Ultra Podcast Z - A-to-J Connections

Ultra Podcast Z 177 (Anime Expo Pre-Roll) Reunion Recap, Anime Expo Prep & Convention Plans, More!

6/30/2022

Live Broadcast:
June 28, 2022 6:00 PM PDT

Hosts:
Manuel
Nyaru

Description:
Ultra Podcast Z returns with its original cast just in time for a pre-AX episode! Nyaru and Manuel are both back and talked about what they're looking forward to at Anime Expo since it is days away, as of this episode's YouTube posting everyone should already be on site! Nyaru had a lot of event plans while Manuel was just looking forward to the parties, but is any of that really surprising? There was a lot of discussion here, food plans, past AX recollections, and even dipping our toes a bit into an Anime Expo bingo thing (that didn't really pan out the way we intended). We normally don't do episodes this close to a big convention but seeing as we didn't have a lot of personal projects at AX that we had to prep for, and seeing as we had to cancel a bunch of "normal" episodes recently, we decided to go through with this one, so keep that in mind while we are all fairly tired. That said, it was a pretty on night and we are all excited in our own way for Anime Expo. If you're going to be going to AX this weekend then have fun and be sure to stay safe and hydrated! We'll see everyone in two weeks as we are already sure that the next episode will be skipped as it's so close to the end of AX, but we will be back! As always, take care of yourselves and each other in these trying times and stay healthy and safe! 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 176 (Running A Con w/ Donald) Gaming & Anime News, Tora-Con Info & Stories, More!

6/24/2022

Live Broadcast:
June 21, 2022 6:00 PM PDT

Hosts:
JD
Donald

Description:
Ultra Podcast Z had another weird week. The end of the no-host period is wrapping up now, but it's been interesting to see how UPZ can continue on. This week JD actually contacted a friend of his, Donald, the chair of Tora-Con, to be his co-host. Tora-Con is a local anime convention held at the Rochester Institute of Technology (link below) in Rochester, New York and, while that was a the main topic here, there was a lot covered. It's definitely interesting to get someone behind the scenes when it comes to running a convention as we've (surprisingly) have not really tried this kind of topic before even though we all have more than our share of convention runner friends. Besides Tora-Con talk there was news, anime, and video game talk all throughout and there was a lot of storytime and event talk when it came to Tora-Con itself. It's a little weird watching UPZ with such a different cast but it's been an unique ride that's for sure! Anyhow, be sure to check out this episode, check out Tora-Con if you can, and keep watching UPZ! Maybe we'll have Donald on again in the future as both him and Photaku, not to mention JD himself, did a good job making up for some unforeseen circumstances. Next week both Manuel and Nyaru should be back talking about some pre-Anime Expo stuff so let's see if things jump back to normal after that! As always, take care of yourselves and each other in these trying times and stay healthy and safe! 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 175 (No Manuel, No Cry w/ Photaku) Video Game Updates, Netflix, Conventions, More!

6/16/2022

Live Broadcast:
June 14, 2022 6:00 PM PDT

Hosts:
JD
Photaku

Description:
Ultra Podcast Z had a really weird week. Manuel was indisposed because of a lot of personal irl nonsense and Nyaru was going to take the week off. Normally, either of these things (especially Manuel not being able to make it), would mean that the episode would be cancelled but JD, our mod who has been on every episode for about year now as our mod, decided that he could get a show together on his own and got Photaku, who himself has replaced Nyaru many times recently, to join him as co-host. We had some ideas of what we were going to talk about this summer but JD decided to focus on a more topical idea: E3 game news since there won't be any sort of E3 this year at all. There was a lot of game talk, a lot of random talk and then things moved to Netflix news and the old standby: anime conventions. More talk about updates and a lot about JD's recent trip to Anime Boston closed what was a very unique show. It's unknown if this kinda format will ever happen again, but it's interesting that the show can indeed go on without either of its hosts. Also, if you look at the chat, Manuel was in the show a lot actually but only in spirit! Anyway, hopefully next week will see Manuel and Nyaru return, and if not, we know that the should CAN still go on! As always, take care of yourselves and each other in these trying times and stay healthy and safe! 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 174 (Con Foods) Bacon-Wrapped Hot Dogs, Denny's, Alcohol, Snacks, Pizza, More!

6/10/2022

Live Broadcast:
June 7, 2022 6:00 PM PDT

Hosts:
Manuel
Nyaru

Description:
Ultra Podcast Z took a break after Ani-May (mainly due to Fanime) but we're back and swinging with a topic close to our hearts: Convention Foods! Nyaru was back and while she wasn't at any recent conventions we're in full swing for the summer season. After the obvious "Top Gun: Maverick" dialogue was done, we talked about the most obvious of con foods: bacon wrapped hot dogs. We then talked pizza, Denny's, and basically any other standard con meal. Along the way we described some "extra" meals like taking time out of a busy weekend for a long (comparatively speaking) break at a sit-down restaurant. Of course we also talked snacks, alcohol, and all sorts of memes while sharing some anecdotes and taking some topic changes from the chat. It was a fun topic but we were a little off due to the break and we'll be well more in the swing of things as the month continues. What will the summer hold? Who knows but UPZ is about to come to it's FIFTH anniversary and that is a really wild thought. Maybe give us some topic ideas below... As always, take care of yourselves and each other in these trying times and stay healthy and safe! 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 173 (Ani-May: Hot Takes) Conventions & Autographs, Dub vs. Sub, Western Anime, More!

5/31/2022

Live Broadcast:
May 24, 2022 6:00 PM PDT

Hosts:
Manuel
Photaku

Description:
Ultra Podcast Z closed out Ani-May with a look back on some of our controversial hot takes we've had in other focused episodes. That would've been the main focus of this episode if not for the fact that Nyaru bounced earlier on (to be fair we'd kind of forgotten) due to her having to check out the new Top Gun movie. We continued on with Photaku but our intro topic, upcoming and recent anime conventions, kind of got away from us. Also, the audio at the start of the episode is a bit shaky but it gets better and we plan to make sure it works out all better next time. ALSO, this episode was going to come out last week, before/during Fanime, but we decided to hold onto it since we weren't going to have many (if any) streams when we came back, so disregard all the parts about coming to Fanime. Anyway, there were a lot of hot takes here... We discussed Vic a lot, probably to the dismay of JD, Manuel discovered that voice actor autographs have gotten fairly expensive in recent years, and we covered all the hot topics like dub vs. sub and whether something has to be Japanese to be considered anime. So check it out and be sure to let us know your opinions on these topics in the comments below. We're skipping the last Tuesday in May (the 31st) but we will be back, with Nyaru, for the first Tuesday in June with a grasp on UPZ nonsense! As always, take care of yourselves and each other in these trying times and stay healthy and safe! 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 172 (Ani-May: Anime Ships) Sonic The Hedgehog Pairings, Fav Anime Openings, More!

5/22/2022

Live Broadcast:
May 17, 2022 6:00 PM PDT

Hosts:
Manuel
Nyaru

Description:
Ultra Podcast Z had an interesting episode this time around complete with all sorts of sound issues. We actually lost the first five minutes or so of this show due to our sound not being on and not noticing it until we'd wrapped up some of our warm up topics AND when our audio was turned on we had more issues as Manuel was using the wrong mic and it wasn't caught until the next night's stream, so we apologize for all the audio nonsense in this one. Elsewhere we talked about some of the biggest, and our favorite, anime ships or pairings and went through a couple lists as well as noting some off the top of our head and from the chat. It was a bit of a narrow topic but it offered the chance to spin off into other things like Sonic The Hedgehog ship nonsense and accidentally discovering the "Shipping Wiki". We didn't really have a lot more to say after like thirty minutes and moved onto our other topic, some of our favorite anime openings which was a topic that took a few minutes to get going but when we DID we were rapid firing song titles and even singing along to the Cardcaptor Sakura theme so good time! Ani-May has been a little all over the place but that might be because there are a lot of anime conventions surrounding these shows and we're all a little frazzled. We plan to close out the month with a bang though so be sure to keep checking in! As always, take care of yourselves and each other in these trying times and stay healthy and safe! 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 171 (Ani-May: Idol Anime) Offkai Recap 2.0, Love Live Invasion, Idol Anime, More!

5/15/2022

Live Broadcast:
May 10, 2022 6:00 PM PDT

Hosts:
Manuel
Nyaru

Description:
Ultra Podcast Z never really left but we've been without JD and Nyaru for a few weeks now. They were both back for this one which is the second episode of "Ani-May" and we tackled the topic of Idol Anime, which is something we'd actually talked about covering before Offkai Expo but it somehow got away from us in the scheduling. There's the usual nonsense at the beginning and we got into a Nyaru-specific version of Offkai Recap which was actually quite interesting in a behind-the-scenes way and we even talked a bit about Maid Day (which it was when we had this episode) before going into the topic proper. We talked about a lot of our favorites like Zombieland Saga, Kirarin Revolution, and AKB0048. We then talked about some of the big idol anime franchises like PriPara, IDOLM@STER, Love Live, and why no one like Aikatsu even though it's one of the best. We then covered a topic we hadn't visited in a while: What Love Live did to the idol scene at large in the US, especially when it comes to anime conventions. An interesting topic that we all had something to get off our chests and we circled back around to more idol anime recs (check out Wake Up Girls!) and more before we closed this one out. A nice continuation into Ani-May so be sure to watch the next two episodes in this special month! Also, Nyaru is stinky, that is all. As always, take care of yourselves and each other in these trying times and stay healthy and safe! 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 170 (Ani-May w/ Badman & Dr. Wes) Offkai Expo Recap, Recent & Comfort Anime, More!

5/7/2022

Live Broadcast:
May 3, 2022 6:00 PM PDT

Hosts:
Manuel
Badman
Dr. Wes

Description:
Ultra Podcast Z is launching "Ani-May" and this is an odd episode. We were originally going to have JD and Nyaru back on this one and neither would make it. Warren is once again hosting (hence the look) and Weston joined in as a last minute replacement for Nyaru. We came into this one thinking we'd have trouble filling in the Ani-May parts and only spend a bit of it talking about the couple topics we'd had down (Recent, Fav, and Comfort Anime as well as a recent J-List article that we found weird) and spend most of it brainstorming ideas for the rest of the month. We DID sort of do that at the end but we were more than capable of filling this episode with a lot of talk about Offkai Expo (we'll cover a bit more of that when Nyaru returns too!) and just going on and on about anime. A good episode that was a bit more structured than the last one and we hope that you all agree with us. There IS an amount of randomness here and there though, but would it be a UPZ episode if there wasn't? Also, check out that J-List article below and let us know if you've been pronouncing these anime correctly or not. Ani-May will continue right up until Fanime so be sure to keep an eye out for more as we continue down this month, and be sure to yell at Nyaru for bouncing on this one again! As always, take care of yourselves and each other in these trying times and stay healthy and safe! 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 169 (Dank Memes w/ Badman & Hinacchi) Elon Musk, Milk or Cereal First, VTubers, More!

5/3/2022

Live Broadcast:
April 26, 2022 6:00 PM PDT

Hosts:
Manuel
Badman
Hinacchi

Description:
Ultra Podcast Z is still here even though we took a break because of JD's move and then had to replace him for our special Episode 169. (It's practically the funny internet number!) We already had lined up Hinacchi for this episode and Warren joined us as the actual host, reusing our old "Shooting The Sh*t" layout, and we carried on with what turned out to be a very random episode. Nyaru couldn't show up because of the then-upcoming Offkai Expo, and Manuel was going as well, so this wasn't as structured as many other episodes even though we DID come into it with several topics we wanted to cover. Looking back on it though we did move through most of what we wanted to talk about, and every host managed to get a lot of discussion in, just that it kinda flowed everywhere with more of the STS type antics over the usual UPZ ones. We did talk all sorts of things though like softcore parody movies, accidentally eating bugs, and Hina's long-unseen VTuber. This was originally going to be edited down, and maybe even held back as a "lost episode", but we decided to release it as is mainly due to the fact that our streams have been very shaky recently due to everyone's schedules and all the events that are upcoming. Look forward to at least one more episode like this one as JD will still be out for at least one more episode and also look forward to a series of anime-themed episodes with "Ani-May"! Oh, and expect a recap from Offkai Expo (as well as Nyaru's return) soon! As always, take care of yourselves and each other in these trying times and stay healthy and safe! 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 168 (Video Game Nonsense) Bees, Comfort & Puzzle Games, Sonic The Hedgehog, More!

4/19/2022

Live Broadcast:
April 12, 2022 6:00 PM PDT

Hosts:
Manuel
Nyaru

Description:
Ultra Podcast Z is back after another small break as we skipped last week because Nyaru wasn't feeling well. This week we were a little more alive and decided that we'd cover all sorts of video game nonsense, in the form of recommendations. It was hard separating this one as it was a bit all over the place and actually quickly devolved into a discussion of the new Sonic movie and more about the games in general. The Sonic talk takes up about half the show and you can leave hate comments below for Manuel as he referred to Sally Acorn as "Sally Fox". Also we determined that Rouge The Bat was the best Sonic girl even though she technically wasn't in the poll we were running. We didn't just talk Sonic though and besides going on about bees and Offkai Expo, we covered Mario, puzzle games, comfort games, and more. We even touched on those bowling memes that were wild af recently! Let us know what some of your comfort games are and some of your video game recommendations in general. Also, if you're watching this as opposed to just playing it in the background, be sure to check out JD's recs which he placed on-screen throughout even though we didn't acknowledge them mostly live. If we ever cover this topic again we'll probably try to give the topic more "form" but we do our best here at UPZ! Also, Nyaru is stinky, that is all. As always, take care of yourselves and each other in these trying times and stay healthy and safe! 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!