It’s actually Reborn as Vending Machine, Now I Wander the Dungeon. The anime titles released per year under the isekai genre keeps getting weird. Reborn as a vending machine captures you with an odd title and introduces you to an average slice of life adventure fantasy. I don’t think it’s a bad anime but it’s certainly not good enough for me to look forward to a second season. The whole show seems like an answer to how far can someone be creative to wedge a vending machine in a fantasy world. There’s going to be bits of spoilers written but not damaging enough to giveaway the entire season.
Plot:
Unnamed protagonist travels on a steep road and gets crushed by a falling vending machine then wakes up as the very thing that killed him on an unfamiliar world. He (Boxxo) gets accustomed to his new body figuring out his stats and skills typical of any character role-playing game. A serendipitous encounter with a traveling novice adventurer Lammis who possesses the Blessing of Might (super strength) kicks off the start of their adventure.
I mentioned the shortest route to get the gist of the pilot episode.
The World Building:
The world is set inside a dungeon divided into levels where each level has their own ecosystem. There’s an adventurer guild, quests, monsters, and boss monsters called stratum lords. But the focus is entirely about Boxxo’s slice of life adventure as a vending machine trying to bring solutions to citizen problems using novelty items from Japan ranging from food, hygienic products and kinky stuff.
At this point, I already gave out the general feel for what to expect from this show and below are just miscellaneous blurbs you’re not missing out. The characters aren’t bad nor good, they’re just average slice of life characters. Assuming you’re already saturated with other shows that have far more appealing characters with interesting backstories, this one doesn’t have anyone that’s even worth converting into a viral meme. In general, once you get passed the oddity of the protagonist being a vending machine, any further gimmick becomes an average isekai trope material.
I had a declining interest as each episode is released because of how basic and predictable everything plays out. Had this show been released a few years back when isekai genre was fresh, I may have had a different opinion. But the isekai genre is saturated and the routes to get an audience now is coming up with a weird title or have poorly written overpowered main character.
What are the good things about the show?
Being a vending machine illiterate, the show gives out trivia about the different types of vending machine and variety of designs found in Japan. Boxxo is a vending machine enthusiast and this background knowledge helps him transform into different vending machines that dispense items adapting to any scenario including combat. It’s one of these moments where I just say ah, I learned something new that will have no real world application but it’s nice to know.
As a vending machine, the limitations Boxxo has to overcome were trying to communicate with the external world as he only has a few sets of phrases and words available similar to what vending machines sound. Because magic is involved, he’s able to transform into other types of vending machines, refill his stock with unlimited supply, and conjure a magical barrier like other normal vending machines in a fantasy world. This is the whole thing the show wants to answer, how could a sentient vending machine fit into a fantasy world. Once this question is answered, the viewing experience from characters dealing with their main to subplots become a generic viewing experience.
Conclusion:
It’s an average show to pass the time. The novelty of the title wanes per episode further in. There’s certainly better alternatives if you want to shop for a new anime series. The whole viewing experience felt like a buyer’s regret because of a weird title that leaves a bland aftertaste as the novelty wanes. I finished the final episode and didn’t feel any sense of loss like what you’d expect from a good show. It’s neither that bad nor was it even worth finishing.
If you made it this far reading, thank you for your time.