The lance is retracted and Eva lurches forward. A moment later, red fluid gushes out.
Reichu: Note how it's "red fluid", not "blood"… At this point, the script is playing up to the notion that the audience initially believes — and rightfully so — that the Eva is a robot. By not calling it "blood," there are no organic connotations; after all, robots bleed red fluid all the time, right? ;;P
Sharp-kun: Anyone who's watched Go Nagai's super robot series (most recently Mazinkaiser: Death! Ankou Daishogun!) will be very familiar with robots "bleeding".
Reichu: Now, how did I know you were going to mention that? ;;>
Mr. Tines: At this point one might still be thinking hydraulic fluid under pressure (and you'd need it for a system like that). But with later data, that no longer washes.
Reichu: I find it odd that there is not blood on Sachiel's lance when he retracts it, considering the amount that spouts out afterwards. It's interesting that EVA-01 bleeds at all, actually. Being as the lance is amplified by energy, I would presume that it is rather hot; ergo, might any injury inflicted by it be automatically sealed by cautery? (I remember my sister using this as an argument for why light saber duels are relatively bloodless.)
HeWhoPostsStuff: Further, would the Eva's blood be under such pressure so as to spurt out in fountain-esque fashion like that, rather than flowing from it, as with most wounds? Probably just done for stylistic reasons…
Reichu: This is actually an interesting difference between the anime and manga; Sadamoto's Evas bleed "normally". Perhaps we need to look no further than the Laws of Anime for the real reason:
#18: Law of Hemoglobin Capacity:
The human body contains over 12 gallons of blood, sometimes more, under high pressure.
And the Evas, of course, are just really large, strange humans, so…
Hexon.Arq: An Eva that spewed red silly string from its head would have been a hell of a thing to market based on this scene. Of course, if they don't already make that, it's only a matter of time.
Reichu: Strangely enough, there is actually a glitch in Renewal here! (You didn't expect perfection, did you?) Consult the Original vs. Renewal page for more details.
Hexon.Arq: I did notice that glitch. It completely ruined my year.
Dr. Nick: Oh dear. Just wait till I get my Gainax quality control rant started in episode #12.