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In which episodes does Madara Uchiha make an appearance?
I wanted to know all episodes where Madara Uchiha makes an appearance, but I can't find any answers anywhere on the internet.

Does it have to be the anime or would the manga suffice? The Naruto Wiki entry for Madara (https://naruto.fandom.com/wiki/Madara_Uchiha#References) has a bunch of citations for the stuff it talks about but it references the manga not the anime, I don't think the references would be a complete list since its not citing every chapter he appears just where specific pieces of info are from (and he isn't even necessarily in chapters he's mentioned) but it would be a place to start if you wanted to compile a list for yourself

According to fandom wiki (and to me who checked that he was actually there), Madara's first appearence in anime is in Naruto: Shippuden episode 130. If we follow the main plot, he appears in Itachi's history lesson to Sasuke in episode 136. Afterwards, he takes on his role of main antagonist starting from episode 321. From then onwards (although probably not after episode 479) you may expect Madara to be in almost all episodes. I won't be watching those episodes to list the ones where Madara isn't, because the sheer amount of time required (70 hours of watch time, give or take) makes it unreasonable. For similar reasons, I won't make a thorough research to see if Madara may appear in fillers between episodes 131 and 320.
Madara also appears in the special OVA Naruto Shippūden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations OVA Hashirama Senju vs Madara Uchiha, i.e. a cutscene in the aforementioned videogame.


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What is the term for the shading across anime characters' faces when they are mortified or terrified?
I often see in anime that when a character is mortified, terrified, etc., this shading comes across their face. Different from the forehead shading. I just want to know if it has a name.

I think that is either "Straight Line" shading or "Solid Shading".

One of the places I know where the shading is used is depicting serious scenario in a goofy anime (to portray contrast). A recent example I know is when supposed GF of Yuji Itadori asks Nobara if she likes him or not (S2 of JJK). See: https://youtu.be/8BS9Li0ls6Q?si=aMg4e_AMgPDbdFoU

source: Stack Exchange

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Why is Dragon Ball Z ep.179 "No More Rules," so much better animated than the others?
In Dragon Ball Z's Cell and Androids Saga, episode 179, "No More Rules," distinguishes itself as far better animated than any other in the saga, or any other in the series so far, for that matter.
One similar question on Reddit pointed to a list of episodes with the names of the director and animation supervisor, which seem to change regularly from one episode to the next.
Director Daisuke Nishio, who is credited for this episode, has directed many others in the series, and animation supervisor Keisuke Masunaga is credited by IMDb to have supervised two later episodes in the saga, without the same results.
IMDb also gives the air time of that episode as two weeks after the previous one, which is more than the usual week delay; however, other episodes have had more time before airing, like episodes 176 and 170, for instance, again without the same quality improvement.
So something must have happened then.

Did they have more staff that particular week?
Did they have more time for some reason, like starting way ahead of schedule?
Did they have some talented animators temporarily available at that particular time?

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Can someone find the colored version of this Jojo manga panel of Jolyene using Stone Free whilst near/attached to a car?
Can someone find the colored version of this Jojo manga panel? It's (I think) Jolyene using Stone Free whilst near/attached to a car. All I need is the colored version for a project I'm working on.

Do you know which chapter this is from?

By "the colored version", did you mean the official colored manga, or fan-colored? Mentioning the chapter number surely helps those who want to help you though.


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In Episode 462, why didn't the people turn into White Zetsu after Hagoromo and Hamura sealed Kaguya?
In Episode 462, it's shown that after Hagoromo and Hamura sealed Kaguya, everyone trapped in the divine tree came into existence and didn't turn into White Zetsu, which contradicts the fact that Black Zetsu said that everyone would become White Zetsu after the infinite tsyukomi.

Likely people trapped were changed overtime, from Kaguya's Infinite Tsukuyomi.
It's said that White Zetsu itself was brought out of Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, same as that spiral face Zetus, by Black Zetus.
The victims of Kaguya's Infinite Tsukuyomi can be separated into recent ones and others who had become husk(while those husks retains that person's personality to some extent, or could be husk itself developing childish behaviour).
I can't recall if anime has scene where Hagoromo and Hamura unseal the God tree branches, but manga didn't have that scene. Because when Naruto and Sasuke undo the Infinite Tsukuyomi, after they had sealed the Kaguya, it also disintegrated the spiral face Zetus.
And for case of Kaguya, we are not sure if she released or make exemption to some humans, as we can see that the world is no always in Infinite Tsukuyomi after she started one. And later some people had to be routinely sacrificed for adding new hosts for cocoons.
So I assume Hagoromo and Hamura didn't undo the Infinite Tsukuyomi as there was no ongoing one during their time. And if anime has scene where they undo something, it could be just only releasing the recent victims from cocoons, and not entirely undoing the Infinite Tsukuyomi. If not, there should be no existence of White Zetus.
And since it's recent victims, the cocoons didn't suck out their life entirely, just like everyone in cocoons are alive and well when Naruto and Sasuke undo the Infinite Tsukuyomi.


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Why did Erwin bother to stand at the wall and stare at Reiner instead of evacuating with his troops?
We all know that badass moment in Attack on Titan Season 3 Episode 14 when Erwin stares at the Armored Titan, but what's the tactical advantage he would gain by standing there instead of jumping down the wall to assist Levi and his troops? And please don't say because it's badass; I'm talking about the in-universe explanation.
It cannot be because of the high ground to look over the battlefield, as they have no phone. Is it to distract Reiner long enough until Eren transforms, or is there any reason besides that?


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Why did Togusa's family computer buy Cerano Genomics stock by itself?
In episode 14, Section 9 discovered a program that kept making money for the man who died four months ago. At the end of the episode, Togusa is seen with his wife talking about how she gained 100K yen from buying Meditech stock a while back. Then she turns off the computer, and together they leave the room. After that, their computer turns back on, buys 80K of Cerano Genomics stock, and turns off.

Was it the dead man's program that did this? Is this how it made money? Or was it something else?

That's the implication certainly (in response to Togusa "paying the ferryman" when they remove the body), and what I believe, but I don't have any proof.

I will move this to comment, when I'm able.
Notice the [mouse] cursor being moved to the "purchase" button. This is clearly an individual and not software. The user also scrolls through the list to find the Cerano entry where software would index and select the entry directly from an array or list in memory and not with the mouse.

I have considerable programming background, and it's hard for me to believe this was absolutely necessary for the browser to be visible throughout this operation, and the cursor to be used for clicking buttons. This might have been necessary to let the viewers understand what is really going on. It would not mean anything to them, if the computer just froze for half a second (if even for so long), executing a few simple web requests. These days viruses can do internet data exchange without even the best antivirus software noticing, let alone people. This is an interesting theory nevertheless.

True, it could be just a visual clue for the viewer. Also, it could be that the virus chose to "inhabit" a body and use the mouse rather than interface directly.

If the software wants to leave no trails it has to look like user action, so there's no way around performing the actual user-action. If the request was made by a script it could be found out by simply analyzing how fast the requests were made and that's our world, not the future displayed within that show.

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How could Madara free himself from the Impure World Resurrection technique, while Tobirama can't?
In Chapter 591, we see Madara Uchiha free himself from the influence of Kabuto's Impure World Resurrection/Reincarnation technique (Edo Tensei), saying that he was able to do this because he knew about the technique's seals.

However, in Chapter 620, we see the inventor of the Impure World Resurrection technique, the second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, wanting to be free of the technique, but was stopped by Orochimaru.

How was it that Tobirama was not able to free himself from the Impure World Resurrection technique, despite being its inventor and knowing all about the technique and its seals, but Madara can?

Credits: Linked images are from Mangastream's scanlations.

Related: http://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/10/how-can-someone-still-stick-around-even-after-the-edo-tensei-had-been-ended

When Madara frees himself of the Edo Tensei, he performs the seal. But in the case of Tobirama, you can see that in the first attempt he only tries to crush the wall. Also in the next page you can read this:

Hashirama: You increased the restraining power using my cells.
Tobirama: Now that I sense better, his body is almost made of my brother's cells.

So Madara was able to free himself because no one restrained him before he performed the seal; in the case of Tobirama, he tried to destroy the wall first and Orochimaru was able to restrain him with the increased restraining power he has.

If you remember, Orochimaru perfected his jutsu, so when he uses it, it's at maximum strength (as demonstrated in both the fight with the Third Hokage and the restraint of the Second Hokage).
Now the reason for Madara getting released was that Kabuto didn't know how to use the jutsu well, as seen by the lack of control over the reanimated and the fact that it takes a huge amount of chakra to be able to have utter control (which Orochimaru had but Kabuto lacked). Another reason is the fact that Kabuto released the Edo Tensei, which basically gave all the reanimated the chance to perform the hand signs and stay, as Madara said to Tsunade.

i don't think kabuto had any less chakra then orochimaru. considering kabuto mastered sage jutsu, he must be atleast near orochimaru in chakra capacity. it must be because he didn't know how to use ED perfectly.

Clue 1: Hashirama: You increased the restraining power using my cells.
Clue 2  Hashirama: Ahahaha! He used my cells to amplify the restraining properties of the Edo Tensei.
Like Hashirama, who can move freely while on Orochimaru's Edo Tensei, Madara has the cells of Hashirama and can cancel/negate the amplification to the restraining properties of Kabuto's Edo Tensei + the knowledge of Edo Tensei's seal.

Madara was released from Edo Tensei and he used it then again on himself. He couldn't free himself, Kabuto just let them go very loose. It is impossible to break the "chain" from the summoner and so, when the summoner restricts the movement, the summoned can't do anything against it.
For further information on how Madara is still there after he was released please refer to this question.

That's because you seemingly need to know and perform the technique itself, on yourself.
Orochimaru blocked Tobirama's movements, not allowing him to perform the hand-seals necessary to activate the technique.

Can everybody that is summoned by edo tensei use edo tensei on himself without being released? I thought Madara(you) could only use edo tensei on himself, because he was released and so counted as dead.

@Tartori: Well, you need to know how to use Edo Tensei in the first place. Currently there are only 4 known people who can: The Second, Madara, Orochimaru and Kabuto. If any of them are given enough free will during a resurrection, they can free themselves.

@Madara don't forget that they need to know that using the seal they can release themselves.

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How does Kimimaro's Kekkei Genkai work?
According to the wiki,

Shikotsumyaku (屍骨脈; Literally meaning "Dead Bone Pulse", Meaning (Viz) "Corpse Bone Chain") is the kekkei genkai of the extinct Kaguya clan, which gave them the ability to  manipulate their own skeletal structure (their osteoblasts and osteoclasts). By infusing their calcium with chakra, they could manipulate the growth and properties of  their bones to their liking.

Now, surely that means that they're working with the base amount of calcium (and other minerals) in their body. The fact that they're able to grow their own bones seems to indicate that they are able to get the calcium (and other minerals) out of their nearby surrounding in some manner. Is this corroborated in the manga?
The last part is just my own speculation. Please do correct me if an alternate explanation exists.

It's never mentioned. What you quoted is everything that was explained; and the human body can't produce calcium on his own (normally), so I guess that your speculation could be correct.

Thanks for the comment. I was hoping that there was some additional information in the manga or the data books.

According to what is said here, those who posses the Shikotsumyaku are able to create bones by manipulating

their own skeletal structure (their osteoblasts and osteoclasts). By infusing their calcium with chakra, they could manipulate the growth and properties of their bones to their liking.

From what I can gather (given that I am not an orthopedist, and have no knowledge in this field) osteoclasts and osteoblasts are instrumental in controlling the amount of bone tissue: osteoblasts form bone, osteoclasts resorb bone (meaning they break down bone and release their minerals, which results in a transfer of calcium from bone fluid to the blood).
I think this part would explain how he is able to create bones in itself.
However, after reading the first comment you left in Curtis Sumpter's answer (Fair enough. But the human body just doesn't have enough calcium for his jutsus.), I've tried to understand how calcium is regulated in the human body. I came to the conclusion that parathyroid hormone and calcitonin are the hormones that regulate the calcium levels in the body, the former acting to increase the concentration of calcium in the blood and the latter to decrease it. Perhaps he had some type of deficiency in the way he metabolised calcium, which could have lead to hypercalcaemia. Some of the symptoms seem to match Kimimaro's, namely fatigue, abnormal heart rate, vomiting (he coughed blood, I'm not sure if it counts in the same way...) and he ended up dying of cardiac arrest. If this were the case, the fact that he is able to manipulate osteoclasts and osteoblasts may be a result of his abnormally high levels of calcium in the first place. This could also be the reason for it to be such a rare Kekkei Genkai, even among members of the Kaguya clan. It could be something like a Potential Bloodline or a Genetic Advantage (or disadvantage, since he ended up dying of it, if this speculation is correct).
As far as real-world actual explanations go, with my limited level of knowledge, this is as far as I can go (and still, an orthopedist may look at my explanation and find it a lot of humbug).
On the other hand, the explanation provided in the Wiki also says that, aside from manipulating the osteoclasts and osteoblasts, they infuse their calcium with chakra. So this completely ruins real-world actual explanations, since it introduces a completely different (and actually nonexistent, AFAIK) circulatory system. This means two things: firstly, it introduces a new variable, that potentially renders all of my above possibilities moot; and secondly, that the infusion of chakra into calcium could actually modify its properties somehow (this is actually contained in the first thing, but nevermind...). This last paragraph could actually mean something like: don't overthink it, it's just a cartoon... :D

Kimimoro's Kekkai Genkai isn't like Gaara's sand.  Gaara's sand can go underground, smash the rocks, and use the hardened minerals from the local rocks and incorporate them into his sand.  Kimimoro doesn't seem to do this at all, but rather his bones and chakra system is all internal.
I think this is evidenced not by what he does but by what he doesn't do. In his battle with Gaara which is clearly his most pressing battle (since he dies in it) he transforms multiple times, he uses his spine whip, and does a number of other jitsu but never absorbs from his exterior surrounds while Gaara clearly does.

Fair enough. But the human body just doesn't have enough calcium for his jutsus.

Yeah.  But that's like saying the Nara clan's bodies just don't produce enough darkness to make shadows.  They use their chakra to create darkness (shadows) like Kimimoro's body uses his chakra to create calcium.

@CurtisSumpter: They don't create darkness, they just control them. You can read that in the manga, when Shikamaru battles Temari. Kimimaro however, creates new bone(s).

Fair enough.  But does Sasuke create fire or does he control it?  Isn't Kimimoro just like Sasuke with fire, using his chakra to mold bone as opposed to fire?

@CurtisSumpter: I get your point (although fire is more like energy; but water is the same) ;). I don't want to say that you're wrong, I'm just not really sure :D.


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How does element dominance work in Avatar?

Even though I learnt this concept from the Naruto series, it really makes sense:

When you blow (wind), fire will increase... so fire > wind
When you throw water on fire, it diminishes... so water > fire
When you smash water against it, it will have no effect on solid (earth)... so earth > water
And so on...

Following this logic, why can't waterbenders beat firebenders in Avatar (The Last Airbender)?
I also noticed that Aang himself, who is an airbender, could defend against firebending with his airbending skills. (note that I am referring to those earlier episodes when he was just an airbender (season: 1, episode: 1-5))
How does it work in Avatar? Which elements dominate over each other?
Additional Info:
few assumptions work in (Naruto) ninja world, that I didn't consider to include in the question because the question is actually focused on AVATAR not NARUTO

Element user's chakra flow matters in chakra domination. Example: Naruto vs  Third Raikage
Combination of chakra elements. example: Water+Wind > Fire

... Somebody who thinks that water smashing against earth has no effect seems to have ignored certain lessons in Geology (namely, erosion).  With respect to fire <-> water, remember that Avatar uses a (mostly) traditional western opposed-elements set, where water is usually depicted opposite fire.  In general, though, elemental dominance in Avatar seems to be 'context' based, given the local environment.

@Clockwork-Muse, yah a water style ninja .. should keep pouring water for days/years and wait till earth-style user's mud/rock wall get eroded (days for mud/years for rock) and once he gets opening should attack! Perfect plan!

Is Avatar considered as an anime?

It works a bit differently in Avatar.
Firebenders draw they power from great sources of fire. The sun is usually the strongest one around (with the exception of Sozin's comet, when it arrives every 100 years). Water benders draw their power from the moon.
Therefore, at night, the water bender will usually win, while at day the fire bender will usually win. Since the fire benders were on the offense, they get to decide when to attack (during daylight).
Also, there seem to have been a lot more fire benders than there were water benders (also, the water benders were separated into two very faraway clans).
Last but not least, in Avatar, the relationship between the elements doesn't seem to be that of dominance over one another, but rather, Earth and Air are opposites, while Fire and Water are opposites. It's not that one is stronger than the other, but rather two sides of the same coin.

perfect! I just finished 5 episodes of season 1.. So I wasn't aware of Sun/Moon concepts. Thanks Madara.

There's no obvious elemental dominance in the show. I depends more on the bender's ability than what they bend. There are a few things that could change their ability, such as the presence of the sun and moon for firebenders and waterbenders respectively.


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What was the significance of all the shinobi wars?
What were they fighting over about?  Was it land or power?
Why didn't the feudal lords decide who becomes leader, instead of fighting to the brink of death? Since, the feudal lords chooses who becomes the Hokage, why can't they decide on an overall leader?

Do you mean the first great war? There weren't any feudal lords who could decide. That just was war - Everywhere, not only Konoha.

Well then why weren't there any?  If it were a power struggle, why is there a feudal lord now?

Why do you think people would just agree with whatever the feudal lord decided? Even the feudal lords themselves do not agree with each other all the time.

Krazer changed the question entirely.  So the original question was why was the area, where Konoha was founded, fought for.  I'm not re-editing the question because JNat has a good answer for all of the shinobi wars.

@Blue: The war going on back then was not being fought over that land. In chapter 622 Hashirama says something like "So the war has spread this far". Basically there was some fighting going on, and it was taking place there. The fighting took place there because both the Senju and Uchiha were located on the vicinity, but the fighting was not over the land. At least the info revealed up to chapter 623 does not point to that being the case. :)

jnat, I understand its significant in your discussion.. but this comment is spoiler!! please move it in spoiler block in your answer and redirect the fellowmember there..

@JNat so they just fought to the brink of destruction for fun?

@Sai: I fail to see the 'spoilery' nature of my comment :)

@Blue: Not for fun, but rather to avenge their own clan. They could not let the death of one of their own go unpunished. Eventually all the fighting going on must have somehow involved several clans, causing them to be constantly fighting each other in order to avenge their own. At least that is what I gathered from what's been said.

What drove the fighting back during the Era of the Waring States was basically the 'cycle of hatred', as they usually refer to in the Naruto universe: the killing of some loved one or someone from the clan could not go unpunished, and so war and death were always around. This cycle was started, according to the Wiki page, as each nation "crusaded for more rights and land". Back then, the nations' shinobi were not yet organized into villages, so any existing Feudal Lord (which I am not sure existed) would not have power over any clan, so he could not force them to make a truce. Clans responded to Feudal Lords as long as they got paid, meaning that there wasn't even any particular affiliation to the nation itself. Money, lands and rights initially spawned the conflicts, and then the 'cycle of hatred' settled in.
The ending of this Era is marked by the founding of Konoha by the Uchiha and Senju clans. The heads of each of these clans shared the vision that peace was possible, as long as one could reach out to the other. The example of Konoha was followed in other countries, thus creating the Five Great Shinobi Countries.
As a means to help settle the peace between these five new-born villages, Hashirama Senju (then First Hokage), who was able to control Bijuu with his Wood Release techniques, distributed said beasts between the other countries. This was done with the intention of distributing the power equally between the countries. However, at least according to this page, this may have actually have increased hostilities. This may have been due to the First Hokage's death, which made Bijuu control harder, and which in turn lead to the 'storing' of Bijuu inside people (Jinchuuriki).
The above seems to be the reason for the start of the First Shinobi War, meaning that the fighting was due to rights (meaning some states/villages were displeased with the power distribution) or to the already said 'cycle of hatred' (meaning villagers and Kage were displeased by the fact that their people had been lost, possibly because of Bijuu going berserk or having to be stored inside loved ones). This war was settled with a peace treaty, but not before all five countries had suffered serious damage. During this war the Second Hokage (Tobirama Senju) died, but appointed Hiruzen Sarutobi as Third Hokage first.
After about twenty years after the peace treaty, the economic disparity between countries was a serious problem, and the countries started to use their military forces to expand their territories under the pretext of expending fair rights. This lead to the start of the Second Shinobi War, which took place mostly in smaller countries like Amegakure, leaving the main countries mostly unarmed. This was the war in which Jiraiya, Tsunade and Orochimaru fought. This was also the war that marked the foundation of Akatsuki, since it left Nagato, Yahiko and Konan orphans, and most of the bloodshed took place in their own country. Although the exact events that led to the start of the war are uncertain, Nagato said that the war was started by Konoha.1 What settled this war is not stated.
The Third Shinobi War was caused by a decline in the power of the Five Great Nations. This led to continuous fights along the borders with smaller nations, which in turn led to a war that ended up involving all Five Great Nations. This was the hardest of the first three wars, since all five nations were faced with war shortage. This was began to turn in Konoha's favour after the incident in Kannabi Bridge (shown in the Kakashi Gaiden). In this war Sasori gained reputation and made a name for himself, Minato Namikaze fought with the Fourth Raikage and Killer B, and it was the war in which Kakashi and Obito fought. This was also the war that lead to the dying of Yahiko, leading to a change in the direction of Akatsuki. How this war was settled is not stated.
The Fourth Shinobi War was caused by the Five Kage's refusal to surrender the Bijuu that remained to be captured (Hachibi and Kyuubi) over to the Akatsuki, leading to a declaration of war from Tobi's part. Tobi's need for the Bijuu rests in his Eye of the Moon plan, which intends to cast the whole world into a genjutsu, thus bringing the illusion of peace. As the Five Kage refused to give in to this plan, a declaration of war was made. Faced with this, the Five Kage and Land of Iron's Samurai leader Mifune agreed to fight side by side, thus creating the first ever Shinobi Alliance. This war is still ongoing.

As a side note, it is important to notice that despite whatever reasons spawned these wars, the 'cycle of hatred' is always the main factor for these wars. Peace always tends to be temporary, until some country or someone 'snaps' and brings about a new war. However they try to settle things and bring about peace, many people are never satisfied with this, since loved ones and comrades were lost to other nations. This always brings about tensions, and as time goes by and peace 'wears out' the smallest things can spawn new wars.
Regarding why Feudal Lords do not choose an overall leader, besides and adding to all that was stated above: they'd have to gather (the Five of them) and come to a conclusion as to who to choose. However, they'd then need the approval of all the Jounin from all the villages. Given the 'cycle of hatred' (that I've stressed a lot here) it would be very hard to have an overall Kage, similarly to the choosing of the First Hokage: this lead to displeasing from Madara's part, as he did not like it that a Senju was chosen for the position. However, never fear for Naruto intends to break the cycle. :P

1Naruto, chapter 445, page 3

| think the third shinobi war was ended when Minato killed a thousand stone shinobi, thus showing Onoki that any further fighting would be futile, a feat that made Minato Hokage.

This answer is wrong. Check episode 128 of shippuden. It shows that Sanin and Kakashi both fought in same war(3rd one). Neil is right.

Why did the First World War, and Second World War take place on Earth? (I mean our real Earth... not the shinobi world)
Why don't we fight now?
I guess you know the answer.
Coming back to the shinobi world:
There was a hunger for power and wealth OR just difference in opinion. It took lots of time for people to understand the consequences and impact of war on civilization. They came to a good understanding. Though there are still misconceptions and differences in opinion between two random villages leading to minor fights, they aren't extreme.
We could see that when the allied shinobi force was formed and till Gaara addressed them all, most of the shinobis from different villages weren't happy to be with each other.
SPOILER:

 Hashirama in recent manga chapters has been explaining 'what is a village' and 'what are the shinobis', including the history of Konoha.

And Controversial Statement: :P

 Even if feudal lords existed at that time, they would have been like the League of Nations or the UN, who might or might not have been able to stop them.


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At the end, how does Chihiro knows that the parents are not among the pigs?
This is similar with
How could Chihiro tell which pigs were her parents?
However, I asked what's in the end. That question asked in general.
However, in the beginning, Chihiro knows that her parents turn into a pig. They still wear the same clothes.
Latter Haku points which one are her parents.
What about at the last moment?
Because the explanation in How could Chihiro tell which pigs were her parents? is not logical. Father mother relationship is strong then what? How the hell that explains things. It may make sense for feel gooder empathy people. It doesn't make sense to me at all

Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat.

This is answered on Movies SE: https://movies.stackexchange.com/questions/71055/how-exactly-did-chihiro-guess-it-right-in-spirited-away


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What actually happened with sword maiden and her goblins?
In Chapter 29, the sword maiden seems to "know" something that she didn't share with Goblin Slayer's team.
What is it? Is the goblin brought by the sword maiden? Did the sword maiden betray all the adventurers? They mentioned something about no rat quests. Why? Is it related?
If the sword maiden knew that and didn't tell the adventurers wouldn't that mean the sword maiden risk the adventurers' life unnecessarily? Isn't that betrayal.

What is it? Well, the following conversation happened on the same chapter, Chapter 29:

Goblin Slayer: You knew everything, didn't you?
Sword Maiden: What do you mean 'everything'?
Goblin Slayer: The cause and the extent of the goblin nest in the sewers. Maybe even who's behind it.
Sword Maiden: Yes...Yes, I did.

Contrary to the other answer, the Sword Maiden did not tell Goblin Slayer's party that they were doing a rat-related quest. Rather, it was implied that they were doing a goblin-slaying quest from the very beginning and that they were already told so before arriving in the water town. From Volume 2 Chapter 2 of the light novel:

Sword Maiden: Goodness. Who might you be...?
Goblin Slayer: We've come to slay the goblins.

If the Sword Maiden knew that and didn't tell the adventurers wouldn't that mean the Sword Maiden risked the adventurers' lives unnecessarily? Isn't that betrayal?
The Sword Maiden, as it was eventually revealed, is traumatized by what happened to her. She still fears the goblins. She said this herself:

After all, if goblins attacked, I’m sure I would just…break down weeping.

Why did she blame the murders on the goblins, when they were just underneath the town? It was revealed that she wants to pin the blame on them because she wants to instill the same fear she had of the goblins to the townspeople. Personally, it would be much simpler if she told Goblin Slayer's party everything since it still concerns goblins and he would not deny the quest.
She probably thought of hiding these details due to the expectations she had of Goblin Slayer. This might be proven by the existence of the ballad about Goblin Slayer, which she heard. Dwarf Shaman revealed to him that 'when word of your doings gets around, everyone will want you to slay their goblins for them!' People would expect someone as strong and capable if his/her deeds are sang and spread as ballads, and Sword Maiden probably expected Goblin Slayer to easily deal with them.
Are the goblins brought by the Sword Maiden? Did the Sword Maiden betray all the adventurers? No, she did not betray them nor bring the goblins. Remember that she was once captured and tortured by goblins. Goblin Slayer noted that the way they (the women) were killed could not be possibly done by goblins. Also, in Volume 2:

Goblins are cowardly, cruel, brutal, and not very smart. It would probably never occur to them to linger in human territory to vivisect and devour their prey. Their unfortunate captives were always taken back to the nest, to be diligently stripped of their virtue there. Or, if the prisoners were numerous enough, the goblins might simply toy with them until they died.

Volume 2 of the light novel explains this properly, I suggest reading it if you have the time. To, again, quote from there:

Sword Maiden was quite aware of the movements of the Evil Sect, against which she herself had once stood. When she had learned of the ghastly rituals of living sacrifice they were performing, she had a good idea of what they wanted to achieve.
Revenge on her.

The goblins were most likely just a tool used by the sect. Aside from revenge, it was also hinted that they plan to do something with the Gate Mirror, albeit it was not specified.
They mentioned something about no rat quests. Why? Is it related? When Sword Maiden asked why Goblin Slayer suspected her to be hiding some information, he told her it was for a number of reasons. One being that he didn't think the encounter with the white alligator was not planned, simply because it chased them away but attacked the goblins, and another being the town having ruins yet there were no maps, rat-killing quests, adventurers nor patrols underground. He said it was impossible and that there had to be something standing guard down there, leading him to the conclusion that the white alligator was a familiar, guarding the ruins.

But if the sword maiden knew that and didn't tell the adventurers wouldn't that mean the sword maiden risk the adventurers' life unnecessarily?

As you can see the story, the goblins is the lowest rank among the creature. The adventurers would simply deny the quest. So that's why Sword Maiden fake the quest.

@kit Goblin Slayer would not deny the quest. If that was another quest, he would not have accepted. Remember, he only kills goblins so the adventurers would've accepted, regardless.

@user4951 Updated my answer.

Hm, @kit, you say As you can see the story, the goblins is the lowest rank among the creature. The adventurers would simply deny the quest.  But I think the won't deny quest if lot of gold be provided as a reward.

@BogdanMart Yes, but in the story there is no one will put a lot of reward on slaying goblin. Most of them is just some poor farmer.

Yes, so what stopped Sword Maiden from putting high reward? AFAIK she paid well to GS party.

Since this question have a lot question, I'll break it down.

In Chapter 29, the sword maiden seems to "know" something that she didn't share with Goblin Slayer's team.

Yes, Sword Maiden did know something happens below the city and also lie to Goblin Slayer's team about the rat quests. The rat quest is just a fake quest. The real quest is the Sword Maiden wants the Goblin Slayer team to slay the goblin under the city.

Is the goblin brought by the sword maiden?

No, definitely not. Sword maiden previously has a terrifying experience with the goblin. She was a victim.

Did the sword maiden betray all the adventurers?

I would say she did not betray the adventurers, it is just the adventurers can't make it out alive during the quest only

They mentioned something about no rat quests. Why?

As I mentioned above, it was actually a goblin slaying quest and finding out why the goblin appears under the city. I assume that you already knew why the goblin will appear below the city. (*They have a portal access created by the demon lord.)
If you want to see more about Chapter 29, you can check this link on Reddit.


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Why is K9999 almost identical to Tetsuo Shima?
I was watching this video which shows the similarities between both characters. I suppose it must be a kind of tribute, or maybe is just a vile copy (I don't think so). Anyone knows the reason?

It looks like footage from the movie spliced into video of the game. It's clearly not from the game itself.

Wikipedia says

and K9999 (pronounced K Four-Nine), a clone from Kyo entirely based on Tetsuo Shima from Akira, able to transform his arm into a long tentacle like Tetsuo's. Due to copyright issues, for the King of Fighters 2002 remake he was replaced with a similar character.

but gives no sources.

K9999 won't appear in any future games because

SNK hates the character
He is a liable lawsuit in which the creators of Akira could sue SNK Playmore
Elioth, a Korean company helped co-create King of Fighters 2001 and owns the rights to him
He was replaced in KoF 2002 Unlimited Match with a character called "nameless" who looks like Black Jack from the anime.

I think K9999 is the 9999th android of "K" because it disappeared, looking for the nests hideout and destroy it because they killed the original "K" who's real name is Kryzalid.
Tetsuo Shima is just a kid who grew up poor and turned into a mutant by Akira and put into an Akira Institute, and he escaped not knowing that his infected arm must be kept stable and that's why he ended up transformed into a huge mutated ugly monster and just died.


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Why did the Phantom Troupe let Gon and Killua go?
In the very first episode of the Greed Island arc, Gon and Killua meet up with two of the Phantom Troupe members while in the auction.
The members say they will no longer hunt our heroes because... something to do with their leader's Nen surviving after death? I watched the episode again, but it doesn't make any sense.
Why is the Phantom Troupe no longer interested in revenge against Gon et al?

Kurapika placed his judgement chain on the Chrollo Lucifer, the Phantom Troupe's leader. The Phantom troupe knows that and that Lucifer is currently seeking the help of a Nen exorcist in order to remove it.
Now why did they let Gon and Kirua go? Well because they want nothing to do with Kurapika anymore! If the person who placed a Nen dies, his Nen becomes much stronger after death, and a much more powerful Nen exorcist would be required in order to remove it. Actually, only a handful of exorcists have the skill to remove the Nen left by a dead user [1]. Or, since Lucifer is at this point weak because deprived of his Nen, he might even die.
The Phantom Troupe knows this and therefore they do not want to have any more direct or indirect interactions with Kurapika. If they were to harm Gon and Killua, Kurapika would surely come seek vengeance once more. If they were to fight off Kurapika, they would have to hold back to make sure he survives the fight. That would be not be an easy feat as Kurapika is not so weak.
[1] Chapter 120, page 13 (not shown here for compactness)
Some of this is explained on page 12 of Chapter 120:

The Troupe can't touch the kids until the Judgment Chain is removed from Chrollo.
They are indebted to the kids somewhat for what they did for Pakunoda.
They like the kids in general. Mind you they did want to recruit them before all this started.

It's suggested that they they happened to like the duo and feel grateful for what they have done for Pakunoda.
However there's also an alternative way of looking at it:
Kuroro thinks Kurapica's weakness is his friends.
However by that time he also knows their backgrounds. Freecs and Zaoldyeck.
To attack them while the Spiders are incomplete is counter intuitive.
They all know most of them will die, and to provoke a confrontation without their Leader is out of the question.
They will leverage Kurapica's weakness in the best time Kuroro thinks is possible. Also considering the implications of having killed 2 offsprings of arguably the most well known names in the world of HxH. Possibly forcing the prediction to come true.
Chrollo isn't as sentimental as the others when it comes to preserving their group.


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What is the true nature of the Cervello?
The last time the Cervello appear in the manga is when

they give Byakuran the Mare Rings.

After this, they're not shown or mentioned again.  While their true purpose could be inferred from the events in the final arc, I'd like to know if there's any official word on this.

Your question isn't clear. What are you asking exactly? The current answer to your question will be either "Yes" or "No". Please rephrase your question.

I rephrased it.  Does that work better?

There's nothing official from either the manga or anime.
Anything regarding the Cervello's true nature will only be speculation and can thus be dependent on the viewers' interpretations.
While Shoichi said that the Cervello ended up with the Millefiore at some point (Episode 169: Sky Lion Ver.V (Leone di Cielo Version Vongola), it could be implied that this happened after they gave Byakuran the Mare Rings.

In my opinion, their true nature is similar to that of Kawahira's; they're just administrators. I'd like to assume that since Kawahira gave the Vongola Rings to Giotto, he has somehow given it to the Cervello to administer since he's administering the Arcobaleno pacifiers.


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What happens to the discarded body of a person hit by the Dying Will bullet?
In the Reborn manga, being hit with a Dying Will bullet kills you, and you are "reborn" from inside your own body, leaving a carcass behind.  You can see multiple times in the manga that it's not just the clothes that are left behind, but the person's "shed skin" as well.
As far as I remember, nobody ever acknowledged this through the entire run of the series.
Are the bodies left when a person is hit by the Dying Will bullet ever explained?

My guess is that they skipped the carcass/corpse thing in the anime to make it more "children-friendly". I don't have sufficient evidence to back this up. I will post this as an answer when/if I get that evidence.

I think it's more like a cicada molting.

Maybe it's something like when snakes shed their skins . Or maybe not. Just a guess. XD

There is no explanation about it anywhere. And I do not think there will be.
The author of the story have left this issue open, to make us think more about it.
From my understanding, the Dying Will bullet shows your inner character (also known as your anima in psychology terms) which reveals his true deeds and his real-self, that is why when Tsuna takes this bullet multiple times, we see him, stronger, more serious, and leader-like figure. Which is his true personality that is hidden underneath his masked personality (the personality that he shows to people when he is not hit by the bullet). Anyway, if you need to go deeper, you might want to read more about Carl Jung and his theories because I think the author of Reborn was influenced by him.

Do you have any source that Reborn's author was indeed influenced by Carl Jung? Is there any interview or such to prove it?

I do not, because I do not speak Japanese. but my theory is possible. A lot of authors read about psychology to determine how their characters act especially when they are educated.

I like this answer.  Unless there's a Q&A with Amano in the future, this is probably as good of an answer as we can get.

I didn't say that it isn't possible. I'm just asking if there is an interview or something 'cause it'll be interesting. :)

@xjshiya the ideas of Carl Jung are universal and taught in most of the colleges around the world. I do not think she will say anything about it. because this philosophy is applied pretty much in every anime or manga. She is just focusing a little more about it.


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How did Sara from Samurai Champloo know about her son?
In Samurai Champloo, how in the world did Sara realize her son was dead while talking to the pinwheel guy?

She had some sort of extrasensory perception, which is proven by the fact that she was blind, but still proficient in fighting. Also, she tells Fuu that she is able to sense things she cannot see, and she can sense Momo hidden in her clothes. When she fights Muugen, she tells him she can sense his anger, meaning she could somehow feel what other people feel and their states of mind.
Given the above, and the fact that she realizes that her son is dead when a pinwheel stops, I can only conclude that the stopping of the pinwheel made her realize some state of mind/feeling coming from the pinwheel merchant (something she was not aware of before), which in turn made her realize her son was dead.

Although this is speculation, it is the only thing that seems plausible to me. However, the stopping of the pinwheel may have some deeper meaning that I am not aware of.

Though this answer is about 4 years late but I just got done rewatching Samurai Champloo recently so here it goes!
So the little shrine with the statue in it that the pinwheel guy is sitting behind is called a Jizo statue. Which is a shrine women who have had miscarriages, abortions, or grieving go to pray. That being said I also believe that she realized that her son was dead when the pinwheel stopped but that the statue somehow had something to do with it. At the very least it was symbolic as they show the statue itself a few times.

I think I took it simply.
The masked guy was still making the same threat even though Sara already failed her mission. He could have killed her son already but that wasn't the case, so Sara in her realization thought her son was probably dead already thus the masked guy holds no hostage (i.e her son).

She mentioned to Muugen that being blind, she adapted the ability to sense the aura of individuals as each is significantly different.
The pinwheel suggested to the viewers the sons dead. But it was the boxes the man was travelling with that actually gave it away. Boxes the size of a human head. Sara was able to sense her son's aura and that is how she knew her son was dead.
I guess carrying decaying heads around wasnt as frowned upon back then. Still fucked up tho

Please include relevant sources/references.


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What's the song that plays during the basketball scene in episode 2 of Parasyte?
The song starts playing from around 3:12 (when Shin'ichi walked to school) to around 4:53 (at the end of the basketball game). I just really like the music during that scene.

If you know at what time in the episode this scene occurs, it might help you get a response faster if you include that in your question.

The music is written by Ken Arai.
The soundtrack track listing is here (or here on Amazon.co.jp), where you can listen to samples of each track to check which song you're looking for.

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Does anyone know what the name of the music is in episode 6 of Parasyte -the maxim- from 7:19 to about 8:30?
I can't seem to find it on the official soundtrack, maybe I'm being a dumbie but if anyone has the answer then fair shout!!
It plays as Shinichi is setting off

 to get revenge for his mum's death.

Yes. The song you are looking for is named "Solitude" by Ken Arai. It's part of the official soundtrack.
Here's a link to the song on YouTube.

Yep, I agree that that's the piece in question. +1.


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Track that plays during the fight scene in episode 22 of Parasyte
Can't find the track in the OST, it's played during the fight scene in episode 22 where migi slices the neck of Gotou and tells Shinichi to run away.
If anyone know what this track is called, that'll be great.

There is actually no need to ask such questions here. You can simply go to Animenewsnetwork.com. I believe all the songs, OPs/EDs as well as insert songs pertaining to a certain anime can be found there. Sorry if I'm sounding rude, but this is so that you won't need to ask music request questions here anymore. Here is the link where you will find what you are looking for: https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=15855.   If it isn't there as well, or you have already searched there, please mention that along with your question.

Found it. Apparently there's a special OST and it's the song named "creep".


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What does the disk that fell on the ground contain?
I’ve watched Chobits years ago and was curious.
The first episode/chapter tells us about how Hideki found Chii in the dumpster.
According to the plot description in the Wikipedia article Chobits (bold emphasis mine):

The series centers on the life of Hideki Motosuwa, a held-back student attempting to qualify for university by studying at Seki prep school in Tokyo. Besides a girlfriend, he dreams of having a persocom (パソコン?): an android used as a personal computer, which is expensive. On his way home one evening, he stumbles across a persocom in the form of a beautiful girl with floor-length hair lying against a pile of trash bags, and he carries her home, not noticing that a disk fell on the ground. Upon turning her on, she instantly regards Hideki with adoration. The only word the persocom seems capable of saying is "chi" (ちぃ Chii?), thus he names her that.

What does the disk contain?

The contents of the disc were never mentioned in the anime. However, in the manga, it was mentioned in Chapter 82, Page 23/24:

                                       Chapter 82 Page 23

                                       Chapter 82 Page 24


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Isn't Flora's ability inefficient?
I've been watching Claymore. I haven't read the manga yet.
Number 8, Flora:

She's the fastest there is at unsheathing, slashing, and sheathing back her claymore.

As you can see, she unsheathes, slashes, and sheathes back so fast that the image of her hand seems to be static, whereas a bunch of slashes appear around the target.
But wait.
What is the point of sheathing her claymore back while attacking someone? Isn't that a waste of time? Wouldn't it be more useful to unsheathe and then slash countless times rather than sheathing back her claymore during a fight?
Proof that she's indeed sheathing after X amount of slashes:
This scene below lasts for several seconds. This means that she must continuously sheathe her claymore, otherwise this image effect wouldn't be possible:

would not call it counterproductive, also can you provide any reference she really sheathes her sword after each slash?
because she could also unsheathe, slash, slash, [...], sheathe (and as far as i understood it is that way)

@Vogel612: There, I've found a reference, and also modified the title.

There's actually a fencing style based entirely on the drawing of the sword called Iaijutsu. For a reference, the Ukyo Tachibana character from the game, "Samurai Shodown" uses this technique, drawing the sword as a form of attack and re-sheathing the blade all in one move. There is also Iaido, "a modern Japanese martial art associated with the smooth, controlled movements of drawing the sword from its scabbard or saya, striking or cutting an opponent, removing blood from the blade, and then replacing the sword in the scabbard." Though in practice, the Iaido isn't a super fast movement. But again, the emphasis is on the sheathed sword being a starting point, so in order to perform another move, the sword has to be re-sheathed.
The Iaijutsu article mentions that there is two postures for executing the technique, the standing position or the kneeling position, but both involve the sword being sheathed and using the drawing of the sword as a strike. Obviously, there's no real world instance of someone doing this as fast as Flora, but the technique is that the starting point of the strike is from a sheathed sword.
Other well known users of this technique (though not necessarily the only technique that is used):

Goemon (Lupin III)
Himura Kenshin (Rurouni Kenshin)
Ginkaku Uneri (Katanagatari)
Honoka (The Third)

Do you know if in the manga they talk about Flora's fencing style?

@Omega they talk about it as the "Windcutter" and go into a bit of detail about how it works, but I don't recall ever explaining why such a technique was used. There's definitely no mention of "Iaijutsu" or anything like that in the manga as far as I recall.

Here's a similar discussion on Reddit, though from some of the images from the manga it doesn't seem like it's a requirement of Windcutter to return the claymore to its sheath after each strike. Flora's Windcutter technique definitely drew inspiration from Iaijutsu in real life as Jon said, but I think there is also an in-universe explanation*, though about that of a different technique, that may be applicable to Windcutter.
* I say an in-universe explanation because I don't know of the practicality of the theory in real life.
In volume 12 of the manga,

 Riful of the West figured out the reason Rachel was doing her weird battle stance was to empower her attacks with increased speed and strength:

 Then a number of pages later, Rachel flaunted a variation of her technique that is usable mid-air with what I interpret to be the help of a comrade's claymore providing the necessary friction:

This essentially works the same as Seigen Irako's Mumyou Sakanagare from Shigurui,

 where in the image on the right is Irako having perfected his technique that he could use it with the friction provided by his toes.

So what the user of the Windcutter technique might benefit from redrawing her claymore from the sheath with each subsequent attack is increased speed and strength provided by the friction with the innards of the scabbard. What I find spectacular is how the scabbard doesn't break down from the repetitively fast sheathing and unsheathing of the claymore. Anyways, I believe this is also one of the reasons why the Windcutter has more strength than the Quicksword despite being slower and using less concentrated yoma energy, at least at the time of the Northern Campaign.


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What's a "black key"?
I was watching Fate Zero, the fight between Kiritsugu and Kotomine. At some point, both are thinking about the resources at their disposal:
Kiritsugu has a grenade, a knife, etc. Kotomine has a handful of Reijus and something I'm not sure how is called, but according to the spanish subtitles I saw, it would be "Black Keys".
I don't think I've heard that term anywhere else in the (anime) series. Sounds like some kind of martial art thing, but a Google search tells me more about some rock band.
So, what's a "black key" here? Do they appear anywhere in the series? Or is Kotomine an accomplished rockstar during his free time?

Black Keys are a type of conceptual weapons (albeit weak), called Keys of Providence. They are essentially charms used by agents of the Church to exorcise demons. They are meant to bind and/or seal spiritual phenomena (e.g. Vampires hunted by the Church), rather than hurt them.
The Type-Moon Wiki notes that:

If they hit the shadow of a target, the target will be unable to move their body, leaving them to the mercy of the black key's wielder. It could also be used to track down and seal or injure a target until its wielder tells it to stop doing so, or unless it is destroyed or neutralized by an outside force.

It's been noted that they can take the form of many types weapons, but are usually in the form of long, rapier-like swords or spears, which they are generally thrown as a dagger or used to stab opponents. Ciel-senpai and Kotomine Kirei are notable wields of these weapons.
Sacraments, which are basically spell-sigils, can be engraved in Black Keys to give them different effects.

Stupid me, searched "black key" but not "fate black key"... Ah, so no rockstar. I should give up on that. By the way, what is that screenshot from? The game?

@Omega yes it's from the visual novel however it wont appear until you first see them, quite sure it wont be until Heaven's Feel when Kotomine uses them on Assassin


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How come that Yukiteru won if Ninth was still alive?
I just finished watching the Mirai Nikki anime. Haven't seen the manga.
The last standing player becomes god. At the end, either Yukiteru or Yuno have to die. Yuno dies and Yukiteru is declared the winner of the game.
But how come, if Ninth was still alive?
I had some assumptions:

Maybe, at this point, no one cares about the game's rules.

But then it wouldn't be necessary to kill either Yukiteru or Yuno. So it seems like the rules must be followed no matter what.

Everyone thought that Ninth was dead. So perhaps the "system" was fooled.

But this would prove that the game's rules have no kind of "transcendental/godlike" authority, as they are incapable of telling whether Ninth is still alive or not. If that's the case, the rules can be bended. But if you could bend the rules, then it wouldn't be necessary to kill either Yukiteru or Yuno.

When Deus saved Ninth, maybe he kind of disqualified her from the game, so she's not a player anymore and doesn't have to die.

I don't remember if this was mentioned or implied. Was it?

How did Yukiteru win the game, if Ninth was still living?

Some people don't die when they are killed.

this isn't clearly stated even in the Redial OVA. Maybe when Deus gave ninth powers it can mean that she isn't a diary owner anymore. I remember the scene where murmur realized how Deus' time ended faster than expected. thus transfering some of his powers to ninth

Because of Deus Ex machina~
Literally

When Deus saved Ninth, maybe he kind of disqualified her from the game, so she's not a player anymore and doesn't have to die.
  I don't remember if this was mentioned or implied. Was it?

Actually, the rules aren't "The last survivor wins" but "The last diary owner wins". When Ninth came back, she had no diary anymore, because she already destroyed it to kill herself in the save. So after Yuno's death, Yukiteru was the last diary owner.
Besides that, Murmur doesn't seem to care about the winning conditions as she nearly made Yuno the new god even though Yukiteru was still alive.

It's a mixture of all 3 points you mentioned:
Deus's time for the game was running out as his lifespan was ending, So when he saved her, it counted as a death (as she would be dead if he didn't intervene).
Scene of Deus's intervention
If you think of Deus's intervention as a revival rather than avoidance of the death it might be clearer.


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Why were monopoles raining?
I just watched Robotics;Notes. The manga not yet.
A monopole fell from the sky. And later, lots more begun raining.
It was a recurring theme in the series that there was a solar flare cooking up, so I was under the impression that it was also making funny things in the earth's atmosphere kinda explaining the monopoles.
But later in the series we find out that

 There is no solar flare at all. All the info about it is fake.

So, what's up with the monopoles?
My next guess was that it was part of

 Kimijima Kou's plan to make the whole solar flare thing more realistic by somehow synthesising monopoles and throwing them off the sky (somehow)

But I'm not sure if that's confirmed in the series or the manga.

You could chalk it to a deus ex machina... there seem to be a lot of unanswered question like: how exactly an AI take over someone mind? How can you make people see an AR object IRL? Why an anime director be privy to a doomsday plot and not be succumb to an "accidental" death? There has to be more to the Committee of 300, why would they just laze around and do nothing while their plans fall apart? Also why does a doomsday device test that give the main protagonist his special power? Besides Akiho, why does no one else have a similar powers?

@Krazer: Regarding the powers thing, isn't it because only Kai and Aki survived the experiment thanks to Misaki's intervention? (Dunno what she did exactly though)

As explained by Reading Steiner in this question on ask.fm, this isn't actually covered in the anime, but in the VN, Kai knocked the HAARP Radar into the sweet spot for electromagnetic interference, creating them.
Reading Steiner clarifies a lot of things on his ask.fm over at http://ask.fm/SciADV.

Can you provide an approximate point of reference in the visual novel?


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Why did they need to use an identikit to reproduce Makishima's face?
I've been watching Psycho-Pass. Makishima has been working as an art professor at a women academy. During an investigation, an audio clip is retrieved where a girl (this particular case's culprit) speaks with him, mentioning his name. So now the investigators know that there is some guy called Makishima within the academy.
After a brief encounter between Tsunemori and Makishima, he escapes. Later, Tsunemori uses an identikit to relive the experience to reproduce his face. After the face is generated, they go to the academy and confirm that he was indeed a professor there.

To the left is the identikit image, and to the right what I imagine is the academy's archive photo. They compare them (wow, powerful hairspray) and they match.
But why an identikit? They already knew his name, so all they had to do was go to the academy and mention his name. Then they show the archived photo and Tsunemori would recognize it without having to relive the experience.

Maybe they're afraid of some form of confirmation bias?  If Tsunemori was somewhat unsure of what he looked like, she might pick the wrong Makishima (eyewitnesses do stuff like this all the time in police work, apparently).  Or if she says it's not him, she may get "stuck" thinking of the wrong one, and pull traits from him.  Whereas if they generate the composite first...

Actually Makishima didn't use his real name to register as a professor at Oso Academy but use his alias "Yukimori Shibata". Only one who knew the truth in the school is Rikako Oryo.

Whatever the chances are of this happening so much later, but could you add a reference for this?

As what @Clockwork-Muse have said, it is for confirmation bias, because without recreating the face of Makishima, Tsunemori can just say anyone in the acadamy that he is Makishima without having any evidence even though it is not in Tsunemori memory, so by creating the identikit, they provide an unbiased evidence based on the real image that Tsunemori's memory depicts.

But they already have Makishima's name - wouldn't the college staff/students know exactly who is it? They won't ask Tsunemori to point her finger at some guy's photo, because everybody in the academy already knows who is Makishima.

@Omega - Is Makishima only the Makishima in the school? ofcourse you wouldn't know, names can never the basis as names can have duplicates, a name with the face is the most direct evidence they can get, by having a picture, it narrows down their search to the person that matches the picture with a name Makishima.

But then the school would just show all the Makishima duplicates to Tsunemori, if any. I suppose that the identikit would be necessary only if Tsunemori cannot distinguish between two duplicates, but it doesn't seem like they even tried.

@Omega - as i said, there would be no credibility if they would show all of the Makishima in the school to Tsunemori because she can just pick anyone, on the meantime having the identikit provides them the credibility that it is really what the memory of Tsunemori depicts.

@Omega also for a number of reasons using identikit would be faster than scanning every Makishima to Tsunemori, our brain cannot retain much of every details we remember, so by reliving the experience again, this refreshes his mind about the face of what she saw, if she didnt do this she might picked a wrong guy.

I just realized that they also had his last name "Shogo" (Kogami provides it). That should narrow everything to one profile.

Correct me if i'm wrong, but typically investigators need solid concrete evidence in order to do a search and seizure, or any form of operation, to avoid being targets themselves. Imagine... A police officer brakes open your door, cracks you with the butt of his pistal on mere speculation on the fact that your name and/or hairstyle matched the criminal he was chasing. Yea... Having a facial recognition may not be accurate, but it would give them enough proof to get a warrant
And while the differences between their targets are pretty big, in'turn increases their chances of being wrong. Using technology to confirm would shorten the distance.

But they have Makishima's name. If they ask the college, they will provide an archive photo and Tsunemori will know it is him. They have done riskier speculations previously in the series (like the guy that was controlling robots in the factory - they just made a guess it was him).

How common is the name Makishima? Having a picture plus name would make it more realist. Plus they needed to recreate his image from her, to make sure its the same one. Its hard to see into other peoples memories. Overall this was the quickest and easiest method they could use without making anything over complicated.

They also have his last name "Shogo".


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Were the Heroic Spirits that powerful in their lives?
Were the Heroic Spirits that powerful in their lives? Consider:
Some heroes had "reasonable" powers:

Fate Zero's Caster has a spellbook that granted him massive amounts of mana.
Fate Zero's Lancer had two magical lances.
Stay Night's Caster has a contract-breaking dagger.
Fate Zero's Assassin could split into several shadows (I think it's reasonable, as if it was just some sort of complicated spell).

But other heroes had ridiculous powers:

King Arthur's holy sword could shoot an epic anti-fortress beam.
UBW's Lancer's Gae Bolg did an anti-army explosion.
Gilgamesh's Ea was an anti-world weapon (whatever that means, but it destroyed Rider's reality marble).
Heracles could regenerate from death several times.

Was King Arthur's Excalibur really capable of such beam? Was Lancer's Gae Bolg really that destructive? Or were such attributes given when they were summoned by the Grail, based on their legends?
And also, there is the physical strength factor. Most heroes make holes in the walls and ground while fighting, and can jump great heights (in UBW, episode 1, I remember Saber jumped to the roof of Shirou's house, looking for nearby enemies).

I remember hearing that a Heroic Spirit's power is not necessarily representative of their former life's power, and instead mirrors what other people generally think of those heroes. Not sure why Arthur would have an anti-fortress beam, but the fact that she shoots it using Excalibur shows the general idea that people believe Excalibur to be a very special and very powerful sword (even if it's actually just a sword that was difficult to pull out of a stone). The same is true for the Heroic Spirits themselves; not all of them actually existed, at least from what I understand.

@Nolonar I was under the impression that all the Heroic Spirits actually exist in the Fate universe's history, even if they don't exist in real-world history - but is there some counterexample I'm forgetting?

@senshin. Well, Archer is a bit of a special case, since he doesn't exist yet, but eventually will. Nursery Rhyme would be a more obvious one, since she (it?) doesn't actually exist as a person. It's more like an idea or a concept made real.

@Nolonar Excalibur and Caliburn are different swords in FSN (and in at least some tellings of the legend in general).  The sword in the stone is Caliburn, and was forever shattered when Arturia was tricked into committing a dishonorable act.  Excalibur is the sword from the Lady in the Lake.  Caliburn is the sword Shirou projects in the forest to defeat Hercules: the projection caused a miraculous reuniting of Arturia with the sword, which gave it a substantial rank up.  Also, I think Nasu said he wrote himself into a corner on that one and regrets it.

When a Hero dies and ascends to the Throne of Heroes to become a Heroic Spirit they will gain strength based off the worship of their legend as such the more fame and renown one gets the stronger they become. when they are summoned, there are factors which determine how much strength they have in relation to what they have from the Throne of Heroes

Cultural Sphere in which the Servant is summoned and the Recognition they receive there are two factors that play a role in their strength. The closer the are to the stage of their legend, a geographical boost, and the more that they are known makes them "stronger", bringing them closer to the strength they had in their legend and providing them with more of their equipment displayed in their legend.

Magic energy of the Master - The more powerful the magical energy of the Master, the greater the Servant will be able to reach the strength they displayed in their legend.

Container Parameters: Unmodified by the strengths and weaknesses of specific Heroic Spirits, the containers of the seven standard Servant classes of the Fuyuki Grail War possess known base parameters.

Source: - Servant - Strength - Factors
For instance with those, Cú Chulainn, Heracles and Arturia would be stronger in Europe. Arturia's Strength fluctuates from her different Masters with Rin being the strongest because of Rin being an excelent Magus in comparison to Shirou or Kiritsugu.
Cú Chulainn, being an excellent fighter, would be lesser so when Summoned as a Caster which as seen in Fate/Grand Order when he is summoned as a Lancer and a Caster by The Protagonist
             Lancer | Caster
Strength:       B   |   E
Mana:           C   |   B
Endurance:      C   |   D
Luck:           E   |   D
Agility:        A   |   C
N. Phantasm:    B   |   B

Sources: Servant Stats for Protagonist Lancer (Fate/stay Night) | Caster (Fate/Grand Order - Cú Chulainn)
As you can see when Summoned as a Caster Cú Chulainn looses Strength, Endurance and Agility but gains Mana and Luck which then makes him much like most Casters and not suited for a head on battle
As the above Quote uses the word "Legend" which is

a traditional story sometimes popularly regarded as historical but not authenticated.

I would assume that after ascension they gain ever greater strength so while a Heroic Spirit may not have been insanely strong in real life their legends argument their strength further
Another instance of a Servant being stronger that they actually were in real life because of their "legend" is with Angra Mainyu who was an ordinary villager and was randomly chosen as the "source of all evil in the world" by his village and was tortured and sacrificed in the following rituals, so while his legends states that he is the evil god of Zoroastrianism he actually isn't

The things you have identified are all Noble Phantasms

Gilles de Rais's Anti-Army Prelati's Spellbook
Diarmuid Ua Duibhne's twin Anti-Unit Lances Gae Buidhe and Gae Dearg
Medea's Anti-Thaumaturgy Rule Breaker
The Hundred-Faced Hassan Self Targeted Anti-Unit Zabaniya： Delusional Illusion
Arturia's Anti-Fortress/Anti-Unit1 Excalibar
Cú Chulainn's Gae Bolg
Gilgamesh's Anti-World Ea
Heracles's Anti-Unit God Hand

These are

"crystallized mysteries", powerful armaments made using the imagination of humans as their core, and weapons or abilities owned by Heroic Spirits.

Source - Noble Phantasm
so these would be under the most influence from one's legends with their original weapon being the basis and arguments/altered by their legends, for instance with Ea it's actual strength is around the level of Excalibur, its effect is unquestionably that of the legend of "ripping the world"
with Cú Chulainn's Gae Bolg it is in fact 2 Noble Phantasm, the first (Barbed Spear that Pierces with Death) being a single Anti-Unit of the legend of a cursed spear but the second (Soaring Spear that Strikes with Death) is Anti-Army without it's curse to reverse cause and effect which in his Legend

It distorts space to create a "tapestry of action" that splits into numerous spearheads that pour down over the enemy. It is said that it split into thirty in his legend, but it seems that the number has increased after Cú Chulainn became a Heroic Spirit.

so Soaring Spear that Strikes with Death is in fact more powerful than the original legend, possibly because of his legend being embellished over the years

Was King Arthur's Excalibur really capable of such beam?

it actually isn't a beam, on the Wikia Page it says

While the result is what looks like a large beam of light, only the tip of the attack, which is a wave of light that can mow through the surface of the Earth, is capable of doing damage, as the beam is the result of the "dislocation" of everything the attack destroys in its path. Even if it is dodged, those in close proximity can still be temporarily distracted by its intensity.

also when we see Arturia use it we see her swing her sword rather than point it

but as already mentioned since a Nobel Phantasm is influenced by the  imagination of humans more than likely it is King Arthur's Legend of being a king who was the only one to wield a sword forged by gods and when people think of weapons forged by gods they think very, very destructive (ie Thor's Hammer, Odin's Spear)

1: In the Fate/Zero material - Servant Status: Saber, p.012-013 (Citation) states that Excalibur: Sword of Promised Victory is Anti-Unit while all other places state it is Anti-Fortress, am unsure if this is a translation error or not

Actually it's depends on the individual. As Garden of Avalon, supplementary materials reveal that Excalibur DID had the power to generate a Sword Beam. I guess it depends on whether they come from a mythical or historical background. Those such as Heracles who had the power to lift the sky and according to some myths create the Strait of Gibraltar which separates Spain and Africa is obviously weaker as Servant. While heroes closer to the modern era are explicitly stronger as Servants than real life. Shakespeare would be a good example, as he had zero magical ability in real life and relies on his noble phantasm.


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Did Ultear know there was a different way to defeat master Hades?
In episode 116 after Ultear lost the fight with Gray, she tells him that he cannot beat Hades, but does not tell him anything about Hades' weakness (eg: his heart).

This seems weird since when she had Zeref a couple episodes back, she was about to stab Hades in the back and take Zeref for her own purposes. This would imply that she was no longer on Hades' side.
Later we see that the guards knew that the room Hades' was in was something they could not lose control of.

Since the guards knew about this wouldn't Ultear know this as too, seeing as she was pretty much raised by Hades?

Urtear did know for sure. She had been trying to deceive Gray all along. She told Gray that the Iced Shell was the only way because the spell traps the caster as a shell of ice for all eternity. She wanted him to die because she thought Gray was the one responsible for her mother not loving her which was not true at all.
Urtear knew more about Hades than any of the outsiders. She obviously had a plan to kill Hades herself but having Gray kill him would be killing two birds with a single stone.
But Gray realizes that after he over hears her and sees her trying to kill Juvia.

I disagree, this takes place after the whole flashback from Ultear. In that flashback Ultear sees what actually happened. Her mother Ul was lied to about Ultear's dead. Because of this she took in the two pupils, Gray and Lyon. After this flashback Ultear doesn't seem to have any hard feelings with Gray. She even saves him in a later episode in the Eclipse arc.

Damn it you spoiled it for me.
And Yes that is indeed true. What I wrote was before the flashbacks of course when she was trying to trick Gray into using the iced shell in Hades.
Oh and thanks for the spoiler -_-

Well sorry, I don't know why you would answer in the first place if you aren't cached up with the source material...

Dude did you even read the question? It's whether Urtear knew if there was a different way to defeat Hades other than using the Iced Shell. Where does the flashback or her saving Gray later in the series come in?

First off, its my own question so yes I know what i'm asking. Secondly take a look at this if you are worried about spoilers in comments. The flashback takes place a couple minutes before the first screenshot. And its Ultear instead of Urtear.

Then just tell me this.
The question was whether Ultear knew if there was a way to defeat her wasn't it? I don't get why you keep bringing the flashback in. I know that's where she realized what had happened but how is that related to the question?

Your answer isn't completely wrong, but I keep bringing this up because it seems odd that she did not tell Gray about this after setting aside the hard feelings she had.

Oh now I see what you're getting at. Well we can only speculate. Might be because she thought Gray had already seen through her facade back when he overheard and when she was about to kill Juvia.

Upvoted it, will wait with accepting it so other people are more likely to answer too.

Actually, your answer is correct, but for a different question. Because @Alagaros made a wrong assumption, his question is asked confusingly. Algaros, you say that "Ultear tells Gray there is no other way of beating Hades other then using Iced Shell." after their battle. That's incorrect. She said so before the battle because of the reasons Alchemist mentioned, but after, she only stated that Gray could not defeat Hades. Iced Shell was never mentioned again after their fight. She said that despite him knowing iced shell was a lie, he could never defeat Hades and she was correct.

So OP is basically asking whether Ultear knew about the heart and if she did know about the heart, why she didn't tell Gray about it. Iced Shell does not really have anything to do with this any more, because after Deliora, Gray would never ever use Iced Shell again any way.

Actually, Ultear was under the impression that her mother had betrayed her and she wanted revenge on Gray. In reality, Ultear had too much magical power and Ur brought her to a place where she thought they would help decrease her magic power so she could live in peace but instead they tried to increase her magic power for Brain (from the Oracion Seis) but he was dissatisfied so the people who worked for Brain told Ur that Ultear died when Ultear escaped and ran away.
Ur eventually moved on and took in Gray and Lyon. Ultear had ventured all the way back home, excited to see her mother but got really mad when she say Ur with her students and she swore that she'd get revenge on them and get her mother back. Then, she found out Gray 'murdered' Ur and that she'd never get to confront her mother about the abandonment. Ultear (and Meredy) swore they'd kill him.
Gray learns that Ultear tried to decieve him after Ultear tried to kill Juvia and they battle. They both fall into the ocean (which has all of Ur's memories because when her iced shell melted her memories blended into the ocean.) and Ultear sees what really happened and her and Meredy apologize and leave, Ultear happy that her mother really did love her.


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Is there a season two of Diabolik Lovers?
How many seasons are there in the Diabolik Lovers anime series? Some websites say that there's a season two, and some say that there's only one season.

The second season is announced, but not aired yet.

Voting to reopen as this is not about an unannounced future event.

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2015-02-09/diabolik-lovers-gets-2nd-anime-season-stage-play/.84238

Are there any updates for this question?

As stated in the link that @nhahtdh provided above:

The official Twitter account for the anime of Rejet's Diabolik Lovers video games for women announced on Monday that a second season of the anime has been green-lit.

The mentioned Tweet is as follows (emphasis added):

【お知らせ】アニメ「DIABOLIK LOVERS」第２期の制作が決定！ 逆巻兄弟はもちろん、無神兄弟も登場！ 続報をお楽しみに☆
みなさま、応援よろしくお願い致します！！

The bolded text above roughly translates as:

[Announcement] The second season of the Diabolik Lovers anime has been set! The Sakamaki brothers, of course, and the Mukami brothers as well, will make an appearance.

No airing date nor other details have been announced as of April 14, 2015.


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What is "the calm"?
In Nagi no Asukara, what is exactly "the calm"?
The fisherman at the final episode rejoices because

  "the calm" has ended.

What is "the calm" referring to?

I think it was the whole hibernation period that started some time ago, about in the middle of the series? idk how you could have missed it if you were watching it from the beginning

Can you specify a time in that episode for better reference?

I'm quite new to StackExchange but am a Literature student and like to look at Anime and feel very strong symbolic meanings within them.
The Calm simply refers to the lack of strong tides in the sea.
Read on if you're interested in a deeper, more wholesome interpretation of the series:
The following is an opinion piece.
Nagi no Asukara is also known as "A Lull in the Sea".
(Google defines "lull" as a temporary interval of quiet or lack of activity.)
To me, a Lull in the Sea is essentially what NagiAsu is literally and figuratively about.
In the final episode, Manaka explains the Sea God's legend behind the calming of the Sea.

A long time ago, the Sea God fell in love with a maiden who was a sacrifice in the festival, but felt guilty over separating her from his boyfriend on the surface. He decided to send her back up.
However, her surface boyfriend already committed suicide over the incident. Not wanting her to grief over that, the Sea God removed that maiden's ability to fall in love with anyone. At the same time, the sea fell into a lull. The Lull in the Sea represents the Sea God's maiden's feelings.

Whenever the festival is held, the sea god is reminded of his love towards that sacrifice. The fear of loss of his love triggers him to keep Manaka (and later on Miuna) from being stolen, by enclosing her in the lightning-protective shell (that shocks Hikari when he tries to breach it). The Sea God's baggages is the reason Manaka loses her memories. He does to her what he does to his first love, as this lets Manaka become more likened towards his first love that he longs for. Ironically, this reminds him of what he did to his first love, and of losing her, only to make him feel requiem and loss again. It's quite ironic when we observe it but there are people who actually do this, which creates lots of toxic behaviours in love out there.
This is why when the sea comes back to life, the waves are stronger than ever - it is the Sea God's consolation and realisation from Manaka and Miuna that causes the Sea God to release his pain and baggages towards love. As this happens, the Sea God stops casting his baggages on Manaka (that remind him of his feelings for his first love) and she regains her ability to love people.
As for what made him realise again... I think it was Hikari's shout. Come to think of it, I should rewatch it to know what it is.

"Love is like the Sea" - Episode 25 Title

The calm of the sea is the apathy, the malpractice and the escapism towards Love itself, out of the Sea God's defeatist belief that loving is a zero sum game, that will not yield anything good. That is why when the calm is resolved, we also see all our main & supporting characters behaving healthily towards love.
The Japanese love to portray Gods in a way that they watch over and guide men and women, and that is why when the Sea God is in a lull, everyone is; and when the Sea God resolves the lull, everyone also behaves healthily towards love.
Once again, this (other than the initial literal meaning that answers the question) is a subjective interpretation and I hope you enjoyed it.


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What is the name of the track playing in episode 14?
In Code Geass R2, episode 14, at time code 14:35, there is a track playing. It plays after Rolo kills the other children with Geass. The battle between Lelouch, Jeremiah, and V.V.
What is the title of this track?

I have checked all soundtracks; it has not been released. People on anime forums confirm that (for example, here: http://forums.animesuki.com/archive/index.php/t-38178-p-4.html).
The only one is someone's edit here.

Yeah, I had a brief re-listen through all four Code Geass OSTs too, and I didn't find it either. Aggravating as it is, I'm inclined to say this is the right answer. (By the way, it would be nice if you would include links to some of the anime forums where you saw people confirming this.)

Here is one, with track list and appearing in anime - http://forums.animesuki.com/archive/index.php/t-38178-p-4.html There were also the second one, if I remember good on MAL, but I couldn't find it now.

It's an unreleased piece from the soundtrack called Collective Subconscious. You can find it here:
Code Geass: Unreleased Album - 49 Collective Subconscious


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If you had two automail arms, could you still use alchemy?
So, say someone in the Fullmetal Alchemist world lost both of their arms.
Could they still preform alchemy with their automail arms? Is there a way to adjust the automail so you can use alchemy?

The automail doesn't obstruct someone from using alchemy, as far as I understand the mechanism in FMA. Putting aside the cases of people who have committed the taboo, people perform transmutation by transmutation circles. As long as they can draw a circle, I guess they can perform alchemy.

Oh Okay thank you! Thats what I thought, just wanted to make sure with more fans of FMA.

Isn't Al just a metal suit of armor? And he was able to use alchemy, so I don't see why someone with two automail can't.

Yes, they could... sort of.
As Scar mentions in episode 5, the only requirement is for the person to produce a circle. Izumi states that this is what lets the transmutation energy flow (or "power", depending on your sub/dub). Most alchemists draw transmutation circles, but those who have seen beyond the Gate of Truth instead create their own circle with their body.

Izumi: A basis of a transmutation circle is the power of the circle. The circle displays the circulation of power, and by sketching the construction symbol in it, it becomes possible to activate its power. This is also a circulation of power. It's best to experience it for yourself. Now... Review it until lunch is ready!
Alphonse: Okay, so... The circle displays the circulation of power, and by sketching the construction symbol in it, it becomes possible to activate its power. But you were transmuting by just slapping your palms together, weren't you, Master? Do you not need to sketch the construction symbols?
Izumi: I am like a construction symbol.

Ed is able to do his through clapping his regular hand with his metal hand (or gloved hand) because the flesh pushing against the metal creates a circular seal for the energy flow.
Al is able to do this because both his "hands" are gloved, so the fabric can compress together enough to create the same kind of circular seal as above.
So, as long as the two metal arms could compress together in a circular pattern, the user could create the required energy flow, and would be able to use alchemy (as long as they had been through the Gate).


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What is the reading order for Yoshiki Tonogai's different manga series?
I can't figure out which I am supposed to read first of Yoshiki Tonogai's manga: Doubt, Judge, and Secret. I know they are all related, but in what order are they supposed to be read?

The order in which they were written is how they are supposed to be read: Doubt, then Judge, and finally Secret.
From Yoshiki Tonogai's Wiki:

Doubt, which was completed in February, 2009, and released in the U.S via Yen Press in April 2013 and July 2013. He is also the artist and writer of Judge, the sequel to Doubt, and Secret, the third in the Doubt series, all connected by the recurring appearance of the iconic Rabbit mask from Doubt.


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Where is Ergastulum located?
In the anime, Ergastulum has the architecture of a typical Italian city. Yet, the newspaper is printed in English and the cars drive on the right, although road signs and the like do have a European feel to them. The police cars are also reminiscent of LAPD cruisers, in that they are black and white. Finally, from looking at the currency depicted in the anime, it seems that the city prints its own money.

I do remember a scene where a newspaper article shows something happening in Paris, France. So I do think the story takes place on Earth.
I have looked over the Gangsta Wiki and so far it does not seem to have any information on where exactly the city is located. Do we or will we know where Ergastulum is located? Is it its own country?

The setting is generally set somewhere in France or Italy since both people from the Mafia and Perrier (a sparkling water drink from France) are common. Worick also says 'ciao' before killing a gangster, which is an informal Italian word that can be used as a goodbye.
As you have pointed out, there is the newspaper article that states an incident occurred in France. There is also the fact that people call Nicolas an 'oriental' which is what Asians are commonly called in Europe, so it is likely set somewhere in Europe. Also, remember that France and Italy share a land border, and so are very close to each other.

The wikia for Ergastulum says that it is a mix between Italy and America. Nicholas is also half Italian and Half Japanese. There is even an uncle sam poster in the gun shop on the first episode, as well as an alley way containing posters of American soldiers. And of course all the references to italian and ancient roman culture as well, with the fact that civilians are allowed to buy and own guns, like here in America.

If you are quoting from the wiking, including a link to the wiki, and including the actual text as a > (quote field) would greatly improve your answer


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Can you kill a human with a Death Note in less than forty seconds?
If I were write in the Death Note:

Bob Bold Heart attack NOW.

Would that work?

According to the first rule in How To Use III

If the time of death is written within 40 seconds after writing the cause of death as a heart attack, the time of death can be manipulated, and the time can go into effect within 40 seconds after writing the name.

So the time of death (e.g. "NOW") won't go into effect for 40 seconds.

so that means when i would write: epileptic attack NOW. that would work?

My guess is it doesn't matter what the cause of death is. The part of the rule just states that if you write a time of death, and the cause is heart attack, you can manipulate the time of death. I guess it depends on your you read the "and". It's not, "then the time can go into effect", it's (after you do all of that first part,) "also the time can go into effect"

so you cant kill a person with a death note in less than 40 seconds?

No, that's exactly what the rule says. 40 seconds have to pass since the killing note is written down.

That doesn't look like it's saying it won't take effect until 40 seconds are up; it looks like it's saying it can go into effect within 40 seconds.

@user2357112 For one, I'm not entirely sure (in the spirit of the show) "NOW" constitutes an actual time of death. If "NOW" happens within some point between the writing and 40 seconds, it's not really "NOW" (as in the time of the writing) anymore, since it had already passed. The whole 40 second buffer is to give you the ability to go back and change some of the things you've written. If the "now" were to take effect, the buffer becomes pointless.


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How does Obito have two Sharingans if Madara took one?
If Madara took Obito's left eye, how come he has both Sharingans? (Chapter 683, page 15) Did Obito replace the one he lost with Kakashi's Sharingan, like a trade?

Welcome to Anime and Manga. To my understanding the site you linked to was an illegal manga site. if i am wrong someone can rollback my edit

TL;DR:
Because Madara gave him the Sharingan he had taken from Kakashi back when he took the Rinnegan Obito had in his left eye socket.
Long version:
In chapter 674, page 14, Madara takes Kakashi's Sharingan eye (Obito's left eye):

In chapter 675, page 10, Madara switches his left eye - currently holding Obito's left eye - for the Rinnegan Obito has in his left eye socket:

In that same chapter, he lets Black Zetsu take control of Obito's left side. In chapter 676, page 2, we see that Obito now has both of his Sharingan, though he is not in control of his body:

In chapter 679, page 6, Black Zetsu leaves Obito's body to join Kaguya:

Leaving him finally in control of both of his Sharingan when Naruto revives him and he regains consciousness in chapter 683, page 6:

Obito had his Right eye Kamui Sharingan and Madaras Rinnegan in his
  left socket. Madara snatched Kakashis Kamui Sharingan and used it to
  enter Kamui Dimension and retrieve his Rinnegan. He was successful and
  Black Zetsu possessed Obitos right body half, which was eyeless until
  Madara popped Kakashis Sharingan in. Obito got both his eyes back in
  that moment, but B Zetsu was using the Obitos right half and used
  Kakashis eye to get himself and Madara out of the dimension..  It was
  mentioned, but it was easyly possible to miss.. I thought for quite a
  while that Obito didn't have both of his eyes until it was cleared up
  to me, that the Obitos right eye was never touched by madara.. thus
  giving him both eyes. Why did Madara pop Kakashis Kamui eye back? I
  don't know... Lets just say for plot, because he could have just
  crushed it. I'd assume he didn't consider Obito a threat anymore and
  wanted the MS Sharingan as backup for whatever reason.. It really
  caused a stir here when those chapters came around
The "unmentioned" situation you're looking for spans from chapter 674
  to 676.

-KuramaErricson
This is the answer given by that person, you can refer to his post here. http://forums.mangafox.me/threads/511150-How-did-Obito-get-his-left-eye-back

He gave it black zetsu to use madara and himself to get out of the dimension madara basically madara put his rennigan on while he was in the other dimension and only way to get out is with obitos sharingan capish

Can you provide any sources (such as chapter or episode numbers) for this?


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What dance is the battle between Lucciola and Cicada based on?
In Last Exile, episode 23 ("Castling Lucciola"), the battle between Lucciola and Cicada resembles a dance routine. The actual fight begins at about 19:35 into the episode.
What type of dance is this supposed to resemble? I did a little research on it myself, and it seems to most resemble ballet. But if that's the case, then what kind of ballet?