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Live-Action RoOT/Route of Odd Taxi TV Series Reveals Cast

The official Twitter account for the live-action television series of Takeichi Abaraya and original series creator Kadzuya Konomoto's RoOT/Route of Odd Taxi (stylized with a backwards R in "RoOT") manga announced more cast members for the series on Wednesday.

As previously announced, the series will star Yūmi Kawai as 19-year-old detective Reina, and Ryōta Bandō as the unlucky but optimistic gumshoe Satō.

Daisuke Kuroda plays Ibusuki, the head of the detective agency where Reina and Satō work. Mary Sara plays Akamichi, the mysterious fixer who assists in their investigations. Rio Teramoto plays Kanon, a popular hostess and Reina's friend from high school. Hinako Kikuchi plays a high school girl who goes missing. Reno Nakamura, a member of real-life idol group Nogizaka46, plays Rui Nikaido, the center singer of the in-story idol trio Mystery Kiss. Yuki Ito plays Shiho Ichimura, the quiet yet ambitious member of Mystery Kiss. Momoko Kobayashi plays Mystery Kiss' carefree and innocent member Yuki Mitsuya. Hiroyuki Toritani plays Mystery Kiss' manager Yamamoto. Yu Inaba plays Imai, Rui's diehard fan who is on the staff of a cabaret club.

Atsushi Shinohara plays Odogawa, the protagonist of the original Odd Taxi anime. Naoko Yoshimoto plays Taeko, the owner of an izakaya that Odogawa frequents. Jirō Masanobu plays Kakihana, a regular at Taeko's izakaya. Kazuhito Tomikawa plays the police officer Daimon. Endō Yūtō plays Kabasawa, a college student and fledgling YouTuber. Masaki Miura plays Dobu, a yakuza thug. Eita Okuno plays Yano, a constantly-rapping yakuza lieutenant. Kōta Yamaguchi plays Sekiguchi, Yano's subordinate. Takashi Matsuo plays Donraku Shofutei, a popular rakugo performer. Ikkei Watanabe plays Kuroda, Dobu and Yano's superior in the yakuza. Atsuhiro Tsuda and Yūsuke of comedy duo Diane reprise their roles from the anime as aspiring manzai comedy duo Homosapiens. Atsuko Fukuda, Sachiko Nakagome, Shūjirō Masa also play roles in the show.

The series will premiere on TV Tokyo in April.

Takafumi Tsuchiya is directing and writing the script.

The RoOT/Route of Odd Taxi manga launched in February 2023 on Big Comic Superior's web manga site Darupana as part of the project of the same title.

The Odd Taxi anime premiered in Japan in April 2021 and aired for 13 episodes. Crunchyroll streamed the anime in the West.

The story follows Odokawa, an eccentric, reticent 41-year-old taxi driver who has no relatives and does not have much to do with others. He does have conversations with his customers, including a college student who wants to go viral, a nurse hiding a secret, an unsuccessful comedian, a street rough, and an up-and-coming idol. These conversations lead him to a girl who has disappeared.

Manga creator Konomoto (Seto Utsumi) wrote the anime. Baku Kinoshita directed the anime with Norio Nitta as the assistant director. Kinoshita and Hiromi Nakayama designed the characters. Kōhei Yoshida was the recording director at Pony Canyon Enterprise. PUNPEE VaVa OMSB were in charge of the music, and Pony Canyon was in charge of music production with collaboration by Summit, Inc. P.I.C.S. and OLM produced the anime. P.I.C.S. was also credited for the original work and planning.

The Odd Taxi: In the Woods film is a "reconstruction" of the television anime episodes, but it also depicts what happens after the television anime's finale. The film opened in 34 theaters in Japan in April 2022, ranking at #10 and earning 52 million yen (approximately US$4,23,685) in its first weekend. The television anime's main cast and staff returned, and ASMIK Ace is distributing. Crunchyroll is streaming the film.

Odd Taxi: Diamond wa Kizutsukanai (Diamonds Will Not Be Damaged), the stage play inspired by the television anime, ran at Otemachi Mitsui Hall in Tokyo from January 25-31, 2023 and at Cool Japan Park Osaka TT Hall in Osaka from February 4-5, 2023.

Sources: RoOT/Route of Odd Taxi live-action series' Twitter account, Comic Natalie