I watched the wonderful anime Odd taxi, which we translated as Incredible Taxi or Random Taxi. The coolest anime that I want to discuss and there is something to discuss, but without spoilers it will not be substantive. On the other hand, spoilers in this particular case can spoil the impression a little since the plot, one might say, is detective, and not much time has passed since the release – I’m sure that not everyone who wanted to have already managed to get there. Therefore, I will first tell you what I can, without spoilers or with minor points, and then I will start spoiling in full, having previously warned, of course.
So. The plot takes place in Tokyo today, but instead of people, different types of anthropomorphic animals walk the streets. Initially, you might think that this is already a hackneyed zoopolis, but there are no divisions into predators, no social stratification in this regard and all that. It’s just that instead of people there are animals (and this is not even furryatina in the full sense). And therefore – why not? This does not interfere with the narrative; rather, it gives more character to the existing characters.
As I said earlier, the plot here is like a noir detective story. But instead of a handsome man in a hat and raincoat investigating a murder ordered by a fatal beauty, we have a forty-year-old walrus taxi driver with psychological problems named Odokawa. One of his problems is insomnia, so he hangs out at night. And therefore he was drawn into the cycle of criminal events that intertwine with each other, influence each other and flow into one another. The motivations of all the main participants in these events are revealed and the conflict of interests is shown. In general, without spoilers, the plot is cleverly twisted and internally logical, no pianos in the bushes or other deus ex machines were noticed.
The whole series is very light-hearted, the pace of the story is dense, so to speak. That is, on the one hand, unhurried, but intense, there is no feeling of either filler or fanservice in any episode, but at the same time there is time for a break and reflection on the events taking place. Everything is very decorous, noble and quite honest in relation to the real world, understandable not without some assumptions, but still.
I recommend watching in general, I don’t want to spread further with water and oil, you can read more reviews without spoilers before watching, if suddenly I’m not convinced. And I’ll start talking in detail about the plot. For those who are afraid of spoilers, see you next time, I hope you’ll finish reading later.
And here, as usual, I’ll immediately say that all the problems that the heroes have are problems of capitalist society. Because if you untwist each arch, it will inevitably lead to the fact that it is “such a system”. And the logical exception here is Odkokawa, since of all the characters presented, only he did not need money from early childhood and, due to his aloofness, stood out from society. True, he himself did not know how such a life was provided for him.
And you can take anyone https://jettoncasino.co.uk/games/ as an example. Shirakawa – lack of money led her to stealing medicine and cohabiting against her will with the criminal Dobu. Dobu’s only goal is to compete for power with Yano (as well as vice versa), and the competition is expressed in who brings the most money to the boss. There’s not even anything to say about the muzzle, he’s involved in crime for the sake of money.
The idols’ producer (like the idols themselves) is involved in kidnappings and extortion, since the group needs to be financed in the early stages, and this requires a lot of money, which the group cannot earn solely through creativity. Each of the idols has their own reasons for grasping at this illusory opportunity to become famous, but in essence they are reaching for the money that fame will bring them. At the same time, two of the four participants are ready to kill their rivals (one actually goes for it), and the other helps to catch rich men “with live bait”, thereby acting as a “live bait”.
Kakihana suffers from the fact that at his age he is an ordinary janitor with a low salary. And in order to appear not to be who he is, he collects money from microcredit organizations, which are also owned by bandits – where would he be without this?. Kabasawa is also one of those who wants to appear and not be. He needs money and fame precisely for this, because this is how he imagines happiness – fans who are ready to give themselves to him, an expensive car and a rich apartment, that is, how a happy life is shown on the Internet.
Tanaka is a victim of scammers, at first he was scammed by Dobu through an analogue of e-bay, and then, years later, he became a victim of gacha games, which essentially nurture and fuel gambling addiction in people predisposed to this disorder. Bubba is torn by the temptation to abandon his comedy couple Homosapiens, exchanging it for a solo career, thereby canceling out their common efforts to break into showbiz together.
Of the elder-younger pair of Daimons, only the youngest remained, although naive, but devoted to the ideals of justice and legality. While the elder considered himself a “debtor” to the yakuza, who gave money as help to orphans whose parents died in a car accident. The eldest here took all the bullshit upon himself, that’s why the younger one managed to maintain his principles. From the anime, by the way, I still don’t understand why the yakuza took up charity work, whether it’s an ordinary gesture of goodwill, since he himself may have suffered in a similar way, or, as often happens, he’s simply using charity as a screen for laundering the money that Yano and Dobu bring him. I’m leaning towards the second option.
There is also a skunk who won the lottery and a doctor at a private clinic. One has already found his place in the world and is simply developing his business, while the other, on the contrary, is so young and naive that he has no ambitions and is ready to spend all this easy money to help his favorite group, while working as a waiter. That is, one has not yet “snapped the hardship” associated with burnout at work, lack of money to build a new unit of society. And the second, apparently, has already passed this stage, and in the competition was able to win for himself, if not a place in the sun, then at least a corner by the battery.
One thing distinguishes Odokawa from all other anime characters – consider him an unconditional basic income, which helped him form as a person. He treats money lightly, does not want to grab it for himself for the future, stocking up for a rainy day and just in case (which is so normal in our world). His moderate consumption is due to his confidence that next month everything will be the same as the previous one. This is an anti-argument for those libertarians and right-wingers in general who argue that social benefits, pensions, sick leave, vacations and (God forbid)!) unconditional basic income makes people lazy and does not allow them to strive for more.
In anime and manga, it is shown that a person (or a walrus) freed from the money issue, from the need not to live, but to survive – on the contrary, will be more humane, empathetic, willing to help others and, which is characteristically helpful. This is exactly what the classics wrote about when they said, “if a person’s character is created by circumstances, then it is necessary, therefore, to make the circumstances humane.”.»
I’m not saying that a person cannot be empathetic and humane despite the circumstances, but this is already a subjective factor, and again certain objective conditions. It’s better when objective reality itself pushes you to be a good person useful to society, when the whole world around you gives you such an illusory opportunity, than when you need to swim against the social tide to do this, as is happening now.
In general, if you ignored spoilers and haven’t watched this anime yet, watch it. And if you watched it, then write what message you saw, maybe you don’t agree with me, speak out, maybe you will feel better.
And that’s all for me. Goodbye love.
Unfortunately, the title doesn’t have a lot of compplay and fanart, I didn’t find any pleasing cosplayers. Here’s just some fanart I liked.