Production
In 1993, Gainax wrote a presentation document for Neon Genesis Evangelion entitled New Century Evangelion (tentative name) Proposal (新世紀エヴァンゲリオン (仮) 企画書), containing the initial synopsis of "The Day Tokyo-3 Stood Still".[1][2] The Proposal document was then published in 1994.[3][4] In the authors' initial plan, the tenth episode would have seen Nerv headquarters stranded by an electrical blackout, while the eleventh would have involved an attempt to capture an Angel in the magma chamber of an active volcano.[5][6] During the course of the work, however, the episodes were reversed in order, so the capture attempt was moved to "Magmadiver". The Japanese title of the episode was already provided in the Proposal, but written with a comma as 静止した、 闇の中で.[1] The English title of the episode at the storyboard stage was "Panic in Geo Front", and only at a later stage did the staff decide to change it.[7] Hideaki Anno,[8] the series' main director, and Yoji Enokido wrote the script;[9][10] Masayuki handled the storyboards.[11] Tetsuya Watanabe served as director,[12] while Toshio Kawagushi worked as chief animator.[13]
The production process involved Studio Deen, Kenichi Yoshida[14] and Studio Fantasia, among others.[15][16] Studio Ghibli also helped in the animation process of the episode.[17] The staff chose to include several humorous gags throughout "The Day Tokyo-3 Stood Still"; because of animation director Toshio Kawagushi, the graphic rendering of the final result deviated from the other episodes in the series. The announcer character in the truck which Hyuga boards, for example, was rendered in a style typical of the Ghibli studio.[18] A shot of the Milky Way was included in the final scene of the episode, and according to the series filmbooks the staff may have depicted the galaxy respecting the geography of the world of Evangelion, in which the Second Impact changed the Earth's axial tilt. The filmbooks also noted how in the installment Anno reflected his passion for railroads, Kazuya Tsurumaki his love for astronomy, and character designer of the series
The original script featured scenes that were later cut during the course of the work. The original storyboard included more scenes of Misato and Kaji trapped in an elevator and a scene in which Rei explains to her fellow pilots that the corridors to Nerv headquarters were made especially intricate to prevent terrorist attacks.[18] Moreover, in the final scene, Shigeru Aoba would play an acoustic version of "A Cruel Angel's Thesis" on his guitar.[18] Koichi Yamadera, Miki Nagasawa, Yuko Miyamura, Megumi Hayashibara, Kotono Mitsuishi, voice actors of several main characters in the series, played unidentified characters for "The Day Tokyo-3 Stood Still", along with Koichi Nagano, Hidenari Ugaki, Tomomichi Nishimura and Akiko Yajima.[20] In addition to the original compositions, composed by Shiro Sagisu, the song "You are the only one" by Kotono Mitsuishi, Misato's original voice actress, was used in the scene where Makoto Hyuga picks up Misato's laundry. Claire Littley also sang a version of "Fly Me to the Moon" used as the episode's final theme song for the original broadcast,[9] while in the late home video releases a version named "Rei, Asuka, Misato Ver."
