Back in the 2010 TV Tokyo's anime department and Aniplex run a project called Anime no Chikara. After producing three anime with original stories, Sora no Woto, Senkou no Night Raid and Occult Academy, the project was put on break and never restored. The president of Aniplex Koichiro Natsume sa...

In episode 5 of Ro-Kyu-Bu!, Subaru is trying to build teamwork by playing cards with the team members. The first shot shown is of cards sequentially placed on the floor. There are some hearts missing. Then, each player goes around in the circle (they all have one card left except one). In thi...

At the end of each episode of Ro-Kyu-Bu!, and sometimes during the episode content, the girls are seen talking to each other or to the audience in chibi form. Usually there is 8-bit music in the background, and the characters appear to be sprites (without animations). Is this a game they're p...

In Shinryaku! Ika Musume (Squid Girl), the protagonist is a strange creature called Ika Musume who looks almost like a young girl, but has a number of strange squid-related abilities, such as spitting ink and using her hair as tentacles. She is also intent on invading humanity. Are there any sim...

Kodomo no Jikan has a 3-episode OVA released from 2007 to 2011. The episodes are side-stories which are not directly related to the plot, but I think they are still based on the manga chapters. As such, they should fall somewhere in the story. Relative to the anime, where do these 3 episodes fall?

I know that original animes weren't based on light novels or mangas (see: this). However, I think there are some early shows that are based on mangas (Astro Boy for example, I think). What was the first anime based off of a manga? Also, what was the first anime based off of a light novel?

In Moetan, Nijihara Ink gains the ability to transform into a magical girl called Pastel Ink through the powers of Arcs, a magician turned into a duck. She uses this ability so that she can help Nao (who she has a crush on) learn English without getting embarrassed. Does Nao ever realize that Pa...

In Kami Sen, Konoha is a god of poverty (though she denies this). She seems to have a number of special powers, but it's hard to tell exactly how they work. In some cases, she seems to be deliberately controlling them, while other times it seems to be subconscious. It's also implied that having m...

In Lotte no Omocha, Astarotte Ygvar is a 10-year-old succubus. We know that she must create a harem before she matures, she will need to create a harem so that she can have a steady supply of "sáðfryma". Do succubi mature at the same speed as humans (finishing puberty sometime between the ages o...

In Ichigo Mashimaro, Ana is embarrassed by her surname "Coppola". It's implied that it has some meaning (or perhaps sounds like something) in Japanese, but I couldn't figure out what. What does Ana's name sound like, and why is it embarrassing to her?

Kud Wafter is a spinoff of the original Little Busters! visual novel in which Kud is the main heroine. When, in the timeline, does it occur? Is it after Kud's route, or an alternative to Kud's route (i.e. after the common route) or in some other place in the story (e.g. after Refrain)? Of course,...

In Papa no Iu Koto wo Kikinasai, the parents of the Takanashi siblings die in a plane crash. Sora and Miu are told about this immediately, but as far as I remember in the anime Hina was never told this. When she asks when her parents are coming back in one of the earlier episodes, the other chara...

Sajin Komamura is described as being an anthropomorphic wolf in the Wikipedia article, but everyone in the Soul Society is either someone who died or the descendant of someone who died. There are (as far as I know) no anthropomorphic wolves in the living world, so where did he come from? Was he ...

The Soul King is shown in the Thousand Year Blood War arc, though only briefly. Not much is explained about him, so things like what he can do and what his job is are a bit vague. Is he a Shinigami? If not, what is he?