My sibling-in-law and their husband are big film buffs who we’re always trying to get to watch anime. Sometimes it seems as though my husband and I belong to a different world, where we’re constantly talking about the latest, greatest anime yet don’t have the time to watch much Western media, while his sibling is in the exact opposite boat. Recently we went out to eat with them and Odd Taxi came up in conversation as an anime series we thought they’d like, and it’s one of the few cases where I feel like, once the show is done, I might insist on it. As much as I like anime in general, it often feels as though it plays a little fast and loose with stories. How to explain… it’s like sometimes the choices made in adaptation (since so many anime stories are adapted from other media) make the storytelling feel less intentional than it might otherwise. Odd Taxi feels like a story that works well as an anime-first production, for reasons that I suspect are starting to become more obvious… It’s because of that that I think I could probably convince someone who isn’t normally into general anime fandom to watch (and maybe even like) it.
My previous write-ups are linked below as usual. Even if you’ve just stopped by after searching for information on a specific episode, I hope you might feel like sticking around a little bit longer to see what I’ve had to say!
Episode 1
Episode 2
Episode 3
Episode 4
Episode 5
Episode 6
Episode 7
What does it mean to really know someone? I have to be honest, I sometimes look at the friends I’ve had for years, and in many of those cases I feel as though I just don’t actually know them that well. Part of it is probably on me, because I tend to keep people at arm’s length out of an abundance of caution and a sense of self-preservation. But relationships are two-way streets and I think there are very few people in the world who look to me as someone they’re willing to be real with. This isn’t an indictment of anyone, just simply an observation of how rare the intimacy of close friendship really is.
Throughout this series, Odokawa has seemed able to perceive the essence of other characters much more completely than one might expect. In a previous episode, this was jokingly referred to seeing their “aura,” but whatever this ability is called, it’s allowed Odokawa to keep track of everyone, to pick them out of a crowd… it’s a great ability to have when you work in the type of job where you interact with people all the time. But it begs the question – what sort of brain function makes certain people so good at remembering faces?
Goriki and Shirakawa start to ponder this question, and Goriki may be on to something. I’ve mentioned a couple of times that the internet fandom for this series has been preoccupied with the theory that the animal characters may be a function of Odokawa’s perception; that he sees other people as animals when they’re actually not. As our POV character, we see things through his eyes, but he might just be an “unreliable narrator,” to say the least. Goriki suspects synesthesia, a mental state in which different senses are sometimes coupled together and which often seems to express itself in folks with especially high intelligence. Whether this is the answer or not remains to be confirmed, but it’s an intriguing hypothesis that adds even more layers onto an already very interesting character.
Speaking of being interesting, Odokawa spends this episode putting his own plans in motion and generally taking a more active role in the narrative. I think up to this point he’s seemed like the type of person who things happen to; in so many circumstances his situation seems to be the result of bad (or at least very weird) luck and fateful meetings with folks who happen to be connected to one-another. I think that the narrative banks on this misperception of his character; when we think of taxi drivers, we probably picture the kind of grumpy middle-aged men that seems to be Odokawa’s preferred vibe. I think many folks might also perceive the work as being lower-class; unfortunately that’s kind of a common line of thinking regarding service jobs. Yet, I think it’s also easy to underestimate the amount of information Odokawa has been able to gather as someone who’s fundamentally underestimated. People tend to spill the beans in the back seat of a cab, after all.
Even so, there’s something sort of shocking about Odokawa recording Dobu’s plans and photographing him. I think it’s just so brazen; after the amount of violence we’ve seen certain characters suffer we already know that the danger and the consequences can get very real very quickly. I still have questions about his ultimate goals, because he’s very invested in this situation that at this point seems to not directly involve him. Yet there’ve been so many misdirects throughout this series that I’m not quite sure what to believe anymore. Right now I feel like I’m at the mercy of the narrative, and to be honest that’s not a bad place to be!
As usual, I’ve had some observations that I’ve made note of, though they’re mostly just things I’m filing away until they seem immediately important.
We learn a little bit more about Odokawa’s childhood, at least in brief. I’m not sure if I thought that previous mentions of his parents just “walking off” seemed like oversimplifying a situation, but that fact is stressed again here. From sometime in his childhood onward it sounds like he’s been mostly by himself, acting as if he’s okay with being a loner. I can only speculate on the truth of that; I think people tend to talk big even (or especially) when they’re hurting inside. But this does lead into more speculation about whether or not he’s actually talking to anyone when he’s alone in his apartment. Is it an imaginary friend born from his loneliness? Or something more sinister?
Shiho attempts to disengage from Yano’s illicit moneymaking ventures, and in the process confronts a very beat-up Kakihana. His disbelief in the reality of his situation hearkens back to what I mentioned earlier about the sort of love scams that originate on social media. Even when confronted with the truth – that the person they’ve been funneling money (and their feelings) toward are not actually “real” – the denial is so thick you could cut it with a knife. I think it’s just human nature sometime to push back against facts (something something US politics), but even knowing that it’s difficult to watch someone experience it.
We also get a fun moment in Taeko’s izakaya, where Goriki tests out his synesthesia theory on Odokawa. We’re getting to the point where so much of what’s happening just isn’t light-hearted (not that it has to be), so this is a nice reprieve before some darker plot threads.
Perhaps the most striking moment in this episode for me was Odokawa’s conversation with Imai regarding his lottery winnings. Not only did he warn him off of collecting his money, for his safety he told him to take the information off of the internet (thank you!). All perfectly logical and in line with what I’d expect someone to do. Of course, during the conversation he also makes the connection between Shiho, who he’s had in his cab a couple of times now, and the girl that Kakihana had been meeting with. This revelation is one of the few times we’ve seen Odokawa get emotional – as soon as the gears start turning and he reviews all the various connections in his mind he realizes why Kakihana has been out of contact for a week. I can only imagine what the subsequent aftermath of this might look like (I suppose I’ll just have to go ahead and watch the next episode!).
It took a moment for it to register, but it seemed like the OP theme for this episode was shorter and the imagery in a weird order. I might go back to take a look… anyway, this series’ many mysteries and happenings continue to make for a compelling experience. I think I probably will go right ahead and watch the next episode just so I can go back and purposely seek out some of the online discussions about the series. In any case, see you next time!