Odd Taxi - Reviews

Oh no, I’m finally talking about an anime everyone who watched it says it’s amazing and yet I don’t like it much. I know this is not going to end well, but I’m doing it anyways.

The thing with Odd Taxi is that it’s not too much of something specific. You are not going to like it if you are in a mood for only comedy or only slice of life. It’s a holistic type of show, very good for what it’s doing as a whole, but not very good at attracting a big audience with what it’s about on a moment to moment basis. And I’m saying that because I had dropped it several times as it was airing. I didn’t care about the certain episode I was checking out; a sentiment that was shared in the anime community. Despite the constant shilling of many bigshots Odd Taxi was never popular or hyped or talked about compared to your run of the mill action shonen. I mean, what is there to say if you are a casual viewer who checks out the first episodes? It’s a bunch of animals that are talking while looking very bored. There is no action or suspense or fan service or any of the usual shit that keeps people watching.

Obviously the show is rewarding you if you watch all the way to the end and you see how every character ends up connecting with the others, but what kind of an excuse is that for the average viewer? Every episode has to be exciting or captivating. Nobody can say the show gets good once you finish it. It has to be good as you watch it. Which wasn’t the case for most people. Me included.

The problem starts with how visually unimpressive it is. You cannot claim it stands out because it has talking animals, since there are a lot of shows that did that already. And you can’t say it’s beautiful to look at for long because the animation and the character designs are average at best. There is nothing for maintaining your interest and since it was deliberately made to look like it’s for little kids it further made sure almost nobody who recently finished Jujutsu Kaisen will bother to watch more than 5 minutes of it.

The next problem is how there isn’t much of a plot to speak of. It’s just animals talking about their first world problems. 80% of the show is just people sitting and talking, and it’s not even a sitcom. Most of what they say is unfunny. Sure, it’s a slice of life, it can’t have tension by default. It’s more about what the characters are doing, and how you gradually learn more about them and the setting. Unfortunately it has the same effect as listening to a podcast about two people sitting down and talking about random topics for hours. At the end of it you will have learned a lot about them, but it’s not like there was anything going on in the meantime. And I have to say, none of them are oozing with depth. They are one-note and have a one-track mind. Real people are not doing only one thing and are not defined by one thing either, thus the setting comes off as cartoony as the talking animals.

Also the only reason you have for looking at the screen is for reading the subs. If you could get your hands on the transcript or listen to the dub if there ever is one, there would be no point in watching the screen at all. What’s the point of this being a tv series when you don’t need a tv? It doesn’t make use of its medium.

There is also some mystery about a girl that disappeared but you are not going to be biting your nails while waiting to find out what’s going on. The pacing is so slow and it’s brought up in an almost casual manner like it doesn’t matter. There are a few scenes that can be considered high in stakes, but they end up being anticlimactic. People survive or don’t get punished enough even in situations that seemingly deserve it. The setting doesn’t come off as realistic as it wants to because of it. As for the great answer to the mystery of what happened to the girl and who did it, it happens in the last episode when the perpetrator casually reveals it while talking to the phone. Nobody exposed that person or somehow tricked it to reveal the truth. It just blabbered about it like it didn’t matter. Worst mystery plot ever.

There is also a plot twist of sorts, since it turns out none of the characters are actually animals. They are all people than the mind of the taxi driver was making them seem like they are animals. How does that change the plot of the show? It doesn’t, therefore it sucks as a twist. Just like the perpetrator it happened in the last episode and didn’t amount to anything. It was just a gimmick for masking the completely dull human character designs.

Adding to all that, despite its attempts at being down to earth, Odd Taxi is still up the ass in plot conveniences that don’t feel natural. The reason everything connects at the end comes down to people accidently finding someone or something exactly when the plot needed it. It happens all the time and comes off as artificial as the force in Star Wars that magically makes people who are related to each other, meeting up accidently in a vast galaxy.

In conclusion, the biggest mystery regarding this show is why did anyone consider it being amazing. It doesn’t have any action, the production values are average, the characters are one note, the plot is talking about a mystery that is solved when the perpetrator talks about it out of nowhere, a twist that has no effect on anything, very small negative consequences, and lots of plot convenience. It’s so obviously a bad show, it’s not a hidden gem or even something worth recommending. I have no idea why some of you liked it so much and I will never revisit it.

You are now free to try explaining why I am wrong and why Odd Taxi is the GOAT.

Honestly the best spring 2021 season anime, honetly one of the best anime ever. It's about a taxi driver main character  and an underlying mystery going on in the news about a missing girl. Our taxi driver seems to be involved, or at least in someway, knowing about the matter. The show takes place a lot in his taxi (go figure) but the conversations can get deep, they hook you in with great psychological questions. Odd taxi is very modern, without any fictional take on the world, everything seems to be a story that could happen in real life. The show also has a great charm, in showing all the characters being depicted as animals.the ending shows a great reason why too. But I'm not here to spoil.

seriously do not let this one pass, give it a watch

currently streaming on Crunchyroll 

Satisfying Conclusion?✔️
Emotional?❓ (depends on person. finale is hard-hitting)
Actual Romance?❌
Actual Comedy?❌
Fanservice/Nudity? ❌
Recommend?✔️(For mystery lovers who like watching the big picture come together.)

Reminds me of: Baccano (big picture slowly comes together.)

What is this anime?
It is Odd. About a walrus that drives a taxi. He gets pulled into a big mess with police and a missing girl and bad stuffs. Small hints of romance here and there, not a driving force though.

Did I enjoy it?
Odd Taxi is very different. A world full of only animals. Walrus guy solves a mystery. Sounds like something that'd be on a Kids channel or something. However it comes out with an excellent (somewhat mature) story that is engaging. By the end, the series comes to a full conclusion in an amazing way. As a lot of it is a mystery, if you're smart enough you may be able to do some foreshadowing! (I was not smart enough though. sad face)

TL;DR Something different, refreshing, and entertaining throughout. Makes you work for clues in a good way! You should watch it.

Odd Taxi almost lost me in the first episode, after letting it sit for a few days I came back. Slowly over time I became more aware of how well crafted the story is. It was refreshing to hear a story that was grounded in reality. The characters didn't have super powers or magic, and there was no getting whisked away into a fantasy world.

What I love is a story that gives you all the pieces to figure out where things are going and doesn't just tell you everything. There wasn't much attempt to try and trick the audience at any point, so the show gets more points for that too. I dislike it when you get blind sided by something that wasn't telegraphed and makes following the reason difficult. While sadly there is some use of flashbacks, another tired thing everyone does these days, I don't honestly think any of it was really all that neccesary, it could have done without what little it had in my opinion.

I have to admit, from the start I questioned why this show had to be animal characters. Why would they choose this? I am frankly tired of this copy-paste story that is awkwardly told like beastars and zootopia tried and failed to do, among other even more dismal things too. I did notice a few things along the way that helped me accept that it was fine. Honestly it was fine in the end, I figured at some point that I needed to focus on the events instead of getting so hung up on it. I just guess I had wanted there to be a reason for it while also disliking the reasons other stories try to tell.

I'm always a fan of characters that act like real people. This show is a bit of a coin toss there. About half the cast is believable and the other half is rather cartoonish, and this at times left a bad taste when two characters on either side of that divide interacted. Another thing I really found tore me away was how 3 characters made reference to very old musicians as if it were the latest thing. You cannot convince me that a 18ish year old kid who is totally into brand new pop music idol groups has enough knowledge to name drop Janice Joplin. Nor will I believe two people born in the 80s are passionate fans of bruce springsteen when they should have been all over rock, punk etc. of the 90s. This comes from someone as musically illiterate as me. A nit pick? Maybe but it was a really stupid thing. I could see the author through the story in those moments, someone who himself liked these oldies, not the characters. Then bizzarely it never comes up again.

There is nothing terribly special about this story if I am honest. It is something though, that is accessible and I think is a more grounded story that isn't made anymore, and that is a shame. So many authors seem to just want to make some flashy story with huge grand universe ending wars, powers and flashy visuals, and underneath the story itself is a pithy rot of nothing. It was a great story because it relied on being actually clever, and it kept all the story beats tight. There was never a moment of unnesecarry dialogue or action for a moment. Blink, and you might miss something important, even if the pace didn't feel fast, you would miss a good detail. I wish there were more engaging stories like this, I even more hope this shows that dramas aren't dead.

I would suggest anyone watch this so long as it isn't a kid, despite the visuals. It was a great one I hope to share with friends...

A jumbled mystery drama with a very unique style of animation.

The MC is a smart but dull taxi driver who gets thrown into a crime drama.

Some of the side stories and back stories are very long and annoying. So many side characters make so many dumb choices that you want to jump into the anime yourself and smack them around.

The mystery/plot wasn't all that complex at all- it just involved a lot of characters/parties who almost all get their screentime for long, jumbled, and sometimes annoying drama. I feel like they could have easily streamlined it to make it more consumable.  

I eventually semi-dropped it but breezed through the rest of it to see how it ended. Again, not all that complex of a mystery.

It was ok. Overall it would give it a 5/10 (average). Only watch it if you like mysteries mixed with A LOT of drama.