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What is up with the pattern on the fence?
In the episode 12 of the first Bakemonogatari season, there's a fence with an interesting pattern which seemingly has the word "KAWAK" in it:

In the first episode of the second Monogatari season we see the same place:

And another angle:

Looks like the words "CHICO" and "KAWAKITA"!
With the whole show stuffed with symbolism, subtle references and hidden messages, could this mean something?

Interesting observation - I definitely agree that there's something written in the fence there, but I'm not sure it's "KAWAK". It looks like there might be some additional letters trailing off to the lower right.

There's this "NISIOISIN" palindrome thing, so that's what I saw.

Maybe a reference to Kawasaki?

It loos like the part of the left says "CHICO" and the right part (which is a bit cut off, says "KAWAKITA").

This is a likely to be a reference to Koichi Kawakita.

Japanese boards read instead IICHIKO KAWAKITA and are not sure either, but the only trail they got that quotes both words is Kawakita Hideya (河北秀也), an art director out of the Tokyo University of Arts known for making beautiful art designs for a design company called "iichiko".
Another source: http://www.logsoku.com/r/2ch.net/anime/1254234423/

It would be great if you can cite the source of this claim.

Hunch:
Could of been a sponsor who wanted to utilize subliminal messaging: http://kawakaviation.com/
An animator (or maybe I should say setting designer) got drunk and wanted to incorporate his Mayan horoscope somehow: http://weeklyhoroscope.com/features/asst/Mayan/Caunac.php?Haab=Mac
Or it could mean absolutely nothing and it was a design element that wasn't totally intentional.

Except this very frame is shown a suspiciously great number of times throughout the scene. And the show is known for hidden symbolism and subtle references.

Yeah there's a another fence behind them with the repeating element of the first fence but it's not like it's repeated throughout the episode or even the series. If you google "Bakemonogatari Episode 12 Kawak" you might find other boards freaking out over it with no real defined answer - except for maybe an alternative reading of "Chiko Kawaii" which doesn't really make sense to me.


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Where could I buy the notebook that looks like the real Death Note?
Well... I just saw the notebook in my fellow schoolmate and he just brought it to school yesterday. And I'm really curious where he got that and how much did it cost.

Well, it's a tough question to answer, especially if you don't provide with where you live. Also, asking your friend where he got it might be a better option.

It would help to specify whether you are searching for a licensed collectible or whether you are open to purchasing a non-official fan-made item such as a cosplay prop.

Please be aware that you can be arrested, expelled, or suspended for carrying, or writing names in, a Death Note-style notebook. Cases of copycat crimes have resulted in bans and legal action in numerous countries.

@seijitsu For the record, the link you posted only mentions the USA as a country banning or legally acting upon owning a Death Note. The case from Belgium was different in the fact that they actually murdered someone and it wasn't even a DN-inspired murder. They just added the notes "for fun" after the murder was committed. Whatever notebook you would use is never important, it is what you write in it that matters. So not sure what you mean with numerous countries.

@Peter Raeves, by "numerous countries" I was also thinking of cases beyond the ones listed in those 2 links, such as the cases of China and Russia mentioned in this news article from The Japan Times.

Check out these links:
http://www.399animeshop.com/anime/death-note/death-note-book-replica-size.php
http://www.ebay.com/bhp/death-note-notebook
There are different types tho, one type with only the cover looking like the death note, the content is like a normal notebook. The other type is exact replica, figure out which one you want.

Additional to the other answers, they are also available at Aliexpress or Amazon. They even throw in a feather pen for you to make it even more real.
So my guess would be, that you would be best off going to your favourite online webshop and search for death note notebook and you will find what you were looking for.

Another way to get one might be going to a convention (gaming or anime). I don't know where you're from but I got my Death Note replica at the GamesCom (Germany). As Death Note is a really popular anime, you'll find a lot of it on conventions, not only the notebook itself.

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Why does Rin have sharp, pointed teeth?
In Free!, Rin is shown to have sharp, pointed teeth (like a shark). I would say it was just stylistic, but it has been canonically mentioned by one of the characters. Has the author (or the light novel) given any canonical reason for his teeth to be pointed, or is it just symbolism of him being like a shark?

dic.pixiv.net claims claims that he apparently only had a couple of sharp teeth back in elementary school, fwiw.

There is no official info indication that it is anything but a stylistic choice.

I think Rin's teeth are depicted as sharp to give off Rin's attitude towards his former teamates Haruka, Makoto and Nagisa. If you remember during the series Rin had went to Australia to become stronger and faster in swimming. But a couple years later even though he put so much effort in whilst in Australia he still couldn't beat Haruka.
This is probably the most accurate time to say when Rin became more aggressive and serious. I think his sharp teeth are suppose to tell the viewer that he is serious and gives off his more aggressive personality and persona.
This is just my impression though. I dont actually think they made his teeth sharp for an actual purpose rather than to display his change from when he was a kid to when he lost and decided he had, had enough of losing to Haruka.

I personally just think that it's supposed to represent that Rin is the shark to Haru's dolphin. They're yin and yang, it's just a metaphor.

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Where should I continue after the third anime season?
I plan to read manga of The World God Only Knows.
I've watched up to and including season 3 of the anime. Which chapters do I need to start at to continue?

@LoganM It would be best if you updated your answer to the other question to indicate where season 3 actually ended (and/or confirm that it indeed ended at chapter 190 like you guessed) before closing this one as a duplicate of that one.

@senshin I did confirm in the comments there that it ended at chapter 189, but you're right that it should be in the main post. I've updated my answer there; it now covers everything in the anime to date.

According to BakaUpdates:

Anime Start/End Chapter Starts at Vol 1, Chap 1 Ends at
Vol 19, Chap 189

So you should read from chapter 189 onward if you don't want to read what has also been aired.Though personally I always advice to read the full manga too, so that you don't miss out on interactions that did not appear in the Anime etc.


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Who is this female character from the 2005 series?
In the second half of the 233rd episode of the 2005 Doraemon series, titled "Gravity Paint" (重力ペンキ). There seems to be a new girl (left most one in the picture below) in the group. Who is she? When did she first appear?

This portion of the episode was adapted from Chapter 72 (or the 2nd Chapter in the 5th volume of the short manga series) of the manga chapter by the same name:

In the manga, Yasuo (aka "Boy A," the one with the baseball cap) takes her place.

She's one of Nobita's classmates that appears as a recurring character. The 2005 series seems to have introduced more minor characters, most of whom are unnamed.
From the episode 熱血！のび太の運動会, the general layout of the classroom looks something like this (only recurring characters are indicated):

Students: ~20
[  Girl A  |  Girl D  ]
[    ×     |  Shizuka ]    [    ×     |     ×    ]  [    ×     |     ×    ]
[   Gian   |     ×    ]    [  Nobita  | Dekisugi ]  [  Boy C   |  Boy D   ]
[    ×     |   Boy B  ]    [  Boy A   |   Boy E  ]  [  Suneo   |  Girl C  ]
[    ×     |     ×    ]    [  Girl B  |  Girl E  ]  [  Girl F  |     ×    ]

As for her name, I'm not so sure. She's neither named nor addressed directly in the Japanese subtitled version.
All of Nobita's classmates' names seem to be on here, from ためしにさようなら:

田中○○子
鈴木○夫
大川○○夫
大田○司
佐○由美
近藤○キ
山田○介
山川○男
吉田○夫
佐藤○美

(Either they literally have ○s in their names, or it was intentional.)
It seems that not all of Nobita's classmates signed it.
From watching other episodes, I have deduced the following:
Boy A and B are the ever-popular recurring side characters Yasuo (安雄) and Haruo (はる夫).
The characters seem to refer to the girl as "委員長 (class-rep)," so I guess she's the class rep... and it should make sense for her to sign it.

Boy A： 鈴木安雄 (see above)
Boy B： 大川春夫 (see above)
Boy C： Either 山川○男　or　吉田○夫?
Boy D： 山田○介
Boy E： 佐藤正美 (recurring character)
Girl A： 近藤○キ (It's the class-rep?)
Girl B： ???
Girl C： ???
Girl D： 田中悦子 (recurring character)
Girl E： 大田○司

The episode ツルリン！先生がとまらない mentions 4 more classmate names:

吉満宏之
水上由季
竹腰康広
吉藤彩子

It's possible that the two girls with missing names are named here... or they could be some other classmates/people altogether.

Note sure if this might help: http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%89%E3%83%A9%E3%81%88%E3%82%82%E3%82%93%E3%81%AE%E7%99%BB%E5%A0%B4%E4%BA%BA%E7%89%A9%E4%B8%80%E8%A6%A7#.E3.81.AE.E3.81.B3.E5.A4.AA.E3.81.AE.E3.82.AF.E3.83.A9.E3.82.B9.E3.83.A1.E3.82.A4.E3.83.88


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What song plays at 7:38 of FMA Brotherhood episode 28?
There is a really good song that either begins at or plays through 7:38, but I can't seem to find what the song is actually called. What song is this?

Sounds like Crisis in the North  of the second OST album of FMA brotherhood which is number 19 in the 2nd ost series composed by Masafumi Mima

It's actually track 19 on OST 2.

@Eric is it ;o My bad ill correct that


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Who did Mirajane, Gildarts and Erza face off against to become a S-Class Mage?
In the Tenrou Tree Arc, Gildarts told everyone who was moaning and groaning that he had to face the same thing as well when everyone was told that you had to face Erza and Mirajane which was...

Fighting a S-Class Mage

So who was the S-Class mage that Mirajane, Gildarts, and Erza faced. Was it ever revealed in the manga or anime?

it has not been mentioned as yet

maybe makarov? or any other older member like Hades and Evan or maybe Warrod? There's still nowhere to be found but I think that's the best member of fairy tail before Mirajane, Laxus, Gildarts and Erza

The real question is why isn't Natsu an s-class mage? Pretty sure he could take down any of the other s-class mages without breaking a sweat, using his dragon-slayer magic.

@Alex-sama- That's incorrect as he barely survived against versing Gildarts and didn't even defeat him.

if the wording is "a S-Class Mage" and not "a Fairy Tail S-Class Mage" then maybe a job was sent off to another guild to send S-Class Mages, a Guild that probably had the same ideal for promoting Mages like what Makarov does (ie. observing their strength, heart and soul)

@Alex-sama let us not forget that he lost every time he tried to fight Erza.

Looking at the past results on the S Class Mage Promotion Trial wiki, I would likely say that they had to fight the S-class mages present at that time (Eg: Erza had to fight either Laxus or Gildarts). It is not clear when and who Gildarts fought. It could have been Makarov, it could have been previous guild members or he could have shown his competence through other ways. It isn't really known how the previous tournaments went down. Remember that they don't have to win the fight to be promoted, like when Gildarts let Natsu continue the game or they might even get lucky like Gajeel. So the competition is not a power ranking.

Past Results

X???    Gildarts Clive
X778    Laxus Dreyar (Age 17)
X779    No Successful Candidate
X780    Erza Scarlet (Age 15)
X781    Mirajane Strauss (Age 16)
X782    Mystogan
X783    No Successful Candidate
X784    Trial Suspended

No, it hasn't been revealed in manga or anime. But maybe someday they will have long flashbacks like in Naruto (which I hope they don't) and give more details of Mirajane's, Gildarts' and Erza's previous years.

each exam is different. when gildharts said he had to go through the same thing he wasn't necessarily saying he had to fight an S class wizard. he was just saying that he took the exam


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How did C.C get her scar?
In Code Geass, when we see C.C mainly topless we see that she has a scar on her left breast.
The first time we see this is when Lelouch tried to get C.C to move away from the Lancelot when she's feeding Suzaku shock images to destabilize him. when Lelouch touches her he sees her memories and there is a scene where C.C is naked in a river and there is a close shot of her scar.
However in the scenes were we see when C.C obtained the Code I can't really see the scar on her when she's in the church naked talking to the nun who gave her Geass. After C.C is covered in blood from killing the Nun who gave her Geass i still don't see the scar.
The scar itself kinda looks like a trident and not the Geass Sigil which questions if it's even linked to Geass itself. So i am wondering, when and how did C.C get this scar? also given how she been shot in the head and stabbed with shrapnel and healed completely how come the scar hasn't healed as well?

after she killed the nun, she lost her loving geass and all of townspeople seems to burned her for being a witch . . .

Firstly, C.C. did not kill the Nun. The Nun's intent was to force C.C. to take her Code, and once C.C.'s Geass matured, attacked her to make her do so, and then killed herself. C.C. receives her scar from the Nun, during that altercation.
Presumably, the Nun tried to draw a Geass symbol, but it was done imperfectly.
Presumably, the scar persists because it was one of C.C.'s features before her death, so it doesn't go away completely.

It was revealed in the Nightmare Of Nunnally that during the Hundred Years War C.C. was the rival of Joan of Arc. Joan was known as the Witch of Orleans, where as C.C. was the Witch of Britannia and she served under Henry VI. In a meeting between C.C. and Joan she received her scar.

are you able to answer the second part? "given how she been shot in the head and stabbed with shrapnel and healed completely how come the scar hasn't healed as well"

The Lelouch of the Rebellion, Nightmare of Nunally, and Suzaku of the Counter Attack manga have different storylines altogether. I don't believe the Nunally and Suzaku spinoff are considered canon.

Officially speaking no they are not considered canon but that is the only time they ever actually mention the scar. Also sorry but they gave not actual explanation for why the scar will not heal.

The Nun attacked her and caused that wound forcing C.C. to defend herself and kill the Nun instead. Which is what the Nun wanted anyways. The damaged the Nun did, did not get healed, because it's at that moment when the Nun dies, that C.C. gets the Code from her and is now the Code user. So because the wound occurred before and not after C.C. became a Code user, it must of only healed naturally. I believe a Geass user who obtains a Code doesn't necessarily mean they activated it right then and there. C.C. must of activated the Code at a later date, probably after the wound had healed naturally. Perhaps after killing the Nun in self defense and thus obtaining the Code, C.C. fled the scene and eventually healed, only to be captured and blamed for the Nuns death and accused of being a witch and ultimately murdered by a mob in retaliation of the death of the Nun. Then upon death her Code activates and she resurrects as the immortal Geass distributor that the Nun was before her with that scar. As becoming immortal is basically freezing the person at the current state they are at when activating the Code. If LeLouch resurrects, he will probably either have a scar in his chest or a hole. One or the other, assuming his Code activated upon his death.

I know this is an old question, but I wanted to give my interpretation of what happened since it doesn't seem to be one that I've heard elsewhere.
I believe that the scar appeared after she had obtained the Code from the nun, and she was subject to torture because of the belief that she was a witch. As we know, those with the Code can still be wounded and "killed", but their injuries heal very quickly and they come back to life. It's possible that this particular injury was just fresh enough to remain visible at this time. What's more - this injury is right over her heart. Maybe it isn't supposed to be a Geass sigil at all, and is actually a deep wound caused by someone cutting her heart out (this would also explain why it is taking longer to heal). Of course, it could just as easily be a step in some sort of cultist method that the witch hunters came up with to try and kill her based on the sigil on her forehead.
Regardless, this cause and reasoning would answer the question regarding why her other injuries healed, but this one hadn't seemed to. Additionally, there is a scene during the sequence where C.C. has amnesia in which she mistakenly believes that Lelouch wants to have sex, and begins to remove her top. In this scene, her top is easily high enough that the scar should be visible, but no scar can be seen.


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What are the origins of alchemy in Fullmetal Alchemist?
I noticed that in Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, alchemy didn't exist until The Dwarf in the Flask came into existence. I also noticed is that the great teachers of alchemy were Father in the West, and Hohenheim in the East.
So with this information, I think that if The Dwarf in the Flask was never created, then alchemy itself would never have existed. How were they able to obtain The Dwarf in the Flask?

It was never fully explained, when and how alchemy was "invented", but it's known that Xerxes was one of the first countries to know alchemy. It already existed when the dwarf in the flask was created, as he was created using alchemy. The creation of the dwarf in the flask just increased the knowledge because it knew much about alchemy and helped the alchemists gaining knowledge.

As @looper says, alchemy did exist before the Dwarf in the Flask was created. In fact, the man who created the Dwarf would later become Van Hohenheim's teacher. I don't believe much of alchemy was ever used in Xerxes in general, but the king was a big supporter of it, enough that he would later bet his own life on it and ask for immortality.

It's also hinted that alchemy was what created aspects of the universe. In the last few episodes of the series,

 Father absorbs the entity known as "God" (the Eye of God behind the gate) and gains the ability to simply create a sun in the palm of his hand, at a whim.

It is suggested that this very same power was once used, by either Truth or God, to create the stars and planets in the universe. That would mean that alchemy has always existed, but was just brought to light by the Xerxians, and the word was spread by Father and Hohenheim during their travels.

I'm certain that the Alchemy used by Xerxes was far more spiritual in nature than Modern Alchemy and Alkahestry. Mostly because the ability to transmute would have made digging the nationwide transmutation circle a much easier task than it was shown in the Xerxes flashback... and probably a lot bloodier too going by how they used slaves for their experiments. Probably drew power from Blood to be honest, since it has the same sympathetic connections that seem to connect Tectonic Movements and the Water Cycle...

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How come Alphonse can do alchemy in Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood?
In Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, how come Alphonse can sometimes perform alchemy, and at other times it seems he can't? Also, early on the show, wasn't it said that he lost his ability when he lost his body? And if he can do alchemy, why isn't he a state alchemist too?

When can't he perform alchemy? Can you give some examples?

Alphonse can always do alchemy, throughout the whole show. The only times he cannot perform alchemy are the same times that Edward cannot;

 When Homunculus uses his ability to seal off alchemy temporarily.

Now, in the beginning of the show, he does not perform alchemy often because he needs to draw transmutation circles to be able to. Drawing transmutation circles takes time, and is not often practical in fights or other scenarios that need quickness, especially if he does not know the proper circle (they can perform more basic transmutation simply, and both Al and Ed are geniuses, but they are still shown studying often). He is however, shown transmuting items throughout the show, both before and after

 gaining the ability to transmute without a circle, like Ed does.

In fact, Alphonse has a particular ability (at least in the Anime) that no other alchemist is shown to have. He can transmute without physically touching the transmutation circle.

Isn't it because Alphonse forgot the time that he was dragged into the door, so he wasn't able to use alchemy without transmutation circle?

Yes, he wasn't able to use transmutation without creating a circle because he didn't remember seeing Truth. When blood is spilled onto his seal, it allows him to remember truth, and from that point on, he can transmute without drawing a circle.

@Ktash, I know your comment more than a year ago, but can I draw your attention to my question, regarding the blood on Al's seal? http://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/11524/how-did-alphonse-recover-his-pre-gate-memories?noredirect=1#comment14241_11524

The first part of the question has been answered so I will concentrate on the State Alchemist portion. Alphonse wanted to be a State Alchemist along with his brother but Ed talked him out of it. The main reason was that being a State Alchemist is equivalent to joining the army. It means you have a commanding officer, you follow orders, and you go fight when and where you are told. As Ed told Al, "only one of us has to carry that burden".
Plus there is the issue of a health screening, and seeing as how Al is just a hollow suit of armor, their secret would be immediately blown.

These events are from the first anime, and do not actually occur in the manga, nor the second series. The reason Alphonse didn't become a State Alchemist is never revealed. Colonel Mustang comes to convince Ed to join up, and then Ed goes and does it. Al isn't ever mentioned in relation to becoming a State Alchemist. So, this is probably non-canon.

I just looked back in the manga. In the third chapter when they are at the Youswell coal mine, Al asks Ed if he should become a state alchemist, and Ed gives the reply that I mentioned above. So the events do in fact occur in the manga.

Interesting. I stand corrected then :)

For Alphonse who is not a State Alchemist, since he did not actually apply to be an State Alchemist. It's a kind of job where you have to get certified, by apply and pass some tests.

I have two theories

He either is a state alchemist and it is never spelled out or
He didn't want to follow orders and become a "dog", and since Ed joined he really didn't have to so he just didn't.
I have not seen the entire series yet, so please tell me if there are problems with my ideas.

I do believe that Alphonses special transmutation(which only happens the once in Liore) has to do with him seeing the Truth jist not knowing about it, it also more likely that the creator had not finalized the transmutation process before she started the series and quickly quickly fixes it.


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What's Scar's name?
Before the manga ended, I remember reading somewhere that part of the things that should be revealed by the end was Scar's name, but I don't recall ever finding it out. What's Scar's name, was it ever revealed?

That's easy, it's Jugenmusugenmegogonosedegakaisadasensugesugematsufuraimatsufuraimatsukurunatokorosuruntorayamagojiburagojibaibobaibonoshoringashoringgagurindaigurindainobumbokobinnobumbokonanojoukyuumenochousuke.

His name was never revealed.
According to this:

In the first anime, Scar died without his name ever being revealed. However, the author planned to reveal Scar's name before the manga finishes (in the "extras" at the end of volume 15, Arakawa states she has a name for Scar, but it's a secret). In chapter 102, when Wrath asks Scar what his name is, Scar replies he has no name and abandoned it long ago. As of Chapter 108, Scar officially has no name, stating that after dying twice, he no longer exists. It is unknown if his name will ever be revealed.

As a joke in the non-canon 4-Koma Theater, it is stated that Scar's real name is Jugemu-jugemu Gokōnosurikire Kaijarisuigyo-no Suigyōmatsu Unraimatsu Fūraimatsu Kūnerutokoroni-sumutokoro Yaburakōjino-burakōji Paipopaipo-paiponoshūringan Shūringanno-gūrindai Gūrindaino-ponpokopīno-ponpokonāno Chōkyūmeino-chōsuke, derived from the Japanese folktale "Jugemu." The joke also states that King Bradley, another character whose real name is unknown, shares the same name.

@Dimitrimx I don't fully understand but some parts means like "without a place to live" or so it seems. What would be the translation for that?

@Prix (I aint japanese so this is a rough translation) live long, live long and prosper. may great wealth await you whenever you go, even in different lands and under different skies. like the long lived king shuringan. and his dear wife furindai . and their childeren ponpokopi and ponpokona. live a long and blessed life.

@Dimitrimx Not quite: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jugemu


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Were there any parts of the manga that were skipped in the anime?
I just finished watching Bakuman anime (seasons 1 thru 3) and really enjoyed the series. Right after finishing the anime, I found out that they skipped a portion of the manga in season 3 (around episode 16) and would like to read more about it the potion that they skipped.
What part(s) of the manga did the anime not cover (were entire chapters or arcs skipped?) and where would they have fit into the anime?

Related: http://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/3064/how-different-are-the-manga-and-anime-versions-of-bakuman?rq=1

I agree it's related and that question is the reason I hesitated to post this one but as there were no answers that answer my question and it's not as specific as mine I chose to post it anyway.

Here's a list I made for the things skipped/changed from the manga to the anime:
(not including filler and some obviously adaption changes)
S1
Episode 1

Some Death Note references were deleted.

Episode 2

In Moritaka and Akito discussion, Iwase were mentioned being dumb, in the anime it got cut.

Episode 3

Some scenes of Moritaka and Aktio talking about boxing were cut.

Episode 4

Introducing his uncle principles for manga, Moritaka referring to "Qualification of a man" and it's principles before his uncle's. In the anime it got cut straight to his uncle's.

Episode 12

Moritaka and Miho's “goodbye” were for freaking 30 minutes. The anime “made” it shorter.
In the manga Moritaka and Miho got distracted by passing schoolgirls. In the anime by some random dog.

Episode 13

In the manga, Moritaka scattering the storyboards over the river. In the anime they also tearing the storyboards apart.
In the manga, when Moritaka scattering the storyboards, Aktio commenting about the environment groups might see them, and running away. In the anime, someone who passed there telling them it's bad for the environment and they collecting it.

Episode 14

The anime censored and changed some parts of the discussion about Miho's failing auditions.

Episode 16

After Miho debut on TV Moritaka analyse her performance. In the anime he got encouraged by it.

Episode 24

In the manga, Miho and Moritaka talking over the phone when Kaya giving him Akito's cellphone. In the anime, Miho closing the call on Moritaka. (and they'r having their first phone call talk only on episode 25)

Episode 25

Where in the anime the serialisation meeting is getting introduced in this episode, in the manga it got introduced much earlier, while it get more expanding in the meeting of this episode.
Akira and Yuujiro are talking about editors changes. Got cut in the anime.

S2
Episode 1

Christmas eve scene were cut in the anime.
Koji makes an appearance in the New Year Party. Got cut in the anime.

Episode 2

Miho's side story is starting differently in the anime than the manga as it starts much earlier in the manga, though its climax is on the right timeline.

Episode 4

Hiramaru scenes taking different timeline in the anime.

Episode 6

Akito talking to Miho got cut in the anime. And also scenes of Miho with her mother.
Miho talking to Moritaka's mother got cut in the anime.

Episode 8

Moritaka has a talk with his hospital room partner. Got cut in the anime.

Episode 9

Extra information about TRAP ending were cut in the anime.

Episode 11

Ryo Shizuka character removed from the anime.

Episode 13

In the manga Akito forget Iwase's novel in the studio, and then Moritaka putting it in the shelf. In the anime Akito is the one putting it there.

Episode 16

Fukuda and Ko character development cut out in the anime. Hiramaru scenes as well.
Obvious scenes were censored in the anime.

Episode 18

Hiramaru's "plan" had been changed in the anime.

Episode 19

Where the manga had extended on Moritaka's uncle, the anime shortened it.
Where the manga had been on Akito and Kaya moving, the anime cut and censored part of that.

Episode 20

Eiji to appear on TV had foreshadowing in the manga. Got cut in the manga.
Hattori is threatening Miura telling Moritaka and Akito about Eiji getting +Natural anime adaption. The anime cut it through to the point where Miura is telling them.
When Moritaka getting home after Eiji appears on TV, he don't have his own cellphone with him to cal Miho so he takes the home phone. In the anime he have his own cellphone with him.
Moritaka and Miho discussion is much extended with character development. The anime cut it through the character development.
The anime had changed the order of the events of the manga, causing some changes in the stories.

Episode 22

The taxi joke were cut out in the anime.

Episode 24

Christmas eve in the manga and the Serialisation meeting day are completely separated days. The anime made them the same day.

Episode 25

When Moritaka showing his uncle grave the results for PCP he saying that his uncle would probably say that the challenge only just began and such. In the anime, his uncle "ghost" actually appears and saying that.
In the manga, after Hattori getting to edit PCP he's thinking himself being selfish so he goes to the editor-in-chief, in that event the editor-in-chief tells him the condition for PCP to keep ongoing. In the anime, those two events aren't related to each other, and Hattori doesn't go to the editor-in-chief when thinking he's selfish.

S3 (this is where the most changes were made)
Episode 1

Moritaka and Miho on the train have exactly 2 to 3 frames in the manga to justify the "time flows fast when we happy" idea. The anime made it longer.

Episode 4

While in the manga Shiratori have lots of dogs, in the anime he have only one.
Mashiro and Aktio character development were cut from the anime.
Moriya story and development got cut in the anime.

Episode 5

Shiratori arc - shortened in the anime.
Mashiro development got cut in the anime.

Episode 6

Super Readers Love Fest arc in the manga (vol13) got cut through and shortened in the anime.
In the manga, Maoritaka and Akito are hiding from Kaya that PCP won't get anime, so when they discussed about Akito making Lavuta they mentioned that PCP won't get anime with Kaya listening and among the lines of the manga Kaya is surprised by it. The anime didn't let any of these being significant.
Furthermore to that, Kaya and Miho talking about Moritaka and Akito about PCP not getting anime had been removed from the anime.
That and along more developments the Super Readers Love Fest arc had in the manga, had been cut roughly in the anime.
Moritaka and Akito discussion after the result of the Super Readers Love Fest have more "meat" and development on the manga. Where in the anime it got cut like most of this arc development.

Episode 7

The award ceremony was in the manga after Hiramaru and Ko story. The anime rotated it to before their story. And so a scene from Nonamine arc as well.
Where the manga extended the award ceremony, the anime made it a rough 1 minute.

Episode 8

The manga "Classroom of truth" have more pages in the manga, and also its final page have been cut in the anime. And also more commentary of Moritaka and Akito on the "Classroom of truth" been cut in the anime.
Flashback from 'Nonamine return arc' were rotated to this episode.

Episode 12

Kosugi had more fist fight with Nonamine in the manga, and also threatened him to call the police. The anime cut it and censored it.
Mortiaka and Akito meeting Nonamine in the New Year Party has little changes, and Nonamine's line in the manga that he's going to beat them with "brand new method" were cut in the anime.
Parts of the New Year Party got cut in the anime, mainly due the 2-chapters arc of Nakai.
In the manga, Akito telling Moritaka that he had a crush in second grade on Ichiko, and Moritaka meeting her in the reunion. In the anime that part with Akito got cut, and when Moritaka meets her in the anime he says "So this is Ichiko, huh?" without any relation.
In the manga Moritaka learning to drive mentioned much earlier in the manga. In the anime only in this episode it being mentioned for a line.
In the manga, Yamashita arriving to the reunion later. In the anime he's been there already.
In the manga at Moritaka and Akito discussion when Akito mentioning Ashite No Joe they are adapting lines from that manga to their situation. In the anime it got cut through the end of their discussion.

Episode 13

2-chapters arc of Nakai got cut roughly and changed heavily in the anime. Grand changes from the manga: 1. Moritaka part in this arc 2. Longer fist fight of Hiramaru vs Nakai 3. Fukuda part in the fist fight 4. In the manga Ko threatens to call the police and actually intends too, but ended in calling Fukuda, so no police really involves. In the anime, at the end of Nakai part there's police sirens. 5 Hiramaru making Friend with Nakai changed heavily in the anime too.
This 2-chapter arc were after the Nonamine arc in the manga before the reunion, to make a point by connecting it. The manga delayed it after that.
In the manga, when Eiji asking Yuujiro about the differences in votes between 2nd place and 1st place, he's reading PCP. In the anime he's reading his Crow manga. The scene in the anime also combining another scene from the manga as following the next change.
In the manga, Eiji shouting about he can't make a storyboard for Crow, when asked by Yuujiro he's saying it's because his names are usual in 2nd place and he wants 1st place. In the anime Eiji only stating that the next one going to be in 1st so he will be delayed.
The 'Copycat arc' in the manga is 3 chapters long. the anime crammed it all to single episode cutting several Akito, Hattori and as well Ashirogi Muto development from the manga. (some big, and some that not necessarily big development but mostly cutting lines that highlighting those developments)
In the manga, when Moritaka comes to Akito's work room they'r talking about the solution for next chapter. In the anime, the understanding between them is in the air.

Episode 14

In the manga, when Yoshide coming to Hiramaru's house he have face mask. In the anime, for comical purposes he have full oxygen tank.

Episode 15

Some trial and error of Moritaka and Akito in the manga changed in the anime, like Kaya commenting about making code out of rainbow, in the manga it wasn't treated while in the anime it made them hint. Some was cut as well.

Episode 17

'Nonamine return' arc (end of vol16-vol17) had been removed in the anime. (And so all the development had been done in character and plot)
Regarding the arc removed from the anime, connection from the arc to the new manga of Ashirogi Muto has been removed as well.
Extra details on Zombie Gun story had been cut in the anime.

Episode 18

In the manga when Moritaka making the manuscript for Reversi it's being showed he's completely exhausted. In the anime he's completely normal.
In the manga, when Hattori and Yuujiro are in the bar, Hattori is completely drunk. The anime censored it.
Extra details on PCP moving to Heishuu Jump were cut in the anime.
The part of Moritaka and his grandpa has been shortened in the anime. (some were rotated to Episode 23)

Episode 19

Some very little Moritaka development were cut on the anime. And so some of Obata's faces for Mashiro were cut too.
Some extra details, and also Akito development were cut from the anime too.

Episode 20

In the manga, in the flashback of Hiramaru he's showing shaking as he usually does. In the anime they changed him to look normal and formal.
In the manga, Yoshida thinks for Hiramaru's sake is more extend and have some of his own backgrounds (and some gag from the editorial department as well). In the anime it got cut and in the same occasion he's thinking about Hiramaru he's going to his place to encourage him.
Some of "Proposal Mission" in the manga got cut in the anime.
In the manga, Hiramaru and Ko are riding the ferris wheel three times, and Hiramaru proposing to Ko in the second on when Ko noticed while riding that Yoshida is there, after that they getting on the ferris wheel another time with Ko asking the operator. In the anime they changed it to 2 rides, making the 2nd like the 3rd in the anime.
In the manga, the reason for Moritaka and Akito going to the Tezuka Award party is pretty much for Kato's request and breather reasons. In the anime their coming is blended with Akito saying "we are not in the mood for the party" without much introduction as the manga.

Episode 22

Ishizawa part in Miho arc was removed in the anime. And some crazy otaku elements censored as well. (like "Die Ashirogi Muto!")
Regarding the above, though some net chat are appearing in the anime in this arc, a lot of those got cut in the arc.
Fukuda part in Miho arc and as well Road Racer Giri radio was removed from the arc.
Some question in Miho's radio were censored.

Episode 23

Moritaka's grandpa "agreement" on Moritaka and Miho's marriage was discussed much earlier in the manga (see Episode 18 changes). In the anime it's been here with his mother's agreement.
In the manga, when Mortiaka's Mother "agrees" to the marriage, Moritaka having classic comical reaction of spitting drink. In the anime he have classical comical reaction of falling.
In the manga, after Miho's Mistake, the one who found out the script for the audition was the mistaken one was the director. In the anime, the producer is breaking the room to tell them that.
In the manga, when the auditions ending, some of the actress addressing the man in charge that Ashirogi Muto revealed Miho that the script was wrong for her to get the rule. In the anime, there's some actresses that saying that in the hallway and even not in front of Miho.
In the manga, the public audition is supposed to be show over a week and then have the result. The anime made it in one day only, changing the events of the manga.

Episode 25

The anime had moved the prologue from chp175 to after the end, and made kind of it's own prologue.

(though it's seems the anime changed a lot, all those (except S3 probably) are very small parts though still notable, Bakuman anime is pretty faithful to the manga except what it skipped)

Yes they did skip some of story in the manga version.  There was one part in particular where they make a manga, and in the anime they submit it whereas the anime they just said no I'm going to turn in a better one.  I'll add the episode\chapter numbers when I find it.
Starts sifting through chapters


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What are the different versions of Fruits Candy?
The 3rd ED to Cardcaptor Sakura is "Fruits Candy". There seem to be multiple versions of the song, but MAL only lists the one sung by Megumi Kojima. However, I've heard at least one other version (see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uNALWuWJao), and it wouldn't surprise me if there were more. Can anyone confirm what other versions of this song exist and who sings each of them?

Just to clarify, are you only asking for versions that were used in the show?

@atlantiza Ideally a perfect answer would have all of the instances in the CCS albums, but the ones used in the anime are the ones I'm most interested in.

According to wikia, there is another version of the song sung by Sakura Tange, Junko Iwao and Aya Hisakawa, the voices of Sakura Kinomoto, Tomoyo Daidouji and Cerberus, respectively. So there are two versions in total.


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Who is Saber extending her hand to in the ED of Carnival Phantasm?
In the ED, we see each character (that appears in the show) is connected by (the proximity of) a hand.
Right as the ED of Carnival Phantasm ends, we see Saber extending her hand to someone, but we never see who that person is.
Was the identity of this hand ever revealed? If so, who is it?

That arm could be the arm of Kiritsugu Emiya. In the picture the characters are connected to thier masters. The masters of Saber would be Shirou Emiya and Kiritsugu Emiya.
It could also be the arm of Irisviel van Einzbern, who wasn't the real master of Saber but some sort of stand-in, while Kiritsugu was doing his dirty work.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fate/Zero#Characters

I'm not really convinced by this. Carnival Phantasm doesn't have any Fate/Zero characters, and Kiritsugu exists in Fate/Stay Night only in a small number of flashbacks (and Irisviel not at all). Do you have any sources to back up this claim?

There's a zerochan image suggesting that it's Irisviel:

However, it credits a Pixiv user so chances are that it ain't official. Nevertheless, there are some bases for such an assumption:

Irisviel has a connection to Saber (being the stand-in Master during Fate/Zero)
the arm looks feminine
Despite Logan M's comment Fate/Zero characters do appear in the Ahnenerbe party after the credits, even Iris.

So it stands to reason that Irisviel is the most likely candidate.

This is an interesting question.
If you pay attention to the forearm of the hidden character, it is not covered in sleeves, nor is it decorated with anything, like a wrist band, so Kiritsugu is out. Saber's friendly gesture towards the unknown person shows a moderately close affinity between them, so again it can't be Kiritsugu because Saber dislikes him and would have shown an anxious face like Bazett's if it's his hand that is reaching out to her.
While Irisviel von Einzbern fits all these bills and is indeed a likely candidate, the size of the hand seems to be slightly larger than that of Saber and about equal to that of Shirou, which suggests the hand of a delicate man over that of a delicate woman.
I think Saber is extending her hand to her male archetype counterpart: Prototype Saber from Fate/Prototype, which was released as a movie special bundled with the 3rd Season of Carnival Phantasm.

The official website doesn't even hint at the content of this "special movie"; instead, we have Ayaka Sajou calling the Ahnenerbe at the end of disc 1 after the ED sequence plays for one last time as lead-ins to Fate/Prototype, which is disc 2. The incompleteness of the character sequence can be seen as an acknowledgement to the fact that Fate/Prototype never came to fruition.
On the other hand, Fate/Grand Carnival, Carnival Phantasm's spiritual sequel, also did something similar in their EDs where the character sequence stops halfway at the hind legs of Red Hare, but is continued and ends unambiguously on Castoria, signifying that Fate/Grand Order is a largely complete series with its own anime adaptations.
Now back to the claim that Saber is reaching her hand out to Irisviel. As Memor-X has pointed out in her answer, characters from Fate/Zero, as well as novels by Kinoko Nasu that have yet to be adapted into video game format, do appear in the Ahnenerbe party after the ending credits of the last episode. It's worth noting that the Fate/Zero anime began airing in between the releases of the 1st and 2nd Seasons of Carnival Phantasm, so I'd imagine Lerche would have issues drawing Fate/Zero characters before Ufotable did them. But then, why do a veiled advertisement for an upcoming anime by one of their rivals when Lerche had one planned for themselves in the form of a movie special? Moreover, TYPE-MOON is foremost a video game company; the mere fact that one of Nasu's novels received an anime adaptation does not bestow a place in the ED sequence upon its characters. Cases in point: Kara no Kyoukai, Canaan and, yes, Fate/Zero.
There is also the viewpoint that the hand belongs to Aoko Aozaki, the heroine of Witch on the Holy Night and a playable character in Melty Blood Actress Again. This comes from the observation that the characters in the ED sequence appear in chronological order of TYPE-MOON's franchises: the Tsukihime series, the Melty Blood series and the Fate series. The next in line would be Witch on the Holy Night, which was first set to be released in 2009, but due to numerous delays, was finally only able to push out a demo by mid-December, 2011, and the full game by mid-April, 2012. This setback was probably the reason why the TYPE-MOON Fes. 10th Anniversary Event was postponed to July, 2012, when all of Carnival Phantasm, save for the HibiChika Special, had already been released half a year ago and were themselves already a late celebration for TYPE-MOON's 10th anniversary, sometime in 2009 or 2010 depending on how you count it. Thereby, Lerche would have to use the Melty Blood outfit for Aoko, hence the bare forearm.
However, how are Aoko and Saber related to warrant them being so close to each other and not divided into "camps"? This proposal falls short in favor of Prototype Saber, which I hereby conclude is the identity of the mostly hidden character at the end of the ED sequence. It may have been Aoko in the original planning, maybe Fate/Prototype was even animated precisely to fill in for the yet undelivered Witch on the Holy Night. Whatever the case, all evidence presented so far point to none other than Prototype Saber in the final rendition of the ED sequence. Q.E.D.

authors: w̢in̡͢g͘̕ed̨p̢͟a͞nt̡͜͝he̸r̴


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Why is Toradora's ED about oranges?
This site has Toradora's second ending theme, Orange (オレンジ), together with lyrics both in Japanese and translated.
First, it's worth noting that the word Orange is ambiguous in English, referring both to a color and a fruit, and it is used to this effect in the song. At one point in the song it talks about a fruit which is turning orange, and at another it talks about an orange. I don't know if we can conclude that these are the same fruit, so if you want to claim that they are actually different fruits feel free to do so.
What is the significance of this fruit, and the story told in the song in general, in the context of the anime? It seems to be symbolic somehow, but I don't know what it's referring to when the singer is talking about an "orange ...[which] was sour, ... [but they] ate it all anyway."
Can anyone decode the meaning of this song, and what the orange is symbolizing, in the context of the anime?

orange define the character of Taiga and Takasu. the word is only ambiguous when orange is ripe. They try to help each other without being unknown to their own feeling which is unripe orange which is fruit but not color. At last they understand their feeling which is both fruit and color. Both Kitamura and Ami know about it so Ami try to warn Takasu to understand his true feeling and become a ripe orange.
this what i think.

This song, being sung by the 3 main heroines, was especially made for the anime. The song uses the metaphor of an orange, likening the girls to an unripen, not yet matured, orange.
This blog entry offers a much in-depth look into the meaning behind the song. Though the translations may differ between people, the general meaning stays intact. The blog article mostly compares the CoalGuys and the {Words of Songs} fansubs, with the author trusting the {Words of Songs} version over the CoalGuys fansub (though he admits he likes the fansub lyrics better).
One can assume one of two things from the lyrics: the first being that it's Taiga who is the main voice narrating the lyrics, or the second, that everybody is narrating these lyrics. The following explanations will try to look at the lyrics from both perspectives.

“It’s just that I don’t know/My true self.” This line can easily be seen to be Taiga, or any of the characters. I think Toradora is special in the fact that all the characters can fit into this. It implies how all the characters have a hidden side to themselves that even they may not know.
“Into the broad earth, a single seed/Extended its roots/And bore fruit that was still unripe.” The fruit, first of all, probably symbolizes the narrator(s). This “unripe fruit” thing, I’m guessing, is a lack of maturity for the fruit and the person.
“The fruit that wants to turn orange as soon as possible.” An unripe orange is usually green, while a ripe one is... well, orange (big surprise, huh).  Basically, the person(s) want(s) to mature. This may be because if they mature, they may learn more about themselves in the process.
“by basking in your light.” I think that this light is the object of the narrator’s affection. It’s easier to see that when looking at the next reference to light: “I didn’t want to get hurt/So I fled/When I did that, not even light/Would shine upon me.” Because love is known to be painful, the narrator tries to flee from it, but realizes she cannot grow as a person without love.
“I tried to eat/An orange today, too/But it was still sour and I cried/It reminded me of myself, so I couldn’t throw away the rest.” We can see how the person and the fruit are symbols of each other, and their immaturity is also accented. If we look at the fansub version we see that eating the immature/unripe fruit shows that the person is also not mature yet, while it’s a lot harder to use the {Words of Songs} one.

Just for someone reading likening the girls to an unripen, not yet matured, orange: if the Grisaia series came to your mind, you made the wrong association: in Grisaia no Kajitsu (the fruit of grisaia), the "fruit" is the girl's remorse/sin, not the girls themselves. http://anime.stackexchange.com/a/6389/2808

I think the orange personifies the characters of the Toradora, mostly the girls (Taiga, Ami & Minori).
The lyrics says,

ORENJI iro ni   hayaku naritai kajitsu  kimi no hikari wo abite

which translates to:

The fruit wants to hurry up  And turn orange-colored Basking in your light

means that the girls want to be more matured, like a still unripe orange that wants to be ripe.
It also says,

ORENJI  kyou mo
  tabete mita kedo
  mada suppakute  naita watashi mitai de nokosenai kara
  zenbu tabeta

which means:

I tried to eat
  An orange today, too
  But it was still sour, and I cried
  Because it's unlike me to leave any behind
  I ate it all

or (this is just my translation of the line watashi mitai de nokosenai kara which could be wrong).

I tried to eat
  An orange today, too
  But it was still sour, and I cried
  It's like me so I can't leave it behind and so I ate it all

and can be pertained that the singer is comparing herself to that particular orange, which is still sour (not matured enough), like her, so she ate it all up. Can also be assumed that she can't leave herself behind or she pity the orange because it was like her.
Also,

ORENJI  itsuka
  amaku naru kana
  sore to mo shibonjau no?
  watashi no mirai shiritakunakute
  zenbu tabeta

which means,

I wondered if
  The oranges would turn sweet someday
  Or would they wither?
  I didn't want to learn of my future
  So I ate it all

First she wondered if the oranges will someday turn sweet or wither, then she stated that she didn't want to learn her future, which solidifies that the singer was personifying herself in that orange fruit.
Toradora involves the story of the girls and their thinking development towards love. If you have watched Toradora yourself, you would know that this song really relates to them (Taiga, Minori & Ami).

You missed "so I ate it all" at the end of the 2nd translation.

I guess the translation was wrong in the link you've provided in this part I think the translation is a fair one. There wasn't any clear delimiter between 2 sentences (I haven't checked the official lyrics), so I think the translation is quite dependent on how the sentence is split up. Personally, I'd go with the translation in the link (split the sentence after "naita").

Still if the translation meant it's not like me to leave it behind so I ate it all instead of it's like me so I can't leave it behind and ate it all, the singer is still seeing herself as the orange.

Well, I'm no longer sure what the meaning is... I'll leave the debate to someone with better knowledge of Japanese.

Me too.. I searched for other translations and it goes as what you said, so I better edit my answer. Thanks again.

One key facet to this song is the point at which it becomes the ending song, and how that timing and the song itself play against the larger theme of the anime.  The driving message of Toradora is not so much how the characters evolve, but how all their concepts of love evolve.
In the begining, Ryuji and Taiga have very similar ideas about the concept of love, centered around the high school crush.  In the episode just before the "Orange" takeover, we find out that Kitimura had the same notion, but when Taiga rejected him, found something new.
Throughout 'Mercury is Retrograde at Christmas,' we see the other main characters also begin to take up this transformation, along with all the pain and confusion that comes with it.  From the moment Ami's question about her feelings of guilt rattles her to the point of fouling up the game, Minori is forced to consider her growing feelings for Ryuji and their potential consequences, in was she was not able to back at the beach house.  Ryuji has his own moment of burgeoning crisis watching Taiga and Kitimura, while Kitimura has gone from tight containment to bouncing off the walls.
Taiga hasn't looked at herself clearly yet, but Christmas is the arc where we will see her do so.  And as for Ami, she is doing her best to force things to a crisis, trying to make the fruits turn orange around her.  None of them are quite ready yet, all a bit sour.  But they are starting to see that quality within each other, and from there reflect what it means when turned inward.  That looking forces them tighter together, unable to give up on those facing the same challenges they are facing.
The strength of this is that it is something that most viewers can also connect with.  A challenge we have seen in ourselves.  It garners an emotional catharsis that drives viewers to not let it go, because their sour fruit reminds us of ourselves, and we cannot toss that aside or stop from eating it... whichever of those two translations you like best.

The narrator is a person who sings of her plight and hopes as:

sour, unripe, insignificant orange + sunlight = ripe orange
bitter, incomplete, pained person + lover = happy person

Using the orange metaphor, the narrator is a unripe fruit that chanced upon this world and her lover is sunlight that shines upon her. "So look at me!"
The song continues its flavor (bazinga!): as a person, she gets reminded of herself by oranges. In particular:

most striking, a sour orange reminds herself of her sourness, so om nom nom nom
a bunch of unripe oranges reminds herself of her uncertainty, so om nom nom nom

Both Taiga and Kushieda can play the orange role, while Ryuji is the Sun.
You may be interpreting stuff too literally. Dont go through the orange, instead let the orange go through you!


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How was summoning jutsu created?
How did the summoning begin in Naruto?
Summoning was a jutsu that not only required lots of jutsus, but also required a blood contract (probably from a village of animals since all of the summoning animals are sentient).
How was this accomplished when the animals were far away?

According to naruto.wikia.com:

In the anime, it was shown that if a user attempts to summon an animal without first signing a contract, the user will be teleported to the home of the animal they have a natural affinity for.

Though there doesn't seem to be an explanation as to where it actually originated from/how it began, it would make sense that someone at some point decided that they wanted to summon an animal and attempted it. They were teleported to the home of the animal, where they then made a blood contract with them.

I don't think that's very accurate. The Third said that there's no way of knowing what could happen. I'm guessing the teleportation would occur in random.

Yeah. Additionally, the animals are in another dimension. If you don't even know they exist, how would you want to summon them in the first place.

Its possible that the animals where the ones who invented summoning jutsu. We can see that they are capable of using summoning jutsu

It was probably created by Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki (Sage of Six Paths). We all know he created Ninshuu and was a monk who travelled and explored.


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Would a water manipulating Devil Fruit user be able to swim?
If all Devil Fruit users in One Piece anime are not capable of swimming, what about a Devil Fruit user whose ability is to control water? Can such a person able to swim or evade the Devil Fruit's curse?

There's no such fruit, as far as I know. And I believe that's intentional.

According to explanation in anime , all devil fruit users unable to swim but That is possible to across the water though. example ( Aokiji cycling via sea;  turn out water as ice , Brook walking on water since his body is too light )

wasn't there one water water fruit user in movie karakuri island or something. she transforms into water an moves through pipes to attack nami.

It was stated that a water devil fruit doesn't exist as it would defeat the whole purpose of being weak to water.

Most of this answer is speculation as there is currently no answer to this question.
I think that the possibility of the "Mizu Mizu no Mi" existing somewhere in the One Piece universe is highly possible, since we have already seen multiple states of water being Devil Fruits:

Moku Moku no Mi (Smoke - Gas state)*
Hie Hie no Mi (Ice - Solid state)
Yuki Yuki no Mi (Snow - Solid state)

* I know this one is disputable
The only problem with the "Mizu Mizu no Mi" is that it will create a paradox.
Since Devil Fruit users are weak to water, if a Devil Fruit user transforms into water, he would be rendered powerless and transform back to his normal form.
But all in all, I don't think the person using this Devil Fruit will be able to circumvent the "curse" Devil Fruit users get from eating them.

Devil fruit users are weak against the sea. Regular water does not affect them. See Luffy's battle with Crocodile

I believe that moving water has no effect on devil fruit users (showers, waterfalls, waves, etc.), but ocean water does. More than likely because salt is seen as a tool against the devil and demons, hence why they can't swim, but fresh water does not have the same attribute.

Smoke isn't water in gas state.

A significant component of smoke is water vapor. (The rest is carbon dioxide and particulates.)

The Devil Fruit Users are weak to the sea energy (think seastone), because the sea hates them. If a "Mizu Mizu no Mi" exists, then it would most likely be fresh water ability. This would allow them to use water, without being weakened.

My thought entirely. As long as they only touch fresh water, devils fruit users seem to be unaffected. Such is the example of luffy drowning in Arlong's pool (connected to the sea) but unaffected by Hancock's bath. Therefore a 水水の実 would be purely fresh water.

The thing is that the Devil Fruit users only lose their powers through SEA water. drinking water, fresh water and any other type of water would have no effect. So it would be possible to have the ability and swim, if you are not in Sea water. This was displayed in the Crocodile ARC. Luffy dowses himself with regular water to fight Crocodile for the fact that the Sand gets clumpy and is not able to disperse.

This answer is contradicted by this SBS in which it states, "The "sea" here can refer to anything from rivers, pools and baths to any kind of standing water."

TL;DR YES, they can swim
Assuming the fruit eater cannot control the sea water (which otherwise would clearly goes against all the plot), he'd have to use tricks to enable him swimming.

Devil Fruit users are susceptible to all types of water, not just seawater

I'll assume this Devil Fruit will not be susceptible to fresh water. This can be possible since the wiki always states the word "sea" as the weakness. It has nothing to do with water. For example, it's "seastone", not "waterstone". We can say susceptibility of fresh water is a side effect which can be neutralized with the power of the fruit.

Logia Devil Fruits allow a person to create, control, and transform
  into a natural element or force of nature, depending on the fruit.

Let us also assume the fruit is Logia type. If the fruit has the ability to create water, the fruit user could surround themself with newly created fresh water which is not their own body. This way, there will be no direct interaction with the sea water and the Devil Fruit user.
With these assumptions, yes, a fruit user with such power will have the ability to swim in salty water.
Check this answer for further details.

It would be impossible for fruit users to swim due to the curse. Also your assumptions does not prove your claim. If they would turn into water, then they would indeed be fine, because moving water has no effect, but if they would create water, it would be no different from any other still water. If a water fruit user would create water and if any fruit user would be submerged by it, they would lose their energy as long as it isn't moving water.

@PeterRaeves I think you missed the 2nd assumption. If the devil power neutralizes the effect of fresh(still) waters weakening effect then the user can surround the body with fresh water and can submerge. With proper water creation some force will also be produced which can enable the user to move underneath the ocean.

But the second assumption is incorrect. The wiki states that the type of water is not important. Both fresh water and sea water are harmful as long as it is still and not moving. That's why luffy can run around with sea water on him, and that's why pirates can shower, but not bath.

@Peter Raeves Correct. But according to wiki there could be no human with 2 devil powers before marineford. Black beards fruit which can neutralize one of the standard effect of a devil fruit. My assumption was like that. It's not an impossible assumption thats why the teory may work.

Well only Blackbeard can neutralize the effects of a Devil Fruit, because it is part of his powers, but he cannot neutralize the effects of the sea. If Blackbeard falls into the ocean he would drown just as the others (I assume).

Exactly. His devil fruit can make him able to control 2 devil fruit powers which is normally impossible. The water-water fruit may have a distinct ability which may neutralize the effect of fresh water where other devil fruit powers can't. You got the idea :)

No. The second he touched water or became wet, he would lose the ability to control it, allowing him to drown and die. If he controlled water from a distance without touching it, then he could retain his devil fruit powers.

there was a mizu mizu no mi user in movie 3 or 4(don't rem properly) and she couldn't control the water. she used to moves through the pipes by turning into water. and nami caught her inside a glass jar to stop her.

@Sp0T that wasn't mizu mizu that was either the toro toro no mi(movie2) or the ame ame no mi(movie 4) :P

well i checked and indeed it is the toro toro no mi. ;) but isn't water also is a liquid. so she couldn't control any liquid.


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Why didn't the children of the Rikudo Sennin inherit his surname?
As revealed in Chapter 646, the surname from Rikudo Sennin (Sage of the Six Paths) is "Oosutsuki."
Why do his two sons have different surnames (Uchiha and Senju), instead of inheriting their father's surname?

I think it is because the two sons couldn't get along. And then they didn't want to share the same surname, so they both changed. This is just a guess though.

I don't think his sons were named Uchiha and Senjuu. The Uchiha and Senjuu are descendants from his sons. But I may be wrong

This question might be opinion-based or speculations for now.

My speculation is on the same line as JNat, I don't remember them being called by names anywhere but only that they were the starting point of two clans, Also I do believe its normal place for the surname to change over generations say when one clan mingles with another and the subsequent generation might even adopt the mother's/father's clan surname or have their own new name for clan as a surname to show the uniqueness... best example that I know where surname does not have to follow from the ancestor is with a Harry Potter reference Marvolo Gaunt -> Salzar Slytherin -> Tom Marvolo Riddle

Taken from the Naruto Wiki:

His bloodline was divided into the descendants of his two children, which would eventually form the Senju clan — and through distant relations the Uzumaki clan — and the Uchiha clan.


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Why are many anime characters blond?
There are a lot of blond-haired characters in anime, especially the old ones, like super saiyans, naruto, gundam series, fma, etc.

I guess it normal for anime and nothing particular reasons related to it.

There is a stereotype in anime/manga where foreigner has blond hair, which applies to a number of series such as Ikoku Meiro no Croisee or Kin'iro Mosaic. For FMA, it is not that much of strange thing, since where Ed and Al comes from is a country that resembles Europe, and the stereotype also applies, although in a more balanced fashion (as not all other characters are blond).

Hair color is frequently used in Japanese anime to differentiate between characters. While not always consistent, there is a connection between hair color and character personalities in anime.

Blond hair, usually with blue eyes, could have been used to show someone is special or superior. Now it has just become a custom.

The answer in this question is somehow related: http://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/3361/why-are-light-haired-male-love-interests-common

i think the answer can be found here http://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/2872/why-do-many-characters-tend-to-have-crazy-hair-colors-and-styles/5080#5080

isn't it because Blond is close to Gold and Gold is a sign of being variable

So what?  there are also a lot of blue haired anime characters

It depends on the culture, status of life (family) and the flow of the story. For example, the anime series of "Ikoku Meiro No Croisee" is used to have most character's blonde hair because the main story is that people lived in Paris.
Some of the authors preferred to reflect it in the reality.

Honestly, Asian people just have a fascination with blond hair.
I once went on group trip that visited China, Japan, and Korea. We had this one blond haired girl in our group and she was basically the center of attention. Everywhere we went, everyone wanted to take pictures with her. Natives of their respective countries would randomly come up and ask for a picture together with her.
It was interesting because they didn't ask to take any pictures with the brunette. And by seeing their lifestyles, one could see that they also try very hard to understand and imitate western culture.
They probably see or even sterotype blond hair people as the best of the western pop culture. This is also probably why dying their hair blond is the second most popular dye (after orange).
Given that Asian people seem to adore blond hair, it would also make sense for blond hair to be common in Anime, as Anime is a reflection on the author's ideal story.

A lot of Japanese find blond hair exotic and attractive. Because of this, many characters will have bleached hair (like the japanese sometimes do) or have fully blonde sets of hair.

(Haikyuu!!)
Blondes however, are usually exchange students, foreigners or imbued with power -  much like DBZ. It's usually to make them stand out from the other characters

Japanese with albinism actually have blonde hair and blue eyes. Unlike the west where people are considered better looking who have a tan; in Japan whiter skin is considered pretty. Due to this Albino people are considered a rare beauty by most. Because they are such a rarity and the cultural association with the idea of "Karma," it has been suggested that if you are Albino, you must have very good Karma. Anime just takes this concept to a new level. Due some research and you'll find some information on the subject. It is hard though to find good sites in English.


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What motivation did Hidan, Kakuzu, Deidara, Sasori have for joining the Akatsuki?
The motivations of the following characters, have been were shown in the anime:

Tobi/Madara and Zetsu wanted to capture and seal the Tailed Beasts for his Moon's Eye plan.
Pain and Konan wanted to capture Tailed Beasts and use them to destroy the Five Shinobi Nations.
Itachi wanted to make sure the Akatsuki didn't attack Konoha or capture the Nine-Tails.
Kisame already had connections with Madara before joining Akatsuki.

What motivations did Hidan, Kakuzu, Deidara, Sasori, and Orochimaru have to join the Akatsuki?

They were mostly recruited because they all liked blowing things up or rip them apart. Orochimaru most probably had his own reasons, maybe he wanted to study other member's secrets, that's all he ever cared about anyway.

Oro's reason was mainly because of Itachi. Hidan joined because of his beliefs in immortality. And when he met Kakuzu who was already in Akatsuki, he decided it was fitting for him to join as well.

Actually Orochimaru joined Akatsuki long before Itachi joined.

Kisame wasn't aware of that connection until his last mission.

As for the reasons, most of their background stories weren't clearly provided, so I am going to have make my answer with their character portrayal.

Hidan - As for why he would've joined Akatsuki, I can only surmise that it's due to his obsession to fight and kill (primarily on the aspect he was religious, he wanted to give more sacrifices to his god Jashin) and he could've seen that as bread and butter stuff of what Akatsuki was doing. He probably would've joined to work for free just for the killing.
Kakuzu - Surely money. There is no motivation other than money for him, which was shown clearly in his fight with team Asuma. That same obsession for money in fact even got him killed.
Deidara/Sasori - Their ambitions to join Akatsuki is quite vague to me. For Deidara, he was young and wanted to make a name for his art by blowing up stuffs, so Itachi challenged him to a fight, saying that if he was defeated, he would have to join Akatsuki. He probably ended up joining because of that. As for Sasori, he, being a rogue ninja like all the others, probably thought it would be safer to be along with fellow rogue ninjas.
Orochimaru - One of Orochimaru's ambition was to live for eternity to learn all the techniques. He knew the organization had stronger members and probably joined the organization to learn more about others and their skills. It's probably also because of his hate he had for Konoha.

sources as in manga pages? I inferred this from reading the manga and watching the anime.

Yes, you can have those links as references. Or the manga pages (pictures like the other answer).

I can't find any evidence about others, but Deidara was recruited because of his skills and lack of regard while blowing things up.

By the time all of them joined Akatsuki, they were all criminals. Akatsuki could have been posed as an opportunity to get all of them together.
And it can be guessed that Orochimaru joined Akatsuki to gather more knowledge from the group.

In Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 (a Naruto game), there are special contents from the creator of Naruto about formation of Akatsuki:

Kakuzu: Pain (Nagato) was searching for elite ninjas in order to create Akatsuki. During his search, Kakuzu was best choice, due to his immortality and power. Kakuzu joined Akatsuki as it will assure him protection by forming a group, and opportunities for collecting money
Hidan: He was a experiment of his village, and a follower of lord Jashin. He killed people to offer sacrifice to his lord, so he was a wanted criminal with a big price on his head. Pain convinced him to join Akatsuki as it will protect him from the ninjas after his head.
Sasori: He joined Akatsuki because he lost a fight against Konan.
Orochimaru(ex-member): He joined Akatsuki to know and explore the jutsus of the members of Akatsuki

Could you possible site the sources you got your answer from?

Hidan- Jason purposes.        Kakuzu - money.                Deidara- he lost to itachi Uchiha.                                       Sasori- lost to konan

I meant Jashin no Jason lol


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How were the Giant Hornets actually defeated?
In Shinsekai Yori (From the New World), the Robber Fly colony uses the Akki (Fiend) to disarm the Giant Hornet soldiers.
However, in the 18th episode of the anime, it is also revealed that the Giant Hornet soldiers were reduced to nothing but lumps of flesh.
How is that possible? I understand that the Akki is immune to the death feedback when considering humans, but the Akki couldn't have possibly done that to the Giant Hornets, the Akki could have at most disarmed the soldiers.
That being said, how did the Giant Hornets die? Or is this something that is lost in translation? (I was watching the Japanese version with English subtitles).

I don't think it was ever stated how exactly they were wiped out, but we do know that it wasn't a WMD (no damage to the surrounding land), it wasn't the fiend that killed them (death feedback), and that the fiend stopped their arrows and disarmed them. It's also possible the fiend prevented the Giant Hornet soldiers from attacking any of the Robber Fly and that's why none of them were killed. Being unable to fight back, all the Robber Fly soldiers had to do was slaughter them all.
That could also be the reason Kiroumaru was the sole survivor of the battle, in order to bring suspicion onto him from the humans. The Robber Fly could have purposely let him live.

Kiroumaru once mentioned how he survived: his troops moved in a closed formation with the sole purpose of allowing him to escape, while they fought with their bare hands. Something that concerns me is that he said "while I was running, I could see my troops being dismembered" - although not necessarily, this might suggest that it was indeed Cantus what killed them (because it tends to be characterized as being able to kill by either dismembering or exploding its targets). Maybe they had the demon blindfolded? Lol.

@Omega Yah, I rewatched that episode (#22) as the OP's question has been gnawing at my brain. Kiroumaru mentions that he his elite guards protected him while he made his escape, using their claws and fangs, hinting that the soldiers weren't immobilized. He also mentioned that the saw his elite guards butchered from the corner of his eyes as he jumped into a ditch. It's not clear if he was referring to the fiend or the enemy soldiers that was doing the butchering.

It’s not explained.  But the most lore friendly explanation I think is that Squealer recruited a human sympathizer. He’s done it before.  Twice even.
And both times it was Satoru.  Come to think of it, wasn’t he the one who reported the results of the battle?


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Can other people see Misaki?
So, I'm on episode 4, without spoilers, can you tell me if others can see her? It's kinda confusing to me.

Wouldn't it better to finish the anime first and ask for questions that will raise up after it? You'll just end up getting spoiled. Just saying, because I really hate spoilers.

lol: "without spoilers" you are asking for a fundamental part of the storyline up to now and you don't want to be spoilered? that's what i call hypocrisy

Yes.

 In episode 5, you (the viewer) learn that the class is ignoring Misaki as part of a "countermeasure" to ward off the calamity that affects class 3-3 (which is what causes all the paranormal phenomena you see in episodes 1-4, e.g. the girl nearly getting crushed by the falling glass pane; the nurse in the crashing elevator; etc). The basic idea is that the class has one more person than it should (you find out why in episode 6, I believe), and so by pretending that one of the people in the class doesn't exist, they bring the number of people in the class down to the correct number.


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How did the birds come back to life when Envy arrived?
After Cornello had been eaten by Gluttony, the townspeople search for him but find a lot of dead birds. Envy arrives as Cornello and passes off a miracle and claims that the Cornello who had been "conning" everyone was sent by the devil while "he" was out of town. The miracle he performs is bringing the birds back to life, but out of everyone's view in the sky the birds explode.
Now I can understand how it's possible if alchemy was used, however, none the homunculi can use Alchemy except for Wrath, because:

 His arm and leg belong to Ed, and as such can create an array with them since "the truth" was engraved into Ed's body and he had only lost one limb at that time.

So I am wondering, how did those birds come back to life?
EDIT: I'm referring to the original (first produced).

This is an odd one. On one hand, it seems like a plot hole, as Envy's ability only allows himself to change form. On the other hand, there was no transmutation light, and the bird that the real Cornello transmuted did not explode.

@Eric i can assume that it was all staged and the birds was prepared by the homunculi and placed in clear sight for the people of Lior to find ready for Envy's performance but you have a point, when Cornello used the false stone the bird be brought back to life was alive for quite a while so it also begs the question if a false stone was ever used (still, who would use it, the homunculi can't use it anyway)

The only thing I can think is that the birds are a detached part of Envy's body and he can control them for a short period before they die, hence the explosions. But I have nothing to back this up as of now.

Please claim firstly, which series you are talking about: Brotherhood, or the original one?

@ZoltánSchmidt it's the original one, i've edited the the question to indicate it

This question is probably one of those questions that will never be answered unless you will accept an interview that says it was a production mistake (not that I have one though).

@アズーサ i'd be more than happy to accept that if the source is cited

Envy has the ability to transform its body into whatever form. BUT, its original form was that which resembles a lizard with a mane made out of the souls which were inside its Stone. (Reference: Manga) Each philosopher stone contains a countless amount of souls. The only logical explanation is that it cut one of those souls off and made it into a bird. But souls that are cut from the main body cannot exist for long ((Similar to when a Homunculus's arm is cut off, the arm disappears but a new one is regenerated) otherwise the world would be filled with infinite number of severed, unidentified limbs...)
Being that Envy's true form is that of an animal, this also mean that it can transform itself into animal. Envy can also make its arms into things like swords or other shard blunt objects. (Weapons)
This question might also be something unanswerable, because...
The original FMA did NOT follow the manga. I will say it again. DID NOT FOLLOW THE MANGA. So basically after the Elric brother's mom died, the director metaphorically walks off the side walk across the street and at times in the middle of the road, but most of the time he's swimming in the river next to the side walk.
So it's not that hard to believe that this might just be something completely thought up in the moment in order to fill a gap in the story. FMA:BH follows the Manga.

Actually, certain parts of the original anime follow the manga more closely than Brotherhood does.

Yes that would be when he's walking back on the side walk.

I'm just pointing out when you say, "FMA:BH follows the Manga," that's not fully true. In general, particularly later in the series, it does, but not always.

I guess it's just assumed on my part that this would be common sense. But you are correct. Thank you for clarifying this for those who have not read the Manga.

@BizzMizz: this would have been my interpretation had 2003 followed the manga continuity's conception of Envy, but it still makes sense.


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Where can I find Spectreman End Credits Poster to Buy or Download?
In the classic Spectreman, Japanese action series, the ending credits roll while a huge poster of an epic fight between spectreman and a dragon(?) roll, showing Dr. Gori, Karas, amidst a wrecked city.
I tried, googled, and busted my fingers trying to find that image in high resolution, but to no avail.
Tried even some searches in Japanese, but that went to nothing really.
This youtube video shows the closing credits: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEBtjKNwZIE
A small excerpt of said image can be found here:

That poster would be epic to have on my wall, so thanks.

Putting aside the fact that you're asking about the tokusatsu show (which is off-topic in terms of the scope of this site -- SciFi.SE would be a better match), it's unlikely that any physical copies exist and if they did they'd be a rare collectible. This show came out in an era where digital scanning was not commonplace, so it's unlikely there are digital copies made. You best bet would be to rip the images from the DVD set and print it yourself.

@Krazer I really looked hard where to ask for it, but this were the best shot. If you want to close the question as off-topic, be my guest.

The question has found its place on SciFi.SE and was answered recently.

@AkiTanaka let old skeletons lie... It was me on my early stack days.


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Why do animes always play a limited quantity of soundtracks through all the anime?
Most of the animes I've seen repeat a limited set of soundtracks over and over. It gets annoying after a while. With soundtracks I refer to the music that is played in the anime, not the opening and ending theme. I think this is a weak spot of animes. Here are some examples:

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
Death Note
Dragon Ball Z

Why is this?

it costs money to compose new music

I bet it serves as recognition point or something. Like how some characters have their own catchphrases, supercombos, epic animated sequences, etc, just on a lesser scale. But that's my guess. Not sure how much exactly it costs to produce 1 episode of 20 minutes duration, but I bet a bunch of sfx costs much less, and I don't think every studio is so greedy when it comes to sounds. Gotta be some other reason imo.

I actually think this is a feature not a bug of Anime, I own the soundtrack for quite a few anime series and when listening to a piece of music from an anime rather than thinking of a particular scene it evokes an emotional response.
I run to the music from Attack on Titan for example, and it motivates me because I get the adrenaline surge of imaginary titans chasing me.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ThemeMusicPowerUp

This is from my understanding with music for game development. However, most are practically the same with anime as they are both mediums that use music to help engage the audience.
Each track costs so much and the price varies due to the length of a track and the number of revisions of that track. It would cost a while lot to create new tracks every time
Like with video games, music can help identify situations. As such, if one first sees some romantic scene where two characters go to kiss but don't, when one hears that same score again when the two characters are just talking, one can start to think "oh my god, they might confess to each other this time." Likewise in a fight, some anime have different tracks for fighting music based on how intense the battle will be so, when you start to hear that same music you can expect how epic a battle might be (just like with boss music in video games).
Music can set the mood to make you feel for the characters and what they are feeling, e.g.

 in Fate Stay/Night anime when Rin, regardless on how much she got hurt, embraced Sakura and regretted how she wasn't much of a big sister by not doing anything to stop Sakura from being adopted out by the Matous (more of an impact for those who know what Sakura went though and that Rin was also blaming herself for Sakura's abuse)

By changing these more often you tend to lose the immersion and impact in some key scenes.

Different tracks evoke themes, you have a sad track, a we're in deep trouble track, a "The Main character is starting to win track" it helps with emotional engagement, and builds emotion.
Much in the same way that the Final Fantasy Fanfare at the end of a battle evokes a sense of "HELL YEAH I WON" regardless of whether you beat a slime or a Boss. And the distinctive boss music from a game evokes stress that might not be there, it doesn't matter how hard the boss is, that music makes you stressed. The same applies for anime.

@Memor-X and @Omar Kooheji tell you why this exist.
This is my two cents:
Most of the time, this is intentional, and it is not exclusive of Anime series.
This is know as Leitmotif or musical motif and it is a musical tool used in audiovisual media mostly characterized by short/repetitive/catchies melodies in certain situations in a media (which can be a movie, game or tv-serie, etc.) with the solely propose of let audience recognize, familiarize and empathize with an specific event.
There are tons of examples, like the Imperial March which is easy related to Darth Vader, or the Sound of The Shire to Frodo, Sam or the Fellowship in general, or a battle in Dragon Ball Z.
And even when is used the same theme, most of the time it'll have sublime changes in order to fit the situation.
I can't think in a anime example, but here, in the introduction song of the Disney's Movie The Hunchback of Notre Dame you can see how the theme for Quasimodo is being sung by Frollo in the middle of another song pointing the future misfortune of the baby and the omnipresence of Notre Dame. A moment after, you can see how this same melody/song is being sung again by Quasimodo inside Notre Dame in full emotion; you can easily see how this both situations share how cruel life threat Quasi or how this church bind this two characters just by one simple melody.


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Has there recently been a trending popularity with scissors as weapons over swords?
Why are scissors starting to displace swords as the cool weapon of choice for main heroines to wield? (Inu to Hasami wa Tsukaiyou, Kill la Kill)

I don't think your premise is true. Two shows do not a trend make.

@senshin There are other recent examples of scissors (c.f. this image). I'm not sure this is an answerable question, but there does seem to be some sort of trend.

@LoganM You can't really count Souseiseki in the trend as she has sheers to compliment Suiseiseki watering pale which fits their natures as dream gardeners, and Rozen Maiden isn't actually recent as it's been around since 2002, it's just that a forth season is recent

Swords and knives as weapons are getting boring, guns are normally illegal, so that leaves scissors (and staplers).

I'll throw in the scissors from Guilty Crown too.

The recent trending of Kuchisake onna due to the movie of last year (2012: Kuchisake-onna Returns) might also have its effects.

And, at least eponymously, Pumpkin Scissors.

Not necessarily a trend, perhaps, but it's worth noting that there's more than enough anime with swords (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/KatanasAreJustBetter), even guns, that when a unique, less-frequent choice of weaponry comes around, it may catch the attention of a frequent anime viewer.
Example: Would Bakemonogatari episode 1 would have been more interesting if Senjougahara used a sword instead of a stapler? Probably not, unless you had some philia regarding swords.

Not really.
It is part of the clothes theme in Kill la Kill (even the school building is a school uniform!). So the scissors alone are not following some trend.


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What type of government structure exists in Shingeki no Kyojin?
So I guess that the remaining human survivors formed a nation, but what form of government exists in this nation? Who is the leader?

Seeing as there are mentions of a royal family being inside Wall Sina, it's safe to assume that the government is monarchical in nature. However, I am leaning towards a monarchical-parliamentary style, rather than just pure monarchical or parliament. Reason being, even with hints at a king being the head, the actions alone of the various commanders belie an amazing level of independence. In addition, it's been seen a couple of times that they can be summoned and tried in a public court, a trait that is definitely not purely monarchical in nature (as kings alone judge in that event). The  voting system to approve a course of action mirrors a parliamentary set-up as well.

Public courts still existed in absolute monarchies such as Ancien Regime France, Norman England, or imperial Russia. While monarchs may be the source of justice, it'd be next to impossible to have a kingdom larger than a week's ride across if there wasn't delegation to others to try justice.

It is monarchy because they are protecting not only the citizens (by its level) but also the current king of each designated wall. You can see it as Commander Pixis is used to play with the king but generally leave after he heard the attacked of titans in their region.


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Why does Edward prefer to use his automail over Alchemy?
So I've been watching Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, and I didn't understand why Edward didn't use Alchemy every time he encountered enemies?
Like the fight with Number 48 in Research Lab 5, and the first fight with Scar, and etc. He just uses his right automail arm like a short sword, and we all know its not very effective to fight long ranged enemies. Alchemy definitely seems stronger, but why doesn't he use it?

Welcome to Anime & Manga.SE! Seems like you have two distinct and pertinent questions here. It would be better if you split them into two separate questions. Happy answering/asking :)

need answer plss

I don't know whether that's correct, but it's most likely faster. Using alchemy means that you need to "clap" your hands, which means loss of important time. That is also noted by Mustang when he tries to fire at Father after he was blinded.

What about when he uses alchemy on his automail?

He's trained in martial art by his master, Izumi Curtis. So he's definitely confident in his close combat ability. As to why he uses it over alchemy, you don't think he's just going to rely on alchemy all the time do you? He can adapt to different combat situation, and be more unpredictable if he can switch fighting style. Also his automail blade looks cool.

Ed uses his martial abilities to create openings for him to use alchemy. If he outright use alchemy, the enemy would have already known what to do with him. Besides, alchemy is a really loud fighting style when used straight offensively and Ed, most of the time, don't want wanton destruction as much as possible. Ed uses alchemy discretely in some cases too (brittling Greed's armor) but even then alchemy still creates those flashy lights.


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Is turning into stone as a result of waiting for someone for a long time derived from Japanese legend?
This concept is used in Windaria and an early episode of Pokémon (Episode 20: "The Ghost of Maiden's Peak").
Did it come from a Japanese legend I'm not familiar with, did it come from the Windaria novel, or is it just a Kunihiko Yuyama thing?

Or maybe is it related to The Thinker statue?

Wherever it comes from, the principle is quite easy. A women waits for her man to return, she waits so intense, barerly moving because she might miss seeing him approaching from the horizon till eventually she becomes as inactive as the very stones she's standing on.

Stone legends are indeed pretty common just as TurkeyFried stated. Most of these are based on loyalty towards a person (most common in anime is waiting for a loved one).
It is said that the petrifaction version originates from Vietnam

Hòn Vọng Phu (Statue of Husband Waiting)

But nowadays in TV shows and such they give their own meaning to it and reasoning.
You can check this out for some more examples of this phenomena.

Do you have a source that asserts that the Vietnamese legend is related to anything in Japan? I kind of doubt that it is.

Stone legends can be found in various cultures, not just Japan.  For example, Australia has The Three Sisters, Puerto Rico has The Stone Dog and you can even find this trope in Inca culture.  Someone's love remaining eternal through petrifaction is just a common (and effective) storytelling trope.