Chiralism

In Japanese, "chiralism," or chirarizumu チラリズム, is, pretty much, accidental or natural "flashing," as in the exposition of skin or underwear.

This term is used in contrast to deliberate flashing, which is considered inferior to chiralism, by the warped logic that seeing skin or underwear is good, but showing it off deliberately is obscene, and obscenities are degrading, and degrading means it loses value.

Thus, somehow, it's more valuable to catch a glimpse of something you want to but shouldn't see than being shown it right away.

• Context: Shiroyasha put a spell on Kuro Usagi's skirt so that it never lets her panties be seen. Izayoi complains about it.
• (it would be too troublesome to explain how each and every one of these lines work in Japanese in detail, so the translation in is less literal than usual.)
• souiya Shiroyasha, Kuro Usagi no minisukaato,
  miesou de mienee tte nowa douiu ryouken da.
  chirarizumu nante shumi ga furu-sugi daze
  そういや白夜叉、黒ウサギのミニスカート、
  見えそうで見えねえってのはどういう了見だ。
  チラリズムなんて趣味が古すぎだぜ
  By the way, Shiroyasha, Black Rabbit's mini-skirt,
  it looks like you can see it (her panties) but you can't, what's the big idea? (what were you thinking?)
  A hobby like chiralism is too old. (get with the times!)
  
• fun, onshi hodo no otoko ga shin no geijutsu wo gesen towa...
  フン、おんし程の男が真の芸術を解せんとは･･･
  Hmph, a man of your stature not comprehending the true art.
  • onshi おんし
    Relaxed pronunciation of:
  • onushi お主
    You.
  • geseru 解せる
    To comprehend.
• nanii?
  何ィ？
  What?
• geijutsu towa sunawachi, michi naru mono e no ono-ga souzouryoku.
  shinpi naru mono e no akunaki tankyuushin.
  sou, nanimono nimo masaru geijutsu towa, ono-ga uchuu no naka ni aru!
  芸術とは即ち、未知なる物への己が想像力。
  神秘なる物への飽くなき探求心。
  そう、何物にも勝る芸術とは、己が宇宙の中にある！
  Art is, in other words, the power to imagine the unknown.
  The incessant passion and curiosity to learn the secret.
  That's right, the art that triumphs over anything, exists within one's own universe!
  • ono-ga 己が
    One's own. (in the past, ga was a possessive particle. So onoga is to onore 己 what waga 我が is to ware 我.)
  • naru なる
    In the past, naru did what the na copula of na-adjectives did.
• ono-ga uchuu no naka.........dato?!
  己が宇宙の中･････････だと？！
  Within... one's own universe?!
• sore wa otome no sukaato naka mo onaji koto.
  mieteshimaeba tada no gehin na shitagi-tachi mo, mienakereba geijutsu da.
  それは乙女のスカートの中も同じこと。
  見えてしまえばただの下品な下着たちも、見えなければ芸術だ。
  That's the same thing for the inside of a maiden's skirt.
  Even panties, which are vulgar if you end up seeing them, become art if you don't see them!
  • shitagi-tachi 下着たち
    Underwear-tachi. Panties-tachi.
  • Normally, the pluralizing suffix -tachi is only used toward people. By using it toward objects here, Shiroyasha is humanizing panties, treating them like people. And yes, it's as silly as it sounds.
• mienakereba....... geijutsu ka!
  見えなければ･･････芸術か！
  If you don't see them...... they are art?!
• umu. ima koso tomo ni tashikameyou zo, kono yo ni kiseki ga okoru shunkan wo na!
  ウム。今こそ共に確かめようぞ、この世に奇跡が起こる瞬間をな！
  Hmm. Right now, let us verify it. The moment a miracle occurs in this world!
• —Anime: Mondaiji-tachi ga isekai kara kuru sou desu yo? 問題児たちが異世界から来るそうですよ? (Episode 8).
  

If you've seen enough anime, you've surely seen a fair share of fanservice already. Most fanservice panty shots are chiralism, because, generally, female characters don't go around flashing their panties at other characters. It's the author who draws some wind that happens to blow at the right timing, or uses some low-angle camera shots to make it happen.

The word chiralism sounds like English, but it's actually Japanese. It's a Japanese-made English word, or wasei-eigo 和製英語. It combines the English -ism suffix with chira ちら, which is mimetic for *glimpse* and can be found in he following words:

• chiratto ちらっと
  At glance. By accident.
  • chiratto mita
    ちらっと見た
    Saw by accident.
• chirachira ちらちら
  Flickering.
  • Appearing and disappearing, like multiple, sequential glimpses.
  • Reduplication of the chira simplex.
• chirari チラリ
  [To be seen] fleetingly, momentaneously.
  • chirari to mieta
    チラリと見えた
    To be seen for a moment.
    To catch a glimpse of.

For pretty much almost anything you can catch a glimpse of by accident, there's term for it. Behold, all the types of chiralism you didn't even need to know about:

• panchira パンチラ
  A glimpse of "panties," panchii パンティー.
• burachira ブラチラ
  A glimpse of a "bra," bura ブラ.

Anime: Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo! この素晴らしい世界に祝福を！ (Episode 5)

• munechira 胸チラ
  A glimpse of the "chest," mune 胸.
• rinchira 輪チラ
  A glimpse of the "areola," nyuurin 乳輪. (circle around nipples.)
  • This is the most you can glimpse at before the show gets rated to a different age.
• chikuchira チクチラ
  A glimpse of "nipples," chikubi 乳首.
  • See also: Sword Art Online: Ordinal Scale.
• buruchira ブルチラ
  A glimpse of "bloomers," buruma ブルマ. (kind of gym shorts.)
• burichira ブリチラ
  A glimpse of "briefs," buriifu ブリーフ. (generally a male underwear.)
• funchira フンチラ
  A glimpse of fundoshi 褌. (traditional male underwear.)
  • As far as anime is concerned, probably worn by a character wearing other traditional Japanese clothing like yukata 浴衣.
• berochira ベロチラ
  A glimpse of the "tongue," bero ベロ.
  • I'm not even joking, that's what this means.
  • Just put your tongue out or something.
  • You know how cats sometimes put their tongues out for a moment and then it goes back into their mouths?
  • Yes. Like that.
• harachira 腹チラ
  A glimpse of the "stomach," hara 腹.
• hesochira へそチラ
  A glimpse of the "belly button," heso へそ.
• sechira 背チラ
  A glimpse of the "back," senaka 背中.
• ashichira 足チラ
  A glimpse of the "legs," ashi 足.
  • This, of course, only makes sense if the character is wearing something that normally hides their legs entirely, like a very long skirt.
• shimichoro シミチョロ
  A glimpse of the "chemise," shimiizu シミーズ. (this comes from the french word chemise.)
  • This refers to a kind of undergarment, which you might, per chance, see under a long skirt.
  • It has fallen out of usage just like chemise has fallen out of fashion. Nowadays shimiizu refers to a "slip," surippu スリップ, instead. ^{[シミチョロとは何ですか？ - detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp, accessed 2019-03-28]}
  • chorori チョロリ
    Quickly. (another mimetic word.)
• hamichichi ハミ乳
  A glimpse of part of the "breasts," chichi 乳.
  • More specifically:
  • shitachichi 下乳
    Underboob.
  • yokochichi 横乳
    Sideboob.
  • hami-dasu 食み出す
    To protrude. To stick out.

See also:

• zettai ryouiki 絶対領域
  The ultimate form of chiralism.
• haitenai はいてない
  What you say when you do (not) see Schrodinger's panties.
• oppai おっぱい
  For other breast-related terminology.