Reborn as a Vending Machine, I Now Wander the Dungeon

Episodes 1-3

One of the most important things for a cohesive story is to treat your premise with respect—to really explore it through the story and its characters. This is doubly true in a comedy where the central premise is the root of the humor as well as the plot. Reborn as a Vending Machine, I Now Wander the Dungeon is a perfect example of this.

Honestly, the title tells you all you need to know about this show. It's an absurdist parody of the isekai genre where, instead of reincarnating as a hero, villainess, or monster, our hero finds himself as a literal Japanese vending machine. What makes it work, however, is that Reborn as a Vending Machine plays it almost completely straight.

Our hero, Boxxo, is quite literally a giant metal box. He can't transform into a human or produce overpowered magical items. Heck, he can't even move under his own power or talk to those around him. For the most part, all he can do is dispense items that come from ordinary vending machines. Given the variety of vending machines in Japan, this means he can do everything from dispensing food and drinks to shampoo and condoms. These first three episodes go out of their way to show the effects these things have on the community of adventurers he has found himself living with.

Now, that's not to say he is just a vending machine. There has to be some kind of magic that allows him to turn into different vending machines and never run out of stock. The first episode is basically focused on setting all this up. He also has a few useful magic spells, like the ability to put up a barrier or turn invisible. But the important thing to note is that none of the spells he learns do anything to combat his two main problems: that he can't move under his own power and his near inability to communicate with others. These two issues serve as the source of the majority of the drama in the show and the core of its central relationship.

Lamis is a girl who has been "blessed" with super strength. However, that doesn't mean she knows how to control it. Her own power constantly throws her off balance—causing her to miss her targets. Coincidentally, strapping a several-hundred-pound vending machine to her back reigns in her abilities enough to give her the control she's always wanted.

But it's important to note that's not why she chooses to help him out. Rather, it's the fact that she is a highly empathetic person. She quickly realizes that he is sentient despite his boxy form, and even knows how to use his pre-recorded vending machine messages to let him answer simple yes or no questions. But the reason she helps him is due to their similar nature. She is a person who has been largely isolated due to her super strength and the problems it has caused her. Likewise, he can also do amazing things like create food out of nothing, but he can't survive on his own. He needs legs and a voice. She needs a friend who understands her pain. Together, they make each other whole.

All in all, these first three episodes serve as a great introduction to the story. We see not only how the world works and how all the characters fit into it, but also all the little ways a vending machine would change a small community in a fantasy world. By taking its premise seriously, it becomes both interesting and hilarious. It also has more than a little heart with the relationship between Boxxo and Lamis, which is amazing when you consider one of the two is a literal vending machine. So, it's no exaggeration to say that I am looking forward to next week when it seems Boxxo's newfound fame is going to cause him a whole new set of problems.

Episode 1 Rating:

Episode 2 Rating:

Episode 3 Rating:

Random Thoughts:

• The show does a good job of showing that Lamis sees Boxxo as his own person. She's not his owner but his protector—and his vote counts just as much as hers.

• It's kinda heartbreaking that Lamis is so un-used to getting compliments that getting one completely throws her off her game mid-battle.

• It's nice to see such a sex-positive show—i.e., one that doesn't condemn sex workers and promotes safe sex without judgment.

• I always love seeing how translators try to preserve wordplay—and having “Oppamis” (Oppai [lit. breasts]+Lamis) translated as “Lammaries” is just perfect.

Reborn as a Vending Machine, I Now Wander the Dungeon is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.