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Can shisui use izanami?
Itachi knew of the izanami and he considered Shisui as his brother so it is possible that he shared the information with shisui? while kotoamatsukami requires time before it can be used again, izanami is a one time use of the eye so Shisui could have avoided using it. I know that the answers will just be extrapolation only but still might be worth asking

The short concise answer:
If Shisui knew about Izanami, then yes he can use it. If not, he can easily learn it by reading the Uchiha stone tablet with his Mangekyou Sharingan.
Considering all events leading up to his death, he probably never learned about Izami (reasoning below).
The nice long juicy explanation:
Because the Uchiha had a past history where people started abusing the Izanagi and Izanami, they became labeled as kinjutsu or forbidden techniques. Kinjutsu is not taught to shinobi on a general basis.
That means one can only learn of Izanami either through the stone tablet or another Uchiha that knows how to use this technique. From what it appears, Shisui had considerably the best pair of eyes amongst the Uchiha clan. With that said, Shisui is definitely capable of using Izanami as so should any other Uchiha member that awakens their mangekyou.
However, it only makes sense that Shisui did not know about Izanami before the Uchiha coup d'etat. Recall Shisui trying to use his special technique Kotoamatsukami on Danzou prior to the event. If he knew about Izanami, I am sure he would have used it, because it only requires the eye sacrifice, which is better than having Danzou stealing his eye.
In order to protect his last eye, Shisui sacrifices his life and entrusts his eye to Itachi. Therefore we can determine that Shisui did not know of Izanami.
EDIT: Addressing R.J's comments -
(This really doesn't add to the answer of the titled question, but explains the fundamentals of Izanagi / Izanami).

I think any Uchiha can use Izanami or Izanagi provided they know about the jutsu.

Anyone (not just Uchiha) can use Izanagi / Izanami provided that they know about it and have a Sharingan (ie Danzou).

There is no pre-condition of them having awakened the Mangekyou because if that was the case, then Danzo couldn't have used it so many times.

For a person to use Mangekyou techniques in the past (amaterasu, tsukiyomi, susanoo), it required him to use his Mangekyou Sharingan. The only other type of eye that can use the above 3 jutsus is the Rinnegan, and that is because it is the evolved form of the Mangekyou.
When Danzou used Izanagi 10 times, 10 normal sharingan were sacrificed. This means that Izanagi is not a Mangekyou technique, and does not require Mangekyou to use.

All you need is an activated Sharingan and the knowledge about the jutsu.

Before I begin, we know that you also need Senju DNA in order to use Izanagi. This was explicitly stated by Tobi when Danzou was fighting against Sasuke.
In Danzou's situation, we can assume that Danzou needed the Mangekyou Sharingan in order to learn about the technique. Who is going to teach Danzou Izanagi? The possible options are Madara, Obito, Shisui, and Itachi, except none of these people have motive to teach him Izanagi. Therefore it is only logical to assume that he needed to read Uchiha stone tablet with MS.
The possible plot hole:
Tobi stated that you need both Sharingan and Senju DNA to use Izanagi. Keep in mind that both Tobi and Danzou had both DNA when using that jutsu. Naturally, I'd assume the same prerequisites hold true for Izanami, however it was never mentioned that Itachi has Senju DNA. That means Izanami and Izanagi have different requirements, or Itachi has some Senju DNA, or this is one big plothole mess.

I think any Uchiha can use Izanami or Izanagi provided they know about the jutsu. There is no pre-condition of them having awakened the Mangekyou because if that was the case, then Danzo couldn't have used it so many times. All you need is an activated Sharingan and the knowledge about the jutsu.

Which Danzou reason are you talking about? Even if Danzou didn't have that Mangekyou but had learnt about Izanami/Izanagi from someone, he could have used the jutsu. Since he already had Shisui's Mangekyou, he read it from the stone tablet I guess. But that was not the point here. The point was that you don't need a Mangekyou to use Izanami/Izanagi. All you need is an awakened Sharingan along with the jutsu's knowlegdem, which can be got from others or from the tablet(for this Mangekyou is required).

Just to clarify, my original post never said that MS was a requirement to use Izanagi. However, to clear any misunderstanding, my edit explicitly states that Izanagi is not an MS technique.

With that said, Shisui is definitely capable of using Izanami as so should any other Uchiha member that awakens their mangekyou. - This statement of yours was the one I was talking about. And also, I said that Izanagi and Izanami is not a Mangekyou technique and even(in the edit addressing to my comments) you're saying that only. I don't get why a clarification for that is required.

Clarification is required because my statement isn't false. You only chose to interpret it as Mangekyou Sharingan is a requirement to use Izanami and disregarded my previous sentences, explaining kinjutsu and the Uchiha stone tablet. I thought it was clear that the reference to the Mangekyou Sharingan implied reading the stone tablet. I figured I didn't need to state that Izanagi was not an MS technique because Danzou didn't use the MS for it, but you read my answer and interpreted otherwise.

That is because you did not mention that all Izanami/Izanagi required was a Sharingan and the jutsu knowledge. That's what lead to the confusion. Anyways, I guess the answer now though not fully confusion free, is still a good one. You could incorporate the responses to my comments in the original answer and not as a note kind of thing below making it a proper answer to the question than a mix match of the question and the comments.


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What was Suguru's relationship with his counselor?
After Suguru died, his heart was implanted into Kakeru. Suguru's former counselor seems to play a psychiatric therapist role for Kakeru and says certain things to shake him up. Why does she do this? What kind of relationship did she have with Suguru to make her play mind games on his younger brother?

Mine Ayaka was Suguru's former counselor as you said in your question. When he was alive he approached her for counseling on how to deal with pressure, because he had to live with all expectations for being the best Japanese player in his age and the future of Japan's soccer.
So they begging to be very close in this time, because almost nobody, even his brother, knew that Suguru had this kind of feeling, behind his apparent cool-headedness. As a professional, Mine Ayaka could listen to him, and he felt that could talk to her.
Then, Suguru's death surprised everyone, including her. And Suguru's heart was implanted in Kakeru. In this time, Mine Ayaka was the one who made the theory that Suguru's soul and memory were still living inside Kakeru's heart.
Answering your question, Ayaka is a psychotherapist, but she is addicted to spirituality and human mind. She also became very close to Kakeru, as she was to Suguru. According to Area no Kishi wiki:

Despite her position as a clinical psychotherapist, she is fascinated
  by spirituality and the human mind as shown by her strong interest
  towards the theory of Suguru's soul still living in the heart that was
  transplanted into Kakeru.

So, she became very interested in their case, trying to convince him to keep playing soccer, fulfilling his brother's dream, as she can study better this theory of memory transfer.

Some of the things she says appears to be counter productive, making Kakeru feel insecure about himself. She basically leads Kakeru to question himself: Who is really playing soccer, me or my brother? Trying to convince him to play soccer is one thing, but this is psychological warfare here. What's her motive for confusing Kakeru rather than aiding him?

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How does the memory wipe work in Gakuen Alice?
I've been reading some of the recent episodes of Gakuen Alice, and Mikan had her memories of the past two years (since she stared at the school) wiped. When she seems Natsume, however, she ends up remembering him. Are there any explanations about how it works or why it fails? I didn't see any, but I might have missed them.

Mikan seems to remember Natsume because of the alice stone . (Chapter About Creating Alice Stone) , When Natsume give the Alice stone to Mikan , it was nullify and each fragments came back to her . (sorry for my bad english) one of those fragments was About the One she loves . At first it was fuzzy to clear those memories that step by step occuring into her mind when Natsume give that alice stone everything becomes clear .

"  Natsume pulls out the bag containing her tiny Alice stone, the first one she gave to Natsume when they were 12-years-old. Natsume hopes that by returning the Alice stone to Mikan, its proper owner, she will regain her memories, especially him. He gives it to her, and when she takes it, it is suddenly absorbed into the palm of her hand, which means that she has regained some of her Alice"(http://gakuenalice.wikia.com/wiki/Gakuen_Alice_Chapter_179)

In this manga they want to make people understand that love overcomes all. Especially love of the sort they have. Also, she had given him an Alice Stone in which magic (which also indicates memories of that person). If I'm not mistaken, she touches this stone when they meet and regains her memories. But why she would remember Natsume's name could also be explained with the amount of strong memories. Strong memories (love overcomes all) tend to be more often remembered. I think you've got your answer right there. :) This is not explained in the manga, it is only my own reflections.

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What was the screen that appeared of Senjougahara during her phone conversation with Kaiki?
In episode 24 of Monogatari Series Second Season, while Kaiki is on the phone with Senjougahara, an image of her outside his window appears. During their conversation there are several other similar images.
What is this image supposed to represent?

The first thing to note is that this is a clear reference to Blade Runner, the American scifi classic movie. In fact, it's the same reference as was made in Uchouten Kazoku (see Is the "wakakusa" ad a references to something?), namely to the famous geisha ads in Blade Runner which play several times throughout the movie. These ads are for the gastrointestinal drug "Strong Wakamoto", which is a real product that is quite popular in Japan, but essentially only known in the West through its connection to Blade Runner. It's not unusual that this scene would get referenced many times in different works, since it's one of the most memorable scenes in the movie and plays several times.
Here, the visible text from the OP above is 「．．．力わかも．．．」, which could easily be completed to 「強力わかもと」("kyouryoku wakamoto") which is exactly what the original Blade Runner ads said and also the name of the product. There's also the iconic pill swallowing animation a little bit later, which again is a very strong reference to the original ad:
Click for large animated GIF
As for why exactly the ad plays here, it's impossible to be sure, but there are several possible reasons. Of course, Monogatari tends to throw lots of references out just to keep viewers on their toes, and this is probably one of them. On a deeper level, it could be used in much the same way as the original ad, to disorient and slightly confuse viewers. Of course, given that the geisha is supposed to be attractive, a third possibility is that this is a metaphor to show that Kaiki has some attraction towards Senjougahara (there are some other hints of this as well in Koimonogatari).


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What is this strange flying fish creature?
At the end of the opening sequence of Outbreak Company, the main characters can be seen riding some sort of huge flying fish creature. I've watched 11 episodes so far, and I didn't catch any sights of anything remotely similar, or even a mention of what it could be.
What is it? Does it have a name (either species or individual name)? Does it appear anywhere in the story at all (e.g. in later novels)?

I guess this is just a fun fantasy thing to do − let the characters ride unusual creatures in op/ed sequences.

Could this possibly be the Pet fish of Her highness "Elizabeth" that died after the maid got stabbed? Like a reincarnation? Honestly this is the only fish i saw in this anime.

I am sure it is just a fun fantasy element that the animators put in. Like you said it could of been covered in the other books but I doubt it has any significance other than it looks cool. It's not unusual to see thin ks in the opening and ending songs to an anime. They are made to look cool and maybe corresponding to the song.

It reminds me of Remoraid in Pokemon when I first saw it, but the appearance is not anywhere close, except for the skin color.

I have watched outbreak company many times and feel that the fish was just another element to add to the beauty of the whole fantasy element of the show.

That is just an Add-on to act as another feel for this fantasy world or just..letting the viewers realized that is the only scene you can see them all of them are happy together

The closest thing I know of to this creature, is the mythological Peng, a fish-bird hybrid from ancient Chinese folklore. Technically, it is either a bird that can transform into a fish, or vice versa.
I am not aware of any explanations in the anime or in the light novels for this creature, but I suggest that it was included to add to the fantastical atmosphere of the anime, add another magical creature to the repetoire, as well as being something fun and exciting for the viewers to watch during the credit sequences!
Nevertheless, the Peng is an appropriate creature to use as a model, since its flight was associated with being uplifted by 'righteousness' and 'virtue', and for a long time stood as a metaphor for 'broadening one's mind' or 'expanding one's horizons'. This is a very apt theme for Outbreak Company, which is all about 'breaking' through to the other side, and expanding into new ground, both physically and mentally. Both Kano and Myucel must grow and broaden their minds and experiences, and so the Peng is an excellent metaphor for them!


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What's the deal with Gowther's concealed identity?
All 7 of the deadly sins were once a team before. It seems Gowther is able to identify everyone on the team, so why isn't anyone able to identify Gowther?
An additional question is why didn't Gowther reveal himself to the group sooner? I don't see why he would hide his presence from his closest allies.

In a more recent chapter, Gowther is revealed to be a:

puppet.

Merlin gives Gowther magic stabilizing pills in order to regrow his armor.  and when Merlin uses her magic cancelling power, he turns into his "natural" form. It seems clear that his flesh grows due to his magic and, if stabilized for a time, it will grow into an armor.  As the armor is part of Gowther, it is reasonable to think he never took it off.

lol this was over a year ago! but yeah, now the answer makes sense :)

There's new info yet again lol

According to the story, the appearances of some of the Sins changed after all that time like Ban, King and Gowther himself (well, Ban did say that he didn't know how Gowther looked in the armor), and besides, since the guys knew about his armor, and since the monster was big and wearing the armor, they probably didn't gave it a second thought.

As for the second question, it was because he was waiting for the Sniper (the guy with bow and arrow, for whom Ban went in the beginning), since that was an illusion, he was waiting for him to reveal himself.

I believe you have not accepted my answer, are you unsatisfied with it??

Your answer seems more speculative than fact driven. IIRC, only King's image from the past differs from the present. Ban and Diana were still recognizable and very similar.

@krikara Ban appearance changed, he had overgrown hairs. As for your question, no one knew about Gowther's identity (his face is not even in the bounty posters), according to manga, Ban did say he didn't know how he looked, now why would he show his face to one partner but not to other.

@krikara Sorry for such a late reply, as for the facts, in the bounty poster and the few instances of the Sins in the past, Gowther is always shown wearing his armor, newer without it.


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How exactly did Madara get Hashirama's power?
We already know that Madara had fought Hashirama at the Valley of the End, and got some of his power.
How did we get from that to the fact that he has his face on his shoulder? Is this Orochimaru/Kabuto's doing? Or is that a natural thing that somehow occurred?

You must be knowing the answer,you are madara :P

Orochimaru helped Madara get that face as well as develop the Rinnegan. This is partially why Madara activated the Rinnegan so late in his life; Orochimaru was the brain in the operation. As you can see, Orochimaru knew a lot of secrets, including Danzou's condition and Tobi's true identity.
There are small hints as the manga progresses all leading up to this point. Madara doesn't explicitly state it (in the below picture), but we know it is Orochimaru based on his research, Kishimoto's hints throughout the manga, and the fact Madara never met Kabuto before this war.
The underling is Obito and the acquaintance is Orochimaru (Ch. 657).

UPDATE: Here is the proof that Madara didn't know Kabuto. In the last 2 panels of the above pic, it is pretty much implied that Madara met a person (while he was alive) that showed him how to use his current technique. That person can only be Orochimaru.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Kw3h3qH3iMg/TqlOW7PBdKI/AAAAAAAAGQM/jfPgdY5Do1w/008.jpg?imgmax=2000

Once again, Kishi lays golden eggs in Naruto. The very specific facts that are revealed about Orochimaru seem negligible at first, but then becomes important later on.

Take a bow! You beat everyone there ..

although it does not prove 100%. Atleast 80% points at Orochi

@InfantPro'Aravind' I'd say it is close to 99%. Madara specifically stated "an aquaintance of an underling of mine". The only acquantaince here should be Tobi (Obito). And the only underling should be Orochimaru. I didn't post the picture here, but Madara never met Kabuto and stated that explicitly when Kabuto gave him full control over edo tensei. The only 2 possible people able to fuse Senju and Uchiha DNA should be Kabuto and Orochimaru. That 1% exists where some other mysterious person exists. People like Danzou didn't even know Madara was alive around the time of Obito's supposed death.

Agreed except that your statement is little shuffled. Underling is Tobi and Acquaintance is Orochi :)

On the other hand there are some arguments that it could be Kabuto. Kabuto could be an acquaintance too.. http://narutobase.net/forums/showthread.php?t=460919

Madara first met Kabuto after the edo tensei. I'll get the reference later.

I know that, Kabuto introduced himself via Muu. But the argument is, Kabuto was the one who resurrected Madara, he could have managed to fuse and modify Madara's body as per his will and wish (just a theory) And Madara didn't die having Hashirama's face on his chest that means this power was gained only after he was revived.

I've thrown some valid points. I'm gonna add this as an answer. :)

Well, we can't say that Madara only got Hashirama face after he died. If you re-read the last 2 panels, Hashirama was talking about after Madara left the village, and Madara responds indicating that he did the bodily experiments while he was still alive. When Madara referred to others sharing the same idea, Orochimaru is really the only person given credit for this stuff since he was crazy about it from the beginning and his experiments with Danzou. Lastly, if Kabuto had really developed the technique with the face, it would make more sense if it would work in Edo Tensei form.

@krikara lemme put this question to you....... let us beleive for a while that Orochimaru was the person who is referred here...... but then why would Oruchimaru be so obsessed with Sasuke's eyes........ why couldn't he go behind Madara's eyes directly.......i am not trying to contradict with your statement but I do feel that rather than wasting his time to retrieve Sasuke's eyes,he could have straight away gone for Madara's eyes..... he could have atlease tried searching him....and even if he knew the secret of rinnegan,he won't be lying silent....as we all know Oruchimaru always seeked power

I think rather focussing on orochimaru,it can even be Nidaime who is being referred here.......it's just my speculation though

It can't be Nidaime because Nidaime hated Madara with the utmost passion. That one is certainly out of the question. The reason why Orochimaru couldn't steal Madara's eyes is because Madara was simply too strong (with Obito and Zetsu). Then Madara gave his eyes to Pain, the leader of Akatsuki. Now who would Orochimaru want to get the eyes from? Madara's group, Akatsuki, or Sasuke? The choice is an easy one to make.

Here he meant,

An acquaintance of an underling of mine

Kabuto (acquaintance of underling, Tobi)

Others who mulled over similar idea

Orochimaru (experimented over Danzou)

Kabuto was the one who resurrected Madara. He could have managed to fuse and modify Madara's body as per his will and wish (just a theory). And Madara didn't die having Hashirama's face on his chest, which means this power was gained only after he was revived.
Kabuto while fighting with Itachi and Sasuke did indeed show his skills of fusing different persons' cells in himself. That makes us believe that he might have played around with Madara's corpse before he summoned him.
But the phrase I learnt said by Madara makes us think that, may be the Kabuto's craft work was imperfect and something that Madara composed later during the battle.
But all the above statements are just theories and vaguely supported by evidence. Kishi is one tricky guy :)

The underling is Obito and the acquaintance is kabuto, the two were working together during the fourth shinobi war, when Kabuto ressurected madara he told him that he had brought him back better than his glory days, in other words, during his fight with hashirama in which he took hashirama's flesh and implanted it into himself, but he didn't obtain the power until he was at a very old age, what Kabuto did was take the power the madara got from hashirama's cells in his old age and implant them into a younger version of madara, making Kabuto the one responsible for the current madara having hashirama's power

I would assume it could be Orochimaru, because these experiments were definitely done while Madara was still alive. Madara was kept alive up til old age because the Gedo Mazou was supporting him, and at that time his Rinnegan was already implanted in Nagato, so that must mean he had the Senju cells before his death in order to get those eyes. Orochimaru is alive at the time that Obito was saved by Madara, and this was around the time he began to conduct his expirements. I wouldn't say he saved Madara during his fight with Hashirama but he definitely fits the part where Madara said he was taught that by an acquaintance of an underling; Orochimaru was a part of Akatsuki and obviously acquainted with Obito, and I'm pretty sure Orochimaru would keep all his intel on the low from everyone, being alive before Madaras death I bet he wouldn't tell obito that much of his past expirements

could you please provide snapshots from the manga and/or the anime. That would make your answer stronger.

question asked by madara and answered by hashirama :P
Shouldn't it be reverse? :P


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How did the "S" quincy heal his eardrums?
The "S" quincy has the special ability to fully recover from damage after hearing the cheers of his followers.
However, how did he recover from his wounds after destroying his eardrums in his fight with the Captain of the 3rd Division?

According to Bleach Wiki, Superstar's ability:

The Superstar (英雄 (ザ・スーパースター), Eiyū (Za Sūpāsutā); Japanese for
  "Hero"): Mask gains a considerable amount of zeal, stamina, and
  strength when he has at least one other person cheering him on, enough
  to send two captain-level Shinigami flying with a single strike.
  He grows durable enough to become resistant to a repeated direct
  attack from Kensei's Bankai. The power also allows him to
  regenerate from damage, with James's cheers healing his damaged
  eardrums.

It's indeed strange, as he could not listen to James cheering, but as you can see it's never mentioned the word "hear" or "listen".
So we can assume that he don't need to listen to the cheers. James only had be there, cheering, that's enough to active his ability.

He receives the benefits of the cheering even though he could not hear the cheers of James as seen in this page, this page, and this page.


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What exactly were the DJ Condor segments supposed to be?
After watching to the end of the anime of Oretachi ni Tsubasa wa Nai, I still don't entirely understand the DJ Condor segments. They seemed to be some sort of radio narration of the story, but also had a great deal of stuff that was clearly not actually occurring. The end-of-episode previews were mostly stuff from the next episode, but the segments at the beginning of the episodes seemed usually disjoint from the story and random. They're mostly inconsistent with the story as they involve characters interacting who have never actually met (as far as I could tell).
Is there some reasonable canonical interpretation for what these segments are supposed to mean (either based on the anime or the VN), or are the just totally random? Does it have to do with

 Youji hiding in the abyss of his own mind?


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Does the Toradora OVA fit canonically in the main storyline?
I only know about the anime, so I'm basing this question on that. Toradora's anime aired in 2009. In 2011, a side story OVA was released with the Bluray collection of the series, titled "The True Meaning of Bento" (Bento no Gokui).
This side story has little to do with the main plot, so in principle it can probably go in a lot of places in the story. However, I'm wondering if there's a canonical answer for when these events occured (or if they are intended to be canon at all). I don't know if anything similar happens in the light novels or if there has been official commentary on where it falls (preliminary searches all didn't turn anything up), but either of those would be sufficient for this question.
Is this OVA canon, and if so, when in the story does it occur?

Based off my observations of the Anime i believe that the OVA is set between the end of the Culture Festival as Taiga is acting normal around Kitamura which only occurs after the culture festival, and before the student council election as not only is Minori not awkward around Ryuji or spacing out because of what Ami said to her after Taiga and Sumire's fought one another but also the end of the anime series occurs around winter and right after the elections is Christmas which in Japan is in winter.

 Also it's evident it's still winter when Ryuji and Taiga elope and Taiga moves schools after that

This is also strengthened by the fact that the first OP was used and after the elections is when the second OP started to be used
Given that I would say the OVA occurs between the end of Episode 13 and the start of Episode 15 (as  am accounting the possibility that the OVA is an event that occurred between Episode 14 and 15).
My assumtion is almost spot-on as in art book which came with the limited edition of the series from NISA there is a point at the bottom of page 5 talking about the OVA

this is the first episode done for "Toradora!" in over 3 years, and the story takes place between episodes 13 and 14 of the TV Series. this episode has a comical bento battle and a heartfelt development, striking a delicious balance between the laughter and drama that "Toradora!" Is best known for.

Bellow is a photo i took of the relevant section, up the top slightly cut off is the same image as what is posted in the question

I haven't read the light novels, but the last one that came out is titled, "Toradora Spinoff 3! Ore no Bentou Mite Kure". (Roughly translated as 'Behold my Bento')
I don't know if this book, being a spinoff, specifically takes place anywhere in the story, but I think it would somewhere between the first and last episodes. I say this because Ryuuji is making Taiga lunch (which must be after the first episode) and because they are in school for most of the ova (which must be before Taiga leaves in the last episode). However, the last scene seems to fit better after the final episode, as feeding food to someone is a very 'couple' thing to do.

I haven't read the light novel, but I think the OVA is seen as a flashback that happens between the 4th and last episode (since near the end Taiga says he taught her how to cook and it shows a scene from episode 4). So it begins with Taiga cooking (for the picnic), cuts to the flashback, and ends with them having the picnic, which I think is set after the events of the anime, because of how Taiga is shown feeding Ryuuji.

Thought i'd throw in my two cents based on a previous answer that a poster gave stating that the OVA takes place between episodes 13 & 14, I wanted to add that there is further evidence to support this just by looking at their uniforms. Recalling back to episode 13, that was the last episode they wore their summer uniforms, and episode 14 was the first episode back in their winter uniforms. Now i'm not entirely sure though about the picnic part at the very end of the episode. It does seem plausible that most of the episode could be a flashback and the ending taking place after episode 25 given the way Taiga feeds Ryuuji ^-^

This takes place after the original storyline.  If you watched past the credits, you will see that Taiga returns.

No, the OVA was intended to fit in the middle of the storyline for certain.


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How does the Tetsujin 28 movie fit into the series?
I'm referring specifically to the 2004 Tetsujin 28 spin-off and the accompanying 2007 movie Tetsujin 28: Morning Moon of Mid-day. You'd think that the movie must be early in the TV series because of the characters:

 Ryuusaku Murasame is still alive in the movie

but at the end of the movie

 Chief Chloroform was killed, when he was seen in the TV series well after Ryuusaku was killed

Also the whole thing with Shotaro's "brother" doesn't even come up at all in the TV series.
Are the movie and TV series different continuities (though the description has them both adapted from the same Manga by Yokoyama Mitsuteru)? Or do they somehow fit together?


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Who exactly came out of Pandora's box?
I vaguely remember the manga saying it was the Emperor that came out. So then my following questions is why won't they reveal what the Emperor truly looks like?
Also, how can there be two separate Emperors - one from Pandora's box and Chibi Emperor following Ogami around? Shouldn't they merge?
Who exactly did Pandora's box produce?


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What was the point of blocking the robot outbreak using Kill-Ballad?
In Robotics;Notes, there is some sort of robot outbreak in the city. They all go out of control and attack what seemed like the city hall.
When Frau tries to hack into the servers to stop the outbreak, she is redirected to the Kill-Ballad game. When Kai beats the enemy, access is given and they manage to stop the outbreak.
What was the point of using Kill-Ballad to block the access to the servers? Couldn't the enemy just say "nah, you don't have access, go away" rather than giving a chance to actually stop the outbreak?

I don't know for sure why they did so, but in a way it was smart of them to do so. You can never be completely sure if your protection is completely failsafe, so you need multiple layers of defence. So moving the hacker's focus to a game which looks beatable but isn't, in order to make the hacker lose precious time sounds like a plausible option. Even if they try to play the game once, they would have lost time. If it wasn't for his ability they would have been caught by the police. But it's probably as Mindwin said. PLOT-reasons.

I believe the game was a defense against fixing the problem.
The guy who started it was one of the people who worked on the game with Frau, so he must have been betting that the person who was trying to gain access would not beat the hacked kill-ballad character, even if it was Frau herself.
(since she made the system she could give herself the rights back to fix the problem but couldn't play kill-ballad well enough to beat the hack)
(It also gave Kaito a chance to save the day ;])

But why give them a chance? The hacker could simply deny them the access, rather than redirecting them to Kill-Ballad.

Frau had absolute admin privileges and is a skilled hacker so it would not stop her otherwise.

But then she would hack Kill-Ballad... The game she coded... Which is far easier.

Again, I think it falls to Kaito needing to step in, but yeah it shouldn't have stopped her if she just fixed the match.
I think thats just how they wanted it to pan out..

My two cents in four letters: PLOT.
The developer that messed the servers was a kill-ballad fan, and its like 60's batman villain all over: it has to have a trademark.
It also gives foreshadowing of

 the final battle where Kai uses his slow time ability to defeat the boss.

And also led to

 the short romantic fanservice that ended with frau kissing an unconscious Kai.

So from all points, it made sense FROM THE PLOT point of view, to fix the robot riot that way.
Otherwise, like a real world explanation? The guy had some mental disorder. A Savant Idiot of sorts.
But !!! (click HERE for the real point)

 WE DIG GIANT ROBOTS!

The main thing was that they brainwashed her colleague which hoaxed Frau and their goal was to everything onto her that she was the one who hacked the company and that she choughed them against humans. They wanted it to look like someone else done job so Committee of 300 hundred will not be discovered.
They used Noah (machine strong enough to create delusions for other people who are unable to see them. It's a lot more explained in Chaos;Head). He was decieved by them to believe he got wife and kid and after Frau told him she does not have wife and child his brain started "deteriorating" and he died. So there were no existing evidence who has done it.


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Where does the split happen between Mai-Hime and Mai-Otome?
I know that Mai-Hime and Mai-Otome are anime (and maybe manga) series that are related by have different plots. I was wondering if there is a certain point where they split (like FMA and FMA: Brotherhood) or if they are entirely different plot-wise. If they are different, how are they connected beyond being created by the same production company?

They're entirely different story wise, My-HiME is set more or less in our world while My-Z HiME (My Otome) is set in a fictional universe.
They are roughly connected by the character and their personalities that exists in both series, such as Mai's and Natsuki's rivalry, Natsuki's Same Sex Relationship with Shizuru (In My-Z HiME they are much more open, in My-HiME they only are open with each other about their feeling near the end) and Haruka hot tempered personality and malapropism with Yukino always correcting her.
Also both series portray the females being the ones with power having to also come to terms with their adolescence and love at the same time as controling this power. in My-HiME it was choosing to have power at the cost of the person the girl loved the most (the warning Natsuki gives Mai before she awakens her Child) while with My-Z HiME it was choosing to have power and never being with a male (explained by how the Y Chromosome will destroy the Nano Machines and thus Otome's can't have any relationship with men)

Actually, it was Nagi who warned Mai, not Natsuki. An ambiguous and rather useless warning that she'd be putting her "most precious" or "most important" thing on the line - the implication being her life, when in reality it's the person most important to her.

The Mai-HiME series is the principal anime where Hime, an ancient power that is born inside chosen people that will fight to determine the master of the new millennium (between good vs evil) and a foreign organization trying to sway the results by mimicking that power.
The Mai-Otome series is supposed to be set a millennium later after human have migrated to another planet. The technology that was used by humans to be able to finally reach the stars is the exact tech develop after trying to mimic the Hime ability. And as to a millennium have passed... the Hime users was reborn a new, and the darkness follows behind them in a different form.....

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


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Did Suou lose her human emotions in Darker than Black?
I finished episode four just now. When Suou became a contractor in the train yard, did she get the rationality of a contractor, or did she retain her emotions like Hei? This is confusing for me.

It's been shown in the later series that by various contractors that they have emotions. It's not that contractor lose their emotions when they gain their powers, it's that  those feelings do not play a prominent role in their thought processes. In other words, they but logic before their feelings and typically only think for themselves, unless there is benefit to them helping others.

Contractors don't lose their emotion, they just become more logical which conflicts with emotion, there is evidence to support this but obvious one is with Mina whose sexual preference is towards women however her obeisance is sexual contact, such as kissing, with men only yet she will kiss women, while most of the time it's to "get rid of the taste" from kissing a guy she has feeling towards Yoko.
With Suou, later in the series when her, Hei and July are in the hotel, when she and July are in bed and July has fallen asleep she admits to Hei that despite being a contractor she hates him.
Also Hei and Suou is that they're not proper Contractors as both obtain their powers from Bai who first merges with Hei during Heaven's War using her contractor powers and is then drawn into the Meteor Core around Suou's neck when Hei was caught in that trap and Hei has always been rational since before becoming a Contractor so he could support Bai so his personality isn't the result of Bai


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Is what happened to Ati ever expanded on?
During Sekien no Inganock -What a Beautiful People-, Ati is transformed and forced to attack Gii by Lemure Lemure, the only way to save her afterward was for Gii to erase all of Ati's memories effectively reverting her, and her mutations, to a Pre  state.
In the Web Novels which continue on from the end of the game, Ati encounters Prorishin in his reborn form and Kia appears, when Kia touched Ati Ati can see her Mutations which she once had and the Chrome Built Claws she once had attached, it's then Kia allows Ati to remember Gii and the love she had for him.
I am wondering, so far as i know the only continuation to this is the fact that M was originally interested in Ati because she had a Golden Eye but was too sociable but so far nothing in Shikkoku no Sharnoth -What a Beautiful Tomorrow- hints at what happened to Ati after she met, i am wondering if Ati's encounter with Prorishin and Kia is ever expanded on in any other works


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What was Aizen's plan?
In Bleach, Aizen had an incredibly complicated plan that seemed to span decades and that involved a lot of people he had no control over doing what he wanted them to do? I found it pretty difficult to follow what was going on in terms of what exactly his plan was. Can someone summarize it for me?

Aizen wanted to create the Ouken, the key that opens the door to the Soul King who rules Soul Society.  In order to be able to keep increasing his power he wanted to merge the powers of Hollows and Soul Reapers, this was his experiment with the Visoreds.  Aizen had made his own version of the Hogyoku to do this but it was incomplete, he merged it with the one Urahara made and with that he had the finished one that allowed him to increase his power and become the ultimate being.  Aizen said himself that only Urahara was the only intellectual challenge he might have had.
Remember though that Aizen had his hypnotic power that allowed him to control many of those within Soul Society, those he did not control he tricked.  He was able to get many to do his bidding, knowingly or not, only Ichigo was not under his control since he had never seen the sword release.
Ichigo made a statement after killing Aizen that Aizen was so powerful that having no equal he felt there was no one to challenge him and was somewhat lonely; the part about crossing swords where all Ichigo felt was lonliness.  It's possible to look at this as the only one who could be a challenge to Aizen was the Soul King, so creating the Ouken using Karkura Town would allow him to open the gateway to where the Soul King lived and possibly fight him and find an equal.

Something to bring up, Now that Bleach ended, we did find out Aizen does not like being Ruled over by anyone, which includes the Soul King. Part of his plan was likely related to fixing this.

Aizen wanted to merge the power of Hollows and Soul Reapers because he wanted to gain more power as he reached his saturation point of Soul Reaper powers. For this, he needed the Hogyoku. And he wanted to go to the Soul King Palace. But Ichigo even surpassed him and failed him.

Yea he used the vicerds (can't spell it) to test the hollowfication and then his comrades such as kaname tozen. When it was perfected on tozen he used it on himself because a mere human can't handle the power of the hogyku so he has to be the best of both worlds or something


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Who was watching Mary in her childhood?
After the credits there is a final flashback of Mary and Charlotte when they were children , they talk about the Shadow Builder and how he hates humans because "when God said 'Let there be light' he went away", Charlotte worries about the existence of the Shadow Builder for Mary's safety, yet Mary reaffirms that she'll be ok and will protect Charlotte saying that since that the Shadow Builder can understand her because he listen to god.
At the end of the scene, Charlotte notices in Mary's shadow a red eye, the same kind of eye which is depicted though the entire story being associated with Sharnoth, this eye however is just watching and it has no red tear.
I am wondering who this eye represented and what reason did they have as she did not have her Golden Eye at this time.

The eye was James. Hence the part where it says the "red eye warped/as if looking at something bright" hearkening back to the many times it mentions James doing the same.

Is James M? i remember when Mary and M first meet Bram Stoker M introduces himself as James Moriarty but we know that's not true as James Moriarty is shown at the end when Sherlock confronts him

James is "M," and the real Moriarty gave him his body years ago. Hence the real Moriarty only existing in that little pocket dimension and inexplicably knowing things about the plot. Those parts were added in the Full-Voice Reborn version of the game to add a bit of exposition that some people needed to understand the plot. He's not really James Moriarty, but that's the name he's assumed for his human form. It's likely that he is supposed to be Nyarlathotep, or something similar to Nyarlathotep.

hmmm, interesting, i always wondering why there was a Cathulu Mythos tag on VNDB when the only mention of Lovecraft was in the Web Novel. it being a pocket dimension would explain why Charlotte and Mary both spoke to Moriarty as if in present time given Charlotte's condition

If you are interested, would you like to have a look at this question


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Why is Touya hiding a phone call from Yuki?
Why is Touya hiding from Yuki that Rina called him? They didn't do anything wrong. It makes him look guiltier if he hides it.

Could you please tell us which episode (and season) and where this happened?

I'll try to answer this as a whole since no episode or season has been specified.
Touya feels bad throughout the entire series and knows he's not really up to much good. In fact, he pushes away the girls who has committed some form of "adultery" with away many times. For this reason, we can conclude there is at least some feeling of guilt brooded within him.
However, the most plausible explanation (note, we can only speculate as the series never says) is Touya has feelings for Rina and does not want Yuki to know they talk outside of business. Touya spends a lot of time with Rina on the job a few times during the season but it was supposed to be strictly that.
One can only assume out of guilt and uneasiness, the natural reaction was to hide personal relations with Rina so that Yuki would not think less of him.


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What "additional voices" did Alison Viktorin voice in Fullmetal Alchemist?
As the title suggests, she is only credited for "additional voices"
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1516108/
However, one of the shows she is "known for" is FMA Brotherhood. I feel like her voice is familiar from FMA so I was wondering if anyone could tell me who the "additional voices" are?

I think she's only "known for" it because it's a big-name title that she was "additional voices" in. She did not voice any major role. As for which voices she did, I'm unsure.

IMDb's "known for" algorithm doesn't know how important somebody was in a movie or TV series, so it's likely on her list just because FMA brotherhood is one of the more popular and recent things she's been in. Detective Conan is first because she was in over a hundred episodes, but everything after that are just guesses made by an automated system.

IMDb is mistaken in that Alison Viktorin is "known for" Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. As was stated in the comments. IMDb simply sees that Viktorin did voice work for Brotherhood, sees that Brotherhood is a very famous title, and assumes that she is well-known for her work in it.
This is quite contrary to the truth, though. Viktorin is credited only as "additional voices" in one episode: episode 43. I've seen the episode a few times, and can confirm that there are only four places where a non-credited voice (i.e. one outside the named cast in the credits) is heard (excluding obviously male voices):

Two children laughing and playing (2:35)
Child grabbing Yoki's hair (3:03)
Baby tugging on sleeve (10:14)
Unintelligible chattering and whispering (11:01)

Though I can't tell which one of these four instances Viktorin actually voices, all four are very minor roles that are hardly worthy of mention.


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What happen after Enel finished his business in moon?
At the end of Enel's Great Space Operations, he seems to be satisfied with how things goes on the moon.

Looking around, Enel sees endless followers, and an enormous amount of "vearth", and decides that the "Fairy Vearth" was everything that he had wanted.

But what happen after that? Did he goes back to earth?

Enel becomes the ruler of the moon according the wikia
http://onepiece.wikia.com/wiki/Enel

Originally, Enel met a few more recent ones who came from the planet
  below to avenge their fallen creator on Machine Island. First
  Lieutenant Spacey was the first automaton that Enel encountered on the
  moon. He survived his encounter with the Space Pirates who came there
  to dig up the ancient city located on the moon. After meeting Enel, he
  considered him his savior. After finding his true roots, Enel
  established a new empire on the moon with the automata as his
  followers.

He stays on the moon.


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What is the headpiece on Chi from Chobits called?
I can't for the life of me remember what it's called, and how many different purposes did it serve?

For those uninformed... which headpiece?

If you are talking about the "ears", they're literally called "ears". As for the function, there's different ports that are part of the ear assembly, and for most persocoms, that's where the on/off switch is (Chi's on/off switch is elsewhere). For persocoms that don't charge through solar power, the charging outlet is also part of the ear assembly.

Chi's on/off switch is elsewhere. xD


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Did Angel Beats copy Haruhi?
Both Angel Beats and The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya feature a strong female lead as well as a "brigade." In Angel Beats, there is the SSS Brigade, and in Haruhi there is the SOS Brigade. Since Haruhi came first, is it possible that Angel Beats copied Haruhi?

The scenario of Angel Beats is the 'Key' work.
Key works 'Kanon' 'AIR' 'CLANNAD' are the masterpieces of Kyoto Animation.
And 'Haruhi' is masterpiece of Kyoto Animation too. I think the Kanon and AIR and CLANNAD has atmosphere similar.
Why Haruhi dont have?

Probably, since the main girl in Angel Beats (can't remember her name) is pretty much just as annoying and bossy as Haruhi. Both animes also take place in high school and have loads of weird situations, so that makes them similar. I watched both shows a while back, but from memory, I don't think Angel Beats straight up copied Melancholy, but it probably took a lot of inspiration from it. The author might have been like, "Well, Melancholy is really popular, and especially the main character, Haruhi, so I might want to make my story a little bit like that so it'll sell..."

"the shows are similar" is different from "the shows copied each other"...


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How does one play Gungi?
In Hunter × Hunter (2011), Komugi and Meruem play a game called Gungi. It's a fictional game which appears to take conceptual origins from chess, Go, and other strategic board games.

We see tidbits of it played here and there, but I'm left to wonder: How is it played? What are the rules?

Well, these aren't the official rules but a bunch of forum members across Japan developed functional fan rules: http://mmmmalo.tumblr.com/post/74510568781/rules-of-gungi Enjoy!

I know Gungi is based on the game Shogi.

Just a note that Universal Music Store sold the official Gungi set which also includes the rulebook based on the anime. AFAIK, Dimitri mx's answer covered most of the rules.

With what I have seen in the anime, this should sum up all the rules and factors.

The objective is to capture the king.
The game is played on a single color 9x9 board.
The game starts with a empty board
The players take turns placing stones, limited to the first 3 rows of the board on your side of the field
After all the pieces are placed, the players take turns moving a piece.
The pieces can be stacked on top of each other (the 3rd dimension) up to 3 pieces.
Certain pieces are stronger than others. Therefore, not all setups can beat certain counters.
Each player has 24 pieces in total.

The pieces used in this game are as following

Pawn
Spy
Cannon
Fortress
Musketeer
Knight
General

The exact conditions for victory are too blurry to confirm, but the rules for victory seem pretty similar to chess, which would equal to trying to checkmate the king. The placement and tactics used in the game are pretty similar to shogi. As for the initial placement, it's pretty similar to checkers. For the combat side of the game, it also seems to have a slide of Stratego in it, as some pieces are stronger than others, and there potentially are pieces that can only be beaten by certain other pieces.
This is all I managed to find out.

What about the pieces that "evolve?" Isn't there also an Archer piece?

To clarify the movement "coordinate" a numbers. As observed from episode 103, ~7m in, each digit corresponds to a directional axis in three dimensions: Y, X, and Z, respectively.

A more complete list of the pieces (from the image above): 馬 refers to Knight, 忍 is Ninja (Spy?), 兵 is Pawn, 砲 is Cannon, 侍 is Samurai (missing in the list?),　帥 is Marshal (or General), 弓 is Archer (Musketeer?), 謀 is Counsel/Strategist (missing?), 砦 is Fortress. Don't know what 小 is referring to.

The game appears to be a blend of shogi, othello, checkers, chess, and as mentioned earlier stratego. The objective is to put your opponent into checkmate by capturing the king. The set up is closest to checkers, while movement is like chess, and the evolution of pieces is similar to checkers "king" creation. Shogi is in the overall patterns and formations that can be made on the board and in the variations of strength regarding pieces.
Some of the pieces being taken after certain placements were shown in the anime during a few of the matches more complicated maneuvers. This is what leads me to think of Othello, though this may have no real bearing at all in the true gameplay.


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Why is it that some anime use language exclusive to the Yakuza?
I was reading an article on language-learning hacks recently, and #13 of that list states (emphasis mine),

Some popular anime (popular in America at least, and mostly reserved for little boys in Japan) uses the kind of language which is in the real world almost exclusively reserved for Yakuza.

Is this statement true? What are some examples of this, and why is it done?

The Introduction to Yakuza Japanese has a list of grammar, pronunciation, and vocabulary (and even lessons!).
There's also this Japanese Stack Exchange has a question: What are the stereotypical characteristics of yakuza speech?
And Japan Subculture's terminology page.
While Yakuza these days are mostly semi-legitimate, they still extort and is the largest criminal organization in the world. Just like how there's a taboo with tattoos in Japan because they're associated with Yakuza, the same connotations come with speaking like the way Yakuza do.

Can you tie this a little more to anime? Specifically, has (and why has) this language has made its way into anime?

@Eric it's part of popular culture and associated with dilenquents/criminals. Outside of actual Yakuza being in the story (Gokusen, Nisekoi). Even "aniki" is used all the time to express the same sort of close relationship that would typically be used by Yakuza. There's a lot more of this on the TV Tropes Yakuza page


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Is Eva Mimel from Agarest Generations of War Zero?
In Agarest Generation of War Zero, we find out Mimel is actually a different from of life created by the Deeth, the Goddess of Fate one of the Gods of Darkness, as a form of "entertainment" for the Sovereign of Night Chaos in the visage of the High Goddess Varna who Chaos loved but ended up marrying his Brother Lenion, the Highest God.
Because of Deeth's perverse nature we can assume she meant it in a perverse way however Mimel reveals however that Chaos was kind and fatherly to her, however due to her reminding him so much of Varna Chaos had Deeth take Mimel back, the God of Time and Space Mobius was able to get Deeth then give him Mimel to use in his plans.
In Agarest Generations of War 2, Eva is revealed to very close to Chaos, when her own memories return she starts talking about how she didn't "want to be abandoned" which is how Mimel's alternate personality Mimi felt. In the True End when the party faces Deeth, Deeth comments on Eva's "Current Appearance" and it having been a very long time since the 2 had seen each other, also Chaos is shown to be very caring of Eva when he shows up.
Considering that both Mimel and Eva look human but did not age between Generations and had no traits that would prevent aging (apart from being a unique race created by Deeth), are they actually the same person?

Yes and no.
Basically, both Eva and Mimellia (Mimel's true name) have the same backstory and both resemble Varna a great deal.
So far, Agarest 2 has no tie with Agarest 1 and Zero since I believe Agarest 2 is an alternate version.
But you could say Eva is Agarest 2 Mimelia.


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How much of the Berserk storyline do the anime and OVA cover?
I watched Berserk years ago and I'm thinking of introducing someone else to it, but I'm told that the OVAs do the original manga more justice. I've not seen the OVAs just the anime series, how much of the same ground do they cover?
If I remember correctly the original anime series just cut off with no resolution.

I'm not entirely sure as I haven't read all of the manga as of yet but everyone who has recommended the OVAs to me has assured me that it follows the manga a lot better than the original anime.
I know they've also got a long way to go with the OVAs though, it's a while off reaching the end of the manga.

You should read the manga. The anime series just cover about 120 chapters out of 333 chapters of the original manga! and the anime is with less details. The manga is still ongoing, it is not finished and has been postponed for some years cause the writer was busy with another manga. I don't know if he starts writing berserk again or not!

But the main question here is, how loyal is the OVA to the plot of the manga? Or does it skip parts/ add random non related parts.

The first anime series (1997) covers Black Swordsman arc (volume 1-3) until just before the end of Golden Age arc (volume 3-13). However, it includes original episodes and some modifications to the original story. (Source: Yahoo! Chiebukuro (Japanese))
The OVA (or 3-part movies) covers the whole Golden Age arc, which is volume 3-14, hence the name Berserk: The Golden Age Arc.
The second anime series (2016) covers the beginning of Black Swordsman arc (chapter 1&2), omits the whole Golden Age arc, then continues on Conviction arc (volume 14/chapter 115 - volume 21) until Falcon of the Millenium Empire arc (volume 22~)
The third anime series, Berserk: The Golden Age Arc - Memorial Edition is based on the remastered version of the OVA, edited for TV broadcast, and added new scenes. It also covers the whole Golden Age arc.

For additional reference, the manga is still on-going (volume 39) as of now. The story arcs:

Black Swordsman: Volume 1-3
Golden Age: Volume 3-14
Conviction: Volume 14-21
Falcon of the Millennium Empire: Volume 22-35
Phantom World (Fantasia): Volume 35~

References:

Japanese Wikipedia
English Wikipedia

As @rellz and @Saman Hakimzadeh Abyan explained about the anime, it is not not covering the whole manga. As for OVA, I am not sure if there is an actual OVA.
However, there is a 3 part 3D animated movies(showed in Japanese cinemas) just recently released (2012-2013) and it was summarising the anime itself with maybe 5-10 minutes extra details at the end of the last part.
Animenewsnetwork link for listing related productions Berserk.


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Was Puella Magi Oriko Magica Another Story ever translated into english? If not, are there plans to translate it?
I looked on amazon.com and on the internet and I couldn't find any references to there being an english version. I would really like to read so if anyone had any information on this it would be great if they could share it.

Puella Magi Oriko Magica is licensed in the US by Yen Press. The two volumes were released on July and October 2013. The continuation chapters: "Noisy Citrine," "Symmetry Diamond," and "The Last Agate" are collected in Mahou Shoujo Oriko Magica: Betsu Hen (Another Story), and the newest continuation, "Sadness Prayer" have not yet been licensed.
Additionally, Puella Magi Madoka Magica: The Different Story has been licensed by Yen Press. Three volumes are expected to be released March, June, and October 2014.


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Has anyone tried to condense Naruto?
It occurs to me that Naruto suffers from the fact that although over the entire series a lot happens, in the average 20 minute episode there is usually 5 minutes of content and 15 minutes of pointless filler (I'm talking about repeating frames of combat, and scenes where not much is happening or previous episodes are recapped)
I was wondering if there was an abridged Naruto effort to cut all this chaff out?

You shouldd try the Manga then. With the anime(not just Naruto), you really need to be patient and take in all this with a pinch of salt.

Even the manga, however, has its share of extended scenes. In recent chapters, we may see 5 pages of bloodstains for one attack.

The manga also relies on a lot of back story.

There are fan-made abridged versions of the series.

There are abridged versions available online though I can't guarantee you their ingenuity. I'd suggest reading the manga and from personal experience I can tell you that I finish at least about 7 chapters (that's like about 10 episodes on an average considering fillers) in the time it takes me to watch one episode.


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Is there any significance to character names in Elfen Lied?
Is there any significance to the character names in Elfen Lied, particularly with regards to the more important characters? With some characters, there's a clear "meaning" - e.g. Nana, who was also known as "Number 7" at the research facility. Could other character names e.g. "Lucy" be allusions to something, or perhaps in some other way meaningful given the plot?

Although this is never confirmed it does fit the plot in a way
Lucy's name closely resembles Lucifer considering that Lucy is the evil alter-ego it would be one of the most fitting.
Another possibility would be that the name is related to St. Lucy/Lucia, but this is a pretty far fetched theory.

They threatened to drag her off to a brothel if she did not renounce her Christian beliefs, but were unable to move her, even with a thousand men and fifty oxen pulling. So they stacked materials for a fire around her instead and set light to it, but she would not stop speaking, insisting that her death would lessen the fear of it for other Christians and bring grief to non-believers. One of the soldiers stuck a spear through her throat to stop these denouncements, but to no effect. Soon afterwards, the Roman consulate in charge was hauled off to Rome on charges of theft from the state and beheaded. Saint Lucy was able to die only when she was given the Christian sacrament source

Edit
Re-reading the related question What's the significance of the 'w' finger position in Elfen Lied? I think the st Lucy/Lucia theory is less far fetched then I thought myself. Elfen Lied seems to be pretty Christian influenced.

I've always assumed Lucy's name was inspired by the hominid Lucy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucy_%28Australopithecus%29

@ninjalj: I had a feeling that might be the case myself, but I didn't have anything to go on beyond the plot and my wild guessing.

One other interpretation is that Lucy is a reference to the hominid, as mentioned by ninjalj. This would seem to make sense given the role of Lucy within the plot as a mitochondrial Eve for the researchers. However, the manga itself doesn't seem to explicitly explain why Kaede is designated as Lucy by the researchers, and so it isn't clear what the "correct" interpretation of Lucy's name (if there is even any) is.
The same appears to go for many of the other characters, beyond very obvious cases such as Nana.


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Where does the idea of mentioning that they're in a manga come from?
I was reading Recipe for Gertrude, and in chapter 10, there's a part where they're driving in a car and one of the characters says, "Now sit down please. That could be fatal in this manga." I was wondering if this was a relatively common occurrence. Also, I was wondering where that idea of mentioning in a manga that they're in a manga came from.

This is indeed a common trope, and not even a Manga specific one, generally referred to as Breaking the Fourth Wall.
For example the Marvel character Deadpool is a well-known for doing this in an even more extreme fashion. You can find a lot of Manga/Anime examples here.
To learn more about the different versions of Fourth Wall Breakage visit this article on the Sliding Scale of Fourth Wall Hardness.
To my knowledge, in this case it would count as Fourth Wall Observer.


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Who are the members of Team Jiraiya?
I know only Minato Namikaze (The Fourth Hokage). Who are the other two members of Team Jiraiya?

As of right now there is no information disclosed about the other two members of Team Jiraiya.

This was a genin team led by Jiraiya of the Legendary Sannin at some point after he left the Ame Orphans and returned to Konohagakure. Its only known member is Minato Namikaze, who Jiraiya took special interest in. Minato would later become the Fourth Hokage. The names of the other two members, as well as their statuses, are unknown.

However we did actually see one according to the wiki:

In a flashback that Kushina Uzumaki had, one of Minato's black-haired teammate can be seen sitting behind him at the Academy.

Can we consider the other members of the team to be in the Naruto Shippuden Movie 5? When Naruto met his father?

By the look from the picture here http://naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Team_Jiraiya, we could say one of the team member was from Nara clan.

The name and details of the rest of the team was never revealed in the original manga. However we may assume that they were very talented to be taught by Jiraiya.


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How did Light knew that L will cause Misa's death?
In Light's plan on killing L, he plans on killing Misa by shortening her lifespan and then force Rem to save Misa by killing the L.
Misa could have died by other causes not just by being captured by L, so how can he be sure that L will cause Misa's death?

He couldn't, as mentioned a number of times, Lights's ultimate plot to use Rem to kill L was a huge gamble, however things were more of less siding with him

L said to Light (with Rem present) that the Kira's will be executed
Misa was not present in the room when L said to Light that the Kira's would be executed, this means Rem could not see if Misa's life span had changed as a result of L's decision to see the Kira's executed or confirm if Light's actions caused the change (Rem had pointed out to Light before the switching of the Death Notes (i think when Misa first goes to Light's place) that Misa's lifespan was monitored )
L had explained to Light the physical evidence he had found indicating Misa as the 2nd Kira before her imprisonment, this would be enough for Misa to be imprisoned once again and now that L knew how Kira kills he would be able to find the Death Note much faster (Misa now had her original Death Note but now owned by Ryuk, because Rem would've explained its use to Misa the rules wouldn't have been written, before learning of the Death Note Light did plan on explaining that the Death Note was a log for the Kira Case which would then explain the people's names and times)

All Rem could do at the time was assume that L would cause Misa's death and because L had also noted that Misa was just about to be arrested Rem had no time to investergate

He realizes that with the info he has gained, L will eventually find Misa if she continues passing judgment on criminals and therefore he knows that L will eventually figure out that the one using the notebook is Misa using his newfound knowledge of the Death note, and will apprehend and execute Misa.


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Why are Kurenai's eyes the way they are?
I've been reading Naruto, and I've noticed Kurenai's eyes are weird. They look a bit like Sharingan eyes, but there has never been indication they they are at all actually related to the Sharingan. Has there been any explanation for her eyes?

related: http://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/4548/are-kurenais-eyes-some-sort-of-doujutsu

When comparing the question titles, it might not seem like a duplicate. However, this question and the earlier question basically ask the same thing. Both ponder about her unique eyes.

They are not related to sharingan in any way. The are simply because of their genes. Like we have green eyes , brown eyes and stuff. There never has been any canonical opinion about it in anime or in manga. Even so, the manga is coming to an end and still there is no hint of having any powers or any affiliation with the sharingan.


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Difference between edo tensei Madara with rinnegan and Alive Madara with Rinnegan
When madara was revived, he lost his pair of rinnegan ,his reservoir of infinite chakra  and not be killed ability (being an edo tensei).
So, I know why madara wanted to be revived, but my question is , how does the ability differ in these 2 cases?

An Edo Tensei cannot be a jinchuuriki, and so, he couldn't complete his plan by becoming the Ten Tails' jinchuuriki. That is the main reason he wanted to be revived.
Also, although very powerful, the power of a "real" Rinnegan is far superior to one of the reanimated "fake" Rinnegan. The "real" Rinnegan can summon and control the Gedo Mazo, use the Rinbo: Hengoku technique etc.

Fitting that Madara himself would answer this question.

As mentioned by Madara Uchiha,
as an Edo Tensei he could not be a jinchuuriki of the Ten Tails wich was needed to activate the Infinite Tsukoyomi.
Second is that he wasn't near his full power and his Rinnegan had some abilities but not as much and powerful as the Rinnegan while alive.
While being an Edo Tensei, he released himself from any kind of control the emotions, adrenaline etc., became sustained like you don't give a crap about anything. Being an Edo Tensei you just cannot fight with full dedication and fighting spirit. It's like holding back is part of your nature.
Also the risk of being sealed while in his Edo Tensei state would always be a risk.

Because he knew that remaining in such an unimportant inefficient state couldn't accomplish anything remotely significant and it was kinda idiotic to still be in such an extremely weakening state for him since Madara had such an immensely glorious goal of the highest calibre to achieve. Also, actually in fact Madara himself is million times more vastly powerful in his fully-living body than in his half-dead paper-maché-like like living corpse state.
The real/living-vital Rinnegan he received is extremely far beyond thousand times more extraordinary powerful/capable than the half-dead Edo Tensei extremely weakened one.
It was like literally comparing the important significance of rarest diamonds to paper mache which is in shape of a common diamond and has some real microscopic pieces of common and rare diamonds inside. There is a lot of astronomical universal-sized difference here, both between real Rinnegan and Edo-Tensei Rinnegan and between Fully-Vitally-Revived Madara and the Half-Dead Walking Corpse Madara respectively.

You don't really give an explanation of the difference, you just mention that there is a big one - Can you maybe talk about that in your answer


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What did Lelouch do to C.C?
In episode 12, 4:58 there is a part were Lelouch and C.C are fighting, then the scene changes, C.C seems to be lying unconscious, while Lelouch is mad and taking a shower.
What happened there? Did he kill her? Beat her? Rape her?
http://youtu.be/ObGb64SdKeo?t=4m58s

Wouldn't the most reasonable interpretation just be that she was sleeping, or simply lying down?

he gets mad, then a scene cuts off, he is even madder because he did something he was not supposed to, while she is unconscious. i suspect there is more then the reasonable interpretation intended there.

Pretty sure she's asleep. Pretty sure he's just showering. My source is my head...

She isn't sleeping or unconscious as after Lelouch calls Ohgi we see C.C is awake (6:15), remember, this is C.C, she will usually lounge around the place eating Pizza.
Lelouch learned moments before that his actions at the Battle of Narita caused the death of Shirley's father
Conversation between Lelouch and Shirley:

Shirley: Lou Lou, tell me. Zero, he fights for the weak doesn't he?
Lelouch: What? Yea, well that's what he says
Shirley: Then why did he kill my father? You know my father, was so gentle. He never ever hurt me. He didn't do anything wrong. But, he was buried alive. He couldn't breathe. Why? Why did my father have to die?! I don't want this! Please, Lou Lou. Help me.

this shakes Lelouch's resolve after he realizes his actions caused someone's death but the effects of that death didn't stop at that person dying, C.C reminds him of what he said to Taizo Kirihara in the Mt. Fuji Mines and also reminds him that he has already killed many times before, rebuking the way he is acting now after he truly understands what it means to be responsible for taking lives.
Lelouch pins down C.C in anger because he didn't want to hear the truth, claiming he was prepared for this the moment he killed his half brother Clovis, yet C.C is saying he wasn't and he need to be now cause Shirley wont be the only person close to Lelouch who will be effected by Zero's war against Britannia.
Just as the scene cuts we hear a steel door, while there are no steel doors in the estate this is more of a metaphor of Lelouch locking himself away as he reflects what he has done, this is why he is in the shower banging his fist into the wall as the truth C.C said is something he still couldn't accept.
As for what happened just before the cut, well the steel door is also probably indicating Lelouch stormed out, but then why is C.C just laying there not moving, well also remember she is an Immortal so she's probably kept herself at arms length to people and tried not to understand them, she probably didn't realize that while she was trying to help Lelouch's shaken resolve she was hurting him as well and is probably thinking on weather she was too harsh


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How did everyone end up on Kamine island?
When Lelouch ordered Suzaku to live, Schneitzels Avalon started blasting everything.
But how did everyone get to Kamine island?
How did the other Black Knights get out of that mess and not go to Kamine island?
How come Black Knights couldn't know where the other team has ended up, they were just next to each other?
How did Princess Euphemia end up there?
And there is a scene were C.C is possibly talking to Marianne and there is a mention that she sent them there? Whats going on, seems like I missed something?

We see later on when Suzaku is remembering what he did when Lelouch ordered him to live what happened, Suzaku closed the cockpit of the Lancelot with Lelouch with him and went to escape, while i can't remember it entirely, he probably picked up Euphie on the way while Kallen chased after him knowing Zero was inside.
Because the Hadron Cannon was unfocused, C.C must have used the confusion to do something to the ruins remotely, possibly using the Thought Elevator, to send them to the island, it might have been area of effect as she probably was only targeting Lelouch but Suzaku, Euphie and Kallen was within the vicinity. C.C probably had planned that Lelouch would learn more of Geass, of Charles and V.V and of the Thought Elevator so that Lelouch would be prepared to grant her wish in the end.
How the Black Knight got out of the Avalon's attack, well as i said the Hadron Cannon was unfocused, it was still a prototype and Lloyd expresses how annoyed he is later on when Rakshata is able to perfect it by focusing the beams, because of the way the Hadron Cannon attacked and what we see it's assumed that the Black Knights retreated.
As for how they couldn't get in contact with Lelouch or Kallen, i'm quite sure what ever C.C did separated Suzaku and Kallen from their Knightmares and obviously they at the time were relying on their comms within the Knightmares so didn't carry radios, this is proven by the fact that the playback of Suzaku disobeying order was recorded in the Lancelot, the Britannian forces probably weren't aware of Suzaku or Euphie being on the island as they where there by chance on a separate mission investigating the ruins which Bartley suspects was the reason why Japan (and a number of other nations) was invaded in the first place.

If you watch the end of the previous episode, and when Lelouch and Suzaku meet up, you'll note that there is a mysterious boy observing events, shown very briefly. It is this boy, who you are not yet introduced to, who is responsible.
Given what we know of him from later events, he probably sends them there to have the events screw Lelouch and/or Euphemia's plans up without being too obvious, but probably benefited from Lelouch's interaction with the Thought Elevator as well.

I'm not sure that could be V.V's motives if he was the cause. Euphie at the time wasn't planning on creating the Specially Administrated Zone and it wasn't till afterwords when she reunited with Nunnally did she decide to plan it (her reasons explained on the G1 before Lelouch's Geass activated) and all the SPZ would have done is possibly cause the Order to loose 1 Geass Ruins site which, if Bartly is correct, Britannia could just wage war again to take it back (he suggests the reason Japan was conquered was for the ruins and not for it's Sakuradite)

I think the implication was that V.V. needed a Geass user to open the Thought Elevator and Lelouch was the closest one. Or he did for laughs, as C.C. assumed in Episode 19.
Although less likely, I personally like that other theory that the "impervious observer" C.C. was talking with is the Caretaker of Spacetime that appears in Code Geass: Akito the Exiled OVAs.


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Where is the war against the Edo Tensei people being fought?
I'm at around chapter 588 at the moment, and they're currently fighting against the shinobi who have been reincarnated by Kabuto. They seem to be fighting over a wide stretch of land that looks like it could be most places that isn't the desert. I can't remember if they said where they were fighting, but does anyone know approximately where (in relation to the various villages) they are fighting?

If we are to follow the images and information we are given. It should be somewhere in between the Lands of iron and an island in the Land of Lightning
This is the current ninja world map.

source of image
Below a piece of the tactic explanation showing a piece of map

Looking at the 3 borders in the tactics. Taking the angle shape, and the information that it is between the lands of iron and the floating turtle.

This would be the most logically location for it to be occurring


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What is the limit for the Rinne Tensei?
I know, that the Samsara of Heavenly Life is able to resurrect either all the individuals recently killed, or a single person from long ago. I know also, that this jutsu it's different from the Edo Tensei, since "It seems that this technique does not need the original body for the owner to be brought back, as Madara's original plan consisted of Obito reviving him at a time where the original body would have decomposed."
So the question is: does this technique have a weakness, or a time limit, after which you can't use it, or it's flawless?..If that's the case, could a Rinnegan user revive e.g. The Sage Of The Six Path?

Both Edo Tensei and Rinne Tensei requires the body or some DNA of the body (ie blood stains) to revive the respective person. Since SO6P has never been revived, we can pretty much conclude that no one has his DNA. Also recall about how people deliberate whether the SO6P even existed or not. It would make sense if the Sage destroyed all possible traces of his body after to prevent his revival.

Technically speaking, yes, the Sage of the Six Paths could be revived using this technique.

the technique targets either all the individuals recently killed, or a single person from long ago.
This technique can also be used on people brought back to life using Summoning: Impure World Reincarnation, transforming the debris and ash that forms the corpse vessel into a real body of living flesh and blood; even if they have been dead for many years.

But it seems to take a huge amount of chakra and be close to impossible to revive people without giving up your own life.

This technique seemingly requires a massive amount of chakra, risking death in the process, as Konan feared the worst for Nagato when he used it after having previously expended so much chakra. After using the technique, Nagato became severely weakened; his hair became white due to overexertion of his chakra. Obito's usage of the technique (even on a single target, as opposed to Nagato's use on a village's population) brought him to his inevitable death, as Black Zetsu noted. source

oh man...Obito's dead?...I think I'm gonna' hung myself up...since I've joined this site, I had died several times,honestly...

@Rinneg4n welcome to the world of potentional spoilers ^^

SPOILER Obito is still not dead.

Obito is not dead. Nor did the usage of Rinne Tensei kill him. Naruto wikia is dead wrong on this one.

@krikara Disagreed. After his edo tensei he was dieing for sure. Black zetsu attached himself onto him which was his only reason for survival up until now. As the black zetsu still did not detach hes still alive. Yet bound to die the moment he lets go.

@Dimitrimx Regardless, Obito is not dead. It doesn't matter if the sole reason for being alive is due to Black Zetsu keeping him alive. Rinne tensei did not kill Obito. The difference between dying and dead is huge. If Obito was dead, he wouldn't be in the process of attacking Madara at the moment.

obito is not only not dead, but instead saved naruto's ass using some crazy talk no jutsu..


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What is Naruto's family tree?
I've been trying to figure out how far Naruto's heritage can be traced back. We know his parents, but seeing as we've met other Uzumakis, I figured that there might be at least some other idea of his heritage past is parents. How far/out can his family tree be traced?

Nice question though... Answer can be found on narutowikia or as @Dimitri told in detail...

There actually is somebody who try'd to get all the main characters a place in one big family tree on deviant art it is a bit outdated thou as it last updated in 2011.
I advice on downloading the picture as its really hard to read otherwise
Due to some quotes through out the manga there is also a theory floating around that Naruto has some blood ties with the senju clan.
We know that the first Hokage's wife is Mito Uzumaki so this does make some sense. Some of those theorys can be read on narutobase

And one of the most commonly accept of them would be that all descend from the Uzumaki clan to begin with.

Although there are loads of theory's and tons of rumors going about, we cannot provide a definite family tree of the people beyond Naruto's parents. As most of the theory's are still only based on small quotes such as above
For a proper time line to be set up we most likely need the parental details from either Karin or Nagatos parents, as they all descend from the Uzumaki clan
Edit:
Warning contains content shown in the manga up to chapter 670. Read with care as you might be spoiled
Breaking news on the family tree of naruto, in chapter 670 at page 11 the sage of the six says

You are my son Ashura's

With this and the up following pages we can confirm that Naruto is a descendant of Ashura, which is the younger brother. The creator of the Senju clan. So Naruto is in fact of the senju blood line.
And to be even more accurate, He is the reincarnation of Ashura.

you got some sources for the fact,that the Uzumaki clan would be the origins of everything? Since Obito said, "I can tell the fire of the Senju clan dwells within you",so logically, the Senju is "older" than the Uzumaki

@Rinneg4n Not a single one, it still seems to be the most commonly accepted theory roaming around the interwebs the last 1.5 year

i dont know how japanese names show their clans, if to go by the concept that people having uchiha in their names belong to uchiha clan and so on, i think this will be invalid. rikuo's name  is hagamoro otsotsuki or something. which in no way imply that he might be descendent from uzumaki.

This is just my interpretation but from the Sage of Six Paths, the Uchiha and Senju were born. And from the Senju, the Uzumaki split off. I would suggest that the split happened very early on in the two clans' history because they share many similar traits and the manga also states that, during the present, the Uzumaki and Senju are very distantly related, meaning that the clans would have had to split early in history. This would also support why the Uzumaki express similar if not the same traits of the Senju.
The First Hokage married Mito Uzumaki. Though it is not known who the First Hokage's child is, it is clear that they (the First's child and her/his spouse) had another child, Tsunade.
If I had to guess, I would say that Kushina was no more than a cousin to Mito Uzumaki but simply received Kurama from her. And Minato came from a different family altogether.
All of this would make the first distantly related to Naruto and would make Naruto very distantly related to the Sage of Six Paths.

The first two lines of your sentence don't make sense. An edit perhaps? :)

Hagoromo (Senju and Uchiha)
Hamura (Uzumaki and Hyuga)
Ashura (Senju)
Amaterasu (Uchiha)
Youngest son of Hamura (Uzumaki)
Oldest son of Hamura (Hyuga)
Naruto

Possibility grandfather mother-side

Uzumaki (???)
Senju (???)

Father-side

Namikaze
Senju

Grandmother possibility

Uzumaki
Senju
Namikaze
Senju

For me, it is like Hashirama; Tobirama for grand-grandfather or grand-grand-uncle because Naruto and Hashirama haves some similarities.
Each other passes Hokage without being sensei.
They are both reincarnations of Ashura.
They like taking care of plants.
Tobirama said he feels his brother when Naruto team up with him.
Naruto's nature chakra is not determined because of Kurama.

Could you try to organize these into sentences? As it stands I can't really understand what you're trying to say.

That mean naruto can be a senju/uzumaki

Minato a namikaze/senju

Kushina same as naruto

Because i thinks hagoromo is with senju and uchiha but hamura is a hyuga and uzumaki

Ashura senju is naruto ancestral then hashirama too but namikaze i thinks he is not a clan because the two person who can use perfectly the raijin is tobirama and minato

Naruto chakra is not real his kurama chakra ´s is wind and fire


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Under what Touge rules did Project D race against Purple Shadow?
From my understanding, throughout the whole anime series, the touge rules has been one of the following:
Cat and Mouse/Sudden Death (using Wikipedia Tōge terminology...)

Cars start bumper to bumper, if cat finishes a round ahead of the rat
with a considerable time difference, cat wins. If rat overtakes the
cat, rat wins. If neither happen, proceed to a new round and swap
positions.
Example: When Keisuke beat Wataru on Shomaru pass

Grip Gambler

Cars start side by side (or rolling start up to first turn), whoever is leader at the end wins.
Example: When Takumi raced Keisuke at Akina pass

When Project D raced Purple Shadow, both Takumi and Keisuke's races started bumper to bumper indicating that it wasn't grip gambler. However, in both cases, they were overtaken at one point and the race didn't end, meaning it wasn't cat and mouse sudden death. Perhaps there's a non-sudden death version of cat and mouse, which would make a lot more sense as both races went into multiple rounds.
However, there is still something not quite right. In Takumi's case, he overtook his opponent back and prolonged the race. In Keisuke's case, he overtook his opponent back and the race ended (with no noticeable winning distance).
What was different between Keisuke and Takumi's race so that Keisuke won? Keisuke regained his lead but that should have taken it into the next round. Even Keisuke himself said "That felt kind of questionable. Want to go for a third run?"
So overall, I am beyond confused. Exactly what Touge race rules did they race in?


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Is it true that Angel Beats was originally set for 2 cours before being cut down to 1?
The following claim frequently pops up in discussions of Angel Beats:

The reason Angel Beats seems so rushed is that the show was originally planned for 2 cours (24-26 episodes) before being cut down to 1 cour (13 episodes) late in production, at which point it was too late to re-pace everything correctly for the shorter length.

I have never actually seen evidence to support this claim, and I have a sneaking suspicion that this might be one of those things that somebody on the internet just said once, and everybody else picked up on it because it makes for a good narrative.
Is there any evidence that the above claim is true?

No, Angel Beats! was never supposed to become a 26-episode Anime (2 cours).
Due to the lack of character building, a lot of people have assumed that it was supposed to become a 26 episode anime, but so far all are false speculations.
I also remember reading the notes about it becoming an anime in either the LN or Manga where he stated something along the lines of not having enough space to tell the story. So they most likely decided on this setup to still give the core points of the story, and getting you into reading the rest.
One of the sources that mainly instigate this kind of rumors includes small quotes on sites such as TvTropes.org where was said.

The reason for this is most likely that the show was originally planned for 26 episodes but was then cut down to 13. Angel beats tropes

Although this might not be the exact starting point of the rumor, they usually start from frequently visited anime related sites, where after they spread to Yahoo, forums, SE.


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How did Unohana kill people if her zanpaktou was a healing type?
Unohana's Minazuki, as revealed in her fight with Zaraki, is the type that heals. Then how did she go on the murderous rampages that eventually played a part in her earning the title of the first generation Kenpachi?

Rampage without releasing it

As per your question lemme tell you something more about Unohana's katana.

Minazuki (肉雫唼, "Flesh-Drops' Gorge"): In sealed form, Minazuki is slightly longer than an ordinary katana, and resembles a nodachi. The tsuba has an oval shape, and the handle is red. Instead of tying it to her obi, Unohana carries her Zanpakutō over her shoulder by a rope strap, or lets Isane carry it for her.

Her shikai form is more like the image enclosed above.It's release command is unknown. When released in Shikai form, Minazuki will start to morph, turning into a green, gas-like substance before taking the solid shape of a giant, green, one eyed manta ray-like creature with the ability to fly. Minazuki can be used for transportation, and will change back into the green gas substance before returning to its sword form when its duty has been fulfilled

Her Bankai special ability is still unknown.But these are the facts that I came through

Bankai: Minazuki (皆尽, "All Things' End"): When released the blade of Unohana's Zanpakutō liquifies into a thick, dark red substance able to surround her vicinity. Once the majority of the liquid flows off the Zanpakutō, it reveals the remainder has solidified into a shortened katana, which then can be used for combat, strong and sturdy enough to clash against Kenpachi Zaraki's blade.

We were totally oblivious about her bankai until Kenpachi fight.But her bankai is far more gore than Kenpachi.
Sources:-Link


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Why does the OP and ED of most animes use different art styles than the show?
I've noticed recently that most animes from 2002 to recent use different art styles during their OP and ED when compared to the main story. From a non-artistic standpoint I can understand that since the same OP or ED is used for a large number of episodes that they can put more details into them and other aspects without having to spend a lot of time on it. It's done once and used from then on. I also understand that some use Retro styles just because they can and it makes you laugh. This question is for the in between styles. They look similar, but it is obvious that it was done 'Differently'.
BUT the difference is sometimes so drastic that you can't even tell they belong together. Characters end up with such different looks that it takes you a moment to comprehend what is going on. While I do not find it a bad thing I feel that the work and detail put into the ED and OP could have also been placed into the story and made a world of difference.
My most current example: Chocotto Sister and its ED. It is a 2006 show, but the ED animation would have put it in the 2010 or 2011 category in my mind. It has that much of a difference.
(This question refers to OP and EDs with movement, not static images.)
(Be aware, Chocotto Sister has topless scenes. Please be wary if reviewing an episode. NSFW)

I can't speak for every anime in the 00s, but the storyboard artist for the OP and the ED for Chocotto specifically are different, according to ANN: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=6674 - So that may have influenced the end result.
And oftentimes you'll have studios working together, sometimes one influencing the entire episode of a series or its opening and ending. ( Shaft does this a lot and Mad House has done some work with Ghibli: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madhouse_(company)#Collaborations )

Why do that though? It actually makes me feel a bit ashamed of the show to see what COULD have been according to the OP/ED. chocotto is a prime example. If the quality of the ED had been used in the show it would have made a world of difference.

Opening and Ending animation sequences are supposed to attract viewers and so the producers put more money into their making than in the same time length of the main anime.
Usually it's a minute and a half of lots of visual effects and alluring action packed together with cool music and you see that every episode. Imagine how quickly you'd be bored if it was animated in the same simpler technique as the main part. Or how much less would be the probability of you staying for the main part if you saw such OP or ED.
It has to take more human resources than drawing main part of the anime, so it's often done by more people and they may be different from those who do the main animation. So it's natural the visual style is different.


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What is a "cour"?
I often hear shows talked about as being some number of "cours". For example, Evangelion is apparently "two cours", while Madoka is "one cour".
But what on earth does "cour" mean? I can't find it in any dictionary!

Definition1

cour [koor]
noun

One of the four conventional three-month periods of television broadcasting in Japan (January to March; April to June; July to September; October to December): "Noragami" aired during the first cour of 2014.
A portion of a television program aired over the course of one cour1: The big reveal at the end of the first cour of "Valvrave" had me on the edge of my seat!

Usage
I'm really not sure how long "cour" has had currency in English. There are attestations from at least as early as 2007.2 I think that's not too long after the term began to see usage in English-speaking anime communities, but I could very well be mistaken.
This term was probably quickly adopted because it provides an unambiguous way to refer to a roughly 13-episode block of episodes, by contrast with "season", which (as seen here) can mean many different things in different contexts.
A cour is not of precisely-defined duration, and can, in practice, last anywhere from 11 to 14 weeks (and hence, the same number of episodes), though 12-13 weeks is most common, since a 52-week year cleanly divides into four 13-week subunits (or perhaps 12-week subunits with a week off in between).
Etymology
This usage of the word "cour" in English is (perhaps surprisingly) a borrowing of the Japanese word クール (kuuru), which means essentially the same thing as the English "cour".
Japanese kuuru is itself a borrowing, though the language of origin is not known with certainty. The most popular hypothesis is that it derives from French cours, cognate to "course" as in "lecture".3 Note that the English "cour" is effectively a back-formation from cours (which is singular in French), and the singular/plural distinction between "cour" and "cours" is an English innovation.
In any case, the path "cour" took on its way to English is decidedly opaque, and so it is no surprise that it doesn't show up in English dictionaries.
Derived jargon

A split-cour show is one which has a total duration of two cours, arranged such that the show airs for one cour, is on break for the next cour, and airs again in the following cour. Unlike ordinary multi-season shows, which typically incorporate a larger gap between airings and in which each season is produced separately, split-cour shows are produced as a single unit that just happens to have a 3-month break at the halfway point.

Split-cour shows are a relatively recent innovation in anime, dating back only to 2011.
Valvrave the Liberator and Silver Spoon are recent examples of split-cour shows.
Split-cour shows with cour structures other than on-off-on do exist. For example, Ushio to Tora (2015-16) aired as on-on-off-on, for a total of 3 cours of anime over 4 cours of time.
The "second season" of Durarara!!, subtitled ×2, is the first example of a "triply-split-cour" show, with cours airing in winter 2015, summer 2015, and winter 2016. No consensus has yet emerged as to what to call shows like Durarara!!×2 that have multiple splits.

1 The definition at top is my own creation, but I do believe it to be correct and reflective of the way the word "cour" is used in practice. I guess it's good enough for Wiktionary?
2 "Kanon - 2006 - Episode 14 Discussion / Poll" on AnimeSuki
3 I'm not sure why this is the standard etymological theory - what does a "course" in the sense of "lecture" have to do with a block of television programming? - but there you have it.

Is it possible that the Japanese speaking (and in turn, English speaking) people mistranslated the French cours as the course used when speaking of a "3 course meal"?

I am rather curious regarding the pronounciation of the word 'cour'. Is it close to the french one?

@Ikaros I've never actually heard someone pronounce it in English, but by extrapolating from the Japanese, it would rhyme with "poor" and "tour".