text:
What are the transformed crew symbolizing?
In episode 644 the crew left on the boat get transformed into some "Artistic things".
What exactly are they symbolising? For brook it was pretty obvious, as it was the screamer. But I couldn't quiet put my finger on the other ones.

Brook's transformation resembles Munch's The Scream. Nami and Momonosuke (his head looks like a peach,  which fits with his theme) has Picasso's distinct abstract style. Chopper's face is a distinct cubist style.
The clock on Nami's Sorcery Clima-Tact becomes something that resembles Dali's The Persistence of Memory.

@Krazer why don't you answer questions in answers? :)

They're all a bit based on the arts of Okamoto Taro mixed with some unique traits; like Brook based on the screamer, Nami on some Taro statue, Momonosuke (Samurai Dude xD) based on fantasy, since Momo in Japanese means peach xD, and for Chopper I can't remember xD.
The Sunny also is probably based on Taro arts, as the figurehead is a representation of the Sun Tower of Osaka as you can see here:

oh wow, I was mainly asking about the crew. and totally forgot about the boat! If you could also cover the characters in your answer ill be sure to accept it^^

Well Nami too seems based on the same author as you can see here http://it.tinypic.com/view.php?pic=212uypx&s=5#.U4TzxPl_t8E While Momonosuke (Momo in Japanese means Peach) Look a bit like a peach infact. So i guess it's a bit on fantasy too, for chopper i can't remember xD

yeah I found her face to be similar as the statue, but brook/chopper/samurai dude ?

Told you, they're all a bit based on that author art, mixed with some unique trait, like Brook based on the screamer, Nami same as the sunny author, Momonosuke (Samurai Dude xD) Based on fantasy since Momo in japanese means peach if you see him here http://image.forumfree.it/4/6/0/4/9/9/8/1373389251.jpg you can tell he looks like a peach xD and for chopper i can't remember xD.

I have edited the Answer ! :)


text:
Is there a canon timeline to CLAMP works?
I keep reading that alot of CLAMP's works are set in encompassing universe kinda like TYPE-MOON's Nasuverse particularly how Yūko in xxxHolic seems to interact with Syaoran from Tsubasa Chronicle and has some sort of relationship with Clow Reed, the sorcerer who created the Clow Cards in Cardcaptor Sakura. also Tsubasa Chronicle seems to cross into X/1999 at one point.
I am wondering, are there canon timelines for watching/reading CLAMP Material? an example from the Nasuverse would be Mahou Tsukai no Yoru -> Fate/Zero -> Tsukihime -> Fate/Stay Night -> Fate/Hollow Ataraxia -> Alliance of Illusionary Eyes -> Kagetsu Tohya -> Melty Blood

@zargin official announcements from CLAMP for sure but also logical deductions, ie. if when Syaoran saw Yūko was between Episodes/Chapters x and y of xxxHolic and is depicted/mentioned in episode/chapter x Tsubasa Chronicle then though logic the canon would be defined, or if in Tsubasa Chronicle or xxxHolic we see Clow Reed working on the Clow Cards then this would pre-date Cardcaptor Sakura but if he says "i can sense someone using the Key of Clow to seal the cards i made" then we can assume that the scene pre-dates Cardcaptor Sakura

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
What is the song in the first episode called?
After a short opening segment to the series there was this opening song. After searching for the opening for a bit I found that it was not the same song.
So which song is used and what is it called?

Maybe you can try recording a portion of it and using music recognition apps to find its name? Also, have you tried searching for full OSTs?

@user1306322 I am a real leak when it comes to that. I would have no clue how to. Then again, the song sounds familiar. As if used in another anime.

With user1306322's advice I attempted some searching. And came to the conclusion it was Toki No Mukou Maboroshi No Sora - FictionJunction.
The song I originally kept finding was the opening song of the visual novel instead of the song used in the anime. And the fact I found to be familiar is most likely due to Yuki Kajiura, which has allot of anime songs on her name that I watched.

Note: Yuki Kajiura is the composer for FictionJunction. She's not a singer.

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


text:
What is the total Naruto runtime up to this point?
Naruto seems to be one of few longest-running series, and considering the number of episodes so far, this adds up to quite considerable time.
What is the total runtime - the time I'd have to spend in front of the screen if I wanted to watch the whole series (including any 'paraphenalia' like OVA etc), from beginning up to current point?

Are you including opening and ending songs? "Next episode"? Things like that?

@MadaraUchiha: Either way is fine - I guess these occupy varied length so they could make the calculation harder, so including them is fine. (let's assume they are just right for "necessary breaks")

As of 10-March-2021, after using myanimelist as a source for duration's I came to the conclusion that it would take you:

Duration
Time of non stop watching

In Minutes
32414

In Hours
390.2

In Days
16.3

This would mean that you could completely watch all Naruto media in just under two and a half week.
However, taking into account that nobody is going to watch anything for two and a half week straight. It would take an average viewer quite a bit longer.
Given that an average viewer watches around 5-6 episodes per day, or roughly 2 hours a day. It would take them about 174.3 days to watch the series to completion, and an additional 20.9 days to watch all the other media. For a grand total of 195.1 days total to watch everything.
Series

Title
Episodes
Episode Duration in minutes
Total Duration

Naruto
220
23
~5060 minutes or 84.3 hours or 3.5 days

Naruto Shippuuden
500
23
~11500 minutes or 191.7 hours or 8 days

Boruto next generations (ongoing)
189
23
~189 minutes or 72.5 hours or 3 days

Movies

Title
Duration in minutes

Naruto: Movie 1 - Dai Katsugeki!! Yuki Hime Shinobu Houjou Dattebayo!
90

Naruto: Movie 2 - Daigekitotsu! Maboroshi no Chiteiiseki Dattebayo!
97

Naruto: Movie 3 - Dai Koufun! Mikazuki Jima no Animaru Panikku Dattebayo!
94

Naruto: Shippuuden Movie 1
94

Naruto: Shippuuden Movie 2 - Kizuna
92

Naruto: Shippuuden Movie 3 - Hi no Ishi wo Tsugu Mono
95

Naruto: Shippuuden Movie 4 - The Lost Tower
85

Naruto Soyokazeden Movie: Naruto to Mashin to Mitsu no Onegai Dattebayo!!
14

Naruto: Shippuuden Movie 5 - Blood Prison
102

Naruto: Honoo no Chuunin Shiken! Naruto vs. Konohamaru!!
14

Naruto: Shippuuden Movie 6 - Road to Ninja
109

Naruto: Shippuuden Movie 7 - The Last
112

Boruto: Naruto the Movie
105

Boruto: Naruto the Movie - Naruto ga Hokage ni Natta Hi
10

Specials

Title
Duration in minutes

Naruto: Dai Katsugeki!! ... Special: Konoha Annual Sports Festival
11

Naruto: Takigakure no Shitou - Ore ga Eiyuu Dattebayo!
40

Naruto: Find the Crimson Four-leaf Clover
17

Naruto: The Cross Roads
28

Naruto: Shippuuden - Konoha Gakuen Special
8

Naruto: Shippuuden - Jump Super Anime Tour 2013 Special
11

Naruto: Shippuuden - Sunny Side Battle
11

Boruto: Jump Festa 2016 Special
11

Ovas

Title
Duration in minutes

Naruto: Finally a Clash!! Jounin vs. Genin!
26

Naruto x UT
6

Onas

Title
Duration in minutes

Kamiusagi Rope x Boruto: Naruto Next Generations
1

Spin-off

Title
Episodes
Episode Duration in minutes
Total Duration in minutes

Rock Lee no Seishun Full-Power Ninden
51
24
~1224 minutes or 20.4 hours or 0.85 days

As a side note, I feel sad for the people that had to wait weekly from episode one onward. That's 909 weeks (excluding double releases and breaks) of waiting 6 days for the next episode (Which is almost 17.5 years!)
Information will be updated when Boruto next generations ends, and somebody boops me about it in the comments

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


text:
Why does Conan call Bourbon a liar?

Why does Conan call Bourbon a liar?  I still don't get the context of this at the end of chapter 897

One does not simply understand Conan word

They're both (pretending to be) something they're not.


text:
Who was Headmistress of Beacon versing in Episode 1: Ruby Red Rose?
In RWBY, Episode 1: Ruby Red Rose, we see Ruby chasing a criminal who stole dust. After she chased this criminal, he shot at her, thought he had gotten rid of her, but was saved by the headmistress of Beacon Academy.
Further on we see the headmistress fighting a highly skilled person on the helicopter. Who was this woman and will we learn more about her in season 2?

The contents of the second season are barely/not known at this point in time.

Also, the woman saving Ruby isn't the headmistress. Professor Ozpin is the headmaster, making Glynda, the woman, his secretary/assistant.

It is revealed that the woman was Cinder:

Cinder Fall is a character in the world of RWBY. She appears to be affiliated with Roman Torchwick in some way, perhaps controlling, or at least coercing, Roman rather than cooperating with him

She is definitely a main character, she is also the antagonist and was the exact same woman that the headmistress was fighting against.


text:
Does somebody know where to find subtitles for Kureyon Shin-chan?
I've gotten this set of Kureyon Shin-Chan episodes from a friend (クレヨンしんちゃん (Crayon Shin Chan) DVD TV版傑作選) but they don't have subtitles. Does somebody know where could I find english subs for these?

Is this for a DVD?

I just have the video files, I'm not sure if he had the DVDs or not.

They were broadcast by KIKU-TV in Hawaii. Which was a subbed release.

I agree the show is so funny, the only way I watched it,(which seems crazy now) was because my ex would translate. Thanks for the info guys, maybe with this it'll be easier to hunt them down. I've just found some on youtube, here's the link just incase anyone is interested.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMAm17edjY8

This whole question should probably be closed as "requesting illegal or copyrighted materials" as it sounds like the OP has a bunch of raw video files, which doesn't sound terribly legal, and is looking for subtitle files to load onto them.

I doubt there are any subtitled releases of Crayon Shin-chan. The show's ANN page lists multiple Region 1 releases, but all of them are dubbed (and don't even include the Japanese audio, except for bonus episodes).
In general, don't count on being able to find subtitled versions of children's shows - if children's shows do get released in an English-speaking country, they'll almost certainly be dubbed. After all, their target audience is children, and children aren't very good at reading subtitles.

Fair enough I guess I'll just take it as a reason to keep on trying to learn Japanese. Gotta say though, how Shin-Chan can be aimed at a younger audience is beyond me. It's so perverted!

@mac_fan_33 - welcome to cultural differences!

@senshin Wikipedia notes the demographic as seinen.

@mac_33 Shin-chan isn't a kid's show. After it gained popularity they sort of made it SLIGHTLY more kid friendly but it's well known to be aimed at young adults. The manga appeared in Weekly Manga Action which is aimed at adults.


text:
Ghost in the Shell: Who's Marcelo?
Exactly who was Marcelo? In Ghost in the Shell SAC episode 7, we see that the major and co were chasing after him to know exactly what business he had entering Japan, but they never explain what happens, more specifically why did Sec9 allow him to just roam freely. Isn't he a notorious drug lord?

Section 9 deals with cybercrimes only. Drug lords are DEA's authority.

This incident involves ghost-dubbing (the real one is dead), which falls under S9' jurisdiction.

The episode starts with the words of a correspondent: "Marcelo Jarti, leader of the Jenoma democratic revolution, as well as military advisor to the current administration, was attacked in Panan City today". He was visiting and the shooting was pretty serious, so he was assumed to have been killed. Section 9's agents are seen confirming his identity in the beginning of the episode.
Major Kusanagi says:

"Leader of the democratic revolution. Legendary hero. He and the current chaimran were the cenral figures in the revolution commanding the guerrilla war and leading it to victory. But after the revolution, he showed no interest whatsoever in politics, and backed the State Council chairman from behind the scenes, remaining true to his principles, staying a mere soldier. <…> The SAS and Delta Force have been behind five assassination plots against him, but he's miraculously survived each time. Nobody in his country doubts that he's their ̈„Immortal Hero“."

Then the guy with the scanner confirms that the signs of Ghost are present in Marcel's behavior. That doesn't absolutely prove his authenticity, but only says chances are high it's really him.
Director Aramaki of the Section 9 then briefs the team about the mission:

In the past five years, Marcelo has come to Japan 12 times <…> Foreign Affairs Section 1 had been unable to ascertain his activities in-country. <…> They want us to find out why Marcelo has entered the country so often.

Bato responds: "He's a South American drug lord, isn't he? Something to do with that, maybe?" Major Matoko says it's unlikely that his interest is in making a drug deal, since he trades the classic drugs, while most of the Japan has switched to virtual drugs.
But then Marcelo is indeed seen with some drug traders. And after the investigation reveals that there are clones of Marcelo that look very life-like due to his subtle personality traits being copied over to them, it makes the same external appearance as the Ghost, making everyone think that clones are the real thing.
Marcelo is found dead and for some time now his clones have been keeping up his legendary work. Revealing the fact of his death to the public and other organizations could stir up a lot of trouble, so the Section 9 leaves things as they are for now.

The cybercrime case is closed, but what about the drug business? I don't know for sure, but I have a theory. It's likely that Marcelo's clones have been killed more than once during drug deals, but authorities decide to go with "he's alive, everything is fine" info every time because maybe they're interested in continuing the drug deals. Possibly they have a way to trace Marcelo's movements and ambush drug lords like that.


text:
Does the prime minister die at the end?
The Code Breaker anime has an open ended finish (so I'm thinking a sequel?!) but it's not clear to me if the prime minister dies at the end or not. Hitomi used his abilities on him and at the end the prime minister spits blood but it's not clear if he also dies.
Does the manga mention this?

The anime and manga have quite different storylines. Therefore, whether the prime minister dies in the anime or not is up for debate, but in the manga chapter 227, it explicitly shows the prime minister burning to ashes after overusing the seven flames, as well as a news broadcast in chapter 228 about the death of the prime minister, with the next panel having normal citizens commenting on how his death will affect politics.
It is up to you to use the events of the manga to make sure whether the prime minister dies at the end of the anime. In my opinion, though, I think it's best to keep the events of the anime and manga separate.
One thing to note about my answer: I haven't watched the anime fully yet. I will check the last episode, however, and update this answer accordingly.
Edit: Just saw the ending of the anime. The story of the anime is so different from that of the manga that I think whether the prime minister dies in the anime or not will always just be speculation.

Thanks, didn't knew the anime and the manga had different story lines. Guess we'll have to wait for the sequel to see what happens...

If there will indeed be a sequel to the anime.
I hope there is, but I somewhat doubt it.


text:
Where are we shown Rose's surname?
According to the Fullmetal Alchemist Wiki, Rose, the character who appears in the Lior arcs of FMA, has "Thomas" for a surname. While the Wikipedia entry on her simply refers to her as Rose, a quick Google search for fma rose yields several results for her as "Rose Thomas".
However, I don't recall Rose ever being referred to as anything other than "Rose" during the course of either Fullmetal Alchemist anime series or in the manga. (It is of course possible that I don't remember the 2003 anime very well, since I binge-watched it a year ago and might have missed some details.) What's the origin of her supposed surname, and is this even something "official" in any capacity?

IIRC this appears in the "Fullmetal Alchemist Anime Profiles" book. I don't have a copy (yet), though, so I can't confirm.

I did some searching and I do believe her name is "Roze Thomas"

I am sure this doesn't appear in either the manga or anime from what I remember.

@Jonco98: in the official subs for both series her name appears as Rose. The "Thomas" bit doesn't seem to ever be mentioned.

Rosé's surname is mentioned in the 2004 FMA game Fullmetal Alchemist: Stray Rondo released by Bandai.
This is clear from this video where the aforementioned game is played on an emulator.
If you go to 2:49 you can see Rosé introducing herself to the Elric brothers as: Roze Tōmasu (in Japanese writing, katakana is used for writing non-Japanese names, ロゼ・トーマス) which is then adapted to English as Rosé (not like the flower rose) Thomas.
This surname appears neither in the manga nor in the anime. It is common however for wikis to adopt such information from officially released games.
Here is the aforementioned screenshot:

Very good answer! +1. Nice catch


text:
What all abilities are transferred when hearts are interchanged between bodies?
Law's Ope-Ope No Mi gives him the ability to switch the hearts between 2 bodies. This is actually transferring the mind of a person to the other and vice versa.
So the question here is, which of the below abilities of the person are transferred along with the mind to the target body?

Strength (Physical and Mental)
Devil Fruit Power
Haki using Ability

It'd be nice if specific incidents/instances can citied along with each of the pointers for reference as it would be easy to visualize and co-relate them with the answer.

Strength (Physical)
A body's physical strength is not defined by its heart, but by the actual body. Therefore it is not switched, as we can see when Nami (in Franky's body) wants to beat Sanji (in Nami's body) again. Nami should not be able to even tickle Sanji, but if she would have hit him again in chapter 663, Nami's body might have been severely injured.

Strength (Mental)
Mental strength on the other hand, does come from the heart as we can see Sanji do extraordinary things with Nami's body. Things she would physically be capable of, but not mentally. Like when Sanji blue walks his way to safety after rescuing Kin'emon's torso in chapter 672.

Devil Fruit Power
Devil Fruit Powers become part of the body after eaten, so the same can be said as with actual physical strength. For example, it was Luffy's complete body that became rubber and not his mind. Which was proven on multiple occasions. Oars couldn't use any rubber attacks on his own after he obtained Luffy's shadow. Tashigi could turn her body into smoke after her mind got switched with smoker's and Franky could still change Chopper's animal forms. With the last example, I would also like to point out that this is also a good example where mental strength is not switched, since Franky could not control Chopper's final form, while Chopper could, as seen on Fishman Island. I'm not saying Chopper is stronger than Franky perse, I'm saying that if mental strength and thus experience would have been transferred he would have been able to control the monster.

Haki
Haki obviously also gets switched, since this literally means willpower. So if the will gets switched, so will it's power. This can be seen when Sanji activaly uses Kenbunshoku Haki to locate Kin'emon's torso.

Kenbunshoku Haki is Sanji's speciality concerning Haki. When helping Kin'emon recover his torso from within the lake on Punk Hazard, Sanji actively used Kenbunshoku Haki in order to locate the samurai's torso within the dark water.

Source
Summary

In the case of switched "souls", Devil Fruit powers are maintained within the original body, while voices and other abilities, such as Haki, go along with the switched mind/soul, as seen when Sanji used his Kenbunshoku Haki in Nami's body, due to Haki originating from the individual's spirit.

Source
Physical heart vs Mind
It should be noted that Law only switches the mind and not their actual physical hearts. This can be seen when he switches Tashigi and Smoke's mind, while holding Smoker's physical heart in his hand in chapter 663.

 Otherwhise it would have been chaos if Caesar would have put Law's heart inside himself at Dressrosa, becoming Law.

Devil Fruit Power
It can't change. For example, Chopper and Franky were changed their hearts. In that case, Franky (in Chopper's body) can use all of Chopper's Devil Fruit abilities and Chopper (in Sanji's body) can't use his power at all.
Haki using ability
It will change because Haki means willpower (power of heart).
Strength (physical and mental)
I think it can't change. My example is Sanji (in Nami's body). He can't use his legs as well as in his own body and he can't run too fast for a long time because Nami's lungs can't bear.
They're only my views.
I try my best to get some references from wiki.
In following case, Tashigi (in Smoker's body) can use Smoke Smoke ability and her Haki is not very well and Luffy easily beats with Haki.

Tashigi confronts Luffy, demanding to know what he is plotting but
  Luffy easily dodges her smoke attack and pins her down using Haki
  wondering why "Smoker" got so weak. Smoker, seeing this, attacks Luffy
  from behind to Luffy's surprise that "Tashigi" got much stronger.

In following case, Sanji (in Nami's body) will not stand for a punch of Nami (in Franky's body). That shows strength doesn't change.

Sanji joyously introduces himself as Nami, ripping off his jacket and holding up her breasts, much to Brook and Usopp's pleasure. Nami goes in to punch herself, but is stopped by Chopper, saying she (meaning her body) will die.

I wish you'll pleasure. :)

+1 for the references. Also for future reference, instead of actual quotations, a picture from the manga/anime would have been fine also in this case (in my opinion). For example showing Tashigi or Franky use any Devil Fruit specific feature and showing Sanji mentioning that Nami's body is much weaker before he jumps into the river or something. People like pictures anyway ^^

@Halo - Actually I was hoping you could site the reference where Sanji uses Haki while in Nami's body because Nami couldn't use Haki and thus it proved that Haki usage abilities get transferred with the heart/soul :)

@R.J Sorry,bro. I think when Sanji's in Nami's body, he didn't use any Haki.At the whole time, all he did is just ran and swam. :)

@Halo - In the docs here, search for "Sanji used his Kenbunshoku Haki" and you'll see what I'm talking about.

@R.J With that one sentence you just referred to, you could have completely answered your own question lol.

@PeterRaeves - I knew it the answer all along. I just thought that it would be a good question for site. I've done that in the past, so thought that this time around I'd have some other Onepiece enthusiast answer it :)

@R.J I see ^^. Since multiple answers are encouraged, I'll try my best to answer too then


text:
When did L switch the 2nd Death Note in "The Last Name"?
In "Death Note: The Last Name", L Reveals that the Death Note Misa had which Light used to try and kill his father was a fake, however after L's fake death Light touched the Death Note to see Ryuk again.
I am wondering when L switched the Death Notes?

The facts are

At 1:56:10-20 Light can clearly see Ryuk, which means he should have touched the second DN at least once.
At 1:56:30 Light writes down his father's name, who doesn't die in the end.

In those 10 seconds it would have been impossible for L to switch the notebooks. Assuming this isn't just a mistake from the authors, I can think of two possibilities

Either L had secretly touched Light with a piece of the Death Note and asked Ryuk to play along and to only appear from the moment light had touched the fake notebook, making Light believe that it was the real one.
They only switched the pages and not the cover, as they did in the manga.

My gut feeling says it's the second, but I can't really prove it.


text:
What is the purpose of "second key" animation?
Typically in animation we see credits for key frame animation and inbetween animation.
A key animator is the artist responsible for producing the principal key frames of an animation. Basically key animators draw the essential frames that mark a distinct position or expression of a character in a particular scene. In other words, they draw the structure of a animated scene.
In order to complete the animation and make sure it moves fluidly, additional frames are required to go between key frames, this is called in-between animation.
In the credits of a lot of anime nowadays you see something called "second key" animation. What purpose do they serve in an anime production?

According to Anipages, a blog by Ben Ettinger about the world of anime and animation.

第二原画 Daini Genga = Second Key Animation
Traditionally in anime, after key animation, the next step would be for the animation director to check the key animation and apply the necessary corrections to bring the characters to model. A new role was recently invented as a buffer between the key animator and the animation director: second key animation.
Nigen 二原 for short, second key animation is a relatively new concept in anime. This person does what in the west is known as "cleanup" - cleaning up the rough genga before they're passed on to the animation director to be checked. This step permits key animators to pump out more animation than if they had to produce a more polished shot. For example, an animator who might be good at action can draw several complicated shots in rough form in the time it might take them to draw one polished shot. A nigen would then clean it up. Infrequently you will also see a daiichi genga 第一原画 or first key animation credit, which is presumably a way of distinguishing between the people who drew the rough key animation intended to be cleaned up by the daini genga crew and the people who drew regular key animation.


text:
How does the barrier taunt work?
In chapter 709 of One Piece, Bartolomeo has been seen blocking Elizabello II's king punch with his barrier, while shouting "Barrier". In the translator's comment it stated that this is a common taunt in Japanese school yards. Now how does this taunt work? How would I use it if I were in a Japanese school yard?

According to 日本語俗語辞書 ("Japanese Slang Dictionary"):

バリアとは、子供が汚い物や人に触れたときに囃して遊ぶときの言葉。
Barrier is a word that children say jeeringly when they touch an object or person that is unclean.

According to the explanation further down on the page: children say this to someone who has touched something unclean to stop the uncleanness from "spreading".
As an example, consider a child who has stepped in dog feces. Having done so, the child will try to chase his friends around (and touch them with his hands like in a game of tag, not with his feet to literally get the dog feces on his friends). If, however, all his friends say "barrier" and trace out some sort of pattern with their hands, the child who stepped in the dog feces will have no choice but to abandon the chase (and remain "it", which I suppose is humiliating to any child).
The dictionary seems to think that this was based on people imitating Ultraman. Seems plausible, I guess.
For an example of someone barrier-ing, the interested reader might like to have a look at episode 5 of Oregairu, around the 6:15 mark.

Note: Since I have never been on a Japanese schoolyard, this answer relies entirely on secondhand sources. An answer from someone who has been a kid in Japan would probably be superior.

I asked a friend and she basically confirmed what you said. Stuff might have gone lost in multiple translations but this is how I understood what she said. "To protect yourself, you would shout barrier like you would be saying don't touch me in English.  The barrier would then make it impossible for the child to pass on the thing you wouldn't want passing on".


text:
What were the other nine questions in the Chuunin exams?
I'm not exactly expecting to find a full list or anything, but I was wondering if the manga/anime gave any clues to what the questions might have been. Checking the manga, I found that the first question was a cryptogram and that the second question was about tactics.
However, I could not find any more information about the questions from the manga. Does the anime provide any more insight into what the first 9 questions might have been?

is cryptography
is figuring out trajectory of a thrown shuriken, as well as predicting the furthest possible range of a shuriken and describing how that conclusion was reached
appears to have a topographical map involving a mountain

As far as I can tell, no other question is explicitly discussed or clearly shown, but none of the rest of them have diagrams or maps, so presumably they are all math or logic questions.
One that Sakura is looking at is shown but (at least at the resolution I'm looking at it on) the kanji just shows up as black blobs, and I'm not sure what it says.
According to Sakura (in the English dub), they are "problems based on uncertainty and requiring complex mechanical energy analysis." They are also stated to get more difficult as they go.


text:
Have any Zoan types other than Chopper gained the ability to transform into more than three things?
Chopper can transform into 7 different things (not including monster point) with the rumble ball and after the timeskip he can transform into 7 more. But why are there no other Zoan types that have more than three transformations!

Chopper can transform into 7 different things (not including monster point) with the rumble ball.

You answered your own question right there. He's completely reliant on a drug that he developed in order to make the additional transformations. Before the timeskip he was able to do the original 3 transformations without the rumble ball, and an additional 4 with the rumble ball.
After the timeskip he no longer needs the rumble ball for all 7 original transformations. There is nothing canon that explains why. However with the fact that he is able to transform into Monster Point with only 1 rumble ball now hints that he has developed a permanent effect of some degree that allows this.
It is assumed at this point that Chopper could theoretically develop something for other Zoan-class users assuming the rumble ball didn't already work for them. Suffice to say that at this point no other known scientists have developed anything similar.

Zoan Devil Fruits allows the user to transform into another species. This type of fruit provides three basic forms (Source):

Human Form (人型 Hito-gata?): The user's natural form.
Human-Beast Form (人獣型 Jinjū-gata?): A hybrid form, combining both the original and the fruit-bestowed species into an unusual form (usually in a bizarre way where the size is greatly exaggerated).
Beast Form (獣型 Kemono-gata?): A fully transformed type.

This is not different from any Zoan user we have seen so far. The thing where Zoan users can get creative is within their Human-Beast form. The Human-Beast form combines both the original and the fruit-bestowed species into an unusual form, but it does not specify which parts are of which species. Zoan users can be creative as to which parts they turn into which species', but it seems that great control over your Devil Fruit and/or muscles is needed before you can attempt such feats.
That is why Chopper has been able to discover much of his combinations much sooner on, because Chopper had been on drugs the whole time. The rumble ball enhances his control over his Devil Fruit, making him able to experiment more with his different combinations of his Human-Beast hybrid form. He is not the only one that has been able to transform into more than three transformations though.

While most Zoan Devil Fruits normally allow three forms of transformations under normal circumstances, Lucci is able to access a fourth form using Life Return (Source). Rob Lucci was seen as one of the strongest Zoan users we have encountered so far, thus it makes sense for him to also be able to manipulate his body further, without the need for drugs.

 Another example we have seen of Zoan users that had transformed further, were the Jailer Beasts. Those five Zoan users, were confirmed to be awakened Zoan users by Crocodile. Assuming Chopper's monster point is his Awakened form, it is again shown, that Chopper could access his awakened transformation earlier on than other users due to him being on drugs.

Therefore, at this point it seems that Thebluefish is correct in saying that Chopper can transform into different forms prematurely due to his Rumble ball. Though, I do not agree on the fact that the rumble would supposedly be necessary in order to gain different transformation. It just greatly enhanced it progression.

Yes zoan users have three basic forms as you said, but awakening cannot be considered as a form. Every type of DF can awakened. It provides further capabilities, but as of know it not not mentioned that it is a different form of a Zoan fruit.

Actually, Luffy's devil fruit, the "Hito Hito no Mi Model: Nika" is a mythical zoan fruit that allows him to transform into 5 gears. Luffy's Gear 4 has three subforms, Boundman, Snakeman, and Tankman. Counting all his gears apart from gear 4, he has 4 transformations. If we add the three subforms, we get 7 total transformations. So, Chopper and Luffy have the same amount of transformations.

After the  time skip Chopper is able to access all the transformations without the rumble ball. The Monster Chopper transformation he unlocks when he eats three can be done with one now, though he is still incapacitated after using it. Not only that. He can control himself while in Monster Chopper form.

From Wikia:

Zoan Devil Fruits allows the user to transform into another species. This type of fruit provides three basic forms:

Human Form (人型 Hito-gata): The user's natural form.
Human-Beast Form (人獣型 Jinjū-gata): A hybrid form, combining both the original and the fruit-bestowed species into an unusual form (usually in a bizarre way where the size is greatly exaggerated).
Beast Form (獣型 Kemono-gata): A fully transformed type.

This is not different from any Zoan user we have seen so far. The thing where Zoan users can get creative is within their Human-Beast form. The Human-Beast form combines both the original and the fruit-bestowed species into an unusual form, but it does not specify which parts are of which species. Zoan users can be creative as to which parts they turn into which species', but it seems that great control over your Devil Fruit and/or muscles is needed before you can attempt such feats.
That is why Chopper has been able to discover much of his combinations much sooner on because Chopper had been on drugs the whole time. The rumble ball enhances his control over his Devil Fruit, making him able to experiment more with the different combinations of his Human-Beast hybrid form. He is not the only one that has been able to transform into more than three transformations
though.


text:
How did the shipwright Tom get the blueprints to the Pluton?
In the anime Tom is the best shipwright there is, but how did he get the blue prints to the Pluton. Did he write them himself, and if so how did he get the information needed to do so?

Franky explains this, before destroying the blueprints. According to him, the best shipwrights of the world created Pluton to counter the ancient weapon "Poseidon".
I don't think any names have been mentioned, but it is safe to assume that the blueprints were handed down to Tom from his master.

But I thought that there were three ancient weapons, Pluton, Poseidon, and Uranus? Were they all made in different time periods?

The idea of Ancient weapons is not clear to me either, since they have joined it with the meramid princess being the weapon "poseidon". There is too much ambiguity. All we know so far that it has to do something with Poneglyphs and the void century. My answer was aimed to answer how Tom got hold of the blueprints. If you want to talk about the weapons themselves, try to ask another question or search for yourselves :)

Not all of the weapons are "made". While it is true that Pluton is a ship and indeed needs to be created, Poseidon on the other hand is merely the ability to control the Sea Kings. While this is not a tangible weapon, it could still cause mass destruction if the mermaid would have wrong intentions. Not much is known about Uranus though.

As far as the story goes, the Pluton is a ship created by a shipwright to counter the other Ancient weapon 'Uranus' as told about by Iceburg to Franky during the Enies Lobby Arc in the anime, thus its blueprints were secretely passed down among shipwrights. Not much is known about Uranus itself, except that its shipwright simply wanted to create something really destructive. As for 'Poseidon', she is the mermaid princess who only got the nick name because she has the uncanny ability to control the Sea Kings, thus feared by the World Government.

The blueprints for the ancient weapon Pluton were not made by Tom, but passed on to him according to the Wiki on Ancient Weapons:

While Pluton has yet to appear in the story proper, it has been referred to as an ancient ship capable of massive damage and destruction. It was built on the island of Water 7 sometime during the Void Century, and the shipwrights kept the blueprints as a safety measure, in the event that Pluton fell into the wrong hands; fortunately, the ship was lost to history before that could happen. The blueprints were passed down through the generations, and ten years prior to the main storyline were held by the Fishman carpenter, Tom, of Tom's Workers.

Therefore the blueprints were created during the Void century about 800 to 900 years ago and passed down through generations. Tom was the best shipwright of his generation, but when he was younger, there was probably another shipwright as good or maybe even better than Tom, from whom Tom had inherit the blueprints from. The blueprints, could be a real danger for society and should have been destroyed earlier, but as Tom mentioned, it is not the ship that does the wrongdoing, it's its captain. Shipwrights just build the ship. So they kept the blueprints around, to be able to defend themselves, if the original ship ever fell into the wrong hands or to defend themselves against any of the other ancient weapons. In Enies Lobby, Franky destroyed the blueprints, although it is not clear whether he had made a copy or whether he had memorized the blueprints. He is a robot after all. So it might still not be the end of Pluton as we speak.


text:
What is the joke behind "fork" and "spoon" keywords?
Christina decides a keyword which will make her believe Hououin Kyouma's story in the next time-line. That password is:

私が今一番欲しい物はMy-Forkであり。
  My-Spoonはもうもってるし。
  The thing I most want at the moment is "my fork".
  I already have "my spoon".

She blushes as soon as she says it. And when Kyouma repeats her this password in the following time-lines, she feels strongly ashamed (especially for the "spoon" thing) of it everytime.
What is the reason behind Christina's intense embarrassment?

According to an interview with the scenario writer, Naotaka Hayashi, featured in Dengeki Games Magazine about the heroines of anime/game that weren’t explained in the main story:

Why did Kurisu want her own fork?
Ever since Kurisu came back to Japan she couldn’t get enough of instant ramen. At first she tried using chopsticks to eat her ramen but never could get used to them, so she gave up and used a fork instead. This is why she wanted her own personal fork to eat her ramen at the lab.

This is probably the actual meaning she implies. Her comment about how Okabe shouldn't take an interest (i.e., ask more about it) in that, is probably something to hide he embarrassment of not being able to use chopsticks.
Note that she brought her own spoon for pudding, but she doesn't have a fork (for ramen).

According to the Tv Tropes page, the explanation for the "fork" and "spoon" is an inside joke from 2chan for "lover" and "friend":

Apparently "my fork" and "my spoon" was at some point 2chan slang for "lover" and "friend", respectively. No wonder Kurisu was so pissed with herself.

But no source was provided.
Though the Steins Gate wiki has a different explanation for it:

As a way for Makise Kurisu to understand that Okabe time-leaped back a few hours prior to Mayuri's death, she tells Okabe that she needs a "My Fork" to go with her "My Spoon" in the present, so that when he time-leaps back, she'll believe that Okabe came back from the future to save Mayuri.

But I still think it's just slang.

This answer will not provide you with any deeper meaning on what it would mean to own your personal spoon and/or fork, but it will tell you how Makise got her spoon and why she wanted a matching fork.

In Steins;Gate: Aishin Meizu no Babel (The story from Makise Kurisu's POV) you can see how Makise gets her personal spoon for her tenth birthday from her father and was supposed to get her personal fork from him a year after that on her eleventh birthday.

Then on her eleventh birthday, she gave her father proof that time machines should be impossible to build. He became outraged over this and instead of giving her anything, he told her he would prove her wrong and erase her from this earth.

So I guess her wanting her personal fork, would mean that she wanted to patch things up with her father and become wanted again by him. Which can be seen when Ferris lets her listen to the tape both their fathers had made 16 years earlier, when she called him after all these years.

 Not much had changed though, he still hadn't been able to built the time machine and he still wanted to erase her existence in 2010.

That seems to be some sort of afterthought though. Not necessarily the original intention of the original author. But still an interesting addition.

In addition to Jon's answer:
In Japan, people usually have their personal set of dishes, which they may call my+something. e.g マイ箸 for chopsticks...
It is also trendy to prepend this "my" prefix for many personal objects that are seen as an achievement : house (マイホーム), car (マイカー)...
Combine those 2 hints for better understanding of the joke :)

People have their own chopsticks within a family situation? Is this common in Japan? I could never imagine someone to have their own personal fork, spoon or knife at the dinner table.

@PeterRaeves I have seen this commonly. In the western world, equivalents maybe include using your own mug instead of the first one you find...


text:
What's the proper viewing order of Hidamari Sketch series?
There are lots of series out there called "Hidamari Sketch" -something and I'm not sure in which order to watch them. Can you help me out with that?

You might as well watch them in production/publishing order:

Hidamari Sketch
Hidamari Sketch (special)
Hidamari Sketch × 365 (TV)
Hidamari Sketch × 365 (special)
Hidamari Sketch × Hoshimittsu (TV)
Hidamari Sketch × Hoshimittsu (special)
Hidamari Sketch × SP (special)
Hidamari Sketch × Honeycomb (TV) (sequel)
Hidamari Sketch: Sae/Hiro Sotsugyō-hen (OAV)

(listing from ANN's page.  Everything except the last OAV is on Hulu - the specials are part of the previous main season)
The problem is that episodes aren't completely in chronological order.  There're two groups:

Hidamari Sketch + Hidamari Sketch × 365 (Yuno & Miyako year 1)
× Hoshimittsu + × SP + × Honeycomb + Sae/Hiro Sotsugyō-hen (Yuno & Miyako year 2)

Episodes in the first groups are less ordered.  Episodes in the second group are more in order, but also have some episodes that chronologically take place during the first group.

I completely agree with @Clockwork-Muse' suggestion that, if you're a first time watcher, release order is definitely the way to go.
The show was made in that order and cues in later episodes (even if set in the past) will have no effect if you haven't seen what they're referencing from a previous ep.
However, for everyone else that, like me, rocked up at this question because you're generally curious about what the actual order might be (instead of just being ushered away with don't you worry about that), I'm writing this for you.
This is no Haruhi, but I don't doubt that it'd be cool to go chronological for a rewatch of the show, get a new perspective and watch the characters grow together.
╔════════════════════════════════╤═════════╦══════╤══════════╗
║             Season             │ Episode ║ Year │   Date   ║
╠════════════════════════════════╪═════════╬══════╪══════════╣
║ Hidamari Sketch x Hoshi        │    9 A  ║    0 │ 22nd Nov ║
║ Hidamari Sketch x365           │    1    ║    1 │ 10th Feb ║
║ Hidamari Sketch x365           │    7    ║    1 │  7th Apr ║
║ Hidamari Sketch                │   11    ║    1 │ 28th Apr ║
║ Hidamari Sketch                │    4    ║    1 │ 18th May ║
║ Hidamari Sketch x365           │    3    ║    1 │ 27th May ║
║ Hidamari Sketch x365           │ SP 2    ║    1 │  6th Jun ║
║ Hidamari Sketch x365           │   10    ║    1 │  8th Jun ║
║ Hidamari Sketch                │    3    ║    1 │ 17th Jun ║
║ Hidamari Sketch x365           │   12    ║    1 │  8th Jul ║
║ Hidamari Sketch                │    6    ║    1 │ 14th Jul ║
║ Hidamari Sketch x365           │    6 A  ║    1 │ 30th Jul ║
║ Hidamari Sketch x365           │    9 A  ║    1 │  5th Aug ║
║ Hidamari Sketch                │ SP 1    ║    1 │ 11th Aug ║
║ Hidamari Sketch                │    2    ║    1 │ 21st Aug ║
║ Hidamari Sketch                │ SP 3    ║    1 │ 26th Aug ║
║ Hidamari Sketch                │    9    ║    1 │  4th Sep ║
║ Hidamari Sketch x Hoshi        │    8 B  ║    1 │ 26th Sep ║
║ Hidamari Sketch x365           │   11    ║    1 │ 28th Sep ║
║ Hidamari Sketch                │    7    ║    1 │ 12th Oct ║
║ Hidamari Sketch x365           │    8    ║    1 │ 13th Oct ║
║ Hidamari Sketch x365           │    4 B  ║    1 │ 31st Oct ║
║ Hidamari Sketch                │   10    ║    1 │  3rd Nov ║
║ Hidamari Sketch x365           │    6 B  ║    1 │ 11th Nov ║
║ Hidamari Sketch                │ SP 2    ║    1 │ 27th Nov ║
║ Hidamari Sketch x365           │    9 B  ║    1 │  3rd Dec ║
║ Hidamari Sketch x Hoshi        │    3 B  ║    1 │ 10th Dec ║
║ Hidamari Sketch                │   12    ║    1 │ 25th Dec ║
║ Hidamari Sketch x365           │   13    ║    2 │ 10th Jan ║
║ Hidamari Sketch                │    1    ║    2 │ 11th Jan ║
║ Hidamari Sketch x Hoshi        │    5 B  ║    2 │ 31th Jan ║
║ Hidamari Sketch x365           │    2    ║    2 │  6th Feb ║
║ Hidamari Sketch x365           │ SP 1    ║    2 │ 10th Feb ║
║ Hidamari Sketch                │    5    ║    2 │ 13th Feb ║
║ Hidamari Sketch x Hoshi        │   11 B  ║    2 │ 16th Feb ║
║ Hidamari Sketch x365 OVA/EX    │         ║    2 │ 24th Feb ║
║ Hidamari Sketch x Hoshi        │    1 A  ║    2 │ 27th Feb ║
║ Hidamari Sketch                │    8    ║    2 │ 13th Mar ║
║ Hidamari Sketch x365           │    4 A  ║    2 │ 16th Mar ║
║ Hidamari Sketch x365           │    5    ║    2 │ 25th Mar ║
║ Hidamari Sketch x Hoshi        │    1 B  ║    2 │  1st Apr ║
║ Hidamari Sketch x Hoshi        │    2    ║    2 │  6th Apr ║
║ Hidamari Sketch x Hoshi        │    3 A  ║    2 │  8th Apr ║
║ Hidamari Sketch x Hoshi        │    4    ║    2 │ 15th Apr ║
║ Hidamari Sketch x Hoshi        │    5 A  ║    2 │ 20th Apr ║
║ Hidamari Sketch x Hoshi        │    6    ║    2 │ 26th Apr ║
║ Hidamari Sketch x Hoshi        │    7    ║    2 │  3rd May ║
║ Hidamari Sketch x SP           │    2 A  ║    2 │  9th May ║
║ Hidamari Sketch x Hoshi        │    8 A  ║    2 │ 13th May ║
║ Hidamari Sketch x Honey        │    1    ║    2 │  6th May ║
║ Hidamari Sketch x Honey        │    2    ║    2 │ 18th May ║
║ Hidamari Sketch x Hoshi        │    9 B  ║    2 │ 21st May ║
║ Hidamari Sketch x SP           │    2 B  ║    2 │ 25th May ║
║ Hidamari Sketch x Hoshi        │   10    ║    2 │ 28th May ║
║ Hidamari Sketch x Hoshi        │   11 A  ║    2 │  5th Jun ║
║ Hidamari Sketch x SP           │    1 A  ║    2 │ 15th Jul ║
║ Hidamari Sketch x Hoshi        │   12    ║    2 │ 12th Jul ║
║ Hidamari Sketch x Hoshi        │ SP 1    ║    2 │ 11th Jun ║
║ Hidamari Sketch x SP           │    1 B  ║    2 │ 28th Aug ║
║ Hidamari Sketch x Honey        │    3    ║    2 │ 31st Aug ║
║ Hidamari Sketch x Honey        │    4    ║    2 │ 15th Sep ║
║ Hidamari Sketch x Honey        │    5 A  ║    2 │ 17th Sep ║
║ Hidamari Sketch x Honey        │    6 A  ║    2 │ 25th Sep ║
║ Hidamari Sketch x Honey        │    5 B  ║    2 │ 28th sep ║
║ Hidamari Sketch x Honey        │    6 B  ║    2 │ 29th Sep ║
║ Hidamari Sketch x Honey        │    7    ║    2 │  5th Oct ║
║ Hidamari Sketch x Honey        │    8    ║    2 │ 11th Oct ║
║ Hidamari Sketch x Honey        │    9    ║    2 │ 10th Nov ║
║ Hidamari Sketch x Honey        │   10    ║    2 │  2nd Dec ║
║ Hidamari Sketch x Honey        │   11 A  ║    2 │ 22nd Dec ║
║ Hidamari Sketch x Honey        │   11 B  ║    2 │ 24th Dec ║
║ Hidamari Sketch x Honey        │   12    ║    2 │ 31st Dec ║
║ Hidamari Sketch x Sae and Hiro │    1    ║    3 │  1st Feb ║
║ Hidamari Sketch x Sae and Hiro │    2    ║    3 │ 28th Feb ║
╚════════════════════════════════╧═════════╩══════╧══════════╝

Year refers to the year of Yuno being at Hidamari. The first entry predates this. If Episode contains the SP prefix it means it is of the specials associated with that season, and if it has an A or B suffix it means it is only talking about the first/second half of that episode respectively!
I found this thread where Viteracf has listed the order of the ep's for all four seasons! I tidied up his table [a lot] but you're gonna wanna consult his version if you want his notes on specific entries in the table (like why he put X before Y, or to see an uncovered anachronistic mistake).
Centent also made a list before that shows things in a slightly differing order, but doesn't regard all the seasons and could be at odds due to concerns already explained in the notes I mentioned earlier. Check them out if you feel the need

@asgard, regarding your edit i dont have time to verify myself, but I do want to give you a chance even though you're a new account. I've improved things on random forums a good few times with a new account a few times too. If you can post an imgur album or something with the title cards for those eps showing the in-universe dates I can accept. Otherwise I cant just blindly say "from Viteracf but legit improvements by asgard"

I want to fix the answers from the person above me a little

Hidamari sketch x Hoshi Sp1B Year 0 7th Apr (the first chronological eps)
Hidamari sketch x Hoshi 2B Year 1 19th Jul (after Hidasketch eps 6)
Hidamari sketch x Hoshi Sp2A Year 2 23rd Jun (after x Hoshi Sp1A)
Hidamari sketch x Hoshi Sp2B Year 2 30th Jul (after x Hoshi eps 12)


text:
What is the name of the con trick Ging Freecss uses in HxH (2011) #137?
In Episode 137 of Hunter x Hunter during the Chairman Election arc, Ging rigs the election rule choosing process with his own 5 rules. He states his fifth and last rule is a decoy, with the purpose of making his earlier rule points easier to concede to. He cites this is a popular con man trick.
Is this a real con man trick, and if so, what is the equivalent name in our world?

Something similar is done in cognitive psychology, which might be related. You make a client sit down, give him 6 points that are TRUE, for example the chair you are sitting is is soft. once you get to the 7th point you can pretty much tell a lie, and still be believe. In this case it seems to be tell 4 points that can be agreed to. and finally a outrageous point, they will agree to the rest if you drop the last.

How about drawing attention to something else which is also common used for magicians? When you're fixed at one thing you forget or rather overlook all the others. To them having Freecs being the chairman was the trigger, which made them overlook any other facts such as previous rules to with rage negate the position to Freecs.

This particular trick is hard to name, because it is so specific to circumstance. It is a form of psychological manipulation which can be categorized as misdirection,[1] diversion,[2] or a confidence trick.[3] However, it falls most directly under the title of "Kansas City Shuffle".[4][5]{note 1}
The trick essentially goes as follows:

The victim expects to be conned.
The victim figures out how to avoid a different con, thinking they've avoided the con altogether.
The victim then ends up being taken by the original, hidden con.

In Ging's case, it's something like this:

The Zodiacs are expecting that Ging wants to further his goal to become chairman (since he elected himself).
Because Ging introduced the rule #5 decoy, Pariston and the others talk him out of it, and think they've foiled his plan.
They don't realize that the con plan was actually rules #1 through #4, and they accept his terms. (Not like they really had a choice—but they are now okay with it.)

However, since the term Kansas City Shuffle is not a common one, I'd file this most closely as a simple diversion. He is introducing something to draw attention away from something else which, at its core, is just plain and simple psychological diversion.

Footnotes
[1] Wikipedia: Misdirection
[2] Wikipedia: Distraction
[3] Wikipedia: Confidence trick
[4] Wikipedia: Kansas City Shuffle
[5] TV Tropes: Kansas City Shuffle
{note 1} The Wikipedia article focuses somewhat on song by that name from 2006. The "scheme" section covers well enough what the basic idea is, but honestly, the TV Tropes article is more clear.


text:
Why couldn't the Dark Release: Inhaling Maw absorb Rasen Shuriken Technique ?
Towards the end of Naruto Shippūden 3: Inheritors of the Will of Fire Hiruko failed to absorb Naruto's rasenshuriken technique.
Dark Release: Inhaling Maw technique is described as a technique which can forcibly extract the physical and spiritual energy of another ninja, even from a considerable distance. Yet it is mentioned that when Hiruko tried to absorb Naruto's Wind Release: Rasenshuriken, he was unable to combine the shape and nature manipulation, and the technique fell apart, meaning the user of this technique has to match the level and nature of the jutsu he's trying to absorb.
But Hiruko could simply drain Naruto of his chakra, disabling him from using whatever technique he had up his sleeve.
I'm feeling a gap here. Without understanding what happened there,(I can understand Naruto being gutsy, forceful and all), but a forceful ending of the movie would make me feel a bit unhappy ! I'll be glad if someone explains it to me. Thank you. :)

First of all, take all of this with a grain of salt. The movie is entirely filler, and was not explicitly explained anywhere.
When Hiroku tried to absorb and use the Rasenshuriken, the process of combining this specific nature with that specific shape was too hard for him. Remember that Naruto needs 2 additional clones and a significant amount of time to generate a rasenshuriken. When Hiroku tried, the technique blew up in his hand, and he didn't have the time to do anything else.
As for Hiroku disabling Naruto's chakra, remember that Naruto is the jinchuuriki of the Nine Tails, even if Hiroku could absorb such an incredible amount of chakra without being overwhelmed, The Nine Tails' hatred infused chakra is poisonous.
On a more "producer"ish note, Naruto had to win somehow...

Oh! so it was either by the rasenshuriken or the Kyuubi ... my questions could go on .. like for example Hiruko had 3 other Kekkei Genkai, and could do better than taking a head on from that rasenshuriken .. :-)

Yes, Hiroku could have evaded with the Swift element and attacked from behind. But he was confident that he could have used the Rasenshuriken. He was overconfident in his ability to absorb Ninjutsu.

ok .. :D I could speculate over Hiruko's strategy all day, and wonder how long drawn that battle could be. But Naruto is the hero after all .. accepted peacefully ! Thanks ! :-)

oh! there is one more thing .. about Hiruko absorbing the Kyuubi chakra .. at that point Naruto still wasn't in possession of the demon's chakra, and the Eight Trigrams Seal only allows a limited rate of flow of the nine tail's chakra into Naruto's chakra network, but if Hiruko started to absorbed enough of Naruto's blue-chakra, the Kyuubi could take that chance and run rampant, since there wouldn't be enough blue-chakra to keep the red-chakra in check. This would lead to a completely different scenario. :o


text:
What is a biodroid in Ghost in the Shell?
In the episode 24 of GITS SAC 2nd GIG it becomes apparent that the member of Section 9, usually referred to as Proto, is actually not a human, but a "biodroid" prototype. What exactly is it and how different it is from cyberized people and androids?

As the name suggests, a bioroid is an android, but built with human body parts-- except that they don't have a human brain.
The Major is a cyberized human, and an android is the least human of the three.

Saying he doesn't have a "human" brain is a bit misleading.  In Appleseed (a related work from the same author) Bioroids are essentially clones/engineered humans, so by default have "human" (ish) brains.  Perhaps you meant they don't have a brain from an "actual" human?

We are not talking about Appleseed. I looked up Appleseed's bioroid definition as well, and it's different.
Are GiTS bioroids the same? Think about Proto, who is GiTS' biorod, by the end of the show.


text:
How does Kirito come back to life when he's fighting Heathcliff?
I was rewatching Sword Art Online and I notice that Heathcliff KILLS him and yet, he is able to come back and finish off Heathcliff, how is this so?

Logically, there is a delay in between the death flag being detected and the NerveGear frying the brain, which is explain by how a Revival Item (Divine Stone of Returning Soul) can be used within 10 seconds of a player's death.
However, as for how Kirito, whose HP was 0 but was still able to affect Heathcliff, was explained by Kayaba Akihiko when he congratulated Kirito for doing something that went beyond the system by using the power of the human will. This concept is reasserted when Kayaba appears before Kirito in ALO and reminds Kirito about how he acknowledged this.
It's more of an anomaly rather than any sort of plot hole. In essence, Kirito shouldn't have been able to do anything when his HP reached 0, but he was still determined to end the game because Asuna believed he would end the game for her sake. That determination allowed him to transcend SAO's rules.

I believe fridge logic dictates that the NerveGear doesn't start doing damage to a person until at least after 10 seconds of a player being dead. It may even be longer--- as this isn't explored from outside the game. In the terms of physiology, the easiest way for the NerveGear to kill someone is simply to shutdown their heart. This would lead to a user's death. Indeed, thinking about it for a few seconds, this is the likely cause of death. User dies in hardcore, gets "dumped" from the game, but not logged out properly. Thus, the gear doesn't "unhook" from the nervous system, just shuts down.

Kirito didn't come back to life. The whole "You are dead" and then scattering to pieces, and then coming back to life was the anime's dramatization. It was never like that. It was simply there to say that Kirito's mind had accepted death. However, Kirito had not died in real life yet, and he had a sudden burst of will and resolution to live, by which he then altered the game's so called "rules". This is not a bug, it is simply because the virtual world they lived in was, well, virtual. In a way, it's simply an image projected by the brain, and is supported by a system. Because he had a strong resolution, he was able to defeat the game's rules just in time to defeat Heathcliff.
However, this is not the end of it all. Asuna's died way before this happened. To explain why she was able to survive: Heathcliff had turned off the system's mechanism of killing a person in real life by frying the brain upon in-game death, which was an in-game module, right before the duel started. Thus, even though Asuna had died in-game, she was not killed in real life because Kayaba had disabled the module that fries the brain. The area they were in at the end was neither an imagination, a dream, nor any kind of afterlife. It was a special area Kayaba created in order to talk to Kirito after the duel. Whether he had won or not, Kirito would meet Kayaba in that area

What Kayaba turned off is not the brain microwave. It was his Game Master protection where his HP would not fall below 50%. The reason why Asuna didn't die despite her HP reaching 0 is because Kayaba promised Kirito of Asuna's safety, that is, he will prevent her from committing suicide. Covering Kirito from attack counts as a suicidal move.

Kirito need to live on was great enough to where he could mentally hack the game sort of so he delayed the deleting proses long enough for him to kill Kayaba. Also because of Kayaba being defeated, he did not have to hold on any longer he was already safe. Also to correct what another said, Asuna did not die because the creator of Alfhiem Online spent a long time gathering her very essence and sending her to his game before the Nervegear fried her and was under his control.

Human's will overcoming the limitation of the system is the theme in the final battle of Aincard and Alfheim arcs. And Kayaba seems to be a person who would keep his promise: http://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/19159/why-did-akihiko-kayaba-make-death-permanent-in-sword-art-online/19173#19173


text:
Does Konan have a theme song?
Pretty much every character in Naruto seems to have his/her own theme song. But I can't seem to find a theme song for Konan. Does she just not have one? or is it just hard to find/ not released yet ?

Konan - as far as I know - doesn't have an official soundtrack. She's usually seen with Pain in which Pain's soundtrack plays.
I'd say that Konan shares a soundtrack with Pain which is called Girei.

Theres a song in the storm revolution game thats starts when konan talks to sasori i think thats here theme

there is one called the angelic herald of death which is associated usually with konan it is an unreleased OST


text:
When was the first usage of 'white light' censorship in anime?
As I have been watching anime, I have found that a lot of the more modern shows which contain content not suitable for TV viewing use bright light to censor bodily parts, overly violent/bloody imagery, etc.

When I watch older shows, like Evangellion below, there are also scenes that are inappropriate for viewing, but the shows usually solve this by conveniently placed items or viewing angles.

In some other shows, there are also placeholder images which are sometimes placed on top of the area to be censored, a sort of combination between the two.

But at least these two alternatives are usually slightly humorous and do not feel overly forced, whereas bright light from nowhere usually breaks my immersion with its very unnatural feel.
I find some shows have become unwatchable because of this trend - I dropped Tokyo Ghoul recently to wait for the DVD release, because I couldn't tell what was happening in certain scenes (lack of light in this instance, but same concept).

Where has this trend come from and which anime was first to include it?

TV Tropes has a page on the shadow censorship, which is essentially the same thing. The basic idea comes from overall censorship laws, such as exist in Japan. As this article mentions, a common means of censoring genitals is a "mozaiku" or mosaic, which is pretty much just a pixelization of the area. This page talks about the airbrushing over of female genitalia in pornography magazines.
The white bars (or shadows) seems to be, from what I can tell, attempts to censor genitalia (and sometimes violence/gore) in relatively unobtrusive ways. Shadows and light flares can more easily pass for being just a part of the scene than random people's faces, black bars, blurring, or pixelization. Similar things happen in this, for example, where clouds obscure Naruto's jutsu.
The light flares are also sometimes used to block faces or people, especially in pictures, though that it more of an in-universe censorship (when they're dead or need to be kept a secret, etc.) than censorship because of the law.
As for why not all of them are done in the way that the Neon Genesis Evangelion scene was done, I have two answers. The first is that it is often done for laughs or to add comedic effect, which is not necessarily what is being aimed towards in gory or sexy scenes. The second is that it is not always practical. A lot of work would need to be put in to making some scenes be able to always have something in front of the genitalia or wounds of the character, while light bars, shadows, or clouds are a lot easier.
As for which anime had it first, I currently can't find that, but I thought it would be more helpful to post this at least.


text:
What does "DxD" in "Highschool DxD" stand for?
I have been following High School DxD's anime and manga. However, there has been no explanation of what DxD in the title means so far.
Does anyone know what it stands for?

As revealed in Volume 16 of the light novel, DxD is the name of an anti-terrorism organization and has the meaning of the different factions which form the group:

Devils, also a Dragon, and the word “Fallen” of a Fallen Angel—like downfall.

(In Japanese, Fallen Angel is [堕天使]【だてんし】, whose romaji datenshi starts with D)
Quoting from the novel:

—Then Koneko-chan mutters.
“—[D×D].”
Everyone gazes at Koneko-chan’s muttering. Koneko-chan is surprised at
having so much attention directed towards her. She then continues
while feeling shy.
“Well, since it’s a mixed team consisted of different beings, that’s
how I felt……”
Rias then asks.
“What does the [D×D] stand for? Does it stand for being a Dragon of
Dragon like Great Red?”
“No, it can stand for Devils, also a Dragon, and the word “Fallen” of
a Fallen Angel—like downfall.”
Koneko-chan answers.
I see, so it means [D×D] while pointing towards Devils, Dragons, and
such.
Sensei nods his head.

According to Volume 6 of the light novel, DxD also stands for Dragon of Dragons, referring to the Great Red:

“There are two dragons called the ‘Red Dragons’. One of them is the ancient dragon from Wales residing in you. Welsh Dragon. The Sekiryuutei. Hakuryuukou also comes from the same origin and the same myth. But there is one more ‘Red Dragon’. That is the Red-Dragon which is recorded in Revelation.”
“Revelation……?”
“The True God-Emperor of Red-Dragon. Apocalypse Dragon, the Great-Red. It’s the great dragon which is called the ‘True-Dragon’. It chooses to live in the dimensional gap and swims there for eternity. Today, we came here to confirm ‘that’. The field of Rating Game is inside a section in the dimensional gap by putting on a barrier. This time, Ophis’s true aim was to confirm that. Shalba’s plan was something which wasn’t important to us.”
[...]
That time, Vali showed the clearest eyes ever seen before.
“The one I want to fight the most. The Apocalypse Dragon Great-Red who is called [DxD], Dragon of Dragon. –I want to become “The True God-Emperor of White-Dragon”. It won’t look good if the ‘white’ is a rank below the ‘Red’ when there is the ultimate-class for ‘Red’ right? That’s why I will become one. One day when I defeat Great-Red.”

@ton.yeung not that the hyphenation matters in anyway, but if anything it should be da-tenshi.

Add in that Issei's latest power up which combines Ddraig's power with Ophis and Great Red's is called DxD (read as Diabolos Dragon).

The "DxD" in High School DxD stands for "Draw x Delete".
In the opening song of High School DxD, (I suggest listening to the one with lyrics in English) you can see in it that they do say the full form of "DxD".


text:
Does air bending have a sub skill, and if it does what is it?
Water has the ability to heal, earth can bend metals, and fire has lightning. I am not sure if I missed what air had if it has any sub skills.

mmm you can fly, you can cut things, you can make a fog with it, you can make a air ball to ride on... not sure any would fit as a sub skill.

The sub-skill of airbending, is I would say what Jinora can do with her spirit although it hasn't been confirmed.

@Prix Flying would be the obvious option as the Air Ball is like a step down from flying (hovering) and the Airbender Monks, if i recall, bread Sky Bisons which have the innate ability to fly. Cutting things can be done with Water Bending and a fog can be manipulated by Wind however would probably be created by Water

I thought that bloodbending was typically considered the "sub-skill" of waterbending?

@senshin it is a sub-skill.  Also its revealed that combustion and lava bending are rare sub-skills.  I wouldn't be surprised if this season (3) they show us an Air subskill since its kind of about airbenders and the Red Lotus (most of whom have unique skills) have an extremely skilled airbender (Zaheer).

@Hakubex seems season 3 introduced unassisted flying as an Airbender subskill.

Each sub-skill is a relatively rare skill compared to the population of that type of bending that requires special training (with one exception) to learn.  As the population of air benders has been tiny and many nuanced details of the form have been lost over the centuries. Aang was a good airbender but likely didn't know everything as he was a child.  From this we can speculate that if there was one, it may have been lost.
I have not found an example in Avatar nor Korra but I'm a little behind on Korra (which is why I didn't answer quickly).
We can speculate many different interestng ways manipulating air could be specialized for different uses: sound bending, foam bending, breathe stealing, rapid oxidation, elemental separation, forcible phase transition (that could get gory),  etc. This, however, would not have any canon support.

Probably would've been sound bending. Not too difficult to explain and relatively simple to show "sound waves" on screen.

Flight is subskill per season 3. This is different from Avatar's flight method as avatars can never sever their earthly tether.

@Quikstryke Is this expicitly described as a sub-skill? I've not seen it yet assuming you mean season 3 of korra.

Breathbending (or something of the sort; taking the air from someone's breath/lungs). As seen on The Legend of Korra, Season 3 Episode 10: Long Live the Queen

Climate control? It’s already been said by Tenzin, that Airbenders can control their body temperature through breathing techniques, so i think that it’s feasible that they’d be able to manipulate/control the temperature of the air around them as well. Although, within reason. Like they’d theoretically be able to cool the air immediately around them to a certain degree in a warm climate, but not drastic changes such as making it cold near an active volcano. We’ve already seen benders do it. Earthbenders with lavabending. Waterbenders with icebending. Firebenders clearly can bend different temperatures of fire (as seen with Azula’s blue fire).


text:
Can Dragonslayers eat their own magic?
Early in the anime, Lucy asked Natsu if he could eat his own fire.  Natsu explained that it would be like Lucy eating one of her Celestial Spirits. While this tells us that Natsu won't do it, it leaves the possibility open.
Given how Angel treated her spirits, I could imagine a more evil wizard being willing to eat their spirit if desperate enough.  So, could a more evil dragon slayer eat their own magic?  Would it make them more powerful or just back to the state they were in prior to casting the spell?

Probably most likely. E.g. Natsu can eat his own flames but to him it seems unethical to do so.

Lol, That sentence with the evil wizard. For some strange reason i found it funny. Eating celestial spirits. Reminds me of eating pokemon question.

@MiharuDante I think I could enjoy some Taurus steaks every now and then.  And I'd imagine Farfetch'd is just begging to be cooked.

Qiri is probably right but I wanted to point out the mortality of Celestial Spirits, like when Loke endured being in the human world to prevent the same fate for Aries because it's believed fatal to the spirit. So presuming they can die, being minced might do the trick which means Lucy actually loses her spirits compared to Natsu who'd probably have no change.

They can't eat their own magic. It was only recent (in chapter 391) that Silver reminded us of this during his fight with Gray.
We saw a flashback of Natsu saying he can't eat his own flames.

Then two panels later, Silver confirmed this by blocking Gray's attack, using Silver's magic, instead of eating the ice as he did before. As Natsu has, Silver then mentioned he can not eat his own magic.

To be honest it doesn't make sense that they are physically incapable of eating their magic, but if they could Silver would have been able to eat Gray's attack instead of having to block. I guess Natsu being Natsu made an incorrect analogy, back in chapter 5.

I actually came back to this after talking with my brother so you got in before i could get a chance. my bother said that we find this out in the anime at the very start when Happy (at least he thinks it was Happy) says to Lucy that Natsu could eat his own magic but it would make him sick or something, my brother even compared it to someone drinking spoiled milk.

@Memor-X Does your brother know the chapter it was mentioned in? I cantseem to find it.

He's only seen the anime and said it was indicated at the start so i'd say at least somewhere in the first 4 episodes? was going to look into it but your answer references the manga which would be more accurate as the anime may have added it just for convince and may not be canon. i was telling him about this question and the "evil wizard being willing to eat their spirit" and before i could finish he said "Natsu can't eat he's own flames, he'll get sick. it's like when Naruto drank spoiled milk. possible but stupid"

I think they can, but they just wouldn't gain any energy like they would from other sources, so it's just completely pointless. There have been points with dragonslayers in pretty tight pinches, and I'm pretty sure one of them would have at some point eaten their own magic if there were any point in doing so/ if it's even possible.
I think Natsu was just making a bit of a stupid analogy when he said it was like Lucy eating celestial spirits, at no point has there been any suggestion that a dragonslayer's element is in some way alive, and he's more than happy to fire off bursts of fire that presumably must burn out eventually, I don't think ethics come into it at all, just practicality.

I like your point of view.

maybe natsu was making a stupid analogy but nothing else has been said .still if you consider Wendy eating air, can she distinguish which air she ate and which air she gave out. she might be eating her own magic element.

I might get a bit technical here, forgive.
My claim is that they can but will not consume their own magic because it is pointless.
Consider the mage as an entity of energy. With the dragon slayers, when they consume their element, they get a boost in energy which they use to fight (Gajeel consuming steel, Wendy consuming air, ...and so on). I presume they are using these elementals to top up on their depleted energy of to give them a boost.
If they were to eat their own magic, it will give them a boost but it would only return them to the level of energy they had before they produced that bit of magic. They see no gain in doing such. To produce magic, they have to use some energy. This energy has been converted from them into the elemental. When they consume it, it goes back into them. Arithmetically, x - 1 = x' where x is the amount of energy they  originally have and x' is the amount of energy they have after producing the magic. Consuming the magic they produce will be x' + 1 = x which merely returns them to the starting point.
In the case of consuming their element which they did not produce, arithmetically, that would be x + 1 = x*, where x remains as above and x* is the augmented energy level. This augmentation is made possible because this energy did not originally reside in them.
So yes, they can eat their own magic but it would be pointless

But couldn't Natsu use magic to make a small fire that grows, then eat the larger fire for more returned energy?

True. He creates a small fire using his magic. This then consumes air (per se) and turns air's energy into fire. Natsu consumes the fire and gains more energy because it is not of the same quantum he originally created

That assumes poorly that the thermodynamic properties correlate easily with magical properties.  That is impossible due to the observation that different colored fires exist when burning the same material.  That means that any magical fire Salamader produces even if it grows still is infused with his magical power and that edible magical power may no grow as the fire consumes material (like we would assume it would if proportional to thermodynamic properties such as enthalpy, mass of burned material, etc).

I don't think that's right though, because the Slayers can eat a pretty small amount of their element to gain huge amounts of energy. The fight between Natsu and Gajeel is a good example, because there it's obvious that Natsu is firing out huge amounts of flame through his breath and punches and Gajeel is firing out iron rods, and then they each eat a tiny fraction of what they have put out and become vastly more powerful, instead of the flames Natsu eats replenishing like 3% of his magic as you would expect from what he's already given out.

Well he can but he just chooses not to because he is uncomfortable doing it but if it's absolutely necessary he will.

Welcome to the Anime/Manga SE site. Do you have anything to back this up?


text:
Are there any official anime-themed LEGO sets?
I've always liked Lego, and I don't think I have the patience or painting skill for Gunpla, so I've been looking around for anime-themed lego.
The only lego sets I can find are unofficial ones that people have made themselves.

(Danboard & Akira Bike)
Are there any anime-themed lego sets that I can buy to make myself?
Preferably an official LEGO product.

Well since you mentioned official Lego product, I had a quick skim of Lego Japan and they more or less looked the same as the normal lego sold in America and other countries. I thought if I went to the Japan website, it might have been different but it actually looked the same. (the lego) rather the same and I don't think there are anime ones ever. But you can continue to have a look if you want to though.

I found a lego proposal site, and Ika Musume - https://ideas.lego.com/projects/7215

While not exactly LEGO, Nanoblocks (ナノブロック{nanoburokku}) are very popular in Japan, and they do have some of anime-related items. You could consider this answer a supplement to @bgrif's answer.
First, have a look at a comparison of LEGO (the big ones, of course) to Nanoblocks:

They're obviously a lot smaller, but the construction is still pretty solid, and given that they're more common than Mega Bloks ever were, I'd say there's some merit to their abilities.
Now, if you're still interested, there is a list of Nanoblocks available from Plamoya Japan, including a Pikachu (and the related Pokemon sets), though that's mostly it in terms of anime from them. However, there's lots of designer sets, such as those on this blog (Japanese), including Evangelion, Madoka Magicka, Doraemon, and others.
So, while you may not be able to find what you're looking for in LEGO, there's definitely other options out there.

Lego have made anime-themed sets that can be purchased off different sites like Amazon and Ebay. They are not available on the main website.
The anime-themed ones Lego has officially done are Exo-force and Avatar. There has been talk about them doing more on the Lego forums but nothing is official as of now.
The anime-themed Lego sets that you can buy that are not officially from Lego, can be used with Lego products.


text:
What would be considered canon in the Pokemon franchise?
Usually we would treat the manga as canon for most works, but as most people usually only have watched the animation or played the video games, would in this case the manga still be considered canon over the anime? Or would it be the videogame and manga based on it?

Could the downvoter explain how I should improve my question?

Canon usually refers to the original work rather than the most popular one. As such, I would imagine that the original Japanese manga is canon.
The other mediums can be canon as well; the anime for example is a very important part of the franchise. Stil, the manga would probably still take precedence.
Canon is a very broad term that can be as strict or lenient as the user who uses it, so it's hard to answer this question definitively.

Canon is what the copyright owner wants to. Some even reverse canon (retcon) at a whim. So to wrap around what is canon and what is not as a definite boundary is almost impossible.

+1 for "it's hard to answer this question definitively". Over at SFF, many of the major franchises have defined levels of canonicity, e.g. Star Wars has A, B, and C-canon. The movies take precedence over the novels and video games and animated series, but some of the novels are considered more canonical than some of the other media. So far as I know, there's no such definition for Pokemon, making canon conflicts hard to resolve.

Re-reading your answer, seeing how the (Pokemon adventures) manga is based on the games, I would assume the games to be most canon, but I found this page on the bulbapedia on what they see as canon and it looks like it is way more complicated than we had first thought.

While you explain what canon is in your answer, your answer fails to answer the question in regards to Pokemon. What's canon to what? While the terms is broad, the canonical nature of each different Pokemon series (the different manga series vs. anime vs. OVAs/Specials vs. the game) can be inferred objectively.

There is no set rules of what's canon, but it's typically the came first is generally accepted amongst the fans as canon. The only exception the word of the author or creator. The Pokemon series has many different continuities, few of which coincide with one another. So in terms of the franchise, all of them are canon, but of different continuities.

The video games, manga, and anime are all different stories. Each is canon only to it's own plot. Since the video game came first however, we can assume the video game is considered canon unless you are speaking directly about the anime or manga, in which case that universe takes precedence. In the absence of information from the video game, I would say information from the anime comes next, since it came out before the manga. (Though arguably the manga fits the games better then the anime, therefore it takes the spot at second most canonical.) It entirely depends on how you see the Pokemon universe.

Correct. I'd point out that Pokémon the main anime series, together with Pokémon Chronicles, are set in their own universe. While Pokémon Origins and Pokémon Generations series are in same world as that of main series games.

Pokemon adventures is often considered to be more canon to the games. Even though the manga was not made by Satoshi himself, you can see how canon it is to as Satoshi Taijiri once stated, "This is the comic that most resembles the world I was trying to convey."
While the current producers of the Pokemon cartoon series have tried to make all the official movies to be canon to the cartoon series. As the series is only canon to things relating to Ash Ketchum.


text:
Where does Kobato fit into the CLAMP multiverse?
Kobato includes characters from Chobits and Angelic Layer, as well as other CLAMP series, in its world. But it doesn't seem to be the same world as Chobits and Angelic Layer; for example, Chitose Hibiya's children don't appear to be persocoms.
Does Kobato take place in the same world as any other CLAMP series, or is it a standalone world that includes alternate versions of some characters?
(I haven't finished the series, so please use spoiler tags liberally.)

With maybe the exception of Yuuko, aren't all the CLAMP series pretty much "alternate universes"?

@JonLin Finding that out was my aim in asking this question. I was pretty sure that Angelic Layer and Chobits were meant to be exactly the same universe, spaced out by a couple years. At first I thought Kobato might also be in that universe, but various things don't fit.

The Kobato page on the CLAMP Wikia has a fairly expansive list of ways that it fits within the multiverse. I'm not going to rewrite all of them, because that would be too long, so I'll just summarize them.

The alternate versions of some characters show up.
Her apartment complex shows up in other series (sometimes in alternate Japans).
A picture of Clow and Yuuko shows up in an explanation of the worlds.
Many characters have cameos.

Overall: some characters from non-modern-Japan show up with different identities, while series set in Japan are related to Kobato.

Good resource, but I'm still confused as to whether Kobato is in the same world as any of the other series, or a different world with recurrent characters and items. Is the answer "We don't know, it's ambiguous?"

It's the same world in the sense that it is in the same multiverse. In regards to being in the same universe within the same multiverse, it seems to be that it is within the "modern Japan" universe.

The wiki seems to suggest that the "modern Japan" universe is considered a separate world (within the same multiverse) from the world of Chobits and Angelic Layer, but possibly the same world as Card Captor Sakura, Legal Drug, xxxHolic, and others. I guess the point I'd like to clarify is "Is Kobato in the same world (within the shared multiverse) as any other CLAMP series?", and the answer would be yes if it is indeed the same world as Card Captor Sakura, xxxHolic, etc. If the answer is "Not enough information", I'll accept that too.


text:
What is the reason behind the law that toys and humans must not visit each others' house?
As of the current manga chapter, the mystery behind the toys in Dressrosa has been revealed.
But it is not clear for me the details about the law that does not allow humans to visit a toy's house, and toys to visit a human's house.
What will be the negative effect that made Doflamingo implement that law?

It would create chaos and it might even ruin Doflamingo's scheme. Civilians don't remember their lost loved ones, but the toys remember everything. So you would expect the toys to try and remind their loved ones of who they are as we have seen in chapter 717 when the toy supposedly malfunctioned suffering of  human disease.

Humans might remember their loved ones or might start to dislike the toys, which would disrupt the peaceful kingdom Doflamingo had built. Now imagine if the toys would be able to spend intimate alone time with regular humans, this would mean situations like these would happen more often. This could then go either of two ways, none of which would be beneficial for Doflamingo. Either the human would not recognize their lost loved one and freak out as in chapter 717, creating chaos. Humans might start to loath the toys and possible retaliation might happen. The other possibility is that the human in some way might even remember who the toy was and Doflamingo's schemes would be discovered. So the more control Doflamingo holds on the toys, the less chances he has of being found out.
If toys would be able to visit houses, they would be able to plot schemes to overthrow Doflamingo and possibly kill or harm Sugar, which they would have a real hard time doing if they would be watched constantly. Doflamingo could have trusted Violet's ability to oversee any strange activity, but how would you be able to trust the daughter of the former king with such a big responsibility. And even if he would, she wouldn't be able to oversee every toy at every second of the day. Her powers should be used more usefully elsewhere anyway.
Additionally, if toys were free to go about as they liked, they could travel to other islands and expose Doflamingo's scheme. Keep in mind that they were the only ones aware of Sugar's ability apart from the Donquixote Pirates. I doubt the government would ignore the cry of help of a bunch of toys who claim Doflamingo had made them like this. Especially since coincidentally Doflamingo's island is the only one having living toys. Don't forget that among the toys there are also Government officials, who would know too much about the inner workings of the World Government for it to be just a strange malfunctioning toy, who just happens to know too much.
Toy Soldier
As mentioned by OP in a comment, Toy Soldier has been seen in the private companionship of Rebecca. He was seen training her for the hard future to come to prevent her from being harmed once again. Since this is a special case and since it was only possible by plot armor a great deal of luck, I will make this a separate part of the answer. I want to point out that Doflamingo's level of dictatorial control is so high (and quite praiseworthy to be honest), that it really needed this much of luck for it to work. So now how was the toy soldier possible to break the law?
As we know, every toy is put to a contract by Sugar, right after transformations. The contract states only two simple rules, which can be see in chapter 737 when Cavendish became a soldier.

I will not bring harm to humans.
I will bow to the orders of the (Donquixote Pirates') family.

Two simple rules that make the toys unable to disobey any law put out by Doflamingo, which include not entering houses, and going to the toy factory every night. Toy Soldier on the other hand, was the first and only person to become a contract-less toy as Sugar had forgotten to establish the contract as mentioned by Leo in chapter 739. Therefore he could disobey the laws as he pleased. This didn't bring him out of the woods just yet though. He knew Viola had the giro-giro (aka glare-glare) fruit, and he knew she had forgotten about who he was. If he would disobey the law at this point, he would have been caught regardless. That's why in order not to stand out to other humans and especially Viola, he obeyed the laws with the other toys and went to the toy house every night as he mentions in chapter 721. This all lasted until Rebecca was kidnapped.
At this point (still chapter 721) he couldn't just sit back and let it all happen, so he rescued her regardless of the laws. This made him a criminal and a fugitive from that point onwards. Even if he would obey the laws now, he would be hunted down by the police as we have seen when the Strawhats first arrive at the Colosseum in chapter 703. Yet he is too badass to be caught by mere mortals. Doflamingo could have tracked him down, but he probably didn't care or might not even have been aware of the situation. Viola on the other hand, knew well about everything that had gone down, but by now she trusted Toy Soldier and wanted him to keep looking out for her niece Rebecca. She mentioned in chapter 740 that she knew all about him and Rebecca, but that Viola kept it a secret for Doflamingo. It was also from this point onwards that he was seen in the private companionship of Rebecca. It was only after he became a fugitive that he started breaking the laws. He didn't have much choice.
To conclude, Toy Soldier confirms what I wrote as the original answer. Doflamingo wanted to keep his peaceful regime as long as possible and he needed laws for that. The negative effect that made Doflamingo implement that law, was to prevent what Toy Soldier had done from happening. Remember that if it wasn't for Toy Soldier, nobody would have known about Sugar's ability and the toys would never have been freed, because nobody would have known about it. So by Sugar's neglectance her secret got out and he had gathered allies to overthrow Doflamingo.

It took him 10 years to do so, but here he is back to his human form and riding towards Diamante and Doflamingo to avenge his wife and restore king Riku's honor.

But they can still have time and talk privately without anyone seeing them as how the toy soldier train Rebecca.

@NixR.Eyes Remember that the contract was never set with the toy soldier. He could disobey the law, since Sugar never ordered him to come back at night. Also by attacking humans he became a fugitive with a price on his head. The police was looking for him, as you could see at the beginning of the arc when they were shooting at him. He was just never caught.

@NixR.Eyes I added toy soldier to the answer

I think toy soldier can't enter Rebecca's house too even if Sugar was not able to make contract with him? Which is why he always drop a petal on window to prove he's always with Rebecca, though he can't live with her.

@NixR.Eyes He is capable of doing so, but chooses not to in order to protect Rebecca. While other toys are not capable of doing so. If he would enter the house, the humans would report this and Rebecca would be in danger. So he can't risk it and needs to play along for now. Keep in mind that Rebecca is already hated as the daughter of a mass-murderer. So he doesn't want to bring too much attention to both of them.

@NixR.Eyes Look here https://i.sstatic.net/vt68R.png at the second row. He says With people around here keeping a close eye on us, we'll have to obey their toy laws.


text:
Why is (action-adventure) anime so focused on teenagers?
I've been a fan of anime since Star Blazers in my childhood, but... I wonder about an overused cliche in anime action-adventure series: teenage prodigy heroes.
For example, the most popular action-based anime (as opposed to comedy or relationship-based) currently on Netflix and Hulu (as well as StackExchange tag frequency): Attack on Titan, Black Butler, Bleach, Death Note, Fairy Tail, Fullmetal Alchemist, Knights of Sidonia, Naruto, One Piece, Sword Art Online. All of them feature unusually capable teens as the lead protagonists. Adults are supporting characters, or entirely absent.
Certainly there are exceptions (Samurai Champloo, etc), and this trope is also seen in the US (e.g. Adventure Time, Avatar, Young Justice, etc) but it's a matter of degree. Non-child heroes are not a rarity in western animation (Avengers, Batman, Tranformers, etc).
Is this a real thing in Japanese culture, and if so what does it mean? Or is it just a USA-based artifact of marketing (i.e. this particular subgenre is actively emphasized for translation) or audience (i.e. non-child anime is just as common but has less active fans)?

Most probably because the target audience is teenagers. "Look, these cool guys are teenagers, just like me!" Kids make it not serious enough, and adults or elders make it too serious.

It's to increase the appeal to the target audience, and I believe all of those series you listed are shounen (for young boys).  I think those manga series that are action that are made for an older target audience (seinen rather than shounen) do not as commonly get made into anime, or if they do, they are not usually as long running or as big in merchandising.  But these series do tend to have older protagonists.
I believe also that there's also a spotlight effect happening that may be affecting your perception.  Those series that tend to do well and get licensed for television in the west also tend to be shounen action anime.
I'll also note in those western series you mentioned where the starring character is not a child or teenager, they have a history of trying to insert children/teens as "sidekicks" in order to increase appeal for a target audience. It's kind of funny you listed Transformers as an example though, since it was first created by Takara Tomy (a Japanese toy company) and Hasbro, and so I see it as just as much a Japan thing as a western thing.