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Why is Rider called "Iskander" instead of "Alexander"?
The true identity of Rider in Fate/Zero is Alexander the Great, the famed conqueror and King of Macedonia. Since Alexander conquered so many countries, his name has been adapted to many different languages, including Arabic, Persian, and Turkish, in which he's known as Iskandar, Eskandar, and İskender. (Source.)
The page I linked says the Japanese forms of the name are "アレクサンドロス (Arekusandorosu), アレクサンダー (Arekusandā), アレキサンダー (Arekisandā)" which are all based on the Greek form, Ἀλέξανδρος (Alexandros), or the English/general European form, Alexander. Did the staff ever publish any statements about why Rider is called by a Middle Eastern form of his name, Iskander, instead of using one of the European forms based on "Alexander"?
(Note: If the answer contains spoilers for Season 2, please use spoiler tags, or at least warn me at the top.)

While I don't know if Gen Urobuchi had said anything about this, the TYPE-MOON Wikia page for Rider (under Profile section, since you know his real name the first paragraph shouldn't be too bad in terms of spoilers) says his name was also Al-Iskandar which does kinda sound like Alexander.
But then that doesn't answer why they choose that name. This is just speculation on my part, however Iskandar is derived from the Old Persian name Sikandar. Old Persian have been used in Achaemenid Empire at the time of Alexander's conquests, and it should be noted that the Achaemenid Empire was one of the largest empires in the world in terms of how many people it ruled.

Darlus ruled about 50 million people in the largest empire the world had seen (Meyer, p.85)

And Wikipedia lists it as the second largest in terms of % of the world population

44.48% (50 million out of 112.4 million in 480 BC)

I would assume Alexander's name being Al-Iskandar (or just Iskandar) is a note to one of his greatest achievements: his victory against the Achaemenid Empire.

Would someone like to explain their downvote? if there is something wrong with my research then please let me know

Thanks for your answer, I think your reasoning is good. I also suspected it might be because Alexander spent a good portion of his life ruling Persia rather than Macedonia, and even adapted to the Persian culture in a lot of respects. And his Ionioi Hetarioi Noble Phantasm does bring him to the Persian desert, not the mountains of Macedonia.

@Torisuda: I think that is interesting enough to be made into an answer.

@nhahtdh Done. Since neither my nor Memor-X's answers have an official statement, I'm going to hold off accepting anything for a bit.

@Torisuda maybe someone should ask Gen Urobuchi next TYPE-MOON Ace she he did talk about Alexander f****** both Kayneth and Sola-Ui when the topic came to whether there's still be come "cheating" involved had Kayneth summoned him (source)

@Memor-X That would be a good question for Urobuchi--why did you torture us by answering questions about Rider f*&%*ing Kayneth and Sola-Ui when such a huge mystery was in front of us? I almost wonder if it's some kind of Japanese thing, like maybe Japanese history books refer to him as "Iskandar". Although on Rider's wikia page, the references to Fate/Zero material (here and here) give his true name as "Alexander".

Well, Japanese Wikipedia has him as "Alexandros" (http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%A2%E3%83%AC%E3%82%AF%E3%82%B5%E3%83%B3%E3%83%89%E3%83%AD%E3%82%B93%E4%B8%96) so it's not something that Japanese history books do.

I don't have any concrete statement from Gen Urobuchi or the anime production staff, but I suspect it's because although Alexander the Great began as King of Macedonia, he spent a good portion of his life ruling Persia and other Middle Eastern kingdoms, and so was actually more of a Middle Eastern king than a Greek one.
According to the Wikipedia article, Alexander reigned from 336 BC to 323 BC—a reign of only thirteen years. He spent two years as King of Macedonia, rallying his forces for an invasion of Asia. In 332 BC, just two years after beginning his conquest, he overthrew Darius III, Pharaoh of Egypt and King of the Achaemenid Empire in Persia, and assumed those titles. That means that, of thirteen years of rule, he spent nine as King of Persia and Macedonia and just two as King of Macedonia; furthermore, we can see from the Wikipedia page that he spent almost all of his time after the invasion in Persia and the Middle East. As @Memor-X mentions in his answer, the Achaemenid Empire was one of the largest empires in the world by population, so being its king put Alexander over a far greater number of people than his kingship of Macedonia. As Memor-X mentions, "Iskandar" is Alexander's name in Old Persian, and all of these new subjects would have known him by that name. And after taking the kingship of Persia, Alexander didn't double back to Europe; he continued east, pushing through Pakistan and into India, searching for the great ocean at the end of the world (as his fictionalized counterpart Rider also was), planning to establish a capital at Babylon and invade the Arabian Peninsula. Since all the people on his eastward march would be more familiar with Persian than with Greek, it makes sense that they would also call him "Iskandar".
Not only that, but during his time as ruler of Persia, Alexander adopted several Persian customs and overall tried to integrate his Macedonian and Persian subjects (Source, the first paragraph, and also here.) Alexander also married two Persian princesses, Stateira II and her cousin Parysatis II, and integrated his army so that both Macedonians and Persians could hold positions of high power; he bribed, pandered, and punished as needed to keep the peace between them, even having some of his men executed for desecrating the tomb of Persian king Cyrus the Great.
Given all that, it seems possible that Urobuchi thought that even though Alexander began as a Greek king, his major accomplishments were more associated with Persia and the Middle East, and so it was the Persian form of his name that should go down in legend. His Noble Phantasm, Ionioi Hetarioi, transports everyone to the Persian desert, not the Macedonian hills, which could be another nod to this. It's also notable that, so far as I can remember, we first hear the name "Iskandar" from Rider himself, in Episode 4 when he flies into the middle of Saber and Lancer's battle and tries to recruit them for his army; perhaps Urobuchi thought that, given all the history that Memor-X and I mentioned, Rider would think of himself as Iskandar and not Alexander.

Can the downvoters explain? While neither Memor-X nor I have an official statement, I do think both of our answers are based on solid ground and not just wildly speculating. My stated preference was for an answer with an official statement, but I still think both of these answers add some value, especially in the absence of any answer with an official statement.

So according to the Rider (Fate/Zero) Wikia, Iskandar is the "adult aspect" summoned in Fate/Zero, whereas Alexander is the "child aspect" whom I believe is summoned in the android IOS game Fate/Grand Order.

"the King of Conquerors (征服王, Seifuku-Ō?), summoned as the adult aspect known by the name Iskandar (イスカンダル, Isukandaru?) rather than the youthful aspect known as Alexander (アレキサンダ, Arekisanda?)."

It because Japan and Turkey in the same language family.  That means reading İskandar(İskender) easier than reading Alexander. But I have question too!
In fate\apo why did they call the Dracula's skill like Kazikuru bei?  Its a Turkish word too but they didn't read it as "Kazikli Bey"

Welcome to Anime & Manga Stack Exchange. This looks like an interesting answer, could you expand more/provide sources for "Japan and Turkey in the same language family"? Also, compared to traditional forum, this is a Q&A site, and thus "answers" should only be used to answer the question. If you have a question, feel free to ask it on a new post. Finally, consider taking a quick [tour] to understand how this site works, thanks!

@AkiTanaka Storm is talking about the Altaic Hypothesis. There's not a lot of proof for the hypothesis and it doesn't have many defenders nowadays. Storm might be on to something with the idea that Iskander is easier to pronounce for a native Japanese speaker than Alexander though---Isukandaa does seem to flow better vs. Arekkusandaa.


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Why there are some American movie characters on the Tokyo ESP anime?
If I remember correctly, on the episode 3 of Tokyo ESP, the Ghostbusters appeared trying to capture the flying penguin. Also, Murasaki's dad is clearly King Leonidas from the movie 300, and when Murasaki uses her powers on her dad's nunchaku, she was imitating Bruce Lee.
I found these references very funny, but I was wondering: why they added American movie characters on the anime? Did it also happened on the manga?

There's quite a bit more in the manga; they had to cut some out. I don't remember any reason for it though except that the author felt like putting some references in.

I don't know about the specific case of Tokyo ESP, but it's far from uncommon for anime to have references to American popular culture. For example, there was Nerima Daikon Brothers, which was vaguely influenced by The Blues Brothers and contained the weird Michael Jackson parody Yukel Hakushon. Excel Saga and Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi were also full of them. The Cowboy Bebop episode "Toys in the Attic" was a parody of the Alien movies. The Yuru Yuri manga included a weird scene where Kyouko imagines a Hollywood movie of Yuru Yuri where everyone carries a gun. Hellsing included its bizarre "Willis" dream that references Bruce Willis.
Japan receives a good portion of our pop culture. If you look at this list of highest-grossing films in Japan, you'll notice that it's about an even split between Japanese and US productions, and that Titanic, Frozen, Harry Potter, and Avatar are all in the top ten. Japanese voice actors often do both anime and dubs of American films; check out this list of dub roles by Akio Otsuka, who plays Rider in Fate/Zero. Even movies that many of us Americans would rather no one ever saw, like Con Air and the entire filmography of Steven Seagal, are in that list.
So the author of Tokyo ESP was just making reference to well-known movies, for the same reasons any author might.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


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Where do they get fuel for the tank?
The crew of "Those who hunt elves" ride around the countryside on a tank. But the countryside is a medieval setting.
So how do they refuel their tank?
Was it ever explained in the series/manga?
Or I have to just suspend disbelief and chant the MST3K mantra?

I've never read or watched Those Who Hunt Elves, so I'm leaning heavily on Wikipedia and Archen's Anime Page.
According to Archen's Anime Page, there turns out, by a shocking coincidence, to be some kind of nut available in the medieval fantasy world that can be turned into gasoline. (Scroll down to where it says "T-74" under "Characters".)  That seems to be what keeps the tank moving for the first bit of the manga.
In both the anime and manga, the tank is at some point possessed by a cat spirit named Miké, as stated on Wikipedia under "Mihke". According to Archen's Anime Page, this happens earlier in the anime than it does in the manga. It seems that the cat spirit can move the tank without needing any fuel—Archen's Anime Page says under "About the Manga" that "the T-74 was still at the bottom of the river, until Miké's spirit moved into the tank and drove out of the water." This TV Tropes page also implies that the tank actually did run out of gas in the anime and couldn't move until it was possessed by Miké.
It's not very clear from my sources, but it seems the gasoline nut was just a stopgap to keep the tank going until the mangaka came up with the idea to have the tank possessed by a cat spirit, and the anime writers decided to just have the fuel last until the cat spirit came along. (This is supported by the Wikipedia description of Episode 5: "Ritsuko's tank runs out of fuel in a town terrorized by the spirit of a deceased cat which can possess inanimate objects.")

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


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Who was the first seiyuu?
Early anime was silent, but as technology got better voice actors or seiyuu were introduced.
Do we know who the first seiyuu was? or at least the first one that there is evidence of?

The first seiyuus that were credited in an anime were Furukawa Roppa and Sawa Ranko. They voiced characters in Chikara to Onna no Yo no Naka (The World of Power and Women). Unfortunatly, this anime was lost in time and there are no copies still available.

The Seiyuus - who were highly reputed names at the time (Furukawa as a famous comedian, Sawa as a highly reputed film actor) , as the idea of purely voice acting was not yet a reality. These names helped to drag in audiences to the short film feature.

The characters that the voice actors played. Chikara to Onna no Yo no Naka was praised by many, and went on to be listed as the "Best of the Best" in the 12th Japan Media Arts Festival.
References:

Chikara to Onna no Yo no Naka Wikipedia Page
Anime: A History by Jonathan Clements


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What is the opposite of "seme" according to otakus?
I don't understand the joke behind "opposite of seme" scene. Can you please explain it to me?

"seme" is a noun derived from the verb "semeru" which means "to attack".
The expected opposite is probably "uke", derived from "ukeru" meaning "to receive".
what Kaoru said was "mamori", derived from "mamoru", "to protect".
Seme and uke are most commonly used in martial arts to describe the roles in a move: the seme is the person who takes the initiative and attacks, while the uke is the one who is attacked, so it might also be translated as "defender" - but in many (perhaps most) cases also the one who ends up "winning" because martial arts often have turning an attacker's actions against them as a major component.
Yaoi fans have adapted these terms to describe the roles in a male/male relationship: the seme is the one who takes the traditional male role: initiates the relationship, "pursues" the uke and is usually "on top" during sex. This can get ridiculously codified and outright heteronormative, e.g. the seme has to be taller and stronger, not show their emotions, etc. The "uke ends up winning" aspect may or may not be relevant.
An otaku would know this, a normal Japanese person may not, but would understand the usage in context.
Kaoru's answer seems to show that she is aware of neither usage, and I guess semantically choosing "mamori" as opposite of "seme" sounds kinda sweetly naive given the alternatives.
A factor might be that the only common use of "mamori" as a noun which I'm aware of is in the honorific "O-mamori", talismans that one can buy for a few hundred yen in shrines or temples and which promise health, success in business or studying, safe birth, etc.

It's a scene from 'I can't understand what my husband is saying' episode 2. She says 'mamori' in Japanese. The conversation goes like this: "kaoru-san semeno taigikowa? Oh..., Mamori?"

@PeterRaeves: ok, looks like my guess was correct then.

Could you maybe add the meaning of her reply now that you know the specific word? For those of us that don't understand the meaning of the usage of 'mamori' in that specific context? ^^

@PeterRaeves: done

This is a reference to yaoi sex positions. Seme is the Japanese term for the dominant partner (usually on top), while the uke ("opposite" of seme) is the submissive partner, usually on the bottom.
This is also a pun in Japanese. Seme (same kanji) is another word for "offense" or "attacker". The opposite of which would be "defense".
So, I'm guessing the joke here is basically that Kaoru is perhaps "excessively" normal, since she is so pure she isn't even aware of yaoi sex terms.

Holy double fandom myopia! Originally the terms are from martial arts and describe the roles in a move. Yaoi fandom adapted them, but even there they describe much more than just sex positions (basically the seme takes the dominant "male role" in everything, most importantly initiating the relationship. And must be taller, etc. I also have to wonder what the Japanese dialgoue really was, since "uke" is the same word in both contexts, so you couldn't even tell whether Kaoru is aware of fandom connotations.

@MichaelBorgwardt: Mind sharing your knowledge about the topic as an answer?


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What is the connection between Amagi Brilliant Park and Full Metal Panic?
In Amagi Brilliant Park, the mascot of the titular theme park is a mascot named Moffle.

For anyone who knows Full Metal Panic!, this no doubt bears a strong resemblance to Bonta-kun, the suit that Sosuke designed.

Of course, they don't look exactly the same, but they're similar enough that this is definitely not a coincidence, and viewers are expected to catch this reference.
I know that both Fumoffu and Amagi are animated by Kyoani, based on light novels written by Gatoh Shoji, and directed by Takemoto Yasuhiro. That's already enough to establish a connection between these series, so that this sort of reference isn't out of place.
Is there any in-universe connection between these two series, or is the reference just a throwback to remind viewers of the earlier work and the staff connection between the two?

It seems that the author liked Bonta-kun's design so much, so he reused (with Shiki Douji's appoval) it in this series.
From a summary of the afterword of LN Vol. 1:

As for the secondary main character "Mofuru", I ended up borrowing Bonta-kun of FMP. I just couldn't separate the two characters in my head, so I had the idea of just using Bonta-kun directly. I thank Shiki Douji for giving his approval.

I don't think it is a summary, but a full translation of the afterword (usu. 1-2 pages).

I think because Shinji Gatoh is the original creator of both of them?
The character of both series is the same if you compare each other. A character that shoots guns easily. And the delinquents who beat in front of an amusement park.

This already got an answer, but I would like to point out that Moffle has a tendency to end sentences with a "-fumo" suffix. This, of course, being another subtle(?) tribute to "Full Metal Panic!" (Fumoffu)

Well, Bonta-kun was first stolen by Sosuke at an amusement park and was remodeled by him. Now, it cannot hurt to say that it came from the same place. Maybe this is a prequel of "The Birth of Bonta-kun"? Just a thought.

Moffle is not a person with a suit, so it's impossible to steal it and use it as AS without skinning it.

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


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Why do rich people laugh like they do in anime?
I've found that whenever an evil rich character laughs in anime they raise their hands to their mouth and let out a 'ohohoho' or similarly annoying laugh.

Where does this mannerism come from? I can now tell someone is rich if they have this style of laugh, but that's because of association rather than understanding
There seems to be a YouTube user called ohohojuo-sama which posts lots of these http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MM_k1MZB4Ak

The hand raising part comes from old Japanese traditions where refined women were not supposed to show their mouth when they laugh. The fact that a character uses it can indicate that they place a high importance on manners and such which is one of the traits of stereotypical posh characters.

Women covering their mouths as they laugh at the lady falling over after pulling bamboo from ground (Scene of the Twelve Months - Fifth Month (Toyoshiro and Teyokuni) ) 1801
The Ohoho! is intentionally high pitched and annoying - this is to make it sound both artificial and bitchy (which is usually the character's personality)
Kodachi from Ranma 1/2 was the first instance of this trope occurring in anime, however this trait was already in use in film by this stage.
TVTropes page


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Why does Eimu wear a different uniform?
When Eimu joins the class, she has a different uniform from everyone else, which I figured was acceptable because she was coming from a different school.
However, she stays in the school for quite a bit of time (and we see that she even owns the uniform in episode 5 or so). Why then does she continue to wear the blue uniform the entire way through the show?

possible duplicate of Why Marika didn't wear same uniform with others?

Wut? Both are different series...

The answer is pretty much the same, so I voted to close it as "This question may already have an answer here:"

The problem is that duplicated means: "This question has been asked before and already has an answer." That the same answer applies to different questions doesn't mean in any way they are duplicated, unless you make this (or the other) question more general.

Much like this question, this is most likely to be part of the Transfer Student Uniform trope that features in a few anime.
TVTropes page

New Transfer Students in places where school uniforms are a cultural default setting often wear their old ones until the school can provide them with a new one. In fiction, this shows the newcomer or outsider. When they get the current school uniform, this indicates they've been assimilated. If the student is meant to be a Fish out of Water, they will keep their old uniform throughout the series. In Japanese media, even rebels don't choose to abandon uniforms entirely; in American media they will do this even if the new school doesn't have uniforms. Compare the Non-Uniform Uniform.

Thanks to @Jon_Lin


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What does the text at the entrance mean?
In Episode 2 when Madoka and Sayaka are with Mami looking for the Witch, after saving the Office Lady who had the "Witch's Kiss" they enter the building we see that there is text written on the wall at the entrance.

Now it looks English however i don't make out what it says, I am wondering if this text has any meaning and if it was in English in the original Japanese Version (the screenshot is from the English Dub)

The text on the wall are references to Faust, which foreshadows the plot for the anime.
Original Text:
Weh! Weh!
Du hast sie zerstört,
Die schöne Welt,
Mit mächtiger Faust;
Sie stürzt, sie zerfällt!
Ein Halbgott hat sie zerschlagen!
Wir tragen
Die Trümmern ins Nichts hinüber,
Und klagen
Über die verlorne Schöne.
Mächtiger
Der Erdensöhne,
Prächtiger
Baue sie wieder,
In deinem Busen baue sie auf!
Neuen Lebenslauf
Beginne,
Mit hellem Sinne,
Und neue Lieder
Tönen darauf!

On the screenshot, you can kinda see the "Neuen Lebenslauf" and some of the text.
Translation:
Woe! woe!
Thou hast it destroyed,
The beautiful world,
With powerful fist:
In ruin ’tis hurled,
By the blow of a demigod shattered!
The scattered
Fragments into the Void we carry,
Deploring
The beauty perished beyond restoring.
Mightier
For the children of men,
Brighter
Build it again,
In thine own bosom build it anew!
Bid the new career
Commence,
With clearer sense,
And the new songs of cheer
Be sung thereto!

The text on another wall, near Getrud's Barrier:
Verflucht voraus die hohe Meinung,
Womit der Geist sich selbst umfängt!
Verflucht das Blenden der Erscheinung,
Die sich an unsre Sinne drängt!
Verflucht was uns in Träumen heuchelt,
Des Ruhms, der Namensdauer Trug!
Verflucht was als Besitz uns schmeichelt,
Als Weib und Kind, als Knecht und Pflug!

Translation:
Cursed be, at once, the high ambition
Wherewith the mind itself deludes!
Cursed be the glare of apparition
That on the finer sense intrudes!
Cursed be the lying dream's impression
of name, and fame, and laureled brow!
Cursed, all that flatters as possession,
As wife and child, as knave and plow!

Spoiler:

 It is referring to the Faustian bargain that magical girls make with Kyubei. In exchange for their wish and their powers, they give Kyubei their souls.

Source: http://wiki.puella-magi.net/Episode_2#References_to_Faust


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What is a Maestro?
During the final episode of the first season of Rozen Maiden (the original anime series), Jun repairs Shinku's arm and someone (i think it was Suigintou) act surprised by this calling Jun a Maestro.
What exactly is a Maestro and is it related to Jun being Shinku's Medium (ie, so any Medium is a Maestro to their Rozen Maiden)

Being a Maestro is separate from being a doll's medium.
A maestro is someone who has special abilities in creating and repairing dolls. (This becomes particularly apparent in the latest Rozen Maiden manga series.)
If you watch enough of the anime or read enough of the manga, you'll notice only a couple of people are mentioned as being a maestro (Rozen, Jun), and they're the only ones who are ever seen creating or repairing a doll (as opposed to just the clothes).
If you want a full explanation with all the evidence laid out, check out the AnimeSuki Rozen Maiden Q&A


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Why do they call their Sensei by his given name?
I read that in Japanese culture a person's given name is used very rarely except for children, so I guess that's why for example Naruto refers to Sakura Haruno as Sakura. But why do they call Kakashi Hatake "Kakashi Sensei" and not "Hatake Sensei"? This also applies for all the other teams and their teachers.

The main reason is Naruto's Universe is different from ours.
In most of the other anime where the story takes place in Japan, Japan's mode of addressing applies. Calling your teacher and your female/male friend by family name. Calling each other by name if you are a lover or male-male or female-female friend. Respecting your seniors by calling them Senpai, etc.
However, since Naruto takes place in a different universe, the mode of addressing is different. In Naruto, you can find people not only calling by their names but also by their nicknames. Naruto has nicknames for most of his friends, sensei, and elders, like Rock Lee-Bushy Brows, Ero Sennin-Jiraya, ... which you mostly don't find in real life.

This is not limited to just Naruto. One Piece, Attack on Titan, and most of the other anime where their universe is different from ours (or Japan), the usual Japanese mode of addressing doesn't apply.

I agree with the other answers which point out that the Naruto universe doesn't necessarily follow the Japanese culture in our real life. However, in case of Naruto, there's one other reason.
Not just the jonin teachers, but pretty much everyone in the Naruto universe addresses everyone else by their first name.1 This practice seems to have its roots in the shinobi rule of guarding one's surname from strangers, which was strictly followed in the times before Konohagakure was founded. (Chapter 622)

After Konohagakure was founded, it was no longer necessary to hide your surname, but the habit of calling people by their first name remained. Nobody felt the need to reconsider the practice and think, "Hey, we don't need to hide our surnames anymore, let's just call each other by our surnames from now on, mkay?" (If it ain't broken, don't fix it.)

1 The Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, seems to be the only major character who is an exception, as everyone addresses him by his last name.

It could be because Naruto doesn't take place on Earth and so the culture is 'Japanese-esque' with certain differences. Or it could be to encourage feelings of comradery between teacher and students so they work better as a team.


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Have the creators of Tokyo Mew Mew or Sailor Moon commented on the similarities?
There are a number of very clear parallels between Tokyo Mew Mew and Sailor Moon, beyond the fact that they're both magical girl animes. At 7:35 of this, the scene is incredibly similar to this at 00:53:10. There are other very striking similarities, like the personalities of the characters. Have the creators of either series commented on the similarities?

Unfortunately the second link you provided has been removed from YouTube so I could not look at it, but based on watching the Tokyo Mew Mew link you provided I can guess which scene from Sailor Moon you’re thinking of.  The scenes are indeed similar.
However, the creators of the series would not need to comment on the similarity because Sailor Moon pioneered the genre of team fighting mahou shoujo (magical girl) series.  The key point here is the combination of sentai (team fighting) with mahou shoujo.  To merely say Sailor Moon and Tokyo Mew Mew are from the same genre and for the same target audience doesn't nearly explain their large similarities, because neither look much at all like any of the mahou shoujo series that preceded Sailor Moon.
Before Sailor Moon, the long history of mahou shoujo series were usually EITHER one girl who could transform into a magical version of herself OR one magical girl from another world who is temporarily living in our world and uses an Earthling disguise except for when she needs to transform into her true self to use her powers.  In both cases, most of the occasions for which she transformed were for day-to-day events, NOT for trying to save the world.  (Magical girls living solely in magical worlds, such as Kero Kero Chime or Akazukin ChaCha, do not technically fall within the genre of mahou shoujo because everyone in their world is magical; a mahou shoujo is a girl with magic powers in a generally non-magical world.)  At the same time, there was a long history of live-action sentai (team fighting) series like Power Rangers.  Sailor Moon was the first series ever to combine mahou shoujo with sentai: a team of magical girls trying to save the world.
The Sailor Moon manga ran in the shoujo manga magazine Nakayoshi, published by Kodansha.  During its years-long run, Nakayoshi built off of that success by introducing more magical girl series, some of which were the more traditional style (Kaitou St. Tail), some which in the newly-minted team fighting style (Magic Knight Rayearth, which was also a parody of RPG video games), and one was even a parody of the genre itself which masqueraded as a typical mahou shoujo for months before introducing a plot twist (Card Captor Sakura).  Most of these also met with great success.  Once Sailor Moon’s run ended, Nakayoshi continued trying its luck with mahou shoujo, and met with varying success (such as Akihabara Dennougumi Pata-Pi, Cyber Idol Mink, etc.); obviously, Nakayoshi never regained thei height of popularity that Sailor Moon and Card Captor Sakura had given it.
One of the series Nakayoshi came out with in this period was Tokyo Mew Mew.  It received enough popularity to get animated, and the reasons for its particular similarities to Sailor Moon are explained by the fact that it came so soon on the heels of Sailor Moon; there were very few mahou-shoujo-mixed-with-sentai series yet made for it to draw from: Sailor Moon was the main “inspiration” for it, you could say.  In other words, Tokyo Mew Mew is a direct result of Sailor Moon; without the innovation of Sailor Moon, Tokyo Mew Mew would never have come into existence. Being published in the same manga magazine, the publishers couldn’t have cared less if it was just a copy of Sailor Moon churned out to turn a profit.  If it did anything unique, great; if it didn’t, they wouldn’t have cared.  Being from the same publisher, it didn't need to worry about copyright infringement by "stealing" any ideas. Manga magazines are growing more and more unprofitable to publish in print (evidenced by the fact that the furoku [freebies] they give away with each issue have sharply dropped in quality since the era of Sailor Moon’s run), so any hit series they can get is important.  Tokyo Mew Mew did well enough, and did not need to do much original work, it just needed to utilize what made Sailor Moon and the hits of its day work.  In summary, it would not occur to the creators of Tokyo Mew Mew to comment on the similarities, because that is basically atari mae (当り前, a given, obvious).  Creators of ensuing mahou shoujo series from other publishers, such as Ai Tenshi Densetsu Wedding Peach or Cutey Honey F (or even the newer Pretty Cure franchise), could make comments of comparison, but it would not behoove them to do so since their series are rather obviously Sailor Moon-inspired (if not knock-offs) and Sailor Moon was dreamt up by and owned by their competition, so they wouldn't want to draw attention to that fact.

This does not actually answer the question, but here’s why I think they’re not ”that alike”:
Many mahou shoujo (magical girl) series have similar elements, especially those of same decade or genre, like both of those series are shoujo series (targeting for teenage girls or so), so finding element or two similar or same in both series is nothing strange. It’s kind of finding same kind of jokes in two different comedy series.
As plot wise, I think their plot is pretty different in nuances and narration, even if the theme is much alike. They are, after all, two series of same genre, for same audience.


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How does Trigun Maximum relate to its predecessors, the Trigun anime and manga?
A few years ago, my friend and I watched the Trigun anime, and I've just now picked up Trigun Maximum omnibus #1. I haven't read the original Trigun manga.
We have become totally confused trying to understand how Trigun Maximum relates to the original manga and anime. I've heard mixed explanations: that Maximum is a re-imagining of the story, or that it's a sequel, or that it's a re-imagining of part of the events of the anime. Unfortunately I haven't found a clear explanation on Wikipedia or the Trigun wikis.
So, my question is: What is Trigun Maximum's relation to the original manga and anime?
Is it a sequel, or a re-imagining, or both? To what extent does it overlap or follow on from its predecessors?

From Wikipedia:

The story jumps forward two years with the start of Maximum, and takes on a slightly more serious tone, perhaps due to the switch from a shōnen to a seinen magazine.

Also:

The publishers were sympathetic, and the manga resumed in 1998 as Trigun Maximum (トライガンマキシマム Toraigan Makishimamu?).

And:

[The anime series] was broadcast on TV Tokyo from April 1 to September 30, 1998 . . .

So, Trigun Maximum was a continuation of Trigun.  Trigun was ended before it was intended because the magazine where it was published, Shōnen Captain, was cancelled.  The anime is based on Trigun only, as its air date was the same year that Trigun Maximum started publication.  You'll notice the anime diverges from the manga quite a bit though.
If people say one or the other is a "reimagining," this is most likely due to the choice of the people making the anime to change the story in order to give it an actual ending.  I would not really call this a "reimagining," though: it is more like they came up with an alternate canon because the manga was not finished. In other words, the anime started out based on the manga, but then it came up with its own story independently, and the manga author did what he planned to do from the beginning, without being influenced by the anime.  It's possible that people making the anime may have asked the manga author for input on events that he had planned that he had not yet written, but I do not know this for a fact.


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Is it possible for one Master to have multiple Servants?
I'm reading the Fate/Stay Night visual novel. Early on, in the Kotomine Church, you can reach a bad ending by choosing to have Shirou give up his Command Spells and withdraw from the Holy Grail War as a Master. He goes outside to sever his contract with Saber, who says that normally she would kill a Master who abandoned her. Shirou asks if she'll form a contract with another Master, and Saber says that Archer's Master (Rin Tousaka) should be able to bring out her full power. Upon parting with Shirou, she goes into the church, presumably to form a contract with Rin.
Also, in the 2006 Studio Deen Fate/Stay Night anime (I haven't reached this far yet in the visual novel, but I assume it's similar),

 Kirei Kotomine commands both Zero Archer (Gilgamesh) and Stay Night Lancer (Cu Chulainn). I assume he was officially the Master of at least Lancer, since unlike Gilgamesh, Lancer would have required a contract to stay in the world.

But I can't remember if it was ever stated that he is the official Master of both, or if

 Gilgamesh was maintaining his existence with his own mana, and just stuck with Kirei for his own reasons.

We do know that it's possible for a Servant to have two Masters, as, for a time, both

 Kayneth and Sola-Ui are Masters to Lancer

in Fate/Zero. But are the scenarios above instances of Masters with two Servants? Would Rin have been able to make a contract with Saber while also maintaining a contract with Archer, or was Saber relying on her knowledge that Rin wanted her as a Servant, and would cut off Archer if Saber became available? Was

 Kirei the Master of both Archer and Lancer, or only of Lancer, with Archer a free agent?

If the answer is yes, do we know how the situation with Command Spells works? I assume this isn't a problem for

 Kirei, as he gained all the leftover Command Spells from previous wars when he found his father dying from Kayneth's bullet in Fate/Zero.

But would Rin have gotten an extra three Command Spells if she made a contract with Saber, or would she have to save the one she had left as a sign of her control over both Saber and Archer?
I'm still early into the visual novel, and I haven't yet seen the last four episodes of Fate/Zero, so please use spoiler tags as needed.

Caster was master to several servants at once in multiple routes and endings. As for Kirei, Lancer is the servant of another master that was killed by Kirei. He took her arm and its command seals, and that's how he controls Lancer.

@zibadawatimmy So Kirei is actually not Lancer's Master, but has found a way to pirate Lancer's original Master's Command Spells? By the way, your point about Caster is interesting; maybe you could expand that into an answer?

@Torisuda is revealed in Fate/Hollow Ataraxia in how he was originally Bazett's Servant and that she was the Master Kotomine betrayed. most likely after that Kotomine then transferred them from her severed arm to himself

It should be possible. However most of the examples i can find are non-human.
In Fate/Apocrypha we learn that the entire Red faction, save Mordrid, is under Shiro Kotomine's control since their Masters aren't in Trifas and he has been working on taking control; I remember reading that he has their Command Seals. The reason he can do this is probably because

 He is the Ruler from the 3rd War as such a Servant with a connection to the Grail

As zibadawa timmy mentioned, in Unlimited Blade Works Caster had Assassin, Archer and Saber as her own Servants. However with Assassin she was a Fake Master, but with the latter two, she became a proper Master after using her Nobel Phantasm Rule Breaker to null their contracts with their Masters.
The only Human example is with Sakura in the Heaven's Feel Route. She has a contract with Rider (from the beginning) but she also, when she accepts Angra Mainyu, is the Master of Alter-Saber and Blind Beserker. However there is the possibility that Sakura was in fact a Servant herself with Angra Mainyu as the Master
The above three are evidence of how a "Master" can have multiple Servants under the Fuyuki system; there are examples outside that.
In the Moon Cell, the Alter Egos created by BB are her Servants. However BB is an AI and the Moon Cell/SE.RA.PH operates differently than the Fuyuki Holy Grail which is supposedly what it used to develop the system to determine who was worthy to reach the Moon Cell's core.
There is also Manaka Sajyou from Fate/Prototype. She not only is the Master of Beast but she also ends up summoning the other 6 Servants. However

When she died eight years ago, she became something of a half-zombie due to the power of the Holy Grail

As such, one can't really consider her a normal human.

When it comes to Command Spells, if a Master contracts with another Servant they are granted a set. However this is only seen with Caster.

Upon using Rule Breaker to steal Saber's contract, she appears to be branded with actual Command Spells.

Source: Special Command Spells - Imitation Command Spells
We can assume that it was the same happened with Archer and we can assume the reason is the same as if a Master-less Servant found a new Master (in the case of Caster).

+1, a very complete answer. It makes sense to think that if Caster made contracts with multiple Servants after nullifying their original ones, Rin could also have made a new contract with Saber after Saber's contract with Shirou was nullified, while maintaining her contract with Archer.

I believe the VN asserts that the issue with modern magi is their prana capacity. The grail provides most of what a servant needs, but the master must still supply their servant with energy. This is a significant drain if they want their servant to be at their best and be able to use their NP. The drain can be lethal in Berserker's case. Caster and the other examples you mention have capacities well beyond a modern magus, so they can handle multiple servants. The fate franchise has many rules, but a theme is that they can all be broken. @Torisuda

@zibadawatimmy So it's theoretically possible, but practically impossible for a modern magus? By the way, do you know if it makes any difference if the Servant has a high independent action stat, or if it might be more possible with weak-ish Servants? (In both cases I'm thinking of Emiya-Archer.)

I'm going to accept this answer since it establishes that there doesn't seem to be a specific prohibition on one Master having two Servants, whatever else might come into play.

@Torisuda actually i think there are some Modern Magi who could maintain contracts with Multiple Servants outside the Grail War, they would need very good Magic Circuits like Touko Aozaki who has Quality rank of EX and a Quantity rank of B+. not sure what Rin's and Sakura's but Rin i would say is average (before her rare traits) and Sakura is damaged (due to having her nature forcefully altered from Tohsaka standard to Matou Standard) and they are about the base line for maintaining a Servant's existance outside the war

@Torisuda Independent Action is as the name suggests is remaining independent even when rejecting a prana supply (usually from a Master). problem is higher ranks of the skill make the Servant harder to control without Command Spells such as Gilgemesh who has the highest rank of A+ so even if you could maintain a contract with them, what use will it be if they don't listen. i don't think it makes any difference in actually forming a contract but rather a bargaining chip since a Contract with a Servant isn't a Geis and the Servant can outright kill their Master

"Shirou asks if she'll form a contract with another Master, and Saber says that Archer's Master (Rin Tousaka) should be able to bring out her full power. Upon parting with Shirou, she goes into the church, presumably to form a contract with Rin"
I didn't remember it happening this way so I reread it. I was right, it didn't happen that way.
First of all, when Shirou asks saber she says she will look for a master but she doesn't mention Rin. Secondly, at the end Shirou says saber disappears and goes away, he doesn't say anything about her going to the church. I am sure saber doesn't go to the church for 2 reasons:
A) it is just a few meters away. If she had opened the door to enter the church Shirou wouldn't think: she disappeared.
B) Saber doesn't want to go to the church (even with his master Shirou) as it gives off tremendously dark vibes. You'll know why later on.
Last of all, I doubt Rin would take saber. She says in the VN having 2 servants is a handicap (you weaken them a lot) and she never abandons archer. If archer were to die then yeah, she would most likely take saber if she's still available.


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Is there any in-universe reason why the Sailor Senshi aren't affected by the citywide energy drain?
In episode 8 of Sailor Moon Crystal, we see Tokyo being hit by some sort of citywide energy drain right after Minako leaves the other Sailor Senshi when they run into her (or some point in time around that). Everyone except for the Sailor Senshi and Tuxedo Mask has passed out.
This makes sense as a trope in the magical girl genre - I'm pretty sure I've seen similar things in, say, the few bits and pieces I've seen of Pretty Cure - but I'm wondering if there's any in-universe reason (e.g. maybe something in their brooches?) for why the Sailor Senshi and Tuxedo Mask (and their cats) seem to be immune to these energy drains.
The fact that Minako hasn't been affected makes sense because Kunzite is trying to capture her, but this to me still doesn't quite explain why the other Senshi (and Tuxedo Mask, who doesn't seem to be as "known" as the Senshi are to the Dark Kingdom people) aren't.

You're correct that there is no sufficient reason for anyone other than Minako to have eluded the energy drain in this episode.  Good observation!
It is possible that the energy drain only applied to humans, which could exclude the cats. It's possible that the energy drain was localized, whereas only the blackout was citywide.  In that case, as long as the girls and Mamoru had not happened to be standing within the range of where the civilians were drained of energy, they could be excluded (along with all other civilians also out of range); it was not specifically stated that the energy drain happened to every single Tokyoite.  But they did seem to be in rather close proximity to people who'd collapsed.  If the girls had been transformed into senshi form at the time of the drain, we could hypothesize that as senshi they have a higher strength tolerance than regular humans and thereby could retain some energy even if an equal amount had been drained from them, but 1) they were not in transformed form at the time, and 2) even if they had been, in the Crystal canon, Mamoru dresses up as Tuxedo Kamen but he does not transform into it magically as an alter ego in the same way as the senshi do (which he had been able to do in the classic anime series), so Mamoru retaining consciousness would still be unexplained.  It cannot be on account of their transformation brooches possessing a special power because Mamoru doesn't own any transformation item.
This does not make sense as a trope of the mahou shoujo genre.  Sailor Moon was the first mahou shoujo series which combined sentai (team fighting, such as Power Rangers, usually involving saving the world and protecting civilians from aliens/monsters) with mahou shoujo (which previously had not commonly involved any need to save the world; the classic magical girls used their powers for nichijou [daily life] activities such as disguise, Good Samaritan action, or to carry on a secret career).  If other mahou shoujo series that involve team fighting, such as Pretty Cure, jump the shark in the same way as this episode, then it is following suit from the influence of Sailor Moon, which pioneered the combined sentai-with-mahou-shoujo style of mahou shoujo.  In other words, this was not a trope in mahou shoujo prior to Sailor Moon, so Sailor Moon needs to have an in-universe explanation for this that cannot be chalked up to a trope.


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Learning instant transmission
In the Dragonball Z anime series, as far as I remember, only Goku and Cooler (in a movie) could perform the instant transmission technique. Goku learned it from an alien race when he escaped from Namek after his epic battle with Frieza.
It was a pretty awesome technique but no one else learned it or even attempted to learn it. Do we have any references in the manga or in the anime that suggest why no one else wanted / bothered to learn it?

I think Cell also learned it after self-destructing. No other characters that I can remember learned it though.

Instant Transmission
Goku learned instant transmission on the remote planet Yardrat. Many others were capable of performing this technique, none of which were relevant to the show and thus not shown.
The only one, other than Goku, that was shown using the technique was Cell. Since Cell was partly made out of Goku's cells, he could sense how it needed to be performed by seeing Goku do so.
For the others, nobody just bothered to go to all the way to Yardrat to learn the technique. Why they didn't ask Goku is beyond me though. I guess it wasn't needed for the story and Akira didn't want anyone else to look as bad-ass as Goku.
Instantaneous Movement
Other forms of instant transmission were seen though.

Fortuneteller Baba and Kami only use this technique to transport people from the Other World to the living world. Mr. Popo, assistant to the Guardian of Earth, can use a version of this technique while sitting on his Magic Carpet.
Kibito uses this technique after being resurrected to find Supreme Kai and Gohan, and take them to the Sacred World of the Kais. He uses it again to take Gohan back to Earth after the latter had his full potential unlocked by Old Kai.
Kibito Kai, who gathered this technique from Kibito when Kibito and Supreme Kai fused, uses this technique on many occasions: he used it to save Goku, Vegeta, Dende, Mr. Satan and Bee from being killed when Kid Buu blew up Earth, and later, in Dragon Ball GT, to save the whole population of Earth from the planet's explosion.
Kid Buu using Instantaneous Movement
Kid Buu learns this technique by watching Kibito Kai perform it. In the anime, his technique is referred to using the generic name Instant Transmission.

(Non-)Canon user list
For a full (non-)canon list, see the full list here

Perhaps Goku was simply unable to teach others that technique? Knowing how to do something and knowing how to teach others are two different things.


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Why did Kirito toss the sword away in episode 17 of the second season?
Towards the end of episode 17 (of the second season of SAO), after extricating Excaliber from the dais in the lowest level of Thrymheim, Kirito makes a comment about the sword "still being too heavy" for him. He then throws Excaliber away before jumping onto the flying tentacle-elephant.
Why did he do that? He doesn't seem averse to accepting the sword from Sinon a few minutes later (after she grabs the sword out of the air with one of her arrows), so it didn't seem like a "I am unworthy to wield this sword" type of thing.

It's because the sword was overburdening Kirito and since he can't put it into his inventory, he had to make a choice of either letting it go so he can make the jump onto Tonkii or going down with it:
From the (previously translated) light novel (Sword Art Online Volume 8, Early and Late, Caliber, page 308):

At that point, I noticed one terrible fact.
I couldn't jump.
To be more exact, in my arms was a heavy load the «Holy Sword Excaliber», so jumping five meters wouldn't be possible. Just by standing, my boots already bit into the ice.

So was the sword automatically a heavy load no matter what, or are we to believe that Kirito was carrying a bunch of stuff he considered more valuable?

He can't put it in his inventory until the quest was completed. The sword itself is heavy so he had to carry it on his person, but if he did he never would have made the jump.

I had a feeling being overburden preventing his jump was the case, but then why did he throw Excaliber away from his party, instead of throwing it onto Tonkii?

Probably, if they throw on Tonkii they can damage it, remember who Kirito have the throw "skill" on SAO (and, probably on ALO too). On SAO chapter 1, they took some damage to a mob with a stone throw.

Everyone seemed to forget in this episode that they have the ability to fly...

@BlueRaja-DannyPflughoeft Only adding this since someone else made it active again....But they did not forget they could fly...if you remember they can only reach a certain height while flying on their own. It looked like that castle was out of their reach.

@Dupree3: Huh? This discussion wasn't able reaching the castle, it was about jumping a few feet from a platform to a flying tentacle elephant after the castle was destroyed.  He threw his fancy new sword away in order to make the jump, completely forgetting that he and everyone else could fly.

@BlueRaja-DannyPflughoeft Right but if they are in the no fly zone that could be why no one did it at all...just a thought

@BlueRaja-DannyPflughoeft - Other stuff I've read suggests underground environments are all no-fly zones, and potentially they can't materialize their wings at all.  Besides which, if he has a flight weight limit....

It was mentioned that you can't fly in that underground world.

You try jumping while having weapons equipped and holding a giant golden blade....you wouldn't have much success either.  What I found odd was that Sinon had no problem reeling it in after more or less bowfishing it.

It could be that he was still bearing the fact that he first met the sword during his first days in ALO when to him it was still not just a game but a reality so when he had the sword in hand during the 17th episode he began to remember certain unpleasant memories and thought to himself the weight of it all is still to heavy for him to bear its quite possible Sinon saw this (from the sideline) and retrieved the sword for him as a form of gratitude for helping to deal with her traumatic past once again possible kirito saw this in her eyes and accepted the sword as a gift from Sinon.

It is a very simple answer. He has no ability to use the sword unless he carries it forever because he cannot claim it. He cannot claim until Jötunheimr is restored, hence the end of the quest. Also he cannot jump with it because he would fall like a rock. He blames the Cardinal system because it will not let him have it because he has not completed the quest at hand. He has no ability to claim the sword therefore he throws it away because he cannot jump with it. Once on Tonky, sinon retrieves the sword with an arrow, but since Kirito is on Tonky and his handed the sword he can find out what he has to do to claim it without having to jump and fall to his death.

Do you have any sources to back up your statement?

The reason why kirito through the holy sword was because if he were to take it he would have to throw away the other items in his iventory. Though it had seemed that he was able to get it in season 2 mother's rosario he was eventually able to get the holy sword because in the first episode of mother's rosario he had a chest if you were paying attention. He was rewareded with the sword as well as a hammer at the of the episode excalibur.


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Is Genshiken Second Generation a remake?
i recently got this Prinny Bomb from NISA
Prinny Bomb Vol 502
under the Nyaruko Crawling with Love image there's one talking about the pre-order for Genshiken Second Generation.
Now i've been seeing NISA's Prinny Bombs talk about Genshiken airing on Crunchy Roll and have been waiting to see if NISA would release it on DVD however i am wondering if Genshiken Second Generation is a remake for DVD/BluRay or if it is a second season? as i have never seen Genshiken on NISA's store before (and what NISA has on store for anime RightStuf has)

Genshiken Second Generation is actually a direct sequel to the original Genshiken. There's also a manga version which is available in English from Kodansha USA. The story follows the club under Ogiue's presidency after everyone else graduates other than Ogiue, Ohno, and Kuchiki. Susannah moves to Japan and joins, and they also recruit three new candidates: fujoshi Rika Yoshitake and Mirai Yajima, and crossdresser Kenjiro Hato. The other original Genshiken members also appear occasionally. There's a pretty big subplot about Hato and Madarame.
Genshiken 2 on Anime News Network.
The Wikipedia page, which discusses the new characters.


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What happened to Captain Yamato by the end of Naruto story?
Well, the title is pretty much self-explanatory. What happened to him? Did he die from being used as a fertilizer for the white Zetsus? Or he's alive, like Mitarashi Anko is?

He survived. In 699 you see him emerge from the Infinite Tsukuyomi. Spiral zetsu is near him and tries to grab him again, but the zetsu quickly falls apart (presumably it died).
You don't see him anywhere in 700, though. So it's unknown if he lived to that point or what he did after the IT was dispelled.

During the credits of The Last: Naruto the Movie, Yamato can be seen at a wedding taking place at least two years after the IT ended. Yamato also appears in Naruto Gaiden: The Seventh Hokage and the Scarlet Spring, which takes place several years later.

he survived..
naruto gaiden the seventh hokage episode 7 page 8


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Why was Hideaki Anno picked to voice Jirou in The Wind Rises?
Hideaki Anno is a well-known animator and director. He is not, however, a well-known voice actor. Prior to 2013, he appears to have a total of two voice-acting credits to his name - a minor character in FLCL and a minor character in Abenobashi Mahou Shoutengai. There's nothing terribly surprising about either of those - both were created by Gainax while he worked there; I'm sure nobody objected to letting their ace director have some fun in the recording studio.
Then, for some reason, Anno was cast as the adult voice of Jirou Horikoshi, the protagonist of Miyazaki's The Wind Rises. Why?
I know that Miyazaki has never been a fan of hiring from the usual stable of anime voice actors, but you'd think he'd at least want somebody who had some experience in the field...

Anno worked under Miyazaki on Nausicaa, so they knew each other in some fashion, but I still can't imagine why Miyazaki would cast Anno to voice a major character.

There was an interview with Anno on Youtube (which has unfortunately been taken down) where he mentions a few relevant things:

He had to audition for the part
Miyazaki joked that he'd give the part to Toshio Suzuki (ex-Ghibli) if Anno didn't get the part

He also said:

It's my first time voicing a main character, so I figured it wasn't going to be easy. At first Miya-san told me that the character was quiet one and that there aren't lots of lines and I believed that. But after seeing the storyboard, I was surprised. There were ton of lines, songs, French, German. I felt like I was fooled.

In another interview (which was also taken down from Youtube) Miyazaki mentions during a meeting he got the idea of casting Anno and Suzuki seemed on-board with the idea, but the others weren't too keen. He said that when him and Suzuki were bouncing ideas off each other, Anno's name "just came up". It's no secret that Anno and Miyazaki go way back, so when he was asked to come in for an audition, Anno couldn't refused and he turned out to be perfect.
The youtube interviews were both taken down but there's more info:

In this thread
Asahi English article
Nausicaa.net


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What happens to the lifespan not collected by Shinigami?
In the Rules of the Death Note (i can't remember exactly which rule) and said by Ryuk himself when he was explaining things to Light ealry in the series, the main difference between a Human using the Death Note and a Shinigami using the Death Note is that Humans don't gain the difference in lifespan when they take a life while Shinigami do.
Now considering all the people the Kiras took the life of, they all could have been potential targets for Shinigami to increase their life.
So i am wondering, what exactly happens to the lifespan that normally would collected by a Shinigami when a Human uses the Death Note?

This is actually covered by the Rules of the Death Note:

How to Use: LIX
A human death caused by Death Note will indirectly lengthen some other
  human's original life even without a specific intention to lengthen a
  particular person's original life span in the human world.

It is likely that this simply means that the person killed "prematurely" has extended other people's lives as they go about their lives differently than if the person was there, thus events leading to their deaths may change.
No other rules of the Death Note cover what you are looking for. Glancing at a few likely places in the manga and reading over the wiki, I cannot find anything specifically stating if anything happens.
Due to Misa's death shortly after the series, we can assume that she gained no extra life span from her efforts. Even when she reduced her life span to a quarter by trading for the shinigami eyes twice, she should have still lived a long time if killing someone influenced her life since it would have been added afterwards.
Additionally, we know that the shinigami owner of the death note does not gain the life span because they did not write the name themselves.
Based on this, I would say that the left-over time is wasted. Other people's lives will be influenced due to the rule above, but the "remaining" time is not distributed in any means.

but that rule would apply regardless who uses the Death Note, i am asking about when the person who is killed which, if it was done by Shinigami, would normally have their lifespan difference collected and added to the Shinigami's life. since a human using the death note can't collect what happens to it? or do Shinigami not actually get all of the lifespan difference because some is distributed around

@Memor-X I scanned over my copies of the manga and did some extra research, please see my edits.


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What happened between Kaoru-tan's father and Hajime-kun?
Kaoru collapsed from cigarettes and overworking, so I assume Hajime went to apologize to her father for pushing her too hard, while he can't find a proper job. I understand why Hajime would do so and why he thinks he deserves to be hit, but what would her father get angry about? I don't understand why he would even want to hit Hajime.

@EdselJeddRenovalles I see. I understand that every parent wants that for its child, but you would expect the father to be more forgiving since Hajime came all the way to the restaurant to apologize. Thanks for explaining though!

@EdselJeddRenovalles he is doing what he is supposed to though. He already found a temp job. With his resume it just isnt easy but he has been trying since ep 3. Apologizing shows that he cares for his wifu enough to face her father. But I think u are correct that her father thinks the same way u think although I personally would disagree.


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Excalibur and Calibur in fate stay night, which one is King Arthur using in history?
So in fate stay night Saber her Noble Phantom is called "Excalibur" which is the same name as her sword. But when Shiro trace the Excalibur, it turns out that is the one that Saber lost forever.
So my question is, did King Arthur in History own two sword called Excalibur and Calibur?

Well King Arthur is a fictional character, so there is no real history here. In fiction, it depends on whose story or opinion you read. For some Caliburn and Excalibur are the same. For others, as in Type Moon, Caliburn is the sword in the stone, and Excalibur is from the lady in the lake.

This question is about history (or at least non-anime/manga fictional story), not anime.

Related question on Scifi about King Arthur and Excalibur

First, there is no "history" to speak of, as the tale of Arthur and Excalibur is fictional.
Otherwise, after looking at the Excalibur article on wikipedia, it appears that:

The Sword in the Stone is the sword that proves Arthur's right to rule after Uther Pendragon;
Caliburn is always an alternate name for Excalibur;
According to the Vulgate Cycle (A 13th-century set of poems in french), Excalibur is explicitly identified as the Sword in the Stone;
According to the Post-Vulgate Cycle (A revision of the Vulgate Cycle, with a lot of changes), Excalibur is the sword given by the Lady of the Lake, and was returned to her after Arthur's passing;
Thomas Malory later compiled a number of Arthurian legends in his 1485 compilation called Le Morte D'Arthur. In it, he mentions both versions of Excalibur's origin. Thomas Malory's work has been the main source for many modern Arthurian authors;

In the end, Excalibur is the Sword in the Stone in some versions of the story, and in other versions it is not. In Fate/Stay Night, the latter option was chosen.
However, the act of using the name "Caliburn" for a sword distinct from "Excalibur" seems uncommon. I suspect however that it is done so that it can be referred to by name instead of always having to call it "The Sword in the Stone".

In the Nasuverse, Caliburn is the original sword (eluding the one inside The Gate of Babylon). Excalibur and Avalon (which gained the properties of Cliburn) were created after it.

sorry about that I dont know actually this is a fantasy tale D:: but thanks for answering this stupid question anyway!


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Does the Toradora Anime end at the same point as the Manga/Light Novel?
I finished watching the anime however it seems unresolved

 While Taiga does visit the school after the credits allowing Ryuji to say he loves her they are still in separate schools

So I am wondering, does the anime end at the same point as the Manga/Light Novel? If not which of the Manga or the Light Novel does the story progress the furtherest (so I know which to get to continue and finish the story)

The light novel ended a little differently than the anime. The main light novel ends at Ryuuji beginning his third year of high school and meeting Taiga along his way to school, while the anime ends at their high school graduation, and then meeting Taiga in one of the classroom. In the light novel, she moved to a different, but nearby apartment block and her mother cancelled her drop out application from school. The manga has not been finished yet, so we don't know the ending of it per-se. I wouldn't call it the furthest in terms of plot, as it doesn't really cover their third-year high school life or beyond.
However, there is the Toradora visual novel that does cover what happens after their high school graduation. The Taiga ending reveals her to be with Ryuuji and pregnant.
Taiga's VN ending: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odOpaby7Fpk

I didn't think the anime ended at their graduation (despite talks about career planning we were given those when we had to select subjects for our graduation year). i thought that Toradora! Portable was a spin off since Ryuji looses his memories but it seems like it carries on the story so i guess that avoids me asking a question about it


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Why is Parasyte spelled with a y in the title?
It is my understanding that the word parasite is spelled with an i and not a y. However, the title of the anime and manga, when translated into English, uses a y in the spelling.
However, this only seems to apply to the title, since the species is referred to as "parasites" (at least throughout the wikipedia article) and Uda Mamoru calls his parasite as Parasite in episode 7:

Is there a reason for this misspelling?
Or is there maybe a difference between "parasyte" and "parasite"?

I think it's a misspelling

Maybe because it's cool. like using z's instead of s's

No, I haven't read the manga. And actually, I won't unless it differs a lot from the anime.

According to Wikipedia user Doceirias who translated the Del Rey version of the manga:

Essentially, the word kiseiju1 is consistently translated as Parasyte, while the word kiseichu2 is translated literally as parasite. The creatures themselves are referred to either as kiseichu or parasaito. The word kiseiju only appears one time (if memory serves) and is used to refer to human beings. I decided the distinction was an important one, and that the word Parasyte actually referred to mankind.

As with writing byte instead of bite, Parasyte is a deliberate respelling of parasite for distinction purposes.

1 kiseijuu 寄生獣: parasite beasts
2 kiseichuu 寄生虫: parasite bugs

I believe it is intentional.
Because there's no "Kiseijuu" word in Japanese.
I mean the Japanese original title, "Kiseijuu," itself is a coined word; parasitized + beast.
Japanese people know well about the word "Kiseichu", that means parasite.
Here, "Juu" means animals especially something dangerous or beasts, and "Chu" is bugs.
I think this is why "Parasite" won't suit for English title.
And the below is a spoiler for this topic.

 In this series, the word "Kiseijuu" will be used or appeared only once. And that is not refer the parasitic monsters like Migi, Tamiya, Shimada, etc.

 One of the key person in this series says "Human-being is the "Kiseijuu (parasyte)" who destroy the Earth!"

Parasyte is more like parasite-scythe. Scythe is the weapon of the parasites in this anime/manga, so it's that kind of a pun. Parasyte is because the weapon of the parasites are scythes.

An interesting observation, but not that convincing. Can you improve your answer somehow by including stronger evidence for your claim? I mean this is too subtle; a series title like To Love-ru is a more conspicuous kind of a pun.

@GaoWeiwei: I actually have the same guess as the author of this answer regarding the name. It is too much of a coincidence that for almost every battle between the parasites, they arm themselves with scythe like blade on top of their tentacles.

Actually the likely reason it's titled as Parasyte with a Y instead of an I is likely a play on words having to do with a physiological reference to the blood brain barrier (which protects the brain against toxins/pathogens). There are cells called "pericytes" that regulate blood flow through capillaries. So the name Parasyte is likely a clever combination (and way to avoid copyright issues) of the parasite taking over the host in the anime and pericytes that help with brain function. I should note I'm a med student so this came to me while I was doing an assignment lol I'm sure other people have thought of this too though.

Last i checked it was extra little bit of protection against copy-right claims as part of the localization, that turned out to not be required, but was kept anyway.

Can we see the source, please? What news site or webpage did you check and get that information from?


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Why are the majority of characters named after car manufacturers?
Most of the character's last name comes from a car manufacturer. Acura is a luxury car manufacturer under Honda. Gaz is a Russian car manufacturer. There are others like this such as Trabant, Lancia, Arbath, Dodge, Calloway, etc.
Has the author given his reason for this naming convention?

Sakaki Ichiro (aka the author) used a distinctive naming scheme in his other work Scrapped Princess as well, but there the characters were named after firearms / guns instead (its wiki page even has a section about that).
So it may very well just be that he likes to have his character names be a reference to something. :)


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What fruit did they use to bath?
On episode 9, Yasaburou and Kaisei went to bath, and they used some kind of citrus fruit like orange and put them inside the bath.
What fruit is this and why did they use it for bath? Does it have any relation with them being a tanuki? When they went to bath before with Akadama-sensei they didn't use this fruit.

It's likely to be yuzu, a sour, tart, graperuit-like citrus fruit that have a very distinctive fragrance. In Japanese cuisine, their juices are often used as seasoning, and their rind as a garnish. It's tradition to a take a hot bath with yuzu during the winter solstice, for the fragrance and various health benefits.


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Why did they censor the word spam?
On OVA episode 2, when all the girls went camping, Yukari showed her collection, rations from different countries, some of Rabbit Team girls started to yell *pam, *pam, *pam, which is I guess come from word spam. But why they censored the word? How could it become something like "eggs, bacon, sausage, and spam"?

Apparently, it's a parody from a popular Monty Python sketch titled "Spam". It's about two customers who order a breakfast from a menu that includes Spam in almost every dish.
As usual, a lot of other shows also have to censored some brand or replace it with similar names to the real-life brand, so that the producers can avoid copyright issues. Some other show also tend to censored part of the show if it's a parody to other show for same reason.
This is a video from Girls und Panzer OVA 2 and Monty Python - Spam
And this is a picture for comparison in case if the video is removed:

Spam is actually used as military food in World War II.

Spam is a brand of several canned precooked meat products made by the Hormel Foods Corporation. It was first introduced in 1937 and gained popularity worldwide after its use during World War II.(1)

Spam was used by U.S. military occupation after World War II into Guam, Hawaii, Okinawa, the Philippine Islands, and other islands in the Pacific as one of their military food.

The term spam in the context of electronic communications is derived from this sketch.(2)

Sources:

(1) - Wikipedia: "Spam (food)"
(2) - Wikipedia: "Spam (Monty Python)"

The does not address the question why the word spam was censored.

@Paulie_D because it's a parody and a brand, I thought everyone should know that already..

@Paulie_D I'd imagine it would have something to do with legal issues see Phillip's answer and Oshino's comment above

SPAM® is a registered trademark by the Hormel Foods Corporation.
As you might have noticed from other productions, Anime usually change or censor any real-world trademarks which appear.
They do this:

to avoid legal trouble with trademark owners should they consider their brand misrepresented
to not give something away for free which they might get paid for


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What episode do Gintoki and Hijikata fight in a roof?
I recently stumbled upon this video on youtube of a fight Gintoki had with Hijikata on a roof which ended with Gin winning.This is the video. Anyway, does anyone know what episode is this fight from?
Thanks for the help as always :D

The answer is Gintama episode 9
You can search for Gintama episode 9 on a video site.
Reference
Gintama Wikia


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Why did Nibutani Shinka changed her hair color?
Why did Nibutani Shinka returned her hair color to light brown after dyeing it black in the first episode of Chu2byou! Ren (2nd season of Chu2byou anime)? Was it explained anywhere?

I guess she probably went for an image change, but that didn't work so she changed back in the next episode.

It wasn't mentioned anywhere in the anime, I think. I just chalked that up to "trying to live a normal life, devoid of delusions and thus avoiding encounters with other Chuuni practitioners" by changing her image, like creating a new self - so to say. In addition to that she also arranged her hair in a more lady-like manner, adapted a long skirt and changed her normal black socks to white (gasp!), truly sporting an image change.

It sounds superstitious of Shinka and if you ask me, it was still actually a bit of a Chuuni thing, what she did. And it turns out I was mostly right, it says in the Wikia  that:

In the second season, Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai! Ren, first episode, Shinka dyes her hair black as she doesn't want to be recognized by other students.

EDIT: Sorry about that, I didn't what I was writing. It wasn't explained in the anime, as far as I can recall (maybe in the LN, but they're stories are too different anyway). Again this is pure speculation in my part, but I guess after realizing her futile attempt at it and the fact that she's already attached to the other characters in one way or the other, she just changed it back.

A well explained answer, but doesn't really answer the question. My question was why did she change it back to brown after dyeing it black, not why did she change it to black.


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Why are titans killing humans?
Ok, huge spoilers for Attack on Titan in my questions.

 Does anyone have any ideas or theories about why humans are turning into armored and colossal titans, why those titans want to kill humans, and whether they are doing so intentionally?

"Does anyone have any ideas or theories" - This is a site for asking for factual answers, not theoretical discussion. Can you rephrase this to not be opinion-based?

Ok can't ask this question without expecting spoilers.
Per Armored/Sentient titans attacking in the show, it was revealed why they're currently attacking (in the manga). Which is basically to get back the controller from Eren/Historia.
As for why the war is even happening and what causes non-sentient Titans to attack, that has not yet been revealed.
**Side note a predominant current theory: It was mentioned the controller used to belong to armored titan's side of the war.  If that is true, non-sentient titans attacking humans on sight maybe a command from previous controllers instead of biological need. Also augmented by instances where titans ignored humans and attacked other titans.


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What happened to OD?
After OD fights Berg Katze he meetings up with Rui and hands him his note back covering up the blood coming down his arm. we also see a shot of his back all cut up. after Rui leaves OD's arm begins to bleed profusely before he collapsed.
Now at the end we don't see OD no one makes mention that he died and Joe bled just as much after being beaten by Berg Katze. ao i am wondering, what happened to OD?

If you watch the OVA episode (director's cut of episode 12, released with the BD/DVD box release), you will know that

 OD is alive, since he was healed by Utsutsu.

please read though this page about answering questions here. there are also other guidelines such as the posting of illegal sites as we don't support piracy (in which illegal streaming sites are). also i believe the second part is meant to answer another question.

Though I've edited your answer, please take a look at this for future reference.

I got Hanabee's DVD Release and i didn't see this directors cut episode and there's no listed extras for the BluRay so the BD/DVD box release must be either not an Australian Release or it was never released outside japan


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What happens if a person can't die of a heart attack?
What would happen if a person wasn't able to die of a heart attack since they use a pacemaker or are connected to medical equipment that pumps blood for them?
This can create some sub-questions, if people couldn't die of a heart attack such as:

What would happen if the cause of death specified was impossible, so the person had to die of a heart attack?
What would happen if no cause of death was specified?

They would still die from a heart attack. The pacemaker wouldn't save them for some reason − suddenly break or actually cause the heart attack due to malfunction. At least this is how I imagine it would go, with the powers of death gods involved.

Mayo clinic defines heart attack as an obstruction of blood flow to the heart muscle, causing the body's natural blood pump to fail and/or die.
So a pacemaker won't save one from a heart failure once it happens, the device avoids them from happening (the real function is more complex, gugure kokkuri-san!).
Since a heart attack is a failure of the blood pump, it is safe to assume that a DN could make an artificial heart to fail as well.

One could comment on how to go cyborg and avoid death by DN, but then we would digress forever on the boundary of what is alive and what is not. So I am really positive that the DEATH GODS in all those centuries perfected the DN to avoid stupid loopholes besides the ones shown onscreen.

How to Use: I
1. The human whose name is written in this note shall die.

This is the most fundamental rule of the death note. If a person's name is in the death note, this person will die at the specified time or after the standard times. Like Ryuk says: Shinigamis don't normally use the DN in this or that uncommon situation or way. It was Ryuk who wrote the rules (at best copied a manual in the world of Shinigamis) so it is safe to say that the rules don't contain the whole truth.
A Shinigami normally kills human that have several years left - someone who has to use a pacemaker has low chances to live that long - so the Shinigamis just don't know what happens in this case (they are not interested in such things after all) and assume that heart attack is the ultimate fallback but in the end (at least in canon), the DN will never fail.


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What was the name again of Kageyama's Senpai?
I totally forgot the name of Aoba josai's Captain and also the senpai of Kageyama when he was in middle school.

That's Tooru Oikawa, occasionally called the "Grand King" (as opposed to Kageyama, the King of the court)

He is also a prodigy setter and Seijou's best player

His name is Toru Oikawa, commonly referred by the girls as Oikawa-senpai. They both went to Kitagawa Daichi middle school and were in the volleyball club. He's currently the captain of Aoba Jousai High School. He was the one who taught Kageyama his killer serve and how to block and spike. However, their tosses are of their own invention as he didn't teach Kageyama how to do it.


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Why didn't Krillin and Gohan store the Dragon balls in a capsule?
I'm watching Dragon Ball Z Kai and never really thought about it - If Bulma was able to pack up her cave back into capsules, why couldn't she put the Dragon ball(s) in the house, then pack up the house?
The resulting capsule would be small enough to cause confusion for anyone who had the dragon radar, as it would be in the vicinity (if it still showed up), but could be hidden in someone's pocket or even swallowed / regurgitated as necessary. It could have even served as a "this radar is on the fritz, we don't have any of the balls to hand over, they're still out there somewhere" excuse if cornered.
Was this simply a case of the characters not thinking to try it or is there something that would prevent the dragon balls from being shrunk down / stored in a capsule? And on that note, could you store a person / animal in a capsule?

I haven't come across a solid answer yet, but http://dragonball.wikia.com/wiki/Capsule might have an explanation.
In the article, they mention that a capsule can't be stored within another capsule (as "the results were catastrophic") so in that regard it is possible for an object to impact a capsule, at least negatively. I then wonder if storing a Dragon ball would negatively impact it, as Colonel Silver in Dragonball said that the balls were unbreakable (and by unbreakable, perhaps unmodifiable and therefore unable to be stored)
It also mentions that "organic corpses" were stored in capsules, but no sapient creatures. To me, this sounds like no "animal testing" has occurred (possibly because a lot of the universe's inhabitants are talking animals and it would be morally / ethically wrong) but I don't know.
So this may be a partial answer, but it'd be nice to have "official" confirmation of why these things haven't taken place before.

I think this really is the best explanation. It is worth noting the mention in that article that objects had to be "adapted" to work in capsules. It could be that the dragonballs simply couldn't be adapted as they are indestructible. However there is nothing canon that I could find that explains the nature of the capsules any further than that article.

I originally thought "adapted" was modifying the object to have a button that allowed it to go back to a capsule state (e.g. not long after Bulma meets Goku, they stay in a Capsule Corp. house for the night. At the end, Bulma whacks a button on the outside and the house "implodes" back into a capsule.
But you might also be correct, in that an object has to be modified so that it can be capsule-able. But then THAT begs the question, what happens if an item is not adapted? (e.g. your clothing, organic corpses etc.).
I think we've dug a deeper hole here..


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How does this calendar thing even work?
I was enjoying my lunch over the 8th episode of YuriYuri and right at the beginning there was this unusual calendar:

Truth be told, this is the first time I see a calendar like that. As you can see, it consists of 3 parts which seem to be made of wood. The lower part says "April", so I assume it is removable so that the cubes above it can rotate, and that there are 11 more like it somewhere else in store.
Now the tricky part is the numbers. The 2 blocks on top are set up to read "01" which is for April the 1st. But the top side of the block that reads 0 in front, has a 6 on it. What's going on? And there are only 4 sides that can be rotated with their front sides for each digit to form a number of a day of the month. Is this an animation mistake? If not, how can this calendar thingie work?
Also, is it even possible to make them read all numbers from 01 to 31?

I am going to guess that your assumption about there being 11 other month blocks is likely incorrect. I would imagine that the month block is long and skinny instead of short and fat. The month block is only 1/3 as deep as the day blocks. The 3 other long sides of the month block would have 3 other months. I am also going to guess that there are 2 other blocks with 4 months each immediately behind (that you can't see because they are covered up). This would account for all 12 months (3 blocks * 4 months) without the fear of losing any pieces because it's all contained within your picture.

You are asking about how a particular kind of calendar works. The scope of your question is off-topic in regards to the site, as defined in the help center.

@Pteromys the decision to ask this question was made in our chat room with enough reputable users online at the time.

This picture confirms @WuHoUnited's suspicion.

Bigger version of Daniel's pic

With two cubes, you don't have enough sides (total 12) to give both cubes numbers 0-9.
Instead, each cube has its own numbers (there may be other permutations that work, too):

One cube (A) will have 0, 1, 2, 4, 5, 6.
The other (B) will have 0, 1, 2, 3, 7, 8.

Then each date is represented by how the cubes are used:

01-03: Cube A is 0, followed by cube B.
04-06: Cube B is 0, followed by cube A.
07-08: Cube A is 0, followed by cube B.
09: Cube B is 0, followed by cube A, on 6, upside-down.
10-13: Cube A is 1, followed by cube B.
14-16: Cube B is 1, followed by cube A.
17-18: Cube A is 1, followed by cube B.
19: Cube B is 1, followed by cube A, on 6, upside-down.
20-23: Cube A is 2, followed by cube B.
24-26: Cube B is 2, followed by cube A.
27-28: Cube A is 2, followed by cube B.
29: Cube B is 2, followed by cube A, on 6, upside-down.
30-31: Cube B is 3, followed by cube A.

And before you ask, no, I've never seen one of these, and thus I really have no citation. But given the fact that the cubes look like they can go in either order (since they have numbers on the side, they should come completely free), this seems like the most logical solution.

These do exist in real life (I had one at one point), and this is a correct description of how they work conceptually, though some might use different (but roughly equivalent) numbering patterns.

@LoganM Is there a special name of such a calendar?

Also, its typically made of 5 parts. Underneath the 2 cubes is a set of 3 blocks with 4 months each on them. You can't see the other two since they are underneath the cubes

I've got one of these sitting on my desk, but I don't use it because it's so annoying to keep switching and rotating the cubes (which don't follow any particular pattern, unlike dice).  Mine has also one cube for months (two on each face, only the top half shows) and a cube for day-of-week (two on each face, with 2.5 blank sides)

Are you sure they are cubes? If they are individual panels that 'flip', that 6 would be a 9 and it would make sense.
Calendars that fip over like this do exist, so maybe it works like that and it's just not clear that it's supposed to flip.

If you look on the right side of the right cube, you can see that it's solid, and that there's no surfaces for flipping or any kind of hinged movement.


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What is the meaning of the cake song?
In the Rebellion movie, the girls are performing a sort of a ritual that materializes a giant cake filled with whatever they are singing about. Then it's eaten by Bebe in Candy Witch form. It's all fun and nice, but what is the purpose of this ritual? Is it some sort of made-up substitute for transforming witch energy like Kyuubey did by eating the grief seeds, but with Bebe Witch instead? Perhaps there's some info on that in manga/novels?

The Rebellion manga's version of this scene is basically the same as the movie, except shorter.

Not sure if it's usefull but this is the lyric and interpretation of this song, hopefully will help

Firstly,

Is it some sort of made-up substitute for transforming witch energy like Kyuubey did by eating the grief seeds, but with Bebe Witch instead

Remember that the world we see at the beginning is a false world and we later learn that it's

 Homura's Witch Labyrinth contained in an Incubator Isolation Field

as such, we can probably assume that any and all reason for Magical Girls to exist (to balance entropy for the Incubators) won't apply here, and the Nightmares are just a way to explain (to the girls at least) why they are Magical Girls: probably as a means to stabilize the realism.

 Since we see Homura's Familiars acting as some of the populace and when Homura begins to realize the truth as she is taken further away from her Soul Gem the Labyrinth's reality begins to become unstable like with the airships plummeting.

The Wikia seems to call the song a nursery rhyme game which would play into the playful nature of the Nightmares. As for the purpose, we see see with Hitomi's Nightmare it seems to be used to turn the Nightmares into something Bebe would eat to then revert the Nightmare back to their original form (as after the Girl's Soul Gems are purified, Hitomi reappears in her bed). Bebe being able to revert them must extend from the powers Madoka gave her when, along with Sayaka, the 3 of them first entered the fake world.


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What is the range of Amaterasu?
Distance-wise, what is the longest distance in which Amaterasu will ignite its target? Does it have unlimited range? For example, if someone used Amaterasu on the moon from the earth, or on the Hokage Monument looking at it from a mile away, would they catch flame?

I believe the range is as far as the user of Amaterasu can see.

Just like what @Minato Sensei is telling, the Amaterasu is based on the user vision. By focusing their vision upon an object the user is able to ignite the flames, the object ignites at the focus of the user's vision. Thus the distance of Amaterasu really depends on the user's vision, from a certain distance the user can't focus anymore. Bear in mind that this technique puts a great deal of strain on the user, usually causing their eyes to bleed. Thus focusing from moon to earth is not possible.


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What kind of animation/drawing style is used on K-On! Ura-on?
K-On! Ura-on are bonus episodes from the anime K-On! and they used a different kind of animation or drawing style.

This is the first time I've ever encountered such style (very different compared to the series, though you can easily tell the resemblance to the original) and was wondering for this style's name, if it have. Also, did other anime used this prior or after K-On! Ura-on was released? And, what is this style's history and background? Or is this just created to be unique or random reasons by the K-On! production?

Generically speaking, this is an example of "super-deformed" style, albeit a particularly unusual example. I'm guessing the particular details of the way the characters were drawn had as much to do with the preferences of the animators in charge as anything, but I expect somebody can probably come up with a better answer.

As noted in the comments, this is actually the super deformed style. Wikipedia describes it as:

Super deformed or SD is a specific style of Japanese caricature where
  characters are drawn in an exaggerated way, typically small and
  chubby, with stubby limbs and oversized heads, to make them resemble
  small children. This style forms an integral part of what Japanese and
  American anime fans refer to as chibi.

Some examples:


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Can a Genjutsu awaken Mangekyou Sharingan?
It was said that Itachi's genjutsu was so good that both Kakashi and Naruto either felt the after effects of it as if it were reality, or never even realized in the first place that they were in a genjutsu.
So, can a strong enough genjutsu be used on someone to make them witness the "death" of someone close to them and thus make the user under the genjutsu awaken his or her Mangekyou Sharingan?

Interesting question. Although there is no reference for what I am going to say, I think this is possible. The Uchiha clan people are very emotional. And emotions can be fooled. So it is possible to create a false situation in order to force the surface of emotions.

On the other hand, if this were possible, then why only a select people has awaken the Mangekyou Sharingan? Before the events of the Uchiha massacre, people could be able to do this, and then many people could be able to have the Mangekyou Sharingan.

I don't know what you mean by "why only a select people has awaken the Mangekyou Sharingan". From flashbacks from the time of Madara and Izuna, we saw that many people unlocked the Mangekyou, and it was becoming a growing epidemic, just for advancements of warfare on the Uchiha side.

Not possible, Sasuke didn't awaken his Mangekyou Sharingan after being battered by Itachi's Genjutsu. Itachi kept on replaying how he killed both Sasuke's parents. The Mangekyou can only be awaken when the user suffer from trauma after witnessing the death of someone close to them. With the user normally having to witness or experience this first hand not by Genjutsu. For further details please refer to Mangekyo Sharingan

With Itachi replaying the events of his parents' deaths, Sasuke knew it was a genjutsu, so he couldn't possibly awaken the Mangekyou that way. I am talking about the case where the genjutsu is so good that it fools someone to believe they're in reality and witness a death that they perceive to have actually happened, and not a replay of and event that they KNEW already happened.

@Karnage2015 wasn't the Mangekyou should be awaken when a person experiences a serve trauma of losing some one close to them. So in that point of view, sasuke did suffer the severe trauma, when itachi first killed their parents for the first time.

I don't think this proves anything. Sasuke's sharingan wasn't fully developed at that point.

To be fair, the way Sarada awakened her Sharingan proves that awakening the Mangekyou Sharingan through Genjutsu could be possible. Sarada was under the impression that Sakura wasn't her real mother even though she was and it was all just in her head. I could also point out that Mangekyou Sharingan awakens during the death of a loved one because of the severity of the trauma and it is not the death alone that awakens it.
Sasuke was probably too young and couldn't handle the Mangekyou Sharingan which is why he didn't awaken it after death of his parents. Also reliving a traumatic event isn't as traumatic as the first time it happened which is why sasuke didn't awaken the Mangekyou Sharingan under Itachi's genjutsu.
In other words, awakening of Sharingan and so forth is caused the variation in trauma severity, not a death. The Mangekyou Sharingan  would certainly awaken even if someone didn't die as long as the severity of that specific trauma is the same or exceeds the death of a loved one.
In conclusion awakening the Mangekyou Sharingan with genjutsu is possible if the individual under the genjutsu is not able to discern reality with the genjutsu


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What happens when two selectors have the same deck colour?
When Selectors battle, there is a large wheel or clock that decides which Selector goes first.
The Selectors are represented by their deck colour (eg. Yuzuki - Red Deck, Ruko - White Deck)
The image below is from when Ruko battled Yuzuki, And it's clear that Ruko gets to go first.
But how could we tell who goes first if both Yuzuki and Ruko had the same coloured deck? Would the wheel be entirely one colour?
As of season 1 of the anime there have been no same-deck battles but maybe there is some external source of information about this?

FWIW, the actual real-world card game uses rock-paper-scissors to determine who goes first, so we're not going to find any answers there.

In episode 11 of Selector Spread WIXOSS, There is a same-coloured battle:

  between Mayu & Ruuko (Black vs Black)

It seems like when the selectors are battling with the same deck colour, they can choose who goes first.
This also ties into the real game - where there are no hard set rules on which player goes first. (although I presume this advantage is offset in some way)


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Where is the divergence in Fate/Apocrypha?
I know that the light novel Fate/Apocrypha has some divergent point after the Third Grail War, but I was wondering what exactly that divergent point was. How did the world end up without a Fourth and Fifth Grail war? Did someone win the Third Grail War, or was there something else that happened differently?

One cause was Darnic Prestone Yggdmillennia, who aided the Nazi's during the Third Holy Grail War by locating the greater Grail and stealing it.

Seventy years ago, he participated in Fuyuki's Third Holy Grail War in an unknown capacity, aiding the Nazis to supposedly help them further their own goals. He found the location of the Greater Grail, and with the power of the Nazi army behind him, plundered it. He betrayed the Nazis as it was being transported to Germany without their knowledge, leading to the only details being known that the Grail disappeared without a trace and the magus aiding them also vanished.

However, there is also another deviance which dates back earlier than Darnic.
In the original timeline that Fate/Zero and Fate/Stay Night follow from, the Einzberns summoned a new Avenger Class for Angra Mainyu. However, its early defeat and storage in the Greater Grail corrupted it, causing the abnormalities we see in future wars (non-Heroic Spirits being summoned, wishes becoming destruction).
In Fate/Apocrypha however, the Einzberns summoned Ruler, which in the Great Holy Grail War is Joan of Arc, but in the Third War, it was Shirou Tokisada Amakusa who we know in Apocrypha as Shirou Kotomine

As the third war drew to a close, the Einzberns clearly stood closer than any other to the Greater Grail. However Darnic Prestone Yggdmillennia successfully stolen the Greater Grail, the only survivors in Fuyuki City were Shirou and Risei Kotomine. While his Master was killed in action, Shirou remained materialized due to Shirou came in contact with the Greater Grail and he managed to receive flesh.

So we can assume that what caused the timeline to split is when the Einzberns chose to Summon Ruler instead of Avenger.