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Shinji Ikari (碇 シンジ) is a fictional character from the Neon Genesis Evangelion franchise created by Gainax. Shinji is a young man who was abandoned by his father, Gendo, who later requests him to pilot a mecha known as the Evangelion Unit 01 to protect the city of Tokyo-3 from creatures known as Angels that threaten to destroy mankind.

Concept and creation
Neon Genesis Evangelion director Hideaki Anno faced a deep depressive state for four years and during the whole production of the series. After the failure of the Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise sequel Aoki Uru  Gainax studio started planning a new series. For the new project Anno apparently borrowed one of Aoki Uru key themes, the concetp of "not running away". According to Gainax co-founder Yasuhiro Takeda, the passage was "something more than just transposing one show's theme onto another", since "Anno inherited something from Aoki Uru — the determination not to run away from problems — and what we saw in Evangelion was maybe just a reflection of those feelings". Anno originally proposed an Asuka-like girl as main character, following Gainax tradition of a female protagonist in Gunbuster and Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water. However character design Sadamoto proved very reluctant to a new female protagonist; while arguing that "a robot should be piloted by a trained person, and if that person just happens to be a girl then that is fine" he didn't understand the reason why a young girl "would pilot a robot". He eventually suggested that Shinji should be a boy, and his relationship with Asuka was to be similar to Nadia's own relationship with Jean, her love interest and eventual husband in the series. Anno named the new male character Shinji after one of his friends, including Evangelion animator Shinji Higuchi. For the last name he choose Japanese word "Ikari", literally meaning "anchor", creating a link with the names of many other characters in the series, inspired by real terms of nautical jargon or Japanese Imperial Navy warships. It can also be translated to "belief" or "child of god."



His character was conceived to reflect director Anno personality, "both in conscious and unconscious part". Shinji was thus represented like a "a melancholic oral-dependent type" and caught "in oral stage", just like Anno considers himself. Seeing Shinji as a simple reflection of Hideaki Anno assistant director Kazuya Tsurumaki worked on the series trying not to represent him as a hero, since "Anno isn't that much of a hero". Tsurumaki stated that just like "Shinji was summoned by his father to ride a robot, Anno was summoned by Gainax to direct an animation". Like many other male protagonists in Gainax studio series Shinji was represented with a weak and insecure personality. Gainax wanted to reflects psychological state of many animation fans and Japanese social context in particular, in which many family fathers are constantly at work and emotionally absent. Anno himself decided the protagonist's age considering "'age fourteen' as that in which an independence of mind starts manifesting".

Evangelion mangaka and character designer Yoshiyuki Sadamoto drew Shinji's character in an ordinary summer school uniform with a white shirt, making him look as "an average character". He also took as model Nadia Arwol from The Secret of Blue Water; the overall look of his face and his eyes were almost identically borrowed from Nadia, with just a change in his hair-style. Since Shinji lacks the typical enthusiasm and courage of other robot anime heroes, Sadamoto was forced to give a different heroic interpretation, "rather than a reflection of a hero, sort of a refraction of a hero". At first he tried to create a character "that would tap into the consciousness of today's anime fans". In early stages Shinji was drawn with slightly different features, later changed by the staff. For example, in one of Sadamoto’s original proposals he had long hair, which should have covered his face or fluttered in the wind in dramatic scenes. Sadamoto himself changed his mind finding his original design "too wild" for the airing.

Voice
In the original animated series Shinji is voiced by Megumi Ogata. Ogata later voiced him for the 1997 movies Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death & Rebirth and Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion, new Rebuild of Evangelion films and several video games, including Detective Evangelion and Neon Genesis Evangelion: Girlfriend of Steel 2nd, among others.

Ogata described Shinji as one of "most memorable" roles of her career. His interpretation required her a considerable effort and physically and psychologically proved her. For example, in the eighteenth episode Shinji cries and gasps for many seconds while Eva-03 is destroyed by his Eva-01. Finishing the dub session for the episode Ogata felt like her "whole body's aching". That was not the only case, since "every time a new script arrived, every time I turned a new page I was torn apart by a new pain". Rebuild of Evangelion dub also presented many obstacles. In the last recording day for Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance Ogata was forced to scream aloud all the time. She collapsed on the floor of the studio, with Anno entered into the room sitting on the floor with her. Anno personally praised her for the work done and shook her hand, thanking her for both "keeping the character's feelings unchanged" and for adding thirteen years of her experience "to the current Shinji".

Neon Genesis Evangelion
Shinji Ikari was born on June 6, 2001 as the only child of Gendō Rokubungi and Yui Ikari, a brilliant student of Kyoto University and later famous researcher. In 2004 he was taken by his mother to Gehirn research center in Hakone to assist to Evangelion 01's first activation test. Due to a mysterious accident Yui disappears under his eyes. His father Gendō later leaves Shinji under the custody of an acquaintance, with the two living separately for ten years circa. Shinji makes his first appearance in the first episode where he is invited to Tokyo-3 by his father Gendo Ikari. Unbeknownst to Shinji however, his father told him to come so he could serve as the pilot of Evangelion Unit-01. Shinji reluctantly agrees and defeats the Angel Sachiel, initially experiencing difficulty, but brutally destroys the Angel after Unit-01 goes berserk. After the Angel attack, Shinji begins living under Misato's guardianship and attends school in Tokyo-3, meeting Toji Suzuhara and Kensuke Aida who would become his first true friends. When the Angel Ramiel appears and attempts to destroy Nerv headquarters, Shinji and fellow pilot Rei Ayanami work together to destroy the Angel. When a nuclear-powered machine intended to fight the Angels runs amok, he and Misato successfully stop it. Shinji later meets Asuka Langley Soryu, an Eva pilot from Germany, and the two successfully defeat Gaghiel. Asuka moves in with Shinji and Misato. As he bonds with them, Shinji slowly becomes more confident and assertive. Shinji, Rei and Asuka are sent to fight the Angel Leliel, however Shinji, more confident than usual after kissing Asuka and improving his synchronization scores, is now accepting of his role as an Evangelion pilot. He decides to attack on his own, and Leliel's reverse AT field sucks Shinji into a parallel universe. Shinji confronts the Angel, during which he also confronts his inner self, forming arguments and philosophies. He is freed from the powerful Angel through the intervention of his mother Yui, whose soul is within the Eva.

After Shinji is forced to fight the Bardiel-controlled Eva-03 while his classmate Toji Suzahara is trapped within, Shinji decides to quit NERV. Zeruel soon appears and decapitates the other Evangelion units. Shinji returns to NERV to protect the city. Shinji attains a 400% sync ratio with the unit, allowing him to continue his assault and frees the Evangelion in the process. As a result, he is trapped within its core for a month before being released. After Rei sacrifices herself to save Shinji, and then is subsequently revived through one of her clones while Asuka runs away and becomes comatose, Shinji begins to suffer with depression. He meets Kaworu Nagisa and the two become friends. However, it is later revealed that Kaworu is in fact the final Angel and Shinji is forced to kill him, further traumatising him. In the series' Instrumentality, he confronts his many traumas and why he acts the way he does, as Shinji believes himself to be worthless and unworthy of affection. After conversing with most of the Evangelion cast and seeing a version of himself in a world in which he leads a normal life. Shinji realizes he can be happy and his existence is worth living regardless. Shinji is greeted by the rest of the cast and congratulated.

The End of Evangelion
The End of Evangelion continues Shinji's story, portraying his downward spiral into depression and eventual loss of the will to live. Shinji visits a comatose Asuka in the hospital, but when his pleas for attention go unanswered, Shinji accidentally exposes Asuka's breasts and masturbates at the sight. Shinji remains catatonic while all the NERV officers, including Misato, are killed. Shinji then decides to pilot the Eva to save those who are still alive, but a bakelite release ordered by Misato accidentally blocks the entrance of Unit-01. When Shinji learns of Asuka's defeat, the Evangelion moves on its own to let Shinji enter it again. Shinji's Ego causes the Eva's AT field to manifest in the form of gigantic, dreadful, divine wings. Despite this, after witnessing the mangled, mutilated corpse of Unit-02 being carried by the Mass Production Evas, Shinji's trauma becomes even worse as the Human Instrumentality Project begins. Shinji's intense emotion summons the Lance of Longinus stuck on the Moon to Earth. Shinji's Ego continues to resist Lilith-Rei and SEELE's assaults on his soul; but when Lilith-Rei takes the form of Kaworu, Shinji's Ego weakens and Unit 01's AT-Field is penetrated. Lilith-Rei returns to her form as Rei, and as Yui's soul from inside the Eva tells Shinji that Rei, is "all of Shinji's hopes and dreams", Shinji is asked "what do you wish for?" and he has a vision of a woman's breasts being clutched. Lilith-Rei and SEELE ultimately defeat Shinji's Ego and he finally enters Instrumentality. Shinji then has extended dream-like sequences inside Instrumentality, has access to Misato's memories of having sex with Kaji and briefly sees himself having sex with Asuka. Shinji insists on gaining attention from Asuka, but she states he can't do anything. Shinji tells Asuka he wants to help her and stay with her forever, but Asuka retorts that Shinji is afraid of everyone and has never truly loved anyone as he doesn't even love himself. Angry at this rejection, Shinji lashes out and chokes her.

The fusion of the Lance of Longinus with the Eva recreates a Tree of Life. Shinji and the Eva, now possessing both the Fruit of Wisdom and the Fruit of Life, become "God". Shinji, now one with all other humans, converses with them, particularly Rei and Kaworu. Shinji and Eva's absorption of a Fruit of Life and a Fruit of Wisdom meant that Eva, and the pilot inside, will continue to exist forever, "even after the Sun, the Moon, and the planets are gone". He eventually converses with Yui, whom he wonders what will do, until he decides that he wants to live and returns to Earth. Shinji, having erected several grave markers in memory of most of the other characters, wakes up sometime later, and notices Asuka laying down by his side. Shinji attempts to strangle her again for an un-clarified reason, but stops himself and breaks down after Asuka regains consciousness and caresses his face.

Rebuild of Evangelion
In Rebuild of Evangelion Shinji returns as the central protagonist in Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone, where he is shown to be more outspoken than his TV counterpart. In this film, Shinji's role is very much the same as that of the anime series. He is assigned to be the pilot of Unit-01 and works alongside Rei to defeat the Angel Ramiel. In Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance, Shinji continues his duties as pilot of Unit-01, albeit reluctantly. After the battle with Bardiel, wherein his father forced him to critically injure Asuka, Shinji retires from his duties and leaves NERV. When Zeruel consumes Rei, Shinji returns and defeats the Angel by seemingly fusing with the Evangelion.

In Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo, set fourteen years later, Shinji is awakened to a changed world caused by the Third Impact. Shinji is treated with hostility by Misato and others. They install a "DSS Choker" on him, an explosive device on his neck that is to be activated if he comes close to starting another Impact. Asuka meets him and, surprised at the fact that Asuka's physical appearance remains unchanged even after fourteen years, is told of the "Curse of Eva", as both Asuka and Mari still look like teenagers. The ship they are on comes under attack by NERV and Rei breaks in his holding cell. After learning from Misato that they are part of a new organization called Wille fighting against NERV, Shinji decides to leave with Rei. Misato briefly considers preventing Shinji's capture by remotely activating the choker, but hesitates. At the remnants of NERV, he is approached by Kaworu who befriends him. He becomes despondent after Kaworu tells him that humanity holds him responsible for initiating Third Impact. He then has a meeting with Fuyutsuki. Shinji learns his mother's soul is the control mechanism of Unit 01 and that it is, in fact, a clone of Rei that now pilots Mark 09, aka The Vessel of Adams. After Shinji realizes that he did not save Rei, Kaworu convinces him to pilot Eva-13 with him, one of the Four Adams and the most powerful known Evangelion which the two operate, as Gendo told Shinji to.

Kaworu claims Third Impact can be erased by using the spears of Longinus and Cassius allegedly lodged in Lilith. Shinji tells Asuka she doesn't know what she's talking about, while Kaworu doesn't react and is instead deep in thought. After resisting Asuka's attempts to stop him, Shinji pulls the Spears, ignoring Asuka's warnings who asks him if he wants to start another Impact, as well as Kaworu's own when he realizes the spears have been changed, disturbing the scenario he had in mind. Shinji starts Fourth impact after pulling the two spears of Longinus out from Lilith. Eva-13 then eats the Twelfth Angel and ascends to divinity. Kaworu is killed by the DSS Choker he had taken from Shinji in an attempt to stop Fourth Impact, however, that is only successful when Mari forcibly ejects Shinji from the Eva. A devastated Shinji loses his will to live. Asuka rescues him from his entry plug, accuses him of acting like a baby and only caring about himself. The Rei clone appears and follows Asuka and Shinji as they start heading along the ruins of Tokyo-3 to get rescued by Wille again.

Manga
In Neon Genesis Evangelion manga by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto Shinji has a much more stubborn and strong character. The author tried to represent him as a bad boy, a young teenager more rebellious than the insecure Shinji of Hideaki Anno. For example, after the battle against Bardiel, in which his friends Suzuhara dies following an order from commander Ikari, he tries to punch his father. Shinji is overall far more aloof and distant, but also enjoys a more intimate relationship with Rei, though he is not as close to Asuka or even his guardian Misato, showing more indifference towards his duties as an Evangelion pilot. In the ending, he is seen in a reformed new world, and meets Asuka by chance but they only have a faint recollection of one another.

Sadamoto decided to work on a Evangelion manga while watching Shinji in the first episodes of the original series. Reflecting on his dialogues he wondered "what the world looked like through Shinji's eyes". This led him to change his characterization and psychology. During the whole serialization he also wanted to reflect twenty-first century teens in him and took inspiration from Gulf War, wondering how a 14-year-old would have behaved boarding a helicopter. In order to realistically portrays his psychology he drew inspiration from his own personal experience, thinking back to his adolescence and trying to transpose his life on paper. Sadamoto compares the manga to the anime as Anno's work giving the feel of an honors student, while his own work is "more like a flunk-out".

In other media
Shinji appears in most manga adaptations of Neon Genesis Evangelion, including Yoshiyuki Sadamoto's manga adaptation. The manga generally follows the plot of the anime with occasional alterations in events. In this manga, Shinji's role is very similar to his anime counterpart, although changes in characterization are apparent. This is due to the fact the manga is written from Sadamoto's point of view involving Shinji. Sadamoto was inspired to write the manga after learning of Shinji's role in the first episode of the television series. Shinji is also a primary protagonist in the Shinji Ikari Raising Project and Neon Genesis Evangelion: Angelic Days where he is portrayed in a different light than his anime counterpart, usually happier and more stable. Spin-offs and video games such as these often pair Shinji romantically with Asuka Langley Soryu or, less commonly, Rei Ayanami. Shinji is portrayed as a boy "frightened by the idea of growing up" but extremely popular among the students of Municipal Nerv High School of Tokyo-3.

Shinji, alongside other Evangelion characters, makes frequent appearances in video games, such as Neon Genesis Evangelion for the Nintendo 64. Shinji is also a playable character in the popular cross-over video game franchise Super Robot Wars where he and other Evangelion characters work with characters from various other mecha series, in which he developes a crush for other characters such as Lynn Minmay, provoking jealously in Asuka, who tries to regain his attention.

Characterization and themes
Shinji is an introvert boy, with few friends, totally unable to communicate with other people and extremely feared of hurt others or being hurted. In his relationships also tends to adopt a completely passive attitude, which leads him to apologize for everything like a classical conditioning. Even his clothing suggests that he does not choose his own clothes, wearing without complaining the clothes others provide to him. Unlike the stereotypical anime hero Shinji does not try to do anything for himself, does not grow or become self-aware. Since the first episode he fights with great reluctance, manifesting negative emotions and unconventional feelings for a mecha protagonist, such as anger, fear and great psychological vulnerability. His voice actor Megumi Ogata said "he didn't act like an anime character, but typically talked very quietly and sparingly, and it was like he was suddenly thrust into an anime world". His naturally scrupulous and skeptical character leads him to wonder what is the reason that drives him to pilot Eva-01.

Hideaki Anno described him as a "cowardly young man" who has convinced himself that "he is a completely unnecessary person". His childhood trauma led him to doubt the value of his existence, to be disheartened and to seek a raison d'être that allows him to live with other people in the real world. The last two episodes focus on his path and his psychology in a sort of psychoanalitic session. During a stream of consciusness he confesses to be "afraid of himself" and his father. After being called by his father to Tokyo-3 he piloted Eva-01 just for the affection and the approval of other people, without any heroism or true ideal. He also has an intimate desire for acceptance and is very concerned about the perception that others have of him. Sadamoto described him as "the kind of character who would encase himself in a shell of his own making". Despite his apparent hate for his father, Gendo is the source of a deep inner conflict for him. Beyond an apparent hatred between father and son, Shinji harbored an intimate desire for acceptance and would like to be able to trust him.

When compared to the stereotypical hero (particularly of the mecha genre), Shinji is characterized more by lack of energy and emotion than by heroism or bravery. He has often been interpreted as a version or reflection of Anno, who has also referred to the plotline as a metaphor of his life, as well as identifying consciously with Shinji, Asuka and Misato. Megumi Hayashibara (the voice of Rei Ayanami) said of him, "Look at Shinji. Why does he continue to fight as an Eva pilot? The story keeps changing. He said it's because everyone tells him to. Because only he can do it. Because it has to be done to save humanity. Selfless and lofty sentiments for sure, and he believed those reasons to be genuine. Wrong; he wanted his father to approve of him. To say he was a good boy. How selfish of him, really, to be a human being."

After his first arrival to Tokyo-3 he repeats to himself the words "I mustn't run away", attempting to find the courage to face off his responsibilities. During the twentieth episode he himself remembers being "escaped" from the experimental site where his mother died, an incident that generated a compulsive thought of "not running away". Contrary to what is commonly believed by fans, Anno didn't want to suggest that running away is always wrong, since sometimes "it's okay to run away" and "there are things that you gain and things that you lose, after all". Believing that "one can't advance without hurting others", Anno criticized people who didn't choose between the two, as "if you don't pick something that's the same as with dying". For the Italian researcher Fabio Bartoli Shinji's character is a "perfect representative" of the otaku generation, "being a young man with relationship difficulties and accustomed to spending a lot of time at home". Writer Andrea Fontana gave a similar interpretation; according to Fontana Shinji would a rapresentation of otakus for his total communication and relational inability. Fontana also saw in Shinji's evolution "an exhortation" by Anno to otakus, Japanese society and young people of the time "to break the crystal cage in which they locked themselves up, looking confidently at their neighbor".

Psychoanalysis


"[Eva] is a story where the main character witnesses many horrors with his own eyes, but still tries to stand up again. It is a story of will; a story of moving forward, if only just a little. It is a story of fear, where someone who must face indefinite solitude fears reaching out to others, but still wants to try."

When he moves to Tokyo-3 middle school Shinji struggle to make friends and keeps a a cold, laconic and reserved attitude. According to Ritsuko Akagi he suffers from the hedgehog's dilemma. As the hedgehogs of the original Arthur Schopenhauer's Parerga and Paralipomena, Shinji fears to be hurted and withdraws from human contact. His relationship with Misato Katsuragi seems to perfectly follow the Schopenhauer concept, but in the fourth episode, Hedgehog's Dilemma, the two characters finally get closer without hurting each other. Schopenhauer originally named the concept porcupine dilemma, but director Anno purposely choose an alternative translation as he wanted to portray Shinji as an hedgehog, an animal with smaller and less acute spines than porcupine, suggesting more delicacy for the character. Despite the dilemma in The End of Evangelion he definitively chooses to live with other people, rejecting Instrumentality and unconditionally accepting the others.

Since he lost his mother figure in a traumatic incident Shinji seeks a substitute of the lost mother figure in women around him and in Eva-01, since it contains her soul. Critic and academic Susan J. Napier interpreted Angels as "father figures, whome Shinji must annihilate". In the first part of the series he emotionally depends on Unit 01, but he later becomes negatively affected by this symbiotic relationship. Anime News Network reviewer Mike Crandol described his entry in Eva-01 as a Freudian "return to the womb" and his personal struggle to be free of the Eva is his "rite of passage" into manhood. In psychological terms Anno described Shinji as a boy with a strong Oedipus complex for his father Gendō. Oedipal triangle is completed by their common interest for Rei Ayanami, a mere genetic clone of Yui Ikari. Neon Genesis Evangelion plot can be interpreted as a modern reinterpretation of Oedipus legend, in which Shinji feels loved and hated by the two parental figures at the same time. According to Anno himself Shinji symbolically "kills" his father "and steals his mother from him". Eva-01 can be also seen as a mother breast and becomes a source of profound ambivalence for him. To manage his ambivalent feelings, Shinji "split the breast", a process in which the child sees a "good breast" and "bad breast". Unit 01 in berserk can be see as a "bad breast" which cancels his personality, while Yui's saves him in many battles as a "good breast".

In twentieth episode, Weaving a story 2: Oral Stage, he gets trapped in Eva-01 dissolving into its Entry Plug; during a stream of consciousness he has some visions, including a scene in which he's breastfed from Yui, recalling the oral stage, first tap in Freud psychosexual development theory. Through his mother's help Shinji symbolically borns a second time, finding his will to life and regaining his own body. He presents many features of the oral character, a personality that can found in some dependent, needy and weak individuals who sees other people just as a satisfaction tool. In the two final episodes he sees both the good and the dark side of other people, like a baby who realizes during oral stage that two different personalities can coexist within a single individual. His Oedipus complex also resolves in the final episode, with ends with the captions "To my father, thank you" and "To my mother, goodbye", signing his definitive entry into adulthood.

Popularity
Immediately after the first ran of the series Shinji ranked second among the "most popular male characters of the moment" in Anime Grand Prix survey by Animage mangazine, with just two hundred votes less than the most popular character, Duo Maxwell from Gundam Wing. In the following two years rankings he finally rised to first place. In 1997 Anime Grand Prix he got around 1200 votes, more than double than the second character, Kaworu Nagisa. Megumi Ogata also won for three years the second place in voice actor rankings, after Rei Ayanami's actor Megumi Hayashibara. Shinji also emerged sixth among most popular male character in August 1996 and eleventh in July 1998. He took 77th place in 2002 in a TV Asahi poll about the most popular anime characters of all times and 25th in 2007 among the most popular male heroes as well. Shinji ranked 25th on IGN's first top 25 anime characters list. Editor Chris Mackenzie commented that the IGN staff loved him "not for what he is, but for what he could be". In 2014, IGN ranked him as the greatest anime character of all time, observing that he is a "genuine work of art", saying that heroes "are often who we want to be", and noting he was different from it: "he was perhaps the most emotionally true-to-life character in anime history." In a Newtype poll from March 2010, Shinji was voted as the most popular male character from the 1990s.

Shinji won the first place in numerous Newtype magazine popularity charts. In August and September 2009 it emerged in third and first place. In October he took third place, becoming the most popular Evangelion male character. In March 2010 Newtype elected him the "most popular male character of the nineties". In 2014 a survey was aimed at foreigners residing in Japan, with the question "Which character do you aspire to look like?". Interviewees gave a great variety of answers, with Shinji Ikari took seventh place. In 2012 Fuji TV asked about 14000 fans which was the "best animated hero" ever, with Shinji Ikari who took twentieth place among the most voted characters. In 2016 he appeared thirteenth in a Anime News Network survey on the "best pilots of Japanese animation".

Critical reception
Shinji Ikari's character sparked very mixed opinions and split anime critics in two. His detractors criticized its constant insecurity and total absence of temper and resoluteness. Raphael See by T.H.E.M. Anime Reviews, who found Evangelion "a little cliche, or just plain irritating at times" the characterization of most of Evangelion cast, negatively underlined the pessimistic attitude of Shinji, since "is always down in the dumps, feeling sorry for himself". Japanator.com listed Shinji among the "characters with no chance in reality", also saying "he really sucks as an Eva pilot and he has the spine of a jelly fish".

Critics who praised its characterization and realism were just as many; among these, the American writer Susan J. Napier, according to whom Shinji "still wins the championship for most psychologically complex (or just plain neurotic) male". IGN's editor Chris Mackenzie placed him in 25th place among the best anime characters of all time, saying "maybe we love Shinji because we wish we could be in his shoes, because we know we could do the job so much better ourselves". For Nick Verboon (Unreality Magazine) Shinji "is one of the most nuanced, popular and relatable characters in anime history", and despite describing him as "a punchable, sniveling little whiner" he praised him as a representation of "that part of us that is prone to giving up and abandoning personal responsibilities because life is unfair". Jen Contino (Anime Invasion magazine) praised its characterization and placed ninth among the best anime characters of all time.

In 2013 Anime News Network's editor Lynzee Lam placed him in first place among the seven most "crybaby heroes" in the history of Japanese animation, appreciating his motivations and psychological realism. Martin Theron also praised his verisimilitude reviewing Evangelion 1.0: You Are (Not) Alone. Examining the differences between Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance film and the original animated series, myReviewer.com wrote: "to the relief of many, Shinji isn't as much of a whiner anymore, and he shows that he has a backbone on more than one occasion in this film". IGN's Ramsey Isler elected him "greatest anime character" in all times, praising his originality and his realistic characterization. According to Isler Shinji arouses the hatred of the spectators because unjustly considered "a wuss; scared, whiny, creepy, and hopeless" characters, asking: "But what 14-year-old kid wouldn't be given what he's had to deal with?". He concluded his comment saying: "He's a character that challenges the audience by not giving them a superficial, vicarious power fantasy like you'd get from so many other anime. He is pathetic, but that is what makes him great. That is what makes him a genuine work of art".

Pete Harcoff, a reviewer for Anime Critic, gave a positive review of Neon Genesis Evangelion yet maintained a negative view of Shinji's character, stating that Shinji was ineffective and disappointing to watch. THEM Anime Reviews' reviewers were harsher of the character's constant angst in the television series, finding it as a negative trait. Mike Crandol, also from ANN, praised Shinji as "the classic Tragic Hero. Imbued with character flaws that ultimately prove his undoing as he spirals into depression and insanity by the series' end, Shinji is a departure from the more idealistic heroes commonplace in mecha anime (or adventure fiction in general, for that matter)." and how by the end of End of Evangelion, "Shinji must continue to strive to attain happiness: no one is going to hand it to him on a silver plate." On his relationships with other characters, Crandol states that "Shinji harbors semi-romantic feelings for the three women closest to him, but his distrusting nature prevents him from developing any kind of meaningful relationship with them, and inside he angrily believes them of intentionally building barriers to prevent him from getting close. Again it is Asuka that it is most interesting to consider in this light. Sensing a kindred soul beneath her aggressive exterior (or perhaps admiring the determination he lacks), Shinji comes to love her, but does not know how to express it. Likewise, it is hinted that Asuka has similarly romantic feelings for Shinji, but her ego prevents her from admitting it even to herself. [...] By opening their hearts to one another Shinji and Asuka at last have a chance at happiness.". Japanese critic Manabu Tsuribe considers that End of Evangelion was concluded by Shinji finding "an other" in her.

Shinji's role in the Rebuild of Evangelion films got a better response as he was noted to be friendlier with other characters in contrast to his role in the TV series. Theron Martin from Anime News Network listed the scene from Evangelion: 2.22 You Can (Not) Advance in which Shinji saves Rei as the "Best Scene" in the site's feature "The Best (and Most Notable) of 2011." Martin praised Shinji's determination in such scene as "this is the first time in the entire franchise that he whole-heartedly goes after something because he wants it, rather than because he's expected to or has no choice." Despite criticism to the third film, multiple reviewers praised Shinji's interactions with Kaworu, as "his influence is meant to show us that Shinji is still a long, long way from self-acceptance", and some considered it melodramatic. THEM Anime Reviews found Kaworu's personality and relationship with Shinji effective if it came as rushed, and how "Shinji is at his weakest and most fearful" in it.

He acts in a similar fashion in other spin-offs such as Angelic Days and Shinji Ikari Raising Project, however this also applies to most other characters like Asuka and Rei, who tend to be modified into less self-conflicted and psychologically damaged versions of themselves. In regards to his characterization in the manga, however, in which Shinji reacts more aggressively in many situations, Carl Horn, responsible for manga's localization, considered him to still be negative, but in a more active and less passive manner.

Legacy


Over the years several merchandise items inspired by the character of Shinji have been produced, such as clothing, action figures, collectible models, perfumes, and drinks. Shinji has also been used for some Japan Racing Association advertising campaigns and to sponsor a culinary company specializing in miso soups called "Shijimi from lake Shinji", proving to be so popular as to increase its takings and attract many tourists to the homonym lake just for the drink. In addition to the various video games based on the original animated series Shinji's character has appeared in medias detached from the main Evangelion franchise, such as in Monster Strike, Super Robot Wars, Tales of Zestiria Tales of Zestiria, Puzzle & Dragons and in an official cross-over episode of Shinkansen Henkei Robo Shinkalion, in which he pilots a transformable train called 500 Type Eva.

Ryo Ōyama, one of Guilty Crown staff members, compared the main character Shū Ōma to Shinji Ikari and his role in the Neon Genesis Evangelion saga, since "they're both in their own world and they don't come out from that world". According to Ōyama, Shū is a sort of "a 2011 version of Shinji", but Shinji differs for his "more passive" and pessimistic attitude. Similar comments were made by the actor Asa Butterfield, who compared him to Ender Wiggin from Ender's Game, which he portrays. According to Butterfield, both characters "withdraw from the world", face new experiences and fight against unknown enemies. Lain Iwakura, female protagonist of Serial Experiments Lain, Simon from Gurren Lagann, Daisuke Dojima from Revisions and the main character from Cyborg She also have many affinities with Shinji. In the fourth episode of the dorama Nigeru wa Haji da ga Yaku ni Tatsu a character named Shinji appears, ex-boyfriend of the female protagonist Mikuri, clearly inspired by the homonym Evangelion main character. Shinji is mentioned by Steven Universe from the homonym show in a parody of the final scene of the series. British group Fightstar honored him by naming him a song from the album One Day Son, This Will All Be Yours. Kong: Skull Island's director Jordan Vogt-Roberts named a character Gunpei Ikari taking inspiration from his surname.