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Tuesday, January 20, 2026

All You Need is Kill review

ALL YOU NEED IS KILL:

ANIME FILM ADAPTATION OF HIROSHI SAKURAZAKA’S SCI-FI NOVEL IS A VISUAL GASM!

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: **** out of 4

GKIDS AND WARNER BROS. PICTURES

Rita in All You Need is Kill

Two people begin to experience the same day over and over in their battle against an extraterrestrial threat in All You Need is Kill, an anime film adaptation of Hiroshi Sakurazaka’s science fiction novel of the same name. This isn’t the first time the book was adapted to film as it was used as the basis for the 2014 sci-fi action film, Edge of Tomorrow starring Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt and directed by Doug Liman which I’ll go on record and say was one of the best films released that year.

I was interested in seeing this when I heard it was being released, I absolutely loved Edge of Tomorrow though I’m certain it wasn’t a fully faithful adaptation of the source material (I had never read the original book to confirm that FYI). I’m mostly going into this based on my knowledge of what happened in the previous adaptation and its trailer and…yeah, I still prefer Edge of Tomorrow, but this is still a damn good flick especially for anime enthusiasts.

The film follows Rita (voiced by Stephanie Sheh-Naruto, Sailor Moon, Sonic x Shadow Generations), a resourceful but lonely young woman who doesn’t fit in with her peers being tasked with cleaning a giant, mysterious flower called Darol that appeared in Japan. But when the flower starts unleashing a barrage of alien creatures to attack, Rita is killed only to wake up and repeat the same day again and again until she meets Keiji (voiced by Jadon Muniz), a shy young man who is also going through the same experience as Rita as the two work together to stop this alien invasion and save the planet, one death at a time.

Overall, All You Need is Kill is an absolutely gorgeous anime film that is worth seeing on the big screen and while it does hit a lot of the same beats as its Tom Cruise counterpart, it’s different enough even if you’ve never seen Edge of Tomorrow. I initially thought it was just going to be Edge of Tomorrow’s storyline done in anime style, but that’s not exactly the case with this.

Both have the same premise (Groundhog Day with an alien invasion) and the two protagonists fight in mechanized suits, but the execution of the All You Need is Kill movie and Edge of Tomorrow are radically different from each other. Edge of Tomorrow did not have a giant space flower that sprouted the aliens, it didn’t have any talking robots and drones reminiscent of things you’d see in Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, and this film dives more into the protagonists’ pasts often with very trippy results when you see it onscreen.

This definitely does seem more in-line with the original book (I wouldn’t know because I haven’t read it) than Edge of Tomorrow and both adaptations utilize the source material well for their specific versions. However, I’ll argue that Edge of Tomorrow is the more accessible option that is easier to digest for a casual viewer and is better paced in my opinion with more focus on the action and the chemistry between its two leads in the form of Cruise and Blunt whereas this one is more surreal and cerebral.

That’s not to say this is a bad film or inferior to Edge of Tomorrow or anything like that, but there were times during my viewing of this where I didn’t fully understand what was going on during a scene and certain details didn’t make a whole lot of sense. It’s a different interpretation of the same ideas Edge of Tomorrow explored and still done spectacularly well for the most part.

Rita and Keiji are very endearing protagonists for this version and both have very likable chemistry with both of them essentially being social outcasts who don’t fit in with their peers. You love seeing them work together to try and stop this attack, bicker, laugh, and feel legit emotion when something tragic happens to one of them or there’s a revelation about either one.

The animation is gorgeous with a ton of visual razzle dazzle, most notably during the action scenes which are easily where the animation shines the brightest. It’s so kinetic, flashy, and in your face that at times it puts Dragon Balland Demon Slayer’s action sequences to shame with how energized, intense, and darkly comical things get.

I’m sure anime fans and devotees of the original novel will surely appreciate seeing this version of All You Need is Kill and if you can see it in theaters, do so whether it’s English dubbed or the original Japanese language. It’s a wild trip that begs to be seen on the big screen and while I don’t think it quite holds a candle to its Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt predecessor, I still very much enjoyed my time with this film.