Anime Review: Odd Taxi

Odd Taxi

Studio: OLM, P.I.C.S

Genre: Mystery

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Odd Taxi was one of the anime which really stood out for me of all the spring anime season promotional videos. Aside from its bizarre concept – a walrus taxi driver who gives rides to other animal occupants in a big city, there was something mature and serious about this title, despite the whimsical cast of characters. This isn’t the first anime that features a relatively serious storyline and explores dark themes albeit with a cast of animals – Beastars has been very popular. Odd Taxi is another anime that looks to follow in the same note, a sort of spiritual successor, albeit one that focuses a lot more on realistic characters and a mystery premise centred around a missing high school girl.

The series follows Odokawa, an eccentric walrus taxi driver as he ferries around various passengers around the big city. During this first episode, we see him talking with a social media junkie, trying to get a viral post, before branching off to other characters and a visit by Odokawa to the local doctor. The whole series comes off as something of a moody drama, with the episode mostly taken up with the conversation between the cast, interludes of a radio talk show, and shots of the vibrant city through which the taxi drives through. Everything seems fairly ordinary initially within the city but it’s not long before it becomes clear that there is a mystery at the centre of it all: Where has the missing high school girl gone? Why are the police officers investigating it acting so odd? Just who is the mysterious monkey criminal haunting the city? And, is Odokawa somehow involved in it all? The episode lays out all of these intriguing questions in the span of its first episode and doesn’t really answer any of them yet – we end the episode with more questions than when we can begin but it definitely still got me hooked and wanting to know more.

Odokawa makes for an unusual protagonist – we never really know much of what’s going on inside his head beyond the occasional sweat drop which marks out when he’s uncomfortable or stressed. He tends to speak his mind however when talking candidly with the social media junkie and with the doctor and his “friends” label him as twisted and weird. It’s hard to tell exactly why this is at current, other than being one of the few people we see who seems somewhat out of touch with current technology and popular things. Compared to the much more expressive characters around him, Odokawa gives very little away and it’s hard to see him as a relatable character unless as a lens through which we judge the odd characters who come into his taxi. There’s a good amount of social commentary in this episode too, from the doctor talking about how Odokawa might get rid of his insomnia if he settled down and got married, to the social junkie’s obsession with getting likes and making viral posts on his networking site. We see a janitor character complain about his job where no one would miss him and look mournfully at his lacklustre social media profile, even considering lying to make himself appear more likable. It’s all extremely relatable and very much like we’re seeing a group of real humans in their daily life than animals, or a group of anime tropes. The dialogue and character interactions are really the stars of the show here, and it feels like a series that will reveal greater depths on rewatches such as through the talk show host’s banter with one another.

It’s worth giving a shout-out to the production values of this series too. Whilst the characters themselves are animated in a fairly typical fashion, they animate the backgrounds and objects in the city differently in a fuzzy watercolour story-book style. It’s an interesting artistic choice and looks really effective, making the characters really pop out from the scenery they’re sitting in. We see this specific animation style in the show’s opening too. The anime’s ending is very cute and catchy, presumably showcasing the idol band seen briefly throughout the anime, whilst the opening is a very relaxing tune. If this anime were to be compared to anything, it’s got the same kind of humour and themes as Durarara!!, which also featured an ensemble cast of zany characters.

All in all, Odd Taxi is an odd ride for sure, but one with a lot of thought and plenty of mystery to keep the viewer interested. Don’t be put off by the use of animals as characters – this is one of the most human and realistic animes of the whole season!