Japanese Hobby

Japanese with Anime: September 2018

Japanese with Anime: September 2018

Onomatopoeia are words that imply the sound they sound like. That is, words like *bang*, the sound of a pistol firing. Or *meow* the s...

The Otaku Judge

<div><img alt="" class="avatar avatar-32" height="32" src="https://1.gravatar.com/avatar/def8d96f96db07feaaaf04fc4efa017e?s=32&d=identicon&r=G" width="32"><a href="https://jeffreybotah.wordpress.com/2018/08/15/thoughts-on-berserk/">Jeffrey's blog</a><img alt="220px-Berserk_vol01" class=" wp-image-2145 aligncenter" height="435" src="https://theotakujudge.files.wordpress.com/2018/09/220px-berserk_vol01.jpg?w=314&h=435" width="314">

(Possible spoilers)

Berserk. That shit is messed up and you know what? I’m fully here for (most of) it. It’s an anime that had been on my list for a long time and I finally got around to watching it. If I’m getting this right, there are two Berserk series and I watched the one from the 90’s so I’ll watch the other series at some point. Berserk is a story about a swordsman named Guts who pretty much on sights anything that moves, his supreme inability to control his sword erection earns the interest of a man named Griffith who forcibly recruits him into his group the Band of the Hawk, where the real story begins as they journey to achieve Griffith’s dream.

From the beginning, the anime didn’t even try to hide that it would have a dark tone and it tried even less to hide that it…
</div>

The Otaku Judge

Jeffrey's blog (Possible spoilers) Berserk. That shit is messed up and you know what? I’m fully here for (most of) it. It’s an anime...

"It" in Japanese - Pronoun

<div>
Let's start with the dummy "it," as "it" illustrates better the differences between English and Japanese grammar.
In case you didn't know this, a dummy "it" in English happens when the English grammar syntax requires a subject, but you don't have one. That is, you have a verb, an action, and English be like: "oh, you got an action? Someone MUST be doing that action then!" So you must write it like this:
Which's all pretty basic, but then you have this:
Alright, so "it" rained... "it" what?
Rain comes from clouds, I guess, so is "it" referring to a cloud? The cloud rained? That's a bit weird, isn't it? Nobody says a cloud, singular, they say clouds, plural. The clouds rained. But then it should be "they rained," not "it rained." 
 
There is no one. 
 
What happens is that, in English, we can't just say: 
<ul>
<li>Rained.</li>
</ul>

 

Because that sounds like the lyrics of some song about some guy who just broke up with a girl or something, not proper English. Proper English gotta have that subject before the verb. So we must say:
<ul>
<li>It rained.</li>
</ul>

 

Even though we can't identify what's "raining," and therefore "it" refers to... something we don't know what. We gotta say that, that way, because the grammar syntax of English demands it.

 

Some other common examples of dummy subject, using the verb to be (i.e. "is"):
<ul>
<li>It's cold</li>
<li>It's night. It's late.</li>
<li>It's beautiful. It's amazing!</li>
<li>It's 4 o'clock.</li>
</ul>
<h3 id="japanese-dummy-it">
Japanese Dummy "It"</h3>

The Japanese grammar syntax doesn't require a subject like English does, so there's no need to have a dummy "it" purely for syntactic purposes. That is, we can simply not say any subject when we can't identify the subject.

 

For example, the following Japanese sentences are all grammatically correct, even though one is just a verb and the rest are just one adjective, without subject or anything:
<ul>
<li>futta 降った 
[It] rained.</li>
<li>osoi 晩い 
[It's] late.</li>
<li>samui 寒い 
[It's] cold.</li>
<li>subarashii! すばらしい！ 
[It's] amazing!</li>
</ul>
 
Sometimes you get to have an adjective plus <a></a> 
<ul>
<li>kirei desu 綺麗です 
[It] is pretty.</li>
<li>yonji desu 四時です 
[It] is hour four. [It] is 4 o'clock.</li>
</ul>
 
But note that Japanese is a different language not just in grammar but also in the way things are said.Sometimes you get to have an adjective plus <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/08/desu-deshita-janai-meaning.html">the copula desu です</a> But note that Japanese is a different language not just in grammar but also in the way things are said.
 

For example, nobody of sane mind would say that "the rain rains" or that the "snow snows" in English, but you may find that in the dictionary furu 降る can mean "to rain" and "to snow," and you'll eventually encounter phrases like this:
<ul>
<li>ame ga futteiru 雨が降っている 
The rain is raining.</li>
<li>yuki ga futteiru 雪が降っている 
The snow is snowing.</li>
</ul>
 
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyURHzlsJA5EaQPKCCIMBmZJF5VyV-p_PL3cKCxVtS9VGzxf9tkdEXTZfLpaMkUSz_Fdbfn2322olSoOM-yfYhlOBMr-lWuO4uVYwutxMC8HsL1ol3Hp7vLoGL43itZovJrw2HF2RTgRw/s1600/rain-rains-fullmetal-alchemist.png"><img alt="How to say "it started raining" in Japanese, as shown in the manga Fullmetal Alchemist / Hagane no Renkinjutsushi 鋼の錬金術師. Transcript: ikan いかん Oh no. ame ga futte-kita na 雨が降って来たな. The rain [started] raining." border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyURHzlsJA5EaQPKCCIMBmZJF5VyV-p_PL3cKCxVtS9VGzxf9tkdEXTZfLpaMkUSz_Fdbfn2322olSoOM-yfYhlOBMr-lWuO4uVYwutxMC8HsL1ol3Hp7vLoGL43itZovJrw2HF2RTgRw/s1600/rain-rains-fullmetal-alchemist.png" title="It's a terrible day for rain..."></a> 
This happens because furu 降る actually means "to fall," as in, from the sky. So what's actually being said is that the rain and the snow are "falling."
<ul>
<li>futteiru 降っている 
[It's] falling. (Rain? Snow?) 
[It's] raining. [The rain] is falling. 
[It's] snowing. [The snow] is falling.</li>
</ul>

 

Another common situation are expressions like this:
<ul>
<li>dou shita? どうした？ 
How was done? (literally.) 
What was done? (less literally.) 
What happened? (less.) 
What's it? (aight, stahp)</li>
</ul>
<h2 id="contextual-it">
Contextual "It"</h2>

The second use of "it" in English is contextual. That is, it works as just any pronoun, referring to things known in the context of a dialogue or text. To understand how it's used, an example:
<ul>
<li>The sword is great, you can slash anyone with the sword, the sword's blade can cut through steel.</li>
</ul>

 

Above I kept explicitly referring to "the sword" as "the sword," which's why it sounds weird. Below I'll use my trusty pronoun, "it," to avoid repeating myself like an idiot:
<ul>
<li>The sword is great, you can slash anyone with it, its blade can cut through steel.</li>
</ul>

 

That sounds much more natural.

 

Anyway, in case you haven't noticed, we are using "it" here instead of repeating "the sword" over and over, because doing that would be a pain in the ass. But we are still repeating the "it" over and over. Why can't we just omit the "it" altogether if the goal is to avoid redundancy?
<ul>
<li>The sword is great, you can slash anyone with, blade can cut through steel.</li>
</ul>

 

Aaaaaand, I'm speaking like an idiot again.

 

Sure, there are some places we can make it work. Instead of saying "its blade," "the blade" would do just fine. But it's pretty obvious we need that "it" for grammar purposes. For example:
<ul>
<li>I'll use the sword.</li>
<li>I'll use it.</li>
<li>I'll use. (WHAT?)</li>
</ul>

 

This is a bit different from the dummy it since we're actually referring to something here, but it boils down to the same point: we need a word for the sentence to conform to the grammar syntax, so "it" is the closest to implicit you can get.
<h3 id="japanese-contextual-it">
Japanese Contextual "It"</h3>

In Japanese, there's no need to use a contextual "it" to conform to the syntax requirements, because those syntax requirements do not exist. Grammatically, you don't need an explicit subject, direct object, or indirect object. You don't need anything. So you don't need an "it" pronoun to avoid repeating yourself as you don't need to say anything at all in first place.

 

For example, say someone asks the main character:
<ul>
<li>omae wa dono buki wo tsukau? お前はどの武器を使う？ 
Which weapon will you use?</li>
</ul>

 

The main character can answer:
<ul>
<li>boku ga ken wo tsukaimasu 僕が剣を使います 
I'll use the sword.</li>
</ul>

 

But if the guy asking the main character is, well, talking to the main character, there's no need to explicitly say "you," because obviously he's asking the main character about the main character. Whom else would he be asking about?
<ul>
<li>dono buki wo tsukau? どの武器を使う？ 
Which weapon [will you] use?</li>
</ul>

 
So, above, "you" became implicit. Likewise, the main character doesn't need to say "I" explicitly, because he understands the question is about himself, so "I" can become implicit too.So, above, "you" became implicit. Likewise, the main character doesn't need to say "I", because he understands the question is about himself, so "I" can becometoo.<ul>
<li>ken wo tsukaimasu 剣を使います 
[I'll] use the sword.</li>
</ul>

The implicitability of Japanese is so grotesquely powerful even making the verb implicit is allowed:
<ul>
<li>ken wo 剣を 
[I'll use] the sword.</li>
</ul>

 

Above we talked about a sword, which's the direct object of a verb, explicitly marked so by the particle wo を, but we didn't say a verb, so the verb must be implied from the context. We can guess the verb is "to use" here since we were talking about using weapons.

 

If we the syntax of Japanese grammar is so loose that we can do even that, then surely we can omit the "it" altogether when we need to. For example:
<ul>
<li>ken wo tsukau ka? 剣を使うか？ 
[You'll] use the sword?</li>
<li>hai, tsukaimasu はい、使います 
Yes, [I'll] use [it].</li>
</ul>

 

The weirdness of this dialogue aside, the point is that "it" exists in English mostly because of its strict grammar rules. Since the rules of Japanese grammar are more relaxed and allow for whole parts of the sentence to go missing, there's no need for a word like "it" to exist in Japanese, which's why such word was never created, and there's no Japanese translation for the "it" from English.
<h2 id="gender-neutral-it">
Gender-Neutral "It"</h2>

The last function of "it" English has, the only one which isn't closed tied to grammar, is the gender-neutral "it." The one you'd use for objects, and animals, except people. You'd use "they" for people, I've been told. So the impersonal pronoun "it."

 

In Japanese neither gender-neutral "it" nor gender-neutral "they" exist. But obviously Japanese has its own ways to go around this.

 

But first off, you may notice that there are words for "they" in Japanese.
<ul>
<li>kanojo-tachi 彼女たち 
They.</li>
<li>kare-ra 彼ら 
They.</li>
</ul>

 
not gender-neutral. They don't mean "they (female)" and "they (male)" either just because kanojo 彼女 is "she" and kare 彼 is "he." What those <a></a>These are. They don't mean "they (female)" and "they (male)" either just because彼女 is "she" and彼 is "he." What those <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/08/tachi-meaning-pluralizing-suffixes.html">pluralizing suffixes</a> do is refer to groups. So a more literal translation would be:<ul>
<li>kanojo-tachi 彼女たち 
She, and those around her. She, and her group. They.</li>
<li>kare-ra 彼ら 
He, and those around him. He, and his group. They.</li>
</ul>

 

With this explained, let's pretend you have found a gender-neutral person. Nah, that sounds like a pain in the ass. Let's pretend you're a character in some anime and you'll have just found one of those anime characters that make you go channel your inner Professor Oak with the "are you a boy or a girl" question.

 

How do you refer to them? He? She? kare 彼? kanojo 彼女? When in doubt, you got to use a neutral pronoun, but there is no neutral pronoun in Japanese! Or is there?
<ul>
<li>sore それ 
are あれ 
That. (yeah, no, this is bad. Don't call people "that.")</li>
<li>soitsu そいつ 
aitsu あいつ 
That one. (this is bad too. Don't use this.)</li>
<li>sono hito その人 
ano hito あの人 
That person. (alright, this is better.)</li>
</ul>

 
<a></a>so- and a- pronouns are closer to "that" than to "it," but they suffice.In Japanese, the <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2016/10/kosoado-kotoba-pronouns.html">kosoado こそあど pronouns</a> are neutral, and they can be used to refer to things and people, as one would expect. They are not the same thing as "it," theandpronouns are closer to "that" than to "it," but they suffice.
 

Also pay attention to this:
<ul>
<li>sono ko その子 
That "child." That pet. That animal.</li>
</ul>

 
<a></a>kono ko この子, "this child," for example, and people would understand you're referring to the cat. Also, certain female characters prefer to use ko 子 instead of hito 人.There's a whole article on <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2018/03/ko-meaning.html">how ko 子 works</a> , but summarizing it can be used toward "cute" things, people, animals, pets, and so on. You could hold your cat in hand and talk aboutこの子, "this child," for example, and people would understand you're referring to the cat. Also, certain female characters prefer to use子 instead of人.So is "it" the weather, then? The weather rained? That... that doesn't sound quite right. The weather rained, the weather snowed, the weather—no, there's no way this is it. Then what the hell is "it"??? What are we referring to in the phrase "it rains"??? WHO IS RAINING UP THERE?!?!?!?!? IS IT THE SKY?! THE SKY RAINED??!?!?!? WATER RAINED???? RAIN RAINED?!?!???There is no one.What happens is that, in English, we can't just say:</div>

"It" in Japanese - Pronoun

Let's start with the dummy "it," as "it" illustrates better the differences between English and Japanese grammar. ...

Thoughts on Berserk

(Possible spoilers)

From the beginning, the anime didn’t even try to hide that it would have a dark tone and it tried even less to hide that it…
</div>

Thoughts on Berserk

Jeffrey's blog (Possible spoilers) Berserk. That shit is messed up and you know what? I’m fully here for (most of) it. It’s an anime...

Zettai Ryouiki 絶対領域

<div>Zettai Ryouiki 絶対領域, or ZR, literally "absolute," zettai 絶対, "territory," ryouiki 領域, so "Absolute Territory" in English, refers to the space of bare thighs between the skirt and above knee-length socks. 
 
Yes, seriously. That's what Zettai Ryouiki means. 
 
 
<a name="more"></a><h2 id="definition-of-zettai-ryouiki">
Definition</h2>
The word Zettai Ryouiki is confusing, not to say disturbing, to anyone who hasn't gotten the slightest idea of what it's about. But let's go step by step. 
 
ZR is a moe attribute. To put simply: a thing people find cute in fiction, like having short hair, being a , having <a></a> . 
 
However, for those things there are normal Japanese (and English) words. If you like short hair, just say you like "short hair." But what if you liked the space of bare thighs between the skirt and above-the-knee socks of the characters? 
 
 
Indeed, you don't know a word for it. Is there even a word for it? Also, what the hell is even "the space of bare thighs between the skirt and over-the-knee socks"? Who even notices these things? 
 
Well, now there's a word for it: Zettai Ryouiki 絶対領域, "absolute territory." It was coined within the anime fandom, and the name doesn't actually make much sense for what it refers to, , but that's what we call it now. 
 
And now that you know the word for it, prepare yourself for noticing the Zettai Ryouiki of characters like you never did before, because you didn't know it was a thing before, so you probably never noticed it before, but now you do, so you'll really be noticing it a lot from now on. 
<h3 id="chiralism-definition">
Chiralism</h3>
Zettai Ryouiki is sometimes called the perfected form of "chiralism," chirarizumu チラリズム, (chirari チラリ means "glimpse," so glimpse-ism), which is a fetish for the subtle or accidental "glimpse" or exposure of skin or underwear, as opposed to the deliberate or blatant flashing or exposure of underwear or genitals. 
 
 
In other words, chiralism is a a thing for men of culture, and not for uncultured swines. 
 
For this reason, ZR has the ironic nature of being based on showing the bare skin of thighs, but the less bare skin shown, the greater the ZR is. 
 
Note that ZR is chiralism of the legs: having a glimpse of thighs, in some cases, a lower part of the butt, a side of the hips. Even though the definition includes a skirt, an accidental glimpse of panties is not ZR, that would be another type of chiralism, called panchira パンチラ ("panties-chiralism," pantsu-chirarizumu パンツチラリズム). 
<h2 id="examples-of-zettai-ryouiki">
Examples</h2>
Here are some examples of Zettai Ryouiki: 
 
<a href="https://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=46361978" target="_blank">凛</a>
Tohsaka Rin 
遠坂凛 
(Fate series)
<a href="https://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=33507237" target="_blank">電子の歌姫</a>
Hatsune Miku 
初音ミク 
(Vocaloid)
<a href="https://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=30683287" target="_blank">中二病ちゃん</a>
Takanashi Rikka 
小鳥遊六花 
(Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai!)
<a href="https://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=40829867" target="_blank">飛び膝</a>
Kirisaki Chitoge 
桐崎千棘 
(Nisekoi)
<a href="https://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=62643955" target="_blank">★</a>
Emilia 
エミリア 
(re:Zero)
<a href="https://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=7159413" target="_blank">ひたぎさん</a>
Senjougahara Hitagi 
戦場ヶ原ひたぎ 
(Bakemonogatari)
<a href="https://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=66575625" target="_blank">bort</a>
Bort 
ボルツ 
(Houseki no Kuni)
<a href="https://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=57701893" target="_blank">ゆきのん</a>
Yukinoshita Yukino 
雪ノ下雪乃 
(Oregairu)
<a href="https://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=64137316" target="_blank">アストルフォさん</a>
Astolfo 
アストルフォ 
(Fate series)
<a href="https://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=32824203" target="_blank">（o・ω・o）</a>
Kuro Usagi 
黒ウサギ 
(Mondaiji-tachi ga Isekai kara Kurusou Desu yo?)
 
Check the <a></a>Zettai Ryouiki. 
<h2 id="what-is-and-isnt-zettai-ryouiki">
What Counts as Zettai Ryouiki</h2>
Zettai Ryouiki was originally coined toward a skirt and above-knee socks, but as time went on the definition has gotten a bit stretched, and what people consider ZR or not kinda varies. 
 
There are a few absolutes: 
<ul>
<li>The legwear must cover at least the knee.</li>
<ul>
<li>In the case of fishnets, it's not really "covered."</li>
</ul>
<li>Thighs' bare skin must be visible.</li>
<ul>
<li>Thus the skirt must not cover the legwear. 
So only mini-skirts and shorter count.</li>
<li>Tights are never ZR. 
Not even if you cover them with socks, making 2 layers.</li>
</ul>
<li>Underwear must not be shown.</li>
<ul>
<li>ZR is the subtle exposure of legs, not crotch.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
 
Beyond the three items above, it gets controversial. 
 
<h3>
Different Legwear</h3>
To some people fishnets do not count as ZR because it doesn't properly cover the legs thus it's not chiralism, or because fishnets are just a different moe attribute entirely.. 
 
To some people garter doesn't count, because it gets in the way of the thighs, or because the legwear must hold up on its on, or because garter is just a different moe attribute entirely. 
 
To some people thigh-highs do not count because they cover too much of the thigh. Conversely, to some people microskirts and shorter over-the-knee legwear do not count since they show too much thigh. (despite controversy on microskirt, the consensus remains that underwear must not be visible.) 
<h3>
Different Bottom</h3>
It gets more erratic when replacing the skirt. Do "hotpants," hotto pantsu ホットパンツ, (a short type of shorts), count as Zettai Ryouiki? What about swimsuits that include legwear? These things have nothing to do with the original skirt, so you can feel the boundaries of the term distancing themselves. 
<h2 id="real-life-zettai-ryouiki">
Real Life Zettai Ryouiki</h2>
Although Zettai Ryouiki is an term rooted in anime and often used within anime communities, there's no rule that says you can't use it toward a real person. I mean, nowadays <a></a>ZR or another. 
 
In fact, in 2005-10-21, a TV program called Tokoro-san no Gakkou dewa Oshiete Kurenai Sokon Tokoro! 所さんの学校では教えてくれないそこんトコロ！ even explained Zettai Ryouiki with real-life people. 
 
 
(picture source: <a></a> 
<h2 id="male-zettai-ryouiki">
Male Zettai Ryouiki</h2>
There's no rule that says Zettai Ryouiki is a female-only attribute. However, it's implicitly exclusive given you need to wear some sort over-the-knee legwear and show bare thighs, and something like that happens not to be what a male character would wear. 
 
If you go by the original definition, you'd also need to wear a skirt, it's then only applicable to crossdressers. I suppose something that's totally-not-a-skirt, like a kilt, worn by totally-not-crossdressing men, or rather, a mini-kilt, would also fit the original idea. 
 
In a certain manga, Wild Rock, there's a caveman wearing a towel... I guess that counts as ZR, too? Does it count as chiralism when the guy is topless, though? 
 
If you go by the stretched definition, then hotpants are valid, so by extension you can pretend any kind of short shorts are valid too. But above-the-knee shorts are really only usually worn by one type of non-crossdressing male anime character. 
 
Finally, thigh-high boots are valid in this case too. Which gives the impression our range would become broader, until you realize we're talking about a guy wearing some huge-ass boots and still have his thighs exposed. So it's more of a JoJo-level of fashion statement than normal clothing. 
 
But such details do not matter. Making sense didn't stop the manga Saki from creating a monstrosity, as you may have witnessed in its season 2, for its male fans, so it sure as hell ain't gonna stop female authors from creating male Zettai Ryouiki for female fans. 
 
And, although I didn't expect it, I guess it's only natural the four examples of male ZR I could find ended up looking like the four horsemen of <a></a><a></a><a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2018/01/shota-meaning.html">shota</a>, <a></a> . 
 
<h3 id="male-zr-wrists-arms">
Wrist/Arms?</h3>
As you could see above, the normal ZR is simply not naturally occurring in males. Some people thought this was unfair, and decided the best approach to this was inventing some other designation to ZR that's only applicable to men. 
 
For example, on Twitter, in 2014, somebody came up with the novel idea that the male version of ZR should be the exposed wrist between sleeves and gloves. 
 
 
 
On some other forum around the internet, someone else decided, separately, in 2015, that showing off arm muscles between the shirt's sleeve and a shirtless sleeve covering elbow to wrist is what male ZR should be. 
 
Neither concept has spread. You know, probably because you could just make up a word for those things instead of making Zettai Ryouiki mean one thing for women and another thing for men. In fact, people have done this already and there are a few terms like Zettai Ryouiki but used toward other things. 
<h2 id="related-vocabulary">
Vocabulary</h2>
For reference, a couple of Japanese words related to ZR: 
 
Names of clothes, mostly <a></a><a></a><a></a> 
<ul>
<li>sukaato スカート 
Skirt.</li>
<li>minisukaato ミニスカート 
Mini-skirt.</li>
<li>kutsushita 靴下 
Socks. (literally: "under-shoes.")</li>
<li>kutsu 靴 
Shoes.</li>
<li>buutsu ブーツ 
Boots.</li>
<li>sokkusu ソックス 
Socks. (literally.)</li>
<li>oobaa-nii-sokkusu オーバーニーソックス 
oobaa-nii オーバーニー 
Over-knee-socks. 
Over-knee. 
(i.e. any socks that go above the knee. This is an <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/12/wasei-eigo-meaning.html">wasei-eigo 和製英語</a>, so people don't actually call it "over-knee-socks" in English. Maybe "over the knee socks" but not "over-knee-socks.")</li>
<li>saihai サイハイ 
Thigh-high. Thigh-highs.</li>
<li>taitsu タイツ 
Tights.</li>
<li>pantsu パンツ 
Panties. Pants. Underpants. Briefs. Shorts. Trunks.</li>
<li>hotto-pantsu ホットパンツ 
Hotpants.</li>
<li>shootsu ショーツ 
Shorts. 
Panties (knickers).</li>
<li>panthi パンティ 
Panty. Panties.</li>
<li>sutokingu ストッキング 
Stocking.</li>
<li>gaataaberuto ガーターベルト 
Garterbelt.</li>
<li>gaataa ガーター 
Garter.</li>
<li>ami 網 
A net. Netting. Web.</li>
<li>ami sutokkingu 網ストッキング 
Fishnet stockings.</li>
<li>ami taitsu 網タイツ 
Fishnet tights.</li>
<li>shima 縞 
Stripes.</li>
<li>shima-sokkusu 縞ソックス 
Stripped socks.</li>
<li>shima-pan 縞パン 
shima-pantsu 縞パンツ 
Stripped panties.</li>
</ul>
 
And here's a couple of relevant <a></a> 
<ul>
<li>ashi 足 
Leg. Foot.</li>
<li>ashi 脚 
Leg. (<a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/12/same-word-different-kanji.html">same word, different kanji</a>.)</li>
<li>bikyaku 美脚 
"Beautiful legs."</li>
<li>hiza 膝 
Knee.</li>
<li>futomomo 太もも 
Thighs.</li>
<li>shiri 尻 
Butt.</li>
</ul>
<h2 id="origin-of-zettai-ryouiki">
Origin</h2>
The origin of Zettai Ryouiki is in a very, very, very little known mecha anime of the 90's, called Neon Genesis Evangelion. lol I'm joking. Of course you know Eva. Everybody knows Eva. You know Eva, right? RIGHT??!?? It's the one from that "Shinji, get in the robot!" meme! Come on, you know it! 
 
Anyway, in Evangelion, there's a thing called an A.T. Field, which is a kind of shield thingy. and—ah ha!—this A.T. stands for Absolute Territory, right?! Absolute Territory Field! Of course. I'm a genius. Where's my Nobel, Watson? Well, nah. I assumed so too, but I was wrong. It's actually an Absolute Terror Field. The T isn't Territory, it's T of Terror. 
 
 
So it's Absolute Terror Field, and that's where the word Absolute Territory comes from, right? Yeah. So why is Absolute Territory not called Absolute "Field" instead? 
 
That's because in Japanese the name for the A.T. Field is: 
<ul>
<li>Zettai Kyoufu Ryouiki 絶対恐怖領域 
Absolute Fear Territory. 
(which you could also call a) 
Absolute Terror Territory. 
Absolute Terror Field. 
A.T. Field.</li>
</ul>
 
Due to this, another name proposed for ZR was AMF, A.M. Field, Absolute-Moe-Field, or Zettai Moe Ryouiki 絶対萌領域, replacing Terror with Moe, but that didn't catch on. 
 
So that clears up where the name Zettai Ryouiki, "Absolute Territory," comes from. But why is the shield thingy from Evangelion used to refer to... that. Why is Zettai Ryouiki called Zettai Ryouiki? 
<h3 id="how-zettai-ryouiki-was-coined">
How It Was Coined</h3>
Apparently, Zettai Ryouiki was coined in a random blog post in 2001 by MIY, a certain author of characters for a certain desktop-mascot software. 
<h4>
Software Background</h4>
At the time, a software called Nanika 何か (now called Ukagaka 伺か) allowed you to place a cute anime girl on your desktop that'd say things in a text balloon and do stuff. 
 
Like this: 
 


 
The video above features the default characters, Sakura さくら and Unyuu うにゅう, but as expected from the anime community, these mascots had a certain level of complexity and customization, and even jargon. 
 
The images of the characters were called "shells," sheru シェル, and their programmed personalities "ghost," goosuto ゴースト. 
 
(You know, like the anime movie Ghost in the Shell, which, coincidentally, was also released in 1995, the same year that Neon Genesis Evangelion began airing... is this somehow all connected?!) 
 
A ghost usually came with its own shell, because the shell was the graphic, so it was pretty important. Additional shells would be like skins. And authors who wanted to make a character but couldn't draw well could even use a "free shell," a shared skin. 
 
You know, just like you don't design a Vocaloid, but can make it sing custom songs you create. Although there's stuff like UTAU... err, you get the idea! 
 
Since it was too awkward to have the digital girl-mascot stay there on the desktop talking alone, the ghost's main character (Sakura) also had a sub-character (Unyuu), and the conversation would happen between the two of them. (although "solo ghosts" also exist.) 
 
There are dozens of Unyuu-looking sub-characters in ghosts because more attention is paid to designing the main character, I guess. But some ghosts do replace Unyuu with something else: like with an animal, the girl's pet, a cat, a dog, penguin, etc. Some even had an actual second person. (there's even a ghost with twin elves!) 
 
And yeah, there were dozens of these ghosts. And by dozens I mean hundreds. And by hundreds I'm actually talking about over one thousand of these things. In the video below, for example, which shows the results of a saimoe 最萌, "most moe," style popularity "tournament" among ghosts only, held in 2009, there were 128 entries. 
 


 
(holy shit, is that a ghost of goddamn HITLER at 4:33?!) 
<h4>
Blog Post</h4>
In 9th of March, 2001, a certain ghost (and its shell) were released: Mayura まゆら. She was officially named "Nanika" wiz Mayura 「伺か」wizまゆら, so it could be told apart from people/characters called Mayura. The "wiz" part abbreviated "wizardry," it seems. 
 
Her author wasn't MIY but Mukei 夢蛍, but she donned a skirt and knee-high socks. 
 
In 21st of March, 2001, MIY posted in their blog regarding this Mayura ghost Mukei created: 
<blockquote>
前から言っているけどミニスカートとニーソックス(?)の間の空間は無敵だ。 
神の絶対領域とでも言おうか(爆) 
まゆらがこの絶対領域を装備していたっしかもニーソックスは黒！ 
萌える！萌えすぎる！萌え死・・・ぱたっ。</blockquote>
<h4>
Transcript</h4>
mae kara itteiru kedo 
前から言っているけど 
I've been saying [this] since before but 
 
minisukaato to niisokkusu(?) no aida no kuukan wa muteki da. 
ミニスカートとニーソックス(?)の間の空間は無敵だ。 
The space (kuukan) of the gap (aida) [between] the miniskirt and knee-socks¹(?) is invincible². 
<ol>
<li>The "knee-socks" refers to over-knee socks, thigh-high socks, etc. The (?) is MIY being confused as whether they are called that, or are that, I imagine.</li>
<li>Muteki, "without-enemy," means it's peerless, invincible, the bestest thing ever, etc.</li>
</ol>
 
Kami no Zettai Ryouiki to demo iouka (baku) 神の絶対領域とでも言おうか(爆) 
[We] could even call it God's Absolute Territory¹ (laugh)² 
<ol>
<li>This is where Zettai Ryouiki was first coined. 
Again: muteki = invincible. 
In Evangelion, A.T. Fields of the enemies are pretty problematic. And those enemies are called "angels," tenshi 天使, in the series. So A.T. Field of God himself would probably be invincible, peerless, muteki 無敵.</li>
<li>This is a Japanese emoji, it's like lol in Japanese, except it's a very old internet expression, like lol in English.</li>
</ol>
 
Mayura ga kono zettai ryouiki wo soubi shiteita 
まゆらがこの絶対領域を装備していた 
Mayura had equipped this Absolute Territory 
 
sshikamo niisokusu wa kuro! 
っしかもニーソックスは黒！ 
on top of that the knee-socks are black! 
 
Moeru! Moe sugiru! Moe-shi... pata'. 
萌える！萌えすぎる！萌え死・・・ぱたっ。 
Moe¹! Too moe! So moe I could die...² *dies*³. 
<ol>
<li><a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/11/moe-meaning.html">Moe 萌え</a> is a verb in Japanese.</li>
<li>Literally "moe-death," moe-shi 萌え死.</li>
<li>This is the sound of something falling on the ground, like a book, a corpse, a box, etc.</li>
</ol>
<h3 id="first-zettai-ryouiki-ever">
The First Zettai Ryouiki Ever</h3>
Since MIY coined the term when talking about Mayura, that makes Mayura the first character to ever don a Zettai Ryouiki. The mother of all Zettai Ryouiki's. 
 
Here's what she looks like (taken from the archived version of the now-dead official website, see references below): 
 
 
Some fun facts about Mayura, also taken from the archived version of her now-dead official website, so, yeah, this is all canon: 
<ul>
<li>She's a powerful magic-user... obviously.</li>
<li>She's around 400 years old, but looks like a little girl... of course.</li>
<ul>
<li>"The reason is unknown."</li>
<li>I'm literally quoting it from the Q&A: 
riyuu wa fumei desu 理由は不明です 
"Reason is uncertain."</li>
</ul>
<li>She claims the "Black Unyuu," Kuro Unyuu 黒うにゅう, is not Unyuu, despite similarities. 
The reasons are (and I quote):</li>
<ul>
<li>It's "black."</li>
<li>It "has a tail."</li>
<li>It "doesn't [speak] in Kansai accent." (this one's pretty convincing, tbh.)</li>
</ul>
<li>She likes games.</li>
</ul>
 
Okay, okay, you know what, it's just a character someone made 17 years ago. She bears very little relevance to this article besides her tangential involvement. 
<h3>
References</h3>
 
<h2 id="golden-ratio-of-zettai-ryouiki">
Golden Ratio</h2>
Regarding the ideal amount of skin exposed, the experts on the subject have come to a convention that the Zettai Ryouki's golden ratio is 4:1:2.5, meaning: the area above the knee should be composed of 4 parts of skirt, 1 part of skin, and 2-and-half parts of sock. 
 
 
Sometimes the golden ratio is said to be 8:2:5 instead of 4:1:2.5. In Japanese it's called: 
<ul>
<li>ougon-hi 黄金比</li>
<li>ougon-hiritsu 黄金比率</li>
<li>ougon-ritsu 黄金率</li>
</ul>
 
Furthermore, since not everything in life has microscopic precision, a ±25% tolerance is allowed for Zettai Ryouiki. Although I can't confirm the origin of the golden ratio, here's the earliest article I could find about it, from before 2002: <a></a> 
<h3 id="zr-golden-ratio-tolerance">
25% Tolerance?</h3>
I assume the 25% tolerance means the variation of any of the parts from the golden ratio mayn't be greater than 25%. There's a diagram that illustrates this, but I have a problem with it. See below: 
 
 
(picture source: <a></a> 
 
I can't really make sense of this math because 5:1:2.5 changes the scale from 7.5 parts total to 8.5 parts total, so if you convert back to the original 7.5 parts the other two parts become smaller than the golden ratio. See: 
<ul>
<li>5÷8.5×7.5 = 
4.41176470588</li>
<li>1÷8.5×7.5 = 
0.88235294117</li>
<li>2.5÷8.5×7.5 = 
2.20588235294</li>
</ul>
 
The variations then become: 
<ul>
<li>|4.41176470588 - 4| ÷ 4 = 
0.10294117647 </li>
<li>|0.88235294117 - 1| ÷ 1 = 
0.11764705883 </li>
<li>|2.20588235294 - 2.5| ÷ 2.5 = 
0.11764705882</li>
</ul>
 
If you get the sum, then it's ~33.8%, not 25%. 
Summing the variations doesn't make much sense because making one part bigger makes another part smaller, so even the slightest change makes it go over 25%. 
 
If you get the maximum, then it's ~11.7%, not 25%. 
Since the thighs are the smallest part, and thus more sensitive to variation, I assume most of the time ZR would be decided on whether the thighs' are between [0.75, 1.25] parts or not. 
 
Also there's the problem of where exactly, precisely, do you even start measuring from? This is all very vague. Very inaccurate. 
 
The only thing we can be really sure about is that the thighs part is supposed be pretty small. If it's twice as big as 1 part of 7.5, that is, 2 parts of 7.5, then we probably went too far and we aren't within the tolerance range anymore. 
<h3 id="zr-golden-ratio-importance">
Actual Relevance</h3>
According to the source of the golden ratio I mentioned before, anything outside of ±25% is not Zettai Ryouiki. 
<blockquote>
ijou no gotoku kon'nan na shojouken wo kanpeki na made kiwameta toki, 
以上の如く困難な諸条件を完璧なまでに極めた時、 
[Only] when the convoluted conditions mentioned above are carried out to perfection, 
 
hajimete soko ni "zettai ryouiki" ga umareru. 
はじめてそこに「絶対領域」が生まれる。 
for the first an "absolute territory" is born there. 
(i.e., it doesn't exist there until then)</blockquote>
 
Presumably, this reinforces the notion ZR is a form chiralism: it's meant to be a GLIMPSE of the thighs. Microskirts and shorter legwear, which expose too much thigh, are not glimpses, so it wouldn't be considered ZR. 
 
You could say ZR is rather modest, given plenty of times you have a character wearing a skirt, hosiery, and a blazer or sweater, covering like 90% of the body. Hard to imagine wearing that under the sun if you're from a tropical country. 
 
Anyway, if you like seeing more thigh than that 1 part of 7.5, chances are you don't like ZR, you just like thighs, and those thighs happen to be accompanied by over-the-knee legwear and a skirt. 
 
Thighs' fine too, who am I to judge? I'm just saying it wouldn't be ZR. 
 
However, this detail is lost in most modern ZR communities. Nowadays any ratio will be accepted as Zettai Ryouiki even if the ratio is completely different from the golden ratio, and the definition of ZR truly boils down to just whether over-the-knee legwear is worn or not most of the time. 
 
 
Personally I'd prefer the prescriptive approach to this stuff and assume that a practically imperceptible band of bare skin is closer to what a Zettai Ryouiki should be than some obvious and hard-to-miss meaty mass of legs. But my opinion is not the general opinion in this matter; I'm guessing most people wouldn't take my side here. 
 
<h2 id="grades-zettai-ryouiki">
Grades</h2>
Among western fans, Zettai Ryouiki can be graded into grades A, B, C, D, E, F, and S. These relate strictly to the length of the legwear. The ZR grades are: 
<ul>
<li>Grade A: above the middle of the thigh.(57cm hemline)</li>
<li>Grade B: under the middle of the thigh. (50cm)</li>
<li>Grade C: right under knee. (35cm)</li>
<li>Grade D: upper half of the lower leg. (26cm)</li>
<li>Grade E: lower half of the lower leg. (16cm)</li>
<li>Grade F: this is a sock. It covers just the feet. (5cm)</li>
</ul>
<h3 id="zr-grade-s">
Grade S</h3>
The Zettai Ryouiki grade S refers to a combination of grade A, twintails hairstyle and tsundere. In order words, it's a grade created for Tohsaka Rin, obviously, from the Fate series, who's become symbol of Zettai Ryouiki. 
<h3 id="zr-grade-doubts">
Wait, is Grade C even ZR?</h3>
You may notice there's something funny going on here. Grades C and below are under the knee, so they are not Zettai Ryouiki per Japanese definition, and yet I'm here saying they are Zettai Ryouiki grades, what's up with that? 
 
Since I can't find these grades mentioned in Japanese dictionaries, only in western sites, I'm going to assume they were made up by a western fan, or somehow spread in English without ever spreading in Japanese. That is: only western fans use these terms. 
 
Checking the <a></a> 
 
It's entitled <a></a><a></a> 
 
I Googled for ["grade A" "zettai ryouiki"] pages published before the end of 2009 and there were no results before Tsubaki's post of September, so I'm assuming Tsubaki either made them up or translated them from Japanese to English first, or saw them in some 4chan post that was deleted forever or something like that. 
 
It doesn't matter which. Ultimately Tsubaki's Zettai Ryouiki grading system is the closest to the original definition I could find. So from now on if someone say "grade C" I'm going to assume it's Tsubaki's definition of grade C ZR. 
 
According to their definition, "Grade C is the start of the Zettai Ryouiki formation, albeit an unattractive level. The sock is raised to 35cm off the shoes, but does not cross above the knee cap." Since it isn't above-knee, Tsubaki's Grade C ZR isn't the same thing as Japanese ZR. 
 
 
Note that some anime communities nowadays use other terms, like "level C" or "C class," and whether it's under, right at, or above the knee varies. 
<h2 id="absolute-territory-song">
Song: Absolute Territory</h2>
After a golden ratio, a grading system, and a disturbing amount of text, examples, imagery, and history, I suppose it's not even a surprise anymore that someone actually made a song called Absolute Territory (Ken Ashcorp), and yeah, it's obviously in reference to Zettai Ryouiki. 
 


<h2 id="other-spellings">
Also Spelled</h2>
Sometimes Zettai Ryouiki is spelled in other ways. 
<h3 id="zettai-ryōiki">
Zettai Ryōiki</h3>
The word Zettai Ryōiki is the same thing as Zettai Ryouiki, it's only <a></a> 
 
It uses a macron for the long vowel of ryou りょう (ryō) instead of simply transliterating the u う. 
<h3 id="zettai-ryoiki">
Zettai Ryoiki</h3>
The misspelling Zettai Ryoiki without the macron also exists because nobody knows how to type that macron. 
<h2 id="related-tropes">
Derived Tropes</h2>
<h3 id="zettai-kuuiki">
Zettai Kuuiki 絶対空域</h3>
The Zettai Kuuiki 絶対空域, "Absolute Airspace," but you could call it "Absolute Air-Territory" to match, is the downward triangle formed by the enclosed negative space within the perimeter of the thighs and crotch, or, in other words, the thigh gap, but only when it becomes a closed triangle, like when the knees are touching. 
 
 
<h3 id="tennen-zettai-ryouiki">
Ten'nen Zettai Ryouiki 天然絶対領域</h3>
The Ten'nen Zettai Ryouiki 天然絶対領域, "Natural Absolute Territory," is a summer-type of Absolute Territory, where the character wears a tan on their bare legs instead of legwear. 
 
<h3 id="soutai-ryouiki">
Soutai Ryouiki 相対領域</h3>
The Soutai Ryouiki 相対領域, "Relative Territory," as in the opposite of "Absolute Territory," is the space of exposed shoulder skin between a top and a armwear. This would be the opposite of Zettai Ryouiki, vertically-wise, but it's not a term people really use. (I mean, are we going to name every piece of exposed skin between two clothes some sort of territory now? You can't just put a flag on it.) 
 
Zettai Ryouiki: 
 

In Japanese, the term絶対領域, or, literally "absolute,"絶対, "territory,"領域, so "" in English, refers to the space of bare thighs between the skirt and above knee-length socks.Yes, seriously. That's whatmeans.The wordis confusing, not to say disturbing, to anyone who hasn't gotten the slightest idea of what it's about. But let's go step by step.is aattribute. To put simply: a thing people find cute in fiction, like having short hair, being a, having <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2016/10/nekomimi-meaning.html">cat ears</a> , orHowever, for those things there are normal Japanese (and English) words. If you like short hair, just say you like "short hair." But what if you liked the space of bare thighs between the skirt and above-the-knee socks of the characters?Indeed, you don't know a word for it. Is there even a word for it? Also, what the hell is even "the space of bare thighs between the skirt and over-the-knee socks"? Who even notices these things?Well, now there's a word for it:絶対領域, "absolute territory." It was coined within the anime fandom, and the name doesn't actually make much sense for what it refers to,, but that's what we call it now.And now that you know the word for it, prepare yourself for noticing theof characters like you never did before, because you didn't know it was a thing before, so you probably never noticed it before, but now you do, so you'll really be noticing it a lot from now on.is sometimes called the perfected form of "chiralism,"チラリズム, (チラリ means "glimpse," so glimpse-ism), which is a fetish for the subtle or accidental "glimpse" or exposure of skin or underwear, as opposed to the deliberate or blatant flashing or exposure of underwear or genitals.In other words, chiralism is a a thing for men of culture, and not for uncultured swines.For this reason,has the ironic nature of being based on showing the bare skin of thighs, but the less bare skin shown, the greater theis.Note thatis chiralism: having a glimpse of thighs, in some cases, a lower part of the butt, a side of the hips. Even though the definition includes a skirt, an accidental glimpse of panties is not, that would be another type of chiralism, calledパンチラ ("panties-chiralism,"リズム).Here are some examples ofCheck the <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2018/08/zettai-ryouiki-meaning.html#links-related-to-zettai-ryouiki">Links</a> section for sites that let you find morewas originally coined toward a skirt and above-knee socks, but as time went on the definition has gotten a bit stretched, and what people consideror not kinda varies.There are a few absolutes:Beyond the three items above, it gets controversial.To some people fishnets do not count asbecause it doesn't properly cover the legs thus it's not chiralism, or because fishnets are just a differentattribute entirely..To some people garter doesn't count, because it gets in the way of the thighs, or because the legwear must hold up on its on, or because garter is just a differentattribute entirely.To some people thigh-highs do not count because they cover too much of the thigh. Conversely, to some people microskirts and shorter over-the-knee legwear do not count since they show too much thigh. (despite controversy on microskirt, the consensus remains that underwear must not be visible.)It gets more erratic when replacing the skirt. Do "hotpants,"ホットパンツ, (a short type of shorts), count as? What about swimsuits that include legwear? These things have nothing to do with the original skirt, so you can feel the boundaries of the term distancing themselves.Althoughis anterm rooted in anime and often used within anime communities, there's no rule that says you can't use it toward a real person. I mean, nowadays <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/11/moe-meaning.html#real-people-moe">even moe can be applied to real people</a> , so why not? Specially considering real-life maid cafés are a thing and maid costumes usually feature aor another.In fact, in 2005-10-21, a TV program called所さんの学校では教えてくれないそこんトコロ！ even explainedwith real-life people.(picture source: <a href="http://f.hatena.ne.jp/lowracer/20051021213334">http://f.hatena.ne.jp/lowracer/20051021213334</a> There's no rule that saysis a female-only attribute. However, it's implicitly exclusive given you need to wear some sort over-the-knee legwear and show bare thighs, and something like that happens not to be what a male character would wear.If you go by the original definition, you'd also need to wear a skirt, it's then only applicable to crossdressers. I suppose something that's totally-not-a-skirt, like a kilt, worn by totally-not-crossdressing men, or rather, a mini-kilt, would also fit the original idea.In a certainmanga, Wild Rock, there's a caveman wearing a towel... I guess that counts as, too? Does it count as chiralism when the guy is topless, though?If you go by the stretched definition, then hotpants are valid, so by extension you can pretend any kind of short shorts are valid too. But above-the-knee shorts are really only usually worn by one type of non-crossdressing male anime character.Finally, thigh-high boots are valid in this case too. Which gives the impression our range would become broader, until you realize we're talking about a guy wearing some huge-ass boots and still have his thighs exposed. So it's more of a-level of fashion statement than normal clothing.But such details do not matter. Making sense didn't stop the mangafrom creating a monstrosity, as you may have witnessed in its season 2, for its male fans, so it sure as hell ain't gonna stop female authors from creating malefor female fans.And, although I didn't expect it, I guess it's only natural the four examples of maleI could find ended up looking like the four horsemen of <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2016/08/fujoshi-meaning.html">fujoshi 腐女子</a> apocalypse: <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2018/02/crossdressing-in-japanese.html">crossdressing</a> <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2018/02/otokonoko-meaning.html">trap</a> , andAs you could see above, the normalis simply not naturally occurring in males. Some people thought this was unfair, and decided the best approach to this was inventing some other designation tothat's only applicable to men.For example, on Twitter, in 2014, somebody came up with the novel idea that the male version ofshould be the exposed wrist between sleeves and gloves.On some other forum around the internet, someone else decided, separately, in 2015, that showing off arm muscles between the shirt's sleeve and a shirtless sleeve covering elbow to wrist is what maleshould be.Neither concept has spread. You know, probably because you could just make up a word for those things instead of makingmean one thing for women and another thing for men. In fact, people have done this already and there are a few terms likebut used toward other things.For reference, a couple of Japanese words related toNames of clothes, mostly <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/12/gairaigo-meaning.html">gairaigo 外来語</a> words <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/12/loan-words.html">loaned</a> from English, <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/12/words-written-with-katakana.html">written with katakana</a> And here's a couple of relevant <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2016/07/body-parts-names-japanese-karada.html">body parts:</a> The origin ofis in a very, very, very little known mecha anime of the 90's, called. lol I'm joking. Of course you know. Everybody knows. You know, right? RIGHT??!?? It's the one from that "Shinji, get in the robot!" meme! Come on, you know it!Anyway, in, there's a thing called an, which is a kind of shield thingy. and—ah ha!—this A.T. stands for Absolute Territory, right?! Absolute Territory Field! Of course. I'm a genius. Where's my Nobel, Watson? Well, nah. I assumed so too, but I was wrong. It's actually an AbsoluteField. The T isn't Territory, it's T of Terror.So it's Absolute Terror Field, and that's where the word Absolute Territory comes from, right? Yeah. So why is Absolute Territory not called Absolute "Field" instead?That's because in Japanese the name for the A.T. Field is:Due to this, another name proposed forwas AMF, A.M. Field, Absolute-Moe-Field, or絶対萌領域, replacing Terror with, but that didn't catch on.So that clears up where the name, "Absolute Territory," comes from. But why is the shield thingy fromused to refer to... that. Why iscalledApparently,was coined in a random blog post in 2001 by MIY, a certain author of characters for a certain desktop-mascot software.At the time, a software called何か (now called伺か) allowed you to place a cute anime girl on your desktop that'd say things in a text balloon and do stuff.Like this:The video above features the default characters,さくら andうにゅう, but as expected from the anime community, these mascots had a certain level of complexity and customization, and even jargon.The images of the characters were called "shells,"シェル, and their programmed personalities "ghost,"ゴースト.(You know, like the anime movie Ghost in the Shell, which, coincidentally, was also released in 1995, the same year that Neon Genesis Evangelion began airing... is this somehow all connected?!)A ghost usually came with its own shell, because the shell was the graphic, so it was pretty important. Additional shells would be like skins. And authors who wanted to make a character but couldn't draw well could even use a "free shell," a shared skin.You know, just like you don't design a Vocaloid, but can make it sing custom songs you create. Although there's stuff like UTAU... err, you get the idea!Since it was too awkward to have the digital girl-mascot stay there on the desktop talking alone, the ghost's main character () also had a sub-character (), and the conversation would happen between the two of them. (although "solo ghosts" also exist.)There are dozens of-looking sub-characters in ghosts because more attention is paid to designing the main character, I guess. But some ghosts do replacewith something else: like with an animal, the girl's pet, a cat, a dog, penguin, etc. Some even had an actual second person. (there's even a ghost with twin elves!)And yeah, there were dozens of these ghosts. And by dozens I mean hundreds. And by hundreds I'm actually talking about over one thousand of these things. In the video below, for example, which shows the results of a最萌, "most moe," style popularity "tournament" among ghosts only, held in 2009, there were 128 entries.(holy shit, is that a ghost of goddamn HITLER at 4:33?!)In 9th of March, 2001, a certain ghost (and its shell) were released:まゆら. She was officially named「伺か」wizまゆら, so it could be told apart from people/characters called. The "wiz" part abbreviated "wizardry," it seems.Her author wasn't MIY but夢蛍, but she donned a skirt and knee-high socks.In 21st of March, 2001, MIY posted in their blog regarding thisghostcreated:前から言っているけどI've been saying [this] since before butミニスカートとニーソックス(?)の間の空間は無敵だ。The space () of the gap () [between] the miniskirt and knee-socks¹(?) is invincible².神の絶対領域とでも言おうか(爆)[We] could even call it God's¹ (laugh)²まゆらがこの絶対領域を装備していたMayura had equipped this Absolute Territoryっしかもニーソックスは黒！on top of that the knee-socks are black!萌える！萌えすぎる！萌え死・・・ぱたっ。Moe¹! Too moe! So moe I could die...² *dies*³.Since MIY coined the term when talking about, that makesthe first character to ever don a. The mother of all's.Here's what she looks like (taken from the archived version of the now-dead official website, see references below):Some fun facts about, also taken from the archived version of her now-dead official website, so, yeah, this is all canon:Okay, okay, you know what, it's just a character someone made 17 years ago. She bears very little relevance to this article besides her tangential involvement.Regarding the ideal amount of skin exposed, the experts on the subject have come to a convention that the's golden ratio is, meaning: the area above the knee should be composed of 4 parts of skirt, 1 part of skin, and 2-and-half parts of sock.Sometimes the golden ratio is said to be 8:2:5 instead of 4:1:2.5. In Japanese it's called:Furthermore, since not everything in life has microscopic precision, a ±25% tolerance is allowed for. Although I can't confirm the origin of the golden ratio, here's the earliest article I could find about it, from before 2002: <a href="http://www.valley.ne.jp/~sin/key/key9.htm">http://www.valley.ne.jp/~sin/key/key9.htm</a> I assume the 25% tolerance means the variation of any of the parts from the golden ratio mayn't be greater than 25%. There's a diagram that illustrates this, but I have a problem with it. See below:(picture source: <a href="http://f.hatena.ne.jp/rawlow/20051204013553">http://f.hatena.ne.jp/rawlow/20051204013553</a> I can't really make sense of this math because 5:1:2.5 changes the scale from 7.5 parts total to 8.5 parts total, so if you convert back to the original 7.5 parts the other two parts become smaller than the golden ratio. See:The variations then become:If you get the sum, then it's ~33.8%, not 25%.Summing the variations doesn't make much sense because making one part bigger makes another part smaller, so even the slightest change makes it go over 25%.If you get the maximum, then it's ~11.7%, not 25%.Since the thighs are the smallest part, and thus more sensitive to variation, I assume most of the timewould be decided on whether the thighs' are between [0.75, 1.25] parts or not.Also there's the problem of where exactly,, do you even start measuring from? This is all very vague. Very inaccurate.The only thing we can be really sure about is that the thighs part is supposed be pretty small. If it's twice as big as 1 part of 7.5, that is, 2 parts of 7.5, then we probably went too far and we aren't within the tolerance range anymore.According to the source of the golden ratio I mentioned before,outside of ±25% isPresumably, this reinforces the notionis a form chiralism: it's meant to be a GLIMPSE of the thighs. Microskirts and shorter legwear, which expose too much thigh, are not glimpses, so it wouldn't be consideredYou could sayis rather modest, given plenty of times you have a character wearing a skirt, hosiery, and a blazer or sweater, covering like 90% of the body. Hard to imagine wearing that under the sun if you're from a tropical country.Anyway, if you like seeing more thigh than that 1 part of 7.5, chances are you don't like, you just like thighs, and those thighs happen to be accompanied by over-the-knee legwear and a skirt.Thighs' fine too, who am I to judge? I'm just saying it wouldn't beHowever, this detail is lost in most moderncommunities. Nowadays any ratio will be accepted aseven if the ratio is completely different from the golden ratio, and the definition oftruly boils down to just whether over-the-knee legwear is worn or not most of the time.Personally I'd prefer the prescriptive approach to this stuff and assume that a practically imperceptible band of bare skin is closer to what ashould be than some obvious and hard-to-miss meaty mass of legs. But my opinion is not the general opinion in this matter; I'm guessing most people wouldn't take my side here.Among western fans,can be graded into grades A, B, C, D, E, F, and S. These relate strictly to the length of the legwear. Thegrades are:Thegrade S refers to a combination of grade A, twintails hairstyle and. In order words, it's a grade created for Tohsaka Rin, obviously, from the Fate series, who's become symbol ofYou may notice there's something funny going on here. Grades C and below are under the knee, so they are notper Japanese definition, and yet I'm here saying they aregrades, what's up with that?Since I can't find these grades mentioned in Japanese dictionaries, only in western sites, I'm going to assume they were made up by a western fan, or somehow spread in English without ever spreading in Japanese. That is: only western fans use these terms.Checking the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Zettai_ry%C5%8Diki&oldid=854432585">Wikipedia's article on Zettai Ryouiki</a> I found a mention of these grades, with a citation toward a certain book. So I check the book it cited, and, what?! The book cites another source for the grades! A blog post!It's entitled <a href="http://animedesho.animeblogger.net/?p=2585">Zettai Ryouiki: Achieving the Perfect Zone</a> , and I can't access the URL, so I assume the blog is dead and has been dead for some time. Luckily there's <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20071011021220/http://animedesho.animeblogger.net:80/?p=2585">an archived version</a> . It grades were posted in 2009-09-25 by someone called Tsubaki, and the name of the blog was Anime Desho Desho, abbreviated ADD.I Googled for ["grade A" "zettai ryouiki"] pages published before the end of 2009 and there were no results before Tsubaki's post of September, so I'm assuming Tsubaki either made them up or translated them from Japanese to English first, or saw them in some 4chan post that was deleted forever or something like that.It doesn't matter which. Ultimately Tsubaki'sgrading system is the closest to the original definition I could find. So from now on if someone say "grade C" I'm going to assume it's Tsubaki's definition of grade CAccording to their definition, "Grade C is the start of theformation, albeit an unattractive level. The sock is raised to 35cm off the shoes, but." Since it isn't above-knee, Tsubaki's Grade Cisn't the same thing as JapaneseNote that some anime communities nowadays use other terms, like "level C" or "C class," and whether it's under, right at, or above the knee varies.After a golden ratio, a grading system, and a disturbing amount of text, examples, imagery, and history, I suppose it's not even a surprise anymore that someone actually made a song called Absolute Territory (Ken Ashcorp), and yeah, it's obviously in reference toSometimesis spelled in other ways.The wordis the same thing as, it's only <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/12/different-romaji-same-word.html">a different romaji for the same Japanese word</a> It uses afor the long vowel ofりょう () instead of simply transliterating theう.The misspellingwithout the macron also exists because nobody knows how to type that macron.The絶対空域, "Absolute Airspace," but you could call it "Absolute Air-Territory" to match, is the downward triangle formed by the enclosed negative space within the perimeter of the thighs and crotch, or, in other words, the thigh gap, but only when it becomes a closed triangle, like when the knees are touching.The天然絶対領域, "Natural Absolute Territory," is a summer-type of Absolute Territory, where the character wears a tan on their bare legs instead of legwear.The相対領域, "Relative Territory," as in the opposite of "Territory," is the space of exposed shoulder skin between a top and a armwear. This would be the opposite of, vertically-wise, but it's not a term people really use. (I mean, are we going to name every piece of exposed skin between two clothes some sort of territory now? You can't just put a flag on it.)For further reference, a couple of links where you can find</div>

Zettai Ryouiki 絶対領域

Zettai Ryouiki 絶対領域, or ZR , literally "absolute," zettai 絶対, "territory," ryouiki 領域, so " Absolute Territory ...

Dame ダメ, 駄目

<div>dame 駄目. You see it used in all sorts of anime, all the time, in plenty of phrases, and, specially, a lot of times just for the comedic effect. Which means it's also one of the funniest words. But what does dame mean in Japanese? 
 
<a></a>dame 駄目 means something is "not good." But translating things literally is a bad idea. The word dame can be used in a lot of situations where something is really "not good" but it's almost never used to say just "not good." 
 
The kanji in dame are 駄, which means, well, "bad", and 目, which means "eye," "vision" or "objective." The 駄 kanji is rare to be used, so its <a></a> 
<h2>
Dame Behavior</h2>

The word dame can be used to describe an action as nothing good. Something that shouldn't be done, as it's not good. 
<ul>
<li>onna wo naguru no wa dame desho? 女を殴るのは駄目でしょ？ 
It's not good to hit women, is it?</li>
<li>ima keeki wo taberu no wa dame desu. 今ケーキを食べるのは駄目です 
Right now [you] should not eat the cake.</li>
<li>gakkou wo saboru no wa dabe darou 学校をサボるのは駄目だろう 
Skipping school is not good.</li>
</ul>

 

Imagine the Russian character Heavy from Team Fortress 2 saying "not good," that's the kind of "not good" we're talking about here.
<h2>
Dame means no!</h2>

The word dame can also show up alone in a dialogue, as it often does, meaning just "no!" as a way to advise someone to not do something, which is "not good."
<ul>
<li>sore wa nani? それは何？ 
What's that?</li>
<li>choko keeki チョコケーキ 
[It's a] chocolate cake.</li>
<li>tabete ii? 食べていい？ 
Can I eat it?</li>
<li>dame 駄目 
No.</li>
<li>doushite dame?! どうして駄目？！ 
Why not?!</li>
</ul>

 

As you can see above, the word dame was translated as a mere "no" even thought that's not the literal translation we talked about earlier.

 

(by the way, your usual word for "no" in Japanese is iie いいえ)
<h2>
Dame Da!</h2>

Often used as a reaction, the expression dame da 駄目だ means, literally, that something "is not good". Often this is used when stuff doesn't work out. Take a look:
<ul>
<li>dame da kore! ダメだこれ 
This won't work!</li>
<li>dame datta ダメだった 
[It] didn't work.</li>
<li>dame ka? ダメか？ 
It won't work after all?</li>
<li>dame da! ダメだ！ 
Nothing works!</li>
<li>dame da! ダメだ！ 
It's over!</li>
<li>dame da! ダメだ！ 
It's useless!</li>
</ul>


<h2>
Mou Dame Da!</h2>

The word mou もう means something is "already" or "about to be" something else. That it has become or will soon become something else. For example, mou shinda もう死んだ would be "[he's] already dead" and mou shinu もう死ぬ would be "[I'm] about to die."

 

When used with dame da it often means something is at its limit, it's going dame. Take a look at a phrase with this expression and some synonyms:
<ul>
<li>oishii sou... mou dame da!!! 美味しいそう… もうダメだ！ 
It looks so tasty... I can't take it anymore!</li>
<li>oishii sou... mou genkai da! 美味しいそう… もう限界だ！ 
It looks so tasty... I'm at my limit!</li>
<li>oishii sou... mou gaman dekinai! 美味しいそう…もう我慢できない！ 
It looks so tasty... I can't wait anymore!</li>
</ul>

 

As you can see above, there are many ways in a single language to say the same thing using different words.
<h2>
Dame Food</h2>

Unfortunately, the word dame can also be used to say something is "spoiled," as in, "gone bad," or, rather, "gone not not."This is often used with food.
<ul>
<li>kono keeki wa mou dame da このケーキはもうダメだ 
This cake is already gone bad.</li>
<li>kono keeki wa dame ni natta このケーキは駄目になった 
This cake has become bad.</li>
</ul>

 

:(
<h2>
Dame People</h2>

Just like food can go bad, people can go bad too. In English we often use the phrase "spoiled child" to call some children which are "not good," or maybe, if you're a cannibalistic witch, you use the phrase to call children who you won't eat based on some personal criteria, but then again this is none of my business.

 

Anyway, some sorts of people who are dame are:
<ul>
<li>dame na otoko ダメな男 
A bad man. A shit guy.</li>
<li>dame na onna ダメな女 
A bad woman. A bitch.</li>
<li>dame na ko ダメな子 
dame na gaki 駄目なガキ 
A bad kid. A brat.</li>
<li>dame na hito ダメな人 
A bad person.</li>
<li>dame <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/11/gaijin-meaning.html">gaijin</a> ダメ外人 
A bad foreigner.</li>
<li>dame ningen ダメ人間 
A bad human bean.</li>
</ul>

 
dame can mean a variety of things. For example, a guy who doesn't work or a <a></a>dame. Or maybe a hard-working gang member can be dame. A promiscuous woman can be a dame na onna. A kid who doesn't study a dame na ko, or maybe he just doesn't obey his parents.In all the words above,can mean a variety of things. For example, a guy who doesn't work or a <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2016/07/hikikomori-meaning.html">hikikomori 引きこもり</a> can be. Or maybe a hard-working gang member can be. A promiscuous woman can be a. A kid who doesn't study a, or maybe he just doesn't obey his parents.
 

Either way, none of the people above are as bad as Hasegawa Taizou 長谷川 泰三, the most dame character of them all, also known as MADAO, or Marude Dame na Ossan まるで駄目なおっさん, "completely useless old man."

 


<h2>
Dame Skillz</h2>

Finally, you can also use the word dame to you suck at something and just won't work after all. By which I mean, of course, that your ability is "not good."
<ul>
<li>watashi no eigo wa dame desu 私の英語はダメです 
I suck at English</li>
</ul>

 

Yep. There are plenty of things dame in this world.

One of my favorite words in Japanese is the word駄目. You see it used in all sorts of anime, all the time, in plenty of phrases, and, specially, a lot of times just for the comedic effect. Which means it's also one of the funniest words. But what doesmean in Japanese? <a name="more"></a> Literally,駄目 means something is "not good." But translating things literally is a bad idea. The wordcan be used in a lot of situations where something is really "not good" but it's almost never used to say just "not good."The kanji inare 駄, which means, well, "bad", and 目, which means "eye," "vision" or "objective." The 駄 kanji is rare to be used, so its <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2016/08/japanese-alphabet-hiragana-katakana-kanji.html">katakana</a> version, ダメ shows up often.</div>

Dame ダメ, 駄目

dame 駄目. You see it used in all sorts of anime, all the time, in plenty of phrases, and, specially, a lot of times just for the comedic eff...