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Is there some type of connection between Mavis and Zeref?
In opening 10 of Fairy Tail at 1:15 we see Mavis and Zeref walking towards each other. When their lines of vision meet, a look of deja vu appears on their faces, indicating that they have meet before. Do they know each other and what is their connection? Did they once love each other? (That's the speculation on my part.)
Please watch the opening of Fairy Tail, Number 10 here first before answering my question so you have a better understanding on what I am asking in my question.
Answers are appreciated.

not disclosed till now. neither in manga nor in anime.

Until now there's still no flash back about their relationship.
From chapter 450 'The One And Only This World' it was confirmed that

Mavis and Zeref love each other, and because of Zeref's curse, Mavis died

They could have quite possibly been rivals at one time judging on boths abilities and powers.

I think Zeref and Mavis had a thing. You know how Zeref said one day, that he realized the meaning of life and stopped all of his bad ways? Well, I think that day was the day Mavis died. Possibly killed by Zeref himself. He may have felt terrible and realized that he needed to be stopped. So as he awaits Natsu to get stronger, he stays near Mavis, enjoying her presences till the day comes.

good prediction i guess. +1 to this

Lets just say I never thought of this before. +1 for this.

About the Natsu-part: Zeref stopped mass-murdering "some" time ago (depite plotting something again now). But, the possibility of time travels aside, he has an abnormal long lifespan. What if he managed to become completely immortal regarding age during his "evil-time" and needs someone to surpass him / kill him to be able to die? ...

It is interesting to see that this is exactly what happened more than a year after you posted it...

Yes. They know each other. In Fairy Tail Zero chapter 7, they met at a lake in the forest.

Zeref taught Mavis, Zeira, Precht, Warrod, and Yuri Dreyar their magic. The two were friends and Zeref hinted that it was because of him (directly or indirectly) that Mavis died.

If you could find a link that supports your answer. Please add it. Thanks and welcome to Stack.

Actually from the Fairy Tail manga, it isn't clear whether Mavis actually died or if she was only sealed away, like with Deliora. Especially since you can see her spirit lingering. It could be that her "spirit" is actually one of her illusions and that she communicates through her illusions while being sealed. I'm getting pretty hyped about her powers tbh. Too bad FT zero is only released montly.

In the latest chapter, number 448:

 In the two last pages, Mavis appears and wants to tell everyone in the Guild the truth about Lumen Histoire/Fairy Heart: It's about a cursed girl and the cursed boy.

In the last few panels,

 Zeref and she are shown - and she's about to lean against him.

I think that's a quite clear hint on their relationship.


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What is the meaning behind Re-l's name?
In one episode we see Re-l's name on a computer terminal. However where the "-" is, we see it's actually supposed to be an "A" as the rest of the letter is just visible. This means her name may have been supposed to be Real.
I am wondering: if there is some sort of meaning behind Re-l's name having originally been Real but being recognised as Re-l?

Perhaps, this is just so you would unmistakably pronounce it as intended.

Her name is written in katakana as リル・メイヤ (Riru Meiya), leaves her romanized name up to interpretation... but it's speculated that there seems to be a some parallel between the her ID number (124C41+) and the episode title: リル124C41+/RE-l124c41+ and Re-L as a character. The code is based off of a sci-fi novel by Hugo Gernsback, titled Ralph 124C 41+. The title in itself, is a play on words meaning "one to foresee for one another (1 2 4C 4 1 +)".
It's assumed that the significance of her name is based on the protagonist of the book, who saves the heroine by directing energy at an avalanche, and then continues to do on about about modern technology and the wonders which actually proved as successful predictions in regards of the technology we have today. E.g., solar power, transcontinental air travel, synthetic foods, tape recorders, etc.
I assume that like most (if not all) of the characters in the series, she's named after historical figures, philosophers, and/or fictional characters.
There's speculation in the fan community that Re-L may be an imperfect clone of Monad Proxy and her name is a reflection on that.

HEAVY SPOILERS AHEAD.
This anime is rife with Gnostic symbolism and themes. The meaning of Re-l's name is actually very critical to understanding the point of the entire show. Before I can tell you the meaning of Re-l's name, you need to understand a bit about the Gnostic themes expressed in Ergo Proxy.
The main thing you need to know about Gnosticism to understand the meaning behind the names Re-l and Real is that Gnostics endeavor to achieve union with God, where a human can truly touch the Divine.
This steps beyond the dogmatism of monotheistic religious beliefs. What Gnostics seek is a realization of "true reality." For the Gnostics, who were very much influenced by Neoplatonism and Plato's idea that this true reality exists beyond the physical, material world. In this physical world, we are condemned to suffering and repetition of all our mistakes. Plato believed true Reality exists in the Mind. For Plato, that which is real is an idea. This most well-known articulation of this conception of our place in the world is expressed through Plato's famous allegory of The Cave. To some extent, we can think of the life of illusion that "everything is okay" experienced by the "fellow citizens" in the dome cities is a parallel to the people tied up in Plato's Cave. When Re-l and Vincent begin their journey outside of the dome, they soon begin to see things as they really are, thus serving as a parallel for the person who escaped their bonds and ventures outside the cave. When Re-l and Vincent encounter the deformed, sluggish and sickly people in an actual cave filled with noxious poison gas, Re-l reflects on her experience in the Romdo. She notes that these people, in their effort to hide from the real world of suffering and pain, have stunted their development as beings. She realizes that they are not so different from the people in Romdo. This further serves to solidify that this theme in Ergo Proxy refers to Plato's Cave.
The Gnostics take this idea one step further by claiming that dogmatic religion up to this point has lied to us and kept us apart from the true Reality. Ergo Proxy does a good job of representing this lie told to us by society with the way the government of Romdo lies to its people, claiming it is for their own good. Plato believes we can find truth in the world outside the cave, while the Gnostics seek to become one with this truth. Ultimately, the meaning of the Gnostic ideal of union with God is something that has been interpreted in different ways by many different scholars. I have my own opinion about what this union with God looks like, but I am not going to go into that here. Here I am just going to answer the question, "What is the meaning behind Re-l's name?"
What Ergo Proxy offers us is an interpretation of the Gnostic ideal of union with God and the true Reality. Through their quest for knowledge, Re-l and Vincent learn about how the Proxies created the Domes so that people could continue their lives on this apocalyptic husk of a planet. At this point we learn the Real, an apparent clone of Re-l, is actually a reincarnation of Monad Proxy. Real urges Vincent to fly to the sky with her and abandon the world of suffering and pain below. However, Daedalus tells us that when Proxies are exposed to the sun, they die. The blue sky and sun above the clouds represents the true Gnostic Reality, and this interpretation is further supported by Plato's use of Light as a symbol for the Mind and the truth of ideas. The world of Earth, below the clouds, is dark and full of pain and suffering, but it is also the place where Vincent, as a Proxy, can live as a physical being with desires, pleasure, pain, and everything else entailed by living here. What this reveals is that Ergo Proxy is presenting the Gnostic Reality as bliss, complete unity with all of creation, and thus, oblivion. Yes--freedom from the physical form means relinquishing this physical form. To become part of the infinite is to relinquish the finite, and thus relinquish mortality, and indeed, life. To unite with God is to die, but also to stop suffering. We see this when Real flies to the clouds and disintegrates as a blur, merging with the greater cosmos.
Vincent, as a Proxy, occupies a space between this physical reality and the true Reality. Perhaps he is like the man who ventures outside of the cave in Plato's allegory. But Vincent was very much attached to the world of humanity, the imperfect, painful, dark and desolate world, but also the world full of beauty, innocence, and freedom to choose who you are among the finite. But what I do know is that at the very end, Vincent faced a choice, and this is ultimately where we come to the meaning behind the names Re-l and Real.
Real, the Proxy, offers Vincent a choice to join with the true Reality, if he would only fly up with her into oblivion. Re-l, the human, offers Vincent a choice to stay with humanity and be one of the mortals. They are indeed clones of each other, and their names are so close together yet significantly different. "Re-l" is fragmented, it is almost the full name "Real" but it is missing a letter--it an incomplete name--just like the incomplete physical reality that she represents. "Real" is the full name and she represents this true Reality, the implications of which I have discussed above. Real cannot stay in the physical world because she is destined to fly to the sky and become one with God, a realization which, in Ergo Proxy's interpretation, is oblivion.
At the end, Vincent made his choice. He chose the imperfect Re-l because he loved her. He chose this imperfect reality because he loved it. He abandoned his chance at unity with Reality because he saw this world as a world worth living in. He could never abandon this world.
This is just my interpretation of the meaning behind the names "Re-l" and "Real". Perhaps my interpretation is not what the creators of Ergo Proxy had in mind, but it makes sense to me. I also know there are so many other details and philosophical concepts explored in this anime, that I did not visit in this response. Really this is just my effort to answer the one question at the top of this page.

I think

 that was "ReAl Proxy".
 Daedalus's purpose was to create proxy.

Do you have any sources to back this statement?

maybe in meditatio VII, part of Re-l's name was gray outed at the hospital of Daedalus.

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How long did Light's father have to live?
Since Light's father took the shinigami eyes, which reduce your lifespan by 1/2, and died the same day, does this mean he only had 2 days left to live?

Love the question, just think there is no definite answer to it.

How to Use: XLII (from Volume 08):

The use of the DEATH NOTE in the human world sometimes affects other human’s lives or shortens their original life-span, even though
  their names are not actually written in the DEATH NOTE itself. In
  these cases, no matter the cause, the god of death sees only the
  original life-span and not the shortened life-span.

With this, I would say Soichiro had some time to live still, but the use of the death note made his death unnatural.

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


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Is Magi based on religion?
I started reading the manga Magi recently and can't help but get the feeling that it is based on Islam.
I couldn't find anything online, and neither do I have enough knowledge about the religion to really confirm this either.
So is the story of Magi based on Islam? Or does it use certain key points from this religion?

Precaution: The following may contain spoilers from Magi
This was too long to be posted in comments so I had to make it here and since it serves the purpose too, why not.
So I did a bit of research after the few pointers given out by Dimitri.
On the reference manga page given by Dimitri, I found this:

After looking up the two names David and Solomon, I found the interesting:

Solomōn), also called Jedidiah (Hebrew יְדִידְיָהּ), was, according to
  the Book of Kings, the Book of Chronicles, Hidden Words and the
  Qur'an[2] a king of Israel and the son of David. 1

Book of Chronicles are the final books of the Hebrew Bible.
When you search about Solomon in Islam, the first line you see in wikipedia:

Solomon (Arabic سليمان Sulaymān) was, according to the Qur'an, a king
  of ancient Israel as well as the son of David. 2

Solomon in Islam is more usually called as Sulaymān and David as Daud or Dawud.
The name Jehoahaz also seems to have a reference in the Bible, but not the Quran. So judging from the names used in the anime, they might be relating it more to Christianity.
More information about the names here
And about the Ilah:
ʾIlāh (Arabic: إله; plural: آلهة ʾālihah) is an Arabic term meaning "deity". , it simply means deity in Arabic. So you might be confusing it with Allah who is the God of Muslims.
Summing it up, we can say that Solomon's identity and his Father, David's identity has been taken from religion (more like Christianity) but most part of Magi is derived from fictional characters.

References
1 Solomon reference from Bible
2 Solomon reference from Quran

So in the end it pretty much comes down to religious key points being used, but the series has not specifically been based on religion?

@Dimitrimx Exactly! My reasoning -> Probably because of the fact that it has more impact on the story-line when based on real-life/historic events but too much of it may offend some community.

The short answer is no. It is not based on the Islamic religion. It is based on a several middle eastern originating stories and historical characters.
The main characters names such as Ali Baba and Cassim are from 1001 Nights also known as the Arabian nights. Sinbad is also a character from a series of arabian stories. Solomon was a real king back in 970BC.
Basically what they have done is pulled in several popular names from Arab stories and literature and Middle Eastern history and mixed it in with their story. I'm too new to link more references, but you get the idea.

That covers the name parts. But in some of the more recent chapters where aladin shows solomons wisdom to the people we see them talking about Illah sons of i believe it was abraham . And offcourse the book (forgot the name) which they regard as soeme holy book. Those specific events and names made me think it might be religion related. As i have a small background in religion

They draw from several stories, including tales from the Qu'ran but like I said, they are simply taking familiar names and situations and fitting them into the world of Magi. It's similar to how the new Noah movie is. It has Noah, the arc and the animals, but it's in its own style with new characters and events that are not canon.

@Dimitrimx Since it's an anime partly portraying arab culture, it won't be odd for them to use arabic words too. I haven't read the Magi manga, but have they mentioned 'Abraham' anywhere? I think likely not. Also, Abraham comes from the Bible, Ibrahim is from Quran.

@user007 chapter 219 page 18 jehoahaz abraham and david jehoahaz abraham, here is also mentioned that he is the  first senator in the orthodox counil of elders. Looking back I see some Key points from both relgions coming back in there.

I think we should say it is not based on a single religion, but it definitely uses religion mixed with magic as a fundamental element.

I am Muslim and my answer is, no it's not based on Islam. The culture in Magi was based on the Middle East before Islam.
Jenn, magic, and harem were very common at that time and thousand of stories talked about jennies talking and serve people, and some people were practicing real magic.
There are some events that have been taken from Qur'an as Solomon story and how Allah gave him the power to control jennies and animals.

Magi take place in the Middle East before Islam when the Middle Eastern countries were either Christian countries or countries of Judaism.
I'm guessing Magi takes place in Iraq which used to be a Christian country.

First of all, Sinbad was a real Muslim explorer
Pricess Dunya: Dunya is the Arabic word for "worldliness"
Solomon and David are the main prophets in Islam, Christianity, and Judaism
Jinn are found in the Islam's Qur'an
Even Satan is a jinn in the Qur'an
Some say the three wise men of the bible were three Muslim (magi) scholars
They all take a pilgrimage during their adventures
A pillar and requirement in Islam if one can afford the trip

Magi takes place in Iraq.
Balbadd is based on Baghdad, if it wasn't obvious enough. Sinbad, Morgiana, Alibaba, and Aladdin are all from Iraq according to the Arabian Nights story. Also, the architecture is just like Iraq and what the background characters wear are based on traditional Iraqi clothes.

You need to source this information.


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Who is this in Fairy Tail?
I am wondering as I cannot remember seeing her before in Fairy Tail. Can someone help? Am I missing something?

Where did you get this picture from?

I got it off Facebook.

This is Cosmos, who first appears in chapter 307 of the manga. She is one of the Garou Knights. The image that you have is a colored image of her from Deviantart by SeireiART.
She has plant magic, which is why the Deviantart picture of her refers to her as the Flower Executioner. In chapter 308 she creates a giant flower.


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What is the symbol in Maris the Chojo's hair?
From Maris the Chojo:

What is this symbol in her hair and what does it mean?

That's the currency symbol for the Yen, the Japanese currency.
The Wikipedia article you have linked to in your question has this to say:

Maris' obsession with money is demonstrated by her hair ornaments, in the shape of the symbol for Yen (Japanese money).

ah >_< missed that I posted answer in question. Thank you


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Which Silver Spoon chapters have been covered by the anime?
I'm thinking of reading the Silver Spoon manga by Hiromu Arakawa, and while I'd probably start from the first chapter anyway, I'm wondering which chapters of the manga have already been covered by the anime.
Which specific chapters do the first and second seasons cover respectively? I read on Yahoo Answers that the first season goes up to the end of volume 4, but given that there's been a second season, I'd like some more information on this.

I figured some further research on my part wouldn't hurt:
From a combination of checking the list of volumes and episodes, rereading the Yahoo Answers question I referred to earlier, looking at Baka-Updates, and looking through the relevant parts of the manga, it seems that:

The first "season" goes up to chapter 31, which is about up to the first half of volume 4. The chapters 30 and 31 involve Hachiken's bacon production/sale, which is covered more or less in the last episode of the first season of the Silver Spoon anime. However, I couldn't find the baseball game in the last episode of the anime anywhere in or before chapter 31 - and without reading the manga, it's hard to say if that's an anime only event or not.
Similarly, the second season seems to start at chapter 31 (where Hachiken becomes the vice-president of the equestrian club - which happens in the first episode of the second season). It seems to end at chapter 75 (where Hachiken's mother visits), which corresponds to the events of the last episode of the second season.


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Has the Naruto Anime deviated from the Manga
In anime that were adapted from a manga, if it follows the manga, it would either follow it faithfully (Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood) or deviate from the manga's plot line (Oran High School Host Club, Original Fullmetal Alchemist). In my experience, anime deviations from manga normally occur because the manga is still ongoing and original filler is not enough.
Given how both the Naruto anime and manga are still ongoing, I am wondering if the anime of Naruto has deviated from the manga to the point where it could break continuity with the manga
For example, the 2003 Fullmetal Alchemist anime breaks continuity:

 at Laboratory 5 or when we learn who Sloth and Wrath are

As far as I can remember and can find on-line the naruto anime does not/barely deviate from the manga. The main differences between the anime and manga is that the anime uses a occasional filler

They added many small details in the stories which really supports the plot and makes it more interesting. However, like almost all manga-turned-anime series, there are filler episodes, though thankfully not too many, and not all bad.

Not too many, you say? Your tolerance limit is definitely OVER 9000!!

@Happy well. I watched bleach. With fillers in fillers...

Uhm, yeah, but they didn't need to change the series title to Bleach Shippuden owing to fillers. As for Bleach, I found the filler arcs, Fake Shinigami Arc and Zanpakuto Rebellion Arc, better than the main arcs. The two Damsel in Distress arcs, one each for Rukia and Orihime, dragged on for too long. Even the "level 3" battles, like the one between Ishida and Cirucci dragged on for something like 10 episodes.

@Happy not even Naruto is immune to that meme

@Happy that reminded me of DBZ with Goku shouting and trying to reach super saiyan mode for 2 episodes.


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Why did Julia lose her leg?
This questions contains spoilers for everyone who hasn't watched Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos yet.
At the end of the FMA-movie The Sacred Star of Milos, Julia tried to heal her brother by using alchemy and lost her left leg, as you would expect from a human transmutation.
However, at that time, Julia still possessed the philosopher's stone and should have been able to use such a transmutation without sacrificing a body-part.
So why did she lose her leg while possessing the stone?

The only explanation that makes sense is that she used up the stone before completing the process of bringing her brother back.
From the FMA Wikia:

Due to the absolute law of alchemy being equivalent exchange, the stone gives the illusion that someone is able to override that law. Being that it is an illusion, the powers of the stone itself are not unlimited, and only appears to allow an alchemist to bypass equivalent exchange as long as the stone retains its power.

From what can be seen in the movie, virtually as soon as she finishes, she coughs the stone back up and the stone disintegrates. Throughout the show, the stone disintegrating is used as a sign that the stone has run out of power (like with Father Cornelio's stone in the early episodes). This means that the stone ran out of power no later than her finishing her process. It would be incredibly improbably that it would run out perfectly when she finished, especially given the amount of power that she used previously, so that most logical explanation is that she ran out partway through and paid with her leg for the rest.
This is never explained in the movie, so this is only an educated guess based on information from the show and from the movie.


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Does the name Shiki have some sort of relevance to Death?
In Kara no Kyoukai and the Tsukihime games, the characters who can see death have the first name Shiki:

Ryougi Shiki: Kara no Kyoukai - Obtained from being overly exposed to Akasha while in a Comma dying
Tohno Shiki: Tsukihime - Obtained from almost dying when attacked by SHIKI
Tohno SHIKI: Tsukihime - Obtained from being with Roa (unsure if Roa has to be dominant as he was in Near Side Routes, SHIKI is dominant in Far Side Routes)
Nanaya Shiki: Melty Blood - Derived from Tohno Shiki as Nanaya is an aspect of Tohno's personality and brought into the world though TATARI's powers (used by White Len)

I am wondering if the name Shiki has relevance to death or being able to see death. (From my understanding, neither Roa or Tohno SHIKI have the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, just the understanding of it through Roa's many reincarnations.)

It is probably related to the fact that "shi" is death in Japanese. The kanji for death is "死", however, which does not appear in any of the names of characters you listed. The word would still be associated with death, (as shown by the tetraphobia that appears throughout Japan).
Those characters are all from Type-Moon series, also, so the connection may also come from that fact. Tsukihime and Melty Blood are directly related, existing in the same world, while Kara no Kyoukai is not.

Technically Melty Blood is only implied to be related to Tsukihime because it follows the cut Satsuki Yumizuka Route and Kagetsu Tohya which introduces Len and Nanaya, until we get the Tsukihime remake and see what happens to Satsuki Yumizuka all we can say is that "some event occurred which allowed Satsuki Yumizuka to become a vampire and live" like with another Type-Moon works which occurs "in a world where Tsukihime never happened"


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Who did the art direction on for these episodes and scenes?
There's a certain art director whose art I absolutely love. I can name a few episodes and shows I saw his touches in.
Shin Sekai Yori - episode 5 and 10 (dunno if any further).
Kimi no Iru Machi - mostly in the beginning, also opening, fewer scenes in the latter part.
Casshern Sins - many scenes
His works are very distinct and have many traits to it. Among others they're:

Angles. He uses a lot of different angles everywhere. Characters are rarely drawn in straight angle, the camera is looking from either higher or lower point. Sometimes it's also rotated a bit.
He focuses on faces a lot, putting emphasis on the eyes. Faces cover most of the screen whenever a character is talking and there's no other action going on. Also apply angles argument to that.
Some scenes just belong to a certain character, having only him and nothing else apart from the plainish background on the screen.
Emphasis on body movement, especially hands and posture.
Dynamic scenes consist of characters moving from one part to another, rotating from side to side. Sometimes background is still while character is moving on the screen.

What is his name and what other works did he work on?

I think you're looking for Junichi Hayama. He was the animation director for episodes 5 and 10 of Shin Sekai Yori as well as on staff for the other 2 shows you've listed. Some of his other works fall into the same characteristics you listed.
You can see some of his art from a Google image search
Among other works:

Afro Samurai: Resurrection (movie) : Key Animation
Be-Bop-Highschool (OAV) : Character Design, Animation Director
(The) Big O (TV) : Animation Director (ep 21)
Casshern Sins (TV) : Animation Director (eps 10, 17, 22), Key Animation (5 episodes)
A Certain Magical Index (TV) : Key Animation (OP1)
Cobra The Animation: The Psychogun (OAV) : Key Animation (ep 2)
Dokidoki! Precure (TV) : Key Animation (ep 7)
Doraemon: Shin Nobita to Tetsujin Heidan - Habatake Tenshi-tachi (movie) : Key Animation
Dream Eater Merry (TV) : Key Animation (OP; ep 13)
EX-Driver the Movie : Key Animation
Fist of the North Star (movie) : In-Between Animation
Fist of the North Star (TV) : In-Between Animation (4 episodes), Key Animation (3 episodes)
Fist of the North Star 2 (TV) : Animation Director (7 episodes)
From the New World (TV) : Animation Director (eps 5, 10), Key Animation (eps 5, 10)
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (TV) : Key Animation
Gaiking: Legend of Daikū-maryū (TV 2/2005) : Illustration
Gu Gu Ganmo (TV) : Animation
Gundam Build Fighters (TV) : Key Animation (OP)
Gunsmith Cats (OAV) : Key Animation
Himitsu no Akko-chan: Umi da! Obake da!! Natsu Matsuri (movie) : Key Animation
(The) IDOLM@STER (TV) : Key Animation (ep 9)
InuYasha the Movie 3: Swords of an Honorable Ruler : Animation Director
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (OAV) : Storyboard (ep 8), Character Design (eps 1-13), Chief Animation Director (eps 9-13), Animation Director (eps 1-2, 6-8), Cover Art, Key Animation (eps 2, 5-7, 13)
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Phantom Blood (movie) : Director, Character Design, Chief Animation Director
Kimi no Iru Machi (TV) : Chief Animation Director, Animation Director (OP), Key Animation (OP; ep 1)
Kyō, Koi o Hajimemasu (OAV) : Character Design, Animation Director
Locke the Superman: Mirror Ring (OAV) : Character Design
Lupin III: Stolen Lupin (special) : Key Animation
Manyū Hiken-chō (TV) : Animation (OP)
Mobile Suit Gundam AGE (TV) : Key Animation (eps 40, 49)
Mobile Suit Gundam UC (OAV) : Key Animation (ep 3)
Mysterious Girlfriend X (TV) : Animation Director (ep 9)
Nessa no Haou Gandalla (TV) : Character Design
New Fist of the North Star (OAV) : Key Animation
Odin - Starlight Mutiny (movie) : In-Between Animation
On the Way to a Smile - Episode Denzel: Final Fantasy VII (OAV) : Animation Director
Pachislo Kizoku Gin (TV) : Character Design
Paranoia Agent (TV) : Animation Director (ep 9 ["TKO"])
Penguindrum (TV) : Key Animation (ep 18)
Pokemon Heroes - Latias & Latios (movie) : Key Animation
Psychic Wars (OAV) : Key Animation
Rurouni Kenshin: Trust & Betrayal (OAV) : Key Animation (ep 1)
Sailor Moon R Movie: Promise of the Rose : Key Animation
Sailor Moon SuperS Movie: Black Dream Hole : Key Animation
Saint Seiya Omega (TV) : Key Animation (ep 51)
Sakigake!! Otoko Juku (TV) : Animation Director (8 episodes)
Shin Kyūseishu Densetsu Hokuto no Ken: Raoh-den Gekitō no Shō (movie) : Key Animation
Shin Kyūseishu Densetsu Hokuto no Ken: Toki-den (OAV) : Character Design, Animation Director
Space Battleship Yamato 2199 (TV) : Key Animation (ep 25)
Star Driver (TV) : Animation Director (eps 9, 18)
Street Fighter Alpha (movie) : Key Animation
Toriko (TV) : Key Animation (OP)
Transformers (U.S. TV) : In-Between Animation
Transformers: Scramble City (OAV) : Key Animation
Votoms Finder (OAV) : Character Design, Animation Director
Wolverine (TV) : Key Animation
(The) World God Only Knows Season Two (TV) : Key Animation (ep 4)
X-Men (TV) : Animation Director (ep 9), Key Animation (OP; ep 12)
Xanadu Dragonslayer Densetsu (OAV) : Key Animation
Yu-Gi-Oh! (TV 2/2000) : Animation Director (eps 94, 124)


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Why didn't Light use Shinigami eyes?
Why didn't Light Yagami use the Shinigami eyes? Couldn't it have been an easy task for him? Was it his arrogance and overconfidence?
Alternatively, was he not willing to sacrifice half his lifespan, thinking it would be a loss for him?
Wouldn't it have been a wiser step to choose the Shinigami eyes and make life easier than playing and risking around his life?

I think this was pretty obvious (no offense), since Light says so multiple times. Also, if you think about it carefully, there was not really an instance where the Shinigami's eyes would have given him an advantage.

@Secret, what are you saying? He would have killed L a long long time ago! Even he could have avoided that incidence with "N". Simply could have seen his face and then later written his name in note..

one this I observed is he was damn confident about his capabilities and thinking power..

Yeah, that is correct too I think, he is overconfident. There was no advantage the eyes could have given him because, even if he knew L's name, L arranged it that if he dies, Light becomes the prime suspect.

Nope! Not when he met for first time..

Knowing the name was the tricky part everytime for Light, also that's the reason Anime was interesting.. Again! If you know the name you could kill the person anytime! Choose a time when no one suspects you could be..

L met Light coz, he was sure that Kira needs name + person's face to kill him..

Actually, if I remember correctly, the moment Light meets L, Light has a breakdown because he knew he can't do anything to this guy -> Assuming he is the true L, If he died after he introduced himself to Light, it becomes obvious that he is Kira. That's why he was so pissed at that moment. The only time I think he would have really proven to have used that was on Naomi (but note he gets around it too)

it wouldn't have made sense if he had killed each person right after he met .. I'm sure Light was quite intelligent to understand this.. That's why I said .. "choose a time so that no one suspects you"!

If it was not about exchanging for half of the life span .. I'm sure Light would have gone for it .. And certainly the plot could have been changed .. Light knew to manage and use things around him..

Additional caveat: You don't even know your original lifespan before you agree for the deal. If you're past halfway, you fall dead the moment the agreement comes into effect! (which, considering Light's life was ended without that deal not all that much later, was the case!)

Why do questions keep getting negative votes without the reason being mentioned by downvoters??

plus a lot of Light's motivation was to demonstrate his intellectual superiority over the police, L, Near, etc. Taking the eyes would've been the easy way out - by not doing that, he was forced into relying on his own skills and resources (mostly). Much more of a thrill and a sense of accomplishment that way!

I don't recall this being the case. What did L do to prevent him from using them?

The issue of the Shinigami Eyes came up before L was involved with Light, iirc.

From the Death Note Wikia:

Ryuk offers to make a deal with Light for the “Shinigami Eyes.” Light refuses the deal, stating that he needs to live in order to rule over his utopian world. He asks Ryuk if there is anything else that he should know about the Death Note, and Ryuk says probably not.

From watching the anime, we don’t always get insight into Light’s complete train of thought,[1] we only always get to know his conclusion. So those parts of this answer that concern his thoughts are partly based on speculation, depending on what is revealed to the viewer and what is not.
One of Light’s main objectives is to create a utopia[2] in which crime has been eradicated because all criminals are dead. In this utopian world, he — having the power to decide over life and death — would be the unquestioned ruler of all. Pretty much the entire story up to L’s death and Mello and Near’s appearance shows his slow gain of power all as part of his cunning and thoughtful plan.
For most of the early storyline, Light has access to the police’s database through his father[3] allowing him to see both name and face of his victims. While he pretty much instantly acknowledges the power of the Shinigami Eyes, he does get on pretty well without them.
Two points are key points as to why he decides to refuse the Eye deal. The first one is the result of the second paragraph. Light likes being in control, he likes the power. He knows that it will take years to build up his utopia and he wants to enjoy it to the fullest. All of the lifespan he would lose in the deal would be during his rulership. So he’s not just losing half, he is effectively losing more of the ‘good’ time.
The second is the result of the third paragraph. Light is a very bright pupil and underchallenged. He is fascinated by overcoming the obstacles placed in his path. Remember the scene when his room was bugged: he accepted the challenge and continued writing in the death note without the police realising he was doing so. While he could have had his way easily by trading half his lifespan and killing L on first site, it just wouldn’t fit his personality. He would much rather do things the hard and rewarding way.
Note, however, that he does take the easy (or seemingly easy) opportunities if they are presented on a silver plate. When Misa (who he by then has established to be the other death note owner and of whom he knows she traded her lifespan) visits him at the university and gets a glance of L, he immediately tries calling her to ask for his name. He doesn’t even really bother properly leaving L’s earshot to make the call. He probably thought his patience had finally been rewarded and he were now a step closer to the goal. (Ultimately though, this fails because L was already suspicious of Misa and relieved her of her phone.)

Notes:
[1]: I would be surprised if the manga were any different.
[2]: Whether this is utopia or distopia is opinion-based.
[3]: I believe, without his father knowing.

Light wanted to create an utopian world with no crime, and he wanted to Rule the world he created
So he needed to live to rule and did not want to shorten his lifespan.


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Can Ryougi Shiki see "Death" in inanimate objects?
In Tsukihime, Tohno Shiki is able to see "death" with his Mystic Eyes of Death Perception in not just living things but in objects as well. Aoko explains to him that all objects, both living and inanimate, inherently have "death" when they are created. In parts of Tsukihime it's shown that Tohno Shiki can cut these lines of "death" to destroy objects. For example, when he fights Roa at the school in the Arcuied Route/Anime he destroys an entire hall with just his knife.
Ryougi Shiki, after she woke up from her coma as obtained the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception. However we only ever see her use it on living things or things that were once alive (like the Ghosts that were with Kirie Fujou or her Ghost Body, the Corpse the Wraiths possessed, or the Wraiths themselves when they were in Ryougi Shiki). The only time we ever see her "cut" anything which wasn't alive is when she fights Fujino Asagami and "cuts" the incoming use of her Mystic Eyes of Distortion or when she cuts Souren Araya's Rokudou Kyoukai. However these are more "conceptual things" rather than "inanimate things".
Tohno Shiki's Mystic Eyes of Death Perception were essentially broken because he couldn't turn them off and had to use Touko's Mystic Eye Killers, which Aoko had stolen. He also gets headaches when he isn't wearing the Mystic Eye Killers or when he tries to understand the Existence of Inanimate Objects (the dot where the lines of death meet), the latter causing even worse headaches. Ryougi Shiki's however seem to be normal. Touko ends up teaching her how to turn them off (they were always on when she woke up in The Hollow Shrine, turned off temporarily when she damaged her eyes but by Overlooking the Scenery she could turn them on and off at will) and would have told her about seeing death in other things explaining her ability to understand cutting Rokudou Kyoukai or Fujino's attack.
Can Ryougi Shiki see "death" in inanimate objects like Tohno Shiki can?

It depends on what you mean by "inanimate."
Generally, intangible objects like words cannot be "killed" because they do not exist. A phenomenon like a storm cannot be killed, but the particular event (rain/wind/clouds) can be dispersed.
In the Tsukihime Dokuhon Plus Period book, Nasu makes mention that:

Ryougi's Shiki Mystic Eyes is superior to Tohno's. She (unlike Tohno) is able to perceive the death of just about anything, however she is limited to what she perceives as "alive."

So take something like a chair, which is seen as "alive," because it's not broken. Ryougi would see lines on a new chair, but not on a broken chair, because she believes that it is already "dead."
Note that this notion only applies to her perception of the "living" as opposed to if something "has life." Even though Kirie Fujou's ghosts were "dead," they could still be killed because they are "alive" in the sense that they could interact and interfere with the real world, as if they were alive.
As a side note, Araya's barrier is linked to his body, so when Ryougi cut it, it's like cutting a part of Araya (this is why he is in pain).


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Why there are many scenes in anime that take place on the roof?
Why there are many scenes in anime that take place on roofs, particularly the roof of schools?
School roof seem to be a popular place for students who want to be alone with no one else there. Sometimes they come in for lunch, or just relax there.

Angel Beats!, Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai, Kampfer, Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica
This is also on the roof, but it's hopital roof

The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya
They even use it for fighting scene

Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou
Sometimes there's even a garden on the roof of the school.

The World God Only Knows
Any reason why does this common occurrence?

There are many reasons for people to go to rooftops.
One of those reasons would be Combat.

if the characters spend all their time in a crowded school or office
building, the roof might be the only place that they feel like they have any room to maneuver for a fight. Bonus points if the building has some other reason to be up there, such as a rooftop garden, heliport, or basketball court. source

Usually the protagonist doesn't want to fight in a crowded place where people might get hurt ( there are some exceptions ). They usually move to a place where the least damage can be done to the surroundings Aka the rooftops.
Another reason would be alone time

With the usual size of homes in Japan, sometimes the only option available to a character who desperately needs to be alone is to climb up and sit on the roof of their house. There they can look up at the night sky and contemplate their place in the universe in peace and quiet. source

In allot of story's the main protagonist lives in a crowded city and as described the only place to go would be The roof top
As for schools in japan there are many different layouts. Smaller schools with less place for club activity's might actually place clubs as the gardening club on the roof. Allowing the club to exist without taking to much space away for other clubs making the roof a more pleasant place to stay for students there for preferring them to eat lunch and hangout on the roof more often.
In other scenarios the school might not use the roof for anything and there will be no attention on the roof. There for making it the perfect place for socially awkward and or weird protagonists to eat there lunch without getting disturbed.
I left my answer to these 2 specific as your pictures hint the most to these 2 scenarios. if you where to list all potential roof top scenarios this answer would become to broad/big

Umm... actually I only ask why there are usually roof scene as general. I'm not asking about every scene I give, I just want to give some different example. Good answer by the way.

@ShinobuOshino As i said roof in general does not really exist. there are ALLOOOT of reasons to use it. and the 2 i described are the most general ones in my opinion.

The standard Japanese high school design includes an accessible roof, which is seldom locked in any serious way. Access to the roof is almost always explicitly forbidden, but that doesn't seem to stop anyone. Students and faculty will often find their way up to the roof for private lunches, heart-to-hearts, romantic goings-on, secret supernatural battles, or suicide. It has a chain-link fence to keep people from jumping off, except of course for all the people that do.
  Source


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How did the Euphorics contract the Euphoria Virus?
Saiga and Suitengu both contracted the virus when the Research Lab that Suitengu's team was sent to infiltrate blew up.
Since almost all the other Euphorics wouldn't have had anything to do with the infiltration  mission and Suitengu mentions in episode 2 that the Piano Teacher would get more arms because of supposed deaths from people trying to become Euphorics, indicating that not everyone who came in contact with Kugura had the virus, I am wondering: how did the other Euphorics get the virus?

As you stated they both contracted the disease when the research lab exploded this got covered in Episode 10  "Suitengu Cometh"
Later on in episode 17

Suitengu listens to the melody of his music box and utters the name "Yui." He begins to reminisce about his childhood with his sister, Yui. On that fateful day, he discovers his parents hung and a man arrives to collect the debt they owe. Yui attempts to pay with money from a child's game, but the man discards the money and takes her captive and sends Suitengu off to army training. Suitengu always keeps his music box and survives the battles for seven years. On his last mission, he is sent to attack a research laboratory, but when the rest of his squad is defeated, he ends up becoming a test subject. He is healed and given an Euphoric power which allows him to defeat the army when they attack again. After arriving in Japan, he saves the lives of Tsujido, Makabe, and Niihari, and they become his followers. Then, he entices Shinsen into his plan for dominance and sets his plan into motion.

With that knowledge there are several possibility that could lead to more power users. The 2 most likely would be

The virus had already been used for testing purposes or militairy purposes
There is more than just 1 laboratory that is developing this virus


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What is the origin of the trope where a person lays on the ground with their "soul" coming out of their mouth?
So I was re-reading the Fullmetal Alchemist series recently. I noticed this scene below with the man presumably on the verge of death with I presume to be his "soul" coming out of his mouth. I was wondering what the origin of this trope is, since I have often seen this in other mangas and animes.

Please de-accept the answer by Dimitri mx, since it's mostly if not entirely wrong.

This is a sample of the Giving Up the Ghost tropes The term itself actually originates from the King James Version of the Bible

when Jesus was on the cross, His last words were
  "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." When he had said this, he breathed his last." (New International Version)
  The King James Version of 1611, however, gave it the contemporary wording
  "... and having said thus, he gave up the ghost." source

The trope is a spinoff version of the western version Winged Soul Flies Off At Death. The western version got first used in 1948 in a western animation

The 1948 short "Back Alley Oproar" with Sylvester and Elmer Fudd. Sylvester insists on singing when Fudd wants to sleep, and Sylvester eventually ends up on a cloud, complete with halo and wings.

as for the giving up the Ghost trope I am not certain when it first occured.

This is fine as far as explaining the purpose/function of the trope, generically, but it does nothing to explain why this particular representation of it (soul leaking out mouth) occurs.

@senshin I did not directly quote it but the first link directly provides the answer to this " ...This is a comedy trope found in anime and manga. Sometimes, a character may feel like they could die at any moment due to some form of sudden external stimulation or just plain exhaustion. It could be getting knocked out with a sudden blow to the head...."

As mentioned here, the phrase "give up the ghost" appeared in the 1395 Wycliffe Bible, which predates the King James by centuries, and there are similar phrases in Old English. The origin of the English term is irrelevant in any case. The concept of a life essence that leaves in one's last breath is very old, probably much older than recorded history, and has appeared in different cultures independently. You've presented no evidence that the ghost in the question is related to Western winged angels. It looks more like a hitodama to me.

According to chinese traditional medicine, when a person dies, the soul escapes the body from one of its orifices (any). These beliefs passed to the other asian cultures. So, the soul leaving the body from the mouth is a familiar image that would need no explanation for asian people.


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What differences are there between the Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha anime and manga?
I'm look into reading ViviD and Force, the two sequel manga to the StrikerS manga, and I am wondering: what differences are there between the three anime seasons and the three related manga that could affect the reading of ViviD and Force?

I'll note that there is now an ongoing Vivid anime.  I have no idea what relation there is between the Vivid manga and anime.

@zibadawatimmy to my understanding the ViVid anime is an adaptation of the Manga

Nothing! The aforementioned manga provides minor additional background for fans. This includes:

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha MOVIE 1st THE COMICS
Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A's
Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS THE COMICS

The remaining manga continues with an unique story:

Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha ViVid
Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha Force

The former is a carefree spin-off focusing on Vivio (but fun!), while the latter continues Nanoha's story.


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Who are these characters referenced in chapter 4 of Spotted Flower?
What are the characters referenced in the screenshot below, and what game(s) do they come from?

You can ignore the rest below - they are purely for informational purpose.

In chapter 4 of Spotted Flower1, in the scene where the granny suggests a name for the baby, she made references to the names of the girls in anime, and dating-sim games. Listing them in order of mention:

The surnames (Kaname, Miki, Tomoe, Sakura, Akemi) and then the first names (Madoka, Sayaka, Mami, Kyouko, Homura) of the 5 girls in Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Kaname Madoka (鹿目 まどか), Miki Sayaka (美樹 さやか), Tomoe Mami (巴 マミ), Sakura Kyōko (佐倉 杏子), Akemi Homura (暁美 ほむら).
The first names (Manaka, Rinko, Nene) of the 3 heroines in LovePlus: Takane Manaka (高嶺 愛花), Kobayakawa Rinko (小早川 凛子), Anegasaki Nene (姉ヶ崎 寧々).
Then the characters in the screenshot I put up, which I cannot identify.
Then the first name of 4 girls (Yui, Kyouko, Chinatsu, Ayano) from Yuru Yuri: Toshinou Kyouko (歳納 京子), Funami Yui (船見 結衣), Yoshikawa Chinatsu (吉川 ちなつ), Sugiura Ayano (杉浦 綾乃).
The protagonist noticed that the granny made sure to leave out Akaza Akari (赤座 あかり).

1 It is a story of a newlywed working otaku and his pregnant wife.

They're from a Visual Novel called Kizuato. The names are (in order of their pictures):

Kashiwagi Hatsune (柏木 初音)

Kashiwagi Kaede (柏木 楓)

Kashiwagi Azusa (柏木 梓)

Kashiwagi Chizuru (柏木 千鶴)
As for "Kashiwagi Azusa"'s name (柏木 梓), I'm not sure why it was translated as "Azuki", but if you look at the original Japanese:

It says "Azusa".

It's very likely that "Azuki" is a mistake by the translators. The furigana き and さ are similar enough that an inexperienced translator or someone who just wasn't paying attention might make that mistake, especially since Azuki is also a common female name which is sometimes written in ways involving 梓.


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Who is this shadow from the second Valvrave ED?
The second ending theme of Valvrave the Liberator ends with this screenshot. The girl on the left is mysterious, but we have at least some idea of who she is given that she seems to be related to the control system for Valvrave I. However, the shadowy figure behind her doesn't match her body, so it's likely a different character.
Who (or what) is that shadow?

This character is revealed at the end of episode 12.

 Cain entered the cockpit of the Valvrave Two (which didn't start up until this episode) with an orb that he referred to as Prue.

 The helix in the orb reacted, and at the same time, the display in the cockpit of Valvrave Two showed an image of a man, which matches the shadow in the question.

 The girl in Valvrave One refers to him as Onii-chan.


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Which episode is spoofed in this section of opening sequence?
Apparently, the opening sequence in Azumanga Daioh spoofs different situations throughout the series. I can't recognize which episode this is from. (Click for full size image.)

Do you know which episode this animation spoofs?

Reading the description of the tag [Tag:identification-request], I guess it's wrong here, or am I mistaken?

@looper Actually, the description is a bit out of date: http://meta.anime.stackexchange.com/q/545/274

It's from Episode 13, "Tactics without Guard / S / Midterms / Formation / Ability", specifically the Midterms / Formation portion.
Even more specifically, it's the 'Idiots' / 'Numbnuts' / 'Bonkuras' formation discussed when comparing midterm grades to the others (where their combined scores add up to 103, but Chiyo's and Yomi's are of course much higher).


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Is the Umineko ED used elsewhere?
Recently, I have started watching Umineko no naku koro ni (When the Seagulls Cry) and I found the ending song (YouTube link) of this anime very familiar and similar to a song I have heard before in another anime. In particular, the part 0:40 - 1:00 sounds somewhat like something I've heard before.
Now my question is: did the same singer perform for any other anime, or are there singers who sang the same song as he did (specifically, the part of the song at 0:40 - 1:00)?
Edit: From the comments, I know the song is not used in any other anime known to date.

According to a search through ANN's encyclopedia (which lists the OP/ED songs, most of the time), the only appearance of "La Divina Tragedia" is Umineko.

@JonLin Okay with that answerd i will rephrase my question a bit

The Japanese wiki page only lists Umineko's ED.

I know that is not the answer you were looking for, but I found the chorus "kind of" similar to a song of Shoujo Kakumei Utena :P

@AlterLagos kinda is alike but still not what i am looking for

This ending theme song is titled La Divina Tragedia: Ma Kyoku. It was recorded by Jimang. The song does not appear in any other anime. From the looks of it, Jimang has not had any other song appear in any anime. But one of his other tracks, Sakura POP, has been used in the Korean MMORPG, MapleStory.


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How much can something that is attached to a blood seal be damaged?
In some episodes of Fullmetal Alchemist, Alphonse gets really hurt. But as long as the blood seal isn't broken, he will be fine. So, in theory, If I tear up each piece of the armor that houses Alphonse, but don't touch the blood seal, will he be safe?

That's right. If you look at Barry and the Slicer Brothers the older bother was nothing but a head before Lust smashed his seal. Barry was completely broken, but only died when the flames burned his seal.
In Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood Barry has a bigger role and helps Ed.  In the end all that's left of him is one piece of metal that his seal is on, and he is still able to talk though it.  He only dies when his body scratches the seal off.


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Where does "Life of Ichabod" come from?
In a German anthology, there was once a manga called "Life of Ichabod". It's about the son (Ichabod) of a lesbian woman and a criminal old man (it seems they don't know each other => sperm donation).
After the boy cuts off his foreskin, he meets friends of his father in a hospital and helps them fleeing from the police. After that, he goes back home.
This is the story from the first chapters, but I can't find any information about the manga. Was it a German-only manga? Is there any place in the internet where I can find anything about the manga?

You're looking for the イハーブの生活 (The Life of Ichabod) manga by Shouji Hiroyuki. It's spans 3 volumes.

(Ichabod) is the boy who was born by artificial insemination as a child of two women. Elly of the part of father disappears, and it is a family of mother and child with Mary of the part of mother. Ihabu is rebuked by Mary that "you were born as a man is our greatest failure." One day, he cuts off his penis, and he looks for real father registered with a sperm bank and goes for an odyssey.

It was originally published in Kodansha's Afternoon magazine


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Can someone identify this girl in Nurarihyon no Mago?
I left the title ambiguous as my question is slightly spoiler-ish.

 Who is this girl who killed Nura Rikuo's father, Nura Rihan?

Did they actually say who she was? Or am I right that they never flat out said it?

 Hagoromo Gitsune was still sealed, so it couldn't have been her. But I know it has something to do with Hagoromo Gitsune's curse.

She is...

 young Yamabuki Otome (Hagoromo Gitsune's host).

who is actually...

 Rihan first wife.
 Abe no Seimei and Sanmoto Gorōzaemon brought her back to life in her younger form to become Hagoromo Gitsune's host.


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Who is being parodied by Onizuka?
In episode 8 of Great Teacher Onizuka, who is this "Kenshiro" that Onizuka is parodying?

Onizuka is making a reference to Kenshiro from "Fist of the North Star".
In the English translation of the manga, this was added as a note.
Kenshiro's fiancée is called Yuria.


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Who is the general depicted in the ending of Oda Nobuna no Yabou?
At the very end of episode 12, as if a teaser of season 2 (which apparently is not happening), a general (or daimyo) is shown behind her armies.

The light novels' storyline goes further than the anime, so who is she?

She is

 Shingen Takeda

based on the emblems. That is the emblem of the Takeda Clan.

Also I read the novel and that is how she is depicted.


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How does Lelouch manage to contain his Geass?
I've recently just finished Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion, now I've started R2. As much as I've started to love this, I noticed one little thing that I can't quite put my finger on. (I haven't heard anything in the anime about it either.)
I was led to believe that he was still unable to control his Geass (assumption based on how the first season ended), yet when he's around Milly, Shirley etc., it appears he has it under control?
Am I missing something?

There's an explanation for this early on in R2. I believe it's in episode 3. Have you watched episode 3 yet?

Lelouch obtains eye contacts for his geass eye from CC in episode 3 of R2. It depends on the video, but it happens around the 12-13 minute mark in a flashback.

Yes, I realized last night as I continued on from episode 2. Thank you! I should be more patient


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Was the names of the hot springs in ep8 of Gugure! Kokkuri-san a joke/reference to another anime?
While searching for the hot spring that can turn him back into male, Kokkuri-san passes several other hot springs. I got the feeling from watching the show that they were giving a shout-out to / parodying other anime shows.
What were those shows?

It would help a lot if you posted some screenshot as reference to these types of questions.

@ʞɹɐzǝɹ It would help a lot in the posting of those screenshots if CR didn't DRM the videos... X<(

Glossary: CR = CrunchyRoll; DRM = Digital Rights Management. anime.SE = this very site. And before you cry wolf, I watch CR and post to anime.SE in/from my android tablet. (also note that this post does not have an @___ adresee)

@Midwin regardless of DRM or not, you can still take screenshots from your computer, if you are on Windows 7 or above, you can use the built-in "Snipping Tool"

@ʞɹɐzǝɹ Not using windows. Android 4.4.4 here. Unless I root the tablet, no can do.

You should be able to press and hold the "Power" and "Volume Down" buttons together for about 3 seconds to take a screenshot without a third party app. The should be in the Gallery App under "Screenshots."

@ʞɹɐzǝɹ Yes, I am aware. Since it is a samsung device, sweeping the hand also takes a screenshot, but in both methods the device just pops a message saying "impossible take screenshot. Contents protected by DRM".

if you can't do that then at least include the time code for when this happened. Any sort of reference is fine so ppl don't have to dig through the entire episode to find what you're talking about.

It is from around 18:00, if I'm not mistaken. Just had to close the tab to reduce memory usage, and I forgot to take a second look to confirm.

I noticed these two signs:

To me, that's a clear reference to the classic Ranma 1/2, as that series features a male protagonist who fell into a cursed spring, which made him turn into a woman whenever he got splashed with cold water. His father likewise received the same curse and turned into a panda after falling into a different spring in the same area.

Yup. Ya hit the bullseye.


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What reference is this scene involving riding a bicycle to watch the sunrise making?
In Watamote episode 2, Tomoko meets Hatsushiba from Class 1-17 and starts imagining a scene where they are riding a bicycle to watch the sunrise.
What is this scene a reference to?

It's a reference to Ghibli Studio's Whisper of the Heart.
The BGM sounds like Country Roads which also happens to be the theme song of the film.


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Why did Shiro have Rin's pendant, if Rin's pendant was returned to her by Archer?
In the prologue to Unlimited Blade Works, we see Rin drop her pendant after saving Shiro's life. She doesn't bother picking it up, and later, Archer returns it to her.
However, in the first "main" episode, we see that Shiro picks up the pendant and takes it home after he is revived, and he doesn't encounter Archer until the next day. So it doesn't seem like Archer could have intercepted him at some point and retrieved the pendant. Moreover as additional support for this, when in episode 12, he topples Rin's jewelry chest, he sees her pendant and notes that it's exactly the same as the one he remembered seeing that night. So it looks like Shiro believes the pendant he finds at Rin's house is different from the one he has.
Is there a contradiction or omission here? It doesn't seem like Rin has more than one pendant, from the narration in the beginning of UBW.

Writing this because I was confused in the first season, but at the time, I just chalked it up to me not paying enough attention to what was going on. Then when I watched the ongoing season, I realized that I was on to something.

Why are you asking something that is going to be explained the VERY NEXT EPISODE?

@Euphoric: it seemed like a useful question (in that I'd imagine other people might have the same question), and moreover, it's something someone could have picked up on only watching the first three episodes. It's just that I only really remembered that Shiro had a pendant at ep 12.

Coz' Archer is the future self of Shiro. That's why there are two pendants in the series where Archer returned it to her and where Shiro keeping the pendant in his house.

I've only just started the second season, but from a combination of the material here and what I've gleaned from sources like the Wikia, I have something of an answer.

There is no contradiction or omission, in that there isn't only a single pendant involved in the series. In the first episode of the second season, we have this exchange.

[Shiro shows Rin the pendant.]
Rin: Huh? How did you get that?
Shiro: Anyway, you can have it back. I have another pendant like it at my house. After Lancer nearly killed me at school, it was lying next to me. I picked it up, and I've had it ever since.

To this, Rin seems surprised. So barring any weird, supernatural duplication, there must be more than one pendant.
N.B.: it seems that Rin's pendant is unique. Archer tells Rin that she shouldn't lose it again back in the beginning, and that it suits her (and not others). From both my guess and the Wikipedia episode list, it looks like Shiro was returning the pendant from Rin's room, although the English dialogue isn't completely clear on this. (I could not tell if Shiro's explanation for having one of the pendants was supposed to explain why he had the one he was returning. But this is more plausible, and perhaps Shiro didn't realize that the pendant lying next to him after he almost died was necessarily Rin's, even if he remembers her in the hallway.)

However, this doesn't explain where Archer got the pendant he returned to Rin. Now, Archer's true identity is:

 Shiro of an alternate timeline from that of Fate/stay night [...] He is summoned because he still has the jewel pendant that Rin used to save his life after Lancer stabbed his heart. The jewel he owns is the actual catalyst used for his summoning rather than the one that Rin still has at the time of his summoning. (Source: Wikia)

So it must simply be that

 Archer gave Rin his own pendant (which he obtained from her in another timeline in a similar fashion to this one), and implicitly lied about picking it up.

Update: I'm watching the UBW movie now, and Shiro tells Rin when returning the pendant that

I didn't realize [it was yours] until I saw one with the same shape in your home.

So I'm not sure if the conclusion I gleaned from Wikipedia about which pendant was being returned was right. The anime series would suggest that he simply took the pendant out of Rin's chest and is returning that one, but here, it looks like Shiro is returning the pendant that he'd kept after being revived.
Update 2: the visual novel (which I would consider "canon") makes it clear that Shiro is simply returning the pendant he found at Rin's house (i.e. the one Archer "returned"), when he explains to Rin where he found the pendant he's returning:

I found it in your room. Oh . . . You might get surprised when you get home, but I'm sorry. I tipped over your dresser . . . Well, I have the exact same pendant at my house.

It should be pointed out that there is a 4th conclusion of the Holy Grail War which isn't shown in any media. in this conclusion the Holy Grail War didn't end well as The Shadow went on a rampage (Archer recognizes it and thinks to try and defeat it this time when he sees it in Heaven's Feel). so regardless what Shirou does with Rin's Pendent matter not especially in Unlimited Blade Works because in it Rin will guide Shirou so that he doesn't become a Counter-Guardian and end up as bitter as EMIYA did.

Also should note that Archer knew the pendent he had was Rin's because he saw her use it to save Shirou. for the most part of the other Routes Shirou doesn't learn who saved his life so it stands to reason Archer didn't as well in his time (i think i remember Rin mentioning to Archer it was one of a kind before he gave back his)

 Archer is Shirou!
 Basically that's it!
 Because Shiro was grateful about being saved, he kept the pendant and even as a heroic spirit he kept it. There is only 1 pendant; the other one came from another time and space!

From the source material (the Visual Novel), as well as later episodes in the anime, we know that Archer is Shirou from an alternate future. This is rather important to the topic, because this is where the second pendant comes into play.
You see, in the Fate universe, the most important condition for summoning a Heroic Spirit (Servant) is not mana or the time of day (these actually don't really matter at all), as Rin incorrectly believes in the beginning of the story. In actuality, the most important part is the catalyst used in the summoning. If you don't have a catalyst, the Grail will simply pick a suitable servant for you.
Unbeknownst to Rin, the pendant she has during the summoning is one of the most important objects to one of the Heroic Spirits, Shirou to be specific.
This is why there are two of them; Archer still had the pendant he got in the past, when he was saved by Rin. This is the pendant he gives to Rin. At the same time, Shirou still has the pendant that he got from Rin, which neither she nor Archer retrieved.


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Why is Kong using a Japanese surname?
In the epilogue to Ping Pong, we see this newspaper headline.

Five years after naturalization, finally a ticket to the Olympics for Tsujido Wenge

Now, I don't know Japanese, but I can kind of read this at the very beginning of the Japanese text:

辻堂文革（中国名 孔文革）

This translates to

Tsujido Wenge (Chinese name Kong Wenge)

This suggests that Kong Wenge is known as "Tsujido Wenge" in Japan. This is because it doesn't make sense for 中国名 to simply be referring to the Chinese characters (the kanji) for his actual name to me, given the "中国" (i.e. "China" or "Chinese" in the sense of nationality), but again, I don't know Japanese.
Is there any in-universe reason for this discrepancy? Perhaps since he wants to play for Japan, he's better off with a Japanese surname? I think the school Kong played for was Tsujido, and this also seems relevant.

About  辻堂文革（中国名 孔文革）, it's in the sub: Tsujido Wenge (Chinese name Kong Wenge)

The 辻堂 (Tsujido) in 辻堂学院高校 (Tsujido High School) is identical. Pobably not a coincidence.

The keyword is in the (Japanese) naturalization.
Kong Wenge took a Japanese nationality by mean of naturalization. After naturalization, he needed to have a Japanese legal name.
From this article,

Do you have to take a Japanese name if you naturalize?
[...]
The simple answer to this question is YES, you do need to take a Japanese name.
The reality, however, is that a "Japanese name" is not necessarily what you are thinking. You have to follow the same rules that a Japanese parent has to follow when naming a baby... [...].
[...]. As you can see, some of us (like me) choose to write our existing names in Japanese characters. Others choose a more Japanese-sounding name that is similar in either sound or meaning to their original name, and others choose something that is altogether different from the name they were born with.
You do need to write your name in Japanese characters. This can include ひらがな (hiragana), カタカナ (katakana), 常用漢字 (jōyō kanji) (kanji for everyday use), and/or 人名用漢字 (jimmeiyō kanji) (kanji designated for use in names), [...]

(Emphasis mine)
While 孔 (kō) is actually an acceptable kanji (it's inside kanji for everyday use), given the privilege to change his name, he chose 辻堂 (tsujido), probably to show his support to his high school.


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Why didn't Rem die after killing Kaneboshi?
In the Death Note anime, Rem kills Ginzo Kaneboshi in episode 21 to help Misa convince Higuchi that she is the second Kira. But why didn't Rem die after this? If she died after killing Watari/L, but why not after killing Kaneboshi?

That is because a Shinigami can die only if they try to extend or prolong the life of a human. In this case, Misa was not in any danger, and killing Ginzo would in no way extend Misa's life directly.
This excerpt from Wikipedia explains that Shinigami can die only by saving a human life (emphasis mine):

Like humans, Shinigami also can die, of sorts by extending the life of a human they care about (by saving them from certain death): the
  purpose of a Shinigami is to end life, not give it, and hence saving a human is contrary to their nature. Shinigami who die in this manner are reduced to dust. Their Death Note is left behind. The other way that a Shinigami can die is that they stop writing names in their Death Note- since Shinigami take human lifespans for their own when they write a name in their Death Note, if they stop they will eventually die when their lifespan runs out.

Hope this helps :D

But Rem can see her lifespan. He should have seen her life wasn't in danger, right? By showing himsef and tell everything he must have altered something in time...


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I bought a figure of a girl with a baseball bat, but I don't know who of
I was in Akibahara when I came across a load of stalls selling second-hand figures. I couldn't resist and bought some stuff from my favourite series. Also, I bought a figure of a schoolgirl with a baseball bat who seems to be floating on top of some water with lotus flowers.

There doesn't seem to be any company markings on it, apart from maybe a 'C' at the backside of the base. I don't have a ruler, but I estimate it to be about 5.5 inches tall. Unfortunately I don't speak Japanese, so I couldn't ask the seller.

Does anyone have any ideas what series she could be from? I'd really like to put a name to the face (and watch the series also)

She seems to be Natsume Reiko from Natsume Yuujinchou

Sometimes, she's shown with a baseball bat with some seals on it, which she uses to fight youkai. This is a picture of her wielding the bat:

For extra confirmation, the same figure can be seen on Amazon with 夏目友人帳 (Natsume Yuujinjou) and 夏目レイコ (Natsume Reiko) in the description.

using her name, I was able to find a site with the figure :) thanks

To add, the difference between Reiko and Madera in Reiko's form is that Reiko is depicted in having a bat while Madera  in Reiko's form does not (there is also the eyes but in terms of a figure it'd be a minute difference which could just be easily missed)


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Is there any significance to Risei's line?
In episode 16 of Fate/Zero, we see Kayneth go to the church in a wheelchair to plead for a command seal. Risei Kotomine relents, and when transferring one of the command seals onto Kayneth's hand, we see this line:

Take this cup and drink from it. This is my blood, given to you, for the salvation of all. The blood of a contract!

(Translation from Crunchyroll subtitles.) Barring the bit about the contract, this is suspiciously -- to me anyway -- reminescent of the Christian tradition of the Eucharist. However, unlike the real world ritual, there is no actual cup here: Risei says this line while his hand is on Kayneth's.
Is there any in-series meaning or significance to this? (Is it part of the ritual of transferring "blank" command seals unconnected to a specific servant? Notice that when Sola-Ui forcibly takes Kayneth's command marks, nothing similar seems to appear.) Or is this merely symbolism or a reference thrown in for the sake of atmosphere? (Here, perhaps to give a sense of mysticism and foreboding to the Grail, given that blood, on its own, could have negative connotations? Or perhaps simply some sort of "Easter egg"?)
The latter explanation seems more likely to me, given what I've heard about a lack of knowledge of Christianity in Japan, but it could be that I'm missing knowledge about the workings about the Fate series universe.
I have not seen Fate/Zero beyond this. I do have some vague idea of how the Grail works from skimming over various Wiki articles or posts on this site, and from what has so far been covered in the current UBW adaptation.

This is just some unimportant ritual Risei thought up, possibly because he cared for the symbolism (being a devout priest), or that it might accentuate and reinforce his role as overseer.  You'll see implicit evidence of this in later episodes:

 After Risei is killed, Kotomine takes the command seals.  He has to recite a specific verse of scripture to do this, thus reinforcing how Risei likes to add his faith into the things he does.  He later convinces Kariya to use two of his command seals to kidnap Irisviel, on the promise that Kotomine will give him another fight with Tokiomi, as well as the grail at the end of the war.  He wonders if it was really worth two commands, and Kotomine assures him that there is nothing to worry about.  He simply places his hand over Kariya's command seal marks, and they are restored in a (literal) flash, and nothing more.


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Is this an animation error, or just bizarre character design?
While rewatching The Flowers of Evil, I noticed this character in episode 2:

The character on the left struck me as very odd - she's wearing braids (which would normally suggest a female character), but she also has sideburns, which seem to be more or less only something men wear. (I'm assuming the character is female from the voice actor who plays at that moment.) Moreover, if the character weren't female, it would be odd for a school to allow him to wear braids.
Reddit suggests that this character also appears in the manga, so is this just intentional character design, rather than an error in the art? If so, who is this character, and is there anything (e.g. personality traits) that might explain this odd hairstyle? (I have not read the manga yet, and so can't easily look this up.)
Update: I remembered seeing some video footage of the live-action filming that the rotoscoped animation was apparently from on YouTube, so I might try to dig that out to see if I can get a better idea of what's going on here. On a second glance the braids struck me as a bit odd in terms of the shaping of their ends (one usually expects the hair to thin out somewhat and possibly curve a bit), so it occurred to me that this might be useful.
Update 2: After reading the entire manga, I couldn't find a character with identical design. (From the uniform -- notice that the character here wears a bow, instead of a tie -- it seems certain that they're probably female.) However, I did notice a presumably female character with very short hair (for a girl) that was in the corresponding chapater of the manga. I don't remember if the character was wearing a female uniform but will look it up later when I have time.

I don't see anyone who looks like her in the first volume of the manga. She could have showed up later, though, given that the anime isn't a panel-for-panel adaptation of the manga.

I don't know why they decided to design a character like this, but it wasn't added in at the animation stage - here's a live action shot before it was rotoscoped http://i.imgur.com/Zg4jsAo.jpg

As mentioned in my comment, this doesn't seem to be an animation error. Aku No Hana is rotoscoped, which is essentially drawing over live action sequences. Here's a shot from before it was animated:

I suppose it was intentional if they had this character dressed up like that. I haven't seen the animated show, but the character definitely doesn't appear in the manga, having read it myself also.
Just a guess, but perhaps it was to exaggurate ugliness of a character because the animators couldn't do it that easily with the technique?
So, yes it does seem to just be bizarre character design. Especially as the character barely appears in the anime and only has a single line.

Makes sense, although it's an odd thing to me: as you've stated, there's no corresponding character in the manga, and moreover, it seems like an odd thing to emphasize on a minor character in a classroom of otherwise normal-looking people.

Jeeez rotoscoping seems super expensive.

I think I found her, it's on the chapter 13

The one on the right? Can you explain why you believe that's the same character? I'm not seeing the resmblance. If they are the same character, was the design change deliberate or accidental?


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Why didn't Hanekawa want to go home during Mayoi Snail?
During the Mayoi Snail arc in Bakemonogatari we eventually learn that Senjōgahara couldn't see Hachikuji while Araragi could, because only those who didn't want to return home would be able to see her.
But while Araragi was waiting for Senjōgahara to get back from seeing Oshino, Hanekawa turns up and is able to see Hachikuji. Later in Tsubasa Cat we learn that the stress which caused Black Hanekawa to appear was from Hanekawa's repressed feeling for Araragi and not from family problems which caused Black Hanekawa's original appearance.
So I am wondering, was there a particular reason why Hanekawa didn't want to go home or were things getting worse between her and her parents?

In the middle of the last episode of the "Mayoi Snail" arc, we are told that Araragi is being led astray by Hachikuji after he didn't want to go home, because he was:

feeling awkward because it's Mother's Day, fought with [his] sister, and didn't want to go home

Moreover, past 14 minutes into the episode:

The condition for encountering a lost cow is to have a desire not to go home. But everyone feels that way at some point. After all, everyone has family problems.

So it doesn't have to be a particularly strong lack of desire to go home -- it doesn't have to be something "big" enough to lead to another appearance of Black Hanekawa.
Having thus obtained an explanation for why he saw Hachikuji from Senjougahara, Araragi thinks of Hanekawa, and concludes to himself that Hanekawa was able to see Hachikuji because of her family problems:

And so did [Hanekawa]. Carrying the weight of bad blood and strain within her family . . .

So it simply looks like while Hanekawa's stress with her parents dissipated somewhat after the first Black Hanekawa possession, the underlying problems were never resolved. For instance, in the beginning of "Tsubasa Tiger", which is in the second season of the series and which is after Bakemonogatari

 we learn that Hanekawa (still) doesn't have a room of her own in her house, and sleeps on the floor

So, at the very least, it looks like Araragi thinks that Hanekawa's ability to see Hachikuji is entirely to be expected, and not a cause for concern about new developments. It's possible that Hanekawa is keeping her friend in the dark about things -- if I'm not mistaken, in the "Suruga Monkey" arc, we see her lying to Araragi about where she is. But even if something new has come up between her and her parents, it probably isn't anything out of the ordinary, at least in that we never see any more detail go into this in the anime and in that it never turns into a massive crisis on its own.

Just because she wasn't stressed by her family situation doesn't mean she was not bothered by it and didn't want to return home. The situation with her parents was still same, but as Araragi notes, it would take some time before her stress built up enough from that. The stress from her unrequited love was much worse and accumulated much faster. Most probably because she spent all her time outside so her family situation was not on her mind all the time. But she met Araragi all the time.
Things started getting better with her family only after Tsubasa Tiger.


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Do Claymore manga and anime have different endings?
I am reading the Claymore manga. There are around 5 chapters left before I finish it. In chapter 150 of the manga, I see that Teresa is alive, but I am pretty sure that in the anime, she was killed by Priscilla, and Priscilla was defeated by Clare at the end of the anime.
The difference in the endings of the storylines of the manga and the anime has confused me. Can you tell me what's going on here? Or does this simply mean that the anime's storyline is different from that of the manga?

Disclaimer: although strictly not spoiler info (they're all details that were mentioned before), reading the answers kind of spoils the excitement and all the built-ups that lead to the grand conclusion. I advise you to just continue reading chapter 151, which would clear your confusion.

The Claymore anime storyline is indeed different from that in the Claymore manga, albeit only substantially different for the ending. As the manga was still ongoing, the anime had to end at the conclusion of the Northern Campaign arc, but they somehow made the ending different.
Before the final chapters in the manga, Priscilla remained undefeated since she slew Teresa. What's more, she never met Clare and her comrades in the Northern Campaign arc, and would not have been defeated by Clare were she to meet her at that time. This was different in the anime, as you said, Priscilla was defeated by Clare, and seemingly more by her desire for revenge than by Teresa's flesh and soul, and therefore talent and power, that resided within Clare.
Teresa was killed for sure, in both the anime and the manga, but she still lived within Clare because Clare took up her flesh and blood (from her severed head) to become an unusual Claymore who is 1/4 yoma and 3/4 human. The Teresa that appears in chapter 150 is Clare's awakened form.

It's not quite Clare's awakened form.  She learns that one Claymore can awaken and stabilize another one with sufficient bonding between them, and finally realizes she can apply that knowledge to awaken not herself but Teresa.  Just preceding her transformation into Teresa we see her undergo this very realization, as she ponders what was meant when she was told that she was "awakening wrong".

@zibadawatimmy That is a great comment (should be an answer)! I missed all the subtleties when reading the manga. Thanks for pointing that out.

@Gao The full question was about the differences between the endings of the anime and the manga (and implicitly about why a difference existed), which your answer addressed.  The awakening bit was ancillary, and it was all I was up to addressing at the time (the mere last sentence of your answer, in fact).  You're welcome to edit your answer to include my comment, if you want.

Manga and Animations do have totally different endings. Anime has a rushed ending but completes the series, whereas Manga has a smooth ending yet leaves a bit incompletion or does not satify the feels of ending! Although, its just endings, but the whole story differs due to those changes. Personally, I liked the Manga more.

authors: Олег Антонов


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What's the coordinate ability?
I'm on chapter 57 on Attack on Titan, and a "coordinate ability" keeps getting mentioned -- here by Hanji, but also earlier by either Bertholdt or Reiner (who apparently didn't want it to fall into the wrong hands). But what exactly is this coordinate ability?
I skipped a lot of the chapters up to 34 because they were just rehashings of the stuff in the anime, and I skimmed over a lot of the Survey Corps action in the woods, since it was getting too repetitious for me, so it's possible I might just have missed something.
Edit (taken from my comment in the answers): As an explanation to other readers, I was confused about this since at least in English, "coordinate" is pretty ambiguous without any further qualification. (It could be something geographical.) From the way Reiner and Bertholdt were talking about it, it sounded a bit like it could simply be a piece of crucial information that Eren might have in his lost memory.

Moreover, because of how Hanji was describing it merely as a "coordinate ability", it still wasn't clear to me.

It's the power to control other titans, when Eren was kidnapped he saw the titan that eat his mother and then he called another titan: specific page
It might be also something more than that, but I don't want to post spoilers since you are not on the latest manga!

Titans can have different types of abilities, like shifting back to human form (aka Titan Shifters), or putting armor on themselves (eg: Armored Titan, Annie hiding the back of her neck, ...). The third ability that was shown, was that of the Coordinate.
The Coordinate ability is basically the ability to control Titans. If the ability is controlled properly it can command all Titans to do whatever you want them to do.

 This is how humans were able to built the walls as sturdy and as big as they are right now.

As far as the story goes, it does not seem to work on Titan Shifters and there is supposed to be only one Titan with the Coordinate ability.

 Although the Beast Titan was shown to have a similar ability.

Hmmm, that makes sense, although "coordinate" just sounds terribly ambiguous, at least when I'm not completely paying attention. (I mean, I wasn't sure if it were just some geographical coordinate, and with Eren's lost memory and all, I was wondering if he simply had something in his memory that might be described as a coordinate)... :P I do get why a one-word description of the ability is nice to have though.

yes "command" would be a better name :D

@Maroon maybe it is Engrish and makes sense in Japanese?

@PeterRaeves: yeah, that struck me as pretty probable: ambiguities from double-meanings generally don't really translate across languages. (It's also possible the translation I was reading was just bad, but somehow, given how many results I got for snk coordinate ability, that seems doubtful.)

the coordinate is the ability to control other titans (abnormals) but Eren never had that power. He only got it when touching the mother of Zeke, his father's first wife(the smiling titan) who was of the royal family.

Please elaborate and provide sources/references.

The coordinate is the ability to control other titans (abnormals). And Eren can only activate his by touching someone with royal blood like the smiling titan. https://www.mangareader.net/shingeki-no-kyojin/115/11
if you read the chapter below, after Eren and Zeke concluded on how to save Eldia, Zeke refused to touch Eren but instead gave him a ball.
https://www.mangareader.net/shingeki-no-kyojin/115/19
However, Eren activated the Coordinate but two time.

If you watched the third season you realise that Eren failed to stop Lord Reis because He did not have contact with someone of royal blood. If he had direct contact with Historia while telling Lord Reis to stop, He would have stopped immediatly. To sum it all Royal blood + Founding Titan gives the Host all the abilities of the founding titan.
that is how the wall was built. But there is so much left unanswered....

As a manga reader, I already know the facts you laid out. However, this is a Q&A site so your references should be included in your answer itself, not as a comment. To add, scanlated sources and sources from illegal/fan translations are not allowed or are heavily discouraged as this site does not and will never support piracy.

Kk sorry for that, I am new here, didnt know the rules and just wanted to contribute by answering to the initial post. So what exactly do you want to know? or what dont you know?
Did you know that the second time Eren used the coordinate, He had no contact with royal blood but an ackerman?(Mikasa)
Which was weird in a way.

As long as you answer the OP's question, there is no limit to how much you can include in the answer, as long as it is relevant. Preferably, answers should be discussed. Just remember to include sources/references. And regarding the second time he used coordinate, when was that? I could not recall the chapter. Only remember him using it while in contact with Dina Fritz.

He used it the second time when he was running away with Mikasa on his back. That should never have happened but it did. He redirected the Titans from The smiling Titan to the armored titan.


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Who are the Witches whom these Magical Girls represent?
I found this image a little while ago.

It appears to be fan depictions of the magical girls who end up becoming witches who are fought in the series. I know that:

The 2nd one is Elly due to the the apperance of the screens on her left and the doll thing which is like Elly's Minions
The 3rd is supposed to be Nagisa looking more like Charlotte
The 5th one is Elsa Maria due to the appearance of the Sun above her head

However I don't know which witches the first and fourth girls are supposed to be.

the crests in the background are giving it away from left to right:

1: Gisela

2: Elly

3: Charlotte

4: Gertrud

5: Elsa Maria

The 4th girl looks a lot like Gertrud. I'm not sure about the first one, however, as there are no witch that is associated with those weapons or her colors of the witches in the anime, which I assume the fanart is based on. There are also no witches from the manga spin-off that might look like her.

Adding to what Frosteeze said (I still can't add comments), the most left girl might be Gisela as shown from given link (http://wiki.puella-magi.net/Madoka_Magica_Characters). I think it might have to do with the crest behind each girl.

The wiki page on Gisela mentions that she's the silver witch, and the first girl clearly has a silver color theme. The wiki also speculates that the magical girl who became her was a bosozoku. The bokuto and nail bat that the first girl is carrying are associated with bosozoku. Whether or not this is true, the artist of the picture might have believed it and included it in the picture.


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What powers does Araragi have after he was cured?
In the first episode of Bakmonogatari, Araragi revealed to Senjogahara that he was once a vampire and that he retained the regeneration ability after being cured.
In Episode 3 Mayoi Maimai - Part 1, Araragi is looking at Hachikuji after she comes back. His eyes go red and he says something about normally being able to read names at his current distance but with Hachikuji he can't. This leads him to ask Senjogahara about characters appearing in Hachikuji name.
I am wondering what powers Araragi still has after being cured of his vampirism?

[Potentially incomplete answer. I have only watched the anime and read "Tsubasa Song", and I suspect that there would be more information in the light novels. Some referencing from the Wikia entry for Araragi, since I needed something to jog my memory.]
Through-out the series, we see a couple different traits that were presumably acquired as a result of having become a vampire:

Firstly, Araragi has various healing powers. For instance, even after being attacked by staplers in the beginning of Bakemonogatari, it seems that his mouth was able to heal very quickly. Moreover, in Nekomonogatari Black, he heals Hanekawa's wound with some of his blood.
In the Hachikuji arc, Araragi reads Hachikuji's name off of her bag. I don't remember the scene very well, but Senjougahara is unable to see the name. Araragi is not aware -- at that point in time -- that Senjougahara is unable to see Hachikuji. Rather (per a discussion on TV Tropes that I read -- see "one dialogue, two conversations" -- and my memory of the scene), he assumes that he was able to read the name because of some enhanced vampiric vision.
In Nisemonogatari, we see Araragi being hesitant to spar with his sisters. This is because he doesn't want to harm them because of the super-human strength he has acquired.
Later, Araragi removes some of the poison that has been making Karen feverish. However, it's not clear if this is just a vampire ability or a result of the fact that given that the fever is supernaturally generated, he can remove some of it. Without more information, I would assume that it's probably the latter.

Most definitely at least during the events of Bakemonogatari in the in-universe chronology, if not after it, Araragi has a conversation with Meme Oshino (or possibly with Shinobu -- I don't remember which).

 He is told that he has the option of becoming entirely human again, provided that he does not feed Shinobu his blood. Moreover, in "Tsukimonogatari", we see that Araragi is slowly becoming a vampire -- he can't see his reflection anymore, and Shinobu closes the blinds in his room to prevent him from contacting sunlight.

The above suggests that the exact abilities Araragi has are dependent on how much blood Shinobu has been allowed to suck from him -- we see, for instance, in "Suruga Monkey", that Araragi preemptively lets Shinobu suck blood from him to ensure that he won't straight-out die from being attacked by Kanbaru. Furthermore, Araragi's exact abilities eventually change.
But in any case, normally speaking (i.e. when he hasn't let Shinobu suck a lot of his blood), Araragi's abilities seem to essentially be slight improvements of normal human physical abilities (of sight, strength, healing), and nothing more than that. For instance, unlike Shinobu:

 Araragi is incapable of time-travelling alone -- it's Shinobu who creates a portal to the past in "Mayoi Jiangshi" -- and we never see him travel at really high speeds when he is "normal" (whereas Shinobu presumably did when she escaped with a man to Antarctica).

The novels pretty much confirm your answer. The earlier novels (Kizu and Neko Black) make it more explicit that Koyomi has only amped up healing, strength, and senses, and that he gains more vampire powers the more he allows Shinobu to suck his blood.

"Nadeko Pool", at least according to TV Tropes, suggests that vampires (including Araragi) are incapable of swimming, but I'm not completely sure if that fits into everything (so am not going to add it to my answer formally for now).

Nadeko Pool does say that vampires can't swim, but since Koyomi can take the sunlight in his current state, I'd expect him to be able to swim if it was just a vampire thing. The story suggests obliquely that Koyomi just isn't a very good swimmer, and tries to blame his lack of ability on being a vampire.

@Torisuda: makes sense; I was sceptical of the TV Tropes description since I would have expected Araragi to be outright drowning if he really was incapable of at all swimming because of being part-vampire, but I wasn't really sure.


text:
Which characters is the cast of Youkai Shoujo - Monsuga cosplaying as in the chapter 31 color cover?
Below is the color cover for chapter 31 of Youkai Shoujo - Monsuga.

The characters here are very clearly cosplaying as characters from other works; which characters are they cosplaying as?

I actually already know most of these characters except for the child in bird (kiwi) costume. To avoid making my question too long, and because most of the characters depicted here can be trivially reverse-searched, I decided to answer my question with the characters I know. Feel free to post a full-featured answer for the kiwi character without editing my answer.

The child in bird (kiwi) costume looks like Diao He Liao (Karyou Ten) from Kingdom.

Perfect. Just what I was looking for, thanks.

Unfortunately, I do not recognize the child in what appears to be a kiwi costume, but here's a list of all the other characters.
From front to back (closest to farthest):

Mutsu from Kantai Collection

Tomoe Mami from Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Yazawa Nico from Love Live!

Makise Kurisu from Steins;Gate

Kasugano Sakura from Street Fighter

Unknown kiwi child...

A Terraformar from Terra Formars

Ada Wong from Resident Evil

Azrael from BlazBlue

On screen in the background:
Kappa as him-/herself.