What is the viewing order of Fate-related works? I've watched just the 2006 Fate/Stay Night anime series. I know there are other series in the franchise (Fate/Zero, Fate/kaleid Liner Prisma Ilya), as well as the Unlimited Blade Works movie, and the manga. I don't intend to read the visual novel since it's hundreds of dollars to import it, plus it's insanely long. What order should I take these works in, and are there any I can skip without losing out?

If you ask five people this question, you'll get six answers. There are conflicting opinions on this, and I'll try to outline the major options available in this answer. But first, a tl;dr
tl;dr
If you only want to watch anime:

Watch Ufotable's version of Unlimited Blade Works (prologue, first half, second half)
Wait for Ufotable's version of Heaven's Feel
Then, watch the Fate/Zero anime (first half, second half)

If you're willing to do whatever:

Read the Fate/stay night visual novel
(Optionally, watch the Ufotable versions of Unlimited Blade Works and Heaven's Feel)
Watch the F/Z anime.

It is generally agreed that Fate/stay night and Fate/Zero are the two core works of the Fate series. They both come in multiple forms. Whatever you do, consuming these two works in some form is the first thing you should do.
Fate/stay night

Fate/stay night was originally a 2004 visual novel that had three routes - Fate, Unlimited Blade Works, and Heaven's Feel (in that order).
The 2006 anime by DEEN mostly adapted the Fate route.
The 2010 movie by DEEN adapted a highly condensed form of the the Unlimited Blade Works route.
Fall 2014 and Spring 2015 saw another adaptation of Fate/stay night, this time by Ufotable, which adapts the Unlimited Blade Works route.
At some point in the future, Ufotable will release a movie or series of movies that will adapt Heaven's Feel
There is also a manga series that (I believe) adapts the Fate route, but I'm going to ignore it, because it's generally thought to not be that great.

Fate/Zero
Fate/Zero is a prequel to Fate/stay night.

It was originally a light novel series (2007). Fate/Zero has no concept of routes, so all media of Fate/Zero cover the same material, more or less.
It had a manga adaptation (started in 2011; ongoing). It was pretty good, but if you want to read it, I recommend that you do so after watching the Fate/Zero anime.
It was adapted into a 2-cour anime by Ufotable in Fall 2011 and Spring 2012.

Below, I discuss some possible scenarios for consuming F/sn and F/Z.

You want to stick to watching anime
In this case, the best option is:

Watch Ufotable's version of Unlimited Blade Works. Then, once Ufotable's version of Heaven's Feel comes out, watch that. Finally, watch the F/Z anime.

The next-best option is:

Watch the F/Z anime. Then, watch Ufotable's version of Unlimited Blade Works. When Ufotable's version of Heaven's Feel comes out, watch that, too.

There are pros and cons to watching F/Z first vs. watching F/sn first. Each one spoils material for the other. On the whole, though, I feel that watching F/sn first is the correct choice, since this is the "production order" of the series - the F/sn visual novel followed by the F/Z light novels.
For incredibly spoilery details on how they spoil each other, see below:

 If you watch F/Z first, you know how messed up the Matou family is; you know that the Grail is corrupt; you know about Kiritsugu's affiliation with the Einzberns; you know that Sakura and Rin are sisters; you know that Kotomine is not a good guy. These are all major reveals in Fate and Heaven's Feel, and I think that knowing these things in advance impedes one's enjoyment of those routes.

 On the other hand, if you watch F/sn first, you know how the Fourth Grail War ends - but this isn't a bad thing. That's how all the original readers of Fate/Zero went into it, and Urobuchi Gen wrote the light novels with that in mind - the dramatic irony that we know that everything's going to hell in a handbasket but they don't is what gives F/Z a lot of its impact.

I do not advise watching the DEEN F/sn anime (the TV series) it is poorly produced, both in terms of objective quality (art, animation, etc.) and in terms of faithful adaptation of the original work. If you really want to know what happens in the Fate route, I guess you could watch it, but honestly, lots of what happens in Fate is also referenced in UBW and Heaven's Feel, so you'll be able to piece it together after watching the Ufotable version of those two routes.
I also do not advise watching the UBW movie at all - Ufotable's version of Unlimited Blade Works is strictly better in every way that I can think of (animation, pacing, etc.).
But you already watched the DEEN F/sn anime
Well, in that case, you're sort of in an "ideal" position - now you can watch Ufotable's version of UBW and (when it comes out) Heaven's Feel, and at the very end, Fate/Zero. This best emulates the "production order" of the Fate series without having to go to the visual novel.

You are open to anything
You have one clear-best option.
Read the F/sn visual novel. Then, watch the F/z anime. Optionally ― if you can grok Japanese or tolerate fan-translated light novels ― read the F/Z light novels.
At any time after reading the UBW route, watch Ufotable's version of UBW; at any time after reading the Heaven's Feel route, watch Ufotable's version of Heaven's Feel (assuming it has come out). The Ufotable version of UBW has a few extra scenes, and is generally agreed to be a very good adaptation of the visual novel (given the constraints of anime as a medium). So, if you want to see your favorite fight scenes animated, or just want to hear more lines by your waifu, I'd say go ahead and watch it.

What about all the other Fate/asdfghjkl stuff?
In this section, I've mentioned the major Fate/ works that people often have questions about; if you have any other questions, leave a comment and I'll update.
Fate/hollow ataraxia
Fate/hollow ataraxia is the sequel visual novel to F/sn (released in 2005). You can read this at any time after finishing the F/sn visual novel. It will probably be rather confusing if you've only watched the Ufotable versions of UBW and Heaven's Feel, since they do omit a fair bit of detail that is important to getting the jokes in Fate/hollow ataraxia.
If you can't read Japanese, this may be an unpleasant experience. The English translation patch is... not great.
Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya
Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya is a spinoff manga (parts one, two, three) that shares characters and universe concepts with F/sn and F/Z but is otherwise rather dissimilar. A 10-episode anime season aired in summer 2013 and another 10-episode season ("2wei") aired in summer 2014. A third season ("2wei Herz") is scheduled for summer 2015.
You can watch or read this at any time after finishing the F/sn visual novel or F/Z in any form. You will get more of the jokes if you've finished both and also gone through Fate/hollow ataraxia.
Other Fate/gibberish
There are also a lot of spinoffs. To name a few, Fate/apocrypha, Fate/Grand Order, Fate/strange fake, Fate/Extra, Fate/Extra CCC, Fate/Unlimited Codes, Fate/tiger colosseum, and Fate/Prototype. You can probably read/play any of these after reading the Fate/stay night visual novel or watching the 2006 DEEN anime or Ufotable UBW or Ufotable Heaven's Feel. None of them are particularly "important", but you may find them fun.
The rest of the Nasuverse
The Fate/ series shares a universe with a number of other works by Nasu Kinoko (the author of F/sn), including Tsukihime, Kara no Kyoukai, and Mahoutsukai no Yoru. Some of these are dependent on one another, but they're all essentially wholly decoupled from the Fate/ series. Read them if you like, or don't. Whichever.


Why didn’t Lelouch use Geass on himself sooner? Before the Mao thing happened, couldn’t Lelouch order himself: “Achieve all your goals.” (provide a happy life for Nunally, etc.) or is that in some kind too risky?

I know he didn’t use some logical orders on people because of moral, but using Geass on himself just to achieve his goals seems good to me even if there’s a time limit of how long the Geass works and Lelouch forgets what happened while he was “on Geass”.

Lelouch's Geass isn't a OPed power that grants wishes

Lelouch's Geass, bestowed upon him by C.C., gives him "The Power of Absolute Obedience", allowing him to plant commands within a person's mind upon eye contact in a manner comparable to hypnosis.
...

The victim will not perform any action disallowed by their physical or mental capabilities, though they will try to carry out the command to the best of their ability. For example, a victim will not be able to correctly answer a question they don't know the answer to, but will direct the user to someone who can if they are able.

Source: Lelouch vi Britannia > Abilities > Geass
so even if Lelouch used his Geass on himself to "Achieve all your goals" it wont just magically make it happen. it only seems like that with Suzaku and Euphemia because

in Suzaku's case he was more or less suicidal as a means to atone for his past. Lelouch's command to "live" just forced Suzaku to not do anything that would needlessly throw away his life (ie. stand in the line of Hadron Cannon fire just to ensure Zero was killed)

in Euphie's case it override her own will of not wanting to kill the Japanese and in the end she didn't kill all the Japanese

A "Achieve all your goals" is also very dangerous as since as shown with Suzaku and Euphie it overrides one's wills it would also override morality. consider that one of Lelouch's goals was to get revenge against the Britannian Imperial Family and killed Clovis to this goal. now even if we assume Lelouch wouldn't harm Nunnally (who is in the royal family) a geass command to achieve all goals could just have him just take a nuke he finds to Pendragon and detonate it when the entire royal family is gathered there along with millions of innocent people.
we see this more or less happen in Season 2 when Suzaku detonates the F.L.E.I.J.A. at the start he doesn't want to do it and Lelouch would have successfully called his bluff when Suzaku threatened to detonate it during the second battle of Tokyo, however while he was prepared to die as a form of atonement during the fight the Geass order from Lelouch to "live" activated and forced Suzaku to kill millions of people just to save his life.


What is the name of the heroine in Amnesia? Okay, So I haven't played the latest otome game of Amnesia yet because it hasn't come out which is Amnesia- World yet and I am not sure whether I will be able to get a PC version of it and the anime stopped with the heroine actually returning back to her own world, so it didn't quite cover as much as it did in the game.

There is however one element throughout the anime and the games so far that remained the same, her name.

So what is her name? Is she known as anything else other than "heroine"?

She is only known as "Heroine." Now, if you look at Wikipedia or any other source and check the dates, you'll see that the anime is released after the game.

If the developers of the game never named her, e.g. implying the "Heroine" is whomever plays as her in the game, they didn't need to name her. This would allow the players to insert themselves into the game as the game's "Heroine."

So the fact that she isn't named could be entirely intentional in the game and the decision was carried over to the anime. If she didn't need a name in the game, I guess she didn't need it in the anime.

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amnesia_(visual_novel)


Music in episode 10 of cowboy Bebop I would like to know if someone could tell me the name of a song in Cowboy Bebop, in episode 10, the one about Jet’s story?
It’s at the end of the episode at ~ 18:20 when he arrests his ex girlfriend and her new boyfriend.
Thanks you.

The song name is ELM. https://cowboybebop.fandom.com/wiki/Ganymede_Elegy. Everything that you want to know about the episode 10 is on wiki fandom. Not only for the 10th episode but for every other episode in the series and for other animes too.Check it out.Have a great day:)


In Plunderer, what does Licht's -999 count mean? In episode 2 (possibly even 1) of Plunderer, Nana refers to his -999 count as "the number of times he's been rejected by women".

Does that mean he has been rejected -999 times, meaning 999 girls have actually accepted him?

Or, is his count actually "the number of times he has successfully hit on women" meaning he has been rejected 999 times, making it a negative number?

His number goes down another 1 (making it -1000) when seemingly Hina falls for him (or at least accepts him)?

In episode 3, he states that he has been rejected by 1000 females he admires, so that must mean his count is actually "how many women he has successfully hit on" then, right? Unless he's being deceiving?

Sorry if this is worded poorly, talking about negative numbers and rejection at the same time is hard.

As it is worded currently it is the number of girls who have rejected him. After he leaves, she "rejected" him from her heart and so it went down. More explanation may be given later on


Can someone with activated (in use) Sharingan be pulled into a genjutsu by another person with activated Sharingan? I mean, I know Itachi was able to do it to Kakashi, but Kakashi only has (er, had) one Sharingan, not two. So, I guess my example would be if Itachi and Sasuke were fighting, both with their Sharingans blazing, could one pull the other into a Genjutsu just like they could do to anyone without Sharingan, or does both users having their Sharingan activated cancel it out? I can't find any information on this despite looking for a few hours!

Yes they can do that.
The best example for it is probably the final fight between Sasuke and Itachi where the whole first part of it was just a genjutsu.


Can the 8 Gates be Achieved by Anyone? I already know that both Guy and Lee can do it as well as Kakashi, but I've never seen anyone else achieve it. Are there any specific requirements for the technique?

This technique is called the Hidden Lotus, where the user opens the eight chakra gates present in the body. Each gate is a special point in the body that limits the flow of chakra in order for the body to live longer. Opening a gate lets chakra flow freely through it, giving the user a boost in his/her powers, but as a price the body suffers greatly.

There are no specific requirements; however, opening the gates is very dangerous by itself and becomes more dangerous as more gates are opened simultaneously. The reason for that is that the body itself can't stand the chakra flow and gets damaged because of it. That's why it's hard to open the gates and requires a lot of training to master it.

This technique is an advanced version of Taijustu, and requires a lot of training with serious side effects even for trained users like Guy.

So anyone will choose to train for his/her Ninjustu or Genjutsu instead of working for this technique. Hence Kakashi, Guy, and Lee were the only ones using this technique.


What does Hana's middle initial stand for? In Hanayamata, Hana's full name is "Hana N. Fountainstand" (or Fontaine-Stand, or Fonteyn-Stand, or Founteyne-Stand, depending on who you talk to). Do we ever find out what "N" stands for?

I'm pretty sure this never happened in the anime, so I'm expecting it was revealed in the manga if it ever was.

It doesn't seem to be revealed anywhere officially, but based on fans' theory:
The "N" should be a word (that has similar pronunciation with) "Now".

Japanese fans found that all* characters in Hanayamata are related to Kamakura city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan.

From an anon user id 900RcZoqa on post no. 960 on 2channel,

  全部地名

  『ハナヤマタ』
  関谷なる → 鎌倉市関谷
  笹目ヤヤ → 鎌倉市笹目
  常盤マチ → 鎌倉市常盤
  西御門多美 → 鎌倉市西御門

  All of them are name of places

  "Hanayamata"
  Naru Sekiya → Kamakura city, Sekiya
  Yaya Sasame → Kamakura city, Sasame
  Machi Tokiwa → Kamakura city, Tokiwa
  Tami Nishimikado → Kamakura city, Nishimikado

that leaves Hana N. Fountainstand.

Turns out there's also a place in Kamakura city called Imaizumidai. Imaizumidai in Japanese is 今泉台. If each character is translated to English,

今 = Now
泉 = Fountain
台 = Stand

they match with "N. Fountainstand".

  ハナ・N・フォンテーンスタンド → 鎌倉市今泉台（Now→今 fountain→泉 stand→台）

As for what does the "N" stand for, we can't really know, since as it's been mentioned, フォンテーンスタンド might be read as Fountainstand, Fontaine-Stand, Fonteyn-Stand, Founteyne-Stand, etc. Thus, the "N" might be Now, Nau, Naw, etc.

*Except Sachiko Yamanoshita. There's no Yama-no-shita in Kamakura city, but there's Yama-no-uchi and Saka-no-shita. (From Japanese Yahoo! Answers)

Also, there's someone who travelled around Kamakura to find these places. (1, 2)


What are the powers of the Sword of Nunoboko? I have a few questions regarding this sword recently seen in Naruto manga (Chapter 651).

1st: How was this sword formed? I can see that it doesn't belong to the Treasured Tools of the Sage of the Six Paths. Is this forged or just formed from a special Chakra?

2nd: Does it have special abilities like the Sword of Totsuka wielded by Uchiha Itachi?

3rd: Does it have any connections to real-life history? Like the Treasured Tools of the Sage of the Six Paths related to the Chinese classic Journey to the West?

I have done an extensive research, but have not found anything useful. The wiki contains only its appearance and description from the recent chapter.

Check out this excellent post from Amaterasu's Son

  Madara once said will cannot be passed down.

  I propose that he was right to a degree. Obito never met the Rikudo
  Sennin, he never saw him with his own eyes, he never heard his voice
  or touched his heart. Rikudo Sennin couldn't pass down his will to
  him.

  "His passion and intensity, permeate throughout the blade...you could
  say this blade carries his very essence."

  Therein lies the problem.

  Obito has no passion. He has no intensity. He has purpose, he has
  desire, and he has determination. But emotionally? He's an empty husk
  scratching to reclaim his own life as he envisions it.

  But Obito cannot use that sword. You can't borrow Rikudo Sennin's will
  and passion and subvert it for your own use. If what Obito said was
  absolutely true then that sword breaking was absolutely foreseeable.
  Lest Obito forgets Hagoromo chose his younger son to lead the way to
  the future. Of the little we know about Rikudo Sennin we know that he
  has already rejected Obito and Madara's past thousands of years before
  they were even born. So if it is his essence in that blade, then
  clearly it broke on purpose because it wants Obito to lose.

  If Obito was simply speaking metaphorically then it broke because he
  does not have the will and emotional vivacity to use such a weapon.
  For a man with no heart and no identity, using a sword that was
  supposedly comprised of passion is completely impossible.

  Peace.

In other words, the Sage used his sword to create the world, life, friendship, etc. Obito is trying to use the sword to destroy all of that, but the sword simply cannot be used for those purposes. This is why the sword broke.

UPDATE: I realized this answer isn't entirely answering your question and that is partially because there are no definitive answers to your first 2 questions. Unfortunately, I don't know about Japanese/Chinese history to answer the third.

To answer the first, I believe anyone who has similar powers to the Sage of Six Paths can create one. So far, we have seen Obito wielding Rikudou Sennin's, Madara with his own, and this might be a stretch, but Naruto+Sasuke with their mighty sword.

Basically, the sword is a materialized version of the creator's will. By this, I mean that one of the requirements to make this type of sword is a very powerful will from its owner. I believe the sword Naruto had defeated Obito's sword was only because Naruto's will was stronger than Obito. Similar to what Amaterasu's Son was saying, I think Obito and his sword was not as powerful because the user himself did not have the will of fire.

Now let's talk about the abilities of this sword. All we know is that Obito said the Sage of Six Paths created the world with this sword. Madara's version for Obito also had his will in the sword. So despite not knowing exactly what the abilities are, we know that the sword's abilities will help accomplish their goals / will. Rikudou Sennin's sword was to create the world of peace, so that is what his sword abilities will complement. Although we don't know what exactly Madara's goal is yet, we do know he has some sort of evil plot to control the world. His sword will help him accomplish that goal, which is why he also passed it on to Obito.

Analysis / discussion link to Madara's materialized will here


Why does the author replace the protagonist and his family with a bird? What does the bird symbolize in Oyasumi Punpun?

Wiki says:

  Punpun is depicted as a caricature bird, but this depiction changes frequently throughout the story to express his state of mind. The other characters, unlike the audience, only see his human form, since the caricature birds he and his family are seen as are entirely figurative.

Why does author represents the parents and the protagonist as a bird even if they have different states of mind?

Asano Inio decided on the scrawled bird as a code that would allow him to experiment with the environment and let readers identify with the bird.  The primary reason that Punpun and his family are depicted as bird symbols is to give readers who are used to simple symbols and who avoid difficult stories the impression that it's a simple manga. The mangaka was hoping that people would start reading it thinking that it's kind of fluffy, and only later discover that Oyasumi Punpun goes much deeper than that.

Those of us looking for one-to-one interpretations of bird shapes to states of mind are out of luck.  The mangaka himself has said that "it doesn't have any particular meaning, I just got tired of re-using the one bird form".

Reference: Interview with Asano Inio on ANN


How do characters in Naruto train to use elemental jutsus besides the wind nature? We already know how Naruto trained to use his element. But how do others train to use fire, water, and earth elemental jutsus? Do they burn a leaf and then burn a waterfall? Do they suck the water in the leaf out and then try and move a waterfall? Was there any explanation for chakra natures that wasn't Naruto's?

There were other episodes that explains better how the different chakras works, specially in the original Naruto. Obviously the training would be very different for others elements.

Here are some references

  Naruto chapter 321, pages 4-5
  Naruto chapter 315, page 13
  Thir dDatabook, page 236
  Naruto chapter 315, page 15
  Third Databook, page 214
  Naruto chapter 375, page 11
  Fourth Databook, page 249
  Naruto chapter 689, page 5
  Naruto chapter 316, page 9
  Naruto chapter 207,page 8
  Naruto chapter 316, pages 4-7
  Naruto: Shippūden episode 55
  Naruto chapter 361, page 13
  Third Databook, pages 274-275

The way to understand how elements works would be understanding their properties, because it explains a lot about the compatibility and the way for creating new techniques.

Simple examples of training for other elements are creating a wall, cut or broke things, etc. Techniques that you see in one element could be imitate in another, but the difference you'll see it in a battle.


Why are the numbers of Logia and Zoan Devil Fruit users lower when compared to Paramecia users? From the wikia:

                    Canon   Non-Canon   SBS
Paramecia -          49*       15        2
Zoan -               17         3        0
Logia -              11         3        0
Unspecified -         0         1        1
Total Devil Fruits - 77*       22        3

It is clear that Paramecia users outnumber both Zoan and Logia users. Is there any specific reason for that?

I think that more Zoan users mean more animals, so it will have less creativity (for attacks) compared to other Devil Fruits. So that may be a reason for less Zoan users till now.

But what about Logia? Most Logia users are big-shots.

I think the answer is pretty simple. Logia Devil Fruits give you the power to become an element, Zoan fruits give you the power to become an animal, Paramecia fruits are those which allow you to do anything else.

Imagine if you divided all cars you saw into Volvos, Peugeots, and Others. You'd expect far more of the third category because it's definition is broader. So out of all the Devil Fruits in existence, you'd expect more to be Paramecia than others.

I think Logia should be even more under reported than they are, as they are stated to be the rarest and most powerful of the three types of fruit, but at the Whitebeard War, many of the most powerful men in the world were shown, so the fruits we've seen are skewed towards the more powerful.


Why do light novels and manga have long titles? So, I came across these comments in an r/manga post:

KibaTeo: Even a short series became an isekai
MonochromeGuy: That statement itself just sounds like a LN title.
in0ri: Gotta triple the length of the title, bro
Irru: Even Though This Was Supposed To Be A Generic Romantic Comedy, I Somehow Got Transported To A Different World!
KibaTeo: . . . is that an actual series tho? cause it sounds way too plausible
CelioHogane: He just tripled the lenght as it was asked.

I was wondering... why is this a thing, though? It seems that lots of series these days (especially light novels) are given very long and descriptive titles. Some classic examples include:

Oreimo

short for: Ore no Imouto ga Konnani Kawaii Wake ga Nai
translation: My Little Sister Can't Be This Cute

Watamote

short for: Watashi ga Motenai no wa Dou Kangaetemo Omaera ga Warui!
translation: No Matter How I Look at It, It's You Guys' Fault I'm Not Popular!

And here's a more recent series (that doesn't seem to have a shortened nickname yet):

Imamade Ichido mo Onnaatsukai sareta Koto ga Nai Onna Kishi wo Onnaatsukai suru Manga

translation: A Story About Treating a Female Knight, Who Has Never Been Treated as a Woman, as a Woman

One would think that having super long titles would be a disadvantage because they'd be difficult to remember :P So, my question is, why is this style of title so common? Is this a recent thing? How did this trend of super long titles come about?

The Anime Man explains this in his video.

TL;DR:

People get lazy to read the blurb of the novel (the short summary usually at the back of the book) to know what it's about, so a longer title will be more descriptive than titles like "Wish".
The LN industry is getting bigger, therefore everyone will eventually run out of titles to use (even movies there are some that have the same title which is not good), a longer title will make your LN unique and stand-out. Top selling LN in the first half of 2019 according to Oricon.


Do the trapped souls in the Reaper/Shinigami suffer? In the English dub, during the fight between the Third Hokage Sarutobi and Orochimaru in the first Naruto series, Sarutobi says that after using the Reaper Death Seal, the souls trapped in the Reaper are tormented for all eternity.

Does this mean that the souls of the First through Fourth Hokages were suffering from the time they were sealed away until they were released in Naruto Shippuden? Or was this a mistranslation?

When the First through Fourth Hokages were brought back by Orochimaru in Shippuden, they didn't seem like they were being tormented - or rather - it appeared that they had no recollection of their time outside of reality.

So which one is it? I did not watch the sub/Japanese episodes or read the manga from this part of the series.

In the manga chapter 124, Sarutobi tells Orochimaru what happens to the souls who are sealed by the Shiki Fujin.

With this jutsu, the one whose soul is sealed will suffer for all eternity in the belly of death, never gaining release. The one who is sealed and the one who performed the seal, their souls will mingle, hating each other and battling the other for all eternity.

This would happen in the normal case, which is when a shinobi uses the Shiki Fujin to seal his enemy's soul along with his own. Naturally, their souls would continue to fight after being sealed inside the Shinigami's stomach.
However, Sarutobi used it to seal his former teachers, Hashirama and Tobirama, who were only fighting him because they were under Orochimaru's Edo Tensei control. After being sealed, there was no reason for them to continue fighting, and hence, when they were released, they don't look like they were suffering or exhausted from battle.
The Fourth Hokage was sealed with the Yin-Kyuubi, and he presumably ended his battle long ago, as described here, so he had no reason to be suffering either.


Why do producers translate some anime titles? A lot of producers these days seem to change the original Japanese name to English alternatives. Why do they do this? Does this add any value to the name of the anime in other countries or is it just that it is easier to read for people outside of japan/otaku society?

Because some of the cases are really weird and in my opinion not necessary. An example of this would be "Ace of Diamond" also known as "Diamond no Ace".

Is there anything to gain from translating the title? Also, why don't all series do this?

Since you don't specify who is "they" I would like to give some insight:

"they" the English Comercializator:

Promotional/Marketing desition which take into account the public, if the program/title has an extensive fan-base that knows the name by the Japanese title, it would be counter-productive to translating the title and maybe lossing buyers that don't know the "product" by the english title.
Attractiveness: some titles are more atractive if they have mixed/full english translation, again a marketing move.

There could be others reasons but most of them will boil down to marketing tactics to sell, through the Japanese trademark holders may like to commercialize under a specific name, or, at petition of the author, use a translation.

"they" the fan:

Fans most of the time are purist, and call series by the original Japanese pronunciation which in some cases is rather painful (any long/big title almost impossible to pronounce out there?). Short names are also used (ex. PapaKiki) but most of them are stablished by the Japanese fans rather than the english-speakers. Through, some fans knows the title both by the translation and original Japanese, when distributing/discussing the most popular name takes precedence over the other possible uses.

other cases:

Some titles are already in English (or attempt of English), so no translation is made and is pronounced with correct english. Example of this, english-speakers may use Death Note instead of Desu Nōto as they would know the correct pronunciation and was what the author tried to convey.

In this cases, english marketers normally just use the correct english spelling when commercializing, and the only exception I know is 'Cardcaptor Sakura' which was commercialized as 'Cardcaptors'.


How do Japanese viewers watch the Japanese dub of RWBY? Out of curiosity, I'd like to know if RWBY is actually aired on television, or it's available on the Japanese version of Crunchyroll, or how else it is viewed.

According to Wikipedia:

  A local Japanese dub is being developed by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Japan, with plans for release on Blu-ray and DVD in 2015, marking the first time an American-produced anime-inspired series has been marketed in Japan.

So it appears that the Japanese release is limited to those media.


What animes or trends in anime was Evangelion a response to? It has been said that in some ways Evangelion is Anno's critique to what he saw as wrong with the mecha anime genre of the time.  Lists of shows that Evangelion has influenced abound, but what were the titles that Anno was critiquing?

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/feature/2002-06-11
Anno is not really critique anything in particular.  He came up with the concept of EVA when he was going through depression.  It is a coming of age story and offers ideas of living the life that he and Gainax thought were important for life.  The show does play homage to series like Ultraman; and is littered with hidden references. Most of the food in the vending machines were discontinued favorites that the animators liked (the junk food market has a quick turn around with many flavor varieties being limited edition).

I would recommend watching Blue Blazes (Aoi Honō). This J-drama has Anno and other members of Gainax and does show a little about who Anno is and how Gainax made the Daicon (Diacon 4 in particular) opening that made them famous.

I would look at ME! ME! ME!
This recent music video is a much straight forward critique on how anime is consumed by Otakus in Japan.

Otaku no Video
is another cool OVA to check out. Made by Gainax it is something of an autobiography into how the studio was created.


Who exactly is Maria? in Maria-sama ga Miteru (Maria Watches Over Us), every morning the girls pray to a statue of Maria. It's obvious that Maria is some sort of saint related to the school, but I am wondering: is Maria someone in real life or was she made up just for the anime?

Maria is also known as Mary, or the holy virgin Mary. She is one of the key points in several streams of religion. The Maria in the series seems to be based on this.

  According to the Bible, Mary (מרים; c. 18 BC – c. 41 AD), also known as Saint Mary or Virgin Mary, was a Jewish woman of Nazareth in Galilee. She is identified in the New Testament[Mt 1:16,18-25][Lk 1:26-56][2:1-7] as the mother of Jesus through divine intervention. Mary (Maryam) also has a revered position in Islam, where a whole chapter of the Qur'an is devoted to her. Christians hold her son Jesus to be Christ (i.e., the messiah) and God the Son Incarnate. By contrast, Muslims regard Jesus as one of the prophets of God sent to humanity; not as God himself nor the Son of God.


Why did Ash need to go back to Pokemon School? I was watching Pokemon Sun Moon. In the answer to this question "Why did Ash became a child back in Sun Moon Series?" it says that Ash never age so obviously he didn't became child.

But why did he need to go to Poke-school? He knows a lot on Pokemon and he went on till the finals in last league (Kalos)

As I said in the comments, Pokemon is a series which has been on air for a long time. But it's still mostly aimed for kids.

Whereas kids watching the first ones are now adults, it would be strange to have a Ash kid, pro at Pokemons and already knowing everything.

So at each beginning of a new series, they explain everything again for the new kids watching and because it's important to see a progress. If Ash knew already everything, had all the Pokemons from various regions, then it would become boring to follow him on his journey as he will certainly be a lot stronger than most of his opponents.

By doing as if Ash knew nothing at the beginning of each series, you can then follow again is evolution and grow up with him.

(Sorry for bad English as I'm French, and hope that you still understand)


Can anyone be a Ninja/Shinobi? In the latest Naruto manga (Chapter 646), the Shinobi world was built by the God Tree where the chakra really originated. But what if you don't have chakra and born as a normal human, can you be a Shinobi?

Please take note that I am referring to persons with no inborn chakra and without the ability to manipulate it.

My answer is yes, anyone can be a Shinobi.

All humans have chakra. This isn't exactly something you are born with or without. The latest chapter was a bit confusing, but Madara specifically stated that the Sage of Six paths was the first person to "wield" chakra. That means that he was the first person to be able to use it with skill, not the first person born with it.

Chakra is present in every cell of the body
http://naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Chakra

Anyone can be a shinobi if they are taught how to use their chakra. And even for people like Lee who can't use chakra externally for ninjutsu and genjutsu, he is still able to use chakra in other ways, such as walking on water.

As for the last part of your question "without the ability to manipulate it" , I think this part is probably arguable as the definition of a shinobi is arguable. How exactly do we want to define shinobi. For my definition, a shinobi simply just a ninja. Shinobi in Naruto normally take missions for hire and wield chakra.

However, in Naruto, there should not exist people with no inborn chakra and thus anyone can be a shinobi. People aren't born with the ability to manipulate chakra; they learn how to.

EDIT (My additional interpretation of the last chapter):

Here's the way I interpreted it. Everyone contains chakra, but no one knew how to use it. When Kaguya consumed the fruit, she became godlike with excessive amounts of chakra. She then gave birth to a child, who was born into the world knowing how to manipulate it. From there on, the Sage of Six paths taught others how to manipulate it.

Madara said "Chakra was something that originally only belonged to the Shinju" and I think this is just a mythical explanation of how chakra came to humans. Before Kaguya, no one was able to manipulate chakra and therefore chakra only belonged to the Shinju. "By taking the chakra by force" as Madara said, AKA consuming the fruit, humans could figure out how to manipulate it. This also further explains why the Shinju is taking all the chakra back. If for some reason Kishimoto decides to use Madara's interpretation of the Uchiha Tablets as actual history, there will be contradiction to how Kishi defined chakra in the past.

Asian history has a common tendency to include supernatural/mythical features to its stories, like the Romance of the 3 Kingdoms for China. Although there are some certain historical facts to it, stuff like magic is included and it gets all sorts of wacky if we believed everything that was recorded.


What, exactly, is "Fate/stay night" supposed to mean? We've all heard of Fate/stay night, the much-beloved visual novel by Type-Moon that taught us that people die when they're killed.

But what does the title "Fate/stay night" actually mean? We can assume for the moment that "Fate" is just a designator for the series (hence Fate/Zero, Fate/Extra, etc.), but I'm still somewhat baffled as to what "stay night" could possibly be.

(Nobody on the internet seems to know, and I figure the ultimate answer is probably "it sounds cool", but I thought I'd put this out there anyway.)

When Kinoko Nasu first wrote Fate/Stay Night in college it was called Old Fate (旧Fate) and Fate Origin and was reimagined later to be Fate/Prototype. Nasu only wrote what would become the game's Fate Route.

there is speculation on what meaning there is behind the name. ie

Fate may refer to the fate of the servants like Saber accepting her fate in her life or the Fate of magi that battle each other in the war
Stay may refer to the desire to keep the servants like with Shirou and Saber, it may refer to make something remain or stay like the reason why Shiro enters the war in both Fate/Stay Night and Fate/Hollow Ataraxia was to keep the peace in the town or in Heaven's Feel Route which is like the ultimate climax to the game how Zouken wanted Heaven's Feel to become Immorality but without his body rotting. in Fate/Extra, Twice H. Pieceman had changed the Moon Cell's selection process to be a war believing humanity requires war to advance and evolve, he wanted Hakuno Kishinami and every other Master who appeared at the Moon Cell's core to wish for the perpetuation of war (stay in war)
Night could refer to how the battles mainly occurred during the night during the night or the darkness behind the war (In Prototype the Heaven's Feel system was meant to materialize Beast or in Fate/Stay Night Angra Mainyu's corruption of the grail)

Another theory is that the Fate part was taken from his original work, /Stay Night was just added to sound cool like with Kara no Kyoukai (空の境界?, lit. Boundary of Emptiness) - The Garden of Sinners or Tsukihime (月姫, lit. Moon Princess).

ref Anime News Network Forums


What are these people doing in front of a shrine? In the beginning of the first episode, we see Haru end up (very briefly) at this shrine in Enoshima, in front of which people are singing some song to some actions. Is there any "meaning" to what these people are doing in from of the shrine (particularly in the real world, and out of Tsuritama-specific context)?

For what it's worth, later, we see Haru and Yuki's classmates sing the same song after Yuki gets shot by Haru's water gun, so at the very least, I'd assume that the song itself might simply be something meaningless outside of this anime-universe, but I don't know enough Japanese culture to come to conclusions I trust.

In this video, which shows a performance of Kagura/Bugaku (traditional Japanese dance) at Setsubun event, people seem to do the same thing: chanting "Haino" and raising their hands. So the scene in the question could be some kind of Kagura.


How was Law's fever cured by eating Ope Ope fruit? I saw the episode in which Law had a fever and was about to die.

Just by eating the Ope Ope fruit his fever was cured.

As I understood, it makes you a genius doctor, but how was he cured instantly?

Eating Ope Ope no Mi does not guarantee a cure per se. Remember the scene when Law tried to heal Rosinante? Rosinante laughed at him and said it doesn't work that way. Ope Ope no Mi is simply a tool/means to heal someone.

Law had to study being a doctor and medicine to cure himself with said knowledge.

As the wiki has said,

  The Ope Ope no Mi is a Paramecia-type Devil Fruit that allows its user to create a spherical space or "room", in which the user has complete control over the placement and orientation of the objects inside, making the user a Free Modification Human (改造自在人間 Kaizō Jizai Ningen?).

Like the description has said, the Ope Ope no Mi is indeed a powerful devil fruit but more powerful if the user has medical knowledge.

  The Ope Ope no Mi has been described as having "miraculous" properties, having the ability to cure any kind of illness, but at the same time still requires some extent of medical knowledge in order to be utilized effectively as the fruit's influence only bends but not fully defy biological aspects of those recipient to its life-saving applications and its miraculous healing is actually focused on spatially extracting disease-causing impurities such as bacteria and viruses directly out of the patients' bodies. As such, if a doctor of prodigious medical expertise were to obtain this fruit's power, their medical abilities would be second to none.


Where was Araragi when he helped Tsubasa Tiger? So Araragi jumps out of a portal and saves Tsubasa from the History Tiger while carrying the Kaii slaying sword...

I thought it was after traveling back to the present (Mayoi Jiangshi) but he just came back normally and he didn't even use the sword.

I've watched up to Hitagi End and I don't see where that scene fits in.

You didn't miss anything; the Second Season anime never shows us what happened to Koyomi during the time period of Tsubasa Tiger after the end of Shinobu Time.
In the novels, though, there is a Third Season of stories which take place during the same timeframe as the Second Season. The Third Season hasn't been adapted to anime yet, although it may well be in the future, since they made Tsukimonogatari against my expectations.
Suruga Devil is chronologically the last story in the Monogatari series, but the Third Season explains what Ougi's deal is and shows us what was going on behind the scenes during the Second Season, including what happened to Koyomi after Shinobu Time. I haven't read the Third Season novels, but according to the Bakemonogatari wikia, the story Shinobu Mail from Owarimonogatari Volume 2 covers this period. It takes place between Shinobu Time (which was immediately after Mayoi Jiangshi, and also overlapped with Tsubasa Tiger) and Ougi Formula, the first story of Owarimonogatari. You can read a thorough summary of Shinobu Mail on the wikia; I'll just summarize how it bridges the gap between Shinobu Time and the end of Tsubasa Tiger.

 In return for her help during Shinobu Time, Gaen Izuko asks Koyomi to help her deal with an ancient kaii which seems to have a connection to Shinobu. This is why the vampire hunter Episode was in town to meet Tsubasa on the street during Tsubasa Tiger: he was hired by Izuko to help with this job. Izuko also has Koyomi summon Suruga. Suruga meets Koyomi at Eikou Cram School. They have a confrontation with the ancient kaii, which ends when Kako sets fire to the building. Shinobu and Black Hanekawa arrived during Tsubasa Tiger just in time to see the building burning. Shinobu and Black Hanekawa fight a strange creature in the park, after which they get separated. Koyomi and Suruga meet up with Shinobu. It turns out that the ancient kaii in samurai armor is Shinobu's first servant, mentioned in Kizumonogatari. After a climactic confrontation with him, Koyomi sets off with Kokorowatari to save Tsubasa from Kako, leading to the end of Tsubasa Tiger.

So the short answer is that Koyomi was off on a job for Izuko between Shinobu Time and the final scene of Tsubasa Tiger. He was beat up when he rescued Tsubasa because he'd just finished with another battle.


Is there any biographical information available about Yoshihisa Tagami creator of Grey? In the late 1980's early 90's Viz media published Grey by Yoshihisa Tagami as well as another work of his, Horobi. Grey was later made into an anime and according to this site, he worked on some other manga and anime, but I have not been able to find any detailed information or interviews about the artist in English (or otherwise). I would like to find out if Tagami is still active in the manga universe.

Here's all the information you can find on the internet about Yoshihisa Tagami:

Birthday: 09-12-1958 (DD-MM-YY) Source
Hometown: Komoro, Nagano, Japan Source

  Born in 1958, Tagami first achieved manga success in the early 1980s with Karuizawa Syndrome for Big Comic Spirits. What followed was an extremely prolific decade, with nearly 20 titles released over a 10-year span. Of these, GREY (1985), Horobi (1987) and Frontier Line (1987) would all eventually be translated and released in the U.S. Beyond manga, Tegami did character designs for Super High Speed Galvion (1984) and promotional artwork for the Famicom game Ikari (1986). While both GREY and Horobi got slick, squarebound books in English from Viz in the late ’80s (the former was even included a foreward by Harlan Ellison), Tagami has long since slipped from the lexicon of modern fans.Source

This excerpt seems to imply that he has lost his fandom in the recent times and may have left the manga/anime industry. His publications and active part as a staff in the production of any anime indicate that he has not been active in the anime/manga industry for atleast 10 years.
Appearance:Source

You can find find two other pictures of him: First one on Zimmerit, and the second one on Skynet
List of published manga (in alphabetical order):

4 Spirits Plus 2
Black Jack Alive
Frontier Line
Grey
Horobi
Karuizawa Syndrome
Kaseki no Kioku
Under Ground


Why can't Momoe Okonogi see Yuuko? I had watched Tasogare Otome × Amnesia quite a while ago. It was never clear to me why Momoe Okonogi couldn't see Yuuko.

I take it that to see Yuuko you needed to

Believe in ghosts
Expect to see Yuuko

Clearly Okonogi believes in all paranormal things, and she is always talking about Yuuko. It is also later confirmed to her that Yuuko indeed exists and is around the club.

Why can't she see Yuuko?

As Yuuko explains, people see her how they believe she'll look, it could be that Okonogi  believes ghosts exist but can't be seen unless they're using a medium like with the doll Teiichi exorcised which would be backed up when the "evil spirit" disappeared.

Given that since Teiichi to her is a spirit medium she is probably expecting Yuuko to be invisible and use Teiichi to speak to everyone which would explain why she can't even hear her.


Do we know how old Kakashi is? I've been wondering, since I can't find an exact age... While watching these filler episodes, he appears as the ANBU Kakashi, who was leading his team. Being the Senpai of Itachi he looks exactly (maybe for me) like he does in the present day... Is this a coincidence? Or couldn't the animators be bother to add additional "lines" to his face? Note that we've seen the newborn Naruto, that would mean that Kakashi looks the same as he did 17-18 years ago..

Using this timeline and the following data

September 15 Birth day Kakashi
Academy Grad. Age   5
Chūnin Prom. Age    6

We can tell that Kakashi was born 14 years before the 9-tails attack. Using the information that the Akatsuki dead line was 18 years after the 9-tails attack. we can tell that Kakashi should be roughly 32 years old.


Who names the powers of Mangekyō Sharingan? Considering that Obito, Kakashi and Madara all knew the name of Kamui without someone telling them, can we conclude that those who have the Mangekyō Sharingan know the name of its exclusive power? (Obito's Kamui, Shisui's Kotoamatsukami, Itachi's Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi, Sasuke's Amaterasu and Blaze Release: Kagutsuchi, and everyone's Susanoo)

Yes, only the ones with the Mangekyō Sharingan know the names of their techniques.

Taking an example, Obito and Kakashi had Obito's Mangekyō Sharingan. And they had the same Mangekyō technique (Kamui). Considering that Kakashi and Obito never saw each other or trained together after they awakened the Mangekyō, it is not a coincidence that both call their technique "Kamui".

In raw terms (sorry for the bad example), consider the Mangekyō Sharingan as a system, and it has two processes: A.exe and B.exe (the Mangekyō techniques). The two processes are already named, installed and stored in the system. And for the user to access it, all it needs is the fulfilment of the system requirements (loss of a loved one). So, when the uses has access to the processes, they naturally will know what to call it, since its already named and stored.

I hope this answers how the users know the names of their MS techniques. Nothing can be said about how the MS techniques are named because the current level of evidence is inconclusive.


Did Hyung Min-woo Invent Temozarela, the Antagonist of the "Priest" Manhwa? One of the interest plot constructs in the Priest (manhwa) series by Hyung Min-woo is the antagonist Temozarela.

He is summarized as:

  Temozarela is an arch-angel who fought on God's side in the war
  against Lucifer. However, this war caused God to lose faith in the
  angels and prefer humanity instead.

  Temozarela, bitter at this, took twelve angels to Earth to prove to
  God how flawed humans are. He set up a cult for the fallen angels
  which involved human sacrifice. However, this only made God angry and
  caused Temozarela to be banished to earth and imprisoned there.

Left to Right: Temozarela as angel, human, and crippled human

Obviously there's some similarities to the whole angels parts of the Preacher comics, or various other fictional works, but all the similar ideas I found were still substantially different from Temozarela.

I did some Google searching as I was curious whether this character (Temozarela) was a wholly new creation of the author. I could find no prior source material, not under that name at least.

Does prior fictional or religious source material for Temozarela exist under the same name or alternate names?

Temozarela is based off of the dark god Tchernobog from the Monolith game Blood, which the author admits is his inspiration for the basic setting of priest.


Who was Headmistress of Beacon versing in Episode 1: Ruby Red Rose? In RWBY, Episode 1: Ruby Red Rose, we see Ruby chasing a criminal who stole dust. After she chased this criminal, he shot at her, thought he had gotten rid of her, but was saved by the headmistress of Beacon Academy.

Further on we see the headmistress fighting a highly skilled person on the helicopter. Who was this woman and will we learn more about her in season 2?

It is revealed that the woman was Cinder:

  Cinder Fall is a character in the world of RWBY. She appears to be affiliated with Roman Torchwick in some way, perhaps controlling, or at least coercing, Roman rather than cooperating with him

She is definitely a main character, she is also the antagonist and was the exact same woman that the headmistress was fighting against.


What kinds of activities can be found in a Manga/Anime Club? We have a very popular Manga Club at our library.

The kids are interested in lots of different Asian cultures so we include cultural topics in our club such as Korean Word of the Day, Japanese Word of the Day and Chinese snacks like shumai and black sesame cookies. Other activities include a blog, dramatic reading and watching videos.

What other kinds of activities can be found on manga/anime themed clubs? In Asia, China, Europe, and/or America? This is for high school students.

I ran a college anime club for a couple of months with around 200 members (I was not the president, but our president was new so he had me handle most of the operations), and I was the treasurer for over 2 years. Over the course of any given year, we had around a couple dozen events, as well as weekly anime showings. I'm no longer a member of the club since I've changed schools, so they might be doing things differently now. Our club has been around at least since the 1980s, and probably earlier, and it's changed a lot and expanded quite a bit in that time. For instance, until anime was easily available in English, they had live translations for all of their showings by students studying Japanese (which, I can attest to, is very difficult).

Here are most of the various activities we held fairly regularly. To be honest, most of this is probably not applicable for you, but it could be for others interested in starting their own clubs.

Weekly showings: Our weekly showings lasted about 3 hours, roughly 8pm-11pm. These happened every week  of the semester except finals week.

At the beginning of the semester, we voted on either one show of ~26 episodes or two of around 13 each. At the beginning of each meeting we would watch 2 episodes of that show.
Each meeting also had a genre (e.g. mecha), and we accepted nominations for anime in that genre and voted on one of them in one of the past weeks. We would watch 4 episodes of that anime for the main showing. We tried to make genres as relevant as possible, e.g. the week of Halloween would be Horror, and Valentine's day would be romance.
Whenever possible, we got permission from the relevant licensing organization for our showings ahead of time. In most cases this can be done via their website.
There was also a break between the two, where we allowed random members to show videos, sold pizza for a small profit, and handled any voting and announcements.
After the meeting, some of the members would gather in the student union and  play video games or board games or just chat. This usually continued at least until 1 a.m., but sometimes as late as 6 a.m.
During the summer, when fewer people were present (less than 20), we typically had the same meeting style but it was more open. There was no preshowing, and people were free to bring in their own collections for showings.

Fighting game tournaments: Our club made a lot of money by hosting tournaments of various fighting games like Super Smash Bros and Street Fighter, sometimes together with local gaming groups. I wasn't really a part of this, so I don't know any of the specifics other than that we had a dozen or so CRT TVs in our club's storage for this purpose.
Premier events: We often held parties when large premiers occurred in Japan, usually for big game releases. We had one for the release of Pokemon Black and White, and another for Final Fantasy XIII. The president or one of the other members would give a presentation about the history of the game series, and if any existed we'd watch a few episodes of the relevant anime. We'd also have game consoles hooked up available to play any older games in the series.
Random presentations: Occasionally our president would decide that they wanted to do something like a premier event except that there wasn't any premier going on. So we'd have a presentation about some aspect of Japanese otaku culture, e.g. visual novels, and watch some anime or a bit of a visual novel or something like that, and usually have some food.
Anime Conventions: We had a lot of people interested in anime conventions; in fact one officer's job was almost solely announcing and coordinating conventions. In order to save money we bought rooms in bulk and organized rides.
Marathons: Once a month or so, on a weekend, we'd meet for 6-12 hours and watch an entire show (13-26 episodes) in one sitting. This obviously had lower attendance, but we typically had at least a dozen or so people at these. We'd usually aim for shows that people had not watched before but were still good. Occasionally we'd also host marathons of western animation.
Holiday Parties:  On various holidays or near them, we'd host parties with that theme. Halloween was by far the biggest, and we typically had at least 50 people at the Halloween parties. Many of us stayed in town during Spring break (Easter) or Thanksgiving break, or even winter break (Christmas) so we'd have parties for those two. These were not as well planned out as the Halloween party and had lower attendance. Oftentimes we'd just end up marathoning a short show with that theme. We also had parties at the end of finals week where we spent the rest of our money for the semester on food or whatever and had karaoke and video games and anime and board games and pretty much anything else people wanted to bring. All of the parties were alcohol-free and we never had any trouble enforcing that.
In conjunction with the Japanese language club, we attempted to do showings of unsubtitled (raw) Japanese anime, and we'd pause every few lines to discuss what was said. I'm not sure these were unqualified successes, since only a few members from the anime club went, but it was fun for those of us who did go.
Promotional events: My school had club fairs and cultural fairs regularly, and we'd have a table at all of them showing off our various anime memorabilia and whatnot. This was the primary way we brought in new members. We also rented out tables in the student union for the same purpose. These required quite a bit of preparation, as we needed to make sure in advance that someone trustworthy would be present at all times to make sure nothing got stolen (typically we had 3 or 4 people including at least one officer at the table at any time). We also needed to make sure we had enough business cards and people who were knowledgeable about a fairly wide range of anime to talk to anyone interested.
RPG groups: Our club was large enough that it spawned several (I know of at least 3) groups of people playing D&D and other paper and pencil RPGs. There are some anime-themed RPGs, like the Maid RPG.
Mahjong: Japanese mahjong is really nothing like the game on your computer called "mahjong". After showing either Saki or Akagi (I forget which) there was enough interest in the game to start up a weekly mahjong group. We had around 10 people who played regularly, and probably a few more who knew the rules.
Cosplay: We had a dedicated group of cosplayers who would meet roughly once a month to hold workshops and other things. I never went to one so I don't know how many people were in that group, but I'm guessing it was at least 10. We usually had a group of cosplayers at Japan night, an annual event put on by all of the Japanese-themed clubs on campus.
Collaborating with local business: One of our members started an anime store in town, and she would occasionally make announcements about new products and things. We also had membership discounts at several local stores which sold anime.
Other stuff: We were generally very flexible and open to members' suggestions and ideas. If someone had a cool idea and wanted to promote it, we'd let them make an announcement at the meetings. More than half of our events were initiated by non-officers.

Managing a club of that size is not easy, and we had over 10 officers with various roles. My guess is that you aren't aiming on expanding to a group of that size, so I'd suggest taking a few of the ideas above and adapting them to your needs.

My feeling is that for a high-school club, you should focus more on Japanese culture and less on anime specifically. Traditional Japanese culture events were mostly handled by the other Japanese culture clubs on campus (of which there were at least 3). They did things at their events like tea ceremonies, flower arrangement, Karuta, and Japanese language practice. If the people know some Japanese, you could also try Calligraphy and Poetry. You could also read some short Japanese novels. Japanese literature tends to be much shorter than western literature and is traditionally a lot darker.  It can be appealing to high school students. Some examples are Kokoro, I am a Cat, and No Longer Human.

I wouldn't discount anime entirely, though. There are some very good anime which explore different aspects of Japanese culture. I suspect a lot of them will be Josei genre. Some examples might be Chihayafuru, Sazae-san, and Honey and Clover. If you're willing to include some slightly questionable series morally (PG-13 rating or so) then Aoi Bungaku, Akagi, and some other seinen works might also be a good fit. I'd also include the works of Miyazaki as culturally significant on their own, especially some of the more symbolic ones like Nausicaä and Totoro.

Unfortunately, our website isn't very useful for anyone other than our members. However, the MIT anime club has a very good website for those interested in starting/expanding their own anime clubs. I know a couple of their members and I've often used suggestions on their page or from them. They know what they're talking about. Of particular interest are their resources page and their page about starting clubs (which has a section dedicated to high school clubs).


What is the anime that is set in the most distant future of today? A lot of anime set in the distant future doesn't specify the calendar year, so it ends up with something like "Before the..." or "XX years ago".
Some of the future-themed anime such as Gundam and Dragon Ball have their own calendar era which is Universal Century and Age respectively. We can't convert or compare the alternate calendar of the Anime to our real-life Gregorian calendar, so it might be helpful if the Anime has a similar calendar to ours.
According to my research, Legend of the Galactic Heroes is the anime that is set in the most distant future as of today, in AD 2801.

Looks like Legend of the Galactic Heroes is the Anime that is set in the most distant future (AD 3596). You can squeeze it in or append the list if you found any Anime that is set in the era between the Anime(s) or further.

Blue Gender
Yuji wakes up from cryogenic sleep in 2031 and the story begins.

Evangelion 3.0
The events of Evangelion 3.0 occur in 2032, 14 years after Evangelion 2.0 (Assumed in 2018).

Ghost in the Shell: S.A.C. Solid State Society
The most distant timeline in the series take place in year 2034.

Guilty Crown
The main story starts 10 years after the Lost Christmas incident on the Christmas eve in 2029. So it's 2039.

Voices of a Distant Star
The story begins in 2047.

Freezing
In 2065, Earth is in the middle of a war with extra-dimensional aliens called Nova.

Psycho-Pass
The main events of the first two seasons of Psycho-Pass span the years 2112-2114.

Infinite Ryvius
Set in the year 2225, mankind has spread from Earth to inhabit nearly all the planets or nearby moons in colonies and settlements.

Lily C.A.T.
The year is 2264 when the space exploration begins for the main cast.

Gundam 00
The series is set in 2307 AD. Gundam 00 is the only Gundam based in the AD/CE timeline.

Expelled from Paradise
Set in the year 2400 AD.

Cyber City Oedo 808
Set in the year 2808 in the city of Oedo (Tokyo).

Legend of the Galactic Heroes
Set in 3596, Space Era calendar replacing the Gregorian calendar, with 2801 AD now being SE 1.


Do the events of the Dragon Ball movies happen to some extent in the series? It's widely known that many events of the Dragon Ball movies contradicted the series, sometimes irreconcilably, and that they are "non canon", but does this mean they didn't happen at all? The last two Dragon Ball movies showed many of the events of those movies actually happened in the series. Not long ago, I read an interview in Spanish from someone from the cast of Dragon Ball. I can't remember if it was an animator or director of the last movies, but when talking about the movies and Dragon Ball Super, he said something in the lines of, the true story of Bills, Super Saiyan God, etc, is somewhere in the middle of the movies and the series, meaning the series' events aren't even over the movies.  What about former movies such as Super Android 13, Cooler's movies, Broly's movies, etc? Did  the events of those movies (those which aren't contradicted irreconcilably) actually happened to some extent in the series' story?

Besides the dragonball super movies everything else in Z is considered non cannon as in it had nothing to do with the actual series. I don't think toriyama was involved in any of the Z movies so they are kind of fanfiction by other authors.

An easy rule to follow is anything that did not happened in the manga is not considered to be a part of the series. If you take the a look a latest super manga you will see similarities with the last two movies so they are considered to be cannon.


What does the "S" stand for in s-rank or s-class? I know that S rank/class is above the standard A-F ranks/classes. A-F are used because they're the first letters of the alphabet. Is there a reason S is used, and/or does it stand for something? Maybe super or superior?

There's really no mention about what it stands, as far as I can recall. In fact, S-rank is not only used in One Punch Man. Reading around some articles, it seems like most of them attribute the S-rank as having originated in Japan. The meaning of 'S', however, is still unknown and is subject to speculation.

From what I've read, however, it seems like there are two possibilities as to where it originated:

Japanese video games - there is a question about that in Arqade, with articles saying that it originated from Japanese videogames but it lacks citation, or rather, the sources the answer linked has no citations or references. A Reddit thread from a Japanese, however, provide games and manga from the 90's which uses S-rank. There is even mention of how concert seating ticket uses S-rank, too.

  Now (2017), in Japan concert tickets are normally classified into "S席(=seat)" > "A席" > "B席". I googled and at least it had been used in 1972.

Japanese grading system - from the Reddit thread linked above, it was also mentioned that it's possible that it came from an early class ranking system in the 1910's. To quote:

  I think "S席" may mean "Special Seat". In Japan at least 1910, "特等" grade was used for the top grade seats (http://parasiteeve2.blog65.fc2.com/blog-entry-1135.html). "特等" > "一等(first grade)" > "ニ等(second grade)", or "特等" > "普通(normal or basic)" were used past (these are also commonly used for seats grades even now). "特等" is abbreviation for "特別等級" = "Special Grade". So S may mean Special.

Other board discussions links school websites and other forums with users going to universities or schools which uses up to the S-rank grading systems (Source 1, Source 2) There is also a Wikipedia article that shows that S-rank is used, although rarely, in schools.

Most discussion about what the 'S' means are speculations, and they seem to center on the fact it could mean 'special' or 'super'.

As for One Punch Man, there is no official information as to what it means in Saitama's world, either. Based on what I was able to find, though, I think it does originate in the ranking system present in Japan and the mangaka might have based this one on that.


Comparing FMA manga to the animes Which came out first Fullmetal Alchemist the manga, Fullmetal Alchemist the anime or Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood?

2001 to 2010 - the manga is published.
Fall 2003 to Fall 2004 - the first anime is aired.
Spring 2009 to Summer 2010 - the second anime (Brotherhood) is aired.

As you can see, the ending of the manga was timed to coincide with the end of Brotherhood.


How does a Yardrat know that Vegeta became faster than Goku? In Dragon Ball Super manga #55,

   A Yardrat who's teaching Vegeta techniques, says he's faster than Goku

Is Goku supposed to be traveling to Yardrat often or something? How does a Yardrat know that Vegeta became faster than Goku?

This is a mistranslation.
The official translation (found on Mangaplus, page 6) clearly says (in Elder Pybara's words) :

"Your spirit is now more polished than Goku's, and you managed it in no time."

Elder Pybara was comparing their respective trainings' duration. As stated within Dragon Ball Super (chapter 53, page 48), Goku spent 150 days meditating upon a training spire and Vegeta had to achieve comparable results in only 10 days. Elder Pybara's reaction clearly indicates that Vegeta did train quite faster.


What chakra natures does Naruto have in Boruto? During the war, Naruto received all of the chakra natures along with the lava, magnet, and boil releases (and yin, yang, and yin-yang release). I've watched Naruto Shippuden completely and Boruto (to the current episode) but I haven't read any manga, so I was wondering if it was ever revealed if Naruto still has those chakra natures or if they were only because

   he had all of the jinchuriki in him

Also, what chakra natures does he currently have access to?

As of now, in the Fourth Databook, which contains all data of Naruto by Kishimoto himself, lists following aspects of Naruto as a Shinobi

1.)Fire Element
2.)Wind Element
3.)Lightning Element
4.)Earth Element
5.)Water Element
6.)Yin- Yang Release
7.)Yang Release
8.)Kekkei Genkai user

Here's a pic for reference :

Translation : ( Not 100% accurate)
All credit to OrganicDinosaur
OrganicDinosaur

Part 1: (pic 2)

Ninja ID # = 012607
Birthday: 10/10 (Age 17, Libra)
Height: 166.0cm
Weight: 50.9 kg
Blood Type: B
Personality: 負けず嫌い (Hates to lose)、目立ちたがり (Exhibitionist (/someone who's a show-off, doing things to catch other people's attention)

Favourite:

木の葉の名店,一楽ラーメンが大のお気に入り。とんこつミソチヤーシューがブーム!
As a well-known restaurant in Konoha, Ichiraku Ramen is his most favourite thing! The 'Tonkotsu Miso Chiyashu' is a boom! (/All the rage!)

Village Affiliation: Konoha
Rank: Kage
Natures: All five basic elements + Yang
Icons: Jinchuuriki, Senjutsu, Kekkei-Genkai (Bloodline Limit), Kuchiyose (Summoning)

Splash Text:

オレはどの先代も超える火影になる！！それがオレの夢だ！！！
I will become a Hokage who will even surpass all the previous generations of Hokage!! That is my dream!!!

Big Splash Text:

うずまく乱世に凛と立ち戮力同心、平和を目指す！！
Standing united for a common cause. Bracing himself amidst the whirling and turbulent times: aiming for peace!!

『里の奴ら全員に、オレの存在を認めさせてやるん だ！』。。。第七班の結成時に、仲間達に誓った大いなる夢は、今や現実のものとなりつつある。自来也との修 業や「暁」と の激闘を経て、ナルトは確実に成長を遂げた。元来の豊かな発想力に加え、師と 同じ「仙術」や、尾獣とリンク した「完全なる人柱力」の力も 手に入れた。だがナルトの真価は別にある。それは仲間を信じ、 認め合い、共に戦う「絆」の力。 火影になるために最も重要な力 を、ナルトは身に着けたのだ!!

"I will make everybody in the village acknowledge my existence!!".When Team 7 was formed, he swore a great dream to his comrades. Now, he was in the process of making it a reality. By training with Jiraiya and battling fiercely with "Akatsuki", Naruto certainly achieved growth and maturity. In addition to primarily being full of expressive power and inventiveness, he also possessed the same "Senjutsu" as his master. Naruto even obtained the power (of being a)"Perfect Jinchuuriki" because of being linked to his Tailed-Beast. However, the true value of Naruto is apart from (those qualities). (The real worth of Naruto is from having) the power of faith in his comrades, mutual acceptance (/respect for one another), and the strength of Bonds while fighting together. These were the most important powers for Naruto to have within himself in order to become the Hokage!!

Top Caption:

ナルトの援護に忍び五大国の強者が集う! これぞ史上最強の忍術なのだ 。
In support of Naruto, the strongest shinobi from the Five Great Nations assemble! They will (surely be unleashing) the strongest ninjutsu in history!

Bottom Right Caption:

自来也譲りのド根性。 どんな困難な状況でも、 決して希望は捨てない。
Inheriting Jiraiya's utter gutsiness: No matter how difficult the situation will be, never abandon hope.

Bottom Left Caption:

歴代人柱力の中でも、九喇嘛と同調できたのはナルトだけ!
Although he had been inside successive generations of Jinchuuriki, Kurama could only sympathize (and conform) to Naruto!

Special Box

4年前: 終末の谷での大激戦！！
Four Years Ago: A huge, fierce battle at the Valley of the End!!

抜け忍になったサスケを連れ戻すべく、決死の説得！！
With persuasion that prepared him for death, Naruto (fought) in order to bring back Sasuke, who became a nukenin!!

Side Splash Text

師より授かりし唯一二の「名」と「心」。。。
He was given two unique things from his master: a "name" and a "heart"...

痛みと憎しみ
Pain and Hatred

妙木山の修業で?仙術?を修得したナルトは、その力を以て、師・自来也の仇ペインに挑む！！強敵相手に善戦 するナルトだが、戦いの最中にペインの抱えた痛みを知る。復讐。。。親しき者を殺された怒りは、師を失った ナルトにも理解し得るものだった?
By training at Mount Myoboku, Naruto learned Senjutsu. With that power, Naruto challenges his master's enemy: Pain!! He put up a good fight as a formidable enemy against Naruto. However, in the midst of battle, Naruto understood the pain that Pain possessed. It was for revenge. Pain was angry that someone close to him had been killed. Naruto was also able to sympathize (with him and his anger), since he had lost his master.

Top Caption

厳しい修業の末、ナルトは自来也以上に ?仙人モード? ?を極めた。
At the end of his relentless training, Naruto had mastered a "Sennin-Mode" beyond that of Jiraiya's.

Middle Caption

戦闘力は大幅に向上。たった一人でぺイン六道と渡り合う。
His fighting power had greatly improved. All by himself, Naruto exchanged blows with the Six Paths of Pain.

託されしもの
Something Entrusted to Him

仲間を倒されたナルトの怒りに呼応し、九尾が暴走。混濁する意識の中、現れたのは父だった。ナルトは自身の 迷いを吐露し、 父に問う。憎しみの連鎖を止める方法を。 答えは?出なかった。 だが授かったものはある。 それは「信頼」だった?。
Naruto's comrades were defeated. In response to his anger (about that situation), the Kyuubi rampaged. Within Naruto's clouded consciousness, his father appeared. Naruto expressed his own hesitations. He asked his father for a means to stop the chain of hatred. No answer came forth (from Minato).However, Naruto received something (from his father): Trust.

Bottom Caption

「お前ならその答えを見つけられる」。 父は木ノ葉の未来を、 ナルトに託した?！！
?If it?s you, you?ll be able to find that answer?. His father entrusted the future of Konoha to Naruto?!!

ド根性忍伝
The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Ninja

最後のペインを打ち倒し、 ついにナルトは本体・ 長門に辿り着く。仇を前に、 選択を迫られるナルト。復讐を成すか、それとも?！？長門が受けた「痛み」を聞き、その上でナルトが出した 結論は。。。「和解」。どんなに「痛み」が伴なおうとも、どれほどの障害が待ち受けようとも、真の平和を諦 めない。それが「ナルト」と言う名に師が込めた想いだから。 ナルトの強き意志は、憎しみに満ちた長門の心をも動かした。
After defeating the last (path of) Pain, Naruto finally manages to arrive at the true body (of Pain): Nagato. In front of the enemy, Naruto was forced to make a choice: to either achieve revenge, or (to do something else)?.!? Naruto listened to the "pain" that Nagato had experienced. In addition, Naruto made a decision about (how to) conclude (the situation): "Reconciliation". No matter how much "pain" would certainly accompany him, and no matter how many obstacles awaited him?. Naruto would not abandon (trying to achieve) genuine peace. Those were Jiraiya's thoughts (for the meaning behind) the name "Naruto". Naruto's strong will then swayed the heart of Nagato, who was filled with hatred.

Top Caption

人々が本当の意味で 理解し合える時代 。真の平和を疑わず目指す。
Aiming for an era when everyone would truly be able to understand each other: Naruto had no doubts about genuine peace.

Middle Caption

ナルトの真っ直ぐな眼と言葉は、 新たな未来の可能性を予感させた。
With his direct gaze and words, Naruto foreshadowed the possibility of a new future.

英雄
Hero

師匠からは「名前」と 「諦めないド根性」を。 兄弟子からは、「痛み」を。 数々の想いと信頼を受け、ナルトは前へと歩む。そして、里に戻ったナルトを待っていたのは、 思わぬ歓迎だった?。 いたずらで皆の気を引く少年はもういない。 皆に信頼される、本物の英雄がそこにいた。
From his master, Naruto was given his "name" and "the utter gutsiness to not give up". From (his master's) senior disciple, Naruto was given pain. As Naruto accepts the trust and thoughts (of many people), he walks forward. And so, when Naruto returned to the village, the people were waiting for him. It was an unexpected reception(/welcome back)...He was no longer the boy who caused mischief (in order to) attract everyone else's attention. (Naruto was now) a true hero who was trusted by everyone.

Bottom Right Caption

小南は平和を願った弥彦と長門の想いを、ナルトに託した。
Konan entrusted Naruto with the thoughts of Yahiko and Nagato. They had all desired peace.

Bottom Left Caption

誰もに認められたい。ナルトの想いは皆に伝わり始めた。
He wanted to be recognized by everybody. Naruto's thoughts and feelings began to reach everyone.

PART 2: (PIC 3)

Side Splash Text

ナルトを強く。。。眩く。。。輝かせる
繋がり拡がる「絆」の輪。。。
Powerfully and brilliantly shining for Naruto…
A connected and extended circle of “Bonds”…

Sakura// サクラ
ナルトがサクラと交わした「一 生の約束」。それは、サスケを里 へ連れ帰ること。だが今や、そ れは二人の共通目標でもある。サスケのために切磋琢磨する二人の間には、希望も絶望も共に分かち合える、「 第七班の絆」 が確かに存在しているのだ。。。！！
Naruto exchanged “The promise of a lifetime”with Sakura. That pact was to bring Sasuke back home to the village. But now, it was also a common objective for the two of them. In order to (bring Sasuke back), both of them diligently applied their skills and cultivated their own personalities by working hard. While (they were training),they could share in their hope and despair with one another. “The bonds of Team 7” certainly exist…!!

Top Caption:

サクラの突然の告白。だが、ナルトはその奥に隠された想いに気づく。
It’s Sakura’s abrupt confession of love. However, Naruto noticed those feelings that were concealed behind (her words).

Gaara // 我愛羅
ナルトにとって、我愛羅は同じ痛みを知る者であり、里の垣根を超えた友でもある。そんな彼の言葉はナルトの 心に深く響く。 友として、サスケのために何が できるか。戦友の心からの助言を、ナルトは強くかみしめた。
Since Gaara was someone who understood the same pain as Naruto, (their friendship) transcended through the boundaries of the village. The words of such a guy deeply resounded within Naruto’s heart. As (Naruto’s) friend, what could he do for Sasuke’s sake. Naruto strongly reflected upon the advice from his fellow comrade’s heart.

Middle Caption:

サスケの「友」として、自分は何ができるのか。。。答えはナルト自身が出すしかない。
As Sasuke’s “Friend”, what could he personally do for him?... Naruto had no choice but to give that answer on his own.

Sasuke // サスケ
「終末の谷」「大蛇丸のアジト」 ――幾度かのナルトの説得も、 サスケには届かなかった。一流の忍になったニ人が拳を合わせ、 そして見えた心の内...!! もはやニ人は拳で分かり合うしかない。 ナルトはサスケと戦い、憎しみ全てを受け止める覚悟を決めた。
At “The Valley of the End” and “Orochimaru’s Hide-out” ――(No matter) how many times Naruto persuaded him, (his thoughts) did not even reach Sasuke. The two of them had become top-notch shinobi. By joining fists, what were they then able to see within (eachother’s) hearts…! (By exchanging blows), already the two of them had no other choice but to understand (one another). As Naruto fought with Sasuke, he prepared himself to receive all of his hatred.

Bottom Right Caption

大切な繋がりを守るため、命を懸ける。。。！！
In order to protect their bond, he risked his life…

Bottom Left Caption

サスケとは自分が戦う! ナルトの中には、揺るぎない覚悟ができていた。
He fought with Sasuke by himself! Within Naruto, he was able to uphold a solid resolution (to shoulder Sasuke’s burdens).

Killer Bee// キラービー
人柱力のナルトにとって、理想の姿はビーと八尾の関係そのもの。互いに心を通わせ、冗談を言っ て笑いあう。 ナルトはビーとの修業で人柱力の力の使い方と共に、目指すべ き「絆」の育み方も学んだ。
Since Naruto is a Jinchuuriki (he should strive to have the) relationship as (the bond between) between Bee and the Hachibi. Their connection was the ideal figure itself (of what should be between the host and Jinchuuriki). Going back and forth with each other in their minds, they tell jokes and laugh together. By training together with Bee, Naruto learned about the usage of the power of his Jinchuuriki. In addition, Naruto aimed for a way to elevate their “Bond”.

Middle Caption

ノリノリで拳を合わす、 奇妙な師弟関係が生まれた ...!!
In high-spirits, they bump fists. A strange teacher-student relationship was born...!!

Iruka // イルカ
ナルトにとって、イルカは初めての理解者であり、常に心に在り続ける存在。 戦場へと向かうナルトへ贈られたイルカの言葉は、数々の激闘の中でナルトの支えになった！！
Iruka was the first person to be understanding towards Naruto, so (Naruto) always continues to keep (Iruka’s) being within his heart. As Naruto headed towards the battlefield, Iruka conferred a few words to him. During many fierce battles, (Iruka’s thoughts) became support for Naruto!!

Bottom Right Caption

恩師の想いを胸に、いざ戦場へ！！
With his former teacher’s thoughts in his chest, (Naruto) now heads towards the battlefield!!

Kurama//九喇嘛
幼少期、周囲に拒絶されてきたナルトは、九尾の憎しみが理解できた。今はもうバケ狐じゃな い。ナルトは「九喇嘛」の名を呼び、呪われし心の封を解いた。
Since Naruto was rejected throughout his childhood (by the village), he was able to understand the Kyuubi’s hatred. Now, he was no longer the ‘Bakekitsune” (Monster Fox). When Naruto called out the name“Kurama”, the seal of the cursed heart would then become untied.

Top Caption

もはや駆け引きは不要！ 真に心で分かり合えたのだ。
Haggling is no longer necessary! They could truly understand each other’s hearts.

Kushina//クシナ
人柱力の修業中、ナルトは精神の中で母と会う。 母は修業の手助けと共に、大切なものを遺した。 それは愛。 強き想いは ナルトに、大いなる力を与える。
During his training with his Jinchuuriki, he met his Mother within his soul. Along with helping him with his training, his Mother left behind something important (to Naruto): her love. Those strong thoughts granted Naruto a huge (amount of) strength.

Middle Caption:

感極まる母との邂逅は、ナルトの心を晴れやかに！！
He had chance meeting with his Mother, who was overcome with emotion. Naruto’s heart was radiantly refreshed!!

Itachi//イタチ
仲間を忘れ個に執着すれば、 必ず失敗する。 戦いの業を全て背負おうとしていたナルトは、イ タチの戒めの言葉を、深く胸に刻む。
‘If one forgets comrades, and becomes attached to “the individual”, one will certainly fail.’ Naruto was trying to be burdened with all of the aspects of the battle. He then engraved Itachi’s words of caution deeply into his chest.

Bottom Left Caption

仲間に認められてこそ火影なのだ。
If one is recognized by his comrades, (that person) will surely be the Hokage.

Side Splash Text

託されしものを一心に受け「和」を以て悪夢を払わん
They wholeheartedly accept the things that were entrusted to them. They then dispose of the nightmare through "Peace".

仲間と共に
Together with Comrades

波乱うずまく第四次忍界大戦。 「個」の力が突出したマダラとオビトに対し、ナルトは「絆」の力で立ち向かう。 仲間達との「繋がり」こそが、巨大なる力に打ち勝つ術だと信じるからだ。仲間達の 援護、そして伝わる熱き「想い」が、ナルトに大きな力を与える ――ナルトを以て＂無限月読＂をも超えると言わしめた、 ”忍連合の術” が、ここに完成した。
The Fourth Great Ninja War was tumultuously whirling. Facing the power of the“Individual”that Madara and Obito pushed forth, Naruto opposed them with the power of “Bonds”. With his“Connection” to his comrades, he surely believed in them (in order for them to unleash) a jutsu to overcome a huge force. With the support of his comrades and through the feverish “Feelings” that they conveyed to him, Naruto granted them a great power. Naruto he made them say that (they could) even surpass the“Infinite Tsukuyomi”with the “Shinobi Alliance Jutsu”. It was completed (on the battlefield).

Top Caption

ナルトの盾となり散ったネジの想いも一緒に！九喇嘛チャクラを仲間に渡して、一丸となり戦う！ ！
Neji became a shield for Naruto and died a noble death! As well as dispersing Neji’s thoughts and feelings, Naruto was transferring Kurama’s chakra to his comrades. They will fight as one with solidarity!!

Middle Caption

目指すものは違えど敵は同じ！久方ぶりの共闘が実現した。
Their objectives were different, but their enemy was the same! They became a nostalgic, united front!

第七班 再び
Once Again, They Become Team 7

大蛇丸の ”穢土転生” で復活した歴代火影と共に、うちはサスケが戦線参加。ナルト、サクラ、 そしてサスケ…約四年の時を経て、木ノ葉の第七班は復活した。 それぞれの思惑はありつつも、 里を守ることに変わりはない。 力を合わせて共闘する第七班は、 空白の時を感じさせぬほどに、 絶妙な連携を見せるのだった。
Together with the former generations of Hokage, who were resurrected by Orochimaru’s “Edo-Tensei”, Uchiha Sasuke participated on the war-front. Naruto, Sakura, and then Sasuke….approximately four years had elapsed. It was the comeback of Konoha’s Team 7. Even though each of them had their own opinions, it didn’t change (their will to) protect the village. Team 7 joined forces for a united front, to the extent where they could not feel that a blank space of time (had elapsed). They showed superb cooperation (with one another).

Bottom Caption

第七班に木ノ葉の同期達も出揃って、 懐かしき光景に。。。！！
Team 7 also appears all together with their peers from Konoha: it was a nostalgic scene…!!

Side Splash Text

九匹のケモノの名を呼ぶ「予言の子」
戦いの果てに望むものは――
The “Child of Prophecy” calls out the names of the nine beasts.
It’s someone who wishes for the end of conflict ――

忍道
His Ninja Way

仲間は裏切るかもしれない。戦争は再び繰り返されるかもしれない。それなのに、なぜ命を懸けてまで戦うのか ！？茨の道と知りながら、なぜそこを進むのか。 世に絶望したオビトの問いに、ナルトは己の「忍道」を示す。 自分の言葉は曲げない――その言葉通り、ナルトはどんな困難があろうとも、夢を諦めない。。。 ！ ナルトがめざしている「火影」 とは、その道のりが険しいと分かっていても、先導を切って歩いていく者だからだ！！
Perhaps your comrades may betray you. Perhaps wars may be repeated again. However, why do you risk your life to that extent for battle!? While knowing that it will be a thorny path, why do you advance (to the battlefields). Obito proposed a question as he was in despair about the world. Naruto pointed out his own “Ninja Way”. ‘I won’t go back on my words’――(He would quote it) verbatim, no matter the difficult (situation that he faced). He would not abandon his dream…! Naruto was aiming to be “Hokage”. Even though he knew that it would be a precipitous journey, Naruto was someone who would continue to walk (towards his goal) by cutting through with his leadership!!

Top Caption

夢は自分で掴むもの。ナルトは逃げないッ！！
A dream is something that he seizes by himself. Naruto will not run away!!

Middle Caption

幼き頃から貴き通してきた忍道は、今もなおナルトの根幹にある。
Even since when he was young, he nobly continued with his Ninja Way. Even now, it’s the basis for Naruto (and his beliefs)!!

選択
A Choice

「この戦いの果てに何を望む？」 六道仙人の問いかけに、ナルトは 「仲間を守りたい」と答えた。 目指す未来は見えている。 後は戦いに勝つだけ！力を授かったナルトは、再び戦場へ戻った！！
"At the end of this battle, what will you wish for?" The Rikudou Sennin posed this question. Naruto answered: “I want to protect my comrades”. He could see it as a future goal. After he just wins this battle! Naruto was bestowed with the power (of the Rikudou Sennin) . Once again, Naruto returns to the battlefield!!

Bottom Right Caption

アシュラと同様、仲間がナルトの力。
Just like Ashura, the strength of Naruto is through his comrades.

Bottom Left Caption

六道仙人の力を授かっ た「二人一組」で決戦へ！！
Having been imparted the powers of the Rikudou Sennin, the”Two-Man Cell (/Two-Man Team)” heads towards the decisive battle!!


What is the first transforming/morphing mobile suit/robot in anime? I have watched all the Mobile Suit Gundam series and many other transforming robot genre series, but I want to know which is the first series that started the transforming/morphing mobile suit/robot genre in anime.

Here, transforming/morphing is changing from aircraft/armour to humanoid/creature form or any other forms.

I'm going to assume that you mean a giant robot that transforms into something else, usually a vehicle. If that's the case then you have two candidates depending on how further you want to specify them.

Brave Raideen was released in 1975 and it featured a giant robot that transformed into a bird shaped rocket ship.

Getter Robo was first released in 1974 and it featured three space ships that combined into a three different giant robots.

An honorable mention goes to Ambassador Magma which was first released in 1966. The titular character changed into a rocket ship, although there was no transforming mehcanism shown, so I (personally) wouldn't include him.


Did that person actually fail to save Menma? Spoilers below.
Did

 Poppo really fail to save Menma as she was drowning?

In real life, I doubt he would have just run away for help. It is known that her body washed away so if he saw her where she fell initially, it must have been just as she started drowning.
Is it known that he saw her, in the middle of drowning, and just left? Or did he see a body, or maybe just the flip-flop?
I need to know...

It is revealed through flashbacks that Poppo was really quiet and shy when the accident happened. According to his flashbacks (assuming that they are accurate), he actually did see Menma drown; however, he could not do anything to help her because he was scared to do anything. This guilt is the main reasons why Poppo decided to travel the world and become more outgoing and extroverted.


What character is missing from Lio Shirazumi's name to allow him be called Lion? In Kara no Kyoukai, Araya comments to Lio saying that he just needed one character to be called a lion.

English-wise, this would be very correct, but given that these characters are talking in Japanese, I doubt that Lio needed an ン, and according to the Wikia, Shirazumi Lio's name in Japanese is 白純里緒 not シラズミ リ゜オ.

So in his Japanese name, what character is Araya saying Lio is missing to be called Lion?

Weirdly enough, Araya must, in fact, be referring to the fact that "Lio" is one English letter away from "lion". This has to be the case because "lion" in Japanese is 獅子 shishi, which bears no resemblance whatsoever to Shirazumi's name.

Of course, Araya should be fluent in English, having lived at the Clock Tower in London for some years, so it's not that weird. And Nasu (the author) clearly knows enough English to give us silly phrases like "blue blue glass moon" and "heavens feel", so I wouldn't put it past him to put a touch of English wordplay into Kara no Kyoukai

(Some guy on chiebukuro claims that it's actually that リオ "Lio" is one Japanese character away from レオ "Leo" as in the zodiac lion, but I think that guy's claim is dumb.)

(Side note about Japanese: English "lion" is pronounced ライオン raion, so you can't actually get Japanese raion from "Lio" with a single character in either English or Japanese. But you can get English "lion", which is why I say that that's what Araya must've been going for.)


Is there a plothole in Merlin's character development? In chapter 249, page 5 of Nanatsu to Naizai, it is said:

   The supreme deity bestowed the child [Merlin] divine protection able to nullify any and all manner of dark curses and commandments. (Emphasis of mine).

However, in chapter 121, page 8 and 9:

   We can see that Merlin is getting turned rock solid by Galand's Commandment.

Those two facts contradict each other. Is that a plothole, or is there a reasonable explanation somewhere?

Okay, so basically thanks to fellow Redditors, that sounds like a little plothole. The main reasons expressed there are:

It is not an immunity, it is an ability to nullify Commandments.
She forgot that she had this protection on her (the blessing happened 3000 years prior to the main story), which explains why she still suffered the effect.

As for "Is it a valid reason to explain something that should have not happened", it is an open question on which everyone might have his opinion.


Why Does Ichigo look different after he gets his soul reaper powers back? Why in the fullbring arc he looks different when his powers are restored I mean his Zanpaktuou looks slightly different but his robe in normal and bankai state are different why is that? Also is Zangetsu still within him because Ichigo still has all the same abilities even after regaining his powers.

I assume that it's because he retrieved his powers with the help of a lot of Shinigami who gave a part of their powers to create the sword Rukia used to reawaken him. But I'm not really sure it is the only reason actually.

And yes, Zangetsu is still within him, just keep forward into the manga, there is a lot to see about that subject.


Manga about a student having nightmares Hi I'm trying to find the manga I've read some time ago. I forgot the title.

There's this teenage kid who was having nightmares about cats, Then there is this army of cats that chased him then he met this magical girl (I forgot her powers) and I think the source of her power relies on her hat. After meeting together, There is this master of cats who's weapon is a chainsaw? Also, the dimension of the nightmare activates when the protagonist tries to sleep.

I probably forgot the rest because of an exam that I had to study for a long time.

This would be Dream Eater Merry (Yumekui Merry)

The scene you are talking about is the first scene of the anime where Yumeji Fujiwara, the main character, is running away from cats in a nightmare he is having. The next time he has the dream, he encounters the leader called "Chaser" John Doe who wields a chainsaw.

After trying to escape, Fujiwara encounters a girl called Merry Nightmare who ends up fighting John.

.

Both Merry and John are Dream Demons from another world, and Dream Demons can possess people's bodies to enter the real world. However, Merry has no memories and she doesn't need to possess a body.

As for Merry's powers sourcing from her hat, I don't think this is the case. Rather, I think she just really, really, really loves her had. (I haven't seen the series in a while, but I think I remember her being able to fight without her hat).

As for the dimension of the nightmares, these are actually just people's dreams which Merry can enter and drag Fujiwara into. Other humans who appear in dreams are either possessed by a Dream Demon who has entered the dream (i.e. "Garden" Engi Threepiece) or own the dream themselves.

This video shows the scene of Fujiwara meeting John Doe.

While what I describe is from the anime, there is a manga (the original material) and I believe the beginning of the manga would be the same.


Did Orochimaru release all the souls sealed inside Shinigami? Orochimaru released the four previous Hokages from the Shinigami's stomach. Were there only four souls sealed inside its stomach? Or could the user choose to release only specific souls?

The Shiki Fuujin was invented by Minato, and taught to Hiruzen. That was said during Hiruzen's battle with Orochimaru.

It was only ever used two times, once when sealing the Kyuubi (which caused himself to be sealed in the Shinigami), and once against Orochimaru by Hiruzen (which caused Hashirama, Tobirama, Hiruzen and Orochimaru's hands to be sealed).

Because of that, no other souls were sealed in the Shinigami's stomach.

True enough, the author later contradicted what he said at the beginning of the series, and said the the Shiki Fuujin was invented by the Uzumaki clan, and taught to Minato (probably by Kushina).

In that case, it may be possible to only unseal the specific souls you want to.


Who was the first "trap character"? A "trap character"(UrbanDictionary entry, may be NSFW) is a character who appears to be a girl until you get in close enough (plot-wise) to discover they are, in fact, a boy. The inverse trope exists as well; a "reverse trap" character is a girl who appears to be a boy.

(Note: The word trap here is not intended to be offensive, or a slur; it is only used to refer to fictional characters of this type.)

Some examples are Ruka Urushibara of Steins;Gate and Sora Kamomeya of Tsui☆Teru (pictured below):

Who was the first trap character in anime and/or manga, and what media did the trope originate from?

Tezuka's 1949 manga, Metropolis, features Michi, a synthesised human with a gender switch which can turn it from a boy into a girl and vice versa which is used as a plot device.

Tezuka's 1953 manga, Ribbon no Kishi (Princess Knight) features a reverse trap with a girl pretending to be a guy:

Taking place in a medieval European-like fairy-tale setting, Princess Knight is the story of young Princess Sapphire who must pretend to be a male prince so she can inherit the throne (as women are not eligible to do so). This deception begins as soon as she is born, as her father the King announces his baby is a boy instead of a girl. The reason for this is that the next-in-line to the throne, Duke Duralumon, is an evil man who would repress the people if he were to become king, and because of this the King will go to any length to prevent him from taking over.

Similarly, The Rose of Versailles (1972) is another that has a girl,  pretending to be a guy, Oscar François de Jarjayes.
For a "straight" trap, 1973's Ara Waga Tono! appears to be the first to fit the bill.

This is a slapstick romance, where girls and boys clash in a ‘modern’ co-ed high school. There is a lot of romantic intrigue, quite a bit of gender-bending and some teenage angst when adults Just Don’t Understand. (source: goldbird)

Then there's 1974's Oira Sukeban:

Oira Sukeban (おいら女蛮?), sometimes called Sukeban Boy, is a Japanese manga created by Go Nagai in 1974. It is a comedy with several erotic touches, where the protagonist Banji Suke (or Sukeban) has to disguise himself as a girl in order to be able to attend an all-female school. As Suke Ban is a rebellious boy, this situation creates several comedic troubles.
The manga was adapted to an OVA in 1992 and was released by ADV Films in the US under the name Delinquent in Drag.

But my guess is that the trope really took off only after the publication and airing of Ranma ½ in the late 80s.

The story revolves around a 16-year old boy named Ranma Saotome who was trained from early childhood in martial arts. As a result of an accident during a training journey, he is cursed to become a girl when splashed with cold water, while hot water changes him back into a boy.
Ranma ½ had a comedic formula and a sex changing main character, who often willfully changes into a girl to advance his goals. The series also contains many other characters, whose intricate relationships with each other, unusual characteristics and eccentric personalities drive most of the stories. Although the characters and their relationships are complicated, they rarely change once the characters are firmly introduced and settled into the series.