What's with the claim that Anna pulled a knife on Nobuko? In Ghibli's When Marnie Was There, there's a scene around 27:00 where
Anna calls Nobuko a "fat pig". Pretty rude, but Nobuko does provoke her
quite a bit. Later, around 35:00, Nobuko's mother is complaining about
this to Anna's aunt and uncle ... but she also says that Anna pulled a
knife on Nobuko! ("Knife" in the English dub, "cutter" in the sub.) I
certainly didn't see her do that, nor do I see anything suggesting a
scene was cut.

So, what's the deal here? Did Nobuko simply fabricate the whole thing?
Seems like a pretty strong accusation to invent ... Nobuko comes off as
a jerk, but that's really over the top. Is it a mistranslation?
Unfortunately, my ear for spoken Japanese is not up to transcribing what
Nobuko's mother says. Also unfortunately, my library system does not
have the book the movie was based on.

I bet that after 2 years, you don't care if someone answers the question; heck I wouldn't. Or, maybe you found the answer, but recently I have decided to read the novel.
That was just part of the film. A box cutter is a type of knife, so the dub/sub was similar, but there was no talk about a knife in the book. Maybe it's just something someone added in the film to make her look meaner than Anna was supposed to be.
I'm not a fan of the film, but I will see how the book ends up. I'm about 1/3 finished right now, but the movie follows it alright; for now.


Who named Pan's character? So, I was wondering who decided to name the character Pan.

From what I know, she appears first in Dragon Ball GT, which isn't made by Akira Toriyama.

But we find her again in Dragon Ball Super.
So, did Toriyama use what was created by Dragon Ball GT's makers, or was he involved in the creation of Pan directly in GT ?

Pan appears for the first time in  the last chapter of the Dragon Ball manga, not in  GT

She is below Son Gohan and Videl

So, unless an editor or  person close to Toriyama chose her  name, the author himself is who did it.


How did Sasuke identify that Deidara's "art" uses Earth Style just by looking at his hand seals? Some shinobi can identify the nature of the technique just by looking at the hand seals . How ?

Just as @JNat mentioned in the comment,

  some seals are generally associated with some particular Nature Releases.

Throughout the entire fight between Deidara and Sasuke, Deidara constantly uses one hand seal, which enables Sasuke to identify the Nature Release.

The hand seal he used was the Snake (巳, Mi) hand seal.

(click on picture for basic hand seals list)

The Snake hand seal is commonly affiliated with Earth Release, and also with Wood Release. In most cases, the hand seals are done with such speeds that the opponent cannot identify any of the seals used. But Sasuke, having the Sharingan, was able to see all of Deidara's hand seals clearly; as he tells during the fight:

  "When facing the Sharingan, you really ought to weave your signs out of the line of sight."

A shinobi can thereby deduce what release their opponent is using by carefully observing the hand seals. It is highly useful since it enables the shinobi to determine the enemies weakness and provide counter-jutsu.


How do online Nerve Gear games handle player authentication? So there is a virtual reality device, the Nerve Gear, popularly used for MMOs.

As far as I'm concerned, we never see SAO or Alfheim using any sort of login screen.

Now, it makes sense for SAO to lack a login screen, since you can't log out. But what about Alfheim? How do normal, sane games authenticate their players?

Do MMO Nerve Gear games use username/password credentials?

Is it implied anywhere in the series? If I recall correctly, Kirito would just put on his Nerve Gear and instantly enter Alfheim without any sort of password screen.

Maybe the device serves as the credential itself?

But if I steal your device, I could impersonate you in all games...
Besides, using a device ID is not secure at all. If I figure out your device's ID, I could hack mine to use such ID and then login as yourself.

Perhaps they do some complex biological scan on your body to create an unique ID...

That doesn't sound very reliable. Or healthy.

Your question can pretty much be answered by watching episode 1 of Sword Art Online.

The Nerve Gear uses a username and password identification system as shown at 01:37 of episode 1.

But as you mentioned, this does not occur in Alfheim Online. This is where we can consider the Nerve Gear to be the authentication factor, being a device that stores the save data.

   We know it can save data Yui's data was saved to his Nerve Gear and was transferred to Alfheim Online as a result.

  But if I steal your device, I could impersonate you in all games...

This would indeed be true, but doesn't the same count for login credentials? If you steal somebody's username and password, you can also impersonate that person in game. And don't forget, it's harder to steal physical objects all around the world than to steal some username and password from your home computer.


Why is the series called "Amaama to Inazuma"? The English title of the series Sweetness and Lightning is a pun on the idiom "sweetness and light".

The original Japanese title is Amaama to Inazuma (甘々と稲妻). I wanted to find out if there was a similar pun behind the Japanese title, so I started by looking up the words and was surprised to find that it's basically a literal translation of the English title: amaama means "sweet" or "sugary" and is the character 甘 (sweet) repeated, and inazuma means "lightning".

Without some kind of pun or joke behind it similar to the one in English, the Japanese title seems like sort of a strange combination of words to hit upon. It's such a direct equivalent to the English title that it almost looks like the English title was conceived of first and then translated back into Japanese, but that doesn't make sense because if the original author Gido Amagakure had come up with the English title, that would probably just be the title, since so many anime are named in English already.

I'm curious if there are any linguistic reasons to pick the Japanese title. I'm not asking for thematic reasons; the title is thematically appropriate in both languages, even without the pun. I'm asking why there was such a suitable pun in the English version that apparently didn't exist in the Japanese title, and whether the Japanese version also contains some pun or reference that I've missed. Was the fact that it translates so well into English just a massive coincidence? Is there something more to the Japanese title that I'm not seeing?

One interpretation of the title can be:

甘々ちゃんといなくなった妻

[稲妻]{いなつま} is basically a play on words for いなくなった妻, more or less "the wife that's no longer there". Implying that someone is widowed.

甘々ちゃん however is a bit more complex.

It can be interpreted as 甘な甘ちゃん. The expression here is a bit multifaceted, so I will try to break it down.

While 甘い does mean sweet, but it has other meaning out side of food. When used to describe a person, it can also mean naive.

Someone who is referred to as an 甘ちゃん can be described as a "soft" or "naive" person. Adding 甘い to describe someone who is an 甘ちゃん reinforces the naive stereotype. The nuiance here is a bit negative,implying that this person is a clueless (naive) idiot.

One can imply that the title refers to Inuzuma-sensei, being a very soft spoken, yet clueless single parent raising a daughter, who not only doesn't know how to cook, but doesn't know to to take care of Tsumugi (in place of his late wife).

You could imply that the alternate meaning to "sweetness and lighting" to be "the naive widow".

However, if you refer to the author's afterword in vol.1 of the manga,

Despite many alternate interpretations of the title, the title is intended to be something warm and fuzzy that appeals to the 5 senses, nothing more than that.


Why was Yoshimi killed? In the second part of the series after the first time skip, Saki learns that she did have a sister called Yoshimi. According to the comments made by her mother, Yoshimi was killed by an Impure Cat.

Yoshimi showed signs of having gained her powers early but didn't seem controlled because of how her name looked in the mirror Saki found. Considering that she didn't look all that much older to Saki,

Was Yoshimi really that much of a threat to have developed her powers so early that she had to die?
Isn't the purpose of the Unified Class to help children and teenagers control their powers?
Why couldn't Yoshimi just be a child prodigy who could one day take Shisei Kaburagi place?

I wondered the same thing. Is it possible that perhaps she never graduated elementary? Saki's mother was very excited when Saki's spirit came to her finally...throwing herself into her, it could be from feeling another failure for her last chance as a mother. Or perhaps she moved up quickly but then became stuck in a rut like Shun.. Maybe she was a student much like their 5th partner who didn't last long. Her inability to gain any traction on her powers may have been looked down on..maybe it depressed her sister..and had the opportunity to bring rise to a demon. perhaps the child seemed too problematic and posed a threat to become the next demon


Why do the driving instructors look sort of like wooden dolls? In some of the earlier episodes of Bakuon!!, when Hane is getting her motorcycle permit, we see a lot of this driving instructor (who reminds me an awful lot of Pinocchio):

In episode 10, when Hijiri and Chisame are getting their permits, we see three more strange-looking driving instructors:

It seems like there's some sort of joke I'm not getting here. Why do they look like wooden dolls? (Is that even what they're supposed to look like?)

We also learn their names in episode 10, which could prove relevant to answering this question. Respectively, they are: 三等 (Mito), 参田 (Sanda), 木戒 (Crunchyroll claims "Honke", but that doesn't look right to me - this one isn't a real name as far as I can tell), and 座保 (Zaho).

Well, here's a half-answer.

The first guy (Mito) looks like Robot Santouhei (ロボット三等兵 / "Pvt. Third Class Robot"; "Mito" is spelled with the first two characters of Santouhei"), the title character of a 1955 manga by MAETANI Koremitsu. Curiously, there is virtually no English-language information on the internet about either the manga or its author.

The second guy (Sanda) resembles various characters from the 1964 British television program Thunderbirds (in Japanese, サンダーバード Sandabādo), which seems to have ended up being quite popular in Japan.

The third guy (whose name must be Kikai) resembles Zaborger, the title character of Electroid Zaborger 7, a well-known tokusatsu program from 1974.

The fourth guy (Zaho) resembles Kikaider, the title character of Android Kikaider, a well-known 1972 tokusatsu program.

Some mysteries remain. Why is #3 named "Kikai" when he resembles Zaborger and #4 named "Zaho" when he resembles Kikaider? And do these characters have anything to do with Bakuon!! or motorcycles, or are they just a throwaway gag?


Do manga publishers accept mangas from multiple artists under one pen-name? Is it allowed for a single legal mangaka entity to consist of multiple artists, each of which does different part of the job, like in Bakuman? For example, one makes the stories and the other does the drawing. Will a manga publisher work with such teams?

I can't imagine why the publishers would not allow that. Historically, it has been done by many writer circles − they publish their works under one pen-name, something the readers can remember easily than the actual names of several people involved. It's a good reason to use a pen-name and publishers generally don't protest if the artist want to use one.


Why doesn't Eren's Founding Titan ability to control other titans work on Rod Reiss' titan? In Season 3 Episode 9 of Attack on Titan, Eren tries to use his Founding Titan powers to control other titans on Rod Reiss' titan but he can't. Why doesn't this work?

I don't think there's a spoiler-free answer to this.

Warning: Spoilers ahead

   You need royal blood to use the Founding Titan's ability, unfortunately Eren is not a royal descendant. When Eren first used this ability it was when he came in contact with the Smiling Titan (how she had royal blood is another spoiler).


From which series should I start watching Dragon Ball? I know that Dragon Ball is a very long saga.

Which series should I start with?
Is there any of the new ones the reboot of the old ones?
If I start with Dragon Ball Super, will it be continuing the others, or is it a reboot of the first one?

If you want to start with the beginning, start with Dragon Ball. If you want to start with the most popular segment (probably the most entertaining segment, but this is a matter of opinion), start with Dragon Ball Z. Many people haven't seen Dragon Ball and yet they understand most of what follows it without watching Dragon Ball.
I don't know if Dragon Ball Z Kai counts exactly as a "reboot", but it is a modified version of Dragon Ball Z, in HD, with new color, new lines, new backgrounds, re-recorded voices and sound effects, new openings and endings, new background music, deleted scenes and episodes, etc.
Dragon Ball Super is a continuation of Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball.


If Ash's last name is Ketchum and it comes from the phrase "Gotta catch 'em all," why doesn't he catch most of them? He only caught a small fraction of all of the pokemon. If he has the last name "Ketchum" and it sounds like catch them all, why doesn't he catch most of them or all?

In the Japanese version of the anime, Ash's name is Satoshi. His Japanese name comes from Satoshi Tajiri, creator of the Pokémon games. The English version's name is derived from Satoshi, as it contains the letters a, s, and h, and sounds similar to Ash. The Ketchum part of his name, as you've rightly said, comes from the catchphrase "Gotta Catch 'em All."
The Japanese name is notably not connected to this catchphrase. Since the Japanese version is the source material, there is a disconnect here. In the English version, Satoshi is Ash Ketchum, but the English version has no control over how the plot proceeds (for an additional example of this kind of translation disconnect, see the Resident Evil series, which is called Biohazard in Japan). Additonally, as time has gone on, this catchphrase has become less important to the series, since there are so many Pokémon. And given the rate at which Ash catches Pokémon, it isn't feasible for him to catch them all.


Anime involving astronauts training underwater All I can remember from this is that in one episode, they are doing astronaut training. I believe it was underwater and that they have a task to complete in a specific amount of time. I also remember having a part where they are put in groups (in an isolated 'pod') and if one team member quits, the whole group fails. Also, when they are isolated, the examiners start a leak in oxygen so the students lower the temperature and 'hibernate'.

Episode 20 of Planetes features an isolation test and they have to build a model of the ship that will take them to Jupiter:

Additionally, during that episode, in order to test the isolation adaptability of the candidates, they turned off the oxygen and watched as team after team hit their emergency buttons without having a way to cope

And the way the main character's team dealt with the issue was turn down the temperature so that they use less oxygen:


Where can I find the Avatar The Last Airbender: The Promise & The Search comics? Where can I read The Promise trilogy and The Search trilogy? I've been looking everywhere since last year.

"You can purchase the the hardcover versions here and here, respectively" - Krazer

After you purchase the comics and they have been delivered to you, you can then read the comics.


Does the "A Slice of Bread" short story from "7 Seeds" really exist? In the 5th episode of the second season of 7 Seeds, a reference to a short story "A Slice of Bread" is made. This occurs within a flashback wherein Botan Saotome receives information regarding her mission as a guide from her superior, and after being told about the potentially decreasing toxicity of the cyanide she possesses, she links this to the story "A Slice of Bread". In both the dubbed and subbed versions, the phrasing "A Slice of Bread" is used.
Does this short story exist outside of the anime, and if so, is "A Slice of Bread" a fitting translation of its title, and who authored the work?

Yes, a short story titled A Slice of Bread exists. It was written by a Romanian author Francisc Munteanu. The original title is O bucată de pâine. In Japan, it is known as 一切れのパン (Hitokire no Pan).
The story is about the escape of a Romanian who was captured by German troops during World War 2. During the escape, he met a Jewish rabbi who gave something wrapped in a handkerchief. The rabbi said that it contained a slice of bread and only to open it if it is really needed. [...] (spoiler ahead about the ending)

 After a long hardship and without opening the handkerchief, the escapee reached home. When his wife asked what the handkerchief was, he answered with "a slice of bread", but when he opened it, a piece of wood fell instead of a slice of bread.

For info in English, looks like the same short story was published in Meanjin Quarterly, v.25, no.3, 1966, p.297-305, but apart from that, the detail in English is lacking. Though, it is kind of popular in Japan due to it being included in the Japanese (national) language textbook for middle-schooler.

The full story in Japanese can be read in this blog.
The abridged version in Japanese can be read in this blog.
The English publication can be accessed/bought from Informit.


Why did Harry want to kill Brandon? I still don't understand why Harry killed Brandon. He was Harry's best friend and the most loyal member he had.

Is it because he was jealous of him because he was Maria's boyfriend, or was it for another reason?

Harry wanted to take leadership of the syndicate, and the only way to do that was to assassinate Big Daddy, a way that Brandon does not approve with as he was still very loyal to Millennion's founder and leader. Brandon even left Maria when her dad, Big Daddy, disagreed with their relationship. So Harry betrayed both Brandon and Big Daddy, killing them both, in order to take control of Millennion.


Are there any anime/manga that have caused outrage to the point of them being banned in any culture? I want to know if there is any city/country or culture that has banned any manga/anime because it opposes their beliefs?
I have read articles that say Pokemon  is against Christianity; however, are there any more?

Ha ha ha ha ha OH YES.

China: Death Note, Code Geass (temporarily), Blood-C, Psycho-Pass, Attack on Titan, Deadman Wonderland and more and anything with yaoi content

France: Temporarily banned Kinnikuman for having a heroic character that wore a swastika

Iran: Basically everything is banned unless the Ministry of Islamic Culture approves it (unlikely to happen with anime/manga)

Japan has even banned a few: "Barefoot Gen" and "Midori (Shoujo Tsubaki)"

New Zealand: Highschool DxD and Puni Puni Poemy were banned for 'objectionable material' (To be fair, they also banned Power Rangers, because parents complained that their kids got hurt trying to imitate the show)

Singapore: Anything with yaoi content

And that's just a sampling....


A plothole in Death Note The Last Name? I just noticed something. So in death note the last name, L got the death note, after he watched Misa killing criminals with the death note. He then replaced her death note with a fake one. But here's the problem. L said, that they made fake news that the criminals Misa ''killed'' died, but Misa should've seen that they were still alive, because a rule in the death note states, that a person who's dead, doesn't have a name or a lifespan above their head in a picture.

Rule XXXIX:

Humans that have traded for the eye power of a god of death cannot see the name or life span of humans who have already passed away by looking at their photos.

Fake doesn't necessarily mean not convincing.  Remember, by this time L knew that there were more than one and that the second had an ability that the first did not have.  L knew this and arranged the fake information but also used dead bodies.  He even went to the trouble to find people with the same name.  L actually uses that same tactic twice in the series.


Yamato's Wood Kekkei Genkai So far, other than Yamato, the other person who knows Wood Release is Hashirama Senju. I thought that Wood Release was one of the Senju Kekkei Genkai's, but then Yamato ended up having it. Assuming that he isn't a Senju (which he isn't), why does he have Wood Kekkei Genkai, and how is he able to use it so well?

Yes, it is true: Yamato is not a Senju. By the way, Yamato's real name is Tenzo. Anyhow, when Yamato was just 6, he was abducted by Orochimaru as one of his test subjects. Orochimaru wanted to see if he could make Yamato have Wood Release abilities by putting Hashirama DNA into him. The plan worked, and he could use it easily. But then Hiruzen, the 3rd Hokage, caught Orochimaru doing his experiments, and Orochimaru fled, aborting all his experiments. All test subjects were expected to die off, but the only survivor was Yamato. In the anime, it shows Yamato trying to escape using Wood Release after seeing many children die from failed experiments.

Yamato's past has very sad, but it resulted in him being very capable.


Does Shinigami powers transfer occur only with stabbing through the chest? To make Ichigo a Shinigami in episode 1 of Bleach, Rukia has Ichigo stab himself in the chest with her Zanpakuto.

Is there any in-canon reason given for it being the chest that has to be stabbed?

There may be two reasons for this.

The first one is less directed to the plot, so I'll start with it first. Obviously, the chest is the best part to do it for two reasons. First, it's easier not to miss (hehe :P). Second, it looks cooler. Imagine Rukia piercing Ichigo's head to five him the power. Or his left elbow. Or his knee. That wouldn't look too good, right?

Now, for the second reason, which is more important. As you can see in the very end of the anime (spoiler up to the very last episodes),

   To give him his powers back, Rukia pierces Ichigo's chest in exactly the same way as the first time:

Now, usually, this is also the place where the hollows have their holes. Why there? Because it is the place where one's Chain of Fate is connected to the body.

Although shinigami do not have the Chain, that place is as much important for them too. This place is known as Saketsu, and acts as a boost in spiritual power, the source of which is another spot, called Hakusui. If those points are pierced, one loses his Shinigami powers.

You can recall that from the episode where Byakuya first appears, and defeats Ichigo with his favorite move called Senka, which is basically a quick shunpo to move to the opponent's back and strike his Saketsu and Hakusui. So, if those points can be pierced to block one's spiritual powers, it is safe to assume that this can work the other way too, and this is the reason why Rukia pierces Ichigo's chest exactly there.


Why do some characters have their weight measured in apples? For example, in Hello Kitty, the "Love Apples" section has:

  She is five apples tall and weighs three apples.

In Kagerou Project, where Marry's weight is:

  130 apples.

Japanese Vocaloid Kaai Yuki has her height measured in apples.

  Height:   "As tall as 10 big apples"

Why do some characters have their weight measured in apples? Did the trend of measuring weight in apples start with Hello Kitty? Or is the trend not as common as I think it is?

For the sake of the topic, I won't go into full detail to the symbol of the apple in human culture as a whole. I will only focus on one point, and that's the fact that the apple symbolizes Knowledge (due to the bible, with the forbidden fruit and all).

You can easily find a lot of pictures of apples being associated with books or pencils, being used as a graphic for schools (mostly kindergarten, or primary school), and because of that, you can loosely associate them with children.

Now for the two examples mentioned in the question:

In Hello Kitty's case, it is a show aimed for children; so it makes sense for them to use Apples as an alternative over using actual units of measurement, you could say that they did it for the "Cute" factor.
In Mekaku City Actor's case, Marry Kozakura is a somewhat child-like character (and Kawai too); so you can use THAT as a reason for using apples to state her weight. Or simply, it's rude to state a lady's weight; so the creators did it like this as a "joke", and the reason they chose Apples instead of other fruits is the same as in Hello Kitty, for the "Cute" factor.

another factor could be that, an apple's weight and size is common knowledge; but that's just secondary at this point.


What caused the scars on Black Jack's face? Recently, I started Black Jack. I've watched up to episode 8 and I am going to watch the rest of it soon.

So far, there's no story about what caused the scars on Black Jack's face. In addition to the scars, he has some stitches and sutures as well.

Is the origin of these scars and such explained during the rest of series?

Black Jack (ブラック・ジャック), whose real name is Hazama Kuro (間 黒男), used to live near a military site when he was young, which was filled with unexploded ordinance. One day he and his mother unwittingly stepped on and detonated a hidden mine. His mother went into a coma and eventually passed away. Black Jack almost died too but after many surgeries by Dr Honma Jotaro eventually managed to recover. Part of the reconstruction of his body was skin grafting onto the left side of his face. It was donated by his half-African friend Takashi, hence why it is darker than his natural skin color. He refused to have the skin colors match or the scars removed out of respect for Takashi. Incidentally, his white hair is also a side-effect of the explosion (due to the shock).

For more information read the Black Jack manga Volume 2, Chapter 7; Volume 7, Chapter 5; Volume 11, Chapter 1; and Volume 12, Chapter 7.


What was the first anime aired in HD? I saw this post about What was the first anime to come out on Bluray/HDDVD on this site, and I wonder what was the first anime that aired in HD?

I first thought of it is aired in around 2008. For example:

  Bleach started to air in HD in season 9 (episode 168). According to Wikipedia, the original airdate of episode 168 is 2008.

But after hours of researching, I found something about One Piece.

  One Piece started airing in HD in episode 207. And again, according to Wikipedia, the original airdate is way back in October 31, 2004.

The recent answer shows these 2 anime (Ghost in the Shell: SAC and Samurai 7) were the possible first anime to air in widescreen.

Fun fact: Samurai 7 is aired just 4 months earlier than One Piece. Does this makes One Piece the 2nd runner-up? LOL.

You question intrigued me quite a bit, so I decided to try to solve this problem. Here is what I found and I would be grateful if anyone can help me improve my answer!

The first thing I knew was around 2007-2008 was about the time HD started getting popular in the United States. I used this information to track down a couple of forums on the AnimeNewsNetwork Here and Here. These two threads were very useful as they gave the names of "Samurai 7" and "Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex" (aka "GITS SAC" as used in the thread).

I pulled up the Wikipedia page for Samurai 7 and one part of it reads:

  The series premiered across Japan on the anime satellite television network, Animax, as an exclusive high definition CS-PPV broadcast

Now I am not sure if you would like to consider it as aired in HD as it was "Pay Per View" (aka "PPV"), but it was created in HD based on this page about the series:

  Based on Akira Kurosawa's classic movie, The Seven Samurai. Samurai 7 is being produced in High Definition at a price of $300 000 per episode, more than twice what an average non-hi-def series costs.

Now the reason I also included "Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex" is because in the forums many of the people were also saying that this one was also HD. I was able to find out that it was also aired by Animax, but cannot confirm if it was aired for HD.

If GITS SAC was not aired in HD then it would make Samurai 7 the first anime aired in HD (or at least as far as I can find).

Now I am very weary about my research, as I think there may have been other anime's aired in HD before these two, and my main concern comes from this article written in 1998. And the way the users in the threads were talking about HD as it was not something new, also makes me wonder if there have been anime's before these two that were aired in HD.

I will continue to do more research and improve my answer as I go.
I hope this answer can help you.

UPDATE:
I was able to find this question, where "Toshinou Kyouko" pointed to this thread. In the thread "Zalis" states:

  First 16:9 TV anime: Betterman (Spring 1999), Vandread (Fall 2000)

I am currently trying to find a source that can verify if these shows were created in HD 16:9 aspect ratio. (Thanks to "Ross Ridge" for pointing this out.)


OST of One Piece episode 803 when Sanji charged at Niji and then kicked him in the face In episode 803 of One Piece around 11:14-12:11, there's a song when Sanji charged at Niji and then kicked him in the face.

What is the name of the OST?

You can listen here: OnePieceTrackList

Starting from 10:58, the track is "Preemptive Strike ~Pump Up Their Hearts' Volume~". Track 17 from the album "Strong World"


Which mythologies or folktales inspired the stories in Mushishi? I read somewhere that the mangaka made footnotes at the end of each volume explaining what inspired each story. I've only seen the anime so I would like to know which mythologies or folktales, if any, inspired the stories in Mushishi.

The author, Yuki Urushibara, does include authors notes at the end of each volume of the manga, explaining what inspired each story.

About "Heaven's Thread" she wrote:

  "This is a story I thought of when reflecting on old folk tales my grandmother told me.Tales about how missing people were left upon a huge rock. There are similar folk tales all over, but most of them involve finding people in trees or on rooftops. They were usually blamed on Tengu or other spirits who abduct people."

About "A Banquet in the Farthest Field" she wrote:

  "I lived in an apartment which looked out over an older brewery, and that became the model for this story. It had a nice atmosphere, but I had to move away, so now whenever I taste sake that's been strained through cloth, I get a very nostalgic feeling."

It was believed that in past times, it was common belief that spirits or demons caused sickness. This is even still true Western civilization, they say "bless you," because it was believed that in the a sneeze meant something evil was invading your body, so they would give a blessing to ward them off.

Some of the stories in Mushishi are based on old folklore, myths, and legends that the author heard growing up. Others, like the second story, were based on places she's seen or just a thought she had at the time and not really based on anything in particular. An example of this is the concept Second Eyelid the that appears throughout the story. I recommend purchasing the manga volumes when you have the chance, to enjoy these little snippets from the author and other stories not covered by the anime.

This essay provides a very good overview of concepts and themes of Shinto myths that inspired the manga:

  In Shinto myth, the mysterious beings Blacker refers to are known as kami. Like mushi, they can be hard to define. Some people, quite specifically, believe kami to be beings from the other realm, while others, more generally, use the term to refer to anything beyond the ordinary...


What happens when a member of the main house of the Hyuuga clan marries a member of the branch house of the Hyuuga clan? I've been thinking about it for a while now, but what if a member of the main house of the Hyuuga clan marries a member of the branch house of the Hyuuga clan ?

I've searched everywhere for the answer, but I couldn't seem to find it anywhere.

At the end of the day, both are still "Hyuuga".

We remember from all the way back to Hinata vs Neji that his father cries and says "I wish I bore you into the main family". Then, even if his father was a branch member, had his wife been a main member, Neji would be a main member as well.

Other than that, their problems were settled after Naruto puts Neji's mind back in his head after they fought in the Chuunin exam. In the flashback as well, Neji's father asks Hinata's father to tell Neji the full story when he gets older but at first, he refuses.

Hinata's father apologizes to Neji after his fight against Naruto and it is implied that there is some harmony between the 2 families. After that it seems that the tension between the families calms down.


Where does Kirito get his new gear? In the beginning of the Sword Art Online anime, episode 2 "Beater", Kirito acquires the Coat of Midnight when getting the last attack bonus on the boss.

Up until episode 7, "Warmth of the Heart", it appears he is using mostly the same gear. In the beginning of this episode when we first see him, he is daunting a new coat and his Elucidator sword. Lizbeth does say, "this is the gnarliest sword you can get from a monster drop" or something to that effect.

Is there ever any mention of where/how he acquired his new gear? I haven't read the manga series, is there any mention in it?

The Elucidator was a drop from "a boss" on the 50th Floor. It's not really specified which boss dropped it though, as it could have been the main Floor Boss, a Field Boss, or maybe a boss in a dungeon that happened to be on the 50th Floor. At the time he got it, the sword still had too high of a requirement for him to even wield, but he still consistently upgraded it.

Kirito's coat also changes between most episodes (until they stop changing in Episode 7) and most of his coats are probably either drops, or tailored. However, it's stated that Kirito's final coat, the Blackwyrm Coat, was crafted by a player called Ashley, which was referred to him by Asuna, during the murder mystery story—though that part was cut out of the anime.


Does it make sense that Knuckle has a mascot as an emitter? Knuckle Bine is listed as being a natural emitter but I am having difficultly reconciling that with his main power. As an emitter, the most difficult class for him to master is the conjuration and then (ignoring specialisation) transmutation.

His ability is to donate (sure you could call it emit) his Nen into another fighter. That Nen will gain interest until it reaches a point where it can force the other fighter into zetsu for 30 days.  The difficult thing to reconcil is that this Nen takes the shape of an indestructable mascot and has very unusual properties following very exact rules.

The creation of a physical manifestation is conjuration.  This creature appears to be made of Nen which means it wouldn't actually be a physical object (transmutation). These kinds of contracts/rule-following abilities seem to be tied to conjuration as well.  I could even buy that he is using manipulation to control the other person's Nen to force Zetsu.

Why is he labelled as an emitter?  Is his main ability emission or is he using a different type than his natural?  Do other emitters have such unusual Nen properties? (maybe the other ones I'm familiar with are just odd?)

Emitters can create beings made out of nen; it has been shown with Emitters in the dodgeball game. Razor creates his 14 devils and Goreinu creates his gorillas. These creatures are not conjured but are simply physically shaped nen made to do a task. The nen beasts are invisible to people without nen training and are controlled with manipulation which is similar to emission for this purpose.

The creatures can also have abilities giving to them, like Razor's devils being able to merge with each other and Goreinu's gorillas being able to teleport. This is how Knuckle creates the APR with the powers. It's mainly emission with a small bit of manipulation to give the APR its orders when it's created. These abilities look like conjuration but are actually complicated emission techniques.


Why are all members of the Kuja tribe born as women? On chapter 515 they mentioned all Kuja Tribe women always give birth to females.

How is this possible? Is there any explanation about this?

No explanation is ever given beyond the word "mysteriously" but it isn't as ridiculous as it sounds.

In the real world, environmental factors such as the temperature and diet of the mother during pregnancy can affect the likelihood of a boy or a girl being born. Of course it rarely gets above 55-45 one way or the other, but in the unique environment of Amazon Lily it is possible that the odds of having a baby girl is completely overwhelming, to the point where no boy has ever been born on the island.


Why does Major Armstrong sparkle? I don't remember seeing any reasoning behind why Major Armstrong sparkles (although I've only ever seen the first anime series; I haven't read the manga nor seen the Brotherhood anime series).

  Also, when we meet other members of his family, they also sparkle, if I remember correctly.
 And later on Breda even lampshades the sparkles, when he's cosplaying as Major Armstrong.

Was there any in-universe explanation ever given for Major Armstrong's sparkles?

There is no in-universe reason for it, in the 2003 anime, the 2009 anime, or the manga. None of them give a reason for it, nor does any Word of God. In fact, Sig Curtis in Brotherhood sparkles a couple times as well, in addition to the rest of the family.

It's worth noting that there is a trope called "Bishie (bishōnen) Sparkle". I doubt many people would classify Armstrong as bishōnen, but that article does mention that it does represent the personality of the one who sparkles (as a bit of a cutesy "he's beautiful inside" fluff). Here's an excerpt from that very article:

  In Fullmetal Alchemist, THE ART OF SPARKLING BEAUTY HAS BEEN PASSED DOWN IN THE ARMSTRONG LINE FOR GENERATIONS! And it really has, although Major Armstrong is more 'manly' than pretty.

  It's not just Major Alex Louis Armstrong who has this trait, but THE ENTIRE ARMSTRONG FAMILY THROUGH THE GENERATIONS.
  Not just the entire family: the sparkle is possessed by a flower woman whose family has SERVED THE ARMSTRONG LINE FOR GENERATIONS. And one of her hairs has the Armstrong curl, too.
  Sig Curtis also develops a sparkle when he's doing manly things with Armstrong. Curiously enough, his sparkle isn't pink, but brown-ish.
  May's Inner-Mind Theatre version of Edward and later Alphonse have this.
  Roy Mustang gets some sparkles in the 13th episode of the 2003 anime adaptation during his duel with Edward.
  As does Envy in the Chibi Wrap Party OVA, to hilarious effect.
  Lampshaded by Breda when he's impersonating Armstrong to prank his colleagues: He's got small pink paper cutouts that look like Armstrong's sparkle, suspended on wires.
  Armstrong also sculpted a statue of himself in The Movie from the 2003 anime series; it had a small four-pointed piece of stone for a sparkle suspended by a strip of metal coming from the body.
  Fullmetal Fantasy, the Fan Film produced by the English vocal cast, has Real Life Armstrong complete with sparkles, quite possibly the film's Crowning Moment of Funny.

Also, inarguably, it's funny. And the Rule of Funny applies.


What is this series featuring a boy that gets a calling card and ends up fighting in another dimension? I read this manga like 2 years ago. It is about a high school guy who receives a calling card of a cyborg, and then when he answers his phone, he is teleported to another dimension where everything is devastated and he starts to fight with monsters. He has a female friend with gray hair and glasses.

This sounds like it might be Psyren, though I don't remember any cyborgs in that manga. Synopsis from MAL:

  Yoshina Ageha is a high school student who offers to help people with their problems for 10,000 yen. He'll take care of your stalkers, find your lost animal, whatever you want. One day when he's heading home, a nearby pay phone rings, and he picks it up. The only thing he hears however is his own voice echoing. After finding a mysterious card with the word 'Psyren' printed on it, his life suddenly changes as he is drawn into a crazy new world.


Why is Todoroki scalded when his mother throws hot water on him? It's clear that Todoroki left side is burnt but isn't it also his flame side. If he is able to tolerate the high temperature he himself generates from his own flames shouldn't he also have been able to withstand the burn when his mother throws hot water on his face?

I don't think Todoroki necessarily is impervious to heat. Midoriya notices when they fight that Todoroki's use of his cold power is limited to how much cold he himself can stand, and that if he would not refuse to use his heat powers he would be able to remove this limit. So if he's not immune to the cold he may not be immune to heat. However, his father does have the flaming facial hair which doesn't seem to bother him. I think it's most likely that he's immune to the flames and the ice that he creates but when he uses it too much or is affected by something in the environment he's affected normally.


What are the programming and computer references in Steins;Gate? I want to know the programming and computer references present in Steins;Gate.

For example, I noticed the SQL database is referenced.

SQL is mentioned, as the question suggests. They even used company and trademarked names:

  MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQL Server, Oracle, DB2, SQLite, Access, ANSI

Of particular interest is the fact that Oracle, the company that owns Java, is present. It's rare to find original trademarks in anime.

A book for "Goodle Endroid", a clear reference to Google Android, can also be seen:

A book on SSH, the protocol used for remote administration, is shown, as well as a book that mentions Unicode, JIS (essentially the Japanese equivalent of ASCII), Java, Ruby 1.8/1.9, and Windows:


Why isn't blood pink in the Future Arc (Mirai-hen), like it is on other Danganronpa media? In the first Danganronpa anime series (2013), blood is pink to prevent the series from having to have a higher age rating.

In Danganronpa 3: The End of Kibougamine Gakuen - Zetsubou-hen (2016), the "Despair Arc," blood is also pink:

The first time blood was seen in Danganronpa 3: The End of Kibougamine Gakuen - Mirai-hen (2016), the "Future Arc," the setting was pretty dark, so I wondered whether that made the blood not look pink or if it was actually not pink. In episode 5, we get a clear view of red blood, though:

Given that the "Future Arc" is set after all the events in the other pieces of the franchise, is it possible that something changed in-universe? Or does the "Future Arc" air at a different time, which makes the rating not as important for the producers of the show?

Someone in reddit suggests that it's only so the gag with the tomato sauce in the third episode, when pretending Asahina had been killed, is possible — that's obviously (?) not the case, is it?

Based on a theory from Japanese audiences (source), the pink blood is only shown on school life/game (class trial) setting (e.g. DR1 and DR2).

学生じゃないからじゃね
Isn't it because they are not students already?
学級裁判とは違ってゲームじゃないって事じゃね？
Isn't it because it's different from class trial game?

As for personal theory extending from this theory, it has something to do with school life → age → "censoring". Now that they have graduated (or "matured") in DR3:Future, the blood is shown red, just as real life.

Note: however, some blood is (or looks like) pink in Future's OP scene.


Why isn't Misaka Mikoto's face widely recognized? In a city where 1,800,000 teenagers are struggling towards the same goal (esper improvement), having only seven level 5 students would automatically bump them into celebrity status.

Tokiwadai's uniform was always easily recognized even by Skill Outs (usually followed by panic when they "remember" that school's top ace).

Misaka did a swimsuit modeling campaign. Hard to believe the company wouldn't use the "Railgun wears our brand" selling point.

Misaka is also well known to jump into the fray even when the fray doesn't want her there.

Is there any in-series explanation why doesn't everyone in Academy City know Misaka's face?  The out-of-series explanation is not of interest (e.g., "The author wrote that way," etc).

Introduction

I'd like to make a few points on this matter. Firstly, even if her face isn't known by everyone in Academy City, many people do recognize Misaka Mikoto. Secondly, Academy City has the motivation and the means to keep Misaka's fame level down. These points are partially in conflict since I'm arguing on one hand that Misaka is famous, but on the other hand I'm saying she isn't. I don't think these points are irreconcilable, but my goal here is mostly just to present evidence and analysis from the light novels and manga rather than to reconcile the two points.

Analysis

In the first novel, Mikoto says this on pages 6-7:

  Hey, have you heard? They're developing some military-grade little 'sisters' for me, based on my DNA, that they can use in the army. I guess the by-products were sweeter than the ultimate goal, huh?

The Railgun manga and other works in the franchise expand on this comment, explaining that it is a rumor Mikoto has heard. Since we know from later works in the series that this rumor is actually true, it is probable that it was started (or at least helped along) by mysterious sightings of look-alikes of Mikoto Misaka. In this case, people would have to have an idea of what she looks like. The Tokiwadai uniform obviously helps a great deal at identifying her.

Now, there are some possible reasons that Mikoto Misaka wouldn't have celebrity status. First off, Academy City is a very secretive place, and Mikoto Misaka is an invaluable research subject. Touma Kamijou comments several times on how secretive and stingy the place is in protecting the secrets of its curriculum, including in volume 4 on page 2:

  Plus in consideration of its own secrets, as well as the potential threat of student kidnappings (read: theft of test samples), Academy City stubbornly disliked allowing its students outside of its walls. Gaining permission to leave required three written applications, the implanting of microscopic devices in your bloodstream, and the arrangement of a legal guardian...

So, Academy City is very secretive and might prefer to keep their top espers out of the public spotlight. They have the means to do so, too. The very reason Touma is on vacation at the beach in the fourth volume is so that the some information control can be done regarding his recent activities:

  The upper echelons of Academy City were the ones most bothered by the commotion. They said to him, "Hey, hey, Mr. Kamijou. We'll fix this up with our information control, so go away somewhere you won't cause needless chaos, stupid."

So, from these passages from the fourth novel, we know that Academy City is very secretive and that it has great influence over the information released inside and outside the city with regards to their research.

Lastly, volume 7 of the Railgun manga has a great deal to say on this issue. Chapter 43: Negotiation partly chronicles the attempts of a committee to find a public representative for the Daihasei Festival from among the level 5 espers and they mention that the Daihasei Festival will be broadcast to the world. The committee tries to get Mikoto Misaka as the representative, hailing her as "the most normal level 5". When the committee representative speaks to the headmaster of Tokiwadai, the representative comments on Misaka's past experience performing demonstrations in Russia. The headmaster refuses the committee member's request. The headmaster's reasoning is explained in thoughts and flashbacks: Based on previous incidents, the headmaster thinks putting Misaka into the limelight isn't good for her. In the flashbacks, we see these three phone calls:

  "I witnessed your Misaka kicking the vending machine."
  "A person resembling Misaka was chasing a high school boy!"
  "A person I believe to be Misaka-san was playing some sort of survival game in the backstreets."

Once again, these phone calls show that Mikoto is recognized by some people. This isn't the only point I'm trying to make here, however. The headmaster believes the public spotlight has had negative effects on Mikoto, and has been trying to keep her away from it. This attempt to get her away from the media could be a reason she isn't widely recognized. Without constant attention from the media, many people could start to forget what she looks like.

Conclusion

My conclusions are that Misaka is more widely recognized than the question indicates, but at the same time, Academy City is likely to be suppressing Misaka's fame because she is a valuable test subject and they vigilantly guard the secrets of their curriculum, so it isn't unusual that everyone in the city doesn't recognize her. If anyone disagrees with one or both of these conclusions, I hope at least the passages and analysis were useful and provided some hints as to where to look for more information.


Why couldn't Kousei hear himself play? In the beginning, there were several times when Kousei was playing the piano, and he suddenly felt that he was at the bottom of the ocean and couldn't hear what he was playing. Why did that happen, and was he able to hear himself play at the end?

The reason is because of the psychological trauma he suffered from being forced by his mother to play exactly as the notes book dictates and punish him for every wrong notes. He felt frustated as even when he did his best and won competition by competition, her mother still wasn't satisfied as he still made a few mistakes here and there, despite already called as the human metronome for his astounding accuracy by others. And the when he's fed up, he burst in anger at his mom and soon after his mom died, making him feel shocked and guilty which shown in his mother's ghastly appearance in when he played his piano. This psychological trauma is the cause and it doesn't immediately kick in too, which explains why he can hear the first few notes and when he's getting into it, he lost it.


Did Miki really never bully Shoko? When Shoya confronts Miki in the story to ask whether she told anyone about him bullying Shoko, Miki makes the claim that she never once badmouthed Shoko, and that she always told Shoya to stop. Miki is portrayed as manipulative, but Shoya also admits that he might not remember things correctly:

  Miki is right... I probably altered my memories to make myself feel better. (Volume 5, page 112)

Could this be a case of an unreliable narrator? Can Miki's claim be validated?

Points For Miki:

Having reread the first volume, Miki's claim actually does have a great deal of credence. She is often seen helping Shoko, informing her on page 80 when the teacher calls on Shoko, and showing her which question the teacher asked on page 69. Bonus points for copying the homework assignment for Naoka when Shoko's questioning caused her to miss what the teacher said (this helps Shoko, albeit indirectly). Additionally Miki does, in fact, tell Shoya to knock it off several times:

  Stop goofing off, boys! (Volume 1, page 100, after Shoya dumps a dustpan on Shoko outside)

This happens after Shoya dumps a dustpan on Shoko, who is outside the window.

  See? I told you to knock it off! (Volume 1, Page 106)

Miki says this after Shoya injures Shoko by pulling on her hearing aid apparatus. Notably, her alleged first call to "knock it off" is suspiciously missing from the narrative.

Miki also attempts to shield Shoko from harm in several instances. First, when Naoka rudely asks Shoko whether she can speak Japanese, Miki says,

  Haha... That's not a nice way to put it. (Volume 1, page 73)

When Shoko asks for clarification for what Naoka said, Miki writes in Shoko's notebook, changing the question to "Do you have a nickname?"

Second, Miki is present when Shoko sees the mean messages written on the chalkboard by Shoya and friends. It's unclear if the message is actually communicated to Shoko since she's deaf, but Miki says,

  It's awful, isn't it? I mean, really...(Volume 1, page 97)

In cases where her friends are badmouthing Shoko, it is actually true that Miki does not participate. Rather, she gives diplomatic replies, such as "I know, right?" and "I know what you mean." (Volume 1, pages 105 and 80). She acknowledges her friends' grievances against Shoko, but does not levy any of her own.

Shoya is also shown to be, to a degree, oblivious to the people around him, lending credence to the idea that he might not be the most reliable narrator. When he's doing his daredevil stunts, his two friends show a declining interest in continuing, but Shoya doesn't notice, and it hits him like a brick wall when they outright tell him they don't want to keep jumping off bridges. In high school, he puts mental X's over everyone's faces, further showing that he doesn't pay attention to other people. Since the first volume is almost entirely told from Shoya's perspective, a case might be made that any memories in the narrative he has of Miki being mean to Shoko are fabricated or exaggerated. Thus one wonders whether Shoya's claim on Volume 1, page 124 can be trusted:

  And if you count insults, the girls badmouthed her more than anyone! Especially Miki and Naoka!

Naoka, certainly. But Shoya may just be lumping Miki in because she was part of the conversation.

Points Against Miki:

Probably the most damaging point against Miki is her friendship with Naoka, who is definitively known to have bullied Shoko. In spite of this, Miki defends Naoka to the teacher, saying Naoka did more than anyone to keep Shoya in line on page 123. It is possible that Miki just willfully looked the other way when Naoka was bullying Shoko, or, less likely, that she was unaware of the worse offenses Naoka perpetrated. But her strong association with Naoka does lead credence to the idea that she also badmouthed Shoko, even if there is no instance in the manga of this happening.

Secondly, Miki may have been present at the aforementioned blackboard incident when Shoya and friends were writing the messages. On page 95, there is a panel showing the legs of several characters. One pair of socks does resemble Miki's. If so, then this quote would be attributed to her:

  When you get in trouble, I had nothing to do with this! (Volume 1, page 95)

She seems to be trying to discourage them, so it's unlikely she took part directly. On the other hand, this means she could have erased the messages before Shoko saw them.

Thirdly, Miki laughed at the Shoya's joke on page 102 about Shoko being deaf because they forgot to write the sutras on her ears. Initially, she does give Shoya a disapproving look, but after the teacher laughs, she laughs too. She even contributes clarification on the joke, saying, "Hoichi the Earless?", and thus giving it her stamp of approval (in her defense, as an honor student, she likely couldn't resist classical/literary allusions).

Conclusion:

I suspect that Miki really was doing her best to help Shoko. Her classmates did have legitimate grievances against Shoko, so Miki likely didn't know what to do or who to side with as the class turned increasingly hostile. She didn't stick out her neck for Shoko, so as to keep a target from being put on her, but she did her best to moderate in an impossible situation that could not be handled by children. However, there is a great deal of ambiguity to the character in the story, and I invite everyone to review the character's words and actions and come to their own conclusion.


Can the Law of the Cycle destroy itself? Could Madoka ever accumulate despair, or does her Soul Gem stay pure forever? According to Kyubey, she takes the despair away from magical girls about to become witches. If her Soul Gem became tainted, she could potentially become a witch and destroy herself (through her wish). Would that even be possible??

she could potentially become a witch and destroy herself (through her wish). Would that even be possible??

yes, we see this happen in Episode 12 after Madoka makes her wish that ultimately leads her to become a Goddess.

After Walpurgisnacht is destroyed Homura finds herself on the moon watching Madoka's tainted Soul Gem streak across the galaxy, collapsing into a Grief Seed before becoming Kriemhild Gretchen. it is then that Madoka appears and we see her assume her Goddess form and as per her wish she can destroy even her own witch form. however Madoka must still exists to continue erasing witches even after she destroys herself and this paradox is what lead to the Universe having to be recreated.

in Madoka's Universe however we can't confirm if Madoka even has a Soul Gem. while amiami has had an Ultimate Madoka Soul Gem on sale once before (historical images) the problem is that Madoka's Goddess form doesn't show anything that looks like an opal on her in her Universe as shown in the Rebellion movie

and Magical Girls generally have the same coloured gem on their body as their Soul Gem and Ring. what's more Ultimate Madoka's gems on the upper part of her dress might be the same colour and shape as her Soul Gem in the previous universe but it does not show a noticeable metal frame around it like in her Magical Girl form
(Designs for Homura, Kyoko, Sayaka, Mami, Nagisa showing their Soul Gems in Magical Girl form).

there's also the fact that it was the Incubator's logic that a Magical Girl's Soul exists outside of their body in the form of the Soul Gem. it's possible that after becoming a Goddess Madoka's Soul is back in her own body.

i would speculate that in her universe Madoka, as a Goddess and the concept called the "Law of Cycles" that's always existed in the universe, is a difference existence than a Magical Girl and not bound by their rules. even her own wish states this

  I want to erase 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. I want them to stay smiling until the end. If any rule or law stands in my way I will destroy it. I will rewrite it. That is my prayer. That is my wish. Now grant it, Incubator!

and as in her universe the Law of Cycles can not become a witch


Who exactly are featured on the walls of Maria, Rose & Sina? I'm not sure whether this question will make sense or not but what is the symbolism or meaning behind the logos or symbols that are associated with the walls of Maria, Rose & Sina?

Are they suppose to represent the current King or are they some sort of recognizement of some past Kings and Queens in AOT in the last 100 years? What are the logos suppose to mean? Who is in them? If its not a person, is it suppose to represent or show how humans have managed to survive from titans in 100 years?

I haven't watched the anime in a while so whether it was revealed or not (I am not sure) however I am pretty sure they didn't address it. Does anyone know?

Until chapter 69, there has not been any mention yet of who Maria, Rose and Sina are in-universe. Neither has there been any explanation from the author as to who they supposedly represent. Though I have found this interesting interpretation as to what they might mean by kcwhitmore and gettingfitandstayingthere written on the snkconspiracytheories tumbler page. You can read it here or below.

First of all we have Wall Sina. The heartland of the civilization, the interior is an idyllic place, almost utopian in its bliss. This is accordance with the name ‘Sina’ which in fact means blessed. The reader/watcher was provided with a view into this blessed world when shown Pixis’ interactions with the government official. There was wine and food in abundance; beautiful rooms, buildings, and surroundings. This is in direct contrast to the outer most wall: Maria.
Even pre-attack, the interior of Wall Maria boasted none of the lavishness of the interior of Sina. This land was the outskirts of human domain with a scarce amount of food and other natural resources. The nature of this interior is reflected in the wall’s name; Maria means ‘bitter’. There is a decided bitterness to the life style within Wall Maria. Eren, Mikasa, and Armin did not grow up in a blessed land.
On top of that, Wall Maria was demolished by the Colossal Titan and the Armored Titan surged through the gape to break entry into the interior as a whole. This provided the titans with entry into the interior of Maria, forcing the humans back; decidedly dislodging their control in that land. This reflects the second definition of Maria, which is ‘rebellion’.
Finally we have Wall Rose. ‘Rose’ is a symbol for innocence, youth, and love. It is also the token symbol of many Great Goddesses, including Aphrodite. This love and youth and innocence is seen in Eren’s blissful ignorance as he declares the counterattack to have begun. For five years they lived in a tentative peace after the fall of Wall Maria. But that innocence was shattered by the appearance of the Colossal Titan once more.
The duality of a rose’s natures should also be considered when thinking of the Wall’s names. Rose’s though symbols of beauties are also dangerous because of their thorns. The walls as a whole function in this same regard. They protect the people, but they also keep them caged. There is a harshness to them despite the sanctuary they provide.
Overall the walls are, especially as considered by Wallists, three goddesses. These goddesses show truths of the world: there is bitterness (Maria) and blessedness (Sina)—a harsh duality (Rose) of the black and white society that are separated by the walls.


Which Silver Spoon chapters have been covered by the anime? I'm thinking of reading the Silver Spoon manga by Hiromu Arakawa, and while I'd probably start from the first chapter anyway, I'm wondering which chapters of the manga have already been covered by the anime.

Which specific chapters do the first and second seasons cover respectively? I read on Yahoo Answers that the first season goes up to the end of volume 4, but given that there's been a second season, I'd like some more information on this.

I figured some further research on my part wouldn't hurt:

From a combination of checking the list of volumes and episodes, rereading the Yahoo Answers question I referred to earlier, looking at Baka-Updates, and looking through the relevant parts of the manga, it seems that:

The first "season" goes up to chapter 31, which is about up to the first half of volume 4. The chapters 30 and 31 involve Hachiken's bacon production/sale, which is covered more or less in the last episode of the first season of the Silver Spoon anime. However, I couldn't find the baseball game in the last episode of the anime anywhere in or before chapter 31 - and without reading the manga, it's hard to say if that's an anime only event or not.
Similarly, the second season seems to start at chapter 31 (where Hachiken becomes the vice-president of the equestrian club - which happens in the first episode of the second season). It seems to end at chapter 75 (where Hachiken's mother visits), which corresponds to the events of the last episode of the second season.


Is there an explanation for Natsu's motion sickness? In Fairy Tail, Natsu is prone to getting sick whilst on modern transport. I am asking this question because it kind of annoys me when he gets motion sickness while fighting someone on board train or other forms of transport. These are the known forms of transport that he gets sick on such as...

Cars
Trains
Vehicles
... And many and all forms of transport that moves.

I think an exception to his motion sickness is when he is flying on Happy, but can't really think of anything else that he doesn't get motion sickness on.
And waves, just discovered in Episode 133 (quite strange).

Generally, he gets motion sickness from all non organic transportation. He also gets motion sickness when riding on other people. He is also known to get sick from looking or thinking about all different forms of transport, e.g. looking or thinking about trains.

Was it ever explained in the anime or manga why Natsu suffered from motion sickness? And why did Wendy's motion sickness spell not work at all? Did something happen to Natsu in his life that made him suffer from motion sickness? If yes, please include it in the answer! Also, please refrain from using the reason "Natsu built up immunity to Wendy's motion sickness spell" in your answer, unless that's all you can possibly give me.

Answers are kindly appreciated.

Not only Natsu, but every wizard having Dragon Slayer Magic is prone to motion sickness. During the Grand Magic Tournament, all four Dragon Slayers suffered from motion sickness, i.e. Natsu, Gajeel, Rouge, and Sting. It is also confirmed in the anime that, Laxus suffers from motion sickness as well. The only exception is Wendy, but considering that she has Magic to counter motion sickness, it might not be affecting her.

It has not been explained, but it is likely due to a side effect of the Dragon Slayer Magic.

Wendy's Magic does not affect Natsu because he built up immunity. This was specifically stated by Wendy herself.

Also, Happy doesn't affect Natsu because Natsu doesn't consider Happy as a vehicle. This was also specifically mentioned by Natsu.

Edit as per the latest chapter: The motion sickness is caused due to inability of dragon slayer magic holder to adjust with the dragon's enhanced visual acuity which affects their semicircular canals.


How does Saber's summoning to the Fifth Grail War work? In the Fate series (I've only ever watched Fate/stay night anime, never played the game), I understand that servants are essentially just a reflection of their former self.

But in the case of Arturia (Saber) that actually is her, to my understanding, before she died she made a pact with The World to be able to be summoned as a Servant to seek the Holy Grail. But during the conclusion of the anime, she speaks of a dream and dies. I assume the dream she speaks of was about having met Shirou, but what about her participation in the fourth Holy Grail war?

I'm just very confused about this scenario as a whole, can someone please help clarify this for me? After watching the series I feel that there's no real closure with her character.

How Summoning normally works is that a clone of a Servant is made from the Throne of Heroes and this Clone, and their memories/experience/changes in nature (ie. corruption) are discarded so the original remains the same.

with Arturia's case she made her contract with the World before she died to obtain the Holy Grail in exchange to becoming a Heroic Spirit as such she's not being summoned from the Throne of Heroes but from the moment before her death. When Saber's nature as a Servant is discovered the Visual Novel shows a couple of images to explain how her contract works

the first image shows how Saber will return to the point in time before her death after each attempt at getting the Grail. the second image is what will happen when she completes her contract in which when she completes it she'll proceed to her death rather than before she died before then going to the Throne of Heroes.

In regards to her memories in Fate/Stay Night, regarding her memories of the 4th War she does have them as on her Wikia page under her Role of Fate/Zero

  With the Grail gone and unable to maintain her form, Saber is sent back to the battlefield of Camlann, as she remembers the words of Lancelot and Rider.

Source: Saber (Fate/Stay Night) - Role - Fate/Zero (Second Last paragraph)

also in the Heaven's Feel Route after their run in with Ilya and Beserker, Shirou is confused as to Ilya's hostility to him. Saber contemplates as to whether to explain this to Shirou but instead telling him to seek out Kotomine despite wanting to have as little contact with him as possible due her own personal dislike for her former Enemy Master. before Shirou enters the church (leaving Saber outside) she suggests not to reveal that she's been summoned again.

while is a different route which -Last Episode- wont occur one can speculate that in the Fate Route she stayed outside for the same reason (even though at this point it had yet to be revealed who she is) as such if she remember Kotomine then she remember's Lancelot's and Rider's words. but ofcause as apart of her "dream" it wouldn't be a fond part as it involved Kiritsugu forcing her to destroy the Grail with his remaining Command Spells

As for what other memories she would have in -Last Episode- we can assume that it's only what she would remember by the end of the Fate Route (including her previous attempts) as since in the Fate Route her contract is terminated due to it being her choice to destroy the manifested Holy Grail and accepting her appointment as King any further attempts would not be known to her.

However because the Nasuverse is a huge multiverse with alternate timelines which is all connected via the use of The Second Magic the ending of the Fate Route would create it's own timeline, as such the ending of the other Routes would create their own timelines including:

   - One where her her corruption in Heaven's Feel is carried to future attempts at the Grail  - One where she lives a full shoujo ai/yuri life with Rin after the Good Ending of Unlimited Blade Works  - One where she continues going for the Grail after the True end of Unlimited Blade Works (as it was not the complete Grail that was summoned)  - One unknown ending of Fate/Stay Night which leads to Fate/Hollow Ataraxia in which she was corrupted yet the Greater Grail wasn't shut down/destroyed by Shirou or Ilya

since the Throne of Heroes is disconnected from the rest of the universe allowing the summoning of "heroes" from other timelines (Archer in Fate/Stay Night is the perfect example) there is a high probability that an Arturia would end up there. however since she would have memories of previous Holy Grail Wars/Attempts probably the only way to tell you have summoned Arturia herself or a clone is to ask if she ever got a Holy Grail before.

as a final note, since Fate/Labyrinth was made well after Fate/Stay Night and without knowing when in Arturia's own timeline she would have shown up there (ie. would she have remembered Waver from the 4th War as Waver would remember her?) i would speculate that in the Fate Route she wouldn't have any memories of the events in Fate/Labyrinth.


What major or well-known script-writing competitions exist for anime works? I'm familar with the Animeka anime script-writing competition, but it doesn't seem like there are many others out there. What major or well-known script-writing competitions exist for anime works?

Thanks

There seem to be three main anime script awards, at least in Japan.

Tokyo Anime Award includes a wide variety of anime and categories, including two for screenplays. One is for screenplays and one is for original adaptation screenplays. These seem to be all professional/aired screenwriters/anime. These categories were created in 2014, though the Award is from 2002.

Animax Taishō is for submitted rather than already aired anime, and the winners are produced and aired on Animax. It's not clear if this has been run after 2008.

Kyoto Animation Awards is also for unpublished work, though oddly they seem to not have winners every year. In the last cycle, for example, there were no winners. This is run by Kyoto Animation.


Why didn't Orochimaru fight Madara? Why didn't Orochimaru fight Madara in 4th Great Ninja War?
I think Orochimaru was strong, like the other Kage, if not stronger.

There are two reasons:
1)Orochimaru was busy reanimating the four dead hokages to bring strong reinforcements.
2)Even if he was as strong as the Kages or even stronger, but we see in the fight between Madara and the Kages just how strong Madara was. He singlehandedly annhilated all the five Kages. So if Orochimaru decided to face him alone then I am sure he would have died instantly.


What is the purpose of the bands that Raditz wears on his left arm and leg? In Dragon Ball Z, Raditz is always seen wearing a red accessory band  both on his left arm and his left thigh. What are those for?

AFAIK, there is (unfortunately) no official concensus on this matter. That aside, logic and speculation do help fill in some of the blanks.

Probable Answer(s)

They're meant for training/fighting. - According to WiseGeek, bicep bands can be worn around the arm of someone doing physical activities to catch and absorb sweat. There has been rumors of how they keep constant pressure on tendons and thus would help keep in intact with the bone, thus preventing serious conditions such as tendonitis. Recent research, as the resource above states, has generally concluded against this, but during the time of Dragonball's production late 80's/early 90's, this would not have been known. Generally bands are not worn on the thigh, as he does, but again, since research had not been conducted, the writer may have just assumed it would have similar effects.
In addition to the this assumption, we could slightly speculate and say that they are similar technology, but enhanced in a way greater than our own world's limitations, but serve essentially the same purpose.

Speculative Answer(s)

They are a symbol used by Saiyan Warriors - The fan base enjoys looking for symbolism, and this is no exception. Many assume it indicates rank, or family. This assumption doesn't have much foundation though, since few, if any,  other Saiyan warriors are shown to use them.

Most likely they're just decoration, designed to enhance his appearance. I doubt Toriyama thought this out very deeply. :)


Where does the title "Plastic Neesan" come from? The title of Plastic Neesan is clearly refering to one of the characters and to the fact that they are doing plastic models. When looking at the anime, Neesan isn't more of a main character than Sakamaki or Okamoto.

Is there any information about where this part of the title comes from?

The title is just referencing the main character Iroe Genma. Due to her status as the head of the model club and a third year high school student the underclassmen call her Nee-san. It is true that Sakamaki and Okamoto are also main characters but in every synopsis of the manga and anime that I read stated something along the lines of:

  Plastic Nee-san is a very short anime that follows a third-year high school girl who
  likes building plastic models and the wacky conversations she has with her fellow club members.


Was the Dragon Half manga ever translated? I remember with fondness watching the 2 episode anime Dragon Half, which I'm lead to believe is based on a long running manga which parodies tropes in manga and anime.

Was the manga every translated to English, or were there ever any more episodes made of the anime?

The seven-volume Dragon Half manga was never licensed or officially localized in English. The OVA only consisted of two episodes (previously by ADV Films, now currently by DiscoTek Media). Those two episodes persist as the only animated versions of the series.


What is this symbol used in Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress? While watching Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress, I saw this symbol during the opening song:

But what exactly does this symbol stand for? Is it ever mentioned what this stands for? Have I missed something? I also think I saw it once in the first episode, painted on the train, so I'm guessing it is the symbol for the train itself, but I'm not sure... I just want to know for what is this symbol used.

According to this post on the official website, this is the 浄化マーク, meaning "purification mark". It is derived from / inspired by older variants of the character 六, which is the "Rok-" in the phrase "Rokkon Shōjō" and means "six". This symbol is written on things to indicate that the things in question are "pure" (free of kabane, presumably).

I don't recall this being mentioned in the anime.


Is the Hyuuga main family's juinjutsu a Swastika? In Naruto, the Hyūga clan is divided into two houses: the main house and the branch house.
The main house members brand the branch house members with a Juinjutsu (Cursed mark), which has the objective of sealing away the Byakugan upon the death of the one branded. It also has the function of controlling the branch house members through the destruction of the wearer's brain cells, which can be activated by a hand seal only known by the main house members.

The seal looks like this:

Although the Hyūga Main Family's Juinjutsu was altered in the anime for its resemblance with a swastika (and the connotation with the Nazi regime), the manga version maintains its original design.

Quoting directly from Wikipedia:

  The word "swastika" comes from the Sanskrit swastika - "su" meaning "good," "asti" meaning "to be," and "ka" as a suffix. The swastika literally means "to be good". Or another translation can be made: "swa" is "higher self", "asti" meaning "being", and "ka" as a suffix, so the translation can be interpreted as "being with higher self".

Both these translations would fit (at least according to my interpretation) the secondary purpose of the Juinjutsu:
- To be good: the secondary function of the Juinjutsu is to control the branch house members, which is to 'make them good' (at least to make them submit themselves to the main house members' will).
- Being with higher self: the Juinjutsu links the branch house members ('lower self') with the main house members ('higher self').

Are there any canon sources that state:
If this resemblance is purely coincidental? Or if the seal is really a swastika?

It is probably intentionally a swastika, though it is definitely not referring to Naziism. I don't know anything about Naruto canon, so I have no official source, but swastikas are often highly stylized and this certainly fits the bill. Googling for "Hindu swastika" or "Buddhist swastika" will yield plenty of images, some of which are pretty distorted (more than the image you've posted), so it's very likely not a coincidence. For instance, this Hindu swastika is very common:

.

Swastikas are common in Buddhism, Hinduism, and many other eastern religions (Buddhism being the most common in Japan), and are well-known in both the East and West, though with different interpretations. In particular, in Buddhism, the swastika is usually counter-clockwise (Nazi swastikas were clockwise, and the seal you have posted is counter-clockwise as one would expect of a Buddhist swastika). It doesn't have quite the same meaning as you've described in Buddhism; most Buddhists think of the Swastika as a symbol for eternity, protection, and good luck.

In Japanese, this Buddhist symbol is called manji or 卍字 and is used as a sort-of official symbol for Buddhism similar to how crosses represent Christianity. Maps usually indicate Buddhist temples with these manji. While Japanese people (as well as most other Eastern cultures) would recognize the Nazi swastika by it's design, they would not associate all swastikas with Naziism as many would in the West. In short, I'd be extremely surprised if anyone coincidentally drew one in a manga without intending some symbolism, and it's a common enough symbol that there may not be any official mention of it. The Wikipedia article has a lot of information on the subject, so it's worth a read.

As a note, swastikas are used in a number of other manga, including Yu Yu Hakusho and Blade of the Immortal (the latter retained the swastikas in the English versions).


Is there any explanation for how Akihiko Kayaba managed to trap everyone in SAO? It seems farfetched that Akihiko Kayaba would be able to sneak in all that malicious code into Sword Art Online without anyone knowing. Surely it would have been a big project with many developers. Furthermore, it seems like it would be difficult for him stop the other developers from fixing Sword Art Online. Even if he destroyed the source code or something, they still had a whole year to figure something out. Do the light novels shed any more light on Kayaba's scheme?

I've read the Light Novels and it doesn't really cover any more than the anime on how he managed it. And in all honesty, its entirely possible that he was able to slip all that coding in. My father is a programmer so I have a rough idea on how much code goes into a lot of projects and there are actually very few times that people get to view the code as a whole, with each person or group working a small part and then sending it in to add to the bigger project. With this knowledge in hand, being able to work that much code in wouldn't be too far fetched even if Kayaba wasn't top dog, but since he is it is very conceivable that it could happen.


What is the relationship between the end of season one and the short season two? Season one ended with the main characters leaving for some unexplained adventure.  But in season two, they're still hanging around the capital.  Does season two take place before the end of season one?

Actually, there is no season 2. Those 4 episodes were more like an OVA that Netflix mislabelled as season 2. Season 2 is coming, nobody actually knows the date when it's going to be aired.


Was Luffy able to activate/experience Kenbunshoku Haki in the War of the Best? In Episode 470, Luffy feels as if both his hands got cut by Mihawk's sword. And then immediatly after that, feeling he stopped that attack.

So, is it possible that it was the first time Luffy had experienced/activated the Kenbunshoku Haki?

From the One Piece Wikia article on Kenbunshoku Haki:

  The first time it was seen being used and referred to as Haki was
  during Luffy's battle on Amazon Lily with the Boa Sisters. Later,
  Rayleigh explained Haki to Luffy and confirmed that "Mantra" is the
  Skypiean name for the ability.


What would have happened if Dende could have made new Dragon Balls? This is of coarse a hypothetical question cause I do know that he needed to make the old ones reappear in order to do the thing with Cell. But this is only part of the question if Dende created new balls would the seven Dragons appear? I think not because there should be no negative energy in the new balls but im curious.

It would take longer, but they would appear eventually. Humans would keep on wishing for stuff, adding to the negative energy stored in the balls. So I guess they could renew the balls from time to time, preventing the negative energy from building up, but where would the energy go and what would happen to the balls? The negative energy is still around, so I think even if the balls would be renewed over and over again, the cumulative negative energy would eventually make the seven dragons appear. I think it was Earth's destiny for it to happen. We should all be happy that at that exact time, Goku was coincidentally strong enough to defeat them. Imagine what would have happened if he was still only a boy.


A manhwa (or manga) where the main antagonist is the protagonist's future self It's been bugging me for a few days now. I can't really remember a lot about it, but here are the things I kind of remember:

I think it was Korean manhwa
The setting was old, martial arts was common.
I think the MC had amnesia.
He liked to climb trees (shown chapter 1, I think)
He time traveled back to a younger body (mind traveled)
His parents were suspicious of him for being "different than usual".
His parents were killed by thugs.
The female helper who was taking care of the main character got kidnapped and raped.
He later tracked the guy who attacked them and was about to kill him, when suddenly a girl stopped him from doing so. It turned out to be the helper; she was pregnant and in love with her captor. He left through the window.
The main character was scared of the main enemy (I think >.<)
The enemy was wearing Sephiroth-like trench coat (tall)
Near the end, he found out that the enemy was him from the future (or alternate outcome of his choices)
They fought in the courtyard and both died I think, or just his future self.

I'm not sure if this is only 1 manga that I'm describing. It kinda feels 2.

I have tried googling this with what I think the genre/tags it would be under, but failed to find it :(

I hope someone can help me stop this nagging in my head >.<  Thank you for your time!

It's probably Threads of Time, a Korean manhwa.

It has been a few years since I read it, so my memory is fuzzy about the fine details, but it has enough similarities to be a match.

I definitely remember these details you wrote in the question:

  It was Korean manhwa
  Martial arts was common.
  He time traveled back to a younger body.
  His parents were suspicious of him for being "different than usual".
  The female helper who was taking care of the main character got kidnapped and raped.
  He later tracked the guy who attacked them and was about to kill him, when suddenly a girl stopped him from doing so. It turned out to be the helper; she was pregnant and in love with her captor. He left through the window
  The main character was scared of the main enemy.

The last 2 details (reproduced below) might be from a different manga if you're completely certain about it.

  Near the end, he found out that the enemy was him from the future (or alternate outcome of his choices)
  They fought in the courtyard and both died I think, or just his future self.

However, I think you might have gotten those details wrong, since the MC time traveled back into the brother of one of the villain's victim in order to untangle or sever the Threads of Time (Fate?). Near the end, he realized that the villain was his past self and he defeated him, but he also died soon after and returned to his present time. Though this time around, he is no longer tied down by fate/destiny because he broke the cycle.

Source: Years of reading manga.

Anyway, I hope this is the right one.


Why does Zeref want to kill Acnologia? Why does Zeref want to kill Acnologia so badly? Is there something I missed entirely? Or has it just not been said yet?

I'm not sure if this is explained in the manga because I've only watched the anime.

So far there is no information regarding Acnologia's motives so far even in the manga. I haven't seen Anime post the Grand Magic games so putting everything in spoilers. Read at your own risk. But I assume Anime has covered everything till the 2nd spoiler, but not sure about the third.

Following is the information that we have on him. Acnologia (Chapter 301).

  Born over 400 years ago, Acnologia was one of the first Dragon Slayers to come into being, entering the Dragon Civil War on the side supporting coexistence. Acnologia and a group of other Dragon Slayers, however, disregarded the cause their comrades fought for, and killed every Dragon they could, bathing in their blood. Due to the overuse of his Magic, Acnologia's physique eventually turned into that of a Dragon's, and he proclaimed himself to be the Dragon King. This event was forever etched into history as the Dragon King Festival.

We see the following in the Tartaros Arc (Chapter 412-415),

   Acnologia appears again at the ruins of Cube where the battle between Fairy Tail Mages and Tartaros takes place.[..] Acnologia fights the Dragon King Igneel and loses his left arm, however in return, Acnologia destroys nearly the entire left half of Igneel's torso and then kills him with his Dragon's Roar. With his arm gone and his target slain, Acnologia then leaves Magnolia.

One year later we see Zeref and Acnologia meet.

   One year after losing his arm to Igneel, Acnologia accepts Zeref's proposal to meet, and does so at an undisclosed rocky terrain, albeit in his human form instead of as a Dragon. Acnologia asks what Zeref wants; however, he is met with curiosity, as Zeref points out that Acnologia could rule the world with his power if he wished, calling his motives unfathomable. Acnologia, however, says the same of Zeref's motives. He then listens as Zeref tells him that he will not join or fight against Acnologia; rather, he will kill Acnologia along with everyone else in the world. He further implies that Acnologia has been waiting for someone to give him a true challenge and Zeref claims that he will gladly take on the role of challenger for Acnologia. Acnologia then gives a sly grin as Zeref tells him to wait for the ultimate clash between human, Dragon, and immortal to approach.

This makes me think that Zeref wants to kill Acnologia just because he wants to kill everything in the world. Acnologia is maybe just as powerful as Zeref and thus deserves a special mention.


How was Zetsu able to identify the Asura and Indra transmigrants over the years? How did Zetsu know that Madara was Indra's reincarnation ?

Zetsu was created by Kaguya. Essentially, he was her will, ensuring her revival. The Uchiha and Senju clans originated from Kaguya. So I'm pretty sure he'd be able to tell.


Why Tachibana Hibiki's moves have no name? In Symphogear every move except Tachibana Hibiki's have a name and a "poster" animation.

Why only hers do not have names?

Hibiki is not having her attacks in a "poster" as (due to S1 events) she was part-Gungnir. Hence, her attacks are by itself is the attack of the gear


Why didn't Nagato revive Yahiko? Using Nagato's power, he can revive the dead. I saw him reviving Pain's member everytime someone die (except for the reviver member of course). He also revive a lot of people he killed in Konoha. But I don't understand why didn't he revive Yahiko then?
I was thinking he discovered the reviving jutsu after a while Yahiko died, and some soul cannot be revive after a long time of being dead. But that idea removed when I think about how Madara revive himself.

Nagato was actually reconstructing their dead bodies  and not reviving (in the sense of bringing them back to life), because the "six pains" were basically just walking corpses being controlled through black recievers that transmit chakra.
Using the Naraka Path, Nagato was able to use one of those pains to summon the King Of  Hell who could repair/fix their corpses. According to the wiki:

The King of Hell can repair any damage done to the Six Paths of Pain, which it accomplishes by grabbing their damaged forms with its tongue and consuming them.

On the other hand, the Samsara of Heavenly Life (reincarnation jutsu) comes at the cost of the casters life.


What is the total Naruto runtime up to this point? Naruto seems to be one of few longest-running series, and considering the number of episodes so far, this adds up to quite considerable time.

What is the total runtime - the time I'd have to spend in front of the screen if I wanted to watch the whole series (including any 'paraphenalia' like OVA etc), from beginning up to current point?

As of 10-March-2021, after using myanimelist as a source for duration's I came to the conclusion that it would take you:

Duration
Time of non stop watching

In Minutes
32414

In Hours
390.2

In Days
16.3

This would mean that you could completely watch all Naruto media in just under two and a half week.
However, taking into account that nobody is going to watch anything for two and a half week straight. It would take an average viewer quite a bit longer.
Given that an average viewer watches around 5-6 episodes per day, or roughly 2 hours a day. It would take them about 174.3 days to watch the series to completion, and an additional 20.9 days to watch all the other media. For a grand total of 195.1 days total to watch everything.
Series

Title
Episodes
Episode Duration in minutes
Total Duration

Naruto
220
23
~5060 minutes or 84.3 hours or 3.5 days

Naruto Shippuuden
500
23
~11500 minutes or 191.7 hours or 8 days

Boruto next generations (ongoing)
189
23
~189 minutes or 72.5 hours or 3 days

Movies

Title
Duration in minutes

Naruto: Movie 1 - Dai Katsugeki!! Yuki Hime Shinobu Houjou Dattebayo!
90

Naruto: Movie 2 - Daigekitotsu! Maboroshi no Chiteiiseki Dattebayo!
97

Naruto: Movie 3 - Dai Koufun! Mikazuki Jima no Animaru Panikku Dattebayo!
94

Naruto: Shippuuden Movie 1
94

Naruto: Shippuuden Movie 2 - Kizuna
92

Naruto: Shippuuden Movie 3 - Hi no Ishi wo Tsugu Mono
95

Naruto: Shippuuden Movie 4 - The Lost Tower
85

Naruto Soyokazeden Movie: Naruto to Mashin to Mitsu no Onegai Dattebayo!!
14

Naruto: Shippuuden Movie 5 - Blood Prison
102

Naruto: Honoo no Chuunin Shiken! Naruto vs. Konohamaru!!
14

Naruto: Shippuuden Movie 6 - Road to Ninja
109

Naruto: Shippuuden Movie 7 - The Last
112

Boruto: Naruto the Movie
105

Boruto: Naruto the Movie - Naruto ga Hokage ni Natta Hi
10

Specials

Title
Duration in minutes

Naruto: Dai Katsugeki!! ... Special: Konoha Annual Sports Festival
11

Naruto: Takigakure no Shitou - Ore ga Eiyuu Dattebayo!
40

Naruto: Find the Crimson Four-leaf Clover
17

Naruto: The Cross Roads
28

Naruto: Shippuuden - Konoha Gakuen Special
8

Naruto: Shippuuden - Jump Super Anime Tour 2013 Special
11

Naruto: Shippuuden - Sunny Side Battle
11

Boruto: Jump Festa 2016 Special
11

Ovas

Title
Duration in minutes

Naruto: Finally a Clash!! Jounin vs. Genin!
26

Naruto x UT
6

Onas

Title
Duration in minutes

Kamiusagi Rope x Boruto: Naruto Next Generations
1

Spin-off

Title
Episodes
Episode Duration in minutes
Total Duration in minutes

Rock Lee no Seishun Full-Power Ninden
51
24
~1224 minutes or 20.4 hours or 0.85 days

As a side note, I feel sad for the people that had to wait weekly from episode one onward. That's 909 weeks (excluding double releases and breaks) of waiting 6 days for the next episode (Which is almost 17.5 years!)
Information will be updated when Boruto next generations ends, and somebody boops me about it in the comments


How CC dispel the Emperor's Geass of Lelouch? In R2, the second season of Code Geass, Lelouch was already under the Emperor's Geass so he lost his memories related to Marianne, Nunnaly and Zero. But when CC kissed him or something, she managed to undo the Geass and make Lelouch recover his memories. That is what I find confusion in, I mean, by definition CC is able to make Geass contracts, be immune to another person's Geass and she is immortal. Also she is able to use the Code's power to connect to the world of C. So... how can she do that?

Lelouch's power is "the power of absolute obedience"
Mao can hear the thoughts of anyone within 500 meters which is refereed to as "the seal of absolute sound"
Rolo can create a sphere which freezes people known as "the seal of absolute suspension"

while these are the only ones where their powers are actually named we can assume that the power of Geass is Absolute, it's not explained how a Geass power is absolute over one another, as all Geass Uses used a different power and when we see them used on Lelouch they affect different parts of him (Rolo's affected one's sense of time, Mao could read his mind, Charles seemed to be able to manipulate his memories)

Rai from Lost Colours had an non optical version of Lelouch's power however he never (to my knowledge) uses it on Lelouch, Shin Hyuga Shing's Geass seems like Lelouch's however it seems to more relate to people dying and we see him use it during Akito of the Exiled, when Lelouch's Geass was sealed (so even if the 2 met we wouldn't know how Lelouch's Geass would react due to it's sealed state)

Given in most cases Geass seems absolute apart from some weakness like Lelouch and Rai can't using it on people a second time or Rolo's heart stopping, the Geass Code which is what C.C and Charles has would be absolute aswell, since all Geass Powers come from a Code barer and a contractors powers have no effect on them (we see Lelouch try and command C.C and Charles) it could be that they are absolute over contractors, Lelouch even argues with C.C she could have terminated her contract with Mao but he may have been referring to killing Mao rather than stripping him of his power.

Something which may be able to back this up is Jeremiah Gottwald's Geass Canceler which was developed by the Geass Order. C.C was it's previous Director followed by V.V before finally Charles, Charles's Code came from V.V so all Directors of the Order had the Code, Bartley also mentions at one stage that they captured C.C some time after she left to study her which could indicate that the Geass Canceler may have been an application of their studies of the Code given the order would research the Code first in order to duplicate Geass Contracts

i should point out this is mainly just speculation from what i've seen in the series, there are a lot of mysteries to Geass which have yet to be revealed.


Where does the term "3D girl" come from? When people (usually otaku) talk about real girls, they always refer them as "3D girls". I guess it's kind of opposite from "2D girls" in anime, manga, games, etc.

So, where did the term "3D girl" come from? What is its origin?

2d girls are called as such because they are portrayed through screens, pages and other flat surfaces. Even when made into figurines and other items they are still usually referred to their main medium.

Note that computer generated characters like in Knights of Sidonia are usually treated as 2d persons because of their medium, despite being 3d.

Girls are called 3d by otaku (often derogatory) when they talk about girls in the real world - where there is a concept of 'depth', a third dimension.
Again the term 3d girl is used when they are depicted in photographs or similar, because we reside and interact with these people in a 3d world.

Otaku who prefer 2d women occasionally offensively use the phrase '3DPD', or "3d, pig disgusting"

2d girl vs 3d girl.

I don't believe there is an 'origin' for this, as dimensions are facts and this difference has always existed. However, the term has probably picked up usage with the rise of the internet and raised  popularity of anime