OddTaxi may be the best anime you've never seen. Hell, likely this is the first time you're hearing of the series.

There is a reason for it. Not only did the animal designs throw off a lot of people who fear furry works, but the series is a tightly wound mystery drama. So tightly wound that any description of the plot would require giving out details best left to watching and learning yourself. It is both amazing and frustrating how well they seeded this mystery.

Even discussing small details with the uninitiated requires holding back key details that give away the twists. This series benefits from repeat viewings in ways most series do not. In the final minutes, for example, my mind flashed with an "aha, so that's why" about a scene so early on that I nearly forgot about it.

The dialog is snappy. I've seen it compared to Tarantino or the Cohen Brothers. I don't know if I agree, but it's nothing like the usual anime fair. Oddtaxi is our world and people consider the reality of our world when they talk. Early on, there is a great discussion on Bruce Springsteen that serves as a good introduction to this series' dialog stylings. Rarely do things feel awkward and you quickly get invested in these characters.

Each character is both a complete person and allegory. Through each of them, we see different elements of the working class in Japan. All of them trying to find fame, fortune, and general social advancement in their own, different ways. The series does a great job establishing this theme in the first few minutes with the first passenger. We get the idea that everyone wants to be popular or be rich or otherwise grow just from that part. Whether it's the social media would-be influence trying to grow, the best friend who wants to finally get married and be rich, the idol group about to finally break out, the comedian duo wanting to be famous, etc. Everyone is trying to advance in society or escape their debt or poverty...

...well, except for the main character, who serves as the antithesis of that concept and acts against it unknowingly. But, now you got me talking and it's so much better to just watch.

The choice to make everyone an animal person is a wonderful bit of visual storytelling. The animal designs signal to the viewer "here's who I am, here's what you can expect of me" without them even having to speak. It does so much work in establishing a baseline for us from moment one. The series wonderfully uses the trappings of a child's tale to tell its own.

In some ways, Oddtaxi is a grown up version of those old fables. It's world is cruel and lives are cut short tragically for greed and selfishness and coincidence. Yet, it's also one where community, love, and looking out for each other can work against those corrupting forces and find a better life for everyone involved. This duality is so perfectly encapsulated in its ending, depending on how you interpret it, that it pains me that I can't discuss it.

On the subject of the ending, briefly, it's worth noting that there are two. The series has one which is more open ended and a movie which gives a clear answer. Choose your preferred ending. I haven't seen the movie, but the movie is a recollection of a 13 episode show in 2 hours. Given how the series benefits from depth, I imagine the show is better, but many would prefer the movie ending. So, if you like closure, then watch the show then watch the last 15 minutes of the film. Some, however, hate the closure the movie gives so make a judgement at the time.

The mystery works so well because it evolves so naturally. No one knows everything that happened until the very, very end. You are constantly learning things in bits and pieces as the main character does. And being left in the dark on so many things leads to so many twists and turns and red herrings as it plays out. And when it all happens you realize just how well the series both hinted at the truth and played out. It all feels earned and none of it feels cheap.

The only thing that ever feels cheap is some of the saves. Or atleast one or two in particular where the main character just got lucky. But that, in its own way, fits with one of the themes: that life is kind of random.

I could go on and on, but this is show you are better off experiencing than being told about. If you want to see an anime doing something no one else is doing, watch Oddtaxi. I am so sick of isekai and death games and shonen and silly romcoms. This noir, furry mystery drama is a breath of fresh air that too many ignored.

Oddtaxi is available on Crunchyroll in English and Japanese with subs. The movie, Odd Taxi in the Woods, is available only in Japanese on Crunchyroll. Criminally, no physical media release has been made.

"You can see the gold collar around my neck. Our murderers prized me quite highly when they'd captured me. Thought me quite the sacrifice for the gods, something that would ensure their favor when my blood was at last spilled in ritual."

"I don't take pleasure in knowing they're gone, that their gods are dead and rotting."

"I'm still collared. I'm still scarred. And we're still here in this hollowed bit of earth waiting for the end."