I always feel like I miss something but every time I rewatch Eva I can never seem to figure out how Shinji and unit-01 safely descend into the magma in episode 10 without the fat suit thing and rescues Asuka and unit-02 . Shouldn't there have been repercussions?

AT Field magic or something. We can handwave about it only being for a short period and not so deep (so pressures weren't so extreme).

But yeah, I was expecting that this was going to be where that annoying character who only gets like about 2 frames in the OP was going to bite the big one, and cue in a lot of Shinji angst at least to the half-way point of the series.

The power of being a main character.

I guess there's no real explanation except the screenplay. There must be a way to solve the climax and most of the time directors take the easy way out. (best example is Dragonball Z / YuGiOh!)

A similar question would be: "Why do the Angel don't attack all at once" or "What was Kaworu's plan". Yeah there's probably a way to fanwank something, but still, it remains a plot whole / weakness in the script.

Well, it's fairly easy to explain : EVA-02 was close enough to the surface that Shinji could dive to save Asuka with his AT Field at maximum power to protect him.

The main issue with the operation to capture Sandalphon was that it was too deep for an Eva to go in there and back with just an AT Field, hence the special suit for both EVA-02 and Asuka. She just got lucky/was skilled enough to ward off Sandalphon enough time to be on a depth reachable by EVA-01.

The power of love.

Mr. Tines wrote:AT Field magic or something. We can handwave about it only being for a short period and not so deep (so pressures weren't so extreme).

Quoted for accuracy. From what I know about diving and density, if Shinji were at a high enough depth for a short enough amount of time, if you took ATF magic into account, it's more than feasible that he would have survived.

Mr. Tines wrote:AT Field magic or something. We can handwave about it only being for a short period and not so deep (so pressures weren't so extreme).

Pretty much. I've always sort of assumed Shinji's in a lot of unseen pain in this scene, though.

Shinji was wearing an Eva. Also a lot of plot armor.

Yeah, never quite understood that. I mean, they made unit 02 wear this ridiculous suit to endure the mission and then Shinji dives like it's a piece of cake.

Coldwire wrote:Yeah, never quite understood that. I mean, they made unit 02 wear this ridiculous suit to endure the mission and then Shinji dives like it's a piece of cake.

It's fairly simple actually : EVA-02 had to wear the big diving suit because she was sent at a depth of hundred of meters(too much for an AT Field to resist) in molten lava for at least 10-12 minutes, and when Shinji dived to rescue her, she was close to the surface, so his AT Field at maximum output was enough to protect him during the few seconds he was in the lava.

Chuckman wrote:The power of love.

^ this and that plot armor

ElMariachi wrote:It's fairly simple actually : EVA-02 had to wear the big diving suit because she was sent at a depth of hundred of meters(too much for an AT Field to resist) in molten lava for at least 10-12 minutes, and when Shinji dived to rescue her, she was close to the surface, so his AT Field at maximum output was enough to protect him during the few seconds he was in the lava.

^This.
I love how the more in-universe feasible answer is ignored for the sake of making it out as a big plothole.