Why is Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg both a Dead Apostle Ancestor and Wizard Marshall of the Mage's Association? It's my impression that the Twenty-seven Dead Apostle Ancestors as a group are loosely organized, or are at least affiliated with each other in some way. They're also generally hostile to both The Church and the Mage's Association. Furthermore, Dead Apostles in general have proven to be extremely antagonistic towards humans.

This begs the question: why is Zelretch seemingly tolerated by both groups?

Also worth noting here is that he is described as an ally of humanity and True Ancestors in the Type Moon Wiki. This begs a more general question - how can he be all of these contradictory things at once?

Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg is a Dead Apostle because he fought Brunestud of the Crimson Moon who created the True Ancestors who in turn created the Dead Apostles.

Brunestud is the Ultimate one of The Moon and this one of the Aristoteles called Type-Moon. In the beginning over four thousand years ago he responded to a call from the collective will of the Earth, Gaia, to protect it from human corruption and in exchange Brunestud was allowed to live on the earth.

Brunestud created the True Ancestors based off his image as a natural protective system for the planet and to return it to it's natural state which is why Alaya does not act against them (remember that Alaya is the collective will of humanity which will deploy Counter Guardians to save humanity from destruction). after this he went around challenging other being on Earth and amassing followers in an attempt to eventually take the Earth as his own kingdom.

he eventually attracted the attention of Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg who was already a Sorcerer wielding the Second Magic. in a battle which Kiniko Nasu likes to keep to himself the 2 fought.

  He was eventually defeated by Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg wielding Second Magic. He tried to pull the moon to collide with Earth but it was pushed back by Zelretch's magic, so it was unable to affect the planet. With all of his power, Brunestud did not foresee being defeated by a human, but lost to Zelretch due to being too late in understanding the power of Magic, "a rule outside of the rules." Before his defeat, he sucked Zelretch's blood converting him into a vampire.

Source: Crimson Moon - Profile - Background (2nd paragraph)

  They're also generally hostile to both The Church and the Mage's Association. Furthermore, Dead Apostles in general have proven to be extremely antagonistic towards humans.

you are right that there is hostility it should be pointed out that the Association wont do anything unless the Dead Apostles risk exposing Magic to the public (as been their stance with their own Magi who can do the most inhuman thing so long as it's not publicly exposing magic) and given what's been happening with Aylesbury the Chruch, knowing full well what the Aylesbury Valesti is for, isn't going to make a movie

  Due to the development being funded and developed entirely by human means, the Mage's Association and Church are unable to intervene until the advent of the ritual.

Source: The Twenty-seven Dead Apostle Ancestors - Attributes - Aylesbury Valesti (2nd Paragraph)

Obviously though when the ritual starts thew Church will probably get involved and if it's too public that's when the Association will get involved.

as for being antagonistic to humans, not entirely so. for the most part "human" in this case is anyone not either in the Church or a Magus. The Church hunts them down because they don't see them as Human and if they aren't human and can't be controlled they should be destroyed. Also within the 27 Dead Apostle Ancestors there are some who weren't even human to begin with and their origins explain why they would be against humans

Primate Murder is a Beast of Gaia and has the absolute authority to kill humans. it's counted as a Dead Apostle Ancestor because it's under Altrouge Brunestud's control and started to drink blood like it's mistress.
ORT is one of the Aristoteles like Brunestud of the Crimson Moon but he is Type-Mercury having crashed on Earth 5000 years before the Common Era in preparation for the event that would occur in Notes. it's counted in the number of the Dead Apostle Ancestors because it was discovered to have vampric abilities

though there are some Dead Apostle Ancestors who aren't our enemies in a way.

Merem Solomon was turned by Brunestud of the Crimson Moon himself back in the day yet he and Merem feels an immense sense of gratitude towards him since Brunestud actually helped him by turning him into a Dead Apostle, of which he has directed his gratitude towards his golden princess, Arcuied, since Brunestud destruction. also Merem like treasures and joined the Church to access their relics and became the fith out of eight executioner of the Burial Agency and thus hunts vampires. the Church knows he's a Dead Apostle however he is "a non-human who can be controlled", so to speak
Gransurg Blackmore was a Magus who fought and was defeated by Brunestud but survived. Brunestud made him his personal Magus and Gransurg became a Dead Apostle on his own though his magical research. after Brunestud's destruction he's worked with the Association like how Merem works with the Church though at one point the church had sealed him but we was able to escape. unlike Merem he only kills other Dead Apostles if they stray from the teachings or wishes of Brunestud.

while Dead Apostle Ancestors, Merem and Gransurg would oppose Altrouge who generally leads the rest. both worship Crimson Moon as a god and see Altrouge was an impostor and that Arcuied is the true reincarnation of Crimson Moon with Merem even helping her out at times (though Arcuied doesn't know how to respond to his unconditional affection). one of them even hates Altrouge for taking Arcuied's hair (i think Merem).

we also know that Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg is also Dead Apostle and he's willing to help out Magi having appeared during Rin Tohsaka's trail at the end of Heaven's Feel and created Magical Ruby and Saphire for Rin and Luvia.

As for Zelretch's allegiance, it's stated on the wikia that it's to humanity and the nearly extinct race of True Ancestors. while his friend Caubac Alcatraz is a Dead Apostle Ancestor (who like Gransurg became one though his own research rather than being turned) they were probably friends before hand and the 2 were at Arcuied's Coming of Age Ceremony (only Zelretch and Arcuied is shown).

Though whether he'll fight against Aylesbury Valesti is yet to be seen. his wiki page does state that he is

  surprisingly meddlesome in worldly affairs

and given that in Fate/Extra the state of the world is suspected to have been the Aylesbury Valesti occurring earlier it might be bad enough for him to interfere. he could also just have the same sorta reason as Merem and Gransurg to fight it just because Altrouge is involved because he acts as a surrogate grandfather to Arcuied though it's not stated what his opinion on Altrouge is


How powerful is Carrot's Sulong, when compared among the Strawhats? My order of strawhats power would be something like this:

Zoro(I feel he is more powerful than the protogonist), Luffy, Sanji, Brook, Robin, Franky, Chopper, God(Ussop), Nami. (Power in the sense, I would say how quick/fast one can finish the battle).

So, when compared to them where would carrot's sulong stand. Also correct me if my order is wrong about strawhats.

I follow only anime, and I don't remember seeing Luffy as powerful as Zoro. At least he toys around for quite a long and then yeah somehow(when you get bored of the fight) he wins the fight.

In terms of the Straw Hats ranking, the 2 extremes are already known; Luffy is the strongest (cause he is the captain) and Usopp is the weakest (Oda said so himself  in the ONE PIECE 10th Treasures (2007) where he states that "Usopp has been and will be the weakest in strawhats.") The link to the interviews can be found in this thread.

I'm definitely sure for a fact, that Carrot is normally way stronger than Ussopp, Nami, and Robin, and I'll give reasons for that.

Members of the Mink Tribe have formidable physical abilities, which are far superior to normal humans, this stands to reason that Carrot is naturally stronger than Robin, Nami and Usopp (all of who are average in strength [and are the 3 weakest in the straw Hat team based on power])

When the Sulong transformation is used, along with her altered appearances, Carrots strength and speed also vastly increase. At that point she is probably stronger than Chopper and Brook.

As for the remaining members of the Straw Hat team, It will be very difficult to precisely conclude their exact ranking with respect to the Sulong transformation. (Mainly because there isn't sufficient information on her transformation.)

  My personal ranking of the Straw Hats is as follows: Luffy is first, Jimbei is second strongest, Sanji and Zoro are a tie for third (cause they are super rivals and it seems to me that they are almost equal in strength), Franky is the fourth strongest, followed by Brook, Chopper, Robin, Nami and then God Usopp. But then again since we haven't been told the exact ranking from Oda himself, we can only speculate based on the information we have.

Hope that helps.


Is there any other manga artist/s whose style is like CLAMP's? Is there any other manga artist/s (famous or not-so-famous) who caters anime or manga like CLAMP's style?

I'm talking about the cross-over style or the re-using of anime characters from one of their manga creations to another and the diverging of their stories. CLAMP is known for that style and it was loosely defined as the "Clamp Universe" or "Clamp Multiverse".

If there is, then who is that manga artist/s and what are those anime/manga that manga artist/s created, and if possible, a preview of the anime's/manga's plot?

Osamu Tezuka, perhaps ?

In his mangas, the same characters would appear in different roles. Given the ammount of work he produce, it's not a big surprise he could do that. Don't think it was intensive like CLAMP, but was well used, in specific situations.

Tezuka had his Star System, and his characters would appear in many stories, sometimes without a formal reference (not being identified as such).

Examples:

Black Jack made some apparitions in Astro Boy... Astro Boy made many apparitions in Black Jack and in other mangas.


Must you write the full name of a person in the death note to kill them? So let's say I wanted to kill, for example, David Connor with the death note. But his full name would be David Winston Connor. Must I write his full name, or is David Connor enough?

David Connnor should be enough, in How to Use I it says

  This note will not take effect unless the writer has the person's face in their mind when writing his/her name. Therefore, people sharing the same name will not be affected.

That alone should be enough. if, by some genetic miracle, 2 identical people with the same name existed then adding the person's full name (ie. Troy Delu vi La'Flash) may then allow the Death Note tell the difference between the 2.

IF, and this is a huge if, that 2 identical people with identical full names existed then it's quite possible they will be immune unless the cause of death was

  David Winston Connor dies from a heart attack in 40 seconds after writing his own name in the death note

but try and get someone to do that, also the odds of 2 people like that being born is insanely huge.

NOTE: To clarify a point raised by trlkly, How to Use: LIII talks about writing one's name across multiple pages, Point 1 says it wont work but Point 2 says that the front and back are still one page and talks about writing the surname on the front and given name in the back. this seems to imply that by name it would refer to the given and surname.


Is Ashura the actual creator of the "Rasengan"? So as you can see in the fillers, that when Ashura is helping out the other villagers, he is using a jutsu just like the Rasengan.

Is this the Rasengan we know and love, or is this a different jutsu for say a wind release?
If it is indeed the Rasengan, then does this mean that Ashura is the original creator, and not Minato Namikaze?
If the second one is true, this could mean that Minato has some relations with the Ōtsutsuki?

It depends on what you consider canon. Almost all of the Ashura and Indra and even Kaguya backstory stuff was anime only filler. The manga has almost none of that. Thus, in the manga, there was no mention of Ashura ever using Rasengan, or pretty much any specific jutsu for that matter. Indra's eyes barely resembled a sharingan, and Hagoromo was never known to not have the Rinnegan. So in that regard, Ashura isn't the creator, its just anime only filler. They likely chose things like the Rasengan and Sasuke's Mangekyou and put them on the two brothers to try and make it all seem more like destiny or something, symbolism that things are repeating themselves. Its pretty low quality story and a plot hole because Madara doesn't have the same pattern even though he was also an Indra trans-migrant. The story wasn't about destiny, but instead about how Naruto used the power he was given to change things, when the world finally was ready for it.

If you consider anime filler canon, then indeed he is the original creator, but like another answer here points out, he didn't pass it on. Minato most definitely developed the Rasengan on his own. In that regard, they both are the creators, Minato just rediscovered it.


Is it confirmed Fu having saiyan cells? So several dragon ball youtubers are talking about Fu having saiyan cells (and other kind of cells kinda like Cell) and that being the reason he can have a saiyan-like transformation, but is this confirmed? Is there any official source (perhaps the Dragon Ball Heroes videogame or the manga) where they state Fu have saiyan cells?

The Answer to this question is very straightforward. Fu is said to be the baby of Mira and Towa.Although Mira is an artificial being with mainly Android parts, he also possesses Saiyan DNA.Hence, it is certainly possible for Fu to possess Saiyan DNA.However, it is important to note that there is no confirmation whatsoever as to whether Fu has a transformation or whether that was basicall him powering up. If you recall, in the tournament of destroyers, Hit imitates Goku powering up(Transforming), and it didn't really function like a normal Saiyan like transformation that made him stronger. It ended up improving Hit's time skip. Similarly, Jiren releasing his dormant energy was similar to a Saiyan transformation, when in actuallity it isn't.


What is the weapon Adlet uses to spit fire called? In the first episode of Rokka no Yuusha, Adlet uses some kind of tool to spit out fire.

What is this tool called? Is there a real life equivalent?

I could not find a real world equivalent to this device. The closest thing that I can compare it to is when someone has a torch and they spit some alcohol through the flame.

Adlet most likely came up with this device through his extensive years of training with Atoro.


What is Sakamoto doing holding those rods? On page 3 of chapter 9, Sakamoto is walking while holding two rods in his hands. What is he trying to accomplish doing that?

Sakamoto is holding the L-shaped dowsing rods, which are used to

  locate ground water, buried metals or ores, gemstones, oil, gravesites, and many other objects and materials.

The rods enable Sakamoto to:

physically locate the trap set up by Acchan and his gang
spiritually locate "points which require adjustment".


What's the song on season 2 episode 24 when Meliodas was cooking something and Elizabeth came to meet him? There's a song playing on Nanatsu no Taizai: Imashime no Fukkatsu episode 24 (last episode) at about 13:04 when Meliodas was cooking something and Elizabeth came to meet him at the Broken Boar's hut.

What is the name of the song?


Does anyone know what the name of the music is in episode 6 of Parasyte -the maxim- from 7:19 to about 8:30? I can't seem to find it on the official soundtrack, maybe I'm being a dumbie but if anyone has the answer then fair shout!!

It plays as Shinichi is setting off

   to get revenge for his mum's death.

Yes. The song you are looking for is named "Solitude" by Ken Arai. It's part of the official soundtrack.

Here's a link to the song on YouTube.


Why is Mai allowed to wear stockings at school? In Aobuta ("Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai"), the titular bunny-girl Sakurajima Mai is shown wearing stockings while attending school.

It doesn't seem like this is a part of the regular school uniform, since no other female student in the school is seen wearing stockings.

How is Mai allowed to wear stockings at school? Is this just artistic license to distinguish the main character in the series, and/or indicate her celebrity status/background? Or, are (some) schools in Japan lax about their dress code to this extent?

The regulations on school uniforms in Japan vary.
Considering Japan is experiencing 4 seasons and hence, winter season, some schools allow tights on cold weather while others outright ban them.
Some questions on Yahoo! Chiebukuro that supporting if wearing tights is allowed:

Is it weird to wear tights under a school uniform? (Japanese) (November 2010)
What is the best denier1 for tights under a school uniform? (Japanese) (December 2017)

1 Denier: a unit of measure for the linear mass density of fibers
While some schools outright banned them (and even made into news internationally):

Schoolgirls being told "tights are banned!" in a cold winter by their school become a hot topic (Japanese) (February 2019)
Japanese school explains why it won't let cold schoolgirl wear tights under her skirt (December 2018)

There are also some that require the students to wear tights in certain conditions even in spring/summer, like wearing black (and only black) tights for skirts above the knees.

Is it weird to wear tights in spring/summer? (Japanese) (June 2015)

Moving to the main topic...
There is no detail about the regulation for Mai's school, so it can be assumed that it is leaning to the looser one.
However, while the specific reference is not mentioned, the Japanese Wikipedia mentions that

芸能活動の支障にならないよう日焼けを防止するため、夏でも大抵黒のタイツを着用している。
To prevent sunburn which may hinder her living as a celebrity talent, she also wears black tights even in summer.
(Emphasis added)

This is somewhat strengthened by her character introduction in Dengeki Bunko's heroines in swimsuit

日焼けを気にして、デートでもなかなか素肌を見られる機会がないが、今回は、ファッション誌の撮影のために水着を着用。
Concerned about sunburn, while her skin is rarely revealed even while dating, this time she is wearing a swimsuit for a fashion magazine photo-taking.
(Emphasis added)


Why did Cartoon Network never air the last four episodes of Zoids: Chaotic Century? This question is on the fence between here and Movies & TV Stack Exchange, but does anyone know why Cartoon Network never aired the final four episodes of Zoids: Chaotic Century?

I loved CC as a kid, and went to great lengths to watch every airing. I watched it when it was on in the afternoon, and I set my VHS to record it when it came on at 5am CST after [adult swim] ended for the night.

In all the times I watched it, I never saw The Ancient Memory, The Zoid Eve, The Moment of Annihilation, or Return to Another Tomorrow. I have my own theories, but I don't want to poison the well and am hoping there actually is an official reason out there.

The Final Battle aired on 2002 May 2nd and almost a year later The Ancient Memory (1) aired on 2003 January 4th with the other three episodes. It is possible that Cartoon Network did air the last four episodes, or that it was Network 10/TV3 in Australia/New Zealand, respectively.

There was definitely some sort of discrepancy that prevented Zoids: Chaotic Century from being shown from start to finish. Sadly, the only people who can answer this question are those that worked at Cartoon Network at the time.


Is there only a single Throne of Heroes in the entire Type-Moon multiverse? Is it ever specified that whether each alternate timeline has a ToH of its own, or there is only a single ToH in the entire Type-Moon multiverse?

The Throne of Heroes exists outside of the world and the time axis. This interpretation is taken from Fate/complete material III: World material - Records of Heavens Feel - Servant System: Difference between Heroic Spirits and Servants, p.012, you can check a fan-translation from that excerpt here. So there's only ONE Throne of Heroes, which is linked to the Root which is also cut off from the world and the time axis.


Is "Naruto Box Set 2" (or "3") equal to Naruto Shippuden anime? I just started watching Naruto anime and wanted to start getting into manga instead. I want to start reading from where Naruto Shippuden starts in the anime. I am new to anime and manga, so I don't know much about them.
I heard that it starts from 28, but is it until 72, or would that be another part of anime?

No. Naruto Shippuden is a new series, taking place after the conclusion of the original Naruto series, with older characters and some new ones.


How come the events of Rebellion are possible, with Madoka's wish? It seems to me that, no matter how you look at it, the events of the Rebellion movie are impossible due to Madoka's wish. Her wish-speech can roughly be split into five distinct parts (significant differences between Meguca's and Doki's translation marked):

I want to [erase/eliminate] all witches before they are [even] born.
[I will erase] every single witch in every universe, past and future, with my own hands.
(I don't care what you call it. All those magical girls who held onto their hopes and fought against witches - I don't want [to see them cry / them to cry]. I want them to remain smiling until the end.)
I will destroy any rule [or law] that stands in my way; I will rewrite them all. This is my [desire/prayer], my wish.
(Now, grant me this, Incubator!)

The pars in brackets are most likely not part of the actual wish, as we later clearly see that magical girls are not constantly smiling, not to mention that that would be a very weird wish to make for Madoka. So, only #1, #2 and #4 are the actual wish.

Now, in Rebellion, Kyubee apparently manages to create a barrier that shuts out Madoka and causes Homura to turn into a witch in her own world / soul gem. However, this contradicts the wish, as Madoka does not allow for any exceptions to be made. Even if we were to argue that a barrier is not a rule, and hence not subject to #5 (even though the fact that Madoka is barred from entering would be a rule), #1 has no limits whatsoever, and should prevent Homura from turning into a witch. Possibly, we can grant that this may happen not through Madoka's own hands (as we might say that Homura's world is not part of any universe and hence #2 does not apply), but turning into a witch is still impossible - her wish isn't "I want to eliminate all witches outside of barriers before their are born", after all.

Furthermore, Homura "splitting" Madoka into Madoka and the Law of the Circle is another such impossibility. #2 says that Madoka - and not the Law of the Circle - will (not can, will - she herself has no choice in the matter anymore) do it with her own hands (provided it happens within a universe). In fact, you might argue that, after the split, the Law will not do it, as it was Madoka, the human, who made the wish, and so, if Madoka, the goddess, and Madoka, the human, are no longer the same entity, it's the latter who has to do it (whether she lacks the power or memory to do so is once again irrelevant - the universe would be changed so she can do it anyway).

Effectively, the problem is the universal definition of her wish - it has no limitations, and several universal quantifiers, and hence can not really be circumvented.

There are even further issues, but they depend on how exactly you interpret the terms "rule" and "universe".

Madoka only had 1 wish, to erase all witches no matter where they are. 1 and 2 are the extent of the wish, 3 is her reason for her wish, 4 is her determination and 5 is just her telling the Incubator to grant her wish.

in the new universe, witches still exists, they will always exists so long as there are magical Girls, however thanks to the Law of Cycles Madoka will arrive and save the Magical Girl before they transform so on the outside it looks like they don't exists and all that happens is the Magical Girl is claimed by the Law of Cycles.

As for your comment about the Magical Girls not smiling:

  as we later clearly see that magical girls are not constantly smiling

this is because they know they'll become witches but after Madoka assures them they won't, that she'll stop it before it happens, they begin to smile.

With Homura, she didn't become a witch when the Incubators first kidnapped her. Her Soul Gem was progressing to that point and the Incubators would have observed and theorized at what point the Law of Cycles will occur and thanks to Homura explaining the original system, know there's a stage after this. They created the Isolation Field that blocks out all external influence.

  Kyubey places Homura's Soul Gem in an Isolation Field - a space that blocks out all external influence, including the Law of Cycles. However, the Isolation Field prevents Homura from being born as a witch, meaning that Madoka's wish is not invalidated. (Although not directly stated, it's implied that by creating a space where the Law of Cycles cannot enter, Kyubey blocks Madoka's omniscience.) Ultimately, a witch barrier forms inside Homura's Soul Gem. Kyubey allows the barrier to draw in victims, including Mami, Kyoko, and Madoka's family. Kyubey believes that this will eventually cause the Law of Cycles to materialize in the barrier. Kyubey's goal is to observe the Law of Cycles, which would ultimately allow him to interfere with and control it.

Source - Madoka Kaname - Madoka in The Rebellion Story

Now remember the Incubators are incredibly advanced and through Homura they are aware of the existence of the Law of Cycles but just don't understand it, just like how they don't understand how Magical Girls exist in the first place (yet can still create them).

Now when Homura transforms into Homulily the Law of Cycles (Madoka) has already been trapped in the Isolation Field but the Incubators are unable to do anything in terms of manipulating Madoka as she gave up her memories and powers to Sayaka and Nagisa. For the time Madoka, Sayaka, and Nagisa were in Homura's Labyrinth, the law of Cycles was missing from the universe.

  However, Madoka is aware of Kyubey's plan. She enters Homura's barrier with Sayaka and Nagisa Momoe (the magical girl who became Charlotte) ... Madoka entrusts them with her memories and powers in order to fool Kyubey, and allows Homura's barrier to alter her memories and suppress her powers.

and it's only after the field is destroyed does the Law of Cycles return and Madoka descends down to claim Homura.

Now for Homura splitting Madoka, after being released from the Isolation Field Madoka is still in her human form (though she looks like her goddess form). This is demonstrated by the fact Mami and Kyoko can see her when in the past when Sayaka was claimed by the Madoka, Mami only assumed she was taken and they didn't even know about her. This is most likely due to the fact she is still just recovering her original form, having given up all her powers to Nagisa and Sayaka. In this form Homura could interfere with the Law of Cycles and stop her from purifying her soul gem which now fills with something else.

  As she comes down to take Homura's Soul Gem into the Law of Cycles, Homura grabs Madoka's hands before her Soul Gem can be purified. Homura's Soul Gem turns black, and then fills with a new color. (It's unclear if this color was something that had already existed in Homura's Soul Gem, or if it is the result of Homura grabbing Madoka and interfering with the Law of Cycles). Homura's actions causes reality to crack. Madoka is then separated from Ultimate Madoka (it is unclear if Homura deliberately caused this, or if it is the result of Homura's interference). The colors inside Homura's Soul Gem explode outward. The cracks perpetuate throughout reality, followed by the colors of Homura's Soul Gem, which engulfs the universe.

Homura then ascends to becomes a new goddess/demon and rewrites the universe with new laws to facilitate her existence and how own control over the universe (as we see where she can suppress Sayaka's powers and memories), particularity allowing Madoka's existence as a person before she became the Law of Cycles. It's not made clear how the Law of Cycles is working now but we can assume it's fundamentally broken as Sayaka asks Homura if she is planning on destroying the universe. We know that if Madoka remembers who she is she'll return to be the Law of Cycles (which Homura actively tries to stop) but regardless Homura is not a witch so even if the Law of Cycles was working she would be immune.

Now I should point out that we don't know the full extent of Homura's actions as one of the things Homura did was force the Incubators to manage all the curses. We can not be sure if they have the opportunity or were even able to create new magical girls. Since witches come from Magical Girls, if the Incubators can not make any more then there's no more witches thus leading the Law of Cycles to no longer be needed.


What did Oshino Ougi signify? I didn't understand what the reveal of Ougi's true nature meant. There were many words, but I only got the sense that she's a (apparition) manifestation of some part of Araragi which he rejected sometime early in the series. I understood that at the end Meme decided to "officially recognize" her existence, but that's not important here.

What exactly does Ougi represent?

Ougi is Araragi's youthful foolishness manifested as persistent self-doubt and lack of love for himself.

This idea is transient throughout the occurrences of Ougi. She initially spawned after the events of Shinobu Time. That's when Araragi registers the idea that he could criticise himself just like how the Darkness criticises the world as the "principles of the universe". After her creation, Ougi spars with Araragi, nudging out fears and doubts he has had about his decisions and actions. He wants to make himself feel guilty for the events of the series because he chose to save Kiss-shot, Senjou, etc. This was the main theme for the Sodachi arc, in which Ougi was actually right, that he knew the reason for Sodachi's suffering all along but hadn't acted. Of course, this isn't always the case. Why was this important in the entire series? Because Ougi had the ability to undo what she thought were the mistakes that Araragi had made, even when the mistakes were natural to make; Gaen's gang knew this. There are some plotholes though, but those will be up to your interpretation of the story.

Secondly, Ougi being his lack of love for himself an important developmental point in Owarimonogatari 2. In Bakemonogatari, his lack of love for himself allowed him to be so selfless in saving the 5 girls that it caught even Meme off-guard, which is a reason why Meme left, sensing that an abberation like Ougi might appear. Throught the series, Araragi gets beaten and cut up in many ways to save others. In Owari 2, Araragi also foreshadows his inability to love himself in Hitagi Rendezvous even when he was able to love Senjou.

His development was in the subsequent arc where he saved Ougi from the darkness. Choosing to sever his arm to save Ougi was the ultimate act of loving himself, to finally hurt for no one but himself. This was when Meme finally comes back, to signify that this huge Arc that started with Bakemono has come to an end.

Ougi also tries to sabotage the relationships between Araragi and the girls. I'm not sure whether this has been explained so I will only speculate that I feel this is because Ougi reflects Araragi's childish mantra that "friends decrease my power as a human". Another hint that Ougi is Araragi's childish foolishness.

Ougi Dark is really similar to Suruga Devil and Tsubasa Tiger. They are stories about growing up by recognizing a part of themselves. Araragi recognises that he is someone who can criticise himself and hate himself, Kanbaru sees the fears she has harboured reflected within Numachi and Hanekawa embraces her imperfections (jealousy in this arc). Accepting this as a natural part of growing up brought the stories to their conclusions.


How does the hole in a Hollow's chest work? In Bleach, Hollows (and Espadas) have holes in their chest. However, the holes do not bleed and seem to have no harmful effects on the body. For human-shaped Hollows and Espada, do the organs rearrange themselves around the holes or just cease to exist where the holes are? Also, how do the holes not bleed? Does skin grow around inside the holes or are the cauterized?

Hollows are not like normal living creatures. Don't forget that they are born from human souls, not from flesh and bones. In chapter 433 it is explained that

   Hollows lose their hearts from the pain of not being saved by shinigami. That forms the hole. Their lost hearts form their masks. Also, the hollows' unique appearance and their unique traits and powers are formed from their lost hearts as well.

Also, don't forget what happens when they are killed. Their bodies simply vanish, leaving no corpse, no anything. So, taking that into account, we can say that

   since they can live with their heart lost, their bodies (even if we forget that Hollows are spirit creatures) definitely don't work the same way as human (or shinigami) bodies do, so they somehow are able to live with it.

And I guess that since they are spirit creatures they don't care about such things anyway ;)


What's the song in Naruto (part 1) episode 107 at 6:51? It's a happy sorta flute/guitar song, I always hear it but I just cant seem to find it. Help would be appreciated.

It's Daylight of Konoha By Toshiro Masuda.
The song is part of Naruto's second OST Naruto - Original soundtrack II published by Miya Records.
The CD is available on playasia and Amazon


What was the song Kousei played after "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" in episode 3? In episode 3, Kousei and a little kid play the happy piano, playing "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star". Kousei then changes the tune.

Was what he played a real piece of music? And if so, what was it called?

Mozart's Twelve Variations on 'Ah, vous dirai-je maman' (Twinkle Twinkle Little Star).

Listen to it on Youtube.


Can you prolong someone's life using the Death Note? If you have a 'death note', is it possible to extend your life with it?
Let's say you manipulate someone (let's call them Mike) into getting the Shinigami eyes.  You make Mike write down your date of death (Jan 1st 2022 at 12:00), and you kill him. Let's say you write down that someone will kill you (let's call him Lucas) on Jan 1st 2022 at 11:59.  But on a separate sheet you write down that Lucas also dies on Jan 1st 2022 at 12:00.
What happens? Does Lucas die as he kills you, or does he die before killing you?

Ryuk explains it clearly.  There are 2 main differences related to the death note between humans and shinigami.  The first is that shinigami can take a human's remaining life force and add it to their own.  The second is that shinigami eyes can see name and lifespan.
Rem also explains clearly that the only way to give a human additional life is if a shinigami falls in love with that human and prevents their death with his death note.
Also, even if the scenario with Lucas could play out with the death note, he still has 60 seconds after your death before his; however, it could be possible, if you knew Lucas was planning to kill you at a certain time, to write his name and prevent him from succeeding.
So, in summary, it is not possible to extend your life with a death note without prior knowledge of the future, and also just having a death note means that even if someone made the eye deal, they wouldn't see your lifespan as that is how Misa Amane knew that Light Yagami was Kira.


How many kinds of guns have been used in Highschool of the Dead? I wonder how many guns have been shown to be used by the characters?
And are these real guns? Or are these just some made-up weapons?

From this wikia page, there are about 14 unique guns shown in the anime.

Armalite AR-10(T)
Barnett Wildcat C5
Benelli M4 Super 90
CZE Vz83
FN Browning M1910
Heckler & Koch PSG-1
Ithaca M37
Kiku Crest Luger P08
M92 Vertec
MP5SFK
Nail Gun
SIG Sauer P226
Smith & Wesson M37 Air Weight
Springfield M1A1 Super Match

To add, yes, these are real guns. I was able to find real-world counterparts of all of these guns via Google. To note, the Luger P08 seems to be a gun used during the world wars and CZE Vz83 seems to be a Skorpion.


What does the Jormungand system even do? Maybe I was not paying attention in class, but it seems Jormungand is an autonomous AI system that destroys all aircraft indiscriminately once it has been activated. It indiscriminately robs everybody of air travel, even Koko. It would make sense if it could leave civilian planes alone or obey their operators.

With what weapons does Jormungand enforce "no air travel, ever"? Does it attack even low-altitude gliders? Is is completely indiscriminate, since it destroyed all aircraft at once? Can Koko override it?

From the Jormungand Wiki:

Its purpose was to end war and arms trade by closing off the skies for all air travel. If humanity was not completely discouraged from war, Jormungand would be adapted to denying sea and land travel as well.
How Jormungand could enforce aerial denial is unknown.


Does Overhaul need to touch wih his hands to activate his quirk? Supposedly Overhaul needs to touch an object or body with his hands to activate his quirk. But in episode #14 of the 4th season of the anime, at the begining of the episode he's seen reconstructing his own body without touching anything with his hands. Does Overhaul need to touch wih his hands to activate his quirk? Or how does his quirk work?

Yes, he needs his hands to perform his Quirk.

You are probably refering to the part when he makes his arms/feet big with the help of the other bodies that he absorbed. If you watch close, you can see him performing some moves before - like clenching his fists or other hand movement - which indicates that when used on himself, he can touch any part of his body with his hands for the Quirk to activate.

   That is why after the battle both his hands are cuffed and Shigaraki
 cuts off both to prevent him for using his powers ever again


Do HM's appear outside the games? In the games there was special Technical Machines (TM's) which taught movies that were key to progressing in the game like Strength, Sly, Surf, Cut. these were called Hidden Machines (HM's) and the moves they taught could not be forgotten unless the player went to a Move Forgetter.

Now i recall early in the anime and Manga when Ash met with a kid who had an Eevee and was being forced to choose what kind of Stone to use by his 2 older brothers who each had a Joltion, Falrion and Vaporion they used a TM to teach Eevee a new move which allowed the kid to win his battle to show how strong his Eevee could be without evolving.

However i don't recall HM's being shown in the anime and i didn't read much of the manga (only the one volume i saw in the mobile library like 18 years ago, i think). i am wondering if HM's do make an appearance in anything outside the Video Games and also if how they function has been reworked for the different media (as we don't see in the anime Ash pressing a B button to stop Pikachu from evolving or trying to weigh up with of it's 4 movies Ash should overwrite for a new movie like Volt Tackle)

No, HM's and TM's never (see EDIT 2) appear in the regular episodic anime.

It's understandable that these would be omitted from the anime. Often, these would be used in the games to allow the player to access different areas of the game. Because the game was viewed from top down, a simple rock in your path could cause a serious issue. This is why the games had HM's/TM's like Rock Smash, to get around such obstacles.

However, consider a similiar scenario in the anime. If there was a very large rock in the path of Ash and co., they would not likely need a Pokemon to move or smash it. If they did, the rock would have to be pretty massive to block the way, and there would be other ways around it. The use of TM's and HM's in the anime/manga was not as apparent, and was left out accordingly.

From a post on GameFAQs:

  In the anime, every pokemon pretty much automatically knows every move
  it can learn. Because, ya know... it would make more sense.

And from a thread on PokeCommunity:

  I don't think they'll ever be in the anime, since anime-verse move
  learning is generally more... dare I apply this term to the anime...
  logical than game-verse. Anime-verse TM/HM moves seem to be taught and
  worked on and developed like a skill rather than just implanted.
  Like... Pikachu and Iron Tail, Baoppu and Solarbeam... they were both
  taught and spent time mastering that particular move. They didn't just
  randomly learn it from a rather hazy "level up" method.

  So yeah, no. TM and HM moves are taught, not implanted. The discs we
  use in game don't really work in anime-verse.

EDIT: As noted by @Dragon, there are Pokemon in the anime that know moves that can be learned through HM's/TM's in the games, such as surf and rock climb, but there is no evidence that these moves were learned specifically from an HM or TM.

EDIT 2: As noted by @Dragon and @Riley, there is a Pokemon movie called Pokemon Origins, that seems to have some version of HM's/TM's, as seen here. Sometimes in the Pokemon movies, different aspects are created or shown differently (as plot devices, if necessary). In Pokemon Origins, HM's are mentioned, but their existence in the rest of the anime is still unknown. There is also a reference to a few different HM's/TM's in the manga and the previously linked source, so it seems that they may exist in the Pokemon universe, or at least they did at some point. Credit to @Dragon for this find


Does Tomura have other powers aside decay? Does Tomura have other powers aside decay? I mean, it doesnt make sense that he can be a powerful villain if the only power he has is decay. How could he face people who fire things from a large range, people who moves faster than a normal person, he wouldnt able to make them any damage if he can't touch them. Is he supposed to be faster than normal or something? How about resistance to attacks, does he have the resistance of a common person?

Tomura- Wikia

Tomura is indeed a powerful villain, and there is a reason why he is the leader of League of Villains.

Keen Intellect:
Tomura possesses a sharp mind and is analytical, being able to quickly realize Eraserhead's weaknesses in combat and taking advantage of them. He is able to deduce the workings of his opponents' abilities simply by observing them in action.

Enhanced Strength:
Tomura seems to be stronger than his build suggests, as he was capable of holding Izuku by choking him with only four fingers. While doing so Izuku displays visible difficulty in trying to fight back.

Enhanced Durability:
Tomura was able to take a point-blank blast of Katsuki's Quirk, sustaining little to no damage.

Enhanced Speed:
Tomura appears to be able to move very quickly, as he was able to appear before Asui in an instant. He was even able to see Izuku after the latter had jumped at a speed that rivaled All Might's speed, and even reacted to it by immediately moving his hand to Kurogiri to warp the hand to reach for Izuku before Izuku's attack could make contact.


What caused Hide's stomach wound? Like the title says, what caused Hide's stomach wound?

I'm assuming you are talking about the anime version, which is different from the manga version.

Although it was not shown on screen, it is highly suggested that Hideyoshi was caught in the fight between Seidou Takizawa and the ghoul Noro. In fact, we last time we see Hide before he meets Kaneki, he had been noticed by Noro right after he ate Takizawa's arm.


Which Trunks is stronger in Dragon Ball Heroes, future Trunks or Xeno Trunks? In the special arc of the Super Dragon Ball Heroes anime, Xeno Trunks turns into Super Saiyan God.
In the other hand, it's unclear to me if Future Trunks of the same anime is capable to turn Super Saiyan Rage or only Super Saiyan 2. (I don't remember any episode of Future Trunks turning Super Saiyan Rage in Super Dragon Ball Heroes)

Which Trunks is stronger in Dragon Ball Heroes, future Trunks or Xeno Trunks?

Xeno-Trunks most probably is quite stronger than Future Trunks.

First, it should be noted that the Dragon Ball Heroes continuity (from which Xeno Trunks comes) is wildly inconsistent when it comes to scaling and power levels. All battles and transformations shown are created for the sake of game promotion and fan-service. So every feat must be taken with a grain of salt. Depending on whether you use the game, the manga or the anime as a basis for your comparisons, results can vary. I have chosen to rely on the DBH anime here since I am most familiar with that source.

The Super Saiyan 4 and Super Saiyan Blue are considered among fans to be roughly equals. This was implicitly chosen as true by the DBH anime : in episode 1, Xeno SSJ4 Goku and SSB Goku have a short skirmish, which concludes as a tie. Granted, their fight didn't last and they didn't go all out, but this can be interpreted as the anime deciding those forms are roughly equal.

Meanwhile, within the (canonical) Dragon Ball Super anime, we can see SSB Vegeto against Fused Zamasu. The saiyan warrior doesn't crush Zamasu, but still handles himself fairly well. On the other hand, Future Trunks is unceremoniously blown back, even with an enraged power boost. Future Trunks only slays Fused Zamasu after creating the Sword of Hope, which is basically a fortuitous Genkidama created around Future Trunks' sword. Trunks doesn't know that technique, and only used it by accident in extremely specific circumstances. We can conclude that Future Trunks is weaker than SSB Vegeto.

Now, what about Xeno Trunks ? The climax of the Super Dragon Ball Heroes anime involves Mechikabura, the Demon King, fighting both against Xeno SSJ4 Vegeto and Super Saiyan God Trunks. As we have previously established, Xeno SSJ4 Vegeto should be comparable to SSB Vegeto. Moreover, Xeno SSG Trunks is essential in sealing Mechikabura, as he deals a crucial blow to his torso and allows Xeno Vegeto to conclude the battle. We can infer from this battle that Xeno Trunks is stronger than Future Trunks, at least if Future Trunks doesn't have the Sword of Hope.

It should be noted, however, that SSG Xeno Trunks wielded the Key Sword against Mechikabura. That relic was supercharged by Demigra, Chronoa and Tokitoki, who all possess god-level ki and powers. If SSG Xeno Trunks didn't have the Key Sword at that time, he probably wouldn't have fared as well against Mechikabura.

In the end, we can only remember that anything related to Dragon Ball Heroes or Dragon Ball Xenoverse is fully non-canonical, and that their sense of scaling and relative power levels is fuzzy at best.


IS there a connection between the Gods of Aqua and Fuero and the Holy Maidens of Metafalss? So as i was playing Ar Tonelico Qoga: Knell of Ar Ciel when someone comments that Sarapatra's name is that of the Goddess of Love, in the glossary an entry of deities appear. in it it talks about Elemental Gods such as the God of Aqua and the God of Fuero.

Considering that in Metafalss Luca and Nenesha are known as the Maidens of Fuero and Cloche and Infel are the Maidens of Aqua, is there a connection between the Gods of Aqua and Fuero and the Holy Maidens of Metafalss which was not mentioned in Ar Tonelico 2?

There isn't. "Aqua" and "Fuero" are no more than horrible mistranslations that NISA made of the words "Mio" and "Homura", which translate to "Waterway" and "Flame", and in the case of AT3, that glossary entry refers to the Gods of Fire and Water.

As for the Maidens, their names are just references to the roles they have when it comes to singing Metafalica: the Maiden of Mio is the Maiden that has the role of serving as the waterway that collects the feelings of all the IPDs into one, while the Maiden of Homura has the role of turning these feelings into a flame (energy) with the power necessary to cross the wave flow and spectrum requirements that Metafalica needs to be executed successfully.


Why don't anime studios hire native English speakers? In every single anime I've watched that features a native English speaking character (usually American or British), they usually say a few lines in (heavy) Japanese-accented English before switching to full-on Japanese.

Why don't they hire a native speaker for those few lines? Or even hire a native English speaker to voice act American / British characters. I'm sure there are quite a lot of English-speakers in Japan with excellent Japanese pronunciation such that it wouldn't bother the anime's main target audience: Japanese people.

From time to time non-native Japanese speakers are employed as voice actors in Japan, but it's very unusual. A more ambitious anime production might use native speakers of other languages to voice minor roles whose only lines are not in Japanese. It's even rarer for a recurring or major character whose lines are mostly in Japanese to be voiced by someone whose not native speaker, even though the character is supposed to be a foreigner.

I think there are two main reasons for this, both from a "supply" and "demand" side of things. The first the Japanese public don't appear to be used to hearing their native language spoken in foreign accents as people in the United States and other western countries are. It not something they see in movies and TV shows, and rarely in their daily lives. Even a slight to moderate foreign accent, as you would expect from a foreigner in Japan, would be off-putting and risk being incomprehensible in parts.

The second is that while there are unquestionably large numbers of native speakers of foreign languages in Japan, very few would be willing to work for the low wages voice actors get in Japan. There is an endless supply of native Japanese wannabe voice actors, with over 100 voice acting schools to train them, all desperate to get jobs in the industry. By comparison, the supply of would be foreign voice actors is all but non-existent. I know a number of people who moved to Japan, got jobs and became fluent in Japanese but they'd all be taking massive pay cuts to work as voice actors. In most cases hiring a native speaker of a foreign language would be much harder and probably more expensive than hiring someone born in Japan would be.

There's a slight hope that things might change. The currently airing anime series Sakura Quest has handled foreigners and foreign accents better than any anime I've seen (which admittedly isn't saying much). Their's a recurring character from a foreign country that speaks Japanese with a foreign accent voiced by an apparent foreigner (Vinary Murthy). In a couple of episodes there were Spanish tourists who were apparently voiced by native Spanish speakers as they spoke convincing Spanish and terrible Japanese. But I don't know if this is really a trend and I can't see the expectation of Japanese viewers that foreign characters speak fluent and accentless Japanese being changed so easily.


Are there other "elemental based" Chakra modes aside from Lightning Just like the way the 3rd and 4th Raikage's were able to encase their entire bodies in their lightning release, forming the lightning release chakra mode. Is it also possible for other Ninja's to encase themselves in their elements.

What I mean by this is  (for example: a ninja with fire release, forming some kind of fire chakra mode by encasing the entire body with the fire release). This question is specific to the average skilled ninja (and is not including jinchuuriki's or Kekkai genkai users).

Earth Release: Earth Spear (Doton: Domu) which was used by Kakuzu could be seen as an earth variant.

  The user flows earth-natured chakra through all or parts of their body, causing it to become noticeably darker, all while increasing their defensive power to become as hard as diamond. As such, this allows the user to easily be able to withstand most attacks with little to no damage, with the exception of Lightning Release ninjutsu. Furthermore, the destructive power of physical attacks is increased, making this a great all-purpose technique.


What does "padoru padoru" mean? In the short Nero in a Santa outfit sings a "Jingle Bells" with some rather casual lyrics.

  Hashire sori yo, kaze no you ni, tsukimihara wo, padoru padoru

The lyric is a song of this clip (for the full clip, click here). The song sounds like a "Jingle Bells", but the subs don't seem to match up with the spoken dialogue ("Laughing all the way" as a translation for "padoru padoru").

I have searched on Know Your Meme, but I couldn't get the meaning of "padoru" from the lyrics. I have also tried google translate, and this is what I got:

  Peeling as Tsukurei Sled Like a cold

What is the meaning of "padoru" in the context the short or song?

I've actually questioned this myself in the past, here's what I've basically found so far

After digging for a while on Japanese Q&A sites and forums, most people seemed to have concluded that it's referring to a "Paddle", as in an implement to whip the reindeer with.

However like the Western community, they have about as much of an idea as we do on what it's actually supposed to mean as I don't think there's even been an official comment on its meaning, there's even a difference between how people think it's supposed to be written, as パドル or パドる, the difference being the later is a verb and the former being just a noun.

Either way, this song is completely made up, it's just for TYPE-MOON ACE, so it could just as easily be utter nonsense gibberish to fill in the tune.

To add more context, here's a thread about this: http://フェイト-fate-grandorder攻略速報.com/lite/archives/50387834/comments/5642764/

The OP opens up asking what the Padoru (パドル) part means and some correct him that it's normally パドる, some say otherwise, however as far as I can see, パドる is more a widely accepted way of writing it, with pixiv dic and many YouTube videos seeming to have this spelling.

Post #5 on the thread sums it up kinda well:

  「パドル」ではなくて「パドる」であって、パドる＝パドリング するってことなんだろうと解釈してた

  It's not the noun "Paddle", it's the verb "Paddle", as in the act of Paddling, or at least that's how I interpreted it.


Is the golden armor (Garo) the only one that must be passed from ancestor to descendant? In Garo: Honoo no Kokuin, we see that the golden armor (Garo) can only be passed down to one's lineal descendants (for example, from Anna's father [the former Garo] to Leon and Alfonso).

What about the other armors, like Zoro and Gaia, though? Do they have any restrictions on who can use them? Regarding Zoro, in episode 24, we learn that

   Germán's child with Ximena is going to inherit Zoro. That doesn't necessarily mean that Zoro has to be passed lineally, but it does sort of suggest that that might be the case.

On the other hand, it looks like Gaia doesn't have any restrictions based on bloodline, since Raphael was able to pass Gaia onto Alfonso, and I don't see how Raphael could be a lineal ancestor of Alfonso - Raphael is not Alfonso's father (the king), nor his maternal grandfather (the former Garo), nor his paternal grandfather (presumably the previous king, who must be long dead), and anybody from Alfonso's great-grandparents' generation should also be dead.

Answers based on the tokusatsu version are welcome if they make sense in the context of the anime.

According to my understanding, the Silver Knight's armor follows similar rules to the Golden Knight's. Note: I've heard it said a couple times that the third series Yami wo Terasu Mono was retroactively declared non-canon, which would get rid of the sole instance in which a Golden Armor was inherited by a random. Further note: YWTM was utterly disappointing making it the sole entry into the franchise I didn't watch completely.


What happened at the end of the anime Berserk? This question and its answers will contain spoilers.

I just finished watching Berserk (the original, not the 2016 continuation), and was able to follow the plot up until the second to last episode.

   At that point, the ground turned into faces and almost all of the main characters got killed. Griffith turned into a weird bat-thing. It seemed like Casca was raped, and Guts lost an eye and an arm.

What is this weird scenario? What happened? How does the plot actually end? Why did Griffith transform? Can someone just explain what happened in the last two episodes of the series (the conclusion)?

For you to understand the ending, you need to understand about the Crimson Behelit that Griffith has.

What is a Behelit?

  The purpose of the Behelits is to create an Interstice between the physical realm and the part of the Astral Realm where the God Hand reside. A Behelit belongs to a predestined owner and therefore, no matter the circumtances, will always finds its way to its owner when his desire to escape his current situation is great enough for it to fully activate so the owner can be transformed into an Apostle. From there, the Behelit would gradually come to another to repeat the process. Normally, a Behelit would activate from being exposed to the owner's blood.

The Crimson Behelit

  Griffith's Crimson Behelit, which he obtained from a fortune teller as a youth, was a rare and unique item said to grant one's greatest desire in exchange for the owner's flesh and blood.

After Griffith sees Guts and Casca together and realizes he may lose all the members of the Band of the Hawk, he runs away and falls in a stream. There we see he finds his Behelit among the river stone.

The behelit activates and summons the four members of God Hand.

  Also known as the Egg of the King by both Nosferatu Zodd and the God Hand, it appears once every 216 years when the time of the Eclipse draws near, its owner destined to discard physical form transcend into one of the God Hand. It is not known whether there were five different Crimson Behelits or whether the same came to each of the God Hand's members in turn.

God Hand then inform Grifith that in order to become one of them, he must sacrifice all the members of the Band present there. Thus, they all are marked with the brand of sacrifice and are killed by demons. Guts and Casca however escape with the help of the Skull Knight.

Source: Behelit


Why does Sayaka stab herself? On a few occasions throughout the series, we see Sayaka thrusting her own sword through her chest, cutting her own heart out:

It looks as though in Rebellion she does this to invoke her own witch form when the girls are fighting Homura's witch form, but she also does this before then, and before she becomes a witch.

What are the reasons for her doing this?

All i can find on the Wiki is this

  Kyubey tells Madoka to reveal her true powers in order to save Homura, but Sayaka tells Madoka not to listen to him. She stabs herself in order to summon Oktavia and an army of familiars from other witches.

Source: Sayaka Miki - Rebellion Story (5th Paragraph)

i can't find anything else on it so i will give my interpretation as to why Sayaka cuts out her own heart.

Leading to Sayaka's downfall in the final timeline pre-Madoka Kami1

In episode 6 the Puella Magi learn that their bodies are in fact dead.
In episode 7 Hitomi tells Sayaka that she has feelings for Kyosuke and out of respect for their own friendship and the closeness between Sayaka and Kyosuke she'll wait 1 day

When Sayaka goes to hunt witches that night she confines in Madoka her deeper feelings about now regretting have saved Hitomi and that because of the state of her body she can't face Kyosuke or be loved by him

The next day we see Sayaka watching Hitomi and Kyosuke. i suspect that this was when Hitomi confessed and despite what Sayaka said to Madoka she was holding out hope that if Kyosuke rejected Hitomi then it might be a sign that he was waiting on Sayaka thus he might accept her condition. however Sayaka knows that Kyosuke has accepted Hitomi's feelings and became her boyfriend

so right now Sayaka has had her heart broken and is giving into despair. some interpretations of this i have seen is having the heart ripped out of the body.

Come Rebellion Story i suspect that Sayaka needed something to trigger her Witch to come forth so she recreates the feeling of having her heart ripped out by stabbing herself.

I would like to say this would be the same for any Magical Girl with access to her Witch (recreating the feelings of despair they felt before transformation) however Nagisa is the only other Magical Girl who became a witch and went back to normal2 and she doesn't seem to show a despair trigger like Sayaka. But she may have already summoned her witch form when she took Charlotte's form and became Bebe

1: i ignore the other timelines as Sayaka didn't seem to become more powerful because of them unlike Madoka

2: Homura is something more so she doesn't count


Is Sakura's gesture a dead giveaway that she lied about remembering the transfer student? After a failed attempt at recalling the name of a childhood acquaintance, Miho helpfully guided Sakura to look at the blackboard where the teacher had the name of the transfer student written down. Sakura continued to feign remembering the guy, but then the scene panned down to reveal that Sakura kept one hand off the table while Miho remarked about Sakura being a liar.

How could Miho tell that Sakura was lying till the end? Was it the timid hand gesture or something she said?

I am not aware of any Japanese body language rooted in having one hand on the table and the other pointed down like that. In fact, Japanese gesture communication is generally conducted at chest-height or higher.

Miho knew that Sakura was lying because she had just finished guiding Sakura to look at the blackboard, because she had been able to tell that Sakura obviously didn't remember his name, and clearly wasn't really paying attention when he was introduced to the class. Miho had just helped provide Sakura with his name since she obviously didn't remember him, so of course she knew that Sakura was lying when she pretended to still remember him.

The camera pan-down was more likely intended to center the view on Miho for her delivery of the 'liar' line than it was to display hand position or body language. And the camera was lowered as far as it was to cut Sakura and the transfer student's heads out of the frame to make it very clear where your focus was supposed to be (on Miho).

If Sakura had actually remembered the transfer student, she wouldn't have needed Miho to point his name out on the blackboard, and thus Miho wouldn't have believed her to be lying when she claimed to remember him.

So, in short, Miho's "liar" line was delivered because she just helped Sakura with the name of someone Sakura clearly didn't remember...then Sakura used that help to pretend she had remembered him all along, pretending Miho hadn't actually helped.

For some people, this might be acceptable because they just helped a friend save face...but it obviously annoyed Miho.


Why can't Rock Lee use ninjutsu or genjutsu? Why is Rock Lee unable to use ninjutsu or genjutsu?

He simply has no talent whatsoever for it. However, since he decided to be a great ninja nonetheless, he had to excel at Taijutsu.

  Taijutsu - it was the only bright spot for Lee who was told unequivocally that he had no talent for being a shinobi. 1

Ordinarily, the inability to perform both Ninjutsu and Genjutsu would mean that life as a ninja would be impossible. But in Lee's case, his closeness to Gai as his Sensei, made him somewhat 'inherit' his hard-working resolve as well as his training habits, which combined (also with Gai interest in Lee) have allowed him to fulfill his dream.

Lee's case is similar to Naruto's, in that they both achieve greatness through hard-work, rather than natural talent.
Some people are naturally gifted toward some types of technique, like Neji or Sasuke, while others may never have any talent and thus not be fit to become a ninja. Lee's case is the latter, but his determination was what drove him to not give up, becoming an excellent ninja at Taijutsu.
He differs from a regular person, most likely, in sheer will, since (as I've said before) not every person is fit to be a ninja.

1 Naruto: The Official Character Data Book


Identification of a feudal era / demon protagonist manga I'm gonna put in items what I remember

The manga is on the feudal era
The protagonist is part of a demon society, they constantly fight with the humans
The leader of this society is a giant frog, or something similar
The protagonist kidnaps a princess (or just a regular girl, don't remember)
The protagonist is respected by others, since he's one of the most powerful demons, if not the most
The protagonist respects the woman he kidnapped
In the final chapter, she die trying to protect him after the war stopped
I'm not sure but I think either the protagonist or the woman he kidnapped is named Momo, or simplified to Momo

May be really vague, but I can't remember anything more.
If I'm not mistaken, it's already finished.

Found it: Shinobi no Kuni

  Synopsis (MyAnimeLIst)

  Based on a novel by Wada Ryou, "Shinobi no kuni" brings a story that blends history and fiction as it shows the struggles happening during the 16th century in Iga, a region famous by the Iga Shinobi, the ninjas from Iga.

The protagonist name is actually Mumon, not Momo as I said. Would be hard to find it with a wrong name.


Does Devil Fruit taste bad? In One Piece, some people were shown eating the Devil Fruit such as Sabo and 2 CP9 said it was disgusting or tastes really bad. However, Luffy was shown eating it at the beginning without a complaint. In the anime series, he ate it for being upset; in a movie, he ate it for dessert. Another case was Buggy the clown but he doesn't stand much of an argument because he technically swallowed it whole by accident. Also with Chopper: he ate it when he was a deer. It it really tastes that bad, wouldn't he follow his instinct as an animal and stop eating it?

TL;DR: Does Devil Fruit taste bad?

Yes, the Devil Fruit tastes bad. It tastes so inexplicably bad that is akin to poison as stated in the wiki about Devil Fruit.

Luffy has been shown in multiple different ways eating his Fruit in the manga, anime and movies. And also how he got his Fruit is different depending on the source.

The main point is that, in almost every case, a person eats the whole Fruit either piece by piece or by swallowing it whole.


In Kimetsu no Yaiba (Demon Slayer) how does Nezuko get sustenance? I'm only up to episode 10 of the anime, but it seems as though Nezuko has no source of sustenance at all, not even water. We know she slept for 2 years and that was said to provide an alternative to human food/blood. However, with the muzzle seemingly permanent and no food or water ever consumed in the show, is sleep her only source of energy?

Demons

This are one of the abilities of a demon; (you can refer to the link to view the other abilities)

Immortality: Demons possess eternal youth and can live for centuries, sometimes even longer if they're incredibly strong. They can't die through conventional means, but can be killed by sunlight or with one of the Demon Slaying Corps' special Nichirin Blades.
Growing Power: The strength of a specific Demon depends almost entirely on how many humans they have eaten, and they can also grow stronger by receiving additional blood from Muzan, which is how the Twelve Demon Moons gained their overwhelming power. Some Demons, however, have a limit to how much they can use to grow stronger, and they might be not compatible with a higher amount of Muzan's blood.

Being that said demons don't need to eat humans at all to survive as they are immortal and they'd only do this because they wanted to become stronger so the answer is Yes, Nezuko takes the sleeping as form of nutrients to sustain herself though this not give her additional power because she's not consuming humans, she was just exhausted and use sleeping to make up for it.


Did Mest have a guild mark? With respect to the recent questions about guild marks, there seems to be an important piece of information missing.

A main purpose of a guild mark should be to identify who is part of a guild. When Mest infiltrated fairy tail, did he have a guild mark? Could he have faked a guild mark?

My impression is that he merely had to cover enough of his skin with cloths so they assume his mark is hidden as no one would think to check.

No, Mest Gryder did not have a Fairy Tail Guild mark. And neither did he need one. As his ability which allowed him to infiltrate to begin with can also cover for the lack of a guild mark. Allowing him to be a Fairy Tail member, without a Fairy Tail mark.

  Doranbolt, a member of the Magic councel, used Memory Control to deceive everyone in Fairy Tail into believing he was a member of their guild named Mest Gryder.

Edit

Is it a speculation? Mainly yes but do consider the following. His power allows him to make everybody think he is a guild member. To obtain a real guild emblem he would need to go to Makarov and ask for one. Which at that time already should think that he is a member of fairy tail. Which would make it weird for him to ask for a guild mark.


Why did King Bradley allow the Elric brothers, Hughes, and Armstrong to continue investigating the military? In episode 10 of Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood, during the events in the Research Lab 5, Edward Elric is severely hurt. Later in the hospital, he writes down everything he had come to know, and he discusses with Alphonse, Hughes, and Armstrong about what to do with the information to continue the investigation.

At this point, King Bradley arrives with lemon into the room. He finds out what they are doing but acts very calm and chilled out and allows them to continue investigation while being careful.

Why did he not get Hughes and Armstrong killed at that point? Or at least tell them to not investigate at all?

This wouldn't work, for a number of reasons.
Ordering them not to investigate
If Bradley orders them to stop their investigation without cause, it could only mean two things:

Bradley doesn't want them to discover something, implying he is somehow involved with or related to their findings at the Fifth Laboratory.
Bradley is an idiot.

Since I don't think anyone present would accept the second explanation, it clearly implicates Bradley as being involved with the homunculi somehow. I doubt this would stop Mustang since he aims to become Fuhrer, and exposing the current one could help him achieve that goal. The Elric brothers would likely just be even more motivated as well.
Killing them
If Bradley killed them, it would indeed stop their investigation in its tracks, since everyone who knew about it would be dead. There might be some gossip about the Fuhrer inexplicably killing military officers, but it would probably quiet down eventually.
However,

He cannot kill Ed or Al since they are important sacrifices for the homunculi's plot to

 turn Amestris into a philosopher's stone.

He can't kill Mustang either since he's a potential candidate for the above plot.

He could kill Hughes and anyone else present, but that would just add fuel to the fire for Mustang and the Elric brothers, increasing the chances that they will discover his real motives.
For these reasons, he decided to allow them to continue their investigation in the hopes that they will be thrown off of the trail and not suspect that he is involved.


Why Jackie Chan is on Dragon Ball? In episode 21 of Dragon Ball, an old warrior called Jackie Chan (a fake name for master Roushi) was introduced.

Dragon Ball is from 1985 and this is one of the earliest episodes, was Jackie Chan even famous back then?

Is it a joke that only a few have understood or was it understandable to everyone?

Wikipedia notes that Jackie Chan's first breakthrough was the 1978 film Snake in the Eagle's Shadow.

He was already well known in the 1980s. His first Hollywood film was The Big Brawl in 1980.

Furthermore, we should note that dragonball is a Japanese series. From wikipedia,

  Back in Hong Kong, Chan's films began to reach a larger audience in East Asia, with early successes in the lucrative Japanese market including The Young Master (1980) and Dragon Lord (1982).

Emphasis mine.

It's pretty clear that he was at least somewhat well known in Japan at the time.


Why didn't the other Captains see the potential in Asta during the admission exams? Asta's magic was unique. There was no one else who could cancel out another person's magic, so why didn't the other captains see the possibilities of that strong power?

There were many reasons. The biggest one would be the Nobility bias a majority of the captains had. Asta had also failed every task EXCEPT the final fight with him and Sekke, so his failures from those would also overshadow his one success.

Another major reason is that while we know now that he explicitly cancels magic with his swords, from just the one fight with Sekke that the Captains saw at the time, it looked like he simply overpowered Sekke with physical prowess alone. When he started his attack against Sekke, this is what was said:

Vangeance: He's fast! Is he using some kind of high-speed movement magic?

Yami: No, he's just physically powerful!

In the end, it was Asta's determination despite his shortcomings that won Yami over while everyone else only saw his shortcomings, and magic-cancellation wasn't on their radars at all.


How come Koro sensei had tomato juice inside jail? In Assassination Classroom Season 2, episode 8, Tadaomi was fighting with Reaper, and then there was one incident where he faked his death from blood loss with the help of Koro-sensei. And then later it is shown that Koro-sensei was drinking tomato juice, and with the help of his one tentacles he faked that scene and helped Tadaomi.

So my question is: how did he get that tomato juice? Is it possible that he was keeping it from the start, or did he try to escape and then got one?

Explained in the manga:

He bought it beforehand.


Details about "Zettai Junpaku Mahou Shoujo" I recently saw the OVA for Zettai Junpaku Mahou Shoujo on Youtube but couldn't find out anything else about it.

Is this an existing or preview teaser of some anime? Is there a manga series?

There are some details on myanimelist.net but it's just a review of the OVA.

Well if you managed to find the myanimelist page you should also have noticed that the review states

  this anime is based of a doujin manga (im pretty sure its a doujin hentai manga but im not 100% percent sure) called mahou shoujo written by Raita its is currently about 10 volumes long and about 25-30 pages per volume. you wont find it on MAL because it was not written and published by a real writer (in other words because its a complete doujin). source

It pretty much states that this is a Full doujin written by raita, There is only a ova so far. The chances of it getting a real anime are considerd really low. The ova also did not go through a producer so is most likely home/fan made

If you wish to read the doujin the review provided many links to sources where to read.


Are gym masters easy to beat? Gym masters are dedicated to train their Pokemon and and are very familiar with their environment. They should have a vast advantage over trainers, especially younger ones.

If that is the case, why don't they defeat more trainers? Shouldnt only trainers with comparable experience defeat them? Ash can defeat much older masters who have been training for decades. Is it just to advance the story or is there a rational explanation?

They are not easy to beat, Ash isn't just your average trainer. He might seem stupid/have really weak pokemon sometimes, but he is kind of world class when you look at some of his greatest accomplishments. And many gym leaders do beat him, and he eventually comes back to win. Gym masters do beat most challengers, just beating all of a region's gyms is qualification enough to take on the Elite four.

Also, gym masters are normally trainers who work within the rules of the gym, a fighting master tends to mainly have fighting pokemon, so will always be at a disadvantage to a trainer who wanders in with a bunch of psychic/flying pokemon. They are never portrayed as invincible or easy, just a bunch of tough trainers, well above the average guy wandering around with a bunch of pokemon.


Is merged Zamasu fully immortal in Dragon Ball Heroes? In Dragon Ball Heroes episode 10 Jiren attacks merged Zamasu with a giant energy ball and merged Zamasu gets out of it unharmed, claiming he's immortal. In Dragon Ball Super, merged Zamasu was half immortal, because he was the fusion of an immortal body with a mortal one, so his right side took harm with Goku's, Trunks' and Vegito's attacks. Is merged Zamasu fully immortal in Dragon Ball Heroes?

In Dragon Ball Heroes episode 11 , Zamasu states to Jiren he's fully inmortal. (he always is going to be healed he says)


When is the full version (4 mins) ending song of the anime god eater releasing? I have been searching in different websites but I could only find the short version of kouhaichi.

Full anime ED, OP and Soundtracks is always first come in Bonus CD inside Blu-ray Collector Edition. So, if you want a full version of ending song for example, you need to wait for the release of the Blu-rays.

God Eater just finished airing recently, I don't know the Bonus CD will be packed inside which volume of the Blu-ray. An anime with 13 episodes like God Eater is usually sold separately with 7 volumes, while Vol. 6 is released just a week ago, Vol. 7 will be released on April 21th. Maybe a week or so after the release of all volumes, some websites might provide contents in the Bonus CD on their site, not sure whether it's legit or not.


What phenomenon are at play such that the "Big Four" are limited to four and not a growing list? I've heard a list of anime referred to as "The Big Four":

Dragon Ball Z
Naruto/Naruto Shippuuden
One Piece
Bleach

What phenomenon are at play that there aren't more than 4 anime like these?

I think the criteria to get into The Big Four are along these lines:

based on manga
long running anime (hundreds of episodes)
longer or concurrently running manga
possibly currently running anime (they got their name when Bleach was still airing, so 3/4 were running for a while)

I've seen other shounen series pass 100 episodes, and there are certainly other fan favorites.  There are also really long-running series geared towards children.  However, it seems that most anime nowadays is 12 episodes, and maybe a followup season of another 12 episodes.  I can't help but think that these phenomena are related.

I've heard a list of anime referred to as "The Big Four":

The first thing to be aware of is this: the idea of the "Big Four" is localized to the English-speaking / Western (possibly just North American?) fanbase. There is not an equivalent notion in Japan. This strongly suggests that an explanation for the "Big Four" must involve an understanding of the habits of English-speaking fans.

  What phenomenon are at play that there aren't more than 4 anime like these?

I tentatively am inclined to attribute this idea to the fact that the current crop of teenagers and young adults who are the primary inhabitants of English-language anime discussion websites grew up watching these four shows (in, say, the late '90s and early '00s). All four of these shows had a number of properties that were instrumental to their having broad popularity among the demographic in question. In particular:

they were dubbed in English
they were extensively aired on readily-available television channels (especially Toonami)
they were not "kid's shows" in the same way that something like Pokemon or Digimon is
they had multiple hundreds of episodes

The only other show that comes to mind with these properties is Sailor Moon, and for simple demographic reasons, it's unlikely that fans of the "Big Four" would be fans of Sailor Moon, and vice versa.

So why is this list unchanging? Well, I expect that the list will change in a few years, when more older viewers phase out of online discussion sites and more younger viewers phase in. (This is a simple consequence of the demographics of anime discussion on the internet - older people get lives and stop watching/discussing anime, and new youngfolk with nothing better to do figure out how to internet and start posting about things in their stead.)

These younger viewers will likely have less exposure to Dragon Ball Z (and perhaps Bleach as well) and more exposure to the newest show that has all those properties: Fairy Tail. Perhaps there will be a "New Big Three" in 2020, consisting of Fairy Tail, Naruto, and One Piece.

  However, it seems that most anime nowadays is 12 episodes, and maybe a followup season of another episodes.

This was already the case by the time One Piece started airing in 1999 (and even earlier than that), roughly speaking. Forever-running shows like the "Big Four" have long been in the minority. You, the English-speaking viewer, likely just didn't notice this during your younger days when you watched the "Big Four" on television, since these shorter, one-to-two cour shows were less likely to be dubbed and shown on television (and if they were, they probably wouldn't be shown during cartoon primetime).

I should add that I am more aware of the idea of the "Big Three" (those four minus Dragon Ball Z) being a thing in the zeitgeist; and indeed, I suspect this is probably because Dragon Ball Z finished up a long time ago, and hence is not in vogue with the current crop of people who discuss anime online. (Whereas: Naruto and One Piece are still running, and Bleach ended only relatively recently.)

Random832 also points out in a comment that one article from 2012 claims that the "Big Three" consists of Bleach, Naruto, and Inuyasha. This brings to mind an important point: there is no "official" notion of a "Big Three" in anime - I'm not aware of any industry sources that use the term. The "Big n" is what the internet makes of it; no more, no less.


Is there a religion in Amestris? Occasionally, especially when talking about human transmutations, Amestrians mention God, mainly with the idea of human transmutations being a transgression against God. An example of this is when Olivier Armstrong is talking about the three tenets for state alchemists and is answering the question of why human transmutations are forbidden.

It doesn't seem to me like this is a reference to "Truth", seeing as very few people seem to know about "Truth", who is essentially the God within the gate. Is there some specific religion's God that this is reference to, or it is a sort of generic God=nature? Is there a stated religion within Amestris?

There appear to be a few religions in Amestris (or potentially a few views or denominations belonging to a single religion), and we can see actions from several people that denote a religious following.
Truth and God

Ironically, the being who is canonically referred to God seems to have little to no religion based around it (the same for Truth). They are essentially all-powerful beings of nature, but garner little attention from those outside alchemy (who are generally atheists).
Letoism

In the town of Lior, a priest, Father Cornello, has been given a Philosopher's Stone by an at-the-time undisclosed party. Leaving his fellow Lior citizens unaware of this, he manages to garner a lot of attention through miracles (smaller ones in Brotherhood, though much more effective and large ones in the 2003 anime). These miracles, according to Cornello, are from the Sun God, Leto, around whom the religion is based.
In Brotherhood, after Cornello is debunked, Letoism disappears. The 2003 anime handles it differently, and one could say that the religion lingers on.
Ishvala

Among the Ishvalans (those who remain, and their society prior to the war), there is a common belief in the Earth God Ishvala, who is said to be the one true creator, much like you could consider a typical god in a monotheistic religion. His teachings prohibit the use of alchemy, though some of his followers have stepped around this teaching and, in some cases, broken it entirely.
A note: The Ishvalan religion borrows many traits from Judaism, but I won't go into detail here.
Other religions

In the 2003 anime, Ed and Al end up in Aquroya, where they meet a woman named Clara. There are signs later that she is not fully committed to this religion (though her churchgoers are), and not much is said about it, except that (according to Clara) Ed and Al's bickering "goes against God's will."
There appear to be few mentions of religion outside of Letoism, Ishvala, and this small religion in Aquroya; I would wager a guess that any other mentions of "God" (by non-alchemists) belong to this same unnamed religion. It appears to borrow traits from Catholicism (or Christianity as a whole), which would line up with early 1900s in Germany, if I recall correctly.
The Eastern Sage and the Sage of the West are also regarded somewhat as religious figures, the latter described as being a man of gold (his hair and eyes, and also a reference to alchemy's properties with regard to gold).
In Xing, a religion similar to Buddhism has developed, it would seem, which talks about chi and the flow of energy in the earth (referred to as the Dragon's Pulse). Likely, being a monarchy, there is also a god atop their structure, though I don't believe he is ever mentioned.


How did Naruto defeat Edo Tensei Third Raikage? In the manga Chapter 554, Naruto notices a prominent scar on the Third Raikage, which leads him to think that if the Hachibi managed to inflict damage, there's no reason why Kurama's chakra can't. But it turned out that it was the Raikage's weakness that hurt him. Using this information, Naruto managed to defeat him.

Could someone explain the nuts and bolts?

After talking to Gyuki (Hachibi), Naruto guessed that the scar on the Third Raikage chest may have been made by his own Jigokuzuki (Hell Stab). Based on that, he prepared a plan to make the Raikage stab his own chest.

He went into Sage Mode, prepared a Rasengan, and ran towards the Raikage as if to hit him head on with the Rasengan. The Raikage too ran towards Naruto aiming to stab him with his One-Finger Nukite.

Naruto's Sage Mode allows him to better sense the enemy, so he could dodge the Raikage's finger at the last moment. It also give him better speed, so he could quickly redirect his Rasengan to aim at the Raikage's elbow, before the Raikage could dodge it. This impact bent his elbow causing his attack to pierce his own chest.


Which countries watch the most anime? You know, I just got curious, and I guess the answer would be somewhere around Asia.

For example I know in Canada they watch anime but I'm also wondering about places like Mexico, Europe, Russia, and so on . . .
Do they watch anime like Bleach, Naruto, and more?
I've been wondering this for a long time . . . Is it popular there? Or does it depend?

(Edit) For anime:

In 2001, animation accounted for 7% of the Japanese film market, above the 4.6% market share for live-action works. The popularity and success of anime is seen through the profitability of the DVD market, contributing nearly 70% of total sales.

Also,

The anime market for the United States was worth approximately $2.74 billion in 2009.

In Japan in 2011, the DVD and Blu-Ray sales were approximately $250.6 million for DVD and $381.7 million for Blu-Ray (according to here).
From this:

In 2006, overseas sales of Japanese anime hit ¥16.8 billion but that has since plunged due to sluggish sales of DVDs — a direct result of pirated videos online and video-on-demand services. In 2011, global sales were a mere ¥8.55 billion. (¥16.8 billion=~$139 million, ¥8.55 billion=~$70 million)

Obviously, there are some discrepancies in these numbers, as the US market cannot be higher than the total overseas market. However, the US market number is likely accounting for television and possibly toys, while the overseas numbers are likely just sales.
This gives the North American sales numbers.
Overall, it will be nearly impossible to determine the distribution. The Japanese numbers are the highest, but because much of anime is watched (often illegally) online, it is difficult to determine where people are watching from.
The manga market may be a good representation of the anime market distribution.
Japan has the biggest market for manga.
From this and this:
In Europe, France used to consist of about 50% of the manga market, with 1/3 of the comic market in France being made up of manga (2003 numbers). In 2011, their percentage of the European manga market dropped to about 40%.

According to the Japan External Trade Organization, sales of manga reached $212.6 million within France and Germany alone in 2006.
France represents about 50% of the European market and is the second worldwide market, behind Japan.

Germany's comic market is made up 70-75% of manga.
Manga is not very popular in Russia. In general, comics aren't very popular in Russia as a whole. The spread of anime has, however, helped to increase the popularity of manga.
In Thailand, there is manga, but it is primarily bootlegged.
According to this,

...by 2008, the U.S. and Canadian manga market generated $175 million in annual sales.

You can also look at the list of manga distributors to see a general range of number of distributors, though that doesn't give the amount of distribution in a country.
From this:

Annual manga sales in Japan are about $5 billion, he said, whereas American manga sales are $120 million and Europe and the Middle East combined make $250 million.


Where can I read Bleach legally? I live in Norway. Is there a site where I can read Bleach online legally? I have tried to look, but I have not found a suitable site yet.

You can buy digital version of Bleach on a per-volume basis.

According to Viz Media's site, digital versions should be avaible from:

Amazon
Google Play
Nook
iBooks
VizManga

I'm not sure about the region restrictions of these though, as you are living in Norway - Viz may not have the licensing rights for the regions (They usually prioritize the US first). You may have to import physical books if noone owns the licensing rights.


Why did Scar only attack the State Alchemists? Is there any reason other than vengeance for Ishbalan, whose people were exterminated by Military, that Scar set out to exterminate State Alchemists instead of exterminating all Alchemists?

This is all based on Scar's train of thought, and own decisions. However, I respect his decision:

  The fighting continued to spread until the entire East Area of Amestris had become a war zone. In 1908, a full seven years after the conflict had begun, Amestrian Führer King Bradley issued Order 3066, sending State Alchemists in to the front lines to act as human weapons. Ishval Civil War - Fullmetal Alchemist Wiki

So, as we are told in Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood (throughout the series, no specific episode(s)) - it was the State Alchemists that were taking part in the war, therefore it was the State Alchemists which the Ishvalans should hold their grudge against - the State Alchemists who murdered them, fought with them, and harmed them.

As I said, however, it is based on Scar's decision. It makes sense as you'd want to avenge your friends by harming the person who harmed them. In this case, he went a step further as to attack those who hold the title of State Alchemist, even if they didn't participate in the war. Why he went a step further in that direction and not attack all Alchemists, is just be how his rage works.


Which song plays at 18:00 in episode 4 season 3 of Boku No Hero Academia? Which song plays when Midoriya decides to fight the muscular man with everything he has got, and says "Stay Back, Kota. And then, when it hits, you run as fast as you can back to camp."

At the time of this scene the song is halfway through though.

I think this is what you are looking for.


Identification of the background music played in episode 2 and 3 of Beyblade Season 1 English dubbed version I'm trying to find out the name or any identification of the background music played at:

01:05 in Episode 2 of Beyblade Season 1 (English dub) from original series. It's played during the battle between Kai and Tyson.
05:57 in Episode 3 of the aforesaid season. The music plays during the conversation between Tyson and Kenny after a friendly battle between Tyson and Max.

I did search on web but most of the time the results I get are either the Beyblade songs with lyrics, or links to Japanese ones, but I can't figure out the one needed.

AFAIK, the soundtrack for the English Dub is as such.
For example, others like you have tried to ask and received a similar reply.
The music for dubs seems like quite a collaboration from both Nelvana and the Japanese side, as referenced from this thread:

Actually - aside from guitars/bass - there's only 1 piece where I used live instruments- and that was cello. The rest is all electronic acoustic.
Beyblade was a really unique situation, because once Corus/Nelvana sorted out the initial details, I was working directly with the Japanese for the entire process and I'd literally just update Nelvana with what was happening every few weeks or so.
The director was very specific about instrument choices (you'll notice there's very little synthesizer/electronica) and it's mainly traditional orchestra/acoustic instruments. I worked with a translator on the Japan side at D-rights and all the music requests/revisions and so on were through them. The schedule was so tight that they were animating an episode as I was composing it and then they'd edit video to score on many occasions. Very interesting!

It shows that it is definitely different from the original Japanese version, although it was for Metal Fight instead of the original Beyblade series, I suspect it is the same treatment.
You might try your luck trying to contact the guy who did it.
As for why you are looking into it, I am not sure. However, if you just want to listen to it, there is some guy who did some sort of compilation:
https://youtu.be/w_7460ppe2c
https://youtu.be/6fu-ONlAn64
https://youtu.be/UfB7IbP_uyE
And he credits Martin Kujac in his FAQ.
This is probably not sufficient as an answer, but also, it was too much to put into the comments.
I do not think that you will find your answer anywhere, and this question is probably not answerable, unless you contact Nelvana or the creator of said BGMs, as they are unnamed and uncatalogued.


"Only God knows God's miso soup". Is this a pun? In this chapter Buddha got cold, so Jesus tried to cook something for him. So he came up with a miso soup, and a joke. Or so it seems. But I don't understand this joke. "Only God knows God's miso soup". Is this a pun?

Yes, this is a Japanese pun. Unfortunately, this pun doesn't translate well to other languages.

The original phrases in Japanese are:

Image from buzz-manga.blog.jp

  神【かみ】のみぞ知る【しる】 (kami nomi zo shiru, only God knows)
  神【かみ】のみそ汁【しる】 (kami no miso shiru, God's miso soup)

Yes, both have the same reading: kaminomi[s/zo]shiru (except so and zo, which only differs by a voicing mark).

Also, the one that Jesus does in that scene is called dajare/oyaji gag, which usually employs the same reading for different meaning.


What happens to Princess Tsubasa after she is cloned? In Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, Princess Sakura (also referred to as Princess Tsubasa) is cloned and replaced. What happens to Princess Sakura and what happens immediately after the switch for both Princess Sakura and her clone?

The original Sakura was taken as prisoner by Fei Wang.

He took the original Sakura and made the clone to avoid the risk of having Sakura dead during the journey of retrieving her feathers, to have the upper hand that if ever the clone fails (dies during the journey), he'll still have the original and can create another clone.

The clone was the Sakura who journey with Syaoran and the others. At their journey at Tokyo, where the real Syaoran showed up and thus revealed that the Syaoran with them was a clone, Sakura gained another feather that made her aware of her real existence as a clone. That was why Sakura was acting coldly towards the original Syaoran (knowing she was just a clone). Later on, Syaoran Clone (who has no heart now and was just following orders to get all Sakura's feather) learned that the original Syaoran has a feather with him and thus the two Syaorans started a fight. And because of that fight, the Clone accidentally stabbed through Sakura as she tried to protect the original Syaoran from being stabbed, making the Clone shocked as well. Then before perishing, she told Syaoran that she was just a clone and that her Sakura was not her. Apparently, the clone Sakura loves the clone Syaoran. And then she perished into a cherry blossom.

As far as I know, along with clone Syaoran, the clone Sakura were resurrected by Yuko because she was feeling guilty because she was the sole reason for why everything happened.

P.S., I edited my answer to answer your edited question. Contains a lot of spoiler but don't blame me, your question's scope wasn't that narrow so I answered in general. Hope this helped.

This and this are my sources for that answer.