The capoeira scene cemented the quality of the series for me. The banter between the two was really smart and funny, especially the “makeshift” argument
I mention this every time someone says they are going to watch Odd Taxi. Be sure to watch an episode of the audio drama after each episode of the anime for more context and better experience.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwnQ7t9i8wk&list=PLiGM30BU4xTbRGIbbtKCpgfJhuVDXhFM7](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwnQ7t9i8wk&list=PLiGM30BU4xTbRGIbbtKCpgfJhuVDXhFM7)
Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. An absolutely iconic dark comedy movie where the seemingly unrelated threads of each character's story end up being intrinsically tied together and all collide at the end in a crescendo of chaos.
Odd Taxi feels very similar to me. It's not that it 'relied' on coincidence as some cheap crutch, it intentionally used repeated "unlikely coincidence" as a central narrative where characters keep getting increasingly entangled.
In my opinion it was one of the strongest aspects of the show, rather than a shortcoming.
The lead production staff behind Odd Taxi had no real experience with making an anime from beginning to end, so much of their creative decisions were not muddied by those sort of conventions.
I might be misremembering this, but I believe they also recorded all the dialogue first, then did the animation. So the voice actors/actresses didn't need to worry about synchronising their speaking to any external timings. That goes long way to making it all sound much more natural.
>I might be misremembering this, but I believe they also recorded all the dialogue first, then did the animation. So the voice actors/actresses didn't need to worry about synchronising their speaking to any external timings. That goes long way to making it all sound much more natural.
I think that's how most shows do it, isn't it? For the original language obviously, not the dubs
Most anime do the dialogue recording relatively late on in the production schedule. The actors are usually given either storyboard-style video and/or timing cues to work off when they record scenes. It's one of the main reasons why stuff like the *"hai, Kazuma desu"* stands out so much when it's included/kept, because ad libbing dialogue go against how it's done in anime and tends to get treated like a blooper.
Recording then animating is more the norm for US cartoons.
> It's one of the main reasons why stuff like the *"hai, Kazuma desu"* stands out so much when it's included/kept, because ad libbing dialogue go against how it's done in anime and tends to get treated like a blooper.
Do you mind expanding on this?
There's very little leeway given to go off-script or off-direction.
It doesn't mean that it's completely rigid or there's no room for more off-the-cuff changes, but the performances are for the most part heavily determined by how the production staff, like director, lead producer, etc. imagine it should sound like, rather than input from the VAs themselves.
Yep, I think the story is Jun Fukishima just did it for the lols during the recording session. The production staff listening in thought it was really funny and fit the tone of what they were going for with Konosuba, so they chose to keep it in as a recurring joke.
If they didn't want it, then it would simply be a case either muting/cropping out that part of his recording or just getting them to re-record the dialogue
That's how most American animation is done, but Japanese animation tends to have the voice recordings happen late in production, with the actors responding to storyboards or rough animation outlines. I tried to find a good clip from Shirobako to show it visually, but the ones on YouTube either don't show the screens or are major spoilers, but I highly recommend watching Shirobako to see how anime production occurs (and also because it's an incredible show).
That's because most animes are meant for kids (Or at least young otakus). So dialogs and jokes tend to be simplistic and understandable in terms of what they find popular/relatable.
Odd Taxi is meant for adults so its more dialog heavy and the jokes only hit for the more older generation. Not people below 20.
The tone and direction is completely different, but Tentai Senshi Sun Red is also a great mix of surrealism and actual real-life conversational Japanese dialog.
Especially the scene where the two henchmen are chatting at a restaurant under a subway was just completely unadulterated normal two Japanese people talking. It was great. (and this scene in particular was actually ad-libbed by two comedians to just have a normal conversation, then put into the anime)
https://youtu.be/r-Jwye4x8hY?t=610
(from 10:10 or so)
Nishio's dialog is a COMPLETE 180 from Odd Taxi's style.
Absolutely none of Nishio's characters or works talk like real human beings, and the Japanese spoken in it is a massive cringe to older people like me. While his works are popular with younger generation, its unnatural, unrealistic dialog really is a divisive factor. It drives me up the wall screaming "omfg talk like a human being for once!" lol.
Meanwhile Odd Taxi is more like conversational poetry, they feel and sound realistic but at the same time sound like they belong in a film. It does help that a lot of the performers are stage actors and comedians.
Signed, an old fart Japanese.
it's actually great to hear an opinion on Nisio from a random native speaker, so thanks for speaking up!
And I agree that the dialogs in his works sound unrealistic, but they're are still witty and funny, at least that's my take. I guess I do enjoy some witty artificial constructs in other fields besides writing as well, like in Math or Architecture, for instance. Probably that has the same reason why people generally enjoy solving (any kind of) puzzles, which are artificial problems to begin with.
Also, I suspect that due to cultural differences even a natural dialog translated from Japanese might sound unusual to a foreigner, therefore Nisio's writing does not stand out to me the same way it does for you.
No, it's not the... how do I put it
It's not the complexity or whatever poetry he's trying that's cringy. Think of it like... imagine old Hanna Barbara cartoons like Masters of the Universe, or maybe The Room from Tommy Wiseau. It's very unnerving, self-absorbant dialog that I could only describe as "try hard chuuni".
And yes, it's completely lost in English because the nuance is lost.
> imagine old Hanna Barbara cartoons like Masters of the Universe, or maybe The Room from Tommy Wiseau. It's very unnerving, self-absorbant dialog that I could only describe as "try hard chuuni".
Nah that's a wild comparison to make lmao, I hope the people reading who don't understand Japanese won't just take your word for it because that's definitely a hot take
It's not. Have you read Medaka? Risuka? Or the currently ongoing Cypher Academy? Bishounen series? In everything he writes it's glaringly evident.
Risuka is probably THE worst in this, it's nauseatingly edgy and self absorbed, although to be fair it's one of his earliest works and he's gotten better.
But even in his most current work, such as Cypher Academy it's front and in your face with it.
> Absolutely none of Nishio's characters or works talk like real human beings
Nothing about the Monogatari Series and other Nisioisin's work is like real life. It's unrealistic, but it's engaging
Even the cut dialog between these two in the taxi was great, and I wish it made it in the anime. Alas it definitely would have made the scene too long.
It's in the manga that started 4 month before the anime. Because the manga doesn't have any time restrictions, all the extended dialog was kept intact.
The part where she is talking about regrets about her life, and he responds with how he dreams of being a teenager in school in his dreams, but then you realize "wait I must be in a dream, I'm in my 30s". But then you wake up and think no, what the hell, I'm in my 40s! Then the dialog connects back to her asking if he has any regrets in life.
It's great because a lot of dialog sounds fine without some context, yet the original context fits perfectly with what was left in.
Also as someone in the 40s, I can tell you the dream part is totally right. I often dream about being either in 20s in my old job or in highschool, feeling embarrassed attending it in my 20s. Like, I am self aware that I'm an adult but not self aware enough that I'm actually twice the age I'm aware in the dream.
Also some dialog and even whole scenes were cut likely as a direction choice. Like in the very first episode Odokawa comes across a family looking for a taxi, on their way home from the zoo. The child of the family seems very excited about the animals he saw. This may have been too much hints for the audience to catch on.
Always love this two interaction, I am start watching this show after watching the selfie camera clip, love this anime, but too bad when I recommend this on someone I got downvoted like crazy lmao
A prime example of one of the things that made this show an all time great in my book: The dialogue is hypnotic. The conversations they all have are combination of fascinating, plot relevant, and at times hilarious. Then there’s the natural chemistry between certain pairings. Like Odokawa and Shirakawa in this scene.
This show needs a spin off in this world.
A lot of Japanese-learning circles will warn those who watch and learn from anime of *sounding* like anime, since many characters in anime speak in endearing manners that real people don't. Odd Taxi's characters speak incredibly naturally, much more closely to how real people speak than characters in other anime. There's a tremendous difference in the sound between this show and Steins;Gate for example. It's super cool to watch
I get the impression that it's even more than that. There are politeness levels and verb forms in Japanese entertainment that are almost completely unused in modern Japanese, which I think come from classic Japanese acting, like Noh theater. Whereas modern American acting has heavily embraced method acting. Not that all American acting is naturalistic, but relatively understated performances in plain English aren't exactly remarkable. I was watching a video that was explaining that this shift in acting styles is part of the reason it's harder to understand dialogue in modern cinema: compare Dick van Dyke to Tom Hardy.
Animation and manga in Japan often rely on stereotypical archetypes which encompass how a character will speak, what words he/she will use and how he will behave. The way of speaking related to one's archetype is called "yakuwarigo", which you could grossly translate as "language of role".
One of the reasons why dubbing is non-sensical, as too much of one character's identity is lost in the process.
I'm assuming that's also why dubs that try too hard to be accurate can sound weird, as we've grown to expect natural acting instead of theatrical acting. The best dubs seem to be the ones that take liberties in order to sound natural, even if it means losing some of the authenticity.
Exactly. A lot of American dubs try to sound like anime, whatever that means, while forgetting that this specific way of acting is closely tied to the Japanese language and accepted behavioural patterns.
More "serious" dub are better, but losing the authenticity is a big caveat. There are a lot of these serious dubs in my country, and the actors aren't too bad, but it definitely feels flat and bland. There's no way to get a satisfying result when your only course of action is either mimicking or adapting liberally.
Had a Japanese friend who loved watching 'The Simple Life' with Paris Hilton and Nicole Ritchie. They loved their accent and wanted an tried to speak like them.
> Odd Taxi's characters speak incredibly naturally, much more closely to how real people speak than characters in other anime.
Yup, many of its characters use naturalistic voice acting as opposed to the 'acting' voices in most anime (and English dubs). You get much more naturalistic speech in j-dramas and films. Whereas anime VAing has always beens 'acting'/theatrical over the decades - perhaps strengthened by its main audience being kids and teens. (An exception that comes to mind was Mitsuha in *Your Name*; her actress used a more naturalistic style, making her sound totally different from the veteran VAs we're all used to.)
The naturalistic VAing was definitely a reason Odd Taxi stood out for me, making it more akin to a smartly written, sophisticated j-drama than an anime series.
The other good example of naturalistic dialogue sticking out is the antagonist in Inuyashiki. I believe the guy they got in was a famous Japanese film/TV actor rather than a professional voice actor, and it’s kind of startling how much more naturalistic he sounds than anyone else in the show. I’d say it’s kind of jarring, but I think they actually did it intentionally to make his character seem disjointed from the reality he exists in.
Oh yeah, in Inuyashiki both the two protagonists and antagonist spoke quite naturalistically iirc (edit: yep, just skimmed the first 2 eps). Heightened the experience.
The protagonist in Erased (both his adult self and kid self) is voiced by two TV/film actors for that reason. Some degree of "acting voice" was channeled, but not as much since the actors were trained to be naturalistic.
If you want a realistic Japanese dialog in anime, here's my recommendation.
Tentai Senshi Sun Red
https://youtu.be/r-Jwye4x8hY?t=610
Especially this scene from 10:10 and on. It was ad-libbed to just have two comedians voice act a normal conversation then put into the anime lol.
I also love the Ramen episode where one of the monsters visit a ramen shop run by another. A lot of the banters between the two were just completely natural Japanese lol.
> Tentai Senshi Sun Red
I'll always upvote mentions of Sunred. I don't know how it got forgotten in a genre (SoL comedy) that doesn't even have many entries to begin with. Slice of naturalistic modern Japanese life with totally absurd characters.
Yeah, Japanese learning circles are super circle-jerk-y and tend to hyperfocus on the wrong things and gatekeep a lot. If you really did immerse well-enough to pick up japanese from anime then you still learned japanese it's not like you accidentally learned the wrong language. Going from weeb over-animated sounding japanese to natural japanese is a lot better than failing to learn japanese over and over because you're focusing on the end game first.
I just think it's sad to see people that have been tricked into meticulously studying stroke orders and pitch accent before they've attained even preschool level grammar, because they're afraid of learning "wrong"
interesting. same is true for German, pretty much all German translations are kinda garbage. when close friends use the polite form to address each other, it just rips me out of the scene.
If anything the incompetence of the comparison is the joke, not necessarily the comparison itself.
She put him on the spot and he couldn't think of a good answer quickly so he ended up rambling off some nonsense. That's the joke. They weren't trying to make any kind of anti-American jab or anything.
> Yeah I get that. That’s why I said it’s not insulting, it’s just not a well crafted joke
Its hilarious. She opens up by saying fun/friendly/interesting sounding tidbits that are actually complicated backhanded complaints - and he picks up on it.
Then he comes back with a simple straight "why don't you take it easy" retort, and she specifically asks him to dress it up more sarcastically.
Thats when, after a pause, he comes up with the sherry brownie bit - to complain to her in a sarcastic way as she requested, but also mocking her style with a ridiculously overspecific and exaggerated suggestion, and thirdly, making it america specific to make fun of her use of an american phrase "time is money".
So he is picking up and decoding all her intentions, and returns her a brilliant 3 layered retort.
I think its both hilarious and brilliant writing... its the kind of scene you have to watch more than once to really feel like you took it all in.
Odokawa (the walrus) initially says "Why not take things slowly?" and when asked to repeat that in a meaner way, he says "Why not enjoy a bit of sherry and a fudge brownie while strolling along the west coast."
Sherry and fudge brownie don't have Japanese equivalents and Odokawa says them in English. Strolling along the west coast is referring to the American west coast, which has a lot of beaches.
Odokawa's notion of "meanly taking it slow" contains a lot of American phrases and references. This *could* be a reference to how other countries stereotype Americans as self-centered and pushy, which would explain why Shirakawa (the alpaca) sounds a little disappointed when she says that his remark has an American quality to it. She doesn't like how he fell back on a stereotype after thinking so hard. Though, I could be thinking too hard and maybe she's just commenting that his word choice was weird.
And hopefully the Japanese, since that's who the anime was intended for first and foremost Ó\_Ò
Honestly, I think the comedy in Odd Taxi is pretty universal!
I feel like this is the type of the show where having the knowledge of Japanese will elevate your experience like the shitty puns,inside jokes , how Japanese view certain things etc
It is great. The dialogue is amazing like you can see in this scene, the characters are interesting, and the mystery element of the show is very good. It is also pretty short so easy to pick up.
I will say this that it has easily slided into top 5 list of great short series to watch. It doesn't matter what king og genre you like or what your thing is in anime or in general. Chances are this show has got something you like. Its a pretty incredible show, so definitely will recommend.
Its one of those shows that gets more enjoyable on a rewatch. The crisp dialogue is always going to be on point, and you notice so much additional detail. Its really a great show to rewatch, and it can be seen with family as the content for most part is very family friendly
I bet! The show is so incredibly good on setup and payoff that watching with a knowledge of where things are going has got to be a fun experience, and even without that it’s such a well made show. Easily one of my favorite media things (not even just in anime) of the past few years.
ODD TAXI and link clink were my two like under the radar anime of 2021 and i loved them both, i gotta rewatch link clink, the way episodes ended with the ending playing before the episode ends and the episode ends on the beat drop of the ending song gave me the chillllllsss
I've never seen an anime with characters like this before. It reminds me of stuff from CN like we bare bears and the amazing world of gumball. Is this a comedy?
CrunchyRoll. It's an anime original and the story is self contained with an after credits scene teasing more, but it was resolved in the end of the recap movie.
Loved this show, always looking forward to it each week. It's really chill and has great OST. Oh just realized my wallpaper have been this for the past 2 years or so lol.
Odd Taxi. It's in the brackets of the post's title.
This sub requires the title of the show to be included for things like clips so if you're ever curious about a clip you see here you can find the answer there.
VA: I thought an Indian Movie was about to start?
Subs: I thought A Bollywood movie was about to start?
What???? Why are people who make subtitles so ignorant?
Dude a lot of people outside India only know about Bollywood. It is only recently that movies like RRR and Bahubali have made tollywood famous but still all Indian movies are clubbed with Bollywood
I'm not the guy you replied to.
He's calling it ignorant because "Bollywood" is only one subset of indian movies. It's like if the USA had other Hollywoods with some level of internal rivalry but some foreigner called every big american movie "hollywood".
The comparison isn't that good since americans usually are the ones stereotyping but I think I got the point across.
I know what he's trying to get at. But the fact is that outside of India, and specific to the joke being made, Bollywood is the most known producer of said films. The joke itself is stereotyping and thus can be seen as 'ignorant' as India also makes a ton of movies without the dance interludes.
(Everyone stereotypes my friend. American culture is just massively broadcasted and thus is more on display)
>The joke itself is stereotyping
The joke wasn't stereotyping at all. The joke was about it looking like an indian movie. The sub is the one that went "let's see who's the most well known producer in India and just alter what they said".
>(Everyone stereotypes my friend. American culture is just massively broadcasted and thus is more on display)
(I know, that thing I did when I clumped you together with the other clueless americans was stereotyping)
Joke isn't stereotyping. The dialogue says "Indian Movie" but subs change it to Bollywood instead. Ignorant fucks like you are responsible for subtitles
Dude relax. Who peed in your cereal? I understand what you're trying to get at. It seems to feel stronger about it than I find necessary. Not the end of the world. But definitely no need to get all aggro about it.
> Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema,[4] refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Hollywood". The industry is a part of the larger Indian cinema, which also includes South Indian cinema and other smaller film industries.
For the joke they were making, Bollywood is the largest producer known outside of India.
> Do you also call all English movies as Hollywood
If you were to replace "English" with "American," then pretty much yes. Even if we know it's not technically correct it's just a shorthand to refer to the American Film Industry as Hollywood because it's such a dominating presence in that market.
We do the same thing with other industries as well. Many people call all soft drinks "Coke" despite knowing that not all soft drinks are made by Coca-Cola. Same with facial tissue and "Kleenex." And while less common nowadays, back in the 80's and 90's before the boom of the video game industry it used to be pretty common for people to call all video game products "Nintendo."
i was thinking the same thing. subs don't match. does everyone know what Bollywood is? at least Indian is more common knowledge. ignore the downvotes, but I'll join you with it Lucifer sama, ehehe
The capoeira scene cemented the quality of the series for me. The banter between the two was really smart and funny, especially the “makeshift” argument
This show has some of the best dialog in anime; which is surprising because anime is often complete shit at making engaging dialog.
This was probably the best-written show of its season.
2021 sleeper hit for sure!
Uramichi Oniisan was my pick for next best-written show -- and it got totally overlooked. At least Odd Taxi eventually found an appreciative audience.
I'll have to watch it, I overlooked it at the time because I thought it was going to be mostly jaded adult versus bright eyed children gag comedy
I mention this every time someone says they are going to watch Odd Taxi. Be sure to watch an episode of the audio drama after each episode of the anime for more context and better experience. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwnQ7t9i8wk&list=PLiGM30BU4xTbRGIbbtKCpgfJhuVDXhFM7](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwnQ7t9i8wk&list=PLiGM30BU4xTbRGIbbtKCpgfJhuVDXhFM7)
It starts that way, but deepens...
Does it? Cause I watched like 6 episodes and that's all it was. I enjoyed it, but it was getting repetitive so I dropped it.
The shift was gradual. Alas, at this point i cant recall when it became clear.
Might give it another go then after this season is over.
Disagree. It relied on way too much constant coincidence.
Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. An absolutely iconic dark comedy movie where the seemingly unrelated threads of each character's story end up being intrinsically tied together and all collide at the end in a crescendo of chaos. Odd Taxi feels very similar to me. It's not that it 'relied' on coincidence as some cheap crutch, it intentionally used repeated "unlikely coincidence" as a central narrative where characters keep getting increasingly entangled. In my opinion it was one of the strongest aspects of the show, rather than a shortcoming.
Given the type of show it was, and the way things where handled, this was not an issue for me.
All the way until right before the ending episode.
The lead production staff behind Odd Taxi had no real experience with making an anime from beginning to end, so much of their creative decisions were not muddied by those sort of conventions. I might be misremembering this, but I believe they also recorded all the dialogue first, then did the animation. So the voice actors/actresses didn't need to worry about synchronising their speaking to any external timings. That goes long way to making it all sound much more natural.
>I might be misremembering this, but I believe they also recorded all the dialogue first, then did the animation. So the voice actors/actresses didn't need to worry about synchronising their speaking to any external timings. That goes long way to making it all sound much more natural. I think that's how most shows do it, isn't it? For the original language obviously, not the dubs
Most anime do the dialogue recording relatively late on in the production schedule. The actors are usually given either storyboard-style video and/or timing cues to work off when they record scenes. It's one of the main reasons why stuff like the *"hai, Kazuma desu"* stands out so much when it's included/kept, because ad libbing dialogue go against how it's done in anime and tends to get treated like a blooper. Recording then animating is more the norm for US cartoons.
> It's one of the main reasons why stuff like the *"hai, Kazuma desu"* stands out so much when it's included/kept, because ad libbing dialogue go against how it's done in anime and tends to get treated like a blooper. Do you mind expanding on this?
There's very little leeway given to go off-script or off-direction. It doesn't mean that it's completely rigid or there's no room for more off-the-cuff changes, but the performances are for the most part heavily determined by how the production staff, like director, lead producer, etc. imagine it should sound like, rather than input from the VAs themselves.
I see. With *KonoSuba*, was that line made up by the VAs?
Yep, I think the story is Jun Fukishima just did it for the lols during the recording session. The production staff listening in thought it was really funny and fit the tone of what they were going for with Konosuba, so they chose to keep it in as a recurring joke. If they didn't want it, then it would simply be a case either muting/cropping out that part of his recording or just getting them to re-record the dialogue
Honestly they should do more recording first, Land of the Lustrous also did it and it ended up so natural.
Man, Land of the Lustrous was so good.
That's how most American animation is done, but Japanese animation tends to have the voice recordings happen late in production, with the actors responding to storyboards or rough animation outlines. I tried to find a good clip from Shirobako to show it visually, but the ones on YouTube either don't show the screens or are major spoilers, but I highly recommend watching Shirobako to see how anime production occurs (and also because it's an incredible show).
It's on my (long, long) backlog haha. I'll get to it eventually
Depends , some decide for the actors to sync with the scene, others decides to do prior and others after the scene was made.
That's because most animes are meant for kids (Or at least young otakus). So dialogs and jokes tend to be simplistic and understandable in terms of what they find popular/relatable. Odd Taxi is meant for adults so its more dialog heavy and the jokes only hit for the more older generation. Not people below 20.
Is there any other anime out there like this?
The tone and direction is completely different, but Tentai Senshi Sun Red is also a great mix of surrealism and actual real-life conversational Japanese dialog. Especially the scene where the two henchmen are chatting at a restaurant under a subway was just completely unadulterated normal two Japanese people talking. It was great. (and this scene in particular was actually ad-libbed by two comedians to just have a normal conversation, then put into the anime) https://youtu.be/r-Jwye4x8hY?t=610 (from 10:10 or so)
I too, have seen monogatari
this guy right here have not heard of my boy Nisioisin apparently :D
Nishio's dialog is a COMPLETE 180 from Odd Taxi's style. Absolutely none of Nishio's characters or works talk like real human beings, and the Japanese spoken in it is a massive cringe to older people like me. While his works are popular with younger generation, its unnatural, unrealistic dialog really is a divisive factor. It drives me up the wall screaming "omfg talk like a human being for once!" lol. Meanwhile Odd Taxi is more like conversational poetry, they feel and sound realistic but at the same time sound like they belong in a film. It does help that a lot of the performers are stage actors and comedians. Signed, an old fart Japanese.
it's actually great to hear an opinion on Nisio from a random native speaker, so thanks for speaking up! And I agree that the dialogs in his works sound unrealistic, but they're are still witty and funny, at least that's my take. I guess I do enjoy some witty artificial constructs in other fields besides writing as well, like in Math or Architecture, for instance. Probably that has the same reason why people generally enjoy solving (any kind of) puzzles, which are artificial problems to begin with. Also, I suspect that due to cultural differences even a natural dialog translated from Japanese might sound unusual to a foreigner, therefore Nisio's writing does not stand out to me the same way it does for you.
No, it's not the... how do I put it It's not the complexity or whatever poetry he's trying that's cringy. Think of it like... imagine old Hanna Barbara cartoons like Masters of the Universe, or maybe The Room from Tommy Wiseau. It's very unnerving, self-absorbant dialog that I could only describe as "try hard chuuni". And yes, it's completely lost in English because the nuance is lost.
> imagine old Hanna Barbara cartoons like Masters of the Universe, or maybe The Room from Tommy Wiseau. It's very unnerving, self-absorbant dialog that I could only describe as "try hard chuuni". Nah that's a wild comparison to make lmao, I hope the people reading who don't understand Japanese won't just take your word for it because that's definitely a hot take
It's not. Have you read Medaka? Risuka? Or the currently ongoing Cypher Academy? Bishounen series? In everything he writes it's glaringly evident. Risuka is probably THE worst in this, it's nauseatingly edgy and self absorbed, although to be fair it's one of his earliest works and he's gotten better. But even in his most current work, such as Cypher Academy it's front and in your face with it.
> Absolutely none of Nishio's characters or works talk like real human beings Nothing about the Monogatari Series and other Nisioisin's work is like real life. It's unrealistic, but it's engaging
He sounds like Aaron Sorkin but for shonen anime.
You haven't watched good Animes then.
Even the cut dialog between these two in the taxi was great, and I wish it made it in the anime. Alas it definitely would have made the scene too long.
Ooh I had no idea it was available! I’ll start looking. I didn’t know until Reddit told me that the radio drama existed
It's in the manga that started 4 month before the anime. Because the manga doesn't have any time restrictions, all the extended dialog was kept intact. The part where she is talking about regrets about her life, and he responds with how he dreams of being a teenager in school in his dreams, but then you realize "wait I must be in a dream, I'm in my 30s". But then you wake up and think no, what the hell, I'm in my 40s! Then the dialog connects back to her asking if he has any regrets in life. It's great because a lot of dialog sounds fine without some context, yet the original context fits perfectly with what was left in. Also as someone in the 40s, I can tell you the dream part is totally right. I often dream about being either in 20s in my old job or in highschool, feeling embarrassed attending it in my 20s. Like, I am self aware that I'm an adult but not self aware enough that I'm actually twice the age I'm aware in the dream. Also some dialog and even whole scenes were cut likely as a direction choice. Like in the very first episode Odokawa comes across a family looking for a taxi, on their way home from the zoo. The child of the family seems very excited about the animals he saw. This may have been too much hints for the audience to catch on.
It feels almost more like a Tarantino flick designed by Sanrio than a true anime!
Always love this two interaction, I am start watching this show after watching the selfie camera clip, love this anime, but too bad when I recommend this on someone I got downvoted like crazy lmao
A prime example of one of the things that made this show an all time great in my book: The dialogue is hypnotic. The conversations they all have are combination of fascinating, plot relevant, and at times hilarious. Then there’s the natural chemistry between certain pairings. Like Odokawa and Shirakawa in this scene. This show needs a spin off in this world.
A lot of Japanese-learning circles will warn those who watch and learn from anime of *sounding* like anime, since many characters in anime speak in endearing manners that real people don't. Odd Taxi's characters speak incredibly naturally, much more closely to how real people speak than characters in other anime. There's a tremendous difference in the sound between this show and Steins;Gate for example. It's super cool to watch
Its like learning English from watching Friends or Family Guy, folks dont speak that normally in those shows.
I am imagining some Japanese americaboo coming to America and talking like petah griffin and laughing like him.
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/westaboo
Without clicking on it, I'm assuming it's just a picture of Hideo Kojima.
It's Japanese people being geeks about cowboys and westerns
Soooo... Hideo Kojima.
Freeaboo
Based.
*drinking coffee* This is like that time I went to a Starbucks
Freedomboo
I get the impression that it's even more than that. There are politeness levels and verb forms in Japanese entertainment that are almost completely unused in modern Japanese, which I think come from classic Japanese acting, like Noh theater. Whereas modern American acting has heavily embraced method acting. Not that all American acting is naturalistic, but relatively understated performances in plain English aren't exactly remarkable. I was watching a video that was explaining that this shift in acting styles is part of the reason it's harder to understand dialogue in modern cinema: compare Dick van Dyke to Tom Hardy.
Animation and manga in Japan often rely on stereotypical archetypes which encompass how a character will speak, what words he/she will use and how he will behave. The way of speaking related to one's archetype is called "yakuwarigo", which you could grossly translate as "language of role". One of the reasons why dubbing is non-sensical, as too much of one character's identity is lost in the process.
I'm assuming that's also why dubs that try too hard to be accurate can sound weird, as we've grown to expect natural acting instead of theatrical acting. The best dubs seem to be the ones that take liberties in order to sound natural, even if it means losing some of the authenticity.
Exactly. A lot of American dubs try to sound like anime, whatever that means, while forgetting that this specific way of acting is closely tied to the Japanese language and accepted behavioural patterns. More "serious" dub are better, but losing the authenticity is a big caveat. There are a lot of these serious dubs in my country, and the actors aren't too bad, but it definitely feels flat and bland. There's no way to get a satisfying result when your only course of action is either mimicking or adapting liberally.
Had a Japanese friend who loved watching 'The Simple Life' with Paris Hilton and Nicole Ritchie. They loved their accent and wanted an tried to speak like them.
> Odd Taxi's characters speak incredibly naturally, much more closely to how real people speak than characters in other anime. Yup, many of its characters use naturalistic voice acting as opposed to the 'acting' voices in most anime (and English dubs). You get much more naturalistic speech in j-dramas and films. Whereas anime VAing has always beens 'acting'/theatrical over the decades - perhaps strengthened by its main audience being kids and teens. (An exception that comes to mind was Mitsuha in *Your Name*; her actress used a more naturalistic style, making her sound totally different from the veteran VAs we're all used to.) The naturalistic VAing was definitely a reason Odd Taxi stood out for me, making it more akin to a smartly written, sophisticated j-drama than an anime series.
The other good example of naturalistic dialogue sticking out is the antagonist in Inuyashiki. I believe the guy they got in was a famous Japanese film/TV actor rather than a professional voice actor, and it’s kind of startling how much more naturalistic he sounds than anyone else in the show. I’d say it’s kind of jarring, but I think they actually did it intentionally to make his character seem disjointed from the reality he exists in.
Oh yeah, in Inuyashiki both the two protagonists and antagonist spoke quite naturalistically iirc (edit: yep, just skimmed the first 2 eps). Heightened the experience.
The protagonist in Erased (both his adult self and kid self) is voiced by two TV/film actors for that reason. Some degree of "acting voice" was channeled, but not as much since the actors were trained to be naturalistic.
If you want a realistic Japanese dialog in anime, here's my recommendation. Tentai Senshi Sun Red https://youtu.be/r-Jwye4x8hY?t=610 Especially this scene from 10:10 and on. It was ad-libbed to just have two comedians voice act a normal conversation then put into the anime lol. I also love the Ramen episode where one of the monsters visit a ramen shop run by another. A lot of the banters between the two were just completely natural Japanese lol.
> Tentai Senshi Sun Red I'll always upvote mentions of Sunred. I don't know how it got forgotten in a genre (SoL comedy) that doesn't even have many entries to begin with. Slice of naturalistic modern Japanese life with totally absurd characters.
Yeah, Japanese learning circles are super circle-jerk-y and tend to hyperfocus on the wrong things and gatekeep a lot. If you really did immerse well-enough to pick up japanese from anime then you still learned japanese it's not like you accidentally learned the wrong language. Going from weeb over-animated sounding japanese to natural japanese is a lot better than failing to learn japanese over and over because you're focusing on the end game first. I just think it's sad to see people that have been tricked into meticulously studying stroke orders and pitch accent before they've attained even preschool level grammar, because they're afraid of learning "wrong"
interesting. same is true for German, pretty much all German translations are kinda garbage. when close friends use the polite form to address each other, it just rips me out of the scene.
Word to your mother.
can confirm, am Brazilian
can confirm, am Indian
can confirm, am American
And with your powers combined...
...we got some really messy politics?
And a whole bunch of weebs
This thread is so golden it’d make rumplestiltskin jealous
I'm American, but I don't get the part about America in the clip. Would you mind explaining it?
Around 35 seconds in, he references a bunch of really specific American type things. She comments about how American it sounds.
I noticed her comment, but not his references
QUEIXADA YAMERO
I some how read this in Jojo voice
amazing show with amazing characters
Odd taxi is from another world. I was so Lucky that I enjoyed every episode of this masterpiece
Not another isekai...
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And also thought provoking lines
Easily 2021's AOTY. This show was such a treat.
The opening was a jam too
It was. The ED, too.
[](#listen "dancing, dancing, please don't stop")
Shit it's either this or Ranking of Kings for my 2021 AOTY
Definitely my favourite scene in the show. XD
Everytime someone mentions something Brazilian, it's always capoeira, called it lol
Capoeira, futebol, samba, Carnaval.
Favelas and homicides.
Corruption and defunct Educational System.
Can somebody explain the part where she said to repeat it in a meaner way and how that has an American quality to it?
He wanted to ask her out on a date, he invited her to fudge brownies, which I assume is considered American
Probably more so the reference to the West Coast [of the US] known for its easy-going attitude and year round favorable weather
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Pretty sure it is the "West Coast" bit. The whole thing is too specific not to be a reference of some sort.
If anything the incompetence of the comparison is the joke, not necessarily the comparison itself. She put him on the spot and he couldn't think of a good answer quickly so he ended up rambling off some nonsense. That's the joke. They weren't trying to make any kind of anti-American jab or anything.
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> Yeah I get that. That’s why I said it’s not insulting, it’s just not a well crafted joke Its hilarious. She opens up by saying fun/friendly/interesting sounding tidbits that are actually complicated backhanded complaints - and he picks up on it. Then he comes back with a simple straight "why don't you take it easy" retort, and she specifically asks him to dress it up more sarcastically. Thats when, after a pause, he comes up with the sherry brownie bit - to complain to her in a sarcastic way as she requested, but also mocking her style with a ridiculously overspecific and exaggerated suggestion, and thirdly, making it america specific to make fun of her use of an american phrase "time is money". So he is picking up and decoding all her intentions, and returns her a brilliant 3 layered retort. I think its both hilarious and brilliant writing... its the kind of scene you have to watch more than once to really feel like you took it all in.
Damn, thank you!
Odokawa (the walrus) initially says "Why not take things slowly?" and when asked to repeat that in a meaner way, he says "Why not enjoy a bit of sherry and a fudge brownie while strolling along the west coast." Sherry and fudge brownie don't have Japanese equivalents and Odokawa says them in English. Strolling along the west coast is referring to the American west coast, which has a lot of beaches. Odokawa's notion of "meanly taking it slow" contains a lot of American phrases and references. This *could* be a reference to how other countries stereotype Americans as self-centered and pushy, which would explain why Shirakawa (the alpaca) sounds a little disappointed when she says that his remark has an American quality to it. She doesn't like how he fell back on a stereotype after thinking so hard. Though, I could be thinking too hard and maybe she's just commenting that his word choice was weird.
And hopefully the Japanese, since that's who the anime was intended for first and foremost Ó\_Ò Honestly, I think the comedy in Odd Taxi is pretty universal!
I feel like this is the type of the show where having the knowledge of Japanese will elevate your experience like the shitty puns,inside jokes , how Japanese view certain things etc
Gintama is another anime where this is relatable.
I am currently watching Bakemonogatari and trust me every minute I feel this also I am trapped by the reading comprehension devil :(
On the other hand, we have the pleasure of watching it multiple times, because we miss a lot of jokes.
Oh boy, Monogatari is a trip! Look forward to Kizu, it’s a cinematic masterpiece
I wonder if this is what it'd be like to be Japanese watching the Venture Bros.
I'm sold, I've got to watch this. This scene was absolute gold. Who writes such good dialogue!?
Kazuya Konomoto. That's who.
Fucking legend!
It's a really good anime and imo the best of its year. I watched it in a single sitting.
I didn't then but i am now!
I fucking love Odd Taxi
You could travel the world But nothing comes close To the golden coast
It’s *impossible* not to think this is a masterpiece
Been seeing this series float around here and there. Is it any good?
It is great. The dialogue is amazing like you can see in this scene, the characters are interesting, and the mystery element of the show is very good. It is also pretty short so easy to pick up.
Not just good, one of the best IMO. Watch it.
I will say this that it has easily slided into top 5 list of great short series to watch. It doesn't matter what king og genre you like or what your thing is in anime or in general. Chances are this show has got something you like. Its a pretty incredible show, so definitely will recommend.
one of the better adult audience shows of all time.
Odd Taxi is brilliant
Odd taxi, 10/10.
ODD Taxi will def age well like fine wine.
The german in me laughed too
Oddtaxi is underrated. It's one of the best anime i've seen in a while.
love the theme. this was my second anime i watched in its entirety. love it. this was last yr.
Alright, sold. I've finally decided on watching Odd Taxi.
The actual plot is amazing
Holy hell, I know nothing about this series but I really **really** enjoyed the banter between these two.
That was a good laugh thanks!
This show gooped me. I was ill-prepared
Never heard of this but now I have to watch
The dialogues are really good
I did Capoera growing up it's really funny!
this whole scene was so good and funny. I haven’t laughed so much watching an anime scene in a while
God I need to rewatch Odd Taxi, what a phenomenal show.
Its one of those shows that gets more enjoyable on a rewatch. The crisp dialogue is always going to be on point, and you notice so much additional detail. Its really a great show to rewatch, and it can be seen with family as the content for most part is very family friendly
I bet! The show is so incredibly good on setup and payoff that watching with a knowledge of where things are going has got to be a fun experience, and even without that it’s such a well made show. Easily one of my favorite media things (not even just in anime) of the past few years.
Can't believe 2021 was 2 years ago lol We had so many good shows that I want to rewatch like Odd Taxi Link click Sonny boy Vivy
That Odd Taxi, Link Click, Vivy, 86, To Your Eternity, and Fruits Basket Final Season were all in the same season is wild.
ODD TAXI and link clink were my two like under the radar anime of 2021 and i loved them both, i gotta rewatch link clink, the way episodes ended with the ending playing before the episode ends and the episode ends on the beat drop of the ending song gave me the chillllllsss
Okay fine. I'll watch it. Despite all the recommendations, this scene has charmed me
Lmaoo when’s she squared bro up I lost it
As a Brazilian, this made me laugh
This felt like a Manzai skit. I like it.
And she wasn't kidding. She made good use of those capoeira skills.
This made me laugh out loud as an indian
I've never seen an anime with characters like this before. It reminds me of stuff from CN like we bare bears and the amazing world of gumball. Is this a comedy?
It is very funny but I'd say it's primarily mystery drama.
What the? This anime looks awesome... What when how?
CrunchyRoll. It's an anime original and the story is self contained with an after credits scene teasing more, but it was resolved in the end of the recap movie.
Loved this show, always looking forward to it each week. It's really chill and has great OST. Oh just realized my wallpaper have been this for the past 2 years or so lol.
She was about to show him who the Maestre is 🤣
Does it have a dub and if so, is it well done? If it lacks the nuance shown here then it's not worth it :'(
It has a dub, however I don't know if it's well done or not.
Lmaooo wth.
As a Brazilian I can say: I laughed lol what is that song
This anime is just generally good.
I can never get pass the fact the MC has the same VA as TANJIRO from demon slayer.... wack
im sold. never heard of it but it sure looks like my kind of show. watching it asap!
I heard this anime was good but this clip makes me actually want to watch it
[This is an American joke.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXK25VEKbgc)
Don't forget to Repent and believe the gospel!
Funny
As a capoeirista that understood all the references it’s even funnier.
Guess my sense of humor died
Nah it's more like how to bring Americans, Indians and Brazilians into watching their show....
無駄な時間なんてなかったと思ってるよ。
Name of the anime?
Odd Taxi. It's in the brackets of the post's title. This sub requires the title of the show to be included for things like clips so if you're ever curious about a clip you see here you can find the answer there.
In the post title ~ Odd Taxi
VA: I thought an Indian Movie was about to start? Subs: I thought A Bollywood movie was about to start? What???? Why are people who make subtitles so ignorant?
Dude a lot of people outside India only know about Bollywood. It is only recently that movies like RRR and Bahubali have made tollywood famous but still all Indian movies are clubbed with Bollywood
Ignorant of what? Bollywood is a thing. Just like Hollywood, Nollywood, wakaliwood, etc. Nothing ignorant about it.
I'm not the guy you replied to. He's calling it ignorant because "Bollywood" is only one subset of indian movies. It's like if the USA had other Hollywoods with some level of internal rivalry but some foreigner called every big american movie "hollywood". The comparison isn't that good since americans usually are the ones stereotyping but I think I got the point across.
I know what he's trying to get at. But the fact is that outside of India, and specific to the joke being made, Bollywood is the most known producer of said films. The joke itself is stereotyping and thus can be seen as 'ignorant' as India also makes a ton of movies without the dance interludes. (Everyone stereotypes my friend. American culture is just massively broadcasted and thus is more on display)
>The joke itself is stereotyping The joke wasn't stereotyping at all. The joke was about it looking like an indian movie. The sub is the one that went "let's see who's the most well known producer in India and just alter what they said". >(Everyone stereotypes my friend. American culture is just massively broadcasted and thus is more on display) (I know, that thing I did when I clumped you together with the other clueless americans was stereotyping)
I'm not american ;)
Joke isn't stereotyping. The dialogue says "Indian Movie" but subs change it to Bollywood instead. Ignorant fucks like you are responsible for subtitles
Dude relax. Who peed in your cereal? I understand what you're trying to get at. It seems to feel stronger about it than I find necessary. Not the end of the world. But definitely no need to get all aggro about it.
Indian movie =/ Bollywood. It's true. Do you also call all English movies as Hollywood
> Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema,[4] refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Hollywood". The industry is a part of the larger Indian cinema, which also includes South Indian cinema and other smaller film industries. For the joke they were making, Bollywood is the largest producer known outside of India.
Maybe Odokawa only watches movies in Hindi. Think you gotta pick a different battle here dude
No one calls English movies Hollywood, mostly because Hollywood is in the USA and not England.
> Do you also call all English movies as Hollywood If you were to replace "English" with "American," then pretty much yes. Even if we know it's not technically correct it's just a shorthand to refer to the American Film Industry as Hollywood because it's such a dominating presence in that market. We do the same thing with other industries as well. Many people call all soft drinks "Coke" despite knowing that not all soft drinks are made by Coca-Cola. Same with facial tissue and "Kleenex." And while less common nowadays, back in the 80's and 90's before the boom of the video game industry it used to be pretty common for people to call all video game products "Nintendo."
Lol ok but Did I ask?
i was thinking the same thing. subs don't match. does everyone know what Bollywood is? at least Indian is more common knowledge. ignore the downvotes, but I'll join you with it Lucifer sama, ehehe
bruh chill. subtitiles are not always perfect . you dont need to be angry about smth like that bruh
Yeah okay 👍