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When does Badlands Rumble take place?
With regards to the rest of the anime series, when does Badlands Rumble take place? Does it happen before the show? After? In the middle some time?

According to this Anime News Network review, Badlands Rumble is canon and occurs "between episodes 9 and 11 (after Vash has met Wolfwood, but before Legato closes in)". See the second paragraph of the "Review" section. However, as they point out, the movie's style doesn't quite match that of the anime at that time, given the higher budget, so it may be better not to worry about when it occurs.
Edit: as atlantiza points out below, the author of this review doesn't cite a source. Until I can find a better source, you should take that with a grain of salt.

Hmmm, I'm not so sure how reliable a review is if they don't include a source. I could understand citing an ANN news post as a source, but not so sure about a review... Seems like speculation to me.

@atlantiza I didn't even realize that. In any case, I think it's still allowable as an answer so long as it's clear what the source is, as per http://meta.anime.stackexchange.com/questions/191/should-we-ask-answerers-to-give-a-reference.

Somewhere in the middle.
Precise placement of Badlands Rumble in connection to Trigun Anime / Manga is challenging. It seems to slip between a few mile posts in different ways.
spoilers for anime, manga & the movie follow
Milepost 1:

 Nicholas D. Wolfwood is there, and he knows everybody, but he's not traveling with Vash. That only happens early on, with the exception of Vash's complete isolation of himself immediately following the 5th moon incident. Wolfwood sticks pretty close to Vash in the later episodes/chapters prior to his death. On the other hand, Wolfwood already considers Vash a friend. He is already making efforts to avoid killing. These behaviors suggest a later date. Especially the tribute he does, of wearing Vash's sunglasses when he thinks Vash is dead.

Milepost 2:

 The insurance girls are present, and they both know Vash. So aside from the flashback, it can't predate the anime or manga. They are not traveling with Vash, though. In fact, they're doing a different assignment for their job.  In anime & manga, that pretty much only happens after the 5th moon acquires a huge crater. They are released from following him immediately after the 5th moon incident, though they are again assigned to follow him around after he reappears. They continue pursuing him... in Anime, until the end of the series... in manga, until after Meryl is captured by Gung-ho guns and Vash rescues her. She freaks out though, when she sees his wings the second time, and stays behind with Milly when Vash and Nicholas leave town.

Milepost 3:

 Meryl and Milly say that it's been a long time since they've seen Vash, and express an expectation that he will again become their job in the near future.

Milepost 4:

 There does not appear to be any oversized crater in the 5th moon... which, combined with the aforementioned details, makes placing the chronology of "Badlands Rumble" all the more puzzling.

Milepost 5:

 Vash has his body armor and a (unique) red coat on, suggesting he's been in touch with Seeds village (who supply him with those).

So roughly where in the Trigun chronology would "Badlands Rumble" fall?
All other details considered, my best guess is that the lack of a hole in the 5th moon might be an oversight. The story almost has to fall after that, from the behavior of Wolfwood and the insurance girls. They seem to know Vash too well for it to come sooner.
My best guess is almost immediately after Vash leaves Lina would be the most likely placement. If Vash had a back-up coat stashed somewhere, that could explain just about everything.

 From a manga perspective, probably also before Knives' hair started turning black. The things Knives did after that change largely compelled Vash and Nicholas to watch each other's backs constantly, so they'd not be separated leaving Wolfwood available to be hired as someone else's bodyguard. The coat and armor he wears in Badlands Rumble (both movie and manga) is not bullet-proof. The coat and armor he gets from Seeds after the 5th moon incident is, or is nearly so.

In the manga, I'd imagine the window of opportunity would fall between Trigun Maximum Volume 1 chapters 3 & 4.
I'm not sure how much help that is, but there's my few coppers added to the pile. :)
PS - in an interview with Mr. Nightow, it seems he said it was to go between the 10th and 12th episodes, which is earlier than I had speculated. I found the interview at the following link:
http://www.asiaarts.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=110449
It's slightly possible they changed their minds on precise placement in process, though, since the insurance girls were never parted from Vash for a long time prior to the 5th moon incident. shrugs unknowingly

In re-checking the manga, Milly's hairstyle as shown in Badlands Rumble matches what she had immediately after Wolfwood pulled Vash away from Lina and her grandmother. This also suggests the "Badlands Rumble" story may fall after 5th moon incident. Next, checking for Vash's coat and armor style, to see if anything similar appears in Manga to help narrow further. :)

It's probably in the middle somewhere, because in the anime Vash doesn't meet Wolfwood for the first time until episode 9.

You don't sound very confident on when it is... Do you have any more evidence than just Wolfwood to indicate when it might be?

@Ktash I don't know of any other indicators for a timeframe. The 2 insurance girls already know Vash in the movie, and it's not after the show ends since Wolfwood dies in episode 23. So it has to be between episode 9 and 23, e.g. somewhere in the middle, but don't know inbetween which 2 episodes.

I'm sure that the movie is a "Stand-Alone" film. However if the movie HAD to be watched during the anime, it would probably be sometime after episode 17, if you notice Wolfwood calls out to Vash in his nickname "Needle-noggin" which Wolfwood didn't even call Vash that until episode 17 when they were traveling together.

@Konami,
I think the use of Needle Noggin can either be a chicken or the egg situation, or a nod to the fans of the original series. If someone could fact check me (or I'll edit once I check myself), I don't recall seeing a hole in the 5th moon during the opening of Badlands Rumble. Also, no one seems to mention it, even after finding out who Vash is. Considering that the 16th episode is when he puts it there, it's hard to imagine that Badlands Rumble takes place after the 17th episode.
For my own use, I decided to say that it takes place immediately following the 11th episode, which is the last time you see Wolfwood for a bit (fits in with Gasback finding him in the middle of the desert), and right before the 12th episode, in which Legato sets the main plot in motion. Note; immediately after the 9th episode could also work, as you see Wolfwood hop onto his motorcycle and drive off. Either way, I definitely think Badlands Rumble takes place prior to the 12th episode.

Badlands rumble is an alternate world episode of what the original series may have been its after the main plot in this case BUT the opening where we first meet gas back would be before Vash gives up the red coat if that ever happened in this alternate world  he may have taken knives to live with the S.E.E.D villagers as well and had an updated coat and arm made for himself and as obviously wolf wood is there he never died in this version of Gunsmoke he also has an alternate cross which is actually seen in the manga same with vash's gun he gave up the angel arm but may have had our old gunsmith friend  Frank Marlin make him a new very similar gun for his new life
......end

It's always seemed a bit more like an alternate reality to me (spoilers to follow).

 In the anime, Vash can't even seem to bring himself to hurt people until at the very end where he finally decides that injuring Knives is okay considering the alternative but in the movie seems to have no worries shooting Gasback in the leg and shoulder, yet Wolfwood is still alive in this movie, but in the anime dies before Vash is really willing to actually hurt anyone else.

Honestly I do not believe this could fit into the chronology of the series simply due to how the characters in the anime change throughout. I watched the movie and the series within 24 hours to try and figure out how they could fit together and simply could not see it.


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What qualifies one as a Dai-Yokai?
In Inuyasha, there seems to be a higher class of Yokai, where Inuyasha's father belonged, called "Dai-Yokai" (or "Great Yokai").
What qualifies you (the average Yokai) to be a Dai-Yokai? Are you born like it? Do you earn the status somehow?

It's been a long time since I watched/read Inu-Yashi, but I was always under the impression it was just a name given to exceptionally strong demons, and is something you earn.

@Wipqozn: Does that make me one?

I'm pretty sure they need an even high class for you :P

Inuyasha wiki says the following about daiyōkai:

Most daiyōkai have long lifespans, possibly even longer than those of
  normal yōkai. They tend to remain calm in battle even if the situation
  is dire or their life is threatened. Daiyōkai vary in shape and size,
  just like normal yōkai. Some have, or are able to transform into,
  human-like forms, such as the Inu no Taishō and Sesshōmaru. Others,
  like Ryūkotsusei, are very large in size and don't at all resemble
  humans. Though it is not clear whether this applies to all Daiyōkai,
  it seems that some became feudal rulers over vast territories,
  commanding lesser demons. They sometimes wage war against other yōkai
  and humans alike.

About what qualifies one as such, is more controversial. It may be possible that it's both possible to be born like one, and to become one.
For example,  Inu no Taishō's son from an unnamed demoness, Sesshōmaru, is a daiyōkai, and even Inuyasha, while being half-human, possesses power beyond those of an ordinary yōkai, so "being born with it" is plausible.

source: Stack Exchange

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How does someone obtain spiritual powers?
Ichigo (obviously) has them, like his father. But it does not seem something that someone just inherits from their parent(s)? One of Ichigos his sisters has little and the other none.
Does one need to (accidentally) come into contact in order to obtain spiritual powers? Although Ichigo always seem to have had them.
Or is it just (dumb) 'luck' and one has them or not?

As already noted in the accepted answer, all people in the Bleach 'verse possess spiritual energy. So, I should correct the assertion in the OP that > One of Ichigos his sisters has little and the other none.
[sic] as it is known that Karin is certainly able to see spirits clearly and was noted by Hitsugaya to have a high level of spiritual energy, and Yuzu is at least able to make out a hazy outline of spirits (and is in fact jealous of Ichigo and Karin's ability to see them clearly).

Everybody has Reiyoku, or spiritual energy. According to bleach.wikia.com:

Every spiritual being and every Human has a certain amount of Reiryoku. If this amount is higher than a certain degree, it grants the person superhuman abilities. Those with such an above-average level of Spiritual Energy are very rare among living humans. It seems to be that the most basic ability that humans with a higher level of Reiryoku have is the ability to see ghosts: Pluses, Shinigami and Hollow alike. Shinigami are essentially departed souls in Soul Society with very high levels of Reiryoku who receive special training to utilize their powers.

For the Quincies, it appears to be hereditary, as shown by the fact that both Uryu and his father have strong powers.
For Yasutora Sado (Chad) according to bleach.wikia.com:

Originally it was thought that by encountering the spiritual form of Ichigo Kurosaki constantly, Sado's natural spiritual powers were pulled from the depths of his soul. This power is actually a product of Fullbring.

For Fullbringers according to bleach.wikia.com:

they each have a parent who survived a Hollow attack before they were born. As a result, traces of the Hollows’ power remained in their mothers’ bodies, which were then passed onto them at the moment of their birth.

For other characters, it sometimes isn't completely clear or explained why they have their abilities, other than that they intrinsically have a high level of Reiyoku.
To summarize, there are a number of different ways that humans become able to see ghosts and Hollows and interact with them (as Chad, Orihime, etc. do).

Yes, it seems to be a born trait.
We can see that on the flashbacks from Rukia, about their time in Rukungai. When they somehow gotten hungry, while other souls did not. That means they had innate potential from the start.
It is possible that through training, one can achieve higher spiritual power. But I think the seed is a born trait.

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Why is Yoruichi able to transform?
Why/how is Yoruichi Shihōin able to transform into a cat? Was she always able to or did she learn it somehow? Does she have some object that allows here to?
As far as I can remember she seems the only one to be able to transform (into an animal).

According to the Bleach Wiki's page on the character:

Yoruichi possess the unique ability to shape-shift into a black cat at will. How she alone, out of all Shinigami, is capable of this is currently unknown. She has possessed the ability for well over 100 years, and it's known to others she knew from that time. She apparently has no set time limit on the transformation, as she had been in this form for over 100 years.

Basically, it is unknown.

So she basically is just a strange case? Disappointing... ;)

@Veger We can only hope she's not the only one...

Sir Mittens was in his form for a long time too.


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Which mythologies or folktales inspired the stories in Mushishi?
I read somewhere that the mangaka made footnotes at the end of each volume explaining what inspired each story. I've only seen the anime so I would like to know which mythologies or folktales, if any, inspired the stories in Mushishi.

The author, Yuki Urushibara, does include authors notes at the end of each volume of the manga, explaining what inspired each story.
About "Heaven's Thread" she wrote:

"This is a story I thought of when reflecting on old folk tales my grandmother told me.Tales about how missing people were left upon a huge rock. There are similar folk tales all over, but most of them involve finding people in trees or on rooftops. They were usually blamed on Tengu or other spirits who abduct people."

About "A Banquet in the Farthest Field" she wrote:

"I lived in an apartment which looked out over an older brewery, and that became the model for this story. It had a nice atmosphere, but I had to move away, so now whenever I taste sake that's been strained through cloth, I get a very nostalgic feeling."

It was believed that in past times, it was common belief that spirits or demons caused sickness. This is even still true Western civilization, they say "bless you," because it was believed that in the a sneeze meant something evil was invading your body, so they would give a blessing to ward them off.
Some of the stories in Mushishi are based on old folklore, myths, and legends that the author heard growing up. Others, like the second story, were based on places she's seen or just a thought she had at the time and not really based on anything in particular. An example of this is the concept Second Eyelid the that appears throughout the story. I recommend purchasing the manga volumes when you have the chance, to enjoy these little snippets from the author and other stories not covered by the anime.
This essay provides a very good overview of concepts and themes of Shinto myths that inspired the manga:

In Shinto myth, the mysterious beings Blacker refers to are known as kami. Like mushi, they can be hard to define. Some people, quite specifically, believe kami to be beings from the other realm, while others, more generally, use the term to refer to anything beyond the ordinary...


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How are the bijuu adapted from real mythology?
I know that the nine-tails exists in many anime series (The notables are Naruto and Pokemon), as well as

 His name, Kurama, relating to fox demons across different animes, such as Yu Yu Hakusho.

I also know that the two-tails is adapted from Japanese mythology (The Nekomata, a cat with a split tail).
Does this convention apply to all/most other Bijuu?

It actually never occurred to me that the bijuu were based on other mythology. You sort of just blew my mind.

The second pattern means "horse with saddle (harness)". This second type of "Kurama" is also the name of famouse and historical town in Kyoto, where it is believed that "Tengu", a monster spilit in Japan, has been living. Other types of Kurama may also exist. Source

The concept of the Nine Bijuu is based off Japanese mythology, although there are some parallels Kishimoto does not follow though completely with the myths.
It seems like Kishimoto is purposely using names with different kanji, but the same pronunciation, such as Kokuou in Naruto is 穆王 (majestic/respectful king), while Kokuou from Hokuto no Ken is 黒王 (black king). For Kurama, the Nine-tails, in Naruto it is 九喇嘛 (9 lamas/high priests), the real life Mount Kurama is 鞍馬 (saddle horse), and in Yu Yu Hakusho 蔵馬 (hiding/ownership/storehouse horse).
The Bijuu (尾獣)

Juubi, the Ten-tails, is a reference to Ame-no-hitotsu-no-kami, the Shinto god of iron-working and blacksmiths, Datara, and/or Daidarabotchi. The former for it's ability to forge living thing out of metal and the latter for giant size.

Kyuubi: 九喇嘛 (クラマ; Kurama), the Nine-tails, is a reference to the kitsune in Japanese mythology. The name Kurama probably named after the mountain in Japan. It is said to be home of the Tengu God Sojobo and, more importantly, the location where the technique Reiki was first learned. Reiki is the art of using chakra (universal energy) to heal other people. This ties into Naruto's life-giving energy ability he gains after tapping into the nine-tails chakra.
Here is the Wikipedia breakdown of Reiki:

"Reiki is commonly written as 霊気 in shinjitai kanji or as レイキ in katakana syllabary. It compounds the words rei (霊: "spirit, miraculous, divine") and ki (気 "gas, vital energy, breath of life, consciousness"). The ki (better known as Chinese qi or ch'i) in reiki is understood as meaning "spiritual energy; vital energy; life force; energy of life"

Hachibi: 牛鬼 (ぎゆうき; Gyuuki), the Eight-tails, is based off the Ushi-Oni, a sea creature commonly seen with an ox head and the body of another multi-limbed creature. The name Gyuuki (cow demon) is another pronunciation of Ushi-Oni.
Nanabi/Shichibi: 重明 (ちようめい; Choumei), the Seven-tails, is probably based off the rhinoceros beetle which are said to be amongst the strongest creatures on the planet in relation to their own size. The name most likely is a reference to Kamo no Choumei, a 12th century poet who secluded himself on society, took Buddhist vows, and became a hermit living outside the capital. Choumei is most famous for his writings that were mostly about nature and natural events. If you recall from the manga, two of the previously unseen captured Jinchuuriki's were outcasts that were abandoned by their village when Akatsuki came to capture them.
Rokubi: 犀犬 (さいけん; Saiken), the Six-tails, Saiken is based off the turban-shell snail demon, Sazae Oni. The name comes from a compilation of Chinese legends called "In Search of the Supernatural". The Saiken (犀犬) in one of the stories (地中犀犬) is a type of dog-like creature with closed eyes, the size of small dogs, that like underground in pairs (male and female).
Gobi: 穆王 (こくおう; Kokuou), the Five-tails, is a reference to the the hanging horse head demon, Sagari, and the ghost whale demon, Bakekujira. Typically Kokuou translates to "king" (国王) in Japanese, referring to a "lesser king," one below the emperor. The name probably is a reference to the Chinese legend of King Mu of Zhou (周穆王).
Yonbi: 孫悟空 (そんごくう; Son Gokuu), the Four-tails, is a reference to the Satori, an ape-like creature that can read minds. The name Son Gokuu is obviously a reference to the Monkey King in Journey to the West.
Sanbi: 磯撫 (いそぶ; Isobu), the Three tails, is probably based of a combination of the spirit of eaten-turtles that haunt those that harmed it, Suppon no Yurei and/or the amorphous sea monster, Umibozu. Isopu is probably a reference to the shark-like demon sea monster with a barbed tail fin, Isonade.
Nibi: 又旅 (またたび; Matatabi), the Two-tails, is a referenced to the forked cat demon, Netomata. Matatabi is named after the Silver Vine or Cat Powder a plant herb similar to a hardy kiwi vine. Used as a healing herb for cats and affects them in a similar way as catnip. When ground up, it is used in herbal teas and bath salts.
Ichibi: 守鶴 (しゆかく; Shukaku), the One-tail, is a reference to the shapeshifting racoon demon, Tanuki. The Naruto One-tail bijuu shares several tanuki archetypes. One is from the Bunbuku Chagama tale, where a tanuki transforms into a tea kettle. In the series, the One-tail is said to have been sealed within one. Other versions of the taunki tale tell of the shrine priest being a tanuki in disguise, which ties into how the One-tail was supposedly corrupted a Hidden Sand priest. The name "Shukaku" probably refers to the priest of this tale.

The one-tail is based on a Tanuki - However, I don't know anything about a background in mythology.
As you said, the two-tails is based on Nekomata.
The three-tails is based on Isonade.
The four-tails is based on Sun Wukong... and maybe a little bit on this one ;).
Kishimoto said that the five-tails s appeareance is based on a horse and a dolphin...
The six-tails is based on Saiken... That's a chinese Yokai.
The seven-tails - don't know.
The eight-tails is based on Ushi-Oni.
The nine-tails is based on Kitsune.
Jūbi (ten-tails) is another name for Daidarabotchi.
Source is the German Narutopedia.

The Sun Wukong strangely reminds me of the 3rd hokage's summon.

The only other one I know of is that the Four-Tails' name is Son Goku, coming from the Chinese classical novel Journey to the West.  The same name is used in Dragonball and its sequel series for the main protagonist.
The One-Tail may also have some connection, as tanuki (raccoon) are common is Japanese culture/mythology.

The Nine-Tails may be a mixture of Kitsune, but I also know that it is also a mixture of Tamamo-no-Mae, which is a malevolent being through many Asian cultures that has been the downfall of many dynasties and it also eats flesh.

It is the same creature that possesed Daiji


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Does Saotome Ranma talk like a member of the Yakuza?
In Ranma 1/2, it's made obvious that Saotome Ranma speaks in a very casual and informal way...but when I played a particular sound bite for some people who speak Japanese (but who were not familiar with the anime), both of them seemed to think that the sound bite was from someone playing a member of the Yakuza.
Does Ranma really speak with such a provocative accent in general, or did I pick a sound bite that just could happen to sound like that?
(It's probably not critical to the question, but the bit I played, in case you're curious, was from the "Lambada / Ranma da" song off of one of the soundtracks where he says "omee, kawaiku nee n da yo")

How does one talk like a Yakuza?

@Krazer In the same way that that someone talks like any given clique or in-group: by using accent, terminology, speech patterns, etc. that are part of that group. For an Americanized example, listen to Mater from the Cars movie; because people are familiar with his "redneck" accent, various associations are immediately made. I don't know a lot about Yakuza speech patterns, beyond some very basic ideas (the use of "aniki" to refer to a fellow member, etc.), hence, this question.

I was hoping a native Japanese speaker would answer this question, but it doesn't seem like we have any at the moment so here's my best attempt.
Ranma speaks a bit like a yakuza, but that's not how it's supposed to be interpreted. He does speak very rudely at times, but he's much closer to an average delinquent's (ヤンキー or yankee in Japanese) speech pattern than a yakuza's. The two manners of speaking are somewhat similar, because both of them are rude and disrespectful towards authority, and also somewhat cocky, and indeed Ranma is supposed to come off as rude, cocky, and disrespectful to authority. However, there are definite differences. I'd probably call yakuza-speak a sub-dialect of yankee-speak, but it has a lot of specific properties which Ranma's speech doesn't.
Rather than describing both dialects here, it'll be easier to link to places that have already done so. This blog post describes some basics of yankee speech. Here are a few lessons on yakuza-speak. As you can see, there are similarities, but yakuza-speak goes a whole lot farther in a lot of ways and has its own vocabulary. For instance, yakuza-speak usually has rolled Rs and slurred vowels (rare in yankee-speak), while both have some vowel changes. The difference is actually pretty similar to English. In English, if someone swears a lot and insults everyone all the time, you wouldn't assume they were a gang member, but you'd probably expect gangsters to talk that way, and you probably also would find that person a bit unpleasant even if you didn't think of them as a gangster. In all cases I looked at, Ranma seems to be squarely in the delinquent category, but not really in the yakuza category.
In fact, there's somewhat of a spectrum of delinquents in Japanese culture, with some speaking very similar to yakuza, and others not really fitting into the yankee archetype at all. For instance, the delinquents in Beelzebub often do roll their Rs and slur their vowels, but don't use most of the yakuza vocabulary. Ranma's speech is definitely less aggressive and offensive than that, but still less respectful than how a normal person is expected to speak. On the other end, Clannad's Okazaki Tomoya is a delinquent, but mostly speaks like a normal guy, and doesn't fall into the yankee archetype at all. However, it would be wrong to construe any of these characters as yakuza members unless there's evidence elsewhere. In some cases the more thugish of the delinquents may even be in gangs, but yakuza is different from just ordinary gangs (a better analogy would be the mafia).
However, the show is over 20 years old, and the yankee archetype, which was very popular in the 1980s and early 1990s during a period when action and martial arts shows were very popular, is much less common now. Ordinary Japanese people may not be as accustomed to it as they were at that time, so there's somewhat more room for confusion now. Speech patterns have also evolved quite a bit in that time separating the two dialects more and pushing Ranma further on the delinquent spectrum. Also, when Ranma transforms to a girl, she still speaks the same way, even though women are expected to speak more respectfully in Japanese society, which could lead to further confusion. And finally, the two dialects are definitely close, so some confusion is possible even without all the other factors.
As such, the misunderstanding is understandable, but if a person watched the show from the beginning, they would definitely not get the impression that Ranma is somehow related to the yakuza. Someone listening to the particular clips from the song you showed could easily make that mistake, since Ranma is speaking in an especially angry tone (especially in his female form) at that time and also because there isn't very much dialogue in the first place to make the distinction.
Unfortunately, the only source I have for this other than the above links and number of years of studying Japanese is a 5-minute conversation with one of my Japanese professors about this subject, so it's entirely possible that I'm wrong about some of the above assertions. However, I do think that I'm correct that you aren't supposed to interpret Ranma as speaking like a member of the yakuza, just a particularly rude and cocky teenager.
It's also worth noting somewhere that the average Japanese person's perception of how yakuza speak is pretty different from how they actually speak. Most Japanese people only know the yakuza through yakuza movies, which use a fairly limited subset of yakuza-speech to be easily understandable while still sounding authentic.

This is exactly the kind of information I was looking for.  I've taken your caveats into consideration, and will change the accepted mark if we get a more definitive answer from a native speaker, but this is the definite winner for now.

Similarly, there are differences between the real Sicilian mafia and how they are portrayed in pop culture.

The part you heard is Ranma’s catchphrase, which is something like “You are not cute at all!” used as argument/conclusion with those endless fights with Akane, and not related to be ”yakuza-speak” at all if you ask me.
In my experience, there isn’t specific accent Yakuza people uses, atleast different anime that features Yakuza. The words like aniki are much used to bring some feeling to the speak. I’d say it’s more of way of speaking than different accent.

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Why does Tobi put up a goofball facade initially?
This question contains spoilers
Tobi introduced himself as Madara to Nagato and Konan. Zetsu knows his real identity. He showed his real face to Kisame. Itachi at least knows that Tobi is not a goofball (if not his real identity). Why did he have to put up a goofball facade for Sasori, Deidara, Kakuzu and Hidan? There were reasons to keep his real identity hidden, but why did he not introduce himself as Madara to the whole group?

I don't think there's a proper answer to this one. Why? Probably to make us, the viewers unaware of his true identity.

@MadaraUchiha Actually, that too can qualify as an answer. "The author wanted to make his character more mysterious, to get the readers/viewers excited in the later plotline of finding out his real identity."

Yes, only that isn't a fact, it wasn't told anywhere, that's my personal opinion, which does not constitute as an answer here on [se],

Ah, right you are.

Tobi acted like a goofball to hide his true nature. Pein was the leader of Akatsuki, but

 Tobi was the one pulling the strings behind everything so he had to mask his true identity and seem unworthy of investigation.

Tobi made himself look weak and useless, which is perfect for his disguise.

But why? What did he gain from hiding his true identity from some Akatsuki members? Also, what does the image have to do with anything?

I don't know, but the members who knew his true identity were probably part of his "inner circle", with the exception of Itachi (who Tobi had to deal with directly). And it's a given that Zetsu, Pein and Konan know his identity (to various extents). For the other members, the fewer people know that he is pulling the strings, the fewer threats his plans will face. The image was an example of Tobi making himself look useless.

The question is still unaswered i feel. He did it to hide his true nature - thats all fine. But what did he gain by it?

Well, deidara did express some negative connotations and resentment towards the Uchiha clan and their sharingan. Since he was paired up with Deidara, if he had expressed his identity of Madara in the beginning, that may have created possible tension/conflict. But, that is only speculation and a small fragment of the possible answer.

Another possible answer (though it answered very well by others) -
In ep344-345 in Obito and Madaara episodes, we see one of "Hashimura clones" acting in very stupid way, or as this question title suggest - goofy way, he joked about poop things and such, and actually his shape has the same pattern of Obito "Tobi's" mask.
When seeing those episodes, you can see properly that Obito knows well how to play another role with another voice, and he copied that "goofball" personality as well as he copied Madaara's voice and personality. You can say that in some way Obito "merged" with that clone.
Now, this may answer why he chose the goofball personality on purpose rather than making new personality, but the other part of the question is answered by others.

I think there might be just two key reasons from which other explanations to his fool facade come.
For one, the writing pov, it was an interesting plot device to remove viewers' attention from him as a relevant villain and focus on the Naruto-Sasuke overarching drama. His attitude also lightened up the atmosphere when sometimes it could get too dark (it is still a manga for shonen) and return hope to viewers that the good side will win (since the bad guys seemed to have an irredeemable idiot on their side). Further, when Tobi started showing his true colours (albeit in a slow tempo), the contrast between his joker-like attitude and his mysterious grand powers would make viewers confused, maybe slightly scared of him and scared for the well being of the good guys (since there is this weird goof who starts teleporting and becoming untouchable in the most stressful of situations). These emotions are pretty important to keep interest in the manga/anime, develop the plot, offer a more complex nuance to it and so on.
Now for the second reason, from Tobi's character pov, he adopted this attitude so he would not attract attention to him, since if anyone knew there was a roaming left-dead-but-still-alive Uchiha who was hat powerful Tobi would become a straight-up target. Now he still pretended to be Madara because that name evokes much fear so any potential hunt for him would be delayed until careful plans are developed (which would give him enough time to further his own agenda). Additionally, by appearing stupid, none of the Akatsuki would pay attetion to him, hence allowing him to observe the members and adjust the managing of the group.
Hope this helps!

Madara told Obito/Tobi to use his identity until he is revived. Since he used Madara's identity, he had to wear a mask, otherwise some may had revealed that he isn't Madara.
Found in this Wiki on chapter "Moving the Plan Forward" and from Chapter 606 in the Manga.

Thanks, but that is not my question. The question already acknowledges that he had reasons to assume Madara's identity. For a short while, after he "officially" joined Akatsuki, he kept fooling around, especially with "Deidara-senpai" (which is where I got my display name, by the way). The question is why did he do that instead of just saying, "I am Madara"?

@Deidara-senpai He might wanted to test the Akatsuki members out to find out how strong they really are and maybe he just wanted to not pull to much attention to himself by saying: "hey, i'm Madara, sup bro?" but all of this is pure speculation from me, I've no prove for or against it. Time might tell.


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What is the significance of Asuna's heterochromia?
In Negima! Magister Negi Magi, we note that Asuna has heterochromia, with one green and one blue eye.  Here's a shot taken from official artwork.

However, in Negima!?, we note that she doesn't have it at all.  Here's a shot taken from the third (I think) episode.

What is the significance, if there is any, of Asuna's heterochromia?  Why wasn't it present in the second season?

I don't think a clear reason was given, but in the manga they go more into her backstory than the anime. Usually the heterochromia trope has some backstory to it (e.g. special powers, royal birth). Perhaps that has something to do with it...

There is no significance
Asuna Vesperina Theotanasia Entheofushia, a.ka. Asuna Kagurazaka, has one green eye, and one blue eye, as depicted in every canon appearance except in Negima!? There is no real known significance as to why she has heterochromia, though it may have something to do with the fact she is of royal descent. She is seen as having heterochromia before she looses her memory, so that isn't the cause.
As far as why Negima!? is different, it is because it is a different studio who worked on this project, and they did redesigns for many of the characters. Negima!? actually has a number of differences from the original manga.
That we know of...
Mahou Sensei Negima (the manga) was canceled, so there were many stories that went unexplored. There is a possibility that this is something that the author was unable to reveal because it involved bigger plans around Asuna. Sadly, without speaking with the author himself, there isn't any way to know.


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Does Devil's Fruit power gained depend on how much of it is eaten?
Luffy accidentally ate the Gomu-Gomu (Rubber-Rubber) fruit, but was interrupted by Shanks after a few bites. It was too late and Luffy got the Devil's Fruit powers anyway. If he had instead eaten the whole of it, would he have got even more power from the fruit?

In the One Piece wiki, it's stated, that it doesn't matter, how much someone eats.

Only one bite is needed for the user to gain the power of a Devil Fruit, after which the Devil Fruit becomes a simple, useless, disgusting fruit. Swallowing the fruit whole, as Buggy did, has the same effect,[8] as well as peeling off the skin and eating it piece by piece also works.

However, that is never stated in the manga/anime.
Source

When a Devil Fruit eater eats another Devil Fruit, the Devil within the second fruit kills him, be it a single bite or the whole fruit. This shows that only a small part of the fruit is required to gain the power.


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What was the controversy with Kokoro Connect?
There were several news articles during the airing of Kokoro Connect regarding some sort of a controversy during the production of the anime. This lead to a pretty substantial boycott effort. I didn't watch the show and didn't follow the news pieces, so I don't really know the specifics, and it's hard to tell what actually happened and in what order now since the articles I could find don't describe the whole event.
Can anyone provide a relatively complete chronological account of the major events that happened in the controversy, with appropriate sources?

All dates listed are in 2012. I have merely summarized the events and more detailed information can be found via the source links.
June 24: Advanced Screening Event
Some time before this date, Mitsuhiro Ichiki auditioned for an original character for the TV series. He was invited to the screening event as "a surprise voice cast member". However, at the event, he was informed that he was actually appointed "Head of Public Relations" for the series. The original character does not actually exist.
Source: ANN
September 2: Twitter
The opening theme's composer, Hajime Kikuchi, sent rude tweets to well known voice actor and singer Momoi Halko. He decided to step away from the music group (eufonius), but it's unclear whether this was truly his own action or something "forced" upon him by the label.
Source: ANN and MAL
As a result (well, according to the animation studio, due to "production issues"), the opening theme was changed on the BD/DVD release of the series and for some of the episodes during the TV airing. This was probably the cause of the BD/DVD release getting delayed by a month.
Source: Two ANN articles: One and two
The linked ANN article for the screening event also mentions that Hajime Kikuchi may have made some tweets about that incident, but it does not mention whether they were apologetic or negative.

This is a good summary. Unfortunately there's probably no way to know whether all the apologies are deliberate or if they were forced.


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What does 'moe' mean?
I've now watched quite a few anime and I'm still at a loss as to what the term moe represents. Is there an agreed upon definition for it? If a character is moe, what does that mean?

From Wiki: "Moe is not considered as a concrete term." So I guess the answer is no. There is no agreed upon definition for it.

You might want to try this over at http://japanese.stackexchange.com/ if you don't get a good enough answer here.

Kiniro Mosaic defines "moe" as "the (onomatopoeic) sound you make when you see something cute."

Here is an academic paper1 with an analysis of the concept of moe, including its history and origin, relationship to the socio-economics of Japan, previous academic studies of moe, otaku and fujoshi psychology, and a very in-depth analysis of what moe actually is.
A short table of contents of the topics covered:

Japanese critical discourse
Emergence of the moe form
Otaku discussions of moe
Moe desire and sexuality
Moe in relation to 'reality'
The female approach to moe
Fujoshi exposing virtual potential in reality

To quote from its conclusion,

Both otaku and fujoshi describe moe fantasy as 'pure,' or set apart from reality, and it precisely because it is pure that it can give birth to such perverse and polymorphous possibilities. The moe character is a 'body without organs' and it engenders virtual possibilities without limits or control. Stated another way, moe describes affect, or an unstructured intensity in response to the virtual possibilities of fantasy characters. Whether it is the girl-child popular among men or the homosexual boys popular among women, these young characters are not part of the 'real' world and do not demand their partners be socially mature and responsible adults; with moe characters, men can experience love outside the confines of manhood (defined by work) and women love outside the confines of womanhood (defined by childbirth).

1 "Moe: Exploring Virtual Potential in Post-Millennial Japan", by Patrick W. Galbraith. Published in the Electronic Journal of Contemporary Japanese Studies, article 5 of 2009; first published on 31 October 2009.

Coined in Japan in the late '90s, "Moe" (萌え, pronounced as "Mo-Eh", derived from a Japanese word that means "budding, to sprout/bloom")  is an ill-defined otaku term that means, amongst other things, "cute", "huggable", or "endearing". While it's sometimes used to describe a series, it's more about a specific ideal or kind of character, similar to Kawaisa. When used as an interjection, figuratively, it's used to convey that "something blooms inside your heart".

Read more at tvtropes: Moe.

Here's a desctiption from Anime News Network

Moe is a Japanese term used in connection with manga or anime to
  describe something precious, usually (but not always) the ideal of
  youthful and innocent femininity. Written with the kanji for "to bud
  or sprout" (萌), the concept covers a range of ideal behaviour for
  youthful female characters in manga or anime. To be moe, a character
  can be eager or perky, not overly independent, and call forth a desire
  in the viewer to protect them and nurture them. The term is also used
  to describe any preciously cute item; there is an animal mascot
  character store in Tokyo called Moe.
There is a lot of debate over the crossover between moe fandom and
  lolicon. While the crossover exists among fans and products the two
  genres are not synonymous.

I think it's a good enough definition, but just for you to be able to consider, here are a few others:

on manga.about.com
on animevice.com

Basically, all of those define moe in the same way, but with different words or phrases.


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What is the timeline of the Hayate anime?
The Hayate no Gotoku (Hayate the Combat Butler) anime has 3 television seasons (a fourth one was announced for later this year), a movie, and an OVA. However, the different seasons don't match up very well and there is a lot of filler content. For instance, the ending of the first season seems to take place after all of the events of the second season.
Can someone shed some light on what is canon and what are filler, and what order they occur in the manga?

Season 1: having 52 episodes, follows the manga from volume 1 (chapter 1) to volume 4 (chapter 51).
Season 2: having 26 episodes (the OVA being episode 00), follows the manga from volume 5 (chapter 52) to volume 14 (chapters 147-148).
Season 3: having 12 episodes, features a new story written in part by the original creator and is mostly based on his original ideas that never made it to the manga.
The movie: I really could not understand whether it was an adaptation or new material/filler content.

If you compare the length of the first and second series with the number of chapters each covers, you can see that the second one follows the manga much closer than the first one, the latter mixing up the storyline from the manga with new content. Plus, from what I gathered from here, episodes 18, 19, 26, 27, 28, 29 (the end), 30, 31, 32 (first part), 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 41, 45, 46, 48, 50 and 51 of Season 1 are fillers, and only the last episode of Season 2 is a filler.
The third season is not based in any manga.
And the movie, I really do not know.

As for the timeline, from what I gather, it goes something like this:
Season 2 (of which the OVA is episode 00) retcons the events from Season 1, being set a month (or three, according to this source) after Hayate's become Nagi's butler (not a year, like the first season states. Thus, it follows more closely the manga). The film's events take place towards the end of the summer holidays, 2 weeks after Comiket. Season 3's events take place one month after the movie's (which is nine months after the beginning of the Season 1 and 6 months after Season 2).
This would mean that Season 1 and 2 intertwine (because of the original/filler content present in Season 1), the movie takes place 5 months after Season 2, and Season 3 takes place one month after the movie (and the OVA is part of season 2, being its episode 00).

Feel free to modify anything, especially in the first part (regarding the contents of the movie, and specifying the manga contents of each anime season), since I have not read the manga, I did the best I could to find out what was canon and what was filler content.


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Does Summoning: Impure World Resurrection automatically equip the reincarnated shinobi?
For example, when Kinkaku and Ginkaku are reincarnated, they have their ninja tools. It is also the case with the reincarnated Seven Ninja Swordsmen.
If this is so, suppose someone else had acquired one of the ninja tools, would there be two copies of the tool?

There can be only one copy of the tool at a time. The resurrected shinobi get their tools if they have not been acquired by others in the real world.
When the Seven legendary swordsmen were summoned, initially only Zabuza had his Kubikiribōchō. Although Suigetsu had acquired it, it was taken away from him when he was arrested at the five Kage meeting. Thus, it seems the Edo Tensei transferred it to Zabuza.

Later, Mangetsu summons 4 other swords from his scroll. He had presumably sealed them in his scroll before he died, which is probably why they were not acquired by others.
The only swords missing are the Samehada and Hiramekarei, which were in possession of Bee and Chojuro respectively. Similarly, Sasori did not get his puppets, because Kankuro had taken their possession.

Thanks for the answer. Is there any info on how Kinkaku and Ginkaku got their tools? Or can we infer that Kabuto must have obtained them somehow?

I think they got their tools just like how Zabuza got his sword. The Kohaku no Jōhei (Amber Purifying Pot) was the only one in the Fourth Raikage's possession, and thus Kinkaku and Ginkaku did not have it when they were revived. The other tools they used were not taken over by someone else in the living world after they died, and thus were available to them.

If Suigetsus Sword was taken away, that means, that someone else possessed it. Wouldn't it be more logical, that Kabuto possessed the sword and gave it to Zabuza, instead of Edo Tensei?

@looper It is a good point, but it is highly unlikely that Kabuto infiltrated the room where the sword was kept just to get that sword. It was just left unattended in that room (see picture), which meant it was not in anyone's possession per se. Or maybe his "upgraded" Edo Tensei allows him to control real world objects through the revived shinobi, and he decided not to bother getting the swords held by Bee and Chojuro. Again, this is speculation.

From what I recall, Kinkaku took their tools from his mouth. This could mean that they were somehow sealed with some special jutsu, something like the way Gerotora was once inside Jiraiya's stomach and then inside Naruto's.

looper and JNat, Thanks for those points! I had missed that.

Kinkaku and Ginkaku had the weapons sealed inside them, much like Orochimaru produces his sword from his mouth.

When was that told? When was it shown that the artifacts come out of their bodies? I don't remember that. Do you have any evidence to support your claim?


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How was the Gedo Mazo summoned?
This question contains spoiler.

 As we know, Rikudo Sennin sealed the Jubi inside him and before he died, he banned its body with Chibaku Tensei and created the moon. We also know, that when the body was freed by Madara, it served him as Gedo Mazo. But how did Madara free the Gedo Mazo? Is there any reference in the manga/anime?

As was explained in chapter 606, pages 13 and 14:

 Those who have both Uchiha and Senju DNA (which allows you to awaken the Rinnegan) can summon the Gedo Mazo.
 Only four people have been able to do such: The Sage of Six Paths, Uchiha Madara (Second Rikudo), Nagato (Third Rikudo) and Uchiha Obito.
 All four of them possessed both DNAs and the Rinnegan:
 - The Sage of Six Paths is the person from whom both lineages descend, possessing both DNAs, as well as the Rinnegan.
 - Uchiha Madara possesses Uchiha DNA naturally, and transplanted Senju Hashirama's cells into his wounds, awakening the Rinnegan when he was at the verge of death.
 - Nagato is a descendant of the Uzumaki clan, who are related to the Senju clan, thus possessing Senju DNA. Madara transplanted his Rinnegan to him when he was very young. With this, not only did he gain the Rinnegan, but he also had Uchiha DNA implanted into him.
 - Uchiha Obito naturally possesses Uchiha DNA, and had Senju DNA implanted in him when Madara fused a Zetsu clone with his body to save him. However, he did not awaken the Rinnegan, but rather had Nagato's (which was actually Madara's) Rinnegan implanted.

 According to Madara, he unlocked the seal to summon the Gedo Mazo upon the time of his Rinnegan's awakening.


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Fitting rules of Death Note
There are at least 130 rules of use of the Death Note. Do they all fit on the one last page of the notebook (how?) or do they come from some other source? Was it ever addressed in the manga or the anime?

The Death Notes originally do not have any rules written on them. Ryuk dropped a Death Note in the human world because he was "bored", so he only wrote enough rules to get a human interested in it (and he wrote them in English, the most common language). During the course of the plot, Light infers several rules not written in the book through his experiments. (Even Ryuk admitted once he did not know of one such rule.)

...Eh, cheaty. I always imagined Kira writing "Shot dead after a killing spree in which he kills his boss and coworkers" as reason of death of one of L's subordinates, and then I learned there was a rule against that...

Ryuk didn't write all rules in the deathnote, only the most important ones:

"The human whose name is written in this note shall die."
  "This note will not take effect unless the writer has the subject's face in their mind when writing his/her name. Therefore, people sharing the same name will not be affected."
  "If the cause of death is written within 40 seconds of writing the subject's name, it will happen."
  "If the cause of death is not specified, the subject will simply die of a heart attack."
  "After writing the cause of death, the details of the death should be written in the next 6 minutes and 40 seconds (400 seconds)."

The other rules exist, but Ryuk never wrote them into Sidoh's book and only explains them.


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Who was piloting the White Knight Infinite Stratos?
As the question states, is it ever revealed who the pilot was? Since Byakushiki contains Core number 001 which is the same one that powered the white knight, can we assume that the pilot was Shinonono Tabane?

No.

The White Knight's pilot was Chifuyu Orimura, as confirmed in the light novels, and heavily implied during the anime.

Source: http://infinite-stratos.wikia.com/wiki/White_Knight


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How did Chi end up in the trash?
In Chobits, the protagonist finds Chi discarded with trash behind some house.

 One would think a product of a secret project like that, containing some extremely important secrets, would be at the very last disposed of in a responsible manner, and not just thrown out.

Maybe I wasn't an attentive watcher but I never spotted any backstory as to how she ended up there. Does the show explain it? If not, are there any viable theories?

In the manga, Chitose Hibiya mentions that she hoped someone would find Chii and give her all the things she was missing (e.g. Love). Chii's memory was wiped because she was sad, so this was an attempt to start over from scratch without any of her painful memories. And this also means not knowing anything about Chitose.
So Chitose put Chii in the trash so that Hideki would find her.

A very far-fetched line of thinking but I guess if that's canon, we've got to accept.

@SF. I don't think Chii was placed there specifically for Hideki, just that he happened to be the one to find her. But yeah, whoever found her could have turned out to be a creep.

Or a garbageman with a garbage truck, just doing his duty...

CLAMP tend to be really romantic, so it's exactly their style to have such a reason, even if it would seem far-fetched normally. Tsubasa is overflowing with this stuff.


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How did they start sending messages to other's phone?
When the anime starts and until episode 8, they attached a cell-phone to the phone-microwave and sent a message to that specific phone to trigger sending D-Mails. But in episode 8

 Ruka sent a D-Mail to her mother pager

and then in episode 9

 Faris sent a D-Mail to (probably) herself

So I'm wondering if there is a plot whole somewhere in the story, or did they figure out a way to send D-Mails from any phone to any phone?
As a side question previously it was mentioned that how they can set D-Mail's time of Arrival:

 each second on Phone-Microwave meant an hour going back, so I'm wondering how did they manage to set microwave time to 87600 (10 years)?

You just send the message from one phone/pager to another one. All you need is the microwave running and a running CRT (Cathode Ray Tube), plus the phone number of the receiver. You configure the microwave, turn it on and wait for the message to be sent.
Earlier in the story, they needed to connect the phone with the microwave, to determine, which message should be affected by time-travel.

 However, Daru wrote a program, with which you could set the number and various different things, so it was possible to send these D-Mails without the need of connecting the phone to the microwave.

Regarding your time-question: Daru applied many modifications to the microwave, so you could set any running-time. The microwave won't run the whole 24 hours, it just needs to be set to that time.

If someone knows how the CRT was named in the English translation, please edit it :D.

When the anime starts and until episode 8, they attached a cell-phone
  to the phone-microwave and sent a message to that specific phone to
  trigger sending D-Mails.

You are misunderstanding it. The microwave is required to send the d-mail, not to receive it.
Basically, the d-mail functions exactly as a normal text message that you would send to someone. The only difference (apart from the size limit) is that when you send a normal message, it will arrive in some time after being sent. The d-mail, on the contrary, will arrive in some time before being sent. It can be sent to any phone (or a pager), the only requirement is obviously that you need to know the phone number.
As for your side question, I didn't understand what exactly is confusing you, can you elaborate please?

The receiving phone had to be attached to the microwave, as in the first episode, Daru's phone was attached to the microwave when Okarin sent the first D-Mail.

@Gajoo but having it attached to the microwave did not affect whether or not the message was received. It's an unrelated factor in receiving the message.

This was how I always understood it. It has been a while since I've watched Steins;Gate though.


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Is Super Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann actually Kamina?
Viewers of the second movie are familiar with the gigantic mecha Super Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, the most powerful mecha that Team Dai-Gurren uses in the whole franchise. It bears a strong resemblance to Kamina, except with Simon's glasses and with no face. A number of sites note the resemblance, including the Gurren Lagann Wiki.

In some places it's claimed that Super Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann is a reincarnation of Kamina, but none of them are very official, so this may just be fan speculation. Is there any evidence that Super Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann is actually a reincarnation of Kamina, or do they just resemble each other?

I think it's important to note that the defiance of physics (and consequently, the excessive abilities of the TTGL mechas) is based on the use (or abuse) of Spiral Power, much of which comes from within evolved beings. Since Simon is one of these, the energy flowing from him (which formed the Super mecha) could pertain to his emotions and feelings. And we all know what kind of obsession Simon has with Kamina... Just my two cents.

@Eric I could see that argument supporting either position. Either "Simon has a huge amount of Spiral Energy, which he uses to resurrect Kamina in the form of a giant mecha because of his obsession with Kamina", or "Simon has a huge amount of Spiral Energy, which he uses to make a giant mecha which looks like Kamina because of his obsession with Kamina". While I don't think you're wrong, I also don't think that answers the question by itself.

That's why it's a comment! :) I don't think the series nor "Word of God" answers either way, unfortunately. Though, I would love to be proven wrong on that front.

I don't think there is any official source on this, but I would guess STTGL was made with image of Kamina in mind. Kamina was spiritual leader of Dai Gurren Dan and he was most influential person on all main characters, including Simon, Yoko, Viral and other. As that, they all see him as representation of power, freedom and determination. Fitting image for STTGL.
Also note, that at end of TTGL, it is said resurrection of dead people is (at least) morally wrong. So resurrecting Kamina, albeit temporarily, would go against believes of main characters.

Good point about the ending of the series. I hadn't thought about that.

This is not canon, but conclusions drawn from canon and logic on infinites...
Some things that should be considered...

The Dimensional Labyrinth opened up access to infinite parallel realities.
Due to the infinite nature of the labyrinth is why the anti-spirals expected the team Dai-Gurren to be stuck there forever. (Infinite number of parallel relaities, an Aleph 0 infinite)
They got out anyway.
The only way to counteract an infinite is with another infinite. (Especially useful is a higher tier infinite, such as an Aleph 1 infinite overpowering an Aleph 0)
Spiral power seems to provide a feedback loop. People with strong spiral power around others with strong spiral power seem to get even stronger spiral power.

In the Dimensional Labyrinth, they encountered what most fans believe to be a ghost/image/memory/reincarnation of the "true" Kamina. However, it should be noted that each of these infinite universes had its own Kamina.
A concept to take into account... Kamina only died in the primary universe. His many variations were alive in the labyrinth. Each one of these by itself was not the prime Kamina, but between them, they had the traits of the prime Kamina.
This means, likely most had the desire to achieve the higher level than they were and would never be satisfied in that regard, and to break through any boundary. If one version of Kamina could reach a point to where he could break through from one dimension to the next, things get interesting. The fact that this manages to happen is evidenced from the way they're pulled by him back into the prime world, and a very prime-like Kamina is appearing nearing less primish Kaminas (Kaminai?).
Through this interaction, the core personality of the prime Kamina would re-emmerge due to the Prime Kamina's traits being the most shared traits (likely causing many Kaminas to gravitate towards the original ideal as they try to reach their ultimate potential), and they would discover the nature of the Labyrinth.
These prime-like Kaminas would, by their nature, increase his power by reaching out to the other Kaminas. And any Kamina he could reach would likely also learn this ability (through becoming stronger, learning technique, whatever). And in infinite realities, there would be infinite Kaminas attempting this. Upon knowing the anti-spirals created the Labryinth as a prison for freedom fighters, he would desire nothing more than to break that boundary, and seek them out.
Now, imagine... an infinite number of Kaminas, their spiral power feed-backing from an infinite number of other Kaminas, with enough presence to effectively search infinite realities and find every single original member of Dai-Gurren. That's infinite Kaminas, each with infinite spiral power.
Aleph 1 infinite achieved.
Although team Dai-Gurren may be limited in number, the dimensional Kamina would have no such limit, and be able to break them all out and give them energy to spare.
So...
In a way, it would make sense, knowing the characters and the realities invoked, and would explain the reality-shattering power team Dai-Gurren achieved after being effectively decimated.
Although, I have to say, if my hypothesis is accurate, a side series about all these Kaminas and their journeys could be pretty interesting.

It would be useful to add links to your answer (e.g. to a wiki) for particular claims you make regarding certain "truths". Your following conjecture would then have weight, strengthening your arguments.


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Where does the Gantz anime branch off?
I really liked the Gantz anime. It was crazy, a mind trip, and overall an enjoyable (if somewhat graphic) show. But I've been told the manga is better, and goes in a wildly different direction. What episodes in Gantz are based off the manga plot, and where does the plot truly start to branch?
Note, I'm not looking for minor differences, though bonus points for noting those. I'm really looking for when the major branching in plot occurs.

The manga and the anime diverge during the anime's last battle. The last battle in the anime never occurred in the manga. Gonzo needed a way to end the series and created a weird introspective fight yourself battle. The manga went on with more battles and more characters, ongoing for a long time, and I guess Gonzo didn't want the series to just suddenly stop.
I don't remember all of the minor differences, there were some during the battles, especially the one during the statues, but those still followed the manga more or less faithfully.

Do you happen to know why Gonzo needed to kill the anime before the end of the manga?

@TheLQ I don't have any references to back this up but I'd guess it's the typical the "deal/contract was for X (26) number of episodes that span N (2) seasons so that's how many was planned". In some cases, the broadcaster or sponsors may want more episodes for a TV run, but Gantz wasn't a daytime network show so the 26 total episodes was probably all that was ever going to be made.


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What does it mean to have "powerful" chakra?
Tobi once stated that he (referring to Madara) was born with an especially strong chakra.
That is the only time we ever hear about the "power" of chakra! We know that one can have a lot of chakra, and we know he can learn to utilize his chakra efficiently. But what does "strong" chakra mean?
Does it make his techniques more powerful than other, less power chakra users? Does it mean that his YinYang balance is naturally stronger? Does it make him live longer?

Perhaps it refers to his physical energy at the time of birth

@ChetterHummin: Well, I could understand if he was a Senju, as high Physical energy is more common there...

True, but it could happen for other families as well

This could also just mean that he has more chakra than most people. Especially if you're reading/watching a translated/subbed version, it might not translate perfectly.

I believe it's much like "The Force is strong with this one" :P
From Naruto wiki, we can learn that

Normal chakra is a form of energy all living individuals naturally
  produce to some degree. Contained in the "chakra coils" that mainly
  surround and connect to each chakra-producing organ, the energy
  circulates throughout the body in a network called the "chakra
  circulatory system" (similar to the cardiovascular system).

And, later in the same article, it is stated:

Chakra is the resulting form of energy when two other forms of energy
  are mixed together. The two energies are referred to as "physical
  energy" and "spiritual energy". Physical energy is collected from the
  body's cells and can be increased through training, stimulants, and
  exercise. Spiritual energy is derived from the mind's consciousness
  (i.e. the soul) and can be increased through studying, meditation, and
  experience. Having these two energies become more powerful will
  in-turn make the created chakra more powerful. Therefore, practising a
  technique repeatedly will build-up experience, building up one's
  spiritual energy, and thus allowing more chakra to be created. As a
  result, the ninja is able to do that same technique with more power.
  This same cycle applies for physical energy, except this time, instead
  of doing things like meditation, the ninja could, say, do push-ups.

emphasis mine.
So, I think that saying that someone is born with "strong chakra" means that the physical part of that person's chakra (the one that he has from birth) is better... developed (or maybe advanced), comparing to other people. Whether this individual will further develop this natural...boon, depends on him.
This estimation of chakra strength can also be different depending on who to compare with. For example, one can be compared with other members of the same clan, or shinobi of the same village, or maybe all shinobi in general.


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How does the hole in a Hollow's chest work?
In Bleach, Hollows (and Espadas) have holes in their chest. However, the holes do not bleed and seem to have no harmful effects on the body. For human-shaped Hollows and Espada, do the organs rearrange themselves around the holes or just cease to exist where the holes are? Also, how do the holes not bleed? Does skin grow around inside the holes or are the cauterized?

Hollows are not like normal living creatures. Don't forget that they are born from human souls, not from flesh and bones. In chapter 433 it is explained that

 Hollows lose their hearts from the pain of not being saved by shinigami. That forms the hole. Their lost hearts form their masks. Also, the hollows' unique appearance and their unique traits and powers are formed from their lost hearts as well.

Also, don't forget what happens when they are killed. Their bodies simply vanish, leaving no corpse, no anything. So, taking that into account, we can say that

 since they can live with their heart lost, their bodies (even if we forget that Hollows are spirit creatures) definitely don't work the same way as human (or shinigami) bodies do, so they somehow are able to live with it.

And I guess that since they are spirit creatures they don't care about such things anyway ;)

wow! My guessing on heart point was correct then eh? :)

@Sai, yup, that was a correct guess ;)

They are actually souls... rather they are dark souls!
A soul has a something called a "chain of fate", the link to its physical body. It is the soul that couldn't make it to Soul Society yet. Because to make it to Soul Society, a soul-reaper needs to help. When a soul loses its chain of fate, there forms a hole in its chest.
This hole signifies the emptiness, the hunger to fulfill something which is endless. So it might be just a representation. I would like to list below some possibilities:

It might be just a representation.
If the chest has a heart which signifies something good, its absence signifies bad. So we can think that hollows don't have heart.
Why they don't bleed? It is the structure of their body.

I think the second point is right!


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Who is first lieutenant Schrödinger?
I still can't seem to grasp his abilities and character.
Do we have more information regarding Schrödinger? He's everywhere and nowhere, but how does that work in case his head is blown off?
Could anyone try and shed some light?

According to the Schrödinger page at the Hellsing Wiki, his abilities are:

Abilities: Can spontaneously appear and disappear at will. Unable to be killed as long as he wills it. Invulnerability. Immortality.

It's not clearly explained what it means for him to "will" it. I guess his head can't be blown off if he doesn't wish it to be or if it happens, he can still will his head back. But I guess like his name and appearance (cat), he's supposed to be a reference to Schrödinger's cat, a paradox, being simultaneously alive and dead. Other tidbits from the article:

It is confirmed by the Major that Schrödinger only exists for as long as he is aware of himself. He was able to appear in Hellsing's conference room without difficulty, despite the high security of the building at the time. He also appeared inside Zorin Blitz's illusions while Blitz was attempting to attack Seras Victoria's mind, indicating that he can appear in mental realms as well....Even if Schrödinger is fatally wounded, if he believes that he is alive and unscathed, then he would be. This can be seen when Alucard drinks the blood of Rip Van Winkle. He is sitting on the ship with the hand television, while in next scene we can see him standing on the right side of the Major.

So that sort of explains the immortality part. Except at the end of the OVA:

.. now that he [Schrödinger] is consumed by Alucard and is mixed with millions of other minds, he can no longer recognize himself, and by extension neither can Alucard, the one who has absorbed him. Whilst neither are technically dead, they do not exist in one place because they cannot recognize themselves, and have thus become "No more than a set of imaginary numbers."


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What is Shikizaki Kiki's final completed Deviant Sword?
In the series, it was mentioned that Shikizaki Kiki created the 12 Deviant Swords with the purpose of perfecting one final sword.
What is this final sword? How was it completed?

In episode 11, Kiki Shikizaki said that the final purpose of the 12 Deviant Swords was to help Yasuri Shichika perfect the Kyotoryu fighting style in order to forge himself as the ultimate completed Deviant Sword (虚刀「鑢」; Empty Sword "File"). So Shichika himself is the final sword and forged through the Kyotoryu fighting style.
The other purpose of the creation of the swords is to prevent Japan from being destroyed by foreigners. Something that one of his ancestors told him would happen.


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Why is Phryne's hair purple in the Manga, but brown in the Anime?
In the Manga, Phryne and Nessa have purple hair.
In the Anime, Phryne has brown hair and Nessa has red hair.
Is there a reason for this inconsistency?

This really bothered me since I think there's actually a reason they have the same color hair...

No real sources or references for this, but it's almost certainly the work of Masako Tashiro, the anime's character designer. As you can see in a design comparison image on this page, the detail and color changes between Hidari's and Tashiro's designs. When you have to animate characters, it's up to the character designer to not only create fitting and unique designs that match each character, but make them simple enough so that the animators can animate them in a reasonable amount of time. This is why you rarely see anime TV series with characters of the same gender that have the exact same hair color. Without all of the detail that can be afforded to still frames in a manga, there's often a reliance on colors to easily differentiate between characters that share the screen a lot.

That's an interesting read. I'll wait a while before I accept an answer to see if anything else comes. (especially after the discussion about recruitment earlier today)


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What are those petite animals that resemble the main cast?
What those petite animals that Ami and Mami find in the Puchimasu spinoff series? Why do they resemble the main cast?

It's equivalent to asking why the author comes up with the idea for the manga (? I'm not sure if its original is manga)...

Translated from the Puchimas anime website:

Puchidols are mysterious cute little living creatures that reside at 765 Productions. They're the kind of organism that shoots beams, warps around (I think this means like teleportation), digs holes, and heals others, but they are still quite mysterious. But don't you get the feeling that they resemble the idols of 765 Productions?

Well, that's the official explanation, but I don't think it actually answers your question. It even reiterates your question of "why do they look like the idols"...


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What instruments do the members of Houkago Tea Time use?
The instruments in K-On have labels with real music companies. For instance, here's Ritsu's yellow drum set (I'm not quite sure where this picture is from, or even if it's just fanart, but the drums are clearly the same as those in the anime):

That's a very clear Yamaha logo. Either Yamaha sponsored it, in which case they'd want a real product to be used, or the artist chose to use that particular model, but either way it's very likely a real-world instrument.
What models are their instruments? As a note, I think a couple of them might have multiple instruments, since I've seen Ritsu with a different drum set also.

From Wikipedia, which cites specific episodes as references:
Yui: Heritage Cherry Sunburst Gibson Les Paul Standard electric guitar
Mio: Left-handed, 3-Color Sunburst Fender Jazz Bass with a tortoiseshell pickguard with  D'Addario EXL160M medium bass strings; in the first volume of the manga, Fender Precision Bass
Mugi: Korg Triton Extreme 76-key keyboard; in the first season's ending animation, Korg RK-100 keytar; in the second season's ending animation, Hammond organ
Ritsu: Yellow Rick Marotta Signature Yamaha Hipgig drum kit with a cymbal set from Avedis Zildjian; in the ending animation, white Yamaha Absolute Series drumkit
Azusa: Fender Mustang electric guitar

The HTT seiyuu actually used this instruments live during a live concert of K-on! which was really cool.


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How old is Alucard?
We know that Dracula was defeated in the past (some 100 years before the series begun). That's when his name was changed to Alucard.
However, it's obvious that he lived before that. How long did he live? Do we have an estimated timeline of events?

According to the Hellsing Wikia he was born in 1431. That makes him 582 years old today. But it also states that he was 568 years old in 1999, and 599 after a time skip.

[...]Born in 1431, [...] He is arguably the first vampire that ever existed.
568 (1999),599 (time skip)

Do we know where this information is taken from?

@MadaraUchiha I think it came from the "original Dracula" In Wikipedia stays: "Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia (1431–1476), [...], also known by his patronymic name: Dracula." Since Alucard is/was Dracula the Information seems to be from here.

According to the hellsing-wiki:

568 (1999), 599 (time skip)

Alucard is the name his master gave him because it is Dracula backward, but later in the anime, Alucard states his name was Vlad Tepes to his master.
If you look into Alucard's backstory and check out his age, it says he was born in 1431 and his age now would be 582 years old, and 568 years in 1999, and 599 in a time skip. If you look further and check out the name Vlad Tepes and read his backstory, you will get that he is known to clear forests of men by impaling them, which caused him to get the name Vlad the Impaler by the Ottoman that so came across the impaled men.
But that's not the point. The point is that if you check out the year he was born in which was in 1431 same as Alucard, his age now would be 588 years as of today, and Alucard's age is 582 as of today (very close to each other), but ironically they have nothing in common at all. They only have very little things that correspond with each other.
So, theoretically, Alucard's name is just a name and has nothing to do with the actual person, except that Vlad died and is (just a tale) haunting his victims and torturing them as an undead creature; just like Alucard, because he is undead too.

Alucard is 598 years old as a demon vampire. But when he was human, it was to be said that he was 45 years old, despite his 30-year-old appearance.


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What are Type A and Type B viewers?
I keep hearing the terms Type A viewers and Type B viewers in discussions and chat.
What do they mean? What is a Type A viewer and what is a Type B?

I'll also note that there is a bit of a connotation for being labeled a Type B fan.

Never heard of such term. Can you specify where you heard about it? I.e. I'm pretty sure in Italy it's not commonly used (yet).

@chirale: I heard it a lot in [chat], as well as English speaking anime related forums.

These terms are used a bit inconsistently, but what I'm answering here should be fairly uniform across a lot of the English-speaking community. I can't tell where the terms originated, but it might be an analogy to blood types, which are important in Japanese culture. It could also be a reference to Type A and B personality theory.
Type A
Type A fans are mostly interested in story. They choose anime because they think the story is interesting and the environment is immersive. The characters exist to drive the story, but their own characteristics are less important than the story. Many don't like the trend towards moe anime over the past decade (see What does 'moe' mean?). They tend to be fans of genres like action, mystery, and drama. They often watch longer or older shows.
Shows that might appeal to Type A fans include Monster, Serial Experiments Lain, Eden of the East, and Fullmetal Alchemist.
Type B
Type B fans are mostly interested in the characters. They view the story as a way to explore the lives of the characters, rather than interesting in-and-of itself, and it can become a distraction if it is too complicated. Moe anime are primarily targeted at this group of viewers. They tend to be fans of genres like comedy and slice-of-life, and tend to watch shorter and more recent shows.
Shows that might appeal to Type B fans include K-On, Highschool of the Dead, Strike Witches, and A Certain Magical Index.

There are some major omissions from this categorization, and it's hard to say that anyone is actually one or the other type. Even most people who self-identify as one or the other type will still watch and enjoy a good show that doesn't match their type.
It's also worth noting that some people like to add the criterion of fanservice, and say that Type B fans like shows with more fanservice. I am not doing so here because this is often disputed by type B fans themselves.

Apparently this originated from a thread on 2ch (I haven't been able to find the orginal thread), but it was notably popularized by Sankaku Complex.

In which category would you put the Twelve Kingdoms anime?

@StackedCrooked I don't think every anime falls into one or the other, and I haven't watched Twelve Kingdoms so I can't say for certain. Based on the summary it looks like the sort of thing a type A fan would like, but I really don't know. Ultimately, I don't think it's terribly useful to try to describe individual series as one or the other category, because most anime really don't fall in only one or the other category.

This is really good categorizing. Type B sounds like character moe(kyara-moe). @StackedCrooked I love Twelve kindoms's story(Type A) and Syusyou is my waifu(Type B).


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Which of the OreImo endings followed the light novels?
The anime adaptation for Ore no Imouto ga Konnani Kawaii Wake ga Nai had two endings, which branched off after episode 11 (the "good end" vs the "true end"). Of course, these couldn't both have happened in the light novels because they aren't consistent with each other. Which one of these follows the light novels closer, i.e. in the novels,

 does Kirino go to America or stay in Japan?

I suppose there's also the possibility that these are both anime-original content.

The question is rather confusing actually. Kirino did go to America for a while. Later Kyousuke go to America to take her back to Japan and she went back with him. This happens not only in the Anime but also in the Light Novel. So, what do you mean by "good end" and "true end"?

The "true end" of OreImo anime follows the novel (and quite closely at that). This short excerpt from Volume 5 Chapter 4 answers the question.

 But the mail I got from my little sister betrayed my expectations.

Please throw away my entire collection that I’ve entrusted to you.

 That was the only sentence written.

What about OreImo 2's ending?

@ErikHumphrey: It adapts the entire series, with quite a lot of content cut off in behind. The cut off content, as far as I heard from people who have read, are not very good, so I guess you don't miss much here.


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Who died first? Hänsel or Gretel?
In Black Lagoon, Hänsel and Gretel are deranged children suffering from Dissociative Identity Disorder.

Each of them have distinct personalities, but from time to time, they switch places with each other - clothing, weapons, voice, personality, and everything.
In episode 15, both of them are killed. Hänsel (the boy) dies in front of Balalaika after being shot by a sniper. Gretel (the girl) dies at the end of the episode when a hitman headshots her from behind.
But do we know if they were themselves when they were killed? Did Hänsel really die first?Or were they switched? Are there any clues anywhere?

Doesn't there voice change as well when they change personalities?

Yes they did and I mentioned that. You really can't tell which is which. And I believe they switch several times in that arc. Gretel even switches to and from Hänsel after Hänsel was already dead. (assuming they were themselves when they died)

+1 This isn't how I remember the story about hansel and gretel to go down.

While Gretel is on the boat talking to Rock, she says that it's OK that Hansel is dead because they are always together. She takes off her wig and her voice changes into the lower Hansel voice, then puts the wig back on and is back to Gretel's voice. So they are indistinguishable from their appearance and voices.
The only hint we get is right before Rock leaves the cabin Gretel is in:

Gretel takes off her underwear and lifts up her skirt giving Rock a "view" as a "gift". Rock is shocked and leaves the room disgusted.
So is it:

She is really "Hansel" and Rock is shocked because Gretel is actually a boy. Gretel died first
She is really "Gretel" and Rock is shocked because he's being flashed by a little girl. Hansel died first
Rock isn't shocked by whether she's a boy or girl but that she/he thinks flashing him is supposed to be a "gift". Inconclusive

Other inconclusive possibilities could be that her genitalia was mutilated from all the snuff films, or even she is a hermaphrodite. But it's most likely that we never know who was killed first. They are always interchanging/swapping, it's likely neither of them knows whether they are Hansel or Gretel anymore, so that facet of their character would be undermined if we were to know who was who.

I didn't read the manga, but wouldn't there be a nosebleed if it was 2?

@PeterRaeves maybe if he was a pedophile and actually gets excited about seeing little girls naked. The assumption with 2 is that he's a pretty normal male adult, has probably seen adult women naked before, and here's this 10-15 year old flashing him and this is supposed to be a "gift".

Hansel died first because in episode 14, they took the Russian man from the bar to the car. "Hansel" (in reality it was Gretel who carried him) carried him and said

He is too heavy; help me

He (she) said it because "he" is a girl and the man was to heavy for her.
The real Hansel said to the real Gretel:

NOW you are the boy; you have to carry him

After that, they change again and the last one in the hotel.
In the end, the real Hansel died as Hansel (himself) and the real Gretel died as Gretel.
Rock was shocked because Gretel thought it's a gift to give him a view (or because Gretel has some injuries there (because the people who make the videos hurt the kids or something like that)).

I believe Gretel died second.
Since yes, Rock did refer to her as a "she" when she revealed her gift. And people have theories it's a dismembered.. gift in attempts to be female as well. Or because of her past- being raped and filmed, she thought that offering herself will make him feel better.

I think Hansel died first because it's possible that Hansel might have just been a girl the whole time.
It's possible that Hansel and Gretel suffer from gender confusion or multi-personality disorder, especially after Gretel suddenly took her/his wig off and started to sound like Hansel, and also when Gretel showed of her/his Genitals.

Its a possible chance that Hansel and Gretel suffer from gender confusion or multi-personality disorder especially after Gretel suddenly took her/his wig off and started to sound like Hansel.Also when Gretel showed of her/his Genitals.

If you want to add to an answer, edit your original post instead of making multiple posts. Also "because it's possible" isn't really enough evidence in itself to justify such an answer.

you can edit that information into your answer (which is helpful here), which is probably a better idea than having it as a comment.

Gretel died second, Hansel died first.
If you watch episode 15 "Swan Song at Dawn", after Gretel exposed herself to him, he continued to refer to the child as a female, stating,

DAMNIT! DAMNIT! WHY? Why did this have to happen? Everyone in 'her' life betrayed her. They turned her into a monster, they turned her into a fuck'n monster. Goddamnit...

Benny steps in and says,

Rock, sometimes its best to look the other way, you have to do that to survive here.

Rock grips Benny and pins him against the ship and says,

I'll

then Benny says,

You'll what?! Adopt her? Forget it; you can't just undo what's been done to her. If only someone had shown them a little kindness they might have gone to school made friends and lived happily ever after. Who knows right? But that didn't happen, now did it? I'm sorry; but stories like this don't have happy endings, Rock.

After this dialog, I would think that if the child had been the male sibling, Rock would've referred to them as such.

Gretel may have died second. After Rock leaves the room and stands on top the boat, he says

They turned HER into a monster!

It didn't seem to sound that he wasn't really as disgusted as when he was shown Gretel's genitals. Rock's reaction could've been worse if the Gretel in the boat was male, so in my opinion Hansel died first and Gretel died second.

This is a late comment, but did you mean to say that It didn't seem to sound that he was really as disgusted as when he was shown Gretel's genitals.? In its current form (I only edited for grammar and formatting), your answer doesn't quite make sense to me. But maybe that's just because I haven't gotten to that bit of Black Lagoon yet.


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What happens to Merihim/Shiro after Shana becomes Flame Haze?
Merihim (whom Shana calls "Shiro") played a major role in training Shana prior to her contracting with Alastor and becoming a Flame Haze.

After making the contract, he challenges Shana to one final duel in which she wins. Shortly after, Tendōkyū (the floating landmass where Shana grew up and was trained) crumbles.
What is the fate of Merihim? Did Shana actually kill him? Did he die when Tendōkyū crumbles?
I wasn't able to figure this out after re-watching the episode (ep16) a few times.
MAL only lists him as "disappeared". But are there any sources that actually confirm his death?

This is explained in more detail the prequel, Shakugan no Shana X: Eternal_Song.
Before their final battle with one another, Merihim and Mathilde gambled that winner may request of the loser, which Merihim enthusiastically favored (since he was in love with her).
In the end, Merihim defeated by Mathilde's hand.
Before using Tenpa Jousai (which will ultimately result in her death), Mathilde made him promise three things:

He shall not consume humans again
He shall not wreak havoc on Earth again
He shall train the next successor of "Flame-Haired Burning-Eyed Hunter" title after her death.

Because he could no longer replenish his Power of Existence by consuming humans, he took the form of Shiro to conserve it. During the final battle at the Tendoukyuu, Merihim used up almost all of his existence to regain his appearance as the Rainbow Swordman and defeat Orgon in one stroke.
He used the last of his existence to give one final test to Shana, to see if she could properly become the wielder of the title "Flame-Haired Burning-Eyed Hunter," thus fulfilling his promise to Mathilde.


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Is there a tradition behind giving people names from English words?
There are a number of shows/manga where characters have names that are English words. In Vampire Knight, a character is named Zero. Tokyo Mew Mew has characters with names like Lettuce, Mint, and Berry. Is there a tradition behind this?

You may want to read a bit in this thread, as it may have some overlap, particularly in the "done to sound cool" aspects of the accepted answer.

I read that. I was wondering more if there was something beyond "it sounds cool", especially related to the fact that the words are non-names, like "Lettuce" or "Zero".

There can be numerous reasons justifying the usage of English names. I would divide them into two categories: plot reasons, and non-plot reasons.
The plot reasons are rather obvious, and include (but not limited to, of course)

Some characters were born in non-Japanese-speaking countries, disregarding where the story itself is happening. Note that those are not necessary English-born characters or English names. For example, most names in Code Geass, Hugh Anthony Disward from The Mystic Archives of Dantalian, Victoria Seras from Hellsing, and so on and so forth.
Sometimes the setting is a future world/alternative history/another planet/imaginary fantasy world. This can also justify such names, because the characters were born in a completely different culture that has nothing to do with Japan. For example, Cowboy Bebop, Trigun, Spice and Wolf, FMA characters.

The non-plot reasons would be:

The name looking/sounding cool or pretentious, for example, Zero.
The name meaning or symbolizing something, like Riza Hawkeye, who is a sniper, which her name suggests.
Some other special cases. For example in Detective Conan the names were changed in the English version to make it more attractive to the audience.


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Is the amount of Christianity portrayed in anime representative of Japan?
There are a large number of anime shows that portrays Christianity. Neon Genesis Evangelion shows a lot of Christian symbolism, such as crosses. Shows such as Trinity Cross and Chronos Crusade have nuns/people from the Church. Is the percentage of shows containing strongly Christian elements representative of the percentage of Christians in Japan?
I'm not expecting exact percentages, but more of a general ballpark idea.

A clarification: Hideaki Anno, the director of Evangelion, is an agnostic and Japanese spiritualist, and he is "not familiar with many things in Christianity." I don't believe he's ever divulged why he chose so many Christian concepts except his thoughts that they "sounded cool."

Related to what @Eric said - http://0-media-cdn.foolz.us/ffuuka/board/a/image/1338/14/1338143539185.png

Not sure about that, (that they're portraying Christianity in animes). Well simply because I noticed some animes that have priests as villains (e.g. Fate Stay Night). And I think Christians percentage there is relatively low.

I was hoping you would have an example like Kenshin; which had a major Christian villain who wants to avenge Tokugawa atrocities against Christians in Meiji era, resulting in a stand-off that could lead to massacre of innocents, a 250 year backstory that involves Portugal.

No, not at all. As looper mentioned, the amount of Christianity in Japan is around 1% which is a really small percentage.
Evangelion assistant director mentioned that they originally used Christian symbolism only to give the project a unique edge against other giant robot shows, and that it had no particular meaning:

"There are a lot of giant robot shows in Japan, and we did want our
  story to have a religious theme to help distinguish us. Because
  Christianity is an uncommon religion in Japan we thought it would be
  mysterious. None of the staff who worked on Eva are Christians. There
  is no actual Christian meaning to the show, we just thought the visual
  symbols of Christianity look cool. If we had known the show would get
  distributed in the US and Europe we might have rethought that choice." source

This is the case in a lot of other anime series which have religious symbols: they are placed there to give the show a distinct look and feel, or to add a thin coat of mysticism.
Note the "we just thought the visual symbols of Christianity look cool" part of the above quote. I think (I may be wrong though, this is my personal opinion) that most of religious symbols in anime are there for that reason.

No it is not. Christians only make up about 1% of Japan. The main reason for this is because it is foreign to most Japanese, giving it a different feel.
Think about most American movies. Whenever they want to have some supernatural force, it will almost always be because of some Buddhist or other East Asian philosophy/religion. To us Americans, it seems foreign, exotic and even cool. However, the vast majority of the time, it is not anything like what it actually is.

No. There are only around 1% Christians in Japan, so it's very minor. Christmas isn't even an official holiday.

Japanese people have a penchant for admiring foreign cultures and artifacts, and "glorifying" them in the process.  The way Christianity is being portrayed in anime is in the same level as that of portraying French or English culture.  It is primarily added to bring about a certain look and feel, but also because the story/plot has some relation to the religion mentioned.  If it wasn't Christianity, the animators/story-tellers would have added another foreign artifact to bring that certain look and feel - a.k.a. cool factor.

Source: https://www.quora.com/Why-do-the-Japanese-have-such-an-admiration-of-Western-culture-especially-American
The answer on the link above explains much of Japan's admiration for foreign cultures and artifacts.  That aspect carries over to anime as well.


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Why does Takuto break Wako's seal at the end of Star Driver?
The final episode of Star Driver is somewhat confusing to me. While it's clear what events took place, I don't understand why some of the characters did what they did.
Specifically, why does Takuto decide to break Wako's seal to unleash the cybodies into the normal world?

For the entire series:

The Glittering Crux Brigade seeks to break the seal of all 4 maidens to achieve the 5th phase.
Takuto was pretty much fighting against them for the entire series to stop this process.

So why, in the final episode, does he "change his mind" and break Wako's seal?
(Note that is it implied that Wako actually allows Takuto to break her seal.)

I usually wait a few days to see if a better answer arrives. And only if there are upvotes from other people to verify that it is correct or at least sounds reasonable. But meh, this one has sat around for long enough. :)

Yeah, it's been long, that's why I commented in the first place. Thanks! :)

It was because he wanted to save Sugata
Sugata wanted to seal Samekh with him forever, meaning he wanted to sacrifice himself. And Takuto wanted to save him, that's why he broke Wako's seal. Takuto's only chance of saving him was to break Wako's seal to unseal the Zero Time. Wako wanted to save Sugata as well that's why she allowed Takuto to break her seal, agreeing both without a single word (which was just amazing for me!).
I hope I answered your question clear. This is purely based on my understanding of the ending. :)


text:
Does the Parappa the Rapper anime actually have any rapping?
I watched the Parappa the Rapper anime several years ago, given that it was one of my favorite video games. However, I quickly discovered a fatal flaw: there was no actual rapping!! The producers instead decided to make it a children's show. How do you make an anime about a rapping dog with no actual rapping?!
I only watched a few episodes before I dropped it. But if there actually is some rapping somewhere in the show, it would at least be worth my time to watch that. Does Parappa (or anyone else) rap at any point in the series?

The anime is about Parappa, not about rapping. So there's no really rapping, if I remember correctly.

To clarify, did you watch the whole series, or just a few episodes? I think you are probably correct (which is unfortunate), but in particular I'm looking for an answer from someone who has seen the whole series since I've seen the first 4 or 5 episodes myself and I know there was no rapping in those.

Same as you, I have only watched the first episodes. I quit after a friend, who watched the complete anime, told me that the anime isn't actually about rapping.

I've talked to a couple more people who claimed to have watched the full show and said there was no rapping. I think at this point there's enough anecdotal evidence to accept this answer for now, though I'd still like a definitive confirmation of this from someone who has watched the full series if possible.