Odd Taxi · Season 1 · Episode 1 · 6 April 2021
S1E1 The Eccentric Driver
THE MOMENT The opening question - Where to? - will only fully land on a second viewing.
The premiere plants seeds for every thread that will converge 12 episodes later. Odokawa picks up a series of passengers, each conversation seemingly inconsequential. The series commits fully to its anthropomorphic animal world without once winking at the audience about it.
Full episode analysis below. Spoiler-light verdict above.
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Odd Taxi Season 1 Episode 1 'The Eccentric Driver' aired April 6, 2021 on TV Tokyo as the premiere of P.I.C.S. and OLM's 13-episode mystery anime that IGN named Best Anime of 2021 and the Crunchyroll Anime Awards awarded Best Director and Best Protagonist. IMDb audiences scored the series 8.3; AniList users place it in the top 65 titles of all time. The premiere operates as deliberate misdirection: Odokawa drives a series of passengers through what appears to be everyday Tokyo life, each conversation mundane, each fare seemingly inconsequential. The show commits completely to its world of anthropomorphic animals without self-consciousness or winking asides. What the premiere does not signal, and only a second viewing clarifies, is that every element has been placed with precision. The opening question - Where to? - is the series' thesis and its punchline, earned twelve episodes later.