TL;DR:
An intriguing and well-rounded mystery story with unique storytelling that will certainly get better with rewatches to recognise plenty of subtle, foreshadowing details towards a great twist. Runner for anime and OP of the year for me.
Odd Taxi (OT) may draw the same sort of crowd that has recently watched and enjoyed shows like Beastars and BNA. The comparison is unavoidable almost purely because of the animal inspired characters, although the comparison is quite shallow once you start watching. Odd Taxi stands out from the rest by how grounded it is in reality, with detailed and fleshed-out cityscapes, characters with relatable flaws, and an engaging mystery with many crime drama elements seen in other great works of the genre.
It has a fairly unique, hyper-realistic style of dialogue that has already been compared many times to Tarantino films. One of the clearest comparisons I could point out is the addition of very casual and personal conversations that may not add to the plot or the mystery at all but flesh out characters nicely and make them more, in one way or another, human. Take, for example, a small scene in the first episode with the main character Odokawa and his doctor talking about music and Bruce Springsteen that never fails to make me smile. As well as the dialogue and clear pop culture references, the non-linear storytelling and the great twist at the end are also reminiscent of the director.
There are also a few smaller “B-mysteries” set up in the first episode, including a scene with Odokawa sitting seemingly alone in his apartment, starting to talk to someone or something in his closet that is perfectly silent and hidden in the dark. While it doesn’t have much focus in most episodes, it’s always in the back of your mind as something peculiar about the main character that we may be slightly suspicious about, partly because partly due to a shot in the opening dedicated to reminding you. The conclusion to this B-mystery even loosely ties into the main plot and the twist at the end, which is quite satisfying to see it all come full circle.
There are quite a lot of characters in Odd Taxi who are all given their own spotlight and very personal stories which are all interconnected with a few other characters, and then tied all together nicely by the end of the series. Not every character is likable, and that’s perfectly fine since they’re not all trying to be, but each one is given reason and motivation for their part in the overall mystery plot, making each character their own puzzle piece of the bigger picture. Some stand-out characters are a porcupine gangster who speaks almost entirely in rap, a failing stand-up comedy duo with a lot of tension between them, and a young hippo who is obsessed with being viral and popular online, a feeling which I’m sure many can relate to, even if we haven’t gone to quite the same lengths that he does.
The opening is one of the best, if not THE best, of its season, both the song and the animation. It will be a top contender for best of the year for me. The song (also called Odd Taxi) is a collaboration by Skirt and PUNPEE, and I can only hope they will release more music together. It’s so relaxed and I think it captures the casual tone of the series perfectly. The animation is incredibly cute and is in more of a hand-drawn, almost crayon art style, with a lot of boiling around the outer lines and visible streaks in the colouring. The shot of Odokawa trying his hardest to clean bird poop off his taxi windscreen is super charming. There is a lot of hidden meaning in a lot of shots in the opening, specifically about each character as they show up on screen, such as the hippo character’s head inflating as he gets more attention on his phone and social media.
Despite all the praise I can give it, OT seems to have slipped under a lot of people’s radars, possibly because some people view an anime about a walrus cab driver as a little “odd”, pardon the pun. I can’t recommend Odd Taxi to enough people, since it deserves so much more recognition than it’s gotten so far for its uniqueness alone, never mind the art, music, and captivating mystery story.
WATCH ODD TAXI!
