Japanese sci-fi novel All You Need is Kill has already been adapted into a famous manga and an arguably even more famous blockbuster action flick starring Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt entitled Edge of Tomorrow. This take lives in the world of anime, punctuated by gorgeous animation and mesmerizing visuals. By this point, the time loop concept has become predictable, if not entirely stale. As such, the actual narrative has a bit of a monotonous quality to it. We have seen an identical mechanic play out before, and thus can practically choreograph every single moment. Still, there is something to be said about the timeless nature to the battle against alien invaders. The human relationship at its core provides an emotional crutch for the unfolding sameness. Visually sumptuous and action-packed, All You Need is Kill brings new life to a dead IP, over and over again.
One year ago, a giant plantlike alien creature known as Doral took root on Earth’s soils, planting itself and letting off wild electromagnetic waves in the process. The only way to even approach Doral is by using astronaut-quality gear; teams of volunteers slowly chip away at Doral and its twisty vines. This day does not go as planned for Rita, one of the workers—it seemingly has no end in sight. Giant tentacle-plant monsters sprout forth from Doral, consuming anything in their path. Each time Rita faces off against one of these beings and dies, she awakens the next day in her bed. Doomed to repeat a seemingly endless cycle, Rita searches for a way to defeat Doral once and for all.
Rita does anything she can think of to stop the day from repeating, including warning everyone about the dangers, trying to halt the construction, driving as far away from Doral as humanly possible, and attempting to escape on a boat. Not even a body of water can stop Doral. She starts keeping track of how many “lives” she has used in red marker on her hand, updating it each time she awakens anew just like in a videogame. There’s an intimate quality to the storytelling that allows plenty of time to become acquainted with Rita, though we admittedly do not actually learn much about her beyond her endless attempts to survive. Her loneliness peaks out when she meets Kenji, a cute boy also stuck in the same time loop with her. In this connection, the layers of Rita’s personality begin to unfurl. Where before she was reserved and closed off from her peers, Kenji’s presence seems to have refreshed her lease on life.
Despite the slower moments, the animation still manages to realize more than a few epic battles. There’s a hilarious splat nearly every time Rita gets killed in the line of fire, but for the most part, the aliens are a genuine threat. They have a glimmering neon quality to them, and glorious dark purple blood that flows aplenty, especially once Rita finds her groove. We uncover as much about these aliens as we do about Rita: not much. However, this does not make them any less fascinating to watch. They are dangerous and exciting, beautiful and bizarre. As Rita and Kenji realize their amount of “lives” left may be dwindling, their relationship to Darol deepens.
The setup works better than the conclusion for sure, closing with an abruptness that may not be satisfying for some viewers. Still, the bond that forms between Rita and Kenji is a special one. Their heart to hearts in the midst of chaos bring out the best in the two of them. Kenji’s presence may not be as substantial as Rita’s, but his role evolves beyond voyeuristically observing her from the sidelines. With artful direction from debut filmmaker Kenichiro Akimoto and a spectacle of a plot, All You Need is Kill uses the anime medium to discover a reason for its riveting tale to pen a new chapter in its legacy.
All You Need is Kill debuted at 2025’s Fantasia International Film Festival.
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