After the roller coaster of blockbuster sequels and promising premieres of Winter 2021, one could be led to assume Spring 2021 couldn't possibly be surpassed by its predecessor. How wrong we were! Vivy. To Your Eternity. Fruit Basket. Megalobox: Nomad. Spring 2021 had some exemplary titles, but none have captivated me quite as much as this gem of a crime drama, criminally overlooked for more popular series this season.
Odd Taxi's premise revolves around a (anthromorphic walrus) taxi driver's encounters with various clients, as well as his burgeoning role amid the mysterious disappearance of a girl in downtown Tokyo. What sets OT's narrative apart is how
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it plays out more like a film noir than an episodic series with its tightly-wound script. The explosion of anime popularity and its subsequent marketability has subjected us to so many tired adaptations, tropes - even tired parodies of tropes - that it has been an eternity since we have seen something wholly different from the rest of the medium. Popular AniTuber Gigguk compares Odd Taxi to a Tarantino film, but I would rather liken it to Nolan's "The Prestige". As with The Prestige, you are given partial answers to some of the major questions of the film with its opening scene - in Odd Taxi's case, in its sleek yet unassuming OP.
One of the biggest issues I have with many other series is how they violate the "show, not tell" principle. Even the most notable names in the industry are sometimes guilty for a lack of respect for viewer intelligence. A case in point: for all of Ufotable's superb animation and direction in the "Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works" remake relative to DEEN's 2010 adaptation, it errs by spending the better part of 2 episodes explaining a Servant's true identity (something any discerning viewer would have picked up on several episodes prior) while we groan in exposition diarrhea. In contrast, Odd Taxi unveils its developments with a subtlety that belies its simple appearance.
An example is this confrontation between [SPOILER]:
Tanaka, Dobu and Odokawa in EP12. You can count each bullet that Tanaka fires over the course of the series: 1 through Odokawa's window, 2 at the cabaret, and 2 during the chase, leaving him one final bullet in his revolver. Dobu mentions as much in the penultimate episode, calling Tanaka's bluff by saying he has no bullets left after the last one used against him by the docks. But a discerning viewer would notice that Tanaka was not responsible for the latter: a scene just prior has a couple police officers gossiping about Little Daimon losing his gun in passing. With this understanding, we are left watching with bated breath as Tanaka gets closer to snapping with each passing minute.
[/SPOILER]
Moments like these are littered throughout every episode in the show. You feel rewarded for your perceptiveness with each prediction that is realized, and wowed by each reveal that slipped through the radar that made sense on retrospect. Every discovery, every development feels earned. In a medium populated by stories with cheap revelations and heavy-handed exposition, Odd Taxi is a breath of fresh air. This is a rare show that has something to be gleaned with every rewatch. "Attack on Titan", "Higurashi: When They Cry", and, to a different degree, "Perfect Blue", are some notable examples of anime that are also able to acheive this to fantastic effect.
But unlike the aforementioned titles, Odd Taxi never takes itself too seriously. This is perhaps best encapsulated by the dry, sarcastic wit of Odokawa, its titular character. Murder, kidnap, suicide, and deception are the names of the game in this anime noir, yet it retains its levity even during its tensest moments (a certain dancing alpaca, for instance). Complementing the light-hearted nature of this series is a simple but charming score and aesthetic. The music in Odd Taxi is solid if unspectacular. There are no bombastic Sawano drops, booming Kenji Kawai drums, nor otherworldly Yuki Kajiura strings here; just understated, thematically-fitting tunes that do not detract from important conversations between characters.
While the artstyle may seem basic at first glance, cuts and framing between each moment are masterfully directed. And here’s the answer to the elephant in the room: No, this is NOT a “furry” anime; at least not along the lines of "Zootopia", "Beastars", and "Brand New Animal". That every character is an animal takes a backseat to the story because nobody in the series talks about or behaves like one, barring fulfilling a certain narrative aspect that should best be left unsaid and appreciated by a first time viewer. I suspect the decision on the show’s aesthetic was also conceived for the secondary purpose of making each character immediately identifiable to the audience, to keep us on our toes for its central mystery.
And identifiable they have been! Perhaps the greatest foil to Odd Taxi's core narrative is its excellent cast that, together, makes it more than a sum of its parts. Seemingly unrelated characters come together in fortuitous, yet organic circumstances. Despite their flaws, nearly every character in the story is endearing because they remind us so much about our own world - our goodness, our failings, and our naïveté. The series is festooned with meta-commentary about modern society - none more so prominent than our constant, unrelenting obsession with recognition. Almost every character in the show is drawn toward this to varying degrees. The obsession for acceptance. The obsession for adoration. The obsession for stardom. The obsession for social media prominence. The obsession for the heights of a hierarchy. Ironically, it is the show's most unassuming character that wants nothing to do with recognition, yet is the only one who is able to recognize everyone it meets.
Perhaps there have been more exhilarating, emotional, and inspiring moments in other shows this Spring. Yet even the strongest titles this season has their ups and downs - between every "Vivy: Flourite's Eye Song" episode 6, or "To Your Eternity" episode 1, there are episodes in each series that are just average compared to the others. Not so Odd Taxi. Almost every episode is better than the last, escalating deliberately towards a conclusion that wraps up the show’s biggest mysteries so seamlessly it does not leave its audience wanting.
It has been so long since I have had the pleasure of watching an animated series, or even a series in general, put together so fastidiously (the last one being Sam Esmail’s "Mr. Robot", a TV series that likewise, feels like a movie that invites a probing eye and welcomes discussion amongst its audience). Amid our fixation with bigger, louder sequels and adaptations, we are finally gifted with a short, standalone anime that, for once, feels… complete. I can think of no better praise than saying that the outstanding Fruit Basket aired its series finale on the same day – yet, oddly enough, all I can think of was Odd Taxi's conclusion that Monday.
10/10.
Jul 5, 2021
After the roller coaster of blockbuster sequels and promising premieres of Winter 2021, one could be led to assume Spring 2021 couldn't possibly be surpassed by its predecessor. How wrong we were! Vivy. To Your Eternity. Fruit Basket. Megalobox: Nomad. Spring 2021 had some exemplary titles, but none have captivated me quite as much as this gem of a crime drama, criminally overlooked for more popular series this season.
Odd Taxi's premise revolves around a (anthromorphic walrus) taxi driver's encounters with various clients, as well as his burgeoning role amid the mysterious disappearance of a girl in downtown Tokyo. What sets OT's narrative apart is how ... |
