- #1
Rating: 4, Translation: 4.5[Rating/Translation scale: 5 = almost all readers may enjoy / infrequent minor errors. 4 = large majority of readers may enjoy / frequent minor errors or infrequent major errors, no difficulty to read. 3 = 50% of readers may enjoy / frequent major errors, unable to understand some sentences or a paragraph in a chapter. 2 = niche audience may enjoy / unable to understand moderate portion of a chapter. 1 = portion of niche audience may enjoy / unable to understand most of a chapter.]Description: A vending machine otaku dies after trying to save a vending machine from damage, and reincarnates to a dungeon inside a fantasy world as a vending machine. He cannot really do anything on his own or communicate much, but he can earn points and exchange them for upgrades to his vending machine body. He befriends several adventurers and uses his vending machine body and functions to assist them.Positives: I was wondering how this concept would play out, and it was surprisingly creative. MC figures out ways to get out of messy situations with various vending machine functions. Some of them are amusing. The setting is fairly standard for reincarnation stories, but I thought some of the ideas are pretty original. The storytelling is focused and coherent.Negatives: The pace may feel slow for some readers. The MC can barely communicate with the other characters, so it's all in POV and mostly inner monologue or observations, but I didn't think it rambled. Some readers may not like an MC with a lot of limitations. The MC cannot move, and relies on the main supporting character to transport him, so he's basically sedentary or along for the ride. The scope of the story is a bit small. The story is about 24 chapters per volume, currently in early 3rd volume at chapter 54. So far, the MC has only been to 2 levels of a dungeon, and barely anything has been mentioned about the world outside the dungeon.Other: The translation rate seems to have slowed down. It's currently around 1 chapter every 3-4 weeks. I'm not sure if there is a light novel version of this, but there seems to be 3 volumes available on Amazon.Overall: Surprisingly interesting and original spin on the typical reincarnation setting. I liked it, and I'm interested in seeing how MC will solve the next problem with his vending machine body. I think a large majority of reincarnation fans would like this, but some readers will not like the slower pace, the limitations to the MC, or the small size of the universe.