Does Rolo's Geass have no Limits? Rolo has been using his Geass since he was very young and using it beyond limits; for various missions and assasinations again and again. But he never lost control over the Geass like Lelouch and Mao. Also if he had lost control before dying then what would be his situation if he had used it infinitely? Would he stop the time around him forever?

Forever would have been impossible. The weakness to Rolo's time stopping Geass is that it also stops his heart, so he'd die quickly enough from it being in permanent use, which in turn would stop the geass. Same goes for him overusing it. The limit of his geass comes from a sort of body-based time limit (surviving while his heart is stopped) preventing extended use, rather than a limit of the power itself. Below is a quote from this page, which I've spoilered out for plot reasons.

   Its weakness was that it stopped Rolo's heart when used, limiting its activation to short bursts. A large number of people was also more difficult to stop, as Rolo was exhausted after he projected a field encompassing a majority of the school's campus. Finally, this Geass was unable to stop inanimate objects or physical phenomena such as speed and momentum. Rolo ultimately died when he overused his power in a short amount of time.


Why did Wenge get kicked off the Chinese national team? In Ping Pong: The Animation, Wenge is a Chinese exchange student who came to Japan to work his way back up to the Chinese national team (he hopes to win nationals, etc.).

However, what got him kicked off the Chinese national team to begin with? Is this ever discussed?

Based on almost all of his character introductions in Japanese (e.g. Japanese Wikipedia), Kong Wenge was previously an elite player from Shanghai Junior Youth team, but lost. Another source (Miho Cinema - a Japanese movie review site) even mentioned that he failed to reach the top in China.
According to Quora, this seems to be true even in real-life.

As for professional athletes, a medal brings about reputation and advertising incomes. Competition is their career. So if an athlete doesn't perform well, he/she will be out of the sight of people and has problems earning a living.

[...] in a collectivist culture like China, failure in itself is a terrible punishment- wrought from within, and implicitly from the rest of society. You have failed your parents, your family, your community, your heritage- the money, time, effort and goodwill that has been invested in you. You have let everyone down. Hang your head in shame.

Only in the sense they might be cut from the team, at which point they find themselves without a purpose and largely unemployable in one of the world's most competitive job markets.


How does Shiro get into the Deadman Wonderland? We know that Deadman Wonderland is a brutal prison for convicted criminals.

And at various points in the show, it is revealed how each of the main characters ended up there. (what crime they were convicted of)

But how did Shiro get there? Is it ever revealed what Shiro did to end up in that prison?

We know that Shiro was Ganta's childhood friend. So that means that she started off outside in the normal world. But are there any clues to what brought her into Deadman Wonderland?

Even though Shiro and Ganta were childhood friends,

  Shiro was used in experiments by the director (Hagire Rinichiro) and Ganta's mother. This was all before Deadman Wonderland was created, and when the director founded it, he created a special room for Shiro. Shiro wasn't imprisoned there, but lived there so that the experiments to create the "Wretched Egg" (Shiro's other personality) can continue, thus she was brought there by the director when Deadman Wonderland was created.

This was mentioned briefly in the Deadman Wonderland wiki.


Does Saitama know whats going on around him? Does Saitama know whats going on around him. Like people ignoring him or how people or heroes treat him badly or make fun of him and things like that or is he just an airhead after getting his powers?

Saitama does know that people around him usually treats him badly or coldly, and he really cares about it: that's why he joins the Hero Association and tries to become a hero. In the first few episodes, he cares about how people view him, but in later episodes, he just starts to ignore them( tries his best). For more information, visit the link below.

http://onepunchman.wikia.com/wiki/Saitama


How does Tomura Shigaraki's power not disintegrate his shoes? In one chapter of the manga it's shown Tomura Shigaraki can disintegrate things with his feet. The disintegration activates apparently in the same way as the hands, when the 5 toes are in contact with the object. How does Tomura Shigaraki's power not disintegrate his shoes then?

This is purely speculation, but socks with holes in them.

Shigaraki's power only triggers if he touches the target with all five fingers/toes on one hand/foot.

So he could have special socks with holes for one or more toes.  Some toes touch the shoe, the others the sock, so neither decays.


Why is the title "Yotsuba&!"? The manga Yotsuba&! is a story about a little girl named Yotsuba. So, the title using her name makes sense, but why is there an additional '&' at the end?

This is the manga cover in English. It says Yotsuba&! and sometimes it's written Yotsubato! on some sites.

Well, to (と) is a Japanese particle that functions like English "and". If, for example, you wanted to say "Yotsuba & Tanaka", that would be Yotsuba-to Tanaka (よつばと田中).

So I suppose it makes sense that one might choose to write Yotsuba-to! as "Yotsuba&!".

As for why the title is "Yotsuba&!" / Yotsubato in the first place - I suppose it's related to the fact that all the chapter titles are of the form "Yotsuba & [something]", e.g. "Yotsuba & the Elephant" (#19) and "Yotsuba & Coffee" (#58).


What happened to Claus in Last Exile? Near the end of Last Exile: Fam, the Silver Wing, we see our former protagonist Claus...

   ...in a wheelchair.

Is there any official explanation as to why?  He's never featured in Fam the Silver Wing, so we don't know how this happened from that series alone.

Last Exile: Fam, the Silver Wing - Aerial Log, documents Claus in the time between Travelers from the Hourglass, and Fam, the Silver Wing. Claus sustained serious injuries in a one on one confrontation with an amnesiac Dio, when the latter arrived on Earth tracing his faint memories. While his resulting injuries have confined him to a wheelchair, Claus has forgiven the recovered, and deeply remorseful Dio. Claus' confident promise to heal and find his way back to the skies has comforted Dio. In return, this allowed Dio to find a renewed purpose to make sure the skies will be there to welcome Claus back


Did the beast titan walk all the way to the wall, and can the Beast Titan run? When we saw the first glimpse of the Beast Titan in season 2, he was walking slow, at least compared to titans that we have seen. It seems unlikely that he would transform just to simply walk at a slow pace. It would be much faster if he ran to the wall, but I am not sure if he can actually run. His arms are very long in comparison to his body size. When he stands up he touches his ankles. With all of these facts together I am not sure if he simply walked or ran (or if he can for that matter).

The way he reached there was by help of cart titan.
He transformed to a human, and rode on the cart Titan... Since the cart Titan is specifically for walking large distances, and even if there is luggage.


What opening music was played at the beginning of the anime Kaiketsu Zorro? One of my favorite animes used to be Kaiketsu Zorro, and I especially loved the opening music of the Portuguese version of the cartoon.

My question is, is the music custom made for the anime series, or does it exist outside the anime?
If it's an actual piece, what is its name/who is it by?

It looks like the OP of the Portuguese dub of Kaiketsu Zorro is the instrumental (i.e. no lyrics) version of the original Japanese OP.

The original Japanese OP was presumably made specifically for the series, seeing as it is titled "ZORRO" (cf. the ANN entry for Kaiketsu Zorro). The piece was sung by MASAAKI Endoh (probably better known for his involvement in JAM Project); composed and arranged by TOBISAWA Hiromoto, who also did the music for Kaiketsu Zorro; and featured lyrics by ARIMORI Satomi


if Beerus, Whis, and other gods of destructions and angels can use Ultra Instinct, why they dont get Goku's aura? Supposedly gods of destructions and angels can use ultra instinct, but they dont get the aura and eye colors Goku gets. Why is that? Is Goku using something else in this transformation, such a super saiyan transformation on top of it, god ki or something?

The biggest thing is that Ultra Instinct is not a power up, but a technique. It is literally just your arms and legs thinking for themselves, defending without you needing to be involved. There is no transformation or power up associated with it. It's implied that mastery of this technique means being able to have it always active. Whis talks about how his feet think for themselves but not his shoes when he stepped in poo, implying that it was active at the time, but since he cant feel through his shoes, his feet couldn't think to avoid it the instant he came into contact with it to prevent stepping in it.

Goku's transformation was triggered by the Spirit bomb, and he reached a new level. This is the new form he obtained. While in this form, he had, as Whis put it, broken through his shell to the greater potential within him. It was by breaking through to that new form that he was able to use Ultra Instinct. Its unlikely, but possible that Goku can still use Ultra Instinct even now in his base form. It could be the same principle as with his god form in his first fight against Beerus, how just obtaining it made his base form a lot stronger.

Or, TL;DR, Goku obtained a new God like form, and while in that form, was able to comprehend the secret to using Ultra Instinct. They are separate things.


What type of oil are on Kars' feathers? During his aerial fight with JoJo, Kars fires off some feathers which are as hard as an armadillo's shell and covered in a bullet deflecting oil.

I've never heard of an oil that could deflect bullets, and I can't visualize how that would even work. Is this a thing that exists, or is it just something that the writer made up?

This oil seems like some sort of oil made of a sponge-like surface that can take a lot of damage. We don't have such things in our world, but there is this sort of thread-like material used in new body armor that deflects bullets. This sort of oil could follow such physical rules possibly. Also, the anime just does things that are pretty bizzare, so it might be plot logic.


What is the limit for the Rinne Tensei? I know, that the Samsara of Heavenly Life is able to resurrect either all the individuals recently killed, or a single person from long ago. I know also, that this jutsu it's different from the Edo Tensei, since "It seems that this technique does not need the original body for the owner to be brought back, as Madara's original plan consisted of Obito reviving him at a time where the original body would have decomposed."

So the question is: does this technique have a weakness, or a time limit, after which you can't use it, or it's flawless?..If that's the case, could a Rinnegan user revive e.g. The Sage Of The Six Path?

Technically speaking, yes, the Sage of the Six Paths could be revived using this technique.

the technique targets either all the individuals recently killed, or a single person from long ago.
This technique can also be used on people brought back to life using Summoning: Impure World Reincarnation, transforming the debris and ash that forms the corpse vessel into a real body of living flesh and blood; even if they have been dead for many years.

But it seems to take a huge amount of chakra and be close to impossible to revive people without giving up your own life.

This technique seemingly requires a massive amount of chakra, risking death in the process, as Konan feared the worst for Nagato when he used it after having previously expended so much chakra. After using the technique, Nagato became severely weakened; his hair became white due to overexertion of his chakra. Obito's usage of the technique (even on a single target, as opposed to Nagato's use on a village's population) brought him to his inevitable death, as Black Zetsu noted. source


Why are Ash and his friends fooled by team rocket again and again? I have seen so many episodes of Pokemon. Many episodes have Team Rocket trying to steal Ash's Pokemon by disguising themselves, or with other predicable methods. Still, they are easily recognizable as Team Rocket every time. Why are Ash and his friends fooled every time, when Team Rocket's actions should be predictable by now?

It's not that Ash and co. are constantly fooled by Team Rocket again and again, but rather that Team Rocket has a specific role in the show. In order to keep Team Rocket in the show, they have to have a purpose for each episode, and thus have been constantly after Ash's Pikachu since the original few episodes. To us, it seems that Ash is "dumb" or oblivious to Team Rocket's schemes, but in all reality it is due to the writing staff trying to keep them in the show (you have to remember that Pokemon is considered to be a children's show).

I found from here one reason for why Team Rocket still appears in Pokemon:

  Because they are popular comic relief characters, and if they were ever to get rid of them, a boatload of rocket shipping fangirls would freak out and hate Nintendo and stop buying games and watching shows, therefore bankrupting the company. How else would they manage to make those episodes last 22 minutes without wasting our time with another predictable plot to capture Pikachu?

At this point, Team Rocket has become a staple of the Pokemon universe, and it would feel empty without them. There are other Pokemon watchers who feel similarly to you, as stated here:

  The comic relief they provide is a necessary part of the show, but I'm quite certain they could think of better ways of working it in.  Not quite the same as how you feel about strangling them, but my brother has actually started cheering them on because he wants them to actually win for once so that they aren't completely irrelevant.  Plus it would be fun to see Ash totally lose it when Pikachu is gone for days on end ;)  The thing that really bugs me though is how they have no concept of how you're supposed to pull off crimes anyway.  I can think of several instances off the top of my head where if they'd kept their traps shut (no pun intended) without constantly going off into their motto that they might actually have succeeded.  They also think that as soon as they've got a net around something that it's theirs.  Team Rocket is always shocked when the Pokémon fight back.  Finally, who the **** travels in a hot-air balloon when you're trying to be inconspicuous?!


Why is Sakurai-sensei always sweating like a sprinkler? I never really figured this out. Is Sakurai-sensei always super-uncomfortable around people? Or is she nervous? Usually sweat drops jumping off someone is a vfx for surprise, but I don't think this is the case.

What's up with those crazy sweat drop novas all the time?

No matter who Sakurai-sensei is talking to (other teachers, students, etc) she has those panic bubbles/sweat drops around her.

I took this to mean she's just a naturally nervous person instead of being uncomfortable around people. I can't think of anything in the show that implied she was uncomfortable around others since she was always willing to help and talk.


When did the Soul Eater anime and manga diverge? From what I've heard, the anime version of Soul Eater was fairly faithful to the manga up to a certain point (excluding a few fillers). However, the ending of the anime was nothing like the manga (which is still ongoing), and in my view the end of the anime was its weakest point. I want to start reading the manga at the point where the two diverged.

What is the last manga chapter that was adapted in the anime, and what episode does that correspond to? Also, are there any chapters before that which I would have missed from the anime (especially those which have important plot points)?

I think it would be the safest bet to start reading once they introduced the Spider Witch. It's when their paths started to separate more and more. That is on chapter 23th, Daily Life.

You will notice quite a lot similarities from the anime, but that's where they start to go different ways.


Kirito's "light-saber" versus bullets The first time we see a bullet hit Kirito's light-saber the bullet melts. Next episode we see this happen again although this time the sword cuts the bullet in 2 half's. How is this possible?

Episode 5

Episode 6

Lordmau5's theory is quite interesting, but it doesn't quite match the visual appearance of the sword as described in the light novel.

  I stared at it for a while, and found that the sword itself didn’t
  have any direction as the entire circular section was just like a long and
  thin cylinder.

* From Sword Art Online Volume 5 - Chapter 6, after Kirito bought the sword and activated it for a test run.

The corresponding scene in the light novel (also in Volume 5 - Chapter 6) doesn't say anything about the bullets melting:

  The enemy’s rifle’s muzzle suddenly let out an orange spark.

  During this time, the blade of the light saber blocked the lines of
  the first and second bullets with pinpoint accuracy.

  *BA-BAM!!* The surface of the light saber let out two bright
  orange sparks. The moment I noticed this, my right arm immediately
  pointed the photon sword onto the third and fourth bullet lines at a
  lightning quick speed. Then, the sound of the bullets being deflected off
  the intense energy could be heard again.

  [...]

  5...and that’s the 6th one! After deflecting all the bullets that could
  have hit me successfully, I kicked the ground hard with all I’ve got to
  cover the remaining distance between us.

The next scene (where his opponent ran out of ammo and had to change magazine) starts right after the text cited above. Therefore, the scene in episode 5 of SAO II is most likely something added in the anime to explain how the bullets are neutralized and to impress viewers, since the viewer can't see how Kirito neutralize the bullets if the scene is animated at real world speed.

The bullet being cut in half in episode 6 is actually described in Volume 5 - Chapter 7, though:

  From the Hecate’s large muzzle break came orange flames.
  On the other side, the blue white lightning cut through the dusk
  darkness.

  Shining like shooting stars, two small lights split to the left and
  right, flying far away.

  [...]

  It was cut apart.

  At the moment the bullet fell to the ground, Kirito’s lightsaber
  slashed upwards, and cut the 50-caliber bullet that was supposed to be
  a fatal hit. The two shooting stars that Sinon saw, were fragments of
  the bullet that were cut by the high concentration energy blade, and
  flew pass either side of Kirito behind him.

Note that it doesn't say anything about the bullet being cleanly split in half as shown in the anime.

I couldn't find any explanation on how the sword works in the light novel, though, and with so little information, we can only guess why the light saber would deflect bullet in one scene, and cut the bullet in half in another.


How do the Homunculi differ between the FMA manga and anime? I know that the actual characters who are the homunculi differ between the FMA manga and original anime. For instance, Sloth is a different person between the manga and the anime. However, do they differ in how they are created? If so, how do they differ?

The following contains heavy spoilers for both anime watchers (up to roughly episode ~48 in the 2003 anime, and roughly episode ~40 in 2009 anime) and manga readers (up to chapter ~75), telling about who, how and when created the Homunculi. I mean it.

In manga and 2009 anime, the Homunculi are

   spawned by Father, who himself was the earliest Homunculus that is known. After he consumed half of population of Xerxes, he became some sort of a philosopher stone, and was able to create his so-called "children". He made each of them from one of his vices, and named accordingly. Each Homulculus is powered by a Philosopher's stone, which gives them the energy to live. (1)

In the original anime (2003),

   Homunculi have different origin. They appear each time an alchemist performs Human Transmutation. Usually, the result of Human Transmutation will be a failure - a monstrous corrupted agonizing creature that dies soon after it was created. However, if a Homunulus is able to contact with a Red Stone, they can consume it's power to reshape their bodies. (2)

The difference of Sloth in manga/2009 anime and 2003 anime is caused exactly by the reasons above, because in 2003 anime

   Sloth was created as a result of a failed attempt to revive Trisha - Ed's and Al's mother. She was fed Red Stones by Dante until she regained her original form.

(1) chapters 31, chapters 74-75

(2) 2003 anime, episodes ~45-48


Is the nature of chakra hereditary? It's been observed that the nature of the chakra a person possesses is determined by the village they are from.

For example, people from Iwagakure (Village Hidden in the Rocks) use earth release techniques, while people from Kirigakure (Village Hidden in the Mist) possess water-type chakra.

There seem to be exceptions, though.

For example, let's consider Konoha : Naruto possesses wind-type chakra while Kakashi and Sasuke possess lightning. Sasuke also possesses fire.

Is it hereditary, or is there something else that determines it? Or is it random?

The 5th Mizukage possesses 3 types of chakra elements: Earth, Fire and Water. If my supposition is correct, how she could achieve this?

Chakra Nature affinities are hereditary. That is why, as you referred, people from the same village or clan generally possess affinity toward the same nature (Uchiha's have a natural affiliation with the Fire Nature). This means that genetically, the affinity is passed from generation to generation, being the one that you are naturally connected to. Despite this, it may be possible for shinobi to have affinities that are different from the ones possessed by their parents, although I cannot remember any examples.

However, shinobi are not limited to the nature toward which they have a natural affinity. So one can also master other Chakra Natures through practice. Generally, shinobi at Jounin level have mastered more than one Chakra Nature.

Having said that, given the amount of time and practice taken for one to master a Chakra Nature, it is practically impossible to master all five Natures (unless you possess the Rinnegan, the Bashousen, or do it the way Kakuzu did).

You can also check out this question, that though not exactly the same, may answer some doubts you may have.

As for the examples you provide:

Sasuke has a natural affinity toward Fire Nature (as all Uchiha), and trained in order to master Lightning Nature. However, given how well he masters Lightning Nature, I'd say he may well have had a natural affinity toward it to start with.
Kakashi's natural affinity is toward Lightning Nature, and he masters other Natures through practice, presumably with the help of the Sharingan (in copying and understanding other shinobi's jutsu).
Whether Naruto's affinity toward Wind Nature is hereditary or not is unknown, since we do not know what affinities Minato and Kushina were born with (both were proficient in Wind Nature transformation, but also in other Natures: Kushina in Water Nature, and Minato in Fire and Lightning Natures).
As for the variety of Konoha's shinobi's affinities, check out this comment from Madara.
As for the case of Mei Terumi, I do not think it is known whether her affinities and Kekkei Genkai were obtained naturally or through practice.


Why is Saber wearing a white wedding dress and why was she posed like that? In the 2014 Fate Stay Night anime, Saber was under the control of Caster and was posed like this:

Was there any actual reason for this or was it merely fanservice? How was this explained in the original Visual Novel?

The reasons are twofold. The original visual novel, which is what the anime was based on, was an eroge. Naturally, scenes like these would appear. This scene came straight from the visual novel with minor differences.

The second reason has to do with Caster's identity.

   Caster's real identity is Medea. Her life was full of betrayal and her innocence was taken away from her when she was young. Her backstory indicates that the reason why she put Saber in such an embarrassing position with the dress was because she essentially wanted to do the things that was done to her to Saber. The difference is that she wanted to make Saber her slave and make Saber betray Shirou out of her own free will. She didn't want to control her forcibly with the Command Spell, an analogue to how Aphrodite forced her to become Jason's lover with her powers. The dialogue in the Visual Novel also shows why she put her in such a dress and why she had taken a liking to Saber. She wanted the white dress to represent Saber's virginity, and she wanted her to succumb to sexual pleasure while staying a virgin forever.

Without spoiling, the scene was not mere fanservice. Rather, it has to do with Caster's past. The things that Caster did to Saber were the things that happened to her in her past life.


Who is the first Oppai Loli ever featured in anime and manga? The first time I ever saw Oppai Loli is Hestia from Danmachi. But, is Hestia the first Oppai Loli in anime and manga? Was there an Oppai Loli before her?

Note: this answer uses the term "loli" as defined by Japanese anime fans: it's either age-related or appearance-related (AniOta), or to the extension of either childlike face, short height, no waist, loli voice, or even deformed (pixiv).

Hestia is probably the first character that's called ロリ巨乳 (LOLI kyonyuu, big-breasted loli) in-universe, which is a famous term characterizing her physical trait, but there were many oppai loli before her.

Here are articles on AniOta Wiki (Japanese), Nico Nico Pedia (Japanese) and pixiv dictionary (Japanese) that list oppai loli characters with their traits. Here is a Google Sheets made by me for compiling a list of oppai loli characters based on those sources.

Based on AniOta Wiki, Nico Nico Pedia, pixiv Dictionary (+ some YouTube videos), Saori Kido, a 13-year old girl from Saint Seiya (December 1985) is the earliest oppai loli character.

Image courtesy of Wikipedia


What number comes after the Godaime Hokage? I'll make a spoiler block of it all, since this can be a spoiler to anyone who hasn't seen/read the Pain and the Five Kage Summit arcs.

   After Pain's attack on Konoha, Tsunade exhausted her power and Danzo was nominated as Rokudaime Hokage. This lasted for a very short period (Danzo died fighting Sasuke) and Tsunade soon recovered and was, once again, appointed as the Hokage. So next will/should come the Rokudaime again and Danzo should be ignored, or should we move on to the Shichidaime/Nanadaime (not sure about this) Hokage?
 I ask this because some people and sites consider Danzo only a temporary Hokage (in this logic we're still missing the 6th, so the next should be it). However, something similar has happened with the succession from 3rd (Hiruzen) to 4th (Minato) and back to 3rd (and later came Tsunade, the 5th). From this point of view, the next to succeed should be the seventh.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

As we now know, Danzo was only considered to be a temporary Sixth Hokage (Rokudaime).

 After the Fourth Shinobi World War, Kakashi becomes Konoha's Sixth Hokage (Rokudaime Hokage)

Whereas:

 Several years later, Kakashi decided to step down and selected Naruto to be the Seventh Hokage, thus making him the Nanadaime Hokage


Whom is Shiki talking to in the dream where he meets a serial killer (in the Kohaku route)? In Tsukihime's Kohaku route, Shiki falls asleep and has a "dream" after the welcoming party.

In it, he (or SHIKI) encounters another serial killer. They drink coffee bought from a vending machine together and have a conversation. Afterwards, the other killer decides to leave the city, believing that there would be trouble if the city had two serial killers.

I'm wondering who this other person was, and if they, too, were sent by the same person who sent Nrvnqsr Chaos to kill Arcueid Brunestud. (I remember reading about it the other day, but I can't remember who; I know for sure it wasn't Roa.)

Tohno Shiki (who is really Nanaya Shiki) is meeting with Tohno Shiki (who is really Tohno Shiki) in that scene. They don't recognize each other.

  SHIKI catches a drugged Shiki going berserk and killing some people in a back alley. Both have coffee on a park bench while discussing life and how they both fit into the world, and joking with each other like friends. SHIKI even points that Shiki reminds him of his precious childhood friend, not realizing that he is the same person. In the end, SHIKI does try to start a fight, but Shiki tells him that he's superior in a fight to the death. Surprisingly, he agrees with him, and decides to give up and leave town for good.

Source: http://typemoon.wikia.com/wiki/SHIKI_Tohno#Kohaku.27s_route


Why does Ed and Al's mom cost so much to transmute? I get it's all equivalent exchange ,but logic dictates that to bring a soul you must lose a soul (Al's) and to make the materials into a body you would need to destroy a body (Al's again) but why was Ed's leg taken?

I mean if it was about the size of the person they should both be disintergrated and there mom alive. But it seems arguably more than enough to bring her back. And I get that the point of human transmutation is that it is impossible to bring someone back from the dead, but shouldn't Ed be unscathed?

What happened to Al and Ed's Leg was the result of the Rebound

  Since the alchemical forces being manipulated are not human in origin, but of the world as a whole, the consequences for attempting to bypass the Law of Equivalent Exchange in transmutation are not merely failure and cessation. When too much is attempted out of too little, what occurs is called a Rebound, in which the alchemical forces that are thrown out of balance on either side of the equation fluctuate wildly of their own accord in order to stabilize themselves - taking or giving more than was intended in often unpredictable and catastrophic ways such as accidental mutation, serious injury or death.

Source: Alchemy - Rebound

what happened was that Ed and Al had all the Materials collected for an average adult body, whether or not this matched Trisha's body isn't the problem but what they gave up for the Soul, a couple drops of blood.

This is hinted on when Ed is talking to Rose about what makes a human and how Cornello's "miracle" to bring the dead back to life is no act of god.

  Ed:
  Water, 35 liters. Carbon, 20 kilograms. Ammonia, 4 liters. Lime, 1.5 kilograms. Phosphorous, 800 grams. Salt, 250 grams. Saltpeter, 100 grams. Sulfur, 80 grams. Fluorine, 7.5. Iron, 5. Silicon, 3 grams. And trace amounts of fifteen other elements.

  Rose:
  What's that?

  Ed:
  It's all the ingredients of the average adult human body, down to the last specks of protein in your eyelashes.
  And even though science has given us the entire physical breakdown, there has never been a successful attempt at bringing a human to life.
  There's still something missing, something scientists haven't been able to find in centuries of research.
  So what makes you think that hack-job priest with his parlor tricks is going to be able to?
  And in case you're wondering, all those ingredients can be bought on a child's allowance.
  Humans can be built on the cheap.
  There's no magic to it.

  Rose:
  Well if there's no magic, then you bring someone back to life!

  Ed:
  Just a matter of time, Rose.
  Science will find a way.
  Science is the answer to everything.
  If I were you, I'd drop the scriptures and pick up an alchemy book.
  We're the closest thing to gods there are.

Source: Fullmetal alchemist >01. Those Who Challenge the Sun

What Ed is referring to is the Soul. while scientists in Fullmetal Alchemist can measure all the stuff needed to make a human body the problem arises that there is no equivalent for a soul. even in real life the existence of the Soul is debated because there is no way to confirm it's existence or even measure it to determine what would be of equal value.

Even Ed wasn't sure when they did it

  Ed:
  Just hold out your finger, okay?
  What's a soul, really?
  When you take out the myth, it's just the spark that starts life.
  This is our blood.
  From her blood.
  That's a fair trade.

Source: Fullmetal alchemist >03. Mother...

so anyway, back to the rebound. It wasn't a fair exchange as a couple drops of blood wouldn't equal a soul so Al's entire body, soul included, was taken along with Ed's leg by the wildly fluctuating equation taking more than it should in it's attempt to stabilize.

we can even call the end result to be a cause of the rebound, Trisha was given "life" but her body wasn't properly reformed as her organs outside her body not to mention there is no way to confirm if Trisha's soul has been brought back. in the 2003 Anime we learn that this Trisha did continue to live but as a Homunculus didn't have a soul and was missing parts of her memories while in Brotherhood and the Manga, Ed exhumes Trisha's body which Pinako buried and Ed learns that what it wasn't Trisha as her hair colour and bone structure were different.


Can I watch Digimon Tri without seeing Digimon Adventure 02? When I was young, approximately 1998–2001, I watched the original Digimon Adventure. I also later (approximately 2003) watched Digimon Tamers, but I never did watch more than a few episodes of Digimon Adventure 02.

For nostalgia's sake, I'm interested in Digimon Tri, but I have no interest right now in going back to watch Digimon Adventure 02, since it's really long and only available as an unfaithful dub. I know basically who the characters are, but I don't know any of the main plot arcs. Will I be able to understand Digimon Tri without this knowledge?

As of the first Digimon Tri movie, you would be able to understand everything that goes on if you had only seen the very first season of Digimon Adventures, except for a couple momentary flashbacks involving vague glimpses of the Digimon Adventure 02 Digi-destined, but those flashbacks still make no sense for someone who has seen Digimon Adventure 02 anyways due to how vaguely they were shown.

Update from the second movie:

   You will need to know a little about the conflicts that happens in Digimon Adventure 02 as we see Ken Ichijouji appear, in the present day, towards the end of the second movie as the Digimon Emperor, which is quite contradictory if you have seen enough episodes of Digimon Adventures 02. Strangely however, he never speaks. The reason why he doesn't speak, or why he is even the Digimon Emperor again, is still a mystery until the third movie is released


What will happen if Aizawa uses his quirk on Invisible Girl? There's an image meme posted on r/Animemes:

  If Aizawa's quirk nullifies others' quirk, what will happen if he uses it on Invisible Girl?

According to this,

  his quirk doesn't work on Mutation-Class quirks, which are distinguished by permanent alterations to the body. Invisibility is one of those that are classified as Mutation-Class.


What's true main story of "Yu-Gi-Oh" series before it was about TCG? I have read the original of Yu-Gi-Oh series ( The First Generation ). It surprised me that the first chapter ( about 1 to 10 chapters of Yu-Gi-Oh ) it's not about a TCG (Trading Card Game) which people nowadays familiar with. Formerly, the main story is about Yugi and his penalty game, beating some bad guy, compare it with GX, 5D, Zexal, and Arc V which are already about TCG and Duel from the very first chapter.

Does Yu-Gi-Oh actually not a series about TCG from the first ? Why did they change the concept of story all of sudden ? if it's not,  Why the first chapter of the story is not about TCG ?

In the initial stages of the manga, Yu-Gi-Oh was more or less supposed to be a horror manga. Although the end result was a manga about games, it was clear that some horror elements influenced certain aspects of the story. It was later decided that "battle" be the primary theme. Since there were a lot of "Fighting/Combat" based manga, it was in a way difficult to come up with something original. Hence it was decided to create a fighting based manga where the main character does not hit anybody.

Hence, the early chapters of Yu-Gi-Oh feature a variety of different games; but from chapter 60 (volume 7) onwards, the most common game that appeared as a plot device was the Duel Monsters card game (formerly known as Magic & Wizards) through the Duelist Kingdom and Battle City tournament arcs; receiving elevated plot relevance in the latter arc.

Other games still appear during the DDD and Memory World portions of the manga and gaming, in general, is often referred to; the modern card game being a recent fad in Japan imported from the United States within the original story.

Reference


Is Pikachu on a diet? I noticed that Pikachu evolved a little over time.
I wonder why he changed his form so much, so I'm a bit worried about Pikachu.

It's most likely a matter of different character designers over the different generations of the franchise. The original design was created by Game Freak's (original game's designers) character development team and finalized by artist Ken Sugimori. The games themselves had changes in Pikachu's designs, which were in turn mirrored by the anime:

 "Green and Red", 1996

 "Blue", 1996

 "Yellow", 1998

 "Gold", 1999

 "Ruby and Sapphire", 2002

 "Diamond and Pearl", 2006

 "Platinum", 2008

 "HeartGold and SoulSilver", 2009

Ken Sugimori is also one of the character designers for the first TV series from 1997. In 2002, Pokemon Advance had Sayuri Ichiishi as the character designer. And in 2006, Pocket Monsters and 2010's Black and White has Toshiya Yamada in charge of character designs.

 from the "Advance" generation


Does anyone know about the photo on Lis's wall? In episode 7 of Sword Art Online, we get to see Lisbeth's smithy. On the announcement board, there is a pinned photo of her with three other people, but in that photo, she is a little kid.

Does anyone know how this happened?

It's supposed to be her old crew where she worked as a blacksmith. However, as the series went on, a lot of people died, so I suppose those 4 or 5 people were the ones who died.


After having watched the movies of Broken Blade, where should I start reading the manga? Are there any differences? In which chapter did the 6th movie of Broken Blade (Break Blade) end?  Is it necessary to read the manga from the start, or did the anime stay faithful to it?

Short answer: the anime differs heavily from the manga starting from the 5th movie with the scene surrounding Rygart’s village. So, I’d recommend reading from chapter 27 (it starts with Girge’s past).

The producers of the anime likely wanted to end that arc with 6 movies. However, to be faithful to the manga you would need at least 1 more movie which is why they compressed and bent the story accordingly. So, you will find some scenes in the manga that seem similar to the anime, but they play out mostly completely differently and under a different context.
This is just my opinion, but starting from that diversion, the anime became a mess, especially with what they did with Rygart’s fight against Girge that makes you want to punch our protagonist.
The first 4 movies however cover the manga very closely. So, you don’t need to read the manga from the start if you’re fine with missing some details.
There are a few differences I’d like to point out, though:

Sigyn’s action of why she takes in Cleo (after the latter
became a captive) is better explained in the manga (read chapter 16
if you’re interested).

Remember that scene where Sigyn tells Cleo the story of
Rygart and Hodr trying to sneak into the girls’ dormitories? In the
manga, she confesses to Cleo in a roundabout way that she loves
Rygart (see chapter 28).

Rygart’s a bit more level-headed in the manga (although
not much more) and it's more apparent that he has a hard time trying to deal with his naive action of saving an enemy that ended with an ally soldier being killed. His „stupid“ (or call it
‚naive‘) actions are a bit more reasonable and there are also fewer
of them, e.g. when Rygart’s been asked about the newly captivated
Cleo, he doesn’t say to just let her free but talks about her
overdeveloped body (see ch. 16).

Remember Nike, that crazy girl? If you found her sadistic side
annoying, you will probably accept it more in the manga as it’s
less shown and not so extreme.


Why couldn't the Dark Release: Inhaling Maw absorb Rasen Shuriken Technique ? Towards the end of Naruto Shippūden 3: Inheritors of the Will of Fire Hiruko failed to absorb Naruto's rasenshuriken technique.

Dark Release: Inhaling Maw technique is described as a technique which can forcibly extract the physical and spiritual energy of another ninja, even from a considerable distance. Yet it is mentioned that when Hiruko tried to absorb Naruto's Wind Release: Rasenshuriken, he was unable to combine the shape and nature manipulation, and the technique fell apart, meaning the user of this technique has to match the level and nature of the jutsu he's trying to absorb.

But Hiruko could simply drain Naruto of his chakra, disabling him from using whatever technique he had up his sleeve.

I'm feeling a gap here. Without understanding what happened there,(I can understand Naruto being gutsy, forceful and all), but a forceful ending of the movie would make me feel a bit unhappy ! I'll be glad if someone explains it to me. Thank you. :)

First of all, take all of this with a grain of salt. The movie is entirely filler, and was not explicitly explained anywhere.

When Hiroku tried to absorb and use the Rasenshuriken, the process of combining this specific nature with that specific shape was too hard for him. Remember that Naruto needs 2 additional clones and a significant amount of time to generate a rasenshuriken. When Hiroku tried, the technique blew up in his hand, and he didn't have the time to do anything else.

As for Hiroku disabling Naruto's chakra, remember that Naruto is the jinchuuriki of the Nine Tails, even if Hiroku could absorb such an incredible amount of chakra without being overwhelmed, The Nine Tails' hatred infused chakra is poisonous.

On a more "producer"ish note, Naruto had to win somehow...


How do 3D objects coincide with traditional 2D animation? I was watching an episode of Shirobako. I love how the anime gives you a slight in-depth view on the production process. However, something I can't get my mind around is those few segments that involve CGI (in anime in general) with the interaction of traditional 2D animation such as stationary or moving objects.

In the episode, a scene in Exodus where the girls rides a jeep while avoiding explosion was shown in key animations/"genga": http://sakuga.yshi.org/post/show/10903.

As you can see, the 3D bike and characters basically move together on a plane. Could it be that the bike is animated frame by frame in traditional animation somehow? Or the other way around? Or could it be more technical than those?

The bike can be animated in a 3D model editor application and overlayed upon the ready 2D frames. It doesn't really matter which application both come from, since they can all export frames to static images. 3D editors have motion direction, of course, or else we would not see much 3D movies. And you can not add anything else aside from the main 3D mesh with applied texture, so that the background will be transparent upon frame export.  You know how they have those "layers" in Photoshop? Well, that is it. One of them comes from 2D app, the other from 3D. Nothing special.

Images taken from this Autodesk 3ds Max™ tutorial showing how not much of a rocket science it is to create 3D scenes with transparency (click images for full resolution):

The image with transparent background and white shadow with gradual transparency changing, after exporting from a 3D editor, can be imported into a 2D editor (such as Adobe Photoshop) and be laid over some colored rectangles like this:

We also have sites like GraphicDesign on StackExchange Questions and Answers sites network that ask questions on similar topics with such illustrations:

You say "traditional animation", but that really means collaging paper elements on a table, taking a shot of the scene and later on gluing together the resulting frames into a cinema roll. You must want to know about the modern day way, so that is what I described above.

Older animation techniques require the use of celluloid sheets, which are transparent sheets of plastic, to make the things simple. Are you familiar with the term cel-shading? Well, this is where the modern day 3D animation technique comes from − the older days method of drawing the outline of objects on a cel sheet. It goes something like this: You draw the black outline and the fill inside areas with colored paint. Then you place it above the scene image and move around or swap for other cels with different character poses.

There are a number of techniques used to overlay 3D objects onto ready frames of anything else, used by all sorts of "magicians" in their shows. You could ask google how they did it before computers and find out something new.


What's the song at the beginning of episode 40 of Assassination Classroom? The song at the beginning of Assassination Classroom episode 40 starts from 0:06 when Karma gasps, and stops playing at 0:58, then the theme song "Bye Bye Yesterday" starts.

What's the song at the beginning called?

解き明かされる謎
Tokiakasareru Nazo

https://soundcloud.com/xlukis/02-tokiakasa-reru-nazo

A quick note... On Youtube this claims to be from the Second Season OST, which i could not find on Amazon or in fact any of the usual places i go for track lists. there is a version on the First Season OST (track 19 not 2) which is a slower version of the same thing but is not what you're looking for. Sorry i couldnt find you a purchase link but hopefully this will help you in some way.


Why does Naruto not get a curse mark? In the Boruto manga, Boruto got a curse mark for killing/defeating an Otsutsuki clan member (Momoshiki). Why did Naruto not get a Mark for killing/defeating Toneri?

The reason is that Toneri is not dead.

He just went into self imposed exile, and he also makes an appearance in Boruto anime series.
When he sees a comet passing into a constellation, he predicts that Boruto will play a key role in the fateful events to come.


How did Sasha not blow off Samuel's leg? When the colossal Titan attacks the city of Trost in Season 1 Episode 5, We see everyone working on the cannons blown off the wall by the steam. Samuel gets knocked off too, but he is unconscious, so Shasha runs down the wall and saved him with the ODM gear by shooting his leg but how was his leg not totally gone by that. We've seen the hook have enough force to go tough concrete so why didn't it go thought the other side and though the bones? we also know what the hook looks like and no way it would be stuck in his calf. The hook looks like this

Yes, it looks big but also it's not this big since its close up to the screen but the hook is big so how did it not completely destroy his leg?

How did Sasha not blow off Samuel's leg? Simply because the hook is not the same as a high-caliber bullet. Even among bullets, only those powerful enough have the capacity to sever someone's limbs off. I have never seen a hook, or something similar like a spear or arrow, that can blow off someone's limbs. If you notice during the anime and manga, the hook does not explode when it latches unto something so I don't see why someone should expect it to blow off someone's leg.

The hook is not as big as it seems and might I ask: how did you know that it didn't go through his leg? Because it was never depicted, both in the manga and anime, that it didn't go through. The hook could have gone through the leg then slid and latched to a bone in Samuel's leg. It is possible that this happened in less than a few seconds. It is also possible that hook did not hit the bone as it went through.

To prove my point that it does not explode, look at the wounds on Samuel's leg. You can see that it pierced his flesh cleanly.

Here is that same scene as depicted in the manga.

And to show you how small that 'big hook' actually is, notice its size (encircled in red) compared to the ODM Gear part attached on the back of the hips (also encircled in red):

The hook has enough force to penetrate deep enough into concrete, yes, but not all the way through. It is not as powerful as you think, only enough so that the hook can latch unto something. If it was, then they would have used it as a weapon too.


In JoJo: Diamond is Unbreakable, why didn't Joseph use Hermit Purple to find Kira's new identity? The whole point of bringing Joseph to Morioh was to make him use Hermit Purple.

So why didn't he use it to find Kira after he changed his appearance?

It's because Joseph Joestar is growing senile.
Stands are the manifestation of the user's spirit.
Remember that episode when Polnareff became young because of
Alessi's Stand? Silver Chariot was weak when he was a kid.

Durability or Permanence is a category in a stand stat which also affects stands as they age too or when not in practice. (A great example would be Star Platinum's initial 1.5 second Timestop turned 2.0 seconds by the middle of Part 4. After the events of Part 6, Jotaro trained himself again to protect those he needs as he have learned in Part 4. He later regained his 5 second time stop, the maximum seconds the human body can achieve.)

So in a sense, if a stand user grows old, it affects also their stands. Likewise, if a stand is not used that much, it gets weaker. Hermit Purple is the stand manifestation of Hamon. As there are no more threats, vampires, and Aztec demigods, Joseph Joestar didn't use it that much (also Joseph Joestar isn't the kind of person to practice. He relies on his cunning). Should he still practice it, I bet he'd still look young even on his 50s in Part 3 just like Lisa Lisa.

On a hindsight, Hermit Purple's ability to search Stand Users was hazy because there are a lot of Stand Users in Morioh. Just like when he tried to divine Kira but found Angelo instead.

TL;DR Joseph Joestar can't use Hermit Purple efficiently because he is old and doesn't practice it that much.


What's the song when the army returned defeated in episode 1 of Shingeki no Kyojin? In episode 1 around 9:14, there's a song playing when the army returned from outside the wall defeated.

What's the song title?

The soundtrack you're looking for is called Shingeki pf20130218 Kyojin (link). However, the melody you mentioned does not immediately start.


Why did the storm dragon's name change from Verudora to Veldora in the anime? In the first episode of That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, we are introduced to a storm dragon named "Verudora" (episode 1, time code 16:38 at Crunchyroll). From episode 2 onward, the dragon's name was altered to "Veldora". The show's English wikipedia article shows his/her name in Japanese as "(ヴェルドラ Verudora)". So why did the production company start with one pronunciation and immediately switch to another on the next episode? I remember that some reviewers on YouTube had problems pronouncing the dragon's name for that first episode, but it's really not that hard, just four short syllables, each ending with a vowel.

(Note that I went ahead and asked my question, knowing that the episode 1 sub script has already been altered in the last few weeks to use "Veldora", just like all the other episodes.)

The japanese writing system doesn't have a symbol for just the l sound. The closest they have are the symbols in the r column in the kana table. The u row is most often used when the vowel is silent. So you end up with ru: ル. Which means that if you ask someone to write Veldora in katakana they would effectively write Verudora.

However when translating to a latin alphabet and you only have the katakana to base yourself on you must try and divine what the author wanted with the name. Official translators can ask the author though sometimes there is a delay with the reply. So the translators have to go with something until they got the official answer back.


What is the size of the crater left by the explosion in episode 26? In episode 26 of the anime, Silver/Ooguro/Tatsuya annihilated the Chinese fleet in one shot with Material Burst. No wonder his aunt had his ability locked...

What is the size of that crater? It was shown in satellite images to have eaten a piece of the coastline! Estimate from a screenshot if no source exists.

Since it was at the sea, of course the crater is filled with.... duh, seawater.

So by the images of episode 26, how big was the blast Ooguro caused?

The easiest solution to this would be if the light novels gave us a concise answer, but of course, nothing in life is that easy.

But while the light novels don't give us an accurate size of the crater, they do give us the equivalent energy - 20 megatons (20,000 kilotons) of TNT:

  Repeating Kazama's order, Tatsuya pulled the trigger on Third Eye.From within Tsushima Base, across the strait, directly into Zhènhai
  Naval Port. Tatsuya's magic transformed 1 kg of matter directly into energy.

  In accordance with Einstein's Formula, the heat energy equated to
  approximately 20,000,000 tons of TNT.

  – Volume 7 - Yokohoma Disturbance II, Chapter 13

Now using this, we can approximately calculate a blast radius.

To get my results, I used this simulation here - http://nuclearsecrecy.com/nukemap/. First off, I ran a couple of tests by plugging in the data from real-life detonations to see how accurate it was:

Test 1: Ivy Mike Test - Actual crater diameter: 1900m Result from simulation: 1680m - 88% accurate
Test 2: Castle Bravo Test - Actual crater diameter: 2000m Result from simulation: 1900m - 95% accurate
Test 3: Sedan Test - Actual crater diameter: 390m Result from simulation: 360m - 92% accurate

Given this information, we can assume that the simulation is roughly 90% accurate, giving an error margin of ±10%.

Setting the yield as 20,000 kilotons, with an airburst of 17m (the beam height of a typical modern Chinese ship, or the height at which the flag would be flying) leaves us with a result of a crater diameter of 2100m, which, accounting for error, could be anywhere between 1890m and 2310m.

As for the blast itself, the simulation lists the fireball as having a diameter of 6400m, which following the previous error margins could be between 5760m and 7040m. These and other statistics are all from the simulation and are viewable upon following this link.

In the picture below, the blast is still only just beginning, and if we assume the ships in the shot are the same length as a typical modern Chinese ship (~155m), these numbers seem definitely feasible.

TL;DR: The crater would be approximately 2.1km across.

Granted, this simulation is for a nuclear blast and not a mass of pure energy, but since the energy released is the same, the results should be more or less equivalent.


What are the origins of Naruto's stomach's double tetragram seal? The center pattern looks like an Aztec symbol for rebirth but I'm wondering: How did Kishimoto come up with this exactly?

I can't seem to find any official information as to where the Eight Trigrams Sealing Style originated or was based on.

However, here's a theory.

As you may know, Naruto has many influences from Buddhism and Hinduism: the Multiple Lotus Nonself Connected Cannons, The Six Paths of Pain, Formation of Ten Thousand Snakes and the Chakra, to name a few, were based on Buddhist and Hinduist beliefs.

With that, I say that it's possible it might be inspired from the Dharmachakra or the wheel of Dhamma. A comparison of the seals are shown below:

According to Wikipedia, it is connected to the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path, both of which are teachings to help a person escape the painful cycle of rebirth, if I understand correctly.


How did the Incubators start making Magical Girls? The deal the Incubators make to girls is that by granting one wish that a girl desires they become a Magical Girl and fight Witches.

We know that Witches are in fact Magical Girls, so I am wondering how did the Incubators first start making the Magical Girls when there were no Witches to fight (as there were no Magical Girls to become Witches)?

Witches are not needed for the Incubators. Witches are needed for the survival of the magical girls. The Incubators could not care less about what happens to the magical girls as long as there are enough girls to turn into Puella Magis.

The sole purpose of the Incubators making Puella Magis is to generate energy. There would be no need to have witches.

Of course, there is another explanation. Familiars can form from Puella Magis before they turn into a witch. Since Familiars can become witches themselves, it's possible for the first Puella Magis to encounter witches.


Why didn't Sarutobi kill Danzo? As I'm watching these filler episodes, I am wondering, why was Danzo still alive, after doing all the things he did to The Third? He hid a Wood style user, he tried to assassinate Sarutobi (not even once), he tried to lure the Anbu forces to join the Federation, he tried to manipulate the Hokage election after the death of Minato, and so on (just from these couple of episodes, without mentioning the whole "rivalry" between them).

The Third was aware of the situations, since he warned Danzo a lot of times. So even if he was a member of the Hokage's council, why did Sarutobi endure the disrespect and danger that came from Danzo? I would've been pleased even with a ban from the Village, but given what he had done, Sarutobi could've eliminated Danzo without any efforts.

Danzo was, in his own way, protecting the Hidden Leaf.

Danzo would normally do the "dirty work" and handle with that "black ops" of the Hidden Leaf, thus keeping the village officials clean.

They had their disagreements, and yes Danzo did act in order to dispose of the Third and have control over the Hidden Leaf, but Hiruzen always believed that all he's doing was for the best of the village, so he let it slide.


What are the transmutation circles in Fullmetal Alchemist based on, if anything? The transmutation circles in Fullmetal Alchemist always looked familiar to me, but I could never place my finger on why. What, if anything, are they based on?

This site has a note about "Squaring the circle", describing a utilization of circles:

Attributed to Michael Maier, a German alchemist from the 17th century. That gives you the generalized "simple" transmutation circle:

The symbols used in some of the more complex circles are old alchemic symbols or variations of them. I don't know of a complete list of them but some of them can be seen in Annibal Barlet's works or other symbols from the 17th century. The inscriptions themselves seem to mostly come from George Ripley's 12 Gates.


Can Naruto create unlimited Rasenshurikens anytime in future? Naruto's Sage Technique is just a free form energy with which he manipulates the wind-natured chakra in Rasengan to create Rasenshuriken. However, it used to be the case that he only managed to create maximum of 2 Rasenshurikens by adding his wind chakra before his Sage Mode came to an end.

If he is granted unlimited chakra from Kyuubi, can he create unlimited number of Rasenshuriken?

No, I don't think so. I believe that Kyuubi's chakra isn't unlimited.

   First, Kyuubi cares, that Naruto wastes it's chakra. Second, Hachibi's fight against Sandaime Raikage suggests, that the chakra of a beast isn't unlimited, because Hachibi was knocked out because of exhaustion. Because the beasts are pure chakra, I think that would mean, that it has too less chakra.


Is the Shinigami dead? As per Narutopedia,

  Orochimaru proceeded to don the mask which invoked the Shinigami to possess his body. Orochimaru then cut open the Shinigami's stomach, a wound reflected on his own body, to release the trapped contents inside the Shinigami

We know that Orochimaru used Wood clones (White Zetsu) to escape from the death. What happened to the Shinigami who got the same wounds? I know that Shinigami means 'Death God', but, nowhere it's mentioned that it's immortal.

Shinigami means 'God of Death'. I think it is reasonable to assume that God is above death or birth.

However to look at this objectively in the light of the manga, the shinigami is summoned by the Dead Demon Consuming Seal. Since it only acts as a container of souls, any impact on physical world should not reflect permanently in the spirit world. Additionally, it might be possible that on each invocation of the seal, a different shinigami is summoned. In which case, we cannot really say anything about the fate of a particular shinigami.

I will also propose another hypothesis. I think every person has their own personal manifestation of the shinigami in the Naruto universe. This solves a few problems. Two possible ways to go about it:

Every user summons a different shinigami. The shinigami devours the user's soul as well. Since a body cannot last long without its soul, the body will die soon. This raises two possibilities:

The shinigami dies along with the user. So every shiniami is different. There are as many shinigamis as there are people in the physical world.
The shinigami is immortal. There may be one or more of them.

Both possibilities ensure that any other person's summoning is not affected.
The user can never really summon the real shinigami. This means that every user gets a clone from the spirit world. But this could mean that any impact on a clone might reflect on the real one. Again we must assume that all shinigami must be immortal.
There exists just one real shinigami. And every user summons it with the seal or mask (more on this later). And it must be immortal because of reason stated in point 1.

The third idea seems best supported. The fact that there are several Oni-masks in the Uzumaki Clan's Mask Storage Temple seems to suggest that they might be representations of Gods. Thus the shinigami mask would then be associated with the 'God of Death'. Then it would mean only one 'real shinigami'. Every user summons it with either the seal or the mask. And it is immortal.


In Neon Genesis Evangelion, why are Angels attacking? Why are Angels attacking the earth? What's with "Adam" in the basement? And why are the three computers named after the Three Wise Men?

I love the story for the characters and the mecha-battles, but all the symbolism goes over my head. What's it all about?

Why are Angels attacking the earth?

It may be a cover story that they're attacking Earth, but in reality, they were "born" on Earth from Adam. Both Adam and Lilith were "Progenitors of life" that ended up on the same planet (Earth). The original race that created them had intended that they all land on different planets but Lilith landing on Earth was a mistake (the Classified Information document says that Lilith "crashed", and thus created the Moon). Adam spawned the Angels, while Lilith spawned all the life that exists on Earth, including humanity. The reason the Angels didn't inhabit the planet was because the Lance of Longinus, some type of failsafe device, disabled Adam, and that's how Adam was found in Antarctica:

The exact reason that they are attacking Tokyo-3, or in the case of Gaghiel the Pacific Fleet and Unit-02 (or possibly the embryonic Adam), seems to be for a number of different reasons.

One of the theories thrown around within the show itself is that they're trying to re-unite with Adam, but Adam doesn't arrive in Tokyo-3 until episode 8 in an embryonic form, so the first few attacking Angels were apparently either mistaken that Adam was there or mistook Lilith for Adam (as Kaworu later did in episode 24). There aren't any official explanations on what the Angels were after, and the closest thing is from the Classified Information's Angel section which says: "Some of them were trying to access Lilith and reset all life, some of them had nothing in mind, and some were trying to recover their progenitor Adam."

  What's with "Adam" in the basement?

We are originally told that "Adam" is in Terminal Dogma, deep underneath Nerv HQ. This is what Kaji told Misato in episode 15, along with the tidbit that any Adam derived life that came in contact with the white giant would cause third impact. Later, we find out that the white giant on the cross is actually Lilith.

It's possible that "Lilith" was actually written into the series well after the series was in production, and that it could really have originally have been Adam (like what the original Proposal for the series would suggest). But regardless, if that was the case or not, it's revealed that Adam was discovered in Antarctica, frozen, and when the Katsuragi Expedition started to mess with it, the experiment went out of control causing second impact. During all of this, Adam is seen as a "Giant of Light" in episode 21:

Which looks very much like an Evangelion, which are derived (or cloned, for lack of a better word) from Adam.

So retroactively, it's possibly that Kaji was either lying to Misato to protect her from the truth, or he himself had been misinformed of what the white giant on the cross was.

As far as Kaworu goes, in the "Director's Cut" episode of 24, he was told by Seele where Adam's body was (in Gendo's hand) yet Kaworu still went down to Terminal Dogma, and was somehow expecting to see Adam down there, then was surprised to find Lilith. Not sure why, it doesn't make any sense.

By the time of the End of Evangelion movie, it's revealed that Rei Ayanami had the soul of Lilith, and during the movie she and Lilith's body reunited.

Not sure if all of this really answers your question though.

  And why are the three computers named after the Three Wise Men?

This is simply pedantic by the creators. From an interview with Kazuya Tsurumaki he says, about the Judeo-Christian themes: "There are a lot of giant robot shows in Japan, and we did want our story to have a religious theme to help distinguish us. Because Christianity is an uncommon religion in Japan we thought it would be mysterious. None of the staff who worked on Eva are Christians. There is no actual Christian meaning to the show, we just thought the visual symbols of Christianity look cool."

So the reason if probably that it looked/sounded cool, and that it would fit with the general theme of the rest of the show.


How does All for One's "stealing quirk" work? How does All for One's "stealing quirk" work? Does he have to touch the victim, or can he do it from distance? Is this ever explained in the manga, official book, movie or something?

According to the Boku no Hero Academia Wiki, it is done through touch.

  The process of giving and taking away Quirks is done through touch. People who have their Quirks stolen become Quirkless, losing any sort of abnormal features if they happen to be Mutant types. When quirks are stolen, the victim becomes disoriented and immobile for a short time. Meanwhile, Quirkless people who receive a Quirk through All For One become capable of manifesting all of its attributes.

Source: All For One > Description (2nd Paragraph)


Who do I contact regarding rights licenses of specific manga/anime characters? My company runs a card game in Europe, but we want to start including manga and anime characters. How would we start going about obtaining licences?

We want Akira, Fist of the North Star, Ako, Tank Police, Appleseed, etc.

It's just one image character per card. Does anyone have any details on doing this legally and respectfully, with links, etc?

We can't really help you with the process licensing (since we have no expertise on it, so it's off topic), but we can tell you who the primary IP holder are for their respective media.

Akira, Kodansha

Fist of the North Star, Shueisha

Project A-ko, Seishinsha, A.P.P.P.

Tank Police, Hakusensha

Appleseed, Kodansha

Essentially you'll have to contact the IP holder directly to work things out. You might be able to contact your local license holder to get the contact information of the IP holder. Additionally, if you can reach out to the series creators, they can better refer you to the right person.


What was the first Hentai ever made? I just want to ask what is the first Hentai manga and what is the first Hentai anime?

The history of Japanese hentai manga is very, very old.

For example, The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife (NSFW) was drawn in 1814.
The work is also known as the earliest tentacle erotica.
In 1722, the government created a law to ban hentai manga.
This means hentai manga had already been known in public.

For Japanese hentai anime, Wikipedia entry says Suzumi-fune (1932) is oldest hentai anime.
But well-known oldest hentai anime is the Cream Lemon series.
This series was ranked in the best-seller video list (which contains non-adult videos.)


Are all of the interactions between Angelina and Belle covered in the Angelina Ending? I've been following this walkthrough for Katahane, and I'm do the Angelina Ending, because I brought the game purely to see the romance between Angelina and Belle, however I do plan to get the Wakaba and Coco Endings after (since I'm a completionist).

Are all of the interactions between Angelina and Belle covered in the Angelina Ending? Are there any scenes between them that only viewable in Wakaba's and Coco's Routes?

EDIT: After completing what i think is the Angelina Ending it seems to end abruptly and the Wakaba ending seems to have more of a conclusion to Angelina and Belle, i still got to get the Coco Ending just to check but it seems that maybe the walk through might be lacking with the Angelina ending, also, my friend who made the censor patch said that there are 3 Angelina x Belle H Scenes and the logs state that it's only blocked 2 which she finds strange so she's right now looking though her code just to see if the censor patch blocked and entire section but didn't log it

Apparently not as the Coco Ending has another scene between Angelina and Belle which can not be covered in their ending because

   Cero goes with Light to find Wakaba's script and Sylvia stay's with the girls so it's the guys who are left behind in the White Capital, this leads to Sylvia learning about Coco's ability to hide and retrieve her memories which leads to Coco remembering that Efa had entrusted her Memory Drop and the Dorn Memories with Coco (seen in the secret Kurohane chapter) and giving Efa's Memory Drop to Belle leading to Belle becoming confused in her identity and Angelina admitting her feelings to Belle and ensuring her that she loves Belle because Belle is Belle and not Efa

because of that and how the events seem to be unique to the Coco Ending i very much doubt that the Angelina Ending can cover these even if the walk-through was changed


What is the recommended viewing order of Steins;Gate? I looked up some info about Steins;Gate and there appears to be a new series out, which ended airing in September 2018, called Steins;Gate 0.

Considering there are a bunch of OVAs and alternative cuts, it's not super easy to figure out where the "full" experience is.

What is the recommended order to watch the Steins;Gate set of animated works?

I think like Monogatari series, this is also a bit opinion-based question. However, going with release order is fine.

I would not recommend the chronological order for the first-timers. You will miss the references and 100% spoiled if you look at things like episode discussions.

By nature, Steins;Gate 0 tries to explain a plot point you already know. You can watch the original Steins;Gate and call it a day, but by watching S;G 0 you can get more of it if you want. It's like good old manga/anime discussions; you like the anime, then read the manga to get more of it.

Now, considering that, I think you should watch in this order:

Steins;Gate
Steins;Gate: Kyoukaimenjou no Missing Link - Divide By Zero
Steins;Gate 0

As for the movie and OVA, well, you can watch them after the original Steins;Gate or after S;G 0. But for me, watching it after the original Steins;Gate is better.


What are the other Animal Guides? When Aang was in the Spirit World during the Winter Solstice he refereed to Roku's Dragon as Roku's Animal Guide like how Appa is to him.

I am wondering what are the Animal Guides for the other Avatars? do each Elemental Tribe have a single animal (ie. Air Avatars have Sky Bisons, Fire Avatars have Dragons) do does each Avatar have their own one regardless of elemental origin?

It's impossible to say whether the other avatars had Animal Guides. The only ones we see are Korra's, Aang's, and Roku's. Kyoshi, Kuruk, Yangchen, and Wan were never seen with one. Of those, Wan was the only one we really got a lot of backstory for and he was never seen with an animal guide, though it seemed Ravaa may have been the equivalent for him.

While the earth kingdom avatars are never seen with an animal, if the other three avatar animal guides we've seen are indicative of their respective elements' animal guides then it would be:

Dragons for Fire Avatars
Air Bison for Air Avatars
Polar Bear Dogs for Water Avatars.

There isn't much information that I could find on this subject, so this is the best answer I was able to come up with


Where does the flow of power come from for a Transmutation Circle to work? On the Full Metal Alchemist Wiki under the Category  Alchemy. It says this...

  The circle itself is a conduit which focuses and dictates the flow of
  power, tapping into the energies that already exist within the earth
  and matter. It represents the cyclical flow of the world's energies
  and phenomena and turns that power to manipulable ends.

But does this energy not come from a parallel world on the other side of the gate where alchemy took a different form of science? Did it not come from the lives of those who died in that world? Or is this different in FMA Brotherhood, because I am certain this is what Hohenhiem told Edward in the FMA Anime (2003).

Answers are appreciated. :)

Yes, It's different. The original FMA anime didn't wait around for the manga to catch up (like DBZ did), so it diverged instead.

What you ended up with was 2 completely different endings, and 2 different explanations for why alchemy works:

In the original anime, the explanation was that It came from the other side of the gate.
In the manga and in brotherhood, it came from energy that was already in the earth.


Who is the person in the Akatsuki cloak in Chapter 702? My theory is that the hooded man might be someone new who was also working behind the scenes, but didn't make himself known as Obito and Madara had done or could be someone already introduced as a part of the Uchiha, it could be Madara, or Danzo. So, perhaps even the masked guy isn't Uchiha.

So who do you think it could be?

He is Shin Uchiha

   Shin Uchiha  is a shinobi who was once Orochimaru's follower and also a test subject for genetic experimentation. He intends to revive Akatsuki and return conflict to the world so that humans can once again evolve through it. Despite his surname he is not truly a member of the Uchiha clan. At some point Shin became intrigued by Itachi Uchiha and began to imitate the Uchiha Clan, adopting their surname and customary clothing, as well as numerous Sharingan which have been implanted all over his body. His Sharingan-embedded right arm was harvested by Orochimaru and transplanted to Danzō Shimura along with some of Hashirama Senju's cells. Some time after this Shin left Orochimaru's side, taking most of his clones with him. His treats his clones as son as well as organ donors.

Some speculation say he can be Shisui Uchiha, his body didn't got found yet. He has the reason to hate sasuke because he killed his friend. Maybe Orochimaru helped him to get this eyes in his arm and head, as he done something similar to Danzo.


What happened to all the talking animals in Dragon Ball? I remember Dragon Ball used to have lots of talking, humanoid foxes and the like. Then suddenly, in Dragon Ball Z, the only talking animals I remember are Oolong and Puar.

Is there any explanation for this or is it just a case of author discontinuing an idea?

There are still talking animals in Dragon Ball Z, in the episode Plight of the children, the police officer is an animal, and some of the children are too.

Also, near the end of the Cell Saga, you had a cut to the King of the Earth (a dog), commenting on how much adult Goku, looked like the child Goku who killed King Piccolo.

But the number of talking animals did indeed get reduced.

It kinda goes with the direction Dragon Ball was taking.  It was moving away from being a fanciful, light-hearted comedy to a more serious fighting shonen, and the talking animals fit less and less to the story.


In what order should I watch Sailor Moon series? I've been wanting to start watching Sailor Moon for a while now, but I never knew which is the first and last season.

Can someone tell me where to start and finish?

there are 2 Sailor Moon series. Sailor Moon and Sailor Moon Crystal, the latter being a more faithful adaptation of the manga but still different

  Sailor Moon Crystal is its own canon. It follows the manga more closely than does the classic anime, but also has points where it veered away from the manga content in ways that conflict with both manga canon and classic anime canon.

for episode lists you can look up Wikipedia and watch from the first episode

Sailor Moon Crystal Episode List
Sailor Moon Episode List

currently Sailor Moon covers more of the plot as Crystal has only gotten up to the Death Buster Arc (Season 3 in the original anime).

Should also encourage that if you plan to watch Sailor Moon localized in english, don't watch the DIC Entertainment as this was edited from the original Japanese version where some episodes were dropped, plot points changed, they never did the Shadow Galactica series (the final season) and the biggest thing for me is that

   Haruka (Sailor Uranus) and Michiru (Sailor Neptune) where changed from being lovers to being cousins

Rather seek out VIZ Media's re-release which is more faithful to the original japanese anime with VIZ Media planning to release the final season (currently as of 03/05/2018 they are on the first half SuperS (Season 4))


Do any of the manga from Bakuman exist in real life? Do any of the manga from Bakuman exist in real life? Are there any plans to make some of them? I would especially love to read Classroom of Truth.

There are two direct official adaptations of Bakuman's manga in real life.

Otter 11

As @ʞɹɐzǝɹ said, Otter 11 has been published in Shonen Jump as a oneshot by Takeshi Obata(Art) and Tsugumi Oba(Story), which are the same persons that made Bakuman.

PCP (Perfect Crime Party)

PCP has been adapted as a novel by Takeshi Obata(Art) which is the illustrator of Bakuman, and Sei Hatsuno(Story).


What is the relationship between Hattori and Yuujirou? In Season 1 Episode 22, during the KOOGY complaint scene, their full name was mentioned. Hattori Yuujirou and Hattori Akira. Are they siblings or mere coincidence that they share a surname?

It is not stated in neither  Yuujirou's or Akira's Bakuman Wiki pages nor MAL pages   that they are siblings, the conclusion being that they are not. It may be a pure coincidence. I am not very informed regarding this anime though.

Akira Hattori wiki page

Yuujirou Hattori wiki page

also

Akira Hattori MAL page

Yuujirou Hattori MAL page

As you can see their biographies do not say anything about them being blood-related in any way.

Also in Akira Hattori's wikipage it says:

  Personal Status:

  Marital Status Single

  Relatives Unknown

  Education  Unknown

If one of his relatives would have been mentioned (including Yuujiro) they would have been written in the wiki. Thus we conclude that they are not blood-related.

Moreover this quote:

  The editors in Bakuman are based off of real editors, so the names used just relate to the editors real names. The two aren't related.

  http://bakuman.wikia.com/wiki/Talk:Yujiro_Hattori

shows that they are based on real editors and is a common thing in real life for 2 individuals to have the same family name and to not be blood-related.


How many stars were on Ox King's / Chi Chi's Dragon Ball? In the Dragon Ball series, Goku's Dragon Ball had 4 stars.
How many stars were on Ox King's / Chi Chi's Dragon Ball?

Goku and Bulma got the seven star dragon ball from the Ox king's castle. The Ox king agreed to give them the dragonball if they put out the fire that was destroying his castle. Once the fire was put out by Master Roshi, Bulma then used the dragon radar to locate the dragon ball in the ruins of the castle.

This picture is from the Dragonball manga. It was from chapter 15 on page 9.


Why do so few light novels make it over via timely translation? There is a lot of great series translated by folks like Baka-Tsuki - so, why do series take forever to end up over here, and for that matter, once they're licensed - how come some releases are so spread apart?

Spice and Wolf used to be a 6-month release cycle from Yen Press - it has been reduced now but this is still quite long
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan, and others also find themselves on strange timelines.

Does it really take that long to translate or is there something else here? I've heard things like they're licensed one at a time and they gauge sales before going on.

Light Novels are indeed harder to translate, but that isn't the real cause for their delay. The market for LN is really small outside Japan for a number of reasons so companies aren't interested in publishing them unless they are for very famous franchises (like Haruhi), and even then it's very risky.

As I said, translations and edition arent the reason per se, but that also affects. Translations in sites like Baka-Tsuki, while being done with lots of effort and having lots of stages for correction and quality check, doesn't quite fit the quality expected for a commercial release. Even in Baka-Tsuki the translations takes lots of time to be published, corrected and polished, so you can imagine how long that would take for a commercial-quality release.


What song is played in Naruto Shippuden episode 21 Sasori Real Face at 11:30? What song is played in Naruto Shippuden episode 21 Sasori's Real Face at 11:30 when Granny Chiyo sees Sasori's face. He replies "What's the matter Granny Chiyo are you so filled with emotion you can't speak?"

I found it. It is called Sai's theme.

It's an unreleased OST in the naruto series


Was it ever confirmed canonically that Itachi was a pacifist? Was it ever confirmed officially that Itachi was a pacifist? Narutopedia says the following and I wondered where they got it from...

  Itachi was the first child born to Mikoto and Fugaku Uchiha. His early
  childhood was marked with violence: when he was four years old, the
  Third Shinobi World War waged and he witnessed first-hand many of the
  war's casualties. The death and destruction he experienced at such a
  young age traumatised Itachi and made him a pacifist,

For me, not entirely.

If we base our definition of pacifist or pacifism from Wikipedia, we can read the following:

  Pacifism is opposition to war, militarism or violence.

Yes, Itachi was indeed opposed to war and this was confirmed canonically. In Chapter 400, Madara explains that after Itachi witnessed the Third Great Ninja War:

  That trauma made Itachi into a conflict-hating, peace-loving man.

However, if we look again into a more detailed definition of Pacifism:

  Pacifism covers a spectrum of views, including the belief that international disputes can and should be peacefully resolved...

In the same chapter, Madara revealed that the Third Hokage tried to resolve the dispute peacefully but time ran out. Itachi, however, never did. He had already decided that wiping out the entire Uchiha was the only way to prevent another war.

  ...rejection of the use of physical violence to obtain political, economic or social goals...

Itachi, even though he was forced, massacred his clan in order to try to preserve peace.

So, while he might be a 'conflict-hating, peace-loving man', he is not entirely opposed to using violence to preserve peace. This conflicts some beliefs related to pacifism so with this, I do not think he is entirely a pacifist.


Why doesn't Donflamingo control Luffy? Donflamingo can control people using his strings. Why doesn't he use his ability to control Luffy, or Law instead of fighting them?

I think Doflamingo can only control those who are weaker than him with his strings.

The most powerful man he has been shown affecting with his strings by far is Jozu, but he didn't control him in the same way he did Bellamy, he just froze him still. Jozu couldn't move, but Doflamingo didn't move him around like a puppet either, whether because he couldn't or just didn't bother isn't clear.

I suspect that for people far weaker than Doffy, like Bellamy or Riku, he is able to completely control their movements, for those weaker than himself he is able to stop their movement, but not move them like a puppet, and that those stronger than him, like presumably Kaido, are able to move freely even when he's trying to control them.

Almost no-one in One Piece has any absolute powers, I don't think Doflamingo's puppet ability is magic, I think he is just able to exert a great deal of his strength through his strings. I think Luffy and Law are at the level that Doflamingo could perhaps stop their movements, but he wouldn't be able to puppet them around like Bellamy.


Why was the world of SAO not dominated by good real-life fencers? There are many people in real life who practice fencing for fun. Most of them (at least most of those around me) also play computer games about fighting. Sword Art Online clearly fits into the fighting genre of computer games. I didn't make a survey, but in any game about fencing it is certainly possible to find someone who likes do the same things in real life.

As I recall, in the world of SAO combos are quick, but very predictable, especially the strong ones, and their speed is not above human limits.

As I assume, if one real-life swordsman would get his hands (or his mind) on SAO, he would wreck everyone. One can move his weapon without combos, losing some speed, but getting a huge advantage of being able to use feints. Plus he would be able to stop his attacks to block enemy's blow, etc.

Yes, he would probably be weaker at the beginning due to not knowing the animations yet and most of combos being very short. Plus, he would probably need to get used to the pace of SAO, which may differ from real-life. But at higher levels he could both identify a combo by it's first "frames", plus quickly react. It would also be nearly impossible to hit him unless he doesn't expect an attack.

One could claim that he would lose muscle memory -- he wouldn't, since this process is more mental rather then some change applied to muscles.

Why did this not happen in the novel, why was it dominated by a bunch of Mary Sue-esque characters? Or did I miss something?

First and foremost, the amount of people actively playing the game was really low. From 10000 people at the start, 2000 died in first month and 3000-5000 stayed in starting city from fear of being killed. That leaves only some 3000 who actively played the game and of those only 300 were "on the front lines", with rest lagging behind.

Second, most people who bought the game were hardcore MMO players. Overlap between experienced kendo/fencing players and MMO players is quite small. So the probability of experienced swordsman being dragged into it is small, but not impossible, Kirito being prime example.

But even if such player was found, It wouldn't help him. From the anime adaptation, it might seem that SAO is almost-perfectly realistic simulation. That couldn't be far from truth. In novels, it is stressed multiple times that SAO's physics simulation is actually quite crappy. For example, player cannot just "put on" a coat or "grab" a weapon and liquids are pretty much an eye-candy with minimal physics interactions. I would argue same system would apply to sword fights. SAO sword fights would not be as flashy with people almost flying around. It would be mostly two guys standing still against each other and spamming sword skills and letting those do all the movements. And just hitting someone with sword is not that great if sword skill is not involved. So player's real-world sword experience would be practically useless in this scenario.


Cost of 'Original' vs Adapted Anime Does anime that isn't from a manga or light novel cost more to make than adapted anime? If so, why do they make original anime if studios only want anime that makes money?

If anything, anime adapted from a manga, light novel, or visual novel should cost more to make because there would be costs associated with working with the owners of the original. But make no mistake, studios do only want to release anime that make money.
Why are so many anime based on existing properties?
The focus on anime based on existing properties is not about production cost; it's about risk management.
Whenever you're selling creative work to a mass market, you're taking a huge risk that it won't catch on and you won't make back what you spent on it. If you're selling cola or toilet paper or office furniture, it's relatively easy to do some research, figure out what consumers want, and make that. It's well understood what consumers want out of these products, and you can distill your consumers into a small number of profiles that you can serve by a line with two or three varieties of your product.
But this is much harder when it comes to creative work. You can get together a focus group and give them surveys on what they like about Naruto, One Piece, and Dragon Ball Z, and then try to make an anime series based on that knowledge, but it will fail. Audiences can tell when you're making a creative work based on market research, and they will hate you for it. Well, to be fair, this isn't always true. You can sometimes get away with cloning an existing series, especially with properties aimed at children. It always boggled my mind that Beyblade became so popular when it was such a transparent knock-off of Pokemon, Digimon, Yu-gi-oh, and Monster Rancher. But you can only get away with this for so long; children will grow up, and even the least discerning audience will notice after your third clone of Naruto that you're just repeating yourself. Audiences want certain comfortable tropes to stay in place, but they also want a certain amount of novelty. And no focus group will ever lead you to true originality.
But originality is risky; there's always the chance that audiences won't respond, and your sales will suffer. As one example, consider the two concurrent yonkoma manga of Satoko Kiyuzuki, Shoulder-a-Coffin Kuro and GA Geijutsuka Art Design Class. Both are seinen yonkoma series that started in 2004, which means they were expected to be schoolgirl moe slice of life cuteness. GA is; it's a conventional moe yonkoma about five high school girls having fun at art school. Kuro is not; it's a dark fairy tale with only the lightest of moe elements. Guess which of these two got an anime adaptation?
However, if Kuro had turned out to be a massive breakout success, I'm sure it would have gotten an anime adaptation, because that's why so many anime are based on existing properties: the anime studios let sales of the original work tell them what kind of potential an anime based on the property has, and if the numbers tell the right story, they'll pull the trigger on an adaptation. This is why there are anime based on Oreimo, Oregairu, and One Piece, but none based on The Circumstances Leading to Waltraute's Marriage, The Zashiki-Warashi of Intellectual Village, Guru Guru Pon-chan, or Enmusu (despite the first two being written by A Certain Adjective Noun series author Kazuma Kamachi).
Why are original anime still made if they're so risky?
A lot of us older fans like to focus on the business side of anime, because younger fans tend not to understand how much the business side influences the creative side. They tend to think that anime is always made with the creative impulse at heart and the creative people are in charge, and thus struggle to understand why certain artistic failures happen. I definitely thought this way when I was a younger fan.
But while there is a cutthroat business side to anime, and there is a lot of cynical, money grubbing behavior in the industry, the creators do still have some control, and sometimes, after they go out and rake in the cash for the studio with stuff based on existing properties, they want to exercise their creative muscles a little. Take Cowboy Bebop: if you believe director Shinichiro Watanabe, he was pretty much given free rein to do whatever he wanted with it after the toy companies pulled out, and he made something experimental and original which wasn't a massive financial success, but is beloved by fans. Bandai Visual trusted Watanabe to deliver based on the strength of his premise and his previous successes with Macross Plus and Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory. Madoka? Similar story: director Akiyuki Shinbo, who had just recently finished reaffirming his value to Shaft with Hidamari Sketch and Bakemonogatari, pitched his plan for a new magical girl series to producer Atsuhiro Iwakami, who trusted Shinbo enough that he consciously decided to let Shinbo build his own original work instead of tethering it to an existing property. Iwakami himself says that after helping assemble the team of Shinbo, writer Gen Urobuchi, and character designer Ume Aoki, he purposely stood back and let the creative people work:

ANN: At the Q&A you also mentioned that you had asked Urobuchi specifically to write something "heavy." How much guidance do you offer on the creation process?
AI [Iwakami]: I was the one who said "let's do a show using these creative talents." But after that I don't matter much; it's up to those talents to do their work. If something comes to a stand-still I might intervene, but they did an excellent job and I was very happy seeing the results in episode one. When I saw the character designs that Aoki did, it was exactly what I was hoping for, so everything was in the hands of the creative team.
From Anime News Network

Original anime are riskier to make because there's always a chance they won't catch on with audiences and the studio won't make its money back. But they can also pay off in a huge way. If every single anime that comes out is based on an existing story, there are people who will stop watching anime altogether; they'll either read the original work instead, or they'll move on to an entirely different medium where originality is more prized.


Why did Igneel not attack Acnologia on Tenrou Island? For those who have read the Tartaros Arc.

   In the Tartaros Arc we learn that the Dragons were hiding within the Dragon Slayers since the year 777. Hence, why Natsu and Gajeel could not leave the guild during the battle of Fairy Tail. We learn that they were hiding to build antibodies to prevent Dragon Slayers to turn into Dragons once again and were waiting for a moment to defeat Acnologia. Yet they had their chance to defeat Acnologia on Tenrou Island. Why did they not seize their chance then and there? With Makarov, Gildartz, Laxus around, they would have had a much better chance of defeating him. So why did they not attack on Tenrou Island?

Because the dragons inside dragon slayer's bodies were waiting for The Dragon King festival as that would be the time for them to take action and by then enough antibodies would have generated to prevent Dragon Slayers form turning into dragons

Source : Fairy Tail Manga Chapter 400 Pages 12-18 and
Tartaros arc summary in http://fairytail.wikia.com/wiki/Igneel#Synopsis


How can a clock stop working at 99 o'clock? Yuru Yuri Season 2, Episode 4, 12:16

It stopped working but at 99 o'clock. If it's just the reflection (image) shouldn't it be 88:88? Even if it is inverted it will be 18:66, 66 min, but it is not inverted and after repair it shows the time as 15:49. So is that a mistake or there is something really funny which I am not able to get?

It's rather simple, actually − the electronic controller must have experienced a failure and the memory module ended up with unexpected remaining electrical charge when it started working again, but the clock was not designed to counter this possible error, so it does not reset the memory, which results in impossible time, like in this Russian Elektronika-6 clock:

You could probably get more technically correct answers at Electronics.SE