RoOT/Route of Odd Taxi

RoOT/Route of Odd Taxi (Japanese: RoOT / ルート オブ オッドタクシー, Hepburn: RoOT/ Rūto Obu Oddo Takushī) is a Japanese manga series written by Kazuya Konomoto and illustrated by Takeichi Abaraya. It is a spin-off to the Odd Taxi series. It started in Shogakukan's Superior Dalpana website in February 2023, with its chapters collected in six tankōbon volumes. A television drama adaptation aired on TV Tokyo from April to June 2024.

RoOT/Route of Odd Taxi
First tankōbon volume cover, featuring Sato (left) and Rena (right)
RoOT / ルート オブ オッドタクシー (RoOT/ Rūto Obu Oddo Takushī)
Genre	Mystery[1]
Manga
Written by	Kazuya Konomoto
Illustrated by	Takeichi Abaraya
Published by	Shogakukan
Imprint	Big Comics
Magazine	Superior Dalpana
Original run	February 24, 2023 – May 30, 2025
Volumes	6
Television drama
Directed by	Takafumi Tsuchiya
Written by	Takafumi Tsuchiya
Studio	P.I.C.S.
Licensed by	Crunchyroll
Original network	TV Tokyo
Original run	April 3, 2024 – June 4, 2024
Episodes	10

Plot

Taking place at the same time as the events of Odd Taxi, two detectives from the Ibusuki Detective Agency (IDA), Rena and Sato, are tasked to investigate whether a banker's having an affair. But when a yakuza gangster named Dobu steals the evidence, the two are forced to take up another job when Taeko Harada wants them to tail Hiroshi Odokawa and find out the extent of his involvement with the missing girl in Nerima.

Rena subsequently gets involved because she knows the missing girl on a personal level.

Characters

Rena (玲奈)

A private investigator who works at the Ibusuki Detective Agency. She's the partner of Sato, who's recently recruited to the IDA.

Sato (佐藤)

A new recruit to the IDA. He's known for getting into unusual situations.

Ibusuki (指宿)

The head of the IDA.

Sekido (赤道)

A fixer who assists Rena and Sato in their detective work.

Media

Manga

Written by Kazuya Konomoto and illustrated by Takeichi Abaraya, RoOT/Route of Odd Taxi started in Shogakukan's Superior Dalpana website on February 24, 2023.^[2] The first volume was released on May 30, 2023.^[3] The series will end with the release of its sixth volume in May 2025.^[4]

No.	Release date	ISBN
1	May 30, 2023[5]	978-4-09-861807-1
2	September 28, 2023[6]	978-4-09-862523-9
3	December 27, 2023[7]	978-4-09-862622-9
4	May 30, 2024[8]	978-4-09-862802-5
5	November 28, 2024[9]	978-4-09-863071-4
6	May 30, 2025[10]	978-4-09-863429-3

Drama

In January 2024, it was announced that RoOT/Route of Odd Taxi would be adapted into a television drama, which premiered on TV Tokyo on April 3 of the same year.^{[11][12][13][a]} The show is also available on various streaming sites in Japan including Netflix, U-NEXT, TSUTAYA DISCAS, Hulu Japan, ABEMA, Amazon Prime, Disney+ and DMM TV.^[14]

The show stars Yuumi Kawai as Rena and Ryota Bando as Satō.^[15] It is directed and written by Takafumi Tsuchiya.^[16]

The series' opening theme is "Chikagoro" (近頃; lit. 'These Days') by Bialystocks [ja], while Sirup [ja] and Sumin performed the theme song "Roller Coaster".^[17] Crunchyroll has licensed the series for worldwide streaming outside of Japan in North America, Central America, South America, Europe, Africa, Oceania, the Middle East, and CIS countries.^[18]

No.	Title [b]	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
1	"This is the Ibusuki Detective Agency" Transliteration: "Kochira Ibusuki tantei jimusho" (Japanese: こちら指宿探偵事務所[20])	Takafumi Tsuchiya[20]	Takafumi Tsuchiya[20]	April 3, 2024 (2024-04-03)[20]
2	"Fancy Merch" Transliteration: "Fanshīguzzu" (Japanese: ファンシーグッズ[21])	Takafumi Tsuchiya[21]	Takafumi Tsuchiya[21]	April 10, 2024 (2024-04-10)[21]
3	"Love Thy Neighbor" Transliteration: "Nanji Rinjin o Aiseyo" (Japanese: 汝隣人を愛せよ[22])	Takafumi Tsuchiya[22]	Takafumi Tsuchiya[22]	April 17, 2024 (2024-04-17)[22]
4	"All Kinds of Dads" Transliteration: "Iron'na Papa" (Japanese: いろんなパパ[23])	Takafumi Tsuchiya[23]	Takafumi Tsuchiya[23]	April 24, 2024 (2024-04-24)[23]
5	"10 PM in Tokyo" Transliteration: "Tōkyō wa yoru no 22-ji" (Japanese: 東京は夜の22時[24])	Takafumi Tsuchiya[25]	Takafumi Tsuchiya[25]	May 1, 2024 (2024-05-01)[25]
6	"It's tough being an idol" Transliteration: "Aidoru wa taihen" (Japanese: アイドルは大変[26])	Takafumi Tsuchiya[26]	Takafumi Tsuchiya[26]	May 7, 2024 (2024-05-07)[26]
7	"The Price of Regret" Transliteration: "Kōkai no nedan" (Japanese: 後悔の値段[27])	Takafumi Tsuchiya[27]	Takafumi Tsuchiya[27]	May 14, 2024 (2024-05-14)[27]
8	"The Trajectory of a Fall" Transliteration: "Tenraku no kiseki" (Japanese: 転落の軌跡[28])	Takafumi Tsuchiya[28]	Takafumi Tsuchiya[28]	May 21, 2024 (2024-05-21)[28]
9	"I am a cat" Transliteration: "Wagahai wa neko de aru" (Japanese: 吾輩は猫である[29])	Takafumi Tsuchiya[29]	Takafumi Tsuchiya[29]	May 28, 2024 (2024-05-28)[29]
10	"Children are the Clamp" Transliteration: "Ko wa kasugai" (Japanese: 子は鎹[30])	Takafumi Tsuchiya[31]	Takafumi Tsuchiya[31]	June 4, 2024 (2024-06-04)[30]

Notes

1. TV Tokyo listed the series premiere on April 2 at 24:30, which is effectively April 3 at 12:30 a.m. JST.^[12]
2. All English titles are taken from Crunchyroll.^[19]