text:
Why does Ed and Al's mom cost so much to transmute?
I get it's all equivalent exchange ,but logic dictates that to bring a soul you must lose a soul (Al's) and to make the materials into a body you would need to destroy a body (Al's again) but why was Ed's leg taken?
I mean if it was about the size of the person they should both be disintergrated and there mom alive. But it seems arguably more than enough to bring her back. And I get that the point of human transmutation is that it is impossible to bring someone back from the dead, but shouldn't Ed be unscathed?

Have you completed the anime?

Yes I have watched all of the anime including brotherhood and the movies but I just had that thought at 2 am and couldn't come up with an answer and I am blown away at how spot on ur answer is thank u so much

What happened to Al and Ed's Leg was the result of the Rebound

Since the alchemical forces being manipulated are not human in origin, but of the world as a whole, the consequences for attempting to bypass the Law of Equivalent Exchange in transmutation are not merely failure and cessation. When too much is attempted out of too little, what occurs is called a Rebound, in which the alchemical forces that are thrown out of balance on either side of the equation fluctuate wildly of their own accord in order to stabilize themselves - taking or giving more than was intended in often unpredictable and catastrophic ways such as accidental mutation, serious injury or death.

Source: Alchemy - Rebound
what happened was that Ed and Al had all the Materials collected for an average adult body, whether or not this matched Trisha's body isn't the problem but what they gave up for the Soul, a couple drops of blood.
This is hinted on when Ed is talking to Rose about what makes a human and how Cornello's "miracle" to bring the dead back to life is no act of god.

Ed:
  Water, 35 liters. Carbon, 20 kilograms. Ammonia, 4 liters. Lime, 1.5 kilograms. Phosphorous, 800 grams. Salt, 250 grams. Saltpeter, 100 grams. Sulfur, 80 grams. Fluorine, 7.5. Iron, 5. Silicon, 3 grams. And trace amounts of fifteen other elements.
Rose:
  What's that?
Ed:
  It's all the ingredients of the average adult human body, down to the last specks of protein in your eyelashes.
  And even though science has given us the entire physical breakdown, there has never been a successful attempt at bringing a human to life.
  There's still something missing, something scientists haven't been able to find in centuries of research.
  So what makes you think that hack-job priest with his parlor tricks is going to be able to?
  And in case you're wondering, all those ingredients can be bought on a child's allowance.
  Humans can be built on the cheap.
  There's no magic to it.
Rose:
  Well if there's no magic, then you bring someone back to life!
Ed:
  Just a matter of time, Rose.
  Science will find a way.
  Science is the answer to everything.
  If I were you, I'd drop the scriptures and pick up an alchemy book.
  We're the closest thing to gods there are.

Source: Fullmetal alchemist >01. Those Who Challenge the Sun
What Ed is referring to is the Soul. while scientists in Fullmetal Alchemist can measure all the stuff needed to make a human body the problem arises that there is no equivalent for a soul. even in real life the existence of the Soul is debated because there is no way to confirm it's existence or even measure it to determine what would be of equal value.
Even Ed wasn't sure when they did it

Ed:
  Just hold out your finger, okay?
  What's a soul, really?
  When you take out the myth, it's just the spark that starts life.
  This is our blood.
  From her blood.
  That's a fair trade.

Source: Fullmetal alchemist >03. Mother...
so anyway, back to the rebound. It wasn't a fair exchange as a couple drops of blood wouldn't equal a soul so Al's entire body, soul included, was taken along with Ed's leg by the wildly fluctuating equation taking more than it should in it's attempt to stabilize.
we can even call the end result to be a cause of the rebound, Trisha was given "life" but her body wasn't properly reformed as her organs outside her body not to mention there is no way to confirm if Trisha's soul has been brought back. in the 2003 Anime we learn that this Trisha did continue to live but as a Homunculus didn't have a soul and was missing parts of her memories while in Brotherhood and the Manga, Ed exhumes Trisha's body which Pinako buried and Ed learns that what it wasn't Trisha as her hair colour and bone structure were different.

Should it be mentioned that near the end of the Brotherhood series, Ed discovers that every known case of bringing the dead back to life actually didn't even bring back that to which they tried and instead were some sort of failed humunculus or other creature as the creature that appears bears no resemblance in any of the cases?

@TonyBilby +1, but include that, in the original series, the homunculi made attempting to bring back the person had portions of their memories but were otherwise different beings.

@TonyBilby yeh i forgot about that, i remembered the scene where Ed was digging up Trisha's grave but confused this with the 2003 anime since he does it int hat aswell

you could say that a human soul has the value of ∞, which makes an equivalent exchange impossible


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Is Sakura, Sarada's biological mother?
In the new manga mini-series, Sarada figures out the girl in glasses with Sasuke to whom Sarada seems to look like (the glasses, the face). I was wondering if maybe Sakura isn't her biological mother and that Sarada is a child of Sasuke and the other girl in picture.

Please note: the "unannounced future events with regard to the production of an anime or manga" close reason is for unannounced future events about production, e.g. "will a second season be made?" or "when will X be released?". It is not for questions about plot events that may not have happened yet. Questions about plot events that have not happened yet are appropriate for this site; it may simply happen that they are not answered for some time (i.e. until the plot advances to a suitable point). As such, I have reopened this question.

Let's not forget the healing technique of Karin. Sasuke has bit Karin's hand quite a few times. :)

Yes Sakura is Sarada's mother, it is revealed that in anime where Shin is antagonist.

Everything in this answer takes place after Shippuden ends and should be considered a spoiler.

In Naruto Gaiden: The Seventh Hokage and the Scarlet Spring Sarada is unsure of who her real mother is after finding a picture of Sasuke with Karin. Since Sarada had never meet her father she follows Naruto to meet Sasuke and find out the truth about her biological mother. When she meets Sasuke he says that its nothing to do with her and leaves it at that.

Later in Orochimaru's hideout Sarada ask Suigetsu about Karin to see if she was there in the hideout or if he knew who her real mother is. Suigetsu did know the answer but remembered that Karin had an umbilical cord in her desk. Suigetsu thought it was from Karin's birth. He then did a mouth swab on Sarada and preformed a DNA test. The test was a positive match. This leave Sarada to think that Karin is he biological mother.

It is later revealed that Karin could not be Sarada's mother because she was the one who delivered her. Karin tells Suigetsui that the umbilical cord he tested was Sakura's and that she was Saradas biological mother.

Some fans are stating as fact that Karin is Sarada's biological mother based on the result of a DNA test in chapter 700+7, but the test does not make this clear.
In chapter 700+7, Sarada gets a genetic (遺伝子, idenshi) test. The Japanese words for "DNA" (デオキシリボ核酸, deokishiribo kakusan) and "DNA test" (DNA型鑑定, DNA-gata kantei) are not used.
Sarada goes into it with the assumption that doing so will conclusively determine who her birth mother is. Her assumption is based on a photo she saw in chapter 700+1 of Karin standing next to Sasuke, who she believes to be her biological father.

The result of the test is that she has a genetic match (一致, icchi: the image above from page 20). However,
=  it is unknown what genetic material Suigetsu matched Sarada's saliva swab to. Suigetsu found something in Karin's desk which he believes to be from the time of Karin's birth (on page 19), but 1) what item he found and tested is not shown and he does not mention what it is, 2) whether Suigetsu's assessment of it dating from Karin's birth is unknown, and 3) even if it dates from that time, it is unknown whether the item contains Karin's genetic material (the possibility that the genetic material belonged to someone other than Karin remains)
=  there are ways Sarada and Karin could have a genetic match without being mother/daughter
=  even if Sarada and Karin have a genetic match based on Sarada being conceived from Karin's egg, it is possible that Karin was not the birth mother (such as surrogacy, egg donation)
=  the storytelling lead-up within the chapter to this scene implies that the reader should not put too much trust in genes alone through the following plot points.

On page 9, Sakura says that Ochimaru is even a bigger idiot (大バカ者, oobakamono) than Orochimaru because he doesn't at all understand what is important to a parent (親にとって大事なものが何かまるで分かってない！Oya ni totte daiji na mono ga nani ka marude wakattenai!)

On page 15, Ochimaru says that humans are merely "slaves to genes" (遺伝子の奴隷, idenshi no dorei) and that any individual's connection to any other person can be proven by such (その繋がりも全て証明できる, sono tsunagari mo subete shoumei dekiru)

On page 22, Suigetsu feels likes he might've done something bad by conducting the genetic test (…ぼく…なんかまずいことしちゃった感じかな？, ...Boku... nanka mazui koto shichatta kanji kana?)

On pages 22 to 23, Sarada violently reacts to believing she now knows who her biological mother is (we could say, she overreacts: she verbally disowns Sakura as her mother)

There is still room for someone other than Karin to be Sarada's birth mother. If the reader is meant to trust Sakura over Ochimaru regarding what a parent is, and to dislike Sarada's turbulent reaction to the genetic test result, the reader should not 1) interpret the test as conclusive, and 2) even if Karin is the biological mother, to not interpret Karin as the "real mother" because parenting is not simply about biological ties.
Whether Karin is Sarada's biological mother or not has not been stated in canon, but adoptive mothers are real mothers in the full sense of the word, so Sakura is Sarada's "real mother" even if Karin is her biological mother. Likewise, adoptive daughters are "real daughters" of the parent/s who raise them without being related biologically. The relationship between adoptive mother, adoptive daughter, and birth mother is given a careful treatment in Kodomo no Omocha (also known as Kodocha or Child's Toy) manga volumes 3 to 4 and in episodes 17 to 19 of its anime adaption. For more information about the complicated situations of people who grow up without knowing who their biological parent/s are, see the documentary films The Invisible Red Thread, Birthplace Unknown, Foster Child, Anonymous Father’s Day and Breeders.

I think it is time to update you answer

Karin (the other girl you're talking about).
It's a very minute possibility that Karin is the mother of Sarada.
The reasons being:

There was no relation whatsoever between Karin and Sasuke until the end of war.
After the final fight, Sasuke went to explore the Ninja world. And before leaving, he tapped on Sakura's forehead. The tapping symbolizes love, and affection. This is similar to what Itachi did to Sasuke. So it's a very minute possibility that Sasuke would maintain sexual relations with a girl at that time.

The latest episode changes everything. So the minute possibility turned out to be true. Karin is Sarada mom..

oor maybe sakura and karin are related, we do not know who sakura's parents are. Her mom might belong to uzumaki clan which will make sakura and karin related, hence the match.

then again, Suigetsu did seem to have some trouble finding Karin's DNA

We know who sakura's parents are, They were shown when Kakashi's story was being shown, Kakashi and Third visited the house of the three pupils of Kakashi. This was when Sakura's parents were shown. Also the rare ability that Karin has make the possibility of her being related to Sakura very small

@Abhinav Rajput, please see my answer to this question: chapter 700+1 does not itself state that Karin is Sarada's mother (though Suigetsu and Karin think so). It's still possible but not conclusive

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What is the relationship between Daedalus and Tomoki?
She frequently appears in Tomoki's dreams as a sort of "lover." She comes to his dreams to ask him to help save her.

She didn't ask him to save her. She asked him to save her "children" that is the Angeloids.

Daedalus is a scientist from Synapse, considered as the greatest mind in all of Synapse. Their relationship was not revealed until nearing the end of the story.

 She was the one who created RULE, a device to fulfill anything one wishes. Because of this, everyone on Synapse got bored. Seeing that humans, though far inferior but enjoyed their lives through hard work, the inhabitants of Synapse decided to go into a dream like state to live as humans.

 So Daedalus created the device so that Synapse people can sleep and have dream living as humans. Daedalus did that too in form of Mitsuki Sohara, Sakurai Tomoki's childhood friend.

 However, Sohara had weak constitution and died very young. Daedalus then decided to create another Sohara and placed her on Earth. She also later set the Uranus Queen, Ikaros, free from her seal and sent her to Tomoki.

 She is also the one behind the creation of the first generation Angeloid namely, Alpha (Ikaros), Beta (Nymph), and Delta (Astrea). The latter two also joined Tomoki's group later in the story after they were ordered to kill him by Master of Synapse. She's also the one who created Pandora Box system in the first generation Angeloid which allowed them to evolve.

 Daedalus was also the one who fixed Chaos, a second generation Angeloid created by Master of Synapse.

How to hide the spoiler?

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text:
What is Cyua singing at the beginning of "AL℃-@"?
At the beginning of "AL℃-@" (track 09 on the Aldnoah.Zero soundtrack), before the German lyrics ("Ich reich dir meine Hand" and so forth) kick in around 0:46, the vocalist (Cyua) is singing something. Whatever it is, it's not part of the printed lyrics, and it contains the word "Aldnoah". Beyond that, I'm not sure what she's singing.
I doubt that there are any official lyrics for that part of the track, but perhaps someone who has learned how to parse Hiroyuki Sawano's mangled German could weigh in?
Here is a short extract of the segment in question: http://clyp.it/h3hfpevb

This is only vaguely an answer to my question, but: the second OST included the piece "Harmonious" (also used as the ED for episode 23), which is a vocal piece to roughly the same melody as "AL℃-@" (this is a standard Sawano trick, as with "MKAlieZ" vs. "aLIEz"; "アZ-Kat" vs. "A/Z"; and so forth). Like "AL℃-@", it has a 16-bar vocal introduction from 0:19 to 0:35 (albeit in 3/4 rather than 4/4), but with actual comprehensible lyrics:

煌めく欠片
  降り注ぐ空に
  未来繋ぐドア
  隠した

Roughly,

The shining fragments, falling through the sky, concealed the door to the future.

Now, this clearly isn't what Cyua is singing in AL℃-@, but as mivilar  noticed in the comments on Cole's answer, Cyua distinctly appears to be singing the word 未来 mirai "future", and it lines up with what the singer (Amamiya Sora / Asseylum) is singing in the third four-bar segment of the introduction to "Harmonious". Unfortunately, I have difficulty identifying any other correspondences between the known lyrics in the introduction to "Harmonious" and the unknown lyrics in the introduction to "AL℃-@".

Sounds like "Mirai Dorama, Aldnoah" vocally stylized as "Mi-Rai Du-Ra-Ma, Ald-No-Ah", Or, "Meer-Haii Doo-Rah-Mah, Aald-Noh-Ahh".
Or, in English, maybe something like: "Future Drama Aldnoah".


text:
What song plays in episode 1 of One Piece when Luffy punches Alvida?
I'm trying to figure out the name/title of the song that plays in episode one of One Piece that starts at the 20:00 mark, when Luffy punches Alvida. Does anyone know it?

You mean the ending?

No its not the ending. It's the song that plays when luffy punches alvida

One Piece - Music & Song Collection 1
Track 22 - Duel!!
The track contains 2 songs (little pause at 1:03, your song begins at 1:05)
Enjoy :)

The 20:00 mark corresponds to about 2:42 into the song, to be precise.


text:
How old were Ed and Al when they performed the human transmutation?
How old were Edward and Alphonse when they performed human transmutation? I am referring to the Brotherhood series, not the 2003 version.

Probably the same as in 2003 version. What makes you think they're different?

Brotherhood more or less follows the manga. I don't remember if we get a montage of events in the brothers' childhoods with their ages (a quick search through volume 6 doesn't give me anything), but we do see Mustang arrive at Resembool presumably shortly after their human transmutation attempt, so we can get some information from there.

So Edward is at most 11, and Alphonse 10, when human transmutation is attempted. This matches up more or less with the ages I remember possibly having seen from 2003 and Brotherhood. (Keep in mind that some chronology - such as the death of Winry's parents - might have occurred at a different point in the manga continuity compared to that of 2003, and that there is the additional half year before Ed takes the State Alchemist exams.)

During the eyecatches that are shown during the transmutation flashbacks, it shows them to be 11 and 10 respectively as well.

In Episode 2, the past was shown which was 10 years ago.
Let's start when his mother was still alive.
Edward was 7 years old and Al was 6 years old.
Research and training (4 years)
When their mother died, Edward and Al agreed to revive their mother again by using the taboo which is the human transmutation, but before that, they searched about the human transmutation and improved their alchemy by training with the alchemy master in order to revive their mother...it took many years.
After the training, they've completed the ingredients and performed the human transmutation.
Then that dark incident happens...
It took 4 years of preparation and then their bodies were the sacrificed...
When Edward became a state alchemist / test part (1 year)
After that  "dark incident", Roy Mustang came to their town hearing that there is a talented alchemist which is referred to as Edward (knowing what Edward have done), then he offered Edward to become a state alchemist and told him about the Philosopher Stone that could bring back their body, which Edward grabs that.
Edward had his surgery and rehab which took only one year.
He was twelve years old then, and Al was 11 years old.
To shorten my answer, Edward Elric was 11 years old and Al Elric was 10 years old when they've done the human transmutation.
(Refer to Brotherhood series; his present is 17 years old in Episode 2.)

Ed (or Al) is definitely not 17 in episode 2. When they meet Ling -- which is at most a year or so before the final battle in Brotherhood, Winry makes them compare heights and notes that Ling is taller, despite Ed almost 16 (and thus, older than Ling). In the manga, Mustang also makes conversation with Armstrong after Hughes' death about the fact that Ed is almost 16 and thus will be subject to military duty if war breaks out.

Ed was born in 1899
Al was born in 1900
Trisha died when in 1904 at the age of 26
So Ed and Al were 5 and 4 respectfully when Trisha died
So if Ed was made a state alchemist at the age of 12, he had to be fitted with his automail, which supposedly takes at least 7 months to fully atune to.
So when Ed and Al preform the human transmutation, Ed had to be 11 or at least early 12 years old, while Al would be 9 or 10.

In part 1, episode 6, Alphonse says that he is 14 and Edward is 15.

Is he referring to the age he is when he is saying that or the age he was when they performed the human transmutation? Because the latter is what is being asked about.


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What is the most likely real world location for the Mihama Academy if it really existed?
I am sure that the VN and anime used some real-world references to illustrate the location.
The school is located by the seaside in Mishima Cape, probably in Shizuoka prefecture. There is indeed a Mishima City in that prefecture.
The VN puts the academy near the mouth of the Shinozaki river (it is where Sakaki gets attacked by her father's goons in episode 6).
I fumbled about in Maps, but could not find that river in the list, so maybe its a fictional river.
That in mind, my question is if someone can post a Maps link to the most likely location of the school.

I guess, its just a fictional river. In anime, they have to add some stories to ensure that the viewers will watch their series and also I've research the Shinozaki river. Unfortunately, NO FOUND, there's no such Shinozaki river.

Looking around in Google Maps, I have determined two likely locations for Mihama Academy. Starting in Mishima, because of the name of Mishima Cape in the VN and anime, I found a lake on the south end of the city, just north of the Kano river. It is also conveniently right on the border of Ohira, whose border looks kind of like a cape. This would make the "Mishima Cape" a geographical name, not a city or town name, or perhaps a district name. However, being a lake, I don't see why it might have a lighthouse as in the anime (I don't think there is a lighthouse in the VN).
The other place I have found is on the north end of the city, around the Ashinoko Country Club. Google Maps shows the area around the club to be quite barren of infrastructure and "civilisation", though I do not know quite how accurate this is. My reasoning behind this place is because Mihama Academy is mentioned to be quite a ways away from the city itself, on the outskirts, which would make the sparsely populated area up north an ideal place for it. Also, Lake Ashi is just to the north, and while it is not in Mishima City (it is located within Hakone in the Kanegawa Prefecture), there are plenty of protrusions of land for there to be the cliff that we see Michiru visit multiple times, and the lake is a closed cruise destination (the cruises only go around the lake because there is no sea or ocean access), which would provide a need for light houses so the cruise ships don't run aground. It is never mentioned that the cliff Michiru frequents is in the same city as Mihama Academy, and we know Yuuji runs 15(?)km every morning, so this is well within the realm of possibility. The only thing missing from this location is the river Sakaki gets attacked by, but since it appears to be a man-made river (because of how straight and "square" it is), that could possibly be forgiven, especially since it appears to be a fictional river.

can you please share the mark on google maps ?

@Gagantous Enter these coordinates for the general area of the first possible location (the lake south of Mishima): 35°04'48.5"N 138°55'03.0"E
For the second location, around the Ashinoko Country Club, try these coordinates for the general area: 35°10'54.0"N 138°59'45.7"E. Clicking around the club has Google tell you "Other" or has no picture indicating it's not too well traveled, lending possibly to being where Mihama could be. The "cape" or cliff would be the land protrusion to the north east of the country club.

please add that additional info to your answer

I know I'm a couple years late, but this was the closest I could find. Just in case anyone was still looking like I was.
Arai, Itō, Shizuoka 414-0043, Japan


text:
What's the music played during the final battle of Tokyo Ghoul √A episode 4?
What's the name of the song or the artist that sings in the final battle of episode 4 of Tokyo Ghoul √A, when Kaneki is battling Shachi?

The Tokyo Ghoul OST doesn't come out until March 25, 2015, so you'll probably have to wait until then to find out what it's called.

The song used is track 10: Wanderers (vocal by Luschka) from disc 2 of the Tokyo Ghoul Original Soundtrack.


text:
What is the simplified art style called that is often used when a character is emotional?
If there's even a name for it?
I saw this question that explains why but I'd love to know if there's a name for it. The linked question mentions superdeformed but I figured there's a Japanese name, if there's anything.
They do it in many anime (and manga) and it's used with the character is embarrassed, sometimes it's when they're tired, annoyed, or confused.
It reminds me of chibi but it's even simpler than that and doesn't really make them look like kid-versions.
From Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood:

The so-called "simple background" is essentially a montage of a particular mental landscape. Sometimes referred to as "kouka haike" (効果背景, lit. effect background) or "kouka back" (効果バック, lit. effect back), referring to a simple effect background.
The particular lines in the scene are likely some variant of "taresen" (たれ線) meaning "dripping lines". Sometimes it is also generically referred to as "tatesen" (縦線), or "vertical lines".
They both refer to the depiction of parallel vertical lines (sometimes squiggly or uneven to represent a distressed state) in a background or on a particular character's face. The lines typically of a dark blue or purple hue (they can vary by artist and context) is indexed to express how a particular character or scene feels depressed, sad, disgusted, or anguished, amongst other negative feelings.
The term is likely derived from 垂れる, referring to how the emotions of the scene or character are "dripping".

Great answer, but I believe the poster is referring to the simplified facial expressions like googly eyes (as seen in the example), X for eyes, exaggerated mouth, and so on, not the background. Can you elaborate on that?

In all the artist references and sources I've used for drawing manga, I've never come across a standard name for the style. I've sometimes seen it referred to as deformation, with super-deformation chibi style at the end of the spectrum.
More often I've seen it referred to simply as exaggeration, as it's exaggerating the facial features and body language to emphasize the depicted emotions.


text:
The divergence points for each of the routes?
Each of three routes has a different series of events and endings. I’ve read that the first few days are the same but then they all diverge. What causes them to diverge exactly? For example, why is Shiro with Saber in "Fate" route and not with Rin? Why does Archer not enact his "kill Shiro" plan in "Fate" and "HF"? likewise, the HF events are vastly different from the first two. Why?
Botton line: What event or lack therof causes the storyline/plot to branch off into three seperate ones: Fate, UBW and HF

What event or lack therof causes the storyline/plot to branch off into three seperate ones: Fate, UBW and HF

In UBW, Shirou commands Saber not to attack Archer on the first night; in Fate, he doesn't do that. In HF, Shirou accompanies Sakura to her home on the first night; in UBW and Fate, he doesn't do that. Broadly speaking, UBW diverges against Fate because Archer does not suffer injury, allowing him to maintain a more active role in the early stages of the war. HF diverges against Fate/UBW because (spoilered because it sounds like you haven't read it)

 this puts Sakura into a more active role in the war, causing that whole mess with the shadow. Also, Zouken.

How does this lead to the vastly different outcomes in each of the three routes? We can posit some explanations, but it's important to keep in mind that any explanation is likely to be somewhat contrived, simply because it's unlikely that Nasu wrote F/SN from the perspective of "if I change this one small thing, what would the logical outcomes be?". That is, the routes are presumably the fundamental things that Nasu wanted to write, and the divergence points exist to make them plausible. (The alternative would be that the divergence points are the fundamental thing in the narrative, and the routes are just logical consequences thereof. See footnote 1 for an example of what I mean.)
Anyway, let's posit a bit.

For example, why is Shiro with Saber in "Fate" route and not with Rin?

Let me reverse the question: why is Shirou with Rin in UBW, and not with Saber? Well, in UBW, Shirou spends relatively little time with Saber, initially because of her abduction by Caster, and later because Saber re-contracts with Rin through the end of the route.
In Fate, Shirou isn't deprived of interaction with Saber, and so he develops a relationship with her (and hence not with Rin). I think it's uncontroversial to say that Saber is the "main heroine" of F/SN (given Last Episode, if nothing else); in the absence of barriers to them developing a relationship, I figure they would, in fact, get together. Note that in HF, the barrier is that

 the shadow ganks Saber on day 3.

Why does Archer not enact his "kill Shiro" plan in "Fate" and "HF"?

In HF,

 Archer subordinates his desire to get rid of Shirou to the need to deal with the shadow, which poses an existential threat. The shadow existing is an indirect consequence of the divergence point for HF - Shirou walks Sakura home; Zouken sees this and thrusts Sakura into a more active role in the war; the shadow is the result of that.

I don't have any good explanation for why Archer doesn't do that in Fate. Maybe we can write it off as Archer being injured (because of Saber on the first night) and not really in a position to deal with Shirou.

1 Well, this is a spoiler for a non-F/SN thing, and telling you what it's for is would be a spoiler too, so hover if you dare.

 The various timelines of Madoka Magica do quite a good job of exploring the outcomes that result from Homura effectively causing divergences by changing the way she acts after she wakes up in the hospital on day one. It's not a perfect analogy to F/SN, since the timelines don't all start from exactly the same place (Homura gains additional knowledge in each successive timeline), but it's close.


text:
Why did Saber possess Excalibur as Heroic Spirit but not Avalon?
When Saber died, she should have lost both Excalibur and Avalon. The Einzbern are able to locate the latter in the present time, which they used as catalyst to summon her. Why is it that Saber still had Excalibur on her person when she was summoned as HS? (IIRC, it is sheathed by invisible air). The sword itself should have been left behind in the real world like Avalon was.

pfft . .  .by that rules then all heroic spirit should be weaponless . . .
even the weapon throwing goldilock . . .

Fate/side material (2004-1-30), p.056 defines Heroic Spirits as:

Heroes who achieved great things in life, and became objects of worship after death.

Saber is actually a special case in this matter. Saber did not die. When Saber was on the brink of death she made a contract with the world to become a heroic spirit after her death. Since the stories we see are in a time much later than the time Saber is in, she can of course be summoned, since Heroic Spirits are timeless. However, at the time of making this contract, she was not in possession of Avalon.
From Fate/complete material III World material:

In the civil war that raged at the end of Artoria's reign, she and her son Mordred mortally wounded each other. At that moment, she made a pact with the World to serve as a Heroic Spirit after death. In exchange, she wished that the Holy Grail would redo the selection of the king.

Saber had lost Avalon before her death, and its loss had been engrained into the legend of King Arthur. While she did have Bedivere throw Excalibur back to the Lady of the Lake, it was with her until soon before she would pass away. It was then that Saber made the contract with the world, requesting she be given an opportunity to seek the grail in exchange for her becoming a Heroic Spirit.
Also from Fate/complete material III World material:

In legend, the loss of this sheath cast an ominous pall over the life of King Arthur, eventually cascading into the collapse of the kingdom. In modern times, the Einzberns excavated Avalon at Cornwall and passed it into the hands of Emiya Kiritsugu.

It is because according to the Arthurian legends, the actual scabbard is stolen by Morgan le Fay and thrown into a lake, never to be found again. So the Einzberns must have found it somehow.


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Is Nagato an Uchiha or an Uzumaki?
Is Nagato an Uchiha or an Uzumaki? I don't know - I am asking this question because their names sound alike and Nagato has red hair like Kushina Uzumaki.

http://naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Nagato says Uzumaki

His trademark red uzumaki hair turned white - Tobi/Obito when he was retrieving the RInnegan

Thx I had a feelin about that

He is a GOD ! !

Lol thnx I thought pain was a god

First: it was stated many times throughout the anime/manga that he is an Uzumaki. Second: Obito and Nagato buth were performing the reincarnation technique when their hair turned white. it is not becouse of retrieving the rinnegan but because of using it. Third Nagato is Pain. He controls all the pain members through chakra.

He is an Uzumaki Bloodline.
He has the characteristics of an Uzumaki.
Red hair is what distinguishes them from the rest of the clans.
Uzumaki Naruto is different because his hair us a combination of yellow and red hair ( Minato x Kushina ) = Orangy - Yellow .


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Why did Gunzo spare Takao?
In episode 2 of Arpeggio of Blue Steel anime. I-401 had a battle with Takao, as he charged the super-gravity cannon he suddenly decided to not aim for Takao after seeing Takao's mental model.
Has there been any explanation on his decision?

Disclaimer: This is just my speculation but I will try to support it with facts.
The history of humankind is full of war. As time progressed, we learned that waging wars, i.e. killing our enemies is not always the best way to get what we want. Waging war is expensive, and we learned that negotiating and coming into agreement is far cheaper and results in less bloodshed.
Gunzou is a rational thinker. He is a tactician too. He knows from history that killing your enemy after you have defeated them is not really a good choice. The moment Gunzou was successful in charging the super gravity cannon and aiming it at Takao, he already achieved victory and defeated Takao. However, he decided, as per the reason I previously mentioned, to spare her. Sure he may have made a bad choice and Takao might come for revenge. But as you have watched in that episode, Iona and the crew were against overwhelming odds, and yet they still managed to achieve victory. This indicates to us, and to Takao probably, that she really stands no chance against Gunzou.
Sparing Takao also aligns with Gunzou's belief. He believes that there is a possibility of humans and the Fleet of the Fog coexisting in peace. The wikia says:

He's also one of the few people in the world that sees the possibility of the "Fleet of Fog" and humans coexisting (relatively) peacefully.

It is a step towards the future that he was hoping for.


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How come a uniform can't be made of 40% to 90% life fibers?
I've noticed that on Kill la Kill that Goku Uniforms can only be made from 10%, 20%, and 30% life fibers. But later on, it is revealed that a Kamui is made of 100% life fibers. That seems like a major gap to me. How come a uniform can't be made of 40%-90% life fibers?

No characters we see can wear 40%-90% life fiber uniforms who cannot also wear 100% life fiber uniforms.
The only people who can wear 100% life fibers are not 100% humans (they have life fibers experimentally infused into their bodies).  No pure humans have been shown to be able to wear more than a 3 star uniform.

Well, a normal person can not handle above 40% life fiber, even student council had pre-training to wear them and they are also selected few to wear 3 star regalia (above 30% to 40% life fiber) from the entire school.
We can see what happened to people who wear 100% life fiber: it gives a huge amount of strain to their bodies. Remember when wearing Junketsu or Senketsu, Kiryuin Satsuki had to maintain great will power, discipline and great amount of physical strength. Even so, Kiryuin Satsuki can not gain the full benefit of Junketsu because she is just a human.
So in short, generally, normal humans can not wear 100% life fiber, but if you keep on building up your physical and mental strength around long period of time, you might have a chance to wear one. Still, you won't get to have full power set or full benefits of it due to inhuman strain on your body.


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Name of song in Episode 8 of No Game No Life at around 6:05
As title says, Looking for name of song at time stamp. It also plays again at 7:20

The song you are looking for is Choisies, produced by SuperSweep. It's the 11th song in the OST list of the anime. Here's the youtube link for the song and the rest of No Game No Life's OST.


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Where can I buy School Days HQ in Greece?
Do you mind telling me if there is a shop in Greece that sells School Days HQ?

https://www.jastusa.com/catalog/product/view/id/327
Your best bet would be buying it digitally from the official website above. I highly doubt there are shops that stock a decent selection of eroge visual novels in Greece.


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Where can I find a full list of all the Naruto Shippuden uncut box sets?
Can anyone direct me to a site or does anyone have the full list of all the Naruto Shippuden uncut box sets. I have Season 1 box set 1, 3 , 4.
I am trying to buy all of them. I am hoping to NOT have to buy individual dvd's
Thanks for any help

There are currently 26 Box Sets been released, the 27th Box Set will be released on July 5, 2016.
You can hang around on these websites to find the best price.

Ebay
Amazon
Walmart


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Why is that Gildarts not too involved in guild fights?
There are so many situations where the Fairy-tail guild gets into really tough fights and in serious trouble!. Gildarts is extremely strong, how is that he is not very involved in fights??

Because Gildarts is like the older generation of Fairy Tail. Having him shouting around like Natsu and bashing people with nakama-power would be...kinda weird (personally I think it'd be hilarious though), considering that the main demography for Fairy Tail is young boys. In short, having Gildarts very involved in guild fights would be less appealing than having Natsu blowing fire on the enemies or Gray striping naked.

he can't control his power really well. . . if he fight with his guildmates around him then friendly fire will happen

As said before Gildarts is a class S mage and he is almost always adventuring. For example there was an episode when Gildarts came to the Guild and everyone was doing a party.(I don´t remember in which episode it happened thought). Even if he wanted to join the fight´s he would need some "days" to reach the "battlefield".

hmm ya...probably

well since he being an S class Wizard is busy in far off lands dealing greater ,maybe he doesn't even know about them or the battles may be finished by the time he reaches and it isn't much interesting if the big guys get involved to...

Well he can't hold back when it comes to his powers and if he did fight like that someone would be dead or severely injured. But there is also that he is almost never at the guild.

As others have mentioned, Guildarts isn't always around. You may recall there is a special board with S rank jobs for S rank wizards, and those missions are intense. So while the guild may be having trouble with one thing, Guildarts is likely far away handling a different job of immense difficulty as well. He simply may be busy and unable to leave.

http://fairytail.wikia.com/wiki/Gildarts_Clive
The above link is a bibliography about Gildarts Clive and it also mentions why he doesn't fight often, not in a more clear way though. One of the reasons why I think he doesn't fight like he used to be, after the casualties he faced in the battle with Achonologia which nearly killed him. Yeah, but if you want more info just take a look at the link above.

Welcome to Anime & Manga! Whilst the link may theoretically answer the question, it would be preferable to include the essential parts of the answer here, and provide the link for reference.

Because Gildarts uses the magic "crash". If he participated in fights, the anime would be boring because he would just touch the enemy, and make them CRASH.
Basically, he's too powerful.

1.He isn't around most of the time, doing so called decade or century quests as he is a S-Class wizard.
2.Natsu and the guild need to show how strong their plot armor and friendship power can be, instead of raw firepower.
3.It's no fun to watch OP characters enter mid fight and defeat villains with ease.


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Where did Decim send Chiyuki? To reincarnation or to void?
I saw that the mask changed and she just gave in to her wish to come back to live in her last 'test', so I think she was sent to void, but I'm not really sure. Can somebody explain, please?

OMG I watched this quite a while ago with a friend and we had that debate. I believe he sent her to reincarnation but the fact of how she responded to his test broke everything he believed in. So he wept tears of hope, tears of joy and tears of saddeness. It was quite moving. But this is my opinion I don't think there was a concrete answer.

She went to

 Reincarnation   This scene happens immediately after her elevator door closes.

She was sent to reincarnation represented by the sign above the elevator. One sitting on the chair is a mannequin it has no eye balls.

Firstly, in episode 11, in Ginti's bar, when he sent Harada and that girl, it was shown to be the reincarnation mask, but soon enough it changed to the void mask. We can always see the reincarnation lift is on the left and the void lift is on the right.
Decim sent Chiyuki to the elevator on the right which is usually the void one. However, there was a reincarnation mask. Here comes what happened in Ginti's place: he switched the masks. Probably Decim would also have done the same.
Well, the mannequin, regardless of whether he sent her to void or reincarnation, he merely made it for remembrance.

In episode 12, it shows Chiyuki in the chair, but it isn't her because she would've dissolved into dust. It's her mannequin, meaning she was sent into the void.

IIRC don't people who go to reincarnate also get mannequins? The whole point of the mannequin was to be a mememento of the life that was right?

She was sent for reincarnation. However, because Decim had an experience with her, he made a dummy to represent her because she was sent to reincarnation and her reincarnated body would look different.

She was sent to reincarnation. Why I think so? Because we could get to see the reincarnation sign over the elevator, right  after it closed.
About the mannequin that was shown later, it was, I think a fake one that Decim made. I am a little bit confused about that, but if we think that she was sent to void, then that sign over the elevator would be shown to be kinda meaningless.


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How did the World Government know about the clash between Revolutionary Army and Blackbeard Pirates?
As the recent manga release of One Piece, we all know that Jesus Burgess infiltrated the Revolutionary Army HQ (Baltigo) and reported it to his Captain BB.
My question is how did the World Government know that the Blackbeard Pirates were planning on attacking the Revolutionary Army HQ. we could take note that the one who attack in Baltigo are Cipher Pol, not the Marines.
As I remember, Cipher Pol is directly serving World Government (Nobles). Even if that Information came from marines first. How did they know? Is Aokiji a spy?

It's way too soon to answer that question, especially now because this chapter came out just yesterday. So I think it's best to close this question.

@pap non the less it is a valid question. All though the answer might not be available to us right now, it most certainly will be in the future.

@Dimitrimx You might be right, but still it can be reopened in the near future, when we will have an answer :)

I just read the chapter again, and it doesn't seem to mention that the World Goverment knew that the Blackbeard Pirates would attack the Revolutionaries. All we know is that they recieved intel from an unknown source which led them to Baltigo, though by the time the Marines and Cipher Pol arrived, the Revolutionaries' HQ was already in ruins, and the Blackbeard Pirates fled as soon as they saw the Marines. Either way, it's still way too early to answer that question ATM.


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Whats the name of the instrumental soundtrack at the start in Mardock Scramble:The First Compression?
As the title says what is the name/title of the instrumental song/BGM that is played during the first 4 minutes of the start of the anime movie Mardock Scramble: The First Compression?

The track that starts at 55 seconds into the movie and ends with the title card at 3:16 is called "Balot -The little girl in the huge city-".
It's the second track on the official soundtrack for the first movie and composed by Conish (コーニッシュ). (The first track on the OST is the one they used for the trailer)


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Is the Harbinger of Spring based on a real Japanese legend?
In Episode 2 of Flying Witch, this rather strange looking fellow appears and terrorizes poor Chinatsu at the door.

Makoto explains that he's the Harbinger of Spring, some kind of nature spirit who ushers out the winter and ushers in the spring, like a fairy.

]

He's the Harbinger of Spring. He's a splendid person who bids farewell to winter and brings about spring. He's like the fairy of spring.

The series takes place in the modern day and the witches and magic are very Western in style. However, the Harbinger's clothing looks like traditional Japanese clothing (almost ninja-like).

His mask sort of reminds me of a cross between the kodama from Princess Mononoke and the style of Jomon pottery:

So, at least within the series, it seems like the Harbinger is supposed to be a traditional Japanese spirit. Is it based on any similar real-life legend or is it completely a creation of the series?

I haven't gotten around to this show yet, but I'm like 99% sure that the spooky-looking fellow in the pictures is supposed to resemble a barn owl (a.k.a. the creepiest goddamn birds I've ever seen). In Japanese, the barn owl is named メンフクロウ men-fukurō, lit. "masked owl". Hence the mask.

@senshin Interesting, I definitely see the resemblance--he does look like what would happen if the person who made that Jomon sculpture made a barn owl mask. (Incidentally, I'm really enjoying the show. Definitely has an Aria/Studio Ghibli iyashikei sort of feel.)

There is no direct correspondence in Shinto, which doesn't have a god or harbinger/herald of spring (except for the sakura tree), although in some stories a rooster is said to have tempted Amaterasu the sun goddess out of her cave - to end winter.
The mask is a stylized owl, though. In older legends, owls are bringers of luck/warders against misfortune.
Maybe it is even a reference to Kotankor Kamui / Chi-kap Kamui of Ainu legend? He was the land god of Ainu lands and was also an owl god (see Handbook of Japanese Mythology by Michael Ashkenazi).  He was supposedly a god of plenty and in charge of making sure the humans and gods/spirits of the lands obeyed the rules and lived in peace. One of the better known stories about him has him ending famine by teaching the Ainu the proper rituals to honour the spirits/gods when catching & killing fish etc. so the gods would not withold their bounty.

In the anime, the Harbinger of Spring is called 春の運び屋 haru no hakobiya (spoken around 07:50~07:55 on Crunchyroll).
While I don’t remember having heard this name or seen this appearance before, similar “spirits” exist in Japanese folklore. And animes like this usually portray one or two, e.g. Mushishi or Natsume’s Book of Friends.
I would consider the Harbinger of Spring a force or spirit of nature, and not necessarily a specific legendary being, even if it may appear as one, like in this anime.

The idea of "Harbinger of Spring" is quite popular in Japan, as shown by another character, Lily White from Touhou

I love the sophistication of the question, and it so happens that I was musing about this too. So, as a non-Japanese speaker, I did the obvious, and entered the Japanese characters for the Harbinger of Spring into Google search and got a wikipedia entry ... about the anime. Then used Google translate to get some sense of the Harbinger character. What I learned: it is definitely a barn owl, as one respondent suggested. And ... that's it. There does not seem to be an equivalent in traditional folklore (credit to the how creators, who are being inventive, albeit in a traditional way). The connection to Jomon and animistic beliefs is clear, and yes, Natsume comes to mind.


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What is the most complete Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex DVD set to buy?
I have a gift card from Best Buy and I wanted to buy Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex on DVD. But between Best Buy's website and Amazon there appear to be five box sets available. Does anyone know which version has the most content, and maybe which one's packaging is the easiest to take DVDs out of? Is there a collection that has both seasons or are they always separated?

You should rephrase your question to actually speak about the problem you are having, because "best" is very subjective. Instead, try "What is the most complete disk set of Ghost in the Shell works" or some variant of that.

Alternatively, if you don't have a concrete idea of what factors would make a particular box set the "best", you might like to rephrase your question to ask for a comparison of the various box sets that are available. Perhaps identify which factors are most interesting to you.

As stated from this subreddit, the complete box set should include (in chronological order):

Ghost in the Shell (1995)
Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2nd Gig
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex - Solid State Society
Ghost in the Shell: Arise - Border 1: Ghost Pain
Ghost in the Shell: Arise - Border 2: Ghost Whispers
Ghost in the Shell: Arise - Border 3 Ghost Tears
Ghost in the Shell: Arise - Border 4: Ghost Stands Alone

Note that for the SAC, you only need #3-5. I found this copy, which I think is your best bet. If you find if for cheaper elsewhere, you can use Best Buy's Price Match Guarantee to get it for the lowest possible price. You may also be able to find this for cheaper secondhand on sites like Ebay.*
In addition, if you want to buy the 100% complete box set (with all of the above titles), I found this one on Ebay, which appears to have all of the necessary contents (double check this if you are going to buy it, it's your money not mine*), but I couldn't seem to find an equivalent on Amazon or Best Buy. They seem to have many copies of all the different volumes and movies, but I couldn't find an entirely complete box set.
However, if your meaning of best does not mean complete, then please edit your question to reflect what you want, as noted by @Hakase and @senshin.
*I am not responsible for your unwanted and misunderstood purchases. Please research and double check before you buy.


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Where can I legally read manga online in Germany?
Are there any sites like crunchyroll that offer lots of manga that are available in Germany? I don't want German translations, but the crunchyroll stuff is mostly not available in Germany and many manga I read aren't available there.
Some mangas I read:

Aka Akatoretachi no Monogatari
Akame ga Kiru!
Ana Satsujin
Radukai Kishi no Eiyuutan
Dungeon Ni Deai O Motomeru No Wa Machigatte Iru Darou Ka
Freezing
Gokukoku No Brynhildr
Big Order
Isekai Maou to Shoukan Shoujo Dorei Majutsu

Armin, do you care even if it's an app, where you can read manga?

@user28546 as long as it is an Android app, no.

The app works for both apple and android

@user28546 if it is completely legal, then please, post an answer.

All though there are not a lot subscription based sites like Crunchyroll, The following sites do offer a broad variety of digital manga editions, which should have a lot less geo limitations. Which streaming sites like Crunchyroll do tend to have

Bookwalker
Kodanasha
Comicwalker
Viz
Amazon

Considering that breaking the terms of service is not necessarily illegal. You could also buy yourself a VPN, and read the manga from a region where it is available, making it a semi-legal solution as well.

saidly, i can't use crunchyroll, because most mangas i read (well, all to be honest) aren't available there. maybe the animes of them are available there (like shingeki no kyojin) but not the mangas, which i prefer.

and buying every manga i read is very expensive for a student -.-

@Armin Not only for students. Manga is expensive, all though digital copies tend to be a quite a bit cheaper then physical ones. By lack of digital/streaming versions, you sadly end up with having to buy them real quickly. If you don't mind physicall copies, you can always see if you can buy them second hand. I sometimes manage to buy several manga's for only .50 cent/a euro a piece.

FWIW Comicwalker can be used for free, but it has relatively limited titles (although I assume that it also depends on the language you're reading), and possibly only a limited "preview" for what it does have. (I was only able to read the first four EVA chapters in English when I last used the site.)

@Maroon yeah, I've tried finding some of my mangas, I read there. No luck -.-


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Is there anything driving the number of recent series and characters from the Touhoku region?
In the last couple of seasons of anime, I've noticed quite a few shows being set in or using characters from the Touhoku region, especially around Aomori. Examples of shows include Kumamiko: Girl Meets Bear (set in Kumade Village somewhere in northern Touhoku); Flying Witch (set in Aomori) and Wake Up, Girls! (set in Sendai), while characters include Megumi Tadokoro from Shokugeki no Soma.
Is it just coincidence? Or a desire to pick a setting other than Tokyo or Osaka? Or some kind of reaction to the Touhoku earthquake?

I'm pretty sure it's become considerably more common for local/regional tourism boards to be part of anime production committees (as of the last decade or less, I'd estimate). It stands to reason that anime set in distinct places (not some generic urban place, but a specific real city) other than Tokyo would be on the rise. I wonder if Tohoku's representation in anime has been growing faster than other non-Tokyo places (e.g. Hokkaido, Chiba, Kansai, Kyushu).

FWIW, I think it would be more interesting to look specifically at where anime-original properties are set. Adapted properties like Kumamiko and Flying Witch confound things a bit. Does a rise in adaptations set in Tohoku mean that manga set in Tohoku are preferentially selected to be adapted? Or is it that there are just more manga set in Tohoku as of late, and they're not preferentially selected?

There seemed to be a minor surge in anime set in Hokkaido a few years ago, though the only one I can remember off the top of my head is Working!!. Now it's Tohoku's turn.

They might be trying to promote the local tourism using the anime since anime is consumed internationally nowadays. As for why Touhoku region, it might be because it wasn't well represented before. Many older animes use setting in Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka area. Okinawa and Hokkaido are usually represented when the characters went to holidays. Chuugoku area might be avoided due to Hiroshima bombing, thus Touhoku was chosen. Just my theory though.

All of those comments make a lot of sense. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a good source of lists of "anime set in X" or "manga set in X", because it would be interesting to see if there have been trends. I think that KyoAni was responsible for a small peak of animation set in Kyoto and Osaka, but there has been a long trail of having a character from Osaka as the stereotypical country bumpkin for ages (as parodied in Azumanga Daioh, or referenced in Urusei Yatsura even if Lum wasn't actually from Osaka).

I know that the "Japan Anime Map" put out by JNTO only lists Sendai as the location for Kannagi, and other than a spot in Hokkaido for Saikano there's nothing in the northern part of Japan. So there isn't much evidence for northern Japan featuring in anime before recently, but then I don't know to what extent that's a case of selectivism like @senshin points out - maybe there are tons of manga going back to the year dot, but they weren't picked up for anime adaptations until recently.


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How are Natsu and Zeref related?
How are they brothers, if Zeref is a human and Natsu is a demon. Was Natsu born a demon or did Zeref make him one?
This is so confusing to me. Please clear this up for me!

Note: If you're not up to date with the FT's manga or don't even follow it, then the information + images which I'm posting here will be spoilers.
According to FT's manga, Natsu Dragneel is a demon made by Zeref Dragneel. He's the END (Etherius Natsu Dragneel) that Zeref refers to way back when Natsu first meets Zeref face to face. Read chapters 436, 464 and 465. In chapter 436, when Zeref thinks about his past, how he created all other demons to kill him but all of them failed, he then says, "And so, finally I made you. I made you.... With the hope that you'd truly be as your name states, END."
And if you read further down that chapter, he also says that the body Natsu was given is not his own body, but the body of Zeref's deceased brother. In chapters 464 and 465, when Natsu faces Zeref once again face to face, Zeref tells Natsu the truth behind the END, and also Zeref left Natsu with Igneel (a friend of Zeref) as Igneel didn't have ill feelings toward humans.


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Which media should I read to continue from where the Re:Zero anime left off?
As most of Re:Zero's audience know the anime ended last week, and since there were a lot of people talking about the important part that was left out "Which I still don't know about", I decided I want to read the light novel to see what happened. Here is the problem, I found out that Re:Zero has a light novel, a web novel, and a manga, so what's the difference between them? Do I read all of them? And where should I start from?

answer to one of your questions is here: http://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/33741/are-there-differences-between-the-webnovel-and-lightnovel-versions-of-rezero

You may want read the wiki here arc 3, last 3 paragraph. Warning, major spoiler from LN.

I can not answer about the difference of each medium but, there is a fan translation group who are doing web novel translation and guide viewers who are coming right after anime. If you like to check that out here

In short, you should read the light novel from the start.
About the reason:
I’m currently reading the light novel; actually, the first time Betelgeuse appears is in the 5th volume. I’m far from where the anime ended, but the first 5 volumes told many things the anime didn’t. And some of them are really important, in my opinion.
About the difference:
As far I know, the web novel is the original source, and the light novel is a compiled book from that, upon which the manga and anime are based. You said you already watched the whole anime, so I don’t see any reason to read the manga. I don’t know if the web novel has an official translation to English but the light novel does — it’s published in North America by Yen Press. Since it is an official publication you should buy it to support Teppei.
This way you won’t miss anything and support the author. It’s a win-win.


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What order did the events of Episode 2 happen?
In episode 2 ("My Cold Dimension") of the anime adaptation of Occultic;Nine, things clearly happened out of order and dates were flashed on the screen prior to each scene. What is the grand order of things that happened? It seemed to jump back and forth and I wasn't able to keep up...

Personally I found Episode 1 hard to keep up with. It seems like the series is really fast paced. I could barely even read all the subtitles... :-(

@KazRodgers I agree. Steins;Gate had a 12 episode ramp up to when things got crazy and Robotics;Notes was relatively slow as well. I was surprised with how quickly Occultic;Nine kicked things off.


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How does Miyazaki portray his female characters within his films?
Particularly in Spirited Away, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Princess Mononoke and Kiki's Delivery service, how are the lead female characters portrayed?

In all of the films that you listed, the main female leads are portrayed as very strong and perseverant individuals who are not afraid to take things into their own hands to get things done. Furthermore, other primary female characters are seen as strong and often fill traditionally male roles.
Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind

Nausicaa is willing to risk dying from spores to protect the Ohmu. She also acts as the leader of the town, practically.

Princess Mononoke

Princess Mononoke is willing to sacrifice her own life for the forest animals and guardians. Aside from that, in Iron Town, all of the workers are women and they seem to wear the pants in their relationships with their husbands. Furthermore, they're led by Lady Eboshi, a strong leader who manages to protect Iron Town from armies who desire the iron they refine within their walls.

Kiki's Delivery Service

Kiki leaves on her own, despite protests from her family, to prove that she is ready to be a witch. Even when facing adversity like not having a place to sleep or a way to pay for things, she faces these hardships with a smile and is determined to work things out without calling her parents for help.

Spirited Away

Chihiro, when her parents are turned into pigs and is told by everyone that she has no hope of seeing them again, refuses to give up. She goes so far as to practically upend the current establishment of the town by freeing Kohaku from Yubaba's control and even turning Yubaba's own ....son(?) against her. Furthermore, it's worth noting that the entire town is run by Yubaba, an old witch who keeps all of her employees in line.


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Where can I buy or download the soundtrack for Fairy Tail?
I would like to purchase/download the Fairy Tail OST, but I don't know where/how. Not the physical disc(s), but the digital file(s). Sources, online stores, instructions, etc.?
Thanks so much!

Which sites have you looked at and didn't find what you were looking for? It would help with the search if you listed them in your question.

You can buy it from sites such as Recochoku. As for payment method you can choose Webmoney and buy the Japan Webmoney prepaid code from another site (just google for it - there are quite many choices). It's a roundabout way but probably cheaper than buying it imported at wherever you're living in. Oh, and being able to read Japanese is a must, since most of these sites don't have English translations.

It depends on your location. In the U.S. you can find the OSTs on iTunes. However, the Japanese music industry is not very fond of letting their music out of the country, at least in digital format. I have recently discovered that they finally decided to put the first couple Fairy Tail OSTs on the U.S. iTunes store, years after their release in Japan. Given that iTunes is arguably the most widely used platform for digital distribution of music, and that it took that long for the OSTs to arrive in the U.S. store, it might not even be available for digital purchase in your country at the moment.


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What type of government do the countries in Naruto have?
I can't find an exact answer since all I have found are people presuming what it could be. Has Masashi-sensei ever said what government is set up or has at least given us a hint?

Could you elaborate? Do you want to know the government structure of the Leaf Village, Land of Fire, etc. ?

@ShayminGratitude well I guess both. I was originally aiming for the government structure of the countries, but it will also be good to know the villages'. All the 5 Great Shinobi Nations have feudal lords and Hokages, so they should have the same type of government structure... I think.

@ShayminGratitude I put "Naruto" since I was referring to the whole world of Naruto (or at least what we are shown) . There's some countries that have kings, queens, princesses, and princes and I know those have a monarchy system, so I wouldn't be asking for those of course.

Since you asked for the author's comments on the government, I'll share what an interview with Masashi Kishimoto where this is brought up. It comes from the May and June 2006 issues of Shonen Jump (the monthly version published in America). Unfortunately, I didn't have those particular issues, so I couldn't confirm the interview's credibility myself, but I did find it in several places on the internet. Here is the relevant excerpt:

Shonen Jump: We want to know more about the rest of the Naruto world---what are the normal people like, what are the governments like, is this the whole world?
  Masashi Kishimoto: The world outside of the ninja is pretty normal. People make their living by running businesses, et cetera. Konohagakure, the Village Hidden in the Leaves, is the military part of the country. Hinokuni, or the Land of the Fire, provides Konohagakure a place to live, and in return, the resident ninja protect the country as a whole, similar to a military force.
  As for the government, the daimyo, or warlords, govern the lands and run the political system and the bureaucracy.
  Each country has warlords at the top, and its military has its own leaders. In America, you have a president at the top, but you also have the military general at the top of the military. The states have more power than the ninja, but since the daimyo don't cooperate with each other, I guess coup d'etats happen rather frequently. The world is not yet solid [laughs], but what you see in the story is not everything in the world of Naruto.

Link to full interview: http://narutohq.com/masashi-kishimoto-interview.php
So, what do we know about the governments in the ninja world?
Government in the Land of Fire
The Land of Fire has the Fire Daimyo as its ruler. We see him along with the other great land's daimyo during the Fourth Great Ninja War. There are other lords besides the Daimyo, but I don't believe it is clear how power is distributed among them. The Daimyo could hold most of the power or he could be a figurehead. I expect one of these classifications of government may be appropriate: aristocracy, monarchy, or oligarchy.
Government in the Hidden Leaf Village
The government of the Hidden Leaf Village is made up of the Hokage, the village elders, an advisor, and the Jonin Council. The Jonin Council, elders, and Daimyo all have a part in choosing the Hokage. The Hokage holds most of the decision making power, but his/her advisors and the elders will give counsel. I would classify the Hidden Leaf Village's government as an oligarchy.
Government in the Hidden Rain Village
The Hidden Rain Village's government (under Pain's rule) is a more interesting example. Pain is the sole ruler of this village and he is revered as a deity. He's never seen by the people of the village, and Konan is the one who gives messages. Konan is also revered and is called an angel. This government is a mix of theocracy and autocracy.

I'll note that I think Tobirama (second Hokage), actually says things will be "decided democratically from now on" (according to subtitles, at least), but I still don't believe the village is democratic.


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Anime deviation from manga
I had watched Tokyo Ghoul and Tokyo Ghoul Root A a few months ago. Now I just finished reading the Tokyo Ghoul manga and noticed that there are various places where the manga was different from the anime and many things were left out in the anime.
I haven't really read many manga but from what I have heard, it's the same case in many manga to anime productions.
My question is, who decides what goes into the anime and what stays out of it, and what changes will be made, with respect to the manga? Is it the studio producing the anime, the author of the manga, or is a mutual agreement between the two made?

I think it depends on the specific case: I heard for instance that the creators knew from the onset that the Yuri Kuma Arashi adaptations might all be a bit different in terms of their story, while with the 2003 Fullmetal Alchemist, there might have been an agreement or understanding with the mangaka

What about in Tokyo Ghoul ? Was Ishida Sui's opinion taken into consideration before the the anime began ? Just want to know because I feel the anime could have been better...

I've no idea; I never followed Tokyo Ghoul

I removed [tag:tokyo-ghoul] tag because the current wording seems like asking in more general anime production. If you're actually asking about Tokyo Ghoul specifically, feel free to [edit] it, and re-add the tag.

I think Tokyo ghoul is even a very .... moderate example there. There are other animes where th eonly thing in common with the manga is the setting and the names of the characters...all else is completely different. (sometimes even the complete personalities of the characters and their relationships).

Btw very possibly related: https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/2643/why-do-many-anime-not-follow-the-manga-why-are-they-usually-made-shorter?rq=1

I think your question is closely related to questions like Why aren't books adapted one-to-one?.
One aspect why an adaptation is different is because there are other people working on it.
If you want to express feelings, there are many different ways to do that. For example, the mangaka thinks that a "No..." with a sad face is enough emoting while the director of the anime thinks this is not enough and has the character do a Darth-Vader-like "NOOOOOOOO!!!!". One example of this is (not an anime, I normally just read manga) Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. In the book, it says:

"Did you put your name in the Goblet of Fire, Harry?", he asked calmly

while in the movie we get this.
On the other side, you have a book like "Who censored Roger Rabbit" by Gary K. Wolf, which was adapted into the 1988 Who framed Roger Rabbit. In the book,

 Roger is killed in the beginning of the novel.

Following this event, the detective tries to solve this mystery instead of the one he tries to solve in the movie. Thus the plots are completely different and bear no resemblance to one another. The adaptation is, so to say, in name only.
This might happen because the director thinks that he has a better grip on the story the author wanted to tell, so he just "improves" it. Or he thinks that he has a better story to tell in the universe and he just wants to import all of the framework the title entails. This can be seen with video game movies: the Resident Evil movies import nothing from the games except maybe the premise of zombie-like creatures attacking and some names.
And then there are those directors who just want to profit from the name. Their story has pretty much nothing to do with the original material. For example, the Tomb Raider movies contain no levels from the games (that were released before the movies were made, don't know about newer ones). Lara could just be called Nancy Drew and could be a 13 year old girl; except for the sexualization, it could be the same movie. Lara could have been a 40 year old male "archeologist". But the studio wanted to profit from the name "Tomb Raider", so they made a Tomb Raider movie that had nothing to do with the Tomb Raider games.
PS: The last two categories can be combined. You could pretty easily swap the Resident Evil and Tomb Raider examples in them but the motive is different.


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What is the soundtrack that plays in Tokyo Ghoul root A, episode 9?
What is the soundtrack that plays at 19:45 to 22:22 of Tokyo Ghoul root A Episode 9?

If you are talking about the fight scene of Kaneki and Amon the song's name is Glassy Sky  from Donna Burke : link

i recommand adding a youtube link to your answer

OP does this answer your question. If so please accept and close. If not please leave feedback as to why

It took me forever to find it but it’s called Das zweite Kapitel here is the link to make things easier https://youtu.be/ZRFSbWRyjAw


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How can Goku sense King Kai and Supreme Kai(s), but not Lord Beerus?
In the Dragon Ball Super it is mentioned that only a God can sense other God(s). This being true, North Kai and Supreme Kai(s) were able to sense movements of Lord Beerus, but Goku wasn't.
Then how is it possible for Goku to sense North Kai and Supreme Kai(s)?

What's a specific instance where he does sense either one of them?

Goku uses his instant Transmission to the Planet of North Kai. To use it he has to sense someone at his targetet Location. (Example: Goku VS Cell)

@zibadawatimmy Goku also uses his Instant Transmission to reach North Kai in DBZ episode 172 - "A New Guardian."

In the dub, he was looking for North Kai's planet, not North Kai.  So maybe he was looking for Bubbles and Gregory (whose Ki signatures he should have been familiar with).

According to Dragon Ball Wikia, being a God (Divine Being/Non Mortal) and having Godly Ki are two different things. Goku and Vegeta are normal mortals but they still can harness God-Ki because of training with Whis.
Now on to your second question. As I explained above God-Ki can be obtained through training. Currently Goku and Vegeta has both the ki (Normal ki and God-ki). It is totally dependent on the characters which to use, if Goku decides to use only god-ki then his friends like Krillin would never be able to sense his power (ki). He uses both forms of ki. Even Supreme Kai have both ki, that's the reason Goku could sense him. As for proof you can visit Dragon Ball Wikia: http://dragonball.wikia.com/wiki/Ki#Deities.
It states:

Deities use a rare form of ki, known as God Ki (神の気, Kami no Ki), which is referenced as early as the Majin Buu Saga, but fully introduced in the movie Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods. It has been shown to be far above the normal usage of ki. Despite this type of energy dwelling specifically within gods and other high-level deities, god ki can be obtained by mortals via various means, including special rituals passed down through legends, and highly intense training under the supervision of an angel.
Godly ki is a more powerful version of ki. As seen during the God of Destruction Beerus Saga, Goku is unable to be on par with Beerus until he absorbs the power of Super Saiyan God. Goku is able to briefly fight on the same level after having lost his Super Saiyan God form when his mind was adjusted to Beerus's level of power and speed. However, it is implied to have been a temporary instance. After Goku and Vegeta train with Whis, they are able to use the god power in their base and Super Saiyan forms, making the transformations more powerful at will.
The God of Destruction Beerus, his mentor Whis, their siblings, and Saiyans who obtain the power of a god are able to use this form of ki, all of them vastly surpassing almost everyone else. The Supreme Kais also possess both normal ki and godly ki as they are "Gods of Creation", the opposite of Gods of Destruction, and both Kibito Kai and Old Kai are able to sense Beerus as well. It is implied that, since they possess both normal and godly ki, they lack the strength of those with purely godly ki. Kibito also appears to have godly ki, as Dabura states that neither his or the Eastern Supreme Kai's energy can be used to release Majin Buu from the Sealed Ball.[6]
Several beings who do not possess godly ki are capable of sensing it: Dende possesses the ability to sense godly ki due to the fact he is Guardian of Earth (which would imply that Kami and the other Guardians of Earth also possess the ability to sense it as well when they held the position) and is able to sense Beerus's ki.[7] After greatly powering up to the level of the gods, both Goku and Vegeta also possess the ability to sense godly ki. Objects like scouters are unable to scan the power level of a user of godly ki. In Dragon Ball Super, Frieza gains the ability to sense godly ki after his four months of training as he can sense Super Saiyan Blue Goku's ki and feels that it is less powerful than the normal ki of his Golden Frieza form, certain beings with power or strength that surpassed Super Saiyan God (such as Future Trunks' power increase after his transformation into Super Saiyan Rage, and Frieza's clan members' power increase after achieving their Golden forms) can sense Godly ki.
Due to Goku's body being taken over by the Supreme Kai apprentice of Universe 10, Zamasu, and then engraving Goku's fighting power into his own, Goku Black possess godly ki. Every time Black transforms into his Super Saiyan Rosé form he covers himself with Godly ki.

Saiyans are unable to sense the Ki of a God. Since King Kai doesn't qualify Goku is able to sense him.
Ki sense
What doesn't make sense to me is why Goku doesn't just become SSJ Blue and try sense the Ki of the Gods that he is aware of.

Where was it stated that controlling God Ki allowed Goku to sense God Ki?

It wasn't stated, I'm just giving my own personal outlook of how it should be. I don't actually know if the Gods can sense one from distances of that magnitude.


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Anime sound bite repository?
Does anyone know if a good anime sound bite repository exists? I know someone who is considering incorporating silly/hyperbolic/cute sound bites from various animes into her reviews as reactionary bits.
Unfortunately YouTube doesn't allow sorting or searching clips by time length (of seconds) and I haven't seen too much on archive.org. I can't think of other good sources aside from manual extraction.

One that I know is NiconiCommons (Japanese) (sister site of NicoNicoDouga, a Japanese video sharing site). Basically it's a site where users can upload and share resources/materials (image, sound, video, etc) for people to use.
You can browse all the audio materials, or search the one you want.

Click Advanced Search button

Input the Tag or Keyword in Japanese

Tick 音声 (onsei, audio) only

Press Search button

Alternatively, replace the [tag] or [keyword] from these URL:
Tag-only     : http://commons.nicovideo.jp/search/tag/[tag]?s=d&o=d&t=2&sc=1
Keyword-only : http://commons.nicovideo.jp/search/keyword/[keyword]?s=d&o=d&t=2&sc=1
Tag & Keyword: http://commons.nicovideo.jp/search/hybrid/[tag]/[keyword]?s=d&o=d&t=2&sc=1

Example: List of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure sound bites.
However, since these are all uploaded by users, you may not find what you want. You also need to have an account to be able to download, but the registration page is available in English.

This is definitely the type of service I was looking for, but I was hoping for something with more English clips. Thanks for sending it my way though.


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What's the connection between Zangetsu and White Ichigo?
This contains spoilers up to chapter 112 (not much of a spoiler, but still).

 White Ichigo (a.k.a. Hollow Ichigo) appeared in the Hollowfication process, when Urahara had cruelly thrown Ichigo into a pit, and he is the Hollow part of Ichigo's soul (and power).

Now, take a look at this (this is from chapter 112, right after

White Ichigo first appears and gets beaten by Ichigo):

It shows not only that Zangetsu is acquainted with White Ichigo, but also is in apparently well relations with him ("sorry to have bothered you"), and is also apparently able to summon and unsummon him ("send me back already").
How and why is Zangetsu (a Zanpakutō!) able to summon the Hollow inside of Ichigo? Shouldn't a Zanpakutō spirit and a Hollow Spirit be natural enemies?

Both White Ichigo and Zangetsu are a part of Ichigo's being or soul. Hence, they can freely communicate with each other. The most important thing about Bleach power-ups is that they follow the basic principle of "know thyself" and thus, Ichigo himself is unaware of their true capabilities until he pays attention to them by training.

As an addition, Later on in the series, it is shown that Old Man Zangetsu was in control at that time, as later on, Hollow Ichigo takes control and they switch places. Fast forward WAY later (beyond where the anime has stopped) and we can see that Old Man Zangetsu was also hiding something else inside of him

A Zanpakutō is born with a shinigami and is a part of its soul. That's why a zanpakutō's personality and abilities differ among shinigamis as they are reflections of their inner being.
However the hollow, white ichigo, is not a natural part of ichigo or any shinigami, although it becomes a part of its soul, the hollowfication process is not a natural occurrence like the zanpakutō.
Their is a constant battle between these forces, as they each try to get the upper hand especially white ichigo who wants to control his body. You can see that the inner world of ichigo changes when one or the other has dominance, for example when the hollow has dominance zangetsu has a white kimono and the inner world also changes accordingly.
When zangetsu is in control he is able to summon white ichigo to some extent, however in this specific case white ichigo is also willingly helpful because the inner battle happens at a crucial moment where ichigo is in a life and death battle with kenpachi, and neither of them can afford that ichigo dies as they are a part of him, hence white ichigo saying; "it would be problematic if he didn't win."

SPOILER ALERT!!

 He is actually the real Zangetsu. The old guy in black is the manifested version of the king of the Quincy. They are basically like Zabimaru: they are two parts of the same soul. They also fuse together in the anime, but at the time Ichigo was in his inner world and not fighting against an opponent so he could not use their combined power.

Well if you look at it, in the beginning Ichigo was saved by Rukia and when Zangetsu came in, the spirits didn't know each other. He felt the hollow was a person who might just have ended up as a hollow and who needed help out.
Who knows why he did it? I hope it was for the good or for the bad. We don't know.

White Ichigo is Zangetsu. He was originally known as White. He was one of the very first attempted Vasto Lorde Arrancars by Aizen. When he was shot in the head by Ichigo's mother, who was a Quincy, he self-destructed and infected her soul. This caused her to go into a state called Soul Suicide. She was eventually stabilized with the help of Kisuke. And when Ichigo was born, White was genetically transferred over to Ichigo and took the form of his Zanpakutō spirit. His appearance changed to that of Ichigo, but with inverted colors. Whenever Ichigo turns into a hollow it is not actually a hollow form. It is actually Zangetsu taking over to save his life and Ichigo's. And White Ichigo's sole purpose isn't to devour Ichigo's body. The author just didn't want to give his backstory away just yet.

You're more optimistic than I am that Tite Kubo had all this planned out.

@ShayminGratitude he probably did have most of it planned out, but clearly he was rushed a few times, especially with the most recent chapters. There are a good handful of events that are dead giveaways to things properly revealed even years later, but at the time were played off or ignored.


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Is Haku a man or a woman?
In Naruto, Haku is a rogue Ninja that fights along Zabuza. He has a sad history of death and mistreatment that I won't treat here.
In any case, the Haku's peculiarity is that although he looks/behaves/dresses like a woman, he is a man. But not all sources agree with this, so... Is Haku a man or a woman?
Is there a reason for the first part in my spoiler? Or is it just a plot device?
If your answer contains something that appears or is explained after the Bridge battle with Team 7 (as far as Haku is concerned), please use a spoiler.

why this question? it's a guy! no doubt!

@Sai Until the Manga is completed and finished, we don't really know 100%. What if by the end of the Manga they reveal the opposite? :D

haha .. no Kishi should spare that much mercy on his Fans .. I am sure he does ..

surprise with false identity characters are fine not with gender! :P

Yes, at the last chapter of the series, after the world peace has been confirmed, Haku's ghost comes to Naruto and explains that he's a in fact a she. That'd be brilliant.

Didn't Naruto at one point say: "That's a guy? He's prettier than Sakura!" or something like that?

Obviously, Haku is a girl pretending to be a boy pretending to be a girl :P https://www.fanfiction.net/s/5491961/1/Needless-Gender-Confusion

I do not think that Haku was considered as a woman is considered a spoiler.
After all, they discover that only 1 episode after Team 7 met him. I can guarantee for sure that Haku is a man. Despite what other sources probably say, there are plenty of men in real life who look like women (Justin Bieber is good example). What I cannot tell you is what was the perspective of Zabuza for him (if he was just a Friend or something "Else").
I say this only because the one who told Naruto that significant detail was Haku himself, so there isn't a lot of room for mistakes.

It is. Not a major one, but still a spoiler. :)

+1 for "there are plenty of men in real life who look like women (Justin Bieber is good example),"

Justin Bieber is a good example.

Justin Bieber is a guy -SPOILER :P

Anime.SE: Where two mortal enemies can comment on each others' answers regarding the gender of a person.

but what if she is lying?

Haku is a boy. It's stated in the First Databook, page 91.

I think Haku is actually a woman.
However, she tells Naruto she is a man (I think in chapter 21).
Whichever may be the case, I believe she does not care. What she cares most about is being able to serve Zabuza (if she can serve him, she is wanted in this world). For this, she sees herself as a tool, her only purpose being to see that Zabuza accomplishes his objectives (I believe it is in chapter 29 that she explains this to Naruto). She also tells Naruto that if she fails Zabuza she'd rather be dead, because she's lost her purpose.
To sum up, I believe that whichever may be the case, it is ultimately irrelevant to her/him, since:
Tools do not have genders.
As such, Haku does not have a gender.

Do you have references for that?

"Haku is a woman" --> Spoiler. "She does not care" --> no spoiler. :D

@looper My question is hidden so no-one knows that's an important point but now you're making it public. :)

Your question also made the actual question hard (if not impossible) to find, @Alenanno. Which sorta defeats the point of not just deleting it now that you have an answer. If something's worth keeping around, it's worth making it clear enough for others with the same question to find and utilize.

I agree that there are few characters in Naruto/Shippuden who look male in the manga but female in the anime.
example: Katsuyu
But Haku is a guy in both the anime and the manga. No doubt about it. Though just based on looks, Naruto (and even viewers) mistake him for a girl, he clarifies he is a guy! :)

Katsuyu is a snail. Snails are Hermaphrodite: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermaphrodite

@looper, agreed! if I consider only the convention it is different in manga and anime.. I wanted to point it out :)

Yeah, it was more fun than an important point :D.

hahaha.. kill me ..

Haku is a man.
There are lot of manga that have in-common like that. One good example is the Zoldyck Family in Hunter X Hunter.
All of Killua's siblings are boys. Yet you can see them wearing Kimono's with make up and long hair. Attractable beauty but stated as boys.

To take slight issue with your example, I would argue that of the Zoldyeck brothers, only Kalluto and Alluka look feminine. There's also nothing particularly feminine about a kimono or even long hair. Kalluto's distinct appearance as a traditional Japanese doll DOES make him look feminine, though (in spite of a lack of particularly long hair).

Do Japanese boys wear kimono with pillows on their back also?

As far as I know, the 'pillow' is just a particular way of folding the obi, although that does tend to be limited to women at this point. Keep in mind that what a westerner might interpret as intentionally feminine, a Japanese viewer might interpret as simply old. By modern standards, male dress from the Heian era was fairly feminine. (Similarly, when a westerner sees a painting of a horseman from the high middle ages, the high-heels don't make said horseman look feminine)

I agree with JNat's answer based on the premise that I thought that Haku was a girl from day one.
Firstly, Haku portrays the physical and emotional traits of a female even though she tries hard to be a male (Zabuza's tool). Secondly, Naruto called her sir, keep in mind that they also call Tsunade sir so that does not really indicate gender. My third reason is that as JNat also says, she does not care, when Zabuza found her, she was weak, being referred to as a boy or behaving like one no doubt made her seem stronger in his eyes.

Haku is a girl. She sees her self as a guy or boy but she is a girl. At episode 17 in the anime haku's mother says "sorry my daughter". After slapping her around for ussing her powers.

There are numerous official sources which heavily contradict this answer.


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Why couldn't Celty find what she was looking for?
In the anime,

 What kept Celty from getting her head back?

Out of everything in this particular anime, this is the only thing I still don't grasp.
Can anyone shed some light on this for me?

According to the Durarara Wikia page for Celty:
In Volume 4:

 As Celty reflects on her life since coming to Japan, she realizes that she doesn't mind things staying the way they are with or without her head. She has friends who accept her, a stable job as a courier and a lover waiting for her at home.

I can't remember how overt this was in the anime but

 When it's revealed that Mika Harima doesn't actually have Celty's head, Celty never really has a chance to search for it. It's left completely unresolved at the end.


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If there's only one of each fruit, how could Blackbeard recognize the "Dark Dark" fruit?
If someone had seen it before you'd think it would have been eaten.
And I also thought I remember a segment about no one knowing their fruit before they ate it. (I think it was with the CP9 arc)

Those fruits were undiscovered and not in the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia.

I can't recall exactly when this was said during the series, but as the WIKI says here, when the user dies, the fruit he ate simply regenerates inside the closest appropriate fruit the same place where the user died and their ability is reborn into another fruit of the same kind instead of growing from a plant.
It's only my assumption but maybe CP9 did not know what the capabilities of their new fruit were because they were not so rare.
I think Blackbeard followed the progress of the user of Dark Fruit, so he knew when and where it is.

As Hashirama Senju said, Devil Fruits regenerate when its user dies (it's shown for the first time during the Punk Hazard arc), so more than one person can have the same Devil Fruit ability (not at the same time, of course). In the One Piece world there are some books that give details into some Devil Fruits, so that's how Blackbeard knew just by looking at it that the fruit Thatch found was the Dark-Dark fruit, and also about its powers; that's why he wanted it so much. During the Thriller Bark arc, Sanji also mentions reading in a book about the Suke-Suke (Clear-Clear) fruit.
As for why the CP9 didn't know what the fruits Kaku and Kalifa ate were, that's because even though some fruits are known from previous users, not all of them are.

It has been established by now that Devil Fruits respawn. Therefore when a Devil Fruit is eaten, their shapes and powers are recorded and passed on mouth-to-mouth as mentioned at this question. Seeing humanity has been around for a while, it would make sense that the shape and powers of most fruits are recorded by now.
To come back to your question how Blackbeard in particular knew about the shape and the power of the Dark Fruit, it was mentioned in chapter 440, during his fight with Ace, that Blackbeard had memorized the shape of the Dark Fruit. He memorized its every curve and point. He must have read or heard about its powers and shape, wanting the power for himself.
He did not follow the progress of the Dark Fruit as mentioned in the answer by Hashirama Senju. Instead, he joined the Whitebeard crew and spent decades on his ship, because Blackbeard thought his chances of finding the Dark Fruit would be the best. In the end, he was correct in thinking so and despite giving up, the fruit appeared.


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How could Tosen know that Kenpachi was smiling?
When Tosen fights Kenpachi in the Rescue Rukia arc, Tosen uses his bankai to combat Kenpachi.
A while later, Kenpachi figures out how to defeat Tosen's bankai and smiles. Tosen somehow knew that he smiled (Because we heard his thoughts: "He's smiling?")
However, Tosen is blind. How could he have known?

When Tōsen attacks with Enma Kōrogi, He is not affected by it as anyone else (he can still smell and hear).
So when he asked why Kenpachi laughs it was because he could hear him laughing.

Are you sure he heard him laughing? I was pretty sure he smiled.

@MadaraUchiha Yes, He was also laughing. You can see for example in this video in 5:59.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPZD320Km7I

I still haven't heard him laugh, but I guess if Tosen says....

According to his page on the Bleach wiki:

Tōsen boasts a great amount of spiritual energy. His skill in the use of his spiritual power is evident, as he uses his spiritual sense to "see".

He uses his reiatsu (spiritual power) to sense things around him, for example, to know where his opponents are during a battle. He should also be able to sense what the others are doing in the same way. It would not be otherwise possible for him to be a Captain-class shinigami.
The heightened sense of what people inside his bankai space are doing could also be one of the powers he gets from the bankai, because he has complete command over that space.

It seems he didnt have to. He just could have heard it (so do I).

Yes, when Kenpachi was laughing, like you said in the other answer. But at other times, when Kenpachi was just standing idle, he would need some way to know where Kenpachi was otherwise he could not attack.

True. But it was not a question.

Yes, fair point.