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Is doujinshi always sexual?
Sorry if this has an obvious answer, I'm pretty new to the anime community.
I've seen covers of doujinshi for certain pairings/fandoms I like, but from what I've seen of the contents, most of them get pretty steamy. I really like the concept of fan-published works and seeing certain characters interact, but I don't feel comfortable reading something so...explicit? Are there doujinshi that are based around platonic/fluffy romance interactions, or is this typically the standard for doujinshi? (And is there a way I can tell a platonic doujinshi from others?)

The term Doujinshi is rather broad, encompassing any self-published work. Sometimes, although rarely, even big name authors have created some doujinshi.
Wikipedia has a pretty decent article which defines it as:

Dōjinshi (同人誌{どうじんし}), often transliterated as doujinshi) is the Japanese term for self-published works, usually magazines, manga or novels. Dōjinshi are often the work of amateurs, though some professional artists participate as a way to publish material outside the regular industry.

These self-published works are almost always inspired by work created by someone else, rather than being original works. Since the authors usually don't have original ideas to write about, instead they want to express their love for a series by writing stories that could have happened, which is why you're often seeing these sexual situations in doujinshi. Sex is popular, and it is generally abstained from in source material. Thus writing about it is a good way to make your doujinshi popular easily, since many people will have had similar thoughts while reading the source.
As far as if there are doujinshi that do not involve sexual situations, the answer is of course. Since we are talking about self-published works, there is really no limit to what kind of stories you could find, just like in any fan fiction.
Finally, your question about finding out what is in them ahead of time, has already been asked here: How do I figure out the contents of doujinshi? While there isn't an answer to that question posted, it seems the consensus from the comments is that outside of learning about the contents from a doujin circle, it is rather hard to know what to expect.

To add, if one goes onto yuri-ism you can see from their ratings that there are still quite some doujin which aren't exactly sexual, Rank 1 is "mostly" Safe for Work and Rank 2 has Suggestive Themes, i would assume most sites that sell doujin would have some fort of filtering system

If you are to buy the doujin at comiket, then you'd have the chance to quick peek the content before buying it.

Though it is common for such themes to be done, doujinshi are basically almost always fan made manga/stories, which means they can have any kind of storyline. They are almost never made by professionals or with custom stories, and are instead just derived from a popular story, but with a "What if" scenario, which can be whatever the author of the doujinshi decides it to be. Of course, this usually is Pairings, especially when the main manga does little to satisfy that Romance urge, or even worse, tease it, for those fans. So overall, they do tend to be Sexual, but that is not a necessity for it to be doujinshi.

I've seen Haibane Renmei described as originating from a short doujinshi by the creator (so the anime came later), so I'm not sure if I'd quite say "almost never".

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Is the Konosuba anime a close adaptation of the light novel?
I wanted to watch the anime, so I was wondering if the anime adapted the light novel closely. Did the anime skip something or made changes to the plot?

"Adapted well" is subjective, since what you consider them doing a good job on the adaptation may be different than someone else's opinion.

Well I just wanted know if its good if its bad than I will have to read the LN first.

If you'd like to ask how people feel about it, you're welcome to join us in chat.

i also wanted to ask this but this kind of question could be opinion based answered so maybe reconstruct your question? because i have read some of the manga and i can say not everything was brought to anime version but the novelty is there still and the plot is anyway similar too..and this is only my opinion.

so I can watch the anime without needing to read the novel ?

You can watch the anime without first reading the LN, but there is a lot more stuff after the anime ends. There's not much difference during the anime other than slight changes and some of the jokes in the anime are improvised by the voice actors. The LN and manga go further about the lore and characters more though.

I am currently doing both, having watched both series of the anime only last week, and now reading the LNs.
The LNs have more information in them, but the anime is definitely funnier, as the physical jokes and expressions gain from the visual aspect, and you get a VA performance that gets across the tone of the dialogue (there's a lot of scenes of characters crying out in comic distress that come across much funnier seen than read).
As for a close adaptation, the benefits of it being a LN are that the character design is straight off the picture pages of the LN; and the dialogue was between close and exact from what was in the LN.
You will miss out on some extraneous detail - a certain recurring character has their introduction done in a flashback as opposed to the full chapter it gets in the story - for example, but very little from the first LNs that the two series are based off was missed.
In my opinion, I'd go with the anime first. It won't take long to do, and you'll get the full impact of the visual jokes that you'd know were coming due to having read the LN. If you then go back and read the LNs, you'll receive a little more backstory on certain characters, but you won't have missed out on anything important.

source: Stack Exchange

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

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How did the trend of the elder sister(s) x little brother love affair started?
I found this to be called Not Blood Siblings according to TVTropes.
Here are some examples:

In the anime Happy Lesson, Chitose's sisters aren't really related to him and are clearly invoking a Big Sister Instinct and Cool Big Sis, but this isn't milked for UST at all.

KissXsis runs on this trope. Keita's twin stepsisters compete with each other for his affections, much to his dismay. His parents not only are aware of this, but actively encourage him to go for one of the girls, constantly reminding him that "it's not by blood, so it's OK!"

In KissXsis, Ako and Riko literally love their little brother Keita (related by marriage of their mother and Keita's father) and they keep competing for his Love in almost every episode.
Freezing also has this: a 2nd year Pandora has to choose a 1st year Limiter, and even though the Limiter calls his Pandora a sister (but not blood related) they perform an initiation "baptism" also known as "first room visit".
Other examples: Kanokon.
Who started this? And what is its inspiration?

you might be surprised, but it's taken directly from real life

Didn't find enough info for a full answer but have a look at http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FatherIWantToMarryMyBrother if you haven't already.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BrotherSisterIncest

Not everything is a "trope"!

I found this trope to be called: Not blood Related trope according to TVTropes. So its a trope then?

The word "trope" has a meaning, and that meaning is not "has an article on TVTropes".

@senshin Sorry for the misunderstanding. I'm just asking if this is considered a trope or not. I guess its not and your right about Not everything is a "trope" gonna edit my question.

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What happened to people with other skin colors?
In Attack on Titan, we know what happened to many people:

 they became Titans.

But what happened to people with different skin colors, e.g. black?

 Did they turn into Caucasian Titans? Or were they simply killed?

Who says there were black people to begin with?

@MichaelMcQuade there were Asian people. And attack on Titan probably takes place in Europe (many German or Germanic names and European architecture). So we know there were Asian and Caucasian people. So there is no reason to assume that there were no other skin colors...

since the humans never left the walls for years and that just about everyone has the same skin color, we could assume that almost everyone are of similar race inside the wall. as for what happened to the other race (or if there are any), the story is still not complete so we may see some info as the story progresses.

This question cannot be answered with canonical information, since it is about a work in progress and the origin story is still shrouded in mystery.
But there are several assumptions you are making:

That the series takes place in Earth.
That even if it is not Earth, there are earth-like ethnics.
That what happened to several people happened to all the people, worldwide. Maybe the titan incident is just restricted to a small continent or a large island, and the rest of the world goes on their medieval life undaunted by the gross titans.
That even if it is in the same Earth as ours, and the titans are worldwide, that It is set in a time where people from several ethnical groups have traveled worldwide, like way after the XIV - XV centuryies great navigations (Columbus, Pedro Álvares Cabral, Vasco da Gama, etc)

So, assuming there are a ethnical pallete in the world of Attack on Titan as broad as our Earth, several hypothesis can be raised:

Asians were included for identification purposes. The target audience of a Japanese manga are Japanese people, so by "placing" them inside the fictional world, it raises identification and acceptance of the work. That is why almost all the 80's and 90's cartoons had a "token kid".

 The first king hand-picked the chosen ones for his walled kindom. He might have intentionally left out the undesirables, as is shown that there is a heavy ethnical bias in place.

The setting is not futuristic. If I had to explain to a layman, I would say "early steampunk". There are gas-powered gadgets, but they are cutting edge tech created on the pressure the survival drive puts on science. Definitely medieval. This was already subject of a Q&A in this site.

 Just as Asians display special characteristics (as do other ethical groups) maybe Africans had some anti-titanification powers or were immune to the Directive.

But your guess is as good as mine. See the disclaimer on top.

According to imdb : "It is Earth" source

I wouldn't consider IMDB as a reliable source in this case. But maybe it is our Earth, although no canonic sources. Related: http://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/4615/when-and-where-does-attack-on-titan-take-place

As it is known from on-going manga, starting from Ch. 86

 Events prior to this chapter were unfolding on Paradise island. Most inhabitants of Paradise island are Eldians, and only Eldians may turn to titans.

So it is fairly logical, that we can't see people of other races, or "Caucasian titans". Which also means, that

 Mikasa and Levi could not be turned into titans.

tl;dr:

 Africans are in Europe and Europeans are in Africa because the world is flipped turned upside down, and the series takes place on Madagascar Island.

There is a black character introduced in Chapter 106 after it is revealed that:

 The black character, Onyankopon's country was taken over by Marley and he was forcefully conscripted into the army, with the implication that his country was farther to the south in the tropics. Paradis Island is homogeneous to Madagascar and Marley is homogeneous to South Africa. He seems to be from Attack on Titan's version of Europe or North Africa.


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How do Stigmatas and compatibility rate determine how powerful a Pandora is?
I don't fully understand the way Stigmata works and how compatibility rate factors into all of it. Granted, I am only on chapter 25. Does the number of Stigmata determine how powerful the Pandora is? This seemed to be the case at the start of the manga, where it was stated that 6 is "elite" level and how all the characters emphasize how Kazuha had 20. But then, we see Rana and Satellizer being able to defeat third-years.
I noticed that Chiffon only has 4, but then you have Rana who has 6. Why is the former regarded as stronger if she has less? Is it possible for someone with 1 Stigmata to be stronger than someone with 5? Also, how does the compatibility rate factor into all of this?
I was hoping someone could just clear this up for me.

Granted, I am only on chapter 25 there you have it, just keep reading ;)

Is the word you want "compatibility" or "capability"? You have written "catability" and "capatability", neither of which are words.

Just like Eumel said in his comment, you should just keep reading. This answer will contain several spoilers and most likely will spoil a lot of the plot. So you have been warned
(scroll down to the TL:DNS; if you want a practical answer without spoilers)
To properly understand how stigma's work, you will first have to understand what the stigma's are.

 Stigma's are pieces of Nova's, either obtain directly from a Nova 's core, or from the original Nova Maria Lancelot. They are known for their urging signals of destroying everything.

The so called 'Compatibility' determines how much of the 'power' stored within the stigma can be used by the Pandora. Theoretically speaking this means that somebody with 10 stigma's with a bad compatibility could be weaker then somebody with 1 or 2 stigma's with a strong compatibility.
However in the world of freezing stigmas are not limited to just one type:

 Besides regular stigma there are also the heroic stigma, A stigmatic body, the Type-Maria Stigmata, injection stigmata: plasma form, legendary Stigmata, Plasma Stigmata, Legendary Stigmata System

Each and every one of these have their own pro's cons. And even though compatibility still plays a huge role, the type of stigma also does.
TL;DNS:
Yes it possible for someone with 1 stigmata to be stronger than someone with 5. This can be due to a person having a different type of stigmata, or significant better compatibility with the stigmata.


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How hot would the Colossal Titan's temperature be?
I was writing a story so I was wondering if there is a statement anywhere on the temperature, exact or estimated, of the heat released by the Colossal Titan? Thank you so much if you answer.

Related post

not really related

Found by googling "attack on titan temperature", from Kūsō Kagaku Dokuhon (空想科学読本, literally “fantasy science reader”) is a series that addresses, queries and explains the science behind popular Japanese anime and manga:

A 60 metre high Titan would have a body temperature of 602 degrees.

You can buy the source in Japanese on Amazon.

Is this Celsius or Fahrenheit?

Could be Kelvin :p

I highly doubt it

As you can clearly see in the text, there is no mentioning of that. It's your story, you write it with whatever degrees you want.

Japan use Celcius degree. Thus it is very likely that it is in Celcius.


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What are model sheets and why do animators use them?
Model sheets depict characters in their front view, side view, behind, and facial expressions, etc. In anime production animators use these, but what does it contribute in trying to animate?

i don't know, but it looks like concept art to me. this means that the animators create these drawings to orient themselves, when they draw the clean ones. this guarantees (at least to some degree) that the characters look consistently like themselves, independent of who drew them.

I need a proper answer to this question, that is not good enough

well, since you asked this here, I thought there would be little information on the internet, but a simple Google query answered it. Please do some research, before asking. My answer lists two sites that I found after searching for 'model sheet'.

Like I already guessed in the comments, model sheets are used to guarantee consistency in character design.
They are a concept art to define the character design. In big teams, you have the problem that everyone sees the character a bit different, so they try to standardize the design by creating a model.
Wikipedia
Another site

So its simply to keep animators from drawing the characters in their own artstyles?

@user18661 yes, thus improving the consistency of the depiction of characters


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What anime/manga is this girl wearing a red beret from?

I wanna know who this character is for my friend.

Is there any more information you can add to this? Is there a maker's label on the base?

My friend brought it

The female character in the above picture is Tomomi Aizawa from Pia Carrot e Youkoso!! 3.

The visual novel does not currently have an anime adaptation. You can find the figurine here.


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The piano piece played near the end of episode 3 of K: Return of Kings
Does anyone know the song title in episode 3 of K: Return of Kings, starting at 21:04 when Neko calls out to Shiro for help?

The song is entitled K Return of Kings - Showdown. You can listen to the music on YouTube.

It's track 22 in K RETURN OF KINGS CHARACTER SONG & SOUNDTRACK CD, titled If you die... Link for YouTube listening.


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Why was Palm sent on the mission to see the king and his guards?
I'm not sure of the etiquette of this site so I'm just going to point out at the beginning here that this post will have spoilers. I'll edit this part out if I am informed that spoiler warnings are unnecessary.
In episode 107, Palm is caught by Pitou's En while on a mission to infiltrate the castle and catch a glimpse of the king and his guards. Her power makes the tactical advantage of accomplishing this mission obvious, but it doesn't make much sense from a planning perspective.
The Hunter association was aware of Pitou's ability to detect intruders at tremendous distances. They also knew that this ability was in use around the castle; evidence being that Knov's comment about the En barrier being unexpectedly lowered, thus allowing him to place portals in the castle.
With this in mind, it seems that there would be zero chance of Palm succeeding in her mission; at best she is made useless by being trapped in the underground compound, and at worst she is captured. The fact that they chose to send her on this mission is baffling to me because the characters in the show usually engage in an extremely detailed risk analysis for important decisions.
The only thing I can think of that would make sense from a planning perspective is that they cynically counted on the team's sympathy for Palm to get them fired up for battle when they discover she has been captured. In other words, a sort of artificial morale booster.
Can someone provide a plausible in-world justification for this mission?

Note: if you want to mark something as a spoiler, type ">!" before the appropriate paragraph.  This does have issues if there are more than one paragraph in a row.

@kaine That can be dealt with by adding >! before every new paragraph

@AshishGupta If I do that or if someone else does that, the ">" is acknowledged and the "!" is read as text.  I dont think it is just my browser as I've seen it at work (IE) and home (Chrome).  I fix that by putting any unspoiler text between the separate paragraphs.  This is a little off topic though.

When I have time and able to get to a computer I'll throw out and answer

Palm was sent into the compound with some other women to serve as a secretary to Director Bizeff. This as we all know is a farce the idea is that Palm will try to infiltrate the compound further to gain knowledge on the Royal Guard and the King. If you remember that she is an Enhancement Nen user and contains Clairvoyance that pre-ant transformation she could:

Palm is a clairvoyant. Her ability requires her to feed her own blood to a dried merman corpse carrying a crystal ball. After fulfilling this condition, Palm becomes able to track the location of anyone she has seen with her own eyes.

She was attempting to just catch a glimpse of the King so that she could track him. In a covert operation any information that can be gained can drastically change the outcome. Up to this point no has had any information on the two royal guards and king besides what Colt possibly told them. It may seem illogical to most people but if there is even a chance to gain the upper hand against a powerful opponent most people will take it. We also need to remember that she is a hunter and every hunter knows that going into a job doesn't necessarily mean they will come out alive.
Just imagine if she was able to relay information to the others on the location of the King. Would Komugi have been hurt by the Dragon Dive? Maybe the operation would have changed and they would have bypassed the Royal Guard and ambushed the King directly.
TL:DR - Was basically just a grab for information.

They screwed up the continuity there a bit. Palm rode the elevator up using Bizeff's code but later they say if someone enters a code that doesn't match the height and weight of who it belonged to then it locks down.


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What is so "un-tanuki-like" about the name Kaisei?
At the start of Episode 9 - Daughter of the Ebisugawas: Kaisei when Yasaburō is having a monologue about how he was arranged to marry Kaisei before her father called off the marriage after Yasaburō's father died, he says,

By the way, my cousin's weird, un-tanuki-like name "Kaisei", was something my dad came up with.

What makes Kaisei's name "un-tanuki-like" in comparison to the other characters?

Note Kaisei is written (per Wikipedia and the family tree in the show given below) 海星, meaning “starfish”, not a common name in any species. (The kanji are “sea (umi)” and “star (hoshi)”.)

Common given names in Japan have a certain format since probably the Showa period.
Old fashioned male names go something like "something-number-郎". Kinkaku and Kinkaku's actual names are 呉二郎 and 呉三郎 (Kunijirou and Kunisaburo).
Female names usually go something like "something-子" or "something-美".
Kaisei breaks from this traditional name sense, which is why her name is un-tanuki-like.


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Why are most isekai happening in a medieval world?
Why are most isekai happening in a medieval world? I have been reading some of these and I actually can't recall of any in which the story is happening in an other era than in a medieval period. Why is that? Is it common in Japanese videogames too, as some like Dragon Quest and the first Final Fantasy had this background too? Was Japan influenced by the culture of European countries for this theme to be recurrent? Or am I just reading too few novels and I'm only interested in the same genre?

I think you might have landed in a category of Isekai novels where Medieval influence is more prevalent. As a avid reader of Isekai's myself, I can confirm that there are also plenty of Isekai's available that do not draw from the medieval ages, but focus more on other eras or even on far more futuristic worlds.
However, as you validly point out, medieval influence can be found in in a lot of media, including video games, board games, manga, and of course novels. However, more often than not, those are not truly set in the medieval time period. They just tend to build upon the concepts of the medieval age, for example feudalism, and build their society around these concepts, all the while introducing their own mechanics such as fantasy races, magic, geo/demo-graphics etc.
This way of story writing is quite common in the the fantasy genre, and even more often so in the sub genre high-fantasy. Which, quite a lot of the Isekai's would fall under.
One of the reasons this happens is because it eases the burden on the writer but also the reader.

Rather than create an entirely different world that readers will recognize as alien, it's often simpler to revert to more primitive times, and simply add in magic when its existence doesn't require you to create a dozen centuries of magitech. It's a lot of work for the writer, and it may confuse or alienate the reader.
- Jerenda @ Worldbuilding.SE

Additionally, the introduction of factors such as magic might also reduces the need for a society to evolve beyond the Medieval era, or at least, not in the same way as our society did. Why would a magic world be stuck in medieval times?
Most of the Isekai's that I personally encounter also tend to follow the High-Fantasy medieval settings. But occasionally I see a twist of Heroic Fantasy, Low Fantasy, Dark Fantasy and sometimes even Grimdark Isekai's.
To name a few:

Youjo senki set in a world war 1/2 era (reincarnated as a war prodigy)
Mezametara saikyou sobi set in a sci-fi space setting (reincarnated in a spaceship)
Musou Kouro ~ Tensei Shite, Uchuu Senkan no AI ni Narimashita set in a sci-fi space setting (reincarnated as an spaceship AI)
A returners magic should be special set in a relatively modern magical world (reincarnated/returned in their own world/timeline)
Moshi fanren a modern day world struck by a zombie apocalypse from space (reincarnated/returned in their own world/timeline)

Not to mention some of the older shows that might now be considered isekai, such as Inuyasha and Fushigi Yuugi, which are both set in magical worlds more reminiscent of Japan or other Asian countries in Feudal times.
That said, it's also important to note that Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest were both directly inspired by Dungeons and Dragons, which is why they have a setting that resembles European medieval fantasy (albeit with occasional Japanese cultural quirks).

I would say that a lot of the popular isekais (like the ones that get animated) tend to be directly JRPG/MMORPG based. Either literally (SAO), the world works on game mechanics (Konosuba) or a unknown mix (Overlord). Since those games tend to be high fantasy, it makes sense that isekais inspired by them are also high fantasy based.

@pboss3010 I'd have to disagree with the like the ones that animated part of that comment. Considering a plenty of non JRPG/MMORPG inspired series are popular and get animated. But beyond that, like ConMan also mentioned, those type of games are often directly inspired by DnD. And the sense of adventure and progression it brings is very enticing to people alike


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What's the name of Kuchiki Rukia's real parents?
In Bleach, Kuchiki Rukia is said to be nurtured by the Kuchiki family. Can anyone tell me the names of her real parent?

i don't think it's stated, the wikia's earliest point in Rukia's history is her and Hisana arriving in Rukon 150 ago which would mean they died together, since it doesn't state that they came with their parents (given Hisana was finding it hard to care for Rukia and live in Rukon) chnaces are their parents died long before and during the Soul Society Arc Horiuchi Hironari says it's rare to be reunited with family members who died earlier which tends to generate family groups by those who die later

As Memor-X said

i don't think it's stated, the wikia's earliest point in Rukia's history is her and Hisana arriving in Rukon 150 ago which would mean they died together, since it doesn't state that they came with their parents (given Hisana was finding it hard to care for Rukia and live in Rukon) chnaces are their parents died long before and during the Soul Society Arc Horiuchi Hironari says it's rare to be reunited with family members who died earlier which tends to generate family groups by those who die later

Rukia being an orphan is an integral point of her (and Renji's) back story, fitting into the general desperation and poverty of the Rukon district.
As such, her parents have never been identified and most likely never will.


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Who is the artist for Misty's goodbye song during the flashback at "Gotta Catch Ya Later"?
I recently rewatched Pokémon episode 273 - Gotta Catch Ya Later!, and was wondering about the vocalist behind Misty's goodbye song during the flashback; I can't seem to find the name of the artist anywhere.
Note: This is exclusive to the dubbed version. The original Japanese version uses unreleased background music from the movie The Power of One.

I believe that song is from Pokemon Other Songs ME - Y album. Maybe it is listed on there ;)

Guess I remembered incorrectly. It is said to be the only un-named song

It's unofficially called 'Misty's Goodbye'. It's an unreleased song, it was played only in that flashback and it was never given an official name. There are no details about the vocalist and there is no full version of the song.


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How did the Sunday Without God light novels end?
I watched the anime and I really enjoyed it.  However, it didn't have a conclusive end, rather, it seemed to end in the middle of Ai's journey to save the world.  Seeing as there is no English translation that I have found (official or otherwise), I have been looking for a summary of the books that weren't adapted and how the series ended overall. Would you be able to point me towards an in depth summary of all of the books (or just copy/paste it into an answer)?

From reading some Japanese spoiler + opinion articles, I could pick up that Ai dies and continues to live as one of the dead, and she falls in love with Alice, who becomes god (?). Anyway, I think you should take this comment with a grain of salt until someone comes with a better summary.

Would you be able to link me to those articles?

Last volume review: http://kenkenmk2.blog94.fc2.com/blog-entry-1654.html, you can find review + spoiler for other volumes from this search page: http://kenkenmk2.blog94.fc2.com/blog-entry-1654.html?q=%E7%A5%9E%E3%81%95%E3%81%BE%E3%81%AE%E3%81%84%E3%81%AA%E3%81%84%E6%97%A5%E6%9B%9C%E6%97%A5&charset=utf-8

Oh dear, while Ai/Alice was pretty much obvious, the rest of what you say is like WTF xD (BTW, can a deceased gravekeeper continue burying people ? xD)


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What happened to Konohamaru's parents?
It is known that Konohamaru is the grandson of the Third Hokage. Asuma is shown to be one of the Third Hokage's sons, but he is clearly named as Konohamaru's uncle. Are Konohamaru's parents ever shown and is their lack of appearance ever explained?

This goes for a lot of characters. If they are not a great ninja or if they did not die in battle, there not really worth mentioning.

That's true, but they are the son/daughter of the Third Hokage. One would think that they would be important.

As this question doesn't have an accepted answer, it seems like there is more to say, so it's fine to add another answer. Can you expand this answer to explain why you think this? Can you give some evidence from the series that supports your argument?

I'd guess that they are dead too, as certain dead characters are overlooked for the majority of the manga (ie Naruto's mother despite the fact she was the previous jinchuuriki)

In Boruto Oneshot it is revealed that Konohamaru's parents were elite jounins part of the Anbu.
It is not specified if they are still alive or not.

They weren't mentioned.
My guess is that they were alive and well, but just weren't important enough to be mentioned. Much like how Jiraiya's parents weren't mentioned (though Jiraiya did make a remark about them being alive, while Orochimaru's weren't).
If they had been dead, we can assume it would have affected Konohamaru's personality in the same way it affected Naruto and Sasuke.

Konohamaru's parents were never mentioned, neither in the anime, nor in the manga.
Maybe his parents died on a mission, or they were still alive and simply never mentioned.


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What is the difference between Sasori's Puppets and Edo Tensei?
Apart from immortality, in which the puppets can be destroyed and they does not recover. Does the puppets have the same amount of chakra or they only posses only their past live ability. Lets say if pain body were converted into a puppet. Would it have the Rinnegan? Or It would be a blind puppet? How does this puppet thing work. Does it require the person or thing to be alive before a puppet is made out of it or them? OR just ant body or shell is enough.

Edo Tensei and Puppets are very different.
For Edo Tensei:

Is a forbidden technique where, using a living person as a vessel, a deceased person's soul can be called back to the world of the living and bound to it. The vessel will then take on the form that person had in life, thereby reincarnating them to do their summoner's bidding.

A living sacrifice has to be made in order for the jutsu to work.

After the individual has been summoned and awakened, the summoner has no control over the reincarnated individuals with the exception of restraining their movements until they implant a special talisman, which is attached to the end of a kunai and implanted in the brain.

As for the Puppet jutsu:

They are most often humanoid-looking creations, but depending on the creator, can resemble anything. They are fashioned in a manner that uses every part as a weapon, giving the puppeteer a myriad of ways to manipulate it.

Sasori's Human Puppets:

A human puppet is a type of puppet created from human corpses, developed by Sasori during his time in Sunagakure. By removing the internal organs of a foe and preserving the body to prevent decomposition, as well as adding weapons and defences, Sasori can make powerful human puppets. These puppets are different from normal ones, as they retain their use of chakra and any kekkei genkai that the human host once had.

So, yes, the Pain puppet might retain its chakra. But it can use the Rinnegan only if the original Rinnegan eyes are present in the puppet's eye sockets. I'm not quite sure about the dead/living part, as we have no evidence about it.

A puppet is handmade and has no brain. It needs to be in close/mid range of the controller so that it can be controlled with chakra strings.
On the contrary, people reanimated by Edo Tensei are conscious, unless you bind their mind like what Kabuto did.
They can also move freely and have their own will to do whatever they want.

technically not all puppets has to be handmade, we saw Sakura fight as a puppet.

@Dredd She was used as a puppet but that does not make her a puppet.

Sasory is a puppet himself but with brain and heart.


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What is Hidan's Source of Power?

Hidan is probably the most misunderstood character in Naruto. He has the ability to survive pretty much anything (including decapitation), and is able to remote-injure opponents whose blood he tasted, and while he's inside his cursed circle.
Where did this power come from? What kind of technique is that? Every single technique used in Naruto so far has been explained to some degree, besides this one.
Do anyone has some information to shed light on the technique? From the Data Book perhaps?

He says he gets his power from his god but I'm sure there's a better explanation out there.

Not according to the databook. Check my answer.

According to the official character databook:

The Way of Jashin uses bodies of believers in forbidden jutsu rituals. Hidan was the first successful test case.
As a reward for his many massacres, Hidan acquires an immortal body via the Way of Jashin. This only helps to affirm his love for the Way.

It adds:

Thou shalt kill thy neighbor. This dogma is contradictory since it would allow devotees to kill each other. But to Hidan who is immortal, this is meaningless. That is why he is able to accept the doctrine and follow its teachings. Even if he ends up with just his head...

It also adds, regarding his motivations:

The Way of Jashin is absolute for Hidan, the only thing worth believing in. He considers his supreme purpose to be to spread the Way of Jashin to nonbelievers throughout the world. It means to create a world that acknowledges mass killing. And Hidan feels that this is possible by being a part of the Akatsuki.

And this is about it, regarding to info on Hidan on the databook.

This explains why he is immortal, but the technique itself is not explained, no? Nice answer anyways. :)

I see, but it still doesn't explain what the technique is. Is it some sort of Yin-Yang element technique? What does it take from you? Does that mean this "Jashin" god truly exist in the Naruto universe?

Indeed. But the databook gives no hints about the technique.

@MadaraUchiha: Considering that the databook states that he gets his immortality from the rituals, I'd say Jashin really exists.


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How does Dragon Ball Super's anime release before the manga?
The anime is currently being released way faster than the manga according to my sources. In most cases of anime production (correct me if I'm wrong). But there is a mangaka (in this case toriyama-sensei) who creates content for the story called canon and releases that content via manga. Once a manga gets licensed and published by a major studio like Funimation or Bandai it becomes an anime, gets toys, games, t-shirts etc. But how is it that Dragon Ball Super is actually ahead of it's own manga?

Probably fillers :)

See I've considered that but so far the story has been the same save for how to goku vs hit battle ended. Now I don't know if kaioken + SSB is possible or if SSR -> SSB -> SSR is possible, or maybe both are. I dunno. Does this sort of thing happen often? It's the first series I've seen that releases before the manga that it comes from does.

could be the Mangaka has had input into the series. i think i remember reading somewhere that it was the case with all the Dragonball Movies

Was that also the case with the GT series?

@ardaozkal much of it is Fillers, but a lot is Canon. We saw the opponents in the tournament in the anime before they were fully revealed in the manga, and many of the fights went mostly the same way. Im sure Toriyama is working diligently with the Anime team to tell them about the canon events he plans on drawing in the manga, and the anime team mostly follows them (though goku has shown several times more strength in the anime than he should actually have in filler)

@Ryan this is another thing that drives me up a wall. Like was SSB kaiokenx10 just a mistranslation or something?

@KazRodgers well in the anime filler, its not. Hit clearly conveys that Gokus Kaioken was at least at 3-4 (or something between 2 and 5), but then corrects himself to say its greater before goku says 10. Of course in the manga, we know Goku doesn't use KaioKen at all to defeat Hit.

The reason is that this time around, the anime series is the original work, while the manga is the adaptation.
This is of course in contrast with the original Dragon Ball series, which were written and illustrated by Akira Toriyama and published in Weekly Shōnen Jump, and only latter adapted into anime.
The precedence of the anime in the case of Dragon Ball Super has been widely reported, even though the first issue of the manga was published first (June 20, July 5 the first episode of the anime). Here are some sample sources (limited to 2 links for new user, I'll edit later)

Dragon Ball Super TV Anime Gets Manga Adaptation 2015-05-18
Dragon Ball Super getting companion manga 2015-05-19
DB Super getting ahead of manga? 2016-04

Also, the manga series is credited to Toyotarō, both story and art (see for example here), with Akira Toriyama credited variously with original concept/story, or as original creator. Wikipedia goes as far as to say "Written by Akira Toriyama / Illustrated by Toyotarō", but that seems to be an overstatement. The cover art of chapters 1 reads: "Manga by Toyotarō. Created by Toriyama Akira".
This means that it is unlikely that the manga has any particular input from Toriyama, other that the one that goes to the storyboard and the animation team.

Sorry I took so long to accept the answer. I swore I did it some time ago. :-(


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Why does Yhwach/Juhach call Ichigo that?
In Bleach, why does Yhwach/Juhach call Ichigo his son?

Because Masaki cheating duh :v

Yhwach is Ichigo's father in spiritual meaning. He was the first Quincy and he has the ability to give a part of his power to others. By giving that power, the other person would turn into a Quincy as well. Long story short, those Quincies married, and had offsprings. Since Yhwach was the one who made them Quincy, it can be said that Yhwach is the one who created them.
It was said that the name Yhwach is taken from the name of Israelites God, Yahweh. In Abrahamic religions, God is said to have created man from dust and made them according to his image. In Christian and Catholic belief, man are said to be children of God.
The same thing is applied to Yhwach's case. Since he was the one who created the Quincy, all Quincies can be said to be his children, that is in spiritual sense. Since Ichigo's mother was a Quincy, Ichigo too is Yhwach's son.


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Why does Boa Hancock hate men?
From what I've known, she is the only female member of the Shichibukai. She is also the "Snake Princess" of Amazon Lily.
My question, why does Boa Hancock hate men? And more particularly, why is Luffy an exception?

Boa Hancock and her sisters were enslaved and branded as slaves by the Celestial Dragons (Tenryuubito), this was a secret to everyone in Amazon Lily.
She loves Luffy because when Luffy was fighting her sisters (Marigold and Sandersonia) he kept the slave mark from being exposed to all people of the island.

Answered by Luffy himself. Lol


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Who applies censorship on an ecchi anime?
In my few years of watching anime, I have noticed varied amounts of ecchi-ness portrayed and the corresponding censorship it generates. I mentioned "varied" because I have noted differences in censorship techniques (black/white bars, excessive lighting) and the amount dealt to the scene. For instance most non-ecchi anime have the breasts censored, some only have the nipples removed, and a quite a few bare them completely. The quite few who go the extremes may even be classified as hentai already.
Points in case (I wanted to include pics but then decided against it):

Partial covers: Gokukoku no Brynhildr, Infinite Stratos, Trinity Seven
Bared completely: HighSchool DxD, Yosuga no Sora, Elfen Lied

My question: How does Japan implement various levels of content ratings (G, PG, R18+)?  Is it the production studio who applies these varying amount of censorship or is there a committee assigned that does it? Does the same apply for violence/gore censorship?

possible duplicate of What are the anime censorship laws in Japan?

I don't think my answer on that question addresses the cases in this question. For these non-hentai anime, the story is more self-censorship to drive sales than censorship for legal reasons. To me, this question is different enough (though closely related) that it should probably get its own answer.

Regarding content ratings - they're much less a big deal in Japan than in the US. Eirin is the closest equivalent for movies, but there isn't really anything like TV-Y, TV-PG, etc. for television shows. Vaguely related question: http://anime.stackexchange.com/q/5003/1908

Japan does not have any rating system for normal television.
Some satellite television requires an 18+ age check to contract some channels.
DVD/BD and movies have a rating system similar to North America (G/PG12/R15+/R18+).
Most such censorship in anime is "self-censorship".
Each TV station has a different code, and the code is different for different airing time slots.
Morning anime and evening anime have more restrictions. Late night anime have less restrictions.
TV stations do not explicitly state what the code is, but the director of Bokurano wrote a blog post that says that he was asked not to show blood in the anime.
They have restrictions on blinking the screen (which can cause epileptic seizures), drinking alcohol, tobacco, violence and fanservice (ecchi) scenes.
One important group about censorship is BPO (Broadcasting Ethics & Program Improvement Organization).
BPO is an organization concerned with ethics of broadcasting for all TV stations.
Sometimes, they ask TV stations to remove shows which were deemed bad for children.
Another reason is the shift in animation business models.
The old model got most of its profit from commercials.
In that time, anime production removed entire non-compliant scenes instead of adding lighting.
But recently, anime production gets more profit from DVD/BD than from commercials.
They find that broadcasting a censored version and selling an uncensored version on DVD/BD is a better strategy to increase sales.

大変いい回答でしたので、もっとなめらかな英語にしようと思って編集しました。何らかの誤りをもたらしたのであれば、ぜひ編集あるいはコメントして下さい。

Regarding blinking / epileptic seizures - see also http://anime.stackexchange.com/q/5092/1908.

nice! I didn't know anything about the blinking scenes part. Learned something today.

@senshin and nhahtdh, Thanks for grammar fixing. That's a reason I post some answers to this site.

@romcom_god The code of blinking (and notice ) was added after Pokemon shock.

kumagoro's answer is relatively good when it comes to mandated censorship, but there's another common case of voluntary "censorship" which is done voluntarily by production studios. For ecchi anime like the ones listed in the OP I think this is likely at least as common as any other reason for censorship.
The majority of television anime which get this treatment are late night shows. These late night shows operate in a very different way from traditional shows; they have to buy their own airtime from stations and rely on some combination of DVD sales and revenue sharing with the original source material. Because of the time slot and the fact that they are purchasing the airtime themselves, most of the broadcast guidelines simply don't apply. There is some more information on this at Why does anime usually air at night in Japan?. In any case, at the end of the day, most series need to sell DVDs to make a profit. The TV-aired version is essentially an expensive, high-quality advertisement for the DVDs and the source material.
The trend we've started to see with the rise of late-night anime is an increase in self-censorship. Most commonly, this is just airbrushing over shots with fanservice or with various other techniques. These are characteristic of the TV versions; such censorship is removed for the final DVD releases. Among the examples you listed, I'm quite sure that the DVDs of both Gokukoku no Brynhildr and Infinite Stratos have uncensored nudity. Trinity Seven possibly will as well, but I haven't seen any of the DVDs yet (the first just came out yesterday) so I can't confirm this. By censoring the TV release, this makes consumers more likely to spend the (rather large amount of) money required to purchase the full version. There's also been a rise in DVD bonus features and DVD-only episodes for similar reasons. So, to first approximation, the reason such censorship exists is because studios stand to make money from it.

Nowadays, the unusual cases are the ones where the TV broadcast is uncensored, like High School DxD. In most cases like this, only the broadcast on certain stations is uncensored or with reduced censorship. The most notable such station is probably AT-X, a premium channel which airs anime. They're known for having lower censorship, partly because of the premium status. In many cases, these shows air both on regular stations (in a fully censored form) and on a premium channel like AT-X in a partially- or fully-uncensored form. It's generally assumed that in such cases some agreement is made between such stations and the producers which is mutually beneficial, though the details of such agreements are private. Also note that even in the case of shows like High School DxD which aired on TV with essentially no censorship, there were modifications made to the final DVD product and short specials added to boost sales.
Interestingly, overseas simulcast companies like Crunchyroll also make agreements with producers to air their content outside Japan. Since DVD sales overseas aren't such a concern, the version they give to these streaming companies is sometimes less censored than the Japanese TV version. One recent case of this was Rail Wars!, for which the Crunchyroll version had far more uncensored underwear shots than the Japanese broadcast versions (but still no nudity, which was present in the DVD releases). This drew the ire of many Japanese commenters on various internet message boards.

I should state that this really only applies to TV anime, which is pretty much the only place you see this anyway. It doesn't apply to hentai series, which almost always release directly to DVD. Such shows are basically always uncensored, except insofar as they are required to be censored by the law. Likewise, OVAs and specials aren't typically censored in the way I described above, since those are finished products. If you see censorship in other places, it's probably for other reasons, but for the series you're talking about this is the explanation.


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Where did the Haganai and Oreimo cameo appear?
It's been a while seen I last watched haganai and oreimo, and I remember there was a cameo role in a certain episode. Problem is, I don't even remember in which of the two anime and season it happened, just that there was a cameo of the main group of characters.
Can someone point out to me where it appeared and what happened in the cameo? Also, was it reciprocated by the other anime in the pair?

From Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai Season 1 episode 11 around 04.31

Wikia also mention this cameo

Aah, so it was the OreImo cast in Haganai. Thanks :)


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Are there side effects in using Iron Blood Transformation?
In the series we see Toru activate his power every once in a while. And also disabling it every once in a while. The fact he disables it makes me wonder, do his powers have any side effects ? What exactly are his powers anyway?

Iron Blood Transformation: A saboteur technique, activated by extreme mental concentration, that optimizes and redefines the user's entire body systems. This allows Toru to perform inhuman physical feats, such as repelling a feira unicorn or jumping several meters into the air. The transformation also substantially improves his combat skills and techniques, allowing him to fight against high level opponents. A drawback to using the Iron Blood Transformation is that the technique requires a huge amount of energy. When Toru transforms for the first time in a very long time, he needed a huge amount of food to restore himself or risk fainting. Another drawback is that it makes him more susceptible to poison, as the technique improves his respiratory system which would increase the flow of any poison inside him. In the anime, his hair turns red and two crimson streaks cross over his face while emitting a red aura during the transformation.

Source: Hitsugi no Chaika wiki

nitpick - it would be increasing the circulatory system that would increase the flow of any poison inside him.  Respiratory would only affect inhaled poisons, and depending on nature would still have to wait to be taken up by the circulatory system anyways.

Is there any source for the poison vulnerability in the novels? Because if it enhances ALL, it would also enhance immunity, and saboteurs more than dabble in poisons. Strikes as odd that the saboteur clan technique  would have such a weakness


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Does Akito Takagi have parents?
There is no appearance of his parents at his marriage, during the proposal or even at his home! But there is (as long as my memory serves) no canonical statement where it is mentioned that he doesn't have any parents or lives away from them. I'm confused if he is an orphan or just living without his parents.

Takagi Akito's parents are shown in a flashback in chapter 8 of the manga which is titled Ame to Muchi, in which Takagi explains that his dad was laid off from a bank and his mother pressured him to become a banker, but he stood up to her and she never commented on his choices after that.
Takagi's mother calls him "Acchan":

Takagi's father:

In chapter 76 titled Daisuki to Hitei, a scene takes place during Takagi and Kaya's wedding reception, but though the venue looks to be a large room at which the happy couple sit at a special table on an elevated stage facing the guests, it does not show who any of the wedding guests are other than 1) the one round table of the Shounen Jump crowd and 2) two other tables (in which none of the figures are shown in detail). It is impossible to know whether Takagi's father is one of the seated guests in the illustration since his face was never shown, or whether his parents were seated at another table. In Japanese culture, it is most likely that they would be present at the wedding, dressed in the expected attire for parents of the bride and groom according to contemporary Japanese culture, would be presented with a present and/or speech from the married couple during the reception, and would participate in some fashion that honors them, such as standing in the receiving line, giving a speech, and/or pouring drinks for guests before the toast. For parents to be absent would cause the parents to be looked badly upon, so unless the parent is deceased/hospitalized or the parent/child relationship is completely severed, it would be extremely rare for a parent to not be there. In the flashback, Takagi's mother indicates a desire for her family to be viewed positively in society/to follow societal norms, so she would likely want to take her customary place in her son's wedding.


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What is the meaning of "Argonaut"?
In episode 9 of Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? (DanMachi) Bell learns how to use an Argonaut skill which Hestia refers to as a skill for a hero.
What is the literal meaning of Argonaut when used in this context?

The Argonauts were a group of heroes from Greek mythology, and the name appears in the film title Jason and the Argonauts. Is this related to your anime?

The original Argonauts were so-called because they were sailors on the ship called Argo. Argo + Naut (sailor)

In DanMachi's universe, Argonaut is the name of the story of a boy who wants to be a hero, according to the conversation between the Loki familiar members from 17:16 in episode 8:

Bell: This is my adventure. I want to be... I want to be a hero!
Tiona (Tione?): Like the Argonaut...
Finn: It's the story of a boy who wants to be a hero, yeah.
Tiona/Tione: I liked that story, too.

However, that is not its first mention in the story. Argonaut appeared as early as episode 5 as part of the visual, when Bell was answering the question posed by the grimoire, as to what he sought from magic (the image corresponds to the bold line):

Bell: What do I seek from magic?
Bell: The woman who's faster than anyone, like a lightning bolt... I want to catch up to her.
Bell: Is that all?
Bell: If it were possible... I'd like to be a hero. Like in the fairy tales I read when I was a kid. A hero they'd be satisfied with.
Bell: You're such a child.
Bell: I'm sorry. But that's who I am!
Bell: That's who I am!

While the alphabets are distorted, it still bears a lot of similarities to English alphabet, especially A, R, U, T.
I don't know whether the light novel reveals the name of the fairy tale in this scene, though.
The fact that Bell attained the skill Argonaut, which is named after the story of a boy who wants to be hero, signifies his strong desire to become a hero, which is the meaning of the kanji in the title of episode 8 [英雄願望]{Argonaut}.

Is there anything wrong in my answer?

The net trolls do not care why they click what they did click. And if they know they got to you, more power to them. Just let it be. Here have a +1

Argonaut has a number of meanings, but in this case is simply another word for Adventurer, Hero, Quester etc.
thefreedictionary.com gives the definition for 'argonaut' as:

A person who is engaged in a dangerous but rewarding quest; an adventurer.

Further down that same webpage, the thesaurus provides a description of an argonaut as:

Someone engaged in a dangerous but potentially rewarding adventure

Thirdly, Dictionary.com gives the appropriate definition as:

A person in quest of something dangerous but rewarding; adventurer.

It seems that an Argonaut skill is simply a skill for an adventurer to learn, and Hestia's comment appears to confirm that.

As mentioned in my above comment, (and as I originally thought before research) Argonaut also refers to any man who, in Greek Mythology accompanied Jason on his quest for the Golden Fleece aboard his ship, Argo. This may well be where the word originated from due to it's Greek/Latin origins, but that's a different question for another day!

I like how your question and @nhahtdh's are completely on opposite sides of the spectrum. One is completely in-universe, and this one is completely outside it.

Argonaut story in Danmachi universe, as recalled by Bell in the volume 4 of the light novel:

<Argonaut>.
That is a myth where a boy with no special skills headed to rescue a princess kidnapped by a Bull Monster.
The protagonist was often deceived, he did not even know that he was deceived. The story advanced in a slightly ridiculous manner, then, the protagonist finally reached where the monster was located. In the end, it seems like he was saved by the princess-sama who was waiting to be rescued?
[...]
[...]. It was simply uncool…… <By dreaming of being a hero, it is considered to be a hero?> —— I used to say this.
My grandfather who claims that he likes this story says “This guy becomes more amazing later
on” and laughs. Compared to that, I would pout and say “This story is already finished”. —— This memory, even now, I still remember.

Hence, it is a desire to become a hero, because in the story the boy never actually became one.

I edited to replace your description with the corresponding excerpt from the LN, though I'm not entirely sure about your claim "in the story the boy never actually became one". Another thing is I can't find the part about sacred sword and elf in the LN translation, not sure where you get them from.

As Goddess Hestia has said in the end of episode eight, Argonaut is the name of the skill Bell has achieved. She said that it is a skill of wanting to be a hero. And it proved that it is so, when it activates every time he wants to save somebody. So I think Argonaut could be defined in this anime as "the hero in you", much like the literal meaning of it and in which the Argonaut skill actually gives you the power to fulfill your desire to be a real hero whenever your desire (for wanting to be a hero) wakes up.


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In attack on Titan, what's the point of the shifter Titans becoming soldiers?
In attack on Titan, what's the point of the shifter Titans becoming soldiers?

For the most part, it's for stealth and infiltration - if Annie, Reiner and Bertholt had walked into Shiganshina and asked to join the survey corp in Titan form, the first arc would probably have gone a lot differently!
As their main objective was to find and capture the 'coordinate', they had to maintain a low profile and draw as little attention to themselves as possible. Gathering information on the situation inside the walls was made much easier by remaining human.

Pretty heavy spoilers below:

In 845, Marcel Galliard, Bertholdt Hoover, Reiner Braun, and Annie Leonheart depart from the mainland and initiate Paradis Island Operation. The goal of the mission was to infiltrate Wall Maria, Rose and Sina in an effort to recover the Founding Titan. However, while they knew the individual in possession of the Founding Titan was a member of the royal family, they were unsure of the exact identity. Thus, this operation relied heavily on the infiltration of the military ranks in order to gather intel and ascertain the identity of the Founding Titan. For this reason, Annie, Reiner, and Bertholdt each secured a position in the top ten recruits of their training class, which allowed them to freely choose which division they would go to. The original plan was to infiltrate the ranks of the Military Police where it would be easier for them to determine which of the royal family members was the Founding Titan, but the plan is then revised when Eren is discovered to be the Attack Titan, and Reiner and Bertholdt join the Survey Corps (the division Eren chooses) in order to gather more information on the titan-shifter.


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What's the name of the insert song in Charlotte episode 5?
Does anyone know the name of the song that plays as Yu puts the headphones in and gets transported to the grassy field in his mind? The time it starts is just after 9:30.

The song you're after is called 'Clouded Sky', and is performed by the band 'ZHIEND'. It is an insert song in episode 5 of the anime.
The scene where the song in question plays is viewable here.
The full song can be listened to here.

The song is called Clouded Sky by Zhiend (which is a band that exists in real life).

ZHIEND doesn't exist in real life. They're a fictional creation for the world of Charlotte. You can see at http://charlotte-anime.jp/music/zhiend/ that they're described as a 劇中バンド, meaning "band-within-the-show".


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What actually is modern magic, and how does it work?
The opening to the anime starts out with a monologue from Tatsuya explaining that magic, once a product of fantasy and the imagination, has actually been synthesised into a modern technology during the 21st century.
However, during the show's entirety, there is no concise explanation of magic, or any of its core concepts. Certain spells have a rough description before they're activated, but the fundamentals are never covered, or not at a depth where a desirable understanding of the phenomenon of magic is attainable. Additionally, the spin off series Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei – Yoku Wakaru Mahouka! only has one episode that covers how magic works, and the information there is pretty sparse.
So how does modern magic work? What does a CAD really do? What are Psions, CADs and an Eidos, and how do they influence each other to give the result we see in the series?

TL;DR is at the end

What's a magician?
A magician (or magic technician, or magic practitioner) is someone with a ‘magic calculation area’ in their brain. This is a subconscious region of the mind that allows the manipulation of Psions and subsequent construction of magic sequences to alter a target's corresponding Eidos in a certain way. All this will now be explained in more detail.

What's an Eidos?
First of all, magic is an easier concept to consider if you think of things in two separate planes or dimensions:

The physical plane. This is the world as you can perceive it, reality. This is technically no different to the real-life world you and me are both in right now.

The information dimension. This is a representation of the aforementioned reality, but not as we know it. Each entity in the physical plane (brick, desk, chair, person) is an information body (or Eidos) that is represented in the information dimension as, funnily enough, information.

The two, while different, are inherently linked. Anything that occurs in the physical plane will affect the corresponding Eidos in the information dimension, and vice-versa.
This is, at the most basic level, how magic works. By overwriting the information of an Eidos in the information dimension, those changes are passed through to the physical plane, and affect the target in reality.
Stack Exchange itself does a good job of representing this.
When you begin typing a question or answer, you see two boxes - the markdown box, which is where you edit the text, and a post box which shows what everyone else sees. If you imagine the markdown box as the information dimension, and the post as reality, it’s fairly straightforward to see how magic works - if you edit the text in the markdown box (the target’s Eidos in the information dimension), the post itself (the target in reality) changes to suit the edit you made.

So how does magic reach an Eidos?
Magic doesn't travel through the physical plane, but instead acts directly on the Eidos itself in the information dimension. As long as the coordinates of an information body are known, a magician can influence it with magic.
Hence, magic isn't confined by physical distance.
Think of something like a walkie-talkie - even though the broadcaster isn't directly next to the recipient, they can still be heard, as the emitted radio signal is referencing a specific point in the distance (the other radio). While magic is intrinsically different (radio waves travel through the physical plane, and so have range), some of the concepts are similar.
Additionally, as magic affects the Eidos of a target directly, physical barriers are not barriers to magic - if the coordinates of an information body are known to the magician, he can target them through the information dimension. Having said this, it’s a rare case that magic can be cast through a physical barrier - while magic is cast through the information dimension, a target still has to be identified in the physical plane. As such, magicians are still restricted by the limits of the human body, and so are bound in distance, and nearly always by need of visual confirmation. While all magicians by definition can access the information dimension to cast their spells, this doesn't mean they can use it as a medium for finding targets.
Only Tatsuya can actually "see" in the information dimension and therefore bypass physical barriers at will.

What are Psions?
So, so far we know that each real life entity has a corresponding information body in the information dimension, and that information body can be affected by magic to alter its state in reality.
But, just how does that happen?
In the information dimension, things aren't constructed from base elements like in the real world. Instead, each Eidos is made from a perfectly organised series of Psions, which compile to exactly represent its corresponding physical entity, albeit in information form.
Psions (or thought particles) are the particle manifestation of intention and thought, and are an information element that records cognizance. As they exist in the information dimension, they are substance-less, and are more of a psychic phenomenon, but they are fundamental to altering Eidos - as well as being the building blocks of each information body, Psions are also the tool that alters them.
Each person has a ‘Psion count’, which is, in simple terms, the number of Psions they have at their disposal. Having said that, while everyone has a Psion count, only magicians can manipulate their Psions to cast magic.
Each person’s Psion count is different, and this directly affects their ability to cast magic. While most spells only require a small number of Psions to cast, continual casting will begin to drain the caster’s Psions, and eventually lead to exhaustion. At the present day when the show is set, advances in CAD (see below) technology have improved Psion efficiency, meaning it is no longer as large of a limiting factor in magical capability, but exhaustion from overuse of magic is still a threat to the modern day magician. Naturally, skilled magicians are more adept at Psion manipulation, and get more out of their Psions than an unskilled magic practitioner. Additionally, certain spells physically cannot be cast without a large enough Psion count at the magician’s disposal.

What's a CAD?
To cast magic, a magician will manipulate his or her Psions in such a way that causes them to overwrite a particular Eidos in the information dimension.
However, the process of casting spells without an aid is very time-consuming, as many steps must be taken to correctly construct a magic sequence. As such, almost all modern magic users will speed up this process through the use of something called a CAD:
CADs (Casting Assistant Devices) are frequently mentioned throughout the series (often in tandem with Psions) and are arguably the most useful tool in any magician’s arsenal, allowing the processing of all the necessary components for magic in a single moment. To begin with, there are three main kinds of CAD:

General CADs: General CADs are the tool for magicians that cover all bases. Being able to store up to 99 activation sequences, a magician equipped with a general CAD will likely always be able to adapt to the situation, with the potential for many options at their fingertips. Due to the ability to cast a larger variety and number of spells, a general-type CAD will place a larger burden on the user, who will have to make more manual adjustments for each spell to be effective.

Specialised CADs: Specialised CADs are inferior to general CADs in that they can only store up to 9 activation sequences, but they far exceed the latter when it comes to spellcasting. With less capacity for storing magic activation sequences, specialised CADs instead have subsystems that reduce the strain of casting on the magician, enabling them to invoke magic at much faster rate. Due to the narrowed nature of specialised CADs, they are often specialised according to specific kinds of magic as well. For instance, combat magics will often have specialised CADs in the shape of handguns , which  incorporate auxiliary aiming systems into the ‘barrel’ portion of the CAD. This allows coordinate data to be inputted during magic invocation, making casting easier for the magician, as they have fewer variables to define manually.

Weaponised Integrated CADs: Weaponised Integrated CADs take the form of weapons like a swords or clubs, and are even more specialised than a specialised CAD, being able to hold only one activation sequence. This means they're limited to only a single spell. Due to the activation sequence limit, magic written into the CAD usually involves improving the power of the weapon itself, with blades usually receiving improved cutting power, shields with empowered defensive abilities, and so on.

In all varieties, CADs can come in all shapes and sizes to best suit the magician using it. Another thing that remains the same between both varieties is how the CAD works. Absorbing Psions from the user, the CADs ‘Psion Information Aide’ (software) transmits them into the chosen activation sequence. The activation sequence is then absorbed from the CAD into the magician's magic calculation area, where it is translated into a magic sequence.
Step by step, that goes something like this:

The magician taps into their Psion count, and inputs Psions into the CAD. Think of this as refilling a mechanical pencil. The Psions, like the 'lead', are what will fuel the changes that the user wishes to make.

The CADs hardware converts the inputted Psion signals into electric signals, and uses them to produce a collection of ‘electronic magic’—the activation sequence. Think of this as using a cookie cutter on dough - the final product isn't produced yet, but it has taken form. All that's required is for the user to make some final steps, whether that's baking cookies, or making a magic sequence.

The activation sequence sent back into the caster as electrical signals along the nervous system into the magic calculation area of the magician’s brain.

The magician infuses Psion particles inherent in their body into the activation sequence that’s just been output from the CAD. Now in the user’s brain, the activation sequence is expanded, and any necessary parameters not already defined by the CAD are input.

The magic sequence is now complete. Once all the correct variables are set by the magician, the conjured information can be used (cast) to overwrite the target Eidos in the information dimension. Spell complete!

As a final note on CADs:
As the activation sequence is absorbed from the CAD into the magician's magic calculation area, there is a direct link between the users CAD and brain. As such, it’s important that the CAD in use is correctly adjusted to suit the magician in question. While a well tuned CAD leads to faster invocation times and higher casting efficiency, a poorly configured one can have harsh repercussions as severe as mental scarring and hallucinations.

In summation (TL;DR):

Modern magic is simply the overwriting of an information body through the use of a magic sequence.
There are two planes – one physical and one information

The physical plane is the real world as we all perceive it
The information dimension is a representation of that world where each entity has a corresponding information body

Magic is not the ‘flinging’ of spells through the physical plane, but the precise overwriting of a target’s data in the information dimension
Each information body (Eidos) is composed of thought particles called Psions
Magic sequences used to overwrite information bodies are also composed of Psions
Only those that have a ‘magic calculation area’ in their brain can manipulate Psions to cast magic
Casting spells with a CAD takes the following rough pattern:

Caster > Psion signals inserted into CAD > Electrical signals within CAD to activate the activation sequence > Activation sequence sent back to caster > Construction of the magic sequence > Spell output

Sources:

Eidos on the Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei Wiki
Psions on the Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei Wiki
CAD on the Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei Wiki
The Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei light novels
The Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei anime series
Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei: Yoku Wakaru Mahouka! - A short spin off series of ~4 minute episodes lightly covering some of the topics seen in the show

As for the casting sequence, the terminology in the LN makes me think of programming: the Activation Sequence is like a program, and the Magic Calculation Area is like the CPU, and Magic Sequence is like a write instruction, and it influences the Eidos, just like how the data in the RAM is changed. What Tatsuya is doing is like peeking into the RAM and programming in assembly.


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How does the Colossal Titan's shifter escape without being seen?
In episode 5, immediately after Eren misses his shot to the Colossal Titan and it reverts to human form, I looked from multiple angles but there were no humans.
However, given what we know later, one would expect to see

 Bertolt Hoover

but they are not visible in the scene. How were they able to escape in the time before Eren attached to the wall and looked down?

@ton.yeung your flash is missing :P

@Entei: it doesn't for me either. Perhaps it was accidentally uploaded as an image?

Read this and this from where we can conclude that an experienced titan shifter can shift fast between human and titan act like a normal human ,move, run and disguise

As mentioned in @mirroroftruth's comment, an experienced Titan Shifter can easily morph between both their forms quickly, meaning it wouldn't be difficult for Bertolt to swiftly escape the body of his Colossal Titan. Additionally, if he already had 3D Maneuver Gear equipped (like Annie does in episodes 20/21 of the anime, mentioned in this question), escaping the area quickly would not have been an issue. Given the scenario of episode 5, it's highly unlikely that he didn't have this gear on his person.
Also, don't forget that the Colossal Titan is emitting an intense amount of heat and steam:

"It is also constantly releasing jets of steam from the surface of its body...

And this can be amplified as a defensive mechanism, seen in the attack on Wall Rose:

"...he possesses a powerful defense mechanism that involves him releasing large amounts of extremely hot and pressurized steam from his body. The steam has enough force to deflect any cables shot from the 3DMG and burn away or repel close-range fighters."
Both excerpts taken from Bertolt Hoover on the SnK wiki

With the disappearance of such a massive body, the amount of steam produced would create a very effective combination of a repellent and a makeshift smokescreen. This would have been ample for Bertolt to escape from the scene without being seen.

This is confirmed on page 22 of chapter 72 - in the bottom left panel, there is a picture of Bertolt escaping while near a damaged wall. His 3D Maneuver Gear is clearly visible and he's under the cover of steam.

in latest chapter 72 around 22 23 there is answer , Bertolt escaped using 3D  gear

That's still is not possible. The only ways for him to escape was going straight down, grappling to wall, or him transforming back into Titan Form. Which all possibilities include him being seen in one way or another.

@mirroroftruth all that is well and good.. but it doesn't explain how the titan body disappeared in an instant.. no titan shifter should be able to simply make the body disappear in an instant right? or do i have my facts wrong?

In chapter 96 of the manga

 It is showed that Reiner climbed up the wall in his titan form while bringing Bertholdt and Annie.


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Why is it that cursed children are all female?
In the first episode of Black Bullet, it was said in the narration that all cursed children are girls. Has this been explained why in the light novel? Are the boys instantly turned into gastrea when infected by the virus or what? As far as I can tell from the 13 episodes of the anime, it wasn't explained.

I can't say for sure if or when this is mentioned in the light novel, but the manga certainly covers it more explicitly.
In some cases, the Gastrea virus can enter the mouth of a pregnant woman, and this can lead to the birth of a 'Cursed Child'

Additionally, when Rentaro talks with the old man looking after the cursed children outside of the city, the following exchange takes place, which sheds a bit more light on why the cursed children are all female:

Simply said, once the Gastrea virus enters a mother and infects a fertilised egg, the virus itself will force the child to become female, in addition to receiving the other common traits, such as red eyes. If an embryo is already past the point where cells have begun to be specialised and it's sex has been decided, the Gastrea virus will simply infect the child just as it would with any other human.

This is an misinterpretation of biology, but since this is a fictional manga world, it's given some slack. According to the science of this universe all embryos at are female until "cell specialization" kicks in to determine the gender. In other words, fetus are female before the develop male sexual characteristics. In the real world, this is a fallacy, gender is determined at conception. The common theory indicates that the fetus will not develop any sexual characteristics (is genderless) until after 5-7 weeks, and only then can the gender be know via examining the chromosome copy number.


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What are the rules for Chrollo to steal an ability?
Chrollo, the leader of the Phantom Troupe possess a book which contains all of the abilities that he has stolen from other Nen Users. When he opens the book to a specific page where an ability is, he can use that ability.
We know that some conditions are needed to be complete before a certain ability can be activated.
My question is 'what are the rules that Chrollo needs to complete before he can steal the ability?'

For Chrollo to steal a Nen ability from another Nen user four conditions must be met:

He must witness the Nen ability in action with his own eyes.
He must ask about the ability and be answered by the victim.
His victims palm must touch the handprint on the cover of Bandit's Secret.
All of the above must be completed within an hour.

Chrollo can only use a stolen ability when he has the Bandit's Secret open and on the page of the ability he wishes to use. The book must remain open and on that particular page for the full duration of the ability he choses, he can not close the book and still use the ability. Ref(Chrollo Lucilfer)

Aren't you missing something? I thought it is five rule since the grandfather of Killua said this guess to Chrollo and in Chrollos mind it seems that guess was correct.

@OdracirPapa During the fight Zeno Zoldyck states: "He'll have to meet four or maybe five conditions before he can accomplish it." This means that Zeno was guessing on how many conditions needed to be met. He did not know for sure he was just using his knowledge to give a good estimation on how Chrollo's ability worked.


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Why did Haruma Yamazaki become the student council president?
In the last episode, Haruma Yamazaki finally allowed Yamada-kun to continue his plan because he wanted to know why he became the student council president. Nevertheless, after the wish was granted, the reason why he became the president is still not clear to me - did I miss anything, or is the reason still unrevealed at this point?

Most probably, the reason was revealed to him, and he decided not to share.

My understanding is that he became student council president to protect the Supernatural Club from being disbanded. Unfortunately, the side effect of getting his wish granted was losing his memory of having been in the club, somewhat defeating the purpose.

@ConMan That's a nice conclusion however, i needed proofs  that's why i posted this. Thanks anyway.

Heads up. Spoiler from the manga.

Haruma Yamazaki became the president of the student council to save the Supernatural Studies Club from being abolished. Because only he and Leona Miyamura are the members of the club.

Source: Chapter 84

Hey there, welcome to A&M. I removed the website you were referring to as it is not a legal provider. Ps, you can mark spoilers using >! this will hide the text.

Okay, i'll take note of that. Thank you! @Dimitrimx

This sounds exactly like @Coman 's theory, it is therefore correct.


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Why do some anime have episodes with spoiler titles?
I've watched some mainstream anime such as Naruto and One Piece and annoyingly found some episodes for both to have spoiler titles. Seems to occur quite often when there's a big action scene. Such as when "Character X" is fighting and about to kill "Character Y", the title of the next episode is sometimes like:

Character Y's Ultimate Attack!

My impression: Oh...I guess Character Y lives and wins.
Or

Character Z rescues Character Y just in time!

My impression: Oh...I guess Character Z didn't die 5 episodes ago then.
This is why I always immediately look away when the title shows up.
What is the point of spoiler titles (apart from completely ruining the episode)?

Not everyone think a spoiler will ruin the story. Some of my friend like to read spoiler. They decide if they want to watch some anime or read some manga based on spoiler because they know what to expect

In my opinion, Spoilers in titles serve zero purpose. If a person wants to know what happens before they watch the episode, they can google it. I've actually quit watching a couple of anime after several episodes with spoiler titles. I just wasn't able to enjoy the episode as much.

Same reason why there are spoilers in Anime OPs or EDs. Not everyone notices or considers them to be spoilers but raises anticipation or help sell the anime/manga to a wider audience.

Where you see spoilers, someone else sees clever marketing.
Typically, episode titles like "Y's Ultimate Attack! Z Goes Down!" are used in long-running shounen action shows. Long-running romance shows will also sometimes use episode titles like "Throbbing heart of Y! A Kiss with Z at Last?!" for the same reasons. But shorter-running shows will often have opaque titles like "Ultramarine" or "Intermezzo of Light and Shadow" or "Rhapsody in Flu" that touch only lightly on the story, if at all.
Long-running shows are long-running, naturally, and they have both a small core of dedicated viewers who will turn up for every episode on a weekly basis no matter what, and then a wide diaspora of casual fans who might catch an episode here or there and might skip a few in the middle. For casual fans like these, such episode titles are helpful for a few reasons:

A quick scan of recent episode titles can get you up to speed on what happened ("So, we had 'The Battle Kicks Off! Y vs. Z', then 'Z Overwhelmed?! Secret Attack!', then 'Z Strikes Back! Y On the Ropes!', and now I'm feeling good and ready to tune in for 'Y's Ultimate Attack! Z Goes Down!'")
Maybe I, a casual fan, already know that Y is going to beat Z in the end, because come on, Y is the determined scrappy hero who's not too smart but has a dream, and Z is the rich, snobby jerk who treats his bit beast like a slave, doesn't believe in the heart of the cards, and eats kittens. So I'm not interested in following the whole back and forth as Y appears to be winning, then Z comes back and seems to have the upper hand, then Y pulls out his ultimate attack that he learned from his dead master's final breath and wins the battle. But maybe I do want to see what Y's ultimate attack is, or I just want to see Z go down because that guy's a jerk and he's had it coming for the past 43 episodes.
Or, continuing that thread, maybe I, a casual fan, had started to lose interest in the show because it was dragging on forever, and had stopped watching it, but Z's defeat is going to lead us into a new arc where things get interesting again. (In real life, I got bored with the "five minutes till the Planet Namek explodes" battle in Dragon Ball Z and stopped watching the show, but became interested again when future Trunks and the Androids appeared.) Seeing that next week's episode is where Z finally goes down, I know next week or the week after are when I can start watching again.
Or maybe I, a casual fan, had been following this whole Y vs. Z battle, but I was thinking of skipping next week's episode to go to an onsen or eat some ramen or learn some ikebana or polish my katana or whatever else those Japanese people do when they're not watching anime. However, upon seeing that the title of next week's episode is "Y's Ultimate Attack! Z Goes Down!", I know that the fight is about to end and we're moving on to something else, so I might as well tune in next week and see how it all turns out.

The studios want to go after those casual fans because there are far more of them than there are hardcore fans, and the hardcore fans are in it no matter what anyway, so there's no reason to bother doing things to hook them in. But the casual fans are constantly teetering on the edge, in danger of falling off and being lost. So the studios have to show their cards a little, get those casual fans good and riled up for next week's episode so they'll keep on watching. If they can keep some of those casuals hooked, they might even transmute into hardcore fans after a while, and start buying wall scrolls and figures and tie-in manga and DVDs and dakimakura covers and all that, where the real money is.

I would argue, however, that these titles aren't really spoilers in the sense that they don't "spoil", i.e. ruin, your enjoyment of the episode in any real sense. (At least for most values of "you".) Long-running shounen action has very few tricks up its sleeve. Some characters fight, somebody wins, somebody loses. Typically it's the heroes who win, except in a few limited scenarios where some individual hero might lose. But the heroes always ultimately win, even if some of the individual fights are lost.
Basically, these shows have very simple plots. If you've seen enough of them, you can typically predict in any given scenario what's going to happen. But people who know what's going to happen, episode titles or no, can still enjoy these stories. I'm so, so, so over this genre, but I still picked up a few volumes of One Piece and enjoyed them. Was it the complex plot? No, I knew exactly what the ultimate outcome was going to be in every story. The realistic characters? No, the characters are simple archetypes. The uproarious humor? No, the humor is repetitive and childish. I enjoyed the unique art style, the inventive action scenes, the creative world. I enjoyed seeing Luffy engage in a weird battle where he has a giant ball of gold solidified around his hand, even though I already knew he would win it. I enjoyed the weirdness of seeing a reindeer take some kind of magic drug and transform into a super reindeer. The outcome of the fight was a foregone conclusion; it was obvious from how it was set up that Chopper would win the fight after taking the magic drug. But knowing this didn't ruin my enjoyment of it.
I already knew Luffy was going to win every battle where the stakes really mattered. I already knew he would end every story arc as the same idiot with a dream he'd always been. I already knew Sanji would hit on girls and Usopp would cower and Nami would yell. Those don't matter. To enjoy this genre is to enjoy the journey, not the final destination. What in other genres would be window dressing or added style is the entire point of the shounen action genre. It's the ultimate triumph of style over substance. A one-sentence episode title can only spoil the plot because the plot is so simple, but the plot is so simple because it's not the main attraction; the style, action, powers, and raw teenage emotions are. If you're finding that the episode title ruins your enjoyment of the episode, maybe this genre just isn't for you. Maybe you need something with a more complex plot to enjoy.

@user35594 You're welcome, glad it was helpful. I went off the rails a little in the second half, but I hope it at least helped put the shounen action genre in its proper context, since this genre gets so much attention that it sometimes feels like it's all there is to anime.

Just guessing: looks like anime is just a revision of manga. Producers thought that every one should know the whole story first, then see the anime.
But with this kind of title, it is easy to index some episode. Maybe it is also an aspect.


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Why did the Mushishi anime air in a different order compared to the manga?
According to Wikipedia, the order of the anime does not follow the same chronology as the manga. However, with the series being episodic (and relatively self contained), and each episode barely any passing reference to one another. Why did the production change up the order in the anime? Was there ever an officially stated reason?

A lot of time with episodic series like this, they will change up the order to affect the pacing. It's just one of those little things you need to think about when adapting a comic for the television screen. Edit: The one source that I could think of where you could find this info is the behind the scenes videos, cause that is a bit of information that might be in there. They talked about the order of the episodes and why for Firefly in their behind the scenes.


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Why isn't Blackbeard dead?
It's a known fact that Blackbeard had a fight with Magellan.
Magellan poisoned Blackbeard and all of his crew.
They're seen covered in Magellan's poison after the scene below.
Why aren't they dead and how did they (also) escaped Impel Down?

That's because Shiryu gave them the antidote before joining their crew.

It happen in episode 452 of the anime and in chapter 549 of the manga.

Also they escaped during the mass confusion by escaped prisoners.  Magellan only managed to capture some of them. Many of the level 5 and 6s are still missing.

is this seen? Shiryu giving him a "bottle" of antidote or something like that or it's just mentioned?

word antidote is specifically used

The bottle is shown at minute 1:27 of episode 452


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Is there a Fish-Fish no mi?
Is there any Zoan Akuma No Mi that gives the user the ability to transform in fish (Fish-Fish No Mi)? If so can the user swim in the sea?
@Edit: I don't read the manga, so I don't know if anything like this has already happened or not

@nhahtdh It isn't, because no fish fruit has been introduced so far, and even if it was the user would never be able to swim due to the inherent curse of all devil fruits.

We have not yet seen a Fish Devil Fruit user. They will not be able to swim underwater due to the Devil Fruit curse, but they will be able to breath underwater due to the Fish's abilities.
Seeing as there has not been a Fish Fruit user thusfar, this statement is speculated on the very similar case that we have seen, where a fishman had eaten a devil fruit. Vander Decken IX, a Japanese bullhead shark fishman, ate the Mark Fruit. In chapter 615, Vander Decken IX explains that due to the Devil Fruit Curse, he is rendered unable to swim. We can later see him in chapter 631, where he has put an air-bubble around himself to retain his energy and not to make him able to breathe. This last part is confirmed at the end of the arc, because even after the air bubble had been removed from Noah, Vander Decken IX did not suffocate and was seen alive, being arrested, instead of buried.

To answer your question: Currently there is no fruit known as Fish Fish no mi, or similar in effect as you describe.
There has, however, been a question pretty similar to this before (Would a water manipulating Devil Fruit user be able to swim?) which will provide a bit more insight in this, although it is still speculative.

Based on a leak for chapter 999,

 Kaido has one.


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Who is the seventh Shichibukai?
it's a well known fact that the Shichibukai are seven. When one of them resigns (Jimbei), dies (Moria) or goes under arrest (Crocodile) he/she is replaced for another one like Blackbeard, Law and Buggy.
So after the 2 years skip the current Shichibukai are:

Law
Mihawk
Flamingo
Kuma
Boa Hancock
Buggy (lol)

Who is missing?

The missing Shichibukai is Edward Weevil, who is introduced in chapter 802.

Edward Weevil, or "Whitebeard Jr." is the self-proclaimed son of Edward Newgate and one of the Shichibukai. His mother is Miss Bakkin, the self-proclaimed lover of Newgate.He was first mentioned by Commodore Brannew in a discussion of the current Shichibukai ranks to several high-ranking Marine officers, but was not explicitly named until after Donquixote Doflamingo's defeat.

(Note this answer is now outdated.)
The anime seems to make a serious point about not revealing who the seventh one is.  I doubt it has been revealed yet in the manga.  That means the answer is we don't and can't know yet.
That being said the current "shichibukai" are:

Law
Mihawk
Doflamingo
Kuma
Hancock
Buggy

Blackbeard left the warlords and is now much more powerful.

I meant Mihawk, my bad. Blackbeard was the 7th, then he left

He is now Yonko... i think that trupes warlord any day.

Yes, definitely

Oh Yes ! Buggy the  " Strongest " Shichibukai . HAHA.

@Silver the irony is, he is acting as a distribution center just telling his uberpowerful subordinates where to go... Mihawk has no crew; Law's crew is detained and his particular skills aren't that useful against Buggy; Kuma is effectively walking dead and i don't think has a crew; Hancock's crew is comparatively unremarkable; we know nothing about the last guy....thanks to Luffy and his buggy balls (still more powerful than the navy cannons), he might actually be the second strongest Shichibukai in terms of overall team strength

law

mihawk
doflamingo
kuma
hancock
buggy
shiki the golden lion

`but since doflamingo is defeated and marines arrest him for his evil deeds and law is in alliance with the strawhats. 2 positions for warlords will be vaccant ^__^. i think that was an ressemblance to shiki :)

Try to add reference to back up your answer.

shiki the golden lion isn't shicibukai, in the picture I think it's Edward Weevil just like Dario's answer

Wrong answer! No references! Just assumptions...