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Is the Kamui dimension infinite?
The Kamui dimension seems huge and Obito used it to store his weapons and other things. So I was just wondering whether the Kamui dimension has a limited capacity to store or accommodate things or not. Since it is in another dimension, could it actually be infinite and the user is free to make use of it as much as he wants?

This is a tricky subject as we have in no way been given any limit to the size of the space inside the Kamui dimension. However, we can surmise from what we've seen so far that the space is vast in its nature.

 However, the relative appearance of the Kamui dimension is shown in the above image from when Obito and Kakashi fought entirely within its realm. During this fight, we are given this depiction of the Kamui realm as a vast space containing large squared off platforms. Overall, the dimension has a somewhat "blank" feel and is almost reminiscent of the Ichigo's "Inner World" from Bleach. Whether or not the user can actually make changes to the dimension itself is not clear.

However, to truly answer your question about how finite this space, maybe you should ask what a dimension is. For the purpose of this discussion, a dimension is an alternate realm of reality, and could therefore contain an entire universe within itself.  For instance, the Kamui moves things from our dimension into its own, that in and of itself entails that we currently reside in one of these dimensions. Within our dimension exists our planet, our solar system, our galaxy, and beyond that our universe. That being said, the only valid conclusion I can come to is that the Kamui space must have at the very least the potential to be as infinite as our universe is. After all, we can't truly give proportion to our universe beyond the face of it being relatively immeasurable.

you should use >! for spoiler and refer this

Thank you! I didn't know about that previously, still rather new.


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How many volumes of the light novels did Durarara season 1 cover?
How many volumes of the light novels did Durarara season 1 utilize? Where should I start reading if I want to continue from after the first season ended? (I know the second season is already being broadcasted). Also, are the light novels still on-going or are they finished?

The initial run of light novels (13 volumes) finished in early 2014, but a sequel series started up a few months ago (titled "Durarara!! SH"), and has two volumes out so far and is ongoing. Dunno where the first season of the anime ends, though.

Wikipedia and Manga Updates say that the anime covers the first three volumes of the light novels.
From Manga Updates:

Status in Country of Origin
13 Volumes (Complete)
Anime Start/End Chapter
Starts at volume 1
Ends at volume 3

(As per senshin's comment, a sequel light novel series titled Durarara!! SH is underway and has 2 volumes published at the time of writing)
Wikipedia excerpt about the anime adaptation:

An anime adaption of the light novels was announced in the wraparound sleeve of the sixth volume of the light novel. The anime is produced by Brain's Base and started airing on January 7, 2010 on MBS, TBS, and CBC. Crunchyroll simulcasted the anime at 480p and 720p within 24 hours of its Japanese premiere. Other users were able see the same episode in standard definition for free one week later. The anime adapted the first three novels, and it was licensed by Beez Entertainment for European release, while at Anime Expo 2010, Aniplex of America confirmed that they have the license to Durarara!!, later producing an English dub for a January 2011 release. The English dub was produced at Bang Zoom! Entertainment. The music for the first season was composed by Makoto Yoshimori, who also wrote the music for Baccano!.

Sorry, but I'd highly suggest you read the light novels translations if you can (even the ones that take place during the time of the anime). There a lot of stuff not even mentioned in the anime. A lot of the events are either cut out, shortened, or completely adverted into something similar, and all out to nearly bashing Izaya's character. It makes him out to a whole lot worse than what he really is. Preferably in Volume 9 for his case.

This is fine advice, but it does not actually answer OP's question.

source: Stack Exchange

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How was the next leader of the Uchiha clan chosen?
From Madara Uchiha's article:

The Naka Shrine had been in the Uchiha's possession for generations and was brought with them when they settled in Konoha. Through careful study, Madara was able decipher enough of it to learn of the history of shinobi: of the endless cycle of failed peace and the destiny of battle between Uchiha and Senju, but also a means of unity for the world. With this knowledge, Madara decided Konoha was a failed experiment. He tried to convince his own clan and even Hashirama of the same conclusion, but none would hear him. Madara chose to abandon the village, returning with the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox under his control to challenge Hashirama. They fought to exhaustion, and from the carnage of their battle the Valley of the End was formed. In the end, Madara, too tired to even keep his Sharingan activated, was killed by Hashirama.

So after he abandoned his clan and his people and then got killed by Hashirama, how was the next clan leader chosen? (I believe Madara wasn't married)

Right before Madara left his own clan, Konoha was founded as a place where Uchiha and Senju could co-exist peacefully.
After Madara's death, there was no true leader for the Uchiha clan. All of them were under one leadership of Hokage along with rest of the citizens of Konoha. Hashirama was elected as the first Hokage and he was later succeeded by Tobirama.

I don't think i remember the manga focussing on this aspect as how they got chosen, its possible they chose someone who was acknowledged by everyone in the clan or someone who is the strongest among the remaining. Anything i answer will be purely speculative.

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What is Tsunade's chakra element?
In the series, she is celebrated as the world's best medical-nin, and is one of Konohagakure's Legendary Three Ninja. What is her chakra element?

I don't think it was officially announced. It's just like Sakura's case.
From Naruto Wikia, we find that:

Tsunade's Nature Types consists of Fire,  Lightning, Earth, Water, Yin (anime only) and Yang Release.

You can of course just use RAW chakra as well (rasengan anyone?) which is what the enhanced punches were, compressed chakra that is precisely released on impact, though Medical ninjutsu is probably Yang type.
http://naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Chakra_Enhanced_Strength


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Why is harem a common theme in manga/anime?
Harem manga and anime are so popular that they have their own category. It's easy to name a few: Girls Wild, High School DxD, Sekirei, The World God Only Knows.
Why is this such a popular theme in both anime/manga? It is odd because in fantasy literature, American cinema, and Western television, harem is not a common theme and would offend most. How is it that they are so extremely prevalent (and seemingly accepted) in anime/manga?

Because it's a widely successful trope that's been around forever.

@SystemDown Has it been around forever, though? "Harems" in the modern anime sense are conspicuously absent from all non-anime-related mediums I'm aware of. Of course, today they're common because they've been successful in the past, but I can't say I could explain how harems grew to be successful in the first place.

@SystemDown its currently not a widely successful trope in other mediums. There isn't a harem category for television or movies in any Western areas that I have been

I meant around in anime and manga. The first harem manga like Urusei Yatsura, Ranma 1/2 and Tenchi Muyo were super successful.

@SystemDown Right, that's certainly the case, but "forever" in the context of anime means a couple decades at most - recent enough that it's definitely worth looking at to see why harems were successful in anime but not anywhere else. (Is it because of some quirk of Japanese culture? Was it a novel invention that just hasn't diffused into other mediums yet? Is there some interplay with the economics of the anime industry? I have no idea, but I bet somebody else does.)

The target audience of "harem" shows is adolescent males - teenage boys. The main character is usually a male high school or cram school student, who is awkward around girls - someone the target audience can relate to, as they are in the same phase of their lives, struggling with love. (Who hasn't?)
Adolescent males have always been a large part of the audience for anime; shows featuring giant robots appeal to the same group. So it's a trope that appeals to the traditional audience.
I'm not sure why we don't seem to have "harem series" in superhero comics, as it could be successful for the same reason. One reason could be that the iconic superheroes like Superman and Batman are already mature, at an age where they are more confident around females, and also expected to behave more maturely than the protagonists of harem series.


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What happened to Sophie's curse?
During the movie, Sophie for the most part was seen in the form of an old woman, thanks to the curse the Witch of the Wastes cast on her. However, whenever Sophie slept, she seemed to revert back to her regular self. And when she was talking to Madam Soloman, her body was slowly reverting and her hair was changing colour. Also, when Howl was setting things up for everyone, her facial features and voice reverted but not her hair.
By the end of the film, Sophie still had white hair but she seemed to have regained her youthful appearance. However, the Witch of the Wastes never removed the curse, given her magic was drained. I am wondering if Sophie's curse was eventually dispelled or not.

Sorry to say but the books are quite relevant. The movie is based off of the book and without the book existing, than how would the movie be made? A book is always relevant if a movie is based off it because it would be the base material, hense Harry Potter, mortal instruments, and most of the anime we watch today. I will admit however that Mayasakis interpretation does give more of an in depth look what Sophie goes through being at Howl's side. I don't mean to start any kind of comment war, but had to be said.

The film glosses over the explanation with only a few hints, but it's explained properly in the original novel by Dianne Wynn-Jones (and its sequels). The Witch of the Waste's curse was only short-term, and wore off very early on. The reason Sophie didn't recover was because

 she herself had undiscovered magic talent, and was staying in the form of an old woman because she kept thinking of herself as such. She tended to revert whenever she wasn't thinking of herself that way - such as when she slept or when she was too focused on telling Madame Solomon off (and hence was thinking more of Howl).

In the book, the spell

 did not actually last that long, and the only reason that Sophie stayed old was of her own doing and thoughts (she winds up having the magical ability to talk life into things.)

In fact, Howl

 secretly tries to break her curse more than once and fails, commenting that Sophie "...must like..." being an old lady.

Also, in the book, Sophie

 never switched back and forth repeatedly from young to old, rather she only becomes young when she frees Calcifer and gives back Howl's heart.

In Ghibli's version, I think he shows her

 switching from one form to another to help explain that the spell is partially all in her mind.

As for the end... Miyazaki might have kept her

 hair grey to physically show her metamorphosis from having low self-confidence in her looks to becoming "pretty", or he might have done it purely for visual appeal...

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How popular is the light novel of Mahouka Rettousei Koukou in Japan?
How popular is the light novel of Mahouka Rettousei Koukou in Japan?
All I want is the current ratings and standing of this light novel series in Japan.

We can use metrics such as sale numbers and the like, but as it stands, this question seems to be too broad or speculative.

In terms of light novels, it seems to be the best selling series of 2014. Based on sales surveyed from November 18, 2013 to November 16, 2014, it ranks #1 with an estimated 1,599,614 copies sold.
However, if you look at individual volumes, Mahouka Rettousei no Koukou volume 13 ranked #5 with 226,371 copies sold. In comparison, Kagerou Daze V -the deceiving- ranked #1 and sold 398,038.
Hope that answers your question.
Sources: Anime News Network Top-Selling Light Novels in Japan by Series: 2014 & Anime News Network Top-Selling Light Novels in Japan by Volume: 2014


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Are guns in Kenshin historically accurate?
I noticed:

Private citizens with small pistols
Private citizens with hand-cranked machine guns
Soldiers of the old order with guns killing Sano's friends
Soldiers of the new order storming Yutaro's mansion after the rebels camped in it
Revolutionary soldiers practising stabbing motions with special sticks, while the teenage Kenshin practises swordsmanship in Trust and Betrayal

Seems like the opposing factions could acquire guns in the Kenshin universe; it seemed to come from totally unregulated trade with foreigners, or the same army which is in #2, #3 and maybe #4. Is this historically accurate? Where did they all get their guns from?

The series is set 11 year into Meiji period (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rurouni_Kenshin), and during this period, there are moves to modernize the army: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meiji_period#Early_Meiji_period_.281868.E2.80.9377.29

Actually, firearm has been in Japan since earlier, during Sengoku era (in Edo period). Thought the use of firearm stopped until several years before Meiji. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firearms_of_Japan However, I haven't read the series, so I don't know whether the type of the gun is historically correct.

If you don't mind, would you please include some images of the guns from the manga?

Wasn't the "private citizen" with the Gatling gun an underworld smuggler of some sort?  Meaning, it's not likely he got it though legitimate means...

@Clockwork-Muse, there was also a goverment official who was targeted by the Christian avenger who tried to defend himself with one. So atleast two.

Remember, Rurouni Kenshin is set during the late 19th Century. This is just after the American Civil War, during the British Victorian Era: the height of the British Empire, and a time when the Western powers were very interested in the riches of the Far East.
The Western powers were mostly laissez-faire capitalists who would allow their people to trade anything with anyone; read about the British opium trade in China to get an idea of how trade worked at the time. Western traders would trade whatever they could for Eastern gold, silver, tea, and silk; that included guns, which were plentiful and relatively inexpensive in the West—the Japanese Meiji Era began just a few years after the American Civil War ended, and there were guns everywhere in America. The factories of Britain, France, and Germany were also constantly spitting out rifles, revolvers, and cannons. In this period, the European powers would still have a major war among themselves every few years (the Franco-Prussian War broke out during the same timeframe that Kenshin takes place), so they all wanted to build up stores of arms in preparation for the next struggle.
Given that guns were everywhere in the West, that they were highly desired in Japan, and that Western traders desired Eastern riches, it makes sense that the Western traders would trade guns to the Japanese. Although we don't see it in Rurouni Kenshin (to my knowledge; I only watched the anime up to the end of the Kyouto Arc), I always assumed these factions got their guns by trading goods like silk and tea to Westerners, or by buying them from Japanese merchants who had traded for them with Westerners. This did happen historically, as the article on Firearms of Japan linked by @nhahtdh tells us.
As for the regulatory side, things in general were much less regulated back then. The Western governments of this era had little power to regulate trade, due to corruption and cronyism. Even if they were able to regulate trade, they didn't have any incentive to do so; Western governments wanted their merchants to trade in Japan and bring the riches back home. The Japanese government had no power to regulate trade on its end either; it had seen what happened when the Chinese tried to stop the opium trade, and knew it could do almost nothing to regulate foreign trade until its military was modernized.
From what I can remember, the guns in Rurouni Kenshin are historically accurate to the period; the Gatling gun was very new at the time, having been invented during the American Civil War. Revolvers, like the famous Colt, were also common in the West. According to the article @nhahtdh linked on Firearms of Japan, firearms from before the Tokugawa period were matchlocks based on the Portuguese arquebus. Many of these were destroyed during the Tokugawa period, but some remained, and after the arrival of Perry, they were converted to flintlocks as part of the modernization effort (see also the fourth paragraph, here).

Got it: so Imperialists had raised massive armies with guns.

Yes, for the most part. The animators were very discreet to make sure the guns that were prevalent were accurate to what Japan had, made or were attainable at the time. The series was set 10 years after the Boshin War ending or early 1878. At the time the US and other nations were supplying new firearms to the Meiji's Imperial military. By 1868, Japan adopted the "Snider-Enfield" breechloader as it's standard service rifle which remained in service til 1880.

Accurately seen and depicted in the anime specifically in episode 22.

In Episode 6, Gohei attempts to kill kenshin with a Colt Walker revolver.

The most infamous gun was Kanryu's "Gatling Gun" thou Many gatlings were made, during the Boshin war the Shogunate managed to get 2. Kanryu's gatling gun doesn't appear like any other, namely the gun only has One visible barrel.

This is erronenous as the weapon more closely resemble Hiram Maxim's machine gun, which wasn't invented til 1884.

This is a more accurate representation of a gatling, the Colt 1874.

Actually the Gatling Gun to me seems to be a fusion of the Maxim's exterior with the Gatling Gun's mechanism. I say this because all known examples of Gatling guns shows multiple barrels in a circle that rotates and loads with the cranking of the shaft.
For the whole story on the Gatling gun visit: http://www.popularmechanics.com/military/a22451/history-gatling-gun/.
Image of a known Maxim gun http://www.deactivated-guns.co.uk/images/uploads/1a1a44max/1a1a44max-034853_3.jpg.
go rewatch episode 11 at about 11:38 then look at the maxim. the 2 guns are similar except the crank and the missing water cooling system

This sounds more like a comment on a different answer.

There are many reasons why it seems like a comment rather than an answer. If you need examples please consult the help centre. For example, you claim a couple of things in contradiction to the accepted answer, yet provide no sources, again unlike the accepted answer. Not only is this poor, but you also don't address the question directly, rather, you address the answer instead. This is obviously not an answer to the question.

I know the title says "Are the guns historically accurate", but the actual body of the question is really asking if the availability of guns in Meiji-era Japan that we see in the series is historically accurate. This answer is more addressing whether the guns as drawn look like real period guns, which isn't really what was asked.


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Gunslinger Girl II Teatrino: Anime vs Manga
I've heard from a lot of people that season 2 of the Gunslinger Girl anime adaptation is significantly more upbeat and brighter than the original, and loses the feeling of dark, morbid 'beauty', yet apparently, the second season follows the manga a lot closer.
Does the corresponding parts of the manga also have a more cheerful feel? (I only watched the anime, didn't read the manga)

Are you asking if the 2nd season of Gunslinger Girl reflect the manga, specifically with the "feeling"?

I'm asking does the second manga also have a more cheerful feel (than the first manga).

Simple answer is no. I think so, because

 Many gitai (girls) died: Henrietta, Rico, Triela, Angelica, Beatrice, Silvia, ...

I would like to point out that Gunslinger Girl -Il Teatrino-
style and colour scheme is a lot different from Gunslinger Girl. However it does still have it's darkness to it and it does follow the manga comics closer. Although I feel like it basically a remake of Gunslinger Girl but with a slightly brighter feeling to it.

Please include relevant sources/references to support your answer.


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Why was Natsu called a pervert?
In chapter 421, we see Natsu tickle Lucy's feet. Nothing out of the ordinary, yet he gets called a creep/sicko perv. So is tickling someone's feet considered a pervert act in Japan?

I always thought it was because he keeps showing up in her house unannounced and uninvited.

Step 1) go to japan step 2) look at a girl step 3) Watch them calling you a pervert (or they might just run away) step 4) think step 5) ??? Step 6) profit. (reference, south park)

@ardaozkal I got to step 2 but nobody said or did anything. I even took pictures. So how do I get to profit? :(

Send me the pictures :P

You did the first step wrong, you are in Belgium!

@ardaozkal Not during summer, mister stalker huehuehue

D'oh! (lucky you, don't know enough japanese or have enough money to go to japan)

@ardaozkal Work your ass off and one day you'll be able to go! Hopefully :(

Lucy calls the guys perverts a lot. It's sort of her thing.
She calls Natsu a pervert in part because there seems to be a running gag of him coming into her personal space unannounced and unwelcome.
It goes along with the running gag of Gray always taking his clothes off... and getting called a pervert.

I thought she was just embarrassed because lately he's asked her to join a bath and blown fire between her legs so maybe she assumed he was trying to start being perverted and stopped him (even though this time I doubt he meant it as a perverted way at all but he HAS been a pervert so can you blame her?).


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Why is Franky's Strong Right a rollercoaster car?
When watching episode 583, I noticed that Franky's Strong Right attack looked like a roller coaster car. Is this just a design choice or some hidden pun?

After thinking it over a bit I think it might actually be a pun right/ride with almost the same pronunciation, Strong ride.

Whoa, that's a pretty good pun. I totally agree. Nice catch there.

According to Frankie article on One Piece Wiki that is actually meant to be a flame-shaped plate.

Strong Right (ストロング右（ライト） Sutorongu Raito?): A new version of the original Strong Right, Franky launches his much bigger right fist at his opponent akin to a rocket, with a chain to retract it. The fist also has flame-shaped plates on the sides with "STRONG" written on them that seem to be purely for aesthetic design. His fist also seems to have an electrical charge. This was first seen used against the attackers on Punk Hazard.

This indeed make much more sense than a rollercoaster car and is more fitting with Franky robot style.

Tbh, I hoped Dimitri was right, since I liked the pun on "Strong ride" vs "Strong right", but a flame makes sense too :(

@PeterRaeves Yeah, I liked the idea. All tough I will most likely always look at it as if it is a roller coaster cart ;)


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What does Monokuma's Morse code theatre translate to?
I've been playing Dangan Ronpa 2 and one of the Monokuma theaters that act as short intervals was done in Morse code.
What does it mean?

Typing it out and using a tool to translate it reveals the message:

BE SURE TO DRINK YOUR KUMATINE

Mysterious.
This is in fact a reference to A Christmas Story, in which the protagonist Ralphie gets his decoder ring and feverishly tries to decode the radio's message. The message turns out to be "Be sure to drink your Ovaltine" - a very disappointing advertisement, rather than the 'spy' message he was hoping to obtain.

"Ovaltine? A crummy commercial? Son of a bitch! "

Kuma is Japanese for Bear (Mono kuma - Mono Bear), which is where that part of the message comes from.


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Is the uniform worn by Tatsuya during the Nine Schools Competition banquet a mistake or formal wear?
I recently rewatched the series and noticed that in episode 10, Shiba Tatsuya was wearing a course 1 uniform in the ball. I'm thus confused whether this is a formal wear, or to prevent discrimination from occurring in the ball, or perhaps a mistake by the studio.

It is intentional and is emphasized in the light novel. As representatives of First High to the Nine Schools Competition, all participants wore school uniform with the school's emblem to the competition.
From Volume 3 - Chapter 3, right before the ceremony to send off the representatives to the Nine Schools Competition, Tatsuya was handed the uniform for the technician team, which was to be worn during the ceremony and for the full length of the Nine Schools Competition:

"This is the uniform for the technician team. Please put that on during the ceremony in place of the actual uniform."
The one who answered was Mayumi.
[...]
Tatsuya was largely aware of why his sister was in such a fantastic mood.
Her happiness was likely caused by the school emblem embroidered over the jacket's left breast.
The emblem was styled after a flower with eight petals.
[...]
The emblem of First High.
And not a replacement either, but the symbol of a Course 1 student.
[...]
The intramural competition uniforms were largely the same as the normal ones, which was natural since it was only intended to identify which school the contestants belonged to.


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Why is incest such a prevalent theme in manga and anime?
I used to think that incest was only in hentai/eroge, but gradually, I have run into more mainstream content which seems to hint at brother-sister, mother-son relationships, or the tension of such attraction.
What is the origin of this theme?
Why is it so prevalent in Japanese manga and anime compared to Western comics?
It seems strange for a taboo to be popping up everywhere, so I am curious as to the origin.

Are you asking for the origin of incest? Or which series first feature incest in Japanese anime/manga? Or are you asking what sets the trend for the current prevalence of incest in anime/manga?

Maybe because the more taboo it is, the more humans are attracted to it, and the more humans fantasizes about it. And since anime is a fantasy...It sells.

I am asking what sets the trend, it's a recent thing since the 80's so far as I know

I am sort of feeling that the first Yahoo answer is some kind of insensitive joke. I see a lot of similar threads with Japanese people being very offended. Not sure how this relates to the very real phenomena in Manga.

That was definitely the first mainstream comic I've seen it in, but I'm told there are antecedents. Too tired to list now, but I might in the morning.

A good answer to this question can comprise a big book. I also don't think the answers in the links provided by @nhahtdh is meant to be taken seriously (is that 80% figure for real? That would be horrible I think). Unless incest is also prevalent in the real world Japan, I think Hayao Miyazaki might have a point: "anime suffers because industry staff is made up of otaku who 'don't spend time watching real people.'"

Or they know too well about real people that this kind of thing sells (then the question will be about why people like this kind of thing). It's really hard to identify correlations that are the causes and effects for the phenomenon we want to observe.

@GaoWeiwei: I probably should remove that comment and keep the second related link here: http://www.mangatherapy.com/post/1467868478/incest-in-anime-manga. It seems to have generated controversy here and there, so I think it is not a good source to look at.

Oh, I read a book that included a section about this, focusing on Vampire Knight, if I recall. It was called Manga and Philosophy (edited by Josef Steiff and Adam Barkman). But I got it from my university library, so I can't help much here.

First, it needs to be said that incest in popular culture is prevalent in many other culture. It isn't unique to anime or manga works. Although it is true that compared to Western comics it is less prevalent, incest do exist in Western pop-culture songs, movies, literature, etc.
With that, we should focus on what it is in Japanese culture that makes incest a seemingly prevalent trope in anime and manga. There's also different types of incest relationships.
Incest is a taboo in Japan. What is incest to them, however, may be a little bit different than ours. Incest marriages between cousins are occasional as they are not considered incestuous until recently. This may explain why incest relationships like in Elfen Lied is a recurring trope.
Another thing is that historically, marriages between nephews and nieces have been approved. Even now in some rural areas, fathers marry their daughters when the mother dies. They are forced to do this as they follow old feudal laws. Sometimes when both parents died, the brother ends up having sex with the sister in order to end confusion.
There's also the common trope of brothers and sisters sleeping or bathing together in anime and manga. This is easily explained as such things are still prevalent in Japanese society. This doesn't necessarily lead to incest, however, but there are certainly hints towards it.
The first manga that involves incest is Cream Lemon, released in the 1980s. So this isn't something new. It is also noted that incest is in mangas for the Shoujo demographics, which is mainly for females. In other words, people might like incestuous anime and manga for the emotional relationship and not the physical relationships.
The combination of Japanese history and the demographic's tastes may help explain why incest is a popular trope in anime and manga. I could go on and on, but it may take too long to explain, so if anyone would like to read more, I have provided sources for others.
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incest_in_popular_culture
http://www.mangatherapy.com/post/1467868478/incest-in-anime-manga
http://psychohistory.com/articles/the-universality-of-incest/

Please explain what do you mean by "the brother ends up having sex with the sister in order to end confusion". If the sister ended up pregnant with the brother, wouldn't that makes thing even more confusing, especially for the gonna be born child.

Can you name some titles that features "true" incest between biological siblings?
Incest is definitely a taboo at least in modern Japan. There are only a few love stories about incest between biological siblings, and most Japanese otaku do not like them.
However, a sibling-in-law is a notable exception. The Japanese law allows the marriage of two siblings-in-law as long as they are not related by blood. For example, at least legally speaking, a biological son of A and B can marry an adopted daughter of A and B. This is prohibited in many other parts of the world, and it is strongly frowned upon in reality also in Japan. But in fiction, this works as an ideal setting for a Japanese-style romantic comedy, where the author has to depict an almost never-ending unanswered/secret love and provide many "service cuts".
One of the early works that successfully took advantage of this fact is Marmalade Boy, where an adolescent girl is suddenly forced to live with a new handsome brother(-in-law), who she eventually falls in love with. People enjoyed this legally-valid-but-ethically-forbidden love. It has become a popular story trope, and many works including  Da Capo, Sister Princess, Kissxsis, ImoCho and Eromanga Sensei use similar settings.
EDIT: Perhaps it's worth taking a look at the Amazon reviews of the last volume of OreImo, which is undoubtedly one of the most famous light novels in the "little sister" genre. You can see many readers were disappointed and turned off when the relationship between the protagonist and his (biological) little sister turned out to be "(romantic) love" at this point. It shows true unambiguous incest is unacceptable even to many fans of this genre.
Reference:

TV Tropes — Little Sister Heroine

Despite the name, Little Sister Heroine attempts to mitigate the obvious incestuous fallout; they're usually either a step sister, adopted or, more rarely, technically a cousin or distant relation.

TV Tropes — Not Blood Siblings

Yosuga no Sora is incest between biological siblings, if I recall correctly. Maybe some supporting information on some statements are needed, especially this: 'There are only a few love stories about incest between biological siblings, and most Japanese otaku do not like them.' and the statements in the second paragraph especially those regarding laws and the views of Japanese society. If it is already in the references you mentioned, then please disregard my comment.

@W.Are I think this answers your legal concern, although it's written in slangy Japanese. It even says Yosuga no Sora is a rare exception :)


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Why is Miku shown with a leek?
Many times when I see images of Hatsune Miku, she is shown holding a leek or spring onion.

Apart from headphones and microphones, other popular and well known Vocaloids, such as Rin, Len, Kaito and Luca, don't seem to have any strange items like vegetables.
So why is Miku shown with a leek? And if there aren't any other Vocaloids with strange items, why is she the only one?

Hatsune Miku holding a leek comes from a parody video of the Leekspin meme. The Leekspin meme is a video of Orihime from Bleach spinning a leek in one of the episodes with the Finnish folk song Ievan Polkka playing in the background.
On another note, the vegetable she is holding is actually a "negi" or green onion. However, the English dub for Bleach called it a leek.
Sources:

The Hatsune Miku parody video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbbA9BhCTko
Leekspin meme: http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/leekspin-loituma-girl

It's worth pointing out that video was released very soon after the software became available (8 days later according to YouTube). As it had reasonably good production and as the leekspin meme was at the height of it's popularity around that time, the video became one of the first Miku videos to gain any notable popularity. It really cemented her association with leeks long before most people had even heard of Vocaloids. It's also the origin of the derivative character Hachune Miku, who is in two of the images in the OP.

+1 for correctly writing the title of Ievan Polkka (or Polokka). Would be inclined to add another +1 for each, the translation of the name (Eve's Polka) and the group whose version of the song the meme basen on (Loituma) ;)

Apart from headphones and microphones, other popular and well known Vocaloids, such as Rin, Len, Kaito and Luca, don't seem to have any strange items like vegetables.

Actually, many vocaloid (and other voice software) have items associated with them

GUMI (a Megloid) has a carrot for her item
Teto Kasane (an UTAUloid) has bread
Luka is often associated with fish, or because of her hair, octopuses.

There are more listed here
Most of these originated from fans rather than the original creators, and are not official - even though there is a casual acceptance of the character items. For example Leek shaped glowsticks are occasionally given out at Miku concerts. Character items frequently feature in artists videos also

GUMI is not from Utau

Ty @deviantfan.

(And I'm not sure what "a Megloid" is supposed to mean. Gumi belongs to  Vocaloid)

The reason Miku usually has a leek with her most of the time when you see her, is because since she is a vocaloid, someone (I guess) wanted to make her sing Ievan Polkka, a Finnish song, and that's what got her popular at first.
*Luka
And as one of the answers already stated this, these vegetable pairings with Vocaloids came from the fans themselves, so it's not exactly official.
Actually, many Vocaloids (even UTAUs) have been associated with vegetables. Here are some examples:
Megurine Luka - Fish or Tuna
Kagamine Rin - Orange(s)
Kagamine Len - Banana(s)
KAITO - Ice cream
MEIKO - Sake (A traditional Japanese alcohol)
GUMI - Carrot(s)
Camui/Kamui Gakupo - Eggplant
(UTAU)
Kasane Teto - (French) Bread or a Baguette
Namine Ritsu - Chocolate Crisps

So Luka is paired with fish because she has a chibi head character who has hair like an octopus.
Rin has an orange for her fruit because her neckerchief resembles an orange peel.
Len was paired with a banana mostly because of his hair color and that piece of his hair sticking upwards resembles a banana, just a bit.
KAITO with ice cream because fans notice the scarf he wears and in his new V3 update, boots. People thought he seemed to wear winter-special clothes and since his hair is blue it easily resembles snow/ice and relating things, they decided his food was going to be Ice cream.
MEIKO with sake because she seemed to look older and mature so I guess they thought it'd be fun if they made her drunk (?) Not quite sure about this one.
GUMI with carrots because of her color scheme mostly, since she has green hair and orange official clothes so it reminds people of carrots.
Gakupo with Eggplant because he has purple hair and a stronger/deeper voice so I think it reminded them of an eggplant
Now, the UTAUs were officially paired with random foods because they were sorta supposed to be a parody April fool's joke. (?)
Here is a picture of them with the foods too:

While you mention the song you don't specify how that helps answer the question. You also mention other details, and explain the other vocaloids and also the relevant reasons, the most important one, which is the focus of the question you did not explain. Consider refocusing on the question.


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What exactly does "best girl" mean and where did the expression originate from?
I've seen the expression "best girl" being used several times, and I find it quite self-explanatory. However, some people seem to define it in slightly different ways. Here are some different definitions from one or two reddit threads:

It's when I get a boner in my heart.

Best Girl = Mai Waifu

I'm not sure if everyone thinks about it like I do, but with 'best girl' I just mean it's my favourite girl from a show.

As far as I can tell, it just means you post a hundred pictures of a pretty anime girl you're in love with. And its creepy without context. Unless its being done ironically, then its only a little creepy.

I was wondering if there's some sort of "official" definition for the expression "best girl".
Beside that, where did the expression (or meme, I'm not sure it is considered a meme) originate from?
Is this an expression that is used in Japan too, or is it a Western thing?

I don't think there's much more to it than the meaning "my favorite character". The memetic use (or appearance of this phrase in other contexts) may be accidental due to misinterpretation.

When I first sat down to investigate "best girl", I was pretty sure that this was a fairly old lexical item - not pre-internet, by any means, but probably c. 2003-04. Alas, I had fallen victim to internet time dilation yet again.
Having looked into it, I now claim that the idea of "best girl" as we now conceive of it only started to come into being quite a bit more recently - I would generously estimate c. 2010, or maybe a little bit earlier.
Of course, the idea of a "girl" being the "best" is as old as time. What we're really interested in is the idea of "best girl" as a distinct lexical item; as part of a particular grammatically-unusual construction, in which "best girl" is not accompanied by the definite article, often in a clipped utterance; as something that can be snowcloned (as it has been, to give us "worst girl" and "best boy"); as something so argot-y that it provokes confusion from people not familiar with the jargon of the internet anime subculture. In other words we're talking about things that are archetypically like "Ritsu is best girl".
I decided to take a look through the /a/ archiver - it only has posts from Feb 2008 forward (and I think its coverage is a bit spotty for 2008), but that seems to be good enough for our purposes. Why? Well, look at the search results for "is best girl" - there are about a hundred results between Feb 2008 and Jul 2010 (and thus almost certainly very few before Feb 2008), but a further 37,000 between Jul 2010 and now (Feb 2015). Some of that is certainly attributable to an increase in users on /a/ (see the bottom graph here for an idea of how much growth we're talking about - roughly a factor of three from trough to peak), but I think that far more of it has to do with the "meme" of "best girl" taking hold. (Implicit here is my claim that the idea of "best girl" as we now conceive of it is directly correlated to the usage of "best girl" without a definite article.)
Another good proxy for the memeticization of "best girl" is the growing use of "best girl thread" on /a/. Here, we see 25 posts from Feb 2008 to Apr 2011, and then a further 2800 from Apr 2011 to now (Feb 2015). Here, I think we can identify a fairly discrete changeover around mid-2011, when the phrase "best girl thread" began to sharply rise in popularity.

Beside that, where did the expression (or meme, I'm not sure it is considered a meme) originate from?

I am fairly confident that we can't pinpoint a specific origin for the term - as I mentioned above, the idea of a "girl" being the "best" is obvious and needs no explanation. The transition from discussion of "girls who are the best" to discussion of "best girls" as a crystallized notion was almost surely slow and gradual.
I should add: while I don't think we can pinpoint an origin for the term, I'm pretty sure that it was popularized on /a/ before spreading to the wider internet in the past two years or so. As the classic Human Centipede-inspired graphic suggests, a large fraction of anime-related memetic content (that isn't ganked directly from Japan) does come from 4chan.

Is this an expression that is used in Japan too, or is it a Western thing?

I'm by no means a 2ch memelord, but I don't know of any direct equivalent in Japan. Even if there is one, English "best girl" is assuredly an independent invention, and isn't inspired by the Japanese equivalent.

'Best Girl' is usually used to refer to someone's favourite character in a series.
For example, Toshinou Kyouko is best girl in Yuru Yuri.
Generally, best girl is used to refer to a female character, but occasionally people include male characters. Take Shinji Ikari from Evangellion or Kaiki from the monogatari series.
The term comes from fans choosing their favourite choice in harem / female-dominated shows.
It's hard to pinpoint when or why the term came about, but using some keywords in Google Trends, 'best girl anime' seems to become popular around 2007

Best Girl is generally your favourite character. Your favourite pairing of characters (example: Main Character and Shy Dark-Haired secondary character) is usually referred to as an OTP, or One True Pairing.
a Waifu is a character with whom your love transcends a series. Waifu-havers proclaim that this character is their favourite out of all shows ever. [Simplistic explanation, I'm sure someone will be able to expand on it]

Any idea when and where the expression started being used? I'm not sure myself if this is even pinpointable, since I have no idea if this is a thing exclusive from the internet or if it was around before it.

I added in some more info, but I don't think there is a clear 'first instance'

There is one example of waifu in the Denki-gai episode "is Denki Gai burning?" where the boys had to make a race with their waifus (their figurines, actually).

Best girl is also an old 50's term used to describe your girlfriend. AE" Gee wiz Bob I was gonna ask Betty to be my best girl"

True, but that is a rather different usage of the term, and probably bears no "genealogical" relationship with the anime-fan usage of "best girl"


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Where is Aizen after the Quincies wreak havoc in Seireitei?
Where is Aizen Sousuke after the Quincies wreak havoc in Seireitei? Last time he was seen, he was meeting the Quincy king, Ywach, and Ywach mentioned that during the short meeting, Aizen used his power on him. Does this means that Aizen has escaped? Did Ywach set him loose?

Aizen was sealed. It was revealed in chapter 617.

 He was released by Captain Kyouraku in chapter 617. Kyouraku himself didn't mean to release him completely, but somehow he is. It wasn't clear who destroyed the initial seals as Kyouraku used only the key to unseal Aizen's mouth. It was probably Yhwach who did that as Yhwach himself stated during his fight with Yamamoto Head Captain that he met Aizen.

Aizen could not have forced Juha A Bach to release him. Ywach's power enables him to understand everything and render it powerless against him. If Aizen has been released it was by Ywach's own will, not because Aizen was crafty enough to get him to do it.

But Ywach awaken this power only recently. He doesn't have it yet during the time Quincies assaulted Seireitei.

He has had the power as long as he's had his name. Every sternritter has an initial. Ywach's is "A" for almighty. It's more of a reveal than an awakening.


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Where did Nanami's Clairvoyance come from?
When fighting Shichika in episode 7, Nanami mentioned her Clairvoyance, but she never said anything like that when fighting the Maniwani earlier (in episode 4, I think).
Was her Clairvoyance what allowed her to copy Maniwani's Kempo, and she just didn't name it in earlier episode? Or did she learned Clairvoyance somewhere else after she left the island, and as such she never had it when the Maniwani attacked her? And if it's the latter case, where did she learn it?

Wikipedia article:

Hidden technique: Migeika (見通し研修) - Nanami Yasuri was born with the eye of gods, with this ability, she is able to see through any technique, any movement, any weaknesses, thus mastering any ability with observation.

The clairvoyance Nanami is mentioning was Migeika, her special technique. Nanami is literally saying that she can "see everything."
Around 8:20 Nanami says, "I can see through any technique, any movement and any weakness." This is the closest in both fight scenes where she mentions any sort of clairvoyance implicitly. However, I didn't see her mention clairvoyance directly at all.
At 11:44 Nanami says, "And I've absorbed all of them. With these eyes." She doesn't say she has clairvoyance (which is a see all: "he supposed faculty of perceiving things or events in the future or beyond normal sensory contact." Google Definitions). Think of Migeika as more of an ability to take in every bit of visual information and process all of it and understand all of it as it is. In this sense, she can take in everything in battle, process that information and immediately understand and make use of it.
Through out the show it is explained though that Nanami has this technique, you simply missed it. It's especially mentioned in episode 4 where she fights the Insect Squad of the Maniwani.

I was quite sure in episode 7 Nanami said Clairvoyance but it may have been the NISA Subtitles as i don't think i ever saw the word Migeika appear


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Did Shichika's father try to kill Nanami?
In Episode 7, Nanami seemed to elude that when Shichika killed their father, the 6th Kyoto Ryu, his father was about to kill her, or she already knew that he was planning on killing her.
I am wondering, did Shichika's father try to kill Nanami? And for what reason? (Was it to ease her suffering, or to stop her from becoming more powerful from observing more of the Kyoto Ryu art?)
Also if he did try and kill her, did Shichika kill his father solely to protect Nanami?

Unfortunately it is never explained why Shichika killed his father, however from episode 7, we can get a pretty good guess that it might have been to protect Nanami.
Here is the dialogue from the second fight at 35:00:

Nanami: Do you remember when you killed Father?
Shichika: I guess I do...
Nanami: I haven't thanked you for that yet. But I'm not particularly grateful to you for that, so even now I don't intend to say so. Because I would have been fine with being killed by Father back then. I would have been fine with it. There's no point to me living after all.

What we can gather from this implicitly is that Shichika killed their father in order to protect Nanami, without any request from Nanami, e.g. simply sibling affection. In this sense, this means their father either mentioned that he would eventually have to kill Nanami and thus forced Shichika's hand or he attempted to kill Nanami and thus forced Shichika's hand. So whether or not he mentioned it or attempted it we don't know, however I believe it's most likely the latter due to Nanami's extreme potential.
As for the reason, what we know is that Nanami has the ability Migeika. For this reason in episode 4 Nanami recaps that her and Shichika's father neglected to make Nanami the Yasuri 7th generation family head, because this ability made her too powerful. Since she was too powerful because she could see any ability and learn it instantly, including the Kyotouryuu sword arts, that their father deemed her to be too dangerous with her potential and thus decided to eliminate her.


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Are Franky & Bon Clay voiced by the same voice actor?
I'm just wondering if the voice actor of Franky is the same as the one of Mr. 2 Bon Clay. They sound the same.

In Japanese, both Franky and Mr. 2 Bon Clay are voiced by Kazuki Yao.[1][2]
In both the 4kids English dub and Funimation English dub, they are voiced by different people.

Thanks. :) I thought it was the same person but i wasn't sure. I also don't wanted to google it because spoiler alert! ;)

@NathanTshiananga http://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/ is a great place to look this up without any spoilers.

@Thebluefish Thanks for the site. I'm definitely bookmarking.

@NathanTshiananga There's also generally not spoilers on IMDb... and they have all of the actors and the roles they play. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0388629/


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What happened to Goku after he left the Earth at the end of Dragon Ball GT?
What happened to Goku in those 100 years after he left the Earth (by which Pan was already an old woman)? Did Goku die or not?

Goku was already dead from the beginning, he's been dead since the end of the Cell Saga in Dragonball Z....though i can't remember why he's allowed to hang around with the living for so long this time or what happened to his Halo

@Memor-X Old Kai gives his life to Goku, so he could return to Earth, right before giving him the ear-rings.

Everything after buu saga and the new movies are not canon. @Memor-X during buu saga he gets restored to life.

Please just dismiss GT as non-canon or as part of an alternate timeline and try not to focus on it too much!

Thank you all so much for the interest in this topic. I think even though it was non-canon, we got to see some concept art forms in Dbz which was pretty awesome.

Does death even mean anything in the DB world? It’s like a revolving door, everyone seems to come back.

A lot can be said about the last episode.
You could argue that Goku went to train with Shenlon, you could argue that he offered his own life for that last wish, you could argue that it was all an illusion, seeing Pan holding his shirt after he had supposedly left, you could argue that he became one with the Dragon Balls/Shenlon, you could argue that he'd become immortal.
This list goes on and it will remain to your own imagination what you believe has happened to Goku, as it was never thoroughly explained in the anime. I guess if anything, we could agree that Goku had surpassed human existence and entered a state different from being alive or dead as we know them.

yeah preety much, this answer just lack mention about GT is non-canon :)

@Buzka91 there is no reason to mention this on every DBGT question. That is what the DBGT tag is for. It clearly states that this question is about DBGT and thus not related to DB.

There is no such existence neither mortal nor super saiyan god. Dragon Ball Super offers no more clarity on what death is really like in any universe.

Goku was dead to begin with at the end of DB GT, and when asked if they should revive him back, he didn't let them do that. Instead, he feared that there are more dangerous and strong fighters in the world, and he needed to practice and therefore went with Shenron to practice and live a peaceful life for sometimes.
He did mention he will come back when the time is right, and since then there were rumours that a new season will come. But at the moment, there isn't any and GT weren't part of the original Dragon Ball series.

I think that when GOKU went with shenron and meet his old friends for farewell he know that his time has come to say goodbye .And when goku said to shenron that he was feeling very tired than ever before it's because he was dying and disappears .Also the reason pan saw goku's dress in the end because he was dead And Vegeta therefore said pan to take care of them

Dragon Ball GT is an alternate timeline.
After Super or maybe later in the series, they might reintroduce Super Saiyan 4 as the "Lost Form" or the "Forgotten Form" or something like that.
My other theory is that maybe the people who created Dragon Ball will create a story where GT Goku and DBS Goku will eventually meet up... when the time is right.

If Dragon Ball Super ends after the Tournament of Power, and if Universe 7 wins, Goku would have asked Super Shenron to reconstruct the destroyed universe and erase the memory of all the people of Universe 7 from meeting Beerus for the first time at the end of the tournament. Then they would have lived a normal life. And after this, Dragon Ball GT is started.
At the end of Dragon Ball GT, Shenron glows his eyes and due to this, Goku is revived and Shenron asks Goku to come with him. And Goku says yes to Shenron, which was an unexpected behaviour shown by him. After Shenron revived Goku, he must have given his memory back and I think Shenron made him immortal and given him a god soul because of his good deeds. And due to this, in the farewell tour, Goku was able to go to hell to meet Piccolo.
And in the ending of Dragon Ball GT, Goku meets Goku junior and disappears. And at last, Goku was seen by Pan in World Martial Arts tournament after 100 years. He was checking if the earth's protection was in good hands. And at last, Goku fly with his power pole "until we meet again".
I think Goku was not dead, he was trained by other gods and at last made him an immortal saiyan god.


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Do people still travel to and from Vers after Heaven's Fall?
The lunar hypergate that was destroyed 15 years ago during Heaven's Fall was said to strand the Vers Knights on the Earth Orbit.
It is improbable that there are no unmanned ships ferrying supplies to the Vers homeworld (Mars) and parting from the Vers foundries to the frontline (Earth orbit).
But given the scale of space technology, it is not unthinkable that some people (commoners) would not travel several months to get from Earth orbit to Vers (Mars).
That the nobles of Vers think themselves as stranded on the orbit because they would not submit themselves to this arduous trip, OK.
But do people still travel to and from Vers after Heaven's Fall? Is there some reference from the canon material?

We found out right at the beginning of episode 1 (around 0:22) that Asseylum herself left Vers just two months before the start of the show, at which point she is in Earth orbit (in Cruhteo's castle). Also, in episode 21, we see that Klancain (Cruhteo Jr.) has come from Vers to meet Slaine.
So transit from Earth-vicinity to Mars without the Hypergate surely must be possible, but this of course says nothing about how prevalent it is.
I suppose this also does tells us one more thing - the fastest mode of transit from Mars to Earth orbit must take somewhere under two months, which is considerably faster than all currently proposed ways of getting people to Mars.

If we want to look to marginally-less-canonical material: the second volume of the BDs came with a short manga titled "Aldnoah.Zero Extra Episode 01", which portrays Slaine's life right after the passing of his father, including his being taken in by Cruhteo.
Here, we learn that the Orbital Knights (or at least Cruhteo) and their retinue come to Vers every so often on business.

Top left panel: Asseylum asks Cruhteo, "You had come to Vers?"; bottom right panel: Cruhteo replies, "I had a minor matter to attend to."

They can MANIPULATE GRAVITY for crying out loud (literally). Also thanks. I really lost that beginning of the first episode.


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How can fans be used to augment earthbending?
On Avatar Kyoshi's page on Avatar Wiki, it is stated that

Avatar Kyoshi used a pair of fans to enhance her bending.

Also from the Earthbending page,

Earthbenders have been known to use hammers and fans to augment their
  bending.

How can a pair of fans be used to augment earthbending?

They don't, but Avatar Kyoshi was an Avatar and therefore did not just Earthbend. She is shown using the fans to enhance her Airbending. This is seen when she creates Kyoshi Island and when she defeats the Earth King's guards.
The fans themselves are merely instruments that were used by Kyoshi herself, and later adopted by the Kyoshi warriors. As Suki says when she is teaching Sokka to use them, "Think of the fan as an extension of your arm." She also mentions that "Our technique is about using our opponents force against them" which is similar to the principles around Airbending.
When Kyoshi is show using her bending, she is shown doing so with her fans. They were her weapon of choice, and considering she is the one who taught the first Kyoshi warriors, they are the ones likely to know her reason best. She also was teaching the women these techniques because they were being mistreated by men. The principles of using ones strength against them taught by Airbending is a good principle to teach to people who may be smaller than their attacker.
There is no real evidence to support it "enhanced" her Earthbending in any way other than the fact she was shown Earthbending with the fans in hand. The cited source for the claim is the episode in which she creates Kyoshi Island, and while she is shown using the fans, she also enters the Avatar state to be able to do the high level bending needed to perform the task. The stances she takes are that of a regular Earthbender/Lavabender, and the fans only really come into play when she uses them for her Airbending.
Basically, there is no evidence to support this, though also no evidence to the contrary. It is merely a claim about her use of the fans as a weapon.

http://avatar.wikia.com/wiki/Earthbending -> Weapons: fans to augment their bending. The wiki is wrong then?

@Furkan Added a lot more detail. In short, the wiki isn't necessarily wrong, just seems to be making a bold claim based on little to no evidence.

It is also said that Kyoshi had a problem with bending small amounts of earth."She struggled with precision. She lacked the ability to bend small amounts of earth" This was taken from the fandom about her. Her fans help her focus and control her power. Like Zuko and his dual swords helped him learn to control with firebending.


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What is the source material, if any, for Sanzoku no Musume Ronja?
As the title says, I'm interested to know where the story for Ronja the Robber's Daughter came from, and if it has a source, I want to read it.
Is it based on a manga/light novel? Or is it an anime-original story?

It's from a children's fantasy book called Ronja Rövardotter (Ronia the Robber's Daughter) by Swedish author Astrid Lindgren, first published in 1981.

The book was also turned into a movie (in Swedish) in 1984. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088015/


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What are the main reasons for filler episodes?
This isn't a question about a specific anime. However, I wonder why filler episodes exist.
At first, I thought it was to allow the manga to advance a bit more when the anime was catching up. However, in Naruto (for example), the manga has finished and the anime still has fillers.
For other series like One Piece, the anime is relatively close to the manga and there are no fillers (Thanks God!)
What's the purpose of filler episodes?

Do you want to keep earning from anime of finished popular manga? That is how you keep earning from anime of finished popular manga.

but won't fillers decrease the audience?

The targeted audience are not only manga reader,AFAIK most of the manga reader drop the show not the anime fan

Filler episodes aren't supposed to be bad at their fundamental purposes.
They are supposed to mainly close opened gaps and holes in the plot of the main series.
They could be also be used to divert the main story into a different one.
For example, in Naruto, there are many "side-stories" that couldn't be connected to the canon (like the stories from the video games/movies, but not all of them though).


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Why doesn't Naruto possess any of his clan's specific jutsu?
Neji, Hinata, Shino, Kiba, Sasuke, Choji, Shikamaru and Ino all have their clans' Kekkai Genkai, e.g. Shikamaru possesses shadow jutsu, Ino has mind controlling jutsu.
The Uzumaki clan is said to have sealing techniques. Then why doesn't Naruto possess any of the techniques? At least, he should have some of his father's abilities (excluding Rasengan, as Jiraiya and Kakashi were able to do it), but from the beginning, it is shown that he didn't possess any clan-specific technique. Why so?

Like what @JNat is saying, naruto did not receive any training directly through his clan. All the mention name above had their parents training them even sasuke got some training from his dad and brother in the earlier stage.

Clan power you mean kekkei genkai(bloodline limit)?

Your idea of Kekkei Genkai is way off base.  As stated above they are bloodline limits.  The clans you listed above do have special techniques that they pass down to their offspring, but those are techniques that can be passed on to anyone.
Kekkei Genkai are abilities that few have, like the First Hokage's ability to combine Earth and water to use the Wood release.  Even though a ninja may be able to use both elements, they cannot use wood release unless it is in their blood.  To elaborate Kekkei genkai are special abilities that cannot be taught.

What do you expect? Naruto should know sealing techniques from the time he is born?? That's not possible or even sensible in my opinion!

Like @JNat said Naruto would have been taught this "specific" ninjutsus. Naruto couldn't have just thought himself without even knowing what to do. I mean he couldn't just be born and know what to do already.

To expand on my comment, as per nhahtdh's request:
Because clan specific jutsu have to be taught, even though you may have an affinity toward them or less difficulty in learning them.
Unlike Kekkei Genkai, which are techniques (usually) unique to a clan passed down genetically, clan specific jutsu - or Hiden - are passed down through teaching/orally.
Examples of Kekkei Genkai include, but are not limited to, the Sharingan, the Byakugan, the Shikotsumyaku (Kimimaro's bone ability), Ice Release techniques (used by Haku) and Wood Release techniques.
Examples of Hiden include, but are not limited to, the Nara clan's Shadow techniques, the Aburame clan's Insect techniques, the Hyuuga clan's fighting style (Gentle Fist) and the Uzumaki clan's Sealing techniques.
However, it is also noteworthy to point out that Naruto possesses many of the general "abilities" of the Uzumaki clan, such as an incredibly strong life force, great recuperative powers and over the average longevity. He possesses these because, not unlike Kekkei Genkai, they are passed down genetically.
On the other hand, he does not posess the clan's specific jutsu, due to the simple fact that there was no Uzumaki around to teach them to him.

Hmmm I think the only power naruto does never show are the chakra chains aside from that he showed every inborn power/trait of the uzumaki clan.

I think this is probably because Naruto is genetically 1/2 Uzumaki and 1/2 another clan (Namikaze). Unlike the other Uzumaki clan members we have seen (Kushina, Karin, Nagato, Mito), Naruto does not have their trademark straight red hair. Instead, he inherits his father's spiky blonde hair. I think this probably results in inheriting only a portion of the Uzumaki genetic characteristics (e.g., compatibility as Kurama's jinchukiri), but losing others (e.g., chakra chains, fuinjutsu).

Naruto does seem to have the innate ability to manipulate the seal on Kurama however, with not indication that he received training on this. So he does have some skill in the art.


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Did Tsunade's abilities come from the fact that she was descendant of Senju and Uzumaki?
It is said that Senju shinobi received physical strength from the Six Path of Sage. The first Hokage's wife was from Uzumaki clan. Are these the reasons why Tsunade had monstrous strength and was able to use sealing techniques?

Did you mean 'healing' techniques?

I would say partly yes and mostly through training. She developed Chakra Enhanced Strength which allows her to increase the strength of her attack tremendously. It's proven that through training even Sakura is able to show such strength in her attack.

It should be noted that unlike Sakura, Tsunade herself already possesses incredible raw strength, capable of crushing stones in a single hand with nothing but pure muscle power. This strength is later increased to monstrous levels, when Tsunade uses this technique, allowing her to perform feats like lifting and swinging Gamabunta's tantō, creating giant craters and fissures in an area by simply striking it with either her heel or finger, destroying Madara Uchiha Susanoo's ribcage and its sword, and sending opponents flying with a flick of her finger with relative ease.


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Why does Kasumigaoka call Tomoya "Mr. Ethical"?
In Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend, Kasumigaoka always calls Tomoya "Mr. Ethical" (倫理{りんり}君{くん}).
Where did this come from? Is it explained at some point in the original source material?
Feel free to spoil it for me.

Here is an excerpt from the Saekano wiki-page in the description for Utaha:

She used to call Tomoya Tomoya-kun (倫也君) but now she calls him Rinri-kun (倫理君). She began to call him by the nickname Rinri-kun when he flatly rejected her suggestion that he read the last volume of Koisuru Metronome before it is published.

"Rinri-kun" being "Mr. Ethical."
In other words, Tomoya is called Mr. Ethical by Utaha due to his ethical behavior, in this case, with how he decided to wait until the release of the last book — just as every other fan/reader has to wait — in order to enjoy the novel. It'd be unfair for him to get first dibs on reading it before everyone else.

I think the fact that both names share the first kanji should have some influence on the name choice.

Entirely possible as well, however I can't act as a good source on that since I am not familiar with Japanese. Also the first and last symbols are the same: 倫( 也 )君 and 倫( 理 )君 with only the middle symbol being different. So at the same time, it could be Utaha's sense of humor conveyed here as well.

The last one the "kun" honorific. So that's bound to be the same :P

I told you I didn't understand Japanese. :)


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What does Ni no Kuni mean exactly?
The full title of the PS3 game is Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch. Google Translate fails when I try to use the kanji, and the closest I can get is by writing the whole phrase in hiragana, which Google translates to:

The country of the

However, the title would become The country of the Wrath of the White Witch, which doesn't seem to make sense. Of course, this is dependent on a Google machine translation, so it might not even be reliable.
So I am wondering, what does Ni no Kuni mean given the context of the game?

It's 二ノ国, meaning "second country" here. Probably refers to the fact that it takes place in another world, but I can't be sure since I haven't seen it.

Yup, "Second World" or "Second Reality", if you will.

This is answered by simply looking at the Wikipedia page for the game. It gives the literal and the functional translation of the title.

According to the Japanese Wikipedia page for the game, there are two countries in the story, 一ノ国 and 二ノ国, and therefore the title means "Second Country" or "The country number 2", but not "The Country of two", because there are two countries, not only one). Check this related Q&A at the sister site Japanese Stackexchange for more details.

According to the Ni no Kuni article on Wikipedia, it literally means Second Country or Country of Two.
So the final title is either:

The Country of Two: The Wrath of the White Witch
Second Country: The Wrath of the White Witch

Despite the difference in wording, they generally mean the same thing, which in essence is a country with two sides to it, e.g. two faces, dimensions, etc. This makes sense since the premise of the game is to travel between Oliver's world – world 1 and the parallel world – world 2 – world of magic (which is magically linked to Oliver's world) in order for Oliver to find a way to save his mother.


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What does Oreki Houtarou want to do with his life?
Oreki Houtarou is the main protagonist in Hyouka. At first, he is very lazy, then after he meets Chitanda, he starts solving mysteries and becomes a little active. He takes a course in humanities in second year. But I am curious what is his real purpose in life?

That's a great question--for a great anime--however Oreki doesn't really seem to want to do anything specifically with his life. On top of this the anime doesn't mention this either.
It's assumed he doesn't want to do anything specific due to his personality: energy conserving. More like he wishes to breeze through life doing everything as averagly as possible in order to conserve energy. If you go to the Oreki Houtarou wiki page and down to Oreki's quotes you can get a good idea of what kind of person he is.

Oreki's Motto: "I don't do anything I don't have to. What I have to do, I do quickly."
Episode 22, 22:50-23:00: "About the business side you gave up on... How about I take care of that for you?"

However if we look at 22:50 to 23:00 we can see Oreki sort of "fantasizing" about helping Chitanda with her duties of running the Chitanda family in the future. However Oreki gives up and doesn't actually tell Chitanda he'll help her. In this sense Oreki ends up actually wanting to help Chitanda and ends up moving a bit away from his motto. However he decides not to help Chitanda after realizing how Satoshi felt when he turned down Ibara, e.g. undeserving.


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Is it possible for Lucy to meet Aquarius again, or did she die/get sacrificed?
Is it possible for Lucy to meet Aquarius again, or did she die/get sacrificed?
So is there only one key for each of the 13 gates? Or are there multiple keys?

Spoilers in title... come on..

@Kalilz: You might want to read this: http://meta.anime.stackexchange.com/questions/46/what-should-our-policy-be-regarding-spoilers If you have a better title which is still searchable, feel free to suggest an edit.

Can you add some evidence to support this theory, like scenes or rules of the universe that make you think so?

Aquarius did not die, because when Lucy broke her Gold Key, she only became unable to leave the Spirit World and travel to Mage's World.
From Aquarius's article on Fairy Tail Wiki:

Aquarius adds that breaking the key won't kill her, but will merely
  make her unable to leave the Spirit World.

And yes, there is only one Gold Key to each Zodiac Spirit. You can see all of them in this part of the Wiki.

This raises the next question, how where these key created. but that is now full of speculation. Nice Answer


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Was Sekai in School Days anime really pregnant?
In the final episode of School Days anime, Sekai said that she was pregnant. Her behavior seemed like she was telling the truth.
However, when Kotonoha offered Sekai to consult at the hospital, she refused to go. This made Kotonoha suspect that Sekai was lying. And when Kotonoha stabbed and dissected Sekai, Kotonoha confirmed her suspicion.
But even before her death, Sekai stated clearly that she was pregnant, though she didn't have to lie to Kotonoha anymore as Makoto was already dead.
So was Sekai really pregnant or not?

It's not definite, and you'll hear differing opinions based on who's talking about it:
She was pregnant:

She had morning sickness
Kotonaha's attempt at searching inside Sekai is of course fruitless, as the baby would not have had enough time to develop. Maybe after several weeks something would be visible. Also it's a very crude way of doing it, so it's not surprising she wouldnt see anything, not being a trained professional
She didn't want to go to the hospital understandably, it would be a frightening and stressful experience.
She had no motive, she was clearly worried by the experience.

She was not pregnant:

Morning sickness started occuring too early
There have been several instances of fake pregnancies, where the body emulates all the symptoms of pregnancy (sickness, missed periods, etc) because of stress / belief that they are pregnant
She was scared that her lie would be revealed if she went to the doctor
Her motive could have been that a baby would tie Makoto strongly to her.

Sekai Fandom page
I doubt you'll find a conclusive answer, as many posts out there have already made up their mind. But one thing I think we can gather is at least she thought she was pregnant, regardless of if she was or not.

Basically Sekai may or may not have been mistaken, but Sekai wasn't lying?

She's not Pregnant
And here's the reasons why.
Side notes before starting reading at these proofs.
Me myself have experienced depression before and at one time It was to the point where I felt nauseous and almost to the point of throwing up.

About her morning sicknesses, since Sekai herself at the time was at an down state, thinking of her best friend Setsuna judging herself might have triggered this occurrence.
There's clearly something wrong with Sekai as the way how possesive of Makoto she's been acting as, so It's probably just her delusions of having one taking in place.
Sekai never had the proof of her actually being pregnant, as she herself have never used an pregnancy tester before on her own, before even telling Makoto that she's pregnant.
According to the Wiki, it's been stated that Kotonoha was an educated young lady, so she's probably informed about where the baby exactly is at.
She's having early morning sicknesses.
The specific week of when morning sicknesses ends is at the 10th week of an baby's development.  The embryo would be the size of an slightly smaller lime.
Looking at how the anime is progressing, and how quickly the announcement of her pregnancy before Makoto then shortly after Sekai's death, is quite a bit tad too fast for an 2month development of the embryo.
She's showing signs of aggression when asked if she had proofs of pregnancy by Docters before.

So when Kotonoha cutted open Sekai's womb, since according to the speed of development, the embryo itself would be visible to the naked eye.
The way how Sekai ended up as an character, looking at her character development, it was apparent that she's very possessive of Makoto even till the end.
So

In conclusion, Sekai was lying all along.

Jia Hui Xu do you really mean lying instead of made a mistake?


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What does the term "Kage" in "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu" actually refer to?

Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (影分身の術) literally translates into Shadow Clone Technique.

Is the word "kage" used to suggest that this technique was developed by a Ho-kage? Or does the jutsu have an actual connection to shadow?

Might refer to the original cloning technique which says 'A ninjutsu that creates an intangible copy of one's own body, without any substance' hence the shadow part

It is said that the body's have no substance, shadows are a manifestation of nothing. It is the lack of something that you actually see. So the kage bunshin no jutsu would be a illusion of the lack of seeing yourself :P? the spanish comment said, go google it and you wil see it means shadow

Corporeal matter is considerd to be a substance/ particle. Shadow clones burst into dust. Shadows build from dust? just a random guess on that one.

You said the answer yourself in the comments: the "kage" part means the shadow clones...well, have a shadow. Regular clones lack substance and do not carry chakra, whereas shadow clones are basically copies of the person. Shadow clones carry and use their own bit of chakra that they receive from the original, so there is actual substance to them. The ninja way of summing this appears to be to say that "illusions do not cast shadows, but objects with substance do."
Generally it seems as though from a naming standpoint, a prefix to bunshin gives the clones some physical substance, whether is be water (水分身) or paper (紙分身) or something else. In my personal opinion shadows are merely quasi-physical in the sense that they are a lack of light in the midst of a more brightly lit surface, so it feels better if kage bunshin and regular bunshin were switched around. But hey, I guess adding the word "shadow" makes it sound cooler so it has to be the stronger spell.

The word "Kage" means "shadow".
That's why they call it the "Shadow Clone Technique" in the English dub (or at least the early ones).
The suffix "kage" in "Hokage" also means "shadow" ("Hokage" = "Fire Shadow", I believe).

Also, i'd like to add that at the beginning of the series, when Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke first leave of the Land of Waves, when Kakashi is talking about the other nations and the Kage he refers to them collectively as "The 5 Shadows"

@EroSennin and my answer was that it actually means "shadow"

@EroSennin Yes.  It means that shadow.  As in "the area of a surface that's not receiving light because an object is in the way" shadow.  Some cultures like to imagine that shadows have more substance than that, especially in their fiction, and thus the clones are made out of "shadow".


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Why do animes have this "milky"-like texture?
So I've always noticed this for years watching anime, I always look at anime characters and they seem to have to kind of milky/blurry texture on their skin/clothes. It's not to noticeable to some people, but hopefully you can see what I mean with these pictures.
(Click the pictures and zoom in for a better idea of what I mean.)

I copy and pasted the pics in Photoshop and used the eye drop tool on different areas of the skin and clothes. The color codes jump around everywhere so they can't be solid.
Could it be that these frames were scanned in at a certain DPI? Maybe something as a result of an editing software like After Effects? Or maybe it's the texture of the paper?

Regarding the non-solid surfaces, I would expect this is caused by the video compression, no? Even if that managed to maintain it, the conversion to jpeg surely introduced artifacts.

The problem comes from compression. The anime is drawn at a certain resolution and then later scaled/compressed down to a lower resolution for production purposes. When this happens the larger image needs to blur/merge pixels together in order to fit the larger resolution on the smaller resolution. Pretty common issue with scaling in general. Although it's not really a problem until you get down to 480p, 720p looks fine(still noticeable), while 1080p and higher is much cleaner looking.

As people have said here, it is most certainly due to the artifacts introduced by video compression. I know for a fact that in Gurren Lagann (and this probably also apply for every modern anime), they apply the color and the effects on computer, so it's very unlikely that there is any artifact at this stage.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't essentially all videos encoded with a lossy codec? If I remember correctly, even a one minute long losslessly encoded video can be more than a few Gigabytes big (so DVDs can't fit, and sometimes Blu-rays won't either). The problem is the compression level is set too high that the artifacts become noticeable.

@GaoWeiWei: that depends on what kind of video you're compressing. Digitally produced animes that have mostly static background images with small animated areas, lots of flat colours, and only simple panning/rotating movements can be compressed losslessly fairly efficiently from the production studios; videos ripped from a commercially produced CD/DVD/BD are typically already compressed with some lossy compression, and already contain compression artifacts even when your eyes cannot see it, so it cannot be losslessly recompressed efficiently.

@FatalSleep This doesn't have anything to do with resolution. Granted, a video whose master is at 720p that is downscaled to 480p will have some smearing because you're condensing 3x3 → 2x2, but anything that's encoded lossily (e.g. h.265) will have the "milky texture" that OP's talking about. The reason that 480p typically looks so much crappier than 720p/1080p is more that encoders tend to assume that consumers of 480p video have limited bandwidth and so they crank down the quality settings relative to a parallel 720p/1080p encode to save on filesize.

Couldn't this been done on purpose for visual appeal?  Is there's an art theory being used used here?

This happens if you encode a video with a lossy codec. In each frame the solid colors are actually drawn solid. But at the moment where they get converted into a video, a lossy compression is used. Lossy data compression discards some data from each frame so it becomes small (within the meaning of computer memory) enough to be stored on for example a DVD or so it is possible to stream them over the internet.

Compression artifacts occur in many common media such as DVDs, common
  computer file formats such as JPEG, MP3, or MPEG files, and some
  alternatives to the compact disc, such as Sony's MiniDisc format.
  Uncompressed media (such as on Laserdiscs, Audio CDs, and WAV files)
  or losslessly compressed media (such as FLAC or PNG) do not suffer
  from compression artifacts.

If you look close to the image you can see some kind of a square pattern (two are highlighted with circles), also called artifacts, that appears if you use lossy compression.

A other effect that occurs is that the color is changing. Here is a example where the left image is a lossless png file and the right image a very high compressed jpg image:

The image to the left needs 168 KByte on the disc while the right only needs 2 KByte. If you want to know the reason why these artifacts are appearing, read the articles I provide below.
Information and image from Wikipedia and more information from Wikipedia.

Tl;dr: get the blue ray releases

So as you already know this happens due to loss of image data due to compression. This effect gets more noticeable, the lower target quality/size is for the video.
To get better screenshots, in case you don't need a particular frame of a scene, you should always go for the keyframes. In lossy video compression algos, keyframes are inserted now and then in the video stream and they contain an initial representation of a new scene, from which the fragments start moving around, so that any static fragments may not take up valuable data bits in the stream. After these fragments start moving, the image gets blurry, you start seeing artifacts, etc. Some players and most video editing apps show you when you've paused at a keyframe.


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Is Zangetsu restored after Ichigo gets his powers back?
This is really several questions. I do not read the manga so I'm certain this is likely covered there.
First, is Zangetsu fully restored after Ichigo's powers are restored? Does he look different? Both the Shikai and the Bankai appear different in the anime. Did this transformation result in any physical changes to Zangetsu's appearance? Of course, I mean within Ichigo's inner realm.
In the same vein, did Ichigo retain or regain any of his Hollow powers, or were they completely absorbed when he merged with his inner Hollow as revealed in episode 309?

If you're talking about before the Fullbring arc, Ichigo still has Zangetsu up until the point where he uses Mugetsu to incapacitate Aizen enough for Urahara to seal him. It's at that point that he loses his powers.
**MANGA SPOILERS AHEAD**
If you're talking about the Fullbring arc, that's a completely and wildly different side of the story that has no bearing on the past or the future of the general story. Manga filler.
If you're talking about after the Fullbring arc, then no. Squad Zero restore's Ichigo's powers to a completely different Zanpakutou. It's explained that Zangetsu is a "fake" Zanpakutou that resembles Yhwach that stems from Ichigo's ties to the Quincy bloodline.
Highly suggest you catch up on the manga. You're not that far behind, and it's coming to an end now.

UBER RECENT MANGA SPOILER and we just found out that the Quincy within Ichigo still serves Yhwach, even to the extent of going directly against Ichigo's will

Interestingly enough, the fullbringer characters do have an impact on the final arc beyond the fact that they were the reason Ichigo even wanted his powers back to begin with, and play a few potentially critical support roles.

Well did you know that  his fullbring fused with his soulreaper powers I mean it's been stated multiple times in the fullbring arc and that was The main purpose for him achieving fullbring so that it can fuse with his soul reaper powers. I know ginjo said that he took all of ichigo fullbring and soul reaper power well that is not true because his was soul reaper was restored by rukia PLUS 30% of his fullbring fused with soul reaper powers.


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Why are Haki attacks not effective on Marine admirals?
Why are Haki attacks not effective on Marine admirals?
In the Marineford war, we see countless instances where Haki-imbued attacks don't affect Marine admirals. When Marco and Vista attack Sakazuki, he even acknowledges that they are Haki-imbued, but nothing apparently happens:

Another case is when Whitebeard attacks Aokiji:

What's with the admirals? Their Logia powers don't seem to be easily affected by Haki attacks. I mean we have many instances where Haki has touched their body, but still there are many instances where attacks on their body don't result in damage. What's the deal with Marine admirals?

Sakazuki mentioned that "those two were haki attacks, huh"

Probably because they're so good that they dont depend on their haki power,they managed to avoid most haki attack, you can see kizaru's blood as he got scratch but when whitebeard attack aokiji, he didn't use haki at all. Haki effect every devil fruit power include logia, you can see at the end of war shank managed to block akainu attack and Ben Beckman threaten kizaru with his gun. It means that admiral still got hurt if someone can attack them with haki

I am not saying that they can't get hurt . They get hurt , which I have mentioned , but they seem almost invincible even to Haki attacks !

I think you are wrong in saying that they weren't affected. They clearly were affected as you can see from the wound on Sakazuki's shoulder. Since both questions have a different answer, I'll reply one by one.
Whitebeard vs. Kuzan

From Kuzan article:

He then got stabbed by Whitebeard's bisento, to which pirates are seen wondering if Aokiji was stabbed with Haki and if he was dead. Aokiji told them not to spout nonsense before grabbing the bisento and using his Ice Block Partisan attack. All of a sudden, Jozu attacks him and Aokiji is caught off-guard, even bleeding from his mouth.

As you can see, Aokiji was not hit by the Partisan, which was most likely imbued by Haki. This is, because he opened up a hole, where the partisan would have hit, just before it would hit. If he hadn't he probably would have been stabbed to the heart. Marine admirals use their power smart and efficiently, but it doesn't mean they can't be harmed. This can be seen just a moment after, when Jozu attacked him with his diamond arm and he was seen bleeding from his mouth.
Marco and Vista vs. Sakazuki

From Busoshoku Haki article:

Devil Fruit users who can use Haki can resist the effects of Haki-imbued attacks, Akainu was able to take Haki-imbued attacks while maintaining his intangibility by extending his Haki through his body in order to nullify his opponents bypass. This however depends on their level of mastery over Haki when compared to their opponent as can be seen when Akainu was in contrast harmed when attacked by Whitebeard's superior Haki and bled.

In chapter 784, it was confirmed that Haki can be bypassed. We can see how Doflamingo hits Luffy with a Haki-imbued attack, yet Luffy kept his elasticity during the whole event, bouncing Doflamingo's attack right back. The same must have happened with Sakazuki. It looks like Vista and Marco did hit Sakazuki, and he was affected, because he noticed the attack was different from that of non-Haki users. Though, despite being hit with a Haki-imbued attack, he wasn't harmed and could just reform his neck, because his Haki was superior. I guess Haki is a bit like armor. If the level of an attack is lower than the toughness of an armor, it will be unable to penetrate the armor, and unable to touch the body hiding within the armor.

The answer was updated due to wiki updates. Check the edit revision history for the old answer.

The logical explanation would be that Marco and Vista didn't have a Haki which was superior enough to do much damange to Akainu, but Whitebeard on the other hand(being the World's Strongest Man and a Yonko) surely would have had Haki strong enough to make Akainu bleed.

I think the only possible answer is that the Marine admirals' Haki is stronger. If their Kenbunshoku Haki and Busoshoku Haki are stronger, they can easy foresee or block Marco's or Vista's attacks.
And as you can see, Sakazuki got a scratch, so they aren't immortal at all.
I think this just shows how strong they really are
(or how weak Marco and Vista are :P).
Another possibility is that maybe they don't use Haki. I can't recognize anything that looks similar to when Luffy is using Haki.

I think because Sakazuki's Haki is probably superior to Marco and Vista's Haki, it appears as if he is not affected by their attacks.
To confirm whether the admirals are affected by Haki or not, let's take a look at some cases where a Haki of same or higher level is used against the admirals:

Aokiji was thrown away by Marco while attacking Luffy at Marineford.
Kizaru vs. Rayleigh (probably same level Haki)
Sakazuki vs. Shanks (same level Haki, or I think Shanks was on the defensive while using it).

So these cases prove that Haki does work on the admirals even though they are Logia users, but the level of Haki is what makes the difference!

Maybe it's just that I haven't followed One Piece, but could you possibly clarify how the second sentence fits into your conclusion?

It clarifies whether the admirals are affected by Haki at all or no @Maroon,  not how much they are affected, i.e. the main question stands wrong! They are affected by Haki.

The admirals were also using Haki, so it was Sakazuki's Haki vs Marco and Vista's Haki. That's why Akianu was also bleeding, but it did not hurt much because both of them were using Haki.

They did not combine their powers. So its better if said that it was Marco's haki vs Akainu's Haki and Vista's haki vs Akainu's Haki at the same time. Also commanders Hakis are not to be underestimated and there's no way(as long as I can remember) to combine powers or combine Haki!

authors: 一路向西粤语原版_一路向西粤语原版无跳转入口


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What exactly is Mami's power?
Mami was always fighting with both gun and ribbon. In the Rebellion movie, when Homura was fighting Mami, she can't break Mami's ribbon, but in the end, she was able to do that. How can this happen? And if Mami's ribbon already attached in Homura's feet (just like picture on the left), why didn't Mami just pulled her ribbon so Homura won't move?

Mami could entrap Homura with her ribbon at any time, but decided to play fair and square during the duel − she didn't use the ribbon to her advantage. The whole gun duel was Mami's way to show that Homura can't beat her and do whatever Mami thought Homura was planning to do.
When Homura stops time after throwing away her gun, Mami's face changes from satisfied smirk to focused, alerted expression. Mami doesn't know what Homura might do next.

 When Homura tries to, what appears to be, commit suicide by shooting herself in the head, Mami gets scared and tries to save her as she pulls the trigger by grabbing the ribbon and pulling Homura away.

At this point, it becomes apparent that Mami never wanted Homura's death. After all they were just drinking tea together peacefully a few moments ago. Mami's intent to keep Homura alive overweights the will to keep attached to her with the ribbon, and so the ribbon gives in to the bullet and tears up, letting Mami out of contact with Homura, which in turn freezes Mami.


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Where can I read Sword Art Online (Novel)?
Last year, I watched the first season of Sword Art Online and now I'm watching the second season. I really love the anime, but now I would really like to start reading the light novel.
Does anyone know if it is available legally online?
Thank you for the help :)

As a reminder, asking for legal, licensed releases in English (and possibly other languages) is fine, but unlicensed fan translations are illegal in most parts of the world and so we don't deal with them here. I've edited the question to that effect.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Sword_Art_Online_light_novels for the list of translated chapters/volumes and their ISBNs which you can use to find the stores which have them on:

http://www.isbnsearch.org/
http://www.amazon.com/Advanced-Search-Books/b?node=241582011

nice references


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Is there a light novel for the second season of Sword Art Online anime?
I really like Sword Art Online anime and I'm currently watching the second season. I would like to know if there is a light novel for the second season. I already know there is one for the first season, but is there any for the second season?

you mean GGO arc? all SAO anime series already in light novel right now.

Currently, the second season of Sword Art Online is based on the novel volume 5-6. If they make it 25 episodes like the first season, then it is possible that the anime will cover volume 7 & 8 as well, just like the first season is based on volume 1-4.
While the story is about Gun Gale Online (GGO) and no longer Sword Art Online itself, the novel is still titled Sword Art Online. Currently it is about to be published in western world as Baka-Tsuki has already removed it from their website.

about to be published in western world I doubt it would be any time soon. Probably will be in late 2015, if they keep up the current pace of release.

With Yen Press's current schedule of 3 volumes a year, Volume 6 should be out in December next year.


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Why is Reinforce so small?
At the end, of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A's and during Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS, Reinforce is quite small.

However, in the above image she is shown to be just as big as Vita. The image above doesn't look like fan art and it's obviously set a few years after StrikerS as Tina is wearing the Enforces' uniform and has longer hair.
I am wondering why Reinforce was so small. Is it because she was still a new born that's yet to grow? If so, can Agito eventually grow up to be normal size since both Rien and Agito are Unison Devices?

It was explained in the StrikerS soundstages  that she can turn into human size, but that cost her more magical power, which makes it not practical for combat. And Agito can do the same.
Source
http://nanoha.wikia.com/wiki/Reinforce_Zwei


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Does Koukin Shuuyu play a big main role in Ikkitousen?
I know that Koukin Shuuyu is "a" main character, and I know he is not the protagonist. But what I'm wondering is, does he play a big enough role in the series where he would show up in almost every episode or at least referred to.
One of my pet peeves is ecchi genre with a female protagonist. I'm a big disliker of shoujo anime. Although I know this isn't one.
I've been looking at this anime for a while, but the ratings and reviews have been keeping me at bay. The female protagonist doesn't make it any easier to swallow, either.

No, he doesn't play much of a main character role, though he's important in the first series as someone who's there to help explain what's going on to the audience. The series/franchise focuses mainly on Hakufu Sonsaku, his cousin. Although he's listed as a main character in most of the shows from the franchise, so are a lot of the other fighters from the school, who don't always appear in every episode.
For example, in Ikkitousen: Xtreme Xecutor, it seems Shuuyu is listed as a main character but I can't remember seeing him at all in the series, if only in passing.
As for the franchise itself, and this is purely opinion, I've heard that the Battle Vixens manga that the show was adapted from is superior to the various anime. While it is in the ecchi genre, there's a lot of focus on the fighting (and clothes magically getting ripped to shreds during fights), and while very liberally taken, the background link to the Romance of the Three Kingdoms is mildly compelling.