Episode 10

Episode Information
Episode #10
Title 1: {{{japanese_title_k}}} {{{japanese_title_r}}} {{{japanese_title_e}}} Title 2: Magmadiver
Written By	Hideaki Anno, Akio Satsukawa
Directed By	Tsuyoshi Kaga, Hiroyuki Ishido
First Aired	12-06-1995
Video Release Date	{{{video_release}}}
Angel Appearances	Sandalphon
Episode chronology
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"Episode 09"	"Episode 11"

Overview

The Eva pilots are disappointed to find out that they are not allowed to go on their class trip to Okinawa, because they have to stay at Tokyo-3 to stay on-call in case of an Angel attack. Meanwhile, a new Angel is discovered, still dormant in an embryonic stage, growing deep within the magma of an active volcano. It is decided that to aid their research and gain greater insight into the Angels, they will try to capture the Angel alive by lowering Eva Unit 02 into the magma while wearing a super-cooled diving suit. However, the Angel quickly matures and breaks containment, and Asuka is forced to battle it deep within the magma of the volcano.

Synopsis

As episode 10 opens, Asuka is enjoying shopping with Kaji, though he seems embarrassed when he realizes she is shopping for swimsuits for the upcoming school trip to Okinawa. When Asuka asks him where he went on his class trip, he replies that he didn't have one, and reminds her that Second Impact had just then occurred.

Back home, Asuka is enraged when she discovers that the pilots cant go on the trip because they are on standby. When Shinji doesn't support her, she demands that he speak up like a man. He replies that he had been expecting this. Misato, who made the decision, replies that they both need to study anyway, and holds up their report cards, which they had hidden from her. When Asuka asks angrily why they don't attack the Angels where they live, Misato replies they they would if they knew where that was.

After seeing their friends off at the airport, Shinji and Asuka head for the pool, he study, she to swim. Asuka tries to flirt with Shinji. She asks him what he's studying, and leans over to look, giving him a face full of breast. She then teases him for not being able to solve such a simple equation. She then asks what the problem dealt with, explaining that she has already graduated from college; the reason she is doing poorly in school is that she is having trouble learning kanji, so she can't read the questions. When Shinji replies that it's a thermal expansion problem, she once again remarks how simple it is; objects expand when heated. Once again drawing attention to her chest, Asuka asks Shinji if he thought her breasts would grow larger if heated, an embarrassed Shinji sputters "How would I know?!," leading a frustrated Asuka to turn away pronouncing him boring. However, as soon as Shinji starts looking at Rei, Asuka tries to attract his attention again, calling "Look at me!," as she dives into the pool.

Meanwhile, the Eighth Angel, Sandalphon, has been spotted in the crater of Mount Asama, an active volcano. Sandalphon is yet to hatch, and resembles a human embryo inside a chrysalis. Gendo orders Misato to have the Evangelions capture the unborn Angel. He explains his decision, to the Committee who become quite alarmed. Failure could result in a repeat of Second Impact. When Fuyutsuki ask him if he's sure about this, Gendo replies with the Gendo Grin of Confidence, first seen when Unit-01 was launched against Sachiel.

Asuka volunteers for the mission, but tries to back out when she realizes that the D-Type Equipment she and her Eva will be wearing resembles a fat suit. She is especially distressed when her beloved Kaji sees her. When Rei tries to volunteer to perform the mission, in Asuka's Unit-02, Asuka angrily cuts her short and accepts the mission after all.

There is then a scene where Kaji and a mysterious woman holding a puppy discuss the dangers of the mission.

As they prepare for the mission, Shinji notices airplanes circling overhead. Misato explains that the U.N. is on standby. Asuka believes that they are there for support until Misato explains that if the mission fails they are to destroy the Angel, along with the NERV crew, with N^2 mines, by Gendo's orders.

Once again calling for Shinji to watch her, Asuka plunges into the magma. The external pressure begins to build as Misato orders the Eva lowered beyond its rated capacity. Asuka's Progressive Knife snaps loose and is lost. Finally, at a depth of 1780 meters she spots the Angel. Asuka successfully captures Sandalphon in a magnetic cage, but then it suddenly hatches! Although it had resembled a human embryo, the hatched Sandalphon takes on the form of the ancient Cambrian aquatic creature Anomalocaris. Misato orders the mission converted to a destroy operation. Remembering that she had lost her knife, Asuka asks Shinji to drop down his. She catches it, but it is useless against the Angel. Remembering her conversation with Shinji at the pool, Asuka rips free her coolant hose and blasts Sandalphon. The knife now does its job and the Angel is destroyed. The dying Angel breaks Asuka's support cable and she begins to descend, but Shinji makes a sudden descent into the crater in Unit-01 and rescuses her.

Later, as they relax at a nearby hot springs, Pen Pen arrives in the mail, courtesy of Kaji, and makes a bee line for the hot springs. (He is, after all, a hot springs penguin.) As Shinji relaxes in the bath, Misato and Asuka are in the women's bath on the other side of the wall. Knowing he is there, they make some suggestive comments, prompting some expansion in Shinji. On the other side of the wall, Asuka notices Misato's scar. Misato explains that she got it in Second Impact. When Asuka asks, "You know about my past, don't you?, " Misato answers that it is ancient history.

End of episode.

Notes

• Asuka is a child prodigy, who already graduated college a year ago. Its never said what degree she graduated with. However, Asuka still does roughly as well as Shinji and his classmates in school, because while she speaks Japanese fluently, she has only just recently begun learning to write Japanese characters (kanji) before. By her own admission Asuka isn't good at reading Japanese yet, and thus she often doesn't understand the questions.
• Asuka constantly wears her Interface Headset, even when in a swimming pool and at a hot springs bath.
• The Human Instrumentality Committee appears once again.
• "A-17" is the Nerv codename for the order to go on the offensive against the Angels. Seele feels that such an action might risk repeating the events of Second Impact.
• Misato is seen drinking "Boa" brand beer as opposed to her favored Yebisu brand (possibly as a result of the network that the series first aired on complaining that they didn't want to give the real-world Yebisu beer company unpaid publicity).
• A brief glimpse is given of what a "typical" day with no Angel attacks is like at NERV HQ for the trio of technicians working on the command level: Makoto Hyuga reads a manga comic book, Maya Ibuki spends her free time reading a romance novel, and Shigeru Aoba reads guitar magazines and strums an air guitar.
• Evangelion Unit-00 seems to have been fully repaired by the time this episode takes place (although it does not actually appear on-screen), after it was severely damaged in Episode 06. It wasn't used against the Angel Israfel last episode, presumably because it was still being repaired. However, in this episode they discuss the possibility of using Eva Unit 00, and the reason they give for not using it is because it needs to stay behind at Tokyo-3 as a backup, in case another Angel directly attacks the city. This seems to indicate that it is in a fully combat-ready state again.
• D-Type Equipment won't fit on Eva Unit 00, because it is a prototype.
• Kaji seems to be plotting against Nerv, as seen when he makes a clandestine meeting with a woman on the cable car.
• Misato has a large scar on her sternum, which she got from an injury during Second Impact. Misato's experience during Second Impact will be shown during a flashback in Episode 12.
• Misato has access to private information about Asuka's past that Asuka doesn't want anyone else to know about, and which Misato assures her she won't bring up. Flashbacks revealing Asuka's past will be shown in Episode 22.

Analysis

• Now that all of the major characters have been introduced and settled in at Tokyo-3, the timeline of events in the series starts to become fuzzy starting with this episode. About a month passed between Episode 01 and Episode 06, and Episode 07 through Episode 09 all clearly occur relatively soon after each other. The series has reached the heart of the fairly standalone "Action Arc", the middle of the series now that the "Introduction Arc" (which ended with Episode 07) and "Introduction of Asuka" two parter are now finished. It is difficult to tell how much time passes between each episode, and potentially weeks or even a month or so might pass between some episodes.
• Okinawa has a maximum elevation of ~500 meters, but it has not been subsumed by rising sea levels which have visibly flooded the coastal cities of Japan?
  • Asuka did say that a major activity on the planned class trip was scuba diving...(though scuba diving is also a popular tourist activity on Okinawa in the real world today). The weather girl on TV in Episode 03 did say that in the flooded city of Matsuzaki on the Izu penninsula, a popular tourist attraction is to actually go scuba diving in the ruins submerged underwater during Second Impact.
• The Angel Sandalphon succeeds in biting off Eva Unit 02's left leg at the knee, after which the torn off leg sinks deeper into the magma of the volcano, presumably beyond all hope of recovery; however, by next episode Unit 02 is seen to be fully repaired with a full left leg. Nerv must be capable of creating replacement limbs for the Evas (as opposed to simply being able to reattach limbs that have been severed), or perhaps of making Evas regrow lost limbs from their torso. Its not known how long or difficult of a process this might be, as its not clear how much time passes between episodes during the fairly standalone "Action Arc" of the series.
• The shot looking at Rei from underwater while she is swimming, silhouetted against a circular ceiling light, is similar to the shot from Episode 05 of Rei silhouetted against the Moon, which is a recurring visual motif in the series.
• If Asuka is a child prodigy that has already graduated college, why do they still make her go to class at Shinji's school?
  • Possibly it's just because in truth Class 2-A is secretly a pool where Eva pilots and potential Eva pilots have been collected together, ostensibly for safe keeping. Also, as Asuka herself admits she barely knows how to read Japanese kanji characters, and as she is living in Tokyo-3 she probably needs to be educated in how to read them. Asuka also might have been put in Class 2-A simply in an effort to aid her socialization, to try and ensure her emotional stability by letting her interact with other children her age.
• Asuka makes the valid point about the plot of the series that Nerv really has no clear idea of where or how Angels appear. Its not that the series isn't adequately explaining to the audience where Angels come from; even to characters within the story, its something of a mystery. Nerv is stuck in a defensive posture, and if they could go on the offensive against the Angels, they would.

For more in-depth analysis, see "Where do Angels come from?"

Quotes

• {At the side of the Nerv swimming pool, Asuka is wearing a revealing two-piece bathing suit while helping Shinji with science homework)
  Asuka: "Thermal expansion? That's kid stuff! To put it simply, things expand when they get hot, and shrink when they get cold."
  Shinji: "Well yeah, but--"
  Asuka: If I were to warm up my breasts, do you think they'd grow a little bigger?"
  Shinji: "I-I wouldn't know anything about that!"
  Asuka: "What a boring guy..."

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