Odd Taxi

[neflight86]

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"This town should look familiar, but suddenly, it's not. The taxi driver Odokawa lives a very mundane life. He has no family, doesn't really hang out with others, and he's an oddball who is narrow-minded and doesn't talk much. The only people he can call his friends are his doctor, Gouriki and his classmate from high school, Kakibana. All of his patrons seem to be slightly odd themselves. The college student who wants the world to notice him online, Kabasawa. A nurse with secrets named Shirakawa. A comedy duo that just can't catch a break named the Homosapiens. A local hoodlum named Dobu. An idol group that's just starting out named Mystery Kiss... All these mundane conversations somehow eventually lead to a girl who's gone missing.

Source: crunchyroll"

Genre(s): Thriller, Mystery, Drama

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Don't be fooled by the OP; this is anime. A unique texture that feels about 1/2 a step away from Aggresstuko, of all things, though the shows could not be more different. A rude, sarcastic walrus taxi driver is a bit too steeped in the goings on in his city. His interactions seem to hint at a larger story, and I am pretty excited to see what comes of it. Discussing any more of the first episode would essentially be spoilers, so I'll leave it at that.

[David75]

Watching Odd Taxi I was the finger on the delete button from the very first second.... but never got to delete the ep.
All of the setting is right in my dislike zone. But the events, dialogs and character interactions kept me hooked.
I don't know if I'll keep watching after ep2, but being hooked til the end of ep1 certainly was a surprise.

[neflight86]

02

I wonder what those super small flashbacks will amount to. He mentioned he was lucky to live through an accident, so maybe it somehow formed his character.

All that deadpan idol was missing was a cigarette at the table to complete the 'burnt out at 24' image. I'll never understand hardcore idol fandom.

Dirty cliffhanger with the baboon!

[neflight86]

4

I was more than a little frustrated, in a good way, watching this. Seeing what felt like a pretty fleshed out character become a gatcha addict as a response to searching for meaning in his life (and running away from his disappointments) was kinda gripping in a train wreck kind of way. I was annoyed at his destructive tendencies, but that is another kind of engagement, I suppose. I like how it wasn't tied together to the main narrative until almost the very final scene.

5

I guess the Taxi industry isn't that competitive if someone with as prickly an attitude as him can get customers who want regular service. Combined with last episode's gatcha whale and this episodes 'viral' vigilante returning from episode 1, My hope for (un)humanity is dwindling. It was also sad to see Usopp Monkey taking out ridiculous loans to attempt to woo a girl who is clearly not into him in the slightest. It hurts to see, but she is one of the idol group, so her involvement is still undetermined in the grand scope of things.

[neflight86]

6

This show is pure script. Nothing else carries it to make it entertaining, but it is. Shifting quasi-alliances and the slowly revealing relationships between these seemingly random characters create a fun tapestry of causality that is very endearing to watch.

[neflight86]

7/8

I'm a bit confused as to what the Baboon is saying might be special about Odokawa. Is he saying he has some abnormal perceptive abilities tying one sense to another? I sure hope it ties into the story for the amount of screen time spent on it.

I'm beginning to feel sorry for Usopp monkey now that I know he's a custodian, and they aren't going to let him live...

[neflight86]

9

Dobu had to pull some serious overtime this episode. A fist fight, getting shot (twice!), and confronting (reconciling with) the social media savior away from his groupies... On a side note, I love it when people complain about how burdensome the 'pressure' they are under is. It may be true, but always feels like sympathy fishing.

I like how Odokawa could laugh about the monkey being 'pathetic' after he was saved- as if their life perspectives had changed a bit... and then cut to the same monkey throwing away the expensive ring, coming to his senses, and going to fish it out. Priceless, and somewhat human.

I hope this Odokawa reveal they are building up to does the impossible and is both interesting and genuinely surprising. I think we already knew his parents were gone; we just found out he hasn't told anyone- is that not normal?

[neflight86]

12

Dobu's one mistake is assuming he's the only one who could scrounge up bullets in Nippon. Everything is clicking together, just as was promised, though some of the connections could feel contrived, we were conditioned to expect all of these characters have parts to play, so the details becoming clear is welcome instead.

I was really prepared for this to be the last episode, and they give me another cliffhanger; dirty!

[DarthEnderX]

I just watched all of this. Holy shit that last episode.

The last, like, minute of the ending really pissed me off though...

[neflight86]

What, that she got away with murder? Yeah, Odd Taxi isn't about justice, that's for sure.

[DarthEnderX]

What, that she got away with murder? Yeah, Odd Taxi isn't about justice, that's for sure.

I mean, it kinda IS. It's just, everyone got punished EXCEPT the one person that actually killed someone.

But pretty much all of the lesser criminals ended up in prison.

[neflight86]

The alpaca was stealing drugs, the other cat idol was willingly participating in a badger game, Odokawa repeatedly showed contempt for the law, and the crazy game dev, who fired a loaded weapon in a public place, got back to his job like nothing happened, happily ever after.

I'd call Dobu, the porcupine, and the older cop brother more unlucky in this scenario.

[DarthEnderX]

and the crazy game dev, who fired a loaded weapon in a public place, got back to his job like nothing happened

Oh yeah, the game dev shoulda been in jail too.

Odokawa repeatedly showed contempt for the law

The law he was showing contempt for was a literal corrupt cop. And thus, NOT the law.