Episode 06

Episode Information
Episode #06
Title 1: {{{japanese_title_k}}} {{{japanese_title_r}}} {{{japanese_title_e}}} Title 2: Rei II
Written By	Hideaki Anno, Akio Satsukawa
Directed By	Hiroyuki Ishido
First Aired	11-08-1995
Video Release Date	{{{video_release}}}
Angel Appearances	Ramiel
Episode chronology
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"Episode 5"	"Episode 7"

Overview

Continuing from the previous episode, the Angel Ramiel is drilling down into the GeoFront to attack NERV HQ directly. After Shinji barely survived a direct confrontation with it, Misato devises a plan to have Eva Unit 00 and Eva Unit 01 defeat the Angel by sniping it from a distance using a positronic rifle which requires the total electric output of Japan to power up.

Synopsis

Episode 06 begins where ep. 05 ends; Shinji is launched in Unit-01, only to be struck by a powerful beam weapon that melts the Eva's armor and makes the LCL boil around Shinji. Unit-01 is recovered and Shinji rescued and hospitalized. Ramiel, a huge octohedronic Angel then settles over Nerv headquarters and begins trying to breach the Geofront's armor plating with a powerful drill. Only hours remain before Ramiel will enter the Geofront. By launching dummy attacks, Nerv determines that Ramiel will attack anything that comes within a certain range.

While Shinji is recovering, Misato comes up with a desperate plan: destroy Ramiel with a positron beam, fired from just outside of Ramiel's attack zone. In order for this plan to work, the rifle must be able to stand up to a tremendous amount of energy; for it is determined that they will have to borrow power from all of Japan to pierce Ramiel's A.T. Field. Gendo approves this plan, and Misato requisitions a huge Poistron rifle from the military, (with an assist from Rei in Unit-00. Rei's part in the operation is to shield Shinji, who will fire the shot in Unit-01. For this purpose, they build her a shield that will stand up to Ramiel's beam for 17 seconds.

When Shinji regains conciousness, Rei enters his hospital room to brief him on the plan. When Shinji expresses doubts about piloting again, Rei coldly tells him she can do it herself.

Several of Shinji's classmates, including Toji and Kensuke gather to watch the Evas launch instead of going to the shelter. Even Pen Pen is watching from Misato's balcony.

While they are preparing for the mission Rei reassures Shinji that she will protect him. When he asks her why she pilots, Rei tells Shinji it's because of the bond she feels with others, and because she has nothing else. She then bids him goodbye.

Ramiel's attack zone must have been miscalculated; when Shinji fires his rifle, Ramiel also fires at him. The two beams deflect each other and both miss. Ramiel builds up a second shot. The angel will fire first because shinji must replace the fuses in his weapon between shots. Rei, in Unit-00 steps in front of Unit-01 and blocks Ramiel's beam, first with her shield, and then with Unit-00. Shinji fires his second shot, which pierces the angel. The drill stops; Ramiel is destroyed. Shinji force ejects Unit-00's entry plug and, emulating his father, opens the hatch with his hands. (At least he's wearing piloting gloves.) Rei is alright. Crying, Shinji tells her to never say "I have nothing else", or say goodbye at the beginning of a mission. When Rei says "I don't know what to feel at times like this", Shinji replies, "why not smile". Remembering Gendo's smile, Rei smiles at Shinji. End of episode.

Notes

• Misato codenames the plan she creates to defeat the Angel Ramiel as "Operation Yashima". This is named after the Battle of Yashima which occurred in 1185 in medieval Japan, which also included a feat of conspicuously talented archery.
• This marks the first Angel battle in which more than one Evangelion is used at the same time.
• Eva Unit 00 survives the damage it suffers in this episode, but the damage is so extensive that it has to be heavily repaired and its outer orange-colored armor is totally replaced by a new set of blue armor.
• Ramiel's drill is turning the wrong direction throughout the episode, and shouldn't have been able to pierce anything.
• Shinji's rescue of Rei from her Entry Plug in the half-melted Eva 00 intentionally mirrors the shot from the previous episode of his father Gendo saving Rei in the same way.
• This marks the first time that Rei ever truly smiles in the series. She did seem pleased to see Gendo in Episode 5, but she only fully smiles here.
• The shot of the forest being set on fire from the blast is actually a re-use of a similar shot from Nadia: Secret of the Blue Water episode "The Tower of Babel", an earlier anime series also directed by Anno.
• LCL fluid inside of the Entry Plug is oxygenated, thus when Ramiel's energy beam strikes Eva Unit 01 at the beginning of the episode and Shinji is being "boiled alive", you can see that the heat is causing all of the oxygen to bubble out of solution.
• It is going to take a long time for NERV to cleanup Ramiel's corpse. After many Angel fights, the Angel will conveniently explode and require no cleanup (as was the case with Sachiel). However, on top of the fact that Ramiel did not explode, it is a very massive Angel. Throughout the next three episodes, there will be shots showing Ramiel's corpse slowly being demolished.

Quotes

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