Celebrated as the long-awaited and much-anticipated anime adaptation of Hiroshi Sakurazaka’s novel and the subsequent manga, Kenichiro Akimoto’s All You Need is Kill will nevertheless be saddled with comparisons to Hollywood’s existing version, Edge of Tomorrow with Tom Cruise. That film, it must be said, is a more successful piece of storytelling, but its visual inventiveness pales in comparison to Akimoto’s and the abilities of STUDIO4°C. For a premise that is so easy to sell — Groundhog Day but for defeating a giant alien plant monster — there is something satisfying about seeing it told simply, kinetically, and with so much verve — and that’s exactly what we get here.
The storytelling, nevertheless, falters, largely because it feels so rushed. The central friendship, between our hero Rita, a young volunteer warrior for dealing with the alien’s infection to the planet, and Keiji, a more technical peer, is the greatest victim of this pacing, since it has so little time to develop before we move on to the next thing, and the next thing, and the next thing. All You Need is Kill feels restless in its middle section especially, clearly chomping at the bit to reach its finale, but in so doing risking the emotional weight that ought to go accompany it to this endgame. In the moment, it’s easy enough to be distracted by the film’s gorgeous animation and the humor that is mined from the repeated-day time loop narrative device and the cartoonish violence that it provides for. But before you know it, the film makes a concerted effort to pull on viewers’ heartstrings, but without having taken even a beat along the way to let that emotion breathe and develop.
The film’s core themes — of humanity’s response to war and to the unknown, and to the loss of identity and self in both conflict and love — at least emerge unperturbed, and if you can accept the narrative shortcuts taken to illustrate them then All You Need is Kill may be your preferred version of this story. And it can’t be overstated how much of a marvel the 3D animation is to behold, with a hefty number of hugely evocative images deployed throughout. Still, a little more time spent nurturing these characters and their bizarre courtship would have made for a stronger, more well-rounded experience. There are considerable pleasures to be had, but they are unfortunately burdened by essential limitations.
Published as part of Fantasia Fest 2025 — Dispatch 4.
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