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Does this swordsman pose have any significance?
Does this pose of raising your sword with your right hand have any significance? For example, is this a famous pose used by a real life legendary swordsman? Both Zoro of One Piece and Erza of Fairy Tail have used this pose.

Please let me know if the images used are a problem. I will replace them depending on what the problem is.

I don't think the images are a problem based on the replies I got to this meta question.

The images are not a problem because they are needed to illustrate the question. In other words, they are not a problem because they are not added gratuitously.

I don't think it is reference to anything specific since it's overly common whenever swords are (and sometimes when they aren't) involved in media.
In general:

it looks cool
it's usually a show of triumph by combining display of:

dominance (as other poses that make body "unwrap")
combat impracticality (no one is doing this in the middle of it)

tvtropes call it StabTheSky.

And it shows the audience that the user can still rise his sword and isn't destroyed to the bone, maybe.

In both the above pictures, the characters took up the pose not during a battle, but to signify a "badass moment", so this makes sense. I think it would look quite lame if someone just stands in that pose for long during a battle. :P

Yep, that's under combat impracticality point - it can signify "everyone who can take advantage of me doing this posh vulnerable pose is lying around in pieces" - Erza's case. :)

As said above. I would say it is not specific to anime / manga, Frazetta painted barbarians with this attitude long before manga was popular in the USA... See for example the http://galaxywarriorsbysungold.blogspot.fr/p/artwork.html page showing several of these poses.

To add on to Rarst's answer, the pyramid-shaped stance naturally channels the viewer's gaze to the sword, especially to its tip. This places focus on the "warrior spirit", typical of a declaration of victory. The "warrior spirit" is raised to a high position by the stance, which further befits the idea of "dominance".

I don't think there is a hidden meaning behind this. In my opinion, it is just a pose that shows determination. It could be also used a salute. For example, a "classical" sword salute looks like this:

The Olympic Flame is also carried this way:

So I would say that this pose means just that, no special hidden meaning involved. And yeah, it also looks cool.


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Is Yamsk 11 based on a real life location?
The Full Metal Panic series is known to reference various real life location.
For an example the fictional Jindai (陣代) High School is based on the real life Jindai (神代) High School in Choufu, Tokyo.
The closest station to the real life Jindai High School is the Senkawa station, changed from 仙川 to 泉川 (Izumikawa).
Is Yamsk 11 based on a real life location? If so where is the real like location of Yamsk 11, the secret city where the Omni-Sphere known as TAROS resides?

According to the Russian Full Metal Panic wiki's Yamsk-11 article (Янск-11, see reference), it says that Yamsk-11 is here: 60° 8' 10.66" N 153° 54' 20.60" E (East Siberia). "Yamsk-11" is not the name of the city, but a postal code for mail delivery. There is a city, Yamsk, 63 km to the south of "Yamsk-11". It was common practice in USSR to give a postal code name with a number for closed towns. Apparently, there was a town at those coordinates that's been closed. For another example of this, see Wikipedia's page for Arzamas-16 or Chelyabinsk-65/40.
So looks like there is a real location but not sure if it has anything in common with the fictional "Yamsk 11" in FMP (but who knows), and the name "Yamsk 11" is a postal code from the USSR days.

So the idea is based off real life circumstances, but the locations is fictional?

@Krazer No idea if those coordinates from the Russian wiki refer to an actual closed town or whether those are the coordinates of the fictional location. Closed towns are sort of state secrets so who knows what's actually there.

It's definitely a soviet-era "postal code" for a remote location near the city of Yamsk, but whether a military installation actually existed at that location is unknown. Obviously, google maps shows nothing but taiga at the alleged coordinates.
However, the author certainly did his homework coming up with a believeable and realistic location.
It's very likely "Yamsk-11" was inspired by a real-life, spectacular and highly mysterious cold-war era installation called Duga-3, a huge OTH Radar system (google for "Russian Woodpecker") - there were persistent theories this massive installation, with its absurdly powerful output able to disrupt radio signals throughout Europe, was used for experimentation on mind control. Very much in line with the spirit of FMP.
Bottom line, a real location, but with heavy embellishement (though inspired by real life cold-war mysteries).

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How involved was Akira Toriyama in the production of Dragon Ball GT?
I always had this doubt about whether Dragon Ball GT was an official, canonical sequel of Dragon Ball Z or not. I know that Akira Toriyama helped in the development, but did he write any of it?

Dragonball GT was not made by fans. It was made by Toei Animation with involvement from Akira Toriyama. According to this wiki, his involvement is outlined as:

Akira Toriyama is credited as author in the ending credits of Dragon
  Ball GT; he oversaw the series' production, this was the same process
  that was used during the production of the anime series Dragon Ball
  and Dragon Ball Z. He drew a rough design for the GT logo, he designed
  the GT appearance of the series main cast, and he designed the
  appearances of Giru and the GT spaceship used in the Black Star Dragon
  Ball Saga. He also drew at least three color pictures of Goku, Pan,
  and Trunks adventuring on various planets (Monmaasu, Rudeeze, and an
  area in Hell).
Toriyama seems to have positive feelings towards his works'
  continuation, as he drew his own version of Super Saiyan 4 Goku (which
  was originally designed by Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru) exclusively for the
  Dragon Box GT. Characters and events from GT have also been included
  in more recent Dragon Ball video games.

Dragon Ball GT was produced by Toei Animation, one of the anime companies used to produce Dragon Ball Z.
Akira Toriyama did not write any of the episodes though, that's true. They're all fillers.

The US version from FUNimation is actually different for some reason. They removed the first 16 episodes and replaced them with their own exclusive ones.

@Rapptz: All the more reason not to watch it, IMHO.

Sadly i watched GT when i was little.

Dragon Ball GT was produced by the same companies as Dragon Ball Z, so technically it can be considered a sequel.
However, there is one 'but': this is more of an OVA than an adaption of the manga; in fact, Dragon Ball GT was never a manga. So in anime terms: yes, Dragon Ball GT is the official sequel, but not in manga terms.

The use of "OVA" here is totally off-topic. OVA stands for "Original Video Animation", not having anything to do with the adaptation or anything like that.

Perhaps just to clarify that "Anime original" and "Original Video Animation (OVA)" differs :) OVA can also be an adaption of existing series, though not broadcasted/streamed following the anime cour/season.

Akira toriyama never said dbgt was non cannon remember besides with all the universes and timelines dbgt could be considered as a path the z fighters could end up on by making certain choices therefore creating an alternate timeline and a new universe the same with db super it is a result of another timeline created by the choices of the z fighters. The choices they make effect the timeline like when trunks came back in time and made an alternate timeline his still exists as does theirs so there are 3 alternate futures trunk's future,the dbgt future,as well as the db super furure. Besides will all these movies and television series and manga and comics idk who can tell what the heck is cannon anyway just say it's an alternate future that exists in an alternate timeline

Dragon Ball GT was done by Toei Animation and Akira Toriyama was involved with the drawings of the main characters (Goku, Trunks, Pan, Vegeta, Bulma, Gohan, Chi Chi, etc), the planets (Monmaasu, Rudeeze, Planet M2), and even the spaceship. Even though the GT series was non canon, and its not in the manga. I still think the GT series did okay (even though it has some flaws here and there), and of course its a sequel to Dragon Ball Z. Now we are on Dragon Ball Super, and I just have to wonder if the DBS series is going to go pass the end of DBZ (age 784), and go straight to the GT timeline (age 785-790).

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How did the Hashirama and Madara statues at the Valley of the End come to be?
Were they built by traditional means (as they would've been in our world)? Were they created via some sort of ninjutsu that shaped the rocks that were there? Or was it erected by some sort of Doton jutsu (like some Doryuu Heki)?
I am not sure if there is some canonical answer to this, but I'd like to hear your thoughts.

Whomever maintains the Madara statue's spiky hair is doing one heck of a job.

From what I can tell, these statues are not protected or enchanted. After the Naruto vs. Sasuke battle at the Valley of the End, the status were damaged, and later repaired. I believe it was a reconstruction job, much like Leaf's faces on the mountain, or the Kage statues at the Sand.

Words of Madara
I honestly don't think Hashirama would give a damn enough to make statues, let alone self-repairing statues. He wasn't the sentimental type.

It's nowhere stated, where the statues come from. However, after Naruto and Sasuke destroy some parts of the statues, they are restored, later. (Compare chapter 370) That could mean, that they are some special statues, formed or protected by a jutsu.
Maybe, after the battle between Madara and Hashirama (where the valley was formed), Hashirama decided to create these statues to be a sign.

You think Hashirama could've created them? Did he master Doton? Or do you think he could've done it using some other kind of ninjutsu?

I really don't know. Maybe he used a special ninjutsu, maybe mokuton (k, I don't know how he would use it to make these figures)...

Much like Madara already said, it's not mentioned anywhere that someone had built them.
However, I (Hashirama) did know to use Doton, and probably someone created them to make a statement of peace.
As for the repair. It's easy enough for a future Doton user to fix it, I don't think it's self-repairing.

So your guess is that they were erected with ninjutsu? Because the faces carved in the mountain at Konoha are hand-carved...

Seeing as how Yamato could make a mokuton ryokan just by having your cells, I suppose making a statue wouldn't be hard for a skilled doton user.

Not only that, anyone who knows how to use Doton can create Natural raw stone(where is need to be fill). And after that hand-carved them.

@HashiramaSenju: Ah! That's more likely!


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Why are there so many fillers in long-running animes?
The most obvious answer everyone over the Internet is giving to this question is "Because anime is produced much faster compared to manga, they need to put in fillers in order to slow down the anime series". However, that shouldn't be the only reason.
For example, consider One Piece. The show is going on for more than 500 episodes, and less than 10% are fillers. Comparing that to Naruto, the show has almost the same number of episodes (original and Shippuuden combined), but almost 50% of its episodes are fillers. Needless to say, the manga of Naruto is so far ahead that the anime won't be able to catch up even if they produce 100+ episodes without any fillers.

"in animes"? What kind of anime do you watch? There is barely any fillers in anime I watch.

@Euphoric usually in the long run animes there are fillers, and one piece and fairly tail are exceptions in that group tough since they don't have that much.

long-running series are small fraction of all anime. Saying all anime or that only anime contains filler is short-sighted.

There's no real way to authoritatively answer this; each series will have different reasons and circumstances.

@fbueckert though you might argue there are some specific reasons per title, but there are some common reasons which were well described by answers people already gave. so I don't consider my question "not constructive"! but I agree, it's on the edge...

Related

A chapter of One Piece usually is more content-rich than the manga of other long running anime, but one way the anime has avoided filler is by extending the theme song from the standard 1m30s to 2m30s.

@user6338 about the theme song, it's true that they extended openening song, but they've also removed ending theme, which results in almost same length of total music per episode.

One piece have a lot more "hidden" filler like scenes are extended to the point it is irritating, if you've ever read manga you know what I'm talking about. Although naruto have a lot of filler arcs compared to one piece but once you remove filler arcs from both of them, Naruto will be more similar to its manga compared to One Piece.

There are lots of possible explanations to that:

As you said, the anime catching up to the manga, so they have more time.
Special events, as anniversaries, movie-related specials or so.
Also, the narratives are different and that depends on the production team. In your example, Naruto (as Bleach did) commonly makes battles really fast-paced, so they tend to catch-up with the manga quickly. Whereas One Piece, while having lots of battle too, tends to make them less dynamic, so in the end, they are longer and don't catch up to manga as easily.

And One Piece also uses a lot of filler animations and long recaps to pad the running time of episodes when they start coming a little too close to the manga.

An anime is typically adapted from another source material. Usually it's either a manga, a light novel series (like Haruhi), or even visual novel/computer game (Little Busters!, the When They Cry series).
Some parts maybe cut, changed, rearranges, and sometimes new content is added all together scenes completely.
While some changes are welcomed by fans, most are not. One most unwelcome additions are the so called filler episodes. A filler episode can be as short as 1 episode, or as long as an entire season of the anime. These episodes were not a part of the original source content's story, and usually serve absolutely no purpose in furthering the main story.
One of the two main reasons that we see fillers because they are meant to buy time for the anime when the content catches up to the pace the source material. This delay give the authors some time to adapt more material for the anime. After all, you can't really adapt something that doesn't exist yet.
The other reason for fillers to exist is greed. Some productions like to milk an anime for more money by making a few episodes of filler in a season, to add to disc sales (so fan buy n+1 discs instead of n). Anime productions usually make the bulk of their money in disc sales.
Generally, fans don't like fillers for the following reasons:

They are pointless, and don't add to the plot of character development in any menaingful way. Sometimes it takes away from the action and go on bizarre tangets only to end up exactly where they began (it's was all a dream!).
They sometimes add plotholes or other contradictions to storyline and a considered non-canonical.
They (usually) aren't written by the same author as the original source material, so the quality and vision of the story might not be up to standards.

That is mainly because battle centered animes, like Naruto or Bleach have a lot of battle scenes. Battle scenes are much much faster in Anime than it is in Manga.
Plot centered animes, like One Piece or Death Note, can afford not to produce as many fillers, because they can leave the gap far enough apart, as plot events unfold not as much faster in Anime.
As for Naruto specific answer, the upcoming saga is filled with battles, in order to compensate for the fast-pace anime, a sufficient gap needs to be opened. I don't have exact numbers or calculations, but I'd like to think that the anime producers do have some sort of plan, and that they would keep the upcoming battle saga intact. Otherwise, guess who'll be delivering meteors to their houses


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What's the difference between the FMA and FMA Brotherhood series?
I haven't watched Anime in many years, but recently I've had time to get back into it. I've seen that one of my favorite series, Fullmetal Alchemist, has done a series reboot.  What I'm wondering is:
Does it present a lot of deep variations (plot-wise, character-wise or otherwise), or is it just the same series with updated art?

Another short answer would be that the original series was seinen while the new one (Brotherhood) is shounen.

There are a large number of differences between the two Fullmetal Alchemist anime, with far too many to list; therefore, I'll only cover the major ones.
To improve the flow of this answer, the following abbreviations will be used:
FMAM = Fullmetal Alchemist (Manga)
FMA03 = Fullmetal Alchemist 2003 (Anime)
FMAB = Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood (Anime)
The reason for the difference is because FMA03 was created when FMAM was still in the early stages of its development. When an anime series is based on a manga that is still in development, the anime is eventually going to reach a point where it outpaces the manga, because anime episodes tend to be developed quicker than manga volumes. When this happens, either filler for the anime is created or changes to the anime's storyline and characters are made so that the anime can continue to be developed. The latter is what happened to FMA03. FMA03's storyline started to diverge from FMAM's storyline after around 10 episodes because, at that point, the anime was starting to outpace the manga.
On the other hand, FMAB was created when FMAM was nearing the end of its development. This allowed FMAB's storyline to be more faithful to FMAM's storyline because FMAB had a mostly-complete storyline to draw from FMAM.
The major differences between FMA03 and FMAB & FMAM are:
Storyline

 Although both stories follow Edward and Alphonse, the overarching story is considerably different between FMA03 and FMAB & FMAM. In FMAB & FMAM the main antagonist was a character referred to as Father, a being of incredible power who is capable of performing transmutation at will, and without regard for equivalent exchange. His ultimate goal in FMAB & FMAM is to steal the power of what he refers to as "God" and become a being of infinite power and knowledge.
 The main antagonist in FMA03 is Dante. Unlike Father, she is just a normal human being who created a Philosopher's Stone and has managed to live a long time by transferring her consciousness into the body of other human beings whenever she was nearing death. Dante's only motivation is to become immortal and live forever.

The Homunculi

 In FMA03, the Homunculi were the result of attempting to perform human transmutation and failing. They could only be killed by destroying their original body.
 In FMAB & FMAM, the Homunculi were created by Father, with each one representing a different aspect of his personality (Lust, Gluttony, Envy, Greed, Wrath, Sloth, and Pride; the seven deadly sins). Each Homunculus is also powered by a Philosopher's Stone. Unlike FMA03's Homunculi, FMAB & FMAM's Homunculi do not have an "original" body that needs to be destroyed. Instead, either the Philosopher's Stone powering them needs to be destroyed or its power drained (normally through forcing them to regenerate  multiple times).
 Another difference is the identify of the Homunculi themselves, with some Homunculi from FMAB & FMAM not appearing in FMA03 at all and others having their name changed.
Gluttony, Envy, Lust, and Greed have the same name and appearance in FMAB, FMAM, and FMA03.
 FMAB & FMAM's Wrath (King Bradley) is called Pride in FMA03.
 FMAB & FMAM's Pride (Selim Bradley) is not present in FMA03.
 FMA03's Wrath is unique to the series. He was the result of Izumi Curtis's attempt to revive her son.
 FMAB & FMAM's Sloth is not present in FMA03.
 FMA03's Sloth is unique to the series. She was the result of Ed and Al's attempt to bring back their mother.

Hohenheim

 In FMA03, Hohenheim is just a normal human being who was originally Dante's lover; however, he eventually left her due to no longer sharing her desire to have immortality at any cost. Like Dante, he created a Philosopher's Stone and gained a long life by transferring his consciousness into another person's body. His role in the anime is very minor, and he becomes trapped on the other side of the Gate after a confrontation with Dante that ended in failure.
 In FMAB & FMAM, Hohenheim was a human Philosopher's Stone with a seemingly infinite supply of power. Although he was originally a slave, he was granted his near-immortality by Father well before the events of the series took place. Hohenheim is more significant in FMAB & FMAM, facing off against Father at the end of the series. Unlike FMA03's Hohenheim, he dies at the end of FMAB & FMAM after finally exhausting the power of his Philosopher's Stone.

The Gate

 The Gate is the largest major change in the series. In FMAB & FMAM, the Gate is the source of all alchemy and also seems to be a source of infinite knowledge. The Gate is also guarded by a being commonly referred to as Truth, and who is responsible for taking the required tolls from alchemists who perform human transmutation. Those who are capable of performing alchemy have their own gate, and if that gate should be removed (by sacrificing it to Truth), they will no longer be able to perform alchemy.
 In FMA03, the Gate is still the source of alchemy, but it also serves as a portal between the world of Fullmetal Alchemist and Earth. Furthermore, the Gate derives its powers from the souls of those who have died on Earth and is what powers the transmutations performed by alchemists.

"Selim Bradley ... is not present in FMA03"... That's wrong - he makes an actual appearance in the last few episodes (IIRC)

@Mints97: I wasn't talking about Selim, I was talking about the character pride. Selim in 03 and Pride in the manga are completely different characters.

Brotherhood is actually more faithful to the Manga. The first 'version' follows the Manga to some extent (about half the show) although it adds some details that do not follow the Manga.

 The whole thing regarding the creation of Homunculus is completely different in the first series.

 The whole Ishbal incident is also different.

 The role Hohenheim plays in the first series is rather ridiculous comparing to his 'real' role.

 And there is also no Father in the first series...

Most of these different aspects I really don't understand.
As for the number of episodes: the 'reboot' actually catches up to the first version rather fast (in about the first 4th) and then has 'new material' (comparing to the first one, but actually it is just going according to the manga) until the end of it. Brotherhood also has more episodes (64, compared to 51) .
Also, the animation in itself is rather different in Brotherhood (much better IMO).
Basically, the first series is, in my opinion, rather poor when compared to Brotherhood.

FWIW, I loved the first series and I think the animation is way better in that one.  I enjoyed brotherhood, but that was in spite of the art style.

As you've said, two animes were done:

Full Metal Alchemist
Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood.

While they both start the same way, the first one starts to develop following a whole different path than the Manga. This is because when it was being aired, the Manga was not done yet, so the plot as well as the end of the anime are invented.
The second was done after the Manga ended, so it respects the original Manga much more. I watched both because I didn't know of this distinction. But I can tell you quite objectively, that even if the first one is not so faithful, it was of very good quality, speaking of plot twists, unexpected changes in history and other similar devices.

The new Fullmetal Alchemist series is completely worth it since it adapts the original manga from beginning to end. The previous series, while being really good (in my opinion), diverges from the manga in the whole second half and ends in a way that was not supposed to be. The new series follows everything, retells in just a few chapters what we previously watched and then tells a completely new story with a completely new end.

FMA:B does omit certain details that were in the manga, sometimes without too much issues (e.g. the Youswell chapter), and sometimes in a way that may affect characterisation (with the Ishval arc having been heavily cut down).

There are quite a few differences, actually. The "original", or the "first one" is an entirely different storyline from the manga. The manga was the original thing, so most people hate the first FMA series.
A few differences between the two anime series are:

The Storyline

 In the first FMA, it ends with Ed in London around the time of World War 2. Al gets his body back and stays in "their world", while Ed is stuck in "our world" with his fake right arm and left leg. Al is 10 (the age he was when this chaos happened) again and has no memories of the last four years. But, in Conqueror of Shamballa, he gains his memories when he goes back to "our world" with Ed, after Ed brutally abandons him. Although, in Brotherhood, it sticks to the storyline of the manga.

The idea behind the Homunculi

 In the first FMA, the Homunculi were created from failed human transmutations (explaining Sloth's appearance), while, in Brotherhood, the Homunculi were Father's humane "flaws" that he extracted from his personality and put into the "artificial beings". Ironically enough, his wanting to become a god was awfully greedy, even after he'd rid of that "flaw"

The Homunculi's appearance

Lust has a black dress in the first series, but in Brotherhood, she has a reddish-brown dress.
Gluttony, Envy, and King Bradley look the same. Sloth looks like Ed and Al's mother, while in Brotherhood, Sloth is a big (much bigger than Armstrong xD) buff male with long black hair.
In the first series, King Bradley is Pride, instead of Wrath (in Brotherhood, he's Wrath). In FMA, Wrath is a little boy (Izumi's son) with long black hair and he has Ed's real right arm and left leg. While in Brotherhood, Wrath is King Bradley. In Brotherhood, Pride is King Bradley's son, Selim Bradley. While in the first series, Pride is King Bradley.
In the first series, Greed looks normal, but

 since Greed takes over Ling Yao's (the twelfth crown prince of Xing) body, Greed looks like Ling

FMA:

Brotherhood:

(The blonde guy in the middle is Father)

Who the Homunculi are (... meh. It's pretty much explained in the aforementioned point, so I don't think I have to re-explain).
Hohenheim's appearance

In the first series, Hohenheim has a more round, smooth face. His glasses are bigger and more round. His hair and beard is a dirty-ish blonde color, and his ponytail is lower. In Brotherhood, Hohenheim has a rectangle-shaped head. His face has more ...umm... say "chiseled" features. His glasses are smaller and not as round. His hair and beard are light blonde, and his ponytail is higher)
FMA:

Brotherhood:

The art
Al's voice
Rose's appearance

In the first series, Rose's skin is brown. Her hair is dark brown with pink bangs. In Brotherhood, Rose's skin is very white. She has black hair with maroon-ish colored bangs
FMA:

Brotherhood:

Rose later on

 In the first series, she has a baby (an ugly one, at that. xD ), while, in Brotherhood, she doesn't.

There are a few new characters in Brotherhood

I had more in mind, but in the midst of typing, I forgot what the rest was. I apologize.
Even with the absence of the other differences I had planned to provide, I hope this helped.

To some extent it might be possible to see Hohenheim's different portrayal as part of the art difference, but I haven't seen either anime in a while, so it's hard to state in explicit terms what this is, and I really don't want to dig up some fan's "this is why the 2003 anime is better" illustration for this purpose. Rose's would probably be linked to the role of Liore in the 2003 series (where they're stated to be of a different ethnicity than the rest of Amestris -- not the case in the manga).

@Maroon i actually believe that the difference in Hohenheim appearance is also reflecting in their characteristic, FMA03's Hohenheim is much more "funny" and have more emotions while FMA09's Hohenheim is much more tough and serious.


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Why do the summoned Servants all belong to different classes?
In the Fate universe, is there a reason why the Servants summoned in each Holy Grail War belong to different classes?
Using relics and additional incantations during the summoning ritual, Masters have some degree of control over the Class (e.g. Matou Kariya's additional incantations to choose the Berserker Class) and exact identity of the Servant.
What would happen if two Masters both tried the same Class using an incantation (e.g., Berserker), or even used (part of) the same relic to summon the same Servant? For example:

 What would happen if Waver Velvet had only stolen part of Rider's (Iskandar) cloak, unbeknownst to Kayneth Archibald, and both Masters tried to summon Rider?

I think you answered this yourself:

Using relics and additional incantations during the summoning ritual,
  Masters have some degree of control over the Class

The keyword here is "some". The Servants are summoned by the Grail, even though the Masters have some sort of control of what they are trying to summon. This wiki states (it has a reference too, but the reference is in Japanese):

The Three Knight classes are the only Servants who will definitely be
  summoned according to the framework of the Holy Grail War, allowing
  for variation in the rest of the classes. More than one version of the
  same class cannot be summoned, even if all the Masters were to use the
  variation in the summoning chant to get a Berserker-class Servant.

So apparently in this case, the Grail will summon a Servant based on it's compatibility with the concrete Master, much as it has happened with

 Caster's master Ryuunosuke Uryuu

Plus think of the mess of things multiple Berserkers will make... not to mention surreal competitions to determine who the real Berserker is.

I think what would be more interesting is a battle between seven Assassins.

Whoever summoned a class first will get it for certain. If two Masters tried to get Saber, whoever summoned it first would get it and the other would get the hero their catalyst would summon in another role. To give an in-universe example: Gilles de Rail (Caster) was summoned as his weakest possible class in his weakest state: after the death of Jeanne D´arc where he was a deranged serial killer who delved into magic. Had Ryounosuke summoned Gilles earlier, he would´ve most likely gotten him as a Saber or Rider, the two classes he belongs to the best.
There´s never really a reason given as to why classes exist. The best answer I can give you is variety in combatants. If all 7 masters summoned a Hassan Sabbah (Assassin), the show would honestly suck.

The Servant System is a ritual with the purpose of summonning 7 Grand Servants in order to protect mankind from being wiped out, these are the 7 greatest heroes belonging into each of the classes and they are summoned in their strongest form, in their prime, as recorded in the Throne of Heroes. This is a ritual done by the collective unconciousness of humanity, Alaya, and draws power from the Root itself, beyond human comprehension. Then the Makiri (Matou) family designed the Servant summoning ritual for their Holy Grail War in imitation of this Grand Servant ritual, but the summoned Heroic Spirits are sort of shackled by the Classes in which they are materialized, so they are not the full forms of the Servants. For example, Artoria when summoned to the Saber class has no access to her Holy Lance Rhongomyniad, and if she's summoned as Lancer she doesn't have Excalibur. So the Class restrictions as are seen in Fate/stay night are completely due to it being an imitation of another higher ritual.
On the other hand there are instances of 2 Servants of the same class being summoned. In the 3rd HGW, The Edelfelt sisters summoned 2 aspects of a single Saber Servant, so there were 2 Sabers during that war, but it had more to do with their family Magic Trait, Ore Scales, so it was a very unusual situation.

do you have any citation to back up that the Servant System in Fuyuki was based off another ritual? looking at the wikia page there is no mention of Alaya. you also seem to be confusing a Servant with a Counter Guardian like EMIYA with your first sentence

It's on the Servant page under variations. The Counter Force is composed of Gaia and Alaya, Alaya being the collective conciousness of mankind so that's the one that would protect mankind from the Beasts (which are Gaia aligned, the planet's will) http://typemoon.wikia.com/wiki/Servant#Grand


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Is there a meaning/message behind Akira?
Is there some hidden meaning/message in Akira?
Does it have something to do with the scars left in the Japanese by the bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki? And ultimately...

 is Akira the A-Bomb?

Or is there another deeper meaning than the one depicted in the movie?

Can you provide some reference to back up your question?

I do not have it in my possession right now, but I seem to recall reading something about this in Peter Carey'sWrong About Japan. When I have it in my possession I shall edit my question to include these details.

It's probably sociology, if people were like puzzle pieces, maybe it shows a reoccuring story that only happens when your personality is a certain way and leads to eventual demise. Like what you guess the dot head indians gods are about.

The manga is far more informative than the movie. The movie seemed to adapt the first two and the last volumes for its content, without really bothering to explain anything about who characters were and where they came from.
The manga, begins with a nuclear blast that destroy Tokyo and triggers World War III.

 It turns out that it wasn't a bomb, but Akira that caused the blast. Much of the plot of the first half of the manga concerns attempts by the military-industrial complex to contain the power of Akira. The central plot device involved an experiment to create weaponized "psychic" children through neuro-surgery and pharmaceutical regimens. Akira was an experiment gone dangerously awry and the child is now kept deep underground (under Neo-Tokyo's Olympic Stadium) within a sort of giant high-tech freezer.

I believe that there is a taboo on overtly discussing the bomb that speaks to a mediation between repression and remembrance. The memory of a nuclear attack on one's own nation is a bit too vivid of a tragedy for many to face directly. The author makes very good use of  allegories to present a nuclear holocaust through a shounen type of juvenile and imaginative storytelling. This way, a Japanese reader might be able to be drawn into a subject that would otherwise provoke repulsion, or at least unease and anxiety.

I don't think you mean "alliteration", that's when you start all of your words with the same letter.  Do you mean allusion?

I actually meant to say "allegory."

Now we've got some good alliteration going!  Makes much more sense now.

The movie is symbolic of Tokyo in a post world war environment, which is obvious from the first few minutes. Note, though, how it starts with a massive nuclear explosion, forcing Japan to start over and rebuild. Over the next thirty years, Tokyo becomes a hub of technological advancement, and a breeding ground for new businesses and capitalist opportunities. In the process, the people get more greedy, the gap between rich and poor becomes bigger, and the government becomes full of self interest as opposed to service of the people.
The film is a kind of satirical way to look at Japan after the actual nuclear explosions of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It's become a black hole, closing in on itself with all the greed and selfishness from the moves forward Japan made that were almost kind of forced on them because of the results of the Second World War.


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How do the Homunculi differ between the FMA manga and anime?
I know that the actual characters who are the homunculi differ between the FMA manga and original anime. For instance, Sloth is a different person between the manga and the anime. However, do they differ in how they are created? If so, how do they differ?

The accepted answer to this might also answer your question, then

The following contains heavy spoilers for both anime watchers (up to roughly episode ~48 in the 2003 anime, and roughly episode ~40 in 2009 anime) and manga readers (up to chapter ~75), telling about who, how and when created the Homunculi. I mean it.
In manga and 2009 anime, the Homunculi are

 spawned by Father, who himself was the earliest Homunculus that is known. After he consumed half of population of Xerxes, he became some sort of a philosopher stone, and was able to create his so-called "children". He made each of them from one of his vices, and named accordingly. Each Homulculus is powered by a Philosopher's stone, which gives them the energy to live. (1)

In the original anime (2003),

 Homunculi have different origin. They appear each time an alchemist performs Human Transmutation. Usually, the result of Human Transmutation will be a failure - a monstrous corrupted agonizing creature that dies soon after it was created. However, if a Homunulus is able to contact with a Red Stone, they can consume it's power to reshape their bodies. (2)

The difference of Sloth in manga/2009 anime and 2003 anime is caused exactly by the reasons above, because in 2003 anime

 Sloth was created as a result of a failed attempt to revive Trisha - Ed's and Al's mother. She was fed Red Stones by Dante until she regained her original form.

(1) chapters 31, chapters 74-75
(2) 2003 anime, episodes ~45-48

Lust, Gluttony, Envy, Pride, and Greed are the same in both. The only differences are Wrath and Sloth:

 In the Manga, Bradley is Wrath. However in the Anime, Izumi Curtis' son is Wrath. In the Manga, Sloth is the huge and ugly guy, whereas in the Anime it is the beautiful lady (sorry, I haven't finished the anime so I can't give more details).


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How much is One Piece's currency worth?
There are many transliterations of the currency: Berry, Beli, Berri.  Which one is the official one?
The Navy just give large bounties for pirates, Buggy has a 15 million bounty and Luffy has a 30 million.  Would Luffy's bounty be an equivalent to 30 million Yen?
What would be the real world value of the currency used in One Piece?

Additional to the other answers, its symbol is:  (grabbed from the One Piece wiki)

In the original, it's called Beli in English. However, if the Japanese word is translated correctly, it's Beri - it's a feature of the Japanese language (look at SingerOfTheFalls answer). However, it differs in different languages: for example in Germany, it's Berry.
To compare the prices:

One cabbage loaf: 150 Beli
A Bon Chari: 500 Beli for renting, 10,000 Beli for buying
A Doskoi Panda brand shirt: 10,000 Beli
Nami's Jacket: 28,800 Beli

Regarding Luffy's bounty would be an equivalent to 30 million Yen,

 30 million Beli on Luffy's head is a little bit old; his current bounty is 400 million Beli.

Quote:

 Fourth Bounty: Defeating yet another Shichibukai (Gekko Moriah), attacking a World Noble, causing an unprecedented breakout from Impel Down, participating in the Whitebeard War, and by intruding Marine Headquarters a second time and ringing the Ox Bell 16 times (which was taken as a declaration of war), Luffy's bounty has gone up 100,000,000 more to make a total of  400,000,000 making it the third highest active bounty known. The public revelation of his relation to Monkey D. Dragon may also have influenced it.

If you assume $1.50 for a head of cabbage in the US the numbers work nicely. $288 for Nami's jacket, $300k on Luffys head at the start. Zoro wanted to buy 2 swords in LogueTown for 100k beli or $500 USD each (which would be cheapest swords) but his white sword was worth ~28M beli or USD $280k.

I used the first one because people may have not watched recent episodes.

@Robert Interestingly 1 US dollar also equals about 100 Japanese Yen (120). So maybe, just maybe 1 bely = 1 yen and is it based on the Japanese currency.

In One Piece, the currency is called ベリ.

ベ Is kana for "be", no mistake can be made here.
リ Is kana for "ri".

However, in Japanese, there is no "real" 'l' or 'r' sounds, so it would sound like something between 'r' in 'rock' and 'l' in 'lock'. Native speakers can pronounce it in different ways, with 'l', with 'r' or with a mix of both, it still stays the same kana.
It's pretty much the same as with "Horo"/"Holo". So the correct romanization would be either "Beri" or "Beli". "Berry" probably appeared because "beri" sounds similar to "berry", and "berry" is an actual English world, or maybe there was another reason.

As for the prices, looper's answer already mentions some of them .

To compare the prices:

One cabbage loaf: 150 Beli
A Bon Chari: 500 Beli for renting, 10,000 Beli for buying
A Doskoi Panda brand shirt: 10,000 Beli
Namis Jacket: 28,800 Beli

Yes, that's exactly the same idea. Similarly, you might notice some people pronouncing "arigatou" like "a Li gatou." The sounds are very similar in Japanese.

People seem to read past your second question, but yes Luffy's bounty was an equivalent to 30 million Yen. As said in the trivia section of the wiki page on Beli, both the appearance and denomination of the beri closely resembles the Japanese Yen...

In appearance and denomination, the belly closely resembles the Japanese Yen (日本円 Nihon En). The characters Yukichi Skull, Ichiro Kumaguchi, and Hideo Usaguchi portrayed on the belly banknotes are a pun on Hideyo Noguchi, Ichiyō Higuchi and Fukuzawa Yukichi portrayed on the corresponding yen banknotes. "Kuma" and "usa" mean bear and rabbit.

...and so does its value.
Some Images for comparison:

One Piece Beli bills and coins

Real Japanese Yen bills and coins
For reference I put a few prices below gotten from the wiki page. Comparing them to contemporary slave prices or terrorist bounties, it seems that we put more value on human life than in the One Piece universe and have somewhat higher prices going on, but when comparing everyday objects like a cabbage loaf, jacket or brand shirt, it seems that the prices pretty much resemble current Japan prices. Therefore it is safe to say that Oda based the One Piece currency on the currency of his home country Japan.[A reference of Oda confirming this would be nice, but I could not seem to find any]

One cabbage loaf: 150
Doskoi Panda brand shirt: 10,000
Nami's jacket: 28,800
Human slaves: 500,000+
Portgas D. Ace's now inactive 550,000,000 bounty

@CarlosTorres "Only" 2k dollars per month?! For normal people, that is A LOT! And going by the fact she lives in a cabin out in the woods, she probably makes much less than your average person.

The author have clarified it in S.B.S corner (a Q&A corner, may not be available for non-Japanese, or non-Korean readers), that one "BELI" worth 1 yen.
Now it's about 80 cents for 100 yen, but it is more appropriate to see it as 1 dollar for 100 yen, so 30M Beli would equal to 300K USD.

you probably mean 1USD = 100Yen? and 30M Beli/Yen = 300K USD? Additionally, here you can find the English SBS translations. Could you provide a link or mention to which specific SBS you are referring to? For example "Oda clarified in the SBS of volume X in chapter X"?

@PeterRaeves Looks like it's from SBS vol 53 chapter 518, but that's only stating about the appearance and denomination from Japanese bills, though many (Japanese fans included) interpolate it to "1 Beli =  1 Yen".

I find in Skypia ark when the crew don't pay for entrance, Guards say they need to pay 10 billions xtals for each one and all will be 70 billions and rate of xtals per belly is 10000 xtals for 1 belly, that means they need to pay 7 millons belley for all crew. Sanji say that for this price he can buy 1 ton of rice, at the moment rate for 1 ton of rice is around 408 USD on 19/03/2019 from that we can calculate that 1$ ~ 17156 Belly. At the last in this ark Luffys reward is 100 millions belly in USD will be ~582$ dead or alive.

I do not watch this anime but the way you got your answer was, I think, wrong. The price of something changes over time. Also, check your calculations. There are online calculators around the Internet. Also, include relevant sources from the anime to support information you mentioned.


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Why are hidden villages called such?
There are several hidden villages, which are supposed to be hidden (it is all in the name..!) But, everyone (at least everyone who matters) seem to know where these hidden villages are. Or, are at least able to easily find out where they are.
So, why are they called hidden villages? Is it more a 'title' or 'status' for these villages?

The literal translation for Konohagakure no Sato is "Village hidden in the leaves" (not hidden leaf village). Here hidden is used in the sense of "surrounded by" or "enclosed by". It does not mean those places are literally hidden from the world. It is similar for other villages, such as Amegakure no Sato (village hidden in the rain), Sunagakure no Sato (village hidden in the sand), etc.

Deidara.. no less expected from you :) When I read the question .. I thought your reasonable answer must have been given here :)

They are not literally hidden. The villages are there to serve their country and it's landlord, to protect them from enemies and to perform various missions.
The ninjas are not seen standing on every corner, yet they are a considerable force that can defend the country, or act as spies. It's somewhat like an Intelligence agency in real life. You know they exist, you know where their headquarters are, but they perform some "hidden" activity which can't be easily spotted by common people, yet is very important for the country.

There are, however, villages that are well-hidden, such as Kirigakure (Village of the Bloody Mist) and Kumogakure (Village Hidden by Clouds)

@ArturiaPendragon: Kirigakure isn't the Bloody Mist for a long time. Instead, it's translated to "Village hidden in the Mist".

The villages are all independent and each has its own secrets, hidden techniques, et cetera, which they guard from other villages. The locations of each village although not completely a secret are obscured, preventing them plans or other sensitive information from leaking out.
The villages were probably truly hidden when they were established, but over time became more well known (the are the centers of economy for each country). Villages need commissions to stay afloat. They probably can't get many commissions if they are hard to find.
Calling them "hidden" is most likely a reference to real life ninjas that lives in hidden villages, remote settlements for ninja in Japan during its Feudal period. It also gives the villages a certain mystique.


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Why do certain captain-level Shinigami wield small zanpakuto?
In Bleach, it is stated that the size of Shinigami's zanpakuto (sword) is based on their spiritual ability.
However, many strong Shinigami have smaller swords. Sui-Feng, for example, has a zanpakuto that resembles a wakizashi, which is a relatively small sword. Why does this happen?

retroactive contunity

Because a shinigami's sword isn't based on their spiritual ability alone.
It also depends on the amount of control they have over their power. Ichigo's sword was larger, but it was also brittle, out of focus if you may.

 Ichigo's father stated that a huge zanpakuto means nothing, and that if they had no control, all captains would have skyscraper sized zanpakuto.

When Ichigo first uses his banki against kuchiki mentioned that Ichigo's blade was smaller so he could move faster.

Since Captains have immense spiritual power, their zanpakuto also have potentially huge size and power. As mentioned in another answer, their ability to control their power results in a small sealed zanpakuto.
However, their Shikai (initial release) and Bankai (final release) can cause their zanpakuto size to increase, because they are no longer concealing its power. See, for example:

Large Shikai (Kyouraku Shunsui, Ichimaru Gin, Kuchiki Byakuya, Unohana Retsu)
Large creatures as Bankai (Kurotsuchi Mayuri, Komamura Sajin, Abarai Renji)
Other Bankai with great volume (Kuchiki Byakuya, Tousen Kaname, Suì-Fēng)

At greater stages of release, the form of the zanpakuto depends greatly on its specific abilities, but there is a potential for huge size.

I wouldn't say that Kyouraku's shikai is "large"...

hmm, the blades seem to be as tall as him... isn't that rather large? Admittedly not as large as the other examples I listed, but the question was asked about zanpakuto sizes so I think "large as compared to usual swords" should count.

Captain Class Shinigami and above have the ability to control the size of their zanpakuto, they all make them far smaller than their spiritual energy would make them to avoid carrying around a stupidly big sword.


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Why can't The Dwarf leave the flask?
The Dwarf in the Flask, of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, is seen trapped within a flask during his first appearance.
At one point in the series, The Dwarf states that his greatest wish is to leave the flask (from FMA Wikia):

 Being a homunculus with no form, the Dwarf in the Flask was unable to perform any alchemy of his own. Furthermore, though the flask was the only thing that keeps him alive, [The Dwarf] desired to exist outside it.

However, due to the emboldened part above, it appears the flask is somehow keeping him alive (though he is only corked inside it). How does it do this, and how would he die if he left?

Because he had no form on his own. He's basically an essence of God, created from Hoenheim's blood.
If his flask would somehow break, his being would dissipate into the space, and lose his form and living consciousness.
Think of it as a soul with no body. Stuffed inside of a container, if that container would break, the soul wouldn't have anywhere to reside, and leave the world. (Al is a slightly different case, his soul is bound to the seal on the back of his neck).

Good explanation--it seems the little hands that The Dwarf forms must be just for effect, right? They have no particular meaning to his lack of form, I assume.

@Eric: Correct. He can't really use them for anything. Once he gained a body though, he could.

The hands greatly resemble the hands that take body parts from those who commit taboo. This might be what homunculus has been before he was dragged through the gate and thus the arms might be an echo of homunculus' original form.

It seems that the question is answered in the same section you've quoted:

 Being a homunculus with no form, the Dwarf in the Flask was unable to perform any alchemy of his own.

Also seeing as he is also:

 While it is never fully explored, the being that would later call itself Father was originally a part of the existence within the Gate. Using the blood of his slave Number 23, the Alchemist to the King of Xerxes managed to contain a small portion of the knowledge and life of the Gate within a flask, capable of existing in the physical realm.

So it seems simply that both being a part of the gate and lacking any form, implies that without a container, the homunculus would simply "evaporate". But:

 later, the homunculus is able to leave the flask because it gained a form: "Homunculus used this power to open the Gate of Truth and created himself and Hohenheim new immortal bodies, living embodiments of the Philosopher's Stone with the hundreds of thousands of souls of Xerxes split between them as their power."

+1 for mentioning the knowledge and the Gate; however, Madara's answer is correct and he beat you by a few seconds, so I've accepted his.


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What happened to Nausicaa at the end of the movie?
In the final act of Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind,

 the titular character gets trampled by the Ohmu stampede and lies motionless. The Ohmu then stop their attack, pick her body up, and do something which wakes her up again.

I seem to remember Miyazaki stating that he disliked that people found Messianic overtones in the movie.

 Did Nausicaa die, and get resurrected by the Ohmu? Or was she simply badly hurt and the Ohum healed her?

Strictly speaking, there is no way to know, as the creators have not said one way or another. However, we're led to believe the following (excerpt from Wikipedia):

 The herd, however, calms down, and the Ohmus use their golden tentacles to heal Nausicaä's wounded body.

Based on the use of the words "heal" and "wounded", it seems she never actually died.
Additionally, there is this bit from the Nausicaä Wiki:

 Nausicaä was badly injured trying to save her people from an attack by the Omhus. She stood before the rush of angry creatures, almost costing her her life. The Omhus, however, revived Nausicaä and she was brought back to conciousness.

Unfortunately, it's not cited to any specific source, but it seems to be the general concensus.

The two are essentially equivalent, especially in a work like this that has no "after-life" dimension to the plot.

The original Miyazaki movie has the short sequence of the final scenes where Nausicaa is seen back in her home town, living happy life and teaching younger children.
Hence obviously she was not killed, just wounded, and later recovered.


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What does Tobi mean by "There lies truth in a single consciousness that has abandoned all individuality"?
In Chapter 594, Tobi says, "There lies truth in a single consciousness that has abandoned all individuality."
What is the context of this statement? Is there something specific he is referring to?

I think he is referring to the Eye of The Moon Plan to unite the world under Infinite Tsukuyomi, thus being able to control every living creature, and to cease conflicts by removing any free will.
So looks like that with this line he is just supporting/justifying his idea again.


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What is a modular delayed action virus?
In Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex series, the modular delayed action virus is mentioned quite often. Is there any explanation for what it actually is or does?

A modular delayed action virus is nothing particular. It's a virus, that is uploaded and takes action later, with a modular design, which means, that it's kind of generic, so it can be modified easily.
The term is used quite often, because different characters use such viruses very often - So there's nothing someone could say about "what it does".

I know this question was asked long ago, but I feel that the answer given is not what the asker was looking for.
I pulled this information from a rulebook online for a D20 pen and paper adaptation of Ghost in the Shell to the Dungeons and Dragons roleplaying system.
Here is the website: http://www.serenadawn.com/GITS-InformationAge.htm
Modular virus: Similar to Toy Bombs, They are disguised in e-mails or picture file header data, and when certain conditions are met, they compile into a single program. In the 'Laughing Man' attack on the Superintendent-General, one of these was slipped into the security detail and stored inside their cyberbrains. The Modular virus finishes its attack profile and then transmits itself to another target, usually the same type. The programmer uses up one slot in the portfolio, detailing the target and the range from the previous one. A modular virus can, for example, target all robots in a factory but only those. It will continually attack the target and not move onto the next one until the first one is finished.
I hope this is what the original asker was looking for.

I dunno.  This seems more like a fan-made game more than anything official, so I wouldn't be keen on basing a canonical answer on something non-canonical.


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Old anime techniques
Tell me, what tools and techniques were used to draw the old anime, for example, this:

What interests me is with what instrument and on which paper the character and background were drawn, how they were combined. The whole production process from the technical side.

This is a very broad and lengthy topic for someone to attempt to. It does not fulfill our site policy on out of universe list questions. Please consider narrowing your scope as to not make potentially answerers write a book on the topic.

A link to an already written book / article is suitable for me. Or at least tell me which tools were used to draw these pictures. Watercolors, acrylics or something else. Background and characters separately.

Different productions have different techniques depending on staff and budget. There's no one size fits all solution, unfortunately. We ask you to be a bit more specific as we can't possibly cover all the bases at once. We also don't know what you consider "old". Simply speaking some have been purely cel animation others are a blend of CGI and digitally converted and painted hand drawn cels.

I cited several images as an example. I am currently interested in them.

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


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Who took care of Naruto when he was young?
In episode 350, we see that the Third Hokage took on to take care of Naruto. But towards the beginning of the anime Naruto is seen to be living alone.
Did Naruto live with the Third? If so, why did he leave there?

"take care of" and "live with"  is not the same...

@UwF Seems hard to take care of a baby without him living at your place.

Yeah, you figured it out, the old geezer even invented a new lactation jutsu  (人乳術) to physically take care of Naruto... :P

Third Hokage promised Kushina, when she was dying, that he would take care of Naruto, and he did.
Whole villagers knew that a monster fox was inside Naruto. This news also spread to the other villages. If it weren't for the astute care of the Third Hokage, other villages would have kidnapped Naruto and would have absconded him out of Konoha.
The Third may not have sheltered him at home, but he did keep an eye for Naruto. That is what taking care means.
Besides, Iruka and others were there too. However, the main role was still played by the Third.

His Anbu guard mostly, and Minato`s private Anbu is a high probability. . .

Doesn't really explain his early years, e.g. 0-5. There was no Iruka until the Academy. A 1,2, or 3 years old cannot fend for itself, etc.

Its commonly held that Lord Sarutobi "oversaw" Naruto's general well-being the way a Principal "oversees" a school. Yes, he'd know/be closer to particular, gifted or special need students, but its highly unlikely he'd see to the day-to-day teaching and care of a class; same thing with Sarutobi. As Hokage, making sure Naruto was provided for after previous Hokage's death would be a given. But there's _no clear data on who did  the ACTUAL , daily, "hands-on:" RAISING of the kid? Sarutobi was likely too busy to do so himself, and was already raising Konohamaru...but SOMEONE had to it

furthermore, as a newborn baby, let alone the orphan of the village champion, Naruto would have needed security and the same daily care all newborn babies need.  I can take  that ninja kids are highly self sufficient and can live alone by age 10....but from 0 to age 9, who attended his daily needs?  It's unlikely Naruto taught himself how to walk, eat, potty train, write, etc, let alone do stuff like prepare food and prep for the academy. The kid wouldn't have even survived as a newborn, but there's not even mention of a wet nurse! How did he make it to 10 with no adult care?

There is no canonical answer for this.
Naruto lived alone as a child.
As for who took care of him while he was a baby, no one knows.
The people that took care of him in his childhood were people like the Sandaime, Iruka, and the ramen guy. However, they did not fulfill the roles of parents. The closest person Naruto had as a parent was Jiraiya.

That makes little sense, though. Think of it this way; we know Gaara, who essentially had the same start as Naruto, save for the fact that his father was alive, at least had elder siblings and his mom's brother to watch out for him when he was little. It's implied at least that  Yashamaru took care of Gaara personally...until he tried to kill the kid. so it only stands to reason that somebody would have had to do the same for Naruto, at least for the first few years. Even given that the Third saw to his financial needs and housing, who was it that literally took care of the boy?

We've seen that the concept of orphanages and adoption exists in the Ninja world. Case in point Kabuto who we know grew up in Konoha's Orphanage.
For further reading, http://naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Konoha_Orphanage
So in my opinion, though not supported by any canon information, it is reasonable to assume baby Naruto would've been taken cared of in the orphanage. Unknown to him, he was guarded by Anbu from direct orders of third Hokage who kept a personal eye on him.
We know for sure that once he was big enough he started living alone. Since I am speculating I'll go further and say this can also be because the adults in Konoha hated Naruto and no one was ready to adopt him as their own.

He probably had a caretaker to take care of him. But she probably got irritated at his energy and left when the series started. Thus the we see Naruto has no caretakers. The third and Iruka did  watch him and gave him money as we see in episode 350, the third says to Naruto:"here is this months fee."

Unless you have some sources to back up this statement, this answer is to speculative.

Nice reference. Still would be nice to know about much younger ages.


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What does the "teehee" expression mean?

I'm sure most of you know this phrase, what does it mean? Does it represent stupidity cutey thing that they do? What makes this phrase so popular?

The instance from Oregairu above is likely a reference to  Peko-chan, which is very common in modern anime.

http://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/2995/what-is-the-origin-of-this-facial-expression-with-ones-tongue-sticking-out/3003#3003

Meta discussion at http://meta.anime.stackexchange.com/questions/766/are-these-two-tongue-sticking-out-questions-really-duplicates

I don't think that it is of japanese origin though.
Teehee is just a cute giggle, pretty common internet slang. More on it can be found at the Urban Dictionary, mainly

The sound of a giggle. Used by (1) schoolgirls and (2) old geezers
  pretending to be schoolgirls.

and

Defintion: 1)The act of joyful giggling. 2)A noise made to convey
  happiness 3)Presented to imply innocence

The head punching and tongue sticking out makes me think the "teehee" is a translation of てへぺろ ("tehepero"), which has a literal meaning of "teehee tongue-sticking-out". It actually has a recent history as a word in its own right: this blog post and this crunchyroll news article have some information about it.
Basically, it's the word that goes with teehee+punching head+tongue sticking out, and the meaning is primarily focused on definition 3) that Omega posted - it sweeps under the rug a mistake or ignorance of the speaker with a playful gesture. A Japanese source for this meaning is this scan of an article about tehepero being Japanese neologism of the year, although the expression is likely related to peko-chan (see What is the origin of this facial expression with one's tongue sticking out?).


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Comparing FMA manga to the animes
Which came out first Fullmetal Alchemist the manga, Fullmetal Alchemist the anime or Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood?

2001 to 2010 - the manga is published.
Fall 2003 to Fall 2004 - the first anime is aired.
Spring 2009 to Summer 2010 - the second anime (Brotherhood) is aired.

As you can see, the ending of the manga was timed to coincide with the end of Brotherhood.

The manga is the original production. The anime equivalent was loosely based on that manga, until the production caught up with the manga. At that point, the anime took its own initiative and came up with a story. Brotherhood is a re-make of the entire completed manga, and is pretty much the same as the manga is.


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Who is the man with the sign in Episode 10 of Miss Monochrome?
In episode 10 of Miss Monochrome, about an android who wants to be an idol, Miss Monochrome decides to do a handshaking event like other idols are doing and it ends with a sequence starting with Silvester Stallone shaking her hand, which leads to an arm wrestling competition where she wins. In the audience was Mike Tyson, who sees her with approval, and it leads to a boxing match where she wins again.  In the audience was Hulk Hogan, who sees her with approval, and it leads to a wrestling match where she wins the belt. In the audience is this man, who also shows his approval, and it leads to a weightlifting competition, where she of course wins again.
Who is this man that leads to the weightlifting?

I believe it's former IOC President, Jacques Rogge.

Yep, looks like him. I'd also like to add that right after the cut from the screenshot I posted, we saw the stadium (which was almost exactly like the picture from your link) http://cdn3.gbtimes.com/cdn/farfuture/zzbqb7rkrh1d-OyhGjDsu7dSrodJ8tELbuxqvJlI0mQ/mtime:1387207862/sites/default/files/styles/1280_wide/public/2013/09/10/tokyo-2020-main-stadium-conceptual_0.jpg?itok=ERjCSEWa


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Ane Doki ending and the possibility of a sequel
So I was reminiscing about Mizuki-sensei's works and remembered Ane Doki's ending. For those of you who have read the manga, the ending was a big cliffhanger.
So I was wondering if there is a plan to have a sequel? Did Mizuki-sensei hint on it having a sequel? The manga could use a sequel you know, with an ending like that.

There will not be a sequel. Ane Doki was a cancelled series due to being bottom five for weeks in WSJ (Weekly Shounen Jump). When a series gets cancelled due to low ratings, there will never be a sequel unless another magazine picks it up right away (which hardly ever happens).


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What are the Lost Logia?
In Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Season 1, Yuuno says that the Lost Logia are remnants of advance civilizations that have since been destroyed, but in Season 3 during Hayate and Fate's briefing on the relic they seem to imply that the Lost Logia come from a single civilization (Al Hazard maybe?)
So I am wondering, what exactly are the Lost Logia?

A Lost Logia is a piece of technology from an ancient world.
We have seen Lost Logia from Ancient Belka (Book of Darkness, Bible of Silver Cross) and Al Hazard (Jewel Seed, Relic, Saints Cradle).
Nanoha lives in Mid-Childa, and for them Ancient Belka is a lost world. For the inhabitants of Ancient Belka during the Belkan War, Al Hazard was a lost world to them as well. Due to the Belkan War you can see a lot of influences from Al Hazard as they tried to harness the immeasurable power of the Lost Logia of Al Hazard.
On the collapse of Ancient Belka, they tried to rebuild their empire using the Al Hazard Lost Logia, the Saint's Cradle. That was the Saint King Unification War with the lovable Olivie Sägebrecht. So that is a bit of history of the Lost Logia, a technology which has been lost.
Remember the 'magic' that Nanoha uses is technology as well, except that it is not mass-based (like a Nuclear Bomb), but magic-based (an energy coming from living beings, apparently) and was chosen technology for the Time Space Administration due to it being clean and relatively safe.


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What is the purpose of purple rope belt that Sasuke wears?
All Orochimaru's people are wearing a purple color rope belt. What is the purpose of it? Why Sasuke is wearing it even after killing Orochimaru? Does it offer any power?

relevant: http://anime.stackexchange.com/q/3000/122

I always thought that it was for him to show his alliance with Orochimaru but Choji's dad, Choza, is seen wearing it at 11:01 Episode 159 of Shippuden and he doesn't have a sword either.

The purple rope is like an Obi, a garment worn with the traditional Japanese kimono. Besides that, and holding his clothes together, the only real purpose it serves is to hold his sword. You don't want to be always carrying a sword in one hand, especially during fights. Sasuke started carrying a sword after the timeskip, so that might explain why he changed his attire to include that purple rope.
Orochimaru used to carry the Kusanagi sword, and the other characters might be doing it to show their loyalty to Orochimaru.

lol, you are always ready with an answer!
Impressive!

No, it doesn't really offer him great power.
He just uses it as a holder for his sword. Normally all the swordsmen have a rope around their waist to keep their swords.
According to the Wiki -

He was first shown wearing a white long-sleeved shirt, similar in appearance to the lavender long-sleeved shirt worn by Kimimaro and which was open at the torso, with a smaller version of the Uchiha crest on his collar. He wore dark blue pants with a blue cloth hanging from halfway up his stomach to his knees. He also wore black arm guards that covered his forearms and stretched up to reach his upper biceps. He also wore a purple rope belt around his waist, tied in a bow, in which he carries his sword.

The purple "rope" is called an obi (type of sash/belt for kimonos). I think they just wear it just to represent that they are all in clan, or as a symbol to represent Orochimaru. Just like how all the Akatsuki wear black coats, but it really doesn't offer any power and one thing is that orochimaru's followers are usually swordsmen.

While the belt maybe refered to as an "obi," (sash) the style of the belt holds a greater significance in Shinto culture. The particular style of obi is probably what's referred to as a obijime, which basically is a decorated rope sash in order to tie an obi firmly. The braided rope is what you would call a shimenawa.
Much like how trees are considered sacred have a shimenawa tied around their trunk. The Yokozuna (grand champions in sumo) wear a shimenawa around their waist, designating them to be of special quality (if they have a gohei attached, there is a sacred bearing to it).
Perhaps the idea of the author wanted to give for Sasuke with his clothes was that he's special and or someone to be revered. The rope sash is probably there to keep that skirt/kilt/cloak thing he has over his pants in place.

I know that Red is a color that can repel bad stuff(like magic and evil forces)
''Vermilion red is considered an amulet against evil forces, and is used in many ancient palaces, shrines and temples.'' (source: http://inari.jp/en/faq/ )
So I thought I just googled if the color Purple had any meaning behind it. And when I googled it this is what I found:
Purple, the color of the upper class, ruling people
Apparently the color purple was kinda rare during the Nara era(710-784)and only the important people like high-level officials and the Imperial family could wear purple clothing and back then they made it so that purple clothing was really expensive and only rich people were able to afford it. (source: http://tadaimajp.com/2015/05/purple/ )
Sorry that I replied on a very old thread, but I was curious about this topic and when I found the answer I thought I should share it with you guys ;P

Firstly, the size of the belt means that the author wants the viewers to notice it.don't quote me on this but I think that in Japanese martial arts, it is said to control or rather 'subdue' the strength of its user  If you ever played street fighter,you will notice that akuma who wields great strength wears the same belt(much thinner).

Okay. the other answers offer good info except ONE thing: the Buddhist tale of the snake and the rope. It is an analogy about the fear you have before learning you have no set or stone "self" that the "self" is everchanging. Letting go of the concept of "self" is to become enlightened. Almost all people in Japan are Shinto Buddhists              (predominantly Zen ). So they would have been raised knowing the famous story.
When you think of this story applied to the characters Uchiha Sasuke and his shisho Orichimaru it becomes a brilliant addition as an obi. Orichimaru wanted to find immortality and remain in his current incarnation then of course  Orochimaru abd snakes are intertwined both visually and litteraly.  I am glad that the anime did show that snakes are not seen as evil and in fact they are a good sign outside  christianity.  Sasuke wore it when he was much to full of himself and was stuck seeing himself only one way as one part of who he actually is which led him to darkness: an advenger. Plus they are both aloof and can be thought selfish though that is not  necessarily the truth.
For them and for the others wearing a rope obi one more noticeable  symbolism connection to the snake and the rope story is that they are always caught in the fear the instant you glance at a rope in the woods by your feet and think it a snake. When you realize it's just a rope that is the same as the feeling of being free of self- laughing at the fact we were so scared for that second: enlightened. All except Sasuke wore it so it stuck up behind them which would cause these glimpses of it. And it was AWAYS with them which is why I think it doesn't just symbolize a snake (because of Orichimaru). The story itself was written not by any Buddha but The Buddha, Shakyamuni Buddha (originally Sidartha Guatama) and is found in one of Buddhism's sacred scrolls or Sutras.
I'm a symbolist painter as well as a Buddhist and I instantly made this connection when watching the Naruto series's and movies. It got me thinking that Western watchers of Anime (me included) should read more of the common knowledge stories and mythology that far eastern kids grow up with because Anime is rife with symbolism and motifs derived from them. In fact, Japanese culture is incredibly full of visual symbolism. The western world has nothing I know like it.
One other (among many) examples of the symbolism in anime is The Third Hokage's summoning animal which is a monkey with an amazing growing staff. This is based directly on one of the most well known myths in the Far East: Journey to the west. The anime Saiyuki is based entirely on it and I believe that "saiyuki" is the actual or similar title of the HUGE myth. On a side note check out the book "Monkey" which takes excerpts from Journey to the west and combines them into a wonderful and easily accessible book that gives you a good understanding of what the whole thing is all about and tells some of the stories the author and/or editor and/or translator (name to be added) thought most  poignant.  I'm actually very tired right now and will come back and edit this so that it has more info and the name of the author. The book itself is about the same thing as the full version: the story of a journey to bring Sacred Scrolls (Sutras) like the one with The Snake and The Rope in it back from India (to China where the myth originated). Monkey is not long and has a red cover with spirals on it I believe which, along with the sutra reference, brings me full circle back to Naruto (you know what that name means... At least I hope you do!)

The story of the snake and the rope is on about perception vs reality. The tangents you draw here with your headcanon (which lacks objectiveness and sources to reinforce your points) ironically mirrors the moral of the story.


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What happen at the end of the third Madoka Magica movie?
I just watched the third movie (Puella Magi Madoka Magica the Movie Part 3: Rebellion) and I have a doubt about the fact that although Madoka wish in the second movie, which prevented the birth of any witch, both in the past and in the future. Why then Homura becomes a Witch?
I get an idea, but I'm not pretty sure about it. In the ending we see Homura feeding QB with her soul gem. Does this mean that all the curses of the universe are now contained in Homura's soul gem? And that feeding QB with them is a way to stop entropy?
When Homura says to Sayaka and Madoka that one day they will be enemies, is she referring to the fact that without suffering sooner or later the universe will run out of energy and Madoka and Sayaka will have to stop her?

Also see http://the-artifice.com/madoka-magica-movie-3-rebellion-2013-ending/

After watching Rebellion on the weekend i've edited my answer account for the new knowledge i have.

I have a doubt about the fact that although Madoka wish in the second movie, which prevented the birth of any witch, both in the past and in the future. Why then Homura becomes a Witch?

Magical girls still turn into Witches even with the Law of Cycles however Madoka would appear before the Soul Gem became a Grief Seed. the Incubators captured Homura and put her tainted Soul Gem in an isolation field which would prevent it from being affected by the law of Cycles.
The Isolation Field was one way allowing people to enter but not escape so when Madoka along with Sayaka and Bebe came for Homura they became trapped as well and Madoka's memories were altered as well, it wasn't until after the field was destroyed could Madoka escape and treat Homura's Soul Gem.

In the ending we see Homura feeding QB with her soul gem. Does this mean that all the curses of the universe are now contained in Homura's soul gem?

The result of Madoka's Wish prevents the creation of Witches however the curses on Earth still existed and became Wraiths, also what Homura is feeding Quebe is Cubes left behind by Wraiths when they die, just like what Grief Seeds were, however Soul Gems still become darkened with despair and in time will turn a Magical Girl into a Witch however Madoka's Wish allows the Soul Gem to be purified and allow the Magical Girl to die without becoming a Witch, Mami notes this by saying how no one knows why Soul Gems shatter like they do, ofcause Homura knows as she's the only one to know Madoka and her Wish.

feeding QB with them is a way to stop entropy?

These cubes seems to have the same effect but somewhat limited as Quebe does note that the current system with the Wraiths doesn't prevent entropy but slows it down considerably.

When Homura says to Sayaka and Madoka that one day they will be enemies, is she referring to the fact that without suffering sooner or later the universe will run out of energy and Madoka and Sayaka will have to stop her?

Homura only actually says this to Madoka as Homura asked Madoka if she valued order and Madoka replied that it was wrong to break the rules. Homura broke the Law of Cycles making herself exempt from it by becoming something else. there's also the matter about Madoka who doesn't remember that she's a Goddess which could mean that the Law of Cycles will not be upheld. Homura believes that if Madoka regains her memories they may end up becoming enemies. Also Homura didn't give back Madoka's ribbon because they could one day be enemies, Homura says that it looked better on Madoka and to Homura the ribbon was a reminder Madoka existed.
For Sayaka, after she was taken by the Law of Cycles in the previous universe she was made into Madoka's Secretary and existed the same as Madoka however having control over her witch form. Sayaka knows of the implications Homura's new Law of Cycles and thinks it's going to spell tragedy for the rest of the universe however when asked if Homura was out to destroy it all Homura replied "maybe, once all the Wraiths' have been destroyed".
As for the universe running out of energy, that was going to happen in the previous universe as well because before the countermeasure for entropy was to harvest the energy from when Magical Girls became Witches which thanks to the Law of Cycles could not be done anymore.
Should be noted however that "counteracting entropy" was the Incubators goal, apart from Homura the other Magical Girls were mostly unaware of this in the original universe as Madoka was told this when she was in her room after Sayaka was killed. only Madoka and Homura would remember this system and the Incubators would have deduced the effects from talking with Homura.

Unfortunately, none of this has any bearing on the plot of the actually third movie itself. Without giving anything away, the third movie throws a gigantic wrench in all that has happened... the very foundation of the universe is changed by Homura's existence, for the make of return Madoka to being a girl rather than a God.

@Krazer when i answered this the question was talking about the second movie not the third so i guess my answer doesn't work then, however its good to know that the third movie Homura and Madoka still have a chance to be together

Not quite, the OP was referring to the third movie, Puella Magi Madoka Magica Movie: Rebellion movie (劇場版 魔法少女まどか☆マギカ［新編］叛逆の物語, Gekijouban Mahou Shoujo Madoka☆Magica [Shinpei (New Edition)]: Hangyaku no Monogatari) which is the third movie not the second one. I edited the title to indicated the third movie rather than "Shinpen" to avoid confusion.

@Krazer ahhh i checked the edit, i assumed Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica Shinpen was the japanese name for the 2nd movie since all i've heard about the third is that it's going to have a cinema screening in Australia

I agree with rezark except for the end Houmura became a demon thru Madoka's power as a god therefore when Houmura took Madoka's power she then gained the power to rewrite the world as she seen fit which then refers back to the conversation with Sayaka. When Sayaka asked her question and Houmura responded with "when all wraiths are defeated" she gained the power to throw them back into the world and use them as a source occupation for all the magical girls such as Sayaka Mami BeBe and so on in the time of occupation giving Houmura the time to know there attacks and then keep the world at a stasis with just her and Madoka


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Where do the movies fit within there series timeline?
I have all three seasons of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha and the two movies. I am wondering where the movies occur chronologically within in the series. So I can watch them in the proper order.

The first two Nanoha movies are retellings of the first and second seasons of the anime respectively. That is to say that "Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha: The Movie 1st" covers the same story as the original "Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha" and "Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha: The Movie 2nd A's" covers the same part of the story as "Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha A's". The not-yet-aired third movie is supposedly going to be an original story which will be set between A's and StrikerS on the timeline.
There are some minor differences between the anime and the movies. Technically, the movies form their own continuity. However, these differences are all minor as far as I remember. With that in mind, there are many possible orders to watch the series, and so long as you respect the internal chronology any viewing order seems reasonable. If you want to watch all the anime in chronological order by release date (which is what I'd personally recommend), it would be:

Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha
Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha A's
Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS
Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha: The Movie 1st
Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha: The Movie 2nd A's

In addition to the excellent response provided by Logan M, these are the anime and manga series in a chronological order. The Vivid and Force manga series continue the story from the anime, while the other manga entries are nothing more than additional background content for the die-hard fan

Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha or Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha: The Movie 1st
Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha MOVIE 1st THE COMICS (Manga)
Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha A's or Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha: The Movie 2nd
Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A's (Manga)
Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS
Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS THE COMICS (Manga)
Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha ViVid (Manga)
Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha Force (Manga)

Please do note that the movies are alternate retellings that are not 100% story-wise compatible with the original series. In StrikerS there are a number of background references to story from A's which has been scrapped in the movie retelling. I would recommend going through the original series (Nanoha, A's and StrikerS) prior to watching the movie retelling and/or reading the manga.


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What are some of Masamune Shirow's most recent works?
Is Masamune Shirow working on any kind of manga?
I'm still waiting for an end for Appleseed and I won't mind to see something like a new Orion or Tank Police Dominion.

The appleseed manga ended a long time ago already right ? " Original run  February 15, 1985 – April 15, 1989"

the story doesn't really end with the forth volume

Rumors of a possible Volume 5 still persist today, though Shirow had mentioned that he has no plans of pursuing it for the meantime. Guess this means it is sort of on hiatus

His work chronology listed on his official website, shows some of his recent works, and plans for near future. He doesn't seem to have any plans for the series you mentioned.
2013/09/11  SEVEN TRAPS : Auto fighter-bomber SUZUMEBACHI (Hornet) (Monthly YOUNG MAGAZINE)
2013/09/20  INTRON DEPOT 6 BARB WIRE 01 (Art Book)
2013/09/27  W-TAILS CAT - A STRANGE PRESENCE - Episode 06 (Stream)
2013/10/09  SEVEN TRAPS : Multipurpose multi-legged tank unit HONOOARI (Flame Ant) (Monthly YOUNG MAGAZINE)
2013/10/10  Cover Girl Fragments Vol.7 (comic Anthurium 007)
2013/10/25  W-TAILS CAT - A STRANGE PRESENCE - Episode 07 (Stream)
2013/11/09  Cover Girl Fragments Vol.8 (comic Anthurium 008)
2013/11/xx  INTRON DEPOT 7 BARB WIRE 02 (Art Book)
2013/11/30  Ghost In The Shell ARISE border:2 Ghost Whispers (Movie)
2013/11/30  Shirow Masamune Calendar SABER TOOTH CATS 6 (Calendar)
2014/01/xx  GREASE BERRIES 1 (Art Book)

not good, I like how he draws, but even more I liked the stories he was telling in his mangas


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What are the added values of ecchi to a series?
A lot of series these days have either some sort of ecchi scene or is made entirely of fan service.
While some use this for comedic moments and others for story purposes. But if I look at the Freezing, I don't see the ecchi bringing any added value.
What do ecchi scenes add to a series, if not for comedic or story purposes?

Well, i exactly don't know the reason but there are many people nowadays who only want to watch ecchi anime. You can google it out and find it yourself. You'll find many posts of people asking for anime of that genre. Their whole purpose of seeing anime is because of the ecchi parts in it!

I'm tired too of fan service scenes, so I'm courious about possible answers

@mucio It is not that I am tired of them. I gotta agree to the fact that the comedic value can be really high. And some ecchi scenes can really build up a character but some series just seem to use it just to show of partionaly nude characters. And I am curious what this add to the stories and also what this add for the viewers. as not evrybody likes ecchi stuff

It's an extra service to the fans. You could even give it a name... fanservice.

@noko as already has been stated before in this topic. Ecchi and fanservice are 2 different things. read the answer Jon Lin gave

It is a kind of fan service though.

@noko ill quote: Just to be clear "fan service" doesn't necessarily have to be ecchi, and it's almost always inconsequential to the story or plot. It's just there to please the viewer (assuming the viewer is into the show). It doesn't add much value to the story/plot and isn't necessarily supposed to.    I dare say ecchi can actually add something to the plot

I never stated the opposite.

@noko Do please re read my question. As I said What do ecchi scenes add to a series, if not for comedic or story purposes. as for my question if its not comedy or story what does it even add. Aka one of the answers. fanservice for the people that like it or more as stated in Jon Lin's answer

(Note: I don't have any evidence or sources to back up these claims.)
The most straight-forward reason there is ecchi in some shows is simply because the animators like to draw scantily clad (or naked) girls. You see this in a lot of fan-art or random sketches by some directors, who were once animators (for example: Imaishi).
But a possible added value for ecchi scenes is sort of two fold. These are shows that are usually in the late-late-night time slots and are sometimes on satellite stations, where they can get away with a bit more. This is usually the time slot for some of the more "enthusiastic" fans of anime, the ones who spend lots of money on merchandise and physical media (DVD/BD).
Having this kind of customer base, although much smaller than some of the non-late-night popular shows, means studios are likely to hit certain sales minimums just by pandering to this demographic. Figures (often scantily clad, or with explicit nudity) are sold and the DVD/BD's with promised uncensoring (or even more graphic nudity) are bought up. So it's more or less "Sex Sells".
The added value to the viewer is probably more a matter of taste. If you don't like that kind of stuff, you're probably not going to watch these kinds of shows. Some of these kinds of shows is pure fan service, with none of the ecchi actually playing any role at all in the story or plot (e.g. "Najica", "Agent Aika", "Green Green", etc), and more recently, eventhough it can be argued whether the ecchi really does have to do with story or not, it's tied more closely to the show, where removing it actually devalues the show itself (e.g. "Queen's Blade").
There has even been quite a bit of backlash for these late-night time slot ecchi shows because a lot of them aren't very popular and it can seem that a lot of studios (at least between 2000-2010) sacrificed quality and writing to simply have ecchi and pander toward a small demographic who happens to spend a lot of money.
Just to be clear "fan service" doesn't necessarily have to be ecchi, and it's almost always inconsequential to the story or plot. It's just there to please the viewer (assuming the viewer is into the show). It doesn't add much value to the story/plot and isn't necessarily supposed to.

Guess I was beating around the bush, so here comes the straight answer:
It's so viewers can engage in acts of onanism, treat their bodies like an amusement park, crown the king, play pocket pool, do arm aerobics, strum the banjo, stir the yogurt, charm the cobra, walk the dog, be lord of your manor, king of the castle, the master of your domain.
There.

Most likely a valid reason. Pretty sure it is not the only reason for them to add it.

Stir the yogurt :D

While it's conceivable that ecchi can be used to drive the story in a way, It almost never does add to the story.
The reason it's added is to draw people manga/anime, and some people do like the ecchi itself.
I find that ecchi doesn't really harm the story either.  A good series with ecchi added is still a good series, and a bad series with ecchi is still a bad series.

I disagree on the harm part sometimes I find the half naked people running around quiet disturbing. allot of combat related anime these days have loads of ecchi in it with cloths flying everywhere. But not a single scratch to the body or maybe some sort of bruise. This (for me atleast) ruins it quiet a bit as i keep getting distracted by that fact


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What is Weiss Schwarz?
I've been seeing this around the place, but for different series (which have nothing to do with each other like Madoka and Railgun). From what I can gleam off descriptions it's some sort of card game, but the different anime series is confusing me because when I think "Anime Card Game" I think Yu-Gi-Oh, Duel Masters, Bakugan, etc.

Do you want details as to how the game is played?

@Hopeless_Noob if it's an actual game like Yu-Gi-Oh then yeh

Weiß Schwarz is a Japanese two-player dueling collectible card game created by Bushiroad, based around (and in collaboration) with various anime series.
The game is separated into two factions Weiß-side and Schwarz-side, which are German for "white" and "black," respectively.
Here is a better video on how to play the game: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXzMtFp_ZN0


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What is an OMAKE?
I've noticed in Casual Romance Club and Katahane that on the disk there is an OMAKE folder, inside the OMAKE folder there were added images and sound files, Casual Romance Club has images of each of the girl's in swimsuits at the beach and a portrait image while with Katahane the images were headshots like what you would see in some JRPGs,a slo in the Katahane folder there were movies
The one thing both have which is the exact same is that there is a .htm file which when opened seems to have links to every file in the folder.
I've completed a number of routes in Casual Romance Club, but none of them has a beach event, nor is there space in the gallery for the beach images (and the beach images are different to the swimsuit images which are viewable at the beginning).
I know they don't get installed and since both Casual Romance Club and Katahane are done by different developers (to my knowledge) it makes me think OMAKE is actually a term used outside specific visual novels.
So I am wondering, what is an OMAKE?

In the context of anime/manga or JRPG's, it's like "Bonus Material". TV Tropes has a page for "Omake" that's labelled Bonus Material:

A bonus that is added to, but separate from, a particular work. The practice of adding such a bonus to one's work has been around for a long, long time: Charles Dickens, for example, was a regular practitioner of it, back when he wrote his stories for newspapers and magazines.
If this extra material is another story in the universe, it generally doesn't interact with the primary plot of the work, and is seen as "stand-alone" material. Some times that extra material isn't even considered canon, though such additions can add depth and insight to the primary characters if the writer makes an effort to connect the "extra" to the main material.
Other kinds of extras are making-ofs, outtakes, deleted scenes, concept art, feelies and others.

Wikipedia also has an entry for Omake:

Omake often include comedy sketches where the characters behave out of character, break the fourth wall, or subtly address opinions of the fandom known to the writers. Sometimes scenes from the TV show or OVA are humorously re-dubbed. One example, included on the Video Girl Ai DVD, replays scenes from the OVA series with new voice-acting in a rural accent. Other times, the same actors voice a new script that is more sexually suggestive, often ludicrously so. Omake can also consist of non-canonical, and often comedic crossover clips that sometimes occur at the end of episodes of two shows airing concurrently from the same studio, such as recent Kamen Rider and Super Sentai programs.
  A screenshot of an anime omake, taken from Gunbuster. Here, chibi versions of the main characters attempt to explain the concept of "Ice II".
For anime, these are often presented in super deformed style, in the same way manga omake often is. For example, Gunbuster features super deformed characters trying to explain what the writers know to be mostly pseudo-science, or talking about their relationships with each other in a way they do not in the series itself, or in the popular anime series Reborn!, after a couple of episodes one of the characters named Haru Miura has an interview called "Haru-Haru's dangerous interview corner" with each of the characters of the anime in chibi forms, the characters' answers to the questions are often something they would never say in the anime or the manga. For live action programs, although not animated, the expressions and sound effects used for comedic purposes can often be inspired by the omake found in the animated mediums.
The term Omake has use also in video games; the Sega game Shenmue II for the Dreamcast had a hidden folder on the game disc labelled "Omake", found by placing the disc into a computer, containing exclusive wallpapers and conception art.
Another example of an omake in popular culture is related to Square's Final Fantasy IX. The secret "Blackjack" minigame after completion of the game is accessed by means of a button combination. The Final Fantasy "Playonline" site has a secrets section for Final Fantasy IX, which requires passwords given in the official Piggyback guide to enter. The password needed to reveal the button combination for the Blackjack minigame is E-OMAKE. The minigame itself is, of course, an omake.


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Why does Mustang address Hawkeye informally after dispatching Envy?
Awhile ago I was re-watching some of the Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood episodes in French (specifically 54) to reference something else, I noticed that in 54, Mustang uses the "tu" form (the informal "you") when talking to Hawkeye after being persuaded against finishing off Envy, which seems a bit odd. From the episodes/chapters I've read in French, they seem to usually use the "vous" form (the formal "you").
Does this correspond to anything in the Japanese original, and if so, what does it correspond to?
I've seen some other unexpected usages of "tu" elsewhere, but they weren't with characters that I've seen enough of in the French version to be able to see if it was unusual for people to use the "tu" form with them (in the context of the text).

There are formal and informal uses of you both in the Japanese language and within the episode. What in particular do you find unusual or unexpected?

The informal usage (I think) in Mustang's words to Hawkeye after he decides to not finish killing Envy - it seems (at least from the French) that they're usually on a more formal basis...

When Mustang comments to Hawkeye that he made her do through something dreadful again, he uses "kimi."
Kimi is the subjective pronoun of "you" and is used informally, typically when talking to close friends, younger siblings, but not to parents, older relatives, superiors, etc.
Normally, they have a typical superior-subordinate relationship (noted by Hawkeye herself that Mustang doesn't call her "Riza" even when they're alone) where they talk to or address one another formally, but here Mustang is being frank with Hawkeye as a close friend rather than a subordinate.