Spring 2021 First Impressions: Odd Taxi, Dragon Ie wo Kau, Hige wo Soru

Odd Taxi

Short Synopsis: One snarky taxi driver boi faces off with corrupt cops, nostalgic doctors, viral wannabes, plus his own demons. And maybe a teenage girl he kidnapped.

Amun: Wait, what?! On paper Odd Taxi looked like an episodic, character-driven, B-tier comedy with the taxi as the stage and some vague connections tying it all together for the season’s last two episodes. That is not what happened here. This is all killer, no filler – forget some overarching plot, this premiere had more substance than Jujutsu Kaisen’s entire season (yeah, I said it). The character building in such a short time is intense – our leading man is blunt, jaded, and just barely holding on to reality. This is a quiet depiction of someone on the edge of psychosis unlike anything I’ve seen in anime. All the supporting cast have their own stories and struggles, the environment is spot on, the backgrounds look amazing – where did this show come from?! I went back and looked and this studio is best known for Pokemon, the staff are no-names and rookies, and it’s an original work (no public source material). On-screen and off, Odd Taxi is mysterious in all the right ways, and it certainly has my attention.

Potential: 90%

Lenlo: ODDTAXI is weird. I had no idea what to expect going into it. I have no idea what to expect leaving it. Is it another Aggretsuko? Beastars? BNA? What is with Japanese authors and anthropomorphic animal people lately? I can’t answer any of those questions but what I can say is this: I connect with this taxi driver on a spiritual level. He is done with the world and its bullshit. Maybe he turns out to be a psycho murderer, maybe ODDTAXI turns into a Bruce Willis movie, I don’t know. But I’m in and I love it.

Potential: 80%

Dragon, Ie wo Kau.

Short Synopsis: After being disowned, a cowardly dragon sets off in search of a new home.

Wooper: This show’s premise is its greatest, and perhaps only, weapon. A massive yet feeble-hearted dragon wandering a fantasy world in search of a suitable dwelling place? There’s all sorts of comedy built into that idea, especially on the visual end, which this series did its darndest to incorporate. Despite his towering stature, the titular dragon ended up in captivity multiple times, pouting helplessly as his tiny jailers rejoiced around him. There were cute shots, too, like the one of the leaf he used to shield his head during a rain shower (see above). Unfortunately, while a dragon makes for a suitably ironic protagonist in this sort of story, they aren’t the easiest creatures to animate, and this series is proof – any time the big lizard was on screen, the series’ limitations were evident. The fantasy environments were colorful and varied, which was nice, but you’d have to be married to this show to overlook how poorly the dragon moves within them. As a result, I can’t give ‘Dragon, Ie wo Kau’ an honest recommendation, but if your favorite genre pairing is fantasy/comedy, there might be something here for you.

Potential: 30%

Amun: Bah, I’ve been tricked. Dragons have had a string of wins recently – most notably Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid – so I expected something similar in terms of comedy. What “Dragon, Ie wo Kau” brings instead is…magical home shopping when broke. The show’s background art looks great, but the characters’ art doesn’t quite fit. I get the dragon isn’t supposed to be majestic, but he just feels off, visually. The premise doesn’t do it for me either – I’m just not interested in a season long excursion with a magical realtor and a loser dragon.

Potential: 5%

Hige wo Soru.

Short Synopsis: A salaryman gets drunk and picks up a high school girl runaway. And manages not to commit any felonies but gets miso soup for his troubles.

Mario: Hige wo Soru is a show that wants to have it both ways. On the one hand, it realizes that the girl’s behavior is spoiled and unhealthy and the MC rejects her advances simultaneously. The premise of her growing independence is the show’s strongest asset so far. On the other hand, the setup is still obvious romance bait – all of his preachiness about her will amount to nothing if he falls for her at the end, and I’m pretty sure the show is heading that way. And guess what action he takes to fix her men-dependency behavior? You guessed it, having her become a domestic housewife. THAT doesn’t bode well to me at all; it’s still better than the other age-gap show but if it leans too much on the romance side it will lose its impact. Isn’t it better to make the MC the parental figure for the girl instead of the love interest?

Potential: 20%

Amun: I actually think Hige wo Soru’s first episode was as well done as possible – that’s the highest compliment I’m able to give. This is one of very few shows whose source I’m familiar with, so I’m a little biased by knowing what’s to come. Unfortunately, for the clever production and excellent voice acting, Hige wo Soru suffers from an incurable disease – a fundamentally flawed premise. In many ways, this is the spiritual successor to Rental Girlfriend, which was a flub. The problem here is a show that can’t decide between two genres – is this a maid comedy or is this a societal commentary? Even more of a problem is that neither route is embraced fully. Without the innocent charm of Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid and without the provocative commitment of Scum’s Wish, Hige wo Soru is destined for a journey of mediocrity. A journey I won’t be joining on.

Potential: 1%