What is the catalyst necessary to transform into a titan?

As per Attack on Titan wikia

  In order to transform, a human with the power of the Titans must
  suffer an injury that draws blood (often self-harm) while having a
  solid goal or belief in mind at the moment of injury.

You can check when Eren was training with Levi in the castle, he discovered that only injury is not sufficient.

when he transformed from within the belly of the titan in season 1.
In that scene you can find that all the above conditions are met.
1. Eren was injured( his hand was cut)
2. He has solid goal in mind. i.e to defeat the titan

You can read more cases/conditions in the wiki link I provided


What is this anime about a virtual reality world with no pain?

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.


Can armament haki be used when in Logia form

Yes. That kind of haki works independent from devil fruit however if something "generated" by devil fruit you can use enhance it with armament haki.


Why is gold important to Amestris' economy?

Quite simply put, this is a world in which almost anything can be made by putting thought and understanding into it aka alchemy. Alchemy was essentially founded when Amestris was founded, and only existed in Xerxes prior to that. Therefore modern alchemy has been around for approximately 400 years by the time the manga/show began.

The technology at this time was also much less advanced than ours. It would have been difficult to produce bank notes or other such fiat currency that would be difficult to reproduce. An alchemist could even produce all of the necessary components in his own home, and it would be much more difficult enforcing the ban on many specific components.

On the other hand, gold is large and heavy. It is also very rare, with only a tiny fraction of the gold on earth available in the crust. Suddenly having a large supply coming through without any regulations down the supply line would be downright suspicious. Manufacturing gold in amounts large enough to disrupt the economy would surely take notice, and thanks to its weight, would surely be much easier to trace.

Of course, this is all assuming that Amestris was designed to withstand the test of time. Really, the homunculi only needed a (relatively) short-term solution that would keep the populace happy until it was time to murder everyone.


What ayatori pattern did Yukko make that made Mai-chan shocked in Episode 17?

This apparently the "Gunma prefecture with the shape of a soaring crane" （鶴舞う形の群馬県）. You may not know this but the shape of the prefecture somewhat resembles a crane flapping its spread wings.

The purpose is likely to add absurdity as so many people heard the tsukkomi she put all of her heart in. Take note that the school is based on the high school the original creator attended, Isesaki Commercial High School located in the Gunma prefecture. This seems to be a meta joke on how the tsukkomi was loud, everyone in the Gunma prefecture heard her.


Explanation is needed at the end of Corpse Party - Tortured Souls OVA

Finally found a screenshot of the other student's ID.

Satoshi was using Yuuya's scrap, not his sister's; this resulted in his death on trying to return to his world. This is due to Yuuya not being a part of the ritual that Class 2-9 held, so his scrap could not bring Satoshi back.


What are the anime censorship laws in Japan?

The law that most people cite as the reason for Japanese censorship is Article 175 of the Criminal Code of Japan (passed in 1907). Interestingly, Article 21 of the Japanese constitution prohibits censorship, so legally Article 175 isn't actually censorship, though it's pretty hard to argue this in practical terms. The translation of Article 175 of the Criminal Code given in this article (via
 the Internet Archive Wayback Machine) (potentially NSFW for obvious reasons) is the following:

  Any person who distributes, sells or publicly displays an obscene writing, picture or other materials shall be punished with penal servitude for not more than two years or be fined not more than two million and a half yen or minor fine. The same shall apply to any person who possesses the same with the intention of selling it.

This law doesn't specify any differences between anime and other materials, so strictly speaking anime is treated no differently at least according to the letter of the law. The big question is "what defines 'obscene'", which the law doesn't answer. For this reason, the law is rather vague, and the definition of what exactly is "obscene" is impossible to give. At the very least, it seems to only include the material itself, and not the sorts of acts that are depicted, so things like bestiality or incest aren't covered by this law.

Nowadays the law is usually interpreted as banning depiction of adult genitals and (often) pubic hair unless they are obscured. However, this is not strictly the legal interpretation of "obscene", which is vague and in some sense up to the police enforcing the law and the judges ruling on the case. Rather, this is a self-censorship guideline that almost every producer in the industry follows. Most producers of both animated and regular pornography partner with one of a few independent quasi-legal organizations which inspect these videos to check that the material is not "obscene". The most famous one of these was the Nihon Ethics of Video Association, which was itself the subject of an obscenity trial in 2008 because the mosaics they were using were too revealing. There is no legal requirement to have pornographic works inspected, but it reduces the risk of accidentally violating this law. In the case of anime, it's more common to sidestep these restrictions by drawing the scenes differently or using things like tentacles rather than genitalia, but there are some hentai anime which do use these sorts of inspections.

Despite all of that, the laws are very rarely enforced. A fairly recent conviction was in 2004 for hentai manga Misshitsu. Before that there was a period for over 20 years with no convictions under this law. Since 2004 there have been a few other cases, most notably the one mentioned above. Partly this is because self-censorship has been very effective at removing things that would potentially violate this law, and partly it's because it remains unclear exactly what is supposed to be banned.

There are some other laws which are sometimes framed as "censorship" laws, such as the infamous Tokyo manga ban (which, as of 2012, had not banned anything at all). Strictly speaking these are not censorship laws. Rather, they put legally enforced age restrictions on certain types of content. The restrictions themselves are pretty severe and can result in a chilling effect whereby publishers will deliberately avoid titles that could be affected. This is especially true for magazines, as a single title being banned could lead to the whole magazine being relegated to 18+ corners of stores and consequently losing a significant number of sales. These are usually done at the prefecture level or more local levels and so don't impact national policy, but the Tokyo one is significant since Tokyo is a very large market for anime and manga.

The only other laws that are sometimes discussed in the context of censorship in Japan are child pornography laws. These ban distribution and creation of child pornography. They don't currently apply to simulated or artistic depictions of children, so anime is excluded. However, there have been recent efforts by the LDP to strengthen the existing laws, which could then apply to materials such as anime and manga. In their current form the proposed law is pretty broad (applying to any depictions of underage characters which could be sexually arousing, whether or not they contain nudity). This is being lobbied against by a number of publishers and producers, mostly represented by mangaka Akamatsu Ken. We really don't know at this point what will be the fate of this proposal, though there will probably be more information in coming months.


What's the meaning of the numbers at the end of the episode?

Angel Beats! also did something similar, except that the numbers, prefixed by the character 'c', appear in the previews for next episode.

These are the cut numbers found in storyboards, or （絵）コンテ (e konte, from the English word continuity) in Japanese. According to Anime Production – Detailed Guide to How Anime is Made and the Talent Behind it!,

  Cuts refer to a single shot of the camera and an average TV-anime episode will usually contain around 300 cuts.

which basically matches the range of numbers that appear in both Oregairu and Angel Beats!.

To top it off, I was able to find a screenshot (click to enlarge) of a selection of Oregairu's storyboards:

Image source: http://forum.gamer.com.tw/C.php?bsn=44991&snA=514

Corrections to OP's post

The circled numbers actually mark the current, not the next, episode number. See the list of titles for all episodes (scroll down to the middle).
The numbers/titles don't always appear at the end. For example, the title of episode 2

  17 ②きっと、誰しも等し並みに悩みを抱えている。

appears very early, corresponding to the 17th scene (excluding the OP and ED) in that episode.


According to the first light novel he was heading to a weapons shop.

  After I had logged onto SAO, I started running through the
  nostalgic stone paved roads of the «Starting City», headed for the
  weapons shop. Realizing that I was a beta tester after seeing me start
  and dash, Klein ran over without any hesitation.
  from chapter 2 of the first volume


What differentiates anime from regular cartoons?

No matter how you look at it, an anime is a cartoon. The main difference is that an anime is considered a Japanese style of cartoons in the West.

Many English-language dictionaries define anime as "a Japanese style of motion-picture animation" or as "a style of animation developed in Japan."

However, in Japan, the term "anime" does not specify an animation's nation of origin or style. Instead, it serves as a blanket term to refer to all forms of animation from around the world (both foreign and domestic). The word "anime" is loan word referring to "animation" or "cartoons," adapted from the English word "animation."

Taking this from another perspective, in Japan, Disney movies are referred to as "Disney Anime", This refers to a certain style, not the genre as a whole.

The Japanese Wikipedia on "anime" specifically notes that:

  アニメーションをアニメと略せる言語は日本語に限られるため、日本国外で「anime」という場合は日本製の表現様式のアニメに対して用いられる。日本国内では、製作国や作風に関わりなくアニメが使用される。

While in Japanese, "animation" was abbreviated to "anime," Outside of Japan, the word has been used only to refer to media considered "Japanese animation." However in Japan, the country of origin and literary style (of the media) are not taken into account when applying "anime" to it.

Western cartoons and anime can both vary in drawing styles, based on the staff, budget, and character/set designs. Anime series are typically more detailed than your average western show as there is more of an abundance of technically skilled artists overseas than there are available in the West.

Both can reach different age regardless of their initial target audience (Avatar: The Last Airbender, My Little Pony, and Adventure Time are notable examples).

Typically western cartoons are more lighthearted when compared to Japanese anime. However, both can deal with more mature themes, in both a serious (like Cyber 6, Mighty Max, and Dungeons and Dragons) and humorous light (like Futurama, South Park, The Simpsons, and Family Guy). There are western cartoons for mature adults just like there are 18+ anime in Japan.

If you ask the average person in your country and one in Japan, both will consider them to be childish. The difference between anime and cartoons is very subjective. It typically comes down to what you like and how you like it.


What happened to the Yin half of Kurama?

After Madara receives his right eye from Zetsu, he stuns all the Tailed Beasts and began the process of sealing them up into the Demonic Statue. Yang Kurama, knowing that he will be pulled out of Naruto for certain, contacted Gaara to have Yin Kurama (within Minato's body) sealed into Naruto.

But just as Minato was transferring Yin Kurama into Naruto, Black Zetsu (in Obito's body) interferes.

Obito regains control of his body and prevents Zetsu from delivering the left Rinnegan eye and Yin Kurama to Madara. Obito then teleports the gang to Kamui dimension. There, Yin Kurama was successfully transferred into Naruto.

After the epic fight with Sasuke, Yang Kurama rejoins Naruto. The Yin and Yang halves merge together and formed the complete state of Kurama.


What song/theme is playing in episode 10 of season 2 in Tokyo Ghoul?

The ending theme song is by queen bee and the song name is called HALF


Why is All Might freaked out in the big villian fight scene?

Why wouldn't it be? The bad guy just explained that he has robbed a ton of people from their quirks (quite possibly killing them in the process) and now when All Might himself is at his weakest, and Midoriya has still not mastered his gifted quirk, the danger is tremendous. Either of them or even both could be attacked and their quirk stolen, which would definitely be extremely bad.


Nope. Although her family belonged to the one of the 20 Kings who participated in Alliance during Void Century , They did not move to Mariejois.

  The World Nobles, also known as the Celestial Dragons, are direct descendants of the founding kings who moved to Mariejois. As such, these Nobles possess the authority to do as they please, simply due to their heritage.


Is the new Baki anime series (ONA) a continuation of the manga, or the same story as the old anime with better animation?

It takes place directly after the events of the original Anime. If you've  seen the original then you can just continue from the end of that but even if you haven't, then you can still just start with it since the majority of the plot is only loosely stapled together by a few characters.


Why didn't Naruto's Rasengan turn red when he got Kurama's one-tailed cloak against Sasuke?

While reviewing the fight scene, I'd like to point out something that I noticed.

Towards the beginning of Naruto and Sasuke's battle, Naruto's Rasengan was its normal blue color, as shown here. This occurrence was prior to Naruto gaining the 9 Tails Cloak.

Towards the end of the battle, while Naruto's Rasengan was forming, I noticed that this ones color was actually more of a purple color than the normal blue (albeit not red either). This is shown here

Purple is a combination of the colors Blue and Red. So with that information, we can deduce that the chakra used to perform Naruto's final Rasengan was a mixture of Naruto's blue chakra and Kurama's red chakra.


Does Princess Renner have other hidden personality as depicted in the 2nd season's ending credit?

It seems Princess Renner does have another personality. You can also confirm from the anime (Season 2 episode 09)

Renner's Personality:

   Renner is known publicly as the Golden Princess for her benevolence and kindness. While Renner is believed to be a saint, in reality, she has a psychopathic personality and doesn't care about the feelings of others. The only exception to this is Climb. When Climb was wounded, she declared that anyone involved would be ruthlessly killed. After being secretly affiliated to Nazarick, she doesn't hesitate to betray her family, her bloodline and her people without a shred of regret. Renner is a human yet inhuman and she's described as a spiritual heteromorph. Her mind comprehended both good and evil; she is the type who was not bound by the petty constraints of morality, but who calmly worked to advance her own agenda.

Renner's relation with Climb:

   Renner treats Climb like a pet dog and loves him greatly, as he is the reason she started to act innocent, kind and caring greatly about the country in front of him after picking him up. When Climb is not around, she reverts back to her psychopathic personality.

Renner's relation with Albedo:

   Aside from secretly being her subordinate, Renner is in a particularly friendly relationship with Albedo, openly talking with each other about the obsessive love they hold for the men they love.

Lastly a dialogue which will sums it all:

   "Yes, it would indeed be difficult to do while putting up a front as Princess. Plus, there is no use if it's done by force. His gaze, I want to chain him up completely and raise him like a dog." - Renner to Marquis Raeven about Climb.

Source: Renner Theiere Chardelon Ryle Vaiself - Overlord Wiki


D.Gray- man Hallow. Remake? Or continuation?

as per Hakase's link to wikipedia

  A new TV anime series was announced at Shueisha's 2016 Jump Festa event. The anime will feature a new cast, with Ayumu Murase voicing Allen Walker and Shinnosuke Tachibana voicing Howard Link. Despite the changes, the series creator has stated that the new series will continue from where the first left off, rather than being a reboot. The new series, titled D.Gray-man Hallow, is directed by Yoshiharu Ashino and written by Michiko Yokote, Tatsuto Higuchi and Kenichi Yamashita, featuring character designs by Yosuke Kabashima and music by Kaoru Wada. It will begin airing on July 4, 2016, having a total of 13 episodes.

following Wikipedia's citation and the source on that page to Anime News Network this comes from the D.Gray-man's mangaka Katsura Hoshino on her Instagram account

  Thanks to everyone who went to the D.Gray-man stage today. As was said in the announcement, a new series has been green-lit. Because the staff will be completely different, the story will be a continuation, but I think it will become a completely new D.Gray-man anime. Thank you for everyone who's supported me until now.


The head punching and tongue sticking out makes me think the "teehee" is a translation of てへぺろ ("tehepero"), which has a literal meaning of "teehee tongue-sticking-out". It actually has a recent history as a word in its own right: this blog post and this crunchyroll news article have some information about it.

Basically, it's the word that goes with teehee+punching head+tongue sticking out, and the meaning is primarily focused on definition 3) that Omega posted - it sweeps under the rug a mistake or ignorance of the speaker with a playful gesture. A Japanese source for this meaning is this scan of an article about tehepero being Japanese neologism of the year, although the expression is likely related to peko-chan (see What is the origin of this facial expression with one's tongue sticking out?).


What's the meaning behind the rarity item's classified in Anime/manga?

It not generally used in reallife. It is originally come from Japanese Animation & Games, is generally come from games. In real life school ranking mark only A, B, C is credit marks, this will feel not enough for high ranking. In Games, is freely to input A+, A-, B+, B- rank system, but games generally put on SSS, SS, S, A, B, C, D, E, F, make players feel more happy on their result.

It means Super or Superior or alike surprise. Superlative classification. Super x3, Super x2, is weird to put Sx2, Sx3, so it is SSS, SS.

Some of games you can see R, SR, SSR, UR. R is meaning "Rare", mostly in card games. That means you get a rare card. SR is Super Rare. SSR is Specially Super Rare sometimes. UR is Ultimate Rare.

Rare[R]Super Rare[SR] Card Sample , Ultimate Rare[UR] Card sample

Edit

I remember I learned about this game s-ranking system, but I don't remember who is the author of making this system, sorry. I remember have origin author who make this s-rank, but not remember the name, this is minor title in history.
Such as statement "The atom bomb S-Ranked Hiroshima" from Urban Dictionary: S-Rank. And, SS-Rank is by The early rank system of 1926, insignia of the Schutzstaffel. Early military.

Information is here:
   Giant Bomb: S-Rank,
S-Rank_Japanese


Which manga chapter does the season 1 of the anime end on?

I read the manga first and started watching the anime halfway through, but the final episode coincides with chapter 100, as far as I can remember.

As far as the manga goes, it has 3 arcs. The first arc ends with chapter 123. It ends kind of abruptly. So if you want to read the manga, starting from after the anime series ends, you have to start with the chapter "Power of Love". I am sure it's above 101, it could be 102 or 103. So starting at 101 would be your best bet.

The anime almost covers what the manga does. Obviously, the manga might feel much granular and in-depth, but the anime gets most of the important point though. Try reading from chapter 101.


It's the same as Japanese Television seasons (or sometimes referred to as "cours"). There are 4 of them each year and each one lasts roughly 13 weeks. The Wikipedia page for Japanese Television Drama says:

  Japan has four television seasons: Winter (January–March), Spring (April–June), Summer (July–September), and Autumn or Fall (October–December). Some series may start in another month though it may still be counted as a series of a specific season.

So while the seasons themselves have a fixed start and end, the shows themselves can sometimes start in the middle month of a season and thus spill over into multiple seasons (given that it's a 13 episode/1 cour show), but it is still considered part of the season that it started airing. There's obvious advantages to always starting at the beginning of a season, the main one being that shows lasting 12 or 13 episodes can continue to fill a time-slot throughout the calendar year without having breaks.

For example, here are the "Summer 2013" shows and their air-times:

07/01 22:25 (AT-X) - Recorder to Ransel Mi♪
07/01 25:00 (Tokyo MX) - Inu to Hasami wa Tsukaiyou
07/02 19:30 (AT-X) - BROTHERS CONFLICT
07/02 25:35 (TV Tokyo) - Senyuu. (Season 2)
07/02 25:40 (TV Tokyo) - Gifuu Doudou!! Naoe Kanetsugu -Maeda Keiji-gatari-
07/03 21:30 (AT-X) - Tamayura ～More Aggressive～
07/03 24:30 (Tokyo MX) - Free!
07/04 25:28 (TBS) - Tokurei Sochi Dantai Stella Jogakuin Koutou-ka C3-bu
07/04 25:35 (MBS) - Dangan Ronpa no Gakuen to Zetsubou no Koukousei The Animation
07/04 25:58 (TBS) - Rozen Maiden (New Series)
07/04 26:05 (MBS) - Ren-Ai Lab -Love Lab-
07/04 26:35 (MBS) - Senki Zesshou: Symphogear G
07/04 26:43 (Nippon TV) - Kitaku-bu Katsudou Kiroku
07/04 27:08 (ABC) - Servant x Service
07/05 22:30 (AT-X) - Rou-Kyuu-Bu! SS
07/06 20:30 (AT-X) - Kiniro Mosaic
07/06 20:30 (ABC) - Genei wo Kakeru Taiyou -il sole penetra le illusioni-
07/06 23:20 (Nico Nico Douga) - Fate/Kaleid Liner: Prism-Illya
07/06 25:00 (Tokyo MX) - Monogatari Series: Second Season
07/06 25:00 (Tokyo MX) - Genshiken Nidaime
07/06 25:30 (Tokyo MX) - Kami-sama no Inai Nichiyoubi
07/06 27:28 (MBS) - Fantasista Doll
07/07 20:30 (AT-X) - High School DxD NEW
07/07 22:27 (Tokyo MX) - Teekyuu (Season 2)
07/07 22:00 (Tokyo MX) - Uchouten Kazoku
07/07 22:30 (Tokyo MX) - Hakkenden -Touhou Hakken Ibun- (Season 2)
07/07 24:30 (TV Kanagawa) - Blood Lad
07/07 25:05 (TV Tokyo) - Makai Ouji: Devils and Realist
07/08 25:35 (TV Tokyo) - Kami Nomi zo Shiru Sekai -The World God Only Knows- (Season 3)
07/08 26:05 (TV Tokyo) - Watashi ga Motenai no wa dou Kangaete mo Omaera ga Warui!
07/11 24:45 (Fuji TV) - Gin no Saji: Silver Spoon
07/12 22:00 (BS Animax) - Hyperdimension Neptunia: The Animation
07/12 25:58 (Nippon TV) - Gatchaman Crowds
07/13 22:00 (Tokyo MX) - Futari wa Milky Holmes
07/13 23:30 (TV Tokyo) - Kimi no Iru Machi -A town where you live-

So, like you said, everything happens around the same time, the first week of July, then we have a few outliers that start during the second week. It's worth noting that Silver Spoon is only 11 episodes, and Hyperdimension Neptunia, Gatchaman Crowds, Futari wa Milky Holmes, and Kimi no Iru Machi are all 12 episodes, so they'd end right at the end of the season.

The real outliers from last season, Spring 2013 (though some sites attach these 2 shows to the Summer 2013 season), would be:

06/08 23:45 (NHK-BS Premium) - Kingdom 2
06/14 17:55 (Disney XD) - Yuuto-kun ga Iku

In some cases, certain channels will start a show in the middle or near the end of a season, sometimes because of a timeslot that needs to be filled. Kingdom 2 is a 39 episode historic drama on a pay satellite channel that doesn't have any other anime, and the other is a 5 minute-per-episode young children's after school show. These are shows that are typically outside of the usual late-night anime demographics.

See also this question: What defines one "season" of anime?


What is "Kamisama ni Natta Hi" episode 12 ending theme?

The ending theme of Kamisama ni Natta Hi episode 12 is Takaramono ni Natta Hi by Jun Maeda x Nagi Yanagi, which is also an insert song in episode 5.

Insert songs listed in episode 12 ending, featuring Natsu Nagi and Takaramono ni Natta Hi


The old names were written in katakana.
Pronounced in Japanese, the phonetics would sound like this:

ゴール・ディー・ロジャー >>>> Gōru Dī Rojā

レヴェリー/世界会議 >>>> Reverī

ラフテル >>>> Rafuteru

If you noticed, many of the 'L' sounds aren't replicated in Japanese speech. In this case it's replaced with 'R' sounds.

My top guess is when things were being dubbed, they decided to go with the authentic Japanese phonetics. But when they saw that the meaning behind the names and places was getting lost on their English audience, they properly 'translated' the words.  Oda always meant for some of these names to be in English, especially for things like laugh tale and what not.

I'm just glad they checked themselves when it came to Luffy's name LOL.


Is Violet Evergarden a robot, a cyborg or a human?

She is human. This can be further proven by the fact that:

She can bleed. As seen during the flashbacks of the war from several episodes, namely one and two. If it was oil, it would've been black; which it wasn't.
She has emotions. She was worried about Major Gilbert and was curious about the meaning of the phrase, 'I love you' and how it made her feel.

She only looks like a robot because of her mechanical arms. She lost her human arms during the war. She is only awkward, because she never understood how to interact with other individuals in a normal society. She only knows how to act like a soldier.


Where can I find an English dub of Naruto Shippuden episodes 78-140?

On the Anime and Manga Meta we have a list of Legal Streaming Sites. i don't stream myself so i wouldn't know if the episodes are on there. do be aware that some sites do employ Geoblocking which, depending on where you live, you may be redirected to a local site or prevented from using it all together (as with some Youtube Chanels)

If the Episodes you are looking to Stream are not there the other alternative and legal path is to buy the DVDs. Dubbed wise Collections 6-11 have Episodes 66-140. this RightStuf Search Result has these Collections available to buy, they ship internationally but the DVDs are Region 1, which is fine if you are in the US or have the equipment/programs to use Region 1 DVDs (ie. a Region Free Player).

if you are in Australia then Madman list some of these collections but not all of them (no idea why they just stop after Collection 8)


In Japanese, Pikari (ぴかり) is one of the numerous mimetic words of the language, meaning "in a flash"/"sparklingly"/"brilliantly", mostly associated with thunder and lightning. (Also, Hikari itself means "light", but I don't really know if it's related or not.)

Given the energetic and cheerful nature of Hikari, it's a fitting nickname.

Some references :

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_sound_symbolism
http://jisho.org/word/%E3%81%B4%E3%81%8B%E3%82%8A


Does Dragonball super have only 1 underworld? Or one per universe?

I'm pretty sure that each universe has its own heaven and hell. We know that a universe is divided into four quadrants and each has its own Kai. Then there is the Grand Kai who governs them. After that we have the Supreme Kai who looks over the entire afterlife and the universe.

There is an extensive system of Kais to govern the entire universe, including the afterlife. It can be concluded that because each universe has its own Supreme Kai (and of course, the God of Destruction), it also has its own underworld.


Forever would have been impossible. The weakness to Rolo's time stopping Geass is that it also stops his heart, so he'd die quickly enough from it being in permanent use, which in turn would stop the geass. Same goes for him overusing it. The limit of his geass comes from a sort of body-based time limit (surviving while his heart is stopped) preventing extended use, rather than a limit of the power itself. Below is a quote from this page, which I've spoilered out for plot reasons.

   Its weakness was that it stopped Rolo's heart when used, limiting its activation to short bursts. A large number of people was also more difficult to stop, as Rolo was exhausted after he projected a field encompassing a majority of the school's campus. Finally, this Geass was unable to stop inanimate objects or physical phenomena such as speed and momentum. Rolo ultimately died when he overused his power in a short amount of time.


Does anyone know the violin song that Toshiya Miike plays after Kousei's performance in episode 13?

It seems to be:

Elgar: Violin Sonata in E minor, Op 82 Vengerov

Or [エルガー： ヴァイオリン・ソナタ ホ短調 作品82 ヴェンゲーロフ] if in Japanese.

Here is a link to the piece: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOutOaSMHZ4


Who are these two students in the back of Itoshiki's class?

They are extras that were used in the Pani Poni Dash series, the series that Shaft worked on before the Zetsubou Sensei series. The director Shinbou is known for throwing in references and parodies of previous works.


What kind of drawing format is this? Pictures with litle box on top left

What kind of drawing format is this?

It's a "Circle Cut".

In this context, "Circle" means "Doujinshi circle", and "Cut" means "Cut-out". It's exclusively used in a doujinshi market place such as Comiket, Comitia, etc to be used in the catalog.

The format is:

A little box on the upper-left: Indexing/Stall location (to be explained later)
Text inside the box on the upper-right (or none): Circle's name
The rest of the area: Free image, can be a unique image for identifying the artist, or anything related to the circle's current merchandise

  What's the little box on top left for?

The little box on the top-left is used for Indexing/Stall location. Inside the catalog, there's a list of circle-cuts with their stall location, as shown for example in the Comiket 90 catalog:

Catalog for Comiket 90, date 12 (Friday), East Hall 4-6. Left page showing stall モ43-モ60, right page showing stall ヤ1-ヤ17

For reference, this is the map of Tokyo Big Sight for East Hall 4-6:

Map of Tokyo Big Sight, East Hall 4-6

  And what's the meaning of 'C..' on title? And what does the number stand for?

It's the identification of the n-th Comiket.

As mentioned before, it's used in a doujinshi market like Comiket. Comiket is done 2 times per year (summer & winter) and each event is always identified by its serialization/number, such as Comiket 92 (C92) in this Summer 2017.

Reference:

What the heck is a "Circle Cut"?!
Comiket Event Report Part 2 - Guidelines for Comiket


Why is it that English dubbed anime shows still use Japanese words such as Senpai and many others?

There are some Japanese words (particularly honorifics) that don't have any good translations. Senpai is a good example of them, though it doesn't actually mean master or teacher. It basically means upperclassman, though it's broader than just for school and basically counts anyone more senior in work or school (though not a teacher).

One reason that they likely keep it in instead of just taking out words that aren't easily translatable altogether is that the mouth movements need to roughly match. If there's a character whose name always has "senpai" after it, for example, the easiest way to make that work is to just leave the word senpai in instead of stretching for a bad translation.

There are also some words that end up being used as essentially proper nouns. Jutsus in Naruto, for example, (as far as I remember) are called that in the English dub and translations as well because it is used as just a word in the Naruto world, where the meaning can be gleaned from context and past usage.


Who is the guy with blue hair in the picture?

That's Hayate from Hayate no Gotoku and apparently, the tiger is also from the same series, he's Tama

Ayasaki Hayate
Tama

Hayate's character description

  Butler of the Sanzenin, Hayate, although underage, has had to work to support his unemployed parents. He moved from job to job since he was nine, but through this he has gained considerable and practical knowledge on how the world works. However, Hayate has terrible luck. Called a 'combat butler', Hayate is skilled with firearms and is physically invincible, even surviving after being hit by vehicles.


What purpose does Zoro's third sword actually serve?

Tl;DR Zoro's Third sword serves a critical and crucial purpose in his ability to use the "Three Swords Style" which is exponentially more powerful. The synergy between the multiple swords is what makes his sword style more complete and usable in an effective form. The difference lies in "between using (just) three swords and three sword style".

Detailed: For us to understand the use/purpose of Zoro's Three Swords you've to assume that One Piece exists in a separate universe and our understanding of things are not the same. This simple assumption allows us to remove a bias when trying to explain "Fantasy Universe Physics"

From a young age Zoro has been shown to be shown possessing unnatural strength, capable of besting opponents far beyond his age. He used Two Swords because he assumed, two were better than one. However, being bested in a thousand duels to Kuina made him rethink. Post her death he decided to use her sword (Wado ichimonji) as one of his primary weapons, just to fulfill both their dreams of being the strongest swordsmen. To this purpose he trained his mouth and neck to extreme lengths to attain the strength, accuracy and flexibility required to use the sword.

Now since no one else has been shown to use Santoryuu in OP universe, I think we can safely assume Zoro invented and developed the style and its techniques while growing up. This chapter front page shows how his juniors are trying to imitate and learn his style in his old Dojo Source: Chapter 807: Cover page

Now, what makes this viable his Zoro's effort and training to develop a comprehensive "Three Swords Style" aka Santoryuu. He is not using just Three swords, he is using the "synergy" between the three swords to gain more power and use techniques which are impossible to use with one or two swords. This was explained early on by Zoro himself in his battle against the NyanNyan brothers.

We've seen numerous instances of this throughout One Piece. Zoro talking about his (in)ability to fight with one sword against Nyan Brothers, his surprise when Mihawk blocks his attack or him mastering new moves. (Pound Cannon, Asura etc.)


Thanks to @Krazer.

The characters in the scene seem to be Ikkyuu and Shin'emon from Ikkyū-san.

The low-effort scribbles are signifying that they are characters from another series and want to avoid copyright issues, like how many MacDonalds in anime are called WacDonalds or similar.

I think it's not parodying a particular scene but instead just making fun of Shin'emon's cleft chin:


Why are the shounen lead protagonists usually shown to be stupid?

This is a common archetype in many forms of fiction, not just shounen anime and manga. for instance, many seinen romance series have protagonists who are usually at or below average intelligence, e.g. Clannad, Chobits, though seinen also has some intelligent protagonists like those from Death Note or Ghost in the Shell. Shoujo series also sometimes use this archetype. However, I suspect it is especially common in shounen series and other series targeted at children.

One reason for this is that if the protagonist frequently spends a lot of time deeply considering things, and comes up with complicated logical thinking to justify his actions, it can easily confuse some of the viewers, particularly younger children. In a mystery series, this might be acceptable, because the viewer is expecting to have to think critically to follow what's going on, but in an action series, it detracts from what most people are watching for.

Another reason is that for the protagonist to be a good hero (or arguably even a good antihero), they need to be identifiable to the average viewer. It's easy to identify with people who aren't as smart as you are, because at some point in your life you were like that. Since some of the viewers will be fairly young, to make this work you need to make the character at or below their intellectual level, which makes them appear really dumb considering their age. It's much harder to identify with someone who is far smarter than you. Extremely intelligent characters are supposed to be impressive rather than identifiable (e.g. Light and L from Death Note, who are identifiable in other ways, but not in terms of their  intelligence). Of course, it's also possible to just make the character average intelligence and not put any emphasis on that direction (and lots of series do this), but shounen protagonists tend to be more like caricatures than real people, i.e. they have exaggerated features and characteristics, and intelligence is often one of them.

It's also worth noting that most shounen action shows were, at least originally, marketed to young boys. Most young boys are far more interested in being strong than in being smart. By making the character below-average intelligence, but unbelievably strong, it makes the character simultaneously identifiable and admirable.

There's also the comedy aspect. Almost all of these series involve comedy. For whatever reason, many people find people doing stupid things to be funny. A lot of these series exploit this by making the protagonist almost useless outside of battle. In the traditional Manzai style of comedy, they play the boke role, which is usually the more interesting role (hence fitting of the protagonist). That isn't to say that intelligent characters can't be comical, but it isn't as easily exploitable with little-to-no effort as it is if the protagonist is unintelligent.

Finally, the protagonists in most of these series are idealists. Intelligence, by and large, correlates with pragmatism, at least in anime. Pragmatic characters make good generals, but typically not interesting ones. To put it a different way, pragmatism wins wars, but idealism leads to epic battles, and in an action series that's what counts. Dragon Ball wouldn't be nearly as interesting if Goku resorted to some form of guerrilla tactics to win each battle, even though it might make things easier. The protagonist usually has some more level-headed allies who will pull out if they really are in a losing battle (e.g. Nami, Piccolo), but these characters aren't the ones you're supposed to identify with. Also, idealism is often portrayed as admirable in these series, which further adds to the character's good qualities.

There's also the aspect of tradition, as kuwaly's answer points out. So I think there are a lot of reasons why it works well to have an idiot hero in shounen action series, so it's understandable why they are common.


Why didn't Hanekawa want to go home during Mayoi Snail?

In the middle of the last episode of the "Mayoi Snail" arc, we are told that Araragi is being led astray by Hachikuji after he didn't want to go home, because he was:

  feeling awkward because it's Mother's Day, fought with [his] sister, and didn't want to go home

Moreover, past 14 minutes into the episode:

  The condition for encountering a lost cow is to have a desire not to go home. But everyone feels that way at some point. After all, everyone has family problems.

So it doesn't have to be a particularly strong lack of desire to go home -- it doesn't have to be something "big" enough to lead to another appearance of Black Hanekawa.

Having thus obtained an explanation for why he saw Hachikuji from Senjougahara, Araragi thinks of Hanekawa, and concludes to himself that Hanekawa was able to see Hachikuji because of her family problems:

  And so did [Hanekawa]. Carrying the weight of bad blood and strain within her family . . .

So it simply looks like while Hanekawa's stress with her parents dissipated somewhat after the first Black Hanekawa possession, the underlying problems were never resolved. For instance, in the beginning of "Tsubasa Tiger", which is in the second season of the series and which is after Bakemonogatari

   we learn that Hanekawa (still) doesn't have a room of her own in her house, and sleeps on the floor

So, at the very least, it looks like Araragi thinks that Hanekawa's ability to see Hachikuji is entirely to be expected, and not a cause for concern about new developments. It's possible that Hanekawa is keeping her friend in the dark about things -- if I'm not mistaken, in the "Suruga Monkey" arc, we see her lying to Araragi about where she is. But even if something new has come up between her and her parents, it probably isn't anything out of the ordinary, at least in that we never see any more detail go into this in the anime and in that it never turns into a massive crisis on its own.


Why wasn't Hisoka interested in fighting Meruem?

Re-post:
Because he had no clue that the ants even existed in the first place, Illumi informs him about the entire incident and its results at the start of the "gon restoration arc".


I understand why you would think that as fused characters tend to be very strong. However, it is certainly possible for even a regular character to be stronger than a fusion. For example, SSJB Goku was holding his own against a Kefla, Base Vegeta beats up SSJ3 Gotenks etcThat said, Jiren's level of power is not an unattainable feat. At least his base power was compared to a God of Destruction and all of the G.O.D are random individuals who have trained to attain their levels of strength. Even Goku achieves a level far beyond when he masters Ultra Instinct. Even Broly was able to reach a level comparable to a G.O.D.Plus, being a fusion would completely contradict Jiren's character. Jiren has been indicated to be a loner who doesn't seek help from anyone and would much rather work by himself on account of his traumatic past. Fusion would imply he's dependent on someone else for his strength. So clearly, the character is not a fusion.


As mentioned above, there are several movies in the GITS franchise, and being more specific would be helpful.

  Have the Ghost In The Shell animated movies made any profit?

Not according to box office sales for those movies released in theaters.

  "How can a series so good and influential flop financially?"

You are trying to correlate how a movie is received by critics and/or fans with how well it does at the box office. But, unfortunately, there are many factors that affect how well a movie does at the box office; positive reviews don't guarantee financial success. Just to recap, I put the budget and gross for the above mentioned movies based on IMDB, Box Office Mojo, and Wikipedia for regional releases.

Ghost in the Shell (1995)

Budgeted: approx 5.4 million USD
Domestic Gross: $515,905
Foreign (Japan, UK only): $2.3 million USD

Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence (2004)

Budgeted: approx 18 million USD
Domestic Gross:  $1,043,896
Foreign Gross: $8,745,755
Worldwide: $9,789,651

  Do the box office figures include income from Japan?

In some cases, a movie may be released in different countries during different times. You may be strictly looking at a specific regional release. Your absolute best bet to look at Box Office - Worldwide, where both domestic and foreign gross totals are included. This will give you a better idea of how well the movie financially performed.

  Do the box office figures include DVD sales?

No. The box office gross is basically the total of all the ticket sales for that movie.

  Or something else? Surely they wouldn't keep financing something unprofitable.

The GITS franchise does exist outside of box office movies. When you consider other sources of revenue such as the manga, direct-to-dvd or blu-ray sales, merchandise sales, international licensing fees, etc. you'll start to see the bigger financial picture. It is not uncommon for manga publishers to use anime to increase revenue for their source material which is almost always the manga. In fact, if an anime release doesn't perform well, but it boosts manga sales, it's not considered a loss at all. It's the cost of doing business. How the anime industry produces profit is very fascinating because sometimes the goal of anime isn't to produce a profit, it's to maintain viewership, or promote source (or branded) material, and sales of merchandise.


How does the travel works in One Piece universe?

It's been revealed there are several ways to travel apart from traditional ships.  It's also been hinted that the islands range from prehistoric to scifi advanced, so there are methods yet to be revealed.

For example, Rayleigh swam from the Grand Line through the Calm Belt to reach the Amazon's Island.
Skypieans have been shown to have flying devices and shells that could propel.
Amazons have been shown to use creatures to pull the boats.
Blackbeard's boat is just a giant raft, implying they just use a sail and row. (Given the strength of the characters in this class, chances are that there were a lot of rowing involved)
Franky came up with Coup de Burst, which also lets them cross vast distances quickly.
Several subs have been shown so far including Wapol, and the Heart Pirates indicating travel without need for waves. The Marines probably have access to this tech (at least, Z's Neo Marines did).
More importantly, several fruits aid in propulsion. Ace used fire to power his skateboat.  Whitebeard could probably just cause waves even in the Calm Belt to propel his ships (and quite fast I might add, based on wave size and speed).  Dragon (though not confirmed how) was the reason for the gust of wind that helped Straw Hats escape from Loguetown. He may be using similar methods. Dragon also used to have Bartholomew Kuma, who can repel things and land them anywhere in the world.
Several characters, including Sanji, can use Moonwalk.


Do songs that get used as openings/endings get sped up as well as cut?

As far as I know, theme songs are picked or created based on the anime's themes (if the song is appropriate with the anime's story) and its length will only be cut shorter while the tempo will stay the same (with the exception of course if the production decided to have another version of the opening to include in their OST).

However, most anime openings have faster tempo than endings to have that kind of "excitement feel" or some kind of "momentum" as an anime starts. But it really depends on the theme of the anime. If the anime has a tragic theme or a sad love story theme, sometimes production decides to have an opening song that has lower tempo, or a sad song, but mostly, it will have a faster tempo than its ending.


Her full name is Yukiyo Abe.

Japanese Wikipedia listed her name as

  アベ ユキヨ（黒髪ポニーテール）
  Yukiyo Abe (Black Ponytail)

MyAnimeList also confirms the name as

  Yukiyo "500 Year Old One" Abe

As for why the translator seemed to confuse "Yukiyo" with "Yukiko", コ (ko) and ヨ (yo) looks similar, having only 1 stroke difference. In addition of that, Yukiko is a more popular name in Japan than Yukiyo. Note however, her name is never written in kanji, thus there is no official kanji representation of her name.


Why are Kurenai's eyes the way they are?

They are not related to sharingan in any way. The are simply because of their genes. Like we have green eyes , brown eyes and stuff. There never has been any canonical opinion about it in anime or in manga. Even so, the manga is coming to an end and still there is no hint of having any powers or any affiliation with the sharingan.


How much can something that is attached to a blood seal be damaged?

That's right. If you look at Barry and the Slicer Brothers the older bother was nothing but a head before Lust smashed his seal. Barry was completely broken, but only died when the flames burned his seal.

In Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood Barry has a bigger role and helps Ed.  In the end all that's left of him is one piece of metal that his seal is on, and he is still able to talk though it.  He only dies when his body scratches the seal off.


According to EXA_PICO wikia, Cocona is a 3rd generation IPD Reyvateil.
This, of course, needs a bit more explanation.

Reyvateils are artificial life forms created to use Song Magic. There are Purebloods and Halfbloods Reyvateil.

There are sub-classification under those two categories, but let's focus on Cocona.

By being a 3rd generation Reyvateil, it means Cocona was born from a Reyvateil mother and a human father. Normally, those children tend to be normal humans, but there are cases in which the Reyvateil genes are strong, causing the Song Servers to recognize such human as a Reyvateil.
As such, those Reyvateils tend to have a shorter life span, since their human body is not made to endure the constant energy surge form using Song Magic.
Yet, differently from Pureblood Reyvateils, they can live outside of their tower's range. That makes their Reyvateil part go dormant and they can live as normal humans.

Cocona is also an IPD, meaning she does not connect to the "correct" server, but to the Infel Phira server. The whole IPD situation is from the game's story and I guess there is no need to delve to deep on it.

So, to cut it short, I guess the fact that Cocona was a 3rd generation Reyvateil was already known or obvious to the other characters, since 3rd generation Reyvateils were not uncommon.


What is the name of the tune that Black always whistles?

Ep11 seems to suggest that it's Magic Flute's Overture but slowed down.
Well, they did use Ode to Joy as well (Albeit, usage is not as epic as Evan), so I'm assuming that they also selected another classical piece to be in.

In EP 11:
1659-1723 King of Despair hums that song at an extremely slow pace.
1723-2017 his hum is replaced with orchestra version which seems to increase in speed after a while.

Compare to 1:27 and set the speed to 0.5. Or a different source at here at 5:38.

credits to ʞɹɐzǝɹ for bringing 'Overture' up.

man you got me thinking about Hibike Euphonium all over again.


Why didn't Edward Elric get his leg back?

This is probably difference in translation. In the manga it is made pretty clear. The entire conversation is about Al only. Look at the following transmutations and the sacrifices. Ed sacrificed his leg and Al his body for their Mother. Ed sacrificed his hand for Al's soul. Al gave his soul for Ed's hand. Ed gives up his transmutation gate for Al's body and soul.

I don't remember the entire conversation in the Anime, but in the Manga, Following conversation takes place.
Ref: Chapter 108 of the Manga

  The Truth: Come for your brother, Eh? But how do you plan to extract an enitre human being? How will you pay? Will you offer YOUR entire being?
  Ed: I've got your payment right here. It's really big though. [..]
  The Truth: That's the right answer Alchemist. You've beaten the truth. Claim your prize. All of it.

Thus to me it seemed that the bargain was Al's entire being. All of it.

Now, you could always argue that the exchange wasn't "equivalent" and Ed should have asked for his leg back as well. We could talk about this all day! But just touching on the very surface, its about the main themes of FMA. Personal Responsibility and Sacrifice. Both Ed and Al are ready to sacrifice everything for each other. But Ed wouldn't use a philospher Stone or even Hohenheim himself to bring Al's body or his limbs back. This has been reiterated several times. In the end Ed is satisfied with what he can get and be normal, because he still has his friends.

Edit: @Maroon also highlights the difference in translation, by mentioning the Cantonese dub. This further supports the differences in translation.

  I'll also note that in the Cantonese dub of the same episode, Truth appears to say something more along the lines of "Take what you came to retrieve, then [now that you've defeated me]!" rather than "Take everything you want!"


What's the music that plays on episode 10 when The Blue King comes and visits Anna in Homra's Bar?

That's the song from the movie K: Missing Kings. It's the 2nd track of the OST, titled "New Kings".


Regular bullets can't pierce most Kagune, but there are special bullets used by CCG which are more effective. Q_Bullets, or Bullets coated with a thin layer of quinque steel, are enhanced bullets which do deal damage to Ghouls.

That being said, stronger ghouls are generally resistant to even those, as we see the top tier S and SS rated ghouls tank the bullets. Weaker ghouls are at risk of death as much as a bullet to a regular human is if they don't have good regenerative powers. You can see that best in chapter 60, which in the anime is 10-11 minutes into episode 11 of season 1, as the last few pages have Juuzo use Marudes bike to jump into a ghoul infested building, and he uses a machine gun to punch dozens of holes into a couple of ghouls heads, even showing them off in the manga.


Can the Kekkai Touta be achieved by anyone with 3 chakra natures?

No, it's not possible, maybe it's too late for the answer but anyway;
the only ones teachable are the 5 basic elements (if the individual is compatible with them) and some Kekkai Genkais that are transmittable like sharingan etc.
So the point is if the individual does not have in his blood you can't teach him how to use it or activate it, for your question, if someone does not have that Kekkai Touta you cannot teach him those jutsus. it's exactly the same with Kakashi, even though he could use up to 4 chakra natures but he couldn't copy any technique that's based on Kekkai Genkai or Kekkai Touta simply because he doesn't have that Kekkai Genkai ou Kekkai Touta.
So mastering the 5 elements doesn't give the ability to use Kekkai Genkai or Kekkai Touta.


What is the piano piece played at the end of airplane flashback on episode 19 of Nodame Cantabile season 1?

It's the piano/slow version of the opening theme, "Allegro Cantabile". (YouTube Link)


Milk, regeneration properties for devil fruit users?

It is a gag and actually just applies for Brook and Luffy. The calcium in the milk is good for bones and Brook is nothing but bones (It is mentioned at Thriller Bark, even in the anime) and Luffy has huge regenerative powers whenever he eats or drinks (remember Alabasta when he pumped water in his almost dead dry body).


Does a story book need a manga before it can be made into an anime?

Original anime adaptations aside, anime productions are traditionally funded by major publishers to promote their particular products (novels, manga, games, merchandise) or talents (singers, musicians, voice actors). Anime production is not necessarily limited to manga. Recently there has been an increasing trend in the adaptations of light novels over manga. One of the biggest and most compelling reasons is that light novels have much more content to work with for 1 to 2 cour series.

The specifics vary between production commitees, but adaptations of non-japanese are very rare, unless the work is very well-know or respected within the Japanese community. Partially due to the costs and complications involved in costs and licensing and negotiations, if you don't have a big well-known label backing you.

If your country has an established animation industry, you're more likely to have them do an adaptation of your work than in Japan, assuming your work is well received enough to merit one.

However if you still are deadset on pursing such a course. One approach Korean companies have been doing however is the use of webtoon comics to promote a particular novel series. Notable examples within the English scanlation communities are Solo Leaving and Legendary Moonlight Sculptor. With enough traction from audiences there is a slight chance for your particular series to catch the eyes of publishers.

Webcomics are a very viable way to promote your work to a wider audience as they tend to make things easier to digest for the masses, assuming you are or can find a company artist willing to collaborate in your vision. Webcomics can also provide you with the opportunities to experiment and dabble in concepts you would not usually be able and see how your audience react in a faster matter. How well or poorly your work is received relies heavily on your ability to manage, plan, and collaborate. With enough traction maybe one-day you can achieve what you are striving for.


I've only seen the original anime, so I might have a wrong idea about her personality (and thus motives). My first guess is that on the train, she's just in the general public and has no reason to cover it up (not to mention the outfit looks like it shows some cleavage, which might be helpful and seems to be in line with her personality) while for the date she covers up to hide the mark from the military who may or may not know about it. Even if they don't, it's definitely an interesting mark that would draw attention.

My second guess is simply that she covers up on the date to look more modest and less "slutty".


When characters take off their glasses, why do their eyes turn into a "lip eyes" icon?

The "3" is a stylized (and humorous) way of showing the characters squinting their eyes, which then look somewhat like a "3".

Most glasses wearer — especially the young ones — are short-sighted, so whenever they take off their glasses, they start squinting. The "3" is used in a similar fashion to depict pouting characters, like with the following emoji:

(°3°)

A variation of this is the famous へのへのもへじ (henohenomoheji), which uses Hiragana characters that look somewhat like facial features and is used almost exclusively for humorous purposes:

Image taken from RocketNews24


Why is sanity a recurring theme in Haiyore Nyaruko-san?

Haiyore Nyaruko-san is based on Lovecraft's mythos, which includes the concept of Eldritch abomination. It has been said that when one gazes at or even think about such abominations, they will slowly lose their sanity as they are beyond comprehension. Many of the characters in his works regularly succumbs to insanity, slowly but surely. It is a common theme that these characters are vulnerable and fragile, keeping up with his other theme of humanity being insignificant when compared to the grand scheme of the universe.

It's a recurring theme in the anime because it is based on a work that has the loss of sanity as a recurring theme.

It should also be noted that Nyaruko is a satire of the mythos. Many of the tropes and themes in the anime are greatly exaggerated because of this. They are hyperbolic to achieve a comedic effect.

As for the Sanity points, it may refer to the many board games that has a Lovecraftian theme. Board games such as Betrayal at House on the Hill would be just one example, as it uses sanity checks as part of its gameplay.

Source

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lovecraftian_horror
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nyaruko:_Crawling_with_Love


Before watching "Tokyo Ghoul:re" anime, is it necessary to read the manga to understand the story?

Assuming you have seen the previous two seasons (anime) - Yes, you can watch Tokyo Ghoul:re without reading the manga.

It's fine if you didn't understand the first episode. Things will gradually be explained in the anime, though not in much depth as in the manga, but you will start understanding the story. Just hang on to it for a while...

If you can't wait that long and insist on knowing the back story (which will probably be explained in the anime later), then go on and read the spoilers below.

The ending of Season 2

   There was a battle between Kaneki and Arima in the end of Season 2. Kaneki was seriously wounded (Arima pierced his brain through the back of the skull, destroyed his left eye and then finished the fight with the stab through the other eye).

The story of Haise Sasaki

   Kaneki survives and becomes a prisoner at Cochlea (3rd floor), but becomes amnesiac (experiences total or sometimes partial loss of memories). Arima started bringing him books in the prison and his health improved substantially. Since he lost his memories, Arima gave him a new name using his (formerly Ken Kaneki)'s two favorite kanji from the words "coffee" and "world" - Haise (Haise Sasaki as the one in the anime currently being aired).

The Quinx Squad

   The CCG then decides for Haise (formerly Ken Kaneki) to be the mentor and overseer of the Quinx squad under the supervision of Arima. The Quinx members are referred to as humans with built-in quinque in their bodies, drawing a distinction between them and normal one-eyed ghouls. The members are regarded as human research subjects who have undergone the surgical procedure developed by Dr. Kouitsu Chigyou.

And there you have it, the current Quinx squad (Kuki Urie, Saiko Yonebayashi, Tooru Mutsuki and Ginshi Shirazu) under the mentorship of Haise Sasaki as seen in episode 1 of season 3.


Void Century: how can a whole century go by without anyone knowing what happened?

The World Government is heavily protective of whatever happened during the Void Century, and actively seeks to keep people in the dark about it. They burned every book they could find that contained info on the subject, and killed everyone they found who knew about it while preventing as much info from leaking as possible. The Ohara incident is a direct example of that; its inhabitants knew too much about the Void Century to be allowed to live.


Does a Jinchuuriki gain the nature of his/her tailed beast?

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

Example pro:

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

Example against:

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

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

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


Why did the storm dragon's name change from Verudora to Veldora in the anime?

The japanese writing system doesn't have a symbol for just the l sound. The closest they have are the symbols in the r column in the kana table. The u row is most often used when the vowel is silent. So you end up with ru: ル. Which means that if you ask someone to write Veldora in katakana they would effectively write Verudora.

However when translating to a latin alphabet and you only have the katakana to base yourself on you must try and divine what the author wanted with the name. Official translators can ask the author though sometimes there is a delay with the reply. So the translators have to go with something until they got the official answer back.


Why are some Titan Shifters able to harden their Titan bodies when most can't?

The fact that Annie can harden her Titan form and Eren couldn't is because there are different types of Titan power in existence.

The complete explanation is as below.

Massive Spoiler Alert

   In the manga it is later revealed that all Titan powers came from Ymir Fritz, an ancient Fritz family monarch. According to Eldian mythology, over 1,820 years ago, Ymir came across what is only described as the "source of all organic material". With this discovery, Ymir gained the power of the Titans, becoming the 'Progenitor of all Titans'.

 After 13 years Ymir met her death, and her "soul" was split between nine successors, giving these nine Titan powers. Throughout history, these powers are inherited by the 'Eldians' or the 'Subjects of Ymir'.

 The Titan power that Eren possesses is called the 'Attack Titan'(進撃の巨人 Shingeki no Kyojin). The names of powers of other Titan Shifters is not yet revealed but they are also among the nine.

 This the reason that the Titan Shifters possess different powers.

 Sources

   Ymir Fritz
   Eren Yeager


Where can I find the copyright owner of the anime? Do I really need it for fan products?

For legal questions such as these, it is always good to contact a copyright lawyer in your country. Laws regarding fair use, copyrights and the likes differ per country, and a copyright lawyer should be more than capable of answering your questions. And this answer should not be seen as legal advice.
Beyond that, yes, you'd likely need a license. And should contact the original IP holder (or their legal departments) to obtain it see also Who do I contact regarding rights licenses of specific manga/anime characters?
To quote sharur's answer on Law.SE addressing the creation of fan-made merchandise of the game Overwatch.

... This is exactly the situation that IP law (e.g. copyright and trademark) was created to address. Blizzard created the game and so they have rights to control and benefit from derivatives there of. There are some exceptions, but prints, buttons, and keychains are not likely to meet the requirements for those.

Additionally, you can also take a look at Printing copyrighted logos on t-shirts/jackets/apparel without permission: in which situations is it legal? which covers another angle on a similar idea.


Can Naruto create unlimited Rasenshurikens anytime in future?

No, I don't think so. I believe that Kyuubi's chakra isn't unlimited.

   First, Kyuubi cares, that Naruto wastes it's chakra. Second, Hachibi's fight against Sandaime Raikage suggests, that the chakra of a beast isn't unlimited, because Hachibi was knocked out because of exhaustion. Because the beasts are pure chakra, I think that would mean, that it has too less chakra.


What is the cause of the zombie outbreak?

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

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


Are Mikasa and Levi the only two Ackermans alive?

As quoted at attackontitanwiki

Only two known members are left.

It looks like only Mikasa and Levi are alive
Also, some other members are listed here


Why were they surprised they couldn't send e-mails when the network was closed off in the first place?

A network doesn't have to be public. Network is just a bunch of computers that are able to share their content between each other.

So they weren't able to communicate within their network nor with the outside world.

They probably could communicate to the outside world before through a proxy server that is within their control only.

Image and further explanation on wikipedia


What happened to Reiner and Bertolt after Clash of the Titans arc?

After the Clash of Titans arc, we don't hear from the two again until right at the end of chapter 70, where we see Bertolt atop the defeated form of Reiner's Armored Titan:

After this, his opponent (the Beast Titan) shifts out of his Titan form and confirms their objective - that they indeed cannot return without what they came for; Eren, or the coordinate with the phrase,

  "Reclaiming the coordinate should be prioritised, right?"

After this, the chapter ends with the Beast Titan's shifter gazing over the ruins of the Shiganshina district:

The trio, including Reiner and Bertolt are left lying in wait for the Survey Corps at this location, as they know that will try and retake Wall Maria and gain access to Eren's basement. Chapter 72 finishes with the Survey Corps heading back to Wall Maria, with the two shown camping atop the walls of Shiganshina. A meeting between both groups will likely occur in the next chapter, where we will be able to see exactly what they have in store for Eren.


Why didn't Annie take Eren out of his Titan when she kicked and beat him in the head during their fight in Stohess?

There will be a second time skip in the manga, my knowledge is drawn from scenes shown after that.

   As it is shown in Reiners memories, Annie is part of team of Marley's Titan kids and they are on a mission, basically doing espionage. But very early one of them gets killed and Reiner convinces the remaining two that they have to come back with something substantial in exchange. In the course of their infiltration they indeed target Eren for abduction, however Annie is exposed without having much of a plan at the time, eventually realizing that Eren may have become a match for her. She is completely within enemies' territory and Levi's squad has shown her the enemy is quite capable of killing her. Having her cover blown was the worst thing that could have happen to her. Annie's primary goal at the time was to retreat and regroup, she was fully aware that any unnecessary action would be an opportunity for the enemy to incapacitate her. She only fought Eren at this point because she was aware he would (and effectively did) prevent her to escape. Maybe she also panicked a little.

However, I can probably summarize with: Fleeing was the most intelligent thing to do at the time.


All we know about Zeff is that he was strong enough to sail his crew around the Grand Line for a year.

This was a big deal in the East Blue, where even Don Krieg couldn't last a week in the Grand Line, but doesn't tell us that much about his power.

Before the timeskip, Luffy and Zoro had been in the Grand Line for less than a year, and had both become pretty strong, so he could potentially be even much stronger than they were, but also pirates like Foxy and fake Luffy seemed to be quite relaxed in the Grand Line and weren't anywhere near as powerful, so there's a pretty big range in what strength a year in the Grand Line might get you.

It was ten years ago that Zeff travelled the Grand Line, and the only two things that really bought the Strawhats fame were defeating Rob Lucci and Luffy's actions in the Whitebeard War. Zeff might have done some impressive things, but wouldn't necessarily become super famous, and ten years is quite a while for people to forget him.

Also, having lost a leg and gotten older, it's pretty sure that he's a lot weaker than he was, and it's unlikely at best that he would be as strong as the Strawhats these days.


What did the old man say to the bartender at the end?

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

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

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

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

 and the old man was supposed to win.

The fact that the old man arrives after the young man

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


The premise of your question is wrong. He doesn't have to. He wanted to. He wanted to kill END, but he actually doesn't have to kill END.

Okay, let me explain what I mean by the statement above. Gray figured that Natsu is END. Does he have to kill Natsu? No. Natsu was perfectly human at that time, and as long as he is human and have control of himself, there would be no reason for him to kill Natsu. Besides, at that time the Spriggan 12 is yet to be eliminated. Obviously Spriggan 12 is a bigger threat than END that is clearly on his side. So, once again, he doesn't have to kill END (at least not at that time) and he certainly shouldn't either.

But, Gray wanted to kill END. This is the difference. He wanted to kill END, because END is one of the Demons of the Book of Zeref. Gray is obsessed with killing all of Zeref's demons (and eventually Zeref himself) because Deliora has killed his family and later his master, Ur. He is motivated by vengeance, and this desires blinded him about the fact that END is a nakama. This is proved by Erza managing to stop him by making him remember that no matter what, Natsu is still Natsu.


Do Bang, Bomb and Genos know who killed Elder Centipede?

The credit for defeating Elder Centipede Centichoro probably went to king like how he usually gets it for the monsters defeated by Saitama. But in the matter of Genos, Bang and Bomb knowing who actually defeated Centichoro, Genos knew it was Saitama.

Because as soon as the centipede disintegrated, Genos asked Saitama what is he lacking again?

Genos asked.

  "What is it that master (Saitama) has and I don't?".

And Saitama reply.

  "Power I guess"

This means that Genos knew Saitama was the one and wanted to know how is he able to defeat these monsters so easily.

As for Bang and Bomb, they are quite exceptional martial artists. Their sense of everything is extraordinary. So I doubt that they didn't realize it was Saitama who finished off the Elder Centipede.

Moreover, Bang already has an idea of Saitama's strength because of the meteor incident and also, from the time Bang and Saitama were competing over some games at the dojo.


Who saved Hatchin from drowning in episode 7?

It is not clear whether this woman is someone whom the viewers have met. However, with the flow of the episode around this point, it is not unthinkable that this is someone whom we know; if it were not, I might expect this scene to be structured differently. (For instance, it might make more sense for Hatchin to hear someone yelling for help, along with the silhouette.)

If it is indeed someone we know, the most likely answer then is that this is Anastacia. There are only two women who appear in this episode: Michiko and Anastacia. Michiko's hair extends far beyond shoulder-length, and in this part of the episode, she is wearing trousers.

Meanwhile, Anastacia is wearing a skirt in this part of the episode, and her hair is a lot closer to shoulder-length.

Anastacia's appearance thus matches that of the silhouette a lot better: notice that there is no space between its legs, so the woman in question is probably wearing a skirt or a dress. The hair-length also matches that of the silhouette, which has something like a bob, somewhat. (It is less important that the hair-length of the silhouette and of the character match up entirely. Hatchin could well be seeing the silhouette of someone bent over, looking into the water. When someone bends over, a good portion of her hair may shift downwards, if her hair is both long enough to fall forward and short enough that it will not stay on her back. This would lead to a silhouette with shorter hair than that of the woman to which it corresponds.)


What is meant by "finished with a super 'DAH'"?

The corpses form the Katakana character "ダ", which is pronounced as "Da".


Why doesn't Eren's Founding Titan ability to control other titans work on Rod Reiss' titan?

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

Warning: Spoilers ahead

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


Song in episode 13 when Sakuta and Mai were on a late-night date

It should be 青春ブタ野郎 (Seishun Buta Yarou). The BGM in the scene is rather faint but the piano melody line matches up. This is the first track on the OST release and clearly takes its name from the title of the series itself.


Manga with a prodigal martial artist whose body is limited to half power by his father

This is Aiki.

Kunitoshi Joukyuu is a lazy ass, good for nothing pervert. Who also happens to be a supposed genius master of Aikido, the strongest in the world, if not because his father sealed away most of his abilities before dying.
So now he's stuck trying to find a way to rid himself of the "curse" that had been put on him all the while getting involved in fights with beautiful high-school girls who are a part of a power-struggle over a school.
But none ever suspected the true sadistic monster that hides underneath the calm and bored face he usually wears.
Who will be in greater trouble? The girls, or Joukyuu?


What happened to the Senkai Gates during Inoue's kidnapping?

The passage doesn't close because they had hell butterflies with them. Hell butterflies are used for both communication as well as keeping the gates from collapsing while they are in them.


Does Near want to use the death note for himself?

There's nothing that I have read or watched in DN that indicates to me that Near is interested in using the power of the book for himself; he is interested in capturing a mass-murderer!

Oba-sensei was discussing the character's childish nature, but being cheeky, ill-mannered, underhanded and generally pugnacious does not mean that he wants to kill people using supernatural agencies!


Why did Madara and Kaguya stop the Infinite Tsukuyomi?

I did not have information for Madara, but in case of Kaguya she voluntarily freed some people, as per this link, she did not want to perish the human race, also because of her power she was worshipped as goddess and began the "Ritual of divine tree" by which she collects the Chakara of people.

As per the naruto series all the chakra originated from the divine tree and Kaguya who ate the fruit and then used by all mortals in various forms.
Kaguya collects the chakra from ritual and provide it to the tree, thus to get more people she erase the memory of people she caught they will not know the past and eventually more people will be gatherd.
Check this link regarding divine tree and episode 460 plot


What are the notable differences between Hunter x Hunter in 1999 vs 2011?

I'm a Japanese, so please excuse my English.

I ignore a lot of small changes, and want to talk about the cause.

Speaking from the conclusion, the notable differences are the following, I think:

Original Manga's Progress
Broadcasting Station
Main Target

1. Original Manga's Progress

Togashi is working now. That's all.

2. Broadcasting Station

Fuji TV is following One Piece, Toriko and Dragon Ball.
It is the HxH 2009's station, and faithful to the original.
Fuji's slogan is "NO FUN, NO TV", and is known as the most vulgar TV station in Japan.
But I really, really love Fuji's "noitaminA".

The 2011's Nippon TV is the most traditional commercial broadcasting station.
This oldest station is known as the most aggressive technical pioneer.
Maybe the original fans hate their editing, and the children's parents like it.
I think that the 140 times same OP songs is their attempt, too.

3. Main Target

In Japan, HxH 2009 was the "Saturday Golden Time Anime"; then from episode 62 onward, it became OVA. HxH 2011 was the "Sunday Morning Anime"; then from episode 99 onward, it became "Midnight Anime". Both began broadcasting in time slots meant for "Children's Anime" in Japan,
and OVA and "Midnight Anime" were the "Adults' Anime".

The nature of the children's time slot is slightly different between the two continuities. "Saturday Golden Time Anime" means that children watch the anime with their parents at dinnertime.
"Golden Time TV Program" is the TV Program that airs between 18:00 ~ 20:00 in Japan.
If the Golden Time Anime airs on Saturdays, TV station is expecting the conversation with the children.
In other words, children logical conversation with the parent is satisfied are eligible.
This is why HxH 2009 did not refrain from grotesque representations, in contrast to HxH 2011.
The reason why the TV broadcast was finished is because the original stock was gone.
By the way, there is no relation to the animation named "Golden Time".

On Sunday mornings, I think you are still sleeping, right?
In this time slot, most young children are watching TV, so a more wholesome animation is required.
Japanese parents do not like their children watching torn heads or hearts or fingers without supervision.
I think the reason of the change in time slot is that there are few parents who like their children watching torn organs in anime.
Then I wonder what kind of adult gets up in the early Sunday mornings, but I do not have the answer. I think they are probably also the type that does not turn on the TV during dinnertime.

Anyway, I do not write in detail because spoilers, but HxH 2011 thoroughly ignored the content of the original manga.
I'll never forgive the corruption related to Kite, the worst difference for me:

   In the original manga and the 2009 anime, the reason why Gon aimed to become a hunter is because Kite told him that Gon's father is a superior hunter. Gon thought his father was dead.
 First appearance: Kite gave Gon a scolding "you should not come near the territory of dangerous organisms".

 In the 2011 anime, Gon has forgotten the existence of Kite, and they don't know each other, not even the names.
 First appearance: Kite had been fishing on the side of the nests of chimera ants.

For more information, you can read this wiki.


The technique Heian Hyakudan is non existing technique in karate.

Shio Sakaki claims to hold 100 dan in the arts of karate . So the move Heian Hyakudan could be a word play on this with Hyaku meaning 100 (百).

As for his movements, with the rotation and forward moving speed he should have fallen indeed. Although in the manga (don't remember the exact chapters) it is also shown that Sakaki can alter his central point of gravity by using certain muscles. Which in this case would have helped him with maintaining balance and allowing him to land in such manner.


“Sex” and “gender” bear disparate meanings but many people accidentally conflate these words. In the technical distinction, “sex” is a neutral word referring solely to physiology including differences in brain chemistry and hormones, whereas “gender” refers to cultural constructions/assumptions about what personality traits best suit (or are innately connected to) a particular biological anatomy. The female Ants all seem to identify as female, meaning their gender is female, regardless of 1) whether or not they can reproduce and 2) whether or not they have any interest in reproduction of any sort. It is not clear whether or not they subscribe to a belief in gender essentialism and, even if they did, whether their brand of gender essentialism would include reproduction as the main, or even as a main, component of what "female" means to them.

The Queen and the other feminine Ants were all given female seiyuu (voice actors) and they speak in feminine Japanese. The Queen especially speaks in a very motherly, or perhaps, grandmotherly, fashion.

Hina (formerly known as Hirin) has a nen ability to remove curses that gives her the appearance of being pregnant. She does not comment on this visual appearance in regard to human pregnancy, but only to complain about her figure.

(As an aside, the feminine Ants do seem to roughly align with modern Western gender norms for females, but Japanese gender norms have historically differed significantly from Western ones. For example, the 11th century Heian era ideal man was a master of concocting perfume, wearing make-up, and penning love poetry, and in the present day you can often see young straight men styling each others’ hair in public, wearing numerous plushie Disney key chains dangling from their man purses, and dressed in pink and lavender — none of these practices are non-masculine in contemporary Japanese culture — whereas the culture does maintain extremely strict gender norms, copious self-segregation by gender, and rampant sexism.)

The fact that a Chimera Ant is female is not dependent on the prior human and/or animal who was/were eaten by the Queen also having been female. Many of them are an amalgamation from a number of humans/animals who were killed, which were likely a mix of males and females. The main illustration of this is Kite, who was a human male, was killed and apparently at least some part of him was eaten by the Queen (though much of his body was not eaten in order for Pitou to make her puppet), then was birthed prematurely as a female Ant, and insisted that her name was Kite from a young age. The characters specifically mention that the Ant Kite is a girl. Her appearance came from a random female villager killed by Koala, meaning it is likely that that girl's entire body was eaten by the Queen, but the resulting Ant retains the memories of Kite instead, even though only a small portion of Kite's body was eaten.


The film glosses over the explanation with only a few hints, but it's explained properly in the original novel by Dianne Wynn-Jones (and its sequels). The Witch of the Waste's curse was only short-term, and wore off very early on. The reason Sophie didn't recover was because

   she herself had undiscovered magic talent, and was staying in the form of an old woman because she kept thinking of herself as such. She tended to revert whenever she wasn't thinking of herself that way - such as when she slept or when she was too focused on telling Madame Solomon off (and hence was thinking more of Howl).


Is the English Pokemon theme song more well known than the Japanese version?

The following answer is based on the results I got on Google [from my country (France)].

Keeping the following elements in mind, one can say that their popularity level is more or less the same.
The comparison is made between the first Japanse theme めざせポケモンマスター (Aim to be a Pokemon Master) and the first English theme "Gotta catch them all." I take into account only the official versions.
Google Trends

In red : the English, in blue : the Japanese

Except for the year 2005, the search trends looks to be pretty similar.
Surprisingly enough, the countries which searched the English opening on google were the following ones :

For the Japanese opening, the searches come only from Japan.

Youtube
The most viewed youtube video of the Japanese opening (in my country) views ~1 million views.
The most viewed youtube video of the English opening (in my country) views ~1 million views


Is the Konosuba anime a close adaptation of the light novel?

You can watch the anime without first reading the LN, but there is a lot more stuff after the anime ends. There's not much difference during the anime other than slight changes and some of the jokes in the anime are improvised by the voice actors. The LN and manga go further about the lore and characters more though.


Can Poké Balls technically catch humans?

In the episode in the first series of the show where Ash is in Pokemon Tower in Lavender Town to catch a ghost Pokemon to fight Serena, he sees Jessie's hair on fire and he assumes that it's a Pokemon on fire and proceeds to throw a Poke-ball at her. And no it doesn't open but it just hit her face.


What is the name of the garment worn by robbers in anime?

That would be a tenugui (手拭い), a thin, often cotton towel used for wiping away sweat on hot days. Or drying hands after washing them. They are also used as a form of headgear or scarf on cold and hot days respectively. However as a headgear it's more often worn as a headband, as opposed to the image above.
In anime, this way of wearing a tenugui would fall under the trope of Stealth Clothing. Which points out that it originates from old Japanese romantic practices.

it is derived from ancient Japanese romantic practices. Young unmarried women were not to be too friendly with young men, and home visits at night were right out! So the young man would wear a handkerchief in the aforementioned manner

So yes, it traditionally has been used as a form of paper-thin disguise


How can I see if legal anime subs are available in a certain language for streaming?

I have found a solution. On Crunchyroll there is a workaround to this.

Step 1

Head over to the footer or bottom of the website. It should look something like this >

Step 2

From the footer, head over to languages in the footer, then head over to the highlighted text which says 'French'

Step 3

After this the page should reload and the animes should now be playing with French subtitles.

Note: Not sure if it will work, but it did work for me. Have a look in the picture below. Try it on Golden Time Episode 24.


First of all, The Death Eraser is a plot device exclusive to the manga pilot.

  Death Note includes a rule stating that if the owner of the notebook uses the Death Eraser to erase names in the Death Note, the victims come back to life if they have not been cremated.

With this said we know atleast a body is needed for this

  Taro Kagami is offered the Death Eraser by Ryuk, and is told that he can erase the names in the Death Note and the victims will miraculously come back to life

Using the description Miraculously make's it quiet easy for them to get away with just about anything. They are miraculously healed, or the miraculously live on as just a severed head.

Simply said, It all comes down to the fact its a miracle.


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

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


Is there any significance to character names in Elfen Lied?

Although this is never confirmed it does fit the plot in a way

Lucy's name closely resembles Lucifer considering that Lucy is the evil alter-ego it would be one of the most fitting.

Another possibility would be that the name is related to St. Lucy/Lucia, but this is a pretty far fetched theory.

  They threatened to drag her off to a brothel if she did not renounce her Christian beliefs, but were unable to move her, even with a thousand men and fifty oxen pulling. So they stacked materials for a fire around her instead and set light to it, but she would not stop speaking, insisting that her death would lessen the fear of it for other Christians and bring grief to non-believers. One of the soldiers stuck a spear through her throat to stop these denouncements, but to no effect. Soon afterwards, the Roman consulate in charge was hauled off to Rome on charges of theft from the state and beheaded. Saint Lucy was able to die only when she was given the Christian sacrament source

Edit
Re-reading the related question What's the significance of the 'w' finger position in Elfen Lied? I think the st Lucy/Lucia theory is less far fetched then I thought myself. Elfen Lied seems to be pretty Christian influenced.


Name of the song in episode 11 of Nanatsu no Taizai (The Seven Deadly Sins)?

Did you ever find it? If not, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOHKyGrD_v8.

The name of the song is Kurai & Setsunai-4 Taizai (9雷&セ2内-4:罪), track 11 of The Seven Deadly Sins ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK 2.


Jiren is not overpowered.

tl;dr More Power (KI) ≠ Stronger Fighter

The point of the character is to illustrate the difference of strength between powerful mortals, gods of destruction, angels and others we probably haven't seen yet. Jiren could be at a level between god of destruction and angel. The fact that he seems overpowered means we still have a long way to go until Goku reaches a level where he is considered the strongest.

In DBZ and even GT, Goku seems to be near to the level of all of his opponents before finally surpassing them. Super is taking a different approach. Goku and the others are struggling to even perceive the strength of their opponents. Other techniques and skills throw a monkey wrench in the idea of "more power = stronger fighter". Time skip, ultra instinct, and the energy of destruction are all examples of technique trumping raw power.

The new anime is changing power scaling and what it means to be a powerful fighter. DBZ and GT relied on transformations to show a character was at a higher level. Super, like the original Dragon Ball, is pivoting to strategy and use of different techniques to show a fighter's skills are advancing.


At What Point Does Asuma Sarutobi Find Out About Kurenai?

As he asks Shikamaru who the "King" is we can conclude that he already knew that Kurenai was pregnant. He wanted Shikamaru to know that so if anything happened to Asuma, Shikamaru would protect the "King" aka Mirai Sarutobi. The "King" as Shikamaru came to realize were the people that he held dear.