Hey, wanna have your mind blown about the final episode? Spoilers obviously. Y'know that scene in the finales midpoint when Odokawa is crashing into the water, and the sight reminds all the various characters of the object of their despair? Tanaka is reminded of his phone dropping into the water, Rui is reminded of Yuki's body being dumped in the river, Kakihana is reminded of the ring he threw into the creek, etc. Every characters response to Odokawa crashing is to be reminded of their despair... except for Sakura's. Sakura isn't reminded of her despair, she's reminded of her mom's cooking, something which brings her joy. She's the only character to be made happy by Odokawa crashing. Which seems odd... until you remember that she wants him dead, because he's a loose end. The show directly showed us Sakura's true personality, and by extension, the fact that she was the killer, in the middle of its emotional climax. It didn't just hide the answer in plain sight, it showed it to you directly, knowing that you'd be too distracted by how emotionally tense the crash scene is to realize it.
the show is constantly waving the answers in people's faces without people realizing it. the cat in the closet in the OP is my favorite because it just straight up answers the question of what's in Odokawa's closet, no ambiguity. nevertheless people speculated until the end.
I love that - though you could interpret it the other way too imo. Because she's thinking about her mother, who works hard and is always tired, who lost her own dreams. And the idea of a tired but loving mother cooking dinner for her daughter is exteemely ordinary and domestic - so it could be an image of comfort or a reminder of unfulfilled ambition. Which one depends on what you value more, and we're about to find out exactly how much she values keeping the dreams she might lose.
Every choice of animal for the characters is so spot-on it's not even funny, except one: I don't think Shirakawa should've been an alpaca, because she's clearly the GOAT.
The animal choices are great as well. For example, the Homosapians are a horse and a warthog, both found on the plains, but on different continents. Unlike the warthog and giraffe.
I was actually thinking while watching this show, "It HAS to be the cat from the intro!" Heck, right before the reveal, you can SEE cans of fish in the kitchen behind Odokawa. I was screaming "IT'S JUST A CAT, I KNOW IT IS!"
The best part about the cat reveal is that it was specifically a _black_ cat, the same type of animal that Odokawa saw Sakura and Yuki as, which STILL ties back into what the red herring originally pointed at. It's so clever!
This anime is honestly a hidden gem with a crazy twist at the end. I promise you the 13 episode anime will leave you surprisingly full and happy. I urge anyone that has doubts of this anime to please give it a try I promise you it will suprise you in a good way.
What twist at the end? It was a good show, but it was pretty apparent early on that rui was killed by Sakura, that odokawa was delusional, and that the closet was a diversion
I'm sorry but can we just take a second to appreciate just how goddamn well this show depicts Odokawa as someone with autism spectrum disorder, even taking the clear time to delineate how it came before the visual agnosia diagnosis? And the attention to detail that it was talked around as the diagnosis of 'executive dysfunction'? It showed him as a genuine person just trying to get on with his life, not a token representation or a collection of damaging tropes. I love this show. I wonder if there's an issue in Japan with neurodiverse people having the nuances of their differences all grouped under the executive dysfuntion aspect alone, and if this was a direct call out or not...
There's also how he described social interaction in the first episode. To paraphrase, "whenever someone asks me a question, my mind comes up with about twelve different answers and I have to think about which one will be acceptable to say and which one will offend them." It's pretty telling! There's also just how consistently logical he is with adhering to his principles, only for that logic to fail when his emotions (like his compassion for his sort-of girlfriend) spike.
Also, one veeery minor detail that i saw someone on reddit talk about the oddtaxi phenomenal ending is that when he still saw people as animals the drawing of the background world was kinda "fuzzy" much like in the op (Kinda "chalky" if i could describe it), and after the second accident, you can see that the background is much more clear and sharp, kinda depicting how odokawa's "mental fuzzyness" is gone and how he sees the world in a more "clear" way. You can even see it in this video, compare a scene of odokawa's taxi and how it's drawn when he's still a walrus and when he's a human, the details are more vivid.
man, i noticed this too but i thought I was just imagining it/fault of video quality since it was so minor. turns it it wasn't-damn this show is so amazingly written
@Flight Senpai no one asked. No need to always bring up a series to demerit another. It's just opinions. I dont think megalobox is the best of 2021 because every 2021 anime hasn't even come out yet. So far if I had to choose my opinion would be fruit baskets finale. Dont matter though because everyone will argue on some other series. That's why everyone should just stop caring about reviews and what's better and just enjoy the shows. Everyone crying about which show is better wont change anyone's opinion 90% of the time. Believe what you believe is best and move on.
What stuns me re how good this show is (SPOILER-ish) is that a lot of people watching guessed early on - like, it's in Geoff's original pitch for the show that got me watching it at the start - what Odokawa's mental deal is. But it plays into his role in the story, his own backstory mysteries, and the important parts of the central conflicts, in key ways. To the point that there are still multiple twists for you at the end, and just the emotional impact of seeing something you already knew play out in full. Masterpiece, indeed.
Im surprise he didnt talked about how THIS OP SONG SLAPS, i never skip the opening just bc i would vibe so damn hard to it. I continue to listen to the song, and will continue until i hate it!
@@ecchioni Yeah. The pacing was a little off, but maybe it wouldn't feel that way if I didn't have so long to forget secondary plot points and character names between episodes, constantly distracting me with trying to remember who and what was going on.
I was left speechless and an emotional wreck at the flying car scene. That has got to be an anime moment to be remembered. Just tell your friends to not expect anything when they watch it and their minds will be blown
I didn't get the impression she was going to kill him when I watched it. I don't know how she would know that he knows that she either killed the first girl or is a different girl at all. We know that he does know, and he told the manager, but I see no reason for him to tell her, or any other way for her to find out about him knowing or his condition. Plus, how would she kill him? With the pen?
I don't think he's gonna die, cause when he was in the hospital bed, he mentioned once or twice about going to the police about who the real killer is. Maybe he did. Also it was broad daylight. Murdering someone would be way too risky. Even for a psychopath like Sakura
I'd like to think that Sakura didn't kill Odakawa for much simpler reasons. She's a teenage girl. He's a adult man, a big guy. Not necessarily fit, but definitely has enough weight to overpower someone her size. Even if she did attack, what's stopping him from just stopping the car and holding her in place until the police arrive? And considering just how good of a schemer Odakawa has proven himself to be in the series, he likely kept the evidence for himself before big daimon ever got a hold of it
@@_ikako_ Sakura did know that he recognises her cause odokawa talked with manager while he's waiting in that parking lot in episode 11 and then manager specifically told this in presence of Sakura that taxi driver recognises Sakura.
Despite is semi slow start, the show ramps up to be one of the most satisfying mysteries I’ve seen in anime with each character threads intertwining and adding more moving pieces into the main plot. Definitely give the show a watch if you haven’t already.
Watched this show with my fiancé because of your recommendation. I've watched plenty of anime before, but this was our first anime together, and It was perfect since blood makes her freak out, and is common in many shows, and the fan service in most anime was just awkward. The show was so engaging we eagerly awaited watching every Monday, theorizing and singing to the soundtrack in the meantime. The characters are incredible, and I love how uniquely awkward Odokawa is as a protagonist. Thanks for the recommendation, you made me and my fiancés summer. For everyone else, if you haven't watched it, I beg of you, watch it.
Those insights about the Daimons, the credit placement, and that whole segment about the ending were really eye-opening despite me thinking I knew all I could about this show! (Also love that shout-out to the wiki 👀)
This is legitimately one of the best and most tightly written shows I’ve ever seen. I’m so glad I watched your spring anime breakdown and found this gem.
This series is a pure and perfect example of how to write fiction. And how to use the advantages of your medium to support It. There is a mistery, but that mistery isn't just well crafted, it's built out of characters emotions and becomes effective for how it hits the viewer who, by the point the plot escalates, is already attached to the characters and to the first plot points. And being an anime isn't random, the story combines visuals and writing and voice-acting in a single mix that just wouldn't work as much without one of those parts. Dunno if this this gonna be my AOTY, but it's definitely such for my inner critic.
@@nafeeahnaf6296 Taste is a big deal here. I can understand someone not being immediatly attracted by it (and maybe kind bummed by episode 4), but it's Just not the kind of series you watch for random entertainment, it's more like a noir novel, you need the right mindspace to truly enjoy It.
I just love how much care everyone put into this anime, between the anime itself, audio dramas, Kabasawa’s twitter account, merchandise (the back of the Mystery Kiss CD has blood on Wadagaki’s hand), the extra song (My name is...), and the comic to explain the existence of that song, tiktok account featuring a giant Odokawa mascot costume, and they even did a pop-up shop in Japan where you can get the directors autograph, and the blu-ray which (depending on how many people preorder) could come with really awesome merch like a Donraku eraser, Odokawa figure, an art book, a soundtrack outtake CD, an original picture drama, they really put the effort in to create something truly one of a kind. And the attention to detail! You know how the art style is kind of fuzzy? Well when Odokawa is “fixed”, suddenly the backgrounds are clear as day! I’m so happy I got to be a part of this, while I don’t live in Japan so I can’t buy the merch and translations for the audio dramas came later for us, I’m glad I was around to theorise with the rest of the community, an incredible experience. This shows certainly AT LEAST in my top 10, maybe higher
I was really hoping for a Shirakawa using capoiera to take down yano, to the beat of his rapping, at the climax of the anime. It would have been glorious.
I can't believe I actually just pulled an all-nighter watching all 13 episodes of this show - but it feels so damn rewarding to come back to this video after 4,5 hours
see, I kept thinking it was more like... hm. like Breaking Bad if Walter White was actually a good person the entire time, and everybody was a lot more likable. the specific area of comparison is that the main character comes from a really unassuming background (mild mannered high school chemistry teacher/mild mannered cab driver), has a relevant medical condition that becomes the reason why their life escalates into the plot, and gets involved in a lot of criminal activities that basically end in the dissolving of the whole criminal structure that had existed prior to their involvement. Breaking Bad is obviously a way more cynical show, and displays a lot more darkness because the main character is willing to become more and more corrupt as time goes on... Odd Taxi is more hopeful because you actually want Odokawa to be happy by the end, specifically because he deserves it. I actually feel bad comparing the two shows just because of how much respect I have for Odokawa as a person, vs. Walter White, who got what the hell was coming to him tbh. but I think the comparison to Breaking Bad holds up better than comparing Odd Taxi to Knives Out. I actually was not very impressed with Knives Out, because I felt like the individual members of the Thrombey family weren't fleshed out enough and weren't used very much in the machinations of the plot. they mostly just existed as a single antagonistic unit, which made it really obvious that Ransom was suspicious when he started getting more development than anyone else. tbh I had him pinned as soon as the dogs reacted to him differently at the very beginning, because that was such a blatantly obvious bread crumb. the only real mystery was the specifics of _how_ he was scummy, or _how_ Marta was innocent, which was admittedly cool to figure out, but in something like Odd Taxi, _every_ character that is introduced has a unique role in the story, and they all show up consistently throughout the plot, each playing their part in small ways to paint the bigger picture. you get that in Breaking Bad, which is what keeps you intrigued in spite of the fact that the characters sometimes aren't very likable. and you get that in Odd Taxi, with the added bonus of a lot of the characters being very likable. you don't really get that effect in Knives Out... it wasn't firing on _all_ cylinders. (admittedly, part of this might've been because Breaking Bad and Odd Taxi are episodic series, while Knives Out is a movie, and thus wasn't able to render every person in its large cast with the same level of detail... but to me, that's just an argument that multi-layered mysteries like these, specifically with a large cast and a lot of interlocking parts, are better suited to a series than a movie. with some very tight writing, a movie could work, but a series has more room to breathe, and really expand on everything it wants to touch upon.)
@@davidolinger3948 I hope it works! Odd Taxi is such a good show... I'd just say be careful about mentioning Odokawa's medical condition, because the reveal at the end where you learn what's really going on with that was one of my favorite surprises.
The moment of elation I felt watching everything getting dropped into water at the same time as odokawa is with his taxi could only be pulled off by using the setting (by the docks) and media tropes (throwing something off a bridge that's lost it's importance) against us was really all the pay off I needed for the show. And I also have to point out that wadagaki's is the only cut away not about the incident itself or the connection to things falling into water that is different in that instead she sees something falling into boiling oil instead further separating her from the other characters.
I just had to point this out, but I'm pretty sure Odokawa is drinking a milk box in the first scene of the OP since he's seen drinking milk a couple of times at Yamabiko.
It truly is a masterpiece. The ending had me full of emotions, with each of them running rampant. The dialogue in each episode, the way every character is tied together. It’s beautiful and after finishing it, I started rewatching it with my younger brother. Now knowing the ending you pick up on so many little hints and clues in just the intro alone. This anime has made its way into my top 10 for sure.
You’ve been hyping this up on TikTok, Twitter, and more for days, treating it like the apotheosis of fiction itself. You’re correct of course, but it was still funny to see
This analysis is the exact thing I needed after binging the series. I love looking into music videos, lyrics, and openings, trying to find deeper meaning in them. I love this show and I love this analysis. Keep doing what you’re doing!
Right before the water rushes in, there’s birds flying over the city. And it might just be me, but don’t they look kinda like the birds given out to traffic orphans?
I usually ignore spoiler warnings and watch these sort of videos blind to know whether or not I'll like something, since usually spoilers don't ruin my enjoyment. But. I'm extremely glad I did listen to you and go watch OddTaxi before I came back to this video. It was not remotely the show I was expecting it to be. 10/10
I’m actually so grateful to you that you recommended this show so early on and that I started watching it since it’s release. It has genuinely been a blast watching an episode and deciphering it’s mysteries with or reading theories from the pretty small fanbase of ODD TAXI. I’m so glad to have watched this masterpiece, Thank You.
Odd Taxi is the first anime I've ever wanted to immediately rewatch after finishing. Wow. Truly a masterpiece that transcends anime and is just peak story telling.
I'm so happy I can burst,finally seeing more people talk Odd Taxi. This show became for me a reason to wait for the next episode, I just couldn't stop thinking about it.
Man, I remember just watching this to watch something at 3am and binging it all and left thinking about it for a day n a half. That's how good this show is. It really does deserve to be snubbed by the Emmy's 😂
When you first recommended this show for the spring season of anime I immediately went out and watched it. I'm so grateful for having experienced it. Thank you good sir, you are a gentleman and a scholar.
I love how much you remain loyal to this cult even now. I confess that even I, as a Japanese otaku, overlooked this furry show, and you and Gigguk's videos had convinced me that it's a must-watch. So thank you for all your works.
While I did watch this after being disappointed by Wonder Egg, I am so glad I waited so I could binge it and not have to deal with weekly gaps. Great fucking show
I did the same after being left confused and disappointed with the WEP Special. Just finished the series today and realised how coherent and precise the series is, unlike some parts of WEP. Though I liked both shows, the team of OddTaxi managed to make it appeal to everybody through its concisely written plot.
I felt so fuzzy inside knowing that Otokawa began to have a normal life, him going through hell was so sad yet wholesome when he was free of his parents and began to see people as animals (which he loved)
What I really enjoy about this video is that you got so engrossed in the show’s topics that were showcased that the video very quickly turned into an analysis for the show itself. It goes to show how good the op, that it so effectively lays out ideas visually that discussion of it will naturally lead into the show itself.
I also really loved how the show's animation was used, the whole time in the animal world the backgrounds were always somewhat fuzzy and water-colored, almost like it was a kids book with a bright cartoonish coloring to it. But once we're brought back to the real world everything get so much more finer detail to it and a cleaner sharper look which really kind of sets in the fact that Oddokawa was looking at the world through animal colored glasses.
I’ve seen this channel recommend this show several times, and it looked so out there and just like a straight gag anime, I really thought it was about to be a goofy ride and just kept passing on it. This video made me finally crack and I’m very glad I did. Excellent show, not at all the tone or plot I was expecting and I binged the hell out of it.
I just finished oddtaxi and thinking about it only makes the reveals in it's last episode better and better. This is a fantastic show, it deserves so much more buzz.
So, that 3:17 mark where you told to binge it and come back was what made me decide to do just that. My goodness. What. A. Show. I'm glad I watched it and I'm glad I decided to take your suggestion there but I do regret a little not watching it as it was released. Man, those discussions must have been a blast.
one thing that i noticed is how they refrence a couple times that if odokawa sees someones face, he will always remember it forever. He even shows off this skill a couple times. I think that the reason he can do this is cuz he sees everyone as a different animal. So to us, we can say that some people have similar features and whatever, to him everyone is a distinct type of animal that (if you pay attention) is never used more than once. So because everyone is a different animal, he never sees the same animal twice a.k.a. everyones face is extremely unique to him so he can remember them with ease.
I really loved this anime. Props to the Dr. who went above and beyond for his friend. Who would do that in this day in age? This was so under the radar. Megalox Box Nomad was the other I thought should've have gotten some shine.
I don't have anything to add other than this comment because this show is phenomenal and I knew from the first episode and you deserve the RU-vid algorithm boost.
Definition of a Modern Masterpiece, undoubtedly one of the best and most well-written anime to come out in the last few decades. WTH are you doing if you aren't watching it just because the characters look like cartoonish animals, be more open minded and give it a try it's an extremely well written mystery show. ODD TAXI -> 10/10 masterpiece
Odd taxi is a slow paced anime. Came to watch the show with the mind set that this is an anime with animals(like zootopia). But as the series progressed something fell off. Especially when goriki asked odakawa how he looks to him and his answer "you look like a gorilla". And after this i really started looking for hints in every ep. The biggest surprising thing was how the human verse looked.. I expected it to have animation features like psycho pass. Glad they didn't do it. My fav was when we had to guess which animal represented which chara. Loved the series.
OKAY I WATCHED IT! This is the first anime I've binged in one sitting in over two years BUT I DID IT! (don't want to edit my original comment because I know it would lose the heart) I really don't want to get into too much detail since everyone just NEEDS to watch it themselves- But what an experience. The last episode had me fucking crying for the first time since... I don't even know. There was just something that really hit me hard about a certain flashback scene where I just had to let loose. And this is the most satisfying mystery anime I have ever watched. Every loose end gets tied up WELL and in a way that makes sense. EVERY SINGLE ONE. And the way the stories of all the characters started to intertwine as you watched it was more satisfying than I can put into words right now. Please, if you haven't yet: WATCH IT.
Saw gigguks video on oddtaxi yesterday and decided to pick it back up 13 episodes and serveral LONG discord threads later, I feel more fulfilled than I’ve ever felt by a mystery
I came into ODDTAXI late, I knew I was going to like it but I figured it would be a 7/10 or maybe an 8/10, emotional drama with some twists and turns, I had heard good things but I thought it was going to be another show like, The promised Neverland, or, Re:Zero. Both show's I thoroughly enjoyed and would give a 7/10 any day and an 8/10 on a good one. Then I watched the show, and as I was watching it my impression of it kept climbing, It started off with the first episode leading me to think it was exactly what I thought it was, but by episode three my impression of the show had changed entirely. ODDTAXI does something very few shows do from the get go in introducing multiple plotlines, we have the Idols, Odokawa, the doctor loosing his meds, the influencer, and the yakuza on the run, at first you see all these plotlines as separate, but the general quality of the show so far leaves you hopefully that it will tie them all up in the end satisfyingly. Then oddtaxi get's real, the plotlines start merging together and the show lets you put together the puzzle pieces bit by bit. It constantly drops hints as to final solutions, and as you watch along the closing of so many plotlines seems less ambitious, and every time the show spells something out for you, you have already had suspicions, and the show just confirms them while opening more up. I will leave my gushing on ODDTAXI for a later date (I'm sure Jeff said enough) and just skip straight to the end of my thoughts. ODDTAXI blew me away, it wasn't a 10/10 show for me, but I hold a grand total of 3 shows to that Status, so that's not saying much, however It is a solid 9/10 for me, for me that means it's at least easily the best show of 2021, and it's in an exclusive club of show's that I think other people NEED to watch, not should watch NEED to watch, I cant state how much you NEED to watch ODDTAXI enough, but maybe my telling you that I think anything I give a 5 or above Is worth the watch and anything a 7 or above a should watch might help. I know ODDTAXI came and went without as much fanfare as it deserves, I mean Jeff's made in abyss video has more than double the views as this one, But if you do read this and you haven't seen ODDTAXI do yourself a favor and go watch it, than get your friends to watch it and their friends to. ODDTAXI isn't a show like bokurano where the content and tone might be a bit much for some, but resonate deeply with others, it's a tightly packed, mystery thriller of epic proportion's. that while it may not leave a lifelong impact as often as a show like Bokurano would, it will be an immensely enjoyable... ride(pun intended), that will be a great topic of conversation and a further deep dive forever. What I'm saying here, is to watch ODDTAXI, so you will know why I'm telling you not to be like Kakihana and watch it already!
Spoilers I would also like to take the time to point out that Sakura has an obsession with Karaage which while not as direct as something like her being happy at the sight of Odokawa driving off the bridge, into the awesome moon shot, still clues the audience in as to her nature of being the true killer, which is more directly affirmed when on the day she kills she is ok with not having Karaage, almost as if her need for murder was sated. I might be over analysing though :)
Saw this video coming as soon as the final aired, but like man you know a shows great when the last episode alone shoots its score up by like .5 on mal because the resolve to the mystery is just so perfect.
I paused this video at 2:15 and watched the entire series over the past few days. Now I've finally come back and finished the video. :) I'm blown away that the pen was in every episode???? I missed pretty much all of them except the final appearance.
Would of never seen this Anime if I hadn't stumbled upon this video.. Thank you so much! I came back after watching the Anime in full and WOW! This felt like a Harry Potter length story wrapped up in 13 episodes! For sure is going to be an Anime I recommend to friends! A single ODDTAXI video has gained you at least 1 new subscriber lol
Watched *LoFi Zootopia Durarara* on your recommendation, and it was a great ride. My close mind would have been turned off by the “Furry”-ness of it all, but you preempted my concerns.
I just watched and binged the whole thing today just to be able to watch this video and others like it since it wasn't the first time I was recommended the show. DAMN. WHat a good time to spend my day. SPOILERS because I hope people who scroll through the comments give the show a chance before doing so. I went in fully blind and it's SO GOOD! I would like to add that the closet mystery still held some mystery---for Odokawa himself. Since his agnosia didn't make him 100% sure if it was an actual cat or not. He was relieved at the end!
I watched all expisodes when 12 were out, thinking it was a 12 episode show. It was not. So i had to wait a week for the final episode after binging the entire series. So i just binged it all again on the day the 13th episode came out. And that second rewatch was as, if not more, enjoyable than my first. I noticed so many small details and how tight knit the story was. And i loved every second of it!
@@mothersbasement For sure. I think i'm happy i put ODDTAXI off for so long during the Spring season, because of that i could (almost) just binge it the whole way through (twice). I don't know if i would've kept all the little details in mind if i watched it weekly with like 4 banger animes to watch inbetween.
Thank you for recommendig Odd Taxi in your previous videos. I picked it up because of you and I loved it from the first minutes, the quality of the writing was apparent right away. It's a new favourite of mine now.
