Odd Taxi
Odd Taxi is a Japanese anime television series produced by OLM and P.I.C.S. It was broadcast on TV Tokyo and AT-X from April to June 2021. Set in a world of anthropomorphic animals, it tells the story of walrus taxi driver Hiroshi Odokawa, who converses with his passengers and learns about various mysteries and oddities occurring in Tokyo. These conversations get him involved in the strange disappearance of a schoolgirl, and that leads to him being followed by both the police and the yakuza.
Prior to its release, a manga series from Shogakukan began publication in January 2021, and was serialized in its Superior Dalpana magazine until July 2022. An anime film, titled Odd Taxi: In the Woods, was released in Japan in April 2022.
Plot
Set in a world of anthropomorphic animals, Odd Taxi tells the story of Hiroshi Odokawa, a 41-year-old walrus taxi driver whose parents abandoned him in elementary school, leaving him generally asocial. However, he usually has conversations with other animal inhabitants who ride in his taxi on their respective journeys around Tokyo, where the series is set. Odokawa's conversations with these people unravel into a series of mysteries and acts of violence, including that of a missing high school girl. Because of the case of the missing girl, the police have been tracking leads back to him, and now he is being followed by both the police and the yakuza.Characters
;Media
Anime
The anime television series aired on TV Tokyo and AT-X in Japan from April 6 to June 29, 2021. It is directed and storyboarded by Baku Kinoshita and written by Kazuya Konomoto while Konomoto and Hiromi Nakayama designed the characters. The music for the series is composed by OMSB, PUNPEE and VaVa. The series' first 4 episodes had an advanced screening on March 20, 2021, featuring the cast of the series, while a special digest version of those episodes was also streamed online. Singer-songwriter Skirt and rapper DJ PUNPEE performed the series' main theme "Odd Taxi", while Suzuko Mimori performed the series' ending theme song "Sugarless Kiss". Crunchyroll streamed the series in North American territories.The production committee originally had no plans to release a Blu-Ray Box set, but due to audience demand, it was announced that a Blu-Ray boxset will be released if at least 300 pre-orders would be made during a pre-order campaign. Pony Canyon reported that at least 500 pre-orders were made at a cost of 27,500 Yen.
On October 28, 2021, Crunchyroll announced that the series would receive an English dub, which was originally set for release on January 16, 2022. However, it was rescheduled for a release on February 14 instead.
Episodes
Audio drama
An audio drama ran concurrently to the anime, being uploaded on the anime's official YouTube channel, with the first episode released on April 6, 2021. The drama follows conversations between characters transmitted from a bugged pen which is shown throughout the series.Manga
A manga adaptation written by Kazuya Konomoto and illustrated by Takeichi Abaraya began serialization on Shogakukan's Superior Dalpana digital manga site on January 15, 2021, and ended on July 22, 2022. It was collected into five volumes.During their panel at Anime NYC 2023, Denpa announced that they licensed the manga for English publication.
A manga series based on a new project titled RoOT/Route of Odd Taxi was serialized on the same platform from February 2023 to April 2025.
Volumes
Novel
A novel adaptation by Manabu Wakui, based on Kazuya Konomoto's script, was released on July 6, 2021. The novel is a retelling of several key moments of the anime from the point of view of different characters.Films
On December 25, 2021, an anime film adaptation titled Odd Taxi: In the Woods was announced. The cast and staff from the series returned to reprise their roles. It was released in Japan on April 1, 2022.Two compilation films of the series were released in September 2025.