Odd Taxi Episode 5 – Never Enough Money

Originally my goal with these posts was to catch up to the broadcast of this series, but I’m under the impression that I might not be capable of doing so before it finishes up. Timeliness has never really been my strong suit, so c’est la vie, I suppose. Despite my deep urge to watch ahead of my reviews and catch up with all the episodes of what’s turning out to be an extremely compelling series, I think the task of sitting down with each episode and examining it has been helpful for me to really take in all the details of what’s happening. There have been so many call-backs to previous episodes so far and so many seemingly random events that end up being connected to one-another that typing them out (in a form that I hope is slightly better than glorified notes) has helped me in my quest to keep track of everything.

I hope folks have been having a good time reading my episode analyses; no one’s really said anything, so I’m going to continue to forge ahead and assume the best. If you’re interested in catching-up with what I’ve had to say so far, be sure to check out my previous entries linked below:

Episode 1
Episode 2
Episode 3
Episode 4

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Episode 5 of Odd Taxi continues to build on the character relationships and connections from the previous episodes in ways that are both amusing and unsettling. This series seems to have a knack for sensing when it’s a good time to follow-up on loose threads. Just when I’m thinking to myself “hmm, I wonder what’s happening with so-and-so’s story,” they end up making an appearance. And then, of course, complicating matters even further.

Once again this episode references a few moments from previous episodes, providing some more context to all the little actions happening at the same time and letting us fill in the blanks. Earlier on in the series there’s a scene in which Odokawa spots Shirakawa talking with Dobu in an alley. Dobu confirms Odokawa’s suspicions about her theft of medication from Goriki’s clinic, but also emphasizes that Shirakawa’s interest in Odokawa is completely independent from any duty she may have to Dobu to pay back her debts.

It doesn’t surprise me that Odokawa still has questions about Shirakawa’s motivations as far as they relate to him. Odokawa seems to have inherent issues with trusting people, beyond the sort of healthy skepticism all of us need to cultivate as denizens of the internet-suffused world. There’s still a lot we don’t know about him, too; we’ve seen him get involved in several of the plot threads, but his background and private life are still a bit of a mystery. I feel like that’s the next bit of information I’m getting hungry for – when will we see him alone and learn more about him outside of his sort of snide conversations with his passengers? To put it bluntly, just what is his deal?

Most of the remainder of this episode is taken up with filling in the aforementioned blanks in the various goings-on. After leaving off on a bit of a sinister note in episode 3, Kakihana’s date with Shiho in a fancy restaurant he clearly can’t afford is going about as well as one might expect (which is to say, it’s exceedingly awkward and he’s clearly in over his head). His ability to play the part of an upper-class businessman is lacking, to say the least. His ability to afford the expensive meal is also questionable; he’s not the wealthy playboy he pretends to be on dating sites, and his cash on hand appears to be the product of a short term loan. I don’t know about you, but every anime I’ve ever seen in which characters utilize loan sharks are pretty clear in their messaging – don’t do it. Anime is absolutely not a direct window into the nuances of Japanese culture, but I think it’s a fairly universal fact that taking out predatory short-term loans, no matter the source, is trouble waiting to happen.

As the story continues to unfold, it seems like so many characters are limited by their unhealthy relationships with money and the pursuit of wealth. Tanaka is haunted by the ghosts of a childhood that could not escape being defined by lack of access to certain consumer goods, in spite of his teacher’s attempts to equalize the standing of everyone in his elementary school class. The consequence being that he blames Odokawa – someone who who had a negative impact in his life simply by chance – for his own inability to address the persistent emptiness in his own heart. Shirakawa’s debts have turned her to thievery, and now Goriki is closing his clinic to save face. Kakihana’s desire for love has set him off down a path to potential financial ruin, and I can only imagine what the upcoming fallout will be from that. The pursuit of money and status becomes an all-consuming illness, making people commit acts that they likely never would if they could live their lives without worrying about just how they were going to address their basic need to feed and house themselves.

The one person who seems to be doing okay with money for the moment is Imai, whose irresponsible lottery streak remarkably seems to have paid off. I literally cannot imagine that this turn of events is as cut-and-dry as it may seem; there are many series that seem headed for clean-cut, happy endings and this definitely isn’t one of them. I keep thinking back to the second episode, where we learn more about Mystery Kiss, as well as Imai’s self-proclaimed status as their number-one fan. If I recall correctly, his impetus for playing the lottery is so he’ll be able to have enough money to have Nikaidou, Mystery Kiss’s lead singer, to himself. Definitely not the kind of statement from someone who respects the autonomy of individual people, celebrity or not! Seriously, though, while Imai seems like kind of a funny guy the few times we’ve encountered him so far, I really wonder if his attitude is about to take a turn now that he thinks he can buy out access to his favorite idol. There are sick people out there who think that relationships are transactional – “I buy or do this thing for you, and in return you “owe” me what I want from you.” Idol culture in particular can sometimes muddy these lines, when all it takes for a hand shake and photo op is the price of admission. The level of access the public is allowed to have can definitely lead to some dangerous situations.

While I won’t go so far as to claim that money “won’t buy happiness,” (in fact, I think having enough money to actually get by would be a source of extreme relief for a lot of people right now), it definitely has the power to make people’s lives measurably worse, especially when they sacrifice their ethics in pursuit of it.

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There are several other happenings and incidents this episode to file away and keep track of for the future. Once again, this series seems to be fairly deft at answering the right questions at the right time, while also leading each of its ongoing threads along at the perfect pace to keep things interesting. And also frustrating, because sometimes it can be difficult to wait between episodes!

Firstly, we learn that Yamamoto, Mystery Kiss’s manager, is the person looking to obtain Odokawa’s camera footage. He seems awfully interested in the fact that Odokawa may have dropped off a particular girl at a particular place at a particular time, to the point that he tries to manipulate the entire string of footage from him. This information is, of course, very interesting to Dobu, to whom Odokawa dutifully reports (sort-of). Yamamoto seems like a bit more of an underworld character than his manager persona may suggest. This is anecdotal knowledge and so I don’t know how true it actually is, but I’ve heard that at least at some point, the Japanese Yakuza had something of a hand in the entertainment industry. So I suppose it wouldn’t surprise me if Yamamoto was more than just the promoter he might seem to be on the surface.

The second notable “issue” I suppose I’ll call it is that Tanaka, who as we know is out for Odokawa’s head, now knows the location of Odokawa’s home thanks to a tracking device planted there by Mitsuya during her ride to the dance studio. This bit of information opens up an entire other universe of questions, the most pressing of which is regarding how Mitsuya and Tanaka might be connected. I’m to the point where I don’t even really want to speculate about the specifics, mostly because I think it’s pretty fruitless and my chance of being completely incorrect is pretty high. I trust the show to tell me exactly what it’s going to tell me when it wants to tell it to me. I can wait (maybe…).

The final item of note is, of course, Kabasawa’s absolutely cringe-worthy video calling out Dobu – if you’ll recall, the “viral photo” he took in Odokawa’s cab way back in episode 1 happened to feature Dobu in the background simply by chance. Continually chasing fame, it looks as though Kabasawa has now finally found it, with 10 million views and counting on this call-out screed. That’s great and all, but one thing he doesn’t seem to understand is the price that comes along with going viral. I watched a fairly interesting video recently made by Abby Cox, a YouTube personality I enjoy (she deals in historical clothing, which is a side interest of mine). She talks about her experience going viral (relative to her normal amount of views) and the fallout from that. She mentioned several of the negatives I wouldn’t have considered, even though I’ve definitely been in some internet situations where I’ve gotten more negative attention than I’m comfortable with. Add on to that the fact that Kabasawa is literally picking a public fight with a criminal and, well, I don’t see how this is going to end well at all.

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I’m going to try to pick up the pace a little bit on these episode reviews in the next couple of weeks; even though I may not be able to catch all the way up the way I had hoped to, if I work at it I might be able to post on the final episode in relatively real time. I’ll cross my fingers!

Thanks, as always, for reading!