Ah, Gero Froggy. Who can forget those beautiful uglycute mascots from Chaos;Head, the frogs who stirred up passions and won the hearts of millions? No, who would want to forget them? Evidently, not MAGES.
For a fad that was supposedly “fading into obscurity” during the events of Steins;Gate, Gero Froggy has long outlived its expiration date. Now as much as ever, Gero Froggy is the amphibian keystone of Science Adventure—the sun around which Upas, Finks, and 4°C have little choice but to orbit.
Jokes aside, we love Gero Froggy, and so do its creators, apparently. 2010’s Science Adventure Series Maniacs guidebook is a veritable treasure trove of facts, interviews, and artwork related to Chaos;Head and Steins;Gate—but it also just so happened to feature a two-page spread dedicated to the green mascot.
(To respect copyright, we will only briefly summarize these pages. The book is available for purchase in Japanese here.)
MAGES. designer Yukihiro Matsuo and Nitroplus merchandise planner CK were briefly interviewed on the design process and merch-ification of the froggy, and they offered some interesting insights. Matsuo was apparently asked to design Gero Froggy as a character that “would absolutely never sell if it were a real thing.” Except, when CK played Chaos;Head for themselves, they conversely found themselves thinking, you guessed it: “I wish this were a real thing.”
CK worked to get Gero Froggy merch ready for a Comiket merch set, moreso out of curiosity than a conviction it would sell. Matsuo was understandably anxious it wouldn’t do well—but customer response was favorable. There were even many buyers who weren’t familiar with Chaos;Head but still wanted a froggy.
Click here to reveal Chaos;Head spoilers:
On the other hand, Matsuo explains that Gero Froggy becoming popular in reality was a failure on the design level, since in Chaos;Head itself, the froggies only became popular because of brainwashing. He jokingly wonders if Nitroplus is building their own Noah II.
Not content to settle with good sales numbers, the publishers wanted to test the Gero Froggy’s good name out in the field, too. Accordingly, they headed out to the streets of Shibuya and Akihabara to poll high school girls and maid cosplayers on their impressions of the green froggy.
“Are you familiar with Gero Froggy?” (Shibuya poll)
No Data Found
“Are you familiar with Gero Froggy?” (Akihabara poll)
No Data Found
“What do you think of Gero Froggy?” (Shibuya poll)
No Data Found
“What do you think of Gero Froggy?” (Akihabara poll)
No Data Found
“The ideal Gero Froggy merch...” (Shibuya poll)
Loading..........
The Data is Not Available
“The ideal Gero Froggy merch...” (Akihabara poll)
Loading..........
The Data is Not Available
Unsurprisingly, Gero Froggy wasn’t exactly a national icon—maybe if he’d been the mascot of Steins;Gate instead?—but most considered him cute, so that’s a win for our boy. The sample size was a bit small, though—only 30 people seem to have been interviewed per location. We wonder how Gero Froggy would have fared if 300 people had been polled instead.
If you like this site, please consider supporting us on Patreon
