Hedgehog's Dilemma (Neon Genesis Evangelion episode)

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“Hedgehog's Dilemma”
Neon Genesis Evangelion episode
Episode no.	Season 1 Episode 4
Written by	Akio Satsukawa
Original airdate	October 25, 1995
Episode chronology
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"A transfer"	"Rei I"

"Hedgehog's Dilemma" is an episode of the anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion.

[edit] Plot

Already greatly distressed from his forced service as an Eva pilot, Shinji's resolve is further eroded by an argument with Misato. He attempts to run away from his new life, stating that he'll no longer pilot the Eva. Shortly after he leaves Misato's apartment building he is found by NERV agents, who ambiguously allow him to decide whether or not he will board the train back to Tokyo 3 and, symbolically, his old life before Eva. As the train departs, Shinji remains, apparently accepting his fate as a pilot.

[edit] Notes

• This the first episode an Angel does not appear.
• This is the only episode of the entire series that creator Hideaki Anno didn't write. During production, this episode was at one point removed, and what is now episode 5 would immediately follow episode 3. However, it was felt that time needed to be given expanding on Shinji's character and relationships, so it was added back in. As a result, the script for this episode was written after the script for episode 5 was already finished, and Anno did not take a direct role in either the plot or script.
• Kensuke reveals to Shinji that his mother is dead, just like Shinji's mother. Over the course of the series, it is gradually revealed that every Eva pilot's mother is dead, and that most (and it is implied, all) of Shinji's classmates' mothers are also dead.
• Kensuke points out the noise the cicadas are making outdoors, and that one used to be able to hear their noise all the time but lately its been a bit less frequent. Shinji responds that Misato told him that its because the climate is starting to slowly return to normal conditions. Second Impact melted Antarctica, causing massive tsunamis and raising the global sea level. Drastic environmental affects resulted from Second Impact. A convention used on the series is that the immediate affect on Japan of the environmental changes caused by Second Impact is that Japan exists in a constant state of summer weather, year-round. It's been that way ever since Second Impact in 2000, up until the present day in 2015. A subtle hint of this in the series is that almost every time a scene is set outdoors, no matter the date, cicadas can be heard in the backround: in Japan, cicadas only appear in the summer.