Why is it so rare to see new long running anime series these days?

There are a variety of reasons for this. Some may apply and some may not.

The anime series catches up to the Source Material This is by far the most common problem, faced by long running Anime. Once the source material ends there are two options. Fillers or hiatus.
Anime like Naruto and Bleach went the filler route. Bleach ended before the final saga which is still publishing. Naruto has finally ended but for some reason Anime is still prolonged by random fillers (Maybe to increase profit).
Shows like Fairy Tail and One Piece experimented. Fairy Tail abandoned the filler model and went on hiatus. Toei has screwed up One Piece with barely showing 5 minutes of new material and now again on fillers. So these long running shows have had their own problems and have overcome them only if the viewership and manga sales continue.

Now why more anime are not in the same model and going at 250+ episodes?

There aren't just that many popular series which can be adapted for hundreds of episodes For a long running perennial series several factors have to align. Not only the series, but its other products should also be popular. Bleach, One Piece and Naruto had Mangaka's which constantly worked hard to put out new chapters and manga sales were good. Pokemon and Yu-gi-oh's trading card games were very popular. Their viewership numbers also didn't fluctuate. Take Hunter x Hunter for example. It had the potential to be right there with the big three, but due to inactive Mangaka its source material was finished way too soon. Even the remake could only adapt a couple extra arcs. More such examples are covered in Ryan's answer below.
The anime is adapted in a bad way.
Kingdom has 470+ Manga Chapters. It is great source material and decent Manga sales. Its first season had such a bad animation that 90% of people who picked it up dropped it after second episode. Still it has over 70 episodes over 2 seasons. A call for reboot is there but I don't have my hopes up.
Tokyo Ghoul was given a second season where the writers completely went away from the source material. Even though Season 1 was received well its writers had made several unwarranted changes which led to many plotholes. (MadHouse's Parasyte though got it right. A great short Anime)
Seasonal Structure is less Risky. This is primarily the main reason from the departure from the perennial episodic structure from the big three. This method has lots of benefits with no obvious drawbacks. The studio only needs to commit to next season IFF it made profit the previous season. It also gives source material to continue ahead and some breathing room for the anime scriptwriters without lowering quality or pacing of the anime. The long running anime have many ups and down with the pacing.
Tbh this isn't exactly new. Major for example ran over 6 Seasons consisted of 150+ Episodes between 2004-2010.
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure has plenty of source material written from 1986-2004. But instead David Production went with a Seasonal model which is currently on part 3. So it is infact going to be a long running series.
Haikyuu and Kuroko No Basuke are a couple of other sports shounen which got subsequent seasons. KnK ended with season 3. Haikyuu is renewed for its 3rd season.
People prefer shorter anime This may or may not be true. But being from India and an Anime/Manga fan for over a decade, I didn't expect the sudden fad/growth of the Anime community. Naruto ending and its social network buzz seems to have given people a stimulus to pick Anime. Most of the people who ask me for recommendations want the Anime of lengths 24-25 episodes only.

Tl;dr As the market became more money oriented and people moving on too quickly. The seasonal structure of Anime production gave the studios and production houses more flexibility to hedge their risks by producing more anime but only prolonging the release of the more profitable and popular titles. This also seem to orient with the requirements of the newer generation of fans who seem to prefer the shorter, high paced and high quality of anime.


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

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


Is there a succinct list anywhere of all the general genres of anime?

Anime-Planet have this really nice list. The list contain all genre on their database. They have it on alphabetic order or number of likes order. If you want to find popular genre you can sort it by likes count. If you click on the genre you will find all anime with that genre. You can sort it by name or rating.


is Vegeta's new form in manga chapter #40 super saiyan blue evolution?

no, it is a evolved form the the original SSB/SSJB (Super Saiyan Blue). This is noted, because of the darker blue around the edges of Vegeta's aura, and the regular SSB has no darker blue around the edges. This new SSB evolved form was never reached by Goku,at least in the anime series of Dragon Ball Super.

The evolved form of SSB has the FULL abilities of SSB, which the regular form only has for the first few seconds. Although SSB evolved is good, it is not as fast as SSG (Super Saiyan God).

So this is not the same form, it is an evolved form, and has the FULL potential of SSB, with no limitations whatsoever.

the following is a evolution chart for all of the Dragon Ball transformation (Saiyans only) (Includes all forms used by both Goku AND Vegeta)

Kaioken --> Super Vegeta --> SS1 --> SS first-grade --> SS second-grade --> SS2 --> SS3 --> SS4 --> SSG --> SSB --> SSR (Super Saiyan Rose, used by Goku Black) --> SSB Evolved (Vegeta was first to use this evolved form of SSB) --> UI --> MUI (UI exhausts the user, and MUI furthur exhausts the user, but when Goku used it, he would've died if he came out of it then)

I did my research on the Dragon Ball Wiki

Links:

SSB: https://dragonball.fandom.com/wiki/Super_Saiyan_Blue

SSB evolved: https://dragonball.fandom.com/wiki/Super_Saiyan_God_SS_Evolved

SS flow chart: https://comicbook.com/anime/2017/11/28/dragon-ball-super-saiyan-flowchart/


Why aren't Japanese animation studios switching to digital art for production instead of pencil and paper?

Here is an interesting article about how the anime production process works.

Here's an excerpt I found particularly interesting (and relevant!):

  [T]he crucial thing is that the frames are still initially drawn by hand, and no in-between animation is simulated by a computer. There are some animators who draw 2D animation directly onto computer, but in anime this is largely restricted to in solo animation productions rather than commercial anime. The industry prefers this because the animators are generally more comfortable and able with this method, and it allows easier checking and correction of frames under sometimes tight schedules.


Does the mark on Kimimaro's forehead have any significance?

The sign can be seen on all seen clan-members (okay; there's only Kimimaro and some guy in the anime), so I think that it's a clan-symbol.


Why did Wenge get kicked off the Chinese national team?

Based on almost all of his character introductions in Japanese (e.g. Japanese Wikipedia), Kong Wenge was previously an elite player from Shanghai Junior Youth team, but lost. Another source (Miho Cinema - a Japanese movie review site) even mentioned that he failed to reach the top in China.
According to Quora, this seems to be true even in real-life.

As for professional athletes, a medal brings about reputation and advertising incomes. Competition is their career. So if an athlete doesn't perform well, he/she will be out of the sight of people and has problems earning a living.

[...] in a collectivist culture like China, failure in itself is a terrible punishment- wrought from within, and implicitly from the rest of society. You have failed your parents, your family, your community, your heritage- the money, time, effort and goodwill that has been invested in you. You have let everyone down. Hang your head in shame.

Only in the sense they might be cut from the team, at which point they find themselves without a purpose and largely unemployable in one of the world's most competitive job markets.


How did orochimaru use triple rashomon with his hands sealed?

After Hiruzen used the Reaper Death Seal, Orochimaru arms were immobilized and was unable to do anything with them (ie, perform justu). As a result, Orochimaru was forced to find a new host for his soul due to his current host's condition progressively got worse.
Transferring his soul into a new host cured the physical ailments of Orochimaru's conditions. While his soul was still damaged spiritually, he could at least perform justus that did not require hand seals.

Though the act undid most of the damage caused by the Dead Demon Consuming Seal, it still left Orochimaru incapable of using techniques requiring hand seals.
(emphasis my own)

Summoning justu does not require hand seals. Instead, summoning only requires a blood sacrifice and summoning seal.


First things first, some background. In Japan, some high schools have dormitories for students who would otherwise live far away. The living areas of Honnouji Academy is an extension of that, a hyperbolic version of that if you will. Keep in mind that everything in Kill-la-Kill is an exaggeration of real life and a parody of older anime.

Now, there's a reason for all this in the anime itself however, as revealed in later episodes. As to the students being prisoners, some spoilers:

   All the students there are originally going to be "cattle" for the life fibers. Life fibers require humans to operate without being connected to the original life fiber itself. We have to remember that Satsuki planned to rebel against her mother by training the academy's students to resist life fibers. She does this by making them wear one-star uniforms. As they get more resistant, more willpower to resist the life-fibers, they get promoted to two-stars and so on. Those who have no potential will not be permitted to wear the uniforms and it is likely that Satsuki would want to spare them from being involved in the her upcoming rebellion.

As for expulsion, expelled student are expelled normally in that, they are removed from the academy along with their family. Of course there are some exceptions. It's probable that the traitor in the first episode was killed so that Satsuki's plans would remain a secret as he stole an important piece of technology, but the traitor in episode 4 was spared because she would pose no threat as she has not stolen any of the uniform technology.

In other words, yes they are all pigs in human clothing, but not exactly, and when a student is expelled them and their family are kicked out unless they are a danger to Satsuki's plans.


Can a Demon Weapon also be a Weapon Meister?

The Weapon ability in Soul Eater is basically determined at birth. You either can transform into a weapon or you can't. There's no confusion about that. But the Meisters are a bit different.

To be a Meister basically means to be able to perform well in pair with a Weapon. Not everybody can do that, but even among the Meisters, not all of them can perform well enough to be considered a serious threat or a great combo. You could say that a successful combo can do the Soul Resonance thing and unleash their full battle potential. And it doesn't really matter if there's more than one Weapon in a combo or no Meisters (non-Weapon) at all. Thompson sisters show that they can do just fine both in the role of a Meister and a Weapon.

So all members of a combo can be Weapons, but the Soul Resonance best occurs when there is a specialist non-Weapon Meister in it. At least that's what can be concluded from the series.


Psycho-Pass Sinners of the System and Season 3

Since no one answered I watched all of the movies myself. The answer is yes. While at first glance the story in the movies might not have anything to do with main story, however, it does set up the events that will lead to season 3 such as returning characters and new characters. The order I mentioned above is chronological order (switch case 1 and 3 though) but I'd recommend everyone who is new to watch it in a release order that is.

Psycho-Pass 1
Psycho-Pass 2
Psycho-Pass: The Movie
Psycho-Pass: Sinners of the System Case 1
Psycho-Pass: Sinners of the System Case 2
Psycho-Pass: Sinners of the System Case 3
Psycho-Pass 3 <- Currently airing at the time of post

If you want to catch up fast you may skip Psycho-Pass 2 and Case 1 and 2 since they are least important. In my case I haven't watched Season 2. All three movies were hour long so it doesn't take much time to watch them all.


Why is Rider called "Iskander" instead of "Alexander"?

While I don't know if Gen Urobuchi had said anything about this, the TYPE-MOON Wikia page for Rider (under Profile section, since you know his real name the first paragraph shouldn't be too bad in terms of spoilers) says his name was also Al-Iskandar which does kinda sound like Alexander.

But then that doesn't answer why they choose that name. This is just speculation on my part, however Iskandar is derived from the Old Persian name Sikandar. Old Persian have been used in Achaemenid Empire at the time of Alexander's conquests, and it should be noted that the Achaemenid Empire was one of the largest empires in the world in terms of how many people it ruled.

  Darlus ruled about 50 million people in the largest empire the world had seen (Meyer, p.85)

And Wikipedia lists it as the second largest in terms of % of the world population

  44.48% (50 million out of 112.4 million in 480 BC)

I would assume Alexander's name being Al-Iskandar (or just Iskandar) is a note to one of his greatest achievements: his victory against the Achaemenid Empire.


Does Metal Bat need his bat for being more powerful?

He indeed has an incredible amount of strength. From the One-Punch Man Encyclopedia,

  When the intensity of Metal Bat's anger reaches its maximum, his power approaches infinity.

Aside from that, he also has extreme durability, enabling him to take many hits from higher-level monsters.

From one of the omake, it was said that he only acquired his unbreakable bat upon his promotion to S-rank. This means that he does not need the unbreakable bat that was made for him in order to defeat monsters, as any other bat would do, albeit it would break easily, as shown in the same omake.


Why do Rebecca's breasts appear polished/shiny?

This picture shows Rebecca fighting in the Corrida Colosseum in  Dressrosa at the Mera Mera no Mi Tournament.

I the One Piece Wiki abpout Rebecca it's said:

  She is a fair-skinned, slender, curvaceous and very well endowed young girl

So we can assume that Rebecca has a very smooth skin.
Since fighting is very sweat-inducing, we can say that her body is covered in sweat.

Sweat + smooth skin = shiny skin in the right viewing angle


Title of an anime with a certain side-story

Finally! I remembered what it was!

The title of the anime I was searching for was Myself; Yourself.

The young girl was Hinako Mochida. The guy he liked was Shusuke Wakatsuki, who was one of Sana's (male protagonist) childhood friend. And she ended up with Asami's cousin.

  Hinako is ten years old at first but becomes eleven in the course of
  the story. She is in love with Shusuke from when he saved her from
  three bullies who took her bag and would not give it back. She seems
  to want to learn how to be the girl he will like and asks Sana and Aoi
  for help. Hinako has a personality comparable to Aoi's, however being
  only in the fifth grade, she is childish as a result of her age. In
  the last anime episode, it is shown that she is the girlfriend of
  Asami's cousin, who is five years younger than her.

This is where I checked if what a friend of mine suggested (that the anime I was looking for was Myself; Yourself) was right, and he is.


Who is the man with the sign in Episode 10 of Miss Monochrome?

I believe it's former IOC President, Jacques Rogge.


Does the Uchiha:Senju DNA ratio matter in awakening the Rinnegan?

Answer given by @Ero Sɘnnin in the comments.

Not every Uchiha is able to awaken the Rinnegan. Nor can any common Senju.

It is not the Uchiha:Senju DNA ratio that governs the Rinnegan's existence. It is the Asura and Indra chakra mixing.

Also, I think the chakra ratio doesn't matter as we see in Madara's case. Although more chakra can maybe speedup the process of Rinnegan formation.

Related: What if Hashirama had implanted Madara's cells into his body?


Was there truly no magic in Sword Art Online?

In SAO, there are no magical spells that players can cast. However, according to the light novel, SAO does have some magical items and aspects. Some of these items include gems which players could use to instantly teleport, heal or recover from poison. There is also the Divine Stone of Returning Soul that revives a fallen player.

This text and the following quotes are taken from the second volume of the light novel.

  The few magic items in this world where  had been excluded were all shaped like gems. Blue was for instant teleportation, pink for recovering HP, green for antidotes, and so on. They were all convenient items that produced instant effects, but they were also expensive. So in most cases people used cheaper items such as slow-acting potions after running away from a fight

Certain parts of the game could also be considered magical such as the teleportation gates used to move between floors, and the alters found in churches. These altars would allow a player to bless their weapons when facing undead opponents. Also, if a player was cursed they could use the altar to remove the debuff.

  It was the unmistakable mark of a church, of which at least one exists in every town. And through the altar inside, tasks such as removing the attack unique to monsters, «Curse», and the blessing of weapons to go up against undead monsters with, were possible. In SAO, where magic-based components barely exist, it could be considered a most mysterious place.

As for Elucidator, the light novel describes this as a demon sword, not a magic sword. However, both the English sub and dub refer to it as a magic sword. As discussed in the comments, I believe this is an error in translation. So there are no magical weapons in SAO, but they do seem to have other forms of magic.

  One is «Player made», which meant weapons made by us blacksmiths. The other included weapons that one gained from adventuring as «Monster drops». Needless to say, blacksmiths don't like drop weapons all that much. I couldn't even begin to count all the names like 'Unnamed' or 'No brand' that were given to them.
  But this sword seemed to be a very rare item amongst monster drops. If you compared the average quality of player-made weapons and monster drops, the former was better. But once in a while, «Demon Swords» such as this one appeared— that was what I heard.


Who are these characters in episode 25 of Sword Art Online?

From the left to the right (not including Silica, Asuna, and Lisbeth):

Yolko (Ep. 5)
Sasha (Ep. 11), the one with the glasses
Yulier (Ep. 12)


I want to start getting into Yu-Gi-Oh! where should I start?

If you want to start watching the series you should better start from the first anime adaptation of the manga with the same name released in 1998.

see Yu-Gi-Oh! (1998 TV series)
It is based on chapters 1-59 of the Yu-Gi-Oh! manga series. here is a list of the first 59 episodes in the anime.

You should check this post. What's the correct order in which to watch the Yu-Gi-Oh! seasons/episodes?

For the Movies here is 5 titles. source: yugioh.wikia.com

Honestly I am a fan of the Anime and its Card-game gameplay. I even attended Conventions here in our country where dual matches were held and participated by trading card enthusiasts.


No, it's not an extra reference to anything but a (possibly figurative) morgue.
In the first bit you mentioned, Taiga is doing the "evil overlord" character that Ami wrote for her, and the reference is pretty much a bowdlerized way to say they're killing Yuri-sensei.  The second time is just a callback to the first -- Taiga's character as "student council president who will destroy your happy school life" is very clearly just her going back to the character that Ami had written for her; since the Palmtop Tiger and Delinquent Ryuji were pretty much sticking with the characters that'd been established, she uses a lot of references to the wrestling act. (Plus I think it was fun for her to say "morgue".)


Is the religion in Shingeki no Kyojin supposed to resemble a real-life religion?

Although I can't find a source stating this, I presume this might be based on the Jewish religion. In the Jewish religion there is the Kotel. This is a old wall located in Jerusalem which is used for prayer.

  The Western Wall, Wailing Wall or Kotel is located in the Old City of Jerusalem at the foot of the western side of the Temple Mount. It is a remnant of the ancient wall that surrounded the Jewish Temple's courtyard, and is arguably the most sacred site recognized by the Jewish faith outside of the Temple Mount itself. source


Did Yuzuru ultimately cause Hatsune's death?

Hatsune, like you have said, is already suffering from cancer. Did Yuzuru worsen it? Yes and No. We can take this in different point of view as everything like in the world, doesn't have just one answer.

The Positive POV:
Yuzuru helped Hatsune more than could have ever hoped for. As we all know, she was slowly dying from cancer and judging by everything, it might even be uncurable. I'm figuring, Yuzuru did help her...a lot. As you may know, living aimlessly and slowly dying is a painful experience more so than death. The little girl got cancer, something that, from her age, couldn't just begin to grasp. I'm wondering how she faced it, but we already know how she dealt with it. Yuzuru, giving her manga daily/weekly? was enough of a drive for her to keep on going. It doesn't matter if the mangas he gave had contuinity. Just the manga itself would suffice. What really sealed the deal was the promise.
Yuzuru promised Hatsune to go at the night of Christmas, something that she has always been looking forward for dearly and it became true. I think dying happily and achieving your dreams is a great kind of deal.
The Negative POV: Yuzuru really did indirectly fasten her death. With her debilitating health and added up with the cold weather, even against the doctor wishes, he still did it. Yuzuru caused Hatsune's death is somewhat true. Even if her death is sooner or later that we can ponder upon, those prescious days/weeks? are still important.

All-in-all, we can go by these two POV. I'll go with a POV. The satisfaction was enough to give for someone he loved. Yuzuru gave the best memory Hatsune could ever wish for. Spend the night of Christmas with his older brother rather than dying a slow and painful death. So, it's up to you to decide.


Why didn't they use the boats to go back to Shiganshina?

Welcome to Stack exchange Xantosh. The gates that protect the river from the titans don't move up. So in order to get a boat over the wall, they would have to bring all that wood and other building material over/ through the gate, then proceed to build the boat while defending it from the titans. It's easier just to take horses, and once they got past a certain point they wouldn't be able to progress any further due to a blockage in the river that they didn't know about. If one or more titans got into the river it would be an issue because they would only be able to turn back. Can you imagine this happening if some titans were behind the boat? Also, from what we have seen there are hardly any anchor points next to the river. meanwhile, on horses, they can easily ride around to the back grapple, attack, and one dead titan for table 6.


Did Asta lose the Demon-Dweller Sword permanently?

No he didn't. Even though we don't see licht giving it back to him, Asta later in the show and manga uses it.


Why does Midorima's nails influence his shots?

In addition to being a perfectionist Midorima uses the tip of his fingers to direct all his strength to the ball. It is not easy to shoot the basketball at that range.

The generations of Miracles have incredible talent, but their bodies can't keep up with them. Just like Aomine and Kise who have additional strain on their ankles with those quick movements. Similarly, shooting the ball in such a high arc puts strain on his fingertips, and we all know how irritating it is to wait for a nail injury to heal.

Something similar happens in another sports shounen, Diamond no Ace, where a fastball pitcher hurts his nail while pitching because he was putting all his strength on his fingertips.

TL;DR Midorima puts all his strength into the fingertips whick strain his nails. Thus he constantly maintains them to be always on top of his game.


Why is "Cowboy Bebop" almost unheard of in Japan?

According to Cowboy Bebop's wikipedia page:

  Bebop received universal critical acclaim and won the renowned Seiun Award in 2000, a Japanese science fiction award for the best science fiction work published during the preceding year, as determined by the Japan Science Fiction Convention. It was named Best Media of the Year by the Science Fiction Convention.
  ...

  In 2006, the Japanese MiniTokyo review claimed, "To say nothing more, it is a masterpiece, a genre defining series that has a right to be held in such high confidence. Not many series can do even one of the elements as well as Cowboy Bebop does, and even fewer can actually get every single solitary aspect of themselves to such a high degree of excellence. Everything in this anime falls into place with such perfection that makes it all organic and real and following to the extent that they do. From the full gamut of emotions to the roughs and roughnecks of the Bebop, to the masterful soundtrack that gives life to many of the episodes themselves, to the art that so perfectly conveys the mood and atmosphere of the entire work. Cowboy Bebop is not an anime to be missed, and not to be forgotten."

So it was well received, but unlike other franchises that continue to have new TV series, manga, novels, merchandise, or even doujin, Bebop is a one shot 26 episode series with a movie shortly after the airing and that's about it. It aired during a time when you didn't have massive blocks of anime on every channel, so most people probably didn't think that much about it. There's still a prevalent conception that anime is most stuff for kids eventhough that's not the case anymore, and being labeled an otaku of any kind is a social stigma.

Most people probably wouldn't know of a show that aired over 10 years ago, that only aired half of the show, and didn't have many more re-airings (except maybe on Friday Road Show, I'm not sure where to find this information). Most people probably would never had heard of "Macross" or "Gundam" if it wasn't for the franchise churning out products, and thus, having advertisements placed all over the place. Most people probably never heard of shows like "Legend of the Galactic Heroes" for similar reasons.


Why can only Luffy and some few characters can use Emperor's Haki?

Conqueror's Haki is very rare ability that only 1 in a million can get.
Unlike Armament and Observation which can be gained through training, Conqueror's Haki cannot. You must be born with it.

Those with Conqueror's Haki are said to have a qualities of a King (or Queen if female). Which the show has shown with Roger (Pirate King), The YONKOs (Emperors), Hancock (Empress), and Doflamingo (Celestial Dragon).


Can Marco the Phoenix regenerate a whole limb?

It is too soon to tell. Oda has confirmed that Marco will be returning and his power more thoroughly explained. All we know about it now is that he has the Phoenix's

  "blue flame of revival"

however, Oda did not explain this in detail. Personally, I wouldn't think it impossible. Oda does say in the same breath:

  "In other words, the flames are for regeneration"

POSSIBLY implying that the limit to his regeneration is the fact that the flames have to be present. Maybe preventing those flames from being there could prevent any regeneration on Marco's part. Maybe if he is killed too quickly and doesn't have a chance to regenerate, there would be no hope from that point. But like I said before it is too soon to know for sure and at Ace and Whitebeards' funeral, we did see him in bandages (manga ep. 590, anime ep. 505). Hope that was helpful and check my Oda facts here.


L had foreseen that the handwriting could be faked. Later in the story, one of Near's subordinates created a fake Death Note containing the names Mikami had written. Mikami didn't notice this since the fake book had "his" writings in it. L, being someone on a greater level than Near, would have thought that Kira might have faked his own handwriting so that just in case the Death Note falls into the SPK's hands, his handwriting won't be used as evidence. Therefore, he didn't even bother trying to check Yagami's handwriting. Also, handwritings are not that distinguishable from one and another. It is very likely for some people to have the same or similar handwriting.

As a side note, we can try to do a similar experiment by showing someone we know our handwriting using our non-dominant hand. I practiced this before and the person didn't notice that it was me writing it, despite knowing my usual handwriting.


Who are the members of an early design of Luffy's crew?

I have no good references but:

The mini character was supposed to be the shipwright and was replaced by Franky.

The other one was meant to be a plant obsessed character who was replaced by Robin and largely incorporated into the post time skip Ussop.


Her birthday is April 8. It can be seen in this birthday plate that was revealed during Tsukasa Fushimi's 10th anniversary live streaming event.


Is Natsu's half-dragon form his complete Dragon Force?

If we are going off of the Dragon Cry Movie, it was presumed, by loads of theorists on whether or not that was a glimpse of Natsu's Etherious mode, to be Natsu's Etherious Mode that triggered, but in all fairness, this is to be determined as a Dragon Force.
In short, no. This wasn't Natsu's Complete Dragon Force because there is no such thing as a complete dragon force. One of the best ways that support this is the Dragon Force page on Fairy Tail Wiki page,

Dragon Force greatly increases the damage done by standard Dragon Slayer spells, and grants the user access to more advanced, powerful attacks.
(from the first sentence under Abilities tab)

A better example that there is no such thing as a complete dragon force was when Sting used Rouge's Shadow and triggered a Dual-Mode Dragon Force.


How is possible Moro can defeat super saiyan blues but Majin Buu can fight him?

Majin Buu  contains with in him the Grand Supreme Kai. The Grand Supreme Kai is, within his universe, second only in strength to the god of destruction (or possibly even stronger, remember Whis, a member of the same race, is said to be much stronger then Berus).It's also worth noting that the reason the supreme Kai lost is not because kid/pure Buu was stronger, he just absorbed him before he could react (he was actually holding his own very well). The resulting fat buu is only weaker then pure Buu because fat Buu was lazy and childish.
We also don't know how strong Moro is in comparison to a fully powered super sayian blue: remember he stole their energy and weakened them. The fan base have suggested he is somewhere between super sayian 3 and god. SSJ3 Goku was only slightly stronger then Fat Buu and could not defeat him due to Buu's unlimited stamina. A powered up Fat Buu could easily contend with a SSJ3.5 Lv enemy.

So now we have the second strongest being in the universe stored within fat buu staring to awaken again from within fat Buu. This is why he was able to beat Moro: He's still the Supreme Grand Kai. He was the sole controller/guardian and overseer of universe 7.


What references to psychology exist in Evangelion?

What another references, maybe even implied ones, exist in the Series?
Wikipedia's page on the series covers this pretty well. It states that its references range from episodes' titles ("Mother Is the First Other", as a reference to the Oedipus complex) to the characters' deep psychological traumas towards their parents (see the Wikipedia page for details on each character's traumas).
It also states that the ultimate goal of the Human Instrumentality Project and the connection between the Evas and their pilots strongly resemble Freud's theories on internal conflict and interpersonal communication.
The subtitle in episode 4 (the hedgehog's dilemma, as you referenced) is a concept described by philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer and is mentioned in that episode by Misato as descriptive of her relationship with Shinji.
Wikipedia goes on to say that besides the references to Freudian Psychoanalysis there are also some minor references to the theories behind Gestalt therapy.

  In episode 15 there is a reference to Gestalt's theory of change (...). Episode 19 is entitled 'Introjection', a psychoanalytical term used by many Gestalt Therapists to indicate a neurotic mechanism used for the mental processing of experiences.

Why the focus, especially on psychoanalysis?
The series has been said to be a deeply personal expression of Hideaki Anno (the author)'s personal struggles, since it followed a four-year period of depression, which may have been the main source for many of the psychological elements of the series, as well as its characters.
Wikipedia states that the author became disappointed with the Japanese otaku lifestyle during the show's production. For this reason (among others), despite the fact that it was broadcast in the children's timeslot, the series' plot gets darker and more psychological as it progresses.

  Anno felt that people should be exposed to the realities of life at as young an age as possible, and by the end of the series all attempts at traditional narrative logic were abandoned, with the final two episodes taking place within the main character's mind.

In the author's page on Neon Genesis Evangelion Wiki, there is also this quote:

  I tried to include everything of myself in Neon Genesis Evangelion—myself, a broken man who could do nothing for four years.  A man who ran away for four years, one who was simply not dead. Then one thought. "You can't run away," came to me, and I restarted this production. It is a production where my only thought was to burn my feelings into film.


A few facts first:

Kurama's chakra isn't healing type. Minato sealed Yang-Kurama in Naruto, which resulted in the chakra Kurama gave him to be Yang oriented. This adds the healing properties to that chakra.
Not all tailed beasts have a known nature, but some do.

So the natures:

Shukaku - Wind, evident by the Drilling Air Bullet he fired at Gamabunta.
Matatabi - Fire, evident by the fireball she fired at Hidan and Kakuzu when they battled her.
Isobu - Water, obvious.
Son Goku - Lava (Earth and Fire), evident by multiple lava techniques reanimated Roshi used while in Jinchuuriki form.
Kokuo - Not revealed. His Jinchuuriki was said to use the Steam element (Fire and Water)
Saiken - Not revealed. His Jinchuuriki uses Water element and specializes in bubbles. Saiken himself was shown to be able to spit acid.
Chomei - Not revealed. Not much was revealed about its Jinchuuriki too.
Gyuuki - Not revealed, but presumed Lightning. His Jinchuuriki uses Lightning.
Kurama - Not revealed, but presumed Yin-Yang. His Jinchuuriki was shown to have remarkable stamina and healing properties, which suggest Yang nature which is compatible with the half of Kurama he had. The other half's chakra was not explained thoroughly.
Last but not least

   Shinju (God Tree; Juubi) - Natural Energy and Yin-Yang. Evident by the techniques Obito uses after becoming its Jinchuuriki, as well as what was revealed in the manga.


Is there another wall encompassing the entire of Paradis for Marley to use?

Yes, there is an outermost wall in Paradi Island other than Maria, Rose, and Sina. So far it's not known whether it surrounds the entire island or just a portion of it, and its purpose is not clear.

Speculation: It could be a staging area for the titan transformations, but more importantly a barrier to prevent them from crossing the ocean.

On the inside covers of the tankōbon volumes are written codes in inverted Katakana, and one of them gives a clue to the walls' origins:

   In the new world, great walls had previously been prepared.

Sources:

(Japanese) http://shingeki-kyojin.com/archives/26439768.html
http://calorescence.tumblr.com/post/51450703198/did-you-know-the-inside-covers-of-the-japanese


Why was the Buddy Complex "second season" just a two part finale?

The official tweet you link to simply says: "Regarding Buddy Complex TOKYO MX, that everyone [kindly] watched episode 13, thank you very much! That is to say... To be continued！This work will continue! Please wait for the follow-up. Later on, [we'll] release BD privileged information! #buddycom" (「【バディ・コンプレックス】TOKYO MXにて第13話をご覧頂きました皆様、ありがとうございました！という事で・・・To be continued！本作品はまだ続きます！続報をお待ち下さいませ。この後BD特典情報を公開します！ #buddycom」)

There is no mention or implication within the text that indicates any particular set length of running time, nor even the media type of the promised follow-up. 「作品」 (sakuhin) is a non-specific word for a work of some sort, such as a production, a piece of art, a piece of work, handiwork, even someone's opus.

Thus, the 2014/10/27 post on the official website announcing the 完結編 (kanketsuhen, the last program of a series), which was released November 21st, 2014 and comprised of a two-parter 前編 (zenpen, first part) and 後編 (kouhen, second [after] part), does not in any way conflict with the original Twitter announcement. This means that, no, a second season of TV anime was not scheduled and then cancelled. 「完結編」 (kanketsuhen), by its very meaning, is the last program of a series; to title a release that way is to explicitly state that there are no plans for ever produce a following work such as a second TV anime season.

Therefore, it does not seem that proficient readers of Japanese would have misunderstood the tweet to promise a season's worth of upcoming anime. Someone who reported on the tweet in English for an English-language source seems to have jumped to a conclusion regarding in what sense the 「作品」 (sakuhin) would continue.


How strong did Neia Baraja become, and what caused it?

About Neia:

   During Volume 12, she only had levels as Squire and Archer. Squire is a special class that can have its levels converted into any other. After being resurrected and "converting" to the Ainz Cult, her levels as Squire turned into Paladin Lv. 2, Evangelist Lv. 2 and Founder Lv. 4, while her Archer class turned into Sacred Archer Lv. 3. Being overall Lv. 9, she'd be a low-middle-tier adventurer. Gazef Stronoff was judged by Ainz to be around Lv. 30, and he was considered to be stronger than the Blue Rose members, except maybe for Evil Eye. Her Archer class getting upgraded is probably the reason her aim got better (along with the Bow she got from Ainz), and her new Paladin class (and probably Evangelist and Founder) gave her some proficiency with healing magic, which is why she got better at using the Heavy Recover spell.

And about leveling

   Ainz mentions that HE didn't gain any EXP from killing all those soldiers, but he doesn't know if it was because their levels were too low and he couldn't gain EXP from them or if there's another reason. We really don't know much about how leveling works in the New World, which is why Ainz was having that Death Knight train alongside Hamusuke, he wanted to know if Yggdrassil monsters/NPCs can learn Martial Arts or train in new classes; but so far, only Hamusuke was shown to be able to learn Martial Arts.


Since the manga isn't over, nothing's set in stone, yet. So, I can only give you my assumptions.

I'm actually quite sure that there is or will never be a romantic vibe between Tatara and Shizuku. As Prasanth has already said, Tatara probably never held any romantic feelings for her, but rather admiration and respect.

Moreover, the main heroine actually is Chinatsu and not Shizuku as many might have assumed while watching the first half of the anime. Chinatsu appears in the second half and henceforth always stays in the foreground with Tatara as his main dance partner (Shizuku and Mako were only temporary ones). She simply didn't show up at the very beginning of the story. That's why I'm very confident to say that the romance tag refers to the relationship between Tatara and Chinatsu.

The story focuses mainly on the character development of and the relationship btw. these two protagonists. "After a difficult start because of their completely different personalities and background, Chinatsu and Tatara slowly find themselves on the same wavelength and steadily grow together as dance partners and reach new heights." That's probably a suitable synopsis of their relationship.

Btw., there has been quite a few hints in the anime that this relationship is slowly progressing in a romantic way. So, if you want to ship Tatara with Shizuku, then you'll most likely be disappointed (Shizuku's romantic relationship also probably revolves around her main dance partner Kiyoharu).

I personally am more than satisfied with the relationship btw. our two protagonists and I really want to encourage you not to give up watching this anime only because you initially shipped Tatara with Shizuku. I'm quite sure that you will change your mind as the story progresses.


What are the paintings in the Anti-Angel Headquarters and what do they mean?

Directions with respect to Yuri's perspective, where the front is facing the entrance. For the sake of completeness, I also include the paintings that are fixed across episodes.

All episodes

Front: School song of the Heaven Academy. The song lyrics reproduced below reference this yahoo answer and this wiki page.

  校歌

  緑豊かに広がる丘に
  光輝く我らが母校
  大いなる大地と
  天のかけ橋
  真実を知る時天に登らん

  心のままに戒めなくは
  かけ[●●●●●●●●●]【し希望にひるがえる】
  千里離れた空を思へば
  遠く忘れし思いはいづこ
  真実を知る時天に登らん

  光あふれる月の夜
  耳をすまして聞き入れば
  天使の歌声高らかに
  思いを胸に登る[●]【時】
  真実を知る時天に登らん

  天上学園

Back: Portraits of all past principals of the Heaven Academy. The portrait of the current principal has been replaced by Yuri's.

Left: During the operation meetings, the banner of the SSS Brigade is hanged on this side of the wall.

Right: Smiley face painting. Unknown artist.

Episode 1

Front: [危]【き】 — Danger.

Left: テトラポット — Tetrapod, a tetrahedral concrete structure used as armour unit on breakwaters.

Right: [南紀]【なんき】みかん — Tangerine from Nanki, Mie Prefecture.

Note: Jun Maeda, the original creator of Angel Beats!, is from Mie.

Episode 2

Front: [毒]【どく】 — Poison. I believe it's intended to invoke the expression 「お気の毒に」, meaning "my condolences", as said by Angel about Hinata in episode 5. By Jun's arrangement or by coincidence, Hinata was forced into sacrifice in an arithmetic progression of episode number 2, 5 and 8.

Left: [悦]【えつ】 — Rejoicing.

Right: [松阪牛]【まつさかうし】 — Matsusaka beef, another food product from Mie.

Episode 3

Front: [嫁]【よめ】 — Wife; bride; (one's) daughter-in-law. Don't know if this has anything to do with 俺の嫁 〜あなただけの花嫁〜 or not. 俺の嫁 is a love adventure game released in the same year as Angel Beats! and sharing some of the voice actors (Emiri Katou, Kana Asumi, Eri Kitamura and Kana Hanazawa).

Left: [諭吉]【ゆきち】 — Yukichi Fukuzawa, the guy on the 10,000 yen banknote. Yukichi is the nickname of Yuuki Hashimoto from the 2010 eroge 恋色空模様 who is also voiced by Harumi Sakurai (Yurippe's voice actor). Moreover, "Farewell, Yukichi" (「さらば諭吉」) is the defining quote of Kyousuke Natsume from Little Busters!, another visual novel written by Jun Maeda.

Right: マニア — Mania, i.e. Takeyama.

Episode 4

Right (OP): [鎮魂歌]【ちんこんか】 — Requiem. Its significance has already been explained in the question.

Front: [脇]【わき】 — Supporting role; the second stanza of a renga. Yui changed her role in the band from support to lead after Iwasawa left the Afterlife World. At this point in time, the story has also entered its second phase in the hokku→waki→daisan→ageku renga structure or the introduction→development→twist→conclusion Kishoutenketsu structure.

Left: (Not shown).

Right: [逆鱗]【げきりん】 —  A scale grown upside-down below the chin of a dragon that will anger the dragon when touched; imperial wrath. Yuri's underlings incurred her wrath by failing their mission of defeating Angel's team in the baseball tournament. There is also the angered dragon conjured up in Otonashi's mind in episode 7.

Episode 5

Front: [謎]【なぞ】 — Enigma; mystery, i.e. Ayato Naoi in this episode. If you turn up the volume just after Yuri throws her second tantrum, you can also hear a 'mysterious' voice saying "what's with her?" (「なんだこいつ」). This is documented under the 謎の声 section here.

Left: コテンパン — Black and blue (e.g. beaten ...), i.e. Angel and Hinata in this episode.

Right: バミューダ — Bermuda.

Episode 6

Front: [乙]【おつ】 — Second; the latter; strange. Describes Ayato Naoi well in this episode.

Left: (Not shown).

Right: [猫大陸]【ねこたいりく】 — Continent of cats. Presumably the same painting appears again in the second panel on page 4, chapter 30 of Angel Beats! The 4-koma: Our War Front March Song:

In this panel, Yusa is explaining the term "marriage hunting" (婚活) to Hinata. The true meaning of 猫大陸 still eludes me, but if I were to fashion a guess, it would at least be somewhat related to marriage hunting, which reminds me of the missed opportunity in this episode for Otonashi to do, I mean, to become closer to Kanade, and the fact that the 'marriage hunting' was initiated by Naoi on behalf of Otonashi, too!

Episode 7

Front: プラ — Recycling symbol used in Japan for plastic.

Left: [濃厚]【のうこう】 — Rich (in flavor, color, smell, etc.) and strong; very likely; passionate and hot.

Right: ●(●)ック? (Not legible).

Episode 8

Front: (Not shown).

Left: (Not shown).

Right: (Not shown).

Episode 9

Front: ♨ — Icon for hot springs.

Left: [部族]【ぶぞく】 — Tribe; clan.

Right: マグロ? (Not fully shown) — Tuna.

Episode 10

Front: (Not shown).

Left: ●ロス? (Not legible).

Right: [赤福]【あかふく】 — [赤福餅]【あかふくもち】, wagashi of Akafuku shop, Ise City, Mie Prefecture.

Episode 11

Front: (Not shown).

Left: (Not fully shown).

Right: [極上]【ごくじょう】 — First-rate; best.

Episode 12

Front: [心]【こころ】 — Heart. Lots and lots of hearts on the computer screens.

Left: (Not shown).

Right: [土]【ど】● (Not fully shown).

Episode 13

Front: [魂友]【こんゆう】 — Spiritual friend.

Left: (Not shown).

Right: (Not shown).

Special: Another Epilogue

Front: (Not shown).

Left: (Not legible).

Right: [東]【とう】●? (Not legible). It would make more sense if the character is [転]【てん】, though, as that means "altering pronunciation or meaning".

OVA 1: Stairway to Heaven

Front: (Happy face).

Left: (Teeth-gritting face).

Right: (Happy face).

OVA 2: Hell's Kitchen

Front: [再]【さい】 — Again.

Left: ボンレス — Boneless.

Right: [久々]【ひさびさ】 — (in a) long time; long time (ago). It's been almost 5 years since the last Angel Beats! episode was released.


Once a floor boss is killed, does that level become bossless or does another boss appear with time?

When a boss is defeated, it will appear again after its recovery time.

That means while the boss hasn't recovered yet then that level is technically bossless.

You can see this in season 1 episode 10 of Danmachi

   Bell and his teammates are having a hard time because of pass parade then Lili suggested to go in floor 18th since it is a safe zone. Welf is concerned about the boss in floor 17th but Lili said that they can make it since the boss is still "recovering"


What was omitted/skipped from the end of Sakamichi no Apollon?

Missing content

The manga has 9 volumes and one extra volume (titled 'Bonus track').

The "I'm happy Sen is gone" scene with Kaoru failing to convey his feelings to Ritsuko and afterwards telling her that he'll be going to Tokyo is the end of the manga's 8th volume. This scene is at 6 minutes into the anime's last episode.

In short, the following content of manga volumes 9 and Bonus is:

  Kaoru leaves to study medicine at a Tokyo university where he rekindles his love with jazz. He kind of makes up with Ritsuko, then finds out she seems to be with another man and cuts all ties. He becomes a doctor at a Kyushu hospital and through a hint by Yurika (who lives with Junichi and later has twins) finds out that Sen became a priest on a nearby island. Sen arrived there after initially having decided to leave everything behind after his sister's accident. Only after realizing how much he loves to work with children does he change his mind. Kaoru meets Ritsuko again many years later, learning she never was in a serious relationship. The manga ends with everyone meeting for a jam session on the island, listened to by Ritsuko who is pregnant with Kaoru's child.

Here's a more detailed breakdown by chapters. For the sake of brevity Ritsuko is R. and Kaoru is K.

Volume 9:

ch41: On graduation day R. ignores K. He keeps thinking about Sen, but tells people that all this will soon be behind him and he will focus on his studies in Tokyo. K. shouts his apology at R.'s window, same as in the anime. The following train scene is slightly less dramatic - they have time to exchange a few words. R.'s dad thinks that Sen might have gone to Tokyo, too.
ch42:  K. is at university in Tokyo. With the student strikes still underway life seems easy going. He meets a girl at a party who invites herself over to his place for the night, but thinking of R. he sends her away again without anything happening. While visiting his mother, she sings Lullaby of Birdland waking old memories in him.
ch43: The strikes end and instead of partying, K. starts playing piano again after joining the jazz club at university and taking on a part-time job in a Shinjuku bar. The stress of both the job and upcoming university exams has K. at a low when he finds a photo of him and Sen in the bag R. gave him on his departure. The note on the back reads To the two idiots. Friendship is for life. Since 1966, and forever.  Inspired by this K. changes his mind and begins asking around at work for Sen. He also finally answers a letter he received from R. in ch42.
ch44: Junichi shows up at K.'s work and promises to help looking out for Sen as well. K. quits his job in favour of his studies but keeps exchanging letters with R. Over time, her's become less frequent and shorter. One day a telephone number is on a postcard from R. Upon calling the number K. is greeted by a man telling him to leave R. alone. K. assumes the obvious. At his grandfather's funeral K. is told the he is expected to inherit the formers hospital and become 'the pillar of the Nishimi family' (implying upcoming marriage interviews). K. sees Seji, who is now a celebrity, in the TV and realizes that unlike Seiji, he hasn't been following his dreams. Shortly after K. looses the photo of him and Sen and fails to find it again. Yurika (Junichi's girlfriend) visits K. in the hospital and gives him the photo of Sen as a priest together with the address on the island.
ch45: We see Sen as a priest in training on the aforementioned island. He seems popular with the kids and islanders. The sound of Moanin' being played on the organ draws him back to the church where he meets K. and they promptly have to run away from the head priest angry at the unauthorized organ usage. After a jump in time we learn that K. turned down the inheritance of the hospital and instead joined a hospital in Kyushu. At Sachiko's wedding (in Sen's church), K. meets R. again and learns that she never really was and certainly isn't in a relationship with the guy on the phone anymore. R. learns that K. isn't going back to Tokyo.

Bonus Track (Volume 10):

Track 1: Yurika is living with Junichi and is having trouble finding a job because she didn't graduate high-school. By chance, she finally finds one in painting sign-boards. While she is increasingly occupied with work, Junichi seems to act  cold and shows that he does not seem to think of a future for him and Yurika. It takes another train station scene with Yurika on the verge of moving out and out of the city for Junichi to admit his feelings.
Track 2: Kouta (one of Sen's brothers), now 14, is shown picking up jazz drumming in the record store's basement. He spends some time with R. who is over around the time of New Year's and they meet the guy who answered the phone when K. called R. back then. He doesn't take No for an answer which leads to an intervention of Kouta, and R. openly admitting to both of them that she still loves K.
Track 3: Backstory of Tsutomu (R.'s dad). He was introduced to Jazz by a guy called Kenji. Kenji often played Jazz with his brother and Tsutomu used to stop to listen to the sound he heard from the street, until Kenji invites him in one day and starts teaching him bass cello. There he also meets Fumi who has an unnamed illness and sneaks away from the hospital to spend time at Kenji's. With the second world war intensifying, Kenji goes off to join the naval band and Tsutomu is drafted for factory work. Kenji dies in the war and Tsutomu spends some hours with Fumi (who is still in the hospital) after not having seen her for a long time. During the following air raid Tsutomu saves Fumi's life but afterwards finds himself devastated by the destruction. To cheer him up she drags the cello to him and he plays solemn notes to gathering survivors amidst the rubble. Opening the record shop is fulfilling the dream Kenji had ('to spread the music of the world to this town and gather musicians to play together every day').
Track 4: Explains what happened to Sen after his sister's accident. Sen is found, almost drowned, by a fisherman. While staying at the latter's place to earn money for traveling on, Sen becomes friends with a younger reclusive orphan. Playing on improvised drums with her and the other kids in the village Sen remembers how much fun he has a around children and decides on his future career. it is initially suggested Sen might have tried to commit suicide by throwing himself into the sea. However, when he leaves the town we learn that he jumped into the water while trying to retrieve the orphan's necklace and passed out in the process.
Track 5: Kaoru, Sen and Junichi all meet up for a Jazz session on the island and learn that Yurika had twins. Sen sees Junichi for the first time since their argument years ago, but seemingly overcame all bad feelings and congratulates the two. Shortly after, Tsutomu and the pregnant Ritsuko arrive as well. The guys start arguing about the instrument the child will pick up, everyone of course vouching for their own, until Ritsuko reconciles the discussions with her suggestions of the saxophone.

Reasons

Concerning chirale's comment, I did not find anything specifically mentioning whether the series was originally planned to be longer. However, be aware that the Bonus Track Manga was announced only in January 2012, while the anime started airing already in April 2012. It is very possible of course, that the people involved were talking to eachother, but depending on how fleshed out the story for the additional Manga was (not) at this time, there probably wasn't enough time to fit it into the Anime as well.

In addition, as can be seen above, there isn't really enough story missing to warrant a second cour and some of the stories from the Bonus Track are rather episodic in nature, and therefore hard to adapt into a coherent episode.


Until now, the author hasn't given a last name for Jirobo.
(as far as i know)
There are also other characters without a last name.


I would have to vote for the hair accessory theory.  And, we know from the Fairy Tail Zero arc that she always wanted to meet a fairy. So, fairy wing headband, with the headband part hidden in the hair? For most of the Fairy Tail Zero arc, she is shown with her hair wings. But in episode 97, shortly after learning magic, she re-introduces herself as "Black Magic Mavis" .

After casting "Law" in episode 98 and 99, she is unconscious and in bed with her tattered clothes having been changed and no hair adornments.

After she regains consciousness, I don't believe we ever see her again without her hair wings as far as I can recall except in some flashbacks to her youth in the last episode of the Fairy Tail Zero arc, episode 100.


Why does Himura Kenshin say ～ござる (~gozaru) at end of every sentence?

～ござる is commonly known as a more polite way of ending a sentence, but it's also common in historical dramas because it is a bit archaic-sounding. ANN has an entry on this in their lexicon here. A more detailed analysis of Kenshin's speech patterns can be found here.

EDIT: It was pointed out in chat that there's a closely related question with a really good answer on the Japanese  Stack Exchange.


When Minato used the Reaper Death (Dead Demon Consuming) Seal he essentially split Kurama into two parts:

Yang Kurama
Yin Kurama

Each half Kurama have their own conscience, making them two separate entities.

  Later, when Naruto and Minato bumped fists, Yin and Yang-Kurama came in contact with each other, with Yang-Kurama greeting its other half casually and asking it to share its chakra, which led Yin-Kurama to note that asking itself for chakra was an odd situation

The reason for separating the charka was because an infant would not be able to withstand the power of Kurama if he had contained both sides of his chakra.

  Since Kurama's chakra was too immense to be sealed within an infant like Naruto, Minato first used the Dead Demon Consuming Seal to separate and seal its Yin half within himself and then prepared the Eight Trigrams Seal to imprison the Yang half within Naruto

Furthermore, Minato, knowing the consequence of performing the Reaper Death (Dead Demon Consuming) Seal, seals Yin Kurama within himself.

  When Minato uses it, he seals only the Nine-Tails' yin chakra, leaving its yang chakra alone; this sealing of its yin chakra into himself makes him its jinchūriki.

The consequence? Death.... kind of.

  For a few moments afterwards the summoner can continue moving and speaking, allowing them to finish any lingering business they may have. Shortly afterwards the Shinigami will consume their soul and the soul of their target(s), ending their life. The souls of those trapped within the Shinigami's stomach cannot enter the Pure Land and are destined to fight with their victims for all eternity

With Kurama being split into two separate entities, one half was trapped within Minato while the other half lived on and was sealed within Naruto. Because the souls are trapped within the Shinigami's stomach, destined to fight each other, this also explains why Minato is able to use Nine Tails Chakra Mode.


Where did the phrase "Gotta catch 'em all" come from?

Where  does this phrase comes from?

According to Bulbapedia, this phrase is a rough translation from the Japanese games :

  The Japanese equivalent is Get Pokémon! (Japanese: ポケモンゲットだぜー！ Pokémon get da ze~!, also spelt ポケモンＧＥＴだぜー！)

When did the phrase Gotta catch 'em all first appeared?

While the previous answers are correct, it is important to notice that this phrase first appeared on both anime and game.

You can see on the North America's and European's version of the Gameboy game Pokemon Red and Pokemon Blue the same phrase :

But which one of the anime or the game came first?

As @DavePhD mentionned in the comments, Gotta catch 'em all is a registered trademark. One of its first registration on June 23, 1998 mentions

  entertainment services, namely, arranging and conducting competitions in the field of playing video games; stage presentations; video game presentations relating to video games; production, presentation, distribution, and syndication of animation, motion picture films, and television programs; and production and presentation of video tapes

which includes both the anime and the game. So we can say that Gotta catch 'em all appeared with the general airing of Pokemon in the United States.

Note that the first episode was broadcasted before the game was released in the United States : the TV Show was aired on September 8, 1998 while the game was first sold on September 28, 19981.

1 Wikipedia links : the first episode and the games


The Saber class has the highest overall base parameters of any other servant class. It is part of the original three Knight classes. The other two being Archer and Lancer. The three Knight classes were intended to be used by the Three Families, Tohsaka, Einzbern, and Makiri. The four Calvary classes came later as they needed seven Servants. Basic parameter-wise, the three Knight classes are stronger.
Of course the strength varies depending on the individual Servant.
According to Rin in the UBW route - Day 4 Contract Established:

"There is a change in one or two of the classes every Holy Grail War, but we have a basic lineup this time. The standard opinion is that Saber is the best Servant.
Each class has their own special characteristics, but the abilities of the Servants differ according to the rank of the heroic spirit summoned."

The prologue of Fate/Zero mentions that the Saber class made it to the final battle in the first three Fuyuki Grail Wars (and also the Fourth).
The Saber class skill Magic Resistance gives it an advantage against the other classes, especially against Caster, for obvious reasons. The weakness of the class is probably it's straight forwardness in attacking things head on, compared to other classes that can resort to other tactics with their skills. Like Assassin with it's Presence Concealment.

Base servant container stat comparison breakdowns for each class. Stats for the actual heroic spirits may very drastically, especially for the Berserker class.


Are all of the Holy Grail War servants based on real heroes?

For the most part, yes, but there are some exceptions. I assume you haven't read the Fate/stay night visual novel, which answers your question. As such, spoilers for that below.

   Some of the heroes are basically just reinterpretations of people known to have actually existed in the historical record. These are F/z's Rider (Alexander the Great), Caster (Gilles de Rais), Archer (Gilgamesh), Assassin (Hassan-i Sabbah); and F/sn's Assassin (Sasaki Kojirou; or at least, I think the consensus is that he was real) and True Assassin (Hassan-i Sabbah).

 Other heroes are reinterpretations of fictional heroes, or of people of dubious historicity. In the world of Fate, these people are treated as having been actual historical figures who just happen to be known in the modern day through fictional writings. These include F/z's Saber (King Arthur), Lancer (Diarmuid Ua Duibhne), Berserker (Lancelot); and F/sn's Rider (Medusa), Saber (King Arthur again), Lancer (Cú Chulainn), Caster (Medea), and Berserker (Heracles)

 And then you have the one huge exception, which is F/sn's Archer (that is, Rin's servant, not Gilgamesh). F/sn's Archer is actually Emiya Shirou, who is fictional.

 There's also a delicate issue surrounding the various Hassans who are summoned as Assassins - the idea there is that all ordinary Assassins (not including weird exceptions like Sasaki Kojirou) correspond to a leader of the historical Assassin cult. The issue there is that there are basically no records (in the real world) of what the leaders of the cult were like, so their personalities and abilities in the world of Fate are entirely an invention of the authors (Urobuchi Gen and Nasu Kinoko for F/z and F/sn respectively).


Why are the Eldian's in possession of Warships?

If you're talking about the Eldians outside of Paradis Island (the one's where [Spoiler Alert] Reiner come from), that was because of the Marleyans. Due to the Marleyan's fear of the Eldian's titan transformers, they created weapons, technology capable of destroying these Titan transformers. That's how the Marleyans got into possession of four of the original nine titan transformers (wont explain it here).

Sources: Manga. It was mentioned by one of the Marleyan higher ups. Forgot the chapter. But besides that, it was heavily implied.


How can Tsunade recover that fast with just a bite from Karin?

That's one of Karin's powers - biting her lets people absorb her chakra and its healing properties.

From Karin, in Narutopedia:

  she not only has incredible healing capabilities, but can also heal others by letting them bite her and absorb her chakra. The potency of her healing chakra is great enough to even restore a bisected Tsunade to full health.


Could Senzu Beans cure diseases as well?

If Senzu bean could cure diseases, Goku wouldn't have died in the future and Trunks wouldn't have needed to go back from the future to give him the antidote.

From Dragon ball wikia

  However, it appears that the beans can not heal injuries that have
  already healed over (like Tien's and Yamcha's respective scars or
  Saiyan tails) or cure ailments (like Goku's heart virus contracted
  during the Androids Saga)


Where do I find a table / listing of all currently airing anime series?

I use http://countdown.mandragon.info/ which shows the day and time of the next episode for currently airing shows and dates for shows that will be broadcast soon.

Edit: This site is now down, so I'll recommend another one I use often: http://anichart.net/


The DTS Evangelion Feature Film collection seems to be correct in having Death & Rebirth and End of Evangelion. According to the Evangellion Wiki anyway.

It's also been remastered with DTS audio which I think means it supports surround sound and other such systems better


Yes, all Uchiha have their natural affinity towards Fire. It is like a default setting, to put it in simpler terms. In the article you provided, it also states that:

  In general, every person's chakra has an affinity towards one of the five basic nature transformations.

Being the descendants of Indra Ōtsutsuki it is logical to think that every Uchiha in the clan would hold a natural affinity towards the Fire element:

  [Indra] could use Yin Release, and, in the anime, was shown skilled in the usage of Fire and Lightning Release since his childhood.

Also, from the wiki article on the Uchiha Clan which might suggest that only true Uchiha have that affinity towards fire:

  They also have an especially potent chakra quality as well as a natural affinity for the fire nature transformation; Uchiha are not truly considered adults until they can successfully perform the Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique.


What was the Chant Emiya Shirou used to Enter the Reality Marble World?

actually the one posted by RNGesus.exe is the wrong one. while i have not seen the ufotable series, looking at the wikia on it you see it's Heroic Spirit EMIYA's chant as it's the one that ends with him saying "So as I pray".

since the question asks for Emiya Shirou, his is

 I am the bone of my sword.
 Steel is my body and fire is my blood.
 I have created over a thousand blades.
 Unaware of loss,
 Nor aware of gain.
 Withstood pain to create weapons, waiting for one’s arrival.
 I have no regrets. This is the only path.
 My whole life was Unlimited Blade Works.

the wikia links above also show there are different chants for EMIYA depending on the dub (Bang Zoom and Animax) and a different from for Shirou in PRISMA☆ILLYA (there is also a link to EMIYA Alter's version from Fate Grand/Order)


In One Punch Man, is King actually weak?

I'm not sure how you missed this if you've read the manga. As mentioned by people in the comments, this will be eventually revealed, specifically starting at Chapter 37.

In this particular chapter,

   instead of helping Genos and Saitama, King went home. It was also depicted how he was afraid and how it was by chance that he was near the locations of defeated villains, resulting to the misconceptions that he is "The Strongest Man on Earth".


How does Haruki know what her ability is?

It's because the time travel girl explains to her. That is the only explanation I could think of, but yeah, the time travel girl we meet at the first episode tells her about her ability.


Same story but different start(refer the body of Hyakkimaru)

Ok, so I've just watched. This is just like what happened with many other anime adaptations to the big screen / live action. See Dragon Ball Z into Dragon Ball Evolution for example. They take "creative freedom" when they adapt the story and they change a lot of things. The original creator is mentioned because his story is the base for the adaptation, but the screenwriters are different.

The 2007 live action has a lot of things different to the original anime.

   Dororo is an old teen not a kid like in the anime. Dororo's name is given by Hyakkimaru. This doesnt happen neither iin the 2019 nor in the 1969 anime. The way Hyakkimaru's body is rebuilt by his adoptive father is different.

etc


Did Light Actually Like L (in a friendship way)?

This might be my personal opinion, but this does not look like the face that a person would show his friend when that friend is dying. Light had been pretending to be L's friend for a while, so by (over-)reacting he achieved two things. The first would be keeping his image and the second would be giving him a reason to go looking for the Death Note, that he knew would be laying around somewhere.


How can Brook see and hear without organs?

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

According to wiki:

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


What anime is this white angel costume from?

It's an outfit worn by Panty from Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt


How did Subaru lose the ability to enter the trials?

I will grant you the right to face the trial of the Sanctuary.

While placing her hand over his chest, Echidna said this to Subaru at their very first meeting, just before sending him back (Episode 3, first half of second season). This was the reason Subaru was able to enter the trial of the Sanctuary in the first place, despite not being a half demon (a qualification needed to enter the trial).
In the last episode of the first half of the 2nd season, Echidna took this ability away from him after Subaru refused to form a contract with her, again by briefly placing her hand near his chest.
Unless Echidna decides to give this ability back to Subaru, there's no way for him to enter the trial again.
TL;DR: Echidna giveth, and Echidna taketh away.


From the first to last clans, they are White Rice Party, Tokijikuin, Homra, Scepter 4, Jungle, Cathedral, and Colorless. Cathedral was COMPLETELY destroyed in the kagutsu crater incident, therefore the only one in the series that has any resemblance to the powers of the Gray clan, is the Gray King Seigo Ootori. (Tenkei Iwafune) And any sort of information given on Cathedral is little to null on even the Wikipedia, other than the interesting insignia of their clan.


Kairoseki is as hard as diamond, as stated in Chapter 400 p 11, so it is unlikely for Law to have cut it. However, it is a chain and nobody said that the chain consists just of Kairoseki. It is highly likely that at most every second chain link is effectively Kairoseki, since it is as hard as Diamond, you could barely made it into a chain without any other material and after all it is a rare material.


Are there other Sharingan users who can copy other jutsu besides Kakashi?

Sharingan literally means Copy Wheel Eye. The Eye of Insight and the Eye of Hypnotism are the two abilities of the Sharingan.
The Eye of Insight has different abilities in itself. One of the abilities, lets the user copy any jutsu and utilize with maximum achievable perfection.

The user is able to copy almost any jutsu they see, memorising ninjutsu, genjutsu, and taijutsu with near-perfect accuracy. They can then either perform that jutsu or modify it to suit their needs, as when Sasuke Uchiha bases his Lion Combo on Rock Lee's Front Lotus. Again, Sharingan users need the prerequisite abilities before they can mimic a jutsu they have seen, and for that reason they cannot, for example, reproduce kekkei genkai abilities they do not have or nature transformations they haven't learned to perform.
source: Sharingan

Therefore, every Sharingan user is capable of using the Eye of Insight's ability of copying other jutsu, provided, their Sharingan are matured enough. It is not, therefore, exclusive to Kakashi. Every Sharingan user has this ability. Although, Kakashi is the only non-Uchiha able to perform it successfully.


How different are the OVA and movie versions of Time of Eve?

Contents that are exclusive to the OVA

They are mostly shown at the beginning of the following episodes:

Episode 2: dori-kei commentary in the news
Episode 3: Koji leaves his room and the discussion about sexroids on TV
Episode 4: talk at Rikuo’s home about fuzzy logic and complaints at his dad’s office, and a short scene at the school with a girl classmate of Masaki making some cameo appearances

The ED song 「やさしい時間の中で」 is the vocal version of the piano piece played by Sammy at the Time of Eve. The epilogue following the ED has Naoko decorating Sammy's hair with flower petals.

Contents that are exclusive to the movie

Setoro reporting to Dr. Ashimori at the beginning of the movie
The first Time of Eve android customer seen by Rikuo and Masaki enters a room, which is later revealed to be Shiotsuki and Nagi's home
Sammy making her hair in front of a mirror
Sammy's chkdsk slideshow scenes following the events of episode 3 of the OVA
Sammy holding a sheet music and looking at the sleeping Rikuo before going off to play the piano at midnight
A different ED song with accompanying sketches of Nagi's past
Nagi talks to Shiotsuki in the epilogue


What's this old school anime with a badass green-haired Sephiroth lookalike?

Is this possibly the Escaflowne (film)? It was made in 2000, adapting a TV anime from 1996.

Folken in the film version has long sky-blue hair and dark clothes, and is the main antagonist (he was born as Dune of Adom but became the leader of the Black Dragon Clan).

Allen Schezar in the same film, the leader of the Abaharaki (a group of refugees),  also has Sephiroth-style bangs with long hair and dark clothes.

The film includes airships, roads, and lights.


Why do some summons have forehead protector while most of others don't?

Forehead Protector in Naruto shows the symbol of Ninja's hidden village and his loyalty towards it.

Similar can be assumed with Summoned animals, Summoned Animals with Summoned animals with  forehead protector seems to be loyal to one village only.

Even naruto.wikia.com speculated the same :

  Summons may also wear a forehead protector, suggesting a loyalty to
  only one village.


Need help identifying school anime with short, blonde female character

I'm going to guess Seitokai Yakuindomo.

School anime

Yes.

Not harem

Well, harems are in the eye of the beholder, but pretty much yes.

Funny

Allegedly.

Centers on small group of students, both male and female

One guy and three girls in the student council

Normal yellow/white uniforms

　(their shirts are white beneath the blazers)

Short, blonde, flat-chested female

See above (Hagimura Suzu)

Crude humor

Oh good lord yes.


Posting as answer because can't use spoilers in comments, still just a speculation...

With the recent development in the manga, it seems it might be something along the lines of:

  Keima is the one that chose me to be your host

Also, remember Diana grew her wings once before (although they didn't notice), in manga Chapter 139 (can't remember which episode), after Keima apologizes to her in his library.


How different are the manga and anime versions of Bakuman?

I've only seen the first season of the anime, but based on that I can point out that the manga didn't flesh out Mashiro & Moritaka's works. When they created a new manga the anime would usually show you most of its story, whereas the manga generally only went for a vague overview. I'm not sure how that worked out after they became serialized though.


Does the Rinnegan eye put more strain on the user?

They never mention strain of the Rinnegan in the manga so the following is conjecture

Nagato (and his puppets) seems to have the Rinnegan up 24/7. In flashbacks to the Sage of Six Paths he has Rinnegan up so I believe it does not cause strain like the other ocular powers


How did all the Gods of Destruction come to see the fight?

They are the god of destruction, meaning that they have a role to fulfill. Aka destroying planets. But however someone/something far more superior has passed this role on to them. That is the Zen-oh sama. He is powerful enough to wipe-out their entire universe if he wishes to in the blink of an eye. The gods... rather anyone with a role in the universe knows about his might. In order to at least stay alive they will have to abide to anything he says as he simply destroys things he doesn't like on a whim. Remember black Goku? Even Goku knew that they had to leave quickly while everyone else didn't really bother to... but they survived.

The gods that were sleeping were probably wakened by their angels (equivalents of Whis). They can ofcourse refuse, but that gives Zen-oh a chance to eradicate their entire universe, as if they never existed.

The arc from when Zen-oh was introduced up until now simply prove how much power he possesses due to the gods fearing him. And ofcourse due to the fact that any creature, with a role in making things in the universe go smoothly, shows a LOT respect and doesn't disagree with Zen-oh.

Whis for example is at least 1000x stronger than Beerus (http://dragonball.wikia.com/wiki/Thread:541859) and he is nothing compared to Zen-oh. Beerus knows pretty well that if Whis shows respect to anyone that he should as well unless he wants to cause trouble for himself... and perhaps the entire universe.

Even the gods that know about the uhmm punishment for not winning (not trying to spoil) aren't demanding other things from him, rather they are showing kind words in a manipulative way in order to not be punished... which they would've been anyway without the universe tournament. At least now 1 won't be punished... anyway back to your question.

Apart from the unknowning creatures anyone fears Zen-oh, because in the end they all want to survive, hence why they listen instantly to anything from Zen-oh.


Why was Goku the only Z Warrior to contract the Heart Virus?

It is Highly likely that the infection rate of the virus was just exceptionally low. Infection rates vary from virus to virus. Some can only be transmitted in highly populated areas due to their low contraction rate.


What is the connection between Stands and Ripple Energy?

I’m a third of the way through Part 3, and as far as I can tell, there’s minimal, if any at all, link between Stand and Hamon (Ripple) abilities. Initially, I thought the Stand was an extension of Hamon, since there’s a remark about Jotaro’s ability to fight while unable to breathe in his initial fight with Avdol, which other people on the internet have also noticed, but this doesn’t amount to much.

Discussions I found in a web search attest to this as well:

This Reddit thread and this Quora post discuss the relationship between Stand and Ripple. Posters cite Part 7, in which Hamon is indicated to be a stepping stone to Stand. (I haven’t gotten to Part 7, so I can’t judge for myself on the details.) However, this is seen as a retcon, and for the most part, people seem inclined to say that there’s not much relationship.
The fan wiki article on Stand and this Reddit thread, among other sources, note that Hamon was more or less discarded after Part 2.


What is this upside down floating heart symbolizing?

It's a peach. As Aki Tanaka commented, this is a reference to the story of Momotaro, in which an old woman finds a peach floating down a river. When she and her husband attempt to eat it, they find a boy inside.


Do Bluray releases contain more scenes than their DVD counterparts?

Yes and no, much like any other blue-ray content (e.g., movies).

When releasing the blue-ray version, the publishers will always want as many people as possible to buy it. To do it (especially if the Blue-ray release follows a TV release and a DVD release which means a lot of potential customers have already bought something), they need to somehow raise your interest to the blue ray. Since a Blue-ray disc provides much more space than, say, a DVD disk, that gives them a chance to interest you:

Higher quality video
Higher quality audio (e.g. lossless audio formats)
More audio tracks (original audio, dubbed audio, maybe an audio commentary from the authors, etc. etc.)
Additional bonus content (interviews, films about "how this was made", soundtrack, and so on)
Bonus scenes/director's cut.
Other merchandise (posters/books/artbooks/anything-else-you-can-imagine-just-pay-for-it).

For example, here is the Fate/Zero Blue-ray box, which costs a hell lot, and includes, among other stuff,

  Extras: New bonus animation (written by Kinoko Nasu), Trailers, TV Spots, Textless Opening and Ending
  Episodes: Episodes 1-13 with unaired new footage

However, I wouldn't say that "most of", or at least "a lot of" Blue-ray releases contain bonus scenes, but unfortunately I can't prove myself with any facts, because apparently there's no such statistics in the Internet.


What is The song playing in my hero academia season 4 episode 12 at 11:40?

The song is I'm Seriously Going to Crush you


Why do Kurama and Gyuki appear as chakra while other bijuu don't?

The difference is that those are different stages of transformation, or different Jinchuuriki forms.
As you probably have seen, Killer B can also do a partial transformation, similar to the one shown on your image of Gaara:

Naruto, however, has not been able to do a partial or full transformation yet. He has been able to do a Tailed Beast Transformation, but in that one Kurama still appears as chakra:

As for the case of Isobu, he generally appears in that form because he was not sealed (at that moment) inside anyone. Thus, he appears in his full transformation form.

So basically, from what I've been able to gather, the different levels of transformation are as follows (I will use Naruto as my example):
- Initial form: in which the Jinchuuriki is simply enveloped in Bijuu chakra. Naruto's transformations shown in the first anime series generally fit into this stage.
- Version 1 of transformation: in which (in Naruto's case) up to three tails are are shown, in addition to the initial form's chakra cloak.
- Version 2 of transformation: the one shown in Naruto's fight against Pain, in which the Kyuubi's skeleton and up to (I think) 8 tails were shown.
- Partial Transformation: Naruto's partial transformation happened when Pain tried to seal him with Chibaku Tensei. However, in Naruto's case, he had no control whatsoever over the Bijuu. Different examples of this stage are Killer B's case (the image above) and Gaara's (the image on your question).
- Full Bijuu Form: Which Naruto has not been able to perform yet. Killer B however, has been seen to do this frequently and without much effort.

There are also the two most powerful transformations that Naruto was able to do (Kyuubi Chakra Mode and Bijuu Mode), but I do not know where those fit in the above 'scale' of transformations.
Plus, Version 1 and 2 are (as explained above) specific to Naruto's case. However, there is an intermediate stage between the initial form and the partial transformation stages for any Jinchuuriki, in which, proportionally to how powerful the form is, a certain (growing) number of tails appears.

When in initial form, the Jinchuuriki only accesses some of the Bijuu's chakra, but still needs little control over it. In Versions 1, 2 and in the Partial Transformation, if the Jinchuuriki does not have a good control over the Bijuu, he will lose control and consciousness, giving in to the Bijuu's will (which is precisely what happened with Naruto when fighting Pain).
To be able to do Partial or Full Transformations, the Jinchuuriki needs to have 'tamed the beast', and also to have very good control of chakra, in order to balance his (Jinchuuriki's) and the Bijuu's chakra.

On a side note, Naruto Wiki puts Killer B's Full Transformation Mode alongside Naruto's Bijuu Mode, giving them both the same name (Bijuu Mode). However, I am unsure as to why this is, because it seems weird that Naruto's Full Mode would look so different from all the other Jinchuuriki's.
Plus, his page there is the only one where both terms (Full [Bijuu number] Mode and Bijuu Form) appear. In Jinchuuriki 1 through 7, only the term Full [Bijuu number] Mode appears, in Killer B's case only Bijuu Mode (Tailed Beast Mode) appears, and in Naruto's case both terms appear.


Who is the woman seen in the grainy cutscenes?

This Woman is actually Varna, the High Goddess.

The Scenes that have her in it, most from what i remember are linked to Fiona or Eva Singing. The song they both sing is a song Varna song to Chaos which Chaos hummed to Eva, Fiona knen the song because she is related to Varna as she remembers being sung that song and remembering a mother's embrace and Fiona has Varna's Appearance.

The reason why Weiss, Schwarz and Grey saw this vision was because Weiss died at Mobius's hand and after killing Chaos used Weiss's body to house Chaos. Weiss, Schwarz and Grey from that point are facets of Chaos so they have his Memories (which explains the "Who am i" scenes), once in the True End Route Chaos allows Weiss, Schwarz and Grey to exists independently from him.

In the True End after opening the door to the True Agarest, there is a cutscene where we see the 3 flashback scenes of Varna, during the scene she is talking to someone who is revealed to be Chaos at the very end. We know this is Varna because

She express her feelings for Chaos who she always loved deep down
She expresses the same views Chaos had in regards to the Gods rule over Mortals

The partial scenes come from this one scene as Varna asks that when the door to the True Agarest if her and Chaos can be together indicating that the scenes occurs before Chaos was sealed.

NOTE: i'm not 100% sure if Fiona is Varna's daughter but the High Elves are the creation of Lenion who Varna married, however does not mean Varna gave birth to them as Chaos created their counterparts the Syrium and the only women on the Dark Gods side is Deeth and Nemesis. Deeth has been known to create races on her own but this might be because she is a hermaphrodite


In Soul Eater, does the rest of the world know about Demon Weapons and the DWMA?

Yes. The DWMA is actually a famous school. In soul eater not, when Tsugumi finds out that she is weapon and decides to go to the DWMA, all her friends are astounded that their friend can turn into a weapon and will be going to "the super elite DWMA".

DWMA, of course, has secrets and knowledge which they keep from the general public.


Does "Root A" follow the fact about Takatsuki and the One-Eyed Owl?

Yes, it's shown clearly in the anime that

   Sen Takatsuki is the One-Eyed Owl.

They started giving hints about it in first half of the episodes in Season 2.

Season 2 Episode 1

   Kaneki joins Aogiri and is welcomed by this girl named Eto

 Eto seems to like Kaneki

Season 2 Episode 2

   Later on in the next episode, Eto removes her bandages and smiles while taking Kaneki's name

Season 2 Episode 3

   In the next episode, we see this author Takatsuki and she smiles the same way as Eto while hearing Kaneki's name - Can safely infer that Takatsuki is actually Eto

Season 2 Episode 7

   The same smile pattern after hearing Kaneki's story from Hinami. Takatsuki is Eto confirmed!!

Season 2 Episode 11

   I think you missed this part. It was shown after the ED theme in Season 2 episode 11. It clearly shows that Takatsuki is the 2nd Owl, and the only daughter of Yoshimura (who is also called non-killing owl)


The Tree of Life is one of the most important symbolism in western alchemy.

The spiritual nature was especially highlighted among early practitioners of alchemy, but I would say that it was more Hermetic occultism than religious Judaism/Christianity. (Therefore, some people might spell it Qabalah rather than Kabbalah.)

The 10 emanations/attributes and the paths in the Tree were associated with the alchemical metals, elements, and planets that govern the alchemical process. The image below shows the tree with astrological planetary symbols associated. In alchemy, these planets were associated with various metals and elements. Therefore, an emanation might correspond to the sun and hence gold, and so on.

Therefore, it is only natural that it would make an appearance in an anime about alchemists.

For reference, you can find a giant essay here, although I haven't gone through all of it: "Secret Fire: The Relationship Between Kundalini, Kabbalah, and Alchemy"


It's a fictional manga magazine featuring a few different chapters from different series.  The word シュシュ in japanese means an elastic band of some sort.


Why did Hinami (Tokyo Ghoul) ask what it felt like to be in love?

I think she asked not for herself but for Touka instead. She saw Touka beeing pretty sad because of Kaneki and concluded that she may be fallen in love with him so she asked someone to understand Toukas feelings so she can help/understand her better, at least thats how I see it.

Edit (second question):
I dont think Touka has/had a crush on Nishiki because she obviously likes Kaneki in a romatic way.


What is Mike's rank in the Survey Corps?

Using that format, he would be Major Mike Zacharius. And, you could use those ranks if you really wanted to, but they are not a correct translation of the actual ranking structure within the Survey Corps.

In the Survey Corps, you'll find Commander Erwin Smith oversaw four squads and each squad has a Squad Leader (you can think of this as Squad Commander), a senior team leader, several team leaders, and so on. You can find the basic chain of command within each squad  here.

We know the four Squad Leaders (Section/Squad Commanders), are:

Levi Ackerman, Captain of the Survey Corps, Special Operations Squad Leader (Vol 6, Chapter 23, 4)
Mike Zacharius, Squad Leader of the Survey Corps (Vol 5, Chapter 19, 32)
Zoe Hange, Squad Leader of the Survey Corps (Vol 5, Chapter 19, 31)
Dita Ness, Squad Leader of the Survey Corps (Vol 5, Chapter 22, 174)

Now, the way the Survey Corps is laid out, the Squad Leaders are all of equivalent rank. That is to say, Levi Ackerman, Mike Zacharius, Zoe Hange, and Dita Ness are all technically second-in-command because neither is higher in rank than the other. I believe this equal-in-rank structure was implemented because each squad is technically its own division. Proof that Levi was not next in line is evident in Chapter 57 of the manga when:

  Zoe is chosen by Commander Erwin as his replacement upon death.

But, there are some inconsistencies. The manga and the subbed version of the anime both agree that Mike's official title is Squad Leader but in the dub he has been referred to as Major Mike Zacharius. I think this is where things got lost in translation, because there are no appropriate modern-day equivalents for Squad Leader or Section Commander and so that's what we ended up with.

If you wanted to use a more modern-day ranking structure and still maintain the same titles from the dub, you could use the following structure wherein the Corporal, although by definition is higher than Major, is actually equivalent in rank to Major. Then, and only then, would you have a somewhat accurate representation using a current military ranking structure (although, not sure where you're from, but Commander and Corporal don't actually co-exist in the same military branch).

Commander: Erwin Smith
Corporal/Major (again, being of equal rank): Levi Ackerman, Zoe Hange, Dita Ness, Mike Zacharius

But, in case you decide to go with the ranking system in the manga, it goes something more like this:

Commander: Erwin Smith
Squad Leaders: Captain Levi Ackerman, Mike Zacharius, Zoe Hange, Dita Ness
Senior Team Leaders
Team Leaders
Soldiers, Military Personnel

Super basic diagram attached in case my description was confusing.


Are there any academic journals that focus on anime/manga?

Mechademia is an annual publication published by Minnesota Press.  It also covers fan practices and other surrounding activities and media of anime/manga

There is currently a call for papers for a conference on Asian Pop Culture, but none for the next edition. The last volume was published in 2014 and they are still active.

Larger conventions occasionally have calls for papers and a good source of finding them is on the Fan Studies Network site. They hold their own conference with cfps annually also. Arguably the largest of these is at Anime Expo

Other resources for finding articles on anime & manga can be found here:

The "Let's Manga" Project , (also here)
Academia.edu
Anime & Manga Studies group


A lot of ONAs get released either through the Bandai Channel or on Nico Nico Douga. Releases on the Bandai Channel are usually region locked and sometimes, they're re-release them on their Youtube channel (which, sometimes, is also region locked). Nico has an English version of the site which makes it a lot more accessible.

Both sites are free, Nico requires registration to view most videos and there is also a "Premium" member access.


What does this Treaty have to do with Ecchi Girls?

You have two questions here:

  What exactly is this treaty?

and

  Does it really have so much control over anime?

The Treaty of San Francisco they reference is otherwise known as the Treaty of Peace with Japan. Representatives from 51 countries worked together to create this treaty at an opera house in San Francisco, CA. The treaty was ratified by 48 of the 51 attending countries, including Japan, on September 8, 1951. This treaty marks the conclusion of World War II and the world's reorganization of Japan as an imperial power.

As far as its effects on the anime industry, this is merely a joke that J-LIST is making.  The treaty has no effect on the anime industry.  If you are interested in learning more about the treaty you can read the document itself on the UN Websitepdf.

I followed up with Peter Payne owner of J-LIST about your question and his response was:

  It was just a random joke. That’s the treaty that officially ends WWII, so I pretended Japan was required to put dumb main charactors in all future harem anime to balance out the ecchi girls.

His reply in context can be seen here:
https://twitter.com/giraffesyo/status/647764344525053952


How did Gon and Killua know they were being spied on when entering Greed Island?

Even ignoring their (barely trained) Nen abilities, Gon grew up very close to nature, and Killua was trained as an assassin since he was a toddler. We see Gon realize he is being watched at time code 0:20 of episode 61.  After the opening song, we see other newly arrived hunters mentioning being watched (tc 2:20). One of the hunters says to his ally, "Well they can't be too good if we can sense them from here." Finally Killua says the same thing on his arrival, tc 2:42.

I think enough was shown to conclude that awareness of being watched is a common trait of advanced hunters.  Also, remember that Gon was able to shield himself from Hisoka's awareness during phase 4 of the Hunter exam.  This was before even learning Nen, just the skills he had learned growing up on Whale Island. Also during the Hunter exam, we saw Killua use the Rhythm Echo assassination technique.  With training in skills like that, I'm sure he could sense being watched even without his Nen.


According to the Japanese Wikipedia article for the series:

  Because she has almost completely forgotten how to speak English, she has a complex about her last name "Coppola". When she changed schools, she hid her last name "Coppola" along with the fact that she
  couldn't speak English and could speak Japanese. However, she was
  quickly exposed by Itou and her friends.

So it seems like she's embarrassed because she has a foreign last name but can't speak English.

Also, on an English blog, someone asked the same question, and a Japanese viewer provided their insight via comments (comment #15, don't think there's a way to permalink it):

  Kappore was a joke show in the Japanese feudal age. Coppola has a
  similar pronunciation to Kappore (especially in japanese’sound). now
  almost Japanese don’t know the meaning of Kappore, but we feel funny
  when we listen the word like kappore.

There don't seem to be many English resources on kappore, but you can also search on Youtube for some modern examples.

On the same blog's comments, another Japanese viewer comments (comment #17):

  The reason why koppora sounds weird to the Japanese has something to
  do with the accents of the 19th century peasants in northeastern
  Japan. They used to pronounce “kon-na koto” as “koddara godo”,
  “chotto” as “chokkura”, “bikkuri” as “beggura” and so on, which is not
  considered very elegant among the white-collar class. And, the family
  name Coppola doesn’t sound like British but reminds us of Italian
  immigrants, which further highlights the awkwardness of Ana’s phony
  “British Style.” That’s probably why Miu always mentions “koppora”
  whenever Ana gets a bout of British chauvinism (as in drama CD’s) or
  her facade is wearing off.

So there are three different theories for you. Seems like even the Japanese aren't 100% why it sounds so funny.