| "Magmadiver" | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Neon Genesis Evangelion episode | |||
 Asuka Langley Soryu showing her swimsuit, designed byYoshiyuki Sadamoto, toShinji Ikari discussing on thermal expansion. The presence of fan service has been criticized by some viewers and reviewers. | |||
| Episodeno. | Episode 10 | ||
| Directed by | Tsuyoshi Kaga, Kiroyuki Ishido | ||
| Written by | Hideaki Anno, Akio Satsukawa | ||
| Original air date | December 6, 1995 (1995-12-06) | ||
| Running time | 22 minutes | ||
| Episode chronology | |||
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| List of episodes | |||
"Magmadiver"[a] is the tenth episode of the Japaneseanime television seriesNeon Genesis Evangelion, which was created byGainax. The episode, written byHideaki Anno and Akio Satsukawa and directed by Tsuyoshi Kaga and Kiroyuki Ishido, was first broadcast onTV Tokyo on December 6, 1995. The series is set fifteen years after a worldwide cataclysm and is mostly set in the futuristic, fortified city Tokyo-3. The series' protagonist isShinji Ikari, a teenage boy who is recruited by his fatherGendo to the special military organization Nerv to pilot a gigantic, bio-mechanicalmecha namedEvangelion into combat with beings calledAngels. During the episode,Asuka Langley Soryu, a girl who is designated as the pilot ofEvangelion Unit-02, tries to capture the eighth Angel,Sandalphon, found in the magma chamber of a Volcano in a dormant state.
The episode continues the so-called 'action arc' of the series, making room for humor and teenage tones. The basic plot of "Magmadiver" took inspiration from a documentary calledLife: A Long Journey of 4 Billion Years byNHK, and critics and official material on the series found references to trilobites,The Andromeda Strain and previous works by the Gainax studio.
"Magmadiver" drew a 9.5% audience share on Japanese television, the highest for an episode ofNeon Genesis Evangelion to date. It received an ambivalent or negative reception from critics, as it was consideredfiller and full of excessivefan service; the addition of erotic elements primarily used to please the audience. Other reviewers received the installment more positively, praising the humor, the battle against Sandalphon and Shinji's actions.
Shinji Ikari, pilot of themechaEva-01, andAsuka Langley Soryu, his fellow pilot deputed to command theEvangelion Unit-02, continue their cohabitation at the home ofMisato Katsuragi of the special agency Nerv, deputed to the annihilation of theAngels. While their companions go on a trip toOkinawa, the two pilots remain in the city of Tokyo-3 in case of an enemy attack.
Meanwhile,Sandalphon, an Angel in a dormant state, enclosed in a chrysalis-like cocoon, is detected by the seismographic center ofMount Asama and Misato. Nerv therefore decides to undertake an action to capture the dormant Angel. To do so, Asuka and the Eva-02 are equipped with a special pressure and lava-resistant suit, the Type D equipment. Asuka then dives into the volcanic magma chamber and captures the Angel. After capturing it, however, the Angel wakes up and attacks the Eva. Asuka, exploiting the principles ofthermal expansion, defeats the enemy, and Shinji with his Eva-01 rescues her before she can become trapped in the magma.
In 1993,Gainax wrote a presentation document forNeon Genesis Evangelion entitledNew Century Evangelion (tentative name) Proposal (新世紀エヴァンゲリオン (仮) 企画書,Shinseiki Evangelion (kari) kikakusho) to find potential sponsor for the series, containing the initial synopsis for the planned episodes.[1][2] TheProposal document was then published in 1994.[3][4] The original plan was for an episode centered on a magma fight to be the eleventh episode[5] and an episode on a Nerv blackout to be the tenth one. During production, however, the episodes were reversed; what was supposed to be the eleventh episode became the tenth, while the draft on the tenth episode's blackout was used for "The Day Tokyo-3 Stood Still".[6][7] In the "Proposal" document, moreover, the seventeenth episode was also supposed to feature a romance comedy about Asuka's first date; some of the elements of the initial scenario then flowed into the tenth episode, especially in the scene where Asuka goes shopping with Kaji.[8] "Magmadiver" was written by Akio Satsukawa in collaboration withHideaki Anno,[9][10] the director of the series,[11] while the storyboards were edited by Anno himself and Tsuyoshi Kaga.[12][13] Anno also worked on Sandalphon's design.[14] Kaga and Hiroyuki Ishido worked together as the directors,[15] while Shigeta Satoshi served as the chief animator.[16]Takeshi Honda designed Asuka's dress,[17] while Seiji Kio and Mitsumu Wogi worked as the assistant character designers.[18][19]
The basic plot of "Magmadiver", centered on the character of Asuka, the focus of the series' 'action arc', was written with a simple structure, featuring the classic beginning-development-end unfolding.[20] The defeat of the Angel is made possible by a creative application of a basic lesson ofthermodynamics[21] mentioned in the previous scenes, reprising the classicrobot anime plot scheme of the 1970s, in which an element presented at the beginning of an episode becomes useful as a resolution to the concluding fight. For the plot staff also took inspiration from anNHK special calledLife: A Long Journey of 4 Billion Years, which aired in Japan in 1994.Life features, among others, the prehistoric animalAnomalocaris,[12] which inspired Sandalphon's appearance.[22][23]
For the fight against Sandalphon, set inMount Asama,[24] special water glass was used to create a distortion effect.[25] A distorted cry of an infant was also used for the Angel's vocalizations at the start of the battle.[26]Tomokazu Seki,Junko Iwao,Megumi Hayashibara,Tetsuya Iwanaga,[27] voice actors of several main characters in the series, played unidentified characters for "Magmadiver".[28][29] Moreover, songs fromLila ~ from Ys, an album by Misato's voice actressKotono Mitsuishi, were used during the episode.[30]Yoko Takahashi also sang the final theme song of the installment,[31][32] a cover of the song "Fly Me to the Moon", later replaced with a version named "Asuka Main" in subsequent home video editions.[33][34]
The episode contains several references to works of fiction or real existing elements, such as thebiblical Magi,[35][36] the filmBlue Christmas[37][38] and names used in diving competitions.[39][40][41] The Boa beer that Misato drinks in the first scene refers to the Boa juice that appears in the anime movieFlying Phantom Ship (1969),[42][43] while the name of the Kermadec-3 probe, used for the Angel Sandalphon investigation, comes from the volcanicKermadec Islands inNew Zealand.[44] The name Kermadec is also mentioned in the television seriesJapan Sinks[45] and in an episode of Gainax'sNadia: The Secret of Blue Water.[46]
When Asuka complains about the Japanese school system, Misato responds by telling her, "When in the village, follow the village". The phrase is a proverb from an ancient Japanese text calledDojikyo (童子教).[47] The scenes in which Misato requests the A-17 order and Shinji spots UN planes in the sky are an homage toThe Andromeda Strain (1971).[48] Moreover, the Type D equipment has been compared with the works ofKenji Yanobe, a Japanese artist popular within the otaku subculture.[49]
"Magmadiver" also introduces elements regarding the mysteries and the scenario of the series, such as the origin of the Angels.[50] According to a guide on the original series contained in the gameNeon Genesis Evangelion RPG, the Sandalphon episode suggests dormant, larval Angels are hidden around the world.[51] An official encyclopedia on the series links this with the biblicalBook of Enoch, in which the word "Heaven", the abode of angels, actually refers to an Earthly location;[52] because Sandalphon is discovered in themagma chamber of a volcano,Evangelion Angels exist "in the same world as ours".[53] Sandalphon itself is inspired by prehistoric or living creatures, such as thecommon dab[54] andtrilobites.[55] According to writer Virginie Nebbia, for Sandalphon's battle staff took inspiration from the novelSundiver byDavid Brin.[9][56] In an interview Hideaki Anno confirmed that he took inspiration from Brin's book for the episode title, but that he never read it.[57] Nebbia also compared the scene in which Asuka's plugsuit inflates withAkio Jissoji's work onUltraman, in which the enemy Skydon inflates in a comical way,[58] and the soundtrack "Magmadiver" with theJames Bond movies music.[59]
"Magmadiver", like the previous two episodes, has a light, humorous tone and a strong action component, with a predominant focus on the psychology of Asuka's character.Comic Book Resources' Devin Meenan described the installment as "the closestEvangelion gets to filler", and the battle against Sandalphon as "one of the more conventional of the series".[60]Dengeki Online noted how the episodes from "Asuka Strikes!" to "Magmadiver" have a "classicshōnen mecha charm".[61] Japanese academic Yuya Sato similarly noted how "Magmadiver" notably features elements typical ofshōnenmanga, althoughEvangelion, especially in its second part, has many elements for girls' comics, namedshōjo manga. They would therefore, according to Sato, constitute a lure to attract men toshōjo.[62] According toDVD Talk, the arc adds a lot more "heart and soul" to the story, with a combination of action, comedy and even dramatic moments.[63] In the last scene, moreover, Asuka and Misato talk during sunset and Asuka reveals that she has a past that she doesn't want to show to other people.[64][65] According to writer Dennis Redmond, "the motif of the fading sun is not an accident"; this moment of "relative equilibrium", where the various registers of comedy and tragedy, childhood and adulthood, seem to coexist "in relative harmony", is slowly disintegrated in future episodes.[66]
"Magmadiver" was first broadcast on December 6, 1995, and drew a 9.5% audience share on Japanese television, the highest for an episode ofNeon Genesis Evangelion to date.[67] Merchandise on the episode has also been released,[68][69] including a line of official T-shirts.[70][71] Moreover, according to the websiteUsgamer, a reference to the Type D equipment can be found in the Gold Saucer of the video gameFinal Fantasy VII.[72]
The episode had an ambivalent reception from anime critics. Max Covil ofFilm School Rejects criticised the episode for the presence of fan service, arguing that it did not live up to the previous two.[73] The Anime Café's Akio Nagatomi described "Magmadiver" as "the Japanese equivalent of a Saturday-morning special - not bad, but not spectacular".[74] The writers ofScreen Rant ranked the confrontation against Sandalphon among the lowest on the list of best battles in the series.[75][76] Jacob Parker-Dalton of Otaquest noted how the episode is hated in the fanbase, but defended it and praised the tension of the battle in the magma chamber,[77] while theSupanova Expo website mentioned Shinji's rescue of Asuka as one of the character's best moments.[78]
