Hello everyone, and welcome back to the site. Today I am both eager and nervous to return to ODDTAXI, a show which has so far proven itself to be exceptional beyond any reasonable expectation, and elevated by some of the best dialogue in recent memory. It’s such a smart, deftly executed show that it’s frankly a little intimidating, but that’s a feeling to be embraced – within art, it is the works that genuinely surprise you which expand your horizons, and broaden your understanding of what art can be.

So far, I’ve been learning that art can be Kemono Friends and Twin Peaks at the same time, and also that the two might not have possessed that much separation in the first place. ODDTAXI’s disarming character designs are doing their best to keep things light, but there is darkness seeping in through every seam of this narrative, be it the conventional malaise of adult disappointment, or the sharp prick of a gun in your back. Odokawa has largely remained on the periphery of this narrative’s central mystery, but with the presumed killer in his backseat and Shirakawa awaiting his return, he may end up involved in spite of himself. Whatever comes, I’m sure it’ll be executed with the same confidence of storytelling, maturity of perspective, and distinctiveness of voice that all make this show special. Let’s return to ODDTAXI!

Episode 3

“Beware of Borrowed Plumes.” After the first, establishing title, each subsequent title has offered its own quiet mystery, a context-bereft question to be answered over the episode to come

I love this OP so much. The swaying idols matched up to the “ooh-oohs” feels like a conscious contradiction; the singer sounds tired, and the idols are moving at an exaggerated slow pace, emphasizing how all of this is a daily grind. But at the same time, there’s a beauty in this slow synchronization; it feels like a microcosm of the whole show’s attitude towards life, building into this OP’s larger argument that in spite of our differences, we are united by our collective struggle, and our desperation to find validation and catharsis in the disconnected modern world

Odokawa’s struggles through this OP are particularly representative of the mundane thousand cuts of daily living. While everyone else exercises their chosen form of validation, Odokawa calls out for a cat who walks away, and struggles to reach the bird poop on his windshield

Shirakawa’s graceful silhouetted spin in this OP is also the closest she’s gotten so far to truly embodying Lynch’s femme fatale archetype. A good dance is a big part of it!

Once again, Kakihana’s at the sauna, drooling over dating profiles

A tapir with what look like yakuza tattoos sits down, and unloads a bunch of info about the investigation. Apparently, the investigation was dropped after they received a message from the girl herself second hand – but this tapir wants Kakihana to investigate, claiming that he is the reason she left, and that she is “Don-chan’s daughter”

If all of that information can be believed, the clear implication here is that the girl is the daughter of a yakuza boss, and fled her family. Taking a cab ride from Odokawa, he likely learned about her story, and thus offered to let her stay in his closet. The pieces all fit neatly together – so neatly that I can’t imagine this is the whole story

Oh my god, the tapir was on the phone the whole time. That mission was actually being relayed to the monkey with the gun

Love this gag of framing as we replay the scene, with all of Kakihana’s responses now out of focus in the background

Odokawa clearly already knows this monkey quite well, as well as the corruption in the police, raising natural questions about his own history. This is how you effectively construct a mystery: rather than simply declaring that there is hidden information, give us a reason to care about that information, and then provoke us to ask our own questions. The mysteries of Odokawa’s past are meaningful because we know and care about Odokawa, making it natural to wonder how he became this way, and how he gained all these strange associates. And even though ODDTAXI itself opened with the mysterious punch of that dropped duffle bag, it hasn’t relied on that mystery to propel itself; each scene is its own dramatic reward, slowly building towards something larger

The monkey Dobu wants Odokawa to tell him if anyone else asks for the dashcam footage. In response, Odokawa coolly activates his cab’s SOS signal

“Without some information, I don’t know what I’m not supposed to tell whom.” Odokawa is demonstrating remarkable confidence in this high-stakes conversation, implying he’s been through similar things before

If anything, it’s Dobu who seems a little out of his depth here. After a little pushing from Odokawa, he’s letting himself become the one interviewed, revealing major details about the case and his own involvement

“Apparently you’ve been talking to someone in your apartment.” Dobu can’t help himself! Now Odokawa knows his house is under surveillance as well

Dobu claims the likeliest suspect is Yano, one of his juniors, and the porcupine from the OP

Dobu says his work is about “obligation and principle” rather than money. He seems to see himself as an old school yakuza, in contrast to Yano’s purely earnings-focused style. Even in the yakuza, there’s a sense of generational disconnect

After plugging him for every bit of information he has, Odokawa at last announces he’s not going to help, calling Dobu’s bluff. Held at gunpoint, Odokawa managed to make himself the obvious victor of this interrogation, and gave Dobu nothing. Goddamn, Odokawa!

I’m not sure I’ve seen an anime capture the specific terror of being pulled over by a cop quite so well. Obscuring the cop’s face is obviously important for the “which brother is it” mystery, but also heightens the sense of the police as an anonymous organism creeping towards you

Unfortunately for Odokawa, it’s the dirty cop, so he offers no help

The dirty cop seems to have his own demons. We receive brief flashes of a car crash, perhaps illustrating the death of their parents. Does he feel guilty for misleading his brother, and not being a proper replacement guardian?

“That was a big risk you pulled. Aren’t you afraid to die?” “I don’t care if I die.” “Someone who’s not afraid to die doesn’t need your weird sense of justice.” I think that’s the first point Dobu’s scored this whole conversation

Dobu wonders what motivates Odokawa, accidentally stumbling over a key problem. Odokawa does have a sense of justice, and will go out of his way for others, but he has demonstrated no passion or goals of his own. He’s just going through the motions, driving his taxi to keep the lights on. He knows he must keep living, but at the moment there’s not much he’s living for

Well, shit. Dobu finds the one thing he genuinely wants to protect: Shirakawa. Devastating cut to her sadly waiting at the park bench. Finish up your interrogation quickly, Dobu!

More great backgrounds for Dobu’s exit. The solid colors, rough texture effects, and uneven edges make ODDTAXI’s backgrounds feel almost like cut paper collages

Given Dobu buries the gun in the park when he’s done with it, it seems fair to assume the gun is real. Guns are regulated with extreme vigilance in Japan, and it’s generally not possible for a civilian to get their hands on one, meaning a single gun can make for a crucial dramatic variable (like in Kurosawa’s Stray Dog). A point of potential disconnect for American viewers, in a country that has more guns than people

Odokawa books it to the meeting point. Go for it, Odokawa!

The pre-dawn light casts a portentous, hopeful shroud over their meeting. Perhaps these two at least can overcome the malaise and loneliness of modern living

Shirakawa has a whole speech prepared about the existential anxiety of watching a time-lapse environmental video, which Odokawa rightfully identifies as a snipe about how late he is. The two are so cute together; they’re each pretty strange, but they’re quite comfortable with each other’s eccentricity

Oh, I love this. Rather than Odokawa resorting to one of those canned “I don’t want to see you anymore” lies in order to protect Shirakawa, he frankly states why it might be dangerous to hang out with him, letting Shirakawa make her own decisions. And again, that’s probably what she likes most about him: he is always honest to himself

Ah, I see. Shirakawa is actually showing off her capoeira moves in the OP

“Use a synonym that’s easier to understand.” Their bickering is incredibly adorable. This writer understands idiosyncratic conversation, but also the fundamentals of chemistry that make it a joy to watch two characters squabble

“What do you gain from meeting with me, Shirakawa-san?” Odokawa likes Shirakawa a great deal, but he doesn’t seem to like himself much at all. He can’t see why someone would risk their life to spend time with him

And only someone as frank and interested as Shirakawa could hope to reach him. He’s constructed some pretty high walls around himself

The donkey member of Homosapiens’ new special is broadcasting at the bar. Oh god, it’s one of those desperate “man on the street harasses you with questions” programs. Well, we’ve all gotta make a living

Kakihana of course razzes Odokawa about the meeting. “Has your affection for Shirakawa grown?” “It’s the size of Jupiter now.” God I love those two, please let them have a happy ending somehow

“I was pretty popular in high school, but once you’re an adult, people have high standards regarding your appearance or work performance.” Unsurprisingly, Kakihana retreats from the possibility that his personality or attitude are the problem, instead embracing the more flattering idea that everyone else is just too mercenary in their approach to love

Thank you, Odokawa. After Kakihana reveals his crush, Odokawa immediately says “she’s just a little girl.” Kakihana isn’t interested in an adult woman; he wants someone who will be impressed by him purely because he’s an adult at all

Odokawa rightly suspects that Kakihana is just being manipulated for cash

“These specs you lied about way outshine any kind of feeling.” “I know. But still, I want to dream.” It’s so sad! Both sides of this “relationship” are presumably lying to manipulate the other, but both of them also likely hide genuinely lonely people. And the dating service that connected them is also the vector for these lies, the reason they don’t genuinely know each other – but if not for that service, they’d never have connected at all. It’s all just a convoluted mess, as we attempt to use inorganic systems designed to promote specific kinds of self-lies in order to connect with others, turning our every interaction into an insincere promotional opportunity. We have no communal real life society anymore, and our new tools of alleged human connection frequently just isolate us even more

It makes sense, then, that ODDTAXI’s drama is mostly confined to the few places where we’re still forced to actually engage with other human beings, in potentially awkward, unmediated ways. The taxi cab, the local bar, the sauna, the doctor’s office; in a world as compartmentalized as this, these are our only remaining points of non-digital connection

Oh shit, she actually wants to meet up! Meanwhile, the doctor Goriki has disappeared, so Shirakawa calls up Odokawa for advice

Shiho actually does meet him, but it seems to be some ploy directed at her managerial staff. Mysteries upon mysteries!

And Done

Dear lord this show is a full meal. See, I told you I was anxious – I ended up writing an extra page and a half or so, and I still feel like I only scratched the surface of everything going on here. Courtesy of the loud-mouthed Nobu, we ended up receiving a great deal of information about the girl’s disappearance, but that information mostly just expanded the mystery’s scale. Meanwhile, it seems like Kakihana is getting himself involved in some entirely separate ugly business, haplessly stumbling into the harsh world of idol drama.

And between those two dangling mystery threads, this episode offered even more of its rich and rewarding conversations, celebrating the charming bond of Odokawa and Shirakawa, and once more underlining its thematic melancholy with Odokawa’s later talk at the bar. ODDTAXI is showing no signs of unsteadiness or decline, and is instead demonstrating how when you build your drama out of sturdy, multifaceted characters, each new episode only amplifies their humanity, and our investment in them in turn. I already love this cast, and I can’t wait to see where the story takes them next!

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