Is Law's Devil Fruit immune against Haki? Law cut Vergo into two in one hit on Punk Hazard.

As far as I know, Haki users can block Devil Fruit attacks. The best example was when Rayleigh fought against Kizaru, in which he easily countered Kizaru's sword with his Haki.

Why couldn't Vergo block Law's attack? Is Law's Devil Fruit immune against Haki?

Law didn't just use his power to cut Vergo, he also cut him with his sword as part of that. The combination of Law's power, his sword, and the Haki he used through his sword, were enough to overwhelm Vergo's full body Haki and slice him in two.

Haki is not a binary quality. Depending on the willpower and the strength of the person, they can have stronger or weaker Haki. If Law's Haki had been too weak, he wouldn't have been able to cut Vergo. However, if he used as much Haki for his attack as Vergo used for his defense, then it would just become a contest between Law's sword and Vergo's abs.

In One Piece, there are very few absolute powers. Luffy was able to punch through the Snake Sisters' Haki by putting enough forces into his punch. No one is immune to Haki, but Haki is not infallible either. Haki can be beaten by Haki, and weak Haki can even be beaten by excessive force.

In this case, I believe it was a combination of Law's Haki and strength that defeated Vergo's Haki and toughness.


Has the State Alchemist pocket watch ever been shown to be of use in a transmutation? In the beginning of the series (both 2003 and Brotherhood) Cornello takes way Ed's pocket watch in order to prevent his circle-free transmutation (which is later revealed to be pointless). From this, it was implied that the pocket watch has some sort of effect on a State Alchemist's transmutations. I seem to also recall that in the 2003 series, when Ed became a State Alchemist and was given his watch, he was told it could boost his alchemy.

However I don't recall any instance in either series where this was the case. It's not used as a mobile circle as each combat State Alchemist had their Transmutation Circle with them (Roy's ignition gloves, Gran's gauntlets, Armstrong's metal knuckles, Kimberly's own hands) and Shou Tucker was never shown to use his (and I doubt that he used it for producing the Alexanina Chimera because he was capable of doing this from the start, having done a similar transmutation before becoming a State Alchemist).

I recall at one stage the chain was used to bind someone, but what I would like to know is if there was any situation, in either series, in which the boosting capabilities of the State Alchemist pocket watch is shown to have benefited an Alchemist's transmutation (without the addition of Red Stones/Fake Philosopher Stones as per the Lior Rebellion in the 2003 series).

It is somewhat difficult to answer this with complete certainty without analysing every single transmutation that appears in Fullmetal Alchemist. However, I will give an answer based on my memory and impressions of the series.

In the manga-based continuity, the watch appears to serve largely as a marker of identity; there is never any comment about the watch's powers. We never see the watch invoked or made reference to as a source of power when State Alchemists transmute substances.

I do not know the 2003 series as well, but my impression is that while the claim that the watch amplifies transmutations is reasonable, we are never actually shown an instance where it is explicitly used in a transmutation. It is entirely possible that the State Alchemists we see are drawing from the watch's power anyway, when they attempt transmutations, but we do not ever directly see it.

The current revision of the FMA Wikia appears to support my conclusion:

  Although the manga does not describe the pocketwatch as anything more than official proof that the carrier is a State Alchemist, the 2003 anime suggests that each pocketwatch is an alchemical amplifier. The 2003 anime also depicts the watch's silver chain as extendable, as in the instance when the Strong Arm Alchemist, Major Alex Louis Armstrong uses it to tie up a target.

In particular, were there actually an instance where the watch is explicitly used, I would expect there to be a note of it here, seeing how rare such an instance would be in the course of the anime.

Skimming over the early Lior arc in the manga, incidentally, I cannot find any instance where Cornello takes Edward's watch from him. The watch also does not appear in this part. (I was only able to tell that Edward had his watch because I could see the chain.) This also does not occur in FMA:B.

As might be expected then, the section of the Lior arc in the 2003 anime where Cornello takes Edward's watch is not in the manga-continuity. (This is after Ed and Al have escaped from the fight. Cornello turns a mob on them, and they are captured again. The watch is then taken.)


How does a mangaka get paid? From what I have seen from anime and heard, doujinshi artists get paid per book they sell at places like Comiket or online, but you have some mangaka who release one chapter per issue of serialized magazines like Shounen Jump and Comic Yuri Hime.

So, how does a mangaka get paid for their work? Does this change when they release more of their work which then spawns the creation of other adaptations and merchandise?

To answer this question, we need to take in account the several factors that will decide how and how much they are paid:

The number of pages drawn for each issues (20 pages or more).
The regularity of his work (weekly, monthly...).
The experience of the mangaka (newcomer, experienced...).
The popularity of the mangaka's work (that 2002 manga you have never heard of, One Piece...).
The publishing company (Akita Shoten, Shueisha...).
The merchandising around his work and the anime adaptations.

Number of pages drawn and regularity of the work

A mangaka is paid depending on the number of pages he is drawing. The most typical case for mangakas are the newcomers who are publishing a standard chapter of 16-20 pages every week, so we are gonna base our numbers on this common case. Usually, a publisher will pay between 10,000¥ and 12,000¥ per page created to a starting artist. Considering he would draw 80 pages per month, it would lead to a monthly outcome going from 800,000¥ to 960,000¥.

Be careful: this is what a starting mangaka usually win per month. But this is not what he is really getting in the end. A mangaka usually needs to pay his own material, his assistants, his studio if he has one, and other different kind of expenses.

It is also important to mention that colored pages are paid more than normal pages (~ 1.5x more).

Now, I have talked about the typical weekly case. In this particular case, a mangaka usually draw between 16 and 20 pages per chapter (for instance One Piece). But another really common case are the monthly releases (for instance Ao no Exorcist). The number of pages will vary a lot, but you can consider there is usually between 35 and 50 pages drawn per month in such cases. And the price per pages is not necessarily higher, as it is most of the time the same.

The experience of the mangaka

The previous numbers are mostly applying to starting mangakas. But those who have already worked for a long time in the manga industry can obtain an increased outcome per page drawn. One mangaka, Sato Shuuhou, published in 2009 the average payment he was getting by page drawn through the years. While he was getting 10,000¥ per page in 1998 for the Umizaru manga, he was getting 25,000¥ per page in 2006 for the Tokko no Shima manga, and 35,000¥ in 2009 for the Say Hello to Black Jack manga. Of course, those numbers are not representative of every mangaka and should not be taken as a constant.

The popularity of the mangaka's work

Another important factor is the popularity of the chapters and of the final mangas. A famous exemple is the Weekly Shonen Jump popularity vote. Each reader has the possibility every week to fill a paper on which he is ranking his 3 favorite chapters of the week, and send it back to Shueisha (the Weekly Shonen Jump publisher). The total number of votes are then calculated, and the publisher get an intern result for the popularity of the published mangas. If a published manga is staying way too long in the lower ranks, it might stopped to be published (at least on this magazine). The other way, if a manga is often staying in the best ranks, it means that it is interesting a lot of readers, readers that might buy another issue of the magazine because of this particular manga. Because of this, the publisher may increase the outcome won per page by the mangaka. It is also depending on some other factors, like if there is an anime adaptation or some good manga sales, but it will be explained on the next point.

The publishing company

Depending if the publisher is a totally unknown one or the really famous Shueisha, it might happen that the number of outcome given per page is lower or higher. This is of course depending on the politic and the financial resources of the publishing company.

The merchandising around his work and the anime adaptations

Obviously, there might be some merchandising around the work of a mangaka, and of course some anime adaptations for one or several mangas. For this particular part, I will let you check this question which is describing it pretty well.


Could Caesar Clown have controlled Smoker? Smoker is a smoke man. He can "create, control, and transform into smoke at will" – One Piece wiki

Caesar is a gas man. He can "create, manipulate, and transform into gas at will." – One Piece wiki

Since smoke is a gas, could Caesar control Smoker when he turns into smoke?

The powers of Gasu Gasu no Mi would certainly allow Caesar Clown to control Smoker when he transforms into smoke using Moku Moku no Mi's powers, provided the smoke is within Caesar's range.

However, Smoker would not be totally helpless if they fought one-on-one since he can fight without using his Moku Moku no Mi powers at all. He can use Haki, and carries the Kairoseki Jitte, both of which would be effective against Caesar.


Where does Ciel get the key? In episode 2, where does Ciel acquire the key to the storehouse that the drugs are in?

In episode 2

  His butler, Strongest

Several characters are portrayed in the pool room and in the tea room in the scene after.

One of these characters a Chinese male named Lau is responsible for oversight of the drug trafficking that occurs in London.

Ciel being the Earl of Phantomhive, received a mission from the queen to eliminate a rat who had been messing with Lau's business.

Lau gave Ciel the key who baited out his kidnapping and flushed out the rat. Which is why the main focus in the point of this episode was that Ciel likes to play games. He could have had Lau or Sebastian handle it but he would rather throw himself right in the middle a precarious situation for entertainment.


Where do the Alter characters come from? I'm fairly new to the Fate series, and I've been seeing a ton of art of 'Alter' characters?

I've seen a lot of fanart of King Arthur (the one you'd regularly see in the FGO game), and that makes sense. But then I see art of Alter Arthur, where the character has silver hair, but I can't seem to find any information on this character.

I get that 'Alter' generally means 'Alternative'. So I'm assuming that these are alternative versions of the characters.

Where are all of these Alter characters coming from? Are they official? What should I take a look at to get filled-in on this sort of info?

all the Alter characters are, as you say, alternate versions of their originals with some having alternate legends.

however the idea of Alter extends from a canon character which is Saber-Alter from Fate/Stay Night who makes her appearance in the Heave's Feel Route after

   Saber is consumed The Shadow. by returning to the Greater Grail she is corrupted by Angra Mainyu and first appears when Shirou, Rin and Ilya are fleeing Blackened Berserker and operates as an alternate Servant for Sakura

Outside Fate/Stay Night Alter Saber acts as an "alternate form" of Saber which comes out when Saber's ahoge is plucked in Fate/Hollow Ataraxia

despite being an antagonist in Fate/Stay Night Gen Urobuchi saw Alter Saber as a Dark Hero

  Uro: What I imagine is that for the Saber Lily storyline, in Fate/stay night, Saber was completely beaten by Caster, and so she became one of her Servants. Like, she thought "I'd be way better off with Caster than with Shirou." (Laughs)
  Nasu: I never thought of that. Interesting. So in other words, the white dress represents how both her body and soul have been tamed by Caster. So Lily is truly like a "lily" to Caster... you crazy bastard, you did it again...
  Takeuchi: Lily's design was inspired by the dress she wore when Saber was captured by Caster. Then, we just filled it with feminine qualities that Saber lacked and it became what it is now. So basically, I think Urobuchi really hit it close to the mark.
  Uro: Really?! Lily looked like a villain to me from the moment I saw her. Imagine her appearing from behind Caster, really working those heels! Just thinking of it gets me excited!
  Takeuchi: But in terms of villains, don't we already have Alter?
  Uro: No, she isn't a villain, she's a dark hero.
  Nasu: Alter is an idealist who clings to her own values even though she's been blackened. In that respect, she isn't a pure villain.
  Uro: For example, Alter's like how Hakaider was in Mechanical Violator Hakaider (*8). And Lily is the enemy she would face. The wrinkles in the corners of her eyes are proof to that. She'd shine as a villain.
  Nasu: Then after defeating Lily in battle, Alter would jump on a motorbike in the last scene and ride off into the sunset. Then the narration would come in: "She is a modern knight, who lives in a world of darkness!" (*9)
  Takeuchi: Motorbikes aside, (laughs) I do think it'd be interesting to add meat to Lily's character in that manner.

Source: Saber Alter - References 5 -  TYPE-MOON Ace 7 - 10 year Anniversary interview: Nasu Kinoko X Takeuchi Takashi X Urobuchi Gen

before Fate/Grand Order other characters got Alters were sort of jokes created by Takashi Takeuchi and sometimes weren't even separate people such as Sakura Saber who's "Alter" was her Nobel Phantasm Coat of Oaths but after Fate/Grand Order the started becoming real

Alter is actually one of 3 variations of a hero themself

  Alter (オルタ, Oruta?) - Servants greatly altered from their normal selves through various means are often given the title of "Alter" after their name. True Archer, an altered Heracles, rejects being called "Heracles Alter" and instead chooses his "human name" of "Alcides".
  Lily (リリィ, Riryi?) - Servants who take on a more youthful appearance compared to their older selves are often given the title of "Lily" after their name. This title is normally only applied to female Servants, but those like Child-Gil and Alexander are referred to as Lily Servants elsewhere.
  Santa (サンタ, Santa?) - Servants acting as Santa in the Fate/Grand Order Christmas events are given the title of "Santa" after their name.

Source: Servants - Alter

and as such shouldn't be confused with Alter Egos which are a separate Servant Class where Alters can be any class

The current list of Alters (as of 19/01/2018) aside from Alter Saber from Fate/Stay Night are

Fate/Grand Order

Alter EMIYA - a disgraced heartless version of the Counter Guardian EMIYA who's cast off his name
Alter Lancer Arturia - an Alter form of Lancer Arturia who, before changing into the "Goddess of the Holy Lance" chose to insated become the tyrant known as the "King of Storms"
Beserker Cu Chulainn - a version of Cu Chulainn reflecting the wish made upon the Holy Grail by Queen Medb
Mysterious Heroine X Alter - a villain from the Servant Universe who has sworn to defeat Mysterious Heroine X
Avenger Jeanne d'Arc - a fabrication of Jeanne d'Arc created by Gilles de Rais via the Holy Grail after her death
Jeanne d'Arc Alter Santa Lily - Avenger Jeanne d'Arc after drinking  Gilgamesh's Potion of youth (becoming "Joan of Arc Alter Lily"). gained the title of "Santa" when she was aiming to become "Santa Joan of Arc."

Fate/strange fake

True Archer - the human side of Hercules who lost his divinity after  Bazdilot Cordelion used his Command Spells to awaken memories from the 5th Holy Grail War and his corruption in it. he refuses to be called an Alter Servant and takes the name Alcides instead

and as explained above, Sakura Saber's Alter appearance is actually her Nobel Phantasm, Coat of Oaths


Is it necessary for the Gym Leaders of a region to know each other? As far as I remember from the anime series and the games, after beating one of eight Gym Leaders in a region, some leader said something about the next Gym Leader.

Like they know who, where, or what specialist-type the next Gym Leader is.

But, I watched the current XY series, Clemont, the Gym Leader of Lumiose City's Gym who travels with Ash, always wonders about the kind of next Gym Leader that Ash will face.

UPDATE

Each region has 8 Gym Leaders, and they give a badge after being defeated. We need all 8 badges to enter the Pokemon League to beat the Elite Four and the Champion.

I just want to know if they, as Gym Leaders, must have known each other or not?

No there is no reason to. As some of the strongest trainers of the region, gym leaders may know each other but there is no necessity.

Case in point, Misty didn't know Brock was Petalburg's gym leader even though she was at that time not the Cerulean's leader. But throughout the journey Brock doesn't recognise most of the gym leaders. On the other hand several leaders know each other as well as the Elite Four. The reason for this is probably gyms are taken over strong trainers who went to the league or the Elite Four.

The reason why this is not a necessity that there is no set order for you to fight the gym leaders. There is no prescribed order to fight the gyms in an order. Even in the first generation games you could possibly battle Fuchsia, Celadon and Saffron gyms in different orders. In future games the HMs can only be used by defeating a gym and that HM is usually required to reach that next gym and thus the need of order of a particular gym. Or sometimes its locked, gym leader missing etc. other side quests.

In the anime, the current gym leader would realistically know which gym is the closest and leaders are usually helpful enough to pass it on to the trainer. But he is not required to fight the gym and may chose to proceed to another. Example: Ash skipped the Petalburg gym because Vigoroth was too powerful for his team and came back later. (As I remember, been a long time since I last saw Pokemon)

Also it is conclusive there are more than 8 gyms in any region of pokemon.
Refer to:
Does each Region only have 8 gyms in pokemon?


Why is Demon King not leaving purgatory? Why are there no frontal battles between the Demon King and the Supreme Deity (the goddess)?

Is there a rule to prevent that?

There was a great war between the clans 3000 years before the current time in The Seven Deadly Sins. The two main clans on each side were the Demon and the Goddess clan. There indeed must have been battles between the Demon King and the Supreme Deity at that time however none of that is shown in the anime or the manga. At the end of the war, the Goddess clan basically ended up defeating the Demon Clan by sealing them away for good using the Coffin of Eternal Darkness. The seal was eventually broken partially by Hendricksen freeing the Ten Commandments and many other demons but it was not enough to revive the Demon King himself.

So basically, Demon King cannot leave the Purgatory. The Purgatory is a space between the living and the afterlife. It is similar to how Meliodas didn't move go to the afterlife and instead went to the Purgatory. So the Demon King isn't really dead but not much of a living being either. He is simply waiting for someone to revive him.


Did Lucy ever recover her consciousness? In the manga, Kaede ("Lucy/Nyu")

   lost her Lucy consciousness ("bad side" or "little Kaede" side) and kept the Nyu consciousness.

Did she ever recover her Lucy or "real" side?

Before Lucy's body completely melted away and was about to be shot in the head, she went berserk. So it is safe to say that she indeed recovered her evil side. Although on the other hand, we could see her DNA protect Kouta unconsciously, so the memories she made after becoming "Lucy" were real, and despite recovering her true self, she could not forget about those happy memories she had with Kouta and the others.


Why didn't Kakashi take care of Naruto? During the flashback some people have and or Kakashi, we find out that Namikaze Minato, Naruto's dad, was Kakashi's teacher, and that Kakashi had a big respect for him. Also, Uchiha Obito and Nohara Rin were his teammates. We also find out that in one of the flashbacks Kakashi has, it shows that when he was in the ANBU Minato buts him to guard and protect his wife, Kushina until she had about nine months of being pregnant. After Minato let Kakashi free for a couple of days, he went to visit Rin's grave and then Obito's engraved name to tell them that their sensei was having a child. I think a couple of days after that Naruto was born, and Kyuubi rampaged around the village. Minato risked his life to seal away Kyuubi inside Naruto to protect him and the village.

Minato and Kushina died and left Naruto all alone, so why didn't Kakashi take care of Naruto. I mean I know the Third gave Naruto money every month or so, but why didn't Kakashi at least watch Naruto from the shadows like he did with Kushina. Was it because he was too busy with his ANBU work, did he just forget his sensei had a child or was he too young to be taking care of kids. I mean he was just what 14 or something, he could have still managed to look at him or something. Or did he just feel it was wrong to get close to Naruto?

One of my cousins and me were talking about this a couple of days ago and it got me wondering. I didn't know how to respond to my cousin, so I just decided to ask you all.

Being Anbu and a guardian to Naruto doesn't seems like a great idea. And Naruto was in the care of the Third, so it might not seem necessary. It is also to be noted that, Kakashi has a hard time connecting to someone emotionally too. And as per his past, he wouldn't want to get attached to anyone and wanted to be only an Anbu. It was the Third who removed him from the Anbu and assigned him with various teams as tests, as shown in the anime filler, and in the end assigned with Team 7.


What instruments do the members of Houkago Tea Time use? The instruments in K-On have labels with real music companies. For instance, here's Ritsu's yellow drum set (I'm not quite sure where this picture is from, or even if it's just fanart, but the drums are clearly the same as those in the anime):

That's a very clear Yamaha logo. Either Yamaha sponsored it, in which case they'd want a real product to be used, or the artist chose to use that particular model, but either way it's very likely a real-world instrument.

What models are their instruments? As a note, I think a couple of them might have multiple instruments, since I've seen Ritsu with a different drum set also.

From Wikipedia, which cites specific episodes as references:

Yui: Heritage Cherry Sunburst Gibson Les Paul Standard electric guitar

Mio: Left-handed, 3-Color Sunburst Fender Jazz Bass with a tortoiseshell pickguard with  D'Addario EXL160M medium bass strings; in the first volume of the manga, Fender Precision Bass

Mugi: Korg Triton Extreme 76-key keyboard; in the first season's ending animation, Korg RK-100 keytar; in the second season's ending animation, Hammond organ

Ritsu: Yellow Rick Marotta Signature Yamaha Hipgig drum kit with a cymbal set from Avedis Zildjian; in the ending animation, white Yamaha Absolute Series drumkit

Azusa: Fender Mustang electric guitar


Ending song episode 13 Moretsu Pirates (sub) I am unable to verify if official legal streaming services have the same ending theme as illegal ones since this show is unavailable in my country through legal services, if someone could verify this for me I would appreciate it.

So as for non legal one I used gogo. I won't put any links or such in here as I encourage everyone to support the studios as much as they can.

At the ending of episode 13 there is a different song being played as outro as opposed to all previous and future episodes. This is simply the odd one out. This song is extremely relaxing and has a lovely overal soundtrack. However I am simply unable to identify this piece.

It starts at episode 13 (22:07 if you use most of the streaming services) right where it shows the episode number (see screenshot). This lasts for almost 2 minutes with plenty of vocals. I don't understand japanese so writing down the lyrics is a no go for me. It might even be written in the credits shown during the song.

The name of the soundtrack would be the most ideal outcome. However after extensive research I wasn't able to find the slightest hint about it. I might have looked at the wrong places, but simply stating the vocalist and maybe even group/band would be accepted as well if after a couple of weeks no results are found.

With thanks to Memor-X I was pointed to the right direction in order to pinpoint the soundtrack used. Due to it being unavailable in my country I can't get my hands on the original album. I was able to verify this with the instrumental version, preview samples and a non legal version.

The name of the soundtrack is Toumei na Yozora ~Mabataku Hoshi ni Tsutsumarete~ covered by Komatsu Mikako which had the street release date of April 25th 2012.


Why is Gally's name localized as Alita? Battle Angel Alita is known as Gunnm in Japan, and Alita as Gally.

Why was the title and name of the series changed when it was localized? What other changes did they make from the original Japanese version?

Viz Media was responsible for localizing the Battle Angel Alita manga, and the reason apparently makes no sense, (from this page):

  Gally's name is changed to Alita. Why this was done is unknown, but the person who decided on the change tried to "validate" it, explaining that coincidentally Alita comes from Russian and has something to do with Mars (which is where Gally is from, incidentally).

There's a dream sequence where in the original Japanese version, Gally's dream self is named "Alita". The Viz version has the two reversed.

  Back in 1993, as Kishiro-sensei was quickly bringing things to a close with the Gunnm manga, he came across a plot point which he could use to take a jab at Viz. Early on, Kishiro learned that Viz decided to change, for reasons that truly make no sense, Gally's name to Alita. Towards the end of the series, Dr. Nova traps Gally in the Oruboros machine, in an attempt to crush her spirit. At one point, Nova is talking with Ido and suggests her name to be (in the japanese version) "Alita," the cat's name is "Gally." (Gally and the cats' names are important). Unfortunately, Viz decides to play along word for word, and Nova names her "Gally" and the cat is "Alita." So much for that potshot.

Additionally, Viz changed a bunch of names of a city, facility, and the computer (via Wikipedia, with emphasis):

  Besides renaming Gally to Alita, the North American version of the manga also changed the city of Salem to Tiphares, after Tiferet. Since Kishiro also used the name Jeru for the facility atop Salem, Jeru was renamed Ketheres in the translation, after Keter. To further develop the Biblical theme in the original series, Salem's main computer was named Melchizedek, "the king of Salem" and "priest to the Most High God".

Although "Alita" isn't a bible reference (western religion), a number of these names were changed, and Alita is a western name (moreso than "Gally"), so that it's more accessible to western audiences.

EDIT: I found the quote, from AN's "Ask John" column:

  In the October 1993 issue of Animerica, Fred Burke, co-translator for the Viz Comics Battle Angel Alita manga explains that, “For a Viz Comic to work, it’s got to appeal to more than just the hard-core manga and anime crowd;” therefore there were several alterations made in the translation of the manga. Yukito Kishiro’s title Gunnm, a compound of Gun Dream, was re-named Battle Angel Alita. Gally, the protagonist, had her name changed to Alita, a name, Burke explains, means “noble:” a name that he discovered while searching through a book of baby names. Burke also explains that, for no reason given, the floating city Zalem was re-named Tiphares: a name meaning “beauty,” taken from the Qabalah and the mystical Tree of Life. Furthermore, Yugo’s name was given a cosmetic change to Hugo for American readers.


What is Hiro'omi reading at the beginning of episode 6 of Kyoukai no Kanata? Around the 03:00-mark of episode 6 of Kyoukai no Kanata, Hiro'omi is shown reading a book:

What book is this?

A brief search into some of the text displayed in the screenshot reveals that this page contains part of the text of "Eiketsu no Asa" (永訣の朝; roughly "The Morning of a Final Farewell"; text; a reading), a poem by Kenji MIYAZAWA1. "Eiketsu no Asa" is part of his first published collection, Haru to Shura (春と修羅; Spring and Asura).

In what may prove to be a bit of foreshadowing, "Eiketsu no Asa" was written on the occasion of the untimely death of Kenji's younger sister, Toshi.

1 Miyazawa may be better-known to Western audiences for his novel Night on the Galactic Railroad, which was made into an anime film back in 1985.


Can this character be considered a slider? (Haruhi Suzumiya books 9&10 spoiler) In "The Dissociation of Haruhi Suzumiya" and the following book, can the character Yasumi Watahashi be considered a slider? (I'm not naming her in the title because she's not in the anime).

Since she essentially travelled between the two timelines and her purpose was, if I remember correctly, to reunite them. I read these books a few years ago (in a fan translation) and while I was pretty convinced she was the long-awaited "slider," most of the fanbase seemed to think she wasn't. I couldn't find any good reason why she should or shouldn't be or, in fact, any canon or otherwise generally accepted definition of what a slider is - I've always assumed it was someone who travelled between alternate timelines.

I'm rereading the beginning of Dissociation right now and Kyon reminds us that a slider has yet to make their appearance, reminding us that we should naturally expect one and, IMO, maybe foreshadowing the end of this arc and implying that Yasumi, even though we learn later that she is not a real individual, is "the" slider we've been looking for.

I'm aware that the series has been left unfinished and we will likely never know if another slider was planned.

The only character which can be considered an actual Slider (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interdimensional_being), albeit temporarily, is Kyon. He was the only character (an actual person, rather than a temporal construct made by Haruhi as Yasumi was) who experienced first hand existing in two different dimensions during the events of the 4th novel(the disappearance of haruhi suzumiya).


How do loot and item drops work? Frequently in SAO, players discuss how loot, items, and money will be dispensed when grouping or teaming up.

In MMOs that I've played, loot is divvied up by the system to each player based on what they kill.  When you get to a high enough level to get magic items, then there are methods for each player to lay claim to the item, and the system determines who gets it.

In SAO it clearly must be different.  In season 2 episode 21, this comes up with Asuna and the Sleeping Knights, when they forgot to give her her share of the loot from killing the boss.

The system has no way to know who was an original member of the party; does that mean that the party leader gets all of the loot and then distributes it?

In SAO the drops are assigned to the players who took part in the group with other players getting no knowledge of what dropped. There is also a bonus item for the person who gets the kill shot. I think this is also the case in other games based on the seed but that has not been brought up before.

https://swordartonline.fandom.com/wiki/Sword_Art_Online_Light_Novel_Volume_08#A_Murder_Case_in_the_Area

  Following the meal, the two began discussing ways of handling cases of rare drops in Sword Art Online, as the lack of logs tempted players to keep their drops a secret from their party members

I can't find the quote but in that series it is mentioned that the knights of the blood oath have a rule that who ever gets the drop gets to keep it.

Another point for this is that on the first floor boss at the end it is discussed that whoever gets the final blow gets a last attack bonus.

https://swordartonline.fandom.com/wiki/Illfang_the_Kobold_Lord

  Illfang the Kobold Lord was slain by Kirito, who gave the final blow to the boss, and received the last-attack bonus item


How and why do the characters speak Japanese? In Ente Isla they have their own language, and I don't think the people there (especially the ones living on the land) know anything about Japan or Earth. So how could Emilia, her father and that one guy carrying that cart (in the flashback) speak fluent Japanese?

And if they actually know Japanese, why don't they speak it all the time?

The people from Ente Isla do not speak Japanese.
They are simply shown speaking Japanese for the convenience of the audience during the flashback.

The moments where they are shown speaking their own language instead of Japanese are when they are chanting spells, which might not be able to be cast in other languages, or when it is necessary to remind the viewers that they come from a different world.

When Maou and Alciel had just arrived in Japan, they did not know the language, so it is important to demonstrate the language barrier to the audience.

During Emi's flashback, all the parties involved spoke the same language, so there was no need at all to show a language barrier, instead it is easier to make the whole scene in the audience's language.


Is anime production more efficient than manga production? To explain, I want to know whether it is more efficient to produce anime or manga, and why.

Anime:

Needs to be made frame by frame
need people to record voice.

Manga:

Needs lots of paper
has to be printed.

By more efficient, I mean which one has more profit and takes less time to make.

A production is only as productive as the people that make it up.

Manga production happens at a much smaller scale compared to anime production.

For anime production, on top of publisher front costs, you have to get your staff, sponsors, script, character/set designers, broadcasting rights, and advertising ready before the production even starts.

Typically only half the budget allocated to an anime is used by the studio in charge.

Manga production can vary greatly. Some authors are interested in creative input from their assistants, while others only ask them to assist. Some artists like do to as much of the work themselves as possible, others have their assistants fill in most of the page while the artist only draws the "name" (a kind of storyboard for manga) and main characters.

Anime are usually created and broadcast at a loss while profits are made from DVD/Blu-ray and merchandising sales. Most mangas are produced at a loss, their viability access by their rank in their parent magazine's reader survey polls and takubon (volume) sales.

Generally, it takes around 8,000,000 to 10,000,000 yen to make a "30 minute" episode anime, while it takes only about 2,000,000 yen to produce a weekly serialization, because it typically takes 2 months for a tankoubon can be compiled, at a 100-page monthly production rate.

On top of that you have to factor in rent for the studio, and payroll (pay + pensions) for that staff which typically is composed of 1 chief-assistant + 2 or 3 assistants + 1 background artist, typically a group of 4 to 5 people. Different authors/artist get different rates depending on the publisher and the experience/fame of the author/artist.

Most animators are contract employees to a production studio. Therefore they do not get benefits, pensions, or vacations. Because many productions employ so many animators for their tween animations it can be hard to keeps track of who's who and doing what.

A well managed small anime production can sometimes be more efficient than a large high budget manga serialization, but the opposite can be true as well. It usually comes down to who is an change and how the work trickles down.


In Zoku Owarimonogatari, why mirrored Sodachi's respected mathematician is Gauss? In Zoku Owarimonogatari, Koyomi meets with mirrored Sodachi Oikura, then Araragi asked if her most respected mathematician is Euler (real Sodachi respected Euler), but the mirrored Sodachi answers that her most respected mathematician is Gauss, and these formulae appear:

Euler's identity:

Gaussian integers:

So the question is, how is Gauss mirroring Euler? Or is it just a red herring?

Good question! Euler and Gauss are widely recognized as being the 2 most influential mathematicians in history. The greatest contrast between these 2 is that Euler worked on anything and everything, and published A LOT. In contrast, Gauss was more of a quality over quantity type of guy. He kept to a few topics and spent a lot of time improving his theorems and proofs before publishing anything.

Wikipedia on Euler:

  Euler worked in almost all areas of mathematics, such as geometry, infinitesimal calculus, trigonometry, algebra, and number theory, as well as continuum physics, lunar theory and other areas of physics. He is a seminal figure in the history of mathematics; if printed, his works, many of which are of fundamental interest, would occupy between 60 and 80 quarto volumes.[25] Euler's name is associated with a large number of topics.

On Gauss:

  Carl Gauss was an ardent perfectionist and a hard worker. He was never a prolific writer, refusing to publish work which he did not consider complete and above criticism. This was in keeping with his personal motto pauca sed matura ("few, but ripe").

So yeah this is probably why the "mirrored" Sodachi prefers Gauss over Euler.


Escanor not using "The One" mode? In the manga chapter 322, Escanor and the other member sins are fighting the demon king. We can see that Escanor is using a few power skill that require "The One" mode. For example: "Divine Sword Escanor" and "Divine Spear Escanor".

But when the demon king attack Escanor, it's appear that Escanor does take damage from him.

Isn't using "The One" mode any damage he receive is not harmful for Escanor? We are talking about the "invincible incarnation of power". So does it mean currently Escanor is still not using "The One" mode yet?

I believe your questions stem from several common misconceptions about Escanor. I will try to clarify each of them in a satisfying manner.

Escanor does NOT need to enter The One mode to use the Escanor line of spells

Previous Escanor fights have been misleading in this area. The series' very wiki does also state that the Escanor-type spells belong exclusively to his "The One" transformation. However, it has never been shown or stated that those spells need The One to be cast. It is true that Escanor largely favors using those spells as "The One", since he cannot wield physical weapons. But since, in essence, Divine Sword Escanor and Divine Spear Escanor are physical strikes backed-up with intensely concentrated Sunshine magic, Escanor can also use them in his usual daytime state.

It is very important to note that Escanor only started using those spells once Rhitta was broken and unavailable to fight against the Demon King. It is likely he simply prefers using his axe when possible, but resorts to the Escanor-type spells otherwise.

The One is not LITERALLY invincible

Within the universe of Seven Deadly Sins, The One Escanor is widely accepted to be invincible and the incarnation of raw power itself. Merlin says as such, and every member of the Seven Deadly Sins widely accept Escanor at noon is the strongest entity they know of.

However, this feeling of invincibility solely stems from The One's crushingly enormous amount of physical and magical power. The One does NOT confer meta-physical invincibility to ensure victory or ward off death. In fact, a crucial plot point is that Escanor is slowly dying from repeated usages of The One, and that it inflicts heavy internal wounds on each recent use. (These wounds stem from Sunshine in general, but seem rather logically exacerbated by using The One.)

All in all, this simply means The One's power is not literally unlimited. Theoretically, any creature or character possessing a higher amount of power can defeat and kill The One. The One's power has never been quantified in-series, but we do know it dwarfs Assault Mode Meliodas' 142 000 power level. 99.99% of Seven Deadly Sins' characters will instantly be defeated by The One, but divinities can theoretically match this amount of sheer power. (Although this is technically speculations since their power levels weren't quantified either)

Escanor was not in The One mode in your screenshots

The most easily disprovable assumption in your post. When entering The One mode, Escanor visibly radiates power and is constantly surrounded by a shroud of fire-like energy, dripping off from his body like such (picture from Escanor vs. Assault Mode Meliodas) :

In your screenshots, Escanor clearly has NOT entered The One form yet.


Hilarious, but is it a "burger"? The team is eating breakfast at cycling camp in Yowamush Pedal episode 13, beginning at about time mark 2:45. We see the MC Onoda eating:

One of his third year senpai, Tadokoro, sees this, and isn't having it:

  Hey now! What are you eating?!
  Is that a snack? It's so little!
  You have to eat more!
  You'll drop out after the second day!
  I'll share my Tadokoro Bakery Tadokoro Special Burger with you.

  [A Tadokoro Bakery food truck had just been shown. I don't know if it is related to the character's family.]

  Don't hold back. Eat.
  (Onoda): There's no way!

In addition to the over-the-top (I assume) hilarity , the word burger stood out. Is that a poor translation of the Japanese word for sandwich? Or maybe they are the same word in Japanese? (There is a long-running (since 1930) American comic strip named Blondie, and her husband is named Dagwood. Since he loves huge, multi-layered sandwiches such as these, they were known as Dagwood sandwiches. I'm not sure that term is still known generally, though.)

The scene takes place during the second day of their camp. Each team member must ride 1000 km over the course of four days. I realize they will be burning calories like crazy, but -- geez!

(This "answer" is technically a reply to a comment, but it includes a picture.)

  But one certain thing, it's not a wordplay at all.  – Aki Tanaka

I can accept that the word burger in itself may not be wordplay. That may well have snuck in due to the overlap in meaning between sandwich and hamburger. But let's compare the anime scene to the same panel from the manga by Wataru Watanabe:

(acquired from this Wikia page; I love this panel because the rye bread is called out, as well as Onoda's final line, And the banana's sticking out!!)

Compare Tadokoro's description:

(manga) Tadokoro Deluxe Special Burger
(anime) Tadokoro Bakery Tadokoro Special Burger

Why did the anime add the extra complexity? I have listened to that part several times; My non-Japanese ears do not hear anything special, such as rhyme or tongue twister. If it were that, a commenter would have likely mentioned it. But I believe there is a reason the anime intentionally repeated "Tadokoro". The only reason I can think of for doing so is some sort of wordplay in those five words.

Theory (added 16:45 10feb17): There is subtle wordplay. It involves both Tadokoro and burger. Most Japanese are well aware that their pronunciation of the latter ("baagaa") lacks the r sound from the original English. Yet here is a guy whose surname actually contains an r sound -- I can hear it in the anime. The two Tadokoros supply the rs missing from baagaa. ... I'm not saying this theory is likely or even broadly funny, but it is what my subconscious came up with. It is a subtle joke of the ear, mind, and context, which may be why the animators could add it to a scene which was already really funny.


In Naruto, why were women chosen to be Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi? So we are told that during pregnancy the seal weakens. And we can see that in the Kushina episodes. But if the seal weakens during pregnancy, why would they even allow women to become Jinchuuriki? Isn't it way safer to just appoint a man to the role? Do they have anything to gain from appointing a woman? I mean.. Kushina was a woman... the Kyuubi's previous Jinchuuriki was also a woman. Why is that?

When discussing who the next Jinchuuriki will be did  nobody raise they hands and go like "That's not a good choice at all! You guys do realize if she wants t have kids we'll need to organize a super-secret plan to exploit this. To which I'm sure somebody said "It's OK, it's not like some random naked man is going to attack us while she's giving birth and exploit this mechanic.... right?"

There have been three known Jinchuriki for Kurama, all from the Uzumaki clan. Mito, Kushina and Naruto.

After Madara and Hashirama's final battle in the Valley of the End, Hashirama realized that Kurama was too dangerous to be walking alone in the world. Mito chose to seal Kyuubi within herself because of her knowledge of Uzumaki clan's Sealing Techniques, Exceptional Chakra and lifeforce, and the fact being close to First Hokage meant that he could control the situation if the seal weakened and Kyuubi went on rampage. Thus Mito was kind of convenient and obvious choice at that time.

Naruto on the otherhand was on the opposite end of spectrum. Minato was against the ropes and realized that the village needed Kyuubi's power to fight the threat posed by supposed Madara Uchiha. Naruto had the Uzumaki blood and sealing only half of Kurama allowed him more control as well.

Thus only Kushina's case was special, since it was deliberated and chosen specifically for being the Jinchuriki. The reasons of this are explained as follows.

Kushina was chosen as the successor towards the twilight years of the clan. Uzumaki clan had almost disintegrated and a suitable successor would be very hard to find. Thus Kushina may have been the ONLY choice!
Mito was a tested host for the Kyuubi and thus Leaf elders may have decided that the next Jinchuriki should be as close to Mito as possible. A special Kunoichi from Uzumaki clan with exceptional chakra? Thats what they were looking for.
Kushina was eventually told why she had to leave her home of Uzushio and go to Konoha; because of her special chakra, she was to be the next jinchūriki of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox. This can be the Uzumaki chakra or some other criteria, we don't know. (Source - Naruto chapter 500)
Before the transfer was performed, Mito advised Kushina that love was the only way to tame the Nine-Tails and overcome its hate. Kyuubi was known as the incarnation of hate in the world and thus Mito may have felt that only a Kunoichi could control all the hate inside much more easily then any other ninja.


Is this artbook by Clamp based on a series? I was at a convention recently and I saw a few volumes of this at one of the trader's stalls:

The blurb on the back was quite non-descript and the guy running the stall seemed too busy for me to chat about it.

I left it alone, because I figured it was probably based on something I hadn't read/watched.

I thought it looked interesting, so I went to see what it was based on, but I haven't been able to find very much information on this book.

Is the artbook an unattached work in Clamp's general style, or is it based on one of their series and I just haven't been able to find it?

It's related to the manga X. Here's a pretty helpful review by an Amazon.com user:

  This is a well-made, high quality hardcover artbook collecting color artwork from the manga (comic) X/1999 (as it is published in the US). X/1999 is a supernatural, apocalyptic story about destiny and choices leading toward the end of the world, written and illustrated by a team of women collectively called CLAMP. The artwork here focuses on the numerous characters. As a loose generalization, the illustrations are either elegant or bloody. The characters themselves have the delicate, slender designs of all CLAMP characters. The female character illustrations shine here: the sword-wielding priestess Arashi, the innocent Yuzuriha Nekoi, and the fire-wielding Karen Kasumi, in particular. Other illustrations, particularly involving lead characters Kamui and Kotori, are scenes of violence or impending violence. X/1999 the comic has scenes of dismemberment; none of these illustrations reach that point, but they are not all sweetness and light. If you have read any comics by CLAMP (such as X/1999 or Rayearth) and think the art looks good in black and white, these full-color illustrations will show you CLAMP can reach an even higher level. One last note: this is a Japanese book, so it opens and reads in the opposite direction (but don't worry, it sits just as nicely on a bookshelf).


What is the meaning of the title of "Perfect Blue"? What is the meaning of the title of Perfect Blue?

Most of Satoshi Kon's (Director) work has a deeper meaning behind them, so I was wondering if there is a meaning behind the name.

As for the movie, there is no meaning.

Most of answers given on various forums (i.e. reddit, MAL) are only speculative and theories at best. From an interview with Kon Satoshi himself:

  Andrew Osmond: What is the significance of the title Perfect Blue?

  Satoshi Kon: That’s a frequently asked question and, at the same time,
  one I find very difficult to answer. To be honest, I used it because
  it was the title of the original novel [Perfect Blue: Total Pervert by
  Yoshikazu Takeuchi, published in 1991]. I presume the words had some
  significance, but as I changed the story and probably the subject as
  well, I guess the meaning was lost. I can only guess because I didn’t
  read the novel. I simply read through the rough plot, which was
  described as “close to the original story” in the project plan
  delivered to me. We discussed changing the title, but I like it, it
  sounds significant and mysterious.

It would appear then the meaning was lost to the source material. Seeing that the original is in Japanese book and my Japanese lacking, I will leave it for someone else well versed in Comp. Lit. to interpret the title as used in the book.


Light's actions before hiding his death note I recently started watching Death Note and have reached episode 17's end.

Light hid his notebook in the jungle, could he not have killed L? I know that L said that would  make Light the prime suspect but what if he writes the cause of death to be a slowly degentrative disease like Huntington's (which would make it VERY ironic given how proud L is of his track record)? He can make it kill L early by specifying his date of death like he did with Ray Penber's fiancé. And L would become less and less useful as he loses control over his body.

This method would be especially convincing since no one has yet (as far as I have seen in the series) discovered that he can determine the cause of people's death.

In-Universe Explanation
Simply because he can't. Light doesn't know L's name to write in the Death Note. You also have to realise L's intelligence and the level of wits they are matching. L made tremendous precautions and implied to Light that he knew how the Note works. He had also made it clear that if he died in the near future, Light is to be the primary suspect for Kira.

Additionaly, the write has given us multiple Rules of Deathnote. Among them the following relate to this scenario. The 23 day rule plays into the fact that 23 days is in the near future and L dying in that period would make the police suspicious of Light.

  If you write die of disease with a specific disease's name and the person's time of death, there must be a sufficient amount of time for the disease to progress. If the set time is too tight, the victim will die of a heart attack after 6 minutes and 40 seconds after completing the Death Note.
  If you write, die of disease for the cause of death, but only write a specific time of death without the actual name of disease, the human will die from an adequate disease. But the Death Note can only operate within 23 days (in the human calendar). This is called the 23 day rule.
  If you write die of disease like before with a specific disease's name, but without a specific time, if it takes more than 24 days for the human to die the 23 day rule will not take effect and the human will die at an adequate time depending on the disease.
  How to Use: XXVII/XXVIII

It may also be physically impossible for Deathnote to give a genetic disease. So L may still die from a Heart Attack. Though we have no idea about L's family since he was indeed an orphan.Huntington's Disease

Out-Universe Explanation You need to remember this is an Anime, and using such obscure tactics wouldn't make it easily understandable. The point is to understand this is indeed a fantasy thriller anime, that is meant to be an engaging match of wits and not knowledge. Light is just a high school student and not a medical doctor who is trying to find out obscure ways to kill the individual. Point I am trying to make is that the "Rules of Death Note" may be a writing device to cover such plot holes, but they may or may not be enough to cover all.


How did Shimada Die? He was shown killing Tatsumi, the detective, then the flashback was over.

Nowhere in the anime did it show how he died (and came for judgement). How did he die?

Canonical answers would be appreciated!

On the reddit thread discussing the episode, the same question popped up, to which there was this reply:

  He got stabbed by the guy who assaulted his sister. We saw the latter grab a knife from the kitchen sink and stab him in the hip/back. You can also see blood staining Shimada's shirt from under his knapsack after he stabs Tatsumi. Actually, he probably could have survived if he didn't overwork himself killing the detective.

Pictures replicated here in order mentioned:

So basically, he got stabbed but passed out after killing the detective, then bled to death from his earlier injuries.


Which of the character quirks are based on real life, and which are purely fictional? In the Kancolle anime (and presumably the game as well), several characters have little quirks that make them more memorable and unique. Some of these appear to be based on the factual history of the warships they resemble, but others I'm not so sure on.

For example, the character Kongou often uses English phrases sporadically in her sentences, and in her introduction to Fubuki she mentions she was "born in England [and] raised in Japan". The real life battleship that was the first of the Kongou class was indeed originally constructed in England, which makes me believe that the quirks of this character are a reference to the history of the warship.

So, which of the following are jokes based on fact, and which are simply made up, or carried over from the browser game?

Yuudachi's 'Poi'
Shimakaze's speed
Shimakaze having 3 'Rensouhou-chans' rather than turrets attached to her body like the other girls
Sendai's love of night battles
Naka's claim of being the one idol of the fleet
Akagi's (and Yamato's) huge appetite
Fubuki being unable to sail properly at the anime's beginning
Akatsuki's obsession with being 'ladylike', Ikazuchi's phrases about relying on her, Hibiki's 'khorosho', and Inazuma's 'nano desu'
Atago's 'pan paka pa~n' (ta-da!)
The poor relationship between carrier groups 1 and 5
All sister ships have a close relationship, but is the especially close relationship between Kitakami and Ooichi significant?
Ashigara and the other Myoukou class ships taking up positions as teachers in the fleet

I've tried to include links to evidence for most of them. If I've missed any major historical references made in the anime, please mention those in an answer as well.

This is all I've been able to find:
Yuudachi

~poi
According to the Kancolle Wikia and a few other sources, ~poi can roughly be translated as 'supposedly', 'seems like', 'perhaps' - all words of uncertainty.

The main reason behind Yuudachi's speech pattern is because no one actually had a clear record of what she actually accomplished in the Guadalcanal Campaign.
It was technically a huge mess during the fight and no one actually knew what was happening. Even though Yuudachi did wreak havoc in the battle, there are other ships who also claimed the kills.
Since her battle records were unclear and involved a lot of guess work from naval historians from both sides after the war, the game version of Yuudachi landed with the "poi" catchphrase just to reflect that little piece of history. (You can see from her introduction line that she wasn't so sure of her battle result in Guadalcanal either.)

The Guadalcanal Campaign was fought between 7 August 1942 and 9 February 1943 in and around the island of Guadalcanal in World War II. It was the first major offensive by Allied forces against the Empire of Japan.
The Yuudachi was disabled on the night of 12-13 of November, 1942 and the crew made some makeshift sails out of white hammocks. This was mistaken by the Americans to be a flag of surrender causing much confusion as they were still fighting back.
It seems that the Yuudachi is surrounded with a lot of confusion and vagueness which I image is what poi is referring to.

Naka

I can't see anything related to idol culture in Naka's history, but it did go through a repetitive change in leadership and was at the Battle of the Java Sea which had the most amount of ships taking part in battle since 1916.
So possibly there's been some parallels drawn between that and the larger idol groups like AKB48. (She does reference the group in some of her game lines)
Shimakaze

There are two Japanese destroyer Shimakazes, the one built in 1942 was enormously powerful and one of the fastest destroyers in the world: her designed speed was 39 knots (72 km/h; 45 mph), but on trials she made 40.9 knots (75.7 km/h; 47.1 mph). The 1920 ships were also record-breakingly fast for their time.
The ship does have 3 powerful twin-turrets. I'm not sure why they are separated from her body though. They did seem to be very powerful - perhaps the original designer thought they deserved their own characters.
Sendai

There's not much information about the Sendai light cruiser, but its most famous naval battle was when it attacked Malaya as part of the Second Sino-Japanese War (according to Imperial Japanese Navy Light Cruisers 1941-45, Mark Stille) at 23:45 on 7th December 1941 under the cover of darkness. Presumably, that's why she loves night battles.
Fubuki

Again, not much relevant information here. However, there were some accusations that the Fubuki destroyer accidentally sunk a Japanese minesweeper and four transports - perhaps as an anime girl that makes her clumsy? (It is now thought that the ship Mogami was the culprit) [Mark Stille again]
Akatsuki

I couldn't find anything that was lady-like about this ship.
Hibiki

Her tendency to include Russian words in her speech (not just "khorosho", as seen in the game) is a reference to the fact that she was turned over to the Soviet Union as a prize of war in 1947, and placed in service with the Soviet Navy under the name Verniy (Russian: Верный "Faithful"). She was renamed again in 1948 as Dekabrist (Russian: Декабрист "Decembrist"). She was retired from service in 1953.
In the game, on her second remodel (Kai Ni), her name is changed to Верный/Verniy, and her hat is changed to a white hat with a star and hammer-and-sickle symbol, which are references to the Soviet Flag.

Ashigara & the other Myoukou class ships

Again, I think this is a seniority thing, Ashigara was one of the very first 10,000 Tonne ships produced by any nation, according to All the World’s Fighting Ships 1902-1920. The Myoko cruisers were also built fairly early.
Another question asking about seniority in Kancolle: Do seniority relations among the fleet girls have any basis in properties of the actual ships?
Carrier Divisions 1 and 5

While the reason for the dislike isn't mentioned explicitly, on the Kancolle wiki page for Kaga, this excerpt can be found under Quotes > 'Battle start':

Quote: 五航戦の子なんかと一緒にしないで。
English translation: Don't put me together with 5th Carrier Division's kids.
Historical note: By "kids" she refers to their air wings rather than the 5th Division's ships themselves; historically 1st Carrier Div's crew looked down upon 5th Div's (Shoukaku and Zuikaku) as they were newly grouped during the early stage of WW2.

Additionally, the ships originally in Carrier Division 5 (Zuikaku and Shoukaku) along with the light carrier Zuihou were moved into Carrier Division 1 after Kaga and Akagi were sunk.
Yamato
Yamato Hotel and Yamato huge appetite

I couldn't find anything related to Akagi huge appetite but as Sakurai Tomoko mentioned on comment Yamato were the heaviest and most powerfully armed battleships ever constructed and she has a high fuel consumption which explain her huge appetite.
It is mentioned on wiki, Yamato was once dubbed "Hotel Yamato" by the Japanese cruiser and destroyer crews. The battleship spent only a single day away from Truk between her arrival in August 1942 and her departure on 8 May 1943.

She remained here (Truk) throughout the Guadalcanal Campaign because of a lack of 460 mm ammunition suitable for shore bombardment, uncharted seas around Guadalcanal, and her high fuel consumption

Mamiya

Mamiya is often seen to runs a cafe in the naval district. In real life, Mamiya was a food supply ship of the Imperial Japanese Navy and was in service from 1920s-1940s.
Ryuujou

Unlike most aircraft carrier, her small figure look different than the likes of Kaga or Akagi. She's totally flat on top and use a scrolls instead of bow.
In real life, Ryuukou was classified as light aircraft carrier. She was the only light aircraft carrier of her type to be completed by Japan. She was small and lightly built compared to other aircraft carrier.
Tenryuu and Tatsuta

Known for using a melee weapon, both Tenryuu and Tatsuta are unique compared with other kanmusu who mostly only use their guns (with an exception for aircraft carrier). In real life, both ship were renovated with a modified bow superstructure, replacing the canvas sides of the bridge with steel plate. The bridge was then further reinforced with steel plate as protection against shrapnel.
Their weapon also look similar to their bow:


Why Kumoko stops using this particular skill later on? Kumoko-chan stops using

   Parallel Will

During the fight with

   the Arc Taratect army

In chapters

   135 ~ 137

Why does she do so?

These are big spoilers, but if you don't mind them:

   The Parallel Wills have separated from her main body and are each trying to take over the consciousness of the Queen Taratects. The Queens have a link with the lower ranked Taratects that can grant them control over the lower ones, Kumoko used this link to "upload" the Parallel Wills into the Queens and try to take control of them. It's proving quite difficult since the Queens are themselves being controlled by Ariel (Origin Taratect) through a similar link, one of the consciousness uploads itself into Ariel and tries to take over as well, which is how she finds out about Kumoko.


Why are Rin's friends still mad over the fact that he is the son of Satan in season 2? In season 2 episode 1, Rin's friends are still mad over the fact that he is the son of Satan.

Isn't this already over/resolved in season 1?

Yes, it is resolved in Season 1 but Season 2 is not a direct continuation of Season 1.

To go into further detail: Season 1 of Blue Exorcist becomes anime original starting from episode 17. There was a lot of backlash from the fans and if they wanted to make a Season 2 it would be impossible to continue from Season 1's end. So, the studio completely ignored all the parts from Season 1 that deviated from the manga in Season 2.


Significance of the different designs of Tobi's/Obito's masks There have been three designs of the masks of Tobi/Obito shown in the Naruto (anime/manga). Is there any significance behind the masks and the designs, or is it just a design and something to be ignored?

The masks in each stage has their own significance:

The Spiral Mask with center at the eye was designed by the mangaka to give the dimension switch by Tobi a better look.

The Rinne-Sharingan shaped mask was worn by Tobi during the Shinobi War to represent his mission i.e achieving the Rinne-Sharingan for the Infinite Tsukuyomi .

All these designs don't have any significance from the perspective of the storyline. They were just designed by the mangaka to have a stylish, appropriate appearance.

Source:

Obito Uchiha


If there's only one of each fruit, how could Blackbeard recognize the "Dark Dark" fruit? If someone had seen it before you'd think it would have been eaten.

And I also thought I remember a segment about no one knowing their fruit before they ate it. (I think it was with the CP9 arc)

I can't recall exactly when this was said during the series, but as the WIKI says here, when the user dies, the fruit he ate simply regenerates inside the closest appropriate fruit the same place where the user died and their ability is reborn into another fruit of the same kind instead of growing from a plant.

It's only my assumption but maybe CP9 did not know what the capabilities of their new fruit were because they were not so rare.

I think Blackbeard followed the progress of the user of Dark Fruit, so he knew when and where it is.


How does Obito not lose his eyesight after excessive use of the mangekyo? I've been thinking about his Mangekyo and how it seems to have had no impact on his eye sight and how he could have escaped the effects. After much thought on the topic I think I might have the solution and am wondering if this is a valid theory or not. My theory is you need both Mangekyo to hurt your vision. Since he had only 1 eye this effectively allows him to use part of its power for no effect compared to people like Itachi and Sasuke who do have both and had issues with this. Basically if I didn't make it clear enough with only 1 eye he couldn't get Susanoo or the other great abilities but also didn't have the downside of losing his sight. So do you think this is a valid theory? I know its unprovable either way just trying to see if I'm the only one who thinks this is a possible solution.

Considering he have hundreds of spare Sharingan and half body of white zetsu. It is quite easy for him to maintain Mangekyu Sharingan (can never actually use eternal mangekyu).

We can see that in the scene when he transplanted Itachi's eyes to Sasuke.


How did Nagato choose the paths of Pain? Potential Spoilers for the events Season 6-8 of Naruto Shippuden

In the Jiraiya vs Pain fight we get the following information.

   Konan is a former student of Jiraiya, who is also the Angel of Amegkure and Pain who has the Rinnegan is the leader who defeated Hanzo. During the fight we learn of the six Paths of Pain, each who uses a different unique abilities while sharing their field of vision. Jiraiya was confused how could six people have the Rinnegan when only Nagato had it.

This is the setup for the sequence of the events leading into the next season.

   Jiraiya recognises Yahiko, and then the body of pain that he pulls into the toad. He then decides to go back out and realises that ALL the paths of pain are Ninjas he'd seen/met before. And then the realization "The real one is not among them." This confuses me since we know Nagato can make any dead person a path of pain (the new Animal Path), Why would he chose those particular individuals that Jiraiya knows? Infact how did he know Jiraiya knows them?

And thus the question, How/Why did Nagato choose the "Paths" of Pain?

Additional Info: He chooses the following paths of pain

   the 5 shinobi that Jiraiya encountered during his journey: The Puppeteer, The Waterfall shinobi, The Fuma clan shinobi, The Grass Shinobi, The Priest. The sixth path i.e. Yahiko seems obvious due to their connection. But again using the other 5 seems very coincidental.

It's only a theory, because even the wiki (or any SBS) gave no explanation why he chose these specific people, except that Jiraiya knew them. So I will try to make some connections between what we know for these characters (very few) and their path's meaning.

So, except from Yahiko, here is what I think for the other 5 paths:

Nakara Path: The man that wields it was a priest, so it only makes sense because of that that he would bring people back to life or take their life. This also comes from the religion perception:

  Yama is the lord of Justice, the King of Hell, he puts living beings after death for appropriate punishment, for example, in boiling oil, if you lie to him, he will rip out your tongue. After the period of punishment is complete, they are reborn on earth in human or animal bodies.

Preta Path: This person had failed to cultivate the land for his family due to his participation in war. And as it is mentioned below in the wiki:

  In Buddhism, the Preta realm (also known as the Hungry Ghost realm) is a reincarnation based on strong possessiveness and desire which were cultivated in a previous life or lives.

So it only makes sense for him to be that path.
Human path: This shinobi believed that all he could do to try and achieve peace was to teach the next generation to survive the battles with other ninja until it came.

  In Buddhism, the Human realm it is widely believed that is the form of rebirth most likely to attain enlightenment, due to both the availability of information and teachers, and the ability to reason without falling victim to the obsessive aggression or carnal delights inherited by the higher planes.

So that's how it makes sense, because he wanted to teach.
Animal Path: The first, I think, was one of the Six Paths of Pain because he fought Jiraiya at some point. Also, there is only one connection to this path:

  Buddhists believe that animals inhabit a different dimension separated from humans not spatially but mentally; an unhappy plane of rebirth which revolves around fear, instinct and survival of the fittest, suffered by those animals that work for humans and, above all, by those ignorant to what is happening to them.

But I don't know if it counts. The second Animal Path was after Jiraiya's death and she didn't meet him.
Asura Path: Last but not least, this man is the only one that I cannot make even one connection. He  was shown to be a wandering puppeteer with insight to the world and

  In Buddhism, the Asura realm is the plane of semi-divine warring demons which people are reincarnated in due to actions based on jealousy, struggle, combat or rationalisation in a previous life, and though powerful, live in constant violence and conflict to which there is no resolution nor peace. Following a common depiction of Asura, this ability allows the user to possess six arms and three faces, each of which display a different emotion. They are featured in Hinduism as the lowest tier of divine beings, and are known to live a life pursuing power, while indulgent and representative of materialistic and carnal pleasures.

Maybe there is a connection through rationalisation.

Hope it helps!

Note: if someone wants to edit and put more, feel free to do so!


What is the formal term for energy in Dragon Ball Z? In Bleach, the term is "reiatsu". In Naruto, it is "chakra". However, all I ever really heard in DBZ is "power level". Is there a more formal descriptive term for the source of their powers or the energy they give off?

The original Japanese term is ki (pronounced the same as "key", written as 気). It can also be spelled chi or qi. The same term is used for a concept in martial arts, though naturally Dragon Ball's version is quite a bit different from this. In the English dubs, this term is never used, and "energy" is used throughout the series.

According to Toriyama, there are 3 components of ki, namely Genki (元気, roughly meaning Energy), Yūki (勇気, Courage), and Shōki (正気, Mind). Ki also can be positive or negative. The various charge up and transformation sequences are all done in order to increase one's ki.

Dragon Ball Wiki has more information on ki in the series.


How do Naruto and Sasuke manage to beat Kaguya so quickly? So the mother of all chakra is defeated by Naruto and Sasuke. It really doesn't make sense already, but my only problem is with how quickly they do it. Hagaromo stated that it took him and Hamura MONTHS to defeat Kaguya. But about an hour after being released from her seal she's defeated by Naruto and Sasuke? Sure Sakura punched her once at the end, and Kakashi threw in some kamuis here in there, but I still don't think they could have sealed her that quickly.

This fight within the narutoverse is one of the few examples where a team made a huge difference other than a one on one fight . Hagoromo and Hamura took months to defeat kaguya . On the other hand Naruto and Sasuke were with sakura , obito and kakashi ( one of the most revered shinobi in narutoverse). also one of the other major reasons she was defeated was because of the tailed beasts themselves .

Kaguya herself was fighting after thousands of years , She had a massive chakra even greater than madara as sasuke confirms . She was continuously teleporting between dimensions which was consuming huge amounts of chakra from her . Black Zetsu although made a plan of separating them , and did so successfully . Obito successfully bought him back with the help of sakura . Although you say that sakura just threw a punch and there were some kamui's by both kakashi and obito what you forget was how they came at absolutely crucial moments . Obito gave up his life to save both of them from All-killing ash bones of Kaguya .

The major turning point within the battle came when kaguya got hit by the Naruto's Rasenshuriken . Taken From Wikia[Naruto Shippuden]:

 After getting hit by Naruto's tailed beast powered Rasenshuriken, the Ten-
 Tails' chakra within her reacted violently to the chakra of the other
 tailed beasts, transforming her into a rabbit-like chakra monster, which
 according to Black Zetsu was a form she couldn't control.

Now the battle went downhill after this , when hagoromo and hamura fought kaguya there was no concept of the tailed beasts being separate , but during these two thousand years they had spawned from the ten tailed beast and had gained experiences and fought in wars . so when naruto hit her with the rasenshuriken , she was in the unstable state wherein she was being attacked both from outside and inside [ the tailed beasts started resisting there capture] and it was soon after this weakened moment that they were able to seal her . Although she tried to escape , there came in sakura's opportune punch to stop her from this and they successfully sealed her .

Another thing you need to be wary of is the war itself took only within two days .


Awakening the Rinnegan To awaken the Rinnegan, can you just get any Uchiha's and Senju's chakra, mix them together and get the Rinnegan? Or do you need Ashura's and Indra's in particular (i.e. their reincarnation's)?

Do you still need to go through some very sad or aggreviating situation to awaken it, or do you automatically get it the moment you mix the two chakras together?

To get the rinnegan you need to have the mixture of the Ashura and Indra chakras. As Uchihas are descendants of some of them and the Senju of the others, the mixture of these also allows obtaining it. The clearest example is Madara who uses the chakra of the first Hokage to obtain it.

You do not need any more requirements, but it is not a trivial process Madara itself took more than 10 years to wake up the rinnengan.

SPOILER ALERT

  Sasuke has a special rinnegan is different and more powerful, this rinnegan is called Magatama Rinnegan. He obtained it by receiving the moon crescent, I think dark, side of Hagaromo's (the Sage of Six Paths) chakra.


Which Doraemon episode is this with Shizuka and multiple mini Doraemons? I have been looking for this episode for quite a while. I would appreciate anyone's help. Thank you.

The text on the upper-left reads 「大晦日だよ！ドラえもん」(Oomisoka dayo! Doraemon, "It's New Year's Eve!! Doraemon"), which is the title of the show.
The subtitle reads「人類を救うために、ドラ・ザ・仮面登場！！」 (Jinrui wo sukuu tame ni, Dora The Kamen toujou!!, "To save mankind, Dora The Kamen appears!!).

This is from 2001's Doraemon New Year's Eve special episode, titled 「大晦日だよ！ドラえもん!!ミラクル大変身３時間スペシャル!!」 (Oomisoka dayo! Doraemon!! Miracle Daihenshin 3-jikan Special!!, "It's New Year's Eve! Doraemon!! Big Miracle Transformation 3-hour Special!!"). This special episode was broadcasted on 2001/12/31 from 18:00-20:54 JST and consists of 12 rerun episodes and 6 original bridging episodes:

ミニドラ救助隊 (Mini Dora Rescue Team) [Episode 1291]
冬眠シェルター (Hibernation Shelter) [Episode 1342]
ドラえもん　の　捕物帖 (Doraemon's Detective Story)
ジャイアンのディナーショー (Gian's Dinner Show) [Episode 1054]
ドラえもん　の　荒野のガンマン (Doraemon's Desert Gunman)
未来へのメッセージ (Message to the Future) [Episode 1247]
ドラえもん　の　黄門様 (Doraemon's Koumon-sama)
いつでもどこでもスケッチセット (Whenever, Wherever Sketch Set) [Episode 1053]
刑事　ドラえもん (Inspector Doraemon)
ママのありがたみ    (Mama's Blessing) [Episode 1077]
ジュラ紀でドラミが大ピンチ (Jurassic Age, Dorami in Big Trouble) [Episode 1489]
ボクを止めるのび太 (Nobita Who Stops Me) [Episode 1472]
ドラ・ザ・仮面 (Dora The Kamen)
カードテレビ電話 (Card TV Telephone) [Episode 1420]
特賞！のび太温泉 (Special Prize! Hot Spring Nobita) [Episode 1484]
名探偵　ドラえもん (Detective Doraemon)
雪だるまドラ太郎 (Snowman Dora-tarou)[Episode 1434]
白雪姫のリンゴ (Snow White's Apple) [Episode 1300]

Unfortunately, many Doraemon special episodes are only broadcasted on TV and don't have their home consumer version (DVD/BD), including this one.

References:

TV Drama DB (Japanese): Broadcast info
Hana Baloon (Japanese): Episodes info


Did Vegeta ever called Goku his earth name "Goku" in Japanese dub? I recalled that Vegeta once said "Goku" in episode 72 of English dub. Does Vegeta said his earth name "Goku" in Japanese dub too? How many times did Vegeta said "Goku" throughout the series? And when is it?

1) When fighting against Nappa and Vegeta, Krillin laments on Goku hurrying up to get to the battlefield. Vegeta retorts, "Goku? Is he strong?"

2) When questioning Trunks' claim of being a SSJ, (IIRC) Vegeta's says something along the lines of "the one you call Goku.".

3) A Japanese title, "Koeteyaru... Gokuu wo!! Sentou Minzoku Saiya-jin no Ou". Or "I Will Surpass Him... Him, Gokuu! The King of the Fighting Race, the Saiyans". Or Mr. Simmons' translation, "I Will Overcome Goku!! The King of the Saiyan Warrior Race".


Why is the average number of suspects three or more in Detective Conan? I'm curious as to why in almost every Detective Conan case there are always around three suspects? Even when there are cases with many suspects, Conan always narrows it down to three or four suspects. When there is a case involving a serial killer there are at least three suspects at the end.

Is there any explanation from Aoyama Gosho about this?

Three is a number that would make the story go more smoothly. If there were only 2 suspects, the evidence would continuously weigh one one another, making the case go for 5 chapters compared to the usual three. If there are four, or more than such, it would be like watching longer replays of the 50 million suspects case, but these are fillers with no specific information that is important to the timeline, so they should not go longer than 3 chapters.


What's that peaceful song in Naruto Shippuden episode 54? It start at around 7:10 in Naruto Shippuden. It's just so good and why has no one ever made like a tracklist of each episodes' songs alike One Piece' tracklist where you can find anything you heard in any episode of one piece to be able to find the exact name of it.

Does anyone know what that song is called? It starts at 7:10 in Naruto Shippuden episode 54.

Having listened to almost the entirety of the three OST's that naruto shippuden has had released , i did not find what you were asking for . But nevertheless , instead of the name itself i found the tracks for you ,
here i found the shorter version ,
and the extended version here


What are the limitations of the Flying Thunder God technique (Flying Raijin Jutsu)? More specifically, how many objects can a user mark simultaneously?

If it's an infinite number, then why don't they mark all the objects around them?

Also, besides the number count issue, what other limitations are there?

As from what we have seen this far, if you remember the fight of Minato and the A (War Arc 4th Raikage), Minato had a lot of kunai with the mark of this Jutsu spread around the area. So we can say there has to be a specific limitation.

Also we know this technique is connected to the chakra of each user, so it means there are also some limitations there as it's one he makes it takes some of the chakra user.

As for the longetivity of this justu as from the wikia about Flying Thunder God Technique(Flying Raijin Jutsu):

  As Minato also noted, the marking formula never disappears from a marked target.


How does a series go from manga to anime? In a previous question, I asked about Dragon Ball Super being released before its manga. My question here is about the life cycle of a manga becoming an anime.

From my understanding, an artist or mangaka creates their comic called manga and it gets published by a major studio if it's deemed worthy. From there if it cultivates a big enough fan-base it becomes licensed by a studio like Viz, Funimation or Bandai. And from there it becomes a game, movie, t-shirt, toy, etc.

Is that the way most anime's come into play? If not, what is the proper life cycle from drawing to manga to anime?

Anime might be produced based from many types of different stuff, not limited to manga, but also other stuff, like light novels. There are also some anime that aren't based on any manga.

  From my understanding an artist or mangaka creates their comic called manga and it gets published by a major studio if it's deemed worthy.

Yes, this is pretty much correct. The mangaka can release their own manga too, but it is less likely to be as popular.

The mangakas usually work together with magazines like Jump where they have someone they can show their ideas, drawn simply. If their idea gets accepted, they start on producing it with more details.

  From there if it cultivates a big enough fan-base it becomes licensed by a studio like viz, funimation or bandai. And from there it becomes a game, movie, t-shirt, toy etc.

Yes, this is also correct. The mangakas license their manga with some companies to make it an anime, and swags of it.

I really recommend you to read the manga or watch the anime of "Bakuman." which tells the story of 2 teens producing manga (and aiming to get one produced into an anime), with very good amount of details on every part of the production cycle.


What exactly does "best girl" mean and where did the expression originate from? I've seen the expression "best girl" being used several times, and I find it quite self-explanatory. However, some people seem to define it in slightly different ways. Here are some different definitions from one or two reddit threads:

  It's when I get a boner in my heart.

  Best Girl = Mai Waifu

  I'm not sure if everyone thinks about it like I do, but with 'best girl' I just mean it's my favourite girl from a show.

  As far as I can tell, it just means you post a hundred pictures of a pretty anime girl you're in love with. And its creepy without context. Unless its being done ironically, then its only a little creepy.

I was wondering if there's some sort of "official" definition for the expression "best girl".
Beside that, where did the expression (or meme, I'm not sure it is considered a meme) originate from?
Is this an expression that is used in Japan too, or is it a Western thing?

When I first sat down to investigate "best girl", I was pretty sure that this was a fairly old lexical item - not pre-internet, by any means, but probably c. 2003-04. Alas, I had fallen victim to internet time dilation yet again.

Having looked into it, I now claim that the idea of "best girl" as we now conceive of it only started to come into being quite a bit more recently - I would generously estimate c. 2010, or maybe a little bit earlier.

Of course, the idea of a "girl" being the "best" is as old as time. What we're really interested in is the idea of "best girl" as a distinct lexical item; as part of a particular grammatically-unusual construction, in which "best girl" is not accompanied by the definite article, often in a clipped utterance; as something that can be snowcloned (as it has been, to give us "worst girl" and "best boy"); as something so argot-y that it provokes confusion from people not familiar with the jargon of the internet anime subculture. In other words we're talking about things that are archetypically like "Ritsu is best girl".

I decided to take a look through the /a/ archiver - it only has posts from Feb 2008 forward (and I think its coverage is a bit spotty for 2008), but that seems to be good enough for our purposes. Why? Well, look at the search results for "is best girl" - there are about a hundred results between Feb 2008 and Jul 2010 (and thus almost certainly very few before Feb 2008), but a further 37,000 between Jul 2010 and now (Feb 2015). Some of that is certainly attributable to an increase in users on /a/ (see the bottom graph here for an idea of how much growth we're talking about - roughly a factor of three from trough to peak), but I think that far more of it has to do with the "meme" of "best girl" taking hold. (Implicit here is my claim that the idea of "best girl" as we now conceive of it is directly correlated to the usage of "best girl" without a definite article.)

Another good proxy for the memeticization of "best girl" is the growing use of "best girl thread" on /a/. Here, we see 25 posts from Feb 2008 to Apr 2011, and then a further 2800 from Apr 2011 to now (Feb 2015). Here, I think we can identify a fairly discrete changeover around mid-2011, when the phrase "best girl thread" began to sharply rise in popularity.

  Beside that, where did the expression (or meme, I'm not sure it is considered a meme) originate from?

I am fairly confident that we can't pinpoint a specific origin for the term - as I mentioned above, the idea of a "girl" being the "best" is obvious and needs no explanation. The transition from discussion of "girls who are the best" to discussion of "best girls" as a crystallized notion was almost surely slow and gradual.

I should add: while I don't think we can pinpoint an origin for the term, I'm pretty sure that it was popularized on /a/ before spreading to the wider internet in the past two years or so. As the classic Human Centipede-inspired graphic suggests, a large fraction of anime-related memetic content (that isn't ganked directly from Japan) does come from 4chan.

  Is this an expression that is used in Japan too, or is it a Western thing?

I'm by no means a 2ch memelord, but I don't know of any direct equivalent in Japan. Even if there is one, English "best girl" is assuredly an independent invention, and isn't inspired by the Japanese equivalent.


Nami look-alike in episode 144 In episode 144, around 15:45 of One Piece, while salvaging the ship of a navigator that fell from the sky, Sanji came across a picture. The woman in the picture looked almost exactly like Nami.

It can't be a coincidence because Nami is a prodigy when it comes to navigation, and picture of her look-alike just happen to be at a navigator's ship.

Was that just a coincidence? Is there any theory related to that picture?

Not confirmed but the popular belief is that the picture reminds Sanji of his mother.

This is a foreshadow of Sanji and his relationship with his mother. It is addressed in the latest arc the Whole Cake Island arc.


What happened to Kaneki in episode 12 of Tokyo Ghoul:re? In episode 12 of Tokyo Ghoul:re,

   Kaneki gets his memory back.

However, I didn't understand the dialogue "well sleep, Haise" before that, and the following event regarding Kaneki's memory.

What actually happened?

The metaphor is that Kaneki is putting Haise to sleep, as now Kaneki has taken over by regaining his memories. Haise will never come back, as he has become a part of Kaneki. The 'cliffhanger' now is how will Kaneki act around his friends that Haise made, and what will he do next.


Why does Touma care if other people learn that magic exists? There are multiple scenes in the Index movie (The Miracle of Endymion) where Touma cuts Index off when she's about to say something to Arisa about magic or magicians or whatnot.

Why does Touma have an interest in preventing Arisa (or anyone) from learning that magic exists? It doesn't seem like other people knowing about magic would have any adverse effects on him.

Ultimately, Touma doesn't want everyone to know about the truth of Academy City, where corruption prevails and everyone is just a test subject. If everyone knows the truth, all chaos would break loose.

And once people learn about magic, the domino effect happens.

People learn about magic -> People learn about the struggle of power (Science vs Magic) -> People learn that Academy City is corrupted beyond belief in every aspect possible -> A big war ensues where everyone chooses a side

Just think about the magic side as a gang that is trying to take control of the government. The government (Academy City) has been sweeping their own dirty deeds under the rug, as well as concealing their opponents. Learning about magic opens the door to everything.


Why does Homura have to die within her soul gem in "Movie Part III: Rebellion"? In Puella Magi Madoka Magica the Movie Part III: Rebellion, why does Homura have to die within her soul gem in order not to betray Madoka as she said here?

Even if Kyubey confirms the existence of God Madoka, it doesn't mean he has the power to manipulate it to his advantage. After all, God Madoka's power is greater. That's why Madoka is a God, isn't it?

why does Homura have to die within her soul gem in order not to betray Madoka

i can only think of 2 instances you are referring to

when Kyubey asks if Homura wants to spend eternity trapped inside her barrier as a witch. Homura says that Mami and Kyoko will kill her instead order to free the people who were drawn into her Labyrinth and thus the Isolation Field which prevents anything getting out
Homulily being marched off to a guillotine. this is explained in the 7th dot point on Observations

  Homulilly appears to have half of her head cut off, which is a reference to the guillotine in her barrier, guillotines are usually symbols of punishment and shame, which may reflect Homura's guilt for not being able to protect Madoka.

this comes after she's found out that the Incubators have partly succeeded in capturing Madoka within the Isolation Field and plan on studying her

  Even if Kyubey confirms the existence of God Madoka, it doesn't mean he has the power to manipulate it to his advantage. After all, God Madoka's power is greater. That's why Madoka is a God, isn't it?

but that was their end goal and to do that they needed to confirm the existence of the Law of Cycles and then observe how it works so they can interfere and control her

  Kyubey says his kind wants to observe the Law of Cycles, which to them had only been a hypothesis. Homura insists on knowing why, claiming that if Kyubey considers curiosity irrational,

  ...

  but Homura realizes that his goal is to control Madoka and attacks Kyubey with her witch powers. Kyubey evades the attacks and admits that by observing the Law of Cycles the incubators could interfere with and control it. This would allow them to turn magical girls into witches, reinstating the old system that provided the incubators with more energy.

Rebellion/Synopsis > Part D (3rd paragraph)

as quoted above the Incubator's goal is still the same, collecting energy and as explained at the end of the series/second movie, after Madoka's wish was granted and the new universe was created, the "current" system of energy collection isn't as good as the old one with the witches which Homura explained to Kyubey where it comments how that would have been a better system but they had no way of confirming the existence of the Law of Cycles.

Would the Incubators be able to control Madoka? well yes given time. remember this is a species who can rip out the souls of young girls, fasion the soul into a gem and give them great powers, powers enough for one girl to be able to travel though time and another recreate the universe


How and why does Wilhelm win against Theresia? So we know that Reinhard is brokenly overpowered with all the blessings he has.
(A google of "re zero reinhard blessings" will bring up a fair number of sources describing roughly the same list.)

Even if we assume that his grandmother Theresia only had the Sword Saint one "Sword Saint: Swordsmanship maxes out, and become able to draw Raid, the Dragon Sword.".

How does Wilhelm defeat her in a sword fight as witnessed in the anime, before they sort of become a couple. Does the light novel or web novel shed more light on this?

Or did Wilhelm seriously outfight the sword saint in a sword fight? I assume she still had at least the sword saint blessing, as their grandchild Reinhard didn't exist yet to take the blessing from her yet.

Judging by character synopsis on Wiki, it was not covered by all. He simply left during Demi-Humans War, and then returned and defeated Theresia.

One thing - I'm not sure, that Divine Blessing of Sword Saint gives its owner perfect swordsman skills. I suppose, Theresia only had certain fixed swordsman skill level, obtained by blessing. But Wilhelm spent years for training and a lots of effort to gain his skills. So, it is not that strange, that, if taking into account only swordsmanship skills, it was possible for ordinary human to overcome Sword Saint in duel. Maybe, if Theresia were to use any of other her blessings, she would defeat Wilhelm.


What race are Emperor Pilaf and Garlic Jr.? In Dragon Ball, Piccolo and Kami are written as if they are demons from Earth, but in Dragon Ball Z, it is revealed that they are actually aliens from the planet Namek.

Another prominent character who looks like a demon, Emperor Pilaf, is never stated to be a Namekian, but he shares the odd skin tone and pointed ears of one.

Similarly, Garlic Jr. is Namekian-looking, minus the antenna, and seems to have some connection with Kami that is never fully explained.  He also doesn't seem to grow taller at all (Neither does Emperor Pilaf) and has the same approximate skin tone as Pilaf.

They're almost Namekian, but not quite, and don't seem to follow the same character design as other Namekians, and they seem to be permanently short, so I hesitate to call either of them Namekians.

I don't know if they're the same species, but they're very similar.

What exactly are these two characters?  An offshoot of Namekians?  Actual demons?  Or something else entirely?

Garlic Jr. is a Makyan ( natives of the Makyo Star) not a Albino Namekian. Albino Namekian are still presumed all dead. For Emperor Pilaf nothing much is know, we can assume him as earthling like other animal looking people.

Other Known Makyans

Cinnamon
Garlic
Ginger
Herb
Jasmine
Mustard
Nicky
Salt
Sansho
Spice
Vinegar


How much of an influence/reference/relation Love Hina and Shakespeare was to Nisekoi? Both share way more elements in common than two random shounen shows. Digging into the preferences, sources and/or backgrounds of the author of Nisekoi, how much of Love Hina's influence can be found?

Both shows have the following in common:

Childhood Marriage Promise: The centerpiece of both plots is a blurred promise. Love Hina's is both a marriage promise and a college proposal, but has almost the same weight. Note that several other animes (hit TVTropes for the list) have it too, but not as the centerpiece for the love story.
Naru and Chitoge are almost the same person.

Tsundere? Check.
In love with the lead male? Check.
Denies affection to the deathbed? Check.
Hits lead male when some gag puts them in an awkward situation? Check.
Hair antennae? Check. (Chitoge's is actually her headband, but is indeed an antennae).
Probably the one that made the promise? Check.

Raku and Keitaro are similar too, but as far as shounen lead males go, they are all the same person by design. So not too much here.

My point is, if you swap the Nisekoi setting from a high school to a boarding house, and remove the Romeo & Juliet elements, you have Love Hina.

Looking for credible sources.

I'm not that familiar with Nisekoi, but I don't find any of the similarities you mention very striking.

Childhood marriage promises are very common in anime.
The first four things you mention that make Naru and Chitoge similar are all pretty standard tsundere traits. Tsundere as varied as Asuka Langley Soryu, Nagi Sanzenin, and Kirino Kousaka all share those traits with Naru and Chitoge. I acknowledge there is some visual similarity even beyond the hair antennae, but Chitoge also looks pretty similar to MM's Mio Isurugi, aside from the difference in build. Mio is even somewhat of a tsundere, to boot. And it's just a natural part of a story about a childhood marriage promise that the main heroine is probably the one who made the promise.
You acknowledge that all male shounen heroes are the same person.

All of these are standard clichés for shounen romantic comedy. Some of them were popularized by Love Hina, and some have been around since Urusei Yatsura or even earlier. The reviews quoted here all call out Nisekoi for being full clichés, bolstering my case that the similarities are just part of the genre.

Also, in this interview, Nisekoi's creator, Naoshi Komi, says his biggest influence is not Love Hina, but One Piece.