Welcome to Odd Taxi with Amun! After taking a season off, it’s good to be back! We’re here with our favorite taxi walrus Odokawa and his motley – probably criminal – crew. Let’s see how things have gone since that smashing premiere. First of all, this is a dense show. The first episode had a ton of short, fast shots throughout the opening song – all of which are extremely important to the plot. “How to Spend a Long Night” didn’t have as many fast cuts – it was the conversations that were rapid fire. I feel bad for whoever is doing the subs – that has to be hard to keep up with.
Secondly, the pace. Episode 1 threw a ton of characters and plot at us – mostly the missing high school girl (or “JK” as recent anime have taught me). This episode calmed down quite a bit…and had nothing (or at least nothing directly) to do with that mystery. Instead, we get some more of the main characters fleshed out…and wait a second, I’m sorry, the nurse is hitting on Odokawa?! That was a NICE move with the phone (if you notice, she turned on the front facing camera).
Each scene is packed with detail – like this shot where his dashcam was prominently displayed (which I’m sure is going to be a major plot point).
Finally, let’s mention the settings. Episode 1 had one rider (Mr. Viral wannabe) and spent maybe a third of the episode in the taxi. Episode 2 is more on pace with what I expected, as 4 passengers (and one armed monkey) pass through. I’m a little surprised to see the radio hosts this early on – I expected they’d make an appearance eventually, but to see them this soon means they’re going to be part of the overall plot. I didn’t care much about the idol side story, but it does seem like they’re after Odokawa’s dashcam as well. I’m guessing the runaway girl has something or saw something and is somehow important. If she’s even alive.
I realize I’m comparing these two episodes quite a bit – but honestly, there isn’t a whole lot else to go off with this show. No source material, no other projects from the staff of note – we’re just flying blind here. Where is the plot going from here? I think the missing girl is going to be the main story, but we have other elements coming in as well. The alpaca’s stealing of pharmaceuticals is probably going to come into play, and the armed monkey seems to be the linchpin (he’s in with the dirty cops, probably the idol’s manager, and is buying from the nurse). Question is whether or not Odokawa knows him, but he did know that the was the dog’s friend and recognized him in a tweet, so I’m not sure.
What’s the outlook? Episode 2 was a lot more in line with what I expected coming into the show, but that’s okay. I was worried at the pace of episode 1, so it’s a positive sign that the second outing calms down a little. I won’t fault anyone for being disappointed though, as this round is a lot more standard than the previous banger. Regardless, I’m still along for this ride!
Any and all bits featuring Odokawa in the show are excellent. The writing when he’s making conversation with his passengers is sharp as nails but it’s just that Odd Taxi is trying to incorporate so many story elements that some of them do grate a bit. Like what’s the purpose of everyone being an animal? I had a theory that it’s because we see the world from Odokawa’s perspective and he’s possibly schizophrenic but the POV camera shot of Odokawa by his locker just about negates that. Just like you, Amun, I found the idol bit felt unnecessary and stretched out. There are all these things that keep standing out in the wrong way and making me feel that Odd Taxi could be a legitimately great mystery thriller if only it was just more focused.
Huh – never thought about everyone being an animal as a plot point, I just kind of accept it after BNA and Beastars.
I think you’re right on the focus – Odd Taxi is a bit split between skit based and the overall mystery. Still, I’d say there was enough good to keep me going ^_^
Probably Spoiler(?) –
It’s a popular theory on some image board right now and I didn’t believe it till someone has pointed out a scene in episode 02.
So far, the argument was that Odokawa’s family looks human in the flashbacks. But they are all vague sketchy scenes so it might be a coincidence. There is one scene in episode 02 though that is very obvious once you see it. Again, kind of a spoiler (maybe) but look closely at alpaca/Miho in the scene from 04:38 till 04:44 or rather her shadow while she’s sitting in the taxi. Bonus: the hairstyle seems to be identical to that of her VA.
PS.: The social media guy has an actual twitter account:
https://twitter.com/kbsw_t
He posted the photo with Odakawa on there (10/10/20), a few weeks before he stopped posting (on 11/07/20). Some fans have the theory that this means he will disappear in the anime a few weeks from now. So around episode 4 or 5. Wonder if it will happen and if they thought this through to such an extent.
Huh – that’s a nice meta touch! It’d be crazy if everyone was actually a human – I can see that about the family in the flashbacks, the art style also changes pretty dramatically so it’s hard to tell.
Watching it twice I also realized why the idols are important. It seems that really everything and everybody in this show is connected with each other.
When I watched it the first time I wondered about why the show was kind of emphasizing that the two idol sidekicks were wearing masks now, so I oberseved the idol related scenes more closely and might know it now. It’s really fun how well the show is already hinting lots of things since episode 1.
What someone else has pointed out is that the girlfriend of the horse radio host might be the main idol (Rui), since he said he couldn’t talk about her in public since it would be bad for her.
Didn’t notice that. I wonder if that person is right.