The BEST episodes of Neon Genesis Evangelion season 1
Every episode of Neon Genesis Evangelion season 1, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Neon Genesis Evangelion season 1!
In the year 2015, the Angels, huge, tremendously powerful, alien war machines, appear in Tokyo for the second time. The only hope for Mankind's survival lies in the Evangelion, a humanoid fighting machine developed by NERV, a special United Nations agency. Capable of withstanding anything the Angels can dish out, the Evangelion's one drawback lies in the limited number of people able to pilot them. Only a handful of teenagers, all born fourteen years ago, nine months after the Angels first appeared, are able to interface with the Evangelion. One such teenager is Shinji Ikari, whose father heads the NERV team that developed and maintains the Evangelion. Thrust into a maelstrom of battle and events that he does not understand, Shinji is forced to plumb the depths of his own inner resources for the courage and strength to not only fight, but to survive, or risk losing everything.
#1 - Introjection
Season 1 - Episode 19 - Aired 2/7/1996
Distraught after the battle, Shinji vows to never pilot an Eva again and quits NERV once more. Just as he's about to leave, another Angel attacks.
#2 - Ambivalence
Season 1 - Episode 18 - Aired 1/31/1996
Unit 03 arrives from the United States, but Shinji still doesn't know who its pilot is. During testing, NERV learns Unit 03 is possessed by an Angel.
#3 - Splitting of the Breast
Season 1 - Episode 16 - Aired 1/17/1996
While in battle, Shinji and Unit 01 are engulfed in the spreading shadow of an Angel. As NERV fears them both lost, Shinji has a strange experience.
#4 - Rei II
Season 1 - Episode 6 - Aired 11/8/1995
As the Fifth Angel drills toward NERV, Misato leads Operation Vashima: All of Japan's power will be diverted to take out Ramiel with a positron rifle.
#5 - Weaving a Story 2: oral stage
Season 1 - Episode 20 - Aired 2/14/1996
After achieving an unheard of synchronization rate, Shinji merges with Unit 01. While he has an out of body experience, NERV works to salvage him.
#6 - The Beginning and the End, or "Knockin' on Heaven's Door"
Season 1 - Episode 24 - Aired 3/13/1996
Kaworu Nagisa, the Fifth Child, comes to NERV to pilot Unit 02 in Asuka's place. He's friendly to Shinji, but he's shrouded in mystery.
#7 - Rei III
Season 1 - Episode 23 - Aired 3/6/1996
Despite her struggles, Asuka is ordered to assist Rei in battle against Armisael. When she fails, Rei makes a desperate move in order to save Shinji.
#8 - The Beast
Season 1 - Episode 2 - Aired 10/11/1995
After piloting the Eva Unit 01, Shinji wakes up in the hospital with no memory of the battle. Feeling sorry for him, Misato lets him move in with her.
#9 - Those women longed for the touch of others' lips, and thus invited their kisses.
Season 1 - Episode 15 - Aired 1/10/1996
For the first time in years, Shinji meets his father at his mother's grave. Ritsuko, Misato and Ryoji attend a wedding and Asuka goes on a date.
#10 - Asuka Strikes!
Season 1 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/22/1995
Shinji and his friends accompany Misato to meet Eva Unit 02 and its pilot Asuka at sea. Misato's old friend Ryoji Kaji is aboard with his own agenda.
#11 - Both of You, Dance Like You Want to Win!
Season 1 - Episode 9 - Aired 11/29/1995
Asuka and Shinji face another Angel but it gets the upper hand. They now have six days to learn synchronized moves to destroy it completely.
#12 - He was aware that he was still a child.
Season 1 - Episode 21 - Aired 2/21/1996
Seele kidnaps Fuyutsuki and interrogates him about NERV and Gendo's true intentions, revealing events from the past. Ryoji goes missing.
#13 - Don't Be.
Season 1 - Episode 22 - Aired 2/28/1996
Asuka's synchronization ratio continues to drop, undermining her self-confidence. Determined to show her worth, she ignores orders during battle.
#14 - She said, "Don't make others suffer for your personal hatred."
Season 1 - Episode 12 - Aired 12/20/1995
With Gendo and Fuyutsuki in Antarctica, a newly promoted Misato is in charge when a new Angel appears about the Earth, aiming to bomb Tokyo-3.
#15 - The Day Tokyo-3 Stood Still
Season 1 - Episode 11 - Aired 12/13/1995
Tokyo-3 loses power just as another Angel is detected. The Eva pilots must enter the base from the surface while NERV preps the Units manually.
#16 - Lilliputian Hitcher
Season 1 - Episode 13 - Aired 12/27/1995
An Angel infiltrates NERV, quickly taking over the MAGI supercomputer, Ritsuko proposes writing a program to forcibly evolve Ireul to its extinction.
#17 - Rei I
Season 1 - Episode 5 - Aired 11/1/1995
Unit 00's pilot Rei Ayanami appears to have recovered, but she has no friends, no records of her past, and no interest in getting to know Shinji.
#18 - A Transfer
Season 1 - Episode 3 - Aired 10/18/1995
Word gets around school that Shinji is the Eva pilot; his classmate Toji resents him for it. An Angel appears and Shinji must pilot in combat again.
#19 - Angel Attack
Season 1 - Episode 1 - Aired 10/4/1995
In the year 2015, an Angel returns to attack on Tokyo-3. Misato Katsuragi transports Shinji to the NERV base overseen by his estranged father, Gendo.
#20 - A Human Work
Season 1 - Episode 7 - Aired 11/15/1995
Ritsuko tells Shinji about the classified true cause of the Second Imapct. Then she and Misato attend the field test for an Eva competitor mecha.
#21 - Magmadiver
Season 1 - Episode 10 - Aired 12/6/1995
NERV learns of an Angel in dormant embryonic form inside a volcano. Using equipment designed for magma, Asuka is sent to retrieve it with Unit 02.
#22 - Hedgehog's Dilemma
Season 1 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/25/1995
Stressed out following his last battle, Shinji runs away from home and meets Kensuke. After NERV brings him back in, Misato offers him a choice.
#23 - Fourth Child
Season 1 - Episode 17 - Aired 1/24/1996
NERV-02 in Nevada vanishes, along with the Eva Unit 04. With Unit 03 on the way, Gendo orders Ritsuko to assign a pilot to it.
#24 - Weaving a Story
Season 1 - Episode 14 - Aired 1/3/1996
As Seele reviews NERV and Gendo's actions with the Third through Eleventh Angels, Ritsuko conducts a test in which the Eva pilots switch Units.
#25 - Take care of yourself
Season 1 - Episode 26 - Aired 3/27/1996
The Human Instrumentality Project continues. Shinji must decide whether to accept a world alone, or embrace connections with others.