Episode 9 Nits:
Rei shows how much more suited to the mission she is than Asuka - so why *doesn't* she take her place? (Answer, because the character conflict between Rei and Shinji doesn't work that way!)
The EVA are released with one minute and ten seconds of power remaining. Up until now, EVA have been able to sustain themselves for five minutes under their own steam.

Of course, the amount of time an Eva has under it's own power depends on what the Eva is doing. It has a maximum of five minutes.

Nitpicking the nitpicker...

When Unit 02 is first fired up in the last episode, the counter only gave them a minute of power until they plugged the EVA in.

Episode 9:

Why did they use Auska instead of Rei? I was under the impression that Unit 00 was still undergoing repairs from saving Shinji earlier. The tests we see a few episodes down the road suggests that they couldnt just throw Rei into Unit 02, so they had to use Auska.

About the time limit: I think the point about that was the Angel would have wipe them out again if they took longer, so the attack had to be done in less than a minute. I have two problems with this whole thing. First: how could NERV have figgured out this Angel so well that they could predict it's movents EXACTLY, when they've only gone up against it once? Second: I like the idea of having the clock going through the attack, it beats 24 to the punch by several years (though M*A*S*H did a whole episode in realtime with a clock a decade before), but there's a problem with the exicution. There are several points where the action slows down in classic anime fasion, but the clock never slows down with the action.

Episode 10:

How did Shinji get down there to save Auska? They had to go through a rediculous ammount of refitting to get Unit 02 (and Auska) ready to enter the magma, but 01 just jumps in naked! Shouldn't it be a crushed lump of molten EVA?

On a more posative note, the visuals in the magma are done very well, in my oppinion.

Another episode 9 nit:

Ritsuko tells Misato that she's lucky Ikari wasn't around for the botched fight with the Angel, otherwise she would have been fired. Well, if he'd really get that angry, why not just fire her over the phone? Does he only fire people face to face, or are we supposed to believe that he never heard about the failure of the opperation?

Now another Episode 10:

Auska says that she scores poorly at school because she hasn't learned kanji well enough to read the questions. Well, in that case, how does she read the question that Shinji is working on? Surely he's not studying in German!

and ANOTHER nit from Episode 10:

So, about Auska's special plug suit for this mission (to be refered to as the "Santa Suit", due to the belly shaking like a bowl full of jelly), obviously it keeps the torso in working order, but aren't they worried about her limbs? Or her HEAD, for that matter? Souldn't the Santa Suit have had a helmet (or something like it) and bulkier limbs? Well, ok, I admit that swelling Auska's arms and legs even half as much as her midsection is would make it nearly impossible to pilot Unit 02, but it still seems odd.

(Obviously, the real reason is that the Santa Suit wouldn't have been as funny if it looked reasonable)

And why didn't Shinji suffer any ill effects from not having one? Sure, sure, if they're not worried about Unit 01 jumping in, there's not much point in getting in a fit about Shinji, is there?

Episode 9 establishes Asuka's nationality as German.

Great line:Asuka:"Why are Japanese houses so small?"

This was one of the funniest episodes to date.I was laughing all the way through it.One of the best scenes comes when Shinji and Asuka answer the door in tandem and are looking like the '90s version of the Bobbsey twins.To answer the obvious question they say:"Because Misato made us!"
Another great sceme was when Shinji and Pen Pen are both waiting to use the bathrooom and finally Asuka comes out and Pen Pen beats Shinji to the door!

The holographic phone conversation at the end was a nice touch as it showed even though they learned to work together that Shinji and Asuka are still at odds.

Also the final battle sequence was the one scene,that so far was most like Dual.Especially the part where they're fighting the Angel from behind the buildings.