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The Best Episodes of Neon Genesis Evangelion Season 1

Every episode of Neon Genesis Evangelion Season 1 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of Neon Genesis Evangelion Season 1!

At the turn of the century, the Angels returned to Earth, seeking to wipe out humanity in an apocalyptic fury. Devastated, mankind's last remnants moved...
Genres:Sci-Fi & FantasyAnimationDrama
Network:TV Tokyo

Season 1 Ratings Summary

"Angel Attack" is the best rated episode of "Neon Genesis Evangelion" season 1. It scored 7.7/10 based on 3016 votes. Directed by Kazuya Tsurumaki and written by N/A, it aired on 10/4/1995. This episode is rated 0.3 points higher than the second-best, "The Beast".

  • Angel Attack
    7.7/103,016 votes

    #1 - Angel Attack

    Season 1 Episode 1 - Aired 10/4/1995

    Shinji Ikari is summoned to Tokyo-3 by his estranged father Gendo, commander of the special agency NERV, to defend the city from a giant Angel by piloting the only weapon capable of battling the monster: Evangelion Unit-01.

    Director: Kazuya Tsurumaki

    Writer: N/A

  • The Beast
    8.0/102,811 votes

    #2 - The Beast

    Season 1 Episode 2 - Aired 10/11/1995

    Shinji wakes up in the hospital, with no memory of defeating the Angel the night before. Rejected by his father, Misato decides to take Shinji with her to live in her apartment. Later that night, memories of the battle against the Angel come flooding back to Shinji.

    Director: Kazuya Tsurumaki

    Writer: Yoji Enokido, Yoji Enoto

  • A Transfer
    7.7/102,612 votes

    #3 - A Transfer

    Season 1 Episode 3 - Aired 10/18/1995

    Shinji begins attending his new school in Tokyo-3, and has a difficult time dealing with the fame of being an Evangelion pilot. Touji Suzuhara, who's little sister was injured in Shinji's fight against the Angel, is angry at Shinji. A new Angel appears, and Shinji must once again pilot EVA-01 to defeat it.

    Director: Hiroyuki Ishido

    Writer: Akio Satsukawa

  • Hedgehog's Dilemma
    7.6/102,587 votes

    #4 - Hedgehog's Dilemma

    Season 1 Episode 4 - Aired 10/25/1995

    Misato is upset with Shinji for ignoring her orders in the last Angel battle, and he is so overcome by the stress of being an EVA pilot that he runs away. After wandering around Tokyo-3 for several days, Shinji is faced with the choice of quitting or staying in his new home.

    Director: Tsuyoshi Kaga

    Writer: Akio Satsukawa

  • Rei I
    7.7/102,463 votes

    #5 - Rei I

    Season 1 Episode 5 - Aired 11/1/1995

    EVA-00 is finally repaired, and Shinji tries to get to know its enigmatic pilot, Rei Ayanami, better. However, he is confounded because she is extremely insular, has no friends at all, and the entire record of her past has been erased. In the midst of this, a very powerful Angel, the floating monolith Ramiel, attacks Tokyo-3.

    Director: Keiichi Sugiyama

    Writer: Akio Satsukawa

  • Rei II
    8.3/102,572 votes

    #6 - Rei II

    Season 1 Episode 6 - Aired 11/8/1995

    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-00 and EVA-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.

    Director: Hiroyuki Ishido

    Writer: N/A

  • A Human Work
    7.5/102,373 votes

    #7 - A Human Work

    Season 1 Episode 7 - Aired 11/15/1995

    Ritsuko briefs Shinji on the real nature of Second Impact, the Angels, and the Evangelions' mission to defeat them. Misato and Ritsuko attend the public demonstration of a new Angel-fighting robot, Jet Alone, built by a rival defense contractor to NERV. However, the nuclear-powered robot quickly runs out of control, and Shinji must use EVA Unit 01 to load Misato onto Jet Alone so she can she can enter in its automatic shutdown code, before it melts down in a nuclear explosion.

    Director: Keiichi Sugiyama

    Writer: Yoji Enokido

  • Asuka Strikes!
    7.8/102,401 votes

    #8 - Asuka Strikes!

    Season 1 Episode 8 - Aired 11/22/1995

    Misato brings Shinji, along with Touji and Kensuke, to a massive UN naval convoy transporting Evangelion Unit-02 and its fiery German pilot, Asuka Langley Souryuu, to Japan. Escorting Asuka is Misato's old boyfriend, Ryouji Kaji. After some awkward introductions and reunions, the fleet is attacked by a massive aquatic Angel. Asuka powers up Eva-02, and decides that she will defeat the Angel by playing "hopscotch"...

    Director: Kazuya Tsurumaki

    Writer: Yoji Enokido

  • Both of You, Dance Like You Want to Win!
    8.1/102,457 votes

    #9 - Both of You, Dance Like You Want to Win!

    Season 1 Episode 9 - Aired 11/29/1995

    Asuka joins Shinji’s class at school, and moves in with Misato and him in their apartment. As Asuka adjusts to Japan (or rather, everyone else adapts to her...), a new Angel attacks which is capable of splitting itself into two identical copies. EVA-01 and EVA-02 are defeated, and NERV is publicly humiliated. With the Angel in a week-long regeneration period after an N² Mine attack by the JSSDF, Asuka and Shinji must learn to "synchronize" with each others movements combat, in order to defeat it once and for all.

    Director: Seiji Mizushima

    Writer: N/A

  • Magma Diver
    7.4/102,298 votes

    #10 - Magma Diver

    Season 1 Episode 10 - Aired 12/6/1995

    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 in a chrysalis-like developmental stage deep within the magma of the volcano Mount Asama.

    Director: Tsuyoshi Kaga, Hiroyuki Ishido

    Writer: Akio Satsukawa

  • The Day Tokyo-3 Stood Still
    7.8/102,302 votes

    #11 - The Day Tokyo-3 Stood Still

    Season 1 Episode 11 - Aired 12/13/1995

    Tokyo-3 comes to a standstill when sabotage knocks out all power, and the personnel must scramble to launch the EVAs manually when an Angel appears in the middle of the blackout.

    Director: Tetsuya Watanabe

    Writer: Yoji Enokido

  • She said, 'Don't make others suffer for your personal hatred.'
    7.9/102,243 votes

    #12 - She said, 'Don't make others suffer for your personal hatred.'

    Season 1 Episode 12 - Aired 12/20/1995

    Misato has been promoted to Major, but the celebration does not last long. A monstrous Angel appears in Earth orbit right when Gendo and Fuyutsuki are away, leaving her and the children to deal with a colossal kamikaze threatening to drop itself right on top of Tokyo-3.

    Director: Hiroyuki Ishido

    Writer: Akio Satsukawa

  • Lilliputian Hitcher
    7.6/102,259 votes

    #13 - Lilliputian Hitcher

    Season 1 Episode 13 - Aired 12/27/1995

    A routine test involving the EVA pilots turns into a struggle for survival when a wholly new type of Angel appears and spreads inside NERV HQ. This new, computer-like angel threatens to set off the self-destruct for the entire facility, leaving Dr. Ritsuko Akagi in a race against time to save the GeoFront and destroy the Angel.

    Director: Tensai Okamura

    Writer: Akio Satsukawa, Mitsuo Iso

  • Weaving A Story (1)
    7.0/102,245 votes

    #14 - Weaving A Story (1)

    Season 1 Episode 14 - Aired 1/3/1996

    In the first half of the episode, a clip show is presented to the Human Instrumentality Committee of Seele, reviewing the attacks of all Angels up to this point. The second part includes a poem in which Rei contemplates her own existence, and a cross-compatibility test between Rei's and Shinji's EVAs.

    Director: Masahiko Otsuka, Ken Ando

    Writer: N/A

  • Those Women Longed for the Touch of Others' Lips, and Thus Invited Their Kisses.
    8.1/102,282 votes

    #15 - Those Women Longed for the Touch of Others' Lips, and Thus Invited Their Kisses.

    Season 1 Episode 15 - Aired 1/10/1996

    It seems like it's an important day for nearly everyone at NERV. Misato and Ritsuko are going to a wedding; Shinji and Gendo are visiting Yui's grave; Asuka has a date. However, important things will spring from these seemingly mundane events.

    Director: Naoyasu Hanyu

    Writer: Akio Satsukawa

  • Splitting of the Breast
    8.9/102,662 votes

    #16 - Splitting of the Breast

    Season 1 Episode 16 - Aired 1/17/1996

    Shinji beats Asuka in a synch test, much to her annoyance. Not too long after, the EVAs are dispatched to deal with a mysterious apparition, and EVA-01 is sucked into a shadowlike blackness that materializes out of nothingness from under it. While an emergency operation to rescue the captured EVA is concocted, Shinji goes on a trip into the depths of his own consciousness...

    Director: Kazuya Tsurumaki

    Writer: Hiroshi Yamaguchi

  • Fourth Children
    7.6/102,189 votes

    #17 - Fourth Children

    Season 1 Episode 17 - Aired 1/24/1996

    A NERV branch in Nevada is obliterated in a catastrophic accident, and NERV headquarters prepares to station a new Evangelion in Japan. The Fourth Child is selected, unbeknownst to Shinji.

    Director: Minoru Ohara

    Writer: Shinji Higuchi

  • Ambivalence
    9.0/102,846 votes

    #18 - Ambivalence

    Season 1 Episode 18 - Aired 1/31/1996

    Evangelion Unit-03 arrives from the United States. However, its activation experiment brings out NERV's worst nightmare when it turns out to have been infected by the Thirteenth Angel. The other EVAs are dispatched to battle the Angel-infected abomination... even at the risk of killing its helpless pilot.

    Director: Tensai Okamura

    Writer: Shinji Higuchi

  • Introjection
    9.3/103,120 votes

    #19 - Introjection

    Season 1 Episode 19 - Aired 2/7/1996

    Enraged over Touji's near-death at the hands of his own EVA, Shinji refuses to pilot an Evangelion again and prepares to leave Tokyo-3 for good. He is forced to reconsider that decision when an immensely destructive new Angel attacks just as he is about to leave...

    Director: Masayuki

    Writer: Akio Satsukawa

  • Weaving A Story (2): Oral Stage
    8.7/102,434 votes

    #20 - Weaving A Story (2): Oral Stage

    Season 1 Episode 20 - Aired 2/14/1996

    Shinji achieved an unprecedented 400% synchronization ratio with EVA-01 during the battle with Zeruel, to horrible effect. With the EVA having ascended to the status of a living God and Shinji absorbed inside it, Ritsuko unsuccessfully attempts to recover him.

    Director: Masahiko Otsuka

    Writer: N/A

  • He Was Aware that He Was Still a Child.
    8.6/102,389 votes

    #21 - He Was Aware that He Was Still a Child.

    Season 1 Episode 21 - Aired 2/21/1996

    Kouzou Fuyutsuki is kidnapped and interrogated by Seele, who are horrified over the results of the last encounter with an Angel. He recounts his past, providing flashbacks into the creation of Nerv. The pasts of Misato Katsuragi, Ritsuko Akagi, Rei Ayanami and Yui Ikari are also revealed. Ryouji Kaji, meanwhile, decides to find out the truth, no matter the cost.

    Director: Hiroyuki Ishido

    Writer: Akio Satsukawa

  • Don't Be.
    8.6/102,450 votes

    #22 - Don't Be.

    Season 1 Episode 22 - Aired 2/28/1996

    Asuka's synch rate is on a downward spiral after her defeat at the hands of the Fourteenth Angel, Zeruel, and her frustration with Rei, Shinji, Misato and Ryouji is on the rise. Angrier and more disturbed than ever, she is forced to relive her dark, traumatic past during the encounter with the Fifteenth Angel, Arael.

    Director: Kazuya Tsurumaki, Akira Takamura

    Writer: Hiroshi Yamaguchi

  • Rei III
    8.7/102,353 votes

    #23 - Rei III

    Season 1 Episode 23 - Aired 3/6/1996

    Asuka sinks into deep depression after Arael's mental probing, and is unable to pilot when the new Angel Armisael arrives. Armisael begins physically fusing with EVA-00 and threatens to do the same to EVA-01, prompting Rei to sacrifice herself to save Shinji, only to appear alive soon afterwards.

    Director: Hideaki Anno, Shoichi Masuo

    Writer: Hiroshi Yamaguchi

  • The Beginning and the End, or 'Knockin' on Heaven's Door'
    8.7/102,586 votes

    #24 - The Beginning and the End, or 'Knockin' on Heaven's Door'

    Season 1 Episode 24 - Aired 3/13/1996

    Too frightened to face Misato or Rei, Shinji runs away yet again, only to meet and strike a friendship with Kaworu Nagisa, the replacement pilot for EVA-02. Kaworu's openness and friendliness provide much-needed comfort for the disturbed Shinji. However, suspicions abound over Kaworu's incredible synchronization abilities.

    Director: Masayuki

    Writer: Akio Satsukawa

  • Do You Love Me?
    7.9/102,535 votes

    #25 - Do You Love Me?

    Season 1 Episode 25 - Aired 3/20/1996

    Instrumentality has begun, and now its inner process, the joining of all souls into one, will be depicted. The episode is primarily driven by dialogue, the background usually complete darkness. White text often appears on a black screen, an omniscient voice questioning the characters.

    Director: Kazuya Tsurumaki

    Writer: N/A