State that multiple alien civilizations exist, all created similarly to humans implying that they are similar to us

Its an ultraman ripoff

It would've been nice to see Hikari tanged by Touji in EoE.

that is only the first episode...

Then doesn't he do it for Kensuke and Touji's sake.

That is another episode...point is, Shinji does a lot of it to be accepted, by his fsther, by Misako, by his friends, Asuka, and Rei. He does it for himself, to coddle his ego that he is worth their affection, that is why he is a drama queen about it. He requires constant reinforcement from others for his ego.

evangelion wishes it was as good as ultraman

which is odd considering how emo and aloof he is in scene 1 episode 1

Up until that point Shinji had lead an uninteresting existence with no friends or real personal interactions.
Piloting suddenly leads him to have that for once, leading to that change.