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In an episode of That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, Rimuru is beginning to talk to his villagers. See episode 3, timecode 17:30.

Rimuru on tree stump wearing fake mustache. He says, "Right, it took five minutes for all of you to quiet down."

Right, it took five minutes for all of you to quiet down.

He waits momentarily to give them a chance to respond, then thinks to himself after no response:

They didn't get my best joke?!

Unfortunately, neither do I. It appears to involve the fake mustache, which he discards soon after that. My guess is that this scenario would be familiar to a Japanese audience.

What is the "joke" Rimuru is making? If it is something from Japanese culture, why would he think the evolved goblins and direwolves from this different world would understand it?

Aki Tanaka
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RichF
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    Maybe teacher? Like when a teacher has to wait for 5 minutes before his students would stop talking before starting the class? – 絢瀬絵里 Nov 13 '18 at 11:08
  • @絢瀬絵里 I guess that's possible. But if so, I still don't understand the significance of the mustache. Perhaps this is supposed to be funny precisely because it is so lame. – RichF Nov 13 '18 at 18:46
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    I saw a reddit thread discussing this episode and one user explained how it's a common trope among anime that a principal would enter the class, wait for x minutes until it quiets down and then say 'that took you x minutes to quiet down'. But I'm still trying to figure out which anime/manga depicts this as I have never seen this before, too. – W. Are Nov 16 '18 at 02:35

2 Answers2

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What is the "joke" Rimuru is making?

As stated on 絢瀬絵里's comment and W. Are's comment, most likely it refers to a school principal/teacher.

Reading the live-reaction of Japanese fans when that specific scene was broadcasted, all referred to "school principal"

Another Japanese fan also wrote an article about this, in which the writer acknowledged their own experience,

「皆さんが静かになるまで5分かかりました」の元ネタは学校の先生ですね。笑
そういう先生いませんでしたか？私の周りにももれなくいたのですごく笑ってしまいました。
「皆さんが静かになるまで5分かかりました」先生は全国区なのかもしれないですね。

Looks like the origin of "It took 5 minutes for all of you to quiet down" is a school teacher. lol
Did such teachers not exist? Because without a doubt there was one around me, I laughed very hard.
These teachers are probably a national constituency.

So, this is not only an entertainment trope, but it's also a real-life reference.

If it is something from Japanese culture, why would he think the evolved goblins and direwolves from this different world would understand it?

No one knows... but considering he likes to spout his local jokes, I don't think it's too surprising for him to do this... maybe a habit as a humorous person?

Live reaction sources:

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Aki Tanaka
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In a YouTube reaction video a commenter by the name of Fernando Moraga said that the joke was referencing the trainer in Slam Dunk. I have not watched that series, but I did look up the character, whose name is Mitsuyoshi Anzai. Here is a picture:

bust of Mitsuyoshi Anzai

I was unable to find a quote that was anything like what Rimuru said, but descriptions of him say he mellowed out after a star student of his died in a traffic accident. His nickname shifted from "White Haired Devil" to "White Haired Buddha", which somehow seems to fit.

Let me know if this is way off base. I'm fairly confident it is accurate, though. I'll also see if I can get further data from Fernando.

RichF
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  • I have not been able to corroborate the Anzai theory, so for now I'll just assume the reference is to non-specific school staff. – RichF Dec 14 '18 at 05:18