Recaps are the “story so far” episodes, which people don’t really like.
Mid-season recaps usually indicate production issues.
There are many reasons for a recap to be made, and sometimes they are worth watching.
Recap episodes are episodes that retell the story that happened so far, and often contain little to no new events. Often, whenever it is announced when a show takes a week off for one of these, or when it’s announced the first episode of a new season of a beloved show is a recap episode 0, people quickly jump to complain about it. It’s understandable: they were hyped about new content, and now they’re being shown the same thing again, often condensed so much that it makes it hard to enjoy. However, recaps are not necessarily bad or useless.
Recaps ease up production schedule
Most commonly, a mid-series recap indicates certain troubles during production. Perhaps a studio can’t make an episode in time, so they take a week off to get back on track and reach the deadlines. Occasionally, however, a week isn’t enough, and the show’s schedule goes off the rails. Perhaps the most recent example is Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead (Zom 100: Zombie ni Naru made ni Shitai 100 no Koto), which had to postpone its last episodes to a later date. These mid-season recaps are usually not worth watching if you’re streaming the show online, but they can occasionally benefit those who watch the show on TV in Japan — perhaps they just tuned in and want a brief explanation of the events? It’s better to air something like this than to air nothing.
What about other types of recaps?
Similarly, pre-season recaps that remind you of the previous installments of the show can be very helpful. You might not remember what happened before, especially if it’s been a few years since the show aired. This is when these come handy: you probably don’t want to bother rewatching the entire show, so a quick rundown of the events and characters will refresh your memory. Sometimes the re-introduction of characters is instead included in the first episode, like when My Hero Academia shows all the character names and quirks in multiple seasons’ premieres.
Some recaps are actually worth watching regardless of whether you remember the show or not. A good example is Re:Creators Episode 13, which is a funny, nearly parodic commentary on the events narrated by a character in the show.
Is a recap episode worth watching?
Overall, there are multiple reasons recaps are made. You shouldn’t jump to complain about them so easily, and if you don’t want to, you can just not watch them. After all, if you don’t want to see a recap episode, you don’t really need to. And if it’s a recap for a previous season of a show you barely remember, there’s an argument that you should actually watch it.
You know, you don’t even need to watch them.
Summary:
Recaps are the “story so far” episodes, which people don’t really like.
Mid-season recaps usually indicate production issues.
There are many reasons for a recap to be made, and sometimes they are worth watching.
Recap episodes are episodes that retell the story that happened so far, and often contain little to no new events. Often, whenever it is announced when a show takes a week off for one of these, or when it’s announced the first episode of a new season of a beloved show is a recap episode 0, people quickly jump to complain about it. It’s understandable: they were hyped about new content, and now they’re being shown the same thing again, often condensed so much that it makes it hard to enjoy. However, recaps are not necessarily bad or useless.
Recaps ease up production schedule
Most commonly, a mid-series recap indicates certain troubles during production. Perhaps a studio can’t make an episode in time, so they take a week off to get back on track and reach the deadlines. Occasionally, however, a week isn’t enough, and the show’s schedule goes off the rails. Perhaps the most recent example is Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead (Zom 100: Zombie ni Naru made ni Shitai 100 no Koto), which had to postpone its last episodes to a later date. These mid-season recaps are usually not worth watching if you’re streaming the show online, but they can occasionally benefit those who watch the show on TV in Japan — perhaps they just tuned in and want a brief explanation of the events? It’s better to air something like this than to air nothing.
What about other types of recaps?
Similarly, pre-season recaps that remind you of the previous installments of the show can be very helpful. You might not remember what happened before, especially if it’s been a few years since the show aired. This is when these come handy: you probably don’t want to bother rewatching the entire show, so a quick rundown of the events and characters will refresh your memory. Sometimes the re-introduction of characters is instead included in the first episode, like when My Hero Academia shows all the character names and quirks in multiple seasons’ premieres.
Some recaps are actually worth watching regardless of whether you remember the show or not. A good example is Re:Creators Episode 13, which is a funny, nearly parodic commentary on the events narrated by a character in the show.
Is a recap episode worth watching?
Overall, there are multiple reasons recaps are made. You shouldn’t jump to complain about them so easily, and if you don’t want to, you can just not watch them. After all, if you don’t want to see a recap episode, you don’t really need to. And if it’s a recap for a previous season of a show you barely remember, there’s an argument that you should actually watch it.
