How can I tell if an anime figure is a fake?

First,

Check if there is a fan website that catalogues the produced figures for the series you're interested in.
Check the catalogues at MyFigureCollection.net, make an account, and consult collectors there.
Browse the website of the Japanese manufacturer/s that produce the official figures and familiarize yourself with them (even if you don't read Japanese, you can navigate a bit with GoogleTranslate on and just by trial-and-error) and take note of 1) the market price, 2) details of the packaging, and 3) when the figure was released (if it is brand-spanking-new, the chance of bootlegs floating around already is low).
Even if you're standing at a convention booth with a figure package in your hand and wondering, pull out your smartphone/tablet/laptop and do a quick Google search for name-of-figure + manufacturer+name-on-box or model-series-name-on-box + the word "bootleg": do other collectors own this? Have other collectors warned against buying this?

Japanese companies are very unlikely to sell you a bootleg, so if you are concerned about shelling out your hard-earned cash on the real thing, you can have more peace-of-mind if you purchase from a Japanese store, its online website, or its Rakuten online shop. Even if you are buying a used figure from Mandarake, you will know the staff have already inspected and verified it as being, to the best of their knowledge, an authentic figure. Another option is to bid on Yahoo Japan Auctions, where most sellers are Japanese (some are real stores that also have an online auction presence, but many are individuals); since the Japanese generally have a strong ethic regarding honesty about their products, you can also have the piece of mind that virtually none of the sellers are trying to swindle you (I have purchased well over a hundred items from sellers there with no problems. If a seller has any concerns whatsoever about the condition of the product, they will explain this in the item description and/or advise to carefully inspect the uploaded photos; they lean towards cautioning potential bidders not to bid if you have any possible qualms about the item: in all such disclaimers cases for the dozens of items I have won, only 1 of them was actually in poor condition as the seller had mentioned. In all the thousands of auction listings I have perused, I have not come across any bootleg items. This is not to claim that none ever crop up, but there is not as much to worry about as when buying from eBay or at a convention outside of Japan). Most Japanese auction sellers do not personally ship to overseas customers, so if you do not have an address within Japan, you can use a proxy bidding service.

If you are in a situation where you're looking at the figure and you don't have a chance to investigate online before buying (or not):

The first thing to look for (as I assume we are talking about bootlegs that look pretty real, rather than ones where, on first glance, you can tell the quality is shoddy) is any non-Japanese text, such as Chinese, Korean, Thai, etc. While there are figures officially-licensed for production and sales outside of Japan, most bootlegs are also produced outside of Japan. If you see non-Japanese text, be wary.
Next, locate the logo of the series and a copyright (such as the copyright symbol © or the trademark letters "TM"). This might be printed directly on the box, might be embossed into the cardboard of the box, and/or there might be a gold-foil sticker.
Carefully check the font of the lettering. Some official Japanese figure boxes have English on them, but it follows a pattern, so that is a reason to familiarize yourself with what words/phrases/font the manufacturer uses for its printing. Seeing the name of the series or character typed in another font than the company usually uses should be a red flag.
Japanese companies are very meticulous about packaging, so if the box looks like 1) the art doesn't quite line up with the box edges, 2) the art is slightly blurry, and/or 3) the colors are too harsh, it probably is fake. In other words, a bootleg package might be created by taking a digital photograph or scan of the original box and printing a copy, so it might lose crispness in the reproduction process.
Something to be aware of is that Japanese high-quality models (garage kits) are usually sold unpainted (the body comes in pieces that must be assembled and is cream-colored or light gray [paints must be purchased separately]); generally, if you are looking at something that is painted or colored plastic, either 1) it was an unpainted model that someone painted and is selling their painted version (a model painted by someone else is not mint condition, yet it often has a high price tag to pay the artist for their time and skill in painting it for you. This is a valid option of something to buy, but pay attention to whether the paint colors used accurately match the colors from the real series; some artists use their creative license and change details in the paint job), 2) it is a plastic figure produced as such by the company (the plastic sort are usually cheaper in price than the top quality line of models. One type is the posable, jointed limb plastic models. Another type are lower-quality figures marketed toward kids with pricing that parents, rather than serious collectors, would be willing to buy), or 3) it is a bootleg.

As an example, here's a helpful review of a Sailor Saturn figure posted on MyFigureCollection.net and the corresponding article "Identifying SHFiguarts Sailor Moon Series Bootlegs" at the fansite Sailor Moon Collection.

An official figure box (the Toei animation gold sticker, the real logo ["Sailormoon World" is the official logo created for the 20th anniversary merchandise, not one of the original TV series official logos], the copyright info at the bottom edge, standard pattern to the lettering font):

What a garage kit figure looks like pre-painted (cream-colored pieces):

What a garage kit figure looks like after being painted by someone:


Can a soul that is normally freed from the Edo Tensei be resurrected again?

In order to answer your question, whether a freed soul from ET may be resurrected again or not, I will those points which has been aired on telly so far.

Yes, you can resurrect it.

Before I answer this question, you need to understand how ET works. For this, please refer here. Since you specifically said not to use any spoilers, you can visit the link which I shared.

For more proof, visit Edo Tensei wiki page. They did mention that:

  It is possible for a reincarnated shinobi to be revived into a real living body again. Madara, however, was resurrected without his original eyes, having died without them.


What is the relationship between Daedalus and Tomoki?

Daedalus is a scientist from Synapse, considered as the greatest mind in all of Synapse. Their relationship was not revealed until nearing the end of the story.

   She was the one who created RULE, a device to fulfill anything one wishes. Because of this, everyone on Synapse got bored. Seeing that humans, though far inferior but enjoyed their lives through hard work, the inhabitants of Synapse decided to go into a dream like state to live as humans.

 So Daedalus created the device so that Synapse people can sleep and have dream living as humans. Daedalus did that too in form of Mitsuki Sohara, Sakurai Tomoki's childhood friend.

 However, Sohara had weak constitution and died very young. Daedalus then decided to create another Sohara and placed her on Earth. She also later set the Uranus Queen, Ikaros, free from her seal and sent her to Tomoki.

 She is also the one behind the creation of the first generation Angeloid namely, Alpha (Ikaros), Beta (Nymph), and Delta (Astrea). The latter two also joined Tomoki's group later in the story after they were ordered to kill him by Master of Synapse. She's also the one who created Pandora Box system in the first generation Angeloid which allowed them to evolve.

 Daedalus was also the one who fixed Chaos, a second generation Angeloid created by Master of Synapse.


Is anime production more efficient than manga production?

A production is only as productive as the people that make it up.

Manga production happens at a much smaller scale compared to anime production.

For anime production, on top of publisher front costs, you have to get your staff, sponsors, script, character/set designers, broadcasting rights, and advertising ready before the production even starts.

Typically only half the budget allocated to an anime is used by the studio in charge.

Manga production can vary greatly. Some authors are interested in creative input from their assistants, while others only ask them to assist. Some artists like do to as much of the work themselves as possible, others have their assistants fill in most of the page while the artist only draws the "name" (a kind of storyboard for manga) and main characters.

Anime are usually created and broadcast at a loss while profits are made from DVD/Blu-ray and merchandising sales. Most mangas are produced at a loss, their viability access by their rank in their parent magazine's reader survey polls and takubon (volume) sales.

Generally, it takes around 8,000,000 to 10,000,000 yen to make a "30 minute" episode anime, while it takes only about 2,000,000 yen to produce a weekly serialization, because it typically takes 2 months for a tankoubon can be compiled, at a 100-page monthly production rate.

On top of that you have to factor in rent for the studio, and payroll (pay + pensions) for that staff which typically is composed of 1 chief-assistant + 2 or 3 assistants + 1 background artist, typically a group of 4 to 5 people. Different authors/artist get different rates depending on the publisher and the experience/fame of the author/artist.

Most animators are contract employees to a production studio. Therefore they do not get benefits, pensions, or vacations. Because many productions employ so many animators for their tween animations it can be hard to keeps track of who's who and doing what.

A well managed small anime production can sometimes be more efficient than a large high budget manga serialization, but the opposite can be true as well. It usually comes down to who is an change and how the work trickles down.


What's with the timing of the OP and ED in Minami-ke?

I'd say the late opening is to grab attention and open the viewers mind as to what's going to follow in the rest of the episode without showing an opening which some people may immediately skip if it doesn't seem like their kind of show.

As to the show having more after the ending, I believe its put there as scheme or reward for sticking through the credits, and give people a bit more of the show to finish off.


What's the name of the battle theme used in Big Order?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HS7fh_QD6sw#t=33m40s starting 33:40

It's called "决着！"


What game are António, Carlos and Jobim playing?

It was never revealed in the anime and it isn't said on the wiki or anywhere else of relevance.

  They seem on speaking terms with many supporting characters, and
  though they run into the main characters often there is not much
  attention paid to them (or even mention that the main characters have
  seen them before).

This is the closest I have ever seen their mention to a card game.

  ... Spike
  and Jet have arrived and ready to hit the tables, with Jet having a
  good feeling after having a dream involving Charlie Parker. The two
  split off with Jet playing the slots while Spike mills around the
  tables, gaining some chips after helping three old men win a card
  game. Eventually he settles on a Blackjack table where Alice is
  dealing ...

Here are all the episodes they have been featured in and it isn't said or shown in any. So it was never stated and in general they mainly acted as comic relief.


What is the significance of the painting in The Girl Who Leapt Through Time?

The painting contains the formula to time travel.

As said by Auntie witch:

  This painting was drawn hundreds
  years ago in a time of war and famine.

  Why did someone draw this painting when
  the world was on the verge of destruction?

The most plausible answer to that question is that the painting contains the time travel formula.

Also, as seen in the movie Time Traveller: The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (2010), Auntie witch discovers the formula trying with different kind of herbs. The painting contains those herbs and the quantity needed.

In the first movie The Little Girl Who Conquered Time (1983), the time traveler says to Auntie witch that they are trying with different herbs to perfect the formula.

So, according to those facts, that is my answer. The painting contains the formula to time travel.


Yomi Yomi no Mi's ability to revive its eater is just the tip of the iceberg. Brook thought it was the only purpose before the timeskip. However, after the timeskip, he reveals that he has now learnt the true power of his Devil Fruit.

The soul of a human who dies normally goes to the land of the dead, but his Devil's Fruit emits a powerful energy that allows his soul to remain in the living world. During the 2 years of training, he has also mastered its other abilities, such as:

Letting his soul leave and enter his body/skeleton at will
"Pouring his soul" into his music to show illusions to people
Summoning cold flames from the underworld
Surviving damage that would otherwise be fatal (he cannot be seriously injured unless his bones are hurt)

Long story short, Yomi Yomi no Mi is not a "one time use". Brook cannot have another Devil Fruit, unless Oda-sensei's hyper-creative imagination provides him a loophole.


How often do multi-season anime break their previous cour count?

Let me answer your question anecdotally. (A data-driven answer would be better, but I don't want to spend very long trawling AniDB/MAL/etc. If somebody does that, I'll award a bounty.)

From the bottom up:

  Third, are there any examples of anime that have asymmetrical seasons like this? Recent and otherwise examples would be nice.

Shokugeki no Soma (2 cours → 1 cour)
K-ON! (1 cour → 2 cours)
Monogatari (15 episodes → 1 cour → 2 cours → 1 cour → 2 cours, not counting the 2-hour-ish specials or the movies or Koyomimonogatari)
Full Metal Panic! (2 cours → 1 cour → 1 cour)
Kimi ni Todoke (2 cours → 1 cour)
Haikyuu!! (2 cours → 2 cours → 1 cour)
Nisekoi (20 episodes → 1 cour)
Psycho-Pass (2 cours → 1 cour)
Yama no Susume (1 cour → 2 cours; this is a short)
Little Busters! (2 cours → 1 cour)
Shingeki no Bahamut (1 cour → 2 cours)
Yowamushi Pedal (3 cours → 2 cours → 2 cours)

(This is mostly recent stuff; I haven't watched enough older stuff to have a good sense for how things worked back in the day.)

  Second, how often do second or third seasons break from the cour-count of previous seasons? Does it happen at least once a year, or is it uncommon enough that the last time it happened was ages ago? Does it even happen at all?

The list above is just the ones I remembered offhand as having "asymmetrical" seasons while I was scrolling through the list of anime I've seen. And, alas, I have not yet achieved my lifelong dream of watching literally all the anime, so there are naturally going to be others that I didn't notice.

I'd say this is the kind of thing that happens maybe a few times a year or so - it does seem to be infrequent relative to "symmetrical" seasons, but not so rare as it seems to you. Certainly not something that hasn't happened in ages - Shokugeki no Soma's second season was Fall 2016, and Shingeki no Bahamut's second season is starting soon, in Spring 2017.

  First, is there a particular reason for this, or is it "just tradition"?

Here is one clear reason this would happen:

Long-running cash cows aside, the number of cours in a particular season of a particular anime is a small integer - almost always 1, 2, 3, or 4; and most frequently just 1 or 2. Even if anime season lengths were randomly either 1 or 2 cours, we'd expect to see 50% of two-season anime be "symmetrical". In reality, there is a moderate bias towards 1-cour anime (at least in the present day), so that even absent other factors, we'd expect more than 50% to be "symmetrical".

Additionally, I can offer the following speculative thoughts:

Some varieties of anime intrinsically lend themselves to particular cour lengths.

Many sports anime, for example, are structured as a series of tournaments, each of which features a number of competitions, with each competition taking up multiple episodes; this is typically the kind of thing that lends itself to having a tournament per season, with each season consisting of 2 or more cours.
On the other hand, comedies that aren't Gintama seem to fare best when they don't drag on for too long, biasing them more strongly towards 1-cour seasons.

If you have an anime that's based on an ongoing manga/novel source, structuring it as a bunch of 1-cour seasons seems to be an effective way to both 1.) avoid running out of source material; and 2.) avoid having long gaps without an anime. Natsume Yuujinchou strikes me as a quintessential example of this.
If you have an anime adapted from source material that has a regular/predictable narrative structure, and you successfully adapted it into an n-cour anime season, it stands to reason that its next anime season would probably also be well-served by an n-cour run.

I think we see a number of systemic factors that bias multi-season into being "symmetrical" and no systemic factors that bias them into being "asymmetrical".

Of course, on a case-by-case basis, there will often be factors that make it make sense to have "asymmetrical" seasons. For example, with K-ON!, the first season was so enormously successful that the production committee would've been fools not to ride that cash cow into the sunset. And as for Haikyuu!! - while it does follow the "2-cour sports anime" format for its first two seasons, the thing is that its second tournament is long enough that they just split out the most exciting part of it into a separate season, which seems reasonable.


Can I read the Tokyo Ghoul RE manga if I have watched the first 2 seasons of the anime?

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


Why will Fairy Tail have 4 consecutive weeks of double chapters?

I think this is mainly a marketing tactic, meant to attract more readers to buy copies of the Weekly Shonen Magazine1. When the magazine's copies hit the bookstore, a front cover caption Fairy Tail! Double Chapter inside!! ... and next 3 weeks too!!! (or something on those lines) will draw the buyer's attention, and would likely lead to an increase in sales.

Regular readers would buy the magazine no matter what, but the tactic is mainly aimed at two categories of prospective buyers:

New buyers, that is, people who have never bought (or perhaps, even heard of) the magazine before.
Buyers who are unsure if they should buy the magazine.

People are made to believe that they are getting something "extra", which often leads to making a buy decision. This, by the way, is not much different from the "Buy One, Get One Free" offers. It is also quite common for popular TV shows to have "2-hour specials" every once in a while, which is also based on the same "principle" (if you will).

Moreover, announcing 4 consecutive editions with double chapters increases likelihood of repeat business. People look forward to buying the next 3 issues as well. Buying 4 consecutive issues will lead to at least a sizeable number of readers "latch on" to the magazine, who would naturally choose to continue buying later issues as well.

As for why Fairy Tail gets double chapters so often (as against other mangas), I think it mostly comes down to "because he is Erza Mashima!!" To elaborate, Mashima (and his assistants?) are able to spend more time and/or effort on their manga and can submit two chapters in a week, whereas most other mangakas may not be able to do so due to personal commitments or other reasons. As an aside, he published triple chapters of Fairy Tail for two consecutive weeks a year or so ago. (Chapters 338-340 and 341-343, IIRC)

1 Weekly Shonen Magazine is different from Weekly Shonen Jump.


Is Bishamon a god of war or a god of fortune?

In short:

Bishamon is both, the God of War and the God of Fortune.
Yato is not only given the title of the God of War and the God of Calamity, but is also a self-proclaimed Delivery God. Besides these:

   • In Chapter 40, Fujisaki Kouto revealed that Yato is a "God of Depravity," meaning that Yato only knows how to steal and not to give, and that those people around him will suffer terribly.
 • He has also decided to become a God of Fortune now.Source

In detail:

Firstly, a God of Fortune is the title given to a God who brings good luck or uses his/her special abilities/powers to guard or enhance one's everyday life, and is, for the most part, not directly related to their powers (so as to say, they do not cast a spell which causes good fortune to come to someone).

Neither is one "born" a God of Fortune, or if one is, he/she may be stripped of the title should they bring dishonor to their kind (Similarly, other Gods can also be given the title of the God of Fortune.

As mentioned on the Wikia:

  The Seven Gods of Fortune (七福神 Shichi Fukujin), commonly referred to in English as the Seven Lucky Gods, are the seven gods of good fortune in Japanese mythology and folklore.

  They are some of the most widely worshipped, prayed to and wished upon Japanese gods in modern times, with figurines or masks of them being especially commonplace in small businesses.

Like for Kofuku, it's almost impossible (if not completely impossible) for her to become a "God of Fortune", given that she is the Goddess of Poverty.

  As the Goddess of Poverty, Kofuku has always been hated and scorned. She was never allowed to own her own Shinki, possibly since it would augment her powers of disaster and create further destruction and chaos.Source

Secondly, a God doesn't have any "occupation". They are given the title based on their powers and how they use it. For example, Yato is technically only a God of War. The other titles were given to him based on how he used them. In the past, he used to be merciless and cruel, using his powers to kill other Gods in the battle, giving him the title of "God of Calamity".

Similarly, there is no reason why a God cannot be given two or more titles. This trait can be seen in real-life Gods and Goddesses as well. For instance:

  Saraswati (Sanskrit: सरस्वती, Sarasvatī) is the Hindu goddess of knowledge, music, arts, wisdom and learning. Source

  Parvati (IAST: Pārvatī) is the Hindu goddess of fertility, love and devotion; as well as of divine strength and power. Source

These are just two among many Gods and Goddesses who are believed to have more than one power for themselves.

I do not know much about Buddhism, however since the Gods of Fortune are based on real-life counterparts, of which you can read in detail here, it is not at all far-fetched for the Gods to wield more than one power or for more than two, or even ten Gods to share the same title. Even if their Buddhist counterparts in real life wield only one power or even none, the concept of the
Gods having more than one title is nothing new.


What were the first official English-translated anime and manga?

The first signs of manga in the western world came in through magazines - Much like how manga first came to Japan before being compiled into full books.

Occasionally publications would include smaller works or partial translations of a larger manga. Notably (as @krazr has pointed out) Concerned Theatre Japan's second volume, 2nd issue 1971 is a manga special with 3 short works translated.

This issue features Sakura Gaho (Eng. "Sakura Illustrated" - excerpt) Akame (Eng. "Red Eyes" - Part One)," and "Nejishiki" (Eng. "The Stopcock" - Short work)

The first fully independent manga series that was translated into English and published was Barefoot Gen in 1979.

Barefoot Gen is an epic 10 volume manga of the story of a boy during the Atom bombing of Hiroshima. The piece takes many sections from  Keiji Nakazawa's own experiences as a Hiroshima survivor. Feeling the work should be spread for the largest impact, a pacifist translation charity Project Gen starting working on translating it into English in 1976.

The first two translations were published in 1979. Unfortunately, it wasn't as successful as first thought and no more volumes were published. It was only in 2004 that the full 10 volumes eventually got fully released (by Last Gasp).

Prior to this, there was a comic adaption of Astroboy redrawn by Americans in 1965. Barefoot Gen retained the original artwork, so is usually considered the first.

Astroboy was the first anime series to be brought overseas, in the same year as it was televised nationally (1963) and much like today - it was seen a definite secondary market to Japan. An earlier 3-part work, Three Tales was released 2 years beforehand in 1961 (A year after it aired in Japan)

Hakujaden was one the first Japanese animation films to make it to the US under the title Panda and the Magic Serpent (and also the first anime movie) in 1961 along with two other titles - Magic Boy (premièred a month earlier) and Alakazam the Great

Additional References

Schoolgirl Milky Crisis: Adventures in the Anime & Manga Trade (Book)
Frederik L Schott (Translator of Astroboy, Barefoot Gen and many other works) 's Site
Anime: A History - Jonathan Clements


Did Naruto stack Sage Mode with Sage of Six Path Mode?

Naruto had already unlocked KCM+Sage Mode before getting extra powers from Hagoromo(when he was fighting Sage-Obito alongside Minato)

Sage of six paths chakra gave him truth seeker orbs,along with a small piece of each tailed beast.

Hope that answers your question.


Are there any differences between normal anime compared to Netflix original series's anime?

There are two differences.

Netflix Original Series are either produced, co-produced or hosted exclusively on Netflix, and when in relation to anime it will almost always be referring to "hosted exclusively". Other anime would be hosted by one or many of any range of other platforms/mediums. Some may go straight to TV, some get bought by multiple platforms, ect... it depends on the series and Netflix Original Series just happen to be hosted by Netflix. - stack reference, wiki reference
Netflix Original Series can be planned and made for Netflix, or the rights can be bought by Netflix after production. Either way, Netflix would be creating/purchasing shows that they believe are marketable to their customer base and this would result in a slight variation in popular themes than other airing anime. Currently, the top countries for Netflix usage are Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, America and Canada (reference) so the shows picked up by Netflix are more likely to have jokes/references/themes/styles that are deemed as popular in these countries. An example of something that would be less likely to pop up a Netflix Original is an anime show featuring lots of Dajare (Japanese Puns) since wordplay in Japanese is structured around the language and difficult to translate for the same popular impact it would have locally. Keep in mind this is not a strict rule for what Netflix can pick up, just a general difference noticed when looking at the platforms shows as a whole.


How were there 80,000 ninjas in the Shinobi World War in Naruto?

Let's approximate the size of the Hidden Leaf based on the size of the Nine-tails in his attack:

As you can see, the village is quite large. I can estimate a population of over 100,000 easily. Since many of them are shinobi, I don't think it's exaggerated to think that there are at least 12,000 shinobi there (probably more).

So that's where all of them came from. Don't forget that we are focusing on only one (two) set of academy students as they progress, in reality there are new (and old) classes every year that graduate, get their own Jonin sensei, and take on missions etc. Those unimportant characters are often seen as what I like to call "shuriken throwers" (they only know how to throw shuriken, nothing else). You usually see them die when a strong opponent arrives.


What is up with Tsukihi and Karen's boyfriends' names?

From official source

I tried to find some comments from the author on the Japanese internet, but came up empty-handed due to my lack of knowledge of Japanese. I do have some very tenuous evidence that as of 2013, there was no such explanation even in Japanese, discussed below.

According to the Japanese Wikipedia page on the Monogatari series, very little is known about Mizudori-kun and Rousokuzawa-kun except that Mizudori-kun is shorter than Karen-chan and Rousokuzawa-kun is taller than Tsukihi-chan, suggesting that they look similar to Koyomi and adding evidence for the Fire Sisters' massive brother complex. Tsukihi-chan talks a little about Rousokuzawa-kun in Neko Black, during which she says he wants to fondle breasts in a set-theoretic sense, and also says during Tsukihi Phoenix that her relationship with him is chaste; she also says that Karen-chan and Mizudori-kun haven't been getting along. The Monogatari series wikia also has next to nothing to say about them. Since Koyomi, the viewpoint character, has absolutely refused to meet them, we've so far never seen them, and it seems that they're more a minor plot detail than anything; as far as I can tell, what I listed above is the sum total of our knowledge about them.

As for their names, Nisio Isin, author of the Monogatari series, has a history of making up bizarre names for his characters, usually ones full of pun and subtext, and it seems the more minor they are, the more bizarre the names get. From the Monogatari series itself, I submit "Kaiki Deishuu" and "Kiss-shot Acerola Orion Heart-Under-Blade" and the name "Valhalla Combi" for the combination of Senjougahara and Kanbaru; see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zaregoto_Series#Characters and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Medaka_Box_characters for examples from his other work.

Fan's interpretation

The next part is a little tangential since it involves an unofficial doujinshi, but I take it as evidence that Japanese audiences also had no access to an explanation as of April 2013 (the doujinshi's publication date) since they were making up their own theories. I once found a doujinshi (a very, very NSFW doujinshi, which could get you fired if you happen to be at work, so I'm not going to provide a link, but the title is Sukimonogatari - SFW Cover) that offered a theory on the names "Rousokuzawa-kun" and "Mizudori-kun", along with a random sex scene. Here's part of a page (edited to be SFW) that explains some of the theory:

Note that in the doujinshi, boys named "Mizudori-kun" and "Rousokuzawa-kun" don't exist; "Mizudori-kun" is Tsukihi-chan, and "Rousokuzawa-kun" is Karen-chan. The upper-left panel gives a chain of transformations:

[月火]【Tsukihi】 (Moon | Fire)
→ [水]【Mizu】 (Water. Based on day of the week progression from Sunday to Saturday: 日月火水木金土)
→ [瑞]【Mizu】 (Good omen. A kanji with the same reading as "water")
→ [瑞鳥]【Mizudori】 (Auspicious bird).

[火憐]【Karen】 (Fire | Pity)
→ [燐]【Rin】 (Phosphorus. Take the second character and replace the heart radical 忄 with fire radical 火)
→ [燐寸]【Macchi】 (Match. Match head contains phosphorus)
→ [蠟燭澤]【Rousokuzawa】 (蠟燭 means candle. 澤 or equivalent shinjitai 沢 is a common character used in names)

Koyomi takes note of the terrifying coincidence in the names they give each other and the kaii that they are affected. Tsukihi-chan, called "Mizudori", is a bird kaii, and "auspicious bird" can refer to phoenix. Karen-chan, called "Rousokuzawa", was afflicted by a bee kaii, and candles can be made of beeswax. When Koyomi asked why they choose such names, the Fire Sisters explain that they chose those names because migrating birds and candle clocks are both methods of telling time, which aligns with the fact that the entire Araragi family has names with timekeeping and calendar themes1.

Conclusion

In summary, nothing much is said about these two in the novels or anime up through the end of the second season, and no explanation is given for their names up to that point. Although I didn't find anything official, the very scant information on these two, along with the (admittedly weak) evidence of the doujinshi, suggests that they're another example of Nisio Isin's famously bizarre punny names for his characters, and no, he isn't going to explain them (that would ruin the fun).

Footnote

[暦]【Koyomi】 means calendar.

[火憐]【Karen】 contains the prefix of カレンダー, i.e. calendar.

Tsukihi　（月火） can be rendered as 月日, which contains the kanji for moon and sun, which also means month and day.


What factors contributed to the "golden age" of anime?

The golden age of anime began in the 1980s with Mobile Suit Gundam and Space Battleship Yamato.
According to Wikipedia:

Mobile Suit Gundam (1979), the first Real Robot anime, was also initially unsuccessful but was revived as a theatrical film in 1982. The success of the theatrical versions of Yamato and Gundam are seen as the beginning of the anime boom of the 1980s, which many consider the beginning of the "golden age of anime". This anime boom also marked the beginning of "Japanese Cinema's Second Golden Age", which would last until around the beginning of the 2000s.

Mecha animes and space operas began becoming popular after Star Wars was released in 1977. The major players were Mobile Suit Gundam and Space Battleship Yamato in the beginning. Hayao Miyazaki released Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, which is considered one of the most influential anime of all time, during that time. His company became Studio Ghibli.
The introduction of the martial arts genre also happened in this time with the release of Dragon Ball in 1984. The anime fandom, filled with people known as otaku, began forming at this time, concentration on magazines such as Animage, which published Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, and Newtype. The sports genre also began in the 1980s with the release of Captain Tsubasa.
The beginning of OVA (Origial Video Animation) also happened in the 1980s, bringing anime to the home video market; the first OVA released was Moon Base Dallos.
The fall of the 1980s anime boom had a few causes. The first is that the success of Nausicaä led to an increase in experimental and high budget anime films. Many of these were relatively unsuccessful, not making up the exorbitant amount of money spent to create them. Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honneamise had a budget of ¥800 million and Akira had a budget of $11 million (which, if that is the 1988 budget, was approximately ¥1.408 billion). Neither of these films, along with many other experimental anime films, were box office successes in Japan, though Akira did bring in fans from the West. Because of these failures, many anime production companies began closing. Studio Ghibli was one of the only successful anime production companies at the end of the 1980s with the film Kiki's Delivery Service. These failures, along with the bursting of the economic bubble and the death of Osamu Tezuka, a main player in the experimental anime field, lead to the fall of the 1980s era of anime.
Regarding the moe boom, according to this:

Another theory asserts that its usage stems from 2channel in the 1990s when the word was used to refer to female characters who were “hybrids of the Lolicon (lolita complex) and bishoujo (beautiful girls) genres,” Hotaru Tomoe from Sailor Moon being an early example of a moekko character.
In an article written by Patrick W. Galbraith of Tokyo University, Galibraith explores the origins and meanings behind the term “moe”. He states that the term originated from 2channel in the 1990s in the discussion of young, cute, and innocent girls and their burning passion for them. This term likely picked up because moeru (nominalized as moe) while meaning ‘to bud or sprout,’, is homophonous with the verb ‘to burn.’
The sexualization of underage (or underage-looking) characters in manga goes back to the late ’70s, when underground and adult manga artists such as Disappearance Diary creator Hideo Azuma began to work around censorship laws by drawing characters without pubic hair. This was the beginning of the lolicon (Lolita Complex) trend.


"The World Will Turn To Ash" - How did this differ in the original Japanese?

What I found from here is:

  火の神、雷の神、氷の神に触れずべからず。
  されば、天地怒り世界は破滅に向かう。
  海の神、破滅を救わんと現れん。
  されど、世界の破滅を防ぐことならず。
  すぐれたるあやつり人現れ、神々の怒り静めん限り…。

  The god of fire, god of lightning, and god of ice must not be touched.
  Else, heaven and earth will be angered and the world will face destruction.
  The god of the sea will appear to stop the destruction.
  But, it will not prevent the world's destruction.
  Unless an exceptional trainer appears to calm the wrath of the gods....

If this is accurate, then there is no mention of Ash, but instead just that of a trainer in general.


How Julius tarnished his career after fighting Subaru?

Julius challenged Subaru, someone who is clearly below his rank, then during the fight he practically started bullying Subaru, who was obviously greatly inferior to him regarding fighting abilities.

Julius is a knight, meaning he should live by the Knights Code of Chivalry, but his actions mentioned above are clearly violating it.

The duel had a lot of witnesses, so these events ruined the public view about him while leaving a stain on his whole knighthood for a really long time.


Does the world on the other side of the gate exist for alchemy to exist?

Even when we fix a radio with alchemy . . . it takes a life or energy from this world to do it

The explanation, as it is given to the viewer, isn't so much that this world exists for the purpose of alchemy. Rather, the other world is being "tapped into". Alchemists think they are following the principle of Equivalent Exchange; but there is a hidden cost that they are not aware of. This hidden cost is "stolen" from the other world.

Imagine running a cable from your neighbour's house to your house, so you can steal their electricity. Every time you use an electrical device, you steal some of your neighbour's electricity. That's basically what it is for alchemy too.

You put two slices of bread in your toaster. Two pieces of toast come out. That's equivalent exchange, right? To you, living in your house, it may seem that way. But you're simply not aware of the additional cost (the electricity bill) because you're not the one paying for it (your neighbor is paying the cost)

This does not mean that I forced my neighbour to come live next to me so that I could steal his electricity (which is what your question boils down to). Alchemy was simply constructed in a way that it takes the additional cost from another (pre-existing) world.

As far as I'm aware, why the other world exists is never discussed, because then you must also ask yourself why the original (alchemist) world exists, and ponder what existence truly means.


What are the objects that eat Devil Fruits?

From what we know, there are only 4 objects that ate a devil fruit :
(Note that these are only Zoan Devil Fruits)

Lassou : A bazooka that ate Inu Inu no Mi (Dog Model)

FunkFreed : A sword that ate Zo Zo no Mi (Elephant)

Rakuyo : a "scourge" that ate an unknown devil fruit

Smiley : a mass of gaz that ate the Sara Sara no Mi (Axolotl Model)


About Lelouch and Nunnally during and soon after the invasion of Japan

Lelouch and Nunnally being sent to Japan as Hostages was itself another ploy. In Season 2 when Charles is explaining everything to Lelouch when they are trapped in the Sword of Akasha he revealed that he sent them away to protect them for V.V who had already murdered Marianne.

Also at the start of the series we see C.C watching a young Lelouch and Suzaku probably before the war so given the connection Marianne had with C.C during the series it's possible C.C (before being captured) was sent by Marianne to look out for her children.

Prior the start of the War Britannia haddn't fully developed their Knightmares which was one of the key pieces of technology which gave Britannia an edge

  However, when Britannia finally developed its Knightmare Frames fleet and decided to invade Japan to seize control of the Sakuradite mines, consequently discarding Lelouch's use as a diplomatic tool

Source: Lelouch vi Britannia - Character Outline (2nd Paragraph)

This means executing them would have no merit. remember also that Lelouch had forfeited his claim to the Throne and before doing this the background chatter by the Nobles talked about them being lucky if Nunnally could be married off for political gain in her condition. their value as hostages were already much lower and Japan's main bargaining chip was their Sakuradite which, now with their Knightmares, Britannia could take by force and stop the other super powers from getting it.

Also i would think Suzaku and Todoh would have done something to save them if someone got the idea to punish Britannia by executing them (and i suspect at the start of the series were we see Lelouch vow to destroy Britannia it was Todoh who we see at the fire).

As for making Lelouch's and Nunnally's deaths known to be false this would probably just insult Britannia. the first thing that would be done if this happened was to denounce Japan's claims and because most Britannians look down on foreigners chances are that Charles would claim that Lelouch and Nunnally were impostors withother probably voicing their disgust that the Japanese have the audacity to use foreign commoners to pose as members of the Imperial Family.

Lets not forget that the heirs to the throne were fighting one another, while there are some would would want to protect Lelouch and Nunnally there are others who would use the war as a cover to kill them permanently removing them from the line of succession. weather the Japanese knew is or not doesn't matter as Lelouch would be opposed to it because it would be putting Nunnally in greater danger.


DBGT: Does Goku die of old age when he turns SSJ4 in the future?

No. The wish was to make Goku a child again. When he grows back into an adult, the wish will not be in effect anymore. The youth he gains would just be a side effect of the wish. The wording of a wish is very important, as can be seen when Shenron granted the wish to revive everyone on Namek killed by Frieza and his henchmen. That wish didn't revive the people Vegeta killed because Vegeta broke off from Frieza.

Supposing the wish is still considered to be in effect, he still wouldn't become an old man when transforming. The reason he becomes an adult is to negate the negative effect of the wish on his power. Once he becomes an adult again, the wish actually has a positive effect because it is keeping him in his prime. During the Saiyain Saga, Shenron told everyone he couldn't use his magic to kill Vegeta and Nappa because they were too strong. At the same time, we don't doubt that Shenron would be able to make the Saiyains immortal if their plans to get the Dragon Balls succeeded. So, it isn't just a case of Shenron's magic not affecting people who are stronger than him. It is also a matter of whether the person wants to be affected. This can be explicitly seen when Porunga is unable to bring Goku back to earth after Namek explodes because Goku refuses.

If you recall, King Piccolo wished to restore his youth, but he was also stronger than Shenron, as evidenced by him being able to destroy the dragon. The wish still worked.

Also, just in case anyone is confused, all the examples I used were from the original Shenron and Porunga, but they should still apply to Ultimate Shenron. The only difference is that Ultimate Shenron is stronger, so it requires more strength (super saiyain 4 level) to overpower his magic.


Can Japanese voice actors watch anime for free after an anime episode is finished?

Voice actors usually only see the parts of the anime/movie and script, which they record. Their might be special occasions, when they are able to see the complete episode, but that is definitely rare.


Can Dragon Slayers teach Dragon Slayer Magic?

According to the Wiki, Dragon Slayer Magic is a form of lost magic. We know that Ultear was able to learn a form of lost magic called "Arc of Time" from Hades.

However, we know that there are currently two ways you can obtain Dragon Slayer Magic:

Learn it from an actual Dragon.
Implement a Dragon Lacrima into your body.

Therefore, I would say yes, this might be a third way to teach someone Dragon Slayer Magic.


Zatch lost his memories after he had already arrived on Earth. He was defeated by another mamodo, who decided to erase Zatch's memories instead of destroying his spellbook.

   The mamodo is named Zeno, and he is revealed to be Zatch's twin brother.

 As for his motivation: Zeno had a painful childhood, enduring brutal training on a daily basis. He grew up separately from Zatch, and believed that Zatch was living an easy, enjoyable life elsewhere. Not only that, but Zatch had inherited their father's great power, "Baou" (Zatch's 4th spell).

 For these reasons, Zeno was extremely resentful of Zatch, and came to believe that Zatch was the reason his own life was so terrible.

 Once they were on Earth, Zeno sought out Zatch and defeated him. Zeno decided to leave Zatch's spellbook alone, because destroying Zatch's spellbook would just send him back to their world, where he imagined Zatch would be living happily.

 Instead, he stole Zatch's memories, so that Zatch would be forced to wander around, confused and alone, being constantly attacked with no idea why.

 Later in the manga, Zeno accidentally looks at the memories he stole from Zatch. He realizes that Zatch's life was also painful, having suffered greatly at the hands of an abusive stepmother. Zeno regrets giving Zatch amnesia, and apologizes to him.

The circumstances of Zatch's amnesia are revealed in the chapter "Stolen Memories" (Volume 5, Chapter 48).


How did Kal Snyder end up as the death note owner?

After Higuchi died, the Death Note was kept by the investigator so Light couldn't use the death note. After L died, the book was kept by Soichiro Yagami for quite a long time. At that time, Light had lost his possession of Death Note either by giving it to his father or by not using it for a long time.

When Soichiro gave the Death Note to the guy who kidnapped Sayu, he gave him the possession as well. At last, this guy lost his possession of Death Note after he died in a plane. The one who first touched the Death Note after that was Kal Snyder.


Why are there 2 sources for power levels/skills in My Hero Academia, the Ultra Archive, and the Ultra Analysis?

The books you are referring to are both official character books. My Hero Academia Official Character Book Ultra Archive is the first book and was released back in 2016. My Hero Academia Official Character Book 2 Ultra Analysis is the second book released this year in 2019.

I would say there are two books to update the information we have on new heroes, villains and/or characters. Looking at their wiki pages, (Ultra Archive, Ultra Analysis) one can see that the second book has new heroes/villains that were not present in the first character guide book.


What kind of power does the new "Lucy" have?

He was just using martial arts and haki, many characters fight using haki without saying it. You can tell he's using haki as his hands turn black.


Do the episode titles in Kado mean anything?

Most of the titles are words native to the Anisotropic Language. Often you can infer their meanings from the contexts of the episodes, though this is speculation for any unconfirmed.

But this also means there is no translation of the Japanese.
One is the "official english" style title, and the romanized form comes from the fact that they are written with Kana - which is often used for borrowed language AKA words that aren't inherently Japanese, so that the Japanese know how to say them.
Borrowed language isn't translated, only romanized as the kana tells the japanese how to say something in the language it's written. (Such as when kana reads "SUTORI" it's them using the English word "Story".)

There is only one episode where you could actually use the Kana, write it in hiragana/kanji and it would have meaning. And that was Episode 10's towanosakiwa (written in Japanese you would get 永久の先は which is actually rather abstract still, meaning either Eternity's Future, OR, Eternity's Past). This could also be a sign of zaShunina's progressively becoming more human state, that the choice of word though still written as though borrowed from the anisotropic still holds meaning in Japanese.

Not all episodes were given direct definitions.

Episode 2 zaShunina explains "Novo" is the name of where he comes from (but he translates it to iho/Anisotropic for the Japanese to understand).

Episode 4's Rotowa is assumed to be the "resolve" that zaShunina needed from the Japanese populous and Prime Minister.

Episode 12's Yukika title is, like Episode 1, the name of a character.

I'm hoping a more definitive explanation for each Anisotropic word will be given, perhaps in an interview or official merchandise/information in the future.
But for now all that can be taken from them is the suspected meanings.

Episode 0: Ninovo - From Novo
Episode 1: Yaha-kui zaShunina - Name of a character
Episode 2: Novo - the anisotropic word for the anisotropic
Episode 3: Wam - a device from the anisotropic
Episode 4: Rotowa - resolve
Episode 5: Nanoka - could be related to the beginning of the
"revolution"
Episode 6: Tetrok - related to Kado's movement/placement/location
Episode 6.5: Ekwari - related to recall/recap/memory
Episode 7: Sansa - a device from the anisotropic
Episode 8: Talnel - perhaps evolution-related
Episode 9: Nanomis-hein - a device from the anisotropic
Episode 10: Towanosakiwa - Eternity's Past / Eternity's Future
Episode 11: Wanoraru - Wandering (in a figuratively lost sense)
Episode 12: Yukika - Name of a character


I'll highlight the main points made in this article by Justin Sevakis:

  Well, the thing is, Bakuman. presents a very romanticized, very clean-cut, idyllic perspective on the "manga industry." And it works in that sense - it's goal, as a manga itself, is to make you care about the dreams of these young Shonen archetypes and hope that they will achieve all their hopes and wishes through hard work and many tough battles - but it is far from a realistic portrayal.

  I'll admit that Bakuman. gets a lot of the specifics right, and it succeeds at presenting an otherwise dry, self-referential premise in an entertaining way, but it is far from realistic.

  And, the other thing is, I dunno how many conventions you've been to recently, but take a good, honest gander anywhere around Artist Alley and you're likely to find several eager young artists proudly hawking their most recent Graphic Novel. Granted you won't see as much of this stuff at anime-focused cons like Otakon or whatever, but if you're ever in the vicinity of any all-purpose Nerd Convention near your home town, you'll be able to walk by dozens of booths rented by local artists promoting their self-published work. Essentially, there are a lot of people out there who are dying to sell their own graphic novels, outside of the manga realm.

Another point made on this matter isSource:

  Jason Thompson referred to Bakuman as "a love letter to the manga industry done in old-school shonen manga style." He felt that while it can be "text-heavy" on the process of making manga, it is ultimately a "heroic story of self-improvement, friendship and striving to succeed."

As for your other question, Shounen Jump is pretty much the same as Shounen Jack and it was only renamed for copyright issues. As mentioned in an interview with Takeshi Obata, the mangaka of BakumanSource:

  Ohba Sensei creates characters who have realistic personalities. When I draw them, I slightly reference real-life people that I’ve seen in this industry and exaggerate their qualities to turn them into manga characters.

  The whole time I was working on Bakuman, I felt like I was drawing about my everyday life


How is Zamasu supposed to be alive in Dragon Ball Heroes?

The Dragon Ball Heroes anime is simply promotional material and you shouldn't really dwell on certain factors concerning the plot such as this because you aren't going to get any precise explanation. However, the main series has shown that Zeno
's actions can be reversed by using the Super Dragon Balls. So maybe Zamasu was revived by Fuu as a part of his Prison Planet experiment or by someone else. Although, this is just speculation.As for your other question. Yes, it is the same Zamasu who has fought Goku and co before. He clearly seemed to recognize Goku when he arrives alongside the Grand Priest.


Does "The Lost Canvas" OVA have a sequel?

According to My Anime List, the sequel to the Lost Canvas OVAs is Saint Seiya's TV series. Also, this image of the timeline seems to back up that claim, though I don't know who created the image.


What song plays at 7:38 of FMA Brotherhood episode 28?

Sounds like Crisis in the North  of the second OST album of FMA brotherhood which is number 19 in the 2nd ost series composed by Masafumi Mima


From the tag alone, we can tell this UFO Catcher prize is part of a set from Kaitou Saint Tail. The character is Ruby, Meimi's brown pet hedgehog.


Where was Sword Art Online published online?

You will not be able to (legally) find the web novel version anymore as the author has pulled it out after agreeing to publish it with ASCII Media Works. As for the website it was published in, it would be on SAO's author Reki Kawahara's website.

Keep in mind that he used the pseudonym "Fumio Kunori" when he was writing this particular web novel series.

Source:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sword_Art_Online#Light_novels


Why does Mir appear inside Cloche's Cosmosphere

The servers can connect to each other to make the singing of Dual Songs and such possible, and there are some songs that depend on these connection to even be executed, so it's not unlikely that part of Mir's feelings ended up getting into Infel Phira during the time she and Loude were doing research on it.


This character's name is Gold. Like Madara mentioned, he is the main character in Gold/Silver/Crystal. He is most likely from the Pokemon adventures manga (which I read).

The one facing him is most likely Red from the manga as well. I just do not remember him having a Lapras, but I do know that at the Deoxys arc of the manga he used all 3 of the Kanto starters at some point.

In the manga, Gold's team would be Sudowoodo, Ambipom, Sunflora, Politoad, Togetic and Typhlosion (as of Volume 43). He has a Pichu called Pibu, but it's more or less there for cute appeal.

This scene is most likely drawn to depict their training at Mt. Silver, or in the game where Red is like the "final boss" of HG/SS.


Why was Bartholomew Kuma after Luffy's head at the conclusion of the Thriller Bark arc?

Bartholomew Kuma was a undercover member of revolutionary army, he cannot just say to the marines that he wont kill Luffy. Similarly, Straw Hat Pirates and Rolling Pirates (Lola's group of pirates) heard the order of the marines and Kuma can't just take a risk of blowing his own cover.

Hence he pretends to fight them all, since that also gives him a chance to check the loyalty of his crew and what are there potential.


Are anime budget and worldwide gross data publicly available?

I doubt that the budgets are available for every series. Studios rarely have any incentive to release these numbers, and it could make fans angry if they think the studio isn't giving their favorite series a big enough budget.

I was able to find some information. A single episode of anime generally costs around 10 million yen (see here or here, roughly $115,000 USD), though the exact number varies depending on production quality, voice actors, licensing fees, and other factors. The best I've been able to find is this, which really only has a few anime series from 2005 and earlier, and also includes a lot of western animation.

As a note, sales figues, unlike production figures, are widely reported. This forum thread has a lot of data related to that. This gives a sort of upper bound on the production costs, but it's not usually very accurate. For instance, the first season of Fate/Zero sold 52,133 bluray boxes at 39,900 yen each (roughly $496 USD), so the total revenue is about 2 billion yen, which for a 13 episode show corresponds to 160 million yen per episode. That's certainly way more than they actually spent.


Is Pokemon Sun and Moon's story new or a continuation?

Firstly, there is a drastic change in art style compared to the XY&Z series. Also, Ash is depicted more as a comedic character compared to his character in XY&Z. One interesting factor to note here is that unlike all the other series before, anything related to Kalos or Ash's adventure there hasn't been mentioned even once.

However, based on Pikachu's move set, we know for sure that it's post Unova. And another interesting thing to note is during the episode where the characters visit Kanto, during the battle between Brock and Kiawe. Ash had prior knowledge on Mega evolutions while the rest of the characters didn't know what it was. Ash came to know of the same during his time in Kalos.

I guess it's up to to the writers to decide based on how they want to continue the series in the future.


Demon Slayer (Kimetsu No Yaiba) Dubbed version...can't quite catch

You heard correctly, the line is "Don't grovel like that and give your enemies the chance to kill you!". Grovel meaning "to lie or creep with the body prostrate in token of subservience or abasement" which refers to Tanjiro kowtowing in front of Giyu, pitifully begging him not to kill his sister. Its an interesting translation, the subtitle of the line in the sub ("Don't ever give others a chance to murder you") is a decently direct translation of the spoken line ("生殺与奪の権を他人に握らせるな") and makes no mention of Tanjiro's posture.


The Blush Sticker trope is usually used to express childish cheerfulness and/or naivety. In Japan, children are typically depicted with round rosy cheeks.

Ringo is a bit of an airhead, or rather naive, like a child... The Sanada North High Student Council gave her the "childish" nickname "Ringo-chan" for a reason.~

The trope most likely originated from manga where often times it would be easier (and less time consuming) to draw ovals indicating "blushes", rather than shading them in.


Gajeel, a former Phantom Lord member, joined Fairy Tail after the defeat of his former guild. Also,

  Moved by Makarov's mercy and compassion, Gajeel accepts his offer.

Juvia, like Gajeel, was a former Phantom Lord member. She joined Fairy Tail after the defeat of her former guild.

  Juvia goes to the newly renovated Fairy Tail guildhall to meet with
  the guild's master, Makarov Dreyar, now prepared to ask him for guild
  membership.

Lucy Also joins the guild on her own accord.

From the above examples, we can see that each character of the story joins the guild upon the mutual agreement of the Guild Master and him/herself.

Yukino, upon her loss she was forced to strip and asked to erase her guild mark, thus banishing her from the guild. She was very disappointed with this.

  After failing to win, Yukino faces the anger of Sabertooth's Guild
  Master, Jiemma. Displeased by the failure of Team Sabertooth on the
  second day, Jiemma throws grapes at Yukino's head and forces her to
  strip, telling her to erase her guild mark, thus banishing her from
  the guild. She is later seen standing outside Honeybone Lodge, the
  current lodging of the Fairy Tail Guild for the duration of the games.

Laxus:

  As he informs the Thunder God Tribe of his expulsion, Bickslow tries
  to convince him otherwise, but Laxus tells him not to take action.
  Laxus watches the Fantasia parade before he leaves and realizes that
  everyone, including his grandfather whom he despised, is still looking
  out for him. Laxus leaves the parade realizing what a fool he was,
  smiling but shedding tears of regret.

A member is excommunicated from the guild at the discretion of the Guild Master as we can see in case of Laxus and Yukino.

Also, as Sp0t mentions, no guild would forcefully apply on anyone their guild emblem to reveal their magic. When someone joins the guild, he/she is privy to the working of the guild and also some secrets. Why would a guild master force someone to join and out these critical information at risk? As we have seen that Gajeel was used to counter spy on Ivan which was devastating to the Raven Tail Guild.

So I would say that a member joins a guild with the mutual agreement of the Guild Master and him/herself.

P.S: there is always a possibility where a character is blackmailed to join a guild, but if we blind side the "blackmail" part we can say that he agreed to join the guild. The agreement may not be completely mutual, but nevertheless it's mutual (ugh... I know it's complex). But I doubt that such an agreement can be beneficial to the guild.


Is Dragon Ball Heroes Super Saiyan Blue Vegito as strong as Dragon Ball Super manga Super Saiyan Blue Vegito?

With regard to Super Saiyan Blue Vegito being as strong as Beerus, this statement of Shin should be disregarded. Shin isn't aware of the full extent of Beerus's power and also is also very inexperienced and lacks knowledge of certain things such as Ultra Instinct which even the other Kais are aware of. For example,  In Dragon Ball Z, Shin expected Vegeta to have trouble fighting Pui Pui. He also thought Super Saiyan God Goku had the edge on Beerus during the Battle of Gods arc until the Old Kai told him that Beerus was just fooling around. Also, Beerus was easily able to fight multiple Gods of destruction at the same time in the manga and was one of the last 2 standing, hence making him one of the strongest across the multiverse. Hence, it is impossible to conclude as to whether Vegito Blue is stronger than Beerus.Whis at the same time, is on a whole another level. Whis is strong enough to knock out a god of destruction while extremely suppressed, with a single blow. Mastered Ultra Instinct Goku, who surpassed the level of a God of Destruction wasn't able to take out Jiren with a single blow(Note: Before he broke past his limits). Vegito Blue even with Kaioken without a doubt would nowhere come close to the strength of Whis.Finally, the Prison Planet Saga is set after the Universe Survival arc in Dragon Ball Super and after the Dark Empire Saga of Super Dragon Ball Heroes. Disregarding the fact as to whether the given series is canon or not, the Vegito Blue would ideally be a lot stronger in comparison to the Future Trunks Arc since Goku and Vegeta had gotten stronger and might very likely be on the same level as that of a god of destruction.


Name of anime where the winner of a competition would inherit the forest

I know this anime. It's Baby Baachan.

The main girl is Amika, who fights to save the forest which her grandmother has protected. The other girls are other granddaughters of the grandmother. The grandmother possesses her baby brother's body and tries to teach Amika how to win. She hates it till the end. The rounds go exactly as you say. In between, the grandmother/baby offers useful tips like cutting onions without crying, etc.

I will never forget this anime because the tips in this series helped me a lot in life when I was young. Hope this helped :D


Why didn't Mello see Shinigami after touching the Death Note in Episode 29?

The Death Note owned by Jack Neylon (his real name being Kal Snyder) was the one Light Yagami picked up in the first episode of the Death Note Anime Series, the one with some rules written on the inner side(s) of its cover. This is the very Death Note Light had in his hand when Kyosuke Higuchi (the person from Yotsuba) died of a heart attack. Since Higuchi was its previous owner, the ownership passed back to Light. Also, the Shinigami in possession of the Death Note before Higuchi was Rem.

So when, Light knew that Soichiro Yagami (his father) gave the Death Note to someone from Mello's gang (who they called Y462), he gave up the ownership of that Death Note. So the ownership now passed to Y462. Since this Y462 guy was eventually killed by the leader of the gang, the ownership must have passed to the next person who touched the Death Note, that logically being Kal Snyder. It is never mentioned that Kal Snyder never touched the Death Note. He must have. That is why he became its owner.

There are two logical ways in which the ownership of a Death Note can be affected after the 'death' of the Shinigami who owned it.

Case I:
Let's suppose that if the Shinigami who owned a Death Note 'dies', the Shinigami who owned the Death Note previously, again becomes it's owner. In this case Ryuk becomes the owner of the Death Note, not Sidoh, as it was Ryuk who owned the Death Note before Rem. So in this case, Kal Snyder can see Ryuk, not Sidoh.

Case II:
Let's suppose that if the Shinigami who owned a Death Note 'dies', the Death Note is no longer owned by a Shinigami. So, there is no Shinigami associated with the Death Note from the point when Rem 'died' to the point when Sidoh snatched the Death Note away from Mello. So in this case, Kal Snyder could only see Sidoh when he snatched away the Death Note from Mello and threw it at him. Not at any point before that.

By considering either of the above two cases to be true, we conclude that though the Death Note originally belonged to Sidoh, he was not currently it's owner. That is why Kal Snyder, or for that matter, anyone in contact with the Death Note (such as Mello) couldn't see Sidoh before the Death Note was thrown at Kal Snyder and touched by the respective person.


Why is Kazami Yuuji nicknamed "Juicy Yuuji"?

In the Visual Novel (not sure about the anime), there is a scene in which Michiru and Makina start a conversation with Yuuji. Specifically, Michiru complains to Yuuji that he is hard to talk to because he gives off a certain aura. She then suggests that they give him a nickname to make him easier to talk to, similar to how Makina calls Michiru "Chiruchiru". Yuuji says that they're free to call him whatever name they like, though he doesn't see any need for a nickname.

Michiru then makes her first proposal for a nickname 「ザ・近寄り難い人」,　which literally means "The person who is difficult to approach", or as the fan-translation says, "Mr. Standoffish man". Neither Makina nor Yuuji is very happy with this name, because it's not exactly easy to say.

They go back to brainstorming, and Makina comes up with the second suggestion: "Juicy-Yuuji". Michiru isn't happy with this; she agrees that it sounds nice, but doesn't see what part of Yuuji is "Juicy".

After this, Yumiko comes by asking them to be quiet. She ends up getting roped into the conversation, and Michiru asks her to come up with more names. She first agrees with "Juicy Yuuji", but then offers as an alternative "Yujiyuji". After Michiru laughs at this, she exits the conversation.

In the VN, Michiru then forces the decision on Yuuji as to which nickname he wants. You have the choice of any of those three.

After that, for the rest of the scene you're referred to by that name. However, Yuuji decides to get back at Michiru by giving her an equally terrible nickname. Eventually he ends up selecting "Mitcher", which Michiru finds to be very unpleasant. He continues on a rampage, giving Sachi, Amane, and Makina the nicknames "Satcher", "Atcher", and "Matcher", until Michiru apologizes and pledges not to use the nickname you chose.

The choice never has any impact on future events in the VN, and none of the main events from that scene come up again in the future as far as I can remember, but I guess this nickname became popular in the fan community.


What is the song playing in My Hero Academia season 4 episode 12?

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

It is an edited version of AFO's theme.
You can't get anything but the complete version, sadly :c
I hope this helps anyways!


Which mythologies or folktales inspired the stories in Mushishi?

The author, Yuki Urushibara, does include authors notes at the end of each volume of the manga, explaining what inspired each story.

About "Heaven's Thread" she wrote:

  "This is a story I thought of when reflecting on old folk tales my grandmother told me.Tales about how missing people were left upon a huge rock. There are similar folk tales all over, but most of them involve finding people in trees or on rooftops. They were usually blamed on Tengu or other spirits who abduct people."

About "A Banquet in the Farthest Field" she wrote:

  "I lived in an apartment which looked out over an older brewery, and that became the model for this story. It had a nice atmosphere, but I had to move away, so now whenever I taste sake that's been strained through cloth, I get a very nostalgic feeling."

It was believed that in past times, it was common belief that spirits or demons caused sickness. This is even still true Western civilization, they say "bless you," because it was believed that in the a sneeze meant something evil was invading your body, so they would give a blessing to ward them off.

Some of the stories in Mushishi are based on old folklore, myths, and legends that the author heard growing up. Others, like the second story, were based on places she's seen or just a thought she had at the time and not really based on anything in particular. An example of this is the concept Second Eyelid the that appears throughout the story. I recommend purchasing the manga volumes when you have the chance, to enjoy these little snippets from the author and other stories not covered by the anime.

This essay provides a very good overview of concepts and themes of Shinto myths that inspired the manga:

  In Shinto myth, the mysterious beings Blacker refers to are known as kami. Like mushi, they can be hard to define. Some people, quite specifically, believe kami to be beings from the other realm, while others, more generally, use the term to refer to anything beyond the ordinary...


Is there a difference between Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball Kai and Dragon Ball Z Kai?

Since there can't be one particular answer to this question and others can only give you their opinions, I will say Dragon Ball Z original is much better than Kai and I liked the old voices more than the new ones in the dub version.

The other thing is Dragon Ball Z Kai does not have any fillers. I have watched both, and I even thought that losing all the fillers would be a great thing, but I mostly found it frustrating. Some of Gohan's more awesome rage moments were shortened and worse yet the battles just were not as exciting.


Can a Devil Fruit user drown in a bathtub?

From what we have seen previously it doesn't seem so.


It's an electricity based self defense stun gun, comedically shaped like a retro style ray gun, likely of a not very high amperage as it doesn't seem to have much of a disabling factor on Gamon. People probably don't react because it's anime and nobody really cares that the 'main' is being abused by his friend. Of course, stun guns (tasers) don't actually work like the show implies the 'Poya Gun' does (as tasers don't have ranged ability, relying on you touching the arc to the victim for it to actually work.)


I would like to point out; we have no idea how old Shisui was when he graduated from the Academy. At the time, the average age was nine (see Obito Uchiha and Rin Nohara). We don't know whether or not Shisui graduated early. That plays a key deciding factor here, considering he met Itachi approximately two or three years after he graduated.

If he graduated at the average wartime age, this would make him somewhere around eighteen to twenty years old at the time of his death. Thus, making him six years older than Itachi, give or take. Perhaps he graduated at six, like Kakashi, or maybe seven. Possibly eight. We have no idea. We don't know how long Shisui fought in the war for either. What if it was a year? Or more?

However, gauging his visual age 18-20 makes the most sense. In addition, have you seen the difference in height between Shisui and Itachi when they first met? There's too big a difference for there to simply be a three-year age gap, in my opinion.

Also, you need to factor in Shisui's height and weight stats from the databook. At the time of his death, he had the height and weight of an average adult male. He couldn't have been less than eighteen. I like to believe he was nineteen; six years older than Itachi.


How does Natalia get from the baggage compartment to the cockpit?

The plane that they were in is an Airbus A300-B2 which has a seal-tight cockpit door, it should have been able to keep the bees out but didn't, which could mean that it was open during the incident. It still doesn't explain how she managed to dodge the bees through the cabin, which she would have had to traverse in order to reach the cockpit. It's possible that, unlike real bees, these magic ghoul ones are slow and you can easily dodge them if you knew where they were. Or maybe, she's just got crazy skills.

The Manga doesn't shed any light on how she got through the cabin, though the original light novels may.


Can you write in English in the Death Note?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


Is the "Manabi Line" a correct way for estimating anime profit/loss?

This started as a joke on 2ch. The "Manabi Line" represent Manabi Straight's disc sales, which reported barely broke even. Nowadays, people tend to use a a point to indicate a show made money or not. It's not an accurate statistical representation of any series due do how old it is comparatively to modern serials and how much was vested in a production.
Alternatively there's also the "Anime Saving Line," (it's reportedly started by /a/ on 4ch) which is how much Yakaman's Fractale series, he proclaimed was going to save this medium -- it sold 883 units.
Generally these numbers just take in account first week (domestic) disc sales.
This post offers a good breakdown of volume anime disc sales with respect to how successful a series is:

< 1k: Complete failure for late night anime, but is common among mainstream/daytime anime, which rely on other methods to produce revenue such as ratings and merchandising. Examples of this would be Naruto, Bleach, OP, Fairy Tale, Detective Conan, and most noitaminA slot anime.

1k - 2k: Pretty much same as above. Some examples of recent late night anime that bombed like this would be LOLH, B Gata H Kei, and Ookami-san.

2k - 3k: Still a failure, but the show has at least some fans but didn't sale well for various reasons, whether they be not enough hype, relatively boring plot, or too :deep:. Some recent examples would be Occult Gakuin, Shin Koihime Musou, and UraBoku.

3k - 4k: This is around break even point for most anime, or as 2ch calls it, the Manabi line. It's not exactly a failure, since no money was lost, but it's not successful or a hit either, since no money was made. An example of this would be Arakawa Under the Bridge and Ichiban Ushiro.

4k - 5k: This is around where you start to see profit being made. Anime that sale in this area aren't what you would call hits, but it's still a decent accomplishment for late night anime. Recent examples are Ikkitousen Xtreme Xecutor and Mayoi Neko Overrun. An older one is all seasons of Zero no Tsukaima.

5k - 6k: This is where some of the more prominent anime among the niche market sale. By that, I mean the more memorable titles of a year. They aren't exactly hits in the sense that they're known among outside of otaku circles, but within them they're common names. Recent examples are Motto To LOVE-Ru, Hyakka Ryouran Samurai Girls, Amagami SS, and Kissxsis here.

6k - 7k: Very good for late night anime. Once again, not hits, but they're doing very well and are moderately popular among the niche market of otaku. This is still within the realm of the 5000-6000 area. Here you have your Seitokai Yakuindomo, BakaTest, and Sekirei ~Pure Engagement~.

7k - 8k: This is where you start to go from being niche within a niche to being broadly popular within the otaku niche. Could be considered a hit among otaku, although this is a sort of gray area in the the sense most anime don't sale exactly in this range, they're either with the 5000-7000 range or skip into double digits. The only anime that comes to my mind immediately that sales in this range are Katanagatari and HOTD.

8k - 10k: This is where you start to see the most memorable anime over years sale, extremely good for late night anime and a mile stone. Still a bit hesitant to call series in this area hits, but their at least extremely successful. The first DARKER THAN BLACK and Sengoku BASARA seasons sold in this area.

10k - 12k: Where you start to see anime staple marks at. These are the series that even people who aren't otaku will at least have seen or heard of somewhere. This are is ambiguous in the sense that stuff that sales higher initially end up here from sales tapering off a bit. Anime in this are usually have initial sales of around 15000-16000 or higher. Stuff like Strike Witches, Durarara!!, and the first season of Toaru Majutsu no Index end up here after the first few volumes. Toradora! and both seasons of Shakugan no Shana sold around this area. DARKER THAN BLACK: Ryuusei no Gemini also sold here.

12k - 15k: Most anime that end up in the 10000-12000 range overall start out selling around here. As stated above, first season of Index and both seasons of Strike Witches started out here. First season of Hakuouki and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood also sale around this range. Sengoku BASARA Two sales in this area.

15k - 20k: Pretty much same as above.

20k - 30k: Durarara and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood started out in this area but tapered off later on. This area is ambiguous in the sense that the only anime that consistently stay in this area over every volume are heavily otaku supported. Still, some of the most popular anime sales around here. Toaru Kagaku no Railgun, Azumanga Daioh, and Fate/stay night are the only anime I can think of that consistently sold in this range.

30k - 50k: Godly and legendary. This is where the household name or super popular otaku anime sale. First Fullmetal Alchemist, Macross Frontier, Code Geass, Gundam 00, Haruhi, Angel Beats!, Lucky Star!, K-ON!, etc.

50k - 80k: Nearly impossible. Only TV series that have sold here are Bakemonogatari, Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica, and Gundam SEED.

Take note that these numbers are arbitrary and success and profitability may vary depending on the production.


What was the shop that Subaru went into?

The sign says ようじや (youjiya) but because it's written in hiragana the meaning is a bit ambiguous. The や suffix in the name of a store would always be 屋, which just means store, or it can also refer to the head of such a store (e.g. 魚屋 can mean either a fish store or the dealer selling you the fish). So this is a store for ようじ (youji), but the meaning of that is still ambiguous because ようじ written in hiragana is a homophone that could have several meanings.

The meaning that Aoi interpreted is 幼児, which means infants and young children. So Aoi thought it was a store to buy children, hence the second screenshot you've given. This is the most common somewhat sensical interpretation of ようじ when written in hiragana in this context. It could also mean 用事 (errands) in other contexts, but that doesn't fit here.

But ようじ can also mean toothpick written as 楊子 (or 揚枝 less commonly). Usually one uses 爪楊枝 (tsumayouji) to describe the toothpicks themselves but the 爪 (here tsuma, meaning claw or nail) can be omitted in principle. This is the meaning here, so the shop is literally a store for toothpicks (and likely some related merchandise).

I think that many Japanese people would not know how to interpret the sign ようじや, so Aoi's misunderstanding is understandable. However, I don't think very many people would think that it was a store for 幼児 (children) either, so Aoi's leap of reasoning there is somewhat comical.

As a cultural note, there actually is a toothpick specialty shop in Japan. It's called Saruya and located in Tokyo (link to a blog post about the store). As far as I know this is the only store of its kind in Japan, so the shop in Ro-kyu-bu is fictional (being in Kyoto). In any case, Japanese culture takes toothpicks more seriously than most other cultures, so the existence of such a store is not entirely impossible, but it's still quite implausible.


The meaning of the episode names in "The Promised Neverland"

Yes, the episode titles are dates. For example the first episode's title is 121045, which means 12th October, and it corresponds to the date that Conny leaves to "get adopted". You can see the date on a calendar in the first episode:

Similarly, the second episode is titled 131045, which is the day after Conny leaves, and so on...


His power comes from a devil fruit, a "special" type of the paramecia called Mochi Mochi no Mi. Although this fruit is a paramecia type, so far its characteristics have been more inline with the Logia, as the user can become "intangible" to avoid attacks. An example is when Ichiji tried to hit Katakauri

Also worth of nothing is that in the first translations, the fruit type was labeled as Logia but was later changed to a special type of paramecia(i would say because mochi is not a natural element).

Regarding to his ability to predict the future, its just a further developed observation haki. Usually this type of haki was shown to enable the user to perceive what kind of attack the enemy will use, so its a natural extension to be able to predict the movement of your surrounding in the future.

Info about mochi mochi no mi:
http://onepiece.wikia.com/wiki/Mochi_Mochi_no_Mi

Wiki about mochi, if you want to eat some cake
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mochi


His overwhelming power stems from the Cursed Seal of Heaven that Orochimaru inflicted on him. While we see the curse mark causes him pain, he is able to use it to drastically increases his power.

The Naruto Wikia notes this:

  Like all cursed seals, the user receives increased chakra levels and physical capabilities when the seal is active, to the point where with the second level, Sasuke was equal in power to Naruto's one-tailed form when he first used it.

There is no monster inside of Sasuke, nor a tailed beast like the jinchuuriki. The transformation is caused by activating the second level of the curse mark.

  When Sasuke activated the second level of the seal, his skin turned dark-grey and his hair grew and turned dark blue. His eyes also turned dark grey. Additionally, he grew webbed-claw-shaped wings from his back which he could use to fly and glide, and a dark, star-shaped mark appeared across the bridge of his nose.


Why Kefura didnt defuse after releasing so much power?

You are comparing the power of Vegito Blue to Kefla. We know from the start that Goku is extremely fatigued so he wasn't at full power when he was using SSJB. Also Goku didn't have the power in him to use SSJB+Kaioken*20 which would've been sufficiently enough to defeat Kefla. Vegito SSJB Is a lot more power than SSJB + Kaioken*20 Goku and is on a completely another level compared to Kefla. Vegito SSJB was sufficiently strong enough to force a god of destruction to fight seriously based on Whis's comments where she said that Goku and Vegeta together could go toe to toe with Beerus. Kefla, on the other hand, is not at the same level.


Anime about a reunited friends who turn out to be each other's fiancee

Thats most probably Ai Yori Aoshi.

  Kaoru Hanabishi, a college student who lives alone, met a beautiful but bewildered girl dressed in a kimono at a train station. He volunteered to guide her way to the address she was looking for, which happened to be in his neighborhood, but turned out to be an empty lot. Not knowing what to do next, Kaoru invited the devastated girl to his apartment and asked for any additional clues to her destination. She supplied him with a photo of two children whom Kauru immediately identified as himself and Aoi Sakuraba, his childhood friend. It turned out that the girl in front of him is Aoi Sakuraba herself, his betrothed fiancee who came all the way to Tokyo to marry him. Her revelation was not only surprising but also reminded the deepest part of Kaoru's memory for why he left the Hanabishi family in the first place.

MyAnimeList


What is the name of an "interrruption screen" element in the middle of an anime episode?

In Japan, the term is called eyecatch, which is also known as bumper. As the question has mentioned, it's usually to indicate the start and end of the commercial break.

In broadcasting, a commercial bumper, ident bumper or break-bumper (often shortened to bump) is a brief announcement, usually two to fifteen seconds in length that can contain a voice over, placed between a pause in the program and its commercial break, and vice versa.

In Japan, an eyecatch (アイキャッチ aikyatchi) or internal eyecatch is a scene or illustration used to begin and end a commercial break in a television program, especially in anime and tokusatsu shows. The term is used, in Japan, to refer to all kinds of bumpers.
In many television series, eyecatches are contemporaneous into the climax of a story, leading onto speculation during the commercial break.
Unlike in American programs, in which bumpers are typically supplied by the network (when they have them at all), eyecatches are almost always produced by the production company and considered a part of the program itself, rather than (or also serving as) a segue into a commercial break. They are typically two to six seconds in length. Eyecatches for children's programs are often longer and more elaborate, while eyecatches for programming intended for adults may consist of nothing more than the program's logo against a black background.


Actually it was just that V.V was jealous of her

In a flashback, it is revealed that V.V. was the one who assassinated Marianne, having done so out of jealousy. He lies about this to Charles, breaking his promise of mutual honesty between him and Charles.

Source: V.V - Character History - Second Season (final paragraph)
but why was he jealous? probably because he thought that Charles was getting closer to Marianne and further away from him, enhanced by the fact they are twins and have that extra bond twins are thought to have

He is the older twin brother of Charles zi Britannia, but as he has become immortal at the early age of 10
...
Charles and V.V.'s childhood years were marred by an internal feud in the Imperial Family called the Emblem of Blood. This period filled with deception and assassination resulting in the deaths of various members of the royal court including their mother. This event convinced the two to create a Geass contract to create a world without lies and to do so, they intended to destroy the "Gods". Several years later, Marianne Vi Britannia and C.C. joined in their venture as well.

Source: V.V - Character Outline
As you can see from the quote above the two went through hell with the Emblem of Blood and created the contract between them to destroy Gods to create a world without lies. then years later Charles marries some commoner unlike Charles other wives and she joins in on their plans along with her Geass Contractor/Master.
Also after Marianne was killed Charles had her body taken away in the event she could be returned too it, sealed Anya's memories, made Nunnally blind and sent her and Lelouch to Japan to protect them. even though all of that came after the fact it does show that in a way Charles cares for Marianne and her children so V.V does have some ground in thinking his younger twin brother is being stolen by some woman.


Technically speaking, Naruto never landed the killing blow on anyone.

Haku, even though beaten by Naruto, jumped in front of Kakashi's Raikiri.
Kakuzu, hit directly by the Rasenshuriken, survived, and later killed by Kakashi.
Pain's bodies were already dead. Nagato, the living puppeteer, sacrificed himself after hearing Naruto's resolve, with the Rinne Tensei, and revived all the people of the village.

You could say that Naruto was a major cause in all of these people's death, but he did not directly kill any of them.


We know nothing about that as of this writing, but there has been a widely circulating theory for a while now that Big Mom is Lola's mom. You can read about it on various sites. I'll list a few points made in support of the argument on Reddit

  Firstly, for those that don't already know the theory, it is that Big Mom is Lola's mother. Back on Thriller Bark Lola gave Nami a vivre card with Lola's signature, saying her mother is a pirate in the New World. People believe this mother is Big Mom because:

  Big Mom's name is Big Mom, ie, she is known as a mother.
  Big Mom is in the New World
  Big Mom's jolly roger has big red lips and the same colour hair as Lola
  Nami who has Lola's vivre card just happens to be on the ship that is being attacked by the Big Mom pirates
  Nami is likely to eventually pull out the vivre card that Law gave her and accidentally pull out Lola's card instead.

Here is the similarity between Big Mom's jolly roger and Lola's face:

Another few points made in the Wikia are:

  Big Mom is in the New World and thats where Lola was born
  Lola's crew also said that her mother was an extremely powerful pirate which is another connection between the two
  Luffy will definitely meet Lola's mother on account that the crew was given her vivre card and it only makes sense that Luffy meets all members of the Yonkou

Lola's crew stating that Lola's mom is an amazing pirate:

Another popular theory recently is that her mom is Miss Bakkin

The arguments in support of these here are:

  Miss Bakkin is the first pirate woman to be introduce for a while and she is a mother which is really rare in One Piece, since all mothers are dead.
  Miss Bakkin and Lola have the same hair style, Weeble has the same type of hair braids, Lola’s mouth looks similar to that of Miss Bakkin.
  Bakkin also claims to be Whitebeard’s lover, while Lola has been desperate to find a lover herself. Is she possibly trying to imitate her mother?
  The other connection to Lola is Thriller Bark itself. Lola’s reason for being in Thriller Bark could have been a search for Hogback. Maybe Weeble needed a doctor and they thought Dr. Hogback could help them. This would explain the stitches on his face, around his neck, and his arm.

Similarity between Lola, Miss Bakkin and Weeble:

Obviously, this is all speculation at this point and we won't know who her real mom is unless revealed by Oda himself. Although, based on these theories, it's likely that it's either going to be Big Mom or Miss Bakkin.


How long was Saber waiting for Shirou after she died?

Avalon is

  the domain of fairies... the unreachable utopia that Arthur dreamed of and was said to have gone to after her death.

In the Fate Route, after Saber vanished and returned to her own time, we see a shot of Arturia and Bedivere. It's assumed that from Arturia's line

  I think I will sleep much longer this time...

that this occurs after Bedivere third and final attempt to return Excalibur to the Lady of the Lake, as in the previous two attempts, when he was ordered to return the sword, he lied about returning it, knowing that by doing so Arturia would have died. So Arturia died and went to Avalon. Given it's a utopia I don't think Saber would be suffering.

Now Shiro is shown at the end of -Last Episode- to be hugging Arturia and he wa wearing the shroud Archer wore (though now in a different style), so they did meet up. This is why -Last Episode- is seen as the True End of the Fate Route, because Shiro and Arturia are finally together in the end. However, because Avalon transcends all magic, including the 5 Magics, of which The Fifth's domain is suspected to be time travel (but Touko says The Second governs time travel, so I am assuming that Avalon transcends time, or at least out conception of time), so despite the fact that Arturia died long in the past before Shiro was even born, we can't be totally sure that she waited the same equivalent amount of time for Shirou to even be born.

Shiro may have died to before being reunited, or he may have extended his life as some Magi do (without becoming a Dead Apostle). There's a series of H Dojinshin (fan made) which would assume that little time has passed since the time Shiro went to bring Arturia back. (One set has him and Arturia have sex in Avalon when they reunited, while in the next set, they are back in Fuyuki living together with Rin and Sakura visiting).

To my knowledge, it's not indicated how Shiro got to Avalon since we only know the conditions of the Miracle Shiro and Arturia achieved. I used eternity as a means to indicate an immeasurable amount of time, since given Shiro's Magecraft abilities, had he developed something to allow him to reach Avalon, it would have taken him a hell lot of time. After all, the ultimate ambition of every Magi is to reach the root, which can take generations to complete, since it took that long for the Tohsaka's to get close to properly using the Second Magic.


Song near the end of episode 18 of Parasyte when Uragami asks the detective to tell Izumi to look him in the eyes

Found it. The song is called Creep.

Its OST number 10 of Special Soundtrack of Parasyte-The Maxim by Ken Arai.

Link to the song-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Veuz0fBnn4s


Are the Super Saiyan Berseker and the Legendary Super Saiyan transformation the same thing?

It was mentioned in episode 114 that the Berserker state was basically an uncontrolled version of the LSSJ. We see Kale being able to control this enormous power and go toe to toe with SSJG Goku. So the answer to your question would be a yes!


Like you mentioned, the Kamehameha is made of Ki.

In the Dragon Ball Episode 8, The Kamehameha Wave, Yamcha describes what happens when the Kamehameha is used by Master Roshi:

  "Wait, I've heard of this technique. Right now he's gathering all of the latent energy in his body, then he's going to release it all at once, but I've... I've never seen it in action before."

Here, "the latent energy in his body" is Ki. And "release it all at once" refers to a Ki blast.

Therefore, the Kamehameha release the accumulated Ki from the user body and shapes it into a wave.

From Dragon Ball Wikia:

  By drawing his latent ki into the palms of his hands, Roshi is able to expel an explosive beam of ki energy.