>>6418103Warning, words:
Though technically, Mazinger Z had the "father figure building super robot" with some of the issues and pathos of handling a giant robot of mass destruction, it quickly settled into a pretty comfortable "defeat evil ones". Getter has the whole "pressganged into fighting" bit going on, but leaves that aside as the series moves on. Both of these focus heavily on the mecha fighting.
Evangelion is sort of an amalgation of these two premises, with a main cast of in some form or another emotionally damaged characters.
We have the father figure (Mazinger Z) - who doesn't conveniently die off and who due to shifting standards now is not an ideal but rather someone who doesn't care for his child*. He also lives, rather than dies early on and so doesn't become some martyr or fond memory. The relationship continues, and it festers - which is pretty interesting.
There's an outside, inhuman threat, like in most super robot shows (and Getter), but unlike other shows we are granted little insight into their motivation in the show. This makes them even more "alien", yet the use of existing symbology lends at least the illusion of some discernable reason, and allows fans to delve, speculate and create more to the mythology.
I wouldn't be throwing deconstruction or anything like that around, but it did change the perspective a bit, and made a splash. Might not have been the first to mix things up (my knowledge in this is limited), but it is a pretty interesting take on some of the "classic Nagai" elements and the genre.
It also had some interesting designs.
Of course, the series totally rips off Ultraman.