episode 9, episode 8, episode 16, episode 24 and the final two

I like episode 9 because it shows character development for Shinji and Asuka, it's also one of the more light-hearted episodes, episode 8 because it introduces Asuka and there are some funny interactions and cool robot battles, episode 16 because it expands on Shinji's backstory, episode 24 for Kaworu and the final two because of the surrealist way it explores psychological and philosophical themes with some creative animation techniques (even though that was supposedly due to budget issues)