text:
How do I watch Kara no Kyoukai?
I've seen the hour and a half movie called Kara no Kyoukai: Mirai Fukuin and the story seemed very incomplete. Later I discovered that it was a compilation of longer episodes of a series. I'm not sure how I can fix my experience and in what order to watch the other animes with this title.

Since the other answers don't appear to address Mirai Fukuin, I will do that here.
First, you must watch Kara no Kyoukai in release order. That is, 1 through 7 in numerical order, then the epilogue, followed by Mirai Fukuin, and finally Mirai Fukuin: Extra Chorus (a half-hour bonus episode included with the BD/DVD release of Mirai Fukuin). To do otherwise is downright ridiculous - this isn't one of those cases like Haruhi where both release and chronological order have their merits.
Since Mirai Fukuin assumes knowledge of the rest of the series, it obviously doesn't make any sense as a standalone anime. Luckily for you, the sort-of disjointed, vignettish nature of Mirai Fukuin is such that you haven't really had the rest of the series spoiled for you. If you knew what you were looking for, perhaps, but the KnK storyline is sufficiently convoluted that you probably weren't able to pick up on any of the aspects of Mirai Fukuin that spoil the earlier movies. Go ahead and pick up the first movie (Fukan Fuukei / Overlooking View) and start from there.

Later I discovered that [Mirai Fukuin] was a compilation of longer episodes of a series.

This isn't actually the case. Mirai Fukuin is basically an extra, original pair of short stories, not a compilation of the previous movies or anything like that.
Note that there is a compilation movie for KnK, titled "Kara no Kyoukai Remix: Gate of Seventh Heaven", but that's neither here nor there. If, after watching movies 1-6, you find yourself confused about how everything plays out chronologically, watch Remix, which contains short recaps of each episode, in chronological order.

...the story seemed very incomplete.

I should point out that even after watching everything in the right order, Mirai Fukuin will probably still seem incomplete. This is partly because Mirai Fukuin adapts only two out of five short stories in the original Mirai Fukuin novel on which it is based. I haven't read the novel myself, but I hear that the remaining three stories help make everything seem more complete.

Seems like only the first 4 movies are out of chronological order.
To watch it in chronological order you would have to watch it like this:

Kara no Kyoukai 2: Satsujin Kousatsu (Part 1) (1995-1996)
Kara no Kyoukai 4: Garan no Dou (June 1998)
Kara no Kyoukai 3: Tsuukaku Zanryuu (July 1998)
Kara no Kyoukai 1: Fukan Fuukei (September 1998)
Kara no Kyoukai 5: Mujun Rasen (November 1998)
Kara no Kyoukai 6: Boukyaku Rokuon (January 1999)
Kara no Kyoukai 7: Satsujin Kousatsu (Part 2)
Kara no Kyoukai - Epilogue

Al tough personally I enjoyed the story more watching it in release order instead. I don't think watching it in chronological order will fix your experience to much as said on MaL

you won't gain any better understanding by viewing them in the chronological order because each is first and foremost a story closed in itself.

I went ahead and watched it chronologically. Made great sense to me. Only thing I can really say is I think some of the suspense is probably replaced by more of a detective vibe some point early on.


text:
Why is the new series called 2014?
So I noticed that the new season of fairy-tail came out as Fairy Tail (2014), and wondered why they decided to name it like this.
I know a similar name has been used for the remake of hunter-x-hunter and I have been told they named it (2011) here as it is a remake in higher quality. But I dont see any quality changes, and neither is it a remake of the original Fairy Tail. But rather a continuation on the story told.
So why was the new Fairy Tail Season called Fairy Tail (2014) ?

To be perfectly honest I actually thought the arcs were the seasons in fairy tail. I may have been wrong.

@MiharuDante Might have formulated it incorrectly, but do not know how to state it in another way. If you know a better way of naming it feel free to edit it.

There are quality changes btw: actual flames get produced than just CG radiant flame covers; no more magic circles before EVERYTHING (closer to the manga); and there's sharper detail on character artwork. Unfortunately -- and amazingly, they have done NOTHING about the fluidity of the animation beyond those necessary touchups so you still get that cheesy post-attack pose when someone does something than see anyone actually execute.

Since it is conventional for English-language anime-listing sites (e.g. MAL) to treat a break in airing as marking the end of one series and the start of another, you need some way to differentiate between the series that ended before the break and the one that started after.
In the case of something like Naruto, the second part had a different title ("Shippuuden"), which makes the task of naming the new season easy (i.e. just call it what it is). Since Fairy Tail was called "Fairy Tail" both before and after the break in airing, you need some way to distinguish between the two series on the anime-listing sites. Using the year in which the series started airing is as good a way as any.
I should emphasize that this is purely an artefact of the way that sites like MAL name series. As far as the people producing Fairy Tail are concerned, the episodes that started airing this month are part of the same series as the episodes that aired from 2009-2013. If, for example, you consult the timetable for TV Tokyo, which airs Fairy Tail, you will see that this week's episode is listed as:

ＦＡＩＲＹ ＴＡＩＬ ～フェアリーテイル～「妖精軍師」

This is the same title that was used for the show before the break in airing (the last bit is the episode title "Yousei Gunshi", something like "Fairy Tactician").

I thought it was called Fairy Tail S2...Actually I know when  search for it I need to search for fairy tail s2

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
How does a Hidden Mist ninja have the Byakugan?
We know that the Byakugan is the dōjutsu kekkei genkai of the Hyūga clan of the Hidden Leaf. And each village does its best to try and keep such coveted powers to themselves.
But in a recent filler episode of Shippuden, Episode 358 to be exact, a ninja from the Hidden Mist was shown to have used the Byakugan and could locate Uchicha Shisui, thereby asking his team to retreat. How does a ninja from a village other than the Hidden Leaf and not of the Hyūga bloodline have the Byakugan?
Is this for real or is it just another mistake by the animators? Is there a mention of such a ninja in the manga(I follow only the anime and not the manga)?

Yes, there is a mention of such a ninja in the manga as well as in the earlier episodes of the anime.
The ninja that you are referring to is Ao.

He has clashed several times with Konoha shinobi. At one point he
  defeated an unknown Hyūga, taking one of the Hyūga's Byakugan and
  implanting it into his own right eye socket. Later, he had a
  confrontation with Shisui Uchiha, which left enough of an impact on Ao
  for him to clearly remember Shisui's abilities and his chakra colour
  long after the event.

He first appeared in the manga chapter 454 and Naruto Shippuden anime episode 199 (the five kage summit arc)

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


text:
where can we find and watch ONAs?
ONA is an anime that is directly released onto the Internet. And from my understanding, it should be like youtube site where you can watch it however you like, with video streaming or download it. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
Where can I found ONAs legally, and what should I do to watch it, should I register or pay something?

i know sometimes they are released on the offical sites or a bran new site is created for them like the Sword Art Online Extra Epiosde

Related: Meta how can i tell if a site is legal

I guess you could research the origins of the most popular ONAs (or the ones you personally liked most) to find out where they first appeared. Maybe there's one place they all come from and we don't know it.

I found this list of anime released on Youtube and Niconico (ctrl+f "ONA")

A lot of ONAs get released either through the Bandai Channel or on Nico Nico Douga. Releases on the Bandai Channel are usually region locked and sometimes, they're re-release them on their Youtube channel (which, sometimes, is also region locked). Nico has an English version of the site which makes it a lot more accessible.
Both sites are free, Nico requires registration to view most videos and there is also a "Premium" member access.


text:
When Edward and Alphonse try to transmute their mother, how come they didn't gain anything?
So, to my understanding, the idea of alchemy is equivalent exchange, in which you get in return as much as you gave.
This doesn't make sense to me, as in the beginning when they tried to transmute their mother back, Alphonse lost everything, and Edward lost his leg. They didn't get anything in return, or at least anything worth of a soul and a body. After this Edward transmuted his arm to get Alphonse back.
So, put in a calculation:
Things lost

Random piled ingredients which were supposed to compose the average human
Alphonse's body
Alphonse's soul
Edward's arm
Edward's leg

Things gained

A blob of purple stuff with Alphonse's soul affixed to it ( for a while )
Alphonse's soul

So, where the hell did the rest of the stuff go? And more importantly, why could they not just have transmuted everything back?

Did you actually watch the show??

Unmarked spoilers for both Brotherhood and the 2003 series follow.
You're missing a key bit of information: they did gain something for their loss[1], just as Izumi did.
The boys gained the knowledge of what was beyond the gate. Unparalleled truths of alchemy reside beyond the gate, and no mortals are ever allowed access to it—unless they commit the taboo.[2]
Both Edward and Alphonse were shoved through the gate and absorbed as much material as they could from it, Edward even wanting to go back to get more. In the 2003 series, Alphonse never recalls this, though in Brotherhood, he recalls it after having blood spilled on his seal. Ed remembers it from the beginning, and this knowledge is what allows him (and later, Alphonse) to transmute without a circle.
The reason they couldn't just transmute everything back is because they had already committed the sin. If you steal something, and are caught, but then give it back, do the police let you go? No; and this is also the way of The Truth. Performing the sin is the punishable act; transmuting it back would be futile.
1   Keep in mind that by the end of the series (at least in Brotherhood's case, original FMA was not as forgiving), much of what was lost is regained through further equivalent exchanges.
2   It's a bit more complicated than this, but it will suffice for this explanation.

Alphose didn't gain knowledge from beyond the gate, otherwise he wouldn't need a transmutation circle.

@MiharuDante ... As I said, in the 2003 series, he never recalls what he knows. In Brotherhood, he can transmute without a circle after episode 14.

Okay. True that. I was to busy thinking about the 2003 anime.

I suppose this explains it quite well. However, far as I understood from the anime, wouldn't sacrificing more reveal you more of the truth? Edward only lost his leg after all, and he was able to revive his brother with just that? Shouldn't it have been possible for Alphose to give up the truth himself, and revive himself, while letting Ed keep his? After all, the sacrifice of Alphose was bigger than Edwards, that's really the only thing I'm confused about. To me it seems like the sacrifices were a bit imbalanced.

@Mythic It was actually addressed in Brotherhood, wherein Izumi and Ed realized that Al probably saw more of the truth than Ed due to having sacrificed so much more. I don't think this ever has a bearing on the story, though. I'm not sure what you mean by "give up the truth", though..?

The same way how Edward got Alphonse back, by sacrificing his truth. Because of this Edward can no longer use alchemy, or at least without circles, that is. It just seems a bit mathematically off to me, not so equivalent.

@Mythic Ah, that. Yes, theoretically Al could have sacrificed his gate and lost his ability to do alchemy, if he had thought of it. But even Ed didn't think of it until the last episode, and shortly thereafter Al was back in his body. I don't think it's fair to apply mathematical equivalence here; The Truth takes what he feels is most ironic. While to Izumi, the loss of her ability to reproduce was heartbreaking, losing her sight as Mustang did may have been less impactful (for example). What they lose is something that affects them personally.

You're probably right, after all, to me it seems ironic when Ed was trying to revive his mother, but ended up losing Alphonse instead. But then again he also lost his leg, and the toll is supposed to be paid by the person who activates the transmutation, right? If I remember correctly, both of them activated it at the same time, so could be Alphonse was actually first, and managed to lose his body because of that. But then why did Ed lose his leg, and how come a leg is equivalent of a soul and a body? After all, Ed had only unlocked the part of the truth he got from sacrificing his leg.

@Mythic I don't think that part is ever really explained. Why didn't Ed lose his entire body? Hard to say. Perhaps The Truth felt it more ironic to take it away from just one of them, leaving Ed to be scarred by the event instead. But that's just speculation.

Here's an analogy for you
Suppose you are cooking, and you're making a dish that uses a lot of expensive ingredients.
Suppose you royally screw up, and make something completely inedible.
The ingredients are still gone.  Even though you've ended up with something unusable, the things that you've put into it don't come back.
That's what happened here.  Just because they didn't end up with anything useful didn't mean that it would cost them any less.

I don't think that's still enough to make up for it. Alphonse's and Edward's master had also done human transmutation, and ended up with the same results. Only thing she lost was an organ. To add even more to it, the soul is supposed to be the greatest power source, as that's what philosopher stones were made of, right? Then how come Edward was able to get Alphonse's soul back just by sacrificing his arm?

@Mythic just to clarify, Izumi lost most of her internal organs as if it was just one it would have been just her womb, the organs that remained adapted functions but it still wasn't enough. this is more explained in detail in the 2003 Anime than Brotherhood

@Mythic also with Al's Soul, remember he can loose it much more easier in his current state than if he had a real body if the Blood Seal is removed/destroyed. while rare a person can survive a bullet or impalement to the head, Al can not survive even the seal being burned (Barry in the 2003 anime). in the 2003 anime he seems to also be loosing his memories

They did gain something, though it cost them a bit more. See while the materials were enough in theory to remake a human body, it might not have been enough to construct it. So it took their bodies to help with the construction.
What you gotta remember is they did get what they wanted. Their mother, at least in the 2003 version. In Brotherhood, it's never revealed who it was they really brought back. So in either case, they did gain the body they tried to revive. In the '03 version, Alphonse did not gain anything because he lost his body, so Edward was the one to gain from the transmutation, and when he transmutated his leg, he gained back Al's soul, since it was still being taken by the gate. Maybe souls take longer to breakdown, so he was able to pull it back, and anchor it to the armor. So, that's what Ed gained for that transmutation.
In Brotherhood, it's the same, the boys did get something from the human transmutation, but in this case, they got two things each. The creature from the chemicals they'd used, and the Truth. But what they learned, probably can't be measured in what they gave up. Since Alphonse was so young and eager to grow up, that could be why he lost his body. And since Edward was so proud of his Alchemy that he'd stand against life to gain back his mother, he lost his leg, and maybe to be ironic, the truth took the last of his family since he opposed Trisha's death so much. (those were just my thoughts there) In the end, both boys received the Truth as recompense for their bodies being lost, but it's hard to say if Al gained more or not, since you can't really measure what he lost in measure to what he gained, which he didn't really get until later on.
Or maybe everything I said sounds like nonsense, either way, hoped this helped.

I think Ed was able to get Al's soul back because it was never taken by the gate. The gate took Al's body but not his mind and soul. Those where left standing in front of the gate or the void. Ed learned from the gate that if he acted quick enough he could get them back. So he used his right arm as material to summon the gate. At witch time he got Al's mind and soul back and affixed it to the aromor via the blood seal. Had the gate taken his soul Ed wouldn't have been able to get it back because there is nothing you can trade for a soul not even another soul. Thats why you cant bring dead people back to life. 2003 anime.

try to put your answers together instead of spamming several answers. If you have more detail, edit your first answer.

In Brotherhood, it's alluded to in Episode 14 that Alphonse's soul was within the body that he and Edward had created in an attempt to bring back their mother. Essentially, Alphonse lost his body to properly construct a new body (which was deformed because it didn't really have all the elements that make up a human) and Edward lost his leg in order to transmute Alphonse's soul into that new body... and then Edward lost his arm to transmute Alphonse's soul before the deformed new body completely died, transferring it over to a suit of armor.
None of this is explained properly because you're meant to come to your own conclusions via context clues and theorycrafting. It's the mark of a good story when people actually care so much about the protagonists' backstory.

Let me try to explain this better. Think of the gate as god. When you die the gate reclaimes your mind, body and soul.
Since the mind and soul are completely unique, there's nothing you can trade for them. So you can't bring someone who has died back to life.
When Ed and Al tried to bring their mom back, they preformed human transmutation which automatically summons the "gate of god". Since the human body is composed of simple elements they got their mom's body back via the pile of stuff they poured in the bowl, but it was a soulless and mindless body so it didn't take a human form.
That is, until Dante feeds it pieces of incomplete philosophers stone which contain souls.
The gate also gave them knowledge of alchemy. Ed got a little for his left leg, and Al got a lot for his whole body. Al just can't remember any of it until much later. But the gate didn't take Al's soul or mind, it left those sitting in front of the gate.
Ed used the knowledge he got from the gate and his right arm "human transmutation" as material to summon the gate, where for his arm he got a little more knowledge and since Al's mind and soul were not in the gate he got those back for free in the process. Where he affixed it the the armour via the blood seal.
On a side note, Ed will never get his limbs back because the homunculus Wrath took them for himself and left the gate with them. So unless Ed can get wrath to give them back to the gate, Ed will never get his true arm and leg back.
This is going off of the 2003 anime. Just my personal theory

Probably a spoiler for you but to correct you Ed does get his Limbs back, Dante calls the Gate and has it take Ed's limbs from Warth and Ed gains them back when Al uses up the Philosopher's Stone bring Ed back to life. Ed only losses them again as apart of the price to bring Al back to life

They did gain something. The fact remains the thing they get it was not in the exact form they wanted. "Sometimes not everything is in our hands", that is what the author's main idea was.

authors: 青青子衿未删减全文番外百度云_青青子衿超清免费看完整版

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


text:
Is Might Gai the strongest Taijutsu user?
On Naruto Manga Chapter 672, Madara said to Gai:

"As far as taijutsu, amongst those who have fought me... there has only been one who has come to your level..."

Is he referring to Gai or someone else? If he is referring to someone, then who is it?

not disclosed till now. also in the next page madara says that he is the best one he has fought till now with taijutsu. so whoever might it be i don't think kishimoto will reveal.

My theory is the first hokage, but let's see if someone here knew or read about it from the previous chapter.

The picture you posted is actually a mistranslation, I have the official English release from Viz manga where Madara says "Of all those who have fought me over the years, there's no one who surpass you at taijutsu!"
Madara says that Gai is the strongest taijutsu user he has ever faced, and he has faced Hashirama Senju repeatedly in the past in life or death fights, while the latter was in Sage Mode, which pretty much puts you out of everyone else's league immediately.
Before he was resurrected people thought Hashirama and Madara's prowess were just legends, which makes sense when you think about how easily Madara defeated all five kages, in theory the top shinobi of each village, in practice some of the top shinobi of each village.
When you consider that Madara gets his powers from being the reincarnation of Indra, and having absorbed Ashura's chakra to awaken the Rinnegan, and since fighting the Kages he has become the jinchuriki of the ten tails, making him vastly more powerful again.
But even in this Godly state, Gai's kick is almost enough to kill him, shattering his ribs and arm on one side and making him cough up blood before his healing steps in.
Gai is the strongest taijutsu user ever, almost without a doubt, his only potential rivals being Madara, Naruto and Sasuke, depending on what they can do with the Sage's chakra. When you consider that Gai is just a normal ninja who isn't a jinchuriki, or a reincarnation of the Sage's children, yet those are the only people who can compare to him, he really is incredibly impressive.

Oh! interesting..:) Let's see what the others have to say..
Question: you created an account just to answer my post/question?.:)

No, I had an account anyway on another part of stackexchange. I absolutely love people like Gai and Minato who don't get their powers from Sharingan or Tailed Beasts or other sources, but just managed to become amazing on their own.


text:
Why did Luffy ring the bell 16 times?
I'm confused as to why Luffy rung the bell 16 times. A navy member said it's a declaration of war whereas a pirate said it's about the change of an era. Can someone please explain what exactly is the reason behind it??

Just watch episode 511 for complete description .

The bell is called the Ox-Bell.
What does the ringing of the bell signify?

The ringing of the bell signifies the end of one year and the beginning of another. It is rung eight times to give thanks for the old year, and another eight times to welcome the new year. If it is rung twice, it signifies some sort of disaster or distress.

How others interpreted 16 rings:

Lieutenant Commander Brandnew of the Marines analyzed it as a declaration of war, and Killer of the Kid Pirates interpreted the meaning of it as the end of one era and the beginning of another.

The real reason behind it:

Luffy's ringing of the bell was only a distraction, along with his other actions, so nobody in the world outside of the Straw Hat Pirates would notice the real message; in the picture of Luffy after ringing the Ox Bell, a mark is seen on his arm that reads 3D2Y with the 3D crossed out, representing the amount of time the crew would be separated.

8 chimes always indicate the end/beginning of a year/era as you said. That's why the others interpreted it as if Luffy was saying Whitebeard's era has ended, but mine will now begin. So towards the government that's a war-statement, while it is a challenge towards the other rookies.

16 bells, rung on a ships bell by the youngest crew member at midnight on the 31st December, ring out the old, ring in the new, as 8 bells signify the end of a watch and the beginning of another one, so it is with the years end/ beginning.

This symbol is already explained in the first answer.  Plus your answer does not explain what that has to do with One Piece. The calendar year does not end at that point of the story... so why does Luffy ring the bell?


text:
Who is being addressed at the start of the first episode?
In the first episode of Serial Experiments Lain, right at the beginning, someone says:

Why? Why won't you come? I wish you would come here.

This person I assumed to be Chisa Yomoda, but I am not completely sure. Who is being addressed, and is the speaker Chisa or someone else? (Or is this perhaps simply something inserted for "atmosphere" that doesn't have an explicit answer?) Within the context of the story, it seems to make sense for the addressee to be Lain, but I'm really not sure.

I think the question is addressed to anyone who hears it. Lain, us viewers and anyone in the anime universe who sees this on the net.  It's a great way to set the atmosphere, yes.

Having progressed a lot further in my rewatch of Serial Experiments Lain, it seems that the "correct" answer is along the lines of the comment by user1306322. At the beginning of most episodes (with the exception of 10, 11, and 13), someone says a few short lines, such as the one above, or such as:

You've heard of a girl named Lain, right? Lain of the Wired. (Episode 3)
I don't need parents. Humans are all alone. They are not connected to anyone else at all. (Episode 4)
If you want to be free of suffering, you should believe in God. Whether or not you believe in Him, God is always by your side.
  (Episode 9)

An exception is in episode 12, where there seems to be an exchange instead between what seems to be Lain and possibly either her mother or the doll figure she was addressing a couple episodes earlier.
Given this and the fact that the question at the opening of the first episode is somewhat similar to those "opening lines" in later episodes, it seems most reasonable to conclude that the question in the beginning of the first episode is meant to set the atmosphere, and that the addressee of the question is, as pointed out by the comment, anyone who hears it (the viewer, people in the Wired, Lain, etc.).
I still can't quite identify the speaker of the question in the beginning of the first episode, but it seems worth noting that the speaker of the "opening lines" seems to vary by episode. (I'm not completely sure about this since this could well be the same voice actress/character speaking the lines, but with a different inflection).

I think the other person who speaks those lines might be the girl who committed suicide or someone from the Wired. I believe it signifies that a person can merge with the collective conscience of the people (the Wired in this case) and a certain opinion or point of view can spread to others. The lines at the beginning of the episodes may be the general thought conveyed by the original person, even if they're no longer alive. Something like that.


text:
What's with this face in Nichijou?
In Nichijou, characters sometimes make this kind of face when something frustrating or very stupid happens:

Is this a reference to some other popular animated character, or is it a unique way of expressing an emotion in Nichijou?

I think it's just Nichijou's art style and how it expresses the fact the characters are gone past surprise at strange happenings and have come to accept it, the glazed over eyes and straight-line emotionless mouth indicate this quite well.
In cases where it's something stupid, it gives the impression that the characters can't even justify a response, because the joke or suggestion was just so stupid that it's not even worth the effort. So they give blank expressions and try to move the conversations on. This is usually accompanied by an awkward silence. This is common outside of anime as a 'tumbleweed moment'
I'm pretty sure that it isn't a reference to any other animated characters and is just Nichijou doing its own thing :)

Another possibility, although slight - is that it could be a reference to the series Initial D.
I don't have much information to back this up, but I noticed a distinct similarity between the faces that Yuko and the other characters make, and some screen captures and manga sections of Initial D.
The vacant neutral stares of the characters in Initial D seem to reflect a similar sense of 'not getting it' or being unsure of what to make of a situation, which is pretty similar to the reaction of the girls.

That being said, I haven't watched the show in its entirety, so it might be a baseless speculation. There are also better examples of this, I just couldn't find them again

It's the usual blank face when something WTF just happened, not really unique to any series.


text:
Why is Sakurai-sensei always sweating like a sprinkler?
I never really figured this out. Is Sakurai-sensei always super-uncomfortable around people? Or is she nervous? Usually sweat drops jumping off someone is a vfx for surprise, but I don't think this is the case.

What's up with those crazy sweat drop novas all the time?

I just LOLed at your title, 'sprinkler' +1 for that

It's probably just an exaggeration of her being nervous and/or shy. As her personality bio on the Nichijou Wikia says, "Izumi is a very nice young woman, but she is usually very shy, flustered, and easily frightened."
This is similar to the Overly Nervous Flop Sweat trope, though that page doesn't have a section for anime or manga.
Some other instances of this:
Danganronpa:

Chii:

Kero:

No matter who Sakurai-sensei is talking to (other teachers, students, etc) she has those panic bubbles/sweat drops around her.
I took this to mean she's just a naturally nervous person instead of being uncomfortable around people. I can't think of anything in the show that implied she was uncomfortable around others since she was always willing to help and talk.


text:
Does that weird translucent thing the girls wear serve any specific purpose?
So, in Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei (i.e. The Irregular at Magic High School), the girls' school uniform incorporates this strange translucent cape-like feature. See, for example:

That translucent cape-thing is very unusual as far as school uniforms go - I've never seen anything like it. Does it serve any particular purpose in the context of the show (like, it makes you better at magic or something), or is it just ornamental?

it looks like that it's supposed to be a jacket like the boys uniform however made translucent as to show off the girl's body shape cause just from your images it seems the girls have smaller bodies in comparison to the upper part of the uniform (ie. the back/sides of the uniform stick out more from the body)

I don't think it serves any actual purpose. I guess its just suppose to be just for looks rather than purpose.

According to the tweet from the official account:

女生徒の制服は、上着の下にキャミソールタイプのレースを着用します。これは生徒が任意でいくつかの種類から選べます（もちろん着けない生徒もいます）。
The female students' uniform consists of a camisole-type lace underneath their jackets. This is optional and students can choose from several types (of course, some students do not wear this).

Therefore I don't believe there's a functional purpose to it.

Ooh, I see. These pictures capture the whole "lace" aspect a lot better than the anime does (probably something to do with the shading). In the anime, those things just look weird and plasticky.

It's for sure optional - I'm certain some of them aren't wearing them.

Since there seems to be no word of god, let's go:
The gown has to do with the type of magic the girl uses.
So we have

The blue snowflakes for elemental magic
the green faeries (dots, whatever) for spirit, body and mind magic
The orange flowers for earth and physical, physics magic

The girls:

Shiba Myiuki - elemental magic. Uses snowflakes.
Saegusa Mayumi - movement, projectiles and matter summoning. Orange flowers.
Ichihara Suzune - body and mind manipulation. Green fairy.
Mitsui Honoka - Light manipulation. Orange
Watanabe Mari - mind manipulation via aromas. Green
Shibata Mizuki - spirit and magic sight. Green.

The list is not exaustive. Feel free to add more examples.

For a moment I thought that the women's capes represented the grade they were in (something like the Mahoutokoro capes, in the Harry Potter Universe).
But it is not like that, Miyuki, Honoka, Mizuki, and other first year characters wear other "ornaments".
I think it's about the type of magic the wielder wields.
But if that's the case, why is Lina's (Angelina Kudou Shields) camisole so different?

Welcome to Anime & Manga! If you have another question, please ask it by clicking the Ask Question button.

Ok, I have a modified hypothesis.
I think that the color of the camisole is due to the type of magic that the witch mainly uses. Three types of modern magic are known throughout the novel, which are:
Sensory Type Magic (also known as ESP - Extra Sensory Perception)
Non-Systematic Magic.
and Extra-Systematic Magic (together with MI Magic - Mental Magic)
There are also others, but I think it could be considered the main ones.

Hiya, just to let you know that you can always [edit] your own posts to add & update the details. Comments are not the most suitable for substantive content like that.

I, too, thought the capes would be explained further, as it does seem to correspond to the owner's magic. I wish they had been, since the audience would be able to then identify approximate magic types on sight, or be intrigued by a new, previously unseen color. Prime storytelling opportunities have been missed there.
There is only one girl I've seen who doesn't wear it, and that's Erika. There are multiple reasons to explain why she would not wear it.

She's the only Course 2 (Weed) girl character we've seen, so it may be a Course 1 (Bloom) exclusive uniform piece.

If it's truly based on magic, which does seem to play a part in the colors, Erika's style is sword and weapon-based where the other girls use a different type of non-weapon magic.

If it's completely optional, Erika has exactly the kind of personality that would forego the cape by choice.

As far as the texture goes, it's always looked like a sheer fabric attachment to me rather than lace. If it's supposed to be lace, they didn't do very well in animating it. Looks closer to tulle, maybe? Or, actually, my vote is for chiffon. Chiffon flows the same way as they portray in the anime.

Point 1 isn't right - we see Mizuki wearing one, and she's a course 2 student. I wouldn't have thought it would be completely dependant on combat type either - Mibu Sayaka chooses to wear said garment while possessing a similar fighting style to Erika. I think it's mostly dependent on choice, as ʞɹɐzǝɹ♦'s answer claims.

authors: 胖女好玩还是瘦女好玩_胖女好玩还是瘦女好玩免费观看


text:
What is the timeline for the first Season of Maria Watches Over Us?
In Episodes 7, 8 and 9 of Maria-sama ga Miteru (Maria Watches Over Us), they are set around Valentines Day. it's stated that at around this time Rosa Chinensis (Yōko Mizuno), Rosa Gigantea (Sei Satō) and Rosa Foetida (Eriko Torii) took their final exams and were waiting on their university selections which Sei got hers first and got her first choice and their graduations approching.
In Episodes 10 and 11 the events are set during Christmas where Sei's and Shiori Kubo relationship is revealed. in one scene Sei's and her petite sœur Shimako Tōdō are talking about Christmas and Sei makes reference to the upcoming exams.
When i saw the preview for Episode 12 it seems to carry on from the last part of Episode 9  with Yumi Fukuzawa and Sachiko Ogasawara are going on their date they had planned after Valentines Day.
I am wondering, what exactly is the timeline?

The episode numbers relate to the order they were broadcast. chronologically speaking in the series Episodes 7, 8 and 9 occur after Episodes 10 and 11 with Episode 12 occurring after 9.
According to the linear notes in the bonus menu of the RightStuf DVD (Disk 3), the Valentines Day Episodes were aired earlier as the initial broadcast date for Episode 7 fell on/around February 14 which is Valentines Day.
Because the 3 Valentines Day Episodes are tightly connected together in terms of plot they couldn't just broadcast episode 7 and be done with it so the 3 episodes was broadcast in sequence and 10 and 11 broadcast after before the conclusion of the first season.


text:
How do weapons get the ability to transform?
Is it something they are born with or is there an explanation at all?

Soul Eater Not! is still running and we might see a proper explanation there, as one of the protagonists is a weapon.

This does contain manga spoilers, just to inform the people who've only seen the anime.

 ORIGINS
 The first Demon Weapons were created 800 years ago prior to the start of the series, Arachne following instructions found within the Book of Eibon. To create a Demon Weapon she murdered a Witch to use as a sacrifice. Using the Witch's soul, which has the power of transformation, Arachne joined together an inanimate weapon and a human soul to create a Demon Weapon which had the ability to transform from Human to Weapon form. This act of killing a witch made every witch want to kill Arachne and demon weapons alike. One of the very first Demon Weapons to have ever been created by Arachne is suggested to be Giriko. The Demon Weapons, despite their unplanned creation, were accepted into the world, and the Eight Powerful Warriors were the first people to fight as Weapon and Meister teams.

 The blood of a Weapon is passed down however depending on the circumstances of an individual's life that blood may or may not actually be awakened. There are families like the Nakatsukasa clan which are made up entirely of Weapons and families like the Evans family where the Weapon Soul is apparently the only member to have inherited the Weapon blood for numerous generations.

Source: Soul Eater Wiki: Weapons

Thanks for the edit, I'm fairly new so I didn't know how to add spoilers.


text:
Why exactly does Kyoko attempt to save Sayaka?
In episode 8 of Puella Magi Madoka Magica, we see Sayaka transform into a witch, and in that episode and the subsequent one (at least in the second half of it) we see Kyouko's attempt to save her.
Why exactly does she seem so determined to do this, given that she'd talked earlier about living for oneself? (e.g. Perhaps out of sympathy for Sayaka's situation or a change of heart? Or maybe because of her "goals", which don't seem to be very well-specified when referred to in episode 9?)

Episode 7 paints the picture of Kyouko's background. Basically, Kyouko is all alone having lost everyone important to her including her family. So she's in despair and desperate to find comfort somewhere.
After hearing Sayaka's story, Kyouko started to identify with her. So they effectively formed a friendship. Episode 10 reveals that this friendship is formed in multiple timelines.
So when Sayaka becomes a witch, Kyouko felt the obligation to save her - her one and only friend.

Thanks, I had a feeling something of the sort might be the case, but I wasn't sure what is was specifically.


text:
Who are the five elders, and how much power do they hold
So in episode 642 there is a call between navy HQ and the new guy (sorry forgot his rank/name) and Saka says the following
Who exactly are the five elders, and how much power do they hold? As they managed to fool navy HQ.

The five elders are the Gorosei, Japanese for "five elder stars" (go means five) who form the council that run the world government. Below them is the commander-in-chief of the world government, and below him is the fleet admiral of the marines. They have pretty much unlimited power over the world government.
Very little information has been given, but many speculate (based on nothing) that they are five of the direct descendants of the 20 kings who formed the world government (making them celestial dragons). If they are just normal citizens, they may in theory have to answer to the celestial dragons, if they are celestial dragons themselves then they answer to no-one.
It isn't really that they fooled Marine HQ, it's more that they withheld information, as Marine HQ follows their orders anyway. If Sakazuki had found out, he probably wouldn't have had a choice but to go along with them anyway, as when Sengoku wanted to get the wanted posters out for the escaped Impel Down prisoners as soon as possible, but was overruled and told that it was being kept secret. All he could do was resign, they can overrule literally anyone in the world government whenever they want.
Update:
At the time of this answer, the above was true. Since then, we've now seen Im, the man who sits on the Empty Throne in Mary Geoise and who stands above the five elders.
It seems that they are the second highest authority in the world government.

The new guy is Fujitora or Issho and is an admiral.
The 5 elders appear to be the gorosei who are the heads of the world government. They pretty much are the world government and pick the admirals, warlords, and everyone at navy HQ. That is why they could deceive them as needed. They probably only did that, however, by orders of the celestial dragons who are (essentially) the royal/noble class of the world government.


text:
Why does Seki-kun need a voice actor?
I've watched most of Tonari no Seki-kun, and all I can hear from his voice actor are grunts and groans, and a few other occasional sounds of panic or excitement.
Why does this require a voice actor at all?
I mention this because, in Non Non Biyori, the only male character didn't have any sounds associated with him.
Am I perhaps conflating the two character types together (one with an obvious role, and another with an obvious non-role)?

Well, somebody has to do the grunting.
It may sound like I'm joking, but I'm really not. I don't know if canned grunts or grunt SFX packages exist, but I don't think the producers would want to use them - Seki has to grunt in a number of different ways and in a number of different contexts, and when you get down to it, Seki's grunts can really be quite emotive.
You could, in principle, have Seki be completely soundless, but that would be unrealistic - unlike the dude from Non Non Biyori, he does interact with the other characters to a substantive degree, and if he didn't make a single noise, it would be kind of weird.
For illustrative purposes, I have compiled a collection of Seki grunts and related noises from episodes 1 and 2 (http://vocaroo.com/i/s0PuflktAAbw; do forgive the shoddy editing). I hope you will agree that this stunning performance on Shimono Hiro's part is reason enough to have a voice actor for Seki. For an even better illustration, watch episode 16 from roughly 4:20 until the ending credits (the part where Yokoi is messing with him) - he vocalizes a lot there.

I think you may have a point there.  While it does seem odd to have a voice actor that doesn't do any actual speaking, the grunting is plenty emotive.  The recording you put together (you actually took the time to record that?) demonstrates that.  Thanks for the answer.

@Makoto Perhaps a good analogy here is Pikachu's VA in the Pokemon anime - all she does is say the word "Pikachu", but by jove does she do it in so many ways. (Of course, there's plot reasons for Pikachu to say "Pikachu", but the point I'm getting at is that a voice actor can do plenty without actually "saying" anything.)


text:
What's the significance of this Michelangelo reference?
In the penultimate episode of Puella Magi Madoka Magica, we briefly see this image, possibly formed by the ice in a glass of alcohol when Madoka's mother is at the bar with Madoka's teacher. (This image comes right before a "break" from that scene before the episode shifts back to Homura's room, so it's hard to tell. While initially that seemed like a reasonable interpretation to me, in retrospect, the two "blades" here suggest that this isn't the case, and that the image is superimposed onto something else.)

This clearly seems to be one of the more famous details from Michelangelo's The Creation of Adam, which is on the Sistine Chapel ceiling:

What is the significance of this image in the context of the anime series? With other references in the series, there's often a clearer connection (e.g. to Goethe's Faust) but here it doesn't seem as obvious, and the only interpretation I can think of is related to Madoka becoming some sort of god, but even so, using this specific reference doesn't seem to make much sense here.

Madoka's mother is drinking from a faceted glass and what your screenshot shows are two edges of it and the Michelangelo's painting behind the glass. The dialogue between two women doesn't really correspond with the painting's theme, as far as I'm concerned.

The painting seems to be part of the entourage of the bar. With studio Shaft in charge of creating this anime, you can safely assume that it's a subtle hint at one of the many existential topics raised in it. It's probably not very significant in relation to the plot, but it just may give you some food for thought.
Consider the process of Adam's creation by God a metaphor for a magical girl becoming a witch. As a more powerful entity, witches are capable of creating their own kind by corrupting magical girls. Something along those lines.

Yeah... It seemed like something of a "random" reference, but me being me, I was hoping there might be something that would have a very direct connection to the plot, but who knows.

@Maroon, I interpreted the image in an alternate way: remember that Michelangelo is depicting the moment of Adam's "birth". God is in effect Adam's parent. This parallels the situation Junko is upset about at that moment - both God/Junko have given birth to this other person, Adam/Madoka, and yet we all know or can guess what will happen to their offspring. The parents cannot prevent them from making their own choices, good or ill, taking the forbidden fruit/dying/becoming a magical girl etc.


text:
Why are there so many references in Durarara?
I have currently watched nine episodes of Durarara!! and I am surprised about how many references there are. Some are quite obvious (they even talk about Accel World or Spice and Wolf sometimes):

Some others not so obvious:

(It's the Baccano-screen.)
I can understand these, as all three are published by Dengeki Bunko, but why are there so many? Also, I don't understand why they included Yozakura Quartet, since it's a manga and no Light Novel?

It's a supernatural comedy and these popular references are there to help us associate with the "reality" of Durarara's world. It feels like it's the same world as ours, but there are actually mysterious things going on in Ikebukuro.

A lot of the references are from other products they or related associates have had a hand in. Baccano is an odd example since they were advertising the anime...but at the same time Baccano and Durarara take place in the same world (in later novels, most of the modern Baccano crew head to Ikebekuro and are touring around as a result of a throw away comment at the end of book 1 leading to books 11 and 12), and Nile and Elmer spent the last half of 2001 (following the end of Book 5) there looking for Denkuro (during which Nile fought Shizuo and got his ass kicked)

Gintama also have many references to various different things. Why? Why not. It makes it funny and interesting. I don't get the point of your question.

ASCII Media Works is the parent company for Durarara's publisher (a brand company of Kadokawa), Dengeki Bunko amongst other things. This is why most of these references to shows are referenced by their light novels instead of manga.
Durarara!! and Baccano! were written by the same person, Ryohgo Narita. The same studio (JC Staff) did the animation.
Suzuhito Yasuda is the illustrator on Ryohgo Narita's Durarara!! light novels and also the author of the Yozakura Quartet manga.
The Durarara!! and Kuroshitsuji manga are published by Square-Enix. JC Staff likes to include these sort of references in thier shows.

I thought it was Brains Base that did was in charge of animation production for DRRR.

The anime, yes. But JC seem to like inserting cameos an reference to other IP it's animated or their production has right holders have for, whenever it's possible (sometimes based on the source material, sometimes as just an passing reference).


text:
What does the symbol on Edward's coat mean?
In FMA, the back of Edward's coat shows this symbol:

I can't figure out what it would be a reference to in-universe, because the symbology seems Judeo-Christian (a cross and what looks like it could be a serpent), and the show doesn't really have any Christian symbology in it. Is this some symbol in real life? What is it supposed to mean?

It's called the Flamel (yes, named after Nicolas Flamel, purported to be an alchemist who sought the Philosopher's Stone).
It is most noticeably similar to the symbol of Hermes, a god of alchemy, and also the Rod of Asclepius, which you may recognize from ambulances as the EMS symbol.

It is not a religious symbol, nor is it ever explained to have a relevance in the FMA universe. However, given its real life links to alchemy and medicine, it's safe to say that the author intended to bring forth real-world alchemical symbols into her universe.
Further reading: FMA Wiki entry on the Flamel

The image on the right is the Rod of Asclepius, the god of healing. The one on the left is the Caduceus - the symbol of Hermes. American institutions often mix them up and use the wrong one.

Its a Flamel

The Flamel refers to the mystical and alchemical symbol depicted as a cross with a snake or serpent draped about it, as well as detached wings and a crown above it.
In Alchemy, the Flamel represents the "fixing of the volatile", a vital step in the alchemical opus' process, related to the making of the mercury's elixir and of curative processes.

The Flamel is named after Nicolas Flamel Whom After his death developed a reputation as an alchemist. However, these legendary accounts only appeared in the seventeenth century.

"Flamel was a real person, and he may have dabbled in alchemy, but his reputation as an author and immortal adept must be accepted as an invention of the seventeenth century." - Dixon, Laurinda

Well as everybody on here has said, it's a flamel which is a symbol created by the alchemist Nicholas Flamel.
After looking into it a bit more, I learned that Flamel often used this symbol when he talked about the Elixir of Life in his books.
So that makes it a fitting symbol for Dante, as she thought she had discovered immortality.
As far as the wings and crown, I'm not sure what those represent, as those are not part of the original Flamel symbol. I'm guessing its something Dante added to it, to make it her own. But like I said, I'm not sure what it represents.

The wings are seen in one of the images キルア posted, the crown i'd assume has something to do with how Führer Bradley is known as King Bradly, since the symbol was first seen in the Manga we could more assume that the Crown was Father's doing since Dante isn't in the Manga and it was Father who taught the people of Amestris Alchemy

I found a bible verse similar to this in Numbers 21:8, stating

And the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.”

Another interpretation is "to be pure, to be purified". I say this because in FMA, alchemy is what the world revolves around. Even in our reality, alchemy was fabled to transmute any metal into gold. Since gold is considered to be the purest of all metals, we can also transcribe that context to the purest (or purified) form of expression, ideas, self, etc.

Though I know where you were going with the Christian symbolism. The snake on the rod (also a root that the medical symbols came from because People were healed by looking at the snake on the rod)

It is also said to be the crucifixion of the serpent(AKA the natural man) which sort of happens to Ed as the series progresses.

Can you provide any sources or additional information (like what the crucifixion of the serpent is, what you mean by it happening to Ed) for this?


text:
Why is Taiga afraid of dogs?
On the Kuroko no Basuke Wikia here under personality it says this about why Kagami Taiga is afraid of dogs which is as follows...

When Kuroko brought Tetsuya #2 (The Dog) to training, it is revealed that Kagami is scared of dogs. This fear originates from his time in America, where he was once bitten by a dog.

However I am not sure if this information is accurate or just made up. Does anyone know what episode in Kuroko no Basuke mentions where this fear originates from?

The Kuroko no Basuke wikia (unlike most wikias) is actually pretty good about citing its sources. The statement you quote includes a reference to chapter 74 (found in volume 9), page 9:

The left-hand speech bubble reads:

When I was a kid back in the U.S., I got bitten by a giant dog, so [I seriously can't deal with them]...!

I don't believe this was mentioned in the anime, though. At minimum, Kagami doesn't say anything about it in episode 14, which is when the dog is introduced in the anime.

Oh, so it was in the mangas. I haven't read them myself yet since I have only watched the anime. Thanks. :)

It is said in the anime, I haven't read the manga either but I did got that from the anime. The reason why he is so scared of dogs is because when he was young he was teasing a dog, the dog got mad and bit him. so technically it was his own fault.


text:
What's going on at the beginning of the story?
I didn't quite get from the first episode what happened to Ohana's family and why her parents had to "run away" somewhere, sending Ohana to live in her grandmother's hotel. Why did this happen? Where are her parents now?

Ohana's biological father - Matsumae Ayato - died when Ohana was still a baby, of unspecified causes (probably a Japanese cold or something). I believe this is only alluded to in the show, but if you watch the movie, you actually get to see that stage of Ohana's life.
After that, Ohana's mother (Satsuki) gets in relationships with various boyfriends, the latest of which is the guy you see in episode 1. The dude apparently is in a lot of debt - Satsuki has poor taste in men. Worse still, when his creditors asked him for his address, the dude seems to have given them the address of Ohana's apartment.
Rather than dealing with his debts like a reasonable person, he and Satsuki decide to abandon the apartment and run away together so as to get the creditors off their trail. To them, this doubles as a romantic getaway, and thus, they don't want to take Ohana along with them. Satsuki decides to ship Ohana off to Kissui, and thus the show begins.
Basically, it all boils down to Satsuki being a godawful excuse for a parent.


text:
Why did Yuno not die after her diary was destroyed by Aru?
In episode 22 of Mirai Nikki after Aru kissed Yukiteru, a angry Yuno runs and attacks Aru who slices/breaks her future diary in half. I definitely heard the phone go static which indicates when a future is changing, so my question is why didn't she die?

you can find the answer to that in later episodes


text:
Who is Evermillion?
Evermillion was sealed inside Takamura's body/soul. She is arguably the most powerful witch, an endless source of mana, a deity, _______.
Tower Witches want to dominate / own her, workshop witches want to keep her locked.
Exactly WHAT or WHO is Evermillion?

I basically just trashed my other answer, but you can always see it again in the edit history:  as of now she is still an unknown assailant.
Background- Still unknown (partially):

Evermillion is a huge mystery. Her origins, how she came to be sealed in Honoka, why she was sealed, and even what she actually is; are completely unknown (she referred to herself as a demon with Honoka, though it's possible she was being metaphorical). Sometime in the past she was sealed inside of Honoka Takamiya with a five layer barrier preventing her from escaping. She seems to have some history with Medusa.

Who is she- Still unknown (partially):

Evermillion (エヴァーミリオン?), fully named White Princess Evermillion
(白姫エヴァーミリオン Shirohime Evamirion?), is an entity of unknown origin
sealed inside Honoka Takamiya. She is addressed as the White Princess
by various characters. A total of five seals were placed on her.

Source: http://witch-craft-works.wikia.com/wiki/Evermillion
Oh yeah, and theres scheduled to be an OVA as of 2015 per Wikipedia too.

will there be a second season? :)

@Mindwin- Maybe, but looking at the mangas, there should be enough content for a season 2. This is a good link to look at though > http://myanimelist.net/forum/?topicid=1118399


text:
Is there a Naming Scheme for the Abyssal Ships?
In Kantai Collection, the Ship Girls like Fusou and Bismark are named from real life ships.
I am wondering if the Abyssal Ships like Wo and Ta are named with a particular scheme aswell or if it's just random? (I'm not Referring to Bosses like Southern War Demon or Anchorage Princess)

There is definitely some pattern to the naming of these ships. The enemy ship classes are named in Iroha order corresponding to the first 18 characters of the Iroha, a classic Japanese poem which uses all 47 classical hiragana* (excluding ん but including ゑ and ゐ) once. This is an old-fashioned way of ordering hiragana (modern Japanese usually uses Gojūon ordering). It can be used to label things in order without resorting to numbers, similar to how one might use letters A, B, C, etc. For example, the series Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei uses the same ordering for classrooms, though in modern day Japan classrooms would usually be labelled by letters. The main difference between this and other ordering systems is that Iroha order feels more authentically Japanese and old-fashioned than the other options.
A table illustrates the relationship between the numbers and the kana. From the wiki
 Ship Class           Normal #           Elite #          Flagship #
Destroyer I-class       501                514              564
Destroyer Ro-class      502                515              552
Destroyer Ha-class      503                516              553
Destroyer Ni-class      504                514
Light Cruiser Ho-class  505                515              554
...

You can see that the numbers are ascending, particularly in the leftmost column. I'm not sure the right columns are correct since there's some repetitions, but it would be a lot more work to check everything than it's worth doing here. Anyway, at least the normal numbers very clearly count up from 500, while the class kana progress in the Iroha.
That still doesn't explain how the ships themselves are ordered, though it does say how they're named once you know the ordering. The ordering of types is pretty clear. All the Destroyers come before Light Cruisers, which are before the Torpedo Cruisers, etc. For the most part, it goes from smaller to larger ships. It's not exactly the same as the order here for your available ship types (for instance, battleships come after carriers, rather than before), but it's similar.
How the ships are ordered within each type is a bit less clear. I think that most enemy vessel classes are based on a class of ship available to you. For example, Battleship Ru-class seems to be based on the Nagato-class, while the faster but less armored Battleship Ta-class has more similarities with the Kongou-class battleships, and the Aviation Battleship Re-class is based on the Fusou-class aviation battleships. The order there is compatible with the order in the Ship List, in that Nagato-class comes before Kongou-class, which comes before Fusou-class (at least prior to any remodeling).
I suspect for the other types of ships, there's a similar relationship, but I don't actually know which enemy class corresponds to which of your classes, and some don't seem to match well at all. I'm not even sure the creators really put that much thought into it. If there is a nice correspondence, I suspect someone has compiled this somewhere before, if possibly only in Japanese. However, I didn't immediately find it while searching, and it's a tangential enough that I'm not sure it needs to be stated here. Even if there isn't an exact correspondence, it's clear that the enemy ships are numbered in a way that at least makes sense when you compare it to your ship list.
Anyway, at the end of the day, there's no real meaning to the individual names. In terms of literal interpretation, they could have just as well used "A-class", "B-class", etc. (nevermind that those have a different meaning in English). The use of Iroha order here is consistent with the general mood of KanColle as a semi-historical game. It probably isn't worth reading much more into it than that.
 Note that the ship classes are actually written in Katakana, e.g. 駆逐イ級 rather than 駆逐い級. This doesn't really change anything significant, and one can just as well write the Iroha in Hiragana or Katakana. In this context, it's similar to writing in italics in English. There's a bit more to it than that, but the subtleties between Hiragana and Katakana use in this sort of context aren't really worth going into here.


text:
Does a Cubone kill its own mother?
It's pretty common knowledge that Cubone wields the skull of it's deceased mother. But how does the mother die? Do Cubone's kill their mother at birth, or do they just die after giving birth?

I was under the impression it was killed by Team Rocket.

I always thought he was born like that...

Can't say for sure but, if Cubones do kill their mothers at birth, I would think it is not intentional—at least from the sad tone of its Pokédex entries.

Always wears the skull of its deceased mother on its head and never shows its face. It cries mournfully in the moonlight.

It pines for the mother it will never see again. Seeing a likeness of its mother in the full moon, it cries.

When it thinks of its dead mother, it cries.

Source: Bulbapedia - Cubone

This particular entry seems to have the most detail about the mother's death, but I don't think it is very clear (Generation I):

It lost its mother after its birth. It wears its mother's skull, never revealing its true face.

One theory is that Pokedex entries are based mostly on folklore that trainers have collated over the years. Which would account for many entries which seem exaggerated. For example:

Shedinja: Shedinja's hard body doesn't move - not even a twitch. In fact, its body appears to be merely a hollow shell. It is believed that this Pokémon will steal the spirit of anyone peering into its hollow body from its back.

The pokemon Arceus is said to have emerged from an egg in a place where there was nothing, then shaped the world.
The later series seem to specify information that are not fact or proven more reliably than the earlier series.
So potentially, the information about Cubone wearing its mother skull is nothing more than a rumour.
Supporting this theory, any Cubone that produces an egg in the day care center in the video games do not die afterwards.

How awesome would it be if it did, though? :P

There is a fan theory that fits your question but is, of course, a theory.  Cubone is the child of a Kangaskhan whose mother deceased but it has not aged enough to become a Kangaskhan.  The mother's skull is, therefore, fitting as the Pokemon would only appear if the mother was dead.  The only way to explain how a species could exist if every birth yields 1 child with 100% mortality rate for the mother is to say that it isn't really a different species but a special evolution that occurs under some very depressing circumstances.
There are several viable counterarguments to this theory based on color differences, breeding, and evolutions. This theory only really worked during the generation 1 games, but it was the answer which I thought to be most believable and striking at the time.

To answer the question better, this would imply that the cubone appears mourning its mother if any only if she dies while s/he is still a child.  There would, therefore, be no reason for the young Kangaskhan to have killed the elder. The death would be from any imaginable causes that can kill a pokemon.

I know it's kinda late, but in Pokemon Origins : File 2, The stories set in Lavender Tower and told about Marowak, Cubone's mother, is killed by Team Rocket when she protected Cubone from team rocket.

She explains Cubone's story to Red: A trio of Team Rocket Grunts was
  poaching Pokémon near town, and captured a Mankey, a Raticate, a
  Sandshrew, and a Sandslash. One Grunt noticed Cubone attempting to run
  away, and the others almost netted it, in hopes of selling it for a
  high price; however, an unknown Pokémon tackled them to protect it.
  The Pokémon was soon revealed to be Cubone's mother, a Marowak, who
  told her child to run. Cubone was hesitant at first, but soon ran off.
  One of the Grunts, infuriated by Marowak's intervention, pulled out a
  stun baton and beat her to death. The orphaned Cubone was found by Mr.
  Fuji and given a loving home.


text:
Why is Sailor Moon (2014) not airing on TV?
The new Sailor Moon seems to be showing on Niconico exclusively. Why would it not air on TV, or both?

Very interesting question. A quick search of the Japanese internet suggests that nobody knows why. Some have posited that it's because the new anime is going to be a bit more risque - but that certainly hasn't stopped things like Daimidaler from airing on TV this season, so...

Since the series (being a large well-known brand) is targeted to at least 10 different languages, it makes sense to promote in in a medium that's more accessible. Additionally the deployment and scheduling cost might be substantially lower and/or more flexible (not to mention less regulation).

Like senshin mentioned, nobody really knows for sure. One possible speculation floating around is if Toei has another series on TV in July (Say, Precure or Dragon Ball Kai) they wouldn't want it to compete with Sailor Moon Crystal...but even that explanation doesn't make much sense.
Most likely, streaming Crystal on an online service such as NicoNico is the easiest way of reaching an international market, since NicoNico will be streaming SMC with 10 different subtitled languages available. Online streaming could be the easiest way for Toei to keep track of how well Crystal does (internationally and in Japan), either before creating more seasons or airing it on Japanese TV.

Sailor Moon Crystal would not likely compete with PreCure (and certainly not with the shounen Dragon Ball Kai: shoujo competes with shoujo, shounen competes with shounen; there is a strongly-marked bifurcation in Japanese kids merchandising), and it is not likely that Toei is tracking how well it does in Japan in order to decide whether to air it on Japanese TV in the future (see the reasons I explain in my answer below).

I think this is the main reason for online streaming only: Sailor Moon Crystal is not expected to make money among the Japanese, so its only hope to turn a profit is to make it available to viewers outside of Japan.
The classic anime series aired on Japanese television and garnered many fans inside of Japan, so tons of merchandise was sold to little girls.  The reboot is not airing on Japanese TV; it is streaming on a website called NicoNico Douga.
In Western countries, streaming technology like Hulu and Netflix is hugely popular.  In spite of the rest of the world’s image of Japan as technologically-savvy, a large number of Japanese young adults are virtually computer and internet illiterate, only accustomed to using mobile-friendly websites on smartphones.  Among all of my college friends here in Japan, I have only met one who had heard of NicoNico, and none who have heard of Hulu even though it exists in Japan.  If not even the college crowd knows about NicoNico, I can guarantee you that the older generation and the shrinking birthrate’s Japanese kids aren’t aware that the reboot exists, nor would know how to access it even if they did.  The average Japanese family won’t huddle around the TV set on a Saturday morning to watch the next episode of the reboot, like they did for the classic series in the 90s.  This means that the entire Japanese viewership for the reboot will be the middle-aged otaku who’ve stayed fans for 20 years.  Director Munehisa Sakai specifically said, “We want grown women who watched the original anime to watch this!” Well, I am a grown woman who watched the original anime and who is living in the Japan, but I really don't want to fork out to buy a monthly subscription to NicoNico just to watch 1 show that only airs 1 episode every 2 weeks. If they had wanted to attempt something of a substantial Japanese viewership without airing it on TV, they should have at least put it in the Japanese Hulu (hulu.jp), but they didn't.
The chance that the reboot will draw in new Japanese fans is unlikely.  And the chance that the legions of Japanese young adults who avidly tuned in to BSSM as kindergarteners back in the day will even realize there’s a reboot is unlikely.
Consequently, the reboot is not very marketable in Japan.  Some new merchandise is being produced, but the sales numbers will be nothing like the boom in the 90s when thousands of elementary school girls across Japan were buying the costumes, transformation toys, dolls, stationary items, picture books, paper dolls, coloring books, etc.
The Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon live-action TV series did air on Japanese TV and did produce a collection of merchandise marketed to little girls.  Even so, it only ran for one season: the Dark Kingdom arc.
When I first heard news of the reboot, I wondered if BSSM might possibly come back out of the woodwork and give the Pretty Cure franchise a run for its money (this would be a considerable challenge, since Japanese kids may have heard of BSSM but haven’t watched it at all, whereas they’ve grown up on Pretty Cure, and PreCure is able to switch in and out the character types in each incarnation of the series, keeping things fresh yet familiar.  In contrast, BSSM is one long tale with the same core characters throughout, less up-to-date, and less child-friendly.  But soundly thrashing PreCure wasn’t a total impossibility).  However, I can safely say that Pretty Cure is firmly holding its ground on the airwaves and on the shelves of the toy stores, electronics stores, 100 yen shops, everywhere in town.  I’ve only come across 20th anniversary BSSM merchandise in a clearance bin in one store.  Not even Animate, the main anime merchandise store, has any Sailor Moon Crystal merchandise in stock.
The reboot anime is 26 episodes long, period.  Those 26 episodes are scheduled to be released over the span of a year, one every other week.  The series would need to be renewed in order to run past the first story arc (Dark Kingdom) in or after 2015.  It’s possible that it could get approval to be extended, BUT the situation is very different from the classic anime series’ run.
If the reboot gets extended, it will need to be based on the marketability abroad: the international BSSM fan community.  How many of you are planning to import reboot merchandise from Japan within the next few months?  If you aren't, then I'd warn against expecting to see further seasons produced.


text:
Why do anime series change titles so often (nearly for every "season")?
I've always wondered this, but why do anime series titles change so often whenever it gets a new "season"?
I mean, I understand that the title stays the same for long running series, like Bleach or One Piece, but why do new "seasons" for one or two cour anime have slightly different names? For example...

To Aru Kagaku no Railgun, To Aru Kagaku no Railgun S
Zero no Tsukaima, Zero no Tsukaima: Futatsuki no Kishi, Zero no Tsukaima: Princesses no Rondo, Zero no Tsukaima F
Medaka Box, Medaka Box Abnormal
Sword Art Online, Sword Art Online II
Ore no Imouto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai, Ore no Imouto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai.
K-On!, K-On!!

I'm particularly interested in the last two, where the only noticeable difference in the title is a punctuation mark. They're all direct sequels, so why not just give it the same name as the first season, like in American television? The source material keeps its name throughout its entire life (e.g. there was never a Naruto: Shippuuden manga or a Shakugan no Shana III light novel), so why do their anime adaptations get different titles?
Is there a legal thing in Japan which disallows a production for one "season" to have the same name as another, for clarification purposes? Or do the producers/whoever chooses the names just want to attract more fans by making a distinction between different "seasons"?
Some insight into how the airing of anime works would be much appreciated.

Dragon Ball - Dragon Ball Z

Ore no Imouto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai is there twice.

@user1306322 Observe the period at the end of the second one.

I asked a related question at [movies.SE].

Okay, based on what I've learned here, I think I understand why you're asking this question - it looks like it boils down to the fact American television and anime use the word "season" differently.
The way anime is produced nowadays is that the production of a second season is almost always strongly contingent on the commercial success of the first season. As such, production will typically halt completely in between seasons - different seasons are different productions. What this means is that what anime watchers call "seasons" are what American TV watchers call "series".1
And this, I think, is the important insight. It is rare for American television to feature shows that have multiple series (separated by halts in production) set in the same continuity, since American television production functions differently. American shows typically semi-continuously churn out new content (a la The Simpsons) until they get cancelled.
In the specific cases you used as examples (Railgun, Zero no Tsukaima, Medaka, SAO, OreImo, K-ON), it looks like all of them experienced halts in production between each season.

I mean, I understand that the title stays the same for long running series, like Bleach or One Piece...

Right, and the key factor here is that Bleach and One Piece are each one continuous production - because there was never a halt in production, they never got a new title.2

The source material keeps its name throughout its entire life (e.g. there was never a Naruto: Shippuuden manga or a Shakugan no Shana III light novel), so why do their anime adaptations get different titles?

So again, this boils down to the fact that the Naruto manga and the Shakugan no Shana light novels were each one continuous production (as basically all manga series and light novels are). There's no logical breaking point at which to change titles in these cases.

I'm particularly interested in the last two, where the only noticeable difference in the title is a punctuation mark.

The practice of using a punctuation mark rather than a subtitle or other designation to identify a new season is a stupid practice that has been "trendy" recently, and should (with any luck) die out eventually. Still, the idea is basically the same - K-On!! could just as well have been called K-On! 2 or K-On!: This Time It's Cuter or whatever - anything to indicate that it's a separate production from the original series K-On!.

Is there a legal thing in Japan which disallows a production for one "season" to have the same name as another, for clarification purposes?

I'm no expert on Japanese law, but I would be astounded if this were the case.

Addendum: the case of Fairy Tail is interesting - it ran from Oct 2009 to Mar 2013, then stopped for a while, and picked back up again in Apr 2014. Despite this, the name of the series did not change - it was called Fairy Tail both before and after the break in airing.3
My suspicion here is that the break in airing had been planned in advance, and that the producers had planned to resume airing once the manga had had some time to get ahead.
If this is in fact the case, there would have been no reason to halt production during the break in airing - it was already known at the time airing stopped that they would be making more episodes. Contrast this with e.g. Railgun - when the first season finished in 2010, they didn't know (for sure) that they'd be making a second season (which didn't end up happening until 2013).

Notes
1 In most cases, anime has no notion that is equivalent to what American TV watchers call "seasons"; the major exception would probably be long-running children's anime (think Doraemon, Sazae-san, etc.).
2 This explanation doesn't really work for Naruto vs. Naruto Shippuden, though, and I'm not familiar enough with that show to posit an explanation. You might like to ask about that particular case separately if it interests you.
3 Regarding which, see this question.

Thanks! I was wary about using the word "seasons" (hence why I put it in quotes) since I knew it could potentially have a different meaning when it comes to anime. I figured that one possible reason was because of halts in production, but didn't know why a restart in production would change the title. If it's just to indicate a separate production, then I suppose it makes sense.

Though, Fairy Tail recently underwent a halt in production, as well as a restart - although the fans have dubbed the new one Fairy Tail (2014), the official title is just Fairy Tail. Does that indicate the producers intend the restart to be a continuous production?

@erpmine I added some commentary about Fairy Tail.

It's simply a way of indicating to the viewer that the episodes are new. TV ratings wars are extremely ferece in Japan, as are DVD sales wars. The producers want even the show's title to scream "new!" at you.
To give you an idea of how bad it has become, TV channels often start their programming at weird times like 3 minutes to the hour or 7 minutes past the hour. The reason for this is to discourage people from changing channel. At 3 minutes to the hour everyone else is still showing adverts, so you start watching what they have. At 7 minutes past the programme you were just watching overran the start of other channel's shows. They will do pretty much anything to get viewers it seems.

Bellow is from my observations, i have no credible sources for this
Some of the title changes are a meaning to their new season, ie.

Naruto Shippuuden: Shippuuden means hurricane and Naruto in it is becoming for of a wind style Chakra User.
Maria Watches Over Us:  the second season is subtitled Printemps which means Spring in french which symbolizes not only the time the season is set but the "blooming" of new relationships after the Lady Roses graduate and the further blossoming relationship between Yumi and Sachiko
Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha: the second season is A's but it is pronounced as Ēsu which could a lot like Ace. it was the Book of Darkness incident which saw Nanoha, Fate and Hayate be seen by lower TSAB agents as Aces at their young age.

the use of a number (or in Sword Art Online roman numerals II) is more indicative of a new season since it just omits the word season in there (ie. Sword Art Online Season II, Shakugan no Shana Season III). i more or less think K-On is doing the same with the ! since if you flip it it's a lowercase I which when capitalized would be the roman numeral.
A different name can also be used to show a distinction between 2 series such as story (Fullmetal Alchemist, Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood), being a re-release (Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball Z Kai) or having a new writer (Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT). for uses like S or F these could actually be words Second and Further
name changes can normally be a result of long "hiatus" periods between seasons as alot of anime is adapted from manga and light novels, as such a manga or light novel which would continue on long after the anime has stopped wouldn't have a name change but the anime would choose to adopt a subtitle when it resumes (if it resumes)


text:
Does Ira Gamagori have an official height?
Ira Gamagori is a pillar of strength and a very large man, But his height seems to change vastly throughput the show.
Smaller:

Larger:

Obviously his height changes to emphasise his largeness, but is there any official word on the height that Gamagori is meant to be? Perhaps in a character profile or something similar?

There's an Elite 4 size reference: http://i.imgur.com/ktduUbn.jpg

The below height chart has been circulating around the internet:

But I don't think it's accurate, so I did some rough calculations using a different source.
The circulated chart puts Gamagori at 2.69m or 8" 8'
KillLaKill.com have some character profiles on their site of the different characters.
If we assume Ryuko has the average female Japanese height - 158 cm (5 ft 2 in), then we could estimate Gamagori's height by resizing the images so that the scale of the characters is more reasonable. I used head size for this, as the differences should be smaller than if we compared other features:
1.58m * 1.66 Ryukos = 2.6228m or 8"7'. This is quite similar to the above image

There are obviously lots of flaws in this calculation. Scaling was based off of visual inspection, Ryuko may not be the average female height, not using the standard Nonon unit of measurement, etc. But it does give a certain range that his height may fall in.

one thing that bother me is Nonon's height, if this scale is true then Nonon should be around 1.2 m, why did you also measure her hat?

That's the chart that has been circulating, which I was a bit doubtful of for a couple of reasons, one of them being Nonon and her hat. I'll reword the intro to make it clearer


text:
What is the laws of cause and effect in Mirai Nikki?
I was reading over Deus on the Mirai Nikki wiki. I was reading the following sentence here but I do not understand what it is meant by "cause and effect". Heres an extract of that sentence:

Deus Ex Machina is the God of Time and Space and a major character of Future Diary manga and anime...... Able to manipulate time, space, and the laws of cause and effect, Deus is the most powerful character in the series and acts as the judge of the survival game.

However I do not understand what the laws of cause and effect are? What does this mean? Does it mean that he can influence others destinys or lives? Change the outcome?
What are the laws of cause and effect? I cannot remember them being mentioned before. So to summarise I am asking....

What is the laws of cause and effect. E.g. they are....
What are they. E.g. One cannot do this.... you can do that....

Does anyone know?

I think this doesn't mean anything, just some words a wikia editor thought would be cool to throw in for effect.

"he can influence others destinies or lives" Deus never intervene the game, but he give some power to Minene because muru muru try to manipulate the game. With that, he can do anything and change the outcome of the game if he want.

but I doubt if 'laws of cause and effect' here meaning he can change someone destiny. It's more about the diary, if someone do something different after seeing his diary, it will change what happen next. Like when Yuki decided to open the door, Deus fully understand what is that means and it change the game of survival entirely and change every other diary. It's something like the Butterfly effect

As I understand it, he made this statement to describe his creation of the future diaries. That said, whatever the original laws of cause and effect were, and whatever his alterations to the were, we know that the result is that people are now able to know events that will take place in the future.
So at the very least, it can be concluded that the law of cause and effect that was changed is the law that it is impossible for a person to know future events, but the changing of this law has several loose ends that must be addressed as well:

Is the diary holder's mere knowledge of the event enough to alter the future? In the anime, the answer is no. A player must take action contrary or antithetical to the predicted event.
Is a diary holder's propensity or volition to take actions contrary to a prediction enough to change it? This isn't made entirely clear in the anime, as sometimes a character's volition to take different actions changes the prediction, while other times it doesn't.

So the two above items most likely constitute the "changes to the laws of time and space" that Deus made.


text:
What happens to a tailed beast if it's Jinkiurichi is killed?
What happens to a tailed beast if it's Jinkiurichi is killed while he still has the tailed beast inside of him/her?

If the Jinchuriki is killed then the chakra of the tailed beast disperses and after a while reforms somewhere else.

Quotes are always good or references. That way when answering, you get more upvotes on your answers. :)

It was stated that the Bijuu will disappear from the world for a while, and then reappear at some later time.
This was first said by Kushina on the day of the Nine-tails' attack that "I'll drag him down with me to death, that will buy us some time until it revives".
It was then later reinforced on several occasions that killing a Jinchuuriki without extracting the Bijuu will make it reappear at a later time in an apparently random place.


text:
Do Isaac and Miria ever get confronted by law enforcement?
In one of the Baccano! episodes (apparently episode 8, according to Wikipedia), we see a number of people from the police being briefed about the burglaries committed by Isaac and Miria. Does the pair actually end up getting confronted by law enforcement anytime in the course of the anime series (or even the light novels)? I don't recall this happening in the anime, but I have read that it leaves out some details from the light novels.

Some undercover cops over hear Issac talking in the Alvaere about their various crimes (in 1934) and asks him and Miria to come see a show at a nearby building. Issac asks Miria to go fetch his wallet, and then tells the police officer to go ahead and arrest him. Due to being in the middle of Martillo territory with a lot of the gang glaring at them, they decide to only arrest Issac instead of making a scene trying to capture Miria, who is then sent to stay with Jacuzzi's crew at the Genoard vacation manor to lay low until the charges against her are dropped, where she remains until she goes to meet Issac after his release.
Victor pulls some strings and agrees to drop the charges against Miria and give Issac a reduced sentence if he'll help them with Huey at Alcatraz. Since Firo agreed to go to prison in exchange for Victor not pursuing his vendetta against Ennis for devouring his friend (and being involved with Szilard's schemes), they decided not to use Issac and he simply did his time (3 1/2 months), and was released, and then he and Miria had a clean slate.
Due to the ridiculousness of all the crimes, the only crime Issac was actually charged with was robbing the Genoard mansion.

In the eighth novel (year 1934), Firo is sent to Alcatraz by Victor Talbot and meets both Isaac and Ladd Russo there. Isaac was imprisoned for various thefts but is released in the same year.
This is the only known sentence and it's not known which thefts, but I recall from the anime that the police knew most of their criminal actions. I don't know why he was released the same year or why Miria wasn't in prison, though.

In 1934 in the novels Isaac gets arrested and sent to Alcatraz.

more information on how that happened and the circumstances would be greatly appreciated

This is far to vague to be counted as an answer. When answering, try to include sources or references.

This is what I'm looking for, but you should be a bit more specific. (For instance, which novel?)


text:
Which Baccano novels were adapted by the anime?
Given that the Baccano! novels are still publishing (21 so far), it's pretty clear that the anime (16 episodes total, with 13 episode main series and 3 OVAs) didn't adapt all of them.  However, there doesn't seem to be much information available as to which novels were adapted. My standard sources for checking how far an anime got all don't seem to have information on Baccano, probably because of the complicated formatting.
Which novels were adapted by the anime? I'm aware that the formatting of both the anime and the novels may make this confusing, so feel free to list some as partially adapted if there are significant parts of the story which were not covered by the anime.

Book 1: Rolling Bootlegs (1930) - Reasonably faithful but was condensed (also, instead of starting in 2002 with the story being told to a tourist in the Alvaere, it starts in 1935 with Gustav and Carol looking over their information of the events of 1930-1932. And the events happen differently in the novels though the end result is the same, though it does change Firo's character interpretation. In the novels, he's actually a HUGE dick, almost as bad as Dallas, the only people he shows any respect to are his Martillo superiors, his childhood friends, and Ennis and later Czes. Whereas in the anime he's got more of a shonen hero vibe going on). It also left out the fact that the mugger in the first episode was probably the most important character of the 1930 plotline (and his encounter with Firo was moved to 1932, where as in the novel it happens right at the beginning of the 1930 story, just before Firo goes to buy his hat with Maiza). Also Firo's saving of Ennis was MUCH more involved and took approximately 3 hours. He had to make a small sample of the imperfect elixir using Szilard's memories and then use it to reset her default state using his own cells to replace the genetic information Szilard had withdrawn (she is biologically his daughter following her revival).
Book 2: Grand Punk Railroad (1931) - Local Edition - Was mostly faithful but condensed (and left out a somewhat important insight into Ladd's true character). It also cut out Jacuzzi vs the Rail Tracer. It does however make one change, by merging Chane with some aspects of her sister, namely the implied telepathy and conspicuous use of birds in said scenes. Chane herself is a completely normal human, while her sister possesses the above mentioned traits as a result of being used in an experiment using information Huey stole from Szilard's research into creating a true homunculus, as opposed to failures like Ennis.
Book 3: Grand Punk Railroad (1931) - Express Edition - Was reasonably faithful in what was shown but left out about 2/3 of the book, including Rachel's encounter with the corrupt train executive and her final encounter with the Rail Tracer, 97% of Claire's side of the story (the parts it does show are from other people's perspectives and as a result you learn nothing about Claire's personality which makes seeing his true self in the OVAs much more jarring), Lua's story, and Fred the Doctor. Since Jacuzzi never fought the Rail Tracer in the anime, his side of the event showing what happened in the aftermath was also left out.
The out-of-place scene in the first episode (with the blonde girl with the spear) is during the climax of book 6, The Slash - Cloudy to Rainy (1933).
The 1932 plotline was VERY loosely based on the events of book 4, Drugs and Dominoes (1932), but has no resemblance to the source material after about episode 2. Eve searching for her brother was a minor plot point that only served to get her to New York and was resolved immediately on their first visit to the Daily Days. It's pretty much all filler after that, with only the beginning and very end showing any actual resemblance to anything from the book. (It also completely contradicts the source material in several places and merges several characters.)
The OVAs cover about 1/3 of Book 14, Another Punk Railroad (1930-1934), which is mostly a background book to fill in some of the gaps left in the previous books (it is extremely faithful aside from the parts involving Elmer which were actually based on events from book 5. Also Rachel's backstory was supposed to be told in book 3 from her to the rail tracer during their last encounter on the train. And the domino scene is from book 4.). (The train ride Gustav St. Germain asks Carol to remember in the very first episode of the series also happens in book 14). The stinger of the OVAs is the beginning of Book 6, The Slash - Cloudy to Rainy.
The stinger for episode 13 is actually the beginning of Book 5, Children of the Bottle (2001). Most of the content from episode 7 is taken from a flashback arc in Book 5. Rolling Bootleg only gave a VERY abridged version of what happened on the ship and did so immediately at the beginning of the story.
There're also little bits of information taken from books 1-14 that are too numerous or minor to be worth mentioning.

Worth noting, anyone interested in the Novels, DO NOT SKIP ANY OF THEM, even if you've seen the anime. It barely scratches the surface of what the novels actually covered (the anime tried to give each character some screen time, but ended up only really covering about 3-4 with anything resembling depth (Rachel, Jacuzzi, Chane, Czes (sort of...it left out some pretty important stuff though)). The Gandors and Lua especially got shafted despite being named in the opening, despite actually having some very interesting background/stories/character development), in addition to the main plots and answers nearly all the common questions that come up after watching the anime. Also as mentioned, while the end result is usually the same, how they got there is sometimes dramatically different (and IMO, is FAR better done then the anime's attempts at condensing it to fit in 13 episodes. If they'd had 26, it might've worked out better, or just dropped 1932 entirely to free up more time.

Worth noting, anyone interested in the Novels, DO NOT SKIP ANY OF THEM, even if you've seen the anime. It barely scratches the surface of what the novels actually covered, in addition to the main plots and answers nearly all the common questions that come up after watching the anime. Also as mentioned, while the end result is usually the same, how they got there is sometimes dramatically different (and IMO, is FAR better done then the anime's attempts at condensing it to fit in 13 episodes. If they'd had 26, it might've worked out better, or just dropped 1932 entirely to free up more time.

I feel that you should incorporate that remark to the answer. As always Comments are ephemeral. That being said I'd really love to do that for you if you don't in the next 24 hours ;)

thanx everyone
really needed this info or else i wont have read the novels at all


text:
Given the fact that Itachi asked Obito to help him eliminate the Uchiha, why was he surprised when he knew about the secret mission?
When reanimated Itachi fought against Naruto, he asked him what happened to Sasuke. Naruto proceeded to tell him about what Obito (at the time, Madara) said, and tells him the convince Sasuke to join the Akatsuki while taking revenge on Konoha for betraying his brother.
Itachi then looks surprised and says "Damn Madara, he knew about my secret mission after all".
However, given the fact that Itachi asked for his help in massacring the Uchiha, why is he so surprised? After all, he told him enough about it.

Maybe that time, he knew that Madara is Obito. So he actually telling the mission to Obito himself.

I don't think he did, and regardless, it doesn't really matter if he did or didn't know. (Fact that he said "damn Madara" even relatively later in the plot, when he was reanimated, means that he didn't know back then)

Itachi may have asked Madara's help but it was never explicitly said that he revealed the true reason behind his actions.

Itachi may have lied to Madara like he did to Sasuke that he massacred
  all uchiha to test his powers.

Itachi may be thinking that Madara was convinced with his reasoning, while Madara knew the true reason that he was doing all this by leaf village's orders.

Maybe in the anime they made Itachi act surprised to not give away the plot.
Or maybe he could be referring to another secret mission, in which it was Itachi's plan to help lead Sasuke to the right path, and yet Obito figured this out and used the darkness in Sasuke's heart to control him.


text:
What happened to Kakashi's Sharingan?
After Madara warped out of the Kamui dimension, what happened to Kakashi's sharingan? Did Madara destroy it?

No, it was implanted back to Obito, it's seen when they warp back out, Obito's left eye is back to be his Mangekyo (the eye the Black Zetsu part of him has).