Yeah, there are mechs in it and it is undoubtedly in the mecha genre. BUT (huge but) its in a league of its own and no other mecha anime even comes close to it. Some might argue thats a good thing, other that its a bad thing, but either way, Evangelion is extremely unique. Its also one of the most intelligent anime yet made, with references to hypercubes and string theory, very complex characters, complex and intriguing plot development... plus the story itself is sort of like a very realistic and ultra-sic-fi approach to the mecha concept. They aren't just assuming theres robots and space travel and everything just sorta works fine.