Recap Episodes... a thing of the past?

[XenoCrisis0153]

I'm just finishing up Kare Kano for my first time and I'm noticing that they do an awful lot of resummarizing of the plot so far. I remember that when I first started watching anime, doing a recap episode about halfway through was the typical standard, but now I think the trend is starting to die down.

Two questions:
1) what is the latest series you've seen that actually had a full episode devoted to the story so far?

2) what is your opinion on recaps? Love'em? Hate'em? Do you find them useful in reassociating yourself with the story in-between DVD viewings or do you think they just slow down the flow of the story?

[Suwako Moriya]

Recaps to me are something that should be used sparingly. Simply because they often leave you with the feeling the effort to make the recap episode could have been used to flesh out the actual story a bit more. However to be fair it's always possible that the recap episode is planned after the fact. By that I mean even if they had decided against a recap episode, they would not have made an extra story episode. It would just end up being 12 episodes instead of 13 episodes.

In the end I think it depends on how the recap is done. Some recaps can be fun to watch. While others manage to integrate themselves into the story despite the recap status. However in the case of those they're not exactly pure recaps, but then again that's what makes the more interesting.

Still regardless of my feelings the main thing i must remember is this. Recaps are mainly for the sake of the tv viewing audience as opposed to the DVD audience. For those that may have missed a few episodes or coming into a series late. Of course they'll keep them on the DVD for the sake of having a complete release and sometimes people like them.

[ADC]

I'm pretty much okey-dokey with the death of the recap episode. The only one I genuinely liked was the Nadesico recap, but that series wasn't particularly great, so it could just be that the recap episode wasn't so craptastic to draw my attention.

I rarely watch a whole DVD at one sitting, anyway. There's more to life than five episodes of whichever animé's at the top of my inbox, even if it's SuperGALS! Season 2. (Blasphemy!) Still, though that be the case, I'd rather that each time I turn on the player, I see a new episode instead of a rehash of past events. I'd take a 12- or 23-episode series with no recap over a 13- or 24-episode show with one. (Really, though, if you need a recap for a half-season show, your animé is already on the path to ruin. Real Bout High School comes to mind, and I'm of a mind to smack myself with a book to prevent that from happening again.)

[something]

1) what is the latest series you've seen that actually had a full episode devoted to the story so far?
They ARE much rarer now, but a very new show, Code Geass, just had one a few weeks ago. Episode "8.5". However, good thing is, it doesn't "count" as an episode, since the 26 or whatever this season is, will still be 26 real episodes. 8.5 was followed by 9, not 10. So kudos for that.

2) what is your opinion on recaps? Love'em? Hate'em? Do you find them useful in reassociating yourself with the story in-between DVD viewings or do you think they just slow down the flow of the story?
I've never seen a recap I considered necessary for the series. No, not even Nadesico. In an ideal world, no recap episodes would ever exist. We're getting close to such a world (at least with the shows I watch), but some occasionally crop up.

[Herufaiya]

I've never seen a recap I considered necessary for the series. No, not even Nadesico. In an ideal world, no recap episodes would ever exist. We're getting close to such a world (at least with the shows I watch), but some occasionally crop up.

Then you can't have seen Utena's two recap episodes, the first one(ep13) actually lays the foundation for a great deal of narrative revelations at the end of the series, and the second one is all careful set-up to preface the moment where you realize what Utena has done.
Now, you can argue that these didn't need to be housed in recap episodes, but what better way to sneak in surprises than in the episode you least expect them to be, and Utena is all about artistry.

[bci110]

What is your opinion on recaps? Love'em? Hate'em? Do you find them useful in reassociating yourself with the story in-between DVD viewings or do you think they just slow down the flow of the story?

As mentioned, the purpose of a recap episode is to help make the TV audience remember/recall the events that happen in the episodes prior to the recap. When a show's season comes to an end, or when it goes on hiatus for a certain period of time (as was the case for Wolf's Rain during the SARS epidemic back in 2002), the producers will create a recap episode or two (or in Wolf's Rain case, four) to help the viewing audience keep the events of the series fresh in their mind until the next season starts or when the show goes off hiatus.

From a TV-viewing standpoint, I see the need for recaps, but from a DVD-viewing perspective, I feel that they are unnecessary, and are only added on there just to give a series a sense of completion. Personally, I hate recaps. I think that they do disrupt the flow of the storytelling, and very few (if any) of them actually add any value to the overall concept of the story. One recap episode that I thought was well incorporated into the story was Episode 14 of R.O.D. the TV. I also liked the two Kaleido Star recap episodes (Episodes 27 & 28, the first two episodes on New Wings Vol. #1) and Episode 20 of Kodocha (the game-show episode). But outside of those four, I don't bother watching recaps. I didn't buy Vol. #4 of Wolf's Rain simply because they were the four recap episodes, and I don't need to have them as part of my collection.

[seca]

IIRC One Piece had 3 or 4 episodes of recaps a few months ago. Of course OP almost has 300 episodes now so recaps aren't so bad every once in a while.

I think recaps are great for long series, like OP, Naruto and Bleach where after a couple of seasons you may need a refresher to remember something from the first episode. Of course it also helps if the animators can add something new with it too. If the series is only about 25 episodes long recaps really aren't needed, IMHO.

[Splitter]

I think the last recap episode I've seen was Episode 14 of Eureka Seven. They are very rare these days, but they seem to populate the more-known series than the lesser-known otaku bait.

[AbeChinchilla]

I think there should be a rule that there can only be one recap episode for ever 26 or so episodes. Unless there's a number of various story arcs, or if they can be done "right" (see Utena).

Sailor Moon didn't have its first (and only) recap until episode 89. And they kept promising some "new footage" from the upcoming season. :)

I don't think a long-running show like Cardcaptor Sakura had a recap episode, wow!

I also don't mind some mini-recaps, if they are done in an enjoyable way (at the start of each Kare Kano episode). I did get annoyed by Air Gear and Tenjho Tenge's opening recaps. They can be up to about three minutes long! Dragon Ball Z suffered from this too.

It probably doesn't count, but I love the half-episoide-long recap during the last episode of Trigun.

[Ty]

Wow, you know I never really noticed until reading this but you're right. I haven't seen a recap episode in a recently produced anime in a long time. I sure as hell don't miss them either.

[Lego]

I could of sworn that AMG TV had one to(the first season). It was labeled as a half episode to if I remember right. Recap episodes, much like using the same opening and ending the whole series let the animators take a break and rest. Just don't tell that to fans of Wolf's Rain.

[Isuzu Inugami]

Wow, you know I never really noticed until reading this but you're right. I haven't seen a recap episode in a recently produced anime in a long time.

But it seems like a lot of shows are 13 eps these days, which would make a recap really obnoxious....

[quenelf]

1) Fantastic Children. And yes, it kind of surprised me, because I obviously haven't seen one for a while!

2) Mildly irritated by them. It really depends how I'm watching; if I put the series away for a while and am just coming back to it, then a recap is fine, but if I've just been watching the last episodes then it's annoying to have chunks of them all over again. On balance I would rather not have them.

A few shows do have excellent recap episodes, Utena being the example I'd have thought of too. The problem is, although that is a fantastic way to do a recap episode, the recap parts are still fundamentally unhelpful when you're watching at home rather than over weeks on TV... and, unlike a 'plain' recap episode, now that it has decent content in you probably don't want to skip it!

So on balance I'd like to see 'em gone or (if really necessary) made only for TV, without any extra production worth having, and not included in a DVD release - or included but as an extra rather than an in-sequence episode.

--quen

[Helschadenfreude]

Personally I hate recap episodes. If the recap shows something I haven't seen, I rather go back and watch all those episodes.

That being said, some of Gundam Seed(or was it Destiny) recaps added some new footage/thought, so it didn't seem like a recap, but it was....

[Teiresias]

NANA appears to be running a recap episode as an extra episode (11.5 & 21.5 that I've seen, 36.5 that I haven't) as well.

[perigee]

I'm just finishing up Kare Kano for my first time and I'm noticing that they do an awful lot of resummarizing of the plot so far.
IIRC, the Kare Kano recaps were done as time-compressed animation like a sped-up silent movie. Every episode added more scenes to the previous recap, so the animation kept getting faster and faster. That was kind of humorous, but I found the episode-length recaps less interesting. They may have been made to stretch a partially completed season to full length because of conflict between the series creator and the anime production team. I think Kare Kano is a unique case, or at least I don't recall seeing anything else quite like it. :(

[Famicom]

I'm generally not a fan of recaps, but I was very thankful for them in 12 Kingdoms. They throw SO MUCH at you in that show in names and locations, it's a lot easier to swallow when broken down to you in smaller bits after each arc is complete.

[TheGreenMan]

After what happened in Wolf's Rain, recap episodes should be banned.

[Shsway]

The latest recap ep that I've enjoyed was the one for Speed Grapher (episode 16). Ha ha!

I really don't dislike recaps at all...unless I've just made it a point to re-watch a previous volume or two to get up to speed, only to immediately encounter a handy-dandy summary events. And I keep thinking to myself that I'll likely skip these on the next watch, but I never remember/feel inclined to.

There are times when they even allow me to look at the story thus far from a different perspective.

[martod]

As mentioned, the purpose of a recap episode is to help make the TV audience remember/recall the events that happen in the episodes prior to the recap.


Actually I think the real purpose of recap episodes most of the time is to give the creators an excuse to make an episode almost entirely out of existing footage. :sd:

[something]

As mentioned, the purpose of a recap episode is to help make the TV audience remember/recall the events that happen in the episodes prior to the recap.Actually I think the real purpose of recap episodes most of the time is to give the creators an excuse to make an episode almost entirely out of existing footage. :sd:
Truth. I watch looooooots of anime as it airs in japan, roughly an ep a week, and I've never needed a recap episode, even without rewatching previous episodes. It's not about "catching fans up" it's about filling a week with fluff. Though I imagine it's often a planned thing I imagine, especially when it happens halfway through a series. They probably have a big meeting that week and sort out issues for upcoming developments and such. Anyways, yeah, recaps are for the creators, not the fans.

[mighty_vespa]

1) Fantastic Children. And yes, it kind of surprised me, because I obviously haven't seen one for a while!

So much word. Honestly, I welcomed the recap because, at that point, I really, REALLY wanted one.

Do I loathe "recaps"? Not really. It's case-by-case, really.

However, two series I believe required a recap (or three) were Ghost in the Shell: Stand Along Complex/2nd Gig and Twelve Kingdoms. Anyone who's seen either series would understand why. Both are long, complex (sorry) and rich with terminology. When the recaps for both series came along, I was relieved. It gave me a chance to "review" what I've watched and maybe pick-up key players or moments I might've overlooked.

[musouka]

Noein has one of my all time favorite "recap" episodes, because even though most of it is footage/dialogue we've seen before, it was actually key to the plot. I guess you can get away with that sort of thing with spacetime jumping around...

Twelve Kingdoms had a really nice recap in the third arc. I think it was only half a recap, but they way they did it was so nonintrusive that I had to go back and think "hey...that was a recap!"

[plaidwolf]

Sailor Moon didn't have its first (and only) recap until episode 89. And they kept promising some "new footage" from the upcoming season. :)


Actually, they had one other recap episode, but it wasnt a regular episode....this was the first part of the SuperS special that was shown early in the SuperS season

This special had three shorts, (1) the recap where Luna explains to Chibiusa (and the late-arriving audience) Sailor Moon's growth from the start through the first three seasons (SM, SMR, SMS), (2) Haruka and Michiru's one encounter with the Dead Moon Circus, and (3) the vampire short....

But this special wasn't considered part of the regular SuperS storyline....

[heisler]

I can usually do without a recap episode. What can be helpful is just a recap of what happened in the previous show, especially if it is crucial to the plot. Normally, this seems to be done anyways, which is good.
It gets annoying on DVD, but its pretty unlikely that the creators are going to edit their episodes down before throwing it onto a DVD.

Death to the "Here's what's happened so far!"

[meganly_chan]

I don't mind flashbacks in an episode, but I don't really like recaps. It's like "Yeah... uh huh... I've seen this already. Can I have something new?"

Trigun does very well with their recap episode. It was actually pretty cute (Meryl at the typewriter, spazzing at her memories), and at the end they added an actual new scene important to the plot. If they HAVE to have a recap, they should try to follow this sort of thing.

[ADC]

Trigun does very well with their recap episode. It was actually pretty cute (Meryl at the typewriter, spazzing at her memories), and at the end they added an actual new scene important to the plot. If they HAVE to have a recap, they should try to follow this sort of thing.
While I don't disagree with this on its face, I would note that Trigun needs another episode after the "ending" to tell a complete story. If you're locked into 26 episodes, the hope is that your unfinished business will be done by the end of episode 26. And if you don't finish all your business, there'd better not be a recap episode, because that's time and money poorly spent regardless of the recap's quality.

[pianocello]

I don't mind recap episodes if they're like the one in Green Green. :virgin:

[Perfect_Cell]

Most recent one was Gundam Seed Destiny which indeed have some new footage in it, but it atleast didn't play out like Gundam Seed's did. A recap eps and 1/2 of one on the eps after it. UGH, I hated that soo much.

As for recaps in general, I'm not really against them but if more then one shows up, well, it will get bothersome.

[XenoCrisis0153]

I'm just finishing up Kare Kano for my first time and I'm noticing that they do an awful lot of resummarizing of the plot so far.
IIRC, the Kare Kano recaps were done as time-compressed animation like a sped-up silent movie. Every episode added more scenes to the previous recap, so the animation kept getting faster and faster. That was kind of humorous, but I found the episode-length recaps less interesting. They may have been made to stretch a partially completed season to full length because of conflict between the series creator and the anime production team. I think Kare Kano is a unique case, or at least I don't recall seeing anything else quite like it. :(

I know what you're talking about... those little 5 minute "the story so far" quick run-through intros explained by Kana and Tsukino. They did those for the first few episodes and I really enjoyed them, but they stopped doing those about half-way through. There definitely were full-recap episodes, I think around 8 and 9. And it was two episodes back-to-back earlier than what I was used to. I remember this because when I saw it, I was like... "WTF? a recap episode now??" Then later on they did some more recapping, but those were only like half-an-episode each. I'll give them credit, they were well-done (hell, I'd watch them just to get to listen to the soundtrack some more).

thanks for the comments, minna-san. Very interesting stuff here ^___^

[The Red Comet]

I'm no fan of recap episodes but I don't dislike them. I usually forget all about them as soon as I'm done watching them. There are a few exceptions. I liked the Gundam Wing recap episode featuring Treize reminiscing about the story so far, as we get our first brief glimpse at Dorothy and the Epyon. I also like the aforementioned Kodocha episode where it's a game show and the manga-ka is one of the contestants. :D

While I don't disagree with this on its face, I would note that Trigun needs another episode after the "ending" to tell a complete story. If you're locked into 26 episodes, the hope is that your unfinished business will be done by the end of episode 26. And if you don't finish all your business, there'd better not be a recap episode, because that's time and money poorly spent regardless of the recap's quality.

I don't want to derail the topic but I must say I disagree with what you're implying here. I thought Trigun had a great ending. Spoilers Vash achieving emotional contentment is the most important aspect of the finale. To go on further would spoil that. I should say that I generally prefer not to have every little plot detail spelled out for me, so I'm more than satisfied with how it ended.

[Panon]

2) what is your opinion on recaps? Love'em? Hate'em? Do you find them useful in reassociating yourself with the story in-between DVD viewings or do you think they just slow down the flow of the story?

I couldn't name one series with them because they're still rather common.

I don't mind them all, mainly because 99% of the time they're optional. Don't feel like watching it? I just skip it.

I find the hysterical negative overreaction some people have to them completely absurd.

They certainly can have their uses - theres a difference between good and bad recaps (a good one can recap a story and be interesting at the same time) and sometimes they're helpful for catching up on a shows story.

As an example, as much as I unconditionally love GaoGaiGar personally, for a lot of people it's beginning can be hard to handle due to it's repetitiveness. More than once I've recommended the show to people and told them to watch and episode or two, then just skip forward to the recap episode if they weren't enjoying it a whole lot.

[Suwako Moriya]

I don't mind flashbacks in an episode, but I don't really like recaps.

Flashbacks can sometimes be just as bad or worse than recaps especially for series that are flashback heavy. To the point you're wondering if the show thinks you're stupid and will easily forget things. Speaking of recaps, I'm so tempted to do a recap of the posts in this thread. However I'm sure that would make many go insane.

[Gildor]

The latest recap episode I saw was Kaleido Star New Wings. It was actually the first two episodes. Since it recapped the first season rather than what had been happening in the second, I don't know if that counts.

If a recap episode is done in a way to not derail the momentum a series has been building, then I don't mind.

[something]

The latest recap episode I saw was Kaleido Star New Wings. It was actually the first two episodes. Since it recapped the first season rather than what had been happening in the second, I don't know if that counts.

If a recap episode is done in a way to not derail the momentum a series has been building, then I don't mind.

Was there actually a delay when it initially aired in Japan though? I thought it was just one 52 episode show. "New Wings" was, to my knowledge, just a designation ADV used to differentiate it since they took forever and a year to get to it after vol 6.

[Raye]

Haven't seen a recap episode in a while and I'm glad. The last one I can recall was from Eureka Seven, and before that, Speed Grapher.

I really don't like recap episodes. I think they're more for people who don't keep up with the show and miss an episode or two. True fans won't miss a show they like for anything!

It's even more annoying when they get onto DVD. I usually just skip over them. Or in the case if it's a download, I don't bother to watch.

[Gildor]

The latest recap episode I saw was Kaleido Star New Wings. It was actually the first two episodes. Since it recapped the first season rather than what had been happening in the second, I don't know if that counts.

If a recap episode is done in a way to not derail the momentum a series has been building, then I don't mind.

Was there actually a delay when it initially aired in Japan though? I thought it was just one 52 episode show. "New Wings" was, to my knowledge, just a designation ADV used to differentiate it since they took forever and a year to get to it after vol 6.
I didn't follow the Japanese release, so you may very well be correct. If thats what happened, at least they did the recap at a good break point.

[bci110]

The latest recap episode I saw was Kaleido Star New Wings. It was actually the first two episodes. Since it recapped the first season rather than what had been happening in the second, I don't know if that counts.

If a recap episode is done in a way to not derail the momentum a series has been building, then I don't mind.

Was there actually a delay when it initially aired in Japan though? I thought it was just one 52 episode show. "New Wings" was, to my knowledge, just a designation ADV used to differentiate it since they took forever and a year to get to it after vol 6.

From ANN's Encyclopedia page (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=1805) for Kaleido Star:

Seasons:
1. Kaleido Star, 26 eps (2003-04-03 to 2003-09-25)
2. Kaleido Star: New Wings [Shin Tanaru Tsubasa], 25 eps (2003-10-04 to 2004-03-27)

According to this, there was a week-long break between seasons. New Wings probably was what ADV translated Shin Tanaru Tsubasa to, but I'm not completely sure. The 52nd episode, Kaleido Star - New Wings Extra Stage, didn't air on Japanese TV; however it is available in the R1 release as Episode 26 on Kaleido Star: New Wings Vol. #6.

[Mateo_home]

The last recap I saw was in Basilisk which was pretty early, and a lot of flashbacks, compared to the manga.

As for my opinion, I don't hate them, I can do without them. I mean I'll watch them if there's something new even if it's very little or very informative like R.O.D. The TV or Twelve Kingdoms. Speaking of which, I was kind of dissapointed that the last episode of TK was a recap. It was like the staff wanted to put in that last bit of Youko's "other self" and ran out of time in the previous episode, so they just made that one into a recap. The other's were good and I think flashbacks were used well here. If it's mostle 100% recap, then in that case, stop wasting your time. And to be honest, I didn't like the recaps in Kare Kano.

So if recap episodes are truly a thing of the past, then good ridance.

And there you have it, a recap of the previous posts in this thread, or just doesn't make sense. Like something I always do. :P

[something]

According to this, there was a week-long break between seasons.
August 25th 2003 to October 4th 2003 is one week and 2 days, and since it's always a week between episodes anyway, in essence there was no break at all. All it did was switch from Thursdays to Saturdays, hence the extra two days for that.

So yeah, two recap episodes right there... baaaaaaad idea. A better spot than in the middle of a season, but no justification for two of them. Well, I never find justification for even one but that's just me.

[StudioZEL]

Practically every episode in Gundam Seed Destiny could be classified as a recap episode in some form or fashion :P

But seriously, I think if they're going to do recaps, they should at least be either

a) artistic
b) add something new to it, or at least a different perspective.

For example, in the first Gundam Seed series, there was a recap where someone was writing up a report, and she was adding her thoughts and some additional backstory to it as she went, which was cool. But GSD... *ugh*

[jlazar]

NO, I still see them on occasion. Nana has way to many of them for a 52 episode series, for instance.

You don't see (and shouldn't see) them in 13 episode series, so maybe that's why they don't seem a prevalent these days where 26+ episode series are rarer.

I should point out there is an anime currently airing that is made up of nothing but recap episodes... Shuffle Memories. :) Recap lover's heaven there. :roll:

[Lego]

I forget who it was, but I remember a Japanese director(the name escapes me) saying that recap episodes served the purpose of letting people who hadn't seen the show to get into it. Granted it also gives the animators a break because they can reuse footage, but if you have a recap episode around episode 13 of a 26 episode series, then you get my point.

[something]

I forget who it was, but I remember a Japanese director(the name escapes me) saying that recap episodes served the purpose of letting people who hadn't seen the show to get into it.
Maybe I'm not representative, but I can't possibly fathom getting into a show based on a series of 10 second clips nearly devoid of context.

[Lego]

True, but you aren't the average Japanese TV viewer surfing around from midnight to 5 AM heh. I can see how one could join "mid way" if you will or if they missed a episode or two as it lets them catch up. People sometimes forget that most anime airs on Japanese TV. But I couldn't fully get into a series without checking out the episodes that I missed.

[something]

People sometimes forget that most anime airs on Japanese TV. But I couldn't fully get into a series without checking out the episodes that I missed.
::blinks:: Where else would it air, on a space station? =P As you noted in your last sentence, even if you're surfing around channels and happen upon a show (and the chances of happening upon a recap episode are pretty slim), it's not going to tell you anything of use that jumping online and getting some info wouldn't.

[Redcoffin]

Kino's Journey had a recap episode which was all new material! They "recapped" scenes from earlier adventures that were never animated. I thought that was cool.

I think His and Her Circumstances is a special case. All the excessive re-capping in the last 10 episodes looks like desperation on the part of a creative team that was getting way, way behind on their time table. I happen to think this is one of the greatest shows evar, but I scan through the recaps

[something]

Kino's Journey had a recap episode which was all new material! They "recapped" scenes from earlier adventures that were never animated. I thought that was cool.
That's a flashback, not a recap :sd:

[Kinomoto_Shinji]

I've been watching mostly shounen jump anime as of late, so there is nothing but recaps in EVERY EPISODES + in the MIDDLE of episodes (some are necessary, but others are just a cry out for "need to delay because manga isn't going along fast enough"). It's easy to watch four to five episodes of a shounen jump anime in a hour because of the rediculous amounts of recaps at the beginng of each episode. <.< Plus the recap episodes (One Piece comes to mind for something recent).

So recaps are still here and still to stay. I'm not sure about other recent shows, but they will remain in shounen jump shows forever...

[Takato]

Actually, they had one other recap episode, but it wasnt a regular episode....this was the first part of the SuperS special that was shown early in the SuperS season There was a third recap special, too. It was called "Make-up! Sailor Senshi!" and it was released along with the R movie in Japan. It mainly focused on recapping the events of the first season and introducing the Sailor Soldiers. The only new footage were the scenes where the girls are arguing about which Sailor Soldier is the coolest. I hate recaps and I find them to be intrusive and pointless. I don't buy the whole reasoning that the Japanese use them to catch up on the plot on TV. American soap operas have a new episode airing every weekday and you don't see American soap operas having recap episodes every 26 episodes, do you? And if the Japanese really want to catch up on the anime, why don't they just buy the manga or rent the DVDs? I think recaps are just an excuse for the animators to have a full season without actually animating an extra episode.

I also don't see the need for recap episodes in longer shounen jump anime. It's not as if those shows have super-Eva-style complex plots to begin with. Their plots are usually pretty simple and easy to follow since they're mostly focused on action anyway. That isn't to say I don't enjoy shounen jump anime or anything. I just find the recap episodes in them to be just as annoying and pointless as recaps in shorter series. I think the most annoying of all the recap episodes is the recap episode in the Tenchi Muyo Ryo-ohki 3 OVAs. Fans had been waiting for years to see new Tenchi Muyo episodes and so what do they give us for the first of the new episodes we had been waiting ages to see? Recaps of episodes we've already been watching for years. If Tenchi Muyo was a TV series, I could sort of understand the need to start off with a recap, but Tenchi Muyo is an OVA series. The majority of the people watching the new episodes either already have the old episodes on DVD or have at least seen them all at some point in their lifetime, so why do we need to be reminded of scenes we've been re-watching for years? I don't mind recaps if they're funny or if they reveal something new about the plot and are done in an artistic manner, like the recaps in Utena or the flashbacks in Eva, but if I had to choose, I'd rather not have it at all since the majority of them are useless anyway.

[Sheena]

Generally, I don't think too many series truly need a recap episode.

At least for the DVD releases, you can watch he previous disk if need be to recall something. Or maybe it's because I usually don't follow 15 series at once but I usually remember what's going on in a show when I get the next volume. Yeah there may be rare exceptions but I'd rather rewatch a bit of the show in anticipation for the new vol. release than effectively pay twice for the same content. 90% of the time, it feels like filler used to reach a predetermined episode count.

As far as TV goes, most of the times, the viewers do not need to know everything that happened before to follow the new episode. A quick flashback now and then is way more bearable to me than a full episode recapping everything that ever happened. Few small doses of recap are IMO better than taking a full episode where you don't get anything new at all. I can see it for really long series but even then, those are usually split into shorter arcs that can be viewed independtly without missing too much. There are exceptions but those should be much rarer than we see.

For Kaleido Star Ep. 27-28, I think it was way too long. The plot of the first season was NOT that complex that it needed 2 full episodes to retell. In fact, it probably only required half an episode to give new viewers enough information to start the second season.

As far as newer anime having less recaps, I think like someone said before, this is also due to the higher number of shows having a relatively low episode count. A 13 episode anime really doesn't need a recap. Most people don't have that short an attention span/memory.

Also a while back, recaps could be a good opportunity for people who missed some episodes to catch up. But now people can record those shows more easily or get on the internet and watch what they've missed the day after it aired. So catching up isn't as hard as it may have been thus requiring fewer recaps.