Well, I always called Utena a "child of EVA", so I'm sold on this :-D Besides, weren't Ikuhara and Anno, like, friends? Or coming from the same school of thought. I definitely see a pattern there, although I like Utena better - I think it had its goal clearer. Many fans felt "cheated" by EVA (I didn't, but that's not the point) because it started off as a more challenging, yet somewhat traditional mecha anime, and then deraged into surrealism only later in the series. Utena is OPENLY mindfucking you since the first episode and I appreciated that :-D Plus its pretty pretty design influenced me greatly. I know it might not be apparent given the way I draw, but I know it's there.