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In which episode did some boys destroy all of their village's toys?
In this episode Pinocchio was in a village. In this village was a boy. That boy said to his friends and other boys that they should steal and destroy all toys of their village that they can find.
There was one scene where this boy took a wood toy giraffe and broke its neck and stole it. The child/ girl who was the owner of the toy giraffe was looking while this boy doing that. After that she started to cry.
In the evening all boys gathered to one place and dropped all toys into a hole. Then they took torches and start circling (the torches) around the hole with the toys and their bodies. In this scene came Pinocchio and told them to immediately stop doing that. Pinocchio said that if they wouldn't stop, then god would punish them. But all children continued with that.
Suddenly the toys shoot lights/ laser and spread the light (from the hole) everywhere. All objects and animals (earth, trees, cats etc.) who got shot by this laser came to life, and started moving and talking.
What episode was that happening?

There are two different Pinocchio animes on Wikipedia (here and here). Would you by any chance know which one you're interested in?

I think it's Episode 33 of the 1972 series.
This is the scene with the giraffe toy and this is the scene of the hole and the torches.


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Who is the character sporting a mohican whom Onizuka is parodying?
I tried Google searches for a list of parodies that appear in G.T.O without any luck. I'm also not even sure if this is a parody, other than the fact that it would be super random if it wasn't.
Who is the Mohican character that Onizuka is parodying in the picture? (Appearing in episode 17)

Mohawk? I don't know I've ever heard it called a "mohican".

@Catija Mohican may be a term found only in England...just guessing though.

Yeah, the Brits call it a "Mohican", and, interestingly enough, so do the Japanese (モヒカン mohikan).

first of all, in german, it is Irokese (ee-row-kehseh). then, are you sure, it is some kind of parody? couldn't it be the stereotypical rowdy?

This type of hairstyle and dress usually references the unnamed punks that get killed in Hokuto no Ken (1984).

Would you happen to have any sources to back up your answer? It’s quite bare right now…

Do you want a bunch of screenshots of other anime using this getup to parody Hokuto no Ken or what are you looking for?

How do you know that it’s a parody specifically of Hokuto no Ken? That’s the main claim that would benefit from backing up with sources.

Because of the hairstyle and dress, like I wrote. It's a pretty common reference in anime, but it might also be a reference to some live-action show. There's not enough context. I watched the short segment again to see if there was more to it, but there wasn't.

Is there something that ties Onizuka's mannerisms to Fist of the North Star in particular? (e.g. a Kenshiro quote, an iconic pose, a name drop, etc.) Because otherwise Onizuka just looks like a punk which exist outside the scope of anime and Japan as a whole originating in the UK in the 1970s. Punks do have quite a presence in FotNS but it didn't invent the apunkalypse as the trope is called, instead it essentially cribs it from Mad Max (1979) which FotNS's mangaka cites as one of his 2 main inspirations.

No, nothing of the sort, which is why I wrote that this usually references Hokuto no Ken in anime. But there's nothing in the scene that would be usable as proof. But since it's an anime and has other references to  anime, like Doraemon, it's more likely for this to reference Hokuto no Ken than some non-Japanese phenomenon. Though, it might also reference some Japanese live-action show from around that time.

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Why does a stranger lend Akira pants?
During the first episode, we see Akira running down the street without pants. Then he asks a bystander, and the guy just lends his pants to Akira. Is this related to some cultural reference, or is it never explained and is a strange plot element even to Westerners?

In Anime strangers tend to be far kinder people and less likely to think your insane if you asked them for their pants as one would do in real life (if not get turned into the nearest police station/crazy house), and i may be totally mistaken in thinking that this is just apart of Japanese culture, being kind to strangers.

However Saki, as a Japanese, was shocked that the guy actually lend Akira pants.

And it didn't make much sense for the woman police officer to demand to see his johnny, be blushed by it, and just let him go. Does his johnny have Geass or something?

It's never explained but I imagine that Akira transferred him some large amount of money from his phone. The man is clearly elated at whatever Akira offered him.

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What is the name of the theme song at the end of episode 12 of Tokyo Ghoul?
With the start of the second season of the anime, I've rewatched some of the previous episodes of Tokyo Ghoul. Does anyone know the name of the song that plays at the end of episode 12?

The song that plays at the end of episode 12 is the same as the opening theme song. It is called "Unravel", and is by TK.

Lyrics and more information can be found on the Tokyo Ghoul Wiki.
The full version of the song can be heard on YouTube.

The song that plays at the end of Tokyo Ghoul episode 12 is "Unravel by TK". I remember getting hooked to this song when I last saw it.

Hi. Unless you are going to add new or relevant information to the previous answer, please avoid posting duplicate answers. Thanks!


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People should be wary of those who quote which author?
In the anime Psycho Pass they reference some of the major ideologically leading people.
But there is a direct quote from one of the main characters saying "Be wary of those who quote ___"  There is then a reply: "Had you not quoted him I probably would have." Who is the author in question?

Are you trying to solve a trivia question, or do you actually have a question to ask?

From episode 16 - The Gates Of Judgement (at around 16:10), Shogo Makishima said:

Justice is subject to dispute; might is easily recognized and is not disputed. So we cannot give might to justice,

In return, Shinya Kogami replied:

I have long since learned, as a measure of elementary hygiene, to be on guard when anyone quotes Pascal.

So the answer is Blaise Pascal.
By the way, Kogami's reply is actually a quote from Toward a Philosophy of History by José Ortega y Gasset.


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Why is Rider wearing Pants?
When Risei Kotomine issues the temporary suspension of the Holy Grail War in order to hunt down and destroy Caster, Waver makes a deal with Rider, that if he destroys Caster, he will buy him a pair of pants so he can freely explore outside.
Yet in Episode 9 before the two even find Caster's hideout at the time Rider is wearing pants. What happened to the deal? Neither of them was present during the attack on the Einzbern castle and it was in broad daylight so Rider can't have stolen them when he went to collect the water samples for Waver.

Maybe the pants were given in faith of the job eventually getting done. It would be kinda hard to search if you can't explore properly as the pants would have allowed Rider to do.

Waver does say in Episode 7 that he'll buy Rider some pants as a reward for taking out Caster. In the novel he tells Rider in Volume 2, Act 5, -140:41:54, that he'll buy him a pair of pants if he can defeat even one of the other Servants.

[Waver] “Your majestic achievements and your trousers are two completely
  irrelevant things! Before you go out to enjoy yourself, show me what
  you can! Kill at least one of the opponents’ Servants!”
[Rider] “Eh? You are quite an impatient fellow. You can engage a Servant in a
  combat anytime you want, you know.”
[Waver] “So do it now! Kill at least one of them! If you do that, I’ll buy you
  trousers or anything you want.”

Later, in Episode 9 of the anime, we find out that Waver caved and bought the pants for Rider so he would be able to go outside and get the water samples that would let Waver isolate the location of Caster's workshop. In the novels, this occurs in Volume 2, Act 8, -108:27:55.

[Rider] “No no. He is the one who has been of help to me. These trousers, even
  he had chosen and bought it for me. Looks great on me, doesn't it!”
At the time when he was entrusted with external businesses, Waver got
  stuck with buying stuff for him, and bought an XL-size washed-jeans
  for Rider, which he proudly showed off.

So Waver ended up having to buy the pants for Rider early so that Rider could go out and gather water samples without looking strange or attracting attention.


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Are there any prominent non-fan dubs of "A Cruel Angel's Thesis" in other languages?
Remembering that there was a dubbed version of one of the OP's from the 2003 FMA in Cantonese, that seems to have been popular in Hong Kong (judging from YouTube), I wanted to know if there was anything similar for NGE's "A Cruel Angel's Thesis".
I found this song on YouTube - there was at least one other upload of a song with the same voice, and I also found a set of lyrics that approximately correspond to what is sung there. However, I haven't really been able to locate the singer's identity from a quick Google search. Moreover, there doesn't seem to be mention of a singer or a dub of the song on the Chinese Wikipedia, although perhaps my Chinese skills aren't just good enough for me to pick this up. I also managed to find a different recording with a female voice that was in Cantonese, but had different lyrics, which makes me somewhat suspicious as to the existence of an "official" dub. (It's of course possible though that a song will have multiple covers in the same language by prominent artists, as happened with a popular Angela Aki song.)
I also looked up the Cantonese dub of the first episode of NGE, and the one I found kept the OP in the original Japanese.
Is there an actual, reasonably prominent dub of "A Cruel Angel's Thesis" in languages other than Japanese? I'm particularly interested in whether or not there are any Chinese dubs. I'm looking for something comparable to Eason Chan's dub of the FMA OP, in the sense that it should be reasonably "prominent" and done professionally and not, say, a amateur fan-made production.

In a sense, you could also say that I'm looking for dubbed OPs that replace the original, as in the FMA case.

The Chinese dubbed OP is quite prominent in that every Chinese who has watched EVA has heard this song that gives one goosebumps. It is widely known as 鞠萍姐姐版, but it is not sung by her.

There's also an OP sung in Mandarin, but it looks like my old link to that has been removed from Youtube by Bandai.
There's this Spanish Full Opening that I believe is sung by Jessica Toledo.
And this appears to be (the song at least) a Korean version of the short OP.


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After Orochimaru revives the 4 kage how does Minato know how to use Kurama chakra mode?
For Naruto to be able to use Kurama's chakra he had to go through the whole chakra tug of war thing with the help of Killer Bee and Gyuki, but after Minato gets to the war he automatically is able to connect with Yang Kurama and transform. When did he learn to control Kurama's chakra?

Given how minato envisioned naruto to use kurama's chakra when he made that seal all those years ago, its easier for him to tap into that power once kurama and naruto started working together.

Minato learned it when he entered in the midst of war to help Naruto.
Of course, we all knew he's one of the most talented shinobi who ever lived.
He used to seal the Nine-Tails into Naruto, which would allow small amounts of the Nine-Tails' chakra to leak out and naturally mix with Naruto's own.
Minato learned it when he was reincarnated. Unlike most Tailed Beasts,
the Nine-Tails offers no resistance to cooperating with Minato,
granting him immediate access to Nine-Tails Chakra Mode,
which Naruto is impressed by. Minato's is slightly darker than Naruto's but is otherwise identical in appearance and abilities; he can use chakra arms, enter a Tailed Beast Mode, and create Tailed Beast Balls!

It seems to be Kurama's Yin half within Minato noted that Naruto's actions and speech about his father was touching enough to move this half of it. This allowed the fourth to use Kurama's chakra. There was no need of tug war since Kurama willingly cooperated. It was not planing to take over anybody body or break free.
Re quote  from the link above from the first paragraph of Birth of the Ten-Tails' Jinchūriki:

Meanwhile, as their battle strategy unfolded, Kurama's Yin half within Minato noted that Naruto's actions and speech about his father was touching enough to move this half of it. Yin-Kurama also told Minato to disregard Obito's words as he was not responsible for any of those tragedies and that instead of leaving his son to do it, he should also act. Later, when Naruto and Minato bumped fists, Yin and Yang-Kurama came in contact with each other, with Yang-Kurama greeting its other half casually and asking it to share its chakra, which led Yin-Kurama to note that asking itself for chakra was an odd situation. Nonetheless, when the father-son duo prepared to deal with Obito, the two halves of Kurama also bumped fists as they prepared to initiate their strategy. As their chakra begin to meld, the two halves conversed about Minato and Naruto, leading Yin-Kurama to comment that Naruto must have had some upbringing to treat a tailed beast as a comrade.

In my opinion minato learned to do it when his soul and the other half of kurama where sealed using minato's death seal . The third did mention something like both him and orochimaru fighting for eternity inside some realm when he used the death seal on orochimaru. Maybe minato learned to control that half of kurama during their "fight" in that realm.


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Is there anything I'm supposed to have read before starting Kochikame?
In the first volume of the manga series Kochikame, there was neither any introduction of the characters whatsoever, nor any explanation of the situation at all. In the second chapter, two new characters were introduced but it was as if they had been shown in the manga before. I'm really confused about this, so did I miss something in the manga?

Kochikame is a lightweight comedy manga - does it really need lengthy explanations or character introductions? You learn right off the bat that the main characters are these two policemen; there's your characters and your premise. Then they do some funny policeman things, and then the author adds some more characters so they can do different funny policeman things, and so on and so forth. (Also, I had a look at volume 1; there's no introductory material before the start of chapter 1.)

@senshin i get what you're saying and i'm not saying that it needs one, i'm just asking if i missed something because it feels like i missed something, especally the way they introduced the old man/god guy and his granddaughter, i've only seen it used when the reader has already met the character, so i got confused and that's all


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Why do bad/evil characters sometimes have no eyes?
Why is it that evil characters are sometimes drawn without eyes? One example is Saki Arima in Your Lie in April. I have seen others from time to time. Any thoughts?

Have you ever heard the phrase "The eyes are the windows to the soul"?
One of the first big names in manga and anime, Osamu Tezuka, developed an art style in many of his works where the eyes of characters were abnormally large, because it was easier to make them expressive to show emotions - as discussed in this answer and this Quora article.
So, what happens when you reverse that? If you make a character's eyes small, then it becomes harder to discern their emotions, and harder to make an emotional connection with them (and before someone brings up, say, Brock from Pokemon, note that while his eyes are permanently squinty they're also pretty big). By taking a character's eyes away completely, you are completely severing that emotional connection, and to some extent, you are giving the impression that they are emotionless - which is often what is being expressed, since the eyeless face is used on characters that are either acting in a sociopathic manner (lots of school bully-type characters are depicted this way), or who are otherwise emotionally distant or disconnected, like Arima Saki in Your Lie.


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Why it is called 91 days if there were only 12?
So, basically the question in the title. I thought it had something to do with how long it took for Angelo to complete his revenge but I'm not too sure.

If you count the number of days per week and include epi 7.5, 13 episodes x 7 days in a week = 91 days.

In episode 10, Corteo comments that it's been 3 months since they returned to Lawless. 91 might well be the number of days between Avilio returning to Lawless in episode 1, and leaving again in episode 12.

The 90 days signify the days left until the opening of the Opera House, which was mentioned in the wedding episode 2 by Frate, who tells them that Don Gallasia decided to attend the opening show. The 91 days refers to the time in which his revenge takes place since arriving.


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How was Fuhrer King Bradley able to grow old?
According to the FMA:B series, the homunculi aren't supposed to grow old. Moreover, all of the homunculi other than Wrath (King Bradley) could regenerate themselves. This even includes Greed, who's also a human-based homunculus. We also see in the series that during Bradley's death, his body degenerated. If he was able to grow normally then there shouldn't be such things happening to his body.

I made some edits for clarity; if I've changed the meaning of something, do feel free to make any changes back to reflect what you'd like to say.

Note that unlike the other homunculi, Wrath does leave a body behind after he is killed.

King Bradley was part human and part homunculus.
He was born human and raised in a facility to train boys to rule.  They were injected with philospher stones and, in most cases, died. They could only survive if one strong soul took control of the body. Only Bradley was able to survive the process but it is unclear whether he truely did.  A philosopher's stone contains many human souls and not even Bradley knows if the one controlling his body is the same one he started with.
As his body is mostly human, it ages.
It should be noted that the only other known human to survive this is Ling who became Greed. It was clear in that case that both souls remained in Ling's body.

when Bradley got stabbed in his abdomen during the fight with Ling he couldn't regenerate but when Ling was shot in his forehead he could . How? Ling was also partly human and partly homunculus.

@RahulChatterjee: Consider Wrath's purpose. To be the Fuhrer and lead the nation (to the Promised Day). If Bradley is shown to quickly regenerate (e.g. after an assassination attempt), then the consipracy is revealed. But if Bradley dies, they can simply create a new Fuhrer and continue the conspiracy without arousing suspicion. Since Bradley has been tailor-made to his purpose, it stands to reason that his quick regeneration could have been disabled too, just like his immortality. Also, Wrath was quick for an old man, so maybe he only visually aged.


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Where did Jiraiya obtain important information?
Jiraiya knows some information that is not easily obtained, such as the fact that the Akatsuki clan were hunting Naruto, or that Orochimaru will be using Sasuke for three more years. How Jiraiya get that important information?

Just a speculation but I do remember Sasori being involved in leaking inside info to Kabuto or something like that. I think something similar might have been possible in this case. Maybe Sasori or someone else leaked the info to Jiraiya. Don't as me why they would do that.

Jiraiya has a spy network. His spy network is one of the best in the ninja world second to only Akatsuki.

Sasuke couldn't be used as Orochimaru's new body because Orochimaru already had switched bodies. Why? Sasuke couldn't be delivered to Orochimaru in time. Sasuke and the Sound 4 were delayed by the Konoha Genin.
It is said that Itachi Uchiha had revealed some info on Akatsuki to the third Hokage,

This doesn't really explain how he got the info on Akatsuki.

Kisame and Itachi came to kidnap Naruto, Jiraiya made them retreat.
Many jinchurikis were being kidnapped.
Jiraiya connected that.

That's possible. Jiraiya could have figured that.


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Why can't Alphonse trade his alchemy for Edward's alchemy?
At the end of the FMA: Brotherhood (Fullmetal Alchemist) series, Edward tried to use alchemy and failed because he wanted his brother back and the law of equivalent exchange clearly states that

Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost.

Therefore Alphonse's alchemy would be an equal value to Edward's alchemy. so my question is if Edward Elric traded his brother's (Alphonse Elric) body and soul with his alchemy, why can't Alphonse trade his alchemy for Edward's alchemy?
Previously, it was asked Why can't Edward get back his power to do alchemy? That question was (in my perspective) saying Ed should use a philosopher's stone to do alchemy, because a philosopher's stone ignores the law of equivalent exchange. My question focuses on the observation that a transmutation by Al to give up his alchemy for Ed's should be a good example of following the law of equivalent exchange.

Well, after that, Alphonse would lose his alchemy and I don't think Edward would want that. And more than that, after all they've been through, I wouldn't trade anything again at their place haha

I'm not sure but I don't think Alphonse ever said that he wanted to trade his alchemy for Ed's? I'd like to see some references to the fact that he can't like when he tried and it didn't work.

if any problems with my question and reasoning of it not being a duplicate please inbox me (if possible).

This is an expansion of my thoughts in Why can't Edward get back his power to do alchemy?
There is no explicit indication that this is impossible, but it would not be in keeping with the tone of the manga (which Brotherhood roughly adapts) were Edward able to recover his alchemy. Edward's decision to trade his gate for Alphonse is portrayed as rather final, per Truth's question to him after he proposes the exchange:

The Gate of Truth exists within everyone. That is how everyone can use alchemy. Will you degrade yourself to an ordinary person, unable to use alchemy?

Brotherhood points out more explicitly:

Are you sure about this? If you lose your gateway, you'll never be able to use alchemy again.

It is thus unlikely that the exchange can be reversed; Edward even notes that his recovery of Alphonse is "the Fullmetal Alchemist's final transmutation." Furthermore, the personal nature of the gate makes me doubt that it is possible for someone else to make an exchange for Edward's own gate. (If Edward is the only person who can access his gate and thus, be able to give it away, then he is probably the only person who would be able to exchange it back, in the scenario where regaining one's alchemy is possible.)
Aside from the issue of whether the exchange is technically possible, Edward also does not really care about regaining his lost abilities. Even if he mourned the loss, it is doubtful that he would let Alphonse sacrifice himself in this manner. (Alphonse notes after the time-skip that Edward does not mind keeping his automail leg "as a reminder" and that "apparently he had no intention of trying to get it back" — Edward only really cared about recovering Alphonse's body. Surely Edward does not care about being "an ordinary person" who cannot use alchemy, if he is even willing to live with his automail leg.)

ok, thank you maroon for helping me understand the problem that i had with the ending of FMA Brotherhood

I'm having a small doubt that even if Al and Ed accept to use Al's gate to bring back Ed's alchemy, it will not be possible. Because, The last time when Al's body was retrieved, I think it was due to the fact that Al's lost his body during the same transmutation in which Ed lost his arm and leg and they had the connection of the same transmutation. But this time, is it possible to bring back Ed's alchemy without any previous connection?


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Where does the filler in Violinist of Hameln start?
In which episode does the Violinist of Hameln anime stop following the manga?
And which manga chapter does the anime go up to before the filler starts?


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In the anime continuity, is there any parallel to Lulu's mistake with the King of Ginko's castle?
In episode 8, we learn that Yuriika was rescued, as an "unwanted bear", by someone who is only referred to with male pronouns.

This person visually reminded me of Ginko's mother in the Yuri Kuma Arashi manga, which, compared to the anime, approaches the plot and characters differently. (See the right panel.) In the manga, Yuriika also has a significant relationship to Ginko's mother. They first meet at the school, after Ginko's mother has become engaged to Yuriika's brother, and they later become lovers.

In the manga, Lulu speaks of Ginko living in a castle with a "King" and "Queen". The "King" is revealed to be Ginko's mother, rather than her father. We learn that Lulu was mistaken because someone referred to Ginko's mother with male pronouns — 彼 (kare), I believe — at some point. Lulu had this misunderstanding because Ginko's mother is named Kale, after the Greek goddess, which is pronounced similar to 彼 in Japanese.
Is there any parallel to this revelation of the "King's" actual gender in the continuity of the YKA anime? One wiki lists a woman as the voice actor for "Him", but that's not much to go upon.

given one of the themes of Yuri kuma it would be a (delightful) surprise if the "King" and the Queen are both women.


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Where in Brotherhood does this screenshot of Ed and Al as children appear?
I was wondering where I could find the episode that goes along with this screenshot. From the art style, it is definitely from Brotherhood. I have searched for a long time and couldn't find any episode that matches it.

A number of websites indicate that this is a scan or show a dividing line down the middle, so it's probably from a magazine or artbook. I'll try to dig up more information about it.

It also appeared as a postcard, but since the aspect ratio there is off, I'm thinking this isn't the "original" image.

This is one of the websites I was referring to with my first comment. Off the top of my head, I can't remember seeing this in the anime either, but my memory of it is too rusty.

Ah, I see. I'd love to find the original source, but like you said, it doesn't seem to be from the anime. Thanks for the help, I appreciate it.

tl;dr: This is probably an original illustration, rather than a still from Brotherhood.
This illustration may have originated from an official set of postcards based on the manga and Brotherhood continuity — when I ran a reverse image search for the image and included postcard and episode in the search terms, I found an eBay page where someone is (at the time of writing) selling such a set. (It seems possible to me that the illustration may have first appeared in a magazine or an earlier artbook, and that I was simply unable to locate it.)
One of the photographs in the product description shows the same image as that of the OP, and even the aspect ratio looks identical.

Many illustrations in the postcard set — such as those of Roy and Ed holding bunches of roses, Winry and Ed sitting back-to-back on a bed, and Ed in a state of undress — clearly do not originate from either the manga or the Brotherhood adaptation. Taking this into account along with my inability to recall a scene in Brotherhood that matches the OP's illustration, it makes sense to surmise that this is probably an original illustration, rather than a still taken from Brotherhood.
The eBay seller states that this postcard set was released on December 22, 2009. I am unfamiliar with Fullmetal Alchemist merchandise and so cannot confirm this with another source; I also do not know any details about how this postcard book was released.

It occurs to me that the Winry back-to-back with Ed illustration might have appeared in something like an OP or ED before: if that's indeed the case, drop me a comment and I'll delete that example.


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Why does Tohru always try to get Kobayashi to eat pieces of her tail?
In Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon, Tohru always tries to get Kobayashi to eat pieces of her tail. Why?  This started in episode 1 and has carried through to the current episode, with a mention/attempt almost every episode.
Is this a sign of affection for dragons?

Does it have to be anything else than Running Gag?

It seems to be a running gag for sure, but I think there is a deeper meaning somewhere. I figured it had a meaning at the start and then turned into a running gag.

Possibly related: Would eating Tooru's tail make Kobayashi immortal?

While it hasn't been explicitly stated in the show, I think the biggest factor is that it's an extremely intimate thing to do. It might be a bit disgusting when put this way, but a lot of intimate acts amongst humans involve the mingling or exchanging of bodily fluids; and that extends to the deal with vampires drinking blood - it's a precious bodily fluid, and there is something quite intense about giving it to someone. So for Tohru, who can apparently regrow her tail pretty quickly, having Kobayashi eat the meat is having her master take a part of her and ingest it, which in her eyes is an incredibly special form of bonding.

Well, having just watched the series, I think they have the right of it, in that Tohru hopes that by having Miss Kobayashi eat her tail, she will gain her power, thus allowing her to keep their little family together.
Not only is there the concept in parts of Asia and most early tribal civilizations of eating mythical beasts to gain their power... but then there it the Ouroboros myth, the dragon eating it's own tail representing eternity.
I think it's also very likely, given Tohru's feelings for Miss Kobayashi, and also knowing that her sexual advances have been rebuffed so far, that it also would represent a kind of physical bond between them, a way for a little part of her to be inside Miss Kobayashi, and therefore have some bit of intimacy through that.
In summary, I believe the reason is twofold: a combination of a desire for a physical bond between them and a way to share her immortal lifespan with her so try to be together, if not forever, then for a long, long time to come.
It's a bit odd from a human perspective, but in Tohru's mind it would be a bit romantic. Like a mate that kept a lock of your hair in a locket around their neck all the time so they'd always have a piece of you with them.
grin

I believe it's both a form of deep affection, as well as Tohru attempting to indefinitely extend Kobayashi's lifespan.
The consumption of the flesh of dragons myth doesn't just span only to Eastern myth. And to note, Leviathan, Elma, and Fafnir are in fact Eastern orientation dragons (to be specific, Northeastern).
It's long been believed that dragon flesh and blood have magical and enhancing abilities.


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What is the song that plays when Muramasa charges at Ichigo?
I heard several times but can't find the song. It plays in season 13 in episode 253, starting around 9:58, right when Muramasa charges at Ichigo after turning into a hollow.

It's Shadow's Masquerade.
The first usage of the soundtrack is in episode 88 of the Season 4: Bount arc. The music itself is the track #16 from BLEACH Original Soundtrack 2.


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What is the song that plays at the end of episode 3 after Yuri finishes his performance?
What is the song that plays at the end of episode 3 of Yuri!!! on Ice, when Victor calls Yuri after he finishes his performance?
It starts from 20:20 until 21:40, beginning with high-tones on the piano and flute. Then it gets upbeat with percussion and bass appearing.
Video: Official stream on Crunchyroll

This appears to be an edited version of the track known as "Circles" in the newly released OST album YuTra. Here's a link to the Spotify upload of it. The resemblance should be clear if you start listening to the track from the beginning and compare it to the BGM in the episode.

The song is 'You Only Live Once' It even says it on the wikiapage (https://gyazo.com/e70977bdde7086b120bed30ea6ed2f1c)
When I watch Yuri!!! on Ice episode 3 on crunchyroll and skip to 21 minutes it sounds the same.
Here's a link to the song im referring to: youtube.com/watch?v=FjFGBrPIJsk
Source

"You only live once" is only listed as the ED, which does not appear to be the same (from a quick listen) as the BGM being played when Yuri Plisetsky leaves the rink. (There's in fact a break, both visually and in the sound, between the scenes of the episode and the scenes of the ending sequence.) Could you perhaps back this up with something (e.g. naming a specific point in the ED that makes you believe that the BGM is really just the ED, or pointing out why the differences between the ED and what I'm hearing are only superficial)?

When I watch Yuri!!! on Ice episode 3 on crunchyroll and skip to 21 minutes it sounds the same. Here's a link to the song im referring to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjFGBrPIJsk

@GijsDeJong is it best to edit that into your answer and also with your Wikia link you should be linking to the You Only Live Once if you do believe that is the answer rather than to the episode 3 page

Yeah im new to stackoverflow, Welp I've updated my answer hope you like it this way.

I believe it's not the same. This might be going too technical, but the OP's song chord is I/III - IV - vii - V, where the ED is IV - vii - I - V (in Roman numeral analysis for easier comparison without needing to know the key signature).


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What should I watch first? The Last: Naruto the movie or Sasuke's story sunrise arc?
The anime story finished back in October. A few filler then followed the new sunrise arc in Sasuke's story, which started where Sasuke goes on his own adventure.
My question is, should I watch the last movie first or does Sasuke's story arc come first?

As discussed in this answer, How much time has passed between the final fight and Sasuke Shinden (anime)?
The full timeline is linked in the Reddit Thread: Naruto timeline
The relevant part is:
However, these events are being produced in a non chronological manner and hence the confusion. Naruto: The Last was aired before the end of 4th Ninja War. Sasuke Shinden has been adapted before other works, such as Shikamaru Shinden which is now airing.
Thus there is no "recommended order" for watching the series. The stories are not that reliant on each other and you can watch the movies/episodes as you want (After episode 479).
To answer the real question, The events of Naruto: The Last take place before Sasuke Shinden: Book of Sunrise.
Personally, I wait for a few episodes to pile up and then watch them in their chronological order.

Sasuke's arc comes first. I would recommend you to first finish that.


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Is there an app or program that relates anime & manga with their source material?
Long story short, there are relations between literature and plays
that are source material for anime and manga and I'm looking for an app that relates them.
Examples of such relationships are:

The literature "The Tale of the Princess Kaguya"

Kaguya is the same name as the mother of chakra in Naruto
who came from a different planet and ultimate chakra uses the moon
Sailor Moon is initially believed to be an Earthling, but is later revealed to be the princess of the moon kingdom Silver Millennium. She later discovers her birth name, Princess Serenity [moon princess aka Kaguya]

Journey of the West: Dragon ball/DBZ is highly influenced by "Journey of the West" and the story of the monkey god Sun Wukong.
"The Tale of the Gallant Jiraiya": Naruto also takes from a famous story "The Tale of the Gallant Jiraiya" where Jiraiya can turn into a toad,  Orochimaru a snake, and Tsunade a slug.

Google/StartPage/DuckDuckGo?

I don't think Princess Kaguya is Sailor Moon, instead is Princess Snow Kaguya


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Is it known whether Kaori Miyazono is half-Japanese?
Her dad had a pretty big nose, if we want to go there. Nothing is said on the Wikia. And this question doesn't really matter... but I'm sure people want to know! Was Miyazono half-Japanese? What indications are there that she was?

Apparently her father has a Japanese name. For all I care, he doesn't look overtly foreign either, so I'm assuming Kaori probably isn't, particularly since it seems like the sort of detail that would be disclosed somewhere.

We can't even be sure she is blonde, she might be dyeing.

@Mindwin your phrasing... that better be intentional.

@Mindwin: In the OVA, which shows the characters as children, Kaori already has blonde hair, but I don't think this is actually indicative of much. (Takeshi is also already blond as a kid, and Tsubaki already has her brown hair. I find it difficult to imagine small children dyeing their hair, and well, hair colour in anime these days doesn't seem too consistently realistic anyway.)

@Maroon so she wasn't dyeing. one less "e", then.

I don't even see why this question gets upvotes. This is as good as asking if character X is half japanese because his/her parent/s has Y feature. Completely speculative and unsubstantiated to even begin as a question.

This question is not primarily opinion-based; a factual answer exists and is one of "yes, she is"; "no, she isn't"; or "there is no evidence for or against her being half-Japanese". If you think the question is bad, please cast downvotes instead of voting to close it.

There is no evidence to suggest that Kaori is half-Japanese. I discuss my reasons for this assertion below.

The fan wiki for Your Lie in April makes no such assertions about the ethnicity of Kaori. Were there an indication or (obvious) suggestion that Kaori is half-Japanese in official material, I would expect someone to have noted it.
Kaori's parentage is straightforward, and her parents have Japanese names and do not look overtly foreign.
We cannot extrapolate any information about ethnicity from the characters' hair colours. While Kaori had blonde hair even as a child (as seen in the OVA), so did Takeshi. Tsubaki already had brown hair (rather than black) as a child. Takeshi's sister, Nagi, is also blonde. It is difficult to imagine primary school students dyeing their hair, but it is also difficult to imagine that all of these characters have significant non-Japanese heritage. It is best to chalk this up to a lack of realism in anime hair colours.

As far as I am concerned, I would thus err (at the time of writing) on the side of assuming that Kaori is not half-Japanese. Were Kaori half-Japanese, it would seem to be such a large character detail that it would have to be disclosed somewhere.

Two other possible pieces of evidence stem from (1) Kaori's grandparents (which are mentioned in the wiki, but whom I don't recall seeing) and (2) the live-action film, which I have not watched (although it's not uncommon for films to misrepresent "canon" ethnicity).

There is no direct answer to this question, but the fact that she has blue eyes is what would leave me to believe she could be at least only half Japanese. This trait is almost never found in people of Asian decent specifically Japanese. Often times I have also noticed that in many other Animes they make the foreigners (western/European) also have blonde hair and blue eyes. (oc she could be dying her hair.)


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Can a transmutation circle be reused?
Could the Transmutation Circle in Xerxes be reused even if it wasn't partially destroyed? I understand that Transmutation Arrays, the circle on Mustang's gloves, etc. are capable of being reused. But does the same physics stand for a large scale transmutation circle used for sinister acts? And also, what about the Nationwide Transmutation Circle in Amestris?

using mustang's gloves as an example, the circles aren't consumable. and in flame alchemy case, he manipulates the oxygen in the air to produce flame http://fma.wikia.com/wiki/Roy_Mustang in other words, it's like the transmutation circle is the gun and the consumable item (oxygen/philosopher's stone) is the bullet.

While not explicitly declared, we have every reason to assume that transmutation circles are reusable...assuming a few things. I base this off of observations of all of the (as you called them) transmutation arrays that we see tattooed onto people or stitched onto their clothing, or carved into their metal equipment. I'm further connecting it to the fact that there is apparently not anything too special about these 'permanent' circles, as

 Mustang carved one onto the back of his hand and was able to use it just fine.

So, here are the assumptions.
1: Your transmutation circle is not destroyed when the surface it is marked on changes. For example, in the original anime, Ed gets himself out of trouble by scratching a circle into a set of restraints. When the restraints change into something else, the circle is destroyed because he morphed the material it was marked on. Or any of the times Al uses a circle to launch chunks of Earth at enemies.
2: Your circle is marked in a way that is not easily disrupted. A lot of the temporary transmutation circles we see, such as the ones that Al uses, are drawn with chalk. Chalk smudges easily, and the transmutation reaction may be enough to smudge it. And, as we have seen, transmutation circles need to be very precise in order to function properly...so a bit of smudging should be enough to ruin it. Another way this could be messed up is if a liquid is spilled on the chalk...like the mess made at the end of Ed and Al's very, very failed human transmutation attempt.
I can't find an example of this actually happening with a 'drawn' circle, because Ed and Al have a tendency to use Alchemy that destroys their transmutation circle...and the times that they haven't (see: repairing the radio in Lior) they only intended to use that circle once. However, in that case, the circle remains intact and appears to be completely unchanged...so I see no reason it couldn't be used a second time.
Furthermore, in the 2003 anime, we see transmutation rooms set up that have the circles painted onto multiple walls. If the circles only worked once then had to be repainted...there'd be no sense in using paint in the first place...chalk is much cheaper and quicker to work with.
All told, there isn't any reason to think that transmutation circles are somehow less re-usable because you didn't stitch them onto the back of your glove or engrave them onto a gauntlet. As long as you don't mess up the circle, we have every reason to believe that they could be re-used.
In the case of the Xerxes circle or the Nationwide Transmutation Circle...we have every reason to believe that they could have been re-activated, assuming the two things I stated before are true. Naturally, I assume this means that one of the first things that they set about doing after the final battle was damaging the array so it wouldn't work any more.


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Where can I find an English dub of Naruto Shippuden episodes 78-140?
So I just got into Naruto a few months ago and have been binge-watching my way through the entire series. I watch some subbed anime but after watching so many episodes dubbed I just can't get used to subbed episodes. I've gotten to episode 77 and suddenly the dubbing is gone. The dub doesn't start again until episode 140 on Hulu, and I can't seem to find it anywhere online. Did they just never dub those episodes or is there something I'm missing?

On the Anime and Manga Meta we have a list of Legal Streaming Sites. i don't stream myself so i wouldn't know if the episodes are on there. do be aware that some sites do employ Geoblocking which, depending on where you live, you may be redirected to a local site or prevented from using it all together (as with some Youtube Chanels)
If the Episodes you are looking to Stream are not there the other alternative and legal path is to buy the DVDs. Dubbed wise Collections 6-11 have Episodes 66-140. this RightStuf Search Result has these Collections available to buy, they ship internationally but the DVDs are Region 1, which is fine if you are in the US or have the equipment/programs to use Region 1 DVDs (ie. a Region Free Player).
if you are in Australia then Madman list some of these collections but not all of them (no idea why they just stop after Collection 8)


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What's the deal with moving statues?
In episode 1, how are Ed and Cornello able to make the statues move? How is that alchemy? Is it possible that the revived birds are under same process, i.e., they are just moving but not alive?

This isn't really a valid answer...but the simplest answer is this: Artistic license on the part of the anime-writers. In neither the Manga nor the new Anime (Brotherhood) is there any example of Cornello or Ed animating statues. Nor does the manga show Cornello re-animating that bird. The red eyes of the bird imply it is a chimera, but it isn't clear how he made it 'alive' again as the topic is never really addressed.

as said @guildsbounty, it's likely du to the artistic licence, it makes cooler to animated the statues instead of only make them appear as in the canon (manga and FMA brotherhood). In universe you can't animate something with only one alchemy (likely possible with many but tiring, especially a statue, since an alchemy is likely need for each move) so it's a flaw according to the in universe alchemy laws.


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Incest in Freezing
In Freezing, Gengo Aoi tries to build a relationship between two characters, but this relationship would be incestuous. Did any one of these characters consider the nature of this relationship?
I ask this, because in no argument is incest mentioned.
The characters that should be shipped are:

 Ryuuichi Aoi, Gengo's son with Maria

and

 Cassandra, an incomplete clone of Maria.

at least she is incomplete :v

at least she is incomplete :v

@NamikazeSheena but her dna is still mostly that of his mother...


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What's the music that plays at the end of ep. 22 of Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso?
What's the music that plays at the end of ep. 22 of Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso, when Arima is reading Kaori's letter?
I saw this anime a long time ago and want listen this music now, but I can't find it.

IIRC it's a show-specific piece, but I'd have to dig around for the title.

This bears some similarity to the segment used, but the instrumentation is different and I am not completely convinced that it is the same thing.

The moment when you casually look at Anime Exchange, then you see this topic and a wound you thought closed opens again :'(

The piece is called "31 - Kimi ga Iru"
It is in the OST album for the anime, Disc 1.
Followed by "05 - Kirameki ~Kousei to Kaori no Ensou Ver.~" from the ED single "Kirameki" album.
So basically it starts off as Kimi ga Iru, then Kirameki chimes in.
The piece before that is "17 - Kouiu Kimochi wo Nante Itta Kana" if you're interested.


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What's this music used when Lelouch is giving new orders in ep. 2 of R2?
What's the section of the soundtrack used in the second episode of R2 at 8:00, after Kallen defeats a Knightmare and Lelouch gives new orders, called?

Is this after Kallen defeats a knightmare, and Lelouch makes new orders?

@Maroon yes that's it

I think it's unreleased album, the #9 song Knightmare Assault. Unfortunately I don't have a download link because I haven't found one myself =/.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEK28DBU2_I&index=9&list=PLb4mticUuCmQSnQpXJDttkzbhOxAdnGWf

I think it sounds like a version of Sensibility, only piano only: OST on Youtube

FWIW the section in question seems to be using a harpsichord, and some strings also come in later.

Found it. It's called Turning the Tide. It's an unreleased OST. There are some edits on youtube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nh8CS8PM7vk
and
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRL6tTLYQwU

Out of curiosity, do you have any idea where is the name from? In particular, I would expect that if it wasn't released, the name would not be known (although I could be wrong).

@Maroon I have no idea. Maybe the youtuber who created it called it that way, because it fits the scenes in the anime where it's played.


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What anime are these figures from?
These are figures I got off eBay; the seller didn't know the answer. Thank you so much!

eBay Item - 3 Gashapon Figure Figurine Lot Sexy Girl Boy 3.75" Posable Anime Manga

Guy on the left is pretty obviously Duo Maxwell, from Gundam Wing.  Can't identify the other two, although I'm pretty certain they're not from Gundam Wing.


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Is there any special reason for the Donyatsu shoutout in Kogane's backpack?
In Bubuki Buranki, Kogane has a Donyatsu backpack. Written on it above the face of the pastry cat are the words "Not Donyatsu". Is there any special reason (same author, authors were friends, same publisher) for that shoutout?

The author/illustrator of Donyatsu, Kozaki Yuusuke, is also the lead character designer for Bubuki Buranki.


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Does anyone know Vic Mignogna's (Edward Elric's VA) email address?
I heard he replies to people who email him and I will love to have the privilege of emailing him. Does anyone know his email? And if he's ever replied to your emails, don't be afraid to tell!

This kind of question not only has nothing to do with anime or manga, but also would start the a similar question. Soon we will see similar questions asking every seiyuu's email address.

Yeah, I dunno about this... questions about the professional work of industry figures (voice actors, directors, writers, artists, whatever) is certainly fair game, but I feel that asking for contact info is a bit gauche.

Looking Vic Mignogna up gives me his website. His contact page lists his email and also has a mail-to link, although the linked email and the email listed are different from each other.
Mignogna is also on Twitter, so I suppose you could also tweet at him.
I've no idea whether he usually responds to general emails; I don't watch English dubs much and also rarely consciously follow voice actors.


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How did Kal Snyder end up as the death note owner?
When Higuchi died, the original death note was in hands of Light, so he becomes the owner again. After L dies, and Mello exchanges that death note for Sayu, how did Kal Snyder end up as the owner, if Light did not forfeit ownership of his death note between that time?

After Higuchi died, the Death Note was kept by the investigator so Light couldn't use the death note. After L died, the book was kept by Soichiro Yagami for quite a long time. At that time, Light had lost his possession of Death Note either by giving it to his father or by not using it for a long time.
When Soichiro gave the Death Note to the guy who kidnapped Sayu, he gave him the possession as well. At last, this guy lost his possession of Death Note after he died in a plane. The one who first touched the Death Note after that was Kal Snyder.


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How many times did Len Kagamine die?
How many times Len Kagamine die in all of his PV's? I have been searching the answer for this question for a long time.

Rin dies more then Len. Len only dies 15 times I believe. Ill write a full answer If I have some time tonight ;)

Uhh... is this going to be always updated based on all current and future PVs? Or is there any context I miss?

Limit this to the day the question is asked and on official PV only.

Honestly, since new vocaloid covers are made, Len probably will die an infinite number of times. But he always revives in another song. He will never die completely it seems

I checked a million of his songs (some of which were very suicidal), and the answer for now many times Len died was 97.


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What is the dance in the third Nisemonogatari OP?
What is the dance that Tsukihi does in the third opening of Nisemonogatari ("Platinum Disco")? It's the one where she does all of the hand movements.

It's based on bon odori, the dancing at O-bon festivals. O-bon is a holiday in Japan that takes place towards the end of summer. All the "summer festivals" in anime where people dress in yukata and go eat yakisoba and scoop goldfish and watch fireworks are O-bon festivals.
Here is a video that shows some people doing bon-odori. The video description offers some facts about the dancing:

Bon Odori (盆踊り), meaning simply Bon dance is a style of dancing performed during Obon. Originally a Nenbutsu folk dance to welcome the spirits of the dead, the style of celebration varies in many aspects from region to region. Each region has a local dance, as well as different music. The music can be songs specifically pertinent to the spiritual message of Obon, or local min'yo folk songs. Consequently, the Bon dance will look and sound different from region to region. Hokkaidō is known for a folk-song known as "Soran Bushi." The song "Tokyo Ondo" takes its namesake from the capital of Japan. "Gujo Odori" in Gujō, Gifu prefecture is famous for all night dancing. "Goshu Ondo" is a folk song from Shiga prefecture. Residents of the Kansai area will recognize the famous "Kawachi ondo." Tokushima in Shikoku is very famous for its "Awa Odori," or "fool's dance," and in the far south, one can hear the "Ohara Bushi" of Kagoshima.

Of course, Tsukihi is well known as a yukata freak who joined the tea ceremony club just to have an excuse to wear a yukata at school, and bon odori is often done in yukata. (You can even kind of see how the movements of the dance, which mostly involve the hands and arms, are adapted to the leg-restricting nature of the garment.) So that's why her opening features her doing bon odori.


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Why doesn't Misa Amane regain her memory when she touches the death note?
Light Yagami gets back his memory when he touches the death note. But Misa does not get back her memories when removing touches her with a piece of paper from the death note. Why?

Misa does. when she digs up the one Light burried she regains all her memories and if i recall correctly realizes she's forgotten L's name

@Memor-X question edited

In short: Unlike Light, Misa never owned that death note.
Now the relevant timeline:
Ryuk dropped a death note that became Light's - the one with the rules so we call it the rulebook. Rem handed a death note to Misa - without written rules so we call it the blank book.
Light and Misa met and touched each other's death notes. At this point, they were both able to see either shinigami. Also, Misa allows Light to keep the blank book but does not transfer ownership.
Misa gets caught and tortured by L and forfeits the ownership of the blank book so it is owned by Rem or the first other human to touch it (aka. Light).
At this point, Light is the owner of both death notes and knows that whenever he touches or get ownership of one of them, he regains his memories. Misa however only ever held ownership of the blank one.
Light makes the Shinigamis switch the death notes so that the blank note is now accompanied by Ryuk and the rulebook by Rem. Light hides the blank book and gives the rulebook to Rem.
Than Rem returns to the Shinigami's world searching for someone to give the rulebook while Lights gets himself incarcerated before finally giving up the ownership of the blank book (to Ryuk who returns to the shinigami world).
Rem finds a human who would abuse the death note (Higuchi) and hands the rulebook over to him.
Rem finds Misa in trouble and wants her to know that Rem would support her so she makes Misa touch a snipped of the rulebook - that is accompanied by Rem but never was owned by Misa so Misa gets the ability to see Rem but does not regain her memories.
After they defeated Higuchi, Light touches the rulebook and temporarily regains his memories so he kills Higuchi and assumes ownership of it, thus permanently regain his memories. After meeting again, Light orders Misa to find the blank book (that has been originally been given to her by Rem) so that Misa would finally regain her memories too. Note that since the shinigami swapped the notes, Ryuk now accompanies the blanc book.
If Misa would have remembered L's name, she'd have killed him right away but since she didn't, she makes the deal with Ryuk again what Rem would never have allowed.
Since Rem is connected to Light and sees the task force haunting Kira (Misa), Rem kills L and Watari as she realizes that this is the only way to safe Misa from being captured and sentenced to death.

Plus I am not sure if one have to touch the book itself. A snippet might not do the job


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How did Chino's grandfather end up as a rabbit?
From the first episode of Gochuumon wa Usagi desuka? (Is the order a rabbit?) Chino's grandfather was depicted as a rabbit (very questionable since he didn't look like a rabbit, but the anime says so, so let's call him a rabbit). However, considering that both Chino's father and Chino are normal humans, and that the writer who often comes to Chino's cafe (Rabbit House) used to chat with the first owner (Chino's grandfather), there must be a time where he was a normal human. Otherwise, the writer lady would have noticed it was him when she saw the rabbit. Also since the rabbit has no arms (at least the first season doesn't show it having arms), and considering his size, he wouldn't be able to pour coffee. Has it been explained somewhere (anime and manga) why Chino's grandfather turned into a rabbit?
Note: I haven't watched the second season. Please carefully put spoilers if they come up.

That only answers what kind of rabbit Tippy is and whether the cafe serves rabbit or not. What I want to know is how did Chino's gramps turned into rsbbit, since he can't ppssibly be born as rabbit. He must've been a human sometime in the past.

On the wiki, it says:

Tippy is the owner of Rabbit House. In other words, he is Chino's grandfather, but he somehow has a female rabbit body. Nobody revealed why, but Chino refrained that her real grandfather already passed away, and yet Tippy already kept in the Rabbit House since the beginning.

Answerable questions:

Tippy is probably based on a thick and fluffy English Angora Rabbit.

Tippy was indeed a human before he passed away.


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How does Fate/Kaleid Liner Prisma connect to the Fate universe?
I want to know how this anime is connected to the Fate universe. I see Rin in a few trailers of the show. Also is it up to expectations with Fate/Stay Night and Fate/Zero?

From my understanding the premise was that Irisviel and Kiritsugu stopped the Holy Grail War from occurring so Ilya's purpose as the White Grail Vessel was never fulfilled. however i also read somewhere that Irisviel and Kiritsugu stopped the first war which which can't be correct because they participated in the forth war in Fate/Zero

However i do know that the Kaleid Ruby and Sapphire were made by Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg (in Fate/Kaleid) and Zelretch has the Second Magic which is the Operation of Parallel Worlds including alternate timelines. as such the Zelretch we see in it is probably the same one who helped Rin out at the end of Heaven's Feel in Fate/Stay Night, oversaw the start of the ritual that became the Holy Grail Wars, defeated Brunestud of the Crimson Moon and met a very young Alcuied

Kaleid Ruby was also created in Fate/Hollow Ataraxia by Rin which i recall reading was made to use the same principles of the Jewel Sword, an implentation of the Second Magic, and when it takes over Rin she became a Magical Girl which could be drawing the Magical Girl Rin from Fate/Kaleid

what if we took a serious VN...
then, what if we took some random, unimportant side character
and then, what if we made her, and all her irrelevant friends lesbians?
prisma illya

@Euphoric you say that as if it's a bad thing

Does it really have to be? It is not uncommon to create spin-off while retooling the characters and settings. Instead, you should be asking why did creators create the spin-off? Was there some interesting theme to be explored? Story to be told? Or do they do it just to cash in on the popularity of the franchise or character while changing it to sell even better? I leave the final decision to you.

Fate/kaleid liner PRISMA☆ILLYA is an alternate timeline to Fate/Stay Night

The series takes place in Fuyuki City in an alternate timeline of Fate/stay night. Kiritsugu and Irisviel helped end the Holy Grail War ritual before it could start, sealing Ilya's memories away and allowing her to grow up as a normal girl. Shirou and Ilya live a peaceful life as brother and sister, without knowledge of magic, under the care of Sella and Leysritt, while their parents are abroad.

Source: Fate/kaleid liner PRISMA☆ILLYA - STory - Setting (First Paragraph)
however it may be apart of a different timeline to that in which Fate/Zero occurred because of Shirou's background

It is unknown what happened to his biological parents, as the Great Fire had never occurred, but he was still adopted by Kiritsugu about ten years ago, similar to his Fate/stay night origins.

Source: Shirou Emiya (Fate/kaleid - Illya's brother) - Profile - Background
however multiple timelines that are still connected is possible in the Nasuverse as Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg wield the Second Magic which is the Operation of Parallel worlds. he was also present when the Makiri, Tohsaka and Einzbern Family began the ritual that would later be known as the Holy Grail Wars

In the image above we can see Zelretch reading a book and Lord El-Melloi II, AKA, Waver Velvet from Fate/Zero and like Shirou how he got the title of Lord El-Melloi II in this world is unknown as it was during Fate/Zero in which Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald was killed and Waver helped restore the House's name to which his new name was award to him and where he "serves" Reines El-Melloi Archisorte

While it was on the brink of collapse, Waver Velvet's actions helped to revive the Archibald house, and he was then named as "Lord El-Melloi II" as a form of gratitude. At the bottom of the family's hierarchy at the time, she "blamed" him for causing the situation and claimed "you better serve me for your entire life," much to the former's chagrin.

Source: Reines El-Melloi Archisorte - Profile - Background
so if Irisviel and Kiritsugu stopped the 4th War then the Archibald house wouldn't be in a state of collapse because of Kayneth's death and Shirou wouldn't have been adopted because the corrupted Holy Grail wouldn't have started the great fire which claimed his family
However some titles in the Nausverse do extend from other branches in it's history that aren't covered in other Fate titles, such as with Fate/Apocrypha which occurs in a separate timeline caused by the Einzbern Family summoning Ruler during the 3rd Holy Grail War instead of Avenger or in Fate/Extra in which a certain Magic Incident (assumed to be a premature Aylesbury Valesti) cause the world's Mana to dry up in the 1970's, years before the forth Holy Grail War in the 1990's (and thus the Greater Grail would take longer to build up Mana for the 4th war if it even occurred)
with that being said the point in the history of the Nasuverse in which could allow for the alterations to Shirou's and Waver's history in Fate/kaleid liner PRISMA☆ILLYA without the 4th war occurring is currently unknown.
NOTE: apologies for the lack on anchor links however Wikia's Ad overload has made the site impossible for me to browse with javascript enabled

would like to add that the Aylesbury Valesti is connected with the 27 Dead Apostle Ancestors and they are generally only mentioned in Tsukihime, Kagetsu Tohya and Melty Blood which are still set in the Nasuverse but don't have anything to do with the Holy Grail Wars, Masters or Servants

Also see: https://i.sstatic.net/0a4FE.png

@кяαzєя can you site the Volume/Chapter and Page Number for that?

This  is one of the author afterword from the Zwei compiled volumes I believe. However, I'm not sure witch volume specificakky it's from.


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Identifying a sword from an anime, possibly from One Piece or Bleach

I got it from an anime convention thinking it was the Zoro Shusui for my cousin.

I found a site that appears to be selling this exact sword...and I hate to disappoint you, but they themselves make no reference to any anime.  It is merely a fantasy sword.

I'm pretty positive that there is no character in Bleach that has a sword that looks like that.
And as for Zoro Shusui, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but it's not a very good replica.
As you can see here, this sword and its sheath looks almost completely different:

darn. Thank you so much for the input. I wish I could find out what anime it is from lol


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When was "Muru Muru's Melodrama" played?
I encountered this song (individual track, track as part of entire soundtrack compilation), titled "Muru Muru's Melodrama", in an OST of Mirai Nikki, and I wonder when it was played.  I've tried to listen as carefully as I could, but I couldn't find that BGM anywhere, neither in the original series nor in the OVA.

It appears in a couple of the 'Mur Mur-Sensei's Future Diary Behind the Scenes' short specials that appear at the end of each episode after the credits. In particular, I have noticed this track in this section on episodes 11 and 16.
Depending on what version of Mirai Nikki you are watching, you may or may not get this extra section at the end of the episode, I think that it may only be included in BD versions of the anime.

It's nice to know that it is in the series after all.
I wonder why they exclude this awesome BGM from the main footage.


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Why do anime have manga adaptations? Why don't authors just focus on one medium at a time?
Instead of having to work on both the anime and the manga at the same time, why don't the authors just focus on one?

The person writing the manga usually doesn't work on the anime adaptation.

more money to be made

For this answer I am going to assume only works which began as an anime and were later adapted into manga are under consideration. This is hard to study nowadays because there are so few anime-original works, but in most of the cases I know of, the manga is just tie-in merchandise for the anime, the same way anime adaptations of manga are tie-in merchandise for the manga, or anime and manga adaptations of light novels and visual novels are tie-in merchandise for the light/visual novel.
Usually, the author of the manga is a contract worker of some sort: the studio hires them to write and draw a manga version of the anime, sometimes while the production of the anime is underway, and sometimes after it's finished. The original team behind the anime doesn't usually work on the manga; their names might be on the cover as a "Story" credit, meaning they're just being acknowledged as the creator of the story. It's the reverse version of seeing "Based on the manga by XX" in the opening credits of an anime. So having a manga adaptation doesn't actually take any effort away from the anime; the two productions go ahead independently, sometimes extremely so. For example, the first manga adaptation of The Vision of Escaflowne was based on an early version of the story from when Yasuhiro Imagawa was attached as director. Imagawa left to direct G Gundam and the production was put on hold, but the manga went ahead with his shounen version of the story, only to become inaccurate later when Kazuki Akane came in and reworked the show as a shoujo series.
Some anime also have spinoff manga, which aren't directly based on the original anime. Evangelion, for example, has Angelic Days, Shinji Ikari Raising Project, and Campus Apocalypse. Madoka has Kazumi Magica, Oriko Magica, Wraith Arc, The Different Story, Homura Tamura, Homura's Revenge, Tart Magica, Suzune Magica, and probably soon the epic crossover Puella Magi Mahoro Magica: The Resurrection. Like the direct adaptation manga, these are passed off to hired help, but they often have valid creative reasons for existing. Angelic Days and Shinji Ikari Raising Project explored the banal world that Shinji creates in his mind in Episode 26 of the anime. Wraith Arc and The Different Story fill in parts of the anime storyline that weren't shown onscreen; Suzune Magica and Tart Magica focus on different characters in the same world; Homura Tamura is a parody. Since manga are cheaper to produce than anime, the spinoff manga are a low-cost way to explore the world of an anime, or create alternative scenarios, or to give hardcore fans something they want that doesn't have wide enough appeal to fund another anime. Some of these spinoff manga, I don't care about, but reading The Different Story totally changed my view of certain characters and events in the anime series, so I'm glad that the anime staff didn't decide to "just focus on one" and allowed the spinoff manga to be made.

Like @ToshinouKyouko and @JonLin commented, there is more money to be made, while the author don't even have to lift a finger. So, as a working person, why not? You get a chance to earn more with very little, if any, work to do.
Sword Art Online
I'll take SAO as an example. Volume 14 of Sword Art Online (SAO) was sold at 590 JPY per copy and 350,693 copies was sold in 2014 fiscal year (November 18, 2013 - November 16, 2014). The total income for the publisher would be 206,908,870. Sources here and here stated that the average royalty rate for a writer is between 8% to 50%. I didn't manage to find a reference for the Japanese publishing companies. So, let's assume that the royalty is at 10%, Kawahara Reki (SAO's author) would earn 20,690,887 JPY from volume 14 alone. SAO got 3 volumes released per year. Assuming that every volume sold at the same price and number, per year Kawahara-sensei would receive 62,072,661 JPY from the LN alone.
Sword Art Online also has anime adaptation. It was being sold on DVD and BluRay (BR) for 5,800 JPY and 6,800 JPY respectively for the first volume (episode 1 and 2 of first season). Next volumes sold for 6,800 JPY and 7800 JPY respectively. 17,677 copies of the first volume of the second season got sold in a week between 2014 November 10 and 2014 November 16. Volume 1 of the second season of SAO was sold at 6,800 JPY for DVD and 7,800 JPY for BR. It was release on 2014 October 22, that is 3 weeks before. Assuming it gets sold at the same amount for every week, then we get 53,031 copies sold for the first 3 weeks. Total income from BR sells would be 413,641,800 JPY.
Cost per episode is approximated at 15,000,000 JPY per episode (DVD and BR printing cost included). The aforementioned SAO season 2 volume 1 BR has 3 episodes in it, thus it cost about 45,000,000 JPY. The creator got 1.7% of the net revenue (income - production cost), that is 6,266,910.6 JPY (1.7% x 368,641,800). Like I mentioned earlier above, the creator don't have to lift a finger to get that extra income. The anime production house would take care of it. They have a scenario writer and director to make the anime based on the LN.
Now, a LN release only 3 volumes a year, but BR releases 1 volume per month, that is 12 volumes a year. SAO II may only have 9 volumes, but that is still 9 x 6,266,910.6 JPY (56,402,195.4 JPY).
Extra

The KonoSuba LN selling went up after the TV anime aired by approximately 3 times.
I assume Kawahara-sensei's contract earns him royalty at 10% rate. Since he is a best seller, it is possible that his contract earns him more than that rate.

Generally, when an anime is being produced there is a studio doing the production. There are numerous writers/editors working on it and the author may or may not have creative control of the content.
I would say the work involved also depends on the source material in question. There can be both licensing for an anime and a manga to be produced simultaneously from something like a light novel.
There is also the fact that anime, airing on TV, is subject to stricter guidelines in content. Particularly in regards to violence and nudity.


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Can I purchase manga online from the Kindle store?
I live in Kolkata, India and everyone knows that looking for a manga store in this country is like searching for a needle in a haystack. So I was wondering if it was at all possible to purchase manga online from the Kindle eBook store.

have you tried to look on the kindle ebook store and seeing if purchase is possible?

Shows quite a lack of trying since my first google search turned up the link in my answer.

Being in India I was also struggling for manga but my friend managed to get one from amazon because as per price its great.

You can buy manga On Amazon
http://www.amazon.in/Comics-Mangas-Books/b?ie=UTF8&node=1318104031
Also, Paperback Volumes are also available online and in select bookstores. Especially in Metros.
I for one buy many manga in the annual Comicon. Get promotional discounts and goodies.
Several Volumes are available as Kindle Edition. So I think thats what you were asking?


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Who saved Hatchin from drowning in episode 7?
Near the end of episode 7 ("The Monotone of Falling Rain") of Michiko to Hatchin, Hatchin almost drowns. Before she passes out, she sees a (female?) figure above the water.

At the same time, Michiko is shown to be sulking in the hotel. The next scene shows Hatchin back in the hotel, next to a drunk Michiko.
So, who saved Hatchin?

It is not clear whether this woman is someone whom the viewers have met. However, with the flow of the episode around this point, it is not unthinkable that this is someone whom we know; if it were not, I might expect this scene to be structured differently. (For instance, it might make more sense for Hatchin to hear someone yelling for help, along with the silhouette.)
If it is indeed someone we know, the most likely answer then is that this is Anastacia. There are only two women who appear in this episode: Michiko and Anastacia. Michiko's hair extends far beyond shoulder-length, and in this part of the episode, she is wearing trousers.

Meanwhile, Anastacia is wearing a skirt in this part of the episode, and her hair is a lot closer to shoulder-length.

Anastacia's appearance thus matches that of the silhouette a lot better: notice that there is no space between its legs, so the woman in question is probably wearing a skirt or a dress. The hair-length also matches that of the silhouette, which has something like a bob, somewhat. (It is less important that the hair-length of the silhouette and of the character match up entirely. Hatchin could well be seeing the silhouette of someone bent over, looking into the water. When someone bends over, a good portion of her hair may shift downwards, if her hair is both long enough to fall forward and short enough that it will not stay on her back. This would lead to a silhouette with shorter hair than that of the woman to which it corresponds.)


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What is this dance?

This is from a flash animation of Asuna (from Negima), but I've seen this in a lot of shows, especially during the ending themes. Most recently, the ED of Recorder and Randsell Mi.
Is this a real dance or just something that's easy to animate?

Isn't that the cha cha cha?

I dunno, I guess it could be one of the dance moves, but looking through a couple of videos, I don't see them doing that.

For what it's worth, this gif is just taken from the ending to Negima!?

@MadaraUchiha No, she's staying in place. Chacha involves side-stepping, she's not doing that.

The instruments are called Maracas which are similar to shaker. Similar to how some singers use tambourines, other use maracas when they are singing often dancing while playing in rhythm to the shake.
You can often see backing vocalists use such instruments to appear busy when they are not required.
Here's how to dance with Maracas.

I've seen this without any instruments (e.g. the Recorder and Randsell MI ED)


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Why did Scythe Master put lube on Ein?
In Requiem for the Phantom (episode 3, ~6:30), the Scythe Master puts some kind of oil or lube on Ein's body. Why would he put lube on her body?

What scene and episode are you referring to?

i believe it was episode 3

It seems to me like he was varnishing her.

It is symbolic.  In this scene, he is cleaning his weapons.  In Gusseppie's mind, Ein is not human, she is a weapon.  An inanimate object, and in the same way he cares for is ruger, he cares for Ein.  While I don't think he was literally rubbing her down in weapons lubricant or copper solvent, I believe the intent was the same.

He... actually was putting gun oil on her body. - source the anime and the 2001 copy of the original visual novel the anime was based off of that I own. Edit: Either way, he is still a egotistical pervert. shudders.

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


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Which song is featured in this Bleach scene?
In Bleach episode 8, part 3, the song plays a few seconds from 1:52 onwards. Which song from the soundtrack is it?

I had a listen to the OST for Season 1 and the only song this sounds like is Catch-22. The quality difference is noticeable but some distinct sounds match. Unless my ears are deceiving me, ~2:28 in episode 8  matches ~1:45 of the song.

Yes, Catch 22 plays near 2:20. But I meant the song that played 1:52 to 2:20, that accompanies the soft-spoken, grave dialog between the two.

@aitchnyu I went through the entire OST and nothing matched that part. I assume it might have just been some 'fill in' audio or a bit from another track. Why I also linked to ~2:28 was that most of that part wasn't very clear either. I will have another listen later to see if I missed something providing someone else doesn't post an answer by then.

@iKlsR it's most likely the same song but a small clip of it slightly edited, the same happens in Black Cat when Saya goes after Predaghoul, when she's walking down the halls of the ship a roughly 5 second clip from one of the tracks from the OST is taken out with one of the audio layers removed, unfortunately the only way to get that audio is to record it from the anime and edit it to retain the original quality

@Memor-X I went through the OST again and I agree. I could find nothing sounding like that or so subtle either so that is probably what happened.


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What race are the humans in Attack on Titan? What language do they speak?
The majority of characters in Attack on Titan have German names. Does this mean they are Europeans? We know Mikasa Ackerman is Oriental. Did the writers avoid describing her as Asian because in the universe they have created, Asia doesn't exist? (The use of word Oriental may be a direct translation, but I'm not sure.)
Obviously the anime is in Japanese, but this surely doesn't mean the characters speak Japanese?
Are characters in Attack on Titan (or any anime) self-aware about the language they speak, or their own race?
How do anime/manga creators explain race and language in their art? Is this a detail that is left out because it has no explanation, or is it an answer of "It's just that way"? Maybe anime are created in a fictional bubble with their own set of rules, and viewers are supposed to suspend disbelief.
I know this maybe a silly and or odd question, but I simply can't wrap my ahead around it.

Based on the Germanic names, I'd expect most of them are German. Also, related: When and where does Attack on Titan take place?

another good example for the germanic names is "Armin" coming from german "herman"

So... what are they racing for?

It's not that uncommon. In Death Note and Kaleido Star, characters from the US speak Japanese as well.

What makes you say that?

Levi is a French name… I always thought of it as all the people who lived in the walls couldn't speak to each other so they all voted on one language, which was Japanese, but that wouldn't make any sense because there weren't many japanese people. so.... Also I use their name to decide where they originated from. I always thought Armin was an European name but… I'm apparently not always right. This probaly isn't an answer but I wrote it anyways. :) ~K

The Germanic names (Jaeger, Armin, and so on) lead me to believe that the remaining humans, that we've seen so far, are descendants of Germans or at least close enough to them to receive a great Germanic influence.
As for Mikasa, her mother was the next-to-last of their Oriental clan, and her father was of a more Western heritage (having the German name Ackerman). The name "Mikasa" has origins in both Malagasy (of Madagascar) and Japanese (the Mikasa battleship, Mount Mikasa, or the Mikasa-no-miya[nt. 1][ref]). Given that she is simply said to be "Oriental"[nt. 2], we can assume the latter, and she is actually Japanese.
As for the language, it's not uncommon for countries and people who would speak little or no Japanese to be native Japanese speakers in fiction (same with English for Western movies and shows). This is generally labelled (in trope-ville) as Aliens Speaking English (which can also be true for human foreigners) or Common Tongue, essentially saying, "It's easier for the target audience to understand it if everyone is natively speaking the same language." It explains why Russians exclusively speak English in video games, for example.
To make it succinct and clear: It appears that the vast majority of characters are descendants of Germans or similar races, and that they speak Japanese simply because that's the language in which the writer/creator spoke and wished to market it.

Footnotes

Note 1: Part of the Imperial House

Note 2: 東洋人【とう.よう.じん】 tōyōjin, lit. "Asian people, Orientals"

must... resist... urge... to... visit... tvtropes links

If you listen closely to the second opening of the anime (which by the way sounds a lot like an Anthem) most of the singing is done in German. With that in mind, we can say that they're mother tong is German. You can also note the presence of a river running through the city from south to north, this river is most likely the Rhine (but the city must be far away from the sea since they have forgotten about it). This place is also very resourceful in both iron and coal.
With all these elements, I can make a safe (-ish) guess to answer you question: 70% German, 20% French, 10% of other...
I don't know why, but to me, Pixis looks French (and not only because he's always got wine with him...)
Hope I helped.

"most of the singing is done in German": this isn't a good justification. IIRC the music in FMA:B series is in Japanese, and the manga-based FMA continuity is set in a fictional country in a fictional universe that uses English.


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Who is the man in the suit in the Fullmetal Alchemist series?
Does anyone have any clues on the man in the suit? He appears in both FMA and FMA:B.
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Separate Destinations (episode 10)

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Footsteps of a Comrade-in-Arms (episode 16)

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Advance of the Fool (episode 21)

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Backs in the Distance (episode 22)

I'm not sure if this will be of any help in this case, but do you have any idea if this man also appears in the manga?

Hes re-used to lower the budget of drawing new characters

@BDillan: sorry about my earlier comment; there was a typo. I meant to say that there were supposedly less instances of reused character designs in the manga than in either anime series.

Apparently this guy is called the "cameo guy" on forums.

After searching everywhere for the day looking this up before someone else finds the answer, he appears to be Mobuta Mobuo. He is actually a background character that was actually placed in their as a joke as said in an interview with Arakawa Hiromu in the Perfect Guidebook (Hagaren Kenkyujo DX). He was also a gag character in the Mangas and hardly anyone seemed to notice him.

I am absolutely sure this is him.

Bibliography for reference

http://www.roy-mustang.net/arakawa/about_interview1.html

Included for reference to my answer, to verify that this information is correct and to allow you to compare this information with other information to see if this is correct.

Mobuta Mobuo? That's hilarious - mobu means "background character".

@senshin- Lol, i know right. It's funny how Arakawa named him.


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What's this Pokemon show called?

A Pokemon flew off to the top of Dicoville

Some purple light rays are about to shine over a building.

Some people are seeing it through glass windows.

There are some windmills near the bottom of the rays turning.

This question is more suitable in Movies & TV SE, no?

While this question also applicable to Movies and TV SE, given the type of show and it's originating production, it's perfectly fine for this site as well.

you could try using google image search

how did you get that many image without the actual show name ?

This is Destiny Deoxys, which is the 2004 movie where Deoxys was one of the main Pokemon. The basic plot is that Deoxys was in a meteorite that crashed in the North Pole. Four years later, Deoxys takes control of a city, by shutting down all of the machines and taking everyone hostage. Ash and his friends need to save the city.
At least some of the screenshots appear in this trailer.


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Are these people in fantasy costumes from an anime, and if so, what anime?

Who are the people in this picture cosplaying as? Which anime do they belong to?

As a side note for those that wish to dig deeper, this is from the "2009 ChinaJoy Cosplay" content.

Well after looking through various useless websites which did not bother to add tags, describe who the ladies were cosplaying in the picture or say anything new about it besides saying numerous times "2010 ChinaJoy Business Cooperation Launched" and "Chinajoy Cosplay Carnival 2009 in Beijing" whilst using imageraider, which proved far more useful than Google Image Search but useless at the same time I found out from a particular site that is linked here which has a discription under the same image saying this:

A young disguised as cartoon characters pose for photographers during the celebration of Carnival "Chinajoy Cosplay 2009" in Beijing, China. The "cosplay" phenomenon, whose name consists of the English words "costume" ("costume") and "play" ("game"), has its origin in the comics "manga" Japanese and became popular in the 90s. In this particular "costume play", participants not only dress up as their favorite characters (real or imagined), but try to act like them. This hobby is growing significantly in China, as evidenced by the "China Cosplay", which this year celebrates its sixth edition.

From sourcing through lots of websites that I found using this reverse image tool + Google Image Search (again) I don't think this is from an actual anime, but rather made up. If it was from an actual anime I think it would have been tagged/added or mentioned in the description of the image at least on one site. Also I think at least even Google would have found a match too.
Also judging from the description, it seems that you can cos-play as anything. It is also good to note that this is a chinese thing and I am not sure whether anime cosplaying or Japanese anime cosplaying is common in China although I have heard that cosplaying did originate possibly from them.
Another thing is if you just google search "china joy carnival" and watch some YouTube videos it seems they cos-play in almost anything leading to the likelyhood that this cosplay could actually just be imaginative rather than from an actual cosplay of an Japanese anime series.
Finally it says "in this particular costume play". I am pretty sure the translation is correct since the website was in another language (Spanish) and then I translated it with Google Chrome and then double checked with Bing Translator which I think it is pretty accurate as well.
Here is the untranslated text just if you want to check yourself on another translation website. The only translation thats a bit different is google translates the first couple words as they are a bit differently to Bing though.

Unas jóvenes disfrazadas de personajes de dibujos animados posan para los fotógrafos durante la celebración del carnaval "Chinajoy Cosplay 2009" en Pekín, China. El fenómeno "cosplay", cuyo nombre está formado por los vocablos ingleses "costume" ("disfraz") y "play" ("juego"), tiene su origen en los cómic "manga" japoneses y se popularizó en los años 90. En este particular "juego de disfraces", los participantes no sólo se disfrazan como sus personajes favoritos (reales o imaginarios), sino que intentan actuar como ellos. Esta afición está creciendo de manera significativa en China, como lo demuestra el "China Cosplay", que este año celebra su sexta edición.

I am fairly, 100% certain that this is not a cosplay of an anime based on my scouring of useless websites. xD


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Were Suitengu's parents murdered?
During Suitengu's flashback of his childhood, he finds both his parents have hanged themselves. However when Kamiya sees them, he almost acts as if he was expecting it (plus there was his timing arriving at the mansion).
One of the requirements for membership of the Roppongi Club was that a member have life insurance, so that if a member couldn't pay what they owed they could get killed and the insurance be collected. We see in the episode where Suitengu's music box breaks that the guy who couldn't pay was hanged to make look like it was a suicide.
I am wondering, were Suitengu's parents murdered and if so, was it by the Tennōzu Group who pushed them into debt?


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What book (bible) does Kuma always hold?
Bartholomew Kuma is always seen holding this book (a bible)

What is this book?
EDIT
What type of bible is this? Just a regular bible, a bible from the One Piece world, or what? Is he some kind of priest? His shirt has same pattern as the bible.

maybe some OPverse bible. or maybe it contains the details regarding lost century.

@Sp0T that's what I thought, but I never see any explanation on manga, but I never watch the anime nor movie so maybe there's some explanation about it

your edit made the question more interesting.. "A bible from the One Piece World.. " thats an interesting point.

It's clear from the pic that it's The Bible. And I believe that there is only one Bible (content-wise). About different versions - they're all translated from the original Bible. You can get a clearer view about the different versions of Bible here.

Kuma is an enormous man, (22'6" feet tall). He is the tallest remaining Shichibukai (being one inch shorter than former member Gekko Moriah) and is usually seen carrying a Bible.

Source: Bartholomew Kuma - The One Piece Wiki (emphasis added)
Here's a pic depicting the name of the book much more clearly.

FWIW there isn't "only one Bible". The Tanakh, for instance, might be referred to as "Bible" in some settings---e.g. here, if you search for "bible" or similar terms---but it is not equivalent to what Christians generally will mean by "Bible". (The book organisation is different, there's no New Testament, etc.) Granted, here, at least without more context, I would be willing to assume that this is just the Christian Bible.

As the cover mentions, it is a Bible

The Bible (from Koine Greek τὰ βιβλία, tà biblía, "the books") is a
  canonical collection of texts considered sacred in Judaism and
  Christianity. There is no single "Bible" and many Bibles with varying
  contents exist.1 The term Bible is shared between Judaism and
  Christianity, although the contents of each of their collections of
  canonical texts is not the same. Different religious groups include
  different books within their Biblical canons, in different orders, and
  sometimes divide or combine books, or incorporate additional material
  into canonical books.

I know what Bible is, I mean what bible is it?

Did you mean "which version of the bible?"

Assuming the Bible to Kuma is a religous text or historical account, the one he carries cannot rationally be any complete version of the Christian Bible that exists in our world without adding extreme plot elements that do not exist in universe yet or having the Bible be fiction in-universe.  These changes are not merely a sudo-Christian faith which we can infer already exists somewhere in universe and is not (alone) a major change.
Any version of the Bible makes reference to specific places and historical details (such as the Roman empire) that are undeniably real.  These places do not exist in the One Piece Universe.  I can only come up with the following ways to have his version be an exact duplicate of a real version: a sea identical to our world, accessible parrellel universes, the book from another planet, or OP world is a post apocalyptic version of our own.
Any of these would be large changes to the One Piece universe and, therefore, should be considered unlikely at this point in time.  The assumption should, therefore, be that Bartholomew Kuma's Bible is a version that does not exist in our universe.  The core concepts of the Bible do not need to be changed.


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Are there any references to the OK Corral or Wyatt Earp in Trigun?
Were there any characters named "Earp" or "Wyatt", or were there any characters from a military background who were town sheriffs?

I haven't watched Trigun, so this may be a dumb question on my part, but why do you think there might be references to the OK Corral or Wyatt Earp in Trigun? It might be nice to add a little bit of information about what motivated you to ask this question.

To answer this quite bluntly, No. There are no references to OK Corral or Wyatt Earp nor any town sheriffs that had their background even briefly revealed. But there are some things that might be indirectly related or referenced to these. I'll explain.
While there are no solid references in the anime to these, there are some what after images or familiar presences to them.
Yasuhiro Nightow, the creator of Trigun series and manga, was in-fact inspired by western films genre. He created the character Vash in a similar way to those he idolized in these films. More specifically a "Gunfighter". Now when someone says Gunfighter to you, there are a few key names that pop into your mind like; Billy the Kid, Pat Garrett and of course Wyatt Earp. Whether these people had any direct influence on this anime is something that is unknown. Only way to know would to ask YN himself.
Also during this time there were other anime and manga taking the same approach. Such as Kino's Journey or Cowboy Bebop.
So basically the answer is "No" but watching Trigun may send vibes from some of the characters or locations or pretty much anything that may relates to the old west.
(These answers were based off personal knowledge and having watched and loved the Trigun series, so much that I just watched it again like 3 days ago.)


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Why was the American flag censored in Excel Saga?
I have searched all over for an answer to this and there doesn't seem to be a satisfactory answer to me. One theory says that it's a light offensive joke aimed at Americans, a subtle way of calling us dicks because of how it's usually only offensive material that are censored on TV. Another theory says that it's actually to not offend Americans, since they couldn't render all the stars or that it might not be displayed appropriately. I'm not so sure I'm convinced with that since Excel Saga's main audience is not American, at least, I don't think it is.
Why was the American flag censored in episode 17 of Excel Saga? Have there been other instances where national flags are censored or is there some sort of regulation to censor flags that they must follow?

Relevant clip:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7x39Jp-z61M&noredirect=1
At around 0:39

Related - the dialogue around that specific scene is: "The very picture of a slum town! This means it must be America!" The portrayal of America is also fairly ... negative (in an stereotypical way) in the entire episode - e.g. Sandora is making cel sheets for someone in the mafia, who is trying to pass them off as fakes.

Looking at the episode again, it's worth adding that when the American flag appears in Excel's eyes right after this shot, the flag is very stylised (three stars, a bunch of thin black lines drawn across a red surface rather than red/white stripes).

See this question on [japanese.se]: http://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/11810/3437, which describes a similar phenomenon. I think this is a reasonably common way of delivering a light insult on Japanese television. The theory that this was done to avoid offending Americans is almost certainly bunkum - Japan has never been one to care about the sensibilities of foreigners who mostly don't even watch their TV.

Perhaps it was humorous censorship: The censorship is so ineffective you know exactly what's being censored. Furthermore, the viewer might distract themselves further and ask, "Why censor this in the first place?"

Maybe they just censored it out of extreme caution of causing problems. Anime do tend to censor out or use similar-sounding names for businesses and brands due to it being problematic if they keep them in there (i.e. WcDonald's). Perhaps they felt like if they left it uncensored, it may cause problems with the US breathing down their backs (not that it ever really would, but whatever). Honestly, I could be just totally off-base here, but that's my thought.

I saw a Japanese reality show where girls are shown eating banana (the fruit) and they have the banana censored. It was a psychological play. There is nothing erotic with eating banana, but if you were to apply blurred mozaic which is common in JAV (Japanese Adult Video) then you'd automatically associate the act with something perverse even when it actually is not. So I think it might be your first theory after all. Or, it might be there to make people think that it is the American flag while it actually is not.

It was likely a joke. It's much the same as when people from Japan censor Mickey Mouse in ways you can obviously tell it's still Mickey Mouse, partially I'm sure as a joke on America's strict copyright laws (Japan allows doujinshi, which as far as I know never get attacked on copyright grounds).