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Apart from Togepi and Ho-oH, What out-of-season pokemon have there been?
In the first episode of pokemon, Ash sees a Ho-oH flying overhead, yet it wasn't known about (at least by Prof. Oak) until the second generation of pokemon.

When Ash hatches a Pokemon egg and gets Togepi in "who gets to keep Togepi", the pokedex comes up with nothing apart from a name.

Are there any other pokemon we get to see prior to their generation's season of the anime? (Up to generation 5)

Do you want occurrences in side-media like Pikachu's Vacation too? (Ex: Marill, Snubbull)

Sure, but mostly the main series

I think as long as the series is going on, it fails at least point 4: http://meta.anime.stackexchange.com/questions/348/what-is-the-status-of-list-questions-on-this-site Also I don't know whether its reasonably scoped, as there could be too many occurrences.

Limiting it to gen 5 Pokemon, does that work?

@looper: I don't think there will be too many occurrences, and I also don't think it requires frequent update (maybe once a few years?). However, the scope is indeed quite big, considering how many years the series has been running.

http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/User:Caciulacdlac/Pok%C3%A9mon_that_appeared_before_their_generation

@nhahtdh While it's hard to tell if that list is complete, you might as well post it as an answer since it's better than what anyone here is likely to do. I doubt anyone here is going to to watch nearly 800 episodes plus movies and specials to just to find what entries are missing (if any).

User Caciulacdlac on Bulbapedia has compiled a list of Pokemon that appeared before their generation starts airing. I assume the Japan broadcast date is used as the criteria.
The whole answer below is mostly based on the link above, and several other articles on Bulbapedia.

All the dates cited below will be Japan broadcast dates. Episode numbering will follow the numbering used by Bulbapedia.
Generation II
Episode 117, aired on October 14, 1999, marks the start of the The Johto Journeys (season 3), and also the start of generation II. The Pokemon listed below are from generation II, but appeared in the anime before the journey to Johto started.

Ho-Oh: Episode 001: Pokémon - I Choose You! (April 1, 1997)
Togepi: Episode 050: Who Gets to Keep Togepi? (June 25, 1998)
Marill, Snubbull: Pikachu Shorts 01: Pikachu's Vacation (July 18, 1998)
Donphan: Movies 01: Mewtwo Strikes Back (July 18, 1998)
Ledyba, Elekid1, Bellossom, Hoothoot: Pikachu Shorts 04: Pikachu's Rescue Adventure (July 17, 1999)
1 Elekid also appeared earlier in Tracey's sketch in Episode 103 - Misty Meets Her Match (July 1, 1999)
Lugia, Slowking: Movies 2: The Power of One (July 17, 1999)

Generation III
The first episode of Advanced Generation series, aired on November 21, 2002, marks the start of Pokémon: Advanced season (season 6), and also the start of generation III. The Pokemon listed below are from generation III, but appeared in the anime before generation III (to Hoenn) started.

Kecleon: Episode 205: The Kecleon Caper (July 5, 2001)
Azurill, Wailmer: Pikachu Shorts 10: Pikachu's PikaBoo (July 7, 2001)
Wynaut: Episode 252: Fangs for Nothin' (June 13, 2002)
Duskull, Volbeat: Pikachu Shorts 11: Camp Pikachu (July 13, 2002)
Latias, Latios: Movies 05: Pokémon Heroes (July 13, 2002)
Blaziken: Episode 265: Pop Goes The Sneasel (September 12, 2002)
Sharpedo, Seedot, Shroomish, Lotad, Zigzagoon: Episode 272: Johto Photo Finish (October 31, 2002)
Wingull, Pelipper: Episode 274: Hoenn Alone! (November 14, 2002)

Generation IV
The first episode of Diamond and Pearl series, aired on September 28, 2006, marks the start of Pokemon: Diamond and Pearl season (season 10) and also the start of generation IV. The Pokemon listed below are from generation IV, but appeared in the anime before the journey to Sinnoh started.

Munchlax: Movies 07: Destiny Deoxys (July 17, 2004)
Lucario, Bonsly, Weavile, Mime Jr.: Movies 08: Lucario and the Mystery of Mew (July 16, 2005)
Manaphy, Mantyke, Buizel, Chatot: Movies 09: Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea (July 15, 2006)
Electivire: Advanced Generation Episode 192: Home is Where the Start Is! (September 14, 2006)

Generation V
The first episode of Best Wishes series, aired on September 23, 2010, marks the start of generation V. The Pokemon listed below are from generation V, but appeared in the anime before the journey to Unova started.

Zorua, Zoroark, Woobat2: Movies 13: Zoroark: Master of Illusions (July 10, 2010)
2 Appeared as image only.

Generation VI
The first episode of XY Series, aired on October 17, 2013, marks the start of generation VI. The Pokemon listed below are from generation VI, but appeared in the anime before the journey to Kalos started.

Sylveon: Pikachu Shorts 25: Eevee & Friends (July 13, 2013)
Helioptile, Gogoat: Best Wishes Episode 134: The Journalist from Another Region! (July 18, 2013)
Noivern: Best Wishes Episode 137: Celebrating the Hero's Comet! (August 15, 2013)

Wasn't Marrill's first appearance in the main series during the Orange Islands arc before that short?

Snubbull was introduced in 1998 in the Pikachu special, Pikachu's vacation. It was not until the year 2000 that the Generation 2 pokemon were introduced.


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How can Tsunade recover that fast with just a bite from Karin?
What is the technique from Karin that made Tsunade recover that fast? Even the side effect of her technique subsides after the bite?

That's one of Karin's powers - biting her lets people absorb her chakra and its healing properties.
From Karin, in Narutopedia:

she not only has incredible healing capabilities, but can also heal others by letting them bite her and absorb her chakra. The potency of her healing chakra is great enough to even restore a bisected Tsunade to full health.

So that means it is not sort of technique?

@ChristianMark - Indeed it doesn't appear to be that, just a "natural" consequence of absorbing her chakra.

I see. I think that would be the best answer.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


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What are the meaning behind the operation names in Steins;Gate?
In Steins;Gate , Okarin gives some of his projects operation names, such as "Operation Urd".
He mentions that the names he has given them don't really mean anything, but looking at what the names are referencing, it seems otherwise.

Urd (or Urðr), Verthandi(Verðandi)  and Skuld are a trio of Norns that are described as deciding the fates of people. They represent Past, Present and Future respectively. These reflect the time-travel theme of the show
There are ones that  I haven't been figured out, such as Operation Eldhrimnir (episode 10) and Operation  Valkyria (episode 18). How do these Norse Mythology references fit into the show (and any other ones i may have missed) ?

According to Episode Glossary article on Steins;Gate Wiki, there are 5 operation names coined throughout the series:

Operation Urd (Episode 6)
Operation Eldhrimnir (Episode 10)
Operation Verthandi (Episode 11)
Operation Valkyria (Episode 18)
Operation Skuld (Episode 23)

Operation Eldhrímnir is coined by Okabe in episode 10 for the plan to invite Suzuha to a party on the following day regardless whether she meets her father or not. The party is meant to be a celebration party in case Suzuha meets her father, and in case she doesn't, it is a farewell party for her.
According to Wikipedia entry on Eldhrímnir:

In Norse mythology, Eldhrímnir (Old Norse "fire-sooty") is the cauldron in which the cook of the gods, Andhrímnir, prepares Sæhrímnir every evening.

The name is probably chosen due to the similarity in the meal theme.
Looking at the entry for Einherjar:

In Norse mythology, the einherjar (Old Norse "single (or once) fighters") are those that have died in battle and are brought to Valhalla by valkyries. In Valhalla, the einherjar eat their fill of the nightly-resurrecting beast Sæhrímnir, and are brought their fill of mead (from the udder of the goat Heiðrún) by valkyries.

And Sæhrímnir:

In Norse mythology, Sæhrímnir is the creature killed and eaten every night by the Æsir and einherjar. The cook of the gods, Andhrímnir, is responsible for the slaughter of Sæhrímnir and its preparation in the cauldron Eldhrímnir. After Sæhrímnir is eaten, the beast is brought back to life again to provide sustenance for the following day.

I hope I am not reading too far into this, but since Eldhrímnir is the cauldron which is used to cook food for the einherjar who died in battle, it bears resemblance to the fact that Suzuha introduce herself as a "soldier", and how she fails to meet up with her father the next day. Or maybe the name just simply refers to the party with all the food and drinks, which relates to the fact that the cauldron is the cook for preparing a feast.

Operation Valkyria is coined by Kurisu in episode 18, before the date between Okabe and Ruka (this occurs in the world line where Ruka is an actual girl).
As for the meaning of Valkyria/Valkyrie, citing from Wikipedia:

In Norse mythology, a valkyrie (from Old Norse valkyrja "chooser of the slain") is one of a host of female figures who decide which soldiers die in battle and which live. Selecting among half of those who die in battle (the other half go to the goddess Freyja's afterlife field Fólkvangr), the valkyries bring their chosen to the afterlife hall of the slain, Valhalla, ruled over by the god Odin. There, the deceased warriors become einherjar. When the einherjar are not preparing for the events of Ragnarök, the valkyries bear them mead.
The word valkyrie derives from Old Norse valkyrja (plural valkyrjur), which is composed of two words; the noun valr (referring to the slain on the battlefield) and the verb kjósa (meaning "to choose"). Together, they mean "chooser of the slain".

Putting the context and story behind the name Valkyria together, it probably refers to the role of Kurisu as she tails Okabe and Ruka during their date. The date can also be thought of as a battlefield for Okabe, since this is his first time going on a date. And the fact that Okabe keeps screwing up during the date can also be thought of as "die in battle". (This is the best I can come up with to connect the name and the context of the story).

Being Icelandic and speaking the language (which is the closest language to Old Norse), I noticed that Norse mythology is prevalent throughout this series. For example, immediately on episode 18 during Operation Valkyria, Okabe is on the date with Ruka at the cafe "Völuspá Café". The sign can be seen when they enter the cafe and again when they exit on episode 18.
Völuspá is the first and best known poem of the Edda (collection of Old Norse poems). In the 19th verse of Völuspá, the 3 Norns - Urður, Verðandi, and Skuld are talked about being home at one of the three roots attached to Yggdrasill, the tree of life. In the 30th verse, Valkyries are gathering because a warrior has fallen and they are preparing to bring him to the afterlife, Valhöll.
Considering all the Norse mythology in this series and that the sign is shown so clearly, it is worth mentioning.

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


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How are Chaos;Head, Steins;Gate, and Robotics;Notes connected?
These series all seem to be connected, but asides from sharing the same production company and having the semi-colon separate their titles I can't see any relation between them. The plots seem to be completely disjoint.

When I was looking up Chaos;Head and Stein's;Gate, I also found Robotics;Notes, but it too seems to not be connected. Can anyone explain the connection between these series for me?

Chaos;Head and Steins;Gate exist in the same ("Science Adventure") universe, but on different world lines.

Chaos;Head happens in Shibuya and the events happen one year before Steins;Gate
Steins;Gate happens in Akihabara
Robotic;Notes happens in Tanegashima Island and the events happen nine years after Steins;Gate

The events of Chaos;Head are consistent with the events of Steins;Gate within the Beta worldline, divergence ratio: 1.130426%. Steins;Gate and Robotics;Note exist on the "Steins;Gate" worldline, divergence ratio: 1.048596%. (Steins;Gate was also originally in the same worldline as Chaos;Head, which changed after Okabe sent the first D-Mail and passed to another worldline.)
There is a mention of "Knight Hart" which is the online persona of Chaos;Head's protagonist Nishijou Takumi, in episode 4 of Steins;Gate. In the Steins;Gate game, it's mentioned that this character was also looking for the IBN 5100 (the non-conical 8-bit version of the game gets more in depth into his motvations).
Kurisu explained the "Time Leap Machine" concept to Okabe using NOZOMI papers from Chaos;Head.
On big TV outdoors, FES's performance can be seen in the Alpha timeline. Giving the right reply to Faris's mail earns the player Ayase's portrait and FES's music, sung by Kanako Itou, which include the Chaos;Head OP, "Find the Blue."
There's a Seira-tan cosplay cameo in Steins;Gate as well:

Robotics;Note connects the two series a bit more by revealing that the "Committee of 300" are the driving force between the major events of all three series.

Nae from Steins;Gate appears as an adult in Robotics;Note. Daru and Kurisu show up on the Twipo network in Robotics;Note as "DaSH". In the VN game, Kurisu uses a tripcode. In the anime, Kurisu posts in @channel under the handle "KURI_KAME" in episode 15 (about 2D and 3D limitations).

 Daru writes the program that eradicates Kimijima Kou from Iru-o.

SERN (and their projects) is also mentioned several times in both Steins;Gate and Robotics;Note

Does the more recent Occultic;Nine relate to the three too? If so, how?

Steins;Gate, Chaos;Head, and Robotics;Notes all take place within the same universe but at different times.
There are  also multiple Steins;Gate references in Chaos;Head, and there are multiple Steins;Gate references in Robotics;Notes.
These could be just for comedy purposes or they could be hinting at a relationship. Robotics;Notes also takes place in the Steins;Gate Divergence Ratio 1.048596.
Other than that the Visual Novels of all three were created by 5pd and Nitroplus.

The phrase "Whose eyes are those eyes?" appears in both Robotics;Notes and Chaos;Head. In the first episode of Robotics;Notes you can hear Airi say it. It's the same phrase Nishijo Takumi repeats almost every episode in Chaos;Head, because he feels like someone is observing him. It's also one of Kishimoto Ayase's songs in Chaos;Head.

authors: 炽道小说众志成城_道小说百鸟朝凤

authors: 道顶点小说网叱咤风云_道皮皮小说网口是心非

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


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Why are cherry blossom so prevalent in anime?
A lot of anime I have seen use cherry blossoms, especially when they fall from the sky. Romantic or emotional scenes have cherry blossom in the background. In many anime, there is a childhood scene in which friends see cherry blossoms falling and remember that day forever or they meet their love when the blossoms are falling.
Why is it always cherry blossoms? Does it have a special significance in Japanese culture?

Cherry blossoms are like Japan's national flower.

Cherry blossoms are very prominent in Japanese culture. From Wikipedia:

In Japan, cherry blossoms also symbolize clouds due to their nature of blooming en masse, besides being an enduring metaphor for the ephemeral nature of life, an aspect of Japanese cultural tradition that is often associated with Buddhistic influence, and which is embodied in the concept of mono no aware. The association of the cherry blossom with mono no aware1 dates back to 18th-century scholar Motoori Norinaga. The transience of the blossoms, the extreme beauty and quick death, has often been associated with mortality; for this reason, cherry blossoms are richly symbolic, and have been utilized often in Japanese art, manga, anime, and film, as well as at musical performances for ambient effect. There is at least one popular folk song, originally meant for the shakuhachi (bamboo flute), titled "Sakura", and several pop songs. The flower is also represented on all manner of consumer goods in Japan, including kimono, stationery, and dishware.

1 Mono no aware (物の哀れ) [...] is a Japanese term for the awareness of impermanence (無常 mujō), or transience of things, and a gentle sadness (or wistfulness) at their passing.
So yes, they do have a special significance.

Hanami (lit. "flower viewing") being one of the nation-wide festivals would help.
Note that the school year starts in April (graduation in late March), while depending on the location, cherry blossoms are prevalent from the end of March to early May.
Everyone knows romance is all about love at first sight on the first day of school and confessions during the graduation ceremony, right?
TvTropes' Cherry Blossoms article could be an interesting read, on top of Wikipedia's.


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When can I start reading "Soul Eater Not!"?
Soul Eater Not! is a spinoff manga from the main series Soul Eater. It also has an anime adaption.

I've read a couple of volumes of Soul Eater, but when would be the earliest (plot-wise) that I should pick up this sub-series as I'm told many of the characters and plot points are shared?

You don't need any significant knowledge of the plot of Soul Eater to begin reading Soul Eater Not!. It is set in the same world, but Soul Eater Not! takes place chronologically before the beginning of the Soul Eater manga and mostly focuses on characters who are not important for the main plot. If you're familiar with the setting of Soul Eater (which should not require more than a few chapters of the original) then you should be able to read it. In fact, you could probably read it without any knowledge of the original, as the major concepts are all reintroduced, but I think it will be more enjoyable for those who at least know the main characters and setting of the original.
Of course, many of the characters from Soul Eater also show up in Not!. There may be foreshadowing of future events or outright spoilers connected to these characters, but I don't remember anything major getting spoiled, and most of the references are to things which occur fairly early in the manga. If you want to catch all of the references, it would be good to read up to chapter 44 (last chapter in volume 11), and possibly a bit farther, but strictly speaking that isn't necessary.

Watching the current airing anime, This answer seems to be accurate. Thanks


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What is the triangle-shaped headband these characters wear?
I don't know what to call them, but I've seen these triangle-shaped things sometimes in anime:

What does the triangle-shaped headband mean and what is it called?

Relevant:  http://hyakumonogatari.com/2011/09/22/what-is-the-triangle-headband-japanese-ghosts-wear/

This triangle-shaped headband is called a tenkan (天冠, lit. "heaven crown"). In some parts of Japan, it may also be called a zukin (頭巾, lit. "hood" and also used as a generic term), a hitai-eboshi (額烏帽子, lit. "forehead headpiece"), or a kami-kakushi (髪隠し, lit. "hair-hider")2.
Traditionally, the tenkan was one component of a traditional burial garment (shini-shouzoku / 死に装束). The garment also typically included a white kimono, these glove-things (tekkou / 手甲), and a particular style of boots called kyahan (脚絆) that I'm having trouble finding a good picture of.
There are a number of explanations of the purpose of the tenkan, including:

It must be worn to avoid offending Enma (a judge of the dead in Japanese Buddhist mythology; he's actually a derivative of the Hindu deity Yama)
It allows the dead to escape from hell
It functions as a signal that one was of high standing in life.

In anime today, I get the feeling that the tenkan basically serves as a signal to viewers that whoever is wearing it has something to do with death (or, more generally, with non-humanness, I guess).
Notes

This answer is mostly a translation of the following article: What's the triangular piece of cloth that ghosts wear on their heads? (Japanese)
This seems like it may be a pun on 神隠し, or "spiriting away" (as in the Ghibli film 千と千尋の神隠し, or "Spirited Away"). See also this question at Japanese.SE.

There is no specific word for it. It's basically a headband, and can be generally referred to as a boshi (hat) or nuno (cloth). It's typically associated with the white burial kimono, called a kyoukatabira.
This triangle-shaped white cloth item can go by multiple names, depending on the region and religion. They have grandiose names such as tenkan/tengan (heaven's crown) mundane is zukin (hood or kerchief). Several of terms are simple and descriptive, like hitai-eboshi (forehead hat), or hitai-kakushi (forehead-hider), kami-kakushi (hair-hider), houkan (diadem, only Buddhists use this word) and kami-kaburi (hair headdress). The most basic term of all is probably sankaku no (shiroi) nuno (triangular [white] cloth).
There have been two popular theories on it's purpose/origin, both are speculative. Some say that the dead have or need to ascended to a higher level, and thus the cloth item is placed upon their heads to show their new status, or to help them ascend. Another theory suggests that that the sharp point of the triangle shape are a ward to deter evil spirits/demons from entering the corpse and resurrecting the it or preventing the soul from passing on.

In anime and manga it has been known to symbolize the dead, including zombies, vampires, and ghosts. When you see this in anime or manga you know that the character isn't alive.


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Do all published manga originate from one-shots?
I heard that some popular manga (for example - Naruto, Nurarihyon no Mago, Beelzebub) are published as one-shots during their first try. I want to know if that applies to all manga or not? Would many manga be published as a one-shot first?

I don't know of any comprehensive lists, but it's not surprising that this is a common phenomenon - it allows a publisher to avoid spending excess resources on manga that don't end up succeeding. This doesn't happen for all manga, though (e.g. off the top of my head, I'm pretty sure Gin no Saji [Silver Spoon] didn't start with a one-shot, and there are surely others). Intuitively, it seems that a list of all manga that started with a one-shot would be unmanageably long, so I'm not sure this question is really reasonably scoped.

Asking for a list is too broad as there are probably thousands of manga that would be on the list. In general lots of mangaka (especially new ones) choose to do one-shots to judge how popular something will be and because it's easier to get a publisher to devote resources toward a one-shot than a full series.

For reference, I did vote to close (as have 2 other people) based on the second question. However, the question in the first sentence, as well as the general question of why manga are often first produced as one-shots, are both fine questions for this site and if the post were edited to that I'd cancel my close vote and/or vote to reopen.

I don't think this question has to be put on hold. The answer is very specific. Not all manga begin as a oneshot. It is common for mangakas (the authors) to show their editor a few chapters and if the serialization is approved, they get published. Since there are way too many manga to list where it started as a oneshot, just check Myanimelist to see if the series had a oneshot.

@krikara: If you think the question can be improved and reopened, you may [edit] (or in your case, suggest an edit) to the question, and if it's acceptable, we'll approve and reopen the question.

I edited the question to remove the request for a list. It should be more appropriate a question now

It doesn't apply to all manga. For instance there's manga that are adaptations of other works (anime, video games, light novels) which don't start off as one-shots and have, at the very least, a contractual run. Additionally, there are also manga that are used originally as promotional, as advertisement for a store or an upcoming anime.
The Evangelion manga is an odd-ball, where it was supposed to be an adaptation of the Neon Genesis Evangelion anime series, and start a month or two before its TV run as a promotion for the anime, but the TV run was delayed and didn't actually air until a year's worth of manga chapters. Additionally, there's several recent spin-off manga loosely based on the series.
There's a bunch of Gundam manga that were adapted from anime that were never one-shots. Slayers has several manga series that were adapted from the anime and light novels. Cowboy Bebop, Blade of the Immortal, etc.


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What is the software to create this type of anime?
This site is have an beatiful anime style: Tofugu.com
Anyone know what is the software to draw this anime style?

This question appears to be off-topic because it is about creating your own anime and manga. Which is deemed off-topic per the [help].

The art in question is not from anime/manga, not doujinshi, not anime/manga fanart, and not in a recognizablely anime-ish art style. That being said, the illustrator can be contacted with inquiries at: http://www.tofugu.com/about/

Actually the software is mostly independent of the style. The style depent on how the artist is drawing it...
Anyway it is not always possible to redraw a image because the software is not supporting some functions! The style from the website you linked is pretty simple so you do not need something special.

It would be possible to draw the image above with the standard paint of windows except the cheeks (if you look closely a special brush was used to draw this). But this is absolutely not suggested if you really want to redraw it.
The image is very likly drawn with a tablet that supports pressure/speed recognition (recognizable at the fading outlines) and a software that supports paint application modes (recognizable at the shadows/lightning) and also layer support (the green/yellow background is one layer and the girl with the table and the chair is at least one layer).
Such things are mostly supported on a reasonably good painting software:

Adobe Photoshop (monthly payment)
GIMP (open source)
PaintTool SAI (pay once)
Anime/Manga Studio (pay once)
Paint.NET (free to use) I am not sure if everything is possible in this software I listed above!

Thank you, Gerret! You must be a super expert in this field. :) So Photoshop can be, then i will try to learn draw this style. Thank again!

@user3865184 Well I wish I am! I know this because I am interested in drawing and editing but this is only theory. Sometimes I draw some anime/manga but I am not really good at it... But I am glad that I could help you! :D


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Why do the characters in Akatsuki no Yona have Korean names?
When I watch the anime and hear the names of the characters (Soo-won, Son Hak), I thought that the manga is written by a Korean and published in Japan - like in the case of Freezing.
I couldn't have been more wrong to assume that. When I check Akatsuki no Yona on mangaupdates, it was written by Kusanagi Mizuho, whose profile suggests that he is a native Japanese.
Foreign names are common in Japanese manga. It's very common to introduce a foreigner (main character or not) to join the rest of the Japanese cast. Apart from those cases, we have stories where the setting is in a land foreign to Japan, or in an alternate universe where the names of the character are made foreign like in the case of Akatsuki no Yona. However, in most of the manga I have read that falls into this category, the names are dominantly Western and I have never seen any other shows with all the characters having Korean names.
Why does the author go to the trouble to use Korean names for the characters? Why not Japanese?

The setting for Akatsuki no Yona is loosely based on the Three Kingdoms of Korea period. The Kouka Kingdom is inspired by the Goguryeo Kingdom. Its neighbor Sei and Xing are based on Baekje and Silla respectively. You can also see that the three kingdoms are located in a peninsula in the manga and that they almost have the same layout as their real-life counterparts.

Yona of the Dawn is based on Chinese culture, Chinese hanfu, Chinese Manchu clothing, Chinese architecture, and Chinese landscapes. The background is a fictional Chinese-style country. Yona of the Dawn uses a large number of Chinese elements, the ED song even uses Chinese instruments and Chinese lyrics.

Welcome to the Q&A site Anime & Manga Stack Exchange. While this might be a valid answer to a different question (e.g. "What cultures inspire this series?"), I'm not sure if this answers the question asked: Why do the characters have Korean names? Did you mean that everyone is Chinese but the mangaka decided to use Korean names? Could you [edit] the answer and address that?


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Which came first, the LRIG or the Selector?
In Season One, it is revealed that Selectors become LRIGs if they meet the conditions for their wish to come true.
Because of this we have a chicken and egg situation:

The first LRIG must have originally been a Selector
The first Selector needed an LRIG to grant their wish

Which came first?

The LRIGs came first.
In Season 2 episode 8 "This World is My Property" it is revealed that:

 The first LRIGs, Tama and Iona (then known as Shiro and Kuro) were created by Mayu to begin the LRIG and Selector system. These LRIGs are suggested to have special powers, compared to normal LRIGs. Mayu created more original LRIGs past the first two. Whenever one of these LRIGs loses three battles, they are not simply returned to the system to find another Selector; instead, they disappear. Tama and Iona are the only remaining original LRIGs.

Quoted from the Selector WIXOSS wikia & confirmed from viewing the episode in question.
Also, from another Wikia entry:

 Mayu created two imaginary friends, Shiro and Kuro, in order to play the game with them, then proceeded to conjure up the idea of the Selector Games in her mind strictly for her own amusement, creating yet more imaginary friends which served as the first Selectors and LRIGs. Eventually, Mayu's make-belief games became so realistic that the imaginary friends took a life of their own. Mayu proceeded to send them out to WIXOSS players in the outside world, effectively "infecting" the game with her own, selfish desires.

authors: Илья Кумачев


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Why does Ojiro get angry from hearing the word "bakeratta"?
When Misao is trying to find Ojiro, she tries to figure out who he is by being the only person who reacts to the word "bakeratta".
He gets very annoyed and because of this she's able to find him.

Why is Ojiro so offended by this word?
I looked it up a bit and found that it's a reference to Obake no Q-Taro, but it still doesn't explain his anger.

It appears one of the main characters of Obake no Q-taro is also called Ojiro.
I thought Q-taro was the one who said "Bakeratta", so I was looking mostly at his character - but it is actually his little brother, Ojiro, who is the link.
He can understand everyone speak, but can only say "Bakeratta", Q-taro is the only one who understands what this means.

So I guess his Ojiro and his brother (in Megane X Parfait) watched it before, and made a joke out of it because they share the name.


text:
What are the steps involved in making a professional manga?
I've been watching Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun and I was surprised at the range of different things that were involved in the process of making a manga - like inking and cutting out sparkles to stick on the pages.

Nozaki-kun also has a load of different numbered pens on his desk. I presume at least one of them is a "G-Pen", which I have heard a lot of, but am not entirely sure what it is... and there are things that look like film canisters...

I was hoping A&M could help to explain the steps and tools that mangakas go through when making their manga and ideally, the order of those steps as well.
Note: I'm not asking for how I can do it myself, just the process that they go through on a high level.

Nozaki's process is probably a bit outdated, both to have more things for assistants to do and as a reflection of when the author herself was starting her career (about 10 years ago, give or take).

Interesting question... I searched it up on different websites. This how I found out!
Choosing the theme
Before anything is done the theme or story is chosen. An idea is needed - What is the genre? What should the Manga tell the reader? etc.
All these things have to be done at first before the drawing is starting. If an existing anime is converted into a manga it will be easier - because this information is already there.
The Plot
If the general idea of the manga is decided on, it is time to think about the plot. At this step it is important to ensure that the manga does not run outside of the theme and the dimension is observed.
The main events and the story flow is created. The plot is written in a simple form like:

Little Red Riding Hood is visiting her grandmother who's living in another village
She's courted by a wolf along the way
The wolf ran and reached the grandma's house before Little Red Riding Hood
The wolf ate the old lady, he put on her dress and lying on the bed, waiting for Little Red Riding Hood's arrival
Little Red Riding Hood arrived and was being tricked by the wolf
Wolf is ready to eat Little Red Riding Hood, a woodcutter passed by and rushed in for rescue
The end

This is a very simple plot. A plot for a professional manga is a bit longer and contains much more information. But this is not everything - You would also write down some notes about where these events are happening. Also little side notes are made to remember everything.
Mostly mangakas also write a number at the left side of the plot and mark the page where this part is drawn.
Character Design
Yahoo~ This is the fun part! The story is finished and now we can concentrate on the character design.
Now you make some examples of your characters. Not only what they looks like - it is very important to write down the characteristics of you character also. Age, size, maybe favourite colour - everything is important information.
The clothing is also significant. One design is chosen, based on the character, and this design has to go through the whole manga.
(Although sometimes the characteristics and clothing of a character could change in the course of the story)

For this part you only use pencil and a eraser (and your head). Some like mechanical pencils and some like traditional pencils, it depends on the mangaka.
Storyboard
After that, you can start with the pages. What will they look like? At the beginning you just draw a rough sketch on a paper to get a idea of how it will look.
Then, you draw everything on the actual paper. First you draw the panels, mostly with a ruler. Then the panels get filled with the characters, speech bubbles and a background (place).

At this moment it is not important to draw clean or anything. The clean drawing is made later. The borderline is important also called the bleed (the small frame at the outside of the paper). It is need for the print you should not draw on it. It is also a little bit of a margin so the page looks better.
The sketch is also made with pencil and eraser. Sometimes also special rulers like a French curve are used.
Inking
This is a hard and sometimes irritating process. If you make a mistake you have to redraw the the page again from the sketch on.
At this part the sketch gets "redrawn" but with a clean line and with - mostly black - ink. The artist is drawing over the pencil line and at the end he erease the sketch. Also a little bit of shading is done.
The so called G-Pen is a sign spring. With it you are able to control the size of the line by pressing it harder or softer down on the paper. This is one of the most used sign spring for mangakas.

If you have a coloured manga you only draw the outline without the shadows and dark hair. Later you paint it with alcohol markers. One of the most well known markers are copic markers.
Here a little picture from a image that is drawn with such markers (Letraset markers).

from deviantart drawn by Mistiqarts
A thing that for both is used is white out. It is used for highlights. This could be in a pen or in a bottle and you draw with a brush.
Computer Editing
After the page is inked it gets scanned and edited on a pc. The artist cleans it up with a Photo-editing program. This is mostly made with a tablet. Wacom is a good brand for such tablets.
When the page is clean, patterns are added. These patterns are added for shadows and explosions. The pattern could be crossed lines or dots or whatever.
The software that is used depends on what the mangaka like. There are many different ones. I would guess that Photoshop is one of the most used.
Keep in mind that today some mangas are only drawn on computers without the inking stage. But the pencil sketching is mostly still done.
If you only draw on a pc there is other software used like Manga Studio. With that you are able to design the whole page including the layout and panels. It also has awesome functions to be able to draw in a perspective.
This was the first page.
Print
After you have finished all pages. The whole manga gets printed and published. I will stop here because the way of creating a manga is ending here.
Pictures and most information from mangakasjournal blog. More information from the Manga Workshop and HubPages.

so for inking you draw a completely new one? I thought that you just coloured the old sketch in

@ToshinouKyouko No you draw over the pancil lines. Thats why the redrawn is under ". You do not really draw from new. I fix that! I also answerd what a G-Pen is under the inking seciton.

@ToshinouKyouko np and thx :3 To give you a hint about the other tools. The pens in there could be pens with ink in it in diffrent sizes. They do not have a sign spring. In the film canister is probably ink for these pens. The big bluish pen with the white cap is probably whiteout. I am not sure about this so I do not want to write that in the answer. I just provide it here for you.

Following are the standard steps that a Mangaka usually go throw to make a professional Manga.

Storyboard
Pencil Sketch
Inking
Computer Editing

At first plot or story is required to start.
Storyboard

Before anything gets written in stone, an idea must first exist. This is where the storyboard comes into play. A rough sketch of the story is sketched on the page. The page layout begins to take rough form. Speech bubbles, panels, and characters are added to the sketch. Panels are the divider lines between each picture. Paneling can prove to be a as challenging of an experience as the actual drawing. This step takes the longest because trying to come up with the poses and position of the page is very difficult.

Then drawing start. Here only pencil sketch are drawn.
Pencil Sketch

The pencil sketch is a vital step of any comic. The sketch is usually drawn using the type of pencil the artist is most comfortable with. The lead number or darkness doesn't matter because this will get erased later during the inking. If the pencil sketch is poor, then the final product will most likely be poor as well. The pencil sketch may be laid over the storyboard sketch or drawn out on a different piece of paper.

I would show a pencil sketch for the picture below.

Another step is inking. It is one of the essential part of manga.
Inking

Inking the comic is almost essential. The only exception would be if the artist chose to use a dark permanent lead pencil. Inking is basically tracing. The goal of inking is to get smooth, dark, “printer friendly” lines. The pencil drawing underneath is erased and only the ink will remain. If inking is sloppy, then the next step takes a lot longer to finish.

The last step is conducted using computer software like Photoshop and other picture editing tools to clean up line art and make sure it looks professional.
Computer Editing

After the inking, the picture is then scanned into the computer and edited with an editing program. The editing program is obviously up to the artist but some popular ones are Manga Studio and Photoshop. Photoshop is very powerful but has a bigger learning curve than Manga Studio. Before any effects are ever added, the artist touches up the artwork to get it as clean as possible. Once he/she is happy with the comic thus far, effects can be added. Effects can be added by using screen tones. Screen tones can be purchased as a physical product or can be added digitally. (If purchased as an actual product, adding them would occur in a step in between inking and computer editing).

So these are the basic steps. Source
This will help with a bit more information if you were interested to start from scratch.


text:
Change of protagonist or late entry of protagonist
In all the manga that I have read and anime I have watched, the protagonist always appears in the first chapter of manga or first episode of an anime.
Most of the time without reading the plot we can tell who is the protagonist after watching only a few episodes.
So my question:
Has it ever happened that there any anime or manga where:

The character who we think is the protagonist turns into a supporting character and another character turn into the protagonist
The protagonist appears or debuts later than 1 or 2 chapters or episodes.

But not including where the protagonist dies and there arises another protagonist.
And while providing an example try to mention which type of plot as mentioned above

I can only think of Ichigo 100%, with Toujou Aya as main heroine, but as the story goes, while she still consider one of protagonist, the story shifted to be around Nishino Tsukasa.

When I read this question, I remember the shojo manga From Eroica with Love.
In first 3 chapters in volume 1, the main protagonist is the girl who have psychic ability.
The main plot is "Psychic children team VS the phantom thief".
But after 3 episode, the author found other character (Major of NATO) got more interest from reader.
Then the author changed plot of follow episode (latest books is volume 39 and still continue) to "NATO vs KGB", and never seen psychic children.
I think such a radical change is easy to happen in manga series,
because the author writes each episode every week (or month) based on reader's feedback.
For example, Jump manga is easy to change to fight manga. Dragon ball changed from adventure to fighting. Yuyu-hakusyo changed from detective to fighting.
Next example is Boogiepop series.
Each story of this series has different protagonist. all protagonist meet the boogiepop, but each protagonist has different understanding about it.
Such a change of observing point is also common (as same as novel).
For example each episode of The Twelve Kingdoms has different protagonist for each "Kingdom".

Another example would be JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.

Yes, there are. TV Tropes refers to this as a Decoy Protagonist, although TV Tropes' definition generally seems to refer to when the apparent main character gets killed early on in the series. Some examples of this may include Gurren Lagann, Yuru-Yuri, and Bokurano (I took these straight from the examples page and have not actually watched the latter two).

Did you mean Yuru-yuri? the link you cite above doesn't have yuri-yuri

@Shinobu Oshino My mistake. I'll edit to fix.

@ShinobuOshino oh how i wish it was YuriYuri, then rather than hinting that the possible relationships we actually get to see them bloom (that and i can stop correcting myself when i search for it, I and U are really close together)

"Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni" does exactly this. The first main character (Keiichi) is still alive but the series completely shifts focus later on to one of the supporting characters which turns out to be the one the whole story have been circulating around the whole time. I won't say who because I would spoil it.


text:
How to differentiate Nekomimi from Inumimi?
So, how to differentiate Nekomimi from Inumimi? They looks quite similar.

Look at the tail.

This isn't efficient for every character since some of them don't have tails. Kuraishi Tanpopo for example has no tail, but her mannerisms make it obvious that she has nekomimi.

@kobato-tan Yeah, there are some characters where you absolutely can't tell until someone else comes along and says "Oh, what a cute kitty!" or something, but that wasn't nearly as pithy.

Both words can be summerized with Kemonomimi (獣耳) what just means animal ears.

Kemonomimi, literally meaning "animal ears", is the concept of drawing
  animals as bishōjo or bishōnen, or having such characters wear animal
  accessories such as ears or tails. Catgirls and catboys are the most
  prolific in this category, although bunnygirls, foxgirls, and dog
  girls are also common. Kemonomimi characters typically appear human
  except for added animal-like qualities.

Quote from Wikipedia.
Nekomimi and Inumimi are some more accurate designation for such designed characters. But there is one essential difference.
The word Nekomimi (猫耳) means "cat-ears" in english. On the other hand you have the word Inumimi (犬耳) what means "dog-ears". And this is pretty much the difference... Nekomimi are styled like cats and Inumimi are styled like dogs.
Traditionally they only wear a headband with the ears of the animal they dress up without a tail or paws.
On this picture you are able to clearly see the difference between this two species. Left a Neko and right a Inu styled girl.

Picture from the nonoshirip blog.
It is not always that easy to find out what is shown at the moment because there are also some Inumimi with pointed ears. But you are also able to recognize them apart by the tail.
As before, Nekomimi have a tail like the tail of a cat. Inumimi more like a dog. Here is a picture with the tail. Again left the Neko and right the Inu styled girl.

Left picture from ZeroChan and right picture from ZeroChan.
Sometimes it is very hard to recognize them apart only by the ears. If you really want to know who is who you need more characteristics than only the ears.
But watch out! There are Kemonomimi that look similar to the cat or even more the dog... A example are Kitsunemimi (狐耳) what means "fox-ears" or Okamimimi (狼耳) what means "wolf-ears".

Left image from ZeroChan and right image from ZeroChan.
You could guess who is who? Left is the fox styled girl and right is the wolf girl. And this is a example where it is actully very hard to find out what Kemonomimi style the character is designed.

And then there are kitsunemimi (fox ears), which can look very much like either, though they are usually slightly thinner / longer and point "upwards".

What about the case where the cat is based on expensive cats, like Persian cats, whose tails are like that of dogs?

@TendouKishi It is very hard if you see such a character. You can't really because they nearly look the same...

authors: อุดมพร ศรีเมือง


text:
What would cause an anime series to be transferred to another studio?
Specifically, I noticed the transfer of studios for Log Horizon (Satelight to Studio Deen),
Surely there are more anime series that have changed studios. Why does this happen?

There was the case of Hayate no Gotoku switching from Synergy (Season 1) to J.C Staff (Season 2) since the target audience has changed. That doesn't seem to be the case of Log Horizon though, since it is continued to be aired in early evening.

Is it between seasons this switch has occurred? if so i would assume licencing agreements with Satelight was for just 1 season and with the money/popularity Studio Deen decided to licences the next season. Nomad did the first 2 Rozen Maiden Anime and the OVA while Studio Deen is doing Zurückspulen

My answer is based off of what I know from reading "Hey Answerman" every once in a while, but I think it should be a good enough guess of the process:

The Production Committee for Log Horizon decided to adapt the novels into an anime.
They bought 25 weeks worth of a time slot because they were pretty confident that it would be more successful than a typical 13 week anime.
They contracted an animation studio to animate it (Satelight).
The anime aired and it had a good response with ratings and DVD sales. (And, more importantly, Light Novel sales.)
The Production Committee thought "Hey, the first series turned a profit and there is a demand for more, lets make a second series"
The Production Committee checks with Satelight and decides not to use them again because they were either too expensive or they had already contracted to animate another anime during the proposed season (scheduling conflicts).
The Production Committee finds some other animation studio (Studio Deen) that doesn't currently have plans for that season and goes with them because its better to do a second series now while the fan interest is high than to wait until Satelight is available.


text:
How do the magical girls match up to their prefecture?
In Magica Wars (Mahō Shōjo Taisen) There are 47 Magical girls, one for each prefecture.
The designs for the magical girls were decided on Pivix during a competition, and there is an iOS game of the same title, so the list of the girls should be out there somewhere.
What I was wondering was how do the girls match up to the prefectures, as it will be hard to keep track of later on as more characters are introduced.
I already know (from the anime) of:

Miyagi Prefecture: Naruko Aoba
Shizuoka Prefecture: Matsuri Sengen
Tokyo Prefecture: Rin Kobari
Ishikawa Prefecture: Yuri Inuwashi
Mie-ken: Suzuka Kamiki
Kumamoto Prefecture: Renka Ariake
Kyoto Prefecture: Mebuki Konoe

(About the tag), in this case, I really prefer the Japanese tag, since it is less confusing: Magica Wars (Mahou Shoujo Taisen) vs. Magical Warfare (Mahou Sensou).

The Magica Wars Wikia has updated with a list of the girls.
The series only included a few of them, here are the prefecture's girls in their entirety (with pictures where available)
Aichi: Rin Takehara & Subaru Amashita

Akita: Mai Inakura & Topiko Arube
Aomori: Neo Shiratori & Rui Shirakawagoshi
Chiba: Sen Hazakura

Ehime: Setoka Himeno

Fukui: Fuku Echizen

Fukuoka: Arisu Sugawara & Ume Hoshino
N/A ,

Fukushima: Momo Iwaki

Gifu: Hidari & Minori Ichiki, Shizuri Tsuzuku
 , N/A
Gunma: Tsutsuji Makai

Hiroshima: Akane Wajima & Miwa Kyuumon
 ,
Hokkaido: Komako Kitano & Yuki Miku
 ,
Hyogo:  Hotaru Kugui & Tamae Sakamoto
N/A ,
Ibaraki: Mio Kasama &  Nobara Yuuki
N/A ,
Ishikawa: Yuri Inuwashi

Iwate:  Meguru Hoshi &  Yuki
 ,
Kagawa: Kanoka Tamamo

Kagoshima:  Hayame Kaji

Kanagawa: Minamo Kousaka

Kochi: Monobe Tsurugi
Kumamoto: Renka Ariake

Kyoto: Mebuki Konoe & Miyako Saionji
 , N/A
Mie: Suzuka Kamiki

Miyagi: Naruko Aoba

Miyazaki:   Himuka Amano

Nagano: Shinanono Kawanakajima

Nagasaki: Ameko Kamishiro

Nara: Fuhiko Fujiwara

Niigata: Ichiko Echigo

Oita: Kemuri Midoriyu & Touka Taketori
 , N/A
Okayama: Suzume Momomura

Okinawa: Manami Hika & Menou Amakusa
 , N/A
Osaka: Sakura Midou & Yana Minase
 , N/A
Saga: Sayaka Yoshino

Saitama: Tamame Saijou
N/A
Shiga: Kinoe Oumi

Shimane: Chitose Kunibiki

Shizuoka: Matsuri Sengen

Tochigi: Hikari Tochinobi

Tokushima:  Narumi Sudachi  Hi-san & Sara Shirasagi
N/A ,
Tokyo:  Rin Kobari

Tottori: Chiyo Miasa
N/A
Toyama: Karin Hotarui

Wakayama: Kino Shirarahama

Yamagata: Yukana Akaba

Yamaguchi: Natsumi Manten

Yamanashi: Koi Momoyama

If anyone can fill in the blanks, that'd be great. If you speak Japanese, there's a card site here


text:
Ragyo Kiryuin's scars in Kill la Kill
Ragyo Kiryuin in Kill la Kill anime has a number of scars along her back, that are shown in such a way it would make me think they are important.

By the end of the anime, the scars are not shown to be important to the story. Does the anime miss something the manga has in regards to those scars? Is there something I missed?

Her wikia page says:

She also has seven scars on her back that greatly resemble the stars emblazoned in Goku Uniforms. The origin of these scars is unknown, but they are likely a result of her fusion with Life Fibers.

It's very likely that this was a side effect of fusing with Life Fibers at early age.

The scars are almost exactly the same style as the stars that indicate a Goku uniform's rank.  Remember what the stars actually mean?  It's the percentage of the thread that's made of life fibers: a 1-star has 10%, 2-star has 20%, and a 3-star has 30%.  The presence of the star scars on Ragyo is likely foreshadowing that she's a life fiber being.  I only count 7 in the full shot, so either that specifically means that she's only 70% life fiber (having been corrupted by them when she was older rather than as a child like Ryuko or Satsuki), or the specific number is unimportant and the idea is that she herself contains life fibers, and at a higher percentage than any Goku uniform.


text:
What does the small text say in the noitaminA intro?
At the start of noitaminA animes, there is a loading screen with lots of text appearing onscreen.

Looking closer, I noticed mentions of Eden of the East , Monokoe and Tales of Agriculture - so I reckon there are some Easter Eggs hidden in the rest of the text also.
Unfortunately, all the images I have found are too low resolution to make out what they say.
Can anyone reveal the super-secret messages that lie in noitaminA's loading screen?

Interesting can also see that, tough you were referring to the black'n'white letters at first.

I see that noitaminA is a programming block for TV stations that consists of mostly anime over in Japan. I also see that they most of the windows have anime titles on it like Tokyo ESP and The Tatami Galaxy along with large blocks of text. I think they might just be summaries of the anime.

There's some 720 versions of the image, but any BD release has that splash screen removed. The best I can make out is some text about noitaminA (maybe from their website) and a bunch of stuff about other shows, Tatami Galaxy, a list of broadcasted anime, air schedules. Maybe some graphs just for "looks"?

With thanks to user @Prix for linking this to me, and reddit user herrekorre for the actual content.
Here is a higher resolution image:

I think this section is fairly easy to read.

noitaminA jingle movie - TYPE: Augmented Reality (ar) Version 1.10.03.23
(b) 2010 made by Studio - RIKKA.
No drive attached to Animation, The BIOS is not installed.
Checking file system on C:
The type of file system is Augmented Reality.
CHKDSK is verifying files ( stage 1 of 1 ).
File verification completed.
100 percent completed

Expanding "noitaminA" timeslot
Set at Thursday 24:45-25:15, noitaminA has been the highest rated midnight anime slot on TV in Japan.
Stable and high reputations gained from the advertisers.
Starting April 2010, the 30-min weekly timeslot
TALES OF AGRICULTURE
Tadayasu is a new fresh-faced university student hiding a bizarre secret: He can see germs with the naked eye.
EDEN OF THE EAST
Set in Tokyo in the near future, this is a story of just 11 days on a boy who challenged the prevailing "depressing" mood of the country and a girl who supported him.
MONONOKE
In the Edo era of Japan, as cultural arts, modern science, and technology flourished, so too did the practice of mystical arts, as humanity faced the perils of the supernatural!

(Mononoke script found at: http://www.fujicreative.co.jp/Portals/0/special/anime/mononoke/mononoke.html)

NOTICE!
magnitude8
The location is Odaiba, the Tokyo Bay Area at the start of the summer vacation
  13-year-old Mirai and her 8-year-old brother, Yuki, are left away from home when the catastrophically large quake has hit Tokyo.
EDEN OF THE EAST
Set in Tokyo in the near future, this is a story of just 11 days on a boy who challenged the prevailing "depressing" mood of the country and a girl who supported him. The boy, Takizawa, who lost his memory, helps Saki out when she is trouble in Washington D.C. They return to Japan and try to solve the mysteries of Takizawa's lost memory. He seems to be one of the twelve selected people to lead the country in the right direction.

STATUS
Starting April 2010, the 30-min weekly timeslot will be expanded into one hour
LEVEL1

Format: 12(?)eps, 30min
broadCast:from April22
Timeslot: "noitaminA"

Similar info for Level 2 & 3

Expanding "noitaminA" timeslot
Set at Thursday 24:45-25:15, noitaminA has been the highest rated midnight anime slot on TV in Japan.
Stable and high reputations gained from the advertisers.
Starting April 2010, the 30-min weekly timeslot will be expanded into one hour consisting of two 30min series, doubling the number of animation titles to be produced and broadcast in the slot throughout the year.

TITLE

The Tatami Galaxy
TALES OF AGRICULTURE
Saraiya Goyou
Welcom to Irabu's_office
EDEN OF THE EAST
magunitude8
Antique
Hakaba_kitano
MONONOKE
Genji

Antique
One day Keichiro Tachibana opens a cake shop. Then a gifted patissier/pastry chef called Ono appears. Tachibana and Ono were classmates in high school, but Tachibana gave Ono (a man) the cold shoulder back then. Luckily Ono doesn't remember Tachibana. Tachibana feels relaxed and persuades Ono to work for him as a chef/patissier. However, Ono is a guy of "irresistible Charm" now and gives Tachibana nightmares by trying to seduce him.
  At this cake shop called Antique, an incident from Tachibana's childhood is revealed, and a variety of cakes is presented. This is a delightful comedy anime

I'm sure it's missing stuff here and there, but this solves the mystery of the small text. It's mainly synopses and similar small items of text related to noitaminA.
Most of the extraction of info:  http://www.reddit.com/r/anime/comments/23ac5m/does_anyone_have_a_transcription_of_the_text_from/

Odd that you mention it, because it seems that Studio Rikka (of Pale Cocoon and Time of Eve fame) was released in the production. The particular UI is done in the style of Time of Eve. No, this probably doesn't mean Time of EVE II is confirmed.
It says, on the top left:

noitaminA jingle movie - TYPE: Augemented Reality (ar) Version 1.10.03.23
(b) 2010 made by Studio Rikka.
No drive attached to Animation, The BIOS is not installed.
Checking files system C:
The type of the file system is Augmented Reality.
CHKDSK is verifying files (stage 1 of 1)...
File Verification completed.
100 percent completed.

The bottom right says:

(A, {{backwards R}} logo img) 拡張現実 (augmented reality) AUGUMENT REARTY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0stiWHFrxoc
also check this, the animated intro backwards (or the same: original status of the recording) says Back to Marijuana. #LOL

Astonishingly, this is not a fabrication by the uploader. It actually does say "back to marijuana" (or something remarkably similar), reversed - I checked with pristine audio, myself. This is a remarkably amusing fact, but I'm not sure it constitutes an answer to OP's question.

just a fun fact, really :)


text:
Why are all magicians female?
In Brynhildr in the Darkness, all of the magicians seem to be female - but there doesn't seem to be a reason for this (in the manga at least).
If we look at Okamoto Lynn's other work, Elfen Lied, he explains that male Diclonius are possible, but lack the vectors that the females have due to inbreeding. This explains why they are not that commonly seen in the series. I haven't been able to find a similar reason for Brynhildr though.
Reference for Elfen Lied
Is there any similar reasoning for why all the magicians are female in Brynhildr?

The magicians are all female to give the main character a harem of course.
It's not explained as to why all the magicians are only female. This could be due to compatibility issues with the alien monsters, or it could simply be personal preference on the kidnappers part, we don't know.


text:
Is there any reliable source that explains the Tsugumi Ohba-Hiroshi Gamo pen name?
It is said in some sites (including Wikipedia) that based on some cross-references the Bakuman and Death Note, the author, Tsugumi Ohba, is actually a pen name, and his real name is Hiroshi Gamo, another 50-year-old mangaka that was some kind of one-hit-wonder in the 90's.
I couldn't find any reliable source for verifying this, does someone know if this is true from some source (interviews, press...)?

These are still just rumors and speculation.
The most notable are in Death Note and Bakuman.
In Death Note, the seminar Light goes to is called "Gamo Seminar":

In Bakuman, there is reference to a series called Super Hero Legend. Not only is the concept similar, but even the drawings of this are very clear references to the art style of Hiroshi Gamo's 1993 work Tottemo! Luckyman.

Perhaps Hiroshi Gamo was an inspiration for Ohba, so this was his way of paying homeage.


text:
Are the Iris's the same person?
In the Atelier Iris series, all 3 games have character called Iris.
In Atelier Iris: Eternal Mana and Atelier Iris 2: The Azoth of Destiny, they both have Iris Blanchimont. In the first game, she is a great Alchemist who practices the many teachings of  (with the exception of Mull) and she befriended the Mana.

 She, however, passed away long before the start of the game from fighting Amalgam, leaving only her final creation Lita and the materials and formula to create the Ruby Prism

This is Iris in the first game:

In the second game, she appears as a small child who is taken in by Viese Blanchimont as her sister (though one could speculate that Viese and Felt one day married and adopted Iris as their daughter).

 Later, we learn that she has the reincarnated powers of Lilith, the Creation Mana, who looks a lot like her, which explains her talents in alchemy.

Also in Belkhyde, there are placed like the Tower of Marcus and the Cleft of Nelva

 And at the end, Lilith's power releases Mana throughout Belkhyde which makes Alchemy possible again.

This is Iris in the second game:

I just started playing Atelier Iris 3: Grand Phantasm and found out the Iris in this game is named Iris Fortner. It's mentioned she was raised by a family of Alchemists. However, when she talks to Yach about how she made the Heal Jars for the quest, he doesn't believe her and Edge indicates that Alchemists are rare (kinda like what was mentioned in the first game with Klein). Furthermore, it seems no one know about Mana and the world seems disjointed with other worlds called Afterworlds.
This is Iris Fortner:

They all look similar, and the first 2 games hint at a direct connection (with Iris's last name and how she would learn Alchemy). Is Iris Fortner the same as Iris Blanchimont (being a younger version of her from Atelier Iris 1)?
If that is not the case, is there a deeper connection to her and the game's title? Apart from her looking like the previous Iris, being an Alchemist and being a main character from the very start.

I've never played these games (just Eternal Mana, where she doesn't appear, and the vaguely similar Ar Tonelico), but could it be sort of like Link in the Zelda series? A bunch of "spiritual successors" appearing across time? Or possibly even descendants of the original Iris?

@Torisuda the Arland Atelier subseries are connected together story wise and aren't all that far apart as we see Rorona then Totori get older in later games and there is no mention of Iris or Mana in them so i'm assuming Atelier Iris 3 is the last time we see "Iris".

(cont.) descendant/spiritual successor might be Iris Fortner's relation with Iris Blanchimont but i don't have time frames of when the games were set and if Iris Fortner is Iris Blanchimont's decendent than Iris Blanchimont is truly a genius since that means Lita can have children, but the 2 Iris Blanchimont i think are the same given Eden's location in relation to where Avenberry is with the other identically named locations (Tower of Marcus, the Cleft of Nelva) and what i mentioned about Young Iris Blanchimont. ofcause i am looking for sources to prove a connection if any

the Iris from Eternal Mana and Azoth of Destiny are the same, set at different points in the timeline. Grand Phantasm was originally supposed to take place during Iris Blanchemont's alchemy career with the main antagonist and the young elder witch from the first game as her teammates, however the storyline was scrapped and altered, resulting in the seperation. so Iris Fortner is not Iris Blanchemont. but Eternal Mana Iris and Azoth of Destiny young Iris are one and the same.


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Which ending/route does Aoi Shiro - Kaeishou adapt?
I recently did a search on Manga Updates for Shoujo Ai, and to my surprise I found a bunch of Aoishiro manga.
According to Manga Updates, Aoi Shiro - Kaeishou is the official manga, but I am wondering which route/ending from the Visual Novel it adapts and if there are any significant changes to it (i.e. choosing one route while taking elements from other routes, like what the Fate/Stay Night anime did with taking elements from Unlimited Blade Works and Heaven's Feel Routes for it's adaptation of the Fate Route).

I changed "Fate/Stay Night anime" to manga, since it seems to fit your description.

@nhahtdh i haven't read the manga and used "anime" because i knew it did fit with what i was trying to saying. Rin and Shirou's fight in the school, the discovery of Caster's Master and her attempt to prematurely summon the lesser grail are taken from the Unlimited Blade Works route (in Fate she just appears breifly only to be killed by Gilgamesh), Also while not dressed the same, Sakura's attacks and Rin's embrace of her is from Heaven's Feel.  i'm am unsure what changes there are in the Manga in the route it chooses to adapt


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Why was Hamaji bleeding?
After Hamaji receives the letter from the Fusé Dousetsu then beheads her. shortly after Dousetsu notices a small trickle of blood coming from Hamaji nose before she goes to cover her nose, this is when more blood start to come out.
Why was Hamaji bleeding from her nose? was it related to seeing Dousetsu behead the Fusé?


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Where can I find a wig for Clannad?
I've been wanting to cosplay as Nagisa Furukawa for a long time but I could never find a wig.

Check out this proposal: http://area51.stackexchange.com/proposals/79160/cosplay-and-fancy-dress There you might find all answers to your cosplay questions (if it gets enough users)

Good places to search are Japanese shops that sell new or used cosplay items (or shops that import official cosplay items from Japan to whatever country you live in); the websites of people who make and sell handmade cosplay items; Halloween costume websites; and sites with many sellers such as Cosplay.com's Marketplace, Yahoo Japan Auctions, Etsy, Amazon Marketplace sellers, and eBay.
Nagisa's hair is almost identical to that of Kinomoto Sakura of Cardcaptor Sakura, which is an extremely popular character, so if you search for Sakura wigs, you will find ones that can work.


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What happened to Sakura?
In the Visual Novel of Fate Stay Night, both Fate and Unlimited Blade Works routes share the same start with Sakura making breakfast for Shirou and Shirou seeing her in the Archery Club.
If Unlimited Blade Works is completed, during these initial days, at one of the times where Sakura is preparing breakfast for Shirou, the player can select to notice a bruise Sakura has, netting the player some of the critical affection points with her to go into the Heaven's Feel Route. (We can assume it was Shinji who gave Sakura that bruise).
In Heaven's Feel, after Rider was defeated early Shinji's tome burned up, later when Blood Fort Andromeda is activated we find out that Sakura is Rider's true Master and Shinji got a second book from Sakura who gave him the books because didn't want to participate in the war (Shinji was begging for Sakura to make another book, and warned her that if she were to participate, she would have to fight Shirou). We also find out about Sakura's connection to the Greater Grail later on in the route.
We know Shinji is killed by Illya and Beserker in Fate, and in the Unlimited Blade Works, he was only defeated and went to Kotomine afterwards. However, I am wondering, what happens to Sakura in the Fate and Unlimited Blade Works routes?
I am looking for a canon explanation. I don't believe the events in the Studio DEEN's adaptation of the Fate Route are canon, as the showdown between Rin and Sakura is actually a throw back to Heaven's Feel. Not to mention the whole arc (Caster trying to summon the Grail) is an arc in the Unlimited Blade Works route (in the original Fate Route, Caster appears briefly near the end, but is killed by Gilgamesh's Gate of Babylon.

As I recall, she simply disappears from the story, leaving us to assume that things continue as before under Zouken. Possibly Nasu has said something in an interview, though. He's said lots of things in interviews.

Please check my edit. I removed the part "when Blood Fort Andromeda" is activated, since I don't understand the order of events from your post, but feel free to add it back in.

@nhahtdh Shinji's book burning up is a symbol used to show SHinji is no longer a Master however in Heaven's Feel when Rider is defeated the first time his book burns yet he appears with a second when Blood Fort Andromeda is activated (it's shown earlier however people who have played the route will get when i referring to)

I always assumed that the bruise was some sort of command mark, since the same sort of thing happens to Shiro later. (He has a bruise, which Sakura notices, and it turns into the three command spells.)

Yeah, the bruise is from the command spells. It's foreshadowing that Sakura is in fact a master. After Sakura noticed that Shirou was also a master she forfeited her rights to Shinji.

Fate/hollow ataraxia is the official sequel to Fate/stay night. It has radically different feeling to it, bringing more comical relief and tongue-in-cheek references, but it's as close to "canon" as we can get. It doesn't follow any particular route from F/SN.
I didn't read F/HA, but here's how TYPE-MOON Wiki references Sakura's development:

In Fate/hollow ataraxia, Sakura lives a peaceful life in Fuyuki City,
  which Rin has left in Sakura's care while she is at the Mage's
  Association, and Rider comments that Sakura is now the popular new
  captain of the school archery club. Sakura's dark side still exists,
  but appears only for comic relief. Shinji reveals to Shirou that
  Sakura assumed control of the Matou household, and both he and Zouken
  are terrified of her.
In the eclipse story The backside of Kibisis Rider and Sakura seem to
  work together to seduce Shirou and engage in a threesome with him.
  Actually this is all Rider's doing, trying to get Shirou to pursue
  Sakura more aggressively. Yet in the middle, Shirou realizes the truth
  and reverses her spell on her, in the end revealing to viewers that
  Rider herself has deep feelings for Shirou. Sakura appearing in this
  episode is only a conjecture by Rider's spell, a representation of
  Rider's true intentions of her actions.

There doesn't seem to be any canonical explanation beyond this. Personally, I think it's part of why people like Heaven's Feel so much: the thought of Sakura undergoing torments under Zouken until she dies just doesn't feel right.

Zouken Matou never meant for Sakura to take a part in any Holy Grail War. His initial plan was to train Sakura into a tough mage. He would then let her give birth to (probably with Shinji) the next heir of the Matous, who would fight in the next war. As Kiritsugu did not make a wish in the fourth war, the energy was almost unconsumed. As a result, the Greater Grail only spent only 10 years restoring the energy for the fifth war instead of the expected 60 years, which neither Kiritsugu (who planned to destroy the Greater Grail in around 20 years) nor Zouken had foreseen.
Zouken thought it would be a waste to not summon a Servant if they had the chance. He thus made Sakura do her summoning, although he did not take it seriously: he still wanted to keep his original plan. Zouken did not care about the fifth war or about the actions of his grandchildren. As a result, eager to prove his own ability, Shinji participated in the war since Sakura herself didn't want to participate, by forcing Sakura to give him the Book of False Attendant and Rider.

In the Fate route, Sakura was depressed when her brother disappeared from the town, as he had been killed during the 5th Holy Grail War (something Sakura herself may have been aware of). (Although Shinji was a complete jerk, Sakura held some strange feelings for him; she actually pitied him not being a mage and thought she somehow had to "protect" her "poor" brother.). But since Illya was alive and stayed at Taiga's house, visiting Shirou very often in this route, they became good friends and Illya always cheered her up, making Sakura regain her energy quickly.
In the Unlimited Blade Works route, Shinji was still alive, and stayed in the hospital for a couple of days after Rin saved him. Sakura insisted on taking care of him during his hospitalisation, and they seemed to "get along better than before" from Shirou's view. It was stated that after this lesson, Shinji gave up on being a mage, so he would treat Sakura a little better than before, although his arrogance did not change and he had a happy life from then on. Since Sakura still didn't want to stop pitying on and looking after her poor big brother, she would likely live the rest of her life in Matou residence with Shinji.

Although Sakura loved Shirou more than anybody else in the world, she thought herself too "filthy" for someone as good as him (which is another reason she cares about Shinji, as she thought they were both kids "abandoned" in the dark). As a result, she always stayed away and wished a girl good enough for Shirou appear. She let Shirou love Saber for the rest of his life in the Fate route and Rin take Shirou away to London in Unlimited Blade Works, which is really cruel as she had always envied her for living a happy, perfect life.
Moreover, no one in the Matou household ever cared about Sakura, other than Shinji, when he still thought Sakura was forced to leave her family and unlike him, had no chance to learn magic. He occasionally looked after her out of pity until he found out that in fact Sakura was the one who was going to inherit the Matou line and who always took pity on him. But even Shinji only abused his sister later on, this was the only kind of attention Sakura could get from the whole Matou family. Thus, she did somehow cherish Shinji as her big brother. She thought him to be pitiable enough that even when he beat her she had to beg Shirou not to blame him, as Shirou was Shinji's only friend.
Aside from the Heaven's Feel route, where he activated another of his plans for Sakura and the Grail, Zouken would have had to accept that his wish for immortality could never come true. Rin and Waver dismantled the Greater Grail a decade later, and Zouken would be weak enough at the point in Fate/hollow ataraxia (though kind of a joke, that's still canon in the Type Moon universe) that Sakura viewed him as a old man who was nearly dead. (So yes, in F/HA, Sakura did take over the household and rule over Shinji and Zouken, who were frightened to death.)
Even in the original story, in the two routes, Fate and Unlimited Blade Works, Zouken would die soon and so Sakura would be free, and the only problem would be whether she would still follow Zouken's wish to have children with Shinji.

I made some edits for grammar and also cut down on some stuff that seemed unnecessary. If I've made any inappropriate edits, feel free to change things back.

authors: Анастасия Бегунова


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What does the pink note left by Taiga say?
In Episode 25 near 11:23, Ryuji goes to Taiga's condo and finds a note. What is written on it?

If crunchyroll allowed SS (damn DRM) I would post one.

Do you have the timestamp when the note was shown?

@Memor-X Ah, that's why I couldn't find it. It's in episode 25 (edited question to reflect that).

added a better one since the image it a bit sharper and got a screen shot of the note

The text of the note is:

竜児へ
竜児___ね…ずっとずっと自分なんかが
  ___愛されるはずないと思ってた。
  でもそれは逃げてただけなのかも知れない。
  自身がもてないのを親のせいに…周りのせいにして…
  でも、竜児は私をそのまま愛してくれた…。
  自分に誇りをもって…
竜児を愛したいから。
相坂大河

There are two blanks (on the first two lines of the body) that cannot be made out because of the pen in the way. However, this turns out to be pretty much the same as the narration that Taiga does starting around 10:28, so we can fill in the blanks: the first blank is 私 and the second blank is 誰かに. Now, a rough translation:

Ryuuji,
Ryuuji, I... always thought that there was no way anybody would ever love me. But maybe I was just running away [from my problems?]. I blamed my lack of confidence on my parents... on my situation. But even so, you loved me the way I was. I'll be proud of myself...
Because I want to love you, Ryuuji.
Aisaka Taiga

The letter omits the lines to the effect of "I won't run away anymore; I'll change; I'll accept myself" which are present in her narration.

Ahhh, so she's actually narrating the letter

Did you just read it from the note, or listen to the narration and type it out?

@nhahtdh lol I didn't realize at first that it was the same as the narration, so I read it from the note. It took a lot of squinting.


text:
How was Susukihotaru, Bonbori and Hozuki born?
In episode 11 - Hollow Touch, we learn that the prevailing myth among humans about how half-spirits are born, that if a pregnant woman is spirited away, when she returns, the baby later born is a half-spirit, is incorrect. The real reason was that the Village of Oracles would take pregnant women and put them through a ceremony where the blood from a severed fox spirit's head is poured on the woman's stomach.
We know that the chief of the Village of Oracles has had numerous half-spirits born before, as when Zakuro was born he had plan to put her with the rest of the half-spirits, that was until he realized what power she had. Even after Tsukuhane's escape, the village chief, and later Lord Omodaka, continued in an attempt to create another half-spirit with Zakuro's power.
Susukihotaru, Bonbori and Hozuki are all half-sprites. Kushimatsu did say that she traveled with Zakuro, finding half-spirits and taking them in to protect them from the Village of Oracles. But if the myth about a half-spirit's birth was actually the work of the Village of Oracles, then how were those 3 born as half-spirits? Bonbori and Hozuki was raised in a cave, and if the 3 were born in the Village of Oracles, Kushimatsu would not have been able to rescue them.


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Why do xxxHOLiC and Tsubasa RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE use mixed casing?
As you can see in the title and from the xxxHOLiC and Tsubasa RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE Anime News Network Pages pages, the titles for these 2 use mixed casing, on the wikipedia page they have the japanese name as

ツバサ-RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE- Tsubasa: Rezaboa Kuronikuru

I am wondering if there is a reason why the names come out like this?

I'm pretty sure this is going to boil down to "Japanese people think that mixed-case English words look cool".


text:
Are all the Taoists survivors?
Before the events of Black Cat, Chronos apparently wiped out all the Taoists. When Shiki turns up he claims that he is a Taoist and that not even Chronos could wipe out an entire tribe.
After Creed defected his Apostles of the Stars are comprised of Taoists however Charden Flamberg and Kyoko Kirisaki had been traveling around giving away a potion which grants Tao Power to those who drink it.
I am wondering, are all the Taoists in the Apostles of the Stars are survivors from the war against Chronos or did some of them drink the potion? if so which ones?


text:
What did Naizer mean by Creed's sword being "alien"?
When Train was fighting Sephiria Arks on top of the construction site, Creed was watching from the alleyway, where he was confronted by Nizer Bruckheimer and Ash.
After Creed killed Ash, Nizer commented that he wouldn't be done away by a "invisible sword", because he could see the sword, with it coated in Ash's blood. Creed's sword extended, striking Nizer but failing to kill him.
When Nizer was struck, he said:

We don't use that alien technique in Chronos

which I assume he was referring to Creed's sword, but what did he mean by alien?
This is from the English dubbed version by Madman.

Please point out which language version you're referring to. Not all localizations are created equal.

This is probably not related to anime at all, but I think what Nizer meant by "alien" is "something that's unrecognizable/not exist on their culture". Note that "alien" has several meaning other than the common "creature from outer space" (now, I don't watch the show, so I don't know about the context)


text:
What is the purpose of the fast appearing screens?
Several fast appearing/disappearing screens are featured, during the episodes of the series. They stay on screen for one second or so, and appear out of the blue. This makes them basically impossible to read/understand, unless the viewer pauses the video.

So my question is, are they supposed to be fully understood? If so, is the viewer really supposed to pause the video every time a screen like this appears?
Or are they supposed to be, maybe, only partially understood, and should we carry on with the episode even if we couldn't read/understand everything?
Or are they really of no importance, and just used to produce some kind of visual effect? In this case, is the content of the screens of little or no importance?

maybe relevant: there is a similar question on the monogatari series

I heard its for marketing reasons. As it airs on tv, you cant see it, get curious, buy the dvd. But couldnt find any source confirming it thou.

With the exception of Monogatari, these scenes/frames as I've come across them usually have little enough text to be able to be read quickly. My guess would be that it's for a visual gag or just to add a bit to a scene or something. If there is a bunch of text, I'd say it's more to give the impression of something that's overwhelming. Monogatari, of course, is the exception to this, as the question linked above shows.

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


text:
Why does the first Season of Naruto have different Openings at the same time?
I've just been reminded of this from reading another question. For the first Season of Naruto (before the Chunin Exams) i've seen 3 openings.

Southen Cross 10's Toasted TV (Dubbed - Zabuza's blood spurt from Haku and Kakashi being blind-sided by shuriken are black and white freeze frame. Naruto Poison scene is normal)
Cartoon Network (Dubbed - no censor as far as i know)
DVD (Dubbed - No Censor)

i suspect also the 4Kids version which for the Naruto Poison scene, Naruto is complaining about dropping his lunch, may also have a different opening however i actuly have never seen that (however i hear it notorious since it changes so much)
i am wondering why there are so many different openings for the same episodes?
NOTE: the Naruto Poison Scene is after they fight the 2 Water Ninja and Naruto makes that speach of not running away after extracting the poison with a Kunai. Kakashi then says something like

Ahh Naruto, that was cool how you took out the poison and all, but if you don't treat the bleeding soon, your going to die. *pause* it's a good idea to stop the bleeding now

EDIT: all 3 openings i have seen occur for the same episodes, ie. Episode 2 on the DVD has one opening, the same episodes on Cartoon Network and Toasted TV has different openings.

Generally, when it comes to anime, OPs are switched out every season (12-13 episodes/weeks) or so. This is also the reason why 2-season anime series mostly have 2 different OPs, and single-season anime(s) only have 1 OP.
Since Naruto's 1st season has 35 episodes (according to Wikipedia), it makes sense that there are 3 different openings: the 1st season of Naruto is a roughly-3-season show, meaning that there will be 3 different openings.
If you meant "Why not forget about having different OPs in the first place?" as your question, it's hard to answer. It could be that production studios might want to inject some variety into the series, so that people don't get bored of watching the same opening 10, 20, or even 30 times.

sorry, i didn't make it clear (thought i did), all 3 openings appears for the same episodes rather than the normal switch we see over the course of a series, see my Edit

In that case, it could just be regional differences (or the tolerance a distributor has for anything "offensive." An easy comparison would be if 4Kids acquired an anime. You bet that they're going to change anything they may find doesn't fit the target audience, which is (most likely going to be) a completely different target demographic than the original creators intended.


text:
Did Shiraki Rig the Idol Festival Results?
When the winner of the Idol festival is revealed, Shiraki comes up to Hayasaka and says "they won". The disgusted face on Hayasaka is priceless:

This is right after the announcement that the winners are Akamiso All Stars;
While their performance is not shown, we can clearly see that the crowd is rather normal.

But on WUG's peformance, the whole stadium comes down:

We have a scene right before the result is announced, where Shiraki does a kind of power walk from the judge's booth (and the judges sound REALLY nervous), only to be berated by Hayasaka:

What really happened is not stated, but we have two scenarios:
1) WUG won, but Shiraki rigged the results.
2) The judges really chose Akamiso All Stars, perhaps because of Yoshino missed jump.
I really think that scenario (1) is the most likely, because:
a) it tells a better story
b) explains screenshot 1 (scenario 2 leaves that comment floating on a void).
c) is really on par with Shiraki's ruthless and unscrupulous persona.
d) is a way for Shiraki to strike at the same time both Mayu and Hayasaka (for her daring to step on stage again, and for his "betrayal" on mentoring WUG)
For scenario (2):
a) judges be judges, and a missed jump can cost a medal.
So, without any further ADO, and before the flag hunters cry WOLF:
Is there any official / canonical reference that Shiraki rigged the Idol Festival results?

I don't think so just because the audience went sky high does not mean the other groups had less of it, in fact they don't even show how the audience reacted to other groups as much as it shows WUG to have any base on your statement.

It did show the reception of Akamiso All Stars' performance, and the crowd is "at rest". Even the colors of the rods are all mixed.

That would have been the same for WUG if they just showed a few seconds of em.


text:
Does Melty Blood Actress Again Current Code add to Melty Blood ReACT?
When I was playing Melty Blood, I learned of Melty Blood ReACT and how it had the original story plus an additional set of stories done though the arcade mode which focuses on White Len's manipulation of TATARI. I stopped playing the original Melty Blood and of course I had to restart my route progression.
Now I've come to know about the upcoming Steam Release of Melty Blood Actress Again Current Code. From what I have read, its story is a squeal to Melty Blood

 as Dust of Osiris is a future Sion in control of TATARI that comes about after the original TATARI was destroyed.

Also, in the Type-Moon Wiki it says

Melty Blood Actress Again is the first game of the Melty Blood series which can be considered a sequel rather than an expansion or port of a previous game.

However, according to VNDB, it's just another release like Melty Blood ReACT. So I am wondering, does Melty Blood Actress Again Current Code contain the story lines from Melty Blood ReACT and just add this sequel storyline on top (along with new game mechanics) like how ReACT did when it added the Arcade Stories on top of the original Melty Blood, or does Actress Again remove any of the stories that was in ReACT?


text:
What happened to the other Eternian Astrisk Users?
In Bravely Second while you end up meeting with most of the Eternian Astrisk Users, seeing what happened to them years after the events of the previous game.
However i have noticed some of them are missing mainly

Vincent S. Court - The Spirit Master
Victoria F. Stein - The Anarchist
Sage Yulyana - The Conjuour
Lester DeRosso - The Vampire
Doctor Qada - The Salve-Maker

Now on the one hand Lester DeRosso may no longer exists because he gave up his life to stop Lord Ouroboros's regeneration however there is only 1 Lord Ouroboros and there are multiple Luxendarc which means only 1 Lester DeRosso sacrificed himself.
With Sage Yulyana in a sidequest in Bravely Second if you side with Mephilia Venus and defeat Nobutsuna Kamiizumi she says something about how Sage Yulyana may no longer be of the world after fighting a Ba'al (i assume it was Diamante) however it is hinted that it was Sage Yulyana who told Ominus Crow about Femto Flare being a weapon to stop a Ba'al and in the past no one knew about Ba'als until Diamante decimated the moon and crashed on Luxendarc
So i am wondering what has happened to the other Eternian Astrisk Users1

1: to be honest i could give a crap about Doctor Qada but for completion sake i have added him

Unmarked spoilers for Bravely Default and Bravely Second below.
Not accounting for the alternate reality versions, of which there are several for each character, this is the status of each of the listed characters by the time of Bravely Second:

Victor S. Court - killed by the party in Eternian Central Command back in Bravely Default (you listed Vincent S. Court, which is actually Victor's father. Vincent was killed by Victoria before the events of Bravely Default)
Victoria F. Stein - killed by the party in Eternian Central Command back in Bravely Default, along with Victor.
Sage Yulyana - killed in the battle with the Ba'al, Diamante. He managed to seal Diamante into the Kustra Archipelago before he died.
Lester DeRosso - disappeared from Luxendarc. This one is slightly more vague. The DeRosso we see sacrifice himself against Ouroboros in Bravely Default is the one from that "final world" and not from the original world that the characters originate from. After the events of Bravely Default, the original DeRosso helped Yulyana hide the weapons that Yulyana had previously stolen from the Crystal Orthodoxy (the OP weapons in the blue chests, if you played the game) in small pocket dimensions under Centro Keep and Mount Karka. He vanished after that, no longer being found in Vampire Castle (occupied by Yōko) nor anywhere else in Luxendarc.
Qada - killed by Kamiizumi. He intended to overthrow the Duchy after being defeated by the party in Bravely Default, but was overheard and struck down by Kamiizumi. According to the wiki, his ghost remained there, and was unaware that he had been killed.

Qada and the V's are dead, plain and simple. The V's are a storyline fight and canonically die, Qada's canon ending seems to be the one where you fight him before Kamiizumi, when he kills the alchemist after his fake death trick.
Yulyana is mentioned to have battled Diamante and then vanished, but it's possible he may have either died, hid himself for some reason(maybe recover his strength), or ascended to the plane Yoko mentioned in the castle.
Meanwhile DeRosso is mentioned to be alive in the bestiary entry for the bats you battle in the castle he lived in, but nothing more. Given we see another version of him post-Ouroboros and that only W-0 DeRosso sacrificed himself, he's probably alive but wasn't brought in for not having his asterisk available.

It'd be nice if you could provide some sources for this.


text:
Why do Manga & Anime defuse tragic situations so often?
Why do Manga and Anime defuse so often tragic situations? Moments that can be tragic/serious are often immediately defused by some hilarious moment and some stupid face of the characters. I personally find that disturbing that a plot cannot focus on something serious for a little while. Is that a stylistic choice or just a way to target a particular audience (i.e. children).

Do you have any example of this situation ?

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Anticlimax Do you mean these sort of situations?

yes thanks! as far as I know I readed once a couple of mangas and they were full of anticlimax

@ton.yeung To be fair, Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso is actually really bad about this - far worse than you'd expect from an otherwise good drama. The one that always comes to mind is the bit in the last episode (where, you know, important things happen) when Kashiwagi makes some off-color joke about BL at a wholly narratively-inappropriate time.

Those are the best shows, the ones that make you both  laugh and cry

From your comments, I gather you don't like the use of Anti-Climax in M&A as a medium. Though it can be jarring, Anti Climax can be great if used correctly.

Anticlimaxes can work well if it's clear that the subversion of audience expectations is the point, either for humorous purposes (such as the Anticlimax Cut) or as a more serious commentary on the genre of the work. If the Anticlimax is unintentional, however, or if the author's purpose just isn't sufficiently clear to the audience, the result is serious audience frustration. Use caution.

I think the root cause of this problem is discussed quite well on TV Tropes.

Not all anticlimaxes are intentional, though. Oftentimes, they are caused when the story writes itself into a corner. Other times, it's caused when the writer realizes that their planned solution just wouldn't make sense compared with the logical one. Sometimes, it's caused when there are teams of writers that don't communicate very well. The planned resolution of a Story Arc is nullified by another writer, who might have written out the plot device intended. Sometimes, in the case of film and television, it's caused by budget constraints or unexpected cancellation. It's rather rare for unintentional anticlimaxes to show up in single works, usually popping up in long serials where there isn't a chance to unobtrusively go back and rewrite some pivotal moments to set up the proper climax.

The problems stated above are quite common in the Manga and Anime industry and thus as you seem to have found out can lead to disappointing endings to a great story.
Source: You've been warned TV Tropes link. Anti Climax

Maybe this is not exactly anticlimax what I was searching for. In example someone just get refused by his love, and in the immediatly following scene some character do a stupid face, nothing to do with "endings", but more about scenes.

@DarioOO Anit Climax is not just for "endings" either. Each scene has a pattern, there is the reason, buildup and climax. However sometimes the author may diffuse/complete the scene using anti climatic ending. One of the most famous example is the rise of Madara Uchiha who was destoyed at his peak in just 4 Black and White Panels in Naruto. The "stupid face" may be the writers way to try and complete the situation. The second spoilers lists down several causes for "unintentional" anti-climax.

I would believe this is something of psychology where it makes the situation funnier; it's like after tasting some salt, the sugar will taste much sweeter. If I try to explain this using a more understandable way, think of the number line: the funny side is to the right and the serious side is to the left and you are at the 0 point right in the middle feeling no emotions. When things start to get serious, you move to the left and feel serious at for example -3, but then they drop a joke which makes you laugh and you move to the right. Because 0 is the neutral point where you feel no emotions, you have to move past 0 to feel happy so you have to be at least 1 or above. The funnier the joke, the higher the number. Now, because you are starting from -3 rather than 0, it gives you 3 more than if they just throw the joke at you in the start. This can work the other way around as well. This is mostly why they use this technique.
If they do it wrong, or when they see people like you who don't enjoy these sorts of things, it doesn't work. From what I have seen, these are mostly used in slice of life and shounen manga/anime. In shounen, they will get serious, then someone makes a joke, then they get deep and serious again. If you look at genres such as horror, this "trope" practically doesn't exist. An example would be EVA (I believe): there is no funny bits in there, it's serious throughout the show, but this might differ from person to person.

Yes, you explained well what I'm talking about, so maybe someone now can cite some source about that

Eva actually does use comedy in the early episodes but there's almost none starting from Episode 14 or so. Don't know about Rebuild.

@Torisuda sorry about that, haven't watched it in so long that i don't remember

@DarioOO i can't remember the name but i'm pretty sure its a psychology thing, i might ask my teachers and get back to you

@Dragon No worries, the later episodes do tend to blot out the early ones that had comedy. I watched the series again about four years ago and the comedy parts really stuck out. They were so jarring compared to the dark tone of Episodes 1-4 and Episodes 14-26. Plus, when I first saw Eva I was young and very new to anime, and I thought the comedy parts were hilarious, but when I watch them now they seem kinda dated.


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Where are the quotes that show Albedo hate other supreme beings other than Momonga?
Where are the quotes that show Albedo hate other supreme beings other than Momonga? (which vol, which chapter)


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How badly damaged was the Sdf-1?
How badly damaged was sdf-1 after the final space Battle?
And why was the bridge still visible after IT was supposedly completely destroyed in episode to the stars?  The bridge seemed intact in this episode .
Can anybody please explain this?

If by "final" battle, you mean the battle against Khyron in episode 36th "To the Stars", it was destroyed to the point it became garbage and buried. The bridge wasnt intact after that because the SDF-1 was buried and it doesnt appear anymore.
If by "final" battle you mean the battle were it was almost destroyed in episode 27th "Force of Arms", it was damaged enough that they didnt use it anymore until the last episode, when they partially repaired it for it to fly again, they made it fly once last time again against Khyron who finally destroyed it by making his vessel collision with it.
Something of this info you can see it here:
http://robotech.wikia.com/wiki/To_the_Stars


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Can Kazuki borrow or have other kings power?
Kazuki can have or borrow other summoner powers by having relationship. So, by doing having relationship with other kings can he have or borrow their powers ?

when i googled the previous tag i got Magika no Kenshi to Shoukan Vasreus but that was still to big. i think Magika no Kenshi is short enough and easier to read that the previous tag