Reichu: This shot reminds me of some thoughts Yoshiyuki Sadamoto shared on the design process for Shinji:
…finally I tried for a look where you could see the forehead through the bangs, shorter hair — the look of a boyish young girl. Speaking in concrete terms, his eyes are a girl's eyes. I drew them exactly as I drew Nadia's eyes. He's a male Nadia, just as if I had given Nadia a masculine makeover. Lengthen the eyelashes and change the hair style, and you have Nadia.
I've never seen Nadia, though… Anyone care to elaborate for those completely in the dark?
thewayneiac: Fushigi no Umi no Nadia, also known as Nadia, the Secret of Blue Water, is an earlier anime from Gainax, also directed by Anno.
Reichu: Not to mention Sadamoto was (as you might have guessed) the character designer and Shiro Sagisu composed the music.
thewayneiac: It takes place in Gainax's version of the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea universe, and is about two teenagers, Jean and Nadia, who are taken aboard the Nautilus, which is battling villains from Neo-Atlantis. (Why is it that whenever someone does a 20,000 Leagues spinoff or sequel, they always turn Nemo into a good guy? In the original work Nemo is a madman, preying upon world shipping; here it's the Atlantians sinking all the ships.) Anyway, the story is that Anno suffered through a severe bout of depression while finishing Nadia, perhaps due to being rejected by one of the voice actresses, and Eva is his way of illustrating what he went through while trying to recover.
Reichu: “Being rejected by one of the voice actresses?” Now why does that sound familiar…?
Dr. Nick: And for the record, Shinji himself is voiced by a female, Megumi Ogata.
Reichu: Yet none of the dubs (that I'm aware of, anyway) follow suite. All male voice actors — but at least the French version used (as far as I could tell) a kid whose voice hadn't cracked yet.
thewayneiac: Megumi Ogata, in fact, specializes in playing teenage guys. She is also Yukito from Card Captor Sakura.
