don't remember the exact chapter, but right after he awakened Sharingan in his natural eyes from Obito transferring his power, Kakashi says something along the lines of the eyes being stronger after Obito played host to the Ten Tails.  One could also argue that having the completed chakra of the Six Paths was only a requirement to awaken the Rinnegan, not keeping it.  However, I must stick with whatever facts that I can see and those are thus;  but first.

Spoiler warning, just in case you haven't read past chapter 690 as mentioned in the OP's question.

   In chapter 696, after Kaguya was defeated and the Six Paths Yin and Yang symbols had returned to Hagoromo, we witness the final fight between Naruto and Sasuke at the Valley of the End. In this fight, Sasuke was still wielding his Rinnegan, but more importantly for the evidence involved, Naruto was still using Six Paths Sage Mode. That being said, it leaves little room for interpretation that the two of them must still have Six Paths Chakra of their own.

 Now the room we do have for speculation comes here where we must decide whether they still have these powers, because
 A. When Hagoromo regained the seals on his hands, they were just the seals for the Six Paths Chibaku Tensei and nothing more. Or
 B. Even though Hagoromo took his powers back, having been exposed to the Six Paths chakra has awakened their natural ability to use it, since Sasuke and Naruto were the reincarnated Indra and Asura respectively. After all, Madara was able to awaken the Rinnegan by introducing Hashirama's cells into his own body unknowingly, which means introducing Asura's chakra into himself. After it was integrated, he didn't have to continuously inject Hashi's cells to keep the Rinnegan.


Significance of Seagull in Navy flag In one-piece is there an in-universe reason for the seagull on the navy flag or is there another reason that they chose a seagull for the navy flag?

Symbolic meanings of Seagulls

Freedom : Marines believe in absolute justice. They believe they provide true freedom the populace by catching people that put a stop to them. Thus they provide freedom to the general population by protecting them.
Freedom is the most important symbol we have discussed. Luffy says he wants to be Pirate King because Pirate King is the most free person in the world. Throughout One Piece the importance of Freedom is emphasized. Blackbeard's sniper also shot down a Gull on Jaya. Did Oda foreshadow BB pirates will kill the "freedom"?
Adaptation: Seagulls are present on Land, Sea and in Air. They can live in harsh climates on meagre sustenance. They can scavenge off anything. Sounds like the marines we know.
Communication : How many types of Den-Den Mushi do marines have? I've lost count :p
Opportunistic : Marines are highly opportunistic. They rushed ahead with Ace's execution to trap WhiteBeard. They'll use any and all means in their hand to carry out their own sense of justice.
Resourcefulness : Marines are highly resourceful. Smoker, though just a Captain, was able to assist and capture a Shichibukai.

Going through the list, we can easily see the qualities represented by Seagulls and how any Marine would strive them to be. Sengoku must really believe in Freedom to wear that hat though :P

Also additionally... Its Oda's favorite bird!

  This is an interview with One Piece author Eiichiro Oda that was published in the One Piece: Blue Grand Data File volume.
  "Q.25 (Tashigi, Kuina, Nojiko and so on are characters with bird names but) What kind of bird do you like best?
  Seagull"


What is the purpose of having this face in the subtitles/lyrics? During the first verse in the second opening to Hayate no Gotoku (Shichitenhakki Shijou Shugi! by KOTOKO), this face (O_O;) appears in each version of the subtitles;  the translated, romanised and original Japanese versions.

Additionally, the face is also included on various lyrics sites such as here and here.

Why is this? I've never seen emoticons or unicode faces in any other subtitles, and I don't see how it adds to the song at all. I know this is a series that doesn't take itself too seriously, but is there any explanation as to why this is here?

Possibly to show the reaction of the actor in the song, which seem to be surprised/heavily pressured by fact of "the demon who wears goddess mask"... maybe... or probably there's no purpose of the kaomoji!.. or it can be anything...
Considering that KOTOKO is a famous denpa song artist (read also What is the actual meaning of "denpa"?), anything goes. (Note: the Japanese title even has a star in it: 七転八起☆至上主義!)
So, what is a denpa song?

Denpa song (電波ソング) is a type of Japanese music that is intentionally strange and catchy. Common features of denpa songs include intentionally off-key vocals, nonsensical lyrics and an over-the-top tune.

Back to kaomoji...
Kaomoji is certainly rare in song lyrics, but there are some more (not necessarily denpa song). From Yahoo! Chiebukuro:

Koi no Tsubomi: (T_T), (>_<), (*_*), (;_;), (T^T), (T0T)/, (*_*)
Love Love Chu Chu!: (><), (T_T), (#^_^#), (@_@)
Happy Succession: (^^;), (T_T)
girls: (>_<;), (≧O≦)
message: (-.-;)', !(><)!'

(All links are link to song lyric)

Last but not least, Ryuichi Kawamura has a song titled 〔>_<〕.

Personally, I don't consider Shichitenhakki Shijou Shugi! as denpa song, but perhaps it's because I'm already used to IOSYS.


How is it possible that Kanade has Otonashi's heart? In Angel Beats, Kanade clearly entered the afterlife before even Yurippe did, yet Otonashi arrived later. Technically, Kanade must've died after Otonashi.

How is it possible that Kanade has Otonashi's heart?

Unfortunately, Angel Beats! doesn't go into much detail about the mechanics of the afterlife environment it takes place in.

However, if we assume that the series follows the basic concept of eternity, then a partial explanation can be given.

I drew up this little image of the three different timelines that are present in the series:

Key:

The green line is the (main) world timeline where the characters in the series lived their lives before they died.
The red line is the afterlife timeline where the characters went when they died and where most of the series takes place.
The cyan line is the alternate world timeline where (I presume) the characters in the series went after they've resolved their issues and regrets in the afterlife and moved on.
The white circles/ovals represent the time Kanade Tachibana spent on a timeline.
The blue circles/ovals represent the time Yuzuru Otonashi spent on a timeline.
The white lines represent Kanade's transition from one timeline to another.
The blue lines represent Yuzuru's transition from one timeline to another.
The ranges of the circles/ovals are rough estimates.

The (Main) World Timeline

Yuzuru is born.
Kanade is born.
Yuruzu gets in a train crash. Although he survives the initial crash, he eventually dies of thirst. Just before he dies, he signs an organ donor card. Because the rescuers arrived just barely too late, his organs could be harvested in time.
Kanade is in need of a heart transplant. She receives a donor heart. It is Yuzuru's.
Kanade dies. We don't know how long she lived after her heart transplant, but, it apparently saved her life, so I presume she lived a good while after it.

The Afterlife Timeline

Kanade arrives in the afterlife. As per Yuri, Kanade was there before she arrived, but, we're never told for how long, so, the amount of time she spent there from her arrival to her departure is unknown.
Events in the Angel Beats! Heaven's Door manga take place.
Yuzuru arrives in the afterlife.
Kanade and Yuzuru finally meet in person. She stabs him in the chest and notices that Yuzuru doesn't have a heart. She then realizes who Yuzuru is.
Events in the Angel Beats! anime take place.
Kanade moves on from the afterlife after thanking Yuzuru for the heart he gave her.
As per Angel Beats!: Another Epilogue, Yuzuru remains in the afterlife for an undisclosed amount of time helping others move on.
Events in the Angel Beats! anime sequel (if ever released) could take place here.
Yuzuru finally moves on from the afterlife.

The Alternate World Timeline

Yuzuru gets reincarnated/reborn in the same universe that contains the main world timeline, but on an alternate and better timeline.
Kanade gets reincarnated/reborn in the same universe that contains the main world timeline, but on an alternate and better timeline.
Yuzuru finally meets up with Kanade and they live happily ever after.

Like I said, the series never really explains the finer details of the afterlife and what exactly happens when someone moves on. This is the best explanation I can give you at the moment. Perhaps some more light will be shed on this matter in the future.


Why didn't Akame die when she cut herself with Murasame? As per the wiki, Murasme ...

  ... is a poisonous blade that can kill a person with only one cut. Once the sword pierces skin, it injects a lethal poison into the victim, killing them within seconds. Akame states that cleaning this weapon is very dangerous because of this ability.

In the anime, episode 24 to be exact, she cuts herself when fighting Esdeath to get a massive power boost for a few minutes by supposedly using the strength of all the people she has killed. Based on what I've seen in the anime and the discussions around the blade, she should have died, why didn't she?

It indeed is very confusing.

In episode 4 of the anime, Akame tells this to Tatsumi in the alley:

  Maintaining it is nerve-raking

referring to her sword. She continues and says

  If you accidentally cut your finger, you die instantly

Keeping the above in mind, I think there are three possibilities:

She was not aware of the hidden power of the sword at that moment (in episode 4) and later on found that she can cut herself to get the cursed power for a short period. This behavior of an imperials arm has been seen at other places too, where Esdeath did not initially know that she can stop time, but she learned that after Tatsumi escaped her.
She knew that if she cuts herself with her sword, she would get the cursed powers, but at that moment in episode 4, she wanted to signify that even an invincible looking imperial arms can have weaknesses.
The last possibility is that the hidden ability of the sword cannot be simply invoked. So when she actually does not want to use the hidden ability and she gets cut by the sword, she might die.

Furthermore, in the last episode, while using the hidden ability, Akame thinks

  Even if this consumes me

which indicates that prolonged/over use of the ability might lead the user to get consumed by the curse itself.

In any of three scenarios, I think the anime overall was really nice and it just left some open ended questions to the imagination of the viewers.


Where can I buy KamiNomi Manga? I want to buy the manga/magazine of full volume of KamiNomi, but don't know where to find it.

I live in the the Philippines. Anyone knows where I can buy one?

The manga series has not been licensed in English unfortunately.

You can stream the anime via CrunchyRoll or buy the DVD/BluRay through RightStuf (although you may need to enquire about shipping estimates/availabilty)