Blunt walrus Hiroshi Odokawa drives a taxi for a living which has caused him to get to know his various eccentric customers. One day, his simple life is turned upside down when a missing person case is tracked by the police back to him. Now a person of interest to both cops and yakuza, he becomes increasingly entangled in this complicated case.
It’s not hard to make a cute animal anime. It’s hard to make a tautly-paced thriller, but Odd Taxi shot above and beyond expectations. If you are looking for more anime recommendations like Odd Taxi, then head on down below.
Anime Like Odd Taxi
For Fans of Interwoven City Stories
Durarara
Tokyo’s downtown district of Ikebukuro is awash in strange rumors, everything from colorless color gangs to a headless rider roaming town populate the rumors. For Mikado Ryuugamine who just moved there from the countryside, he is but one witness to the district’s slew of strange events.
Both Durarara and Odd Taxi are crime mysteries that take place in a small neighborhood of Tokyo. In both shows, you get to know a large cast of characters that all exist in that neighborhood and who seemingly have unrelated stories at first. However, by the end, all those various strands weave together.
Boogiepop Phantom
Everyone knows about Boogiepop. The legend goes that if you meet her one dark night, you will be taken. However, the rumors of Boogiepop which coincided with a string of grisly murders that happened five years ago have started to whirl up again. Something is out there. Are you safe?
Both Odd Taxi and Boogiepop are murder mysteries that are told from multiple points of view that all connect together. However, while Odd Taxi is easy to grasp, Boogiepop Phantom and its passion for surrealism demands complete and total attention in order to catch all the proper details that will eventually add up.
Paranoia Agent
There is an urban legend going around in Musashino City about Shounen Bat, a boy that rolls around on roller blades and beats people with his bent golden baseball bat. Numerous reports of his attacks have turned up, but the police have been unable to catch him. As the investigation continues and more people fall victim, paranoia begins to set in.
Both Paranoia Agent and Odd Taxi know how to build a thriller that grows in scale but never grows boring. At first, everything seems so unrelated, but by the end, everything that has happened connects together in a cohesive story. However, while Odd Taxi is rather on the nose, Paranoia Agent is stuffed to the bursting with symbolism that it almost requires you to grasp in order to give you a cohesive story.
Baccano
In the early 1930s, the transcontinental train, Flying Pussyfoot, starts a legendary journey across the country that will leave behind a trail of blood. During this same period, the ambitious scientist Szilarf and his unwilling assistant Ennis investigate missing bottles of immortality elixir in New York. This can be traced back to 1711 where the alchemists creating this elixir learn the real price of being immortal. Among these mysterious events, a Mafia war heats up. Follow this intricate tale of alchemy, immortality, and survival as it weaves together many seemingly unrelated events.
While Baccano has touches of the supernatural to build out its story, it, like Odd Taxi, also juggles a huge cast of characters who all seem unrelated at first. Unlike Odd Taxi, the characters may not even be in the same time in history. However, the story unfolds in such a way that everything ends up connecting itself.
Bakemonogatari
After surviving a vampire attack, high school student Koyomi Araragi finds he has several supernatural side effects that remained after being cured including the ability to rapidly heal. While trying to live a normal life after the event, he ends up catching a classmate, Hitagi Senjougahara, as she fell down some stairs. As he catches her, he discovers that she is near weightless after being inflicted with a curse. After enlisting the help of the easy-going wandering Shinto priest that helped him with his vampirism, Araragi finds himself embroiled in not just Senjogahara’s issue but several different supernatural events afflicting those in his town.
While Odd Taxi is rather grounded in reality, animals aside, Bakemonogatari adds a huge dose of the supernatural into its plot that requires significant dialogue to explain and unravel. Both series are heavy on exposition, but it all serves to move the plot forward and build out the characters.
For Fans of Humanity Criticized Through Animals
Beastars
This is a world of anthropomorphic animals where carnivores and herbivores live side by side with each other. At Cherryton Academy, young wolf Legoshi is a member of the drama club. While he is often called menacing due to his appearance, he wouldn’t hurt a fly. When one herbivore classmate is killed and devoured, Legoshi finds himself as the primary suspect.
Both Odd Taxi and Beastars use animals as sort of symbolism for types of people at times. However, Beastars is often more focused on the characters being ruled by the aspects of the animals that they are. Regardless, both series do well to create interesting characters and create mysteries that draw you in deep. Furthermore, while both are about animal people, they are serious and mature anime series.
Aggretsuko
Between the condescension from her co-workers and the pressure from her boss, stress is life for 25-year-old office worker and red panda, Retsuko. Her meek attitude often causes her to be stepped on by everyone in her company, but she has an outlet – singing death metal karaoke about the hypocrisy of her peers. Even if it is just in her head, it is her way to let off steam.
While Aggretsuko is focused more on office worker life, it uses cute animals to thinly veil its commentary on modern society. Of course, unlike Odd Taxi, Aggretsuko is more of a comedy affair, but it still has societal issues that it shines lights on.
For Fans of Crime Mysteries
BNA – Brand New Animal
Throughout history, humanity has always been at odds with the beastmen – a race that can change their shape into beasts. The beastmen have all but gone into hiding after extreme discrimination, but Anima City was built to be a self-governing safe haven where they can live without fear. During the towns’ 10th anniversary, Michiru, a human that has recently turned into a tanuki, visits the city in an attempt to find a cure for her sudden transformation. Unfortunately, there is a explosion in the square, and she gets caught up in the event. Together with the white wolf Shirou, the pair look into the explosion and find that there is indeed more to Michiru’s beastification.
Most immediately notable is that both of these series are animal-based crime thrillers. However, the main character in BNA takes a more active role in the mystery while it just sort of unfolds around the main character in Odd Taxi. The beast people in BNA are actually animals, however.
ID – Invaded
In this world, crimes are able to be solved by piecing together a criminal’s unconscious mind in ID-wells. However, in order to enter these ID-wells, you must be a killer yourself. Enter brilliant detective Akihito Narihisago. After his daughter was murdered, he sought vengeance on the killer and is currently serving his sentence. However, under the name Sakaido, he enters the ID-wells in order to help his fellow detectives piece together crimes.
Both Id Invaded and Odd Taxi are crime thrillers with a particular emphasis on psychology and psychological disorders. While Id doesn’t quite have the same sort of twist as Odd Taxi in the end, it does have its rather trippy moments as it delves into the unconscious mind.
Monster
Dr Kenzou Tenma has the perfect life as one of the world’s most renowned brain surgeons. However, one night he is presented with a doctor’s most painful choice – to save an injured child or the mayor, both mortally wounded. Against his colleague’s advice, he saves the kid. However, when a series of crimes start happening around him, all evidence points to the child he saved.
While Odd Taxi and Monster are two different types of crime mysteries, what ties them together is that they are both well-paced thrillers. They tell their unraveling stories in a way where there isn’t a lull in the story that is drawing you in.
Do you have more anime recommendations like Odd Taxi? Let fans know in the comments section below.
