discussionsbyalex

[discussionsbyalex]

Odd Taxi: A Strange Breath of Fresh Air

Each season of anime seems to give us tons of new shows to choose from. It seems impossible to keep up with all the new releases and some shows end up being overlooked. I realize when writing this that I am far from the first person to discuss “Odd Taxi”. In fact, I had overlooked this show and was not aware of how good it was until some friends told me to watch it. I had heard many say that it felt like an anime that was directed by Tarantino, nonetheless I went in with expectations of being similar to “BNA” or “Beastars” and found myself being very skeptical at first. 

“Odd Taxi” was better than I expected. It simply blew me away and I ended up watching it all in one sitting. While I can see some stylistic similarites to Tarantino films (mainly the pastiche) I found it in some ways to be close to the style of the Coen brothers(whom directed some of my favorite films). “Odd Taxi” is dialogue heavy. In fact it relies heavily on witty and interesting dialogue. It is fun and unique and never found the dialogue heavy scenes to be too much or dull. 

At the heart “Odd Taxi” shares many similarities with the movie “Taxi Driver”, however each film is unique in it’s own way. “Odd Taxi” follows a taxi driver and his discussions with the people he drives. These discussions contain a variety of topics that range from food to a critique of contemporary interent culture and viral media. It really is satisfying to watch this story unfold as you begin to realize that all these characters are connected in some way as this indifferent driver who just wishes to do his job, involantarily gets dragged into the personal life of these characters and a world of crime, extortion, and corruption. 

It is difficult to write a review or analysis of “Odd Taxi” without spoiling all the twists and turns that make this so entertaining. However, I must say that it is a breath of fresh air and a hidden gem in the sea of contemporary anime. Perhaps my favorite aspect of this anime is how neatly it wraps itself up in the end. Where a lot of current anime seems to leave things open for a second season with prospects of a second season being unclear, “Odd Taxi” stands out as a short, neat, wrapped-up anime with no need for a second season.