I believe that even if you become a High or Ultimate Class Devil (Only two reincarnated devils have done so in canon) and obtain your own Peerage you still are a servant of your King. Kuroka was stronger than her King by a large margin but still served him. This means that instead of losing your legion you gain more legions (not proper terminology since a legion is over 5500 troops) that are indirectly under your command. Sirzechs peerage seem to be all high class but still serve him. Tannin himself is Mephisto's Queen but he is also a Ultimate-Class Devil and King and in the Top 10 of the Rating Game: in other words a hero of the Underworld. It is suggested that technically Tannin is still his servant but hard to confirm since even from the beginning Mephisto gave Tannin free reign to do as he pleased.

This is also supported by the fact that in volume one of the novels (and manga) Rias states that powerful peerage become status for their King. This would suggest such things remain even for servants that rose in status otherwise it would make more sense to make blood-status the requirement to get a set of Evil Pieces not Class since they would lose their property and the Devil's in DxD seem too greedy to sacrifice their valuables especially when their worth has become high.

Once you use it, Devils won’t be given a new [Evil Pieces].”
Quoted from Rias in Part 2 of the New Life Chapter in the first volume of the DxD novels.

Also I got this from the official DxD wiki (which holds copies of the translated novels):
There is actually no conflict when a Low-Class Devil starts his own group while still being a part of another peerage after becoming High-Class. When a Devil reaches High-Class, they receive a set of Evil Pieces to start their own group. However, even after going independent, Devils are still obliged to fight as underlings whenever their master has a Rating Game, for example, if Issei were to reach High-Class and start his own peerage, he would still have to fight as Rias' Pawn if she ever has a Rating Game.

And Evil Pieces that have returned have already stopped functioning and cannot be used ever again.
Said by Kiba in Vol. 12 of the Novels.


The exact wish (at least in the english dub) was

  Please revive all those on Earth who were killed by Cell.

That doesn't include the others who died on King Kai's planet.


In Overlord, if Ainz obtained the guild weapon of the 8 Greed Kings, would he be able to control the NPC's?

We (the community) are not sure if the "powerful beings" are actually NPC's.
As you said, we guess they are, but they could also be many other things. New Worlders, golems, or who knows what. PDL (platinum dragon lord) can use wild magic and has created some pretty impossible things according to Yggdrasil rules, so that leave a lot of unknowns.
You are correct about if the guild weapon is destroyed, it destroys the guild. At least that is what's in the LNs, but we never saw an example of this in Yggdrasil.
My personal guess was that you could destroy the guild, then take it over and create new NPC's. It would be sort of a letdown if you capture a guild and your stuck with someone else's npcs. There is probably a way to delete them and gain your guild's NPC levels back.  Each guild has a set number of NPC levels, so they are very important to use them wisely.
However... the new world isn't Yggdrasil. The magic and mechanics are very similar, but there are some strange differences. A great example of this is Ainz's death knights. If he uses a corpse they last forever, which wasn't possible in the game.  These changes could potentially create unknowns.  Maybe the NPC's will automatically disappear, maybe ainz has to kill them... maybe there isn't a way to get the NPC's levels back.  Maybe it will reprogram them to follow Ainz, or they will become their own beings and be broken from the NPC system of the guild.
There are so many unknowns that it is really hard to say how it might work.  We don't even know if Ainz can create NPC's in the New World. Ainz mentions it requires a dev kit... but would it even work?  Man it's a tough question.
I've been hoping that the author writes about Ainz taking over the 8 greed kings base. I think this could answer a lot of questions we have.

Can ainz take it over?
Can he move it?
Can he create NPC's?
Could he transfer them over to Nazarick?

It endless, but maybe someday we will learn more.


Does Luffy touch his enemies in Gear Second?

Short Answer: Yes he is. He is just so fast that the hand is back where he started before the opponent feels the impact. Thus creating multiple impacts in some moves like Jet Gatling, almost instantaneously.

Long Answer:

What exactly is Gear Second?
Gear Second is somewhat similar to what in real life we call "Blood Doping". Luffy achieves this by leveraging the fact that is complete body and not just the skin is made of rubber. Thus his blood Vessels and Heart can sustain tremendous blood pressure that no normal human could survive. Using his Hands/feet as pumps, Luffy increases his blood flow in the whole body or just parts (Post-Timeskip)

  Essentially Luffy increases the blood flow by forcing more blood through his blood vessels thus increase his fighting ability. This mode's enhancements to Luffy's physiology giving him the ability to use a new, stronger set of techniques which are generally the same as his old ones, but are so fast that even a skilled assassin would have a hard time actually seeing them

Source: Gear Second: Overview and techniques

Also note,

  Most of the techniques in this mode are named the same as the regular attacks with "Jet" added after the "Gomu Gomu no" prefix

These are just much much faster and thus have the incredibly high damage due to the impulsive nature of the impact. (Defined in physics as: A large force applied for a very short duration)

Also note the description of some of the moves.

Gomu Gomu no Jet Pistol:  Luffy delivers a Gomu Gomu no Pistol so fast that the fist's movement is invisible, and it truly seems like he shoots his opponent[..]
Gomu Gomu no Jet Gatling: [..]Luffy stands still, bends forward and moves his arms upwards at speeds which they can no longer be seen, leaving only jet streams in their place[..] The hits land so fast that, after a volley, they seemingly connect simultaneously. The circles of air bursts from the punches surrounding Luffy, resemble the many barrels of an actual Gatling gun.

From these descriptions and analyzing Luffy's powers we can assume he has to touch the opponent for the desired effect. The attack you are thinking of is shown to be achieved by Bartholomew Kuma, who can use hi DF power to repel air using his palms.


This has been an item of discussion between Dragon Ball fans for a long time. Most of the information I've come across concludes that this is simply an animation consistency failure.

From Dragon Ball Neoseeker Wiki:

The vast majority of the manga was produce in black and white, with a few chapters being colored minimally. There were also an even smaller number of chapters in full color.

Since Dragon Ball was originally black and white, the animation studios likely did not know that Piccolo's blood was supposed to be purple until much later.
In fact, this Reddit comment points out that it happens with Frieza's blood too, discoloring it from blue to red.
While some arguments have been made wondering if this could be censorship, the blood changes were in both international and Japanese versions of the show. There are several cases of censorship that involve the Dragon Ball Z anime but I do not believe this is one of them.
However, there was some censorship on some international releases of Dragon Ball Z involving Piccolo's blood. These changes turned Piccolo's blood green.
A fact that points towards this color change being a blunder is that Piccolo's blood is recolored to purple in the first episode of Dragon Ball Kai, during the recap of the 23rd Tenkaichi Budoukai. This screenshot is from Piccolo's reaction when Goku headbutts him. Interestingly enough, this scene also receives some censorship in international releases, recoloring the blood yet again to white.

As an aside, it is likely that not even Akira Toriyama really knew what color Piccolo's blood was supposed to be. In an interview with Toriyama, he states that he was originally unsure that Piccolo would even be an alien; he originally just created Piccolo to be demon-like.

Q: Speaking of Piccolo, did you think from the beginning of his background as a Namekian alien?
A: Of course, I didn’t think that at all (laughs). The Saiyans were like that as well. When I thought up Goku’s tail and the Ōzaru, I didn’t think Goku was an alien or anything. Piccolo either. Because I thought that up when God came out.
Mostly afterwards, I thought it through so that it would be consistent. For example, there’s the chair that Planet Namek’s Eldest sat in. That was mostly the same as the chair that Piccolo Daimaō had sat in when he first appeared. It was just missing the skulls.


How did Rukia become an unwitting carrier of the Hogyoku and executor of pre-planned events?

Aizen does not insert the Hōgyoku into Rukia's body. The deed was actually done by Urahara Kisuke when he makes a deal with a powerless Rukia for a human gigai into which he places the Hōgyoku for safety and secrecy.

Rukia by coincidence happens to patrol Karakura town on the day the hollow attacks Kurosaki family, the Hōgyoku belonging to Kisuke is hidden in the gigai which he gives after she transfers her powers to Ichigo; until then she can sense reiatsu and it was because of sensing Ichigo's reiatsu that she initially entered the Kurosaki residence as a shinigami. However after using the (Kisuke provided) Hōgyoku contained gigai to stay in human world, she realizes that her shinigami powers are not recovering fast enough. Aizen merely

Aizen likely orchestrates the hollow attack on Kurosaki family likely believing this would cause Kisuke, who until then hidden in the shadows would make a move for the safekeeping of the Hōgyoku. And rightly Kisuke makes an appearance offering Rukia a deal on the gigai to use for the stay in human world.

   Also to be noted that the entire birth of Ichigo is a causality of Aizen's earlier experimentation and he mentions that he has been monitoring Ichigo for a long time

As for the extraction, Aizen merely assumes/contemplates that it would be of fatal consequence and expresses surprise when that is not the case. In general Aizen's knowledge on Hōgyoku and even that of Kisuke is not complete as they only succeed in creating an incomplete one at best both of which Aizen would later merge and use.


Why didn't Hashirama break free from Edo Tensei in the Chuunnin exams?

You will note that Tobirama, in the same scene tells Orochimaru that achieving better fidelity/accuracy/efficacy with edo tensei will be the cause of his downfall, since this time they have been revived with nearly their full power.

This strongly suggests that Orochimaru did not perfect edo tensei at the time of the Chunnin exams and that Hashirama was not at full strength and capacity.

Which explains why he did undo the binding at the time of the Chunnin exams - he couldn't.

You will also note that Hashirama doesn't seem to recall Orochimaru, further suggesting that he was not fully revived at the time, though that could simply be his personality...


Can Kumagami in Charlotte possess Yuu Otosaka?

Yes, seeing that Yusa's power is Spiritism, she can be a medium for the dead. Which is also mentioned in the wikia.

  Yusa has the ability of Spiritism. She is understood to be a medium,
  seemingly capable of channeling and/or conversing with the dead.

So it is not entirely impossible so long as they have a way to communicate with Kumogami's soul.


How did Madara Uchiha survive such a long time?

Madara, when he was close to death, awakened the Rinnegan.

The Rinnegan allowed him to break the seal placed by the Sage of the Six Paths, and summon the Juubi's shell (The Gedo Mazo) from the moon.

Using it as a catalyst, Madara used Hashirama's cells in order to extend his own lifespan.

Once disconnected from the Mazo, Madara died instantly.


Why can Naruto use Rasengan more than Kakashi using Chidori?

If I recall correctly, at one time, Kakashi commented that Naruto's chakra is about 4 times of what he has. With addition to Kyuubi's chakra, Naruto has about 100 times what Kakashi has. Suppose that Kakashi's chakra is 4, Chidori then costs 1 chakra for each use. Naruto has 4 times what Kakashi has so he has 16. Kage Bunshin actually costs small amount of chakra. The problem with Kage Bunshin is that it splits the chakra of the user which makes it appear as if it costs a lot.

But, when the jutsu is cancelled either by when the Bunshin gets hit, or the caster cancels it, the chakra comes back to the caster along with its experience. Suppose that Naruto doesn't cancel and re-cast Kage Bunshin, there won't be additional chakra cost for casting the jutsu.

Chidori cost = 1

Rasengan cost = 1

Kage Bunshin cost = 0.5 <- assuming it cost lower than Rasengan

Kakashi Chakra = 4

Naruto Chakra = 16

Inefficient chakra usage modifier = 200% (was 125% but changed as per ThatOneGuys's comment)

Kakashi Max Chidori = 4 / 1 = 4

Naruto Max Rasengan = (16 - 0.5 * 200%) / (1 x 200%) = 15 / 2 = 7.5 -> 7 (rounded down)

Without using Kyuubi's chakra, Naruto can do about 2 times more Rasengan than Kakashi can use Chidori. With Kyuubi's chakra, Naruto would be able to do about 100 times more. Of course, since with the training Naruto improved his chakra control, the current Naruto can do more Rasengan than this simple calculation shows.

The reference about Naruto's and Kakashi's chakra pool size and the fact about Kage Bunshin splitting the user's chakra and returning it when the jutsu was cancelled is from the episode where Kakashi train Naruto to develop Rasen Shuriken.


When fighting Shalltear, why would Ainz use Body of Effulgent Beryl?

According to volume 3 of the light novel, the lance does "battering"(i.e. bludgeoning) damage in Chapter 5. Which is why Ainz used it.

  The tenth-tier spell Body of Effulgent Beryl, in addition to decreasing damage taken by battering weapons for its duration, allow onetime full immunity to the damage. By having Body of Effulgent Beryl absorb the damage from the lance, its tip moved out of his body as if time had been rewound.

This explicitly states that Shalltear's weapon does bludgeoning damage and it as absorbed by the spell.

As a side note undead races have a racial vulnerability to bludgeoning damage (Bludgeoning Vulnerability V).


What are the differences between the cut and uncut versions of "Naruto" anime (not "Shippuden")?

Uncut episodes are typically longer, while CN cuts scenes out so they can show commercials. Uncut episodes also have more blood, alcohol, and sexual things in it. For example, the uncut episodes will show Naruto and Sasuke kissing in the beginning of the series, and they take that out on the CN version.
There's a comparison between a US TV version and Japanese TV version. Uncut episodes are most likely same as the Japanese version where it doesn't get censored out. Though, there might be a very slight improvement on the uncut version, probably like the lines touch-up or something, it's very hard to spot with naked eyes.
[US Version]-------------------------------------------------[Japanese/Uncut Version]--------------------------------


Anime involving a love story and two samurai/assassin villages, previously on unfriendly terms, that were made to fight each other again

This sounds a lot like Basilisk.

There are two warring ninja clans, one led by a girl, Oboro Iga, and the other a man, Gennosuke Kouga, who are both secretly in love with each other. They all have unique supernatural powers. During the course of the story, Gennosuke is blinded by a spell of some sort and they both of to fight each other at the end of the series.

It's very much like a "Romeo/Juliet" type story set in 17th century Japan.

More info:

Wikipedia
Wikia
Anime News Network
My Anime List


What's the song when Gon is on the ship to take the hunter exam?

It's Ohayou Harmonica, you can check the scene here : Ohayou Harmonica - Gon Predicting a Storm


Is Accelerator able to control the magnitude of vectors?

Some proof that he can control the magnitude of vectors:

He can propel himself by changing the vectors around his feet. Seeing as it initially has no speed, and suddenly it has, it means that the direction and magnitude was changed.
When he was first challenged by Touma, he kicked a stone as a warning shot, the stone flew so quickly, it made a nearby tower explode. Again, since the stone was at 0 speed, and went to supersonic speed (because that's what it takes to make an explosion like that), the magnitude was changed.

I'm sure that there could be more examples which I can't remember off the top of my head.


Why does "Shin Sekai Yori" portray a homosexual relationship?

This behavior is straight from the novel and is described by the Minoshiro in episode 4.  The answer will be revealed through the course of the story, but a quick witted watcher and/or reader will have his/her answer at episode 5.

  As the Minoshiro explains, necessity dictates that the human society on the brink of destruction must be reformed into a society of love, like the bonobos (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonobo). It is assumed that the grafting of bonobo DNA into the human genome causes certain attributes to be transferred. One of the explained behaviors is the relieving of stress through sexual activities (as observed in episode 5, when captured, Saki and Satoru engage in such activities to reduce their axiety and fear).

Combining this information with real-world information can then be extrapolated as:

  One of the other observed behaviors in the bonobo, is the bi-sexual nature, which is present in apes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homosexual_behavior_in_animals#Bonobo_and_other_apes). To form a society of love as the intention was, it can be assumed that the effect is already present in the human genome and may have been strengthened by the DNA grafting. Saki and Maria have a similar relationship.

So, why did they include these scenes?

  That's the background of the humans and thus a critical part of the story.


What's with all the weird writing/symbols in the hot springs in 3rei?

The banner looks similar to 武者幟 (warrior flag)

Around AD1600, There are civil war in Japan.
In that time every warrior show that flag to recognize each other.

Wikipedia have some picture of that war.

Or some city selling that flag as goods.

These flags have name of the 将軍 (General) or 紋(the mark of the family).

In that ilier's case, it uses same format, but it doesn't use actual mark or name.
I think it shows "Gil's wrong Japanese stereotype".


Is it necessary for the Gym Leaders of a region to know each other?

No there is no reason to. As some of the strongest trainers of the region, gym leaders may know each other but there is no necessity.

Case in point, Misty didn't know Brock was Petalburg's gym leader even though she was at that time not the Cerulean's leader. But throughout the journey Brock doesn't recognise most of the gym leaders. On the other hand several leaders know each other as well as the Elite Four. The reason for this is probably gyms are taken over strong trainers who went to the league or the Elite Four.

The reason why this is not a necessity that there is no set order for you to fight the gym leaders. There is no prescribed order to fight the gyms in an order. Even in the first generation games you could possibly battle Fuchsia, Celadon and Saffron gyms in different orders. In future games the HMs can only be used by defeating a gym and that HM is usually required to reach that next gym and thus the need of order of a particular gym. Or sometimes its locked, gym leader missing etc. other side quests.

In the anime, the current gym leader would realistically know which gym is the closest and leaders are usually helpful enough to pass it on to the trainer. But he is not required to fight the gym and may chose to proceed to another. Example: Ash skipped the Petalburg gym because Vigoroth was too powerful for his team and came back later. (As I remember, been a long time since I last saw Pokemon)

Also it is conclusive there are more than 8 gyms in any region of pokemon.
Refer to:
Does each Region only have 8 gyms in pokemon?


No, it's just a modified military salute and the words themselves have no particular meaning or a translation that would make sense.

While a military salute can be used for acknowledgement when receiving orders, it is rather uncommon and makes the person doing so look retarded. Another use of a modified military salute may also be a battle cry. While there exist historic videos from Germany with masses chanting and doing the Nazi salute, flags hanging everywhere and despite fascist songs being sung in the Wehrmacht, usage of symbols and memes resembling those that the Nazis used (and not being very original) are anything but an accurate take on this topic and rather use of artistic license. Producers often use their artistic license in that kind to demonize the enemy and depict dictatorships or fanatics.

I can't blame them, it still works very well and I found one of my teachers refusing to believe me when I told her that the Schwabacher typeface was abolished in Germany by the Nazis (thus finally putting an end to the Antiqua-Fraktur dispute).

Similar uses of artistic license in Animes:

"Sieg Zeon" in the Universal Century setting of the Mobile Suit Gundam franchise from Sunrise
"Gloria Augusta" in Last Exile -Fam the Silver Wing-
[...]

So what happend here was that they took some well known phrase and replaced one half with something random to have something new and unique. The Dorssian flag is another example of that.


Can shape corrosion of an Initiator's body be reversed, or only contained?

The corrosion rate is not reversible, it can only be inhibited

The Cursed Children were constantly taking massive doses of corrosion-inhibiting medication to control the Gastrea inside their bodies, but it still only inhibited and did not stop the corrosion completely. Because the girls carried the inhibiting gene, they did not turn into Gastrea immediately like normal people, but if they suddenly used a lot of their power, or if Gastrea bodily fluids got inside them, then their corrosion rate would slowly increase. And then, like a normal person, if their corrosion rate went above fifty percent, then the corrosion would start, and they would not be able to keep their human form any longer. There was nothing that current medical technologies could do to change that limit.
Kanzaki, Shiden. Black Bullet, Vol. 1: Those Who Would Be Gods (pp. 211-212). Yen Press. Kindle Edition.

It is also the reason why Rentaro shot Kayo

Kayo Senju could not be saved. She had to die right here, right now.
Kanzaki, Shiden. Black Bullet, Vol. 1: Those Who Would Be Gods (p. 212). Yen Press. Kindle Edition.

In a conversation between Sumire and Rentaro it is also mentioned that the Cursed Children cannot be freed from the shackles that is their corrosion rate

Rentaro shook his head slowly. "That’s impossible, Doc. I can’t think of a life without Enju and Tina anymore." "But they will fall like leaves one day. Rentaro, don’t chase after falling leaves. The lifespan of Cursed Children is bound by the shackles of the corrosion rate of their body, which they cannot be freed from."
Kanzaki, Shiden. Black Bullet, Vol. 3 (light novel): The Destruction of the World by Fire (p. 81). Yen Press. Kindle Edition.


What manga is Ken Akamatsu currently working on?

He is working on a new manga series (name unknown) which is apparently scheduled to begin some time this summer. It was originally set to be released in spring. As noted in the article linked below, he has stated that this will be his last series; he plans to retire after it.

Source: Nikkei
Translation: OK


Before the Sealed Card was able to attack and gather Syaoran's most important feeling, the Hope Card negated it.

To explain it more clearly, it was because the nameless card nullified the power of the sealed card to obtain Syaoran's feelings. With regard to this, Sakura's powerful emotions towards Li made that happen. The Sealed card and the nameless card merged in the process, creating the Hope Card. That is why the Hope Card or the Love Card (which was called in the english dub) was the card who doesn't have a clow card counterpart, meaning it only exist as a Sakura Card because it was created by Sakura's feelings towards Li Syaoran.


At which chapter does the Tokyo Ghoul anime deviate from the manga?

If you don't want to read from the beginning, start from Chapter 67 if you finished watching the first season.

This is the first chapter adapted by the first episode of the second season, and as you mentioned, the second season deviated entirely from the manga. Some arcs were altered or only partially shown, starting from the Post-Aogiri Tree/Timeskip Arc.

However, as mentioned by the people here, if you are planning on reading the manga, I highly recommend you start from the beginning. It might seem tedious but there are a lot of things not included in the anime. It might be an understatement to say you are missing half the experience of Tokyo Ghoul if you do not read the manga from the start.


Why does the OP and ED of most animes use different art styles than the show?

I can't speak for every anime in the 00s, but the storyboard artist for the OP and the ED for Chocotto specifically are different, according to ANN: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=6674 - So that may have influenced the end result.

And oftentimes you'll have studios working together, sometimes one influencing the entire episode of a series or its opening and ending. ( Shaft does this a lot and Mad House has done some work with Ghibli: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madhouse_(company)#Collaborations )


What's the song usually used on the most intense parts and most cool parts in Eureka Seven?

I think the song you are looking for is Storywriter. It's the main theme of Eureka Seven. You can find it on youtube very easily by searching "Storywriter". Don't hesitate to go further in the song because the beginning can be misleading.


What's this anime with kids jumping off a roof and then hovering over the ground?

That sounds like the "Beyond" segment of the anthology The Animatrix.

"Beyond" is written and directed by Kōji Morimoto. It follows a teenage girl, Yoko (Hedy Burress), looking for her cat Yuki. While asking around the neighborhood, indicatively somewhere in Japan, she meets some younger boys. One of them tells her Yuki is inside a "haunted house" and invites her to see it.
The children have stumbled across an amalgamation of anomalies within an old, dilapidated building. They have learned to exploit this glitch in the Matrix for their own enjoyment, through several areas which seem to defy real-world physics: glass bottles reassemble after being shattered, rain falls from a sunny sky, broken lightbulbs flicker briefly (during which they seem intact), a door which opens into an endless dark void, shadows which do not align with their physical origins, and a dove's feather that rotates rapidly in place in mid-air. There is a large open space in the middle of the run-down building where they take turns jumping off a high point and falling towards the ground, yet somehow stopping inches before impact. This proves amusing and they do not seem to be bothered by the inherent strangeness of the place.

Here it is on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBJe53IA9DE


One of the requirements for getting One for All is intent/will - both the person passing it on needs to want it to be passed on and the person getting it needs to want to have it.

As any fight between Stain and Midoriya would lack this component (Midoriya wouldn't ever want to pass One for All to Stain - and Stain would have to know about it and want it), there is no chance of Stain getting One for All.

This has been explained in the manga, which is ahead of the anime (and was likely only explained because others have figured the same loophole as you have).


What is this strange symbol that is shown when Kagami says "un"?

In Shingon Buddhism, there is a concept known as shuji (種字・種子; Sanskrit bīja or bījākṣara), which means "seed syllable". These are monosyllabic Sanskrit-derived incantations (i.e. mantras) which are taken to hold mystical power in and of themselves, and which symbolize a particular revered figure (e.g. a Buddha or bodhisattva).

The symbol that Kagami is shown uttering appears to be a stylized version of the seed syllable "हुं", transliterated as "hum", which finds its way into Japanese as "un". This particular one symbolizes Kundali (軍荼利明王 gundari myouou), who is one of the five Wisdom Kings.


Who is Saber extending her hand to in the ED of Carnival Phantasm?

That arm could be the arm of Kiritsugu Emiya. In the picture the characters are connected to thier masters. The masters of Saber would be Shirou Emiya and Kiritsugu Emiya.

It could also be the arm of Irisviel van Einzbern, who wasn't the real master of Saber but some sort of stand-in, while Kiritsugu was doing his dirty work.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fate/Zero#Characters


As animated television goes, anime is actually made on the cheap. This article goes over the costs per episode of a few different US animated shows; every one of them is more expensive than the cited high-end cost of $300,000 per episode for anime.

The Simpsons seems to be top in costs; according to the article, it cost around $2 million per episode in 2007. A 2011 source indicates that voice acting costs per episode alone were around $300,000, and that was after the actors took a 30% pay cut, coming down from a high of around $440,000 per episode. That means The Simpsons was paying more per episode for voice acting alone than the entire budget of an average anime episode.

As for the rest, Nickelodeon apparently spends around $600k per episode on their animated shows; the sources come from comments made around the release of TMNT, but a post in a forum cites a Wall Street Journal article that I can't read because it's behind a paywall claiming that Spongebob too is around $600k per episode. I was shocked that Drawn Together got $700k per episode since it was widely regarded as terrible and was canceled. This Cineeuropa article claims that the average hour of US animation in 2007 cost €776k (about $800k today).

An Answerman column from 2015 also goes over this and offers some conjectures about why: US animators get paid more, thanks to unions and other market factors, and voice actors, like other television actors on US TV, tend to make more money as the show goes on longer, as we saw with The Simpsons. In another 2015 article, ANN reports on a study finding that animators in Japan make around $28,000 a year, which is a very modest salary in the US. This 2009 article goes into more details on staff salaries in anime. Another Answerman column touches on voice actor salaries in Japan and mentions that most voice actors make between $120 and $360 per episode, though the more famous ones can set their price.

So anime are not really that expensive to make, in terms of the usual cost of producing a professional level half-hour animated television show with top talent.


Why does it seem like Syaoran likes Yukito?

It was because Syaoran was attracted by Yukito's magical power.

It was revealed that

  Syaoran was magically attracted to the magical energies of the moon, which were residing within Yukito, as Syaoran drew his magical power from the moon.

..that was why he often blushed and feel embarrassed at Yukito's presence. It was not because he was romantically attracted to him.


Social etiquette in anime/manga/pop culture Japan conventions

The etiquette shouldn't differ much, if at all, between cons. But here's just a short checklist for you.

Be sure to respect the rules. Most conventions have a set of rules on their websites, more often even several. Take for example the dutch animecon which has general house rules and recording/photography rules. Most of these are updated every year, so be sure to re-read them before you visit again.

Some special events, such as concerts might also feature a special subset of rules. These often can  be found on the  events website, or will be told at the beginning of such a show.

Besides those, there are some good practices:

Don't take pictures of cosplayers without asking.

They try hard to look and act like their character, and often have special poses which make their characters look better/more appealing. Taking pictures without asking could annoy and sometimes even anger them. So be sure to ask them if it is OK first!

If handed props, be gentle.

In some occasions, for example if you asked, you might be handed props to feel. Those props may look like sturdy broad swords, but are often not made to be swung around. Be gentle and careful, they put a lot of time in those things

Free hug signs don't equal free grope signs.

Often you will see guys and girls alike walk around with a "free hug sign". When hugging said people, keep your hands level. No butt squeezes, no groping. (Yes, these things actually happen.) Also be sure to show your intention to hug them! Hugging them without them expecting it could end painfully for you.

Don't randomly hug, grab, or touch people.

Although this is often considered normal practice, at cons this somehow seems to be forgotten quite often. Just don't do it; keep it fun for everybody.

Don't be too pushy.

If people tell you to back off, back off. You may be very enthusiastic and happy, but some people might not like such behavior. And if they tell you so, just stop.

Unsure? Ask first!

If for whatever reason you are uncertain about rules or behaviour, you can always ask the convention grounds about it through an email. Or once on-site you can always ask the staff/gofers of said con.

Besides that, you are free to enjoy the conventions as you wish. No need for poker faces, but being too excited can be a bother to people as well. Just try to maintain some common sense throughout all the excitement.


What's happen to yugi's otherself deck when he disappear?

It was implied that Atem's (Yami Yugi's) deck and the Millenium Puzzle were left inside his tomb in Egypt.

But in the Movie, Yugioh: The Dark Side of the Dimension, it was shown that the Millenium Puzzle got reassembled again, but nothing happened.

In Episode 086 of Yugioh GX! (which is set years after YGO: TDSotD), Pegasus said that the Egyptian God Cards are gone.

Now, how did Kaiba summon Obelisk in YGO: TDSotD? The Power Vision disk didn't utilize actual cards. Instead, it created holograms from his mind.

Yugi uses his own deck.

TL;DR Atem's Deck is in his tomb.


I think this is the one you are looking for: Intense! Cosmo


Can anyone explain the ending of "Koe no Katachi" one-shot?

It says "you-me-friend" in JSL. The pronouns appear to be the same as ASL, (finger pointing at the relevant person stands in for you/me/he/she/it) and clasped hands by context appears to mean friend. In ASL, it would be hooked index fingers & clasped hands means "to congratulate".

I didn't see any other panels with likely sign in them.  On an unrelated side note, JSL is distinctive for it's usage of air-writing, where some signs like place names are the Kanji written in the air with your finger.


Dragon Ball Z (DBZ) and Dragon Ball (DB)

in DB Bulma was a teenager on a summer vacation trying to find the dragon balls. and even though their technology is pretty high at the time I guess they don't have the appropriate  tech to reach there.
But in the early stages of DBZ we see people coming to earth from far away planets and bringing new technology with them. Bulma has grown in to an adult and is now more knowledgeable, and by having access to the space pod she figured out how it works.
Then we see Bulma gaining access to a Namekian space ship and seeing how she changed the language and used the space ship we could say she now has it's technology as well.
So if you can travel to outer space why wouldn't you be able to get to Kami house?
And I don't think anyone can go there now. Kami's house is considered a holy palace and I don't think Bulma would expose it to everyone. So even if she can go there, doesn't mean she will share the tech with everyone.


How is "One for All" stronger than "All for One"?

Because All for One is adding powers on top of one another, while One for All is multiplicating it's strength.

All for One is using the quirks of other users, I think he isn't the kind of person to go and master each and every one of those quirks.

On the other hand, every users of One for All have been training the same quirk again and again, mastering it, and then passing their knowledge to their successors.

I don't think the battle All for One vs One for All was a pure contest of strength, but also of mastery and technique. You can clearly see that when it comes to pure strength, All for One is stronger. But when it comes to ability, All Might was better.

What made All-Might victorious was not his strength, but his ability to think ahead, and his near perfect mastery of One for All.


What drives the popularity of Studio Ghibli movies?

The popularity of Studio Ghibli ultimately boils down to the spirit, aesthetics, and sensibilities of Hayao Miyazaki expressed through their respectives story and visuals. Not every Ghibli work is created equal, the ones where he is are quite memorable to audiences.

Filmaker Asher Isbrucker offers an interesting take on Studio Ghibli's appeal in his video-essay “The Immersive Reality of Studio Ghibli”, that the studio’s biggest asset to its lasting appeal of their so-called “immersive realism”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6Q6y4-qKac

While you may think that elements such as parents being turned into pigs (from Spirited Away), or a story about a warrior princess raised by wolves (from Princess Mononoke) and or even one about WWI fighter-pilot that's a pig (from Porco Rosso) may not be instill what some would regard as "realism". The collaborative effort and vision of the director and their animator’s ability to breathe like these fantastical narratives to make them feel through their passion and detail give Ghibli movies their appeal. The world-building done allows audiences to suspend their belief and buy into the Ghibli-created world where even the most imaginative and fantastical elements become feel normal and common place.

Finding a balance between fantasy and reality is often times very tough. The writers along with the animators develop even the most basic and mundane elements from scratch, with an ever so particular attention to detail, no matter how far fetched or mundane it may be, it still feels tangible and real to the audience. Such realism is not made to a tee. It's not a complete facsimile of real-life but rather an analogue of it where rules can be bent and broken to create fantasy. If something feels too real or too emulated it can easily feel fake to an audience. This is where the animators really show off what they can do.

Roger Ebert once commented in one of his interviews with Miyazaki:

  I told Miyazaki I love the "gratuitous motion" in his films; instead of every movement being dictated by the story, sometimes people will just sit for a moment, or they will sigh, or look in a running stream, or do something extra, not to advance the story but only to give the sense of time and place and who they are. "We have a word for that in Japanese," he said. "It's called ma. Emptiness. It's there intentionally."

In Starting Point, Miyazaki explains his underlying philosophy:

  Anime may depict fictional worlds, but I nonetheless believe that at its core it must have a certain realism. Even if the world depicted is a lie, the trick is to make it seem as real as possible. Stated another way, the animator must fabricate a lie that seems so real, viewers will think the world depicted might possible exist...

Miyazaki also mentioned that "animators are themselves actors". These animators need to consider the various aspects character’s motivations, and considered their unspoken mannerisms and expressions as well. These minor details provide a connection with the audience and makes them relatable.

You can see this things like the animated expression of movement, emulating the semblance and familiarity of how how we perceive our physical world the video-essay notes things like Kiki’s bow blowing in the wind (from Kiki’s Delivery Service), the flickering lights of the Catbus (from My Neighbour Totoro) or the heavy-feeling movements of the hulking insectoid creatures of Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, or even how Chihiro from Spirited Away puts her shoes on, noting how she takes her time to tap them, make them comfortable, then set out like an actual girl in real-life would.

Not only that but the detail and effort made to scene establishes the setting very well and makes the setting feel all the more real. The video-essay notes in particular how the bathouse in Spirited Away depicts various job posts, areas for sleeping, an even the varieties of soap and countless other details that make each seems to have their own story on top of the main story unfolding with Chihiro. Another noteworthy scene mentioned is the contrast of labor roles by gender of Irontown in Princess Mononoke, such as what the women do while the men are out gathering resources.

Aside from the visual appeal of the art and animation, the story aspect of Ghibili works are split across a spectrum of fantastical, simple and relatable, and nostalgic elements with mature themes. At the heart of most Ghibli series is a coming of age story, but the trope is not played off a novelty as you'd typically see with anime. These stories do very well in empathizing with its audience universally understood ideal and emotions of it's world and characters through a combination vivid expressions and fantastical elements in a way that can only truly be expressed through an animated medium. The studio does it in such a way that subverts what audiences typically expect from an animated work through its emotional and impactful expressions. It at times it can reminds us of who we are as humans and to be modest, industrious and respectful despite the strife that may come our way. Such empathy and imagination is likely what persists the popularity of Ghibli works.


Is kuroneko from Oreimo considered dandere?

Yes, she can be considered a Dandere character.

A dandere character is one who is normally quiet and silent, possibly to the point of coming across as emotionless at times, but will suddenly become talkative and sweet and cute when alone with the right person if they manage to push the right button to get them to pour their heart out, revealing that they're actually just shy.
A dandere will be more or less a normal person, but, will not talk unless spoken to/required to. They will avoid talking because of their shyness, but if need be, they will speak. Also, a dandere tends to feel more power in numbers. If they're with a group that they're comfortable with, then the shyness factor of said dandere will very likely decrease if another, unfamiliar person is introduced at that time.

At the first otaku meeting of Kirino, Ruri (a.k.a. Kuroneko) was silent and passed her time with her cell phone, but later when Saori introduced them to each other, Ruri was talking (quarreling) with Kirino.

Ruri was comfortable with Kyosuke. She was talking normally with him and

 confessed her love to Kyosuke.

She also talks and enjoy herself when she is with members of Saori's circle and with school club.

These are, however, only some examples of her behavior. Throughout the entire series, there are many occasions where her character matches the description of a Dandere as stated above.


Why didn't the Eight Tails' horns grow back?

It comes down to the basic fundamentals.

The bottom half of the 8 Tailed Beast is an octopus, but the top is more bull like.

Bulls horns are like bone, unlike tentacles made of easily dividable cells, the horns of an animal do not "grow from the top but from the bottom upwards" they are like finger nails, the horns may eventually "grow" but not "heal".


Which episode in season 3 showing Eren having to seal a rock with hardening?

In Attack On Titan season 3, episode 8. Eren uses the titan hardening ability to protect his comrades in the underground of the Reis Chapel.

He isn't sealing a rock thou


Why are level 0 espers considered espers if they have no powers at all?

Level 0s have undergone the Power Curriculum Program, so even if someone ranked at Level 0 doesn't happen to exhibit any observable powers, their brains have still been fundamentally rewired. All espers, including Level 0s, are unable to use magic without suffering severe backlash damage because of incompatibility issues.

But it's not necessarily the case that Level 0s have no power at all. Level 0 is described as follows:

  Exceptions aside, cannot be considered completely powerless, but is considered one of the so-called "students that can't keep up at school". Might possess some degree of power, but unable to truly control it.

For instance:

Tsuchimikado Motoharu has a Level 0 Auto-Rebirth ability, which applies a weak membrane over torn blood vessels to stop bleeding. It's a pretty weak ability, all things considered, but it's enough save his life from the backlash damage of using magic.
Akemi has a Level 0 Telepathy ability, and she can levitate a paper cup (barely). At the end of Railgun episode 14, she and her friends remark that their stats have gone up a little, even though their levels haven't changed.
Saten Ruiko has a Level 0 Aero hand ability. This is her System Scan result from Railgun episode 14:

As you can see, it's not all completely zero. There's still some amount of power at Level 0; enough for Saten and her friends to be able to see some improvement, at least.


Is Ash's time in Kanto's Safari Zone ever detailed?

Yes, it was shown in episode 35 of the original TV series. All he caught were Tauros', that's because whenever he tried to catch other Pokemon, a group of Tauros would just happen to run pass. That's why Ash only caught Tauros'. As of regards to Pikachu, it was held by Misty who wasn't participating. Kaiser ( in-charge of Safari ) also stated that the only rules were that they could only use Safari Balls and the Fishing Rod he gave them, and that they had to come back when they had ran out of 'Balls'. Break any of those rules, and his "Thunderbolt" would burn them ( this refers to the gun that he was holding ). There was no time limit and you could take your Pokemon in, but you can't use them to battle. Same with FireRed and LeafGreen, the Pokemon stays with you, but you can't use them in battle.
Hope this helps!


This answer is outdated. See Senshins answer.

There is currently no release date for Kizumonogatari. It was listed for Fall 2013, but was removed, so there's no official release date yet.

Source: ANN - Kizumonogatari Film Briefly Listed for Fall (dated 2013-07-31)


Where does the "Lyrical" part come from?

Like a lot of this stuff, its probably just english that sounds cool - also Nanoha does use it in her activation key (which is barely ever used).

As for where it originally came from, Nanoha itself is a spinoff from Triangle Heart, a VN series about the rest of the Takamachi family, who are badass bodyguards - you can see the original prototype here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_RBghAfiW8


What does Midorima Shintarou's "-nanodayou" mean?

Nanodayo (なのだよ) is about the English equivalent of " 's-n-such "
So a sentence of "Orenji o hirou nanodayo" would translate to "Pick up the oranges'-n-such".

"N-stuff" is also a good equivalent. Like "I have to go to school-n-stuff."

It could also mean "and so forth" .

Source


Guy becomes immortal after kissing a girl

This sounds somewhat similar to Kurozuka.

  The series begins in 12th century Japan and centers on Kuro, a character based loosely on the legendary Japanese swordsman Minamoto no Yoshitsune. Kuro and his servant, Benkei, meet a beautiful and mysterious woman named Kuromitsu while on the run from Kuro's elder brother, who seeks his life. Kuromitsu and Kuro fall in love, but he soon discovers that she harbors a terrible secret: she is a vampiric immortal. Following an attack by his pursuers, Kuro is badly injured and must imbibe Kuromitsu's blood to save his own life. Kuro is then betrayed and attacked by Benkei, who has been subverted by a shadowy organization called the Red Army, and Kuro's head is severed, which interferes with his transformation into a fully immortal being.
  Kuro loses consciousness and wakes up centuries later in a post-apocalyptic, dystopian Japan. The surviving citizens have fallen under constant oppression by the Red Army, and Kuro is quickly found and recruited by an underground revolutionary movement called Haniwa. The remaining episodes follow Kuro's fight with the Red Army and its host of elite warriors, who have been enhanced by samples of Kuromitsu's blood, and his quest to find his inexplicably lost love.

The anime is also by Madhouse from 2008.


How can a clock stop working at 99 o'clock?

It's rather simple, actually − the electronic controller must have experienced a failure and the memory module ended up with unexpected remaining electrical charge when it started working again, but the clock was not designed to counter this possible error, so it does not reset the memory, which results in impossible time, like in this Russian Elektronika-6 clock:

You could probably get more technically correct answers at Electronics.SE


Song that plays in the battle between Goku and Zamasu?

I found it! The song is called Desperate Assault.

EDIT: Link here Desperate Assault OST


As of current writing, Yuma's mother has never been mentioned ever in the story, and not even in any interviews/Q&A sessions. (Otherwise, information about her in Japanese should come as popular/surprising, but I found none and only the same questions in Japanese with fan theories about her being a Neighbor or not, etc.).

Thus, it's also impossible to answer any questions related to her: whatever happened to her, is she dead or divorced, etc.

There are some fan theories if Yuma was adopted, but that's just fan theories.


What do vampires have to do with the phase of the moon?

Full moons are traditionally 'spooky' and are often associated with mystical creatures from the 'darkness'.

Midnight during a full moon is called the Witching hour and is when these many of these creatures gain their full strength.

An obvious example of this is werewolves who transform under the full moon, but witches and other beings are affected also. A Halloween night (or Samhain as it was called in Ireland, where Halloween originates) with a full moon is when creatures abilities are at their most potent.

It is thought that this association was caused by the reactions that normal animals have with changes in the moon. (Birds get restless, dogs bark a lot, etc - much like how animals can predict earthquakes)

Bringing this back to vampires in particular, they also are affected by the phases of the moon. A full moon (and being well fed) will mean that their strength is at their fullest, whilst a moonless night could influence their desire for nourishment through blood.

You should also remember that in many tales of vampires, they cannot go out in the sun. The association could stem from simplifying the moon to be the 'opposite' of the sun.

TLDR: The moon is often used as a general source of power for many mystical creatures. But vampires are also known (outside anime) to be associated with the moon.


How can people perform some Earth Release jutsu without having Earth Release as their chakra nature?

How can people perform some Earth Release without having Earth Release as their chakra nature?

Because  Earth Chakra Affinity is not the requirement to do the earth release technique but it gives you edge if you have the respective Affinity.

So if paper test prove you to be have Affinity to Wind Release that doesn't means you can't do non wind released Jutsu.

From naruto.wikia.com

  Shinobi have an easier time learning to create and control chakra
  natures that match their affinity, although even then it may take any
  number of years. Shinobi are not limited to the nature they have an
  affinity for, and it is in fact common for jōnin to have mastered two
  natures. Although it is technically possible to master all five
  natures, it is very rare because of how much of training is involved;
  Madara Uchiha, Hiruzen Sarutobi Hashirama Senju, Tobirama Senju,
  Mū, Kakashi Hatake, and Orochimaru are the only shinobi known to have
  done so via normal means.


You've answered yourself:

  During Fishman arc, it was told that there used to be three weapons –
  Pluton, Uranus, and Poseidon.

Yes, they are all (ancient) weapons.

The first time an ancient weapon was mentioned was in Alabasta.
Crocodile asked King Cobra where he hid the Poneglyph containing information about Pluton, an ancient weapon.

Later in the show, we get more information about Pluton: It's a warship with the capabilities to conquer the world. The blueprints for this ship were passed down in a line of shipwrights for centuries, until they fell into Tom's hands - the legendary shipwright. Later they're burned by Franky to prevent the World Gov. (Spandam) from building the ship.

The only thing we know about Uranus is that it's an ancient weapon, nothing else.
We could assume its an aircraft or something similar, according to the other weapons.

Poseidon = Mermaid Princess = Underwater
Pluton = Ship = Surface
Uranus = ? = Air?


It was explained in the StrikerS soundstages  that she can turn into human size, but that cost her more magical power, which makes it not practical for combat. And Agito can do the same.

Source

http://nanoha.wikia.com/wiki/Reinforce_Zwei


Yes, Genta is immortal. As described on Wikipedia:

  Rin and Mimi's female dog who lives at their office. As an immortal, she does not age throughout the series and survives being shot on multiple occasions without any visible lasting injuries. Mimi takes her with her after the Asougi Consulting office is demolished in episode four. Genta is killed in episode five, leaving only ashes behind, just like human immortals whose time spores are removed.


"Steel Alchemist" is in fact the literal translation of Edward Elric's title. The term "Fullmetal" is most likely a reference to Stanley Kubrick classic war-is-hell film Full Metal Jacket.

The "jacket" of a full metal jacketed bullet is usually made of steel. Sometimes you hear these bullets called steel jacketed in English, and in many other languages, a translation of this second name is much more common. In many countries outside the US, FMJ was retitled to reflect the most common local name for the bullets, in order to preserve that reference. I don't know if Japan did this: IMDB doesn't list the Japanese title for some reason.

But if Japan did retitle the movie, then the title "Steel Alchemist" may have been intended all along to reflect the title of the "Steel Jacketed" movie. Many translations of FMA actually do use a title that reflects the way FMJ was titled in the translation's own language, and so it's possible that "Fullmetal Alchemist" is just another application of that practice.


During the Chunin Exams, whose body did Orochimaru sacrifice to use the reanimation jutsu?

It was Zaku and Kin from Team Dosu who had both been removed from the Exams following their defeats during the Elimination Round in the Tower of Death (Zaku having had his arms torn up after Shino blocked his palm wind holes. Kin after being knocked out from her head hitting the wall thanks to Shikamaru's Shadow Possession)

No longer inhabited, the First and Second's bodies dissolve, revealing themselves to in actuality be the bodies of Zaku Abumi and Kin Tsuchi, two Genin Orochimaru had entered into the Chunin Exams and had now sacrificed for his means.

Source: Konoha Crush (Arc) > The Third Hokage vs. Orochimaru (6th Paragraph)
on Zaku's and Kin's wikia pages you can see that they were shown after the Hokage's bodies dissolved


Why Zeldris has the power of the demon king?

Demon King is ruler of Purgatory. 3000 years back, during the fighting their bodies were destroyed and in order to retrieve his body. So he grant Zeldris the power of demon king but in reality he is making Zeldris a container for his vessel to grow his body.


Can Naruto or Sasuke be promoted directly from Genin to Hokage?

While I am not 100% sure about the transition from Genin to Kage, I do know that Gaara was at most a Chuunin before becoming the Kazekage.  So, it would seem that a jump in ranks would be justified under special conditions of ability.

In any case, why should there be a need for a direct promotion?  If Naruto (or Sasuke I guess) has plans to become Hokage, it does not mean that they have an intention to skip the transitions between ranks (although I'm sure there would be some sort of allowance for them to "test out").


Why didn't Korosensei use his absolute defence form against the orbital laser?

In one of the final episodes, Koro Sensei specifically states that the orbital laser is so powerful it will break through even his Ultimate Defense Form - after all, it was designed based on all of the data gathered both from the experiments conducted in places like the ISS, as well as from observation of Koro Sensei and the class.

And from an out-of-universe perspective, it was needed to be an inescapable situation, to set up everything that would happen in the finale.


Is this Erza's new armor in the new chapter of the Fairy Tail manga?

Erza uses Requip:The Knight armor as mentioned here in the magic used section. This type of armor has various type. So this particular one used by erza might be another variant of it which was not mentioned.


What exactly is Ousama Game in this titular series? How does it work?

The Wikipedia article on Konpa (which are basically alcohol-fueled "get to know each other" events) describes it. Basically, the rules are:

Everyone gets a piece of paper which either has a number on it, or identifies them as the king.
The King reveals themselves.
The King issues a decree/dare, including some of the numbers (for example "Number 2 has to kiss number 3's index finger").
The people whose numbers match the decree reveal themselves and do the dare.

It's a bit like a semi-anonymous version of Truth or Dare.


Why do anime production studios keep the rights to anime which they don't plan on continuing?

Essentially, it all comes down to money.

A lot of series are discontinued simply because the series aren't making enough money - whether that be for the English publishers in the West, or the original publishers in Japan.

Selling the rights of an anime means that they cannot continue to receive any recurring income from the series - even if it isn't that significant. Ongoing income could include licensing the rights to stream the show as part of a package deal to streaming services. For example, a studio licenses a bundle of three shows to CrunchyRoll, when CrunchyRoll really just wants one. [On a side note, this is why there's a load of random movies on Netflix]. Also, if there are new platforms on which to sell their media - such as new online stores or new video systems - studios effectively get another burst of sales, especially if it's digital (much less cost to put the items up for sale).

There isn't a lot of incentive for other companies to buy studio's productions that have proven to be loss-making, especially as the price and the long processes to secure the deal would often be hard to justify. It's a much wiser decision for companies to focus on works that have a solid following.

Every season, the popularity of a show drops as less and less people keep up to date/interested. If a show is profitable in the first season, it doesn't necessarily mean that it can manage with reduced sales the next time round. On the other hand, if the main show is still profitable, they don't really have much reason to sell it either.

It isn't strictly true that shows will never change hands though.

Take Yuru Yuri for example: the third season is going to be animated by TYO Animations, even though the first 2 were animated by Dogakobo. Anime companies tend to be fairly tight-lipped about internal processes and exchanges, so I'm afraid it's quite hard to get more information on why they swapped studios, or the process they had to go through to do it.

There have been several Western examples of "license rescues", which, whilst not explicitly the same as the bare rights (but similar to your dubbing question), allow publication of a discontinued series to continue to be translated. This is quite rare unfortunately - Viz Media explains that they tend to be hard sells. Western companies are similarly tight-lipped, although luckily less so that their Japanese counterparts

Further reading

Anime News Network on U.S. licensing


Are anime that air before a manga adaptation considered filler anime?

I feel there's a bit of misconception here.

Fillers == Not canon
Canon == Original material from the original author.

There are episodes in Naruto for example, (like Naruto episode 101) which are canon but were not in the manga.

So the question of whether content being filler or not has nothing to do with it being in one medium or another (although there's usually a correlation). It's about who made it.


Do some Devil Fruits allow the user to swim in water?

No, there are no Devil Fruits that allow a user to swim in water. Every Devil Fruit user has the same basic weakness.

Since wood is lighter than water, he might be able to float on the water though. While floating on the water, you are submerged for over 50%, which would result in energy drainage for fruit users and make the user unable to move and even if he could master some energy to move his arms or legs, if he wants to move through the water he has to put them in the water, submerging himself more and losing even more energy. So my guess would be that the user would not drown and be able to motionlessly float around the ocean. He has to go into the water laying face up though or he would not be able to breath and still drown anyway (but not sink). So I guess if such a user falls into the water and would emerge with his head first fast enough before passing out, he might be able to survive, but probably not for long.


Has the Twelve Demon Moons power levels been given by the author?

Their rankings are denoted by their numbers. Upper Moon 1 through 6 are the strongest 6 after Muzan arranged in the order of their numbers, then lower 6 stand in a similar fashion.

Here's some info from the manga:

   Upper moon 1 was annoyed that Upper moon 3 Akaza did not abide to the hierarchy of Upper moons. He suggested that if this bothers him so much, he can apply for a Blood battle against Upper Moon 2 to swap places implying the hierarchy is based on battle strength

This is what we can assume given the latest chapters:

  There are some demons with the potential to be one of the moons. As we see that Upper moon 6 (Daki and Gyutaro) and Upper moon 4 (Hantengu) were replaced in a matter of days following their deaths.


How much broadcast time did it take for Planet Namek to blow up?

Interestingly enough, the TVTropes link I linked in the comments had the answer

  Taken to insanity during Goku's fight with Freeza. Freeza destroys the
  core and gives the planet five minutes until implosion. Ten episodes
  (approximately three hours of screentime for each of the scenes that
  are playing out simultaneously) and over three hundred lines of dialog
  for the two fighters later the planet finally collapses.

So there you go.

10 episodes
3 hours (roughly)
100 lines of dialog

although, apparently it was

  Lampshaded snarkily in the dub. With ten episodes to go, Frieza has a
  line to the effect that the planet is "a tough one... it'll probably
  last another two minutes."


Why has she not changed at the end of Suruga Monkey?

So that this question can have a real answer, I'll expand my comment.

At the end of Suruga Monkey, Hitagi comes in and interrupts the fight between Koyomi and Suruga, announcing that if Suruga had successfully killed Koyomi, she would have hunted down and killed Suruga, adding a serious note to her joke in Part I that she wanted to be the one to kill him.

Koyomi then explains in the voiceover narration (translation from subtitles on the horrendously overpriced Aniplex USA Blu-ray):

  If one strategy was for me to overwhelm the demon, thereby making it impossible for Kanbaru's secret wish to be fulfilled, then notifying Senjyogahara that Kanbaru was trying to kill me, thereby making it impossible for her surface wish to be fulfilled, was another. Moreover, Senjyogahara swore in front of the demon that if I died, she'd kill Kanbaru. Not knowing wouldn't hold up as defense. For the Rainy Devil, the outcome had already been determined. I can't believe you were able to read its thoughts like that, Oshino.

Suruga's secret wish was to kill Koyomi out of jealousy that he was with Hitagi and she wasn't. The Rainy Devil tries to help her fulfill that secret wish in Part I, when she attacks Koyomi on his mountain bike as he rides home from Hitagi's apartment. Koyomi planned to fight Suruga until it was clear that she couldn't beat him, making the Rainy Devil give up.

Suruga's surface wish was to be with Hitagi romantically, but Oshino realized that if Hitagi knew that Suruga had killed her boyfriend, she wouldn't be too keen on hooking up with his murderer. Sending her into the middle of the battle made it impossible for the Rainy Devil to get Suruga and Hitagi together by killing Koyomi, giving it no reason to help Suruga kill him. Fulfilling the secret wish was only a viable way for the Rainy Devil to complete its contract if that also fulfilled the surface wish, but once Hitagi knows, killing Koyomi directly counteracts the fulfillment of the surface wish.

To fulfill its contract and leave Suruga, the Rainy Devil has to grant her wish, but it fails to do so, made clear when Suruga confesses her love and Hitagi responds in her usual blunt fashion:

  Suruga: I'm in love with you, Senjyogahara-sempai...
  Hitagi: Oh? I'm not really in love with you. But will you stay by my side anyway?

So the Rainy Devil can't leave, because it hasn't fulfilled her wish, but it can't fulfill her wish, because the only power it has is sending her into a violent rage while she's asleep and it now knows violence can't solve this. It goes dormant.

Oddly enough, in the final scene where she goes to meet Koyomi, Suruga says, "The demon may have left me, but in the end, my arm didn't go back to normal." In-universe I can only attribute this to a misunderstanding on her part, because in Hanamonogatari, which takes place chronologically last in the series (beware spoilers below):

   Suruga finally does lose the demon to her old friend Numachi Rouka, and her arm goes back to normal. In the beginning of the Hanamonogatari novel, we see that she's been duct-taping her monkey arm to a pillar every night and anxiously checking the newspaper every morning to make sure she hasn't gone out and hurt anyone in her sleep, so she doesn't seem to be so sure anymore that the demon is gone.


Potara earrings allowed in universal tournament?

Apparently they are allowed in the tournament. Otherwise Zen-Oh sama would have erased Kefla instantly for cheating.
Also, the DBZ wikia states it openly in the rules of the Tournament of Power:

Fighters cannot be killed, use weapons, or use healing items (e.g. Senzu Beans) during the match.

However items that are not dangerous by themselves such as the bottle Master Roshi uses as part of the Evil Containment Wave were permitted by the Zen-Ohs, though it is implied that was because they thought the technique was cool.

Potara Earrings are permitted as well thus Potara fusion is allowed and the items are not dangerous weapons that can directly harm an opponent.

If someone is killed by their own attack being deflected by someone else or by a inherit flaw in a fighting technique, it's not considered a violation of the rules.


The Shinigamies probably collected them after the user died.
Ryuk mentioned that he will stick by lights side until he dies or the pages run out of space, I guess this was the case with the previous Death Note owners as well. It is also considered a great crime to lose your death note and return to shinigami world without it, as we see the third shinigami is seeking his note and can't get it back because it is in a humans possession.


Why wasn't Naruto able to sense Black Zetsu?

One might be able to look at it from the philosophical point of view that there was no evil to sense.

The rest of this answer may include spoilers

   Black Zetsu is essentially Kaguya's will incarnate. That being said, Kaguya's goals were not inherently evil. Technically, her goal was peace. While it may have been a peace forced upon the entire world, in a manner they did not agree with, in her mind, it was still an act of good. It's true that she did want the power of her chakra back from all those it had been sewn into throughout the centuries. Even still, it is difficult for mere mortals to understand what drives a being that could be consider god-like. Good and Evil being matters of perception, maybe Kaguya truly believed in the good of her actions. Of course, this is all speculation, but one has to wonder, I mean when Kaguya initially thought that Naruto and Sasuke were Hagoromo and Hamura, she wept, so she can't be all bad.

 All that considered, and Black Zetsu being an extension of Kaguya himself, maybe the whole "sensing evil" didn't work because there was no evil intent. But this all hinges on the philosophy of good and evil, and deciding if there is a difference between knowing something is evil and not caring, or not believing something is evil because of the eventual good, it will do.


Is Itachi Shinden a separate anime series or part of Naruto Shippuden itself?

Itachi Shinden is in fact a part of the Naruto series. The myth is that Itachi Shinden will have its own anime, this is not true. Itachi Shinden will be an arc attached to the current Naruto Anime. In the current anime of Naruto, Itachi's life has been shown while he was active in the ANBU, however, the new arc introduces a new look to Itachi's life, his personal life. Not much is yet known but it's definitely an arc of Naruto seeing as it was also created by Masashi Kishimoto.

Anyway, I hope this helped you find your answer.


Did Saitama have some level of superhuman strength before training?

Seems like Saitama doesn't really know he has it before then. From what I remember, Genos said when he was train fighting with Saitama that he wanted to show or let know what Saitama's power really is, something like that.


Is the FMA: Brotherhood movie considered canon?

The script itself was not written by Hiromu Arakawa (nor did she have any staff involvement at all), and she has not endorsed it as part of canon (though she has said that she "[looked] forward to it"). Additionally, it was written after the main series had concluded, and intentionally placed in the timeline so that it would not interfere with the canon story.

Was it difficult to create a story that didn't mess up the plot-line of the show, since the show was already over?
Since the film happened in a country that the characters had never gone to and didn't go back to for the rest of the series, it was difficult to conclude it in a way that didn't affect the rest of the existing story. But, having it in such a locale let us concentrate on the story without worrying about the affects on the rest of the series. Also, I had to be careful with how much Al fell for Julia because it could seriously affect what happens in the future.
Why did you put the story where you did in the timeline?
At this time, Ed has come to the realization that he was certain Al's body existed somewhere, and he was ready to jump on the next train to wherever he could go to make that happen. So, in that time period, it was the best time for them to travel to another location if they could find a clue to the recovery of their bodies.
  — Source: AnimeNewsNetwork Q&A with director Kazuya Murata

Among fans, I've never found any that regard this movie as canon. As it was not the original creator's intent, nor created by her, it really has no reason to exist in canon (except that it's written in a way that doesn't interfere with canon).
Given all this, I think we can safely say that Sacred Star of Milos is not officially part of the Fullmetal Alchemist canon.


It would depend on your definition of related.

So although the two are similar, there are differences:

Armament Haki is close to Gyo, focusing aura on a certain part of the body. In HxH, characters can see/detect/sense people around them without gyo and en (an example of this would be Gon vs Gido, where Gon 'sensed' the spinning tops around him through concentration), however both techniques are used to detect concealed aura, through zetsu or In.

Conqueror's Haki is a technique used for the purpose of knocking down people by dominating their will. In contrast, malicious intent behind strong aura will scare an enemy, intentional or not, like with bloodlust (Gon was scared of Hisoka's bloodlust in the Hunter exam arc, even though Hisoka was not aware of his presence).

Ren exemplifies aura and with it the effect, and En means the person feels the aura around them, also with a similar effect.

An explanation to their similarities could be that it is simply taking the most logical steps forward.

Life energy like things exist in many different series: aura in Hunter x Hunter, Chi in Dragon Ball, or Tenryoku in Beet the Vandel Buster. This is probably because it is an easy way of showing the strength of characters in a visual way.

If there is life energy, then it would useful in a battle to be able to sense it. If it can be sensed, then there would be a technique to hide it. For dramatic technique, it could be used to manipulate an opponent far away. This results in similar techniques being developed in different series. Therefore, the power in One Piece and the power in Hunter x Hunter are not directly related.

However, some of it could be related to real life:

Human's are incredibly sensitive to other people's gaze. Even if you are not aware of it, you can tell when someone is looking at you, which results in the feeling of 'being watched'. This can lead to belief that one can 'sense' other people's presence. There are lots of tiny factors that can lead to awareness about someone's presence, such as sound from movement, or catching them in the corner of your eye.


How could Piccolo blow up the moon, while Goku barely managed to leave a small crater?

Piccolo isn't the only character to blow up the moon in Dragon Ball. Master Roshi (disguised as Jackie Chun) destroys the moon at the end of the 21st World Martial Arts Tournament using the MAX Power Kamehameha, which takes considerably more effort than for Piccolo. In the meantime, Kami recreated the moon, so this isn't a plot hole.

However, it's a good question as to why the moon is so easy to destroy, while the earth is so much harder. Part of this can be explained since the moon is much less massive, but even then the numbers don't quite add up if we assume the Earth and Moon are the same as ours. Let's assume that physics in the DB universe is at least somewhat similar to our own, modulo spirit attacks and whatever else. Of course, this assumption might be wrong, but if you start changing how physics works, there's no reason why the moon can't be filled with TNT so that it explodes whenever anyone so much as looks at it.

I've made some approximations in the following calculations. I calculated the gravitational binding energy of the moon to be 1.2 * 10^29 J. That's the minimum amount of energy to blow up the moon so that it won't reform by its own gravity, so we can assume that the characters were using at least that much energy. That amount would be enough to knock 3.4 * 10^20 kg of matter off of the surface of the earth, which is roughly 0.006% of the mass of the earth. That doesn't seem like a lot, but if we assume a uniform density of the earth, that's about 1.6 * 10^7 cubic miles of matter, which corresponds to a cube where each side has length 250 miles. That's a pretty huge crater. So just saying that the moon is easier to blow up than the earth isn't going to cut it.

There are 3 ways to resolve this. First, the earth and moon in the DB universe could be very different from what they are here. Specifically, the moon could be larger and less massive, and the earth smaller and more massive than in real life. However, it takes quite a bit of stretching to get believable values, and that's ignoring the vast power difference between DBZ Goku and DB Roshi. If you push things that far, I wouldn't expect it to be consistent with everything else in the series. The second possibility is that the moon is somehow more vulnerable than the Earth to attacks. This is roughly what Alenanno's answer says. It's entirely possible, but as far as I can tell there's little indication of this in the series apart from the Genki Dama, so I don't know why other attacks directed at planets would not destroy them.

This leaves the third possibility, which is my personal choice: the producers weren't really thinking about it when they did this, and were more concerned with making things dramatic than making them consistent. As such, I'd call this a plot hole, but it's a pretty minor one in the grand scheme of things.


This song is Kriminalbeamte by Yamada Yutaka. It can be found on the Tokyo Ghoul Original Soundtrack. (Disc 1, Track 9) Funny enough (*to me, probably obvious to you) it's the same song you were looking for in this question. This one was much easier to hear than in Tokyo Ghoul Root A ep 2 @14:15.


Why don't Araragi and Senjougahara call each other by their given names?

Even though we viewers have spent three, four, five years of our lives watching Monogatari, Koyomi and Hitagi have only been dating for about a year at the end of Monogatari Second Season. In other anime, characters who've known each much longer than that are still on a family name-basis; for example, Honey and Clover takes place over four years, but by the end of it, almost everyone is still on a family-name basis. That's something we should probably consider.

Not only that, Hitagi herself is a distant sort of person. Look at the lengths she went to to stop anyone getting involved with her when she was afflicted by the Heavy Crab—she alienated her friend, Suruga, and actually cut open Koyomi. Because of her past, she's distant and standoffish with everyone, but she's especially uncomfortable with romantic matters. She warns Koyomi early on in their romance (Tsubasa Cat Part 2) that it's going to move very slowly if he stays with her, and that she might never be ready for certain intimate activities. I'm sure she wasn't including calling each other by given name in that, but it's still a sign of the very slow progress that she warned Koyomi about.

I also think we should look at Koyomi himself. In general, he seems to use pretty respectful forms of address. He calls every one of the heroines by family name, even though Mayoi and Nadeko are younger than him and could probably be referred to by given name, possibly with -chan. (In Love Hina, Keitaro Urashima calls Motoko Aoyama "Motoko-chan" from the get-go, and even though she despises him, she never calls him on this that I can remember.) He calls his own sisters "Karen-chan" and "Tsukihi-chan" with an honorific, which Tsubasa remarks on as odd. He refers to Oshino Meme as "Oshino-san", even though Oshino is a weird transient in a Hawaiian shirt and Koyomi doesn't seem to find him particularly worthy of respect in most ways.

Given all of the above, it seems likely that:

It's somewhat normal in Japanese culture to still be on a family-name basis after dating for just a year.
Hitagi is trying to take things slow; for that reason, she might be sticking with family names as a way of keeping a little distance.
Koyomi seems to prefer using a family name with no honorific to address his friends, and without a sign from Hitagi, he isn't going to switch how he addresses her.

As for Hitagi hassling Koyomi when they're in the car with her father, well, that's Hitagi. She loves making him uncomfortable. It might also have been a way for her to try on being on a given-name basis in a non-threatening environment without committing to anything. If she liked being called by her given name, she could ask Koyomi to keep doing it; otherwise, once she's had her fun, they're back to family names. I don't really think she keeps this up out of respect for Tsubasa. I would go too far into literary analysis if I talked about all my theories on the dynamic between Tsubasa and Hitagi, but suffice it to say, I don't think Hitagi ever saw Tsubasa as a loser who she should be a gracious winner towards, which is the view that that kind of gesture would suggest.


I can't find screenshots but whenever you see blue things travelling from Zoro's swords, those are shockwaves that can cut anything, even buildings.

That's what he does, he sends a sort of shockwave. We obviously know that a human can't pull a sword (or another object) to create such a strong shockwave.

But if you think about it, if you move a wooden stick but towards the ground (as when you hit the ball in golf), you'll cause the air to move following that movement (adding various turbulences) that will affect whatever small is on the ground (e.g. sand).

Zoro's attacks are something similar to that but only much stronger. It's not realistic, but then, almost nothing on One Piece is realistic.


What is a Cat's Eye that was referenced in Monogatari Second Season Episode 24 at 08:35?

There's an old manga series called Cat's Eye, which is about a trio of sisters who are art thieves, and hence presumably skillful enough to break into secured places and steal things, or leave things behind, as may be their wont. I assume this is what Kaiki was referencing.

In the manga, "Cat's Eye" is the name by which the sisters collectively identify themselves (as well as the name of the cafe they operate, among other things).


How did Alluka Zoldyck obtain her powers?

It has been confirmed that Nanika came from the Dark Continent and evidence suggests that Nanika is Ai, the desire of co-dependence.

As to how Nanika started possessing Alluka, we don't know for sure but seeing how Zigg Zoldyck went to the Dark Continent, it is possible he brought it back to the outside world.


Where were the scouts when the titans attacked in the beginning?

The scouting regiment was wiped out by the colossal titan before the attack on Wall Maria and those who were not eaten were too injured to fight, so they could not fight the titan invasion. During the fall of Trost, and the battle for Trost, the Levi squad and the Survey Corps were gone on an expedition outside of Wall Rose, finally returning just in time to save the remnants of the soldiers sent to help get Trost back from the titans.


Why did Orochimaru really want to destroy Konoha village in the Naruto series?

I used to believe it was due to the fact that Hiruzen didn`t choose him to be hokage. And that was also why he returned to kill his master


Why is Naruto allowed to teach Rasengan to Konohamaru?

Although Rasengan may be a very dangerous technique, it's not a forbidden technique, so anybody can teach it to everybody.
The Naruto wiki has the categories for forbidden Jutsus:

Techniques that cause harm to the user themselves, such as opening the Eight Gates, which the mere use of is both highly useful as well as detrimental to the user.

Techniques that violate the laws of nature (e.g. the Summoning: Impure World Reincarnation, which reincarnates the dead with a human sacrifice).

Certain techniques that are known to cause massive collateral damage, such as the total destruction of a village and end with the death of everyone in it, thus the great moral ramifications of its potential lead many to labelling it as a forbidden technique.

Rasengan does not fit in any of these categories, so it's most likely not a forbidden Jutsu ;).


Kimimoro's Kekkai Genkai isn't like Gaara's sand.  Gaara's sand can go underground, smash the rocks, and use the hardened minerals from the local rocks and incorporate them into his sand.  Kimimoro doesn't seem to do this at all, but rather his bones and chakra system is all internal.

I think this is evidenced not by what he does but by what he doesn't do. In his battle with Gaara which is clearly his most pressing battle (since he dies in it) he transforms multiple times, he uses his spine whip, and does a number of other jitsu but never absorbs from his exterior surrounds while Gaara clearly does.


Which media should I read to continue from where the Re:Zero anime left off?

In short, you should read light novel from the start.

About the reason:
I’m currently reading light novel, actually in the first time Betelgeuse appears in 5th volume. Yet I’m far from where the anime ended, this first 5 volumes told many things anime didn’t. And some of them are really important, in my opinion.

About the difference:
As far I know, the web novel is the original source, the light novel is a compilated book from that and the manga is anime based. You told you already watch the whole anime, so I don’t see any reason to read the manga. I don’t know if the web novel has an official translation to English but the light novel do — it’s published in North America by Yen Press — since is an official publication you should buy it to support Teppei.

This way you won’t miss anything and support author. It’s a win-win.


Looking for a manga about a guy who gets different girlfriends as a result of time travel

Not 100% certain but it sounds a lot like Boku to Kanojo no Koi Log. I've read this one completely (a little short, but still not bad).

The color spread from the first chapter for ease of identification.

Chapter 9 and chapter 13 are where the story restarts with different girl. The protagonist followed his little sister the second time around and failed to save her from disappearing in chapter 12.


Where is this dark-haired girl in lingerie from?

You're looking for the original character Sakurako Mitsuki.

The car seems to a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII, in case you're wondering.

That photo was taken at an itasha carshow in the Akihabara UDX parking garage around December of 2012.


What happened to Yin' spectre by the end of episode 14 of Darker than Black?

It's returned to her at the end of the episode. to quote Episode 13/14 on the Wikia

   Itzhak tries to make a run for the car, but he gets shot in the back by Huang with a sniper rifle. Huang then aims for Yin, however he notices first that the dying Itzhak has started to glow. Itzhak begins emanating outward all the surveillance spectres that he took in, and they soon cover the sky in a beautiful swirl. In his final words, Itzhak tells Berta that this is the light of the moon, a moon filling in silvery white. Both Hei and Huang are shocked to see Yin crying, and although Huang still takes aim, he can’t pull the trigger.

It's implied that she got her Spectre back as in future episodes we also see Yin's Spectre

   in Without Dreaming Shallow Dreams, and Falling Drunk... Huang has Yin use her spectre to keep an eye on Hei and Shihoko which blows their cover and exposes Shihoko as traitor to Alma's organization.

and

   in The City of Regulations Is Moistened by Tears... Yin's spectre appears in Mao's water dish when Hei, Yin and Huang go to rescue Mao who ended up in Evening Primrose hideout

Also Yin's Spectre makes appearances in Gemini of the Meteor as she tried to reach out to Hei

   however Hei has lost his Contractor Powers to the Meteor Core Suou wears and only Suou sees her evolved specter appear from puddles

As for what capturing a Spectre does the Dolls seem to become "lost" without their Spectre

  he then notices another surveillance spectre - one belonging to Yin - out on the water and tries to suck it up too. His action causes Yin to suddenly fall down in the dark alley where she’s standing ... In a hotel room somewhere, the Contractor whose name is Itzhak tells the fat woman Berta that the Doll he shocked last night is adrift somewhere as if sleepwalking.

there is also the lost of their observational power, however aside from this there is little to go on as most Dolls used for observation are normally kept confined like the ones used by Evening Primrose during their attack on Hell's Gate or the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan and all of these seem to be without wills similar to how Sakurai was originally. the only 4 who seem to have "wills" and have Spectres are Yin, July and Ariel and Bernice.


This is more-so speculation on my part, so sorry if that this answer doesn't suite well enough.

It is not true.  Mima did not actually perform and the manager was not performing as her.  The image that we see is part of Mima's delusion as she originally doesn't know that her manager is pretending to be her, and truly believes that the person behind the blog is some sort of demented version of her.

Because Mima is unable to separate herself from the blog, she sort of enters a state of psychosis and through that altered reality, she sees herself performing.

The crowd most likely was cheering on the group because it is stated earlier in the film that the duet the remaining two members did had hit the top charts.  So it is probable that the fans are celebrating the group regardless of Mima being there.


I think there are two possibilities:

#1 Different to the world's normal names

As @ton.yeung mentioned in their comment, it's because it's so different to the other names of the fantasy world.

Look at some of the other characters in the world:

Aqua
Darkness (a.k.a. Dustiness Ford Lalatina)
Wiz

Kazuma and Kyōya are from the modern world so their names are probably odd, but normal for their origin.

#2 Odd due to her character
(I think this is more likely)

  Ho-ho-ho...

  That we would meet is a fate chosen by the world itself.

  I have anxiously awaited the arrival of those such as yourself.

  My name is Megumin!

  My calling is that of an arch wizard, one who controls explosion magic, the strongest of all offensive magic!

  Fu-fu.. Do you, too, desire my forbidden strength, which is so almighty, I've been ostracized by the entire world?

  Then show me thine resolve to peer into the ultimate abyss with me!
  When a man stares into the abyss, the abyss stares back.

  I am Megumin, user of the finest magic crimson demons possess! My lethal magic demolishes mountains, smashes boulders...

After Megumin's huge character introduction and ever-chuuni speeches, one would imagine she would have a crazy name too. But it's just Megumin, with an n that sounds cutesy.  Being short and young is usually something she gives out about too.

Some people on MAL compared it to Tim the Enchanter from Monty Python

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WObQK2vunAk


Are the ex-parasites in Darling in the FranXX immortal?

There is a difference between parasites and adults. It's known that adults don't age anymore because of APE. Since Nana and Hachi worked for APE we can conclude that their technology to make people immortal was also used on them.

Consequently, every parasite can become immortal. But in the last episode the ex-parasites decided to stop using magma energy which is necessary for achieving immortality. Since these people, being clones, age faster than humans, Ikuno was desperately trying to find a cure for that accelerated aging.

While not being able to find a complete cure for that condition, she still finally found a way to keep it in check which is more than enough for the affected people to live a normal life.


How were the gamers transported to the hospitals in Sword Art Online?

the NerveGear has a Battery

It also has a battery and internal memory to store data from the games. 30% of the NerveGear's weight is from its internal battery.

Source: NerveGear > Appearance
according to the citation this was revealed in Volume 1 Chapter 3 of the Light Novel
Kirito also points this out in the first episode when Kayaba is addressing the players in the Town of Beginnings about the start of the Death Game

When Klein voiced his doubts on the situation, Kirito confirmed that the NerveGear's signals essentially functioned like microwaves, thus it was indeed plausible for them to cause lethal brain damage if the safeties were disabled. Kirito also explained the helmet had an internal battery, which rendered Klein's proposal to disconnect it from its power source meaningless.

Source: Sword Art Online Episode 01 > Plot (7th Paragraph)

Klein:  What's that guy talking about he's gotta be nuts. Right Kirito?
Kirito: He's right that the transmitter's signals work just like microwaves.  If the safety were disabled it could fry a brain.
Klein:  Then, if we cut the power…
Kirito:  No, the NerveGear has an internal battery.

Source: Sword Art Online Episode 1 Animebreakdown.com
and as Kayaba mentions there had already been deaths due to people trying to remove the NerveGear despite his warnings. so either medical professional found out about the battery  or Kayaba had told them for the sake of making sure the players didn't just start dying off


What do people mean when they say "Notice me, senpai"?

This is a meme in the English-speaking internet anime community. This particular phrasing appears to have come into existence around December 2013 (according to Google Trends), though variants are known to date back to 2012.

It does not directly reference any particular work of anime or manga. Rather, it is inspired by a reasonably common trope of anime/manga writing about school-age children, whereby a character (usually a girl) will have a personal or romantic interest in an older student at their same school (which is what a "senpai" is in this context), but instead of doing a dag-blasted thing about it, just silently hopes that the senpai will pay attention to them. This narrative trope is particularly common in shoujo media.

Goodness knows why your friends are exuding memes in real life; you would do better to ask them about that. As a meme originalist, I cannot help but notice that the contexts in which your friends are reportedly using this meme don't make much sense.


Why there are some American movie characters on the Tokyo ESP anime?

I don't know about the specific case of Tokyo ESP, but it's far from uncommon for anime to have references to American popular culture. For example, there was Nerima Daikon Brothers, which was vaguely influenced by The Blues Brothers and contained the weird Michael Jackson parody Yukel Hakushon. Excel Saga and Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi were also full of them. The Cowboy Bebop episode "Toys in the Attic" was a parody of the Alien movies. The Yuru Yuri manga included a weird scene where Kyouko imagines a Hollywood movie of Yuru Yuri where everyone carries a gun. Hellsing included its bizarre "Willis" dream that references Bruce Willis.

Japan receives a good portion of our pop culture. If you look at this list of highest-grossing films in Japan, you'll notice that it's about an even split between Japanese and US productions, and that Titanic, Frozen, Harry Potter, and Avatar are all in the top ten. Japanese voice actors often do both anime and dubs of American films; check out this list of dub roles by Akio Otsuka, who plays Rider in Fate/Zero. Even movies that many of us Americans would rather no one ever saw, like Con Air and the entire filmography of Steven Seagal, are in that list.

So the author of Tokyo ESP was just making reference to well-known movies, for the same reasons any author might.


What's with the explosion in episode 18?

In the very next scene, major Kusanagi explains:

  The risks, of course, are considerable, but we couldn't find a better solution than to further edit Yu's memories with a successful assassination attempt.

So what we see after the moment major attached a cyberbrain-disabling device to the back of his neck, is only a fake memory.


When do Sanji's half of the crew board Big Mom's ship for the first time?

That segment was never shown and was used specifically to prequel what is coming.

Similar cases have occurred in the anime but are usually filled in with filler. The story follows Luffy so when other characters go off and do their own thing away from him the manga doesn't reflect it.

With respect to the Edit: During the Dressrosa arc Usopp was one of the strawhats who stayed behind. IIRC there was an episode that had a cameo of sanji speaking to Usopp before things got too crazyin Dressrosa. It was when the coliseum event was still going on. We didn't see how the evasion happened but we did see that the ship was approaching. It wasn't brought up again until the Zou arc.


Was Grimiore Heart aware that Zeref was still alive?

Ultear controlled Jellal to build the R-System, so the Magic Council focuses on him and not on the Grimoire Heart, who could then move in the shadows to continue their search for Zeref. (Tower of Heaven Arc)

So to answer your question, Yes, Grimoire was aware Zeref was alive and used Jellal as a decoy to search for him. After finding him launching an attack on Tenrou Island (Tenrou Arc)


How much time will it take me to watch the .hack series?

To watch everything including ova's, movies and the likes would take you 2091 minutes (34.85 hours) spread over 83 epsiodes. This would cover:

.hack roots
.hack//Sign
.hack//Gift
.hack//Unison
.hack//Tasogare no Udewa Densetsu
.hack//Quantum
.hack//Liminality
.hack//G.U. Returner
.hack//G.U. Trilogy
.hack//Intermezzo
.hack//G.U. Trilogy: Parody Mode
.hack//The Movie: Sekai no Mukou ni
.hack//Versus: The Thanatos Report
.hack//Tasogare no Udewa Densetsu: Offline de Aimashou
.hack//Quantum: Sore ike! Bokura no Chimuchimu-chan!!

And if we take a look at How to start the .hack series and its viewing order? we can determine that the only true cannon series are:

.hack//SIGN
.hack//Liminality
.hack//Roots

Which is only 1380 minutes (23 hours) spread over 56 episodes