What happened to Aura between the events of G.U. and the movie? Aura seems to be missing in all if not the majority of the //G.U. anime and games, //Quantum, but makes some appearances in the //Beyond the World movie?

What happened to her between this period of time?

In The world:R2, Aura is missing because she is trying to let the players act by themselves. She acted tough by creating the 3 azure knights (azure kite, balmung and orca) and helped haseo during the last fight of .hack//G.U. game series.


Where did the eighth Buranki fall? When Kaoruko and Azuma awaken all the Buranki on Treasure Island in episode 1, they cause some of the Buranki to fall to Earth. Eight Buranki fall on Tokyo (according to contemporaneous news reports seen at the beginning of episode 3, and according to Hiiragi later that episode), not counting Oubu.

However, as Oubu falls to Earth (with Kaoruko, Azuma, and their father inside), we get this aerial shot of the Tokyo area:

As you can see, there are some smoke plumes, all located on the west side of the bay. I've marked them with red dots in the image below:

There are only seven plumes, though. Where did the eighth Buranki fall?

The news reports at around 1:00 into episode 3 state that there are reports of Buranki having fallen in Ohta, Toshima, Chiyoda, Shinjuku, and Sumida wards. We also see footage of a destroyed Buranki in Bunkyo ward.

Below, I've superimposed a diagram of the wards of Tokyo over the screenshot in the question (which is thankfully fairly easy to do because of the distinctive shape of Tokyo Bay).

In green, I've outlined Sumida. A Buranki is supposed to have fallen there, but there's no smoke plume. The other wards listed all have smoke plumes in theme, so my best guess is that someone just forgot to draw a plume in Sumida.


Why does Askeladd laugh when Thorkell joins Canute's side? This happened in Vinland Saga episode 19. After a duel between Thorfinn and Thorkell, Canute came and made some contract with Thorkell to join his side. Thorkell agreed with that, and out of nowhere, Askeladd laughs. What's the reason for Ashlad laugh at that time because there was nothing funny at that scene?

You could watch the episode on Youtube at 06:35

It's true that there was nothing humourous about the scene in the general sense, because in this scene Askeladd's laughing is the classic ironic laugh. It's that kind of laugh that an antagonist-type character usually makes, like when a small-fry character makes a brave stand and unexpectedly wins. He sees the irony in the fact that the crybaby weakling prince suddenly becomes the calculating cool calm character who got Thorkell to follow him and can't help but laugh, it's that kind of laugh.


Is the Rinnegan completely purple in Naruto? This is probably a really stupid question, but is the Rinnegan completely purple from the front to back, or is it just the iris that's purple? Pictures would help.

In this link there is one statement :

  The Rinnegan is characterised by a ripple pattern that spreads over
  the eyeball.

Since it spreads over the eyeball then in conclusion we can say that it is completely spread from front to back as it covers the whole eyeball.

Also there is no evidence which proves that Rinnegan purple color is limited to that pupil area only.


Why is the name "Harkonnen" used on Seras' cannon in Hellsing? After reading an interesting post on the "anti-midian" meaning of Seras' battle rifle/cannon thing, I would like to know what the motif of Vladimir Harkonnen from the "Dune" series has to do with her cannon?

Let me give you an example:

  Alucard's awesome pistol "The Jackal" symbolizes Walter's future betrayal of Alucard because, in the Fred Forsyth book "The Day of The Jackal", the character The Jackal kills everyone who helped him make his forged documents and weapon as a way of covering his tracks as he tries to kill Charles De Gaulle. In the dream sequence where this motif is introduced, The Jackal comments, "Never trust the man who makes your own weapon," which foreshadows Walter's betrayal.

So since Seras has two huge cannons that bear the Vladimir Harkonnen name and she even talks to Harkonnen in a trippy dream sequence, what kind of symbolism or motif does Harkonnen have in relation to the Hellsing universe?

If you recall from the OVA and manga, during dream sequences, the appearance of the gun's so-called "spirit" bears a strong resemblance to Baron Harkonnen from the David Lynch adaptation of Dune. This is strongly implied to be a tribute/reference to the Dune series (or at least the movie).


Isn't Sunshine "THE ONE" mode not strong enough to fight The Demon King? So chapter 317 already release and there is a conversation between Escanor and Mael.

I was shocked that Mael say that he cannot defeat the Demon King. But isn't Sunshine still have the ultimate mode called "The ONE"? If I recall, when it reach high noon, the holder of Sunshine can use "THE ONE" mode, which is "the invincible incarnation of power" based on Merlin.

So why Mael seems like have no confident to fight the Demon King? Can't he use that mode to fight the Demon King?

Mael and the archangels were never meant to be on the Demon Kings level, only on the same level as the Ten Commandments if not stronger, Sunshine is an extremely powerful grace but it still isn't powerful enough to go toe to toe with the demon king.


How could Nunnaly see Lelouch's memories? In the end, when Lelouch is about to die, Nunally holds his hands and is able to see his memories. How? The theory that Lelouch is immortal explains this, but that isn't official.

Is there any official explanation for this?

I am not that sure if there is any official explanation about this. But from what I understand and have answered here,

  Lelouch got his dad's code. He beckoned
  the World of C to lend him its powers, and he took Charles's code
  before Charles passed on. The reason why Lelouch still has his Geass
  is because he didn't take the Code from the same person who gave him
  his Geass: he took his Geass from CC, and he took his Code from
  Charles. Thus, he now possesses both immortality and a Geass.

  To further corroborate this, however, remember that when Nunnally held
  Lelouch's hand he transferred his memories to her. CC also did it when
  Lelouch touched her accidentally back then, so it could be assumed
  that people with Codes are indeliberate telepaths. This leaves us with
  both immortals traversing the world for the rest of eternity.


Why does the Blue Sonnet soundtrack predate the anime by seven years? The anime Akai Kiba: Blue Sonnet debuted in 1989. The soundtrack Rock Symphony BLUE SONNET was published in 1982 [1]. I understand that the manga was published starting in 1981, but Manga usually do not get soundtracks.
Why does the soundtrack predate the anime by so many years? Is it even related to the anime?
[1] https://vgmdb.net/album/48805

Because Rock Symphony BLUE SONNET is actually an image album, not a soundtrack album. They are not related to the OVA.
The Japanese Wikipedia categorized it as an image album.

Image Album

Rock Symphony BLUE SONNET (1982)
Rock Symphony BLUE SONNET II
BLUE SONNET III Ballade
BLUE SONNET IV DESERT CITY

According to a Japanese blog article by joelover, for image albums, quoting a book by Joe Hisashi,

The image album precedes the soundtrack. The clues are the illustrations and words that convey the image of the work. The image album is created based on these images.
(Quoted from I am - Faraway Music Road - by Joe Hisaishi, 1992, p. 37)

Compared to the soundtrack,

A soundtrack often refers to the actual music used in a play. Recently, the term OST (Original Sound Track) is also used to indicate that it is the music accompanying a play.

So, Rock Symphony BLUE SONNET and its subsequent image albums are original audio works made specifically to capture the image of the world of Blue Sonnet series.
In conclusion, the OVA was made to adapt the manga series, but the image albums were made to expand the story instead. They are not related to each other, both production-wise and purpose-wise.

For direct comparison, taken from Joe Hisashi's own works for Ghibli production, Princess Mononoke has both image album and soundtrack album:

Princess Mononoke Image Album
Princess Mononoke Soundtrack

See also:

Wikipedia - Image song


Has Saber, Arcuied, Shiki or any other Typemoon characters ever canonically meet one other within their respective story? In All Around Type-Moon spin-off manga. It was mentioned that Saber from Fate/Stay Night, Arcuied from Tsukihime and Shiki from Kara no Kyoukai are the three main heroine of Nasuverse and they meet each other there, saying long time no see.

Have these three ever met before in their original story? Or if they weren't, is there any character, preferably the main characters, from their representative story meet each other?

And by original story I mean in Fate/Stay Night visual novel, its prequel Fate/Zero and its sequel, Fate/Hollow Ataraxia, Tsukihime visual novel and Kara no Kyoukai light novel.

I believe they have but not in a way which lines up their individual timelines. this is because i would suggest they have met in Ahnenerbe

  Ahnenerbe is a shop with two entrances located beside a cinema, and it exists in multiple locations, often appearing and disappearing. It also appears as a regular shop within different series, such as in Fate, where it is located near the large bridge in Fuyuki City. There is a rumor that people who under normal circumstances cannot meet each other are able to meet inside. It is the frontier where the worlds of Tsukihime and Kara no Kyoukai meet. Shiki Tohno and Shiki Ryougi, and Arcueid Brunestud and Touko Aozaki, are all related people that cannot be inserted together in a formal time axis without causing inconsistencies in the workings of either world. When characters from different works meet in this shop, any time discrepancies are eliminated so that they can appear at the age that they were introduced.

aside from the location in Fuyuki i recall that is it also located in Misaki Town (location of Tsukihime) as

  The menu includes strawberry pie recommended to Akira Seo by Fake Shiki for its fine taste

i recall in the Tsukihime PLUS-DISC story, "Alliance of Illusionary Eyes" this recommendation was the Fake Shiki taking Akira Seo to a coffee shop and having the pie.

Now as for when they could have entered Ahnenerbe. while there are times in Kara no Kyoukai and Tsukihime where Ryougi Shiki and Arcuied could just be wondering about and have entered off-screen, in regards to Saber's at the very most i don't recall her entering the coffee shop during her date with Shirou in the Fate Route of Fate/Stay Night and she she didn't go on any "dates" with Irisviel during Fate/Zero. haven't not played Fate/Hollow Ataraxia but understanding how it's played it's possible she may have went there off-screen during then since the Servants in Fate/Hollow Ataraxia have a bit more freedom around Fuyuki (ie. Lancer going fishing)


Why didn't the Gorosei fight in Marineford arc? In the Marineford arc, all Marines were present in the battlefield, except for the Gorosei. They knew that the Whitebeard Pirates would come to attack. So why didn't the Gorosei join the battle?

The Gorosei are the heads of the World Government and the rulers of the entire world.

Ace's execution was to be held at Marineford, in the presence of the three Admirals (aka the powerhouses), the legendary Monkey D Garp, several Vice Admirals, lots of Captains and Commanders, the Shichibukai and the Fleet Admiral Sengoku himself. This would make up atleast majority of the Navy, if not entire.

From this roll call it's obvious that the Gorosei wanted to get the job done quickly without their further meddling. Also, with forces like Whitebeard and his allies, going into the action could prove highly risky, because of their status.

Moreover, Oda sensei is building up more suspense and story to how the Gorosei will make a huge impact to the series. Marineford Arc might have been too small to involve the elements of the Gorosei. Also, their strength introduction would mean a history recall, which would need to be linked with the current storyline.


How does navigation work in One Piece universe? The navigation devices in the One Piece universe are:

The compass for the Eastblue, Southblue, Westblue, Northblue
The Log-Pose for the Grand Line
The New-World Log-Pose for the New World

Other navigation instruments (in exceptional cases) are:

The Eternal-Pose for Grandline (always points at the same island)
The South Birds on Jaya whose bills always point south.
The Kame-Pose who always points to Mecha

All of these navigation instruments have limitations and disadvantages. The compass, for example, does not work for the Grandline and New World. The Log-Pose can follow only one magnetic wave and takes time to record the next magnetic wave. And the Eternal-Pose works for only one island.

As you can see, navigation in the One Piece universe is very complicated. And this is the point where my question is. Besides the Eleven Supernovas, all other pirates, marines and other ships are free to travel through the whole Grandline and Blues, and to go on any island they want.

In episode 392, Shakuyak explains how hard it is to travel through the Grand Line for the Eleven Supernovas as they tried to get to the Sabaody Archipel. However, the Marines and other pirates commute easily between every island. Do they have an extra expensive Eternal-Pose for every island?

So why is navigation so easy for the Marines and other pirates whereas it is so hard for the Straw Hat crew (as example)?

Navigating is as easy as the goodness of your maps and directional devices. So in general I would suspect navigating to be as difficult for the Strawhats as for any other pirate crew. Pirates usually have the same amount of resources to start with. If anything it should be easier for the Strawhats because Nami has been looking at maps since she was just a child. Although this advantage was never really mentioned in the series and I don't think she was actually able to exploited that knowledge (yet?).

Now you are correct in saying that it is much easier for the Marines to navigate through the world and this makes a lot of sense. The Marines and the World Government have been around for more than 800 years, since the Void Century. Therefore they were able to draw maps of the entire world and would have been able to create many eternal poses for all available islands.

Books with maps are available in local stores or libraries as we can see how Nami's room at Arlong's park was filled with these books. Pirates would be able to obtain these books, but with the WG having much greater funds, I would assume every ship to have such maps available to navigate through the seas. The fact that the Marines travel by map can be seen in chapter 321 when Aokiji takes his map to check the location the Strawhats are about to travel to.

While on the grandline, the Marines use eternal poses to navigate. This can be seen in chapter 128 when Smoker asks for an eternal pose to Alabasta. All they really need to do is contact Headquarters and they will send them an eternal pose, presumably by air similar to the newspaper birds.

With the number of smart scientist the WG would have had over the years, it wouldn't surprise me if the WG would have similar devices for New World. I don't recall there being any mention of such a device just yet though.


Is there such a thing as Eternal Sharingan? Since transplanting a relative's Mangekyou Sharingan gets you an Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan, will transplanting a regular Sharingan get you an Eternal Sharingan?

The Mangekyou Sharingan is an eye that makes you gradually go blind when after a long periods of use. The Sharingan does not have this side effect. Therefore, the "Eternal" part of the Sharingan, which denotes an eye that will not get progressively blinder overtime, does not apply to a normal Sharingan.

In fact, the only real benefit to transplanting a normal Sharingan (given that you already have one) is so that you can use the Izanagi. This technique makes the eye lose its light in one go.

   It can be seen during Obito's fight with Konan, that he transplanted an eye which he then used for the purpose of reviving himself with the Izanagi


What role did Crunchyroll play in the production of Ojisan and Marshmallow? I noticed that Crunchyroll appears in the end credits of Ojisan and Marshmallow:

Why? Did Crunchyroll play some role in the production other than just streaming the show?

I think the most simplistic answer is that before the Anime production was to be aired, the studio had tied up with the production houses Crunchyroll and billibilli.

On 5th Jan, Anime News Network had the following article http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/daily-briefs/2016-01-05/ojisan-and-marshmallow-credits-list-crunchyroll/.97209

  The official website for the television anime of Rekomaru Otoi's web manga Ojisan and Marshmallow (Ojisan to Marshmallow) lists media distribution service Crunchyroll and Chinese streaming site bilibili as being in charge of foreign business for the project.

The next day, crunchyroll confirmed this news. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/daily-briefs/2016-01-06/crunchyroll-confirms-ojisan-and-marshmallow-anime-streaming/.97283

As @NatG has noted, the Show credits CrunchyRoll and BilliBilli for Foreign Collaboration. This doesn't mean they have contributed to the show. It just  provides them most probably with exclusive rights for the show as well as the responsibility of Marketing etc. in other countries. Such deals usually take place after the anime has started or even finished airing in Japan for foreign countries.

This step is inline with other Global Production houses which tie up with foreign media houses to increase their base. For Example, US TV Channels collaborate with Indian Channels to air the show on the same day/next day because the market for such shows is increasing in India.

So this is just a move by the Production team to collaborate with other media partners to take the anime to a wider audience.


What is the population ratio of humans and pokemon? What is the population ratio of humans and pokemon in the pokemon world (pokemon series)? Considering that every human has more than one pokemon, it might be possible the pokemon ratio is higher.

I don't think there is any specific information about this in the Pokémon anime, manga, or games, but the ratio of humans to Pokémon in the Pokémon world is likely similar to the ratio of humans to other animals in the real world. The estimates listed below are from this article: How Many Wild Animals Are There. The author admitted the estimates are not very good, but I could not find a better source.

Land Birds: 1 * 1011 to 4 * 1011
Land Mammals: 1011 to 1012
Land Reptiles: 1011 to 1012
Land Amphibians: 1011 to 1013
Fish: 1013 to 1015
Humans: 7 * 109

From these, we can get a rough calculation of the ratio of other animals to humans (and thus Pokémon to humans) by summing the different groups of animals (using the higher estimates) and dividing by the number of humans:

1.0124 * 1015 animals / 7 * 109 humans = 144,628 animals per human.

This number should give a general idea of the ratio between humans and animals, but should in no way be taken as accurate. And note that if I added arthropods into the sum, then the ratio would be greater by several orders of magnitude. I didn't do so because bug Pokémon are much larger than their real world counterparts and their populations probably would not be comparable as a result.

Links of interest:

Lists of organisms by population
About how big is the bird population? Has it gone down because of global warming or pollution?


How can Brook see and hear without organs? How is it possible that his five senses are still working?
How can he even talk?

In short it is because of the Yomi Yomi no Mi Fruit's power he is able see, taste and do other things.

According to wiki:

  Through the fruit's powers, Brook is able to function without the
  presence of necessary and vital body parts that have decomposed long
  ago. He is able to interact with the environment around him without
  the presence of eye balls or any other sensory organ to aid him. He,
  in particular, retains his ability of speech despite his vocal chords
  and even his windpipe have long since rotted away. He is able to taste
  and digest food like any other normal living thing to sustain himself.
  Drinking milk in particular heals him as the calcium intake repairs
  any of Brook's bones that may have been broken in battle. Depending on
  the situation, Brook is also able to produce organic matter such as
  tears, fecal matter, and even blood from his nose despite not having
  any organs nor bodily liquids to produce such matter.


How did Geass come into existence? I watched Code Geass, and now I want to know: How did Geass come into existence? Who or what created Geass?

Answering your question to the letter,

  a Geass is created when a code user makes a contract with a human.

The type of Geass and its specific powers are dependent on the Code user, the new Geass user's personality and other specifics that are not discussed in the canon material.

But I feel like your question is not about how Geass powers comes into being, and more in the lines of how the superpowers of the characters (Geass and Code) come into being.

The backstory of the Code users is not revealed in depth. The further back we are shown is the life of C.C. while still mortal when she receives the Geass from the catholic nun.

(screenshot of C.C. and the nun)

While the epoch is not revealed, it is supposed to be in the High Middle Ages, circa XIV century (before the Age of Discovery) if I had to guess (and yes, this paragraph is pure guessing).

The reason I am assuming that C.C. backstory happens before the Age of Discovery is that she was already immortal for quite some time and was with George Washington and Benjamin Franklin during the American revolution (1700'), as shown in a special feature in the DVD release. Remember that in the world of Code Geass, Ben was granted nobility, betrayed Washington, and America was never independent form Britannia.

Since the nun was already immortal and already willing to give up immortality and die, the same state of mind C.C. is when she meets Lelouch, we can assume the nun is at least half a millennia old (around the same "oldness" as C.C. when the series launch).

So the codes should be around for at least a millennia. There is no info as to who the people with code sigils in their foreheads are, or how old the Geass order is. But one can assume that for as long as codes were around, Geass users are too.

(screenshot of the code people)

You could dig the origin of the term Geass (geis) on the internet (Wikipedia), but word of god never discussed this far back in the fictional world.

The timeline of the fictional world is here: world of Code Geass, but it does not go into the powers, only historical facts. Whether Geass was used or not in these events (like geassing Ben Franklin into betraying George Washington), it is not discussed.


Why Goku and Vegeta didnt use Super Saiyan Blue Kaioken and Super Saiyan Blue Evolution to defeat Broly? So in the new Dragon Ball Super Broly movie,

   Goku and Vegeta try to defeat Broly by fighting together in Super Saiyan Blue, but they dont use Super Saiyan Blue Kaioken and Super Saiyan Blue Evolution like they did to try to defeat Jiren

Why Goku and Vegeta didnt use Super Saiyan Blue Kaioken and Super Saiyan Blue Evolution to defeat Broly?

The SSJB + Kaioken Transformation and the SSBE transformation were introduced by Toei and not Toriyama. Although the movie is being produced by Toei, they probably have less influence on the movie unlike the show.Secondly(Note: This is a personal opinion), the movie is mainly focused around SSJB Gogeta defeating Broly. Hence, having Goku/ Vegeta use SSJB +Kaioken and SSBE would in a way disturb the flow of the movie. In the sense, it has been revealed that Gogeta is slowly going to ascend from transformation to transformation and fight Broly. Having the two additional transformations would disrupt this flow and at the same time might overscale Broly a little too high. Plus, if you look back at Goku/ Vegeta vs Merged Zamasu, Goku doesn't really go Kaioken at all in the Goku Black arc(Despite being overpowered)(Except the 1 time to break out of Merged Zamasu's hold). Then we see Vegito Blue in action.


Watch order for certain magical index, when skipping railgun and accelarator spin offs Will skipping the railgun and accelarator spinoffs affect the story? Are both the spinoffs necessary? what is the correct watch order skipping both the spinoffs.

The spinoffs aren't necessary to understand the main Index series, but personally, I enjoyed the Railgun spinoff a lot more than Index itself, so you could be possibly missing out on a lot of great stuff if you skip the spinoffs!

But if you only want to watch Index, that should work, too. The different series are all set in the same continuity, but focus on different characters:

Index mainly follows Kamijou Touma's point of view. However, later in the series, it starts following Accelerator's point of view too. And later on, Hamazura Shiage's point of view as well.
Railgun mainly follows Misaka Mikoto's point of view.
Accelerator mainly follows (surprise, surprise) Accelerator's point of view.

So, if you watch only watch the Index anime, you should be able to more or less follow what's going on.

However, the spin-offs add a lot of world-building and background context to the universe. The various characters from these different spin-offs do often cross over into one another, so having knowledge of what happens in the spin-offs can help enhance your enjoyment of these interactions.

For example, season 1 of Index and season 2 of Railgun both cover the events of the Sisters Arc, but Index only focuses on Touma's point of view of that incident. If you skip Railgun, you'd miss out on Misaka's experiences in the weeks leading up to her meeting up with Touma.

But to recap, this is the release order of the various Toaru verse animes (generally, recommended watching order is release order):

Index (24 episodes)
Railgun (24 episodes)
Index II (24 episodes)
Index Movie (1 episode)
Railgun S (24 episodes)
Index III (26 episodes)
Accelerator (12 episodes)
Railgun T (25 episodes)

If you only want to watch Index, you can go Index → Index II → Index Movie → Index III. (Note that Index III adapted about 9 light novels' worth of content into only 26 episodes, so that's why it might feel a bit rushed at times.)

If you only want to watch Railgun, you can go Railgun → Railgun S → Railgun T.

Accelerator happens after Last Order is introduced in the Three Stories Arc in Index season 1, so it's probably best to watch this spin-off after finishing that.

If you want to watch some mix of everything, release order is fine.


Did Rogue and Gajeel ever meet before the Tournament? In chapter 318, Gajeel mentions Rogue's real name, R(e)yos.

So what's the deal between them? I thought Rogue only adored/feared Gajeel from the shadows (pun not intended). So how did he know his real name?

In episode 13 of Fairy Tail (2014) Gajeel implies that he was a mentor to Rogue. The fact that he knew the name Reyos proves that Gajeel knew about him while in Phantom Lord. Gajeel says that Rogue was his disciple. According to the Fairy Tail wiki, Rogue is also Gajeels sworn younger brother but the wiki doesn't say how it got this info about the brother.

From the wiki:

  At some point in time, Gajeel joined Phantom Lord. During his time in Phantom Lord, a young man named Rogue Cheney, known as Ryos, was Gajeel's sworn younger brother.


How many quirks does All for One have? In the battle with All Might , All for One shows many quirks he has. Since I understand this is the last fight of All for One, are all his quirks shown in this battle? Is it known how many quirks does All for One have?

According to the wiki All for One has between 21 to 28 Quirks:

  All For One
  Search
  Warping
  Air Cannon
  Springlike Limbs
  Forcible Quirk Activation
  Impact Recoil
  Infrared Ray
  Air Walk
  Longevity
  Proliferation
  Hypertrophy
  Rivet
  Bonespear

  There is Four Kinetic Booster Quirks and three Strength Enhancement
  Quirks. (the wiki only mentions this)

  It is also possible that he possessed some, if not all of following
  Quirks:

  Absorption and Release
  Tongue Web
  Muscle Enlargement
  Pterodactyl
  Tool Arms
  Shock Absorption
  Super Regeneration


Does Sugar remember who she had turned into a toy? Waiting and waiting for the next chapter to come out, I was thinking that if anything would go wrong, Doflamingo would have an easy way out of all of his problems. He could ask Sugar to turn him into a toy and nobody would even remember why they were fighting in the first place.

The world government would turn against the strawhats and everybody would go on with their every day lives. Now this plan would be perfect if Sugar would still remember about Doflamingo after he had been turned into a toy, so she could undo her magic when all threats had vanished and go into hiding or something for some time to let is all pass over.

So was any evidence shown as to whether Sugar remembers her victims or not?

There's a way she can remember about her victims. It's mentioned in the manga chapter 738:

  "Sugar is able to make a contract with her victims and control them,
  leaving them with no control over their own bodies."

Read about her abilities here:  One Piece Wikia - Sugar


Are the Japanese and US releases of the Yu-Gi-Oh! manga the same? Is the Japanese manga version of Yu-Gi-Oh same as the US manga version? Also, if it is not, what is the difference?

The editor of the English Version of the Manga, Jason Thompson stated that the licensing of the Yu-Gi-Oh! manga had not been entirely coordinated, so Viz decided to use many of the original character names and to "keep it more or less violent and gory." Thompson said that the manga "was almost unchanged from the Japanese original." Because the core fanbase of the series was, according to Thompson, "8-year-old boys (and a few incredible fangirls)," and because the series had little interest from "hardcore, Japanese-speaking fans, the kind who run scanlation sites and post on message boards" as the series was perceived to be "too mainstream," the Viz editors allowed Thompson "a surprising amount of leeway with the translation." Thompson said he hoped that he did not "abuse" the leeway he was given. In a 2004 interview, the editors of the United States Shonen Jump mentioned that Americans were surprised when reading the stories in Volumes 1 through 7, as they had not appeared on television as a part of the Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters anime. Takahashi added "The story is quite violent, isn't it? [laughs]"Source


Manga involving indirect kiss through icecream Long back I started reading a manga, where in the first chapter, a guy is showed to have a crush on a girl. Then the girl starts eating an ice-cream cone, but for some reason, the guy then gets to eat the same ice-cream. He then thinks that by eating the same ice-cream, he has shared an indirect kiss with the girl. (Maybe the guy ate the ice-cream first, I don't remember exactly.)

I don't know any more details because I never got back to reading it after finishing half of the first chapter. I want to resume it, and see if it is any good. Does anyone know what manga this is?

Are you maybe looking for Anedoki? The question is a bit old, but this appears to be the one you're looking for.


When does One Piece take place? When does the story of One Piece take place? Since the story is pirate-themed, I thought it may be at the time of the Golden Age of Piracy. The Golden Age of Piracy spans from 1650s to the 1730s. So I thought it happened around that time. Am I right or do they have their own timeline?

Well, actually! One Piece doesn't even take place on earth. It's pretty obvious when you take a glance at the planet's geography:

Not even during earth's theorized pangaea phase did it ever look like this. So One Piece is either very, very, very far into the future, or more likely simply not on earth at all.

A lot of ideas in OP are gathered from the eras you've mentioned, certainly, as a thematic thing, but they don't actually take place in those points of human history.


Where should I continue after the third anime season? I plan to read manga of The World God Only Knows.

I've watched up to and including season 3 of the anime. Which chapters do I need to start at to continue?

According to BakaUpdates:

Anime Start/End Chapter Starts at Vol 1, Chap 1 Ends at
Vol 19, Chap 189

So you should read from chapter 189 onward if you don't want to read what has also been aired.Though personally I always advice to read the full manga too, so that you don't miss out on interactions that did not appear in the Anime etc.


How does Tsumugi accelerate? Well, when Tsumugi is moving around in the space, she creates a Higgs particle jet just like a Gardes. Now, Gardes clearly creates the jet from its engine, but how about Tsumugi? Does she...fart? Is that it? Does she fart Higgs particles to jet around?

The reason I asked this is that a human's fart contains methane which is combustible. And since Tsumugi is shown to produce a blue jet of Higgs particles from under her dress... Does a similar mechanism apply here?

Tsumugi is a human-gauna hybrid and has the same Placenta that the gauna use as an all-purpose organ. It is capable of shapeshifting into whatever form is needed at the time, as seen when the gauna begin to have heigus, or Higgs, particle cannons of their own.

Similar to the Benisuzume, Tsumugi has a portion of her body dedicated to keeping a heigus particle engine. Heigus particles appear to exist everywhere given how energy is passively collected. Sidonia and its gardes have heigus particle collectors that can be deployed like solar sails.

So Tsumugi is using the heigus particles she collected to propel herself.


Where can I hear more music by Dragon Ball composer Shunsuke Kikuchi? I am a big fan of Shunsuke Kikuchi, the composer of the BGM (background music) for the Dragon Ball animes such as this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Apzgm_hpoZw

While I can only usually find his music for Dragon Ball online like YouTube, etc, I am wondering if some of his other works can be listened to online.

The composer doesn't have a dedicated channel, as not many of his works are available for streaming or download legally online.

A discography and filmography of his work is available. As he has done work for not only anime, but live action series and films (as writer and/or composer), your best bet is to use a combination of two lists and look them up individually on sites such as Youtube.


Is the manga in Episode 3 of "The Everyday Tales of a Cat God" based off a real manga? In episode 3 there is a manga about a girl who moves to Tokyo after a string of bad luck only to find that her roommate is a death god who seems to just mooch off her. I am wondering if this is based off of another manga.

You can find more examples in the link in the comments. I think that's a large enough sample to determine if the manga used in the anime is based off any other manga.

кяαzєя's comment is right on the spot: Yes, it's from 大凶ちゃんとしあわせな世界 (Daikyo-chan to Shiawase na Sekai, Misfortune Girl and the Lucky World), a 2-chapter special spiritual one-shot by FLIPFLOPs on Champion RED magazine edition 2007-12 ~ 2008-01. It's also included in the 1st volume of The Everyday Tales of Cat God manga (Source:
MyAnimeList).

Image source

The story, as it has been mentioned in the question, is about

Kyouko, a test-taker who came to Tokyo and is living alone.
Shinigami Karin, Kyouko's roommate.
The story about their certain Sunday life.
Source (Japanese)

Here, we can see Shamo reading the RED magazine,

Image source

And here is the scanned page of the last picture in the question,

Image source


Why is Ed able to exchange his knowledge? In FMA 2009/Manga, Edward is able to exchange his Gate of Truth for Alphonse's body.

However, I find this pretty dumb. The Gate symbolizes the knowledge of alchemy.  Father's Gate is small and has no ornaments like Ed's which indicates that Father doesn't know anything as stated in the series. But alchemy is a science in this universe. They learn it from reading books. Why is Edward unable to use alchemy but able to read it? I can imagine that Ed is not able to use alchemy by clapping his hands anymore but by drawing circles and alchemy formulas.

Another question: Edward's toll (his leg) to see Truth is less than Alphonse's (who lost his whole body) and it is also stated that Al probably saw more of Truth than Edward.

So Alphonse's Gate is worth more than Edward's Gate. Couldn't Alphonse easily exchange his own Gate?  He probably would still use alchemy since his knowledge is worth more than Edward's.

Edit: Just thinking about it, you don't have to sacrifice anything at all when using human transmutation. All you need to do is sacrifice your Gate and you won't lose that much of your body.

What does it mean that Ed exchanged his Gate?
In the context of Ed's final transmutation (in which he exchanges his Gate for Alphonse), the Gate represents his ability to do alchemy, rather than his knowledge of alchemy. In chapter 108, Truth tells Edward:

The Gate of Truth exists within everyone. That is how everyone can use alchemy.

Notice that the emphasis is probably on the potential to do alchemy. (Not everyone has the talent or knowledge to do alchemy in the universe of Fullmetal Alchemist!) Although what is beyond the Gate is alchemical knowledge, per the discussion surrounding Ed and Al's human transmutation attempt, that is not what is involved here. (One way to think of it may be to regard the Gate as necessary in alchemy because alchemical knowledge must be "let out" when there is a transmutation, but I digress.)
Thus, even after his final transmutation, Ed is able to learn about alchemy; he simply cannot put it into practice. (In fact, at the end of the manga, the brothers travel to learn more about alchemy.)
Could Alphonse have exchanged his Gate instead?
In general, one cannot trade one's Gate for something else. (See the discussion at Why can't Roy Mustang bring his eyes back using his gate? for details.) However, it seems possible in theory that Al might have been able to exchange his Gate for something after the connection between his and Ed's was discovered. Some possibilities as to why Al did not carry out such a transmutation:

Transmuting one's Gate for what was lost in one's human transmutation attempt is not necessarily an obvious line of thought. The idea may not have occurred to Ed or Al before Promised Day. Note that Ed only comes up with the idea after Al has sacrificed himself, not earlier, not even when Alphonse was starting to have problems with his body of armor.

Alphonse wanted to recover Ed's limbs; sacrificing his ability to do alchemy for his body would have prevented him from achieving that goal. Alternatively, had Alphonse exchanged his alchemical ability (i.e. his Gate) for Ed's limbs, it might have become impossible for his body to be recovered. Al's body sits at his own Gate, so if the Gate were removed, it might have become inaccessible.


Why were monopoles raining? I just watched Robotics;Notes. The manga not yet.

A monopole fell from the sky. And later, lots more begun raining.

It was a recurring theme in the series that there was a solar flare cooking up, so I was under the impression that it was also making funny things in the earth's atmosphere kinda explaining the monopoles.

But later in the series we find out that

   There is no solar flare at all. All the info about it is fake.

So, what's up with the monopoles?

My next guess was that it was part of

   Kimijima Kou's plan to make the whole solar flare thing more realistic by somehow synthesising monopoles and throwing them off the sky (somehow)

But I'm not sure if that's confirmed in the series or the manga.

As explained by Reading Steiner in this question on ask.fm, this isn't actually covered in the anime, but in the VN, Kai knocked the HAARP Radar into the sweet spot for electromagnetic interference, creating them.

Reading Steiner clarifies a lot of things on his ask.fm over at http://ask.fm/SciADV.


In SAO 2 did Asuna break up with Kirito? I noticed that when introducing Shino to Asuna and Lisbeth, Kirito mentioned them as his nakama. Why is that? Why is it that Kirito didn't introduce Asuna as his girlfriend? Is this what is normally done by a Japanese couple? Or did they broke up?

There is no reason to think so. When Kirito introduced Shino to Asuna and Liz at the Dicey Cafe, the three of them were preparing to bring Shino back to her hometown, where she encountered the gunman she shot and killed as a young child, so that she could accept the consequences of her actions and overcome her guilt of having killed a man. One typically doesn't revisit the scene of a childhood trauma with just anyone, so Kirito, whom Shino already knew and trusted through GGO, called Asuna and Liz his nakama to tell Shino that he trusted them -- therefore she should too. It was more important to convey that Asuna and Liz were trustworthy rather than the fact that Asuna was his girlfriend.


Can there be saiyans in other universes differents to universe 6 and universe 7? Universe 6 and Universe 7 are twin universes therefore they have the same races, planets, etc. But in Dragon Ball Super episode 96 (spoilers)

   There is a yardrat alien in universe 2, a race of aliens which also exists in universe 7

My question then is, can there be saiyans in other universes different to universe 6 and universe 7?

Surely I guess there will be saiyans in other universes, but it's just that in the storyline no other universe has that powerful saiyan that can compete in this Tournament. It may be that different universes have different histories of these saiyans.


Is Kirby a baby in the original "Kirby: Right Back At Ya!"? In the dub version of Kirby: Right Back At Ya!, Kirby is depicted as a baby, who can only communicate by babbling.  Is this true of the original Japanese version as well, or is it a product of the translation?

The babbling is present in both the English and original Japanese versions.  From skimming the first three episodes, Kirby's dialogue seems roughly the same. Other than the babbling, Kirby is able to repeat some words that others say to him. In the first episode, he is able to repeat the names of Tiff/Fūmu and Tuff/Bun in both the English and Japanese versions. In the third episode, however, Kirby repeats "sword beam" in the Japanese version only. The babbling is most likely not a product of the translation.


What are the real-life origins of CPU and CPU Candidates? In Hyperdimension Neptunia, Neptunia is based on Sega Neptune. The name of her country, Planeptune is obviously a reference to Sega Neptune. My question is, what console the other CPU and CPU Candidates (Nepgear, Noire, Uni, and Vert) are based on?

Noire means black and her country is Lastation which is based on Sony Playstation. But, PS2, PS3, and PS4 all has black color. PSX/PSOne is excluded since it's gray. Which Playstation console is she based on?

The same can be said about Vert, which means green. There are several variations of XBox. Which one is she based on?

And what about Nepgear and Uni?

EDIT: Considering that Blanc's sister are Rom and Ram, which is obviously a reference to ROM (Read-Only Memory) and RAM (Random Access Memory), it might be possible that Nepgear and Uni refers to a certain peripheral/component/parts of the console. But still, what part?

Nepgear is based on the Sega Game Gear, its reference being that Neptune wears two hairclips while Nepgear only has one, possibly representing the maximum number of D-pads supported by the respective consoles the two are based on. (The Sega Neptune is equipped with two controller ports, while the Sega Game Gear requires a link cable to play with more than one player.)

Noire does represent the PlayStation as "Noire" means "Black" in French, the default color of PS2, PS3, PSP and PSVita. Her HDD form in Neptunia Victory is based on the original PlayStation, her human forms seems to be based on PlayStation 2, and the yellow diamond on her outfit being a variation of the Sony Computer Entertainment logo (seen upon booting up PlayStations). In Neptunia Victory, all of her Processor Units are based on PS consoles: Her default (Stone Gray) is based on the original PlayStation, Night Blue is based on the PlayStation 2, DX Silver is based on the PlayStation 3 prototype, Piano Black is based on the PlayStation 3 and Orbital-S is based on the PlayStation 4.

Uni is based on the PlayStation Portable, probably with her name derived from the PSP's optimal disc, the Universal Media Disc.

Vert and Leanbox references the Xbox and Xbox 360, but there is no concrete hint to which they are. Although, in the first game, Vert was said to have a problem with getting too hot; this may reference the 360's tendency to overheat. The Green Heart's outfit is revealing, preferably to easier vent heat.

Ram and Rom are both based on the Nintendo DS. As they are twins, they could resemble the DS' dual screen. The rectangles on their hats in their default outfit seems to represent the screen icons from the DS logo.


What was that song that played in my hero academia season 3 episode 12? What was that song that played in my hero academia season 3 episode 12 where all might is kneeling in front of dekus mom?

In case you still haven't found it, it is called Kimi wo Koete. It is from the 2nd Season OST, heres the link.


Why the appearance of One Piece characters have goatee after time skip? After time skip, the appearance of characters in One Piece are changed. Several of them change significantly like Nami with her long hair, Robin with brighter skin,
Chopper with all of his transformation different before time skip, even Usopp have more muscular body and longer hair, he also have goatee.

But I want to know what happened with this goatee.
Beside Usopp, other characters also have goatee after time skip like :

Sanji

Capone Bege

Well maybe I'm not sure who's the others, but why many of them have goatee? First I think it's for make them more mature or to shows that time has passed several years,
but when I see (maybe it's bad example) Pokemon, in the latest generation they have another "evolution" called mega evolution, in this mega form, many Pokemon changes their appearance with some goatee like attributes.

Is this goatee is trend in Japan or what?

I think it's for make them more mature or to shows that time has passed several years

Your way of thinking is correct here. Although it certainly makes them look mature, facial hair growth more correctly shows the passage of time. It is known as the TimePassageBeard trope.

  Is this goatee is trend in Japan or what?

It's not a trend in Japan, but one of the tools/visual cues used by writers (and mangakas too) to easily show the passage of time. This kind of trope is not only seen in anime, but in other types of media as well. The previously linked page lists some examples, but let me put some here whilst adding some of my own:

In The Big Bang Theory, At the end of season two the gang goes to the North Pole for three months. When they come back in the following premiere they all have big beards (except Sheldon, who has a neatly-trimmed goatee).This came from the linked page
In the recent movie In the Heart of the Sea, the main character Owen Chase is shown to have grown facial hair to show the passage of time.
In the game Assassin's Creed II, main character Ezio Auditore is shown to grow facial hair as you finish more memories.

So why goatees? Or more importantly why hair? The keyword here is easily show.

Passage of Time: Human hair growth speed is roughly 1.25 cm per month. That means that if you don't cut your hair (facial or not) for a year, it will grow at least 12 cm, the size of a ruler! The average human face is roughly 50 cm in length. Having hair that is 12 cm long in that face is easily visible. And because we all know that hair grows with time, seeing a long hair on someone helps establish that some time has passed since we last seen him/her.

Maturity: As for maturity, it's simple. In the ancient times and even in the modern times, facial hair is always seen in adult people. You don't see facial hair in young people right? Putting facial hair on a character helps establish the fact that this character isn't young anymore.

tldr; Yes you are correct. Goatees, or hair growth in general easily shows maturity and/or passage of time.

As for the Pokemon, at least in Alakazam's case, it looks like the goatee there more symbolizes wisdom than passage of time. As for others, well...


How did Homura strip Madoka's divine powers in Rebellion? Madoka came down to bring Homura into the Law of Cycles by taking her soul gem (or whatever Madoka does), and then Homura grabbed Madoka's hands. Suddenly, her soul gem filled with "love," apparently, and her soul gem exploded and she became a demon. Like... what?! Also, Homura was somehow able to void Madoka's wish and do whatever she wanted. None of this makes any sense.

How can a soul gem be tainted by anything but grief/despair?
How was Madoka not able to take Homura into the Law of Cycles since that's what her wish was in the first place?

Because at the time Madoka, while she may have regained her powers and memories, wasn't omnipotent.

  It also implies that the isolation field is actually blocking Madoka's omniscience, since she cannot enter the isolation field as a concept.

Source: Rebellion/Synopsis - Part D (2nd paragraph)

  [Homura] then grabs Madoka's hands, surprising her. (It is implied that Madoka has not regained her omniscience because she is still existing in only one place.) Homura says that she's finally caught Madoka as her soul gem goes completely black.

Source: Rebellion/Synopsis - Part E (5th Paragraph)

Now we can assume that had Homura not interfered, Madoka would have regained her former omniscience, but while she was in the Isolation Field we don't know exactly what effect this was having on the universe.

Maybe when Madoka recovered, she could then attend to any witches which may have been born while she was away
Maybe before leaving, she had a backup system in place to keep the status quo until her return
Maybe as a token of appreciation and worship, the Puella Magi saved by Madoka would detain Witches with some form of magic until the return of their Goddess

  How was Madoka not able to take Homura into the Law of Cycles since that's what her wish was in the first place?

Now, more than likely what happened was that Homura created a major Paradox preventing the Law of Cycles, a law of the Universe, from doing what it was meant to do. We have seen a major Paradox like this before when Madoka made her wish, became a witch that could destroy the universe, yet was able to destroy it as well and continue fighting on. I suspect a powerful enough paradox will cause the universe to "reboot", creating a new rule to account for the Paradox as it did with Madoka's wish.

  How can a soul gem be tainted by anything but grief/despair?

Because Soul Gems are the Magical Girls themselves. Since despair is a complex emotion of hopelessness, anguish, and unhappiness, it seems perfectly logical that a Soul Gem could be filled with Love as well.

As for it being tainted with love, you should read over this answer which suggests how Homura's love became tainted, to quote one line

  Homura claims that all this negative energy comes from her love for Madoka due to several events:

  [Homura] became a demon

Just to correct you here, she's a self-proclaimed demon.

  Homura says that since she is a being that brought down and imprisoned a god, it's only appropriate to call her a demon.

Source: Rebellion/Synopsis - Part E (6th Paragraph)

Homura became the same as Madoka, but the difference between Madoka and Homura is that Homura manipulated things so that she would still exist in the universe in the same way she allowed Madoka to as well (albeit without her memories or powers)

  Homura, now wearing an earring and lacking her magical girl ring, claims she only took a part of the Law of Cycles — the part that was Madoka before she stopped being herself.

Source: Rebellion/Synopsis - Part E (7th Paragraph)

So in a sense, Homura and Madoka are the same. However, Homura proclaims she is a demon because she is the opposing force to Madoka's will (the Law of Cycles) by breaking it and we see at the end that should Madoka remember who she is, the Law of Cycles will reclaim her which Homura will do what she can to prevent.


Is there somewhere I can buy or bid on the whole Ragnarok Into the Abyss manga series? I remember that this is a manga with 7 chapters or books about the servers of the former Ragnarok online (if I'm not mistaken: Chaos, Iris, Loki, Fenris, Fenrir etc.).

Do you have any suggestions about where I can buy, bid on, or otherwise obtain this manga series?

The series is currently on on indefinite hiatus. In total there should be 10 volumes. The NA publisher Tokyopop went out of business, but you can probably still get the English version thru Madman Entertainment (UK/AU) or Chuang Yi (Singapore). You might also be able to find used copies on Ebay and other auction sites.


What song plays during the episode preview after ending in Tokyo Ghoul:re episode 6? There's a music in Tokyo Ghoul:re episode 6 at the end, after the ending music (the next episode preview).

What is that song?

Pretty sure its Phase Shift by Yukata Yamada, at the beginning or at 3:30. here's a link, hopefully I'm right
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWqWMh2PKP8


In the fight between Jiraiya and Pain, why didn't Fukasaku and Shima's sound genjutsu affect Nagato? In the fight between Jiraiya and Pain, why didn't Fukasaku and Shima's sound genjutsu affect Nagato?

I asked because:

The Six Paths of Pain were dead and were only being controlled by Nagato wirelessly through the chakra rods.
Shared vision and hearing with Nagato were demonstrated during fights and talks.
I didn't see the genjutsu released, so the other Paths should never have been able to retaliate if Nagato was still in it.

(Or maybe it did, but I just missed a sequence)

I think Nagato's awareness is divided between the Pains, so unless they were all affected by sound genjutsu, he would not be.


How could the pilots in mecha anime move their mechas fluently with just primitive controllers? What's the reason why in many mecha anime like Macross, Gundam, Code Geass, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, Kakumeiki Valvrave, Darling in the Franxx and RahXephon, the pilots could move their mechas like the mechas are an extension of their own bodies?

We always see the pilots in the cockpit room with some "controller". But the controllers seem to only have basic functions to allow basic movements such as move forward and backward, turn left and right and such. But in the actual scenes, the mechas could do more than just move squarely, e.g. skillfully dodge the opponents' bullets.

In anime like Neon Genesis Evangelion, Star Driver or Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, it could be explained away that because the mechas and their pilots are synchronized through the mind, they could do these "acrobatic" movements. However, with anime like Gundam, Macross, Suisei no Gargantia, or Kakumeiki Valvrave, it doesn't make sense...

In-Universe Explanations

In the Gundam franchise, this is explained through the use of advanced computer systems that translate simple joystick motions into complex robotic motions. According to in-universe theory, a human that's working within a bipedal, robot-like machine is able to work most effectively when the machine's movements mimic those of the human body, especially since those movements often balance it efficiently (such as how the legs and back move when you stretch out an arm). As such, engineers design the machine to make those movements automatically as part of a commanded movement.

This principle has been extended to other anime franchises like Macross.

As you write, there are also mind-machine interfaces that translate human thought directly into machine movement.

Real World Explanation

The actual historical answer comes with the dawn of the giant robot genre in the 1970's. Real-life machine interfaces were relatively primitive back then. The average manga reader and anime viewer couldn't really imagine controlling a robot with anything other than joysticks and buttons, so that's what anime and manga artists drew into the cockpits of mecha like Mazinger Z and Getter Robo. They knew those interfaces wouldn't really be enough, but mecha series were cheap children's entertainment with a heavy emphasis on selling toys. It didn't matter if it was realistic, as long as it felt cool.

The boys (and girls!) who watched those shows grew up to make more recent mecha series, and often the unrealistic control schemes are tongue-in-cheek references to the silly controls they saw in those earlier shows. Fundamentally, they understand that making a control scheme realistic didn't matter back then, and doesn't matter now; it doesn't make your show any more or less popular.


Are the ends of Shingeki no Kyojin season 1 and 2 the same? So I'm really confused right now. I think maybe I'm subject for the Mandela effect or something, because I could have sworn that season 1 of Attack on Titan ended with the smiling titan eating Hannes and Eren using his founder titan power to control the other titans to eat her.

But now when I've started watching Season 2, that's what ends season 2? I don't understand that at all. I remember that I started reading the manga at chapter 50 and onwards, because that's how far the anime had come. And that was a couple years ago!

I'm talking about this scene right here.

I feel like I clearly remember having seen this, but Season 1 doesn't seem to end this way. So how the hell can I remember it from season 1? I haven't even come that far into Season 2 yet so I can't have mixed it up.

Next time you have a question like this, think first about looking on Wikipedia for the list of episodes (that works for every anime). Anyway, here's your answer :

That is not the case.

Here's how the first season ended :

  Annie is revealed to be the Titan Female. Eren and Annie fight in the inner walls in their titan forms, causing great destructions. Using the hand-to-hand moves Annie teached him, Eren defeats her. Eren, by compassion, doesn't kill Annie who protects herself in an unbreakable crystal shell.

Then

  Erwin attends a government inquiry, where he reveals that he kept his plans secret to prevent leaks. He further explains that despite the deaths and casualties of his plan and how they cannot get any information from Annie now that she is encased, she is proof there are humans that can turn into Titans living within the walls and he plans to find and use them to launch a counterattack against the Titans.

In the end

  Erwin's name is cleared, Eren stays with the Survey Corps, Annie is put under the Survey Corps's custody and the rest of the 104th Top Trainees go on their different missions. In the epilogue, a piece of Wall Sina crumbles, revealing the face of a Titan within the wall.

Directly after the epilogue, the first episode of the second season starts.


Is there any significance to Risei's line? In episode 16 of Fate/Zero, we see Kayneth go to the church in a wheelchair to plead for a command seal. Risei Kotomine relents, and when transferring one of the command seals onto Kayneth's hand, we see this line:

  Take this cup and drink from it. This is my blood, given to you, for the salvation of all. The blood of a contract!

(Translation from Crunchyroll subtitles.) Barring the bit about the contract, this is suspiciously -- to me anyway -- reminescent of the Christian tradition of the Eucharist. However, unlike the real world ritual, there is no actual cup here: Risei says this line while his hand is on Kayneth's.

Is there any in-series meaning or significance to this? (Is it part of the ritual of transferring "blank" command seals unconnected to a specific servant? Notice that when Sola-Ui forcibly takes Kayneth's command marks, nothing similar seems to appear.) Or is this merely symbolism or a reference thrown in for the sake of atmosphere? (Here, perhaps to give a sense of mysticism and foreboding to the Grail, given that blood, on its own, could have negative connotations? Or perhaps simply some sort of "Easter egg"?)

The latter explanation seems more likely to me, given what I've heard about a lack of knowledge of Christianity in Japan, but it could be that I'm missing knowledge about the workings about the Fate series universe.

I have not seen Fate/Zero beyond this. I do have some vague idea of how the Grail works from skimming over various Wiki articles or posts on this site, and from what has so far been covered in the current UBW adaptation.

This is just some unimportant ritual Risei thought up, possibly because he cared for the symbolism (being a devout priest), or that it might accentuate and reinforce his role as overseer.  You'll see implicit evidence of this in later episodes:

   After Risei is killed, Kotomine takes the command seals.  He has to recite a specific verse of scripture to do this, thus reinforcing how Risei likes to add his faith into the things he does.  He later convinces Kariya to use two of his command seals to kidnap Irisviel, on the promise that Kotomine will give him another fight with Tokiomi, as well as the grail at the end of the war.  He wonders if it was really worth two commands, and Kotomine assures him that there is nothing to worry about.  He simply places his hand over Kariya's command seal marks, and they are restored in a (literal) flash, and nothing more.


What is Chino's age in Naruto Shippuuden? Chino, the character from the arc that starts at episode 484 of Naruto Shippuuden, is said to be

   older than Sasuke in spite of looking like a child

Does she have a known age? If not, what would be her estimated age range?

This is the character I'm referring to http://naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Chino

It was mentioned that Chino was a few thousand years old, about the same age as Gamamaru.


Is this a plot hole in the fake test scene in the first episode of Charlotte? It's been a bit since I watched Charlotte, but if I remember correctly, in the first episode, when Yu is given the fake test by the student body of Hoshinoumi Academy, he attempts to cheat as a last resort, possessing Jojiro to attempt to get the answers. Needless to say, this doesn't end up working. It is later revealed that Yu's ability is actually to steal abilities, "Loot."
Doesn't this mean that he would have stolen Jojiro's teleportation ability? Is this just a plothole or is there some reason that Jojiro keeps his powers?

Rewatched the first episode and I can definitely say that there is no plothole, at least to the incident you were referring to.

In Episode 1, when Yū took the test, the unnamed student council president was supervising him. Yū possessing him has no effect as the unnamed student council president has no power at all. To clarify, it was not Jōjirō who was watching over him while taking the test.

Furthermore, during the episode, he never possessed Jōjirō so no, there was no way he could have stolen Jōjirō's power.

By the way, Jōjirō's power is not teleportation but rather,

  the ability to charge at extremely high speeds in one direction.


What is being said during the Siege on Home? In Final Fantasy X, during the siege on Home by the Guado you can hear something being said over the speaker system in Al Bhed.

It sounds like 2 words with the very end sounding like a "あ (a)" sound (though it could sounds like か (ka) or ま (ma)). At first I thought it might be "Red Alert" but "Red Alert" translates to

  nat ymand
  Pronounced: "nah-te aemahn-de"

Source: Al Bhed Translator

I'm looking for a creditable source which translates what's being said since no subtitles are ever shown.

It's probably "Ajanouha ihtan!", which means "Everyone under!"

There's a forum thread on GameFAQs about this particular question.

Post #8 by erict1628,

  It's "Ajanouha ihtan!", which means "Everyone under!" in Al Bhed.

  Cid is telling everyone to get to the Airship because he's going to level Home.

but Post #10 by Fallacia (an Al Bhed expert),

  This is actually one bit of Al Bhed I've never been able to fully get. I've never fully agreed with the "everyone under" interpretation. That may have been what was in the script, but the VA's pronunciation changes it a little bit. There's no pronunciation at all of the "uha" for "one" at the end of everyone. Instead, what he's saying is actually much closer to "ajano ihtan," with the spacing making it sound like "Ajanoiht-an." It tripped me up for a long time, because I had thought that he was saying something that sounded more like, "anmanoehk," "ammanoehk," "or amanoeh," all of which are nonsense when translated. With those, you get erlering, ellerying, and eleryin.

  I'm willing to believe that it was supposed to have been "everyone under," but instead it comes out as "Every Under" thanks to poor pronunciation of a language that none of the voice actors were actually supposed to have known. The same thing happens when people try to speak other languages for which they haven't developed an ear or just aren't native speakers. Even if the pronunciation isn't entirely too bad, it could still be completely unintelligible to a native speaker thanks to intonation, pausing between syllables, manufactured sounds, muted sounds, and a general sense that the person themselves hasn't created an association for the words they're saying, almost as if they are reading instead of speaking.

There's a same question posted on Yahoo! Chiebukuro (Japanese), with the answer,

  「ヒアシリハンヘモ！」と繰り返し言ってるやつのことかな？（聞き取りにくいですが。）
  ヒアシリハンヘモはアルベド語で、「地下に避難せよ」という意味です。

  《補足より》
  「ヒアっ（ｼﾘ）ハンっ（ﾍﾓ）」みたいに喋ってるんだと。アルティマニア情報だった気が。あとＦＦの用語辞典Wikiの、アルベドホームの欄に載ってました。

  Is it the guy who was repeating "Hiasiri hanhemo!" (it's difficult to be heard though)?
  In Al Bhed, "Hiasiri hanhemo" means "Evacuate to the basement".

  (Addendum)
  It's spoken like "Hia(siri) han(hemo)".
  I think Ultimania (guidebook) has this info. Also it's mentioned on Al Bhed Home's page on Japanese FF Wiki.


What are the Tailed Beasts (Bijuu) actually made of? What kind of creatures are these Tailed Beasts?

I know they are the summation of huge amount of chakra and a body.

If they are just chakra, can't the chakra itself be the body?

What do Tailed Beasts need the body for?

Bijuu are living beings, same as humans and animals. They were created by the Sage of Six Paths, using the Creation of All Things technique.

The sage created the vessels with Yin, breathed life into them with Yang, then poured the Ten Tails' chakra into them.

Chakra is merely energy. It cannot take complex physical form (With the exception of the Creation of All Things, which uses chakra to create form).


What species is Pannya? In Mashiroiro Symphony, Pannya is a cute cat-like creature. However, at least in the anime (unless I missed it), her actual species is not named. The anime also has plenty of ordinary cats, so it doesn't seem like Pannya is just a chibified version of a cat. Furthermore, there seem to be other animals of the same species.

(Note: Pannya is the one on the left)

Is Pannya's species ever given a name? I'm fairly sure that it isn't named in the anime, so I'm mostly looking for confirmation from the manga and/or visual novel.

I strongly believe that Pannya is not a real species. It is likely a RidiculouslyCuteCritter added as a SeriesMascot, possibly for the purpose of making the series more recognizable.

Take note at how Pannya always appears hanging on the characters in the title of the series.


How could Otosaka Yuu remember his imprisonment if it happened in another timeline? During the live show by ZHIEND, Otosaka Yuu remembers his time as a guinea pig in the research facility, where he helps his brother jump back in time.

The thing is, we later learn that his brother jumped back countless times (separating the guinea pig timeline from the current timeline even further).

How could Yuu have those memories?

Unfortunately, the answer to that is that there isn't an answer.  In episode 11, Yuu himself asks this question to Shunsuke and Dr. Tsutsumiuchi.
This happens at 4:54 as seen below:

Some argument over this same topic took place on the MyAnimeList forums here.
In summary, that thread has a few different ideas on how it could have happened but no concrete evidence since the show didn't provide any. If you recall, throughout the series there were several hints of two of them remembering they had a brother. His memories finally returned when he was listening to the live performance of the song incidentally named "Trigger". This was supposedly the first time he had heard it, but he could remember listening to it in the other timeline.
Another theory from that thread is that Sala had an ability to restore people's mind with her voice, as she did with Nao's brother, and upon hearing her live performance his memories returned; however, this is unlikely because he previously heard her sing in the hospital room and was unaffected.
As the final episode has now been aired, it is clear that this will be left open as a plothole with viewers left to interpret it as they please.


What's the name of the background music which starts at 37:31 in episode 1 of Fate/stay night UBW (2014)? In episode 1, the music starts at around 37:31 or so according to my timestamps, during the fight between Shirou and Lancer inside the main house, right after Shirou blocks the lance and gets cut, and a second before Lancer says 'Hoh'.

I searched entire OST, but seemed to have missed it anyway.

It's likely to be "Face to Face", the 5th song from the OST.


Why didn't Accelerator get sunburned after losing his vector shield? Why didn't Accelerator get sunburned after losing his vector shield? Albinos are very vulnerable to ultraviolet, so he must have been red all the time.

It wasn't explicitly stated, but the collar has three states: Active, Passive and Dead Battery.

In Active mode, Accelerator can use his vector transformation powers. In Dead Battery mode, Accelerator can't walk or talk, he can barely think logically, until the battery is recharged or the source of electromagnetic disruption is removed.

In Passive mode, Accelerator can think, talk and walk (although with a cane), so it isn't a stretch to think that he also has a weak enough reflection shield to keep protecting him from UV light.

Also, another possibility is that the author never thought about it.


Has anyone seen this Penguin? I came across this page while stumbling through the internet and would like to know what show this is from.

The anime is Shirokuma Cafe, about animals and humans in a cafe run by a polar bear named Shirokuma (シロクマ); this penguin character is aptly named "Penguin".


Why do some mangaka like Ishida Sui have a mysterious air? I had googled Ishida Sui after reading Tokyo Ghoul, but I was surprised to find minimal information about him. I couldn't even a find a single photo of him, not even on his Wikipedia page.

Why is it that Ishida Sui is being so elusive? When I searched for other authors of manga like Reki Kawahara of SAO I found him immediately (along with his picture). Are other authors also elusive like Ishida? But why do they do so?

There are plenty of reasons why any figure would hide his identity. Manga is  a big deal in Japan and thus many authors try to hide their identity, especially before they are popular. On a side note, I've heard that a lot of Japanese are uncomfortable being a public figure and want to keep their private life private. [citation needed]

Some of the reasons why Mangakas hide their identity may be as follows:

Content: Manga have a variety of content and much of it may be contentious or even downright controversial. Not wanting to associate their work with "real life" writers utilize pen names to avoid the hassle associated. Its distressingly common problem that people don't get that a Character's POV is NOT the author's (Its just writing). Anonymity in such cases allows mangakas to be a lot more creative.
Another example is genre such as Hentai, which is something you don't want to be known for.
Diversity of Work: Do you want to read a Shoujo Manga from a author known for Shounen works? Googling a name of an author for Children will not associate them with their other works. A pen names also allows an author to be free of the expectations their more popular work may have set.
Bias: This is where I can give a real life example of the top of my head. Horumu Arakawa author of probably the most popular Shounen Manga of all time (Fullmetal Alchemist) used a male pen name because her being a female didn't match the nature of her work and a pen name would help bias against her work at bay.

This is not that uncommon in Japanese Manga industry. A couple of examples.

The writer of Deathnote another popular manga is an unknown! Tsugumi Ohba. Before the author profiles in Bakuman, even his gender was unknown.

Shin Kibayashi is famous for using different pen names. The wiki lists several of them


Did Suou lose her human emotions in Darker than Black? I finished episode four just now. When Suou became a contractor in the train yard, did she get the rationality of a contractor, or did she retain her emotions like Hei? This is confusing for me.

Contractors don't lose their emotion, they just become more logical which conflicts with emotion, there is evidence to support this but obvious one is with Mina whose sexual preference is towards women however her obeisance is sexual contact, such as kissing, with men only yet she will kiss women, while most of the time it's to "get rid of the taste" from kissing a guy she has feeling towards Yoko.

With Suou, later in the series when her, Hei and July are in the hotel, when she and July are in bed and July has fallen asleep she admits to Hei that despite being a contractor she hates him.

Also Hei and Suou is that they're not proper Contractors as both obtain their powers from Bai who first merges with Hei during Heaven's War using her contractor powers and is then drawn into the Meteor Core around Suou's neck when Hei was caught in that trap and Hei has always been rational since before becoming a Contractor so he could support Bai so his personality isn't the result of Bai


Why are some of the names written in the Latin alphabet in Hunter x Hunter? In chapter 199, Gon and Killua's names are written  the Latin alphabet on the blackboard.

In chapter 45, Killua and Zushi's names are also in the Latin alphabet.

Most of the writing uses the Hunter x Hunter alphabet, so why are these names written in the Latin alphabet? Is it just another language that is used in Hunter x Hunter world? If so, is there an anything that indicates where the Latin alphabet comes from in the world of Hunter x Hunter?

Most writing in HUNTER x HUNTER is in a syllabary, rather than an alphabet, that correlates exactly to the syllabary of the Japanese written language (hiragana and katakana).  A syllabary is a set of written symbols that represent the syllables which make up words; a symbol in a syllabary is called a "syllabogram."  (In contrast, an alphabet is comprised of letters.)

Romaji is the application of the Latin script to write the Japanese language, not the Latin script itself. In romaji, 「キルア」 would be written as Kirua.  Romaji does not include the letter "L."

Thus, these scans you provide show a language that is most likely English, based on the inclusion of the English word "To."  It appears that "Killua" is the intended English spelling of 「キルア」.

The syllabary is the primary written language of the HUNTER x HUNTER world and is therefore used on official documents, etc. but it is not the only language that exists in that entire world. Since キルキゾルデイック's useful answer was unfortunately deleted from this SE, I will also add here キルキゾルデイック's answer that Leorio's cell phone, the Beatle 07, boasts a translation tool that can translate over 200 languages. If a person never or rarely comes across other languages in the HUNTER x HUNTER world, a translation app would not be a useful feature that customers would fork out 200,000 Jenny for; that this is valued as a feature of the phone implies that it can be very normal to come across written languages other than the syllabary.

Although there is no stated reason for the inclusion of English specifically in the HUNTER x HUNTER world, the world includes linguistic elements that are shared with or based on our real world, which make up at least a portion of the 200+ languages that are stated to exist.  Just as if you visit Japan and see that most documents and signage are printed in the official language (Japanese), that does not preclude any Japanese person from writing something in English, or French, or Arabic, if they so desire at any given time; the person writing does not need to provide a specific rationale for this to be considered normal behavior.  In the same way, the HUNTER x HUNTER syllabary is what we see most often in that world, but since it is not the only language which exists in that world, any character at any given time can opt to write in another language that exists in that world, according to his/her personal preference.

For an example of the HUNTER x HUNTER world unapologetically employing English and other languages from our world, ヨークシンシティ (Yooku Shin Shiti = York New City)'s name is based on New York City, in a combination of the Japanese katakana pronunciation of "York" (ヨーク), the native Japanese word for "new" which is 「新」(shin), and the Japanese katakana pronunciation of "city" (シティ).

As another example, the character ハンゾー (Hanzo) is from the 国家 (kokka = nation) of ジャポン (Japon), which is clearly based on Japan, since he is the only one who knows how to make 寿司 (sushi) in the ハンター試験 (Hunter Exam) and he bears a ninja motif. "Japon" is an exonym for the nation of Japan.  An exonym is the name of an ethnic group and where they live, which is applied to them by outsiders (in contrast to endonyms, which are the names used by the group itself, such as 「日本」[nihon], 「日本（にっぽん）」[nippon], 「大和」[yamato], and「和」[wa]). The English word "Japonism" comes from this exonym.

As a third example, Gon's primary attack is ジャジャン拳 (Jajanken), which relies heavily on the Japanese words employed in the Japanese version of the originally Chinese game じゃんけん (Janken, known as "Rock-Paper-Scissors" in English). The game starts with the phrase 「最初はグー」("saisho ha 'guu,'" meaning "first comes 'rock'"), which is necessary for Gon to say aloud in order to power up. He uses the Japanese words 「グー」(guu, which correlates to 「石」 [ishi = rock]),「チー」(chii, which correlates to 「鋏」[choki = scissors]), and「パー」(paa, which correlates to 「紙」 [kami = paper]) to vary his attack.

As a fourth example, Netero wears a baseball tee with the Japanese or Chinese word 「心」 (kokoro) on it.  Some characters, including Netero, have names with origins in languages from our world (his first name is アイザック [Isaac], the katakana pronunciation of the English pronunciation of the Hebrew name יִצְחָק [Yitzchaq], which means "he laughs").

Thus, this case is not out-of-place according to the worldbuilding that the mangaka, Togashi Yoshihirou, crafted.  Rather, it fits with his precedent of including spoken and written languages other than the syllabary in the HUNTER x HUNTER world.


What series does Index-tan refer to? In the first episode of the Index-tan specials of Toaru Majutsu no Index, Index-tan sits on Touma's head and eats bread. They talk about how she references something and then she explains that if you don't understand the reference, you should buy the Shakugan ** *****-***-DVDs.

(It's German)

What does Index-tan refer to?

She is referring to Shakugan no Shana, a series by the same producer of Index. Here's MAL's blurb on the series:

  He had thought his normal days would last forever, until they were ended abruptly by an encounter with a girl with red hair and eyes. He named her Shana.
  Not long after he enters high school, Sakai Yuji’s normal days come to an end. He sees something bizarre on his way home: people are frozen in a strange fire, and a monster that looks like a large doll is attacking them. Just when he's about to be killed, a girl in a dark cloak wielding a large sword appears, and slices the monster in half. Although Yuji survives the strange encounter, the girl informs him of a desolate truth: " 'You' don't exist anymore."
  She calls herself a Flame Haze who hunts "Guze no Tomogara"; intruders from another world. She explains to him that he is a "Torch", a substitute of Yuji whose “existence” has already been devoured. She also told him that he is a special Torch, "Mystes", which contains a precious item in it. When he looks at his chest, he sees within himself a faint flame, just as she said.
  It is in this way that his eternal struggle alongside the girl begins.

More specifically, she's most likely referring to the Shakugan no Shana-tan specials, given the number of * in the subs, and the fact that these are the Index-tan specials.


What is this anime about a virtual reality world with no pain? I'm looking for an anime that involves a teenage boy who enters a virtual reality world, like the rest of Tokyo. The virtual realty world entered did not have pain, so players could be hurt and not feel anything.

In the story, first he is on a bike that gets into a car accident and the bike is beyond repair. Later, he finds a credit card that uses all three types of currencies in the world. The card has no owner and seems to "hack" the systems. A girl is on a roof and sees the boy "steal" her card. The boy finds a hungry girl and buys her food with the card. A police officer sees the boy purchasing food with a lot of money and sees the card. The police officer attacks the boy.

Does anyone know what this anime is?

I've never seen the show myself, but it sounds a lot like the show Megazone 23, which is about a virtual world run by a supercomputer that exists as a modern day (to us, the story is set in the future) Tokyo.


Did Giyu Tomioka meet the Hand / Morphed Demon during final selection? As we know this ugly looking demon https://kimetsu-no-yaiba.fandom.com/wiki/Hand_Demon is captured by Urokodaki during the Edo period. Later this demon grows hatred toward Urokodaki and has killed every Urokodaki's disciples during final selection, even almost kills Tanjiro. Urokodaki seems so happy when he sees Tanjiro comeback home safely unlike his other death disciples.

But what about the watter pillar Giyu Tomioka? As far as I know he's also the disciple of Urokodaki (same breath style). The hand demon says that Sabito and Makomo (death people who trained Tanjiro during training) are the strongest among all, not Giyu. Did Giyu meet and survive the hand demon or was he just lucky to not encounter this powerful demon during selection?

Based on this wiki;

   while Sabito is long dead before the series started, both him and Sabito were best friends as they went through similar situations of losing their family to Demons and bonded well. Later during the Final Selection Exam, Sabito died at the hands of the Hand Demon trying to save his life and others who participated in the exam. Sabito's death caused Giyu to feel so much guilt to the point where he doubted his own abilities as a pillar and rescinds abandoning his position as the Water Pillar.


What happens if a person can't die of a heart attack? What would happen if a person wasn't able to die of a heart attack since they use a pacemaker or are connected to medical equipment that pumps blood for them?

This can create some sub-questions, if people couldn't die of a heart attack such as:

What would happen if the cause of death specified was impossible, so the person had to die of a heart attack?
What would happen if no cause of death was specified?

Mayo clinic defines heart attack as an obstruction of blood flow to the heart muscle, causing the body's natural blood pump to fail and/or die.

So a pacemaker won't save one from a heart failure once it happens, the device avoids them from happening (the real function is more complex, gugure kokkuri-san!).

Since a heart attack is a failure of the blood pump, it is safe to assume that a DN could make an artificial heart to fail as well.


Is My Hero Academia: Illegals canon? Recently I found about  My Hero Academia: Illegals. Is this manga supposed to be canon? Do events from it count for the main My Hero Academia storyline or something from it already appeared in the anime?

It is canon, according to MHA's English Translator.

  Since a lot of people probably aren't familiar, this is a spinoff series to My Hero Academia. It takes place 4+ years before the events of MHA (they say Izuku is in elementary school), and features cameos by Eraser Head, Midnight, Tsukauchi, Ingenium, etc.

  It's all canon.


Is Saitama the fastest character in One Punch Man? In Season 2 episode 2 Saitama showed to Speed of Sound Sonic he was much faster than him. Speed of Sound Sonic is supposed to be a fast character, faster than Genos with its last upgrade. In the show is clearly shown that Saitama is the strongest character, but how about his speed? Is he also the fastest character in One Punch Man or are there characters which are equally or faster than him?

Without specific spoilers, the short way to put this is that Saitama has proven himself effortlessly faster and stronger than everyone he encounters, including those specifically known for being faster or stronger than everyone else (except Saitama; and Blast has not been seen in real action, and certainly not relative to Saitama).

Spoilers of certain specific events from the webcomic:

   Late in the Monster Association/Garou saga he encounters Flashy Flash in some tunnels.  Flash attacks him at high speed, assuming Saitama is a monster to dispatch.  Saitama effortlessly dodges.  Flash is shocked, and decides to try it again and makes another high speed (sneak) attack.  Saitama simply stops the blade between his fingers.

   Flashy Flash then later fights against Garou.  Garou proves himself faster than he can handle.  Saitama effortlessly keeps up with Garou's pace when they start fighting, however. Just when Garou thinks he's snuck into a blind spot, suddenly Saitama's eyes will shift to look directly at him, and Garou will back off, frustrated that he can't exploit any of the many openings Saitama has because he's simply not strong or fast enough to do so. I believe Garou has been stated by ONE to be comparable to Boros in overall power, though Garou fights primarily with skill and speed while Boros fought with sheer power.  Saitama could effortlessly handle both of them.

As I've mentioned in another Q&A:

   Saitama appears to be without limits. Dr. Genus talks about how every being in existence has an innate limiter on their power and growth, because beyond that they'd physically or mentally collapse.  With science, training, monsterification, etc. at most you can increase what your limit is.  But you'll still have one.  Saitama, on the other hand, removed his limiter entirely.  If he's correct, then Saitama is arbitrarily strong and arbitrarily fast. He just needs a reason to actually use more strength or speed.


Can someone tell me what this song from episode 38 of Zero no Tsukaima is? I've looked through the soundtrack but I haven't been able to find this song. It plays in episode 38 "Louise of the Holy Ground" at 13:54.

It's "Distress of Decision", track 22 of the Zero no Tsukaima ~Futatsuki no Kishi~ Soundtrack.


Why is manga typically created with screentones rather than grayscale fills? I was recently introduced to the screen-tone process. Here's a short video for reference. Why was this, and why is this still the prominent technique for coloring manga? What advantages do screen-tones have over grayscale fills?

To clarify, a fill is when an artist uses a solid color to completely color one area (with marker, paint, pencil, etc...).

These are called Ben-Day dots. Depending on the size and spacing of the dots, you can create different shades using a single colour - or, with a limited colour palette you can produce different shades not available to you.

This is often used to save on printing costs, as you can get a wide range of shades/colours with a smaller usage of ink and no need for different levels of pressure.

Because manga is often a disposable medium, keeping costs low is often a priority for magazines and such to pull a profit - without increasing the prices for consumers.

You may see this in other non-manga print mediums as well - like free/low-cost newspapers:

It has become associated with comics both East and West - so often shows will use it for artistic purposes as well.

Other screentones exists, like speed markings, shoujo sparkles and such - and simply, they are used because it is both easier and faster to get your desired effect.

As well as providing particular aesthetics, it ensures a colour is solidly evenly shaded, whereas when colouring manually it is easy to have uneven shades by angling or pressuring differently across an image.


Are anime still submitted to broadcasters in tape form? In Shirobako, the studio has to deliver the tapes to broadcasters physically. I'm not surprised that this is a process, but I am surprised that there's nothing more modern in place.

Early on, we learn that Musani Animation has an FTP server to store their files - So why don't they just send the file over the internet?

I've heard some arguments that physical deliver is still faster, but I'm not sure I buy that - Japan's internet speeds are quite good and the file sizes shouldn't be overly huge as it should be the compiled product rather than files with image layers, audio tracks, cg models, etc all seperate.

Are anime really still submitted by tape? If so - why?

No, tapes are no longer used. The tape appearing in Shirobako is just a joke in reference to old times. DVD-R are used nowadays, and maybe sometime in the future, blu-ray will replace them. It seems like the trend of using DVD-R began at least in 2007. On a side note, shirobako are not necessarily white either in reality.

As to possible reasons regarding why they have to give it physically:

They are late so they don't have the time to send it by post.
The FTP server was down in the anime so they had no other choice.
Mark of respect and seriousness for the broadcasters.
No problem of "timestamp" proof (if the broadcasters refused to accept the shirobako because of lateness) since a person goes directly to give it.
Reduced risk of leaking the episode if it was given by another mean.

Sources:

moto-neta.com/anime/shirobako/
detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp/qa/question_detail/q1185176891
img.animeanime.jp/imgs/thumb_h/44928.jpg
the anime Shirobako itself
Lots of other pages on Google when searching for "白箱"


Will "Sailor Stars" (the final season) be available in English dub? I've been watching the English dubbed version of Sailor Moon over and over. During that time, I thought the Sailor Stars, the last season would soon come out in English, but it never did. So, I only had one solution: to watch the original Japanese version.

I tried watching the last season in Japanese with English sub, and it was so confusing. I was like 'Who's this character?' 'Oh, it's Mina! Minako is her name...' and stuff like that.

So, will Sailor Stars (the final season) be available in English dub?

you don't need to watch the original dub for much longer as Viz Media has been re-releasing the original series (as well as the new Crystal remake) which includes the final season

  Nearly two years ago, we announced the series by surprise at Anime Central in Chicago, IL. For the first time, all 200 episodes, specials and movies would be coming out in English! Since then, we have been releasing subtitled episodes every week. Just point your eyeballs here at VIZ.com for buckets of Moon Kingdom goodness. For fans of the all-new, uncut English dub, both season 1 and season 2 have been released on dual language Blu-ray and DVD. You can find the sets in all their shimmery glory at your favorite anime retailer, such as Right Stuf and Amazon!

Source: Viz Media

looking at the list on wikipedia we see that Sailor Moon Sailor Stars, the last season that the original US Dub never covered in english, goes to episode 200 as such this means that Viz isn't just going to stop at Sailor Moon SuperS (which is episode 166)

currently (27/07/2017) Viz Media sells up to Sailor Moon S, Season 3, Part 2 which is episodes 109-127 so you currently don't have the final season and will need to wait, however it should also be noted that this Viz Media release isn't like the original US Dub release which. as you can see in the list of episodes on wikipedia, skipped episodes in the first season (remember that 200 episodes is the number of episodes from Japan, if Viz was going all 200 they wont be skipping like original US Dub did)

While i have yet to see it to confirm from my understand this also means some of the themes from anime which were toned down/altered in the original US Dub are kept to how they were in Japan. noticeably during the Death Busters Arc (Season 3) the theme of sacrifice and ofcause, Haruka and Michiru

  One of the controversies surrounding Sailor Moon S is in the romantic-lesbian relationship of Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune, who are subtly depicted as romantic lovers, although this is never mentioned directly. Takeuchi has openly admitted they are a romantic couple, and their voice actresses were instructed to play the characters "as if they are a married romantic couple." However, because of differing cultural standards, most countries outside Japan, excluding Greece, Germany, Sweden, Spain and Mexico, have censored the relationship. Alternatively, in the Cloverway/Optimum English-dubbed version, this subtext was made more taboo by way of portraying Neptune and Uranus as biological cousins who were involved in a romantic relationship with each other. The Studiopolis/Viz Media English-language dub preserves the subtext of the original material.

Source: List of Sailor Moon S episodes

As Viz Media's blog post says that the re-release is duel language i assume it would contain both the japanese dubs with english subs and the english dub. considering that to my knowledge the final season was never released in english outside Japan officially watching the original subbed probably means watching a fan subbed version which you shouldn't really be doing when the series has been officially subtitled.

in case if i am wrong and:

there is an official release of the final season before Viz Media
you decided to wait for Viz Media to release theirs
you want to watch it subbed rather than dubbed

then which subbed version you watch is a matter of personal preference. however Viz Media's release would be easier to acquire as aside from DVD/Bluray release the Viz Media link i posted on Sailor Moon S, Season 3, Part 2 lists digital distributions like Steam and the Playstation Store. i would suspect ADV Film's home release it out of print thus harder to get


Why did Bartholomew Kuma allow Vegapunk to turn him fully into a pacifista? Kuma seems to have a good enough relationship with Vegapunk. Vegapunk was able to grant him his final wish as a human being, which was to program Kuma to protect the Straw Hats ship until their return. It is very likely that Vegapunk highly respects Kuma's strength, as he modified Kuma to be the prototype Pacifista, and he let Kuma do things that go against the World Government, as well as granting him his last wish by including a mission into his programming that Kuma himself had requested.

It is even shown that the bible he holds is his trademark. If that is true why would he sacrifice his consciousness along with his humanity if he lived life cherishing something that very much so represented humanity, freedom and free will?

If he much admired the prospect of free will, going as far as wanting his last wish to protect the Straw Hats ship, why would he even agree to losing his humanity and getting modified to a fully-fledged Pacifista?

Is it ever mentioned or is it just some extremely personal relationship stuff shared between Vegapunk and Kuma?

An explanation is that after rescuing straw hats at sabaody, he was defeated by Kizaru and captured in seastone cuffs. After that he probably received death penalty, but since hes a pacifista project he was probably sent to vegapunk to have his brain removed.

His capture and punishment was not mentioned somewhere in the manga/anime.

However, this is a VERY PLAUSIBLE theory on why Kuma was turned into a full pacifista. Certainly a more plausible theory than the 'he did this for dragon', or 'dragon ordered him to do so' nonsense theories that are floating around in this discussion, neither of which are mentioned anywhere in canon either.

It is highly unlikely Kuma was willingly turned into a full pacifista. Some people posted here that 'he did this for Dragon', 'Dragon ordered him to do so'. What? How would doing so benefit Dragon and revolutionaries? How would it benefit Kuma himself (obviously won't since he would be dead?) What other POSSIBLE incentive that world govt offered him or the revolutionary that could be so great, that it would outweigh the consequence of him being dead? Probably none. Therefore it leads to conclusion that the government forced that choice upon him. Straight up executing him most likely wouldn't have been an attractive option, since they would need as many shichibukai on their side to face against whitebeard. Therefore all these points toward my theory - that Kuma was punished for opposing the marines and an admiral from carrying out the order to purge the tenryuubito's attackers. Thats why world govt most likely decided to fully transform Kuma into a pacifista in order to both punish him and turn him into a fully loyal slave.

Kuma was certainly aware that this would be his punishment, thats why he stated that this will be the last time he will meet the strawhats.

Vegapunk most likely was in a good relationship with Kuma and likely did not want to turn him into a full cyborg either, but he had to do so under the pressure from the world govt. Thats why Vegapunk likely programmed in Kuma's request to protect the Sunny.