Glass Kanin is the first book in an isekai LitRPG series. Just as he gets his big break, actor Kanin dies in an on-set accident and wakes up in a fantasy world as a sapient bottle of ink. Alongside Noli, an elf soul trapped in a toy octopus, they must find a way to break the wizard’s spell that trapped their souls before time runs out, all while Kanin is also trying to figure out and work with the world’s magic system of levels, HP and Mana.

This was a delightful and quirky read with a bizarre but also oddly refreshing concept. You really can’t know what to expect when the protagonist is a glass ink bottle. To compare with some of its contemporaries (most of which got their start from Royal Road too), it’s a more cozy and low stakes Dungeon Crawler Carl and a non-Asian and less over-the-top Beware of Chicken/Heretical Fishing. I wish it had actually leaned into the coziness more and I could have used without the deaths.

Kanin really grew on me as a protagonist as we got to know him when challenges came his way. There is a twist mid-book that took me by surprise and really allowed Kanin to shine. Noli too had her moments as a bubbly sidekick of sorts. There were also a few other supporting characters that made for an informal found family, and One I wanted more of was definitely Zyneth who came and went in the story.

Glass Kanin delightfully odd and packs a lot of heart.