How much of the Natsume's Book of Friends manga was adapted into the anime?

As of 4th season, the anime covers the manga up through chapter 51, which is the final chapter of volume 12 of the Japanese tankouban (graphic novels).

A difference occurs in chapter 36, which is in volume 9.

To date, the manga series has been collected into 19 volumes but it is still ongoing in LaLa magazine. There are also a spin-off 4-panel gag manga web comic titled 『ニャンコ先生が行く！』(Nyanko-sensei ga Iku!) which can be read online for free on the official website, free online novels, 1 published novel, and 3 drama CDs (which were furoku freebies only available with the purchase of specific issues of LaLa).


Why does Shiroe buy all the land in Yamato and give it to the server?

The Round Table cannot afford to hold onto the buildings forever so they are going to lose control eventually. This means another guild could use those buildings against the players of Akihabara. By buying all the land and making it unpurchasable for the future this problem is solved forever even if it is only a middle of the road solution.

Additionally, Shiroe isn't just concerned about players. Before he bought everything and then gave it to the server, the NPCs couldn't buy zones but players could. This means the players could buy a farm under an NPC's nose and force them out of their home. This would definitely lead to war with Eastal. Now property ownership is an agreement between people and not a function of nature.

As for people going wrong and exploiting others, this is no different then the real world. Most of Akihabara has learned to live in this world and is not treating it like a game. Additionally, the Round Table can create licenses to allow open trade in Akihabara, and since most would follow that order then not being able to trade with other people is enforceable. They just have to create new systems to organize and punish rather than relying on server systems.


Wrath's goal was to be more human, like the other Homunculi. However with Wrath, he wanted to take Ed's life, in other words making everything that Ed owns his own. He already had two limbs that Ed "gave up" so why not take the rest?

I'm quite sure he even says that he wants to take "everything" from Ed during their fight under Liore when Sloth and Wrath appear (where Ed first discovers Sloth is his mother and we find out Wrath's weakness).

This can also be seen during the fight against Sloth in the weapons factory. Wrath takes the box in which Ed stored bone of his mother's and fused it into himself, taking something Ed owned for himself.


Are Meliodas and Elizabeth still in love after he becomes the demon king?

The reason he is cold towards Elizabeth is because

   the demon king removes his emotions and imprisons them in Purgatory when he is killed by Estarossa and the other Commandments. The Meliodas that returns to life is without feelings, and is just keeping his promise.

However, in the latest arcs (Manga spoilers; not in the anime yet)

   Ban journeys to Purgatory and successfully manages to prison break Meliodas' feelings. Though they get split up on the way out, it is clear that both of them managed to escape. Thus, with his feelings restored, Meliodas should love Elizabeth again as before.


In the Alabasta Arc, Smoker revealed that Seastone has "Sea Power" and therefore nullifies abilities just like salt water. In other words, vegapunk discovered its usage, this was revealed by Smoker and confirmed by Coby after Water-Seven Arc.

Vegapunk was able to coat ship bottoms with seastone, enabling them to pass through the calm belt without alerting the Sea monsters to their presence. He discovered a way which is yet unrevealed but confirmed by Coby back then to make tools, handcuffs, and weapons, out of seastone.


How did Brook know what his devil fruit was?

From the manga/anime, we do not know how Brooke learned which devil fruit he had eaten, but we can safely speculate on different possible scenarios.

As the answer in the possible duplicate says, there is a "Devil Fruit Encyclopedia" which lists the names and abilities of the known devil fruits (the encyclopedia is not complete). Some devil fruits come with illustrations. This is how Blackbeard was able to identify the Yami Yami no Mi fruit and steal it from his nakama Thatch.

It is possible that the entry for Brook's  Yomi Yomi no Mi fruit was illustrated and therefore he knew what the fruit was before he ate it. However, note that this fruit is rather peculiar in that it does not grant any abilities while the user is still alive. Even though this is speculation, this may be the ONLY fruit with that characteristic. Therefore, even if there were no illustrations, one could have identified his fruit by the ability it came with, or lack thereof.

EDIT: (After Kaine's comment)

In chapter 676, when the salamender Slime dies and turns into gas, the powers of the artificial devil fruit he had eaten are re-introduced in a nearby apple. That means that if a devil fruit user dies near another fruit, and that fruit changes shape, one can know which type of devil fruit it is based on the deceased user's powers.


Do all the D' girls have dragon "mates"?

Probably not, as I cannot imagine that Yggdrasil is in the same realm as mankind, I would imagine there are multiple or perhaps even an infinite amount of realms. That would also explain the sudden appearance of the Dragons.

Unfortunately I have no real evidence of this being the case. My comment is based on mere assumptions after watching the aired episodes of the anime series.


Brooke wants to meet back up with Laboon, the whale at the start of the grand line.

From the wiki:

  Franky's dream is to create and travel with a dream ship which would
  experience countless battles, can overcome extreme hardships and can
  reach the end of the Grand Line. He has created the ship which the
  Straw Hats are riding and it's his task to keep it in good condition.
  Previously, one of his dreams was to beat Spandam to pieces,
  fortunately this was fulfilled toward the end of the Enies Lobby Arc.

I do not agree with that based on the scene where they steal his speedo.  He wanted to build the boat; now he has.  Unlike the others, he isn't pursuing his dream but maintaining and improving what he already acheived.  Yet he still was willing to leave it unprotected (had no way to know about Kuma) for the better part of 2 years.


Did Kakashi use genjutsu before the end of the Fourth Shinobi War?

I think you want instances of Kakashi using his Genjutsu, here is one-

During the Bell Test for Team 10 he tricked Sakura by putting her in a Genjutsu


According to the Schrödinger page at the Hellsing Wiki, his abilities are:

  Abilities: Can spontaneously appear and disappear at will. Unable to be killed as long as he wills it. Invulnerability. Immortality.

It's not clearly explained what it means for him to "will" it. I guess his head can't be blown off if he doesn't wish it to be or if it happens, he can still will his head back. But I guess like his name and appearance (cat), he's supposed to be a reference to Schrödinger's cat, a paradox, being simultaneously alive and dead. Other tidbits from the article:

  It is confirmed by the Major that Schrödinger only exists for as long as he is aware of himself. He was able to appear in Hellsing's conference room without difficulty, despite the high security of the building at the time. He also appeared inside Zorin Blitz's illusions while Blitz was attempting to attack Seras Victoria's mind, indicating that he can appear in mental realms as well....Even if Schrödinger is fatally wounded, if he believes that he is alive and unscathed, then he would be. This can be seen when Alucard drinks the blood of Rip Van Winkle. He is sitting on the ship with the hand television, while in next scene we can see him standing on the right side of the Major.

So that sort of explains the immortality part. Except at the end of the OVA:

  .. now that he [Schrödinger] is consumed by Alucard and is mixed with millions of other minds, he can no longer recognize himself, and by extension neither can Alucard, the one who has absorbed him. Whilst neither are technically dead, they do not exist in one place because they cannot recognize themselves, and have thus become "No more than a set of imaginary numbers."


No, she still alive, it's Erza after all

I'll try to keep the spoiler to minimum so if you really want to now what happen next you can read it on your own, or wait for next episode, this is a next chapter from manga after that episode

Chapter 315: Rosemary


Does anybody recognise this song from Princess Kaguya?

I'm pretty familiar with the Clannad anime, and I can tell you with 99.9999% confidence that this song never appears in it.

As I said in my comment, and as Toshinou-san and senshin reaffirmed in theirs, it would be very unlikely for two anime to use the same song, especially if one of them is a Studio Ghibli production. Not impossible, but unlikely. As in "I've been watching anime for seventeen years and I've never seen two of them use the same song". That kind of unlikely.

However, that still doesn't mean "impossible", so I looked into the song, "Inochi no Kioku", to try and find out more about its origins. It was written and performed by Japanese singer Kazumi Nikaido. An Anime News Network announcement about the Kaguya Hime film mentions that the song was chosen as the movie's main theme.

The wording of the announcement makes it sound as if Nikaido created the song independently of the film's production, and the production staff decided to license it for use in the film. This is also supported by the release dates; the single for "Inochi no Kioku" was released 24 July 2013, according to GhibliWiki, while the film was released 23 November 2013 according to Anime News Network.

Licensing a song like this is somewhat unusual for anime; it's more typical for the production to hire a songwriter to write a custom song for the anime, and hire a singer (often one of the voice actors) to perform it. They also sometimes hire singer/songwriters to both write and perform the music. I can only think of a few cases (e.g. FLCL with The Pillows) where an anime production licensed music which had already been released.

However, the Anime News Network page on Nikaido only lists her as staff on one anime, The Tale of Princess Kaguya. This strongly suggests that "Inochi no Kioku" only appeared in that anime. I think your memory might be playing tricks on you :)


Can the Tailed Beasts produce offsprings?

There is no canon answer to your question. The tailed beasts as they currently exist in the Narutoverse are chakra creatures, not biological, and came into existence because one entity (the 10 Tails) had its chakra separated from its body (which became the Moon), which was then artificially split into a number of separate beings. There is no indication that any of these creatures (or chakra based entities in general) can reproduce themselves in any way similar to organic sexual reproduction.

If you're asking about the kitsune as a concept in actual Japanese folklore (which is the basis for Kishimoto's tailed beasts), then the answer is: the kitsune are considered a type of yokai or kami, who can if powerful and wise enough, take the form of a human being (usually but not limited to a beautiful woman). There are many stories of foxes in the guise of a beautiful woman falling in love with and marrying a human and producing offspring.

The real-life Sengoku general Takeda Shingon's wife Suwa Koi was believed to be a malevolent fox-spirit, and she bore him Takeda Katsuyori. Abe no Seimei in the Heian period was also considered a child of a fox.

Sources:

Ashkenazy, Michael "Handbook of Japanese Mythology." 2003.
Hearn, Lafcadio "Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan." 2005.
Turnbull, Stephen. "Nagashino 1575." 2000.


Who is the main character in Fate/stay night Unlimited Blade Works?

[...] every season has a different main character

This is actually incorrect. Fate/stay night always has the same main character Shirou Emiya. In the visual novels, you always play/read in the perspective of Shirou, with some exceptions:

Various interludes (such as in the Fate route, the scene where Saber left to attack Ryuudou Temple in the middle of the night, going against the group's decision not to attack, is played in the perspective of Saber).
The Prologue, which plays at the beginning when you start the game up for the first time (replayable from the Extra's Menu). You play as Rin Tohsaka from the morning before she summoned Archer until the point where Archer was attacked by Saber.

However, depending on the route, there is a second character whom the story focuses on. The female main character is always the heroine/romance interest of Shirou during the said route.

In the Fate route, it is Saber
In the Unlimited Blade Works route, it is Rin Tohsaka
In the Heaven's Feel route, it is Sakura Matou

So in regards to the Fate/stay night anime adaptations, Shirou is always the male lead, while the female lead in

Studio Deen's 2006 Fate/stay night anime adaption, it is Saber (the majority of the series adapts the Fate route)
Studio Deen's 2010 Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works movie adaptation, it is Rin Tohsaka (the movie poorly adapts the Unlimited Blade Works route)
Ufotable's 2014-2015 Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works anime adaptation, it is Rin Tohsaka (it adapts and adds onto the Unlimited Blade Works route)
Ufotable's TBA Fate/Stay Night: Heaven's Feel anime adaptation, it is Sakura Matou

Apart from the heroines, their Servant also get featured in their respective routes:

In Fate, it remains as Saber
In Unlimited Blade Works, it is Archer
In Heaven's Feel, it is Rider

I also remembering reading somewhere that there was originally a plan for a route in which Ilya was a Heroine, but it was later scrapped and merged into the Fate Route (apparently, a dinner scene in which Ilya is a part of was taken from this route). So had this route been published, Berserker most likely would be the Servant featured.

So to answer your question, Shirou is still the main male character, but Rin Tohsaka is the main female character in Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works.

Sources:

Ufotable's Type-Moon Wikia Page
Studio Deen's Wikipedia Page


So, In case of Goku, just like you said, the Mastered Ultra Instinct Transformation is not just a skill but also a power multiplier which is immensely greater than SSJB + Kaioken*20. We know this based on Jiren's fights with Goku using this form and Mastered Ultra Instinct.In terms of where it stands, we cannot arrive at a definite answer but we can scale his power relative to other characters the following ways.It has been established without a doubt both in the Anime and the Manga that Jiren is God of destruction tier. At the same time, All Gods of destructions are at different levels of strength. We know this based on Vados's comment in Episode 28 where she stated that Beerus was stronger than Champa. We also know this based on Manga Chapter 28 where Beerus manages to overwhelm multiple Gods of destruction.It has been hinted in the anime by Whis in Episode 110 and stated definitely by Toppo in Manga Chapter 29 that Jiren is stronger than Vermouth, The Universe 11 God of destruction.In Episode 92 Whis implied that Vermouth might be stronger than Beerus and there exists a mortal even stronger than Vermouth,  to which Beerus replied that he only beat him in an arm  wrestling match. However, in the Manga, it was indicated that Quitella, The God of destruction of Universe 4 was the fighter who beat Beerus in an arm wrestling match. At the end of the fight in Manga Chapter 24, we see Quitella , Beerus and Vermouth were more or less the Gods with the least amount of damage on them and still able to stand. So I think it is fair to assume that these Gods are the strongest and Jiren's power is indeed relative to High tier Gods of destruction.When Goku was transforming to Mastered UI, one of the magazine spoilers the week before indicated that Jiren was going to concentrate all his power into a single punch and attack Goku. This attack was flicked away like nothing by Goku in Episode 129. We also see Goku initially completely overwhelm Jiren in Episode 130, until Jiren uses his limit breaking power where he slightly had the upper hand until Goku powered up furthur.Based on this, it can be established that Jiren's limit breaking power puts him above God of destruction tier and the fact that Goku with that level of stamina  remaining, managed to beat Jiren, makes him greater than God of Destruction tier.The High Tier Gods of destruction like Beerus cannot be underestimated. So based on my argument, I think it is fair to assume. Hidden Power Unlocked Jiren at full power at the very least is relative and if not stronger than High Tier Gods of destruction and the fact that Goku managed to beat him also with a skill Gods struggle to attain, makes him superior to God of destruction tier.The characters above Gods of Destruction shown on the show so far would be the Angels and the Grand Priest(Maybe even the Omni King's body guards considering how terrified Beerus was in Episode 41 or maybe he was afraid of Omni King in general also note: Omni Kings cannot fight). I think it is fair to assume Goku hasn't reached that level of strength. This is because we know Whis is able to knock out Beerus with just a tap on his forehead without any effort and at the same time, the angels have all mastered Ultra Instinct for a long amount of time before Goku. So it is fair to assume Goku is no where close to an angels level of strength considering he didn't destroy Jiren with that much easeSo, based on my argument I would rank Mastered Ultra Instinct Goku this way.Grand PriestHigh Tier AngelsLow Tier AngelsMastered Ultra Instinct GokuJiren and High Tier Gods of destruction(Jiren could be stronger but not substantially)


Actually how deaf is Shouko in Koe no Katachi and is it revealed why she is only wearing 1 hearing aid?

1.Actually how deaf is Shouko ?

Actually, it's already been stated in this question. Well, just some part of it that answered your question. But from your state on the question above comes out a new topic to discuss. But there's another topic to discuss deriving from your question.

  If it wasn't the case when she was still a child, has her sense of
  hearing been improved until now to the point in which Shouko's able to
  understand people clearly when they talk slow enough? If I'm not
  mistaken, depending on the type of deafness, it is possible to
  stimulate the regeneration of the hearing ability through medicaments,
  clinical interventions or sometimes even without any interventions.

Well, this is kind of true, but in chapter 32.5 there was a scene in which Shouko practiced a lot to improve her sign-language with her grandmother. She is doing this because of Yuzuru. Here are the pages in which Yuzuru confronts Shouko with her voice. (Read from right to left)

Page 1-2

  Shouko : Uyuu!(Yuzuru!)... Ah oohh(???)

  Yuzuru : I don't think you should speak in front of other people.

What Yuzuru told her has (somehow) motivated Shouko to improve her pronunciation and sign language so it will make her sound not so bad for other people. You can see her practicing a lot with her grandmother. While Shouko was learning the sign language with her grandmother, we can see that they faced each other. I think the reason behind it is that Shouko wants to learn to understand people talking normally and how they pronounce certain words by reading their lips. The result of those practices can be seen on page 3.

Here, i.e. after the time skip, she's almost able to say "Yuzuru". Her pronunciation has improved a lot. You can mostly understand what she's saying, but it's neither grammatically correct nor phonetically correct.

And on page 6 you can see her practicing JSL with Yuzuru just like her grandmother did.

To answer your question

  So, is it safe to assume that Shouko is and has always been able to
  understand people when they're talking slow enough?

In the Ferris Wheel scene (chapter 27-28), Ueno said that she will speak slowly, AND she said that she will make sure that Shouko will understand what she's going to say.

The question is, did Shouko really understood what Ueno said?

In chapter 28 Shouko writes a letter for Ueno. This scene happened just after the Ferris Wheel scene. If Shouko didn't understand what Ueno said in the Ferris Wheel, she wouldn't have been working that hard to write the letter.

You can see the content of her letter on chapter 44, page 11-12. The content of that letter really fits with Shouko's conversation with Ueno back then, so it is likely her response to that conversation.

Based on this, it is correct to say that Shouko did understand what Ueno said in the Ferris Wheel.

2. Is it revealed why she is only wearing 1 hearing aid?

It's not revealed officially, yet. I don't know if it has been revealed, but a user said on the MAL forum which discusses a similar topic:

  I'm surprised that no one knows the answer, considering how obvious it
  felt. Near the middle of the movie, there was a scene with Shouko and
  her grandmother talking with a doctor. After that scene, we see Shouko
  crying with one hearing aid taken off. This basically means that
  Shouko lost hearing capabilities completely in one ear. That's why she
  doesn't use a hearing aid on that ear anymore.

I haven't watched the anime so I can't prove if this is true or not, yet in manga versions, they never mention anything concerning why Shouko only uses one hearing aid. And I think it's a bit different between the manga and the anime version since there was no scene in the manga in which Shouko and her grandmother were talking with a doctor.


Who is this mystery girl with blue hair?

The fact is, we don't have a clue from the series. Our best guess is the Livlaster.

Reason 1 - They were confirmed to be living things with a will, but we never really "met" them. We met the machines, but not them, which is odd.

Reason 2 - Her color style is the same as Daichi's Livlaster, so there is reasonable evidence to make the connection.

Reason 3 - She was first seen when he got the Livlaster. She is only seen with Daichi during critical moments for him. So she and he are connected.

The next best option is Pitz, but we never gave a corresponding figure for the other squirrel. However, this is probably the second best theory based on the evidence. Following that theory is a new character (like a planetary gear) to intro into a season 2. We have no reason to suspect this, but hey, we don't know. Lastly is Daichi's mom. He lives with his uncle, his dad died, so we have a missing mom figure. Maybe there's some backstory?


Is there an explanation for Natsu's motion sickness?

Not only Natsu, but every wizard having Dragon Slayer Magic is prone to motion sickness. During the Grand Magic Tournament, all four Dragon Slayers suffered from motion sickness, i.e. Natsu, Gajeel, Rouge, and Sting. It is also confirmed in the anime that, Laxus suffers from motion sickness as well. The only exception is Wendy, but considering that she has Magic to counter motion sickness, it might not be affecting her.

It has not been explained, but it is likely due to a side effect of the Dragon Slayer Magic.

Wendy's Magic does not affect Natsu because he built up immunity. This was specifically stated by Wendy herself.

Also, Happy doesn't affect Natsu because Natsu doesn't consider Happy as a vehicle. This was also specifically mentioned by Natsu.

Edit as per the latest chapter: The motion sickness is caused due to inability of dragon slayer magic holder to adjust with the dragon's enhanced visual acuity which affects their semicircular canals.


Why do bad/evil characters sometimes have no eyes?

Have you ever heard the phrase "The eyes are the windows to the soul"?

One of the first big names in manga and anime, Osamu Tezuka, developed an art style in many of his works where the eyes of characters were abnormally large, because it was easier to make them expressive to show emotions - as discussed in this answer and this Quora article.

So, what happens when you reverse that? If you make a character's eyes small, then it becomes harder to discern their emotions, and harder to make an emotional connection with them (and before someone brings up, say, Brock from Pokemon, note that while his eyes are permanently squinty they're also pretty big). By taking a character's eyes away completely, you are completely severing that emotional connection, and to some extent, you are giving the impression that they are emotionless - which is often what is being expressed, since the eyeless face is used on characters that are either acting in a sociopathic manner (lots of school bully-type characters are depicted this way), or who are otherwise emotionally distant or disconnected, like Arima Saki in Your Lie.


Kekkai Sensen ep9, meaning of "playing it backwards in double-time/fast-forward"?

The vampire they were fighting was regenerating (I guess "playing it backwards" as in "reverting to a prior, unhurt state") quickly ("in double-time").

He had previously been severely injured by crashing into the skyscraper and by Klaus's attack. Note that about 30 seconds prior (in video time, not necessarily in-show time), he looked like this:

I think there's a kernel of a pun in here. Zapp says 逆再生の早回しかよ gyaku-saisei no hayamawashi ka yo. The word 再生 saisei has two meanings. One, "play" as in "to play a video". Two, "regenerate" or "come back to life". The prefixal 逆 gyaku means "the opposite of" or "reversed". So whereas a regular creature regenerating might be "coming back to life", an eldritch undead abomination like a vampire might instead be "coming back to life backwards" - gyaku-saisei, which is also the word you'd use for "to play a video backwards".

I'm kind of reaching here, though; I'm not sure whether that was the intention.


Did Dragon cause the lightning at Lougetown

To answer cannonically, no he did not. As far as we know Dragon was not involved in that scenario and the reason why he survived is because of his incredibly high luck.

To answer speculatingly, There is some suspicion that this luck stems from the fact that he carries the "Will of D" whereas he must be an integral person to change the world.

The truth is however, given that he series is still in production (and probably will be for some time). We do not have enough data to say true or false. We can only form opinions off of what we do know.


What does the Death Note consider as "original lifespan"?

The original lifespan is the time you are supposed to have alive at the moment of birth, unless someone, Shinigami or human, use their Death Note on you, or you make a deal with a Shinigami shortening your lifespan, or a Shinigami sacrifices themself to allow you to live incrementing your lifespan.

  What if the person contracts a lethal disease?

Once you spent your lifespan you will die, the reasons of death doesn't matter. If you contract a disease you will live until your lifespan allows you to live.

To illustrate this, Amane Misa was supposed to die when the fan attacked her. Gelus knew her life will end, and decided to intervene. Since her lifespan was spent and she didn't die when she was supposed to, Gelus dies transferring his lifespan to Misa, hence she no longer lives with her "original lifespan" but the shinigami's.

  would he have effectively beaten radiation poisoning?

He could be died because a indirect effect of the use of the Death Note, which caused him to be affected of radiation poisoning, as can be seen in this other answer, but if there isn't Death Note involved, no matter what he should die when their lifespan exhaust, so he could just get lucky and not being poisoned or something happened before hand that prevented him from being poisoned.


What is the name of the audio that plays when the gray king appears in K-Project?

After some more digging I found that the track is called K vs K from the OST a link to the track here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWjCr2bx9XU


Why don't English translated light novels retain the "backwards" page ordering?

It makes absolutely no sense for a book consisting of just English text to have its pages ordered such that you read the page on the right followed by the page on the left. So of course people don't publish English translations of light novels that way.

However, it makes some sense for a book consisting of English text superimposed on images to be read right-to-left if that's how it was originally drawn. Why? Because to make it read left-to-right, you have to flip the images, and flipping the images can cause problems.

Does character A mention out loud that character B is standing to the left of character C? Well, the opposite will be true if you flip the images.
Is the manga set in Japan? Are there depictions of roads? If so, guess what? Japan drives on the right now!
Does your swordsman use a peculiar left-handed stance to throw off his opponents? Not anymore - we're in some bizarro world where right-handed stances are apparently peculiar.
Japan is now the land of the setting sun. (Or, we're on anti-Earth, and the sun rises in the West. Your choice.)

And so on and so forth. There are legitimate reasons why you would want to publish English-translated manga right-to-left. Contrariwise, there are not any legitimate reasons to publish English-translated text right-to-left that come to mind.

(Light novels do have pictures in them, but since the pictures are typically on separate textless pages, one can freely include those pages unflipped in a left-to-right English text without doing any harm.)


The specific law that Mitsuha mentions is called the 酒税法【しゅぜいほう】(shuzeihou) in Japanese. The Ministry of Justice does not presently have a translated version of this law (possibly because they haven't made translations as far back as 1953), but if it did, it would be located here.

In an article (in Japanese) about this specific scene, a lawyer (NISHIGUCHI Ryuuji) is asked about the legality of selling kuchikamizake. I have translated a part of the article:

  According to Mr. Nishiguchi:

  "Beverages with an alcohol content of more than 1% ABV are deemed 'alcoholic'.

  "To produce alcoholic beverages, one must obtain a license from the director of the tax office within whose jurisdiction the production site falls. Producing alcoholic beverages without a license is a violation of the Liquor Tax Act.

  "Article 54, Paragraph 1 of the Liquor Tax Act states: 'any person who produces an alcoholic beverage, yeast starter, or fermenting mash is subject to imprisonment with required labor for not more than 10 years, or a fine of not more than 1,000,000 yen'.

  "If one were to produce kuchikamizake with an ethanol content of greater than 1%, it is possible that one would be subject to criminal penalties."

  It appears that you can produce anything with an alcohol content of 1% or less without running afoul of the Liquor Tax Law. But some people produce umeshu [plum wine] in their homes. Wouldn't they be deemed to have produced an alcoholic beverage?

  "There are exceptions.

  "If you make homemade umeshu by adding ume [Japanese plum] to shochu, you are indeed deemed to have 'commingled' the alcoholic beverage with other substances and have 'produced' a new alcoholic beverage.

  "However, consumers who prepare these beverages for their own personal consumption are deemed not to have 'produced' the beverage for the purposes of the Liquor Tax Law (Article 7; Article 43, Paragraph 11).

  "That said, the production of kuchikamizake by fermenting rice would not be protected under this exception."


In Kyoukai no Kanata, are youmu the same as youkai?

There is no such thing as youkai (妖怪) in the world of Kyoukai no Kanata. There are only youmu (妖夢).

Keep in mind that youkai is a very loosely-defined term in Japanese, and is generally used to refer to a rather motley collection of supernatural creatures, so it isn't even really all that meaningful to ask whether some term is "the same as" youkai.

(Aside: note that youkai and youmu share the character 妖, which means something along the lines of "strange or bizarre".)

  However, if they are, then why are they called youmu instead of youkai?

This is a question of authorial intent, basically. If I had to guess, the author chose to use youmu instead of youkai in order to avoid bringing along the semantic baggage that the word youkai carries. Every Japanese person has an idea of what a youkai looks like, but youmu is an original coining, so you don't really have the same preconceptions in that case.


Why is the written language inconsistent throughout One Piece?

Ashishgup mentioned general aspects of English in Japanese anime and conversely in his comment.

Beside that, note that English is an obvious feature of One Piece. The name of the manga itself is "One Piece" in Japanese, not ワンピース !

Looking at the Japanese version of the manga, you can quickly notice that shop signs, some brands, city signs and even some fight moves are written in English.  All important characters are introduced with their name dubbed in English in the background.

It seems then consistent that the anime keeps this feature (the anime being derived from the manga and not the other way around).

As for why it is so: mixing languages is more than ever a trend in all languages. Some mangaka will do it more than others. Eiichiro Oda does it quite a lot.


Where is the fishing scene in My Neighbour Totoro?

I may have the answer. It appears that this was never a scene that actually occurred in the movie at all in My Neighbour Totoro (The Movie). It was actually.....

  A promotional art for the movie My Neighbour Totoro

I came to the conclusion when I watched the movie myself three times for clarification and asked some of my friends who helped me research a bit.


Is there a real version of "Understanding People's Feelings" series (the book series Sai reads)?

No, the book Sai reads is to make the fact that he doesn't know anything about human emotions more pronounced. It's to also show the fact that he takes his position as being an information gatherer into play. He tests them on the field, and treats finding his emotions like a mission.


Why did Seto Kaiba nearly kill himself to win against Yugi in Season 1?

A bit of context:

A short while before that duel, Kaiba had woken up from his coma induced by Yugi (Yugi had broken Kaiba's mind at the end of the "Exodia game". Yugi had told Kaiba to reconstruct the puzzle of his mind, to remind himself of what was important to him).

When Kaiba succeeded in reconstructing the puzzle of his mind, he realized that his brother Mokuba was the only family he had ever had, and that Mokuba was basically his sole reason to live.

However, Kaiba learned shortly after waking up that Mokuba had been kidnapped by Pegasus, and that Pegasus' duelists' island games were already underway. So he set out for Pegasus' island in order to save his brother.

Now back to the duel where Kaiba put his life on the line:

At that point, Kaiba knew that to enter Pegasus' castle, he needed to get the necessary amount of stars, like any other duelist. However, he also knew that the time limit to acquire stars was nearing its end: he would not have enough time to do other duels. That's why he challenged Yugi.
Since losing this duel amounted to the same as not being able to save his brother Mokuba, his sole reason to live, Kaiba was able to give an ultimatum to Yugi: to kill him (and Mokuba), or to lose and give Kaiba a chance to save his brother.

Of course, if Kaiba was able to win fairly his duel, it would have been nice in itself, but the way he did it, Kaiba put all he had in this battle.


What are the credits for "Doubutsukee" in K: Missing Kings for?

This is unrelated to the film in any way, its referring to the people that designed the animal characters that are based on the characters. They are referring to the goods designers for the goods depicted here. By the way, just to add in, the products are called Dōbutsu K, literally Animal K.


Who exactly is Archer from the Unlimited Blade Works movie?

The Archer-class Servant in the fifth Fuyuki Grail War is:

   Shirou Emiya from an alternate timeline than that of the Fate/stay night timeline. The Shirou from the alternate timeline made a contract with the world and became the Heroic Spirit EMIYA.
 He is not a proper Heroic Spirit in the sense of other heroes (e.g. Saber, Lancer, Berserker). He acts as a Counter Guardian for the world as payment for the contract.
 He is summoned because he still has the jewel pendant that Rin used to save his life after Lancer stabbed his heart. The jewel he owns is the actual catalyst used for his summoning rather than the one that Rin still has at the time of his summoning.


This ending theme song is titled La Divina Tragedia: Ma Kyoku. It was recorded by Jimang. The song does not appear in any other anime. From the looks of it, Jimang has not had any other song appear in any anime. But one of his other tracks, Sakura POP, has been used in the Korean MMORPG, MapleStory.


why does goku not go super saiyan god when he versus omega at full power with all the balls

First off because Dragonball GT was created before Super or the 2 movies which the first 2 seasons are based from was even created. as such Super Saiyan God and the levels after that shown in Super weren't even conceived when Dragonball GT was written. this along with other contradictions in this answer by Torisuda does make Dragonball GT incompatible with Super.

also to quote the Wikia

  In December 2014, FUNimation voice actor and voice director Christopher Sabat said that GT is "not even canon anymore", likely meaning that the release of Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods superseded GT as official content, in Sabat's opinion. Notably, Sabat's statement is the only recorded usage of the word "canon" by anyone involved in the production of any Dragon Ball media.

Source: Dragon Ball GT > Overview > Toriyama's involvement and canon debate (last Paragraph)

Added to that many fans do not consider GT cannon as there is no Manga written by Akira Toriyama and also comparing the Wikipedia Pages of GT and Super Akira Toriyama isn't created to have written GT unlike Super, as such Super Saaiyan Levels in GT weren't created by Akira.

however if you still want to think of GT being in any way canon, considering the multiple universes shown in Super you can suspend belief and think of GT being in Universe GT where the events of Super never occurred and (until otherwise indicated) no one can travel to Universe GT


How did Waver appear in Iskandar's reality marble?

According to the type moon wiki, Iskandar's reality marble is created with help from people who "shared his dreams and pledged allegiance to him after many victories and defeats"

Thus, in essence, Iskandar's reality marble is created by his followers, which Waver is, essentially, by the end of Fate/Zero.

Therefore, Waver is included among the rest of Iskandar's followers inside the Ionoi Hetairoi. However, you might ask how it's possible for older Waver to be here already. Servants and their magic are noted to exist outside of time, so as with Shirou and Archer, it's not unreasonable for the two to exist in the same time through the power of Rider's noble phantasm.

EDIT - Several other things of note, as suggested by :
First, consider Waver's oath to Rider. On the last day of the 4th Grail War, Waver uses all of his command seals on Rider, effectively stepping down as Rider's master. However, Rider insists that Waver ride into battle with him as a friend. Furthermore, after Rider's death, Waver promises to live in order to tell the story of "his king." All this lends support to the idea that Waver is a follower of Iskandar, just like everyone else inside Rider's Noble Phantasm. source.

To elaborate on how Servants exist outside of time, according to this heroic spirits are "freed from the constraints of time itself and removed from the ring of reincarnation, moved to the Throne of Heroes" which exists "outside of both the world and the time axis"


What is the name of an anime about sisters working as maids?

I think you may be looking for He is My Master (aka Kore ga Watashi no Goshujin-sama) (it's a bit hard to tell because you haven't given a lot of information). It follows Yoshitaka, a 14-year-old orphan who inherited a large estate from his parents. He hires sisters Izumi and Mizuki as maids. They also bring their pet alligator Pochi, who often attacks Izumi. A third girl, Anna, appears later in the story as a maid.

The anime aired in 2005, while the manga ran from 2002 to 2009, so it fits your time frame.


When Luffy first developed his 2nd Gear, he would pump blood through out the entirety of his body and increase the blood flow, doing so enabled his tissue and organs to access more oxygen and nutrients, hence making him match up with opponents who were stronger than him. The problem however occurred with prolonged use of the technique, due to the fast rate of metabolism from increased blood flow, luffy would burn up nutrients rapidly, and the less nutrients he had, the less energy he had to continue fighting, but since he's stubborn, he'd still continue using it, and at that point the technique hacks away at his life force because his body is being overworked with little nutrients.

Moreover, during the 2 year time skip, luffy trained under Reilegh, and was able to fully master and perfect his 2nd gear, to the point where he only needed to pump blood increasingly through the parts he needed to use for fighting. Although this helped reduced the effects, I believe the 2nd gear becomes more dangerous when he uses it past its limits.

So to finally answer your question, the second gear still negatively affects luffy and chips away at his lifespan, but when compared to the time he first developed the technique, the effects are not that great. The main technique that poses more of a threat to luffy  is his fourth gear, which is a completely different case.


The soundtrack which was played for first 199 episodes in DGZ was Cha-La Head-Ha-La by Hironobu Kageyama. Just check. if this is the one you are searching for. The link is right below.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hironobu_Kageyama_-_Cha-La_Head-Cha-La.ogg


What happened to Nausicaa at the end of the movie?

Strictly speaking, there is no way to know, as the creators have not said one way or another. However, we're led to believe the following (excerpt from Wikipedia):

   The herd, however, calms down, and the Ohmus use their golden tentacles to heal Nausicaä's wounded body.

Based on the use of the words "heal" and "wounded", it seems she never actually died.

Additionally, there is this bit from the Nausicaä Wiki:

   Nausicaä was badly injured trying to save her people from an attack by the Omhus. She stood before the rush of angry creatures, almost costing her her life. The Omhus, however, revived Nausicaä and she was brought back to conciousness.

Unfortunately, it's not cited to any specific source, but it seems to be the general concensus.


How is Straight Tomoe Mangekyō Sharingan awakened? How is it superior to normal Mangekyō Sharingan?

Upon using Mangekyou Sharingan, the user's eyesight will gradually gets worse. The more the frequency and the more strain the user puts on the eyes, the faster the process will be. Using Mangekyou Sharingan techniques such as Amaterasu, Tsukuyomi, and Susano'o puts great strain on the eyes, much much greater than just activating it. Thus, Mangekyou Sharingan will gradually lose its eyesight until it became completely blind. The evidences are:

Itachi was almost blind during his fight against Sasuke.
Sasuke was nearly blind after the fight against Danzo.
Madara said that he was pretty much blind when he transplanted his brother's eyes.

The Straight Tomoe Mangekyou Sharingan is a Mangekyou Sharingan that won't gradually lose its eyesight like a normal Mangekyou Sharingan. Thus, it is also known as the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan. This is the biggest difference between the two.

Another difference between the two is that an Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan (henceforth EMS) is awakened by transplanting another's Sharingan. Throughout the canon (the manga) only Uchiha Madara and Uchiha Sasuke has achieved this. Both transplanted their brother's eye and both them and their brothers has already achieved Mangekyou Sharingan (MS) when the transplantation was done. An MS is awakened by watching the death of someone dear, which in Itachi's case was the death of his best friend, Uchiha Shisui. In Sasuke's case is the death of Itachi.
If I recall correctly Madara awakened his MS after the death of one of his brothers.

An EMS is not more powerful than an MS in term of power. It also doesn't unlock more occular jutsu. Upon acquiring EMS, Sasuke's Amaterasu didn't get any stronger. EMS only restores an MS' eyesight and removing its drawback of getting blind, which is why it is called Eternal.


What happened to Kaneki in episode 12 of Tokyo Ghoul:re?

The metaphor is that Kaneki is putting Haise to sleep, as now Kaneki has taken over by regaining his memories. Haise will never come back, as he has become a part of Kaneki. The 'cliffhanger' now is how will Kaneki act around his friends that Haise made, and what will he do next.


A manga about the adventure of a pair of brother and sister in a game world

I believe you are looking for .hack//Legend of the Twilight.

It's about a game called The World.
People can freely log out, including the main characters.
The main characters are a boy named Shugo and his twin sister Rena.
Rena's outfit is quite revealing.
There are hippo-like creatures, called Piikey. Hotaru, one of the female side characters, has one as a pet. Komiyan the Third, one of the male side character, uses one as a mount. Both main characters find Komiyan annoying.
The Phoenix Down (aka Phoenix Feather) is used to save the life of Hotaru's Piikey.
One of the GMs (Game Masters) loves to organize events. One of those, I faintly remember being a race involving swimming.


What exactly is Nanoha's "dead" expression?

See this image:

The image consists of comparison shots between the TV broadcast (left) and the DVDs (right). Except for the bottom right one, obviously. The rest are legitimate images.

This is the infamous white devil scene from StrikerS, and you shouldn't have much trouble noticing significant differences in the faces, especially in Nanoha's.

The severity of the difference should also suggest why it was changed: they decided Nanoha's reaction and characterization in that scene were inappropriately grim and harsh. In the broadcast, she is mortified into brutality. In the DVDs, she is disappointed but cool and in control.


How long was Shi-woon trained by Goomoonryong?

He spent only few weeks with the Goomoonryong where:

he got stamina training, but actually not that much
he got the medicine that actually increased his stamina and his ki
from that, he got a lot of training on how to circulate his ki around
the soul crushing technique was shown to him once
the 4 different foot techniques were shown to him once each
and the most important, at the end of the breaker, he gave him a smart phone with many videos to show him new techniques and random advice.

On top of that, he was shown some techniques only once, and he managed to replicate them, although they were supposed to be difficult. So in fight, we can assume he can do the same. Shi woon is a prodigy.

In the breaker new waves, even in a second state (under the black origin thingy), during the school arc, against the SUC, when facing the lone wolf, he managed to replicate the techniques easily, even in a state where he can't even think.

So to summarize, some solid basic trainings, then many videos to improve by himself on top of the fact that he is a prodigy.

Also, with the inner training technique he received in the breaker new wave, he is able to train in his mind, so it might make things easier to try new things.


What anime is this where everyone has a virtual world from glasses?

Odds are you're thinking of Dennou Coil.
The large round red thing is a Searchmaton / Satchii. These creepy little buggers:

Dennō Coil (電脳コイル Dennō Koiru?, lit. Electric Brain Coil or Computer Coil), Coil—A Circle of Children, is a Japanese science fiction anime television series depicting a near future where semi-immersive augmented reality (AR) technology has just begun to enter the mainstream. The series takes place in the fictional city of Daikoku, a hotbed of AR development with an emerging city-wide virtual infrastructure. It follows a group of children as they use AR glasses to unravel the mysteries of the half real, half Internet city, using a variety of illegal software tools, techniques, and virtual pets to manipulate the digital landscape.

Source


Why does Orochimaru's Laboratory have this item to hand?

I don't think there is, my guess is that it's just a real life reference to the medical field where umbilical cords are kept, as they have stem cells that are helpful to treat some conditions.

Those cells can differentiate into different types of cells, which would give some scientific base to some actions he has done, as injecting Hashirama's cells.


Why didn't Marcel or Frieda Reiss transform when being eaten?

For Marcel, this is mostly my interpretation. Because of the situation and their lack of experience in exploring Paradis, Marcel most likely panicked and was unable to transform. He only had time to push Reiner out of the way and had no time to react. He was also feeling guilty during that time when he revealed that Reiner was enlisted not because of his skills but because he (Marcel) wanted to save his brother. This could have also distracted him and clouded his judgement.

As for Frieda, she lacked experience and was severely injured. As mentioned here,

  If a human emerges from their Titan form and receives severe injury, this person cannot transform into a Titan again until said injuries have healed.

Given that Grisha bit her out of her Titan form, as seen in Chapter 63, that would have caused serious or fatal injuries even before she would be swallowed and since she already made a prior transformation, she cannot do so again unless her injuries would heal but it was too late.


Is it possible to use Chidori without Sharingan?

Yes it is, but there is a cost, Tunnel-vision. Kakashi invented the attack and used it without the Sharingan, and were it not for Minato, he would have been killed by one of his opponents. He is running so fast, and is focused so much on his attack, that he is unable to really focus on anything except that right in front of him when attacking. The second Paragraph of the overview on the wiki confirms this

  The speed at which the Chidori is performed, despite being one of its greatest assets, also represents one of its biggest drawbacks: users move at their target so fast that its causes a tunnel vision-like effect for them. Because they charge in a straight line it is easy for opponents to attack them, and because of the tunnel vision it is difficult for the user to see these attacks, much less react to them. For this reason, most ninja cannot use the Chidori safely. If the user has a Sharingan, however, these drawbacks are overcome: the Sharingan's heightened visual perception prevents the tunnel vision from occurring and its predictive capabilities make it easy for the user to avoid counterattacks.

Kakashi's page summarizes the event itself

  Kakashi tried to eliminate him with his new jutsu, Chidori, but the attack speed left him vulnerable to counter-attack, forcing Minato to step in, save Kakashi, and kill Mahiru himself. Before leaving them, Minato advised Kakashi to not use the Chidori again.
  ...
  After Rin transplanted Obito's Sharingan into him, Kakashi confronted Kakkō. His White Light Chakra Sabre was destroyed during the ensuing fight, but he succeeded in killing Kakkō with Chidori; due to the Sharingan's heightened vision, Kakashi was finally able to handle its speed.


So far there is no information regarding Acnologia's motives so far even in the manga. I haven't seen Anime post the Grand Magic games so putting everything in spoilers. Read at your own risk. But I assume Anime has covered everything till the 2nd spoiler, but not sure about the third.

Following is the information that we have on him. Acnologia (Chapter 301).

  Born over 400 years ago, Acnologia was one of the first Dragon Slayers to come into being, entering the Dragon Civil War on the side supporting coexistence. Acnologia and a group of other Dragon Slayers, however, disregarded the cause their comrades fought for, and killed every Dragon they could, bathing in their blood. Due to the overuse of his Magic, Acnologia's physique eventually turned into that of a Dragon's, and he proclaimed himself to be the Dragon King. This event was forever etched into history as the Dragon King Festival.

We see the following in the Tartaros Arc (Chapter 412-415),

   Acnologia appears again at the ruins of Cube where the battle between Fairy Tail Mages and Tartaros takes place.[..] Acnologia fights the Dragon King Igneel and loses his left arm, however in return, Acnologia destroys nearly the entire left half of Igneel's torso and then kills him with his Dragon's Roar. With his arm gone and his target slain, Acnologia then leaves Magnolia.

One year later we see Zeref and Acnologia meet.

   One year after losing his arm to Igneel, Acnologia accepts Zeref's proposal to meet, and does so at an undisclosed rocky terrain, albeit in his human form instead of as a Dragon. Acnologia asks what Zeref wants; however, he is met with curiosity, as Zeref points out that Acnologia could rule the world with his power if he wished, calling his motives unfathomable. Acnologia, however, says the same of Zeref's motives. He then listens as Zeref tells him that he will not join or fight against Acnologia; rather, he will kill Acnologia along with everyone else in the world. He further implies that Acnologia has been waiting for someone to give him a true challenge and Zeref claims that he will gladly take on the role of challenger for Acnologia. Acnologia then gives a sly grin as Zeref tells him to wait for the ultimate clash between human, Dragon, and immortal to approach.

This makes me think that Zeref wants to kill Acnologia just because he wants to kill everything in the world. Acnologia is maybe just as powerful as Zeref and thus deserves a special mention.


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

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

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


When will season 3 of Heaven's Lost Property come out?

The official announcement for the second film stated:

『「第３期シリーズ」として発表しておりましたが、この度シリーズ作品ではなく...2014年に劇場公開することが大決定しました！！』
"Although we had previously said there would be a third series [season], this time instead of a series...in 2014 it's been decided that there will be a theatrical release!"

A third season of the TV anime had been previously promised in the March 2012 issue of 「月刊少年エース」 (Gekkan Shounen Ace) magazine, but the film announcement corrects that to state that there will not be any further TV anime. The second film is a replacement for season three.


Religion is an organized collection of beliefs, cultural systems, and world views that relate humanity to the supernatural, and to spirituality.

While it would a stretch to say combating Hollows might be an extension of Quincy culture, it doesn't hold through with a belief system. Religion by definition requires belief, a viewpoint with intangible evidence. When evidence becomes tangible, it holds at least some quantifiable fact.

For Quincy, harnessing spiritual particles to shoot projectiles of energy and the dangers of Hollows interacting with the real world are both instances of fact.

There has been no mention of religion or specifically Christianity in Bleach, but despite either existing, the Quincy are more of a clan of warriors or hunters. I understand the suggestive designs that seem Religion-based but I believe it's to appeal to an exorcist fanbase as a supernatural character option in this story about ghosts, good or bad, and their governors.

Source(s): Wiki


Why did Itachi's amaterasu not burn the entire inn?

After the encounter, Jiraiya was able to seal the flames inside of a scroll. This kept the inn from being destroyed.


Why are Kobato's eyes inconsistent in color between episodes?

It is not heterochromia. The manga does explain it better and ...

her normal eye color is blue.
she is wearing a contact lens.

There is also a mention of her mother being English and having red eye color. So wearing a contact might be a fashion statement.


Does the Hellsing manga cover more material than either anime series?

I'm going to run with the assumption that you mean which goes more in depth with certain things. And even then I'd have to say neither really. I own the manga and have watched both anime and they all seem to have the same amount of focus and detail. The anime is just longer and more drawn out because it's an anime.

It was clarified that you probably meant about filler and such well the original anime is kinda faithful until episode 6 when it just leaves completely. However Hellsing Ultimate covers the manga perfectly and completely with no filler as far as I'm aware.


Why didn't Nozawa Masako continue voicing Doraemon?

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


What episode of Naruto does the Rinnegan first appear in?

It is in fact in episode 135, as can be seen here: (Taken from the end of the episode, sorry about the bad quality)

You've to remember that in the earlier episodes, we did not actually see Pain, we just saw these images of the Akatsuki members. But the rinnegan was seen already back then.


When Elder Tales was first released, the maximum attainable level was 40. It wwas gradually increased throughout the expansion packs. Before the Catastrophe, the maximum attainable level was 90.

According to the Wiki,

  With the release of the Homesteading the Noosphere expansion pack, the maximum level cap rose to 100. However, this change probably only applies to the Yamato server, as the other servers were not yet implemented with the expansion pack when the Catastrophe struck.

It is unclear to exactly how many servers was this expansion pack applied which implies that not all the players trapped inside the game have the ability to grow their levels beyond 90. But the expansion pack does apply to the Yamato server. Meaning the players in Log Horizon can definitely level up beyond 90. It can be concluded that leveling up beyond 90 is just very very slow and requires a lot of EXP points.

Moreover, it kind makes sense too that we don't see any characters above level 90 since none of them are actually seen grinding for high level monsters. Shiroe's gang was at doing that at least before Shiroe started working for the Round Table Conference. But they had no time for that after Shiroe tried to bring everyone together. They have become more "politics oriented". Trying to set up proper living system in Akihabara, the round table conference and all. None of them is really going all out for EXP. So it seems only logical that none of them were able to accumulate enough EXP points yet.

Here's a link to the level system resource from the Wiki.


Is there a meaning behind the paintings in Tsubaki Kureha's living room?

While the anime is never explicit about it's visual intentions, there are some potential implications for these two paintings:

Most obviously, they both feature naked or semi-naked women, quite appropriate for an anime named "Lesbian Bear Storm"!
More subtly, in both paintings the women are in a 'primal' state, whether in the wilds of the jungle, or leading a violent upsurge of primal emotion (in this case, the desire for freedom, to be uncaged = wild?). The could allude to Kureha's fierce (albeit largely hidden) emotions (especially of love and hate), and possibly also to Ginko's.
One could take it further and consider the woman on the left of The Dream represents Ginko: she a woman in the wild, surrounded by wild beasts, hinting at her animalistic nature underneath her human disguise. The woman to the right, playing the flute, would then be Kureha, the one who "charms" the wild beasts (=Ginko). The woman to the left is even holding out her hand in yearning towards the animal-charmer!
Liberty leading the People, on the other hand, could represent Kureha. Partial nudity could allude to the fact that she's still partially attached to 'human' society and values, and not fully wild and untamed, as Ginko is. Also, it is Kureha who ultimately breaks free of these values, casting off her chains to claim her lover unabashedly. The final liberation is her passing beyond severance with Ginko - like in the Revolution, breaking through the past, but to an unknowable future.


Why do anime series change titles so often (nearly for every "season")?

Okay, based on what I've learned here, I think I understand why you're asking this question - it looks like it boils down to the fact American television and anime use the word "season" differently.
The way anime is produced nowadays is that the production of a second season is almost always strongly contingent on the commercial success of the first season. As such, production will typically halt completely in between seasons - different seasons are different productions. What this means is that what anime watchers call "seasons" are what American TV watchers call "series".1
And this, I think, is the important insight. It is rare for American television to feature shows that have multiple series (separated by halts in production) set in the same continuity, since American television production functions differently. American shows typically semi-continuously churn out new content (a la The Simpsons) until they get cancelled.
In the specific cases you used as examples (Railgun, Zero no Tsukaima, Medaka, SAO, OreImo, K-ON), it looks like all of them experienced halts in production between each season.

I mean, I understand that the title stays the same for long running series, like Bleach or One Piece...

Right, and the key factor here is that Bleach and One Piece are each one continuous production - because there was never a halt in production, they never got a new title.2

The source material keeps its name throughout its entire life (e.g. there was never a Naruto: Shippuuden manga or a Shakugan no Shana III light novel), so why do their anime adaptations get different titles?

So again, this boils down to the fact that the Naruto manga and the Shakugan no Shana light novels were each one continuous production (as basically all manga series and light novels are). There's no logical breaking point at which to change titles in these cases.

I'm particularly interested in the last two, where the only noticeable difference in the title is a punctuation mark.

The practice of using a punctuation mark rather than a subtitle or other designation to identify a new season is a stupid practice that has been "trendy" recently, and should (with any luck) die out eventually. Still, the idea is basically the same - K-On!! could just as well have been called K-On! 2 or K-On!: This Time It's Cuter or whatever - anything to indicate that it's a separate production from the original series K-On!.

Is there a legal thing in Japan which disallows a production for one "season" to have the same name as another, for clarification purposes?

I'm no expert on Japanese law, but I would be astounded if this were the case.

Addendum: the case of Fairy Tail is interesting - it ran from Oct 2009 to Mar 2013, then stopped for a while, and picked back up again in Apr 2014. Despite this, the name of the series did not change - it was called Fairy Tail both before and after the break in airing.3
My suspicion here is that the break in airing had been planned in advance, and that the producers had planned to resume airing once the manga had had some time to get ahead.
If this is in fact the case, there would have been no reason to halt production during the break in airing - it was already known at the time airing stopped that they would be making more episodes. Contrast this with e.g. Railgun - when the first season finished in 2010, they didn't know (for sure) that they'd be making a second season (which didn't end up happening until 2013).

Notes
1 In most cases, anime has no notion that is equivalent to what American TV watchers call "seasons"; the major exception would probably be long-running children's anime (think Doraemon, Sazae-san, etc.).
2 This explanation doesn't really work for Naruto vs. Naruto Shippuden, though, and I'm not familiar enough with that show to posit an explanation. You might like to ask about that particular case separately if it interests you.
3 Regarding which, see this question.


Is the manga Emma a retelling of Jane Austen's novel?

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

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

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

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

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


Did the original Bem have a manga that was based on?

All Humanoid Monster Bem anime are original, but they also spawned manga adaptation.

The first Humanoid Monster Bem anime in 1968 got its manga adaptation and was serialized in Bokura monthly manga magazine until 1969, then reissued by Kodansha in 2012 and got its paperback edition in 2010.

The second anime in 2006 got its manga adaptation and was serialized in Weekly Young Jump and Mankaku, then got its tankobon version in 2007.

The third anime, BEM in 2019 got its manga adaptation and was serialized in Manga Park application.

The manga spin-off Humanoid Monster Bem RETURNS was the only original manga, which was serialized in Monthly Shonen Gangan since 1993 until 1995. The anime (and game) adaptation was planned in 1997 but got canceled, and thus leaving only the manga.

Source: Japanese Wikipedia


Which is the series "Lost Sheep" of which plush doll Subaru Konoe is fan of?

I believe the '"Lost Sheep" series of plush dolls' is a line of toys that exists only in the Mayo Chiki universe, something like gashapon vending machine toys. (If I recall correctly, the Lost Sheep toys are larger and come from a crane game machine, though.)

Toys like this are fairly common in anime and manga since the characters are often teenagers who spend time in game centers, and they're quite common and ubiquitous in real life as well. From the Wikipedia article on Gashapon:

  Gashapon toys are often licensed from popular characters in Japanese
  manga, video games or anime, or from the American entertainment
  industry. These highly detailed toys have found a large following
  among all generations in Japan, and the trend is filtering to the
  world, especially among adult collectors. It is not uncommon for sets
  marketed specifically for adults to feature risqué female figurines.

(By the way, if you go through to the original article, do not click on the citation for that last sentence unless you are alone in a dark room, preferably about forty miles from the nearest civilization.)


What are the techniques/fighting styles displayed in Bleach?

There are four fighting styles a Shinigami uses are:

Zanjutsu (Weapon arts) --
The art of using their weapon to it's full potential.
Hakuda (Martial arts) --
The art of physical power and melee fighting skills.
Hohou (Movement arts) --
The art of moving, dodging, and countering.
Kidou (Magic arts) --
The art of using spells and magic.

They are often used in combination with one another in battle.


Did manga from North Korea undergo the same audience changes as in the rest of Asia?

Of course, North Korea is pretty secretive so not much information is out there in the open - but I did contact the owner of this North Korean manhwa collection and he gave me some insight of his own.

  You'll see that "Blizzard" is clearly for an older readership than the others, but most of them are aimed at children. There are also manhwa explicitly used in schools for instructional purposes (how to detect and report spies, for example, along with ones about being a good
  citizen, student, etc.). It looks like a large percentage of the comics are actually geared for export and are sold in China.

  Culturally, it is still somewhat of a stigma, I think, for North Korean adults to be reading comic books, and that's in keeping with their general conservatism. In South Korea, adults began reading comics on a large scale only in the late 80s with the explosive popularity
  of "The Alien Baseball Team." When I grew up in SK in the 60s, adult readers were either delinquents or women (who would read rented romance series the way we used to get videotapes at Blockbuster).

Part of the appeal of Gekiga works were that they were gritty and covered topics like sex and murder. A big feature was that they were drawn like a movie - scenes were dramatic and authours experimented with different angles for the best effect.

Ironically, their comic style for action seems to be similar to american war comics.

I think because of the North Korean's conservatism (and the preference of socialist thought over freedom of expression), North Korean artists decline to veer far from the status quo - especially with the threat of 're-education' camps.

A lot of visitors to North Korea liken it to a South Korea in the 60s & 70s that stagnated. Even though Blizzard seems to target an older audience - I believe it is still targetted at young (army-age) boys, much like the Western comics from that time period.

Other manhwa he linked me to were similarly nationalistic - including one of the most popular titles - Great General Mighty Wing - a thinly veiled advert for juche ideology, a family-based society and a war against evil enemy (in this case, wasps).

So, just as North Korean society has evolved much slower than the outside world, manhwa seems to have also.

== Update ==

A question of mine got featured in NKNews' "Ask a North Korean" - "Do North Koreans like reading books".

From someone who lived in the regime:

  one day, North Korea put a new show on TV on which they read children’s stories from other countries during the time when they used to air animations. This new TV program was so popular that all children and adults began waiting for the show.
  [...]
  The books adult readers rented were mostly fiction rather than comic books. As far as comic books for adult readers were concerned, they were mostly about Chinese fantasy or stories set in the historical Koryo and Chosun Dynasty.

It seems while some comics were targetted at adult readers, they still did not go near the topics dealt with in gekiga manga.

  The government ban on comic books was loose. As a result, it was easier for vendors to sell or lend them for profits. But foreign novels usually contained and revealed aspects of capitalism. So vendors wouldn’t display them out in public. Instead, they would only lend them to people they were close to in order to avoid any trouble.

Traditional books on the other hand were monitored more stringently and shared via familiar connections. One of her favourites was 'If Tomorrow Comes'

  The American book, “If Tomorrow Comes,” was a story about a man during his imprisonment. Rape and homosexuality were depicted in the story, both of which were topics inconceivable in North Korea at that time. This is why I’m certain that this story wasn’t written by a North Korean.

Further info:

I recommend checking out this interview


Has there been a woman that Sanji did not get attracted to?

There are women Sanji has met who he hasn't been attracted to, like Kokoro, Lola and Shakuyaku. I believe he's more into young women and young girls, and although he does respect older women, he doesn't swoon over them.


In Mirai no Mirai, where is the protagonist's family house in Japan?

From an interview with Mamoru Hosoda, the film's director:

Mirai is not set in Toyoma but rather in Yokohama, which is a port city that was one of the first cities to be modernized because of its contact with the West. I chose Yokohama, a city that is constantly changing, because Mirai is a story about how a family can change but always remains itself.

So, no this location is not fictional.
Regarding the house design or style, as @AkiTanaka mentioned, these are called stepped houses. The link also mentions that the house is located in Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama.


Where did Asuka think "Monaka" came from?

Here is what Asuka said in Japanese:

なるほど…最中【もなか】。私達【わたしたち】は青春【せいしゅん】真っ【まっ】最中【さいちゅう】～的【てき】な？
I see... monaka. We're in the middle of our youth~ or something?

The idea is, 最中 (in the middle) is usually read as "saichuu", but also has another reading of "monaka". As for why Asuka connected it to "youth", it's a common idea that school life is related to youth life.

Monaka itself is actually a wafer cake filled with the bean jam. The origin of monaka is from 最中【もなか】の月【つき】 which has the meaning of "the shape of full moon".


Did Lucy Heartfilia and Zeref meet before the Eclipse Gate arc?

No, Lucy never got the chance to look at Zeref.

Only Natsu, Elfman, Evergreen, Happy and Gray (in chapter 522, "Gray's Trump Card") have seen him. Lucy has heard of Zeref but never got a chance to see him.

However, towards the end of the manga series, Lucy does meet a Zeref look-a-like in chapter 545 (way after the Eclipse Gate Arc), "Friends you Can't do Without". The way he is portrayed was that he was a young writer attempting to meet with Lucy Heartfelia after her award ceremony. He picks up the handkerchief dropped by, what looks to me, Mavis Vermillion. They both engage in a conversation then leave, never to be seen for the remainder of the chapter.


In Death Note, is it ever revealed what "L" stands for?

In the manga and the anime doesn't reveal what L stands for, but in a especial edition called "Death Note 13: How to Read", reveal that L real name is

   L Lawliet or in japanese, Eru Rõraito.

Reference: http://deathnote.wikia.com/wiki/Death_Note_13:_How_to_Read


There is absolutely no law that specifies that an anime can only be in English.

I will state that this is incredibly rare, given that most anime are actually made in Japan for a Japanese audience (hence why they're in Japanese), but given that the Afro Samurai anime was released in English-only, and it and its original manga source work was originally made in Japan, this only goes to demonstrate that there can be no law against this.


Are Yamato/Tenzo their actual names, or only code names?

Yes, Sai and Yamato are code names. In the anime and I believe manga as well, we even watch both of them get assigned those names by Danzo and Tsunade respectively at around the same time right before they go to meet Naruto for the first time.

http://naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Sai

  Sai was orphaned as a child and recruited into Root, a secret branch of the Anbu under the leadership of Danzō Shimura. There, he was raised and conditioned to have no personality, personal connections, or a name; "Sai" being given to him for the purposes of joining Team Kakashi.

and 3 snippets from http://naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Yamato

  He was soon afterwards found by Danzō Shimura. Having lost all memory of who he was, the boy was taken in by Danzō, where he was recruited into the Anbu's Root division under the codename Kinoe (甲, Kinoe)........Later, Kinoe was re-assigned to Team Ro under Kakashi's command. Joining his new squad, Kinoe was given a warm welcome to his new allies and insisted by Kakashi that he go by his chosen name of "Tenzō", which he happily agreed to......... "Yamato" and "Tenzō" are actually codenames given to him, reflecting his time as Team Kakashi's captain and an Anbu member, respectively; his real name is unknown.


What disease did Kenshin and Kaoru catch that killed them?

I found this on the Wikipedia page for Rurouni Kenshin: Reflection

  Kenshin eventually becomes ravaged by an unknown disease that is much
  like leprosy (the writers have admitted there is no medical
  explanation for Kenshin's condition[citation needed]). To share his
  pain, Kaoru convinces Kenshin to infect her with the disease through
  sexual intercourse.

Leprosy is not an std but can be spread through physical contact with a person who is infected.  Since it is said that the disease is much like leprosy it could have been transmitted to her when she stayed with him.

As far as canonicity the story was not written by Nobuhiro Watsuki. I'm not sure if this story was considered canon or not but the following is a quote from the Wikipedia

  Although Samurai X: Reflection was not written by Watsuki, he stated that he "checked in on the script."[5] Watsuki mentioned not having input in it, and let the director "run wild with it." In response to Kenshin's death in comparison to the happy ending in the manga version, he felt that his own work eventually would have reached Kenshin's death had he continued writing. He had not wished to pursue that line because "Kenshin went through so much crap and deserved a happy ending." He felt that neither version was better than the other because "it's a personal taste thing."[5]


How does Guy know how to perform the jutsu in the Eight Gates Released Formation?

Okay, it's hard to explain, and i might not even be right, but I'll try my best. Sadly, there's no tldr.
What's different? Guy didn't invent the jutsu in the sense that Kakashi invented the Chidori. Kakashi spent years perfecting it. It's something he initially needed to use hand signs to perform every time.
Why?
The jutsus (more specifically taijutsu techniques) Guy used — Evening Elephant (Sekizo) and Night Guy — are byproducts of attacking with all eight gates opened. It's not something you have to learn; it's something you are just able to do with that much power flooding from your body.
The jutsu are just names he used to describe the phenomenon of having incredibly OP punches and kicks that can also generate a dragon-like aura (for some reason). He didn't actually know what would happen, unless he witnessed his dad do the same thing and he told Rock Lee what it was like.
Evidence From Narutopedia (Sekizo, Night Guy):

The Evening Elephant ... can be performed by those users who have
opened all Eight Gates.
The Night Guy ... can only be performed by
opening all Eight Gates.

^ They imply that it's something that you can naturally do with the eight gates opened.

When Guy initiates the technique, he emits an enormous amount of
chakra ... the blood vapour of the Eighth Gate manifests into a red,
flickering dragon-like aura ... He then dashes forward at such an
extreme speed that the space within the immediate vicinity of the
technique is distorted, making it impossible for the target to defend
against it. Guy then deals an immensely powerful kick which carries
such force that it is capable of obliterating the target's body...

^ Essentially, Guy is gathering power, running really fast, and kicking really hard. That's not really something that you have to practice and invent, like the Rasen-shuriken.
Examples: Kinda like when Obito and Madara became the Ten-tails Jinchuriki. They could do all this fancy truth-seeking ball stuff. Not because they spent time learning it, but because they were just able to, with the help of Ten-tails and huge sage power. Or when Naruto was able to heal people and Sasuke was able to teleport as soon as they got Hagoromo's chakra.
Sigh... Nevertheless, there are too many caveats and exceptions in the Naruto universe. Everything they say isn't necessarily true (e.g. Gaara's absolute defence is not absolute, Hashirama's unique wood release can be used by several other people). I mean, your first sentence is refuted by the fact that Guy actually survived (thanks to Naruto). So it's quite hard to make sense of anything.
More info - If you're not satisfied, look at this guy's explanation, which is good in the sense that it uses common sense: How do you train in a jutsu that kills you if used?


Quote from the 6th novel, Chapter 1 Part 8 (Credit for the translation goes to Baka-Tsuki):

  All the students in Academy City had a scholarship they could claim, and the money would be automatically banked into their accounts like a salary.
  On first glance, it was a system that was worth being envious over, but basically, it could be considered a contract for esper development. The more prestigious the school, or the higher the Level of the esper, the greater the reward. In contrast, the esper would have to take part in more research.
  As for ordinary Level 0 school students like Kamijou, the reward they could get was rather limited.

All Espers (even the Lv.0s) should have this scholarship for the Power Curriculum Program, the program to develop Esper-powers.

Not included here are non-students: Skill-Out most likely earns money with crimes, Teachers are paid by the city (although they don't get money for being a member of Anti-Skill), and foreigners (like Frenda) just live in the city and get paid for their jobs.


Do cell phones and email exist in Gankutsuou?

Gankutsuou's is an adaptation of The Count of Monte Cristo written by Alexandre Dumas and published in 1844. This is shown by the series' full English title: Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo.

The events of the original book take place in late 1830s France and as such the characters did not have access to technologies such as the telephone which would not be invented until the 1870s.

The futuristic setting of Gankutsuou is an adaptational choice and is very different setting to the original novel. This massive change in setting creates Adaptation-Induced Plot Holes such as this.

So your final question would be correct: Advancements such as cell phones are simply ignored in order for Gankutsuou to properly follow the plot of the original novel.


What determines Remuneration in Darker than Black?

What determines the nature of remuneration in Darker than Black?

Since it's unclear how exactly does one become a contractor, it's also unclear how is his payment determined.

  Is it something ironic? Similar to one of the contractors smoking even though he hates the though of smoking.

No, not necessarily. this wiki says:

  Remunerations are typically difficult for the Contractor and range in severity from irritating to painful. However, there have been a few contractors who enjoy their remuneration and at least one who uses it in conjunction with his or her own ability.

For example, Bai's (Hei's sister) obeisance was sleeping, which is neither painful, nor shameful/irritating/etc. Another example is April, whos obeisance is alcohol drinking, which she actually enjoys.

However in general it looks like that obeisance is more likely to be unpleasant to the contractor.


Weren't the 1st and 2nd Hokage sealed forever?

All four Hokage had been sealed with the Shiki Fuujin:

As you said, the First and Second Hokage had been sealed by the Third, in his fight against Orochimaru.
On that same fight, the Third sealed himself, along with the First and Second.
The Fourth sealed himself when he sealed the Kyuubi inside Naruto.

Those whose souls were sealed by the Shiki Fuujin cannot be summoned or reincarnated.
However, as we discovered in chapter 618, the seal can be broken by summoning the Shinigami while using a Shinigami mask that was stored in the Uzumaki Clan's Mask Storage Temple.


How does an outsider get "citizenship" in one of the Five Great Shinobi Countries?

Kushina was an exception since she didn't move to the village but was sent there to become the next nine tails jinchūriki.

But I guess that if someone decided to move to another the village he would need to talk to the Kage and be accepted.


What are the differences between the original and the re-cut versions of Psycho-Pass?

The new edit version of Psycho-Pass has:

Reanimated Opening and Ending themes
Additional minor scenes (for example in episode 1 there are two new soliloquies not seen in the original). These tend to be placed midway during the episodes to allow for a better transition between the two old episodes.
Redone animation of particular scenes (and some additional CGI in places)
Some music changes in scenes

There's nothing substantially different in the new edit version, so if you have seen the original there's not a huge benefit in watching this version and you should still be able to watch the sequel Psycho-Pass 2 in Fall 2014 without worries.


Please help identify this anime or OVA from 14 years ago about magic

This sounds like Doomed Megalopolis.

(From Wikipedia):

  Doomed Megalopolis (帝都物語 Teito Monogatari?) is a supernatural/dark fantasy anime. It is an adaptation of the historical fantasy novel Teito Monogatari by Hiroshi Aramata. The anime is darker, more violent and sexualized than any previous adaptations of the novel; an artistic decision probably inspired by the financial success of the OVA Legend of the Overfiend. Like its live-action predecessor, Tokyo: The Last Megalopolis, the anime is only an adaptation of the first 1/3rd (the first four books) of the original novel.

  It was released by Toei in 1991 as a 4-part OVA. In 1995, ADV Films gained the rights to the anime and released it on a four-volume cassette series in the US, under the title Doomed Megalopolis. In 2001, ADV re-released the entire series on a 2-Disc DVD edition. However, this release did not have the original Japanese soundtrack or any special features. Eventually, ADV gathered the rights to the original Japanese voices, and in 2003, re-released an enhanced version entitled Doomed Megalopolis: Special Edition, wherein the Japanese language option was available and bonus features, such as interviews and documentaries were added.[

It's around the right time frame, though it's not listed under the programs broadcasted by Bravo.

The main antagonist is an evil wizard with white gloves with a pentagram on it, and in the beginning of the movie, he blocks the arrow:

The start of the movie has this old guy:

There's also this scene:

More info:

My Anime List
Wikipedia
Anime News Network


How do alchemists draw transmutation circles?

First, there is no official word on this. None of the Hiromu Arakawa (the original writer) interviews go into depth as to what the transmutation circles even do, much less how they are created. Neither of the FMA Perfect Guide books mention transmutation circles to any strenuous degree, though it is mentioned that Alphonse has more practice drawing them than Edward (for reasons obvious to those who have seen the series).

There are tutorials online that show methods to draw these circles; however, most if not all that I found used rulers, compasses, or other tools.

Some alchemists use circles that are likely made by tools:

Major Armstrong's circles are inscribed in the metal plates on his hands. These would require tools to make, and so may have been made perfectly circular by tools as well.
The same applies to other circles we see; Roy's are on his gloves, Basque Grand's are on his gauntlets, etc.

However, alchemists are shown drawing the circles many times:

In a flashback during episode 2FMA:B (and others), Ed is shown to draw a transmutation circle (the blood seal) on Alphonse's armor just using his finger, and he's still a child.
Around episode 23FMA:B, May Chang is shown to draw a "perfect" circle and pentagram using only her foot. She then proceeds to throw ten kunai into two perfect pentagons, which are used as transmutation circles.
In episode 57FMA:B, the Gold-Toothed Doctor uses chalk to draw a rather large transmutation circle.
In episode 63FMA:B, Edward Elric draws a large transmutation circle by only dragging a pipe across the ground.
In chapter 1Manga, Al is seen drawing a circle using chalk and no tools (pictured below). This shot appears in similar fashion in Brotherhood.

In none of the above circumstances are tools shown to be used to draw the circles. Furthermore, Scar's brother's tattoo likely could not have been drawn with tools as the human skin is not a uniform or Euclidean surface. And also, the Elric brothers are shown, prior to their mother's death, to draw effective transmutation circles without tools.

With all these bits of information together, it's at the very least hard to believe that there are tools used to draw the circles, or even to learn to draw them. No one is ever seen using them; I suspect we are just supposed to believe that freehanding it becomes a skill as alchemists get better.


A sad violin song in most of flashback scenes like Obito's flashback and the storybook from Jiraiya

This was not released in any of the official OSTs. At the very least, it doesn't appear in any of the tracks in this list (as of 2018).

There are some unofficial versions online, such as this one, titled "Minato saves Kushina".

I remember this song as that nostalgic-sounding track that is mostly happy, but has just a touch of bittersweetness, and also that really good violin bit.

Not to be confused with "Let Me Tell You a Story from My Childhood", which sounds similar and also has some very nice violin parts, but unlike the first song, is more lighthearted and cheerful.


Who are all the girls fawning over Araragi?

This answer is going to be a huge disappointment, in all sorts of ways. I genuinely hope that someone comes along and proves this answer wrong somehow.

I don't think the other four girls are references to anything; I think they're just generic middle school girls from Koyomi's hometown.

Look at the two girls on the right:

They seem to be wearing the same school uniform as Nadeko:

And look at the two girls on the left:

They appear to be wearing the uniform of Tsuganoki No. 2 Middle School, Karen-chan and Tsukihi-chan's school:

This seems to suggest that the other four girls are just hypothetical middle school girls of the Fire Sisters' acquaintance, since they attend school in Koyomi's hometown alongside Nadeko, Karen-chan, and Tsukihi-chan. In other words, the thinking behind the scene was not, "Hey, let's fill up this scene with characters from our other works"; it was, "Hey, we've got this scene full of middle school girls, how about we shove in Madoka, Homura, Kyouko, and Sayaka?" (Poor Mami got left out again.)

However, the Madoka girls aren't actually wearing their regular uniforms either. Below we see the Mitakihara Middle School uniform, modeled by the lovely Homura, Sayaka, and Madoka:

Though the ribbon is similar, their regular uniforms clearly don't have a sailor collar. Since the Madoka girls are in different uniforms, the other four girls might still be from other shows, and were put into uniforms from the Monogatari series. As a counter-argument to this, the Mitakihara uniform looks very different from Nadeko's and the Fire Sisters' uniforms; the scene would look unbalanced if the Madoka girls were put into such different-looking uniforms. Also, in the Madoka series, Kyouko doesn't attend school with the others, so it wouldn't have made sense to put her in the Mitakihara uniform. (Mami attends Mitakihara, but she got left out again.) For those reasons, the animators may have decided to give just the Madoka girls different uniforms.

None of these arguments is iron-clad, so it is still possible that the four non-magical girls are from other shows and were put into uniforms from the Monogatari series for this scene. I genuinely hope that there is some more interesting answer than this one.


Are all the angels children of the Great Priest?

Well as of now, it has been confirmed to a certainty in the anime that Whis and Vados are siblings. As for the other angels, the reason you see them being linked as sisters on the wiki page is because of this image(linked here) posted on Instagram by Toyotaro listing Vados, Whis, Cus, Maracarita and Marinu as siblings.  The post translates to "4 Beautiful Sisters".  Personal Opinion: I personally believed at the start that it was very likely that all the angels are kids of the grand priest. However, after episode 118, my opinion of the same has changed. After Universe 6 is erased, we see Vados immediately going towards Whis as seen in the picture below. We also know that this isn't temporary as Vados is seated next to Whis in episode 119. We don't see any of the other angels joining another Universe or being seated next to another angel once their universe is erased. Please Note: There is a very high possibility that this doesn't mean anything and it was only because Vados and Whis might be very close since they are from parallel universes, or they might be two siblings who get along and don't get along with the others or only the two of them might be siblings and we don't know for sure.

 Hence, there is no actual answer to your question and it's personally up to you to decide what you believe in.


Do the words used to transform into a Magical Garment Girl actually mean anything?

Reading this backwards (in Japanese, so by reversing the morae rather than the romanized letters) gives you "raburii de chaamingu dakedo watashi wa shi wo yobu mono" (ラブリーでチャーミングだけど私は死を呼ぶもの), which means "lovely and charming though I am, I am he who summons death".


Thrilling music played in Tokyo Ghoul :re season 2 episode 11

Nevermind. I found that soundtrack. It is Donneschlag composed by Yutaka Yamanda. https://youtu.be/BDfL_8-5O2M


There are no definite answers possible for your question, as there is no known number's for anime fans within the programmer community.

Besides that it is still very Dependant on how broad you take the term "programmer" and "like". There are plenty of children out there that are able to write a simple script and call them self a programmer. And even without those there are tons of programmers that enjoy watching a anime every once in a while, or some times a cartoon. Which roughly would be just as big as the programmer group that likes to watch a movie, television series and even reading a good book.

We can make a well educated guess, but it would be no more then speculation.
 Assuming you are aiming at the above average adult anime watching behavior, so where adult are watching just as much as kids. Which is according to the following source roughly 24 hours a week or 3.4 hours a day.

  According to TV ratings company Nielsen, kids in 2012, age 2 to 11, watched an average of 24 hours of TV a week. That’s an average of three and a half hours a day.

Taking a average daily life of showering, eating and minimum healthy sleeping habits and jobs into account. A person would take up about at least 19 hours a day, leaving 5 hours a day. With the average programmers age of about 37 years this time is usually spend with wife/ kids. Leaving about 13% tops of programmers above the ago of 20 to even have time enough to above averagely like anime to begin with.


Yes.

   In episode 5, you (the viewer) learn that the class is ignoring Misaki as part of a "countermeasure" to ward off the calamity that affects class 3-3 (which is what causes all the paranormal phenomena you see in episodes 1-4, e.g. the girl nearly getting crushed by the falling glass pane; the nurse in the crashing elevator; etc). The basic idea is that the class has one more person than it should (you find out why in episode 6, I believe), and so by pretending that one of the people in the class doesn't exist, they bring the number of people in the class down to the correct number.


Why isn't Gildarts one of the Ten Wizard Saints?

The Chairman of the Magic Council appoints the wizards to the Ten Wizard Saints. The Magic Council's decisions are not always objectively taken, and sometimes blatantly politically motivated. Many of the Magic Council members have a strong dislike for the Fairy Tail guild. It is likely they did not appoint Gildarts because they did not want two Fairy Tail wizards to hold that title.

Another reason is that Gildarts travels a lot going on long missions, and rarely stays at his own guild for long, while the Magic Council probably did not want such a "nomadic" member on that elite group. Moreover, even if the Magic Council made him that offer, Gildarts himself may have turned it down, seeing how he returned the Fairy Tail guild Master's title saying that he is not suited for it.