I enjoy the Fire Emblem, Final Fantasy Tactics and Advance Wars games but Disgaea isn't clicking for me. 
I have nothing wrong with the Anime stuff or the "hardcore" gameplay mechanics. What's bothering me is the amount of grinding needed to get anywhere done. 
My main guys are okay, but all my new recruits die in one to three hits and I have to constantly grind the same levels repeatedly just to have them not die as easily.

I don't have any motive to grind because I feel like I'm not working towards anything concrete other than higher levels. 
I know that there's new spells/skills once I level my guys but I can't preview what these new spells/classes are. In other words, there's no proverbial carrot for me to chase. 
And I'm not a GameFAQs kind of guy.
 
I'm on the 6 hr mark and just finished making my first lvl10+ item to access the newest dungeon.  
Does it get better from here or is this game just not right for me?

don't use the new guys

In a series where weapons and characters can have up to 9999 levels....well, you get the point. The carrot in this case is an invisible carrot that may end up being a pointy stick, and you have to taste it to try it out. 
 
Good luck!

You don't need new recruits to get through the game, and you don't really need to grind much either.  That said, there is one simple trick to level up dudes.  Simply make sure they are next to a more powerful character when he/she performs a killing blow on an enemy, so the new recruit can share xp in a team up attack. 

Thanks guys, I'm now using the new recruits mostly as extra throwing units or meatshields for my main guys and it's been working out better. 
 

@Sagalla

You don't need new recruits to get through the game, and you don't really need to grind much either.  That said, there is one simple trick to level up dudes.  Simply make sure they are next to a more powerful character when he/she performs a killing blow on an enemy, so the new recruit can share xp in a team up attack.