Original artwork, not a still
I am the mad scientist, Hououin Kyouma!
— Steins;Gate ‧ 2011
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
It is a nineteen-year-old's armour: a lab coat, a villain's laugh and a made-up secret organisation, built to make a lonely nerd feel dangerous. The line is funny because nobody believes it, then tragic once the time travel becomes real and he is the only one who remembers. Fans quote it with the pose and the cackle, and it became the series' most recognisable catchphrase.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for Steins;GateShow the scene
The line is Rintaro Okabe's trademark introduction in Steins;Gate, the 2011 anime from White Fox based on the 2009 visual novel. Episode 1, "Prologue of the Beginning and the End" (aired 5 April 2011), already presents him as a self-described mad scientist in a lab coat, taking his childhood friend Mayuri Shiina to a time machine lecture in Akihabara in July 2010. The name Hououin Kyouma (roughly Phoenix-Shrine Madness-of-Truth) is the alias he gives strangers, and the glossary notes that it is also his handle online. Friends mostly ignore it and call him Okarin.
Sources (2)
- Steins;Gate Wiki: Episode 01Overview, Plot, Episode Glossary term 5Reference checked
- Steins;Gate Wiki: Rintaro OkabeIntro and PersonalityReference checked
Context reviewed
