As you may or may not have noticed, there are two new banners in the random rotation. Don’t try refreshing this page because I’m using WP-Cache so the banner changes only after the cache expires. Instead you can view the new banners (rei.gif and zettai.jpg) using the direct link.
I’m sure everyone knows and loves Rei, but what the heck is çµ¶å¯¾é ˜åŸŸ? Answer lies after the break.
çµ¶å¯¾é ˜åŸŸ (zettai ryouiki) literally means “absolute territory”. It is used in Evangelion for Absolute Terror Field (AT Field) which powers the Eva units. Although the term “absolute terror” was derived from Sigmund Freud‘s writings, “zettai ryouiki” was first used by Eva and has absolutely no relationship to “absolute terror” in psychology. (Absolutely. Get it? LOL!…nvm)
And right now, zettai ryouiki has almost nothing to do with Evangelion either, although it is frequently printed in the same style as it appeared in Evangelion (pictured above) as a form of homage. In fact, çµ¶å¯¾é ˜åŸŸ today has more to do with knee socks than angst-filled mecha pilots.
Here’s a typical example of the zettai ryouiki.
çµ¶å¯¾é ˜åŸŸ
In the online Japanese geek lingo, “zettai ryouiki” refers to the area of uncovered thigh between the skirt and the knee sock. It can be found in almost any moé-type game or anime. It’s considered a moé attribute, just like nekomimi, megane and tsundere.
çµ¶å¯¾é ˜åŸŸ
The presence of zettai ryouiki requires socks that go above the knees. Thus in the above picture, Tama-nee (red hair) is the only girl with it. In fact, Tama-nee from ToHeart2 is well-known for her awesome zettai ryouiki. :P
çµ¶å¯¾é ˜åŸŸ
Another well-known zettai ryouiki belongs to Rin Tohsaka from Fate/stay night.
çµ¶å¯¾é ˜åŸŸ
Pretty much all maid characters with short skirts have zettai ryouiki, such as the girls from He is My Master. Here’s a Mitsuki cosplayer.
çµ¶å¯¾é ˜åŸŸ
Akiba-blog regularly goes around checking out the cosplayers at Akihabara for zettai ryouiki.
In fact, zettai ryouiki has become a science. According to Hatena Diary, the golden ratio for the ultimate zettai ryouiki is 4:1:2.5 (length of skirt : zettai ryouiki : length of socks above knee) and the acceptable margin for error is ±25％. The ratios are generally off because it is thought that the ultimate zettai ryouiki would generate so much moé that the equivalent energy would be enough to vaporize the planet.
çµ¶å¯¾é ˜åŸŸ
While the term was originally used in Evangelion, it was not until the new millennium before zettai ryouiki was first used in its current context. According to Wikipedia, it was apparently used in reference to a desktop mascot program in the creator’s blog on 21 March 2001 and took off after becoming a web meme and subsequently referred to in various doujinshi.
çµ¶å¯¾é ˜åŸŸ
Banpresto (a division of Namco Bandai Holdings and the makers of Super Robot Wars) registered çµ¶å¯¾é ˜åŸŸ as a trademark under digital media last year but it is unknown whether it is related to Evangelion, for which they have the rights to develop games.
çµ¶å¯¾é ˜åŸŸ
And not too long ago, COSPA released an event-limited zettai ryouiki shirt which I have yet to find.
The subtitle of Broccoli’s Galaxy Angel II for PS2 is çµ¶å¯¾é ˜åŸŸã®æ‰‰ (zettai ryouiki no tobira) or “Door of the Absolute Territory”. I wonder what that means? <_<
çµ¶å¯¾é ˜åŸŸ
In conclusion, çµ¶å¯¾é ˜åŸŸ are cool. <3 Tama-nee
This ends yet another useless post brought to you by DM.
In this current day and age, where women seem to be flaunting off every square inch of flesh they can within the boundaries of “decency”, zettai ryouiki is a very much welcome concept.
Yes, exposing flesh is quite sexy, but it only provides cheap thrills. I’d very much prefer less flesh and more tasteful style of clothing.
That said, Tohsaka 4TW! Also, I’m so going to watch To Heart 2 soon, even if it’s going to melt my brain cells. All your pimping of Tama-nee is already made me her fan.
You should make çµ¶å¯¾é ˜åŸŸ banners only. It will drive your pageviews to insane heights.
Mmmm nice idea. :P
totally agree with tsubaki. çµ¶å¯¾é ˜åŸŸ is sort of a art…. much better than nowadays where some women try to wear super miniskirt… you don’t see çµ¶å¯¾é ˜åŸŸ gals everyday
DarkMirage, could you photoshop me the first image (the zettai ryouki kanji) for a wallpaper please? Even if I currently use a zettai ryouki wallpaper. Rena :3
THIS POST IS PURE WIN. NEEDS MOAR TAMA-NEE ON MOE FACTOR.
This is one of those things that isn’t necessarily immodest, but certainly can be. And whether it is or not, it’s certainly visually intriguing. I don’t mean in a perverse way I mean artistically: The color contrast and negative space are what makes it visually interesting, not any potentially suggestive nature of it (and it’s frequently not suggestive).
I have yet to see some one dress like this in real life, though. :\
çµ¶å¯¾é ˜åŸŸå…¨é–‹!
no lenalee pictures?
Mac is trying to justify his perversion!
It’s okay Mac, we all love zettai ryouiki. :3
That said, knee socks do seem to be quite rare outside of Japan…
Zettai ryouiki, so that’s what it’s called! Man I love that.
Well, that settles it. Im a pervert.
I knew who almost everyone in those pictures was without looking.
Finally çµ¶å¯¾é ˜åŸŸ makes an appearance in English blogs. It’s high time!
*pat pats Rand*
Hmm, I learned something new today, but you still didn’t tell me who that girl is.
While you’re at it Dark Mirage, do add more çµ¶å¯¾é ˜åŸŸ banners. Specifically frilly meido. Mmm…
Digressing, are you going to blog on EOY 2006? Were you even there?
yar DM was there.. tsubaki pointed him out to me…
lol…was the potato thing for real? Didn’t catch anyone i knew there….
DarkMirage, were you the one in the shirt with the haruhiism in front and the SOS-dan logo behind?
One of the kanji phrases that means the same in Chinese… XD
In taiwan people made up an alternative name for it:
[ Schrödinger’s Underwear ].
As in [ Schrödinger’s Cat ] experiment.
You never know what you gonna get …
+1 intelligence points for me.
i lol’ed, especially at the scientific part
much thanks to you DarkMirage, for another entertaining post
I almost creamed my pants from the amount of moe featured.
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Pretty much all maid characters with short skirts have zettai ryouiki, such as the girls from He is My Master. Here’s a Mitsuki cosplayer. >>
That’s a Asuka Gothic Lolita cosplay, not a HiMM cosplay…
*rejoices with Eleutheria* (^o^)/
nice.. yummy… /e14
those zettai… wachamacallits are hot… i mean literally…
especially here in our country.. looks hot, feels hot…
and they’re kinda itchy.. wore one when i was on duty at the hospital… feels quite uncomfy…
but they look hot *drools* on women with yummy bodies
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Just noticed that you spelled “tidbit” as “titbit”.
Of course, considering the context, this could have been an intentional pun… ;-)
Anyway a fantastic post, thanks.
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I just found my long awaited fetish…
This is it…
In the above given examples, four girls are one of my top twenty…
Rin, Tamaki, KOSMOS, and Kallen….
Thank you for filling another missing gap in my life…
YES…My fetish is çµ¶å¯¾é ˜åŸŸ
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So I Zettai Ryouiki of my friends who are girls. To my surprise and my other friend’s horror, another friend brought Zettai Ryouiki socks THE VERY NEXT DAY, no doubt intending to force the sock onto all her girlfriends… It’s a pity I didn’t have the chance to see her actually forcing it onto all her friends…
Let me make a correction to my earlier post: I RECOMMENDED Zettai Ryouiki to all my female friends, who are currently studying in Junior College.
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I think that a zettai ryouiki with garters is simply the best, like the one in the 7th example!!!
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Hey, it seems the banner links are now missing the banners. I wanna see them pls. :)
http://www.moefactor.com/pictures/tropical-paradise
Is now a dead link.
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