ODD TAXI

ODD TAXI is a 2021 anime series about anthropomorphic animals in Tokyo. Its main draw is that it has a tightly written plot and an ensemble cast though the titular taxi driver Odokawa is the central character ultimately, and it’s just perfect.

Okay not perfect, I only gave it an 8 out of 10 on MyAnimeList, but I don’t take numerical scores too seriously, at least when I’m giving them out.

If you understand the difference between plot and story and value plot over a story, you should probably check out ODD TAXI. Saying that, there is plenty of good story in this series too. SPOILERS. For example, everyone being animals is revealed at the end of the series as being a manifestation of Odokawa’s psychology and/or cognition.

Even though it does have brilliant writing from start to finish, both in plot and story, for its many moving parts and memorable characters, and I would describe it as “tight” in this respect, I wouldn’t say it was marathonable. I took some time with it, is what I’m saying, and one of the reasons is that the series takes its time getting into the characters’ heads, which can be a bit slow even though it’s interesting. A really good example of what I mean is episode 4, “Tanaka’s Revolution”. But also, the series is a mystery, and I think I tend to be better glued to puzzles when they’re episodic and not overarching – saying that I always wanted to know the answers to the mystery. I wanted to know what happened to the missing girl and who Odokawa was talking to in his apartment.

There were some loose threads at the show’s end that I wish had been tied up more. For example, we never see Atsuya Baba’s reaction to the revelations regarding Rui Nikaido’s actions. And some may interpret the ending as unsettling because we don’t know how things will turn out for Odokawa. The series has been given a film version subtitled In the Woods, so I’d be interested to see if that film changed the ending in these regards.