Waiting in the Summer and Onegai Sensei seem to plagiarise each other. Is this normal in anime/manga? Waiting in the Summer and Onegai Sensei have TONS of things in common:

Luscious Redhead Alien Main Romantic Interest? Check.
Is she a Meganekko (warning: TV Tropes) even though her advanced alien civilization surely can fix the need for glasses? Check.
Mature demeanor indicating a slightly older woman? Check.
Works as a neutral observer on Earth? Check.
Cannot get into a relationship with natives due to alien regulations and job specifications? Check.

Likes to look candidly over the shoulder while holding arms stiff against the back so to enhance the "natural attributes" during the show OP? CHECK!

Almost kills the MC during the first episode due to crappy piloting re-entry skills? Check.
Saves the life of MC after the crash? Check.

Strange critter that doubles as the spaceship control interface? Check.
Critter has the ability to teleport said alien redhead on demand? Check.

Lolita manipulator that seems to know everything behind the scenes? Check.
Secondary "death flagged" romantic interest that never stands a chance against the aforementioned hot redhead alien? Check.
Redhead is forcefully removed from Earth for breaking alien law? Check.
Japanese countryside (almost rural) setting? Check.
Character design by Taraku Uon? Check.
Manga serialized by Media Works? Check.

I really felt deja vu all the time.

Is it common to repack almost the same story, setting and characters into another series?

I already told how the series are almost a copy of one another, I want to know how common is it to repack the same basic storyline and sell it again.

If the two series are in the same world is stuff for another question: What proof do we have that Waiting in the Summer and Onegai Sensei (and Twins by proxy) are set in the same Earth?

These two anime are made by the same people. Yousuke Kuroda, story writer of Onegai Sensee, collaborated with the character creator of the Onegai franchise, Taraku Uon, to bring us Ano Natsu de Matteru [1][2].

I would say that what you're experiencing is the many tropescaution! that are in common between these anime. Since these anime share a creator this is significantly magnified. There are many common tropes and themes that are shared between stories as they are the building blocks of making an interesting plot and storyline.

When watching anime I often can pick up when a show is going to be similar to another show, even early on.  That is because another way to think of these tropes is as a sort of template that the creator can use to layout basic plot elements and then fill in the rest of the storyline with their original ideas.  Depending on how well they are able to add their own twist to this template determines how much of a copy it will feel like. Your question asks if this is common in anime or manga, but this isn't just restricted to anime. These ideas apply to broadcasting and entertainment in general, look at all those generic reality TV shows that are popular among baby boomers. If something is popular, they reuse it.  Then, when someone innovates and creates something people truly love, it too will be copied.

While it may seem like déjà vu in such a closely related example like Ano Natsu de Matteru and Onegai Sensee, in my experience shows this similar are very rare.  Perhaps, these two shows are the best possible paradigm for your question.


How come Mr. Braun doesn't remember Suzuha? In episode 16 Suzuha goes back in time. Unlike what happens when they send a D-Mail or time-leap, this doesn't cause the divergence ratio to shift — which in turn means all lab members still remember her, since she was just there.

However, after that, Mr. Braun goes to the lab to give Okabe Rintarou a letter from Suzuha, saying:

  It's a letter from someone who once took care of me.

Does he not remember her working for him as a part-timer? That would be weird, given everyone else in the lab appears to still remember her.

Or is the name change — from Amane Suzuha to Hashida Suzu — along with the age difference enough to make him not realize they're the same person?

As you pointed out, yes it is because of the name change. But let's look at the timeline of events after Suzuha  travels back to 1975 without changing the divergence ratio.

1975: Suzuha Amane (19 years old) arrives in Tokyo but suffers amnesia.
1978: Yugo Tennouji (aka Mr. Braun) is born.
1999: Suzuha Amane (43 years old) remembers the events from before the time travel. In this time she helped Yugo Tennouji (aka Mr. Braun), who was 21 years old at that time, as Hashida Suzu. Suzuha Amane/Hashida Suzu suicides.
2010: The 19 years old Suzuha Amane arrives in Tokyo and applies as a part-time worker at Yugo Tennouji (aka Mr. Braun) CRT store. Yugo Tennouji (aka Mr. Braun) is 32 years old in 2010.

So he only knew a 43 year-old friendly lady with the name Hashida Suzu who helped him 11 years before the events of D-Mail. It's not absurd that he doesn't connect her with a 19 year-old Suzuha Amane.

Source: Suzuha Amane Wiki, Yugo Tennouji Wiki


What song is played in episode 39 (S3E2) of Attack on Titan at around 13:00? There is a violin song played in Attack on Titan episode 39 (season 3 episode 2) from 13:00 to either 13:42 or 15:00 (not sure when it ends).

It's when Armin just killed someone to save his friend and he is sad and talking about it, Levi starts talking. Right after Levi says "arigato (thanks)", it starts playing.

It is also in episode 44 around 13:54.when Historia says that she will eat Eren...
I think I've heard it before in season one too.

What is this song?

I think the song what are you looking for is this one:

[進撃vn-pf20130524巨人] [Forest of Giant Trees] OLD [Attack on Titan Original Soundtrack II]


What, exactly, happened to Gamagoori/Jakuzure/Inumuta's uniforms during episode 19? Right before the one-month timeskip in episode 19, all four of the Divine Generals seem to have functioning Three-Star uniforms. After the timeskip, though, only Sanageyama's is in working order - and it, too, comes apart as he's evacuating the last of the people from his home turf in northern Kanto. The other three are clad (well, unclad) in Nudist Beach finery.

What happened to the Three-Star uniforms of the other three? How were they lost/destroyed?

The fourth Kill la Kill drama CD (bundled with the eighth BD volume) narrates how everyone escapes Honnouji Academy after Satsuki blows the place up. It is truly a riveting tale of discomilfery and nudity.

In short: the Divine Generals split into two groups in order to lead the people of Honnouji away from the COVERS, which are in hot pursuit. Sanageyama and Nonon lead one group away by helicopter, while Inumuta and Gamagoori lead the other group away by truck. They plan to rendezvous at Rinne-do Middle (i.e. where Satsuki and Gamagoori went to middle school).

Sanageyama and Nonon's group proceed by helicopter - but as they approach Rinne-do, they see that it has already been overrun by a group of COVERS. Nonon goes forth in her Symphony Regalia (which can fly, keep in mind) to dispatch the COVERS. Before long, her uniform experiences too much strain, resulting in its nexus thread snapping. She falls out of the sky, whereupon Sanageyama activates his Sword Regalia to go forth and save her - but it so happens that Iori and Soroi arrive just in time on another helicopter to catch her. Iori then deploys some sort of instant-freeze weapon to dispatch the COVERS. They decide to rendezvous with the truck convoy ASAP.

Upon hearing from Sanageyama that Rinne-do had been overrun, Inumuta and Gamagoori decide to divert to the Nudist Beach base in Osaka (under advice from Mikisugi, who has Ryuuko and Senketsu in tow and is following them in his DTR - yet another amusing incident) and have the helicopter group do the same.

To protect their convoy, Inumuta and Gamagoori hatch a plan. While Inumuta extends his Probe Regalia's active-camouflage feature over the entire convoy to conceal it from the COVERS, Gamagoori waits behind with his Shackle/Scourge Regalia to destroy the COVERS that are in pursuit, to ensure that they cannot destroy the bridge connecting Honnouji to the mainland and sink the convoy as it crosses. They both succeed; alas, the strain on their uniforms is too strong, and both of their nexus threads snap. Tsumugu happens by and picks up Gamagoori (who is in the nude, having lost his uniform, and thus of course earns Tsumugu's trust) on his way to join up with the convoy.

After that, both groups successfully arrive at the Nudist Beach base in Osaka, and the rest is history. Sanageyama's uniform was saved from terminal damage at the hands of the COVERS by Iori's timely intervention; the other three were not so lucky.

In long: you should definitely listen to the drama CD. Even if you don't know Japanese, it's worth it, if only to hear more of Gamagoori and Mikisugi yelling.


What devil fruits and their users that are able to fly? In the Alabasta Arc, Pell said that there are only 5 known flying devil fruits.

  Pell: You're lucky to see this. Only five flying devil fruits are known to exist

What are these "5 known flying devil fruits" and who are their current users?

Apart from the 5 known, did they discover new flying devil fruits?

Note: I'm only talking about the "real flying devil fruit". What I mean here by "real" is like Pel who can naturally fly unlike others who uses their creativity in order to "fly", example of this is

   Doflamingo.

Nope, there are more than 5 DF users who can fly:

Doflamingo, who can fly using his DF by attaching his thread to a cloud
Gear 4 Luffy, who can fly using his elasticity according to Doflamingo
Marco, who uses his ancient DF to fly and kick Kizaru
Shiki, who had a DF called Fuwa Fuwa no Mi
Sabo
Caesar
Smoker
Kaidou, who can fly by changing his form using his mythical DF into a dragon


Who was the first young character in anime to appear with white hair? By now the trope mystical white hair is used by everyone and their cat,  we have loads of characters who appear young yet have white / silver hair, either because they were born that way / used magic or other powers / had a traumatic experience etc.

Which was the first anime that had a young character with white hair?

Originally, anime and manga tended to have black, dark brown, and redhead hair color. Often it was stylized in the manga pages and illustrations, so many characters might've had white hair then. Although it was'nt really canon design. Then the whole "colorful hair\eyes, sometimes crazy hairstyles" thing became more common as actual canon design in both anime and manga, and thus white hair started appearing alongside blue, green, purple, violet, fuchsia, pink, bright red, grey, teal, cyan, bright yellow, bright orange...

So it might've easily been more than one character at the same time.


Why doesn't Ichigo protect himself from Aizen's power? On the way to Karakura town, Ichigo is informed by Unohana that he is the only one with a chance of defeating Aizen, as he alone hasn't seen his Shikai.

Ichigo..apparently does nothing about this. He doesn't blindfold himself or protect his eyes in any way that would be obvious to an anime viewer. Aizen could presumably just activate his weapon and negate Ichigo's only advantage at a whim.

Does Ichigo do anything to protect him from Aizen's illusions? If not, why does Ichigo charge Aizen without any regard for protecting himself from his game-ending ability, despite being warned about it minutes earlier?

Bleach has its share of rather blatant and gaping plot holes, but here are two logical reasons to this question from my perspective:

First Ichigo obliviously plans to finish off Aizen in a one hit kill as he feels that it would be his best chance of winning and goes on with it. He first attempts this in (Refer chapter 388) when Aizen is busy fighting Shinji and the others Ichigo tears into the world with his thoughts racing to cut him down stating that's the only way to defeat him without seeing Aizen's shikai. The initial attack to his blindspot is blocked with kido as Aizen is well aware of being targeted at the back of the neck and Ichigo reveals that he made a split second bad decision without thinking it through.

In fact it momentarily appears to have paid off where he manages to land a slash through Aizen's neck just as Aizen is escaping from Yamamoto Genryusai's last attack (end of which he lost his arm). Refer manga chapter 397 where this happens and initially the timing and execution of the attack seems exemplary, only being undone by Aizen's new found powers after merging with the hogyoku. It could be summarized that Ichigo relied on his one hit kill plan way too much and in the thick of things did not device a plan B in case it failed.
As to why Aizen did not attempt to lure Ichigo into illusion with his Kyoka Suigetsu's release can be attributed to various factors, but primarily

Aizen wanted to be defeated. Aizen's inner (perhaps suicidal) tendency to find a person who could comprehensively defeat him which Ichigo attributes to Aizen's loneliness caused by his incredible power where he was unable to find someone equally powerful as himself. Refer manga chapter 422 where Ichigo discusses with Urahara how he felt Aizen's loneliness on coming to contact with him when Ichigo was fighting on the same level as Aizen.
Another aspect like mentioned in the previous answer is Aizen's visible arrogant and megalomaniac like tendency shortly displayed after he fuses with the hoguoku. He feels that none of the Shinigami or Vizards are a visible threat and in many cases does not even bother to dodge enemy attacks during the battle like in the instance where he fends off Kisuke and Yoroichi.


When did Kagami first attend a Comiket? In Episode 12, the Hiiragi twins accompany Konata to a Comiket. While it is Tsukasa's first time there, Kagamin has apparently visited before (with Konata). Is this earlier visit (sans Tsukasa) covered in the anime? How about the manga?

Screenshots (clickable) from E12:

From ~1:50 where Konata tries to trick Miyuki into coming along:

The following snapshots are from ~3:30.

As far as the manga is concerned, episode 12 is also the first time Kagami has been to Comiket. Or at least a previous visit isn't shown.

Kagami has been to the gamers store with Konata several times, so it wouldn't be a surprise if she managed to drag her along to Comiket.

In volume 1 of the manga, Kagami exclaims "I've never been to that". There are no Comikets shown between this scene and the one that Kagami arrives at.

As a point of note though, new Lucky Star strips were occasionally released at comic conventions around Japan. If you were convinced that Kagami had been there before, perhaps she and Konata appeared at one of the Comikets 'IRL' before Tsukasa.


Why will Fairy Tail have 4 consecutive weeks of double chapters? Lately, Mashima has been giving us a lot of double chapters. He will reportedly have double chapters for four consecutive weeks (starting week of April 22, 2015 with chapter 429). At first, I thought it was related to Golden Week, but that does not last four weeks. Does anyone know why we are getting four double chapters?

I think this is mainly a marketing tactic, meant to attract more readers to buy copies of the Weekly Shonen Magazine1. When the magazine's copies hit the bookstore, a front cover caption Fairy Tail! Double Chapter inside!! ... and next 3 weeks too!!! (or something on those lines) will draw the buyer's attention, and would likely lead to an increase in sales.

Regular readers would buy the magazine no matter what, but the tactic is mainly aimed at two categories of prospective buyers:

New buyers, that is, people who have never bought (or perhaps, even heard of) the magazine before.
Buyers who are unsure if they should buy the magazine.

People are made to believe that they are getting something "extra", which often leads to making a buy decision. This, by the way, is not much different from the "Buy One, Get One Free" offers. It is also quite common for popular TV shows to have "2-hour specials" every once in a while, which is also based on the same "principle" (if you will).

Moreover, announcing 4 consecutive editions with double chapters increases likelihood of repeat business. People look forward to buying the next 3 issues as well. Buying 4 consecutive issues will lead to at least a sizeable number of readers "latch on" to the magazine, who would naturally choose to continue buying later issues as well.

As for why Fairy Tail gets double chapters so often (as against other mangas), I think it mostly comes down to "because he is Erza Mashima!!" To elaborate, Mashima (and his assistants?) are able to spend more time and/or effort on their manga and can submit two chapters in a week, whereas most other mangakas may not be able to do so due to personal commitments or other reasons. As an aside, he published triple chapters of Fairy Tail for two consecutive weeks a year or so ago. (Chapters 338-340 and 341-343, IIRC)

1 Weekly Shonen Magazine is different from Weekly Shonen Jump.


How were the walls in Attack on Titan built? If I remember correctly, in Attack on Titan, it's mentioned or implied a number of times that humans built the walls to protect themselves from the titans. (Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong on this.) If so then, how did they manage to get the walls erected (which seem to be the result of somewhat extensive work) without getting killed, if they were already under attack by that point?

(Note: I'm only about halfway through the anime series, so I might just be missing something that appears later.)

Spoilers from the manga.

After the king's sanctum incident (ch50~65)

   (when Rod Reiss tried to make Historia eat Eren),

it is disclosed that

   The First King used his Coordinate power (control over titans) to force those titans to use their hardening power to shape up the walls, then used his Memory power to wipe the memories from the pre-wall era from humanity.

Why did he

   leave hibernating titans inside the walls

is unknown.

   he also created the Wallist Church to help him oversee the walls safety.


When do the Kodomo no Jikan OVA side stories take place? Kodomo no Jikan has a 3-episode OVA released from 2007 to 2011. The episodes are side-stories which are not directly related to the plot, but I think they are still based on the manga chapters. As such, they should fall somewhere in the story.

Relative to the anime, where do these 3 episodes fall?

Wikipedia lists the 3 OVA episodes in question as follows:

Yasumi Jikan '~Anata ga Watashi ni Kureta Mono~' is between the 4th and 5th episodes of the 1st season.
Kuro-chan to Shiro-chan occurs between the 1st and 2nd episodes of the 2nd season (which is a 3-episode OVA season)
Kodomo no Natsu Jikan takes place after the end of the second season.


Why is Silver Fang rated as S-class Rank 3 hero? It's clearly that there is bunch of heroes are more powerfull but for some reason ranked below. Zombieman, Flashy Flash, Child Emperor - all of the guys allready beaten monsters ranked above Demon level, while Bang along with his brother Bomb couldn't handle exausted Garou.

Is the ranking system not reliable source for heroes strength comparison or Bang just still didn't show all of his abilities?

As an addition to Pablo's answer:

The following page appears in Chapter 72 of the webcomic (text spoilers after):

   Just before Bang basically one-shots multiple Dragon level threats in a row (he also takes out a whole bunch of Black Sperms in a flash), Bomb informs Genos that the reason Bang brought him (Bomb) along to deal with Garou was so that he (Bang) wouldn't accidentally kill Garou.  He was not there because Bang was not strong enough to deal with Garou, but because Bang was too strong and has problems not killing things when he's actually going all-out.


is Cooler a "good guy" in Dragon Ball Heroes? In a Dragon Ball Heroes animation, Goku, Trunks, Vegeta and Cooler are seen fighting the saiyan who is going to be the bad guy in the new Dragon Ball Heroes anime. Is Cooler a "good guy" in Dragon Ball Heroes?

The answer to your question would be very likely be a No. Cooler is an antagonist and is a character who wants to eradicate the Saiyans just like Freiza. There is absolutely no reason for him to turn "Good", as that would imply, Cooler would be willing to fight Frieza to protect Goku and the rest of the Saiyans, which doesn't make sense. Cooler certainly hates Frieza and would destroy him if he had the chance. You could compare it to a relationship between Early Vegeta and Goku, where Vegeta would destroy Goku by himself if he could but you wouldn't necessarily see him join an arch enemy like Frieza and help him defeat Goku.I believe just like Dragon Ball Fighter Z and even in the tournament of power, Cooler has possibly teamed up with the Saiyans to take out an even greater threat.


Who was the first tsundere character? It's not like I like tsunderes or anything, I'm just interested in anime history okay?!

I just happened to be on the site, so don't get the wrong idea!

Geez, j-just tell me who the first tsundere was already, Baka!

EDIT: For clarification, I'm looking for the first known character that expresses tsundere qualities, rather than the first character that was labelled tsundere.

According to The Otaku Encyclopedia: An Insider's Guide to the Subculture of Cool Japan, Lum Invader from Urusei Yatsura is possibly the first tsundere to exist (and also potentially the source of all moe)

Urusei Yatsura started manga distribution in 1978 and Lum's cold exterior (but in actuality being kind and loving) accrued her the title.

However, Sayaka Yumi from Mazinger Z (1972) appears earlier in history than Lum, despite the popular support for Lum's claim. Sayaka, whilst generally a pleasant character, is brutish and brash towards the main character's affections - despite having a crush on him.


Anime where teenage girl's growth has stopped I watched this anime 1-2 years ago but can't remember the name. I would like to watch it again. Judging by the style of the anime it is quite new, I would say no more than 5 years old. The story is about a girl in her teens living with her father. Illness isn't quite the word for it, but her growth has stopped resulting in her looking like a 1st or 2nd grader. She falls in love, but I don't remember how that ends. As she is a teenage girl, she is very cautious of fashion and her main problem is finding clothes that she likes. In the end she start designing clothes for children and people with the same problem as her.

To my knowledge, it is as someone already mentioned, The Friendly Winter.

  A 19 year old girl with a rare growth disorder that leaves her in the body of a small child meets a boy with a mental disorder, who has the mind of a small boy in a 17 year old's body. A Friendly Winter shares with us the endearing story of their day-to-day lives, joys and tribulations.

You might have mistakenly remembered it as an anime because it is fully coloured. It is actually a Korean Webtoon. Her hair is close enough to be misremembered as pink.

In the end,

  she is proven a capable business woman who runs a children's apparel fashion line.


What is the difference between a regular wall and the wall Kakashi summoned? In chapter 420, Kakashi summoned the wall of dogs (Doton: Doryūheki).

It looks just like an ordinary earth element wall, except that it has bulldog sculptures on it.
It's already known that Kakashi was familiar with the earth element very well.

So why did he summon this wall?

Let's see what was Kakashi trying to do. First of all, he summoned the wall behind Pain. So his intention was not to make a barrier to protect himself, but rather to limit Pain's movement, probably to make it harder for him to evade Kakashi's attacks. Right after that he tries to hit Pain with Raikiri, but because of Rinnegan he misses and hits the wall instead. Note that Pain is already pushed to the wall, so he can not evade backwards.

So basically he has just two ways to move to left: forward, from where Kakashi is attacking, or upward, trying to jump over the wall. Considering this, I would assume that the dog heads are there to prevent the enemy from doing so, and possible catch and hold him at the wall if he is reckless enough.

Note that it is not the only technique which combines Earth element and Kakashi's dogs. He also uses Kuchiyose: Doton: Tsuiga no Jutsu (literally "Summoning: Earth Release: Tracking Fang") in his battle against Zabuza. In this technique, tha dogs travel underground, track their target and then assault it with their fangs to hold it still and let Kakashi hit it with Raikiri.

So yes, I think the wall had roughly the same purpose.


Why are people who haven't done anything wrong taken into custody? I watched the first two episodes, and the anime was really interesting. Why are people who have a high number on the psycho-pass shot? In episode one, the victim was shot because she had a huge number on the psycho-pass. It doesn't make any sense to me.

Crime Coefficient is a measure of a target's probability/propensity to commit a crime. The MWPSB uses it as a measurement to determine if a target is a latent criminal or otherwise.
It is calculated and determined by the stress level (Hue), and other biological readings of a person via cymatic scan through the Sibyl System.
Level of Crime Coefficient

Under 100 - Suspect is not a target for enforcement action. The trigger of Dominator will be locked.
100 to 300 - Suspect is classified as a latent criminal and is a target for enforcement action. Dominator is set to Non-lethal Paralyzer mode. Suspect can then be knocked out using the Dominator.
Over 300 - Suspect poses a serious threat to the society. Lethal force is authorized. Dominator will automatically switch to Lethal Eliminator. Suspect that is hit by Lethal Eliminator will bloat and explode.

Source

Make sure to check your crime coefficient!
Unhappily my coefficient is of 420 so I no longer belong to this world.


Was Itachi Jiraiya's source in Akatsuki? Jiraiya always knew what the Akatsuki was up to. He was always saying that he had a "reliable source in Akatsuki."
So my question is if it could be Itachi. Because who else could it be? Tobi said "Itachi joined the Akatsuki as a spy" "He joined an organization that threatened his village." These quotes indicate that he might be the source in the Akatsuki after all, because no other had better access to information than Itachi. But I doubt that Jiraiya knew who the source is, and also he didn't knew truth about Itachi, so why would believe him? But what if he was anonymous? Someone could argue that he obtained information by himself, but let's be clear even Jiraiya, who is really good at gaining info and spying and infiltration. I doubt he could spy/infiltrate/gain information from Akatsuki by himself. In the Akatsuki, there are S-class criminals and Pain - so they would find out really soon about someone.

This is a really good question and its very possible, but you also severely underestimate jiraiya's abilities. As the Toad Sage he could literally have toads all around the 5 Great Nations listening for information for him, and the reason i have for this is he can summon almost any toad from Mt. Myuboku. And use normal toads to aid him in infiltration tactics. I mean look at the way he infiltrated the Hidden Rain Village right before his confrontation with Pain. He used a normal frog, not even a ninja frog, a normal frog. So despite the doubts you have he could have toads around the 5 great nations listening for information on the Akasuki. Like i said it is very possible for Itachi to have been the spy for Jiraiya, but at the same time i do feel you underestimate Jiraiya.


Why is creating massive water spouts/flames/rock formations/gusts of wind a sign of mastery? In Avatar: The Last Airbender, it is established that if you are a master you can generate huge amounts of your chosen element (or manipulate it if we are talking about water/earth benders).

All the past avatars showed their skill by bending large amounts of their native element. I can give one example, Avatar Yangche was seen bending a large enough gust of air to affect the landscape on a massive scale. The water bending avatar was shown with creating a massive wave that he surfed on.

Why is creating these massive effects a sign of mastery? Can't any bender do this? They have the bending ability to do it, so why is doing these things a sign of mastery?

The episode you seem to be referencing is Book 2 Chapter 1: The Avatar State, when Avatar Roku's spirit gives Aang a crash course in the meaning of the avatar state. We get a quick demonstration of the power of the avatar state when we see it invoked by Avatar Kuruk to bend a gigantic wave, Avatar YangChen to cause a gale force gust, the fire nation avatar before YangChen to cause a volcano to erupt, etc.

Technically, you would be right to say anyone who has mastered bending their native element could create such feats. I don't believe the term bending master has ever been formally defined in the show, though evidently it implies great skill in bending. Whether that implies the ability to bend X massive amount of the element at once or perform an incredibly intricate move is not said and there is no hard cutoff. It evidently is opposite that of a novice, though, who'd be getting a feel for the fundamentals by pushing/pulling their first ripple of water or generating a small puff of flame, so it makes sense a demonstration of how much of an element could be bent at once is a signal of mastery.

The thing is that like the martial arts, the bending is based in proficiency that gets better with experience and time. People continuously get better with practice but those skills do not necessarily scale linearly; e.g. bend rock -> bend bigger rock, Bumi at the ripe age of 112 has the ability to earthbend by tilting his head.

Mastery is more or less just a sign of proficiency or title of respect and there is no upper cap on it. Eventually a waterbender may achieve the skill needed to bend a wave like Kuruk, but the skill being demonstrated in the scene is the ability to tap into, as Roku says, skills, powers and experiences of all past lives of the Avatar. The ability to use skills yet to be learned from scrolls yet to be read in one's current lifetime.

It is nice that the scale of the feats shown to Aang are greater than any single feat by a non-Avatar otherwise, but the true special quirk of the Avatar is not the mastery of one's own bending element. The thing that any random bender cannot do but the Avatar can is bend more than one element. Kuruk is shown bending a massive wave, but could have just as easily bent a gale force wind or a giant fissure because we see previous Avatars doing so.

I've only watched Avatar: The Last Airbender, never Legend of Korra, and am not familiar with most of the comics that exist around the series, perhaps a better answer is given elsewhere.


Why do ninjas run with their hands at the back? Ninjas in Naruto run with their hands at the back,

which is very different from normal anime character running.

Why is that? Is it because of their too much running speed or the wind force that their arms tend to be at their backs? Don't they lose balance when they run like that? Is there any explanation for this?

Based on research...
...Ninjas frequently were portrayed running with The Airplane Arms.

  Ninja are also frequently portrayed running this way (with the arms swept farther back, like the wings on an F-14 Tomcat), though they now tend to prefer the Ninja Run. Samurai also run in a similar manner, usually while keeping one hand grasped onto their katana. In a more (apparently) realistic series this may have something to do with the runner having a reduced profile and thus being harder to hit with ranged weaponry, but it's generally just the Rule Of Cool.

Emphasis by me.


Why do certain captain-level Shinigami wield small zanpakuto? In Bleach, it is stated that the size of Shinigami's zanpakuto (sword) is based on their spiritual ability.

However, many strong Shinigami have smaller swords. Sui-Feng, for example, has a zanpakuto that resembles a wakizashi, which is a relatively small sword. Why does this happen?

Because a shinigami's sword isn't based on their spiritual ability alone.

It also depends on the amount of control they have over their power. Ichigo's sword was larger, but it was also brittle, out of focus if you may.

   Ichigo's father stated that a huge zanpakuto means nothing, and that if they had no control, all captains would have skyscraper sized zanpakuto.


How long is the longest running anime series? I know that the Pokemon anime has over 800 episodes, and One Piece has 600+ episodes, but I've heard that they are not in the top 10 of anime with the most number of episodes.

So what anime is longest?

Sazae-san (still ongoing) holds the Guinness World Record for the longest running animated television series at more than 7071 episodes. For a list of runner-ups, check this list.


Why did Muzan turn into a woman? I know that Muzan is a shapeshifter, and can change his biology and and appearance at will, but why did he specifically choose to turn into a woman? What was the reason for that?

if i'm not mistaken, the reason why muzan shape-shift is to hide his real identity or his face from the demon slayers. I think this is also the reason why the pillars were shocked when oyakata-sama revealed that tanjiro had a brief encounter with muzan.


Do all ki warriors need to power up? Time and again beginning with the later dragonball episodes and lkater dbz, dbzsuper,...) we see ki warriors power up before they unleash their true powers / strongest attacks.

Now I'm wondering though...as it seems powerup was only introduced later on when ki sensing and ki suppression was introduced: Do ALL ki warriors need to power up to unleash their strongest attacks / full power? Or is it only necesary when you suppress your power level to power up first?

The answer to this question would be a Yes in terms of Dragon Ball Z and a  Yes & No in terms of Dragon Ball Super. Ki (気 "Kee", lit. "Spirit"), also known as chi/qi, Yōki (妖気)[1] or simply energy (エネルギー enerugī), is the life force energy used by Dragon Ball characters. SourceSo as per the definition, it would make sense that the more Ki/ energy is released, the more powerful a fighter is or the more powerful their attack is. For example, if there is a beam struggle between two fighters, the fighter who raises his energy/ki more comes out on top. The greater the amount of energy released by a warrior, the greater is the level of power. So yes! Realistically, any character would have to release their ki to maximum to release a powerful attack. The reason I said Yes & No in terms of Dragon Ball Super is because we see a bit of contradiction to the traditional Dragon Ball Z on account of the introduction of God Ki. God Ki involves high-level ki control where the user is not allowed to have Ki leak out of their body so that the opponent cannot sense their level of strength. In the Super Saiyan God and Super Saiyan Blue form, it isn't possible to directly sense the ki of the fighter. However, an experienced fighter is capable of gauging the opponent's strength and the form tends to exert immense pressure on whoever is fighting against it. The reason I say Yes and No is because, while this notion of God Ki is present, the old traditional concept I explained earlier still exists even in the case of the God forms. For instance, when Goku has a beam struggle with Merged Zamasu, he powers up more to overpower his attack, the same applies to when Goku is angry with regard to Chi Chi's and Goten's death. All of this is in their Super Saiyan Blue forms. Similarly, in the tournament of power, we see Goku power up completely and releases all his ki in Episode 122 before he faces off against Jiren. Vegeta does the same when he powers up his Final Flash against Jiren. So realistically yes, the more ki a fighter has the stronger they are. Naturally, naturally, not all fights require fighters to release all their energy at one go to take on every foe. So yes, based on the opponent and his level of strength, the opposing fighter either powers up or down based by releasing ki.


Could I kill myself with a Death Note? On the bottom left paragraph, it reads:

  You will not die if you write your own name in here, but it's not recommended.

This page is taken from the pilot chapter of Death Note. Would the manga pilot be considered canon? And thus, would I be able to kill myself with the Death Note or not?

As mentioned by Maroon, OP's question would possibly contradict the answer at  Can a person shorten their own life by using the Death Note?

So before answering OP's question, lets first see what we know about the effect of writing your own name in the Death Note.

In the manga pilot, there is a rule that says:

  You will not die if you write your own name in the Death Note, but it is not recommended.

In the movie The Last Name, we see L die from writing his own name in the Death Note:

  Later it is revealed that L did not die and avoided death by writing his name in the notebook stating, "L Lawliet will die 23 days from this date".

  The film ends 23 days later, with L dying peacefully.

In the one shot special, we read that the C-killer dies from writing his own name:

  This resulted in C-Kira writing his own name in the Death Note.

Looking at the available evidence, it would indeed seem like a possible contradiction (although Miura-kun was about to try and commit suicide in the manga pilot and there is no evidence he wouldn't have died). Therefore, in order to correctly reply to OP's question I checked what should be considered canon according to the Death Note wiki. Since the only three sources considered as canon are the twelve original manga volumes, Death Note 13: How to Read, and the Death Note One-Shot-Special, it would seem that you can indeed commit suicide by using the Death Note as seen in the One-Shot-Special, when the C-killer couldn't handle the pressure and committed suicide.


Can I start watching Naruto Shippuden after Naruto Ep 135 and not miss anything? (Story wise) I looked on the Naruto Filler list (http://www.animefillerlist.com/shows/naruto, this is the one I used for anyone asking) and it says that after episode 135 all the episodes just become filler. I was wondering to save myself a lot of time, could I just start watching Naruto Shippuden after ep 135

The short answer is - yes. You can start watching Naruto Shippuden after watching episode 135 of Naruto without any harm to the overall Naruto storyline understanding.


Who is this person from commercial break "The World God Only Knows" manga? I rarely have seen this guy in other manga. First time i saw it in The World God Only Know manga,  volume 2, chapter 13 and in Kunimitsu manga, chapter 4. Does anyone know where is this guy come from ?

That is a famous advertisement for Oronamin C. The advertise ment is very iconic and most readers would know where it is from, similar to the Uncle Sam ads in the United Stats. In the World Only God Knows, the ad is being parodied, advertising the book instead of the drink.

In Kunimitsu no Matsuri, it is just an advertisement in the background. I am not familiar with the story of Kunimitsu no Matsuri, but I do believe it takes place in relatively recent years, so I'm assuming the ad was placed in the background to show the area is old and dead (because that ad campaign ended in the early 70s).

FYI, the man in the ad is Kon Oomura, a comedian and actor. While most Japanese people know the advertisement, many probably don't know exactly who the man is, since it is such an old ad.


Which Naruto episode shows a flashback of a kid stealing bread? I am trying to remember a scene in Naruto where a "homeless kid" steals bread and gets beaten up and Orochimaru or someone comes and ask him to follow him.

Which episode is this from?

That boy was Zaku. The flashback is shown during his fight against Shino in episode 40.


How does Yuuki talk like a boy? In Sword Art Offline 2 episode 7, Asuna comments that Yuuki not only is a rare tomboy female player but also talks like a boy.

Now, I watched the English dub and didn't pick that up so I guess it is something you'd only hear when you watch the sub with Japanese audio, but even in Sword Art Offline which was never dubbed (only subbed with Japanese audio), I didn't get an impression that Yuuki was talking like a boy.

So how is it that Yuuki talks like a boy?

In Japanese, there are multiple words for "I", the most common being watashi, atashi, boku, and ore (I'll transliterate to romaji thoughout). Most of these pronouns are definitively gendered, and it would be quite the social faux pas to use an improperly gendered pronoun. This video does an excellent job explaining the subject.

From S02E19 Zekken

  Yuuki: Boku wa kore dake, dakedo ne.

  Translation: I'll just use this, though.

In SAO, Yuuki uses boku.

Boku is generally a male pronoun. However, in anime (not so often in real life) excessively tomboy type girls will use boku in an attempt to sound masculine. This is something that is generally impossible to accurately translate into English in an acceptable way, so most official translations simply ignore the distinction, but most fansub groups will add a translator's note demarking this.


Why didn't Lelouch incorporated Black Knights in imperial army using the fact that he is Zero after he became the king of Britannia? After Lelouch became the ruler of Britannia, he could have told them that it was part of his plan and used them against, but he decided to just recklessly attack.

Why didn't he incorporated Black Knights in imperial army using the fact that he is Zero after he became king of Britannia?

Well, there are 2 reasons.

Leaders of Black Knights felt betrayed after learning his Geass power and potential usage on them.
Also after trying to kill Lelouch they announced Zero died in battle thus eliminating his chance to announce her Zero identity. Even if they didn't revealing himself as Zero would be a bad move.


Why didn't Korosensei use his absolute defence form against the orbital laser? I've been rewatching S1, and something popped up in my mind the last few episodes: Why didn't Korosensei use his absolute defence form to protect himself against the second attack of the orbital laser? Isn't he supposed to be indistructable in that form?

In one of the final episodes, Koro Sensei specifically states that the orbital laser is so powerful it will break through even his Ultimate Defense Form - after all, it was designed based on all of the data gathered both from the experiments conducted in places like the ISS, as well as from observation of Koro Sensei and the class.

And from an out-of-universe perspective, it was needed to be an inescapable situation, to set up everything that would happen in the finale.


How can some army people sense Lloyd's power level in "Tatoeba Last Dungeon Mae no Mura no Shounen ga Joban no Machi de Kurasu Youna Monogatari"? The full titles are "Tatoeba Last Dungeon Mae no Mura no Shounen ga Joban no Machi de Kurasu Youna Monogatari" and "Suppose a Kid from the Last Dungeon Boonies Moved to a Starter Town"
In the two episodes so far, Riho Flavin, Merthophan/Meltfan, and Chrome Molibden have shown that they can estimate Lloyd Belladonna's power level at a single glance. This ability is not shared by the Marie (witch) and many other army personnel, apparently including the army man who interviewed Lloyd as part of the entrance exam. Lloyd, himself, can't sense other people's power levels.
What is the canon explanation why some people can sense Lloyd's power level, and why others can't?

It seems to be limited to characters who have a certain level of combat experience. It does make a lot of sense for people having spent a large amount of time on the battle field, or fighting one on one, to get a "feel" for their opponent strength with a quick glance.


Where did the song "Yume ni Katachi wa nai keredo" come from in One Piece? The song 夢に形はないけれど ("Yume ni Katachi wa nai keredo") is one of my favorite songs in One Piece, but I haven't heard or seen the song in my copy of One Piece (I legally downloaded One Piece in Chinese subtitles and all they do is add subtitles and change nothing else), it's not there.

Is there a reason why it's not there or is it just not in the show to begin with?

Unfortunately, the song is not an official One Piece song.

It's a parody song of 歌に形はないけれど (Uta ni Katachi wa Nai keredo) by doriko (Vocaloid producer) with its lyric changed.

The original song: NicoNicoDouga (posted in 2008, the official video posted by doriko himself)

The parody song: NicoNicoDouga (first posted in 2010, the original/oldest video with Hatsune Miku as the vocal)


What is the origin of the trope where a person says "I can't eat anymore" 「もう食べられないよ…」 in their sleep? When we have scene showing a person (or many people) sleeping soundly, it's quite common to have one of them saying "I can't eat anymore" 「もう食べられないよ…」 in their sleep.

According to this forum thread on ANN, this trope has been observed in:

Cowboy Bebop (by Edward)
Air in Summer (by Kanna)
Inu-Yasha (by Shippo)
Super Milk Chan (by Milk-Chan)
CardCaptor Sakura (by Kero, also inverts the joke in one instance)
Sailor Moon (by Usagi)
Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu (by Tessa)
Gokujou Seitokai (by Randou Rino, in episode 24)

Since the forum thread above is from 2006, the examples are quite old. Below are some recent examples:

Brynhildr in the Darkness (by Kotori)

Thanks to Pawl Rowe for providing the example above

(Feel free to edit in more examples and images showing this trope, preferably from recent series).

What is the origin of this trope?

According to Chiebukuro, an early source is a 落語 (rakugo) performance act titled 「品川心中」 (Shinagawa Shinjuu, meaning "Lovers' Suicide in Shinagawa" [Shinagawa is a ward of Tokyo]) written in the Edo era (between 1603 and 1868) (unsurprisingly, the tale revolves around a double lovers' suicide). Rakugo is a form of Japanese verbal stage entertainment. A single storyteller sits in seiza position and tells a long and complicated comical story which involves dialogue of two or more characters. The art was invented by Buddhist monks in the 9th and 10th centuries to make their sermons more interesting.

Because the work was a live performance so long ago, conclusive historical evidence does not exist, but it is generally believed that the story included the following lines of dialogue:

  「ほら、あんた、起きとくれよ！」(Hora, anta, oki to kure yo!)

  「ふぇぇー？ もう食えねぇ～．．．」 (Fuee~? Mou kuenee~...)

  「何言ってんだい、お前さん、時間だよ．．．」 (Nani itten dai, omae-san, jikan da yo...)

meaning

  A: Hey, you, wake up!

  B: Huhhhh? I can't eat anymooore...

  A: What're you talking about, hey you, it's time [to get up]...

「食えねぇ」(kuenee)　and「食べない」(tabenai) both have the same meaning: "can't eat." The "kuu" pronunciation is used by men and has a rougher sound, and is also used to refer to animals consuming their food.

The inclusion of this line in various manga indicates that even to the present day, dreaming of eating so much food that you couldn't possibly eat any more is considered a good dream: such a good dream that you don't want to wake up from it.


What is the extent of the power of the Dragon Balls? I have recently started watching Dragon Ball Z(Remastered Edition)* after a long break. There is this scene in S01E21 (Counting Down) in which Master Roshi and others summon the dragon to wish Goku back. Just before they can wish him back, Oolong (the pig) says:

  Excuse me, Mr. Dragon could be possibly destroy the Saiyans that are on the way to Earth right about now.

to which the dragon replies:

  Your wish cannot be granted because the guardian of Earth created me. I cannot grant a wish which exceeds his power.

Now, this has put me into dilemma. If the dragons' power was only limited to Earth, why was everyone around the universe after these Dragon Balls?

Here are few questions that bug me:

When the dragon says "wish which exceeds his power", does he mean that he can only use his powers on/for the Earthlings?
If yes, how could they wish Goku back, because technically, he is not born on Earth?
If not, why did destroying the Saiyans exceed the dragon's power?
Everyone around the universe was searching for Dragon Balls because they could fulfill anyone's wish. Does it mean that it is not mandatory to be an Earthling, but it's compulsory to be on Earth to have your wish granted by the dragons?
If yes, why didn't they ever wish to destroy the enemies after they had landed on Earth and within the effect of the dragons' power?

You misunderstood Shenlong's words. Shenlong was created by the guardian of the Earth, Kami, in chapter 165. Therefore, Shenlong could not have greater powers than his creator. Shenlong's powers are not limited to the Earth nor are they limited to Earthlings. That's not how it works and it is not what he meant by that. They are disallowed from killing others, creating love, or anything that Kami wouldn't have been able to do with his own power.

Although the above statement is still rather vague. I mean, does this imply that they could wish for weak Earthlings to die, because Kami has the powers to do so? Or could Kami himself grant immortality, since his powers should be greater than or equal to those of Shenlong's? Those rules aren't ever explained in detail in the manga as far as I know, and it is never explained whether Shenlong can't kill anyone or only those stronger than Kami, but it is clear that Shenlong couldn't kill Nappa, Vegeta or any other villain Earth has encountered, because neither Kami nor Dende were that strong to begin with.

Dragon Ball wiki page

You can read more about the Dragon Balls' or Shenlong's powers on the wiki page.

  The Earth Dragon Balls are about 7.5 cm (approximately 3 in) in diameter, and they summon a dragon named Shenron. They were created by Kami, and later re-created by Dende. Shenron can grant a wish within its powers as long as it does not kill, create love, repeat a wish he previously granted, surpasses its creator's power, and a few more restrictions. Legitimate wishes include eternal youth, immortality, bringing back a scorched forest or even an annihilated planet. Also, it is possible to return a person to life, although only if they meet certain criteria, like dying of unnatural causes or within the time-frame of a year (half a century according to the Ocean Dub), and each individual can only be brought back once. The Eternal Dragon will grant the first wish uttered after it was called, by whomever is present.


What are the major differences between the anime/manga and the live action version of Perfect Girl Evolution? I really loved the live-action version of Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi na Henge! (or, Perfect Girl Evolution! / The Wallflower) and I'm considering picking up the manga or anime because of how much I liked it. However, I'm curious: what are the major changes that the live-action made?

I know one of these changes is aging up the characters; the cast is about college-aged in the live-action, but they're in high school (they attend a gakuen) in the manga. I also know that the landlady's son is a live-action only character. Are there other big differences between the two?

According to the Japanese Wikipedia, the main differences are:

  Kyouhei becomes the main character. Sunako is listed as the 3rd cast in the credit.
  Kyouhei, Takenaga, Yukinojou, Ranmaru, and Noi are high school students in the original work, but they are undergraduate students in the TV drama.
  Mine (Sunako's aunt; the landlady) doesn't have children in the original work. However, in the TV drama, Takeru is introduced as an original character playing the role of her son. He self-proclaims to be the keeper of the mansion while she is away.
  Shinichi, the master of the coffee shop (Meykuu Iri, "Unsolved") that Kyouhei and his friends like to go, appears as a regular cast in the TV drama.
  Compared to the original work, Sunako's personality is sharply changed. Even with the usually timid and negative personality, when Kyouhei calls her Busunako (Extremely ugly Sunako, from busu + Sunako), she will display her paranormal-thingy and high fighting power and also her personality becomes stronger.


Should one read/watch Triangle Heart before diving into the Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha series? The question is simple - should one read the manga, watch the OVAs, play the games (personally, I don't have access to these) of Triangle Heart before diving into the Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha series?

In my opinion, there's nothing from Triangle Heart that would apply to Nanoha, except for the backgrounds of some characters.

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha is based on the spin-off of Triangle Heart 3 called Triangle Heart 3 ~Lyrical Omochabako~ (Triangle Heart 3 ~Lyrical Toy Box~).

Several things are carried over, such as:

Kyouya and Miyuki Takamachi's back-stories as bodyguards for Fiasse Crystela.
Shinobu Tsukimura returns, and in the A's manga, it is hinted that her family are vampires through a shout out to Triangle Heart when Suzuka (who didn't appear in Triangle Heart) shows her inhuman strength in the dodgeball match with Fate.

However, there are changes in Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha which deviates from Triangle Heart's continuity, most notably:

Nanoha's father Shirō is still alive. However, he was in the ICU for some time, which led to Nanoha's insecurity at the beginning of the series
Shinobu and Kyouya are dating, making Shinobu the canon romance. (In comparison, I believe Fiasse was considered canon in Triangle Heart).
Noel K. Ehrlichkeit, Shinobu's maid is mechanical in Triangle Heart, but in Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, she appears to be human.
Nanoha herself doesn't have magic in the main Triangle Heart series, but she is given magic in Lyrical Toy Box (which explains the title Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha). (In my opinion, Lyrical Toy Box is a spin-off from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha rather than the general Triangle Heart series).

Other characters from Triangle Hearts are used as basis for original characters in Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha:

In Triangle Heart, Chrono Harlaown is an antagonist. However, the prototype for his Enforcer uniform is a throw back to his "evil" black outfit with spikes from the game.
Alisa Lowell is used as a basis for Arisa Bunnings
The shape-shifting fox-girl Kuon becomes the "ferret" boy Yuuno Scrya
Raising Heart's Crystal is changed from a heart to a sphere. It is also shorter in Triangle Heart and more reminiscent of Sakura Kinomoto's Sealing Wand's Star Form

In Triangle Heart, Lindy Harlaown is not a member of the Time Space Administration Bureau, but instead a fairy from the Dream World. She, however, retains much of her design, including her fairy wings, which appear in Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha when she flies.

The main point is that a lot of the minor characters' back-stories are tweaked for Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, while most of the main characters except for Nanoha are all original and do not relate back to Triangle Heart (Lindy and Chrono retain their appearances, but they are still different).

As noted above, the only real change that affects a main character is that Nanoha's father isn't dead, since his time in the ICU created the Nanoha we see at the start of the series (before meeting Yuuno and using magic).


What purpose does the train, pictured in the Spirited Away movie, actually serve in the ghost world? What purpose does the train, pictured in the movie, actually serve in the ghost world?

The train does not seem to provide service to and from Yubaba's house.
The train's purpose appears to be to transport some dark shadows one way only. Who are they, and where are they going?
Strangely, humans used it in the past (Chihiro and her parents use the remnants of the abandoned station to enter the ghost world).
It is probably not a joke to use this train, as just doing so proves the true love and earns Chihiro respect from Rin ("I take my words back").

The train is clearly the strong symbol of something. What does it represent?

The train connects to different stops and I believe since it is one way it is to service people to an afterlife based on where one wants to reside.


What is the relation between Steins;Gate and Steins;Gate 0? Is Steins;Gate 0 a sequel to Steins;Gate? If not, what is common between the two and where do they deviate?

             vs
               Steins;Gate                           Steins;Gate 0

As mentioned by one of the official translators that has worked on most of the Sci-fi Adventure series:Source

  Steins;Gate Zero will not be a direct sequel, no. Remember when Okabe stabbed Kurisu and lost his resolve? Only to be revitalized once he received the Operation Skuld D-Mail from his future self? The Okabe in Epigraph and Zero is the Okabe that did not try again after killing Kurisu, the Okabe that gave up and resigned himself to misery.

Steins;Gate 0, inspite of being marketed as the "true sequel" to Steins;Gate, does not take place after the ending of Steins;Gate. Even though it is canonical, it takes place just before the ending of Steins;Gate.
The story between the two is exactly the same upto (and including) Episode 22. It diverges in Episode 23 with the original story being covered in Episode 23: Open the Steins Gate, and the alternate version, a Steins;Gate 0 OVA, being covered in Episode 23(β) Open the Missing Link. As mentioned on the Wikia:

   In this story, after killing Makise Kurisu, Okabe Rintarou gives up and accepts her funeral fate.
The main difference between this and the original episode 23 is that this Okabe      does not receive the Video-Mail from himself. He will go on to eventually create Operation Skuld and the Video-Mail, helping S;G Okabe thwart world line convergence and successfully avert both Kurisu's death and WWIII in order to enter the Steins;Gate world line of 1.048596% divergence.

TL;DR: In concise, as put on Reddit:

  It follows the world where Okabe tried to save Kurisu, but stabbed her instead. It is the worldline in which Okabe doesn't get the "deceive yourself" message from himself, but it is most likely the one that sends that message.


Is there any relation between hair style and character's personalities? Generally speaking, hairstyle in anime represent the character personality, like short hair girl should become tomboyish or ponytail make a girl seems sporty, etc. But what about the others? Like long straight hair, or idiot hair, twintail, etc.

What is common hair style for girls and guys in anime and what are the character represent?

ADD
There's a really fine blog about anime hair colors here thanks to @user1306322 comment below, I want an answer like that, but it's about hair style

Yes, there can be some common traits that similarly haired characters share. Of course this is not a definitive guide  to a character's personality and there will be many counterexamples.

Here are a couple of hairstyles and their common personalities:

Short hair is often seen on tomboys or alternativly 'average' characters. This is presumably so that they seem boyish or have a hairstyle that is not very exciting.

Kanbaru Sugura , Monogatari Series - a sporty fujioshi who is perhaps more boyish than the main , male, lead
Ranmaru Rindou, Binbougami ga! - a female delinquent who was brought up in a dojo like a male
Yuki Nagato , The Melancholy off Haruhi Suzimiya - emotionless
Kumin Tsuyuri - Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai! - a member of the club who naps a lot.. And not much else

Twintails are often childlike or are childhood friends, this is because twintails are uncommon among older women, but more popular with young girls and society has associated the two:

Lingyin Huang - Infinite Stratos, a childish childhood friend
Azusa Nakano - K-on! , a new (childish) member of the light music club
Yuno Gasai, Future diary, a childhood friend of the main character with simple motivations.

Drill hair is usually a sign that a character is either wealthy or refined. This is probably because rich characters tend to be braggarts.

Selnia Iori Flameheart - ladies vs butlers - from a rich family
Mami Tomoe - Puella Madoka Magi Magicka - an experienced magical girl with refined taste
Akira Kogami - Lucky Star - drills?
Celestia Ludenberg - Dangan Ronpa - from a prestigious family

And let's not forget the dudes. If you see this delinquent hairstyle, you can almost certainly categorise that character:

Mondo Owada - Dangan Ronpa, Member of a biker gang
Kazu, Redline - a rebel race driver
Eikichi Onizuka, Shonan Junai Gumi

I could go on and on, There are quite a number of examples
including the somewhat well-known hair antennae linked earlier

But I think this should answer your question - Yes there can be a relationship between a character and their hairstyle, but its not a solid rule.

Also you should bear in mind that hairstyle trends will have changed throughout time - what was once in is now out and visa versa.

You don't see many girls like this in anime today:

Amano Ai - Video Girl Ai -


Legal sites for anime in Japanese (raw - no subs or dubs)? I was browsing on the internet looking for some legal sites that allow free or paid streaming of animes that are not subbed, are still in Japanese and are not dubbed. However, I can't seem to find any legal sites where I can actually find just the original animes that haven't been hard subbed.

Is there a list of legal websites that allow legal streaming of the animes without it being subbed or dubbed?

On Crunchyroll, the Flash streams are all soft-subbed (well, nearly all of them, some series are hard-subbed) and relies on the Flash renderer to display them. Crunchyroll actually sometimes streams subtitles (depending on licensing) for multiple languages.

You just need to right click on the Flash frame (where the video is being displayed) and you should see a list of subtitle options, including at the top "No Subtitles".

Note that Crunchyroll also does HTML5 video, so browser's like Chrome which supports AVC streams through HTML5 will not use Flash. These types of streams are still soft-subbed but the local renderer of the subtitles isn't Flash, and it's probably some plugin-type video player that does this, so how you turn off subtitles depends on your OS and how you've setup the browser.


What is the Pair ingredient in Toriko? I've read those chapters over and over and I still don't understand what Pair is.

Was it a fruit that was eaten by a monkey and it became its testicles? Was it monkey testicles in the first place that got removed and put in the tree?

Pair is the pair of testicles of a Ballboon.

Monkey King Bambina's Pair is the hardest to get, and also the most delicious because it is fresh off the monkey. The Ballboons hang their Pairs from the Birth Cry Tree as a mating ritual.

Retrieving Pair from the Birth Cry Tree can be accomplished with 2 means: Eating someone of similar power to yourself, or having a Ballboon pluck them off the tree.

Originally, Pair's capture method was much much different, but one of Bambina's ancestors ate the original source of Pair, and this drastically altered its obtaining method


Why are Ghouls worried all people from Tokyo become Ghouls? In Tokyo Ghoul:re 2 , episode 11, Ghouls from the group of Kaneki like Nishiki were worried all people from Tokyo becomes Ghoul. Why is this so? Why if you are a Ghoul are you going to be worried other people becomes like you?

During the last arc all investigators, as well as ghouls society, were joined together to defeat the main villain. During that time everyone were convinced by Kaneki that ghouls and humans should leave in the same place happily without harming each other.
So from the above explanation, you may have noticed that the Goat organization created by kaneki has one and only single policy to protect others as well as humans.
It's fairly straightforward that goat does not want more ghouls to be hunted by CCG and so to happen that, they were afraid of all humans becoming ghouls and more severe hunting would be there and CCG will not cooperate with them for sure.


Was Urahara's Bankai ever revealed or hinted at? I used to watch and read Bleach before, but I stopped following the series after the defeat of Aizen.

Urahara's Bankai is a mystery to me, and since I'm no longer updated, I don't know if there's more to tell on Urahara's abilities.

Has there been an update on what we know about Urahara since Aizen's defeat?

As of yet, Urahara's Bankai has never been revealed. We know that he is capable of it, but he has never actually used it on-panel.

Back when Ichigo was still working to attain his Bankai (Chapter 132), Yoruichi informed Ichigo that Urahara gained his Bankai using the same training method, and did it in three days.

Later (Chapter 224) Sado comes to him for training. Urahara tells Sado that he needs to train against a Bankai in order to improve. He then assigns Sado to train with Renji, saying that his own Bankai was not suitable for training. This implies that his Bankai is either absurdly lethal, or may not be a combat-focused weapon (like how Unohana's Shikai is a flying ray medevac thing).


Why isn't Lust covering up her tattoo? In one of the early chapters of Fullmetal Alchemist (chapter 8 I believe), when Edward and Alphonse go with Armstrong back to Resembool for repairs, we see Lust on the same train.

Here, her tattoo isn't covered up, unlike later in chapter 34 when she meets with Havoc on a date.

The second image is from the end of chapter 34. This is after Hawkeye runs into Barry the Chopper, and after Mustang has started his investigation into the higher ups (which is shown in the same chapter). Envy is also shown tracking down Mustang's activities in that chapter, but this is before Edward tells Breda about what he knows from Laboratory 5.

This seems to imply that she covers up her tattoo to look more "normal" in public, but if that's the case, why wouldn't she be covering up the tattoo earlier? Or is the assumption that she covers up in public not correct? (Thinking back on it, it alos might be relevant that the tattoo isn't that large - which isn't a detail I currently remember - and therefore suspicious-looking to someone who doesn't know).

EDIT: I don't think Mustang's team knows about the homunculi specifically at this point in this. Although they have detained Barry the Chopper and so know something is up with the philosopher's stones, I remember Alphonse mentioning the homunculi's existence right before the section where Lust is killed, and Mustang being shocked by the revelation (at least in Brotherhood, where he proceeded to lose control of his driving).

I've only seen the original anime, so I might have a wrong idea about her personality (and thus motives). My first guess is that on the train, she's just in the general public and has no reason to cover it up (not to mention the outfit looks like it shows some cleavage, which might be helpful and seems to be in line with her personality) while for the date she covers up to hide the mark from the military who may or may not know about it. Even if they don't, it's definitely an interesting mark that would draw attention.

My second guess is simply that she covers up on the date to look more modest and less "slutty".


What's this visual novel with two girls cuddling? I'm looking for the title of this VN. I tried reverse image searching but didn't get anything.

It's from Clover Day's. The blonde girl is Takakura Anzu, and the black haired girl is Takakura Anri.


What characters are these scantily-clad guys cosplaying as? Possibly NSFW (Contains near nude guys)

Does anybody knows what anime these costumes are from, and what characters they are for? Is this even from an anime?

The anime is from Kill la Kill made by trigger studio.

The guy on the left is Inumata in his nudist beach costume:

The guy on the right is Mikisugi in his nudist beach costume:


What happened to Otonashi and Kanade in the last episode? In the last episode, Kanade graduated and disappeared. After that, there's a scene where Otonashi meets Kanade outside in the afterlife world. Did they reincarnate and meet again, or have they met before when they were still alive?

Due to long answer on duplicate question on How is it possible that Kanade has Otonashi's heart? and this question is only part of it, I decide to answer this separately.

On that question this is what happen on Angel Beats epilog:

  The Alternate World Timeline

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

However, this is only theory and speculative answer, but from the fact that on this epilog

  Kanade is humming Iwasawa's song titled "My Song"

"My Song" is created on afterlife by Iwasawa herself. So it means that this really happen after they met on afterlife, because there's no way she know that song if she didn't met Iwasawa before.


What were those Poneglyphs from the Alabasta arc? During the Alabasta arc when the crew was crossing the desert, Luffy, Zoro and Chopper fell down a hole which led to a big dome-like structure. In the dome, there was a huge stone with Poneglyphs written on it. None of them knew what it was much less its meaning. It was dismissed. What I'm wondering is if those Poneglyphs was important and whether or not it had some clues about the Void Century?

As you can see from this list, episodes 101-102 which Luffy, Zoro and Chopper find the Poneglyph it's actually a filler episode.

So this Poneglyph wasn't introduced in the manga, so that means that whatever was wrote on it doesn't matter.


Why did Edward not wear a uniform? As far as I know, Edward Elric is the only State Alchemist who doesn't wear a uniform. Why was he treated differently? Did he have a special rank or something?

This is Edward current 'Uniform'

These are some state alchemist, all of them wearing a uniform.

It appears that in the Fullmetal Alchemist universe, those who are state alchemists are not necessarily in the military hierarchy per se, even if they have a rank equivalent to major.

Yes, there are alchemists such as Mustang, Basque Gran, Armstrong, etc. who are active members of the military, but there are also other state alchemists who, while involved in the military state alchemist program, are not involved in the military full-time as those I mentioned earlier are.

An example of this would be Shou Tucker, who we never see wearing a uniform, but is a state alchemist. Given that Edward similarly seems to not be involved in the military as a soldier on a daily basis, it makes sense that he doesn't wear a uniform.


Is Ika Musume the only humanoid squid creature? In Shinryaku! Ika Musume (Squid Girl), the protagonist is a strange creature called Ika Musume who looks almost like a young girl, but has a number of strange squid-related abilities, such as spitting ink and using her hair as tentacles. She is also intent on invading humanity.

Are there any similar squid-like humanoids in the series, or is she the only one of her kind?

As far as I know, she's the only squid-like humanoid shown in the series. Though there is a miniatured version of her that appeared on people's dream, mostly Sanae's (source). In the last episode of Squid Girl, she met a girl named Kozue Tanabe which is implied that she also comes from the sea, as she has a hat similar to Squid Girl's and makes statements that indicate she isn't human. The first syllables of her name spell out 'tako' (たこ?), meaning octopus.


How long was Saber waiting for Shirou after she died? Regarding the question that was asked before:
Do Emiya Shirou and Arturia ever meet again after Fate/stay night?

In the Visual Novel of Fate Stay/Night Realta Nua once you have seen all 5 endings a new ending appears accessible from the title screen call -Last Episode-, this is in 2 parts, a Monologue of the Fate Route and a second part where Arturia is hearing from Merlin about a miracle achievable by 2 people, one who "wait endlessly" and one who "pursue endlessly", eventfully the pursuer will stop when they reach the waiter.
What Merlin is referring to is Arturia waiting and Shirou pursueing, eventually Shirou reaches Avalon where Arturia is sleeping and the 2 finally reunite, it's not entirely sure how long it took Shirou to reach Avalon however considering that Avalon transcends all magic including the 5 Magics it must have taken an eternity for Shirou to reach.

Obviously if it took them an eternity to meet, it's common sense that it never happened.
So my theory is that there are two options for this occasion:

The author's definition of eternity is something different from what is known to the public.
That it was some sort of an inside joke to troll the audience who desperately want to see them reunite.

Is there any official statement about how long eternity is according to the Fate Stay/Night series?
Are there even any clues on which to base some sort of speculation on the matter?
Or maybe the light novel perhaps mentions something about it.
I really want to know how much Saber had to suffer in order to finally meet with Shirou.
(IMO after all she's been through, she has suffered quite enough already).

Avalon is

  the domain of fairies... the unreachable utopia that Arthur dreamed of and was said to have gone to after her death.

In the Fate Route, after Saber vanished and returned to her own time, we see a shot of Arturia and Bedivere. It's assumed that from Arturia's line

  I think I will sleep much longer this time...

that this occurs after Bedivere third and final attempt to return Excalibur to the Lady of the Lake, as in the previous two attempts, when he was ordered to return the sword, he lied about returning it, knowing that by doing so Arturia would have died. So Arturia died and went to Avalon. Given it's a utopia I don't think Saber would be suffering.

Now Shiro is shown at the end of -Last Episode- to be hugging Arturia and he wa wearing the shroud Archer wore (though now in a different style), so they did meet up. This is why -Last Episode- is seen as the True End of the Fate Route, because Shiro and Arturia are finally together in the end. However, because Avalon transcends all magic, including the 5 Magics, of which The Fifth's domain is suspected to be time travel (but Touko says The Second governs time travel, so I am assuming that Avalon transcends time, or at least out conception of time), so despite the fact that Arturia died long in the past before Shiro was even born, we can't be totally sure that she waited the same equivalent amount of time for Shirou to even be born.

Shiro may have died to before being reunited, or he may have extended his life as some Magi do (without becoming a Dead Apostle). There's a series of H Dojinshin (fan made) which would assume that little time has passed since the time Shiro went to bring Arturia back. (One set has him and Arturia have sex in Avalon when they reunited, while in the next set, they are back in Fuyuki living together with Rin and Sakura visiting).

To my knowledge, it's not indicated how Shiro got to Avalon since we only know the conditions of the Miracle Shiro and Arturia achieved. I used eternity as a means to indicate an immeasurable amount of time, since given Shiro's Magecraft abilities, had he developed something to allow him to reach Avalon, it would have taken him a hell lot of time. After all, the ultimate ambition of every Magi is to reach the root, which can take generations to complete, since it took that long for the Tohsaka's to get close to properly using the Second Magic.


Are we ever going to be introduced to Ryou's downstairs neighbor? As of episode 8 of Koufuku Graffiti, there's been at least one shot per episode in which Ryou's downstairs neighbor is briefly shown (usually standing on her balcony folding clothes or something).

Is she ever going to be introduced as a character, or is she more just a running joke?

As mentioned by krazer in the comment, she is Yuki Uchiki. She is finally introduced in episode 10 Chewy, Melty. (Japanese title: Hamohamo, Michichi.) when Kirin eavesdropped on her phone conversation and accidentally fell (and safely landed) on her veranda.

In the anime, episode 10 happened around January (as the next episode happened in February, and the previous episode happened on New Year's Eve). At this time, Yuki was a graduating undergraduate student, while Ryou and Kirin were preparing for their high school entrance exam in March. According to her wiki page on nicovideo, she is going to work as a librarian at the same high school where Ryou and Kirin goes to.


How accurately did Aoi Bungaku follow the original novels? For those who don't know, Aoi Bungaku is an adaptation of 6 classic Japanese novels, namely No Longer Human; Sakura no Mori no Mankai no Shita; Kokoro; Run, Melos!; The Spider's Thread, and Hell Screen.

Of these, I've watched all of them, but I've only read No Longer Human. I'm interested in reading the original novels, but only if there are significant differences in terms of plot. Are there any major omissions or changes in the anime that would merit reading the novels?

The ending of No Longer Human has at least one such difference:

   In the ending of the anime Yozo commits suicide. In the end of the book he gets sent to an asylum and then released to an isolated place.

Do the other works have similar differences (preferably with as few spoilers as possible, though some spoilers are inevitable)?

Aoi Bungaku is an ambitious anime and follows each novel closely. Madhouse took each novel and made adaptations to fit a whole novel into just a few episodes, leaving out some plot elements and changing some parts entirely while retaining the authors message.

Kokoro is actually a three part novel, however the anime only focuses on the third part, "Sensei and His Testament". Unlike the novel they took away the narrator and told the story from the perspective of the sensei, which follows the original novel more closely, and also included a whole new story as told from K's point of view. There are also scenes that weren't in the novel such as those which focused on the relationship between K and Ojo.

In The Spider's Thread the criminal's violent deeds is depicted in more detail and exaggerated a bit to show exactly how evil he was, however the main plot of the sort story retains its meaning.

Run Melos was also changed as they included a new story of the author himself, and told parallel stories which complimented each other, the story about Melos and a story about the author's own life.

In Hell screen they change the setting, the original novel focused on a painter committing brutal acts in order to depict an image of hell, while in the anime he is a rebel that defies his lord's wishes to paint a beautiful albeit false image of his kingdom and instead paints the ugly truth.


"Wish" in the credits of Code Geass and Steins;Gate? I've recently started watching anime. I've watched Code Geass R1 and R2 and now I've just started Steins;Gate. I was surprised to see that in both series' ending credits the word "Wish" appears between the Japanese characters in a similar font, since it's the only one or one of the few words in English.

This is a screenshot from Code Geass R2's credits showing what I mean

Does it have any special meaning?

I'm not sure about Steins;Gate, however, from the screenshot above, Wish refers to an animation company.

In the screenshot above, the company is credited for Finish Animation (仕上 shiage), and the people on the list are [伊藤 良樹]{Itou Yoshiki}, [加藤 里恵]{Katou Rie}, [熊田 真子]{Kumada Masako}, [加藤 明美]{Katou Akemi}, [斎藤 知津江]{Saitou Chizue}, [江草　大樹]{Egusa Daiki}, [角野 江美]{Kadono Emi}, [三上　幸恵]{Mikami Yukie}.

Wish is not a particularly big animation company. From the list on ANN, they are mostly in charge of Finish Animation, In-Between Animation, 2nd Key Animation, Digital Paint, etc.  So far, they have only produced a single anime title Elite Jack!! (OAV) in 2014.


Was Triage X supposed to end after only 10 episodes? Was Triage X supposed to run for only 10 episodes? I could have sworn that when I first added this to my queue on MyAnimeList, it was listed to run for 12 episodes.

Did something happen (like lack of funding), or did I just misread the number and it was only going to run for 10 episodes all along?

According to the following article on ANN (dated 20 March, 2015, more than 2 weeks before the anime airs), it was confirmed that Triage X was listed at 10 episodes:

  A flyer at the AnimeJapan 2015 event's business day lists the television anime of Shoji Sato's Triage X manga as 10 episodes long, along with an original video animation (OVA) episode.

I also googled with queries such as トリアージX 話数 and トリアージX 全12話 (the second one is an attempt to dig out any article claiming 12 episodes), limited to articles posted before April, but all Japanese websites list the series at 10 episodes.

Since there is no evidence that the wrong information had been posted elsewhere on the Internet, it's probably due to MyAnimeList populating the wrong information, or a lapse in your memory.


Which parts of Franky's body have remained organic? I saw a picture from the parts when Franky visits the Future Kingdom (I haven't reached those parts of the series actually, so I don't know the context), with his metallic skull, chest, and other body parts exposed, as lacking skin coverage.

It was also visible on the way to Enies Lobby that his hip can be attached in length (reversed Centaur ability), but in the post-EL episodes people were disgusted by him running around naked, meaning he's likely not different from a typical male in this aspect.

Considering these and a lot other moments (such as the cola fridge replacing his stomach), it's pretty hard and almost impossible to determine how much of him remained human.

Is there anything we can know for sure? What I could judge so far is that his arms are entirely replaced (which is obvious seeing his post-TS appearance), but I was surprised that even his skull isn't original anymore.

We know that because Franky couldn't reach his back when he first reconverted himself into a cyborg, that part still remains organic; and according to Senor Pink in chapter 775, Franky's back is still made of flesh after the timeskip.

Robin also managed to squeeze his privates at the end of the post-Enies Lobby arc in an attempt to get him to join, so these parts remained organic as well.

While his head is now partially robotic, as shown with his steel nose and the exposed circuitry from the injuries he suffered from his fight with Senor Pink, it can still bleed, showing that it remains at least partially organic.


What is written in Baudelaire's Les Fleurs du Mal that impacts Takao so badly? In the manga Aku no Hana (Flowers of Evil), a lot of the main characters read the book Les Fleurs du Mal by Baudelaire. But what is written in there that affects Takao and Nakamura to the point where they wish to commit suicide so badly?

How did the text of that book impact the characters in the series the way it did?

I bought an English adaption of Baudelaire's Flowers of Evil, and hopefully I can answer your question.

Because they share the same title, I will refer to Baudelaire's work as "The Flowers of Evil" and the anime/manga as "Aku no Hana".

Prepare for some reading:

Similarities between the Aku no Hana's Story & Baudelaire's poems
Muses:
Both Baudelaire and Kasuga have an obsession with a female "muse", In Kasuga 's case - Saeki.
Baudelaire has several poems with Muse in the title that refer to her grace and perfectness in a world full of woe (for him at least).  In many of his other poems, his muse is mentioned through other features of the world - like "the brilliant sun".
He idolizes this woman, wanting her to remain untouched by the evil of the world - that she finds her happiness, of course not with himself - he isn't worthy.
We see this in Aku no Hana repeatedly, when Kasuga refuses to believe Saeki can be happy with him as her boyfriend, the fact that he steals her gym clothes, when he
explicitly calls her his muse.

Hating the world, but wanting to love it:
Both Kasuga and Baudelaire experience the world in a despairing light, generally the blame is placed on themselves for not being able to see the wonder in the world.
Extract from The Evil Monk:

My soul is a tomb where - bad monk that I be -
I dwell and search its depths from all eternity,
And nought bedecks the walls of the odious spot.

For the majority of the story, Kasuga is coaxed by Nakamura to do perverse deeds - Kasuga generally resists, wanting to be a normal citizen and enjoy his life if he can.

Acceptance that they cannot enjoy the world:
As time grows on in Aku No Hana, Kasuga more readily accepts his depravity and falls to Nakamura's ideas quickly, as they slowly become the only excitement that exists in his life.
Baudelaire also accepts that he will never enjoy the world as other people do.

The allure of evil & the evil Beauty
Baudelaire has a second female figure in several of his poems - perhaps it is a concept of beauty itself or someone particular in his life. This figure is of immense beauty, but revels in despair. In the poem "All Entire", the Devil himself comes to the poet's side to complain about this figure's alluring evil.
If Saeki is the muse, this figure is certainly Nakamura in the anime. Kasuga slowly falls into complex feelings for her, knowing she is a bad influence, but clinging to the enjoyment that life provides.
The show depicts Nakamura in a constant evil light. The only time we gain an insight into her true self is a glimpse of her diary, where it is written about her joy of finding a pervert equal to herself. In a way, Aku no Hana is actually about Nakamura's unveiling rather than Kagura's fall into despair.
Extract from Hymn to Beauty:

From God or Satan? Angel, Mermaid or Proserpine?
What matter if though makest-Blithe voluptuous sprite-
With rhythms, perfumes, visions- O mine only queen!-
The universe less hideous and the hours less trite

The final lines show a little bit of the relief Baudlaire recieves from embracing this Beauty's evil. We see this in Kasuga's actions too when he gradually starts to enjoy the despair and Nakamura's wiles.

Additional Notes
As a side note, we can see Kasuga's conflict of loyalty to Saeki or Nakamura to be a reflection of his internal conflict to either conform or reject society. Saeki selflessly forgives him repeatedly, willing to accept him. Nakamura, on the other hand is full of angst and rejection.
A good few themes are in Flowers of Evil that don't appear in Aku no Hana. Baudelaire makes repeated use of seas, waves and water in his poems is one that springs to mind
As mentioned in  @krikara's answer, there is indeed a few poems mentioning death, Baudelaire seems to alternate these poems between the theme of erotisism of the darkness in death and treating  Death as a proof to his meaningless existence - that it is all for naught once you are dead.
He also often sees the world through lenses of death, in which he describes beautiful surroundings, but through images of decay, loss and ruin.

So? Get to the point already!
All of these strong parallels strongly indicate that Kasuga's personality is quite like Baudelaire's, and as of such he was taken by the work. We all know it's easy to get obsessed by things you enjoy (look at all these anime questions I've answered :v) and Kasuga probably became obsessed with the book as a result of this similarity of minds.
Add in his situational circumstances - his fascination with Saeki, his seduction into darkness by Nakamura and you can see how a work would be influential on his life.

Although, Kagura does mention at one stage (on the mountainside I believe) that he enjoyed reading Baudelaire's works to feel more intelligent than the others in his class, despite not understanding them. So you can make a judgement call on that too.


How much time has passed in-universe in Detective Conan? Detective Conan is a notoriously long-running series -- it's been running for like fifteen years, and hundreds of cases have been solved. Conan has made friends, received upgraded technology over time (cell phones!), and has generally "kept up" with its audience.

Yet, logically, time in-universe must have passed, and Shinichi's continued absence should be more notable than it is if he's been gone for more than a year.

How much time has passed, currently, in the Meitantei Conan universe?

Technically the story plays out in real time, but realistically it is at the whim of the author.

Assuming the cases appear in chronological order. You'll notice that none of the characters ever age or even graduate. There are many discrepancies the Eisuke/Kir Arc alone has some serious and problematic time discrepancies. It starts with the Nail and Snake Arc which took place a week or so after New Years and then continues to some cases later in the Clash of Red and Black arc which climaxing in a certain person's death. Eisuke vanished around 18th to 19th of December... so chronologically speaking a year should have passed... but did it? Ask Gosho Aoyama.


Where did Nano get money from? For example, for shopping.

The anime doesn't show that Prof. or Nano works.
Does Prof. and/or Nano have a stable income?

The money seems to be handled by Nano, so I doubt Hakase sells her inventions herself. (otherwise she would just buy loads of chocolate sharks)

It is presumably from a relative, or the money comes from a patent on an invention (with the money going to Nano).

No relatives are ever mentioned, so it's probably some form of research funding. (I personally think one of Hakase's inventions actually backfired at some point, turning her into a child, that would explain why she gets it and that Nano handles it.)


Why wasn't Jiraiya burried in the Konoha Cemetery? In Boruto episode 136, I noticed that Jiraiya's tomb is in the woods and not in Konoha Cemetery. Jiraiya is a leaf ninja so I assume his remains should be in Konoha cemetery and in fact he died because he was trying to save the village. The place doesn't also resemble Mount Myōboku.

As JNat stated in the comments, this is a memorial for Jiraiya rather than an actual grave. Jiraiya's body was unrecoverable at the bottom of the sea, so there was no body to bury in the cemetery.

But given Jiraiya's importance and status, why wasn't he given a proper funeral?
Well, Naruto built this memorial outside the village shortly after Pain's Assault. This is likely due to the fact that during Pain's Assault, Konoha had just been destroyed and time to hold a funeral was not a luxury they had.


Is Blue exorcist really based on a slush puppy? During a discussion with some friends, one of my friends said that blue exorcist is based on a slush puppy. I know some artists can get creative through a lot of things (elfen lied from a German poem) but I found this one pretty hard to believe.

Hence my question: Is blue exorcist really based on this slush puppy? Or on something else?

In an interview with Animenewsnetwork, he said that he was inspired by a Grimm fairy tale:

What were your chief inspirations when creating Blue Exorcist?
Kato: It originally was inspired by a Brothers Grimm fairy tale, where brothers combat monsters.  Then, I tried to make the story flip several times, and settled down into a simple structure of demons versus an exorcist.

Source


What is the meaning of the title, "Dorohedoro"? I just finished watching Dorohedoro and loved it, but I am confused as to what the title means exactly?
I searched Google to see what it meant and something comes up saying "doro" means "mud", and "hedo" means "vomit" or "nausea", but then what about the "ro"? So I looked into it a bit further and noticed that the characters used to write the word Dorohedoro in Japanese (ドロヘドロ) uses the character for "mud" then "He" then "mud" again.
Seeing as mud can mean earth, does this mean the title is referring to something like the two worlds (the wizard's realm and the hole) touching or being connected?

The most probable meaning of the title Dorohedoro is "mud-sludge", which is consisted of doro (mud) and hedoro (sludge).
This is referred to in volume 10, chapter 56 of the manga (not yet covered in the anime) when Ai ...

 recalled his experience after jumping into the lake,

 "When I fell into the lake, and mud (doro) and smelly sludge (hedoro) coiled around me, it felt as if I had become this warped city itself."


Why was the straw hat passed to Shanks and then to Luffy? Why did Gol D Roger give his straw hat to Shanks, and why did Shanks pass it on to Luffy? Is there any explanation for this in the manga?

Also, why do they love the hat so much? Is the cause for this love related to the passing of the hat?

There was not much information on why the hat was passed down but I will do my best to give you an answer that I interpreted from the series.

Gol D. Roger to Shanks

Gol D. Roger wore the straw hat first and it seems the time period that he wore this hat was when he was gathering his crew together. It is not disclosed as to how long he held it from the time of his crew gathering to the new captains garb that he wore until his execution. It is probably safe to assume that once his crew was assembled he probably gave the hat to Shanks. It seems that Shanks wore this hat for almost all of his time on with the Roger Pirates and even a good deal afterwards even when he had his own crew the Red Hair Pirates. Exactly why Roger decided to give Shanks the hat is unknown at this point, but it would be safe to say that Roger saw something in Shanks and deemed him worthy of the hat. It can be said that many of the people that have the Will of the D. seem to be able to see the potential (whether for good or bad) in an individual.

Shanks to Monkey D. Luffy

After Shanks and his crew save Foosha Village from the mountain bandits and after Shanks loses his arm to a Sea King to save Luffy we see the Red Hair Pirates leaving the village. At this moment a young Monkey D. Luffy yells to Shanks that he will become a great pirate, even more so the Pirate King. After Luffy makes this statement Shanks gives him the straw hat and tells him to return it after he becomes a great pirate. The idea behind this gift is so that Luffy will put all of his effort to becoming a great pirate. Shanks wants Luffy to succeed and the hat is supposed to be both a challenge and encouragement from Shanks to Luffy. The challenge is to become as great of a pirate as he can be, ideally the King of Pirates. The encouragement is that Luffy will get to return the hat to his old friend once he becomes great. One characteristic that Luffy displays often through out this series is that he does not step down from a challenge no matter how hard or dangerous it may be.

The Love for the Hat

The love for the hat can stem from many sources. For Shanks it was the personal item of a man that he respected and most likely idolized. To receive a gift from a person with as much fame and reverence of that of Gol D. Roger is not something anyone in the One Piece universe would take lightly, it is in itself a treasure. During his fight with Buggy Luffy iterates that the hat is his treasure. To Luffy this hat being his "treasure" is the embodiment of his dreams of becoming the King of Pirates. He also loves the hat because of Shanks, it would be pretty easy to read that Shanks was one of Luffy's idols when he was young. Most children are very impressionable so it is along similar views with Gol D. Roger giving his hat to Shanks. Both Luffy and Shanks had a person that they viewed as an idol or person to surpass and the hat is can be represented as a dream, challenge, or promise. The thing is that the hat means something a little different to everyone so its hard to give the real reason as to why the hat is loved so much.


Is there a Naruto and One Piece crossover manga? Is there a Naruto or One Piece crossover manga or anime?  Have both of the authors collaborated in anyway?

Kishi and Oda make reference to each others works from time to time.

For example, One Piece made a reference to Naruto in chapter (766):.
Nami's dress with has symbol on it, and how there's a fox eating ramen with a whirlpool on its back.
Kishi also put a One Piece skull and crossbones (along with the straw hat) on the very last page of the last chapter of Naruto.

Although there are no offical crossovers, there are many fanfics about this.


Why does Madara give Nagato his Rinnegan? Why does Madara give his Rinnegan to Nagato? Madara had already activated the Rinnegan since he is an Uchiha and also has the DNA of the first Hokage. But why does he give it to Nagato?

Madara didn't actually give it to Nagato. When Nagato was young, Madara transplanted the Rinnegan onto Nagato, without his knowledge.

Madara had achieved the Rinnegan near to end of his physical life. So he decided that would have to die someday as his body was nearing the end. As a plan to be revived later on, he transplanted his eyes onto an Uzumaki individual. This was Nagato. Uzumaki clan was known for their huge chakra reserves, so the user of the Rinnegan could tap into its original power because of their chakra levels.

  So he transplanted his Rinnegan into a young Nagato without the boy's knowing, intending Nagato to someday use the eyes to restore Madara to life. If Nagato was to do this, however, Madara would need an agent to act on his behalf and guide Nagato towards this ultimate goal. Madara waited, connecting himself to Demonic Statue to keep him alive until someone could be found.

He then found Obito in the ruins and decided that he will be the one to lead Nagato to use the Samsara of Heavenly Life to bring him back to life.

Source: Naruto Wikia