text:
How do alchemists draw transmutation circles?
In FMA, alchemists draw transmutation circles that are made up of perfect circles and regular polygons.

Is it ever show how they make perfect circles and entirely equal angles? I know that it is difficult to free-hand draw things like that. Is anybody ever shown using rulers/compasses, or is it just understood that they are all able to free-hand circles/polygons without them?

I think they are able to just draw them free-hand. Never've seen an alchemist using a tool.

Given the series general tech level, I wouldn't be surprised if there were pre-made stamps for certain pieces (eg the elemental symbols).  They likely have printing presses too, so pre-printed circles are an option.  Given that even using certain tools, errors will still happen, there must be some sort of slack in the figure.

pick an answer @kuwaly

First, there is no official word on this. None of the Hiromu Arakawa (the original writer) interviews go into depth as to what the transmutation circles even do, much less how they are created. Neither of the FMA Perfect Guide books mention transmutation circles to any strenuous degree, though it is mentioned that Alphonse has more practice drawing them than Edward (for reasons obvious to those who have seen the series).
There are tutorials online that show methods to draw these circles; however, most if not all that I found used rulers, compasses, or other tools.
Some alchemists use circles that are likely made by tools:

Major Armstrong's circles are inscribed in the metal plates on his hands. These would require tools to make, and so may have been made perfectly circular by tools as well.
The same applies to other circles we see; Roy's are on his gloves, Basque Grand's are on his gauntlets, etc.

However, alchemists are shown drawing the circles many times:

In a flashback during episode 2FMA:B (and others), Ed is shown to draw a transmutation circle (the blood seal) on Alphonse's armor just using his finger, and he's still a child.
Around episode 23FMA:B, May Chang is shown to draw a "perfect" circle and pentagram using only her foot. She then proceeds to throw ten kunai into two perfect pentagons, which are used as transmutation circles.
In episode 57FMA:B, the Gold-Toothed Doctor uses chalk to draw a rather large transmutation circle.
In episode 63FMA:B, Edward Elric draws a large transmutation circle by only dragging a pipe across the ground.
In chapter 1Manga, Al is seen drawing a circle using chalk and no tools (pictured below). This shot appears in similar fashion in Brotherhood.

In none of the above circumstances are tools shown to be used to draw the circles. Furthermore, Scar's brother's tattoo likely could not have been drawn with tools as the human skin is not a uniform or Euclidean surface. And also, the Elric brothers are shown, prior to their mother's death, to draw effective transmutation circles without tools.
With all these bits of information together, it's at the very least hard to believe that there are tools used to draw the circles, or even to learn to draw them. No one is ever seen using them; I suspect we are just supposed to believe that freehanding it becomes a skill as alchemists get better.

Yes, they do sometimes show them drawing the circles.  Mostly it seems when they are kids though... Check out chapter 23 of the manga when Edward fixes the farm building and when they try human transmutation.  Both times he uses a stick or pointy ended object to draw the lines. With the farm building it shows him walking around the building using the stick.
In both cases you can see that the lines aren't perfectly equidistant and have a bit of a squiggly edge to them, showing their hand drawn style.
Another example would be the small transmutation circle that Edward draws on the suite of armor to attach Alphonse, though relatively small you see him draw that one too.  It too is in no way clean/sharp.
Maybe it's just the anime that has sharp and clean transmutation circles?

Brotherhood has some jagged ones as well. The Gold-Toothed Doctor draws a slightly imperfect one, as does Ed at the very end of the series. They're few and far between, though.

It's been a while, but I don't remember seeing any of them measuring their circles, and it doesn't seem to be particularly important to the plot whether they free-hand them or not.
Now some of the combat alchemists, like Roy for instance, already have small pre-made transmutation circles on-hand(I know Roy had some on his gloves) that they used, so they don't have to draw them every time.

This is mostly correct, though it doesn't explain how May Chang was able to draw one with her feet. Then again, she throws stars in a perfect pentagon shape, so...

The one thing that the alchemists do get before even being able to apply to join state is a LOT of practice. I think this is the part that's glossed over because it's not important. No one wants to see Al and Ed go through the learning process on that part of it because it's boring.
It appears that this is why so many of the Alchemists specialize in one type of alchemy. They get particularly adept at specific symbols to go with the basic circles and other geometric shapes. Practice and dedication is necessary, as is the will to make it do more than look like a pattern.
They show the dedication in Al and Ed when they are young in some flashbacks. It's almost obsession for them. After enough hours of practice, you become very good at it.

Practice makes perfect, they probably didn't draw perfect figures, though drawing such shapes constantly would most certainly help them do a pretty neat job.


text:
What political power does a Kage have?
I know that, in Naruto, Kages (such as the Hokage) run the hidden villages (such as Konoha). There are, however, also other people in the world with political powers, such as feudal lords. What political power does a Kage have as opposed to one of the other political leaders in the world? To further that question, where in the hierarchy of all of the political people in the world do they fall? To clarify, do they answer to anybody or command any other political leaders, and if so, in what regards?

Good question, i have always wondered this too.

The term "Kage" is not used to just refer to any leader of any village it's only for the leaders of the Five Great Shinobi Countries. Their responsibilities include:

To oversee the ninja activity in the village.
To prepare and send ninjas to the active missions.
Organize the ninja promotion exams (chuunin exam).
Manage the rewards of the mission and distribute it as a payment for the ninjas.

A village is ruled by 2 political and 1 military power. You have the Feudal Lords, the Elders and the Kage. The Kage, before taking any big decisions that will involve the entire village (activities not only ninja-related), for example safety issues (What to do with Naruto), have to discuss it with the Feudal Lords and the Elders. In other words, the Kage is the biggest title a ninja can get, but regarding the administration of the village, it has to be discussed with the Elders and of course the owners of the land and possibly of the economy: the Feudal Lords.

What you are saying makes sense, but I'm just wondering where you found this information.

@kuwaly wacthing Naruto since the very beginning... i could add some links but dude is gonna take me some time haha ;)

Ah. I wasn't sure if you had gotten it from some source or some particular chapters.

Well i have some particular chapters in mind. But right now i do not remember which number are they :(. If you need it to have a better answer let me look for them but is going to take me some time :)

If you can think of the chapters, I would like to see them, but I'll accept it without them. I'm going to wait to see if there is another answer, but if there isn't a better answer (and I don't think there will be), I'll accept it.

The ninja villages don't have Feudal lords. The Kage and the village (ninja) Elders are the sole powers in a ninja village. It is shown that while a Kage is the ultimate head of the ninja village, they have to respect the Elders (presumably because of the Elders collected political powers and ninja skills/experience) creating an every changing power balance in a villages politics.

To carry this just a bit further, the Feudal lords rule everything but the ninja villages. This means that the ninja villages need very good relations with their nation's feudal lords to get cooperation (ie, trade), peace (no feudal lord armies attacking/harassing them), and large value paying jobs. So even the most minor of all the local feudal lords will be treated with great respect by the ninjas from the villages in the interest of continued peace and harmony.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
Why is the Belial considered a 4th-generation Arm Slave?
Why is the Plan-1055 Belial considered a 4th generation Arm Slave while the Plan-1056 Codarl and Plan-1058 Codarl-i Arm Slaves, which were developed from it, considered 3rd generation Arm Slaves?

According to this entry:

The suit is considered a fourth generation suit, making it more powerful that the Arbalest, even with its Lambda Driver installed. Despite all these advantages the suit has no visible weapons, leaving only its bare hands and the Lambda Driver to destroy its opponents. However, the use of the Lambda Driver is pivotally its greatest strength and its greatest weakness. The reliance that the suit has on the Lambda Driver, and not on normal weapons, is a dangerous flaw in its design. The suit needs the Lambda Driver if it is to fly like it does and if anything happens to the device or the wings then that ability is gone. The other weakness is Leonard’s own arrogant attitude towards Sousuke. Leonard never expected Sousuke to acquire a suit to match the strength of Belial until the ARX-8 makes its debut.

The Plan 1056 had an overheating problem that was fixed in the Arm Slave Plan 1058, when they installed an improved heat sink on it.
What makes the Plan 1055 a 4th Gen suit is that the Lambda Driver that it uses and the capacity to fly, this means that the Lambda Driver and the features added to this model are far beyond updated than the versions Plan 1056 and Plan 1058.
Source:
Plan 1058
Plan 1056
Plan 1055

Remember that quite often, prototypes will be far more powerful than later-developed versions.  some examples from anime:
Gundam:
Pretty much any time a mass-produced suit is made based off of a gundam, it is FAR less powerful, because the proceeding gundam was much more expensive.
Super Robot Wars:
The original Huckbein was much more powerful than the following Huckbein Mk. II, and the Mk. II 009.  But the original was also inherently more dangerous due to it's black hole engine, and too expensive for full production.  (also, the Huckbein Mk. II M version (mass produced) was less powerful than either the Mk. II or the Mk. II 009).  It wasn't until the Huckbein Mk. III that the line began to overtake the original.
Also, the "titular" suit, the SR-X, is too expensive, and thus it was never mass-produced.  The component mechs were too expensive as well, so instead of mass-producing the R1, they developed the R-blade (a watered down version of the R1).

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


text:
What is the origin of shaking eyes meaning surprise or fear?
In a lot of shows, a character's eyes (pupil and iris) will begin to shake when they are surprised or shocked? What is the basis of this, and where was it first used?

I think this might be universal. You shiver when you're in fear...

That's true, but generally people don't associate it with your eyes shaking (or at least I don't).

First I've ever seen it was in Leiji Matsumoto's Yamato (circa 1974) and it's also used in Galaxy Express 999, Harlock, Emereldas, etc. It's especially notable in Galaxy Express 999 where sometimes it looks like Maetel is having a seizure.

I think it might be universal as Mysticial mentioned in the comments above, your eyes waver or tremor when you express emotions such as fear, sadness, elation etc.

"The eyes are the window to the soul…"

I don't think it has a set origin, just one of those things that anime inherits from real life. Showing emotions in anime can be hard but not as much with some of those big doleful eyes with multiple catch lights.

And a bit more..
Eyes are an absolutely fantastic way for having your character convey
  emotions without actually saying a word. Sometimes a scene can be much
  more powerful when no words are spoken, but a character's eyes do the
  talking. This definitely happens in anime quite a lot. While most
  people think of big, bright eyes in anime, there's actually a lot more
  to it than that.

what is that anime pic? I tried google image it only said anime sad? is this just fanart or something?

I agree that this is something anime inherited from real life. It is said that

Once in a while, TV shows (including anime) does something that actually happens in real life (source).

And I think that this trope originated from this quote,

"The eyes are the window of the soul."

who was said by a lot of famous people in the history such as Shakespeare, Leonardo da Vinci, Hiram Powers and a lot more. Through the eyes, a person's emotions can be seen.
In manga/anime, this can be linked back to the "Godfather of Anime", the "Father of Manga", Osamu Tezuka. According here,

Many anime and manga characters feature large eyes. Osamu Tezuka, who
  is believed to have been the first to use this technique, was inspired
  by the exaggerated features of American cartoon characters such as
  Betty Boop, Mickey Mouse, and Disney's Bambi.4[33] Tezuka found that
  large eyes style allowed his characters to show emotions distinctly. When Tezuka began drawing Ribbon no Kishi, the first manga specifically targeted at young girls, Tezuka further exaggerated the size of the characters' eyes. Indeed, through Ribbon no Kishi, Tezuka set a stylistic template that later shōjo artists tended to follow.

This is probably what anime productions followed (since most of the anime were based from manga). They used the eyes to show or exaggerate emotions to fully relay to the audience what the character is feeling.


text:
Was there any difference between "Star Blazers" and "Space Battleship Yamato"?
Were there any differences between the original Space Battleship Yamato and the U.S. Syndicated Star Blazers other than the westernized names of the characters? Specifically, were there plot elements that were altered, or re-arranged? Were there any scenes that were removed?
I know that Syndicated had modified some of their other properties (like Gatchaman) but I can't remember if this was the case with Star Blazers.

Yes, there were changes.
The changes made were not as drastic as in some expurgated shows (even back in the 1970s, things were being removed for censorship purposes). Wikipedia mentions that another 1970s anime, Battle of the Planets, was made with far more revisions to its original series. It also notes that, unlike some series, Star Blazers retained "practically all of its uniquely Japanese characteristics in terms of content, plot, character development, and philosophy."
Wikipedia's section on Star Blazers production covers this pretty well (boldface and []-comments are mine):

Principal changes in the change-over to Star Blazers included westernization of character names, reduction of personal violence, toning down of offensive language and alcohol use (references to sake were changed to "spring water," and the Doctor's perpetually drunken state was portrayed as merely good humor), removal of sexual fan service, and reduction of references to World War II, although the sunken battleship ruins were still identified as the Battleship Yamato in dialogue. The most significant reference removed—and the longest single edit in the series—was a section from episode two depicting the Battleship Yamato's final battle during World War II, including imagery of the captain tied to the helm as he went down with his ship. (This section WAS NOT in the bonus content on the Voyager Entertainment Series 1, Part II English-language DVD release.)
...
The most significant change made by Griffin-Bacal [the company responsible for dubbing/editing] was purely narrative: In the original series the Yamato and its crew were regarded as a single entity, the narrator each week urging "Yamato, hurry to Iscandar!" In English, the significance of the name Yamato as a word the viewers can identify with, signifying the land, people, and spirit of Japan is lost, so in Star Blazers the crew were named the Star Force and became the focus of the show.
    — Star Blazers, Wikipedia, March 30, 2013

It seems two of the three references ([1], [2]) for this section were lost by dead links (though they may be put back up in the future). However, this reference is still available.

Another difference I find, given that I myself watched the film version (I just recently saw the Star Blazer version) is that aside from voice actors and name changes, various elements are changed as well.
The Gamilons were called Gorgons.
Lysis (I can't remember what he was called in the version I first saw) actually self-destructs his ship, he doesn't just plant a bomb on the hull before returning to Gamilon. I think it was edited as a change, hence why you don't see him later.
It never shows in the film, Desler escaping being crushed by rocks and then escaping through a convenient trap door, he just gets crushed and killed.
Also, Desler shoots his assistant in the film for dare suggesting they should join with Earth with a revolver, but the Star Blazer version seems to show the instant he is shot (his sudden expression change), before showing a scene where Desler just talks to him and it's just plain weird.
The ship isn't called the Argos, either. It retains the name Yamato.
Wow... there are a number of differences tbh...


text:
Did Kanade Oe break the "4th wall"?
In episode 7 of Chihayafuru 2, Chihaya mentions that she didn't know what "Frenzied" means and Kanade says to herself:

"We're in the second season and she still doesn't know what the title means?!"

I realize that "chihayaburu" is impassionate, but is this a play on words somehow? Or is this an instance of Kanade breaking the fourth wall? It would be the first instance of this happening as far as I know, seemed really awkward and out of place.

Though it's not explicitly stated either way (imagine in a series, if they were to mention that they broke the fourth-wall; that's some serious meta fourth-wall-breaking), the general consensus in the fan kingdom is that this is an instance of the 4th wall being broken.
As you mentioned, chihayaburu (千早振る) a makurakotoba meaning "wild"[1] or "vigorous power"[2], which can be synonymous with "impassioned" or "frenzied". So, in English, it's not unlikely that the word "frenzied" could be (loosely) considered the title.
As I mentioned, though, there are several unofficial sources (some fans, some not) mentioning this (sudden) break in the fourth wall.[3][4][5][6] So, based on the closeness of the words, and the fan/community reaction to it, this seems to be a "breaking the fourth wall" scenario.


text:
Are songs written for anime openings or endings?
I know that some songs in anime openings or endings come from popular J-Pop singers/albums (such as the Bleach opening Rolling Star by Yui). However, some opening songs seem to show up during the show, such as themes appearing during final battles. Are opening or ending themes generally written specifically for the show or are they taken from popular Japanese songs.

I think in the majority of cases, they are. Not only that, they use the Anime as advertising to sell the singles later on.

@GaoWeiwei If anything, it's the other way around, considering that my question was asked in March and the one you link to was asked in May.

@kuwaly That one is more general, as it also includes insert songs and background music. I'll let the others decide.

In most cases, yes.
A popular example of this is the anime K-On!. All the openings, endings and insert songs are written for the anime itself. They use the anime to advertise it and to sell more. Here is the list of the anime's albums which if you observe, are really dedicated for the anime itself. It even had two live concerts, Let's Go! and Come With Me where the seiyuu of each character actually played their character's instrument. Well K-On! has a plot that revolves around band members so it would be just appropriate to focus more on creating songs specifically for the anime's plot.
To prove that most anime theme songs (opening, ending, insert songs) are written for the anime itself is the existence of Image Song orCharacter Song.

An image song or character song is a song on a tie-in single or album (often called an image album or character album) for an anime, game, dorama, manga, or commercial product that is usually sung by the voice actor or actor of a character, in character. It is meant to give a sense of the personality of the character.

So it would be more appropriate to write character song depending on the anime character's personalities and his/her situation on the anime he/she belongs to.
This article explains further about it and it also sites more detailed examples.


text:
What happens, if the Einzberns don't have a homunculus?
In Fate/Stay Night and Fate/Zero, Irisviel and Iliasviel were used to summon the grail. What would happen, if the Einzberns hadn't created Irisviel in the first place? Could the grail still appear? Would another family need to create a homunculus? Would that even be possible, due to the fact that the grail was first summoned with the use of Justeaze Lizrich von Einzbern?

Up until the end of the third Grail War, the vessel for the sought-after Grail, known as the Lesser Grail, was a literally a cup.
According to the Type Moon Wiki:

However, during the events of the third War, it was damaged in battle and the ceremony was interrupted; for that reason, it had to be made as something that could manage itself and take care of itself.
During the Fourth War, Irisviel von Einzbern was a homunculus forged by the Einzbern family to be the physical embodiment of the Lesser Grail.

In other words a Einzbern homunculus has to exist in order to serve as a vessel to connecto the Great Grail, it stores the souls of the heroic spirits after they're killed.
If everything goes according to plan, the Lesser Grail will be able to summon the Great Grail and use the power of the heroic spirits and the Third Magic to create a gateway to the Root. Afterwards, the Grail can technically grant wishes, due to all the leftover prana.


text:
Who the hell is Truth?
In Full Metal Alchemist, who is the character (or the concept really) of Truth? What does he symbolize? What is his purpose?
From what I guess, he's some sort of your inner God, because he seems to know you better than you do yourself. He knows the best way to punish you, the way that would hurt you the most. He must be tied with alchemy and alchemical knowledge, but what is he?

Truth himself (itself?) states,

Who am I? One name you might have for me is the world, or you might call me the universe, or perhaps God, or perhaps the Truth. I am All, and I am One. So, of course, this also means that I am you. I am the truth of your despair, the inescapable price of your boastfulness.

Truth is a being that has no physical form, and a being that regulates all alchemical exchanges that take place. He essentially exists in order to prevent humans from "playing God" with alchemy; when human transmutation is performed, for example, Truth intervenes as it is seen as an unfair (inequivalent) exchange.
In these ways, Truth is somewhat symbolic of God. It has also been compared to gods in other mythos, such as Hera, a Greek goddess who was known to vengefully challenge heroes.

Hera was known for her jealous and vengeful nature, most notably against Zeus's lovers and offspring, but also against mortals who crossed her, such as Pelias.
  — Hera, Wikipedia

However, it is important to realize that Truth is not God. While it is certain that they are linked in some way, God is the entity that lies within the domain of the Gate (the eye and mass of black hands that restrain his "victims").
  (The Gate, Truth sitting in front, and God within it. Source: Wikia)
When an alchemist pays the toll and is forced through the Gate by Truth (and by God), they are shown all knowledge about alchemy. Their minds can only absorb so much, but enough is clear that they are able to perform their alchemy without requiring a transmutation circle.
So, what exactly is Truth? He is a vengeful, godlike being, who is linked to God, and governs all alchemical exchanges performed by alchemists. He has no physical form and exists only metaphysically within the mind of each alchemist.

Also, the words "Adonai" are written on the gate, which is Hebrew for "God." You can see it at 1:18 here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6Tgl4f8Rxc

Where is your proof that is he not God? This seems very speculative.  Even the wikia references you are pointing to allude that they maybe one and the same.  The point truth makes is everyone is connected, and everyone can get to the gate and  God/Truth exists within everything, they are one and the same but also personified differently. Truth maybe just an Avatar of the Ultimate Being.  This isn't necessarily contradictory as many religions observe this phenomena (Christianity with Jesus/God/Holy Spirit, or Hinduism with their "personified gods"/Single formless God/Truth).

@Quikstryke I'd call it far from speculative. There is nothing to suggest they are the same being. There is no proof they are not, but proving a negative is not a trivial matter. He calls himself "God" by prefacing it with "I am the called by many names," never stating that he is any one of them. I would agree more with your religious analogies if Truth existed as a physical being; however, he is metaphysical, just as the Gate and the Eye are. Furthermore, he is not an avatar of God, as he is an avatar of the person with whom he communicates.

I think you missed the point they are all the same. He states I am god, I am you, I am the universe, I am truth.  The eye refers to the eye of Providence (Personification of God): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eye_of_Providence, the Gate is the barrier between self and god, "Truth" is the avatar basically a personification that explains the rules of the universe, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avatar (see end of first sentence), and you is the piece of god that is but trapped outside the gate: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C4%80tman_%28Hinduism%29

@Quikstryke I got your point, but you seemed to ignore mine. He states, "I am the called by many names," but never says that he actually is any of those things. As far as I can tell, this is your only premise for your argument, and I see no reason at all why it should be considered "proof".

Well I think that is based on translation.  But even by what you said it can still be inferred that humans call him different names because they cant comprehend the greater, he is still implying all of those names are a single thing.  Not sure if this is allowed on here so I'll put it in a separate post incase stack deletes it (if someone can upload these images outside of this site that would be great):

Start on this page and go next few pages: http://www.mangahere.co/manga/full_metal_alchemist/v026/c108/24.html

@Quikstryke "I am what you call." Just like I am what you call キルア, but that's not who I actually am. (If only.) I don't have my raw volume 26 with me, so I won't be able to actually check that until September, but I have confidence that the meaning of, "This is my what humans call me," will not change.

@killua at the end of the day you maybe right I would love to see the raw as well.  My initial point was the burden of proof is to prove he wasnt God since it seems (not just me) the internet as population seems to translate truth as god.  A simple google search "hiromu arakawa god" can confirm this as the general interpretation.  Most sites list it as such.  As this is a site for discovery I am open to and would like to see evidence against the common interpretation/translation. Does someone else have the raw? I believe however he starts by saying "kami o" addressing god and truth responds.

@Quikstryke When facing the gate, Homunculus says, "神、何を君がないのだ？" ("God, what are you not content with?") Truth says from behind, "お前は己を信じないからだ。" ("Because you don't believe in yourself.") When asked what he is, Truth says, "お前たちの世界といえば存在。ありはうちゅう。。。そして、私はお前と。" meaning "I am the being which is spoken of as the world, the existence 'universe'... and, I am called 'you'." ("God" is said in the same way as "universe", in a list.) Given the use of と (Japanese quotation) prior to いえば and at the end of his sentence, I'm convinced he's listing them as names, in the same way as he says he "is" the world.

The relationship between the entity beyond the gate and Truth is not explained. Even the wiki article you linked for Eye of God says so. Therefore, you cannot assert so definitively that "Truth is not God", nor can it be asserted that the entity beyond the gate "is God" because the wiki article states that the entity's nature is never revealed. Based on your comments above, I expect your answer would benefit from citing the manga directly.

It is you and it is the Universe. It is everything.
When the Elric brothers train in the island, they realize the connection between the 'one' and the 'all'. They understand that everything is connected. I think that what they understand is Truth itself. They understand something that is in them and around them.
So basically, I don't think that Truth is a God (at least in the usual sense), but rather a sort of law that runs everything. It is in you and everywhere around you. However, it materializes itself as a humanoid form in your subconscious or whatever place that is where the gates are.

Why is it when you meet him, you are granted the ability to transmute without a circle? What changed in your understanding?

@MadaraUchiha Since he's everything, I suspect... You know everything when you see him. :P But that's my speculation.

@Alenanno: If you knew everything by meeting him, you'd become God, not remain a human. You gain something, just not sure what :P

@MadaraUchiha Uhm, good point... Perhaps you know everything human/earth-related? So nothing supernatural? After all, alchemy is not magic.

@MadaraUchiha: It's not by meeting him, but by passing through the Gate of Truth, which contains the truth / knowledge of everything. The further you travel, the more you know, but the more you pay (remember, equivalent exchange).

Perhaps it's like Zen, where going into deeper and deeper mental states you achieve a greater knowledge and understanding about the Truth behind the world and the Laws that underlie everything, but such knowledge cannot be expressed in words and must be "experienced to be believed".

It doesn't make a whole lot of sense because it is, in essence, a deus ex machina. It borrows from the concept of Dao, but by giving the thing the ability to communicate it elevates it into godhood, but then it is very useless at being a god, so all that remains is a deus ex machina there to tie up the loose ends without bothering to explain anything.
Leaving people wondering what the hell this character is supposed to be is by design. And there is no answer, since it's just a plot device to finish the story.

I think to understand this we have to grasp the concept of the world of Fullmetal Alchemist itself. Here's my take:
If we look inside ourselves and ask who we truly are, we'll soon realize that we can't answer that question. If our answer is "all interdependent parts of my body", we're still left with the question of who "you" in "your body" is.
We might argue it's our consciousness, but the same question still applies. The answer is, it's not found only within us. We're not cut off from the outside world we move in, we're a part of it. Just like our organs are part of us. We need air around us to breathe, we eat other living organisms to sustain ourselves and eventually sustain other organisms with ours after we die.
That's what the Elric Brothers discover on the island. Everything we think we are is an effect of evolution in form of a single organism inside a much greater, bigger organism. This organism, in turn, is also part of a bigger organism and so on. Our body, our society, the food chain, our planet, our galaxy... On the highest level, there is only one, which is all.

"All is the world, one is me. One is all and all is one."

We perceive ourselves as individuals but are ultimately made of a single, great everything, sometimes called the world or the universe, or god, or one, or all, or truth.

Now, if we break down this single everything back into its first components we are left with 2 forces, orientations, flows of the world, ways of behavior, or whatever you want to call them. This was also the research of Scar's brother. There are infinite words to describe these two fundamental opposites:

the good, the active, the living, the positive, the evolving, the creating, the growing, the forward-moving, the known, truth, order, god, humans...
the bad, the passive, the dead, the negative, the regressing, the destroying, the killing, the backward moving, the unknown, deception, chaos, humans, god...

Good is not "good", bad is not "bad". They just are, as a part of everything and are opposites that need and birth each other.
The default state of things is that they fall apart. It's also the default state that they're being put together by the living though, that's us. There has to be both for either to occur. Because there is a set amount of energy. You cannot create something out of nothing, you have to pay an equal price.
To influence this flow of fundamental substances is what the anime calls Alchemy. There's Amestrian (inorganically oriented) and Xingese (organically oriented) Alchemy. That which allows Alchemists to perform the transmutation is the Gate of Truth. Its existence is the fantasy element about Fullmetal-Alchemist. It allows individuals to transmute matter by studying its behavior and creating a formula for it, a transmutation circle.

What's inside the gate?
My guess is that inside the gate there's the incarnation of the second opposite: death, chaos, the opposite of what the living experience, the souls of the dead. The original Fullmetal Alchemist confirms this by stating that the energy used for transmutation is taken from the tragedies of this world (likely referring to souls that left their bodies after death).

Firstly this would explain why witnessing it gives you the ability to transmute without a transmutation circle that contains the matter's energy cycle. You have witnessed, integrated, and become a part of the cycle itself. As Edward says, he became something like a transmutation circle himself post-truth.

As a side note, Rose mentions, clapping your hands together is similar to praying to god. The concept of praying is to ask god (the world) for something, just like Alchemists "ask" the world to provide the energy for and execute transmutation. Praying and Alchemy follow the same concept, Alchemy/Science is just more empirical.

Secondly, this would underline the great overarching story writing in
Fullmetal Alchemist.

We know that the dwarf in the flask came from the other side of the gate. That would mean he's an incarnation of chaos within order, of literal evil. He's the ultimate antagonist. All characters get the opportunity to unite and fight one ultimate evil and grow along the way without it getting forced or with the need for a new antagonist after each chapter. It's one concluded story that conveys its ideas clearly.
The moral of Fullmetal Alchemist is that we don't need the gate. There's no need to be supernaturally gifted or perform alchemy. There's no need to become perfect or play god's duties. We should experience life and learn what it's about instead of trying to go beyond it. Because that's the insurmountably scarce gift that was bestowed upon us. We're human. No more, no less.

Why is human transmutation forbidden?
In the first place, human transmutation fails. That is because there's more to a human than their physical substance. There's their soul. Their consciousness. The experiences that shaped them. Consciousness and who a person is is something shaped during life experiences. You cannot transmute a soul or a person's experiences. The world just doesn't work that way. It only moves forward.
Transmuting a human is the biggest taboo because it goes against the very logic of the world and the natural flow of everything.
In the space of truth, after attempting the transmutation of his mother, Edward says his calculations for human transmutation weren't wrong, they just didn't go far enough. What he might have realized is that you'd have to pull the extinguished soul from the other side as well.
That is what the dwarf in the flask is. It is unknown how he has been extracted apart from the use of Slave #23's blood and Alchemy. We do know though that he needed a body to walk in the world. The dots of Hohenheim's master transmuting life into death in the form of blood for an extinguished soul could connect here. If this would be the case, the life -> death transmutation direction of the cycle isn't forbidden because it follows the natural flow of things.

The lie of balance
At the conclusion of the story, the Homunculus gets punished by the truth. He asks the truth

"what's wrong with seeking perfection?!"

What he didn't understand in trying to become the perfect human by cutting off his sins is that perfection doesn't exist. Perfect balance equals nothingness. ..If you try to reach the truth on your own accord, you get irony. Trying to balance for yourself unbalances another part of you. It's just not your job. Perfection is moving forward as your imperfect self and letting the world balance you.
Van Hoenheim says during the trial with his master "if all is not included in the one then one is nothing". Everything must always exist. The meaning of life isn't to achieve balance. Neither is it to push an extreme.
It's the process of balancing and unbalancing ourselves within the one just as much as it can handle so it gets thrown back at us with the same intensity.
Life balances itself out, always. Extremes breed opposite extremes. Balance breeds nothingness. The one that balances is the inescapable truth, the felt reality.
A real-life example would be:

Relationships likely become boring without some unbalancing playfulness or complementary traits. They also fall apart if the partners are too different.

This concept of "not too much, not too little" works in all areas:

How to learn. How to work. How to do sport. How we dress. How we raise our pets. How we have a conversation. How we treat our friends. How we treat our enemies. How we treat strangers. How we treat our planet. How we live.

We're all one part of the same energy and should treat others like they're us. Because they are. The dwarf in the flask, Homunculus, wanted to split himself from the unity that is everything but simultaneously become everything too. He put himself before everyone, not realizing that he is one complement with them. For this hypocrisy, he was forced to return to his origin.

A note on religion
Orienting ourselves towards the good, towards life, is what we, as living beings, are made for and what brings us happiness and keeps unnecessary suffering away. Everyone already subconsciously believes that. It's what our parents and experiences taught us. If we didn't learn to orient ourselves towards life, we'd not be reading this. Because there are too many things in life to consider though, religion, in theory, provides a simplified frame of reference to stay oriented towards the good, towards living.
This also explains the conflict between certain teachings of religion and science.
As science is able to more precisely explain the world, the unknown or god, the need for a deity fades. Both religion and empirical science are ultimately an attempt to explain and simplify the same world to guide its believers towards the good, towards life. If religious (or even scientific leaders) become corrupted, they cling to and exist for power and control, driving unity towards the bad. This is illustrated with Father Cornello.

So, who is Truth?
With all these presuppositions in place, we can finally say who the truth is. It is the watcher, judge, and incarnation of everything. One name you might have for it is the World, or you might call it the Universe, or perhaps God, or perhaps the Truth. It is all and it is one, so of course, this also means that it is you.

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


text:
What is the proper pluralization of "anime" and "manga"?
The words "anime" and "manga" both originate from Japanese, and have no English roots (though "anime" comes from French). To me, it doesn't make sense for an "s" to be attached ("animes" and "mangas"). However, I still see people do this quite frequently, so it's hard to tell for sure.
What is the correct way to pluralize the words "anime" and "manga"?

Animus and Mangos of course :P

@MadaraUchiha I was wondering who would be the first to say that. :P

I'd say since the words are recently borrowed, how the inflection should be applied is not yet defined. Therefore, you can treat it however you like, while sitting within the boundary of the plurality inflection that has been observed.

As far as the "English" language is concerned, from the Wiktionary entry about "anime":

Noun: anime (countable and uncountable; plural anime or (proscribed) animes)

(uncountable) An artistic style heavily used in, and associated with, Japanese animation, and that has also been adopted by a comparatively low number of animated works from other countries

I can draw an anime version of you, if you want.

(countable) An animated work originated in Japan, regardless of the artistic style.

2005, Peter J. Katzenstein, A World of Regions, page 165,

After three months of successful sales in manga form, it was made into an anime for television.

2005, Joan D. Vinge, in The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Eighteenth Annual Collection, page cix,

Usually the manga comes first, though it may be an offshoot of a novel, and an anime may be inspired by a video game.

2006, Thomas LaMarre, in Japan After Japan (Tomiko Yoda & Harry D. Harootunian, eds.), page 363,

These anime prepared the way for Otaku no video, a two-part Original Video Animation (OVA).

(rare, countable, chiefly proscribed) An animated work in anime style, regardless of the country of origin.

Likewise, from the Wiktionary entry about "manga", it's handled a bit differently:

Noun: manga (countable and uncountable; plural manga or mangas)

(uncountable) An artistic style heavily used in, and associated with, Japanese comics, and that has also been adopted by a comparatively low number of comics from other countries.
(countable) A comic originating in Japan, regardless of the artistic style.
(rare, countable, chiefly proscribed by fandom slang) A comic in manga style, regardless of the country of origin.

Lately I've been reading a Brazilian manga.

(Note that 2 of the examples from the countable plural of "anime" also apply to "manga")
So in the case of anime, the non-proscribed (or exclusionary) plural is unchanged, but the rarer proscribed plural can be used with an "s". The case with manga seems to be either way as far as Wiktionary is concerned.
The Collins Dictionary, the New World Dictionary,
Oxford Dictionary all say that manga is also the plural form. Horever, the Macmillan Dictionary says that mangas is the plural form (need to click on "Word Forms").
If you're using it as a Japanese borrowed word (either "manga" or "anime"), it isn't incorrect to use the same form as singular and plural, like the Japanese words themselves.

Americans do like to append the usual "s" on things regardless of its origin (e.g. appendixes, paninis, formulas), so I imagine "animes" would slip by over there...

They would probably be "anime" and "manga," just like the plural of Pokémon is Pokémon.
Most nouns in Japanese have no plual form, so you use the same word whether you're using a singular noun or a plural noun.
There are rare exceptions when a noun does have a plural form, but usually the plural form simply repeats the word using a "repeater" sound for the first consonant.
E.g. hito (人 [ひと], person) becomes hitobito (人々 [ひとびと], people) and kami (神 [かみ], god) would be kamigami (神々 [かみがみ], gods).

Another common way to pluralize in Japanese is a suffix, such as “-tachi” or "ra," which can be added to 「人」or 「彼」(i.e. 人たち = people or 彼ら = them/those guys). They're often attached to a person's name, such as in Sailor Moon where "Usagi-chan-tachi" could translate to “Usagi and co.” or “Usagi and [the rest of] them,” meaning Usagi, Ami, Rei, Makoto, & Minako, and the same is used for other groupings like "Haruka-tachi" = Haruka, Michiru, Setsuna, & possibly Hotaru collectively, and "Seiya-tachi" = Seiya, Yaten, & Taiki. (Anime and manga in Japanese can't take pluralizing suffixes.)

@seijitsu, JFYI, those suffixes only apply to people, not any noun.

@Oleg V. Volkov Yes, I am aware of that; I added this comment for bonus informative value in the same vein as ʞɹɐzǝɹ mentioning the "repeater' sound type of pluralizing for bonus information: neither type apply to non-count nouns such as anime and manga.

It depends.
If you want to go based off of Japanese, then the plural would just be "anime" and "manga". There is no normal way to pluralize these words in Japanese; rather, you would say something similar to "anime shows" instead of specifically multiple anime.

My #1 favorite anime is Pokemon.
My two favorite anime are Pokemon and Digimon.

If you want to go based off of English, then the plural would be "animes" and "mangas". This is how most pluralization occurs in English.

My #1 favorite anime is Pokemon.
My two favorite animes are Boku no Pico and Digimon.

Even though they are Japanese words, if you are using them in English sentences, it's not all that weird to pluralize them like an English word. Café comes from the Romance languages, but would you be all that irked if someone said "There are two cafés on that street"?
It's really a preference. Your message will probably be properly conveyed either way. Whichever one you pick, someone will think it's wrong, so you might as well go with the one you prefer. I've seen both pluralization methods used quite often, so I wouldn't be greatly shocked by either.

It's mainly just preference. Since the Japanese language does not have a way of pluralizing that applies to most of their words (like adding an 's' to the end of words in English), it is usually left to preferences.
Some people like to say 'manga' and 'anime' as the plural form of the words since it sounds more "correct" and is similar to the way the plural version of 'deer' is 'deer'.
Other people prefer to say 'mangas' and 'animes' because in English it is common to add 's' to the end of words to pluralize them.
Since there is no definite way of pluralizing these words, you can just pick whether or not you want to say the words with a 's' or not.


text:
Did Sakamoto really write in cursive?
At the end of the translated version of the first chapter of Sakamoto Desu Ga?, Sakamoto agrees to write a report, provided he can write it "in cursive":

Given that the manga is set in Japan, I assume the report will be in Japanese. However, I'm not exactly sure what is meant by cursive Japanese. According to wikipedia, cursive (sōsho, 草書) is rare in Japanese, though it's more common in Chinese. Of course, cursive is a particular style of calligraphy, but calligraphy includes more than just cursive, and clerical script (reisho, 隸書) would seem more appropriate for a report like this (though perhaps less awesome).
In the original Japanese text, was Sakamoto really saying that he was going to write in Japanese cursive, or just with handwritten calligraphy (or maybe even English cursive)?

In the manga, he says "筆記体" which literally means "note-taking style," which is typically used to describe cursive writing... in English. So he's implying that the report will be in cursive English.


text:
Has anyone ever gotten hurt in Girls Und Panzer?
In the world of Girls Und Panzer, tankery (Sensha-do) is a school activity, and during practice and competitions, they appear to be using live ammunition. Has anyone ever gotten hurt (or killed) doing Sensha-do in the manga? It seems really dangerous:

 There's even a flashback scene where a tank driven over mud next to a river falls into the river, and the girls inside almost drowned.

Or is it just that in this world, tanks and large shells simply aren't that dangerous?

I don't believe there has ever been a death of a character due to a tank-related incident. However, this is largely due to safety precautions taken by the officials in charge of the tank activities. (And also, a bit of anime physics.)
From the (fan-)translated Rules of Panzerkraft:

3-02 Supplemental Equipment    Furthermore, for the safety of the participants, the crew compartments are required to be fitted with League-approved armored mantles as an added safety measure.
3-03 Usable Cannons    All rounds are to be League-sanctioned live ammunition; production of your own warheads or charges is not allowed.
5 Prohibited Actions    a) Using unregulated equipment or parts    c) Firing directly on humans

Note the usage of controlled armor, rounds, and a rule that you may not fire at a human. So, it does appear that the tank warfare is dangerous to people, but the safety measures in place are enough that the direct warfare does not cause any fatalities or serious injuries. (I think there's an incident where one girl has her glasses broken, but that's it.)

But there's people who ride outside of the tank or half exposed from the waist up while it's being fired on by other tanks, that seems pretty unsafe.

@JonLin I haven't seen any situation like that in the competitions. In the practices, I believe they use powder rounds or some other training-safe round. (Though I have no citation for this.)

@Eric - It's shown in the very first episode (the initial opening fight, before skipping backward), and also in the final duel between the two sisters in the last episode.  Probably some additional times as well.

@Clockwork-Muse Interesting. I'm afraid I have little explanation for those situations; like in any sport, freak accidents can happen. Perhaps there's a little luck involved in sensha-do as well.

How can anything survive a hit by the Karl-Gerät 040 that appeared in the movie? And bullets don't have eyes, you always see those girls exposing themselves even during combat. Conclusion: cute girls are saved predominantly by anime physics.

From the Manga. The tanks are coated with high tech materials that prevent penetration by rounds. This is referred to briefly in the anime, when someone says something like, "the tanks have carbon".

Even if the shells are training or powder, it's still a metal shell, no matter how brittle. Fired by novices (first episode) at like 500mph toward a tank where a girl who is outside the tank as a spotter. No one dies in the entire series and it would be weird to make a cute girls doing cute stuff anime get bloody and tragic.


text:
What are Elements and Maken?
Most of the superpowers in the series seem to be related to two concepts, namely Elements and Maken. There are exceptions to this, like Himegami's Shikigami, but Elements and Maken are both referenced frequently, and they seem to be how most of the characters fight.
However, neither one was really explained, at least in the anime. It isn't really clear to me what either term means, and how they're related. It is clear that every character has a Maken, which is basically a unique ability or power, but there's a lot that's still confusing. For instance, for some characters, their Maken seems to be an item that they use in combat, while for others it's a power inside them. Haruko's Maken is said to be contained in a different dimension, and it opens a gate to the real world, and seems to almost be a living thing.
What are Maken, and how do they work? Also, what is the relationship between Elements and Maken?

As per the article on Wikipedia:

However, he learns that the school is for students who possess magical and spiritual energies called Elements and who wield crafted weapons known as Makens.

Elements are: magical and spiritual energies
Makens are: crafted weapons
Also as mentioned on TVTropes:

..... where the only students admitted are those who are able to control a source of energy found in all living things called "Element". Manipulating those "elements", they are capable to perform common psychic ability like psychokinesis..., to enhance their physical abilities and to be able to use magical artifacts called Maken. These Maken give the users specific and varied abilities, like superstrength, turning one's body into steel, manipulating water...
There are two types of Maken, external and internal. External Makens look like normal weapons and add-ons, while internal maken are embedded inside the user's body. Since they are powerful artifacts used by ancient gods, students normally do not have true (i.e. original) Makens, but only use imitated Makens that are forged by resident Maken-smith Gen Tagayashi.

So Makens are the way to use the energy within the so-called Elements.


text:
Why does cutting out part of Orochimaru’s soul cause him to lose the use of his arms?
When Orochimaru and the Third Hokage fight after the Chunin exam, the Third Hokage has the Shinigami cut out part of his soul, "taking away his jutsu" by making him lose the use of his arms. How does that work? Why does it specifically make his arms not work? Logically, it would pull from the part was the farthest from the chest where it was being pulled from, which would be the feet. Why is that not what happens?

I've just re-watched the scene in the anime where that happened, and it looked to me like the death god was clearly pulling on the part of Orochimaru's spirit that controls his arms(you can see hands at the end).  That just happens to be where the death god was pulling on, and it happens to only have been pulled out to his elbows or so.
Maybe the 3rd drew the arms out on purpose because he deemed that to be the easiest or most effective thing to pull out first in-case he only had to partially do the job.
There's really not much more to it than that.

If you believe in how a soul works, then it's linked to all bodily functions.
If you were to lose the use of your legs, as long as your soul isn't damaged you can one day use your legs regardless. In Orochimaru's case, because Saratobi (the Third Hokage) was nearing death and was losing strength to even hold Orochimaru's soul, and that by even using the jutsu Saratobi had ended his own life; so, all Orochimaru needed to do was get free from his grasp to be the victor. Thus, he aimed for Orochimaru's arms as a means to stop him from ever using jutsu again, which would be a death sentence for him because it would mean that he could perform whatever jutsu he uses to change bodies
Thing is, Kabuto must have came up with something to allow Orochimaru to switch bodies and repair the damage to his soul, because even if there was another way for Orochimaru to jump bodies, the damage to his soul would have prevented him using his arms. I'm quite sure when he fights Naruto, and Naruto uses the Nine-Tails' Cloak, he's using his arms (though I could be mistaken, it's been a few months since I watched it).
As for how cutting a blob removes the use of his arms, Saratobi must have been able to "feel out" Orochimaru's arms and pull them out. In some anime and games, the soul has the same shape as the physical body with it being anchored to the head and feet so when you pull from the chest it kinda looks like you're pulling on a bow string. This could be similar; I just passed that part off as a Kage just being awesome to begin with.


text:
What happened at the end of Wasurenagumo?
So at the end of Wasurenagumo, we have Mizuki:

 With the spider girl and Shu. Spider girl makes Mizuki fall into the giant spider, Shu doesn't seem to care, then we're back in the city and the spider girl is with Shu and she looks like Mizuki now (or other way around?)

So did,

 Mizuki die (and Shu didn't care)? Was there an ulterior motive for killing Mizuki, who seems to have simply been at the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong person?

The shopkeeper said it was over if he got caught in the web, which happened. You could see the blue glare under the guy's eyes, which means he wasn't himself anymore. He snapped out of it before because the girl got hurt, but after he got caught in the web again he was being controlled(?) again.So maybe the spider-girl is now manipulating Suzuri and he's thinking she is Mizuki

Yes, Suzuri was caught by the web after Mizuki fell into the lake. My guess is that she was eaten or whatever by the spider-mum and the girl who was with Suzuri was the spider-girl. Because, if you did notice, at the scene where she let Mizuki fall from the web, the spider-girl looked more mature and grown up. So she probably cut her hair to look like Mizuki afterwards but I doubt that the girl with Suzuri at the ending was Mizuki.

Judging by the monster-wife the older shopkeeper seemed to have at the end, the story was more of a "Selkie" story.
The Spider-mom would attack the village if not given a sacrifice, until the monk sealed her in the lake.
The Spider-girl would take control of people using her webs, and force them to walk into the lake to feed her mom.
It seems that Suzuri was originally going to be sacrificed, but the Spider-girl had A: Fallen for him, or B: wanted to repay his kindness and thus fed Mizuki to the Spider-mom and took her role as Suzuri's companion in Mizuki's form.
Lots of legends, both Japanese and European tell of women that were originally spirits, animals, or both, that can take on human form to be the wife of a human, such as Selkies or the Legend of the Swan. Usually the myths end with the spirit wanting to return home, either leaving the husband or in some versions taking him with them.
As aficionados of old books, legends and myths, the two book-sellers would be familiar with these legends, as hinted at with the older man's "Wife" seen in the last few shots.
Whether there was any romantic reasons for the Spider-girl staying with Suzuri doesn't matter; most likely, she was using him to eventually find more food for her trapped mother. It's mostly left up to the viewer what the Spider-Girl's intentions were and why she is staying with Suzuri in Mizuki's form.

All the answers before this are pretty spot on. "Don't fall in the web". Both Suzuri and Geppou were "ensnared"/infatuated in some way by monster people; Suzuri by the Spider girl and Geppou by an unknown one (slime/mist?)

well I don't think so, cause the spider girl is more likely a youkai which means some spirit ghost creature. I believe the girl at the end is Mizuki transformed or possessed by the spider girl. Just the last frames make me believe its likely so, its starts as Mizuki grow longer hair changes hair colour and so on.

I think Mizuki and spider-girl changed places
spider-mon  didn't seen mad, and gently go back to the lake after Mizuki's Fall .

Do you have any evidence of this?


text:
Why can't Rock Lee use ninjutsu or genjutsu?
Why is Rock Lee unable to use ninjutsu or genjutsu?

He simply has no talent whatsoever for it. However, since he decided to be a great ninja nonetheless, he had to excel at Taijutsu.

Taijutsu - it was the only bright spot for Lee who was told unequivocally that he had no talent for being a shinobi. 1

Ordinarily, the inability to perform both Ninjutsu and Genjutsu would mean that life as a ninja would be impossible. But in Lee's case, his closeness to Gai as his Sensei, made him somewhat 'inherit' his hard-working resolve as well as his training habits, which combined (also with Gai interest in Lee) have allowed him to fulfill his dream.
Lee's case is similar to Naruto's, in that they both achieve greatness through hard-work, rather than natural talent.
Some people are naturally gifted toward some types of technique, like Neji or Sasuke, while others may never have any talent and thus not be fit to become a ninja. Lee's case is the latter, but his determination was what drove him to not give up, becoming an excellent ninja at Taijutsu.
He differs from a regular person, most likely, in sheer will, since (as I've said before) not every person is fit to be a ninja.

1 Naruto: The Official Character Data Book

In the Naruto universe, only a few are born with the talents of Ninjutsu and Genjutsu.
You must have noticed that not all in the Hidden Leaf village are ninjas as they don't possess those skills to manipulate their and others chakra. Hidden Leaf in the Shinobi village of the Fire Country and yet not all are ninjas.
In the Shinobi Allied Forces, around 30,000 shonobis were there which included ninjas from all 5 nations' villages. So you get the idea that among a population of millions only 30,000 were fit to be ninjas.

one correction, there were 80,000 shinobi in the allied shinobi force not 30,100..

If I recall correctly it has something to do with the lack of physical development in his "chakra coils", meaning he couldn't produce or control chakra like an average ninja can.

Does anyone have a source for this? It sounds like it could be a great root-cause explanation.


text:
What did the old man say to the bartender at the end?
In the short one-shot Death Billiards, the old man says something to the bartender at the end when they choose which elevator to get into (presumably, one goes to hell and the other to heaven). What did the old man say? He smirked at the end so it seemed like he got something that he wanted or had somehow tricked the younger man. The bartender wouldn't say what it was. Am I missing something or is this just completely wide-open-ended?

As the white-haired bartender said, "秘密です," (himitsu desu, it's a secret).
With such an open-ended ending, there's no way to know for sure (much like the "Cart Driver Dilemma" in Code Geass).
The story implies that the younger guy went to heaven while the older dude went to hell, with the masks above their respective elevators with a white face and a demon face.
However, who is to say any of them went to heaven or hell? Or that things are exactly as they are described by the white-haired bartender?
I think the intention of such an open-ended ending is to get viewers to form their version of the story.
Some points to consider are:

The fact that the bartender was lying (or at least telling a half-truth and leaving out key details) from the beginning makes you question all of his explanations. Which parts are red herring? Which parts are true?

 If you look closely, the so-implied "corpses" the bartender shows the young man are actually marionette parts (look closely at the legs hanging towards the middle right). The bartender mentions that when they arrived, they were of equal footing, perhaps referring to the fact that none of them had their original memories... and with each ball pocketed by the opposing side they got a bit of their memory back.

The fact that the game (and its outcome) was predetermined

 and the old man was supposed to win.

The fact that the old man arrives after the young man

 (even though the bartender mentions that those that die at the same time are invited there). If they died at the same time, wouldn't they arrive at the same time?

The fact that they leave in the same elevator they came from (at least the old man does)

The fact that the old man bites his lip before the white-haired bartender hugs the young man.

The fact that the old man's flashback happens in reverse order compared to the young man's and also

 how the old man's death is never shown, nor is the first memory of his last moment truly his. It was actually the old man's wife's and his memorial portrait is shown, with offerings meaning that he probably was already dead.

And most importantly, the jellyfish. The jellyfish are a recurring symbol throughout the series, from the chandeliers to the aquarium, and the stained glass pattern behind the counter and the same design on the bathroom tiles. According to shamanism the jellyfish totem is supposed to represent "inner strength, vulnerability, transparency, and truth."

From this, we can imply that although there is a game of life and death going on, it is not as the bartender describes...

 The bartender mentions that he is the "さいてい者" which can be implied to be the "arbiter", the person who decides if someone goes to "heaven" or "hell"... however, who is being judged is never directly stated. The setting could be a place in limbo and it could be just the young man that is being judged, not for whether he goes to heaven or hell, but if he deserves a second chance (さいてい can also mean "second chance"), whether to be reincarnated or getting a second chance in his current life. The presence of the old man might be there to play a devil's advocate type of role to prevent this from happening. The old man might be a person that was condemned to hell and given a second chance to be able to be reincarnated if he can reveal the bad side of darkness and sink him into despair.

What the old man asks the bartender near the end could be something like "Is the game over (can I move on)?" and the bartender's reply could be, "not yet."

 This could be why the old man bites his lip. Because he knows he's lost. His smile as the elevator door closes could be because he knows that he'll be back for another shot.

Since the plot and ending is so open-ended, a lot of other things can be implied... much like the ending to Inception. You're meant to infer the ending that you want, rather than be told what it is.
The hostess seems to be a bit out of place. The piano player is a marionette moved by wires, and it is demonstrated that the wires can move things around. There seems to be no need for a hostess, as she does not serve a particular function (the bartender makes the drinks, she is only seen receiving the empty glass of water). Most of her other actions after the game starts are imitating the bartender's...

 What if she was a person that lost the game and is stuck in this limbo until she discovers the true meaning of life and herself like the young man did. As the credits roll, the hostess first asks the bartender what the old man said to him, he immediately says that it's "a secret," but when she asks who went to what place, instead of telling her that it's a secret, he asks what she thinks, perhaps asking her if she's learned anything, she replies she's asking because she doesn't know, he replies that it's a secret... perhaps implying that she is not yet ready to know... her own fate.

As a side note, though the gg Fansub translate the name of the place as "Queen Decim," I personally believe the place to be called "Quindecim(e)", the latin word for "15" (十五, じゅうご, "jyuugo"), perhaps implying the Ten Epithets of Buddha (十号, also "jyuugou")?
The Ten Epithets of the Buddha 仏十号(butsujyuugou):

Tathagata/如来(nyorai), one who has come from the world of truth
応供(gu), one who deserves oblations
正偏知(shouhenchi), one who knows everything perfectly.
明行足(myougyou-soku), one who sees the truth and walks the way satisfactorily
善逝(zenzei), one who is gone to the world of enlightenment
世間解(sekenge), one who understands the world
無上士(mujouji), one who is unsurpassed by anyone else
調御丈夫(jougo-joubu), one who controls men
天人師 (tenninshi), who teaches gods and men
仏世尊(Butsu-seson), the enlightened one who is honored by the people of the world

十号 is juugou not juugo. I am just not sure how far the relation can be stretched here. Apart from that, nice post. I don't even notice all those little details.

I'm not sure, but it seems that some part of the answer can be updated with information from Death Parade. For example, the part about the the game being set up to test the young man. Some of the guesses here are spot on, though

With everthing thats been said here I would conclude the old man is part of the test to test if the 30 year old man is worthy of going to heaven. The old man goes into the same elevator he came from to start the test with a new person while the 30 year old man goes in the elevator that will either lead him to heaven or hell

Looking at the long series Death Parade, I don't think the old man can be part of another test. Both of them are given a second chance to change their destination, from the one initially decided when they arrive at Quindecim.


text:
Why did the mage have multiple personalities?
The mage girl seemed to have three personalities - one was collected/intellectual, one was rash/violent, and one was cutesy. When the rash/violent personality was the active one, even her eyes turned red. I didn't notice if the cutesy personality had different eyes, but you could definitely hear the distinction between all three of the voices.
Is there a plot-related explanation for this, or is it just part of her character?

I don't know whether this is a personality split, or 3 different entities within one, where only 1 is visible to outsider and the other 2 is only visible between the 3 entities. It probably has something to do with the fact that she is of Underworld origin.

Female Mage was an "artificial" hero created by a sect of the Holy Church, called the Magic Association. She as taken in a a young age and isolated from the world... trained and such by the Association as she was to be a substitute for the Hero, in case he was defeated (in which cae the Association would have much to gain in terms of political influence).
"Silver" 銀 (ぎん, Gin) is the childish, sleepy personality is the primary personality, she is the resulting "masterpiece" of all the so-called "training."
In the Gaiden/Side-story まどろみの女魔法使い (Madoromi no Onna Mahoutsukai, the Sleepy Female Mage) she briefly describes her other "sisters," as she calls them:
"White" 白 (しろ, Shiro) is the intelligent (and kind) one, one of the surviving failed works and "Indigo" 藍 (あお, Indigo) who is the rough (yet also kind) one, another one of the surviving failed works. She recalls that there is another "sister," but mentions that she has since disappeared (died).
The current Female Mage that is an ally of the Hero, is considered a disgrace to the Association and has been marked for termination. Perhaps by the Association's newest artificial hero plan masterpiece, the magic-absorbing "Red (赤)" battlemage.


text:
Why did Midori become Seiji's right hand?
In Midori Days, Seiji woke up one morning to find his right hand to be Midori. Why is this so? Is it some kind of a curse? Was it explained in the manga or anime why?

I'm not sure if it's explained in the manga but it's sort of like a Pygmalion type of story. Seiji can't get a girlfriend because he's got a reputation as a tough guy and most girls are afraid of him, eventhough he's sort of got a noble quality about it all. So he wishes that he had a girlfriend and it just so happened that a Midori from another school likes him. So like Aphrodite did in the Pygmalion myth, his wish is granted through some divine/magical/freak-of-nature event where Midori's consciousness and likeness was transfered to Seiji's right hand.
There's extra meaning here because, being someone who (according to himself) will never find a girlfriend, the only "girlfriend" he'll have is "his right hand", a euphemism turned to reality.

“Three years high school, and the rest of my life for that matter are gonna end with no girlfriend but my right hand! I can’t take it anymore!”

Additionally, he has a reputation for having a "Demon right hand" through his fighting prowess, and in probably the greatest possible contrast, his "Demon right hand" is turned into Midori (美鳥 beautiful bird). This essentially takes away his ability to punch with his right hand and forces him to change as a person.

Does Midori mean "green" too?

Midori can mean "green" but that is written as 緑 (I think), which is different than the midori from the title of the show: 美鳥

I asked since her hair was green :-)

@aitchnyu I wouldn't be surprised if that had something to do with it


text:
Has Shoji Kawamori ever commented on Robotech?
Harmony Gold infamously dubbed Macross as the first part of the Robotech saga. Character names, music, and some story elements were changed or removed completely. This has long been a matter of contention between the fans of both series, as well as having a lot of legal ramifications.
But has the creator of Macross, Shoji Kawamori, ever commented on the existence of Robotech?

As per wiki :

Series writer/actor Greg Snegoff said in an interview on the now-defunct Shadow Chronicles News fansite that, "afterward, we received compliments from the Japanese who thought our dialogue and stories were better than the original". However, Animag magazine (issue 11) and Animerica magazine (issue 9, volume 4) reports that the staff of Macross at Studio Nue and Artland, such as the original story creator and mecha designer Shoji Kawamori and chief director Noboru Ishiguro, expressed their concern over the Robotech adaptation, and surprise at its differences.

So it seems that he raised concerns about the same, and acknowledged the presence of Robotech
Further can be noticed in the interview clip here

According to this, he was once asked in an spanish interview about it and his answer was

does Robotech exist? What is that? Does Macross II exist?

http://rdfhqcommunicationscenter.yuku.com/topic/1583/Shoji-Kawamori-does-Robotech-exist#.WFNQHPl97IU
Edit: 01/05/2017
I found more about this recently. Very interesting actually

“When it comes to Robotech, it's difficult to comment. It's not as
  though I have sat through the whole series. Not to mention that it
  combines three separate series Macross, Southern Cross and Mospeada.
  So it feels a bit forced as a result.”
“At the same time, this was an opportunity for our work to be shown to
  the world and for that I am thankful. However, because the partial
  change in the story was made without approval from us, the original
  authors, it still produces an uncomfortable feeling after all these
  years.”
"As for the recently announced live action Robotech movie, I welcome
  the opportunity to work on it but that request has yet to come."

https://www.forbes.com/sites/olliebarder/2015/12/10/shoji-kawamori-the-creator-hollywood-copies-but-never-credits/#5a3eb4d63a0f


text:
What is the game where you strike a stack of discs to knock one out?
There was a game that appeared in a few episodes of Nichijou (not familiar with the original manga) where there was a bunch of circular (wooden?) discs stacked and a small hammer was used to try to strike one out, and I assume the object is to do so without toppling the stack.

Was this a made up game for the series or is it a real game? What is it called?

i believe it was not a game ment to knock the other out !!! :P you just have to knock out one of the discs till the head reaches bottoms. if it falls you lose

@Dimitrimx I know you're not supposed to hit the other person with the block (was the only screenshot I could find), by "knock one out", I mean knock it off the stack.

The game is called Daruma Otoshien.wikipedia (だるま落としja.wikipedia)
Let me quote Japanese Wikipedia, since the text on English Wikipedia might be inaccurate at the time of writing of this post.

弾丸の先端に形状が似ただるまの下に、薄い円柱を数段重ね、それを横から1段ずつ木槌で叩いて抜き、倒れないようにうまく一番上のだるまを落とすという玩具・遊びである。胴を素早くたたくのがコツである。

Rough translation (I'd appreciate it if someone can edit it with a better translation):

(Skipped text) Under the daruma head are several thin cylinder pieces stacked on top of each other. The game involves hitting the thin cylinder pieces from the side with a mallet one by one, bringing down the daruma head without the rest toppling over. The trick is to hit the body quickly.

Image retrieved from Wikipedia at File:Darumaotoshi.JPG


text:
What's up with the huge iron in FLCL?
I think FLCL was a lot of fun, but I also found it really hard to follow sometimes.  For instance, what's up with the huge iron?  It's big, and it ejects steam at least once in the series, and it probably comes from aliens.  But why is it there?  What is it for?

Following on from the other answers - you can even see in that image where the river leads into the iron, looks somewhat like the land getting smoothed. I remember seeing scenes like this a couple of times throughout the show.

@MrPineapple On closer look of the image the river itself is not leading into the iron here if you look closely you can see it more or less bends but there is a definite area of tree's and grass between the plant and the rest of the river.

I think it's debatable, those trees could be sheltering some sections of the river. Seeing as images like the above crop up a good bit, I'd say perhaps it was intentional.

The iron is the Medical Mechanica plant. They plop their factories down on every planet that they come across. Their reason for landing on a planet is to conquer it by "smoothing out the wrinkles."
It is debated in episode 6 exactly what "smoothing" means... Kitsurubami analogizes it to the smoothing of the wrinkles in the brain. It's later revealed that Medical Mechanica smooths out an entire planet so that everyone is the homogenous -- meaning there would be no unique personalities, like Haruko.

The primary idea of the iron is that it smooths out wrinkles. Toward the end of the series it is revealed the Medical Mechanica is responsible to smoothing out entire worlds, thus rendering them for all intents and reasons Unable to think for themselves.

Medical Mechanica is an evil corporation in the anime series FLCL. They mass produce "medical" robots, which tend to be very violent. Their buildings are shaped like irons, and release steam at certain parts of the day. There are no entrances or exits to these buildings, so how people get in and out is a mystery. One character describes the strange steam as them "Ironing out the wrinkles in your brain so you can't think." Medical Mechanica also captures an intergalactic space pirate "Atomsk", who one of the main characters has been searching for. Though it is never really explained how, or why. Little is known about Medical Mechanica, and it is implied that they are somehow connected to the government.

The above quote can be found here: Medical Mechanica Villains Wikia Page


text:
What was the motive for kidnapping Eri in the 1st episode of Railgun season 2?
In the first episode of Railgun season 2, Erii Haruue gets kidnapped.

But why? What did they want with Erii?
Does it have something do to with the level 6 experiment from the first season?

They just needed to keep Anti-Skill at bay until they could make their escape. The two thugs original intended purpose was to break the pyrokinetic esper out of custody as he was about to be transfered to an Anti-Skill hospital.

They clearly didn't need her as they tossed her from the helicopter in order to lose Mikoto who was using her powers to pin the helicopter to the ground.


text:
What are the 2003 Wendy's Promotional Pokémon Toys?
On Bulbapedia, there is an article about 2003 Wendy's promotional Pokémon toys. It currently says:

The 2003 Wendy's promotional Pokémon toys were a set of five toys distributed with Kids Meals at Wendy's in May of 2003. Each toy also came with one of fifteen cards.

It also links to a missing video by a user (TheMasterGamerify) who is no longer on YouTube.
How long did this campaign run? What were these toys, and what were the fifteen cards available?

This link seems to document all the toys and cards. There were 5 toys. These were a Pikachu keychain, Pikachu Clock, Charizard Treasure Box, Kecleon Keychain, and a Celebi compass (though the image has Torchic). Here's images of all five:

According to this site, the promotion began May 19th 2003, and very likely lasted 5 weeks. I haven't been able to find a more definitive confirmation of that.
Here's the promotional image used at the time to advertise the event (from the same link with the dates):

As for why the compass is called a Celebi compass, it really did have a Celebi design. The back of the case had a Celebi on it:

(image taken from this Ebay auction. Thanks to Krazer for finding it.)
It seems that you could put the Lugia, Torchic, and Kecleon trading cards from the promotion into it, and perhaps others. The above image has the back of the Lugia card. Here's a different version with the front of the Lugia card.
.
(taken from this Lugia collection)
The Pikachu clock could hold a card as well, though I don't think it really did anything with it the same way the compass worked with those cards, and the cards fit inside the Charizard box.
This site lists all the cards, with images for the front and back. They are:

1 Pikachu

2 Charizard

3 Mewtwo

4 Tyranitar

5 Lugia

6 Feraligatr

7 Gyarados

8 Kyogre

9 Latios & Latias

10 Torchic

11 Groudon

12 Mudkip

13 Duskull

14 Treecko

15 Kecleon


text:
How can Sakamoto talk?
In a clip of Nichijou that I saw, Sakamoto the cat is seen being able to talk, and appears to be quite intelligent. (His lips never move, but he does speak.)

How is Sakamoto able to do this? Are other cats able to as well?

The red scarf that Sakamoto wears allows him to talk. The scarf was "invented" by another character in the series - Hakase (which means Professor).

In another episode, a crow is wearing the scarf and can also talk.

Also, once the scarf is taken off, the previous wearer goes back to making animal noises again, rather than just having worn it once and being able to talk.

Are the mechanics of the scarf ever explained? Or is it just a "magic" awesome thing? xD

@Eric: Like how Nano comes to life, we can only take this as "some awesome invention that is casually made".

@Eric There are a good amount of inventions in the show that aren't explained. Hakase is just a genius little scientist (so it's not really magic, just unexplained extraordinary science).


text:
Were Luna and Artemis the only (sentient) cats in Sailor Moon?
In Sailor Moon, there are two cats, Luna and Artemis, who I believe act as advisers for Sailor Moon's mother, the queen.

It's been a while since I've seen the anime, but were there any other sentient cats in Sailor Moon? Or were these two the only ones?

There is also Diana, who was born on Earth. She first appears in episode 126 or 133 (English and Japanese dub respectively) of the anime and is revealed to be the daughter of Artemis and Luna. In the manga, she first appears in Act 18. She comes from the future and so when Luma first sees her (in the anime) she is confused because Diana refers to Artemis as Daddy. She is the advisor to Chibiusa, as Artemis and Luna are Usagi's advisors.

Diana is the only one?

As far as I can tell. I haven't seen the entire show but from what I saw and read, yes. I could be wrong, though.

I'll accept this for now, then, and see if anyone else provides further insight in the future.~

Sounds good to me.

@キルア, Diana is not the only one besides Luna and Artemis in the original manga.

Yes, Diana is Artemis and Luna's daughter, but she is not the only other sentient cat.  In addition to this trio:
in the original manga, Luna and Artemis are natives of the cat-themed planet Mau, which is in the same galaxy but is outside of the solar system (how this aligns with the cats serving Queen Serenity in the Moon Kingdom is not explained; apparently Luna and Artemis immigrated to the Moon at some point). Mau is the same planet that Sailor Tin Nyanko comes from.  Sailor Tin Nyanko was not originally a real sailor soldier according to manga canon; rather, she killed the planet's true sailor guardian, Sailor Mau, in order to gain synthetic soldier abilities.  All sailor soldiers and other special beings who likewise possess true star seeds (such as Tuxedo Kamen, Luna, Artemis, and Diana), who died by having their true star seeds removed, after Chaos was defeated, received their star seeds back and came back to life. Thus, living on Mau at the end of the manga series, there are 1) a resurrected Sailor Mau (implied to be humanoid, simply on the basis that all sailor soldiers we've met have been humanoid, but since she was not specifically shown or described beyond her name, it is not impossible that Sailor Mau could be a sentient cat herself... especially considering that Luna, Artemis, and Diana each have a humanoid form that they can transform into), 2) other humanoids (like Tin Nyanko), and 3) the implication of other sentient cats as the regular residents of the planet Mau.
(Diana is the only sentient cat who is not a native of Mau, since she was born on Earth in the 30th-century Crystal Tokyo.)
(Note that the Sera Myu musicals follow the manga with Tin Nyanko as Sailor Mau's assassin, but the anime canon differs, in which Sailor Tin Nyanko is a true sailor soldier who was originally good but got brainwashed by Sailor Galaxia's bracelets, and there is no mention of Mau or of Luna and Artemis' further backstory.)


text:
Do the various kingdoms in The Twelve Kingdoms have historical basis?
The world of The Twelve Kingdoms seems quite rich, with a complicated history of the kingdoms, and a backstory of major world events and people.  What I'm wondering is, are the Twelve Kingdoms based on historical kingdoms, or just created from whole cloth?

Twelve kingdoms possibly derives some loose inspiration from the Wei, Shu, and Wu Chinese kingdoms of the 3rd century CE which are popularly referred to as the Three Kingdoms.

The Three Kingdoms (AD 220–280) were Wei (魏), Shu (蜀), and Wu (吳). The Three Kingdoms period, part of the Six Dynasties period, followed the loss of de facto power of the Han Dynasty emperors. In a strict academic sense, it refers to the period between the foundation of the state of Wei in 220 AD and the conquest of the state of Wu by the Jin Dynasty in 280.

The story of the three kingdoms was romanticised and immortalised in the 14th century by Luo Guanzhong as The Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

Romance of the Three Kingdoms is acclaimed as one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature; it has a total of 800,000 words and nearly a thousand dramatic characters (mostly historical) in 120 chapters. The novel is among the most beloved works of literature in East Asia, and its literary influence in the region has been compared to that of the works of Shakespeare on English literature. It is arguably the most widely read historical novel in late imperial and modern China.

The novel is well known throughout China, Korea, and Japan. I am unfamiliar with the story to comment on any similarities in plot or structure. But as a guess, I'd say that beyond the fact that the societies in Twelve Kingdoms are similar to feudal Japan/China, there are no major similarities.
There are, however, some obvious Buddhist influences. For example, the very geography of the Twelve Kingdoms is shaped like a lotus with a harmonious, magical centre (the yellow "sea") which has huge mountain ranges. There are also eight petals for the eight inner kingdoms with their eight kings.

The lotus in Buddhism (and other religions out of India) is representative of the Eight Fold Path, and various other interpretations involving the number eight (directions, etc.). Buddha sits in the centre and holds things together. There's also a Mount Meru in the centre which serves as the world's axis.

I'm not entirely sure how the four outer kingdoms fit in, going by the above image, there probably is some exotic symbolism for the corners.
Some Eastern animal symbolism which has crept into Buddhism is also present in Juuni Kokuki. For example, all life is hatched from ranka, eggs which grow on trees. Compare this with the following image of Buddha being hatched from a "cosmic egg":

FWIW, Korean history has its own Three Kingdoms.


text:
Was Chiyo's real father ever shown?
In Azumanga Daioh, Osaka sometimes dreams about Chiyo's father. In her dreams, he's a strange being voiced by Wakamoto Norio, capable of levitation and speaking in English, yet he claims to be a cat.

Is Chiyo's real father ever shown, or is this strange "cat" the only reference to him in the series?

Her father was never really shown. However, they are at least alive, as Chiyo talks to them when she comes home once.

According here,

The whereabouts and identity of Chiyo's real father, (and mother for that matter) are unknown. (It shown in the anime that they are alive, and in the manga Chiyo is seen waking her parents up at her house, but they are never seen or heard)


text:
Why is Train Heartnet called Black Cat?
The main character of Black Cat, Train Heartnet, is called Black Cat. Where did that name come from? Is it a reference to him being an assassin and, as such, being "bad luck" for people whose paths he crosses?

He called himself Black Cat because he brings misfortune. He also said to his victims I have come to deliver some bad luck before he kills them.
The motive of the bad luck also is shown in his number (13) and his birthday (13.4.; 13 => number of bad luck in western countries, while the four is the number for bad luck in Japan). Also his name has 13 characters.

According here,

Train's underground name is "Black Cat" because of the misfortune that lies in his wake. He always says to his target "I have come to deliver some bad luck" before killing them and he always completes a mission with 100% accuracy, without remorse.


text:
What is a "Three-Dimensional Maneuver"?
Many times in Attack on Titan, the various soldiers mention something called "three-dimensional maneuvering", which appears to be an effective strategy for the battles with the Titans. At the end of chapter 3, there is a "rough explanation" about it:

However, it doesn't really explain what three-dimensional maneuvering is, and the manga doesn't seem to show very well what the soldiers are doing when they perform these maneuvers. Logic would dictate that a three-dimensional maneuver can be any maneuver since movement in the real world is in three dimensions. However, this term seems to mean something specific.
What is a "three-dimensional maneuver", and how is it special or effective against the Titans?

See also: How does the 3D maneuver gear work?

Yeah, it would be more accurate to call it a three-axis attack, as they are attacking on the X-Y-Z axis of movement, as opposed to height/width/depth.      Now, if only one could explain these 4D rides....as the 4th dimension is time........and they are quite short >.<

According to what is shown in Episode 3, Three-Dimensional Maneuvering is indeed being able to move in all three axes. We, normally, are able to move two-dimensionally, meaning that we move along a horizontal plane. The gear introduces a vertical axis, making it possible for humans to move to a desired height as well.

As to the advantages it might provide in fighting Titans, besides the ones Rinzwind says in his answer (avoid falling rubble and the like; and also, to make people move a lot faster), I guess the most evident one would be the fact that people do not need to fight at a height that only reaches a Titan's feet or legs and being able to rise enough to be able to attack them where it might do some actual damage. From the Attacks on Titan episodes I've seen so far (3 episodes), humans always go for the neck, meaning that this gear allows them to strike on more (presumably) vulnerable spots.

Forward-backward is 1 dimension (line)
Left-right is 2 dimensions (square)
Up-down is 3 dimensions (cube)

From what I remember in the 1st episode of the anime (I have not read the manga, sorry): several soldiers jumped from their horses into the trees using cables. That would be 3 dimensions. Since staying on the horse would have been 2 dimensional.
About effectiveness: it might be a bit early to answer but throwing in a few cents... I would guess that since Titans are so large they probably are tough but not quick. So Titans can easily destroy walls, houses, or trees as seen in episode 1 and the soldiers would need to run around these, making attacking less effective (and more dangerous) since most of the time they would be avoiding rubble and falling objects.
So getting into the air might be a lot more effective. I imagine they would use those cables to try and pin a Titan down and make it fall down.

Yeah, though I think you're right. Based on the equipment and all, I think three-dimensional maneuvering is ascension. Titans have to be killed in a specific way which requires climbing them, so this makes sense.


text:
How far into the manga did the Kimi ni Todoke anime reach?
Since the Kimi ni Todoke manga is still running, and the anime ended in 2011, it's safe to assume that the anime didn't adapt everything. However, I know that a lot of it was adapted reasonably faithfully, and I'd rather avoid rereading things which were part of the anime.
What manga chapter corresponds to the end of the second season of the anime? Also, are there any story arcs which were omitted from the anime up to that point?

The Kimi ni Todoke anime starts at Chapter 1 and covers up to (Vol. 7) Chapter 27 or the first season. The second season technically ends at (Vol. 11) Chapter 43 of the manga, since Chapter 44 is a recap from Kazehaya's point of view. Their first date takes place in Chapter 46, but it's a bit different compared to final scene of Kimi ni Todoke 2nd Season.
The anime stays pretty faithful to the manga so nothing major was left out. I believe they ended it here, because there wasn't enough material to adapt to another season. So if you wanted to continue where the 2nd Season left off, you should start with Chapter 44/45.

There seems to be a general consensus on the internet that nothing major (on the level of chapters or story arcs) was cut out of the anime, so  this answer is probably as complete as it can be.

Does both season restarts from chapter 1? Your wording is confusing.


text:
Why does Konata call Kagami Kagamin?
Every now and then, Konata calls Kagami Kagamin. Why? Does this change the meaning of the name?

It's just a suffix that makes the name a little more cute, it's roughly the same as having a friend called, I don't know, Sam, and calling him "Sammy".
It is also similar to adding "-chan" to the name. I guess Konata does that partly to annoy Kagami a little.
In case you're wondering, the name Kagami means "mirror".

Thanks :) Are you aware of other examples beside Kagamin? Could, say, Hikari become Hikarin? (There's actually an episode where Tsukasa offers Kyou-chan as a nickname for her sister. Kagami doesn't like it and asks Kona-chan to call her Kagami-sama instead.)

As far as I know, one kanji character read as Kyou means demon.

Tsukasa suggests Kyou since it can also mean mirror. Konata agrees with her on Kyou since it can mean both powerful, and with a minor change, evil.

@coleopterist, yea, though "Kagami-sama" didn't last long after Konata actually started calling her so :P As for other examples, unfortunately I don't know. I guess it might be different for every specific name, since some names probably can change their meaning if you add -n to them. I'm not sure though.

@coleopterist for another example Akari in Yuruyuri is occasionally interchanged with Akarin.

Late to this party, but IIRC, Hiyori Tamura is called Hiyorin by Konata. As one more example, in Ro Kyu Bu, Maho forms several nicknames by adding -n (Tomoka becomes Mokkan, Airi becomes Airin, Subaru becomes Subarun, etc.)

@coleopterist, in Azumanga Daioh. Kimura sensei calls himself Kimurin. He also calls Kaori Kaorin.

In KareKano: Yukino -> Yukinon


text:
Is there symbolism behind the language choices in Bleach?
In Bleach, different languages are used by or to represent different groups. For example, the Bount spells are all in German. Many of the terms referring to/for Hollows are Spanish (e.g. Hueco Mundo, Las Noches). "Pluses" (整 (プラス)) is also an English word, or based on one. Is there any symbolism behind the languages used? For example, "pluses" are benign spirits in the human world while both Hollows and Bounts are bad. Does this have a historical or cultural coincidence or were these just randomly chosen languages?

The reason why the author uses the different languages with different groups is because he feels that will attach uniqueness to that group. In one of his interviews I have read, he stresses that for him, characters are very important and he draws the characters first.
In his interview in Germany, when he was asked the same question he replied as below

"As for the Arrancar, I think that Spanish sounds very passionate and
  a little erotic, so it matches their wild lifestyle. German sounds
  cold, harsh and methodic, something that matches the straight-forward
  methods of the Quincys. I would also like to use French at some point,
  because it sounds very elegant. But I can't figure out a good way to
  include it into the story."

So I believe, as I said before, that it is to associate some sort of uniqueness to the characters belonging to a particular group.

Yes i agree. And moreover use of these dialects adds another mysterious aspect into the origin of these different groups and denominations. Quincies and Bounts are more german oriented. Arrancars have more latin hispanic or spanish dialect. That is why i always felt that Chad had some connection to Hollows because of his Abuelo story and his attack names. Shinigamis as a whole are deeply connected to Japanaese culture and dialect.