How to review Naruto before I begin from where I left? I was an ardent fan of Naruto and watched all of its episodes one after another and reached the end of Shippuden at that time. It was 2 years ago I guess and I last watched episode 220 or something... just after reanimation jutsu etc while the world war was going on. Then it became one episode per week and I stopped watching and thought to myself that I will pick it up again when it will be over. Alas! It is still going on but I have heard that it will end by this December. But now I am not sure that I remember the whole story and picking it up again will not be that enjoyable. So maybe I should re watch it whole and skip the filler episodes! That way I can join the current episodes within a month and watch the final as it air.

Or if I watch the Naruto movies, does it have the same story and characters and fill me in on all the important things to know before joining in on the current episodes which are going on nowadays? Movies will save me a lot of time and trouble but will they be enough?

Spoilers in Summary below. Can't seem to get the tags to work
I would recommend watching Naruto and Naruto:Shippuden AGAIN without the filler episodes for maximising your experience.
If you don't have the patience to re-watch, you should start from beginning of the current Saga. From your description I would say that you have watched till Season 10 of the Anime (Epsiode 197-221)
So you can pick up either from Episode 197 or from Episode 222.

Season 10 follows the assemblance of the Kage, the five ninja eading their respective villages, as a result of the actions from the criminal organization Akatsuki as well as the rogue ninja Sasuke Uchiha who has been siding with them.
Season 11 (Epsiodes 222-242) focuses on the ninjas' preparations to the world war against the criminal organization Akatsuki.
Season 12 (Episodes focuses on Naruto's training to control the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox and the first day of the world war against the criminal organization Akatsuki.
Fourth Great Ninja War. Major Events and the M&A Chapters/Episodes

The movies are MOSTLY filler. So it is upto you if you want to watch. This question should answer the order of movie watching.
Where do the Naruto movies fall in the timeline?
Reddit for extended Discussion: Naruto Movies: When to watch
If you want to rewatch without fillers, follow this guide.
How to watch Naruto and Naruto Shipudden Filler Free


Where is Nagi Sanzenin at in this picture below from Hayate the Combat Butler? Where do you think she is at? The place there had an orange gang chair and gray vending machine. The background scene is like a mountain view.

That's from Episode 15 of the second season of Hayate no Gotoku where Hayate, Maria and Nagi all make a trip to the Shimoda Onsen. When they arrive at "Nai" station, somewhere before Shimoda station, Nagi gets off the train to get food, thinking that she'd be able to get back on because of the ticket, but the train leaves.
No idea where "Nai" station is or if it's real. Google maps doesn't appear to list any stations called "ない" anywhere near the vicinity.

Just to clarify, the station's entire name that's listed is simply "Nai". Though
as senshin suggested, it may be related to one of the two existing stations on the Shimoda line.


About the industry: How much does it cost to license a manga outside of Japan? Today I'd like to know what kind of proposition one has to make to a Japanese publisher to have a go at distributing a title in a certain country (outside of Japan).

This article told me how things work in the industry and I pretty much understand that to get a deal, you need sales forecasts, a  distribution channel, a printer … ready to work for you. And you need to be able to tell the Japanese publisher how much he’s going to make throughout the coming months by trusting you to distribute his manga.

What I can’t seem to find though, is what a serious or standardized proposition in the industry is. I mean, what are the rules?! Are there rules stating that no matter what, a certain percentage of your margins should go to the Japanese publisher? Are there predefined sales volumes under which you won’t get a deal? Has anyone here actually seen such a contract? Where can one get his/her hands on one? What about digital distribution?

If any of you can point me in the right direction, tell me who I should ask this to, or highlight existing documentation, I would be absolutely delighted.

The price of licencing a manga/anime varies widely and are set by the distributor or publisher.

(All prices that follows are in US Dollar, and from 2013.)

Jinki:Extend cost only $91,000 to license while Kurau Phantom Memory cost $960,000.

Some studios have very relaxed licencing policies, some even aim to make their product to go truely global.

Simulcast internet streaming rights can be less expensive, with prices around $1,000-$2,000 an episode.

About $3,000 for a few volumes of a pretty low key series. Not the whole series.

Licensing includes the original Japanese company to agree for you to publish it in your region but also encompasses royalty.

That means a certain percent of the title’s price (In U.S. that would be the MSRP), that ranges from the 7% to 8%, minus tax. And a G.M. (Guaranteed Minimum).
Let’s suppose the manga in question is sold at $9.99, since the tax is 8% then the royalty is calculated in 9.1908.

That means that a contract with 7% would pay 0.70 cents per issue, again assuming it’s a $9.99 book. And rounding it up, since the 7% of $9.99 isn’t exactly .70.

I don't really know how many volumes any of the titles in the U.S. market prints so I don’t know an estimate of the GM for the US, but in Spain that would be between 1,000 euros (7% royalty with a GM of 2,000 printed books) and a max of 1,730 (8% and 3,000).

As I said, those are the numbers for the average title, series like “Naruto”, “BLEACH” or “Death Note” have higher GMs but that´s not important since this kind of titles sell well anywhere.


How does Water style function in naruto? So i get that with fire and lightning style you generally create a flame or electric current by turning the chakra into energy and with wind style you breathe in air but how does chakra create earth and water for those styles? we see that some use water that they drink much like gamatatsu and other jutsu depend on water near you but what about the shinobi who just spit out massive amounts of water without having any around or without being able to store it inside of them by drinking? is it like summoning from somewhere else or is it more along the lines of creating actual mass out of nothing?

In the Naruto-verse, chakra can be converted into all forms of nature. That's the logic of the Anime. A user with affinity to any chakra nature can create that element using his/her chakra. Water release is no exception. Ninja's with an affinity to water nature type can use their chakra to create water. However, the amount of water they create depends on how much chakra they have.


Does Minato still have Yin-Kurama? I thought Minato kept Yin-Kurama because I heard that Minato gave Naruto most of his nine tails chakra, but not all of it.

I wonder if Minato still has some of the Yin-half Kurama. If not please explain it to me.

I don't believe he does.

During the final battle, Madara largely succeeded in his goal of extracting Kurama out of Naruto.  This meant that Naruto was going to die if something weren't done.

Enter Minato and Yin Kurama.  A transfer of Yin Kurama was made into Naruto from Minato so that he would survive having Yang Kurama extracted from him.

It isn't the case that Minato contains Kurama any longer.


Does that weird translucent thing the girls wear serve any specific purpose? So, in Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei (i.e. The Irregular at Magic High School), the girls' school uniform incorporates this strange translucent cape-like feature. See, for example:

That translucent cape-thing is very unusual as far as school uniforms go - I've never seen anything like it. Does it serve any particular purpose in the context of the show (like, it makes you better at magic or something), or is it just ornamental?

According to this tweet:

It's an a camisole-style lace garment can be worn under the jacket, it's as an optional accessory

Therefore I don't believe there's functional purpose to it.


How many Counter-Guardian does Alaya have? Other than FSN Archer, is there any revealed Counter-Guardian other than him?

According to the Wiki Category "Counter Guardians" on the Type-Moon Wikia there is 4 that are named but there can be more, as Krazer mentions that 7 have appeared to retrain Primate Murder in certain Timelines but we do not know the names of these ones. 2 however were created parody/side works so they might not actually be proper Counter Guardians that Alaya can deploy

Anyway, the 4 Counter Guardians we know the names of are:

EMIYA (Emiya Shirou): we know this one being Archer from Fate/Stay Night. a future version of Emiya Shirou
EMIYA (Emiya Kiritsugu): This one if from Fate/Grand Order as an Assassin Servant who is Kiritsugu, Shirou's adoptive father

  Assassin's True Name is EMIYA, Kiritsugu Emiya. An assassin who was incarnated as an agent of the Counter Force. Originally, he was not a Heroic Spirit. Although he was an individual who murdered many people as an assassin, his existence has not been engraved in the Throne of Heroes. One of the “imitation Heroic Spirits” also referred to as Counter Guardians, and someone who would have never existed in the proper human history. Yet, this "if that might have been" possibility exists now only due to the threat that attempts to destroy human history itself from its very foundation... in the Grand Order case alone. His soul was called out from the circle of deterrence in response to this threat.

Okita Souji: commonly know as Devil Saber who first appeared in the parody manga Koha-Ace. Devil Saber is isn't the same as Sakura Saber and is sorta like an Alter but not listed as one.

  Devil Saber is a Counter Guardian formed through Sakura Saber's spiritual foundation taking in a Holy Grail filled with Seven Servants. Essentially an Okita Alter, her ascension grants her support from the Counter Force.

TOHSAKA: first appearing as a Master (and not a Servant) in Capsule Servant which was a side game that was released with the PS Vita version of Fate/Hollow Ataraxia. as you can tell by the name she is Tohsaka Rin who became a Counter Guardian in a world where Shirou didn't

  TOHSAKA is a "miraculous" Heroic Spirit born in a world line in which Shirou Emiya did not become the Heroic Spirit EMIYA.

  Because of her severe debt, she made a contract with the World to become a Heroic Spirit. Having decided that there were too many Grail Wars occurring across the different dimensions, and because she was a relatively new Heroic Spirit, the World tasked TOHSAKA with destroying the various Holy Grails, reducing her debt slightly for each one eliminated.

However because of the nature of Koha-Ace being self aware and the parody nature of Capsule Servant (ie. how The World is shown to be like Seele from Neon Genesis Evangelion) one could debate whether Alaya can actually deploy either one


Is there any English sub for "Ashita e Free Kick"? I have been finding English subtitle for Ashita e Free Kick anime for last two days, and I am unable to find any links or place where I could get it.

Was English sub made for this series?

According to it's AnimeNewsNetwork page the series hasn't been licensed in English so there aren't any official English subtiltes available either.


What was the first magical girl transformation scene? Shoujo anime is famous for its big eyes and magical transforming heroines.

Sailor Moon is probably the most famous of these.

When was the first time a magical girl magically transformed?

The first 'magical girl' anime was Sally The Witch, who transformed with a wand into another costume - This was a simple animation though and performed in the same cut as the rest of the scene. Sally The Witch came out in 1966 and was in black and white.

[Apologies for low-quality gif]

If however, that feels like a bit of a cop out answer, the anime Cutey Honey  which was released in 1973 was much more focused on the transformation scene and featured many of the tropes of this type of this scene which have lasted to this very day - magical jewelery, activation words ("HONEY FLASH"), nudity whilst transforming, floating around the screen while transforming, etc.

Surprisingly though, Cutey Honey was not a shoujo, it was a male-targetted show and the characters were thought at the time to be superheroes rather than magical girls. However, Cutey Honey was a significant influence on transformation scenes from then on and looking back at the show, it's surprising to think that they are not actually magical girls. They even have the catchphrase "Stars in the heavens! Flowers on the Earth! Love to the people! Warrior of Love, I am Cutey Honey!"

(partial sequence sped up)

Cutie Honey is a much bigger deal in Japan than it is in the US. This is primarily due to it not being available in North America and other English-speaking countries until Discotek released it in 2013.

Some of Cutey Honey's transformations

As it was back in the day, there weren't such a high volume of series airing at one time. Inbetween Sally the Witch and Cutey Honey, there was only one other magical girl anime - Himitsu no Akko-chan, who transformed similarly to Sally the Witch, albeit with a mirror instead of a wand.

And if you're interested in transforming robots too, check out this question.


Why did the Elric brothers burn down their house? Why did the Elric brothers set their house on fire? I mean they could have preserved their house for future use but they didn't. So why did they do this? Is there any main reason behind this which is mentioned in the FMA anime/manga?

They set fire to their house in chapter 24 of the manga:

As you can see, after they set fire to their house Ed says, "There is no turning back."

This is also stated in episode 11 of Brotherhood, which is when they set fire to their house in the anime, there is a similar statement:

  Edward: There is no turning back for us now, huh?

Edward reiterates this in Chapter 42:

Hohenheim tries to convince Ed that he is lying, and that in reality they did it to run away from the mistakes of their past.

  Hohenheim: Is it for the sake of running away from the horrible images in one's mind brought on by it? Is it to erase the evidence of what oneself had done? . . . It is just like a kid who wet his bed at night and hid his sheets. You are running away.

So, Hohenheim's interpretation may be the correct one, but Edward does not admit that he was running away to Hohenheim.


Where to start with Gundam? There seem to be a ridiculous number of Gundam series, spinoffs and movies. There also seems to be a lot of timelines, parallel universes which has confused me more.

I've tried looking this up before, but there's a large variety of differing answers depending on people's opinions.

As an anime fan, I think I should at least try it out. It might also help for understanding a lot of reference jokes in other series.

Where does one start with all these? Can you watch the series as standalones or should I start watching in a particular order?

AniDB has a nice releation graph regarding the different Gundam shows and movies.

Universal Century and related timelines

If you are interested in the original story of the Universal Century (UC) timeline and are willing to invest a lot of time (about 74hrs), you can start off with Mobile Suit Gundam (1979-1980) show and work your way through the sequels following the red line in the graph till the latest Gundam Unicorn OVA.

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin is the OVA production following Unicorn and as the name implies it tells the background story of some characters and how events lead to the original series. You probably don't want to start with this if you intend to watch the original series and avoid spoilers.

Gundam F91 and Victory Gundam are also part of UC, but are of a new generation (referred as Late UC) with completely new characters and parties. While F91 features similar spaceship and mobile suit designs as well as similar uniforms, and rather falls in the category of a side story, V seems to be completely unrelated from my point of view, this also applies to Gundam Reconguista in G which is set in Regild Century, a period 500 years after Turn A Gundam.

The summary movies of the original show feature new scenes, but I don't recommend watching them instead of the show, rather watch them when watching side stories.

      140 TV show episodes ((43+50+47)*25min)
       13 OVA episodes (12*30min+25min)
        1 film (120min)
        7 OVA episodes (6*60min+90min)
Total: 74hrs 15min

UC unrelated timelines

A page listing most Gundam series timelines and related works is also available in Gundam Wikia. Currently these timelines are in order of production dates: Future Century, After Colony, After War, Cosmic Era, Anno Domini, Advanced Generation and Post Disaster. Shows set in these timelines may share some Gundam specific traits, but they were created to be aired on TV and watched independently to attract new viewers or younger audiences, while loyal fans of the original series are treated with OVAs set in UC.

In the comments above senshin found a guide (see below) that includes most of the shows (at least the various SD Gundam shows are missing, which benefits clarity) up until Gundam AGE and Gundam Unicorn, listing pros & cons for each show.

Spoiler warning: I found spoilers in V (con) and 00 S2 (con), there may be more.

Link: Gundam Series guide from /m/


How can Colonel Mustang create his flame alchemy differently? When Mustang performs his flame alchemy, he doesn't clap his hands to create it, did he? He's only snapping his fingers:

The others seem to always clap when performing alchemy:

How does Mustang do this?

It's his Ignition Claws. As explained in the 2003 Anime Episode "Fullmetal VS Flame", they create a spark when he snaps his fingers and he uses alchemy to manipulate the other elements to make explosions or fire. The claws have the transmutation circle on them, so if it's removed he can't use it, which is demonstrated during the fight and also later in the 2003 series when he fought Pride.

Ed on the other hand claps his hands because he's been to the Gate of Truth and creates a full array with his own body, thus requiring no circles. It is something only those who have been to the Gate of Truth can do, like Izumi.

While I refer to the 2003 anime, the fundamentals of Mustang's alchemy would be the same as how alchemy works is the same.


How many people have worn the straw hat, if only for a second? How many people have worn Luffy's straw hat? Canon, confirmed, and on the head (I'm counting Robin even if she wore it atop of her other cowboy hat).

Here you can read who had worn the straw hat and what it has gone through during the series. I will summarize the list here and add proof from the manga. For the complete panel the thumbnails are cut from, click the thumbnails. Until chapter 801,  it seems 7 people were seen wearing the hat.

Chapter 2 − Monkey D. Luffy

  Luffy is the current holder of the straw hat.

Chapter 1 − Shanks

  He gave it to Luffy as a young boy after he said the same words that Gold Roger, his former captain, had once said.

Chapter 603 − Gol D. Roger

  Much later in the series, it was revealed that Gold Roger, the man who would become the pirate king, had owned that hat.

Chapter 81 − Nami

  She is the member of Luffy's crew that he more often gives it over to for save keeping.

Chapter 114 − Robin
Not mentioned on the list, but as explained by OP, Robin had taken Luffy's hat from him during their first encounter.

Chapter 314 − Usopp

  Usopp briefly wore the straw hat during the Davy Back Fight against the Foxy Pirates.

Chapter 515 − Sweet Pea

  Luffy was in a panic when he couldn't find his hat, but it saw one of the women in the crown watching him wearing hit.


What is the bounty of Gol D. Roger? I researched and found Monkey D. Dragon to be worth 850,000,000. But what about Roger?

The answer to that question, as far as I know, hasn't been revealed yet. His bounty from when he was alive is unknown for now.

For that matter, Dragon's bounty being 850,000,000 is a false rumor, as no official sources have revealed his bounty either. Besides, a bounty this comparatively "low" would contradict Dragon's status as the most wanted man in the world, as Jack and Charlotte Katakuri both have bounties that equal or exceed a billion.


Who is Sasakura's father? In the manga, Bartender, there have been a couple of oblique references to Sasakura Ryu's father being well known. Who is he?

In a flashback that starts in Glass 113, "The Past", it is revealed that his father is named "Sasakura Genichi" who was a former Diet member. His nickname was "The Monster of Nagata."


Are Tales of Zestiria and Tales of Berseria connected in any way? In a Funimation email I got (web version), it was talking about the Tales of Zestiria The X anime. In it, it says

  It's time to switch gears and meet a new heroine in our tale and of the upcoming game Tales of Berseria. Velvet Crowe has been imprisoned on a remote island for three years but the time for her breakout has come. With revenge on her mind and demonic powers at her call, will she get what she wants or will her own vengeance create a dangerous bout of malevolence?

What I picked up on was the mention of another Tales of game. Generally from my understanding, most Tales of games are set in/on separate worlds and unless they share the same main title (e.g. Tales of Symphonia/Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World or Tales of Xilla 1/2) are generally independent of one another.

However, as the quote mentions, Velvet Crowe is from Tales of Berseria. Below is a screenshot from the Tales of Zestiria The X that was in the Funimation email.

And below are the cover shot and screenshot from Tales of Berseria showing Velvet.

While she appears to be wearing something different between Tales of Zestiria The X and Tales of Berseria, her face, hair, and arm still look the same.

So I am wondering, is there a connection between Tales of Zestiria and Tales of Berseria? Is the Tales of Zestiria The X anime serving as a bridge between the two?

Tales of Berseria took places thousand of years before Zestiria during the time where human could still see Seraph (which during the time are called Malaks who descended from the heaven in droves after some sort of ritual during the Scarlet night).

The anime most likely try to connect the two by showing the origins of Hellions (Daemons as they called it during Berseria) and how Malaks develop emotion to become Seraphs of the Zestiria timeline. and as the episode 5 title suggest the Beginning of the Calamity.

P/S She wears some sorts of prison robe. she got back in gears after plundering what looks to be the prison Armory


Database of legal sites that allow the download of Anime Soundtracks? I am looking for a list of sites that are legal of course where I can buy and download digital copy for personal use of Anime soundtracks. One that would be good is a legal site where I can actually filter through many different anime soundtracks quickly.

Example: I am currently looking for the Uta no Prince Sama soundtrack to download/buy but I cannot find any legal sites to actually buy it from [and I don't really like the idea of pirating or just getting it for free]. I prefer to buy.

Are there any legals sites where I can purchase the soundtracks of different animes?

There's a Japanese website, CDJapan, from where you can order CDs. However, here's the catch: they focus more on offbeat and non-mainstream-anime related things.

For some miscellaneous and also filterable (like in English, Bestsellers, Great Deals, New Releases), I recommend YESASIA. I'm giving you the link that points to its English anime page.

PLAY-ASIA is epic. Trust me. It is. I buy things from there as it accepts my currency too (INR). Here you can find exclusive and good amount of foundational soundtracks. If you feel adventurous, there's more! Like Frozen's Japanese (or was that Korean) version and K-pop songs, etc. But that's not what you asked for, so sorry.

If you can read Japanese, HMV Online is a Japanese website that gives good deals but may be limited in offers and variety of payment.

If you're a resident of Japan, check the comment by another user. Also, it may be that the above mentioned HMV only lets Japanese people buy.

If you're American, you should know about Right Stuf Anime and The Anime Corner Store.

Finally, I recommended you try the mighty Jungle. The prices can sometimes be very well placed.

I've picked the links that will land you at appropriate places. Most websites will accept PayPal too.


Where do den den mushi come from? Is it ever explained where the den den mushi come from?

We know there are all kind of den den mushi variating in colors as well in functions. But do they originate from a devil fruit user or are they just some random existing creature in the One piece universe ?

Den den mushi are kind of snails used for visual and audio communication. They are just another type of random creature existing in OPverse which uses telepathic abilities for communication within their own kind.

Source


About the physics of transmutation in FMA:B Anyone who has watched even an episode of FMA or FMA:B knows how transmutations work. They are the staple of alchemy, and are very important to the show. The only rule with transmutations is the Law of Equivalent Exchange. This all seems fine and dandy when it is first explained to you; you must put in what you want to get out.

However, I soon started to considering the ramifications of this theory. Yes, it agrees with the Conservation of Mass, which states that matter cannot be created nor destroyed in a reaction. Sticking with chemistry and physics, it is also well-known that energy is required to make and break chemical bonds. While Edward provides ample matter for his transmutations (which are essentially 'reactions' in the parallel universe of FMA/FMA:B), where does he get the energy? If the Law of Equivalent Exchange was truly correct, wouldn't Ed and Al have to provide the equivalent amount of energy to bond all of the required substances together? Is this 'shortcoming' ever discussed in either series (2003 or 2009), or in the manga?

You can find a lot of explanations about the energy in Fma wikia.

  In the 2003 anime, though it is never outright explained from where
  the energy in transmutation comes, alchemists who attempt to create
  objects outside their range of skill are left exhausted, suggesting
  that at least some of the energy comes directly from their bodies. At
  the end of the anime series, it is explained that the energy powering
  transmutation is actually the energy of departed human souls passing
  through The Gate to the alchemical world from our world, negating the
  concept of Equivalent Exchange altogether.

That's one of the reasons some alchemists want the philosopher's stone, since it contains a lot of human souls, it can generate a lot of energy that one alchemist can't generate on his own.


What anime is this image of a girl taking off a headset from? I have absolutely no idea where she is from, but I'm looking for an anime to watch, this seems like it would be okay.

(click for animated version)

I looked at the original GIF and ran a Google Image search at a few points when the girl looks into the "camera". One of the results that came up suggested that this is from the anime adaptation of Rail Wars!, which follows a continuity where the Japanese national railway system was never privatised. (Here's the MyAnimeList link as well.) The anime just started airing, and is from a franchise based on a light novel series.

The protagonist is a boy named Takayama who wants to work for the railway, and who ends up having to work against a bunch of extremists (called RJ) who want privatisation.

The character in this image should be Aoi Sakurai (who seems to also be a high school student) - and she should be the same girl in this cover scan from Wikipedia.


Why Kidd/Hawkins/Apoo alliance are planning to take down Shanks? Just in latest episode of One piece (Episode 736). There was one scene which shows that Kidd/Hawkins/Apoo alliance are planning to take down Shanks.

So my question is, Why Shanks? I mean there has to be some sort of reason behind this. Why didn't they choose someone else. What's the main reason behind this?

Note: I follow Anime rather than Manga

Credits for the image goes to Saji D Ahsan


When did Kastro dirty himself with blood? In episode 32 of Hunter x Hunter (2011), “A x Surprising x Win”, Hisoka can distinguish Kastro from his double because the original (left) had a blood stain on his chest that was not reproduced by the double-creation technique.

But when did he acquire it? I can’t find the moment in which he would have gotten the stain. It just appears when it’s convenient to the plot.

According to the manga (chapter 54), that wasn’t blood, but “grime that builds up during combat”. So in the anime it was probably a case of the animators not wanting to waste time and resources on representing that before it was needed.


Has "High School DxD" Light Novel ended? Has High School DxD light novel ended?

Officially, High School DxD has ended with volume 25, but it will be followed by a direct sequel titled Shin Highschool DxD (Source: afterword of Volume 25).

So the series has not really ended, as a direct sequel, Shin DxD will be covering the second half of the Azazel Cup arc. Its Volume 1 will esentially be Volume 26, just with a different label.


Piccolo-Gohan fusion, can it be allowed in the Universal Tournament? In Dragon Ball Super episode 88th, according to some subtitles in a popular anime webpage, confirmed by Anime SE member Aki Tanaka who speaks japanese, Gohan literally says to Piccolo "If so, should we create a fusion technique, or combination (attack)?" .

what does the original japanese audio says in episode 88th when Gohan is talking to Piccolo and asks him to do something in the battle together?

According to what's been said up to today about the Universal Tournament rules, could this be allowed?

With the introduction of Kefla, Fusion is definitely allowed, even with Potarra earrings.

Techniques which causes fusion are definitely allowed, as seen in the example of Aniraza.


Why is Hana the only person credited for uniting Suzuran? It's been a long time since I have read Crows, but from what I understand, Bouya Harumichi pretty much did the exact same thing as Hana Tsukishima, and arguably even better than Hana.

Hana's team lost to Manji and Hana lost to the strongest Manji guy, Bisuko. Whereas Bouya was able to defeat his Manji counterpart. Sure, Bouya was sort of the lone wolf at Suzuran, but when push came to shove, he was able to rally the entire school to follow him. I'm just kind of confused why despite his legendary status, Bouya wasn't given credit for also uniting Suzuran.

The differences between them did not lie in their strength as a fighter. Most agree that both of them were strong, some would even argue that Harumachi was stronger.

The differences were all about what they did outside of fighting itself. Where even their intent of fighting have a nuanced difference.

This would be a recurring theme and an important point, Harumachi's attitude was to care for a group of friends (which he didn't really admit to either). Tsukishima's was to care for everyone (which basically is the crux of everything). To do that, he set out to be the boss of Suzuran.
One of the most important differences was that Tsukishima set out to be Suzuran's boss, but Harumachi didn't, in fact the opposite, in that he knew that he was the strongest there but steadfastly refused to be called a boss. While that may seem trivial, it is the very essence of the question you posed - that Hana wanted to be a boss and became one while Harumachi rejected the title.
Another difference was the makeup of the school while they were considered to be "boss" (Using it loosely as Harumachi wasn't a "boss"). While Harumachi was there, there were many competing factions ("gumi") that were there and they had their issues with each other, fights, etc. They weren't united. They might fight together for a common cause, like the time Harumachi managed to mobilise the school, but when they came back, it went back to normal.
Compare this to when it was the Hana-Gumi. All "Gumi"s were either absorbed or "beaten" such that they were following the Hana-Gumi. Consider the FBI, were even though they didn't merge, they formed a shadow force that followed the Hana-Gumi's will.
Tsukishima probably had more charisma, in the way he carried himself and was some sort of moral compass for everyone. He naturally was well liked and drew people to him, and he welcomed them and always helped everyone out, even strangers. Compare this to Harumachi just trying to get his way with his fist. No doubt both succeeded, but perhaps, the way it was done was one of those differences people look for in a leader, a boss, in the self declared hell-hole of the area.

Perhaps there are many more differences, but I think I tried to cover the most major points that would shed light on why. Technically, there was no explicit reason given by the author, but that was because I think he was trying to show the difference and have you make up your own mind.


What is the flashback in episode 14 of Ranma referring to? There's a flashback that starts at 15:45 on episode 14 of season 1. I've been watching Ranma over the past few days, and I don't think this scene was in a previous episode.

As I recall, the information in the flashback came out as part of a comedy routine. Anime back in those days often had continuity errors like that.

Is this flashback referring to a deleted/modified scene, or is something else going on?

I think you may instead be referencing episode 15, as this episode introduces Shampoo and has a flashback to the Martial Arts Figure Skating battle, which was originally planned to be air before this episode.

Two episodes were cut from the first season, Wikipedia notes the reason as there being a sensitive feeling of the title and theme of the specifically the first of these episodes (The Abduction of P-Chan), due to many kidnappings happening in Japan during that time.

These episodes were later inserted into season 2, which is where the clips come from.


Does Rei's favourite drink exist in real life? In Digimon Universe: Appli Monsters, Gatchmon in the fourth episode, falls in love with (and totally an intentional product placement) what's dubbed as "Gatchi Sweets" or "GatchiMonaka", which is wafer biscuit with bean fillings.

Frequently across episodes, we also see Rei, one of the protagonist characters frequently drinking small packets of a "Choo Choo Energy" drink of some sort.

What exact is that, and does it have a real-world equivalent; physical thing?

... or is that drink totally and utterly fictional?

While the in-work name is fictional, it is based off of real products: jelly drinks. More or less, all jelly-type drinks are in a semi-hard bag with a mouth to drink from on the top. And most of these drinks usually serve some health-oriented purpose, quick energy boost, daily vitamin intake, etc. There are many jelly drinks, and one that is very popular (and most likely the model) is the Weider drinks.

Here's the website for Weider's jelly products.


Why there are no popular manga series based on light novels? Correct me if I'm wrong, but, why are there no popular manga series based on light novels? I know that there are many anime based on light novels that are popular such as Sword Art Online, Oreimo, Monogatari Series, Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, or Kara no Kyoukai. But for some reason, there are no popular manga adaptations from light novels, whether the light novel has been adapted into an anime - like SAO manga, or Oreimo manga (I think these two manga are not as popular as the anime or any other manga) - or not.

After a decent amount of research, I have to retract my previous answer.

There are in fact a lot of series that started as Light Novels and achieved commercialized success. Some include Accel World, Zero no Tsukaima, Haruhi Suzumiya, and Shakugan no Shana.
Their order of progression was LN -> Manga -> Anime.

Then there are still LN today that have a manga, but no anime , such as Kagerou Project (although scheduled for Spring 2014).


How did Aizen start the Holllowfication on Shinji's team? After Sosuke Aizen, Gin Ichimaru and Kaname Tousen reveal themselves near to the end of Season 11, Shinji Hirako and the other Soul Reapers who later become the Vizards suddenly start to Hollowfy.

At first I thought that because the last thing we saw of Kensei Muguruma before he Hollowfied was that he was stabbed by Kaname Tousen using his Zanpakuto's release, I thought that maybe Kaname did something to Kensei and Mashiro Kuna. However when Aizen turned up and the team starts to Hollowfy before Kaname turned up. Also Hiyori Sarugaki was for the most part being held by Shinji and there was no indication that she had a run in with Kaname as she was fighting Kensei and she Hollowfied while Shinji was holding her.

So I am wondering how did Aizen start the Holllowfication on Shinji's team?

We don't really know what created the Hollowfication process. To quote from Wikia:

  It is unclear how the other Visored gained their current status. What is known is Sōsuke Aizen was instrumental in the Hollowfication process, though whether he knew of the full potential of the results is left to be questioned. The process used seems to spread as some form of possible infection through wounds which has the desired effects on souls with high-level Reiryoku, as compared to souls with low-level Reiryoku. The infected experience great sickness and fatigue, eventually vomiting up Reishi in the form of a white liquid, which forms the beginnings of their Hollow mask before proceeding to transform their bodies and warp their minds. Other than that, all that is known is the process is accelerated by increased stress. The conclusive result makes a Shinigami into a primarily Hollow-like humanoid, which is a highly unstable transformation causing mindlessness and aggression.

It should be noted that all members of the Visored except Shinji and Hiyori were cut by Tousen, and Hiyori was wounded by Hollowfied Kensei and Shinji was cut by Hollowfied Hiyori, so Wikia's claim that the Hollowfication process is probably caused by infection through wounds is sound.

However, it is almost certain that the source of the Hollowfication process is the Hougyoku:

  Hollowfication/Arrancarification: While not truly an ability of the Hōgyoku itself, the orb took on this property because it is what Kisuke Urahara desired when he invented it. Through this power, the Hōgyoku could be used to bypass the barrier which separates Shinigami and Hollows. As such, it can cause Shinigami to undergo Hollowfication and Hollows to undergo Arrancarification. These processes lead to the creation of a Hollow-Shinigami hybrid and an Arrancar, respectively.


What is Sabo's Power? Sabo has been shown to use Dragon type attacks in the latest episodes of One Piece. But does it have something to do with the Dragon Style of fighting (from Dragon Claw on Burgees), or has he eaten Ancient Zoan Type Dragon fruit (Dragon's breath on the Colosseum's fight ring)?

Based on Manga Chapter 744:

Sabo is shown to have eaten the Mera Mera No Mi, and now has the Mera Mera logia-class power that can control fire.

Thus until chapter 744, Sabo did not have devil fruit powers.

Since he is a part of the Revolutionary Army that is lead by Monkey D. Dragon, who also happens to have saved Sabo from the evils of Goa Kingdom, so Sabo could have named his attacks based on his training under Monkey D. Dragon.

As @Sp0t pointed out, Sabo has a strong haki that can be determined by the color of his body just before the attack that destroyed the arena ring in the Dressrosa arc.


Why is Reiner Braun so nice and good to the members of the 104th training corps if...? Why is Reiner Braun so nice and good to the members of the 104th training corps if...

 he's an enemy of humanity? Shouldn't he care less about them and let them die many times if he had the chance to?

This is a good question that Isayama has answered so subtly in his manga.

First and foremost,

   Bertholdt, Reiner and Annie come from a 'ghetto' neighborhood of Marley, where Eldians are put to reside. There is a lot of blatant racism in the nation of Marley, especially towards Eldians. Eldians do not have the same rights as Marleyans, and the operate as a inferior race. However Marleyans know the power of Eldians, thus Marleyans are using the titan powers by guilt-feeding Eldians into joining the army and serving the nation of Marley. The guilt is based on the Marleyan theory that Eldians in the past used their titan powers and committed war crimes towards Marleyans.

Which means that for

   kids raised in these 'ghettos' such as Reiner, or Bertholdt, are brainwashed this idea that only serving the Marleyan army will give Eldians their acknowledgement, and hopefully pay for the crimes that their Eldian ancestors did in the past.

Therefore,

   Reiner and Bertholdt are part of those kids who excel their training in order to have 'the honor' of becoming a titan shifter.

After being assigned a mission to invade

   the walls, Reiner and Bertholdt initially had this idea of wiping out every human inside the walls, kidnapping the Coordinator Titan power, and returning to their homeland.

However,

   after living there for quite a few years, Reiner saw that Eldians within the walls were not evil as they were portrayed by the Marleyan government. On the contrary, Reiner befriended other survey corps members, and a lot of them were depending on him. So he became more sympathetic and understandable towards the people inside the walls.

Which led to Reiner

   facing his ultimate dilemma: is he a "soldier" (aka survey corps), or a "warrior" (aka Marleyan spy)?

And this is the beauty of Isayama's story-telling. We learn both perspectives, and that makes us understand both protagonists and antagonists. To quote Bertrand Russell War does not determine who is right, only who is left

SPOILER ALERT
Additional information showed on manga chapter 93. This is another hint why Reiner behaved in such a way. He has been feeling guilt and his position in this war has not been clear to him. Source: mangastream.com


Can anyone steal the powers of Devil Fruit from another? In One Piece, Blackbeard stole someone's power.

Other than him, can anyone steal the powers of another? For instance, Sanji taking the Clear-Clear Fruit of Absalom (that was just an example since it didn't really happen).

You can if you don't already have a DF.

Usually if you want a person's DF power, you kill that person.  The power will transfer to a nearby fruit and that fruit will become a DF.  Once you consume that fruit you have their power.

If you want to take the power by another means.... we don't know.  It is currently unknown how or if Devil Fruits can transfer from one living person to another without going through the normal cycle. There are two suspicious cases of DF transfer: Blackbeard obtaining Whitebeard's power and Lin Lin Charlotte obtaining Mother Caramel's power. Several details about both mysteries seem intentionally obscured so that no answer to this question is possible yet.

Similar discussions could be had about multiple DF powers, objects eating DF, or limits of speculated DF powers.  At this point though the discussions are largely fruitless (ironically) as the answer has to be "we don't and can't know yet".


Will there be a second season of RWBY? I was wondering when the season 2 of RWBY would be released.

Quick google search reveals that

  RWBY Vol 2 will premeire at RTX July 4-6 this year! Thank you all for your support and contributions. source


Why did Caesar let Law in Punk Hazard? He had some gains from this, as Law used his medical abilities and the power of the devil's fruit to restore the limbs in the inhabitants of the island.
But Law told him to not inform Doflamingo of the fact that he is staying there.
(Later i would see that Doflamingo an Law had been enemies for years)
Didn't this alarm Caesar? What are the reasons that Caesar believed, Law would want to stay in Punk Hazard?
He didn't question Laws agenda or motivations at all?

The reasons Law told Ceasar:

  I'm looking into research that the government is carrying out. This facility should contain valuable traces of research that is still going on to this day.

(chapter 666, page 5)

Ceasar's exact reaction was:

  I don't see how I can trust you, but I suppose your proposition can't hurt

(chapter 666, page 6)

So Law's story checked out, he didn't seem like a threat, and even though he wasn't trusted, Ceasar thought he would benefit from keeping Law around.


Does Kana Akatsuki have any published works other than Violet Evergarden? I have found very little information online about Kana Akatsuki, the author of the original light novel Violet Evergarden, and I can find nothing about any other works by her. Is this her only published work?

You can find more information if you search by their  name in Japanese 暁佳奈.
They don't have any other works listed on their goodreads author profile.
There is an interview with the author on Kyoto Animation's website. At the top of the page it states that this was their debut work:

第5回京都アニメーション大賞小説部門で同賞初の大賞を受賞し、『ヴァイオレット・エヴァーガーデン』でデビュー。

The last word デビュー means debut.
The interview additionally states that it took 6 months to create Violet Evergarden and that it was made specifically for the Kyoto Animation award, because Kana Akatsuki loved Clannad: After Story anime which came from their studio.

――なぜ京都アニメーション大賞に応募しようと思われたのですか？
アニメ「CLANNAD 〜AFTER STORY〜」が大好きで、あの作品を作られた会社さんだからです。頭の中の映像を文字に起こすように書いていますので、本当に映像になったら面白いと思いました。 京都アニメーションさんで実現したら素敵だろうな、と夢見ました。
――京アニ大賞応募時、『ヴァイオレット・エヴァーガーデン』の執筆にはどれくらい時間をかけられたのでしょうか。
恐らく半年くらいだと思われます。寒い時期にカーディガンをずるずる引きずってお湯を沸かし紅茶を飲みながら書いていた記憶があります。北海道はいつも寒いので記憶が曖昧です。


In the Dressrosa Arc, why doesn't Luffy use Gear Second to quickly reach Doflamingo? In the Dressrosa Arc, Luffy runs or rides constantly in order to reach Doflamingo - first he rides the bull Moocy, then he rides Cabbage's horse, and later starts running himself.

Why doesn't Luffy use his Gear Second instead to quickly reach Doflamingo? We have seen how swiftly he moves and jumps from one place to another in Gear Second.

I get the point that he was carrying Law with him, but I guess that shouldn't be problem for him.

He isn't really running endlessly. He is taking the shortest route towards Doflamingo every time. In the palace, he did not take any detours and barged straight into the castle, going straight for Doflamingo. Then later, when the palace was relocated, again, just jumped straight down into the city, running straight towards Doflamingo again. Remember how he originally went over the stone statue, as he thought it would be a short-cut, the same with the well. There was no instance where he just endlessly ran about.

In short, it would not make much sense to use up your stamina even before the game started. Imagine Marouane Fellaini, imagine him having an important football match in a few hours, would it make sense for him the give it all he has got and run towards to stadium to get there faster? It wouldn't, because the run is not important at all and he would not be able to last until the end of the match to his full extend. The same would happen to Luffy. Luffy is well aware of the fact that he will need every last bit of energy he has got to take down Doflamingo.

Additionally, as explained here, what happens with Gear 2, is that Luffy is drugging himself, by making his heart pump his blood around much faster. Originally it was introduced as a major drawback as it would eat away at his life, since his heart would have to pump at abnormal rates. Assuming that it is still true to some extend, it would not really make sense to shorten your life for no aparent reason. Keep in mind that at those times, nobody was in real imminent danger and there was no real need for him to get to Doflamingo asap.

On top of that, Luffy was never running alone. There was always someone slower with him (Eg: Zoro, kinemon, Violla, Law, Soldier, etc), so if he would just run off alone, he would basically leave his friends behind, unable to protect them. So by going together, he does not put pressure on his heart, is able to protect his friends and can have some fun along the way.


From where did he get 2 scissors and 4 papers? In episode 5 of Kaiji, Kaiji plays scissors against Kitami.

Later in the same episode, we find out he has 2 scissors and 4 papers other than 30 rocks. Where did he get these?

After being tasked with collecting as many rocks as possible, and then splitting up, the group mentality was that while collecting scissors and paper was not the goal, there was nothing wrong with it. I can't remember whether or not Alix's answer is specifically how it happened but it may very well have been. I can however remember that it was insinuated that they were collected after they split during one (or multiple) trades in their mission to collect rock cards. There did not need to be a specific time or reason they got those cards as the writers covered their bases in the montage of trading/collecting cards.


What is the software to create this type of anime? This site is have an beatiful anime style: Tofugu.com

Anyone know what is the software to draw this anime style?

Actually the software is mostly independent of the style. The style depent on how the artist is drawing it...

Anyway it is not always possible to redraw a image because the software is not supporting some functions! The style from the website you linked is pretty simple so you do not need something special.

It would be possible to draw the image above with the standard paint of windows except the cheeks (if you look closely a special brush was used to draw this). But this is absolutely not suggested if you really want to redraw it.

The image is very likly drawn with a tablet that supports pressure/speed recognition (recognizable at the fading outlines) and a software that supports paint application modes (recognizable at the shadows/lightning) and also layer support (the green/yellow background is one layer and the girl with the table and the chair is at least one layer).

Such things are mostly supported on a reasonably good painting software:

Adobe Photoshop (monthly payment)
GIMP (open source)
PaintTool SAI (pay once)
Anime/Manga Studio (pay once)
Paint.NET (free to use) I am not sure if everything is possible in this software I listed above!


How many pokemon did Ash catch? Ash is fairly well known for his catch phrase "Gotta catch em all".

But recalling the series, it feels as if he did not even manage to catch a quarter of them.

So how many did he manage to catch?

Let's count? I am including pokemon such as Charmander, Chimchar, etc, which joined Ash of their own will without a battle as "CAUGHT".
List of Ash's Pokemon:
Kanto and Orange Islands

Pikachu - Given. Not caught.
Caterpie - Caught. Released as a Butterfree.
Pidgeotto - Caught. Left in the wild as a Pidgeot
Bulbasaur - Caught.
Charmander - Caught. Joined Ash of his own will. Left to train. Rejoined and with Oak now.
Squirtle - Caught. Released back to the Squirtle Squad.
Krabby- Caught. With Prof. Oak as a Kingler
Raticate - Traded for Butterfree. Got back
Haunter - Joined Ash for fun. Left for Sabrina.
Primeape - Caught. Left for Fighting trainer.
Muk - Caught in the power plant.
Tauros - Caught in Safari Zone.
Lapras - Caught. Released with family.
Snorlax - Caught on Orange Island.

Johto

Heracross - Caught.
Chikorita - Caught. With Oak as a Bayleef
Cyndaquil - Caught. With Oak as a Quilava
Totodile - Caught
Shiny Noctowl - Caught
Beedrill - Caught in Bug Catching Contest. Released to Casey.
Phanpy - Hatched.. With Oak as a Donphan
Larvitar - Hatched. Released

Hoenn and Battle Frontier

Tailow - Caught. With Oak as a Swellow
Treecko - Caught. With Oak as Sceptile
Corphish - Caught
Torkoal - Caught
Snorunt - Caught. With Oak as a Glalie
Aipom - Caught. Traded to Dawn

Sinnoh

Starly - Caught. With Oak as a Staraptor
Turtwig - Caught. With Oak as a Torterra
Chimchar - Caught. With Oak as an Infernape. Left Paul to join Ash, like Charmander
Buizel - Traded. From Dawn
Gligar - Caught. With Oak as a Gliscor
Gible - Caught

Unova

Pidove - Caught. With Oak as a Unfezant
Sewaddle - Caught. With Oak as a Leavanny
Roggenrola - Caught. With Oak as a Boldore
Palpitoad - Caught. With Oak
Scraggy- Hatched. With Oak
Oshawott - Given by Juniper. With Oak
Tepig - Another fire starter left by a trainer. Caught. With Oak as a Pignite.
Snivy - Caught! With Oak
Krokorok - Caught. With Oak as a Krookodile

Kalos

Froakie - Caught. Released. With Squishy and Z2
Fletchling - Caught. With Oak as a Talonflame
Goomy - Caught. Left in the Wetlands
Noibat - Hatched. With Oak as a Noivern
Hawlucha - Caught. With Oak

Alola

Rowlet - Caught! Ash has caught his first pokemon in Alola.
Rockruff - Caught! In Alola as Lycanroc
Litten - Caught! in Alola as Incineroar.
Poipole - Caught! In ultra space. Came back as Naganadel for Pokémon league
Meltan. Caught! In Alola as Melmetal.

Galar

Dragonite - Caught! With Ash in various regions.
Gengar - Caught! With Ash in various regions
Riolu - Hatched! Given to Ash by Nurse Joy.
Farfetch’d - Caught! With Ash in various regions:

Tl;Dr Ash has got 57 unique pokemon species. He got 2 (Pikachu, Oshawott), Traded for 2 (Raticate, Buizel), hatched 5 (Larvitar, Phanpy, Scraggy, Noibat, and Riolu). Also, Haunter just traveled with him so not counted as catching.
Thus Ash has CAUGHT [57-(2+2+5+1) = ]47 unique species.
Edit: As requested by OP removed a quote referencing the number of pokemon dexed by Ash. Dexed pokemon are a larger set of pokemon, which include hatched, evolved, and owned in any other way (Gift/Trade, etc.).
Also, couldn't resist.


What is the reasoning behind Kara no Kyoukai numerical movie order? After planning to rewatch and seeing the remix gate of seventh heaven. It made me curious, if the chronological timeline is quite clear, why they decide to kind of scramble the chronological order for 1st to 6th movie?
Aside from the direction does it have any meaningful reasoning plot wise than to do it chronologically?

Kara no Kyoukai was designed to be out of order, just like the movie Memento was designed to go backwards.
I watched it chronologically once, but it doesn't work very well. Some of the slower movies are used to set the mood early on, putting them where they are supposed to go chronologically wrecks the flow.


Why is Futaba's nickname "Teko"? In Episode 1 of Amanchu!, Hikari bestows the nickname "Teko" on Futaba, with the following explanation.

Hikari: [Gazes longingly into Futaba's eyes]
Hikari: Wow! Your eyebrows are so thin. They're, like, one-tenth as thick as the average. One-tenth...Tenth...Teko! An adorable nickname!

How did Hikari hit upon this nickname in the original Japanese? And bonus question: the translation I read of the manga translated Futaba's nickname as "Dotty". Was this completely out of nowhere, or does it have some justification in the original?

In Japanese, Hikari says that Futaba's eyebrows look like tenten, the two strokes added to a kana to change the voicing value, also known as dakuten. E.g. か ka becomes が ga.

You can see the resemblance in this picture from the manga, at least if you imagine Futaba's eyebrows both pointing in the same direction:

"Dotty" came from a translation of tenten as "dot", presumably because "Periody" or "Semicolony" didn't sound good.


How Edward managed to escape from Gluttony? In Episode 24 and 25 of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Ed, Ling Yao and Envy are trapped in a sub-dimension that was created for storing everything that Gluttony has ever swallowed.

Envy told that there's no escape, but Ed has found out something. What did he do exactly?

As far as I can get, he did human transmutation to open the Gate of Truth and by this, he can escape. But how is it possible? Since the sub-dimension is separated from the actual world.

Also, why Ed didn't lose anything when he opened the Gate again? Why Envy and Ling neither?

Gluttony was created to be a second Gate of Truth but is only a failed copy. Ed had the idea that because they came there through the failed gate, they must be able to get back trough the real gate. It's just like creating a door back to Gluttony.

To open the Gate of Truth, he used Envys Philisopher's Stone and the old parts of the Xerxes mural to make this special human transmutation. The sacrifice for opening the gate was a soul of the Philisopher's Stone, which thanked him afterwards (because he freed the soul).


Before Mikami committed suicide, was he still having faith in Kira? At the end of Death Note, after Light is revealed as being Kira, Mikami goes on a little rant after their plan failed thanks to Near having switched the real Death Note. After that, however, Light denies knowing anything about Mikami.

After Light is shot several times by Matsuda Mikami then stabs himself with his pen, the fountain of blood and yelling grabs everyone's attention and as everyone goes to try to treat him, Light escapes.

However when Light denied knowing Mikami, Mikami looked depressed as if he had just been betrayed by his "god", but his suicide gives Light a distraction to flee.

So before Mikami committed suicide, was he still having faith in Kira?

He had a lot of faith in Kira. So much so that he was even willing to sacrifice himself because he considered Kira as "god". Like Kira, he also has a strong sense of justice to punish evil.

During the warehouse scene, he had complete faith in Kira's plan. He was 100% sure that Kira would succeed and reign as the "God of the New World". But as all viewers who have finished Death Note know, Near outsmarted Kira.

Near asked one of his colleagues, Gevanni, to replace the Death Note in Mikami's locker. Because Mikami had a very predictable schedule pattern, this in turn, was also the downfall of Kira.

Seeing Near outsmart him, Kira snapped and began to disown Mikami.
Showing his incapability to turn the situation, Mikami began to doubt Kira... that he was just indeed, Human.

Fun fact: Mikami's death is very different in the manga. In the anime, he was shown to stab himself with a pen and died of blood loss. In the manga, he was imprisoned and then suddenly died. Matsuda began to suspect that Near killed Mikami.

TL;DR: Mikami had 100% trust in Kira before the warehouse scene. Kira snapping out/disowning him/being unable to turn the situation made him lose faith in Kira.


What is the name of the soundtrack in Dragon Ball Z that plays whenever Goku is about to start a fight? I am trying to find the Dragon Ball Z sound track which plays whenever Goku is about to start a fight and other heroic moments. I have browsed a ton of videos but no success. The sound track starts with beats of drums (3 beats), then pause, then 5 beats and so on. Can someone help me out?

It is the Genkidama (spirit bomb) theme in the Japanese ost I think it als plays when Goku makes the Super Saiya-jin speech


Why does Ed not pursue the origin of the fake Philosopher's stone used by Cornello? In the first chapter of Fullmetal Alchemist, Ed and Al come across Father Cornello at the city of Reole.

   The Elric brothers Edward and Alphonse discover, soon after arriving in Reole, that Cornello's 'miracles' are nothing more than alchemy augmented by a Philosopher's Stone that the priest has in his possession.

One of the biggest rules of Alchemy is Equivalent Exchange, and Ed sees Cornello obviously breaking those rules, something that should have been impossible in Alchemy without the philosopher's stone.

Ed and Al have been searching for the Philosophers Stone as a way of returning their bodies back to how it was. Even if it wasn't a complete Philosopher's stone, the fact Cornello was able to bypass equivalent exchange should have been incredibly significant in itself and pursuing this lead would likely have lead them a step closer to their goal.

   And it was later revealed that a Homunculus was behind the incident.

However, Ed, upon realising the stone was not a true philosopher's stone, left the town. Why is this? Did he, for some reason, think of it as unimportant, and if so, why?

I'm getting all of the following information from episode 3 of Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood.

Near the end of the episode, Ed exposed Cornello as a liar to all his people.  Cornello attempts to kill Ed using his alchemy.  During the attempt, Cornello's alchemy "rebounds" and causes some ... adverse effects on Cornello.  After a short fight, Cornello's fake stone breaks.  Ed starts asking about it and Cornello states he knows nothing about it.

Given all that, I don't believe Ed didn't think it wasn't important, but that he had nowhere to go with that.  First, the stone was gone and couldn't help Ed learn anything.  Cornello was equally useless in learning about the stone.

On top of that, a real stone would have allowed Cornello or Ed to do whatever they wanted, presumably without any rebounding.  This made the fake stone even less desirable for two reasons.  First, there is no guarantee that it could even help Ed and Al (granted there was a chance, but it may not have been worth the time to look into).  Secondly, even if Ed did get his hands on a fake stone, there was no telling if it would rebound and just make matters worse.

Overall, it's not that it wasn't important, just that Ed had no leads on where or how to get a fake stone and that the risk might not have been worth it.


What is this manga that has a guy with the power to make a transparent round bubble? I read it more than a year ago.

A guy first has the power to make a transparent round bubble like thing and everything that goes in it or touches it disappears. As the story goes on he can make a bigger bubble.

Then something shows up in the middle of his forehead - I think it was a third eye.

I don't know if I am mixing two manga together or not but I think later on the more power he uses he turns into an ET (alien) looking guy.

The manga you're looking for is named Tanabata no Kumi. You're not mixing any mangas together, all what you've said is in that one.

Here is the synopsis:

  Basically, some humans have the ability to negate a sphere of reality, neatly removing it from existence. This gradually alters their appearance until they become a hideous alien, with a giant eye in their forehead.


What is the symbol on Gaara's gourd? Gaara has a symbol that reads "WMW" on his Sand gourd. What does this symbol mean? Is it kanji or just some random symbol?

From the Naruto wiki site:

  Gaara carries around this giant calabash-shaped gourd covered in designs and filled with his chakra-infused sand which he can freely manipulate.

It's just a design on the gourd and doesn't hold any particular meaning.


Can Arrancar never fully remove their masks? On Season 10, when Nnoitra thinks back to when he fought Nel last time (when he broke her mask), he got her to fight by hurting Pesche and Dondochakka. Seeing them, Nel said that Nnoitra had ripped off their masks. However, Pesche and Dondochakka are Fracción and thus Arrancar, so their masks have already been removed.

Can Arrancar not fully removed their masks? If not, then how is Nnoitra ripping off Pesche's and Dondochakka's so bad that it was enough to bait Nel into a fight?

In Bleach, when a Whole becomes a Hollow their heart leaves their chest (forming a hole) and transforms into their mask. (Chapter 433)

The powers that a hollow develops and very body arise from the mask.

If the mask is removed, it would logically follow that the Arrancar would lose all of their power. We know that removing the mask from a normal hollow forces them to temporarily revert to their form as a Whole (the Ichigo vs Orihime's brother arc).

While we can't be sure this would happen to an Arrancar, the fact is that stripping an Arrancar's mask would strip away their very identity as an person. It's a horribly cruel thing to do, even for someone like Nnoitora or Syazel Aporro.


Couldn't Kabuto have un-summoned Itachi? I know that the Kotoamatsukami rendered Itachi free of Kabuto's control over his will. But he was still bound to the Edo Tensei, since he was released when the technique was cancelled.
 So, couldn't Kabuto simply have un-summoned Itachi?

We have, in other situations (namely in chapter 514, with Deidara), seen that Kabuto can un-summon shinobi at will, an empty coffin appearing and 'reclaiming' the summoned. Were these other situations somewhat different from the situations with Itachi? Or did Kabuto have to completely undo the technique, even if he just wanted to un-summon a single shinobi?

The most plausible explanation is that the un-summoning with the empty coffin popping-up is only possible when the summoned is under the caster's control. Itachi broke free of Kabuto's control with the Kotoamatsukami, but he never broke free of the Edo Tensei itself (unlike what Deidara's answer suggests). This is why he could not be un-summoned (with the coffin), but was freed when the jutsu was undone.
Still, Kabuto could've undone the technique altogether, at the cost of un-summoning every shinobi he had summoned. However, this could mean a complete turnaround in the war. Anyway, Kabuto, most likely, did not think a complete release of the jutsu was needed, since was arrogant and confident that he could beat Itachi.


Is the anime of "Tokyo Ghoul:re" (season 3) canon? Can anyone confirm or deny if Tokyo Ghoul:re, the 3rd season of the anime is canon or not? It seems like a major step after the events of the first and second seasons so I'm pretty darn bewildered by all the new characters

Yes, Tokyo Ghoul:re is canon

If you take a look in the wiki you can see that Tokyo Ghoul:re (東京喰種トーキョーグール:re, Tōkyō Gūru:re) is a sequel to the Japanese manga series Tokyo Ghoul written and illustrated by Sui Ishida.

And yes, Tokyo Ghoul:re picked up 2 years after the events that ended Tokyo Ghoul


How intelligent are elemental clones? While Shadow Clones replicate the user's body completely and are thus just as smart (or moronic) as the user, other clones based on elements are simply models constructed out of a particular material animated by chakra.
In the early stages of the story, Zabuza delegates fighting Naruto and Sasuke to a Water Clone. Is there any indication whether it was acting independently, or just executing simple commands from Zabuza himself? Are there examples of other elemental clones functioning without the original present?

Water clones and other elemental clones are only given the intelligence that the user provides, this is proven when Zabuza gives his own clones orders. The clones act not as their own will but controlled like puppets. This could be googled but I don't trust sources such as those.
Sources: Shadow clone Jitsu and other clone technuiqes


What does "nico nico nii" mean? In Love Live, a character named Nico Yazawa constantly says her catchphrase:

  Nico nico nii!

It seems like if her catchphrase is derived from her own name, at the first glance.  Sometimes, it is extended to a longer line, as she would say, for example:

  Nico-nico-nii~  Anata-no haato-ni Nico-nico-nii~ Egao todokeru Yazawa Nico-nico~ Nico-nii te-oboete, Love - Nico ♡

What does "nico nico nii" mean, exactly?

This is a pun using her name (Nico) and the onomatopoeia for "smiling" or ニコニコ(niko niko)
This is why part of the longer line you have included has Egao todokeru/"delivering a smile".

Edit:
After contemplating a bit longer about this, it dawned upon me that another aspect that ties into the smile part of the phrase is the nii ending. In English when taking a picture, photographers usually use a phrase like "Say cheese!", or in my native tongue, "Say whiskey!". They emphasize the ii sound of ee and y to shape the mouth into a smile.

In Japanese, はい、チーズ(Hai, cheese) is standard as well, but to a lesser extent １+１は？ is also used, the answer being 2, or に(Ni). So the nii part also evokes a smile when saying it out loud.


What are the poltergeists whispering in Episode 11? In episode 11 of Pop Team Epic, we see Popuko and Pipi parody The Shining by haunting a winter cabin as poltergeists.

Throughout the segment there are audible whispers that sound like Japanese spoken backwards. These whispers are present in both the first and second broadcast, but neither one was subtitled.

What are the ghosts whispering during The Shining parody?

Here (1, 2) are the YouTube videos by 333ユグ playing the scenes for Part A in reversed.

Here are the reversed conversations for both Part A & B (source: Mr_BlueSky's Hatena Blog (Japanese)):

When passing the window:

  「さっ、さむ、さむ…」
  "Co, cold, cold..."

  [BBゴローがうるさい為聞き取り不可]
  (Because Blackboard Goro is too noisy, it's impossible to be comprehended)

When peeping the girl doing makeup

  「ちょ、見えない！ちょ、じゃっ、ちゃっ、ちょっ、どーいて！」
  "Wait, can't see! Wait, jya, cha, wait, out of my way!"

  [BBゴローがうるさい為聞き取り不可]
  (Because Blackboard Goro is too noisy, it's impossible to be comprehended)

On the hallway

  「どうする？どっちが声かける？いっちゃう*？」
  「え、いや、どうする？」
  「え、ど、ちょ、ちょ二人…」

  "What will we do? Who will call out? Should we go*?"
  "Eh, no, what will we do?"
  "Eh, what, wait, wait both of you..."

  *いっちゃう, which is an inflected form of いく, has several meanings. In general case, it means "to go", but it can also mean "to die".

  「メガネ新しくした？」
  「え？へへへへへー分かっちゃったー？」

  "New eyeglasses?"
  "Eh? Hehehehehe... you realized?"

When appearing in front of the car

  「それギアバック*に入ってんでー」
  "Put that to the "gear back*."

  *It's "back gear", in reversed reading, while the whole conversation is also in reversed.

  「今日は青汁にする？」
  "Today is aojiru?"

While showing the photograph

  「仲間って…いいよね」
  「そうだね」
  「野球チーム…作りたいね」
  「あと…三人だね」

  "Having friends are... good"
  "Looks like it"
  "I want to create... a baseball team..."
  "Need... 3 more people"

  「あのー…人間ドックとか行ってますか？」
  「あのぜ～んぜん行ってない」
  「え？でもめっちゃ痩せてる…」
  「あー…だけどー」
  「どこも悪くない？」
  「いやそこまでぇ…」
  「ハハハッ」

  "Umm... have you been to ningen DOKKU?"
  "Well, I have never been there"
  "Eh? But you're so slim"
  "Ah... well..."
  "Anywhere is okay?"
  "Well, that's a bit..."
  "Ha ha ha"


What if someone got a demon slayer mark after they'd already turned 25? What would happen if someone got a demon slayer mark after they'd already turned 25? Would they die straight away?

According to what the wiki says:

Having the Demon Slayer Mark has its costs. Demon Slayers who have awakened the Demon Slayer Mark are said to die upon reaching the age of 25.

and also it is said:

Kokushibo speculated this to be because the mark exchanged the life span of its user for power.

if the first theory is the right one,

the user will immediately die after awakening the demon slayer mark if he/she is older than 25

but if what Kokushibo said is true,

they can live longer and become older than 25.

side note based on wiki:

Yoriichi was able to defy fate and lived to be 85 years old


Song from final episode of Your Lie in April I've just finished Your Lie in April and the last song at the last part of the episode, not the duet or the performance, when kaori says I love you multiple times, a song is played in the background and when watching the dub the lyrics appear at the top of the screen, I can't for the life of me find that songs name, could anyone help? I like the song and am desperate to know the title and artist. Thanks

I haven't got the episode in front of me to confirm, but I'm pretty sure you're talking about "Kirameki (Kaori and Kousei version)", a piano/violin duet version of the first ending theme. Here is a YouTube version you can check against.


Are the Japanese names of the characters from Ente Isla references to something? I feel like there is some kind of joke with the characters' fake names that I am missing.

One of the characters I think asks if their names are outdated. Is that the joke, just that they are using archaic names? Or is there something else?

If you're asking what "the joke" is with names like "Maou Sadao" and "Yusa Emi", the joke is that their Japanese names sound suspiciously similar to their Ente Isla names/titles:

"Maou Sadao" is very close to "Maou Satan" / "Demon Lord Satan"
"Yusa Emi" is very close to "Yuusha Emi" / "Hero Emi"
"Ashiya (Shirou)" is sort of close to "Alciel" (Arushieru)
"Urushihara (Hanzou)" is sort of close to "Lucifer" (Rushiferu)

As a side effect of this, some of their Japanese names sound curious/archaic, since you kind of have to stretch to find Japanese names that sound similar to Christian angel/devil names.

Separately, some of the names are also "translation jokes", so to speak:

The "Suzu" (鈴) in "Kamazuki Suzuno" means "bell". Indeed, her Ente Isla name is "Crestia Bell".


Is Itachi Shinden a separate anime series or part of Naruto Shippuden itself? I have followed Naruto only via its manga and, barring a few episodes, I haven't seen much of the animated series. Considering that the manga ended almost a year ago, I am very much out of the Naruto universe.

Few months ago, I came across some posts that mentioned Itachi getting a separate anime series of his own, with trailers of the series uploaded on YouTube. Today I saw some amvs  titled Itachi Shinden and a part of the episode which has Shisui and kid Itachi fighting the ANBU.

A few internet searches yielded that Itachi Shinden is actually an animated adaption of the novel of the same name. However, I couldn't find whether it's a separate series that was being talked about or part of Naruto Shippuden fillers.

Itachi Shinden is in fact a part of the Naruto series. The myth is that Itachi Shinden will have its own anime, this is not true. Itachi Shinden will be an arc attached to the current Naruto Anime. In the current anime of Naruto, Itachi's life has been shown while he was active in the ANBU, however, the new arc introduces a new look to Itachi's life, his personal life. Not much is yet known but it's definitely an arc of Naruto seeing as it was also created by Masashi Kishimoto.

Anyway, I hope this helped you find your answer.


Do the citizens of Academy City know about magic? Do ordinary citizens of Academy City know about the existence of magic? By ordinary citizens, I mean the general population of the city.

You can read the Wikia article on Academy City:

  In the novel series, there are only a handful of residents who know about magic, either due to encountering it or being part of the magic side themselves, such as Kamijou Touma, Index, Accelerator, Hamazura Shiage, Aleister Crowley, Heaven Canceller, Tsuchimikado Motoharu, Himegami Aisa, Etzali, Xochitl, Misaka Mikoto, Kazakiri Hyouka, Othinus, Tsukuyomi Komoe, and Kihara Noukan.

It further states:

  Although Academy City is stated as the dominant faction on the Science side, there are still internal conflicts with the science side, not unlike what's happening in the magic side between the various churches. Because of their stance as the most advanced city in the world and having the capability of producing supernatural powers, they are both envied and feared by the factions on both sides. Even then before the start of the series, Academy City has remained neutral towards Magic side affairs in the city, allowing magicians to enter the city and not intervene with their business even at the cost of lives, and having other magicians deal with magicians without reporting to the magicians if there are third parties involved. As magic still remains hidden to the world thus, much like Oyafune Monaka, almost all of Academy City's residence are oblivious of such areas and would consider them to be another form of esper powers. Only a few, such as Kihara Noukan and Heaven Canceller, are aware of the existence of the magic side.


Why there seems to be so few members of Passione? With the ending of Vento Aureo, it came to my attention that there were so few members of Passione after the gang and they were Stand Users only. For such a large mafia, there seem to be very few members.

Is there any reason for that?

It's actually shown quite clearly that Passione is a large organization with multiple divisions underneath the Boss.

Even Diavolo alludes to how well connected his men have infiltrated different branches of Italian society.

You have to remember a few things -- it seems that mostly every branch of Passione makes a fortune off whatever division they specialize in, all except for the Hitman Team, which only gets paid for kills.  This is their primary justification for attempting to kidnap Diavolo's daughter Trish, and for wanting to take over Passione themselves.

It is fair to assume that for those who do not question his orders and complete his tasks are rewarded fairly and justly. Pericolo, another Capo, even explains this before he commits suicide.

The reason you may feel Passione is "small" is simply because we don't get introduced to those other members. As the quote goes, "Stand users are drawn to other Stand users", and it is for this reason Bucciarati's team faces off against the Hitman team. Why would other branches want to fight Bucciarati's team in the first place, unless they were also planning on betraying the boss?


Why would Himura Kenshin turn back into Hitokiri Battousai? In the early Meiji era, after participating in the Bakumatsu war as the assassin "Hitokiri Battousai", Himura Kenshin wanders the countryside of Japan offering protection and aid to those in need as atonement for the murders he once committed.

In the story Kenshin is said to revert to the murderer Hitokiri Battousai he once used to be. Why would killing revert his full personality back in to that of a murderer permanently?

NOTE:
He did sometimes temporarily revert to his murderous self but soon after gets pulled out of it by people such as Kamiya Kaoru.

In the OAV series Rurouni Kenshin: Trust & Betrayal, we get to learn more about Kenshin and his trip from being a simple orphan to Japan's most feared assassin Hittokiri Battousai, and then to the peaceful Ruroni.

As Hittokiri Battousai, he wasn't exactly evil. He had good intentions, and saw assassination as the only way he could help the weak and the downtrodden. Through his interactions with Tomoe, and her final fate, Kenshin begins to realize that he had been doing it all wrong. Helping people by spilling blood was not the way to go. That's when he dons the character of pacifist Ruroni Kenshin, who refuses to kill no matter the provocation or how evil the other person is.

But that conviction is a very hard one to keep, especially for a trained assassin such as Kenshin. He knows that if he slips just once, and kills as a means to an end, he would fall back in to the endless cycle of blood letting that dominated his life as Hitokiri Battousai.


Does this manga mentioned in Outbreak Company actually exist? The show makes many references to existing works, so I'm hoping it's also the case here.  It's mentioned in Episode 2, around 21:30 mark.  I grabbed two relevant screenshots.

The audio is as follows:
"That manga...  It's about a slave girl who's taken in as the Overlord's daughter and falls in love with him... She faces hardship after hardship, and when she and the Overlord finally come to understand each other..."

According to the Outbreak Company TV Tropes page it's Bastard!!, a still ongoing monthly manga series which started in 1987.


What is the Ash-Greninja form of Greninja? This new form of Greninja is circulating around. I am not following the anime or the movies so please try to be gentle if it was obvious.

What exactly is this Greninja? If it's a mega-evolution, how did it get there without a stone? How exactly does his powers/abilities/skills vary from other normal Greninja?

I know the physical difference, that it starts to resemble Ash a bit. Easily noticeable is the red middle part on his head instead of the body blue.

This is the normal Greninja:

And this is Ash's:

Basically, what happens is that the bond between Ash and Greninja is so strong that Greninja took the new form as Ash-Greninja where Greninja takes some features of Ash (as you mentioned) and it is not a mega evolution. Some theorists say that it might be synchro evolution from the pokemon spin off Pokemon Reburst. By turning into this form, Greninja's power greatly increases and as you can see on its back, there is a giant shuriken which is a replacement for water shuriken (the move). The Ash-Greninja form can only last for a short period of time before Ash and Greninja gets tired and faint, during the form ash can also feel the pain that Greninja is feeling.

The official website explanation is "Ash's Greninja takes on a mysterious new appearance in the latest season! Ash-Greninja is the form that Greninja takes when the bond between it and Ash is raised to the limit. The strength of their bond changes Greninja's appearance, and it takes on the characteristic look of Ash's attire. This phenomenon is also said to have happened just once several hundred years ago in the Kalos region, but it remains shrouded in mystery."

The anime explanation is saying pretty much the same thing. When it first happened in the ninja village, the anime explained that because the bond between is great, he has taken a new form. The first appearance looked something like this.

during this stage, Stallone did a lot of testing where he discovered that this transformation will take place only when Greninja and Ash have mentally synchronized. Then later in episode 25, while versing the kalos champion, Ash-Greninja got the full form and it looked like this.

it was then explained that this was when the bond became maximum level where they are completely synchronized. And then it goes through the phases of difficulty between Ash Greninja and stuff.

Some power ups include faster, stronger, giant water shuriken, using water ninja knife things instead of the normal iyarigiri move. And in the episode 35, water shuriken became huge (kind of like rasen shuriken), it looked like this

Everything about Ash-Greninja is explained in the anime, it also shows Stallone testing how it works and the road to master this form.

I highly recommend Pokemon XY & Z. The anime has improved a lot, Ash is no longer the immature young kid, he seems (mentally) more as a teen now and yeah, I definitely think you should give it a try.


What's the song playing in HxH: The Last Mission when Kurapika fights? There's a song playing in Hunter x Hunter: The Last Mission at around 54:34 when Kurapika fights.

What is the title of the song?

The name of the OST piece you are referring to is namer Persuation.


Does someone knows what is the classical piece that plays at the very begining of episode 13 of the first season of Code Geass? I was watching episode 13 of the first season of Code Geass and I really liked the classical song, at least it sounds like it. It plays at the very begging of the episode when they are reviewing what happened.

It's Noblesse oblige by Kohtaro Nakagawa


Why does Zoro's "1080 Pound Phoenix" use the term "pound" instead of "kilogram"? I was recently reading One Piece (specifically chapter 754), and I noticed that Zoro used the attack "1080 Pound Phoenix."

After I read through this chapter, I was rewatching the anime with my sisters (episode 66 in this instance), and we were in the Baroque Works arc and I noticed that Miss Valentine declared her attacks as "10,000 Kilogram Press."

I'm pretty sure that Japan does not use the imperial form of measurement, so was the translation of "1080 Pound Phoenix" incorrect?

As was pointed out to me by キルア, the reason Zoro uses "pound" in "1080 Pound Phoenix" is purely an artistic choice. The original Japanese uses the furigana ポンド (pondo, "pound") reference.

Also, as the wiki points out, the choice to use pound incorporates a sort of pun.

  The attack's name is actually a very heavy pun — it is written out as "Phoenix of the 108 Earthly Desires" in the manga with a skewed reading attached that makes it "108 Pound Hō" when read out. Ho means both "cannon" (砲 Hō?) and "phoenix" (鳳 Hō?), however the attached kanji is for "phoenix", making that the literal translation and the "cannon" reading a pun on that, both of which are correct. The "pound" part is a skewed reading of the kanji for "earthly desires" (煩悩 Bonnō?), and it is referring to the caliber of a cannon (a 108 Caliber Cannon would fire a 108 Pound Ball).

Thank you again to キルア for pointing this out to me.


Does a Ghoul need to cannibalize to reach SSS level? Apparently all the Ghouls which are classified as SSS have a kakuja obtained by cannibalization. Does a ghoul need to cannibalize to reach SSS level? is this mentioned in the manga, some OVA or something?

The only 3 ghouls considered as SSS are kakujas (see article for reference). Also, in most cases, power of ghoul is determined by his kagune properties (which can become weapon, full body protective armor, etc), so kakujas clearly have advantage in power over regular ghouls. So, as we don't have any other facts regarding rating assignment, I'd say - yes.


What does Monokuma's Morse code theatre translate to? I've been playing Dangan Ronpa 2 and one of the Monokuma theaters that act as short intervals was done in Morse code.

What does it mean?

Typing it out and using a tool to translate it reveals the message:

  BE SURE TO DRINK YOUR KUMATINE

Mysterious.

This is in fact a reference to A Christmas Story, in which the protagonist Ralphie gets his decoder ring and feverishly tries to decode the radio's message. The message turns out to be "Be sure to drink your Ovaltine" - a very disappointing advertisement, rather than the 'spy' message he was hoping to obtain.

  "Ovaltine? A crummy commercial? Son of a bitch! "

Kuma is Japanese for Bear (Mono kuma - Mono Bear), which is where that part of the message comes from.


What is the proper pluralization of "anime" and "manga"? The words "anime" and "manga" both originate from Japanese, and have no English roots (though "anime" comes from French). To me, it doesn't make sense for an "s" to be attached ("animes" and "mangas"). However, I still see people do this quite frequently, so it's hard to tell for sure.

What is the correct way to pluralize the words "anime" and "manga"?

As far as the "English" language is concerned, from the Wiktionary entry about "anime":

Noun: anime (countable and uncountable; plural anime or (proscribed) animes)

(uncountable) An artistic style heavily used in, and associated with, Japanese animation, and that has also been adopted by a comparatively low number of animated works from other countries

  I can draw an anime version of you, if you want.

(countable) An animated work originated in Japan, regardless of the artistic style.

2005, Peter J. Katzenstein, A World of Regions, page 165,

  After three months of successful sales in manga form, it was made into an anime for television.

2005, Joan D. Vinge, in The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Eighteenth Annual Collection, page cix,

  Usually the manga comes first, though it may be an offshoot of a novel, and an anime may be inspired by a video game.

2006, Thomas LaMarre, in Japan After Japan (Tomiko Yoda & Harry D. Harootunian, eds.), page 363,

  These anime prepared the way for Otaku no video, a two-part Original Video Animation (OVA).

(rare, countable, chiefly proscribed) An animated work in anime style, regardless of the country of origin.

Likewise, from the Wiktionary entry about "manga", it's handled a bit differently:

Noun: manga (countable and uncountable; plural manga or mangas)

(uncountable) An artistic style heavily used in, and associated with, Japanese comics, and that has also been adopted by a comparatively low number of comics from other countries.
(countable) A comic originating in Japan, regardless of the artistic style.
(rare, countable, chiefly proscribed by fandom slang) A comic in manga style, regardless of the country of origin.

  Lately I've been reading a Brazilian manga.

(Note that 2 of the examples from the countable plural of "anime" also apply to "manga")

So in the case of anime, the non-proscribed (or exclusionary) plural is unchanged, but the rarer proscribed plural can be used with an "s". The case with manga seems to be either way as far as Wiktionary is concerned.

The Collins Dictionary, the New World Dictionary,
Oxford Dictionary all say that manga is also the plural form. Horever, the Macmillan Dictionary says that mangas is the plural form (need to click on "Word Forms").

If you're using it as a Japanese borrowed word (either "manga" or "anime"), it isn't incorrect to use the same form as singular and plural, like the Japanese words themselves.


Why was a prequel made instead of an adaptation for Ga-Rei? I enjoyed the Ga-Rei Zero anime and the Ga-Rei manga (now finished) quite a bit.

With the anime industry seemingly grasping at straws for manga to adapt, why was a prequel animated instead of the actual source material?

Ga-Rei: Zero was released in 2008-10-05. If the marketing and industry people want to work on a 6 month lead time, this puts decision time at 2008-4-01. At that time, the most recent tankōbon release was volume 5 back in 2007-10-26. Also, the mangaka took longer to publish material as the series progressed. See below:

1   05/26/06    days
2   07/26/06    61
3   11/25/06    122
4   04/26/07    152
5   10/26/07    183
6   04/26/08    183

Maybe the manga was popular and they wanted to get that target audience but didn't have a lot confidence in how the current story arc which was still being written would adapt to a 13 episode series they decided to hijack the plot and audience and make their own version of it. It's just speculation though. I did like this series. The first episode had me totally lost after having read the manga though :/


Can Ace hear the voice of all things? In One Piece, is Ace able to hear the voice of all things?
I'm asking this question because Gol D. Roger was able to hear the voice of all things and ace is gol.d roger son.And he was able to hear the voice of all things like kokuki oden is showed in episode 969 when he and oden was annoyed

No, or Not Revealed Yet Actually!
"Voice Of All Things" is even rare than Conqueror Haki. I don't think Ace have that. Especially since it's no way connected biologically.
Even though Oden and Momo both have that, but the prediction momo being a Ancient Weapon completely change this topic.
Or, the question would stand, How Luffy Did Got That?


Is Three some sort of priest? On episode 9, we learn a bit about Three's past and the fact that he was a mercenary.
I noticed that in the flashbacks, he dressed differently than the way he dresses in the present time.
In the present time, he seems to be dressed as a priest of some sort. He even carries a Bible to activate his Minimum.

Since he quit being a mercenary because he ended up causing the death of a bunch of orphans, I was wondering if Three became some sort of clergyman.

I would have to say he was not a priest, although this may still be proven wrong since Season 2 has not come out. From Hamatora's wiki, I was only able to find out this much information...

  He once planted a bomb to destroy his enemies in HQ which resulted in him accidentally blowing up some of the orphans he looked over. With extreme guilt, he felt that he should raise the kids to kill him.

I believe the bible is meant to reflect on his guilt over the killings of the orphans, based on the fact that...

  Three has the power to unleash his inner beast by holding a Bible and asking the Lord for forgiveness. By doing this, he becomes extremely strong.

I believe the true intent of this is to show Three's guilt for his actions by using the bible as a vector.


What is the name of the background music for episode "The Die is Cast" in Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi What is the background music in Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi Season 1 episode 9 at 18:07? When Yukina Kou confesses his love to Kisa Shouta.

This song is from the sekaiichi hatsukoi soundtrack ost 1 track 23.


What is the other goal Zoro mentions in the Alabasta arc? In episode 102, during the Alabasta arc, Zoro says:

  As for why I still stay with him... being by his side all this time's given me another goal to strive for.

Another translation I've seen of this is:

  Since we've been together for so long another purpose is starting to emerge.

This happens around the 9:45 mark during episode 102crunchyroll.

When chopper asks what that goal is Zoro responds:

  Sorry. I don't know how to answer about it.

Chopper should know that Zoro's original goal is to become the world's greatest swordsman. Is the second goal that Zoro mentions but can't explain about making Luffy the king of the pirates or is it something different?

You're right. Zoro second goal is to make Luffy the King of Pirates. This has been demonstrated by him many times in the form of his loyalty

Here are a few instances where this has been demonstrated. As the One Piece Wiki puts it:

  Zoro seems to have the most respect for Luffy and this deep respect has been demonstrated on various occasions. For instance, he was willing to throw away his dreams and ambitions for Luffy's during the appearance of Kuma in the Thriller Bark Arc without the slightest hesitation.

  When he was almost on the verge of death from his wound from "Hawk-Eyes" Mihawk in the Baratie Arc he tearfully vowed to Luffy that he would never lose again, asking if it was alright with him as Pirate King.

You can watch the scene here

  This respect is not only for Luffy as a person, but also because of his position as captain. When Luffy learned that Usopp was planning on returning to the crew during their time in Water 7 and was immediately ready to welcome him back, Zoro made it clear that a crew member who fought against their captain should not be forgiven so easily. Zoro explained to the others that one should respect their captain unconditionally and he would quit as well if Luffy allowed someone to walk all over him like Usopp, who wanted to rejoin without even apologizing for his actions. When Luffy was distraught after having to defeat Usopp, Zoro reminded him that those hard decisions are part of being captain, and that he can not lose himself. He reminds Luffy that if he wavers, the crew has no one else they can trust.

He gives the said speech here

I couldn't find this scene:

  During the Long Ring Long Island Arc after winning the Davy Back Fight contest against the Foxy Pirates, Zoro implied of never becoming a pirate if it weren't for Luffy and commented that he'd have no point in being one if he had ever left the ship.

Finally, there's this:

  In Chapter 597 he begged Dracule Mihawk to train him (despite it not being honorable) in order to become stronger for Luffy, his captain.  Mihawk comments that in order to make the request Zoro must have found something more valuable than his ambition


How is Kyousuke able to teleport Andy? In the anime Zettai Karen Children: The Unlimited - Hyoubu Kyousuke, Andy Hinomiya is an esper who negates the power of all other espers. Yuugiri cannot read his mind, Kyousuke can't hypnotize him, telekinetic attacks are ineffectual against him. So how is it possible for Kyousuke to teleport him in episode 3? They're walking away and he snaps his fingers and the entire group teleports away. Is it that Andy really isn't completely immune to ESP? Or is the teleportation a side-effect of an ESP power so it isn't negated?

To clarify the side-effect thing, You Fujiura's ESP can effect sound waves, though the ESP itself can be negated by Andy, the actual sound that the ESP creates (or deadens) can be heard by Andy (episode 2).

Andy's wearing the limiter he got in episode 2.  As long as it is active, esp powers can be used around him, such as when he was teleported right after he got it.