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Why does Itoshiki-sensei always wear a kimono?
Itoshiki-sensei is always seen wearing a kimono whereever he is, except in episode six when he is in his hometown, wearing a shirt, but after that he change his clothes to a kimono again.

The show uses a lot of traditional Japanese cultural imagery, including the characters' clothes. Wikipedia says the style is supposed to be taken from Showa period (most probably 1926~1989 years, less likely 1312~1317).
It's a comedy and satire show, so naturally, the main protagonist would wear something noticeable as a traditional kimono. But because characters are usually seen in modern environment, things like this keep us from forgetting the older-timey setting.

The Shōwa period (昭和時代 Shōwa jidai?, potentially "period of enlightened peace/harmony" or "period of radiant Japan"), or Shōwa era, is the period of Japanese history corresponding to the reign of the Shōwa Emperor, Hirohito, from December 25, 1926, through January 7, 1989.[1] Don't know how you got the 1300s...

I cite the first paragraph from Wikipedia in my comment.

lol Willipedia?

There's one episode (can't recall the number off of my head) where Itoshiki-Sensei exclaims that he's a "Bona-fide Japanese" (in one of the subbed translations I was watching) and it's possible he's not really fond of westernized shirts/clothes that much.

But he does wear them at home. Gotta be a reason why.


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Why was Yui's Heart the only SAO item to work in Alfheim Online?
When Kirito enters Alfheim Online and notices his stats are from SAO, he quickly scrolls through the list of bugged items looking for Yui's Heart. He found it but it was renamed to something else, and when he used it, Yui appeared.
Yui's Heart was a very unique item in SAO as it was created from what Kirito could save of Yui after she was deleted. Since REC Progress made Alfheim Online based off of SAO, it would explain how all of Kirito's SAO items were bugged but Yui's heart remained and was renamed.
Why was Yui's Heart, the most unique item in SAO, the only SAO item in Kirito's inventory which wasn't bugged?

IIRC, Kirito said something about storing Yui in his local  memory. But that may have nothing to do with it.

@Mysticial he was referring to storing Yui in his NervGear's memory should SAO be cleared that way he and Asuna could be with Yui in the real world

I'm going to answer this from a programmer's perspective.
When writing a video game, everything is built in layers, starting with simple IO (mouse, keyboard, sound, video), then a physics engine is integrated, and then base game mechanics added.
Finally, the game itself is written on top of all this software.
All of Kirito's items would be part of the SAO game itself, and would be unrecognized item codes in another game.
However, Yui is a more integral part of the game engine, her program would exist in a earlier layer of the game. When the game was stripped down from SAO in order to make ALfheim, Yui's layer would have been left intact, allowing her to exist.
It is the same with Kirito's stats, they are more integral than the game items, and are programmed first.
(The fact that his stats transferred actually shows how sloppy & lazy of a rewrite ALfheim was)
Side note: In a game as advanced as SAO or ALfheim, it is possible that items are created as needed by the engine (the Cardinal), every game would have its own set of items, with unique IDs.

The ALO system categorized her ("MHCP001" in the menu) as a Navigation Pixie, a pseudo-character program for user support, which is similar to her function in SAO, as a "Mental Health - Counseling Program." Since ALO is based of SAO as a base, it's more then likely it recognizes Yui as a valid program type like a program recognizes if it can open valid file types.

This may be an hypothesis of mine, but the core of Alfheim Online, is the one of SAO. Yui was part of the core of SAO, or rather an auxiliary program of the core. That's why Yui was able to be restored in Alfheim. The other items probably were items from SAO only, which means are more than records than components of the core, and that's why they don't work.
Besides, plot-wise is much better that for a new adventure, you have to start from 0. It is not the level, or the items that makes the player, but the player's skill as a gamer. (Kirito's is very high, as it's seemed)

I don't think there's any way to confirm exactly why Yui's Heart is the only item to work in Alfhiem but what I believe is the reason is that Yui's Heart is an Item which holds information to give information to and initialize a program, now since Alfhiem is more or less created from SAO the program is likely to be carried over.
Whereas the rest of the item's in Kirito's inv simply don't match the variables etc of the item's in Alfhiem.

I think it's because the ALO was a copy of SAO but with some different function. As you know all the basics of the game were same like movement id creation but with more races than SAO. The level upgrading and loot system were same too but that doesn't prove why Kirito's other skill were bugged so here's why SAO was a game that was not related to reality and but ALO it was mentioned that your game physical ability would depend on your real ability so kirito didn't got his other skills because he didn't have that ability in reality but in battle of ALO we've seen kirito use his duel weild skill. Kirito was able to use that skill because he practised it once with his sister [causin].
Now back to the topic why Yui wasn't bugged its because she was a part of SAO's basic programming code but she was just modified just like the monsters they didn't rewrite the programming code of monster's or Yui because that would require lot of time.

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What is this manga about a high school class that turns into a kingdom?
It starts with a group of high schoolers in a room being made into a kingdom, where each day a new king or queen is chosen, along with two nobles and the rest as commoners, the nobles and commoners have to obey all that the king or queen of the days demands, commoners also have to obey the nobles.
Does anyone know what this manga is?

I upvoted your question because I didn't think the downvote was necessary, but could you please add a bit more detail to your question. (if you can) :)

I believe it is Oukoku Game.

Synopsis from mangaupdates (emphasis mine):

At the end of Meiji Restoration, a girl saint was crucified and burnt alive under persecution.
A century later, Katori and six childhood friends are summoned to her world beyond the nirvana, where they receive the Great Commission: Build a kingdom, and make disciples of all nations.
At every midnight, each of them are randomly given a role out of King/Queen, Noble, and Peasants. As the lowly must obey a higher-up in the hierarchy, can they fight and defeat other nations to conquer the world--before infighting brought up by their own hidden desires breaks them apart?

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What is this manga about two students who speak to each other through a window?
The manga is about a girl who sits in the bench in classroom near the window and a random student shows up outside at the other side of the window and starts talking to her. Every now and then he shows up and talks to her and she starts to develop feelings for him. One day he stops showing up and she realized he was in the hospital. She goes there to meet him and they hug or something. He was like really ill and he left the hospital every day to see her near the window. They end up together at the end.
I am almost sure it is one-shot manga, definitely shoujo, school-life. I've read it few years ago, It's not really a new manga. The art is really pretty ^^. I know the main girl character has black hair.
I would be so happy if someone can recognize that manga and tell me the name. I'm kind of desperate. Thanks! <3

Currently your question does not satisfy the guidelines for "identification-request" question. Please consider adding some details to your question, such as (but not limited to) one or more of the following: whether this manga was a one-shot, serial, standalone work? When and where did you last read it? What genre was it (shoujo, shounen, seinin, jousei, etc.)?

I almost sure it is one-shot manga, definitely shoujo, school-life. I've read it few years ago, It's not really a new manga. The art is really pretty ^^ I know the main girl character has black hair.

Please edit your question to include these details.

I have been searching for this manga too and I hope it's the same manga you were searching for.
The name of the manga is Shuu 7. The manga consists of 4 one-shot stories and the story you are looking for is the third one.

3) Koi no Kajitsu (Fruit of Love)
Yuzuhara had to quit the track and field team due to an injury and is down because of that...then one day Tooda Shuuhei pops in at the window where she sits and asks her to date him...although shocked Yuzuhara agrees him to see at her window seat for a month until her seat changes...but on the last day before her seat changes Shuuhei doesn't turn up...


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Where is the fishing scene in My Neighbour Totoro?
On the box for the DVD and Blu-ray versions of My Neighbour Totoro, there is a picture of the characters from the film fishing with Mei catching a crab. We love the image but cannot find the scene in the movie. Where does this scene come from?

Anyone planning a trip to the Ghibli Museum soon?

I may have the answer. It appears that this was never a scene that actually occurred in the movie at all in My Neighbour Totoro (The Movie). It was actually.....

A promotional art for the movie My Neighbour Totoro

I came to the conclusion when I watched the movie myself three times for clarification and asked some of my friends who helped me research a bit.

i have no idea about this but maybe it must part of extended version for dvd only .

Yeah I wasn't sure about this ever. I actually haven't watched My Neighbour Totoro the movie before. I was watching it with my friends a couple days ago to try find out the answer for this question.

So strange, you would think there would be some reference to this somewhere online. My DVD and blue ray box set does not have this scene in it anywhere, even in the extras except on the front cover of the box

I haven't got the DVD box set, When I watched it I ended up just streaming it online. But I did eventually end up buying a digital copy. This question stumped me because I can't find anything of use to add to my answer due to limited information.


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Why do Aria and Suzu always play the drum and whistle?
When Shino explains the school's rules, Aria and Suzu always play a drum and whistle. Why is that? Is this a reference to anything? Or is it just a Seitokai Yakuindomo thing?

no reason. it's a direction.
The measure is "three-three-seven hand clap"(san-san-nana-byoushi in Japanese).
There is no element that indicates the relevance of this direction in "Seitokai Yakuindomo".

What do you mean by "direction"?

@nhahtdh Director found it funny. Or are you one of those people that think there is deeper meaning behind everything?

@Euphoric: To me, it's unclear what the word "direction" means in this answer (before I can even ponder about whether there is a deeper meaning in this). And I don't think this answer is talking about the director's direction.


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What anime is this nosebleed gif from?

What anime is this gif from? Google reverse search turn nothing up.
Thanks in advance.

Based on various image search techniques such as Google & Bing and searching through numberous websites it seems you may be looking for Tsukimi Kurashita from (Princess Jellyfish).

Tsukimi is an otaku girl who lives in Tokyo and wants to be an illustrator. Influenced by her late mother, she has a love for all kinds of jellyfish and is quite knowledgeable about them. She is the only resident of Amamizukan who knows Kuranosuke's true gender. Like the other Amars, she has a fear of stylish people and will usually petrify in their presence.

She appears in episode 4 when she visits the aquarium.


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Is it unusual for mangas to be in colour?
I have been reading some mangas lately and they seem to be commonly done in black and white rather than colour. Also, according to the community at other websites such as comicvine.com, they are usually not in colour.
I came across this when I was wondering if a comic book would be an equivalent to a manga and it made me wonder whether it would be unusual for a manga to be done in colour.

Related Question: why do manwha more oftenly have colored pages then manga


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Are the moon and the sun alive?
In Soul Eater, the sun and the moon seem to have a face and sometimes laugh.
Are they alive or is it just their design?
The Sun and the Moon:

there will probably be no evidence whatsoever to be found in the anime / manga... Maybe there is a word of god, and that's a big maybe, the rest will be speculations.

It's probably just a kind of visual gag only anime is capable of. Can't annoy readers enough with those laughing celestial bodies in manga :p

It's stated somewhere by the manga-ka that it is to symbolize the mood of the protagonist as in when they go into battle and/or the such.

the character do recognize the Sun at least. BlackStar at one point in the anime is mocking the Sun in the afternoon being unable to keep it's eyes open

Soul Eater Not! is airing right now and we see the characters from Soul Eater there (including the two guys in question), so maybe this time there'll be a definite answer.

Soul Eater Not is more of a side dish so I doubt they will ever go into the sun/moon thing.

Can confirm Soul Eater Not didn't discuss this at all, at least the animated version

A somewhat theoretical answer:
Living things display the 7 characteristics of life - which are:

Movement
Respiration
Sensitivity
Growth
Reproduction
Excretion
Nutrition

They definetly exhibit movement and respiration

And they are sensitive to conditions of the atmosphere

They do not appear to grow, but this could be because they are adult.
They do not appear to reproduce.
They excrete light onto the world.
The moon may be eating something.

If the sun and moon's reproduction properties are anything like our own, which they are modelled off, they are non-existant. Stars and planets are formed - a non-biological formation without passing on any genetic information
This, combined with the fact that many of the other characteristics are assuming a lot, can bring us to the conclusion that they are not living,
Although, having said that, there are a couple rare articles around the web that claim stars are living. Example
So I guess you can justify it to be either true or false, whichever you would prefer :)

Stars are poop?

plants don't poop and they're alive

If you think of a lost petal as their excrement then... it would?

many character on anime didn't show Growth, Reproduction, Excretion, or Nutrition, but they're alive. They're usually either gods or mythical beast.

Plants excrete oxygen guys... Not poop!


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Why wasn't there an OP for Shinobu Time?
Each of the arcs of the Monogatari series through the end of Second Season (Hitagi Crab, Mayoi Snail, ..., Hitagi End) has had an OP theme sung by the arc's heroine1, save for Shinobu Time (i.e. Onimonogatari), which did not have an OP theme at all.
What gives? Shinobu's voice actress is Maaya Sakamoto, who is probably the most talented singer out of the entire Monogatari cast! Why didn't she sing an OP for Shinobu's arc?

1 Well, the OP for Hitagi End (Koimonogatari) was sung by both Kaiki and Senjougahara, but I think we can agree that they were both the heroines of that arc.

Just for more info, Beside being voice actress and singer, Maaya Sakamoto also songwriter and actress.

Kaiki as Heroine. I like the idea.

Well, it turns out that Maaya Sakamoto doesn't like mixing her career as a singer with her career as a voice actress, as she pointed out in an interview with director Masaaki Oosumi1:

Sakamoto: [laughter] [...] I'm old-fashioned - I don't want my work as a voice actress to get mixed up with my singing.
—What exactly do you mean by that?
Sakamoto: To me, my job as a singer is not so much a job, as it is a way of expressing myself - which is why I should write my own lyrics and sing under my own name. That's why, as a rule, I don't sing character songs.

Of course, all the OP songs for the Monogatari series are character songs in the usual sense (e.g. Nadeko, rather than Kana Hanazawa, is listed as the singer for "Mousou Express"), and so it makes sense that Maaya Sakamoto wouldn't sing an OP for Shinobu's arc.
Note that there are shows for which Maaya Sakamoto has both sung an OP/ED and voice-acted a character, e.g. RahXephon - but in these cases, it appears that she is credited as herself, rather than as her character. (This is certainly the case for RahXephon's OP "Hemisphere"; I imagine it is also the case for the other anime in which this occurs, but I haven't checked.)

All that said, the Blu-ray version of Second Season does, in fact, have a minute-long opening segment for Shinobu Time. But it's set to the song "white lies", which is not sung by Maaya Sakamoto - it's a non-vocal piece, aside from some choral chanting. (Though I should like to mention that it's an incredible song in its own right, especially if you listen to the full 3'23" version.)

1 To find the bit I've translated here, Ctrl+F for 私も古い考え方.

In kizumonogatari we got a french song (Etoile Et Toi) at the end credits which was sung by an adult and later on by a child (3rd movie), which gives us the overall journey of Kiss-shot (shinobu) from shrinking into a child and growing back into a fully grown adult (especially the melons).
Also, it is said that she came from a foreign country (but was not stated which country it was), and I guess that explains why her hair is blond in the first place. She also loves eating donuts-- I mean french people love pastries, but dunno lol.
Overall, even though we didn't get a song sung by her VA, it is still nice that we got a wonderful french song that made kizumonogatari so beautiful. I guess shinobu herself can't sing japanese that's why she sung in french. ;-;


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Why does Yukio Okumura sacrifice Rin?
Title says it all: why does Yukio sacrifice Rin? It was in the last couple episodes, when Yukio became the Paladin.

Because Okumura was told by his grandpa that if they destroy "the other world", he and his brother can turn back to human. And to open the gate, they need a lot of blood of the devil, so he sacrifice Rin. This is revealed in episode 22.

Yukio didn't know that Rin was going to be sacrificed. As you can see in the second last episode of Season 1, Yukio was surprised that Rin's blood was going and he had said yes because he wanted to protect Rin by turning him back into a human, but when he saw that Rin was going to die, he stepped in.

authors: 酒店前台真实图片大全持之以恒_前台打电话图片马到成功


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Lost name of multi book series about a girl knight and a bipolar guy
I'm trying to remember the name of a multi-volume story. Each volume was perhaps 20-25cm x 10cm x 3cm thick, perhaps 120 pages?

Not in colour - black/white line drawing with some cross hatch shading (not grey scale shading in the rubbed style).
Story has a girl in a large waterproof underwater + warrior suit, like a knight but bulbous and big.
She has some sort of "magical" abilities, I think. Not all that sure about this bit.
She visits castles and keeps, helps people with problems, quests, etc.
Story has a flying ship thing run by a manic-depressive (bipolar) guy who dresses like a dandy.
This guy also has a maid/cook girl with an odd disease - she has holes and missing limbs, I think it's called "Null disease". Other people across the lands have it as well.
Knight girl meets up with flying ship guy.

I remember the books from about 12 years ago, maybe? Not sure when they were written. I also remember them being in English AND left-top-right reading, not right-to-left style.

found it!
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Aqua-Knight-v-Yukito-Kishiro/dp/1569316341/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1398461089&sr=8-1&keywords=aqua+knight
Aqua Knight - Yukito Kishiro

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Need Help Identifying 90s Ninja Anime
I remember watching an anime in Japan in the 90s. It was ninja themed, where I believe the protagonist was a rather smaller ninja and one of his move was to make a "ball" using his palm and slamming it directly against an enemy. Anyone happen to know what the name of this anime is?


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What is the name of anime about warrior that has to collect crystal sword, ball, mirror?
I am completely sure that I watched this anime before 2006, and I'm quite sure that I watched it before 2003, probably around 2000. Those were strange days when the cable TV showed amines and movies that you can find now (almost).
I'm not sure which country the anime is from, but the warrior did look somewhat like a samurai.
I watched at least 3 episodes, and in each episode, the warrior found an object which gave him a new ability.

In the first episode, he got a sword after defeating a boss (something that looked like Jabba the Hutt from Star Wars, but motorized like a rocker). He gained the ability to change his size and became big. He also found a girl in the first episode.
In the second episode, I remember them walking in some woods and some people were tailing them. After that, they met the second boss and he defeated him. Both became big in size as they were fighting. The boss had a yellow armor and he had a spear (?). The warrior received a mirror after defeating the 2nd boss.
In the third episode, I vividly remember some of his friends escaping around the end of the episode. The guy was in Egypt and 2 sphinxes started to move and fight him, but he and the girl started to sink in quicksand, and that's the end of the episode. In this episode, they were supposed to acquire the crystal sphere.

It would be great if someone can help with name, year, country or anything.

Can you tell us When you watched this? This could help narrow down the time period.

The style looked very old it looked before 2000, probably something like 1995-1998. But not 70s or even early 80 although I wouldn't know for sure.

No, what I'm asking is when you watched it. What was the year (approximately) when you saw this on TV. If for instance you saw it in 2000, we'll know that it can't be a 2001 anime ... etc.

100% before 2006, quite quite(97%) sure before 2003, probably around 2000

FYI, the sword / jewel / mirror are the three Imperial Regalia of Japan, so they are a recurring thematic element across multiple anime. You might like to consult this revision of the Wikipedia article, which contains a list of pop culture references to the Regalia. See also this TVTropes page, section "Imperial Regalia".

@senshin I assume you meant to link to Requisite Royal Regalia for the TV Tropes link.

@Krazer Whoops. I actually meant to link to Public Domain Artifact.

In that case, it sounds like Yu-Yu-Hakusho.

It is not Yu-Yu-Hakusho, also I remembered that the theme seemed a little post-apocalyptic, that is why the warrior was defeating these bosses I think.

I think the anime might be as obscure as Lazenca although I managed to find this one recently.

Also I remembered that the clothing of the main characher(the warrior) was mostly gray. And it looked traditionally eastern. I can't tell if it was Korean, Japanese or Chinese, or ant other.

There is an anime that fits your description. It's called Master Mosquiton 99. The third episode takes place in egypt. In this episode at least one sphinx comes to life. It's also about defeating a boss in every episode and collecting treasure that has magic powers. It originally aired from 1997 to 1998.
http://en.anisearch.com/anime/2030,master-mosquiton-99


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Is a talisman still usable if the Tree of Genesis is destroyed?
In Zetsuen no Tempest we encounter Hakaze bestowing talismans that make you a substitute mage/magician, although this has some limits due to the fact that unlike a real mage, it eventually becomes unusable, and requires a blessing of some type from Hakaze Kusaribe before it can be used.
Because it stores the power of the Tree of Genesis in it, would it still be usuable even after the Tree of Genesis is destroyed? I was thinking that the talismans are almost like batteries and could possibly be used even after the Tree of Genesis is destroyed.

No, the talismans will not work.
It's stated at the end of the story that all magic in the world disappeared along with the Trees.
As for why this happens, it's because of how magic works (described in Chapter 3 of the manga, pages 17-18). When a mage uses magic, their powers are being borrowed directly from a Tree. None of the mages ever have their own magical power.
Basically, talismans are conduits, not batteries. Any magical power that's being stored would still be owned by the Tree of Genesis until it's actually used, with the talisman acting as a conduit between the Tree of Genesis and the person whose skin is touching the talisman.
To give a relatable example: It'd be like if you (the mage) went out and got a refillable Visa card (the talisman) and then put some money (magical power) on it in case of an emergency. The Visa card is "storing" your money, and anyone can use it as long as you're there to sign for it (the mage's voice activation). However, if Visa (the Tree of Genesis) suddenly ceases to exist one day, your Visa card is completely worthless, and all the money it was storing will be gone forever.
This was alluded to near the beginning of the manga, when Hakaze had to ask the Tree of Genesis for power in order to use the talisman to find Aika's killer (chapter 2, page 21 in the manga).
Later (chapter 3, page 18), Hakaze explains that talismans still require voice activation, because the Tree of Genesis won't supply its magical power unless the mage asks for it verbally. It's explained that the main characters are able to use the worn talismans without Hakaze's voice because Hakaze verbally asked the Tree of Genesis for that magical power ahead of time, and then asked for the given power to be activated when the wearer of the talisman invokes it mentally.
So unfortunately for them, the characters of Zetsuen no Tempest won't have the ability to use magic anymore, with or without talismans.


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Did Itachi know that Shisui had a Mangekyo Sharingan?
Don't take me for a fool, I know the situation, but I've been watching the fight between Itachi and Sasuke, where he said something like this from the old times: "Come after me, when you will obtain the same eyes as mine, being the third to hold a MS."
He already had the Mangekyo Sharingan, so we can safely assume that he knew the story about his "elders", hence knowing not just about Madara, but Izuna and of course Shisui too. Obviously, he didn't know about Obito/Kakashi, but is this a plot hole, or did Itachi really not know that along with Madara and himself, two others already possessed that kind of Sharingan, making his statement false, since Sasuke would've been at least the fifth person?
(I've written Shisui for purpose in the title, but we don't just have to talk about him.)

It is not a plot hole. And he isn't necessarily wrong. He just meant the third person alive. Of course he knew about Shisui, he had his eye. Of course he knew about Izuna and Madara too since he introduced their story to Sasuke. And he probably knew about other unnamed Uchihas too, if there were any, because as he said the Uchihas were killing their best friends for decades to achieve it. So I can't find any other logical explanation.

I agree with this idea, Though based on how the story progressed, It probably was initially a plot hole, so it was made that there was only 3 alive with the mangekyo. As we learn later, sasuke was the 6th to unlock Mangekyo, though 7th if you count Kakashi., but at the time of saying that, excluding Kakashi  (which is fair as he never used it until Deidara in Shippuden and its also not actually his eye), there were only 2 alive at the time, Itachi himself, and the guy he thinks is Madara.

I believe I understood your question a bit. I will try to elaborate on that.
If you check out the episode of the Nine Tails attacking the Leaf Village, you must have noticed different age groups of various characters. Kakashi, Gai, and Asuma were depicted as teenagers. There is even a clip where Itachi was holding the infant Sasuke on his lap, assuring him that he would always protect him. Itachi was around 10-11 years old. By this, I can conclude that Kakashi was an elder to Itachi.
In your question you stated that:-"Obviously, he[Itachi] didn't know about Obito/Kakashi",I would like to highlight something which could  contradict with your statement. Itachi did know about Kakashi as he was a prodigy in his age. Getting Sharingan after Obito's death made him a source of attraction.
By then, Obito was out of the picture completely [since everyone assumed him to be dead]. At the beginning of the Shippuuden episodes, Itachi called Kakashi, "Copy Ninja", while he fought against him. Now, coming to your question, Itachi couldn't figure out the man behind Tobi's mask. Because of his boastful nature and strong power, Obito made Itachi believe that he was Madara. Obito's calling himself Madara depicts his deceptional and boastful behavior.
With this, I can say that there is no plot hole anywhere.
EDIT
As debal said, both Kakashi and Itachi were in ANBU group.By this we can conclude that both knew each other.
EDIT II
To make it clearer we can list all current know Mangenkyo users and how they have or might have obtained it.
Itachi - It is thought he killed Shisui but did not. Very likely he witnessed Shisui's death. I can think of one scenario but it's just a speculation.

When Itachi saw Shisui for the last time, he had MS activated. I think Shisui used Kotoamatsukami on Itachi and made Itachi to kill Shisui. Itachi can't remember it, 'cause Shisui used Kotoamatsukami, so the victim isn't aware that they're being controlled. That way Itachi got his MS and Shisui wanted him to protect Konoha.

Shisui - Unknown. But seems unlikely he murdered anyone as he showed a great deal of self sacrifice do kill himself rather than have his eyes fall into the wrong hands.
Sasuke - Did kill Itachi and he witnessed his death.
Kakashi - Got his MS after killing Rin;although he came to know about his Mangekyou at later stages
Obito - Saw Kakashi killing Rin;which triggered his MS

both Kakashi and Itachi were part of the anbu and were bound to know about each other

to be honest: May 31 to Jul 12:Itachi loses Uchiha Shisui and gains Mangekyō Sharingan;Jun 09 to Jul 21:
Sasuke masters Great Fireball Technique';Next Day: Uchiha Massacre; so by this, I'd bet that Kakashi didn't know about Itachi's MS(since the shortness of the period), and if I recall well, when they fought each other, around the 80th episode of Naruto, Kakashi was quite speechless when he saw Itachi's sharingan.

oh and btw...I'm quite sure that even Kakashi didn't know about himself,that he holds a MS:))

@Rinneg4n i would like to ask you something......are u trying to tell me that Itachi killed shisui? If yes then i beleive u are wrong.... my updated answer would give you some idea

is it ok if we can base this answer on the anime fillers? The fillers do mention about the life of Kakashi, Itachi and Shisui. And we can see they are all connected.

Maybe Itachi did not want to bring Shisui's MS into the lime light and have people start hunting it down.

This is false. What Itachi says because in The Itachi Story Arc we learn that Fugaku Uchiha, his father, possesses the mangekyou sharing and shows Itachi. Also Itachi tells Sasuke the story of the Izanami when he is reanimated and mentions the existence of many other Uchihas who possessed the mangekyou. Therefore, it must be a plot hole.

I myself think that the third person could have been Madara. Now Itachi had met Madara once or twice and Itachi was very wise. He paid attention to the things the others rarely did, said by the third Hokage when he was revived by Orochimaru. Also, he knew that Madara was the first one to awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan Izuna. He told that to Sasuke in Naruto Shippuden episode 136 or 137.
Note: now we know that masked man was Obito and the real Madara was dead but Itachi didn't at that time. Wise as Itachi was as a planner, Madara was better than him and Madara told Obito that he has to live with the alias 'Madara Uchiha'. As for the people who are saying he knew about Kakashi having the Mangekyo, Kakashi rarely showed his Sharingan. Itachi and Kakashi were also not that close to each other. If I remember correctly, he said you will be the third one alive to have it. Shisui and Izuna were dead and he didn't know about Kakashi's so it would have been Madara.


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What is this anime about people turning into light?
I started watching this anime but I ended up closing the browser without writing it down as I had to leave and the history was cleared. All I remember was there was a high school boy walking along and narrating, and he said something like, "This was the day my world ended." As he said it, everyone around him turned into light and a giant baby started eating the light people, and there was a giant ball of faces. There was a girl with orange or brown hair with a sword who started fighting them, but the guy stopped her and she had to cut him from the shoulder to the hip to attack the monster. Then, when she had cut the giant baby and almost killed it, it turned into a small child and flew away. Then the girl started talking to a light near her or something.
Does anyone know what this anime is?

Shakugan no Shana?

@ABlindSniper- I answered your question. If I'm right don't forget to mark as accepted and upvote if you found it useful. :). Also welcome to Anime and Manga.SE!

I believe the anime you may be describing is Shakugan no Shana. I am pretty sure this is the anime your describing as this takes place in Episode 1 if I am not correct.

The two creatures discover that Yuji can move about in the Fuzetsu, and deducts that he might be a Mystes. Curious about his identity, one of the creatures grabbed Yuji and attempted to devour him... until a blade slices its arms cleanly off. As the gigantic baby doll cries in pain, Yuji finds a girl with blazing-red eyes and hair standing in front of him. Soon, she confronts the creatures in front of her and mercilessly defeats the two. The girl with blazing-red eyes soon ask about Yuji's existence, and like the creatures she defeated, a voice she refers to as "Alastor" assumes that he is a Mystes. Then, she attacks another creature; this time, it is in the form of a woman, and that creature mockingly identifies the girl with blazing-red hair and eyes as the "Flame-haired Burning-eyed Flame Haze of Alastor, 'Flame of Heavens'". As the Flame Haze is about to deliver the final blow, a confused Yuji goes in the way, and is instead attacked by the enemy. Leaving with no choice, the Flame Haze strikes her sword and tears a large gash off Yuji's shoulder, slicing off the enemy's arm in the process. Shocked by the attack he receives, Yuji falls to the ground as a small doll-like figure escapes from the scene.

(Summary of Episode 1 per the wikia since I couldn't remember entirely what happened in episode 1)
Also Yuji Sakai says this quote "That was the day my world ended" which was actually "That was the day my world...changed forever." which happened at the end of the episode. (src)

Shakugan no Shana
Also known as Shana of the Burning Eyes

Synopsis

He had thought his normal days would last forever, until they were ended abruptly by an encounter with a girl with red hair and eyes. He named her Shana.
Not long after he enters high school, Sakai Yuji’s normal days come to an end. He sees something bizarre on his way home: people are frozen in a strange fire, and a monster that looks like a large doll is attacking them. Just when he's about to be killed, a girl in a dark cloak wielding a large sword appears, and slices the monster in half. Although Yuji survives the strange encounter, the girl informs him of a desolate truth: " 'You' don't exist anymore."
She calls herself a Flame Haze who hunts "Guze no Tomogara"; intruders from another world. She explains to him that he is a "Torch", a substitute of Yuji whose “existence” has already been devoured. She also told him that he is a special Torch, "Mystes", which contains a precious item in it. When he looks at his chest, he sees within himself a faint flame, just as she said.
It is in this way that his eternal struggle alongside the girl begins.

Source: AnimeNfo


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Watching order for "Toaru Majutsu no Index" and related anime
I am slowly coming to the end of watching "Toaru Majutsu no Index" anime. There are a few anime series related to that world:

Toaru Majutsu no Index
Toaru Majutsu no Index II
Toaru Kagaku no Railgun
Toaru Kagaku no Railgun S

and some movies. But I am not sure in what order I should watch them. Someone told me that "Railgun" came after "Majutsu no Index" - should I watch "Railgun" first then, or the second season of "Index"? Are there some things that I can miss if I watch them in the wrong order, like not knowing characters that were already introduced?
And if it is Railgun I should watch second, should I watch "Toaru Majutsu no Index II" afterwards, or "Toaru Kagaku no Railgun S"?
Or is it that it really doesn't matter and I can watch both of the "Toaru Majutsu no Index" series before the two "Toaru Kagaku no Railgun" series?

Possible duplicate

@JNat I'd say that one is looking for the connections between the two whereas the other is looking explicitly for a view order - the second answer to that question somewhat answers this, but I expect there's a proper 'canonical' answer to this question and having references (e.g. original broadcast order) wouldn't hurt.

In the question @JNat linked Krazer does indicate when Railgun starts and when abouts in Railgun Index starts, however both answers in that question doesn't indicate the viewing order of the 2nd seasons or the Movie

In universe chronology-wise for the the Accelerator series falls in September (see chapter 5 of the Accelerator manga). Same month as the Tree Diagram Remnant arc and the start of the Kazakiri Hyouka arc.

Having just watched them out of order (accidentally), I highly recommend watching them by order of release date, including the movie.
The original and spin-off series were produced by the same company. (The same team as well I believe) and never aired at the same time.
This makes the recommended order:

Index season 1
Railgun season 1
Index season 2
Index movie
Railgun season 2 (S)
Index season 3
Accelerator season 1
Railgun season 3

Enjoy!

Would appreciate an update on this now that more seasons are out.

Now that we know the release order, i.e. Accelerator was released and Railgun T (3rd season) is being aired, plus some of characters from Accelerator appear later in Railgun T, I suppose we can safely assume that watching these in release order is fine :-) [adding this comment as looks like it became quite popular question here]

The "canonical" order in which to watch Raildex (i.e. production order) is correctly given in Builder_K's answer.

However, there are alternate viewing orders that are also feasible, since Index and Railgun are only loosely coupled to one another. Persons who enjoy Railgun but not Index might wish to watch in the following order:

Index season 1 (episodes 1-9, i.e. to the end of the Deep Blood arc)
Railgun season 1 (all episodes)
Railgun season 2 (all episodes)

Index season 1 up through the Deep Blood arc has almost nothing to do with what happens in Railgun through the end of season 2, aside from

 Index destroying Tree Diagram

but I would suggest watching it anyway to get a feel for the Raildex universe. If you find Index too abominable to bear with, just drop it and start at episode 1 of Railgun season 1 - you won't have missed out on much.
If after finishing Railgun season 2, you want to continue with Index, pick Index season 1 back up wherever you left off; and then watch Index season 2 and the Index movie.

If you like Index but not Railgun, do the following:

Index season 1 (all episodes)
Index season 2 (all episodes)
Index movie

The Index side of things is not dependent on Railgun in any significant way (Saten's first appearance outside Railgun is, I believe, in the movie, but nothing else comes to mind), so you don't need to watch any of Railgun for things to make sense.

User /u/urban287 on reddit proposes an interesting non-conventional viewing order for watching the entire Raildex series:

Railgun season 1
Railgun season 2
Index season 1
Index season 2
Index movie

His reasoning is rather compelling:

Watching the Sister's Arc first in Index absolutely ruins the emotional impact you get from seeing it from Misaka's perspective while providing absolutely no gain. The Sister's Arc is 4 episodes in Index and 14 in Railgun S as such the Railgun S version's enjoyment should clearly take priority, especially considering the fact that it is the primary arc of the entire Railgun series (and arguably the best arc of the entire show).
[...]
The first season of Index is the weakest entry to the series. Index season one is written pretty badly. It does a horrible job explaining the world and what is going on.

Raildex is a situation where the conventional wisdom of "watch it in production order" kind of breaks down because there are actually two parallel productions involved. Since this watching order does still preserve production order within each individual production (i.e. Index and Railgun), I think it works.
If you do watch the series in this order, note that episodes 10-14 of Index season 1 are basically a condensed, crappier version of episodes 2-16 of Railgun season 2. It'll be a bit of a slog to get through, but you should do it anyway, because the Index version shows events from a different character's perspective (Touma's).

This is how i came up with the watch order for "Toaru Majutsu no Index" whole seires:
Index  Season 1   Oct 5, 2008 to Mar 19, 2009
Index tan  2009
Railgun Season 1 Oct 3, 2009 to Mar 20, 2010
MMR + 2 OVA
Index Season 2. Oct 8, 2010 to Apr 1, 2011
Index tan s2  2011
Index Movie Feb 2013 + OVA
Railgun Season 2  Apr 12, 2013 to Sep 27, 2013
MMR S2 + 1 OVA
Index Season 3   Oct 5, 2018 to Apr 5, 2019
Index tan s3  2018 to 2019
Upcoming Railgun Season 3 and Accelerator Series

In other words, release order.


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Is she adult Rika in the final of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai?
In the final scene of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai, we see how the past of Takano changed when she was a child and eventually her parents don't die, then an adult version of Rika appeared.

What does it mean? Can Rika travel through the ages? Is she another version of Rika?

The final is an alternate ending/fragment, where Takano's parents don't die as a result of the "miracle" born from the combinated wills of Rika and her friends. In the original ending, the miracle occurs instead when Takano shoots at Hanyuu in the mountain forest and misses her shot.
The adult version of Rika is most likely Frederica Bernkastel. Her real nature/identity is often questioned and discussed by fans, most notably those who know the series Umineko no Naku Koro ni by the same author; however, a direct and clear link between the Bernkastel from both series is not established.
From a simple Higurashi point of view, at least, Bernkastel is an entity born from Rika's "mature personality" due to her many reincarnations. It is speculated that while Rika is still in the fragment where she won with her friends and live a peaceful life there, Bernkastel was able to become a separate existence that can freely travel between the different fragments (= alternative realities).

Thank you for your answer. I saw Umineko No Naku Koro Ni, but only the anime. So, I didn't know the answers to the arcs...


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Can the scenario for someone's death be written so that there is a possibility of other people dying?
So you can't use the Death Note to kill someone else. If you write something like:

"John Zerto burns himself to death after he killed his boss"

John would simply die of a heart attack so he couldn't kill his boss. But if you would write:

"John Zerto dies after a heart attack after he tried to shoot his boss"

That could work. After 6 minutes and 40 seconds, John would take out his gun and try to shoot his boss. And because there's a chance his boss could survive, it could possibly work. So what do you think? Could this work?

Honestly, this question deserves a better title.

I don't think I understand the question that much.

@user6399: I edited your title to make it better - if I've changed the intent of the question somehow, feel free to edit it back in. Welcome to the Anime/Manga SE.

@Maroon thx for changing the title.

I remember reading something about an (allegedly?) canonical example where two people were directed to go to a specific, remote location where it was unlikely anyone else would be around, at the same time.  One would die from suicide by shooting himself, the other would die from being hit by a stray bullet (not attributed to anyone) at the same time.  And it worked. Implying the suicide victim ended up "killing" the other person, albeit coincidentally/accidentally.  Though I can't seem to find this at the moment, so maybe I'm imagining something or am recalling someone relaying fan-fiction.

No, the Death Note is precisely for killing someone else. Using a method like "John Zerto burns himself to death after killing his boss." could work since it's within the realm of possibility that John Zerto could kill his boss and that John Zerto could burn himself to death afterwards.
The 6:40 rule applies to if you've begun to write someone's name down in the Death Note, but have not specified how or when they will die. If you don't specify the details within 6:40 the person who's name you have written down will die of a heart attack after 40 seconds.
There aren't any rules against using someone to kill someone else in the Death Note. So this is an entirely possible scenario. If you go into specifics, e.g. John kills his boss with a gun, but it's not possible for John to obtain a gun, John will simply die of a heart attack.

There's a different rule that says that the Death Note cannot be used to kill people whose name was not written. It's possible to write "John killed his boss, Doe, and committed suicide" That would work, because his boss's name is written as well. If a death cause results in direct deaths of individuals not written in the death note, the target will die of a heart attack.

If not for the rule that Madara Uchiha mentions, Light could have killed L by writing "Kanzo Mogi (or whoever) flips out and kills the person he knows as L, then shoots himself in the head". It would get around the necessity of knowing a person's name and face, and make the plot really boring.

Rule X (I think) specific says

Whether the cause of the individual's death is either a suicide or
accident, if the death leads to the death of more than the intended,
the person will simply die of a heart attack. This is to ensure that
other lives are not influenced.

So if written in the Deah Note "John Zerto burns himself to death after he killed his boss" it won't be possible.
However, the second example you gave "John Zerto dies after a heart attack after he tried to shoot his boss" might be possible since a gunshot don't necessarily kill people so if he has a gun (because if he can't get one he will die of a heart attack) the DN will make John Zerto shot his boss in a way he won't be killed, but if it's not possible to the boss the got shot and not get killed like he have bad health and will be dead the DN will prevent John to shoot his boss and will die of a heart attack.
And this only for the difference since it is not written that he shot his boss to kill him just shot to shoot him, the DN talked about other deaths, not injures.

Even though only one name is written in the Death Note, if it
  influences and causes other humans that are not written in it to die,
  the victim’s cause of death will be a heart attack

There are three possibilities and chosing between them is speculation. None kill the boss.  As Madara said, you could merely include the name of the Boss to skirt this.  Lets say the boss, therefore, goes by the identifier B to avoid this. Lets say John Zerto is his bodyguard so his ability to obtain a gun or find B is trivial.
If you say "John Zerto dies of burns after killing B by shooting him" then John will just die of a heart attack.
If you say "John Zerto dies of burns after shooting B" then either John will just die of a heart attack or he will non-fatally shoot B before burning to death. I believe it is the former.
If you say "John Zerto dies of burns after trying to kill B by shooting him" then either John will just die of a heart attack, he will non-fatally shoot B, or he will attempt to shoot B but will inevitably miss every shot (or won't get any off). Of course he burns to death after either of the last two options. I believe it is the first again but this is speculation.
The only thing I know is that any of these options result in John Zerto dying and B living.  I include here the possibility that B could be maimed but this can be logically excluded by assuming Kira is smarter than you.  If he could mentally disable L by having a soldier non-fatally shooting him in the head, he would have.  He would not have missed this possibility and, therefore, it does not exist.  We can extend this to assume that extreme phyisical harm is prevented.
Note that this all must mean the universe of Death Note is either deterministic to some degree or the death note is intellegently moderated.  The book/death itself knows if action A will result in someone else's immediate death or someone makes that call each time looking at the situation.

"if he could mentally disable L by having a soldier non-fatalling shooting him" - I'm not completely sure I agree with this for now, but good point!

@Maroon L was a threat to him and that would eliminate the threat. This clever but cruel solution seems completely within his character traits.  People can survive the surgical removal of large portions of the brain and that is exactly what that would be if the death note guarentee's that he would not die from the wound.


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Death Note: Old age as cause of death?
If you would write something like: "Bob Hyrule dies of old age", would this work?

Per "Can I increase my lifespan" question: NO!.

In the Death Note, you cannot set the death date longer than the
  victim’s original life span. Even if the victim’s death is set in the
  Death Note beyond his/her original life span, the victim will die
  before the set time.

The only reasonable way for him to die of old age would be if you want him to die of old age within 23 days. This requires him to be very old already.

But the Death Note can only operate within 23 days (in the human
  calendar). This is called the 23-day rule.

If that is the case, I'm not sure how idiopathic death from old age would present but there doesn't seem to be anything to prevent that "cause".

if you write: john zeruo dies from [blank] disease, he would live over 23 days.

@user6399 He would not. The person will always die within 40 seconds, unless you specify a time and date. So in  your case, the person will die from [blank] disease within 40 seconds, except if it is not possible for the victim to get a vital disease within 40 seconds. Then he would just die from a heart attack, because the conditions were impossible. It would be the same as writing "Person dies from accident", since you didn't specify a date, it will be in exactly 40 seconds of writing.

Please note (who ever downvoted) that this answer is not contradicted by Rule XXVII. Old age is not an illness.

but if the person is destined to die from old age, wouldn't that work? @Peter Raeves

No, for two reasons:
1) "Old age" is not a cause of death. "Dying of old age" indicates when a person dies from some natural cause.
2) Following #1, you can only specify when a person will die if it's within 23 days.

Rule XXVII
If you write, "die of disease" for the cause of death, but only write a specific time of death without the actual name of disease, the human will die from an adequate disease. But the Death Note can only operate within 23 days (in the human calendar).
This is called the 23-day rule.

However, the very next rule makes it clear that it's possible to write a cause of death which allows the victim to live much longer than 23 days.

Rule XXVIII
If you write, "die of disease" like before with a specific disease’s name, but without a specific time, if it takes more than 24 days for the human to die the 23-day rule will not take effect and the human will die at an adequate time depending on the disease.

Therefore, you could write someone's name in the Death Note, with the cause of death being a disease that takes decades to develop. This would essentially make the victim immune to the Death Note, while still allowing them to live out a long life (assuming they would have lived a long life anyways).
Keep in mind that this cannot be used to extend someone's life, as the victim will still die at the end of their original lifespan.

Rule LVII
In the Death Note, you cannot set the death date longer than the victim’s original life-span. Even if the victim’s death is set in the Death Note beyond his/her original life-span, the victim will die before the set time.

I just realized a way Light could've guaranteed his safety with this rule, or at least his safety from other death notes and Ryuk. Suppose Light ordered Mikami to write his cause of death to be "rickets" or "huntington's disease" which both take decades upon decades to kill their victims and can even last into people's elderly years in his notebook. This means he would've have an immunity from death of notebook users and shinagamies. this also meant light would know is approximate time he had before death. This could've lead him to secure life (assuming he beat Near in the final showdown) for a very long time and even outsmarting Ryuk, because would never be able to kill him. even if he felt that he needed to die.


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Need help on finding the most depressing anime I've ever seen
Some years ago I found this really great depressing anime and I cannot recall it's name. It was built as a series of stories, with each being independent from the rest. Not like arcs but actual independent stories. And one of those stories has ever since stayed with me as the the most depressing thing that I've ever saw.
It was a true story of a young Japanese novelist who won the newcomer award in Japan (or something along those lines). It basically talked about his life's ups and downs and ended in his suicide.
In general the theme there was very dark and well suicidal, but I loved it for that. If I remember correctly it was set in the post WW2 era Japan.
One other thing I remember that the last story in the series was set in medieval Japan, was quite colourful and seemed really out of place from the rest of the stories. It was possibly even a fantasy story.
If I remember correctly it had only 3 stories and was 12ep max possible less.
Although the last one was simply weird in that line up, the previous two where quite heavy dramas exploring how a person can fall into suicide.
I vaguely remember something like this happening in one of them:
The main character (young male early 20s or late teens) went to this bar where he met another depressed women. They hooked up and I think they became a couple. They then proceeded to commit double suicide, by throwing themselves of the cliffs.
When they got there they ate a lot of sleeping pills so they would drown in the sea and they jumped off the cliff.
The woman did just that, but when the main character (do not remember the name sorry) was about to jump he first started to puke from all the booze they drank that night and puked out the sleeping pills.
At the time he did not think much of it and followed the women and jumped off the cliffs. How ever because he failed to ingest the sleeping pills he did not drown and later was saved from the sea or washed up on the shore. Anyway later he had some serious regrets on puking and not managing to kill himself.
Later on there was this scene where I think it was the same character, but possibly it was the other story, where the main male character was living with his wife. Again only after going through some serious issues. And was living in this big (relatively speaking) house and supporting the couple by creating manga based on his life full of profanities I think we nowadays would say it was seinen hentai... if that makes any sense.
Anyway the character had gone through some series of hardships and though that he finally found if not a peaceful life than a livable life. I remember one scene were his friend (or was it an acquaintance) came by to see how he was doing and when he saw how he was making money was quite shocked by it.
One day when he came home his publisher was there "doing" his wife. When he confronted him, the publisher told him that the manga that he was doing was not actually selling and this is why he got the cheques, because his publisher got to have sex his wife. Now his publisher proceeded to explain to the poor guy how he must have known all that and he should not be so shocked.
One of the more memorable scene is were the wife told the guy "How could you have done this to me" implyng that he basically pimped her to his publisher. This of course lunged the main character into a suicidal fit where he tried to kill himself.
Hopefully it ring some bells to someone, every time I hear that Clannad is a sad anime I think "not really" and think back on this one. But I simply do not remember the name, so I can't give them an example of a truly sad and depressing anime.

There's a good chance you're looking for Aoi Bungaku (lit. "Blue Literature"). It's a collection of 6 classic Japanese novels adapted as an anime by Madhouse in 2009. As the name suggests, the stories are mostly quite depressing, though there is some variation between them.
Most of the events you mentioned occur in No Longer Human, the first novel adapted (episodes 1-4), by Dazai Osamu, who later committed suicide. It's about a man named Oba Yozo, who is incapable of interacting normally with other people and always puts on a facade. Over the course of the novel (and the anime), he lives several lives, moving from one position (and woman) to another fairly quickly, and is never content with his life. Just this story was recompiled into a movie release, though I guess from your description you probably saw the TV version.


text:
Old anime in the style of Conan Doyle' Lost World
I'm looking for an old anime (from at least 10-15 years ago) similar to Conan Doyle' Lost World.
The crew of a ship end up in a prehistoric world (don't remember how). This world is ruled by priests that are against technology. They use dinosaurs for labor. There is also something like "the resistance" that is against the current regime imposed by the priests. The crew of this ship get caught in this conflict.
This world is not without technology though, very advanced technology (don't remember the context, maybe an alien race) like infinite power supplies, but it's illegal to use it and who does, does so in secret.
I only saw the first few episodes of this anime, I don't know how the story goes or how it ends. Any ideas?

Could it be Kyōryū Bōkenki Jura Tripper?

From the Anime News network synopsis

On a school yachting trip, fifteen children of various ages are mysteriously transported to another world where dinosaurs still roam. While attempting to return home, they encounter talking dinosaurs, revolutionaries, pirates, a princess and primitive scientists. These unlikely allies help them escape from soldiers, bandits, vicious dinosaurs, and fanatical priests. Aggression between the two oldest boys leads to a split in ranks, and a sneaky double cross plot. Unlikely romances bloom in this tense atmosphere, and the group learns that each has strengths that can help them get home, if they work together. Losely based on the book Deux ans De Vacances, by Jules Verne in 1888.

And from a plot synopsis from Wikipedia

While trying to find a way back home, the children learn more about the new world they're in, discovering the people and dinosaurs suffer from oppression by the king as well as the church's prohibition of science. They get into conflict with General Mosar who is interested in their advanced technology and consequently have to flee from the king's army as well as the priests who try to capture Zans, who incidentally is the son of White Wing, the famous but passed leader of the rebellion.

The show aired back in 1995 and consists of 39 episodes.


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What's this manga with a woman with body image issues?
I was in a bookstore and was looking at a manga listed as a josei manga on the back cover before I had to go somewhere else, and am trying to remember the title. I only looked at the first chapter, but these are the details I remember:

The protagonist is a woman who seems to have issues related to body image. In the beginning, it seems that she eats very little for her breakfast and hopes that it'll be enough for later, but in a later panel we see her eating a lot of food.
Her coworkers comment on her fatness at some point in chapter 1.
Her boyfriend's name is Saito. If I'm not mistaken, he's cheating on her with one of the protagonist's coworkers. She discovers this when she sees them on the street together, and later asks him if they can go out together to some place, which he says is boring. She wonders how he knows this detail when he supposedly never went to said place. The coworker apparently went to a Yokohama hotel with the boyfriend and had sex "three times" with him.
We see an image of the protagonist on her knees in the nude to show her having sex (during a discussion of something tangentially related to that with her coworkers) with her boyfriend.

My preliminary searches didn't give anything useful, but I'll try again later.

Why is 3 times quoted?

@PeterRaeves: that was more or less the exact wording used (well more accurately, she said that they "did it three times" or something like that).

I think you're probably looking for Shibou to Iu Na no Fuku o Kite ("In the Clothes Called Fat"). This manga has a protagonist who is overweight and can't manage to control her weight at the beginning. The scenes you describe of her coworkers and her boyfriend happen in this. Her boyfriend's name is also Saito, matching your description. In order to try to keep from breaking up with her boyfriend of 8 years, she develops an eating disorder, which leads to further complications. The main focus is her psychology and self-esteem issues, as well as the issues facing some of the other characters.
The manga was published in 1997, and spans 15 chapters total (collected in 1 volume). The English version was published very recently by Vertical.

For some reason, the link provided is shown as suspicious when using Chrome. Just adding the MAL page here for anyone who needs an alternate info link.

@キルア Not sure what the problem would be with Manga Updates. It's listed at http://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/4696/what-databases-and-listing-sites-exist-for-anime-manga-etc and shouldn't have any real problems. But the MAL link is certainly fine as well.

It looks like an HTTPS issue. It's probably temporary, but worth mentioning.

Yep, that's it. I forgot to add that the manga appeared to be in a single volume when I saw it (and some minor detail about the protagonist's name, which actually gave me the manga title after a quick search) but yeah. Thanks!


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What other Beaters were there in Sword Art Online?
In Episode 8 - Black and White Sword Dance, after Kirito got Asuna to agree to cook the Ragout Rabbit, Asuna dismissed Kuradeel and got refused:

Kuradeel: I can not leave you alone with a shady character like this
Asuna: While I can't say anything about his shadiness, he is actually quite strong. In fact, he's 10 levels above you, Kuradeel.
Kuradeel: Are you implying that I am somehow inferior to him? Wait, don't tell me he is one of those Beaters.

In Episode 2 - Beater, after beating Illfang the Kobold Lord, Kirito was discovered as a Beta player. Reflecting on Diavel's request, Kirito takes an antagonist stance and lies about how far he had progressed during the beta of SAO:

Kirito: I made it to floors not even the other Beta players could reach.
Kibaou: Then that makes you worse than a Beta, YOU A GODDAMN FILTHY CHEATER.
Background Player: He's a Beater!
Kirito: Beater huh? Yeah, I like the sound of that.

I was under the impression that Kirito was the only "Beater". However, Kuradeel says one of those Beaters, which implies that there are more as apart from him. Using the plural form, Kuradeel is grouping Kirito with others.
So I am wondering, were there any other Beaters in SAO? If there were, do we know who they were?

Diavel himself was also a beta player. Or is there something else I missed?

@Mysticial i'm asking about Beaters, Kuradeel says Beater not Beta when he identifies Kirito. i already know there were other Beta's in SAO because they made the Guide Books but as i said i thought Kirito was the only Beater

Oh, I thought "Beater" was the name used for every beta player.

@Mysticial i don't think so, it was coined by combining Be ta (which Kirto was) and Che ater (which Kibaou calls him)

The way I interpreted that episode is that being a beta player gives you extra knowledge of the game which automatically makes you a cheater. So every beta player was by definition a "Beater". The term itself was coined during that episode.

@Mysticial you have a point there, in episode 2 Kirito does remind people to "not group me with those pathetic Betas" when he leaves (i don't remember the exact quote) as if trying to make a distinction between the 2 terms, that was my interpretation

I think what kuradeel said in there was only an expression.

@Memor-X Kirirot said something like that because he does not want beta tester to be treated like he was treated. So he was trying to take all the responsibility. It was discussed with Asuna somewhere might be after the beater incident or somewhere when they recall past. i don't remember.

It would depend on your definition of "Beater." While they are not specifically referred to as "beaters," their actions and hidden ulterior motives would likely label them as such.
If you define it as Beta players who take advantage of their inside knowledge from the closed beta for their own benefit, then there are at least two.

Diavel, attempted to manipulate a certain transaction to ensure that Kirito played a support role during the Floor 1 boss encounter, so he could get the last kill bonus
Coper, tried to use a monster to PK Kirito, so that he could get a certain quest item
Morte, from SAO Progressive, Vol. 2, one of the Beta players that completed the "War of Elves'" quest (one of three people, including Kirito), has a hidden agenda...

Not all Beta players have ulterior motives.

Argo, an information broker that provides the "Strategy Guide by Area". The guide is distributed in NPC shops and provided many resourceful information about the game.

But all in all, the term "Beater" is just a derogatory term non-Beta players use for Beta players that don't share their knowledge and keep information to themselves. Non-Beta players are jealous of the knowledge Beta players have and seek to ostracize them, so the Beta players either have no choice but to share what they know or be forced to play by themselves.

+1 Guess this suits it better since even tough Kirito shouldered the guilty, it is still a term that can be applied to any beta tester that met the requirements mentioned.

To sum it up its a term to separate most beta players from beta testers who put beating the game (implying they're doing it for the thrill or acknowledgement) above everything else like getting everyone out safely.

As I understand it from anime and LNs - Kirito was one and only Beater. The main reason of him becoming Beater was to turn anger of "simple" players away from beta-tester by concentrating it on Kirito.
 By the way, Kuradeel says "Sou ka, ano Beater no" what roughly translates into "Oh, he's that Beater..."

On some chat at first, with Klein, kirito tolds him they lucky obtaining one of the 10k copies of the game.
At same time, Klein tolds kirito he's more lucky, because are one of the 1000 beta testers.
Because this, you can understand who they're 1000 beta testers online.
On the other hand, the "beater" term are a union of beta tester and cheater. But, the definition of cheater in game are only a player with unknown information.
You can assume who all the beta testers are beaters too, because at one or another form, they know more information about the game, and probably doesn't told to anything, or only to friends. Also, even if you try to not take advantage of these knowledge, you're using it if you need.
If the term "beater" are used only for these players who uses these knowledge for their own advantage "trying to do it", then, the quantity are unknown, because of the 1000 beta players you doesn't know nor 10%.

To answer the question, it's first important to understand what a "Beater" is. The term was coined as conflation of "Beta" and "Cheater" to describe Kirito immediately after he made his speech after Diavel's death. The definition is, therefore, the contents of said speech.
In his speech, Kirito asks not to be conflated with mere "beta players", noting that he is much knowledgeable than "regular" beta players. In part, this is an exposition speech, explaining how Kirito knew a detail about the 1st floor's boss's weapon that Diavel did not. Kirito explains that he knew more than Diavel, a fellow beta tester, due to reaching a higher floor during beta (Although Kirito doesn't specifically reveal that Diavel was a beta tester, but talks more generally. It is implied that he is talking about Diavel, though). This immediately rules out Diavel as a possible beater, as he is used for contrast.
The definition of a "Beater" is hence: A beta tester who has more knowledge than the average beta tester due to playing more and reaching farther.
Since the mere act of clearing a floor unlocks the upper floors to all players, the very concept that Kirito was the only one to venture to the higher floors is unlikely from the get go.
However, since the other beta testers that appear don't go around specifically saying which was the highest floor they had reached, it's hard to determine which was a beater, and which wasn't. The only one that could be reliably ruled out was Diavel, due to his lack of knowledge about the Nodachi. At any rate, after the 10th floor was cleared, any special knowledge known to the beta testers was rendered worthless, as only the 10th floor was reached during beta. This also means that past this point, it would be completely impossible to identify a beta tester based on knowledge or behavior, let alone a beater.


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Why do the Homunculi look the way they do?
What is the reason for which the (Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood's) homunculi look the way they do? I know they mean to represent the sins from which they were created, but is there a common image in Japanese folklore for them?
Lust is represented as a beautiful, desirable (take Havoc's opionions on this) woman. (And that's the only directly-represented sin I can find amongst the homunculi.)
Gluttony is represented as a fat, all-eating beast. (?)
Greed... ? I mean, the first Greed was an apparently normal human with abilities to cover his skin with diamond-hard layers. (Apart from the "diamond", I can't see how he is "greedy" at all. Not as his appearance, at least.)
Sloth is

 a giant, enormously huge and fast(??) creature.

Wrath is justifiable enough.

 He had a normal human body taken for experiments and had a philosopher's stone inserted. All the souls within him then fought for control, leaving only the one who actually controlled him.

Pride

 is a child????

Envy

 is a huge monster who has the ability to freely change his form around.

Is there a pattern I'm losing here?

Are we talking about the 2003 anime (with Dante) or FMA Brotherhood (with father)? I assume brotherhood?

Brotherhood. I tried to make it explicit with "FMA:B", but obviously wasn't enough :D. Editing, sorry ...

It's alright. xD

Pride is the way he is because he chose it. It's part of his facade to hide in plain sight. As for Envy, he apparently thinks that the form he normally chooses looks good. As for Sloth and Greed, well, they don't really make any symbolic sense...

Sloth is very lazy and generally slow (unless he really doesn't want to be otherwise) despite his speed - so in that respect his abilities make some sense in that they showcase his laziness?

I'm surprised none of these answers mention that envy is associated with the color green.

This is my understanding of what defines the homunculus physical attributes.
Lust
Beautiful, desirable and a b****. The kind of woman that every man wants to get, but when they are in there, they soon realize that they don't want to be with her.
Gluttony
Fat, lazy, always hungry and quite stupid. Wants the girl but most likely won't get her because of his appearance, which is also why he always hangs around Lust and goes crazy when she is killed by Mustang.
Envy
Her actual form is very ugly. She envies everyone because they look better than her. This is the reason why she can change her appearance at will, as she wants to look better than others.
Greed
Wants everything, has possessions not friends. His ultimate shield is a variation of carbon (diamond). Teeth are jagged like that of a demon.
Wrath
Another word for anger. Uses his rage to fuel his determination and fighting ability, thus making him the ultimate warrior and leader.
Sloth
Large, strong, slow. However, easily bored and would rather not do anything physically taxing. He is also easily agitated hence the battle at the wall.
Pride
Feels he is superior in everything, appearance, abilities. Has a huge ego and will most likely try to kill anybody that makes him feel small. Hence why he is bound to a vessel of a 7-9 year old. Children of about that age are extremely prideful in personality, causing him to be slightly immature and think he is the best.
This is however my own interpretation of why they are like they are physically and personality wise.

"has possessions not friends." --> Do you mean "has possessions and friends"?

Btw Envy's a male.  (Though it can be argued they are technically neither)

Envy is Envy because he envied humans for their interpersonal relationships. Stated in canon just before he died. Greed's carbon is closer to graphene or carbon nanotubes. Gluttony is not lustful towards Lust. She is essentially his mother or big sister feature.

Pride and Greed were always the hardest to explain to me.
Sloth

Sloth has the ability to move at extreme speeds and has incredible strength, but never wants to do it because it's "such a bother." Being slothful doesn't mean you're slow or useless by nature, it means you choose to do as little as possible.

Envy

Envy's true form is both hideous and weak. He wants the use of more beautiful peoples' appearances, and their strength. His large form is more of a mystery in regards to beauty, it might just be that his true form becomes that monstrosity when properly fueled with souls

My theories for the other two:
Greed

Greed 's ability is more indicative of his personality rather than the sin. He has his visage of being a powerful being who wants and wants and wants, but he's the most human of the homunculi in that he actually cares for his 'underlings.'

Pride
I'm not sure which theory I like better:

1: Pride is the first homunculus, and where the whole 'father' shenanigans started. That's the reason he's a child and he's pride because of the arrogance of creating near-humans. Or 2: Irony. He's the embodiment of the father'a pride but he takes the form of a child, usually associated with relying on others.

Nice answer, though I have to argue that Greed's theory is quite circunstancial. Bearing a little bit more of humanity shouldn't explain it's resemblance, or all of the homunculi would be human enough.

you can also argue that Envy's giant form is his form of "Strength".  Its how he interprets or envy's what strength is (opposed to his tiny weak original form).

Lust's body inspires lust. She penetrates victims to kill them. Stabbing killing for pleasure is often cited as having a sexy motivation.
Gluttony's body is fat from overeating and has a giant mouth (actually a portal) when opened.
Wrath's body is just a man because he as much man as homunculi. Wrath doesn't just mean anger. He here doles out judgements, vengeance, and punishments which is more what it means. I suspect we may never have seen his true form.
Greed frankly looks mostly human because it is what he needs to have to do his job and be independent. I suspect we may never have seen his true form. Idk for ultimate shield. Before he died, all homunculi just looked humanoid.
Sloth is strong and fast for the irony.
Envy's true form is a pathetic worm. Of course it wants to be big and strong which is its first hidden form. Of course it wants to be human and be able to steal other's lives. It's powers gives it what it wants.
Pride is the most complicated because it has three less obvious forms.  First, the child is for convenience; it is a disguise but looks like true form as it takes pride in it's own creation. Second, the arms and defenses are meant to look like the dwarf in the flask as father takes pride in his himself. Finally, his true form is a true small human.  Pride is oldest the homunculus and that is exactly what Father was attempting to create. He is truly playing god by making a human and that is very prideful.

Some of the designs of the homunculi seem fairly obvious and others not so much. I'll try to weigh in with some of my own thoughts and I'll also reference the trivia sections from the wiki pages for each homunculus when there is something relevant there.
Envy
Envy's appearance as a giant green monster seems to be a reference to the idioms "green with envy" and "green-eyed monster" (I've also heard this as just "green monster" or "little green monster", which are more appropriate for Envy). Envy's ability to transform into other people seems fitting since an envious person would want to be the person they are envious of.
Lust
This one seems fairly obvious. Her appearance is that of a voluptuous woman with wide hips and slender waist, usually immodestly garbed. She's an embodiment of lust.
Gluttony
This is another obvious one. Gluttony's obesity is a result of engaging in gluttony. His large mouths facilitate his gluttonous eating habits.
Pride
Since he's very proud to be the first of Father's homunculus, it makes sense that he takes a form similar to Father's first form. His wiki page also suggests that the many eyes on his shadow may be reminiscent of a peacock's tail and a peacock is a symbol of pride. The wiki page also notes that his humanoid container being a child may be a reference to the word homunculus literally meaning "little human". In this sense, he is sort of the closest to being a true homunculus (looking separately at the Fullmetal Alchemist definition for his shadow form and the real world definition for his humanoid container) and he's proud of it.
Wrath
Wrath's appearance is that of a middle-aged man with an eye-patch. It's a little difficult to determine the connection to wrath. Wrath does often have a fierce scowl and perhaps his role as dictator and military attire help him personify wrath.
Sloth
Sloth's appearance is perhaps the most difficult to explain. He's large and muscular, which seems to be at odds with his slothful nature. I don't have an explanation for it. His big nose does remind me a little of the animal sloth.
Greed
His appearance is that of a typical human both in his first and second bodies. According to his wiki page, Greed sharing a human body with Ling could be a reference to Dante's Inferno, where the greedy are always having their bodies stolen from them by lizards and they have to steal a human form from another sinner (Interestingly, all the homunculi have some connection to Dante's Inferno. None of the other points are relevant here, but you can look through the trivia sections on their wiki pages if interested). This also accounts for why Greed just has a normal human form. I have no explanation for his appearance when using his ultimate shield.
In your question, you ask whether there might be common image for these characters in Japanese folklore. I don't know much about Japanese folklore other than what little information I've gleamed from anime and manga, but I think it is probably unlikely. This is because the seven deadly sins come from Christian theology (see Wikipedia for details).
References
Wiki pages for Wrath, Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Envy, and Pride on http://fma.wikia.com/
Seven Deadly Sins on wikipedia.org

Envy's form is understandable because he's actually really small and weak
so he has the desire to be as good as other individuals

How about the other homunculi?

I have to downvote as it only addresses Envy which falls short of a useful answer


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What's this show with a boy who has been recruited by missionaries?
I remember the plot mostly but not the name of it. It begins with a boy that came from another world recruited by missionaries that have a mission of killing a princess before she gets to the "holy land".

They all have mechas but the boys is more like a lizard mecha
There are different races including Elves
They go to a school at the holy land
He wins a race against the Elves warrior and get their princesses hand in marriage
The boy works as a jack-of-all-trades in the school
It looks like an all girls school

I believe I saw it about a year or more ago and more info would be there where multi races including elves and one part I remember was the main boy character won a race against the fastest elven worrior and won the chance to thier princesses hand in marriage and there is magic and sometimes the boys mecha becomes surrounded in what is like a egg

When I saw it I believe it also just came out recently too, also the characters go to a school in the holy land and the main boy works there for odd jobs from everything and the school is an all girls academy

@anifan13: you should edit that into the question.

I believe it could be Isekai no Seikishi Monogatari as there are multiple races, something about a princess, but I don't remember it that well.
His mecha looks like a lizard. He is the white one in this screenshot:

And if what you meant by egg is where the pilot is, then it could be this part of it:

Isekai no Seikishi Monogatari

Synopsis

Kenshi —half-brother of intergalactic hero Tenchi Masaki— has been summoned to the mysterious world of Geminar, and his only hope of returning to Earth is piloting a bio-mechanical weapon in a shocking assassination attempt! When the mission fails and Kenshi is captured, he discovers he's been lied to by the very culprits who transported him to this strange new world. Luckily, Princess Lashara kindly welcomes Kenshi and invites him to live amongst her followers. Now, caught up in a political whirlwind —and hotly pursued by Geminar's female population— Kenshi must find a way to get home while civil war erupts all around him!
Source: FUNimation

@anifan13 glad that was what you were looking for it's a nice show ;) hope you like the anime & manga community as well.


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What is the name of the manga which depicts Hitler as a Super Aryan?
I've come across the following picture, can anyone please tell me what's the manga name?

Godwin's law finally reaches Dragonball Z...or maybe this is a new law that everything will eventuality parody Dragonball Z

@Memor-X I had never heard of Godwin's law, but this reminded me greatly of the match between Germany and the USA. The amount of Nazi related messages was too damn high.

@PeterRaeves Godwin's law = "As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches 1", though i haven't read the manga it looks that "Super Aryan" is a parody of "Super Saiyan" and looking at the image very much like Dragoinball Z (hair going blonde as described, the left frame reminiscent of Feeza's or Vageta's reaction to Goku) so as discussions of Dragonball Z continued the likelihood of a comparison to Nazi's was growing more likely, and now we have it, Super Saiyan 2 Hitler

@Memor-X yeah i got it the first time u said it lol. Maybe we should call the increasing probability of a manga parodying DBZ Memor-x' law from now on

It's called Mudazumo Naki Kaikaku. The characters are all based off of real-life politicians like George Bush, Kim Jong Il, Mao, Pol Pot, Putin, and of course, many from Nazi Germany, and they play Mahjong together in this manga. It was also adapted into an anime series.

I'll add that although this sounds like it's totally awesome, it really is kind of a let down. Especially the 3 episode OVA.