As Ohayocon 2005 approached--my first con where anime, not gaming, was the core--I knew I wanted to go in costume as a character from a series I liked a lot. It took me a minute for a male character to come to mind! But I did think of Shinji, and I could put together his schoolboy outfit quickly (two weeks before the con) and wear it. So I did, and I had a lot of fun being Shinji for a day.