there's nothing worse than a domesticated man!

neon genesis evangelion (episode 10, "the magma diver")

Here it is, Evangelion’s dumbest episode, composed of about 40% Asuka complaining her Eva suit makes her look fat and 10% coy allusions to erections. (The other half is just normal.)

I will give “The Magma Diver” this though, it knows it’s dumb as hell. Something I appreciate about it is that it opens by threatening to be an even dumber genre of episode by being one of anime’s quasi-regulation “beach episodes”—that is, an episode where you get to see everybody stripped down to their swim suits having stupid flirty hijinks—and ends by embracing what is probably anime’s stupidest type of episode—a hot springs, which is like a beach episode except everybody’s naked. (Not that you get to see them naked, you naughty boy!) Anyway.

Let’s be clear, I have lots of affection for every idiotic anime cliche when they’re done well, but the speed at which “Magma Diver” r…