The new Zettai Ryouiki “Absolute Zone”: Schwarzschild Ryouiki

Guys in Japan love the so-called zettai ryouiki, the “absolute zone” that describes the sexy part of the bare skin on the upper leg of a girl, particularly accentuated when she is wearing a pair of knee-high socks and a short skirt.

Now Japan’s netizens, not a tribe with too little time on their hands, have come up with a new name for a new absolute zone.

Illustrator Hiroyuki Sanazura has coined a term for when a girl is wearing spats leggings under a short skirt. The area where the tight leggings are protruding from under the skirt and showing off the girl’s trim physique is now called…

Schwarzschild ryouiki (シュヴァルツシルト領域)

Yes, another one to add to our dictionary of esoteric moe speak.

It could be translated as “Schwarzschild Territory”… but why Schwarzschild? Who the heck is Schwarzschild?

Well, the girl herself is a reference to a character from “Gundam Build Fighters”, currently being broadcast on TV in Japan.

The new term comes from Karl Schwarzschild, the German astronomer who first suggested the existence of black holes. Schwarzschild also means “black shield” in German.

Will this latest addition to the crowded otaku lexicon catch on? Time will tell.