And he's supposed to be--unless I miss my guess entirely and have completely misinterpreted EVA from the beginning--the POV "everyman" character for the audience to relate to.

I have a difficult time relating to Shinji as that type of character, even accounting for Gendo's obvious abuses.

In that respect, I kind of find DJ a bit more relateable as a POV character. He and I have a similar regard for Getting the Job Done (at least as I read it), and that's an attitude that I can respect. Psychological issues notwithstanding, the constant passivity that Shinji exhibits--he never seems to act on his own agency, but only when absolutely forced into it--is the kind of thing I find deeply off-putting and, when I see examples of it IRL, deeply irritating.

Yes, I do get that it's only through psychologically manipulating Shinji into being unable to make his own decisions that he can effectively act as Gendo's proxy during the whole eschatological acid trip, so that his preferences as regards Instrumentality can come to pass...but damnit all, we already HAVE a tablua rasa executing Gendo's every whim in Rei.

(Which, I suppose, makes the opening song that much more ironic, where it's essentially commanding legendary behavior from someone who...isn't, and I'd argue isn't capable of such)

>NGE isn't an action show about giant robots with dramatic undertones;
>it's a character drama that also sometimes is about the horror of war
>and mans essential isolation from his fellow man. It kinda has to be
>evaluated in that context, rather than the context of giant robots
>kicking ass.

I can't say that I disagree entirely with this statement, but I don't think it fits the bill entirely; I think that the end-of-the-world type mythology that pervades the series also needs to be taken into account; The World is Ending AND You Are Alone.

(And as it happens, I've never actually gotten 'round to seeing Gurren Lagaan; it's not really been on my priorities list)