What is the context for Rimuru's joke about taking five minutes for the audience to quiet down? 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.




  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?
What is the &quot;joke&quot; 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 &quot;school principal&quot;


どこの校長先生だよｗｗ (which school's principal lol)
校長ネタ(´^ω^｀)ﾌﾞﾌｫwww (school principal joke lol)
校長先生みたいなことを言うなww (don't say something a school principal likes to do lol)
校長先生気取りｗｗｗｗｗ (school principal pretension lolol)
固有スキル＜校長＞ (Native Skill &lt;School Principal&gt;)


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 &quot;It took 5 minutes for all of you to quiet down&quot; 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:

アニコ便 (Japanese)
ころアニ (Japanese)