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Why do some characters not have surnames?
In Naruto, a number of characters don't have surnames, though many do. For example, Naruto is Uzumaki Naruto, while Gaara is just Gaara or Gaara of the Sand. Why is this?

There is no definitive answer to this. Some speculations are that Kishimoto was just lazy. ;) It can only be assumed that some of them only have titles. Some names also have special meaning by themselves and can stand alone.

This may be relevant or not, but before the Meiji Reformation in Japan, commoners did not have surnames.

There are a lot of speculations regarding this like on this Naruto forum.

They only need a first name for story purposes, the last name doesn't matter so often.
Either they don't belong to a known clan (or just don't have one) - making it unnecessary.
Maybe its just the way Kishimoto planned it to be or to keep us in the dark or they weren't necessary.
They don't have real names.
Kishimoto just can't came up with last names to use.

All of these are speculations and opinions so there is really no definite answer for this.
In general for anime, according to TVTropes,

A major character is never referred to by their actual or full name,
  instead being addressed by a title, nickname, or Only One Name.
  Reasons for this vary, but it often serves the function of making a
  character seem more mysterious or eccentric.
In older (pre-1900 in North America; pre-1970 in the UK) fiction, a
  narrator may refer to a character (especially an older or more
  socially prominent character) by his or her surname. This is because
  at that time first names were much less commonly used socially than
  they are now; a young character may not even know the first name of an
  older character he or she is not related to. It was also common in
  that time to blank out the names of real people to avoid lawsuits and
  the like.
A common joke is to do The Un Reveal on the full name.
This trope can be somewhat justified, however, due to Nominal
  Importance: It's difficult enough for the writers to come up with good
  names for the main protagonists; it would be incredibly painstaking to
  come up with equally good names for a cast of characters who exist
  solely as part of the setting and serve no further purpose to the
  narrative.
Another common variation is for a series where a child is the main
  character to have parents only referred to as Mom and Dad.
Sometimes, a main protagonist will have no name to add to their
  mystique.

The link also provides more examples of anime characters who don't have names/surnames.

The reason is probably that one of the shinobi rules from the warring states period was to never revealing your surname to strangers to prevent them killing you due to your relatives or killing your relatives because of you. The shinobi that are without surnames might still follow this rule.

You should give evidence for any answer you give; don't write answers based purely on speculation.

I think this was mentioned a few times. One time was here http://static.mangainn.com/mangas/314/99911/008_02_27_2013_09_44_23.png

and also somehow related to naruto inherited his mother's name instead of his dad .

@kuwaly As for a source of this, it's said a few times in Naruto Shippuden ep 367.


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Why did the men and women in Vandread split up to begin with?
I don't know if I'm just misremembering what I saw in the anime, or if there really was no good explanation ever given, but I am unclear on the real reason why the original men and women in the space colony in Vandread split up into two separate colonies in the first place.
So, do we ever get a real explanation as to why they split by gender, or is it just something we're supposed to take for granted?

Once upon a time, in the future (roughly two thousand years from now), a colonist ship departed Earth, heading for the stars on it's journey to discover a new world to populate for the human race. This journey proved successful with the discovery of not one but two neighbouring planets suitable of colonisation. However, the colonists grew into conflict with each other - A conflict that divided the crew by gender! The men settled on one planet, which was dubbed Taraaku while the woman settled for the neighbouring planet, Mejarru.

I couldn't find much to support this but it sounds like something that fits the anime.
Source

If I remember correctly, Each colony or colony group was created to provide a specific component or body part to the remaining earth humans.  That flotilla that was encountered in space, the one with the weird drink, was created to provide skin, that water planet provided spinal columns, along with nerve tissue and fluid, and the split planets, where our main cast come from, provided reproductive organs/hormonal systems.  They were separated out and instructed to use cloning technology so that the organs would not be used when it was time for harvesting.  The split colony was one of the last to be created, so it wasn't actually ready for harvesting during the series.  But they rebelled, by the actions of our crew, and so the harvesting happened early.

It looks like you have the start of a good answer here, but can you mention which episodes or chapters this information was given in? Also, it's considered polite to spoiler-tag any important plot information from later in a series; see http://stackoverflow.com/editing-help to find out how.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


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What was changed when Tokyo Mew Mew was translated to English?
I know that there was a lot of backlash when Tokyo Mew Mew was bought and released by 4Kids in America because it was changed dramatically. I haven't seen the English version of it, however. What was changed when it was brought to America?

I didn't watch it extensively, and I never had much contact with the original material, but here's what I remember.
The series name was changed to "Mew Mew Power". They did the usual character name changes; the main heroine Ichigo became "Zoey", Mint became "Corina", Lettuce became "Bridget", etc. You can see the full list here. The music was changed to American-style pop. As far as I know, there weren't extensive edits for content and the plot wasn't really changed, although some characters come off differently because of how the dialogue is written, or because of the way the American voice actors play them.

Apparently, there's a plot change (if it's considered as plot): Episode 1 is Japanese's episode 12, and episode 2 onward is Japanese's episode 1 onward. From English Wikipedia: "NOTE: This (episode 12) was the first episode aired by 4KidsTV (US). It then started at the beginning and went in the same order through episode 23 (last one aired)."

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


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Why are Sakura's feathers so powerful?
Princess Sakura of Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle has her memories scattered to many dimensions in the form of feathers. These feathers are incredibly powerful, able to do things such protect buildings and water underneath from acid rain. Why do the feathers have this power?

According here and here,

Sakura is revealed to have strange powers when she has a vision of a
  mysterious symbol and places she has never seen.

So,

Since these feathers represent Sakura's soul, these hold an enormous
  amount of magical power. Each of them affect their surroundings
  differently.

In the last arc we learn that the true power of those feathers are

 to cross dimensions and time.


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Why are light-haired male love interests common?
It is relatively common for series (especially shoujo) for the/a love interest to be blond. This appears in Ouran High School Host Club, Kaichou wa Maid-Sama, Tokyo Mew Mew, and a number of others. Why is this common in Japan, where the population is 98.5% ethnically Japanese--and as such naturally dark-haired--and most of the rest of the population is either Chinese or Korean?

Related: http://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/2872/why-do-many-characters-tend-to-have-crazy-hair-colors-and-styles

It might have something to do with the representation of the blonde-color. According here,

Blonde hair on a male character may imply that he is a trickster.
  Alternately, it may symbolize that this character is a focus of chaos,
  and trouble follows him wherever he goes, such as Vash the Stampede
  from Trigun, or Soichiro Nagi from Tenjou Tenge; a live-action example
  is the movie version of Battle Royale's Kazuo Kiriyama. It is also not
  uncommon for anime males with long blonde hair to be portrayed as
  Casanova-types. (Examples: Kurz from Full Metal Panic, Allen Schezar
  from Vision of Escaflowne, Kyle from Suikoden V among others...)

the easy artistic reason is because it makes it that much easier to tell characters apart very quickly. If it's a manga, you won't have voice to tell the difference, and the art style can be very similar between two male characters who are supposed to be hot. If you can't hear the difference, and you can't see much difference, an extremely different hair color makes them distinct even if they're facing away from viewer or are barely in frame!
If it's natural, it's sometimes used to make them seem foreign (usually french!) in a way meant to be mysterious and attractive. If it's dyed, it shows they have an interest in their looks, and often that they're a rulebreaker (since most Japanese schools have rules against changing your hair color), which means it's usually a casanova type.

Well, in Ouran, i know one of the blondes is like, part french, and the other is just suppose to be the cute little one and the blond hair just adds to it, plus in that anime is a school for rich people and we see a lot of them with dyed hair, some background characters have light brown hair or red hair, so it's to say they're rich, and most of them are easily able to dye their hair. Also some of them are part caucasian.
In Kaichou, the love interest is also from a wealthy family and his mother is from England. The japanese people still have very dark hair, and dark eyes.
In Tokyo Mew Mew, he is also a rich boy from Europe. The actual love interest is only blonde when he is possessed by an alien godlike entity.

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


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Why is Poyo completely round?
The premise of Poyopoyo Kansatsu Nikki is that it's about a cat who is completely round.

Does the series ever reveal why Poyo is so unusually shaped?

The short answer is no, it is never revealed. The series is more interested in poking fun at the foibles of animals and everyday life in general, than examining the strange physical dimensions of its protagonist(?).
The most likely reasons are for the Moe and the lulz; that round cat design is aesthetically cute, which is sufficient reason for inclusion within a light comedy. Also the roundness gives all sorts of opportunities for rolling away gags. Plus, the shape of the cat probably reminds its viewers about balls, pork buns and rice balls. Any one of these things that are animate would be rather amusing :)


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Why did Airi say "Whose eyes are those eyes" at the end of the first episode?
At the very end of the first episode, Airi is shown saying "Whose eyes are those eyes?" - a key phrase from Chaos;Head, another visual novel and anime from the same creators.
From what I've read, Robotics;Notes does have some ties to Chaos;Head that were seemingly cut from the anime completely (possibly copyright issues?). But it doesn't make sense to me that she would say this line when Chaos;Head is not referenced at all at any other point in the anime series, if I remember correctly.
Did I miss the meaning of the line within the anime series? Or does anyone have an explanation from the Robotics;Notes visual novel?

This is indeed a meta-reference, that spans across the three games in the series.
The reference starts in Chaos;Head with Takuto, he spreads the phrase and is surprise how it catches on and becomes a meme.

One of the reasons is a serial killer that leaves behind this message at the scene of their crime.
I don't believe that there's an actual reference in Steins;Gate, but there is a reference to in the non-canonical 8-bit version:

In Robotics;Notes, "Airi" is an "automated data collection engine," so it would makes sense that she would pick up a meme such as that.

Also, Airi's online handle, SisterCentipede, can be seen in the Chaos;Head VN, so she could have definitely picked up on it from there.

Ah guys you really need to see this, all the games are very connected. Mainly due to the 300/Illuminati pulling the strings from the background, also NOZOMI is key in Chaos;Head. And there's a sequel called Chaos;Child that sheds some more light on things nut. Anyway the timeline, if you haven't seen or played Steins;Gate this will be very confusing to you, also Takki does NOT have a mental issue it was PUT there.
http://steins-gate.wikia.com/wiki/Committee_of_300
BTW this timeline has major spoilers, so if you have not seen all the science adventure series or played the Steins;Gate VN you may be a bit confuzzed. And for "whose eyes are these" you have to look hard into the brainwashing microchip angle. SERN created this and some of the timeline depending on attractors and divergences of course are going on simultaneously. Also, there are a few mention in Steins;Gate about Daru knowing about the new gen murders and chatting with Takki's SN. Also Sawada from Robotics;Notes is very key as well. Also if you don't know who DaSH is yet... lol never mind I won't spoil it.

while on topic, this doesn't answer the question - maybe can you focus it around the 'who eyes are those eyes' quote?

As the above comment suggests, please try to edit some more relevant info into your answer, so that it fully addresses the question. Otherwise, your post will most likely be deleted, as it does not answer the question.


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What species is Pannya?
In Mashiroiro Symphony, Pannya is a cute cat-like creature. However, at least in the anime (unless I missed it), her actual species is not named. The anime also has plenty of ordinary cats, so it doesn't seem like Pannya is just a chibified version of a cat. Furthermore, there seem to be other animals of the same species.

(Note: Pannya is the one on the left)
Is Pannya's species ever given a name? I'm fairly sure that it isn't named in the anime, so I'm mostly looking for confirmation from the manga and/or visual novel.

I strongly believe that Pannya is not a real species. It is likely a RidiculouslyCuteCritter added as a SeriesMascot, possibly for the purpose of making the series more recognizable.
Take note at how Pannya always appears hanging on the characters in the title of the series.


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Is "The Melancholy of Momoneko-sama" based on any legends?
The first half of episode 9 of Tamayura: Hitotose is a short fable-like story, "The Melancholy of Momoneko-sama" ("Momoneko-sama no Yūutsu, na no de"). It follows Momoneko, the strange pink cat in the series, and his battle with a boar.

Many anime fables are based on real Japanese legends. Is there any such basis for this one?


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How was Tamahome able to get out of the book The Universe of the Four Gods?
In the last episode of Fushigi Yugi, it was shown that

 Tamahome was able to get out of the book of The Universe of the Four Gods and was able to go to Miaka's world.

How was he able to do that?

If you are referring to the last episode of the anime (i.e. episode 52):

 After Miaka uses up her three wishes, Suzaku grants her wish that she and Tamahome are together forever. But, this wish cannot be completely granted because it goes against the rule that characters in The Universe of the Four Gods cannot be together with people from the real world. Suzaku brings Tamahome into the real world as a separate being named Taka.

This is further expanded on and fully resolved in the OVA (and manga):

 Taka doesn't have his memories as Tamahome because Suzaku sealed them in a duplicate figure called 'Tamahome' in The Universe of the Four Gods. At the end of the OVA, Taka and the 'Tamahome' from inside the book merge into the final 'Taka', who now has all of the memories from the original Fushigi Yugi Series.

And that's how Tamahome comes out of The Universe of the Four Gods

Wasn't Miaka's last wish to have everything ok? (since the world was devastated by Nakago?)

You are correct. I had forgotten that the second wish was to seal Seiryu and the last was to restore the world (it's been a while since I've seen/read the series). Suzaku granted Miaka/Tamahome's wish to be together, but the same rules applied (book characters can't be with real world people), which is where Taka came from.


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How far ahead is planning done before a manga is released?
The question speaks for itself. I have always wondered how many of these amazing plots just unwind so naturally. Is it done as they go along or do they have separate set sessions for developing ideas, writing etc. Not to answer my question but one would have to assume the latter, I'm just asking how far ahead is said planning usually done.
For example, when Naruto initially started was there ever a plan to have the Akatsuki and Pain or have Jiraiya die?

My guess is that it would be like any sort of writing, where it depends a lot on the author.

Sometimes, some author just make me wondering how far ahead they plan the story - like in Fujimura-kun no Meitsu - Joke from chapter 1 about wet shirt is explained in chapter 57 by plot.

This answer began as a comment, but quickly grew to large.
I'm purely speculating here, but generally most writers would probably have  chief events planned from the start, and fill in the gaps as they go. By chief I mean turning points that are essential to the story overall. When I say planned I mean they already know what they want to happen, and how to achieve it, or at least have a general idea, and perhaps are leaving the implementation details up for later.
As a case example, from the beginning Eiichiro Oda already had the ending of One Piece planned out. To this day he hasn't changed this plan, but out of enjoyment of writing the series he continues to fill the gap from commencement to terminus. (See: One Piece#Production - Wikipedia)
That said, nothing would stop a mangaka from totally changing his/her plans and writing something altogether new at any moment. If I remember correctly, Akira Toriyama had no plans for Vegeta to have any more appearances in the manga Dragonball Z after his defeat on Earth. But when he saw the great positive reaction from fans he kept him in for the rest of the series. Toriyama's original plan is not exactly known, but in the least it had to be modified greatly to accommodate the new character.
Another factor would probably be the publishing agencies themselves. Obviously they want to capitalize, and so most often, more is more. If a manga series is doing very well, they'll probably want to extend it, and so many writers are pushed to write beyond there original plans. Continuing with the Dragonball Z example, we can see just that. Toriyama planned to end his work at the defeat of Cell, but was urged on by publishers to continue, which lead to the true climax, Buu.
Also, censorship could play a part in some cases. If something written by an author goes against the standards of either society or the publisher, it would have to be modified, and even a small change can have great consequences later on. This of course must take into account creative control, which is an author-by-author process depending on the details of any given contract.
Again, all of this is nothing more than pure speculation that uses nothing but perceivable events as evidence. As I find more resources and evidence I'll add it. Perhaps to try to formalize this as it stands, I'd just agree with kuwaly, and say that it's all up in the air. Writers, publishers, public reaction, political correctness and just about anything else could alter the course of any writer's storyline at any point. I doubt any manga ever turns out exactly like the first draft.

for a speculative answer, very nice. +1 but was looking for something more definitive or at least some more credible sources. If you find more, please do add it, some good points in there as well.

Just for additional information, usually in the case of release and drawing (not the storyline), they plan 3-4 chapters ahead, i.e:

Chapter 1 is supposed to released lets say this week
Chapter 2 is supposed to be printed, shipped etc for the next Week
Chapter 3 is supposed to be editing, liberation, etc
Chapter 4 is supposed to be Final Editing
Then Chapter 5 is supposed to be the one the mangaka to work on on the week of release of chapter 1.

This is 3-4 weeks or chapter ahead is what usually called by 'print schedule'
But this is all changes depending on the circumstances of mangaka (hiatus, new year, holiday, golden week, etc)

Nice answer. A credible link would be lovely.


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What happened to Masaki's family?
In Bleach, Ichigo's mother Masaki

was a quincy and was living with Uryuu's father, Ryuken Ishida as a teenager.

She was the last of the Kurosaki line. What happened to her family? How did they die?

At this time it is unknown what happened to her family.

Correction: Masaki was not the last of the Kurosaki line. Masaki married into the Kurosaki family, hence Ichigp's last name being Kurosaki as well.

It hasn't been told in manga yet. We can only speculate.
The Great Quincy War can't be the reason as it happened 200 years ago. We can safely presume they died of natural causes and also they were Echt Quincies (pure-blooded Quincies who refuse to marry and mate with anyone but a pure-blooded Quincy and who were almost extinct after the Great Purge).


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What happened to Aura between the events of G.U. and the movie?
Aura seems to be missing in all if not the majority of the //G.U. anime and games, //Quantum, but makes some appearances in the //Beyond the World movie?
What happened to her between this period of time?

In The world:R2, Aura is missing because she is trying to let the players act by themselves. She acted tough by creating the 3 azure knights (azure kite, balmung and orca) and helped haseo during the last fight of .hack//G.U. game series.

After Aura was reborn as the Ultimate AI during the events of .hack (particularly the final battle against Morganna Mode Gone's manifestation in Corbenik's final form) she was referred as a Goddess in a world which was heavily reliant on the world wide network to which she was the ultimate debugger.
Now i'm not sure which .hack//Legend of the Twilight is cannon however before it she gave birth to her daughter Zefie, created a false competition to recreate BlackRose and Kite PC's and gave them to Rena and Shugo and gave Shugo the Bracelet (probably only because he had the Kite PC), after that

In the Anime she helps Shugo and Rena by saving Rena after she is killed and helps them in stopping Morti's Skieth (not entirely sure if it's a recreated Skieth but it looks a hell lot like it)
In the Manga Zefie is escorted back to Aura by Shugo and Rena

sometime after Legend of the Twilight she began to dislike this role as "goddess" (Endrance comments on this in Net Slum in the G.U Games) and suddenly disappeared by going into a deep sleep. The sudden disappearance had an affect on the world wide network and CC Corp saw this as the perfect opportunity to create a new Aura which they would control (thus restoring their and ALTIMIT's market hold)
Project G.U which was supposed to duplicate the scenario that lead to Aura's creation, however failed when the R.A (Rebirth Aura) Program failed to run and ended up wiping out most of The World's data. CC Corp them merged the remaining data of The World with another game they was working on to create The World:R2. before The World's Shutdown player were given some time to explore what was left with their PCs. Reiko Saeki's (Pi from G.U, Shamrock from Quantum) older bother Jun Bansyoya who was apart of Project G.U encountered Zefie where she tells him how Aura abandoned her position as the Ultimate AI and integrated into the system of The World, afterwords she herself "returned to the winds." (possibly to return to her mother)
After the AIDA began to appear and become influenced by Tri-Edge, Aura wakes up creates the Azure Knights to protect The World however they was rushed in their creation so their AI was incomplete so to "protect The World" meant to "Protect Aura", anyone who approached Key of The Twilight would also become their target as the key was an extension of Aura. When Hasao fought the Knights, Aura orders the Knights to stop fighting using Aina's PC as a medium, telling them how she's leaving the future of The World in their hands (the players) and they had to stop Cubia themselves. however she does given them some assistance by creating Aura Spheres within Cubia and after Cubia is destroyed she gives Hasao the Member Addresses of the Knights and a Card before returning to sleep, so she's not entirely without power.
I'm sure that .hack//LINK occurs before .hack//Beyond the World but i'm not entirely sure on the story of it as it's a manga and game, in the game Aura has woken again and near the end becomes infected with a Virus which makes her become the crazed Queen of Demise and in a twisted form of love tried to Real digitalize humanity, she's saved by AIKA's sacrifice and AIKA presumably returned to the sea of data where Aura sleeps with Aura as she herself falls back to sleep
that's all i know without properly looking into .hack//Link but for the most part she in a deep sleep in the sea of data and only wakes up with The World is in danger and while caring for the players in it, tries to aid them without directly interfering so that the fate of The World and the players are decided by the players and not by her


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What is the fate of Densuke at the end of the last episode?
In episode 23, Densuke is "lost" (mobbed my illegals) when he was protecting Yuuko (Okonogi) from illegals.
However, in the last episode, Yuuko and Kyouko both are able to see Densuke without their Dennou Eyeglasses. How is this possible (since Densuke only exists in the virtual space)? Does this mean he was reborn or is the meaning purely figurative?

I think this is a question about interpretations and there's not going to be a definitive source, but I did not take his existence (digital or otherwise) literally in this scene. More like the classic ghost of a friend watching over them.

To me the most rational answer to the fact of Densuke showing up at the very end, while both sisters are able to see him without actually having the glasses on. Is due to the fact they have a big connection to Densuke.
If you recall early on Yasako and Haraken discuss about how Illegals were born and they come down to the resolution they are born from emotions like love and anger.
So in resume my belief is that due to their deep love for Densuke, it creates his image at the very end, as something like a peace of mind as everything was resolved and that he was still there, in their hearts.


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Is Ika Musume the only humanoid squid creature?
In Shinryaku! Ika Musume (Squid Girl), the protagonist is a strange creature called Ika Musume who looks almost like a young girl, but has a number of strange squid-related abilities, such as spitting ink and using her hair as tentacles. She is also intent on invading humanity.
Are there any similar squid-like humanoids in the series, or is she the only one of her kind?

Methinks the hat is controlling her....

Well there are some mini versions, but those are basically the same character.

You forgot she has an inhuman appetite for shrimps.

As far as I know, she's the only squid-like humanoid shown in the series. Though there is a miniatured version of her that appeared on people's dream, mostly Sanae's (source). In the last episode of Squid Girl, she met a girl named Kozue Tanabe which is implied that she also comes from the sea, as she has a hat similar to Squid Girl's and makes statements that indicate she isn't human. The first syllables of her name spell out 'tako' (たこ?), meaning octopus.

It was implied during the playing house episode that she has parents that are like her as she said that she was mimicking her father when she said "I want shrimp!"
Also in the manga when she was talking to the school children with the teacher who is jelous of her about sea creatures, she pretty much said that her species lives deep in the ocean where there isn't any light from the sun and they communicate by flashing their bioluminescence.
I also like to think that their species isn't big on specific names, so I think it's funny to call her dad "Ika oto-san"

I don't think she's alone, Kozue implied that at the end of season one.
And besides, There would have to be more so that ika could have been born.


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How do Konoha's powers work?
In Kami Sen, Konoha is a god of poverty (though she denies this). She seems to have a number of special powers, but it's hard to tell exactly how they work. In some cases, she seems to be deliberately controlling them, while other times it seems to be subconscious. It's also implied that having more followers makes her more powerful, as does being in love. In some cases her powers seem to actually help the main characters while in others she brings misfortune.
How, exactly, do her powers work? What determines how powerful they are, and whether she can control them?


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Is the Soul King a Shinigami?
The Soul King is shown in the Thousand Year Blood War arc, though only briefly. Not much is explained about him, so things like what he can do and what his job is are a bit vague. Is he a Shinigami? If not, what is he?

I'm guessing we'll know more as the series progresses. Not sure we can give much of an answer ATM.

@MadaraUchiha Well, Thanks to whoever forced Kubo to Rush, Its now The World will never know.

Like Madara mentioned, it's really impossible to say at this point. From what I remember from that brief moment in the manga, the silhouette of the Soul King kind of looked like Aizen's pre-butterfly state.
Aizen also called "it" a "thing," so it might not be a Shinigami.

In Chapter 611, the Soul King was revealed to be

 Yhwach's father

However, it was not stated anywhere in the manga whether or not he was a Shinigami or a Quincy. In Chapter 615, the purpose of the Soul King was explained. To quote from the wiki,

The Soul King's sole purpose is to regulate the flow of souls in and out of Soul Society. Without his existence, all known dimensions connected to Soul Society will begin crumbling into non-existence.


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Why kill instead of question?
When the crime coefficient of an individual rises high enough, the Dominators are set to kill them when possible, seemingly by exploding them from inside. This causes some problems:

The police lose their chance to question their suspect, possibly hampering ongoing investigations (including information on Makishima).
It is ethically questionable to destroy someone's body; Japanese culture would probably want an intact body for a proper mourning and funeral.

Of course, maybe the Lethal Eliminator just looks cool enough, but are there better explanations?

Did you see the whole anime? ;-)

@Rinzwind If the answer is later in the series, you're welcome to post it (with appropriate spoiler tags, of course).

@Rinzwind, I did watch the whole anime, and I would be mortified had I missed something so important :(

Hmmmm... As a bit of conjecture: 1) Involvement with Makishima is probably the exception (and could potentially be inferred from additional factors), and you'd be dealing with dangerous people regardless. 2) In order to get to a state where the Dominators go for 'kill', you're not likely to have been interacting with anyone closely for a while... or not anyone that 'matters'.  Mourning would have the potential to disrupt someone's score, but if they just disappeared?

but a Dominator that launched bullets in Lethal Eliminator mode would be no less useful than today's guns in law enforcement, returning the benefit of questioning.

The police lose their chance to question their suspect, possibly hampering ongoing investigations (including information on Makishima).

The premise in the series is that Sybil can identify any criminal with a simple mental scan, and most of the city is scanned constantly for stress levels and such. Hence, killing off a criminal won't hamper any sort of investigation, because all criminals are found just in time. In other words, there is no such thing as organized crime, because the rigorous scanning measures always detect everything in the city.
... Which is of course flawed. Individuals like Makishima can't be detected. However, as we learn later in the series, such "criminals" have a special role in the system, so we can ignore them.

It is ethically questionable to destroy someone's body; Japanese culture would probably want an intact body for a proper mourning and
  funeral.

Sybil has crafted a peaceful society by making objective, calculated decisions. It has determined that an individual with a criminal coefficient greater than 300 has no salvation, and is only a danger for everyone else. I think it is a key feature of the series to display a society that is culturally different from ours.

The Sybil system has largely replaced most of the cultural values and critical thinking.
Later in the series a way to circumvent the system is found, and someone begins to mercilessly beat a woman to death on a crowded sidewalk. No one cares or even flinches. The only problem the system detects is that the woman is under a great deal of stress. It kindly suggests she chill out. Since it reports no real problems, people just curiously look on, if they bother at all.
We could argue that our instincts would lead to some reaction, but in this story they are completely unphased.
The loss from instant execution is the price paid to have such assurances that you are safe and do not have to think. In our world, execution is performed on extreme criminals after sufficient evidence has been found. Sybil was a way to get that evidence business handled in a second, rather than months or years.
As a side note, part of the motivation for the 'bad guys' is the torpor and ennui caused by this state of non-criticality and predetermined lives.

The idea behind a Dominator is two fold:
First the most common reason for the kill state is that the person is no longer capable of rehabilitation.  Their psycho-pass is so far gone that rehabilitation is a waste of time and means and Sibyl sees it as pointless, thus elimination.
Second, Sibyl has an agenda.  Sibyl can seek to silence a specific person for it's own sake or for another reason.
On the flip side of the coin Sibyl can also choose to keep someone alive that it knows is evil for it's own purposes.
It is usually the first case as the number of people Sibyl truly has interest in is very small but Sibyl is by no means objective.

Even if someone is incapable of rehabilitation? Isn't killing that person immediately making it hard to gather intelligence against organized crime? The Chief even admitted that the system is not foolproof and thus requires human detectives.

Psyco-pass is a dystopia and AI controlled society anime.
In story of this category, All human was dominated by AI.
The world of Psyco-pass is controlled by AI (Sibyl System).
AI will decide everything include who should be killed.

The police lose their chance to question their suspect, possibly hampering ongoing investigations (including information on Makishima).

If police side people (like protagonist) know something, nothing changed.
Because AI decide the penalty instead of human.

It is ethically questionable to destroy someone's body; Japanese culture would probably want an intact body for a proper mourning and funeral.

Right, Japanese have funerals with body.
Maybe that scene was created for emphasize how AI is cold and dark side of AI controlled societies.

In the Psycho-Pass universe, they don't care as much about catching guilty people, they care more about eliminating people (either by death or rehabilitation) who they see as a threat to their society.
It's also established that in their society has been going on so long that people are so unused to crime (outside people that have identified by Sybil), that they are very unlikely to commit a crime or even really comprehend it. This is shown by the fact that "normal" people have no idea how to deal with any sort of crime if they were to witness one.  That implies to me that crime, despite how much its shown in the show, is supposed to be very rare, and most people are pretty incapable of committing one.
People believe that the Sybil system will generally catch people before that point where they are in a mindset where they are capable of committing a crime, and therefore they do not have time to commit a premeditated crime like organized crime.
Lastly, people believe that Sybil will inevitably catch anyone who has committed a crime eventually anyways, since they believe those people will always have a high crime coefficient.
So I assume that most have the most likely erroneous belief that because of these factors, things like organized crime do not exist, and therefore investigations aren't all that necessary anyways.


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What prizes are awarded during the Daihasei Festival?
During the Daihasei Sports Festival (or Daihaseisai), schools from Academy City compete in various competitions such as ball-tossing and bread-eating.

I assume that the final ranking is determined based on which teams win the most events. What are the prizes for the winning schools/teams?

I don't think it was eve mentioned if there was even going to be prizes. Touma , however, did win a seven days, five nights, trip for two people to northern Italy from the "guess the attendance" stall on the final day.

No prizes are officially stated. However Daihaseisai (Grand Champion Star Festival) is a big deal for two reasons. The first reason is to observe large scale interference between espers. The second reason is that the festival is about as popular as the World Cup or the Olympics. If not all than most of the contests are broadcasted world wide for those who were unable to attend to view.
Besides winning your school honor and prestige, they probably give out medals or a cup to the winning schools.


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Why did the Slam Dunk anime stop without animating the Interhigh tournament?
The anime for Slam Dunk ran for 101 episodes and made it through about two thirds of the manga. According to Wikipedia, it also had good ratings and sold reasonably well. The anime and manga have both ranked as one of the top series of all time according to multiple sources.
It seems strange, then, that the anime would abruptly end right before the climax of the manga story. I could see this happening if the series wasn't making money, but normally they'd cancel such a series long before 101 episodes, and it's hard to imagine that it was losing money given the commercial and critical success.
Is there any stated or likely reason why the anime ended at 101 episodes without concluding the story?

As far as I remember, weren't both series cancelled at the same time?

As per here, (not sure how credible the source is but it makes sense). So echoing back your thoughts..

This series, as some anime are known to do, was cancelled after the
  initial 100 episodes. Most of the time this happens because the
  ratings are not that good, or the manga has not been finished at the
  time. I believe the reason for Slam Dunk not to continue had to do
  with money issues with its developers ...

and the answer also makes mention of the manga

Concerning the manga storyline it goes along the lines of the anime.
  And yes, the manga continues into the Inter High tournament, right
  until it is finished. It has a open ended finale, but in my opinion
  its one of the best anime endings I have seen. If you enjoyed the
  anime, reading the manga is a must.

Following up this answer, it seems to be a thing. Unfortunately I can't seem to find any ratings, viewership numbers or official source to back this, but for the majority it coincides with what you presumed in your question.


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Is there any meaning to the first Hatsuyuki Sakura OP "freak of nature: start"?
The visual novel Hatsuyuki Sakura has 3 opening themes, namely "freak of nature: start" by I've, "Presto" by Kotoko, and "Hesitation Snow" by fripSide. The latter two have lyrics and a lot of images, so it's pretty easy to tell roughly what they're supposed to mean (basically, they're standard VN OP sequences).
However, the first is just vocalized, with very few character images (mostly just scenery), and thus it's hard to interpret exactly what it's supposed to mean. It plays very early in the novel (i.e. after 3 days, which is just the beginning of the prologue), and at that point the story really hasn't been established at all yet.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_R8jJE2b84
What symbolic connection does this song have to the novel? Is it supposed to mean anything, or just set a certain mood? Also, what is the significance of the title "freak of nature: start" to the novel?


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Can Chiaki play any instruments besides violin and piano?
Chiaki is a talented violinist and pianist, and also an aspiring conductor. In the classical music industry, it's fairly common for people who are that talented at multiple instruments to know at least a few more. Is Chiaki known to play any other instruments besides violin and piano?

I don't remember seeing him playing something different ...

@looper If you've seen/read a sizable portion of it, feel free to write that as an answer. In the worst case that you missed it, someone else can always write the correct answer later.

As @Looper mentioned, Chiaki only plays the violin and the piano. The lack of additional instruments can be attributed to his dedication in becoming a world-class conductor.

Additionally, when he was playing that duet with Mine (episode 2 I think), he says that he's been playing the violin and piano since he was 3, but that he was way better at the violin. So he entered the piano department at the school so that he could get better at the piano. Never a mention about any other instrument.


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What are the notable differences between Hunter x Hunter in 1999 vs 2011?
Hunter × Hunter is quite a large series which has an anime starting in 1999 and one starting in 2011. The latter is longer (currently at 80 episodes versus 62 from the original), and is said to follow the manga more faithfully.

I have not read the manga, nor seen either series. What are the major differences* in these two adaptations?
* - Minor differences need not be stated, only ones which affect plot or character development significantly.

I'm a Japanese, so please excuse my English.
I ignore a lot of small changes, and want to talk about the cause.
Speaking from the conclusion, the notable differences are the following, I think:

Original Manga's Progress
Broadcasting Station
Main Target

1. Original Manga's Progress
Togashi is working now. That's all.
2. Broadcasting Station
Fuji TV is following One Piece, Toriko and Dragon Ball.
It is the HxH 2009's station, and faithful to the original.
Fuji's slogan is "NO FUN, NO TV", and is known as the most vulgar TV station in Japan.
But I really, really love Fuji's "noitaminA".
The 2011's Nippon TV is the most traditional commercial broadcasting station.
This oldest station is known as the most aggressive technical pioneer.
Maybe the original fans hate their editing, and the children's parents like it.
I think that the 140 times same OP songs is their attempt, too.
3. Main Target
In Japan, HxH 2009 was the "Saturday Golden Time Anime"; then from episode 62 onward, it became OVA. HxH 2011 was the "Sunday Morning Anime"; then from episode 99 onward, it became "Midnight Anime". Both began broadcasting in time slots meant for "Children's Anime" in Japan,
and OVA and "Midnight Anime" were the "Adults' Anime".
The nature of the children's time slot is slightly different between the two continuities. "Saturday Golden Time Anime" means that children watch the anime with their parents at dinnertime.
"Golden Time TV Program" is the TV Program that airs between 18:00 ~ 20:00 in Japan.
If the Golden Time Anime airs on Saturdays, TV station is expecting the conversation with the children.
In other words, children logical conversation with the parent is satisfied are eligible.
This is why HxH 2009 did not refrain from grotesque representations, in contrast to HxH 2011.
The reason why the TV broadcast was finished is because the original stock was gone.
By the way, there is no relation to the animation named "Golden Time".
On Sunday mornings, I think you are still sleeping, right?
In this time slot, most young children are watching TV, so a more wholesome animation is required.
Japanese parents do not like their children watching torn heads or hearts or fingers without supervision.
I think the reason of the change in time slot is that there are few parents who like their children watching torn organs in anime.
Then I wonder what kind of adult gets up in the early Sunday mornings, but I do not have the answer. I think they are probably also the type that does not turn on the TV during dinnertime.
Anyway, I do not write in detail because spoilers, but HxH 2011 thoroughly ignored the content of the original manga.
I'll never forgive the corruption related to Kite, the worst difference for me:

 In the original manga and the 2009 anime, the reason why Gon aimed to become a hunter is because Kite told him that Gon's father is a superior hunter. Gon thought his father was dead.
 First appearance: Kite gave Gon a scolding "you should not come near the territory of dangerous organisms".

 In the 2011 anime, Gon has forgotten the existence of Kite, and they don't know each other, not even the names.
 First appearance: Kite had been fishing on the side of the nests of chimera ants.

For more information, you can read this wiki.

I agree about Kite's regrettable lack of introduction early in the 2011 series.  While I prefer the 2011 overall, folks should watch the first two episodes of the 1999 series to really understand Kite and how he can mean so much to Gon.  The 2011 does offer a flashback to their first meeting soon after Gon and Killua teleport to him, but that flashback just doesn't have the same emotional impact.  Madhouse probably thought 75 episodes between Kite's introduction and reunion with him was too much, but they could have had Gon meet him in ep.1 and still had a flashback in ep.76.

Hunter × Hunter 2011 is the 'reboot' of the original series of 1999. It was created in order to improve the quality of the animation (ex. cute Bisky), and because the 1999 series was very popular; they rebooted the series to gain some more popularity. Also, the reboot completely follows the manga and reduces huge amount of fillers, like the Greed Island arc.

Besides the quality of the graphics, you've already said it, the 2011 version is more faithful in the manga.

There are only minor differences between the old Hunter × Hunter and the new Hunter × Hunter.  The main reason they decided to do a remake was because of the viewer group. Almost no one would decide to pick up Hunter × Hunter if it were to start right in the middle after more than a 10-year break.

the intro/outros are different.
 otherwise, (I just watched all of the 1999v, and started w/the 2011, and could barely tell the difference...except)
 the 2011 in/out theme is a bit obnoxious, while I'm partial to the 1999 version.
imo the 1999 ending song (with the female voice) is the best.
otherwise, I've watched all of the 1999v, and up to ep11 on the 2011v... with the verdict of the 2011v is a quicker story, and one youtube version (1-5 combined into one video) completely skips the first episode entirely.
one of my favorite parts was in the 1999v ep1, when Gon meets the fox-bear, and Kite, and this is a very touching part of the story that is left out of the 2011v. This sub-story also comes into play later on, and should be considered important..so, if you only watch the 2011v, then I recommend to (also, at least) watch the 1999v ep.1 as well to get a few extra bits of the story.

The fillers, OMG the Fillers! Animation quality is better in new. Stuff regarding kite, see the wikia for story related differences they have a good list. Also the soundtrack has a noticeable difference.  Not that one soundtrack is better than the other, as the new one is pretty good. There were scenes I thought the 2009 soundtrack did better (just felt darker for some reason).
Kurapica vs Uvogin,
Phantom Troupe's assault on the Auction (when Chrollo conducts the music of war),
Pakunoda's death scene with the chains
Sidenote - Overall I prefer the new one minus the music parts listed above. (sadly i also really enjoyed some of the soundtrack of the original FMA even though FMA:Brotherhood was better overall.  I wish they would keep original music people enjoyed in these Anime remakes or integrated in a way that did homage to it)

I think the 2011 version of Hunter x Hunter has better music cast and drawings than the 1999 version.
The story in the 1999 version stops in the middle, but the 2011 version continues until the end, although it has many fights, some sad moments, and happy ones.

Welcome to Anime.SE! This looks like just your own opinions on the two series, instead of looking at the objective differences between them.


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Why does Tetsuo say "I am Tetsuo" at the end of Akira?
At the end of Akira, there is a massive power release; then:

 Tetsuo manages to gain full control over his powers, and these abilities end up creating a new Big Bang in another dimension.

After this event, Tetsuo says the following: "I am Tetsuo."

Why did he say this? What meaning does it have?

I always thought of it as a tautology. "I am a god, I am god, I am Tetsuo"

"In the beginning there was the Word, and the word was "I AM" "

Testuo (probably like Akira before him) finally gains full control of his powers, and uses it to initiate the creation of a new universe. In effect he is now the creator god of this new universe, and he proclaims this at the end:
"I am Tetsuo"
This is the real Tetsuo, he is saying. His essence without the limiting shell of his mortal body. The pure energy of his being distilled into a pocket universe.

I think I may disagree a little here, since one of the main themes of the film is evolution and the main subtext is about puberty, (Tetsuo being unable to "control his body" and his inability to "ride Kaneda's bike") I think Tetsuo simply reached the next step in our plane of existence. Like Akira, Tetsuo has accepted his role as a superior being; however, since he is aware of the damage that he creates (told through dream sequences, and Kaneda's exploration of his psyche), he is also partly human. He is aware of any and all change around him, including the change within himself. He undergoes a total metamorphosis, completing his evolutionary destiny. By recognizing that he is a supreme being with mortal qualities, he comes to accept himself thus his statement, that he's neither the experiment known as #41, nor is he the resentful boy, he is and has always been, Tetsuo.

"I am Tetsuo" is a great and memorable line, but albeit a tricky one to decipher. I believe the intent is to serve two points to the audience, anything further might be reading too much into it.
The first point serves to inform to the user that Tetsuo is still "alive" (as in he' still out there), but not necessarily in a physical sense. The second point serves to point out to the audience the individual entity know as "Tetsuo" still exists. Not as part of Akira or as a new merged entity, but as Tetsuo in one form or another.
Though this doesn't necessarily doesn't explain or foreshadows anything, it's a reminder to the audience that somewhere in the vastness of space of that world... Tetsuo is out there.

It is due to he and Akira moving on to another plane of reality and creating a new universe.  This directly correlates to the ending of the manga when Kaneda is trapped inside the energy wave as Akira engulfs Tetsuo to keep him from getting too out of control.  Those pages talk about the initial genetic testing on humans which led the test subjects towards a new step in evolution. The conclusion being the possibility of creating a new universe via the powers granted through genetic manipulation and high doses of experimental drugs over subsequent generations of test subjects.  Ultimately, the power talked about in both the film and the comic is "the power".  It is the power that drives physics, chemistry, and all of life.  It is the power to both create and destroy.

I believe that Tetsuo had created a new world to inhabit as a higher power and not in a firey passion but in a benevolent society. Perhaps he had just said I am Tetsuo to to hint at his conciouaness thrives on.

I do not negate or confirm whether he has created a new universe or just come to terms with his pubescent angst... I would say it is just as likely that he is merely coming to terms with death? But, what is the difference? That is the beauty of the story. It could be all three... I mean, creating a new universe and now becoming its god, that's insane. Not to say impossible, but in our view it would be the same as death.
I am curious about the puberty undertones, I can see that but I have to say undertone, no more. I feel that Akira is social commentary at it's peak and puberty may be a theme, but not the main one. I like the idea of a new universe but I feel that it is not obviously stated. Yet I cannot deny that it is a great analysis of the ending. So, having never read the manga, because I am a cheap jerk or whatever, I feel that Tetsuo dies. He dies, only in our eyes. It is a perfect ending. We do not know what comes after death, and I agree the theme is about the Star Child, human evolution, 2001 Space Odyssey, etc. So all these interpretations are essentially the same ending. AMAZING. I don't know. AKIRA! Every time I watch it I am blown away. Tears. Amazed. Or as Kei said, "Fantastic."

I changed "Anime is social commentary..." to "Akira..." - hope that it doesn't change the meaning of your post.


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What are the "tentacles" coming out of people's heads?
In the alternate world (which almost the entirety of the show takes place in) of Super Dimension Century Orguss, everyone has 2 "tentacles" that come out of their heads. Aside from the occasional using them to move objects or press buttons, what's their purpose?

After Kei comes to, he finds out that the Earth he knows has been fractured into many different realities, a majority of the  of the planet being controlled by 3 main powers: the Emaan, the Terram, and the Mu.
The Emaan are nearly identical to humans, except for prehensile antenna-like tendrils that come out from the backs of their necks. Emaan males have one, while females have two. They seems to respond and move based on the emotions of the host (like cat ears or dog tails). These tendrils don't exert enough power to actually be able to move or lift heavy objects, so it's assumed that to be some evolutionary artifact. It's mentioned that in the series Emaan acting as spies in Terram have these surgically removed.
The Terram are probably closely related to the humans of Kei's world. The Mu are a robotic race, they were created to serve their creator, but later turned on them and wiped them out.

But are they used for anything in particular?


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List of manga chapters animated in Hayate no Gotoku! Cuties
If you have been following the manga, you would notice that Hayate no Gotoku! - Cuties (season 4 of the series) has been using material from:

"Filler" manga chapters (where plot stalls for character development) for most part of the episodes.
4-koma style manga from Colorful Hayate no Gotoku! or from the flaps of the dust-jacket of the tankōbon for the CM Connecting Theater (CM Matagi Gekijou).

Can anyone provide a list of manga chapters that is animated per episode?

The titles of the chapters are arrange in order of appearance in the anime. The anime also added some original content to create smooth transition between unrelated chapters.
In order not to confuse viewer (?), even though the anime draws material from various arcs in the manga, they are modified (sometimes heavily) to fit the pretext that all characters have known each other, and with all the details involving the plot (from where the chapter comes from) removed.
Chapter titles are taken from Wikipedia - List of Hayate the Combat Butler chapters. Title of 4-koma manga are taken from scanslation.
Episode 1
Hayate episode.

Chapter 303: "An Ordinary Life That KyoAni Wouldn't Turn Into an Anime" (京アニがアニメ化とかしない方の日常?)
Chapter 352: "Illness begins in the mind. That means you will get sick if you neglect your mind." (病は気から。気を抜くと病気になると言う意味)
4-koma ??
4-koma Colorful Chapter 24: Hermione and The Secret Clothes
Chapter 353: "He Caught A Cold Because He is No Longer An Idiot" (バカじゃなくなったからカゼをひく)

Episode 2
Nagi episode.

Chapter 197: "If You Feel Like You Have Become a Little Greater When You Wake Up Early in the Morning... Then You Are Imagining Things" (朝早く起きるとちょっと自分がエラくなったような気がする…という気のせい)
Chapter 174: "Even if the Law Says You Can't, You Still Want to See it" (法律でダメって言われても、観たい気持ちは消えない)
4-koma Colorful Chapter 16: Sanzenin Nagi's Less Than Beneficial Information
4-koma Colorful Chapter 5: The Wild Kingdom
Chapter 339: "A Single Yen Can Make One Laugh or Cry" (１円に泣いたり笑ったり)

Episode 3
A-tan (as Alice) episode.

Chapter 306: "It's an Option That Comes Default on Little Blonde Girls" (金髪幼女にはデフォルトでついてるオプションです)
Chapter 316: "Don't Move Another Step" (もうお前一歩も動くな)
Chapter 317: "If it's Important, Keep it with you" (大事なら持っとけ)
4-koma ??
4-koma ??
Chapter 318: "Sign"
Chapter 346: "And The Butler Made Them" (そして執事はそれを作ったとさ)

Episode 4
Isumi and Sakuya episode.

Chapter 341: "A Maid Will Not Be Found For Isumu-San Until 23rd Century" (伊澄さんのメイドさんは２３世紀まで見つからない)
4-koma Volume 29 (Front): Hi-tech Isumi-san ~Eps. Smartphone~
4-koma Volume 29 (Back): Hi-tech Isumi-san ~Eps. App~
Chapter 175: "You Bump Into Everyone You Need in Life" (人生に必要な人とはだいたい出会うようにできている)
Chapter 309: "The Honorific "Onee-san" is Filled With Romance" (敬語お姉さんが恋愛で満たされて)

Episode 5
Hinagiku episode. The anime didn't follow chapter 340 too closely (only around 50% of manga stays the same in the anime), but it makes the story better. For chapter 220 to 223, which occurs during the Golden Week in the manga, all the inheritance related stuffs are excluded in the anime.

(Up to just before the end of) Chapter 340: "Hinagiku-San's Wish Does Not Seem As If It Will Be Granted Even If She Uses The Holy Grail" (ヒナギクさんの願いは聖杯を使っても叶いそうにない)
(Start from near the end of) Chapter 220: "The Time to Forget Your Troubles Has Come. The Memory Mechanism Is Still Scientifically Unclear" (トラブルは忘れた頃にやってくる)
Chapter 221: "Because You Go to the Beach, There's Something You Have to Do" (ビーチに来たからにはやる事がある)
4-koma Volumn 12 (Front): Into the Dream, Into the Dream
4-koma Volumn 12 (Back): Don't you want to go?
Chapter 222: "Love Makes People Run in Odd Directions And Then They Want to Die" (恋は人をおかしな方向に走らせる。後で死にたくなる)
Chapter 223: "Winning And Happiness Are Equal But Not Linked" (勝つことと幸せはイコールで結ばれない)
(The rest of chapter 340)

Episode 6
Izumi, Miki, Risa (Idiot Trio) episode.

Chapter 356: "Even with Three Heads, 'Hmm...I Dunno' is all the Three can Come up with" ( 三人寄ってもう～ん…どうなんやろ…って三人で悩むだけ)
Chapter 373: Pros Are Amazing In My Field
4-koma Volume 28 (Front): If you can't concentrate, you can't do anything.
4-koma Volume 28 (Back): With the ability to concentrate, you can do anything.
Chapter 308: "Carelessness Means Acting Carelessly in Careless Moments" (うっかりは、うっかりしている時にうっかりする)
(Plus the first page of chapter 309, which is animated after the ED sequence).

Chapter 6
Ruka episode. There are quite a number of differences between anime and manga in the second part. In the manga, chapter 292 to 299 covers the first meeting between Hayate and Ruka, and the first meeting between Nagi and Ruka. These chapter also involves Housen Yozora (法仙 夜空) chasing after Hayate to destroy a fragment of photo that Hayate is holding on to. In the anime, which animates content of chapter 298 and first half of chapter 299, the story has been modified under the pretext that Ruka has known everyone else in the apartment, and Housen Yozora is replaced by Gilbert Kent.

Chapter 357: "Cycling Yahoo!" (サイクリング ヤッホー)
Chapter 358: "To be Blunt, I am an S at the Core. Also, Never do what I do!!" (ぶっちゃけ根はどSなのです。あと絶対マネしちゃダメ！！)
4-koma ??
4-koma ??
Chapter 298: "Idol Master" (アイドルマスター?)
(First half of) Chapter 299: "Don't Stop! Dreamer on the Road!"


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Why did Yukari's father wander off on his honeymoon?
Yukari Morita visits the Solomon Islands in an attempt to find out what happened to her father, who disappeared 17 years ago while her parents were on their honeymoon. There, she meets a native girl named Matsuri and after a series of events in episode 2, finds his father.
Was the reason to why Yukari's father just wandered off explained in the anime or light novels?

From what I can find (and according to TV Tropes), it is never explained what happened to her father, and it seems to have been more of an excuse to have her end up on the island and get involved in the first place than any real major plot point.
In episode 2, Yukari finds her father and demands to know what had happened. He tells her to calm down, then starts to cry after she tells him that he was the reason she had come there and why she was so upset about not knowing what had happened to him. It is shown in that episode that he knows the Director, who knows that Yukari is his daughter, but it isn't explained why the father left.
The only basic explanation (that I found) was that he went out to look at the moon and never returned.


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Why are the faces of dead people whited-out in photographs?
I've noticed that, in a number of different anime, photographs of people who have died appear with the face whited out, generally by reflections of light. Is there a tradition behind this? Is there a cultural reason for this, or is it just laziness to keep from having to animate a character who would only be drawn once?

Which episode of FMA or Brotherhood is the first one from?

It's from the opening speech that Al did every time in the beginning of FMA. The second picture (in case anyone was wondering) is from episode 9 of Pretear.

@kuwaly: Well, Hoenheim wasn't exactly dead at the time.

@MadaraUchiha True. Wasn't he assumed to be by Ed and Al (and the viewer), though? I can find a different picture if you want.

I believe the idea is borrowed from kuro-mesen and intends to convey the tragic events that happened to the characters who have their faces whited out, but said characters do not necessarily have to be all dead as the anime 86 - Eighty Six demonstrated in episode 11: Lena sees the photo of the Spearhead Squadron members for the first time.

I exclude the laziness hypothesis. This is a deliberate omission of a relevant information by the narrator. This is the case of an unreliable narrator that was keeping to herself a key fact for narration purposes. These lines about Agatha Christie's novels from the cited Wikipedia article can apply to this type of trope too:

the narrator hides essential truths in the text (mainly through evasion, omission, and obfuscation) without ever overtly lying [...] even a first-person narrator might hide essential information and deliberately mislead the reader in order to preserve the surprise ending.

The first image you've cited from Fullmetal Alchemist actually doesn't hide all faces. The mother, dead too, is clearly visible in the photo, only the father's face is obfuscated. So the criteria to hide a particular face is not related to the fact that a person is dead, but to the role the obfuscated character has in the story.
In Bakuman, the face of Mashiro's uncle is clearly visible at the funeral, because the narrator has interest to inform the reader about why Mashiro is reluctant about being a mangaka and, later, to motivate him in front of the reader. In Another, on the contrary, a certain character's face at the funeral is not shown until the author discloses who is dead.

I guess I can see that for Hohenheim, but what about the other picture?

In the other picture, the narrator is hiding an essential truth to the reader. Watching Pretear you'll discover what role havethe obfuscated character, or if this is simply a misleading omission.

There isn't any sort of obfuscation involved. The picture is shown while she is describing her father.

I mean obfuscation = character face is not visible due to a reflection covering his face.


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How does Toya give his magic to Yue?
I know that, in Cardcaptor Sakura, Yue starts needing more magic after Sakura collects all of the cards, which begins to negatively affect Yukito. Toya gives his magic to Yue to save Yukito. How does he pass the magic on? It makes sense that Sakura would have a connection to him, considering that both of them are connected to the cards, but why would Toya have a connection that allows him to give his magic to Yue?

I don't know the how part since in the anime, it was when Yukito was slowly vanishing due to his lack of powers and that's when Touya admitted to Yukito that he knows about his alter-ego (Yue) and his need for power. If I remember correctly, Yue appeared after that then Touya gave his power to him, sacrificing his ability to sense danger and see poeple who has passed away like their mom Nadeshiko. Touya just fainted after that. It happened on this episode. I haven't seen the manga so I probably missed something on the how part (if a ritual was done to transfer Touya's powers to Yukito).
With regards to Touya having the powers to be able to maintain Yue's power, remember that in the manga

Sakura's father, is one of Clow Reed's reincarnation (the other is Eriol). So Touya probably inherit his magical powers or spiritual awareness from him. Though this fact was completely removed from the anime, though it can only be the reason for Touya having such powers.


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Why didn't Yokodera send Azuki Azusa back to Okinawa?
Azuki Azusa is brought to the Tsutsukakushi residence from Okinawa after Yokodera accidentally makes a wish to the large cat statue in the storeroom. A little bit later, he learns that with this statue wishes can be taken back.
Is there any reason why he didn't take back his wish and send Azuki Azusa back to Okinawa?

I suspect there is no particular reason here. It is just used as a plot device for the love comedy between Yokodera, Azusa and Tsutsukakushi.


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What is Yue's relationship with Toya?
In Cardcaptor Sakura, Yukito and Toya are romantically involved, or at least shown to have romantic feelings for each other. Yukito tells Sakura of his love for Toya. Has it ever been expressed or officially announced what Yue, Yukito's alter-ego, feels towards Toya?

Wait, what? When did I miss that part? They were romantically involved?

@MadaraUchiha Read the relationships part of http://ccs.wikia.com/wiki/Yukito_Tsukishiro. It shows up a lot, especially in the episode where Yukito is dying because Sakura didn't have enough power to sustain him. Toya gave up all of his magic to save Yukito (ep 65).

I know of that one, but not that they were romantically involved. That one was news to me

Yukito clearly likes Toya in a romantic sense in the series, but can you give any example (manga chapter or anime episode) in which Toya expressed any clear romantic feelings toward Yukito? Even if Toya is not averse to Yukito's feelings and has affection for him, I cannot recall any moment from which they became an established couple (i.e. became "romantically involved").

As you have said, Toya and Yukito has romantic feelings for each other. As for Yue, it can be implied that he has no romantic feelings for Toya (since he knew ever since everything about Yukito, he probably had known that Yukito has feelings for Toya and wouldn't interfere). And according here,

Yue was in quite a strong and close intimate relationship with Clow
  Reed.

Yue was even against Sakura, as he strongly believed that no one succeed Clow Reed, but later on accepted her as his new master. So if there's somebody who Yue has romantic feelings for, it probably would be Clow Reed.
In addition, as far as I can remember, the only specific event that Yue and Toya had a conversation was when Toya gave his power to Yue and made Yue promise to protect Sakura and Yukito.

At first, Yue is cold toward Sakura. He is a very nostalgic person who only recognize Clow Reed.
But Sakura's warmth melted the coldness in his heart, and he recognized Sakura as his new mistress deep within his heart. He and Sakura gets quite intimate in the battles to turn Clow Cards into Sakura cards, and even wiped her tears away in Episode 65 when Sakura overheard the conversation and transfer of powers between Yue and Toya.
Does Yukito and Toya have romantic feelings for each other? I'd say yes.
But how about Yue's feeling for him? Truthfully, I think after such a long time with Sakura, he has stronger emotional attachment to her than to Toya, whom he met only once in his true form. It is his false form, Yukito, who had feelings for Toya.

I always thought that if, in the manga they make it clear to a certain point with Yukito; With Yue believed that if he has feelings for Toya even if it is false appearance he did not believe that they can only "create" those feelings unconsciously and he feels it. In the end they are the same person, two sides of the same coin.

I've translated this to English, but since I don't know Spanish I've had to use Google Translate which isn't always great. If anyone would like to propose a more accurate translation that'd be great.


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Why are there so many "in Wonderland" episodes?
Many series that I have seen have "x in Wonderland" episodes where they have retellings/variations of Alice in Wonderland with the characters from the show. Examples of this include Ouran High School Host Club (episode 13), Black Butler (season 2 OVA 1 and 4), Cardcaptor Sakura (episode 55), and Code Geass (OVA). What is the origin of this? Is there some sort of cultural basis for this?

It probably has to do with being public domain now. Also, it is not limited to anime: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice's_Adventures_in_Wonderland#Adaptations

I'm not asking about the popularity of Alice in Wonderland adaptations but of this specific type of episode. I don't think I've generally seen this specific type of episode outside of anime, though I could be wrong.

It could be just a general popularity of the "Alice in Wonderland" story. I'm going to guess that most of the "X in Wonderland" episodes were just fillers. I know the "Ouran High School in Wonderland" was. So I don't think there is a deeper meaning for referencing "Alice in Wonderland" asides from cute referencing of a very gaudy and stylized American cartoon. If it helps a lot of people contribute the anime drawing style to typical disney cartoons of the 50s, so a lot of anime artists are very familiar with disney cartoons.

You might be right, just figured I might throw out food for thought...

I guess this is because of it's overall popularity. According here,

Alices Adventures In Wonderland is a pretty well-known work: it can be
  associated with world-crossing fantasy, drug imagery, lolita fashion
  and other aspects of Victorian England, political satire, and who
  knows what else. No wonder it shows up a lot in anime, shock horror
  (it's a frequent target of Grimmification, usually with lots of
  blood), and emo teen novels. (You know the kind — usually involving
  vampires, eating disorders, or vampires with eating disorders.)

Vampire with eating disorder, sooo Twilight  ?

This is interesting because I see many answers saying it's not limited to anime, but from what I've seen, it's not limited to Alice in Wonderland.
While it seems to be the most popular one by far, I also have seen re-editions of the Japanese fairy tale 'Momotaru, the Peach Boy', examples include: Assassination Classroom, Maid-Sama and Free!!! (All of which are amazing and I would recommend watching from the bottom of my heart.)
I agree that they are many for the purpose of buying time for the animators to work on bigger pieces such as finales, they also are comic relief episodes that put loveable characters in familiar situations.


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Is Sakamoto human?
At the end of chapter 4, Sakamoto has some ambiguous dialogue:

Is he implying by this that he is not human? Or is he just stating that he finds other humans interesting?

He does have an inhumanly amount of swagger

I remember the similar thing by Izaya in "Durarara". It just shows how cool and outstanding the character is.

To me, it's like he is trying to look at human behavior from a 3rd party point of view.
We won't really know until the mangaka makes it obvious later in the story.


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What is the significance of Koizumi noticing Kyon's mole?
What is the significance of Koizumi noticing Kyon's mole at the end of Lone Island Syndrome?
I don't think there was this ever an explanation made in the anime... was there any context given in the light novel?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYHm7N3EtmQ#t=44s

I don't have any hard evidence to back it up, but I always assumed that it was at that point that Koizumi actually started taking Kyon seriously.  Instead of just looking at what he seems to be at first glance, he started peering into him at greater depth.  And, since it's mostly a comedy series, that greater depth involves a mole.

In the light Novel at least:

 there is a scenario where the cast encounters well, a fake cast (fake Kyon, fake Haruhi, etc.) Kyon manages to deduce that fake Mikuru was fake because there was no mole on her breast. Most likely we are shown the mole of Kyon to also understand the fact on how Koizumi will be able to distinguish the fake Kyon from the real Kyon in this incident (because Koizumi encounters the fake Kyon).

Of course, note that this is just speculation too, as the Light Novel has a first person perspective (so we don't actually read about Koizumi seeing the mole, so therefore the above also won't be read about). However, it's quite likely that KyoAnim added it because of this case.
The scene can be found in:

 The Rampage of Haruhi Suzumiya, The Snow Mountain Syndrome chapter. To quote:

 A deep breath comes forth from the depths of my throat.

 "Hoo...!"

 I jump out of my bed as if I had a spring in me.

 "No way!"

 Look closely! Why is it that I didn't notice this? The person before me is not 'my Asahina-san'. I should have known better than anyone else. Didn't I do this last time to verify for authenticity? You would know after looking at 'that spot' on Asahina-san.

 "Who are you?"

 -There is no mole on the left breast of this Asahina-san.

Later on...

 He [Koizumi] stares right at my [Kyon's] face.

 [Koizumi]: "You appeared in my room as well. The appearance might have been you, but the behaviour was just terrifying... anyways, you did things that you wouldn't do."

 Source: http://www.sos-dan.ru/files/novels/en/Volume_05/31_Snow_Mountain_Syndrome.htm

Some citations would help, if this was an attempt to answer the question rather than a comment.

@TheFactualGamer I'm not sure if you're trolling or what, but I added citations for my answer.


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Why do red Saber and blue Saber look so alike?
On the surface, red Saber (from Fate/Extra) and blue Saber (from Fate/Stay Night) look almost identical.
Was it ever explained why they look so similar?
What noticeable differences do the two have, aside from their abilities and attire?

Note that there is a "Saber of Red", who is not at all your "red Saber", but also looks very much like the "blue saber".  In Saber of Red's case, however, the resemblance is very clearly explained.  There's also Saber Lily (a white Saber), Dark Saber (a corrupted version of the blue Saber), and a Ruler who is fairly similar (but not nearly to the extent as either red Saber).  Fate/Hollow Ataraxia also includes images of the twinned Sabers summoned by the Edefelt during the third war, and they are stunningly similar to Blue Saber, as well.  Saber is Type Moon's most popular character, by far.

hmmm , thats Mordred.

Blue Saber = King Arthuria , White Saber = Arthuria right after she pulled excalibur, Black Saber = Evil Monarch , Red Saber = Mordred , Ruler = Joan of Arc

@NamikazeSheena No. Red Saber is Nero, Saber of the Red is Mordred.

Saber is extremely popular character. They are just "milking franchise" with character that looks similar to the original. And by having little different personality, they make sure they gain interest of more people other than fans of original Saber.

I think it would be helpful to elaborate on their different personalities (saying which character has which personality). I don't know anything about this franchise but have wondered why there are Sabers of different colors too.

As a non fan of this franchise I agree with this answer. Saber completely carried the show and game, in terms of personality, back story, appearance, etc. The rest of it ranged from uninspired to disappointing compared to its potential. Oblivious to why this succeeded compared to the other permutations of females in various master/slave roles they tried, they resorted to copying their own character. Which to be fair is probably the best the fans should expect out of them. If it goes over well, don't be surprised if we get a green Saber next, who's actually Odysseus or something.

@Templar627 makes an interesting distinction in his answer. Personality wise, the Fate/Extra Red Saber is more of a hedonist that does thing overindulgently with much gusto (expressed by her somewhat lewd attire). In the game dialogues and scenes, she is (implied to be) very openly bisexual saying the only things she cares for is what is beautiful ("Beautiful young boys are good. Beautiful young girls are better. My singular preference is beauty!").
Red Saber can be loud and opinionated -- often butting into conversations, throwing around advice, and insulting your enemies as she sees fit. Unlike her blue counterpart, she is vain, boisterous, and arrogant and speaks with all the regal proclamation of an arrogant ruler that is partially divine, not unlike Gilgamesh.
If you consider Blue Saber to be a tsundere, Red Saber would be the complete opposite. She bold (her attire shows off her cleavage and back/behind and legs/leotard/panties) where the other is reserved, proud where the other is humble.
Red Saber seems to be a bit shorter at 150cm tall, compared to the 154cm stature of her Blue counterpart. However Red Saber is bustier (B83/W56/H82) than her Blue counterpart (B73/W53/H76).

In Fate/Extra Material, Red Saber's backstory makes mention that her care for diplomacy caused Britannia's relations in Rome to improve during later years, essentially making her the person who built the opportunity for the legend of King Arthur to be born. Perhaps why she Blue Saber looks so similar to Red Saber is because her legend/archetype was based off Red Saber.

I thought i read that somewhere, i was going to comment on that i had read that Nero is the basis of Arthur but then i looked at looper's answer and i though that's were i read it from

what is it that Nero is pointing out with her eyes?

@Memor-X because her eyes are different?

but what exactly? i can't see any difference with the eyes

eyelashes, eye shape.

On the wiki-page for Red Saber, there is a little excerpt from a Q&A:

Q: Why are Red Saber and Blue Saber so similar? Are they related?
  A: They are very different!
  They are different like Takashi Takeuchi and Arco Wada. Or like buckwheat noodles and udon.
  The model of King Arthur were said to be a fusion of two individuals, and one of them is the Roman general Artorius. I guess there are some relationships.

Are there any key differences distinguishes one over the other or are they just different archetypes?

@Krazer I don't know. I have only watched F/Z and just quoted the wiki-page.

If I remember correctly, Red Saber as is much more hot blooded and much less proper, as compared to Normal Saber who is much more sedate and proper. Also, Red Saber is much more haughty and acts less humble than Blue Saber. I don't think that it's ever really explained why they look so similar, but the wiki says they don't have any blood relations.

Also, they are two different people, Red Saber is Nero while Blue Saber is Arturia.

If you look at the wiki you can see that they are both extremely different despite their superficial similarities.
http://typemoon.wikia.com/wiki/Playable_Saber_(Fate/Extra)
http://typemoon.wikia.com/wiki/Saber_(Fate/stay_night)

On the wiki page that templar627 posted, under the development subheading it says:

She was made to look like Saber because they wanted to trick people into thinking they were the same character and surprise them upon actually playing the game.

I've edited this for formatting, but I'm not sure if this single quote is really significant enough that it should be its own answer. I'll leave that decision up to others though.


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What does "Blitzendegen" mean?
The term "Blitzendegen" is used by the Dorssian military frequently (see here for an example). It seems to be used as a salute, but it's also used in other context. The term seems to be from German, but its literal meaning in German is "lightning rapier" which doesn't make much sense.
What is the in-universe meaning of "blitzendegen", and when are Dorssian soldiers expected to use it?

As a side note, "degen" is "épée" in German, not "rapier." Either way it still makes no sense... maybe it's one of those an all-purpose battle cries?

@Krazer I'm just going by Google Translate for the meaning, but it could be wrong in this case. I do believe you that Google is mistaken here. As you say, it doesn't particularly make sense either way.

well the point is meaningless as épée and rapier are both stab/slash-weapons

lightning sword makes sense, IMO. It might be loosely interpreted as "swift attack".

"blitzen degen" sounds about as German as "schwalbe fliegen." In the actual language, the grammar just doesn't work, it sounds awkward.

No, it's just a modified military salute and the words themselves have no particular meaning or a translation that would make sense.
While a military salute can be used for acknowledgement when receiving orders, it is rather uncommon and makes the person doing so look retarded. Another use of a modified military salute may also be a battle cry. While there exist historic videos from Germany with masses chanting and doing the Nazi salute, flags hanging everywhere and despite fascist songs being sung in the Wehrmacht, usage of symbols and memes resembling those that the Nazis used (and not being very original) are anything but an accurate take on this topic and rather use of artistic license. Producers often use their artistic license in that kind to demonize the enemy and depict dictatorships or fanatics.
I can't blame them, it still works very well and I found one of my teachers refusing to believe me when I told her that the Schwabacher typeface was abolished in Germany by the Nazis (thus finally putting an end to the Antiqua-Fraktur dispute).
Similar uses of artistic license in Animes:

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

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

Its quite easy:
BlitznDegen
is a short form of
Blitz und/and Degen
bolt and sword (like epee)
It's to make something similar to the nazi "Blut und Ehre" (blood and honour), which is forbidden like the Hitler salute in Germany.

While "blitz" means "lightning," the word "blitzen" means "to flash."


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How do anime productions arrange for artists to do the end card illustrations?
In nearly all anime these days, there's an artist illustration at the very end of an anime episode.
How do the productions get illustrators to do the end cards? Are they paid for it (if so, how much)?
How and why did this practice start?

Just curious, but which series is this from?

@nhahtdh Star Driver, ep.1.

I don't have a complete answer to this, but I do know that the illustrators chosen usually have some connection to someone on the production team. For instance, many series written by Urobuchi Gen use artists from Nitroplus. I don't know the fine details beyond that, or what sort of arrangement the companies make with the artists.

There isn't just 1 reason, but could be several:

Plot Compression: this could be either a cause or a consequence. They compress the plot too much and they get forced to "fill" the extra seconds of air time.
Partneship / Sponsorship: Some partner or sponsor could ask for extra time of the anime air time (Squarenix in FMA comes to mind) at the end of the episode or after the opening. This could also branch to promotion of other works of the same or different production house or some artist (as Logan commented).
Promotional products: they could use this time to promote any "collections" product for hardcore fans or another version of the same franchise (like the Anime promoting the new Manga or L/N).

Any other reason is a mix of the previous three, but these are the main possible causes.

They last for like 5 seconds at the very end of the episode (after all credits).  They usually just random illustrations of the characters by different artists.

This could also be due to canceling the "thanks to our sponsors" 5-second ad, which is filled by the artwork instead.


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Why is Karila's uniform different from the other girls'?
Most of the girls in Stella Jogakuin Koutou-ka C³-bu have pink uniforms, but Hatsuse Karila (right) has a blue uniform. Is there any reason why her uniform is a different color from everyone else's?

I have a feeling it's related to her being blonde/blue-eyed; #makes future prediction# - she's American, and a transfer student, hence her love of machine guns.

As Clockwork-Muse mentions, it's likely this is just an example of the "Transfer Student Uniforms" trope. This is a visual reminder of her character being "different", the stereotypical blonde hair and blue eyes of a foreigner adding to the effect.
It is not a grade uniform as another member in the club is also in second grade.
She is not actually a foreigner, having been born in Japan, though she is only part-Japanese which is enough for the trope it seems.


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Why did the Strawberry Panic manga end?
I picked the so-called 'complete collection' of Strawberry Panic at a convention. Upon reading it however, I found the story wasn't actually complete (stops just as the 'faceless devil' event is announced) and closes with an "..end?" even though nearly no plot points are resolved and many events are about happen
I've read the light novels, and there's a good chunk of story left. Why was the series stopped so suddenly?

Dengeki G cancelled the series, don't know why. Rumor has it that it was because Sakurako Kimino was sick.

I mentioned I read the novels, I'm wondering why the manga & anime series didn't complete

As Jon Lin said in the comment, the serialization got canceled after a long break.
According to Japanese Wikipedia, the manga was serialized in Dengeki G's magazine since edition 2005/11 and it continued until edition 2007/2. On the edition 2007/4, the table of contents listed the series as on break:

コミック『ストロベリー・パニック』はしばらくの間休載いたします
Comic "Strawberry Panic" is on break for a while.

However, since there's no sign of continuation for a long time, the serialization got canceled instead.
As for the reason behind the break/long hiatus, it's not stated anywhere (it's a common case). However, I doubt it's "because Sakurako Kimino was sick" since:

The light novel has finished (Sep 2005) before the manga serialization (Nov 2005), and the manga follows the light novel quite faithfully
The mangaka is Takuminamuchi, not Sakurako Kimino, and the story material already existed
Sakurako Kimino still continued writing: Baby Princess (2007-2012) and Love Live! (2010-)

Generally, a manga/anime doesn't have to complete the story set out by the original material it was adapted from. Some examples are Accel World, Bleach, and Bodacious Space Pirates.
Some reasons are obvious, like key changes in the plot making it impossible to follow the original plotline set out in the source, while other times it's not so obvious such as events involving members of the production team, such as work disagreements, licensing problems, or people getting sick for an extended period of time.
This isn't just for adapted works as these problems can affect the source material: Kaze no Stigma's light novel has been left incomplete due to the author dying.


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What rank does Edward Elric hold?
Ed is a State Alchemist, but what's his rank within the military hierarchy?  Col. Mustang explicitly mentions a few times he's his 'superior officer', so he's a bit lower than that, but how does he compare to Maj. Armstrong or some of the staff Lieutenants?
Are State Alchemists commissioned at some rank (e.g. Capt.) a la physicians in the US military?

As an State Alchemist his same as a Major, but in FMAB episode "Looming Shadows" the 2 Briggs soldiers who were escorting Winry referred him as Lieutenant. It's most likely just an error in the English dub though.

According to Maria Ross (episode 9, 3:42), all State Alchemists carry a military rank equivalent of Major.

An aside, some confusion may stem from the fact that Mustang is in the military hierarchy, but Edward is not (hence him not wearing a uniform like others.  And Shou Tucker doesn't wear a military uniform either).  That's why State Alchemists are "equivalent" to a Major, and not actually a Major.

So are they basically commissioned as a Major and if they so choose (or required during war) they can opt to rise through the ranks?

@NickT As Izkata said (and was correct about), Edward is not actually in the military hierarchy, just has command of a position equivalent to Major. If he chose to join the army ranks, he would have to undergo a different evaluation but would likely start at the rank of a Major upon completion.


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Is there any connection between the Vandenreich and the Bounto?
In Bleach, both the Vandenreich (the Quincy group that is attacking the Soul Society) and the Bounto use German in their names. In Bleach, in general, different groups use different languages, such as the Hollows using Spanish and the Bounto using German, but this is the first time (that I can think of) that there is a repeat. Is there a connection, or is it something that can be dismissed because the Bounto only appeared in anime filler?

by the way, the quincy always used German

The Bounto saga was only a filler, so I think the main history will never comment about them again.
By the way, I think there is no clearly evidence of a relation between German and the Bounts, like their names, abilities.....
Yes, I think you can dismiss it :)

The setting was german and so were their incantations