NERV is in dire need of a psych team though, insane that there isn't a dedicated therapist to help the pilots deal with trauma.

Realistically, the therapists’ job in this scenario would be manipulating the soldiers and/or finding ways to numb and avoiding the pain

Anyway, despite relating to Shinji in many ways, the grandness and stakes of the show makes it very hard for me to be on his side. Like I literally become military brained and demand they torture or MKULTRA the kid in order to fight the literal demons. Yes, yes, I know they’re all metaphors for current issues. But man. I don’t know. It’s like any other anime where the teenager is the chosen one - it becomes goofy after a while.

If the stakes were more grounded, I’d be more understanding. I guess I’m not into mecha stuff at all lol. Unless it’s something like MGS where the sci-fi stuff is just part of conventional war and not biblical aliens and robots with souls inside. Or Mr Robot which is just live action Evangelion about hackers, down to the semierotic gay undertones between the “villain” and protaganist and singularity of humankind. The setting is grounded and because of that I feel more attached, despite hating the show.