(CR) Odd Taxi

[Ghostfriendly]

Took me a while to watch this, and it's already been said that this was excellent, but it was. The marvellous deadpan quality of animal faces, which made Shirokuma Cafe so much fun, was effectively deployed in a sharp, well-plotted Neo-Noir. Well-plotted in terms of drama, suspense and style over substance, with more circumstance than psychology and happenstance than liklihood, but style over substance is the whole idea of Noir; atmosphere, and striking characters unmoved amid chaos and corruption.

Shirokawa, for example, wonderful as she is, would have been a brilliant character if the series had shown how she developed from a helpless domestic abuse victim to a martial arts superheroine. Or, perhaps even better, how both such aspects can coexist in a single character, which is NOT what the show does by shoving two female archetypes of the Noir damsel and action girl together, unintegrated, and bringing out both as the plot demands. It was also much more due to demands of the plot, rather than the realism that female characters deserve for the sake of real women, that Shirakawa conveniently turned up in that deserted construction site to rescue Odokawa. Or got a guy as big as that through his broken car window in one piece; with an injured leg, I've no doubt she needed rescuing herself by the many bystanders, when they got to the surface.

There's no reason that female characters should have to settle for this level of construction, but no reason either to condemn something better than 50% of anime. Or one of the strongest, cutest, most appealing and most inspiring heroines of the year. Min Hye Jin from Hellbound had a better constructed character arc, but Shirakawa had fresher, funnier dialogue, I freely admit, and and a great chemistry with Odokawa. Not necessarily romantic, but of two wounded, warm-hearted humans in a cold world. As for her personal arc, while contrivance is an abomination when used to degrade woman, as in trash like Goblin Slayer and Shield Hero, it is very acceptable when it is used to uplift them.

Another dichotomy is the schizophrenic view of the Yakuza presented in the series, with the chivalrous oyabun (literally foster parent) doling out charity to orphans, while insulated from the truly vile crimes committed by his subordinates (Super-cool and cute as Yano is, his treatment of Kakihana was visibly sadistic, while Dobu was a domestic-violence scumbag). The chivalrous image cultivated by the Yakuza isn't entirely false, in fact, but essentially false in nature, since it is indeed an image contrived to protect an organisation whose purpose is enriching its bosses rather than aiding orphans. So, the show's portrayal of the Yakuza is undeservedly positive (not that making anti-Yakuza productions is necessarily safe), and Odokawa had no reason except very foolish (though not unrealistic) machismo to donate his reward to the boss.

Boss tapir certainly gets some money and a corrupt cop back from his charity, but would realistically, like Gus Fring from Better Call Saul, make absolutely sure that he got his money back. If I'm not very much mistaken, Big Daimon showed the same machismo and misplaced gratitude in going crooked to pay the boss back, also unnecessarily. He may have only turned a blind eye over minor issues to start off with, but it's the nature of police corruption to get deeper and deeper; especially working with someone like Dobu, who we can imagine progressively corrupting Daimon as he corrupted Shirakawa and the Dodo cat; Dobu really did deserve that bullet. It isn't a criticism of the series that Odokawa and Big Daimon act senseless, since people are continually convincing themselves of reasons to act senselessly; just important to note.

Offhanded satire of the idol industry was very sharp; the fanboy is entirely cheered up over the death and replacement of his favourite idol by the prospect of becoming a prison groupie, with an implication that the idol industry is already a prison. As with real prison groupies, a sense of control over the imprisoned desire-object, as well as reflected fame, are the real turn-ons. Imai is far from a bad or badly-adjusted, though, putting the blame squarely on the industry itself.

The Manzai-duo's story could have carried the series by itself. Fresh, quirky dialogue and an intricate plot-for-plots sake made every episode a joy; this is the first 8/10 I've given in ages.

[Yu Ominae]

Crunchyroll is streaming this FYI to the mods.

[Last Sinner]

Originally Posted by Ghostfriendly

Took me a while to watch this, and it's already been said that this was excellent, but it was.

You have and that's all that matters.

There's no reason that female characters should have to settle for this level of construction, but no reason either to condemn something better than 50% of anime. Or one of the strongest, cutest, most appealing and most inspiring heroines of the year. Min Hye Jin from Hellbound had a better constructed character arc, but Shirakawa had fresher, funnier dialogue, I freely admit, and and a great chemistry with Odokawa. Not necessarily romantic, but of two wounded, warm-hearted humans in a cold world. As for her personal arc, while contrivance is an abomination when used to degrade woman, as in trash like Goblin Slayer and Shield Hero, it is very acceptable when it is used to uplift them.

It is a minor gripe I have with this title. In all honesty, Shirakawa did lack significant development yet dodo boy gets a full episode. 2021 was the first year in a VERY long time where I could not list one female character I strongly want to remember/say was great. Then again, 2021 is the first in many years where I could actually list a male at all (Odokawa).

So, the show's portrayal of the Yakuza is undeservedly positive (not that making anti-Yakuza productions is necessarily safe), and Odokawa had no reason except very foolish (though not unrealistic) machismo to donate his reward to the boss.

In hindsight after certain documentaries, there was a purpose for them ~60 years ago. Japan's police force at the time was incredibly inept (and somewhat still is). They were a necessity to a degree (not excusing things they do beyond the law). The ones of today resort to worse. That was the purpose of the tapir. He still had a code of some sort. The new gen did not.

Offhanded satire of the idol industry was very sharp

And very welcome, given the realities of that industry.

[SeijiSensei]

Yes. I doubt there will be any other sequel since the conceit is gone.

[Yu Ominae]

The full music of "My Name is" by Yano is now online.

[Ghostfriendly]

Originally Posted by Last Sinner

It is a minor gripe I have with this title. In all honesty, Shirakawa did lack significant development yet dodo boy gets a full episode. 2021 was the first year in a VERY long time where I could not list one female character I strongly want to remember/say was great. Then again, 2021 is the first in many years where I could actually list a male at all (Odokawa).

Thanks very much for your reply. I suppose the writers felt it more necessary for plot credibility to explain why Dodo cat was driven to murder over a mobile game, than how Shirakawa fell into an abusive relationship, convinced herself she was in love with Odokawa, and undeniably ended up risking life and limb to save him. Rightly or wrongly. Shirakawa's role in the plot also requires her to be a bit mysterious; the 'what' is often prioritised over a detailed 'why' in Noir to keep that plot racing along, again, rightly or wrongly. We do get thoughts from Gouriki and Odakawa on why Shirakawa was trapped in her relationship with Dobu; this kind of development can be more subtle and effective than flashbacks to a traumatic childhood. There's more to her character, and we could have had more, but it was a very serious talk about Stockholm Syndrome for an animated gorilla and walrus to be having.

The Mystery Kiss members get a some more background and flashbacks than others, for a similar reason to Dodo cat. The fox manager doesn't explicitly get a lot of development, but we see him working very hard for the only idol group his company represents, and can guess there was a hard struggle to even get to one. This process may have left him (or required that he be) obsessed with the goal of creating a popular group as an end in itself. Leading him to cover up murder and sell his soul to the Yakuza in a panic, before ending up in prison, rather than reporting the murder and looking for a safer job than show business. Again, this isn't too unbelievable, and an excellent illustration of sunk cost irrational thinking.

[Last Sinner]

I did not think I would see Odd Taxi get nominated for almost every category in the Crunchyroll Anime awards....pleasant surprise.

Voting is open for 7 days and can be done daily.

Ah, to heck with it. If this causes more people to see Odd Taxi if it wins some, I'm voting.

[Last Sinner]

Odd Taxi ended up taking 2 of the awards.

Best Director (Baku Kinoshita)
Best Protagonist (Odokawa)

Given how much shounen it had to go up against (Titan, Demon Slayer, Jujutsu Kaisen), relieved to see it did get awards and the ones it deserved the most.

[Last Sinner]

Movie preview vid. Format seems to be everyone being interviewed regarding Ocotber 4th and then what happens after the final episode.

[Last Sinner]

Pre-orders for plushies of Shirakawa, the taxi, Yano and the bear are now open. Those wishing for a Shirakawa plushie, you got what you wanted.

[Nachtwandler]

Apparently, CR will stream the movie but no date for it yet.

[SeijiSensei]

Many sites give September 8th as the premiere date for this movie, but I can't find it on CR's site. What am I missing?

https://asianmoviepulse.com/2022/09/...tember-movies/

[Nachtwandler]

I watched it on Crunchyroll on 12th.

Here is the direct link: https://beta.crunchyroll.com/watch/GK9U3JG59/

[Guardian Enzo]

According to leaks on tweety, Odd Taxi will have an "announcement" tomorrow.

[Last Sinner]

Originally Posted by Guardian Enzo

According to leaks on tweety, Odd Taxi will have an "announcement" tomorrow.

!

Intriguing. Shall be on the lookout for that.

My other plushies from this finally arrived recently so I now have the trio of Odokawa, Shirakawa and the taxi. Wonder if an English license will ever occur.

[SeijiSensei]

A spinoff manga

https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/new...roject/.195238

[Last Sinner]

That...is vague. Definitely need more details to get an idea of what they want to do with that.

[Guardian Enzo]

You know, the marketing campaign behind the original series was one of the best I’ve ever seen. But since then I think they’ve been too clever for their own good (much like the show could be). They had an unexpected hit on their hands. They do some kind of hybrid recap movie pretty much everyone hated. Now a spinoff manga. Just do a second season. Sometimes simple is better.

[SeijiSensei]

I don't see a separate discussion for the movie, so is it okay to ask here? What the hell happened at the end?

[Nachtwandler]

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

I don't see a separate discussion for the movie, so is it okay to ask here? What the hell happened at the end?

Killer tried to attack MC but he was able to dodge and she got arrested. MC went on a zoo date with Shirakawa and we got some extra scenes as stills during the credits.


As for we comment above. It will be tricky to make a second season considering Odokawa got reed of hios condition. Unless they will just switch the POW to some other peculiar character and keep it secret this is a sequel.

And I don't get why people hate the movie. I found it pretty creative as a recap. Also, they cut the most unnecessary parts of the plot, wraped the last plotline (not the best way but still) and explained better why the heck some characters changed their mind after seeing Odokawas taxi flying into the ocean (that part looked very odd in the series).