In what order do the Hyperdimension Neptunia games go (including the animation)? I bought Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth1 for my PSVita awhile back, and now I have Re;Birth2. And I've seen a few of the episodes, but I really want to know: in what order do all the games occur, and where does the anime fit in?

-I know how the Re;Birth games go:
    *Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth1
    *Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth2 Sisters' Generation
    *Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth3 V Generations

But I know that there are a lot more than that, especially with the new ones coming out, and then there's the animation to consider.

The Hyperdimension Neptunia franchise is very confusing, seeing as

   When you meet IF in Re;Birth1, Compa has no idea who the f*** she is, but in Re;Birth2, in a small lily-rank-raising event, Compa states that her and IF knew each other since they were babies.

This information that Compa gives us is false when considering the events of Re;Birth1, so I'm not even sure if there IS a way to put the games in a chronological order.

But if anybody knows the order (if there is one), please tell me how it goes, and, if not, tell me that there isn't.

While i haven't seen the anime yet i am confident to say that the anime isn't an adaptation of any if the game's plot rather it makes references to the games

   like the with the 2 Noire's one is the alternate one from the Ultradimension

as for the order of the games not all of them relate to one another as most are in different dimensions however Mk.II/Re;Birth 2 are Victory/Re;Birth 3 are linked together as the Wikia Says

   A few years have passed since the Deity of Sin's destruction.

as for the different Dimensions

1st Hyperdimension - Hyperdimension Neptunia/Re;Birth

   in this Arfoire was a single goddess before she and Histoire made Neptune, Noire, Vert and Blanc. also Histoire has near unlimited power because of her role as a Tome also in the true ending of the original PS3 game (have yet to confirm with Re;Birth) the CPUs give up their divinity to eradicate all of the monsters across the world and became regular humans

In Re;Birth when characters like MAGES., Tekken and Falcom talk about being from another world i suspect this is the Ultradimension/2nd Hyperdimension as i first learned of these characters from the announcements of other human characters in Victory before it's release

2nd Hyperdimension - Hyperdimension Mk. II/Re;Birth 2: Sisters' Generation, Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory/Re;Birth 3: V Generation, Megamdimenstion Neptunia VII

   Histoire isn't as powerful as he is in the first instead being one of 4 Oracles. in Mk.II IF seemed to have a crush for Nepgear rather than Vert. in the True Route the party goes to where one of the former Goddesses of Planeptune are buried who they speak to about DOS.Arfoire.

Also aside from the first game/Re;Birth i believe all games which refer to the Hyperdimension are set here as according to the Wikia page of the Hyperdimenstion

  The Hyper Dimension is a dimension of the Hyperdimension Neptunia series and appears in every title of the main series since Hyperdimension Neptunia mk2.

also while i haven't found where VII links with with Mk. II/Re;Birth 2 and V/Re;Birth 3 it's probably safe to assume that VII would get set after V/Re;Birth 3 as VII isn't pronounced as 7 (roman-numerals for VII) but as V2, short for Victory 2

  Megadimension Neptunia VII (新次元ゲイム ネプテューヌVII Shin Jigen Game Neptune Victory II, "New Dimension Game Neptune Victory II" in Japan) is a Japanese role-playing game in the Hyperdimension Neptunia series of role-playing games, developed exclusively for the PlayStation 4.

Source: Wikipedia - Megadimension Neptunia VII

Ultradimenstion - Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory/Re;Birth 3: V Generation

Alternate dimension that Neptune is swept away to which represents a late 80s version of the 2nd Hyperdimension Gamindustri. more can be read up on the Wikia Page

Alternate Ultradimension - Hyperdimension Neptunia: Producing Perfection

  Hyperdimension Neptunia: Producing Perfection takes place in alternate Ultradimension that is the same as the Ultradimension of Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory in terms of geographical structure. In this dimension, residents who typically are not from this world such as the Four Felons exist as well as numerous others.

Source: Hyperdimension Neptunia: Producing Perfection - Setting

the 4 Felons it's referring to are ASIC's Criminals of the Free World, CFW.Magic, CFW.Judge, CFW.Trick and CFW.Brave

Gamarket - Hyperdevotion Noire: Goddess Black Heart

  Unlike previous titles of the Hyperdimension Neptunia series. Chou Megami Shinkou Noire Gekishin Black Heart takes place in a different world known as "Gamarket."  In this world the nations of Planeptune, Lastation, Lowee, and Leanbox still exist with their respective goddesses and the geographic structure is mostly the same as the Hyperdimension and Ultradimension but still visually different at the same time.

Source Hyperdevotion Noire: Goddess Black Heart - Setting

Alternate 1st Hyperdimenstion from Re;Birth? - Hyperdimension Neptunia U: Action Unleashed

  Hyperdimension Neptunia U takes place in a Gamindustri much like the the one of Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth1. The geography is entirely the same and is comprised of floating continents; each having one of the four nations: Planeptune, Lastation, Leanbox, and Lowee.

Source: Hyperdimension Neptunia U: Action Unleashed - Setting

while the Wikia says "much like" this could be because it may be missing Celestia. i have yet to play it to determine this

MegaTagmension? (Currently unknown) - MegaTagmension Blanc + Neptune VS Zombies

  The game's setting is very different to the previous games. In this game, set in another alternate universe, the girl are not CPU/Goddess but instead high school students. They try making a zombie movie when they accidentally summon zombies to their world.

Source: MegaTagmension Blanc + Neptune VS Zombies - Setting

Zero and Heart Dimensions - Megamdimenstion Neptunia VII

The Zero Dimenstion is an alternate dimension nearing destruction where Neptune and Nepgear end up first.

As for the Heart Dimension it is,

  An amalgamation of both Zero Dimension and Hyper Dimension. In order to track down the mastermind causing the troubles of both worlds, the CPUs travel to a strange, new dimension.

Soruce: Megadimension Neptunia VII - Story - Heart Dimension Neptunia H Trilogy Finale: Into Legend

As for what Compa says in the Lily Rank Event it would be true on 2 levels as

the 2nd Hyperdimension for Re;Birth 2 is different from the 1st one in Re;Birth thus it would have a different history
in the Ultradimension IF and Compa appear in this too but as babies (so one can consider the Ultradimension as an alternate past to the 2nd Hyperdimension)

As for Recommended Play/Watch Order:

Hyperdimension Neptunia (PS3)/Re;Birth 1 - this introduces you to the main reoccurring characters such as the CPUs, Compa and IF and Arfoire
Given that Mk. II/Re;Birth 2, V/Re;Birth 3 and VII are initially linked i would play them in that order after Re;Birth
Producing Perfection, Action Unleashed and Goddess Black Heart you can probably play at any time after Mk. II/Re;Birth 2 because to my knowledge there are no characters from V/Re;Birth 3 in there
Blanc + Neptune i would play after V/Re;Birth 3 because Plutia and Peashy appear in the List of characters and more than likely they will be like that from the Ultradimension
i would watch the anime after V/Re;Birth 3 for the same reason as above because of Plutia and Peashy who apparently appear in the anime (i have yet to watch it)

NOTE: all of this does not take into account DLC characters as Re;Birth 1 features Plutia and Peashy but they are not involved with the plot (rather it might be confusing as to why Plutia may seem clam and kind of a ditz but Iris Heart is a Dominatrix)

NOTE 2: This does not take into account any of the Manga because i am unfamiliar with them at this point in time


Why does Li hate Mizuki? We know that Li is attracted to Yukito because of their magic alignments (Moon), and he blushes every time they meet.

From the moment Li meets Mizuki, he distrusts her, giving her lots of angry glares.

But Mizuki is the bearer of the Moon Bell; why is Li not attracted to this magic, like he was with Yukito?

Sakura seems to be attracted equally to both characters, feeling "hanyan" around them both.

As far as I know, there wasn't much of a revelation about why Syaoran acts that way in front of Miss Kaho Mizuki. Though for me, it would really make more sense if Syaoran would find himself attracted to her powers just like how he feels with Yukito. Nevertheless, Syaoran felt worried when Miss Mizuki is around, maybe, that's how Syaoran shows his alertness because of Mizuki-sensei's mysteriousness.


Is it possible to use magic without saying "System Call" in Sword Art Online - Alicization? I was wondering if it's possible to execute system commands without saying 'System Call'. The anime series Sword Art Online: Alicization shows something like that but I was wondering if the characters really didn't say 'System Call' or it was just obviated and not shown to the spectators. In Chapter 21:

   Kirito is fighting with Eugeo when he said: 'Burst Element' generating a powerful wind burst. But he didn't say 'System Call' nor 'Generate Aerial Element'.
 Also, The Administrator healed the wounds of Eugeo without saying anything. In addition, she blocked Eugeo's attacks with a magical shield without saying any command.

I was wondering if both characters used the proper commands to cast magic but it wasn't shown to the spectators or in-universe, they didn't say anything.

Maybe they are so powerful that they no longer need to call the system using 'System Call', they just use telepathy or something like that due to their high authority level or a previous secret command? Or maybe the command was just skipped by the director of the anime?

Is there any clue about this on the manga or the novel? Anything? I love spoilers.

In the case of Quinella, she had previously used a ritual (which did involve evoking "System Call") which gave her body a permanent barrier to defend against all metal weapons. The Kirito and Eugeo fight probably was the anime skipping over the initial line, possibly with some excuse about "whispering" the line.

However, there is more to the "magic" in UnderWorld.

   The Incarnating Arm that Eugeo used to retrieve his sword from Kirito is just one application to a very broad power. We've seen it portrayed in earlier episodes, but this world works on the power of imagination, Matrix-style, because of how all the Fluctlights in the Light Cube Cluster and Soul Translator are connected.
 The incarnating arms are just one way to use this. Incarnation as its called can also reproduce the effects of System Calls, but this requires a particularly powerful imagination.

You'll see a lot more examples of this in the 3rd and 4th cours of Alicization (once that point is reached)


In which episode of the anime did Aokiji (Kuzan) and Akaino (Sakazuki) fight? Coz' it wasn't revealed in the anime. I want to watch the fight between Kuzan and Akainu again, or maybe I missed that episode.

In which episode of the anime did Kuzan and Akainu fight?

The fight has never been shown: it happened in the 2 years gap and at the moment we just know it was on Punk Hazard and that Akainu won after 10 days of fighting (I hope there will be a flashback at some point showing the fight).

This is a video taken from episode 570 in which Jimbei explains the situation.
The fact that they fought on Punk Hazard is explained in episode 582.


Why doesn't Sasuke use Shadow clones? In one episode, when young Naruto and Sasuke were to fight each other in a duel guided by Iruka Sensei, Sasuke was able to create his shadow clone easily. Also, according to How Itachi was able to use Shadow clone?, Shadow clone Jutsu is not imposed by any bloodline limits.

So why does Sasuke did not use this useful technique in any of his fights? And why neither of Naruto's friends from Team 11 seems to interest in learning this jutsu?

Naruto has showcased in his most fights that Shadow clone jutsu can be very useful. Sure many Ninja must have felt intrigued to learn it?

Can Sasuke use the Shadow Clone Justu? Sure he can! However, he chooses not to because he does not want to associate himself with using Naruto's signature justu, which he sees as Naruto's weakness and coping method to his loneliness.
Shadow Clone Technique

Trivia
Due to Naruto's extensive usage of this technique, Sasuke sees it as a symbolic way for Naruto to avoid loneliness

This is referencing the manga, Chapter 696

In addition, there is a scene in the anime (which I can't vouch for being in the manga or not) during Sasuke's training where Orochimaru has him slay 1,000 un-named ninjas. Sasuke sees himself strong enough to not even need the help of Shadow Clones


Why is the Kanto League called the Indigo League? Reading a recent email from Viz Media about Pokemon Season 1 I was reminded of something. in the first season when Ash is traveling his home region of Kanto they refer to the Pokemon League as the Indigo League but when Ash goes to the other regions like Johto, Shinnoh and Hoenn the League name is that of the region.

Why is the Kanto League called the Indigo League and not the Kanto League?

While it is more commonly known as the Indigo League, the names "Indigo League" and "Kanto League" are simply synonymous

  Depending on the context, the Indigo League can also be called the Kanto League or simply the Pokémon League

However, after doing some research on Bulbapedia, I found the reasoning to why "Kanto League" is known as the "Indigo League"

In the Generation I games, the final area of the game is called "Indigo Plateau" which lead to many players assuming the Pokémon League for this region was called the "Indigo League". The reason why the name "Kanto League" wasn’t considered was because Kanto wasn’t commonly known at the time. “Kanto” was only ever mentioned once in the Generation I games, and not mentioned outside of Japan until Generation II games.

  Until the release of Pokémon Gold and Silver, Kanto's name was seen only once in the Japanese Generation I games: upon viewing the Town Map at Blue's house. It was never mentioned in the Generation I games outside of Japan, and thus many fans assumed the region was called "Indigo", based on the name of the Indigo Plateau. By the time the Generation III remakes, Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen, were released, Kanto's name was firmly established and appeared regularly in-game


Which episode of Sailor Moon is this scene from? Which episode of the classic Sailor Moon anime are these screenshots of Usagi (Sailor Moon) and Mamoru (Tuxedo Kamen) from?

It's from the Sailor Moon R movie.

  The fragrance of a flower at the botanical gardens reminds Mamoru of a
  long forgotten memory from his childhood when he met Fiore, an alien
  boy who was travelling the galaxy on his own. Before Fiore left, he
  made a promise to Mamoru to bring him flowers.

  Once banned from society to a far away galaxy, the Kisenian flower, a
  plant that grows by consuming the energy of living beings, awaits to
  be found by someone with doubtful heart and weak will on whom to prey,
  since it is harmless without a proper host — to then transform the
  host's weakness and fear into dark power.

  What will happen when lonely Fiore finds Kisenian during his journey?
  How will he react to finding out about the passionate relationship
  between Mamoru and Usagi? Will Sailor Moon be able to save Earth and
  the ones she loves from Fiore's jealousy powered by the accumulated
  hatred of the Kisenian against people?

YouTube link of that particular scene


Is the Accel World manga the whole story? I found Accel World's light novel and the manga on Amazon. My question: Is the manga the completed story? The manga has 8 volumes and the last one will be released on December 11, 2018. But the light novel has 17 volumes and the last one will be released on March 19, 2019.

So is the manga the whole story? Or do I need the light novels if I want to read the whole Accel World? If so, is it because the light novels have more volumes and will be released on 2019 while the manga is only up to 2018 so the manga does not have the completed story? Or is it otherwise?

I thought I'd defer to someone which have read both but I think this can be estimated based on how much both medium covers the anime. According to Mangaupdates,

  the Accel World manga has 42 chapters and covers the anime from its first chapter up to Chapter 24

while

  the Accel World light novel covers the anime from the first volume up to Volume 4 Chapter 12.

Based on this, if we were to estimate that 4 light novel volumes is equivalent to 24 manga chapters, then the manga, approximately, is until around the 8th or 9th light novel volume. Since the light novel currently has 22 volumes, there's a lot of content the manga has not covered.

So if you want to stay up-to-date with the story, I suggest you read the light novel, which is also where the manga is based on.


What episode did Naruto combine Nine-Tails Chakra Mode and Sage Mode? In which episode did Naruto combine Nine-Tails Chakra Mode and Sage Mode?  If possible, how did he know, or who told him to do so?

The first part of your question...

  In which episode did Naruto combine Nine-Tails Chakra Mode and Sage Mode?

It's episode 381, or chapter 645.

And the last part...

  If possible, how did he know, or who told him to do so?

It was Kyuubi who told Naruto that he'll let him use Sage Mode while also using his, as in Kyuubi, Chakra Mode.

Sources:

Nine-Tails Chakra Mode
Two Powers...!!


What is the background music being played in Akame Ga Kill Season1 Episode 9 around 7:43 when we are introduced to all the jaegers? For the life of me I havent been able to find the background music that is played when Wave first meets bols and bols is staring at him and we are slowly introduced to all jaegers. I have gone through all soundtracks for Akame Ga Kill on YouTube and found no results.
Please please help. I would really appreciate it!

disk 2, nr 6 Jaegers (イェーガーズ, Jaegers)
The title is pretty obvious.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMKgVNwzozY


Why is Ulquiorra the only Espada with a second release? In Bleach Ulquiorra is the only Espada with a second release, and he admits he has not shown Aizen. So I have come to a few questions:

Why would he not show Aizen how powerful he is?
Why is he the only Espada with a second release?
If Aizen knew about his second release, where would he be in the Espada rankings?

Answer to first question:

  A. Just in case.

  Ulquiorra’s a pretty careful guy. He likes to make plans. And stick to them. So it’s possible that he hides his second release just because he knows that it’s good to have an ace in the hole, just in case he ever needs it. Not that he’s planning to use it for any nefarious purposes - he just figures, why tell if he didn’t have to?

    Ulquiorra: Also, I’m not really a talker.

  B. As a tiny act of rebellion.

  Or you could read Ulquiorra as more of a Grimmjow-figure. You know, someone may recognize that Aizen is too powerful to actively rebel against, but who needs to do SOMETHING a little rebellious just to stay sane. Grimmjow leaves meetings early and sneaks off to the world of the living; Ulquiorra hides his second release. And this allows them to put up with working for a freakin’ shinigami.

    Grimmjow: Um…I’m pretty sure that rebellion doesn’t count if nobody knows about it.

    Ulquiorra: And that’s why you get spiritual pressure slammed to the floor, and I don’t.

  C. Because he was actively disloyal to Aizen.

  It’s possible, though, that this wasn’t a tiny act of rebellion, but rather a big one - that Ulquiorra had some sort of secret plan to rebel against Aizen someday, and he was saving his second release for that time. In which case letting Aizen go off to the WOL with the top three espada was a damn good plan. Ulquiorra would have had the castle to himself if he hadn’t been killed by Ichigo. So close, Ulquiorra.

    Ulquiorra: And I was really looking forward to sitting on that throne, too.

    Aizen: Yeah, white marble is comfier than you’d think.

Source: "Why does Ulquiorra keep his second release secret?" on bleachlists.tumblr.com

Answer to second question:

I came across an answer while scavenging the net (and I think it's pretty good):

  Well..the arrancars sword and the soul reapers swords are the same except for how they are released or how to manifest themselves after they are released. Arrancars have the power of soul reapers and soul reapers swords have 2 different forms shikai (1st form) and then bankai (2nd Form or release state). Now most Arrancars only have 1 sword release thats their resurreccion, resurreccion means resurrection and if u notice all arrancar release states are in spanish for some weird reason, but they only have one b/c arrancars have only been around for only about 1 year or a couple of months b/c they didn't come into existence till azien stole hogyoku out of Rukia's chest. Seeing how they're a new form of hollow but with soul reaper powers they probably have not explored all of their powers unlike soul reapers who have been around for over a 1000 years which means they would know more about their swords and how they operate. So basically the 2nd form Resurreccion segunda, which means 2nd resurrection, is the 2nd form of the sword similar to a soul reapers bankai. So in other words Arrancars haven't been around for a while which is why a lot of them don't know the other form unlike soul reapers who know both forms b/c they've been around forever. Now every arrancar has one but Ulquiorra was just the first to learn it.

Source: "Why does Ulquiorra have two forms?" on Yahoo Answers

Answer for Third one:

Ofcourse Aizen knew.

  ...[m]aybe Ulquiorra just wanted to know how much Aizen really watched, or how much he could just deduce by being insanely smart. So he kept his release hidden to see if Aizen could figure it out for himself. And like any guy who tests a god, this just didn’t end well for poor Ulquiorra.

    Aizen: Is there really any doubt that I knew?

and about the ranking:

  Maybe he wanted to stay out of the top 3.

  Maybe Ulquiorra just didn’t want to be in the top 3, and knew that with his second release taken into account, he would be. Ulquiorra’s smart - he might have guessed that the people who went with Aizen to Fake Karakura Town wouldn’t be coming back. Or maybe he just really likes the number 4.

    Ulquiorra: Actually, I just know how important the number 3 is to Halibel.

    Halibel: …

    Ulquiorra: Don’t worry, we’re not having a moment.

    Halibel: Oh, good!

Source: "Why does Ulquiorra keep his second release secret?" on bleachlists.tumblr.com


Can I read the Tokyo Ghoul RE manga if I have watched the first 2 seasons of the anime? I have seen the first season of Tokyo Ghoul and a few episodes of Root A and I want to know if this is enough to read the Tokyo Ghoul RE manga. I have heard that Root A doesn't fit into the story of the manga, so should I watch it before I read RE or not? I'm also not sure if you can watch the first season of Tokyo Ghoul before RE, or do you have to read it in the manga?

Tokyo Ghoul: Root A heavily diverges from the original manga, which you've heard correctly. The first Tokyo Ghoul season does an okay job of covering its manga counterpart, but there are things that were skipped over or different. Since RE is the sequel to Tokyo Ghoul, if you go into it having only seen the two anime seasons, you'll be a little confused due to some of the plot points you'd have missed from the manga.
If you want to experience RE in full understanding, you might want to read the previous manga first. However, if you don't mind some confusion, it's ultimately up to you. Hope this helped!


Where does the split happen between Mai-Hime and Mai-Otome? I know that Mai-Hime and Mai-Otome are anime (and maybe manga) series that are related by have different plots. I was wondering if there is a certain point where they split (like FMA and FMA: Brotherhood) or if they are entirely different plot-wise. If they are different, how are they connected beyond being created by the same production company?

They're entirely different story wise, My-HiME is set more or less in our world while My-Z HiME (My Otome) is set in a fictional universe.

They are roughly connected by the character and their personalities that exists in both series, such as Mai's and Natsuki's rivalry, Natsuki's Same Sex Relationship with Shizuru (In My-Z HiME they are much more open, in My-HiME they only are open with each other about their feeling near the end) and Haruka hot tempered personality and malapropism with Yukino always correcting her.

Also both series portray the females being the ones with power having to also come to terms with their adolescence and love at the same time as controling this power. in My-HiME it was choosing to have power at the cost of the person the girl loved the most (the warning Natsuki gives Mai before she awakens her Child) while with My-Z HiME it was choosing to have power and never being with a male (explained by how the Y Chromosome will destroy the Nano Machines and thus Otome's can't have any relationship with men)


Why are anime girls drawn without pubic hair? Why are there no hair drawn down there or anywhere apart from FEMALE character's heads in anime?
I heard it was illegal from my friend. Were they making it up?

I believe Japan's obscenity laws have some particular rules regarding pubic hair. Also, often hentai artists prefer a hairless body for their particular demographic / fetish / etc.

Up until the mid 1990s, pubic hair had to be censored in Japanese media. The law has been relaxed since, but as it had been common to do without hair, many artists continued with it.

Saying that, there are some hentai works that contain pubic hair - but whether they are complying with the law is another topic, as mangaka's regularly 'interpret' the law loosely. Such as opting for a very minimal censor bar:

A female version would be similarly censored to a minimal interpretation of the law. Unfortunately I don't have any appropriate pictures of fruit on hand.

Further Reading

An Overview of Censorship in Anime (This is my own article on the subject, broadly covering the topic)

"Obscenity, Pornography, and the Law in Japan:
Reconsidering Oshima’s In the Realm of the Senses" (Heavier in content, but perhaps more specific for your question)


Can a transformed Saiyan lower his ki to base-human level when transformed? In Dragon Ball Resurrection of Freezer, Goku, when transformed in Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan, is almost killed by a laser beam from Sorbet. Now how could this happen? Was his ki so low even when he was a SSGSS? Later in the Dragon Ball Super series this seems to be corrected because he isn't transformed when he is hit. But then again, I don't know which is the version that counts, supposedly the manga is over the movie and series but between something that happens in the movie and series I don't know.

Then the question of this topic is: can a transformed Saiyan (Super Saiyan, Super Saiyan God, etc.) lower his ki to base-human level when transformed? Was this just a mistake or what?

There are kind of multiple issues wrapped into one here. Firstly,

  Can a super saiyan their ki to the point that it is human level?

No that is impossible. Why? Because it takes a great amount of energy to undergo and sustain a physical transformation. If you drop your ki below a certain point. You revert to your base form.

  Goku death by beam?

Yes that can also happen. It seems almost impossible in theory but remember saiyans are in fact humanoid aliens and as such they can fall vulnerable to being shot in the back if they lower their ki sense. Whis warns Goku of this when he tells him during their training and in the manga that he gets too overconfident easily and lowers his guard and that is his weakness which is the polar opposite of Vegeta who is too on-guard and thus gets slowed down. (I can link the manga panel later).

The point is. Goku was confident of victory which is why he was able to be shot.


Who exactly is Benjamin Anderson in the Kill la Kill soundtrack? I was listening to the Kill la Kill soundtrack which is amazing but I'm scratching my head over this particular artist who contributes vocals, Benjamin Anderson. I tried googling/wiki'ing and I found this Wikipedia article - But I don't think it's the same person...? There doesn't seem to be any mention of Kill la Kill on his website.

I would love to find out exactly who it is, just to be sure. I thought the vocals were amazing and would like to see if this person had any previous work?

The Wikipedia article you linked to is NOT the same Benjamin Anderson who worked on the Kill la Kill soundtrack. They were born in different countries, in different years, and have absolutely nothing else in common.

The correct Benjamin Anderson was born in London, UK and currently resides in Japan.

Facebook profile: https://www.facebook.com/benjamin.anderson.121
Fandalism profile: http://fandalism.com/benefactor
ReverbNation profile: http://www.reverbnation.com/musician/benjaminanderson

As it mentions on his profile, he is the singer and songwriter for CODE.

CODE Blog: http://www.reverbnation.com/page_object/page_object_blogs/artist_2894523

December 11, 2013 entry:

  Recently Easy T (Jun Tatami) and I (Benjamin Anderson under the moniker 'mpi' have been writing lyrics and providing vocals for tracks on the Kill La Kill original soundtrack CD being released on christmas day this year! The tracks are 'Suck your blood' and 'I want to know'. Check them out on release! 最近僕 (Benjamin Anderson)とEasy T (Jun Tatatmi)はキルラキルのアニメのサウンドトラックCDの為にボーカルと歌詞を作ってあげた。 Suck your bloodとI want to knowは ２５日１２月２０１３年　リリース！ 我々の仮名はmpiです！ 皆さんチェックして楽しんで下さい！ 宜しくお願いします！

Keep in mind that they did not contribute any music, only lyrics and vocals.

You also asked about other vocal work he's done, so here are pages for his main band, CODE:

CODE Homepage: http://code2010est.jimdo.com
CODE @ReverbNation: http://www.reverbnation.com/odeinc

And here are his personal pages at other sites, using various aliases:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/barracudacocacola/videos
ReverbNation: http://www.reverbnation.com/steviebarracuda
SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/dj-phoney

He also did keyboards for a group called "Split Works" in 2006:

http://www.discogs.com/Split-Works-Wide-Open/release/4735590

Additionally, you can find all the comments he's made on YouTube videos here:

https://plus.google.com/104914344750776651199/posts

In Kill la Kill, he was the singer for "I want to know", and he provided vocals for "Suck your blood" along with Jun Tatami. The comments shown in the above link make it clear which vocals are his: the segment of "Suck your blood" which played during episode 10 (starting at 21:37) was entirely sung by Jun Tatami.

On a side note, I should point out that "Jun Tatami" (the bassist and backup vocalist for CODE) is not the name listed on the credits as the second vocalist for "Suck your blood". Instead, the infamously anonymous vocalist "mpi" was listed.

Taking that into consideration, and comparing Jun Tatami's voice to mpi's, it's clear that they're the same person.

This is the vocalist for "Call your name" and "The Reluctant Heroes" from Attack on Titan, and "friends" and "Hill Of Sorrow" from Guilty Crown.

I hope that's enough information for you to be able to keep enjoying the vocals of Benjamin Anderson. His YouTube channel in particular seems to have quite a lot of music on it.


What happened with Alyssa Zaidelle? in Final Fantasy XIII-2, as Serah and Noel go to leave Academia in 4XX AF, Mog noticed something about Alyssa and Alyssa comments that the future that Serah and Noel are trying to create, she wont exist in it.

In a paradox ending (triggered by having the Paradox Scope on and refusing the Fragment Alyssa gives) Snow turns up with the Guardian Corp and arrests Alyssa revealing that the Fragment was a booby trap that she got from someone implied to be Caius which explains what happened in the Historia Crux.

But outside of the Paradox Ending Alyssa is no where to be seen in Academia 500 AF or mentioned by anyone despite Hope's plan to use the time capsule with her to meet them in 500 AF (they already used it together to jump almost 400 years).

so what happened with Alyssa Zaidelle? is it somehow related to her apparently working with or for Caius?

If I recall correctly, what happens to Alyssa is not explicitly mentioned in Final Fantasy XIII-2. This is, however, explained in the book Final Fantasy XIII-2: Fragments After.

The purpose of Fragments After was to cover any loose ends or potential plot holes that were not touched on within the game itself. Fragments After also didn't get an English release until October 2019 (a solid 8 years after the initial release in December 2011).

The paradox that occurred for Alyssa to exist is also not explicitly shown in Final Fantasy XIII-2, but it occurs off-scene during the events of Final Fantasy XIII. As Serah and Nole begin fixing the timeline and paradoxes that occur in Final Fantasy XIII-2, they in-turn correct Alyssa's paradox as well.

  During the events of Final Fantasy XIII, Alyssa became involved in the Purge when she visited her friend, Nena Stein, in Bodhum. She and Nena escaped and hid from the army with other Purgees, but they got buried under a pile of rubble in a cave-in. When the goddess Etro released the Pulse l'Cie who fought to defend Cocoon from crystal stasis, the resulting distortion of the timeline revived Alyssa. Since then, Alyssa has been having nightmares of her original fate and knows deep down she is living a lie.

[...]

Final Fantasy XIII-2 Fragments After reveals that after betraying Serah and Noel, Alyssa accompanies Hope to the Augusta Tower in the guise of aiding in his investigation of an intruder in the system; in actuality, Alyssa is setting up a trap for Hope with the duplicates. After disposing the attacking duplicates, Hope finds a digital diary belonging to Alyssa that reveals her hate-filled thoughts towards the Pulse l'Cie, her fears of being erased with another taking her place, and her plotting to kill Hope. When she holds Hope at gunpoint Alyssa begins to disappear as Serah and Noel have fixed the paradox that allowed her to survive the cave-in. Alyssa begs Hope not to forget her before she ceases to be.

Nearly everyone's memories of Alyssa are erased with only Hope and a few people in Academy headquarters having vague memories of her. In Fragments After, it is revealed that a century later at 500 AF, Alyssa has been replaced by an intern named Aina Stein, an implied descendant of her friend Nena.


How was Madara so sure that he would be able to get his Rinnegan back? To implement his Infinite Tsukuyomi plan, Madara would have to get his Rinnegan back. Given his propensity to plan everything, he had to have a plan when he died the first time. How did he plan to get the Rinnegan back?

He could not have expected Nagato to die becase that was pretty random. What he probably was expecting was that Nagato would be alive and that he would not cooperate with himself or Obito. So did he think that black Zetsu could overpower Nagato and order him to use Rinne Rebirth? But if Black Zetsu can overpower a Ninja as powerful as Nagato could he not have simply overpowered Hagoromo at the very beginning and be done with it?

The second possibility is that Black Zetsu can only overpower a ninja who has already been weakened. There are apparently three versions of Edo Tensei: Tobirama's, Orochimaru's, and Kabuto's. Madara could not have possibly known about Kabuto's version (he died before it was developed), he may or may not have known about Orochimaru's version. Was it not incredibly optimistic of him to expect to defeat alive Nagato as either Tobirama-style or Orochimaru-style Edo Tensei?

As Madara himself said his plan was to be resurrected through the use of Rinne Rebirth by Nagato. He was surprised and disappointed that his return didn't go as planned. He didn't want the Edo Tensei, as only a living person can become the Ten-Tails' jinchūriki.

Considering that the usage of the Rinne Rebirth always comes at the cost of the user's life it wouldn't be a problem for Madara to then take the Rinnegan from Nagato's corpse.

How exactly they wanted to force Nagato to resurrect Madara is unknown. It could be simply Obito convincing him that it would be the necessary next step in their plan towards world peace or by forcing him to use it via Genjutsu or a Zetsu takeover.

  But if Black Zetsu can overpower a Ninja as powerful as Nagato could he not have simply overpowered Hagoromo at the very beginning and be done with it?

Nagato was far less powerful than Hagoromo. It pushed Nagato to the brink to trap Naruto inside his Chibaku Tensei, which was - as he told Konan - nothing compared to the creation of the moon by Hagoromo.


Does a Jinchuuriki gain the nature of his/her tailed beast? I find this question interesting here: Chakra nature of Tailed Beasts.

And I saw the comment: Does a Jinchuuriki gain the nature of his/her tailed beast? And if so, does the tailed beast gain the nature of its Jinchuuriki?

So to confirm this, I ask a different question.

I believe it has some sort of influence, but is not absolute:

Example pro:

Roshi, Son Goku's Jinchuuriki, uses lava similarly to the bijuu.
Gaara, Shukaku's Jinchuuriki uses sand much like Shukaku himself (although it was later revealed to be Gaara's mother).

Example against:

Naruto, Kurama's Jinchuuriki, has Wind as his main element, but Kurama has not shown using Wind at all.

I do believe the bijuu has some sort of influence on the Jinchuuriki's chakra development, especially if they're sealed in them when they are very young. (Naruto's chakra alone was said to be at least 4 times in amount that of Kakashi).

As for whether the Jinchuuriki's chakra is the same the bijuu, I don't think so. It's more dependant on genes, etc.


How can we measure a character's power level in relation to others for the Dragonball Series beyond Frieza? Due to the scouters from DBZ season 1/Saiyan Saga, everyone always asks about power levels. Now, to actually figure those numbers, there are a few problems, with the first being you really need a point of reference, and after the freiza saga-those references just vanish. Super Saiyan increased the users power 50x(say goku as super saiyan is 15 mil, frieza(100%) 12 mil, some say 18 mil goku, frieza(100%) 15 mil), and if the next super saiyan level was supposed to be a larger increase(as stated on the show), one could assume ss2 = ss ^50..X , or 15 mil x 15 mil x over and over til you get at least 50 iterations. ss3 being an even bigger increase over 2, and so on throughout the transformations.

The 2nd hurdle to overcome, is that some of these fights shown show fighters fighting at lower levels(what a sentence). It's possible for Ultra Instinct to shake your hand without breaking it, or punch you in the face without putting a hole thru it.

The final hurdle, is the special attack nature of some fighters. God Ki, Legendary Ki, UI Ki, all add special factors to the power of a fighter.

I believe the show does a great job overall(even GT was entertaining). The tournament of power is rewatchable in particular. I also believe we can get fighters organized on their strengths into a hierarchy of "who is stronger than who".

Is it better to just organize these fighters by referencing each other rather than figure exact numbers from the same scale?
for example: and yes this is a long example-but it's for a reason!
using

Goku(Frieza) as our reference, power level of 1.
Goku(SS) power of Goku X 50
frieza(100%) is .75 ss goku(both versions agree on this, frieza was roughly 1/4 less than goku)

Android saga
goku = 1
ss goku = goku x 50
android 19 20-much weaker than goku(trunks even said so) tho they did win due to heart disease
an. 19 = goku x 25
an. 20 = goku x 30(assuming he's stronger as dr. gero)
vegeta = goku x .95(a fair number, as he's almost always behind goku)
ss vegeta = vegeta x 50(weaker than goku but still stronger than 19/20)
an. 16 = ss goku x 2.5(he goes up against cell after an android absorption)
an. 17 = ss goku x 1.3(at least this much stronger, 18 destroys vegeta, 17 > 18)
an. 18 = ss goku x 1.1(much stronger than vegeta)
imp cell = ss goku 1.5(strong enough to absorb 17-had to get some humans for this level)
ss trunks = ss goku x .96(safe to say weaker than goku but roughly as strong as vegeta)
kamiccolo = ss goku 1.4(strong enough to take on 18, but not imp cell)

Cell Saga-start
Goku = 1 again
Cell Stage 2 = ss goku 1.5 + ss goku 1.3 = ss goku 2.8(he beats android 16)
Vegeta ASS = ss goku 3.5(ascended is NOT the same as 2, he wants cell to absorb 18 for a better fight.)
Perfect Cell = ss goku 2.8 + ss goku 1.1 = ss goku 3.9 + perfection bonus of doubling power = ss goku 7.8........ vegeta gets stomped
Trunks ASS2 = More than ASS Vegeta but less than perfect cell so ss goku 3.5 + 1.5 upgrade = SS goku 5.0 strong but no where near Cell
Goku as special SS = better fighter than trunks ass2 with less strength, but still no class of cell. ss goku 4.5
Gohan ss = Goku 3.5 ish-because he is a joke to Cell
SS Gohan 2 = stronger than Cell after a Zenkai boost, and since the form multiplies SS... Goku ss 10.0
Cell after Zenkai = 8.0 still nothing to gohan, but gives a good fight

After the concept of power levels was dropped, power scaling was done throughout the series by referencing one character to another. This was essentially done by the characters themselves sometimes. In terms of Dragon Ball Super for instance, In the ROF Arc, Frieza tells Goku that based on the power he senses, he should be stronger than Goku which kind of Establishes Golden Frieza is > Super Saiyan Blue Goku. At the start of the fight, Goku tells Frieza that he's gotten stronger but he doesn't need Super Saiyan to fight Final Form Frieza. So at that point in time, Base Goku was > Final Form Frieza. In the tournament of power, for instance, Goku and Vegeta more or less say they have never experienced a level of power as strong with reference to Jiren indicating Jiren is stronger than say, Fused Zamasu or anyone else they fought before that point.The problem with your scaling technique is how exactly would you quantify the difference in power with numbers. For instance, Toriyama at one point said Goku was a 6, Beerus was a 10 and Whis was a 15. This was at the start of the B.O.G arc. Goku Grow substantially stronger however, disregarding Ultra Instinct, he is still completely shadowed by Beerus's level of power. We know this based on the fight between Mastered SSJB Vegeta and Beerus in the manga where the latter one shot's Vegeta without even fighting seriously.The second main problem is characters grow several times stronger(Especially the Saiyans), during the course of the fight. For example, Goku who fights Jiren in Episode 109 is substantially weaker than the Goku who fights Jiren in Episode 122. However, both versions of Goku's were indicated to be vastly superior to Jiren who wasn't even trying. So displaying this difference numerically, wouldn't really make sense.As of now, I believe the characters are scaled by the writers themselves during dialogue between the fighters themselves or in the form of side commentary from another fighter witnessing the fight.


What shows inspired Sword Art Online? One of the biggest criticisms I've heard of Sword Art Online is that it's derivative; the "trapped in a video game" plot has been done before, and presumably better, by other anime.  But nobody bothers to mention which anime has done it before. Doing my own research I came across Log Horizon, although it would seem to me that if it were the only one it would get mentioned by name.

So which shows predate Sword Art Online that have the same basic plot?  Has Reki Kawahara ever said that he drew inspiration from a particular show?

Which shows predate Sword Art Online that have the same basic plot? The most similar anime show I could ever find (protagonist trapped in MMORPG world) is .hack//Sign Protagonist wakes up with slight amnesia in MMORPG world and tries to find answers as to what happened to him and why he can't log out of the game. It was released on April 4 2002 (an early version of the first volume of SAO was supposedly made around 2001, .hack//Sign started development in as early as 2000).

There are plenty of other isekai manga, anime and light novel earlier than SAO but I can't seem to find another one that is as close other than .hack//Sign as of now.

Has Reki Kawahara ever said that he drew inspiration from a particular show? It was not directly stated by him but according from a biography of him that I found, it was mentioned that Kawahara liked playing games.

  Kawahara would often head to the arcade with his fellow members to play fighting games. He also started playing online games in 1998, starting with Ultima Online. Kawahara also played Ragnarok Online, his most played game (although he stated World of Warcraft during Sakura-Con 2013), and Phantasy Star Online.

From this, we can say that his time playing these games could possibly have an influence to SAO, which is in a similar setting. It was not mentioned that he was influenced by anime shows when he wrote SAO. It was, however, mentioned, on the same biography, that he was inspired by some works when he wrote Accel World.

  In 2008, Kawahara decided to write again for the Dengeki Light Novel Award with Kyouzetsu Kasoku Burst Linker. He reapplied because he was inspired by all the works he read from Media Works Inc., such as Tokyo Shadow and Those who Hunt Elves.


Did Jiraiya teach Minato the summoning technique? I recently watched the Chuunin exam arc and saw how Jiraiya taught the summoning technique to Naruto.
Jiraiya showed the toad contract scroll to Naruto and wrote his name next to Jiraiya's.

In the flashback that shows how Minato fought with the Kyuubi, Minato entered the scene with Gamabunta, which means that he had signed the contract too.

If the other names written on the scroll include Minato's name, why is his name written first before Jiraiya's?

I've been searching for this, all I could find was:

It's true: "Jiraiya, who took a special interest in Minato and took him on as an apprentice, amongst other things teaching him the Summoning Technique and senjutsu."

As more: "In his youth, Jiraiya taught Minato how to use the Summoning Technique to summon toads. He was able to summon Gamabunta, showing considerably proficiency in this technique as he was one of the few people that Gamabunta would willingly cooperate without hesitation."

We also know that: "Before an animal summoning can be performed, a prospective summoner must first sign a contract with a given species."

Plus: "Not much is known about Minato's relationship with the toads but apparently he was well-respected among them. His only known summons were Gamabunta and Gerotora."

From all of this I can deduce that, or it's something tricky, and since there's no need for a contract (at the willingly cooperate part/well respected thing, or maybe just because Minato was a prodigy), or is a plot-hole, and the animators or Kishi put an accent on Jiraiya and Naruto at the scroll scene and maybe forgetting about Minato.


How exactly does Akiko's healing ability work? In episode 4, we learn that Akiko is the Armed Detective Agency's doctor, when she's healing Junichirou Tanizaki.

Just when she's about to start healing him, she starts taking off her shirt, and though Tanizaki appears to be dreading what's about to go down, she has a grin on her face:

That suggested, to me, that she was about to take some sort of sexual pleasure from what's about to go down.

Then the scene switches to the next room, where Atsushi and Kunikida are, and it sounds like Tanizaki is not really enjoying himself:

But then the noise subsides, and he sighs in what seems like a pleasurable way:

So it made it look like, to me, he was suffering for a while, but ends up taking some kind of pleasure from the process too, like Akiko appeared to be about to take herself.

This section from Akiko's page on the anime's Wikia says:

  Akiko is named after a feminist pacifist poet whose work was considered controversial in her time for portraying and encouraging female sexuality.

So, basically, how exactly does Akiko's ability work? What does she actually do to heal someone?
It does have some sort of sexual connotation, given the trivia in the Wikia page, right?

Has the manga shed some more light on her ability? Or has maybe the author revealed anything in any other way?

Akiko explain's her own ability when she is on the train with the bomber in episode 8 at 16:45.

  "My ability, Thou Shalt Not Die, can cure any wounds. Even my own injuries as you can see. But the necessary conditions are harsh. It can only cure lethal injuries. What an inconvenient ability. If I want to cure moderate injuries, I have to half kill my patient first." - Akiko Yosano

From the wiki:

  Akiko has a rare ability among ability users, Thou Shalt Not Die (君死給勿, Kimi Shinitamō Koto Nakare?), which allows her to heal external wounds. However, to heal someone they must first be "half-dead"; meaning they must have fatally serious injuries before she can use her ability. Due to this, her ability is inconvenient for healing minimal wounds since she needs to fatally injure that person first.

As for Akiko's name. She was named after the feminist poet Yosano Akiko. Yosano Akiko's poems were written during the Russo-Japanese war which was around 1945 when feminism wasn't highly thought of. The early-to-mid 19000s in Japan was a time when women were slowly gaining new rights, during this time feminism was a huge thing for women, but controversial overall.

You could say that Akiko's nature and appearance embody this ideal.


What was Tai cooking in the Digimon movie? In the first movie we can see Tai cooking something yellowish. Does someone knows what kind of food was he making?

You might actually be referring to the omuraisu (rice omelette) that Tai cooked for himself, his sister Kari, and Koromon in Digimon Adventure Episode 21, around the 8:38 mark. It's possible that you mistook that scene for being a part of the second part of Digimon: The Movie due to the fact that it takes place in the real world and has a similar washed-out color scheme.

Here's an album of relevant screenshots from that episode.

However, if you're actually referring to Digimon: The Movie, like Eric stated above in the comments, Tai cooks an egg in the first part of the movie, around the 7:33 mark. I don't believe there are any other scenes of him cooking anything else for the rest of Digimon: The Movie.

Here's an album of relevant screenshots from the movie.


What did the old man say to the bartender at the end? In the short one-shot Death Billiards, the old man says something to the bartender at the end when they choose which elevator to get into (presumably, one goes to hell and the other to heaven). What did the old man say? He smirked at the end so it seemed like he got something that he wanted or had somehow tricked the younger man. The bartender wouldn't say what it was. Am I missing something or is this just completely wide-open-ended?

As the white-haired bartender said, "秘密です," (himitsu desu, it's a secret).
With such an open-ended ending, there's no way to know for sure (much like the "Cart Driver Dilemma" in Code Geass).
The story implies that the younger guy went to heaven while the older dude went to hell, with the masks above their respective elevators with a white face and a demon face.
However, who is to say any of them went to heaven or hell? Or that things are exactly as they are described by the white-haired bartender?
I think the intention of such an open-ended ending is to get viewers to form their version of the story.
Some points to consider are:

The fact that the bartender was lying (or at least telling a half-truth and leaving out key details) from the beginning makes you question all of his explanations. Which parts are red herring? Which parts are true?

 If you look closely, the so-implied "corpses" the bartender shows the young man are actually marionette parts (look closely at the legs hanging towards the middle right). The bartender mentions that when they arrived, they were of equal footing, perhaps referring to the fact that none of them had their original memories... and with each ball pocketed by the opposing side they got a bit of their memory back.

The fact that the game (and its outcome) was predetermined

 and the old man was supposed to win.

The fact that the old man arrives after the young man

 (even though the bartender mentions that those that die at the same time are invited there). If they died at the same time, wouldn't they arrive at the same time?

The fact that they leave in the same elevator they came from (at least the old man does)

The fact that the old man bites his lip before the white-haired bartender hugs the young man.

The fact that the old man's flashback happens in reverse order compared to the young man's and also

 how the old man's death is never shown, nor is the first memory of his last moment truly his. It was actually the old man's wife's and his memorial portrait is shown, with offerings meaning that he probably was already dead.

And most importantly, the jellyfish. The jellyfish are a recurring symbol throughout the series, from the chandeliers to the aquarium, and the stained glass pattern behind the counter and the same design on the bathroom tiles. According to shamanism the jellyfish totem is supposed to represent "inner strength, vulnerability, transparency, and truth."

From this, we can imply that although there is a game of life and death going on, it is not as the bartender describes...

 The bartender mentions that he is the "さいてい者" which can be implied to be the "arbiter", the person who decides if someone goes to "heaven" or "hell"... however, who is being judged is never directly stated. The setting could be a place in limbo and it could be just the young man that is being judged, not for whether he goes to heaven or hell, but if he deserves a second chance (さいてい can also mean "second chance"), whether to be reincarnated or getting a second chance in his current life. The presence of the old man might be there to play a devil's advocate type of role to prevent this from happening. The old man might be a person that was condemned to hell and given a second chance to be able to be reincarnated if he can reveal the bad side of darkness and sink him into despair.

What the old man asks the bartender near the end could be something like "Is the game over (can I move on)?" and the bartender's reply could be, "not yet."

 This could be why the old man bites his lip. Because he knows he's lost. His smile as the elevator door closes could be because he knows that he'll be back for another shot.

Since the plot and ending is so open-ended, a lot of other things can be implied... much like the ending to Inception. You're meant to infer the ending that you want, rather than be told what it is.
The hostess seems to be a bit out of place. The piano player is a marionette moved by wires, and it is demonstrated that the wires can move things around. There seems to be no need for a hostess, as she does not serve a particular function (the bartender makes the drinks, she is only seen receiving the empty glass of water). Most of her other actions after the game starts are imitating the bartender's...

 What if she was a person that lost the game and is stuck in this limbo until she discovers the true meaning of life and herself like the young man did. As the credits roll, the hostess first asks the bartender what the old man said to him, he immediately says that it's "a secret," but when she asks who went to what place, instead of telling her that it's a secret, he asks what she thinks, perhaps asking her if she's learned anything, she replies she's asking because she doesn't know, he replies that it's a secret... perhaps implying that she is not yet ready to know... her own fate.

As a side note, though the gg Fansub translate the name of the place as "Queen Decim," I personally believe the place to be called "Quindecim(e)", the latin word for "15" (十五, じゅうご, "jyuugo"), perhaps implying the Ten Epithets of Buddha (十号, also "jyuugou")?
The Ten Epithets of the Buddha 仏十号(butsujyuugou):

Tathagata/如来(nyorai), one who has come from the world of truth
応供(gu), one who deserves oblations
正偏知(shouhenchi), one who knows everything perfectly.
明行足(myougyou-soku), one who sees the truth and walks the way satisfactorily
善逝(zenzei), one who is gone to the world of enlightenment
世間解(sekenge), one who understands the world
無上士(mujouji), one who is unsurpassed by anyone else
調御丈夫(jougo-joubu), one who controls men
天人師 (tenninshi), who teaches gods and men
仏世尊(Butsu-seson), the enlightened one who is honored by the people of the world


Why is "Puella Magi" equivalent to "Mahou Shoujo"? From my understanding, Mahou Shoujo = Magical Girl as the latter is normally used when turning the Japanese title to English, i.e.

Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha = Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha
Sasami: Mahō Shōjo Club = Sasami: Magical Girls Club
Mahou Shoujo Lalabel = Lalabel the Magic Girl

Now, I understand one of the themes of Puella Magi Madoka Magica is Magical Girl, and its Japanese name is Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica. I am wondering how did Mahou Shoujo become Puella Magi?

The romanized title is not meant to be an English translation at all. It is not half Latin + half English; it is all Latin from start to finish: Puella Magi Madoka Magica. So we shouldn't read the "Madoka Magica" as if it were English and then wonder at why "Puella Magi" is not English. "Madoka" is the main character's name (鹿目 まどか), so that word is a native Japanese word. "Magica" is clearly not Japanese or English; it is also Latin. So 3 out of the 4 words are Latin, and the Japanese word is a person's name, so it would naturally be written "Madoka" in romanized letters when in an all-Latin phrase.

According to the Puella Magi wiki, "Puella Magi" in Latin translates to "girl [form] of the sorcerer" in English. As this was the translation decided by the Japanese company, it is possible that they did not consult anyone fluent in Latin in order to translate "mahou shoujo" as accurately as possible (we often see Engrish in anime [such as 「それでも世界は美しい」(Soredemo Sekai ha Utsukushii), which was officially written in English as "Still world is Beautiful" instead of a literal fluent translation like "Even So, The World is Beautiful"]; there is no reason that they would necessarily do better with Latin).

The wiki author makes an alternate hypothesis, saying "If interpreted a different way, 'the sorcerer's girl', it implies that the girls are being used - which they are, by Kyubey," but since we do know the meaning of "mahou shoujo" due to its use in the many, many magical girls series that Madoka is parodying, we can conclude that it does not in this case have a unique meaning of girls being used. The series is not a mahou shoujo series proper (it is a parody of the genre and is targeted at male viewers, whereas real mahou shoujo are a subset within shoujo, meaning they are targeted at an audience of young girls and if there is a manga origin or adaption, it runs in a shoujo manga magazine), so for it to use the standard style and meaning of a mahou shoujo series best serves its intent at parody.


How did the Sage of the Six Paths obtain his Rinnegan? It is shown that the Sage of the Six paths was the first to have the Rinnegan.

Now for an Uchiha these are the stages of their eyes:

Normal eyes
Sharingan (activated after facing life threatening situation)
Mangekyo Sharingan (activated after a very close person dies)
Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan (activated after replacing the
existing Mangekyo Sharingan with another mangekyo sharingan)
Rinnegan (conditions for activation have not yet been mentioned)

All these stages have covered by Madara Uchiha, he took his brother's Mangekyo Sharingan to activate the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan.

Now if the same logic was to be applied to the Sage of the Six Paths, then whose Mangekyo Sharingan did he take for his own?

He being the first shinobi should not have anyone to take a Sharingan from.

Awakening the Rinnegan

I think you have misunderstood something here.

The Rinnegan was the original form. It required no activation and was permanent to the Sage of the Six Paths.

His children, the Uchiha and the Senju inherited the two different feats:

The life force and physical energy went to the Senju
The visual prowess and strength of chakra went to the Uchiha clan.

This visual prowess manifested in the Sharingan as a visible component of the Rinnegan. The Senju had some second components to the Rinnegan embedded in their DNA.

When one brings the DNA of an Uchiha and a Senju together, one can awaken the Rinnegan.

The problem now is that the possibility to awaken the Rinnegan (when they also have Senju DNA) is in every Sharingan user, but only "under the radar". To activate the Rinnegan, it seems one must go through different stages:

The Mangekyou Sharingan and the [Eien]{Eternal} no Mangekyou Sharingan

Madara accomplished this. By implanting Hashirama's DNA to his cells when he was close to death, he finally awakened the Rinnegan.

It may also be possible to awaken the Rinnegan without undergoing the two higher stages of the Sharingan, but that is only speculative. As of chapter 674 of the manga, the DNA of Hashirama (or moreover, Senju DNA) is not required to awaken the Rinnegan.

   Sasuke awakens the Rinnegan, even though there is no actual explanation as to why. It probably has to do with the fact that Sasuke is possessed by the reincarnated spirit of Rikudo's son.

Origin of the Rinnegan

If you read Chapter 646 of the Naruto manga, you can see

   the Ten-Tails' awakening. And when he opens his eyes, you should be able to notice that they have a similar pattern to the Rinnegan. Actually, the eyes look like a Rinnegan with some Tomoe 巴 scattered in the circles of the Rinnegan.

 We also witness the Ten-Tails' awakened form (the Tree of God), which uses a more complex form of the Preta Path when he absorbs the chakra of people he caught.

 From this information, we can conclude that the Tree of God/Ten Tails was the original "wielder" of the "perfect Rinnegan" (well, it hasn't got a name yet), and that most probably, the chakra was not the only thing the Sage got at birth.


Is One Piece Film Gold canon or not? In the film:

  Tezoro stated that Loffy defeated Doflamingo, and Sabo has the Flair-Flair Fruit's power. That puts the Gold film after their fight with Doflamingo.

Also

  After they defeated Doflamingo in the anime, they got separated from each other and Sanji went to his wedding and all that.

So is the film canon? If it is, when does it take place?

As you said, based on the time frame alone the movie cannot be placed anywhere in the manga story line since after Doflamingo was defeated the crew separated once more (the only possibility where this could happen is "far" into the future, after the upcoming reverie/Wano arc).

Also it's worth noting that Oda was only the executive producer on the film (he supervised the art direction), he did not write the story for it.

Generally everything outside the manga is considered non-canon unless Oda specifically declares something as belonging to the main story.


Are Giftias more intelligent than humans? In anime, Giftias are shown just like humans, showing the same attitude and behavior but they aren't humans. They are retrieved after their lifespan is complete. So basically, those are basically humanoids, if they're not humans then why isn't they were shown with some high intelligence just like other humanoids which are currently present on Earth.

I don't think so. Giftias, however accurate description of human life they may present, they are still just an imitation of how close an Android can be to a human being.

This question can turn out to be philosophical, as we cannot discern what's the true difference between natural and artificial intelligence.

In my opinion, what Giftias can do is all thanks to programming and limited to processing and storage, that still hasn't surpassed human capabilities.


Why do the Straw Hats never have money? Right now I'm watching the 139th episode and I'm wondering why they are always in need of money. I don't remember exact cases when they got a jackpot, but I have a feeling that there were some cases; I just can't remember them. Do they really engage in such bad ass affairs but then remain out of money?
Examples that I remember where they showed a lack of funds:

Zoro in Loguetown buying swords
Luffy in Alabasta talking to old man with dance powder

Mostly it's because Luffy always spent their money on food. Almost after every major battle Mugiwara Pirate always have a party and use almost every food they have. This will leave them with no food so they spent their money on food in the next town. For once they won a jackpot. They got 300mil belly. But it was used for their new ship, Thousands Sunny.

The other crew are not so loyal but they also spent a good sum of money. Nami on clothes, Robin and Chopper on book, Sanji on ingredients, and Ussop on miscellaneous stuff. (We know they did on Logue town and Water 7)


Can you write in English in the Death Note? I'm wondering whether the Death Note would still work if you wrote in English or other languages, or if you have to write in Japanese.
For example, if I was to write "John Doe is going to die in a car accident", would I need to translate it into Japanese or would I be able to simply just write it in English?

It depends which are you talking about - the names, or the death details. for each there's strict evidence, we will start for the language of the names:
First, in the first episode of Death Note, it is shown in Light's Death Note like this:

We can see that Light had written the names in the Death Note part Japanese, part in English. if we will go by the assumption that you can write in other languages, why would Light would bother to write in English? only to show that he knows?
The answer for that is shown in one of rules (can't remember now which no. of it, but it is shown in ep28):

The names that you see with the eye power of a god of death are the
names needed to kill that person. You will be able to see the names
even if that person isn't registered in the family registration.

As we can see along the anime/manga through images seeing by the shinigami eyes that it depends on which language the original name was given, as we see with Mello and Near cases that the name is in english, and as the rule specifically needs you to write that name you see in the shinigami eyes, and that name is the one needs to be written and not other. from this we learn - you cannot translate names in the Death Note but to write the name with the original language.

Now this is for name language, as for the death details, it might not evidence as others here tried to say without them, but the little evidence is actually the simple fact that we see Light writing the death details in Japanese, now as Death Note is sure is a shinigami notebook you would say that only shinigami can write in it in their own language (as Misa's Death Note front written in their language) but it still can be written in human language. or you might as well come and say that since the Death Note touched the human world and belonged now to it, it can be written even in every human language which make sense since what's the point of belonging to the human world if it cannot be used in it, but in the shinigami world it is have to be written in shinigami language.
Either way, Ryuk said he had written the rules in english because it is the common language in the human world, from the way he pronounced it, it is possible to every human in the world to use the Death Note or he would describe the way to use it in other language, the fact that he chose the common language states that it works in every way.
Evidence for this in the anime in ep5 where Light holds the pages where the FBI agents are written, you can see that the names are in English while the death details in Japanese.

The question about the last evidence is that if Ryuk knew that it doesn't matter which language to write the death details but the name language is matter, why didn't he specified the rule for the name language that it needs to be in the original language? The answer is simple as the writer needs to know the real name of the person, and it is simple as that that the writer needs to know the name of the person in original language so it's also needs to be written in that language, and the above evidences is helping the simplify of things.
Conclusion

The names of the victims needs to be written in the original language it is called, even if in the family registration he is called in another name. and this rule is both for human and shinigami (as proven couple of times in the anime and the manga).
The death details can be written in every Death Note that had fallen to earth and belonged to it. Common sense is that the writer can write and understand his writing.
There is possibility though, that even if we say that shinigami would know a human language - as he needs to so he can write the names - he won't be able to use it in the shinigami world or either in his  in the human world for death details, since the Death Note belongs to shinigami.


How do you spell Marry Kozakura's name in English? I've been using "Marry" up until now, but it just occurred to me that I don't know for sure if that's the best choice.

As I understand it, the spelling of her name varies a lot across translations. I've seen "Marry", "Mary", and "Marie" being used. Also, in Japanese, her given name is 茉莉, which I've seen get read as both まり and マリー.

So, is there a particular spelling that is more commonly used or more official than the others? Or are they about the same? How do the translators' choices for her name compare between the songs, the manga, the light novel, the anime, and other supplementary material?

Looking at the official website for Mekakucity Actors, Marry is a valid Romanized spelling of her name. Usually when there is discrepancy over how a name is Romanized across different media it is because there is no single official version, or the else the spelling changed over time, or else there just wasn't much care taken in localizing the name (either because the translators weren't familiar with the origin or target language, or because different translators had different opinions and were allowed to do what they wanted).

So the answer to your question is that any / all spellings in official media are valid, with the more recent ones probably being the "most official". When it comes to names translations and readings are much less cut and dry. Even the Japanese spelling マリー is a non-standard way of reading the kanji in her name, which is also fairly common with Japanese names.


Can you kill a human with a Death Note in less than forty seconds? If I were write in the Death Note:

  Bob Bold Heart attack NOW.

Would that work?

According to the first rule in How To Use III

  If the time of death is written within 40 seconds after writing the cause of death as a heart attack, the time of death can be manipulated, and the time can go into effect within 40 seconds after writing the name.

So the time of death (e.g. "NOW") won't go into effect for 40 seconds.


How did Kaguya Otsutsuki cast the Infinite Tsukuyomi the first time without the moon? In the anime, I remember Kaguya coming to Earth and later she castes Infinite Tsukuyomi on the people. But later we are shown that Kaguya is sealed and is formed into the moon. Then what did she cast Tsukuyomi on the first place, as the Infinite Tsukuyomi requires a moon?

Yes, there was no moon when Kaguya arrived on Earth. And for the Infinite Tsukuyomi to be activated, the presence of a moon is a primary condition.
So, in Naruto: Shippūden episode 460, Kaguya activates the Infinite Tsukuyomi. She does so by using her space time jutsu Yomotsu Hirasaka to open a portal and use a moon from somewhere else.

The animation of the portal opening is shown only for a split second.


At the end of the manga "Sundome", what happens to Kurumi Sahana? At the end of the manga, it was left unclear whether the main character had married Kurumi as she had blossomed into a woman, or whether he had married somebody else. Is that her, or did she die from her earlier illness?

I know it was meant to be left as "up to the reader", but I would like to reach a consensus.

Personally, I like to think it is Kurumi, but I could understand any naysayers.

It is left up to the reader, but I think we can draw a conclusive answer from the hints given to us.

Theory #1: She doesn't die

The woman we see him with at the end could be Kurumi grown up. She is of the same build and may just have longer hair:
Even if it's not her, she could still be around - just not with the main character

Theory #2: She does die

Towards the end of the manga, she is very ill, more than we have seen in the previous chapters. There's also a lot of dialogue alluding to the fact that death may be near:

As you pointed out, the woman he is with at the end of the manga has a different personality from Kurumi, laughing at the Roman Club and the main character's request, as if she hadn't been around them in that time period:

The title of the manga, Sundome means stopping the moment before. This is significant as in the final few chapters, Kurumi admits to having a dream where she had sex with the main character - the one thing that the main character so desired, but was not allowed. It would be fitting if the manga 'stopped just before' they could do so.
When with the woman in the final chapters, the main characters says "You still exist", but, it sounds more like that character is remembering Kurumi as a fond memory. The orbs of light and the character's expression in the panel before the statement seem to indicate this.

Other information:

He is shown as becoming a resident doctor. He told Kurumi in earlier chapters that he would become one so that he could take care of her always. This doesn't indicate much either way about what happened, but it's interesting to take into consideration.

Anyway, there's no concrete proof either way, unless the mangaka reveals it. So everyone can believe what they want to believe :)


Does Itachi loved Izumi in a girlfriend kind of level/way? I just wanna know if this manga panel is just an error because in Itachi Shinden novels, there was really no confirmation of the real score between Itachi and Izumi.

Hard to say. Depends on how you define 'girlfriend-kind' of love.

If the love you're talking about is the kind of love wherein he would choose her over the world, then no. If it's the kind of love where it meant choosing the former between preventing another war, even if it means having to kill her; or being with her no matter what, then yes.

In Itachi Shinden: Book of Dark Night, the following can be read:

  I decided that Izumi would be first …
  By killing her himself, he wiped away the last of his hesitation—the hesitation borne of unfinished business with the clan, of bonds of emotion.

Itachi was hesitant. The way I interpret it, Itachi does indeed consider Izumi as a part of his life since he thought of Izumi as a hurdle to overcome. He placed her in a Tsukuyomi where she lived to an old age together with Itachi, having and raising a family together before she died, both in dream and real life. If he had no feelings for her, he'd easily kill her but he went to such lengths to give her a peaceful and painful death, with consideration of her own feelings towards him.

With this, I think it can be said that Itachi, at least, considers her as someone important to his life. Whether he truly loved her or not in a romantic kind of way would probably depend on how you define love.

They were not girlfriend and boyfriend but they were, however, seen by their peers as a couple.


What is happening to Nasa here when Tsukasa does something adorable? In Episode 2 of Tonikaku Kawaii (Fly Me to the Moon), there are a couple of instances when the lead male character Yuzaki Nasa is overwhelmed by something unexpected and adorable that his wife Tsukasa does or says. This is shown visually by Nasa taking a longer than usual pause before responding, but then instead of responding he suffers some reaction that causes him to cough violently, I think? The visual shows some white froth spraying from his mouth, but his back is turned to the camera, so I'm not entirely certain that it is a cough. Both times, Tsukasa is taken aback by his reaction and asks him in a concerned manner whether he is feeling alright.

These events are clearly played for a gag, but I think I'm missing some context behind them. I have seen anime nosebleeds, and their meaning has been discussed on this site before: Does the "bloody nose" trope necessarily imply a sexual situation?. This case does not seem to be a nosebleed, though. The anime has not shied away from depicting fountains of blood (for comedic purposes, of course) in Episode 1, so I'm sure they would have coloured the expulsion red if that was intended.

What exactly is happening to Nasa in these two instances?

As Aki Tanaka has said in the comments, this is most likely the Spit Take trope.

A Reaction Shot to an unexpected event that involves spraying food or, more commonly, a drink from a character's mouth. ... A common Lampshade Hanging for this trope is when a character pauses to take a drink just so he has something to spit out in reaction.
(emphasis mine)

This trope is also used for comedic purposes, as seen in the image of Ryuuji Takasu above. This trope is also used when someone is surprised or excited, similar to the nose bleed trope that is commonly found within anime and manga. You've said that Nasa Yuzaki reacts that way whenever Tsukasa does something he sees as cute. It is possible that this spit take trope is being applied the same way a nose bleed is.
Source


Do I need to watch "Railgun T" first to understand "Index 3" more easily? I currently rewatching the To Aru series with all spin-offs (have only seen the first 2 Index and Railgun seasons years ago). My question is, after watching the first 2 seasons of Index and Railgun and Accelerator, should I watch Railgun T or Index 3 first?
I heard Index 3 is a strong rushed series and really hard to follow if someone doesn't know the novel or the manga. Will Railgun T help with that, or is it not of any help to understand Index 3? Is it, in the first place, hard to understand?

A Certain Scientific Railgun T is unlikely to help you understand A Certain Magical Index III. I've watched the anime for Index, and around half the episodes for Railgun T. Additionally, I've read the manga for A Certain Scientific Railgun, as well as reviewed summaries for the remaining episodes. I strongly suspect that the remaining episodes will closely follow the manga as the first half of the season did. Thus, I can pretty much infer Railgun T isn't going to help. These arcs pretty much tells their own story, and don't have much to do with the story told in Index.
Trying not to spoil anything, but given the contents of episode 68 of Railgun, I'd actually guess that it'll be helpful to watch A Certain Magical Index III first. And watching A Certain Scientific Accelerator before A Certain Scientific Railgun T will be helpful because some characters from there show up in the second half of Railgun T.
If you need more info, this question has some good answers about watch orders: Watching order for "Toaru Majutsu no Index" and related anime


Why is incest such a prevalent theme in manga and anime? I used to think that incest was only in hentai/eroge, but gradually, I have run into more mainstream content which seems to hint at brother-sister, mother-son relationships, or the tension of such attraction.

What is the origin of this theme?

Why is it so prevalent in Japanese manga and anime compared to Western comics?

It seems strange for a taboo to be popping up everywhere, so I am curious as to the origin.

First, it needs to be said that incest in popular culture is prevalent in many other culture. It isn't unique to anime or manga works. Although it is true that compared to Western comics it is less prevalent, incest do exist in Western pop-culture songs, movies, literature, etc.

With that, we should focus on what it is in Japanese culture that makes incest a seemingly prevalent trope in anime and manga. There's also different types of incest relationships.

Incest is a taboo in Japan. What is incest to them, however, may be a little bit different than ours. Incest marriages between cousins are occasional as they are not considered incestuous until recently. This may explain why incest relationships like in Elfen Lied is a recurring trope.

Another thing is that historically, marriages between nephews and nieces have been approved. Even now in some rural areas, fathers marry their daughters when the mother dies. They are forced to do this as they follow old feudal laws. Sometimes when both parents died, the brother ends up having sex with the sister in order to end confusion.

There's also the common trope of brothers and sisters sleeping or bathing together in anime and manga. This is easily explained as such things are still prevalent in Japanese society. This doesn't necessarily lead to incest, however, but there are certainly hints towards it.

The first manga that involves incest is Cream Lemon, released in the 1980s. So this isn't something new. It is also noted that incest is in mangas for the Shoujo demographics, which is mainly for females. In other words, people might like incestuous anime and manga for the emotional relationship and not the physical relationships.

The combination of Japanese history and the demographic's tastes may help explain why incest is a popular trope in anime and manga. I could go on and on, but it may take too long to explain, so if anyone would like to read more, I have provided sources for others.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incest_in_popular_culture
http://www.mangatherapy.com/post/1467868478/incest-in-anime-manga
http://psychohistory.com/articles/the-universality-of-incest/


Do people who use the Death Note become Shinigami themselves? In both the Death Note manga and anime, it is stated multiple times by Ryuk that once you use the Death Note, a human can go to neither Heaven nor Hell.

However, it is hinted in an additional movie that encompasses part of the anime that Light was reincarnated as a Shinigami.

Is it then possible to say, that any humans that use the Death Note do not go to Heaven nor Hell because they go to the Shinigami Realm?

No.

Humans who die don't go to Heaven or Hell (because neither exists).

They go to Mu (Which means, nothing).

  Death Note, Volume 12, page 188, has these two rules in regards to
  "Mu": "All humans will, without exception, eventually die." Also,
  "After they die, the place they go is MU (Nothingness)."

Basically, there's nothing after death. Shinigami are a different species.


What is this bubble thing next to Marco's face? The white bubble thing coming out of Marco's mouth kinds of stands out. What is it?

I can only see three possible things causing this as it's an anime.

It's common for small bubbles like that to be in mangas to express a sigh, sometimes it occurs in animes too, but it's more common for that to happen when characters enter a more comedic and less serious stage (it tends to be fairly obvious).

Another reason is the above mentioned bubble-gum bubble, no further explanation required (you will know by observing the context if he put something in his mouth).

The third possibility (that I can see) is that it's a part of his soul. In Japanese culture the soul can exit through your mouth, normally through great shock or near death experiences. It is also fairly common that some characters have special powers that lets part of the soul slip out through their mouths for various reasons.

I haven't watched this anime so I can't tell for sure since I don't know the context. My answer could however be of use to anyone else wondering in general about bubbles from the mouth. Just by looking I'd place it more likely that it's a gum-bubble.


How is Shinobi Bout played? In Boruto, they play a card game called Shinobi Bout, where cards seem to have numbers and colors. It seems somewhat like the goal is to get rid of all of the cards in your hand. Is it ever explained how the game is played or what the rules are?

It is essentially Uno with some small tweaks.
You are trying to play numbers, in order.  If you have a "run" of numbers in the same suit (color), you appear to be able to play them all at once.
There are cards that allow you to change the color, even a wild draw 4.
In the anime, you see Boruto play a change color card with a "skip" card skipping the next player's turn.  It appears the cards are numbered from 1-10 in five colors.


Apart from Momotaro's Sea Eagles, did any other animated propaganda survive WWII? The question is mostly in the title; When discussing propaganda through anime, most articles refer to Momotaro's Divine Sea Eagles.

There was definitely other anime which were produced during wartime to promote the army's cause - but a lot of it was destroyed by the Americans after Japan's defeat.

Is there any other surviving animated Japanese propaganda from WWII?

"Toy Box Series Episode 3: Picture Book 1936" (オモチャ箱シリーズ第3話 絵本一九三六年) could count, depending on when you regard WWII and the second Sino-Japanese war as starting. (1934 in Anime English Wikipedia page listing it)

Here's a YouTube link. Warning: some of the comments in the comment section are racist.

From Boing Boing: 1936 1934 Japanese cartoon with evil Mickey Mouse

  Mickey Mouse flies in with a squadron of mouse-headed pterodactyls to
  attack an island populated with cute Japanese animals, including a
  surreal Felix the Cat with sausage-link arms. Link (Via Pink Tentacle)

    [I]n the aftermath of the Mukden (Manchurian) Incident and Japan’s
    announced withdrawal from the League of Nations after the League
    concluded they were the aggressor, right wing elements in the country
    started an opinion campaign that once the Five Power naval limitation
    treaty ran out in 1936, America was planning to attack Japanese
    possessions, so Japan needed to expand its military… just in case..
    Apparently, this cartoon was an attempt to stir the pot."'

Browsing Wikipedia's XXXX in anime list, I came across Sankichi the Monkey: The Air Combat in the 1942 year. Here's a YouTube link featuring English subtitles.


How is Sophia going to reset history in Full Metal Panic? Sophia claims that she can reset history by using TARTAROS, but what is the mechanism of doing so, does the Tau wave have reality bending ability?

Doesn't the Tau wave just allow you to peek the future?

The TAROS more or less is the reason the Tau waves cover the planet after the incident at Yamsk 11 that started it all on Dec. 24, 1981 (1984 in the anime). The waves exist outside time and on all planes of existence.

Sophia was present in the very first TAROS incident at Yamsk 11. She is more or less the reason why Whispered can resonate with one another.

   On that faithful day, Sophia died, but her consciousness merged with the Tau waves, somehow...

Because Tau waves exist outside time and space, there is a degree of time manipulation allowed by it.

Sophia's consciousness exists where ever and whenever Tau waves are present. Sophia can send her consciousness into the future to gain the technology that she then shares with the Whispered.

She is not a Whispered, but rather the one doing the whispering. The reason why Whispered have specializations is because her consciousness is split between them all. Only Sophia existed from the very start of it all so only she had the means and circumstances to be able to go back to when it first started.


What happened to people with other skin colors? In Attack on Titan, we know what happened to many people:

   they became Titans.

But what happened to people with different skin colors, e.g. black?

   Did they turn into Caucasian Titans? Or were they simply killed?

This question cannot be answered with canonical information, since it is about a work in progress and the origin story is still shrouded in mystery.

But there are several assumptions you are making:

That the series takes place in Earth.
That even if it is not Earth, there are earth-like ethnics.
That what happened to several people happened to all the people, worldwide. Maybe the titan incident is just restricted to a small continent or a large island, and the rest of the world goes on their medieval life undaunted by the gross titans.
That even if it is in the same Earth as ours, and the titans are worldwide, that It is set in a time where people from several ethnical groups have traveled worldwide, like way after the XIV - XV centuryies great navigations (Columbus, Pedro Álvares Cabral, Vasco da Gama, etc)

So, assuming there are a ethnical pallete in the world of Attack on Titan as broad as our Earth, several hypothesis can be raised:

Asians were included for identification purposes. The target audience of a Japanese manga are Japanese people, so by "placing" them inside the fictional world, it raises identification and acceptance of the work. That is why almost all the 80's and 90's cartoons had a "token kid".

   The first king hand-picked the chosen ones for his walled kindom. He might have intentionally left out the undesirables, as is shown that there is a heavy ethnical bias in place.

The setting is not futuristic. If I had to explain to a layman, I would say "early steampunk". There are gas-powered gadgets, but they are cutting edge tech created on the pressure the survival drive puts on science. Definitely medieval. This was already subject of a Q&A in this site.

   Just as Asians display special characteristics (as do other ethical groups) maybe Africans had some anti-titanification powers or were immune to the Directive.

But your guess is as good as mine. See the disclaimer on top.


Why do cross-dressing characters like Hideri Kanzaki usually have high voices? I see that in many Animes, there are cross-dressing (or maybe trans) characters, like Hideri Kanzaki of Blend-S, and they usually have awfully high-pitched voices.  These characters in anime and manga fall into a trope and are usually referred to as "trap characters."

Why do these characters even have high-pitched voices?

I can't think of any character that falls into this trope and has their voice fall into a lower, typically male, voice register.

The whole point of the "trap" archetype is to trick people (both the audience watching the show, and the characters in the show itself) into thinking the character is female when they aren't. If they were to speak with a masculine voice, the illusion would be ruined the moment they opened their mouth, which kind of ruins the point.

Aside from this, it would also be very jarring to hear a masculine voice coming from someone who does not look very masculine. The reverse is also true: it would be extremely jarring to see a muscular male speaking in a high-pitched soprano voice.

Screwball comedies like Pop Team Epic may use ill-fitting voices for intentional comedic effect (see also: Up), but with "traps", the comedy instead comes from people mistaking them for the opposite gender. Giving them a masculine voice would, as I've already noted, ruin that particular gag, and then there's not much point making them a "trap" in the first place.


Why didn't Luffy and Zoro fight back against Bellamy in Mock Town? We see that towards the end of Episode 146 and in Episode 147, Luffy and Zoro don't fight back against Bellamy although they could have easily beaten him. Why is that?

As a guy on Reddit put it:

  It goes back to Shanks when he was in East Blue. The bandits did the same thing to him and he didn't fight back either. Zoro was simply following the command of his captain. Luffy said don't fight back so he didn't fight back. Luffy however wasn't fighting because there was no need to fight them. He later however did "fight" Bellamy when his friends were attacked by Bellamy, similar to how Shanks and crew fought for Luffy when the bandits attacked Luffy.

Hence, Luffy didn't retaliate because:

Luffy was inspired by Shanks' decision to not fight back in the past without a reason

Bellamy wasn't standing in the way of Luffy's goals or had hurt any of his friends (until later in the series). Luffy being the kind of guy he is, only picks fights when his friends are hurt or somebody stands in the way of his goals.
He seemed to lose interest in Bellamy when Bellamy claimed that "The pirates' dream era is over" and started depreciating pirates who believed in the City of Gold, The Emerald City and the great treasure of One Piece.

As for Zoro, as stated, he was simply following the captain's order.


Do anime with more ecchi scenes pay their seiyuu more than non-ecchi anime? Seeing the Citrus anime that aired in Winter 2018 got me thinking. This anime has so many ecchi scenes. Yuzu and Mei kissed and did so many perverted acts.

Had this been a boy-girl kissing scene, it might be considered okay and normal enough. Problem is, Yuzu and Mei are both female, thus their kissing scenes are ecchi. Taketatsu Ayana (Yuzu's seiyuu) and Tsuda Minami (Mei's seiyuu) would have to make lots of perverted noises for those scenes.

This reminds me that High School DxD also has Itou Shizuka (Himejima Akeno's seiyuu) and Hikasa Youko (Ria's Gremory's seiyuu) make lots of similar noises for the recording.

While Itou Shizuka is known to be a seiyuu for eroge, even she was embarrassed when she had to do many perverted noises during recording in front of many other seiyuus (I read it somewhere but forgot where, will update with link if I can find the article again). Itou-san went as far as crying to Asakawa Yuu (voice actress of the Megurine Luka vocaloid, and seiyuu for many eroge) due to the embarrassment.

It should also be noted that both Itou-san and Asakawa-san used pseudonyms for their eroge VA work. This suggest that such work is not really desirable, or at least, it definitely is not at the top of desirable jobs to do. Hanazawa Kana doesn't do eroge voice acting, for example.

Now, returning to Citrus, Taketatsu Ayana and Tsuda Minami were not fresh, newly-graduated seiyuu. They have worked in the industry for quite a long time and have built names for themselves.

Does this means that anime with many perverted scenes pay their seiyuu more?

Note: To make things clear, by "ecchi" I mean the perverted noise(s) the seiyuu has to make for the scene, and not the perverted images that go with them.

From what I have read, eroge voice-work is not a desirable path. The pay is less, although I'm not sure how much exactly. I think voice actors are generally paid by the word, and long/complicated lines are not usually required in eroge. I don't know how they would measure a payment for just breathing and other sounds.

Most voice actors are similar to celebrities, in that they want to become well-known and gain reputability for their skills. This will give them higher paying jobs in more popular series, and their demand will grow. However, eroge work is probably viable if you need to make money or start out. A lot of well known voice actors have done eroge work before becoming more established and moving away from it. The voice actor for Vegeta in DBZ apparently did eroge at one point. A lot of "voice otakus"? will try to match eroge VAs who used pseudonyms to their real names, which is a deterrent for some VAs to even do any eroge if they care about that.

I am sorry I don't have any real sources to any of this, so take it with a grain of salt. I've just googled through some message boards about this topic, like the one below

Url may contain content not safe for work

http://blog.livedoor.jp/myonkui/archives/5522517.html


Which of the Light Novels does the Anime of Accel World Cover looking at the Light Novels List on Wikipedia i assume that Novels 1 and 3 are used but i am wondering if that's it or any of the others are used

Actually, Accel World the anime 1st season covers Volume 1-4 + two short histories from Volume 10. (possible spoilers at the end)

   Volume 1: episodes from 1 through 5
 Volume 10 1st Short history: episode 6 and 7
 Volume 2: episodes from 8 through 12
 Volume 3: episodes from 13 through 17
 Volume 10 2nd Short history: episode 18 and 19
 Volume 4: episodes from 20 through 24

Is important to notice that the two OVA's are not part of the main Light Novel series.


Why did Makarov not use Fairy Law against Tartaros? Makarov doesn't seem to have much of a problem using Fairy Law against Phantom Lord so why did he not use it against Tartaros? Even if it couldn't defeat the 9 demon gates, he could at least take out all the minions with it and it would probably at least do some damage to the demon gates. After all, it disabled Phantom Lord's master and he was one of the 10 wizard saints so it seems like he should have used it. It's not even like it would be overkill since all magic was on the line. There also weren't any powerful people around who could immediately counter it like with Hades so it wouldn't pose much of a danger to the rest of the guild.

Fairy Law didn't work that simple. Fairy Law consumes magic power as much as needed to defeat whoever the caster deemed as enemies. The sheer number of the enemies present there would made Fairy Law a sucidial move. This is evident in the final battle where Fairy Tail went to fight the Alvarez Empire. Makarov died (or at least knocked unconscious) there after casting Fairy Law to reduce the number of enemy troops.