Central Tactical Command Room

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Command Center Diagram

The Central Tactical Command Room (中央作戦司令室, chūō sakusen shirei-shitsu^?), also known as Tactical Control room or Command Center refers to the center of operations for NERV Headquarters. The majority of battles against the Angels are coordinated from the Command Center, or a form of Mobile Command Center. The Central Tactical Command Room is a very tall, very large, rectangular shaped room, visually dominated by a tall, stepped Command Tower at the rear of the room, a large holographic topographical/energy display in the center, and a large screen at the front.

Layout And Design

The Central Tactical Command Room has various "centers" atop its structure, the first and highest of which being the Command Center. The Command Center is where most of the combat/operational decisions for the Evangelions are made, during battle Gendo and Fuyutsuki are positioned atop the highest platform, below the inscribed NERV logo. Slightly below them is Misato and Ritsuko who directly command the Bridge Technicians (Aoba, Hyuga, and Maya) who deal with operations at their stations. Each Bridge Technician station has various phone lines, a large keyboard, various graphs and holographic screens. The Command Center has two single personnel lifts/elevators, most often used by Gendo, Fuyutsuki and Misato, which quickly move a person to the top of the Command Center. Located below the Command Center are three Coordinated Analysis Centers, who are responsible for Angel/operations analysis, each Coordinated Analysis Center has a red colored brick shaped structure which contain the MAGI system. In Episode:13, the MAGI system, specifically CASPER-3, is lifted out of the ground from the rightmost Coordinated Analysis Center. Closest to the front of the room, two Vice Command Centers are placed on either side of the wall, assumedly these Command Centers are responsible for minor operations management/coordination, such as logistics management, personnel management, communications management/coordination, observation, maintenance/repairs, damage control and assisting combat operations.

The side of the Commander Center room is lined with various screens and lights for alerts and diagrams, such as those the MAGI system displays. There are various fixed ladders/doors built into the side and back of the Command Tower. In Episode:19, the Command Center is destroyed by Zeruel, in Episode:20 the Command Center staff move to the Backup Command Center, which is visually identical to the first. In Episode:21 the Command Center is where Naoko Akagi strangled Rei I to death, and then killed herself by jumping onto a MAGI brick.

Notes

• The Backup Command Center is, of course, just a re-use of the animation designs for the original Central Tactical Command Room, though logically it makes sense that they would have the same layout.
• Gendo and Fuyutsuki, despite their status as the highest ranking NERV officers, often leave most of the operational decisions up to Misato, and rarely debate her orders.
• Despite Ritsuko's title as "Chief of Project E" she plays an important technical role in combat operations. She often disagrees with Misatos operational decisions, notably in Episode:16 where she provokes Misato, who then slaps her.
• The Central Tactical Command Room is located in Central Dogma.
• The Command Center in the Rebuild of Evangelion is visually identical to the original TV series.

Development

The production team was inspired by several tokusatsu series such as Ultraman^WP and Operation: Mystery, or the British series Stingray^WP. The design of the place was entrusted to Ikuto Yamashita and Kio Seiji. However, when the latter sent several sketches of the command center to Hideaki Anno, they did not match his expectations. The director then sent several sketches by fax specifying that he wanted the premises to be spacious and that they were inspired by the deck of a Japanese aircraft carrier from World War II. He also specified that computer-generated images could partly be used to complete the decoration.

Probably in the summer of 1994, Kio Seiji arrived at GAINAX's Tokyo office to work on the sets. The production team had just started the storyboards and animation, leaving little time for the design of the Command Center. He conceived of the place as a large trench with six mobile platforms spread out on either side. Each one was equipped with a section of the MAGI computer and capable of moving up and down along a rail. Each one was assigned to a specific section (enemy observation, civilian control, or military action), and was supervised by a main platform in the center, higher than the others. Below was a 3D projector to display information in the center of the trench. These images were computer-generated by GAINAX. The employee seats were designed by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, and later improved by Anno.

Both designers wanted to include moving elements in the command center, which was reflected in their new proposals. However, most were rejected due to their excessive use of curves, which would have made the animators' task extremely complex to achieve in perspective. Their ideas included curved screens or round platforms. The MAGI did not appear in each proposal, and the number of blocks that made up each proposal varied between two and six. Kio Seiji came up with another proposal that would serve as the basis for the final appearance. The idea of moving platforms was abandoned, but incorporated a series of escalators to access the different levels of the room, as well as a large screen in the background and hexagonal screens on the side walls. In addition, several trees were added to give the set a unique and new look. However, Kazuya Tsurumaki raised concerns about the complexity of the design of this set and forced the team to make several changes.