Ultra Podcast Z - A-to-J Connections

Ultra Podcast Z 60 (The "Drunk" Episode w/ Ren) | Concert Etiquette, Failed Topics, Drunken Nonsense

5/1/2020

April 9, 2019 7:00 PM PDT

Hosts:
Manuel
Ren

Description:
Ultra Podcast Z used to have several "lost" episodes that we've been slowly releasing over the years but none is more infamous than Episode 60 featuring Ren and a LOT of drinking. Originally scheduled to be a three-host podcast with Konaru on the topic of "Concert Etiquette", we decided to drink during it and just minutes before going live, Konaru had to drop out. What followed was a four-hour slow descent into nonsense. The first hour wasn't too bad and actually featured a bit on the actual topics (including the then-recent death of vocaloid-producer wowaka) before the alcohol caught up to us. There is too much to describe here on what happened in the following three hours, but suffice it to say that about 50 or so minutes were cut out for both content and to tighten up the pacing a little. The audience was quite active and big and it's unfortunate that the chat to this episode no longer survives, but there are some fun moments here that include Ren doing both a singing and dance cover with music that only she can hear! Drinks, shenanigans, and more make up this one and we hope that you enjoy it now, a year after it was live, as a nice little treat to watch while in these trying times. Here's hoping to a redux of this podcast in the future! Also, it's worth mentioning that with this release there are no more "lost" UPZ episodes except for Episode 68.5 (which is lost due to technical issues we can't fix) and the second episode of The Offshore Podcast... If you want to watch Ultra Podcast Z live then check out our twitch channel: twitch.tv/atojplays We are live every Tuesday at 6 PM PST!

Ultra Podcast Z 96 (Anime In Our Day w/ Janette) | Anime / Manga Accessibility, Bootleg Merch, More!

4/29/2020

Live Broadcast:
April 28, 2020 6:00 PM PDT

Hosts:
Manuel
Konaru
Janette

Description:
Ultra Podcast Z (and most of the rest of the country) is still in quarantine and this episode sort of continues the con nostalgia theme from last week's main episode! Originally Janette was supposed to be on that episode (we actually had a glut of hosts for it) and she was not able to so we set up this one here! Not wanting to completely retread the same material, we took a slightly different approach and channeled our inner boomer with a "back in MY day!" style discussion! Mainly focusing on the ease of access anime fans have today, we talked about how expensive and difficult it was being a fan over a decade ago and the horrors of dealing with horrible companies, bad release schedules, lack of widespread availability, and bootleg merch EVERYWHERE it was definitely a different world. Beyond that, we took a deep dive into the world of piracy, and why it may be popping up again, and how the world of streaming is amazing, but FAR from perfect. An open discussion if there ever was one, we could literally take each of the topics we touched on and discuss them for hours, but alas, we have a time limit of sorts on this show so we did our best! Let us know what it was like being an anime fan when you first got into the scene and how your experiences compared to our's! Stay healthy and take care of each other! If you want to watch Ultra Podcast Z live then check out our twitch channel: twitch.tv/atojplays We are live every Tuesday at 6 PM PST!

Ultra Podcast Z 95.5 (w/ Pleiades, Haro, & Badman) | Martial Law In Peru, Corona-chan, Anime, More!

4/26/2020

Live Broadcast:
April 25, 2020 6:00 PM PDT

Hosts:
Manuel
Pleiades
Haro
Badman

Description:
Ultra Podcast Z (and most of the rest of the country) is still in quarantine and this episode basically redoes our 93.5 episode from two weeks ago but with the addition of Haro! There was a lot of randomness, and some technical difficulties, at the start of this one, but we got into the swing of things by taking some seldom-heard-from-us political jabs at the current situation in the US and more on the lockdown in Peru. (Including more on martial law and what it means for them and us.) We then moved into more talk about the current health situation and tackled such topics like the Bleach Cult (with a bit of a non-serious tone) and the 5G nonsense going around right now. (With a surprisingly serious tone) We then talked about Corona-chan again since there have been some developments with the character in certain anime convention circles and we felt that the topic warranted re-visiting. Needless to say it still ended with a #PleiadesIsOverParty bit! Rather than wrap this one up though we took a stab into some Goku memes and accidentally dropped into a 30 minute discussion of Neon Genesis Evangelion and the Evangelion Rebuild Series. That, and some Resident Evil nonsense, rounded out this epic three-hour podcast and we think this one really stands on its own, especially due to the topics that we never saw ourselves covering in this podcast. Stay healthy and take care of each other! If you want to watch Ultra Podcast Z live then check out our twitch channel: twitch.tv/atojplays We are live every Tuesday at 6 PM PST!

Ultra Podcast Z 95 (Con Nostalgia w/ Rubab & Molly) | Con Memories, Anime Merch, Guests, More!

4/22/2020

Live Broadcast:
April 21, 2020 6:00 PM PDT

Hosts:
Manuel
Konaru
Molly
Rubab

Description:
Ultra Podcast Z (and most of the rest of the country) is still in quarantine and this continues our new set of topical podcasts in quarantine and we decided to talk Con Nostalgia! Molly joined us again this time around (somewhat on the last minute though and with no camera) and Fake Star USA's Rubab (who was in a similar lockdown situation in Tokyo at the time of the show) hopped on to give us a unique take on the topic. Besides discussing our first convention experiences (boy were we young!) we dived deep into how different things used to be and told stories of a time where conventions were a wilder place of glomping, Homestuck trolls, yaoi paddles, and lacking in overall security. A wild place that existed in several hotel conventions that you don't see today, we also took a serious look at how the convention guest scene has changed/hasn't and why it's very important to obtain the correct visa for overseas guests. Anecdotes about guests from Rubab, bootleg merch from Manuel, artist alley stuff from Konaru, and more we rounded out this one with a lot of information, fun, and randomness! Be sure to tell us your con nostalgia memories in the comments below and let us know what you think about our stories! Stay healthy and take care of each other! If you want to watch Ultra Podcast Z live then check out our twitch channel: twitch.tv/atojplays We are live every Tuesday at 6 PM PST!

Ultra Podcast Z 94.5 (Idol Nonsense w/ Matt) | SNH48 & STAR48, Youth With You, Jurina Matsuri, More!

4/17/2020

Live Broadcast:
April 15, 2020 6:00 PM PDT

Hosts:
Manuel
Matt

Description:
Ultra Podcast Z (and most of the rest of the country) is still in quarantine and this is the first real episode outside of our "Quarantine Blues" series of shows. In the works for weeks, we'd been trying to schedule a Jurina Matsui-themed podcast but weren't able to lock down a date. With Matt joining in it was finally scheduled really close to our regularly-scheduled weekly episode, but by now it had evolved to the point where another half of the show would be dedicated to Chinese (Mando) Pop, SNH48, and the new music competition show "Youth With You". Those latter topics made up the first half of the show and there was also the added bits about Tencent Media and iQiyi in general. The Matsui Jurina talk mainly dealt with possibilities of what she'd be doing following her graduation this Fall and covered things like solo/group music careers, various acting gigs, and wrestling. We focused largely on the latter part and went a bit more in-depth regarding AEW, Kenny Omega, and the wrestling scene in general. Also, we touched a bit on Yua Mikami and Honey Popcorn, among other things. There is a lot to take in here so be sure to check it out and look forward to the return of more topic-centric shows! Stay healthy and take care of each other! If you want to watch Ultra Podcast Z live then check out our twitch channel: twitch.tv/atojplays We are live every Tuesday at 6 PM PST!

Ultra Podcast Z 94 (Quarantine Blues 5 w/ Janette) | Boomer Hates Bread, Cancelled & Online Cons

4/15/2020

Live Broadcast:
April 14, 2020 6:00 PM PDT

Hosts:
Manuel
Konaru
Janette

Description:
Ultra Podcast Z (and most of the rest of the country) is still in quarantine and this marks the last of our "Quarantine Blues" podcasts... for now! This one is a little all over the place as we opened with an easy "Surviving The Quarantine" bit and, after discussing some work-from-home situations, the podcast would continually derail as the topic of baking "quarantine bread" took up a lot of the podcast's time with the live chat viewers loving it. After some other odds and ends, like discussing some of the issues with restaurants like Hooters (and it's not actually the skimpy uniforms) the podcast weaved in and out of legitimate topics like what returning to "normal" really means when all this is said and done and the mess of going to events today when many organizations, including Ticketmaster, limiting options when it comes to getting refunds for postponed events. We also went in depth regarding the problems with the glut of online events that are replacing cancelled conventions. You may notice that the last two topics are sort of a retread, but we tackled them from different angles and included lots of new, developing informations. Of course, it'd be remiss to not keep mentioning that the bread argument didn't continually rear its ugly head so be prepared for that when tuning in! Stay healthy and take care of each other! If you want to watch Ultra Podcast Z live then check out our twitch channel: twitch.tv/atojplays We are live every Tuesday at 6 PM PST!

Ultra Podcast Z 93.5 (Quarantine Blues 4 w/ Pleiades & Badman) | Stuck In Peru, Mask Fashion, More!

4/12/2020

Live Broadcast:
April 11, 2020 6:00 PM PDT

Hosts:
Manuel
Pleiades
Badman

Description:
Ultra Podcast Z (and most of the rest of the country) is still in quarantine and we put on one of our long-awaited weekend episodes! Joining us for this one is both Treasurebox Press' Pleiades and Badman (AKA Warren) who literally just returned from Peru days ago after being stuck in Peru for weeks. While some of our topics strayed into familiar territory regarding how we are surviving quarantine, we had a LOT of fresh content here. Besides a longform version of Warren's "Locked Up Abroad"-esque story about getting stuck in Peru, we also covered topics like the Animal Crossing black market, the realities of martial law, if making corona-related jokes is okay in today's world (where we also looked at Full Moon's new movie "Corona Zombies") and mask fashion, among a LOT of other topics! (That Cannibal Holocaust video game anyone?) This was one of our most full and fun episodes and while we had to cut it a little shorter than we would've liked, (still over two hours) we will revisit these weekend episodes soon since this lockdown won't be ending in the near future. We will be here to provide you with more fun distractions! Also, be sure to comment and mention all the times the hosts "cancelled" themselves throughout this one! Stay healthy and take care of each other! If you want to watch Ultra Podcast Z live then check out our twitch channel: twitch.tv/atojplays We are live every Tuesday at 6 PM PST!

Ultra Podcast Z 93 (Quarantine Blues 3 w/ Molly) | Productivity, Food Adventures, YouTubers, More!

4/9/2020

Live Broadcast:
April 7, 2020 6:00 PM PDT

Hosts:
Manuel
Konaru
Molly

Description:
Ultra Podcast Z (and most of the rest of the country) is still in quarantine (and will be for the foreseeable future) and even though we said we'd return to more structured content we decided to continue the "Quarantine Blues" series though this one DID have more structure and featured very little Animal Crossing! Rubi was supposed to join us for this one and unfortunately did not but Molly popped in uber last minute and we still put on a good show! We started by talking about the strains of being productive during quarantine and what we're doing to keep us busy which quickly segwayed into some "food adventures" we're having cooking from home and (apparently) baking bread. Konaru was actually the only one who is truly being productive (trying to learn Japanese) and going on food adventures (baking bread) but we still covered a lot of ground discussion-wise! We then dove into some of our favorite YouTubers and some of the TV shows and movies we're watching. There was a nice deviation into the odd Hong Kong movie "The Untold Story" and after discussing some other shows and cool streaming services, we moved on to our regular weekly randomness as well as a big discussion as to why the new crop of online conventions are pretty much a waste of time and energy. Lots to see here and get ready for more Quarantine Blues soon! Stay healthy and take care of each other! If you want to watch Ultra Podcast Z live then check out our twitch channel: twitch.tv/atojplays We are live every Tuesday at 6 PM PST!