Audiences going into Odd Taxi: In the Woods looking for something set in the actual woods will be disappointed; the procedural mystery predominantly takes place around inner-Tokyo. Audiences looking for an expansion into one of 2021’s hottest anime series will be a little more eager to learn that In the Woods expands upon the world of Odokawa will get an interesting reflection with some new content.
The companion film to the 2021 sleeper-hit anime Odd Taxi both meaningfully expands upon the original series while also condensing some of its plot lines, with all the benefits and the challenges that come with that.
It has become a trend in recent years for anime series to release ‘recap’ films after their initial broadcast run. In the Woods is simultaneously part of this tradition, while also integrating new material and perspectives that go a bit beyond what’s presented in the series. Based around an anthropomorphic walrus taxi driver, Odokawa, the original Odd Taxi is an interesting ensemble cast that was widely acclaimed for its kaleidoscopic mystery style and anthropomorphically-reimagined ruminations on modern Japanese urban life.
At just past two hours in length, Into the Woods’s slightly longer-than-average-for-anime runtime is spent on showing the intertwined narratives of the different suspects and witnesses in the disappearance of a teenage idol girl in Tokyo. One of the hooks of this film adaptation is the ensemble cast feel, which condenses the plotlines of the series in some ways while offering new perspectives in others.
The film has all the bonuses, and all the drawbacks of being a sort of compilation movie. While it does a good job of avoiding feeling like a clip show, the faster pace can at times conflict with the fire hose of information being given. The movie is primarily told through interviews that are narrated after the fact by the different suspects and witnesses, which provide voiceover for clips from the series. The result is economical for condensing the various plots of the series, but it can risk showing rather than telling its story at points.
The film has generally strong art direction and animation. The animal character designs are memorable, and the art style has a certain minimalism to it that captures the expressions of characters. While the 2D characters are well-animated and memorable, the film does feature some liberal usage of CGI vehicles for car movements and driving. While using CGI for crowds and vehicles is almost the standard for modern anime series, the utilization of shaded CGI taxi is hard to not notice in something where vehicles and transportation are as important a motif as they are in Odd Taxi (just look at the name).
Without going into spoilers, it warrants discussion that one of the biggest hooks for Odd Taxi is the ultimate reveal of what is going on with Odokawa and why the anthropomorphic animal world of Tokyo is what it is. One of the biggest points against In the Woods is that it doesn’t have quite the same level of buildup for the big reveal that was afforded to the original Odd Taxi series. There are some very faint hints of it in the movie, but on the whole it feels more like the runtime of the first hour and 45 minutes is focused on technical macguffins that almost complete plot curveball the final twist. When the majority of the film’s runtime is focused around calculating the motives and twists of a major intertwined crime, throwing in an entire new dimension at the very end that feels hard to have predicted might give first time watchers a sense of whiplash. The story is still interesting and engaging, but the structuring feels mostly at the service of including every different plotline and character seen in the series rather than giving proper breathing time and buildup.
All this on the table, Odd Taxi: In the Woods is an interesting expansion on one of 2021’s most popular anime. The series remains to be the definitive way of getting into it, rather than starting with the movie first. That said, for die-hard fans of the series, the movie has enough new content and new perspectives that deepen the dynamics and expand upon the plotlines to definitely be worth visiting.
Odd Taxi: In the Woods is available to stream on Crunchyroll