History Anime / OddTaxi

* TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers: [[spoiler: Most of the characters witnessing Odokawa's taxi fall into the bay get a flashback to a painful memory involving something falling into water (e.g. Tanaka and his phone being dropped into the ditch, Rui watching Yuki's corpse being thrown into the bay) with the exception of Sakura, who instead recalls a happy memory of her mother dropping some fried chicken into a pot of oil. This is one of the last hints before the reveal that something is up with her.]]

* BookEnds: During Odokawa's clinical visit in episode 1, Goriki asks him what he looks like. Odokawa tells him he's a gorilla, annoying Goriki. [[spoiler:In the last episode, when Odokawa is cleared of his visual agnosia, Goriki once again ask what he looks like, with Odokawa responding he's a human, much to Goriki's joy.]]

* TitleDrop: Dobu's plan to [[spoiler:steal the billion yen from Imai]] is codenamed "[=ODDTAXI=]", since the plan involves using Odokawa's taxi and all.

* CountingBullets: [[spoiler:Dobu doesn't take the threat of Tanaka pointing his own gun at him seriously, because he believes Tanaka fired six times in the last week and would not be able to get extra ammunition. Turns out Tanaka did have a bullet left because it was someone else with a different gun who fired one of the previous shots.]]

* CallForward: In "Tanaka's Revolution", during Tanaka's childhood it's shown that he got scammed betting on a one-of-a-kind Donraku eraser, which is presumably the very same eraser Shirakawa gives Odokawa in the first episode.

* CallingYourAttacks: Shirakawa always announces her "queixada" capoeira technique. [[spoiler:Even underwater.]]

* AudioAdaptation: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PLHAWUGYPw&list=PLALPKX9PTmBZ-5X6GSm5B4rthGzNaTtpD Comes with its own radio drama each week.]] The important plot points are left vague, and even the order each audio episode takes place in a timeline isn't exactly 100% clear, but the general premise is [[spoiler: Satoshi Nagashima airing audio broadcast from a recording device concealed in a fancy pen that the show's characters have been unknowingly passing around.]]

** In "Borrowed Plumes and the Bodyguard", Dob hides away his gun by burying it near a tree in a park after threatening Odokawa. In the next episode, Tanaka is burying his pet bird, but ends up finding the gun, which prompts him to believe that he should take revenge on Odokawa.

** "How To Spend a Long Night" ends with Dob entering Odokawa's car and pointing a gun at him.

* ContrivedCoincidence: [[spoiler:ditch- 11 is revealed to be Dob thanks to Odokawa's uncanny {{Photographic Memory}}. Tanaka, who at this point was holding Odokawa and Dob at gunpoint, shoots Dob when he refuses to apologize, before running away screaming. For this plot twist to work logically means that Dob not only scammed Tanaka out of the eraser, which is strange but somewhat believable, since it could be assumed to be a quick moneymaking scheme, but is also the top player of the "Zoological Garden" mobile game, even though he's a low-rung Yakuza, ''and has used the same social media account for years, with his profile picture being his face obscured by shadows''.]]
* ConvenientPhotograph: One of the plotlines gets kickstarted when Kabasawa, who wants to go viral online, decides to take a selfie with Odokawa while riding his taxi and accidentally catches Dob, the prime suspect in a missing teenager case, in the background.
* CountingBullets: [[spoiler:Dob doesn't take the threat of Tanaka pointing his own gun at him seriously, because he believes Tanaka fired six times in the last week and would not be able to get extra ammunition. Turns out Tanaka did have a bullet left because it was someone else with a different gun who fired one of the previous shots.]]

* EnemyMine: Despite Dob threatening Odokawa in the past, the two end up having to join forces to catch Tanaka to stop him from further attempts on Odokawa's life, and reclaim the gun he stole from Dob.

** Dob's plan to [[spoiler:derail the exchange with fake money, so that Yano gets arrested]]. This one [[spoiler: works, if not for two important wrinkles: the Daimon brother who was meant to arrest Yano is recognized as Dobu's accomplice and beaten, while Dobu gets shot at the finish line by Tanaka]].

* OnceMoreWithClarity: In "Borrowed Plumes and the Bodyguard", Kakihana has a conversation with a man sitting next to him - only to realize he was on the phone, using a wireless headset the whole time. Almost right after we see the other half of the phone conversation, which also [[HowWeGotHere explains why]] Dob is now threatening Odokawa in his taxi.

* SomethingCompletelyDifferent: "Tanaka's Revolution" follows an entirely new character who is tangentially related to the plot, but nonetheless adds further mystery and tension [[spoiler:when he coincidentally finds Dob's buried gun, and in the grip of mental instability, is hunting after Odokawa.]]

** Odokawa has nightmares about drowning in a car, [[spoiler: which turn out to be flashbacks to a childhood incident in which his mother tried to kill the whole family by driving their car into the ocean].]

** In the finale when Odokawa [[spoiler:and his taxi are dropping into the water]], several witnesses to the event recall a somber event: [[spoiler:Yuki's body dropping into the sea for Rui, the expensive engagement ring for Kakihana, Tanaka's phone in the gutter, Shiho putting soap into a sad bath]]... except for one character, hinting at something wrong. [[spoiler:It's Sakura, who instead remembers her mom making fried chicken, her favorite food - she turns out to be a cold-blooded, sociopathic murderer]].

** Another piece of foreshadowing appears in a more meta example, on the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Hl26Ye_WXI cover of the OST]]: [[spoiler:There's a hole in the center of the Mystery Kiss lineup, while Yuki Mitsuya is standing off to the side, because she's not one of the original members.]]

** Unfulfilled ambitions. Almost every character has a dream that seems just within their reach - in the end, the weight of those causes them to do utterly reckless things to achieve them, which only makes them more trapped and miserable. Notably, Odokawa doesn't really have one [[spoiler:which is what makes him so dangerous]].

** It takes a bit of time for Odokawa to piece together some of the intrigue because he never connected that one of his passengers was [[spoiler:Sakura, the fake Yuki from Mystery Kiss and not the real deal]]. Justified because he simply never had the info to connect the dots.

* BookEnds: During Odokawa's clinical visit in episode 1, Goriki asks him what he looks like. When Odokawa tells him he's a gorilla, annoying Goriki. [[spoiler:In the last episode, when Odokawa is cleared of his visual agnosia, Goriki once again ask what he looks like, with Odokawa responding he's a human, much to Goriki's joy.]]

*** Many people are baffled about Odokawa's ability to recognize people, even in circumstances that tend to typically cause MistakenIdentity [[spoiler:among humans]], such as MistakenFromBehind or the person wearing a mask while having a similar build.

*** Yamamoto is seen cheering Mystery Kiss next to Iwai. [[spoiler:He's not actually a bad guy - his support of his idol group is genuine, and his villainy is due to blackmail and circumstances]].

** Dob's plan to [[spoiler:derail the exchange with fake money, so that Yano gets arrested]]. This one [[spoilers:works, if not for two important wrinkles: the Daimon brother who was meant to arrest Yano is recognized as Dobu's accomplice and beaten, while Dobu gets shot at the finish line by Tanaka]].

** [[spoiler:The world is populated by humans, but [[ThroughTheEyesOfMadness Odokawa sees everyone as distinct animals.]]]]