Odd Taxi – Best anime of 2021???

As we are heading towards the end of 2021, I thought it would be a good time to recommend an anime that I enjoyed way more than I thought I ever would. While I have watched a lot of anime in the past (the vast majority of this being in secondary school and NS), I have had comparatively less time to burn on anime in law school. Realistically, I have only watched a small handful of anime in the past couple of years. Suffice to say, I was relatively out of touch with the anime scene. As such, I was very pleasantly surprised when I completed Odd Taxi earlier this year – in some ways, it rekindled my love and excitement for the medium.

Now you might question how Odd Taxi can be the best anime of 2021 when we have had so many other fantastic series this year – chief among which are popular shows like Jujitsu Kaisen, Demon Slayer and To Your Eternity. There is no doubt that 2021 has been a year with many amazing shows such that it challenging to crown a single series as Anime of the Year. However, there has been no show that I have personally enjoyed more in years than I have enjoyed Odd Taxi. A really good anime is one that not only takes you for a ride while you are watching it, but also leaves feeling slightly empty when it ends. Odd Taxi left me thinking and contemplating for more than a couple of days after I finished its last episode.

The Setting

The setting of Odd Taxi is weird. It is set in a world where the characters are all different animals – with the significant characters in the series taking of the form of animals such as a walrus, alpaca, cat, gorilla, etc. A significant part of the conversations in the anime take place in a taxi that is driven by the main character Odokawa (the Walrus). Anyone who taken a late-night taxi ride after a nights out at the pub or elsewhere would know that taxi drivers very often have something interesting to say – be it a causal conservation or some controversial political topic. This anime is no different, with a very interesting set of conversations with an interesting set of characters. The taxi serves as the hub or intersection point in the anime, where the main character interacts with the side cast and where the story frequently bounces to and develops.

The Writing and Story

Odd Taxi is as a whole a very tightly written story, with so much packed into its short 22-minute episodes. It’s the type of show that gets richer with a rewatch, as you notice the little nuggets of information that your missed on your first watch. For example, small, throwaway things introduced in episodes 2 or 3 may suddenly come into play in episode 8.

Odd Taxi is probably the only anime series in the mystery genre that actually lives up to its hype and delivers on its premise in a satisfying manner (cough, Erased was a disappointment, cough). For this reason, it is also highly recommended that you go into this series as blind as possible for the best experience.

The way the story develops, and bounces from one character’s POV to another is really good as well – as you get to see what happened in the previous episode but from a completely different angle.

Characters

The characters in Odd Taxi are a treat to watch. The main character Odokawa (the walrus) is a middle-aged taxi driver who is quiet most of the time (as most taxi drivers often are), but who is at the same time very willing to strike up a conversation with his passengers or make quips to his friends. Odokawa gives of the vibe of a chill but wise person who has seen and experienced much in life in his time as a taxi driver.

The side characters are also a pleasure to watch, and the show does a very good job in helping you empathize with the various problems faced by the characters – this include problems such as having a gambling addiction (to gacha games), being catfished (quite literally) and duped through online dating apps, the discomfort seeing yourself unable to achieve the same success as your friends and colleagues, etc.

Music

The music in the show has a chill and jazzy vibe. I particularly love the vibes of the opening song.

Conclusion

Go watch this show – literally the best, most tightly written anime I have seen in years!

- Hideyoshi Kinoshita