Spring 2021 First Impressions – Odd Taxi

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: TBA

Source: Original

Story Summary: Odokawa is a curmudgeonly taxi driver whose sarcastic attitude is a point of minor fame among the people who’ve encountered him. As news begins to circulate about a missing high-school student, the last sighting of which occurred as she got into a cab, suspicions begin bubble up around Odokawa’s involvement and he becomes a person of interest in the case. There are also rumors floating around about a Dobu, a criminal with a violent reputation, and how he may play into all this. Even though Odokawa himself is impenetrable, his cab may contain the evidence needed to crack the case. But what if the police are in cahoots with Dobu?

Impressions: I think like most folks I wasn’t sure what to expect from this series, but as self-described furry trash I’m fairly open to any media that chooses to use anthropomorphic animals as a storytelling device. While there’s plenty of cute anime with animal characters for us anthro-fans to enjoy, using animals in place of humans is also a technique that can be used to either subtly (or unsubtly) play off of our own inherent prejudices (I’m thinking of the predator/prey dynamic from things like Beastars or Zootopia), or to undercut them in favor of telling a story in which the viewer is less able to rely on their knowledge of anime character design tropes. Odd Taxi feels like something more like the latter: the only real qualitative comment we get about race (species?) in this episode is that alpacas are a rarity in the area the series takes place, so it was easy for Odokawa to recognize Shirakawa, the nurse from his clinic.

Odokawa is a very intriguing character, and I think this episode does a good job of portraying him in a multi-faceted way that still gives little insight into who he actually is and what he might be capable of. There are moments where his grumpy attitude is funny and kind of charming; there’s an entire scene in his cab where he has a snarky back-and-forth with a social media star wannabe regarding viral content, which actually made me laugh out loud alone in my office (uncommon for me). On the other hand, the episode also frames him as a suspicious person, and perhaps also a dangerous one. I was extremely unsettled during the single scene that takes place in Odokawa’s apartment, during which he speaks to someone who’s ostensibly in the next room (and there’s no reply…). Overall I just find myself wanting to know more about this guy, even though there’s a chance I may not necessarily like what I find.

This episode reveals a lot of its information in ways that aren’t obvious, which is a storytelling technique I enjoy. There are conversations involving multiple characters that reveal different details about their personalities without hitting the viewer over the head with clearly-defined specifics, which I think is also a consequence of utilizing animal characters rather than humans. The typical archetypes are muddied and their portrayals are more reliant of voice acting and details gleaned from the dialog. That said, this makes the entire episode feel more like a live-action drama rather than a typical animated series, which could be good or bad depending on one’s expectations or tolerance for that type of entertainment.

While I don’t think “show, don’t tell” is the be-all, end-all of correct storytelling technique, especially after spending years watching anime and reading manga in which that’s definitely not a sacred rule, I do still like situations like this where the plot and character introductions are a bit disorienting and require paying attention to small details. There are times when I want anime series to beat me over the head with their defiant unsubtlety, and other times where I’d rather be left adrift for a little bit. This episode was a mystery with many gaps, but an intriguing mystery where I find myself excited to learn more of the details at the pace they’re provided.

Pros: The character designs are appealing. They give the impression of being from a show aimed at younger viewers, which I think does a good job of getting the audience to let their guard down. There’s also a simplicity to them that makes them more emotive. I don’t recall where I read this (though I’m assuming it was from one of his collections of essays), but Hayao Miyazaki definitely has had some things to say about the supposed failings of more modern anime character designs. While I don’t necessarily agree with him on all points, I do think that more “typical” anime character designs are meant more to look cool and be appealing in still frames (on key art and character goods, for example) rather than to demonstrate personality through motion and facial flexibility. This series is restrained in its animation as well, but the characters’ facial simplicity is inviting and provides a more varied palette for expression.

The backgrounds, despite portraying an urban setting, are textural and storybook-like, which also provides a good contrast with the contents of the story.

Cons: Many scenes are pretty dialog-heavy, and while that doesn’t bother me personally I think some of the subject matter might be uninteresting to a general audience.

At this point, the story seems to revolve around a missing (maybe murdered?) girl, which is an overused trope, in my opinion. I feel like violence against girls and women is sort of an easy go-to in storytelling because those types of crimes are both shocking and common enough to feel realistic in fictional settings.

Content Warnings: There’s a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it flash of imagery that seems to imply the aftermath of a violent crime (Edited to add: I actually re-watched this episode a second time and I’m not sure what these brief, very red scenes are meant to represent, but they don’t quite read as being related to a violent crime the second time around. Your mileage may vary). Police corruption. Physical violence.

Would I Watch More? – Yes, I’m really excited for the next episode.