Reborn as a Vending Machine, I Now Wander the Dungeon Season 3 Anime Series Review – Review

I said this before, and I’ll say it again, even if it has been said a million times by now: wow, did I ever underestimate the HELL out of this anime! How is a show this absurd, this wacky, this asinine, become such an insanely good sleeper hit? I remember first hearing about it way back when and avoided it like the plague, thinking it was an example of anime going too far. Now I’ve seen the whole series, plus rewatched several episodes at random. And let me tell you, this third and final season is fun, fun, fun. I was rooting for Boxxo, Lammis, and the rest of the gang until the very end.

In a sense, you’re getting more or less out of this season what you got out of the last two seasons. Boxxo, Lammis, Hulemy, and others go through the world’s strata in an effort to defeat the Netherlord. The environments are absurd. The characters are absurd. Boxxo’s transformations are absurd, and become more powerful in scale. He transforms into binoculars, safes, that one Deftones album (I kid), and an even bigger vending machine that can break the back of a giant sea monster. And get this, he eventually transforms into a giant garage filled with cars! And that’s not even mentioning all of the transformations he goes through at the very end! There’s no end to Boxxo’s ridiculous transformations, and I love how the show constantly tries to one-up itself. Just guessing what Boxxo would turn into next was a quarter of the fun for me.

Speaking of Boxxo, you must love his upbeat personality. His relationship with Lammis is the heart of the show, and it’s as adorable as ever. You can also feel the amicability he shares with Hulemy, and even the new shell girl Pity. One scene where Pity and Boxxo are kidnapped and locked in prison has Boxxo take precious care of Pity by adorning the jail cell with enough flowery decorations and cushy blankets to stave off even the slightest bit of discomfort for Pity. It’s cute, and you can tell Boxxo’s trying to be as nurturing as an all-purpose vending machine can be. I also admire how optimistic Boxxo is in the face of grimness, like when the Netherlord lays waste to Boxxo in a cave and buries him alive for four days. I’ve (obviously) never been buried alive, but I’ve seen that one scene from Kill Bill. Being buried alive is one of the most claustrophobic, mind-breaking, messed-up experiences one could endure. So how does Boxxo handle it? He decorates his confinement space with flowers and chills in nonchalant peace while he waits to break out. I respect this guy’s patience and optimism immensely.

This final season sticks with the same idea of everyone going through different adventures after adventure in episodic format. The characters hit the beach, escape from a prison, and go to a cave where they drive in a straight line for over twenty-eight days. There are random encounters with a wizened, wish-granting dungeon master, a giant stone dog-beast that emerges from the ocean like Godzilla, and an evil sorceress whose dub voice sounds more Auto-Tuned than T-Pain. The animation and art are limited, but so what? The world is so random and wild that it doesn’t matter. The randomness might make weary viewers think that the events are made up as they go along. They aren’t. It’s that the show revels in its ridiculousness so much that it can conjure randomness on such a whim that you end up buying it. It runs on the “sure, why not” logic similar to Adventure Time and rolls with it. If you could already sink your teeth into an overpowered vending machine, talking bear creatures sporting letterman jackets, vegetables that run on two legs, a giant, anthropomorphized field dude, and a girl whose back can carry objects so heavy that not even Arnold Schwarzenegger in his prime could lift, then you can handle whatever this anime dishes out.

Alright, maybe one complaint. I don’t think Kerioyl’s subplot is handled well. Spoilers, but remember how in season two, we find out that Kerioyl’s son was cursed and crystallized, and that made him side with the Netherlord and therefore confirm all of Boxxo’s initial suspicions of him? Well, now at the start of season three, Kerioyl’s son is uncrystallized off-screen, and we’re given a slapdash explanation as to why. And then after disappearing for a few episodes, Kerioyl, his son, and their crew suddenly come back to switch sides, and Boxxo accepts Kerioyl’s apology like *snaps fingers* that. I know this is anime, and we’re used to seeing bad guys become good guys, but isn’t Boxxo being a little bit too forgiving for his own good? Why go trusting this man again, when you didn’t trust him before, and were proven right not to in the first place? Oh, and then Kerioyl’s son gets magically uncursed out of nowhere. It’s like the show is doubling down on its this-is-a-wacky-and-random-world-and-therefore-we-don’t-have-to-explain anything-ness to the point where Kerioyl’s story feels disjointed and awkward.

If I may backtrack on my words a bit, I’ll admit: reading my preview guide entries on this show makes me cringe a bit. I liked the show, though you can tell I had not soaked myself in it yet. I called the show meandering, and I even said that Hulemy was “just there” in season one (seriously?!). No, this is a show about spectacle, and while you should care about consistency and how the plot unravels, I felt way too laser-focused on character and plot complexities. Rewatching and recapping the first two seasons, and then watching the third in one binge made me realize the error of my ways. No, none of the characters are that complex, and yes, maybe some of their personalities and stories could have been handled better. Who cares? They’re all likable, and they all have heart. Plus, those little character moments are just the icing on the cake. The joy of this anime can be found in the lengths it goes to make the unbelievable believable. Vending Machine is an anime that is absurd without being mindless, smartly layering heaps of delightful weirdness that grow bigger and better with every passing episode. If it’s all about the journey and not the destination, then the nonsense of Vending Machine‘s final season is guaranteed to give you a trip you won’t forget.