Shinji Higuchi
Accepting Sadamoto's proposals, Anno suggested a male protagonist after Ryū Murakami's works with two fellow female pilots by his side. He also gave Shinji two male friends, Tōji Suzuhara and Kensuke Aida, whose names were borrowed from Murakami's novel "Ai to gensō no fascism". Anno named the new male character after two of his friends, one of whom was "Evangelion" animator Shinji Higuchi. For the last name, he chose the Japanese word "Ikari" ("anchor"), borrowing the names of other characters in the series from nautical jargon or Japanese Imperial Navy warships.