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When I watched Evangelion for the first time, I remember that Episode 13 was one of the first ones that really impressed me. I thought watching Ritsuko take down an angel was really cool and the scene between her and Misato at the end was poignant. It definitely is an entertaining and creative set-up for an episode. It's nice to see the usual method inverted and the EVAs themselves become irrelevant. That last scene is pivotal because of how it sets up the later revelations about Ritsuko's relationships with her mother and with Gendo, as well as her final scene in End of Evangelion, where the three aspects of the MAGI system come back into relevance. The cut to credits in the middle of her standing up is also quite creative.

This episode provides a decent opportunity for a digression about the use of nudity in art. I'm of the position that nudity, like romance, is generally a good thing to include in a story. It's appealing to human beings and a part of life. But also like romance, it has to be earned. There needs to be some purpose behind the use of it, or else it's just gratuitous if not sleazy. It would generally be preferred if it was used on older characters than the one's in this show, but Evangelion sometimes succeeds and sometimes fails at using it properly. I would say that Episode 13 is one of the points where it fails. The episode would still work and make just as much sense if the pilots kept their plug suits on. At best, it makes it less likely that they would've tried to get back to headquarters on their own. The shower scene between Shinji and Kaworu is probably the easiest example of this show using nudity correctly, since it helps show the quick trust between those two.

I had forgotten how good Evangelion is about setting up its plot devices. The way I remembered it, the Dummy Plug pretty much came out of nowhere right when it was relevant. But there are actually several scenes dedicated to the process of its development and the explanation of what it does, starting several episodes before it's actually used. It's possible to infer what it does the first time it comes up, in the cross-compatibility test long before the exposition about it comes up. Likewise, it stays a part of the story even after its initial use, and re-appears in End of Evangelion as the pilot of the EVA series.

Episodes 16 and 18 are particularly thrilling. 16 is arguably the turning point of the series, signalling the change from things getting better to things getting worse. It starts off so happily. I love how Shinji becoming the best EVA pilot is handled. It makes him happy and confident but hurts Asuka's feelings and then causes Shinji to become overconfident. The way the rest of the episode depicts the stress and guilt of Misato, Rei, and Asuka, as they worry over Shinji's life, and the harrowing experience Shinji undergoes waiting for the life-support system to give out and his own death are gripping. Evangelion unit 1 bursting through the Angel's shadow is a riveting gory sequence and the shocked onlookers really serve to enhance it. I also love the way the others' reaction to Shinji's survival is conveyed. Shinji wakes up in a hospital bed to find Rei sitting in a chair and watching over him, and when she opens the door it's revealed that Asuka was watching from the other end. They both care about him but fail to express that verbally due to their own weaknesses, and the show communicates that clearly. It also shows during their confrontation while he's still in the shadow.

Shinji's relationship with his dad is poignant for the same reasons. Shinji has a strong sense of conflict over whether he wants to reconcile with Gendo in the first place, and he shyly goes about asking others about the man. I still really like how Shinji is able to emotionally confide in Kaji. It really helps to humanize the latter and make him feel like a three-dimensonial character. The advice he gives to Shinji when they're sleeping on the floor together is another re-statement of that theme about the difficulty of human relationships. It's actually not very helpful advice! I think this is deliberate. The parent-figures in Evangelion are all too flawed and caught up in their own issues to be really effective, but they make an effort.

Misato's hesitation to tell Shinji that Toji is the fourth child is another good example of that. She's unwilling because of her own good intentions. She doesn't want to hurt Shinji by breaking the news to him, but that ends up making it worse - and leaving her with feelings of guilt. Asuka is shown to share that hesitation for the same reason.

The dummy plug sequence is one of the great complex character moments of the series. Gendo comes off as very cold but he has to be because of his role as the brave leaderly face of NERV. The moment where he tries to encourage Shinji to fight the EVA-turned-angel is his futile attempt at filling the role of a father. It's almost admirable how unflinchingly he proceeds to do such questionable things following that moment. Gendo is in fact overwhelmingly in the right in this scene. Shinji's desire not to kill another human being is eminently understandable but short-sighted and impractical. Gendo is right to kill the angel and he's right to use the dummy plug. To do otherwise would have led to a horrific disaster in the form of the third impact. The roles of hero and villain kind of get reversed in the following scene in Episode 19, where Shinji threatens to destroy NERV headquarters. A great touch is that Maya acts as a neutral observer of how correct Gendo is by trying to explain his choice to Shinji. Once again, Gendo is correct to knock Shinji out in this situation. Naturally, this situation is the killing blow to their relationship. Evangelion takes the consequences seriously, and this is effectively the conclusion of their joint arc. From now on, they're moving away from one another, continuing their individual narratives in isolation. This is shown to have a tremendous emotional cost to both individuals. Shinji is still distressed over the Dummy Plug Experience in the end, and he confides about it to Kaworu. Gendo's final scene in End of Eva has him asking Shinji for forgiveness.

The coming parts are among the best, if I remember correctly. This show becomes really loaded with great, significant, complex moments around this transitional period. I still sometimes use it as a barometer for that. If I'm reaching the 20 or 26 episode mark in another anime, I'll think "if this were Evangelion, so much more would have happened."