Reborn as a Vending Machine, I Now Wander the Dungeon Volume 2 Review

Reborn as a Vending Machine, I Now Wander the Dungeon currently has a second season of its anime adaptation airing. Although we haven’t had any new volumes of the light novel series in a while, the manga also continues from Yen Press. With the second volume in hand, let’s see how this adaptation is faring.

We return to the manga to find Boxxo and Lammis still battling the giant frog from the end of Volume 1. Although there’s a group of powerful adventurers on the scene, they’re being pushed back by the enemy with no hope of winning in sight. Of course, Boxxo isn’t about to stand by and do nothing, so he quickly transforms into a different kind of vending machine and provides the group with a fizzy drink and mints, which he hopes they’ll use as a weapon against the enemy. But with his inability to communicate clearly, conveying his intentions is easier said than done.

Then, after the fierce battle, the group need to rebuild the settlement they called home. With Boxxo providing everyone with food and drinks, their spirits are high, and with Lammis there to help with the heavy lifting, it shouldn’t be long until life returns to normal. However, soon enough, a new problem rears its head as Boxxo finds himself being kidnapped…

As someone currently up to date with the anime, it’s interesting to find myself back near the start of the story, where Boxxo had a lot fewer different abilities and forms. In many ways, this also highlights the charm of the series, as not a great deal has changed since then. It’s still a story built on a gimmick, and how much you’ll get out of it depends on how much you care about the isekai genre, but there’s plenty of fun to be had here because the core concept of being a vending machine has a lot of uniqueness to it.

This is helped, of course, by Kunieda’s wonderful artwork that not only depicts the cast in lively fashion but also makes the battle scenes compelling. Volume 2 is more rounded than the first instalment when it comes to the content, so we get to see the art shine in a variety of different ways. Especially now that we’re over the initial setup and there are a lot more characters in play. Even if you’re someone who has already read the light novels or been watching the anime, the artwork here is a compelling reason to also check out the manga.

Between the fight with the frog and Boxxo’s kidnapping, the story slows down and offers some development for Lammis and some of the other residents of the settlement. This proves fairly fruitful and answers questions readers may have had about the world, as well as what impact Boxxo’s involvement could have going forward. Most of the time, this is a somewhat silly story about a man turned vending machine, but at the same time, it’s clear the original author has put thought into the setting and future of the plot.

The only real downside here is that the manga has been releasing incredibly slowly. This volume was published in English in March last year, but since then, even on the Japanese side, there haven’t been any further volumes released yet. It’s still being actively serialised, but there doesn’t appear to be enough chapters for another volume yet, so we could be waiting quite a long time until we see any more of this in English.

As mentioned, Reborn as a Vending Machine, I Now Wander the Dungeon Volume 2 comes to the West thanks to Yen Press. This release is once again translated by Alice Prowse with lettering by Chiho Christie, and it reads well on the whole. Included as extras are a colour page to open and a short story written by the original author.

The first and second seasons of the anime series are available to watch on Crunchyroll, while Yen Press also have the original light novels available under their Yen On imprint. Excitingly, although it seemed the light novels were complete with three volumes, a fourth has recently been released in Japan. So, we’ll hopefully see that make its way to the West in time.

Overall, this second volume of the Reborn as a Vending Machine, I Now Wander the Dungeon manga proves an entertaining adaptation of the popular isekai series. It’s well worth continuing with for both newcomers and long-time fans of Boxxo’s adventures, thanks to the high-quality work from the artist Kunieda.

Our review copy from Yen Press was supplied by Diamond Book Distributors UK.