I wasn't expecting this to be any good. I watched it because it sounded silly as hell... so imagine my surprise on finding it solid. Even its fans were surprised when it got a second season, let alone a third.

It's what the title promises. Some dead bloke gets reincarnated in a pseudo-medieval fantasy world... as a vending machine. Yes, a big metal box. He can't walk or move. He has limited speech, but only because some Japanese vending machines deliver pre-programmed phrases. ("Welcome!" "Thank you for your custom.") He eats coins and dispenses goods, but this fantasy world won't have replacement parts if he gets broken. He only differs from ordinary vending machines in two ways: 1. He has human intelligence and an internal monologue. 2. He's magic-powered and can be recharged by coins. He'll only shut down and die if he runs out of customers.

What's more, the show doesn't cheat. Hakkon won't become human again, although magic exists that might be able to achieve this. He works out a code with his friends ("welcome" for "yes", etc.), but that hardly solves the communication difficulties. (Even his name comes from his enthusiastic and super-strong but unimaginative best friend, Lammis, choosing to call him Hakkon. The English dub and subtitles make this Boxxo to preserve the Japanese wordplay.) He can't walk, but Lammis builds a wooden frame and straps him to her back. (How big a coincidence is it that the first human to find him was capable of lifting half a ton with her bare hands?)

Hakkon will learn a few spells, but none of the good ones. Teleporting? Nope. Flight? Nope. His main one's "barrier", which erects a cuboid forcefield of controllable size and permeability. Later, he acquires telekinesis. However, most of his tricks come from real vending machines. He can transform into any vending machine that's ever been built and can sell anything they sold. There was an oxygen vending machine in 1965, for instance, when air pollution was becoming an issue. Despite its goofy premise, this show can be unexpectedly realistic:

1. Hakkon sells condoms (to prostitutes), pornography (albeit so tame that it would be acceptable in a convent) and feminine hygiene products. How many silly fantasy anime consider menstrual pains?

2. The show knows what will happen if you collect carbon dioxide. It's heavier than air. Hakkon turns a pit into a death trap (and it probably stayed like that after they left).

3. I was shocked by the zombie child in ep.11.

4. Ep.12 is medically accurate, even to the extent of removing the correct clothing (in a family-friendly show that has absolutely no truck with fanservice).

5. A female archer has a chest protector. No, not moulded to her boobs. An actual, realistic chest protector as used by archers. Again, how often do you see that in fantasy anime?

However, despite that, this is a light-hearted, goofy show that my children enjoyed. Hakkon has big cartoon eyes. His friends are happy and lovely. Our heroes rarely face much danger and it's nearly a slice-of-life show. I'd also question its economics. Hakkon's draining money from the local economy without returning it into circulation. When the local restaurants identify an existential threat to their livelihoods in ep.5, this isn't Hakkon (as it theoretically should have been) but instead a fast food chain that's threatening to move in.

This year, what's interesting is that our heroes are trying to destroy a villainous undead lord... but he might be more intelligent than them and he has sympathetic human allies. Their reasons are rational. People can change sides. That's more sophisticated than I'd expected. The show's still light and funny, but it can get nastier. Those bandits who severed a girl's legs for her boots... yow. They get murdered by a hero (ish), deliberately and in cold blood.

Lammis can be funny and is comfortable with the idea of sex with a non-human. The season occasionally dangles romantic possibilities between a human and a vending machine, but we know it's pulling our leg. A comedy footwear pervert joins the cast, as does a rival merchant (stirring up the our hero's vending machine instincts) who's nice and can communicate with him telepathically.

The show's still a fluffy good time (e.g. make-up as a PreCure transformation sequence), but the unpredictable loyalties and darker undertones give it a little weight.

Ah well. All the things I'd found interesting in Season 2 are allowed to dribble away. Well, that was unimpressive... but it fits the show's relaxed, likeable vibe. Besides, other stuff crops up. The SPOILER proves less interesting than I'd hoped, but it's capable of taking out Hakkon and the Wizard of Oz. The season's main gag, though, is Field. Instead of getting reincarnated as a vending machine, Field became a field. Yup, that's right. An area of land where farmers grow crops. Sentient, heroic and made of earth. If you thought Hakkon was a wacky protagonist, just see this.

It's a relaxing show. Its cast are likeable and it's never objectionable. Not all storylines are equal, admittedly, with some episodes being more skippable than others. (The eating contest, for instance.) The show doesn't cheat, though, and plays completely fair with its vending machine rules about Hakkon, even against serious baddies. His actions in the Season 1 season finale, for instance, are the opposite of killing.

It's silly, of course. But it's creative and fun.