Month: June 2021

Well, friends, we made it. This journey is nearing its end. I’m both happy to be here with the final episode of Odd Taxi in hand, and incredibly sad that the experience of watching it is now coming to a close. I’ve been finishing series here and there over the last week or so; my partner and I just knocked off Super Cub last night, and that journey was its own style of satisfying. SSSS.Dynazenon was great, fully living up to and even surpassing its predecessor in many respects. Fairy Ranmaru was… well, it was something, all right. But Odd Taxi has been the one anime on my list that, week to week, I’ve looked forward to the most. Perhaps because I’ve got a bit of a furry streak, but definitely also because it’s been one of the sharpest-written, most satisfying anime series I’ve had the pleasure to watch in real time.

I don’t want to waste too much time with introductions, so I’ll leave things at that. Below are my posts about previous episodes. I may also write about the series as a whole if I have some time, but I think I’ve captured most of my thoughts fairly well from week-to-week so I might let things simmer for a while before that happens.

Episode 1
Episode 2
Episode 3
Episode 4
Episode 5
Episode 6
Episode 7
Episode 8
Episode 9
Episode 10
Episode 11
Episode 12

This past Sunday was Father’s Day in the United States. I love my own father and called to wish him a good day. But I still have trouble navigating some of these “greeting card holidays,” especially the parent and grandparent related ones. My husband and I have been trying to start our own family since we got married nearly four years ago, and as everyone can probably tell we haven’t had much success. These kinds of holidays are a sore reminder that my kind, caring husband doesn’t have the child he deserves, and my parents have no grandchildren.

I think life is full of regrets, and one of mine is that I went for so long thinking that I didn’t want to have children and never looked into whether it would be a possibility for me until I was older and staring down the loaded gun of advancing age. It’s a tough situation to navigate, because I’m used to giving things up; my family didn’t have a ton of money or resources when I was growing up and so I went without sometimes (I also had all my needs met, though, so it feels strange to claim hardship even though compared to other people I know it probably was). But sometimes life isn’t fair and wanting something very badly doesn’t mean that it will eventually appear in front of you somehow.

On that cheery note, let’s get back together with our animal friends for this penultimate episode of Odd Taxi! I have to say, I’m going to miss this series deeply when it’s over. Check out the links below for my thoughts on previous episodes:

Episode 1
Episode 2
Episode 3
Episode 4
Episode 5
Episode 6
Episode 7
Episode 8
Episode 9
Episode 10
Episode 11

Thursday was the first Summer session meeting of the anime club I attend, and boy was I thankful for the opportunity to revisit some great anime that I’ve previously enjoyed. While I love watching seasonal anime, there’s so much of it that I find it difficult to re-watch anime series from even the recent past, so this weekly appointment with other anime-loving friends has been an real boon to my fandom. Also, having the opportunity to share amazing anime with others is an experience that will never get old for me.

Watching something more than once gives me the opportunity to catch onto details I may have missed the first time around; this is partly why I’ve stopped attempting to write about these Odd Taxi immediately after watching the first time. With so much going on, I find that it’s helpful to watch the episode a second time with my partner and really try to take in what’s happening without also trying to take screenshots and jot down notes. I also like to let the content simmer for a bit too, because sometimes inspiration strikes at odd times.

Once again, Previous entries are linked below.

Episode 1
Episode 2
Episode 3
Episode 4
Episode 5
Episode 6
Episode 7
Episode 8
Episode 9
Episode 10

Whew, it’s been incredibly hot lately here in Minneapolis. Today’s considered a bit of a reprieve because it’s only getting into the upper 80’s Fahrenheit (around 32 Celsius). My Scandinavian body doesn’t do very well in this kind of environment (in fact, looking at the average temps in Norway, I can tell I come from that stock… anyway). I guess that makes this an ideal time to stay inside an watch more anime. I think maybe I made the same excuse during the winter during the polar vortex, but whatever, it’s always a good time for anime!

My husband and I actually caught up with SSSS.Dynazenon yesterday evening, and we were saddened to realize that there was only one episode left of the show. This time in the season is always a struggle for me, because the series I’ve enjoyed so much are all starting to wrap up. While there are almost always new anime series to look forward to, it can still be difficult to let go of something you’ve truly enjoyed. As the type of person who tends to settle comfortably into a routine after a while, though, not knowing what to expect from the future, even if it’s from something fun, like a hobby, can always be a little bit uncomfortable. Odd Taxi is another series that I’ll be really sad to see wrap up, even though I’m also dying to see how the story comes to a conclusion. I imagine I’ll be stopping and starting the final episode a few times while I’m watching it; that’s generally what will happen when I just don’t want something to end.

If, somehow, you’ve missed my previous posts on the show, they’re linked below for your convenience:

Episode 1
Episode 2
Episode 3
Episode 4
Episode 5
Episode 6
Episode 7
Episode 8
Episode 9

Well, I’m pretty proud of myself; while you’ll be reading this at a later date, as of right now it’s Wednesday, June 2nd and I’m caught up with the series. Not really the biggest of deals in the grand scheme of things, but I think it’s good to celebrate small victories when possible. If that’s the only thing I’ve been able to cross off my to-do list during these couple of days off, well, I can be happy with that.

While I don’t typically participate in online discussions about currently-airing anime (at least in the bigger, more well-known forums), I do occasionally lurk for the purposes of information-gathering. I find Reddit to be fairly good for that sort of thing, because there are quite a few active members there who watch anime for details and clues; I’m more about broader themes and bigger ideas, so I don’t always jot down tiny details in the moment or spend time re-watching a series while it’s airing to pick up on what I’ve missed. If you’ve been enjoying my write ups so far but might be looking for a different perspective, I’d recommend checking out their weekly discussions for more information.

Once again, my previous entries related to Odd Taxi are linked below, so be sure to check them out if you haven’t already!

Episode 1
Episode 2
Episode 3
Episode 4
Episode 5
Episode 6
Episode 7
Episode 8

My sibling-in-law and their husband are big film buffs who we’re always trying to get to watch anime. Sometimes it seems as though my husband and I belong to a different world, where we’re constantly talking about the latest, greatest anime yet don’t have the time to watch much Western media, while his sibling is in the exact opposite boat. Recently we went out to eat with them and Odd Taxi came up in conversation as an anime series we thought they’d like, and it’s one of the few cases where I feel like, once the show is done, I might insist on it. As much as I like anime in general, it often feels as though it plays a little fast and loose with stories. How to explain… it’s like sometimes the choices made in adaptation (since so many anime stories are adapted from other media) make the storytelling feel less intentional than it might otherwise. Odd Taxi feels like a story that works well as an anime-first production, for reasons that I suspect are starting to become more obvious… It’s because of that that I think I could probably convince someone who isn’t normally into general anime fandom to watch (and maybe even like) it.

My previous write-ups are linked below as usual. Even if you’ve just stopped by after searching for information on a specific episode, I hope you might feel like sticking around a little bit longer to see what I’ve had to say!

Episode 1
Episode 2
Episode 3
Episode 4
Episode 5
Episode 6
Episode 7

I took a couple of days off this past week in an attempt to regain some sanity after a particularly stressful month or so at work. I can usually tell when I’m due for a vacation, because I’ll start to get really short with people and have a difficult time dealing with unexpected situations. I’m lucky that my job provides me with quite a bit of flexibility and is generous with PTO. I’ve used the time to catch up on a little bit of anime as well. My Anilist is a wasteland of half-finished anime series at the moment, and any little bit of time I can get to chip away at that is welcome, in my book. Of course, Odd Taxi has turned into an extremely high priority series for me in spite of whatever leftovers I have in the fridge from past seasons, so this time away from work has been a good opportunity to work on catching up with that, too.

As usual, below are the previous entries in this series of posts. Be sure to check them out, too!

Episode 1
Episode 2
Episode 3
Episode 4
Episode 5
Episode 6