Why was One Piece white washed? After the two-year time skip, Zoro and Robin came back lighter skinned. I would have thought nothing of it, but after searching for "fishman racism" on Google, I ran into an article on Oda's racism towards "ethnic" people. One Piece is my favorite anime and I watch it a lot, so I don't take any "white washing" argument lightly. I don't even want to think of Oda as having racial bias, but I won't ignore the facts.

The article discusses different aspects of One Piece that can lead one to believe that the show has some racist undertones, but I won't go into detail about the article. The story about racism in One Piece mentions that Oda did tell the animators to change certain things concerned with the two-year time skip, and two of the dark-skinned characters came back way lighter. Is Oda racist? I don't know but I can't say he isn't, as the article had valid and reasonable points to prove that he at least has a racial bias.

Then after reading the article above, I am sitting around thinking about it from time to time. So was it actually white washed or did these changes happen for some other reason?

Well, Zoro did spend those two years in a dark island/gloomy castle, so he probably didn't see much sun. Robin also spent her time in the mountains, I believe, which were hardly places to get sun tans (compared to her old job in a desert).

I don't think the skin pigment changes had anything to do with racism, as these kinds of changes were more associated with tans and less with race.


Who narrated episode 1 of Durarara!!×2 Ten? A good bit of episode 1 of Durarara!!×2 Ten (i.e. episode 13 of the broader "second season") was narrated by one of the female characters. But this show has a gorillion characters, and I can't place which one of them it was.

The end credits list the following female characters for this episode:

Sonohara Anri (Hanazawa Kana)
Celty (Sawashiro Miyuki)
Karisawa Erika (Takagaki Ayahi)
Yagiri Namie (Kobayashi Sanae)
Awakusu Akane (Kuno Misaki)
Mamiya Manami (Tanoue Marina)
Kamichika Rio (Tomatsu Haruka)
"Nurse" (Yamamura Hibiku)
"Woman" (Satou Kanami)

I've struck through the ones where I'm familiar enough with the voice actor to know it can't be them.

http://durarara.wikia.com/wiki/Durarara!!_x2_Ten_Episode_01

the above wiki link states that it was "Rio Kamichika". The link below is her page. enjoy.

http://durarara.wikia.com/wiki/Rio_Kamichika


Are the members of Beck based on real life musicians? It's fairly well-known among Beck fans that Chiba, the lead vocalist of Beck, is based on Zack De La Rocha from Rage Against the Machine. However, the other characters don't seem to be obviously based on anyone famous to me. Are the other band members also based on or inspired by any famous musicians?

Besides Chiba, I'm only aware of the bassist, Taira, resembling RCHP's bassist, Flea. They both often play shirtless on stage and share the bleached-blonde look.

  Beck's bassist, Taira is the second member recruited by Ryusuke. Although he can sometimes seem uncaring or apathetic, he is actually the most mature of the band members and often offers helpful advice. He usually performs shirtless, much like the real-life person he is based on: Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. His main live bass is a white Music Man Stingray (a 1993-1996 model as identified from the type of bridge) with 3-band EQ and a trans bridge.

Flea is also known to use the Music Man Stingray.

The mangaka, Harold Sakuishi, is an RHCP fan and, according to WP, has claimed that Beck is partly inspired by the band. I don't know if this extends to other members of the band.

  Harold Sakuishi himself has admitted that the band is inspired in part by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Sakuishi admits that they are his favorite band; their music, specifically the song "Under the Bridge", helped him through a difficult time in his life. A one-shot manga also called Under the Bridge was written by Sakuishi and narrates his first meeting with the band. This influence is widely seen in Beck, not only in the band's musical style, but also in the fact that Taira heavily resembles a younger version of Flea, the Chili Peppers' own bassist, both in looks (he is mostly seen playing shirtless and has his hair bleached blonde, as Flea used to have his own) and in playing style.


Does Gajeel's motion sickness have anything to do with Pantherlily becoming his cat? In the Chariot event, Gajeel becomes motion sick without understanding the reason.

His case of motion sickness does not develop until the second day of the Grand Magic Games. So does this have anything to do with Pantherlily becoming his "cat"?

In the very same chapter when Gajeel still didn't understand why did he get motion sickness, Sting said to Gajeel (in Chapter 276, page 11) that "Well then... You finally got accustomed for it, huh... To being a real dragon slayer. Congratulations. Newbie."

We also know that dragon slayer magic can more or less change the user's body itself. So I assume that if a dragon slayer gets strong enough then they will get motion sickness on vehicles. (Not as if it would be important or anything, it's probably just funny.) Wendy doesn't have motion sickness only because she is too weak of a dragon slayer yet. Just as was the case with Gajeel before.

Also, Laxus doesn't have an Exceed partner as far as we know and he has motion sickness too (Chapter 276, page 12).


Why did Luffy not command the Straw Hat Grand Fleet against the Big Mom Pirates? In the "Whole Cake Island" arc, Luffy and his crew were having a fierce battle with the Big Mom Pirates. However, they didn't ask or intend to get help from the Straw Hat Grand Fleet.

The alliance would surely have helped make their mission to retrieve the Poneglyph a lot easier and the Grand Fleet swore to protect Luffy, so they would have been great assets, especially in the final battle.

Why didn't they ask or intend to get help from the Straw Hat Grand Fleet?

The Whole Cake Island mission was never supposed to be a war against the Big Mom pirates, though it turned out to have significant fighting. The main aim was to retrieve Sanji as quickly as possible and then head to Wano. Robin only asks Luffy to copy the Road Poneglyph if they find one / get the chance to.

If you recall the end of the Zou arc, both Law and Zoro mention how dangerous and risky a move it is to be confronting Big Mom while they were already set to clash with Kaido. However, Luffy is adamant about getting Sanji back, and hence they split up. Not to mention the Grand Fleet, not even the entire Straw Hat crew headed to WCI.

Like you've mentioned, the Grand Fleet could have been of use in a number of situations, whether during WCI or the coming arc in Wano. However, Luffy doesn't really approve of the fleet at all, as summarized in the wiki:

  Luffy rejected their offer, as he wanted to sail freely on the seas without having to command anyone. In response to this, the crews made the decision to still serve Luffy, but only when he needed them to, and consumed sake cups to form the Straw Hat Grand Fleet.

He'll probably only rely on them when they're around, and the situation forces it somehow. That's just how his character has been developed. Further, Oda has teased that the final ending of One Piece will be a war so great it would make Marineford look like filler. Many people expect it to be the arc where the Straw Hat Grand Fleet will be on full display.


Why does Naruto use his mother's family name? Is there any logical and canonical reason to why Naruto used his mother's family name, Uzumaki, instead of his father's family name?

According to the Naruto Wiki:

  Suddenly orphaned, Naruto was left to grow up knowing nothing of his parents, receiving only his mother's last name as Hiruzen believed it was best that nobody knew that he was related to the Fourth Hokage.


What is the cause of the zombie outbreak? In the first episode from the anime Zombie's already exist. And after finishing the anime there's still no explanation about their origins. Is the outbreak cause already revealed in the manga?

With the current information given we do not know the reason of the outbreak.

This might be a potential plot point later on in the story as they do hint to trying to find out the cause, but we wont know till the manga is updated once more. Which might some while as it been on hiatus for quite some time. Is Highschool of the Dead on hiatus again?


Why was Aladdin not aware that he is a Magi? In the beginning of the anime "Magi", one of the main characters Aladdin didn't know he was a Magi until one of the Djinn users told him.

However Judal knew since he was born that he is a Magi and what is the job he has to do.

How is this possible?

As of chapter 175, little is known of this situation.
However, it is known that Aladdin does not have the memories of his early childhood. Thus, he would not remember his rank as a Magi until he was reminded.

Not much is known about Aladdin's past, but he has found out who he is and where he came from thanks to Solomon and Solomon's Wisdom. The first memories he has are being in the Room of Fortitude with Ugo, where he was taught everything he knows by him.
  — Aladdin, Magi Wiki

That said, there are some speculations as to why this may be the case:

 - Because he is likely a descendant of Solomon, or some reincarnation of him, the memories may have been hidden to prevent some potential goal.  - It may also be the case that Aladdin is not actually a Magi, but something else that appears as a Magi. Thus, he may never have known his purpose prior to losing his memories, either.

However, none of these are confirmed nor backed by substantial proof, so take them with a few (read: several) grains of salt.


Clarification on clan formation? On what basis were the clans formed in naruto?
The blood siblings Indra and Ashura are from different clans (Uchiha & Senju respectively)., whereas other siblings, e.g. Itachi and Sasuke are from the same clan (Uchiha).
The first shinobi who got chakra was Kaguya. So, technically whoever posesses chakra should've inherited it from her. In that case, all should be from the same clan.
Now, here's my long time doubt. How is it decided that Naruto is from the Uzumaki clan when his father is from the Namikaze family and has no clan?
Is a person's clan decided based on the abilities of the person? If yes, how is their ability evaluated right after they are born?

As a competing answer to the one of @MadaraUchiha, here's my take.

The clan belonging is solved quite easily. The clan-belonging is given through the generations maternally.

This means what decides the clan is not the father, but the mother. In Naruto's case that is Kushina Uzumaki

Other than that, the naruto-wiki gives some nice information:

  A clan (一族, Ichizoku; Literally meaning "family"), in the loosest
  sense of the term, refers to a family or group of shinobi who form a
  basic unit of a shinobi village. Majority of these clans were mercenary military forces even before the First Shinobi World War. [...] Membership in a clan is usually determined by blood relations and genetics, which is vital in the usage of kekkei genkai and secret techniques. [...]  While clans may be composed of many individuals and extended families, many clans mentioned and seen in the series were somewhat limited to a nuclear family.
  Highlighting by me

It seems that the most clans seen, are just the mentioned nuclear families. This leads to the assumption, that one line of family that somewhen declared itself a clan is a clan. Some family lines had more offspring, and some had less. for example the Hyuuga-clan has multiple branch families, who are subordinate to the main family. The Uchiha clan on the other hand seems to just be loosely organized.

Some clans seem to have a definitive familiy head (Hyuuga, Akimichi, Nara). Other clans are not organized (Uchiha, Uzumaki, Inuzuka, [...]).

Clans mostly differ in chakra affinity and Kekkei Genkai, as well as battle style. In fact that seems to be the only thing shared in a clan. This Chakra affinity seems to be genetic, so that you are rather born into a clan than "join" it. It seems that not every person has his / her own clan, most prominent examples are probably Kakashi Hatake and Might Guy.


Is Yamori's change of hair color caused by torture? Yamori (Yakumo Oomori) has undergone torture before. Did the torture really cause Yamori to change his hair color?

In the wiki,

  In Tokyo Ghoul: Jack, Yamori was slimmer than he was in the Tokyo Ghoul manga and had black hair.

In the Tokyo Ghoul manga, he already has blonde/white hair. Since he was also subjected to torture similar to Kaneki, and since he was also depicted in the manga standing over his torturer with blonde/white hair, it can be said that the same thing that happened to Kaneki's hair also happened to him. Might also be useful: Why did Kaneki's hair change color?


What is a shinigami representative? So I just finished Bleach at episode 366 (dubbed) and I know that you are supposed to pick up at chapter 480. However, I have no idea what some of the phrases mean, like "shinigami representative".

What does it mean by "shinigami representative"?

That would be the beauty of different/fan translations, in that one sentence could be translated into several different sentences in the other language and effectively mean the same thing. This is especially prevalent for names or titles which don't have quite as direct translations.

Shinigami representative is one potential translation of 死神代行 (Shinigami Daikō) which google translate directly translates to Shinigami Actor, Shinigami meaning God of death or Death God. I believe the official translation called it a Substitute Shinigami, the title bestowed to Ichigo, which comes with that sweet hollow detector and soul expelling pass.


Did Danzo use Shuisui's eye to become Hokage? In Naruto Shippuden, Danzo has a sharingan with powers that allows him to control the mind of his victims as it is shown in the 5 Kage Submit. In the 197th episode, after Pain's attack, some of the heads of the Land of Fire meet to decide what to do next and who should be the next Hokage. Kakashi should have been chosen but Danzo made the Daimyo to change his mind.

Did Danzo use his sharingan's powers to become Hokage or was his speech good enough to convince the Daimyo?

Danzō, rather than using the sharingan's ability, used the Daimyō's indecisive characteristic to his advantage - knowing he would side with whoever convinced him the most.

  The Fire Daimyō has a fickle and indecisive nature and is easily swayed in his decisions through biases as well as external influences. When situations call for fast, important decisions, he makes his advisers do the whole work: the one who convinces him most is the "winner"

Danzō convinced  the Daimyō that Kakashi, who was initially considered for becoming the 6th Hokage, maintained the same ideology that put Konoha in it's current state of crisis.

  However, Danzō points out that the teachings that were passed down to Kakashi were the cause of Konoha's problems and current crisis. The Konoha Crush, the frequent confrontations with Akatsuki, the defection of Sasuke Uchiha, and the destruction of Konoha's infrastructure, all stemmed from the ideology that kindness and unity would lead to peace. Danzō believed the ideology simply made Konoha appear weak and left them exposed to attacks

The Daimyō believed and agreed with Danzō

  The daimyō, persuaded by Danzō's words and reasoning, appointed Danzō as the Sixth Hokage Candidate, just in time for the Five Kage Summit.


What happened in the battle between Shanks and The King of Beasts I dont know the exact timeline but a while before the Marinefold incident and the execution of Ace, it was stated that Shanks went ahead to battle Kaido "THE KING OF BEASTS"

Was the battle an "all-out war" between Kaido and shanks fleet? Or more of a 1v1 between the 2 Emperors.
Also, since Shanks made it to Marinefold immediately after battling the King of Beasts, does that imply that Kido lost the fight? I'm really intrigued because the fact that Shanks showed up while Kaido didn't means that Shanks was able to prevent Kaido from running amok in Marinefold. Could this testament prove that Shanks is way stronger than Kaido?

From the wiki,

  When Kaido tried to stop Whitebeard from going to Marineford, Shanks interfered and clashed with him in order to allow the other Yonko to rescue Ace. It is not known what happened during their encounter, but Shanks arrived at Marineford unharmed. Could this testament prove that Shanks is way stronger than Kaido? No one can say for sure since only Oda knows how it happened exactly, unless it will be revealed in a later chapter. But the fact that he arrived unharmed could imply it was more of a one-sided fight that was probably not worth mentioning.


How did Tusk survive the bombing? How the hell did Tusk live through that bombing in episode 21? He is the person that the bomb was closet to since it was on his person, so how is it possible that he lived?

This is just a guess, but I would say he actually died. However, because Ange wanted him to live so much, her ragna-mail brought him back to life.

(After all, it could merge worlds and travel between them, who's to say it couldn't bring Tusk back.)


Can Gaara Survive Without Sleep? So Gaara couldn't sleep, because Shukaku was inside of him, hence his dark circle eyes. There was that guy who went crazy after trying to stay awake for 11 days for his science project. So how could Gaara function properly, let alone fight?

Evidence from Narutopedia

  During their first conversation when Gaara was a child, Shukaku warned Gaara that it would take control of his body and start killing people if he ever fell asleep

I'm actually pretty sure that gaara did sleep sometimes.

It's explained that when the host of shukaku falls asleep, shukaku slowly, key word slowly, eats away at that individuals personality and psyche. This is part of the reason that gaara is so unstable, because he DOES sleep sometimes, and when he does shukaku starts devouring his mind.


Why was Yui's Heart the only SAO item to work in Alfheim Online? When Kirito enters Alfheim Online and notices his stats are from SAO, he quickly scrolls through the list of bugged items looking for Yui's Heart. He found it but it was renamed to something else, and when he used it, Yui appeared.

Yui's Heart was a very unique item in SAO as it was created from what Kirito could save of Yui after she was deleted. Since REC Progress made Alfheim Online based off of SAO, it would explain how all of Kirito's SAO items were bugged but Yui's heart remained and was renamed.

Why was Yui's Heart, the most unique item in SAO, the only SAO item in Kirito's inventory which wasn't bugged?

I'm going to answer this from a programmer's perspective.

When writing a video game, everything is built in layers, starting with simple IO (mouse, keyboard, sound, video), then a physics engine is integrated, and then base game mechanics added.

Finally, the game itself is written on top of all this software.

All of Kirito's items would be part of the SAO game itself, and would be unrecognized item codes in another game.

However, Yui is a more integral part of the game engine, her program would exist in a earlier layer of the game. When the game was stripped down from SAO in order to make ALfheim, Yui's layer would have been left intact, allowing her to exist.

It is the same with Kirito's stats, they are more integral than the game items, and are programmed first.
(The fact that his stats transferred actually shows how sloppy & lazy of a rewrite ALfheim was)

Side note: In a game as advanced as SAO or ALfheim, it is possible that items are created as needed by the engine (the Cardinal), every game would have its own set of items, with unique IDs.


Is it possible to use Izanagi on others? In the anime(Episode 338, not sure though), I feel as if I saw an Uchiha member use Izanagi to revive a bunch of other Uchiha members. Is that even possible?

In general, YES, Izanagi can be used on others. In Chapter 510, while explaining the history of Izanagi to Konan, Tobi himself states that the Sage of Six Paths used it to create things, such as the nine Bijuu.

However, is it possible for a random filler flashback Uchiha to use Izanagi on others? Probably not, because he did not have the Senju bloodline and is certainly not comparable to the Sage of Six Paths.

  Izanagi was originally a jutsu used by the Sage of Six Paths to "create". The Sage, who was the Uchiha and the Senju bloodlines in one person, used it to create many things.

  He would create shape and form from nothingness, using imagination and spiritual energy which forms basis of the Yin power, and then breathe life into that form using vitality and physical energy, which forms basis of the Yang power.

  He also created the nine Bijuu from the Juubi's chakra. A technique with the power to turn imagination into reality is the Izanagi.


What is the relationship between Natsu and E.N.D? From what I know, E.N.D is the most powerful demon created by Zeref.
Zeref tells Natsu to choose between life and death. He's practically telling him that he'll have to decide if he wants to live or if he's going to kill himself for the sake of the other’s. He'll want to die instead of hurting his friends.

Zeref said that Igneel wanted to kill E.N.D but couldn't.

So, What is the relationship between Natsu and E.N.D?

In chapter 436 it is revealed that, ...

   Natsu (Dragneel) is the younger brother of Zeref (Dragneel). Zeref's younger brother died a few years after birth. Unable to let go, Zeref researched everything he could find about bringing back the death (R-system), travelling through time (Eclipse Gate) and creating magical beings (Etherious). In the end (pun not intended), he combined all of his knowledge and created an Etherious version of his younger brother, using the original body of that younger brother, named E(therious) N(atsu) D(ragneel).

 On a side note. This does not yet explain why Zeref was holding the book of E.N.D. in chapter 413. By holding the book, it would give the impression that E.N.D. is not yet summoned, which imho contradicts the above.


Is fanservice considered good in anime? I have watched the first episode of Neon Genesis Evangelion and at the end, after the credits, there was a short teaser of the next episode, ended with the sentence:

Tune in next time for lots more fan service!

I have watched much more American TV shows and movies than anime, so for me, the word "fanservice" has more bad associations, like some unnecessary things, not connected to the plot. So if fanservice is mentioned in a teaser, does it mean something else in anime, or do people watching anime like fanservice rather than looking down on it?

All though I don't think we really can answer the "do people enjoy watching fanservice" part of the question. As this is left to the opinion of the viewer, lets get into what 'fan-service' entails in anime.
Your definition of "something unnecessary
and "not connected to the plot", except when talking about watching it for the plot (definition may be considered nsfw, look it up at your own discretion) is pretty accurate.
Fanservice content's direct intention is to please the audience, which often leads to content of a sexual nature in anime targeting the Shounen and sometimes Shoujo demographic.
These scenario's can come forth through a range of causes. In-universe reasons range from innocence of the character, to accidental walk ins. But it is not uncommon to have scripted 'beach episodes' or 'bathing scenes' where either implied nudity or absurdly small bikini's are featured as a form of fan-service.
Hence the fan service mentioned in the teaser implies that more such scene's will be shown. However, by my recollection of the series, no actual body parts are shown in those scene's. With the exception of the directors cut version, which did feature nipples on certain characters.


Why do we not see spiritual powers run in human families? It's shown that spiritual powers run in families. And that the types of power that a human can have varies- Chad, Orihime, the Fullbringers, whatever was going on with Ururu and Jinta. So why is it that beyond seeing ghosts, only Quincy/Shinigami powers seem to get passed on from generation to generation?

Beyond the whole "Karakura is the setting" thing, why do we not even hear about this being possible? Shinigami patrol the Living World: would they not have even rumors of this (at least among Division 12)?

Fullbring is not a genetic trait, being a Quincy is one.

A person get Fullbring if his/her mother survives a Hollow attack while being pregnant with the person. Period. The actual manifestation of the power is, like all almost super powers in Bleach, only limited by what Tite Kubo could think of.

I don't know what's the deal with Shinigami families, though. And Hollow families are even more complicated, because they fuse from time to time.

Then there is the Dragon Ball, err, the Hougyoku. Grants deepest desires. Orohime's power comes from that. In fact we do not now if it is know genetically anchored within her.

So besides Quincy/Shinigami and maybe Hollow powers, simply no genetically anchored powers are shown in the series.


Does Kurama see every intimate moment in Naruto's life? I mean Kurama is in Naruto so wouldn't it be pretty awkward for the former to be present in all of the latter's intimate moments, be them romantic or physiological in nature?

Yes Kurama knows and sees the same things as Naruto so this is included. As he is an old being he has probably seen his own fair share of naked ones and those making love, meaning this is something normal to do for human beings in his eyes.

It being awkward? No I don't think so. For Naruto they have been together since his birth 24/7. They can be considered as one essentially (of course they aren't, but having one without the other would make both someone different). Because Kurama knows the ins and outs of Naruto it is something that isn't awkward for him. For Naruto it would be weird to discus it with Kurama, but not awkward as he is aware that Kurama knows and sees all that he does to since his entire life.

Going by Kurama's personality I don't think he even cares enough to consider these moments awkward.


Is Eto/Takatsuki Sen the One-Eyed Owl? So I was introduced to Tokyo Ghoul by watching the anime. I recently started reading the manga and was surprised when I saw this on the character profile on the back-lid of the front cover of Tokyo Ghoul volume 14 (the final volume before :re):

I know it is implied that Eto is Takatsuki Sen in the anime and manga, but I don't recall anywhere in the anime where it is revealed that Eto/Takatsuki Sen is the One-Eyed Owl. I also don't think I recall reading in the manga that this was the case (until I saw this image).

Did I miss something? Is Eto/Takatsuki Sen the One-Eyed Owl?

At the end of the episode (after the credits) of when Arima beats the One-eyed owl into running away, it is revealed that Eto (Sen Takatsuki) is the One-eyed owl, calling the manager "Father".


The real world location of Akiba Dome Where is the Akiba Dome that is mentioned in  Love Live! School Idol the Movie? At first since it says Akiba, I thought it would be in Akiba, Japan. But then, considering Ootonokizaka High's location (near Akiba), it doesn't make sense that they would go there on plane. Later on the Statue of Liberty was shown, so the Akiba Dome should be somewhere in New York, right? But where exactly in New York is that, because when I Googled, there is no such a thing such as Akiba Dome.

If it is actually a fictional place, what real world place is it modeled after? I guess the Madison Square Garden, just a guess though.

Ok, after re-watching it, at 6:28 of the movie,

   Umi: Why are we going overseas in the first place? If it's a concert, can't we just do it in Japan?
 Kotori: Remember what my mom said? A TV station over here wanted to do a report on school idols, so they gave Otonizaka High the offer.

So basically, they are in US for the TV station's offer and not for the third Love Live.

As for the location of Tokyo Dome, this site suggests that Akiba Dome is actually a reference to Tokyo Dome. The title in the site says

【劇場版ラブライブ】秋葉ドームはやっぱ東京ドームじゃね！？こことかモロじゃん！【僕光】(21:00)

The first sentence if translated into English means

[Love Live the Movie] Akiba Dome is Tokyo Dome, right?

Considering that the site is in Japanese (high probability of owned and maintained by Japanese community), and that they suggest that Akiba Dome is Tokyo Dome means that Akiba Dome doesn't actually exists in the real world.


Can someone stop the cause of death after someone writes the details in the Death Note? Let's say I had a Death Note. If I wrote someone's name in the book and then wrote details of the death, can an individual stop the cause of death and the actual death entirely or will the death still take action, but in a different way?

The Rules of the Death Note are pretty clear:

  How to Use: XI

  […]

  As you see above, the time and conditions of death can be changed, but once the victim’s name has been written, the individual’s death can never be avoided.

This is, of course, as long as you thought of the victim’s face while writing the name. In case you now assume that you can just alter the details of death to something impossible, well sorry:

  How to Use: LV

  […]

  In the occasion where the cause of death is possible but the situation is not, only the cause of death will take effect for that victim. If both the cause and the situation are impossible, that victim will die of heart attack. [emphasis mine].

So again, all you get is a heart attack. The victim will die.

Tl;dr: Think before you write.


Do shadow clones copy user's injury? There are several instances where injured Naruto used shadow clones:

While fighting with Kabuto, Kabuto severed the muscle and tendon of Naruto. Later, when Naruto used a shadow clone to make Rasengan, did the shadow clone have the same injury as Naruto?
After the final fight with Sasuke (i.e. after defeating Kaguya), were the shadow clones of Naruto missing their right arms [before being treated by First Hokage, Hashirama's cells]?

Apart from these two, even thoroughly exhausted Kakashi used shadow clones after defeating Zabuza. Were these shadow clones injured?

It depends on what you mean by injury. Typically when a clone receives an injury - as in being struck with an attack - they will dissipate (there are a few cases where this is not true) and will put a lot of stress on the user. You read more information on Does the original jutsu user feel anything when a shadow clone is dispersed forcefully?

Now this is what happens in reverse. According to this Shadow Clone Technique wiki page, Shadow Clones will replicate the user at the time the jutsu is cast.

  The clones will be created in roughly the same condition as the original, meaning that previous injuries, such as cuts and scrapes, will appear on the clones.

The clones themselves are not actually injured, but have the appearance of being injured if the user is injured when the jutsu is cast.

As you stated, Kakashi used the jutsu after his battle with Zabuza. You can see this in this YouTube video, where the clones were summoned with torn and bloody vests.


List of official anime releases I want to find a regularly updated list of official anime home video releases (ie DVD/BluRay/digital), English dubbed/subtitled and available globally, preferably sorted by date of release. Does such a thing exist?

If it was part of a larger list of non-anime home video releases that is fine. Wikipedia has lists such as this, but they do not seem to contain releases from smaller studios.

I normally use Anime News Network by searching for a series i'm interested in and seeing if it has a licences for english, this can normally be found further down a page where it lists who does the translations and Voice Actors if it was dubbed. it would also list distributors and internet streamers (like Crunchyroll).

However there seems to be a list for upcoming home releases here, i can validate the Kill la Kill release with a recent Madman email advertising it's release in Australia. However credit should go to this comment as i actually didn't know about the list on Anime News Network.

with the list if you click on the DVD you want then scroll down to the encyclopedia link and scroll down the next page to "English companies" you can see who the distributors are and to what context their releases where (if they are iternet streaming, subtitled, if it has an English cast then it's been dubbed)


Who are these characters appearing during the talk about elder sister in Fate/kaleid episode 7? At around 13 minutes into episode 7 of Fate/kalied liner Prisma Illya 2wei!, when Illya's mother Irisviel talked about the power of an older sister, there are a few characters appearing in the background.

To quote Irisviel:

  Older sister. Yes, that is the one who is older and has more power. When it comes to domestic hierarchies, they can hold more power than even the father. And they have absolute sway over younger siblings, which can never be overturned. The quote one great man, "No little sister is superior to her older sister!"

Who are these characters? And how does these characters compliements her argument about the power of an older sister?

They are character from the Nasuverse (which Fate/kalied liner Prisma Illya is set in).

From left to right

Touko Aozaki - Kara no Kyokai, Mahou Tsukai no Yoru

She is Aoko Aozaki's older sister, the one you see in the screen shot is how she looks in Mahou Tsukai no Yoru as she looks slightly different in Kara no Kyokai.
Euryale and Stheno - Fate/Hollow Ataraxia

They are the other 2 of the 3 Gorgon Sisters, as such they are related to Medusa, AKA Rider.
Kohaku - Tsukihime

One of the Heroines from Tsukihime and Hisui's sister who both serve as maids for the Tohno Household. Kohaku normally serves Akiha. However, her romantic interest is Shiki.

Irisviel's quote would refer to them all being the older siblings and having some sort of power over the younger siblings:

Touko has a Sealing Designation and was seen as being the most powerful due to her superior Magic Circuits. However, her little sister Aoko was chosen to be the Aozaki Successor instead, which made Touko angry and caused the fight between the two (and thus the reason why Magus Families try to avoid sibling heirs). Touko was only defeated when Aoko used one of the 5 True Magics which was thought to be impossible. Otherwise, by specifications, she is still better that Aoko.
Euryale and Stheno often picked on and belittled their younger sister Medusa and fed off her blood. However, they both did care very deeply for her. Chances are, if they were summoned as Servants, they would be more powerful than Medusa.

After Medusa became the monster known as Gorgon, she devoured her sisters. However, when Perseus reflected the Nightmare of Breaker Gorgon back at Medusa, the "nightmare" Medusa saw was of the time she spent with her sisters, which made her paralyzed with joy of seeing them again, so they still hold power over her.
Kohaku is a master at medicines and is often comically seen experimenting with them, (e.g. making a potion to turn Akiha into G-Akiha in Melty Blood), being a Magical Girl or making Mecha of Tsukihime Characters in her Underground Dungeon beneath the Tohno Household.

In Tsukihime, she plots to get revenge on the Tohno Family due to her having been raped by Shiki's and Akiha's father as a child and later by SHIKI before releasing him (who then went to kill his father) because she (and her sister) are Synchronizers and resigned to this fate to protect her sister from suffering the same abuse.

The part about "[holding] more power than even the father" is strange, as none of them do we know the father of. If it's related, I assume it might refer to Kohaku as it was she who convinced Shiki's and Akiha's father to never touch Hisui when they were children and that it was because she was a Synchronizer who can keep him from giving into the Tohno Blood.


Why did Alphonse lose everything? In the show, whenever an alchemist commits the taboo, they only lose one part of their body. Izumi lost organs, Ed lost his leg, and Mustang lost his eyesight. But, when Alphonse tried to transmute the soul he lost his entire body. Even though the equivalent exchange was justified for the other alchemists, I can't help but feel like Al's was not equivalent.

Can someone explain to me why he lost his whole body rather than just one part?

Alphonse was shown more of the truth than Edward, however he forgot it at the beginning of Brotherhood. Only towards the end did he remember. Thus, seeing more of it warrants a greater toll.

Also, the truth takes from you that which is most ironic (which is why it is such a cruel thing); for example, Mustang had his sight taken as he had his 'sights' set on being Fuhrer. Alphonse had his entire body taken as he wanted to feel his Mother's hugs and warmth. Having his body taken means that can't happen anymore.


How much of the Berserk storyline do the anime and OVA cover? I watched Berserk years ago and I'm thinking of introducing someone else to it, but I'm told that the OVAs do the original manga more justice. I've not seen the OVAs just the anime series, how much of the same ground do they cover?

If I remember correctly the original anime series just cut off with no resolution.

I'm not entirely sure as I haven't read all of the manga as of yet but everyone who has recommended the OVAs to me has assured me that it follows the manga a lot better than the original anime.

I know they've also got a long way to go with the OVAs though, it's a while off reaching the end of the manga.


Does the first OVA take place right after the last episode of the first season of Darker than Black? I'm not talking about the Gaiden one, but the one before it: Beneath Cherry Blossoms in Full Moon.

No it definitely takes place sooner. Because:

Huang is still alive who died before the end of the first season.
Mao is still there and in his cat body.
The inspector doesn't know about Hei's identity. She finds out about it in the OVA but they forget it again because of that potion. But it is hinted in the last episode hat she did have an idea who the black reaper was even though she hadn't seen his face. It could have been that her memories of the events that happened in the OVA returned.


What is Naruto's age? I'm sort of new to Naruto. I just finished most of part one and about to start Shippuden. I was wondering how old was he at the start of Shippuden? I'd really like to know as I have researched it a bit and can't figure it out. Maybe it slipped by me.

There's been all sort of answers online, but no definitive evidence. Evidence would be nice.

From the wiki under Personal

Part I: 12 - 13
Part II (Shippuden): 15 - 16

It is also worth noting that when Minato asked him his age after stoping naruto from releasing the Kyuubi's seal, Naruto told him that he was 16.
On the wiki, it also says that he graduated from the Academy at age 12, some time passed and we know he spent ~2.5 years away training with Jiraiya so accounting for any time that may have passed, it eventually adds up.


How exactly do you cast the Infinite Tsukuyomi? Obito tried to cast it using the Divine Tree's bud and Ten Tail's power.

Madara did it by absorbing the Divine Tree and using the Rinne Sharingan.

Kaguya did it just by eating the Divine Tree's chakra fruit (which I believe only contains a fraction of Ten Tail's/Divine Tree's power).

So what is the working behind casting the Infinite Tsukuyomi?

Infinite Tsukoyomi in simplest terms is a Genjutsu cast by reflecting the Sharingan from the surface of moon such that anyone who looks at the moon falls under the spell.

Tobi explains to the five Kage about this jutsu. That he needs his current power to increase significantly so that his Sharingan can become capable of such a feat. Thus the jutsu Inifnite Tsukoyomi doesn't depend on the way the required level of power is achieved, just that the user has that much power.

Hence Obito, Madara and Kaguya believe that they can cast it using different methods to increase their chakra.


Are there any gyms in the Anime/Manga where the Pokemon trainer has to first fight other trainers? In the Pokemon video-games inside a Gym, aside from the Gym Leader there are a bunch of trainers and generally you need to fight at least one to get to the Gym Leader.

In the anime, I have seen so far none of the gyms shown follow the same format but I've only seen up to Diamond and Pearl when Palkia and Dialga are summoned.

I am wondering if in the anime or any manga, there is a Gym which follows the same format as that from the games, where the challenging trainer has to face a gauntlet of trainers before they face the Gym Leader?

The Pokémon Adventures manga series does sometimes include the other trainers and puzzles in the gyms. In Pokémon Adventures: Diamond and Pearl Platinum, Lady Berlitz usually does battle the other gym trainers and complete the puzzles of the gym, however it is usually glossed over. Instead, the manga usually focuses on Diamond and Pearl as they try to catch a glimpse of Lady's progress since they are barred from entering the earlier gyms. For instance, in volume 2, Lady Berlitz visits Gardenia's gym. On page 13, the guard statue explains that Lady Berlitz has to defeat four trainers hidden in the forest maze and then make her way to Gardenia. On page 15, after getting kicked out of the gym, Diamond and Pearl find a window to watch the gym challenge and discover that Lady has already reached Gardenia:

  It's amazing, Pearl! Lady got through the maze already and beat all of the preliminary trainers! She's already facing Gardenia!
  -Diamond, Pokémon Adventures: Diamond and Pearl Platinum Volume 2, pages 14-15

Some later gym puzzles, such as the math problems in Fantina's gym, were shown more explicitly.

Likewise, in the Black and White chapter, gym puzzles were shown. At the first gym, the puzzle was to step on a switch representing the Pokémon type that was effective against the Pokémon type on a series of curtains. When Bianca interrupted Black's gym challenge by stepping on an incorrect button, the three gym leaders agreed to a three-on-three battle if Cheren and Black helped her out and the three of them made it through the curtains.


Do the Sharingan dots decide their power/ family tree? In chapter 674 page 9, Madara says that Sasuke is the only one who awakened a Sharingan with straight commas, just like his. After that, he says that there might be a connection between them, something beyond blood.

Does this mean that an Uchiha can be distinguished by their Sharingan? Does this also mean that the power of their eye is decided by the type of commas (tomoe) they have?

I believe what Madara means by "straight commas" is that Sasuke awakened the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan just like he did. No one in the Naruto series has been shown to possess Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan(s) besides these two, so that must be what he meant.

As for the average Sharingan, 3 commas is the mastered form. However, Kakashi, Obito, Itachi, Sasuke and a handful of other Uchihas have been shown to have those 3 commas in their regular Sharingan. Also, all the Sharingan(s) embedded in Danzo's arm had three commas. So for Madara to say that Sasuke is the only one who awakened a Sharingan with straight commas like him, he couldn't be pertaining to the regular Sharingan, but the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan.


Was a slaughter by Itachi the only option? Since the only problem from the leaf side was Danzo, why didn't Itachi and Fugaku convince Hiruzen and even possibly Obito to take down Danzo?

There is no possible reason for Obito to help Itachi but if the only reason to help Itachi was his recruitment to the Akatsuki, then why would he not agree to help Itachi if Itachi agreed to join the Akatsuki.

The only problem remaining is the bad Uchiha comrades. Their demands could have been fulfilled or they could have taken down. They didn't seem to possess the mangekyo sharingan given how Itachi was surprised when he saw Fugaku show his Mangekyo.

Was a slaughter essential only for the plot development of the series or was it something that was the only option?

Danzö wasn't the only one with a problem against the Uchiha. As a matter of a fact, the whole of Konoha's high ranks were suspicious of them since the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox's Attack, because their Sharingan was the only thing capable of "controlling" the fox.

You suggested that Fugaku could convince The Third Hokage to take down Danzö, but that has absolutely no feasibility, since Danzö was one of Hiruzen's most trusted counselor and his loyalty to the village was demonstrably great. And also, Fugaku had no knowledge of Konoha's plan to wipe out the Uchiha, he just knew they were being segregated.

Obito also couldn't do anything beacause he didn't want to. You need to take into account that Obito, under Madara's strong influence, wanted to wipe out the Uchiha. Madara had a grudge against the current clan because he felt betrayed when they wanted to stop the battles against the Senju.

In the manga, Fugaku was the prime idealizer of the clans coup d'état, and wasn't just "going with" the majority of the clan. He also doesn't have the Mangekyö Sharingan, nor did anyone else besides Itachi and Shisui at that time. Well, Tobi had it, but he wasn't a de facto clan member at that point of the story anymore.

Now, the slaughter probably wasn't necessary to end the conflict with the Uchiha. Maybe not isolating them to a section of the village would be a better option, but that's speaking in real world terms. The manga (and by extension, the anime) shows the Uchiha clan as being cursed with hate. Their döjutsu is based on chakra mixed with hate, and based on those premisses, they were bound to be distrustful, angry and power hungry, so maybe there wasn't much of a choice.


What do Homura's runes in Rebellion say? Well, if you saw the third Madoka movie, then you know that…

   Homura turns into a witch at some point of the movie.

Knowing that, I'm trying to decipher what her runes say:

Some runes are pretty obvious and others not so much:

This is the rune map that I use; it's from the wiki.

As far as I could get, this says something like:

  H O M _ U

  H O M _   LILLY

At least, that last part is pretty clear. Any suggestions about the meaning of this?

It's been confirmed by multiple sources (from the movie and game) that it says:

HOMU
LILLY
HOMULILLY

Which matches up with the PSP game:


Which was Nine's betrayal to Tomura Shigaraki? In the BNHA wikia it's mentioned that Nine betrayed Tomura. But I didnt realize any of this during the movie. Which was Nine's betrayal to Tomura Shigaraki?

That's incorrect and it's actually the other way around, Towards the end of the movie we see tomura kill nine, so no, nine didn't betray anyone.


Why is the childhood friend trope commonly seen in anime? I've noticed that most anime, especially in genres like slice of life and romantic comedies,  there is at least one character that plays  the role of the childhood friend (osananajimi). This is often coupled with the unrequited love, girl next door, or other related tropes.

Of course, childhood friends are in every culture out there, but I'm curious if Japan has a special reason for this particular occurrence in anime shows. Also, aside from gender inclination towards the shounen genre, why is it that most osananajimi are girls whereas in real life, our childhood friends are typically of the same sex? Is this occurence more prevalent in Japan than in other cultures?

And feel free to edit (especially the title) and/or comment if this question is off-topic.

As the comments say, this is a somewhat subjective question. I'll give my own reason, which I think is a big part of the reason this is common, but perhaps not the only reason.

Japanese society is more regimented than one might believe just from watching anime. By middle school age, and even to some degree in primary school, children are expected to interact with their peers in a relatively professional way. This is especially true of relationships between students of opposite sexes. Such requirements aren't held for family or close friends, but for everyone else one is expected to be polite and not share their true feelings or say things too directly.  This concept of dividing people into an in-group and an out-group (内外, uchi-soto) is somewhat hard for non-Japanese people to understand, but is central to interactions between people in Japanese culture. In fact, you can find plenty of examples of this and of the related concepts of honne and tatemae in anime if you look, but if you aren't looking for them specifically it's easy to miss.

It's difficult for a person in the out-group to enter the in-group. While not impossible, generally this takes time and effort. The groups aren't a simple dichotomy either; they change depending on the situation. It's especially difficult for close friendships between members of the opposite sex to form. One way for this to happen is for the two to enter into a relationship, but this is obviously not ideal if you want to make a romantic comedy where the characters aren't already in relationships. Another way is for one person to act closer to the other than they really are, as a way of testing the boundaries, but that person is being somewhat rude in doing so and it can backfire.

The most realistic way for a character to have a close friend is for them to be long-time friends. Specifically, if their friendship goes back all the way to childhood, when they didn't have to follow these strict rules, a friendship could develop without much issue.  Having a childhood friend character is one way to get a character who is already part of the protagonist's in-group. From a writer's standpoint, this is an attractive proposition, since it gives someone that the protagonist can have relatively serious conversations with, but who can also be a potential romantic interest. In (reverse) harem shows, it's especially attractive to diversify the female (male) cast of romantic interests.

That said, I think we have been seeing something of a decline in recent years in this archetype, at least among harem shows. Probably writers have realized that it's overused and that a generic osananajimi character without any unique personality traits isn't a very interesting character. Opposite-sex childhood friends are also far less common in real life than in anime, making the prevalence of this somewhat unrealistic. 10 years ago, nearly every harem/romcom show had a character like this, but the proportion seems to have dropped to less than half of them today. Partly, this can be attributed to other archetypes increasing in popularity (notably, the little sister/imouto character, who can be even closer to the protagonist than a childhood friend). When they do show up in shows today, it's often as a dual archetype character, e.g. a tsundere osananajimi.


Can an EVA kill it's pilot through harm caused during battle? One of the big flaws in the EVA Systems is the issue of the EVA's nervous system connecting and interacting with the nervous system of the pilot. During the manga and the anime, it is shown time and time again that the injuries incurred to the EVA during combat are transferred to the pilot as well, a good example being Zeruel blasting EVA Unit 01's hand off, and Shinji feeling the pain of said action.

Now, this got me thinking, obviously the amount of pain endured would send any normal person in shock, due to multiple factors, like blood loss and outright "pain". If an EVA is seriously damaged during a battle, wouldn't the shock of the "pain and injuries" be enough to kill the pilot?

A very graphic example is Asuka and EVA Unit 02 vs the Mass production Evangelion Units, paying close attention to the sheer amount of damage Unit 02 sustained during the battle, being disemboweled and so on, eventually killing the EVA Unit.

After doing some reading on the Evangelion Wikis, I stumbled upon an article that answers this question.

An Evangelion can kill it's pilot with shock from the injuries, and therefore Central Command has to watch the sync rate between the pilot and the Unit to ensure that the pilot does not die during combat, as was nearly the case with Unit 02 and Asuka vs Zeruel.

Source --> https://wiki.evageeks.org/Evangelions (See The Effect of Damage to the Evas upon their Pilots)


Does the name Shiki have some sort of relevance to Death? In Kara no Kyoukai and the Tsukihime games, the characters who can see death have the first name Shiki:

Ryougi Shiki: Kara no Kyoukai - Obtained from being overly exposed to Akasha while in a Comma dying
Tohno Shiki: Tsukihime - Obtained from almost dying when attacked by SHIKI
Tohno SHIKI: Tsukihime - Obtained from being with Roa (unsure if Roa has to be dominant as he was in Near Side Routes, SHIKI is dominant in Far Side Routes)
Nanaya Shiki: Melty Blood - Derived from Tohno Shiki as Nanaya is an aspect of Tohno's personality and brought into the world though TATARI's powers (used by White Len)

I am wondering if the name Shiki has relevance to death or being able to see death. (From my understanding, neither Roa or Tohno SHIKI have the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, just the understanding of it through Roa's many reincarnations.)

It is probably related to the fact that "shi" is death in Japanese. The kanji for death is "死", however, which does not appear in any of the names of characters you listed. The word would still be associated with death, (as shown by the tetraphobia that appears throughout Japan).

Those characters are all from Type-Moon series, also, so the connection may also come from that fact. Tsukihime and Melty Blood are directly related, existing in the same world, while Kara no Kyoukai is not.


Is Ginko's death a foregone conclusion (in the Mushishi storyline)? There is a break in the story of both the manga and the anime that fans will be familiar with: chapter 15 ("The Fish Gaze") in the manga and episode 12 ("One eyed fish") in the anime. In it, the "youth" of Ginko is shown, and the origin of his missing eye and white hair is explained.

One thing which has bugged me a bit is the ominous prophecy attached to it. Nui, Ginko's de facto mentor/rescuer tells him that the fish in a local pond (and she herself) only have one eye since they got exposed too much to the silver light created by a very powerful mushi, which she calls Ginko (a huge, silver fish).
Nui notes that those who lose both eyes to it get turned into a mushi themselves, called Tokoyami. Nui also mentions that she performed experiments on fish that had already lost an eye, which showed that once they had lost an eye, they would invariably lose the other and turn into Tokoyami, even if they were never exposed to the silver light again.

Later in the story, Ginko (the main character, not the Mushi) loses an eye as well. Does this mean that Ginko's death is certain and unavoidable?

Given the variety of events that happened in first season, it is safer to conclude that a Great Mushi-Master can live as long as he want. Though I agree with your view that as per Nui, anyone who lost one of its eyes to Tokoyami is bound to become Tokoyami sooner or later.

As far as I understand from the death of Nui in episode 12, Tokoyami is more like a mushi that colonizes the host from inside, seeing as it came out from Nui's second eye to devour her from outside, and the same happened to the one-eyed fish which Yoki saw in the pond during daybreak.

However, there are cases where people were able to avoid death.

In episode 20, Ginko went to meet Tanyuu Karibusa, who happened to have a Mushi inside her, but she was able to slowly "get rid of it" by writing the stories of Mushi's being killed. The ink used was the caged Mushi, which thereby got sealed into the writings.

In episode 9, Ginko met a head priest of a village who happened to use a seed having Kouki (the life pulse of all the Mushis) inside of it. The head priest was dead by the end, but Ginko revived him by injecting the same seed into priest's mouth, and then, he became immortal. Though such is a forbidden practice, it is always possible.

Based on these three episodes, I'm completely certain that he can live as long as he want. He is no ordinary man who can be engulfed by Tokoyami easily. I'm certain that Ginko, being a Mushi-Master, can find a way to cure himself.


What are the markings used above some song lyrics? I believe lyrics are shown to both the first opening and ending songs of the tennis anime, Baby Steps. Here is a partial shot from the ending:

You can see that the normal credits are single rows of characters.  However, the lyrics at the bottom include a row of a few mini-characters above the main ones. What do these additional markings (characters?) indicate?  I am not asking for a translation, just what their purpose is.

I vaguely remember seeing them in another series or two, but this is the first time they really caught my curiosity. I'm assuming right now that they are related to the music, perhaps how the song may have modified pronunciation of certain words. It appears too sparse to be some sort of full musical notation. There is only one voice in each song, so it is not the simultaneous words of a second singer.

In the English Wikipedia there is an article called Shakuhachi Musical Notation related to Japanese music. It did not seem to help, though I don't know much about the topic. (I.e. I didn't see any pictures showing the double-row lyric thing.)

The markings above the kanji are furigana, which indicate the pronunciation of the respective characters. I'm not an expert, but I recall seeing this (sometimes for all kanji, sometimes only for some) in karaoke-related videos on YouTube before. (Examples: 北酒場, for some kanji; 長崎の女, where significantly, 女 is read as ひと.) Wikipedia singles karaoke as a notable case in which furigana appears, and it makes sense that furigana may be provided for some songs even when they're not explicitly made for the purpose of karaoke (for instance, for a children's show where viewers might sing along).


What do Belken Devices say for "load cartridge"? I'm trying to figure out what Belken Devices like Graf Eisen and Laevatein say when they use the Cartridge System, i know that when Mid-Children Devices Rasing Heart and Bardiche say the English "Load Cartridge"

i have tried passing in "load cartridge" into Google Translate, ofcause that didn't go well and i also did load and cartridge separately however can't find neither one in the Nanoha A's Special CD Soundtracks (which came with some tracks of the Devices talking).

i'm looking for what they say and the English equivalent on the off chance they don't say word-for-word load cartridge

Here's a quote from the manga wikia on Vita's list of attacks:

Nachladen — Not a real attack, just Graf Eisen reloading cartridges.
Explosion — Also not an attack; Graf Eisen says this when using cartridges, analogous to the English-speaking devices' "Load cartridge."

Source: Vita (Nanoha) Manga Wikia page
Nachladen is also the term listed on the Signum manga wikia page, a German word which translates to "Reload".
Despite what the manga wikia says, I always thought that the Belken devices use "Reload" in the same way that the Mid-Children Devices use "Load Cartridge", and "Explosion" is when they're being used, particularly multiple cartridges. (Passing reference of this on the Nanoha wikia Vita page).
I admit that I have not watch/read/listened to all of the anime, manga, drama CD, etc. and my understanding is that there may be minor differences.


Is the manga Emma a retelling of Jane Austen's novel? I haven't read either, but was wondering if the manga Emma is the same as the novel by Jane Austen under the same name.

They have several similarities:

They're both set in Victorian England.
They both have the same title
They are both romance stories

Jane Austen is a famous author, and it's conceivable that someone could adapt her novel into a new graphic format. However, none of the descriptions I've read of the manga mention Ms. Austen.

Are the series related?

It's a reasonable question (see Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo), but I think the answer is no. Note that I also have not read either work, but from looking at the Wikipedia articles for the manga Emma by Kaoru Mori and the novel Emma by Jane Austen:

The manga Emma is set in 1895 in the Victorian Era. This is much later than the novel Emma, which was published during the Regency Era in 1815.
One of the defining features of the title character in Jane Austen's novel is that, unlike the heroines of earlier Austen work, she is independently wealthy and runs her own household. The anime's Emma is a commoner, kidnapped as a child for a brothel, who escaped to the streets and was taken in and brought up as a maid by a wealthy family. She is a diligent and hard worker, whereas Austen's Emma was described by Austen as "a heroine whom no one but myself will much like" and is said on the Wikipedia article to have "a strong sense of class".
Anime's Emma lives in London, whereas Jane Austen's Emma lives in a small country estate in Surrey.

It is possible that the manga's author, Kaoru Mori, incorporated some influence from Austen's work, since she's a self-declared Anglophile,

The author and illustrator of the manga, Kaoru Mori, is a self-professed Anglophile, [...]
(Overview - 2nd sentence)

But overall, it doesn't look like a direct adaptation of Jane Austen's Emma.


Why didn't Nozawa Masako continue voicing Doraemon? In the 1973 version of Doraemon, the seiyuu for Doraemon is Nozawa Masako. However in the 1979 version of Doraemon, we have Ooyama Nobuyo voicing Doraemon. The newest Doraemon (the 2005) version has Mizuta Wasabi voicing Doraemon.

Most of the time (like 99%) a seiyuu retains the voicing roles, for example, Ishikawa Yui voices Mikasa Ackerman for all 3 seasons of Attack on Titan. Matsuoka Yoshitsugu retains his role as Kirito in SAO series.

The change from Ooyama Nobuyo to Mizuta Wasabi was probably due to Ooyama suffering from dementia. Masako Nozawa was still is good health (at least no news of her suffering from certain illness). Why did not Masako Nozawa retains her role as Doraemon in 1979?

Nozawa is busy voicing Goku on DragonBall Super and related properties.
Funny, never knew that she voiced Doraemon.


Where is All Blue located? After reading this question, I looked through some One Piece world maps as you can see below and they made me wonder. Where would All Blue even be at? All Blue is supposedly the place where the four seas meet.

  The All Blue is a mystical sea of legend, rumoured to be the only place in the world where the North, South, East, and West seas meet.

Since the four seas are separated from each other by the Grand and Red line, how and where would they be able to meet? Where would All Blue be at?

There is even this interactive world map if you would be interested.

There is no canon or non-canon answer from the One Piece universe.  Sanji referred to a lake on Fishman island as his All Blue but that was not serious (I think). Until Oda says, we don't know.

We could speculate it could be reverse mountain, or a bay at Raftel, or a cavern deep underground, or Vegapunk's research aquarium on the moon, or an alternative dimension (an island ate a devil fruit?), or ..... The point is that Oda is very creative.  It could be many things as a result.


What is a more accurate translation of the title of Legend of the Galactic Heroes? Several people have mentioned to me that the title of Legend of the Galactic Heroes is based on a rather "interesting" translation. What would be a more accurate translation of the original title (銀河英雄伝説 Ginga Eiyū Densetsu)? I've also heard that it is based on a German title, that was then translated to Japanese, and then to English - I don't know if that is true, though.

Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu is a series of Japanese novels written by a Japanese person, and is not, to the best of my knowledge, materially based on any previously-existing work.

The 110-episode OVA series (which is probably what most viewers are familiar with) was given the alternate title "Heldensagen vom Kosmosinsel". I don't speak German, but various discussions on the internet suggest that "Heldensagen vom Kosmosinsel" is not valid German. A look at de.wiktionary.org suggests that "Kosmosinsel" is not even a word, or perhaps is a compound noun meaning "cosmos island" (which is not idiomatic for "galaxy"; that would be "Galaxie").

Given this, it looks like the producers of the OVA figured that it would look cool to have a faux-German title (in Gothic font, too!), ran "銀河英雄伝説" through Babelfish (or maybe through some dude who'd had a year of German at university), and got out "Heldensagen von Kosmosinsel". It's probably the case that the translation went Jap -> Ger (badly) and Jap -> Eng, rather than Ger -> Jap -> Eng.

I'm not sure why you've been hearing that that "Legend of the Galactic Heroes" is an "interesting" translation of 銀河英雄伝説 (ginga eiyuu densetsu), though. 銀河 ginga means "galaxy"; 英雄 eiyuu means "hero"; and 伝説 densetsu means "legend".

It's a bit contracted to omit particles, as titles often are, but the meaning is clear - this is a densetsu about the ginga eiyuus, i.e. a legend about galaxy heroes. Hence, Legend of the Galactic Heroes.

Note: in the comments, @Krazer correctly points out that an alternate parse of ginga eiyuu densetsu is as "eiyuu densetsu about the ginga", i.e. "Heroic Legends from the Galaxy". Now that I think about it, I'm not really sure which parse is actually better, in terms of the show.


Where does this picture of Goku possible new form/transformation comes from? A new picture of a Goku possible new form/transformation has appeared and some people is speculating that it could have to do with this another picture of a possible new Goku form/transformation What is Goku's red aura form in the new Dragon Ball Super opening? .

Where does this new picture come from?

Note: can't find the picture with the tools suggested.

Producer Hiroyuki Sakurada released a statement about Dragon Ball Super's new key visual for the "Universal Survival" saga: [From Toei Animation]

  The curtain finally rises on the Tournament of Power, where the strongest warriors in the history of Dragon Ball Super are gathering! The new key visual for the Tournament of Power is finally finished! It depicts Goku as he tries to break new ground in order to face off against the mightiest of foes in the midst of the fierce battle that is the Tournament of Power! What sort of formidable foes are in store?! How will Goku battle them? And what new ground will he break?! Don't miss Dragon Ball Super as the hype ramps up for the unprecedented battle that will unfold at the Tournament of Power!!


Do the Madoka OST CDs have sensible musical notation printed on them? Do these Madoka original soundtrack disks have some comprehensible melodies printed on them or are they just random notation signs? If it is possible, I'd like to hear what is written on them.

It might be readable if there was some difference between the minims and crotchets and quavers, but due to the lack of time signature and bar lines, I would say that the design on these discs is just that, a design. Also, as senshin commented, it doesn't seem to resemble anything from the Madoka soundtrack anyway.


Can the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan be obtained by implanting a normal Sharingan? As we know, there are only two who have achieved the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan. Madara and Sasuke.

Madara

Madara and his brother both gained their MS from killing those closest to them. Madara then gained the EMS when he took Izuna's (his brother's) eyes, who had the MS.

Sasuke

Itachi gained his MS when he witnessed Shisui die. Sasuke gained his MS when he learned the truth about Itachi from Tobi. Sasuke then gained the EMS when he took Itachi's eyes.

Question

When Itachi was fighting Sasuke, he was saying how he wanted to take Sasuke's eyes so he could obtain the EMS. Sasuke did not have the MS at the time, so was Itachi lying, or are just "blood tie" Sharingan needed for the EMS? *Sidenote I personally don't believe Itachi would lie about this, because if he did and Sasuke found out, Sasuke would then be questioning Itachi's true motives.

Does anybody have any proof that you have to have the MS in order to awaken the EMS?

Here's a simpler thought:  you can't obtain something greater if you have something lesser to offer.

We know that obtaining the Mangekyo Sharingan requires someone to witness someone close to them being killed or lost.  Some of the more prolific wielders obtained this by killing someone close to them, with the notable exceptions of Madara and Itachi who only witnessed someone close to them die.

One of the changes when someone with the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan undergoes is that the tomoe of the previous MS wielder is blended in with their own as a secondary pattern, similar to how a kaliedoscope blends in multiple pictures.  This is evident with the final look of Sasuke's own EMS.

With that, it makes sense that a prior Sharingan would have needed to have been an Mangekyo, since there wouldn't have been a new tomoe pattern to include into the kalideoscope.


What is the name of this song in Naruto Shippuuden ep 490 at 11:48 I was watching this episode and heard a familiar sound. It reminded me of another anime, but I forgot which one. It is in Episode 490 of Naruto Shippuuden starting at 11:48. It is when Hinoko is sitting on the stairs and the other kid went up to him, and the music starts playing soon after. The music starts when she starts creating the little sphere of chakra or whatever. I just want to know the name of the music.

It is called Fake. This is Naruto OST 3. The one in the ep 490 was the same with just a little tweak in the instrumental part.
https://youtu.be/QSyIGCI6sO8


Is the gun mention a subtitling error? I'm rewatching the Naruto Chuunin exams, and in the Crunchyroll subs in episode 40, when it's being explained by Zaku's arms blew out, the explanation mentions gun barrels. However, as per this answer, there are no guns in Naruto. I don't remember the Japanese word for gun or gun barrel, and my listening isn't good enough to tell what they're saying in this particular part. Is this simply a subtitling error, or do they actually use a gun analogy in this case? If they do use a gun analogy in the anime, do they use the same analogy in the Japanese manga--that is, do they canonically explain the result using a gun analogy despite the lack of guns in Naruto?

I think the subtitles are okay. The Naruto manga does use a similar gun analogy. In chapter 70:

  ...Like a gun barrel when the path of a bullet is blocked, Zaku blew his arm off.

In the anime, I believe that the word that Dosu is using is 砲身 (ほうしん), which translates to "gun barrel". For context, in that sentence, Dosu was saying something along the lines of:

  砲身【ほうしん】であるザクの腕【うで】は暴発【ぼうはつ】し使【つか】い物【もの】になるなくなる


Why Ymir jaw titan and Galliard jaw titan look so different? Ymir jaw titan looks rachitic, when Galliard jaw titan looks bulky.
Ymir jaw titan

Galliard jaw titan

I didnt even recognize the jaw titan when I saw it in the last season of the anime. Why is this so? Is there any explanation in the manga or in any sourcebook why Ymir jaw titan and Galliard jaw titan look so different?

Marley nation modifies their titan shifters so they can harden their body. This is mentioned in chapter 95 page 21
That’s why Ymir’s titan form is different from Marcel or Porco. Ymir was an ordinary girl who didn't train in the military like Reiner or Annie.


Why are Fairy Tail and Fairy Tail: 100 Years Quest separate series? Someone please explain why Mashima continued Fairy Tail under another title. Why is this under a different name when the 100 Years Quest could also be included in the first Fairy Tail as a different arc?

From storyline point of view, the whole Fairy Tail story was about the dragon slayers, the magic dragon Acnologia and the black mage Zeref. It has already been completed in the main story. Zeref was defeated by Natsu, so is Acnologia.

The 100 years quest has pretty much a whole different story that has nothing to do with Zeref and Acnologia. Thus, adding it to the main story as a new arc would be awkward because the bridging between the new arc and the previous arc will be very narrow.


Was it formerly common practice to credit voice actors in opening credits? The final OP for Monogatari Series Second Season (the Koimonogatari OP) is sort of an 80s-throwback sort of deal, with all the hallmarks of old anime styling - funky "lens flares", those old-school clouds, a song reminiscent of 80s-era pop, captioned lyrics - the works.

One particularly interesting feature of the OP is that it credits KAMIYA Hiroshi and SAITOU Chiwa as the voice actors of Koyomi and Hitagi, respectively.

No TV anime from the past two or three years that I have watched has (to the best of my recollection) credited a voice actor in the opening credits. The opening credits typically seem to be reserved for producers, directors, original creators, and people like that. Voice actors are, of course, credited in the ending credits, usually towards the beginning.

And so, the question: Was it more common back in, say, the 80s or thereabouts for voice actors to be credited in anime opening credits (in place of or in addition to the ending credits)?

(Or, alternatively, is this aspect of the presentation of the Koimonogatari OP just idiosyncratic / anachronistic / otherwise not in keeping with common practice from a few decades ago?)

It's uncommon, but it's not that rare.
According to the Japanese Wikipedia:

It's often to have 2 credits scene for movies, TV programs, etc.: opening & ending. The general rule is, opening credits the studio, main performers, producer, supervisor, writer, etc., and ending credits all of the staffs.
In Japanese TV dramas, it's common to have the opening shown all the credit and omitted the ending in the 60's. However, in 70's and 80's, the credits started to split to opening with important credits, and ending with the rest. In 90's and later, it became common for the opening to only show the title, and the ending plays the theme song while listing all the credits.

However, most of 60's & 70's anime OPs didn't even list any credit, only showing animation & song, sometimes with lyric (unless I was apparently watching the non-telop version...). Even if they list the credit, it's similar to the current trend (production-related credits), but there were some which included the voice actors (out of around 25 anime OPs that I watched):

ビッグX (Big X, 1964): YouTube video

夕やけ番長 (Yuuyake Bancho, 1968): YouTube video

もーれつア太郎 (Moretsu Ataro, 1969): B/W OP (YouTube video), Color OP (YouTube video

男一匹 ガキ大将 (Otoko Ippiki Gaki Daishou, 1969): YouTube video

Note: 声の出演 is the same as CV (Character Voice).


What's the name of the the track after the opening in Episode 111 of Hunter × Hunter (2011)? Right after the prologue and the intro, a familiar and serious violin melody plays as seconds remain before Gon, Morel and the rest enter the portal and face the Royal Guard. What's the name of the soundtrack?

The title is Mystic Land. It is found in the Hunter × Hunter (2011) Original Soundtrack 1 album as the 27th track. You can listen to it here to verify: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQlALgZ4o5M&index=27&list=PL5pQzc8WlbS__YtYTn12AxaI7wJpRG6WY


Why has shanks never claimed any island? As in like Whitebeard had his own "territory", Fishman Island, and so did Bib Mum, "Wholecake Island". So why doesn't Shanks, a fellow younkou, do the same?

These pictures shown Shanks claimed at least one unknown place.


Are the Dragon Ball Heroes anime and manga supposed to follow the same story? After chapter 2 of the manga, and episode 6 of the anime, (after the battle with Cumber to be more precise) Dragon Ball Heroes looks nothing alike, they are fighting different villains. Is it episode 7 of the anime, supposed to be "filler" and Dragon Ball Heroes is going to retake the manga or how it is? Is the Dragon Ball Heroes anime said to be based in the manga or not?

The Dragon Ball Heroes anime is promotional material, hence very short and cannot cover all the material present in the manga, As of now, the anime has finished the Prison Planet Arc and has now moved on to the Universal Conflict arc, which you can read about here.


What exactly is a dango? I recently finished watching Clannad and the ending song is about dango and Nagisa, the one that wanted to start the drama club up again, always seems to be talking about or drawing dango. But, what exactly is a dango? We know it's a food of some sort because the main male character goes and buys them from a gas station and then Nagisa eats them, but what exactly makes a dango a dango and why is there a "big dango family" anyway?

A dango is "a Japanese dumpling and sweet made from mochiko" according to Shawn Balestracci's Wikipedia link. Mochiko is mochi flour, which is made from pounded rice. The Wikipedia page lists several varieties; some of these are mentioned in the song, such as the "peaceful an dango" source.

The Clannad anime is kind of unclear about where the song and characters come from, but within the world of Clannad, it seems to be some kind of mascot merchandising franchise similar to Hello Kitty. Nagisa has a dango daikazoku pillow, for instance. IIRC, Tomoya mentions early on that the dango daikazoku is old and unfashionable, but Nagisa herself is somewhat unfashionable, so it fits her.

Dango are somewhat commonly mentioned in anime and are even part of a saying, hana yori dango, which means "dango over flowers" (i.e., put food over aesthetic pleasures like flowers) and was punned on as the title of a shoujo manga. (The manga title uses different kanji to write "dango" that can also be read as "otokonoko" or "boy"). The sense I get from other anime is that dango are a common snack among Japanese young people, so they would be attractive as a mascot character for children and teenagers, leading to the idea of the Dango Daikazoku.


What chapter does Attack on Titan season 2 finish at? I just finished the season 2 of Attack on Titan and I want to start to read the manga.

Which chapter should I start from?

Yes, the events in Episode 37 of Attack on Titan (Season 2, Episode 12) corresponds to Chapter 50 in the manga. That means that if you wanted to pick up right after Episode 12, as everyone mentioned above, it would be Chapter 51 (Volume 13) of the manga. Just for anyone looking for an episode-manga equivalent of Season 1 and Season 2 of Attack on Titan:

Season 1:

Season 2

This is the best equivalency I've come up with. Please note that some things were covered in the manga and not the anime, and there were some events that occurred in difference places than in the anime.


Why is "-the Maxim-" in the title? I suspect there may be a Your Lie in April title spoiler situation here, or quite possibly I'm just dense. I'm on episode 10 of Parasyte -the Maxim- and I have been wondering the whole time what the title means.  At a guess, it could involve how episode 1 starts and ends.

start: Someone on Earth had a sudden thought.
end: Someone on Earth had a sudden thought. "Life must be protected."

(The end quote appears at time mark 20:40.) The Google dictionary defines maxim as "a short, pithy statement expressing a general truth or rule of conduct".  So is that the maxim, Life must be protected.? If so, there will probably be a further reveal late in the series. Or am I way off base?

If the actual answer is a spoiler, please put it in a spoiler block. I'll hold off reading that part until finishing the series.

I believe you are right on the mark that the maxim is "Life must be protected."

From what I remember, the theme is pretty consistent throughout the entire series, but the overarching idea tied to the maxim is that all life is valuable, regardless of species.

It's a bit philosophical for an anime about aliens that hijack human bodies and blend in so they can eat other humans while no one is looking, but bear with me.

One way that the series plays into this maxim is by seemingly asking "Who is really a monster?", as in "Who really deserves to live/die?"

  After the initial brutality of the Parasites, some of them start to realize that the best way to continue their existence is to co-exist with the humans. However, most humans oppose this idea completely, due to first impressions and not-so-peaceful Parasites. This idea comes to a climax in episode 21 where the presumed Parasite mayoral candidate Hirokawa condemns humans for not being able to live alongside Parasites and is shot to death. Only after this is it revealed that Hirokawa was fully human the entire time.

Another scene that depicts Parasites as not complete monsters is in Episode 18,

  when Reiko sacrifices herself to save her son.

The other way that this maxim is used throughout the series is the idea of survival.

That is, the Parasites simply seek to survive, and

  as mentioned above, seek to cooperate with humans, though they are rejected entirely and effectively forced into hiding, lest they be hunted, as seen in Episodes 19-20.


Mount Myoboku: a different space/dimension? There are two ways to enter mount Myōboku:

A secret path from Konohagakure
Reverse summoning

So there is no way (as known so far) that you are traveling somewhere and by mistake end up landing on mount Myōboku. Neither is it shown on any map in any episode.

I assumed that it's a different space or world. (Than the shinobi's)

As stated in the wiki:

  For a human to get to Mount Myōboku, it either takes a month long travel on secret paths from Konohagakure or, if they have a summoning contract, they can let a toad use the Reverse Summoning Technique. According to Fukasaku, Mount Myōboku is impossible to find by foot for those who don't know the secret route. (Chapter 409)

But whether or not it is in another dimension is nowhere stated. Additionally it is not shown on the World map of Naruto. So it could be on an unknown place on this world (as on an island not yet discovered by the shin-obis or as you said in another dimension or even on another planet.


Who is the trainer with Typhlosion? I see a lot of fan arts like this one, a trainer challenging red. He always has a Typhlosion but I have never seen the other of his pokemon in any fan art. It seems like this place is Mt.Silver.

Who is this trainer?
What are his pokemon?
Where is he originated from?   Games, anime, manga?

This character's name is Gold. Like Madara mentioned, he is the main character in Gold/Silver/Crystal. He is most likely from the Pokemon adventures manga (which I read).

The one facing him is most likely Red from the manga as well. I just do not remember him having a Lapras, but I do know that at the Deoxys arc of the manga he used all 3 of the Kanto starters at some point.

In the manga, Gold's team would be Sudowoodo, Ambipom, Sunflora, Politoad, Togetic and Typhlosion (as of Volume 43). He has a Pichu called Pibu, but it's more or less there for cute appeal.

This scene is most likely drawn to depict their training at Mt. Silver, or in the game where Red is like the "final boss" of HG/SS.


Is Minato a Jinchuuriki? I wonder why Minato is categorized as a Jinchuuriki, considering the following:

Madara couldn't be Ten-Tails' host because he's re-animated, and he has to force Obito to revive him
Minato is re-animated, just like Madara, and yet he has half the Kurama inside

It's possible that he sealed in him half of Kurama before he died, and yet why on earth Kurama wasn't reincarnated
Or Kurama was sealed in unusual manner that Minato's case defied the norm on sealing tailed beast

Let's make things straight:

The former Jinchuuriki, reanimated and reinfused with their respective Bijuu, had the Yin-element rod channel the chakra back from the Gedo Mazo. Once removed, Tobi had to quickly re-seal them inside of the statue, or risk them being freed.

The seal wasn't a permanent seal, like Naruto's or Killer Bee's, it was a temporary seal used for battling and then removing easily.
Minato's case is a bit different. Minato used the Shiki Fuujin to seal Kurama's Yin half inside of himself, but then, he himself got sealed, along with Kurama's half, into the Death God. That's why the Yin half of Kurama never revived (As it was still sealed), and that's why when Minato got reanimated with Edo Tensei, Kurama was already part of the deal.
Madara, however, cannot be a Jinchuuriki because when he died, he wasn't. The Edo Tensei revives people at certain states of their lives (usually the time of their deaths, but not always), Madara was not a Jinchuuriki anytime in his life.


What is that manga about an elf who made swords out of his hair? This manga had a kind of small elf, and he had multiple swords that he could make out of his hair, and the bad guys were looking for him. The manga starts out with him being knocked out and a little girl/boy feeds him and he wakes up. Please help identify it, I really want to finish reading it!

It's Übel Blatt.

  The story of Übel Blatt takes place in a medieval, fantasy-like landscape. It follows the steps of Koinzell, who appears to be nothing more than a mere half human child most distinguishable for the scar over his left eye. He is on a quest of revenge against those who betrayed and killed him and now call themselves the seven heroes of the land.

  Beginning some twenty years prior to the start of the manga, the story narrates on how Koinzell, then named Ascheriit, was a young, prodigious swordsman whose skill granted him the fabled title of Blatt Meister (literally Blade Master). His deeds made him one of the fourteen chosen by the ruling emperor of the Empire of Szaalenden to venture into a dangerous quest to defeat a powerful enemy invader known as the evil nation of Wischtech, of whom the many powerful engines of destruction and dark sorceries made a dangerous foe. Each armed with a lance blessed by the Emperor himself, and thus known as the Fourteen Lances, the chosen traveled far into the enemy's wasted landscape, losing three of their ranks to the perils of the land, until they arrived into a forest where seven of the eleven remaining decided to forfeit their mission, fearing for their lives. Nevertheless, Ascheriit and three of those still bent on following the Emperor's will continued, and incredibly succeeded in their deed, returning victorious. It was then that the seven who were left behind ambushed their comrades and massacred them. Back home, they told the Emperor that the four they killed turned traitors against them, and after dispatching them the seven completed the task. Thus, they were hailed as heroes and dubbed the Seven Heroes, while the four who were killed became symbols of treachery and received the spregiative moniker of Lances of Betrayal.

  Thus, the story tells of the voyage of Ascheriit, who indeed survived the slaughter and vowed to take the head of his traitorous companions, now powerful nobles and warlords hailed as saviors by the people.


Is there any news about Hunter x Hunter since March 2016? I was searching on the internet and I found this article on Anime News Network,

  A page on the Shonen Jump+ website announced that Yoshihiro Togashi is resuming his Hunter × Hunter manga in the Ankoku Tairiku (Dark Continent) arc. This year's 16th issue of Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump magazine will reveal more details on Saturday.

Is there anyone who knows if this was real, and is there any other news about the return of Hunter x Hunter?

Finally we got one great news.
According to this Link and wiki:

It's been a big past few weeks for "Hunter x Hunter" fans. After
Shueisha's "Weekly Shonen Jump" announced mid-March that "Hunter x
Hunter" would be making its return to the magazine (confirmed for
April 18) after being on hiatus since 2014, fans in America now have
even more to look forward to, as Adult Swim's Toonami revealed that an
English dub for the series will be aired on the network starting April
16.
The announcement was made Friday during a pre-show feature on the
Adult Swim website Toonami: Pre-flight. The series will make its
premiere on the network starting April 16 at 1 a.m.


Why does Nagato have Rinnegan when he was awakened using the reanimation jutsu? Because it was not achieved through his own blood, and was implanted by Madara, he did not have the Rinnegan when he was born.

The shinobi who are revived using Edo Tensei usually are resurrected with characteristics they have from birth.

Since he wasn't born with the Rinnegan and not really the original owner, why did he have it while he was revived using the Edo Tensei?

Nagato wasn't revived with the natural attributes from birth.

Kabuto's Edo Tensei revives the person with all their abilities, including the Kekkai Genkai and Kekkai Tota. Also, the revived are actually reincarnated in the physical form that they died in (here's where Madara is an exception).

If you take Madara's case, Kabuto revived him at a much younger age than he died at, gave him enhancements and also Rinnegan which shouldn't have had at that age.

He did the same for Nagato. He combined Nagato's physical last with his best powers. Which explains the condition of his legs when he was revived (they were still damaged).


what is the song that plays 18 minutes into episode 354 of Naruto Shippuden? Naruto Shippuden
Episode 354
timestamp: 18:00/23:10
What is the music that plays in the background?

I believe this is Naruto Shippuuden Soundtrack II, track 25, "Shirobae" (translated title: "The Rain Stops").
It sounds like a slower, calmer, guitar version of "Guren", the theme that appeared a lot in many of the Yuukimaru scenes back during that Three-Tails filler arc.


Is the Merlion in Faye's childhood video a real location? In this MAL discussion about episode 24 of Cowboy Bebop, the user merle_noir posts that they have been to the Merlion seen in Faye's video:

  Faye must be Singaporean... Wouldn't think the Merlion would be anywhere but there (in Singapore), and I even know/have been to the first Merlion she saw - the one in the video.

Is this a real, visitable place? If so, what is the location?

The Merlion is often associated with Singapore, so the extrapolation that Faye is Singaporean is reasonable. However, the exact location of the Merlion in Cowboy Bebop is less immediately clear to a contemporary viewer not from Singapore. In the ep. 24 video where it appears, there is a waterfront, and a merlion at the end of a boardwalk. (Click images for bigger size.)

According to Wikipedia, there are five "official" Merlion statues in Singapore; it seems reasonable to restrict my attention to these. The only one that could fit the merlion in Cowboy Bebop is the one in Merlion Park which stands at the mouth of the Singapore River. (The others do not have waterfront views.) The Merlion Park statue is also the oldest merlion statue in Singapore, and possibly the most famous one, so it's likely that this statue would have been chosen for reference.

One might notice that the location doesn't entirely match up. In Faye's video, there is nothing to the right of the boardwalk the Merlion is on, whereas in current images, there is a set of steps and no boardwalk. However, the position in Faye's video matches up with the original position of the Merlion. (Reference) (The Merlion Park statue was moved in 2002 after construction affected the seafront views and the positioning relative to the Singapore River. Seeing that Cowboy Bebop was produced in 1999, there is no reason for Faye's video to show the merlion in anything but its former location.)


What is the music that plays in Bleach Episode 46 ~19:54 Can you guys tell me what the name of the music that plays in Bleach episode 46 around 19:54. When Aizen and Ichimaru arrive to save the students from hollows. I love this song and can't find the name on the internet.

It's called
BL_16 (Reminiscence - "Bankai... Senbonzakura Kageyoshi")

Although it is sometimes also known as Destiny Awaits - Bankai Version

As with most music in Bleach, it is composed by Shiro Sagisu.

It can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ei5UmDyB0i4


Why is "Taisha" written as "general pardon"? In Yuuki Yuuna wa Yuusha de Aru, the organization that is responsible for doing things involving the god-tree is called "Taisha". The official (Crunchyroll) subs don't translate this word, but in Japanese, it's written 大赦. As far as I can tell, this is a legal term meaning "general pardon", which is a type of pardon in Japanese law that applies to all people convicted of a particular crime or class of crimes (as contrasted with 特赦 tokusha "special pardon", which applies only to specific people). This is a very strange name for an organization.

What is stranger still is that if you know Japanese and you had never seen the term written down, you would probably think that it would be written as the homophone 大社, which means "grand shrine", which makes a lot more sense as the name of an organization.

What is the logic behind writing "Taisha" as "general pardon"?

(I am aware of the "theory" suggesting that you can rearrange the strokes of 友奈 "Yuuna" and get 大赦 "Taisha" [see image]; I do not think that the theory has any merit, since it involves rearranging strokes in a way that does not respect the radicals involved.)

Originally, it was called 大社 (Grand Shrine), but later it's revised to 大赦 (Amnesty).
In Nogi Wakaba wa Yuusha de Aru (Nogi Wakaba is a Hero), the prequel to Washio Sumi wa Yuusha de Aru (Washio Sumi is a Hero) and Yuuki Yuuna wa Yuusha de Aru (Yuki Yuna is a Hero), the organization was originally named 大社 (Grand Shrine).
From ch. 3, pg. 5,

The counter-Vertex organization known as the Taisha (Grand Shrine) had researched the Shinju's power and discovered a scientific and magic method of utilizing it. The outfit was a result of that research. It was the culmination of the Shinju's blessing and the knowledge of mankind.
(Emphasis mine)

From ch. 19 (final chapter), pg. 23,

Hinata already seemed to have a plan in mind as she answered Wakaba's question without any hesitation.

"First, we will rename the Taisha from 'grand shrine' to 'amnesty' as a self-conscious reminder that we have been granted amnesty and live modestly as human beings."

(Emphasis mine, couldn't quote more than that to avoid heavy spoiler)


Where did Madara got his left eye after giving both of his real eyes to Nagato? Madara said that he gave his real eyes to Nagato during his meeting with Obito, and that his current left eye was implanted recently.

Where did he get that eye?

Madara had a huge stockpile of Sharingan, presumably collected from the bodies of various Uchihas over the many years he has been alive.

I would expect he used one of these, and that the reason he collected so many is so that he can use Izanagi and other techniques that cost the user an eye quite freely.


What is Archer's background in Unlimited Blade Works? I've only seen Ufotable's adaptation of UBW (and the movie too but that was long ago).

It's still not very clear to me what's up with Archer:

He's Shirou from the future. Does he not remember the events of this war? He would also know that Shirou is going to beat him.
How did Shirou die? There is a scene in which a giant glowing ball absorbs Shirou (like some sort of pact), so I assume that's when he became a Heroic Spirit too. Did he die at that point? (so he killed himself)
So Archer wants to kill Shirou because he regrets his decision of becoming a Heroic Spirit? Why does he regret it? Because Kiritsugu was right? (that you have to kill people to save others).
Why does Archer have Rho Aias from the Trojan War?

And finally,

Is this Archer the same Archer from Fate Stay/Night? In other words, is the Archer from the original series also Shirou from the future?

He's Shirou from the future. Does he not remember the events of this war?

In the version of the war that Archer experienced as a Master, Rin summoned someone else as a servant (still an Archer-class Servant, but we're never told who). Archer has no experience of having met his future-self.

I forget where - maybe it's some kind of side material or maybe it's Last Episode or something - but we are explicitly told that Archer vividly remembers having summoned Saber when he went through the war (this is something that happens in every timeline, because of Avalon). Something to the effect of "even were he to die a thousand times, he would never forgot Saber's radiance" or some similar schlock.

The thing Archer pulls at the beginning where he claims not to remember who he is is initially because Rin genuinely did mess up the summoning, but he regains his memory relatively quickly and maintains the facade of memory loss for some time afterwards.

  How did Shirou die?

Archer explicitly mentions in episode 19 or 20 that he was scapegoated by one of the people he saved, and was executed shortly thereafter.

  There is a scene in which a giant glowing ball absorbs Shirou (like some sort of pact), so I assume that's when he became a Heroic Spirit too. Did he die at that point? (so he killed himself)

Yes, that's when Archer (then-Shirou) "contracted with the world" (to use the parlance) and became a Counter Guardian. He only died later.

  So Archer wants to kill Shirou because he regrets his decision of becoming a Heroic Spirit? Why does he regret it? Because Kiritsugu was right? (that you have to kill people to save others).

Archer regrets having become a Heroic Spirit because he did so by becoming a Counter Guardian (as opposed to by becoming an actual Hero). What this means is that he gets dispatched to situations where mankind is destroying itself. He stops mankind from destroying itself by killing the people who are the cause, generally after they've already done their damage.

Implicitly, this does mean that Kiritsugu was right, though I don't think that Archer is specifically bothered by the mere fact that Kiritsugu was right.

  Why does Archer have Rho Aias from the Trojan War?

This is somewhat mysterious. The implication is that Archer must have been dispatched to the Trojan War at some point (in his capacity as a Counter Guardian), where he must have seen Ajax using his shield and copied it.

  Is this Archer the same Archer from Fate Stay/Night? In other words, is the Archer from the original series also Shirou from the future?

By "Archer from the original series", do you mean "Archer from the 2006 DEEN anime"? If so, yes - that Archer is also Shirou from the future.