text:
In the s1 finale, who is Miku talking to on the phone?
I'm asking because we see that Miku is talking on the phone with either Itsuki or Ichika. Who is it?

We know (s1 spoiler)

 Itsuki impersonates Ichika but not really (at least in the anime) specifically when and to what extent. I'm not sure if Ichika actually did go out skiing for a bit. Did Itsuki impersonate to the extent of stealing Ichika's phone?

Is it perhaps clarified in the manga?
Guesses: (s1 spoiler)

 1. It really is Ichika who temporarily went out of the cabin.

 2. It is actually Itsuki who somehow got ahold of Ichika's phone and is impersonating Ichika even on the phone besides in person.

 3. It is Ichika on the phone but the person on the right hand side is Itsuki...who is for some reason making a separate phone call at precisely the same time.

 4. Much like in (Higurashi/)Umineko, the scene on the right hand side did not happen. But then please explain...did Itsuki steal Ichika's phone and then answer while outside the doorway of Ichika's room? (Or inside the room but Ichika was asleep?) Or what?

 5. Other?

Just to confirm: did you watch this episode and the next without skipping anything? If yes, then I am not sure how this information was missed. If not, I suggest re-watching the episodes. Did you also try looking this up or maybe checking the manga?

@W.Are Edited post. I watched all s1 and s2. I looked it up on fandom. Couldn't find anything. Didn't check manga because I suspect it would be a huge wheel reinvention to check. I actually watched all s1 and s2 sub and I'm now rewatching the series dubbed. Currently midway s2. I thought I would get this in a rewatch, but well, I didn't, so here I am. In fact, this kind of question I think is something you formulate precisely from a rewatch. We know Itsuki impersonates Ichika but not really specifically when and to what extent. Thanks for commenting. Happy Easter.

The question is asking who Miku is talking to. Your answer is talking about a guess on what happened in the episode and did not mention who Miku was talking to. Please clarify what you really wanted to know. What I think happened: it was Ichika that Miku was talking to due to the fact that she called the MC by his first name during the call (Itsuki calls him by his given name). Manga is a bit unclear but in the anime, it showed that Ichika was outside when Miku made the call. When she went out, when she went back in, it was not really mentioned.

@W.Are Thanks. Edited answer to be explicit. It's during step 2 that Ichika talks to Miku. 1 - Is there anything wrong with my answer? 2 - By 'given name' do you mean instead 'last name' ?

Others may have different interpretation or there may have been details we missed but I think this is correct. Advice: in future answers, try to elaborate and provide references, if possible. 2. Yes. I meant to say family name or the last name.

@W.Are Ok thanks. Feel free to post this as an answer or copy my answer as your own and then I'll delete mine and upvote and accept yours.

Self-answering and accepting own answers to own questions is completely fine and isn't against the rules.

@W.Are Yeah, but I wanna give you the points as a proper thank you. It's up to you.

@W.Are So it's just convenient that Itsuki wasn't caught impersonating Ichika during the time Ichika went out?

Here's what I understand.

Itsuki went out impersonating Ichika (the 'Uesugi-kun' part) and then
Ichika ALSO went out (during this Ichika talks to Miku) but then later
Ichika went back in and
Itsuki was still impersonating Ichika, and Itsuki really hadn't been caught impersonating because when Ichika went out, Ichika hadn't run into the other quints or something.

What I don't quite buy is A - that Ichika indeed went out and then just went back in. This sounds like a really weird overanalytical Higurashi/Umineko kind of explanation like when a culprit steals a key and then later returns it or something. And B - That Itsuki somehow wasn't caught.


text:
What is the height of Kei Shirogane?
Well we know Miko Iino is 147cm. There have been deductions for other characters based on this image from reddit (by user TheBlueInk1) which estimates height based on Miko Iino's stated height of 147cm (S02E04):

What about Kei Shirogane?
Note: In the dub, Miko Iino is stated to be 4'8", which is 142.24cm. But in the original, it's really 147cm. Following the dub, I guess we just subtract everything by 4.76 cm.

Why are they all on tiptoes? Surely that would skew the results.

@Daron Thanks for commenting. Interesting... Maybe it's a skewed perspective like the floor is leaning down because of an elevated angle?

Oh at least in the anime Kei and Kaguya are the same height of 158cm or 5'2.2". See here: Who is taller, Kaguya or Kei?
Or I'll just copy it.

Source: https://twitter.com/mazacon_ha_saka/status/1520315594402562048

They are on tiptoes here too! What is up with that? If you look at the 169cm man you can see his foot is sideways and he is on tiptoes. So it is not to do with perspective.

@Daron Hell. Good point. Thanks. The other case I can say floor is skewed. Here not sure... but maybe the floor is skewed in the other case and then it's just a cut out here?

@BLC My current theory is it's a convention when drawing character models to cram more visual information in there. Maybe it indicates how to draw how much the shoe bends when the character walks? It is kind of accurate that if you look from face height and close up you will see the top of the shoe and less of the front. But to complicate things the pink hair girl IS actually on tiptoes.

@Daron Ah Fujiwara-shoki aka Shoki no Chika. Maybe just a slight lean on 1 foot but overall doesn't affect the height? Idk

It probably indicates that she is cheerful.

Can't give so precise an answer, but I can give a range estimate, depending on who is taller between Kaguya and Kei.

Answer 1:
I guess Kei is shorter than Kaguya but taller than Chika (Fujiwara) based on the aforementioned image from reddit and based on the following from S01E08

This puts Kei's height

between 151cm (4'11.4") and 156cm (5'1.4") for the original Japanese

and then between 146.24cm (4'9.5") and 151.24cm (4'11.5") for the dub.

Answer 2:
Wait it could be that Kei is taller than Kaguya (but still shorter than Yu (Ishigami)) based on the aforementioned image from reddit and based on the following from S02E02

This puts Kei's height

between 156cm (5'1.4") and 164cm (5'4.6") for the original Japanese

and then between 151.24cm (4'11.5") and 159.24cm (5'2.7") for the dub.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


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Kei Shirogane doesn't care in S02E10 vs steals Miyuki's phone in S03E04
Why in S02E10 does Kei not want to show any interest in Miyuki's love life despite being extremely interested and yet in S03E04 (specifically Ch106) when Chika brings up Miyuki's love life, Kei automatically butts in and a fortiori shows interest?

Here's what I was told. I'm posting this here as part of Cunningham's Law:

Since there's an external factor, namely of that Chika brought up Miyuki's love life, there's no reason for Kei to be embarrassed anymore.

Edit: Wait there's another thing. Kei actually says that Miyuki's love life was distracting or something and so wanted to tell Chika about it in hopes of reducing the distraction. Of course this may have been a lie.

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


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Why is Kaiji referred to by 1st name while Akagi is referred to by last name?
Kaiji and Akagi similarities

They are both gambling manga series written by Nobuyuki Fukumoto.

They were both adapted into anime series and live action series/movies.

They both have a single word in the title which is the name that the title character is often called.

In the anime adaptation, both characters are voiced by Masato Hagiwara, and both main bosses of s1 are voiced by Masane Tsukayama (Iwao Washizu, Kazutaka Hyōdō).

Both series have a narrator.

Given such similarities, I am inquiring about the following difference I notice:
Question: Why is Kaiji Itō (伊藤 開司, Itō Kaiji) often referred to with 1st name Kaiji, by the narrator, the title of the show and the characters while Shigeru Akagi (赤木 しげる, Akagi Shigeru) is often referred to with last name Akagi (also by the narrator, the title of the show and the characters)?
Guess: What I have in mind is there's something specific here like, say, age of the characters at the start. But in this case, I think it'd more the reverse:

Akagi is around 13 yo at the start, much younger than the other characters who are dirty cops or yakuza, while

Kaiji is like 20+ yo, around the same age as some characters. And while still much younger than the Teiai goons, Kaiji is still called Kaiji, Kaiji-kun or Kaiji-san by pretty much every character regardless of their age.

From reddit user Arcengal in here:

I don't have a definitive answer, but I think the most likely one is
it's meant to show the contrasting personality between the two
characters.
Kaiji is a bum and he makes poor decisions in life, but at his heart
he's very personable and almost too open to other people. The author
shows this by how relaxed he is with other people using his first name
in conversation instead of his family name, even relative strangers
("Kaiji-kun!"). This isn't the standard for Japanese culture - 'first
name basis' is serious business. In terms of other characters using
his first name (Tonegawa etc.), this may as much false endearment on
their part as it is the author sticking to an established name
convention, but overall the Kaiji manga is more about emotional
responses to stressful situations, compared to the clinical play
patterns of Akagi's.
Akagi, meanwhile, has a lot going on in his head, most of which we
aren't privy to. He doesn't overly care about close connections and
always keeps people at a distance, so people are more formal around
him and never feel close enough to switch to first name. It's not as
if he's shy about giving his full name (he does so at least twice in
the anime), but he's also the same guy who kneecapped someone then
went off to Mahjong against a blind dude. Would you want to get too
close to someone like that?

From reddit user CactusSnail in here:

Kaiji's very "friendly" and frequently gains and loses comrades throughout his gambles whereas Akagi flat out tells Osamu that he doesn't want him to think they're friends just because they spend time together.
Kaiji is a loser, barely scraping by a lot of the time and not having any real ambition, struggling every step of the way to get out of whatever mess he's in. While Akagi constantly succeeds and commands respect from those around him, actively choosing to discard wealth and power he's gained through his gambles to keep himself free of it.
Socially they're practically opposites, and FKMT reflected that in how they're addressed.

Note: FKMT is Fukumoto.


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Do Itsuki or Miku (or the other quints?) ask their dad why their tutor Fuutarou is a student in their own school and year level?
In the pilot episode/series premiere, Itsuki and Miku think out loud complaining that their tutor is a student in their own school and year level, instead of a graduate of a bachelor's/associate's degree or even just a high school diploma.
Itsuki

Itsuki: Why you? You're in my class. Is there not even one proper tutor in this town?

Miku

Miku: Why you? You're in our grade. Is there not even one...

This is an extremely reasonable complaint and, apparently, in the manga, there's an explanation for it:

 The quints' dad and Fuutaro's dad know each other prior. And some other stuff.

Questions:

Do they ever ask their dad about it? Like call and say like

'Hey dad, you didn't mention our tutor is a student in our own school and year level, instead of a graduate of a bachelor's/associate's degree or even just a high school diploma. What's up with that?'

And actually why doesn't their dad just inform them in advance? Like

'Found a tutor for you guys. Tutor is in your own school and year level, Fuutaro Uesugi. I'm choosing someone from your own school and year level instead of someone with a bachelor's degree or even a high school diploma because [insert reasons].'

For 1
2 things
Thing 1A - My guess based on S02E02-S02E05 (The 7 goodbyes + the episode afterwards)

 They didn't even tell their dad about that Nino and Itsuki left the apartment.

Probably they just don't really talk to their dad that much.
Thing 1B - Actually they don't really care about studying that much. These aren't students who are really trying to improve their grades and just can't seem to be able to without external help. It probably sucks someone just in their grade and school is their kateikyoushi, but they just couldn't be bothered.

For 2
Actually their dad did tell them in advance that a kateikyoushi was coming. We know because Itsuki was expecting a kateikyoushi to come. You might wonder why their dad didn't tell the quints about the details, but I think the better question is why the quints didn't ask their dad in the 1st place about the tutor's qualifications. Then it's the same as above: They don't talk to their dad much, and they don't really care about studying.


text:
What's up with anime movies that are really sequels to series instead of adaptations from scratch?
In 2010, The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya was released and then now in 2022 the The Quintessential Quintuplets' movie will be released. The thing is each is a sequel to the 2 seasons of anime that already and recently aired.

I think it's reasonable to ask 'How are people gonna understand what's going on if they haven't watched the prior stuff?' Question 1: So what's up with that? Why don't they just do a season 3 instead of a movie? Or, Hell, why bother making a TV series instead of just a movie series, like why not do 3 movies instead of 3 seasons or 2 seasons + 1 movie?

Well, for the The Quintessential Quintuplets' movie, ok probably it will be mostly self-contained, we'll see, but as for Disappearance, well, admittedly I don't really remember the specifics of the movie, but I do remember some things from the series were pretty relevant, like

 Asakura, Endless Eight and closed space

. I don't think I would've understood the movie without having seen the series prior. But I remember reading recently many youtube comments that say they watched the movie before watching the series.

Question 2: Was Disappearance really possible to understand without the series?

Guess: Well maybe someone, without having watched the series prior, would interpret the movie as like 'Guy wakes up 1 day and finds classmate is missing, and no one seems to remember this classmate.'

Further elaboration:

Other anime: The above 2 examples are in contrast to say for, the, Death Note live movies, or even the Death Note animated recap movies, which are really adapting the Death Note manga from scratch. Similar for the Attack on Titan live movies (or animated recap movies) or the Code Geass animated movies.

Other anime: As for anime like say Yu-Gi-Oh! or Pokémon, I figure their movies are like MCU or superhero movies in general where they don't really expect the audience to have seen the previous movies to understand what's going on (with maybe some notable exceptions like Avengers Endgame).

Edit: Actually, I had no idea, but apparently even anime films for Yu-Gi-Oh! or Pokémon may be criticised for this: 'Criticism likened it to the Pokémon films in that it was only appropriate for fans of the franchise.' --> from wikipedia page for Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie: Pyramid of Light.

Non-anime: The only non-anime examples I can think of right now are Veronica Mars and Hey Arnold! (both of the HA! movies). In either case, yeah, I think those movies are pretty self-contained. But, I remember the series were mostly episode by episode with only a few overarching plots. And more importantly, they were revivals (except for the 1st HA! movie). The movies for Haruhi and TQQ are really direct sequels to the series, each of which finished airing just a year before the movie, like the opposite kind of sequel as a revival. Or, what, do we think of these movies the same way we think of 'revivals' ?

(Edit) Anime: I don't watch that much anime in general compared to the seasoned veterans in stackexchange or reddit, soooo Haruhi and TQQ are pretty much the only ones I know, but I guess there are a lot more examples like Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai (see here), and Psycho-Pass (see here) and Takagi-san (see here).

More examples like Veronica Mars and Hey Arnold!:

Liar Game The Final Stage - sort of series finale after once again two seasons. --> Also self-contained.

But does everybody watch Star Wars in the right order?

@sundowner Thanks for commenting. 1 - But Star Wars was never really a 'TV series' that had a movie sequel except EU or whatever afaik. 2 - I think Star Wars is in the same category as superhero movies: They don't really expect you to have seen the previous movies.

I don't have answer to your questions, but judging from web searches, it seems you are right in that the order has relatively large impact in Haruhi series. But the nature of Haruhi expects the audience to watch it many times so that they figure out the sometimes hidden details, so that the less self-contained nature did not matter too much.

Slightly different examples would be Dragon ball or One piece. I think they are now too long to start watching from the very beginning, today's kids should be enjoying just seeing it from where they come of age, I guess.

@sundowner Thanks for commenting. 1 - Wait so you mean Disappearance actually isn't self-contained but it doesn't matter because...the nature of Haruhi is like its movies or episodes are like...not something you watch just once? Please consider posting that as answer because that's exactly what I think of TQQ and consequently that may explain the upcoming movie: It won't be self-contained too, but it also won't matter for the same reason! 2 -  I believe dragon ball and one piece are in the same category as Yu-Gi-Oh! or Pokémon?

According to this webpage

映画「涼宮ハルヒの消失」はアニメ「涼宮ハルヒの憂鬱」の続きにあたる作品です。
アニメに出てきた伏線を回収するようなストーリー構成であるため、 映画「涼宮ハルヒの消失」はアニメ「涼宮ハルヒの憂鬱」を見ておかないと内容がわからないです。

So the answer to 2 seems to be no.
Regarding 1, it is only possible to guess, but the following may suggest that the business people involved thought it would be profitable enough (and possibly even making a movie would be quicker than making another series).

Haruhi series was a smash hit, and the scale seems historical (according to this, the original novels sold 20 million copies, which is the third best selling series even today).

Also the anime dvds sold very well (source).

Just my opinion/guess. Dragon ball/one piece make movies, and I agree they are to an extent self-contained, but I doubt e.g. girls who know nothing about them can understand them (or bother to watch them).
So ultimately the fact only shows that the creators expected a large enough potential watchers and how popular Haruhi was in those days.

Ah so perhaps if they make a movie that's a sequel to a series even if the movie is not quite self-contained then probably that series is really that popular?

Yes that's what I thought.

Ok makes sense. Thanks sundowner. Please consider adding this into your answer

And the answer is: these things are not planned out.
How this works is that a bunch of anime are made each season. Some of them are successful, so they might get a second season. Or a movie. Or both.
Sometimes they make recap movies to watch before the movie that continues the story. Higashi no Eden and Made in Abyss worked like that. Haruhi had a second season airing in 2009, which contained the entire first season and led into the movie which released in 2010.

For my Q1, that covers recap movies (which I wasn't asking about) but not quite movie sequels. Whe does an anime series get a movie sequel instead of a next season sequel? Like say haruhi, why is its 'season 3' a movie instead of a series? Also for TQQ why is it a movie instead of a 'season 3' ? I think we could ask the same for any season 2 or 3  (or 4, 5, etc) of anime, why not make it a movie instead? (s1 specifically vs movie is another altogether.) For my Q2 , do you disagree with sundowner ?

It all depends on what the production committee is deciding and how the source material works out. Movies are shorter than TV shows, so maybe a consideration is to avoid stopping on a cliffhanger. Movies also make more money, but getting one into cinemas isn't trivial. Movies do not compete with TV slots like TV shows. There are various considerations, but it all depends on the production committee. || What's the actual position of sundowner that you are asking about?

Thanks. For my Q1 - ok fine...makes sense a priori but as for a posteriori please consider adding some references or examples...like it seems any anime that gets an s2 instead of a movie means like, what, it's not good enough to be a movie? But I guess that's wrong considering, say, Attack on Titan. Or, maybe an AoT movie instead of another season wouldn't do well because it wouldn't be self-contained? Idk. Or really simply sometimes a movie is better but other times another season is better? Examples please.

For Q2, see here. sundowner seems to say the Haruhi movie is not self-contained, but it's ok still.

It's all guessing, the production committee might just roll a dice to decide. Who knows. Also, there are four Shingeki no Kyojin movies. I believe they only go for movies these days if the source material has a story arc that fits neatly into one. || I think you are supposed to watch the TV show first. But it's not the end of the world with anything if you start in the middle. Case in Point: the first Star Wars Movie: Episode IV.

Ocean, thanks. For Q1 - so it's not necessarily better or worse to have a movie instead of another season. It's just...different? And it could happen for a multitude of reasons and an example of a necessary but not sufficient reason is 'the source material has a story arc that fits neatly into one' ? For Q2 - Ignoring your completely unfair SW4 example...right I think I remember and get it now: well basically in general, production peeps whether making movies series episodes or whatever they do try to keep self-contained as much as possible?


text:
Which episode does Shion take the whole day to send a single text?
Which episode of Shion no Ou does Shion take the whole day to send a single text? I believe it was to Ayumi. I think it was somewhere episodes 12 to 22 (the latter half of the series) and in the latter half of whatever episode it was in.

Edit: Thanks to Turamarth it's in episode 16. I was right about that. However

It took me an entire day to write one text.

I was wrong that it was in the latter half of the episode. It was actually in the former half, around 9:30

According to this blog the scene happens in episode 16.

A blushing Shion wishes to send a text message to Ayumi but can’t seem think of anything to say. It took her the whole day before she came up with something to say.

THANK YOU Turamarth. Have you actually watched the series? If not: Then how did you come across this blog? What keywords did you use to search it? Did you just search "shion" "text" "ayumi"? Or what?

@BCLC I simply searched for "shion no ou sms". The third hit was that blog.


text:
In the 3rd game when Eva calls Hideyoshi as a witness, what's the point if there's no red truth?
In the anime (episode 18, part of the 3rd arc of the anime which corresponds to the 3rd episode of the VN Banquet of the Golden Witch):
Hideyoshi is called as a witness and says

I spent the whole time taking care of Eva in our room because she was sick. Of course, Eva didn't leave the room.

It's a good idea (both as a tactic from the witch side and in writing a story) to call a 'witness' from the dead, but what's the point if there's no red truth?

In the VN/manga, there's a red truth: (I edited to emphasise the red part.)

Battler: Don't try to trick me! Your true form isn't a witch or anything like it, but a flesh and blood human. The human culprit, Ushiromiya Eva!!!
EVA Beatrice summons Hideyoshi as a witness to testify for her
Hideyoshi: I was taking care of Eva in our room the whole time. Of course, Eva didn't leave the room.
Battler: I demand that he repeats it again in red!!
Hideyoshi (in red): I was in the room the whole time. Both before and after the time of the crime
Battler (repetition request): 'Aunt Eva was also in the room for the entire time before and after the crime'
Battler: Uncle Hideyoshi was just there to create an alibi. You made him stay in the room and stealthily snuck out.
EVA Beatrice refuses
Battler: Maybe Uncle Hideyoshi didn't leave the room the whole time. But saying he was taking care of you the whole time...is a bright-red lie! Therefore, no alibi exists for you!! You had a chance to slip out of the room and kill Aunt Rosa and Maria! If you think you can dodge that, try proclaiming in red that 'Aunt Eva didn't take a step outside of her room'!! You can't, right?
The witch side resigns

But anyway, I guess it's not really a big deal. Of course you don't trust anything that's not in red.
(
Then again I guess the idea is that

 there's a lot of white text that the witches have gotten past

Battler.
)

Btw in the VN:

So yeah obvious not really a big deal.


text:
Why does Chika care about Kaguya's date in the pilot/premiere?
I just started the anime, but prior to watching I've already read about how it's a running gag that Chika ruins the plans of either Kaguya or Miyuki or makes 1 of their battles have a result of draw or even N/A instead of an outright win/loss.
In the case of the pilot/premiere (specifically Kaguya Wants to be Stopped, ch12 of the manga), it seems kind of a weird deus ex machina for what otherwise could've been a win for Kaguya (or at least a follow up move by Miyuki) that Chika comes and saves the day in preventing Kaguya from going on the date with the love letter sender:

Question: What does Chika care?
And in case someone's going to accuse me like 'It's a joke. Don't you have a sense of humour?' Well, jokes are based on paradox/contradiction. This is a very good joke if there's a good reason for Chika's doing this eg Chika knows about Kaguya's affection for Miyuki or Chika knows Kaguya otherwise isn't interested in this date.

Update: I finished s1, and usually there are good reasons why a battle's conclusion is N/A or a draw because of a deus ex machina. This is 1 of the few times I don't see a good reason.

This show is so meta >_<

@FumikageTokoyami What does meta mean in this context please? I guess it's different from the meta in umineko/higurashi and the meta in stackexchange

Meta in this context means shows that makes fun of itself, it's self aware and almost parodical. Contains elements like fourth wall breaking. Other examples include Gintama.

@FumikageTokoyami 1 - ah so metafictional like umineko (but in a comedic way not in the fantasy way that umineko does) ? 2 - Ah true, yes, thanks for the info. I hopefully don't miss meta jokes. Surely there's no point similarly questioning those jokes. But this joke is not quite meta...or is it?

This is pretty much answered by Chika herself in this episode. What she says is as follows (emphasis mine):
From the English dub (I'm using brackets to indicate where I'm uncertain what she's saying, as she's babbling and there are no subtitles. It's close enough anyway.):

I don't want anyone to [come] take you away, Kaguya! And I don't want you to get expelled! Please, don't leave me, I love you more than any [boyfriend/boy can]! I love you sooooo much!

From the English subtitles on the Japanese dub:

I don't want anyone to have you, Kaguya! I don't want you expelled! No, no, don't go away! I'm crazy about you! I love you!

The expulsion part gets into something not mentioned by the question, namely that Shirogane threatened to tell a teacher if Kaguya goes on her date. That in of itself is a reason for Chika to so passionately interfere in this manner. That isn't all, of course...
So, what does Chika care? It seems straight forward to me. It's perfectly clear that as Kaguya's close friend, she loves Kaguya. She directly states that here, and many times elsewhere. For instance, the relationship charts at the beginning states that Fujiwara "Super totally ✩ loves her ♡", which goes a long way in describing the depths of her feelings. In this episode, Kaguya says she's really going to go unless she gets a love confession, and that's what she gets here from Chika (There's the funny joke we're looking for! The timing is definitely too perfect for that not to be what the author was going for.). Even at the beginning of Chika and Kaguya's conversation, Chika is fidgeting a lot, so she's worrying about it, and she keeps asking Kaguya if she's really going.
This is not the only time Fujiwara is overprotective of Kaguya when it comes to relationships. In chapter 113, after saying she got hit on at a school festival, Fujiwara warns Kaguya, saying,

You should never go to their culture festival, Kaguya! You'd really get harassed! (Because you're so cute!)

Additionally, Chika has been shown to have a selfish personality. For instance, when they learn that she and Ishigami share a birthday, she becomes extremely upset, because she believes this will result in her having a subpar birthday party. Someone who can use the kind of logic she uses to deduce her birthday revelry will suffer from sharing the day with someone else can surely determine what the result will be should Kaguya actually find a boyfriend. Kaguya's time would be monopolized by this boyfriend, leaving no time for Chika herself, and this would be a greatly undesirable outcome.
I see questions all the time about why this character or that character has any sort of invested interest in another character's romances, but they always strike me as odd, as if there is some belief that romantic relationships are the only kind of relationships that have importance. Yet, there is nothing unusual about someone getting jealous of their friend's romantic partners, particularly if they're as close as Kaguya and Chika. Seeing all the hilariously selfish stuff I've seen Chika pull in the manga, I can fairly confidently say she is the kind of person who would get jealous if Kaguya got a boyfriend and spent less time with her. Though Chika has also shown incredible selflessness, such as when she's teaching Shirogane. It's thus difficult to say what she would or wouldn't do. Though here, with the added motivation of keeping Kaguya from getting expelled, she tries to dissuade her.
This is quite a heavy spoiler coming from the end of volume 22, so I highly recommend not looking at it, however it supports my interpretation of Chika so well I couldn't help but want to include it.

 From the preview description for volume 23: "Will Miyuki replace Chika in Kaguya's heart? When dense Chika belatedly finds out they're dating, she certainly thinks so."

 Volume 23 unsurprisingly, has Chika initially being surprised, but very accepting and supportive of Kaguya's relationship with Shirogane when Kaguya initially tells her about it in Battle 222: Kaguya Shinomiya's Impossible Demand: "Mount Horai's Branch of Pearls". Here's a snippet of the conversation between Kaguya and Chika, with emphasis being mine here, as it supports my initial characterizations of their relationship and how the story portrays it:

 "Why didn't you tell me before?!"

 "Because... You're special. And now someone else is special to me too. I feel like I've betrayed you."

 "You can have as many special people in your life as you want! I don't mind!"

 However, true to her capricious nature and joker role in the story, Chika completely flips her position in the next chapter and is very upset by Kaguya and Shirogane's relationship. Her irritation initially sparks from seeing Miko and Ishigami act like it was obvious Kaguya and Shirogane were in love. Here are some highlights from Battle 223: Chika Fujiwara Won't Admit it. Emphasis is again mine, as some of this pretty much confirms my interpretation of the conversation in the pilot as being how the author intended it to be interpreted.

 "Arghhhh! What is happening?! I can't take it anymore! You stupid, dumb, moronic idiots! I can't accept this relationship! I can't stand this lovey-dovey atmosphere either! My precious Kaguya has been defiled by Shirogane. This is... cuckoldry!"
 ...
 "But I will not acknowledge this couple! Kaguya is mine!

 When pressed on her change of heart, this is Chika's explanation:

 Kaguya: "But when I told you, you said you were happy for me..."

Chika: "Changing your mind is a sign of maturity. When I saw you two together now and was truly honest with myself, I realized I can't accept this. I will crush and destroy your relationship, whatever it takes!"

Ok thanks. 2 aspects here. The expulsion and the friendship. Expulsion.......seems legit. I'll put a pin on this. As for the friendship, LOLWUT? Chika doesn't want Kaguya to get into a romantic relationship ever? (Is this a spoiler for a future episode where it's revealed Chika's been intentionally foiling Kaguya's plans with Miyuki? I don't think it should be because the narrator said in the pilot/premiere that Chika is oblivious...)

@BCLC "Chika doesn't want Kaguya to get into a romantic relationship ever?" It's possible, but that's not really what I said. I do think she'd be quite upset, and she'd weigh her own desires more than a regular person, but it's not like she has no consideration for others at all.  I will also say, Chika is a bit annoying early on as the joker/wild card element. She's played more like a plot convenience than a character. But that gets better as the story progresses, so look forward to that.

I actuallydon't find Chika annoying at all in general. I think Chika's character is brilliant. I mean, it all depends. (I don't even consider Chika as a 'wild card'. In my opinion, Kaguya should have anticipated Chika, but that's another story.) If there's a good reason, then sure. I actually have a vested interest/hope that there's a good reason for every single Chika or other 'wild card' thing (eg Yu Ishigami in the post-Miyuki's birthday thing) because it proves a point I intend to make about Miyuki. But I'm not quite seeing a good reason here apart from expulsion. Soo...

...continuing to put a pin on expulsion, I really don't see what's going on. So Chika is simply getting jealous re that Kaguya would be in a romantic relationship? Like, what, this is the 1st time ever Kaguya's been hit on? I know people in general are intimidated by Shinomiya-senpai/Kaguya-san, but still... / Or idk, do you think this is 1 of those don't overthink things? Like let's just pretend Chika said expulsion only, so there isn't (possibly) an issue? Or what?

Re your update: Yeah I actually read chapter 223 just last night and thought back to this post. (What a coincidence!) I guess it really was just generic jealousy of losing your friends to a romantic partner (besides the expulsion thing...Idk in my view, I think I have to just pretend Chika said only expulsion otherwise I'll be overanalysing this scene.) Also you forgot to link the relationship chart in your update I guess? https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/66664/


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Kaguya vs Miyuki (or even Yu) in arm wrestling - How is this even a contest?
S03E01, specifically Chapter 117

We see that both Kaguya and Miyuki (Shirogane) appear to be equally matched:

But they're actually just pulling punches:

Kaguya of course wins and then is known as 'muscle queen(/monarch)'. But from what I understand, Kaguya should've already been known as 'muscle queen(/monarch)' a long time ago. If anything Kaguya should've been excluded from this tournament because it's obvious Kaguya would win. Here's why I think so:

Kaguya knows martial arts and has even easily flipped Miyuki in S02E09 (the routine episode), where it's also said that Kaguya is 1st dan aikido and 2nd dan judo.

Kaguya does archery (as even pointed out in the episode [besides of course in the s2 intro]).

Kaguya is even given the left hand/arm 'handicap'. (I'm assuming everyone else here is right-handed or ambidextrous, at least for arm wrestling.)

Question 1:
Why is no one wondering why Kaguya does not immediately beat Miyuki? Or is Miyuki actually capable of taking on Kaguya?

Question 2:
In particular, why doesn't Chika (Fujiwara) wonder (assuming Miyuki indeed isn't capable)?
Actually, Chika knows that Miyuki, while not unfit, isn't necessarily the most athletic/coordinated such as in the volleyball episode (S01E05) and the Sōran Bushi dance episode (S02E10). From S01E05:

Now, we've seen in the pilot/premiere that the narrator has described Chika as unaware to mutual attraction of Kaguya and Miyuki...

...but we've seen in the post-birthday part of S02E02 that Chika is smart enough to make reasonable conjectures/deductions about that either could be attracted to the other.

This makes me think Chika of all (the 3 other) people (in the room) would've thought something's up.

I'm not sure of the question, you are asking if people should think Kaguya > Shirogane based on the facts you mention?

@sundowner Not just > but >>, like landslide. Arguably you might say my question is wrong and that I should ask why they even have this contest or why Kaguya is even included. Anyway, I edited post to hopefully be clearer. Thanks for asking.

This is likely being downvoted for being unclear. The parenthetical part in the question title is not very helpful, and I would just remove it. This question really doesn't have much to do with Yu, since he did in fact lose quite handily, and putting that in there just makes it confusing. I think the title is okay other than that (it could perhaps be improved, but it isn't necessary). All the pictures in your question are kind of overwhelming to be honest, and they hide your question. If you feel they're necessary and don't want to change that, that's fine. I'm just letting you know.

Suspension of Disbelief
First off, it sounds like this episode broke your suspension of disbelief.  In this case, characters behaved in a manner so contrary to how you view them, you couldn't help but view it as some kind of author error. Frankly, there's no getting your suspension of disbelief back, as it's something that has to be maintained during viewing of a work. As I have to answer objectively based on how the characters did behave and not on how you expected them to behave, I can only answer this question by being an apologist for the episode, using the best reasoning I can put forth. However, know that I very much sympathize, as I too have encountered such situations as my suspension of disbelief has been shattered.
Answer
The outcome in a match between Kaguya and Shirogane is not as obvious as you'd think, particularly to these spectators. It's true that Kaguya has built up a good deal of strength from archery and martial art, but Shirogane is by no means unfit, as you've shown. He rides his bike to school each day, and he can be good at sports, if he puts in the Herculean effort necessary. Arm wrestling also appears to not be a competition where his lack of coordination comes into play.
Add into this that human males are naturally stronger than females, and the spectators would have trouble guessing who'd win. A belief in this is displayed by Fujiwara, Ishigami,and Shirogane in this episode. First when Fujiwara asks Ishigami what kind of man he is when he's struggling to carry a bunch of stuff, and second when Ishigami and Shirogane separately state they wouldn't lose to girls in bouts of strength. Fujiwara's belief that males are stronger is only shown implicitly, but Ishigami and Shirogane's proclamations are fairly explicit. We can infer then, that these three will use this belief when calculating who will win a match. Fujiwara will, of course, also take other things into consideration, while Shirogane and Ishigami probably won't since they're fairly confident in this belief.
Next to consider, is when Kaguya and Shirogane are battling it out, they appear to be evenly matched. Of course, we know they were both simply stalling so they could hold each other's hands longer, but the spectators don't know this and are awed by their apparently epic match. Thus, whatever their preconceived notions, Ishigami and Fujiwara truly do believe Kaguya and Shirogane are evenly matched here, because that's what they're seeing.
With all that being said, Kaguya easily defeats Shirogane when she panics about her hands being sweaty. Whether this is from a burst of adrenaline helping her or because she truly did have vastly superior strength all along is unclear.
Also consider that arm wrestling is not entirely about strength. The show even acknowledges this by how Fujiwara tries to cheat by changing her hand position when battling Shirogane. Strategy can come into play, which is something Shirogane and Kaguya are both good at, and thus the outcome is not obvious. See for example: https://www.coachmag.co.uk/exercises/sport-workouts/1552/win-armwrestling
Addendum
To address what you said in the comments about whether Kaguya should even be included:
This battle is very much framed as boys versus girls, thus Fujiwara would have no problem whatsoever including Kaguya despite her apparent edge, because that's advantageous to her side. And Shirogane and Ishigami have overestimated themselves because their opponents are girls, so they wouldn't object either. In fact, it would be rather shameful for them to object. Due to their masculine pride (that might be a strong phrase for these two, but you get the point), they could never say Kaguya is stronger than them and thus shouldn't be allowed to participate.
Manga Version
The manga version does not offer much differences in terms of what happens, but it does offer something helpful at the end: a list of the character's power levels in MP (muscle points).

Men's Average: 60 MP
Women's Average : 40 MP
Shirogane : 64 MP
Kaguya: 62 MP
Ishigami: 55 MP
Fujiwara: 54 MP
Iino: 21 MP

As we can see, the manga actually states that Shirogane is stronger than Kaguya. Thus, while Kaguya did overcome the average male strength level, the work Shirogane put in and his natural strength put him over her by two MP. This means their match actually would be pretty evenly matched.
Some other parts in the manga also support my points.

Adrenaline may have been involved. While Shirogane and Kaguya are struggling, Fujiwara states, "They're oversecreting adrenaline... their muscle powers have surpassed human limitations!" Note that this does not prove Kaguya won because she got a burst of adrenaline, because that's not what Fujiwara is referring to here. I only point it out because it shows the author was thinking about adrenaline, so it could be the case then. Kaguya's final push does get an additional detail in the manga though: A note stating "A surprise attack!" is there. This might suggest the reason Shirogane lost was because he wasn't expecting Kaguya to get serious so suddenly.
The spectators truly believe the two are evenly matched. In the manga, it seems to me their reactions to the incredible bout are even more exaggerated. In addition to her above comment, Fujiwara also states all of this:

This is bad... Look at their cheeks! They're so flushed! They're oversecreting adrenaline... their muscle powers have surpassed human limitations! If they continue to wrestle, they might seriously do permanent damage to their arms! Their careers will be cut short... the longer they arm wrestle!

Miko Iino believes Fujiwara, asking the competitors,

There's so much work left to do for the culture festival! Why are you competing so hard?!

Even Ishigami says,

Neither of them is budging an inch. This is a battle of pride!

None of them seems to suspect anything is up with Kaguya and Shirogane, and they don't get anywhere close to suspecting the two are deliberately stalling. Instead, they're all taking this battle with deadly seriousness, to comical effect.

Wait, before I address the other points. What do you mean with 'particularly to these spectators', 'A belief in this is displayed by Fujiwara, Ishigami,and Shirogane in this episode', and 'Ishigami and Fujiwara truly do believe' ? That's exactly what I'm asking about. I'm saying that I think those spectators are wrong to think such. Do you get what I mean?

@BCLC Perhaps I explained poorly. Fujiwara asks Ishigami, "Aren't you ashamed to call yourself a man?" This implicitly displays a belief that males are stronger than females, and that Ishigami isn't living up to this belief. Thus in her mind, Kaguya's strength training might balance out with Shirogane's natural strength, and she wouldn't necessarily believe Shirogane is massively outmatched. Shirogane's problem with sports is his lack of coordination. That doesn't come into play here, since arm wrestling is so simple.

@BCLC Additionally, what Fujiwara witnesses is a close match. At that point, it doesn't matter what she believed beforehand, because she has to believe what she's seeing. It simply doesn't cross her mind that Kaguya and Shirogane are deliberately stalling.


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Arm wrestling vs weight lifting
S03E01, specifically Chapter 117
In the post credits scene we see...
How does Yu (Ishigami) win arm wrestling despite that e was previously outdone by Chika (Fujiwara) in weight lifting?
Arm wrestling:

Weight lifting:

This is probably getting downvoted for being unclear. I would suggest changing the title, as "Weight lifting vs arm wrestling" does not convey what the question is. I would go with something like "How does Chika Fujiwara lose to Ishigami in arm wrestling despite showing she is stronger than him?" This would surely be sufficient, and any further clarification can be found in the body of your question. You have the same problem with your other question on this topic. See this: https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/10647/how-do-i-write-a-good-title

I think Ishigami has stronger arm muscles, so he wins in the arm wrestling match. But he is too reliant on his arm muscles that he's not using his waist muscles enough when carrying the desk (supported by his "my arms are dead" remark), and Fujiwara being more dexterous than Ishigami is doing the job correctly, so she doesn't suffer from sore arms as quickly.

Update: Skip to the manga section, as it pretty much answers this. Ishigami is officially stronger than Fujiwara according to the numbers. The rest of the answer still has value in my opinion though, as we can't be sure how reliable or meaningful those numbers are.
It's difficult to say for certain, but there are some factors in play here that would give Ishigami an edge.

Fujiwara is demoralized from having been caught cheating. During that bout, Ishigami even recorded her cheating and taunted her with it. This could affect her ability to battle. Additionally, Ishigami could leverage this during their match for psychological warfare. At the very least, having been alerted to her trickery, he'll be watching her carefully to make sure she doesn't try to cheat again.
Fujiwara is tired after two matches, while Ishigami has only had one. Ishigami also lost quite quickly after struggling in vain against the immovable Kaguya. Fujiwara on the other hand, battled both Ino and Shirogane.
As a male, Ishigami should have superior natural strength to Fujiwara. It's unclear what his strength level is, with the show only saying he's weaker than most boys his age, so we can't say for certain whether he's weaker than most girls his age or not. And considering Fujiwara tried to cheat, I'm not certain how seriously we should take her boasts at the beginning about her strength training. Though they were probably only exaggerations at worse, since she seems to be able to carry the stuff more easily than Ishigami. At any rate, while it would seem Fujiwara is probably stronger than Ishigami, it might not be by much.

Also consider that arm wrestling is not entirely about strength, so it's possible Ishigami could find some way of winning. Even with regard to the strength part, it might depend on which muscles Fujiwara has been training whether she gets any kind of advantage.
See for example: https://www.coachmag.co.uk/exercises/sport-workouts/1552/win-armwrestling
Karmic Reasons
Another point to consider, is the author may have simply sided against Fujiwara and decided she should lose to Ishigami. Fujiwara mouths off to Ishigami about how weak he is, and on top of that, she tries to cheat during the competition. The author might decide that Ishigami should win this match for ethical reasons. Personally, I'm not fond of out-of-universe reasoning for these kinds of questions, though I suppose you could also consider it to be karma.
There were also questions of sexism with regard to this contest, but since Kaguya has already won for the girls, this makes it ethically acceptable to punish Fujiwara regardless. Though I might be overthinking it, and the author may not have even been thinking along these lines. One might also argue Ishigami needed a karmic comeuppance as well due to his behavior and comments, but he already received it when defeated by Kaguya (additionally, the manga gives him a further chastisement, writing "A male who's happy to defeat a female" over his head when he defeats Fujiwara, as if to say he should probably be a little ashamed of himself.
Manga Version
After consulting the manga, which I acquired from my local library, I have made an important discovery. The manga actually includes some tidbits at the end which very much confirm or support some of my points. Mainly, a list of power levels of the characters measured in MP (muscle points). But my other points are also strengthened as well.

Boys are naturally stronger than girls. This is more pronounced in the manga, with Ishigami saying, "Anyway, I naturally have more muscle than you, Fujiwara..." The chart at the end lists the average male MP as 60 while the average female is 40.
Ishigami is not weaker than the average girl. His MP is 55. While his MP is lower than the male average, it is still much higher than the female average.
Fujiwara and Ishigami are at similar strength levels. Unlike Kaguya, Fujiwara did not overcome the 60 MP average of the boys, though she did increase her strength quite admirably at 54 MP. This puts her at a lower strength level than Ishigami, but only by one point, so they should be at similar strength. When considering her lifting the table at the beginning, we should probably consider she only carried it for a few seconds, while Ishigami probably carried it for a considerable distance.
The battle is framed as boys versus girls. I feel this is more pronounced in the manga. Ishigami states, "There's no way women and children can beat me!"

Thanks Shaymin Gratitude. I actually did read, about a decade ago, about how a weaker person who knows techniques of arm wrestling can defeat a stronger person who doesn't know those techniques, but since there was no such indication in the show, I'm assuming their arm wrestling knowledge is about even (or at least Chika's is more than Yu's). You mean say except for this, Chika would've beaten Yu if not for the 2 prior matches and the demoralisation ?

@BCLC Maybe. There is not enough information available. Unless this is rehashed, I doubt we'll know for certain.

Wait a minute... Ino's name is spelled "Ino" in the official English translation of the manga. Ugh, I can see why everyone would spell it Iino, given it's pronounced いいの  and thus has two I sounds.  Fandom wiki just has to make this difficult... https://kaguyasama-wa-kokurasetai.fandom.com/wiki/Miko_Iino


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Why does Zangetsu transform back into shikai mode when cutting Yhwach in half?
Why does Ichigo Kurosaki's Zanpakutō (Zangetsu) transform back into its original form (shikai mode) when cutting Yhwach in half in the latest chapters of the Bleach manga (chapter 684)? Is it because it is the Ichigo's final bankai?

Just me speculating here, but either the Core of the bankai is his shikai, or he released his bankai strategically after ywatch broke it, so that he had his shikai ready to counter ywatches counter. Its known Kubo was rushed in the end, so he had no time to explain what actually happened.

Honestly it's just a Kubo popularity asspull

Before the final battle, Yhwach has absorbed Mimihagi, the right arm of the soul king, which governs stagnation (around 619). This means that Mimihagi is present during the final battle.
There are two mysteries within the final battle: how did Ichigo actually defeat Yhwach, when Yhwach could simply future shatter the sword, and why did Ichigo's sword regress to his original Shikai? The answer to both is Mimihagi. And we must answer the first before we can answer the second.
Mimihagi does not ever appear within Yhwach's future visions. We see Yhwach freaking out in 617 when Mimihagi intervenes. This makes sense: Yhwach can see the future, not the past.
After the Almighty fully activates, Yhwach's visions do not fail. Yet during the final battle, he gets shot by Uryu and cut by Ichigo. Obviously, he didn't foresee these events since they proved fatal. From what we know, we can deduce that Mimihagi is interfering with the powers of the Almighty. Yhwach cannot see visions involving Mimihagi, and since he absorbed Mimihagi, the Almighty will not behave perfectly when used on situations that he is in.
Before he is shot, Yhwach attempts to envelop the Soul Society in darkness. However, the power of Quincies isn't darkness. They wield weapons made of literal light. In employing Mimihagi's power so recklessly, he weakened the influence of the Almighty, allowing Uryu to fully disable it.
Now the answer to your question:
When Yhwach reached out his hand enshrouded in darkness to shatter Ichigo's blade, he accidentally employed the wrong power. He couldn't use the Almighty's power in that situation, so he inadvertently used Mimihagi. But Mimihagi doesn't destroy, it stagnates, it regresses. So instead of shattering Ichigo's blade, Yhwach forced it to return to the original form

Because his hollow power and quincy power are ripped of by ywatches. So all he is left with is his shinigami power. I think that is why he used his original zanpakto zangetsu in his shikai form.

Is there any source to support your answer?

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Before Tobi/Madara fought Konan, why no one tried to attack him while he's transporting himself?
We now know that Tobi 'materialized' when he's transporting himself. There were some occasions when he's so close to his enemies while transporting:

When Tobi/Madara was wrapped by Yamato's wood style. Kakashi, Yamato, and Naruto were there. After finished talking, Tobi's transporting himself. Kakashi was RIGHT BEHIND HIM with Raikiri, but he(Kakashi) didn't at least try to attack him.
After finished talking about his plan in the Five Kage Summit, he's transporting himself IN FRONT OF THE FIVE KAGE and other people there.

I actually have 2 questions:

I understand that they(other people) had tried to attack him for like a million times and failed. But why no one tried to attack him when he's transporting?
Why Tobi/Madara was SO CONFIDENT AND CASUAL in transporting himself when his enemies were so close to him?
I mean yes he could just immediately stop his transportation if someone who's fast enough tried to attack him, but then it would give a change for his jutsu's secret to be revealed.

P.S. I know his real identity, I've finished the series.

The main reason is simply because they did not know he materialized when he "dissapeared".  The first time that the Eight man squad ran into tobi, Kakashi along with everyone else hypothesized hat he could erase himself from existence.

What your missing out is, the only reason why someone would try to attack him during that split time frame is if they understand/discover the secret behind his Jutsu.
It would seem that tobi was adept at screwing around with people, he was a master at manipulation and psychological warfare. That's how we won Sasuke and Nagato over, and almost made Naruto to rethink his perspective. He used a bit of Classical conditioning on his opponents, think about it this way, tobi would usually always stick around until the opponent was worn out from attacking him and missing, at that point, doubts will arise after missing so many times. Trying to hit him while he's warping away would seem to elicit the exact same result. And even thou that was not the actual case, it logically seemed that way. And for a majority of the series it worked for him.


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Which philosophers have influenced Death Note?
Which philosophers have influenced Death Note? What is the name (or category) of their philosophies? I want to read deeper.

Death Note reminded me a lot of Crime and Punishment, and I think there might have been a connection with that to a degree. I'll probably look that up later to check and see if I can give something of an answer.

Just wondering, but are you trying to find out what influenced death note (e.g. X Anime inspired A anime to be made) or a person)?

Update: seems that the Death Note movie was inspired by it, but I'm not sure about the manga. That said, that concept of the "uberman" definitely has some relation to Death Note but I'm not sure if this is just coincidence or direct influence.

This may help http://deathnote.wikia.com/wiki/Symbolism

@MiharuDante: I want to find a person, or a writing.

@ICanHasCheezburger: your link looks useful, however I can't find what I'm looking.

@Maroon: yeah, Übermensch is such concept I am looking for. I want to find out how should a person reacts if that person has an extreme power. Do you know other philosophers besides Nietzsche?

@Ooker: not really, and it's worth noting that I feel like in Nietzsche and other philosophers, the discussion is more of "moral aptitude" than ability per se, though the latter still plays a role. Dostoevsky discusses this somewhat in Crime and Punishment, which was before Nietzsche, but more as a plot point than actually promoting it in any sense as philosophy.

I read the plot Of Crime and Punishment in Wikipedia, but its topic seems a bit different to this.

@Ooker: it's not about the plot per se of Crime and Punishment, where there definitely is a difference - it's more about the motivations of the main character at the beginning in terms of "transcending moral boundaries" because of moral strength in a sense, which in a sense is similar to Nietzsche's concept. (The article for Raskolnikov should be more helpful.) Notice that I was referring to "plot point" as opposed to the "plot" or "theme" earlier.

Well, since I haven't read both of them so I cannot go deeper in discussion. Thanks you for your suggestions, I definitely read them one day. Any more sharing is welcome :D

It doesn't seem to have been spun from an actual person in history or a piece of writing. From an interview with the creator of Death Note Tsugumi Ohba he says this:

There was nothing in particular. I started thinking of some ideas and
  while these ideas were still floating in the back of my mind, I got
  more ideas to fill up detailed plots like the rules and the god of
  death and so on. Eventually, I thought there was enough material for a
  good story to tell.

Since Death Note is centered around Gods of Death or Shinigami and since there are many urban legends on Shinigami in Japan and lets not mention that Shinigamis are very commonly known about in Japan, it is safe to assume that these may have influenced or helped influence the creation of Death Note, although if there were any actual people in history or a piece of writing that influenced Death Note, then these origins are yet unknown.
and also

No, there was nothing that I strongly wished to express.
  The basic underlying idea was that “Humans are not immortals and once they are dead, they do not come back alive again”. This is to indirectly say that we should all treasure the present and live our lives to the fullest.

From the text above, this gives some more of an insight as to what also helped influence Death Note (which would have been his own personal thoughts). Refer to sentence highlighted in bold.
In conclusion Death Note was not inspired by any philosophers (people or a writing), since in the comment that was what you were looking for.
Bibliography for reference

http://www.gaiaonline.com/guilds/viewtopic.php?t=21396363

This should help if you want to review my answer, compare it with other sources or to verify that information is correct.

Note: this answer does not answer the question in title. Instead, it attempts to broaden the ideas the manga presents for those who are interested
The YouTube channel Wisecrack has a good video on this topic: The Philosophy of Death Note – What Is Justice?
From the video, I understand that these characters represent these ideologies:

Light/Kira: the end justifies the mean (i.e. consequentialism). If one has to sacrifice oneself and be a criminal for a greater good, then let it be.
L: it's better and more productive to find study about what injustice is, rather than the high-in-the-sky concept of justice
M, N: everything is just a logic game
Matsuda: Socratic questioning

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Reason for kanji and reading in 頂の座 Hecate
Character of Shakugan no Shana, Hecate, has a title of 頂の座, which is supposed to be read いただき・の・くら (and is pronounced as such in anime) being translated as "Master/Supreme Throne".
Info about about readings and meanings was checked with / found on Jisho.org
While 座 has similar meanings (seat/place/status/pedestal) and is also used in a compound for throne (王座) it has no reading くら and くら does not mean "a throne" (saddle/warehouse/treasury/contest). That said, there's a word for throne 位 with strikingly similar reading くらい.
Is it a play on something? Is it really switch between 座 and 位 (and would the くらい -> くら change signify something) or just an undocumented reading of 座?
(does not have to be an official explanation)
Maybe maybe even 頂 plays a role here? 頂 also means to "receive" and if くら means a "depository; treasury" maybe it can be a play on the - allegedly she's somewhat different in anime vs manga, but at least in the anime iirc she seemed to be sort of a shell/container (くら) yearning for receiving (頂) experience/emotions? Just a brainstorming

"Highest Priestess" may be a better approximation of the title's nuances to English.

Kura is a valid reading for 座.
Wiktionary stated that it's another kun-reading for 座 which means "high place" as a suffix.

Readings

Kun: すわる (suwaru, 座る, Jōyō); くら (kura, 座); います (imasu, 座す)

Affix
座 (hiragana くら, rōmaji kura)

high place

This also complies with Kotobank, an online Japanese-Japanese dictionary:

デジタル大辞泉の解説
くら【▽座】
  座る場所、また、物をのせる所。他の語の下に付いて、複合語として用いられる。「天磐座(あまのいわくら)」「高御座(たかみくら)」

大辞林 第三版の解説
くら【座】
  高く設けられた場所。「天の石座いわくら」「高御座たかみくら」「御手座みてぐら」など、複合語中にのみ用いられる。

Translation:

Explanation on Digital Daijisen
kura (-座)
  A place to seat, alternatively, a place capable to put a thing. Used in compound words. 天磐座 (amanoiwakura), 高御座 (takamikura)

Explanation on Daijirin
kura (座)
  A highly established place. 天の石座iwakura 高御座takamikura 御手座mitegura. Only used in compound words.

(For the explanation regarding her name and title, please read кяαzєя's answer)

This shows not to rely on a single one dictionary - thank you for the answer and tips for other sources!

Hecate, her title, and her role has a deeper meaning that just the words.
First let us examine her name. The origin of her name seems to be the goddess Hecate of the underworld of Greek mythology.
Originally she was a matron god related to witchcraft and the moon, whose appearances have changed with time, she has been depicted as mistress of witchcraft with three faces, a girl, and a mature woman, an elderly woman, and a three-way road.
In Volume SIII of the light novel series, its revealed that she went by another name in the past, "Nüwa" (女媧). Nüwa is the matron goddess of Chinese mythology, who created humans. The myth
女娲补天 recounts her mending the heavens after one of the pillars holding up the sky and breaking the rope the connected the earth and sky, tilting the direction the sun and moon moved in the sky and changing the direction the rivers causing them to flow towards the ocean on earth. In the myth, she is described as having the body of a snake, a human head, and the virtue of a divine being, carrying a builder's compass in one hand.
Now lets get back to the title at hand,  頂の座. 頂 refers to the highest point overhead. 座 here likely refers to star constellations, as in 星座. In other words can refer to the highest overhead constellations, given her divine origins associated with the sky. Likely in reference to her high authority amongst the Crimson Denizens. Additionally, her most powerful Unrestricted Spell is called Aster, which means Star in Greek. Marjorie Daw also refers to her as, 星の王女様, Princess of the Stars. The throne room of the Seireiden also has a starry atmosphere.
But that's not all. 座 here likely has refers to a pedestal to sit on. Not just any pedestal, but one fit for a heavenly being, which may refer to traditional sacred Shinto dances former refered to as 神座 (kamukura or kamikura). The distinction here is that shrine maidens, through sacred dance, become vessels to convey the will of God. The distinction with Hecate is that the title may also refer to her as "the highest seat of god", referring to her role as Priestess. After all she is the Priestess/Shrine Maiden to the Snake of the Festival, 祭礼の蛇, the Creator God of the Crimson Denizens. Therefore title also refers to here status as top ranking representative (i. e., High Priestess) of the Crimson Denizens.


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What is the Vessel of Adam?
I've always had problems trying to understand the plot itself of Evangelion, but with the latest movies they really got me confused, I understand that the story is different in many ways but there's something in these movies that got me thinking, eventually I came up with a question I have no answer for:
What is the Vessel of Adam in Rebuild of Evangelion?

Just to clarify, are you asking what the Vessel of Adam is in the new series of movies (Rebuild)?

Yes, let me add that to the question. I'm asking that because I haven't figured out what it is even after watching the 3 existing movies several times.

This is a little confusing because the notion of what exactly "Adam" is is different from the original TV Series + End of Evangelion (Neon Genesis Evangelion) and the new movie series ("Rebuild" of Evangelion). In the original TV Series, Adam was a source of life (the Angels), and named the "First Angel", and used as a template of sorts for all of the Evangelions (eventhough near the end of the series, Evangelion Unit-01 was said to be a "clone" of Lilith).
In the new movies, "Adam" is a lot more vague. We're not sure what Adam is at this point, and the first thing that we have to go off of was a preview where we saw 4 glowing figures (presumably at the edge of the site of second impact) followed with the label "ADAMS":

Note that this shot was never actually used in the movies, it was probably reworked so that it more closely matched the rest of the Second Impact flashback montage:

Some things to note are that they all have halos and what appears to be "cores".
As far as the "Adam's Vessel", it's hard to decipher exactly what that means, especially if there is supposedly 4 Adams. However, we are told a few things from the movies, and that "Adam's Vessel" is Evangelion Mark.09. Here's a breakdown of possible "Adams" and what the 3rd movie has revealed.
It mentions that Mark.09 was referred to as "Adam's Vessel" and Evangelion 13 was called a "Survivor of the Adams" or something. The thread also goes into a little bit of detail and speculation about the Adams and what they could be. At this point, we don't know for sure what the Adam's Vessel was for, why it's called Adam's Vessel, and why Mark.09 is supposedly it.
More rampant speculation about Adams and the Evangelions here.

Amazing answer and even though I have no definitive answer, this sheds some light to the big mistery.


text:
Does Naruto have the potential to be as powerful as Kaguya Ōtsutsuki?
In Chapter 692: Revolutions, Hagoromo said to Naruto that

Even with the chakra of all the tailed beasts, you won't become like she did. Whatever the case maybe, you are different than my mother

I don't understand why Hagoromo gave Kaguya's example. He himself was a Jinchuriki, he was also powerful but it didn't corrupt him. With the tailed beasts inside him, does Naruto have the potential to be the strongest, surpassing even Hagoromo ?

The answers is yes.

@NaraShikamaru Can you elaborate? I have not been following Naruto for quite some time now, forgot almost all the details.

Yes (coz the question is answerable by yes or no) But to elaborate the answer is merely opinion-based.

@NaraShikamaru I would love to here opinions.

But stackexchange sites prefer questions with definite answers, not opinion based questions.

Actually there is a definite answer to this question, if i may be allowed to answer?


text:
Do Noragami anime and manga share the same story line?
I have finished watching Noragami anime. Then I saw the Noragami manga. The anime has only 12 episodes but manga is ongoing. So if I want to read the manga from which chapter should I start? I mean after anime episode 12.

Just so you know, there are two season of Noragami and two OVA with two episode each, so there are 29 episodes

I didn't know. But in myanimelist and wikipedia i saw 12 episodes only

There are Noragami, Noragami OVA, Noragami Aragato, Noragami Aragato OVA

https://myanimelist.net/forum/?topicid=1470804

Do Noragami anime and manga follow the same storyline?
Yes, mostly.

Noragami Ep 1-9 and beginning of 10 are canon.
Noragami Aragoto Ep 1-6 are canon.

Noragami covered around the first 3 volumes of the manga, which covers the introduction of the 3 main characters.
Where should I start to read after episode 12 of Noragami?
Considering Noragami covers roughly 3 volumes, you could start at chapter 12, the first chapter of volume 4.
The full canon view/reading order as told by blessedyiki's tumblr

Noragami (Ep 1-9 and beginning of 10)
Noragami Aragoto (Ep 1-6 (you might want to read Chapter 23 for the full Kazuma/Ma clan backstory)
Noragami Aragoto Episode 7 right until the opening
Noragami OVA 2
Noragami OVA 1
Noragami Aragoto Episodes 7-13
Chapter 40
Noragami Aragoto OVA 2.

if you watched seasons one and two of the anime, you should start reading from volume 11 of the manga. volume 10 is the end of season 2 , so noragami aragoto.


text:
In which episode of Golden Time did Koko say "I love you" to Banri on the school staircase?
There was a sequence on the school staircase where Koko said "I love you" and Banri fainted. Which episode was that?

if you have all the episodes on your hard drive, you can extract the subtitle files from them using mkvtoolnix and then search the text for "love"

Actually it was Banri that fainted not 2D-kun. As you can see, he's still standing on the top of the staircase. This happens in episode 7 at ~7:30-7:40

Koko said she loved Banri in episode seven at about 7:25

any exact timings? guys come on this isn't yahoo answers


text:
Why are Yubaba's spirit employees froglike?
The spirits that work for Yubaba in the bath house seem to be to varying  degrees, froglike.  Some seem to be fully frogish, like Aogaeru.

While others are mostly human like Lin, and still others seem to be mixes of human and frog.  When Lin is told that she and Sen will be working on the big tub, Lin replies "that's Frog work".

Is there any reason given in Spirited Away or Japanese mythology that explains the frog-like spirits?

I always assumed them to be... frogs.

An underhanded insult to the French?

I don't think, that there is a reason given, but considering how much the bathhouse workers, which are spirits of various animals, despise humans, it is pretty obvious, why they don't want to look too much like humans.
Most male workers are frog spirits, most female workers are slugs. Lin is a weasel spirit and Kamaji is a spider spirit.
Since you were asking about Japanese mythology, the only folklore tale, which I could think of and find, which had men change into frogs and women change into slugs, is The Tale of the Gallant Jiraiya. It is a pretty popular tale, which is also used as a source for other manga/anime(i.e. Naruto). But I don't know, if Miyazaki really used this tale as an inspiration for the workers in the bathhouse.


text:
What should a university-level course about manga and anime culture cover as part of its curriculum?
This question is not asking about a course that teaches how to create manga or anime, but a curriculum of a course similar to English literature. Such course would teach the history and culture of anime and manga by studying representative works of different periods and genres and their cultural and social impact.
The answer should consider the following:

No previous manga and anime exposure nor Japanese language required.
The course should take one or two semesters (8-16 weeks). Each week, students should spend 3-4 hours at school weekly and some additional time doing homework.
The format of the course should be lectures + seminars, where lectures take form of presentations by the lecturer and seminars consist of reading, watching and analyzing selected works. Homework should be just about reading and watching the selected works to prepare for seminars.
The course would probably be best suited for online education, but that should not be a limiting factor for the answer.

After finishing the course, the students should:

know what anime and manga is, where it began and how it become popular
have watched and read the most notable examples works in anime and manga (not necessarily full series)
understand different periods, genres and styles of both anime and manga
catch the obvious references to the anime and manga classics in other tv shows, movies and books and graphic novels
be able to select manga and anime for themselves that they could read/watch and enjoy

What format should be given in the answer?

A syllabus of the course
Each week's description should have a title (such as: "History of Manga and Anime" or "Miyazaki's work and influence") and description itself, a short paragraph and notable recommended works to read and watch.

Existing courses
The following courses can serve as an inspiration:

https://www.coursera.org/course/comics

This would still fall under the subject of art history, but I imagine that it would have an deeper emphasis on the history, development, and cultural significance of Japanese animation. I would expect there to be analysis of anime's origins and it's cultural influences... particularly though WWII, post-WWII, and the mid to late-20th century (with a focus towards Japan), touching upon notable examples of anime and the influence of artists/producer on the medium and industry in a historical context.

Just curious, is there even university courses for western comics?

Relevant meta post: http://meta.anime.stackexchange.com/questions/982/can-my-question-about-anime-manga-101-be-salvaged

I'm reopening this question on a trial basis. To all answerers: Try to keep your answer objective, and cite sources whenever possible. Think about what you would like to get out of the course if you were a student enrolling in such a course

@noko yes there are. Just google for western comics university courses

It might be worth investigating this course - http://www.cdm.depaul.edu/academics/pages/classinfo.aspx?Term=20142&ClassNbr=20544&fid=116510

@noko I almost took this course on Western comics last year, but it felt wrong somehow to get a grade for sitting around reading comic books. But if I had just taken it, I wouldn't have had to delay my graduation...

Here is a syllabus for  CSUS's History of Manga module - http://www.csus.edu/indiv/d/dymj/files/Dym-HIST146C-FA2014.pdf

Why not try to educate something real. Reading Manga wont help develop anything. In that case, its not an university, just a timepass institution.

Where can I take a course like this? lol

Some Notes Before Reading
This is an imaginary course that I have created. I think it gives a broad enough overview of the subject for a single term, but I think it could be extended easily to a two term course if a more in-depth knowledge was required.
I'm assuming 1 hour lectures twice a week, enough time in seminars to do full screenings, and a knowledgeable lecturer. There are 8 weeks to a semester, as described by the original question.
The course could be an elective for new students studying film, media studies or a similar subject.
It could be easily enough adapted for an online course through discussion forums and recorded lectures/seminars.
Course Syllabus
Week 1: Introduction to Anime/Manga Culture

Lectures

A - Introduction to course and its aims, Brief overview of syllabus and related items
B - Anime vs Cartoons, Brief description of differences and history

Seminar - Watch an episode of both a distinctly "cartoonish" show and an distinctly "anime" show - (Suggested Looney Toons Vs Cardcaptor Sakura) . Discuss and follow up with a less clear-cut comparison (Suggested: Avatar: The last Airbender)
Homework - N/A :)

Week 2: Anime in the Western World

Lectures

A - Mainstream anime - Ghibli, Pokemon
B - Broader interest - Crunchyroll, Vertical Publishing

Homework - Watch and review one student-chosen translated animated film that displays distinct cultural differences from western shows.
Seminar - Watch lecturer-chosen film and have an interactive discussion cultural differences and etc with the class (Suggested: My Neighbour Totoro for both its popularity and contrast of culture [beliefs in spirits, etc])

Week 3: Genres of Anime/Manga and their development

Lectures

A - Anime/Manga genres & their associated tropes & features
B - Gekiga Movement, Moe and the history behind some of these genres

Homework - Read and review a work by a Gekiga author (Suggested Osamu Tezuka)
Seminar - Screenings of episodes of well-known titles within different genres. (Suggested "Sailor Moon", "Naruto", "Gundam")

Week 4: Anime & Manga during Wartime

Lectures:

A - Background information about Japan & WWII
B - Manga as a political medium

Seminar - Screening of "Grave of The Fireflies", "The Wind Rises", or other suitable item
Homework - Read lecturer-selected war-themed manga from this period (Suggested MW by Tezuka).

Week 5: The evolution of Artistic style

Lectures:

A - History of artistic style - Humble beginnings to 1999's
B - Recent Changes in style - 1990's to Present

Seminar - Comparing and contrasting recent shows with ones from different time periods (Suggested: "Saru Masamune", "Doraemon", "Ranma 1/2", "Akira", "K-on")
Homework - Essay comparing a modern anime to a pre-1990's anime

Week 6: The anime production process

Note: Week 6 could be replaced with extended discussion of week 5 if the lecturer so desired

Lectures:

A - Acquisition of an anime, pitches, support.  Second half of lecture to describe the production process
B - Production process cont., Sales & Promotion

Seminar - An inspection of different works, analyzing the reasons why they greatly succeeded or failed (Suggested "Neon Genesis Evangellion", "Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water" for successes)
Homework - Write report on contributing factors to anime commercial success

Week 7: Akibahara, Otaku and the obsessive culture surrounding anime

Lectures

A - Cosplay, Conventions
B - Otaku, Social stigma, "Weeaboos"/"Wapanese"

Seminar - Screenings of convention recordings (both East & Western) and otaku interviews (There are several documentaries that cover this topic) - With optional discussion afterwards.
Homework - N/A

Week 8: The increasing ubiquity of anime

Lectures:

A - Anime stylism in government posters, advertisement, increasing appearance in everyday japan
B - Revision Lecture (Assuming an exam at the end of term)

Seminar - N/A
Homework - N/A

Assessment:
Personally I would have a 50:50 ratio of coursework to exam marks in order to attain a final grade. This exam would consist of a 2 and a half hour exam covering topics from each section of the course. Coursework would be graded on the quality of the deliverables, with additional marks for novelty.
With an online course, this may be adjusted to suit the setup accordingly.
Suggested Additional Reading Materia

Selected volumes of http://mechademia.org/
Anime: A history by John Clements
A Geek in Japan: Discovering the Land of Manga, Anime, ZEN, and the Tea Ceremony  by Hector Garcia
Starting Point by Hayou Miyazaki
A Drifting Life by Yoshiro Tatsumi

What will I get out of this Course?
The students will, after this course, be able to:

Appreciate differences between anime and western media
Understand the culture around the media
Understand the genre types within the media
Be able to identify and discuss the different periods of anime
Recognize many anime references within other media

be kind, i wrote this in one go :P

Somethings to consider: What academic subject would your course fall under? Art? History? Film? Language? When someone take this course (summer? as an elective? would it be offered online [e.g. vis Coursera])? How does everything tie in at the end? How do you access your student's progress? Do the students interact with one another? In class outside of class? Take note that college semesters are 14 and 16 weeks. Summer semesters are shorter and more varied; with some lasting from 3 or 4 weeks to 10 or 12 weeks.

I took a semester to be 8 weeks as described in the question above. I'd imagine the course could be an elective for new students studying film, media studies or similar - but it could be easily enough adapted for an online course through discussion forums and recorded lectures/seminars. Assessing students will be a combination of homework and a final written exam covering all topics

Impressive work! I upvoted just for the image of a bunch of college students sitting around watching K-On. I don't envy the teacher who has to explain the meaning of the name "Azu-nyan", though.

WAIT A MINUTE!! Where's the month long module on hentai, tentacles and fan-service?


text:
How does the travel works in One Piece universe?
I have noticed that traveling between and within the oceans in the One Piece world isn't easy.

However, the Marines and some advanced pirate crews/alliances commute daily between the oceans. To be more specific, here are a few examples to demonstrate what I mean:

The Marines travels between every oceans they want. By using Seastone on their ships, they can easily travel through the Calm Belt and switch between the Grand Line/New World and all Blues. Because the Marines is a member of the World Government, they can also pass the Red Line via Mary Joa.
However, the Seastone technique (Episode 410) is a new invention from Dr. Vegapunk. How did the Marines travel through the Calm Belt so easy before that? Another example in episode 502-503: How did a World Government ship travel from the Grand Line to East Blue 10 years ago when Seastone technique hadn't been invented?
In Luffy's past, Shanks was in the East Blue, then in the Battle of Marine Ford, he was again in Grand Line, etc.
Same for Whitebeard. One time, Whitebead was in the Grand Line, then in the East Blue, and then again in the Grand Line, etc.
How do Shanks and Whitebeard manage to travel between the Grand Line and the Blues on daily basis? Do Whitebead, Shanks and other Pirates also use Seastone like the Marines?
And what about Monkey D. Dragon? One time, Dragon was in the East Blue. Here, he was again in the Grand Line.

So I hope you see what my question is. I'm especially curious about the daily switching between the Grand Line/New World and Blues. As I know, the only way to enter the Grand Line is via the Reverse Mountain, which isn't the most harmless way as you can see in episode 61. Does that mean that every time Whitebeard and Shanks want to go to the Grand Line, they have to pass this small river with their gigantic ships?
Apart from getting to the Grand Line, how do they leave the Grand Line/New World? According to the maps, there is no way to get out. How did Krieg leave the Grand Line?

This is overall kind of broad. In one question, you're asking how the government was able to travel as they pleased before the Seastone technique from vegapunk. Another question you're asking is specifically how krieg was able to make it back across the Grand Line. Another is if certain pirates like Whitebeard and Shanks use seastone like the marines do... The list goes on, but basically there's too many questions here. I'm voting to close as too broad, try to find breakpoints so you can ask one specific question. Then, if you have additional questions, post them as additional questions.

It's been revealed there are several ways to travel apart from traditional ships.  It's also been hinted that the islands range from prehistoric to scifi advanced, so there are methods yet to be revealed.

For example, Rayleigh swam from the Grand Line through the Calm Belt to reach the Amazon's Island.
Skypieans have been shown to have flying devices and shells that could propel.
Amazons have been shown to use creatures to pull the boats.
Blackbeard's boat is just a giant raft, implying they just use a sail and row. (Given the strength of the characters in this class, chances are that there were a lot of rowing involved)
Franky came up with Coup de Burst, which also lets them cross vast distances quickly.
Several subs have been shown so far including Wapol, and the Heart Pirates indicating travel without need for waves. The Marines probably have access to this tech (at least, Z's Neo Marines did).
More importantly, several fruits aid in propulsion. Ace used fire to power his skateboat.  Whitebeard could probably just cause waves even in the Calm Belt to propel his ships (and quite fast I might add, based on wave size and speed).  Dragon (though not confirmed how) was the reason for the gust of wind that helped Straw Hats escape from Loguetown. He may be using similar methods. Dragon also used to have Bartholomew Kuma, who can repel things and land them anywhere in the world.
Several characters, including Sanji, can use Moonwalk.

I'm sure there's more devices, ships and fruits I'm missing on this list. Feel free to add to it.

the standard pedel boats. And as shown in some episodes is that people with haki can make the see kings go away. Franky invented a peddel boat upgrade for their ship, technically rowing is never out of the question, there are more ships who could probably been rown.

i remember that some ships function with a motor but no clue if it is the one that uses seastone

authors: Ирина Акулинкина


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Was the first time Zoro experienced haki in Alabasta?
Remember when Zoro learned to cut steel in Alabasta and he heard the breath in all things?  Was this swordsmanship or was this his first encounter with Haki?

nothing ever said that it was haki AFAIK, it's just swordsmanship skill from Zorro, his teacher told him about it.

It's hard to say and maybe just based on opinions... hear the breath of all things could be haki. but to cut steel could also be cause Zoro is such a strong. @ShinobuOshino do you have the link from his teacher?

@BBallBoy no, but I remember that, it was in chapter 194 Slashing Through Metal. And in chapter 195 Zorro explain that he was hearing their "breath"

Just want to also point out when he heard the breath in all things it let him automatically dodge all the falling debris which is very Mantra like.  Also Mantra was introduced in the next Arc.

There has been no confirmation that ive been able to find that says for sure if these abilities are connected to haki or not.  I asked on here specifically about whether any examples of armor haki were shown earlier on and got no confirmed examples. Ive searched and dont think I or anyone else here has a be all end all answer.

It's not Haki, but it's similar to Haki. When he heard the rock falling, he did not dodge them, but instead he knew where the rock were gonna fall. Kenbunshoku Haki has something similar, but the user predicts an opponent's moves which makes it much easier for them to evade the attack given enough skill. Zorro was also able to sense where his sword was, while no Haki users are known to have this ability.
Zorro didn't move and he said he was not evading those rock

Haki users can evade attacks.

Though the power allows the user to predict most attacks, it can be circumvented by various means. It cannot predict inherently random attacks; for example, Luffy managed to bypass Enel's Mantra by bouncing his fists off a nearby wall, to prevent himself and thus Enel from knowing where they would land. (source)

So it was clear that Haki users can't use their Haki power to predict a movement that was not intended. Therefore, Zorro's ability to sense those rocks was not Haki.
Another proof that Zorro couldn't use Haki at that time is that he was able to cut through Daz Bone's metal (which is actually possible with enough skill), but he couldn't cut through Enel's lighting (impossible without using Busoshoku Haki).

Zoro can't use Haki. I think you should specify time.

Also the problem with stating he can't use haki at Alabasta because he couldn't cut Enel would be there were several incidents where luffy used haki unknowingly then wasn't able to use it later until he was taught.  Same thing happened to Ace when he was little. The luffy dodging Enel thing makes sense though to your point.

@Quikstryke Haki is a mysterious power that is found in every living being in the world. Zorro has it, Luffy has it, Ace has it, but they can't use it at that time, they need to train their haki first.

Personally believe its a mistake to treat using raw untrained haki once or under certain specific situations  means you can control it. Why would he think cuttimg lightning is like cutting steel? The sword, however, is a good point. And Oda doesnt really need to connect it to haki so wont.

@kaine what I was trying to say is Zorro didn't cut Daz Bone's devil fruit, but actually cut his metal body and ignoring that it's actually devil fruit power.

I understood that. There is no way in real life that one can cut a chunk of steel armor that is as strong as the blade without ruining the blade. You said he did this with a unrealistic (as one piece usually is) skill and posted a counter arguement to it being haki. My statement was a counter arguement to that arguement though you are likely correct.

I think you are right he did actually cut steel without haki, but I was more interested in the hearing inanimate objects part, but your post makes sense.  I guess what prompted me to ask this question was Roger's was called the man able to hear the voices of all things.

The idea that makes sense to me is that; Zorro is using both kinds of Haki in tandem.
One, he can sense his Iwashimizu sword which in itself is special as due to its rarity and nature, + the swords in One Piece have unexplored depths e.g. black swords, and cursed swords. Hence, the ability to sense it with Haki as it is probably imbued with another's spirit.
Two, knowing the breath of things as it is stated, maybe how Zorro utilises his Haki, in this event he knows the breath of steel, so he strengthens his own steel with Haki just enough to cut Das Bonez.