Kiriban キリ番

Have you ever heard the word kiriban キリ番 often used in DeviantArt and websites alike? Are you, perhaps, wondering what kiriban means? Do you think knowing what kiriban means will help you get that free drawing of your favorite character? Well, I'm here to clear you doubts about this important matter.

Kiriban in Japanese

The word kiriban キリ番 in Japanese is just a short way of saying kiri no ii ban 切りの良い番, which means "a good number." Like, literally. The word ban 番 or bangou 番号 means "number," and kiri no ii 切りの良い means literally "a good slice of (something)," that is, "a good one of (something)"

So kiriban means "a good number," but then again, what is "a good number?" Well, it is those numbers which are obviously better than your usual, shitty, random numbers. Numbers like 100. Or 1000. Or 10000. Or 20000. Or 30000. Yeah, it looks like the more zeroes the better, but 99999 is very decent number too. And let's not forget 123456789.

Usage in Pixiv

The importance of good numbers is such that everyone loves them and loves when they happen. In the website Pixiv, for example, which is basically a Japanese DeviantArt, there is an entry in the Pixiv dictionary about kiriban with a list of artwork whose ID is a kiriban.

For example, http://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=10000000 is just a chibi drawing about Toaru Majutsu no Index とある魔術の禁書目録 without any signficance whatsoever... but wait! It managed to snatch that glorious 10000000 kiriban!!! All hail index!!!

Usage in Games

You might notice kiriban used in some Japanese games, too. In the game Akumajou Dracula: Sougetsu no Juujika 悪魔城ドラキュラ蒼月の十字架 (Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow), there are certain doors that only open if the gold you have is a kiriban ending in 666 and 777. Be it 1666, 23777, etc.

Kiriban in DeviantART

On DeviantArt, a kiriban has almost nothing to do with its Japanese meaning.

If you saw the word kiriban on the website posted by some artist, like as "kiriban 50K free chibi request here!" be warned that you're supposed to take a screenshot when their view counter or watch counter or whatever-counter hits the kiriban 50000 and show them as proof of how lucky and worth of a chibi you are.

Essentially, it's a lottery and the winner is who captures the moment of the turning point first.

(haha. How silly of them worrying about virtual points and views. These abstract stats do not matter. *looks at follower count on Tumblr, like count on Facebook.* They... don't... matter.)

None of this knowledge will help you get that free drawing. Sorry.

4chan GET

Another last thing that's worth mention is the infamous website 4chan and their thing with saying GET! all the time.

For those who don't know, each comment on 4chan and futaba-based forums has an unique number identifier which always counts up, similar to the ID numbers for illustrations in Pixiv and the view counters in DeviantArt.

Thus, a comment saying "GET" in 4chan means its poster is betting his comment ID is going to be a kiriban. Someone saying "5mil GET" is betting he will get the ID 5,000,000 for example.

4chan ROLL

Obviously, with numbers around millions that keep increasing it starts getting difficult to find new kiriban, because of this, much of the fun around these numbers end up in the form of ROLLs. These would be betting the last digits are going to match your claim. ROLL 5 is a win for 5, 15, 105, 1005, etc.

2chan GETTO

The GET practice actually originates from the Japanese website futaba channel 双葉ちゃん (2chan), from which 4chan was inspired on. In Japanese, the word used is getto ゲット, not GET, but then again, getto is just a Japanese way of saying the English word "get," so it's basically the same thing.