Examples with sources cited:
Who said it, and when or where they said it is included in these examples. If you don't know when or where, even in general, please add your examples to the section below, not here.
- Eiichiro Oda, creator of One Piece, runs a column in the collected volumes of his work, devoted to Word of God explanations of various One Piece minutiae. He is delightfully laid back about it, sometimes making explanations up on the spot, or even allowing fans to write the canon for him. And he's perfectly willing to answer questions about how various characters' powers affect their penises. Beware Oda isn't above lying about certain things. He said Sabo was dead. Given the sometimes ridiculous nature of the One Piece world, it's also not always obvious whether Oda's explanations are real or just jokes.Fan: I think Chopper's birthday should be December 24th!
Oda: Okay. - Death Note:
- In an interview in the "How To Read" volume of the manga, Tsugumi Ohba expressly states that the random girl at the very end is not Misa Amane and is just stuck in there for the sake of something pretty. Many actively ignore this for the sole reason that they think that's how it should be.
- Ohba also states that s/he wanted it clear that dead characters are dead forever and can't come back to life. Sorry, guys, they're not hiding.
- Other things Ohba and Obata are explicit about include the fact that L lies about Light being his friend, and that Light, while "diabolical", genuinely loves his family and "humanity as a whole". You can imagine how this goes down with some sections of fandom.
- However, in regards to L lying about Light being his friend, "How to Read" also says on L's character page that "Even while fighting him as an enemy, L establishes a weird friendship with Light." in regards to that quote. So while the initial statement may have been a lie, it eventually became true. It also gives us the closest we're ever going to get to an official answer regarding Matsuda's theory that Near controlled Mikami with the Death Note: that readers are meant to draw their own conclusions. However, said book also mentions that Near is "dishonest" and "the more evil" of him and Mello.
- In an interview about X/1999, Nanase Ohkawa, the script writer for CLAMP, mentioned several times to the interviewer that Kamui and Fuuma are now more than friends, apparently, despite the fact that not only are they mortal enemies, and while tension is apparent, they've stayed pretty firmly in "good friends" territory, but Kamui is still enamored with his dead childhood friend, the (female) Kotori. She even told the interviewer not to call them friends, as if no one can figure out that CLAMP has a thing for sudden homosexual relationships.
- Masaki Kajishima, the original creator of Tenchi Muyo! and the main writer for the Ryo-Oh-Ki OVAs (even called "Kajishima canon" in Japan), is very fond of releasing tie-in novels, factbooks, doujinshis and other infodumps, where he explains his 'verse in more depth — mainly because he couldn't readily obtain funding for the next series, but still has something to say. These infodumps are generally treated as canon by Japanese fans, but tend not to appear in the West. Basically, these are the things that Kajishima will make canon if/when the copyright holder (AIC) greenlights more OVAs. Until then, he's left in the unusual circumstance of essentially writing fanfic about his own anime.
- Hellsing creator Kouta Hirano grew tired of fielding questions from detail obsessed fans about Alucard never being shown reloading his guns and where Anderson kept all of his bayonets in the manga. He got around this in a Q&A Omake by saying that "they're all cosmoguns that hold a million rounds" and "Anderson is four dimensional".
- Ken Akamatsu:
- Occasionally he has interviews in the Omake sections of the compiled Negima! Magister Negi Magi volumes where he sometimes clears up questions unanswered in the actual manga, such as the specifics of the pactio system, or how Kaede carries her giant shuriken around.
- He also tends to update his Twitter account and online journal to point out errors in the chapters (from important points such as one character's element being labeled Ice instead of Water by mistake to trivial matters such as one character being shaded incorrectly), among other things.
- George Morikawa, the author of Hajime no Ippo, named the top three boxers in chapter 361 of the manga. The strongest pound-for-pound boxer is, without a doubt, Takamura. Ranking second is Ricardo Martinez. Surprisingly, he names Miyata as the third best boxer and Ippo around the 8th place.
- Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann: During an "Anime Style Event,"
Studio Gainax answered questions from fans and, among other things, has claimed that Kamina is a virgin, Simon isn't, and Viral is a shark with feline genetics. - Dragon Ball author Akira Toriyama has provided a fair bit of information in interview sections of guide books ranging from the structure of the afterlife to Saiyan biology.
- Fullmetal Alchemist creator Hiromu Arakawa stated in an artbook that the only reason Roy Mustang and Riza Hawkeye aren't married is because of the military regulations. This was implied to be the only reason, effectively validating fans' theories of their romantic involvement.
- Tiger & Bunny's director and scriptwriter have given dozens of tidbits about events and characters, from trivial (Keith's a bit of a health nut and Antonio's afraid of heights) to rather serious (Kotetsu's Fatal Flaw stems from a fear of hurting people he developed after gaining his powers, and Maverick has screwed with Barnaby's memories quite a bit more than what was shown in the series). The Hero Gossip Book gives even more info — from their pajamas to first crushes to everyone's daily schedules.
- Suzy's Zoo: Daisuki! Witzy's creator Suzy Spafford has confirmed that the Little Suzy's Zoo Spinoff Babies takes place in the main Suzy's Zoo universe. She has also confirmed that Witzy is the little cousin of Jack Quackers, one of the main protagonists of the main Suzy's Zoo.
- Teasing Master Takagi-san: Despite the manga's setting looking an awful lot like author Sōichirō Yamamoto's hometown of Tonoshō (as well as promotions for the series taking place in the town), a 2017 roover.jp interview with him reveals that this was not his intention, but rather he just wanted a rural setting.
- Lady!!: According to the notes of Volume 6 #10:
- Lynn's birthday is July 10.
- Edward's birthday is July 29.
- Sarah's birthday is May 3.
- Arthur's birthday is March 22.
Examples that need identification of the source:
If you know when or where this was said, please add that information and move the example to the section above.
- Sailor Moon:
- The author of the manga has affirmed that the characters of Haruka Tenou (Sailor Uranus) and Michiru Kaiou (Sailor Neptune) were intended as a lesbian couple. This is heavily hinted at in both the anime and manga, but never stated outright and occasionally a point of contention among some fans.
- Another Sailor Moon statement is the identity of Sailor Cosmos which shows word of god can be very vague. She stated that "In the very last manga, the last book, she is the future Sailor Moon." but canon also states that Usagi lost her powers as a Senshi after becoming Queen. Many fans assume she's Chibi-Usa's sister or Daughter, which are both also ruled out. Those who do the reading assume she's a future incarnation but it's unknown if that theory is right or not.
- The odd translation errors like "New Yark" and the "Great Canyon" from the dub of Mobile Suit Gundam were not actually errors. According to one translator, Yoshiyuki Tomino himself (or "a little bald wizard," as the translator put it) requested the changes; this would not be surprising at all considering the same little bald wizard requested that one episode be taken out of the US release, for very obvious reasons.
- For Code Geass the Word of God, according to the writer, is that Lelouch is, in fact, dead, despite a popular fan theory that he is 'the cart-driver' in the final scene. The Official Guide Book repeatedly mentions Lelouch's passing and the Special Edition Zero Requiem DVD replaces the entire last scene with a monologue by C.C. expressing her sadness over Lelouch's death. However, many fans choose to discount this with the theory that his identity as Lelouch vi Britannia is dead, but he might be living on as an immortal. At the same time, the director has made statements that can be taken as Word of Dante, in the sense that he prefers Shrug of God and leaving it to the fans to decide for themselves, which adds fuel to the fire and polarizes an already badly Broken Base.
- Neon Genesis Evangelion: Hideaki Anno does not often comment on Eva unless he feels it is an important issue.
- The most famous of his statements is the one jossing the theory that Misato shot Kaji. He specified that it was a nameless security agent.
- The production team have commented on Rei as well, such as her not being an albino and her weird-but-nonsexual relationship with Gendo.
- Ranma ½:
- The series has had Rumiko Takahashi state that the Jusenkyo Nanniichuan (Spring of Drowned Man) will cure Ranma and the other cursed men. It's possible that this clarification would never have needed to have been made, if not for an early plot hole (the Saotomes not getting cured right there and then, and then following the guide to the Joketsuzoku) that then developed a Fanon theory of its own, and, worse still, a villainous character returning with an extra curse having been "merged" into his original one.
- Similarly, the reason many fans of the series deride Akari Unryuu as a
Relationship Sue is because the author has admitted she was created solely for the purpose of giving Ryoga a "happy ending" and someone else to chase after besides Akane when The Rival managed to become so popular with the fans. And regarding the endless fan speculation about whether girl Ranma can get knocked up: "I don't think about that, and you shouldn't either!"
- Slayers:
- The creator has insisted that Idiot Hero Gourry Gabriev actually has the potential to be a sorcerer of power perhaps equal to Lina Inverse — it's just his Swiss-cheese memory stops him.
- Hajime Kanzaka, the writer for the original novels and head writer for the anime, often answers and confirms anything involving how the fantasy elements in the series works, or who is who and what they are.
- The director of Digimon Adventure 02 has stated that there's Digidestined in every country. We just didn't get to see all of them because it would've expanded the series by a good hundred or so more episodes.
- Hiro Mashima has been providing Del Rey with official translations for the names of the characters in Fairy Tail to avoid disputes over what the characters' names should be spelled as. Apparently, though, the names guessed up for the scanlations before Del Rey provided the actual translations are just cooler.
- Takahashi Yousuke, the man behind Mononoke Soushi, admits after a long time that the character Shao Tzu is a girl, but was planned to be a boy but as the character grew all of sudden she became a girl.
- Hoshino Katsura, creator of D.Gray-Man has stated while the manga has touches of Religion to it, it is not based from The Bible, and is more scifi. She also gives trivia info regarding some of the characters. She states the first thing Allen does when waking up is count money. Cross Sleeps in the Nude so he can tan and smokes before he gets dressed. She's also stated that Cross finds Allen cute, and considers Allen to be his child. She stated in an interview that Lvellie had siblings who were killed by experimentation, he's the last one left.
- Tsukasa Fushimi, the author Oreimo has said in interviews that the story's ending was intended to be a "full Kirino ending", meaning that Kyousuke and Kirino would be together romantically. Fans of both the manga and anime cite this as a reason for interpreting the ending as meaning that the two will get back together.
