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What's this song in Code Geass episode 5?
There is a song that starts playing at around 13:04 in episode 5 and lasts for about 20 seconds. It doesn't have any lyrics, and it's not "Stories".
I have been trying to track down this song and am slowly going mad. I haven't been able to find it on any of the official OSTs.

I deleted my answer as it is not the final answer. I'll post as comment first before finally answering it (since we're still looking for the right answer). Does the insert song you're asking for has lyrics on it or just instrumental? Sorry I have problems connecting to youtube so I really can't hear it.

And are you sure it's not Stories by Hitomi Kuroishi? Check it's lyrics and you can listen to it to double-check: http://www.animelyrics.com/anime/codegeass/stories.htm

It doesn't have lyrics nor is it Stories. I just checked.

It plays from 13:04-13:31. I just checked the OST's for R1 and couldn't find it there; however, that could be because I just listened to the beginning of each song. It is possible that this melody shows up half-way through an OST.

So far the closest one I have found is this which has a similar melody.

After doing some digging around myself and seeing that other people out there are looking for this song too, I've personally come to the conclusion that the song you are looking for has probably not been officially released. Unfortunately, this means that the official title of this song is not publicly known and that an official full-length instrumental version of this song does not exist publicly. However, I can't definitively state this, hence why this is just a comment instead of an answer.

@okarin it doesn't actually have to be in R1's OST, Cheese which is the music that plays when C.C is wondering around is found on the 2nd R2 OST track 17 even though it first appears in R1, the same with Eleven (track 6) which plays during one of C.C's monologs

i just listened to all the OSTs, its not in there

According to the video posted, the song seems to loop at 15 seconds.
If you listen to the song carefully, it sounds like it's just a piano playing, and the tune is something similar to C -> A -> B -> G -> A -> F -> G -> E, where it plays one note, then it skips a note and plays the next before going back up to the missed note, and the whole process is repeated.
Now, the song doesn't sound overly complex, so it may have been the reason why it is not included in the OST, regardless of how iconic it is or how many times it's played.
Another possible reason is that this tune has actually been used in some other work outside the anime beforehand. As a result, the production company may have been allowed to use only 15 seconds in the anime as background music, but is forbidden from putting it on soundtracks. My sketchy memory only recalls two other instances where this song is played: when Lelouch is around Nunnaly and when Kallen sees her mother on Refrain. I don't remember the song being any different in those cases, so its exclusion from the OST may have been a licensing issue (allow 15 seconds of the song to be used any number of times, but not allow the song to be reproduced in licensed soundtracks).

Should point out that i'm not after the bounty or anything and this is from my own investigation froim what i own myself, i am missing about 5 or so Sound Stages and the song may appear in one of these yet i can not confrim that

I can confirm that this piece of sound is not included in the OST nor in OST2 or closely related sound tracks/opening/ending songs. Your answer of usage is the most plausible answer there is, although quiet allot of people state that its the song Stories by Kuroishi Hitome. But I dont believe that to be the case

@Dimitrimx it has the same tempo however the background base beat (which i think may be violin or chello) more follows the loop of C -> C -> B -> B -> A -> A -> B -> B where it plays one note twice before dropping down and repeating this process until it gets to as low as desired before it reverses the process

Found a playlist on YouTube that includes all the tracks excluded from the OST.
The track you are looking for is "Out of the Ordinary". It is the 5th video in the playlist I mentioned before.


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Where can I watch Mushiking anime?
I would like to know more about the anime called Mushiking. It is a 52-episode anime (according to Wikipedia) which I just can't find.
There are 1-2 segments on YouTube in Japanese, but that is the most that I could find.
Does anyone know what happened to this anime? Or where could I watch it?

not finding it on youtube wouldn't be too surprising since technically it is illegal to upload anime to youtube. according to Anime News Network there's no english information so quite possible that your looking for fan subs but they have the link to TV Tokyo's official site so you may get some info there

Could you clarify what exactly you're looking for? Nothing "happened" to it per se; it looks like it was just not very popular, seeing as it was basically just a marketing vehicle for a line of games. If you really want to watch it, it looks like you can buy the DVDs on Amazon Japan.

Mushiking was pretty much a large advertisement for a game and didn't get a great following - That isn't to say that anime based on games can't be popular (see Pokémon & Yugioh) , but more often than not efforts to make a company's new product the new "thing" end in failure.
It didn't disappear, rather it faded away in time. A thing that happens to all media, unless it is significantly loved by consumers.
That being said, you can still find the DVDs in some places (Japanese):
Wow HD
Amazon Japan (Thanks @senshin)

source: Stack Exchange

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Is Dark Crimson ever destroyed?
In Record of Agarest War Zero, Summerill first gets Dark Crimson created and it doesn't get destroyed because Calinou's hammer is destroyed (however the plans for remaking it are preserved but there wasn't enough time to rebuild it thanks to Mila going to explode).
In Record of Agarest War, the party gets all the components to create the hammer and destroy Dark Crimson. However, destroying it was only one of the options to save Winfield (the other was destroying Summerill). However, Vashtor steals the Rainbow Drip and it seems that he didn't have it if you end up recruiting him (a requirement for the true end).
When I was looking up whether the hot springs CG actually exists in Record of Agarest War 2, I saw an image of Fiona being tortured and the screenshot has Mobius talking about how Eva is nothing more than a doll. The image was a screenshot of a YouTube video and I am nowhere near there yet. I needed to know what Mobius was doing to Fiona and how far off I was in getting to that point to save her (apparently it's near the very end of the 3rd generation at the ending split), Mobius says to Fiona that she'll be saved if the party bring Dark Crimson to him.
There's also another Agarest game called Record of Agarest War: Marriage, but I have no idea where it sits on the timeline and it seems to put emphasis on a rainbow blade rather than Oathsworn or Dark Crimson, making me think it might not be in it.
So I am wondering, is Dark Crimson ever destroyed?

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Why do so few light novels make it over via timely translation?
There is a lot of great series translated by folks like Baka-Tsuki - so, why do series take forever to end up over here, and for that matter, once they're licensed - how come some releases are so spread apart?

Spice and Wolf used to be a 6-month release cycle from Yen Press - it has been reduced now but this is still quite long
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan, and others also find themselves on strange timelines.

Does it really take that long to translate or is there something else here? I've heard things like they're licensed one at a time and they gauge sales before going on.

Have you read anything translated by Baka-Tsuki? Most of it is unpolished barely-English rubbish that would never pass muster at an actual publishing company. Producing good translations of novel-length fiction is difficult, and so I'm not surprised that it takes a while. (Of course, there may be other factors; this is just one that immediately comes to mind.)

Light Novels is a smaller market than Manga or the usual products, so companies are usually wary about licensing them unless their anime/manga counterparts are large hits

Baka Tsuki only translates things legally by the way. That could be part of the reason. They get permission before they put it on their website.

That's not right, Baka-Tsuki does not translate really "legally", and they of course don't get permission of the original publishers. That said, they're not exactly "illegal" either, they're in a gray area.

Light Novels are indeed harder to translate, but that isn't the real cause for their delay. The market for LN is really small outside Japan for a number of reasons so companies aren't interested in publishing them unless they are for very famous franchises (like Haruhi), and even then it's very risky.
As I said, translations and edition arent the reason per se, but that also affects. Translations in sites like Baka-Tsuki, while being done with lots of effort and having lots of stages for correction and quality check, doesn't quite fit the quality expected for a commercial release. Even in Baka-Tsuki the translations takes lots of time to be published, corrected and polished, so you can imagine how long that would take for a commercial-quality release.

+1. The author of Log Horizon said the sole issue with translating his LNs is profitability. Finding a good translator is merely a matter of price.

Marketing is another issue. If you don't market your titles, who's (aside from people that are already fans) going to know you can get it?

I think the marketing aspect is probably what killed the US release of Nisio Isin's Zaregoto novels. They didn't have a famous anime behind them like Haruhi did, and even the Bakemonogatari anime hadn't been released over here at the time, so they had no marketing power at all.

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Who was Sunako turned by?
When Sunako told her story, she mentioned that "him" was the one who turned her into a shiki.
Was it Seishirou? Is there any mention of this in the novel?

She was turned by an unnamed jinrou (werewolf).
According to her backstory in episode 16, when she was still a normal human, her father's friend brought a guess to visit her house. He was a foreigner/westerner and turns out to be a jinrou. In the end, she was bitten and her blood was sucked by him and she died. However, after she was put into a coffin and buried, she woke up and came back to life, as a shiki.
Researching further about her attacker, there's no more insight other than "a
westerner jinrou", as shown on Wikia:

Sunako Kirishiki

He was a Jinrou.

Jinrou

There are of course jinrou overseas as well, such as the one that turned Sunako.

and other sources:

pixiv dictionary (Japanese)

その正体は幼少期に西洋人の人狼に襲われ、蘇生した起き上がり。
Her real form is that she came back to life after she was attacked by a westerner jinrou when she was in her early childhood.

Yahoo! Chiebukuro (Japanese), asking the difference between the novel, manga and anime:

沙子は元々は人間で、（おそらく明治、大正時代と思われる）必ずしも火葬されない時代に異国から来た人狼に襲われ屍鬼になりました。
Sunako was originally a human (probably since Meiji, Taisho period), certainly not from an era with cremation, and was turned into shiki by a jinrou coming from a foreign country.

However, it's certainly not Seishirou because he is a human, even though the attacker looks really similar to him, as noted in antiotaku's review:

The vampire who killed Sunako all those years ago bears a striking resemblance to Seishirou Kirishiki. They even dress alike. I'm guessing this isn't a coincidence.


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What are the books/pieces of literature that are read/mentioned/seen in Psycho-Pass?
In Psycho-Pass, not only Makishima Shogo but Shinya Kogami were reading certain pieces of literature, but this pieces of literature shaped the series in a sense.
So far what I could see in the series that they were reading is the following:

1984 - George Orwell
A Revolution Sabotaged Before it Began - Yasumi Iwakura
Swann's Way - Marcel Proust
Holy Bible

I know they have other references and books shown in the series, I have read some of these but I'm curious about.
What are other books/pieces of literature that are read/mentioned/seen?

I might be missing a few referenced, but from what I can recall from skimming through the series again (in no particular order):

Midnight Plus One by Gavin Lyall
Discourse on the Origin and Basis of Inequality Among Men by Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Toward a Philosophy of History by José Ortega y Gasset
Economy and Society by Max Weber
Various works by William Shakespeare, such as Twelfth Night, Macbeth, Titus Andronicus, and Hamlet
Carmilla and In a Glass Darkly by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick
Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift
Various William Gibson works, such as Johnny Mnemonic and The Sprawl Trilogy (Neuromancer, Count Zero, Mona Lisa Overdrive)
The Difference Engine by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling
Pensées (Thoughts) by Blaise Pascal
The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell
An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation by Jeremy Bentham
The Republic by Plato
Beyond Good and Evil by Friedrich Nietzsche
Violence: A New Approach by Michel Wieviorka
The Conquest of Happiness by Bertrand Russell
The Red and the Black by Stendhal
Oathbreakers by Mercedes Lackey (in reference to the subtitle of Ep. 16)
Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Principles of Philosophy by René Descartes
Crossroads: The Life and Afterlife of Blues Legend Robert Johnson by Tom Graves (in reference to the subtitle for Ep. 12)
There are references to works of Project Itoh (Genocidal Organ?) and Kierkegaard (The Sickness Unto Death?), but no works are specifically named.

As mentioned before by others:

Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
A Revolution Sabotaged Before it Began (あらかじめ裏切られた革命) by Iwakami Yasumi
Swann's Way by Marcel Proust
The Bible (New and Old Testament; e.g., Matthew 13:24-30, Book of Genesis)
Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison by Michel Foucault
Justine by Marquis de Sade

Certain movies are referenced as well:

The Man Who Stole the Sun (in Ep. 5)
The Deer Hunter (in Ep. 11)
Shuuji Terayama's theater drama play "Saraba, eiga yo (さらば、映画よ)."

In Psycho-Pass: The Movie:

Peau noire, masques blancs and The Wretched of the Earth both by Frantz Fanon

Thanks so much! sorry i just came back so late /workkillsme

After reading Genocidal Organ from Project Itoh, I can say it develops how Makishima Shogo might have convinced people to start their killing spree.

From this AMV, some other real-life books that could be recognized on the bookshelves:

Power/Knowledge by Michel Foucault
Critique of Pure Reason by Immanuel Kant
The OTHER Heading by Jacques Derrida
OF GRAMMATOLOGY by Jacques Derrida
The ear of the other by Jacques Derrida

The Japanese-titled books are related to farming/agricultural technology. Instead of real-life books, these are more specific to Psycho-Pass universe regarding the advancement in those technologies:

センターピボットがもたらす農業改革[...] ([...] Agricultural Reform Caused by Center Pivot)
[...]組み換え植物の極？を？[...] ([...] a Recombinant Plant [...])
最強の農業ドローンシステム (The Strongest Agricultural Drone System)
総合防除と生物農業の干？[...] ([...] Integrated Pest Control and Biological Agriculture)
[...]ウィルス拡散の脅威 (Threat of [...] virus spread)
ウカノミタマ (Uka-no-Mitama)
無敵の盾 (Invincible shield)
[...]品目による自給体制のリ[...] ([...] Self-sufficiency System with Items [...])
[...]与える農薬の影響 ([...] Influence of Pesticide Given)
ハイパーオーツは人類を賄う (Hyper-oats Maintain Humanity)

Would very appreciate if someone could mention in which episode this specific scene on AMV is taken from.

authors: Артур Хабибуллин

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When does Hina learn that her parents died?
The parents of the Takanashi siblings die in a plane crash. Sora and Miu are told about this immediately, but as far as I remember in the anime, Hina was never told this. When she asks when her parents are coming back in one of the earlier episodes, the other characters don't explain this to her directly, and she doesn't understand the meaning of the funeral that they go to.
Is it ever properly explained to her why her parents aren't coming back (perhaps in one of the later light novels)?

At episode 12, since her performance at the Daycare approached, Hina began asking again when her parents will be coming, prompting the others to reveal the truth.

I don't think it ever openly tells us that the parents are actually dead, it states on the TV that some are missing while showing Yuri's name, it's possible the funeral was held without bodies and Yuri is still alive.
From what we see no Christmas period passes and most of the show is between summer break and towards the end of autumn, we also see none of the girls birthdays promoting the idea that the show happens withing a two to three month period.
It is entirely possible that Yuri could still be alive as there is no solid evidence stating that they died, the news also stated that the plane crashed and was missing, again, if missing there is no guarantee that bodies were found.
For all we know, she could still be alive.
Also, Hina states that 'since mommy is in heaven, I'm bringing my drawing to show her' this implies that somewhere between episode
12 and 13 she came to terms and learned about it, also, another thing left out of the show is that Hina sees her parents either at her parents day or the musical show, in spirit anyway, though this isn't solid proof they are dead and could be just the imagination of a three year old it may have forced her to accept the fact her parents are gone.


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Why has the Hayate no Gotoku anime switched studios so many times?
The anime version of Hayate no Gotoku has been done by three different studios so far:

Season 1: SynergySP
Season 2: JC Staff
Movie, Season 3, Season 4: Manglobe

Each studio's version is a little different. For example, SynergySP focused a lot on parody while JC Staff focused more on romance.
I've seen a few shows switch studios once, but switching twice seems extremely rare.
Why has it switched studios so many times? Was the creator unsatisfied with what the previous studios did to the story? Was it just some financial matter?

(I'm Japanese, so please excuse my English.)
First a bit of background:

Season 1: This season was a Sunday morning anime in Japan. Sunday morning anime means children anime. SynergySP is known as an anime studio for children.
Season 2: After this season, Hayate moved to the midnight anime for adults in Japan. To produce an anime for adults is the contrary to the SynergySP's corporate philosophy.

After that, you can read the Hayate's author, Hata's thought:

TVアニメが始まります。
第三期ではありません。
今回は新アニメ。
新しいハヤテのごとく！です。

Translation

The TV anime will start.
It is not the 3rd season.
It is a new anime.
New Hayate no Gotoku!

As for your question:

I've seen a few shows switch studios once, but switching twice seems extremely rare.

Typically when the timeslot moves from a morning/children anime to the midnight/adults anime, often times you will see a studio switch.

So in summary, what is being said is that because the anime shifted to an older target audience the change from SynergySP to JC Staff happened, and after the movie the production went in a different creative direction (for various reason due to feedback)?

Hata also write that '劇場版で試した方法論を そのままTVシリーズにフィードバックして 今回の新アニメは作られています。(I tried new representation on the movie. New TV anime made from the movie feedback.)'

It is typical that the TV anime studio is different from the movie anime studio too. I think that Hata takes good feedback from the movie studio Manglobe :D

Sorry, I could not understand about the 'what is ~ happened'.
I have an idea of the cause of the 1st switch too.
I did say the midnight anime is adults anime, and the morning anime is children anime.
The typical morning anime focuses the comedy and the heroism, but the romance is not important.

However, originally manga Hayate is the romance comedy.
When a midnight anime airs 3 a.m., Japanese otaku calls it 深夜27時アニメ(27 o'clock midnight anime).
We did call 1st season Hayate 深夜34時アニメ(34 o'clock midnight anime).
Of course it is 10 a.m. morning anime, but when the anime has many romance or some adult representation, we put like that.
I think that the reason of the 1st switch is 深夜34時アニメ :D

for future additions, please edit your answer instead of commenting on you answer.


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What is the release date of "Ghost in the Shell: Arise" in US?
According to various nets and the Wikipedia page, Ghost in the Shell: Arise "is scheduled for limited cinematic release in Japan on June 22, 2013."
What I'd like to know is, when its release in the United States will be?

Border 1--the first of four episodes in the ARISE series--is available at Mitsuwa Japanese Grocery in Santa Monica. It's $9.99. Border 2 will be coming out November 30, 2013 in Japan, but I'm not sure how it will be finding itself into the United States' market after this date.

In case you want to import it... the Arise Bluray will have English subtitles.

Where can you get Logicoma action figures in the United States? Please ask that as a seperate question ;)

Ghost in the Shell: Arise is not yet licensed. That means there's no release planned in the US yet.
UPDATE
Ghost in the Shell: Arise is now licensed by Funimation. In October 2014, the first two parts have been released on BD and DVD, while parts 3 and 4 have been released a year later. (At least) the first three parts are also available at Netflix.

I see, so I just asked the university library to purchase this item for their East Asian Library collection. Do you think the purchasing representative for the library will find a way to get it? Given that, according to Krazer, "the Arise Bluray will have English subtitles."

I don't know how easy it is in your country, as I'm from Germany. But when the BDs will have subs, it shouldn't be a problem.

What are "BDs"?

If you were to buy the film that has subtitles where would you buy it?

I know BDs as Bluray Discs :D. I would ask amazon or the local bookstore.


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Where is Vampire Knight set?
It seems plausible that Vampire Knight could be set in Japan, but I'm wondering if there is any more specific or concrete than that given either in canon or by one of the authors. If it is set on earth, where are the vampires from, because most of them are blond and blue-eyed, which would imply that they aren't from Japan.
Is there any evidence of whether Vampire Knight is set in Japan, or even on Earth?

There are plenty of anime clearly set in Japan that include a rainbow assortment of hair and eye colors...

I know, but it seems like a large majority of the vampires are light-haired and light-eyed, while a large majority of the humans are dark-haired and dark-eyed, so I was wondering if there is a specific non-Japanese place that they are from.

I'm not sure how reliable is this source but according to TvTropes,

It's easy to miss the fact that the series is set in the far future, after the apocalypse, long enough after for things to have been rebuilt to about the same level. In a recent flashback, Juri tells a story of her adolescence to the young Yuuki; we've heard before that she was about three thousand years old, and the architecture and setting appears to be roughly modern day Japan, certainly within the last 30 years or so.

But I think the setting where Vampire Knight is set most likely fictional.

I have the hunch that it may be set in a European country. Here's my evidence:

Most of the characters have light coloured hair and light coloured eyes. In fact, dark hair seems to be a rarity.
The layout of the classroom looks like a lecture hall, whereas all Japanese schools are set on one template, sliding doors, and single desks.
The town looks like pre-modern Germany or some Nordic town.
There are too many vampires. In Japan, with that many vampires, we would have found out by now.
The strongest bit of evidence I think is the first scene we ever see. Notice what species the trees are? Pine and Fir. And what does Yuki describe the place as? A snowy tundra. Seems like an insignificant detail but: Japan doesn't have tundras. And those evergreen trees I mentioned don't grow there either. At least not in the multitude shown.

So with all this evidence in mind, I honestly believe it is set in an Eastern European or Nordic country.

The physical setting, given the types of plant and animal life, I would assume is on earth, but definitely not in Japan. Just because it is an anime/manga series, it doesn't mean that the setting must always be exclusively in Japan.
It seems to be in more of a rural, European area. The reason I say that is because the architecture of the buildings seem to have more of a western world design, and the occasional runes that one would see whilst focusing on the background of certain episodes/chapters tend to look as if they were more from the middle ages or the Renaissance period than feudal era of Japan. If I were to be a little more specific, I would say somewhere in the northern UK. Also, yes there are scenes in which it seems like they are in a very busy town, but the surrounding area suggests that it is in a northern wooded area that's rather secluded.
As for the time period, I would like to say that during the recent events in the series (meaning when it's not a flashback moment) the time period would be somewhere between the mid 90's and mid-2000's. This is because though it seems like there is recent technology in the town area, there doesn't seem to be any trace of the new technology that we have today such as smartphones and tablets.
The vampires themselves I would also assume are not Japanese, but European with the exception of Shizuka Hio. The fact that many of the names are Japanese could be the fault of the author for not taking in to account that he set the characters in a European-like setting.
When one steps back and looks at the age of the vampire race that the series suggests and compare it to that of the history of Japan as a country, the vampires have a longer history and have been around longer than the country of Japan has. The purebloods would be no doubt from one ethnic decent such as English or French while the nobles could have more than one ethnic decent. The physical traits of commonly having blond hair and blue eyes suggest that German decent is common.
The "level E" vampires are what I assume to be just what the series describes them as. As for where the vampire race came from in general, I'm not entirely sure, but I do have a theory that their origins are similar to that of the main characters in the movie Hancock starring Will Smith & Charlize Theron.

Do you have anything to back up that its in the mid90s/00s?

In the Manga with Flash Backs of Lord Kaname and the Hooded Woman the technological difference wasn't all that different despite the 10,000 year gap and the Furnace that makes Vampire Killing Weapons has not changed at all since it was first lit back then, this could be an indication of Technological Stagnation.


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Why did people start falling unconscious in "Futari wa Pretty Cure"?
During the first season, people had to be evacuated when the Dark Zone attacked, and civilians even interacted with the villains in some episodes. However, at some point, people started to fall unconscious, or even disappear until the fighting was over.
By Max Heart, I don't think a single civilian became aware that strange stuff was going on. This even included

 Honoka's grandmother, who was magical enough to stand up to Poisony in the first season.

From what I've seen, future series ditched this and civilians are increasingly aware of the existence of Cures.
Is there a reason people started vanishing and falling unconscious during the earlier days of the franchise?

Talking about the very first season of Pretty Cure, Nagisa and Honoka had to face Zakenna, black monsters that come out in form of shadows possessing objects and creatures. When those monsters appear, people fall unconscious while the sky become dark.
AFAIK, since Zakenna appears only in season one and season two (Max Heart), the behavior you're asking for seems to be related to Zakenna particularly.

The problem is that people didn't collapse from the beginning.  During the first half of season one people were still conscious.


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Who is Monkey D Dragon's wife/Luffy's mother?
In around chapter 592-596 of One Piece, Buggy the Clown mentioned that Silver Rayleigh is Luffy's uncle. This implies that Rayleigh's sister should be Dragon's wife.
Who is Monkey D Dragon's wife/Luffy's mother?

No mention has yet been made of Luffy's mother at all, the idea of her hasn't even been brought up. Very few characters have been mentioned to have mothers at all for some reason.
In Japanese as in many Asian countries, they use the idea of "Uncle" or "Big brother" differently to in English speaking countries. It just means an older person you respect, and doesn't imply a blood relation at all. By far most likely what happened is Buggy called Rayleigh "Uncle Rayleigh" as Rayleigh used to be his first mate when he was a cabin boy.
So in summary, there is nothing said about Luffy's mother, nor any hints given, and it's incredibly unlikely that Buggy was saying that Rayleigh is Luffy's uncle, which doesn't happen in the manga anyway.

No you are wrong. SBS in chapter 424 mentions her

In SBS Volume 44, Chapter 424, Oda hinted that Luffy's parents would appear in the next volume, Volume 45.

D: Oda-sensei!! I have a serious question. Will you ever draw Luffy's parents? P.N. Mr. Uni, Age 16
O: His parents? Well, I think you will be pleased with the next volume. Get excited!

Because Oda said they will appear in the next volume, people believes it to be the women smiling at Dragon when he talks about Luffy. Although people believed that to be Sabo before he entered Dressrosa, and his character design doesn't match with Sabo's. So not sure who dad dude is, but the woman is assumed to be his mother.

@peter That character doesn't look like a woman.. See the abs in the left picture.

obviously the person in the red circle, not the blue... At the time it came out people believed blue to be sabo (which was proven wrong recently) and red to be his mother (might be true)

@peter Yeah, the red one maybe.. Let's see.. Thanks for the manga reference :)


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What software are used by anime studios?
Is there any particular software or software family specifically designed for making anime? Are they drawing all the frames of motion scenes, or does a software automatically generate them?
For example, consider a soccer player kicking a football. Let the duration of the scene be 0.5 seconds, and let the frame rate of the video be 24 fps; that makes 12 frames in that scene. Do they patiently draw all those 12 frames manually for that scene which takes only half a second?

This question isn't really appropriate for Anime / Manga -- this is a question about Animation in general, possibly Sequential Art or Graphic Design.

@RachelKeslensky I think a couple of questions would be fine, just as long as it doesn't become a major topic. Also Japanese anime might use a different style of software than Western Anime

this question should not be about software. And no speculation. There is a real question hidden here about Japanese commons of anime production, that could be very special and quite distinct from anything else. And very on-topic (think about it: japanese.SE.com? no. avp.SE.com? no. may need a re-ask, though!) Just like their seiyuu are of much-much higher quality and thus the seiyuu-traning internals would be equally interesting as the anime-drawing internals.

a little bit modifying my last comment: not be about software that only "could be" used to create anime; if it's reworded to "what real Japanese artists and craftspeople actually use", then software could still be interesting. See http://meta.anime.stackexchange.com/a/579/244 ;)

For those interested, this blog post goes into detail about the software used in the production of Violet Evergarden (based on behind the scenes videos that the studio posted on Twitter). And this article goes into detail about the paint-on-glass animation in Mob Psycho 100.

It's been a long time, but I decided to edit the title to clarify the scope and reopen it based on the implied topic of how (professional) anime studios have done it.

It depends on a few different things, including the content, the style, and when it was made (i.e. did the technology exist to do it one way vs. another?)
Here's a GREAT example of multiple anime styles used in a single show -- we go from "high quality" level animation for the transformations, to the more "western", flash-friendly style the show is normally in, to a rather garish live-action explosion at the end. These all require different approaches.
If you pay attention, you can also spot where the characters aren't moving much in certain points in the video (like where Panty & Stocking are standing still under the "disco" lighting), so they can get away with only drawing the frame once even though the scene goes for much longer.
When "tweening" between keyframes (to produce moving animation like your soccer ball example), yes, those have to be hand-drawn -- or at least hand-checked, even if a computer is used to extrapolate between keyframes! Using certain animation software like Flash, Toon Boom, or 3D modeling software like Blender may take out some of the work, but none of that software can compensate for a bad animator, or replace an artist at the helm.
There's plenty of shortcuts animators use, but the computer never draws the cartoon for them -- they still have to do that part themselves!


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What's a good entry point for The Idolm@ster?
I know that The Idolm@ster started out as a raising simulator/rhythm arcade game in Japan, but there is also a bunch of anime and print media of it.
Is there a game/anime/manga in English in one form or another (either dubbed or subbed for anime, or officially translated/localized for everything else) which would be a good entry point into the series?

I think the 2011 TV anime series is the obvious choice. It corresponds to 2nd Vision games and the classic breakout period while the numbers of idols were still manageable (it has 11, if you count twins as one). The anime that came before was awful. The anime that came after is often a movie, spin-off, or just downright fruity. The 2015 Cinderella Girls series is okay, but not any better than the original.
I read most of iM@S manga and I cannot name one that's definitive.

How about the official YouTube channel?
You can watch promotional videos and radio programs for free; original, Million, Cinderella, Shiny, and SideM are all treated. Anime and specials are distributed depending on the time.
Since these are YouTube, most content has auto-generated subtitles; which are somewhat inaccurate, but automatic machine translation is possible. (If you choose English or ’英語’.)

Of course, these are legal content operated by copyright holders.


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Can Uchihas get Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan by exchanging their eyes?
Let's say Uchiha A and an Uchiha B both have awakened their Mangekyou Sharingan. If A and B exchange their eyes, can they unlock Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan?

No, if that was possible, Madara & Itachi have done that with there brothers.

In the Manga, only:

Uchiha Madara,
Uchiha Izuna (Madara's brother),
Uchiha Shinsui,
Uchiha Itachi(Sasuke's brother),
Uchiha Sasuke,
Uchiha Fugaku(Itachi's and Sasuke's father)
Uchiha Obito,

Is shown to have awakened Mangekyou Sharingan (henceforth the MS). Of those 7 only 2 is confirmed to have an Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan (henceforth the EMS), that is Uchiha Madara and Uchiha Sasuke.
Uchiha Madara
Madara gained his EMS after taking his brother's MS. Note that he claimed that his brother gave it to him. Madara did not take it from him by force. When Madara told this story, his brother was shown to be on his deathbed. By the time Madara gained his EMS, his original eyes has lost its light, he is practically blind.
Uchiha Sasuke
Sasuke gained his EMS from Uchiha Itachi. At first he hesitated in transplanting Itachi's eyes into his. After his eyes got worse from the extensive use of MS techniques, he agreed to the transplantation and thus gained his EMS. Itachi's eyes were also near blind.
There are 4 points that is similar between the two.

One is that they have their original eyes evolved into MS.
Two, they transplanted the other eyes from their brother.
Three they transplanted their brother's eyes when their original eyes are blind or near blind.
Four both's brothers are dead when they transplanted the eyes.

IIRC it was told in the manga that transplantation is better done between close relative since they are more compatible.
If, only the first two conditions are necessary for the EMS then yes, any close relative that has awakened MS can simply exchange eyes for both to awaken EMS. If point 3 is also need to be met then they still can exchange eyes after exhausting their eyes, making it near blind. If point 4 is also necessary then they can't simply exchange eyes as one needs to die before the other can transplant their eyes and awaken EMS.

This of course all assumes the Transplant eyes do not Fuse together with the originals, which apparently is some kind of theory on the topic. Death realistically should not matter at all, but this is anime after all, so who knows. It was just left too open for interpretation as of right now, though if it was realistic, then it would be swapping eyes and it would work for both of them.

I agree that the eyes should not fuse. I disagree that death should not matter, considering that Mangekyou Sharingan itself was awakened upon death of someone important.

case 1 and 2 are very important but, brother is not must but must be strong blood ties. case 3 and 4 are not necessary.

You forgot Uchiha Fugaku on the list of Mangekyou Sharingan users.

Two additional points to consider as per why theyre not fused:

What Madara said and did during the 4th war
The uchiha rip off shin uchiha
Madara said to Sasuke "maybe I should take your eyes before i get my rinnegan back" just after his full revival. And what he did to Kakashi just before being sliced in half by Sasuke was taking his (Obito's right eye) and planted it into his socket. The instinct of putting the donor eye into his eye socket probably means that the eyes dont fuse (Madara already as EMS which is why Obito's stay they same in Madara's eye socket). This also assumes the donor is still alive (Madara did say killing sasuke would be a waste of those eyes implying sasuke would resist)
Shin's body is tattered with sharingans implying no matter where you put em, the sharingan will work. Why this is important is because his "children" also have the same pattern implying those who have the exact same dna would awaken the same MS with the same power. When the body is introduced to a pair of eyes from somebody else it would react differently, my guess is; if the reciever had MS, they could potentially awaken EMS when the donor MS is transplanted into them regardless of blood relation. The blood relation mightve been a theory in the manga, an assumption, misused information.

Please include relevant sources/references.

In order to activate the EMS you would need the eyes of a relative who has activated MS the prime example of this is Obito he transferred plenty of other sharingans into his missing eye socket as there was more than just him and Itachi with MS during the time of the Uchiha Massacre (where he took the eyes of uchiha that have activated at least a regular sharingan) so its safe to safe hes at least transplanted one other eye with MS in that eye socket but has never awakend EMS.


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Why is Suzuha pre-destined to die in 2000?
Suzuha inevitably dies in 2000 after traveling back to 1975 to obtain the IBN.
It doesn't create any paradoxes, so there is no reason why she can't live to 2010 as long as Suzuha doesn't interact with her other self and the lab members until "August 9th, 2010" (the date she departs for 1975). Okabe has already demonstrated that you can co-exist with your other self.
Is her death just another convergence of the worldlines? If so, why? What significance does Suzu's death have on the worldline that the "universe" demands that she die at that point in time?

From the wikia:

However, she dies cause of an illness due to her time travelling in 2000 at the age of 43.

It just seems like the time traveling had a physical toll on her body which caused her death.

Yes, you have answered the question yourself. It is just a convergence of the Attractor Field Theory in Steins;Gate. That is predetermined in the alpha world line, much like how Mayuri is also predetermined to die within a certain range of dates in August 2010.
There is no significance whatsoever. You might even ask why is Mayuri predetermined to die. The reason is simply the convergence point, or 'fate' if you want to be unscientific.
It is impossible to escape World Line Convergence without entering another Attractor Field by changing history, which can only be accomplished through time travel. This is also why you don't see Suzuha dying in 2000 in the beta/gate world line.

It's kind of convergence- her dying is a direct result of SERN dystopia which is the Alpha convergence. In one of the light novels it was revealed that Suzuha's sickness was actually HER INNER ORGANS SLOWLY TURNING INTO GEL. Daru in the future couldn't make a complete time machine because of the SERN monopoly.
So as long as they are in Alpha attractor field, SERN is a convergence point, which means that Daru can't make a complete time machine, which means that Suzuha dies from gel organs.

Please include relevant sources/references.


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Where can I legally read HxH manga in English?
I'm going on a trip and want to read some manga on the airplane.
So I was wondering if there is a way to legally download manga to a PC?

What do you mean by legal? To buy them is the only legal option you have. Online or from a shop.  Otherwise there are tons of sites which offer free "legal" almost any type of manga, as such as HxH.

@pap  the statement "tons of sites which offer free "legal" almost any" may as well say leave out the "legal" bit, as we all know what air quotes around a term implies.   A&M has a page about legal places to read manga online.  Also, several airlines have wi-fi now.

As mentioned by one of the commenters, you're going to just have to go and buy digital versions if you want to read it offline on your PC legally.
I took a look at Viz Media's Hunter x Hunter web page and found the places where they sell the manga digitally. Of the four sources listed, I found that Amazon and Nook sell Hunter x Hunter at the cheapest price of $4.49 per tankobon volume. Amazon has an actual desktop application for both Windows and Macs, while Nook only has a Windows store application, so I think Amazon might be the better way to go if you do not have Windows 8, 8.1, or 10.

You can buy it on iBooks Store.

which is less expensive. ibooks or amazon?

It seems iBooks is limited only to Apple devices.


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Is watching the first 2 seasons of the anime enough to understand "Tokyo Ghoul:re" manga without reading prior manga?
I've watched Tokyo Ghoul and Tokyo Ghoul Root A, but I didn't read the manga.
Is watching the them enough to understand Tokyo Ghoul:re manga without reading prior manga?

No the anime and manga are different so u should read the Tokyo ghoul manga first.

Root A diverged from the manga A LOT, not a little.

One big thing to note is that Tokyo Ghoul Root A (the second season of the anime) greatly diverged from the manga. In the manga, Kaneki left Anteku and went off on his own, forming his own group. In the anime, he joined Aogiri.
Tokyo Ghoul:re is a sequel manga, meaning it builds off of Tokyo Ghoul. The first season of the anime does only a decent job at covering the story of Tokyo Ghoul, and the second season, as noted, diverged, covering only a handful of the biggest plot points. Having only watched the anime, you will not know numerous plot points that are addressed or expanded upon in :re.
However, in my personal opinion, you will only be moderately confused reading :re if you only watched the anime. Thankfully, Root A converged with the canon story line near the end, and had many of the major events occur identically to the manga (albeit several of them in the wrong order, and as such events that drove them to the order they were in are skipped in the anime). So as an anime only viewer, you would have knowledge of almost all of the major plot points.
With another however here, I can not find one person who would recommend doing so. Almost everyone who claims to be a fan of Tokyo Ghoul the manga greatly dislikes the anime. Even the top reddit post asking where season 2 starts in the manga is met with universal replies of chapter 1 (as in, pretend you never watched the anime and start the series from the beginning). As noted in Why did Tokyo Ghoul √A completely deviate from the manga?, the differences in season one are fairly significant, and you are going to be hard pressed to find people who prefer the anime's story over the manga's.
If you are desperate though, and refuse to read from chapter 1, then season 2 starts at around chapter 46.

You can read Tokyo Ghoul:re without being lost, but you need to have seen the anime first.
I started reading :re first by accident, and it makes so much more sense if you know what happened first.

Its the Manga you need to have read first to understand what is happening. The anime diverged GREATLY from the manga, so much so that numerous significant plot points are missing in the anime that RE does expand upon.


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What is causing Kirito's eyes to change colour?
In Sword Art Online, there are a number of times Kirito's eye colour changes. Originally in SAO and ALO, his eyes were kinda a grey colour:

When Kirito is killed by Heathcliff though, his eyes go golden when he comes back to life:

Now, I could just assume the eye colour change was a sign of him surpassing the system with his will (as acknowledged by Kayaba).
However, in episode 22 of season 1, when his HP is going down after being impaled by a Guardian's sword, as he is struggling to reach the door inside the World Tree, before he dies, his eye colour has changed. It also changes again during the Raid Battle in the World Tree when he produces that attack which allows him to breach the wall of Guardians. In these two instances, I don't see how his will is surpassing.
Considering also that his Avatar Data at this time was the SAO Data which was made to look like him, what is causing Kirito's eyes to change colour?

did his eyes change color when he turned into the monster in ALO?

@Dragon not sure. i only noticed this when i was watching Sword Art Online EX and Kirito turning into the Gleam Eyes didn't appear in it

In the last image, he just activated his HAX mode.

It could just be the state between death and alive.it could be possible that it happens to everyone but you don't see enough deaths to even realize it

From what I have gathered, I couldn't find any information of why his eye color changed, but from what I can see, the most likely reason is as you said, his will was strong enough to surpass the system. The reason probably is of course Asuna.
From the three cases that you have mentioned in your question, Asuna was involved in all of them:

When he was killed, Asuna was killed right before he was, he got too angry and surpassed the system.
The second case where he battled but failed is because Asuna is so close, he is so desperate to see her again and he surpassed the system (maybe even with some help from Yui).
It was also the same with the third case, except this time with more help, he was able to defeat the guardians and reach the World Tree.

It usually happens when he's willing to do the extreme:

The first instance in SAO he has the will to kill Kayaba and free everyone.
The second time it happens is when he's trying to fly up the World Tree in ALO and he's empowered with the will to save Asuna.
He also gets it in his final battle with Death Gun or Sterben in GGO.

It's mentioned by him in the Extra (1-hour special that takes place between SAO and SAO2), but I don't remember exactly what he says though. It also happens in the movie, Sword Art Online: Ordinal Scale at the end.

We don't see his eye turn when he fights Oberon. Why? I don't think it's that he's pissed or pushing his limits. It's also only in the virtual world. When he fights Suguo, it doesn't happen. So why?
Well, we get a hint that the server to SAO is similar to Alfheim. GGO would be the same with stats and such. We saw him say he deleted his stats but not skills. Yui also explained the seed uses the cardinal system, meaning GGO included. This means that he has dual wield and everything else skills related. I think his golden or yellow eyes are a skill he learned after beating gleam eyes. He never had them until after that battle. Maybe he obtained it on a mission.
Just an idea.

It's when his system-overriding willpower thing is active apparently. It doesn't necessarily mean he's angry, like during the Ordinal Scale movie.
Maybe it's something intrinsic to Kirito or something. Something in his brain or something supernatural.

My theory about it is that he has the willpower to surpass the system. In reality, nobody knows if his eyes turn amber.
What I've realized is that anime characters such as Kirito and Mikado (Durarara!! and Durarara!!x2) both have grey eyes. When their anger builds up, they let it out.
So basically what I'm trying to say is that he has so much willpower, commitment, and strength that causes his eyes to turn a different color. (Amber; a shade of gold)

It's because he gets mad. When his eyes turn gold, it means that he is angry.
This happened when he fights Heathcliff, and in the world tree, and when fighting the red (sorry, forgot his name). It also happened when he fights the first monster on floor one, in one moment his eyes are grey, and when he gets hit by the monster his eyes turn a little gold.
So, my thought is that golden eyes mean he is pissed or angry.


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Is the physiological progression (evolution?) of Kabane discussed in the manga?
In the anime Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress, Kabane are shown with physical ability ranging from a slow, zombie-like walk to a high-speed animal-like sprint. In addition, Kabane are shown with various degrees of intelligence, ranging from mindless zombies to leader-types to being able to operate simple machinery.
What's the mechanism behind this variety? Do Kabane grow in strength, agility, and/or intelligence over time? Do their abilities depend on the original individual infected? Is it more related to the circumstances of the infection? Is there an intelligent agent and/or advanced evolutionary process behind it all?
The existence of Wazatori and Fused Colonies seems to indicate some form of guided evolution, but I'm frankly at a loss as to what mechanism could be behind all this.


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What really happened at the end of Stone Ocean?
At the end of JoJo Part 6: Stone Ocean, did Emporio get sent to a parallel universe? Is this the same universe that SBR and JJL then take place in? The Wikia says that the universe is reset. What really happened? I'm so confused.

Some years ago I shared your confusion, and I kept thinking and thinking until I found an answer I was satisfied with. I also wrote this "answer" in an Italian forum I was part of at that time.
To be fair, it did not receive very much attention, but I want to translate it because I think it could be of some help (I doubt it to be correct because I believe H. Araki's brain creations are too much for anyone to understand).
Here I go:
Father Pucci makes the universe collapse by means of the powers of his Made in Heaven. Then, the universe rises again for another cycle of life. The interesting fact, which H. Araki himself explains to us, is that this new cycle will be exactly the same as the one before except for the fact that all the living beings that are actually alive when the collapse takes place will return in the second cycle of life with full knowledge of their future. This consciousness of the future is how Father Pucci believes happiness will be achieved by mankind.
The new history of the universe will be written in such a way as to preserve the faith of who was alive before the first collapse operated by Father Pucci through Made in Heaven. Details will obviously change, but the main part of their faiths will be unaltered. As for the dead, something similar happens in the sense that their new lives will be somehow "connected" with the lives of those with whom they were connected in the first cycle, but there will be no clear knowledge of their faith in them.
It is clear that Father Pucci is the only living being which is outside of the "written faith", and he can move arbitrarily in the cycle of the new universe because of the gravitational powers of Made in Heaven. Since Father Pucci knows that Emporio is alive before the collapse, he decided to close the situation once and for all, and goes back to the prison (during the second cycle of the universe) in order to kill the little guy.....and this is where Father Pucci makes his big mistake.
Emporio manages to survive Father Pucci's threat precisely because Father Pucci is immune to Made in Heaven's powers. Indeed, we know that the details of the lives of those who were alive before the first collapse may change, and this clearly allows Emporio to have some kind of mental and physical freedom with which he is able to think of a plan to kill Father Pucci. Furthermore, we know that Father Pucci's faith is completely open, there is no predestination for him because it is his will to actively keep using his powers the reason for everyone else's fixed faith. This means that, even if Father Pucci can literally decide the faith of the universe, nothing prevents him from dying like the idiot he surely does not want to be.
Then, he dies, of course.
Before dying, Father Pucci decides to accelerate time again, hoping to prevent the result of Emporio's plan (his death) before it actually realizes. All he succeeds to do is setting a third cycle of the universe, a cycle of which he will no longer be a part. However, Emporio was alive at the time of the second collapse, hence, he will be fully conscious in the third cycle, and thus he tries to reconnect with the group. He finds Irene and Anakis, the "alter-ego" of Jolyne and Anasui, who, however, do not have Emporio's knowledge of their faith and are not able to remember him (they were dead before the first collapse).
In this third cycle, Father Pucci is no longer there because he died at the end of the second cycle, and thus we may safely assume that there will be again a lot of freedom for everyone. Accordingly, I believe that SBR takes place in this third cycle, because, if it had taken place during the second cycle, there would have been Father Pucci somewhere in the universe, and this would have made the plot of SBR meaningless with respect to the "fixed faith" imposed by Made in Heaven.
Now that I wrote it again, I feel better.

Remark
At the time of my writing now (26 January 2019), I have not yet started reading JoJolion (Part 8), hence, I do not know what happens there.
The following edit has been suggested by someone who is reading JoJolion, and I thought it could be meaningful to add it because it seems to disprove my "theory" on the end of Stone Ocean. However, I reserve my right to re-edit this answer once I read JoJolion and I have thought about it, and I warn people who have not read JoJolion that the following suggested edit contains information that may be perceived as a spoiler.
End remark
Peer edit
Many readers believe that in JoJolion (Part 8), the theory that the Steel Ball Run universe takes place in a cycle of Made in Heaven was disproven, as the complete Joestar family tree is shown, and there is no Jotaro nor Irene. However, we as readers do not know Araki's intentions and it is very possible Irene, despite the birthmark, is no longer a Joestar, leaving it up in the air.
Many believe this is because the Steel Ball Run universe is a completely different universe. The third cycle of Made in Heaven is its own universe. Leading to the conclusion that the SBR-verse and Ireneverse have no correlation whatsoever.

it would be nice if you add link for the references

You are right, but, unfortunately, I have only the italian volumes. If you point out to me for which part you would like to have references, I could try to look for the english reference online.

My interpretation was that civilizations came and went with time's acceleration, effectively resetting the universe. The next part, Steel Ball Run, arguably has a major plot point related to this.
I'd guess there's a decent article somewhere.
Here's a quote from JoJo Wikia. (https://jojo.wikia.com/wiki/Alternate_Universe)

Made in Heaven increases the speed or rate of the flow of time; achieved through its ability to control the gravitational forces of the earth, moon, and seemingly the entire universe (in reference to aspects of the theory of relativity).
As time continues to travel, the universe will hit a "vanishing point", and a new universe will be created, where everything repeats itself, according to "fate".The Stand's user may then alter the characteristics of the universe and the fates of the people in the recreated universe and create the perfect world they desire.
In the story, just after Enrico Pucci's death at the hands of Emporio Alnino and the Stand Weather Report, the universe completes a second cycle. In this renewed world, characters of seemingly very similar identities to Jolyne, Hermes, Anasui and Weather Report fortuitously gather in Emporio's proximity.

My theory on this is that Pucci's speed ability creates an alternate universe. This would make sense because we clearly figured out that Johnny Joestar is the Alternate Universe's Jonathan.
It is confusing why they didn't continue with the original people. I mean, we don't know if Jotaro and Jolyne are even dead because we are left with a cliffhanger, and we are still waiting for Part 9 because of the new Part 6 anime coming out.

I just finished all the current JoJo story and I was thinking about Part 6. The end left me thinking if this was a good ending or a bad ending for both the Joestars and Pucci.
What I understood is that the ending isn’t in an alternate universe at all. With Father Pucci’s stand, he was able to increase the ‘speed of time’ kinda. This made it so that all life and remains of life on earth were destroyed. Like, he lessened the time it would take for life to meet its demise. Then, life was reborn. However, everything followed the same fate. We end up at the time around when Emporio met Jolyne in her “old life”. While some things have changed, to me it seems to me that Pucci failed. As shown at the very end, the ‘future’ Jolyne has the trademark Joestar birthmark.
The only thing I still don’t get is why Emporio was unaffected by Pucci’s stand. Either that or I forgot and I’m too lazy to reread.


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Is there any news about Hunter x Hunter since June 2016?
I know that it's been put on hold for a bit, but does anyone have any recent information on updates or progress?
The last post I read was from Dec.21 '14 so it's been a bit.

For the close voters. As my answer below points out, it is not an unannounced event.

Have a look at this link: http://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/30513/is-there-any-news-about-hunter-x-hunter/31420#31420

If we are both talking about the manga, there indeed is some more information.
Shonen Jump announced that Yoshihiro Togashi will be resuming HxH in the dark continent arc. More details were said to be released in this year's 16th issue of Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump, which they did.
HxH has been releasing chapters for the last 9 weeks, starting in week 18 of 2016.
You can also keep a check on Hiatus x Hiatus which maintains a nice diagram of when chapters were (not) released.
As for the anime, currently, there is not enough source material to go build an anime upon and is therefore still on hiatus. For the continuation of the anime, no time indication has been given whatsoever

Just for some extra info, do you know what the last volume and chapter was that released? I've barely started that manga and I'd like to know how deep the rabbit hole goes.

@Hikari 359 Chapters. Of which, at the point of writing, 9 have not yet been released in a volume format. hxh chapters wiki


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What is Mai's actual age in Dragon Ball Super?
In Dragon Ball, Mai is a member of Pilaf's Gang and was aftering the Dragon Balls ever since Goku was a boy (age 12).
In Dragon Ball Super, Mai appears to be young again and studying with Trunks. At the same time, Goku is already a grandpa.
What is Mai's real age?

She's 10 years old.
Dragon Ball Wikia says

At some point before May 12th, Age 767, Mai and the other Pilaf Gang members managed to use the Dragon Balls to wish for youth.

In 767, Mai makes a wish, in the same year the androids appear, and Future Trunks follows them back. Present Trunks is one year old.
In 777, Trunks is 11 years old and future Trunks is 31 years old (he's from the year 797).
So if Mai's wish in 767 to be young turned her into a baby she's one year younger than Trunks, who was born in 766, so she would be ten years old in Dragon Ball Super in the year 777.
So in conclusion, Trunks was born in the year 766 year and Mai turned into a baby in the year 767. Current Trunks is 11 years old so Mai is 10 years old.

Toriyama hinted her age. In Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods, Mai tells her age as 41, and that would be the age she was in Dragon Ball, meaning she was over 80 years in Dragon Ball Super, and Future May is around 100 or more years old.
As to when they made that wish, the best placing would be the Android Saga before Cell appeared and Picollo and Kami fused. They turned themselves into toddlers or just very young children. In the alternative timeline, the dragon was only able to grant the wish for Mai as Picollo got killed by the Androids, both Shu and Emperor Pilaf died of old age, leaving Mai alone, sometime after the wish.

None of the sources I've looked at say that Super takes place 40 years after Battle of Gods; they actually suggest that Battle of Gods is non-canon and the first story arc of Super is its canon replacement. Can you find a source that says Dragon Ball Super takes place 40 years after Battle of Gods?

In Dragon Ball Super, she would be 10-11 years old due to her and the Pilaf Gang making that one wish to be young again. So she and Trunks would be about a year or a few months apart in age.
If you are asking about her real age, as in overall (since the Dragon Ball series), she would technically be older than Goku and even Bulma, since she was already a fully grown adult during the Dragon Ball series.
Although on a side note, if you look into Dragon Ball GT, she is/was an old woman while Trunks was a young man. So I don't know what happened there!

What happened there is Dragon Ball GT is non-canon now, so the events of Dragon Ball Super will diverge from it.

Let me speculate here.
Based on Wikia, Pilaf is 20 years older than Bulma, and it would convenient to assume that Mai is younger than Pilaf but older than Bulma. When Mai stated that she is 41 in Battle of Gods, I'd assume she refers her age before made young by Shenron. Thus 41 + 11 (age 767) = ~52 years which is 8 years older than Bulma, 12 years younger than Pilaf.
Make sense to me.


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Is there a way to directly donate to support a comic / light novel / animation?
In many times we are viewing a story without paying. It can be an animation broadcast on television. It can be comic or light novel that is only translated by volunteer online and one is forced to view the pirated version as this is the only way to view it. So there should be times we feel that want to have some ways to pay some money back to support the comic / light novel writer or the animation company.
Currently the most common way to do so is to buy some products, like Blu-Ray Disk, poster, figures, toys and video games etc. However, when the comic / novel / animation is so rare that you are forced to view a pirated version, it usually means it is also impossible to buy these products.  Even if it is possible, it feels odd to buy unnecessary stuff just to show my support. Sometimes it is just not environmentally friendly, and sometimes (think of Strike Witches) you really need to be brave enough to just possess the product itself.
Then I think of the donation page or the "Buy me a beer" button in many free software site (like this one). So I am thinking if there are similar things for ACGN (Anime, Comic, Games, light Novel)?

This is an interesting thought, but I would imagine the answer is "no" in general. Mixed funding models where a content creator derives some income from sale-of-goods and some income from donations are quite rare, after all (like, maybe you see it occasionally with internet-age content creators who operate via Patreon/etc?).

When it's a fan translation of something that's commonly available in Japan but not available in your language, the obvious way to support it is to buy the original work in Japanese, and use the fan translation to understand it.  For instance, you can import the Fate/Stay Night visual novel and use Mirror Moon's translation patch on it. You can also support efforts to bring the series out in your language, like the Clannad Kickstarter that actually resulted in an English release (only for Windows, right as I got rid of my last Windows machine...)

to correct @Evilloli the version of Fate/Stay Night Mirror Moon translates is an old, old version and chances are you're only going to find second hand copies in which case the money will never reach Type-Moon. you'd best bet is to buy the Digital Realta Nua versions from Amazon Japan and use Beast Lair's translation. since these are digital they should always be in stock and your buying them directly from Type-Moon

@Evilloli For popular and old seriees like the Fate/Stay night, there are many ways to get a copy. However, for more recent and less popular series like GATE: thus the JSDF fought here, I am still unable to get a Chinese copy of Comic or light novel, (Chinese is my mother language and English is just my second language) and I am afraid I will never be able to as the series has already ended in Japan.

@user1273587 I meant use an import website or Japanese bookstore and buy the book in Japanese, then go online and read the illegal fan translation in your language. That way your money gets back to the author, even if you're reading the unauthorized translation

If you become a premium member on crunchyroll the money you pay about a small amount goes to the manga writters. Here is the link to help you out http://www.crunchyroll.com/interstitial/android

Simple answer is no. Anime are created through production committees. How they come about can vary. The best way to support a commercial work is to purchase the principal media (discs) behind them or the source material (novels, manga).
The crowd funding, Patreon-type model is not very well-known or accepted in Japan, but they do exist. The most notable recent one is Nekopara. However, these happen fairly infrequently, and typically only happen for smaller or self-published work instead of bigger IPs from established.

I think even for smaller scale production, crowd funding is still a different idea as the "buy me a beer" mode I mentioned. For crowd funding, we need to pay before the team start producing, while the "buy me a beer" mode is just to pay after producing (or even after one watch/read the product)


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What is the meaning of the nuke like tree in "My Neighbor Totoro"?
In My Neighbor Totoro, the girls plant some seeds they received from Totoro, and he helps them to grow them really fast in the night (See here). This tree really looks like a mushroom cloud from a nuke. I'm aware of the nukes that the US dropped on Japan during 2nd World War, still I don't get the meaning of this hint.

I seriously doubt that this resemblance was anything other than coincidental. Just to cover myself, I googled "My Neighbor Totoro nuclear weapons" to see if any reasonably prominent critics had come up with this interpretation, and there was nothing--some discussion of how Miyazaki's experience with the bomb shaped Nausicaa, and lots about Tezuka and Otomo, but nothing at all about My Neighbor Totoro.

I've only found a short comment in Japanese mentioning "atomic bomb tree" by the movie's director/supervisor on here (point 6, "木の原爆"). It seems only mentioning about "it's only a dream, but it isn't a dream", and I'm still not sure if it really related to World War.

Just rewatched it in a large screen theater. My thoughts are horribly sad. That mom has a sickness related to the bombs and the pollution they produced. That Totoro and Catbus are indeed dream figures. That we never find out what happens to Mei, and Satsuki after she hits her head :_(

If you check most of the animes that Hayao Miyazaki wrote/produced they all have environmentalism, pacifism, feminism, love and family themes to various degrees.
For example in Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind is about the aftermath of a global war and find balance with Nature without repeating the mistakes for the past.
Same thing with Laputa: Castle in the Sky.
Past/Current wars are the central point of those 2 movies, with Miyazaki pushing for letting go of the 'old ways' and adopting a 'Live and let live' way of life.
In the case of My Neighbor Totoro he went with a family theme. But that does not mean that there could not be some hidden symbols in the images.
Japanese people have been marked severely in their life/culture by having 2 atomic bombs dropped on them.
Many manga/anime are based on post apocalyptical worlds as a result of it.
Others just hint at this 'scar' that Japanese people have.
Take for example Grave of the Fireflies in which it was only recently discovered that the movie poster actually shows a B29 Bomber plane flying above the children when everyone thought it was just a shape of clouds.
Considering this, it is possible that Miyazaki drew the shape of the tree as a mushroom cloud without even realizing it.
This covers the point of view that the tree was indeed drawn to look like a mushroom cloud.
Now, what you have to consider is that a lot of trees actually do have a mushroom shape (that's how kids mostly draw trees).
Also Japanese people venerate the largest trees. Often building small shrine around or next to them.
In the case of Totoro, Miyazaki actually made that tree stand taller and separate from the others to show it as a kind of 'king' of the trees.
Worthy to be protected by the guardian of the spirit Totoro.
It grows so tall and strong from the love/innocence of Mei and Satsuki.
Personally, and considering the way Miyazaki approaches war in his work, I believe the second hypothesis (a normal tree without any special war-related meaning) to be the most probable one.

It is definitely a mushroom cloud except that it’s  one that brings life instead of death. You see mushroom cloud-like imagery and symbols of radioactive destruction in a lot of post-WWII Japanese art and entertainment. There’s a whole book by Takashi Murakami called Little Boy which discusses this. My guess is that Totoro is about Japan re-finding it’s identity after the trauma of the atomic bombings. It’s similar to how a lot of American sci-fi and action movies had scenes of buildings getting blown up after 9/11.


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Why did they skip the 4th Hokage and choose the 5th instead after the 3rd died?
I think I didn't watch Naruto carefully because I can't understand one thing: After the third Hokage died, the fifth was chosen. Why did they skip the Fourth Hokage?

They did not skip him. At this point in time you should have already seen/ heard quite a bit of the 4th hokage as well.

very first episode of Naruto a couple of minutes into it they say it was the 4th Hokage that stopped the 9-Tail Fox's attack on the village

After Sarutobi Hiruzen (the third hokage) stepped down, Namikaze Minato (Naruto's father) became the fourth hokage. Minato died during the kyuubi attack during which it was sealed inside Uzumaki Naruto. Konoha now lacking a hokage, they chose to bring back Sarutobi into office.
So they didn't skip the fourth hokage, they just reinstated the third one after the fourth...

Yeah, this pretty much sums it all up. If you even look at the mountain the hokages are carved out of, you see that there are already 4 faces in the rock even when the third was "in seat".

There was a 4th Hokage when the 3rd Hokage stepped down.
But then the 4th Hokage died prematurely, meaning that the 3rd Hokage had to take up the position as Hokage back (becoming the fifth).

Isn't this the same as the accepted answer?

the third Hokage, Sarutobi was reinstated as the third and not the fifth, (after his death) Tsunade became the fifth


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Is there any other episodes of Naruto after Episode 220 before Naruto Shippuden Episode 1?
I watched all Naruto episodes on Netflix. I want to know if episode 220 leads right into Naruto Shippuden. I only watched a few minutes of episode 1 in Shippuden, but just watching it, I feel like I'm missing more episodes that lead into Shippuden.
Is there anymore Naruto episodes after Episode 220? Like, do they show Pervy Sage actually training Naruto or does his path of training leads into Shippuden?

No, you haven't missed any episodes. There is a time skip between the end of Naruto and the beginning of Shippuden, where Naruto goes off and trains with Jiraiya and the other characters do various other things as well, some of which are shown in flashbacks but most are just referred to.

There will be reference episodes regarding training and Naruto's growth in the future parts of Shippuden. They even pop-up just as filler episodes between an interesting plot through the series up until about episode 300 or so.


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What kind of demon is Akura-ou?
In Kamisama Hajimemashita, Akura'ou is a powerful demon with an immortal body that has been living for at least 600 years. The manga doesn't say much about the circumstances of his birth,  except that the gods wept when he was born.
Appearance: he is very tall, has long red hair. Looks human except the large horns on top of his head and pointed ears.

Character: He is pretty much the force of chaos, loves war and slaughter.
The origins of other demons in the manga are more-or-less clear: Tomoe is a kitsune, Kurama is a tengu, Mizuki is a white snake, and so on. But it's unclear just what kind of demon Akura-ou is.
What inspired the mangaka? Alternatively, what characters from other manga/anime resemble him?

Akura-ou is an oni, a Japanese youkai that is known for having horns growing on their head, being physically big and strong, and having a wicked personality.
Oni have been used as villains ever since Japanese folklores like Momotaro, which introduces Red Oni and Blue Oni as the main antagonists.
Other characters that are based on oni (warning: TV Tropes):

Dragon Ball - King Enma
Smile Pretty Cure! - Akaoni
Yaiba - Onimaru


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What happened to Yachiru?
According to the Wikia, Yachiru disappeared leaving her belongings after the fight with Gremmy. She is said to be "gone" by Kenpachi in the penultimate chapter of the original series.
I use "original" because there might be extra chapters announced as the other big announcement.
So, what happened to her? Was she part of his Zanpakutou or something?

The very last page of Bleach #668 gives a few clues.
Yachiru suddenly appears out of nowhere and says to Kenpachi:

 Silly goose, if you would just use me properly, there wouldn't be anyone you wouldn't be able to cut down.

She then touches him, which causes:

 him to get a power boost, which he wonders about.

She ends the exchange with explaining to him:

 That power is what everyone's been calling "Bankai".

All of these suggest the following:

 Yachiru is Kenpachi's Bankai. He is unable to call out his Bankai anymore (he was never able to, consciously - the original appearance may have happened subconsciously), therefore, Yachiru is gone.

Alternatively:

 Yachiru is his Zanpaktou spirit, again, one he has never been able to consciously communicate with. Though, I can't explain her disappearance if that were the case.

WHo says he can't go bankai anymore? This is also all also explained if you instead say Yachiru is his Zanpaktou spirit.

@Ryan - he was never able to, consciously.

@Ryan and explaining her as his Zanpaktou spirit doesn't explain why she would suddenly be gone.

It does actually. she went back into his body, instead of being physically maifested 24/7. He was conscious and practically talking to Yachiru when he went bankai.

Did Yachiru knew all along who she was? if not do you know when she became aware?

@Memor-X - there is no indication anywhere that she did know or, if she did know, when she was aware. It stands to reason that she always knew.

It would most likely because that she is a Zanpakuto who had split herself and physically manifested as a spirit. Kenpachi and Coyote Starrk are similar as they have their souls/powers split resulting in Yachiru and Lilynette.
Like many people who already mentioned it, when Yachiru disappeared, she most likely fused back into Kenpachi's Zanpakuto just like Starrk did with Lilynette.

Dont forget that when Lilynette was split she gained her own sword/ Zanpakuto so that could also be the case for Yachiru

Short answer: Yachiru is with Kenpachi; as his Zanpakutou's personality.

Long answer:
I cannot cite manga pages and chapters but if you follow the story, you should remember these.
Yachiru has always been beside or around Kenpachi as a human. Kenpachi's Zanpakutou has never had a name. There was once when Kenpachi lay on the ground trying to ask his Zanpakutou what its name was; no response. Kenpachi's mode of fighting has been brutal which damages his sword.
Fast-forward to Yhwach's arc as Soul King, Yachiru makes Kenpachi know that the power he feels is what others call Bankai. This is after she fused with his Zanpakutou.
I believe Kenpachi would now be able to call out his Zanpakutou and her name would Yachiru.

His Zanpaktou's name is Nozarashi. Yachiru is the name Kenpachi gave to the girl who did not tell him her name, and she accepted it. In truth, even if she told him, he wouldn't have been able to hear it. Shinigami do not name their Zanpaktou, and can not hear its name until they are ready. Kenpachi had already unconsciously suppressed his power and was not ready to hear its name at the time (beat Yachiru Kenpachi as a teenager which triggered the suppression, met the girl he named Yachiru as an adult).

With the release of The Thousand Year Blood War, felt like rereading the manga.  In chapter 577, just before vanishing, she is recalling her first meeting with Kenpachi, personally, I think she might be caught in a time loop.
Meets Kenpachi, spends years with him till that final battle, thinks strongly about the first meeting, and since some residue of Gremmy's power was affecting her, returns to that original meeting as that Yachiru and repeats.

Not sure how her thinking about the first meeting between them suggests a time loop.

I think Yachiru is a physical manifestation of Zaraki's power. When Gremmy said that "he would imagine a world without imagination", Yachiru also vanished.

Yachiru was Zaraki's true spirit. As for Nozarashi, it was the Zanpakuto of a dead Shinigami that Zaraki took the sword from. It's explained by Ōetsu Nimaiya.
Remember that Zanpakuto's real name is Asauchi. If he dies there, Zanpakuto and the spirit inside still reside there. So, Zaraki had two spirits.

It isn't a matter of debate. Yachiru is his Zanpakuto spirit. Her talking about herself as his Zanpakuto is fairly evident. The manga shouldn't have to have her say, "I'm your Zanpakuto, Kenny!"

Yachiru is not Kenpachi's Zanpakuto or the spirit of his Zanpakuto. She is a Shinigami who has her own Zanpakuto as shown in her battle against Gremmy 'the Quincy who could make things he imagined real'. She is a soul from Kasajishi district of Rukongai. She may or may not have been near Kenpachi before he gained his Bankai as she disappeared immediately after seeing Kenpachi slice the meteorite.
The only reasons I have for Kenpachi seeing Yachiru before releasing his Bankai are:

He may have only imagined her, or
His Zanpakuto might have taken the form of Yachiru as she is the only one Kenpachi ever listens to

Do you maybe have some chapter/episode numbers to go along with those statements?

Juke pointed this out in a comment, but Remember Lilynette? She was a physical manifestation of Stark's Weapon, and even had her own sword. Renji also showed that Zanpaktou manifestation is a requirement to learn Bankai around when both he and Ichigo were training to obtain Bankai.


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When does Fairy Tail 2014 episode 66 to present get English dubbed?
I would like to know when episode 66 and onward of Fairy Tail 2014 gets English dubbed.

Closer voters: Memor-X's answer demonstrates that the event has in fact been announced, so this question should not be closed as being about unannounced future events. If you don't like it, downvote, but don't vote to close.

According to Wikipedia Funimation will release Fairy Tail episode 2411 on September 6, 2016 as apart of Part 21 of the Home Media Release (Episode 240 - 252)
this is also confirmed on the Funimation Store

Fairy Tail - Part Twenty One
  Blu-ray & DVD
  Rating: TV-14
ReleaseDate: 9/6/2016

Note that Funimation uses the weird US style of dates where it's MM/DD/YYYY and not DD/MM/YYYY so the date in the quote is indeed September 6th and not June 9th.

1: Fairy Tail 2014 series is Season 7 and Fairy Tail Zero according to Wikipedia and still retains the episode order. as such Fairy Tail 2014 episode 66 = 175 (last episode of Season 6) + 66 = 241


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Do we ever find out what happened to Chrollo?
During the "Greed Island" arc, we learn of a nen user who can remove other's nen. When he got the Bomber's nen removed, the creature he summoned to remove the nen had to stick to him until he touched the Bomber and say the "magic words."
Kurapika's chain needle is more powerful than the Bomber's nen, yet when Chrollo got exorcised and he appears to be unscathed. There should have been some form of price Chrollo paid to get Kurapika's insane ability removed.
Do we ever find out what happened here?

Does it say anything about this part in the manga? Or is there other source material that touches on it?

I remember that chrollo began to wander because he couldn't use nen for a while as a price such as when gon has to choose after the 13th chairman arc.

@MakaAlbarn do you have a source?

I believe it was after the Phantom troupe went looking for him that it is revealed during the chimera ant or 13th chairman arc. I maybe mistaken but I sorry I don't have a definite source.

Chrollo successfully had his chain removed by the Greed Island Exorcist.
He doesn't need to pay a price except whatever he paid to hire the exorcist to help him. Gon only lost his Nen because he violated a Contract, and even then it isn't confirmed that he is completely nen free.
Chrollo can still wield his book, and he used so very efficiently when fighting with Hisoka.

As near as I can tell, Gon added to his contact - he would trade everything to defeat Pitou, even if he was never to use nen again. He gained the power at the cost he expressed.


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Is watching free anime in Japan safe?
I am talking about watching those shows in websites that provide them for free. I could of course afford to subscribe to paid websites such as Crunchyroll and the likes, but often I couldn't find the series I wanted to watch there. The free ones usually host a load of anime and drama titles.
Is watching free anime and Japanese drama in Japan considered safe?

i call that entire list you posted a load of crap. first link's description reads like clickbait and the first few sites just redirect you to another site when you try and watch a video. while not illegal it's makes them quite questionable. first site just sends you to another which which their legal information link just redirect you back to the home page.

the animeshow website in the list is illegal. first episode of bleach initally can't find the file until i switch to another mirror which shows a still splash screen at the start of an episode which include an irc url and a website url that takes you to a site which lists lunaranime as a fansub group which since the series has been licensed in english you shouldn't be watching

The cops will send ninjas to hunt down those who watch anime from illegal sites in Japan. lol

I rephrased your sentence a bit to no longer require a link to illegal providers. Please also take a look at how we deal with copyrighted materials

In Japan or not, sites other than official sites that provides streaming for copyrighted/law protected contents are illegal and against the law. Thus, the answer to your question is no, it is not safe, it is against the law, it is a crime.
From IT (information tech) point of view, many such sites are actually crap sites that is full of ads, click baits, and links that will only redirect you around without showing the content if any. Such sites might also send adwares, malwares and the like to your computer. It might also be used to stole your identity. Thus it is also not safe from IT point of view.
If you are in Japan, however, you can watch the anime when it was broadcasted. This is perfectly legal. In fact, you can also record it if you want to watch later. AFAIK from anime that I watched, this is also legal. Some anime shows that recording a broadcasted show is okay. For example, in Futsuu no Joshikousei ga [Locodol] Yattemita., Yukari recorded a show that is being broadcasted. In Doraemon, Doraemon and Nobita would often record a show since it is being broadcasted at the same time as a baseball match that the father likes to watch.
Of course since it is limited to broad-casted anime only, you won't be able to watch older animes.

I know it's illegal everywhere but I am more concerned with the question of whether there have been cases of people got thrown into jail for watching anime online for free (only watching, no downloading). I don't know which one is stricter to copyright laws between Germany or Japan but the thing is I have lived in Germany for more than 2 years and I always watched anime, but never download it, basically everyday yet I never got trouble related to copyright violation. I am just wondering if the situation is different in Japan since it's the mother country of those anime.

If I were to mention "legal" websites that host some anime of complete episodes, there is the famous YouTube. Although relatively scarce to find full episodes in this site, can people actually be arrested for watching YouTube videos?

I think there hasn't been such case since it'd be far more effective to stop the source, that is the site than the watcher. The watcher might use fake IP or fake MAC which makes detecting their whereabouts hard if not impossible. The site however definitely have static IP. They can detect its traffic and arrest the owner of the site. As for youtube, they will delete videos that infringe copyright.

That's rather relieving I must admit. It's not like I like violating copyrighted items though, it's just that I still like watching old animes from 3-5 years ago and as you said it's difficult to find them in legal websites. In Germany, watching online is considered safe but downloading it can lead to a life in the jail - I know some people who did. I guess watching online is still in the safe zone, but downloading it is a nope.

But when you stream it online the data is downloaded into the temporary/cache folder by the browser. So, when you stream it you still download it albeit temporary.

Whenever you do this, as well as it being technically illegal, you're also hurting the Company who made the series, by not providing them funds for watching.
the funds for Anime don't come from nowhere, they need the money. they only get that if people buy their series. your best bet would be to subscribe, rather than streaming on a potentially unsafe site.

TL;DR: Yes. It is safe but with a catch.
Streaming services that have a license to broadcast content within Japan such as Niconico are ideal.
Streaming services meant to distribute anime abroad such as Crunchyroll and Hulu are also legal to view in Japan. That said, both sites have region filters because they are not licensed to show many series within Japan. When I visited Japan in April, 2016 the Crunchyroll's massive catalog was reduced to less than 20 items that were licensed for viewing.
Other unlicensed methods are both illegal and dangerous. The Japanese authorities take piracy very seriously. Illegal viewing could land you in prison for two years, even as a tourist. This includes content posted on sites without a license to broadcast that content in Japan, YouTube, downloads/file sharing, screen sharing (RabbitMQ), and using a VPN to get around region locking on sites with a license to broadcast elsewhere.
Related: How does online anime streaming work within Japan?

Unless the site you wish to watch on is sponsored and endorsed by the producers themselves, you can assume they are not safe. Though if you wish to do a little background check on the website, for example searching "is GenericAnimeStreamingSite.com legal" will do the job (in most cases).
No company wants their content, which could earn them money (like anime is intended to do) to be pirated. If you're watching on a third-party site which doesn't give money to the producers (or however they transfer funds to gain rights to anime), that is exactly what you're doing.
If you wish to be safe, the best thing to do is to subscribe to an official site, like Crunchyroll, as you said. Of course (as Memor-X reminded me), Crunchyroll as well as some others do offer free options, though those aren't optimal due to the ads. If you wish for the most hassle free and legal viewing experience, your best bet is simply to subscribe to a site like Crunchyroll. If affording it is no problem, then that's one of your options.
The other of course, would be to buy the Blu-Ray version, though that's more expensive.

should point out that a legal site can still have anime that you can watch for free but like crunchyroll it's limited and/or coupled with alot of ads which you can get around if you pay for the subscription

Since the OP is interested in older anime, buying BDs or DVDs may not be quite as expensive as usual. Whereas a new limited edition BD may cost up to 9000 yen per volume (typically with 6 volumes for 12 episodes), within a few years one can typically find the full set used for a fraction of the price, often below 10000 yen. Still a substantial purchase, but it can work if you don't watch a lot. International releases are cheaper still (and AFAIK legal to import to Japan though producers try to stop this from happening).


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What is "Tokyo Ghoul:re"?
There were events that happened in Tokyo Ghoul:re but didn't happen in the original show, like:

Is Tokyo Ghoul:re different from the original Tokyo Ghoul?

Tokyo Ghoul:re is the sequel manga to Tokyo Ghoul. The Tokyo Ghoul manga ended in September of 2014 and was adapted into the first 2 seasons of the anime, though the second season, Root A, greatly diverged from the manga with significant differences but still attempted to have the same major events as the manga.
You can read about possibilities of why they did so in this question (be wary of spoilers in all the links here): Why did Tokyo Ghoul √A completely deviate from the manga? and for more details on the differences, you can read my answer or this post on reddit asking about the same thing.
Both the anime and the manga ended with spoiler:

 the ambiguous death of Ken Kaneki at the hands of Kishou Arima (as in he is believed dead, but it's not fully confirmed, though in the manga it leaned significantly heavier on the dead side with multiple holes in his head)

Tokyo Ghoul:re picked up 2 years after the events that ended Tokyo Ghoul. It's about Hiase Sasaki, a ghoul investigator and leader of the Q's squad, currently low ranking investigators that underwent a very special surgery. It follows Hiase, his squad, and his superior/supervisor Akira Mado (daughter of the investigator that was Amon's superior and partner investigator in the beginning of the series), and shortly after all that begins expanding on stuff from the original manga, as well as filling in the 2-year gap.

Tokyo Ghoul:re is the continuation of Tokyo Ghoul.
If we follow the original age of Kaneki (in the first chapter of the manga it labels him as 18, but somehow we all decided that he was 20 at the end of the manga), then it should have picked up 3 years later, seeing as he is 21 or 22. Which it does. A lot of people say that it picked up 2 years later, because Kaneki's new personality, Haise, has been an investigator for 2 years, but if you read it all the way through, Kaneki spent about a year in Cochelea before becoming Haise.
Tokyo Ghoul:re is supposed to be what happens next, but we aren't sure if it will be in the anime, as season 3 has not been released yet.


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In the manga, do Satoru and Airi get together?
I know Satoru and Airi didn't get together in the anime. Do they get together in the manga?

As this answer discusses, in the manga Airi shows up a few times while Satoru is recovering after his coma, although they never really directly interact. While the ending of the manga is quite different to that of the anime, the very last scene is the same:

 Satoru goes back to the spot under the bridge where he hid from the police, and as he hoped Airi shows up there as well.

Based on  the anime and the manga, the last scene is Satoru going under the bridge where he hid with Airi after he was accused of murdering his mother. There he used his hands to form a rectangle, and as he saw through the rectangle, he saw Airi.
There is no continuation of this story, but considering that Hinazuki Kayo ends up with one of their friends (Sugita Hiromi) and is living happily, it is implied that Satoru seeing Airi there means that his own love story will finally start (with Airi). It wasn't explicitly mentioned, so I believe it was intended to be left open to fans interpretation.

In this case, it remains to be seen. Airi does stand up for Satoru several times, but they never really are seen engaing in any actions that would quite sum up to a 'romance', more of a relationship built using mutual trust and help.