Odd Taxi: A Masterclass Mystery No-One Should Miss

I know most of you reading this probably didn't expect this and I get that, this is pretty new for me too.

In a previous post I made titled "The Colourful Spring Season of 2021" , I highlighted just what a mind-blowingly amazing season it was in Anime by highlighting all the hits airing that season, drawing out and counting down a stunning number of 20 New Anime Shows I found most awesome that season.

Well, The Season's Over now, and as clarified by that countdown, My Number #1 Best New Anime of the Spring season was and is still "Vivy-Fluorite Eyes Song", and while it would be more appealing for me to talk about my Undisputed Gem of the Season, I chose to highlight the underrated hit that found its way to my Number #6 on that list; Odd Taxi .

In the affor-mentioned previous post which you should definitely check out if you haven't, I already laid out the premise and basic description of the story of Odd Taxi as well as my first impression, So in this post, I'll be diving right in to why I think this show is so amazing and consider it a masterclass piece of work.

I think it should be pretty obvious that the climax and ending of Odd Taxi left a stronger impact on me than the show did at first for me to even be writting this and I'm sure it's the same for everyone who's watched this show.

First of all I'd like to point out that even among the few people who's seen it, Odd Taxi is a very underrated and underhyped new show. It's underappreciated not because it's bad or average at all, but because it just happened to be released in the single greatest anime season ever, a season with hit sequels as well as numerous blockbuster new shows which all have their own unique explosive aesthetics. 

86 has its tragic and compelling fights backed up by Hiroyuki Sawano's amazing music, Vivy has its balanced beautiful and explosive plot progression, beautifully animated fight scenes, also having great music, To Your Eternity has its extremely cinematic adaptation of the captivating plot, Tokyo Revengers seeming like the underdog story of the year, and Higehiro and Don't Toy With Me Nagatoro being spectacularly wholesome new gems for Slice of Life Fans.

With all these airing in one season along side other new hits as well as Sequels, it wouldn't seem rewarding to hype or even give a chance to a slow burn animal world drama-mystery show with no attractive features or a pre-existing fanbase to hype it up.

The one thing I can say with certainty in all this is that to anyone willing to actually give Odd Taxi a chance, this show is an absolute gem. It may not have any over-the-top attractive features but that's just the charm of the story being told here. It is a silky-smooth mystery that unfolds systematically as the events and characters connect to eachother. The plot progression is just gorgeous in its slow and steady pacing and doesn't rely on overly exaggerated drama or cheap thrills in order to reach a climax.

One could call it a mystery focused on a missing girl or the story of an eccentric taxi driver or even a crime story, but none of these captures what the show's really about, they're simply narrative vectors through which one could simplistically describe the plot on the surface level.

A world of colourful characters interacting with their various stories, goals and conflicts whose roles are all connected to this grand plot that unfolds as one progresses though each passing episode. 

The show is extremely dialogue-heavy with dialogues that are well written and carefully crafted, remeniscent to works of my personal favourite Movie Director, Quentin Tarantino. 

The dialogues, the character interactions, the plot reveals and progression, everything in this show is amazingly well written and it's astoundingly clear how much effort and professionalism put into the creation of this gem.

It is a mature story with a seemingly unclimactic tone in its storytelling, and with that most of the events that occur might seem irrelevant, but if you move further into the show, you'll realize that those events and simple meetups between characters only lead up to the more intense part of the story. The anime was able to completely captivate and interest me without even trying most times and genuinely shock me in its plot reveals especially at the end, which was a perfect ending and payoff for a mystery show of its nature.

The anime was one hell of an experience from start to finish with a well executed sophisticated and mature atmosphere that makes it extremely relaxing and worth the wait every week.

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I'm not gonna be a hypocrite and say I was captivated from the start tho, even I wasn't seeing anything special in the show at first to put it on the same level with the hype shows of the Spring season. That was until I encountered the 4th Episode titled "Tanaka's Revolution". This episode changed my entire orientation of the show by doing something truly amazing. It sweved from the main events to tell the story of a Black Cat named Tanaka whom beforehand hadn't even been introduced as a character at all. You get to see the development and motivations of a character you don't even know but only get a clear picture at the end of the episode as to why it was being told in the first place and how it connects to the main events. It was crazy how this little diversion spun the wheel of most of the climactic events that unfolded thereafter. I could honestly call Odd Taxi Episode 4 one of the single best episodes of anime this year.

Aside from Tanaka, the other characters in the show were also astoundingly well written, being introduced in ordinary and coincidental events that end up being surprisingly extremely plot-relevant in the progression of the show. It's like these events are dots that connect more and more as the episodes drop and the plot moves further. 

A well grounded plot with no holes or loose ends presented in such a mature and fulfilling way, you actually forget these characters are animals or don't put it into consideration at all.

Another thing I shouldn't forget to mention is how great the Opening Track is. It's a slow amazing track that warms up to you the further you get into it, a lot similar to the anime itself. It further enhances the already great experience of every episode, knowing it starts with that much of a soothing track.

All in All, Odd Taxi was a Fantastic Show and one I'd recommend for anyone willing to watch something great with an open mind.

And with everything I've said it's clear that my opinion of it is that it deserves more recognition, it deserves more praise and it certainly deserves more validation from the anime community as the Masterpiece that it is.

This may not be the kind of show that gets recognized as a typical candidate for Anime of The Year on The Crunchyroll Awards, but it's fine, because it's certainly one I see more fitting of prestigious awards like the Emmy's. That's just to show you all how much I think of this show based on its writting and execution.

i've pretty much said all there is to say about Odd Taxi. 

This post was pretty much inspired by two of my favourite Anime YouTubers of all time, Gigguk and Mother's Basement  who both released beautiful videos about Odd Taxi yesterday, which really made me appreciate the anime more than I did previously.

So I'd advise everyone who hasn't to go check out Odd Taxi, and if this post hasn't convinced you how great it is, go check out the YouTube videos about it from the Anitubers I mentioned. 

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And I'll see you all Next Time!.