So yeah I found myself watching a show about an isekai vending machine. It was a very unusual idea so I decided I would watch it. The show stars a man with an encyclopedic love and knowledge of all things vending machine related who died while trying to save a vending machine that fell off of a vehicle and was reborn in another world as a vending machine himself. In this world since there’s no electricity he runs on a point system. He needs so many points to run per day but also can spend points on upgrades like the ability to change to other vending machines, change the items he sells and also some non vending machine related perks like a barrier and telekinesis. In this new world he is found by a hunter named Lammis with a blessing of strength so she carries the protagonist, gives him the name Boxxo and takes him back to her village. Sadly in this new life Boxxo can only speak in vending machine related phrases like “Hello there” and “Too bad.”

So at least for season one there isn’t a whole lot of story. It’s kind of more of a dungeon crawl mixed with a slice of life theme as it’s all about Lammis and Boxxo’s daily life in the dungeon taking on various jobs as Boxxo manages to impress the world around him with his unusual powers and items that the world has never seen before. This is actually where most of the entertainment value lies in the show. Normally when you see shows like this where the setting is more fantasy life with powers and magic versus a modern setting which has technology and the perks of modern inventions. This show is very much what happens when someone with access to tons of stuff from the modern world enters the realm of fantasy. Boxxo sells many items the people of that world have never seen like soda, mentos and condoms. Yes it does come up and it’s a little awkward. Though as a whole it’s interesting to see how the convenience of modern inventions is so world changing in the fantasy world that Boxxo becomes someone everyone really depends on.

Boxxo himself can turn into all kinds of machines and honestly I had no idea that there were such a variety of vending machines as my experience is your typical pop and candy ones. He turns into machines for balloons, pressure washer, gas, music and so much more. As Boxxo and Lammis go on adventures with other hunters they come across various enemies and scenarios that Boxxo has to really think to deal with. Since he’s a vending machine he’s very limited on not only what he can do but how he can communicate with others presenting a very unique challenge for him. For example at one point they were up against a fire monster so he had the challenge of trying to get the people around him to put mentos in a pop bottle to use as a make shift liquid attack. Most of the time it involves him turning into random machines and spewing out items till they figure it out. It’s a process that repeats itself often but with different items each version of this process is unique and offers it’s own form of entertainment.

This is another one of my favorite parts of the show is seeing how Boxxo challenges things that an ordinary isekai protagonist would probably just mow down with overpowered skills but he would struggle with due to the limitations of being a vending machine. After all without hands or legs Boxxo is actually very dependent on the characters around him to be able to do most of what he does. I really like this aspect a lot because most shows the hero is so overpowered that the supporting cast feels like they function more as sidekicks but in this case it’s very clear that Boxxo absolutely needs the people around him and I think very few shows emphasize that as much as this one does.

As for the characters I’ll admit there’s nothing special here. I don’t really have anything amazing or negative to say about them as they are there to perform specific roles in the story and they do that well. Lammis is the leading lady with the right powers that make it so that Boxxo can actually travel then you have various other hunters that are enjoyable to watch but honestly don’t do anything that stand out. It’s really hard to put into words what I mean here because there’s not really an example to point to that explains this it’s just for some reason I never found myself connecting to any of these characters on an emotional level even in moments that were suppose to be heartfelt. This is really in my opinion the only weak part of the show is that if it wasn’t for the unique premise if the show had to really rely on it’s characters it would just fall flat. I honestly don’t even remember most of their names.

So overall this show is entertaining. The idea of a protagonist being a vending machine is very weird but it somehow works because of the humorous situations that result from Boxxo having to find solutions to problems without the ability to communicate while using items that oftentimes are completely unknown to the people around him. It is the charm in these scenarios that makes this season entertaining as they are full of hilarious moments and creative ideas. It’s a good thing this show has this going for it though as the characters, while they do their respective roles well, just don’t shine enough to make themselves interesting without the unique factor backing the show. I know that a season two is on its way and I’m honestly going to watch it but I’m also not in a hurry to do so.