text:
What's with the "x" in "Hunter x Hunter" (and other anime/manga)?
I am wondering what the "x" in "Hunter x Hunter" means. To clarify: I am also talking about what the "x" means in general as many other anime/manga also have it in their titles.
A quick Google search for this question returns a Yahoo answer result which claims that the "x" is just for style and has no meaning whatsoever. Is this correct? Does this also apply to other anime?

It's worth noting that when saying the name (or episode titles) aloud, you don't even pronounce the "x"; it's simply "hunter hunter". (Leading credence to the fact that it's a stylistic choice.)

I deleted my answer since it seems that giving the source on where the author came up with the name  of the manga doesn't fit.

probably just stylistic, but i'm not sure

I see this happen for "ships"  too. (e.g. "Shiroe x Akatsuki") so it might mean something like" and".

Possibly relevant: http://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/17281/why-do-lots-of-anime-titles-have-%E2%98%86-in-them and http://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/13314/what-order-are-couplings-like-charaxcharb-in

I've done some searching about the names like this, and I wasn't able to find any particular explanation. Some people say it's just for style, other argue that the × is another form of "vs" (which kind of makes some sense), or "and" (like &), or "with". (Not to mention that it might also mean "kisses" like in "xoxo" = "hugs and kisses", but that's most likely irrelevant :P)
It's worth noting that it is not uncommon to find odd letters in anime/manga titles (e.g. Lucky ☆ Star - らき☆すた has a star in the name) and even in character names (e.g. Black☆Star from Soul Eater has a star in his name as well). Also the 'x' in "Hunter × Hunter" is not actually the letter 'x', but rather the symbol ×.
So, considering the above, I would personally say that it's just for style.

I think I will just mark this as the answer for now since it seems like it really is just for style and nobody seems to have any other ideas...

In the anime itself, it is pronounced as "ハンターハンター"(Hantaa Hantaa), so it is probably sage to assume that the x is not meant to be pronounced.

A warning if you are planning to search on some of the titles listed below as some contain NSFW content.
To add to the previously accepted answer, while the × or ×'s in anime titles will usually not be pronounced, leading to the idea that this is just for style or preference, this is not always the case.
Another reason I see as to why this is just for style or preference in some cases is because as far as I know, there is no × or X in hiragana or katakana, unlike in the English alphabet. I also have not yet seen an × or X in kanji or a representation of it in kanji. Examples of where the × is not included in the translation include (I got their translations from their respective Wikipedia pages):

Hunter × Hunter - ハンター×ハンター Hantā Hantā, abbreviated: HxH
High School D×D - ハイスクールD×D Haisukūru Dī Dī
×××Holic - ×××ホリック Horikku, pronounced as "Holic"
Kiss×sis - キス×シス Kisu×shisu
Servant × Service - サーバント×サービス Sābanto × Sābisu
Dusk Maiden of Amnesia - 黄昏乙女×アムネジア Tasogare Otome × Amunejia
Hybrid × Heart Magias Academy Ataraxia - 魔装学園Hハイブリッド×Hハート Masō Gakuen Haiburiddo Hāto

As you can see, the × is not included in the translation. If it was, it can be translated as 'ekusu' (エクス) or 'ekkusu' (エックス) (I'm still learning Japanese so any corrections on its katakana equivalent would be welcome). But, in some cases, the × might represent another word. I found an example in the anime Romeo × Juliet. According to its Wikipedia page, this is not pronounced as 'Romeo Juliet' but rather 'Romeo and Juliet' (ロミオ×ジュリエット or Romio to Jurietto) where 'to' is the Japanese equivalent of 'and'.
Thus, this varies depending on the anime or the manga title. I suggest you check the Wikipedia pages or something similar of works with the symbol '×' if you want to verify whether or not they are pronounced or if they are read as other words, like in the case of Romeo × Juliet, or if they represent something else.
In the case of Hunter × Hunter, it is not pronounced and has no meaning whatsoever. The image below is from Volume 6 of the VIZ translations.
Togashi was only focusing on naming a manga that has the format '(something) Hunter' and after seeing a joke about repetition, decides to repeat the word Hunter as a title. He did not mention anything relevant about including × so in my assumption, this has no meaning whatsoever, unless of course he only did that to prevent spoilers about something in his story that has yet to be revealed.

It could mean "Hunter of Hunter" as x, as a multiplication symbol is often replaced in equations with the word "of".
For example, "5 of 12" means 5 lots of 12, and 5 x 12. Thus, the x in Hunter x Hunter could also follow the same pattern, and mean "Hunter of Hunter", which would also line up with Gon's goal to search for his father.
He's a hunter, hunting for his father, another hunter.

hmm it actually makes sense

The 'X' probably means "cross." In math it can be seen as "vector X vector." Which is to cross-multiply two vectors, the result is a vector 90 degrees to both vectors. To "cross" someone is to challenge them. So the title is read as, "Hunter Cross Hunter."
The 'X' has been used in other titles such as:
"X Multiply" as NES game which I think is just a clever way to say "Cross Multiply"
"Street Fighter X Tekken" a multi-platform game(PS3, Xbox360, PC, etc.) which is also said as, "Street Fighter Cross Tekken." Because it is a crossover game.
And "XX" would be "double-cross." Also, title ending in an 'X' may not mean anything, just to look and sound cool. Such as "Castlevania: Dracula X."

High School DxD was, I think, obviously about "double D's", because all of the girls were so well endowed bra size wise. Maybe Hunter x Hunter means "Double Hunter". I'm just speculating here. It could just be stylistic, like others have already said. But the Japanese people are well known for their love of wordplay. And because of that maybe several of the answers here are actually right. Only the Author knows for sure, and he's unlikely to spoil the fun by telling us.

It is so funny to watch people attempt to answer this with logic and sound so confident!
As a branding expert, it is a stylistic choice to imply 'and' but more of a 'with' implication. So a partnership in business, either temporary or permanent you will see this sometimes, more often than not, in fashion cobranding partnerships. Like if Marvel partnered with JCPenny, you'd most likely see both logos with the x between them. Some confused this with a pipe, but that is meant more for further explanation of a division or group within the same parent company. It isnt really logical other than simply a stylistic choice that someone came up with and others ran with.

For someone who derides other answers in their opening, your answer is also amazingly confident considering it lacks any sources or proof.

Others have offered valuable insights. I believe that this is common notation in matrices. In most cases it is like a 2d space, X axis then Y axis. A matrix of dimension 5 x 10. Pursuit × And × Analysis (Episode 59), Pursuit is contrasting to Analysis as is Aggressive x Passive. So imagine Passive is X axis, Aggressive is Y axis. They are somewhat disjoint, yet are important factors in victories. Chasing × And × Waiting, Restraint × And × Vow, Defend × And × Attack, all from Episode 40s and so on, the first is either passive, then there is aggressive. Other instances like A × Shocking × Tragedy (Episode 43) are a mere continuation of this style, they can be seen as exceptions.

With crossover fighting games it appears to be used as something of a blend between versus and and/with, as the two companies (as well as their characters) are both collaborating and competing at the same time. With anime, where meaning is present at all, I suspect it's a similar blending of usages. I supposed in some, where it's not pronounced orally, the reasoning is there's no equivalent single word. Less, in this case, stylistic use and more a practical use (much like a contraction), albeit with notable inconveniences when trying to discuss it verbally.

Some shows such as Highschool DxD have the title in their intro song in which you can hear what it stands for; by. So Kiss x Sis will be read as Kiss by Sis (it was either the opening or ending or throughout the show, but it was pronounced as kiss by sis, not sure where to find it). Highschool DxD will become Highschool D by D (in the song you can hear D by D). However this isn't final, based on other shows x can hold multiple meanings which become for example and or versus or just the multiplication. Some examples to illustrate what I am talking about:

Romeo x Juliet -> Romeo and Juliet
C³ Cube × Cursed × Curious -> C³ Cube and Cursed as well as Curious
Hidamari Sketch × 365 -> Hidamari Sketch times 365
Servant × Service -> Servant and Service
Street Fighter x Tekken -> Street Fighter versus Tekken

With Hunter × Hunter for example the × is never pronounced but can be seen as a symbol indicating Hunter versus (or and) Hunter which is extremely fitting to the show itself.
Plenty of shows also use different symbols in their title for example Steins;Gate, Choukadou Girl ⅙, .hack//Sign, Tokyo Ghoul √A, Saiki Kusuo no Ψ Nan. Based on that the symbols pretty much always have a meaning related to the show itself. So in conclusion whether x (or ×) is pronounced or not it always has a meaning that fits the show. It however doesn't have a solid standard meaning. Sometimes the meaning is a lot easier to decipher and in other occasions it becomes quite a journey to discover what it means. The titles I picked as examples all have meanings in which you can see that some are extremely straightforward (if you watched the shows) while others aren't.


text:
Why was the straw hat passed to Shanks and then to Luffy?
Why did Gol D Roger give his straw hat to Shanks, and why did Shanks pass it on to Luffy? Is there any explanation for this in the manga?
Also, why do they love the hat so much? Is the cause for this love related to the passing of the hat?

Are you asking about the significance of the strawhat or why Shanks passed it onto Luffy?

my question is what is the significance of straw hat and why shrank and luffy love it so much?

Please edit your question to reflect this. What do you mean by why "luffy love it so much?"

I have edited your question according to your comments. If the edit alters the original meaning, you can revert it back and edit it to make it more legible.

There was not much information on why the hat was passed down but I will do my best to give you an answer that I interpreted from the series.
Gol D. Roger to Shanks

Gol D. Roger wore the straw hat first and it seems the time period that he wore this hat was when he was gathering his crew together. It is not disclosed as to how long he held it from the time of his crew gathering to the new captains garb that he wore until his execution. It is probably safe to assume that once his crew was assembled he probably gave the hat to Shanks. It seems that Shanks wore this hat for almost all of his time on with the Roger Pirates and even a good deal afterwards even when he had his own crew the Red Hair Pirates. Exactly why Roger decided to give Shanks the hat is unknown at this point, but it would be safe to say that Roger saw something in Shanks and deemed him worthy of the hat. It can be said that many of the people that have the Will of the D. seem to be able to see the potential (whether for good or bad) in an individual.
Shanks to Monkey D. Luffy

After Shanks and his crew save Foosha Village from the mountain bandits and after Shanks loses his arm to a Sea King to save Luffy we see the Red Hair Pirates leaving the village. At this moment a young Monkey D. Luffy yells to Shanks that he will become a great pirate, even more so the Pirate King. After Luffy makes this statement Shanks gives him the straw hat and tells him to return it after he becomes a great pirate. The idea behind this gift is so that Luffy will put all of his effort to becoming a great pirate. Shanks wants Luffy to succeed and the hat is supposed to be both a challenge and encouragement from Shanks to Luffy. The challenge is to become as great of a pirate as he can be, ideally the King of Pirates. The encouragement is that Luffy will get to return the hat to his old friend once he becomes great. One characteristic that Luffy displays often through out this series is that he does not step down from a challenge no matter how hard or dangerous it may be.
The Love for the Hat

The love for the hat can stem from many sources. For Shanks it was the personal item of a man that he respected and most likely idolized. To receive a gift from a person with as much fame and reverence of that of Gol D. Roger is not something anyone in the One Piece universe would take lightly, it is in itself a treasure. During his fight with Buggy Luffy iterates that the hat is his treasure. To Luffy this hat being his "treasure" is the embodiment of his dreams of becoming the King of Pirates. He also loves the hat because of Shanks, it would be pretty easy to read that Shanks was one of Luffy's idols when he was young. Most children are very impressionable so it is along similar views with Gol D. Roger giving his hat to Shanks. Both Luffy and Shanks had a person that they viewed as an idol or person to surpass and the hat is can be represented as a dream, challenge, or promise. The thing is that the hat means something a little different to everyone so its hard to give the real reason as to why the hat is loved so much.

It's a nice explaination, I;d just like to add that during the Sabaody Archipelago Arc when Luffy spoke with Silver Rayleigh he spoke of Shanks loosing his hat (and arm). It might be a (big) part of the reason why Shanks passed his hat on to Luffy. See: http://a.mfcdn.net/store/manga/106/52-506.0/compressed/i017.jpg

When crocus said to luffy when he had set sail to the grand line crocus "Is this the one who you are waiting for roger", maybe roger wanted someone to take his place to solve the mystery of Will of D - the one what roger cannot complete because of his incurable disease.
He gave the hat to shanks to give to someone who have D in his name.
This is just my theory

source: Stack Exchange

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

sort: votes


text:
Where can I hear more music by Dragon Ball composer Shunsuke Kikuchi?
I am a big fan of Shunsuke Kikuchi, the composer of the BGM (background music) for the Dragon Ball animes such as this one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Apzgm_hpoZw
While I can only usually find his music for Dragon Ball online like YouTube, etc, I am wondering if some of his other works can be listened to online.

Maybe ask on [musicfans.se] instead?

@Unihedron of course, but asking here increases the chances of actually getting an answer? Anime and manga fans sometimes know Japanese culture while "music fans" forum is maybe a little less specific...

http://area51.stackexchange.com/proposals/59039/japanese-culture?referrer=tP_lbamf0n1kK-dXh6v_KA2

@Unihedron what is this  link? I don't understand

Are you looking for a list of media he is credited for or a list of individual pieces he's worked on? You should be more specific on that you are looking for.

@ʞɹɐzǝɹ my question asks "where can his other works be heard online". Not sure how much more specific I could be... (Therefore, music pieces for which he is credited as a music composer). Thanks!

While it's a given that you did mention that, your title implies you're asking for a list of works, which brings into question which you are looking for more, or links to media. Both are broad questions, but the latter is a bit more so as rarely do the older japanese composers make or think to have their works (especially older ones) to be available online so much more effort is needed in digger them up. I only ask you this so be can better tailor an answer to what you specifically want more and not have to fumble around trying to cover all the bases.

@ʞɹɐzǝɹ Thank you very much for pointing this out, I instantly corrected the title of the question to better frame my intentions.

The composer doesn't have a dedicated channel, as not many of his works are available for streaming or download legally online.
A discography and filmography of his work is available. As he has done work for not only anime, but live action series and films (as writer and/or composer), your best bet is to use a combination of two lists and look them up individually on sites such as Youtube.

Thank you very much. I hope that maybe, someone who is perfectly fluent in Japanese could also give their two cents about this, as there might be amazing amounts of information on such topics in Japanese websites that we cannot easily access.

@fabriced: He has numerous works: https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%8F%8A%E6%B1%A0%E4%BF%8A%E8%BC%94 80% of his article on ja.Wikipedia is just for listing his works.

Thanks, @nhahtdh, I believe the US page on Wikipedia for him also has a good list of his works (and IMDb).
But the link you are providing doesn't allow me to listen to any of his works, just to see a list of his works in Japanese.

@fabriced: The list is there. If you want to listen, you have to search for it. Do mind that the works are all copyrighted, so whether you find the soundtrack for free depends on your luck.

all_licenses: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/


text:
What did Shouya want to say to Shouko?

During this scene, Shouya tells something like "Ore wa saa..." to Shouko, which I believe translates to something which the subtitles show as well, "You see, I...". But while completing the sentence, he falls, which leads to him being unable to complete it.
Nowhere in the movie further, is mentioned about this thing (at least I haven't noticed it :B).
Is there any sort of official statement on what he might've wanted to say?

In the manga version, Ishida said,

"It's cold... and it's warm"

The sentence didn't look fit with what Ishida said before. Rephrasing it a little bit,

"By the way/You see, I... feel cold and warm"

Well, my thought about what the meaning of these words are:

"It's cold" refers to the cold of the river
"it's warm" refers to the blood starting to surround his body when he's in the river. The average temperature of blood is pretty high, and when it's escaping your body that quickly you can tend to feel the warmth before it has time to cool off. You can see in the frame where Ishida mentions "It's Warm" is the same frame where he begins to bleed out. Same goes for in the movie, its voiced over as soon as he begins bleeding out as well.

Volume 6, chapter 43: page 15, 16, 17

Argh, there goes my shipping hope. ;-; I thought he was going to confess or something :P. Anyways, going to wait a few hours more before accepting to see any other answer comes up! Anyways, thank you for the answer \o/

I'm glad I was able to help (y) @SaitamaSama

I used to think he said "I love you" but then, I thought about when he looked at her ear and then I thought he said "I'm sorry" But I guess my ship failed because he was really talking about temperatures.

all_licenses: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/


text:
Meaning of the term 'plotless'
I need an elaborate answer to this question. After one of the answers I got from another question where a particular film jargon ("plotless story") was used, I read a wiki page and found that plot (narrative) means the chain of events which are linked to each other. In every show which is made for entertainment, there must be a link between events otherwise it would make no sense to watch it. Imagine a hypothetical "plotless show" where two characters completed unrelated to each other, die because of completely unrelated reasons, it'd rather be called a set of random events rather than a show.
When people say "this anime has no plot", what do they actually mean? Are they talking about two episodes not connected to each other?

Your question is off-topic unless you can relate it back to a particular series or trope. You should have at least tried linking to the particular wiki page. Please consider editing your question.

I'm not sure if this is that unclear, but it is very broad. Short answer: the term doesn't mean what the literal definition of "plot" implies it should mean. It means a story that lacks an overarching narrative. A plotless show still has continuity, even between episodes in most cases, but it does not lay out a single self-contained chain of events. There's no culmination or payoff coming at the end.

@ʞɹɐzǝɹ Is this alright now? I hope it's more clear now.

@torisuda has it correct:

It means a story that lacks an overarching narrative

For an example of a plotless show, see Lucky Star.
The characters are the same in each scene, but every scene is distinct from each other. In one scene they might be talking about how to eat a chocolate cornet, another they might be talking about video games.
There are jokes that are referred to again - for example how Kagami is a tsundere. But this isn't a narrative or simply put - a story.
Your definition of narrative is correct:

the chain of events which are linked to each other

but, it fails to contextualize the links. the links are items that further the plot's progression - for example: a hero beats a villain who was blocking the path, the girls perform in a concert that raises their fame, etc.
Links like reusing jokes, same characters - or generally things of no overall consequence do not contribute to the story/plot.
If we have no links like we described, the show can be called plotless.
Feel free to comment if you want me to expand on something.

And here I was waiting with my answer ever since I cast my reopen vote, just to have you jump right in :L You've described things better than I would have anyway, +1

;) the more answers the better :)

@Matt If you look at our Area 51 stats, the one place we're lagging is number of answers per question, so if you have a slightly different way of looking at this, by all means post your answer.


text:
How does All for One's "stealing quirk" work?
How does All for One's "stealing quirk" work? Does he have to touch the victim, or can he do it from distance? Is this ever explained in the manga, official book, movie or something?

According to the Boku no Hero Academia Wiki, it is done through touch.

The process of giving and taking away Quirks is done through touch. People who have their Quirks stolen become Quirkless, losing any sort of abnormal features if they happen to be Mutant types. When quirks are stolen, the victim becomes disoriented and immobile for a short time. Meanwhile, Quirkless people who receive a Quirk through All For One become capable of manifesting all of its attributes.

Source: All For One > Description (2nd Paragraph)

While it's not All For One himself the villain Nine is seen using a weaker copy of the stealing quirk in the second movie Heroes Rising which requires direct physical contact with the victim.

From a distance. You remember when all for one used that awesome ability that stabbed All Might with the black and red shapeable sword thingy. Those are actually to borrow or take a quirk. But OFA is immune to AFO so it didn't affect All Might except the stab part. He can borrow and take quirks with that. But he has to get close to give someone a quirk.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/


text:
Why did Near start to suspect the presence of a second Death Note?
At what point and why did Near start to suspect the presence of a second Death Note? How and why did he consider that Mikami used a faked one?

L already suspected that there's more than one Death Note, so Near knows that there are two notebooks. Fact one came into consideration at the time of the kidnapping of Kiyomi Takada, when Mikami went to the gym a second time. He behaved suspiciously, and took the actual Death Note and wrote Kiyomi Takada's name. It is revealed at the end of the Death Note.


text:
Why does Wei WuXian look like Mo XuanYu?
What was the purpose of their bodies looking almost identical to each other? Was it just the animator's decision or was it in the novel?

The top image is Wei Wuxian and the bottom one is him in Mo Xuanyu's body.

This bothered me too like Mo Xuanyu looks in terms of his outfit and physical look is almost exactly like Wei Ying, personality is the same, and they both use the same kind of dark magic, like how did no one else not recognize him

I think it was the animator's decision. All we know is when Wei Ying made comments about Mo Xuan Yu's body, he noted that Mo Xuan Yu was shorter than him in his previous life and that he was handsome as well.
There was no note on that in the novel. In the novel, he was extremely surprised when Lan Zhan was able to recognize him, so actually according to the story, they aren't supposed to look alike at all.

I think it was noted in the novel or extra materials that due to the influence of Wuxian's soul and the fact that the body LITERALLY became his, it immediately started taking the shape of his own body, little by little.

Could you give us a source? As in which chapter/extra was it mentioned?


text:
Dragon Ball Volume 1 colored and uncensored?
I would like to buy  for my collection a copy of Dragon Ball Volume 1 colored and uncensored or the closest thing.
Browsing I have found so far:

Regular Volume 1 is uncensored but no color pages.
Collectors edition has some colored pages but is censored.
Viz Big has some colored pages but is censored and is really big.

I am wrong?  Any other choice?

Do you also want it in English? If so, as far as I know what you're looking for doesn't exist.

I prefer English but I am open to Japanese if is the only option.


text:
Why didn't Kenshin's master Hiko Seijuro fight Master Shishio?
Why didn't Kenshin's master, Hiko Seijuro, come and fight Master Shishio Makoto in the showdown of the Kyoto Arc?
This is one of the many times that the Meiji government called on Kenshin to solve their problems, even though his master is as skilled as he. (This is especially true before Kenshin learned the final technique.)

well, shishio is another kenshin in the sense that he's a hired assassin by the government (a successor of the battousai as mentioned in the wiki) so indirectly, he shares a connection with kenshin... that and hiko doesn't have anything to do with him at all and he doesn't want to use his skills for anything that won't benefit him (until that one time kenshin asked him for help to save kyoto vs the giant member of jupongattana)

Because Master Seijuro wasn't interested! He was, to put it bluntly, an introverted, misanthropic and somewhat lazy martial artist, who thought the world an unredeemable place, felt Kenshin a fool for wanting to improve society, and didn't care in the least to take down Shishio. (See particularly his interactions with Kenshin during episode 41, "The Ultimate Technique of the Hiten-Mitsurugi Style: Reunion with a Mentor, Seijuro Hiko".) To quote from the Kenshin wiki page on him:

Kenshin describes his personality
  as "twisted, brusque and misanthropic" ...
  He dislikes the complications of socialization, and hearing of the
  ills of society, both of which he finds annoying, and to the latter's
  weight, ultimately incessant and depressing. In order to avoid having
  to work with people, he makes his living as a pottery artist alone on
  a mountain (a profession that he is reported to excel at). He also
  comes off as somewhat lazy, professing to have retrained Kenshin to
  save himself the bother of having to deal with Shishio, and later on,
  he complains about having to protect Kenshin's friends, after the
  latter insists him to do so (though he does).

It's only after much cajoling that he agrees to teach Kenshin what he needs to know to defeat Shishio (episode 43, "Between Life and Death: Master the Ultimate Technique, Amakakeru Ryu no Hikameki!"), but beyond that, the most he will agree to do is to (grudgingly) keep an eye on and protect his friends, while Kenshin does the actual hard work of fighting Shishio (episode 53, "The Giant Versus Superman: Like an Arrow Shot at a Time of Despair")!

This is gonna set some people off, but the simple truth is that Hiko would have lost to Shishio.
First, Hiko's defense is not impenetrable. Even before learning the succession technique, Kenshin was able to land a hit on Hiko when his focus and motivation were at 100%. That means Shishio would have likewise been able to hand hits on Hiko.
Meanwhile, Hiko's capacity to take damage is no better than anyone else's. Yes his muscle mass gives him some protection, but it didn't protect him from the Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki. And consider getting hit by that technique knocked him out for a full day, whereas Shishio could withstand the full force of the stronger version of the technique and keep fighting, and even Aoshi could maintain consciousness. That suggests one Guren Kaina would have knocked him out, and even Homura Dama would have whittled away his fighting strength.
All of which is to say, his build, technique, and blade give him incremental advantages over Kenshin but not so much that motivation and fighting spirit wouldn't factor in. And on those counts, Kenshin is leaps and bounds ahead, being more invested at an ideological level (caring more about what happens to the government) and a personal level (redeeming his own legacy as hitokiri), contrasted to Hiko's personality ("twisted, brusque and misanthropic") and politics (the Hiten sword must maintain its independency from factions)
All of this is set up within the narrative itself, which is why Kenshin didn't bother asking his master to help him out. Of course, protecting the weak from roving bandits is right within his wheelhouse, which is why he is willing to protect the Aoya.

Essentially it is because it is not his fight, this is the symbolic end of Kenshin's arc as an assassin.  Kenshin knew this and that is why he only asked Hiko to make sure his loved ones were safe.  For the story it would be boring because he would just waltz in and kill everyone in a couple minutes, maybe seconds.  Hiko Seijuro is the best swordsman in this universe by far, he is superman.  He is stronger, faster, more skilled and more experienced than Kenshin.  Kenshin hit him with Amakakeru because Seijuro forced him to in order to teach him how to do it.  The only area where Kenshin measures up is heart, he may even surpass Hiko in this.

The author of the Manga stated that Hiko is too powerful and would make all encounters trival and boring.
This is Kenshin's story not Hiko's.

Welcome to Anime & Manga! This answer looks promising, but could you [edit] and add sources/references that the author of the manga stated this?

He obviously wasn't interested in fighting for the government. He scolded Kenshin many times and even mocked him for taking sides with the government and what it made him to be. He could definitely defeat Shishio if he wanted to.

He very well could have. However that's not the final lesson he wished to bestow. He let Kenshin do so, namely because in actuality it's partially his mechanations that caused this circumstance with Shishio in the first place.
Mush like the Sith in Star Wars, Ascension to Master requires typically the student kill the master by perfecting the final technique. The master-apprentice dynamic continues to point of succession in which the apprentice graduates by successfully besting the master in a life or death struggle. Practitioners of Hiten Mitsurugi style of swordsmanship; capitulated to Maintain independence of any and all political entities, stressing highly the importance of wielding its expertise in the name of humanity; and NOT serving any political, government or institutional body. Since Shishio was attempting to overthrow the Meiji government, killing/disposing of him would be a political move (And the Hiten style Stresses it's practitioners take NO ambition to accumulate political power or change political dynamics)
imagine you inherit a power so great, then realize you have to kill a million to save a million. Hiko was right.
“It is forbidden to kill; therefore all murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets.”
― Voltaire


text:
What are the "Angels" called in the original Japanese version?
The entities attacking Nerv and attempting to reach Lilith are universally referred to as "Angels" in the English dubs, subs and translations of the NGE manga.
In Japanese, the opening song ("Cruel Angel's Thesis") does refer to tenshi (天使) which translates smoothly into "angel" in English (literally "heavenly messenger"), however this term does not seem to appear in the TV series, EoE, Rebuild movies or manga. So what Japanese term(s) are used to describe them, what do they mean, and why were they translated as "angels" for Anglo audiences?

These organisms are categorized as 「使徒」(shito) meaning "apostle" in Japanese sources. Shito is the word used in the Japanese translation of the Christian Bible to refer to people who possess the spiritual gift of Apostle (this differs from the word used to describe all of Jesus' followers, which is 「弟子」 [deshi], the same word used for disciples of Confucius and other renowned historical figures).
Curiously, according to Evangelion Wiki,

The collective grouping has no unique canonical name, although the phrase "Adam's children" was used by Misato in a preliminary draft for Episode 25'

written as 「アダムの子供達」 (Adamu no Kodomotachi), meaning "children of Adam."
According to evageeks.org,

the word "Angel" was retained in the English version of the show at the request of the show's Japanese creators

but they provide no citation for this claim. They note that in an early proposal pitch, the word 「アポストロ」(aposutoro) was suggested.
While apostles are clearly human whereas angels are supernatural, the word "apostle" is derived from the Greek word ἀπόστολος (apóstolos) which means "messenger" (broken apart is "from" + "I send"). The Japanese「使徒」(shito) broken apart is "messenger" + "person" (same kanji as「使う」[tsukau] meaning "use" or "speak"). The special ability of Apostle allows the wielder to go to a new place, preach the Good News there, and plant new church communities with more ease than another disciple who doesn't possess that gifting would be able to do. The English word "angel" is derived from the Greek ἄγγελος (ángelos) meaning "messenger." As you note, the Japanese 「天使」(tenshi) is literally "heaven" + "messenger." So etymologically we see that the Japanese words「使徒」and 「天使」 both show the idea of sent-ness for the purpose of delivering a message.

"Angel" appears on-screen in the eyecatches (like in the opening) as well as monitors/displays and things. This is the case of the original Japanese version going all the way to the TV broadcast. They had already given them an English name right from the start.

True, and the naming strategy for many of the shito's personal names indicate that the creators had Judeo-Christian angels in mind from the start. However, the Japanese fans don’t refer to them as tenshi, mitsukai, or enjeru, the Japanese words for “angel.”


text:
Can the Tailed Beasts produce offsprings?
Is it possible for the Tailed Beasts to produce offspring of their own? Both 'male' and 'female' type Tailed Beasts exist.
The offspring would be hybrid, but still, would it be possible?

This question is speculative and might need improvement. Join us on chat so we can discuss about it --> http://chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/6697/maid-cafe-

This is were the age old asexual reproduction joke pops up once more. They can, asexually, it's like to clone themselves. Didn't 10 tails do that? He made 9 bijuus out of himself.

Seriously ! If that's the case I have a question as well. Do tailed beasts eat Junk foods ? I am asking this because, I have seen they have teeth ;)

Yes, in anime anything is possible.

There is no canon answer to your question. The tailed beasts as they currently exist in the Narutoverse are chakra creatures, not biological, and came into existence because one entity (the 10 Tails) had its chakra separated from its body (which became the Moon), which was then artificially split into a number of separate beings. There is no indication that any of these creatures (or chakra based entities in general) can reproduce themselves in any way similar to organic sexual reproduction.
If you're asking about the kitsune as a concept in actual Japanese folklore (which is the basis for Kishimoto's tailed beasts), then the answer is: the kitsune are considered a type of yokai or kami, who can if powerful and wise enough, take the form of a human being (usually but not limited to a beautiful woman). There are many stories of foxes in the guise of a beautiful woman falling in love with and marrying a human and producing offspring.
The real-life Sengoku general Takeda Shingon's wife Suwa Koi was believed to be a malevolent fox-spirit, and she bore him Takeda Katsuyori. Abe no Seimei in the Heian period was also considered a child of a fox.
Sources:

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

Related (to the second part of your answer): http://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/748/how-are-the-bijuu-adapted-from-real-mythology

authors: Cheng An รัตน์นารทร ณ ระนอง


text:
What's the significance of ice pop lottery?
During the series, Akira Amatsume discusses an ice-pop/popsicle lottery. The winner obtains a wooden stick with some words printed on it. However, later on Akira mentions that it is just a urban myth.
What is the significance of this plot point? Does the lottery relate to a real urban myth? Is the lottery a symbol for something?


text:
Why does Shichika allow Princess Hitei to travel with him?
The closing credits of Katanagatari show Shichika travelling with the Princess, and being pretty friendly to her. But isn't she at least indirectly responsible for Togame's death, or did I misunderstand the part where Emonzaemon mentions that only he decided himself to kill her?
So why does Shichika let her travel with him when he would have a reason to hate her?

Princess Hitei released Togame from her burdens and sent Shichika to thank Hitei for that. Hitei also confessed that she didn't dislike Togame. Hitei also was going along with the motives of her ancestor, not her own volition. So in a way, she killed Togame for two reasons, to alter the future and to release her from burdens/responsibilities. She semi-respects Togame in the end by cutting her long hair as short as Togame's. Even Shichika has a shred of humanity to realize that any needless killing is well, needless.

And also because she does all the paperwork and provides with money. Stuff Shichika can't really do (he mentions it in ep 12).


text:
Why is Mikan's memory going to be erased?
In recent chapters (as of Chapter 168) of Gakuen Alice, Mikan's memories of her time at the school are due to be erased because

she loses her abilities saving Natsume.

However, people outside Gakuen Alice are stated to know about Alices. For example, some people (such as Hotaru) have obtained contracts from companies related to her Alice.
Why, then, do Mikan's memories of the school need to be erased?

Can you indicate the chapter number, so that we know when is "recent" in the future.

@nhahtdh Sure. Added.

It is one of Alice Gakuen's school rules that any student who leaves without graduating from Alice Academy will have their memories erased. Furthermore, because Mikan's case is, according to Narumi, a special one, that she knows so much about the secret organizations regarding the academy, it is best for her memories to be erased instead of being held captive by those organizations. It is the best way to protect her from them.


text:
How is Jaeger still alive at the end of Valkyria Chronicles?
In episode 25 of Valkyria Chronicles, Maximilian shoots (and it is strongly implied that he kills) Jaeger:

Yet during the credits of the final episode (26), Jaeger is clearly seen walking in the background at the train station:

What's the deal here? Did Jaeger not get shot? Or did he get shot but survived? And if so, how in the world did he escape from the rest of the crumbling fortress?

I edited Jaegar's name out of the title in order to not spoil people reading through the front page.

@atlantiza I see your point, but it makes the question harder to search for since the name isn't there anymore. Perhaps we should start a meta topic?

@Mystical There is already one about spoilers - http://meta.anime.stackexchange.com/questions/100/ The accepted and most upvoted answer suggests not to include spoilers in the title.

I see. Now I'm trying think of a better way to phrase the title. Since it will seem very awkward with your edit.

Actually, come to think of it, is the current title really that much of a spoiler? It hints that "something happened", but you really can't make much of it unless you've seen those last 2 episodes.

From the title, it is obvious that, at some point in the series, there was a serious attempt to kill Jaeger (or something else to kill him like an illness) and he "should" (in a logical sense, not "I want him dead" sense lol) be dead.

I'll continue in chat.

I guess it's kind of a cameo. It really looks like Jaegar was killed and no source can be found that he survived. Because of that, all we can do is speculate - And I think, that it was just a cameo like "Hey, it's over, let us show him again!".

I haven't seen the anime, but in the game (which the anime is based off from), Jaeger was defeated by Squad 7 during Chapter 17 where Squad 7 attempts to get back to Randgriz. But on the way, they find's Jaeger unit has barricaded the Great Vasel Bridge while Jaeger now commands the improved Lupus Regnum.
After his defeat, he doesn't return to Maximilian and his whereabouts are unknown. I read that there is a mention of him in Valkyria Chronicles 3 but I haven't played it to confirm. He doesn't fight for the Empire but for the future independence of Fhirald (under Empire control), so having seen the Gallian Militia continuously get the upper hand against the superior might Empire and even not using their new Valkyria as the Empire did, he probably saw that the Empire was not the way for him to gain independence for Fhirald and that it was possible for Fhirald to get its independence on its own.
As for the scene at the end of the anime, it could be the writers forgot about Jaeger's fate in the game, remember it and made a cameo for him at the end. I haven't seen him getting shot in the anime so I'm not sure how much of a possibility there is that Maximilian was mistaken that he was dead.


text:
Why is the ending of Death Note in the anime so different from the manga?
Even though I haven't read the end of the manga very carefully, I did notice that a lot of the details were changed, or even omitted completely, in the end of the anime.
I don't understand why the end was changed in the anime. What is the reason behind the rather drastic differences?

This is unanswerable without talking to the studio.  I believe the term is, "Artist's license".

The list of answers may include "artist's license", "corporate meddling" (!!!), "law reasons" (say, keeping given rating of the show, or licensing issues), "medium" (things that work on paper may be nontransferable into animation etc), "fixing continuity" (if the general consensus is the original ending was horrible), a few others, and in the end, "We Will Never Know."  In this particular case I suspect "Corporate Meddling" much more than just "Artistic License" but since I have no solid proofs, this goes as a comment, not as an answer.

@HashiramaSenju Do you mean why the endings differ or why certain events play out differently between the anime and manga?

@Krazer Both I guess...

Related: Why do many anime not follow the manga? Why are they usually made shorter?

the title is a spoiler?

As a few people said in the comments, it appears to be artistic license.
I'll mention first that, like @Deidara-senpai pointed out, there are some general reasons why an anime can differ from the manga. However, in the case of Death Note, there appear to be some unique specifics to their changes as well.
The anime director of Death Note partook in an interview in November 2007 for an issue of Newtype USA. (I don't have a link to an online version of this, I'm afraid.) He speaks a bit on why he made the creative decisions he did. From Wikipedia:

Tetsuro Araki, the director, said that he wished to convey aspects that "made the series interesting" instead of simply "focusing on morals or the concept of justice." Toshiki Inoue, the series organizer, agreed with Araki and added that, in anime adaptations, there is a lot of importance in highlighting the aspects that are "interesting in the original."

They go on to speak about a few specifics, such as Light's presence in the anime versus in the manga, but in general they also speak about the logistics of converting the manga into an anime, which is a challenge itself:

Inoue noted that, to best incorporate the manga's plot into the anime, he "tweak[ed] the chronology a bit" and incorporated flashbacks that appear after the openings of the episodes; he said this revealed the desired tensions. Araki said that, because in an anime the viewer cannot "turn back pages" in the manner that a manga reader can, the anime staff ensured that the show clarified details. Inoue added that the staff did not want to get involved with every single detail, so the staff selected elements to emphasize. Due to the complexity of the original manga, he described the process as "definitely delicate and a great challenge." Inoue admitted that he placed more instructions and notes in the script than usual. Araki added that because of the importance of otherwise trivial details, the notes became crucial to the development of the series.

As you can see, the director and organizer of the series seemed to agree that a slightly different feel was needed in the anime, so artistic license was taken. Unfortunately, they don't go into huge detail over the specific changes (except for Light's own characteristics), and particularly not over the ending. I can only surmise that it was altered to achieve the feel they were generally looking for in the anime.


text:
Do anime usually lose money?
It seems as though a lot of anime go through a production cycle where they put out a series that seems fairly popular, but ends long before the manga's storyline does.  Obviously, a big reason for making anime is to get people to buy the original manga, but if the anime series itself were turning a profit it's tough to imagine (from my American viewpoint, anyway) that the producers would abandon it, when it could easily continue (given its proven popularity, voice actors lined up, storyline set, etc.)
Is there an overarching reason?  Do many anime not turn a profit?

this might be relevant. http://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-news/2011/10/30-1/how-much-does-one-episode-of-anime-cost-to-make

On their own, Yes.
Obviously this is a fairly blanket statement and is hard to qualify because of secrecies in company financials, but I think it's reasonable to assert.
I also realise I'm not directly answering your question about dropped manga adaptions, but addressing the question broadly. I think most points probably apply to that situation also, but these are some of the reasons in general why anime fail/return losses:
Anime as a loss-leader
Anime is often used by companies as a promotional tool for their other merchandise. This is often the case with children's mecha shows - They will watch the show on TV and then potentially buy the DVDs, toys, albums, etc. As an interesting side note, since about 1990 children are more likely to buy hero toys than villain toys - hence several combining mecha shows.
Another example as to how shows act as advertisements is low cost harem anime. Whilst not immediately as obviously merchantable as a show like Gundam or Power Rangers, The large female cast that the protaganist has to choose from has the potential to have their own figurines, body pillows, etc.
These mean that anime doesn't have to turn a massive profit (or indeed a profit at all) - that's up to the sales that it inspires.
The evolution of anime itself is deeply associated with advertisement, even since its inception when it was used solely for advertisement rather than as a standalone medium. In Hayao Miyakazi's biography "Starting Point" he mentions that one company in particular was known to contribute a third of their target anime's total cost (Note that this was at an earlier point in history). This amount would typically be around 90% of a successful toy company's advertising budget.
There's a stereotype of otaku in Japan that they buy 3 copies of any one DVD/Book - "one to read, one to collect, one to lend". The consumers of anime in Japan, whether children (A good market worldwide) or otaku are very keen on merchandise and spending on a franchise. It is the combined revenue streams that the anime creates, combined with the show itself which usually lifts the show into profit.
This is the main reason why an anime would be turning a loss.
Relying too heavily on emulating success stories
This is a big one too. Once a very successful show hits the market (for example Evangellion, Akira, K-On!!, Pokémon) many clones will follow.
The same phenomenom can be see in bookstores - The amount of romance vampire books in stores went from 0 -> many after Twilight's success. Similarly 50 Shades of Grey did the same for erotic romance for women.
There is only so much capacity in the market for cloned shows, and more than likely none of them will be as successful as the original. This often leads to a situation with a few big winners and many losers.
Too many blockbusters
The ideal time to release your amazing anime series is to pick the season that has the highest viewing rate of your target audience. Hence, shows that target the same audience may be heatedly vying for the same audiences attention. Usually one show will win, and the others will lose by a sizeable margin.
There have been several media studies that have shown that usually only one film/series occupies a viewers fanaticism at one time period. This is what has lead to the yearly blockbuster summer and Christmas successes in Hollywood.
Things go wrong, often
When you are still animating episodes whilst the first ones are airing, any delays can set the whole show back. What usually happens is that recap episodes are shown, animation quality drops in the latter episodes and potential postponements of episodes in the worst of cases. These things transfer to the quality of the production and hence affect the impressions on viewers, which then affect sales, and so forth.
Tight budgets
This kind of fits into the previous item, but when budgets are tight (which they usually are for anime) studios cannot afford to replace sick animators, redo scenes that don't fit well, etc. Another problem with tight budgets is that studios often have to outsource animation to cheaper countries like China - which in itself has problems of communication issues.
Subsequent seasons
Anime that are received well in their first season often announce another, or several new seasons. The problem with this is that each season the audience dwindles - Viewers become less and less likely to stick with a show as the time investment increases. It's a difficult call to make for the directors to stop the broadcasts before the series starts to become loss-making.

And just as a final note, I don't believe there is one over-arching reason. Each studio is different, has different priorities, objectives, revenue streams, etc.

To add on a thing or two, anime takes a lot of money to produce. A 2011 estimate said it cost about 10 million yen per episode to make an anime. A lot of them just end up turning out even, not making a considerable profit or loss, and only after a few years have gone by. It's those occasional successful anime (K-On, Madoka Magica, Akira, etc.) that make up for the losses that other anime shows incur. Also, just to reiterate the point, anime is used a lot for promotional purposes, which is why you'll see an anime come out for a manga while it's still going: to get more people to buy it now.

Anime is much bigger in Japan. There are lots of mangas that were given a shot at anime adaptation, but they didn't get a following and eventually got pulled. In my opinion, the manga has to be popular in Japan first before the network heads start to export the anime officially.
There are other reasons aside from profit. Take Gintama for example; I can't be sure if they were pulled off air because of profit (which I doubt) or because the network wasn't happy with the show's direction.
So, yes, the big reason why they get pulled off air is because the anime didn't make enough profit. It's a competitive market.

In Japan, anime series can't get pulled off the air unless it is for censorship purposed. This is because before the production begins, a preallocated block of broadcast time is purchased by the production committee. If a series doesn't perform well in terms of viewership, it might not get a new season. The same thing is true if disc sales and/ or merchandising sales are bad (where they production actually make their money). The last episode of School Days was pulled off the air due to censorship issues, but since that block was scheduled to run, they had to put some thing there ("nice boat").

This post has several issues, like the confusion between "pull off air" vs. "stop production", and saying that the network (?) has the decision in exporting or stopping the production of an anime series. For the later part, I think it depends on the production company (which could be the broadcast station in some cases) and whether they can find any sponsor (which again depends on the potential of the show to make profit).

Note it doesn't need to produce losses: it just needs to produce less than alternative.
Studios have limited resources: they often can produce maybe two series in parallel, sometimes not even that. Expanding on that is costly, and may well bring serious losses if all "pipelines" aren't filled with profit-generating products.
So, if the managers notice a new, promising series - obtained a sure-fire scenario, and a different one is nearing end of season 2, with dwindling audience, they must decide what to produce: season 3 of the old thing, which will almost certainly produce less cash than season 2, following the dwindling trend, or maybe the new and revolutionary thing for which TV networks have already lined up, and earn much more. Or, potentially, hope that hiring a bunch of animators and getting them a new studio with equipment will cost less than combined profits of the two shows. Which it rather won't.

Opportunity cost.  Very obvious in retrospect.  Thanks!

You have to remember that it's far cheaper and easier to produce a manga than it is to produce an anime -- it takes fewer people to produce a manga, which means less money is needed to pay for production, even if you pay everyone involved a huge salary (and you usually don't).
More investment means more risk, so if an anime doesn't turn a big enough profit fast enough, it may not warrant further investment.
You can keep a crap manga going a lot longer than a crap anime, if only because the bar for financial security is that much lower.

Well, that was why I made the question...it makes a lot of sense.  On the other hand, it was just an educated guess on my part.

It's like asking "Do magazines tend to lose money?", "Do internet startups tend to lose money?", or "Do restaurants tend to lose money?" -- honestly, anything that you have to put a big pile of money behind to get started tends to lose money. Anime is not immune just because it's anime.

Sure, most new business ventures tend to lose money, but we're comparing apples and oranges to some extent here...  In particular, restaurants are primarily attempting to make a profit.  But I'm wondering more if anime is considered a "loss leader" in general, not expected to really turn a profit.  Secondarily, I'm also wondering if there is a generalized cultural (or other) reason that a profitable show might end.  Here, popular shows tend to continue.  It does not seem like it's always the case in Japan, which implies that even popular shows may still not be turning a profit.

It's not that simple with manga either. Publishers tend to kill series (running in magazines) with low rating (low sales, low popularity), so even though it's cheaper to keep a crappy manga alive (and probably still earn money on it), the publishers opt not to and try their luck with a new one in hopes it'll bring more revenue. For some reason authors rarely decide to keep a series going after publisher decided to axe it (publisher might have a final say or want an ending to make tanks easier to sell or simply the mangaka doesn't have the money to keep the series alive on his own).


text:
What is this symbol and does it relate to FMA?
When I was searching for Fullmetal Alchemist wallpapers this image came up (below).
I was wondering what this symbol is? And does it have any relation to the FMA anime or manga universes?

The image represents a transmutation array, the Grand Arcanum.
A transmutation array is similar to a transmutation circle, and also has the function of allowing for the energy to circulate during a transmutation. They differ, however, in the fact that the runes (drawings) that compose the array may exceed the limits of the circle.
This array is exclusive to the 2003 anime, and is used by Scar to make a philosopher's stone using the souls of the people of Reole.


text:
What classical pieces of music were adapted for the soundtrack of G-senjou no Maou?
The soundtrack of G-senjou no Maou ("The Devil on G-string") is mostly comprised of adaptations of classical music pieces. However, the tracklists I have found do not acknowledge the original source compositions, only the track names.
Which of the tracks are based on classical compositions, and what are the names of the original pieces of music?

I managed to get a hold of a copy of the tracklist from the OST. The soundtrack has 76 songs on it. This includes the 67 songs which appear in "Sound Mode" in the visual novel as well as several others. I have made no attempt to distinguish which of these are present in the visual novel and which were added. The OST track titles are in romaji, but the original inspiration pieces are listed in English.
A few of the pieces are original, namely Answer, Sayounara, Close Your Eyes, and Yuki no Hane Toki no Kaze. There are a few more pieces based on these, but everything else is based on some preexisting piece. A couple of the tracks would be better characterized as arrangements rather than adaptations. Valkyrie no Kikou, Wa ga Haha no Oshietamaishi Uta, and the various versions of G-Senjou no Aria fall into this category, but I have made no attempt to locate all such cases.
Disc 1

G-Senjou no Aria #1 [J.S. Bach - Aria on the G-String]
Aizou no Nare no Hate [Katakiri Rekka - Answer]
Katakiri Rekka – Answer
Uraraka [E. Grieg - Peer Gynt Suite No. 1/Morning Mood]
Asa no Aisatsu [J. Pachelbel - Canon in D]
Hiru no Asobi [L. Beethoven - Symphony No. 9/Ode to Joy]
Ima, Saikou ka [J. Offenbach - Orpheus in the Underworld]
Sora no Seki [E. Satie - First Gymnopedie]
Byakuya [C. Debussy - Suite Bergamesque/Clair de lune]
Byakuya no Mae [C. Debussy - Suite Bergamesque/Clair de lune]
Hansuberi [A. Khachaturian - Gayane/Sabre Dance]
Giwaku [F. Chopin - The Revolutionary Etude]
Ginen [F. Chopin - The Revolutionary Etude]
Gimon [F. Chopin - The Revolutionary Etude]
Shinjitsu [F. Mendelssohn - Violin Concerto/1st Movement]
Shinjitsu no Ato [F. Mendelssohn - Violin Concerto/1st Movement]
Houyou [G. Handel - Rinaldo/Lascia ch'io pianga]
Tousou [M. Mussorgsky - Pictures at an Exhibition/Promenade]
Tousou no Tsudzuki [M. Mussorgsky - Pictures at an Exhibition/Promenade]
Satori [M. Mussorgsky - Pictures at an Exhibition/Promenade]
Ai [L. Beethoven - Piano Sonata No. 8 Pathetique/2nd Movement]
Sayounara
Saikai no Hi [A. Dvorak - Humoresque No.7]
Yasuragi no Yoru [J. Brahms - Violin Concerto in D/3rd Movement]
Taiketsu [R. Wagner - The Valkyrie]
Otoko no Hanamichi [Katakiri Rekka - Answer]
Aishita Onna [Katakiri Rekka - Answer]
Michi ha Hyouga Nari [Katakiri Rekka - Answer]
G-Senjou no Aria #2 [J.S. Bach - Aria on the G-String]

Disc 2

Wa ga Haha no Oshietamaishi Uta [A. Dvorak - Songs My Mother Taught Me]
Hitomi wo Tojite #1 [Ayane - Close Your Eyes]
Ayane - Close Your Eyes
G-Senjou no Aria #3 [J.S. Bach - Aria on the G-String]
Yuki #1 [J. Newton - Amazing Grace]
Yuki #2 [J. Newton - Amazing Grace]
Yuki #3 [J. Newton - Amazing Grace]
Kyoukou [J. S. Bach - Toccata and Fugue in D minor]
Kachiku no Mure [J. S. Bach - Toccata and Fugue in D minor]
Shinigami [J. S. Bach - Toccata and Fugue in D minor]
Kage no Sasoi [F. Schubert - The Erlking]
Yami no Tsukai [F. Schubert - The Erlking]
Fushoku [C. Saint-Saens - The Carnival of the Animals/Aquarium]
Rakujitsu [F. Schubert - The Erlking]
Nigeba Nashi [L. Beethoven - Piano Sonata No. 23 Appassionata/3rd Movement]
The Devil [F. Schubert - The Erlking]
The Devil #2 [F. Schubert - The Erlking]
Wa ga Haha ha Kakukatarishi [J. Pachelbel - Canon in D]
Hitomi wo Tojite #2 [Ayane - Close Your Eyes]
Hitomi wo Tojite #3 [Ayane - Close Your Eyes]
G-Senjou no Aria #4 [J.S. Bach - Aria on the G-String]

Disc 3

G-Senjou no Aria #5 [J.S. Bach - Aria on the G-String]
Kyoushuu [L. Beethoven - Piano Sonata No. 14 Moonlight Sonata/3rd Movement]
Kousaku [J.S. Bach - Little Fugue in G Minor BWV 578]
Deochi [P. Tchaikovsky - The Nutcracker/Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy]
Hitoyasumi [S. Joplin - The Entertainer]
Tsuikyuu [C. Saint-Saens - The Carnival of the Animals/Those With Long Ears]
Shundou [E. Grieg - Peer Gynt Suite No. 1/In the Hall of the Mountain King]
Shinsou [C. Saint-Saens - The Carnival of the Animals/Hens and Roosters]
Asai Gonzou [P. Tchaikovsky - Marche Slave]
Chijou ni Arawareshi Jigoku [C. Orff - Carmina Burana/O Fortuna]
Jigoku no Tsudzuki [C. Orff - Carmina Burana/O Fortuna]
Yamiyo Kouro [C. Orff - Carmina Burana/O Fortuna]
Shiyuu [L. Beethoven - Fur Elise]
Kecchaku [L. Beethoven - Fur Elise]
Valkyrie no Kikou [R. Wagner - The Valkyrie]
Picaresque [G. Bizet - The Girl From Arles]
G-Senjou no Aria #6 [J.S. Bach - Aria on the G-String]
Barbarian on the Groove feat. Chata - Yuki no Hane Toki no Kaze
Kyoufu [J. S. Bach - Toccata and Fugue in D minor]
Dark [F. Schubert - The Erlking]
Maou 3 [F. Schubert - The Erlking]
Ko-Fugue [J.S. Bach - Little Fugue in G Minor BWV 578]
Gnossienne [E. Satie - Gnossiene No.1]
Gekkou #1 ~3rd Movement [L. Beethoven - Piano Sonata No. 14 Moonlight Sonata/3rd Movement]
Gekkou #2 ~3rd Movement [L. Beethoven - Piano Sonata No. 14 Moonlight Sonata/3rd Movement]
G-Senjou no Aria #7 [J.S. Bach - Aria on the G-String]


text:
Why does Zero have such a strong reaction to Shizuka Hio's voice?
In Episode 12 of the Vampire Knight anime series, Zero encounters Shizuku Hio, the woman who turned him into a vampire. Even before she tries to compel him, he is shown as experiencing a strong physical reaction to her voice. It is clear that he already knew that she was there, so he shouldn't have been surprised to hear her.
Why does he have that reaction? Does her voice have a compulsion before she tries to actively compel him? Is it due to some sort of bond he has with her? Or is there another reason?

I guess it was what you said, a bond that was made due to Shizuka biting and turning Zero into a vampire.
During one episode (I'm not sure what episode), Zero has figured out that she must be Shizuka. Maria taunts Zero to pull the trigger, but he discovers he is unable to due to the bond between them. And it is said that once a human was bitten by a vampire, that vampire becomes his/her master and that human can be controlled by his/her master (like when Shizuka froze him when she was about to drink Yuki's blood).


text:
Does Gajeel's motion sickness have anything to do with Pantherlily becoming his cat?
In the Chariot event, Gajeel becomes motion sick without understanding the reason.

His case of motion sickness does not develop until the second day of the Grand Magic Games. So does this have anything to do with Pantherlily becoming his "cat"?

I don't believe we have the answer to this yet. It appears that it will be a plot point later on, as his new-found motion sickness has something to do with his personal growth in the dragonslayer realm.

Should we close the question until then?

I don't know how this sort of thing works. Anyone else have a suggestion?

Yup, apparently all dragon slayers get motion sickness although I can't recall a moment where Rogue got it though. I can't quite remember.

In the very same chapter when Gajeel still didn't understand why did he get motion sickness, Sting said to Gajeel (in Chapter 276, page 11) that "Well then... You finally got accustomed for it, huh... To being a real dragon slayer. Congratulations. Newbie."
We also know that dragon slayer magic can more or less change the user's body itself. So I assume that if a dragon slayer gets strong enough then they will get motion sickness on vehicles. (Not as if it would be important or anything, it's probably just funny.) Wendy doesn't have motion sickness only because she is too weak of a dragon slayer yet. Just as was the case with Gajeel before.
Also, Laxus doesn't have an Exceed partner as far as we know and he has motion sickness too (Chapter 276, page 12).

Good point on the Laxus part, I haven't noticed that before. =)

laxus isn't a true dragon slayer. so this is not applicable to him.

@Sp0T Laxus is dragon slayer enough to get motion sickness, and he doesn't have a "cat", so I think yes, this is quite applicable to him.

Now that Wendy is strong enough, she do get motion sickness too, although she can negate it with one of her spells, Troia.

I know this is really late and stuff, but on the Fairy Tail Wiki it says:

It seems that, for some reason, all Dragon Slayers of an advanced "level" suffer from severe motion sickness. At lower "levels", this isn't much of a problem, as shown with Gajeel prior to the year X791, having rode on both the Super Mage Giant Phantom MK II and the ship to Tenrou Island with ease. However, after three months of intense training, he, too, became vulnerable to motion sickness, having trouble running on a chain of vehicles during the Chariot event.

So maybe it's because he trained really hard and then it caused him to get to the advanced "level." And that might also be the cause for Wendy not having motion sickness, because she isn't at that level. Although that could also be because she has healing magic, but we still don't know so yeah.

During the chariot event Gajeel says he used to be able to ride on vehicles just fine, Sting replies saying that it just means Gajeel is a real dragon slayer now. I don't know if it has anything to do with getting an Exceed, it seems more like a matter of strength.

I believe that all male dragonslayers get motion sickness.  Female dragonslayers are an exception because they are not as powerful as male dragonslayers to level the playing field.  As well, Wendy has support magic that could possibly prevent her from getting motion sickness.

I don't think motion sickness of a dragon slayer has anything to do with gender. Wendy is the only female dragon slayer that has been brought out until now, but that is not enough to deduce such a thing, as nothing has been specifically mentioned regarding the same. Though i agree that her "no motion sickness" maybe a result of her support magic that she can cast on herself.

@debal maybe it is power/age related thou. As Gajeel originally had no problems with transportation.

@Dimitrimx that can be a possibility.

This is speculation but many wizards don't need to use transportation for their missions, they can just walk like Laxus.  So the recent episodes say that all Dragon Slayers have motion sickness.
Wendy is probably an exception due to her healing abilities.

But Gajeel didn't get sick in the "robot" (when he was not Fairy tail) only Natsu did.

@MichelAyres that was before he got Pantherlily as a partner. the OP is asking if having a Exceed partner has anything to do with it.

Natsu doesn't think that Happy is transportation so he doesn't have motion sickness.  But while Natsu was on the giant Octopus, he had motion sickness.  You can interpret it that he gets motion sickness because of the state of the mind.  Motion sickness can also be the speed, whereas Natsu is less resistant to motion sickness than other dragon slayers.


text:
Can the Tailed Beasts' relative power levels be compared?
A Tailed Beast's power seems to be greater the more tails it has. For example:

Power of 3-Tailed Beast = Power of 2-Tails + 1-Tails.
Power of 9-Tailed Beast = Power of 8-Tails + 7-Tails + ... + 1-Tails.

This is clear. But is it possible to compare the power level of the 1-Tails and 2-Tails with this equation? Does the power of the 2-Tailed Beast = the power of the 1-Tailed one? Or is it greater?
Reference links:

Most of them have shared the same idea in this link.
Badranious's answer in this thread.

Yea there really isn't a "power lvl equation" for comparing the tailed beasts, the more the tails, the larger the chakra..

Actually, it's never explicitly said that every Bijuu is stronger than all of the Bijuu with lesser tail number combined.
The practical power probably is determined by tail number (even though the Eight Tails told the Nine Tails that it isn't, much like 'friendship' is more valued than 'power').
It is stated that the Nine Tails is stronger than all of the rest combined, because Itachi said that if it were to be sealed anytime but last, the Gedo Mazo won't be able to withstand the imbalance, and will break apart.

There isn't a clear power distribution and balance, nothing is explicitly stated, so most of what you'll hear is speculation.
As for the specific question, I'd say that the Two Tails is "just stronger" than the One Tail.

Actually, in chapter 567, page 10, the Hachibi tells the Kyuubi that

Strength isn't determined by the number of tails one has.

*(this is a part of page 10)*
Although the Kyuubi does think that the number of tails equals power, which is a reason for the friction between te Bijuu (this is also stated in the Naruto Wiki page on Bijuu).
Still, this was the only time when this was said. If the number of tails really does not determine the power one Bijuu has, there has been no other explanation for the relation between the power of the Bijuus.

That's like saying "A shinobi's power isn't determined by Chakra, but by the power of his 'love and friendship'". In reality, I'd kick nearly anyone's ass, and their friendship too.

@MadaraUchiha: Fair enough. But do we know that the Hachibi meant it like that?

We don't know for sure. But I believe that he means that when working in collaboration with Humans, like the SOSP intended them to, they can reach higher levels of power, even without having more tails.

Comparison of tailed-beast power levels has not been explicitly stated in manga or anime. But following things have been mentioned in the manga:

10-Tails is the origin of all of the chakra.

9-Tails is stronger than all other beasts combined (Of course, not counting 10-Tails).

9-Tails, with only half of its total strength, was able to counter 5 other tailed-beasts.

Based on those three observations, I have a theory that seems to fit in fairly well with manga.
Since tailed-beasts aren't the only beings with chakra, it is safe to assume that 10-Tails has more chakra than all the other tailed-beasts combined. Also, Hagoromo created 1 to 9-Tails by dividing 10-Tails chakra, and he made 9-Tails stronger than other tailed-beasts. He must have followed the same pattern for all the tailed beasts unless he randomly chose to make 9-Tails overpowered, which seems very unlikely. So, that leads to my assumption that 8-Tails must be having more chakra than the combined chakra of all tailed-beasts having lesser tails than 8-Tails, and so on.
Now, using the following classic geometric series:
Let the amount of chakra of a tailed-beast be denoted by 'x / [210-n]'; where x is all of the chakras, and n is the number of tails of the particular tailed-beast.
Based on that formula:

10-Tails has 'x' amount of chakra, which is all of the chakras and is consistent with observation (1).
9-Tails has 'x/2' amount of chakra, 8-Tails has 'x/4', and so on. This way, each tailed beast will have slightly more chakra than the combined chakra of all tailed-beasts with lesser tails. And that is consistent with observation (2).
Also, according to the formula, 1 to 7-Tails' combined chakra would be less than half of 9-Tails' total chakra, and that explains observation (3).

how is this relevant to the question ? you are just saying 9 tails is greater or not even that. Can the relative power levels of all the tailed beasts be compared is what the OP is asking for.

I would like to say that in the anime, in set 16, when Killer B took on Kisame, B only sprouts 6 chakra tails, and when Kisame won a small taijutsu contest, he sprouted 2 more tails, Kisame that B was taking him seriously.
Also if the tails are of chakra, then how could one have just as much chakra as 9-Tails? It could be that maybe 1-Tail is more concentrated than 9-Tails.
Also, before Shippuden, when Naruto would get more tails in the cloak, the higher the power. Also, the 9-Tails chakra cloak does damage to the environment, but the 1-Tail (according to the forums) does not.
Also, when Naruto goes into the 9-Tails chakra cloak, at 4-Tails it starts damaging him, but the 8-Tails chakra cloak does not do damage until all 8 are out (some of the info is from wiki so may or not be correct.
Also, another thing is that when Kisame would use Samehada to rip out B's chakra, the number of tails went down showing that there is a correlation in the number of the tails. Although most of this is speculation, if you look close, it seems like there are lots of small (and huge) hints.
For sure, there seem to be quite a few hints display but it is nowhere said outright that more tails = more power. By adding clues we can only assume but with all the clues given to us, we're probably right anyway.

This is a three-year old question with an accepted answer. There's no rush, so take your time, fix your errors, explain your logic, and find which chapter/episode the events you're talking about happened in.


text:
What are the demons at the end of Madoka Magica?
What are the demon-like entities shown at end of Madoka Magica, which Homura is now fighting instead of witches?
And what does Homura's explanation mean, regarding how these demons replaced witches?

It was kinda all "buried" in Madoka's wish. Though I'd also be interested in the details.

I think the best way to answer this question is to wait for movie 3 to come out, which is supposed to be after the events of the TV series. Then it will be (hopefully) clear.

@LoganM from what i heard the first movie rehashes the story and the second does as well however ends differently than the anime which then leads into the third movie

@Memor-X It's been a while since I've seen the movie (watched it in the initial theater run) so I could be mis-remembering, but I remember the ending of the second movie being quite similar to the TV version. There was a PV for the third movie after the end of the second movie, which could be the differences you're talking about.

@LoganM i'm just going off what i read originally based from the fact that it would be weird to rehash the series in 2 movies unless the second movie deviated from where the first ended, i brought the Import Limited Edition of the first 2 movies just in case it never gets dubbed, i haven't watch the movies yet as i'm going to do the same as i did with Fate/Zero and wait about a year to see if they do get Dubbed, i take preference on Dubbed over Subbed because i'm still not used to reading the subtitles while watching the anime, also,

@Memor-X The movies end same as TV series.

During the conversation between Kyubey and Homura near the end of the final episode of the series, Homura mentions that although Madoka's wish prevented witches from being born, the curses from the human world still remained and continue to haunt humanity in the form of "magical beasts" (魔獣), which are demonic forces of unknown nature.
The new role of magical girls now is to defeat these demons, gather their curses in the forms of small cube fragments, and have Kyubey harvest them, in order to slow the effects of entropy on the universe.

I'm quite sure that they are refereed to as "Wraiths"


text:
What happens when a seiyuu cannot continue working on a production?
Voice acting is one of the many things that can make an anime movie, OVA or TV series successful or not, and some seiyuu gain their own followings or are treated like idols.
What happens if, say, a major character's seiyuu has an accident, dies or quits before the production is finished?
Has this ever happened, and if so, what were the consequences, measures taken, and reaction from fans to those measures?

This happens occasionally. The most recent example that I can think of is when Kawaragi Shiho, the seiyuu of Nishizono Mio from Little Busters!, got pregnant. In fact, this is very recent, as she just gave birth last Friday (December 7th). Of course Mio isn't the main character, but she's not a minor character either.
In this case, they just replaced her (with Tatsumi Yuiko). That's about the only real option they have most of the time. Unless the problem is only for a very short duration, the entire show is not going to be delayed for one seiyuu. If it happens well in advance and the character is pretty important, they can probably work around it. Gotou Yuuko (seiyuu for Hiro from Hidamari Sketch), who was on hiatus for a while this year for health reasons but is back now in Hidamari Sketch x Honeycomb, is a good example of this. However, this is a pretty atypical situation, and the other shows she was in mostly got replacements.
In the end, unless the character is crucially important, it's very likely that they'll get a replacement, since it's pretty much the only realistic option. If something like this happens for a popular character in the off-season, it can also affect the possibility of sequels (e.g. most shows with Aya Hirano leads probably aren't in the sequel market). It usually doesn't hurt the seiyuu's career too much if it occurs for good reasons e.g. health, but some impact is inevitable.

Aya Hirano really is a good example, considering popular shows such as Suzumiya Haruhi and Lucky Star. It may be relevant to note the fan reaction to cases like hers, where she mostly abandons her career (I'm not comenting on that topic since I'm really not sure, but it seems to be that her career as a seiyuu is over).

^ I certainly hope not. She performs some awesome voicing, and why would that incident surprise anybody anyways; we all know that stuff happens.

The seiyuu for Soi Fon (Bleach) was replaced after the original seiyuu died.


text:
In Madoka Magica, are the girls' powers related to their wishes?
Some of the Puella Magi seem to have magical powers related to the wishes that they made. Sayaka has regeneration abilities, and she wished to heal someone. Homura has time manipulation abilities, and she wished to go back in time.
But other magical girls, like Mami and Kyouko, don't appear to have powers related to their respective wishes.
So, is there a connection, or is it only a coincidence for Sayaka and Homura? If it's the former, how do Mami and Kouko's wishes relate to their powers?

This is definitely true. But I can't find a reliable source on it.

Kyuubey says something to that effect in episode 5, but I don't know how it's related for Mami or Kyouko

For Homura, perhaps her wish would have been very hard to grant had she not been given the power of time travel. Kyuubey certainly also said that the potency of wishes that can be granted is proportional to the magical potential of the contractee...

From an interview in the July 2011 issue of Megami, as translated on the Puella Magi Wiki:

There's a few place in the script that I'd like to touch on, first about Mami and Kyoko. How is their "wish" connected to their powers when they became magical girls?
  In Mami's case, her wish "to connect to life" [editor's note: she wanted to live] gave her the power to "tie" and "combine" things together. That's why her power comes from the ribbon. By using the ribbon as a weapon, she can use that to produce guns that are useful in a battle. In ep3, Homura is stopped in her tracks by being tied up. That is her true magical power. She has the most experience so has a lot of different magical powers beyond those of her original powers.

And as for Kyouko (same source, different section):

Regarding Kyoko, it [her magic power] is really very special. Because she got her wish of "getting people to listen" while in fact it was something like charming or hallucination, she got the magic power related to those things. However, because she lost her family, she totally negated those power with her subconscious mind. As a result, she fought only with the magic power she learnt later. This is the "hidden setting" (ura-settei) for her, although we never got to tell it in the anime.

These answers were given by Urobuchi Gen, the writer for Madoka. Since he is explaining the relationship between Mami and Kyouko's wishes and their powers, I'd say it's safe to take this as official confirmation there is indeed an intentional relationship.

To see Kyouko's wish-related powers in action, read The Different Story (to be released in the US in 2014).


text:
Is Lupin III: A Woman Named Mine Fujiko a prequel or a reboot of the Lupin series?
I've watched Lupin III: Mine Fujiko to Iu Onna ("A Woman Named Mine Fujiko") and some scattered episodes of the original Lupin III TV series. One thing that isn't clear to me is how the two series are related.
Depending on who I ask, some say that the new series is a prequel which describes how Lupin's gang got together, while others say that it is a reboot with a different continuity. I haven't seen enough of the original series to judge this either way.
Is there any authoritative source which confirms the relationship between the two series, one way or the other?

I think it's both. Especially with the change in style and themes (and the retcons).

I think as far as the timeline goes, it's obviously before the events of all 3 Lupin III TV series. Because of the lack of overall plot, it's hard to say whether or not events from "A woman named Fujiko Mine" match up with all the events in the TV series without any ret-conning, maybe with the exception that Fujiko has memory loss.
There's never been any official announcement as it being a prequel and it's not consistent with the source material where the first meeting(s) between Lupin and Fujiko in the manga differ from this series (not that there's much consistency between the manga and any of the TV series to begin with).
Likewise, because of inconsistencies within the TV series itself (different characterizations of Lupin between the red and green jackets, different characterizations of his sidekicks and Fujiko) you could say the Fujiko series was a reboot just as likely as Lupin III, part 2 and part 3, the manga, were all reboots. But if you want to consider them all within the same continuity, I don't see any reason not to include Fujiko's series as a prequel, even if there would need to be some ret-conning (can easily just say Fujiko lost her memory again).


text:
How different are the manga and movie versions of Akira?
After seeing the Akira movie (directed by Otomo Katsuhiro) I later found out about the existence of the manga series on which it had been based.
Is the movie adaptation faithful to the manga, with only minor variations? Or will I get a lot more detail from the story by reading the manga (and if so, just how much more)?
Basically, how different are the manga and movie versions of Akira?

The manga is totally more extensive. The movie is generally based on the manga, and follows the same characters and themes, but severely shortens it (the end of the manga has "suffered" most). The film's makers didn't have much choice though: the manga is over 2000 pages long, so of course the movie lost some background.
There is a discussion on this matter on myanimelist. It is mentioned there that the movie covers the beginning and the very end of the manga, leaving behind some background and side-stories. The manga has a vaster range of characters, side-plots, and covers a larger timespan.

Quite a lot of differences - Characters, events, motivations. The two biggest character differences (of characters still included in the film) are Akira is alive and a big part of the story, and Number 19 is actually important to the plot unlike in the movie.

There are many differences, but the most important one I believe it's Akira is alive and not a bunch of cryogenized body parts


text:
What's the meaning and motivation of Izaya's behavior in Episode 2: "Highly Unpredictable"?
Durarara!! Episode 2 tells us about a girl named Kamichika. Near the end of the episode, after...

 ...Celty brings her to the roof to meet Izaya, he lets Kamichika to the roof edge. He tells her that a lot of people have jumped there, trying to persuade her that she's not a special case. After that he leaves, and Kimichika, after some hesitation, decides to jump. However, Celty saves her.

Izaya's motivations here are a little confusing. Even if we forget that he has...

 ...ordered the kidnapping and rescue of a girl just for the fun of it,

he is being somewhat inconsistent by telling her about all the people who jumped from the roof. At first, it seems like he's helping Kimichika by showing her that her case is neither special nor too bad, and it is not worth jumping. It even seems to work at first, when the girl hesitates. However, when Izaya leaves,

 she still decides to jump off the roof!

When Izaya sees Celty helping her, he doesn't act surprised at all, much as if he were expecting this scenario. However, he could neither be sure that

 Kimichika would jump nor that Celty would save her (I think he didn't even know that Celty hadn't left).

So does this portray him as a person who knew that Celty would save her, and because of that the girl would once again understand that life's worth living?
Because otherwise he's portrayed as a man who encourages another person to commit suicide just for the fun of observing it!

I think you're over-thinking this.
Izaya, for lack of a better word, is a troll. Period.

One who posts a deliberately provocative message to a newsgroup or
  message board with the intention of causing maximum disruption and
  argument.
  (taken from Urban Dictionary)

But for real-life personal interaction instead of on the internet.
In fact, he is an amazing troll - as evidenced by his ability to read people's minds and predict their actions. Which in turn gives him a great ability to "toy" with people how ever he pleases.
For pretty much the entire show his actions are always to provoke responses in other people without regard to their well-being (or rather to intentionally hurt them in specific ways).

he is being somewhat inconsistent when telling her about all the people who jumped from the roof. At first, it seems that his actions are directed toward helping Kimichika by showing her that her case is neither special nor too bad, and it is not worth to jump.

Since he admits to trying with people to see their responses, this type of inconsistency could very well be intentional to provoke a reaction from Kamichika.

When Izaya sees Celty helping the girl, he doesn't act surprised at
  all, much as if he was expecting this scenario.

That's most likely because he knows Celty pretty well and it's common for her stick around and save people.

Kimichika will jump nor that Celty will save her (I think he didn't
  even know that Celty didn't leave)

As a troll, it probably doesn't matter to him. But it's very possible that he knew Celty will save her and he wanted to see Kimichika's reaction after thinking she would die only to be saved.

What was brought up above is part of it. However, Izaya is a really complex character to fully understand, especially in the anime and manga, so if you're really wanting to understand it as best as possible, you ought to read the light novels. The only two people I think you could say he actually 'hates' are Heiwajima Shizuo, and a boy by the name of Nakura (or well, rather, he does in fact for that guy) who went to the same middle school as him. Izaya's observation of humans eventually became an obsession over time, and it's not as though he has any actual dislike or need to hurt any person (other than those two), but he never got too close or stayed too far, because he was content with seeing people in every situation possible.
Whether it be students casually horse-playing or joking around, fighting, playing card games, fondling over animals, obsessing over fandoms, people committing suicide, or anything, even someone killing another person. He views every human being, and every situation they could possibly be in of equal value to him. What he said was true, though after you read more into the light novels especially volume 9, he's not some evil villain or anything, but he's also not really the type of guy to save someone who wants to die, because he doesn't want to build any kind of relationship, even though he and Shinra are actually friends by a "human's standard", rather than Izaya's standard.
The problem in my opinion with both the anime and manga is that they don't really explain much of Izaya's point of view ('personal' thoughts and feelings) at all on the matters, and cut out quite a bit of important details about the characters and storyline, and more than you might think. At first he may sound like a jerk, but he's really only being brutally honest in regards to how he's observed countless people to act judge stuff.
Again, it's more of an obsession and even out of an extreme habit which became a part of him. It's not like he himself would go out of his way to actually physically harm someone (except for most assuredly Shizuo, until volume 13 or above I think), nor would he actually pay or order someone to hurt another person, as he just sells the information that they want to them. They do with it what they please.
Whenever he said he set up her kidnapping, I believe he was speaking in a more figurative way of speak. In other words he was saying the pieces on the chess would have led to it, because he knows how humans work. He does probably have some serious underlying issues regarding identity and acceptance of his own humanity, whether he wants to except it or not. Anyway... I hope I cleared this question up...? By the way, Izaya is one of my favorite characters in the Narita!verse and anime/manga/fandom world. He may be a troll, but he can really be interesting (and so cute to me x3) at times.


text:
Why does Yoruichi say, "No one there could have survived a fight against Byakuya," in Bleach chapter 120?
In chapter 116 of the Bleach manga, Ichigo finally meets Rukia in her tower (well, in fact, on the bridge) right after Byakuya has easily defeated Ganjyu, and Ukitake stopped him from finishing Ganjyu off.
However, when Ichigo tries to fight Byakuya, Yoruichi hits him in the stomach, and runs away carrying Ichigo. A little later, in chapter 120, when Ichigo complains about it, she says that he "had no chance of surviving that fight", and that "no one could have survived a fight against Byakuya".
While I have no doubt that Ichigo in his condition was no match for Byakuya, that phrase still confuses me. I can understand why Yoruichi thinks she would not be able to do it, since she has been in cat form for a long time, and mentions that she had "gone a lot weaker". However, Ukitake was on the bridge as well, and since we know he's a kind man, it is safe to assume that he would try to stop Byakuya from killing people (as he did for Ganjyu).
So did Yoruichi imply that Ukitake is also weaker than Byakuya, and had no chance of surviving a fight with him either? Wouldn't that be really debatable?

It was likely a situational fact.

Ichigo had resolved the fight between him and Kenpachi, so he was physically weak.  He wouldn't have been capable of fighting Byakuya in that state.
Yoruichi hadn't been in battle in over a hundred years.  While she (somewhat) maintained her Flash Step, she couldn't have engaged him in a head-on battle.
It was very unlikely for Ukitake to intervene in the fighting, him being a fellow Officer, and while Ukitake would have been interested in protecting his subordinate, he wouldn't have immediately sided with the outsiders against the growing threat to Soul Society.

So much of this site is just helping authors cover up plot inconsistencies. +1

Bleach characters often tend to exaggerate about things to make them more dramatic (it's really a Kubo trait).
She was referring that at that time, no one in the area would be able to fight off Byakuya:

Ichigo wouldn't stand a chance.
Yuroichi was weakened after a century of avoiding a battle.
Ukitake was sick, and weaker.

Hence, no one could match Byakuya at the time.


text:
What are the blue downward lines in used to symbolize depression or sadness called?
Does anybody have any idea what these are called?

I've only seen them referred to as blue lines so far.
I've seen them represent depression, sadness or disgust before but could someone clarify this also?

Sorry to answer a question that has already an accepted answer this late, but I felt like giving more information in addition to CuddleBunny's answer.

These lines are called 垂れ線 (taresen, drooping lines) or just 縦線 (juusen, vertical lines). They are a type of 効果線 (koukasen, effect lines) that are used in manga/anime/games, such as the "speed lines" used to emphasize action or speed.
Taresen, and by extension, all koukasen, are a type of 漫符 (manpu, symbols used in manga to denote emotions or actions). Although the term taresen doesn't seem too popular, the term koukasen (and manpu) in contrast is widely recognized, and it is one of the drawing notions a person has to know in order to become a mangaka.
Taresen is similar to another manpu, the horizontal lines, in that they both emphasize the surprise one character feels. However, where taresen  emphasize shock, horizontal lines emphasize rather stupefaction.
Taresen often exaggerates the image of a shadow being cast on the face of the character when it is hanging his head. In some other cases, the lines are drawn under the eyes, to denote dark circles or eye twitching, on the side of the head where it can be assimilated to the "cold sweat" manpu, or even on the back of the head.
Taresen was first introduced in manga, in black and white, a support where one could easily build a parallel between the lines and what they were supposed to represent in reality. Instances of taresen were seen in manga going as far in time as 1971 (in a manga of Moto Hagio). Taresen are commonly used to denote, as other people said, depression, disgust and impatience.
The lines can come, depending on the case, with another manpu: the face being replaced by shadows of various colors, like black, dark purple, or blue. Blue color often denote a feeling of cold. This can be associated to cold sweat, or just plain cold. For example, it can often be seen when characters eat too much ice cream and feel the cold rising to their head (brain freeze).

Actually, I will accept this answer as it goes into a lot more detail (more than the link combined)!

TV Tropes lists this as "Blue with Shock." This and other exaggerations originate in Manga where the lack of motion and detail makes it hard to portray a variety of emotions. To overcome this limitation authors use various simple effects to express the same meaning. This is referred to as Manga Iconography.

Wow, that was fast, I keep forgetting to search TV Tropes...