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2013/06/26 | 1,056 | 3,854 | <issue_start>username_0: Buying DVD and BD from Japan seems to be a lot more expensive in Japan than overseas in a country like the US.
It might cost someone in the ballpark (these are just estimates, actual prices may be more dramatic) of $70 for 2 episodes are in a DVD for a new series in Japan. While in the US, $45 for 4 episodes for the same series...
Even if we compare Western release to Japanese ones in the same market. The domestic Japanese version come at a higher price per disc/length than western releases:
* The four-disc 146-min [Harry Potter Special Edition](http://www.amazon.co.jp/fnord/dp/B002UHJ9FI), is ¥3500.
* Compare it the two-disc 60-min [Madoka Magika Vol. 1 Special Edition](http://www.amazon.co.jp/fnord/dp/B004INGZAE), which is ¥5500.
Why is the cost so high? Although it's nice to see your favorite shows in 1080p with less compression, that alone can't be worth the price tag...<issue_comment>username_1: Because it is extremely niche market. Anime in Japan is not that popular as you might think. Most anime airs way into night, mostly around midnight. That is why, even if anime is accepted much more in Japan, the number of people who watch late-night shows and are actually willing to pay is quite low.
Just look at top sales of anime: Bakemonogatari is leading with number around 70k of sold discs, and even 10k sold discs is considered huge success. So those few fans are willing to pay those ridiculous prices, yet if they halved the prices it most probably would't sell twice that much.
And let us not forget anime airs normally on TV in Japan. For most people, it is enough to watch it or record it from there. And BD/DVD doesn't provide enough added value to actually buy it, no matter the price.
Sources are problematic, because most of them are in japanese, so you need to depend on 2nd hand translations.
Some sourcesSome sources: [It's Blu-ray Sales That Matter](http://myanimelist.net/forum/?topicid=296000&show=0)
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: From what I could gather from [this ANN article](http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/feature/2012-03-07) (from the "The High Prices... Explained!" part), the high price is due to rental pricing. Basically the home video industry was originally "set-up" so that only a few thousand sales were made for niche releases, and these were made to video rental shops. The prices were around $89.95 (in America, which also used this model), but it worked well because with just a few thousand sales one could make over a million dollars in revenue, and the video shops also benefited because they had a semi-exclusive item (since it was too expensive for "normal" people to buy).
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> Initially, video industry people didn't think there was much of a market in selling to collectors.
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> But the fans proved them wrong. Otaku of all kinds (not just anime fans) started buying the videotapes and laserdiscs, and they bought them at those high prices that were intended just for video stores. **There was no reason to lower it.** In fact, there were a few experiments to drop the price to a more affordable amount, but that usually resulted in a slight increase in sales -- not enough to make up for the drop in revenue.
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(emphasis by me)
The article goes on to say that since we are talking about a specialty market (since only the hardcore fans really want to own the products), and not a mass-market, the prices stayed astronomically high.
Basically, a few thousand fans buying a certain anime are enough to nearly support the whole budget of a show, and disc sales are basically the only way in which a show can make profit.
For these reasons, even as the rest of the home video industry lowered their prices, the anime industry stayed at the same high prices (they basically had no reasons no lower them).
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer] |
2013/06/27 | 1,284 | 3,976 | <issue_start>username_0: In Episode 16, when Kagami, Tsukasa, and Miyuki decide to visit Konata at her part-time job, the latter asks them to pick up the latest release of a couple of manga. At the bookstore, they are served by a character who doesn't appear to be the "standard" extra seen in the series. Even after the three girls leave the cash register, the shot lingers on this character who is joined by her sister. All this seems to suggest that this is something of a cameo performance or a hat-tip to something else.
Who are these characters?<issue_comment>username_1: According to [the list of Lucky Star trivia on ANN](http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=7222&page=22), it could be based off of Usada Hikaru (also known as Rabi-en-Rose) from Di Gi Charat. It's hard to find pictures of her non-transformed self, but I managed this one:
As you can see, the hair color and eye color match and she also wears glasses. But that's pretty generic, so here are the further similarities.
When Usada transforms into Rabi en Rose (her magical girl identity), she has bunny ears. The girl in Lucky Star has a bunny hairpin.
Also, the original Di Gi Charat series is set in a store called Gamers. Guess where that Lucky Star scene takes place? A Gamers store.
It's a little "censored", but you can tell that it's supposed to be Gamers.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Actually, they are the Miyakawa sisters Hikage and Hinata (left to right, respectively). They are the main characters of the Lucky Star spinoff manga (and anime) *[Miyakawa-ke no Kuufuku](http://myanimelist.net/manga/40019/Miyakawa-ke_no_Kuufuku)* (The Hunger of the Miyakawa Family).
They make cameos in episode 12, 16, and 24.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: The characters are [<NAME>](http://luckystar.wikia.com/wiki/Hinata_Miyakawa)(at the cashier) and [<NAME>](http://luckystar.wikia.com/wiki/Hikage_Miyakawa) from [Miyakawa-ke no Kufuku](http://luckystar.wikia.com/wiki/Miyakawa-ke_no_Kufuku) - also known in english as "The Hunger of the Miyakawa Family".
Hinata works in Gamers part-time to fund her doujinshi buying habits.
In addition to their cameos in episodes 12, 16, and 24 in Lucky Star as mentioned in a previous answer, There are corresponding cameos of Konata and Kagami in Miyakawa-ke no Kufuku, at episode 5 and 7.
There's never any signal from the shows that the girls know each other and it appears to be purely coincidental that they bump into each other on occasion. The do live in the same area which would account for this.
As well as the Konata & Kagami, the shopkeeper of Gamers and Akira Kogami also cameo in Miyakawa-ke.
Summary from [ANN](http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2012-12-31/lucky-star-spinoff-manga-miyakawa-ke-no-kufuku-gets-anime):
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> The manga is based on the Lucky Star Moe Drill game series and centers around big sister <NAME> and little sister <NAME>'s impoverished daily life at home (due to Hinata's wasteful habits) and Hikage's life at elementary school.
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The show started to air in April 29, 2013,
5 years after the first episode of Lucky Star was aired on April 8, 2007.
The original manga of Miyakawa-ke was first published in 2009, (while Lucky star continues publication slowly but surely) so it's unknown as to whether these characters were meant to have such significance, or whether they were only chosen afterwards for the spin-off.
Upvotes: 4 |
2013/06/28 | 1,891 | 7,826 | <issue_start>username_0: As we know, [vectors](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euclidean_vector) have both direction and magnitude, and Accelerator's ability is Vector Change. I always believed that he could control both attributes of vectors, until my friends claimed that he could only change vectors' directions.
So is there any clear cut official statement to this question?<issue_comment>username_1: Some proof that he **can** control the magnitude of vectors:
* He can propel himself by changing the vectors around his feet. Seeing as it initially has no speed, and suddenly it has, it means that the direction *and* magnitude was changed.
* When he was first challenged by Touma, he kicked a stone as a warning shot, the stone flew so quickly, it made a nearby tower explode. Again, since the stone was at 0 speed, and went to supersonic speed (because that's what it takes to make an explosion like that), the magnitude was changed.
I'm sure that there could be more examples which I can't remember off the top of my head.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: Accelerator's ability can be broken down into two parts: Redirection and Vector control.
Redirection is his defensive, passive posture which reflects any vector approaching his body.
Vector control is his active ability where he can choose to manipulate specific vectors by both magnitude and direction. This ability requires Accelerator to constantly be computing the combination of vectors he plans to use.
In the sisters arc, Accelerator demonstrated a few different types of vector control.
1. Vector Shooting
2. Wind Control
3. Plasma Storm
4. Earth Stomp
Vector shooting was when he kicked the rock at Touma. He was able to increase the speed of the rock and make it substantially faster than normal.
Near the end of the fight, he was also able to create this huge plasma field. This required him to gather wind in a specific location, and then further compressing the wind (wind control and plasma storm).
There was also Earth Stomp where Accelerator simply just stomps on the ground and controls the vectors to create a small rock attack upon the enemy. Along with that, Accelerator uses the Earth to propel himself forward in other situations.
As the story progresses, Accelerator has a new arsenal of moves that require the manipulation of magnitude, however those were not covered in the Anime yet. As of the sisters arc in both Index and Railgun, these are the different types of vector control that have been displayed.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: I take the position that Accelerator **cannot** control the magnitude of vectors.
Indirect textual evidence
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* The Japanese for Accelerator's "vector manipulation" ability is: 向き【ベクトル】変換. The two fundamental properties of a vector are magnitude (大きさ) and direction (向き). If we ignore the furigana on 向き, Accelerator's ability translates as "direction changing" or "direction transformation". (Also, 向き isn't a synonym for vector in any standard usage, so there's clearly an emphasis on the "direction" aspect here.)
* Consider the following quote from volume 15, with all furigana preserved:
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> 一方通行【アクセラレータ】は何らかのベクトルを拾い、その向きを変換し、一点に集中して垣根帝督【ていとく】を攻撃【こうげき】している。
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Roughly translated, this comes out to:
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> Accelerator brought together some manner of vectors (ベクトル), altered their direction (向き), brought them to a point, and attacked Kakine Teitoku.
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We see here that there is an explicit reference to modifying the *direction* of vectors, and no reference to modifying the *magnitude* of vectors. This doesn't prove anything directly, but its absence is reasonably informative.
* A cursory search across all 22 volumes of the initial light novel series (i.e. before New Testament) plus the two associated side story volumes reveals no cases in which 大きさ was mentioned within a few lines of ベクトル. (I might've missed something, though; this isn't all that great evidence. I'm just pointing out that there seem to be no references to the matter of magnitude either way.)
Physical arguments
------------------
Direct physical evidence that Accelerator cannot control vector magnitudes cannot exist (you can't prove a negative). It is easy, however, to demonstrate a reasonably plausible physical mechanism by means of which Accelerator could do everything he does without needing to control the magnitude of vectors (as I will do below). By the principle of parsimony, it follows that we need not assume that Accelerator is able to control vector magnitudes.
We begin by looking at energetic considerations. Consider a 1 kg lump of iron that is at room temperature. Roughly speaking, the total thermal energy of that lump is on the order of 1e5 ~ 1e6 joules. This is sufficient energy to propel a 50 kg human at a velocity of ~100 mi/hr, or a 50 g stone at ~3000 mi/hr (~Mach 4). If Accelerator is in contact with the earth, he has access to an energy reservoir roughly 1e24 times larger. Conclusion: Accelerator has access to enough energy to do pretty much anything, *if* he has a way to harness some or all of the thermal energy of objects he is in contact with.
The question remains: *can* Accelerator harness thermal energy? I claim the answer is yes.
Let us assume for the sake of argument that the only thing Accelerator can do is take a moving particle and alter its direction of motion (we're going to handwave our way past things like wavefunctions, Heisenberg uncertainty, and [in particular] conservation of momentum, because obviously Accelerator couldn't exist in the real world, so some physical laws have to give). Using this framework, let's see how Accelerator can do some things.
1. Accelerator wants to launch a stone at supersonic speeds. To do so, he directs the momentum vectors of a suitably-sized portion of the earth in the direction he wants the rock to move. This portion of the earth mostly-elastically collides with the stone and transfers its momentum to the stone, launching the stone at high speed. The aforementioned portion of earth gets slightly colder, but the earth is a huge heat reservoir, so it doesn't really make a difference.
2. Accelerator wants to launch himself at Touma. He uses his ability to direct the momentum vectors of a suitably-sized portion of the earth in the direction he wants. Elastic collisions happen, and he goes flying at Touma. If the momentum of the portion of the earth he's manipulating isn't large enough to get him moving fast enough after an elastic collision, he can augment the momentum of that portion by having the *surrounding* portions of the earth elastically transfer momentum into that portion, repeating as necessary to get the part that will collide with him moving fast enough. Elastic collisions in solids happen pretty quickly, so this should give him good reaction time.
In general, I don't think it's possible to formulate a valid argument of the form "Accelerator is capable of doing X, therefore he must be able to manipulate vector magnitudes". As long as Accelerator has access to warm matter (which he does unless you stick him in a vacuum), he has access to particles in motion, with their associated momentum vectors, which can be manipulated to do just about anything.
Closing note
------------
Take all of this with a grain of salt - as the perennial "can Flash beat Accelerator" debates (and their ilk) demonstrate, Accelerator's abilities are not well-defined in a physical sense. Vectors don't physically exist - they're merely a useful mathematical abstraction we use to describe certain features of the universe. Trying too hard to justify Accelerator's abilities in terms of physical principles is a recipe for failure. In the end, Accelerator's vector manipulation does whatever Kamachi wants it to do.
Upvotes: 4 |
2013/06/28 | 1,184 | 4,047 | <issue_start>username_0: 
In this image of Shanks from Luffy's hometown, Luffy was still quite young.
However, it is said that he got his scar from Blackbeard. Did he get his scar when Blackbeard was still a part of Whitebeard's crew? Because I think that when he got this scar, Ace was already after Blackbeard and the commander of 2nd division, but at this time, Ace and Luffy were still young.<issue_comment>username_1: The story of the origin of the particular scar (left eye) is told in Chapter 434 / Episode 316. It's given to him by Blackbeard while still on Whitebeard's ship, as part of their crew. By the time Ace and Luffy have grown up, Shanks is one of the Emperors.
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> The conversation hits a more serious note as Shanks points to his scarred left eye. One of Whitebeard's crew gave it to him, <NAME>. Teach. Shanks has known what Teach has been up to all these years and tries to warn Whitebeard of what may happen if Ace and Teach meet, he begs Whitebeard to stop the search. When Whitebeard outright refuses and states he will teach Teach about morals, Shanks reacts by drawing his sword, stating the rampaging era will not be stopped. Whitebeard and Shanks clash weapons, splitting the skies to the shock of both captains' crew members.
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Source: <http://onepiece.wikia.com/wiki/Chapter_434>
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> Does he get his scar when Blackbeard was still part of Whitebeard's crew?
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Presumably yes, as long as most of Blackbeard's activities happened as he posed as just another crew member of the Whitebeard pirates which Shanks deduced was his cover to how threatening he really is.
But to clarify more of your suspicions, this does mean that it took Shanks (at least) 10 whole years before he told Whitebeard this guy is sinister and strong.
The timeline is Shanks & crew docking at Luffy's village in Luffy's flashback from [Episode of Luffy: Adventure on Hand Island](http://onepiece.wikia.com/wiki/Episode_of_Luffy). There was episode 4 of *One Piece* that shows Luffy's past, but this flashback includes when/how he gets his scar & follows closer to Chapter 1: Romance Dawn.
Luffy is 19 in the New World (has flashback) -> 12 years earlier caption -> Luffy is 7 & Shanks has a scar.
The [meeting](http://onepiece.wikia.com/wiki/Episode_316) with Whitebeard happens while the Strawhat Crew is in Water 7 when Luffy is age 17. Shanks only met with Whitebeard once he knew Ace was hunting him down, not just to tell him about the scar which might explain his wait.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: Shanks got his scar from Blackbeard the time he was with the Roger Pirates or before he created his own crew. At the meeting (ep.434) with Whitebeard, Shanks said they have been fighting since then, means that Shanks got his scar before he became the captain of Red Hair Pirates. Because, if you notice the flag of the Red Hair Pirates in chapter 1 or episode 1, the flag has a scar already.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: Perhaps. Before Whitebeard announced One Piece was real, he had a flashback of when Roger was still alive. In that flashback, he commented on how there was a member of his crew named "<NAME>. Teach”, showing how Teach had joined before Shanks had his scars. Coincidentally, at Roger's execution, Shanks had his straw hat pulled down over his eyes, not giving any indication of having or not having the scar at that time.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_5: Shanks might have got that scar when he was with <NAME>. Red hair pirate's flag had the scar mark, so he must have got the scar before becoming a captain. Or it can be a mistake by anime artists like they did in episode 461 where he had both his hands intact.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_6: It's simple. When Roger and Whitebeard clashed for 3 days, you can see young Blackbeard with a weapon with three blades, and Shanks' scar also has three blade marks, so most probably shanks got that scar as a kid.
Upvotes: 0 |
2013/06/29 | 1,575 | 5,099 | <issue_start>username_0: In Steins;Gate, Dr. Pepper is mentioned several times as the "An Intellectual Drink, For The Chosen Ones".
I've seen a lot of other shows that have stores or products with similar names to the real-life brand, so that the producers can avoid copyright issues.
Even though the inclusion of Dr.Pepper wasn't asked for by the Dr.Pepper company, after the release of Steins;Gate the sales in Japan for Dr.Pepper shot up. [ref](http://kotaku.com/5791129/is-japan-ready-to-stop-ignoring-dr-pepper).
Have there been any anime where a company has paid for their product to be included in the show?<issue_comment>username_1: 
Well, there's [Tiger & Bunny](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiger_%26_Bunny) which plastered product placement to the extreme of its real-life sponsors:
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> Each of the city's most famous superheroes work for a sponsor company and their uniforms also contain advertising for real-life companies.
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The show features "sponsored" super heroes who fight crime, with their sponsors plastered all over them like NASCAR, and in some cases, even doing in-show commercials for the actual product (e.g. Pepsi). Some of these in-show sponsors were actually sponsors of the show. The old Tiger & Bunny website (it's since been changed) listed all of their sponsors which had product placement: [via archive.org](http://web.archive.org/web/20110902083004/http://www.tigerandbunny.net/link/index.html).
I don't know if these companies actually went to the producers to pay for advertising spots within the show. It's probably more likely that it was a two-way street, working much like how anime get made in general, where the producers/studio will look for sponsors with an idea, and a contract and agreement is made. So these companies went into it knowing how their product would be placed in the show.
When the show was adapted into a manga, all of the product placement was removed (for obvious reasons).
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: Yes. Sometimes it's a sort of "exchange" of product placement - the anime will show the brand in the show, and the brand will put something about the show on its products for a certain timeframe.
Code Geass: Pizza Hut
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Rebuild of Evangelion
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Tiger & Bunny: Various
======================
I'm sure there are more examples but these are just a few.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: In addition to the other answers...
The first episode of the new *Ghost in the Shell: ARISE* series features various shots of various ads for the Surface tablet and the device itself.
The *Evangelion* Rebuild films have had long lingering shots of a Lawson's convenience store. Also, Misato’s fridge is stocked with Kirin beer.
In *Macross Frontier* movie, Ranka and Alto go into a FamilyMart convenience store as a plot point...
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: Full Metal Panic has product placements of Budweiser and Heineken.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: 
Here. This one's from Nichijou.
And yes, it's the real thing as is featured in the credit: (0:59 in [the ending 2](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pue606bayV4))
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_6: Great Teacher Onizuka features a Vaio laptop:
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/506rB.jpg)
There are also Infiniti and Nissan placements in Ghost in the Shell: Arise
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_7: The Katsuhiro Otomo-designed [Freedom](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_Project) OAV series is a particularly fun viewing experience for product placement, since it came into being as part of a Nissin Cup Noodles promotional campaign. In it, remnants of humanity live in a lunar colony where -- incidentally and inexplicably -- Nissin Cup Noodles are a primary food source.
Upvotes: 2 |
2013/07/01 | 391 | 1,230 | <issue_start>username_0: After watching FMA again, I couldn't help but notice the similarities:
* The same ripple-like pattern.
* Both related to godly powers.
* Both related to balance (Yin-Yang/All-One)
* Both related to life and death.
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/Vdh45.jpg) [](https://i.stack.imgur.com/u2Hrk.jpg)
Is there a mythological or conceptual connection between the two? Is one based on the other?<issue_comment>username_1: Although I can't find any reliable source, it seems that both are based on Saṃsāra :
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> The repeating cycle of birth, life, death and rebirth (reincarnation) within Hinduism, Buddhism, Bön, Jainism, and Yoga.
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Source: [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samsara)
This represents both the Six Paths of Pain (also Rinne is the Japanese Name for Samsāra) and the "one is all, all is one"-thing in FMA (as seen in episode 12 of the 2009-anime).
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Not at all, both are different series in different scenarios. Anything related is because of the different meanings of our cultures that come from ancient myths.
Upvotes: 0 |
2013/07/02 | 1,508 | 4,991 | <issue_start>username_0: In The Twelve Kingdoms, babies are born from Ranka, or giant eggs that grow on trees. Is this based on an myth or legend? Or is it just a way the author invented to explore what happens to a society where the women do not have to give birth? The idea of babies growing in eggs on trees seems like something I've heard of before somewhere else, but I can't recall where.
<issue_comment>username_1: I touch on this in [my answer](https://anime.stackexchange.com/a/3478/247) to your other question. Eastern and Buddhist myths often use the [cosmic egg](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_egg) to explain creation. In Chinese mythology, it is [Pangu](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pangu) who hatches from the egg. In Hindu mythology, it is [Brahma](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brahma#Origin). In Buddhism, Buddha himself is depicted as hatching from the egg as seen below.
The myth of the [World Tree](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_tree) is another that pervades religion.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: As with username_1's already accepted answer, I don't know the author's inspiration for certain, which would be impossible, unless a writing or interview exists in which Ono explicitly describes any inspiration for the idea. But the following are suggestive, and I think worth mentioning in addition to username_1's information regarding Buddhism. Some of these may perhaps be what you were reminded of in term of babies growing in eggs (albeit not from trees; on the other hand, [Princess Kaguya of Japanese legend](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tale_of_the_Bamboo_Cutter) was said to have been born from a bamboo stalk, but not an egg):
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> ...consider the following extremely suggestive legend of T’arhae, the fourth king of Silla. The legend as it is recounted in the *Samguk sagi* (*Historical Records of the Three Kingdoms*), the oldest historical chronicle of the Korean kingdoms, is as follows:
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> > T’arhae was born in the country of Tap’ana. That country is one thousand ri northeast of Yamato. Of old, the king of that country married the queen of a country of women. She became pregnant for seven years, and gave birth to a large egg, at which time the King said:
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> > “A human being born from an egg is an inauspicious omen. Throw it away.” But the queen could not bear to simply throw it away, and so she wrapped the egg in a silk cloth and placed it along with some treasures in a box and set it floating upon the sea, where she lost sight of it. ... It thereupon floated to the coast of Ajinp’o ... where an old woman picked it up. When she opened the box, there was a small boy inside.61
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> <NAME> and others have demonstrated that this legend illustrates a common motif of the nation-founding legends of the Korean kingdoms wherein a child of the sun who is “hatched” from an egg is sent floating on the sea until he reaches a kingdom that has been promised to him. In the Ame no Hiboko/Akaru Hime legend cycle we find at least part of this motif repeated as Akaru Hime, apparently the daughter of the sun god, crosses over to Yamato from Silla after “hatching” from a stone that Ame no Hiboko has metaphorically incubated for an evening.62
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--<NAME>. (2008) *Shotoku: Ethnicity, Ritual, and Violence in the Japanese Buddhist Tradition*, Oxford University Press.
Similarly, in the 16th century Chinese novel [*Fengshen Bang*/*Fengshen Yanyi*/The Investiture of the Gods/The Creation of the Gods](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Investiture_of_the_Gods),
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> Nezha's mother, <NAME>, gave birth to a ball of flesh after being pregnant with him for three years and six months. <NAME> thought that his wife had given birth to a demon and attacked the ball with his sword.
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-- <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nezha>
The above descriptions of king or lord thinking a child born from an egg is inauspicious or demonic is an interesting contrast to the King of Kou's repeated claim that as a kaikyaku born of a woman and *not* of ranka, Yōko would bring ruin and even demons to the land. The Kou king's reversal of this trope of suspicion of the egg-born, however... (the following is a spoiler for Shadow of the Moon, the Sea of Shadow: Ch. 12)
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> turns out not to be what he truly believes -- quite the opposite in fact: It eventually emerges that he feared Kei becoming, like En, more prosperous than Kou, due to some imagined connection between taika rulers and prosperity.
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Lastly, in Chinese Daoist legends of creation, ["Pan Gu, the first man, is said to have come forth from chaos (an egg) with two horns, two tusks, and a hairy body."](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Pan-Gu)
(As a clarification, *he* -- not the egg from which he was born -- had the horns, tusks, and body hair.)
Upvotes: 0 |
2013/07/03 | 784 | 3,175 | <issue_start>username_0: [This question](https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/4113/what-was-the-first-manga-in-color) triggered my curiosity for this question. Why most of manga are black and white? Is this because of more cost if they add colors to it?<issue_comment>username_1: There can be different reasons for that, let's try to imagine some of them.
* Lower cost. This is obvious (just compare the prices for black ink cartridges and color cartridges for your printer to see the difference). Also, consider that the lower cost of production causes lower prices for the end product - so the readers will be more eager to buy manga.
* Faster production. Unlike comics in the US, for example, which usually comes out on a monthly basis, a lot of manga comes out weekly. Coloring would take additional time and make it harder to release new chapters in time.
* Manga artists usually don't have a lot of staff to help them, and sometimes even work alone. Thus, they don't have enough time (and, not rarely, enough skill) to color their works well, because:
+ Coloring is completely different from line art. Not all people that can draw good line art can color well, and vice versa. If you talk about comics, there are usually at least two artists making them: one artist that draws line art, and another artist that is responsible for coloring (this artist is called a [colorist](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorist)). Believe me, coloring is *hard*. And of course, that person also needs to be paid :P
* It also somehow raises the interest of manga fans in watching anime (which is in color), but I doubt this is really a valuable reason, so think of it as of an interesting observation.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Making manga is a lot of work. It takes several hours to make 1 page of manga according to one of my friends. So just imagine how long would it take to make the entire manga just in black and white. And also, the manga artists have lots of manga to make within certain deadlines and they are paid to make manga the best within that deadline. They literally don't have time to color their work.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: As an artist, I can say that coloring with high quality really requires a LOT of time and effort even for anime art styles. It is nothing like a coloring book, because you really have to make it perfect or near-perfect for a public audience, and you also have to do shading and highlights (for most styles). So, coloring is generally reserved for finer drawings like the the cover image.
Also, for manga that is to be published in a physical form, it's more expensive to make full-colored pages, so colored pages are usually reserved for art books (which are expensive like $30-$100 range partially for that reason), or for a few special pages in the beginning of a manga (rarely).
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: Because traditionally images were drawn
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/dJWvm.jpg)
Why are webtoons colored? Because it takes hours instead of weeks or months to color pictures with photoshop instead of a brush.
Upvotes: 0 |
2013/07/03 | 949 | 3,146 | <issue_start>username_0: Recently in the manga version of Naruto (Chapter 637), Obito tried and successfully blocked the technique Madara used on him. But what exactly is this technique?
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/QTVmn.jpg)
I tried to search anything but found technically nothing. Though Hashirama gave a clue and ask on the same chapter.
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/MDe3P.jpg)<issue_comment>username_1: **Madara tries to control Obito with his will**. He is (or should be) able to do this to anyone who has [Chakra Receivers](http://naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Chakra_receiver) on his body, created through his ["Will Materialisation" technique](http://naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Will_Materialisation). We had seen, in chapter 605, page 5, that Obito had these, since some emerged from his body (along with some branches created through Mokuton) when he awakened the Mangekyou Sharingan.
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/vQBAN.jpg)
They were most likely, somehow, "attached" to his right side of the body, which was created by Madara from genetic material from Hashirama's living clone, which had a black rod which extended from its navel.
---
**The technique of which Hashirama speaks**, and the one Madara tried to make Obito use was the **[Rinne Tensei](http://naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Outer_Path:_Samsara_of_Heavenly_Life_Technique)**, the same technique Nagato used to revive the people he had killed when he invaded Konoha.
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/C2qew.png)
Obito and Madara had planned for this technique to be used to revive Madara, as he needed a living body to be the Jinchuuriki of the Juubi. Initially, even Nagato was supposed to use it to revive Madara, but as he used it in Konoha he passed away (the user of the technique loses his life when he performs this technique). Later, since Obito retrieved the Rinnegan, he was supposed to use it to revive Madara. However, since he had told Madara he had no intention of doing so, Madara was forced to control Obito with his will (through the Chakra Receivers on his body).
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: It's the same rod that Madara showed Obito before passing away.
It acts the same as a Orochimaru's curse mark, depending on the state of the person he/she gets controlled (limited) by the users will.
^^All depends on the state though
The benefits also works as Orochimaru's curse seal, though unlike turning into curse mark v1-v2 like Sasuke and all others...
This one contains sage chakra, which Madara said use my will in preforming the six path Justus.
So you can use all the Justus pain/Nagato used through the chakra/black rod without the rinnegan.
Yahiko's dead body is a fine example of that, he was able to use shrina tensei despite Nagato's real body having the actual rinnegan.
The eyes on the corpse of pain is a reflection of the users chakra.
Upvotes: 0 |
2013/07/03 | 825 | 3,472 | <issue_start>username_0: This contains spoilers for [Another](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Another_%28novel%29), which is somewhat new (the anime is from 2012).
[Another](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Another_%28novel%29) is an anime series about a cursed classroom. The students (and teachers) have designed a countermeasure to avoid the curse from triggering each year, which consists on completely ignoring a student (treating them as non-existent). By doing this, the number of students in the classroom is technically decreased by one, which makes up for the extra dead student that got mixed in the class.
Misaki is the chosen student to be ignored by the classroom this year. After a mess up, Sakakibara is also ignored.
However, if I'm not mistaken, during exam periods, **both students (Misaki and Sakakibara) have exam papers**. Why? Doesn't giving them exam papers pretty much **acknowledge** that they exist? Doesn't that break the entire countermeasure? (from the point of view of the classroom)
**Edit**
For clarification: the countermeasure involves people directly related to the class. This means, students that belong to this classroom *and* teachers that teach this class. External students and teachers from other classrooms are not involved with the curse, so they may interact with the non-existent students just fine.
The librarian, and students from the art club etc, have no problem interacting with the non-existent students.
The external students/teachers are not very well aware of the curse though. The cursed classroom tries not to talk about it with others.<issue_comment>username_1: This is just a guess, but just because they have exam papers doesn't mean that the related people gave it to them, nor does it mean that it will get picked up by people in the class.
What I'm getting at is some other teacher probably handles the curriculum for the ignored student.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: That's why success rate of this countermeasure was only 50%. "Sometimes it worked and sometimes it was completely failed. Sometimes there were obvious reasons and sometimes reasons were completely unknown." These similar lines were spoken by chibiki.
Although they were ignoring the non-existent, yet somehow they were being acknowledged at some moments.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: There’s a very possible explanation for how the ignored pupil *get* their exam papers. The teachers could just print out five or so spare exam papers ‘in case they get lost’. Giving it out to the ignored pupil could be avoided by just leaving the spares on the teacher’s desk and making the ignored pupil get it themself. Along the same lines, the teacher can ask for the collected papers to be put on their desk and the ignored pupil just puts their paper on the same stack before the teacher takes them away.
The main difficulty remains how the teacher is able to *mark* the entire exam without unignoring the ignored pupil. But maybe this can be explained by assuming that the teacher just marks them one by one by one and does not count the number of papers they marked. So they accidentally mark one exam too much unknowingly. Or marking is done by other teachers not directly associated with the class. The latter could fail if that is not a common concept though, because it would include the other teacher realising there is one extraneous sheet in there. Unless they don’t know the *actual* number of pupils in 3-3.
Upvotes: 0 |
2013/07/04 | 559 | 1,916 | <issue_start>username_0: In chapter 202 of the DragonBall manga, Goku floats into the air to see where his child is:
Then when he is travelling along the green scale road, he flies a portion of the way there. He also flies to assist combatting the Saiyans after his training with the Lord of the Worlds.
When did Goku learn how to fly, when previously he had only used Kintou for aerial movement?<issue_comment>username_1: It was never shown, how he learned to fly, so that's pure speculation. The DragonBall-Wiki has a possible explanation:
>
> Goku likely learned how to fly from Kami during his long training at Kami's Lookout, as he was unable to do so before and demonstrated his abilities to conclude his World Martial Arts Tournament fight with Piccolo.
>
>
>
Source: [Dragonball Wiki](http://dragonball.wikia.com/wiki/Flight)
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: I think Goku learned to fly at Kaio's planet (at least I think so in the anime). When they fought Raditz, he still used the Kintoun Cloud. And he died that fight.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_3: The first time we see Goku fly is in Chapter 193, page 10. Krillin, <NAME> and Tien actually describe it as the Air Dance. Since the first time he saw the Air Dance was at the previous tournament, we can conclude that he learnt in in between the 2nd and 3rd tournament, during his time training with Kami.
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/bO2pi.jpg)
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_4: Goku learned to fly during the first tournament arc while he was fighting <NAME>.
Albeit, he flew by rotating his tail like a helicopter, which is a different technique than normal.
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/GcdHo.jpg)
Upvotes: 3 |
2013/07/05 | 808 | 2,857 | <issue_start>username_0: In Shingeki no Kyojin, Armin's grandfather dies when he is sent to recover Wall Maria. And in the episode when Eren gets eaten, the face and the look of the giant who eats him is exactly the same as Armin's grandfather.
 [](https://i.stack.imgur.com/sV1fG.jpg)
Is this related in any way?<issue_comment>username_1: Because
>
> Titans are actually humans.
>
>
>
Read the manga for full explanation.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: >
> Humans can turn into Titans after injury. Due to the fact that the Humans are chewed. This leads for the potential of a transformation to occur before he dies.
>
>
>
In this scenario the above is an explanation for why it could be him, but since it's not directly commented on in the show there is also the potential for a reuse an image they already had.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: I personally think that humans can be transformed into titans. I came up with this theory because a titan doesn't need nourishment and it seems all they need to live is sunlight. The idea hit me when I watched an episode where someone stated that because a titan didn't have a digestive system, they simply regurgitates them (it's really scary) and the victims are all covered in this weird looking goo. So maybe the titans do this for reproduction. I still don't know what caused this, but it's just a theory.
Also when I read about the incident in Ragako, Connie's hometown, the buildings were destroyed, but there's no blood or bodies, the horses are still in the stable, and they found a titan that looks like Connie's mom.
Well, that's my theory and my personal opinion. I just discovered this anime and started watching it 3 days ago.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: Titans are humans. In the next season there is a former Titan (Ymir) with the same powers (albeit even weaker) as Eren that was created after she ate another person that had been experimented on by Dr. Jaeger and as a result regained her most of her sanity.
There's a one-off OVA episode (Ilse's Journal) where Hanji tries to capture a Titan that corners Ilse and bows to her believing she is Ymir, the Cured One.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_5: To update this with the release of recent manga chapters, in **Chapters 87-89**,
>
> it was shown where the mindless titans in Paradis Island came from. They were Eldian rebels caught by the Marleyan government. Through an [injection](https://attackontitan.fandom.com/wiki/Titan_injection), they are turned to mindless titans. **Why do the giants in Shingeki no Kyojin start to look like the characters that got eaten?** That's purely coincidence and that is not how it was in the manga.
>
>
>
Upvotes: 0 |
2013/07/08 | 358 | 1,448 | <issue_start>username_0: In the Second Battle for Tokyo, Suzaku fires a FLEIJA which destroys a vast amount of the settlement. Guilford pushes the Shinkiro out of the blast radius and is absorbed. How could he have survived? My only thought is last minute ejection, but I would like a solid answer or other theories that seem plausible.<issue_comment>username_1: I recently re-watched the episode in question and I noticed that it does not show Guilford actually being consumed by the FLEIJA. Upon close examination the blast actually stops just short of were he would have been floating. This could have easily allowed for a quick ejection or a use of the thrusters, attached to the back of the float system, which he could have used to escape. After that, if Guilfordhad used the thrusters, he would have been caught in the minor vacuum which would most likely have destroyed his Vincent and it would have prevented him from returning.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: If he had been hit by the FLEIJA Guilford and his mech would have been annihilated. Since we later see him again, we can only conclude that he must have been close to the explosion but didn't get hit.
Most likely the communication system of his knightmare frame malfunctioned after being so close to the explosion which is why the video feed to Lelouch's mech suddenly stopped.
Presumably his mech then crashed and caused the injuries which we later see.
Upvotes: 1 |
2013/07/08 | 376 | 1,176 | <issue_start>username_0: Some users of the jutsu are Kakashi, Gai, Genma, Kabuto, etc. It can often be seen when Anbu members are dismissed.<issue_comment>username_1: The most common one I know of and I think you are talking about is the [Body Flicker Technique](http://naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Body_Flicker_Technique) (also known as Teleportation Jutsu, or *Shunshin no Jutsu*).
>
> The Body Flicker Technique is a high-speed movement technique,
> allowing a ninja to move short to long distances at an almost
> untraceable speed.[\*](http://naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Body_Flicker_Technique#cite_note-Chapter_395-1)
>
>
> To an observer, it appears as if the user has
> teleported. A puff of smoke is ***occasionally*** used to disguise the
> user's movements. It is accomplished by using chakra to temporarily
> vitalise the body and move at extreme speeds. The amount of chakra
> required depends on the overall distance and elevation between the
> user and the intended destination.
>
>
>
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: It could also be a shadow clone.
Upvotes: 2 |
2013/07/08 | 600 | 2,476 | <issue_start>username_0: Fillers are a given in most long running anime. If the anime is based on a manga then who writes the plot for the fillers?
Who decides the plot story for a filler season, so that it, for example, doesn't conflict with the original story of the manga?<issue_comment>username_1: Specialized or experienced writers, and the original manga writers can all work the manga into a plot for an episode, but why pay them to write a new scene where nothing interesting happens.
Generally 'filler' is made by cheap writers. As mentioned in the comments, there are often conflict because the filler writers are paid less and so put less effort into background work. Unlike lead writers, filler writers wont always be provided with reference material for things to include or avoid.
Basically, if it is irrelevant to the season's story line, has no effect on character development, you have someone who works for less write it. Although, filler scenes with no dialogue and no interaction, like someone taking an uneventful walk down a straight road requires no script at all.
As for who decides, whoever decides on the main plot will probably view the filler storyboard before it gets scripted.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Also, according to the [TV Tropes page on fillers](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Filler):
>
> They are extremely common in Anime, where many shows have 26 or more episodes per season. The producers have to use filler just to meet contractual demands. Filler is usually something entirely original for the anime, but not always; many manga – particularly weekly manga – employ filler just as ruthlessly due to the extreme deadlines. Sometimes entire filler Arcs are created, most often because the series Overtook the Manga.
>
>
>
It's difficult to find information about who writes the filler arcs, but movies, which are similar in principle to filler arcs in that they don't interact with the main story line, are generally written by the same writer as the show. Bleach's movies, for example, are written by <NAME>, same as the show. Because there are anime writers who are separate from the manga writers, they can add to the story without interfering with the work of the manga writer.
The fact that fillers are sometimes used to meet contractual demands makes it more likely that fillers will virtually always be written by the writer of the canonical anime, at least in those cases.
Upvotes: 2 |
2013/07/09 | 773 | 3,031 | <issue_start>username_0: This question came up in chat [here](http://chat.stackexchange.com/transcript/message/10266393#10266393). The goal was originally to identify this image:
I found a much larger version of the image (click for full size):
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/zTtzA.jpg)
This shows that this is actually part of a 2-page spread in an artbook (pages 16 and 17), and has some (Japanese) text on it. The text is somewhat readable, as is the artist's name, but there's some difficulty in reading some of the characters/letters. It also seems likely that the characters are original.
**Who is the artist of this image, and what artbook is it from? Also, what does the text say?**<issue_comment>username_1: Specialized or experienced writers, and the original manga writers can all work the manga into a plot for an episode, but why pay them to write a new scene where nothing interesting happens.
Generally 'filler' is made by cheap writers. As mentioned in the comments, there are often conflict because the filler writers are paid less and so put less effort into background work. Unlike lead writers, filler writers wont always be provided with reference material for things to include or avoid.
Basically, if it is irrelevant to the season's story line, has no effect on character development, you have someone who works for less write it. Although, filler scenes with no dialogue and no interaction, like someone taking an uneventful walk down a straight road requires no script at all.
As for who decides, whoever decides on the main plot will probably view the filler storyboard before it gets scripted.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Also, according to the [TV Tropes page on fillers](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Filler):
>
> They are extremely common in Anime, where many shows have 26 or more episodes per season. The producers have to use filler just to meet contractual demands. Filler is usually something entirely original for the anime, but not always; many manga – particularly weekly manga – employ filler just as ruthlessly due to the extreme deadlines. Sometimes entire filler Arcs are created, most often because the series Overtook the Manga.
>
>
>
It's difficult to find information about who writes the filler arcs, but movies, which are similar in principle to filler arcs in that they don't interact with the main story line, are generally written by the same writer as the show. Bleach's movies, for example, are written by <NAME>, same as the show. Because there are anime writers who are separate from the manga writers, they can add to the story without interfering with the work of the manga writer.
The fact that fillers are sometimes used to meet contractual demands makes it more likely that fillers will virtually always be written by the writer of the canonical anime, at least in those cases.
Upvotes: 2 |
2013/07/11 | 786 | 2,532 | <issue_start>username_0: A lot of anime contain characters with a snaggletooth - typically a fang-like tooth that is displayed on its own. I found it odd as snaggleteeth (misaligned teeth) are rarely ever shown in any other media. Here are some examples :
[Lucky Star, Oreimo & Slayers Revolution]
I'd like to know how recent this trope is and why it's used so often - does it serve a specific purpose?
Who was the first character to have a snaggletooth?<issue_comment>username_1: >
> Who was the first character to have a snaggletooth?
>
>
>
I don't have any source for when historically in anime/manga this was used. But the earliest that I can think of is Lum from the [Urusei Yatsura manga](http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/manga.php?id=2419) and that was published in the late 70's. From Chapter 1:
and also seen, for various circumstances, throughout the run of the manga and anime. So it's possible that Rumiko Takahashi may have popularized it. You can see these snaggletooth in a lot of her later work (Inuyasha, Ranma 1/2, etc.)
As for the meaning/purpose, the TV Tropes site has [a page for this under "Cute Little Fangs"](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CuteLittleFangs), and this excerpt sums it up pretty well:
>
> Most often, as suggested by the trope name, the character sports enlarged canine teeth. For maximum cuteness, at least one fang will be visible at all times, even when the character's mouth is closed, and especially if they have a Cat Smile. These indicate, generally, that the character is **mischievous, slightly hostile, or a trickster, but not actually "bad."**
>
>
>
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: The snaggletooth trope started in the manga [GeGeGe no Kitarō](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GeGeGe_no_Kitar%C5%8D), which was first published in 1960, with the first monster-cat girl Neko Musume, making this 6 years older than the magical girl trope and preceding anime by 4 and regular cat-girls by at least two decades.
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/wD1ob.jpg)
Its original purpose was to remind you that Neko Musume had a mouth full of dangerous monster-cat fangs that could rip you apart.
Upvotes: 3 |
2013/07/12 | 763 | 2,817 | <issue_start>username_0: It seems there's a lot of these short (e.g. 3-5 minute long) anime series recently, specifically ones that air on TV (as opposed to ONA's). Shows like:
* [Fireball/Fireball Charming](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fireball_%28anime%29)
* [Chii's Sweet Home](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chi%27s_Sweet_Home)
* [Encouragement of Climb](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encouragement_of_Climb)
* [Recorder and Ransell](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recorder_and_Randsell)
* [Aiura](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aiura)
* And an older one, [Di <NAME>at](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Di_Gi_Charat)
What started the trend of short 3-5 minute per episode TV series. How does that fit into a regular TV time-slot if it's so short?<issue_comment>username_1: They channel airing the show would just shift things forward or backward 5 minutes.
So something that normally starts at 12:00 would start at 12:05. The shows in the evening will start at the usual time by, over the course of the day, removing 1 or 2 adverts each advert break. The channels that keep a strict schedule just remove most of the adverts during an advert break and play the show then. They do not allocate a 30 minute slot to a short. However, if they have a 15 minute show, they would play that directly before or after the short.
Channels make a lot of money from adverts so they only remove adverts for series they expect to get a high viewing.
As for what started it, I can not say, but while I can not remember any, I am sure I have seen shorts that aren't anime, but the vast majority would probably be anime.
I think the main reason we see more shorts is because anime companies are getting bolder due to more sponsors and producing more franchise such as games and figurines etc., but I think mostly due to larger viewing numbers. 10 years ago companies might have had a hard time making profit on a short and so channels would not want to air them, but now more money means they can get better music, scripts and animation for shorts (or any other things that make them worth watching) so channels will want to air them.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Japanese television is common to have short series. Most drama episodes are only 10 minutes long. It's just something to watch daily in the morning or something.
For example, a channel at 9:00 shows a few different series and usually, the short ones are all crammed into one drama viewing period. After all the short episodes are aired, something long like the news comes on.
I think it also helps a lot of people who are on a schedule and don't have time to dedicate half an hour of their day for a show.
A lot of these short anime are also taken from 4-koma manga, so the episode is like getting a comic strip in the newspaper.
Upvotes: -1 |
2013/07/12 | 1,296 | 4,043 | <issue_start>username_0: These series all *seem* to be connected, but asides from sharing the same production company and having the semi-colon separate their titles I can't see any relation between them. The plots seem to be completely disjoint.
When I was looking up Chaos;Head and Stein's;Gate, I also found Robotics;Notes, but it too seems to not be connected. Can anyone explain the connection between these series for me?<issue_comment>username_1: Steins;Gate, Chaos;Head, and Robotics;Notes all take place within the same universe but at different times.
There are also multiple Steins;Gate references in Chaos;Head, and there are multiple Steins;Gate references in Robotics;Notes.
These could be just for comedy purposes or they could be hinting at a relationship. Robotics;Notes also takes place in the Steins;Gate Divergence Ratio 1.048596.
Other than that the Visual Novels of all three were created by 5pd and Nitroplus.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: *Chaos;Head* and *Steins;Gate* exist in the same ("Science Adventure") universe, but on different world lines.
* *Chaos;Head* happens in [Shibuya](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shibuya) and the events happen one year before *Steins;Gate*
* *Steins;Gate* happens in [Akihabara](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akihabara)
* *Robotic;Notes* happens in [Tanegashima](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanegashima) Island and the events happen nine years after *Steins;Gate*
The events of *Chaos;Head* are consistent with the events of *Steins;Gate* within the Beta worldline, divergence ratio: 1.130426%. *Steins;Gate* and *Robotics;Note* exist on the "Steins;Gate" worldline, divergence ratio: 1.048596%. (*Steins;Gate* was also originally in the same worldline as *Chaos;Head*, which changed after Okabe sent the first D-Mail and passed to another worldline.)
There is a mention of "<NAME>" which is the online persona of *Chaos;Head*'s protagonist <NAME>, in episode 4 of *Steins;Gate*. In the *Steins;Gate* game, it's [mentioned that this character](https://i.stack.imgur.com/BRHYi.jpg) was also looking for the IBN 5100 (the non-conical 8-bit version of the game gets more in depth into his motvations).
Kurisu explained the "Time Leap Machine" concept to Okabe using NOZOMI papers from *Chaos;Head*.
On big TV outdoors, FES's performance can be seen in the Alpha timeline. Giving the right reply to Faris's mail earns the player Ayase's portrait and FES's music, sung by <NAME>, which include the *Chaos;Head* OP, "Find the Blue."
There's a Seira-tan cosplay cameo in *Steins;Gate* as well:
*Robotics;Note* connects the two series a bit more by revealing that the "Committee of 300" are the driving force between the major events of all three series.
>
> [](https://i.stack.imgur.com/1qtPJ.jpg)
>
>
>
Nae from *Steins;Gate* appears as an adult in *Robotics;Note*. Daru and Kurisu show up on the Twipo network in *Robotics;Note* as "DaSH". In the VN game, Kurisu [uses a tripcode](https://web.archive.org/web/20150321204741/http://ibm5100.net/steinswiki/2011/09/09/heroine-qgate/). In the anime, Kurisu posts in @channel under the handle "[KURI\_KAME](http://steins-gate.wikia.com/wiki/Episode_Glossary#Term_2:_KuriGohan_and_Kamehameha)" in episode 15 (about 2D and 3D limitations).
>
> Daru writes the program that eradicates Kimijima Kou from Iru-o.
>
>
>
SERN (and their projects) is also mentioned several times in both *Steins;Gate* and *Robotics;Note*
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: The phrase "Whose eyes are those eyes?" appears in both Robotics;Notes and Chaos;Head. In the first episode of Robotics;Notes you can hear Airi say it. It's the same phrase <NAME> repeats almost every episode in Chaos;Head, because he feels like someone is observing him. It's also one of Kishimoto Ayase's songs in Chaos;Head.
Upvotes: 2 |
2013/07/13 | 681 | 2,805 | <issue_start>username_0: Often I want to buy some anime or manga, but after a long time of searching, I find out, that the manga/anime isn't translated yet. Is there a website where I can find information about whether an anime/manga is licensed and/or translated? At least in English, but if there's a source for German translations, too, I would be very happy!<issue_comment>username_1: I typically look up this information on [Anime News Network's encyclopedia](http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/). They tend to have licensing information pretty well covered. They pay attention to the announcements made by the major licensing organizations and typically write brief news pieces for each release, and more data about the licensing is added to the encyclopedia entry as it becomes available. I can't comment on their reliability in any language other than English, but in English they are usually pretty good. I can't comment on how reliable they are for manga.
Other anime indexing services also tend to have information, though it's often more sparse. [MyAnimeList](http://myanimelist.net/) and [AniDB](http://anidb.net/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=main) both sometimes have licensing data. In MAL it's listed with an L in the "Producers" section. In AniDB, they typically have a link to the website of the licensing company. In both cases, I was able to find some licensed anime which weren't listed as such, so in my opinion these are less reliable than ANN. These sources typically only list English licenses.
Typically, [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page) articles also include this information when it becomes available, at least for English releases. However, these are maintained by fans, and usually link back to various news articles anyway from ANN, MAL, etc. so they may not be as reliable.
Finally, if there's any doubt as to whether a specific company has licensed a particular anime, you can usually check their website. All licensing companies that I know of have a list at least containing all anime that they have released, and most also list future releases.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Wikipedia has a [list of English licensed manga](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_manga_licensed_in_English).
I know of no standard list of manga available, but a google search for buying/downloading manga in `google.com` (English), `google.co.uk` or `google.ca` will yield English manga sites, and `google.de`, German manga sites.
If you can get to a manga shop or a comic book shop (less likely, but some comic book shops do stock translated manga), ask them for information on new releases in English (or German if you are in Germany) as they will have details on new manga and will stock in the native language of course.
Upvotes: 2 |
2013/07/16 | 508 | 1,750 | <issue_start>username_0: It's clear from the anime that it exists. Some of the characters from the main series are there. As close as I can tell, it's just a side series.
So why do hardcore Type-Moon fans say with resolve that *Kara no Kyoukai* is not a Type-Moon anime or that it does not exist to them?<issue_comment>username_1: Kara no Kyoukai, like other Type-Moon series exist in as part of the same [multi-verse](http://typemoon.wikia.com/wiki/Nasuverse). While not in the same universe as Fate or Tsukihime, they exist as an alternate universe, like Fate/Extra and Fate/kaleid liner. The characters could in theory meet one another... if the circumstances are [deemed right](http://typemoon.wikia.com/wiki/Ahnenerbe).
[Canaan](http://myanimelist.net/anime/5356/Canaan), however is not part of the this multiverse.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Even if marginally, there is a case to be made that the Fate universe and Kara no Kyoukai's are the same. In Fate's Heaven's Feel path, Shiro is restored through Third Sorcery by binding his soul to a body "left by a famous puppet maker" who "was marked to be sealed [by the Mages Association] and ran away." The anime briefly shows Touko leaving the antique store where Rin and Sakura buy Shiro's new body (1:55).
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: I think you got the series wrong.
It isn't Kara no Kyoukai, but the Tsukihime anime that gets that treatment. It is a meme among type-moon fans.
The anime called Shingetsutan Tsukihime was a really bad adaptation of its source material, the type moon visual novel of Tsukihime.
The fans were unhappy with the adaptation. So they started acting like the anime doesn't exist. That's the origin of the meme.
Upvotes: 0 |
2013/07/17 | 2,425 | 9,159 | <issue_start>username_0: In *5 Centimeters Per Second*, a boy and a girl get separated, and then try to meet with each other.
In the ending, when they are grown up
>
> The boy sees the girl as they are crossing the train tracks. They are interrupted by trains. The boy waits for the girl, but when the trains pass, she is gone.
>
>
>
Why is that?<issue_comment>username_1: I attribute this to what would best be called a "Fleeting moment and feeling". His desire to see the girl again caused him to envision her being there for a moment which is personified by the passing train (another symbol that life moves on). But when it passes, so does his desire and like the train, he decides to move forward with his life.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Just saw this twice and watched the ending carefully and listened to the song, since the last 5 or so minutes of the movie mirrors the lyrics of the song.
Basically here is the lyrics:
>
> I'm always searching for you, searching for your figure.
>
>
> In the City, at dawn. At Sakuragi-Cho.
>
>
> **Even though I know you can't be there.**
>
>
> If my wish were to come true, I would be at your side.
>
>
> There would be nothing I couldn't do.
>
>
> I would risk everything to embrace you.
>
>
> **I'm always searching for you, always searching for even a fragment of you.**
>
>
> At the shop I'm going to, in the corner of a newspaper.
>
>
> **Even though I know you can't be there.**
>
>
> If miracles do happen, I want to show you right now the new dawn, who I'll be from now on,
>
>
> And the words, "I love you" that I never said.
>
>
> I always end up looking somewhere for your smile.
>
>
> **At the railroad crossing, waiting for the express to pass. Even though I know you can't be there.**
>
>
>
So if you really read it through the lyrics and the fragment of clips and images.
The boy never saw the girl again but was just seeing a hope that maybe he did see her.
If you think about it, they never contact each other for a long time, so the girl didn't even know where the boy could be.
So the boy simply smiled since he didn't see her and finally came to terms with it.
If he did see her there though, he would do everything and tell her everything he never said or did before when they were still together.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: In an interview of <NAME> found [here](http://otakuinreview.com/blog/2011/10/19/interview-makoto-shinkai.html), he answers a question regarding the plant at the beginning of Episode 2. Personally, I believed that it was a throwback to Voices of a Distant Star, but it--in a way--answers your question indirectly. To quote:
>
> Takaki, the male character, had dreams of this girl he liked who was
> very far away. In the image they’re both on a distant planet that is
> far away, so he’s dreaming that he’s with her even though she’s in a
> far away place.
>
>
>
When viewing Makoto Shinkai's works, distance always plays a large factor. He treats it with a vague touch. However, Makoto Shinkai always injects the notion that distance(space) and time are intertwined (VoaDS is a perfect example) and that there are events that span them.
At the ending of 5 Centimeters per Second, the girl was obviously a vision, as the distance between them cannot be closed physically anymore and the time lost cannot be reclaimed. The act of forgetting his lost love is a slow process for Takaki (the male protagonist), which is what the title is actually alluding to. The movie is not only one about distance and time, but of the events and the memories associated with them.
**Now, the way I relate them all together:**
Cherry blossoms are almost only beautiful when they are on trees (when the relationship is intact), and are almost equally as beautiful when they're falling (because memories are almost equally as beautiful as the real thing). However, while memories themselves live on, the reality they used to be gradually differ from how the memories are, much like how falling blossoms slowly become a fragment of the beauty of where they used to be.
The title tells us that each time lost is more distance apart physically and emotionally, and that at the final moment where the cherry blossom cannot cover any distance anymore per unit of time is the moment where the memory is--not actually lost--but stays just that: a memory. In a nutshell, the vision by the railroad is the final moment of their cherry blossom, Takaki's living dream of the girl in the faraway place, before it finally stops moving and reminding him of the relationship that once was.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_4: This may be a little late but Akari was at the railway crossing. The manga shows a picture of of a girl from behind then a close up of her left hand with a ring on it. After the trains are gone so is she, Takaki smiles and walks off. The next picture is of Akari but the young Akari standing on the other side, she smiles and waves good bye to Takaki who is already further down the road.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_5: As Tohno (male character) contacted Akari through email and mail stuffs, they hadn't felt the true meaning of love. So the title "5 Centimeters Per Second" tells that their love was growing apart with time. So Akari gave up on their relationship and found a new guy. But Tohno's life got ruined by her beauty and he still loves her and this kinda relates to the ending song.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: The ending scene can be taken both ways, maybe she was there, or maybe not. For me, I believe she really was there. This may be subtle, but as they passed by each other, both of them (even the girl) seemed to notice each other. However, when they look back, as the gods of love like to interfere, a train appeared.
As the train is passing by, Akari went ahead. I think it symbolizes that she had already moved on for a long time. However, the main character clearly still had lingering feelings for her, as seen in episode 2 and 3. He did not only look back, but he also waited for the train to pass. He even turned around and took his hands out of his pocket. However, when the train passed by, the woman was nowhere to be found. He took it as a sign to finally moved on, and as he was smiling, he turned away. If I remember correctly, he was sad in episode 2, and even more depressed in episode 3: he even tried to slept with other woman, and he even quit his job to forget the girl.
We don't know for sure who first stopped writing letter, but I think it was the boy. This can be seen in the scenes where they exchanged letters, though I don't think it means that the boy stopped liking her — as seen in the ending, he truly loves her. Maybe it was due to some other reason, like change of address, undelivered letter, or something we would never know. But we can see that even though they don't receive letters from each other, they still looked at the mailbox - both of them. Even when the girl was walking with another guy, she still looked at the mailbox.
Anyways, no matter how anyone views it. The movie was a masterpiece.
By the way, I remember reading an interview with the writer/director of the movie where he said that the theme for 5cm/sec was "reality" - it isn't always a happy ending in real life, most of the time love fails. (Sorry, but I don't have a source for this).
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_7: The song if translated say that he sees a figment of his imagination and This is show as he is riding his scooter and he sees Akari. But at the railway he sees her for real and I believe that, that is what they promised each other all those years ago; they promised each other to see the cherry blossoms fall and as it just so happens the cherry blossoms where falling which to takaki was the only way to finally detach.even in the manga he sees a ring which can only be there if she was real. Also after that when the younger version of Akari waves back I believe it was what he saw when she wasn't there otherwise he would have ran after her.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_8: I believe that he really saw Akari because (after checking the movie over 3 times but i might of missed something) he had not seen Akari in years so how could he possibly know what she looked like all that time later without even seeing a picture of her. So he must of recognized her as he stopped and turned around but since she had gotten over their relationship over time she didn't wait to see if it was Tohno so she kept walking. Also they had promised each other to see the cherry blossoms fall again and as they walk by each other you can see the blossoms falling so it was a way of concluding their relationship and Tohno moving on with his life.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_9: This may be too late to change your ending view, but in the manga you can see that in the ending the girl shouts from the other side of the train when passing. Also, there is another chapter (volume 2, chapter 11) after that, it is Kanae's story part. The anime only ended on volume 2, chapter 10 of the manga.
Upvotes: 1 |
2013/07/18 | 1,036 | 3,777 | <issue_start>username_0: As we know, the homunculi can heal themselves and don't age because of the philosopher's stone.
However, Wrath doesn't seem able to heal and he gets older, despite being a homunculus. I always thought that's because he is a human who was turned into a homunculus, but Greed can also regenerate, even though he still has Lings soul and isn't 100% homunculus.
Why isn't Wrath like a normal homunculus?<issue_comment>username_1: I believe it was done on purpose.
Wrath was intended to be a public figure, everyone knows the king. So the king has to get old, or it would raise suspicion. The king can't generate wounds in a flash of red lightning, or it would raise suspicions.
*How* they did it, I don't know. But that's *why* I imagine they did it.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: When Wrath discloses his nature to Mustang, he describes what happened after the incident. First, keep this quote of his in mind:
>
> The Philosopher's Stone is created from the life force of countless human beings; it contains their souls.
>
>
>
Now, consider that Father was attempting to put all of his wrath within one being; this would require that he removed not only any wrath from within himself, but also every single wrathful soul that composed him. That means we now have a Philosopher's Stone made from dozens of wrathful souls. What does wrath do? It gets revenge.
Wrath states,
>
> Countless souls have battled for dominance within me. And only the most wrathful one survived.
>
>
>
This means that he had no healing powers because he basically had no souls to regenerate from; only one soul remains within his body (his own or someone else's), and it is not enough to both regenerate and sustain him. He is basically a human with homunculus-level skills.
I also agree with Madara's conclusion that Father would want the public figure to age and appear human, so he may have been perfectly okay with Wrath being composed of only one soul. Pride's disguise was already conspicuous enough; you can imagine the uprisings if the military leader was also accused of such things.
With regard to why he is different from Greeling, his soul was pushed aside from the infusion, whereas Ling's was strong enough to coexist with Greed's.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: Wrath (in Brotherhood) was a human-based Homonculus. He was born a human, called Fuhrer Candidate No. 12, and implanted with a philosopher's stone created from wrathful souls while in his prime. His own soul, also a soul of wrath, overpowered the souls of the stone and took over, making him Wrath, earning him the name King Bradley and the position of Fuhrer of Amestris.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_4: it is because with Wrath, as Bradley states, all the souls basically fought down to the last one remaining. It was this final soul, of which was formed the homunculus "Wrath".
However, with Greeling:
First, the Homunculus "Greed", was already a pre-existing entity, which Father puts into Ling's body.
Secondly, Ling accepts the pre-existing homunculus "Greed", without fighting down to the last souls, or last few souls. Thereby, as someone else had stated, Ling and Greed coexisted together.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_5: My theory has been that Regeneration costs a soul. Goes to explain why Hommunculi can be killed when 'killed' enough times, and why the mannequin soldiers don't regenerate.
As mentioned above, Wrath is the lone surviving soul within him, one soul, which killed all the others. The other Hommunculi have multiple souls cohabiting, which is why they're able to regenerate. The mannequins were likely made from a single philosopher's stone with the souls being split evenly between the soldiers.
Upvotes: 0 |
2013/07/18 | 637 | 2,273 | <issue_start>username_0: Sometimes in the series, Togame's left eye becomes purple with a cross inside. Is there a reason for that?
<issue_comment>username_1: Togame's left eye changes whenever she is scheming or in an ambitious state of mind. This first began when she witnessed her father being killed, at the same time that her hair turned white. I do not believe it is explained why this change takes place beyond that witnessing her father's death changed her view of the world, but it could be elaborated in the novels.
---
It's also worth mentioning that Togame's name (とがめ) in Japanese is probably a reference to this eye, though it can be read in many ways. The particular reading here would be 十が眼, which could be interpreted as "eyeball shaped like 十 (*to*; the character for the number 10)". This is fairly unorthodox Japanese, but it's clear that this was one of the readings that the author intended.
Of course, Togame is the fake name that she made up for herself after her father died, so she wasn't called that until she got her cross-shaped eye. Before that, she was named Yousha (容赦). This is likely a counterpoint to another interpretation of her name, since 容赦 means forgiveness, while 咎め (とがめ) means blame or rebuke, which is fitting given how that incident changed her life towards seeking revenge.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Togame's name (十が目 = とがめ = togame, or 目が十, "eyes are ten/cross shaped") means "cross-shaped (lit. ten-shaped) eye."
Though not thoroughly explained, the [Katanagatari wiki](http://katanagatari.wikia.com/wiki/Togame) mentions that it's a result (along with her hair turning white) of witnessed the death of her father.
It's been mentioned (by various Japanese BBS sources) that the cross-shaped eyes were the idea of the original illustrator (of the light novels) and not of the author.
>
> The eye that witnessed the act takes on a snake-like appearance when she is scheming. One of the Maniwani notes that it "shines with ambition".
>
>
>
You could say that the root of ambition that Togame shines with is revenge, since her eyes return to return to normal when she's scheming her ultimate revenge plot.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer] |
2013/07/19 | 1,341 | 4,825 | <issue_start>username_0: In episode two of Danganronpa, two characters die. On both cases the blood appears in pink, rather than red.
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/4ciyx.jpg)[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/O7SRD.jpg)
Why is this?
Is blood in the Danganronpa universe pink? Or is this supposed to be less shocking for the viewer or something similar?<issue_comment>username_1: According to the [Something Awful playthrough thread](http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3447397) for the game:
>
> Because of the intricacies of the Japanese game rating system, blood
> in this game is colored pink. Rest assured, though, it is human blood
> you will be looking at, and it doesn't mean our characters are
> secretly aliens or elves.
>
>
>
[TVTropes](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VisualNovel/DanganRonpa) also says the same thing:
>
> Many murder scenes are liberally splattered in Pepto-Bismol, thanks to
> the intricacies of the Japanese game rating system.
>
>
>
So it seems like making the blood realistic would have given the game a higher age rating, possibly restricting some of their target demographic from being able to purchase the game. But the pink blood also goes along with the main artistic style of Dangan Ronpa.
According to [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dangan_Ronpa#Development):
>
> The game uses pop art, a bright and colorful style, as a way to
> contrast the dark subject matter of murder. Scenario writer Kazutaka
> Kodaka stated he desired to "...shake user's heart by showing a
> devastating accident in not devastating ways. But, by some measure, it
> might be more shocking than showing a devastating scene."
>
>
>
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: To add to username_1's answer, Danganronpa is rated D (17+) by [CERO](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_Entertainment_Rating_Organization), Japan's rating board for console video games. That's the highest rating which does not carry additional legal restrictions as to where and to whom you can sell it. Danganronpa is a console game, and it's very likely that the consoles would not have approved of it had it been rated Z (18+), but including red blood would have likely pushed it over this limit. Very few games rated Z ever get released, with the exception of a few violent games produced overseas where the ratings are less strict for violent content (e.g. in the U.S.).
Most visual novels are PC games, so they are rated by a different organization from CERO, namely EOCS. EOCS doesn't have the same restrictions against displaying red blood, but most of them are guaranteed an 18+ rating anyway for inclusion of sexual content. An 18+ rating from CERO has a much bigger impact in terms of sales than one from EOCS. It's not uncommon for Japanese console games to not include blood at all to avoid getting higher ratings, but Danganronpa obviously didn't have that option so they did the next best thing.
As for why they kept the blood pink in the anime, it is sort of iconic at this point. The death scenes (so far) have all been very closely following the style of the game. Changing it would probably turn off fans, and the pink blood does fit well with the art style.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: It's done so because when the human mind sees red blood it sets off a red flag in they're brain, but if it's a different color you don't get that reaction.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_4: It's because of its "psycho-pop" art style. They used pink blood for their art style type, and also censorship probably. Also, they coined the term "psycho-pop".
Also, fun fact, the blood at one point was planned to be red (it was in [*DISTRUST*](http://danganronpa.wikia.com/wiki/DISTRUST), the beta version) but when Monokuma's art design was chosen, everything was changed, even the blood.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: Because of the intricacies of the Japanese game rating system, blood in this game is colored pink,but the pink blood also goes along with the main artistic style of Danganronpa.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_6: I personally think it's for moderation and censorship. The creator of Danganronpa said that the game had to go through a bunch of approval before the game could come to the US. Naturally, if the blood was red, the game wouldn't have made it through. Also, the ratings. If it were to be red, they would make the game go towards even more mature audiences. In my opinion, teenagers seem to play this game, but they aren't as traumatized because the blood is pink and they know it isn't real.
Upvotes: 0 |
2013/07/20 | 317 | 1,222 | <issue_start>username_0: Shenron can bestow any wish as long as it does not exceed the power of his creator. Then how can Shenron (Earth) revive people, when Kami couldn't do it himself?
**Edit:**
<issue_comment>username_1: Another way of looking at this is that Kami did not understand the full extent of his Dragon Balls' power. You see the Dragon Balls getting stronger after Kami's ones, maybe because they knew how they function properly while Kami was still getting to know his limits. So, maybe Kami could revive people but left it to the Dragon Balls as they were harder to get, and were more of a trial for people; or, Kami just believed, "Shenron can bestow any wish as long as it does not exceed the power of his creator" because he did not know how to make Shenron more powerful. As much as I can remember and can find it was only Kami who said this, so most likely this was only a theory of his.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: It is theorized that Shenron does have the same power as Kami but the difference is that Shenron exclusively grants wishes, so he is much more efficient in that regard when using Kami's power.
Upvotes: 3 |
2013/07/21 | 689 | 2,594 | <issue_start>username_0: I noticed that in Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, alchemy didn't exist until The Dwarf in the Flask came into existence. I also noticed is that the great teachers of alchemy were Father in the West, and Hohenheim in the East.
So with this information, I think that if The Dwarf in the Flask was never created, then alchemy itself would never have existed. How were they able to obtain The Dwarf in the Flask?<issue_comment>username_1: It was never fully explained, when and how alchemy was "invented", but it's known that Xerxes was one of the first countries to know alchemy. It already existed when the dwarf in the flask was created, as he was created using alchemy. The creation of the dwarf in the flask just increased the knowledge because it knew much about alchemy and helped the alchemists gaining knowledge.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: As [@username_1](https://anime.stackexchange.com/users/122/username_1) [says](https://anime.stackexchange.com/a/4425/274), alchemy did exist before the Dwarf in the Flask was created. In fact, the man who created the Dwarf would later become Van Hohenheim's teacher. I don't believe much of alchemy was ever used in Xerxes in general, but the king was a big supporter of it, enough that he would later bet his own life on it and ask for immortality.
It's also hinted that alchemy was what created aspects of the universe. In the last few episodes of the series,
>
> Father absorbs the entity known as "God" (the Eye of God behind the gate) and gains the ability to simply create a sun in the palm of his hand, at a whim.
>
>
>
It is suggested that this very same power was once used, by either [Truth or God](https://anime.stackexchange.com/q/87/274), to create the stars and planets in the universe. That would mean that alchemy has always existed, but was just brought to light by the Xerxians, and the word was spread by Father and Hohenheim during their travels.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: I'm certain that the Alchemy used by Xerxes was far more spiritual in nature than Modern Alchemy and Alkahestry. Mostly because the ability to transmute would have made digging the nationwide transmutation circle a much easier task than it was shown in the Xerxes flashback... and probably a lot bloodier too going by how they used slaves for their experiments. Probably drew power from Blood to be honest, since it has the same sympathetic connections that seem to connect Tectonic Movements and the Water Cycle...
Upvotes: 0 |
2013/07/23 | 676 | 2,422 | <issue_start>username_0: In *Fairy Tail*, the guild is named "Fairy Tail". While there does seem to be a range of ethnicities within the names (Natsu vs. Lucy), it just seems like an odd misspelling of "fairy *tale*", which is a very specific thing that seems to be totally unrelated to the guild itself.
What is the in-universe reason given for that being the name of the guild, if there is a reason given?<issue_comment>username_1: From Makarov's history based on [Wikia](http://fairytail.wikia.com/wiki/Makarov_Dreyar):
>
> The guild was named 'Fairy Tail' as the eternal mystery behind whether fairies had tails or not, or if they even existed, was like an eternal adventure.
>
>
>
So I guess the guild's (Fairy Tail's) purpose is to have a great adventure as if they are solving the mysteries about fairies.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: The guild's first master Mavis loved the idea of fairies and often wondered if they had tails. This is mentioned in *Fairy Tail Zero*.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: My personal theory is that it represents Mavis's search for the faeries with Zera.
In one scene of *Fairy Tail Zero*, Zera and Mavis are talking, and Mavis points out that Zera's hair looks like tails. To also explain another idea about the faeries, when Zera "disappeared" and they hugged in the pond, it looked like there's a little ball of light -- a fairy. And when Zera disappeared and Mavis was crying, it looked like Zera turned into a group of faeries. When Warrod, Yuri, and Precht heard her voice, it looked like a faerie was flying past them.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_4: Adding on to what other people that say about "Fairy Tail" means "endless adventures and mysteries", I also believe Mavis also meant the name was based of on Zera.
In *Fairy Tail Zero*, Mavis started to form a guild at the place (Magnolia) where Zera's dad and the Red Lizards guild have all been executed. Mavis wanted to help the village to fulfill Zera's dream, by starting a new guild with a name related to her. There was a scene where Mavis pointed out about Zera's hair looking like two tails and that Zera said that fairies would always be in Mavis' heart and where did Zera go? Right back into her heart, referring Zera as the fairy with tails.
Now that you might have thought about it, Zera might actually been the fairy Mavis has always been looking for.
Upvotes: 0 |
2013/07/23 | 441 | 1,461 | <issue_start>username_0: In chapter 8 of *+Tic Neesan*, what is this scene parodying?
I don't get the references at all. :(
The only thing I could possibly link would be *Welcome to the NHK*'s anime mascot who has a similar catchphrase, but I doubt very much that it's the link.
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/jdmXR.png)
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/h767b.png)<issue_comment>username_1: The only thing I can think of is the annoying anime series from within the series "Welcome to the NHK". Purrurin's theme song was blasting from next door in the first episode, antagonizing Sato's mental illness. His next door nieghbor, Yamazaki, was obsessed with the main character, and he references her several times as proof of his love of anime over real girls.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: Thanks to @Krazer.
The characters in the scene seem to be Ikkyuu and Shin'emon from [Ikkyū-san](http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=1461).
The low-effort scribbles are signifying that they are characters from another series and want to avoid copyright issues, like how many MacDonalds in anime are called WacDonalds or similar.
I think it's not parodying a particular scene but instead just making fun of Shin'emon's cleft chin:
Upvotes: 2 [selected_answer] |
2013/07/24 | 442 | 1,520 | <issue_start>username_0: How can Obito combine 4 different nature transformations, if he barely managed to control the Juubi inside him?
Using advanced techniques and nature transformations needs some focus on chakra manipulation, so how is he able to do this?
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/x5J36.png)
Obito using the 4 different nature transformations
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/g2V8X.png)
Obito barely managing to control the Juubi<issue_comment>username_1: Obito is the Jinchuuriki of the 10 tails. Having the blood of the Uchiha + having the Rinnegan and the Mangekyo Sharingan + being trained by Madara himself, Obito would have surpassed any living ninja in technique and chakra depth, as well as natural talent. It was even said at one time that he was the same as the "Sage of the 6 paths".
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: See chapter 375 of the manga, page 11. Jiraiya states one who posesses the Rinnegan can use all 6 chakra natures. In addition, controlling the Ten-tails is no mean feat, considering it's likely to be at least ten times as difficult to control as a normal Tailed Beast, which itself is hardly something a skilled shinobi wouldn't think twice about. Also, I'm guessing that controlling the Tailed Beasts doesn't require chakra manipulation and control, but rather willpower and determination - as demonstrated by Naruto himself.
Upvotes: 0 |
2013/07/24 | 388 | 1,459 | <issue_start>username_0: I picked the so-called 'complete collection' of Strawberry Panic at a convention. Upon reading it however, I found the story wasn't actually complete (stops just as the 'faceless devil' event is announced) and closes with an "..end?" even though nearly no plot points are resolved and many events are about happen
I've read the light novels, and there's a good chunk of story left. Why was the series stopped so suddenly?
<issue_comment>username_1: Obito is the Jinchuuriki of the 10 tails. Having the blood of the Uchiha + having the Rinnegan and the Mangekyo Sharingan + being trained by Madara himself, Obito would have surpassed any living ninja in technique and chakra depth, as well as natural talent. It was even said at one time that he was the same as the "Sage of the 6 paths".
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: See chapter 375 of the manga, page 11. Jiraiya states one who posesses the Rinnegan can use all 6 chakra natures. In addition, controlling the Ten-tails is no mean feat, considering it's likely to be at least ten times as difficult to control as a normal Tailed Beast, which itself is hardly something a skilled shinobi wouldn't think twice about. Also, I'm guessing that controlling the Tailed Beasts doesn't require chakra manipulation and control, but rather willpower and determination - as demonstrated by Naruto himself.
Upvotes: 0 |
2013/07/25 | 834 | 3,263 | <issue_start>username_0: On the way to Karakura town, Ichigo is informed by Unohana that he is the only one with a chance of defeating Aizen, as he alone hasn't seen his Shikai.
Ichigo..apparently does nothing about this. He doesn't blindfold himself or protect his eyes in any way that would be obvious to an anime viewer. Aizen could presumably just activate his weapon and negate Ichigo's only advantage at a whim.
Does Ichigo do anything to protect him from Aizen's illusions? If not, why does Ichigo charge Aizen without any regard for protecting himself from his game-ending ability, despite being warned about it minutes earlier?<issue_comment>username_1: It might be because of Ichigo's burning emotions towards Aizen that he doesn't think that through or maybe the author just decided not to add that in. Or maybe Aizen didn't want to show Ichigo his Shikai because he felt he was strong enough to defeat Ichigo without it.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Bleach has its share of rather blatant and gaping plot holes, but here are two logical reasons to this question from my perspective:
1. First Ichigo obliviously plans to finish off Aizen in a one hit kill as he feels that it would be his best chance of winning and goes on with it. He first attempts this in (***Refer chapter 388***) when Aizen is busy fighting Shinji and the others Ichigo tears into the world with his thoughts racing to cut him down stating that's the only way to defeat him without seeing Aizen's shikai. The initial attack to his blindspot is blocked with kido as Aizen is well aware of being targeted at the back of the neck and Ichigo reveals that he made a split second bad decision without thinking it through.
In fact it momentarily appears to have paid off where he manages to land a slash through Aizen's neck just as Aizen is escaping from Yamamoto Genryusai's last attack (end of which he lost his arm). ***Refer manga chapter 397*** where this happens and initially the timing and execution of the attack seems exemplary, only being undone by Aizen's new found powers after merging with the hogyoku. It could be summarized that Ichigo relied on his one hit kill plan way too much and in the thick of things did not device a plan B in case it failed.
2. As to why Aizen did not attempt to lure Ichigo into illusion with his Kyoka Suigetsu's release can be attributed to various factors, but primarily
* Aizen wanted to be defeated. Aizen's inner (perhaps suicidal) tendency to find a person who could comprehensively defeat him which Ichigo attributes to Aizen's loneliness caused by his incredible power where he was unable to find someone equally powerful as himself. ***Refer manga chapter 422*** where Ichigo discusses with Urahara how he felt Aizen's loneliness on coming to contact with him when Ichigo was fighting on the same level as Aizen.
* Another aspect like mentioned in the previous answer is Aizen's visible arrogant and megalomaniac like tendency shortly displayed after he fuses with the hoguoku. He feels that none of the Shinigami or Vizards are a visible threat and in many cases does not even bother to dodge enemy attacks during the battle like in the instance where he fends off Kisuke and Yoroichi.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer] |
2013/07/25 | 628 | 2,495 | <issue_start>username_0: Eren's father injects him with the Titan serum years before he first uses it. So how is it that he remembers how to activate it?<issue_comment>username_1: I don't know how far the anime is yet, so I'll put it into a spoiler.
>
> The shift between human is triggered by any injury that causes blood loss. The first shift is triggered when Eren gets eaten by one of the titans and hurts his arm. To trigger the next one, he bites himself to protect Mikasa and Armin. Apparently, also the will to accomplish something is needed to become a titan (kill the titans, save his friends)
>
>
>
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Rober English when eren has to turn into a titan he has to inflict damage on himself and have a clear goal so i'm guessing that when eren was a child he never had a goal like block the cannon or kill the titans
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: I would imagine in order to transform the first time that you would have to be in very clear danager and would subconsciesly desire the change. He didn't have any concept that he could and something like getting cut on a tree would certainly not be dangerous enough to warrent the subconsciese into activating.
I would wager though that once he changed the first time and figure out he could do it it bacame much easier because he knew he could. It would be like discovering a secret talent that you had (wiggling your ears or something). You technically could always do it but without strong reason (someone telling you to try) you would never knew you could. Once you discovered you could, it would be much easier to access. (sorry if that's a bad example, not a lot of parallels to turning into a titan :p )
Another idea (though less likely imo) is that age has something to do with it. Maybe you have to mature to a certain point before it's possible. It just happened that he was finally of age/ ability at that point to turn and, with the obvious situation of being eaten, could at that point turn.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_4: Its triggered by any injury that causes blood loss like Eren biting his finger but Eren must focus on a certain goal in order to trigger his titan form like for example `kill all titans` or it can be `protecting Mikasa and Armin`
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_5: He remembers how because when they explained how he turned into a titan it showed a flashback and his dad said "let these memories cloud your mind".
Upvotes: -1 |
2013/07/25 | 669 | 2,127 | <issue_start>username_0: In Trigun, Vash the Stampede is wanted for sixty billion double dollars ($$60,000,000,000). I don't remember any indication of how much money that actually is in the Trigun universe. I'm sure it's quite a lot, but how much is it really? Enough to buy a house? A power plant? An entire city?
So, **how much is $$60,000,000,000 actually worth?**<issue_comment>username_1: The one indicator I know of (from the anime) is that that one city was able to use the bounty from the Nebraska family, which was in the neighborhood of $$600,000, to fix their plant, and that was more money than anyone in the city collectively had at their disposal.
Judging from that, the bounty was probably enough to buy multiple cities, and was in all likelihood impossible for the authorities to actually pay
The bounty was intended to be a larger-than-life number, and it would have been an impossibly high amount of money in that universe.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: Well, in one episode, he buys a bag of donuts, about 10-15 of them, and pays $$30. The average donut costs $1.20 (I literally just looked it up on Google [[here]](http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_much_does_the_average_donut_cost?#slide=1)). If you round it to 10 donuts, it's $12. If you round to 15, it's $18. You can safely say that one double dollar is approximately equal to fifty cents ($$1 = $0.50) which, whether on purpose or a total lucky mistake by the author of Trigun, makes a lot of sense, in a weird reverse way. So, by this (way too complicated) logic, he is worth $30,000,000,000.00!
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: I did the math. According to Google, an average donut is 0.99 dollars. I am going to use the amount of donuts that another person who answered above that Vash bought for $$30. He said 10-15 but for some reason he didn't go for the average of 12 so using that you can find out that $1 is worth $$2.50. If you divide our $$60000000000 by 2.50 to get the amount of real world currency, it is $25000000000.
Upvotes: -1 |
2013/07/26 | 1,070 | 3,753 | <issue_start>username_0: During the chunin exams, when Orochimaru attacked Konoha, the Third Hokage managed to seal the hands of Orochimaru, rendering him incapable of using any jutsus.
But later in the series we see that Orochimaru did use jutsus. For eg, during the battle with Naruto he uses the Kawarimi no Jutsu.
Though it has not been depicted that he uses hand seals to perform Kawarimi no Jutsu, but I presume that a jutsu of that level needs a hand seal to be pulled off.
So, Orochimaru had never lost his jutsus.
Next, Sasuke managed to absorb Orochimaru into his body which was sealed off by Itachi using the sealing powers of Sword of Totsuka. How then is it possible for Orochimaru to be present in someone else's body and "pop out at will".
So how is it that no sealing techniques work upon Orochimaru?
[How Orochimaru resurrected the 4 Hokages.](http://www.mangareader.net/naruto/618/15)<issue_comment>username_1: Orochimaru had dedicated himself to the path of Kinjutsu. This means that he is using mostly forbidden jutsu. Because of his endless experimentation on himself to become even more powerful, he moved to a place above natural law.
He's living on a different set of rules than the rest of the ninja world, and so is his village (if there is anything left of it).
He sought immortality so that he could master every jutsu, even the science of creating jutsu.
As for being in different bodies and popping out of them, here is what I've observed from the manga: he infects a person with himself. Look at Kabuto. That was a serious infection. The curse mark is another example. The curse mark is purely a technique developed by Orochimaru, and infects people with his power. Although the level and type of infection in Kabuto vs. Sasuke is inherently different.
He is "above" being sealed because he warped himself into a viral entity, or a "demon" as the 3rd Hokage called him. Even the Nine-Tailed Fox could be sealed because he is a natural force of nature. There is nothing natural about Orochimaru!
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: There was only a part of Orochimaru that was in Sasuke's body. I believe that the curse mark transfers a part of his chakra and thus a part of himself into the body of the target.
It was the part of Orochimaru that was inside Sasuke that was sealed away by Itachi using the sealing powers of Sword of Totsuka. But a part of him still lived inside the others who carried the curse mark and his chakra was there with Kabuto, who absorbed Orochimaru after Sasuke killed his main body.
Remember that Orochimaru was very weak when Sasuke revived him that he had to absorb his chakra from Kabuto to become somewhat normal again.
---
And it is not true that Orochimaru couldn't be sealed.The 3rd Hokage couldn't seal him just because he was too weak by then to pull Orochimaru with him. And it is not that Orochimaru can pop-out at will from anyone's body. Sasuke resurrected him. He didn't pop-out at will.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: username_2's answer covers most of it. I'll answer the part of how could he use Jutsu.
Hand seals are a form of technique to focus one's chakra, in order to perform a specific jutsu. As you progress is proficiency and power, you can focus your chakra more and more innately, without the need for hand seals.
The example for this is that Zabuza required more than 40 hand seals to perform the Water Dragon Bullet, while the Second only required one.
---
That's why Orochimaru was able to use the most basic technique without the use of his hands (such as the Replacement Jutsu). As for the rest, I recall Kabuto doing the hand seals for him whenever he required a more advanced jutsu (such as the Summoning Jutsu).
Upvotes: 2 |
2013/07/26 | 338 | 1,104 | <issue_start>username_0: Is <NAME> currently working starting a new series or planning to release a new one this year?
I understand that *Negima* ended some time ago. A mangaka's gotta eat, after all.<issue_comment>username_1: He *is* working on a new manga series (name unknown) which is apparently scheduled to begin some time this summer. It was originally set to be released in spring. As noted in the article linked below, he has stated that this will be his last series; he plans to retire after it.
Source: [Nikkei](http://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXBZO52528800X00C13A3HR0A00/?df=2)
Translation: [OK](http://otakukokka.com/2013/03/10/new-manga-series-from-ken-akamatsu-start-this-summer/)
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: New Update- <NAME>'s new manga is named [UQ Holder.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UQ_Holder!)
Set in the same universe of his previous work Negima! Magister Negi Magi, but over 70 years later, it follows the adventures of a young boy who is transformed into a vampire and joins a secret society composed of immortal beings.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer] |
2013/07/26 | 654 | 1,955 | <issue_start>username_0: When talking about anime with Yuu-chan at "SterTully's" coffee shop, Tomoko says:
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> There's a lot of moeshit anime this season.
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> Slice-of-life anime is all they air these days, because of the new content restrictions.
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> There are some pretty interesting series, though! Like that EFB show...
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>
>
This is what the subs from the version I saw said, the actual content may be slightly different.
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/AyyVX.jpg)
Is Tomoko talking about any series that is actually coming out this season? Or is it just made-up (much like EFB seems to be)?<issue_comment>username_1: The first couple of chapters from the Watamote manga were published at the end of 2011. This scene hasn't changed from the anime, so the possible 'moeshit' that she's referring to could be something like
* [The K-On!! Movie](http://www.tbs.co.jp/anime/k-on/ "K-On!! Movie")
* [Tantei Opera Milky Holmes Season 2](http://milky-holmes.com/)
* [Mourestsu Pirates](http://www.starchild.co.jp/special/mo-retsu/)
* [More found here.](http://www.moetron.com/2011/10/02/winter-2011-12-visual-guide-and-anime-listing/)
But I think it's more of a commentary on how moe-styled anime has become popular recently, and not about any shows in particular
As mentioned by @Jon Lin earlier, [AKB0048](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/19/AKB0048_anime_poster.jpeg) could be what EFB is referring to. Note AKB0048 started airing in April of 2012. The characters are argueably moe also.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: It could be a reference to [ef: A Tale of Memories](http://myanimelist.net/anime/2924/ef:_A_Tale_of_Memories.), made earlier by the same director.
This show is also referenced on [Episode 6](https://i.stack.imgur.com/mGhPq.png) and the OVA.
Upvotes: 1 |
2013/07/26 | 1,253 | 4,653 | <issue_start>username_0: At the start of episode 12 of *Steins;Gate*, Okarin and Mayuri have time traveled 70 million years into the past. They are in an arid desert environment which appears to be the inside of an hourglass. Mayuri says that you could say that they are just one of many versions of themselves, but you could also say that they were the originals. Shortly before dissolving into sand, she says that their wills will carry on to the versions of themselves in Akihabara 70 million years in the future.
In the future, Okarin snaps out of a daze, like he does when he time leaps. Does that imply that Okarin remembers the incident? Was the incident symbolic? If this was one of Okarin's attempts to save Mayuri, why didn't it happen in the alpha/beta/gate timelines?<issue_comment>username_1: *Steins;Gate* sort of uses the many-worlds time travel theory referenced by [John Titor](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Titor#Time_machine). There are many discrete worldlines, like parallel universes. When Okarin leaps to the past, he is moving from one worldline to another; his actions do not affect the future in the worldline he leaped from, only the future of the one he is currently in. The worldlines exist independently. Kurisu talks about this briefly in episode 22, shortly before Okarin time leaps.
This is why Okarin and Suzuha can use the
>
> time machine to travel to the past twice and not run into other time traveling versions of themselves; both times they traveled to the past they landed in a different worldline.
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>
>
When we see the scene from 70 million years ago, we are seeing a version of Okarin and Mayuri who have traveled to the show's current worldline from a separate worldline we didn't see.
They would have had to travel using
>
> Suzuha's time machine. SERN's experiments and Okarin's nightmarish memory showed that sending physical objects through time turns them into gel. The time machine appears to offer protection against this.
>
>
>
> It is unclear why they traveled so far back into the past; perhaps the time machine malfunctioned.
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>
>
> Mayuri had to explain to Okarin that they were 70 million years in the past. Suzuha also lost her memory when using the damaged time machine. It is unclear why Mayuri retained her memory. Perhaps her reading ability is quite strong; she displayed knowledge of alternate worldlines on multiple occasions.
>
>
>
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: [username_1 wrote](https://anime.stackexchange.com/a/4478/2516),
>
> *Steins;Gate* sort of uses the many-worlds time travel theory referenced by <NAME>. There are many discrete worldlines, like parallel universes. When Okarin leaps to the past, he is moving from one worldline to another; his actions do not affect the future in the worldline he leaped from, only the future of the one he is currently in. The worldlines exist independently. Kurisu talks about this briefly in episode 22, shortly before Okarin time leaps.
>
>
>
but this is actually completely wrong.
It is explained in the VN thoroughly that only one world line exists at one time - which would always be the one Okabe is at. The other world lines are just possibilities that could exist, but they don't really. In the VN, Kurisu argues with Okabe, saying that if this was the case, then Okabe was literally a God. But frighteningly so, this is exactly the case. Okabe's actions reconstruct the one and only world every time. When Kurisu says that infinite world lines exist independently, she says it to make it easier for Okabe to
>
> sacrifice her.
>
>
>
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: The incident happened in the beta world line.
In 2011, just before the Third World War happens, Suzuha and Mayuri leapt into the past to August 21st 2010, to deliver the slap you see in Episode 23. They then tried to return to the future, but with the lack of fuel (the time machine only had the fuel to travel 336 days), the time machine malfunctioned and they ended up 70 million years in the past. This is the Mayuri you saw.
In 2025, after Okabe sent the Nostalgia Drive Mail (ND-Mail) to Episode 23's Okabe, he went after Mayuri and Suzuha in a time machine that was equipped to find other time machines by tracking the disruption in space-time continuum caused by Kerr Black Holes. He eventually ended up 70 million years in the past and is assumed to have found Mayuri. This is the Okabe you saw.
Whether the Okabe in the future remembers the event or not is uncertain though. None of the material confirmed nor denied it. But it is definitely not symbolic as it has happened.
Upvotes: 0 |
2013/07/28 | 642 | 2,401 | <issue_start>username_0: Why is <NAME>'s hair so long? It makes him look like a girl. Is there some explanation to that in the series besides this being a possible consequence of being a hikkikomori?
Also, Maid-chan (the AI created by him) has a similar appearance. Ryuunosuke said that he wants to turn her into a real person (sentient AI?) one day. I suspect this may be related.
Also! Ryuunosuke has gynophobia (he's *so* afraid of females). This might also be the reason (in a way).
<issue_comment>username_1: I would imagine his long hair is probably only to make him look like a hikkomori and support his personality traits. Perhaps it was decided that long hair and an androgynous figure would lend itself well to a reserved character.
His maid is suspected to be based on an old classmate, perhaps a first love or childhood friend. So it appears that isn't related.
Personally, I wouldn't imagine his fear of women would be a factor in his hairstyle choice, There are many other characters in anime that have a fear of the opposite gender, but there's no obvious trend for those characters to have hair of the opposite gender's style.
Overall, I think his hair is long for no other reason than the original mangaka's design decision.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Akasaka Ryuunosuke's hair might be very long because since he's a hikkikomori; he rarely goes out, so he wouldn't go to a hairstylist or something like that for a pretty long time, but might still go occasionally to keep it neat. His bangs are longer than most people would keep their bangs, so that also sort of proves my point.
I watched the anime, and I think the mangaka designed him this way to make him look really mysterious. He's always a sort of shadowy character with a mysterious past, and he's also the only character which we don't know anything about his family, which makes him more mysterious, unless you count the two new characters in the last episode - <NAME> and <NAME>.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: They probably just like having long hair. I mean... I'm a guy too and my hair is almost as long as his. I don't have long hair because of any fancy reason, I have it because I just like having long hair.
Upvotes: 0 |
2013/07/28 | 1,096 | 3,881 | <issue_start>username_0: In chapter 604 of the manga, it is shown that Kakashi kills Rin. This fulfills the requirement to activate the Mangekyou Sharingan. So that should have been the moment when Kakashi was able to use the Mangekyou Sharingan.
Also, the Yellow Flash was still alive when this happens, so this means that Naruto was not yet born. This clearly points to the fact that from the very beginning of the Naruto series, Kakashi had his Mangekyou Sharingan activated.
When Kakashi first fought Itachi (when Itachi and Kisame appear at Konoha) and faced the Tsukuyomi he was devastated in a moment, even though he had his Mangekyou Sharingan active (though not used). But the next time they face (during the rescue mission of Gara), he was able to withstand it.
Now my first question is, was Kakashi unaware of his Mangekyou Sharingan until he faced Itachi, or was he not proficient in using it. Also why in the Naruto series (I mean the series before the start of Shippuden) didn't Kakashi use his Mangekyou Sharingan?
Now for my second question, in the same chapter, a few pages back, just when Kakashi strikes the blow at Rin, Obito's vision starts to fade as he can sense Rin dying. Does this mean Obito's Mangekyou Sharingan was awakened at the same time? We know that Kakashi and Obito shares the same "other dimension" because of the same Sharingan that the both use (not the same eye, but the eye of the same Uchiha). So does the same apply for their activation of Mangekyou Sharingan?<issue_comment>username_1: Kakashi and Obito awoke their Mangekyou at the same time: when Kakashi killed Rin.
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/8ab8y.jpg)
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/JwDkj.jpg)
Obito (left) and Kakashi (right) awakening their Mangekyou. From chapter 605, pages 4 and 5.
Now, as for why Kakashi never used it before his fight with Deidara, I think there's no definitive answer. However, I can think of two different educated guesses: one is in-universe, while the other is out-of-universe.
In-universe explanation: As you said, Kakashi was either unaware of or unable to control his Mangekyou Sharingan. I tend to think the former is the case, since he passed out as soon as he awoke his Mangekyou, and probably had no memory of awakening it ([Kakashi's page on Naruto wiki](http://naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Kakashi_Hatake#Mangeky.C5.8D_Sharingan) seems to agree with this explanation). If this is the case, after his fight with Itachi he most likely tested to see if he had the Mangekyou, finding out he did, and thus trained in order to perfect its use.
Out-of-universe explanation: Kishimoto hadn't thought the whole story through. Since Tobi had not made an appearance in the first Naruto series, Kishi had not yet thought about who he would be. If this is the case, then Kakashi's back story had not yet been planned, as well as Obito's. This would make it plausible that Kakashi was not initially planned to have a Mangekyou, since his is transplanted. After the Kakashi Gaiden, however, the important characters are all introduced, which means he had most likely planned for Obito to be Tobi, and about the link between his and Kakashi's Sharingan.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: I think Kakashi didn't use Mangekyou Sharingan before because it took to much chakra. And since he is not an Uchiha, it drained all of his chakra at once. And the next thing about him fainting right after activating the mangekyou for the first time, its the same reason. Exhaustion. No need to explain in universe and out universe blah blah blah. During the gara incident, he used it but had to be bed ridden. Same reason drainage of both physical and mental strength.
Upvotes: -1 |
2013/07/28 | 1,082 | 4,155 | <issue_start>username_0: Let's have a back drop on the story, the Third Hokage shows Jiraya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru his summoning technique. This intrigues Jiraya and he too tries to perform the jutsu without making a blood seal with an animal. As a result he is teleported to Mount Myoboku, where the Toads live. He trains there for some time.
Here lies my first question, until later into his training Jiraya had not made a blood seal with the toads, so how did he get to mount Myoboku to undergo his trainings? The reverse kuchiyose should only work when there is a blood seal with the animal. Going to Mount Myoboku on foot is a long and tiresome journey, so this possibility too is cancelled out. So, in order to go to Mound Myoboku did he use the kuchiyose no jutsu every time?
My other question is what decides which animal a shinobi is to bond with? There is a wide range of creatures that one can choose from, but certainly there must be some sort of compatibility to be worried about. What made Jiraya decide a toad summon would be best for Naruto?
Has anything that can substantiate the above points been mentioned in the manga?<issue_comment>username_1: Nope, it isn't explained at all.
The background you described is 100% filler and was never described in the manga, so using the Summoning Jutsu without a blood pact doesn't necessarily teleport you randomly.
As for which animal is suitable for which. Jiraiya seemingly decided to give Naruto the frog contract because he had the contract himself, (not to mention that Naruto's father, Minato, also had a blood contract with frogs).
I don't think there's a requirement of any sort, but that's just guessing. The entire technique is cloaked in mystery.
See my answer on this other question: [How to summon a different animal using Kuchiyose?](https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/756/how-to-summon-a-different-animal-using-kuchiyose/763#763)
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: The summoning jutsu is similar to time-space ninjutsu in that it connects two dimensions together for instant travel. For this to happen one must make a blood contract with a summons. How this takes place is unknown and unexplained, but it was stated that jariya found the hidden entrance to mount Myoboku and trained there. It can be assumed that after his training he acquired a contract with the toads. He then made a contract for minato and later naruto. Other people may have been able to make contracts like this as well as orochimaru was seen finding the entrance to the cave of the snakes. How tsunade made a contract with the slugs is unknown (and wether there is more than one slug).
On the question of compatibility there does seem to be conscious decision when picking a summons, however it does not inhibit a signing of a contract. Jariya happened to have fire which worked well with the toads oil and naruto happened to develope wind nature which happened to work well with the toads water but this was found out some 2.5 years later after he signed the contract. And minato seemingly had no natures yet he still has a contract. I would say that it strongly influences a decision to make a contract seal but does not dictate a sealing.
And on the basis of jariya's movements between mount Myoboku and the real world it can be assumed that he made a contract upon his first stumbling upon the mountain, and from the on used the reverse summoning to go back for his training over the years.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: Just like how every shinobi has a unique nature for Ninjutsu. All shinobi have unique summonings.
Not ALL summonings need contracts, in Sasukes and Madaras case they can summon animals without contracts. Sasuke simply placed his hawk under genjutsu and bound the hawk to servitude probably after finding it in an unknown location. Jugo probably lead him to it.
Madara found the Nine Tails during his journey around the 5 Great Nations. And put it under a simple genjutsu bounding it to a contract for summoning.
Maybe sasukes summoning isnt genjutsu bound but his summoning can't talk AT ALL. Only kishi could explain.
Upvotes: 0 |
2013/07/29 | 1,129 | 4,523 | <issue_start>username_0: 1. If Kami made the Black Star Dragon Balls, why didn't Dende have to recreate them like he did with the original ones?
2. Why did Kami make the Black Star Dragon Balls in the first place? Namekians are supposed to be peaceful.
3. Why weren't the Black Star Dragon Balls scattered? They were all together when Pilaf found them. (How did Pilaf get past Korin)<issue_comment>username_1: 1. Kami didn't create the Black Star Dragon Balls. The entity known as the Nameless Namekian did. This is from the [Dragon Ball Wiki](http://dragonball.wikia.com/wiki/Black_Star_Dragon_Ball):
>
> The Black Star Dragon Balls, or Ultimate Dragon Balls, are a more powerful version of the main Dragon Balls, created by the Nameless Namekian (before Kami and King Piccolo split).
>
>
>
So Dende not having to recreate them is possibly due to there being a different set of rules applied to them. Unfortunately, I don't think it's possible to point out when the Nameless Namekian made these Black Star Balls. However, it would make sense that the regular Dragon Balls had more restricting rules, since Kami had a responsibility as Earth's guardian to make sure they wouldn't fall into the wrong hands, so it would make sense for them to be rendered useless by his death.
2. Since now we know it wasn't Kami but the Nameless Namekian who made them, except that we don't know the exact time he made them, it could be inferred they were made during a time when the Nameless Namekian began developing a bit of a corrupted side within him with less than perfect intentions. The side that would later becomes King Piccolo.
3. They weren't scattered because they were supposed to be hidden. Since Kami had knowledge of the Nameless Namekian in him, he and possibly Mr. Popo thought it would be better to keep watch over them. Again, from the Dragon Ball Wiki:
>
> The only people who would have known of the existence of the balls would have been Piccolo (due to him having all of Kami's knowledge) and possibly Mr. Popo, but King Kai also knew of their existence.
>
>
>
Although it probably wasn't smart to keep them all in one place, GT never really did make much sense.
Also, this slipped by me the first time around, but to further prove GT's logic isn't really logic, look at this snippet about the [Black Star balls](http://dragonball.wikia.com/wiki/Black_Star_Dragon_Ball):
>
> After the wish has been granted, the [Black Star] Dragon Balls spread across the universe... If all seven balls have not been re-collected and returned to the planet on which the wish was granted in one year, the planet will explode. In the Japanese version, Mr. Popo insists that not only must they be returned to the planet they were used on, but they must be returned to their original spot, hence why Earth still exploded a year
>
>
>
So not only did the Nameless Namekian make them, but once a wish was granted, he could never get to them again. Is space flight common already at that point in time? If it was, why make it near impossible to track the balls again without a Dragon Radar within a year, thus killing the Earth's populace?
Last but not least, if Kami did have knowledge (which would've later transferred over to Piccolo by them fusing and becoming the Nameless Namekian again), why not go ahead and destroy the Dark Star Dragon Balls before all the drama?
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: 1. Dende didn't have to recreate them because when created Piccolo and Kami were joined together, then they split which then would make them disappear until when they joined back together again during the cell saga henceforth bringing them back; but being forgotten about they were never used.
2. The Black Star Dragon Balls would have been the first ones made on earth, and being made by the nameless Namekian whom would have been evil at the time would have something to do with it, but it's possible that they were made so powerful accidentally that they basically sacrifice the planet they're used on for whatever is desired. Of course unless they're collected and returned.
3. The Black Star Dragon Balls had to be together because they probably seemed safest at the lookout and they all have to be on the same planet otherwise the last one that they were used on would blow up in a year. Plus it would make sense having to be kept at the lookout because the guardians are supposed to protect them since they endanger the earth if used, but Dende's a noob so you gotta cut him some slack.
Upvotes: 1 |
2013/07/29 | 1,624 | 5,955 | <issue_start>username_0: Madara or Tobi had controlled the Nine Tails to attack Konoha during Naruto's birth. But there were other Uchihas in the village such as Itachi's father. So, the village could have made use of them to defend the Nine Tails by controlling it using their sharingan. Why didn't they do that?
Another question: Why were the three sannin not seen during the Nine Tails attack?<issue_comment>username_1: As for the Uchiha, the nine tails was already being controlled by Tobi at the time, so I doubt anyone would be able to control him on top of that.
Not to mention, the Uchiha weren't exactly trusted at the time, following the Second Hokage's rule.
As for the three sannin, it wasn't explained anywhere, but it isn't hard to imagine them being at a remote mission and out of the village.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: Why no other Uchiha in Konoha was asked to take control of the Nine Tailed beast? - To control the nine tailed beast you need to be a shinobi of very high caliber. Being an Uchiha is just not enough to be able to control the nine tailed beast. Tobi had Hashirama's cells (in the form of Zetsu) infused in him that allowed him larger chakra and better control of the Nine Tails.
Where were the three sanins? - it has not been mentioned anywhere in the plot where they were, so all we can do is guess about their whereabouts. If they were in the village they would have surely come for help, and since they were absent from the battle, we can only guess that they were out of the village on some mission.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: An Uchiha needs to have awakened the Mangekyu Sharingan in order to control the Kyuubi and Madara and Tobi were the only two Uchihas who were able to achieve this followed by Itachi, Kakashi and Sasuke.
About the three Sanin, Jiraya was most probably training with Nagato and Konan, Orochimaru had defected from the village and Tsunade had left the village because she was unable to bear the trauma that came with death of her brother and lover.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: TLDR: The Uchiha Clan were distrusted by the village leadership and were ordered to not engage the Nine-Tails.
---
As per [<NAME>](http://naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Itachi_Shinden), the Uchiha Clan (which was the Konoha police force during the Nine-Tails' attack) were ordered by the village leadership ([Konoha Council](http://naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Konoha_Council)) to protect the civilians in the village and not engage the Nine-Tails.
Uchiha Clan members believe that this was because they are distrusted by the village leadership. They also feel that they are being suspected to be what actually caused the Nine-Tails incident.
Indeed, after the Nine-Tails' attack, the Konoha Police headquarters (which sustained heavy damage) and the Uchiha Clan houses were ordered moved to the outskirts of the village, too far from the village center, despite Fugaku Uchiha's protest. (Fugaku is the head of the Uchiha Clan, and Itachi and Sasuke's father.) The location also can be easily spied upon from several vantage points as noticed by Fugaku, adding to feelings of distrust between the Uchiha Clan and the Konoha Council, culminating at the Uchiha Clan massacre.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_5: Another reason might be that: Not all Uchiha's are as powerful as you think. And not all of them are lucky enough to Awaken the mangekyou. They were a proud clan but not all their members were as strong as Madara or Itachi. Those 2 were like prodigies in their own ways.
Also, I doubt anyone at that time knew an Uchiha could control the Kyuubi. It was probably only Minato and Kushina that knew about the masked man and his Sharingan. No one else saw him and lived so it makes sense that their minds didn't think about it. In madara's case, It was probably a classified information that he fought by controlling the 9 tails. It makes sense that the higher ups would classify that type of information as secret cause they wouldn't want other Uchihas to go researching into how to control the Kyuubi.
As for the 3 Sanin, It makes sense to believe that they were on a mission, probably that timeline could fit into when Jiraiya was training nagato and his crew (Yahiko and Konan, This is just a vague guess btw).
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_6: Only an Uchiha with the mangekyou sharingancan control the nine tails. Obito had obtained it after Rins death plus he had Hashirama cells to fall back on. The leaf village was not aware of fugaku having the mangekyou sharingan or else they would have feared him even more plus his people would have pressured him to attack the village.
To answer your question the leaf village feared that the Uchiha would done how gain control of the nine tails so that’s why three weren’t called to assist during the attack. It was stated by the Uchiha that they suspected this. The Sannin were always away on missions doing their own thing. They weren’t such a great asset to the village only Tsunade after becoming hokage.
In conclusion the Uchiha clan were always being discriminated against and treated like trash but then the leaf is surprised when they retaliate. The third hokage was the worse leader Kohona ever had. Yes naruto always forgave sasuke for his treachery but at the end sasuke changed. Danzō never did and he let Danzō get away with everything. He even ordered a 13 year old kid (Itachi) to kill his entire clan including his parents. He just used Danzō as the darkness he could never represent as him self.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_7: Fugaku uchiha had the mangekyõ sharingan at the time of the attack therefore he could've easily controlled the tailed beast. But he was ordered to stand down.
And as for the three sannin. Orochimaru was a rogue ninja at the time. Jiraiya was out doing research and hadn't heard about the attack. TSunade had quit being a shinobi.
Upvotes: 0 |
2013/07/29 | 953 | 3,371 | <issue_start>username_0: I've watched all the episodes on [Crunchy Roll](http://www.crunchyroll.com/sword-art-online) (SAO and ALO) and I think I missed something.
The character Yui acts as though she is the child of Asuna and Kirito. I do not remember Yui in the SAO arc, but perhaps I missed it.
When did Asuna and Kirito have a child? How did that child get special access to the system?<issue_comment>username_1: Yui is certainly a part of the SAO arc - she appears in it quite prominently.
She is found by Kirito and Asuna and they "adopt" her in SAO, though she turns out to not be exactly what she appears to be.
>
> She is, in fact a program. A mental health assistance program (who has been disallowed from doing its job when SAO was locked down). This explains her special system access and knowledge.
>
>
>
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Because of her programming, she is somehow sentimental which makes it possible for her to want to be part of a family and stay with Asuna and Kirito.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: Well, the question is already answered but I will try to explain more details...
Both the game and the NerveGear were created by <NAME>.
so we can say the cardinal system and Yui were also created by <NAME>.
>
> Yui was programmed to understand and learn human emotions and mental
> health but later Yui was locked to just to read and do not have any
> access to the system to help people log out in case it is affecting
> their health.
>
> while reading everyone mental health she found that there are two
> human Kirito and Asuna who were happy and enjoying their life in this
> virtual world and everyone else is scared of death and just want to go
> out of this shitty game. some of them even lose hope and committed
> suicide.
>
> So Yui wants to be part of the Asuna and Kirito. she met them
> purposely to go close to them. When they found her they thought she is
> just some lost child, they tried to find her parents but later during
> a battle in dungeon Yui saved Asuna and kirito ( she was an immortal
> object in the game and defeated very high-level monster with ease )
>
> Cardinal was AI software to and is able to recognize that Yui
> programmed is having some bug so they decided to delete her. But
> kirito plays and smart move and saved her all data in his SAO profile.
> Because of Yui Kirito able to understand the reality of <NAME>
> who was playing a leader role in no.1 clan in the game just to make
> people fool ( he was immortal object too that is why kirito loss duel
> against him)
>
> later when kirito won sword art he found out 300 people still not
> awakened by the game including Asuna. later he found out the image of
> Asuna inside another RPG game. He started to play that game in search
> Asuna and he found out that the game is having all of his previous
> data and skills of sword art online except items. so he tried to find
> out Yui data in his profile. after finding her data he activated Yui
> back. who read all the information about this game and told him that
> this game is having copy data of SAO and turned herself into pixie so
> that the game not able to find about her. Yui also told Kirito that
> her data is now saved inside local memory of Kirito nervegear.
>
>
>
Upvotes: 0 |
2013/07/29 | 549 | 1,984 | <issue_start>username_0: *Fruits Basket* appears to be set in a real Japanese city.
Is it ever explicitly stated which one?
If not, is it possible to deduce which one, or at least which part of Japan it's supposed to be?
(I'm more interested in the answer vis-a-vis the manga, but if there's a clue in the anime, that would be fine too.)<issue_comment>username_1: It does not state their location in the anime or the manga. It is however commonly believed that Fruits Basket takes place in a more rural area of Tokyo Japan.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: My sister believes that Fruits Basket takes place in China due to the fact that it has the Chinese Zodiac. Note: Chinese. But this is just a simple guess.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_3: I always thought it looked more like Kyoto personally. Especially with all the mountains so easily accessible. But it could well be Tokyo and the mountains too.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_4: So, after having done some work and trying to find some landmarks, i believe that Fruits Basket (2019) takes place somewhere near Tamagawadai Park half between Yokohama and just at the edge of Tokyo. The skyline when they are on the roof looking at the city and the specific blue bridge in season 1 episode 23 give the best references as to where they are, from what we currently know about the anime. I noticed the bridge since i've been cycling in that specific area before.
Check out the pictures that Yokohama Expat has on his blog. <https://reywatjapan.blogspot.com/2015/07/wilderness-in-tokyo.html>
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: I'm currently watching the new Fruits Basket s2, ep 5 and they go to this restaurant and a guy orders Chicken Nanban. Chicken Nanban is a famous dish of Miyazaki prefecture, the restaurant called Nao-chan boasting to be the first and best. It's one of my favorite foods I've ever had in Japan so when he said this, immediately I was like "MIYAZAKI".
Upvotes: 0 |
2013/07/29 | 1,131 | 4,121 | <issue_start>username_0: Monokuma's body is half-white, half-black.
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/8HrKA.jpg)
Is there any reason for this? Does each half represent something?
Furthermore, if each colour/half represents something, does the fact that his over-sized bellybutton is white and overlaps the black half mean that whatever the white part means prevails over whatever the black half means?<issue_comment>username_1: Monokuma's name (モノクマ) is a pun on the word monochrome borrowed in Japanese (モノクロ, or sometimes モノクローム). As you can see, all but the last characters match in Japanese. Presumably that's why he's (almost) totally white and black (monochrome).
As for whether the different sides mean something, in the original game when he talks to you, which side is mostly facing you changes depending on what he's saying. When he's saying things that are especially violent, suggestive, or otherwise evil/despair-inducing his black side is primarily visible. When he's pretending to be a nice good headmaster bear, he'll be facing you with his white side, often holding a flower. A lot of the time for just ordinary talking he'll be facing strait-on. This is very obvious in the game, but somewhat less obvious in the anime as it seems to be hard to animate the switches. I do not think that the fact that his belly button is white is in any way significant.
Here are images of these three cases from the game. He makes a lot more expressions in the strait forward position, such as his angry or nervous expressions, but for brevity I've only included one:
This answer may be incomplete, since it doesn't give an in-universe reason for Monokuma's color scheme. If any reason exists, it would likely be explained in the prequel novel Danganronpa/Zero\*, which I haven't read.
\*As a note, if you want to avoid having the ending of Danganronpa spoiled, I would not recommend looking for information on Danganronpa/Zero, as it will spoil nearly everything.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Quite simple, actually.
>
> When you finally meet the true Junko Enoshima in the last trial, she says something to the effect of "Hope and Despair are like two sides of a coin, they can never be separated." She designed Monokuma in a way where Hope (White) and Despair (Black) were two sides of a coin, or bear. The red eye represents evil and bloodshed, which makes a lot of sense. The belly, that's just for show... or maybe it's foreshadowing for the end. (SHSL Hope FTW!)
>
>
>
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: The reason why is probably because black and white are opposite colors. It shows how Monokuma is evil, but he kept them in the school for entertainment and so they could live. Maybe it shows how he's good and evil. I heard that the white side represents hope and the black represents despair. Also when I think of hope, a light type of color pops into my head like the color white or a light pink. When I think of evil, despair, or loss of hope, I think of a darker color like black or a dark purple.
THIS IS A THEORY WHY HIS COLORS ARE THE WAY THEY ARE.
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/FYDet.jpg)
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_4: I will give you some spoilers to ask your question:
>
> Junko and her sister had 2 plush bears: her sister had a white bear and Junko had a black bear. When Junko was thinking on a design for her robot, she remembered their bears and fused them together in a drawing. She liked the design and called him Monokuma.
>
>
>
Hope you liked the spoilers!
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_5: in despair girls junko says in the last cutscene before izaru destroys Shirokuma and Kurokuma she says "they're pretty much the same white despair black hope in the end neither one but I guess that works" so the black means hope and white means despair
Upvotes: 1 |
2013/07/30 | 1,070 | 4,301 | <issue_start>username_0: It seems like this was never really addressed. This piqued my curiosity primarily because the supporter was stated by Mr. Outside to be one of the Seleção, and it seemed odd that one of the Seleção would willingly facilitate the game by enforcing its rules. Furthermore, the Supporter would have nothing to fear from breaking the rules of the game, so it would seem logical for him/her to pocket the money and do with it as he/she pleases. So that would seem to indicate that the Supporter is someone in league with Mr. Outside.
But who was the Supporter? All the evidence seems to indicate that it was Number XII, but can anyone confirm this?<issue_comment>username_1: It's not confirmed who the Supporter is, it's left open to interpretation. It's possible that it's Seleção No. 8, since we don't know much about him (or No. 7) but at least No. 8 seems to be familiar with Mr. Outside. It's possible that Mr. Outside is the Supporter, being the one who judges is the money was used correctly or not.
But seeing as how it was revealed that <NAME> actually wasn't killed by the Supporter in the *The King of Eden movie* and that the "proper" use of the money can seem to be anything (including covering up murder or firing missiles at Japan), it's possible that there *is no Supporter* and it was just something Mr. Outside made up in order to keep all the Seleção in check and suspicious enough of each other so there would be no collusion.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: The supporter is never revealed because there might not have even been one. When No.9 was given a phone he is told by Mr. Outside that "the supporter might not even know he is the supporter".
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: Technically, every player in the game is the supporter, and every player is not. Because the concept that a player may be officially designated the supporter would create a situation of impunity (who watches the watcher?), and players are told that even the supporter may not know that is there role, it makes much more sense that the players all can fulfill this purpose.
There is a point at which one player will look at the actions of another and feel they are self-serving, and decide they need to put an end to them. They may try to confront the other party, use their funds to hinder or redirect them, or destroy their efforts. But in the end, if they come to believe they have a moral out in the role of the supporter, and virtually unlimited funds to get them out of the legal trouble, the societal justice impulse could kick in, and they may kill the player.
There is also a possibility, based on the nature of Juiz, that Juiz may also help fulfill this role. There may be certain conditions or thresholds that will trigger actions by the long arm of the concierge to take actions against misguided players. This is not evidenced (that I can remember), but it is also possible that Juiz may indirectly responsible for a player acting in the role of the supporter, by ensuring that actions that would trigger them to retaliate will come to their attention.
Alternatively, self-serving players may be fed information that will cause them to act offensively to another, instigating retaliation from the offended by the information they, in turn, are delivered.
Also, keep in mind that a player overtly acting as the supporter would be seen as a threat to every other player, and would almost certainly become a target themselves, since transactional data becomes public upon use.
All theoretical, but there may be something there. Pleasure to serve. Nobelesse oblige.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_4: The supporter could be 7 or 8 as they are never seen doing anything or Mr. Outside AKA no. 12 (AKA Ato Saizo) could be the supporter. Most likely he just would wipe the memory of the person. At the end of the game he does wipe all the other alive player memories but 9 keeps his possibly due to him already having wiped it twice. Then he asks the next person he picks up the question he uses to select them. Then 9 hits him with a slipper (lol)
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_5: It is Juiz. No. IV, in episode 3 was sabotaged by juiz making sure the text message went to his wife instead of his mistress.
Upvotes: 0 |
2013/07/30 | 3,289 | 13,303 | <issue_start>username_0: I've noticed that in some anime the protagonist is seated by the window in the classroom. More specifically, the protagonist is *generally* on the second seat from the back (or sometimes on the very last seat).
I don't know if this happens in *every* anime, but it seems to happen on at least some.
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/0gytE.jpg) [](https://i.stack.imgur.com/GNjYo.jpg)
 
Top: Tomoko from Watamote (left), Touma from Index (right). Bottom: Light from Death Note (left), Tenma from School Rumble (right).
Why does this happen?
Does it have something to do with character conception or mood setting?
Is it a plot device or something else?<issue_comment>username_1: I have never noticed that before, but it sounds quite logical to me considering these points.
1. The character can look to the outside world giving more freedom to new plot lines.
2. Less background students make it easier to draw focus on the important characters, especially during class hours, when the seats must be taken.
3. Maybe just personal preference, but I think it is nicer to have pictures with some contrast (window-landscape on one side, tables on the other), than just a dull matrix of tables.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: I noticed this as well and it is not even just about where the student sits. In most cases that I've seen, the camera angle is facing the windows (lunch periods, random talking around a desk, etc.)
My theory is that the windows allow for multiple benefits. First, many shows are not just about the school, so looking out the window can be a bit of a waiting-for-school-to-end-so-we-can-play type thing.
Also, having the window in the background gives much more freedom to set the scene. You can easily notice the current weather (oh look, it's raining) or the season. It can also show foreshadowing events (dark clouds on the horizon).
Another possible reason, it allows for the character to feel more like a loner all by themselves in the back corner. If the character is going to be popular, the back row tends to allow more space for others to stand as opposed to the middle of the classroom.
Besides, looking at the other walls is not very exciting and in the end the show is for entertainment purposes.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: Something else to add to the other answers is lighting from the window, at least from those examples. That way you can focus on the art of only the important characters while the other students can have less detail since they're in the dark. Plus, it adds more opportunities for interesting shading and light play.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: While backbenchers are common throughout the world, windows seats are similarly favoured by just about everybody in most situations. People want and prefer window seats be they in classrooms, trains, or aeroplanes. In anime, these seats additionally facilitate a few things (some of which have been covered in other answers):
1. The character can look out of the window to act bored.
2. The character can look out of the window to see other characters outside.
3. The character can easily exit the classroom by way of the window.
4. The character can easily enter the classroom by way of the window.
5. It reduces some of the artwork. When focussing on the character, the artist will not need to bother drawing and animating additional characters on either side. He can simply focus on the main character and draw a window or a wall as background. This saves time and money.
That said, I think that there's a mild case of [confirmation bias](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_bias) in the question. There are plenty of anime where the protagonist is not seated by the window. Offhand, I can name *<NAME>* in *Hajime no Ippo*, most characters in *Lucky Star*, the characters in *Hidamari Sketch*, and so on.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_5: I also saw this a lot, it really is a good question. ^\_^
In my opinion this happens when they are in a bad mood or lonely. When you see your main character sitting at the corner on the last seat looking at the window, it will transfer you the sorrow and sadness he/she has: you gain their feelings.
I think it is for transferring us their mood.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: Another reason could also be that the proximity of the window allows different light settings on the character.
A brighter light make the character 'shine' compared to the others that are in the darker part of the room.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_7: This answer was based on a valid criticism of the question in [the answer by username_4](https://anime.stackexchange.com/a/4538/24). It **does not** seek to answer any of the questions posed in the OP, which in my opinion are already satisfactorily answered in several of the other answers, and should ideally be viewed as an extended comment on that answer.
The following are preliminary statistics, based solely on the anime I currently have access to. There is much to criticize, but I believe it is good enough for now. I intend to do a more detailed study of this in the future; please see the Future Work section below.
---
### Description
The goal of this study is to gather statistics to attempt to confirm or invalidate the proposition that anime protagonists disproportionately sit near windows in classrooms. It was also found interesting to consider how far back in the room these characters sat.
In what follows, the term "column" will be used for a line of desks parallel to the window, and "row" will be used to mention lines of desks perpendicular to the window.
### Methodology
Play the first episode of all anime currently available in which the protagonist is a student. There were no cases where the protagonist was not obvious. Attempt to locate the protagonist's seat by playing through the video at 8x normal speed, pausing when necessary. If the protagonist's seat can be located, note it, otherwise mark it as undetermined. In order to save time, multiple videos were played concurrently in many cases.
### Data Set
The 34 anime series I currently have access to in which the protagonist is a student at or below high-school level. This is by no means a representative sample, given that they are disproportionately recent anime. A fairer method will be used in future studies.
### Results
Of the 34 anime included, in 18 cases the protagonist's seat could not be determined. In the remaining 16 cases, 7 were next to a window, and 6 of those 7 were in the back two seats of that column. Of the remaining 9, 3 were in the back two seats in some column other than the column closest to the window. 4 were in the front row, and 2 were somewhere else (in one of these cases the classroom had no windows). In most cases, there were 5 or more seats per column, and at least 4 columns. It was not uncommon for one or more other significant characters to be seated in the immediate vicinity of the protagonist, and the reason that the back two seats were counted rather than just the back one was specifically for the cases where another character is sitting directly behind the protagonist.
### Conclusions
It appears that both being near the window and being towards the back of the classroom are both disproportionately common based on this limited sample. These accounted for, respectively, 7/16 (43.8%) and 9/16 (56.3%), while the expected rate for both of these for random data would be well below 50%, especially in the former case. The results are not very significant statistically, suggesting that more data is in order.
### Future Work
There are issues with the methodology which merit further work. In particular, the sample is by no means representative. It is prone to my own biases, which aren't easily measurable, so a more controlled experiment is needed. Rather than a self-selected sample, a better to choose a representative sample in some way which is less biased. Possible options include looking at a [list of most popular anime](http://myanimelist.net/topanime.php?type=bypopularity) or all recent TV anime. Either of these is expected to increase the amount of time required. The various merits and issues with each of these options will be weighed.
Another issue is that the first episode may not be sufficient. It would be good to go through enough of each anime to be sure that the correct seat is chosen, though this may prove difficult. Whatever method is used, it must be unbiased to avoid confirmation bias. This is expected to increase the time required for future studies.
A third issue is that the sample sizes are insufficient for detailed study, or even to make any real conclusions extending beyond the sample itself. In some sense this is a fundamental issue, as it will always be time consuming to locate the seat of any character in anime. Even a sample size of 34 took a significant amount of time, and the modifications in the above paragraphs are likely to increase that significantly. A sample size of 100 seems like the largest practically feasible number. The considerations of this paragraph and the above two will need to be balanced against the time of the study, which is expected to be significant (indeed, even this preliminary study proved more time-consuming than I would have liked).
While the primary goal of future studies should be establishing to a higher degree of accuracy whether this effect is truly present (and if so how large of an effect it is), there are other interesting things to look at in the long term. A few are presented here:
Correlations between the seat choice and the genre would be interesting to look at, but are likely to require significantly more statistics than are feasible. This is mentioned as a possible long-term project, but it's unlikely to be completed. The more pressing goal. In addition, it would be interesting to do a similar study for other media, but this is likely to be less trivial as most other media are less uniform in presentation than anime. Finally, a historical survey, studying how common this was in different periods, would be very interesting but is probably too ambitious.
---
**tl;dr**: Yes, this does seem to be a real thing, at least preliminarily. It's certainly not always the case, but it happens frequently enough to be interesting. However, the data I have aren't good enough to make any solid conclusions beyond "yes, this happens more often than one would expect". More data will be needed to determine to what degree this is due to biases and statistical variation in the sample, and to what degree this actually happens.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_8: Can't answer for the reasoning behind this trope.
But it seems pretty frequent, so much that BlogSuki's Jason calls it the First Modern Law of Anime:
>
> “All major characters will have their desk window side towards the back. Sub Law: If a romantic interest occupy the same classroom, that character would be within one desk of this desk.”
>
>
> [source](http://blogsuki.com/archives/2010/06/19/4309/)
>
>
>
(the sub law seems to work with rivals too)
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_9: The visual aids that windows provide are to highlight a character. They do so either by special illumination or attracting the eyes: objects placed next to bright windows tend to get noticed first.
*Scene bottom-left*: Light Yagami is highlighted by being illuminated sharply, the other two (convieniently!) have postures that avert their bodies from illumination. Here the illumination is used exclusively, no red laser eyes, fang-baring grins or dramatic name-writing are involved.
*Scene top-left*: Tomoko is in color and is illuminated not by one, but two beams of light.
*Scene top-right*: Three individuals get noticed by being close to the viewer and being in an illuminated area.
*Scene bottom-right*: Tenma attracts attention first by being next to a featureless glowing window and having the most discernible face.
---
Also, looking out of windows signifies contemplative moods. If my teachers noticed me daydreaming, they would seat me in the front of the class. Japanese school teachers do a poor job of catching students contemplating bloodbaths at the back of their classes.
Would love to see a scene that goes contrary to both explanations.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_10: Rather than looking at the scene to try and find metaphorical reasons for this phenomenon, I suggest a possible financial reason.
It's cheaper to re-use stock background and animation. All anime studios will have cells or digital information from previous anime that are available to them. Rather than re-inventing the wheel for possibly dozens of anime series that they carry they re-use parts some parts that have common themes and then touch them up to add "uniqueness" to the setting.
Not saying this is the case, but considering how most anime high schools look exactly the same, it'd be a safe bet to say this is the reason.
Upvotes: 3 |
2013/07/31 | 412 | 1,592 | <issue_start>username_0: This is a two part question:
1. If Bardock and King Vegeta are dead, do they ever make appearances in HFIL or Upper World? One would think that either Goku or Vegeta would want to pay their fathers a visit.
2. Do Goku or Vegeta ever mention their fathers once during the entire anime?
I don't recall any of this. Feel free to include the manga if anyone has that much knowledge on the matter.<issue_comment>username_1: Anime and GT series make a lot of confusion with its fillers, but in the manga, Piccolo explains water-clear to Vegeta.
Evil souls are cleaned, their memories wiped, and then reincarnated.
Both King Vegeta and Bardock, although heroic, are clearly evil, so they are impossible to visit.
Goku never shows interest for knowing about his father. He was raised by humans, and he consider his adoptive grandfather as his true ancestor.
Please, also notice that HFIL is an invention of the American dub, which you should avoid if you are really interested in Dragonball canon. Where Goku goes is called the Other World, and what is written on the otherworld's demons' shirts is "HELL".
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Yes there is an episode where vegeta has a dream about his father telling him about his royal blood an sayian ancestors.. Also I think there's an episode where bardock has a vision of goku defeating frieza but I dont think goku ever mentioned anything about his father I do remember vegeta telling goku something about his father bardock said he wasn't the best fighter but a brilliant scientist
Upvotes: 0 |
2013/07/31 | 984 | 3,032 | <issue_start>username_0: Apparently this is supposed to be some kind of cosplay?
Which character is Maekawa trying to cosplay here?
<issue_comment>username_1: The best guess I can come up with (since they're both SHAFT shows) is Shinobu from Bake/Nisemonogatari. Since Maekawa (pictured above) is wearing normal clothes, pink shirt and a blue skirt, that she wears throughout the episode. The only thing in that particular image is that she has a donut.
Shinobu loves donuts:
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: The consensus opinion on a couple of Japanese forums seems to be that this is actually a reference to the main character's unnamed wife (referred to as 妻, literally just "wife") from the manga [Uchi no Tsumatte Doudeshou](http://www.mangaupdates.com/series.html?id=30055) (translated roughly as "I wonder if my wife is really normal") by mangaka Fukumitsu Shigeyuki beginning in 2008. There's very little information available about the manga even on [Japanese Wikipedia](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%81%86%E3%81%A1%E3%81%AE%E5%A6%BB%E3%81%A3%E3%81%A6%E3%81%A9%E3%81%86%E3%81%A7%E3%81%97%E3%82%87%E3%81%86%3F), but from what I can gather it's a semi-autobiographical essay in the form of a 4-koma manga. The main character's wife acts strange in many ways and the story is about her various weird behaviors. The most notable thing about this manga, apart from being referenced in Denpa Onna, is that it won [one of five Excellence Awards in the Manga division of the 2010 Japanese Arts festival](http://archive.j-mediaarts.jp/en/festival/2010/manga/works/14m_Uchino_Tsumatte_Doudeshou/).
Here's the cover of the first volume of the manga. You can see that the wife is dressed similarly to Maekawa and holding food (which she does frequently as far as I can tell from briefly browsing the manga).
Here's an image from the inside of the first volume with her eating a donut. I looked but I could not find an image with a toroidal donut. The closest is this donut without a hole (which are not uncommon in Japan).
I'll readily admit that I'd never heard of this until I looked for it. It was obscure enough that a lot of the users on 2channel were admitting they had never heard of it. You can bet that most of the audience of Denpa Onna didn't catch this reference. I'm not sure if it's more obvious in the novels (or if the scene occurs in the novels at all), but for anime-viewers this one very likely went over everyone's heads.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer] |
2013/07/31 | 423 | 1,441 | <issue_start>username_0: Recently in the manga, Uchiha Obito said that he sensed Sasuke concentrating chakra in his left eye and poof! He quickly defended himself in an instant with slight similarity to Naruto's Sage Mode, that's why I wonder if he is in Sage Mode. If not, where did his sensory ability come from?
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/39mJU.jpg)
**Update:**
Here's a proof of his transformation from Naruto Episode 640 Page 14:
<issue_comment>username_1: Madara said this when Obito became the Jinchuuriki of the Juubi: Now he is equal to The Sage of Six Paths.
So yes, Obito was in Sage Mode after he had become the Jinchuuriki. But Sage Mode abilities of Obito are far more dangerous than that of any one else due to the massive chakra of the Juubi.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: Something that I completely forgot. During Sasuke's battle with Deidara, Sasuke mentioned that using his Sharingan he can see chakra, so even Obito should be able to do the same, when Sasuke concentrated his chakra on his left eye, Obito could see it, thus he dodged it. He need not be in Sage Mode to accomplish that.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: He does go into sage mode, that is how he can access the truth seeking balls, and not be affected by touching them
Upvotes: 0 |
2013/07/31 | 548 | 1,809 | <issue_start>username_0: Since the start of the series, after the Sharingan and Byakugan had been revealed, Kurenai's eyes seem kind of different from normal eyes and more like the Doujutsu.
During the attack of the Nine-Tailed Fox on Konoha, her father appeared for the first time in the story. He too possessed similar patterns in his eyes.
So is it some kind of Doujutsu, do her eyes have special abilities similar to the Sharingan or Byakugan, etc.?<issue_comment>username_1: Actually they are not ke-ke-genkai. In [this wiki](http://naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Kurenai_Y%C5%ABhi) at the latter part said that:
>
> *Although her eyes are very distinct, they are not a [dōjutsu](http://naruto.wikia.com/wiki/D%C5%8Djutsu).*
>
>
>
Dōjutsu (瞳術; English TV "Visual Jutsu"; Literally meaning "Eye Techniques") are genetic ninja abilities that utilise the eyes, granting the wielder ocular abilities. Being a by-product of specific kekkei genkai, dōjutsu are not classified as one of the major jutsu types.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: They are not related to sharingan in any way. The are simply because of their genes. Like we have green eyes , brown eyes and stuff. There never has been any canonical opinion about it in anime or in manga. Even so, the manga is coming to an end and still there is no hint of having any powers or any affiliation with the sharingan.
P.S: I mistakenly posted my view on a question labelled duplicate.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: I like to think it's a form of doūjutsu that is very very weak and I only enhances the users genjutsu skills from 100% to 110%. Kurunai and her father are both very skilled genjutsu specialists so it would make a little sense.
Upvotes: 1 |
2013/07/31 | 512 | 1,631 | <issue_start>username_0: In the anime, Kabuto reincarnated Asuma, Dan, Hizashi etc from Konoha to battle against the allied Shinobi forces. Earlier, Orochimaru reincarnated the 1st and 2nd Hokage to battle against the 3rd. Why didn't Kabuto reincarnate the four of them to fight against the alliance? Couldn't they be reincarnated again or wasn't that part of Tobi's plan?<issue_comment>username_1: That's because Edo Tensei can only reanimated souls that are in the world of the dead.
The four Hokages were sealed in the death god's stomach. That's why they were only revived after Orochimaru released Shiki Fuujin.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Actually, Kabuto can't revive the 1st and the 2nd Hokage simply because Hiruzen Sarutobi (3rd) sealed them away using the [Dead Demon Consuming Seal](http://naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Dead_Demon_Consuming_Seal).
While the reason Orochimaru can revive the two is because he ripped the belly of the Demon (Shiki Fuujin) who consumed their souls in Naruto chapter 618, page 4.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: The last time first and second hokage were reincarnated, they were sealed using the death reaper seal by the third hokage.
The 4th hokage was sealed along with the nine tailed fox using the same seal.
One of the pre-requisites of the reanimation jutsu is that the target shinobi cannot be sealed.
Since the 4 hokages were sealed, kabuto was unable to reincarnate either one.
>
> However, later Orochimaru shows that the souls trapped in the death reaper's belly can be realesed, and thus reincarnated each of the hokages.
>
>
>
Upvotes: 0 |
2013/07/31 | 674 | 2,491 | <issue_start>username_0: A lot of anime I have seen use cherry blossoms, especially when they fall from the sky. Romantic or emotional scenes have cherry blossom in the background. In many anime, there is a childhood scene in which friends see cherry blossoms falling and remember that day forever or they meet their love when the blossoms are falling.
Why is it always cherry blossoms? Does it have a special significance in Japanese culture?<issue_comment>username_1: Cherry blossoms are *very* prominent in Japanese culture. From [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherry_blossom#Symbolism):
>
> In Japan, cherry blossoms also symbolize clouds due to their nature of blooming en masse, besides being an enduring metaphor for the ephemeral nature of life, an aspect of Japanese cultural tradition that is often associated with Buddhistic influence, and which is embodied in the concept of [*mono no aware*](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mono_no_aware). The association of the cherry blossom with *mono no aware*1 dates back to 18th-century scholar Motoori Norinaga. The transience of the blossoms, the extreme beauty and quick death, has often been associated with mortality; for this reason, cherry blossoms are richly symbolic, and have been utilized often in Japanese art, manga, anime, and film, as well as at musical performances for ambient effect. There is at least one popular folk song, originally meant for the shakuhachi (bamboo flute), titled "Sakura", and several pop songs. The flower is also represented on all manner of consumer goods in Japan, including kimono, stationery, and dishware.
>
>
>
1 Mono no aware (物の哀れ) [...] is a Japanese term for the awareness of impermanence (無常 mujō), or transience of things, and a gentle sadness (or wistfulness) at their passing.
So yes, they do have a special significance.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: [Hanami](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanami) (lit. "flower viewing") being one of the nation-wide festivals would help.
Note that the school year starts in April (graduation in late March), while depending on the location, cherry blossoms are prevalent from the end of March to early May.
Everyone knows romance is all about love at first sight on the first day of school and confessions during the graduation ceremony, right?
TvTropes' [Cherry Blossoms](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CherryBlossoms) article could be an interesting read, on top of Wikipedia's.
Upvotes: 4 |
2013/08/01 | 490 | 1,854 | <issue_start>username_0: 
Taking this double-page spread for example. There are total of 8 panels, but it's divided into three different segments from the top to the bottom.
I've tried reading from the top-right, to the bottom-right, then starting with the next pane downwards. I know Japanese manga is read right-to-left, and I'm having some trouble reading this particular part.
As a rule of thumb, how do I properly read manga with multiple panels like this?<issue_comment>username_1: You would typically read it in a S shape from one row to the next, always returning far right panel when you start a new row.
```
+-------------------+
| 2 | 1 |
+-------------------+
| 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 |
+-------------------+
| 8 | 7 |
+-------------------+
```
So on the first row, start from the far right and you hit the far left panel of the first row, move to the far right panel of the second row. Then at the far left panel of the second row, move onto the far right of third row and finish the page.
However because of the flow of action in this particular page the order of panels goes more like this:
```
+-------------------+
| 2 | 1 |
+-------------------+
| 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | <-- the 2nd and the 4th Hokage are acting simultaneously
+-------------------+
| 6 | 5 |
+-------------------+
```
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: If the panels are arranged outside the norm, there isn't a general rule on how you should read it.
You kind of have to take in all the content at once, and use the context in order to try to figure out chronologically what happens first then next. For example, @Krazer had to figure out that both Hokage were acting simultaneously to know the order of the middle pannels.
Upvotes: 4 |
2013/08/01 | 1,945 | 7,161 | <issue_start>username_0: When Naruto first mastered Rasenshuriken and used it against Kakuzu, his arm was also injured due to multiple wind blades that also damage the user and had to recover for a while.
But in a recent chapter, combined with Sasuke's Amaterasu, both of them were holding the Rasenshuriken and they hit Tobi without throwing it. So how come it seems like they did not take any damage when they hit Tobi without throwing it?
<issue_comment>username_1: The answer is simple. Naruto in the Kyuubi mode recovers faster than normal. On the other hand, Sasuke's Amaterasu is Blaze (enhanced fire) element jutsu while Naruto's Rasenshuriken is Wind. Combining those two element can form more powerful jutsu.
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/OzNK3.jpg)
Well, theoretically, this kind of jutsus are hard to control thus they have to hold them and form a melee attack. Remember what Sasuke said that he will adjust his chakra to Naruto just to have the right combination of the two jutsu. Take note that this is the first time they use that kind of combo-jutsu.
**UPDATE**
According to the [wiki](http://naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Wind_Release:_Rasenshuriken), Naruto can throw [fuuton rasen shuriken](http://naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Wind_Release:_Rasenshuriken) when he is in [Sage Mode](http://naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Sage_Mode).
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: The first time Naruto was shown using the Rasenshuriken, it was during the fight with Kakuzu. At the time, Naruto had not mastered the Rasen Shuriken completely. He had to hit the target in point blank range. Since he was in the blast range of the jutsu he was heavily impacted by the corrosive power of the jutsu.
But during his training in Mount Myoboku he mastered the Rasen Shuriken in a secretive manner, enabling him to throw the Rasen Shuriken over a distance. This allowed Naruto to stay off the blast range and also control the area covered by the blast from the Rasen Shuriken. But, even in his Sage mode, Naruto could use only two Rasen Shurikens, but he no longer sustained damage from his own jutsu.
Later, when he took control of the Kyuubi he had access to a huge amount of chakra previously unavailable to him, giving him the capability to use Rasen Shurikens more than two times.
Sasuke's Amaterasu is a fire technique, and Naruto's Rasenshuriken is a Wind technique, it is known that wind techniques increase the effectiveness of a fire technique. Thus Naruto and Sasuke combined their jutsus to make a far powerful jutsu. And since both of them were out of the blast radius, none of them were hurt from it.
Image taken from Manga chapter 634.
Regarding the recent usage of the combination of Rasenshuriken and Amaterasu, I can only assume as to why it did not affect Naruto and Sasuke. The second hokage swapped Minato and Obito just before the attack landed, so similarly with the same jutsu he may redirect the aftershock of the attack away from Naruto and Sasuke.
The second possibility is, since Naruto can himself control the area of effect of the Rasen Shuriken, as we have seen him perform earlier (mainly during the fight with Pain where he increases the area covered by the rasen shuriken as Pain was escaping). Due to which he himself may be able to minimize the are of impact of the jutsu and concentrate it only on Obito thereby saving both sasuke and himself.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: The actual reason why Naruto was not allowed to use Rasen shuriken is because it causes damage to the user of the jutsu even though it is not as severe as the damage caused to the target. Naruto's hands with which he used the Rasen shuriken got badly damaged, remember.
But when in Sage mode or when enveloped in Kurama's chakra, remember Naruto takes very less damage. That's why Naruto could actually use it in his sage/bijuu mode.
Also, when the Rasen Shuriken is combined with Amaterasu, we can see that the combo attack does not actually explode like Rasenshuriken. That is there are some differences in the method in which the damage is caused.
In the combo, the rasenshuriken just increases the strength of the Amaterasu. It doesn't make the characteristic damage of a Rasenshuriken. The damage is done by the Amaterasu. So sasuke was also able to hold it and hit the target.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_4: My immediate response would be to show-off the Minato-Tobirama combo space-time ninjutsu looking epic awesome along with a Naruto-Sasuke S rank ninjutsu all in same chapter.
But a more logical explanation, from my perspective, would be to overcome the chance of Obito easily dodging a projectile attack, and the fact that the combination of Rasenshuriken and Amaterasu would require more granular control of both elements, which would require them to sustain control only possible in a close range until they hit their target.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_5: By combining Naruto's wind nature and Sasuke's Amaterasu the wind fans the fire greatly increasing its power. Accepting that the rasen attack at this point is ACTUALLY a main fire base with wind fanning it's power we can assume it combines Sasuke's effects with Naruto's. This means that although the field increases because Amaterasu is a fire based attack they would have had to be physically touching it to affect them, if you look at the picture and all of Naruto's rasen moves he actually is hold a chakra ball above his hand, this means we can infer that because Sasuke's element becomes the main ability while Naruto's ability form is used they wouldn't necessarily be damaged by the attack, also if it can be focused further by Saskue's greater form control (Chidori training while with Orochimaru), they would probably do a focused blast at a guess.
BTW this is backed up by Naruto's first on screen success of rasenshuriken when he combines it with Yamatos water style to block an attack and neither of them are harmed
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: When Tsunade described the affects of the Rasen Shuriken, it was said that in the end naruto COULD recover from the nanocuts he recieves via the kyuubi, but it would shorten his lifespan. As people have said before, as a results he's learned ways to avoid being in the blast radius of the move.
This doesn't mean, though, that Naruto would never again use the move in short distances. If anything, he was using the RS because he wanted to be Tobi via any means he had at his disposal. If it meant shortening his life span, so be it. The situation was certainly a justifiable one.
So IF the people above me are wrong about Naruto somehow avoiding the blast radius and the effects of the RS in this situation, he would probably have used it anyway and took the hit to his life span. Even Sakura and Tsunade herself uses moves that take a significant toll in longevity in situations that called for such a maneuver.
Upvotes: 0 |
2013/08/01 | 813 | 2,941 | <issue_start>username_0: The TV series [Ray](https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=6163) is about a woman with "X-Ray vision" who was saved by a doctor when she was young. In the first episode of the anime, this doctor is made out to look like Black Jack:
Although you never get a look at his face but you can see that there is some stitches on the doctor's face and his hair is black and white.
Is this cameo just a bit of "fan service"/homage to the old Black Jack series or is this more like a same-universe side-story or spin-off of Black Jack? It doesn't seem like the staff of this show has worked on any of the Black Jack manga or anime.<issue_comment>username_1: It looks like a homage. [From Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoshitomi_Akihito), it seems the mangaka of Ray has worked on Tezuka's Black Jack.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: [MyAnimeList](http://myanimelist.net/anime/919/Ray_The_Animation) claims that Ray is a side-story of Black Jack, while [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_the_animation) takes the more conservative approach of just saying that they're related. However, it's not clear whether Ray is canon material in the Black Jack universe (and if so, in what sense). In any case, Ray mangaka Yoshitomi Akihito is on good terms with the current license-holders of Black Jack, and has produced [his own version](http://myanimelist.net/manga/23711/Black_Jack%3a_BJ_x_bj) based on the original but with his own artwork.
>
> Because of copyright reasons, Black Jack was only alluded to as BJ and never seen fully in the original manga, but because the anime was produced by Osamu Tezuka's own studio he is able to appear fully in the anime (though still somewhat obscured) and be referred to by his original name. Interestingly, in Black Jack 21, the sequel to the Black Jack anime, Black Jack was referred to as "BJ" by the assassins hell bent on killing him.
>
>
>
As far as I can tell, there's no official word on what the relation between the two are, so it's sort of a matter of opinion whether it's a sidestory or just a homage. My opinion is that, by animating Ray, it was more-or-less retconned into the Black Jack universe, or at least some alternate universe, so I think it can be elevated to the level of a sidestory. However, that was a decision made by whoever the current rights-holders are for Black Jack, and while it's valid in a legal sense some might argue that it shouldn't be considered a side-story but a homage. Tezuka manga purists could very-well object and describe it differently, as everything related to Ray (manga beginning in 2004) happened well after Tezuka's death in 1989.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: She literally calls him <NAME> what more proof do you need I mean seriously there is no room for debate in this
Upvotes: -1 |
2013/08/03 | 1,119 | 4,186 | <issue_start>username_0: In a recent episode of the Naruto anime, the reanimated Madara tries to summon the nine tails but fails since it's sealed inside Naruto, later when Madara attacks with his Deep Forest jutsu the nine tails tells Naruto,"I'd rather be controlled by you than by Madara" and shares some of its chakra with Naruto to defeat Madara. Is it really afraid of Madara or is there some other reason?<issue_comment>username_1: I don't think that it's *fear* per-se, more like... hate.
The nine-tails prefers to help Naruto voluntarily than be forcefully controlled by Madara (or Tobi, for that matter).
**Manga Spoiler:**
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> The bijuu have feelings, and hate being treated as weapons, ever since the Sage of Six Paths dies, Kurama has known nothing but ignorance from humans. (Like when Madara yells at him to obey, or when Hashirama tells him that he's too dangerous and he must seal him.)
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So helping Naruto was the better option.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: I think it was because that Madara was the one that made him destroy something that he didn't want to I mean come on he was basically Madara's mind controlled slave .
Watch harshirama vs Madara and you'll see why the nine tails or kurama attack the leaf village or at first tried to attack it until harshirama stop Madara by accepting his challenge to fight Madara which harshirama managed to first separate the kurama and Madara with a contact seal Justsu which freed kurama from Madara's sharingan which made kurama blind and did'nt know what was going on until he woke up and found himself locked away in the hashirama's wife mito uzumaki the first jinchuriki.
kurama was with until she became ill and so they decided to find another what they called vessel for the nine tailed fox which happened to be kushina Uzumaki the mother naruto uzumaki and the wife of minato namikaze or in other words naruto's dad and the fourth hokage which he stopped the real attack of the nine tailed fox where it was not Madara but it was another uchiha named obito that made the nine tails attack the village and then when he
Lost control of kurama , kurama started attacking because of what they are treating him as but luckily naruto's dad or the fourth hokage managed to stop kurama's attack and planned to seal him in naruto on the break of death he managed to complete the seal and said his last goodbye to naruto until those times where over that's where naruto was kurama's jinchuuriki for already 16 until the attack.
So guess old memories are coming back to kurama of the times of how he was treated and he was not scared of Madara he was very angry at him and managed to help and encourage naruto by giving him some of his power to counter the deep forest Justsu and write now from naruto and kurama having a lot of issues while naruto was growing up and similar backgrounds on how they were treated they finally became friends , partners for a reason not just because they were alike to each other it's because they both wanted one and that is to protect and save the world they live in and that's why he is not afraid
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: Nah, I don't think Kurama is afraid of Madara.
I think what he meant by "I'd rather be controlled by you than by Madara" is that he didnt want to be fully controlled by his user (he wanted to have a say in decision making). Kuruma probably wouldn't like to be manipulated like a puppet.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_4: 9 tails fears being controlled by Madara because he likes his current host. Plain and simple. The Uchiha have a past with him as well, as depicted in shippuden episode 2 when Sasuke uses his sharingan to explore Naruto's mind.
On a side note, the Jinchuriki (all demons as well) are beings that thrive via personal gain. A demon will not present itself to a human unless it wants or needs something that can be taken or given freely from the human. Perhaps 9 tails believes Madara is just another (1)manipulative asshole with the (2)last name Uchiha. 2 reasons not to go with him. Another reason could be that e believes Madara is weak >:p and unworthy of his acquaintance.
Upvotes: 0 |
2013/08/03 | 648 | 2,257 | <issue_start>username_0: Well, when Naruto was fighting Sasuke at the Valley of the End, Sasuke popped a hole in his shoulder, to prevent him from using the Rasengan.
Naruto, in response, activated his Nine-tails chakra (to less than one tail), and the hole healed so fast it was actually visibly closed.
---
A few years into the future, Naruto has (almost) *complete control* over the Nine-tails' chakra! And yet, when he attacked Kisame, he twisted his ankle, and that didn't heal until much later.
What the hell? That chakra had enough life force to sprout trees from Yamato's logs! Why couldn't it heal a simple twisted ankle? Can we dismiss it as a case of "Allow Gai to fight Kisame and provide Naruto an excuse to stay out of it"?<issue_comment>username_1: Well, there are plot holes which Kishimoto makes up most of the time. Some things can not be reasoned without the wildest guesses.
For example, when Orochimaru attacked Konoha by using Edo Tensei on the First and Second, neither they used the Flying Thunder God of the Second, nor he used the Thousand Hands Jutsu of First with which he could have clearly overpowered the Third.
Well, we can just say, it was a twisted ankle, so healing doesn't work with twisted ankles like it does with wounds, for which healing can be done with sprouting new cells.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: During his battle with Sasuke in the Valley of the End Naruto was not in control of the nine tails. The Nine Tails was acting on his own accord, triggered by the emotions of Naruto.
But during the battle with Kisame, Naruto was in control of the Nine Tails. Infact he had just gained control of it. So I would guess that, since he only recently gained control of the nine tails, he was not in sync with the Nine Tail's power, which is displayed by Naruto misjudging his speed and power thereby spraining/fracturing his ankle.
One can have all the raw power in him, but unless the body is in sync with the power, you are no good. Also, about the fallen Zetsu's or wood element's sprouting leaves, this is not done by Naruto, but rather it is done by Naruto's/Kurama's chakra resonating in the wood element. (Zetsu has Hashirama's cells).
Well this is my two cents.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer] |
2013/08/04 | 4,251 | 15,496 | <issue_start>username_0: Is the setting of "**Attack on Titan**" (Shingeki no kyojin) supposed to be Earth in the distant future and Titans suddenly appeared out of nowhere and devolved society to medieval level of technology? Or is this just a completely fictional setting?<issue_comment>username_1: It's a completely different universe and settings than ours (still Earth though, just under different circumstances). However, according to technological advances and the construction style, I'd say that the year they describe, around 800 - 900 doesn't seem far fetched.
As for the location, I'm not sure, the names of the characters don't seem Japanese, something European maybe?
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: As [@Madara](https://anime.stackexchange.com/users/27/madara-uchiha) [said](https://anime.stackexchange.com/a/4616/274), *Attack on Titan* is set on Earth, but in a different situation. This is evidenced by a reference to a real-world legend in episode 15:
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> Two captured Titans are named Sawney and Bean, which is stated in-universe to be based on the [legend of Sawney Bean](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sawney_Bean).
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If we use that same evidence as part of a timeline, there's two possibilities:
* The year 850 means that we are at least 850 years following the aforementioned legend, putting us no earlier than year 2350 A.D. This seems possible but unlikely, as their technology shows no signs of being derived from our own.
* The year 850 is some marker to an event that happened prior to the legend, in which case we have no frame of reference other than that the story must take place in or after the 1500s. This seems to be the more likely answer.
Keep in mind, though, that in the *Attack on Titan* universe:
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> The oriental races are wiped out; Mikasa has her mother's oriental blood, but is the last surviving member of the Asian races.
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With this in mind, it is highly unlikely that it is in Japan or even nearby (though the location is also unstated). However, seeing how many names are European (Jäger is German for "hunter", Armin is a Germanic name, cf. Arminius & Herman), it's most likely that the story takes place in Germany, or at least in Europe, where the remaining survivors of the Titan catastrophe are now cornered.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_3: It doesn't say where they are except for the name of the walls the humans hide behind as protection from the titans. But seeing as the character names are of German decent (and even some of the lyrics from the anime's openings), I'd say they're in Germany, or somewhere in Europe that has very strong German influences. In all reality though, they're just somewhere on Earth, hiding behind walls from human-like, man-eating creatures
As for the time... It might take place in the distant future, after humanity has gone (nearly) exinct
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: Maybe it could be arround Germany... but with a lower sea level so more landmass will be available (120m less sea level or less and you have continental Europe and UK, Irland as one big landmass)
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: I'm assuming it would be in Germany and/or the surrounding European countries. The architecture of the districts within the Maria and Rose walls (including their outliers like Shiganshina District) looks to be very much like traditional German architecture. However, the Stohess District resembles Czech architecture and Utopia resembles Parisian mid-rise styles.
The tall 80m-treed forests which are both in & outside the walls could be the Black Forest in Germany. There is also a small alpine section within the walls & outside, which could be the Swiss/Italian Alps. Not only that, but the characters have German names such as Reiner, Bertholdt, Jaeger, etc.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_6: I read an article stating that the story take place in Bavarian era. Too bad I forgot where I read it, and after a brief check on wiki, it is said that There had been a kingdom ruled by a king in the Bavarian Era, in Germany, and we know as well in the anime that the three walls were under a King's reign.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_7: My guess is 52.2051, 47.5557 on your map.
It makes sense geographically - perhaps Germany led the way to the evacuation, and it seems more logical for Asians to have arrived here rather than in Western Europe.
The one thing I looked for was that there are rivers that passes through all the districts, through all 3 walls. Though the map referenced in the manga seems to have two rivers (one running north-south and the other running east-west, roughly speaking) crossing through the walls.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_8: Since some of the characters in the show talk about the world before (Hanji and naming the titans after the infamous cannibal Sawney Bean), it's completely likely that the series takes place in the future rather than before common times.
As for location, it's most likely that the Walls are located in Germany, or nearby in Europe. However, it's also likely for the series to take place in Northern US, border-lining with Canada. Mostly since many German immigrants settled in that area, and majority of SNK characters are German. At the same time, it leaves room for reasons of why there are many other nationalities, like Japanese and French. Since America is just one big melting pot in itself.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_9: What about in the opening episode where it says "To you, two thousand years in the future"? At first I thought it meant that we're (roughly) two thousand years after the rotation from BC to AD, but since the show starts off in 845 (or 844, can't remember atm) that doesn't make sense since we're obviously not in the year 2845.
The other option would be to add two thousand years to our current timeline making it 4013 and then subtract 845 to get 3168, the year that the calendar supposedly reset again.
It bothers me that it's not clear when the story is supposed to take place because I think it would help in solving some of the mysteries if we at least had a time period to work off of. Then again, maybe that's the point.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_10: Since the titans have only been on the earth for 100 years, and the people left only have technology of Cannons, ect. They obliviously aren't going to be in a future of our timeline with this technology, but they could be if other events were changed in their past. But it seems way more likely that they are around the year c.700-c.900 on the original timeline.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_11: You are all forgetting the fact that they possess flintlock firearms and sophisticated pneumatic mechanisms within their 3D gear.
Point being the story has to take place in a post-Renaissance period.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_12: Well, flintlocks such as in this show, weren't really made as well as they were her until the 1700's. Though, as we can see, from multiple parts in the manga. As-well as in the show, their ships are wooden, and they are pre-industrial era. Which means, this show probably is taking place at about 1750-1800 AD. As they are past the renaissance, though, they did not quite reach the industrial era yet. Which means, it is actually probably in the 1800's as technology has halted for a hundred years. As the titans came into play in the 1700's, and for 100 years people have just been halted. If you notice though, if this had happened 100 years after, in 1850. Or 1950, the titans would not have been much of a problem due to the weapons. It is almost as if the titans came at about the perfect time, where humans were just un-able to mass murder the titans. If it were set after a modern era however, then there would obviously be better machinery around, such as tanks, airplanes, or even spacecraft. It is quite evident that it is pre industrial, and this is evident not only through their weapons or technology for that matter. But their clothing as-well. Many nations at the time had organized looking clothing, and a system of departments for the military. So, the best bet for when this show is occurring is from the 1700's, when the titans arrived, till the 1800's, which is when the show and manga takes place. If anyone says it was in the 900's, remember, weapons and technology such as in this were not seen on a mass scale, or at any large scale at all. 1700'S = Titan Arrival, 1800'S = AOT
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_13: So first of all, the story cannot possibly be taking place 2000 years in the past. I am not going to talk about technology development or the size of the characters (2000 years ago, <NAME> wouldn't have been considered as short).
Anyway, Sasha gave me the first part of the answer. In the trainee corps arc, we can see her eating a potato, and the potato was imported into Europe from the South America, which proves the story takes place *after* the discovery of the American continent (Europe really started to grow potatoes in the 17th century...).
But then I ticked on how they calculated the size of the titans. They used "meter-class", which mean they have the metric system. The metric system having been invented after the French revolution in 1789 and was finally accepted by the French Academy of Science on 26th March 1791.
The story should take place after this date.
I've also noted that Mikasa (in the trainee corps arc when Eren seems unable to have his "natural balance") speaks about "artisans" who make the 3D maneuver gear, and with a look with the general development of the city (no trains, no steam boats). This suggests that the industrial revolution (~1840) has not yet taken place. My theory is that titan have appeared (year 743 in the story) between 1791 and 1840 (and that because of that new-found enemy, the industrial revolution never took place...). The story starts with the colossal titan 102 years later (year 845 in the story), which means between 1893 and 1942 in our calendar.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_14: I always thought of it as a futuristic collapsed society type theme. They were forced to build walls and revert back to medieval society but they focused their technology on their ODM gear to combat the titans. There is reference to the past (our current real life time). Perhaps the biggest supporting evidence of this was episode 6 where Misaka's kidnappers are talking about her race and they state:
"she's exotic. what they used to call an Oriental.You know about all that right? back when there used to be different breeds of people, a bunch of them from the far east came scrambling here for safety. the old perverts in the capital really go for that sort of thing. this little beauty's going to fetch a mint at auction. it's great business. she's the last of her kind. all the rest of her people died out."
hope that helps. the year that it starts out on is 845 so the yearly calendar reset for some important reason, but it hasn't revealed a lot about the history yet (just that the titans appeared over 100 years ago.) As far as location goes it's safe to assume that it is probably German. accounting for the kidnapper's claim that there is currently only one race and we have names like: -Yaeger (german for hunter) -Arlert is old german anglo-saxon, and Armin's wiki page trivia section states that "The name 'Armin' may have multiple meanings, either from an old German word meaning "whole", or "Herman", meaning "soldier"". <http://shingekinokyojin.wikia.com/wiki/Armin_Arlert> -Erwin - Derived from the Germanic name Hariwini, composed of the elements hari "army" and win "friend".
Add it all up with a lot of blonde hair (Armin, Reiner, Nanaba, Christa, Annie, Erwin, etc) and it seems that they were leaning toward a German-oriented character base with names that are literal puns toward the fact that they are soldiers.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_15: ***Spoilers ahead.***
In Chapter 93, page 6, we are presented with a geographic representation of the Attack on Titan world:
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The region in pink represents the
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The region in blue represents the
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> Nation of Marley
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The region in red represents
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> Paradis, Island of Paradis, or Paradis Island, whichever you prefer to go by, and that is where most all of the story takes place (where Eren & the titans reside)
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Cross-referencing with a world map it becomes clear that
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> if we are using geography as an identifying feature of the Attack on Titan Earth, this is not the Earth that we know. Unless the map was drawn in such a way as to purposely hide defining geographic characteristics, it is likely that the Earth in Attack on Titan is more of an alternate universe Earth. There are a lot of references that we are familiar with, especially later on in the manga, but it is clear that the geography doesn't match up to anything on our current Earth. In addition, the names of these regions are Marley, Paradis, and Mid-East Allies. And the peoples in the first two regions are called Marleyans and Eldians. So it further solidifies that the AoT Earth, while similar, is more than likely an alternate-universe Earth and not the same Earth that we currently reside on.
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That means that
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> since this is not the same Earth, we can not use our own timeline to judge what time period this takes place. It is a completely different world, albeit with a lot of similarities, but it makes the most sense to stick to the timeline that AoT presents to us throughout the manga and anime.
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Later in the manga, however, we see that
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In fact, we see in chapter 86, pages 146-147, that
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> during Grisha Yeager's childhood (so some time before Eren), humanity was in possession of airships and military technology that we might have seen from the 1900s to 1930s or 40s. Again, we can't compare the timelines in AoT to our own since we know AoT's Earth is not our Earth but this should help give you a better understanding of the AoT world. [](https://i.stack.imgur.com/JaMPt.jpg)
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In Chapter 86, page 156-157, we are presented with
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> military uniforms that look sort of similar to WWI/WWII era uniforms. In the same frame we can also see the soldier smoking a cigarette while taking a break on a mowed grass lawn. In chapter 94, we can also see the type of firearm that this child is carrying which is an excellent example of more sophisticated technology. I blocked out the text in the frames as it wasn't necessary. [](https://i.stack.imgur.com/QVVLJ.png) [](https://i.stack.imgur.com/ooBUr.png)
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So at this point it's obvious that
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> we did not, prior to these chapters, have a good understanding of the AoT universe and there's a good reason, too. But those are unnecessary spoilers.
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I recommend reading the manga for more information on the backstory of AoT for further information on timeline, place, and technology within the AoT universe.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer] |
2013/08/04 | 324 | 1,190 | <issue_start>username_0: Was Shogun artificially aged? I got the feeling that he had to be because Nanami is his real sister and she is not that old. Also the nurse "Grim" was performing some king of operation on him. Before that operation he appeared to be young as he lacked all of the wrinkles on his face. Also if he was aged how was that done? What was the yellow goop that "Grim" scooped out with the weird spoon?<issue_comment>username_1: As seen in the anime (carefull this contains spoilers).
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> Towards the ending shogun reveals that he actual is <NAME> His original. and the main protagonist was just a fantasy of him. In this part he also reveals that he has a rare disease which causes him to age when he uses his power (believe this information is given spread over episodes 10-12). They do not go into details about how he got this disease
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With this the answer to your question would be No, Shogun was not artificialy aged.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: **Answer of the last question :** I think it's the brain which was scooped out by Grim with the weird spoon. It was just another case of New Generation murders.
Upvotes: -1 |
2013/08/05 | 337 | 1,212 | <issue_start>username_0: During the fight between Jiraiya and Tsunade against Orochimaru and Kabuto in the *Search for Tsunade Arc*, Jiraiya refers to Kabuto as "Four Eyes". Why did he get that name?<issue_comment>username_1: Because he was the only one among all present there that was wearing a pair of glasses.
The term ["Four eyes"](http://www.thefreedictionary.com/four-eyes) refers to people that wear spectacles.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: I don't recall the scene. But in Japanese, he probably actually referred to him as [*megane*](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Megane) (meaning *spectacles*). Rather than using literal translations, subbers/dubbers prefer to use equivalent terms which will carry a similar tone in the target language. Since an equivalent epithet used in English for a bespectacled person is [four-eyes](http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/four-eyes), that is what was preferred.
*Four-eyes* is almost always used as a derogatory term in English. But this isn't necessarily the case with *megane*. That said, considering the character of *Kabuto*, I expect that that is how it was used in this case. IOW, *four-eyes* is a perfect fit.
Upvotes: 3 |
2013/08/05 | 708 | 2,281 | <issue_start>username_0: Aren't Kage Bunshin No Jutsu or Kuchiyose no jutsu of ninjutsu type?
Also please state why Kabuto told Orochimaru that Naruto isn't blessed with a technique and he relies upon the Nine Tails? He said that during Jiraiya/Tsunade fight with Orochimaru in Search for Tsunade arc. I hope Rasengan is a ninjutsu.<issue_comment>username_1: * "Jutsu" means skill or spell
* "NinJutsu" means ninja technique
* "No Jutsu" means technique of
so put that together: Kage Bunshin no Jutsu means technique of shadow clone, which is a ninja technique
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jutsu>
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: The first part of your question has been answered by ton yeung.
As for why Kabuto said "Naruto isn't blessed with a technique and he relies upon the Nine Tails", it's because up until then Naruto had not shown any true signs of brilliance.
He was always up to stupid acts with some sparks of brilliance that looked more like flukes than intentional actions. Even during the chunin exams, naruto had a "lucky fart" that helped him impact the battle to his favor.
Naruto is even termed as Konoha's most unpredictable knuckle head ninja.
And since most of Naruto's efforts had been mass usage of chakra (by which I mean, not effective usage of chakra) Kabuto must have said that he relies on the Nine Tails to provide him the chakra.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: First of all, jutsu (術) means "technique", "skill", "method", "trick" or "spell".
A ninjutsu (忍術, lit. "ninja techniques") is one of the three types of jutsu that exist in Naruto. [This answer](https://anime.stackexchange.com/a/3043/49) defines it as
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> a term referring to almost any technique which allows the user to do something that they otherwise would be incapable of doing, including the usage of weapons.
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As for "no jutsu" (の術): "no" (の) is a Japanese particle that, in this case, indicates possessive, and jutsu is explained above. That means that the expression "... no Jutsu" means "Technique of ..." or "... Technique".
In that way, Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (影分身の術) is translated to Shadow Clone Technique and Kuchiyose no Jutsu (口寄せの術) is translated to Summoning Technique.
And yes, these two are Ninjutsu.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer] |
2013/08/05 | 1,631 | 5,305 | <issue_start>username_0: In the anime, the nine tails were summoned by Madara/Tobi during Naruto's birth and made to attack Konoha. Later Minato saved the village. For what reason the nine tails was made to attack Konoha?<issue_comment>username_1: Madara/Tobi had taken control of the Nine-Tails, but during his battle with Minato, Minato removed the Nine-Tails from the control of Tobi. Then Tobi escapes from the battle.
This is where the Nine-Tails was summoned by Madara/Tobi in Konoha (chapter 502):
This is when Minato removes the Nine-Tails from the control of Madara/Tobi (chapter 503):
This is when Madara/Tobi escapes:
Now, since no one was present to control the Nine-Tails, he went on a rampage and thus attacked the village.
Initially, Madara/Tobi wanted to keep control of the Nine-Tails and use its power for himself, and destroy Konoha. But now the Nine-Tails was a loose canon destroying Konoha on its own free will.
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> After Rin, who was someone very special to Obito, was killed, he was taken by hatred towards the Ninja world. Uchiha Madara had for long contained hatred for the Senju clan. After his defeat in the hands of the First Hokage - Hashirama Senju, had made the destruction of Konoha his vendetta. Madara saped into this hatred of Obito and toned Obito's thoughts to suit his own needs. When Madara/Tobi learned that Kushina is about to deliver a child, they made their move, as the time of delivering the child is when the seal is the weakest for a Jinchuruki. Having a Tailed Beast in his disposal would have been a great advantage for Madara, as he was already planning something that concerned the Bijuus.
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Thus Madara/Tobi attacks Konoha, and in turn the Nine-Tails attacks Konoha.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: The question here is not the actual reason of the ***Nine Tails attack to Konoha***, but the actual reason of the ***Masked Man attack to Konoha***.
The attack of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox, coincided with K<NAME>aki, the Nine-Tails' second jinchūriki, giving birth to Naruto on the night of October 10th. During a female jinchūriki's pregnancy, the energy used to maintain the seal has to be redirected to the growing child in her womb — whether consciously done or not. As a result, the seal used on the beast weakens in direct proportion, and as such special preparations have to be made when a female jinchūriki is about to give birth as the seal may break entirely [(Naruto Episode 500 Pages 8-9)](http://www.mangareader.net/93-54942-17/naruto/chapter-500.html).
However, the childbirth's location was eventually discovered by Tobi, who learned the information by observing Kakashi at the Konoha Cemetery.
Making his way to the site, Tobi killed the ANBU stationed outside and later Biwako and Taji after the child had been born[(Naruto Episode 500 Pages 13-17)](http://www.mangareader.net/93-54942-14/naruto/chapter-500.html).
Holding the newborn Naruto at ransom, he forces Minato to leave the cave via his Flying Thunder God Technique when he sets off the explosive tags he had placed on the newborn's blanket.
Taking advantage of Minato's absence, Tobi forcibly extracted the Nine-Tails from a visibly exhausted Kushina while noting that the Four Symbols Seal also carried the Flying Thunder God Technique seal as a security measure which would enable Minato to teleport to his wife's aid at any time[(Naruto Episode 501 Pages 1-6)](http://www.mangareader.net/93-55203-2/naruto/chapter-501.html).
As the Nine-Tails finally emerged from the seal, Tobi used his Sharingan to gain control of the tailed beast and commands it to destroy Konoha.
**My analysis:**
The main reason however is notably clear. Tobi/Madara took advantage of the *weakened seal* because of Kushina's child birth and to take control over the Kyuubi. The attack to Konoha is just a secondary effect from Tobi taking control of the Kyuubi. The attack was merely a prerequisite of his main plan of collecting the Kyuubi. We knew that the [Eye of the Moon Plan](http://naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Eye_of_the_Moon_Plan) requires all the tailed beast in order to form the Bijuu; and the very root of these plan is to fill the empty hole in the heart of Obito[(Naruto Episode 530 "What can fill the hole" Pages 4-5)](http://www.mangareader.net/naruto/630/5).
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: Yes Kurama did attack Konoha but this was only because he was controlled by Madara’s Sharingan and was forced to attack the hidden leaf. If Karuma wasn’t controlled by Madara/“Tobi” He would’ve destroyed destroyed them first than the leaf village
Upvotes: -1 |
2013/08/06 | 425 | 1,314 | <issue_start>username_0: I'm sort of new to Naruto. I just finished most of part one and about to start Shippuden. I was wondering how old was he at the start of Shippuden? I'd really like to know as I have researched it a bit and can't figure it out. Maybe it slipped by me.
There's been all sort of answers online, but no definitive evidence. Evidence would be nice.<issue_comment>username_1: From the [wiki](http://naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Naruto_Uzumaki) under *Personal*
>
> **Part I**: 12 - 13
>
>
> **Part II** *(Shippuden)*: 15 - 16
>
>
>
It is also worth noting that when Minato asked him his age after stoping naruto from releasing the Kyuubi's seal, Naruto told him that he was 16.
On the wiki, it also says that he graduated from the Academy at age 12, *some time passed* and we know he spent ~2.5 years away training with Jiraiya so accounting for any time that may have passed, it eventually adds up.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Naruto is 17 years old at the time of writing. But if you think that's young, Itachi was only 17 years old in the first part of Naruto.
>
> Meaning he was 20-22 when Sasuke killed him.
>
>
>
Not to mention he was 13-14 when he killed his entire clan... So yeah, the mangaka has a really good opinion of young people xD
Upvotes: 3 |
2013/08/07 | 346 | 1,265 | <issue_start>username_0: During the Fourth Ninja World War, Uchiha Madara manage to escape Edo Tensei by releasing himself and put himself in Edo Tensei again. But how or when did Madara knew about the hand seals of Edo Tensei?<issue_comment>username_1: It is not really stated how and when Madara learned to use ET.
But it is possible that during the battles between Senju and Uchiha, Madara had seen Tobirama use it. And since ET is not a bloodline jutsu, and Madara as top Uchiha ninja, he copied it with Sharingan's ability.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: There are a few ways he could have learned it:
1. Copying it from Tobirama
2. Figuring it out himself
3. Getting the information from a different source, like a scroll. Orochimaru learned ET from the scroll of forbidden jutsus.
There is no definite answer however. It has never been stated or shown how Madara learned ET.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: I might have a more satisfying answer to this. After all Madara already awakened Rinnegan. And I think I heard Jiraiya or someone say that the specialty of Rinnegan is that it grants the Rinnegan user the ability of knowing every jutsu in existence. So of course he knows every jutsu. Simple logic, Right?
Upvotes: -1 |
2013/08/07 | 1,703 | 6,623 | <issue_start>username_0: Second to English, German seems to be the most popular foreign language in anime. You see it in titles, names, and even quite a few characters are of German descent.
For example, many characters in [*Shingeki no Kyojin*](http://anidb.net/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=anime&aid=9541) appear to be German/have German names and there are a lot of German references. [*Elfen Lied*](http://anidb.net/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=anime&aid=1544) is also German (translates to "elf/elvish song").
Is there a reason for this?<issue_comment>username_1: Historically speaking, Germany and Japan have been on friendly terms since the 1930s (and even before), due to their [shared militaristic ambitions](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germany%E2%80%93Japan_relations) just prior to the second world war (which led to their Axis Alliance).
>
> After the Second World War, the economies of both nations experienced rapid recoveries; bilateral relations, now focused on economic issues, were soon re-established. Today, Japan and Germany are, respectively, the third and fourth largest economies in the world, and benefit greatly from many kinds of political, cultural, scientific and economic cooperation.
>
>
>
As a result, there is a lot of cross-cultural sharing, which is why you see a lot of German outside of just anime as well ([for example](http://www.sljfaq.org/afaq/german.html), the Japanese word for part-time job (アルバイト) is based off the German word for work (arbeit).
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: This may supports your theory that an old affection for German ideas exists in Japan.
As a lawyer, I can add that the Japanese civil law is based on German law to a significant extent. During the late 19th century, Japanese officials planned to westernize. As a result, they established a strong scholarly exchange between the universities of Japan and Western Europe. After the first attempt to adopt a French inspired system in 1893, Japan enacted a civil code in 1898 in the German fashion. Just imagine, they voluntarily dropped core aspects of their legal tradition. This does not happen often in world history! I guess they were totally fascinated by German system... and probably by a lot of other things, too.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: From the perspective of someone from Japan, I suppose there are some reasons.
First, the saturation of English names. Because there are quite a lot of anime/manga contents in Japan, it is really hard to find a new nice English name for a new character. One handy solutions is to pick a German name.
Second, the ease of pronunciation. Because Japanese language has only 5 vowels: "あいうえお", some European names are a bit hard to hear and/or pronounce for Japanese-speakers, though most German names are not really hard to pronounce.
Finally, Japanese just love Germany. They (we) have learned many things like constitutions, medicals and chemicals from Germany. They also love German products like BMW automobiles, artificial hearts, etc. and believe Germans are hard-working, honest and industrious. (Personally, I also rely on German middle-wares).
I guess past military relationships between Germany and Japan **don't** make Japanese love Germany, because Japanese regret WW2 and grieve what happened in Europe. Years ago, a Japanese comedian said black jokes which affirm the Axis on TV (of course, he was just joking). After that, he was heavily criticized and had to apologize in public.
Anyways today's era is wonderful because we all can talk about anime and manga here, isn't it. See you. ;)
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: From a German POV:
Shortly after the opening to Japan in 1853, the Norddeutsche Bund, a group of several Northern German countries (including Luxembourg) that was the pre-organisation of the late German Empire tried to make friendship treaties with Japan like other Western states. Japan said no because the confederation was quite weak. They made a treaty with Prussia though and started to have a scientific exchange with it.
Seeing the Prussia and the German states fight in several wars and at the end becoming united made them think of the new Germany Empire as a militarily strong country and so, when they went to Europe and America to learn, they also went to Berlin. The university system, school system, a lot of teaching books for medicine and other sciences, the constitution in the year 1889 and, of course, the military was inspired by the Prusso-German system and advised by German-Jewish advisors.
In WW1, Germany and Japan fought on different sides because Germany tried to gain power in China. There were German war prisoners in Japan, but they were treated relatively well, which lead to some of them staying in Japan even after they were officially released (because in Germany, there was a financial crisis and a very political insecure situation at that time.)
Then WW2 came and they became friends again, and since then, Germany and Japan were more-or-less friends. A lot of German cities have Japanese partner cities, and since both countries had to build up their country, society, and economy again, there was a lot of economical exchange in the following decades. :)
I think it also has something to do with the mentality of the countries; both have a strong working ethos, a relatively strict social system that builds on politeness and certain aloofness. I suppose that these similarities paired with the exoticness of being Caucasian make the stereotypical German interesting and cool for the Japanese that write the manga. Not to forget that our language is just really badass and beautiful and awesome. ;)
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: In the old days Germany had al lot of fancy elite schools for the rich. This is might be the reason behind all of those rich school elite anime with Germans in them. In general I can only speak for myself and some other Germans. We love Japanese culture and this might also be the case for some Japanese Manga autors
this might be helpful
[one of many sources](https://www.britannica.com/topic/education/Education-in-the-20th-century)
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_6: German used to be the lingua franca among scholars in Japan, just like Latin has been in Europe.
So when you want to give things a scholarly vibe in the West, you use Latin and when you want to do this in Japan you use German.
But unlike with Latin, there's actually still people around that actually speak German, so you can have German characters in a modern settings without having to use time travel.
Upvotes: -1 |
2013/08/08 | 828 | 2,738 | <issue_start>username_0: In the anime, it is shown that the Senju and Uchiha clans originated from the Sage of Six Paths who is the God of Shinobi. Where did the other clans like Sarutobi, Nara, Inuzuka, clans from other countries originate from?<issue_comment>username_1: Recall that the Sage of the Six Paths discovered the existence of chakra and used it to create jutsu. The direct descendants of him became Senju and Uchiha, where their powers were split between body and eye.
Other ninja clans were not descendents, however they were able to learn how to use chakra as well in different forms of jutsus. Of course there are some clans, like the Hyuuga where the series notions the possibility of them deriving from the Uchiha.
Clans like Sarutobi, Nara, and Inuzuka clans are not related to the Sage of Six Paths though. On the other hand, Uzumaki is blood related to Senju.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Just to clarify any misconceptions, **there were already people living on earth before [Otsutsuki Kaguya](http://naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Kaguya_%C5%8Ctsutsuki) made her move to steal the chakra of the Divine Tree**. Its actually not like the Otsutsuki clan populated earth in its entirety. Just like someone said in the comments, there were villages and empires belonging to different settlements at that time. And so to answer your question, all those other clans originated on earth just like normal families do. However, everyone was greatly influenced by the Otsutsuki clan.
***Longer version:***
The people who lived in [The land of the Ancestors,](http://naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Land_of_Ancestors) welcomed Kaguya because they saw her as a Goddess and she bore 2 children with Tenji, the Emperor of the land (Hagoromo and Hamura).
[<NAME>,](http://naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Hamura_%C5%8Ctsutsuki) the younger one, later on became the ancestor of the [Hyuuga Clan](http://naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Hy%C5%ABga_Clan), after which he went to the Moon to guard the [Juubi's Husk.](http://naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Demonic_Statue_of_the_Outer_Path)
The elder brother, <NAME> became known as the [Sage of Six Paths,](http://naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Hagoromo_%C5%8Ctsutsuki) because he founded and taught everyone about Ninjutsu which was originally called [Ninshuu.](http://naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Ninsh%C5%AB) All other clans must have learned thier various Jutsus from any number of thier Ancestors who was a follower of Hagoromo (or a follower of a follower of Hagoromo, kinda like that).
Apart from the Hyuuga, Uchiha, Senjuu and Uzumaki clan (all of whom inherited specific chakra and traits of the Otsutsuki Clan), all other clans learned Jutsu's indirectly from the Sage of six paths teachings.
Upvotes: 1 |
2013/08/08 | 988 | 3,728 | <issue_start>username_0: In **[Kiki's Delivery Service](https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=595)**, Kiki is a witch and she sets out to train as a witch by herself (like an apprenticeship). Things are going well for her but at some point she starts to lose her witch powers, unable to fly on her broom and unable to talk to and understand her cat, Jiji.
Why did she lose her witches power? Was it because she got sick (but was still missing powers after she got better)? Or do all witches have to deal with losing their powers from time to time?<issue_comment>username_1: I'd say lack of confidence in herself, in a [quarter-life crisis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quarter-life_crisis) way.
Here's Wikipedia's [take on the subject](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiki%27s_Delivery_Service#Plot):
>
> […] after a brief encounter with Tombo's friends, some of whom she had met earlier under unfavourable circumstances, Kiki loses her powers to fly and speak with Jiji. She goes into depression. However, one of her friends, a young painter named Ursula, invites her to stay in her forest cottage, where she analyzes Kiki's current crisis as "some form of artist's block." Since many things had not gone as hoped for, Kiki is experiencing such a period, which resulted in the loss of her powers; but if she finds a new purpose, she will be able to reclaim what she has lost.
>
>
>
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: The central theme of *Majo no Takkyūbin* is about self-belief and being yourself. This message is explained to Kiki early in the film when she complains about having to wear the drab witches' dress. Her mother explains that it is her inner self which is important; her outer self is just a shell.
Even before she leaves home, people question how Kiki will be able to survive as the only thing she seems to be good at is flying (and even that is a little suspect). And after she leaves home, she is repeatedly plagued by more incidents which batter down on her self-worth. These include:
1. Meeting the snooty apprentice witch who pooh-poohs her skills.
2. Meeting girls wearing pretty colourful clothes who look down on her.
3. Even Tombo comments on her clothes at one point.
4. She also stares longingly at a dress in a shop window.
5. She inwardly does not think much about her chosen profession or her skill level either.
6. She feels unappreciated and underwhelmed by the response of the granddaughter to the freshly baked cake she has flown over in a storm.
7. She also feels really out of place when she meets Tombo's friends.
etc., etc. (Personally, I think Jiji's negativity either doesn't help much or is a reflection of Kiki's inner self.)
All these incidents chip away at her inner self until she collapses into a depression, something which her artist friend, Ursula, compares to an artist's block. She explains to Kiki that she has been through a similar situation herself when she lost interest in her art as she was modelling her approach on what other artists were doing or what her audience was expecting rather than believing in herself to come up with her own style.
This brings us back to the early scene where Kiki's mother tells her that it's her inner soul which is important.
All that said, this is also a coming of age story, and as the OP puts it, the loss of power could well be something that all witches go through as they mature. The fact that Jiji doesn't speak to Kiki even after she recovers her powers is telling. In many ways, it is only the childish Kiki who is able to speak to her childhood companion. Kiki, the mature independent witch, is still friends with Jiji, but does not need the cat as a confidant.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer] |
2013/08/08 | 521 | 1,680 | <issue_start>username_0: I've posted an image of an anime girl below. Do you have any idea about who she is and where she is from? I think she seems to be from a visual novel according to CG.
<issue_comment>username_1: This is a character from the adult eroge, [Rakuen no Reijou](http://f-game.jp/detail.php?id=0000086). The character's name is [Rise Inujima](http://www.animecharactersdatabase.com/character.php?id=8274).
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: The other answer is almost correct. The name of the VN is 楽園の令嬢（アリス）たち, but the parenthetical word after 令嬢 (normally meaning daughter or young woman) is means that word should be read as Alice (アリス) in this case. So the name of the game is, in romaji, *Rakuen no Arisu-tachi*. The character's name is indeed Inujima Rise (狗島離世). The game is by [doujin group Harthnir](http://vndb.org/p1118), and version 0.01d was released in 2006.
It's not clear to me whether a full version of this game was ever released. There was definitely a trial version, which the [f-game page above](http://f-game.jp/detail.php?id=0000086) mentions. All references I can find are for the trial version. [The website for the game](http://www.rakuari.jp/) is also down. All the references I can find to the game are to ver0.01d or earlier, which was definitely released, but is not a full version (as far as I can tell). There were some rumors that the full game would be released in 2009, but very little new information has appeared since suggesting that this didn't happen. Assuming the game wasn't released, I'd probably conclude that it was abandoned.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer] |
2013/08/08 | 3,276 | 9,307 | <issue_start>username_0: I have *Bakemonogatari* and *Nisemonogatari*, and learned that *Monogatari Series Second Season* is being streamed by Aniplex, which means that *Nekomonogatari* would have been streamed at some point and that it would get a home release.
So, I am wondering what the story's in-universe chronological order is: should I watch *Bakemonogatari*, *Kizumonogatari* (when it's released), *Nekomonogatari* (when it's released), *Monogatari Series Second Season* (when it's released) and *Nisemonogatari*?<issue_comment>username_1: The chronological order of the story progression (starting from the beginning) for the anime.
Kizumonogatari -> Nekomonogatari: Kuro -> Bakemonogatari -> Nisemonogatari -> Nekomonogatari: Shiro
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: The order for story progression might be the following:
* Kizumonogatari (傷物語)
* Nekomonogatari Black (猫物語 黒)
* Bakemonogatari (化物語)
* Nisemonogatari (偽物語)
* Kabukimonogatari (傾物語)
* Onimonogatari (鬼物語) and Nekomonogatari White (猫物語 白) (events happen at the same time)
* Otorimonogatari (囮物語)
* Koimonogatari (恋物語)
* Hanamonogatari (花物語)
* Tsukimonogatari (憑物語)
Koyomimonogatari (暦物語) is a series of 12 short stories spaced at intervals of roughly one month; the first one occurs in April (shortly after Kizumonogatari).
It remains to be seen where Owarimonogatari (終物語) and Zoku-owarimonogatari (続終物語) (not released as of this writing) will fit chronologically.
The image below shows the anime broadcast and light novel publish order:
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/Nn4wA.jpg)
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: Overview and date convention
----------------------------
The first three seasons1 of Monogatari series generally takes place in the one-year period between the start of the third year of high school of Araragi Koyomi (March, Year 0) and one month after his graduation (April, Year +1).
Note that it is the general trend; the stories may refer to events before the time period above. One story even takes place mostly in an alternate universe.
1 The first 3 seasons are named First Season, Second Season and Final Season. The 4th season, named Next Season, has been announced at the end of Zoku-Owarimonogatari.
The details below are mostly referenced and translated from [ja.Wikipedia article of Monogatari Series](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%80%88%E7%89%A9%E8%AA%9E%E3%80%89%E3%82%B7%E3%83%AA%E3%83%BC%E3%82%BA).
Summary
-------
The chapters in each book are ordered chronologically, so if you don't want to be spoiled, the list below should be sufficient:
1. **`[3,-]`** *Kizumonogatari*
2. **`[6,3]`** *Nekomonogatari (Black)*
3. **`[1,1a]`** *Bakemonogatari (Volume 1)*
4. **`[2,1b]`** *Bakemonogatari (Volume 2)*
5. **`[4,2a]`** *Nisemonogatari (Volume 1)*
6. **`[5,2b]`** *Nisemonogatari (Volume 2)*
7. **`[8,4b]`** *Kabukimonogatari*
8. **`[7,4a]`** *Nekomonogatari (White)* parallel to
**`[11,4d]`** *Onimonogatari* → **`[16,-]`** *Owarimonogatari (Volume 2)*
9. **`[15,-]`** *Owarimonogatari (Volume 1)*
10. **`[10,4c]`** *Otorimonogatari*
11. **`[12,4e]`** *Koimonogatari*
12. **`[13,6]`** *Tsukimonogatari*
13. **`[14,-]`** *Koyomimonogatari*†
14. **`[17,-]`** *Owarimonogatari (Volume 3)*
15. **`[18,-]`** *Zoku-Owarimonogatari*
16. **`[9,5]`** *Hanamonogatari*
† See Final Season section for more details. Ordering is based on the main events.
The first number in bracket is the light novel publish order, and the second number is the anime airing order. So far, the anime generally follows the light novel publish order and the chapter order in each volume, except for Kizumonogatari and Hanamonogatari.
>
> `/!\` Spoiler Warning
> ---------------------
>
>
> Although the details have been kept to minimum, the titles of the chapters and the footnotes may contain spoilers.
>
>
>
First Season
------------
The first season takes place between March 25, Year 0 to August 14, Year 0. It generally introduces the main cast and how they get involved with the apparitions.
* **March 25th - April 8th**: Koyomi Vamp/Kizumonogatari
* **April 29th - May 7th**: Tsubasa Family/Nekomonogatari (Black)
* **May 8th**: Hitagi Crab/Bakemonogatari (Volume 1)
* **May 14th**: Mayoi Snail/Bakemonogatari (Volume 1)
* **May 23rd - May 27th**2: Suruga Monkey/Bakemonogatari (Volume 1)
* **June 11th - June 12th**: Nadeko Snake/Bakemonogatari (Volume 2)
* **June 13th - June 16th**: Tsubasa Cat/Bakemonogatari (Volume 2)
* **July 29th - July 30th**: Karen Bee/Nisemonogatari (Volume 1)
* **August 14th**: Tsukihi Phoenix/Nisemonogatari (Volume 2)
2 The dates are derived from the fact that May 14th, when Araragi started going out with Senjougahara, was a Sunday, and Araragi got attacked on a Friday in May which was about 2 weeks since he started dating.
Second Season
-------------
The Second Season takes place between August 20th, Year 0 and April 21st, Year 1. However, one can argue that the core of this season only extends up to February 1st, Year 1, since the events in Hanamonogatari is quite removed from the rest of the stories.
The Second Season introduces Oshino Ougi and foreshadows her involvement behind the apparition incidents.
* **August 20th - August 21st**3: Mayoi Kyonshi/Kabukimonogatari
* **August 21st - August 24th** (Koyomi appeared at the end after Shinobu Mail): Tsubasa Tiger/Nekomonogatari (White)
* **August 21st - August 23rd**4 (right after Mayoi Kyonshi): Shinobu Time/Onimonogatari
* **October 31st - November 2nd**: Nadeko Medusa/Otorimonogatari
* **January 1st (Year 1) - February 1st**: Hitagi End/Koimonogatari
* **April 9th - April 21st**: Suruga Devil/Hanamonogatari
3 On August 21st, they time-slipped back 11 years ago, then returned to August 21st on different route, spent their time there until August 26th, then jumped back to August 21st of their original route.
4 Plus an event in late December, where Koyomi told the whole story of how Mayoi disappeared to Ougi.
The period of August 21st to August 24th consists of events happening in parallel from 4 chapters, three in Second Season and one in Final Season. Araragi involved in all four of them, and he resolved one problem just to get caught up in another in the order listed.
Final Season
------------
Chapters in Koyomimonogatari are all over the place in the timeline, with the earliest in April 11th, Year 0, just after the events in Koyomi Vamp/Kizumonogatari and the latest in March 13th, Year 1. However, not all chapters in the book are relevant to the core story in Final Season.
The Final Season mainly takes place between August 23rd, Year 0 and March 18th, Year 1. This season mostly centers around Oshino Ougi and fills in the void left by the Second Season. Note that the time period in Final Season intersects with the period in the Second Season.
* **August 23rd - August 24th** (after Shinobu Time and parallel with Tsubasa Tiger)5: Shinobu Mail/Owarimonogatari (Volume 2)
* **October 23rd (or 24th)**6: Ougi Formula/Owarimonogatari (Volume 1)
* **October 24th (or 25th)**6: Sodachi Riddle/Owarimonogatari (Volume 1)
* **October 25th (or 26th)**6 (before Nadeko Medusa): Sodachi Lost/Owarimonogatari (Volume 1)
* **November 1st** (before Nadeko became god in Nadeko Medusa): Koyomi Mountain/Koyomimonogatari
* **Mid January, Year 1** (during Hitagi End): Koyomi Seed/Koyomimonogatari
* **February 13th - February 14th** (after Hitagi End): Yotsugi Doll/Tsukimonogatari
* **February - Late February**: Koyomi Nothing/Koyomimonogatari
* **March 13th**: Koyomi Dead/Koyomimonogatari
* **March 13th** (right after Koyomi Dead): Mayoi Hell/Owarimonogatari (Volume 3)
* **March 14th**: Hitagi Rendezvous/Owarimonogatari (Volume 3)
* **March 14th - March 15th** (right after Hitagi Rendezvous): Ougi Dark/Owarimonogatari (Volume 3)
* **March 15th - March 18th** (right after Ougi Dark, and before Suruga Devil): Koyomi Reverse/Zoku-Owarimonogatari
5 Plus an event on March 13th, where Koyomi told the whole incident to Ougi. This event takes place before Koyomi Dead, which is on the same day.
6 Given that these events take place in late October, and that Koyomi had been to school 5 days in a row, including the possibility of Naoetsugu High School having class on Saturday, since a different story had been set to take place in the week after, the events can only take place on either dates.
Here are the rest of the side stories in Koyomimonogatari and their relative position in the timeline:
* **April 11th - April 12th, Year 0** (after Koyomi Vamp): Koyomi Stone/Koyomimonogatari
* **May 9th - May 10th** (after Hitagi Crab): Koyomi Flower/Koyomimonogatari
* **June** (after Tsubasa Cat): Koyomi Sand/Koyomimonogatari
* **Certain weekend in July** (before Karen Bee7): Koyomi Water/Koyomimonogatari
* **Early August** (after Karen Bee and before Tsukihi Phoenix): Koyomi Wind/Koyomimonogatari
* **Late September** (after Shinobu Mail): Koyomi Tree/Koyomimonogatari
* **Certain weekday in October** (before Ougi Formula): Koyomi Tea/Koyomimonogatari
* **December, Year 0** (after Nadeko Medusa and before Hitagi End): Koyomi Torus/Koyomimonogatari
7 Since it was the second time Koyomi cleaned Kanbaru's room, the story has to take place before Karen Bee.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer] |
2013/08/09 | 858 | 2,902 | <issue_start>username_0: In one of the scanlated versions of *Naruto* manga chapter 510, Madara mentioned the following two things:
1. >
> "Legend has it that <NAME> was bested by <NAME>... but is the legend true?"
>
> "The true winner is he who chose on the future... and the real fight is about to begin."
>
> "I fought that battle to gain access to his abilities."
>
>
> "I am <NAME>! The man who obtained Senju Hashirama's powers!"
>
> "Two of the Six Paths are now one being!"
>
>
> ([image of the panel](https://i.stack.imgur.com/SrsrP.jpg))
>
>
>
2. >
> "You are the third of the Sixth Paths..."
>
> "Look at you, you overexerted your powers so much that the Uzumaki clan's trademark red hair turned snow white."
>
>
> ([image of the panel](https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZVCgs.jpg))
>
>
>
So, what are the 6 paths that Madara was referring to, and how is Nagato the third one of them?<issue_comment>username_1: The six paths are related to the Sage of the Six paths and Pain. Recall that Pain had clones that each specialized in something? Well each one had contained one path from the six
1. Deva Path - Attraction and repulsion
2. Asura Path - Attack and defense
3. Human Path - Ability to read minds
4. Animal Path - Ability to summon
5. Preta Path - Absorbing Chakra
6. Naraka Path - Summon the Hell King
There is also the 7th path that Pain wasn't able to master, which was the Outer Path, the ability to control life and death. Pain used the Outer Path to revive the members of Konoha, however it costed him his life.
So when Tobi was talking about the 6 paths, he was talking about all the people that had control over the 6 paths. First would be the Sage of the Six paths, then it would be Madara, and lastly it would be Nagato.
On a side note, seeing as how he is not called the Sage of the Seven Paths, I think it is safe to assume he could not control life and death. Meaning he would also probably have to sacrifice his life in order to use the Outer Path.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: I thought maybe another version of the Six Paths could have been the paths of Indra and Ashura, Madara and Hashirama, Naruto and Sasuke; and the paths needed to create peace; six people, six paths of life.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_3: I think that the translation is incorrect as well.
Obito says that he has the powers of the two Sage of Six Paths. He probably means that he has the power of the Uchiha and Senju, Indra and Asura. Of course, he could also be talking about Hagoromo and Asura since Hagoromo is the Sage of the Six Paths and Asura got all of his father's powers making him a Pseudo Rikudo Sennin maybe? Or Just the second Rikudo Sennin.
Another thing is that he probably means that he has the powers of the Uchiha and Senju, thus "Two of the Six Paths powers are now one being!" That's what I think.
Upvotes: 0 |
2013/08/09 | 303 | 1,151 | <issue_start>username_0: What exactly is her power?
Why did Miyamura's sister, Yamada, and the president not get affected by her memory erase?
I understand that perhaps she couldn't erase Yamada's memories, but then how did the other evade the memory erase?<issue_comment>username_1: The 7th witches power is the the power to forget everything about the witches.
Miyamura's Sister ran away from her and escaped so was not affected. She's hasn't returned to the school since.
Yamada's power reversed the power and everyone else forgot about him and the witches.
The president was not affected because the student council president is the only student who may be immune to the witches' powers.
There's some fan speculation that the presidents are people who have Yamada's power, or have had.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: The 7th witch's power is memory manipulation. She/he also has the power to see the witches out of the students in the school. This power was revealed on the second witch war arc when Yamada became the seventh witch.
Upvotes: 0 |
2013/08/09 | 272 | 971 | <issue_start>username_0: In the anime, it is shown that over usage of Byakugan and Sharingan eyes will cause the user to strain. Does that happen with a Rinnegan user?<issue_comment>username_1: All *eye techniques* use up a lot of chakra.
Clan users can use the techniques for longer periods of time as compared to non clan users (like Kakashi). But even then there is a limit to which the doujutsu can be used, and that is dependent on the chakra level of the user.
Now to which extent the Rinnegan can be used has not been explicitly defined in the manga, so it can only be a guess. But surely it should cause strain to the user on over usage.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: They never mention strain of the Rinnegan in the manga so the following is conjecture
Nagato (and his puppets) seems to have the Rinnegan up 24/7. In flashbacks to the Sage of Six Paths he has Rinnegan up so I believe it does not cause strain like the other ocular powers
Upvotes: 2 |
2013/08/09 | 1,042 | 3,625 | <issue_start>username_0: The motivations of the following characters, have been were shown in the anime:
* Tobi/Madara and Zetsu wanted to capture and seal the Tailed Beasts for his Moon's Eye plan.
* Pain and Konan wanted to capture Tailed Beasts and use them to destroy the Five Shinobi Nations.
* Itachi wanted to make sure the Akatsuki didn't attack Konoha or capture the Nine-Tails.
* Kisame already had connections with Madara before joining Akatsuki.
What motivations did Hidan, Kakuzu, Deidara, Sasori, and Orochimaru have to join the Akatsuki?<issue_comment>username_1: I can't find any evidence about others, but Deidara was recruited because of his skills and lack of regard while blowing things up.
By the time all of them joined Akatsuki, they were all criminals. Akatsuki could have been posed as an opportunity to get all of them together.
And it can be guessed that Orochimaru joined Akatsuki to gather more knowledge from the group.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: As for the reasons, most of their background stories weren't clearly provided, so I am going to have make my answer with their character portrayal.
1. **Hidan** - As for why he would've joined Akatsuki, I can only surmise that it's due to his obsession to fight and kill (primarily on the aspect he was religious, he wanted to give more sacrifices to his god Jashin) and he could've seen that as bread and butter stuff of what Akatsuki was doing. He probably would've joined to work for free just for the killing.
2. **Kakuzu** - Surely money. There is no motivation other than money for him, which was shown clearly in his fight with team Asuma. That same obsession for money in fact even got him killed.
3. **Deidara/Sasori** - Their ambitions to join Akatsuki is quite vague to me. For Deidara, he was young and wanted to make a name for his art by blowing up stuffs, so Itachi challenged him to a fight, saying that if he was defeated, he would have to join Akatsuki. He probably ended up joining because of that. As for Sasori, he, being a rogue ninja like all the others, probably thought it would be safer to be along with fellow rogue ninjas.
4. **Orochimaru** - One of Orochimaru's ambition was to live for eternity to learn all the techniques. He knew the organization had stronger members and probably joined the organization to learn more about others and their skills. It's probably also because of his hate he had for Konoha.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: In [**Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naruto_Shippuden:_Ultimate_Ninja_Storm_4) (a Naruto game), there are special contents from **the creator of Naruto** about formation of Akatsuki:
* **Kakuzu**: Pain (Nagato) was searching for elite ninjas in order to create Akatsuki. During his search, Kakuzu was best choice, due to his immortality and power. Kakuzu joined Akatsuki **as it will assure him protection by forming a group, and opportunities for collecting money**
* **Hidan**: He was a experiment of his village, and a follower of lord Jashin. He killed people to offer sacrifice to his lord, so he was a wanted criminal with a big price on his head. Pain convinced him to join Akatsuki as it will protect him from the ninjas after his head.
* **Sasori**: He joined Akatsuki because he lost a fight against Konan.
* **Orochimaru**(ex-member): He joined Akatsuki to know and explore the jutsus of the members of Akatsuki
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: Hidan- Jason purposes. Kakuzu - money. Deidara- he lost to itachi Uchiha. Sasori- lost to konan
Upvotes: 0 |
2013/08/09 | 321 | 974 | <issue_start>username_0: Simply that: did the events of Hunter x Hunter: Phantom Rouge really happen (with respect to HxH story, of course)? At least the timeline is credible (between Yorknew City and Greed Island arcs).<issue_comment>username_1: I think it is, it hasn't been confirmed by the mangaka but there is a manga chapter about Kurapika's past that is shown in the movie.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: It's a part-canon side-story.
[AniDB](http://anidb.net/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=anime&aid=9323):
>
> The premise of the movie is **based off a manuscript of the Yorknew City arc** written by <NAME> that he eventually **ended up scrapping**.
>
>
>
[WP](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunter_%C3%97_Hunter#Phantom_Rouge):
>
> The film is based on an **unpublished** story manga creator <NAME> wrote around 10 years ago.
>
>
>
Since it's based off his own work, *Phantom Rouge* presumably has Togashi's blessings.
Upvotes: 3 |
2013/08/10 | 6,152 | 13,012 | <issue_start>username_0: It's rather confusing how the story is serialized not in the order of its events. I'd like to know the order in which the animated versions were produced.
---
Turns out the creators of the series are very considerate towards the viewers and include several recap episodes in each season. So although the story is out of order, everything still makes perfect sense and you don't have to bother yourself by figuring out the exact timeline of the original.<issue_comment>username_1: 1. The first 12 episodes of **Bakemonogatari** aired on TV weekly from July 3 - September 25, 2009. Episodes 13-15 of Bakemonogatari were webcasted from November 3 - June 25, 2010.
2. **Nisemonogatari** (11 episodes) aired on TV weekly from January 7 - March 17, 2012.
3. **Nekomonogatari [Black]** (4 episodes) aired on TV as a special on December 31, 2012.
4. **Monogatari Second Season** (consisting of Neko [White], Kabuki, Otori, Oni, and Koi; 26 episodes including 3 recaps) aired on TV weekly from July 6, 2013 - December 28, 2013.
5. **Hanamonogatari** (also called "Monogatari Second Season + α" ["plus alpha"]; 5 episodes) aired as a special on August 16, 2014.
6. **Tsukimonogatari** (4 episodes) aired as a special on December 31, 2014.
See [this question](https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/4695/what-is-the-chronological-order-of-the-monogatari-series) for information on the in-universe *chronological* order of the series.
---
Note also that the *publication* order of the light novels is not the same as the *production* order of the animated series. There are two key differences.
* Kizumonogatari, which was published between Bake and Nise, has not yet been animated. It was [announced](http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2010-07-28/nisioisin-kizumonogatari-light-novel-gets-anime) in July 2010 that Kizumonogatari would receive a film adaptation. As of this writing (over four years later), no such adaptation has been produced, nor is there even any reason to believe that anybody actually planned to produce a film version of Kizu. Many speculate that Kizumonogatari is an elaborate practical joke by Shaft.
* Hanamonogatari, which was published between Kabuki and Otori, was not animated until after Otori, Oni, and Koi.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: Anime
=====
* [Bakemonogatari](https://myanimelist.net/anime/5081/Bakemonogatari) - [化物語](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%8C%96%E7%89%A9%E8%AA%9E)
From the 3rd of July 2009 to the 25th of June 2010.
Light novel: *Monogatari Series: First Season* volume 1 to 2.
* [Nisemonogatari](https://myanimelist.net/anime/11597/Nisemonogatari) - [偽物語](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%81%BD%E7%89%A9%E8%AA%9E)
From the 8th of January to the 18th of March 2012.
Light novel: *Monogatari Series: First Season* volume 4 to 5.
* [Nekomonogatari: Kuro](https://myanimelist.net/anime/15689/Nekomonogatari__Kuro) - [猫物語（黒）](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%8C%AB%E7%89%A9%E8%AA%9E)
On the 31st of December 2012.
Light novel: *Monogatari Series: First Season* volume 6.
* [Monogatari Series: Second Season](https://myanimelist.net/anime/17074/Monogatari_Series__Second_Season) - 〈物語〉シリーズ セカンドシーズン
From the 7th of July to the 29th of December 2013.
Light novel: *Monogatari Series: Second Season*.
+ Nekomonogatari: Shiro - [猫物語（白）](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%8C%AB%E7%89%A9%E8%AA%9E)
Episodes 1 to 5.
From volume 1.
+ Kabukimonogatari - [傾物語](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%82%BE%E7%89%A9%E8%AA%9E)
Episodes 7 to 10.
From volume 2.
+ Otorimonogatari - [囮物語](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%9B%AE%E7%89%A9%E8%AA%9E)
Episodes 12 to 15.
From volume 4.
+ Onimonogatari - [鬼物語](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%AC%BC%E7%89%A9%E8%AA%9E)
Episodes 17 to 20.
From volume 5.
+ Koimonogatari - [恋物語](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%81%8B%E7%89%A9%E8%AA%9E_(%E8%A5%BF%E5%B0%BE%E7%B6%AD%E6%96%B0))
Episodes 21 to 26.
From volume 6.
* [Hanamonogatari](https://myanimelist.net/anime/21855/Hanamonogatari) - [花物語](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%8A%B1%E7%89%A9%E8%AA%9E_(%E8%A5%BF%E5%B0%BE%E7%B6%AD%E6%96%B0))
On the 16th of August 2014.
Light novel: *Monogatari Series: Second Season* volume 3.
* [Tsukimonogatari](https://myanimelist.net/anime/28025/Tsukimonogatari) - [憑物語](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%86%91%E7%89%A9%E8%AA%9E)
On the 31st of December 2014.
Light novel: *Monogatari Series: Final Season* volume 1.
* [Owarimonogatari](https://myanimelist.net/anime/31181/Owarimonogatari) - 終物語
From the 4th of October to the 20th of December 2015.
Light novel: *Monogatari Series: Final Season*.
+ Owarimonogatari Joukan - [終物語 （上）](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%B5%82%E7%89%A9%E8%AA%9E)
Episodes 1 to 7.
From volume 3.
+ Owarimonogatari Chuukan - [終物語 （中）](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%B5%82%E7%89%A9%E8%AA%9E)
Episodes 8 to 13.
From volume 4.
* [Kizumonogatari I: Tekketsu-hen](https://myanimelist.net/anime/9260/Kizumonogatari_I__Tekketsu-hen) - [傷物語〈Ⅰ鉄血篇〉](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%82%B7%E7%89%A9%E8%AA%9E)
On the 8th of January 2016.
Light novel: *Monogatari Series: First Season* volume 3.
* [Koyomimonogatari](https://myanimelist.net/anime/32268/Koyomimonogatari) - [暦物語](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%9A%A6%E7%89%A9%E8%AA%9E_(%E8%A5%BF%E5%B0%BE%E7%B6%AD%E6%96%B0))
From the 10th of January to the 27th of March 2016.
Light novel: *Monogatari Series: Final Season* volume 2.
* [Kizumonogatari II: Nekketsu-hen](https://myanimelist.net/anime/31757/Kizumonogatari_II__Nekketsu-hen) - [傷物語〈Ⅱ熱血篇〉](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%82%B7%E7%89%A9%E8%AA%9E)
On the 19th of August 2016.
Light novel: *Monogatari Series: First Season* volume 3.
* [Kizumonogatari III: Reiketsu-hen](https://myanimelist.net/anime/31758/Kizumonogatari_III__Reiketsu-hen) - [傷物語〈Ⅲ冷血篇〉](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%82%B7%E7%89%A9%E8%AA%9E)
On the 6th of January 2017.
Light novel: *Monogatari Series: First Season* volume 3.
* [Owarimonogatari 2nd Season](https://myanimelist.net/anime/35247/Owarimonogatari_2nd_Season) - 終物語
From the 12th to the 13th of August 2017.
Light novel: *Monogatari Series: Final Season*.
+ Owarimonogatari Gekan - [終物語 （下）](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%B5%82%E7%89%A9%E8%AA%9E)
From volume 5.
* [Zoku Owarimonogatari](https://myanimelist.net/anime/36999/Zoku_Owarimonogatari) - [続・終物語](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%B6%9A%E3%83%BB%E7%B5%82%E7%89%A9%E8%AA%9E)
On the 10th of November 2018.
Light novel: *Monogatari Series: Final Season* volume 6.
Light Novels
============
* [Monogatari Series: First Season](https://myanimelist.net/manga/14893/Monogatari_Series__First_Season) - 〈物語〉シリーズ ファーストシーズン
From the 1st of November 2006 to the 28th of July 2010.
Containing:
+ Bakemonogatari - [化物語](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%8C%96%E7%89%A9%E8%AA%9E)
From volume 1 to 2.
+ Kizumonogatari - [傷物語](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%82%B7%E7%89%A9%E8%AA%9E)
From volume 3.
+ Nisemonogatari - [偽物語](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%81%BD%E7%89%A9%E8%AA%9E)
From volume 4 to 5.
+ Nekomonogatari: Kuro - [猫物語（黒）](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%8C%AB%E7%89%A9%E8%AA%9E)
From volume 6.
* [Monogatari Series: Second Season](https://myanimelist.net/manga/23751/Monogatari_Series__Second_Season) - 〈物語〉シリーズ セカンドシーズン
From the 27th of October 2010 to the 20th of December 2011.
Containing:
+ Nekomonogatari: Shiro - [猫物語（白）](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%8C%AB%E7%89%A9%E8%AA%9E)
From volume 1.
+ Kabukimonogatari - [傾物語](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%82%BE%E7%89%A9%E8%AA%9E)
From volume 2.
+ Hanamonogatari - [花物語](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%8A%B1%E7%89%A9%E8%AA%9E_(%E8%A5%BF%E5%B0%BE%E7%B6%AD%E6%96%B0))
From volume 3.
+ Otorimonogatari - [囮物語](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%9B%AE%E7%89%A9%E8%AA%9E)
From volume 4.
+ Onimonogatari - [鬼物語](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%AC%BC%E7%89%A9%E8%AA%9E)
From volume 5.
+ Koimonogatari - [恋物語](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%81%8B%E7%89%A9%E8%AA%9E_(%E8%A5%BF%E5%B0%BE%E7%B6%AD%E6%96%B0))
From volume 6.
* [Monogatari Series: Final Season](https://myanimelist.net/manga/44227/Monogatari_Series__Final_Season) - 〈物語〉シリーズ ファイナルシーズン
From the 28th of September 2012 to the 18th of September 2014.
Containing:
+ Tsukimonogatari - [憑物語](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%86%91%E7%89%A9%E8%AA%9E)
From volume 1.
+ Koyomimonogatari - [暦物語](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%9A%A6%E7%89%A9%E8%AA%9E_(%E8%A5%BF%E5%B0%BE%E7%B6%AD%E6%96%B0))
From volume 2.
+ Owarimonogatari Joukan - [終物語 （上）](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%B5%82%E7%89%A9%E8%AA%9E)
From volume 3.
+ Owarimonogatari Chuukan - [終物語 （中）](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%B5%82%E7%89%A9%E8%AA%9E)
From volume 4.
+ Owarimonogatari Gekan - [終物語 （下）](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%B5%82%E7%89%A9%E8%AA%9E)
From volume 5.
+ Zoku Owarimonogatari - [続・終物語](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%B6%9A%E3%83%BB%E7%B5%82%E7%89%A9%E8%AA%9E)
From volume 6.
* [Monogatari Series: Off Season](https://myanimelist.net/manga/93097/Monogatari_Series__Off_Season) - 〈物語〉シリーズ オフシーズン
From the 5th of October 2015 to the 11th of January 2017.
Containing:
+ Orokamonogatari - [愚物語](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%84%9A%E7%89%A9%E8%AA%9E)
From volume 1.
+ Wazamonogatari - [業物語](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%A5%AD%E7%89%A9%E8%AA%9E)
From volume 2.
+ Nademonogatari - [撫物語](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%92%AB%E7%89%A9%E8%AA%9E)
From volume 3.
+ Musubimonogatari - [結物語](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%B5%90%E7%89%A9%E8%AA%9E)
From volume 4.
* [Monogatari Series: Monster Season](https://myanimelist.net/manga/108177/Monogatari_Series__Monster_Season) - 〈物語〉シリーズ モンスターシーズン
Since the 20th of July 2017.
Containing:
+ Shinobumonogatari - [忍物語](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%BF%8D%E7%89%A9%E8%AA%9E)
From volume 1.
+ Yoimonogatari - [宵物語](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%AE%B5%E7%89%A9%E8%AA%9E)
From volume 2.
+ Amarimonogatari - [余物語](https://kuromitsuha.hatenablog.com/entry/2019/04/22/173523)
From volume 3.
+ Ōgimonogatari - 扇物語
From volume 4.
+ Shinomonogatari Jō - 死物語（上）
From volume 5.
+ Shinomonogatari Ge - 死物語（下）
From volume 6.
Manga
=====
There is [a manga version](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monogatari_(series)#Manga). However I don't know if it contains any of the same stories (e.g. Bakemonogatari) or sub stories (e.g. Hitagai Crab).
* Bakemonogatari (manga) - 化物語
Japanese: From the 15th of June 2018 to the 17th of October 2019.
English: Since the 1st of October 2019.
Contains 7 volumes.
Short Stories
=============
This isn't a complete list, as [a lot of the short stories are one-shots](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Monogatari_novels#List_of_short_short_stories).
* [Bakemonogatari Anime Complete Guidebook](https://myanimelist.net/manga/24499/Bakemonogatari_Short_Stories) - 化物語アニメコンプリートガイドブック
On the 28th of October 2010.
* [Nisemonogatari Anime Complete Guidebook](https://myanimelist.net/manga/90322/Nisemonogatari_Short_Stories) - 偽物語アニメコンプリートガイドブック
On the 27th of September 2012.
* [Anime Monogatari Series Heroine Book](https://myanimelist.net/manga/86670/Monogatari_Series_Heroine_Hon) - アニメ＜物語＞シリーズヒロイン本
Since the 29th of October 2013.
Additional Content
==================
* [Bakemonogatari Recap](https://myanimelist.net/anime/6948/Bakemonogatari_Recap) - 化物語
On the 7th of August 2009.
* [Naisho no Hanashi](https://myanimelist.net/anime/36725/Naisho_no_Hanashi) - ナイショの話
On the 2nd of February 2012.
A song.
* [Nekomonogatari: Kuro Recap](https://myanimelist.net/anime/38971/Nekomonogatari__Kuro_Recap) - 「化物語」ダイジェストムービー
On the 6th of March 2013.
* [Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica Movie 3: Hangyaku no Monogatari - Magica Quartet x Nisioisin](https://myanimelist.net/anime/23831/Mahou_Shoujo_Madoka%E2%98%85Magica_Movie_3__Hangyaku_no_Monogatari_-_Magica_Quartet_x_Nisioisin)
On the 26th of October 2013.
Short videos instructing movie etiquette. Crossover with [Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica](https://myanimelist.net/anime/9756/Mahou_Shoujo_Madoka%E2%98%85Magica?q=Mahou).
* [Okitegami Kyouko no Bibouroku x Monogatari](https://myanimelist.net/anime/32191/Okitegami_Kyouko_no_Bibouroku_x_Monogatari) - 『掟上今日子の備忘録』×〈物語〉
On the 31st of December 2014.
A short promotional video as a crossover and promoting [Okitegami Kyouko no Bibouroku](https://myanimelist.net/manga/90993/Okitegami_Kyouko_no_Bibouroku).
* [Nisekoimonogatari](https://myanimelist.net/anime/30514/Nisekoimonogatari) - ニセコイモノガタリ
On the 1st of April 2015.
An April fools crossover trailer with [Nisekoi](https://myanimelist.net/anime/18897/Nisekoi).
* [Koyomi History](https://myanimelist.net/anime/37139/Koyomi_History) - こよみヒストリー
Sometime during 2016.
A short recap.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer] |
2013/08/10 | 419 | 1,526 | <issue_start>username_0: In the anime, it is shown that the Akatsuki members communicate with each other from the place they were currently present. What is that technology or jutsu?<issue_comment>username_1: Accorrding to [this](http://www.narutohurricane.com/character-bios/akatsuki-leader.shtml), Pain "has a telepathy-like ability that allows Akatsuki members to communicate with each other through astral projection wherever they are located."
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: This would be the [Magic Lantern Body Technique](http://naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Magic_Lantern_Body_Technique)
>
> ...The Akatsuki members sit down and send out "thought waves" (思念波, shinenha), converted into chakra. These thought waves are then picked up by Pain, acting as a kind of control tower. This technique amplifies the thought waves and broadcasts them to a specific location through illusionary bodies. The illusionary bodies differ from being mere reflections. While Pain is relaying the members' thoughts, they can have conversation and use varying techniques...
>
>
>
From Nagato's [wiki page](http://naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Nagato) under *Ninjutsu*
>
> While acting through the Deva Path, Nagato displayed a wide range of techniques. Nagato was responsible for Akatsuki's meetings by using *a technique that allowed him to pick up their thought waves and broadcast them* in the form of an astral projection to a specific location.
>
>
>
Upvotes: 3 |
2013/08/11 | 1,269 | 4,206 | <issue_start>username_0: Going as far back as *Astroboy*, anime and manga characters have had big eyes.
What is basis of this trend? How and where did this originate?
<issue_comment>username_1: Anime characters having large eyes is generally attributed to [Osamu Tezuka](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osamu_Tezuka){1}, an artist prolific enough to be called the "father of manga", and the creator of *Astro Boy*, the source of the image you shared in your question (among other manga).
At the time of *Astro Boy* (1952), Tezuka was inspired by precursors in animation, largely those of Walt Disney, but including others as well, before adapting them to a more Japanese stylization. Two such characters who served as inspiration were Mickey Mouse and Betty Boop:
 
It is from *Astro Boy* and Tezuka's other works that a lot of modern manga and anime style evolved, and the big eyes are one of the things that stuck around. <NAME>, the man responsible for bringing *Astro Boy* to the United States, corroborates this, saying that Betty Boop was indeed one of Tezuka's favorite characters. The "runaway" success of *Astro Boy* was what led other studios to imitate Tezuka's style.{2}
It is also the case that the large eyes tend to look "cuter", much like they were intended to on characters like Mickey Mouse and Bambi. This continues in anime and manga; younger characters tend to have the largest, "cutest" eyes, while older characters generally have smaller (and often sharper) eyes, which can be seen in this image containing *Hunter x Hunter* characters:
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/mQIAP.png)
So, while the style Tezuka used—which has carried on in new anime and manga media ever since—was largely based on Western animation style, the eyes can still serve as a good way to indicate personality or the feel of the character that the viewer is supposed to have.
**Sources and other Links**
1. [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osamu_Tezuka#Works) sources this to "*Watching Anime, Reading Manga: 25 Years of Essays and Reviews*".
2. [MIT Anime Resources: Big Eyes (2008-07-23)](http://web.archive.org/web/20080723120859/http://web.mit.edu/anime/www/culture-notes.html#big_eyes)
3. [TVTropes on Anime](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Anime) (a very brief mention)
4. [Wikipedia on anime eye styles](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anime#Eye_styles)
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: There's plenty that doesn't.
The facial features and eye shapes are what makes anime its distinct style. Look at Osamu's art style then contrast it with *Gundam*, most Jump Comics franchises, Studio Ghibli style, and another early anime, *Lupin the 3rd* and then try to make the case that Disney/Tezuka had any influence on anime's visual style.
Especially different from Tezuka and Disney's style are other relatively small eyed anime like *Hokuto no Ken*, *JoJo*, *Berserk*, and lots of other adult-targeted anime.
And I forget what book it is, but there is one where the introduction on the first page is a summary by Katsuhiro Otomo explicitly stating, among other things, that the anime style is not the same thing as the kind Osamu Tezuka drew. He just innovated storytelling and animation techniques within anime and the idea of using big eyes to more clearly express emotions.
Big eyes themselves were an idea Japan was already very familiar with anyway. Here are some direct contrast just to further cement the point
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/GKDbm.jpg)
*Pluto* (Naoki Urasawa) vs *Astro Boy* (Osamu Tezuka)
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/D0kcx.jpg)
Kingdom Hearts
There are at least as many animes without big eyes as there are with big eyes. Anime is not by default the "big eyes" look that a surprising number of people ignorantly believe it to be, and obviously, has absolutely no resemblance to any Tezuka/Disney style.
Upvotes: 2 |
2013/08/11 | 908 | 2,958 | <issue_start>username_0: I'd appreciate any help identifying this animated film.
The main portrayal is of an island society that hunts huge whale-like creatures, using boats and harpoons. When a member of this society dies, he tumbles down an immensely deep hole, where he undergoes reincarnation into one of the whales.
This film was from Japan and I saw it in the early 1990s, I think, on a VHS collection from some animation festival or other. It was in color and I do not remember there being any language in the film.<issue_comment>username_1: You very likely watched [Macross Dynamite 7](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macross_Dynamite_7):
>
> During his journey, he stops on a planet named "Zola", which is inhabited by a race of humanoid marsupials called the Zolan. While staying there, he becomes involved in a battle between **galactic space whale poachers** and the Zola Patrol (Zola's equivalent of a police force). After being injured, he is taken into the care of a young Zolan girl named <NAME>, who has a sister, Liza, that works for the Zola Patrol. Her father, <NAME>, is also a whale poacher. Graham and his wife <NAME>, a very popular singer on Zola, would go hunting whales in their Valkyrie, and Maria would also sing to the whales while they hunted. However, Maria lost her life and Graham lost an arm after encountering the legendary Great White Galactic Whale. After the event, Graham swore revenge on the Great White Whale for taking his wife and his arm and **underwent Macronization to become large enough to take it on**.
>
>
>
It's not exactly reincarnation. But it's close. The OVA was released between '97 and '98.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: I believe [**Skywhales**](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skywhales) is what you are looking for. It is a British animated short film in 1983 directed and written by *<NAME>* and *<NAME>*, and it is included in the *British Animation Collection Volume 1 DVD*.
You can view this animated short on [Youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQ6qw1nh0tA).
A scene during the hunt, where the main character flew towards the skywhale and stabbed it with a harpoon.
The scene where everyone returned from the hunt. You can see a bunch of flying ships anchored on the port.
The main character died and went to throw himself down a hole inside a building.
As he dropped down the hole, he turned into cocoon, then emerged from it as a skywhale.
The characters in this animated film speak some sort of nonsensical language. You probably mistook it for Japanese.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: Here is the short:
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQ6qw1nh0tA>
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skywhales>
Regards.
username_3.
Upvotes: 0 |
2013/08/11 | 1,767 | 5,658 | <issue_start>username_0: I was stalking a forum looking for images to nab to use as wallpapers, and there was a post where posters were claiming characters as their "waifu".
Seeing how it is spelled, I would assume that what they mean is "wife"; however, it seems weird to use the term "waifu" rather than the normal Japanese term for wife (my understanding is that it's "Tsuma" (妻); however, I could be wrong).
So, where did the term "waifu" come from? If I am wrong, and "waifu" isn't what I think it is, could someone explain what it is and where it came from?<issue_comment>username_1: The word *waifu* (ワイフ) is an "[Engrish](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engrish)" term for "wife". It is likely the preferred term for "wife" among English-speaking otaku because of its auditory similarity to the English term and its phonetic similarity to Japanese.
Its origin is likely from a dialog by an *Azumanga Daioh* character named Mr. Kimura. When a pair of characters picks up a dropped photo, and he is asked who is in the photo, he responds (very creepily), "mai waifu" ("my wife"). [(*YouTube*)](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AgDbAT56I0)
At this point, the term is mostly used by otaku subculture (particularly males) as a reference to a favorite female character (usually to the extreme). There is a male equivalent, *husbando*; however, this term is far less common.
**Further reading**
• [ワイフ - Denshi Jisho](http://jisho.org/words?jap=%E3%83%AF%E3%82%A4%E3%83%95&eng=&dict=edict)
• [KnowYourMeme - Waifu](http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/waifu) (May be **NSFW**)
• [Wikipedia - Mr. Kimura](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waifu#Kimura)
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: Origin
======
The prevailing wisdom1 is that the term "waifu" originates from a scene from the 2002 anime [Azumanga Daioh](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azumanga_Daioh); specifically, [this scene](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AgDbAT56I0) from episode 15.
Some context: the male character in that scene, Mr. Kimura, is a teacher at the school the female characters in that scene attend. Mr. Kimura has a well-deserved reputation for being generally perverse and possibly a pedophile.
A rough translation of the scene follows:
>
> **TAKINO Tomo**: What's this? A picture of a woman?
>
>
> **KASUGA Ayumu**: Wow, she's beautiful.
>
>
> **TAKINO Tomo**: Who is she?
>
>
> **KIMURA**: My wife.
>
>
> **All**: That can't be!
>
>
>
The astute listener will observe that Kimura uses the English words "my wife", rather than a Japanese translation thereof (such as 妻2 *tsuma*). When the words "my wife" are adapted to conform to Japanese phonological constraints (e.g. no terminal /f/), and then re-expressed in a Japanese syllabary (hiragana/katakana), the result is マイワイフ. Finally, when we romanize マイワイフ, we get "mai waifu".
Usage
=====
The below graph shows that *usage* of "waifu" on the internet was effectively negligible until early 2007. This seems to suggest that "waifu" did not become memetic until some time after Azumanga Daioh aired.
There is [evidence from the Animesuki forums](http://forums.animesuki.com/showthread.php?p=566857&highlight=waifu#post566857) that "waifu" (in fact, "mai waifu") was being used in its modern sense (rather than the literal standard-English "woman one is married to" sense) by May 2006. Interestingly, this appears to precede the rise in searches for "waifu" on Google Trends. I'm not sure what this means, but it probably means *something*.
Husbandos
=========
There is also a male counterpart to "waifu": **husbando**. Unlike "waifu", "husbando" is not derived from Japanese3. Rather, it was developed by analogy, as an idealization of how a Japanese speaker might pronounce the word "husband". A "husbando" is basically the same thing as a "waifu", except male rather than female.
The earliest citation I've found for "husbando" is from October 2007 (again, [on Animesuki](http://forums.animesuki.com/showthread.php?p=1227051&highlight=husbando#post1227051)). With some internet archaeology, I suspect it should be possible to show that usage of "husbando" began as much as a year prior to this citation.
---
Notes
=====
1 I say that this is the prevailing wisdom, because I have no evidence that "waifu" was not used prior to 2002.
2 The Japanese equivalent of "mai waifu", in terms of usage among otaku and memeticity and so forth, is actually 俺の嫁 ("ore no yome", lit. "my bride").
3 [ハズバンド](http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/leaf/jn2/176376/m0u/) *hazubando* exists, but I'm almost certain this didn't directly give rise to English "husbando". At most, it may have been an inspiration.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: OK, here's the deal short and sweet, all that technical babel is just that. jargon.
I'm a dual citizen Japanese and American. I speak both languages. The term "waifu" is "wife" in the English language on both sides. Meaning, when Japanese people speak, we put a vowel at the end of our words almost all the time. So when learning to speak English , it's natural to add a vowel at the end of what we are trying to say in English. Ergo: "Wife", comes out to sound like "waifu" when speaking English.
The actual Japanese word for "wife" depending on who you are speaking to is "tsuma". As far as why its usage is so popular, who knows. It just got popular because of how we speak with our accent. And for the record, there are many more words in English like this, that are not in any way shape or form uses in the Japanese language *because* it's an English translation.
Upvotes: 1 |
2013/08/12 | 467 | 1,678 | <issue_start>username_0: Tobirama said Obito might be using some kind of light and dark jutsu that turns all ninjutsu to nothing and only Senjutsu works on him. But I don't remember Tobirama getting into Sage Mode before placing the Flying Thunder God mark on Obito (well, it is not even told if he have a Sage Mode), but the mark was not erased in spite of being a ninjutsu. How can it be possible?<issue_comment>username_1: To negate a ninjutsu, Obito needs to use the black orbs either in defense or offense.
When Obito attacked Minato with the black orb, Obito's arm was not repaired back. And when Naruto+Sasuke attacked Obito, he used the black orb to absorb the combo attack.
So, o remove the Flying Thunder God mark, he would need to use the black orbs on himslef, which is of a great risk. Maybe that is why he has not undone the technique.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: The marking itself is not ninjutsu, but rather just a type of seal. And Minato states that the marking never disappears from a marked target in Chapter 637.
EDIT:
Minato marked him with a seal prior to Obito becoming the Jinchuriki. When Obito transformed, the seal was removed. This is because each mark has a very specific destination. And when Obito transformed into a different being, that also counts as a different destination, which voids Minato's mark.
However, after Obito became the 10 tails Jinchuriki, Tobirama was able to place his own mark on Obito. This seal is Obito the Jinchuriki, and can't be removed unless Obito undergoes another transformation into something else.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer] |
2013/08/12 | 1,088 | 4,136 | <issue_start>username_0: *I just started watching the anime and I haven't read much of the manga so I don't know if it is explained further on.*
We all know a Titan's body gives off extreme heat, from an encounter Eren had with the Colossal Titan and an episode where they learned this in class.
In episode 6, when Mikasa killed a Titan, we saw the body still giving off heat..
..and a few minutes later it was pretty badly burnt, unrecognizable in fact.
Later in episode 7 when Eren in his Titan form attacks another and beats it to a pulp, we see that the process has somewhat accelerated? At first I thought the body eventually burned away but this one was different than the first. All of the Titan's flesh was gone.
So, what *exactly* happens to a Titan's body structure after it is killed? Does the heat burn it up now that it cannot regenerate or what?<issue_comment>username_1: In episode 15, "Special Operations Squad: Prelude to the Counterattack, Part 2" where <NAME> has those 2 captured titans (which she named "Sawney" and "Bean"), she mentions that the Titans seem unusually light for how large they are, and that a severed arm of one of the titans weighed nothing, which allows such large bodies to move so quickly with great agility.
Though, at least so far in the anime and manga, there's no explanation to their physiology or what exactly happens after they die, it's probably the case that their solid state is being maintained by their mysterious "power source" and that once the source of power is gone (and thus cannot regenerate), their physical bodies (sans skeleton) return to the form of some type of gas.
So, to summarize this completely unsubstantiated speculation:
1. Titan's bodies are actually made up of some type of gaseous substance that weighs nothing
2. While alive, with its "power source", the gaseous substance takes on the form of solid flesh-like material, but still incredibly light
3. Without this "power source", the flesh returns to the gaseous state and evaporates.
4. This may or may not have to do with the extremely high body temperature that the titans have.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Titans actually get their power from sunlight. <NAME> says this as when she deprives them of light they seem to deactivate and can't do anything.
Annie didn't want to go into the dark because she couldn't transform in the dark area, and also Eren when he kept biting his hand but there was no sunlight, he couldn't transform. Light shines when the titan shifters change, and the light seems to come from the sky so my guess is that it is sunlight.
Also the nape seems to be a solar panel because when cut the titans go out like light. Blow out a candle and see what happens smoke goes out; the titans seem to be hard light manifestations.
So in conclusion titans are like fire and the nape is like were they get their source. Titans fade away when they die like smoke.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: Because Titans are so big and they move with such speed and force they are constantly producing enough heat to burn flesh (remember when Hanji touched Eren's arm when he tried to pick up the spoon and it scalded her after a second?) So when the Titans die, they stop regenerating and the heat begins to damage the flesh resulting in them burning.
At least I assume so, it makes sense they are always repairing their bodies and they're so hot they can burn people. Plus, in the last episode of the anime,
>
> Eren bursts into flames increasing his body temperature to such a degree his Titan form is in overdrive, making him essentially a "Super Titan", but if you notice, he doesn't regenerate at all in this form because he's so hot his regeneration can't keep the damage at bay.
>
>
>
Just a guess, but it would fit the idea of the anime.
Upvotes: 2 |
2013/08/12 | 1,261 | 4,365 | <issue_start>username_0: I've noticed references to the Kabbalah in a couple of anime I've watched. One of them is Neon Genesis Evangelion.
Neon Genesis Evangelion has it in the sky in both the opening credits and in the series itself:
I also remember it was on the ceiling at NERV, but the best screencap I could find of that was too tiny to be visible.
So, my question is, **Is there any deeper meaning to the use of the Kabbalistic tree of life, or is it just used because it looks cool?**<issue_comment>username_1: As far as **Evangelion** goes, there's several statements from the staff concerning their placement and usage within the show (emphasis is mine):
From the [<NAME>: May 1998 issue of "Evangelion"](http://wiki.evageeks.org/Statements_by_Evangelion_Staff#Hiroyuki_Yamaga:_May_1998_issue_of_.22Evangelion.22):
>
> **On the reasons for use of Judeo-Christian symbology in Eva**
>
>
> **YAMAGA:** I don’t know exactly why. **I suspect that Mr. Anno may have read some book on it, and there was some thoughts he wanted to express on it**. I personally am glad that, rather than Christianity, he didn’t express some obscure Buddhist theme, because then it would have been linked more with Aum Shinri Kyo. [LAUGHS]
>
>
>
From the [Kazuya Tsurumaki: Q&A from "Amusing Himself to Death"](http://wiki.evageeks.org/Statements_by_Evangelion_Staff#Kazuya_Tsurumaki:_Q.26A_from_.22Amusing_Himself_to_Death.22):
>
> **Can you explain the symbolism of the cross in Evangelion?**
>
>
> **<NAME>**: There are a lot of giant robot shows in Japan, and we did want our story to have a religious theme to help distinguish us. Because Christianity is an uncommon religion in Japan we thought it would be mysterious. None of the staff who worked on Eva are Christians. **There is no actual Christian meaning to the show, we just thought the visual symbols of Christianity look cool.** If we had known the show would get distributed in the US and Europe we might have rethought that choice.
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>
>
And from an NHK special "[Extra Curricular Lesson with Hideaki Anno](http://www.evageeks.org/2010/10/extra-curricular-lesson-with-hideaki-anno/)", a student asks:
>
> "Why is that robot-looking thing called an Evangelion"?
>
>
> **Anno**: "It is a Christian word meaning *Fukuin* or Gospel and it's supposed to bring blessings. Actually, it's a Greek word. I used it because it sounds complicated"
>
>
>
So in the case of Evangelion, it's used mostly to look cool. It's
more or less an internally consistent window dressing that doesn't contain any actual *religious* meaning. That is not to say that the symbology doesn't have other meaning within itself, especially in the context of the fictional show.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: yes it was in Gendo's office, therefore he believes in what it represents.
The whole nerv project was 1) to defend humanity against the angels and 2) the instrumentality project.
the tree of life probably relates to 2). The end goal was for humanity to become one so everyone can be 'happy'. I don't know the details of kabbalah but I imagine it relates to this.
Judaism/Christianity is a deep topic and probably does not directly relate to what evangelion was about. But there does seem to be a connection in terms of judaism/Christianity being about salvation of humanity, filling in that flawed nature we as humans have. which is what the instrumentality project was about.
Anno seems to have a focus on the question of how one solves lifes problems. The evangelion characters egos badly handling their life's difficulties. Religion tries to address this very question, placing importance on ones relationship with God to solve the question of how to live life("God is in his heaven, all is right with the world").
There is the connection that religion is a form of therapy and transformation. Jesus healed the demons that people suffered from. Life is about confronting our demons and living life the best we can. In M <NAME>'s book: 'the road less travelled' He brings together God and psychotherapy. It is well worth reading to see the connection with religion(spirituality) and psychological problems, two big themes in evangelion.
Upvotes: 1 |
2013/08/13 | 511 | 1,653 | <issue_start>username_0: I've heard that *Dragon Ball Z* once stretched a fight (sometimes they say one punch) over most of a season.
Which season was it? What are the episode titles? How did they do it, were there flashbacks or cut-aways, or constant fighting?<issue_comment>username_1: The Frieza vs Goku battle lasted from the time Vegeta dies to the explosion of Namek spans in [episode 87](http://dragonball.wikia.com/wiki/The_Ultimate_Battle) to 105, the infamous "five minute" battle itself starts at [episode 97](http://dragonball.wikia.com/wiki/Namek%27s_Destruction).
The fight between Goku and Cell at the Cell Games [starts at](http://dragonball.wikia.com/wiki/Goku_vs._Cell) 177 to 180 and Gohan's fight with Cell [begins at](http://dragonball.wikia.com/wiki/Faith_in_a_Boy) episode 181 and ends at 191.
The final battle with Buu spans from [episode 279](http://dragonball.wikia.com/wiki/Battle_for_the_Universe_Begins) to 287. This is the most varied battle out of all of them.
So technically, the battle between Frieza and Goku is the longest and most drawn out battle between two characters.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: Frieza vs Goku battle was the long lasting one. In episode 87 to 105, the "5 minutes" battle starts at episode 97.
When Gohan can't sense the power level of Goku. He flies from the turret where Piccolo was kept to find Goku. Frieza spotted him and Gohan started to do some time pass with Frieza by keep fleeing. Then Frieza said that after **2 mins**, the whole planet will burst.
I think so even after that there were many episodes passed till the fight with Goku continues with Frieza.
Upvotes: 3 |
2013/08/13 | 965 | 3,625 | <issue_start>username_0: The message "Forever Fornever" appeared at the end of the *Yu Yu Hakusho* anime series.
What does this mean and/or what is this related to?
>
> 
>
>
><issue_comment>username_1: I wrote this on [a forum](http://www.pojo.biz/board/showthread.php?t=455800),
>
> You raise a very interesting question that I'm sure has perplexed many fans. There have been a lot of discussions regarding it. First of all, the words "forever" and "fornever" are complete opposites of each other. Forever means that something will occur continuously, while **[fornever](http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=fornever)**, not actually being a word in the english dictionary but rather a **slang term**, means thats something will never occur.
>
>
> A common thing I hear is people believe that it is a typo and that is should state "**forever forever**". I personally don't think this is valid because the artist would certainly not screw up the last frame of the series.
>
>
> Personally, I believe that it just simply means what is says:"Forever will not occur," or in other words, "nothing lasts forever." I believe that Yu Yu Hakusho was by far one of the greatest anime/manga ever written, and the artist knew that everyone watching the last few minutes of the final show never wanted it to end. But, since everything good thing must come to an end, the artist made it clear and simple. I believe this is the only anime to end with a phrase for viewers to think about, rather then simply saying "the end."
>
>
>
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: There is **no definite answer** for this question stated by the artist himself [<NAME>ashi](http://yuyuhakusho.wikia.com/wiki/Yoshihiro_Togashi) There for we are left to interpreted it as we like. And there for there are allot of theory's of what this means. One of the most popular being the one stated by [Kakashi](https://anime.stackexchange.com/users/3081/kakashi)
>
> "Forever will not occur," or in other words, "nothing lasts forever." I believe that <NAME> was by far one of the greatest anime/manga ever written, and the artist knew that everyone watching the last few minutes of the final show never wanted it to end. But, since everything good thing must come to an end, the artist made it clear and simple. I believe this is the only anime to end with a phrase for viewers to think about, rather then simply saying "the end."
>
>
>
Another very popular theory is him showing discontinuation of the series. So no more different time lines, other endings. Or any such things.
But just like stated in the begin there is no definite answer given by the author himself.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: It's just a phrase. Forever means that Yusuke's friendship will not end but other things will have to have a bound. It's also known as a schmaltz, like leaving a caption to leave the audience feeling good.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_4: Forever, as in saying it will continue on in our hearts, and we will never forget this journey we went on with the characters. Fornever as in saying all good things come to an end, and no matter how much we reminisce on the good times, it will end eventually.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_5: I think he used Kuwabara to explain the meaning. When they are standing on the steps before heading to the beach, he talks about everything they all went through, and having that journey come to an end (Fornever). Then Kurama explains they can always remember the journey when they need to (Forever).
Upvotes: 0 |
2013/08/13 | 821 | 3,002 | <issue_start>username_0: After stopping not wanting to go home, <NAME> and <NAME> keep seeing Hachikuji on the streets. Why does this still keep happening? I thought Hachikuji can only be seen by a person who doesn't want to go home.
Do the effects of the first encounter continue indefinitely, or is this the result of Hachikuji leveling up in the ghost ranks?<issue_comment>username_1: As you stated, Hachikuji had one "level UP" as Ghost.
This means she is no more a "Snail", but moreover a ["Wandering Spirit"](http://bakemonogatari.wikia.com/wiki/Mayoi_Hachikuji#Plot).
This means she can generally be seen by anyone having the eyes to see.
Also she no more haunts people not wanting to return home, but strolls about.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: In *Onimonogatari*:
>
> It is revealed that Hachikuji's "promotion" was a "lie". As the darkness began pursuing her when she accompanied Araragi home, in direct contradiction of the nature of the *mayoiushi*, it is clear that she continued to possess it in some fashion--and immediately before that, when he offered to take her out to eat, she notes that he would seem "like those parents who order enough food for themselves and their late daughter", implying that to the best of her knowledge she remains invisible to the general populace.
>
>
> In Hanekawa's case, every time she encountered Hachikuji, her living situation had not improved, so she simply retained the desire not to go home.
>
>
> As for why Araragi can see her, Ononoki cites it as proving that he retained some level of vampirism, implying that it is generally the case that vampires can see ghosts. (Naturally, this would also explain why Shinobu can see her.)
>
>
> It would be reasonable to assume that Ononoki also has some special capacity to see ghosts as an onmyouji's shikigami (and one created for such a purpose, no less), and Gaen may just perceive her through her powers of clairvoyance.
>
>
>
This does present one complication, namely that in *Owarimonogatari* (Ougi Dark arc):
>
> Araragi could see her after having fully regained his humanity.
>
>
> However, having been at this point forcibly extracted from Hell after passing on, it stands to reason that she no longer had the properties of her prior existence as a *mayoiushi*, and was instead some other type of ghost--the cause of her existence as a ghost no longer being the circumstances of her death. It's possible either that she could be seen unconditionally, or that Araragi was uniquely able to see her because he personally brought her back.
>
>
> Although Gaen states that the darkness would swallow her if she did not become a god or return to Hell, this may be because such a type of ghost should not exist to begin with, or rather that it defies the nature of the human soul to return from the afterlife while still dead. Failing that, she may have embellished things somewhat.
>
>
>
Upvotes: 1 |
2013/08/13 | 1,283 | 4,823 | <issue_start>username_0: I've noticed references to the Kabbalah in a couple of anime I've watched. One of them is Fullmetal Alchemist.
Fullmetal Alchemist has the Tree of Life on the Gate:
So, my question is, **Is there any deeper meaning to the use of the Kabbalistic tree of life, or is it just used because it looks cool?**<issue_comment>username_1: (Originally split from [this answer](https://anime.stackexchange.com/a/4786/91))
The actual mythology of the show involving alchemy has a closer tie to religious symbolism than something like Evangelion (which was mainly to look cool). Within the Full Metal Alchemist show, historical in-universe events are tied to real world symbolism, like the Tree of Life, The Flamel (named after the real-life French alchemist), the Homunculi and the seven deadly sins, etc.
There's been several analysis of the religious symbolism in FMA:
* <http://chrisqu.hubpages.com/hub/Fullmetal-Alchemist-Brotherhood-Religious-Symbolism-and-Discourse>
* <https://gargarstegosaurus.wordpress.com/2008/10/25/the-curious-case-of-religion-in-fullmetal-alchemist/>
Unlike with Evangelion, I don't know of any statements made by the staff to address the use of religious symbolism in the show, but I think it's pretty clear that it's more internally consistent than simply to look cool.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: The Tree of Life is one of the most important symbolism in western alchemy.
The spiritual nature was especially highlighted among early practitioners of alchemy, but I would say that it was more [Hermetic](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermeticism) occultism than religious Judaism/Christianity. (Therefore, some people might spell it [Qabalah](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermetic_Qabalah) rather than Kabbalah.)
The 10 emanations/attributes and the paths in the Tree were [associated with the alchemical metals, elements, and planets](http://www.lashtal.com/wiki/Tree_of_Life:Alchemy) that govern the alchemical process. The image below shows the tree with astrological planetary symbols associated. In alchemy, these planets were associated with various metals and elements. Therefore, an emanation might correspond to the sun and hence gold, and so on.
Therefore, it is only natural that it would make an appearance in an anime about alchemists.
For reference, you can find a giant essay here, although I haven't gone through all of it: ["Secret Fire: The Relationship Between Kundalini, Kabbalah, and Alchemy"](http://hermetic.com/stavish/essays/secret-fire.html)
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: In *Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood*, two gates were shown instead of just one as in the original. Both of the gates have pictures of a tree on them. As you have already said, one of them is the tree of life.
To uncover the identity of the other gate, we have to bring to light the book of Genesis, which is where I personally believe the two gates originated from.
If you are familiar with the story of creation, you know that Adam and Eve lived happily in a garden where only one law existed. This law was simply not to eat the fruit which grew from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Adam and Eve were told that disobedience would lead to death.
We later realize that you would not actually stop breathing and became a cold lifeless shell, but instead, this death refers to dying to the flesh. Dying to the flesh means surrendering your life to your deadliest desires and choosing to never obtain fulfillment. Pretty dismal, right? Anyway, Adam and Eve decided to rebel and eat the fruit after being promised by the devil that such consumption would unfold the truth and enable them to understand the ways of God.
Back to the universe of Fullmetal Alchemist, alchemy was a powerful science that brought happiness to both those using its powers for good and those receiving aid from alchemists. A rule was given with this great gift: do not perform human transmutation. Ed and Al had repeatedly heard that death followed after a human transmutation.
Against better judgment, the two brothers gave into their deadliest desire to have their deceased mother be by their sides once again. Immediately following the human transmutation, Ed and Al passed through a gate with picture of a tree where they uncovered truth, both good and evil knowledge that governed alchemy and even the world itself. Because of the boys' disobedience, Al lost his entire body and could not be entirely happy or fulfilled without it. He died to the flesh... LITERALLY!
For these reasons, I am led to believe that the tree on the gate resembles Adam and Eve's tree of knowledge of good and evil found in the Bible.
Upvotes: 0 |
2013/08/15 | 843 | 2,207 | <issue_start>username_0: In the first two seasons of *Code Geass*, dates are mentioned with "a.t.b.". I took this screenshot from first episode of season one:
However, in *Code Geass: Akito the Exiled*, dates are mentioned as R.Y. (Revolution Year). This is a screenshot from the *Akito the Exiled* trailer:
So, first question: **What does a.t.b. stand for?**
And, also: **How can we convert between a.t.b. and R.Y.? Which Revolution Year would 2010 a.t.b. be?**<issue_comment>username_1: >
> **What does a.t.b. stand for?**
>
>
>
It stands for "Ascension Throne Britannia", named after the "date the first Celtic super-king, Eowyn, was elected by the united British tribes to battle Rome, becoming the first member of the modern Britannian imperial family."[{1}](http://codegeass.wikia.com/wiki/World_History) 55 [B.C.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anno_Domini) is equivalent to 1 a.t.b.
---
>
> **How can we convert between a.t.b. and R.Y.?**
>
>
>
The Revolution Year system (used by the EU in *Code Geass*) is based on the French Revolution (start date) of 1789 A.D.[{2}](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Revolution)[{3}](http://codegeass.wikia.com/wiki/European_Union#Akito_Worldview_Columns) Since 55 B.C. is 1 a.t.b., we can figure out the actual conversion formula:
>
> 0 R.Y. = 1789 A.D. = 1845 a.t.b.
>
>
>
If you want a simple conversion between a.t.b. and R.Y., just some simple math:
>
> R.Y. = a.t.b. - 1845
>
>
>
---
>
> **Which Revolution Year would 2010 a.t.b. be?**
>
>
>
Based on the conversion above, a.t.b. 2010 is equivalent to R.Y 165.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: At the beginning of the second episode of Akito the Exiled, the following is said:
>
> Revolution Year 228. It has been seven years since the Empire of Britannia invaded Japan and renamed it Area 11.
>
>
>
Because the invasion of Japan happened in 2010 a.t.b, it can be deduced that the offset, at least in the time frame of the series, between a.t.b and R.T is:
```
2010 + 7 - 228 = 1789
```
So it appears that R.Y. 0 would correspond to 1789 a.t.b.
Upvotes: 2 |
2013/08/15 | 319 | 1,086 | <issue_start>username_0: If [Demonic Statue of the Outer Path](http://naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Demonic_Statue_of_the_Outer_Path) requires only a part of the chakra of the Nine-tails and the Eight tails, why did they have to kill the other Jinchuuriki to obtain the tailed beast just to complete the Juubi?
Why not obtain only parts of the chakra of each tailed beasts?<issue_comment>username_1: Having the chakra of kyuubi and hachibi will suffice, but the Juubi is considerably weaker. Having the full kyuubi and hachibi will essentially create the juubi in its perfect form. For each bijuu that juubi doesn't have, the monster gets weakened.
It's basically like comparing a fraction of the kyuubi's chakra vs an entire kyuubi with his full chakra at your service. The amount of power is significant.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Because the Juubi will not be revive in its full form and make the juubi weaker for every tailed beasts that has been extracted only by parts.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer] |
2013/08/15 | 752 | 2,315 | <issue_start>username_0: He was a known member of <NAME>'s crew and became a merciless dictator in East Blue. He had the highest bounty in East Blue at the time, and when Borsalino captured him, he was sent to Impel Down. So why was he not there during the big jail break?
I doubt he got left behind, because Buggy did most of the freeing of prisoners.<issue_comment>username_1: Arlong was released earlier on Jinbes request.
Source: <http://onepiece.wikia.com/wiki/Arlong#After_Tiger.27s_Death>
<http://onepiece.wikia.com/wiki/Impel_Down#Prisoners>
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: We currently have the following timeline of things happening to Arlong:
1. Arlong gets beaten by Borsalino (Kizaru) and sent to Impel Down.
2. Arlong is released from Impel Down when Jinbe became a Shichibukai.
3. Arlong had a fight with Jinbe and started the [Arlong Pirates](http://onepiece.wikia.com/wiki/Arlong_Pirates) and went to East Blue and settled on [Cocoyasi Island](http://onepiece.wikia.com/wiki/Conomi_Islands).
4. Luffy and crew follow Nami to Cocoyasi Island where Luffy beats up Arlong.
5. All of Arlong's crew get arrested (exception: [Hatchan](http://onepiece.wikia.com/wiki/Hatchan)) by marines.
I skipped a large chunk between points 3 and 4 because it's irrelevant. You can find all of Arlong's history [here](http://onepiece.wikia.com/wiki/Arlong#History).
At point 5 when they got arrested you would assume that he would have been sent to Impel Down again, but it is futher unknown what has happened to Arlong as it hasn't been shown or told in the anime or manga.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: I'm not sure what happened to Arlong, but according to <NAME> he was killed by humans...
From chapter 634
And from the Anime Episode #554:
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/8gi5l.jpg)
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/FEN41.jpg)
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: the implication (that will never be confirmed or denied because either way raises plot holes) is that he was killed during his battle with Luffy. That's what Hordy is referencing, I believe.
Upvotes: 0 |
2013/08/17 | 1,105 | 3,661 | <issue_start>username_0: In *Ro-Kyu-Bu! SS* episode 6, Subaru and the team makes a stop at a local shop while on a class field trip. Aoi is with them as well, and reads the sign out as "Youjiya":
In the next cut, she says it aloud again, and says it as "toddler shop":
However, when we go inside the shop, Subaru is buying toothpicks:
Does the sign indeed say "Toddler Shop"? If so, why were there toothpicks inside (and nothing seemingly toddler-ish)? If not, what did the sign *actually* say?<issue_comment>username_1: The sign says ようじや (*youjiya*) but because it's written in hiragana the meaning is a bit ambiguous. The や suffix in the name of a store would always be 屋, which just means store, or it can also refer to the head of such a store (e.g. 魚屋 can mean either a fish store or the dealer selling you the fish). So this is a store for ようじ (*youji*), but the meaning of that is still ambiguous because ようじ written in hiragana is a homophone that could have several meanings.
The meaning that Aoi interpreted is 幼児, which means infants and young children. So Aoi thought it was a store to buy children, hence the second screenshot you've given. This is the most common somewhat sensical interpretation of ようじ when written in hiragana in this context. It could also mean 用事 (errands) in other contexts, but that doesn't fit here.
But ようじ can also mean toothpick written as 楊子 (or 揚枝 less commonly). Usually one uses 爪楊枝 (*tsumayouji*) to describe the toothpicks themselves but the 爪 (here *tsuma*, meaning claw or nail) can be omitted in principle. This is the meaning here, so the shop is literally a store for toothpicks (and likely some related merchandise).
I think that many Japanese people would not know how to interpret the sign ようじや, so Aoi's misunderstanding is understandable. However, I don't think very many people would think that it was a store for 幼児 (children) either, so Aoi's leap of reasoning there is somewhat comical.
As a cultural note, there actually is a toothpick specialty shop in Japan. It's called [Saruya](http://blog.japantwo.com/2012/05/10/4984) and located in Tokyo (link to a blog post about the store). As far as I know this is the only store of its kind in Japan, so the shop in Ro-kyu-bu is fictional (being in Kyoto). In any case, Japanese culture takes toothpicks more seriously than most other cultures, so the existence of such a store is not entirely impossible, but it's still quite implausible.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: In addition to Logan's already ample explanation, there's another layer of complexity to this wordplay.
There is a famous brand of cosmetic items in Kyoto, called [よーじや *Yojiya*](http://www.yojiya.co.jp/english/), pronounced the same way. They're especially famous for their facial oil removing paper ([あぶらとり紙 *aburatorigami*](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aburatorigami)), a popular souvenir in Kyoto.
Their name comes from the toothbrush they sold early on in their business, which was called 楊枝 *yōji* back then. Nowadays toothbrushes are called 歯ブラシ *ha-burashi* (a literal translation of the English word), so people use the word 楊枝 to mean 爪楊枝 *tsumayōji* (toothpick).
So when a tourist comes to Kyoto for the first time and sees Yojiya, they think of it as a specialty store in toothpicks. They would walk into the store expecting to find out what a high-end toothpick would be like, only to find out otherwise.
So, the scene in question could be considered as a gag that plays upon this popular joke.
Upvotes: 2 |
2013/08/17 | 1,058 | 3,377 | <issue_start>username_0: I don't know what to call them, but I've seen these triangle-shaped things sometimes in anime:
 
What does the triangle-shaped headband mean and what is it called?<issue_comment>username_1: This triangle-shaped headband is called a *tenkan* (天冠, lit. "heaven crown"). In some parts of Japan, it may also be called a *zukin* (頭巾, lit. "hood" and also used as a generic term), a *hitai-eboshi* (額烏帽子, lit. "forehead headpiece"), or a *kami-kakushi* (髪隠し, lit. "hair-hider")2.
Traditionally, the *tenkan* was one component of a traditional burial garment (*shini-shouzoku* / 死に装束). The garment also typically included a white kimono, [these glove-things](https://i.stack.imgur.com/kDBze.png) (*tekkou* / 手甲), and a particular style of boots called *kyahan* (脚絆) that I'm having trouble finding a good picture of.
There are a number of explanations of the purpose of the *tenkan*, including:
* It must be worn to avoid offending Enma (a judge of the dead in Japanese Buddhist mythology; he's actually a derivative of the Hindu deity Yama)
* It allows the dead to escape from hell
* It functions as a signal that one was of high standing in life.
In anime today, I get the feeling that the *tenkan* basically serves as a signal to viewers that whoever is wearing it has something to do with death (or, more generally, with non-humanness, I guess).
Notes
-----
1. This answer is mostly a translation of the following article: [What's the triangular piece of cloth that ghosts wear on their heads?](http://allabout.co.jp/gm/gc/67450/) (Japanese)
2. This seems like it may be a pun on 神隠し, or "spiriting away" (as in the Ghibli film 千と千尋の神隠し, or "Spirited Away"). See also [this question](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/12569/3437) at Japanese.SE.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: There is no specific word for it. It's basically a headband, and can be generally referred to as a *boshi* (hat) or *nuno* (cloth). It's typically associated with the white burial kimono, called a *kyoukatabira*.
This triangle-shaped white cloth item can go by multiple names, depending on the region and religion. They have grandiose names such as *tenkan/tengan* (heaven's crown) mundane is *zukin* (hood or kerchief). Several of terms are simple and descriptive, like *hitai-eboshi* (forehead hat), or *hitai-kakushi* (forehead-hider), *kami-kakushi* (hair-hider), *houkan* (diadem, only Buddhists use this word) and *kami-kaburi* (hair headdress). The most basic term of all is probably *sankaku no (shiroi) nuno* (triangular [white] cloth).
There have been two popular theories on it's purpose/origin, both are speculative. Some say that the dead have or need to ascended to a higher level, and thus the cloth item is placed upon their heads to show their new status, or to help them ascend. Another theory suggests that that the sharp point of the triangle shape are a ward to deter evil spirits/demons from entering the corpse and resurrecting the it or preventing the soul from passing on.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: In anime and manga it has been known to symbolize the dead, including zombies, vampires, and ghosts. When you see this in anime or manga you know that the character isn't alive.
Upvotes: 2 |
2013/08/18 | 378 | 1,199 | <issue_start>username_0: A [traced Noble Phantasm](http://typemoon.wikia.com/wiki/Tracing#Projection_.28Trace_Version.29) should be one rank below that of the original.
How was Illya able to overcome the difference in power?
Clearly she traced [Excalibur](https://i.stack.imgur.com/2qbMk.png) and not [Caliburn](https://i.stack.imgur.com/Gf8nN.jpg).
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/UsPsk.jpg)<issue_comment>username_1: She was able to accomplish this through her stored mana. She's like Sakura, and Avenger, a (Psudo)Holy Grail to put it simply
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: It would appear that Archerko Illya traced Excalibur and overloaded it with prana turning it into a [Broken Phantasm](http://typemoon.wikia.com/wiki/Noble_Phantasm). Which raises the weapon's rank by one.
One would assume that the two Excaliburs would cancel each other out, but Saber Alter, unlike the typical Saber only has an Magic Resistance of [Rank B](http://typemoon.wikia.com/wiki/Saber_%28Fate/stay_night%29#Magic_Resistance) since her Alignment is Lawful Evil, which might make her more vulnerable to the effects of Excalibur.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer] |
2013/08/18 | 642 | 2,228 | <issue_start>username_0: I just finished watching the Mirai Nikki anime. Haven't seen the manga.
The last standing player becomes god. At the end, either Yukiteru or Yuno have to die. Yuno dies and Yukiteru is declared the winner of the game.
But how come, if Ninth was still alive?
I had some assumptions:
* Maybe, at this point, no one cares about the game's rules.
+ But then it wouldn't be necessary to kill either Yukiteru or Yuno. So it seems like the rules must be followed no matter what.
* Everyone *thought* that Ninth was dead. So perhaps the "system" was fooled.
+ But this would prove that the game's rules have no kind of "transcendental/godlike" authority, as they are incapable of telling whether Ninth is still alive or not. If that's the case, the rules can be bended. But if you could bend the rules, then it wouldn't be necessary to kill either Yukiteru or Yuno.
* When Deus saved Ninth, maybe he kind of disqualified her from the game, so she's not a player anymore and doesn't have to die.
+ I don't remember if this was mentioned or implied. Was it?
How did Yukiteru win the game, if Ninth was still living?<issue_comment>username_1: It's a mixture of all 3 points you mentioned:
Deus's time for the game was running out as his lifespan was ending, So when he saved her, it counted as a death (as she would be dead if he didn't intervene).
[Scene of Deus's intervention](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSmOwudO4Ns)
If you think of Deus's intervention as a revival rather than avoidance of the death it might be clearer.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> When Deus saved Ninth, maybe he kind of disqualified her from the game, so she's not a player anymore and doesn't have to die.
>
> I don't remember if this was mentioned or implied. Was it?
>
>
>
Actually, the rules aren't "The last survivor wins" but "The last diary owner wins". When Ninth came back, she had no diary anymore, because she already destroyed it to kill herself in the save. So after Yuno's death, Yukiteru was the last diary owner.
Besides that, Murmur doesn't seem to care about the winning conditions as she nearly made Yuno the new god even though Yukiteru was still alive.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer] |
2013/08/18 | 899 | 3,247 | <issue_start>username_0: In the opening and several in-episode scenes, there is a MISSING poster for "<NAME>". These posters are in so many places, I wondered if she is somebody important. Is she?
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/VW6lm.png)
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/FcEAD.jpg)<issue_comment>username_1: After a devoted search all around the interwebz, I have come to a sad conclusion that I could not find anything specific about Sala Powell at all.
What I did find during my searching is some potential connections that might help others search, and some speculation.
**Potential connections**
1. This might be a reference to [Nate Powell](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nate_Powell) (*not very likely*). As seen on the linked page, Nate used to be a cartoonist/writer, and also brought out a CD with W A I T called "*All The Days Are Numbered So*"; this could be a far-fetched connection.
2. This might be a reference to Chella Powell. After some research, I found out that "Sala" in some languages can be pronounced as "Chella". For Chella Powell, I found the following information quite interesting, but shamefully ended in a dead end.
>
> Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing #196 by <NAME>: The challenge of creating a real-life computational equivalent of the human mind ...
>
> — [source](http://powells.com/biblio/9783642342738)
>
>
>
This may be far-fetched as well.
**Online speculation**
After asking quite some HotD addicts about their opinions, and looking around online myself, I found:
1. Sala Powell might be the cause of the zombie apocalypse
2. Sala Powell probably has some sort of connection to the apocalypse
3. The writer doesent even know
4. This is a plot point to be revealed
Points 1 and 2 speak for themselves. She might have been a scientist on some sort of military project. In one of the first episodes, the self defense force of Japan flies over the school, seemingly ignoring all the people flying to a specific point, picking up Sala Powell? Does she have the answer to the apocalypse? Does she have a cure? These points just give more questions than real answers and can't be really proven 'til more of the manga is released.
The 3rd point: <NAME> doesn't even know himself. Satō is a writer known to go on hiatus for a long time due to having no inspiration or just writing himself into a corner not knowing how to get out of it.
And my 4th point, which seems to be most likely for now, is that this is a plot point yet to be revealed. We don't really know much about the apocalypse: not how it started, not what caused it. This might be revealed at a later point in the story. So, until D<NAME> makes more manga chapters to harvest information from, I don't think we can have a definite answer.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: have you thought that since Japanese people tend to say L as R and R as L, it could be that the creator intentionally named her Sala Powell instead of Sarah Power.
Sarah Power is a Canadian actress and she resembles the drawing present in the missing poster.
Upvotes: 0 |
2013/08/19 | 1,082 | 4,035 | <issue_start>username_0: It is my understanding that Japanese text is written top-to-bottom. I think the Japanese manga also follow this format:
That was a quick Google search so not even sure it is real.
However, watching Anime, I've noticed that the text seems to be horizontal. Why is that?<issue_comment>username_1: Japanese can be written either [horizontally or vertically](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horizontal_and_vertical_writing_in_East_Asian_scripts). Vertical writing is known as *tategaki* (縦書き) and is notably used in manga. When writing vertically, columns of text are read top-to-bottom, right-to-left, which is why manga panels are also read this way. Horizontal writing is called *yokogaki* (横書き) and is written left-to-right, top-to-bottom exactly as English text is. There's also an obsolete form, *migi yokogaki* (右横書き), which is read horizontally but right-to-left; this is only used in a couple of series for stylistic reasons. The orientation of the characters in all of these styles of writing is the same.
Both styles can be found in anime. I think it is probably true that horizontal writing is more common than vertical writing, but it depends on the format of the writing. In general, horizontal writing is the more modern style, which was adopted during the Meiji era to conform to western styles of writing. Traditionally Japanese is written vertically (this tradition originates in China as do most Japanese linguistic traditions). The Meiji era is also when the Japanese language was really standardized (before that it was basically a collection of regional dialects), so naturally this was a time when a lot of changes were made to the language and partial adoption of horizontal writing is just one of them.
In terms of usage, vertical writing is used in newspapers, novels, calligraphy, and manga, while horizontal writing is used for academic writing, computer text, and many other everyday tasks. The text you see in anime is usually fairly representative of what direction it would typically be written in Japan. Likewise, in manga, text other than dialogue (e.g. on signs) often appears both horizontally and vertically. For anime, when there is flashing text on the screen not part of any signs (e.g. in Bakemonogatari), these are more frequently horizontal, probably because television screens are oriented horizontally (landscape), but there are examples of vertical writing in such cases as well.
Here's an example from Monogatari Series Second Season (episode 7) with both tategaki and migi yokogaki writing. The sign on the left is written vertically, while the ones on the right is horizontal but right-to-left.
Here's an example of flashing text from the same episode, written with ordinary yokogaki (left-to-right) writing:
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: >
> I was originally thinking of text that appeared in credits, titles, and non-in-show elements.
>
>
>
Very well. Credits and titles.
Yokogaki (horizontal) titles are more common in anime, most likely due to the fact that TV screens are horizontal. For the case of *Oreimo*, the title on the light novel cover was tategaki (because the book is in tategaki writing) but was changed to yokogaki in the anime while retaining the font.
Nothing prevents anybody from opting for a tategaki anime title, however. An example can be seen in *The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya*, but you can see that the layout is pretty tight.
Same thing with credits. Yokogaki is more common, but you can find tategaki credits from time to time. For example, ED of *Nichijou* as seen below. It's all a matter of layout and aesthetics.
Upvotes: 3 |
2013/08/19 | 1,108 | 4,117 | <issue_start>username_0: A while back I was reading *Bleach* on an online reader and I finished the chapter I was on. When I came back to read the next chapter, it said
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> The series Bleach has been licensed, it is not available in [site name].
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What does it mean by "licensed", and is there a way for a broke person like me to read the rest of *Bleach*? (Unfortunately, the library does not buy new ones anymore.)<issue_comment>username_1: Japanese can be written either [horizontally or vertically](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horizontal_and_vertical_writing_in_East_Asian_scripts). Vertical writing is known as *tategaki* (縦書き) and is notably used in manga. When writing vertically, columns of text are read top-to-bottom, right-to-left, which is why manga panels are also read this way. Horizontal writing is called *yokogaki* (横書き) and is written left-to-right, top-to-bottom exactly as English text is. There's also an obsolete form, *migi yokogaki* (右横書き), which is read horizontally but right-to-left; this is only used in a couple of series for stylistic reasons. The orientation of the characters in all of these styles of writing is the same.
Both styles can be found in anime. I think it is probably true that horizontal writing is more common than vertical writing, but it depends on the format of the writing. In general, horizontal writing is the more modern style, which was adopted during the Meiji era to conform to western styles of writing. Traditionally Japanese is written vertically (this tradition originates in China as do most Japanese linguistic traditions). The Meiji era is also when the Japanese language was really standardized (before that it was basically a collection of regional dialects), so naturally this was a time when a lot of changes were made to the language and partial adoption of horizontal writing is just one of them.
In terms of usage, vertical writing is used in newspapers, novels, calligraphy, and manga, while horizontal writing is used for academic writing, computer text, and many other everyday tasks. The text you see in anime is usually fairly representative of what direction it would typically be written in Japan. Likewise, in manga, text other than dialogue (e.g. on signs) often appears both horizontally and vertically. For anime, when there is flashing text on the screen not part of any signs (e.g. in Bakemonogatari), these are more frequently horizontal, probably because television screens are oriented horizontally (landscape), but there are examples of vertical writing in such cases as well.
Here's an example from Monogatari Series Second Season (episode 7) with both tategaki and migi yokogaki writing. The sign on the left is written vertically, while the ones on the right is horizontal but right-to-left.
Here's an example of flashing text from the same episode, written with ordinary yokogaki (left-to-right) writing:
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: >
> I was originally thinking of text that appeared in credits, titles, and non-in-show elements.
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>
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Very well. Credits and titles.
Yokogaki (horizontal) titles are more common in anime, most likely due to the fact that TV screens are horizontal. For the case of *Oreimo*, the title on the light novel cover was tategaki (because the book is in tategaki writing) but was changed to yokogaki in the anime while retaining the font.
Nothing prevents anybody from opting for a tategaki anime title, however. An example can be seen in *The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya*, but you can see that the layout is pretty tight.
Same thing with credits. Yokogaki is more common, but you can find tategaki credits from time to time. For example, ED of *Nichijou* as seen below. It's all a matter of layout and aesthetics.
Upvotes: 3 |
2013/08/19 | 796 | 2,323 | <issue_start>username_0: In the Eden of the East opening, there are a lot of quotes from different sources. The only one I know the origin of is "The abuse of greatness is when it disjoins remorse from power," which is from *Julius Caesar* by <NAME>. I don't know what the other quotes that show up on the screen are from or are in reference to. Can someone tell me?<issue_comment>username_1: This [blogpost](http://stevegilham.blogspot.com/2009/07/anime-eden-of-east.html) has a transcript of all of the text from the opening. Not all of them are famous quotes.
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> "*I saw you in Heaven
> and heard of your glory
> You saved our world from the fallen angels
> I saw Messiah standing
> Standing before me with no words
> Nothing but "Hope"
> When we lost dread, a Demon was laughing
> But now you are showing us wonder
> Giving your love
> With awe, down on my knees again
> I've got to know you're the one
> The only one reveals the world*"
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This is repeated multiple times throughout the OP and seems to be part of the song [東のエデン挿入歌「Reveal The World」](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HO28pvdkyJI)
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> "*The abuse of greatness is when it disjoins remorse from power.*"
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As you've noted, it's [Brutus from Julius Caesar, by <NAME>](http://quotationsbook.com/quote/17932/).
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> "*Mail
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> Own date
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> Media tool
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> Appli
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> Camera
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> Phone book
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> Iseg
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> Music
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> Service
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> Setting
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> You've got mail
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> Calling
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> Talking*"
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These seem to be options (partially obscured) of the phone.
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> "*Let me walk with you when I'm lost in the wild
> I know you always lead me to another Eden
> Let me bless your name, O Lord, O Lord
> Your words will never fade away
> Since we believe you're the light on earth
> Reveals the world*"
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Also from the "Reveal the world" song lyrics.
The rest seems to be proper names and instances from the show itself, like "*noblesse oblige*", and "*Juiz*", and "*Selecao system
12 persons selected in Japan*". So the only real quote I guess is from the Julius Caesar play.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Taken from this case noblesse oblige means, "I nobly oblige myself". Otherwise it means the obligations of nobility.
Upvotes: 0 |
2013/08/21 | 958 | 3,619 | <issue_start>username_0: What characteristic of Sakura makes Naruto like her? She was very useless in the original Naruto, and she is in love with Sasuke. Not to mention, she did not have anything traumatic in her childhood, unlike Hinata, who actually liked Naruto from the beginning.
Also Naruto nearly unleashed the nine tails for Hinata, but still said Sakura was sort of his girlfriend.
Did I miss something here? What did Sakura do to get Naruto to like her? I am only looking for canon answers.<issue_comment>username_1: I don't think there can be a canon answer to this because it is not something shown/talked about in either the manga or anime. However, when you were young what did your crushes do to get you to have a crush on them? I know in my case, almost nothing. They just had to be attractive. My guess that is true for Naruto as well.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: He liked Sakura for years, she wasn't a bad girl or anything and she'd be willing to die for Naruto as well. How many people fall for others just because they liked you? While Hinata liked him, she really wasn't that close to him. She was willing to die for him, but so were most of the Leaf. He really seemed to love Sakura even though she might not like him, so if he really cared for her, then it'd make no sense for him to quickly get over her. Naruto isn't fickle, and Hinata wasn't really his type (he seems to like the tsundere and girl with back bone; if Hinata did have that back bone in the beginning, then she wouldn't have fallen for Naruto because the only reason she fell for Naruto was cause he was a fellow loser, except unlike her, he never gave up).
Also as a child, Sakura was ostracized (like Naruto but not to nearly the same extent) for something outside of her power and then was rescued by one person showing kindness to her and befriending her.
Another reason for Naruto to still like Sakura is because she will try almost anything to protect him. While her fake confession was mean, she did it to protect him, and she was willing to try and kill Sasuke when he joined Akatsuki (an organization that wanted to kill Naruto).
While she couldn't kill Sasuke, it didn't exactly have to mean that she still liked him; it could just be because she liked him for 5 years and then he became a part of her family (Team 7) so she couldn't kill him because of who he used to be (before Itachi mind raped him a 2nd time, he was actually a pretty good kid, though he was anti-social). So Naruto might feel that he still has a chance.
There could be a lot of reasons for Naruto to like Sakura and pick her over Hinata. These are a few I could think of. It's not like anything I'm shipping is possible anyways.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: Naruto loves and desires Sakura because she is an average ninja girl. Naruto wants all the leaf village to look up to him and select him as Hokage one day for one reason--- so that he will be accepted and respected by the leaf village. Everyone must accept the Hokage, and most will respect the Hokage.
Therefore, a goal/milestone along that path of becoming Hokage is to get the most average ninja in his grade to "believe in him". If he can convince the average leaf ninja to accept him, he will have achieved his life long goal of being accepted by the leaf village, rather than ostracised. This is the original drive behind his crush on Sakura and his desire for her to love him.
Afterward, there is all the mutual experiences and mutual bonding from being in the same teams together through so much stress and trying times.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer] |