Good use of recap episodes

[Archon_Wing]

I'm sure a lot of you have that feeling, but when I see an episode that is a recap, I'm just like "You cheap bastards and your stock footage padding".

But there's no point ranting about that. Tell me about recaps that actually allowed you to review the show's storyline up to that point into meaningful thought.

[Traece]

I've seen it done before where they fit the recap in under a different perspective. "Here are the events as we see them." It works even more so when the recap is used to explain a greater piece of the story, or to clarify how things really happened. What was going on behind the scenes.

These tactics are actually not too uncommon in Western television. The issue with recaps is that they have to be interesting.

Making it part of the story makes it necessary content. I also like the Crest/Banner of the stars approach to recap where they frequently revisit events from the previous portions of the story as the characters reflect upon their experiences. This ability comes in part from the writing of the novels. Lafiel and Jinto often reflect upon their past experiences and in the anime this is shown by revisiting that footage with an overlay of dialogue about the events and how those events shaped their lives or how they think about them now in retrospect.

[GreyZone]

I thought it was done quite well in Death Note, because it also showed the events more from L's perspective. But more important: After the recap they added a bit of new scenes and those who saw it will understand when I say that it was epic, the moment the "Death Note Theme.mp3" kicked in.

[backbone]

Recap episode can be very good if it's done well, and i think one of the best cases is Gundam Wing

Spoiler for Gundam Wing:

Gundam Wing's recaps manage to explain all the confusing plot points, reveals a lot of stuff, while the 2nd recap mixes old animation with some new animation, and gives the viewers some understanding of Heero and Treize.

[Kanon]

Not anime but I recently saw Kamen Rider Ryuki (which I highly recommend to Madoka Magica and Fate/Stay Night fans) and it had a pretty smart recap episode.

Spoiler:

Time was reverted back to the beginning of the series by the main "antagonist". The main character periodically remembered the previous timeline and attempted to change the course of events, only to fail. Reliving these events reinforced his motivation.

They managed to make the recap episode fit into the storyline.

[risingstar3110]

Recap in 12 kingdoms basically give insight about the lore of that universe through character conversation, so it contains some new information too, which is decent. But they often reshow some part all over again which is a bit annoyed

[Akito Kinomoto]

A certain episode in Sakurasou functions like this while also adding backstory to justify it.

[4Tran]

The answer to this is going to forever be Utena. The first recap does everything that you ask for - insight from a new character to put the previous episodes into thematic perspective. The third episodes is equal parts creative and shocking - I think that it's not only the best recap episode ever made, but also one of the best anime episodes of all time.

[Goty]

NANA had pretty fun recaps, with the characters reviewing the story in a bar, while adding some snarky remarks and complaints, sometimes even reflecting upon their own acts.

[Blaat]

Originally Posted by 4Tran

The third episodes is equal parts creative and shocking - I think that it's not only the best recap episode ever made, but also one of the best anime episodes of all time.

Out of all the recaps this is the only I still remember, just because of the reveal at the end.