Everyone knows Robert De Niro’s iconic performance as the titular “taxi driver” in Martin Scorsese’s 1976 classic. But what if De Niro’s disaffected working man was also an animated walrus who spoke Japanese? This idea only just scratches the surface of Kazuya Konomoto’s expertly deadpan and deceptively brilliant anime series ODDTAXI (based on his manga of the same name).
All you have to do is picture yourself in contemporary Tokyo. The girl you have a crush on is an alpaca, your doctor is a gorilla, and the washed-up guy you go out drinking with is a white gibbon. One of your customers is a Gen-Z hippopotamus vying for social-media fame, another is a skunk who’s a self-professed J-pop fanatic, and the cops pulling you over for speeding are – why not? – meerkats who also happen to be identical twins.
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Does it sound a bit like Bojack Horseman? Well…besides the element of anthropomorphic animals, the two programs could not be more different. What sets this show apart from others, besides its detailed characterizations and incredible voice acting, is that it is an unexpectedly good and modern murder mystery. Not an overly violent or spectacular murder mystery, but one rooted in a surprisingly down-to-earth reality. For all the show’s conceptual outrageousness and frequent absurdities, its many animal characters are all surprisingly human, and it might shock you how much you are reminded of yourself and your own insecurities.
Why Should You Watch ODDTAXI?
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Some unfairly pre-judge the genre of anime (and even animation in general). Many assume that anime means a collection of potentially off-putting tropes and clichés – the big eyes, the high-pitched voices, et cetera. One would be correct in saying that much of anime includes or relies somewhat on these trends; what many don’t realize, however, is that these clichés do not define the genre as a whole, and there are many intelligent, excellent anime movies and series. The best pieces of entertainment all bring something unique to the table, even if some components feel familiar.
The reason we would recommend ODDTAXI, in particular, is that it breaks from so many of these trends and therefore makes a great starting point for any anime outsider, if only to prove the kinds of things the genre is capable of doing. The character of Odokawa (our walrus taxi driver) is the kind of protagonist the likes of which has rarely been seen in popular animation in general, let alone anime. He is effectively non-expressive, communicating everything through monotone, which makes him a strange choice for our window into this world. And yet, the writing of the dialogue is so dense, and Odokawa’s delivery so perfectly deadpan (the voice actor is the incredible Natsuki Hanae), that one cannot help but be sucked into his perspective.
Odokawa seems to embody the somewhat millennial idea of being “over it,” as it were; he is surrounded by people (well, animals actually) who are vying for increased status, trying to become Insta-famous, or turning to crime out of desperation. He often seems to be rolling his eyes internally – at the vapidness, the disingenuousness, and the opportunism present in modern society. In this way, he is somewhat on a continuum with Taxi Driver’s aforementioned Travis Bickle; Odokawa is just less psychotic than Bickle, and as aforementioned, he’s also a walrus.
A character like Odokawa who spends the vast majority of his time silently observing others must have something going on internally, and – vague spoiler alert – it turns out he does. Odokawa is more the disheveled anime walrus counterpart to Mad Men’s Don Draper, a man with an uncertain past who remains an enigma to all those who encounter him, so the mystery does not simply describe the whodunit-ness of the murder/disappearance plot. There is also an air of mystery to the characters themselves, which makes the show transcend its sitcom trappings and become something more than the show’s apparent gimmick would suggest. It is a rich, if not terribly intense, slice-of-life experience that is full of surprises that are funny, disturbing, and moving.
Who Will Enjoy ODDTAXI?
ODDTAXI will especially satisfy those with a penchant for the movies of Quentin Tarantino, Jim Jarmusch, or even the Safdie Brothers, or older deadpan shows like Flight of the Conchords or The Life and Times of Tim. The show’s approach to naturalistic dialogue very much evokes certain aspects of these works.
The program also does bring one particular film to mind, and that would be Jarmusch’s Night on Earth, an anthology film featuring stories about five different taxi drivers and their passengers in five different cities across the world. The difference here is that ODDTAXI is a continuous story, not an anthology format, but the two pieces are similar in their uses of silence, awkwardness between characters, and the idea that the energy changes depending on who is in the taxi.
Kids, Subs, and Dubs
With English-speaking viewers of anime, there is always the question of whether you should watch with the English audio dub or in Japanese with English subtitles. The truth is that the versions with the original audio are much closer to the creators’ original intentions, so we would say, with ODDTAXI and in general, that subtitles are almost always the best way to go, unless you’re watching with young kids.
Speaking of which while this particular show has some mature themes and violent moments, it is still fairly safe for kids, especially in comparison to other popular anime. We would give it the equivalent of a PG-13 rating, but some kids might find it moves more slowly than most cartoons.
Which Animal Are You?
Are you the idealistic capoeira-practicing alpaca nurse? Or are you the sensitive kangaroo bartender? Maybe you’re the struggling wild-boar comedian. Or maybe you are his far more successful horse partner. Do you fancy yourself an intimidating baboon gangster? Or are you maybe just a mobile-game-addicted puma who is rapidly descending into an all-consuming psychosis? You know what? I know who you are. You’re the porcupine who speaks exclusively in rapping verse.
The only way to know for sure is to check it out. ODDTAXI is available on the streaming service Crunchyroll, both with English subtitles and in the English dub.
