How do Demon Weapons work in Soul Eater? I don't understand exactly how they work. I've got the basics, but I want to know the details.

Simply put, a Demon Weapon is a person who can transform into a weapon. Alone they aren't much of a threat, but paired with a Weapon Meister the two are very powerful. But later in the Soul Eater series we see how some Weapons and Meisters pose a serious threat on their own, but they look trained and experienced, so it seems to be more of a guideline.

In the first few episodes there's talk about 100-soul ritual, where a Demon Weapon has to consume 99 Kishin eggs and 1 witch soul. The Weapon is supposed to level up after that somehow, and the effects of that aren't very clear to me.

The only thing that hints at the magnitude of such upgrade is that Death uses Maka's father as his weapon, him being a Death Weapon. It's like the two most powerful guys in the show together, yet not much is apparent about how it affects their power (both Meister and Weapon).

Also, we see some Meisters teamed up with more than one Weapon. They can resonate their souls and it somehow works for them. It seems this is kind of the same as multiple Weapon-Meister combos resonating all of their souls together. But what about combos with only Weapons and only Meisters? Would that work?

I'm also confused about how a basic Weapon and an upgraded one should be called. Are they Demon Weapons or Death Weapons?

What does completing this 100-soul ritual do for Weapon and Meister?
What about combos with 1 Weapon and >1 Meisters?
What are the basic and upgraded Weapons called?

Soul Eater Not! just started airing, possibly shedding more light on the mechanics of that world, but I guess the answers to these questions can be found in Soul Eater.

What are the basic and upgraded Weapons called?

I'll start with this since i'll use these terms in my answers, in the Anime, weapons like Soul and Tsubaki are known as Death Weapons. After they collect the 100 souls they are refereed to as Death Scythes like Spirit and Justin, most likely a reference to how Lord Death is the Grim Reaper and in most works the Grim Reaper is portrayed to have a Scythe, these terms will be different depending on which version but for simplicity i'll use the anime terms.

It seems in the manga the 2 forms are Demon Weapon and Death scythes (デスサイズス desu saizusu) so I use the anime terms as Soul is refereed to as a demon scythe and using the anime terms avoid any confusion thinking Soul is somewhere in between.

  What does completing this 100-soul ritual do for Weapon and Meister?

First things first, you ask about the effects of the ritual, to answer this you need to know what does collecting souls do for the Death Weapon. When a Death Weapon consumes a soul they get more powerful, the amount of power depends on thew soul they consume, Bellow are the list from the weakest to the strongest.

Kishin Eggs (Red with a forming Shell) are the weakest however since they can give birth to a Kishin the DWMA seeks these out.
Human souls (Normally Blue) are used to refer to the souls of humans who are innocent, ie. have done no wrong. They give quite a bit of power compared to Kishin Eggs however the DWMA looks down on this as you'll be murdering innocent people to get them and beginning down the road of becoming a Kishin.
Witch Souls (Normally Purple) give the most because of the magic Witches use however a witch is "normally" very hard to kill (exception may possible be Angela Leon due to her age)

The 99-Kishin/1-Witch Ritual is used to train both the Death Weapon and Meister so they can handle the power slowly growing without loosing control, it's probably that by collecting 99 Kishin Eggs gives a Weapon/Meister pair the experience and power they need to tackle the witch, look at Blair who was a handful to Maka and Soul but wasn't even a witch and then to Maka's expression when she saw Medusa's soul for the first time in Italy.

The final Witch Soul must give enough power to the Death Weapon to rival a Death Scythe as Death Normally chooses the target Witches not only comparing against the Weapon/Meister pair's skill but probably also the amount of power the Death Weapon will need to be considered as a Death Scythe.

Death Scythes are then assigned an area to manage in Death's place (due to his soul being anchored to Death City) probably to replace the Great Old Ones AKA Death's Eight Guardians which were once commanded by Death himself (back when he had the more monstrous look). We know  the fate of 6 of the eight, Asura become a Kishin and killed 3 of them, one is in the Book of Eibon in the form of a black, amorphous blob and another is Eibon, the fate of the other 2 is unknown. Most likely before the DWMA Death's Eight Guardians managed the world so with their disappearance/fall Death created the DWMA (and became more funny looking to not scare children) and started training Death Scythes to replace them, so far there are 8:

Spirit Albarn - North America
Marie Mjolnir - Oceania
Azusa Yumi - Eastern Asia
Justin Law - Western Europe
Tezca Tlipoca - South America
Tsar Pushka - Eastern Europe
Deng Dinga and Djinn Galland - Africa and Western Asia (How Wikipedia list them, not sure which is which)

It's not sure what happens to new Death Scythes with all the regions now managed but in the manga Justin Law is killed so the Western Europe slot is open and in the Manga Soul Becomes a Death Scythe.

As for what happens to the Meister that's not entirely know (at least to me), hopefully this question will give the answer to that (will edit this part when it is answered)

  What about combos with 1 Weapon and >1 Meisters?

The Other way around (>1 Weapon and 1 Meisters) which is more common I only know of 2

Death the Kid: His weapons are Elizabeth and Patricia Thompson, the 2 were already guns using each other to mug people in Brooklyn and originally join Kid to exploit his wealth and authority as a Grim Reaper, but grow closer to Kid over time and outgrow their greed. Kid took an interest in them because of his crippling obsessive-compulsive disorder for symmetry however Kid wasn't a normal student.
Kilik Rung: his is Pot of Fire and Pot of Thunder, twin brother and sister, respectively, who never speak but have the ability to communicate with nature and sense danger.

I don't know of too many other Weapon/Meister pairs which have more that 1 Weapon but it's probably assumed that if a weapon has a sibling who they are very close too most likely the Meister will accept them as another weapon. I would assume these kind of weapons can be worked together but i haven't read up on too many.

As for Weapon/Meister only groups that would be very rare, in the Anime, there is a kid called Hero who didn't have a Death Weapon and was able to put up with Excalibur but ended up putting him back because of Excalibur's sniffling.

Meisters who work by themselves can manipulate their Soul Wavelength like Stein and Black Star however Stein originally was paired with Spirit, it's not known if he had a second partner (sympathy to the poor soul if there was). It's probably safe to assume that all students who do missions have a Death Weapon unless there is a very good reason for that, as it would go against one of the main reasons of the DWMA (Training Death Weapons to Death Scythes).

Death Weapons that work alone normally shapeshift part of their body into a weapon, almost every Death Weapon can do this, however Weapon duos like the Pot Twins or the Thompson Sisters can use one another; likewise with the Death Scythes.

However, pairs are normally stronger. In the Anime, Death explains how a Meister can use their Soul Wavelength alone, but it's amplified when they wield a Death Weapon (shown as Maka playing an acoustic guitar alone then plugging up an electric guitar rocking out as Soul sits on the Amplifier) so the stronger either are by themselves, the even stronger they are together − this is why Spirit and Stein are so strong together as Stein is already very powerful on his own.

As for the other away around in the Anime, Death Scythes seem to be used by others other than Lord Death; Spirit, Azusa Yumi and Marie Mjolnir mainly, however before becoming a Death Scythe Spirit was originally with Stein before partnering with Maka's mother Kami however Stein and Kami weren't his Meisters at the same time.

The other that i have heard of is Tsugumi Harudori from Not! however she befriends 2 Meisters and is indecisive about which one of them to choose as her partner which means she doesn't actually have a partner just yet. You might be able to count Excalibur having multiple Meisters, but you'd be hard press to find any who would actully admit to it.

Also there's Soul Wavelength Comparability to factor in, Black Star couldn't even wield Soul claiming he couldn't even pick him up. Tsubaki on the other hand is probably the only stated Death Weapon who could have multiple Meisters due to her accepting nature which allows for such a strong resonance with Black Star's seemingly polar opposite nature to Tsubaki, Stein mentions this when he is analyzing everyone's Soul Wavelengths during the 2nd part of the remedial class.

  Soul Eater Not! just started airing, possibly shedding more light on the mechanics of that world

Soul Eater Not! follows the daily lives of Tsugumi and her friends as they learn the ropes of the DWMA and have occasional encounters with the characters of the main series so it'll probably give more light on how the DWMA/Death City works and possibly link it to how the rest of the world works, but I think it'll mostly answer question about the DWMA.


How did Hagakure pass the UA entrance exam? Since the theme of the entrance exam was to defeat the robots, characters like Shinso,despite having awesome quirks, won't be able to pass. But Hagakure, who was having a quirk good for stealth but absolutely useless for combat (well that might be an exaggeration, but I'm pretty sure she can't fight robots with that it), passed the test. How is this possible, considering we already have a character who couldn't join hero class just because his quirk was non-combat type?

The test gave the option of either destroying or disabling the robots. I can't find the original statement, but the general consensus is that Horikoshi at some point said that there was a button to disable the robots. This would allow Hagakure and such to disable the robots by sneaking around them and pushing the button. However, Shinso's quirk only works on human beings, he had neither the combat nor stealth abilities to disable the robots.


What's Kyocera to do with an anime adaptation of Koyomi's life? In chapter 009 of Kizumonogatari, Oshino jokes about adapting Araragi's daily life into anime. Araragi objects, but then Oshino mentions that Araragi's cellphone was made by "Kyocera". What's that got to do with having an anime adaptation?

  "you say that, but I see your Kyocera phone. The prospect is so on your mind."

(Transcription from audiobook.)

Adding some more context into this dialog between Oshino and Araragi will make the intent clear:

"Why would our everyday lives get turned into an anime?!"
"Because a drama CD can't convey that wonderful face you make when you act the straight man."
"It'll be fun, though. It'll be like the ending of Demon-Lord Hero Legend Wataru."
"I don't think I was even born when that was on the air!"
"You say that, but I see your Kyocera phone. The prospect is so on your mind."

(This is from Chapter 09, p.142 on the English translation published by Vertical).
Koyomi claims to be young enough not to know about a show from the late 80s, but Oshino makes the point that he's using an old man's phone (probably refers to a flip-phone, compared to the more modern smartphones; remember how Kaiki suffered when Senjougahara broke his phone).
An interesting point is that Koyomi is probably telling the truth: several sources point to the timeline of the show occurring around 2006-2007, and he would not have been born by 1989 when Demon-Lord Hero Legend Wataru finished airing.


When does The Last: Naruto the Movie take place within Naruto Shippuden anime series and Naruto manga? I've recently binge watched all of the original Naruto series and have started on Naruto Shippuden (around episode 20 as of now). Recently, I heard that the movie The Last: Naruto the Movie came out. From what I have heard, the movie has spoilers about the end of the manga (like chapter 700), but I'm currently not reading the manga (though I plan on starting).

If I were to watch the movie, when does the movie take place within Naruto Shippuden, if at all? I saw somewhere saying that it took place at around episode 399-400, but I also heard that a series following Shippuden is coming, so I don't know if I should watch Shippuden, then the upcoming series, and then the movie.

The Last: Naruto the Movie takes place two years after the events of the Fourth Shinobi World War, ie two years after Chapter 699.  The last chapter of the manga, Chapter 700, shows events taking place over 10 years after the Fourth Shinobi World War. So the timeline of The Last falls in between chapters 699 and 700. Chronologically, the movie takes place after the Shippuden series.

As for your original question, the current episodes of Naruto:Shippuden series are fillers. So they are not based on the manga and is made specially for the anime.  But removing the filler arc, it is currently at Chapter 662 of Birth of the Ten-Tails' Jinchūriki arc.

For more Naruto related stuff, check out the wikia site.


Are there only 100 possible futures? I'm just listing things Suzuha explained in episode 14:

   1. There is divergence meter which numerically explains the current world.
 2. To make big changes you need to go beyond the 1% divergence to a beta world.
 3. Divergence meter shows values between 0%..100%

putting all these together we might assume there are only 100 possible distinct worlds, aka. only 100 possible futures. Is this assumption right or am I missing something?

It's worth remembering that Suzuha comes from the future, but she only knows what is known by people in the future α world line. In fact, some of that turns out not to be entirely correct, or at least it's misleading.

In any case, it depends on what you mean by "future". Two different futures can have the same, or very close, divergence numbers. This is evidenced by the fact that Mayuri died in many different ways, yet the divergence number didn't change (at least not appreciably). While these are different futures in the near term, they all converge to the same end result, at least as long as they are still on a world line close to the α (alpha) world line. This is what is meant by the Attractor Field.

The divergence number measures how much the world line has deviated from a particular value. To reach the β (beta) world line, they need to get to a divergence number between 1% and 1.99%, and again there's an attractor field so that any world lines in this range converge to the same eventual future. There are also γ, δ, and ω world lines in the visual novel and drama CDs, and of course the

   Steins Gate world line.

As for the particular values for divergence number, many are present. The divergence meter has been shown to change by as little as 0.000001%, which would allow for at least 100,000,000 world lines, and for all we know these numbers were just approximate anyway so there could be infinitely many (since they are only quoted to that many significant digits). We can't really say for sure either way, but most of those world lines end up being very close to each other in the end.

From the above link, the known values are:

α:

  0.571046
  0.571024
  0.571015
  0.523307
  0.523299
  0.456914
  0.456903
  0.409431
  0.409420
  0.334581
  0.337187

β:

  1.130238
  1.130205
  1.129848
  1.130212
  1.130211
  1.130209
  1.130208
  1.130206
  1.130205

γ

  2.615074

Divergence numbers are unknown for the δ world line.

ω

  .275349 (said to be negative, so maybe it's actually -.275349)

And the spoilery one:

   Steins Gate
1.048596

So, depending on how you look at it, there are lots of possible futures (maybe infinitely many), but eventually all of them converge to one of these 6 (as far as we know). There could be more that are revealed later, but based on what is known right now, these are the only 6 possible long-term futures.


Are a lot of butlers named "Sebastian"? In Lucky Star, Konata calls Shiraishi, one of her classmates (and co-host of Lucky Channellu), Sebastian, apparently because he looks like a stereotypical butler. This is presumably an anime/manga reference. Any idea where this reference comes from? Are butlers in a number of anime called Sebastian?

Seemingly that particular scene is referring to Mara Mite, or Maria-sama ga Miteru as Konata was parodying one of the main characters - Sachiko Ogasawara.

Reference

But in general, Sebastian is a stereotypical name for a butler in anime, and this fact is often used in comedic scenes involving them:

In Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei Fukka insists on calling the Itoshiki families' butler Sebastian, even though that's not his name. Similar scenes occur in Junjou Romantica, Paradise Kiss and Mayoi Neko Overrun where butlers have the name forced upon them

It occurs in western media too, although Jeeves tends to be the name of choice, and appears in media over here in a similar sense. This first occurred in P.G. Woodhouses' short stories and novels and inspired similar characters. Presumably the anime trope surfaced in a similar fashion.

In P.G. Woodhouses' stories, there is also a butler called Sebastian Beach, this could be just a coincidence though.

When I was looking information up on this, Black Butler and its Sebastian Michaelis kept cropping up, the name Sebastian here serves two purposes - the stereotypical butler and also sharing the name with a historic figure http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sebastian_Michaeli


Does the anime of Denpa Kyoushi add anything new? I've kept up to date with the manga of Denpa Kyoushi, which I've really enjoyed - but I've heard bad things about the animé. Mostly about the low standard of art and not doing the manga justice in some scenes.

I did enjoy the manga, but not enough to watch the anime - unless there is any significant difference between them (in which case, I'd like to watch those segments so I have the complete story).

Is there anything major in the anime that is different to the manga? or any new characters?

Differences I noticed in manga vol 1:

when Junichiro first met Minako, he asked her whether she's from choir club after she finished singing.
There's a replacement teacher in Junichiro's retirement speech. Junichiro at first attempt to just give normal speech, but due to that teacher that orders the students to follow the rules, Junichiro instead uses his 'special' speech.
Junichiro gets paper with signature of his students after being fired.
After Junichiro was fired from the first school he taught, his former colleague from Jenewa came to ask him to go there to work with her. However, he turned the offer down just like when the chairwoman recruits him. Before he started teaching in Hiiragi School.
Since Junichiro's colleague came and went back to Jenewa after she failed to recruit him, there's no 'playing hide-and-seek' big scene that the chairwoman and Suzune tracking down Kagami.


The Irregular at Magic High School episode 17 French rap credits I am trying to find the name / info on the French rap song played at 21:30 of "The Irregular at Magic High School" episode 17.

Does anyone know anything about it?
Is there a database that holds the music credits of anime?

I have googled everywhere and even shazam'd the song on my iPhone but did not find anything .

Any insight will be great

The name of this song is Metaphore 2.

It's found on the The Irregular at Magic High School Original Soundtrack 2 as song #20.


Does Nijigasaki campus have a track field? The latest LoveLive anime "Nijigasaki High School Idol Club" is set in the Tokyo Big Sight.
Is there any scene in the anime, the game or released concept material which shows the school having a track field?

Yes, and it's shown right in episode one!
The first mention of its existence is when the captain of the drama club tells the members to run ten laps.
Later in the episode (about 15:46 in), there is a scene that pans through the various facilities of Nijigasaki High, and there the track is included. (Other facilities include a gym, a pool, and tennis courts). Below is a screenshot.

It looks like it is located at the Sona Multipurpose Plaza. It's a grassy park, so it already bears a resemblance, as can been seen from this pamphlet (the "grass field" section). Google also has a Street View where you can see almost the same view as the scene, with halls in the background.
The track comes up again in episode 10, where the club is jogging.

This Street View, takem from the adjacent road, shows the same Yurikamome tracks as in the screenshot, matching the same location.
Soon after this cut, they start playing tag, giving us another shot of the tracks:

The same Street View as the first one I posted, just turned around 180, shares a lot of the same buildings in the background. So, I'm certain the location is at Sona Multipurpose Plaza.


Why are bears in yaoi animes? In Yaoi I have fairly noticed a highly recurring thing which is Bears. In particular I am aiming this at Yaoi's such as Sekai Ichi Hatsukoi and Junjou Romantica.

Examples:

So my question is what is the relationship between the re-occurring bears seen in Yaoi's such as Sekai Ichi Hatsukoi and Junjou Romantica and are bears related to homosexuals in yaoi? and where did the idea of bears come from? Why bears?

I'm no expert, but sometimes a member of a gay couple can be called a Bear. This man is usually rugged and macho, and usually hairy.

Wikipedia describes a Teddy Bear as:

  A fully hairy Bear. Chest, back, beard, everything is hairy

So perhaps this is a reference to that, seeing as you mention it occurs significantly often in yaoi?


What particular advantage was there on making Guilford think that Lelouch is Cornelia? I haven't read the manga. In Code Geass R2, Lelouch orders Guilford to think that Lelouch is Cornelia upon taking a specific pose. It would seem like he did this just as a precaution before meeting with Suzaku.

But, why not just order him to protect Lelouch when he takes such pose? What particular advantage is there on making him think Lelouch is Cornelia?

There is no manga that I know of that would be more canon than the anime. So do not worry about "not having read the manga".

The advantage of having Gilford mistake Lelouch for Cornelia is that he can leverage Gilford's loyalty to continue giving him orders as long as the Geass is under effect, and having Gilford take whatever initiative necessary that is advantageous to him.

For example, after Gilford had vanquished the guards, he was able to have Gilford take him to a location of his choosing. A simple order to "protect him" would probably have made him a standing duck, as the Geass would have lapsed or stopped driving Gilford to action, as soon as Lelouch was "safe".

That ties in with my opinion that the practical reason for Lelouch not to give blanket orders for people to obey him (as he began doing after some point) was that doing so basically reduces people into living robots without initiative or self-preservation.


Who is the most powerful in Dragon Ball? Who is supposed to be the highest-power character in the Dragon Ball series? Is it Lord Beerus, Gogeta SS4, or somebody else?

The most powerful character in the Dragon Ball universe, currently, is Whis, Beerus' assistant.

This is stated in an interview with Akira Toriyama, the creator of Dragon Ball:

  I suppose if Beerus’ strength is a 10, [Super Saiyan] God would be right about 6. [...] Incidentally, I guess Whis would be about a 15.


Where are the other 7 Bijuus after the Shinobi World War? After the Shinobi World War, only Naruto & Killer Bee become a Jinchuuriki.

Where are the other 7 Bijuus after the Shinobi World War?

We don't know the exact location of the bijuus, but they have returned to their homes!

In the chapter #692:


Where can I purchase anime soundtracks for download? As much as I would like to buy the CDs for some of my favourite soundtracks, I don't have a CD drive on my laptop and also I would be ripping the music off the cd anyway.

Are there any legal sites where I can download soundtracks for shows I like, rather than purchasing the physical media?

In particular, I'm looking for the 'Your lie in April' OST, but I would like to know in general where I could go for this sort of thing

Amazon Japan has the Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso soundtrack available for download: "Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso ORIGINAL SONG & SOUNDTRACK". It's an MP3 download (so not lossless, unfortunately). The whole OST is 3000 JPY (~25 USD), or you can buy individual songs (but this quickly becomes more expensive than just buying the album).

The OST does not appear to be available (losslessly) on any of the sites linked in mivilar's comment, but the Ongakuchou (consisting of the classical pieces from the show) is, at mora: "Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso - Boku to Kimi no Ongakuchou". I've never used mora, but it appears they have a FLAC version of the album available for 3200 JPY, as well as a 320kbps AAC version available for 2100 JPY.

Amazon Japan has a setting somewhere for translating the UI (but not product descriptions and so forth) into English, but I'm not seeing anything similar on mora, so you may want to find a buddy who knows Japanese and/or bumble your way through Google Translate.


Were the players able to communicate with the outside world? Were the players of SAO able to communicate with the outside world?  Could they get any info from the outside world?

We don't see anything in season 1 to support this, but they did have information brokers, and I think it was hinted that they brokers could get information from the outside, for example news.

Were the players of SAO able to communicate with the outside world? Could they get any info from the outside world?

If I remember correctly, no, they cannot communicate with the outside world nor was it hinted that they were able to. Regarding the information brokers, I think they only deal with information inside the SAO world, not with information in the real world. As seen here, Argo sold information between players but the information sold was restricted to information found in the game world.


Has any other work of ONE been animated aside One Punch Man and Mob Psycho 001? One has written several stories , the best known ones probably are One Punch Man and Mob Psycho 001. These last 2 have been animated. How about the other ones? Has any other work of ONE been animated aside One Punch Man and Mob Psycho 001?

No, only One Punch Man and Mob Psycho has been animated so far, although some of his works were published as a manga by different publishers.


What is the disease called "Tsurarekia (ツラレキア)"? In the episode 2 of Kino no Tabi, Kino hunts a rabbit for the three starving men. The men are so hungry that they say they would like to eat it raw rather than waiting for it to be cooked. Then Kino replies:

  I cannot allow that. It would be terrible if you were infected by Tsurarekia or something.
  ダメです。ツラレキアにでもかかったら、 とんでもないことになる。

I searched for it in Google, but there were no results.
So, what is this "tsurarekia" thing?

I'm not sure if this is an error in subtitles or if they slightly altered the real disease's name, but either way I think they are referring to Tularemia, which is pronounced as tsuraremia (ツラレミア) in Japanese.

From the English Wikipedia article for Tularemia, bold emphasis is my own:

  Tularemia (also known as Pahvant Valley plague, rabbit fever, deer fly
  fever, and Ohara's fever) is a serious infectious disease caused by
  the bacterium Francisella tularensis. A Gram-negative, nonmotile
  coccobacillus, the bacterium has several subspecies with varying
  degrees of virulence. The most important of those is F. tularensis
  tularensis (Type A), which is found in lagomorphs (rabbits and similar
  animals) in North America, and it is highly virulent in humans and
  domestic rabbits. F. tularensis palaearctica (Type B) occurs mainly in
  aquatic rodents (beavers, muskrats) in North America and in hares and
  small rodents in northern Eurasia. It is less virulent for humans and
  rabbits. The primary vectors are ticks and deer flies, but the disease
  can also be spread through other arthropods. The disease is named
  after Tulare County, California.

From the corresponding Japanese Wikipedia article, to show the Japanese pronunciation:

  アメリカ合衆国カリフォルニア州トゥーレアリ郡（w:Tulare County, California）で発見されたことからツラレミア
  (tularemia)

Which translates to...

  ツラレミア (tsuraremia, Tularemia) comes from the fact that it was
  discovered in Tulare County, California.


Is the Persona 5 manga considered canon? Typically anime and manga adaptations of games are not canon, but I was curious as to whether this the case here.

Can anyone shed some light?

PS: Persona 5 is a gorgeous JRPG and I strongly recommend playing it.

Granted that the content is not that much different from the game (aside from some dialog and translation).

Unless someone can prove otherwise, I do believe that the manga will be considered cannon but with the game as the original source of the material.


Can the Tailed Beasts produce offsprings? Is it possible for the Tailed Beasts to produce offspring of their own? Both 'male' and 'female' type Tailed Beasts exist.

The offspring would be hybrid, but still, would it be possible?

There is no canon answer to your question. The tailed beasts as they currently exist in the Narutoverse are chakra creatures, not biological, and came into existence because one entity (the 10 Tails) had its chakra separated from its body (which became the Moon), which was then artificially split into a number of separate beings. There is no indication that any of these creatures (or chakra based entities in general) can reproduce themselves in any way similar to organic sexual reproduction.

If you're asking about the kitsune as a concept in actual Japanese folklore (which is the basis for Kishimoto's tailed beasts), then the answer is: the kitsune are considered a type of yokai or kami, who can if powerful and wise enough, take the form of a human being (usually but not limited to a beautiful woman). There are many stories of foxes in the guise of a beautiful woman falling in love with and marrying a human and producing offspring.

The real-life Sengoku general Takeda Shingon's wife Suwa Koi was believed to be a malevolent fox-spirit, and she bore him Takeda Katsuyori. Abe no Seimei in the Heian period was also considered a child of a fox.

Sources:

Ashkenazy, Michael "Handbook of Japanese Mythology." 2003.
Hearn, Lafcadio "Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan." 2005.
Turnbull, Stephen. "Nagashino 1575." 2000.


Why Connie, Historia and the others have been kept separated from the others at the beginning of season 2? In the beginning of season 2, all of these guys have been kept somewhere with a sense that they are dangerous. Why is that? How did they know that they might be dangerous?

Did I forget anything from season 1 or it is something that we have to wait and see maybe in season 3?

Spoilers on 34th chapter of manga.

   Right after capture of Annie, Erwin came to conclusion, that there may be more shifters in this squad. Therefore, he decided to keep them in some isolated place. Real reason, why they are in isolated place, was hidden from squad, and they were just told that they are patrolling, yet almost all squad was wondering, why they are in civil dress and without any equipment, while other Survey Corps members were in full equipment, and were looking nervous.

Spoilers on 42nd chapter of manga.

   It is not exactly clear, when this occured, but on certain moment, Hange and Armin came to conclusion, that Bertolt and Reiner may be titans, as they've came from same "village" with Annie, and possibly were cooperating with her.


Why are Bomber's friends so weak? Why would Bomber be hanging out with two weaklings? Neither of them even had nen power that they used.

Also, why didn't Kilua fight Bomber? It seems like his abilities would've been better to use against Bomber since he was using ranged attacks but had a good way of defending himself.

I can see why Biske didn't want to fight him but honestly, Gon seems like the weaker of him and Kilua so wouldn't it make more sense for him to fight Bomber?

About the "weaklings": Considering how Genthru (the Bomber) wanted to heal his friends first means they're friends and not just allies. So it doesn't matter if they're weak, he wants them by his side because he trusts them.

Gon as of from the start wants the hardest challenge (Hisoka, Pitou), so it makes sense that he takes the leader. Also Genthru is at least high level which means even if Gon and Killua take him head on, he would still win. The reason Gon is the right choice is because of the plan. They need a powerful attack (Janken), enough to go through Genthru's defense. And Killua doesn't have that kind of power.


Are the peculiar One Piece laughs based on anything? In One Piece, there are several strange laughs such as

Donquixote Doflamingo with his Fuffuffuffuffu
Dorry with his Gegyagyagyagya

Are laughs like these based on anything? Or are they just randomly chosen for comedic purposes ?

In One Piece, the laughters are very unique and can be based on personalities or appearances of the said characters.

By giving them different laughs, IMO, gives a sense of their aura and keeps the character entertaining.


Is Orience on Gran-Pulse somewhere? Final Fantasy Type-0 is set in Orience however it seems to be connected with Final Fantasy XIII as ultimately the world is being manipulated by  fal'Cie in the forms of

each nation's Crystal being a fal'Cie (as the Crystals can brand people l'Cie)

   Arecia Al-Rashia who created the Crystals and a servant of the fal'Cie Pulse

   Gala, servant of the fal'Cie Lindzei who leads the Rursan Army for Tempus Finis

   Diva, a neutral observer who i don't know who she serves

and their goal is obviously to open Etro's gate as per the will of Bhunivelze .

since these fal'Cie seems to have came from Pulse or Lindzei and more or less going after the the same end goal Pulse's and Lindzei's fal'Cie on Gran-Pulse and Cocoon were after, does this mean that Orience is somewhere on Gran-Pulse? or is it another artificial world like Cocoon or something else?

Orience in Final Fantasy Type-0 does not reside on Gran-Pulse from Final Fantasy XIII.

The commonalities that are seen between Final Fantasy Type-0 and Final Fantasy XIII is due to both games being apart of the Fabula Nova Crystallis series. While they share common mythology, they are do not exist within the same universe. This was explained during the Fabula Nova Crystallis' announcement in 2006

  FABULA NOVA CRYSTALLIS, defined in Latin as "the new tale of the crystal," is made up of several different titles based on variations of the FINAL FANTASY XIII universe. However, while each title in the project features different characters, different worlds, and different stories, all are ultimately based on and expand upon a common mythos.
  SQUARE ENIX UNVEILS THE NEXT GENERATION OF FINAL FANTASY

Additional, the Crystals we see in Final Fantasy Type 0 may be considered Fal'Cie and posses similar roles, they are not quite the same as the Fal'Cie we see in Final Fantasy XIII. In an interviewer with the director1, in regards to the mythology, it was stated the Crystals found in Final Fantasy Type 0 are merely equivalent to Fal'Cie.

  In an interview found in Final Fantasy Type-0 Artwork Book: Secret Vermillion History, director Hajime Tabata said the Crystals have a limited Will of their own and, in terms of the Fabula Nova Crystallis mythology, are equivalent to the fal'Cie of Final Fantasy XIII (and were initially referred to as fal'Cie)
  Falcie

1 Translated version of interview


Are there any numbers (estimates) for how many anime shows have been adapted from manga, light novels, visual novels, and games? How big a portion of anime gets adapted from different sources like manga, light novels, visual novels, and video games in general?
Has there ever been published a study or numbers that looked into how many anime shows have their origins in the different media and drawn a comparison between them?

Databases like myanimelist or anisearch often include the original source for each entry.
The second database also allows us to filter the entries based on the source type so we can get some numbers.
The following are rough estimates when we only consider series (overall about 4700):

Based on manga: 1620
Based on light novel: 400
Based on video game: 280
Based on visual novel: 160
Original works: 880

Not included are adaptations from other media like comics, manhua, manwha or other anime.


Why don't anime seasons have a standard amount of episodes? Anime seasons are generally 12/13 episodes long. There are quite a number of exceptions though, where more or fewer episodes are fitted into the same timeslots. Most notably, however, a season can have 11,12 or 13 episodes a season. I've seen this discrepancy occur regularly.

I would have thought that keeping the episode amount standard is good for keeping the seasons aligned — 52 weeks in a year / 4 seasons in a year = 13 episodes per season. The variant I see most is 12 episodes at a time or 12 episodes with a bonus DVD-only OVA. What do they do with the 1 week gap?

Do stations plan their seasons far enough in advance to make it even out overall? What if a show is cancelled?

Why does this anomaly exist? Surely it makes it awkward to schedule TV.

This seems to happen in most regions. The typical reasons I've seen given are:

shows don't all start on the same day or even the same week
sometimes airtime slots are occupied by sports, seasonal, or other non-regular programs
networks may choose not to broadcast new episodes on holidays with historically low viewership
shows are sometimes only given an awkward number of slots like SuperGirl here.

I would also hope that some studios choose to show more or less episodes to ensure they have the right pacing and tell the whole story without an obnoxious amount of filler.

I imagine networks know pretty far in advance what their lineup will look like. Pilot episodes or other proposal material is submitted to the network far in advance for them to review before agreeing to broadcast. It is also important to remember that a large portion of every day's slots belong to re-runs so cancellations just call for more of those.


Why are there different classes of titans? There are 4 size classes of titans.

Taken from Shingeki no Kyoujin Wiki

Why is this so? Do they get larger when they eat?

Spoiler alert!

  The classes are just sizes and nothing more. However, the 60 m class is not really a class but is classified as special or abnormal much like Eren and Annie. These specials are basically one of a kind titan that have different abilities like jumping and running. We see them several times in the series.


Why does Lupin have both prowess and infantile behavior when it comes to women? Why does Lupin seem to be both skillful with women but also devoid of seriousness and is infantile towards women?

What is the source and purpose of this equivocated attitude towards women?

And Lupin is by no means the only male character to do this. This theme seems to run like a red thread through most of the anime where male character seem to have the main role. But compared to other male characters Lupin is an adult making "faces". Is there a Japanese culture influence in this  funny-faces making or this is just a manga/anime original contribution?

Lupin is a globe-trotting thief which makes it rather difficult to build meaningful relationships with women. You can perhaps relate his situation to that of another philandering gallivanter in James Bond. Bond is another who is skilled when it comes to women (no doubt through years of experience) and flits from one to the next at the drop of a hat. When Bond did try to create a stable relationship with a woman, it ended in disaster. The same sentiment could well apply to Lupin who is happy to have dalliance after dalliance, but never commits to a relationship. The only notable exception is his, well, sadomasochistic affection for the well-apportioned Mine Fujiko who is part of the same world as he is.

The goofy character is just something that makes the anime entertaining. FWIW, neither is he all that goofy in the manga nor is he particularly chivalrous. His WP page elaborates thus:

  In Monkey Punch's original manga, Lupin is cocky, quite crude, and for the most part remorseless. He is very much the ladies' man, often using them for his own gains, but is not beyond forcing himself upon women who resist him. This is in stark contrast to his better-known anime self (excluding the fourth series), who despite being a skilled thief, comes off as a goofball that will go to great lengths to right injustice, who also shows a chivalrous streak that compels him to help those less fortunate than he.

The goofy, lecherous persona is also a very 70s/80s thing and can also be seen in some of Lupin Sansei's contemporaries such as City Hunter.


Are MAD and AMV synonyms for Anime Music Video? On youtube and elsewhere it's frequent to find "MAD" video, a sort of Anime Music Video (AMV) composed by anime sequences on a music track. Are MAD and AMV synonyms? If not, how these differ from each other and what MAD means?

MAD are probably refer to a broader classification of AMV from Japan.

According to the Nico Nico Pedia:

MAD refers to video and/or audio created by editing and rearranging existing video or audio, to give it new meaning. Basically, they are derivative, fan creations.

The name is probably derived from "MAD Tapes" from the 80s-90s which was the fad in which people uses cassette tapes and mess around with the audio. The acronym for MAD predates the popular usage of the term "anime."

MAD can be used to describe the the Japanese underground media community. However, MADs can be mush-ups of anything from audio clips, edited pictures, to wholly originally created content (e.g. custom animation). While not all MADs are associated anime or manga, most of the more popular ones typically are.

AMVs on the other hand typically describe the American media subculture of editing bits of anime with music, though similar in content the scope tends to differ.

Lets compare this AMV: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9dHD1JvUXo

to this MAD: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRHItX-zQCo

The MAD mashes up a lot more custom together compared to the clips in the AMV.


Peaceful music in episode 7 and 54 of Naruto In episode 7 of Naruto, there's a peaceful flute-like music when team 7 entered the land of waves (YouTube reference)

A shorter version also plays towards the beginning of episode 54, right before Temari and Shikamaru battle in the chuunin exams (YouTube reference)

What's that song?

That would be Naruto OST 1 - Evening (夕暮れ, Yūgure) as composed by Toshio Masuda


Is it possible to kill people indirectly with the Death Note? Rule X in the Death Note states:

  Whether the cause of the individual's death is either a suicide or accident, if the death leads to the death of more than the intended, the person will simply die of a heart attack. This is to ensure that other lives are not influenced.

However, Rule XXVI states:

  Even though only one name is written in the Death Note, if it influences and causes other humans that are not written in it to die, the victim’s cause of death will be a heart attack

Besides the fact that I find these 2 rules to be contradicting (correct me if I'm wrong), it still made me curious: Is it possible to kill people indirectly with the Death Note?

For example, writing a heart surgeon's name during a operation, or a pilot's name while mid-flight.

People who name is not written in the note shall not die due someone else that will die due his name being in the Death Note, both rules can be boiled down to that. That is what the If the death leads to the death of more than the intended means. As long as the death of the person leads to someone else dead, or the conditions prior death can cause death to others, they will die of a heart attack.

There's no contradiction, both rules says the same just in different ways.

In the example you made: both will die in such way that nobody else dies. The surgeon will step back of the table and die, the pilot will die when he's not piloting. Of course, this is mere supposition and details could escape.

Light made some experiments trying to kill in such impossible ways (like a Japanese prisoner died in front of Eiffel Tower), those died on hearts attacks.


Why didn't Hagoromo reincarnate dead shinobis after the Fourth Great Ninja War? If Pain was able to resurrect Kakashi along with the other dead Konohagakure villagers, why did Hagoromo not reincarnate dead shinobis after the Fourth Great Ninja War?

To expand on @Ōtsutsuki's comment, Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki did not manifest himself physically to Naruto since he is alread dead. The scene where they were talking happened in Naruto's mind (Chapter 670). How he was able to share his powers with Naruto and Sasuke if he's already dead was never elaborated on in the manga, as far as I know.

The Gedo Art of Rinne Rebirth requires the user's life in exchange for another's. Hagoromo is already dead, and he only manifested himself in Naruto's mind. It's quite hard to classify someone in this state as 'alive'. With this, we can say that you cannot offer your life for someone else's if you have already lost it in the first place.


Does Wendy eat air to help her with her power? Since she's a Dragon Slayer, she needs to eat her power to help her. So, if she ate air around non-polluted areas, she could use her wind power more often than Natsu or Gajeel. As said, if she were able to perform this eating process it would be pretty amazing.

So, does Wendy eat air to help her with her power?

Yes, Carla said so (From Fairy Tail chapter 136, "Coffin")

Natsu : The "Sky Dragon Slayer". What does she eat?
Carla : Air
Natsu : Is it delicious?
Carla : Yes...


What are the dance moves used by Mabuchi Kyōma in Dimension W's opening song (S1)? What are the names of the dance moves used by Mabuchi Kyōma in the opening song of Season 1 of Dimension W?

You can see a bigger version of the png at this  link

Dancing is a form of art where one expresses them self so not all dance move are going to be identical.

The links for each move are examples how each dance.

The first move is called Top Rocking.

The second move is a variation of the Indian Step.

The third move seems to be similar to the finger snapping in West Side Story.

The fourth move is a variation of a Kick Cross.


Why do the top 10 heroes in Boku no Hero Academia only come from Japan? In Boku no Hero Academia, we know the world is not limited to only Japan; there are America and other countries as stated especially in the BNHA: Two Heroes movie. But why are the known top 10 heroes (probably all the best heroes) Japanese? Endeavor, Jeanist, Edgeshot, etc. are all from Japan, even All Might (although he's been in the USA doing hero work).

Is there another top hero that is actually not Japanese or not from Japan? Or is it just that Kohei Horikoshi makes Japan so much stronger in this series?

The Hero Billboard Chart that is usually mentioned in the manga is not the world rankings. This should be obvious since only Japanese heroes are in there and since it is named Hero Billboard Chart JP in the manga.

To quote from the wiki,

  The Hero Billboard Chart JP is an event that presents the official rankings of Japanese Pro Heroes.

If I have to guess, no top heroes from other nations are mentioned since mentioning them would not be relevant to the story as it is for now.


Why do characters in some art styles have a broken line for mouths? Kaname Madoka from Puella Magi Madoka Magica and Nakano Azusa from K-On! have a broken line for mouths.

Why do characters in some art styles have a broken line for mouths? The lines are broken unless it defines lips but I don't know otherwise.

I think the explanation given in moegamisama's answer is a step in the right direction; however, an argument purely from high-level principles about moe/cuteness lacks sufficient explanatory power to explain why this particular style ("broken line" mouths) is often seen. I think a more mechanistic explanation for why mouths are drawn this way is also necessary.

Taking for granted that the minimization of some facial features (a small nose, compensated by large eyes, say) is a common feature in "moe" character design today, and observing that the mouth is an oft-minimized feature, the mechanistic explanation, then, is as follows.

Take a close look at the way Madoka's mouth is drawn in the picture you posted. You will notice that the thickness of the line that represents her mouth is not constant. Rather, it is thickest near the edges and becomes thinner as we approach the center of her face. The line "breaking" at the center of her face strikes me as an artistic convenience: rather than drawing a super-thin line there, the artist simply omits the line altogether, and the viewer's mind merely fills it in (this is the so-called "principle of closure" of gestalt psychology). You see the same thing (albeit less delicately) in the picture of Azusa.


Why does 定命 have the furigana さだめ in the Oreimo: Kuroneko manga? I was trying to read a raw copy of the Ore no Kouhai ga Konnani Kawaii Wake ga Nai and on the page shown below, there's this kanji, 定命:

As seen, it has the furigana さだめ. However, when I tried looking it up on dictionaries, I only found two possible readings for said kanji: じょうみょう and ていめい. I could not find anything with regards to it being read as さだめ. So, why is the furigana different? Does it convey the same meaning despite this difference in its reading?

As described in this answer on the Japanese Language SE, there is a phenomenon known as "ateji" where the kanji and associated ruby* are not 100% aligned, either in reading or in meaning. This particular style is especially used in light novels and manga as a way to provide a double message - the ruby is the actual word spoken, but the kanji gives a clearer understanding of the desired meaning.
*A Ruby character is any smaller writing placed above the main writing, technically it's only furigana if it actually provides a guide to the reading of the kanji but that's a distinction that is frequently ignored.


Who kissed Ash at the the end of Pokémon Heroes? At the end of the movie Pokémon Heroes, a girl comes up, gives Ash a piece of art, and kisses Ash. Now, given the context of said movie, it is either Latias taking the form of Bianca, or Bianca herself.

Is there any official, or at least general consensus about this scene? Is there any evidence to support either possibility?

I think it is best to start looking for the answer on the metaphysical level.
The writers' purpose made this scene ambiguous as to leave uncertainty in the viewers' mind, and spark their imaginations. This distinction is even brought up explicitly by the characters themselves as they reflect on the scene as they are leaving. It seems that the writers were successful in accomplishing exactly what they wanted to.

Now, all of that said, one could examine the entire context and find some evidence for both claims.

Evidence that it was Latias

The girl did not say anything, and of course Latias can't speak. Now, of course Bianca could have simply decided to stay silent, but it seems awkward that if she were to make such an emotional and romantic advance that she'd say nothing. Consider these small phrases that would be appropriate (and seem awkward without): Thank you., I'll never forget you., I love you., etc.

She says absolutely nothing, most likely because she can't.
Throughout the movie, Latias is the one who shows an interest in Ash. In fact there is no signs of any chemistry at all between Ash and Bianca. If it is Bianca that kisses him, then perhaps she does so because she secretly likes Ash, but is to scared to show it, but doesn't want him to leave without a sign of affection to remember her by? Even that is pushing it. Considering the absurdity of it being Bianca, we must logically say it was Latias.
Ash mainly saved Latias who was in the greatest distress, and not really Bianca. Therefore Latias has good reason to want to thank Ash, at least more so than Bianca.

Evidence that it was Bianca

The piece of art was Bianca's. If it had been Latias that gave it to Ash, she basically would have had to have stolen† it from Bianca, which might have made her mad; this seems out of character for Latias.

† Of course Latias could have gotten explicit permission from Bianca, but this wasn't shown, so to support this theory we must enter the realm of pure speculation.
Regardless of who owns the piece of art, we must consider who made it. Bianca is the artist, since Latias can't paint. Why did she make a portrait of Ash in the first place? While she could have done it just for Latias, this seems awkward. Most likely this drawing was motivated through Bianca's own good will; though out of romantic, or perhaps just friendly interest remains to be seen.
Bianca's hat, which throughout the film was the only visible characteristic available to distinguish the two, is seem at home, implying that since she isn't using it, she must not be out, and thus the girl we see is Bianca. Of course we can't say this for sure since the girl doesn't grab it on her way out either. Again, this was probably done on purpose by the writers.
This isn't really directly perceptible evidence, but many find it odd that there could be a romantic scene between a human and a Pokemon. This relationship, of course, is not meant to be developed.

Other Theories

It was Bianca trying to make them think she was Latias - Some speculate that Bianca purposely didn't wear her hat, nor speak, to make Ash think she was Latias. There is little reason to support this, other than perhaps Bianca was embarrassed to let him know how she felt, or the she wanted to thank him, but thought it would be more appropriate if they thought it was Latias expressing the gratitude.

Is there an official statement?

Official authorities have never clarified this up, and the only info Bulbapedia can offer is a restatement of what we already know:

  ...The conclusion of the film briefly sees her finishing a drawing. The drawing, which is of Ash and Pikachu, is given to Ash by either Bianca, who had left her hat on her easel, or Latias in the form of Bianca: which is the case is the subject of debate. When Ash received the sketch, the girl kissed him. Bianca is seen again in the credits drawing another sketch by the harbor.

  -- Bianca (movie), Bulbapedia

Is there a general consensus?

I feel that in general most consider it to be Latias, simply because she showed interest in Ash throughout the film. A few polls have been conducted on a some forums, including:

Was it Bianca or Latias that kissed Ash in the 5th movie? - The PokéCommunity Forums

80.7% say Latias
19.3% say Bianca

Who Kissed Ash: Bianca or Latias? - Serebii.net Forums

81.82% say Latias
18.18% say Bianca

Neither poll is truly scientific, but both give a good idea of the general gist of the matter.

In conclusion, there is evidence to support either case, and in following with what the writers wanted we are able to make up our own mind. Sometimes the imagination is able to put something in a way that no story ever could.


Why would anyone think that Zeref is dead? My question is a spoiler itself, you are required to be in/past Alvarez arc.

   Why would anyone think that Zeref is dead? He is right there in Alvarez a king as obvious as the sun, so how could the people in Ishgar seriously miss such a fact?

Put simply, that's all I want to know. Many people thought he was dead, others that he was simply dormant because of his low profile.

   But we know that Zeref said that he wasn't dormant at all himself. So why would people even think that? He was right there all along in Alvarez

Zeref Dragneel is 400+ years old, very few people know him and fewer than that who know his face or has seen him.

In Chapter 208: Death Preying, neither Elfman nor Evergreen recognize Zeref. Even Natsu doesn't remember him. Marijane seems to know a little about Zeref.

  But we know that Zeref said that he wasn't dormant at all himself.

I don't know where did you find this information but, for some years he was inactive or in sleeping state. He awaken in Tenrou Island arc when he realizes Acnologia is coming.

As for Alvarez, He is known as Emperor Spriggan.

  Zeref created this empire for the sole purpose of defeating Acnologia, obtaining Fairy Heart, and annihilating Ishgar.4 His plans regarding with Fairy Heart once captured was to relive his life with the Time Magic, Neo Eclipse. A plan the Spriggan 12 were not aware of.

When Makarov visit Alvarez to visit the Emperor Spriggan, he get shocked seeing Zeref as Emperor. Which also shows that how little the information of Zeref is available in present world. Makarov is one of the Ten Wizard Saints.

The image is from chapter 444: Emperor Spriggan, shocking face of Makarov when he sees Zeref as Emperor.


What anime does this guitar-playing redhead girl come from? I have numerous pics of this character and she seems to be a performer. I can't find any information on it. I have tried Google's reverse image search and had no luck.

What anime/visual novel/etc. does this come from?

It's from an old VN called Missing ~Itsuka Kitto~ (Missing ～いつかきっと～). VNDB says it's published in 1998.

Take a look at the girls' uniform. The red-haired also wears a choker and has some kind of antenna (ahoge) at the side of her head.


Zeref Darkness Technique? In episode 117 - Thunder Roar at about 7:50 into the episode Zeref regains consciousness and attacks with a technique resulting in the following picture.

Does anyone know the name of that move? Or what type of magic it is and how it works?

MANGA SPOILERS BELOW

   Orphaned after Dragons killed his parents and his little brother, Natsu, an extremely young Zeref became a student at the Mildian Magic Academy, where he researched the connections between life, death and Magic to revive his brother. After creating things such as the R-System and the Eclipse Gate, he was expelled from the academy for breaching the sacred teachings of Ankhseram, however he was cursed by Ankhseram and then killed everyone around him with his newfound, unwanted Curse of Contradiction.
Thus simply speaking Zeref wants to die, but can't and the Ankhseram's Curse of Contradiction kills everyone around him instead

Source: Manga. Wiki page: Only Open for spoilers on Zeref, Mavis, DragonSlayers and the Heartfilias


Why aren't the normal titans affected by the 13-year curse? In Attack on Titan, the titans wandering around the walls seem to live longer than 13 years, bypassing the curse. We know for sure that the normal titans live longer because of the Smiling Titan.

But why aren't the wandering titans affected by the curse? Shouldn't all the titans have died just because of this curse?

The following answer contains spoilers from chapter 88 and after. (For those who don't read the manga: it's WAY beyond the anime)

As we know from chapter 88

  among the "subjects of Ymir" there are always up to 9 people who inherit the power of the titans, a piece of Ymir's "soul" or power, which allows them to transform into one of the nine "special" titans. Along with this power they inherit the curse of Ymir, which is the reason they die 13 years after awakening to their powers.

On the other hand the "normal" titans were originally

  "subjects of Ymir" who were transformed into titans by injecting titan spinal fluid into them. But they did not inherit the original titan power, so they didn't inherit the curse either.


Why didn't Taki write his name on Mitsuha's hand? When Taki meets Mitsuha by the shrine, just before the meteor strikes the town, Taki tells Mitsuha that they should write each other's names on their hands.

Instead of writing his name, Taki instead writes "I love you" on her hand, leaving Mitsuha with no way to remember his name.

Why didn't Taki write his name on Mitsuha's hand?

I think it was a sweet gesture that showed a little insight into Taki's character. It shows that he is young, in love, and struggling to find a way to share his feelings with Mitsuha.

At that moment when an opportunity presented itself for him to confess without having to say it out loud (the horror! :D), he foolishly thought it was more important to tell her how he feels than what his name was.

Very frustrating, probably done on purpose by the writer but not completely baseless.


How did Skill "survive"? On the last episode of Re:_Hamatora, Art killed his brother Skill to free him from his pain. Then, Skill dies(?) and Art is unconscious. Moral appears and checks Skill for vital signs but discovers that he has died.

However, in the last fight between Nice and Art, Skill is shown still alive.

How did Skill "survive"?

Moral proclaimed that Skill was brain dead, but the Minimum Root was actually the heart of Skill*, which was still intact. This heart was most likely transplanted into Nice by Moral**. So Skill is thus "still alive" through living on through the heart of Nice/Skill.

You also have the hesitation line by Art who could not yet kill his brother, since he does know that Nice's Heart is actually Skill's Heart.

This also explains how Art survived his fall as Nice/Skill probably restored his Minimum during the fall.

*Notice how Art's Minimum Root is also his heart too

**This also explains how Nice was able to save the gunshot wound, implied that it shot his heart


Why is being a Dragon Slayer a big deal? Spoilers

During the story arc where Laxus is putting on his "entertainment" for the festival, it is revealed that...

   He is a Dragon Slayer

After this Natsu and others seem to be more worried about him.  Maybe it is just me, but it seemed similar to Goku going Super Saiyan or something.

Why does being a Dragon Slayer seem to make the situation worse?

You are asking two questions. Number one is...

  Why is being a Dragon Slayer a big deal?

And Number Two is...

  Why does being a Dragon Slayer seem to make the situation worse?

Dragon Slayers are a unique type of people who utilize a form of Lost Magic, Dragon Slayer Magic. It was a big deal that Laxus was a dragon slayer because...

  It is uncommon for someone to utilise a lost magic or to be a Dragon Slayer and for Natsu it could have been a perfect opportunity to ask if he had been raised by a dragon and if he knew where Igneel was.

Your other question however why does a dragon slayer seem to make a situation worse. I am going to answer this question based on the Fighting Festival Arc. I am not sure what you mean but ill tack a guess at this...

Dragon Slayers did not make the situation worse, they simply could not help due to Frieds Jutsu Shiki which prevented Natsu, Gajeel and The Master from participating in the carnival and freeing the girls who were turned to stone by Ever Green.


Why was it so easy for Kichimura to tear the one-eyed owl kakuja apart? In Tokyo Ghoul:Re 2, episode 2, Kichimura tears the one-eyed owl kakuja apart easily, when she was supposed to be the strongest Ghoul until that point in the anime series. Why was it so easy for Kichimura to tear the one-eyed owl kakuja apart?

Why was it so easy for Kichimura to tear the one-eyed owl kakuja apart? Because Kichimura is not as weak as he makes it seem to be. He is one of the half-humans raised in the Sunlit Garden, together with Arima. As stated here,

  Half-humans have highly developed physical capabilities, and I think a good example for this difference from normal humans are Kishou Arima's and Squad Zero's abilities.

Apart from those enhance abilities, Kichimura also became an artificial one-eyed ghoul, possessing Rize's kagune like Kaneki. While not directly stated in the manga, it is heavily hinted that one-eyed ghouls are much more powerful than normal ones. Rize and her kagune's strength is also recognized and this is seen by the fact that she was the one used by Kichimura to become

  his 'dragon' after Kaneki, who was temporarily his 'dragon', was rescued during the Dragon War arc

With this and the fact that Kishou Arima is able to hold his own fighting Eto before, it would, therefore, not be impossible for Kichimura to do the same, with the same capabilities as Arima and further enhanced by Rize's kagune.

In addition, Kichimura has the element of surprise, and Eto was not expecting his power. If she knew, she might have been more careful but as seen in that episode, she just attacked head-on and you can clearly see the look of surprise in her face as her kakuja is torn.


Who is the sixth girl we see on screen during Listen? The first ending song of K-On!! season 2 (Listen!!) shows the girls from the band meeting and befriending another girl inside of a cake. Who is the other girl?

She looks similar to Mio (Black hair, similar eyes and facial structure) and she seems to hand off her hair bow to Mio for the band playing shots. She has fairy wings, but it's unclear if she's an actual fairy or cosplaying or what.

Here's the ending animation on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EddyigHecQ

I believe it's still Mio. as you said she looks like Mio but also if we look at the cover artwork for the album

Source: K-On Wiki

we see the other girl is Mio's shadow suggesting some connection to Mio while Mio's Gallery lists her as her "doppelgänger"


Why can't Nagato revert his Rinnegan to Sharingan? We know that the Rinnegan is the next stage of Sharingan and since Madara can switch from Sharingan to Rinnegan and vice versa, why can't Nagato?

The Rinnegan is extremely rare and is considered as the most powerful among the Three Great Dojutsu. Before I get to my answer, it is necessary to look into other cases of dojutsu transplantation.

Kakashi Hatake

Kakashi received the Sharingan at a young age. He had years of experience with it and was considered a genius at the usage of Sharingan. He was even appointed to train Itachi and Sasuke Uchiha with their Sharingan
development. Even with the amount of knowledge and power of the Sharingan, he couldn't revert the Sharingan back to its normal state. That was because of a simple reason: the eye wasn't his. It originally belonged to Obito Uchiha. Since Kakashi wasn't the original owner of the eye, he is unable to revert the eye back to normal.

From Kakashi Hatake wikia article:

  Because he is not an Uchiha, Kakashi was unable to deactivate this dōjutsu.

The article tells us that, in order to deactivate the Sharingan, the person needs to be an Uchiha. This can also be related with Danzo Shimura and his arsenal of eyes.

Obito Uchiha

Obito "borrowed" the Rinnegan from Nagato, who originally got them from Madara Uchiha. There were many reasons why Obito implanted only one Rinnegan eye even after having obtained both. However, one of the main reasons was:

  Under the guise of Madara and inheriting the former's work, Obito Uchiha claimed that he was entitled to take the Rinnegan from Nagato's body after his death. He then implanted the left Rinnegan into himself and hid the right Rinnegan, unable to handle the power of both eyes.

Since Obito wasn't the original owner of the eyes,

He did not have complete mastery over it.
He couldn't handle its overwhelming power.

Obito, being an Uchiha, lacked control over the Rinnegan. This kind of proves that an Uchiha cannot simply control the Rinnegan if he isn't the original owner. Keep in mind that Obito was trained by Madara himself.

Nagato

Nagato received the eyes at a very young age. He did not know that the Rinnegan were transplanted into him, and nor did he know that it evolved from a pair of Sharingan eyes. Nevertheless, he had almost complete mastery over them because:

He was an Uzumaki and thus had huge chakra reserves.
The eyes were implanted at a very young age, giving him time to perfect his Rinnegan skills by adulthood.

Sakurai Tomoki's answer is logical and makes sense. However, if we were to look at similarity between the Rinnegan (evolved from Sharingan) and the Sharingan itself, it seems that answer could be different.

We know from Kakashi's case that he couldn't deactivate the Sharingan because of its origins. We also know that Obito lacked control over the Rinnegan, which implies that he couldn't deactivate and revert it into a Sharingan. Combining these two factors, we can derive an explanation to the original question: Nagato couldn't revert the Rinnegan to Sharingan because he wasn't the eyes' original owner.

Madara displayed certain new and powerful techniques when he received his original eyes.

  Because Madara was the eyes' original owner, only he could use them to their fullest power.

In many situations when the power of a borrowed dojutsu is questioned, the full potential of the eyes is always attained by the original owner. So it's logical to conclude that the Rinnegan to Sharingan swap was exclusive to Madara and not to the other two.


Why did Dracule Mihawk become a Warlord/Shichibukai? If we see the list of Shichibukai, almost all of them have some reason to become Shichibukai.

Boa Hancock became shichibukai to protect Amazon Lily from marine. Gekko Morai, Doflamingo, Crocodile etc had their black work or evil deeds, which needed to be protected from marine.

But I don't remember anything about the Mihawk. He is alone but strong, so he don't need to fear from marine.

What is his real intention to become warlord?

Seeing how there is no motivation stated in the canon for Mihawk becoming a Shichibukai, I assume his reason to ally with the Government was to be able to access assets that would be reserved for members of the World Government only, such as the Tarai Current or passing from Paradise to New World via Mariejois, thus allowing him more freedom of movement. Mihawk reminds me of the wandering swordsman, so more freedom of movement sounds like something he might be interested in


Why is it team JNPR if Ren's name is Lie? In RWBY, all the teams get their names by using the initials of all the team members first names. But on team JNPR, the members are Juan, Nora, Pyrrha, and Lie Ren. So, shouldn't L be the initial for Lie Ren?

Even though everyone calls him Ren, the team name should use his first name for the initial, so why is he the only one whose last name gets used?

I'd guess because he is culturally Chinese.
According to Wikia, Lie Ren is based on Hua Mulan, a historical Chinese person.

Ren alludes to Hua Mulan.

Monty Oum stated that each member of JNPR alludes to someone who crossdressed in their story. Mulan had to disguise herself as a man to sneak into the Chinese army.
Despite Monty stating that real-world countries don't exist in RWBY, Ren is still based on Chinese culture as his clothing is reminiscent of traditional Chinese clothing and his habit of resting a coffee mug on his palm instead of holding it by its handle, a style seen more often in Eastern cultures, as Eastern-style mugs have no handles.

According to Wikipedia on Chinese name, the name order is surname - given name.

Modern Chinese names consist of a surname [...] which comes first [...], followed by a personal name [...].

Also, Wikipedia on Given name states the different order between Western order and Eastern order.

The order given name – family name, commonly known as the Western order, is used throughout most European countries and in countries that have cultures predominantly influenced by Western Europe (North and South America, North, East, Central and West India, Australia, New Zealand and the Philippines).
The order family name – given name, commonly known as the Eastern order, is primarily used in East Asia (for example in China, Japan, Korea, Malaysian Chinese, Singapore, Taiwan and Vietnam), as well as in Southern and North-Eastern parts of India, but also in Hungary. [...].

So, if his name is written in first-last name order, it will be Ren Lie.

Unfortunately, it's not that simple, because a new question will arise:

Why is Yang Xiao Long's initial Y instead of X then?

Logically, I admit it's hard to counter this counter-argument. Its Wikia article also mentions a trivia on her name:

Despite having a Chinese name, Yang's given name and surname are inverted. "Yang" would be the surname and her given name would be "Xiao Long". Furthermore, Chinese surnames are usually only one character. This can be explained by Remnant not following real-world customs.

One can argue that because her family is not fully a Chinese family (hint: her mother), that her name might not be in the Eastern order, but instead follows the Western order.


Why didn't anybody recognize the Z fighters at the Cell games? During the Cell-games saga, Mr. Satan was supposed to be the World Martial Arts champion and he was held in high regard by most common people.

By contrast the Z-fighters, most of whom just happened to be high profile fighters from the 21st through the 23rd World Martial Arts tournaments, were perceived to be nobodies by the general populace.

But they were all the top contestants of the previous Martial arts tournament, which can't be too much more than 15 years before the Cell games.

They were the highest profile Martial artists of the previous decade.

If we compared this to modern boxing, it would be analogous to praising Wladimir Klitschko, but completely dismissing Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfiled.(although Klitschko is younger).

I can understand why they didn't recognize Goku, but Piccolo, Tien, Yamcha, and Krillin should have been immediately recognizable.

Why were they dismissed so much?

Common people in DBZ don't generally outright celebrate people unless they are constantly bombarded in the mainstream media. Like Mr. Satan for example. He was always on television and groomed to be a hero by himself and his cohorts. He used his money from winning the tournament (no Z warriors participated) as machinery for his hype. The Z warriors don't have such interest.


Was it ever revealed how Aimer lost her voice? Aimer is known for singing quite some big anime series, most notably Fate series from Ufotable. And from her Wikipedia page:

  At the age of 15, she lost her voice from an unfortunate accident; however, as she recovered, she acquired her distinctive husky voice

I found in her interview that she's still recovering but she decided not to go for surgery because it will change her vocal length and she loves her voice now.

How did she injure her vocal chord?

She sang too much, to the point of abusing and damaging her vocal cords.

Her official profile on Sony Music Entertainment Japan mentioned this

  15歳の頃、歌唱による喉の酷使が原因で、突如声が出なくなるアクシデントに見舞われる。

  At the age of 15, she underwent a sudden voice loss accident due to overusing her throat from singing.

This was also mentioned in her interview with natalie music (Japanese)

  ──「15歳のころ、喉に異変をきたし」という記述が公式プロフィールにありますが、[...]
  ── The description "at the age of 15, an accident to the throat happened" is written on the official profile though, [...]

  歌の歌いすぎが原因でした。[...]
  The cause was too much singing.

However, more detail was in her interview with BARKS (Japanese) about her 1st album, "Sleepless Nights", especially on the song "夜行列車～nothing to lose～" (Yakou Ressha-, Night Train-)

  ――で、今回、これまでのシングル曲全曲に加えて、新曲が3曲入っていますけど、「夜行列車～nothing to lose～」は、Aimerさんのアーティストとしての出発点を感じさせる内容になってますよね。これは実話？
  ――Then, this time, in addition to the inclusion of all the singles until now, there were 3 new songs, but the substance in "Yakou Ressha~nothing to lose~" feels like the starting point for Aimer as an artist. Is this a true story?

  Aimer：基本的に歌詞は、自分の体験もちりばめながら一つの物語を書くようなイメージで書いています。なので、この曲もそういう感じですね。
  Aimer: Basically, I wrote the lyric that includes my experience, with an image to write a single story. Therefore, this song is also like that.

  ――“さよなら　夜の教室/ここで私は声を失した”というフレーズがとても印象的でした。
  ―― The phrase "goodbye　night classroom / here I lost my voice" was very impressive.

  Aimer：ああ……声が出なくなってしまったというのは実体験なんです。私は常に音楽が流れているような家で育って、物心つく前から歌うのが好きな子供で、気づいたら歌手になりたいと思っていたんですね。で、いつも一人で歌っていたんですけど。15歳の時、朝起きたら突然声が出なくなっていたんです。それで、声帯を診る専門の耳鼻咽喉科に行ったら「とにかくしゃべらないでください」って、沈黙療法というのを勧められて、そこから半年間ずっとしゃべらずにいて……。
  Aimer: Ah... the voice loss was a real experience. Because I was grown up in a family that constantly playing songs, being a kid who likes singing before reaching the age of discretion, and when I realized, I thought I wanted to be a singer. I was always singing alone, though. At the age of 15, when I woke up in the morning, I suddenly lost my voice. After that, when visiting vocal cords specialist in a department of otorhinolaryngology (ear, nose, and throat), they said "in any case, please don't speak" and recommending a silent treatment, since then I didn't speak for 6 months at all...


Why is Erza able to feel pain during Kyouka's fight? Don't read the question below if you are not up-to-date to the Fairy Tail manga. It may contain spoilers

In the chapter 399-400 from Fairy Tail manga, Erza is fighting Kyouka to stop faces's activation.

During this fight, Kyouka used her curse to increase Erza's sensitivity to pain.

After this curse, she used another one to remove all Erza's five senses. But Erza continued to fight.

One of the five senses is tactile perception. Without it, she should not be able to feel anything, including pain. Shouldn't it make Kyouka's first curse useless?

But somehow Erza continued feeling a lot of pain and suffering a lot.

How can she feel this amplified pain since all her senses were stolen?

According to Wikipedia, pain isn't one of the traditional senses. It's marked under non-traditional senses.

I think that's the reason pain is NOT stolen together with tactile perception (well, I thought, before I looked deeper, pain is connected to the touch sense, but it seems not).

Traditional senses:

Sight
Hearing
Taste
Smell
Touch

These are 5 base senses (for more info, view this article). As you can see, pain is not listed. But there are others like:

Balance and acceleration
Temperature
Kinesthetic sense
Pain
Other internal senses

As you write,

  she can curse to increase Erza's sensitivity to pain

but then

  she remove all 5 senses from her in other curse.

Pain is not a base sense.


How did Alphonse recover his pre-gate memories? In FMA: Brotherhood, Alphonse recover the memories he lost after going through the Gate, by having Martel's blood spattered over his own blood seal (the one that binds his soul to his armor), and is, henceworth, able to use the knowledge inherent to it, such as using alchemy without transmutation circles.

Is there a reason for which blood should have been splattered over his seal for him to recover his memories?

Or was it only coincidence/traumatic?

Personally, I think it's just the blood splatter itself that "jogged his memory" so to speak in a similar way as to how the blood splattered from the transmuted body Al's soul failed to latch onto.

Usually selective amnesia like Al's memory of everything involving the trauma itself can be brought back into one's conscious memories using a trigger which is usually something similar to something happening in the lost memory in the first place (I.e. saying an otherwise insignificant word in the right context that would explicitly be tied to that 1 memory or catching a smell similar to the environment that the event took place)

In this case, the trigger that would affect Al and tie his mind only to that incident is the death that HE experienced when his soul had been so violently and near immediately rejected from the body. (Which I'm pretty sure would be the trauma which caused his mind to suppress the whole memory in the first place. Who wouldn't be traumatized by actually dying?)

Also, the reason it happened when it splashed on his seal and not say...any other time they might have been fighting and gotten blood on his armor is because he can't feel it. The blood seal is a direct link to his soul, is the only thing grounding him to earth. Since his rejection occurred in a different body he's no longer attached to, it would stand to reason that such a trigger could only be felt directly by his soul or the body he harbors. The blood seal acts as that direct touch to his soul. And this is because blood is ones 'life fluid' and often thought to hold the soul and its direct energy within it (like our unique DNA and Mei's explanation of the dragon's pulse flowing in our bodies). But Al's seal is made with Edward's blood, not his own.

As such the defining reason it even managed to latch onto Al's specific soul and hold it so well and for so long is because their souls were mixed during the transmutation as Ed explains later. In brotherhood this is even easier to see with the brief flashback to Al inside the body they made when it bleeds out rather similarly under an outstretched hand.

That's my take on it anyways.


Is Tobias' Latios the same Latios as the one in the Pokémon Heroes movie? How can Tobias in Sinnoh League Champions ep.658 own Latios? Latios, as a legendary Pokemon, appears only once in the whole Pokémon world and, for we all know, he is dead since the Pokemon Heroes movie?

Although they are called "legendary", these Pokémon are not necessarily unique in the anime (or in the games). A good example is Silver, which is a younger Lugia. Tobias most likely has a second Latios.


Is Academy City really an educational city? What is its purpose? Academy City seems like a really weird city to me. At first I thought it was some super advanced city that was created with the sole purpose of filling it out with educational institutions for science and research, but a lot of things don't seem to make sense.

I watched the first season and it seemed really weird that the government was supporting the experiments for a level 6 esper. Something like that sounds like something the military would want. Why in Academy City?

Another thing that seems kind of weird is the Enforcement body "Judgment". Why is there such an enforcing body with such high level espers? Doesn't that imply that such weird and dangerous things are normal in Academy City?

Imagine 5 years old Misaka Mikoto living not in Academy City, but in "normal" city.

Misaka touched her friend.
Friend got electrified.
Misaka was surprised.
Friend still electrified.
Misaka don't now how to stop.
Friend got fried.

That is just one example. Another would be Shirai Kuroko using her teleport power but left her hair and thus shows up bald at the destination point.

The main purpose of Academy City, is to educate the students with esper powers so that they can control it well. It also educates people that want to develop esper powers as can be seen when Kamijou Touma attended school with fellow level 0 or Saten Ruiko's school. As those students can control their powers better, their level goes up. This is also one of the goals of academy city, researching esper powers. At the very least, this is how academy city shows itself to the world.

As things currently are, the highest level known for esper powers is level 5 with only 7 people managed to achieve that. Therefore, for research purpose, they did the experiment to see whether it is possible to achieve higher level or not. Of course Accelerator, being the best among the 7 level 5s is chosen as the candidate for the experiment. Railgun was chosen as the mob for Accelerator to kill as they hypothesized that by killing Railgun 20k times (not sure if that is the correct figure) Accelerator would be able to achieve level 6. This is the dark part of academy city that it doesn't show to the world.

Judgement

The use of Judgement is mainly because one can't be very sure whether the criminal would be a level 0 or a leveled esper. Suppose that it is not a level 0, then normal means might not be possible to arrest them. Therefore to catch those criminals another esper would be needed. This use the principal of fighting fire with fire. Also to be noted, not all members of judgement are high leveled esper. In fact, in Railgun and Railgun S anime there were no level 5 member of judgement. Misaka indeed illegally used Shirai's judgement armband and posed to be one before but that was illegal. As far as I know Shirai Kuroko is the highest level member of judgment, being a level 4. Another member, Kazari Uiharu was a level 1. The chief of the 177th branch (Shirai and Kazari's boss) is a level 3.


How did they save Penny? Near the end of season eight, Penny is infected by a virus and subsequently saved through the intervention of the spirit of the Staff of Creation. The only thing is, I didn't quite understand what Ruby and the others told the spirit to do. They told him to create a new version of Penny, but there was something in there about how the spirit couldn't destroy her soul and thus this little nuance would force him to save her. And I think Ruby said something about copying the virus as well. It was a bit confusing. I'm not entirely sure whether Penny's soul stayed in her old body and the virus was put in the new one, or if Penny's soul went into her new body and the virus was put in the new one.
What happened?

As these things sometimes go, the answer came to me after some thought. It took a while for some of the details to sink in. I believe I can explain what happened with some clarity now.
First, the order to the spirit of the Staff of Creation was to create a new version of Penny, exactly the same at the current one, with the virus still in it, out of the same parts as the current one. This would cause the current Penny to be destroyed. However, here comes the loophole: the Staff of Creation is not allowed to destroy (or create) life. Penny has a soul, as evidenced by her use of aura, therefore he cannot follow this order. His only choice is to give Penny a flesh-and-blood body.
This explanation meshes well with some details that initially confused me. For instance, Penny starts hugging everyone immediately after and marvels at how warm hugs are. And in the final episode of the season, she has blood.
The wiki seems to confirm my suspicions:

In "Creation", she was transformed into a Human by Ambrosius when he
created an exact replica of her using her robotic parts.

Disclaimer: I did this answer from memory, rather than consorting the episodes again. But I think my memory is accurate in this case. Hopefully. Feel free to correct me if I got any of the details wrong.