Top 5 Favorite Evangelion Episodes *Spoilers*

Ep. 24: "The Beginning and the End, or Knockin' on Heaven's Door"

This has to be my personal favorite episode of this series. This made a big impression when seeing it for the first time. This is where a lot went down between the characters pretty much at their breaking points. Shinji is by himself with none of friends around him, Asuka in a coma, and he finds it hard to talk with Rei. With this, he meets Kaworu, one of the few people that really cared about Shnji. After being with him, then Kaworu did in what has to be one of the more powerful moments in any anime. Say what you want about its use of Ode to Joy during the second half, but it really fits the second half of the episode. It really adds power to the already shocking moment despite budget issues. Other than that, this episode got me into Ode to Joy(Fucking Kaworu and his love with Beethoven)

Ep. 15: "Those Women Longed for the Touch of Other's Lips, and Thus Invited Their Kisses"

This is the calm before the storm. Both Shinji and Asuka are at their highest points until the end of the episode where it starts to build up each one's downfall later on. I really like this one for how it builds up for future eposides/End of Eva. There's scenes that reminds me of future scenes that will happen later. You get a lot of great development for Asuka and Mistao revealing more of their personalities.

"Man fears the darkness, and so he scrapes away at the edges of it with fire."

Ep. 11: "The Day Tokyo-3 Stood Still"

I honestly enjoyed this episode despite the animation issues. I like how you see the lives of the staff at Nerv outside of work. It makes them feel more like real people instead of being just there. I liked the interaction between Shinji, Asuka and Rei while finding their way inside Nerv. Mostly everyone has at least a moment to shine. Lastly, that quote Rei says at the end, I always loved that moment. I still don't know why, but it stand outs for some reason.

Ep. 19: "A Man's Battle"

Man, that second half of this episode. Amazingly brutal at the end with Unit 1's awakening and eating the S2 engine from Zeruel.

Ep. 21: "The Birth of NERV"

I really liked this episode. It's really interesting to see Gendo, Misato, Ristsuko, and the other characters past showing how Second Impact changed everyone. I like that seeing Gendo during that time hints on how similar he is to Shinji by their actions. Another thing that stands out is Rei 1 and her death by the hand of Naoko. Rei 1 was being polite to Naoko when Gendo introduced Naoko to Rei. I believe that Gendo used Rei 1 to kill Naoko. Naoko was the only one when noticed that Rei looks alike to Yui, and Gendo must of realized that. He knows Naoko well so it's possible that he wanted her dead, so no one have any suspicions about Rei. Other than that, I recommend watching this episode with the Director's cut that adds more content.