NGE isn't a super robot show though? I mean pretty much everything about that story screams real robot, aside from the fact that there's a basic "monster of the week" subplot happening in the background to all the poorly written pseudo-psychological nonsense.
Super robot shows tend to have mechs with "human" eyes and the robots doing more ridiculous stuff that doesn't necessarily make sense from a science/mechanical point of view. About the only scene that fits that in NGE is when Unit-01 eats the Angel's S2 engine or whatever and goes berserk, regrowing and limb and stuff. And even then they tossed in a bunch of star-trek level pseudo-science as an explanation.
Stuff like the Mazinger shows, the Getter Robo shows, GaoGaiGar, or any other Go Nagai works, Dancouga, the Braves series like GaoGaiGar, the voltron shows, etc. are what people mean when they say super robot. Whereas stuff like the Gundam franchise, especially UC era shows and Macross shows would be considered real robots since there's some degree of science and/or physics explanation going on and very limited boundaries and constraints. I guess another easy way to usually separate them is the weaponry. Does the robot form a giant drill out of a hand/foot, shoot eye beams/bellybutton beams, or some other absolutely ludicrous beam attack from it's own body, or does it just form some other sort of oversized melee weapon from itself? Probably super robot. Real robot shows tend to have combatants fighting with guns that are seen equipped in their hands or onto their back, sometimes using bullets or beams, but always with limited ammo. (Think Unit 00's sniper rifle) Missiles are also pretty common. You do sometimes end up with the robots using melee weapons like swords or axes and stuff, but it's usually a fallback weapon and not the primary method of attack since the mechs in real shows tend to be a lot more susceptible to damage. (Think the Prog Knife) Another pretty common difference is real robot shows tend to have groups of units on both sides, and tend to exhibit some form of unit strategy; as in you'll end up with groups of three or so enemy units attempting to flank the good gyuys group, or use various environmental factors as cover be it in an urban setting or in space, and so on.
It's not like anyone in here has said Real Robot or Super Robot is better than the other since that's pretty much all a matter of taste, but it's more just that NGE was written in the vein of a real robot show, simply using a handful of common tropes from super robot shows and turning them on their head at some points. It's really a poor man's Space Runaway Ideon anyway though, which everyone should watch since it does such an incredibly better job of conveying a lot of the same messages in a more coherent fashion.
But yeah, Gurren Lagann rules though I'd highly recommend New Getter Robo and Getter Robo Armageddon to anyone who enjoys a super robot show with darker overtones in addition to hot-blooded manliness.
