Tokyo-3
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"The person in charge exists to take responsibility." |
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"Making something... Nurturing something is really great. You can see and learn so many things from the process." |
Tokyo-3 is the fortress-city underneath which Nerv Headquarters is built, meant to serve as a bastion against attacks by the Angels.
Originally intended to be a replacement third capital of Japan (after Tokyo-2, formerly Matsumoto, Nagano), the city was built on the location of the pre-Second Impact towns of Ubako and Sengokuhara within Hakone, in Kanagawa prefecture, on the northern shore of Lake Ashinoko.
However, its true purpose is to coordinate the interception of Angels heading for Japan, covertly using Lilith as a means of attracting their attention.
Features
Tokyo-3 spans roughly 1.5 km in length from one end of the city to the other, arranged in 5 "blocks," with each "block" section being 300 meters long. It is apparently composed of a "central block" and seven "districts."
The city's current population consist mostly of Nerv personnel and their dependents, as well as migrant workers and the original inhabitants.
Local government comprises of a city mayor and a council, all elected to office by popular vote, but most city operations and decision-making functions are made by Nerv's MAGI supercomputer.
Below the city lies the Geofront, a massive semi-spherical cavernous formation which also houses Nerv Headquarters.
The waterfront district at the southern part of the city includes the massive solar energy collection blocks, which provides natural lighting and electrical power for the city and the Nerv HQ complex.
As a Fortress City
For protection against damaging Angel attacks, most of the city's buildings are capable of quickly being retracted beneath the surface, using massive hydraulic actuation systems bringing them down and holding the buildings in place. They are then protected by layers of heavy armor plating that rapidly slide over.
Prior to any Angel attack, residents are immediately directed to emergency civil defense shelters located around the city perimeter; each shelter is fortified with thick ferroconcrete walls and large enough to keep thousands of anxious residents protected and supplied with ample amounts of food, water, sanitation, ventilation, and heating.
Some buildings are constructed as automated defensive emplacements, with multiple auto-cannon and guided missile turrets, used to provide suppressive heavy fire against any attacking Angel.
Nerv's Evangelion Units are also launched from under the city, using access gates disguised as buildings, to fight the Angels. Furthermore, Evangelion support facilities, including power sockets and cords, and weapons caches are located throughout the city at strategic locations, all disguised as buildings.
History
Tokyo-3 was damaged for the first time (to unknown but most like a very limited extent) by 3rd and 4th Angels, Sachiel and Shamshel. The first significant damage to the city came with the arrival of the 5th Angel, Ramiel. Ramiel was able to breach all the armor plating before being neutralized by Eva-01. Its body was subsequently removed over the course of the next three episodes. The city was heavily damaged by the arrival of the 14th Angel, Zeruel. The Angel tore through the city in short order, breaching all the armor plating protecting Nerv HQ in two shots though extensive repairs were made after the Angel was dispatched.
Not long after Zeruel's attack, in a desperate attempt to defeat Armisael, the 16th Angel, Rei self-destructed Eva-00, resulting in a massive explosion which destroyed a large central portion of the city, creating a new artificial lake in the blast crater, and weakening the protective armor plating between the surface and the Geofront (although the section containing Misato's and Rei's apartments survived).
During The End of Evangelion, Seele working through the UN, orders the JSSDF to assault the city, culminating in an all-out assault with all remaining N² Bombs, destroying the entire city, and leaving the GeoFront below, including Nerv HQ, completely exposed.
However, once Third Impact came into being, with the combined Rei/Adam/Lilith hyper-being raising the Geofront and the entirety of the Black Moon from out of the Earth, whatever was left of the city and the surrounding countryside was obliterated, leaving nothing but a giant crater in its place.
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Notes
- It is said that Rei lives in "the old part of town."
- Misato's "Comfort 17" apartment is located at the northern city district, near Route 138 and also closer to Tokyo-3 City First Junior High School.
- In Episode 01, Shinji is picked up in the neighbouring city of Atami, 25 kilometers away.
References
