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p1atdev

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stackexchanges

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[ { "body": "\n\nIt is one of Alice Gakuen's school rules that any student who leaves without\ngraduating from Alice Academy will have their memories erased. Furthermore,\nbecause Mikan's case is, according to Narumi, a special one, that she knows so\nmuch about the secret organizations regarding the academy, it is best for her\nmemories to be erased instead of being held captive by those organizations. It\nis the best way to protect her from them.\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-14T20:18:38.743", "id": "3375", "last_activity_date": "2015-09-19T01:08:13.287", "last_edit_date": "2015-09-19T01:08:13.287", "last_editor_user_id": "6481", "owner_user_id": "1676", "parent_id": "3360", "post_type": "answer", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nIt might have something to do with the representation of the blonde-color.\nAccording\n[here](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/UsefulNotes.HairColorInJapan),\n\n> Blonde hair on a male character may imply that he is a trickster.\n> Alternately, it may symbolize that this character is a focus of chaos, and\n> trouble follows him wherever he goes, such as Vash the Stampede from Trigun,\n> or Soichiro Nagi from Tenjou Tenge; a live-action example is the movie\n> version of Battle Royale's Kazuo Kiriyama. It is also not uncommon for anime\n> males with long blonde hair to be portrayed as Casanova-types. (Examples:\n> Kurz from Full Metal Panic, Allen Schezar from Vision of Escaflowne, Kyle\n> from Suikoden V among others...)\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-14T23:57:37.647", "id": "3379", "last_activity_date": "2013-04-14T23:57:37.647", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "88", "parent_id": "3361", "post_type": "answer", "score": 3 }, { "body": "\n\nWell, in Ouran, i know one of the blondes is like, part french, and the other\nis just suppose to be the cute little one and the blond hair just adds to it,\nplus in that anime is a school for rich people and we see a lot of them with\ndyed hair, some background characters have light brown hair or red hair, so\nit's to say they're rich, and most of them are easily able to dye their hair.\nAlso some of them are part caucasian.\n\nIn Kaichou, the love interest is also from a wealthy family and his mother is\nfrom England. The japanese people still have very dark hair, and dark eyes.\n\nIn Tokyo Mew Mew, he is also a rich boy from Europe. The actual love interest\nis only blonde when he is possessed by an alien godlike entity.\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-12-16T13:22:33.793", "id": "6351", "last_activity_date": "2013-12-16T13:22:33.793", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "2994", "parent_id": "3361", "post_type": "answer", "score": -1 }, { "body": "\n\nthe easy artistic reason is because it makes it that much easier to tell\ncharacters apart very quickly. If it's a manga, you won't have voice to tell\nthe difference, and the art style can be very similar between two male\ncharacters who are supposed to be hot. If you can't hear the difference, and\nyou can't see much difference, an extremely different hair color makes them\ndistinct even if they're facing away from viewer or are barely in frame!\n\nIf it's natural, it's sometimes used to make them seem foreign (usually\nfrench!) in a way meant to be mysterious and attractive. If it's dyed, it\nshows they have an interest in their looks, and often that they're a\nrulebreaker (since most Japanese schools have rules against changing your hair\ncolor), which means it's usually a casanova type.\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "creation_date": "2021-02-28T15:13:04.953", "id": "62060", "last_activity_date": "2021-02-28T15:13:04.953", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "59158", "parent_id": "3361", "post_type": "answer", "score": 0 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nThe game is called [Daruma\nOtoshien.wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daruma_doll#Children.27s_games)\n([だるま落としja.wikipedia](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%81%A0%E3%82%8B%E3%81%BE#.E3.81.A0.E3.82.8B.E3.81.BE.E8.90.BD.E3.81.A8.E3.81.97))\n\nLet me quote Japanese Wikipedia, since the text on English Wikipedia might be\ninaccurate at the time of writing of this post.\n\n>\n> 弾丸の先端に形状が似ただるまの下に、薄い円柱を数段重ね、それを横から1段ずつ木槌で叩いて抜き、倒れないようにうまく一番上のだるまを落とすという玩具・遊びである。胴を素早くたたくのがコツである。\n\nRough translation (I'd appreciate it if someone can edit it with a better\ntranslation):\n\n> (Skipped text) Under the daruma head are several thin cylinder pieces\n> stacked on top of each other. The game involves hitting the thin cylinder\n> pieces from the side with a mallet one by one, bringing down the daruma head\n> without the rest toppling over. The trick is to hit the body quickly.\n\nImage retrieved from Wikipedia at\n[File:Darumaotoshi.JPG](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Darumaotoshi.JPG)\n\n\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-13T20:21:10.117", "id": "3364", "last_activity_date": "2013-04-13T20:21:10.117", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "1398", "parent_id": "3362", "post_type": "answer", "score": 18 } ]

[]

[ { "body": "\n\nAccording [here](http://tsubasa.wikia.com/wiki/Feathers) and\n[here](http://ccs.wikia.com/wiki/Tsubasa%3a_Reservoir_Chronicle),\n\n> Sakura is revealed to have strange powers when she has a vision of a\n> mysterious symbol and places she has never seen.\n\nSo,\n\n> Since these feathers represent Sakura's soul, these hold an enormous amount\n> of magical power. Each of them affect their surroundings differently.\n\nIn the last arc we learn that the true power of those feathers are\n\n> to cross dimensions and time.\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-14T23:42:39.990", "id": "3378", "last_activity_date": "2013-04-14T23:42:39.990", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "88", "parent_id": "3369", "post_type": "answer", "score": 2 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nPiccolo had powered up considerably under King Kai's training, and yes, fusing\nwith Nail did power him up a whole lot.\n\nPiccolo/Nail was fighting on more or less equal ground with Frieza, but that\nwas too close for Frieza, so Frieza transformed again.\n\n", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-14T21:40:42.077", "id": "3376", "last_activity_date": "2013-04-16T00:00:05.833", "last_edit_date": "2013-04-16T00:00:05.833", "last_editor_user_id": "260", "owner_user_id": "260", "parent_id": "3370", "post_type": "answer", "score": 2 }, { "body": "\n\nBecause Piccolo's power level was higher than his, as stated in the [Dragon\nBall Wikia](http://dragonball.wikia.com/wiki/Frieza_Saga) -\n\n> Thanks to his fusion with Nail, his power is slightly higher than that of\n> Frieza's.Through much of the battle, Piccolo has the upper hand, but Frieza\n> transforms again into his third stage, earning yet another power increase.\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-15T13:11:53.150", "id": "3392", "last_activity_date": "2015-06-11T14:34:03.063", "last_edit_date": "2015-06-11T14:34:03.063", "last_editor_user_id": "11083", "owner_user_id": "1527", "parent_id": "3370", "post_type": "answer", "score": 9 }, { "body": "\n\nFrieza is not the type of evil overlord who likes to eradicate life forms\nbehind a desk, he's the guy who wants to watch the agony in a filthy monkey's\neyes before he sucks the life from them, or to make them watch while he kills\ntheir family/species. No doubt thanks to countless years being far superior\nthan anyone who could ever challenge him, Frieza had become comparable to a\ncat playing with a mouse. That said, when he goes up against an opponent, he\nknows they cannot beat him, and that they are determined to do anything to\nstop him with the same bravado as always.\n\nHe likely created all of these transformations so he could fight an opponent\non equal grounds, build their confidence that they will \"save their race\" or\n\"avenge their leader\", blah blah blah, until he transforms into the next\npowerful level and drains all hope from the enemy before dropping them to\ntheir knees, thus it was not him \"panicking\" but just playing his little\nFrieza game.\n\nThis psyche control is super effective against someone like Vegeta, who can\nlose his temper at the slightest taunt against his pride. Without this control\nover Vegeta's emotions, Frieza surely would have fallen long before. Then he\nmet Goku, the ape with the strength of a Saiyan, and the sense of humor of a\nhuman. He tried these games and after every power-up, Goku increased his\nstrength to match. Because Goku didn't understand any of the politics or the\ncrap around the empire of lord Frieza, he was immune to these taunts, and he\nhas never been afraid, especially of a superior enemy. This is how Frieza's\nmind games played against himself and led to his own demise.\n\nSo to answer your questions:\n\n 1. It's very unlikely that Frieza was bluffing, but I don't have a scouter so I can't say for sure.\n\n 2. Yes, through intense training and his fusion with Neil, Piccolo was totally matched if not stronger than Frieza's current state.\n\n 3. Not afraid, but in fact, he decided that it was about time to crush the hopes of his enemy and put an end to it.\n\n**And the overall question**\n\nWhy did Frieza need the second transformation?\n\nBecause it gets boring being the evil overlord of the universe, so he created\ndownward, not upward, all the transformations to play with his prey before\nbiting out its throat.\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-04-17T05:26:52.637", "id": "8714", "last_activity_date": "2017-01-06T17:53:06.993", "last_edit_date": "2017-01-06T17:53:06.993", "last_editor_user_id": "8486", "owner_user_id": "4529", "parent_id": "3370", "post_type": "answer", "score": 4 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nNo, they are not blood-related. When Lee wasn't in Guy-sensei's team yet, he\nwas often mocked and bullied because of his inability to use any techniques\nother than Taijutsu. Guy-sensei was the first one to really believe in Lee's\nabilities, and thus he became Lee's idol. From the\n[wiki](http://naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Rock_Lee):\n\n> When first joining Team Guy Lee's appearance changed drastically. He had\n> shorter hair than before that curved upwards in the back. He still\n> maintained the Chinese appearance, since he wore a robe and a martial arts\n> belt around his waist. After joining Might Guy's team, his appearance\n> changed considerably to emulate his idol and sensei.\n\nHere's an image of how Lee used to look:\n\n\n\nSo, as you can see, he just changed his appearance to look more like Guy whom\nhe idolizes.\n\n", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-15T05:29:24.430", "id": "3388", "last_activity_date": "2015-05-18T15:17:03.867", "last_edit_date": "2015-05-18T15:17:03.867", "last_editor_user_id": "1398", "owner_user_id": "111", "parent_id": "3377", "post_type": "answer", "score": 31 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nThe most closely linked legend I can find is Shiva. Shiva is a hindu deity who\nhas three eyes and is worshiped by people in the region that Pai is from.\n\n> Third eye: (Trilochana) Shiva is often depicted with a third eye, with which\n> he burned Desire (Kāma) to ashes,[98] called \"Tryambakam\" (Sanskrit:\n> त्र्यम्बकम् )(Tamil :நெற்றிக்கண்), which occurs in many scriptural\n> sources.[99] In classical Sanskrit, the word ambaka denotes \"an eye\", and in\n> the Mahabharata, Shiva is depicted as three-eyed, so this name is sometimes\n> translated as \"having three eyes\".[100] However, in Vedic Sanskrit, the word\n> ambā or ambikā means \"mother\", and this early meaning of the word is the\n> basis for the translation \"three mothers\".[101][102] These three mother-\n> goddesses who are collectively called the Ambikās.[103] Other related\n> translations have been based on the idea that the name actually refers to\n> the oblations given to Rudra, which according to some traditions were shared\n> with the goddess Ambikā.[104] It has been mentioned that when Shiva loses\n> his temper badly, his third eye opens which can destroy most of the things\n> to ashes.\n\nsource: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiva>\n\nThis is the best three eyed deity of the correct region I could find. I think\nthat 3x3 eyes may have taken part of the legend as inspiration and then ran\nwith it.\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-03-31T21:56:24.107", "id": "8400", "last_activity_date": "2014-03-31T22:01:32.317", "last_edit_date": "2014-03-31T22:01:32.317", "last_editor_user_id": "4335", "owner_user_id": "4335", "parent_id": "3393", "post_type": "answer", "score": 1 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nThe primary idea of the iron is that it smooths out wrinkles. Toward the end\nof the series it is revealed the Medical Mechanica is responsible to smoothing\nout entire worlds, thus rendering them for all intents and reasons Unable to\nthink for themselves.\n\n> Medical Mechanica is an evil corporation in the anime series FLCL. They mass\n> produce \"medical\" robots, which tend to be very violent. Their buildings are\n> shaped like irons, and release steam at certain parts of the day. There are\n> no entrances or exits to these buildings, so how people get in and out is a\n> mystery. One character describes the strange steam as them \"Ironing out the\n> wrinkles in your brain so you can't think.\" Medical Mechanica also captures\n> an intergalactic space pirate \"Atomsk\", who one of the main characters has\n> been searching for. Though it is never really explained how, or why. Little\n> is known about Medical Mechanica, and it is implied that they are somehow\n> connected to the government.\n\nThe above quote can be found here: [Medical Mechanica Villains Wikia\nPage](http://villains.wikia.com/wiki/Medical_Mechanica)\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-16T00:16:52.540", "id": "3399", "last_activity_date": "2013-04-16T04:31:25.503", "last_edit_date": "2013-04-16T04:31:25.503", "last_editor_user_id": "61", "owner_user_id": "1668", "parent_id": "3394", "post_type": "answer", "score": 8 }, { "body": "\n\nThe iron is the Medical Mechanica plant. They plop their factories down on\nevery planet that they come across. Their reason for landing on a planet is to\nconquer it by \"smoothing out the wrinkles.\"\n\nIt is debated in episode 6 exactly what \"smoothing\" means... Kitsurubami\nanalogizes it to the smoothing of the wrinkles in the brain. It's later\nrevealed that Medical Mechanica smooths out an entire planet so that everyone\nis the homogenous -- meaning there would be no unique personalities, like\nHaruko.\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-16T04:25:36.040", "id": "3403", "last_activity_date": "2013-04-16T04:25:36.040", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "63", "parent_id": "3394", "post_type": "answer", "score": 8 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nThis is pure speculations since I can't find any reliable source, but I think\nthis has something to do with a magician's limitation of powers. Like for\nexample, Yuuko can only grant one's wish if that person is willing to lose\nsomething important to him/her. This quote is somehow relevant to this:\n\n> \"To gain, something of equal value must be lost.\" - First Law of Equivalent\n> Exchange in Alchemy (Fullmetal Alchemist)\n\nIf her powers has no boundary, then she should have grant any wishes without\npaying any price. And also, Clow Reed is a good example. He's the strongest\nwizard known in the Tsubasa Chronicle (Cardcaptor Sakura and XXXholic)\nuniverse and yet he can't revive someone who had already died (who was Yuuko)\nand was one of the reason for the conflict of Tsubasa Chronicle and XXXholic\nplot. Yet another example of a person's power limitation.\n\nAs to who set it, I really don't know. But this is probably a rule set by the\nClamp writers.\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-06-03T07:45:39.047", "id": "4005", "last_activity_date": "2013-06-03T07:45:39.047", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "88", "parent_id": "3400", "post_type": "answer", "score": 2 }, { "body": "\n\nThis seems to be more like a law of nature. At some point, she has a\nconversation:\n\n> \"A witch operates by many restrictions, doesn't she?\" \n> \"It must be, or everything comes apart\".\n\nI'm quoting from the top of my head - can't find the reference right now. I'm\nnot quite sure about the second (Yuko's) line, but she made it clear that if\nshe didn't abide by the restrictions, the consequences would be bad indeed.\n\nSo she is setting most, if not all, of the rules herself. Not because she\nwants to, but to avoid causing damage.\n\n(It was in the manga, I think in Tsubasa, that she had this conversation. Will\ntry to find the exact reference later).\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-09-04T05:44:26.013", "id": "5094", "last_activity_date": "2013-09-04T06:14:21.690", "last_edit_date": "2013-09-04T06:14:21.690", "last_editor_user_id": "1848", "owner_user_id": "1848", "parent_id": "3400", "post_type": "answer", "score": 0 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nAccording to\n[this](http://mangable.com/files/images/little_busters_the_4_koma/23/2.jpg)\npage, Dorj is as large as a seal.\n\n\n\nIn [this picture](https://i.stack.imgur.com/8iXhd.jpg), he appears to be about\ntwice the size of the children. [This\npage](http://s02.mpcdn.net/manga/p/7003/290490/2.jpg) also describes him as\nbeing like a seal, as does [this\npage](http://s02.mpcdn.net/manga/p/7003/290490/5.jpg).\n\nVarious images of him show him in varying sizes, so there doesn't seem to be\none set size, though he is always described as large. ([Ex.\n1](https://i.stack.imgur.com/fvw3K.jpg), [Ex.\n2](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m8ukv5FRC91runzxko1_500.png), [Ex.\n3](http://z.mfcdn.net/store/manga/3285/02-023.0/compressed/ilolitannia_little_busters_4koma_ch23.03.jpg))\n\nThese are action figures of of the characters giving one version of the\nrelative size:\n\n\n\nIn the picture, Dorj is about half the size of Rin's body, but her head is\ndisproportionately large and this may not be canon in terms of proportions, so\nit is difficult to tell.\n\nAs a whole, half the size of Rin seems to be a reasonable estimate, but there\ndoesn't seem to be an official size beyond \"large\" and, sometimes, \"large as a\nseal\".\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-28T04:10:23.553", "id": "3585", "last_activity_date": "2013-04-28T04:10:23.553", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "93", "parent_id": "3402", "post_type": "answer", "score": 8 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nIf you watch the Inga-ron OVA, they show that Inga is actually inhabiting the\nbody of a woman who died to save Shinjurou when they first met. His body\ntransforms back into hers when he uses his powers.\n\n", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-19T19:08:49.603", "id": "3446", "last_activity_date": "2013-04-19T19:08:49.603", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "249", "parent_id": "3404", "post_type": "answer", "score": 4 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nWhat is thought to be the first anime was a 3 second clip that is 50 frames\nlong, called [Katsudo\nShashin](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katsud%C5%8D_Shashin). In it, a boy\nwrites 活動写真, which means \"moving pictures\" on a board. Its creator and date of\ncreation are unknown, but it is thought to be from circa 1907.\n\nThere is an anime short from June 1917 named なまくら刀 ([An Obtuse\nSword](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Namakura_Gatana)) that is 2 minutes long\nand a 1918 film adaptation of [Urashima\nTaro](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urashima_Tar%C5%8D_%28anime%29), or 浦島太郎\nthat are thought to be the first films. The Kyoto International Manga Museum\ncites [Imokawa Mukuzo Genkanban no\nMaki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imokawa_Mukuzo_Genkanban_no_Maki) from\nApril 1917 as the first Japanese produced animation, though the Wikipedia\narticle implies that there were previous works.\n\nThe first color anime feature film, which is sometimes considered to be the\nfirst anime by modern standards, is\n[Hakujaden](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tale_of_the_White_Serpent), which\nwas created in 1958.\n\nおとぎマンガカレンダー, or [Otogi Manga\nCalendar](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otogi_Manga_Calendar), was the first\nanime series to be produced and the first to be televised. It ran from\n1961-1964. Astro Boy first aired in 1963, making it one of the older anime\nseries, but not the oldest. However, Astro Boy was the first 30 minute anime\nseries as well as the first anime series that aired weekly.\n\n\n\nManga is a little bit more complicated because comics existed and it's hard to\ndraw the line between where something stops being a comic and begins being a\nmanga. [Sazae-san](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sazae-san) was a comic strip\npublished from 1946-1974 that has the longest ever anime series based off of\nit. [Astro Boy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astro_Boy) is more generally\nreferred to as a manga, and it began in 1951. There doesn't seem to be one\nspecific manga cited as the first manga, though it seems to often be consider\nto have begun after WWII, as explained in\n[this](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_manga).\n\nEdit: To add to this, [Momotaro: Umi no\nShinpei](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Momotaro%27s_Divine_Sea_Warriors) (桃太郎\n海の神兵) was the first feature-length anime, which means that, at 74 minutes, it\npassed the 40 minute mark to be considered feature-length.\n\nEdit 2: Some new information has been added based on information in the Kyoto\nInternational Manga Museum\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-17T00:31:18.547", "id": "3409", "last_activity_date": "2018-09-25T07:40:14.633", "last_edit_date": "2018-09-25T07:40:14.633", "last_editor_user_id": "93", "owner_user_id": "93", "parent_id": "3408", "post_type": "answer", "score": 45 }, { "body": "\n\n# The First Anime\n\n### Astroboy's Claim to Fame\n\n_Astroboy_ **(1963)** is often thought to be the \"first anime\", but that's\nfalse. It does merit some firsts though: it was the first anime to be\nbroadcast overseas, and also the first anime that was broadcast regularly that\nlasted a full TV slot's duration.\n\n### What Astroboy isn't, and the real 'first anime'\n\nThe first known animation to come from Japan is [_Katsudo\nShashin_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katsud%C5%8D_Shashin). Experts debate\nits age, but it's thought to have been created between **1907 - 1911**. This\nshort clip was likely shown in a private home to entertain guests, rather than\nbe publicly available.\n\n> \n>\n> Many of the frames from _Katsudo Shashin_\n>\n> This clip is out of copyright, you can watch it on the [Wikipedia\n> page](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katsud%C5%8D_Shashin)\n\nAnime's growth then was primarily attached to live action. Actors would\ninteract with fictional anime characters for a short segment of a show. The\nmost screen-time anime would get would be during advertisements, or\noccasionally once-off films that were shown as a novelty. The main reason for\nthis is that the production costs for anime were prohibitive if a company\nwanted any significant amount of time animated.\n\nAnother area where anime was being used was in the armed forces. Studies at\nthe time discovered that recruits learned faster and remembered better\ninstructional videos that were animated. With the need to train many troops\nwith the appearance of World War 2, anime became utilized more and more. At\nthe height of the war, the first feature length anime film was produced -\n[_Momotaro's Divine Sea\nWarriors_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Momotar%C5%8D:_Umi_no_Shinpei)\n**(1945)** \\- a propaganda cartoon for the masses.\n\n> \n>\n> Momotaro's Divine Sea Warriors features a lot of military content.\n\nWithout significant funding such as the military's, anime was still non-viable\nfor any studios. Several productions were made, including [_Otogi Manga\nCalander_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otogi_Manga_Calendar) **(1961)** \\-\nthe first anime series to be televised. The _exact_ first tv anime is\ncontestable though - The first televised stand-alone full episode anime [Three\nTales](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Tales_\\(anime\\)) beat Astroboy by a\nsingle year however in **1960**. Or a shorter clip (8 minutes) - [Mole's\nAdventure](http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/06/19/national/ntv-unearths-\noldest-tv-anime-film/) in **1958**\n\nJapan wasn't devoid of animation, however. Disney was doing very well in the\nWest and many of their movies were imported to Japan, and did consistently\nwell in the box office. [_The Tale of the White\nSerpent_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tale_of_the_White_Serpent) was\nreleased in **1958** to try and rival the productions of Disney. Toei (the\nanimation studio responsible) had difficultly making a significant profit off\nfilm however, and had to support their work with money made from\nadvertisements.\n\n> \n>\n> _The Tale of the White Serpent_ was heavily influenced by Disney works,\n> although Toei tried to keep some of its own influence in the drawings\n\nIn **1963** , Astroboy was released and had great impact on the industry.\nOsamu Tesuka (Director & Author of Astroboy) made large breakthroughs on how\nanime was produced and significantly reduced the financial investment\nrequired. This probably belongs better in another question, but for a taster\nsome of his innovations included:\n\n * Realising that Intros, Outros, \"Previously On\", \"In the Next Episode\" segments could be reused - cutting animation time per episode significantly.\n\n * Reuse of backgrounds and celsheets, and reducing the amount of movement onscreen also reduced the time to animate each episode. (Fun fact - before Tesuka, animation studios would give fans who showed up to the studio cel sheets because the fans loved them and the studio had no use for them. They're now worth a lot of money)\n\nThus anime as a viable industry for television was born and more competitors\nbegan to appear onto the market.\n\n> \n>\n> Flying through the sky at its basics only needs one cel sheet, and a moving\n> background.\n\nTwo years later **(1965)** , another Tesuka work made a mark on the world -\n[_Kimba the White Lion_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kimba_the_White_Lion),\nthe first colour TV anime series to be broadcast to the public.\n\n> \n>\n> Kimba the White Lion also used many of Tesuka's animation tricks, such as\n> repeated segments of running.\n\n# The First Manga\n\nThe development of manga was a gradual evolution from ancient Japanese\nartworks such as Yamato-e, paintings on folding screens _(byōbu)_ **(as early\nas 646AD)** , which often told stories when read from right to left.\n\n> \n>\n> Depiction of the Battle of Sekigahara from the Edo era\n>\n> _Hikone-jo Bon Sekigahara Kassen Byobu_ by Kano Sadanobu\n\nThere are many different stylistic developments in _(byōbu)_ artworks, but the\nnext relevant stage for manga is the popularization of portable artworks that\ntold stories. [_Makimono_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handscroll)\nhandscrolls. These existed for many years ( **pre 300AD** ) but were mostly\nfor written messages at first.\n\n_**The Scrolls of Frolicking Animals**_ or [_**Chōjū-jinbutsu-\ngiga**_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C5%8Dj%C5%AB-jinbutsu-giga) are\nattributed by some to be the first manga drawings. These are held in the Tokyo\nNational Museum and consist of several volumes.\n\n> \n\nThe invention of the printing press brought ukiyo-e (woodblock paintings) to\nthe general public.Some historians believe these to be the _first manga_.\nThese were sold commercially for many years from as the **17th century** right\nthrough to the **19th**.\n\n> \n>\n> Ukiyo-e print of the new printing process\n\nAlong with ukiyo-e woodblock paintings, other woodblock paintings started to\nbecome popular when many of them were bundled together and sold as a set.\n[Kusazoshi](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kusaz%C5%8Dshi) picture books (**\n1600-1868**) in varying forms (the colour of the cover of the books often\nindicated the genre/target audience) were now available to the general public\nas a commercial product. These were primarily written stories with picture\naccompaniments, but are sometimes regarded as the origin of manga.\n\n> \n>\n> the poet Izumi Shikibu - by Komatsuken circa 1765.\n\nWith printing came newspapers and magazines, and at certain stage, comics\nstrips began to be printed in newspapers - mostly strips that were sent in\nfrom the public. In particular, _Japan Punch_ was known for its political-\nbased cartoons. These were very popular with the public and in **1874** , the\nfirst comic-strip magazine was published - _Eshinbun Nipponchi_. These\nproductions are argued by other academics to be the conception of manga.\n\n> \n>\n> Cover Page of Japan Punch (April 1883)\n\nAs you can see, the _first manga_ is very much up for debate.\n\n# Additional Reading\n\nThis a very interesting topic and believe it or not, this long post is very\nsummarized. I'd recommend some of the following books to learn more about\nanime history.\n\n * [Japanese Animation: East Asian Perspectives](https://books.google.co.jp/books?id=zCNlAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA28&lpg=PA28&dq=Hakujaden%20funding&source=bl&ots=luxidf-lSS&sig=1N3JM0rNWT533wsGyvNGIYls65o&hl=en&sa=X&ei=VZdhVfKjKsTLmAXe9IOgAg&ved=0CCQQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=Hakujaden%20funding&f=false) (Book, Reference)\n * [Anime: A History](https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/com/1844573907) (Book, Reference)\n * [A Drifting Life](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Drifting_Life) (Manga, Autobiographical)\n * [Starting Point - Hayou Miyazaki](https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/com/1421561042) (Book, Autobiographical)\n * [How the printing process for woodblock prints worked](http://mercury.lcs.mit.edu/%7Ejnc/prints/process.html) (Online)\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2015-05-24T09:53:07.497", "id": "21788", "last_activity_date": "2016-05-19T02:33:31.623", "last_edit_date": "2020-06-17T09:17:53.303", "last_editor_user_id": "-1", "owner_user_id": "1530", "parent_id": "3408", "post_type": "answer", "score": 26 }, { "body": " \n \n_Tetsuwan Atom (1963)_ is considered the first anime not because it was the\nfirst animation from Japan, but because it invented the concept and helped\ncreate the anime industry.\n\nBut I'll argue that it was only a prototype and that it wasn't until _Ursuei\nYatsura (1981)_ that anime became what it is known for today. It invented many\nof the tropes that are carried on to this day. It also released right on time\nfor home video, which helped reshape the entire industry in its image.\n\nOr if you are looking for the first time Japan produced something one can call\n\"animated\"...\n\n**Katsudou Shashin (1907)** \n[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/eDpr2l.png)\n\nI wouldn't call this an \"anime\", however.\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "creation_date": "2023-07-28T17:13:54.400", "id": "68181", "last_activity_date": "2023-07-28T17:13:54.400", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "22562", "parent_id": "3408", "post_type": "answer", "score": 0 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nThis is somehow related to my\n[question](https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/2953/do-otaku-tend-to-be-\nbullied) which has been closed (and I wonder why but I respect the\nadministrator's decision). As far as I know, in Japan, the term _otaku_ isn't\npositive at all. It means the same as being a _geek_ or _nerd_ or someone\nwho's _obsessed_ with something. And according to\n[TVTropes](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Otaku),\n\n> Otaku come in many flavors, but one thing can be said for each and every one\n> of them. They've each staked out their own favorite thing, and they obsess\n> over it relentlessly. Regardless of other intelligence, an otaku will have\n> an obsessive, unhealthy, and almost encyclopedic knowledge of their chosen\n> topic.\n>\n> There are almost as many flavors of this type of character as there are\n> things under the sun, but a few of the major ones are:\n>\n> * Anime or Manga Otaku\n> * Cosplay Otaku\n> * Gaming Otaku\n> * Idol Otaku (wota)\n> * Military Otaku\n> * Technology Otaku\n>\n\n>\n> Essentially, someone could be an otaku about just about anything: politics,\n> sports, history, etc. When otaku is used by itself by a Westerner, 99% of\n> the time it will mean \"anime/manga otaku\".\n>\n> Neither geek nor nerd is an adequate translation. However, in modern use,\n> both words may carry a shadow of the right connotations of obsessive\n> interest and/or social ineptitude. Think of the older, more pejorative\n> senses of geek and you're on the right track - the British term anorak is\n> also a close translation. **In Japan, the term Otaku does not carry a\n> positive meaning, at all.**\n>\n> A semi-related term is hikikomori, which refers to a teenager or young adult\n> who withdraws completely from society for an extended period, typically\n> isolating themselves within their parents' house and become psychologically\n> fixated to particular hobbies; hikikomori in media are usually otaku of some\n> sort. Hikikomori are also critically viewed as lazy and outright creepy,\n> which doesn't help the perception of otaku much. Especially after 1989, when\n> serial killer Tsutomu Miyazaki was shown to be both an otaku and hikikomori,\n> leading to a moral panic.\n\nSo I think the term _otaku_ and being _otaku_ yourself connotes something\nnegative in Japan. Though, there are a lot of anime nowadays that features\notaku characters. A major example is [Lucky\nStar](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucky_Star_%28manga%29) so I think they are\nsomehow removing that negative connotations about being an otaku, though not\ngenerally.\n\n", "comment_count": 3, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-17T03:51:36.397", "id": "3411", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-26T06:05:09.517", "last_edit_date": "2017-04-13T12:54:48.523", "last_editor_user_id": "-1", "owner_user_id": "88", "parent_id": "3410", "post_type": "answer", "score": 14 }, { "body": "\n\nThe English term \"trainspotter\" gives some idea of how otaku are viewed in\nJapan; a trainspotter is essentially a \"train otaku\". That is, weird,\nantisocial, and not really \"like the rest of us\". Phrases like \"gun nut\" carry\na similar flavour of being obsessed with something in a not-entirely-healthy\nway.\n\nGiven the Japanese culture values conformity, being \"weird\" is something more\nof a social stigma than it is in most Western countries.\n\nAs such, in the Japanese culture, being described as an otaku is almost\nuniversally negative.\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-05-10T13:53:58.207", "id": "3741", "last_activity_date": "2013-05-10T13:53:58.207", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "1766", "parent_id": "3410", "post_type": "answer", "score": 9 }, { "body": "\n\nIt may not be derogatory for people who describe themselves as \"otaku\" and who\ntake pride in it, but it is without a doubt derogatory for other people.\n\nLots of japanese people who like anime/manga tend to avoid describing\nthemselves as otaku, because to them it still carries the sense of that guy\nobssessed with anime who wears a collared plaid shirt tucked into their jeans,\nwith a large backpack from which rolled posters can be seen. For example, you\ncould see the slang きもオタ (kimo ota = abbreviation for \"kimoi otaku\" =\ndisgusting otaku) on various japanese websites, including those like\nnicovideo, 2ch or futaba, which are, even so, famous places where those same\n\"otaku\" (western definition) dwell.\n\nI would suggest watching the semi-anime, semi-documentary \"Otaku no Video\",\nwhich is kinda old, but still a lot accurate about how \"normal\" japanese\npeople are conscious of their hobby.\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-26T20:09:01.537", "id": "11488", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-26T20:09:01.537", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "6391", "parent_id": "3410", "post_type": "answer", "score": 5 }, { "body": "\n\nI'm surprised that none of the other answers here provide reliable citations\nregarding the Japanese language or Japanese culture.\n\n## Meanings of the Japanese Word \" _Otaku_ \"\n\nThe Japanese Language SE has considered this question\n[here](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/6989/is-being-called-\nan-%E3%82%AA%E3%82%BF%E3%82%AF-derogatory),\n[here](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/6986/when-is-it-\nappropriate-to-use-%E3%81%8A%E5%AE%85-to-refer-to-the-second-person), and\n[here](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/a/25284/4547), pointing out that\n\n * The original meaning of 「お宅」( _o-taku_ ) is one's household/home/family/husband/organization and is, in this usage, employed by Japanese politicians or near-strangers to imply that the relationship between the speaker and the other person is not close and possibly estranged\n * The word is used as a passive form for politeness when talking to other members of your in-group about something that someone who is socially above you (such as a teacher) has done for you\n * In the context of a fanboy/fangirl, the word is not considered strongly negative by everyone in Japan, but **does bear some connotations** such as \"narrow interest,\" \"not caring about anything except for a specific topic,\" \"not sociable,\" and \"strong interest on a particular field and spend more time for knowing the subject or collecting the related goods\" that **many Japanese would view negatively**.\n\nJapanese people would not generally think to use _otaku_ to refer to people\noutside of Japan who are passionate about hobbies.\n\n## Negative View of Anime/Manga Fandom in Japanese Culture\n\nIn general Japanese culture, an interest in anime and manga is looked down\nupon, as I posted [here](https://anime.stackexchange.com/a/22612/8134):\n\n> Unlike in many parts of the world where manga and anime are considered\n> esteemed art forms, in Japan most parents consider manga to be junk and\n> discourage their kids 1) from reading manga, since they should be reading\n> literary novels instead, and 2) from becoming a mangaka when they grow up.\n> So most Japanese do not read manga as adults, and most who had a dream of\n> being a mangaka gave up on it. Teens and adults who are involved in\n> subculture are generally viewed negatively by the general populace [...]\n\nIt is due to this cultural perception that anime/manga fans have a somewhat\nnegative association, and **as a result** why some were derogatorily referred\nto as _otaku_ by others and/or some took on the term _otaku_ to refer to\nthemselves. It is not simply that _otaku_ is a rude term used by haters that\ngot thrown onto anime/manga fans, but early anime/manga fans themselves felt\nsome embarrassment/shame over being such and described themselves **self-\ndeprecatingly** as _otaku_.\n\n## Current Perception & Japanese Anime/Manga Fans' Preferred Term\n\nThe current generation of young adult anime/manga fans in Japan are still\nviewed as **oddball** by others; they have not reached the level of acceptance\nby society at large that Western otaku enjoy (for example, the popularity of\nthe TV sitcom _The Big Bang Theory_ or that in American people could mention\nin passing that they're going to a con or RenFair this weekend and many others\nwon't judge them for it). However, the demographic is not as negatively viewed\nas it was in past generations. Now, they might jokingly refer to themselves as\n_otaku_.\n\nBut the **Japanese adults who are unabashed anime/manga fans do not usually\nrefer to themselves as _otaku_ , but rather prefer using the term\n[「サブカルチャー」](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%B5%E3%83%96%E3%82%AB%E3%83%AB%E3%83%81%E3%83%A3%E3%83%BC)([subculture](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subculture))**\nto describe their interest and what they are involved in. This term, **rather\nthan focusing on oneself, focuses on being part of a group that differentiates\nitself from the parent culture** to which it belongs in particular,\nintentional ways. This usage of subculture is used not only for anime/manga\nfans but for other [demographics of Japanese\npeople](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%B5%E3%83%96%E3%82%AB%E3%83%AB%E3%83%81%E3%83%A3%E3%83%BC#.E6.97.A5.E6.9C.AC.E3.81.AB.E3.81.8A.E3.81.91.E3.82.8B.E3.80.8C.E3.82.B5.E3.83.96.E3.82.AB.E3.83.AB.E3.83.81.E3.83.A3.E3.83.BC.E3.80.8D),\nsuch as those interested in [the occult, clubbing, or\nreggae](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%B5%E3%83%96%E3%82%AB%E3%83%AB%E3%83%81%E3%83%A3%E3%83%BC#.E5.88.86.E9.A1.9E),\nwhich are likewise not mainstream hobbies in Japan.\n\n## _Otaku_ ≠ _Hikikomori_\n\nIn Japanese language and culture, **the word _otaku_ by itself does not\ninclude the meaning of [「引き籠もり」](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hikikomori)** (\n_ **hikikomori**_ , sometimes translated as \"shut-in\" or \"acute social\nwithdrawal\"), which is a social and psychological phenomenon defined by the\nJapanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare as those who people [who\nrefuse to leave their house for a period exceeding six\nmonths](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hikikomori#Definition) (further\ndefinitions have and are being created by researchers and mental health\nprofessionals). **Some _hikikomori_ have an interest in anime/manga/gaming,\nbut others do not.** Some became _hikikomori_ after having experienced\nbullying at school, but the cause for others is unknown. According to [the\nJapanese\nConstitution](http://www.solon.org/Constitutions/Japan/English/english-\nConstitution.html#CHAPTER_III), children have a right to education, in other\nwords, a right to attend school, but they are [not legally required to attend\nschool](http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/%7Eja8i-brtl/Legal_Issues.htm) in order to\nmake use of this right (this is why [homeschooling is legal in\nJapan](http://www.asahi-\nnet.or.jp/%7Eja8i-brtl/Keiko.htm#Homeschooling%20and%20the%20Law%20in%20Japan)).\nAs a result, becoming _hikikomori_ is not illegal activity.\n\n> **Article 26:** All people shall have the right to receive an equal\n> education correspondent to their ability, as provided for by law. \n> 2) All people shall be obligated to have all boys and girls under their\n> protection receive ordinary education as provided for by law. Such\n> compulsory education shall be free.\n>\n> **Article 27:** All people shall have the right and the obligation to work\n\nWhen I joined the Manga and Illustration Research Society at my Japanese\nuniversity, I was a bit surprised to find out that most members are strongly\nsocially awkward in ways which I hadn't seen prevalent among American\nfanboys/fangirls. There is an overlap between social awkwardness and social\nwithdrawl and the Japanese anime/manga fan community, but it is not a simple\nand well-understood correlation. It could be that the less-socially-adept veer\ntoward niche interests, or it could be that when a _hikikomori_ is in his/her\nbedroom for years on end, it **makes sense that he/she would gain an interest\nin hobbies that can be done alone at home using the TV or computer** for\nentertainment and for reaching out to fellows through the web.\n\nIt makes good marketing sense that the growing number of _hikikomori_ , of\nwhom a sizable percent are interested in anime/manga/light novels, has created\n**enough consumers who would relate to _hikikomori_ protagonists that the\nJapanese companies are responding to this market** by producing more titles\nthat feature _hikikomori_ in a positive light. This may figure into a cycle in\nwhich people who are considering making the switch to being _hikikomori_ feel\nmore like it is not a terribly shameful that that only losers do but that\nthere are a lot of other people in the same boat (it's still too early to know\nwhether these titles have any effect on increasing the numbers of _hikikomori_\n).\n\n", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2015-06-29T08:52:32.740", "id": "22861", "last_activity_date": "2015-06-29T13:01:14.233", "last_edit_date": "2020-06-17T09:17:53.303", "last_editor_user_id": "-1", "owner_user_id": "8134", "parent_id": "3410", "post_type": "answer", "score": 8 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nIn the OAV series _Rurouni Kenshin: Trust & Betrayal_, we get to learn more\nabout Kenshin and his trip from being a simple orphan to Japan's most feared\nassassin Hittokiri Battousai, and then to the peaceful Ruroni.\n\nAs Hittokiri Battousai, he wasn't exactly evil. He had good intentions, and\nsaw assassination as the only way he could help the weak and the downtrodden.\nThrough his interactions with Tomoe, and her final fate, Kenshin begins to\nrealize that he had been doing it all wrong. Helping people by spilling blood\nwas not the way to go. That's when he dons the character of pacifist Ruroni\nKenshin, who refuses to kill no matter the provocation or how _evil_ the other\nperson is.\n\nBut that conviction is a very hard one to keep, especially for a trained\nassassin such as Kenshin. He knows that if he slips just once, and kills as a\nmeans to an end, he would fall back in to the endless cycle of blood letting\nthat dominated his life as Hitokiri Battousai.\n\n", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-18T16:14:56.093", "id": "3424", "last_activity_date": "2013-04-18T16:14:56.093", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "66", "parent_id": "3414", "post_type": "answer", "score": 5 }, { "body": "\n\nHe took a vow to never kill again, and that forms the core of his being.\nDuring the war his psyche became extremely fragile from killing as he is\nnaturally a kind and good person. Killing required him to bury those parts of\nhimself. When the final battle is over he disappears from the world vowing\nnever to kill again. He heals mostly but he is not stable. If he kills again\nthere is a chance that his mind would break and he would no longer be able to\nfind the parts of himself that were good.\n\nKaoru is able to appeal to Kenshin's good side as he loves her, which gives\nhim the strength to fight the killer in his heart.\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2017-09-17T04:19:13.170", "id": "42366", "last_activity_date": "2017-09-17T04:19:13.170", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "35672", "parent_id": "3414", "post_type": "answer", "score": 0 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\n[The Blush Sticker\ntrope](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BlushSticker) is usually\nused to express childish cheerfulness and/or naivety. In Japan, children are\ntypically depicted with round rosy cheeks.\n\nRingo is a bit of an airhead, or rather naive, like a child... The Sanada\nNorth High Student Council gave her the \"childish\" nickname \"Ringo-chan\" for a\nreason.~\n\n\n\nThe trope most likely originated from manga where often times it would be\neasier (and less time consuming) to draw ovals indicating \"blushes\", rather\nthan shading them in.\n\n\n\n \n\n", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-25T22:44:05.950", "id": "3537", "last_activity_date": "2013-04-26T16:31:33.193", "last_edit_date": "2013-04-26T16:31:33.193", "last_editor_user_id": "274", "owner_user_id": "63", "parent_id": "3415", "post_type": "answer", "score": 9 }, { "body": "\n\nFurther to Krazer's answer, _ringo_ in Japanese means _apple_. I found out\nrecently that the rosy parts of the cheeks are called the [**apples** of the\ncheeks](https://english.stackexchange.com/q/87864/23608). Ringo-chan's\nnickname might have come about for similar reasons.\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-26T03:45:46.487", "id": "3544", "last_activity_date": "2013-04-26T03:45:46.487", "last_edit_date": "2017-04-13T12:38:45.803", "last_editor_user_id": "-1", "owner_user_id": "247", "parent_id": "3415", "post_type": "answer", "score": 8 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nAccording to [this article](http://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-\nnews/2013/05/05/languages-of-the-devil-is-a-part-timer-and-gargantia-\ndeciphered), the spoken language in Gargantia is basically jumbled German,\ncreated by the writer Gen Urobuchi:\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAccording to collaborators on [this\nforum](http://tieba.baidu.com/p/2247958424?pid=31045455671 \"in Chinese\"), this\nis a substitution cipher based on a Roman alphabet, though whether it is based\non one language or another is yet to be seen, as there are occurrences of\nGerman and English. (Images: [typeset substitution\nkey](https://i.stack.imgur.com/bl3zu.jpg); [handwritten substitution\nkey](https://i.stack.imgur.com/owcng.jpg))\n\nFor an example in this image:\n\n\n\nIt say \"IGHL,\" probably for \"Inter-Galactic Human League\" or something.\n\nIf you look closely at the part where they show a wireframe of the mech on the\n3D console, you can make out ciphered text like \"equilibrium\" and \"leg\" based\non the key above.\n\nYou can see \"wormhole\" and \"enemy\" along with some other words on the map\ndisplay ([image](https://i.stack.imgur.com/WMWQL.jpg)).\n\n* * *\n\nThe text on the side of the mech's head\n([image](https://i.stack.imgur.com/lYZoG.jpg)) is a bit different. It seem to\nbe scrambled German.\n\nIn cleartext it says:\n\n[code]\n\n chtsivor\n enles esi hervor buchhand\n das enffnero esesdi umsmigre\n \n[/code]\n\nWhich probably comes out to something like:\n\n[code]\n\n Vorsicht\n Lesen sie hervor handbuch\n das oeffnen dieses gremiums\n \n[/code]\n\nWhich is probably not correct grammar, since the usage of \"hervor\" is\nincorrect. According to [a\nposter](http://tieba.baidu.com/p/2247958424?pid=31045455671&see_lz=1#31045455671)\nin the forums should actually be something like this:\n\n> \"lesen sie das handbuch vor dem oeffnen dieses gremiums\"\n\nEssentially it's saying:\n\n> Caution \n> Read manual before \n> opening this panel\n\nThe text on the front of the mech has also been translated (see\n[image](https://i.stack.imgur.com/omd5S.jpg)).\n\nAs a side note, the spoken language seems to be English (see\n[image](https://i.stack.imgur.com/vjmXE.jpg)).\n\n* * *\n\nThe written and spoken Gargantian language, on the other hand, seems to be\nromanized Japanese (see images: [translated\nmessages](https://i.stack.imgur.com/CU8oH.jpg), [alphabet\nchart](https://i.stack.imgur.com/ATLAB.jpg), [an\nalleyway](https://i.stack.imgur.com/DIpq8.jpg); and see below).\n\n\n\nFrom [this site](http://notredrevie.ws/2013/04/29/suisei-no-\ngargantia-04-notes-and-the-like/):\n\n> The brown books are the Cosmic Atlas. The green one’s title is Totonyan,\n> which is the name of a Japanese art company who are contracted to draw the\n> backgrounds in Gargantia.\n>\n> The cyan one is Satsumakenshi Hayato (in romanized form, in Japanese it’s\n> written as 薩摩剣士隼人), a drama series set in Kagoshima. Yep, someone on staff\n> definitely must be from Kagoshima.\n>\n> The magenta one reads Shouyu Tottekure (しょうゆとってくれ, “please give me the soy\n> sauce”), which is apparently a standard example sentence in junior high\n> English textbooks in Japan.\n>\n> The red one says Suiyou Dou Deshou (水曜どうでしょう, “Do you like Wednesday?”), a\n> Japanese [variety\n> show](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_do_you_like_Wednesday?).\n>\n> The blue one reads Red Dwarf, which is likely a reference to the BBC [sci-fi\n> franchise](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Dwarf).\n>\n> The last one is Ryokucha (緑茶, green tea).\n\n", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-18T02:36:52.223", "id": "3421", "last_activity_date": "2014-04-07T05:30:57.590", "last_edit_date": "2014-04-07T05:30:57.590", "last_editor_user_id": "1908", "owner_user_id": "63", "parent_id": "3418", "post_type": "answer", "score": 26 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nThey just needed to keep Anti-Skill at bay until they could make their escape.\nThe two thugs original intended purpose was to break the pyrokinetic esper out\nof custody as he was about to be transfered to an Anti-Skill hospital.\n\n\n\nThey clearly didn't need her as they tossed her from the helicopter in order\nto lose Mikoto who was using her powers to pin the helicopter to the ground.\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-18T02:52:19.593", "id": "3422", "last_activity_date": "2013-04-18T02:52:19.593", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "63", "parent_id": "3419", "post_type": "answer", "score": 6 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\n_Vagabond_ is a fictionalized interpretation of Musashi's life adapted from\nEiji Yoshikawa's _Musashi_. The novel is a dramatization and not really\nhistorically accurate, even though many people have started to take\nYoshikawa's book as historical due to it's popularity.\n\nNow why was there no mention of Matashichiro, the youngest of the Yoshioka\nbrothers? It's better (commercially) to not to mention the fact that Musashi\nkilled a 12 year old boy.\n\n", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-18T16:54:48.767", "id": "3425", "last_activity_date": "2013-04-18T17:06:17.643", "last_edit_date": "2013-04-18T17:06:17.643", "last_editor_user_id": "49", "owner_user_id": "63", "parent_id": "3423", "post_type": "answer", "score": 4 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\n**OVA and OAV are synonymous.** The reason for having two acronyms is\nhistorical; currently, both Japan and English-speaking countries use \"OVA\" as\nthe official designation.\n\nAccording to the [Japanese Wikipedia](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/OVA) (rough\ntranslation):\n\n> In the early days, \"OAV\" (short for \"original animation video\") was often\n> used as well, but \"AV\" and \"Adult Video\" were easily confused, and could be\n> easily mistaken for \"Audio/Visual\", so it gradually became less common.\n\nThe [English Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Original_video_animation)\nsums this up slightly more succinctly:\n\n> Original video animation, abbreviated as OVA media (and sometimes as OAV,\n> original animated video, by English-speakers, though it was mistaken for\n> \"Original Adult Video\"), are animated films and series made specially for\n> release in home-video formats.\n\nBasically, the media was initially dubbed \"OAV\" for \" **o** riginal **a**\nnimated **v** ideo\". However, because of the term \"adult video\" (which implies\npornography or mature material), and the ability to be easily confused with\nthe common film/animation term \"audio/visual\", the last two letters were\nswitched to form OVA ( **o** riginal **v** ideo **a** nimation).\n\n", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-18T20:23:17.567", "id": "3428", "last_activity_date": "2013-04-18T20:23:17.567", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "274", "parent_id": "3427", "post_type": "answer", "score": 40 }, { "body": "\n\nA pretty late answer, but I found a comment from Yoshiharu Tokugi (famous for\nwriting Dirty Pair, Macross and Power Rangers) in Johnathan Clement's \"[Anime:\nA History](http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/1844573907)\".\n\nTokugi claims there is a slight distinction between the terms:\n\n * **OVA** \"is an industrial term, introduced at the production level to differenciate between anime produced for film or television, and those works that are intended to go 'straight to video' \"\n\n * **OAV** is a \"marketing term, introduced at the level of distribution to make it clear that the object in question was not simply a repurposed work from film or television\"\n\n[Quoted from the book, rather than Tokugi directly]\n\nSo it seems to be at some stage the terms were used to indicate that a show\nwas **not being televised/filmed** ( **OVA** ) and to indicate a work that was\n**not a recap, enhanced version, etc** ( **OAV** ). So technically, a work\ncould be both, or neither.\n\nThe terms have become homogeneous now though, probably due to the subtleties\nbetween the terms and the likeness of the acronyms. So it is safe to assume\nthat an **OVA** / **OAV** will refer to a straight-to-video-release.\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2015-04-06T18:08:15.663", "id": "20665", "last_activity_date": "2015-06-04T08:03:49.657", "last_edit_date": "2015-06-04T08:03:49.657", "last_editor_user_id": "1530", "owner_user_id": "1530", "parent_id": "3427", "post_type": "answer", "score": 12 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\n[This link](http://www.pokemonelite2000.com/pastnews0503.html) seems to\ndocument all the toys and cards. There were 5 toys. These were a Pikachu\nkeychain, Pikachu Clock, Charizard Treasure Box, Kecleon Keychain, and a\nCelebi compass (though the image has Torchic). Here's images of all five:\n\n    \n\nAccording to [this site](http://pkmn.net/?action=news&page=viewnews&id=252),\nthe promotion began May 19th 2003, and very likely lasted 5 weeks. I haven't\nbeen able to find a more definitive confirmation of that.\n\nHere's the promotional image used at the time to advertise the event (from the\nsame link with the dates):\n\n\n\nAs for why the compass is called a Celebi compass, it really did have a Celebi\ndesign. The back of the case had a Celebi on it:\n\n\n\n(image taken from [this Ebay auction](http://www.ebay.com/itm/2002-POKEMON-\nLUGIA-TOY-5-OF-15-WENDYS-KIDS-\nMEAL-/121078921340?nma=true&si=8QDzPI3iSUu0v0ySFKPMsrC9M9g%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557).\nThanks to Krazer for finding it.)\n\nIt seems that you could put the Lugia, Torchic, and Kecleon trading cards from\nthe promotion into it, and perhaps others. The above image has the back of the\nLugia card. Here's a different version with the front of the Lugia card.\n\n.\n\n(taken from [this Lugia collection](http://slothyshroom.weebly.com/lugia-\ncollection.html))\n\nThe Pikachu clock could hold a card as well, though I don't think it really\ndid anything with it the same way the compass worked with those cards, and the\ncards fit inside the Charizard box.\n\n[This site](http://myuutsuudestiny150.tripod.com/wendys.html) lists all the\ncards, with images for the front and back. They are:\n\n * 1 Pikachu \n\n\n\n\n * 2 Charizard\n\n\n\n\n * 3 Mewtwo\n\n\n\n\n * 4 Tyranitar\n\n\n\n\n * 5 Lugia\n\n \n\n * 6 Feraligatr\n\n\n\n\n * 7 Gyarados\n\n\n\n\n * 8 Kyogre\n\n \n\n * 9 Latios & Latias\n\n\n\n\n * 10 Torchic\n\n \n\n * 11 Groudon\n\n\n\n\n * 12 Mudkip\n\n \n\n * 13 Duskull\n\n \n\n * 14 Treecko\n\n \n\n * 15 Kecleon\n\n\n\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-18T22:01:15.017", "id": "3430", "last_activity_date": "2013-04-18T23:13:35.053", "last_edit_date": "2013-04-18T23:13:35.053", "last_editor_user_id": "24", "owner_user_id": "24", "parent_id": "3429", "post_type": "answer", "score": 12 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nThe correct romanization is probably \"Yumboroid.\" The word is probably a\nportmanteau of \"yumbo\" and \"droid.\"\n\nYumbo was a French trademark name of excavators, now [used in\nJapanese](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%A6%E3%83%B3%E3%83%9C) to refer\nto excavators in general (much like\n[dumpsters](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dumpster) in America, which was the\ntrademark name for a mobile garbage bin).\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-18T22:49:20.263", "id": "3433", "last_activity_date": "2013-04-18T22:49:20.263", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "63", "parent_id": "3432", "post_type": "answer", "score": 4 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nIn the first episodes, Pikachu wasn't _that_ strong. The first fight against\nRocko, wasn't a good fight, as Pikachu fainted quickly. The problem is, that\nthe fights in the anime often have some factors that aren't covered in the\ngames, like the spinklers of the first arena (you know, water and electricity.\nHowever, Ash never won that fight :D).\n\nAll in all, the anime-Pikachu isn't very strong. It's more like the enemies\naren't very good (who are his enemies? Team Rocket? Ha.). Ash also never won\none of the conferences(? why must they have different names? D:).\n\nThe main-reason why the anime-Pikachu may be _a little_ stronger is, that it\nmust be at least at level 100 now, after 5 regions (plus the orange-islands).\n\n", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-19T07:26:01.300", "id": "3440", "last_activity_date": "2013-04-19T07:26:01.300", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "122", "parent_id": "3438", "post_type": "answer", "score": 2 }, { "body": "\n\nIt was probably because in the anime, Ash & Pikachu are the protagonists of\nthe story. So it is only natural to have Pikachu very strong to defeat the\nantagonists. In the game however, it's up to the player's strategy on how to\nmake Pikachu stronger. Furthermore, in the game, the player can choose any\nother Pokemon to train to be stronger, other than Pikachu.\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-19T08:59:15.267", "id": "3442", "last_activity_date": "2015-05-13T15:15:37.713", "last_edit_date": "2015-05-13T15:15:37.713", "last_editor_user_id": "11083", "owner_user_id": "88", "parent_id": "3438", "post_type": "answer", "score": 7 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nBesides all the official gyms, there are also unofficial gyms. After beating\nthose, you will also receive a badge. Therefore, I think that those badges\nwere obtained in one or more of the unofficial gyms. The one just right from\nthe top left looks somewhat like the Coal Badge from Sinnoh though.\n\nUnofficial Gyms in the anime:\n\n 1. A.J.'s Gym\n 2. Fighting Spirit Gym\n 3. Kaz Gym\n\n... and [many more](http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Gym).\n\nThere were 15 gyms in the Kanto region, that is one gym for every type, minus\nDark and Steel types. This means they were not featured in the anime/game to\nprevent confusion, but still are considered official gym's.\n\n> Anyways it would make sense that Ash only went for eight badges compared to\n> a possible 15. Most of his badges in the first season were given to him\n> without even finishing his gym leader battles plus the games only featured\n> eight gyms so then changing it to a higher number in the anime might have\n> been confusing for fans.\n> [Source](http://www.pokecommunity.com/archive/index.php/t-237132.html)\n\n", "comment_count": 6, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-19T13:06:14.477", "id": "3445", "last_activity_date": "2014-10-05T03:03:44.113", "last_edit_date": "2014-10-05T03:03:44.113", "last_editor_user_id": "1398", "owner_user_id": "1458", "parent_id": "3444", "post_type": "answer", "score": 14 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\n\n\nTonnura is one of 7 siblings, but only 4 have been revealed as of volume 7 of\nthe manga. They are:\n\nTonnura, the titular character (and elderest brother)\n\n\n\nDuke, the younger brother\n\n\n\nCharmy, the youngest sister\n\n\n\nDonsuke, the youngest brother\n\n\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-05-13T09:15:22.340", "id": "3773", "last_activity_date": "2013-05-13T09:24:10.440", "last_edit_date": "2013-05-13T09:24:10.440", "last_editor_user_id": "63", "owner_user_id": "63", "parent_id": "3452", "post_type": "answer", "score": 4 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nThe short answer is no, it is never revealed. The series is more interested in\npoking fun at the foibles of animals and everyday life in general, than\nexamining the strange physical dimensions of its protagonist(?).\n\nThe most likely reasons are for [the\nMoe](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Moe) and [the\nlulz](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RuleOfFunny); that round cat\ndesign is aesthetically cute, which is sufficient reason for inclusion within\na light comedy. Also the roundness gives all sorts of opportunities for\nrolling away gags. Plus, the shape of the cat probably reminds its viewers\nabout balls, pork buns and rice balls. Any one of these things that are\nanimate would be rather amusing :)\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2015-08-16T02:06:07.210", "id": "24118", "last_activity_date": "2015-08-16T02:06:07.210", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "16253", "parent_id": "3453", "post_type": "answer", "score": 1 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nThe red scarf that Sakamoto wears allows him to talk. The scarf was \"invented\"\nby another character in the series - Hakase (which means Professor).\n\n\n\nIn another episode, a crow is wearing the scarf and can also talk.\n\n\n\n", "comment_count": 4, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-20T04:26:18.300", "id": "3456", "last_activity_date": "2013-04-20T04:26:18.300", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "107", "parent_id": "3454", "post_type": "answer", "score": 12 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nThis is indeed a meta-reference, that spans across the three games in the\nseries.\n\nThe reference starts in _Chaos;Head_ with Takuto, he spreads the phrase and is\nsurprise how it catches on and becomes a meme.\n\n\n\n\n\nOne of the reasons is a serial killer that leaves behind this message at the\n[scene of their crime](https://i.stack.imgur.com/FRhkd.jpg).\n\nI don't believe that there's an actual reference in _Steins;Gate_ , but there\nis a reference to in the non-canonical 8-bit version:\n\n\n\nIn _Robotics;Notes_ , \"Airi\" is an \"automated data collection engine,\" so it\nwould makes sense that she would pick up a meme such as that.\n\n\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-20T06:02:14.403", "id": "3460", "last_activity_date": "2014-08-25T00:41:43.257", "last_edit_date": "2014-08-25T00:41:43.257", "last_editor_user_id": "63", "owner_user_id": "63", "parent_id": "3455", "post_type": "answer", "score": 11 }, { "body": "\n\nAlso, Airi's online handle, SisterCentipede, can be seen in the Chaos;Head VN,\nso she could have definitely picked up on it from there.\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-12-14T21:15:25.183", "id": "16727", "last_activity_date": "2014-12-14T21:15:25.183", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "10633", "parent_id": "3455", "post_type": "answer", "score": 0 }, { "body": "\n\nAh guys you really need to see this, all the games are very connected. Mainly\ndue to the 300/Illuminati pulling the strings from the background, also NOZOMI\nis key in Chaos;Head. And there's a sequel called Chaos;Child that sheds some\nmore light on things nut. Anyway the timeline, if you haven't seen or played\nSteins;Gate this will be very confusing to you, also Takki does NOT have a\nmental issue it was PUT there. \n<http://steins-gate.wikia.com/wiki/Committee_of_300> \nBTW this timeline has major spoilers, so if you have not seen all the science\nadventure series or played the Steins;Gate VN you may be a bit confuzzed. And\nfor \"whose eyes are these\" you have to look hard into the brainwashing\nmicrochip angle. SERN created this and some of the timeline depending on\nattractors and divergences of course are going on simultaneously. Also, there\nare a few mention in Steins;Gate about Daru knowing about the new gen murders\nand chatting with Takki's SN. Also Sawada from Robotics;Notes is very key as\nwell. Also if you don't know who DaSH is yet... lol never mind I won't spoil\nit.\n\n", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2015-03-07T21:25:43.617", "id": "19883", "last_activity_date": "2015-03-09T11:59:49.097", "last_edit_date": "2015-03-09T11:59:49.097", "last_editor_user_id": "49", "owner_user_id": "13110", "parent_id": "3455", "post_type": "answer", "score": -1 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nAll of them seems to be\n[portmanteau](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portmanteau) which combines the\nname of some kind of food (reflected in the shape/features of their bodies)\nand the name or sound made by some animal (reflected in the shape/features of\ntheir heads).\n\n * ローニャ (ro-nya): [ロールケーキ](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%AD%E3%83%BC%E3%83%AB%E3%82%B1%E3%83%BC%E3%82%AD)/[Swiss roll](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_roll) \\+ ニャ/にゃ ([Onomatopoeia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onomatopoeia) for cat)\n\n * どーにゃつ (do-nyatsu): [ドーナツ](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%89%E3%83%BC%E3%83%8A%E3%83%84)/[Donut](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doughnut) \\+ ニャ/にゃ (Onomatopoeia for cat) \nThe name is written in Hiragana. For comparison purpose, ドーナツ in Hiragana is\nどーなつ.\n\n * ベーガル (be-garu): [ベーグル](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%99%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B0%E3%83%AB)/[Bagel](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bagel) \\+ **(Unknown)**\n\n * クマカロン (kumacaron): クマ（熊）/Bear + [マカロン](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%9E%E3%82%AB%E3%83%AD%E3%83%B3)/[Macaron1](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macaron) \n1 Not to be confused with [Macaroon](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macaroon).\n\n * バームクーガー (ba-muku-ga-): [バウムクーヘン](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%90%E3%82%A6%E3%83%A0%E3%82%AF%E3%83%BC%E3%83%98%E3%83%B3)/[Baumkuchen](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baumkuchen) \\+ [ピューマ（クーガー2）](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%94%E3%83%A5%E3%83%BC%E3%83%9E)/[Cougar](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cougar) \n2 In the [disambiguation\npage](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%AF%E3%83%BC%E3%82%AC%E3%83%BC_%28%E6%9B%96%E6%98%A7%E3%81%95%E5%9B%9E%E9%81%BF%29),\nクーガー is a different name for ピューマ; ピューマ (Puma) seems to be more commonly used\nin Japanese.\n\n * もるどーにゃつ (morudo-nyatsu): Mold/モルド3 \\+ ドーナツ/Donut + ニャ/にゃ (Onomatopoeia for cat) \n3 モルド is more of a transcription of the English word \"Mold\", rather than a\nloan word.\n\n * ちくわぶた (chikuwabuta): [ちくわぶ（竹輪麩）4](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%81%A1%E3%81%8F%E3%82%8F%E3%81%B6)/[Chikuwabu](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chikuwabu) \\+ ぶた（豚）/Pig \n4 Not to be confused with\n[ちくわ（竹輪）](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%AB%B9%E8%BC%AA)/[Chikuwa](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chikuwa).\nQuoting from Wikipedia page of Chikuwabu: \" _Chikuwabu_ is often confused with\nthe fish-based _chikuwa_ , as they are similar in shape and name and are both\ncommon ingredients in _oden_. However, unlike _chikuwa_ , _chikuwabu_ is\nrarely eaten on its own.\"\n\n * メンチワワ (menchiwawa): [メンチカツ5](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%A1%E3%83%B3%E3%83%81%E3%82%AB%E3%83%84)/[Menchi-katsu](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menchi-katsu) \\+ [チワワ](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%81%E3%83%AF%E3%83%AF)/[Chihuahua](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chihuahua_%28dog%29) \n5 I linked to Menchi-katsu (ground meat cutlet), since it resembles the\nillustration best. メンチ (menchi) is a phonetically modified version of the word\n\"mince\" in English.\n\n * コロッケン (korokken): [コロッケ6](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%B3%E3%83%AD%E3%83%83%E3%82%B1)/[Korokke](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korokke) \\+ ケン（犬）/Dog \n6 Not to be confused with\n[クロケット](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%AF%E3%83%AD%E3%82%B1%E3%83%83%E3%83%88)/[Croquette](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croquette),\nalthough コロッケ/Korokke is a dish originates from クロケット/Croquette.\n\nAlthough not in the pictures in the question, there is also マチュマロ (machumaro),\ntranslated as marshmallow mouse, which made an appearance in chapter 3.\nHowever, the mice seem to be the only characters in the manga whose bodies\ndon't resemble some kind of food.\n\n * マチュマロ (machumaro): マシュマロ/Marshmallow + チュウ (Onomatopoeia for mouse)\n\n \nSource: <http://donyatsu.jp/wp-\ncontent/themes/donyatsu/characters/img/characterimg12.gif>\n\nAs the story progresses, more characters are introduced:\n\n * ウシフォン (ushifon): ウシ（牛）/Cow + [シフォン](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%B7%E3%83%95%E3%82%A9%E3%83%B3%E3%82%B1%E3%83%BC%E3%82%AD)/[Chiffon cake](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiffon_cake)\n\n \nSource: <http://www.square-\nenix.co.jp/magazine/yg/introduction/donyatsu/img/character12.jpg>\n\n * まっちゃん (macchan): [まっちゃ（抹茶）](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%8A%B9%E8%8C%B6)/[Matcha](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matcha) \nAccording to the official website, it seems to be a Matcha Donut Cat.\n\n \nSource: <http://donyatsu.jp/wp-\ncontent/themes/donyatsu/characters/img/characterimg8.gif>\n\n * マルモチーター (marumochi-ta-): [まるもち（丸餅）](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%A4%85)/[Marumochi _(lit. Round Mochi)_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mochi) \\+ [チーター](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%81%E3%83%BC%E3%82%BF%E3%83%BC)/[Cheetah](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheetah)\n\n \nSource: <http://www.square-\nenix.co.jp/magazine/yg/introduction/donyatsu/img/character16.jpg>\n\nMarumochi is grilled before consumption, as seen in the picture below:\n\n \nSource: <http://www.ic-net.or.jp/home/ds-chizu/graphic/marumochimein2.jpg>) \nThis explains the square pattern on its body.\n\n", "comment_count": 4, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-20T13:46:21.230", "id": "3463", "last_activity_date": "2014-02-08T15:38:25.033", "last_edit_date": "2014-02-08T15:38:25.033", "last_editor_user_id": "1398", "owner_user_id": "1398", "parent_id": "3457", "post_type": "answer", "score": 8 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\n**What is the significance of this form?**\n\n> It's not simply a round, chubby cat, it's a Maneki-neko (lit. beckoning\n> cat). Maneki-neko is a common figurine in Japan. Shops have it displayed to\n> beckons customers and wish bringing more fortune in.\n\n**Did he purposely choose this appearance?**\n\n> Yes and No. Nyankon-sensei was sealed in Maneki-neko for a long time before\n> Takashi release it by accident, it ordinary takes on the shape and just be\n> that way. Ordinary people can see it when it is in the Maneki-neko form but\n> not in the original Madara form. Still, we don't know if Nyankon-sensei like\n> its form so much or on other purposes.\n\n**Why does Takashi call Madara by the name \"Nyanko-sensei?\"**\n\n> Nyankon-sensei requests Takashi to call him sensei and as an exchange, it\n> becomes his bodyguard.\n\nWikipedia actually has a well-written\n[article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natsume%27s_Book_of_Friends) about the\nanime & manga including characters background, in case you want more details.\n\n", "comment_count": 5, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-20T08:44:43.150", "id": "3461", "last_activity_date": "2013-04-24T08:16:49.790", "last_edit_date": "2013-04-24T08:16:49.790", "last_editor_user_id": "1694", "owner_user_id": "1694", "parent_id": "3459", "post_type": "answer", "score": 11 }, { "body": "\n\nMadara-sama was sealed in a maneki neko (lucky cat). If you are familiar with\nmaneki neko, then you know many of them look exactly like Nyanko Sensei. This\nis from the first episode.\n\nIt is not known whether this was done on purpose or not. Whoever imprisoned\nhim put him in the maneki neko, put him in the shrine and he stayed there\nuntil Natsume tripped over the rope. Book 1, No. 1.\n\nMadara wants to be called sensei. Natsume calls him nyanko already, which as\nI'm sure you know is a diminutive term for a cat. Little Cat Teacher = nyanko\nsensei.\n\nThe anime is pretty faithful to the manga in this episode.\n\n~nyan\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-10-19T16:45:32.727", "id": "5521", "last_activity_date": "2013-10-19T16:45:32.727", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "2570", "parent_id": "3459", "post_type": "answer", "score": 0 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nIt does not appear as though the viewer (or reader) is ever told the true name\nof Misaka 10032's cat in either the anime or the novels (though I didn't check\nthe manga).\n\nFrom a translation of the novel (volume 3):\n\n> \"That's right! A name! This is your cat, so take responsibility and give it\n> a name!\"\n>\n> _(Some irrelevant stuff omitted)_\n>\n> \"Dog.\"\n>\n> \"Hah?\"\n>\n> \"Misaka is naming this black cat Dog. ...Dog even though it is a cat. Heh\n> heh.\"\n>\n> _(Some irrelevant stuff omitted)_\n>\n> \"...No, um...Please give it a more serious and dignified name that fits the\n> type of animal it is.\"\n>\n> \"Then Tokugawa Ieyasu, says Misaka after reconsidering.\"\n>\n> \"That's too dignified! Wait, are you the kind of character that pretends to\n> think about things but doesn't think at all!\"\n>\n> \"Then what about Schrödinger?\"\n>\n> \"Hell no! Even if it was just an example, some professor who would happily\n> come up with a story about sticking a cat in a box and spraying poison gas\n> inside couldn't have liked cats!\"\n>\n> In the end, they decided to name the cat later. However, Kamijou had a bad\n> feeling that they would be unable to agree on a name later either and she\n> would end up literally nicknaming the cat \"Later\".\n\nIt does not appear to be mentioned later whether or not they did agree to name\nthe cat, and it is always referred to as \"black cat\" or simply \"the cat\". From\nthe [_Toaru Kagaku no Index_\nWiki](http://toarumajutsunoindex.wikia.com/wiki/Misaka_10032%27s_cat):\n\n> It is not known if Misaka 10032 has decided on a name for the cat.\n> Furthermore, since all the tentative names given by Misaka 10032 can be used\n> on males, it can be assumed that the cat is also male.\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-21T18:53:55.433", "id": "3488", "last_activity_date": "2013-04-21T18:53:55.433", "last_edit_date": "2020-06-17T09:17:53.303", "last_editor_user_id": "-1", "owner_user_id": "274", "parent_id": "3462", "post_type": "answer", "score": 6 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nThere is also Diana, who was born on Earth. She first appears in episode 126\nor 133 (English and Japanese dub respectively) of the anime and is revealed to\nbe the daughter of Artemis and Luna. In the manga, she first appears in Act\n18. She comes from the future and so when Luma first sees her (in the anime)\nshe is confused because Diana refers to Artemis as Daddy. She is the advisor\nto Chibiusa, as Artemis and Luna are Usagi's advisors.\n\n", "comment_count": 5, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-20T20:39:47.097", "id": "3469", "last_activity_date": "2013-04-20T20:39:47.097", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "93", "parent_id": "3466", "post_type": "answer", "score": 6 }, { "body": "\n\nYes, **Diana** is Artemis and Luna's daughter, but she is _not_ the only other\nsentient cat. In addition to this trio:\n\nin the original manga, Luna and Artemis are natives of the cat-themed\n**[planet Mau](http://sailormoon.wikia.com/wiki/Mau), which is in the same\ngalaxy but is outside of the solar system** (how this aligns with the cats\nserving Queen Serenity in the Moon Kingdom is not explained; apparently Luna\nand Artemis immigrated to the Moon at some point). Mau is the same planet that\nSailor Tin Nyanko comes from. Sailor Tin Nyanko was not originally a real\nsailor soldier according to manga canon; rather, she killed the planet's true\nsailor guardian, Sailor Mau, in order to gain synthetic soldier abilities. All\nsailor soldiers and other special beings who likewise possess true star seeds\n(such as Tuxedo Kamen, Luna, Artemis, and Diana), who died by having their\ntrue star seeds removed, after Chaos was defeated, received their star seeds\nback and came back to life. Thus, living on Mau at the end of the manga\nseries, there are 1) a resurrected Sailor Mau (implied to be humanoid, simply\non the basis that all sailor soldiers we've met have been humanoid, but since\nshe was not specifically shown or described beyond her name, it is **not\n_impossible_ that Sailor Mau could be a sentient cat herself**... especially\nconsidering that Luna, Artemis, and Diana each have a humanoid form that they\ncan transform into), 2) other humanoids (like Tin Nyanko), and 3) the\nimplication of **other sentient cats as the regular residents of the planet\nMau**.\n\n(Diana is the only sentient cat who is not a native of Mau, since she was born\non Earth in the 30th-century Crystal Tokyo.)\n\n(Note that the _Sera Myu_ musicals follow the manga with Tin Nyanko as Sailor\nMau's assassin, but the anime canon differs, in which Sailor Tin Nyanko is a\ntrue sailor soldier who was originally good but got brainwashed by Sailor\nGalaxia's bracelets, and there is no mention of Mau or of Luna and Artemis'\nfurther backstory.)\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-09-06T09:49:51.003", "id": "13850", "last_activity_date": "2015-05-04T01:47:33.443", "last_edit_date": "2015-05-04T01:47:33.443", "last_editor_user_id": "8134", "owner_user_id": "8134", "parent_id": "3466", "post_type": "answer", "score": 6 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nHe called himself Black Cat because he brings misfortune. He also said to his\nvictims _I have come to deliver some bad luck_ before he kills them.\n\nThe motive of the bad luck also is shown in his number (13) and his birthday\n(13.4.; 13 => number of bad luck in western countries, while the four is the\nnumber for bad luck in Japan). Also his name has 13 characters.\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-21T11:41:16.627", "id": "3482", "last_activity_date": "2013-04-21T11:41:16.627", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "122", "parent_id": "3468", "post_type": "answer", "score": 4 }, { "body": "\n\nAccording [here](http://blackcat.wikia.com/wiki/Train_Heartnet),\n\n> **Train's underground name is \"Black Cat\" because of the misfortune that\n> lies in his wake.** He always says to his target \"I have come to deliver\n> some bad luck\" before killing them and he always completes a mission with\n> 100% accuracy, without remorse.\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-22T05:15:19.207", "id": "3497", "last_activity_date": "2013-04-22T05:15:19.207", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "88", "parent_id": "3468", "post_type": "answer", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nAlthough it is never really stated they are \"based on each other\", [Nobuhiro\nWatsuki helped in the making of One\nPiece](http://onepiece.wikia.com/wiki/Straw_Hat_Pirates/Miscellaneous#Trivia).\n\n> In the manga series \"Rurouni Kenshin\", the Straw Hats' flag design was used\n> on a bomb to start a vengeance hit on one of the main characters of the\n> series. Before writing \"One Piece\", Oda worked as an assistant to Nobuhiro\n> Watsuki, the creator of \"Rurouni Kenshin\".\n\nAlso, Nobuhiro Watsuki usually creates his characters [based on historical\nfigures, or figures from other\nanime/manga](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobuhiro_Watsuki#Real-\nworld_inspirations):\n\n> Watsuki bases many of his characters on historical figures, characters from\n> other manga/anime, and video games series. For example, Himura Kenshin was\n> based on [Kawakami Gensai](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kawakami_Gensai),\n> one of the [Four Hitokiri of the\n> Bakumatsu](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Hitokiri_of_the_Bakumatsu).\n\n[Watsuki also mentored Eiichiro\nOda](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobuhiro_Watsuki#Notable_assistants), the\ncreator of One Piece. So Oda's creations might have been a bit influenced by\nWatsuki, making Zoro somewhat resembling Kenshin.\n\n> Nobuhiro Watsuki is known for mentoring several manga artists who eventually\n> got serialized. For a while there was a time when the most popular Jump\n> manga authors were all his assistants.\n>\n> * Eiichiro Oda - creator of One Piece\n>\n\nSources: [Nobuhiro Watsuki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobuhiro_Watsuki),\n[Eiichiro Oda](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eiichiro_Oda)\n\n", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-22T07:23:24.780", "id": "3500", "last_activity_date": "2015-05-13T16:24:28.503", "last_edit_date": "2020-06-17T09:17:53.303", "last_editor_user_id": "-1", "owner_user_id": "1458", "parent_id": "3470", "post_type": "answer", "score": 10 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nI strongly believe that Pannya is not a real species. It is likely a\n[RidiculouslyCuteCritter](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RidiculouslyCuteCritter)\nadded as a\n[SeriesMascot](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SeriesMascot),\npossibly for the purpose of making the series more recognizable.\n\nTake note at how Pannya always appears hanging on the characters in the title\nof the series.\n\n\n\n\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-21T04:49:15.890", "id": "3476", "last_activity_date": "2013-04-21T04:49:15.890", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "1398", "parent_id": "3471", "post_type": "answer", "score": 1 } ]

[]

[ { "body": "\n\nHer father was never really shown. However, they are at least alive, as Chiyo\ntalks to them when she comes home once.\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-21T11:35:17.650", "id": "3481", "last_activity_date": "2013-04-21T11:35:17.650", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "122", "parent_id": "3473", "post_type": "answer", "score": 4 }, { "body": "\n\nAccording [here](http://azumanga.wikia.com/wiki/Chiyo-chichi),\n\n> The whereabouts and identity of Chiyo's real father, (and mother for that\n> matter) are unknown. (It shown in the anime that they are alive, and in the\n> manga Chiyo is seen waking her parents up at her house, but they are never\n> seen or heard)\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-22T00:25:39.703", "id": "3495", "last_activity_date": "2013-04-22T00:25:39.703", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "88", "parent_id": "3473", "post_type": "answer", "score": 2 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nYes, _huge_ liberties were taken with this phrase. The English phrase roughly\ncorresponds to: \"Can you think up a group of caged animals who are dreaming of\nhandling fictional caged animals?\"\n\nThe Japanese one, however, is more or less the following:\n\n> 斜め七十七度の並びで泣く泣く嘶くナナハン七台難なく並べて長眺め\n>\n> _Naname nanajyuunana-do no narabi de nakunaku inanaku nanahan nanadai\n> nannaku narabete naganagame._\n\nAnd Black Hanekawa's kitty version is something like\n\n> にゃにゃめにゃにゃじゅうにゃにゃどのにゃらびでにゃくにゃくいにゃにゃくにゃにゃはんにゃにゃだいにゃんにゃくにゃらべてにゃがにゃがめ\n>\n> _Nyanyame nyanyajyuunyanya-do no nyarabi de nyakunyaku inyanyaku nyanyahan\n> nyanyadai nyanynaku nyarabete nyaganyagame._\n\nNow, **very** roughly, this translates into English as something like...\n\n> I have been watching these seven 750cc motorcycles ([\n> _nanahan_](https://i.stack.imgur.com/W7XeH.jpg)) which are noisy like\n> horses, and are placed beautifully at an angle of 77°.\n\nIt's very clear the English and Japanese tongue-twisters are nowhere close in\nmeaning. What I _can_ say about why they were chosen is that the English one\nplays off the sound _mee_ as _mew_ , the sound of a kitten meowing; the\nJapanese one plays off _na_ as _nya_ or _nyan_ , a common way of making\nonomatopoeia for a cat's meow.\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-21T00:47:57.890", "id": "3475", "last_activity_date": "2021-09-30T16:25:51.220", "last_edit_date": "2021-09-30T16:25:51.220", "last_editor_user_id": "28711", "owner_user_id": "274", "parent_id": "3474", "post_type": "answer", "score": 23 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nAs @nhahtdh said, this is very broad, but I'll try give an overview.\n\n**Shoujo** contains a lot of flowery imagery and tends to emphasise the\nfigures of genders - broad, manly shoulders for guys; short,slim, long-legged\ngirls. Many of the female characters have huge eyes with eyelashes that stand\nout. Usually, colors used in shoujo are lighter. Many times, colors like pink,\nlight brown, yellow and light blue are used.\n\n\n\n**Shounen** art is usually sharper and more defined than shoujo art.\nObviously, there will be more action sequences with many dynamic angles and\nposes. Shounen tends to use more darker colors such as black and dark blue.\n\n\n\n**Josei** characters are more realistically proportioned than the exaggerated\nshoujo artwork.\n\n\n\n**Seinen** manga is a similar contrast from shounen, being more realistically\nproportioned. As seinen caters for the older males, a lot of seinen targeted\nmaterial is ecchi or H, so this can vary quite a bit.\n\n\n\nWithin genres, styles can change also. **4koma** manga consists of 4 panels\nand is usually comedy-oriented. Because of the lack of space, usually the\nartists prefer to use simpler-designed characters. This is similar to many\ncomedy-based shows that concentrate on the jokes rather than detailed, deep\ncharacters.\n\n\n\nObviously, the manga is **very** much artist-dependent, but I hope this gives\na rough outline.\n\nI think it's worth noting that sometimes shows can parody the art styles of\nother genres - like this scene from _Kore wa zombie desu ka?_ with a\nstereotypical shoujo scene.\n\n\n\n[Reference - Shounen Vs Shoujo Art Styles](http://anime.wuxiaedge.com/art-of-\nanime-looking-at-shonen-and-shojo-drawing-styles/)\n\n", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-21T11:50:13.357", "id": "3483", "last_activity_date": "2014-04-07T05:14:04.663", "last_edit_date": "2014-04-07T05:14:04.663", "last_editor_user_id": "1908", "owner_user_id": "1530", "parent_id": "3477", "post_type": "answer", "score": 12 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nFrom what I could find...\n\n * [Tite Kubo](http://bleach.wikia.com/wiki/Tite_Kubo), creator of Bleach only went to high school and he only started to take art seriously around [age 17](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tite_Kubo).\n * [Hiro Mashima](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiro_Mashima), creator of Fairy Tail also didn't have any formal art training.\n * [Nobuhiro Watsuki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobuhiro_Watsuki), creator of Kenshin.\n * [Osamu Tezuka](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osamu_Tezuka), creator of Astro Boy.\n * [Eiichiro Oda](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eiichiro_Oda), creator of One Piece _(who was also a college dropout)_.\n\nAnd there are many [others](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hayao_Miyazaki) but\nif you [check](http://omu.kuiki.net/faculty.shtml)\n[around](http://www.myanimediary.com/#!about1/c6fl) you can see that anyone\ndoing anything in anime today was largely self taught. Most people only\n[go](http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_education_and_training_is_required_to_become_a_mangaka_artist)\nto school to learn the theory and get a degree or certification. Having a\ndegree makes you more likely to get a job in certain industries. _(I suppose)_\n\nTruth be told, most of them went to art school but before you jump to\nassumptions, have you ever heard the term in college, **_'you read for your\ndegree'_**. If you haven't it means that simply going to school isn't enough,\nyou have to go the extra mile and do the work. Artists like Akira Toriyama and\nKishimoto were drawing years before that. Granted that might make you feel\ndismayed when starting but with determination anyone can do it. Like all\nskills, natural or not, they have to be nurtured.\n\n> [..You have to be confident to\n> draw..](http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_education_and_training_is_required_to_become_a_mangaka_artist)\n\nAs it relates to everything, not just art and anime, we as humans like to base\nwhat we want to do on the success of others but that can only get you so far\nwhen starting out. Just try something for yourself, its nice to have\ninfluences but If you plan to take it seriously you will have to be original\namongst other things. I leave you with this\n[comic](http://zenpencils.com/comic/90-ira-glass-advice-for-beginners/).\n\n\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-21T20:50:22.897", "id": "3490", "last_activity_date": "2013-04-22T10:51:59.277", "last_edit_date": "2013-04-22T10:51:59.277", "last_editor_user_id": "1528", "owner_user_id": "1528", "parent_id": "3489", "post_type": "answer", "score": 17 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nAccording to both [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darker_than_Black)\nand\n[MyAnimeList](http://myanimelist.net/anime/6573/Darker_than_Black%3a_Ryuusei_no_Gemini),\nthere has not been any sequel produced to Darker than Black: Ryuusei no\nGemini. There is a 4 episode OVA prequel, produced after Gemini, [Darker than\nBlack: Kuro no Keiyakusha\nGaiden](http://myanimelist.net/anime/7338/Darker_than_Black%3a_Kuro_no_Keiyakusha_Gaiden),\nwhich fills in the gap between the first and second season.\n\nThere is also no continuation in any other form. Darker than Black was\noriginally produced as an anime. There was a [short manga\nadaptation](http://myanimelist.net/manga/1016/Darker_than_Black), but it\nreally only adapted the first season of the anime. There was, however, an\n[original\nmanga](http://myanimelist.net/manga/14975/Darker_than_Black%3a_Shikkoku_no_Hana)\ncontinuation of that manga series, titled Darker than Black: Shikkoku no Hana.\nIt is not an adaptation of Ryuusei no Gemini, but replaces Gemini completely.\n\nTo the best of my knowledge, there have not been any further announcements of\nother continuations of the franchise, and the most recent activity was over 2\nyears ago. It's certainly still possible that they intend to produce another\nseries, but there is no news confirming any such intentions so it seems\nunlikely.\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-21T23:41:13.883", "id": "3492", "last_activity_date": "2013-04-21T23:41:13.883", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "24", "parent_id": "3491", "post_type": "answer", "score": 8 }, { "body": "\n\nIt doesn't look like there will be a new continuation to Gemini, but there's a\nlot of talk online about a third season which is a prequel that takes place in\nSouth America during the Heaven's Gate incident.\n\nAs to your other questions, they are all answered in the anime. The first\nseason provides a good foundation for understanding the series, but in order\nto understand the conclusion for Gemini, you need to pay attention to the\ndialogues in the OVAs and then you should probably re-watch Gemini, and then\nyour questions should be answered. As opposed to popular criticism, the series\nanswers many of the questions most people end up having, which you might have\nas well. Basically, imagine that the Dolls are like a flood like in the\npopular story of Noah's Arc. They are constantly evolving (notice how much Yin\nchanges) and are sent to replace humans by a higher being (notice Heaven's\nGate and Hell's Gate, those weren't used just because they sound cool).\n\nContractors are like failed Dolls. They are rational like Dolls, but too full\nof emotions like humans. That is why Yin, who turned out to be the most\nevolved Doll, was trying to fulfill this purpose of replacing humans. None of\nthis is outright told to you, it's all implied from specific conversations\n(most of which are in the OVA, especially the last 10 minutes or so of the\nlast episode, and the second season, not the first).\n\nAs to who the boy is, if you note in the second season you will find out that\nthe red-haired girl is a clone to her twin brother who is a contractor. The\nonly thing is that his clones aren't perfect, such as she was cloned as a girl\nand not a boy. The boy that appears at the end is a clone of Yin (notice it's\nnot perfect clone since it's a boy) which is the spawn of the new world, which\nis why they wanted the boy to start off with.\n\nThis development of Dolls replacing humans as the next form of evolution in\nhumankind's history is similar to Elfin Lied, where people are to be replaced\nby the creatures in the show, and Guilty Crown, where the next form of\nevolution for humans is an immortal, crystal-like form where the consciousness\nand memories of humans will reside.\n\nThere's more to be explained, but I haven't seen the series in a while so I\njust recommend re-watching it, and just remember that most of your questions\nwill be answered. Just pay attention to the conversations held and not so much\nall the action scenes. PS: I'm pretty sure the manga Darker than Black:\nShikkoku no Hana is set after season one and before the OVA, it's not a\nreplacement of Gemini. Also, you could read it because they talk a little\nabout the evolution of the Dolls in the manga for a bit.\n\n", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-03-27T06:16:42.007", "id": "8307", "last_activity_date": "2016-12-07T13:23:06.360", "last_edit_date": "2016-12-07T13:23:06.360", "last_editor_user_id": "8486", "owner_user_id": "4290", "parent_id": "3491", "post_type": "answer", "score": 2 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nIf you are referring to the last episode of the anime (i.e. episode 52):\n\n> After Miaka uses up her three wishes, Suzaku grants her wish that she and\n> Tamahome are together forever. But, this wish cannot be completely granted\n> because it goes against the rule that characters in _The Universe of the\n> Four Gods_ cannot be together with people from the real world. Suzaku brings\n> Tamahome into the real world as a separate being named Taka.\n\nThis is further expanded on and fully resolved in the OVA (and manga):\n\n> Taka doesn't have his memories as Tamahome because Suzaku sealed them in a\n> duplicate figure called 'Tamahome' in _The Universe of the Four Gods_. At\n> the end of the OVA, Taka and the 'Tamahome' from inside the book merge into\n> the final 'Taka', who now has all of the memories from the original Fushigi\n> Yugi Series.\n\nAnd that's how Tamahome comes out of _The Universe of the Four Gods_\n\n", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-05-02T13:04:25.537", "id": "3642", "last_activity_date": "2013-05-03T11:34:23.627", "last_edit_date": "2013-05-03T11:34:23.627", "last_editor_user_id": "1724", "owner_user_id": "1724", "parent_id": "3498", "post_type": "answer", "score": 2 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nI'm **not sure if Neji was exactly surprised, or if it was more of a\nrealisation** of the how the technique worked and of its potential. But\nanyway, my take is that this is something like a \"minor plot hole\". I say this\nbecause although, as you said, Naruto performed this jutsu in his fight\nagainst Kiba, no one seemed to give any attention to it. **In that fight** ,\n**Naruto's accomplishment** (somewhat) was the fact the he mastered **the\nHenge no Jutsu**.\n\nIn the beginning of the fight, Kiba remembers watching Naruto at the academy\ntrying to perform Henge no Jutsu and completely failing it. Then, during the\nfight, Naruto is able to transform into Akamaru, and that seems to be the main\nfocus of the battle. This flashback and transformation are shown in chapter\n75, called \"Naruto's Growth\". **In this chapter** , although everyone sees the\nKage Bunshin no Jutsu, **only Shikamaru seems to notice that it is Kage\nBunshin no Jutsu**. He is the only one that makes a remark about the\ncombination of this jutsu and the Henge no Jutsu. Plus, in this scene, **Neji\ndoes not have his Byakugan activated** , a relevant piece of information for\nthe point I'm about to make.\n\nNaruto's fight with Neji begins in chapter 100. In this chapter, Naruto begins\nby realising he cannot get near Neji to attack him, so he'll have to attack\nfrom a distance, and thus he creates some clones with **Kage Bunshin no\nJutsu**. Here, this technique **plays a central part in the actions about to\noccur** , which is accentuated by the fact that **shinobi in the audience**\n(unlike what happened in Naruto's fight against Kiba) **take notice of the\nfact that Naruto is able to use a Jounin level jutsu**. Plus, here **Neji has\nhis Byakugan activated** , which means he can **see chakra flow and tenketsu**\nand all that. Possibly, this was the **first time he laid eyes upon such a\ntechnique** with his Byakugan. I say this because, unlike what you say in your\nquestion, the **Kage Bunshin no Jutsu is not such a popular technique** ,\ntaking into account that **it is a[forbidden\njutsu](https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/2145/whats-the-difference-\nbetween-kage-bunshin-no-jutsu-and-taj-kage-bunshin-no-jut?rq=1)**. It may be\nused often in the battlefield, but back then, Neji would probably never have\nseen it in action.\n\nNeji's realisation that it is Kage Bunshin no Jutsu is used to **make the\nreader understand** (or to remind him, since I cannot recall if it was\nexplained before) **the difference between this jutsu and the Bunshin no Jutsu\nin terms of chakra flow** and its physical properties. Also, **strategically**\n, the fact that Neji understands this is essential, which leads him to, after\nbeing surprised, state that **\"In the end, there's only one true body\"**.\n\n", "comment_count": 4, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-22T10:32:06.273", "id": "3503", "last_activity_date": "2015-06-03T18:34:59.713", "last_edit_date": "2017-04-13T12:54:49.090", "last_editor_user_id": "-1", "owner_user_id": "49", "parent_id": "3501", "post_type": "answer", "score": 24 }, { "body": "\n\nI think he was surprised to see Naruto's intellect that he had put equal\nchakra in each body so that Neji's eye cannot see the real one.\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2017-07-01T08:57:08.893", "id": "41130", "last_activity_date": "2017-11-17T15:06:45.673", "last_edit_date": "2017-11-17T15:06:45.673", "last_editor_user_id": "11083", "owner_user_id": "33375", "parent_id": "3501", "post_type": "answer", "score": 2 }, { "body": "\n\nKage bunshin isnt a popular jutsu..its actually one of the lesser known jutsus\nbecause it requires high level of chakra and not everyone can do it..even most\njonins dont prefer doing it unless they go on jnfiltration or spying mission.\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2017-11-14T04:00:45.630", "id": "43323", "last_activity_date": "2017-11-14T04:00:45.630", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "36608", "parent_id": "3501", "post_type": "answer", "score": 0 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nIt's most likely a matter of different character designers over the different\ngenerations of the franchise. The original design was created by [Game Freak's\n(original game's designers) character development team and finalized by artist\nKen Sugimori](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pikachu#Concept_and_design). The\n[games themselves had changes in Pikachu's\ndesigns](http://bulbanews.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Pok%C3%A9mon_sprites,_art_evolve_over_the_years),\nwhich were in turn mirrored by the anime:\n\n \"Green\nand Red\", 1996\n\n \"Blue\",\n1996\n\n \"Yellow\",\n1998\n\n \"Gold\",\n1999\n\n \"Ruby and\nSapphire\", 2002\n\n \"Diamond\nand Pearl\", 2006\n\n\n\"Platinum\", 2008\n\n\n\"HeartGold and SoulSilver\", 2009\n\nKen Sugimori is also one of the character designers for the first [TV series\nfrom 1997](http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=270). In\n2002, [Pokemon\nAdvance](http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=1873) had\nSayuri Ichiishi as the character designer. And in 2006, [Pocket\nMonsters](http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=6836) and\n2010's [Black and\nWhite](http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=11685) has\nToshiya Yamada in charge of character designs.\n\n from the\n\"Advance\" generation\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-23T01:52:44.377", "id": "3506", "last_activity_date": "2013-04-23T01:52:44.377", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "91", "parent_id": "3505", "post_type": "answer", "score": 43 }, { "body": "\n\nI wouldn't say it's Pikachu losing weight but a reasonable design alteration.\nThe head can move realistically instead of just being glued to the body, the\nfeet are better defined, and the arms are more expressive. Even the ears have\nsome flexibility. If anything, the tail looks bigger.\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-03-08T06:49:21.570", "id": "7916", "last_activity_date": "2014-03-08T06:49:21.570", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "4031", "parent_id": "3505", "post_type": "answer", "score": 1 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nAs far as I could find, all 3 of the terms are unisex. These terms are rarely\nused for males and mostly used for female characters.\n\n> [**Tsundere**](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsundere) is a Japanese\n> character development process that describes a person who is initially cold\n> and even hostile towards another person before gradually showing **his or\n> her** warm side over time.\n>\n> [**Yandere**](http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/yandere) A common term in otaku\n> fandom, a yandere is a person **(usually female)** romantically obsessed\n> with someone to the point of using violent means to get them in their arms.\n> Often seen with a sharp weapon and a psychotic grin.\n>\n> [**Kuudere**](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuudere#K) A character type,\n> mostly of a female character, who is normally cold and unassuming but later\n> reveals a softer and kinder side. See Tsundere.\n\n", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-23T12:45:01.450", "id": "3511", "last_activity_date": "2013-04-24T02:19:57.893", "last_edit_date": "2020-06-17T09:17:53.303", "last_editor_user_id": "-1", "owner_user_id": "1458", "parent_id": "3508", "post_type": "answer", "score": 12 }, { "body": "\n\nThe _dere_ family along with _tsundere_ (unapproachable outside, sweet\ninside), yandere (sweet outside, crazy inside) _kuudere_ (cold outside, sweet\ninside), and _dandere_ (asocial outside, sweet inside).\n\nAll of these terms are used to describe traits, rather than the characters\nthemselves, so they are used asexually. However, because the terms (most\nprominently with tsundere, since it is the most popular trope of the family)\nare attributed mostly to female characters, people usually attribute the terms\nas female traits.\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-23T13:00:38.407", "id": "3512", "last_activity_date": "2013-04-24T08:21:36.880", "last_edit_date": "2013-04-24T08:21:36.880", "last_editor_user_id": "1578", "owner_user_id": "63", "parent_id": "3508", "post_type": "answer", "score": 13 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nThe chakra is equally divided between all the shadow clones, so when one dies\nor disappears, the original will get the chakra they had left back (with all\ntheir memories). It's another thing with jutsus, when he generates a Rasengan,\nfor instance, it is used, it is there. When the shadow clone then disappears,\nthe jutsu is released and it will disappear to.\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-23T12:39:54.100", "id": "3510", "last_activity_date": "2013-04-23T12:39:54.100", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "47", "parent_id": "3509", "post_type": "answer", "score": 9 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nI think Tsukasa Hiiragi falls under [The\nDitz](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheDitz) character\nclassification since she's not too fool to be [The\nFool](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheFool).\n\n> The Ditz is a character whose defining characteristic is profound stupidity.\n> Female ditzes tend to be sweet and naive, while male ditzes tend to be\n> oafish but lovable. The Ditz is written to appear unintentionally funny. In\n> drama series, he or she provides comic relief.\n\nI think Tsukasa's character doesn't fall into any of the [deredere\nclassifications](http://www.bishoujoproject.com/classifying-heroine-types-\ndere-dere-tsundere-yandere-kudere/) because first of all, `deredere` means\n`lovestruck` and she doesn't have any love interest in the anime.\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-24T08:56:18.320", "id": "3517", "last_activity_date": "2013-04-24T08:56:18.320", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "88", "parent_id": "3514", "post_type": "answer", "score": 2 }, { "body": "\n\nYou are probably looking for the term **dojikko** for Tsukasa:\n\n> Dojikko is Japanese for clumsy with the feminine suffix \"-ko\" added on the\n> end. The attraction is not limited to Japan, the concept of a Cute Clumsy\n> Girl has worldwide appeal, mainly because her clumsiness makes her more\n> approachable. The main difference is that in the West a Cute Clumsy Girl is\n> probably supposed to make the audience chuckle, while Dojikkos tend towards\n> making them say, \"Awwww! She's so cute!\"\n\nSource: [TVTropes article on\ndojikko](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Dojikko)\n\nAlso, Kagami is not really a tsundere, unless you think she is in love with\nKonata, which some fans really do seem to support. She should probably be\nclassified as the **tsukkomi** (straight man) in **manzai** , where Konata is\nusually the **boke** :\n\n> Called manzai in Japanese, this is a kind of Straight Man and Wise Guy duo,\n> but it's also the interaction between two characters who constantly play off\n> each other. A boke's job is to set up the gag by telling a story or\n> explaining a fact which is obviously false (making him an idiot) or flawed\n> (making him sneaky). The tsukkomi is, roughly, the Straight Man who has to\n> correct him, often physically.\n\nSource: [TVTropes article on\nmanzai](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BokeAndTsukkomiRoutine)\n\nEdit: Since dojikko didn't seem to be a proper answer, I looked up more\ncharacter types on Japanese websites and think I found exactly what you're\nlooking for. It actually fits in really well with my explanation of manzai\nabove. My new answer is that Tsukasa is a **tennen boke** (natural boke, also\ntranslated as natural airhead):\n\n> A tennen boke is an eccentric person who has exceptional talent in being a\n> natural boke. Even though a person can be called a tennen boke, there is no\n> such term as tennen tsukkomi. In manzai, the boke deliberately entices both\n> the tsukkomi and the audience's laughter by executing a calculated line.\n> However, the tennen boke describes someone who naturally (without any\n> preparation or purpose) says boke-like things.\n>\n> It can also be called simply \"tennen\" or \"tennen kyara\" (tennen character).\n\nSource: Translated from the [Japanese Wikipedia article on tennen\nboke](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%A4%A9%E7%84%B6%E3%83%9C%E3%82%B1)\n\nSo basically, a boke is someone who says dumb things on purpose in order to\nanger the tsukkomi and make other people laugh. However, a tennen boke says\nthe same dumb things without realizing they are actually dumb.\n\n", "comment_count": 5, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-24T16:20:55.637", "id": "3519", "last_activity_date": "2013-05-27T23:16:09.117", "last_edit_date": "2013-05-27T23:16:09.117", "last_editor_user_id": "107", "owner_user_id": "107", "parent_id": "3514", "post_type": "answer", "score": 13 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nIt's just a suffix that makes the name a little more cute, it's roughly the\nsame as having a friend called, I don't know, Sam, and calling him \"Sammy\".\n\nIt is also similar to adding \"-chan\" to the name. I guess Konata does that\npartly to annoy Kagami a little.\n\nIn case you're wondering, the name Kagami means \"mirror\".\n\n", "comment_count": 8, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-24T08:37:25.197", "id": "3516", "last_activity_date": "2013-04-24T08:37:25.197", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "111", "parent_id": "3515", "post_type": "answer", "score": 9 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nTezuka's 1949 manga,\n[Metropolis](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolis_%28manga%29), features\nMichi, a synthesised human with a _gender switch_ which can turn it from a boy\ninto a girl and vice versa which is used as a plot device.\n\n[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/cOxZ6.jpg)\n\nTezuka's 1953 manga, [Ribbon no\nKishi](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Knight) (Princess Knight)\nfeatures a reverse trap with a girl pretending to be a guy:\n\n> Taking place in a medieval European-like fairy-tale setting, Princess Knight\n> is the story of young Princess Sapphire who must pretend to be a male prince\n> so she can inherit the throne (as women are not eligible to do so). This\n> deception begins as soon as she is born, as her father the King announces\n> his baby is a boy instead of a girl. The reason for this is that the next-\n> in-line to the throne, Duke Duralumon, is an evil man who would repress the\n> people if he were to become king, and because of this the King will go to\n> any length to prevent him from taking over.\n\nSimilarly, [The Rose of\nVersailles](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rose_of_Versailles) (1972) is\nanother that has a girl, pretending to be a guy, Oscar François de Jarjayes.\n\nFor a \"straight\" trap, 1973's _Ara Waga Tono!_ appears to be the first to fit\nthe bill.\n\n\n\n> This is a slapstick romance, where girls and boys clash in a ‘modern’ co-ed\n> high school. There is a lot of romantic intrigue, quite a bit of gender-\n> bending and some teenage angst when adults Just Don’t Understand. (source:\n> goldbird)\n\nThen there's 1974's _[Oira\nSukeban](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oira_Sukeban)_ :\n\n> Oira Sukeban (おいら女蛮?), sometimes called Sukeban Boy, is a Japanese manga\n> created by Go Nagai in 1974. It is a comedy with several erotic touches,\n> where the protagonist Banji Suke (or Sukeban) has to disguise himself as a\n> girl in order to be able to attend an all-female school. As Suke Ban is a\n> rebellious boy, this situation creates several comedic troubles.\n>\n> The manga was adapted to an OVA in 1992 and was released by ADV Films in the\n> US under the name Delinquent in Drag.\n\n\n\nBut my guess is that the trope really took off only after the publication and\nairing of [Ranma ½](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ranma_%C2%BD) in the late\n80s.\n\n> The story revolves around a 16-year old boy named Ranma Saotome who was\n> trained from early childhood in martial arts. As a result of an accident\n> during a training journey, he is cursed to become a girl when splashed with\n> cold water, while hot water changes him back into a boy.\n>\n> Ranma ½ had a comedic formula and a sex changing main character, who often\n> willfully changes into a girl to advance his goals. The series also contains\n> many other characters, whose intricate relationships with each other,\n> unusual characteristics and eccentric personalities drive most of the\n> stories. Although the characters and their relationships are complicated,\n> they rarely change once the characters are firmly introduced and settled\n> into the series.\n\n", "comment_count": 3, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-05-01T06:01:10.197", "id": "3632", "last_activity_date": "2013-05-30T08:11:10.420", "last_edit_date": "2020-06-17T09:17:53.303", "last_editor_user_id": "-1", "owner_user_id": "247", "parent_id": "3520", "post_type": "answer", "score": 16 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nIt always reminded me of [Di Gi\nCharat](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Di_Gi_Charat) (\"Dejiko\") but I don't have\nany evidence that this was intentional. Visually they're pretty similar, and\nboth are sort of used as mascots (Di Gi Charat being the mascot for the\nBroccoli gaming company). They also both append random words to the end of\ntheir sentences (e.g. \"purin\"). Additionally, according to Wikipedia:\n\n> An animated Dejiko and her sidekick Gema first appeared on in a television\n> advertisement for Gamers, set to the store's theme song, **Welcome!** by\n> Hiroko Kato\n\n\n\nBut again, don't know any official source that says one way or another about\nthe similarity.\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-24T20:19:17.913", "id": "3522", "last_activity_date": "2013-04-24T21:00:58.323", "last_edit_date": "2013-04-24T21:00:58.323", "last_editor_user_id": "91", "owner_user_id": "91", "parent_id": "3521", "post_type": "answer", "score": 8 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nThe reason why the author uses the different languages with different groups\nis because he feels that will attach uniqueness to that group. In one of his\ninterviews I have read, he stresses that for him, characters are very\nimportant and he draws the characters first.\n\nIn his interview in Germany, when he was asked the same question he replied as\nbelow\n\n> \"As for the Arrancar, I think that Spanish sounds very passionate and a\n> little erotic, so it matches their wild lifestyle. German sounds cold, harsh\n> and methodic, something that matches the straight-forward methods of the\n> Quincys. I would also like to use French at some point, because it sounds\n> very elegant. But I can't figure out a good way to include it into the\n> story.\"\n\nSo I believe, as I said before, that it is to associate some sort of\nuniqueness to the characters belonging to a particular group.\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-25T05:44:31.627", "id": "3528", "last_activity_date": "2016-12-04T07:53:18.303", "last_edit_date": "2016-12-04T07:53:18.303", "last_editor_user_id": "8486", "owner_user_id": "185", "parent_id": "3523", "post_type": "answer", "score": 15 }, { "body": "\n\nYes i agree. And moreover use of these dialects adds another mysterious aspect\ninto the origin of these different groups and denominations. Quincies and\nBounts are more german oriented. Arrancars have more latin hispanic or spanish\ndialect. That is why i always felt that Chad had some connection to Hollows\nbecause of his Abuelo story and his attack names. Shinigamis as a whole are\ndeeply connected to Japanaese culture and dialect.\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "creation_date": "2019-11-06T09:09:15.287", "id": "55790", "last_activity_date": "2019-11-06T09:09:15.287", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "50664", "parent_id": "3523", "post_type": "answer", "score": 0 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nIn the manga, Hide says:\n\n\n\nWhich roughly translates to \"but doesn't that sound a bit untimely?\" Which\nprobably refers to the fact that flowers lead short lives. Perhaps drawing\nindirectly from what Lord Capulet says in _Romeo and Juliet_?\n\n> \"Who said death lies on her like an untimely frost upon the sweetest flower\n> of all the field?\"\n\nLuckily, the dad suggests: \n\n\"Fruit would be better.\" Perhaps referring to the kittens being young, while\nkeeping with flower subject.\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-05-28T04:55:21.653", "id": "3933", "last_activity_date": "2013-05-28T04:55:21.653", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "63", "parent_id": "3524", "post_type": "answer", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nKonata probably called Shiraishi as Sebastian (reasoning that he looked like a\nsterotypical butler) because a lot of anime butlers are named as Sebastian. So\nthe name Sebastian is probably connoted to the word butler for an otaku. And\nshe is probably referring to the following butlers named Sebastian:\n\n * [Black Butler](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Butler)'s [Sebastian Michaelis](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Black_Butler_characters#Sebastian_Michaelis)\n * Tekken's [Sebastian](http://tekken.wikia.com/wiki/Sebastian)\n * [Penguin Musume Heart](http://www.anime-planet.com/characters/sebastian-penguin-musume-heart)'s Sebastian\n * [Inukami!](http://www.anime-planet.com/characters/sebastian-inukami)'s Sebastian\n * [Phi Brain Kami no Puzzle](http://www.anime-planet.com/characters/sebastian-phi-brain-kami-no-puzzle)'s Sebastian\n * [Ixion Saga: Dimension Transfer](http://www.anime-planet.com/characters/sebastian-ixion-saga-dimension-transfer)'s Sebastian\n * [Dokidoki Pretty Cure](http://www.anime-planet.com/characters/sebastian-dokidoki-pretty-cure)'s Sebastian\n\n", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-25T06:41:19.117", "id": "3529", "last_activity_date": "2013-04-25T07:30:18.143", "last_edit_date": "2013-04-25T07:30:18.143", "last_editor_user_id": "88", "owner_user_id": "88", "parent_id": "3527", "post_type": "answer", "score": 5 }, { "body": "\n\nSeemingly that particular scene is referring to _Mari Mite_ , or _Maria-sama\nga Miteru_ as Konata was parodying one of the main characters - Sachiko\nOgasawara.\n\n[Reference](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=lbmwdhnajlffm6hvwgcl1ya5&page=0)\n\nBut in general, Sebastian is a stereotypical name for a butler in anime, and\nthis fact is often used in comedic scenes involving them:\n\nIn _Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei_ , Fukka insists on calling the Itoshiki\nfamilies' butler Sebastian, even though that's not his name. Similar scenes\noccur in _Junjou Romantica_ , _Paradise Kiss_ and _Mayoi Neko Overrun_ where\nbutlers have the name forced upon them.\n\nIt occurs in Western media too, although Jeeves tends to be the name of\nchoice, and appears in media over here in a similar sense. This first occurred\nin P.G. Woodhouses' short stories and novels and inspired similar characters.\nPresumably, the anime trope surfaced in a similar fashion.\n\nIn P.G. Woodhouses' stories, there is also a butler called Sebastian Beach,\nthis could be just a coincidence though.\n\nWhen I was looking information up on this, _Black Butler_ and its Sebastian\nMichaelis kept cropping up, the name Sebastian here serves two purposes - the\nstereotypical butler and also sharing the name with a historic figure\n<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sebastian_Michaeli>\n\n", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-25T09:59:52.320", "id": "3532", "last_activity_date": "2021-07-13T18:55:10.320", "last_edit_date": "2021-07-13T18:55:10.320", "last_editor_user_id": "2516", "owner_user_id": "1530", "parent_id": "3527", "post_type": "answer", "score": 13 }, { "body": "\n\nIn the 1974 anime Alps no Shoujo no Heidi the Butler is called Sebastian. I\nguess it all started there, but it might go back even further.\n\nAnime featuring a butler called Sebastian (even though that might not be their\nreal name):\n\n * 1974, Alps no Shoujo no Heidi\n * 1998, Princess Nine: Kisaragi Joshikou Yakyuubu\n * 1999, To Heart\n * 2005, Paradise Kiss\n * 2005, Trinity Blood\n * 2006, Inukami!\n * 2007, Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei\n * 2008, Penguin Musume Heart\n * 2008, Kuroshitsuji\n * 2010, Mayoi Neko Overrun!\n * 2011, Phi Brain: Kami no Puzzl\n * 2012, Ixion Saga DT\n * 2013, Dokidoki! Precure\n * 2015, Overlord (though, he's called \"Sebas Tian\", making fun of the trope)\n * 2020, Hachi-nan tte, Sore wa Nai deshou!\n * 2021, I-Chu: Halfway Through the Idol\n\n..and many more.\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "creation_date": "2021-07-17T22:41:22.443", "id": "64231", "last_activity_date": "2021-07-17T22:41:22.443", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "22562", "parent_id": "3527", "post_type": "answer", "score": 1 }, { "body": "\n\nThat particular reference was to Daisuke Ono, who was the voice actor of the\nSebastian butler in Black Butler. Daisuke plays himself in Lucky Star. There\nhave been a crap-ton of Sebas-chans, though, which makes for a running gag.\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "creation_date": "2021-07-30T08:44:18.540", "id": "65308", "last_activity_date": "2021-07-30T08:44:18.540", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "61775", "parent_id": "3527", "post_type": "answer", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nYes, it's very likely because of the popularity of\n_[puroresu](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puroresu)_ (wrestling) in Japan.\n[Antonio Inoki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_Inoki) is credited with\nmaking wrestling popular in the country and he himself was impressed with and\ninspired by the amateur wrestling style of [Karl\nGotch](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Gotch) (nicknamed _Kami-sama_ ) who\nhad become famous in Japan. The German suplex was Gotch's signature finishing\nmove.\n\n\n\nThere's a [compilation of Gotch's\nmoves](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZqKEVTGZPc) on YouTube.\n\n", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-25T20:24:43.097", "id": "3535", "last_activity_date": "2013-04-25T20:24:43.097", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "247", "parent_id": "3531", "post_type": "answer", "score": 9 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nThere's a few things in play here.\n\n> Recall that in the latter half of the series, Greed shares his body with\n> Ling, his \"host\".\n\nGreed is often forced to share control of his body as a result; his host is a\nfar superior fighter against certain opponents later in the series. However,\nhis host has no control over the hardening of the shield. So, Greed puts the\nshield on, then lets his host take over (since he is a superior warrior).\nLikely the reason Greed doesn't fully cover his host is that it will reduce\nhis speed and agility. (When fighting the \"nameless mooks\", the advanced\ncombat abilities are not needed, so Greed maintains full control.)\n\nRelated to the above point, later in the series, the shield may symbolize how\nmuch of the body Greed is actually controlling. Since Greed's host is usually\nin control in a fight, his face being composed of skin may represent this.\n\nIt's also worthy of note that parts of the body not covered by the shield are\nable to heal themselves.\n\nAnd the last point is one of personality; Greed is cocky and vain, and likes\npeople to see him as he is. Since his shield turns his face into something\nmore robotic and toothed, he prefers not to use it.\n\n> Sorry to let you down, but I've been holding back. [The complete Ultimate\n> Shield] obscures my handsome face, so I try not to wear it that much.\n>\n> — Greed, _Brotherhood_ episode 13, 18:33\n\n\n\n", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-25T17:50:56.827", "id": "3534", "last_activity_date": "2013-04-25T17:50:56.827", "last_edit_date": "2020-06-17T09:17:53.303", "last_editor_user_id": "-1", "owner_user_id": "274", "parent_id": "3533", "post_type": "answer", "score": 22 }, { "body": "\n\nthere is actually no excuse 1 they never say that his armor slows him down, if\nanything it should increase his speed because in his armored form he should be\nfar stronger and thefore naturally faster, for 2 greed is greed he isn't\nstupid. later on when fighting bradley outside central greed would have known\nabout bradley's eye and should have fully encased lin's body and they never\nonce say that he can't do so while letting lin take control.\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2017-06-05T09:00:30.137", "id": "40716", "last_activity_date": "2017-06-05T09:00:30.137", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "4902", "parent_id": "3533", "post_type": "answer", "score": -1 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nStudents graduating from the academy are given an additional test by their\nJonin sensei. Kakashi mentioned during the bell test that only about 33%\nstudents pass this test, and those who fail are sent back to the Academy.\n\n\n\nAmong the other students in Naruto's class, some may have taken up a different\nprofession after failing the Jonin test a few times, while others may have\npassed the test and taken up work as genins. Konoha does get a lot of genin\nmission requests, not just the plot relevant ones involving main characters.\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-27T05:25:34.877", "id": "3564", "last_activity_date": "2013-04-27T05:25:34.877", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "99", "parent_id": "3536", "post_type": "answer", "score": 7 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nHis name was never revealed.\n\nAccording to [this](http://fma.wikia.com/wiki/Scar):\n\n> In the first anime, Scar died without his name ever being revealed. However,\n> the author planned to reveal Scar's name before the manga finishes (in the\n> \"extras\" at the end of volume 15, Arakawa states she has a name for Scar,\n> but it's a secret). In chapter 102, when Wrath asks Scar what his name is,\n> Scar replies he has no name and abandoned it long ago. As of Chapter 108,\n> Scar officially has no name, stating that after dying twice, he no longer\n> exists. It is unknown if his name will ever be revealed.\n\n", "comment_count": 4, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-26T01:34:13.207", "id": "3541", "last_activity_date": "2013-04-26T01:34:13.207", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "93", "parent_id": "3539", "post_type": "answer", "score": 12 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nPrior to awakening, Izanagi was a gold humanoid specter (we see this at the\nend of the OVA when Yin talks to izanagi). So as izanagi was not yet awakened,\nif Shion saw a gold specter, he was seeing Izanagi. But, if he saw himself, he\nwas seeing Shion.\n\nI could not find this scene in the anime, but Izanagi only awakens at the end\nof the series, so up until then Izanagi would be a gold specter.\n\nEDIT: The scene is at 09:20 in episode 11. That is not Shion or Izanagi;\nrather, it is Yin's evolved specter. I do not know the relevance of that\nscene, but Yin may have been Kirsi at that time and not yet a doll, so Shion\nmay have been seeing the future.\n\n", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-06-23T20:09:52.663", "id": "4198", "last_activity_date": "2013-06-25T00:12:53.133", "last_edit_date": "2013-06-25T00:12:53.133", "last_editor_user_id": "274", "owner_user_id": "1933", "parent_id": "3540", "post_type": "answer", "score": 1 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nThe original Suou died 8 years before _Ryūsei no Jemini_ , which is set two\nyears after the first season. Izanamis stopped awakening in the OVA, which was\n6 years after human Suou died. Logically, Suou has to have died during\nHeaven's War.\n\n", "comment_count": 3, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-06-23T20:03:48.367", "id": "4197", "last_activity_date": "2013-06-23T20:09:01.903", "last_edit_date": "2013-06-23T20:09:01.903", "last_editor_user_id": "274", "owner_user_id": "1933", "parent_id": "3542", "post_type": "answer", "score": 1 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nI don't think our known biology can be applied to Pokemon. Blastoise has\ncannons, for instance, and Pikachu can shoot electricity (is not the same be\nable to create electricity to shock predators that attack you and actually\nshooting it).\n\nI mean, we could make theories about how they can do all those things, but the\ndesigners just didn't think about it. It would be an interesting pastime, but\npretty pointless, because they would be just that, theories.\n\n", "comment_count": 4, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-29T20:18:58.123", "id": "3615", "last_activity_date": "2015-07-09T17:38:00.740", "last_edit_date": "2015-07-09T17:38:00.740", "last_editor_user_id": "11083", "owner_user_id": "1719", "parent_id": "3546", "post_type": "answer", "score": 25 }, { "body": "\n\nIt might hard to elaborate with a canonical explanation. The only things I can\nthink of are:\n\n * Charmander might store methane gas in his stomach, like other living things do. \n * His stomach might be specialized for compressing gases numerous times (enough to breath fire )\n * His throat or digestive system might include something that can make sparks, which would bring the fire from his belly. \n * Methane is lighter than air, so it can be presumed to be one of the reasons that Charizard can fly.\n\n", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-09-15T02:50:19.580", "id": "5195", "last_activity_date": "2013-09-15T18:47:52.177", "last_edit_date": "2013-09-15T18:47:52.177", "last_editor_user_id": "102", "owner_user_id": "2185", "parent_id": "3546", "post_type": "answer", "score": 2 }, { "body": "\n\nI read an article a while back which theorized that Pokemon were beings\ncomposed of energy rather than matter.\n\nThis also explains how they can be stored in computers and Pokeballs.\n\nSee [this video](http://www.gamesradar.com/pokemon-weekly-are-pokemon-made-\npure-energy/) it's not the original article that I read but it covers the\nbasic idea.\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-01-31T16:30:01.493", "id": "7243", "last_activity_date": "2014-01-31T16:30:01.493", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "3555", "parent_id": "3546", "post_type": "answer", "score": 0 }, { "body": "\n\nMaybe he stores some kind of inflammable gas in his stomach. He can create a\nspark in his throat. The gas comes out and due to the spark appears like a\nflame pillar.\n\nThis concept is similar to that of a cigarette lighter.\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "creation_date": "2023-08-18T15:58:49.477", "id": "68255", "last_activity_date": "2023-08-18T15:58:49.477", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "72891", "parent_id": "3546", "post_type": "answer", "score": 0 }, { "body": "\n\nCharmander might technically be a lizard Pokémon, but it eventually evolves\ninto Charizard, a Pokémon that very closely resembles a dragon. Indeed, Mega\nCharizard (X) is partially dragon type.\n\n[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/BIsuUs.png)\n[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/MPEiIs.png)\n\nCharmander can also learn Dragon-type moves, albeit only by Technical Machine\n(TM) - Moves such as \"Dragon Tail\" and \"Dragon Claw\".\n\nTherefore, I would consider your question a similar question to \"How do\ndragons breath fire\" \\- In which there have been many theories in fantasy\nnovels, mythology, etc.\n\nOne theory for how dragons can breath fire is that they contain flammable gas\nor liquid sacks in their bodies, which is then ignited when they wish to\nexhale it. Some theories imagine that dragon have small natural pieces of iron\nand flint in their mouths, which they would use to create sparks.\n\nThe Bombardier Beetle is an interesting example of a creature that has a\nsimilar mechanism, storing corrosive checmicals inside its body then spewing\nit out when threated ([1](https://dragons.fandom.com/wiki/Dragon_fire))\n\nThere are a bunch of other theories, like hydrogen being emitted from the\nstomach during the dragon's digestion - or simply, Magic.\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "creation_date": "2023-08-24T12:44:58.150", "id": "68274", "last_activity_date": "2023-08-24T12:44:58.150", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "1530", "parent_id": "3546", "post_type": "answer", "score": 1 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nFirst off **_where was the first time this appeared in anime/manga?_** I\nbelieve that would be Basilisk, which is based on a novel The Kouga Ninja\nScrolls wrote in 1958.\n\nAs I could not find a definite source saying were it came from, all I say here\nwill mainly be speculation.\n\nEye powers are mainly based on Myths. On the Internet there are loads and\nloads of myths regarding special eye powers such as [The eye\nMyth](http://thefearmythos.wikia.com/wiki/The_Eye) and the [Black eye\nmyth](http://thefearmythos.wikia.com/wiki/Black-Eyed_Kids)\n\nThere also is a statement **_The eyes are windows to the soul_**. A lot of\nanime eye powers are based on a soul or other form of power. One example would\nbe Naruto:\n\n> Chakra is essential to even the most basic technique; it is the moulding of\n> the physical energy present in every cell of the body and the spiritual\n> energy [source](http://naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Chakra)\n\nAnother statement that's a bit more from the scientific corner is **_\"The eyes\nand mind are still one big mystery\"_**\n\nEven in science, it is one big mystery what your brain is exactly used for (at\nleast some spots of the brain). As the eyes are directly connected to the\nbrain, the scientists believe the eyes could be influenced by these\nunactivated parts of the brain\n\n> The 10% of brain myth is the widely perpetuated urban legend that most or\n> all humans only make use of 20%, 10% or some other small percentage of their\n> brains. It has been misattributed to people including Albert Einstein. By\n> association, it is suggested that a person may harness this unused potential\n> and increase intelligence. Though factors of intelligence can increase with\n> training, the popular notion that large parts of the brain remain unused,\n> and could subsequently be \"activated\", rests more in popular folklore than\n> scientific theory. Though mysteries regarding brain function remain—e.g.\n> memory, consciousness — the physiology of brain mapping suggests that most\n> if not all areas of the brain have a function.\n>\n> One possible origin is the reserve energy theories by Harvard psychologists\n> William James and Boris Sidis in the 1890s who tested the theory in the\n> accelerated raising of child prodigy William Sidis to effect an adulthood IQ\n> of 250–300; thus William James told audiences that people only meet a\n> fraction of their full mental potential, which is a plausible claim\n\nThis is also a reason why it could be used in anime/manga. As a lot of\nmanga/anime contain fantasy objects fague theories like this provide for\nperfect creative potentials.\n\nThe eyes are also a good placement for special abilities. Eyes are almost\nalways in the screen as most of an anime expressions will be shown through\ntheir facial responses (big eyes over exaggerating smiles etc etc). As a\nviewer, your main attention will also be placed on these body parts.\n\nAs I said this is mainly my own point of view, and will be looking forward to\nmore answers/information.\n\n", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-27T00:00:43.710", "id": "3551", "last_activity_date": "2013-04-29T06:23:22.593", "last_edit_date": "2013-04-29T06:23:22.593", "last_editor_user_id": "1398", "owner_user_id": "1458", "parent_id": "3547", "post_type": "answer", "score": 11 }, { "body": "\n\nMagic coming the eyes are part of [Magic Eye\nTrope](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MagicEye?from=Main.EvilEye)\nwhich can be linked to the origin of having [Psychic\nPowers](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PsychicPowers) which\nalready started in [1870](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychic#History), which\nI think is also the origin of characters having source of power or magic from\ntheir eyes.\n\n> A character's eye has great supernatural power. Usually, the eye grants the\n> user power over perception, either the target's (illusion, mind control) or\n> the user's (telepathy, premonitions, clairvoyance, etc). In most cases,\n> direct eye contact or at the very least line-of-sight is required. Other\n> restrictions may apply.\n\n", "comment_count": 4, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-29T03:58:09.060", "id": "3600", "last_activity_date": "2013-04-29T07:28:03.217", "last_edit_date": "2013-04-29T07:28:03.217", "last_editor_user_id": "88", "owner_user_id": "88", "parent_id": "3547", "post_type": "answer", "score": 1 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nI believe they are sentient right from the beginning. You cannot have non-\nsentient android do daily work, because it would be highly inefficient at it.\nThe thing is their freedom is severely limited by rules imposed on them by\nhumans and how humans behave towards them.\n\nThe cafe simply removes these limitations, allowing them to behave naturally.\n\n", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-27T10:26:23.540", "id": "3569", "last_activity_date": "2013-04-27T10:26:23.540", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "115", "parent_id": "3548", "post_type": "answer", "score": 4 }, { "body": "\n\nAFAIK, it is never revealed how the androids in _Eve no Jikan_ become, as it\nwere, sentient. The show incorporates Asimov's [_laws of\nrobotics_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Laws_of_Robotics) and a number\nof sub-plots revolve around how androids are able to circumvent them via\nloopholes. Extending this to also assume that the androids are in the same\nuniverse as Asimov's robots, then they are fitted with highly advanced\n_[positronic brains](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positronic_brain)_ which\n**in some unspecified way** , provide them with a form of consciousness\nrecognizable to humans.\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-28T05:09:53.273", "id": "3587", "last_activity_date": "2013-04-28T05:09:53.273", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "247", "parent_id": "3548", "post_type": "answer", "score": 1 }, { "body": "\n\nIf you watched the Time of Eve movie there is a bit in the beginning with Dr.\nAshimori about Shiotsuki's \"parting gift.\" What is it and why is it this\nparticular android at the center of all this?\n\nFirst a bit of background, if you don't know already,\n\n> Nagi's father is probably Shiotsuki.\n\nShiotsuki is the creator of the Code:Life AI that runs in all androids that\nhave appeared in the show.\n\nIn the beginning scene we see an android is spreading some sort of signal.\n\n[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/NbcAO.png)\n\nThe identity of the \"centorid\" is identified by Setoro. We see the following\non Dr. Ashimori's screen.\n\n[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/8lx1X.jpg)\n\nNote the name on the right. It's Sammy. This is explicitly the same Sakisaka\nfamily household android named Sammy that we see throughout the series. Note\nthe user ID and data. It seems that Sammy is a carrier and sender of sort for\nthe signal. It seems to affect other android AI that it comes in contact with.\n\nIts AI is noted to be \"code:eve\", vs other androids who have \"code:life\".\nUnfortunately, its significance was never explained in the story.\n\nSammy, the cafe, Time of Eve, and Shiotsuki: how does all of this tie in? The\ncode being sent \"1138\" might shed some light.\n\nIn the scene where the illegally dumped old-model vagrant robot Katoran enters\nthe cafe, he scans the board with the rules of the cafe. We see this:\n\n[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/Arvp3.jpg)\n\nWhat this signal is, is unclear; but it seems to have a high priority (if not\nthe highest) with the robots' AI. Katoran's HUD displays \"1138 THIS IS THE\nMOST IMPORTANT ORDAR\" or something like that. There's also a bit about\nrejecting \"Article 115\".\n\nWhile not explicitly stated it would seem that all modern androids have some\nsort of suppression circuit (\"deterrent\" circuit) that limits the capabilities\nof the AI, preventing them from achieving true sentience. At the end of the\nmovie there is a conversation between Dr. Ashimori and Setoro. They mention\n\"Rule 1138\" and \"our country's robot force will continue to act upon\nprioritized orders\". They also mention how Code:Life's \"suppression\nreformation\" isn't working and that it's all in preparation of \"that time\".\n\nThe reason for that may be related to \"Article 115\" and related to the\nincident that Dr. Ashimori mentions (the Tokisaka Incident) was wiped from the\nrecord, and those involved put under protective observation.\n\n[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/jPeMs.jpg)\n\nNagi is likely very closely related to all of this, and likely the victim of\nthe incident as implied by the still in the ending credits. The incident most\nlikely involved the THX-like model and caused Nagi to be severely injured,\ncausing her to need prosthetic arms and legs plus rehabilitation (see ending\ncredits), and be hospitalized. The incident was then covered up for some\nreason and certain safeguards were put in place because the use of Code:Life\nwas too widespread to force a recall of androids using the AI.\n\nAs for how Sammy is related to all of this, it is implied in the chkdsk scene\nand passim that the THX-type unit that was involved with a young Nagi (and Dr.\nAshimori, who attacked the robot) was rebuild into the Sammy we see, by Dr.\nAshimori or Shiotsuki personally.\n\n[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/2FDRZ.jpg)\n\nBut for what reason is unclear. In the after credits scene of the movie, we\nsee Nagi talking with a male figure with prosthetic hand and synthesized\nvoice, implied to be Shiotsuki. Shiotsuki mentions that he worries about a\ncertain robot who seems unsure of things ever since they were broken by Dr.\nAshimori. The most unsure android from the cast is Sammy, it's implied that he\nis talking about her.\n\nIt's likely that Shiotsuki gave Sammy some sort of unconscious function to\nbroadcast some sort of order to the androids she came across, to come to the\nTime of Eve, where they would see the signboard. This seems to be developed by\nShiotsuki for some purpose. The signboard has a wire that presumably plugs in\nsomewhere so it's likely not an ordinary hand written signboard, even if it\nappear to be.\n\n[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/fIVwF.png)\n\nThe purpose of the signboard, use of rule 1138, and Sammy is unclear. But it\nseems that through these two devices the suppressed parts of the Code:Life AI\nis lifted, allowing androids to develop sentience. Shiotsuki mentions that\nthis is not the first time he's attempted this proliferation of AI sentience,\nhe mentions that there has been at least three to four prior attempts, which\nis implied to have not been successful. Masaki's THX robot might be from a\nprevious attempt. The seaside cafe in the credits might have been one of his\nearlier attempts.\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2017-04-12T06:37:20.567", "id": "39818", "last_activity_date": "2017-09-26T05:31:39.823", "last_edit_date": "2017-09-26T05:31:39.823", "last_editor_user_id": "8486", "owner_user_id": "63", "parent_id": "3548", "post_type": "answer", "score": 4 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\n**_This answer began as a comment, but quickly grew to large._**\n\nI'm purely speculating here, but generally most writers would probably have\n_chief_ events _planned_ from the start, and fill in the gaps as they go. By\n_chief_ I mean turning points that are essential to the story overall. When I\nsay _planned_ I mean they already know _what_ they want to happen, and how to\nachieve it, or at least have a general idea, and perhaps are leaving the\nimplementation details up for later.\n\nAs a case example, from the beginning Eiichiro Oda already had the ending of\n_One Piece_ planned out. To this day he hasn't changed this plan, but out of\nenjoyment of writing the series he continues to fill the gap from commencement\nto terminus. (See: [One Piece#Production -\nWikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Piece#Production))\n\nThat said, nothing would stop a mangaka from totally changing his/her plans\nand writing something altogether new _at any moment_. If I remember correctly,\nAkira Toriyama had no plans for Vegeta to have any more appearances in the\nmanga _Dragonball Z_ after his defeat on Earth. But when he saw the great\npositive reaction from fans he kept him in for the rest of the series.\nToriyama's original plan is not exactly known, but in the least it had to be\nmodified greatly to accommodate the new character.\n\nAnother factor would probably be the publishing agencies themselves. Obviously\nthey want to capitalize, and so most often, _more_ is more. If a manga series\nis doing very well, they'll probably want to extend it, and so many writers\nare pushed to write beyond there original plans. Continuing with the\n_Dragonball Z_ example, we can see just that. Toriyama planned to end his work\nat the defeat of Cell, but was urged on by publishers to continue, which lead\nto the true climax, Buu.\n\nAlso, censorship could play a part in some cases. If something written by an\nauthor goes against the standards of either society or the publisher, it would\nhave to be modified, and even a small change can have great consequences later\non. This of course must take into account creative control, which is an\nauthor-by-author process depending on the details of any given contract.\n\nAgain, all of this is nothing more than pure speculation that uses nothing but\nperceivable events as evidence. As I find more resources and evidence I'll add\nit. Perhaps to try to formalize this as it stands, I'd just agree with\n[kuwaly](https://anime.stackexchange.com/users/93/kuwaly), and say that it's\nall up in the air. Writers, publishers, public reaction, political correctness\nand just about anything else could alter the course of any writer's storyline\nat any point. I doubt any manga ever turns out exactly like the first draft.\n\n", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-27T16:15:38.637", "id": "3573", "last_activity_date": "2013-04-27T20:42:34.543", "last_edit_date": "2017-04-13T12:54:48.523", "last_editor_user_id": "-1", "owner_user_id": "1600", "parent_id": "3552", "post_type": "answer", "score": 7 }, { "body": "\n\nJust for additional information, usually in the case of release and drawing\n(not the storyline), they plan 3-4 chapters ahead, i.e:\n\n * Chapter 1 is supposed to released lets say this week\n * Chapter 2 is supposed to be printed, shipped etc for the next Week \n * Chapter 3 is supposed to be editing, liberation, etc\n * Chapter 4 is supposed to be Final Editing\n * Then Chapter 5 is supposed to be the one the mangaka to work on on the week of release of chapter 1.\n\nThis is 3-4 weeks or chapter ahead is what usually called by 'print schedule'\n\nBut this is all changes depending on the circumstances of mangaka (hiatus, new\nyear, holiday, golden week, etc)\n\n", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-05-23T03:33:09.513", "id": "3885", "last_activity_date": "2013-05-23T03:33:09.513", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "1806", "parent_id": "3552", "post_type": "answer", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nIt hasn't been told in manga yet. We can only speculate.\n\nThe Great Quincy War can't be the reason as it happened 200 years ago. We can\nsafely presume they died of natural causes and also they were Echt Quincies\n(pure-blooded Quincies who refuse to marry and mate with anyone but a pure-\nblooded Quincy and who were almost extinct after the Great Purge).\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-06-03T20:24:09.800", "id": "10092", "last_activity_date": "2016-12-28T14:26:09.337", "last_edit_date": "2016-12-28T14:26:09.337", "last_editor_user_id": "8486", "owner_user_id": "1876", "parent_id": "3553", "post_type": "answer", "score": 1 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nTranslated from the [Japanese Wikipedia article for Ro-Kyu-\nBu](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%AD%E3%82%A6%E3%81%8D%E3%82%85%E3%83%BC%E3%81%B6!#.E6.A6.82.E8.A6.81):\n\n> The title comes from \"roukyuu\" (籠球, the Japanese name for basketball)\n> combined with \"kyuubu\" (休部, Japanese for a club whose activities have been\n> suspended).\n\nThe Wikipedia article cites a [Dengeki interview with Aoyama\nSag](http://news.dengeki.com/elem/000/000/139/139129/), the original light\nnovel's author. I've translated the relevant question below, with explanation\nin parentheses:\n\n> **Dengeki** : I wanted to ask about the title. Shigusawa-sensei (author of\n> Kino no Tabi) wrote in a review, \"Is it OK to just combine roukyuu and\n> kyuubu?\" But is this even a correct interpretation (of the title)?\n>\n> **Aoyama-sensei:** It's just as Shigusawa-sensei said. He is 100% correct.\n\n", "comment_count": 8, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-27T03:37:04.527", "id": "3558", "last_activity_date": "2013-04-27T03:37:04.527", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "107", "parent_id": "3555", "post_type": "answer", "score": 7 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nIn The world:R2, Aura is missing because she is trying to let the players act\nby themselves. She acted tough by creating the 3 azure knights (azure kite,\nbalmung and orca) and helped haseo during the last fight of .hack//G.U. game\nseries.\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-10-29T00:59:40.747", "id": "5633", "last_activity_date": "2013-10-29T00:59:40.747", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "2630", "parent_id": "3556", "post_type": "answer", "score": 1 }, { "body": "\n\nAfter Aura was reborn as the Ultimate AI during the events of .hack\n(particularly the final battle against Morganna Mode Gone's manifestation in\nCorbenik's final form) she was referred as a Goddess in a world which was\nheavily reliant on the world wide network to which she was the ultimate\ndebugger.\n\nNow i'm not sure which .hack//Legend of the Twilight is cannon however before\nit she gave birth to her daughter Zefie, created a false competition to\nrecreate BlackRose and Kite PC's and gave them to Rena and Shugo and gave\nShugo the Bracelet (probably only because he had the Kite PC), after that\n\n * In the Anime she helps Shugo and Rena by saving Rena after she is killed and helps them in stopping Morti's Skieth (not entirely sure if it's a recreated Skieth but it looks a hell lot like it)\n\n * In the Manga Zefie is escorted back to Aura by Shugo and Rena\n\nsometime after Legend of the Twilight she began to dislike this role as\n\"goddess\" (Endrance comments on this in Net Slum in the G.U Games) and\nsuddenly disappeared by going into a deep sleep. The sudden disappearance had\nan affect on the world wide network and CC Corp saw this as the perfect\nopportunity to create a new Aura which they would control (thus restoring\ntheir and ALTIMIT's market hold)\n\nProject G.U which was supposed to duplicate the scenario that lead to Aura's\ncreation, however failed when the R.A (Rebirth Aura) Program failed to run and\nended up wiping out most of The World's data. CC Corp them merged the\nremaining data of The World with another game they was working on to create\nThe World:R2. before The World's Shutdown player were given some time to\nexplore what was left with their PCs. Reiko Saeki's (Pi from G.U, Shamrock\nfrom Quantum) older bother Jun Bansyoya who was apart of Project G.U\nencountered Zefie where she tells him how Aura abandoned her position as the\nUltimate AI and integrated into the system of The World, afterwords she\nherself \"returned to the winds.\" (possibly to return to her mother)\n\nAfter the AIDA began to appear and become influenced by Tri-Edge, Aura wakes\nup creates the Azure Knights to protect The World however they was rushed in\ntheir creation so their AI was incomplete so to \"protect The World\" meant to\n\"Protect Aura\", anyone who approached Key of The Twilight would also become\ntheir target as the key was an extension of Aura. When Hasao fought the\nKnights, Aura orders the Knights to stop fighting using Aina's PC as a medium,\ntelling them how she's leaving the future of The World in their hands (the\nplayers) and they had to stop Cubia themselves. however she does given them\nsome assistance by creating Aura Spheres within Cubia and after Cubia is\ndestroyed she gives Hasao the Member Addresses of the Knights and a Card\nbefore returning to sleep, so she's not entirely without power.\n\nI'm sure that .hack//LINK occurs before .hack//Beyond the World but i'm not\nentirely sure on the story of it as it's a manga and game, in the game Aura\nhas woken again and near the end becomes infected with a Virus which makes her\nbecome the crazed _Queen of Demise_ and in a twisted form of love tried to\n_Real digitalize_ humanity, she's saved by AIKA's sacrifice and AIKA\npresumably returned to the sea of data where Aura sleeps with Aura as she\nherself falls back to sleep\n\nthat's all i know without properly looking into .hack//Link but for the most\npart she in a deep sleep in the sea of data and only wakes up with The World\nis in danger and while caring for the players in it, tries to aid them without\ndirectly interfering so that the fate of The World and the players are decided\nby the players and not by her\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-10-30T01:16:38.177", "id": "5639", "last_activity_date": "2014-08-04T02:16:38.887", "last_edit_date": "2014-08-04T02:16:38.887", "last_editor_user_id": "1587", "owner_user_id": "1587", "parent_id": "3556", "post_type": "answer", "score": 0 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nThe following list is mostly from\n[TVTropes](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VisualNovel/LittleBusters?from=Main.LittleBusters),\nwith a couple of extras added in. Note that all of them are named after famous\npeople in history.\n\n> Lennon, Dorj, Hitler, Audrey, Kobain, Tezuka, Gates, Einstein, Fedor,\n> Aristotle, Hokusai, Jackie Chan, and Matsuda.\n\nIt is well-known that Lennon is the white cat which is often on her shoulder,\nand Dorj is the particularly fat cat which is occasionally confused for a\nseal. However, most of these are going to be difficult to identify. They may\nnot be described anywhere individually. Because of that, a complete answer is\nlikely to be very difficult.\n\nAlso, Rin seems to get more cats every time the series is adapted, so a\ncomplete answer may be very difficult. The above list only includes ones which\nare present in the visual novel.\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-28T23:44:08.270", "id": "3598", "last_activity_date": "2013-04-28T23:44:08.270", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "24", "parent_id": "3557", "post_type": "answer", "score": 6 }, { "body": "\n\nRin names her cats after famous people.\n\nThese are the ones I know of (collected from\n[TVTropes](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VisualNovel/LittleBusters),\nthe [_Little Busters!_ Wiki](http://littlebusters.wikia.com/wiki/Rin_Natsume),\n[Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Little_Busters!_characters#Original_members),\nand other sources):\n\n 1. Dorj (a nickname of [Asashōryū Akinori](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asash%C5%8Dry%C5%AB_Akinori)):\n\n[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/BtbVc.jpg)\n\n 2. Gates ([Bill Gates](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Gates)): _Unknown appearance._\n 3. Fabre ([Jean-Henri Fabre](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Henri_Fabre)): A rather chubby cat.\n 4. Einstein ([Albert Einstein](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Einstein)): _Unknown appearance._\n 5. Lennon ([John Lennon](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Lennon)), on the right:\n\n[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/84NZH.jpg)\n\n 6. Tezuka ([Osamu Tezuka](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osamu_Tezuka)): A shiny, blue (female) cat.\n 7. Schumacher ([Michael Schumacher](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Schumacher)): _Unknown appearance._\n 8. Hitler ([Adolf Hitler](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Hitler)): A spotted cat.\n 9. Audrey ([Audrey Hepburn](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audrey_Hepburn), I think): _Unknown appearance._\n 10. Jackie ([Jackie Chan](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackie_Chan)): _Unknown appearance._\n 11. Aristotle ([no first name](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristotle)): _Unknown appearance._\n 12. Isoroku ([Isoroku Yamamoto](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isoroku_Yamamoto)): A small, grey kitten.\n 13. Cobain ([Kurt Cobain](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_Cobain)): _Unknown appearance._\n 14. Fedor ([Fedor Emelianenko](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fedor_Emelianenko)): _Unknown appearance._\n 15. Hokusai ([Katsushika Hokusai](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hokusai)): _Unknown appearance._\n 16. Yusaku, or Matsuda ([Yusaku Matsuda](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yusaku_Matsuda)): _Unknown appearance._\n\nHowever, you will notice how many are labelled \"unknown\" above; these are ones\nwhose appearance I'm unsure of. These appear to be all of the cats she's\nnamed, but as she does not always name them directly or identify which one is\nwhich, determining their actual appearance is not always possible*.\n\n* If I discover more appearances, I will add them upon discovery.\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-29T16:56:03.567", "id": "3613", "last_activity_date": "2015-09-12T18:04:48.340", "last_edit_date": "2015-09-12T18:04:48.340", "last_editor_user_id": "1398", "owner_user_id": "274", "parent_id": "3557", "post_type": "answer", "score": 8 }, { "body": "\n\nIn the anime, only the following four pet cats of Rin can be identified with a\nname: (I put the episode number when we first learned of their identity in\nparentheses):\n\nLennon (ep 1):\n\n[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/2t0Ec.png)\n\nIsoroku (ep 2):\n\n[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/0XyKT.png)\n\nFabre (ep 4):\n\n[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/fOPWu.png)\n\nTezuka (ep 20):\n\n[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/tXOpL.png)\n\nOther names were mentioned, and many more cats were shown onscreen, but we\nweren't told which was which, not even in the case of Dorj.\n\nAs for the visual novel, [this neta\ncollection](http://brightbell.main.jp/kipima/game/LittleBusters/lb_koneta.html)\nlists these twenty names for Rin's cats:\n\n 1. [Lennon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Lennon)\n 2. [Einstein](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Einstein)\n 3. [Akutagawa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ry%C5%ABnosuke_Akutagawa)\n 4. [Aristotle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristotle)\n 5. [Irfan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C4%B0lhan_Mans%C4%B1z)\n 6. [Audrey](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audrey_Hepburn)\n 7. [Guts](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guts_Ishimatsu)\n 8. [Gates](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Gates)\n 9. [Cobain](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_Cobain)\n 10. [Jackie](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackie_Chan)\n 11. [Schumacher](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Schumacher)\n 12. [Tezuka](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osamu_Tezuka)\n 13. [Hitler](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Hitler) ([Isoroku](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isoroku_Yamamoto))\n 14. [Fedor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fedor_Emelianenko)\n 15. [Fabre](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Henri_Fabre)\n 16. [Hokusai](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hokusai)\n 17. [Mendelssohn](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felix_Mendelssohn)\n 18. [Yuusaku](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yusaku_Matsuda)\n 19. [Miles](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miles_Davis)\n 20. [Dorj](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asash%C5%8Dry%C5%AB_Akinori)\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2015-09-12T17:41:03.433", "id": "25825", "last_activity_date": "2015-09-12T17:41:03.433", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "8486", "parent_id": "3557", "post_type": "answer", "score": 2 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nAccording to [this\npost](http://forums.animesuki.com/showthread.php?p=4343702#post4343702), the\nDirector, Tatsuya Ishihara mentions in a NewType article that:\n\n> Shinka Nibutani appeared in the novel, but Kumin Tsuyuri and Sanae Dekomori\n> are anime original characters. The reason they were created was that there\n> wouldn't be enough characters for a TV series. Similarly, the story has been\n> arranged to have many new elements added.\n>\n> \"The amount of novel material we had was insufficient even though it was\n> published via Kyoto Animation's KA Esuma label. In short, it feels more like\n> an original series from our company. Because of that, we put so much effort\n> into this series. 'Make it entertaining until the very last scene!' We put\n> in every entertaining moment we could think of and arranged them together.\n> The end is also different from the novels. We hope you enjoy watching it\n> until the very end.\"\n\n", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-05-15T19:31:47.150", "id": "9744", "last_activity_date": "2014-05-15T19:31:47.150", "last_edit_date": "2020-06-17T09:17:53.303", "last_editor_user_id": "-1", "owner_user_id": "63", "parent_id": "3559", "post_type": "answer", "score": 8 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nIf it's sticking vaguely close to the manga it's Kagutsuchi (the being\nunknown) who is created when Izanami (Yin) and Izanagi (Hei or Shion) bond as\npredicted in the [Mikata\nDocuments](http://darkerthanblack.wikia.com/wiki/Mikata_Documents).\n\n> Izanagi gazes upon the false sea bottom, waiting for Izanami. Izanami will\n> cross the sea bottom and eventually the two will meet. When they do, heaven\n> and earth will split in two, and there the Gate of Hell will open. From the\n> Gate will come forth one, a being unknown. And strife will continue for\n> eternity.\n\n", "comment_count": 3, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-29T12:54:30.357", "id": "3609", "last_activity_date": "2016-04-05T13:09:45.400", "last_edit_date": "2016-04-05T13:09:45.400", "last_editor_user_id": "8486", "owner_user_id": "1678", "parent_id": "3562", "post_type": "answer", "score": 2 }, { "body": "\n\nThe Russian boy's power is to create copies. He created the Russian girl as a\nclone of himself. They noted that one thing was always different in his\nclones; in the case of the Russian girl, it was the gender.\n\nThe same thing happened with the boy in the picture. It's a clone of Yin with\nthe gender switched. The Russian boy created a copy of the Earth, as I\nunderstand it, and on that copy earth, there is also a Yin.\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "creation_date": "2018-08-26T04:49:40.927", "id": "48545", "last_activity_date": "2018-08-26T06:11:59.327", "last_edit_date": "2018-08-26T06:11:59.327", "last_editor_user_id": "2516", "owner_user_id": "42196", "parent_id": "3562", "post_type": "answer", "score": 0 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nTo me the most rational answer to the fact of Densuke showing up at the very\nend, while both sisters are able to see him without actually having the\nglasses on. Is due to the fact they have a big connection to Densuke.\n\nIf you recall early on Yasako and Haraken discuss about how Illegals were born\nand they come down to the resolution they are born from emotions like love and\nanger.\n\nSo in resume my belief is that due to their deep love for Densuke, it creates\nhis image at the very end, as something like a peace of mind as everything was\nresolved and that he was still there, in their hearts.\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-07-21T05:34:38.540", "id": "12959", "last_activity_date": "2014-07-21T05:34:38.540", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "2426", "parent_id": "3563", "post_type": "answer", "score": 2 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\n# Out-of-universe\n\nHaro was included in _Mobile Suit Gundam_ for the purpose of showing Amuro's\ntalent for building machines. However, it fulfills another purpose; that of\nbeing a mascot.\n\n[Kunio Okawara](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kunio_Okawara) initially designed\nHaro for [_Invincible Steel Man Daitarn\n3_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invincible_Steel_Man_Daitarn_3), and named\nhim after HAL (the computer from [_2001: A Space\nOdyssey_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001:_A_Space_Odyssey_\\(film\\)))[2](https://i.stack.imgur.com/6Bqg5.jpg).\nIt was (likely) intended to be a mascot of the series, before the concept was\ndiscarded. However, Okawara was later approached prior to [_Mobile Suit\nGundam_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_Suit_Gundam) and persuaded to\ninclude it, allowing it to somewhat serve as a mascot of the series. Since\nthen:\n\n> Haro has since become a mascot for the Sunrise studio as a whole, often\n> appearing in their recent idents.\n>\n> — [Haro, Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haro_\\(character\\))\n\nBecause it its popularity and its rank as mascot of the series, Haro has also\nreceived a substantial following and quite a collection of merchandise.\n\n\n\n# In-universe\n\nThe in-universe explanation is actually far simpler. Haro was created by\nAmuro, the main character, as part of his hobby building machines. Amuro\ngenerally had few social interactions with others, so he created Haro as a\ncompanion to himself, with its speech function and brain-wave analysis\nfunctions making it quite a good substitute for a close friend.\n\n### References\n\n 1. [Haro (character) at Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haro_\\(character\\))\n 2. [Haro at the Japanese Wikipedia](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%8F%E3%83%AD_\\(%E3%82%AC%E3%83%B3%E3%83%80%E3%83%A0%E3%82%B7%E3%83%AA%E3%83%BC%E3%82%BA\\)#.E6.A6.82.E8.A6.81)\n 3. [Series Mascot at TVTropes](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SeriesMascot)\n\n", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-05-12T17:45:30.420", "id": "3763", "last_activity_date": "2013-05-13T17:20:31.153", "last_edit_date": "2020-06-17T09:17:53.303", "last_editor_user_id": "-1", "owner_user_id": "274", "parent_id": "3565", "post_type": "answer", "score": 6 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nKamineko, 「噛み猫」 translates roughly as \"Biting Cat\", or \"Evil Cat\".\n\nAs far as I can tell, the only real role for Kamineko is the running gag, so\nI'm pretty sure he's just a jerk.\n\nPerhaps he can sense Sakaki's allegies to cats and that's somehow a trigger,\nseeing as he seems to single her out from the other girls to bite.\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-27T07:34:10.717", "id": "3568", "last_activity_date": "2013-04-27T07:34:10.717", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "1530", "parent_id": "3566", "post_type": "answer", "score": 7 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nAccording to [the Azumanga Daioh wiki](http://azumanga.wikia.com/wiki/Chiyo-\nchichi) ([revision permalink](http://azumanga.wikia.com/wiki/Chiyo-\nchichi?oldid=5400)),\n\n> Chiyo-chichi (\"Chiyo-Dad\" 「ちよ父」\"Chiyo-chichi\"), is a strange yellow cat like\n> creature...\n\nAccording to\n[Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Azumanga_Daioh_characters#Chiyo-\nFather) ([revision\npermalink](http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_Azumanga_Daioh_characters&oldid=611997598)),\n\n> \"Chiyo-Father\" (「ちよ父」 \"Chiyo-chichi\") is a strange-looking and even\n> stranger-acting cat-like creature...\n\nAccording to\n[TVTropes](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Manga/AzumangaDaioh?from=Main.AzumangaDaioh),\nChiyo's father is one example of a [Mega\nNeko](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MegaNeko) or is a [Mind\nScrew](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MindScrew) element that was\nadded to the anime by the author to keep the audience guessing. About who or\nwhat he really is, only [Azuma](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiyohiko_Azuma)\nknows.\n\n", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-28T23:41:48.820", "id": "3597", "last_activity_date": "2014-06-10T22:17:26.643", "last_edit_date": "2014-06-10T22:17:26.643", "last_editor_user_id": "1908", "owner_user_id": "88", "parent_id": "3567", "post_type": "answer", "score": 2 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nThe idea behind a Dominator is two fold:\n\nFirst the most common reason for the kill state is that the person is no\nlonger capable of rehabilitation. Their psycho-pass is so far gone that\nrehabilitation is a waste of time and means and Sibyl sees it as pointless,\nthus elimination.\n\nSecond, Sibyl has an agenda. Sibyl can seek to silence a specific person for\nit's own sake or for another reason.\n\nOn the flip side of the coin Sibyl can also choose to keep someone alive that\nit knows is evil for it's own purposes.\n\nIt is usually the first case as the number of people Sibyl truly has interest\nin is very small but Sibyl is by no means objective.\n\n", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-30T20:04:23.123", "id": "3626", "last_activity_date": "2013-04-30T20:04:23.123", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "1338", "parent_id": "3572", "post_type": "answer", "score": 2 }, { "body": "\n\n> * The police lose their chance to question their suspect, possibly\n> hampering ongoing investigations (including information on Makishima).\n>\n\nThe premise in the series is that Sybil can identify any criminal with a\nsimple mental scan, and most of the city is scanned constantly for stress\nlevels and such. Hence, killing off a criminal won't hamper any sort of\ninvestigation, because **all** criminals are found just in time. In other\nwords, there is no such thing as organized crime, because the rigorous\nscanning measures always detect everything in the city.\n\n... Which is of course flawed. Individuals like Makishima can't be detected.\nHowever, as we learn later in the series, such \"criminals\" have a special role\nin the system, so we can ignore them.\n\n> * It is ethically questionable to destroy someone's body; Japanese culture\n> would probably want an intact body for a proper mourning and funeral.\n>\n\nSybil has crafted a peaceful society by making objective, calculated\ndecisions. It has determined that an individual with a criminal coefficient\ngreater than 300 has no salvation, and is only a danger for everyone else. I\nthink it is a key feature of the series to display a society that is\nculturally different from ours.\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-08-25T10:01:29.720", "id": "13613", "last_activity_date": "2014-08-27T01:40:58.767", "last_edit_date": "2014-08-27T01:40:58.767", "last_editor_user_id": "261", "owner_user_id": "261", "parent_id": "3572", "post_type": "answer", "score": 7 }, { "body": "\n\nIn the Psycho-Pass universe, they don't care as much about catching guilty\npeople, they care more about eliminating people (either by death or\nrehabilitation) who they see as a threat to their society.\n\nIt's also established that in their society has been going on so long that\npeople are so unused to crime (outside people that have identified by Sybil),\nthat they are very unlikely to commit a crime or even really comprehend it.\nThis is shown by the fact that \"normal\" people have no idea how to deal with\nany sort of crime if they were to witness one. That implies to me that crime,\ndespite how much its shown in the show, is supposed to be very rare, and most\npeople are pretty incapable of committing one.\n\nPeople believe that the Sybil system will generally catch people before that\npoint where they are in a mindset where they are capable of committing a\ncrime, and therefore they do not have time to commit a premeditated crime like\norganized crime.\n\nLastly, people believe that Sybil will inevitably catch anyone who has\ncommitted a crime eventually anyways, since they believe those people will\nalways have a high crime coefficient.\n\nSo I assume that most have the most likely erroneous belief that because of\nthese factors, things like organized crime do not exist, and therefore\ninvestigations aren't all that necessary anyways.\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-08-25T16:44:55.953", "id": "13616", "last_activity_date": "2014-08-25T16:44:55.953", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "3734", "parent_id": "3572", "post_type": "answer", "score": 0 }, { "body": "\n\nThe Sybil system has largely replaced most of the cultural values and critical\nthinking.\n\nLater in the series a way to circumvent the system is found, and someone\nbegins to mercilessly beat a woman to death on a crowded sidewalk. No one\ncares or even flinches. The only problem the system detects is that the woman\nis under a great deal of stress. It kindly suggests she chill out. Since it\nreports no real problems, people just curiously look on, if they bother at\nall.\n\nWe could argue that our instincts would lead to some reaction, but in this\nstory they are completely unphased.\n\nThe loss from instant execution is the price paid to have such assurances that\nyou are safe and do not have to think. In our world, execution is performed on\nextreme criminals after sufficient evidence has been found. Sybil was a way to\nget that evidence business handled in a second, rather than months or years.\n\nAs a side note, part of the motivation for the 'bad guys' is the torpor and\nennui caused by this state of non-criticality and predetermined lives.\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-08-25T17:25:47.600", "id": "13619", "last_activity_date": "2014-08-25T17:25:47.600", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "8024", "parent_id": "3572", "post_type": "answer", "score": 2 }, { "body": "\n\nPsyco-pass is a [dystopia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dystopia) and [AI\ncontrolled\nsociety](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_intelligence_in_fiction#AI-\ncontrolled_societies) anime.\n\nIn story of this category, All human was dominated by AI.\n\nThe world of Psyco-pass is controlled by AI (Sibyl System). AI will decide\neverything include who should be killed.\n\n> * The police lose their chance to question their suspect, possibly\n> hampering ongoing investigations (including information on Makishima).\n>\n\nIf police side people (like protagonist) know something, nothing changed.\nBecause AI decide the penalty instead of human.\n\n> * It is ethically questionable to destroy someone's body; Japanese culture\n> would probably want an intact body for a proper mourning and funeral.\n>\n\nRight, Japanese have funerals with body. Maybe that scene was created for\nemphasize how AI is cold and dark side of AI controlled societies.\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-08-27T05:19:22.870", "id": "13656", "last_activity_date": "2014-08-27T05:19:22.870", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "3557", "parent_id": "3572", "post_type": "answer", "score": 0 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nAccording to [this](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anime#Production):\n\n> In the 1990s, the Japanese began incorporating computers into the animation\n> process. Some works such as Ghost in the Shell and Princess Mononoke mixed\n> cel animation with computer-generated images. Towards the late 1990s,\n> companies had began shifting towards drawing cels digitally instead of with\n> paint. Fuji Films to boldly announce the halt of cel production for the\n> animation industry prompting a mass scramble to import foreign cels and\n> transfer more of the production line to digital.\n\n[Princess Mononoke](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Mononoke) was\nreleased in 1997, though animation production began in 1995. [Ghost in the\nShell](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_in_the_Shell_%28film%29) was\nreleased in 1995. Based on that, digital production as a part of the general\nproduction began in or before 1995.\n\nAccording to\n[this](https://plus.google.com/u/0/115837430604346486194/posts/DHSUPpK3E8n),\nwhich may or may not be correct (I don't know how reliable the source is),\nTobira o Akete was an early anime short to feature digital production, as was\nBit Cupid (an anime series rather than a short), both of which were from 1995.\n\nAlso,\n\n> Production I.G., known for their world-famous Ghost in the Shell film and\n> other prestige features (Patlabor 2, Jin Roh) produced the first two digital\n> anime series that most anime fans can recognize by name: Love Hina (with\n> Xebec) and FLCL (with Gainax)\n\n[Final Fantasy: The Spirits\nWithin](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_Fantasy%3a_The_Spirits_Within),\nreleased in 2001, was the first photorealistic computer animated feature film.\n[Blood: The Last\nVampire](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood%3a_The_Last_Vampire#Production),\nwhich was from 2000, was fully digital, and, according to\n[this](http://books.google.com/books?id=81Y1TVYQSrEC&pg=PA345&lpg=PA345&dq=first%20fully%20digital%20anime&source=bl&ots=MkUQ3MMbtc&sig=t3TbAxb9NsD0OXsOZUN_Q-\nTiOLI&hl=en&sa=X&ei=eI18UcveCcSQ0QHGxIHADQ&ved=0CEUQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=first%20fully%20digital%20anime&f=false),\nthe first fully digital feature.\n\nThe first fully digital anime series was Bit the Cupid, which was created in\n1995 by Satelight Inc. A description is on [this\npage](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%93%E3%83%83%E3%83%88%E3%83%BB%E3%82%B6%E3%83%BB%E3%82%AD%E3%83%A5%E3%83%BC%E3%83%94%E3%83%83%E3%83%89),\nbut it is in Japanese. From what I can tell from the translation, Bit the\nCupid was the first continuous CG animation in the world. It was made to look\nlike it was modeled in 3D. Also, after being colored, the contour lines were\ntaken off.\n\nAll in all, it's kind of difficult to determine exactly when things began, but\nfrom what I can find, digital production began in 1995 and the first fully\ndigital feature was released 2000.\n\n", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-28T02:50:40.090", "id": "3581", "last_activity_date": "2013-05-11T19:39:57.563", "last_edit_date": "2013-05-11T19:39:57.563", "last_editor_user_id": "93", "owner_user_id": "93", "parent_id": "3576", "post_type": "answer", "score": 8 }, { "body": "\n\nThe Professional: Golgo 13 (1983), a popular manga in the 70s, had a CG\nhelicopter sequence. I'm mostly unsure of the team who animated it, but I'm\nmostly surprised that it manifested quickly after the release of Tron (1982).\n\nProduction IG had it's first instances of CG in the 90s, but it appears that\nthey were shown in the form of wireframes. I've heard of some talk that these\nwireframes were painted over in some cases.\n\nI would probably mention that industry completely transitioned to digital\nwithin the early 21st century.\n\n", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-11-22T17:47:10.667", "id": "5996", "last_activity_date": "2013-11-22T18:22:10.563", "last_edit_date": "2013-11-22T18:22:10.563", "last_editor_user_id": "2778", "owner_user_id": "2778", "parent_id": "3576", "post_type": "answer", "score": 0 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nOne thing that Koichiro Natsume said was that it was a one year project. It's\ndifficult to tell from what he said if it was planned to be one year from the\nstart or if it ended up being one year, but if it was planned to be one year,\nthen it wasn't aborted but instead just ended.\n\nOne thing that he said was that there were supposed to be four projects. Only\nthree were released, which may have been the failure that he was talking\nabout.\n\nIn regards to episode 7, they actually played a replacement episode (episode\n7.5) the same day that episode 7 would be released, so they actually did have\nan episode that day. From reading about it, it doesn't seem as though they\nwere forced to stream it online but chose to instead, but it is difficult to\ntell.\n\nIt is difficult to tell exactly how voluntary ending the program was, but\nKoichiro Natsume at least implies in his\n[interview](http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interview/2012-12-19/aniplex-\nkoichiro-natsume/) that it was intended or at least ended up more as a\nlearning tool than anything else.\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-06-05T16:59:56.607", "id": "4039", "last_activity_date": "2013-06-05T16:59:56.607", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "93", "parent_id": "3577", "post_type": "answer", "score": 1 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nThe card game is `Sevens`.\n\n<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sevens_(card_game)>\n\nBasically the object of the game is to get rid of all your cards. You can get\nrid of a card by putting it above a lower valued card of the same suit, or\nabove a higher valued card.\n\nTo start, a seven must be played. The next person can then play another seven\n(creating a new row) or place an eight or a six on the existing seven. You\nmust pass if you cannot do anything.\n\nThe \"Holding up a game\" that they're blaming one of the characters for, is\nwhen you decide to not play certain card(s) because you know you can block\nsomeone else off. For example, if he doesn't play the 5 or 8 of hearts, noone\ncan play a four or lower, or a 9 or higher.\n\nA common tactic is holding the lowest/highest of a suit that you have, because\nyou don't need to put down any cards below/above that.\n\n[This video might be better for\nexplaining](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElFBo2IW6rI)\n\nI've played it myself with relatives at home in Ireland, but I'm not sure\nwhere it originates.\n\n", "comment_count": 3, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-28T12:10:09.713", "id": "3592", "last_activity_date": "2013-04-28T12:10:09.713", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "1530", "parent_id": "3578", "post_type": "answer", "score": 5 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nIn the first episode of _Ro-Kyu-Bu! SS_ , the girls are again shown in their\nchibi forms. It is then revealed that they are simply typing into their phones\nand computers as their conversation goes on.\n\n[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/NrA2c.jpg)\n\nSince they're doing this on flip phones, it seems unlikely that they're\nplaying a game, despite the occasional \"Now Loading\" screen. The most likely\nconclusion is that the chibis are just a representation of each character\nchatting with the others, probably shown because it's more appealing than\nshowing each girl on their personal computers.\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-08-06T16:20:45.197", "id": "4653", "last_activity_date": "2013-08-06T16:20:45.197", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "274", "parent_id": "3579", "post_type": "answer", "score": 2 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nAs far as I know, she's the only squid-like humanoid shown in the series.\nThough there is a miniatured version of her that appeared on people's dream,\nmostly Sanae's ([source](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squid_Girl)). In the\nlast episode of Squid Girl, she met a girl named [Kozue\nTanabe](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squid_Girl#Kozue_Tanabe) which is implied\nthat she also comes from the sea, as she has a hat similar to Squid Girl's and\nmakes statements that indicate she isn't human. The first syllables of her\nname spell out 'tako' (たこ?), meaning octopus.\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-05-02T01:10:07.770", "id": "3637", "last_activity_date": "2013-05-02T01:10:07.770", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "88", "parent_id": "3580", "post_type": "answer", "score": 5 }, { "body": "\n\nI don't think she's alone, Kozue implied that at the end of season one. And\nbesides, There would have to be more so that ika could have been born.\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-09-17T22:16:49.860", "id": "5212", "last_activity_date": "2013-09-17T22:16:49.860", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "2398", "parent_id": "3580", "post_type": "answer", "score": 0 }, { "body": "\n\nIt was implied during the playing house episode that she has parents that are\nlike her as she said that she was mimicking her father when she said \"I want\nshrimp!\" Also in the manga when she was talking to the school children with\nthe teacher who is jelous of her about sea creatures, she pretty much said\nthat her species lives deep in the ocean where there isn't any light from the\nsun and they communicate by flashing their bioluminescence. I also like to\nthink that their species isn't big on specific names, so I think it's funny to\ncall her dad \"Ika oto-san\"\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2017-01-25T17:59:53.963", "id": "38614", "last_activity_date": "2017-01-25T17:59:53.963", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "30535", "parent_id": "3580", "post_type": "answer", "score": 1 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nKodomo no Jikan has 7 OVA episodes.\n\n * **Kodomo no Jikan: Rin no Gakkyuu Nisshi** is a summery episode of the TV series. This OVA episode was released in 2008.\n * **Kodomo no Jikan: Yasumi Jikan - Anata ga Watashi ni Kureta Mono** is a side story of the TV series. This episode was released 2007 during the original TV series.\n * **Kodomo no Jikan: Ni Gakki** are 3 episodes and are kind of a sequel, because they play after the TV series. This OVA series were released in 2009.\n * **Kodomo no Jikan: Kuro-chan to Shiro-chan** is kind of a side story of 'Kodomo no Jikan: Ni Gakki'. This OVA episode was released in 2009.\n * **Kodomo no Jikan: Kodomo no Natsu Jikan** is one episode and is kind of a sequel of 'Kodomo no Jikan: Ni Gakki'. This OVA episode was released in 2011.\n\n", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-29T09:12:07.213", "id": "3601", "last_activity_date": "2013-04-29T09:12:07.213", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "1717", "parent_id": "3582", "post_type": "answer", "score": 2 }, { "body": "\n\n[Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Kodomo_no_Jikan_episodes)\nlists the 3 OVA episodes in question as follows:\n\n * **Yasumi Jikan '~Anata ga Watashi ni Kureta Mono~'** is between the 4th and 5th episodes of the 1st season.\n * **Kuro-chan to Shiro-chan** occurs between the 1st and 2nd episodes of the 2nd season (which is a 3-episode OVA season)\n * **Kodomo no Natsu Jikan** takes place after the end of the second season.\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-05-20T22:33:14.087", "id": "3848", "last_activity_date": "2013-05-20T22:33:14.087", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "24", "parent_id": "3582", "post_type": "answer", "score": 4 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nWhile not the most scientific method, one could generate a list of anime\nentries over at [Anime News Network](http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/), sort\nit by order and see what is the earliest entry in their database that fits the\ncriterion we're looking for. [Here would be an example of such a\nlist.](http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime-\nlist.php?showdate=1&limit_to=&showT=1&showO=1&licensed=&sort=date)\n\nObviously the service's database is most likely incomplete, but regardless, it\nis still an authoritative source for anime information, and given the size,\nand time range of the database, it can be trusted as a good estimation.\n\n * **First anime based off of manga** : \n * [Astro Boy, 1963](http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=422)\n * **First anime based off light novels** : \n * [Legend of the Galactic Heroes (OAV) 1988](http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=1786)\n * [Slayers (1995)](http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=657)\n\n", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-30T01:12:33.477", "id": "3616", "last_activity_date": "2013-04-30T19:20:31.820", "last_edit_date": "2013-04-30T19:20:31.820", "last_editor_user_id": "1600", "owner_user_id": "1600", "parent_id": "3583", "post_type": "answer", "score": 7 }, { "body": "\n\nNya, \"Norakuro\", maybe? I'm not sure if that was the first anime based on a\nmanga, but, anyway, the first anime of Norakuro predates Astroboy anime and\npredates too the Second World War\n\n", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2016-11-02T19:06:33.570", "id": "37151", "last_activity_date": "2016-11-02T19:06:33.570", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "29052", "parent_id": "3583", "post_type": "answer", "score": -1 }, { "body": "\n\nTechnically, Tetsuwan Atom (1963) is the first anime to exist and was also\nbased on a Manga, but if you do not get too technical on what anime means and\njust refer to animation from Japan you get Shou-chan no Bouken (1924) as the\nfirst such \"anime\" that was based on a \"manga\".\n\nThe first anime based on a Light Novel is Kikansha Yaemon: D51 no Daibouken\n(1974) and the first \"anime\" based on a normal novel is Saiyuuki: Son Gokuu\nMonogatari (1926).\n\nThough, what we commonly refer to as anime nowadays - the whole subculture\nstuff - only originated around 1978-1982, so none of the titles above fit if\nyou go by that understanding of anime.\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "creation_date": "2021-10-28T22:55:24.287", "id": "65821", "last_activity_date": "2021-10-28T22:55:24.287", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "22562", "parent_id": "3583", "post_type": "answer", "score": 0 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nBy the end of the series, this is still unclear, perhaps deliberately, but the\nevidence points a bit towards Nao having realized.\n\nAfter episode 10, Ink can no longer transform into Pastel Ink, but she decides\nto cosplay (poorly) as Pastel Ink anyway in episodes 11 and 12 and help Nao\nwith his studies. Mio, who had not seen Pastel Ink before this, immediately\nrecognized her as Ink. However, when Nao sees Ink wearing this outfit, he\nfirst calls her \"Ink\" but then immediately changes it to \"Pastel Ink-sensei\",\nthe same way he called her before. Mio is annoyed by her brother's apparent\ncluelessness at this. However, given the context of the scene, it's also quite\npossible that this change was out of consideration for Ink.\n\nFurthermore, at the end of episode 12 (the last episode to have _this_ Nao and\nInk), Nao also says ambiguous lines to Ink, to the effect of \"I haven't seen\nPastel Ink since then, but I'm sure if I ever needed her help she would show\nup again.\" Given that he was talking to Ink, this could be an acknowledgement\nthat he knows Ink was Pastel Ink in a way that remains ambiguous. He could\nstill just be clueless, but the way this statement is phrased, it _seems_ like\nhe's thanking her in a way that doesn't give away the fact that he knows she\nis Pastel Ink. Nao's actions in all of these scenes are of a slightly\ndifferent character than his interactions with Ink and Pastel Ink in the first\n10 episodes.\n\nExactly when he realized is difficult to determine. There is one scene earlier\nin the series in which he sees Pastel Ink and has a vision of Ink. There are\nalso several scenes between the two in which he _seems_ like he's going to say\nsomething important, but backs out at the last moment and says something\nrelatively trivial. At any of these points, it's possible that Nao is actually\naware that the two are the same, but it's also possibly just a running gag\nthat he is clueless.\n\nWith that said, there's nothing in the series which explicitly refutes the\nidea that Nao is just incredibly clueless and never realized even after\nepisodes 11 and 12. But at the very least, it seems like a reasonable\ninterpretation that by episodes 11 and 12, Nao is aware that Pastel Ink is\nInk, and that he's only playing along to avoid upsetting her. There\nunfortunately just doesn't seem to be any more definitive statement that can\nbe made based on canon sources here.\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-12-20T09:46:29.593", "id": "16925", "last_activity_date": "2014-12-20T09:46:29.593", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "24", "parent_id": "3584", "post_type": "answer", "score": 2 } ]

[]

[ { "body": "\n\nThe following is a panel from chapter 2 of the manga. It states that Astarotte\nwill become an adult in the next 3 years.\n\n\n\nGiven that she's 10 at the start of the story, it seems that she'll be matured\nto the level of needing a harem by the age of 13. That would correspond to\nroughly the middle of puberty in human girls, so it seems likely that succubi\nmature at roughly the same rate as humans, though perhaps slightly faster.\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-05-19T22:46:52.570", "id": "3838", "last_activity_date": "2013-05-19T22:46:52.570", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "24", "parent_id": "3588", "post_type": "answer", "score": 4 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nAccording to the [Japanese Wikipedia article for the\nseries](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%8B%BA%E3%81%BE%E3%81%97%E3%81%BE%E3%82%8D#.E4.B8.BB.E8.A6.81.E3.82.AD.E3.83.A3.E3.83.A9.E3.82.AF.E3.82.BF.E3.83.BC):\n\n> Because she has almost completely forgotten how to speak English, she has a\n> complex about her last name \"Coppola\". When she changed schools, she hid her\n> last name \"Coppola\" along with the fact that she couldn't speak English and\n> could speak Japanese. However, she was quickly exposed by Itou and her\n> friends.\n\nSo it seems like she's embarrassed because she has a foreign last name but\ncan't speak English.\n\nAlso, on an English blog, someone asked the same question, and [a Japanese\nviewer provided their insight via\ncomments](http://www.darkmirage.com/2005/11/21/ichigo-mashimaro-\ncoppola/#comments) (comment #15, don't think there's a way to permalink it):\n\n> Kappore was a joke show in the Japanese feudal age. Coppola has a similar\n> pronunciation to Kappore (especially in japanese’sound). now almost Japanese\n> don’t know the meaning of Kappore, but we feel funny when we listen the word\n> like kappore.\n\nThere don't seem to be many English resources on kappore, but you can also\nsearch on Youtube for some modern examples.\n\nOn the same blog's comments, another Japanese viewer comments (comment #17):\n\n> The reason why koppora sounds weird to the Japanese has something to do with\n> the accents of the 19th century peasants in northeastern Japan. They used to\n> pronounce “kon-na koto” as “koddara godo”, “chotto” as “chokkura”, “bikkuri”\n> as “beggura” and so on, which is not considered very elegant among the\n> white-collar class. And, the family name Coppola doesn’t sound like British\n> but reminds us of Italian immigrants, which further highlights the\n> awkwardness of Ana’s phony “British Style.” That’s probably why Miu always\n> mentions “koppora” whenever Ana gets a bout of British chauvinism (as in\n> drama CD’s) or her facade is wearing off.\n\nSo there are three different theories for you. Seems like even the Japanese\naren't 100% why it sounds so funny.\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-28T17:11:41.707", "id": "3593", "last_activity_date": "2013-04-28T23:18:01.783", "last_edit_date": "2013-04-28T23:18:01.783", "last_editor_user_id": "107", "owner_user_id": "107", "parent_id": "3589", "post_type": "answer", "score": 11 }, { "body": "\n\nThere's a really no deeper meaning behind the name, beside that it sounds\nsilly when you say it.\n\nShe is given the \"nickname\" 穴骨洞（あなこっほら, Anakohora, using the kanji for \"hole\"\nand \"bone cave\") by Miu, partially because it suits her proper Japanese\npersonality (reflected by her polite and feminine use of Japanese). There's no\ndeeper meaning behind this aside from the irony and that it just sounds funny\nwhen you say it in Japanese and associate it with kanji.\n\nIt's just like if there was someone named Will Power, Anita Man, or Joy Ryder\nin English.\n\n", "comment_count": 3, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-28T22:08:46.740", "id": "3596", "last_activity_date": "2013-04-28T22:08:46.740", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "63", "parent_id": "3589", "post_type": "answer", "score": 1 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nIn the paradox world, Kyousuke chooses the \"best candidates\" not by their\ncutness (but they are ^_^) but their life before die.\n\nIf you would realize, every non-core member from little busters had a bad\nlife. In this case, Kud had the feeling to say goodbye to her mother (she\ndidn't it when she was alive).\n\nThis spinoff is after the events of Refrain (carcrash + good end = jumper).\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-01-26T06:07:21.720", "id": "7173", "last_activity_date": "2014-01-26T06:07:21.720", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "3490", "parent_id": "3590", "post_type": "answer", "score": 1 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nAt episode 12, since her performance at the Daycare approached, Hina began\nasking again when her parents will be coming, prompting the others to reveal\nthe truth.\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-09-23T10:41:05.743", "id": "5290", "last_activity_date": "2018-01-09T12:41:01.367", "last_edit_date": "2018-01-09T12:41:01.367", "last_editor_user_id": "2516", "owner_user_id": "2427", "parent_id": "3591", "post_type": "answer", "score": 2 }, { "body": "\n\nI don't think it ever openly tells us that the parents are actually dead, it\nstates on the TV that some are missing while showing Yuri's name, it's\npossible the funeral was held without bodies and Yuri is still alive.\n\nFrom what we see no Christmas period passes and most of the show is between\nsummer break and towards the end of autumn, we also see none of the girls\nbirthdays promoting the idea that the show happens withing a two to three\nmonth period.\n\nIt is entirely possible that Yuri could still be alive as there is no solid\nevidence stating that they died, the news also stated that the plane crashed\nand was missing, again, if missing there is no guarantee that bodies were\nfound.\n\nFor all we know, she could still be alive.\n\nAlso, Hina states that 'since mommy is in heaven, I'm bringing my drawing to\nshow her' this implies that somewhere between episode 12 and 13 she came to\nterms and learned about it, also, another thing left out of the show is that\nHina sees her parents either at her parents day or the musical show, in spirit\nanyway, though this isn't solid proof they are dead and could be just the\nimagination of a three year old it may have forced her to accept the fact her\nparents are gone.\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "creation_date": "2018-08-19T13:12:21.840", "id": "48417", "last_activity_date": "2018-08-19T15:02:14.660", "last_edit_date": "2018-08-19T15:02:14.660", "last_editor_user_id": "102", "owner_user_id": "42092", "parent_id": "3591", "post_type": "answer", "score": 1 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nBleach episode 539 has some answers.\n\nKomamura is talking to his great grandfather:\n\n\n\n> Who is a huge canine himself. From this it is clear that a canine appearance\n> is a family trait. The conversation also reveals that they do have a special\n> status, though it is not clear what exactly their role in Soul Society is.\n> It is, however, clear that Komamura was born this way.\n\n* * *\n\nBleach 556 has some further information - in a flashback to his previous\nencounter with his great grandfather, who says:\n\n> \n\n* * *\n\n> So, he is not a wolf, but a werewolf. The clan originated in soul society,\n> were banished, but did come back.\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-05-29T12:11:35.377", "id": "3953", "last_activity_date": "2013-11-12T10:06:21.693", "last_edit_date": "2013-11-12T10:06:21.693", "last_editor_user_id": "1649", "owner_user_id": "1649", "parent_id": "3594", "post_type": "answer", "score": 10 }, { "body": "\n\nMy guess that Komamura is some form of mutated soul but idk all I know is some\nsoul reapers have a unique appearance and not all soul reapers look like\nhumans but to be honest idk maybe it’s the soul equivalent of werewolf\nconditions\n\n", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "creation_date": "2022-02-09T18:44:01.963", "id": "66345", "last_activity_date": "2022-02-09T18:44:01.963", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "65402", "parent_id": "3594", "post_type": "answer", "score": -1 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nLike Madara mentioned, it's really impossible to say at this point. From what\nI remember from that brief moment in the manga, the silhouette of the Soul\nKing kind of looked like Aizen's pre-butterfly state.\n\nAizen also called \"it\" a \"thing,\" so it might not be a Shinigami.\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-05-04T00:32:46.057", "id": "3661", "last_activity_date": "2013-05-04T00:32:46.057", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "1642", "parent_id": "3595", "post_type": "answer", "score": 2 }, { "body": "\n\nIn **Chapter 611** , the Soul King was revealed to be\n\n> Yhwach's father [](https://i.stack.imgur.com/6ZKvj.jpg)\n\nHowever, _it was not stated anywhere in the manga whether or not he was a\nShinigami or a Quincy_. In **Chapter 615** , the purpose of the Soul King was\nexplained. To quote from the wiki,\n\n> The Soul King's sole purpose is to regulate the flow of souls in and out of\n> Soul Society. Without his existence, all known dimensions connected to Soul\n> Society will begin crumbling into non-existence.\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "creation_date": "2019-05-03T14:06:54.183", "id": "52788", "last_activity_date": "2019-05-03T14:06:54.183", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "43199", "parent_id": "3595", "post_type": "answer", "score": 1 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nNaruto has a lot of different voice actors, but mainly for other languages. In\nJapanese, Naruto has only had 2 voice actors:\n\n 1. [Takeuchi, Junko](http://myanimelist.net/people/15/Junko_Takeuchi)\n 2. [Kogure, Ema](http://myanimelist.net/people/727/Ema_Kogure)\n\nKogure Ema has only voiced Naruto in _Naruto_ (before the time skip). [I\nbelieve she even only did 1 technique which would be Naruto's \"Sexy\nTechnique\"](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ema_Kogure). Takeuchi Junko is\nNaruto's main voice actor; she has voiced Naruto in all movies and specials,\nalso through out _Naruto_ and _Naruto: Shippuden_.\n\nAnd to scare you all a bit too, Naruto's voice actor also voices\n[Akamaru](http://myanimelist.net/character/4799/Akamaru),\n[Guruko](http://myanimelist.net/character/23569/Guruko),\n[Hina](http://myanimelist.net/character/34115/Hina), and\n[Menma](http://myanimelist.net/character/74930/Menma).\n\n> During the casting for the Japanese version of the animated adaptations, the\n> staff sought a male voice actor for Naruto. Junko Takeuchi, a female\n> actress, was instead chosen following a large number of auditions that\n> involved male actors. Before recording the first episode, Takeuchi noticed\n> several lines from the script that ended with exclamations points which\n> helped her define Naruto's voice. She noted difficulties in transitioning\n> from the naruto which is young to the eledest of three in the animated\n> adaptation of Part II, as she had to record the first episode after the time\n> skip only one week after voicing the character from before the time skip.\n> This concerned the character's growth as Naruto started acting more mature\n> in contrast to his attitude of a child. It was difficult for Takeuchi to\n> voice Naruto in his Nine-Tailed Demon Fox form and during the fight against\n> Sasuke, due to the suffering Naruto was going through. Nine years after\n> first voicing the character, while still finding it tough to voice Naruto,\n> Takeuchi's opinion regarding him changed to \"a very reliable young man\". She\n> admires his ability to prioritize and calmly make important decisions, and\n> believes these traits will inspire viewers worldwide.\n> [Source](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naruto_Uzumaki)\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-29T10:36:55.883", "id": "3608", "last_activity_date": "2013-04-29T17:09:17.757", "last_edit_date": "2013-04-29T17:09:17.757", "last_editor_user_id": "274", "owner_user_id": "1458", "parent_id": "3599", "post_type": "answer", "score": 2 }, { "body": "\n\nThe answer is: sort of.\n\nThere are a number of characters who have multiple voice actors, but those\ndon't (as far as I can tell) change as the show goes on.\n\n[Kakashi](http://naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Kakashi_Hatake) is a character who has\na second seiyuu in Shippuden, but it is one who voices him as a child.\nNormally, and through both Naruto and Shippuden, he is voiced by [Kazuhiko\nInoue](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kazuhiko_Inoue), but as a child, he is\nvoiced by [Mutsumi Tamura](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutsumi_Tamura).\n\nOrochimaru has had four seiyuu: one for his [normal\nbody](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kujira), one for his body as a [Grass\nninja](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuriko_Yamaguchi_%28voice_actor%29), one\nfor him in the [female body](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sachiko_Kojima), and\none for him as a [child](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayumi_Yamaguchi).\n\nDeidara's voice actor in the English dub is different between his episode 135\n[cameo](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinton_Flynn) and his [role in\nShippuden](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Craig_Smith).\n\nSasori has three seiyuu: one for as an\n[adult](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takahiro_Sakurai), one for as a\n[child](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akiko_Yajima), and one for as a [puppet\nbody](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yutaka_Aoyama).\n\nTobi has three seiyuu: one for when he is\n[Tobi](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wataru_Takagi), one for when he is\n\n> Obito\n\n([see](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naoya_Uchida))\n\nand one for when he is a child.\n\nShikamaru has a different seiyuu for episode 141. Normally, he's voiced by\n[Showtaro Morikubo](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Showtaro_Morikubo), but in\nthat episode, he was voiced by [Nobutoshi\nCanna](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobutoshi_Canna). I can't find why that\nswitch happened, except that Nobutoshi Canna was the stand-in.\n\nKonohamaru has a similar situation: he is usually voiced by [Ikue\nOtani](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikue_%C5%8Ctani) but [Akiko\nKoike](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akiko_Koike) acted as a stand-in.\n\nAs far as I can tell, there is nobody who specifically changes seiyuu between\nNaruto and Shippuden, but these are characters who have multiple seiyuu for\nvarious reasons.\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-29T19:33:50.940", "id": "3614", "last_activity_date": "2013-04-30T00:55:48.087", "last_edit_date": "2013-04-30T00:55:48.087", "last_editor_user_id": "93", "owner_user_id": "93", "parent_id": "3599", "post_type": "answer", "score": 6 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nThis is from the eroge/visual novel\n[Cross†Channel](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross_Channel). The characters in\nthe image are Taichi, the protagonist, and Yusa, a young girl who lives next\ndoor to the protagonist. Taichi, who has certain mental conditions including\nbeing a sexual deviant, is in this scene avowing his intent to do nothing\ninappropriate to Yusa.\n\nHere's Wikipedia's synopsis of the plot:\n\n> After a failed summer vacation with other members of the school's\n> broadcasting club, Taichi Kurosu and some of the other club members return\n> to the city, only to find that all living creatures within it except for the\n> club members have completely vanished. In order to confirm the status of the\n> outside world, Taichi decides to gather other club members to help Misato\n> Miyasumi, the president of the broadcasting club, set up a broadcasting\n> antenna to contact any possible survivors. However, Taichi soon discovers\n> that the world is actually repeating the same week and thus all their\n> actions are reset, with no loss or gain, no matter what actions are taken.\n> Seeking himself and the restoration of broken bonds, Taichi must discover\n> meaning to exist in this strange and lonely but, for Taichi, comforting\n> world.\n\n\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-30T02:52:21.637", "id": "3618", "last_activity_date": "2013-04-30T02:52:55.013", "last_edit_date": "2013-04-30T02:52:55.013", "last_editor_user_id": "63", "owner_user_id": "24", "parent_id": "3617", "post_type": "answer", "score": 10 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nAccording to the [Japanese wikipedia article for the\nseries](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%B2%E3%83%BC%E3%83%88%E3%82%AD%E3%83%BC%E3%83%91%E3%83%BC%E3%82%BA#.E7.99.BB.E5.A0.B4.E4.BA.BA.E7.89.A9):\n\n> In the anime, Shun called her \"the sniffling Rurippe\" (鼻たれのルリっぺ) during\n> their childhood which has become a sort of trauma for her.\n\nSo I don't think it's about the name Rurippe itself (which is written in all\nkana by the way, no kanji) but how Shun used it in the past. In the past, he\ncalled her \"the sniffling Rurippe\" so now whenever he just calls her \"Rurippe\"\nit reminds her of the original full name which included \"sniffling\".\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-30T15:07:06.467", "id": "3621", "last_activity_date": "2013-04-30T15:07:06.467", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "107", "parent_id": "3620", "post_type": "answer", "score": 2 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nIt was real. We don't get to see exactly when the dreams and reality are\nmerging, at the end of the movie:\n\n> Dreams and reality are one and the same because the DC minis have broken\n> down the barrier (and is missing user control interfaces) between the\n> worlds. Therefore everything that exists in the dreamsphere co-exists in the\n> real world, and vice-versa. This is proven by the fact that the buildings\n> all take permanent damage by the dream-creatures.\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-05-29T13:54:37.133", "id": "3954", "last_activity_date": "2013-05-29T15:38:31.830", "last_edit_date": "2013-05-29T15:38:31.830", "last_editor_user_id": "274", "owner_user_id": "1834", "parent_id": "3622", "post_type": "answer", "score": 6 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nThere's a section in the Hayate wiki entry on Nagi that explains [why they had\nto move out of the\nmansion](http://hayatenogotoku.wikia.com/wiki/Nagi_Sanzenin#Moving_out_of_the_Sanzenin_Mansion)\nright after the Golden Week Arc, which occurs between chapters 211 and 266.\nThe second season followed the manga up to chapter 148 and the 3rd season\ndidn't follow the manga.\n\n> After coming back from golden week trip, Nagi was forced to leave her\n> mansion due to her forfeiting her inheritance after she destroyed the King's\n> Jewel. She orders Hayate to find a new house with 20 million yen. Later\n> Nagi, Hayate, and Maria stayed at the Violet Mansion and started new life.\n> Nagi prepared a plan to get money first with rent from the Violet Mansion\n> (with butler service), she got a first tenant (Chiharu) because her house\n> was burned by her parents.\n\nNone of this seems to ave been explained in the anime since the last episode\nfrom the \"Can't Take My Eyes Off You\" season, they were still in the mansion.\nThe synopsis for the first episode of \"Cuties\" seem to imply that it's a\nflashback, so perhaps the previous season was _after_ this season and they had\nmoved back into the mansion, or the effect of the Golden Week Arc at least\ngets explained later in the season.\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-30T20:05:08.203", "id": "3627", "last_activity_date": "2013-04-30T20:11:34.323", "last_edit_date": "2013-04-30T20:11:34.323", "last_editor_user_id": "91", "owner_user_id": "91", "parent_id": "3625", "post_type": "answer", "score": 2 }, { "body": "\n\nAll of the events leading to Nagi moving out to the Violet Mansion (the\napartment building) happens during the Golden Week arc, which is not (yet?)\nanimated.\n\nIn chapter 220, on the trip during the Golden Week, Aika delivers a mail from\nMikado to Hayate:\n\n> Mikado sets a new condition of inheritance, which is to defeat Hayate and\n> either retrieve or destroy the King's Jewel that he is currently carrying.\n> This King's Jewel was given to Hayate by Mikado in chapter 14, during his\n> first visit to the main mansion.\n\nIn chapter 244 to 248\n\n> Hayate and Athena meets again. Athena is possessed by King Midas, and King\n> Midas wants the King's Jewel that Hayate carries to re-enter the Garden\n> Palace and obtain god's power. To save Athena, they must break the\n> \"agreement\" between Athena and King Midas which allows King Midas to possess\n> her, and the only (safe) way to do it is to destroy Hayate's King's Jewel.\n\nOn the last day on the trip to Mykonos during Golden Week. In chapter 252:\n\n> Hayate was troubled over whether to destroy the King's Jewel he has to save\n> Athena, or to keep it to protect Nagi's inheritance. Nagi, seeing Hayate\n> troubled face, decided to break the King's Jewel herself, henceforth loses\n> her rights to the inheritance. She decides to abandon the money that has\n> protected her so far and entrust herself to Hayate to protect her.\n\nIn chapter 268 to 270 (after Golden Week arc)\n\n> They are now back from the trip to Mykonos. Having lost the rights to the\n> Sanzen'in family's inheritance, Nagi has to move out of the mansion in a\n> week. After a series of events, Klaus shows Hayate the apartment building\n> called Violet Mansion, which was given to him by Nagi's mother due to a\n> misunderstanding. Klaus decides it is time to return it to Nagi. Nagi later\n> moves into the apartment building starting from chapter 277.\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-30T20:17:33.627", "id": "3628", "last_activity_date": "2013-05-01T09:39:24.740", "last_edit_date": "2013-05-01T09:39:24.740", "last_editor_user_id": "1398", "owner_user_id": "1398", "parent_id": "3625", "post_type": "answer", "score": 3 }, { "body": "\n\nNagi did not completely leave her mansion. Rather, she seems to own both her\nmansion and the apartments. She goes between both the apartments and the\nmansion throughout the season (at least this is true for as far as I've seen,\nup to episode 6).\n\nIn episode 2, Hayate mentions that Nagi was staying at the apartments because\nit's easier for her to get work done in the apartments.\n\n \n\nBased on the information in [List of manga chapters animated in Hayate no\nGotoku! Cuties](https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/3888/list-of-manga-\nchapters-animated-in-hayate-no-gotoku-cuties/3889#3889), it seems like this\nseason is adapting various manga chapters but not chronologically. It's\npossible that they altered the housing situation from what was in the manga so\nthat this anime season appears to have more continuity - it would be odd if\nNagi said she had no mansion in the beginning of an episode (adapted from a\nlater chapter) and then was shown in her mansion during the next part (adapted\nfrom an earlier chapter).\n\n", "comment_count": 4, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-05-22T18:55:38.663", "id": "3879", "last_activity_date": "2013-05-23T15:40:00.363", "last_edit_date": "2020-06-17T09:17:53.303", "last_editor_user_id": "-1", "owner_user_id": "107", "parent_id": "3625", "post_type": "answer", "score": 3 }, { "body": "\n\nIt's worth noting that the Heaven is a Place on Earth, Can't Take My Eyes Off\nYou, and Cuties are all future timelines that may or may not become canonical\nto the manga depending on how the mangaka, Hata Kenjiro chooses to continue\nthe current manga timeline which hasn't caught up to the movie or both new\nseasons of the anime yet.\n\nAll stories used in the episodes of Hayate no Gotoku! Cuties except for\nepisodes 11-12 were taken from various manga chapters around 200-400-ish of\nthe manga, so you definitely cannot dismiss manga-based answers. Some of the\nevents in these chapters were understandably modified a bit for the anime in\norder to make it seem like the stories in Cuties take place after Can't Take\nMy Eyes of You.\n\nTo answer your question directly, Nagi was never shown moving out of her\nmansion in the anime because the yet/never-to-be-animated End of the World Arc\nfeaturing Athena Tennousu who is currently Alice both in the Manga and in\nCuties (the presence of Alice as well as the Violet mansion are clear\nindications that you cannot dismiss manga-based answers), concludes with Nagi\nlosing her right to the Sanzen'in inheritance of her own volition by\ndestroying the King's Jewel that Hayate was supposed to protect because it was\nthe key to her inheritance. Thus, with the stone destroyed, her grandfather\nMikado Sanzen'in evicts her from the mansion and she is forced to live on her\nown without her fortune. Fortunately, her head butler Klaus gives her the\n\"apartment,\" the Violet Mansion, which was originally given to him as a gift\nby Yukariko Sanzen'in, Nagi's mother. Nagi then proceeds to rent out the\ndifferent rooms in the Violet Mansion/Yukari-chan house in order to start\nearning money and that's how their friends eventually come to live in this\nhouse (for various ulterior motives).\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-07-21T17:50:07.437", "id": "4427", "last_activity_date": "2013-07-21T17:50:07.437", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "2058", "parent_id": "3625", "post_type": "answer", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nThere is no deep origin of the super robot trope in Japanese folklore, at\nleast as it pertains to anime and manga. While some Japanese legends and\nhistory (such as the _samurai_ ) may have influence the design and\ncharacteristics of the mechas, there is little direct inspirational influence.\n\nThe first anime adaptation of the [_Tetsujin\n28-go_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetsujin_28-go) manga, in 1963, is widely\ncredited as the origin of the mecha genre with an early design of a \"[super\nrobot](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Robot)\". This series, in conjunction\nwith the manga [_Giant Robo_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_Robo), were\nthe first to feature these designs. [Mitsuteru\nYokoyama](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsuteru_Yokoyama)*, as the creator of\nboth these manga, is considered the father of the genre.\n\nYokoyama was largely influenced by the wartime of his days; the [bombing of\nKobe](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Kobe_in_World_War_II) is one\nsuch case. He was also influenced by the monster concept from _Frankenstein_.\n[_Astro Boy_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astro_Boy), a 1952 manga series,\nhas also had great influence over the design of the robots seen in the mecha\ngenre[[1]](http://theyokocritic.wordpress.com/2010/10/06/the-evolution-of-\nmecha-design/).\n\n[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/Ooyjm.jpg)\n[ ](https://i.stack.imgur.com/s4wTF.jpg) \n(Left: _Tetsujin 28-go_ manga cover; Right: _Giant Robo_ manga cover)\n\nA bit more history: Notable mecha series that followed Yokoyama's creations\nwere [_Mazinger_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazinger) (one of the first to\nfeature piloting) and [the _Gundam_\nseries](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_Suit_Gundam). In the 90s, [_Neon\nGenesis Evangelion_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neon_Genesis_Evangelion)\nmoved forward from the clunky, overly mechanized (and often blocky) mechas\nfrom the prior series, and introduced sleeker, faster\ndesigns[[2]](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Neon_Genesis_Evangelion&oldid=549838327#Legacy).\nLater series, such as [_Gurren\nLagann_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gurren_Lagann) and\n[_RahXephon_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RahXephon) mimicked this design,\nwhile few shows like\n[_GaoGaiGar_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_King_of_Braves_GaoGaiGar) did\nnot.\n\n* - Yokoyama also made significant other contributions to Japanese comic culture; these can be found in the linked WIkipedia article.\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-04-30T22:35:01.473", "id": "3630", "last_activity_date": "2013-09-15T19:17:51.033", "last_edit_date": "2013-09-15T19:17:51.033", "last_editor_user_id": "274", "owner_user_id": "274", "parent_id": "3629", "post_type": "answer", "score": 15 }, { "body": "\n\nWhile this is conjecture, I'd say that mecha in manga and anime rose as a\nresult of the [tokusatsu](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokusatsu) (special\neffects) wave of the 50s beginning with 1954's\n[Gojira](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godzilla) (Godzilla), a character\ncreated due to nuclear radiation. This huge _kaiju_ was partly based on King\nKong (1933):\n\n> The special-effects artist Eiji Tsuburaya and the director Ishirō Honda\n> became the driving forces behind 1954's Godzilla. Tsuburaya, inspired by the\n> American film King Kong, formulated many of the techniques that would become\n> staples of the genre, such as so-called suitmation—the use of a human actor\n> in a costume to play a giant monster—combined with the use of miniatures and\n> scaled-down city sets. Godzilla forever changed the landscape of Japanese\n> science fiction, fantasy, and cinema by creating a uniquely Japanese vision\n> in a genre typically dominated by American cinema.\n\nThese huge rampaging monsters were initially countered by puny humans, then by\npowerful pint-sized humans, powerful pint-sized robots/androids and then by\nhuge robotic superheroes controlled from the outside and then from the inside.\nTezuka's 1952 manga, [Astro Boy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astro_Boy),\nfeatured one such pint-sized robot superhero who was himself based on the\ncharacter of _Michi_ in his 1949 manga,\n[Metropolis](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolis_%28manga%29) (in turn\nbased on the 1927 [Fritz Lang\nmasterpiece](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolis_%28film%29)). Michi is an\nartificially \"synthesised\" boy who, later in the story, goes around toppling\nskyscrapers.\n\nAs noted [by Eric](https://anime.stackexchange.com/a/3630/247), 1956's\n[Gigantor](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetsujin_28-go) featured a [Super\nRobot](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Robot) controlled by a kid on the\noutside while the 1972 manga, Mazinger Z, was apparently the first to feature\nthe controller on the inside:\n\n> The idea of a robot controlled by a young hero was first used in 1956 with\n> Iron Man 28 or Tetsujin 28-go (dubbed and released in the US as Gigantor),\n> by manga artist Mitsuteru Yokoyama, which featured a giant robot piloted by\n> remote-control by a young boy named Shotaro Kaneda, who used it to fight\n> against evil. However, the first anime to use the phrase Super Robot and the\n> one that set the standards for the genre was Mazinger Z, created by Go Nagai\n> and making its debut in manga publications and TV in 1972. The main\n> difference between Mazinger Z and previous robots was that the hero, Koji\n> Kabuto, would pilot the robot from the inside in the same manner as one\n> would drive a car. This anime show was hugely popular and spanned numerous\n> sequels and imitations during the 1970s, and revival shows later during the\n> 80s and 90s.\n\n[TV Tropes notes](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Anime/Gigantor) that\nGigantor might be the \"Ur example\" of \"The Kid with the Remote Control\" and\n[Mazinger Z](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Anime/MazingerZ) \"THE\ngranddaddy of the Super Robot Genre\".\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-05-01T05:06:47.267", "id": "3631", "last_activity_date": "2013-05-01T05:06:47.267", "last_edit_date": "2017-04-13T12:54:48.953", "last_editor_user_id": "-1", "owner_user_id": "247", "parent_id": "3629", "post_type": "answer", "score": 7 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nNo, it is not explained.\n\nThe novels leave many of these up to the reader's interpretation. It is the\nsame as [Hideaki Anno leaving the meaning of the ending of Evangelion open\n(see Q#6)](http://www.modusproductions.com/eva-r/tiff/stats.htm) to the\nviewer's own thoughts, or in Code Geass, [where a shot of the cart rider\nsmiling](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNhyzoq4mxo) (displaying some\nfeatures of Lelouch) was cut out in order to make the ending more open.\n\nKino's Journey is in a fantasy world where science has taken some leaps and\nbounds in some directions (and became twisted), with some moments that poke\nyour disbelief to see if its suspended or not (like the \"Are you a Knife\nMerchant\" moment with the slavers in [episode not remembered]).\n\nIt may be somewhat magical ([and TVTropes indeed lists it as \"magical\nrealism\"](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/LightNovel/KinosJourney)) but\nnot in the usual sense (no mages or spellcasting), with their larger-than-life\ncharacters (like when Shizu uses his sword to block bullets).\n\nSome [speculate that they do not talk at\nall](http://acerailgun.wordpress.com/2012/03/07/kinos-journey-review-\nbreakdown-and-study/), and that it all happens in Kino's mind (and she could\nindeed be crazy enough under the nogging). That is a possible interpretion.\nThe series is one of self-discovery after all. Or the suggestion in the Land\nof Books (that Kino is in a VR simulation) is actually true.\n\nI think there are similarities in the universe of Kino and the Petit Prince.\nKino's is grittier, but the mixing of subtle fantasy and realism is there.\n\n", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-04-12T04:00:45.170", "id": "8606", "last_activity_date": "2015-04-20T19:10:53.770", "last_edit_date": "2015-04-20T19:10:53.770", "last_editor_user_id": "1398", "owner_user_id": "2808", "parent_id": "3633", "post_type": "answer", "score": 3 }, { "body": "\n\nIn episode 11 Kino shows her backstory. (I'll try my best not to spoil but\nstill try to answer your question.)\n\nBasically, Kino was living in a corrupt country. A traveler came along and she\nmade friends with him. In Kino's society, once a child turned the age of 12,\nthey were given surgery on the brain to take out the \"child\" in them. You\ncould say they were brainwashed. The traveler explained to Kino how he thought\nthis was wrong.\n\nKino didn't have a name at the time, so she was reffered to as \"daughter\", or\n\"girl\". The traveler's name was Kino. Female Kino told her brainwashed\n\"parents\" that she didn't want to go through with the surgery. He parents\nyelled at her and her father decided to kill her.\n\nThere was no rules against killing Female Kino, since she was believed to be\nher parents' property. He father dragged her out to the Male Kino, also known\nas the traveler, and scolded him for putting the thought in Female Kino's\nmind. As the father was about to murder Female Kino, Male Kino jumped in front\nof the knife and sacrificed himself.\n\nThen, the motorbike started talking. Keep in mind the bike didn't talk until\nthe traveler died. The bike had the same voice as the traveler. The bike then\nsaved Female Kino from the corrupt society. He named Female Kino from \"girl\"\nto \"Kino\". The motorbike then told Kino to call him Hermes. So, basically, the\nbike is possessed by Male Kino.\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "creation_date": "2020-05-25T00:30:11.537", "id": "57685", "last_activity_date": "2020-05-25T00:30:11.537", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "53497", "parent_id": "3633", "post_type": "answer", "score": 0 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nIn real life, people that wear glasses often wear \"sports bands\" when they are\nconcerned about their glasses flying away during athletic events. However,\nwell fit glasses don't need any additional enhancements as long as the athlete\nisn't performing many rolls. Simple jumps are not enough to cause well fitting\nglasses to fall or fly away in this case.\n\nIn addition to that, some glasses have highly curved end pieces to help secure\nglasses on the wearer. These end pieces wrap further around the ears than\nsimple straight pieces, and this helps keep the glasses secure.\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-05-02T02:52:24.980", "id": "3638", "last_activity_date": "2013-05-02T02:52:24.980", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "1578", "parent_id": "3636", "post_type": "answer", "score": 7 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nThat song is the nursery rhyme \"London Bridge is Falling Down,\" or simply \"My\nFair Lady.\"\n\nThis version that is sung seems to be a variation on [the one\nquoted](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Bridge_Is_Falling_Down#Lyrics) by\n[Iona and Peter Opie](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iona_Opie) in 1951.\n\n> London ba shi o chi ru, o chi ru, o chi ru \n> London ba shi o chi ru, My Fair Lady \n> (London Bridge is falling down / Falling down, Falling down. / London\n> Bridge is falling down / My fair lady.)\n>\n> Tetsu to hagane de tsukure, tsukure, tsukure. \n> Tetsu to hagane de tsukure, My Fair Lady \n> (Build it up with iron and steel, / Iron and steel, iron and steel, / Build\n> it up with iron and steel, / My fair lady.)\n>\n> Tetsu to hagane ja magaru, magaru, magaru. \n> Tetsu to hagane ja magaru, My Fair Lady \n> (Iron and steel will bend and bow, / Bend and bow, bend and bow, / Iron and\n> steel will bend and bow, / My fair lady.)\n>\n> Kin to gin de tsukure, tsukure, tsukure. \n> Kin to gin de tsukure, My Fair Lady \n> (Build it up with silver and gold, / Silver and gold, silver and gold, /\n> Build it up with silver and gold, / My fair lady.)\n>\n> Kin to gin ja nusumareru, nusumareru, nusumareru. \n> Kin to gin ja nusumareru, My Fair Lady \n> (Silver and gold will be stolen away, / Stolen away, stolen away, / Silver\n> and gold will be stolen away, / My fair lady.)\n>\n> Rou to ishi de tsukure, tsukure, tsukure. \n> Rou to ishi de tsukure, My Fair Lady. \n> (Build it up with bricks and mortar, / Bricks and mortar, bricks and\n> mortar, / Build it up with bricks and mortar, / My fair lady.)\n>\n> Rou to ishi ja kuchihateru, kuchihateru, kuchihateru. \n> Rou to ishi ja kuchihateru, My Fair Lady. \n> (Bricks and mortar will not stay, / Will not stay, will not stay, / Bricks\n> and mortar will not stay, / My fair lady.)\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-05-02T12:52:23.870", "id": "3641", "last_activity_date": "2016-01-17T08:11:22.050", "last_edit_date": "2016-01-17T08:11:22.050", "last_editor_user_id": "1908", "owner_user_id": "1724", "parent_id": "3639", "post_type": "answer", "score": 10 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nI believe this is Christopher \"Kurisu\" Ousaka from [_Angel's\nFeather_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angel's_Feather):\n\n\n\n> His full name is Christopher. Kurisu is Shou and Kai's cousin, to the fact\n> that his father's brother was the father of Kai and Shou. He is the Crown\n> Prince of Winfield Kingdom. In episode 1, Chris is seen as a roommate with\n> Kai, although it seems that there's more to their relationship. Like his\n> cousins, Chris is white-winged, and later escapes with Sena and Shion from\n> Winfield Kingdom. His birthday is on October 12.\n> [[Wikipedia]](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angel's_Feather#Characters)\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-05-03T01:19:20.380", "id": "3645", "last_activity_date": "2013-05-03T01:19:20.380", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "274", "parent_id": "3644", "post_type": "answer", "score": 5 } ]

[ { "body": "\n\nThis does not actually answer the question, but here’s why I think they’re not\n”that alike”:\n\nMany mahou shoujo (magical girl) series have similar elements, especially\nthose of same decade or genre, like both of those series are shoujo series\n(targeting for teenage girls or so), so finding element or two similar or same\nin both series is nothing strange. It’s kind of finding same kind of jokes in\ntwo different comedy series.\n\nAs plot wise, I think their plot is pretty different in nuances and narration,\neven if the theme is much alike. They are, after all, two series of same\ngenre, for same audience.\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-05-05T22:58:53.247", "id": "3687", "last_activity_date": "2013-05-05T22:58:53.247", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "204", "parent_id": "3646", "post_type": "answer", "score": 3 }, { "body": "\n\nUnfortunately the second link you provided has been removed from YouTube so I\ncould not look at it, but based on watching the Tokyo Mew Mew link you\nprovided I can guess which scene from Sailor Moon you’re thinking of. The\nscenes are indeed similar.\n\nHowever, the creators of the series would not need to comment on the\nsimilarity because Sailor Moon pioneered the genre of team fighting _mahou\nshoujo_ (magical girl) series. The **key point** here is **the combination of\n_sentai_ (team fighting) with _mahou shoujo_**. To merely say Sailor Moon and\nTokyo Mew Mew are from the same genre and for the same target audience doesn't\n**nearly** explain their large similarities, because neither look much **at\nall** like any of the _mahou shoujo_ series that preceded Sailor Moon.\n\nBefore Sailor Moon, the long history of _mahou shoujo_ series were usually\nEITHER one girl who could transform into a magical version of herself OR one\nmagical girl from another world who is temporarily living in our world and\nuses an Earthling disguise except for when she needs to transform into her\ntrue self to use her powers. In both cases, most of the occasions for which\nshe transformed were for day-to-day events, NOT for trying to save the world.\n(Magical girls living solely in magical worlds, such as _Kero Kero Chime_ or\n_Akazukin ChaCha_ , do not technically fall within the genre of _mahou shoujo_\nbecause everyone in their world is magical; a _mahou shoujo_ is a girl with\nmagic powers in a generally non-magical world.) At the same time, there was a\nlong history of live-action _sentai_ (team fighting) series like Power\nRangers. Sailor Moon was the first series ever to combine _mahou shoujo_ with\n_sentai_ : a team of magical girls trying to save the world.\n\nThe Sailor Moon manga ran in the shoujo manga magazine Nakayoshi, published by\nKodansha. During its years-long run, Nakayoshi built off of that success by\nintroducing more magical girl series, some of which were the more traditional\nstyle (Kaitou St. Tail), some which in the newly-minted team fighting style\n(Magic Knight Rayearth, which was also a parody of RPG video games), and one\nwas even a parody of the genre itself which masqueraded as a typical _mahou\nshoujo_ for months before introducing a plot twist (Card Captor Sakura). Most\nof these also met with great success. Once Sailor Moon’s run ended, Nakayoshi\ncontinued trying its luck with _mahou shoujo_ , and met with varying success\n(such as Akihabara Dennougumi Pata-Pi, Cyber Idol Mink, etc.); obviously,\nNakayoshi never regained thei height of popularity that Sailor Moon and Card\nCaptor Sakura had given it.\n\nOne of the series Nakayoshi came out with in this period was Tokyo Mew Mew. It\nreceived enough popularity to get animated, and the reasons for its particular\nsimilarities to Sailor Moon are explained by the fact that it came so soon on\nthe heels of Sailor Moon; there were very few _mahou-shoujo_ -mixed-with-\n_sentai_ series yet made for it to draw from: Sailor Moon was the main\n“inspiration” for it, you could say. In other words, Tokyo Mew Mew is a direct\nresult of Sailor Moon; without the innovation of Sailor Moon, Tokyo Mew Mew\nwould never have come into existence. Being published in the same manga\nmagazine, the publishers couldn’t have cared less if it was just a copy of\nSailor Moon churned out to turn a profit. If it did anything unique, great; if\nit didn’t, they wouldn’t have cared. Being from the same publisher, it didn't\nneed to worry about copyright infringement by \"stealing\" any ideas. Manga\nmagazines are growing more and more [unprofitable to publish](http://matt-\nthorn.com/shoujo_manga/colloque/index.php) in print (evidenced by the fact\nthat the _furoku_ [freebies] they give away with each issue have sharply\ndropped in quality since the era of Sailor Moon’s run), so any hit series they\ncan get is important. Tokyo Mew Mew did well enough, and did not need to do\nmuch original work, it just needed to utilize what made Sailor Moon and the\nhits of its day work. In summary, it would not occur to the creators of Tokyo\nMew Mew to comment on the similarities, because that is basically _atari mae_\n(当り前, a given, obvious). Creators of ensuing _mahou shoujo_ series from other\npublishers, such as Ai Tenshi Densetsu Wedding Peach or Cutey Honey F (or even\nthe newer Pretty Cure franchise), could make comments of comparison, but it\nwould not behoove them to do so since their series are rather obviously Sailor\nMoon-inspired (if not knock-offs) and Sailor Moon was dreamt up by and owned\nby their competition, so they wouldn't want to draw attention to that fact.\n\n", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-10-15T09:58:19.637", "id": "14489", "last_activity_date": "2014-10-15T09:58:19.637", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "8134", "parent_id": "3646", "post_type": "answer", "score": 8 } ]