text:
Why was the world of SAO not dominated by good real-life fencers?
There are many people in real life who practice fencing for fun. Most of them (at least most of those around me) also play computer games about fighting. Sword Art Online clearly fits into the fighting genre of computer games. I didn't make a survey, but in any game about fencing it is certainly possible to find someone who likes do the same things in real life.
As I recall, in the world of SAO combos are quick, but very predictable, especially the strong ones, and their speed is not above human limits.
As I assume, if one real-life swordsman would get his hands (or his mind) on SAO, he would wreck everyone. One can move his weapon without combos, losing some speed, but getting a huge advantage of being able to use feints. Plus he would be able to stop his attacks to block enemy's blow, etc.
Yes, he would probably be weaker at the beginning due to not knowing the animations yet and most of combos being very short. Plus, he would probably need to get used to the pace of SAO, which may differ from real-life. But at higher levels he could both identify a combo by it's first "frames", plus quickly react. It would also be nearly impossible to hit him unless he doesn't expect an attack.
One could claim that he would lose muscle memory -- he wouldn't, since this process is more mental rather then some change applied to muscles.
Why did this not happen in the novel, why was it dominated by a bunch of Mary Sue-esque characters? Or did I miss something?

If i recall from Hollow Fragment Suguha's Kendo skills (which Kirito stopped doing) didn't give her much of an advantage in SAO. you also got to consider equipment and level, while i'm on Floor 92 and havn't found how how it's happened (i suspect hacking) Alberich is able to survive on the Upper Floors despite Kirito and Asuna noticing that during a duel with Kirito (to test him before responding to his request to join the Assult Team) his actual combat skills are that of a noob despite his very high level equipment which can't have been brought easily

on the "mary-sue" esque characters...........Go ask Kawahara-san

First and foremost, the amount of people actively playing the game was really low. From 10000 people at the start, 2000 died in first month and 3000-5000 stayed in starting city from fear of being killed. That leaves only some 3000 who actively played the game and of those only 300 were "on the front lines", with rest lagging behind.
Second, most people who bought the game were hardcore MMO players. Overlap between experienced kendo/fencing players and MMO players is quite small. So the probability of experienced swordsman being dragged into it is small, but not impossible, Kirito being prime example.
But even if such player was found, It wouldn't help him. From the anime adaptation, it might seem that SAO is almost-perfectly realistic simulation. That couldn't be far from truth. In novels, it is stressed multiple times that SAO's physics simulation is actually quite crappy. For example, player cannot just "put on" a coat or "grab" a weapon and liquids are pretty much an eye-candy with minimal physics interactions. I would argue same system would apply to sword fights. SAO sword fights would not be as flashy with people almost flying around. It would be mostly two guys standing still against each other and spamming sword skills and letting those do all the movements. And just hitting someone with sword is not that great if sword skill is not involved. So player's real-world sword experience would be practically useless in this scenario.

The point is that if in-game mechanical skills overlap with (even if not so high) real-life fencing knowledge, the result would be great. Kirito lost his fight against the GM because he tried to use a combo -- what if someone just forfeited combos at all in favour of freeform fencing?

@Baskakov_Dmitriy Kirito lost hist fight against the GM due to system exploits.  Not going further due to spoilers lol.

@NZKshatriya no, Baskakov is right. Kirito lost because he used a sword skill, Starburst Stream, which while being a 16 hit combo, its moves are pretty simplistic and was thus blocked easily by Heathcliff. In the novel Kirito admitted that he made a mistake by using that move but unable to stop it (the moves).

@AyaseEri  Still, Kirito would likely not have won the first encounter with Heathcliff/Kayaba

Ah, I see now. I think Baskakov is talking about the final duel between them since he is mentioning the use of combo, while you're talking about their first duel. Yes, in the first duel Kirito lost due to Heathcliff cheating.

@Ayase  Now I see as well lol.  It pays to be specific when there are multiple instances of 1v1 duels...

I think fencing rules and experience shouldn't directly apply in SAO because of two main reasons:
First, the game was originally intended for players to fight monsters not others players with swords. In that case the dynamic needed to win is made to defeat those monsters, who just are not similar to humans fighting with swords.
Second, the battles and their outcome are directly influenced by the skills earned by players and the judgment on when to use them, and also the player's level, because this grants access to superior skills and weapons, and grants more hits points. In other words, to win a fight it's important to make sure your level is adequate and you must manage the fight and resources (hits points and skills) wisely, while having studied your opponent.
In conclusion, I think having real world fencing skills wouldn't be of significant importance in SAO fights, technically. But, a real life fencer who likes fencing or even loves it will certainly love SAO experience because of the new environment and fantasy-like adventure he's embarking upon while using a sword like weapon, it's just like someone who loves to drive cars and plays a racing game, I know because I love to drive and I've always loved playing racing games and driving simulators. So the real life fencer will be somewhat more into the game than others, maybe this factor will push him to dive in the game more than others and in the end he'll be slightly more advanced than ordinary players.

One would have to figure out how many fencers there are in Japan at that time, how many of them were VRMMO players.  After that, figure out how many of those bought into a VRMMO that was all swords no sorcery.  This would likely leave a small sliver of fencers as players.
To address the issue as to why a fencer did not rise to the top and dominate the game:  I ass+u+me that you are referring to Kendo (Japanese sword fighting), as opposed to European foil/rapier fencing.  Either way, modern fencing is a generally one v one, code of honor style of fighting which would not work well in general melee against multiple opponents, especially when mixed weapons and fighting styles are involved..
And let's not forget the whole if you die in game you die in real life variable.  An excellent real life competitor, used to the rules of real life dueling may not react to what amounts to mortal combat, with the same zeal they have in controlled competition.

OK, let's say, one single sword fighter gets into SAO. Why did he not become the champion of that world?

"may not react with the same excitement to the idea of going out into combat where they may actually lose their life." don't forget that none of the SAO players went into SAO with that expectation.

@Memor-X  Some people are built differently from a psychological perspective.  There was the "army" that typically stayed on floor one, and there was the front line group.  They all likely joined the game for an escape.  But once in, who they were truly emerged after being tossed into crisis.    And then of course there were the murderers.........

@NZKshatriya true but that was adapting to the situation (and really the army were pricks). it's just that before it looked like a player would have a choice to play the Death Game or not and so far it's only in the game where some characters from outside entered yet only one of them did it willingly (but it was to be with someone rather than wanting to experience the Death Game)

Meh, I think the idea that fencing not being the best all around fighting style is the biggest reason.  Heck, there IS no single best fighting style.  Think about it.  A solo player can only go so far without needing support.  I think even a certain someone figured that one out.

I think the first thing we should consider is that an athlete in a certain field cannot be successful in all other fields, even if you are a professional athlete it only means your body is more in shape and your reflexes are sharper that the average player in the game, but you don't have your body in the game and your reflexes are limited by the stats of your character, so basically you just know some rules and moves that you don't have the appropriate tools (your own body) to put the to use, and what good are those rules when no one else cares about them?
And the second important thing is that SAO uses its own set of skills, you have to strike a certain pose to trigger the skill and then use it, so even the skills you have and the moves you know are useless because they are just not as powerful as the in-game skills. I think the game is nicely balanced so that every one have to start from beginning and experience the same excitement and no one would have the advantage from the very beginning of the game.

I totally agree with this answer. I don't think all your muscles are transferred as data when entering SAO. So the best example is when you were really good in a sport and then stop doing it for some years. So if you were good at fencing, when you go in the game you will be limited by your stats. You'll want to do things, your 'mind' will know how to do them but your body won't follow because you don't have the same body.

Keep in mind a fencing sword versus a big ass great sword a fencing sword will probably lose. In sao skil l isn't really needed anyways, for one they don't normally fight other players , and what's being slightly quicker than everyone else going to do to a boss that could instakill you?

This goes back to the whole which style of fencing.  Modern 1v1 Kendo, or European foil/Rapier fencing.  If Kendo, I'll take a nice Masamune, but will keep a short sword at the ready as well.

Aside from what was already mentioned, experience levels and items are also an issue. Remember the first time that Kirito confronts a group of PKs? He regenerated faster than they could damage him.
That's a huge gap in power that can not be bridged through any real life swordsmanship skill.
When the game started, the former beta testers went for the easiest, most lucrative quests, snapping up quickly the best items and the most experience producing quests available. It gave them a huge head start while at the same time denying those same quests to other players.
A really good swordsman who wasn't part of the beta test would have been left behind at the start trying to figure out how to do the most basic things like loading up his strikes, using the menus, finding quests, etc.
While actual sword skills could be an advantage, it would be nowhere near as significant as having the experience levels and the right items, and catching up with the players who cleaned out all the easy early quests and who kept fighting in the front lines would be almost impossible.
And catching up with Kirito would have been simply out of question, given how much of a head start he managed and the fact that he kept leading the way.
Another issue is that in-game swordsplay is obviously different enough from real world swordsplay that it requires a significant amount of adaptation. Take for instance Kirito's infatuation with large, heavy swords.
Completely impractical in the real world. In the real world, you would be very hard pressed to find a longsword weighting more than 4 lb, and forget about cutting through one sword with another.
In game however, strength and other physical attributes are not as limited as they are in the real world, as can be seen by all the in game leaping around and the way concrete walls and floors tend to break upon impact with player bodies.
There are so many differences that real life swordplay experience is largely irrelevant, and might in fact get one killed because the expectation of what is and isn't possible are massively different.
Finally, Kirito himself had some real life kendo experience. He might very well have been one of the best real life fencers in the system.
Similarly, there is nothing to indicate that the top players weren't also good at real life swordplay, so even the premise of your question can not be verified:
How do you know that SAO was not in fact dominated by good real life fencers?


text:
About the physics of transmutation in FMA:B
Anyone who has watched even an episode of FMA or FMA:B knows how transmutations work. They are the staple of alchemy, and are very important to the show. The only rule with transmutations is the Law of Equivalent Exchange. This all seems fine and dandy when it is first explained to you; you must put in what you want to get out.
However, I soon started to considering the ramifications of this theory. Yes, it agrees with the Conservation of Mass, which states that matter cannot be created nor destroyed in a reaction. Sticking with chemistry and physics, it is also well-known that energy is required to make and break chemical bonds. While Edward provides ample matter for his transmutations (which are essentially 'reactions' in the parallel universe of FMA/FMA:B), where does he get the energy? If the Law of Equivalent Exchange was truly correct, wouldn't Ed and Al have to provide the equivalent amount of energy to bond all of the required substances together? Is this 'shortcoming' ever discussed in either series (2003 or 2009), or in the manga?

Conversation of Mass :( Alas, energy is not always required to change chemical bonds, as is obvious by the class of chemical reactions commonly known as "Spontaneous combustion" (where sometimes but a spark is needed) or a different one - "Catalysis" (where the presence of a different material can start a reaction). Also, AFAIK modern physics is fine with matter being created out of energy and vice versa.

@Ordous HAHA I didn't even see that typo, and it made me laugh, thinking of two bits of mass having a conversation. I changed in the question, thanks for the catch

As you concluded, alchemy does require energy for a transmutation to take place.
You mention that the energy comes from the departed souls travelling through the gates in the parallel universe, however that parallel universe only exists inside the 2003 continuity. There is no such parallel world in canon. While this explanation for the 2003 anime makes sense, it also leaves questions since we do see failed transmutations leaving alchemists completely exhausted. Being that the 2003 anime isn't based on canon, this is probably just an oversight.
The FMA Wikia on Alchemy has this to say about the subject:

In the 2003 anime, though it is never outright explained from where the energy in transmutation comes, alchemists who attempt to create objects outside their range of skill are left exhausted, suggesting that at least some of the energy comes directly from their bodies. At the end of the anime series, it is explained that the energy powering transmutation is actually the energy of departed human souls passing through The Gate to the alchemical world from our world, negating the concept of Equivalent Exchange altogether.

In Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood, this energy comes from different places depending on if you are using alchemy or alkahestry.
Normally for transmutation to take place, a transmutation circle must be drawn. The purpose of a transmutation circle is to channel the energy needed for the transmutation. This energy is channeled from energy that already exists in nature.
The FMA Wikia has this and more to say about transmutation circles:

The circle itself is a conduit which focuses and dictates the flow of power, tapping into the energies that already exist within the earth and matter. It represents the cyclical flow of the world's energies and phenomena and turns that power to manipulable ends.

During the story we are told the energy for transmutation in Amestris is powered by tectonic shifts in the earth's crust.

 Later, it is revealed that all transmutations use energy from a giant underground network of philosopher's stones, which go through Father's body.

However, the transmutations that take place outside in Xing use the Dragon's Pulse as an energy source.
To quote from the Wikia's Alkehestry page:

Whereas Amestrian Alchemy claims to have its roots in the energy of tectonic shifts and practices manipulation of matter toward scientifically practical ends, Alkahestry is centered on a concept called the "Dragon's Pulse" which speaks of the Earth itself having a constant flow of chi (life energy) which flows metaphorically from the tops of mountains down to the land, nourishing everything it passes with that energy as does blood coursing through the veins.

You can find a lot of explanations about the energy in Fma wikia.

In the 2003 anime, though it is never outright explained from where
  the energy in transmutation comes, alchemists who attempt to create
  objects outside their range of skill are left exhausted, suggesting
  that at least some of the energy comes directly from their bodies. At
  the end of the anime series, it is explained that the energy powering
  transmutation is actually the energy of departed human souls passing
  through The Gate to the alchemical world from our world, negating the
  concept of Equivalent Exchange altogether.

That's one of the reasons some alchemists want the philosopher's stone, since it contains a lot of human souls, it can generate a lot of energy that one alchemist can't generate on his own.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
What do the abbreviations mean in Dragon Ball Z?
I have watch all of Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, and that which is available of Dragon Ball Super, but still can't figure this out. What do the abbreviations for the different Super Saiyan transformations stand for in DBZ? For example, I've seen "SSGSS." Does this mean "Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan?" What are the abbreviations for Super Saiyan 1 and Super Saiyan 2?

Yes, you are right. SSGSS stands for Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan. I know it doesn't make any sense, but according to the info I gathered, "Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan, more commonly known as Super Saiyan Blue, is a form that can be accessed after absorbing the power of Super Saiyan God and then combining it with the Super Saiyan form."
For other forms like Super Saiyan 1 and Super Saiyan 2, no fancy abbreviations are used. They are generally known as SSJ/SS for Super Saiyan 1, SSJ2/SS2 for Super Saiyan 2, and so on.
There are also other forms like USSJ (Ultra Super Saiyajin), which are sometimes confused with Super Saiyan 2 or 3, but note that they are different. You can find more details on this site also.

But what does the 'J' mean in SSJ and SSJ2?

@ThePickleTickler I believe the J comes from the fact that in Japanese, the Saiyans are actually called the Saiya-jin. Jin in Japanese means "people" and is the usual suffix for a nationality (e.g. Amerika-jin is "American", Furansu-jin is "French"). When the show was brought out in English it was changed to Saiyan, using the English suffix -an that we seen in Italian and Martian. I actually think that would make a good question all on its own, though.

@Torisuda Asked in a new question

SSJ1  =  Super Saiya Jin 1
SSJ2  =  Super Saiya Jin 2
SSJ3  =  Super Saiya Jin 3
SSG   =  Super Saiya God
SSGSS = Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan
SSJB/SSB = Super Saiya Jin Blue*
LSSJ = Legendary Super Saiya Jin
SSJR = Super Saiyan Jin Rage
*It's the last transformation with a new name. The new name was introduced in the manga because the fans were complaining the former name was too complicated.

Should be noted that SSB and SSGSS are the same.

This is the correct answer however SSJ is what super saiyajin 1 is. There is no 1 after it. It's been pretty rigorously discussed here for referrence http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/960298-dragon-ball-raging-blast/52296870

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


text:
Why isn't anime critically analyzed like other forms of literature or entertainment?
In high school English classes, we read many classics, such as Shakespeare, Steinbeck, Lee, etc. In many other classes, popular TV shows and movies are analyzed. Granted, these are also classics, such as Hitchcock's Psycho or Nichols' The Graduate.
Why is anime/manga not as critically analyzed by the general public, like other works of written/illustrated art are? There are a lot of different forums that review anime and many people on the internet who have their opinions on different shows, but why is it not recognized by the general American public like other literary works? Is it its age (it is still popular, and therefore not old enough to be considered a classic)? Is the fact that it is seen as a cartoon by many in the US? Is it due to negative stereotypes in the west surrounding anime (many may consider all anime to be hentai, for example, and therefore disregard it as an art form)?
EDIT: To explain this more...many, many anime have underlying themes and meanings that stretch sometimes deeper than current novels/books that are considered literary classics by the academic community. So, why aren't these shows studied and analyzed in an academic setting? For example, if I am in a high school/college film analysis class, why is the medium of anime not considered when picking source material to analyze?
A few of these shows I think you can find deeper meaning in easily (and this part is subjective, you may disagree), with similarities drawn to novels that are considered classics:

Ping Pong: The Animation: allows the viewer to determine the definition of success (similar to Invisible Man)
Attack on Titan: comments on the human experience, portrays reality with a hunter/prey dynamic (just like Lord of the Flies)
Fooly Cooly: coming of age story (just like Catcher in the Rye)

Many others can be listed, and the above shows can be analyzed much, much further.
Sorry for the poor tag, couldn't find one that was applicable.

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

1 - Meta post: Is it ok to overanalyze an anime? 2 - They are analysed a bit in some Japanese classes maybe? At least when I took a course in elementary Japanese in bachelor's we analysed anime a bit. But of course it was a Japanese language class not a Japanese literature class.

Just need someone with a high prestige to start the trend.

I think the simplest answer is that anime is just not that popular. Though immensely popular and gaining momentum, the anime community just isn't that widespread. If you look at it critically MOST of the anime fans are limited to the popular and mostly Shounen series such as  Naruto, One Piece, Bleach, Dragon Ball, Pokémon, Deathnote etc.
Compare it to the consumption of various books and movies and their penetration into our society. The iconism resulting from this is what raised them to the platform where it seems that more and more of such media is critically analysed. As Hakase pointed out, if you go to an anime forum/blog, you'll see plenty of critical analysis of anime, especially the history and tropes.
Another factor is the geography. The popularity of anime and manga has grown and they are an integral part of the Japanese culture. However, other places are adapting and amalgamating the same later. This will automatically lead to the feeling that anime as a medium is more targeted towards the audience it sells for, i.e. the japanese. But as an "outsider" we're not in a place to critically analyze it. The same may be true for various literary works or other media.
A relevant example is the Indian epics "Mahabharata" and "Ramayana". I doubt that many people know it on this community, but Indians have critically analyzed each and every line of such epics as deep as it can go. Awareness of them is just limited to the Indian subcontinent, but now the teachings are spreading. The same is true with Anime.
Some food for thought:
Anime popularity: Blogpost: A comment that I liked

Depends. Again sales you might make the case but in terms of iconism there's no chance. Everyone knows who Batman is. No one knows who Luffy is.

A good blogpost about how to look at Anime as a medium of entertainment

"critical animation of anime, especially the history and tropes", do you mean critical reviews or some other word than animation?

@MichaelMcQuade meant to type analysis. Thanks for pointing it out.

Add language to geography. High school syllabuses do stretch to a few translated novels, but the questioner's examples, including the two films, are all English. No Molière to go with Shakespeare, no Sartre (who won the Nobel prize two years after Steinbeck), no Godard or Truffaut. It is after all English lit, not French lit or Japanese lit.

For "not that popular", I might believe that more individuals today follow anime.manga than read Steinbeck, etc. Although the "classical" authors might actually get more readers, a significant fraction is due to required reading assignments rather than personal choice.

2 of the big three are already over. maybe update the wording there.

There are critically analyzed works.
It is indeed a much newer and nicher area than traditional film, but there are communities around it. There is just much less of it (as @Arcane states) due to popularity
Critics in anime come in a few different forms:
Academic Critique & Analysis
Many film/media journals accept papers on animated media - this is a large area of publishing, rather than more focused papers such as Mechademia - simply because researchers may not be focused solely on one media format.
Due to the nature of popularity, anime such as the Ghibli films get a lot more exposure than others.
More information about particular conferences, journals and papers lies here as a community wiki post
These articles delve quite deep into some topics like the representation of gender roles in shoujo manga, the influence of Western terrorism on Eastern Media, etc.
Regular Publication Reviews
A lot of book and film reviewers often work for newspapers or some sort of popular media outlet. Indeed, RottenTomatoes has a high bar for counting as a critic, requiring you to be in (and regularly in):

A top 100 daily US newspaper
A top 100 weekly US newspaper
A top 100 magazine
A top 10 entertainment-based publication

So the bar is set pretty high for specialist topics, because film and such are so far developed as a culture.
Because of the reduced popularity, an 'anime' specific column in a newspaper, is usually pretty rare, at least in the West - Meaning the chances of becoming well known are further diminished.
Casual Critics / Blogging
Most of anime reviews come from popular (and unpopular) bloggers / vloggers. Another source is company accounts - the likes of Anime News Network and CrunchyRoll can hire people for this role as it is a rare case where it will increase exposure for a company meaningfully.
However, audiences for these reviews aren't usually interested in detailed breakdowns of academic references, etc. Thus, often posts are focused on recommendation. Often hobbyist bloggers will be supported by specific anime companies - so posts often align with what review copies they have been sent.
Here :)
So, as moderator of this site I'm probably a bit biased, but on Anime & Manga Stack Exchange we have many questions that seem to fit the bill for a deeper understanding of particular works.
Here are some examples:
What is written in Baudelaire's Les Fleurs du Mal that impacts Takao so badly?
About the artworks used in the Elfen Lied opening scenes (contains nudity)
Is there a meaning behind the paintings in Tsubaki Kureha's living room?
These are just ones off the top of my head. Personally, these are also my favourite type of questions - so I encourage there to be more on this site.
TL;DR: Academic Critique exists, and right here is good too :)

Note: I can only speak from a Western perspective here. For all I know, anime is critically analysed in Japan.
The first thing worth considering as a reason for why anime doesn't seem to be critically analysed in the West is that it's only really been easily consumable over here in the last decade or so, meaning that a great many of the established critics were already adults (and older) by the time they had access to it. Before streaming services and high bandwidth Internet connections, it would have been very difficult to find and watch anything other than anime deemed suitable for children that was broadcast on children's TV channels.
This may have contributed to the idea that anime is for children (and therefore not worthy of analysis), a notion that probably already exists thanks to the general idea that almost all animation is for children, thanks to most Western animation being aimed at that audience.
In a similar vein, the most popular anime shows do tend to be ones aimed at children/younger teenagers. Anyone looking to watch an anime show for the first time is likely to end up watching something like Naruto, Dragonball Z or Pokemon - none of those are likely to leave you with the impression that anime is an artform worthy of serious analysis.
It's also worth pointing out that there is a very big cultural divide between the East and the West, one that often manifests itself in ways that may make Western audiences... uncomfortable. In general, Japan seems to place less of a taboo on sex and sexuality, which can make some anime appear as smut to Westerners - even anime that is aimed at children often contains at least some level of "fan service", which is off-putting when you aren't used to that kind of thing.
Throw in a general culture surrounding anime that seems to be more concerned with waifus and memes than it does serious analysis, a language barrier that can be difficult to get past, and the at least somewhat racist (and somewhat accurate) idea that Japanese culture at large is "weird", and I don't think it's unreasonable that there aren't yet a lot of critical analysis' of anime at large.

Literature is that which is studied by teachers of literature (and by extension, their students).  It may have a connection to quality of writing, but this is not guaranteed, nor that other writing of equivalent quality will be included.  It's further complicated by the fact that because there's no clear evidence of what's good and bad, teachers are free to mark up students who write essays which agree with their preconceptions and to mark down students who write essays which don't.
The problem isn't exclusive to anime.  You'll find vanishingly few science-fiction or fantasy fiction titles in English Lit classes.  "Brave New World" and "Animal Farm" were pretty much it when I was at school - and they're written by established "classic" authors who mostly didn't write SF/F and who explicitly wrote them as parables.  HG Wells and Jules Verne sometimes features on the list, but more because their stories are old (DWM) than because they're well-written.  You're more likely to see Ursula LeGuin or Margaret Atwood in a list of feminist authors than a list of classic authors.
Historical fiction is in a similar genre ghetto.  I'm less aware of who's out there on that side of things, but Hilary Mantel had to be really good to get "Wolf Hall" into the awards.  People like Sir Walter Scott or Robert Louis Stevenson sometimes get into literature lists, but again it's because they're DWM.
Good and worthy ideas don't necessarily make a good book though.  Tolkein is a perfect example - he had amazing ideas, but pretty awful execution.

Anime as a genre has few gems. For me it's hard to find a good anime by random. Yet, I don't think that's the main reason why it's underrated. The ones that are great, really shine bright and deserve a more in deph analysis. Animation in general is considered "for kids". Time has proven that that is nowhere near the case (this applies also to western animation), yet this missconception remains solid.
I can debate themes like existentialism, libertarianism, morality, religion and many others in FMA for example and draw parallels between it and works such as Goethe's "Faust" or Brecht's "Life of Galileo" or Nietzsche's "Beyond Good and Evil". This being some examples I just thought of now. If you go in deph you can really uncover more. I do not refute the importance of literature of cinema (my point about the few gems can be applied to these art forms as well). Another point I'd like to make is that these art form have been there for longer, they had enough time to establish themselves and they are spread all over the world. Anime and Manga has been hitting mainstream (in America at least) since Toonami (~2008 I believe). I'm not from America so don't quote me on that. And my last point about mainstream may be flawed, but that's how I see it.
I do believe that with time these preconceived ideas concerning animation will vanish. On the other hand I doubt they will be studied by themselves soon, if ever (besides art schools and art colleges). Hope my answer has been somewhat relevant.

It kinda is, in the user reviews on dedicated online communities. Times change, these things become easier to write and to share.
There's more anime and reviews appearing regularly than there were (what is now considered) classics and critical analyses of it. The quantity is greater but the average quality is lower. Substantial quality is required to be considered by the authorities of the older generations of people who run those established forums.
I would not take it as a sign that all user reviews are useless, but merely that certain communities don't recognize them. It doesn't mean you shouldn't.

I would like to just repeat what our teachers said in English class to why we analyse all of those things:
we analyse texts because it creates meaning, this will help us to appreciate literature, this is why we analyse literature. as for other texts, such as advertisements and pictures, we analyse them to allow for deeper understanding of how the author creates meaning.
she ends there.
this suggest that the texts that we analyse in school are literature and we need to (apparently) appreciate the great works from he part. clearly anime and manga does not count as literature.
to back this up, my art teacher has said to me that anime and manga does not count as art.
this shows the unfair bias towards anime and manga
this is further supported dues to the fact that we analyse comic strips.
this shows how the western culture is still somewhat rejecting the other cultures.
the final reason is: it wouldn't make much sense to analyse something that's not English in an English class.
this is from personal experience, hope this helps.

If your teachers have all these preconceived ideas about what is and isn't art or literature, I can't consider them true academics. The quote, to me, supports rather than discredits the idea that anime should be critically analyzed.

@Torisuda i can't quite understand what you're trying to say, for the second sentence

Sorry, I was on my phone so I didn't explain myself more fully.  I meant that "We analyze texts because it creates meaning, which will help us appreciate literature" sounds like a reason why we should analyze anime. More than a few times, I've been on the fence about a show, and when I start writing an analysis I'll either realize that it was a lot deeper than I thought at first, and appreciate it more, or see that it was really pretty shallow. So if analysis, by creating meaning, helps us appreciate literature, it can also help us appreciate anime.

@Torisuda i totally agree, but as i said in by answer, bias and the fact that it is an english lessons stops anime/manga being analysed

1. Anime has not been around long enough
The first anime was created in 1907, but the first produced and televised anime didn't came until 1961, which is more than 50 years after the first anime [1]. The first light novel with anime-ish style came in 1970s [2]. The first modern manga originated in 1945 [3]. It hasn't been a century before anime and manga exist.
In comparison, many of the Western Classics came in the 19th century, for example, The Prince and the Pauper (1881), Wuthering Heights (1847), Pride and Prejudice (1813), A Tale of Two Cities (1859). Some, such as Shakespeare's came from even further back in the 16th century. This form of art has been long enough that people have long enough time to know them and start critically analyzing them, which also contributes to my second point. It has been read by generations of human population.
2. Popularity
Most people who went to school would have at the very least heard of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, western or not. The same cannot be said about anime. Only avid anime and manga fans would know of Fushimi Tsukasa's Ore no Imouto ga Konnani Kawaii wake ga nai. Even with world-wide popular anime such as Naruto, only some would notice the name Masashi Kishimoto. Anime and manga has yet to reach the popularity that classic literature enjoys.
3. Content of anime
Being made in Japan, many if not most of anime and manga have a view on God that would be regarded as insulting to those living in religious countries. I remember when I was younger, I turned on TV to find Saint Seiya broadcasting and there one of the characters said something about "power equal to that of God". My father overheard that and told me to change the channel ASAP. This is due to the way Japan perceive God, that in Japan there are many gods, so much that it was said that Yamato (ancient name of Japan) is a land of thousands gods. Older people tends to be more religious as shown in the statistics, more people in the 80s are religious compare to the 90s and most of them are a follower of Abrahamic religions which is monotheistic and regards polytheism as sinful  [4].
Another problem with the content of anime and manga, especially in modern anime and manga is that many of them contains fans service that is sexual in nature. While pornography is legal in western world, in the other parts of the world it is illegal. China and Indonesia, two of the most populous countries in the world, that is approximately 20% of the world population, have pornography as something illegal. From these two countries alone we already lost 20% of potential critical reviewer.
4. You're an otaku, pffft
When someone is known as an anime and manga lover, he will get the label, otaku. This is especially true with adults. The problem with this is that otaku is not seen in positive light. Even in Japan otaku was seen in negative light and only in 2013 that a research shows it has been seen in more positive light. When you make a critical analysis of anime or manga, then like it or not you have to read or watch it. Most kids won't be able to make make a critical review, which means most critical review would come from adult, and like I said adult watching anime was not regarded in positive light. Like shown in many anime, announcing yourself as otaku is basically a social suicide, especially when many have questionable content.
5. Era difference, the Internet, and forms of entertainment
During the era of Shakespeare and other western literary classics, there was not many form of entertainment. The wasn't video games, there wasn't Internet, no device where you can listen to music, heck, even electric light only gets famous in the 20th century. This lack of entertainment means makes theatrical plays and books has little to no contender. Today with the variety of entertainment means available, less attention is spend on each. This also translate into less of the world population watch anime and read manga and light novel compared to when the previous era, where means of entertainment are limited. Had anime and manga was born during the Shakespeare era and Shakespeare during anime and manga era then the popularity would be reversed, with anime and manga receiving more critical reviews than Hamlet, and Romeo and Juliet.

I feel like you're answering the question "Why isn't anime more popular in general?" rather than the question "Why isn't anime more popular in academic circles?" There definitely are academics in the West studying recent, relatively niche works of pure entertainment like comic books and YA novels. A professor at my university was a world-renowned expert on The Simpsons. Many academics would also find the subculture interesting rather than repellent, and in the world of publish or perish, studying something new and unusual is a good survival strategy.

Anime and manga are being critically analyzed. it is just that, as everyone above said, it isn't as widespread or popular. I would like to add to their opinions, though. Anime and manga, during its infancy or should I say the time when they are beginning to become popular, their target audience at the time are kids and teens. You know how kids are- when they have something they like, it became difficult to get them away from it. This gave rise to the 'otaku' mindset which in turn gives anime and manga a negative reputation. I would like to ask you then, if something has a negative reputation, are you willing to teach it inside the classroom? You won't, right?

Plenty of classics have negative reputations or discuss taboo topics

Some examples: A Long Way Gone & Invisible Man

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


text:
What are recent innovations in animation techniques?
As with many forms of art and entertainment, the process of drawing anime must have evolved over time. CGI isn't uncommon in modern anime, as scenes or whole shows can be completed using nothing but a computer. What are some of the modern innovations in animation techniques (primarily for anime)?

How recent are we talking here? Last ten years? Last twenty years?

Computerization is the major innovation if you're looking a decade or more back in time.

@ton.yeung That's hate speech. Don't say the m word here. This is a safe space.

@ton.yeung Let's call it "a joke with an infinitesimal grain of truth in it".

I'd like to try and edit this question to bring it back on topic, but I'm not sure how to narrow the scope without invalidating The Pickle Tickler's excellent answer.

Due to the lack of time period in the question, here's a more blanket overview of anime innovation.
The Evolution of Animation Techniques
The Celluloid Shift
The first few animations were made by Winsor McCay in 1914. Unfortunately, there are not many copies of this animation remaining, but it sparked a movement that was known as the Celluloid Shift in animation history. This process involves drawing a background first, and then drawing different layers for characters on top of it.

This allowed for animators to make more complex scenes than just simple sketches. This is the method that Walt Disney used when he created Steamboat Willie (1929) and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). While this isn't Japanese animation, or anime, this method of drawing layers is what was used in early animation projects from any country or origin {1}.
It wasn't for a while that the now regular episodic Japanese anime made an appearance. From this A&M SE question, people have largely agreed that おとぎマンガカレンダー, or Otogi Manga Calendar, was the first anime series ever created, which was published in 1961. However, there were other short clips, like Katsudo Shashin (1907) and なまくら刀 (An Obtuse Sword) (1917), which were each 3 seconds and 120 seconds, respectively. These first short animations and full anime series use the method brought on by McCay with the Celluloid Shift. It is interesting to note that McCay brought this method to the west in 1914, but it is seen being used in animations in the east as early as 1907.
Computer-Aided Frame-by-Frame Animation
After animation was gaining popularity as a medium of entertainment across the globe, the computer began aiding animators in their creation of new works. When the computer first entered the world of animation, it was used to make the process of redrawing parts of the scene much less arduous, by introducing the frame-by-frame method.
In the frame-by-frame method, an animator draws an initial scene on the computer. This can be done with a stylus on the computer screen, or it can be done with special external computer peripherals that will translate a drawing into an image on the computer screen. Then, the animator advances the screen by one frame (if the movie takes place at 60 fps or frames per second, then the animator advances the scene by 1/60th of a second). The drawing from the last frame stays slightly grayed out for the animator to reference, and the drawing from the current frame appears darker on the computer screen. These allows the animator to create reference points when animating. With the previous method in the Celluloid Shift, this method could be emulated with very thin tracing paper, where an artist would draw one frame, and then lay a thin sheet of paper over it so they could see it while drawing the next frame.
Here is a great video that shows exactly how frame-by-frame animation works (this is still largely used in the anime industry today), as it is hard to visualize from my description alone. It is important to note that in this method the animation is still largely drawn by hand; even though this method uses a computer, the computer doesn't actually do the drawing, the animator does.
Computer-Generated Imagery
However, the most modern innovation with anime and animation is CGI, or computer-generated imagery. Similar to frame-by-frame animation, CGI is accomplished with the use of a computer (thus the phrase computer in the name), but different to all previous animation methods, the computer draws the scene (as instructed by the animator), rather than the animator drawing the scene.
This method has become popular in the west with studios like Pixar and Dreamworks. Some of the most popular include Toy Story (1995) and The Incredibles (2004), as well as many, many others. However, this animation innovation has been used fairly regularly in other shows as well. More popular in mecha anime, at the dawn of the CGI era certain scenes would be completed with CGI while the majority of the work was done with computer-aided frame-by-frame animation. This is because often CGI allows animators to create and draw scenes that are incredibly complex or too hard to draw by hand. It was more popular as CGI was emerging to use this cross-method animation, where parts were animated with CGI and other sections were animated with the frame-by-frame method. There are many, many other examples of this, but the one I found that showcases this fusion of the two methods is this scene from the second season of Aldnoah.Zero (2014), which you can see CGI being used for the vehicles and mechs but regular frame-by-frame for the people and other scenes (beware, this clip contains spoilers). Another show that relied heavily on both frame-by-frame and CGI animation is Initial D. You can watch this first episode of Initial D and seen the stark contrast between the two animation methods. Whether this cross-method animation was an effective way of creating a show is primarily opinion-based, however, and is a whole different question for later.
In today's modern world, however, CGI is making the transfer from being used in conjunction with frame-by-frame animation to being used for the whole show. There have been a couple shows like this recently (and probably many more that I haven't watched), but the two that are in my mind right now are Ajin, whose trailer can be seen here, and the new sequel of Berserk, whose trailer can be seen here. As computers become more powerful and more available, it seems that CGI is taking over more shows, but I doubt it will fully replace frame-by-frame animation (on a personal note, if you haven't seen Ajin or Berserk, I HIGHLY suggest watching the anime or reading the manga for both of them) {2}.
Here is another great article that discusses the evolution of graphics in anime, from a more subjective lense:

Those who watch older versions of anime movies will immediately notice the difference in graphics. First of all they were designed in 2D and the special effects were considerably simpler. It is amazing the special effects seen in new anime shows these days. There are even 3D versions of certain anime movies that delight their audience with incredible action and effects.

While this section stems from general animation techniques, you have to remember that anime is an animation, and its history has largely followed the same technique evolution as the animation industry as a whole.
The Evolution of Anime Trends/Styles
In addition to different innovations in animation techniques, there have also been different trends and innovations that have to do with style. This has less to do with the different techniques of drawing anime, and more with the different styles and trends that have emerged from anime over time. The full list can be read from here.

Gainax Stance

Shaft Angle

Dezaki Direction Style

Minagawa Fade

Sunrise Stance

While this section isn't the first thing you think of when asking "What innovations are there in anime techniques," I would argue that it is still relevant because it is how animators are changing trends and innovating in their animation styles. These are not styles that are done by just one or a few animators or shows, but rather trends that span across the whole anime industry {3} {4}.
Sources:
{1} (source)
{2} (source)
{3} (source)
{4} (source)


text:
Why are Ash and his friends fooled by team rocket again and again?
I have seen so many episodes of Pokemon. Many episodes have Team Rocket trying to steal Ash's Pokemon by disguising themselves, or with other predicable methods. Still, they are easily recognizable as Team Rocket every time. Why are Ash and his friends fooled every time, when Team Rocket's actions should be predictable by now?

The practical reason is "it's a children's show".

It's not that Ash and co. are constantly fooled by Team Rocket again and again, but rather that Team Rocket has a specific role in the show. In order to keep Team Rocket in the show, they have to have a purpose for each episode, and thus have been constantly after Ash's Pikachu since the original few episodes. To us, it seems that Ash is "dumb" or oblivious to Team Rocket's schemes, but in all reality it is due to the writing staff trying to keep them in the show (you have to remember that Pokemon is considered to be a children's show).
I found from here one reason for why Team Rocket still appears in Pokemon:

Because they are popular comic relief characters, and if they were ever to get rid of them, a boatload of rocket shipping fangirls would freak out and hate Nintendo and stop buying games and watching shows, therefore bankrupting the company. How else would they manage to make those episodes last 22 minutes without wasting our time with another predictable plot to capture Pikachu?

At this point, Team Rocket has become a staple of the Pokemon universe, and it would feel empty without them. There are other Pokemon watchers who feel similarly to you, as stated here:

The comic relief they provide is a necessary part of the show, but I'm quite certain they could think of better ways of working it in.  Not quite the same as how you feel about strangling them, but my brother has actually started cheering them on because he wants them to actually win for once so that they aren't completely irrelevant.  Plus it would be fun to see Ash totally lose it when Pikachu is gone for days on end ;)  The thing that really bugs me though is how they have no concept of how you're supposed to pull off crimes anyway.  I can think of several instances off the top of my head where if they'd kept their traps shut (no pun intended) without constantly going off into their motto that they might actually have succeeded.  They also think that as soon as they've got a net around something that it's theirs.  Team Rocket is always shocked when the Pokémon fight back.  Finally, who the **** travels in a hot-air balloon when you're trying to be inconspicuous?!

They shoulda have made it the bleach way. Create a character only to show it every few hundred eps.

@ardaozkal Well, they do got a character like that: Gary Oak. It's not every few hundred episodes, but he does show up every once in a while.

@Nzall you have a point :)

One way to understand this is that the disguises are made obvious for the viewers, so that we are always aware that it is Team Rocket. From an in-universe perspective, the disguises must be fairly effective, because they always fool everyone.
From TV tropes:

The external reason for the flimsy disguise may be that the creators
want to signal the presence of a disguise to the audience before the
other characters catch on (a sort of Reverse Whodunnit).

Another point to consider is that this is a cartoon. In the real world, it doesn't take much alteration to one's appearance to make it hard for other people to identify you. But in a cartoon, where detail is lower, it's a lot easier to pick out characters so long as the alterations are minor and their features are prominent enough (such as having giant purple or red hair). If we consider Ash and friends seeing things more like we see them in the real world, and less like the cartoon world we see them in, then this makes a bit more sense (Jesse's hair is still pretty distinctive, though).
Some sources on how easy it can be to fool people with simple disguises:
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20121207-do-disguises-fool-surveillance
https://www.wikihow.com/Disguise-Yourself
https://gizmodo.com/its-surprisingly-easy-to-trick-people-with-a-disguise-1832767214
https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2Fxap0000213  (scholarly article mentioned by above gizmodo article, access required)

I think Ash and his friends are fooled by Team Rocket in almost every episode because

To keep the suspense/action up
To have a storyline and
To make sure Team Rocket is included.

You would think Ash and his friends have learned, but I guess they do not. Just watch as the Pokemon are ready for Team Rocket while Ash and his friends are training!

Because it's a children's show, and the reoccuring vilains getting slap-stick'ed every time is beautiful for the glued to the tv kids.

I don't see what this adds to the existing answers.


text:
What was Ayu's third wish?
In 23rd episode of Kanon 2006 anime, Yuuichi goes to School Ayu visited and met her there. Yuuichi offered to grant her third wish.

 She wished for Yuuichi to forget her, but he declined to grant that wish because he is not able to.

Ayu then realizes what the third wish is, but we only see her mouth moving.
What did she wish for?

The simple answer is that we don't know.
However, in Episode 24, Shiori makes a guess (based on a feeling) of it being, "I want my dearest person to always be smiling."

 "For that to happen, everyone around that person has to be having a happy life, too." Which brings her to the conclusion that such a wish triggered all the miracles happening around Yuuichi, such as all the girls getting better, including Ayu herself.


text:
Are these constellations real?

Are these poke-constellations real ? If so , then how do the constellations relate to the Pokémon , of vice versa ? And would you also please explain any other information you may have about the constellation and Pokémon relationship ? Or are these constellations just and only in the anime ?

Believe it or not, constellations are a thing in the Pokémon universe.  Well, sort of; they don't really have any lore behind them at all.

Pokémon constellations appear multiple times in the Pokémon games and anime. Currently, no star charts or lore exist for constellations in the Pokémon world.

This brings me to your image; with the exception of Milotic and Gardevoir, none of those constellations exist in any media related to Pokémon, according to Bulbapedia.  Pokemon Channel is the only media in which both Milotic and Gardevoir appear as far as games, and in the movie Jirachi:  Wish Maker, they are seen as well.
...Also, your particular picture is unofficial art work, so the likelihood of it being canon at all is pretty much nil.


text:
What stats are in KonoSuba world and what do they do?
In KonoSuba's first episode, Aqua is said to have extremely high stats on all stats but below average intelligence and worst luck. Then, she was told that she can be anything but Arch Wizard since it requires intelligence. Arch Wizard, being a Wizard, and as we can see from Megumin, is a class that uses magic to attack. Aqua's low intelligence prevents her from becoming a Arch Wizard, means that magic is related to intelligence.
When they checked Megumin's adventurer card, both Kazuma and Aqua mentioned that Megumin, being from the Crimson Demon clan, has a very high intelligence and is an Arch Wizard. It was also shown that Megumin can cast advanced spell, Explosion although only once a day due to her limited mana.
However, during the fight with Dullahan, Aqua cast Sacred Create Water on a level where it destroyed the gate of the city, causing damage on the level of Megumin's Explosion if not higher.
My question is, since Aqua can't be Arch Wizard due to her low intelligence, while she shows that she can do magic on the level that of Megumin, then what does the intelligence stats do in KonoSuba world? While at it, what are the other stats in KonoSuba and what do they do?

I asked the guys over at RPG what they thought, and apparently Sacred Create Water sounds like a Cleric spell, which would be based off the wisdom stat and not intelligence like most Wizard spells. As Aqua is the Arch Priest class, this ties in fairly well with that explanation. This is, of course, assuming Konosuba follows the same rules as D&D and such and has an equivalent of the Wisdom stat - having not watched the show I can't say for sure.

I think it's more about her enchanted items. I remember Kazuma ask her something like "Don't you need proper gears?"
"No these are the best i can get already"
-I don't remember word by word or if i heard in anime or novel-
Knowing Aqua already know the world building-even if not detailed- When she says its the best gear i think we can trust her on that.
So my guess, it's not about her race as they stated goddess or the race. It's about her gears. Of course this may not be suited in konosuba or any rpg world system but well it's my best guess

Firstly, Stats are required for Adventurers to join a Class (of fulfilled requirements), which is somewhat important in the Konosuba universe as picking up an advanced Class as soon as possible reduces the skill-point cost of their Class' Skills. Also, upgrading to an advanced Class rewards adventurers with bonus skill points and makes their Class' Skills readily available without requiring a demonstration.
On the wiki, it was said that:

Kazuma, the main character of the show, has average stats, except in:

Luck: He has extraordinary high luck, so high that even Luna was surprised though she claims its numerical value isn't really essential to an adventurer.

Due to his high LUCK, Kazuma's "Steal" is very effective in stealing either his intended target item or the most treasured item of the victim. When he used "Steal" on girls, he gets their panties at absurdly high chance, but it is not entirely clear whether Kazuma strongly wishes for those or the girls treasure their panties the most.

Demonstrated a few times, Spells can gain bonuses from the user's raw stats. Another example is Create Water, where the effect scales proportional to the amount of mana spent; Aqua can use "Sacred Create Water" which flooded the entire area and destroyed one of Axel town gates, causing 340+ million Eris in damage.
Apparently the Stats on the Adventurer's Cards shown in the Anime series could be deciphered. They would be:

Strength
Health
Magic-pow
Dexterity
Agility
Luck

While not every stat type is explored, they seem to be self-explanatory (Megumin with high "magic power" could use the strongest Explosion magic) as attributed of the characters. It would be safe to assume that the Stats make up who they are as intel than as assets.

I read the Light Novel, so here we go.
First, keep in mind two things: Spells can increase in power based on the amount of mana you're using, Kazuma can use Create Water to have a drink and Create Water to give Darkness and the Dullahan a bath.
Second, Spells and Skills are Class-Based or Race-Based, for example, Drain Touch isn't related to a Class and can only be used by someone that's a Lich, or an Adventurer ( someone that can learn any Skills/Spells although not as powerful as the original Class ).
Aqua's Sacred Create Water is a Spell that she can use because she's the Goddess of Water and have the largest mana pool in the world ( a God's power is determined by how strong his followers' faith is ).
In the LN, there's a guy named Duke, he's a Fallen Angel and is an Archwizard, but even so, he can use Holy Magic to purify Undeads, Ghosts, etc, something that Kazuma notes "it shouldn't be possible!!!" but Aqua explains that as an Angel he can use the Gods' Holy Magic, it's an innate power that he has as a holy being, if Aqua changes her Class to I don't know, Knight, she would still be able to use Holy Magic.
For your other question, we know that you need high intelligence to be a Mage ( not only that, but it's a requirement ) and high luck to be a good Thief ( skills like Steal are based on luck ), other Skills like Snipe too, that's what we know for now.
I think that high strength would be need for Jobs like Warrior and Knight, as well durability for Crusaders, but we don't know that yet.

In my opinion, the stats in the card is just a summary of their basic stat and standard information, not detailed information like stat modifier from equipment, unique skill, passive buff/skill etc.
In Aqua's case, she is GM (Game Master). They mentioned it that Aqua is at max level and wasted all her skill points. She can't add stat point anymore, but remember equipment with stat modifier can make it up. She got unique ability by race: "Mana increased by her believer's Pray". Virtually she has unlimited mana. Let's say her new weapon modifier is "Increase skill level by X factor."
Low Intelligence doesn't mean low MP too in KonoSuba world, and again... there seems weapon affinity modifier, skill/effect/modifier by equipment, modifier by food, etc. from any element.
Remember that Megumin trains every day and her explosion gradually changed (Kazuma mentioned it) so it must be weapon affinity.
Sometimes in rare condition Darkness can hit enemies, her armor attracts some monsters.
Kazuma's Luck combined with his Intelligence means high accuracy and critical attack in combat, so the archer job would be good to him.

Welcome to [anime.se]. While personal opinion/theory can be a good answer, it'd be better if you can back it up by adding some references. E.g. is Aqua's considered as GM? Is there any explicit reference to modifier from equipment? etc. Also, consider taking a [tour] to understand how this site works.

Aqua's a goddess, and her magic with regard to water is most likely an innate ability related to that status. Alternately, given that she did qualify as an Archpriest, it's possible (and likely, with KonoSuba's RPG inspirations) that priest magic is limited by a different stat.
I'm not sure if I can agree with wisdom being one of the other adventurer stats (since Aqua's low intelligence stat seems to demonstrate itself through a stunning lack of wisdom), but in any case, magic is not necessarily the sole domain of wizards -- priests are typical magic-users in most RPG-based fantasy realms, as are gods & goddesses.

Can you expand on this? Is there any evidence in the series that being a goddess gives her some kind of innate magic that doesn't depend on stats?

There's no evidence for or against, based on the anime. I can't say about the original light novels as I cannot read Japanese. My answer is really a best-guess based on a first approximation and I offer no warranty for its correctness. But it seems likely enough.

I should also point out @Matt's comment on the question itself. While the adventurer stats are probably not the same as in D&D, they're very likely inspired by them, so even if Aqua doesn't have that magic as an innate ability, her Archpriest status probably opens up water as a "domain" in the D&D sense to her.


text:
Why was Fairy Tail disbanded?
Why suddenly the guild members decided they go each on his way?
As Lucy describeds it, no one opposed the decision of just close the guild.

do yu mean when they left to train?

@Dragon Near the end of the anime and before the current arc in the manga Natsu and Happy decided to go on a training journey.

Your question can be answered only in big spoiler as it is revealed in the next chapters. So...
SPOILER ALERT

 Makarov disbanded Fairy Tail so that its members would not get caught in a fight with the Alvarez Empire. After he disbanded the guild, he went to the Alvarez Empire where it was revealed that the Emperor is none other than Zeref himself. Zeref wanted the Lumen Histoire, which is Mavis' body (or more precisely, her ability to use imagination) in order to fight Acnologia. Lumen Histoire is hidden in the basement of Fairy Tail guild building. If the guild is not disbanded, then the whole members would get killed in the fight due to the sheer difference in power between them. At least this was what Makarov thought.

I think the reason why Makarov disbanded Fairy Tail is because of Lumen Histoire. It is one of the strongest spell of Fairy Tail including Fairy Sphere and Fairy Glitter. It is still a mystery what Lumen Histoire is hence, the reason why fairy tail got disbanded.

Based off the anime I think the guild was disbanded because Makorov wasn't able to be the master any more and the only person qualified that would do it was none other than Natsu and because he left Mokorov had no choice but to disowns the guild.

I think Macarov disbanded the guild because he knew zeref was coming and he wanted to avoid being in a fight with him and keep fairy tail safe

I think Makarov disbanded the guild because there was probably danger ahead of them and Makarov wanted to protect them, but couldn't bare to tell them that there was more danger after their battle with the Underworld king. Makarov probably wanted to protect them and solve the problem by himself without harming people from the guild.

Can you add sources to this?

In chapter 439 of Fairy Tail, it's revealed that the disbanding of Fairy Tail was because of Lumen Histoire.
There's a country (let's just say country A) that has tried to take Lumen Histoire for themselves before by invading the country, but they got stopped by the council at that time. Now, however, (when Fairy Tail was disbanded) the council didn't exist anymore and Fairy Tail and its country needed time to rebuild everything so that country A had gotten the opportunity to do what they couldn't before and Makarov knew that. He also knew that Fairy Tail wasn't strong enough to be their opponent yet, which was why he disbanded the guild and went to that country to stall sometimes.

As far as I know (by the anime) Makarov just disbanded the guild for an unknown reason. Nobody really knows for sure why he did. Maybe many of the guild members just didn't want to argue, or maybe it's because maybe they all thought that it would be best to go their separate ways.

Didn't he disband the guild so they wouldn't be caught up in the fight?

How do you mean ?

It's explained in the answer above, beware for spoilers if you've only seen the anime.


text:
Whose hands were shown in Sword Art Online opening 1?
In the first Sword Art Online opening (LiSA - Crossing Field), there is a scene right before the chorus that shows the hands of three different (I'm assuming they're different) individuals raising their hands toward the sky. The last appears to be Kazuto Kirigaya, aka. Kirito, and this is semi-confirmed when the scene directly afterwards shows him falling through the ground. Is this a correct assumption, and who are the other two hands before him?

I believe it's Kirito, Asuna and again Kirito
Sword Art Online OP 1
Starting with the 3rd hand

this looks to be Kirito's arm from the first episode. it would make sense as the next few frames show the sky becoming how it was when Kayaba appeared to announcxe the Death Game

Next 1st hand

This hand i also believe is Kirito's because it's the same style of sleeve and glove. the change of colour i'm going to say is because of lighting
Finally, the 2nd Hand

I believe this is Asuna. aside from my personal opinion that the hand looks more feminine we can see that before the timeskip where Kirito didn't have his Coat of Midnight and Asuna wasn't in the Knights of the Blood and thus wearing their uniform Asuna has a long sleeve of a similar style. the rim can be explained by lighting but i can't exactly explain the lines or color

the hands being Kirito and Asuna would make sense as they are the 2 main characters
also it is possible that one of Kirito's hands could be of when he was using his original Closed Beta Avatar that we see Kirito as before Kayaba forced all characters to have the appearance of their user. Kirito's Beta Avatar looked older than him and the 1st and 3rd hands look different in age

Kirito described the appearance of his avatar at the beginning of the game and the beta-testing phase as having the appearance of a ridiculously handsome protagonist from some fantasy animation, looking noticeably older than he actually was.

Source: Kirigaya Kazuto > Appearance > Real World / Sword Art Online / Project Alicization (1st Paragraph)
and the older one being third would also fit into how that part is playing our similar to when Kayaba appeared which at that moment Kirito's appearance was his Beta Vatara

to dispel that any of the hands could be Sachi as that was my initial thought. while her coat in the OP is about the same color as the sleeve of the 1st hand and as the lines of the 2nd hand, as we can see bellow in the OP and Hollow Fragment (which didn't alter her appearance), Sachi wears a glove that extends down her arm. while it has lines in it like the 2nd hand, the 2nd hand clearly isn't wearing any glove while the 1st hand the glove and sleeve are separate, not to mention there is no band/ring on it as per all 3 hands

Just in case you might be interested, there's a non-credit version of the OP for cleaner screenshots.

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


text:
How many devil fruits we know about have been discovered?
I was wondering how many devil fruits have we seen in the manga since the beginning ?
Has someone ever counted how many of them exist ?

-1 for no research effort, they're listed on the first page you get when you google them: Zoan, Logia, Paramecia

The number of devil fruits from the start of the manga till today is as follows [ taken from the one piece wikia ]   :
             Canon   Non-canon    SBS[I'm Taking Questions by Oda]

Paramecia       74          25      2

Zoan            29*          6      0

Logia           12           3      0

Unspecified      1           1      1

Total          116          35      3

*The number excludes artificial devil fruits .


text:
When did Mephisto become the branch director?
According to him, Mephisto sided with humans an indefinite amount of time ago, fearing their extinction due to prolonged wars and demon's invasions. We also know that his current alias originated abou 200 years prior to the manga's events. Then, 100 years ago he started the cloning research, in the Japanese branch that he controlled, as stated in chapter 86. That's when the Asylum was founded as well.
Are there any leads in the manga that might hint at a specific time period for when he was appointed the director of the Japanese branch? I assume it must be between 200 and 100 years ago.

Having read the manga fairly recently, I don't recall any hints or specifics on the time period being mentioned.


text:
What is the trope of a leader being overburdened with paperwork, and is it specific to anime?
In many anime where a protagonist makes it to the top of an organization, they are often seen diligently sitting at a desk signing documents, and often times they will attempt to escape.  Sometimes this is only an episode or 2, other times it's a running trope throughout the series.  For example, Tessa from Full Metal Panic (MAL), Sion from Legend of Legendary Heroes (MAL), and Bezelbub from  Beelzebub-jou no Okinimesu mama. (MAL).
Is this a trope specific to anime, Japanese Culture, or something else?  I'm only familiar with it in anime, though I suspect it's a cultural thing from Japan.

I have seen this in Log Horizon also.

Pen-Pushing President  seems to be the closest equivalent on TVTropes.

Who didn't dream of one day becoming President of a country, executive of a big company, or leader of a big organisation? You can give orders, have a pretty life, and have the most important and spotlight-earning jobs! You can be a hero and a model!
  And now that you have won the election, here is a pen and a stamp: warm up your arm, 'cause from now on you will use them a lot. Apparently, the main activity of people in charge is to spend their days with a desk and giant piles of papers as only company. Of course it is Truth in Television to some extent (notably in law-related responsibilities), but naturally, in fiction it tends to be exaggerated to the point of torture. Expect some secretary to occasionally show up in the office with an additional pile, to the dismay of their boss. Usually Played for Laughs to show a less glamourous side of leadership. May be Played for Drama if the effect is to make the character wish they'd never sought or accepted the job in the first place.

The linked page has examples for basically every category so it is not anime specific and as the description says it is loosely based on real life.


text:
Do anime with more ecchi scenes pay their seiyuu more than non-ecchi anime?
Seeing the Citrus anime that aired in Winter 2018 got me thinking. This anime has so many ecchi scenes. Yuzu and Mei kissed and did so many perverted acts.
Had this been a boy-girl kissing scene, it might be considered okay and normal enough. Problem is, Yuzu and Mei are both female, thus their kissing scenes are ecchi. Taketatsu Ayana (Yuzu's seiyuu) and Tsuda Minami (Mei's seiyuu) would have to make lots of perverted noises for those scenes.
This reminds me that High School DxD also has Itou Shizuka (Himejima Akeno's seiyuu) and Hikasa Youko (Ria's Gremory's seiyuu) make lots of similar noises for the recording.
While Itou Shizuka is known to be a seiyuu for eroge, even she was embarrassed when she had to do many perverted noises during recording in front of many other seiyuus (I read it somewhere but forgot where, will update with link if I can find the article again). Itou-san went as far as crying to Asakawa Yuu (voice actress of the Megurine Luka vocaloid, and seiyuu for many eroge) due to the embarrassment.
It should also be noted that both Itou-san and Asakawa-san used pseudonyms for their eroge VA work. This suggest that such work is not really desirable, or at least, it definitely is not at the top of desirable jobs to do. Hanazawa Kana doesn't do eroge voice acting, for example.
Now, returning to Citrus, Taketatsu Ayana and Tsuda Minami were not fresh, newly-graduated seiyuu. They have worked in the industry for quite a long time and have built names for themselves.
Does this means that anime with many perverted scenes pay their seiyuu more?
Note: To make things clear, by "ecchi" I mean the perverted noise(s) the seiyuu has to make for the scene, and not the perverted images that go with them.

From what I have read, eroge voice-work is not a desirable path. The pay is less, although I'm not sure how much exactly. I think voice actors are generally paid by the word, and long/complicated lines are not usually required in eroge. I don't know how they would measure a payment for just breathing and other sounds.
Most voice actors are similar to celebrities, in that they want to become well-known and gain reputability for their skills. This will give them higher paying jobs in more popular series, and their demand will grow. However, eroge work is probably viable if you need to make money or start out. A lot of well known voice actors have done eroge work before becoming more established and moving away from it. The voice actor for Vegeta in DBZ apparently did eroge at one point. A lot of "voice otakus"? will try to match eroge VAs who used pseudonyms to their real names, which is a deterrent for some VAs to even do any eroge if they care about that.
I am sorry I don't have any real sources to any of this, so take it with a grain of salt. I've just googled through some message boards about this topic, like the one below
Url may contain content not safe for work
http://blog.livedoor.jp/myonkui/archives/5522517.html

No, Seiyuus do not get pay more for voicing h scene in anime.
In anime, all seiyuus have a fixed salary per episode. As long as he/she appeared in an episode, he/she is going to get paid the same amount regardless of how many words he said. The salary is dependent on the experience of the seiyuu.
This is a mechanism to prevent unhealthy competition between veteran and younger seiyuu, and to ensure the development of younger seiyuu. If they are paid freely or the same, younger seiyuu will stand no chance against vet seiyuu, especially for TV anime roles, where the competition is the most brutal. This is also the reason why a lot of seiyuu will get less main roles after 10 to 15 years. They are getting expensive and are replaced by the newer seiyuu. It's cruel but also sustainable and good for the industry as a whole.
https://www.amgakuin.co.jp/contents/voice/column2/debut/become/income
(There is an article in Japanese on how are seiyuu paid)
As to why they are still taking ecchi anime, it is just that they have embraced sexual content as a big part of the industry and culture, and therefore they would take the audition (which even big name seiyuu would fail more than 90% of the time). They know what they are potentially signing up to, and they treasure every role which they get. By the way, Taketatsu Ayana definitely won't mind attending audition for ecchi anime, Ako-ne in Kissxsis was one of her earliest main role. She must have spent a lot of time studying how to make those sounds.
The paying of game (including Eroge) has no such a straight rule, and they are paid more, and in various way. Like they may be paid for a fixed salary, paid per lines, and can directly negotiate with the production side for more. However, not all the seiyuu will voice Eroge, and even if they do want to some agency may ban their seiyuu to do so. (E.g. I'm enterprise) Also even seiyuu are paid more for voicing game, the competition in voicing anime is still much higher, since they can become famous for voicing anime, and appearing in anime is the dream for a lot of them.
It's also simply just more beneficial for them to voice in alias. At the end of the day, even if the seiyuu don't mind R18 content (by literally being a part of it), the general audience may not. It cannot be helped that some audience would associate characters sharing the same voice actor from different anime/game. By use different name in non-R18 anime and R18 anime, there would be less concern form the production side in selecting them for non-R18 roles. They do it to hide it from the casual general audience rather than their fans, fans of seiyuu recognize them by voice, not name.
For example, everyone knows Fukuen Misato voiced a ton of Eroge, but she voiced all of them under different names, so technically "Fukuen Misato" didn't voice any of them, and fans who know generally would just buy the game, but won't bring it up in normal occasion. Therefore, she can still be selected to voice Pretty Cure, a big anime for little girls. Imagine if she does all the Eroge under the name "Fukuen Misato", there would be close to no chance for her to be selected.

Hi and welcome to Anime & Manga Stack Exchange! This looks like a really informative answer, and while we want to believe it's correct without saying, could you provide some references to the first 3 paragraphs regarding "fixed salary" and "unhealthy competition" if possible, since that's the core of the question?

Here is an article which stated how seiyuus are paid in anime and games.
https://www.amgakuin.co.jp/contents/voice/column2/debut/become/income
"アニメ声優の場合は、日本俳優連合によって定められたランクに従って収入が変動します。
新人の場合は15,000円から始まり、最高額は45,000円になります。ランク適用外の方になれば、一本あたりの単価に上限はありません。
ここで重要なのは、台詞量などの違いでギャラが変動しない事です。つまり一言でも話す機会があれば、ランクに応じてギャラを受け取れます。"
It means "There is rank for seiyuu by the seiyuu union, and their salary (15000-45000) per episode depends on the rank. The amount of lines by the character would not affect the salary, so even if you have only said one word, you are paid according to your rank."

Thanks! Also, it's preferable to mention/quote the passage directly on the answer to make it self-contained :)

Thanks, I will put it into the passage and be aware next time.


text:
Is there any scene in Naruto where the destruction of the Uzumaki clan was shown?
I think I saw somewhere that the leader of the Uzumaki clan used some jutsu and literally commited suicide while destroying everything around him.

In Naruto Wiki, there is a mention of "Naruto chapter 500, pages 3-4" where the survivors of Uzushio's destruction went into hiding and spread throughout the world. So, in the manga, the scene was there but it was not made in the anime draft.

I think the scene you're referring to is the one where En no Gyoja, leader of the Tsuchigumo clan, was shown destroying an entire city using the technique he developed, in Naruto Shippuden Ep144. When I saw that scene, I had a feeling he was shown destroying Uzushiogakure/Hidden Eddy Village. A few points to note:

En no Gyoja, his clan and his technique are anime exclusives.
The technique does not kill the user.
The village he is shown destroying is far more developed than any of the ninja villages of the time, having multiple large skyscrapers.
The flashback scenes showing the destroyed Uzushiogakure seem to show destroyed skyscrapers.

All this leads me to believe it was En no Gyoja who destroyed Uzushiogakure, which would explain why Konohagakure (Hiruzen Sarutoba/3rd Hokage) created the pact to ban the jutsu.

Unfortunately, nothing was shown about this. We were only told about it. We also know that the majority of the surviving Uzumaki members lived in Konoha. For example, Ashina, Mito, or Kushina. Also, the sign of the vortex on shinobi vests is a symbol of the Uzumaki clan.


text:
Why is Yatora hiding his real intentions?
Yatora is intelligent and scores high grades in his second year.
Even though he is insecure, he is really good at socializing with other people and seems to be an extrovert (He tags along well with Utashima, Sumida, Koigakubo and art club friends) .
I'm hoping that someone could explain me about the overlapping situation where the protagonist is both insecure and an extrovert.

Welcome to Anime & Manga Stack Exchange. While I don't read/watch the series, I feel like something is missing; could you [edit] and expand a little more on what is the relation between the title "Yatora hiding his real intentions" and the question in the body "explain the overlapping situation where the protagonist is both insecure and extrovert"?

Introversion is not intrinsically linked to insecurity. Nor is it uncommon for extroverts to feel anxiety and insecurity.

I'm not sure what exactly you are wondering about, but the following line from Wikipedia article should be the answer more or less.

与えられたノルマをこなすようにして、人付き合いや勉強に励んでいる。反面、何をやっても達成感を得られず、空虚な毎日を過ごしている。

Roughly it says for Yatora socializing or getting good scores in exams are like assignments and he does not feel he has accomplished anything (because they are just assignments) and feels that he is passing the days in vain.
A natural interpretation (or I guess it is  one of the stereotypes of adolescence in Japan) is that he is good at things that are supposed to give him the 'high status' (in school life), but not passionate about anything. He feels insecure because he is not 'into' anything and he's afraid that possibly he never will be (before he starts art).
As for 'hiding real intentions', I suppose you mean he does not confess the feeling of insecurity to anyone, but that is part of the socializing. He thinks telling his real feelings might well jeopardize the relationship with friends.


text:
At what age did Kakashi invent the chidori
Is there any record of how old Kakashi actually was when he invented the Chidori? I know it was before Kakashi Gaiden when Obito died, so he must have been less than 10 right?

You are correct to say that Kakashi invented Chidori prior to Obito's death, but his age is never officially stated. However, there are some details from the Boruto series (take with a grain of salt) where we can deduce that Kakashi would have been roughly 11 or 12 years old.

Minato was needed on the front lines at the time, leaving Kakashi, recently promoted to jōnin at age 12[Boruto episode 36] in charge. [...] Shortly after entering Kusa, they encountered an Iwa-scout, Mahiru. Kakashi tried to eliminate him with his new jutsu, Chidori, but the attack speed left him vulnerable to counter-attack
Source


text:
When and why has the censorship of obscenity for hentai changed?
In earlier hentai, like many before 2010, genitals are directly shown. But after a certain point, all hentai have their genitals pixelated, first female ones, then the male. When exactly did those changes happen? What caused the changes in censorship? It can't stem from the international, since there're still many uncensored obscene videos broadly available on the internet.

Adult content has always been censored in Japan. Are you sure you weren't watching imported (=uncensored) versions?

@Jimmy Do the hentai before 2005 you watched have their genitals pixelated?

From what I've seen, either pixelated, blacked out, or whited out. Never uncensored.

Related: What are the anime censorship laws in Japan? and What are the anime censorship laws in the United States?

You can have a look at the interviews given by Shindo L, the author of Metamorphosis to get an insight of how censorship in the industry works (Warning: Crude language and NSFW terms included): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gl2aHWx5HFg and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SD9-4pUPH0

Hentai (R18) has been always censored in Japan, but how much seems to have been a decision on publishers' side.
From what I see from a brief web search:

According to this blog post, some editors of hentai magazines were arrested because they did not put enough cover (pixelation or black stripes) on genitals etc. This happened in July 2013.
Another blog post says, regarding Doujinshi, the organizing body of Comic Market started requiring stricter censoring (bolder stripes on or whiting out the genitals) starting from Summer 2017.

So over these 10 years, censorship has actually been increasing, which is probably consistent with your impression.

(added)
Ken Akamatsu, mangaka known for Love Hina and Negima, won a seat in the House of Councillors (equivalent of Senate in the US) last year, advocating the freedom of expression. According to the description, it seems that issues stemmed from (talk of) Trans-Pacific Partnership, because of which Japan needs to adjust publications towards international/American standards. I'm not clear about this, but probably the concern is related to child pornography (The first blog link above mentions that a Swedish translator of Japanese manga was arrested in 2010 because some images were regared as child pornography, and then acquitted in the Supreme Court in 2012).

As to why the uncensored version became extinct, there's a blog on this. It's quoted below for reference. Long story short, the producers released uncensored version outside of Japan originally. But after domestic fans found this out, they no longer bought those sold in Japan, reducing the industry profits. So, producers then decided not to release uncensored version even overseas.

Many people don't realize that hentai is censored in Japan. The naughty bits are always obscured with a mosaic filter (or something similar) when you buy hentai (or any other adult video) over there. But hentai is always animated in its full glory to begin with.
...
Those uncensored versions are kept for sale to overseas areas, which don't have those censorship laws on the books. The fans don't want that censorship, so the US publishers always request the uncensored versions.
I've seen some hentai titles where the animators got lazy and didn't draw any detail where they knew censorship would take place, but the majority of hentai has quite a bit of detail down there. (Sometimes, quite horrifying detail.)
In recent years, web savvy fans in Japan realized that they were getting a bum deal compared to fans overseas, who didn't have to deal with the censorship. They started importing uncensored American hentai DVDs, and not buying or renting the super-expensive Japanese discs. So the hentai producers decided not to allow the uncensored masters to be published overseas anymore. Most publishers balk at this, and don't want to proceed with licensing it.


text:
Do the other strawhats recieve the "x" on their wrist?
At the end of the Alabastia arc the straw hats said goodbye by showing the "x" on their wrist. The "x" on their wrist represents their friendship. Do Robin, Franky, and Brooke receive the same mark on their wrist?

Unfortunately no.
The mark that the Straw Hats made at the end of Alabasta arc has probably washed off by now as we  haven't seen it in the following arcs. There is no subsequent reason for the new members to make them as the meaning was related with the events in that arc (at least that is how I personally saw it).
This does not mean that at any time, Oda could show that they still have the mark barely visible and the new crew members (after Alabasta) will have their own too.

related: https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/23339/what-happened-to-the-xs-is-their-friendship-over


text:
Why didn't Naruto uses his full power that he demonstrated in `Boruto chapter 52` against Sasuke or `Kaguya Ōtsutsuki`
In Boruto chapter 52 Naruto demonstrated unsual high power which made him so much powerful that he almost solely defeated Isshiki Ōtsutsuki.
So if Kurama had this power than why didn't he give that power to Naruto in his fight against Kaguya.
Naruto power is described as

Sasuke : Such tremendous chakra. He never told me he had move like
this. What is it.
Kurama : Think of it like nuclear fusion. It's
similar principle to how the sun produces energy.
Naruto : Nuclear fusion? What's that?
Kurama : never mind. the theory doesn't matter. My chakra and your chakra are serving as the kernels to produce a whole other new type of energy. That's all.

If Naruto used Baryon Mode against Otsutsuki Kaguya, he would gain the strength to defeat/kill her all by himself, and the crew would probably make him do so.
Secondly, Baryon Mode is the price of Kurama's life. There'd be no need for its use when together, Obito, Kakashi, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura were enough to stop Kaguya and Black Zetsu. It would be a pointless sacrifice when Naruto already had the power to stop her without it.
Third, Naruto and Sasuke were written off to be equal in skill. If Naruto used Baryon Mode, his skill would be far ahead of Sasuke's, then Kurama would die, then that would make Sasuke stronger. If Naruto used Baryon Mode it would mess up the way the series wrote Naruto and Sasuke to be equals.
Fourth, the Boruto staff hadn't even thought of Baryon Mode. It was mostly created because the strength of Naruto and Sasuke wasn't enough to stop Isshiki.

In the series, because they didn't want to just sacrifice. Though it´s "suspicious" Kurama didn´t even mention the ability those years back, considering how powerful was Kaguya.
In a meta sense, that's just because it is an invented power-up, which was just recently retconned into existing. So Naruto didn't use it and Kurama didn't mention it against Kaguya, because Kishimoto hadn't even thought about it yet. Also, stop for a moment and think: how someone like Kurama even knows what nuclear fusion is? We know Naruto is an idiot and doesn't know, but he is also the hokage, so how a chakra beast knows the term while he doesn't? It´s kurama reading science books in his free time or what...?

Because of the terrible after effects. Against Kaguya, they had better alternatives. And Naruto had many other cards up his sleeve too.


text:
Would Kakashi go blind if Obito overused his sharingan?
Since Kakashi's sharingan is technically Obito's, would he go blind if Obito used his sharingan too much? Or are they now separate since they both have one eye each.

I would argue that he wouldn't.
First of all, we can see Kakashi turning weak every time he used Kamui, although Obito uses it as much as he wants and seems to be alright each time.
Now, if Obito using the Mangekyou were to weaken Kakashi, then we could conclude that Obito overusing his Mangekyou would blind Kakashi. However, nothing happens to Kakashi while Obito uses Kamui. The only connection between the two eyes apparently is the dimension that the Kamui transports to.

Blindness will occur only to the eye which is being used for Mangekyou Sharingan techniques.
Remember: Madara Uchiha used Izanagi using only one eye.

Since obito has wood style and hashirama cells, his sharingan is greatly enhanced and that is why he can use kamui so many times and the hashirama cells also prevent him from going blind.


text:
Why did Emiya Kiritsugu refuse the Holy Grail in Fate/Zero?
As we know, in the end of the Fate/Zero, Emiya Kiritsugu refused the Holy Grail, but why?
I remember that the Holy Grail can make any dream come true, but the way is needed. And Kiritsugu's way to achieve the dream that saving all the human is killing a great portion of human?
Also, I have heard the Holy Grail had been polluted. So the way to achieve Kiritsugu's dream may be killing all the human? But what or who polluted the Holy Grail? And how did Kiritsugu realise that the Holy Grail was polluted?
And why did Kiritsugu's wife and daughter appear in the end of Fate/Zero?

Related: https://anime.stackexchange.com/q/55387

First of all, the Grail is not omniscient nor omnipotent, it's just a source of magic power. As such, in order for it to fulfill a wish, you have to also give it the method for fullfilling said wish. Since Kiritsugu's only method of "saving" was by sacrificing the lesser ones, that's what the grail would do, by culling humanity little by little. He realized that through the vision that the grail showed him, in the example with the boat, the Grail called it the correct decision to sacrifice 200 to save 300, but when the 300 separated into a 200 and 100 groups, it also called it correct to save 200 by sacrificing 100. By that point, he'd have sacrificed 300 to save 200, but the Grail still called it the correct decision.
After that, the Grail called him worthy of inheriting All the Evils in the World, Angra Mainyuu. I'm not sure if he realized that the Grail was polluted (something that happened in the Third Holy Grail War, when the Einzberns summoned Angra Mainyuu, expecting to win the war with an OP Servant, only for it to be too weak, lose early in the war, and pollute the Grail once it got sent its way), but at the very least, he learned that the Grail couldn't grant his wish the way he wanted to, and that it would destroy humanity if allowed to.
EDIT: And Iri and Illya appearing at the end was just part of the vision shown by the Grail, it was offering him to spend the rest of his life with them in a dream while it fulifilled his "wish". And that's where he makes his decision "Six billion people... or my wife and daughter". True to himself, he chooses to save humanity in exchange for his family.