31
votes
Accepted
Why is it that many anime and manga depict being a virgin male as something embarrassing?
The media depicts being a virgin as embarrassing because it reflects how teenagers feel about being a virgin. As for why authors choose to reflect this particular part of society, that would be a ...
- 6,575
27
votes
Accepted
What is gap moe?
Let's look at the meaning of the words separately.
A quick google search tells us that a gap is a space or interval; a break in continuity. It can also mean to be a difference. Here is a post that ...
- 902
22
votes
Accepted
Why do anime girls have huge chests?
Because some people like women with big breasts. As usual, anime exaggerates; it can't just have a woman with big breasts, it has to have a woman with ridiculously gigantic breasts.
This isn't purely ...
- 12.5k
20
votes
Accepted
What are the swastikas on the car's navigation supposed to represent?
The Nazis did a great job at stigmatizing swastikas but the symbol has been used for other purposes before and still is. You can verify that this isn't particular to the anime by looking at the ...
- 2,607
16
votes
Accepted
How much do mangaka profit from anime or merchandise sales?
This is very dependant per mangaka. And all tough there is a thriving independent market for manga, it is rarely a solo effort. Hence most of the mangaka start off as either an assistant, or manage to ...
- 22.1k
16
votes
Accepted
Do real-life schools have maid cafes at their school festivals?
Here are some data points, none of which I can verify the veracity of.
According to a user on chiebukuro, some class at his school ran a crossdressing cafe, and some of the boys who would look decent ...
- 35.2k
15
votes
Accepted
Is Goku in Dragon Ball based on Sun Wukong from Journey to the West?
Akira Toriyama was definitely influenced by Journey to the West in writing the original Dragon Ball manga. In early stories, Goku rides the Flying Nimbus cloud and wields an extendable staff, two ...
- 3,623
14
votes
Accepted
Why do first, second, and third grade of Japanese students wear different uniform in Anime?
In my country (Indonesia), our school uniform has a badge that indicates what grade we are. It was not just my school, other schools here also have it like this. Thus, this is not/no longer (since ...
- 12.8k
14
votes
Accepted
What are those branches used in baths in Goblin Slayer episode 7?
Those are White Birch Branches. It's also mentioned in the manga during Chapter 20.
(Warning: NSFW (Nudity) content and manga spoilers ahead)
I'm not sure of their exact use but according to the ...
- 8,941
14
votes
Accepted
Where is this pool from?
This pool exists in real life in the Hanazono Room. Its internet fame comes from a not-very-surprising origin, which is its prevalence in pornographic material.
With images of the swimming pool of ...
- 534
13
votes
Accepted
Why are post offices always a target for robbers in anime?
Japan's post offices are banks. And the Japanese postal banking system is nothing to sneeze at. In fact, in 2008, Japan Post Bank held more deposits than any other bank in the whole world!
It is ...
- 35.2k
12
votes
Why do many characters tend to have crazy hair colors and styles?
Question #1: Why do many characters tend to have crazy hair colors? What is the cultural origin of such a style?
The origin of this practice is the primarily black and white medium of manga.
Manga ...
- 10.8k
11
votes
Accepted
Why are "traps" and "genderbending" so common in anime and manga compared to Western media?
I think Euphoric's answer is just one piece of the puzzle. It's a more direct answer to the question in the title, but, to my mind, not quite complete. I'm not equipped to piece together the whole ...
- 12.5k
11
votes
Accepted
Are high school and middle school students not allowed to use a backpack?
Short Answer
To answer your question: some schools specify bags students use, while others don't; it varies.
Long Answer
Like uniforms, bags are also specified by schools, which means the level of ...
- 1,724
11
votes
Accepted
Japanese Scoring System on Public High School Examinations: Quintessential Quintuplets season 2
In The Quintessential Quintuplets, the passing grade is 30 or above per subject.
This was inferred and stated in the midterm exam's result (chapter 20), when
Yotsuba said that she failed all subjects ...
- 12.9k
10
votes
Accepted
What is that "Oh yeah!" gesture that anime characters do called?
It called 合点 (Gatten). Google image search
It's pretty common gesture in Japan (and other countries)
I do it in real life too.
Also there is TV show called "gatten" that describe something and guest ...
- 2,913
10
votes
Accepted
Why is there so much nudity in anime and manga?
To start, you're not really going to see full-frontal nudity in anime. If you look at this question, you can read about censorship laws in Japan and about how--through self-censorship as much as ...
- 23.7k
10
votes
What does "padoru padoru" mean?
I've actually questioned this myself in the past, here's what I've basically found so far
After digging for a while on Japanese Q&A sites and forums, most people seemed to have concluded that it'...
- 171
10
votes
Accepted
What is that noise when an onsen scene opens up?
The thing which makes these sounds is a type of 鹿威し (Shishi-Odoshi) or scaredeer, it acts similar to as what a scarecrow does, and the sound it makes scares away the wild animals.
And as for what ...
- 523
10
votes
Accepted
Why do characters in anime/manga eat their lunches in restrooms?
This is meme-ish thing in Japan. Most of Japanese otaku community member was socially divided by their classmates (because what you call Jocks don't like this kind of culture and tends to despise ...
- 331
9
votes
Is Goku in Dragon Ball based on Sun Wukong from Journey to the West?
The last panel of the last page of the first chapter of Dragon Ball alludes to Journey to the West.
Remember your Chinese fairy tales? You don't? Not even the impish Monkey King and his magic staff,...
- 191
9
votes
Why is it that many anime and manga depict being a virgin male as something embarrassing?
Sex is an important part of human life, as each life usually starts with somebody having it. People like discussing it because it's pleasurable. And there are other things comparable in popularity, ...
- 9,487
9
votes
What is with kimono that makes Japanese guys to fall for the girls in many anime?
It's a similar trope to one you see in Western media, where the normally un-feminine (or dorky, or nerdy, or otherwise not stereotypically attractive) female character dresses up for some kind of ...
- 3,623
8
votes
Accepted
Is Cheese-kun real?
So I am wondering, does Cheese-kun exist in Japan? If so, did it exist before or after Code Geass?
Yes, Cheese-kun exists IRL and predates Code Geass. See, for example, this 13 Aug 2006 Wayback ...
- 35.2k
8
votes
Accepted
Why are train scenes so common in anime movies?
As senshin mentioned, train rides are a huge part of the average Japanese person's daily life. Scanning the average daily ridership column on Wikipedia's list of urban rail systems in Japan, you can ...
- 12.5k
8
votes
Accepted
Is there such a thing as an 'Indie'/Alternative anime scene?
There's Voices of a Distant Star, which was "directed, written, produced, character designed, storyboarded, cinematographed, edited, and animated by Makoto Shinkai". Essentially an individual effort ...
- 28.2k
8
votes
Accepted
Is it common to tell people how you spell your name in Japan?
Telling someone how to spell your name is probably pretty common in Japan, especially if your name has an uncommon spelling. Even just from watching anime, you see it happen pretty often. For instance,...
- 5,871
8
votes
What did Uesugi mean by his hand gesture?
This sign is known as the T-Sign in ASL.
It's used to indicate a time-out or pause, and is often used in the context of sports.
In this particular scenario, it is used as an indication of pause.
...
- 22.1k
7
votes
Accepted
Fake anime or manga release as an April Fools Prank?
Yes. The examples I know of is from Type-Moon.
As we can see from the link, almost every year since 2005 Type-Moon has came out with an April Fool's Joke ranging from fake movies to games featuring ...
- 39.8k
7
votes
Accepted
Why all the "Re" in titles?
For the meaning of the word "Re:" in the title, depends on the Anime
(there seems to be a lot of explanation in the comment section of your answer).
But the reason on why there's an influx of it ...
- 436
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible