Japanese - Ask questions thread

Basically if you have a question about the language, ask it and fellow 4channers might see it and answer it for you.

To start it off. When an animate object (iru) dies, is it considered inanimate(aru)?

Couple of stupid questions.

First, how common is it for guys to say 俺? It's all over everything I read, even more serious novels, and I can't get a sense of how common it is here in reality. Like, is it really just tough guys that say it, or would the average man on the street use with good friends, or what?

Second, I was in a used book store the other day, and there was a book that seemed to be filled with nothing but kanji written in various different scripts. I figured it was showing the evolution of the characters or similar, but I didn't have time to take a proper look and I forgot what it said on the cover right after I left. (All I remember is that 典 was there somewhere - not much help.) Can anyone tell me what it was? I tried google but I wasn't sure what I should be searching for, and the book store is far from where I live.