Purists will doubtlessly be disappointed, but the animated feature “All You Need Is Kill” showed that variations can be inspired. The animated feature produced by Warner Bros. Japan and animated by Studio 4˚C changes the perspective from the original story line.

The original science fiction light novel by Hiroshi Sakurazaka with illustrations by Yoshitoshi Abe was published in Japanese in December 2004. A decade later, a live-action film inspired by the novel, “Edge of Tomorrow,” starred Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt. The anime version “All You Need Is Kill” had its world premiere at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival this year, but won’t release until January 2026 in Japan and North America. Luckily, “All You Need Is Kill” was one of the featured films at Animation Is Film this year.

Edge of Tomorrow

While the novel was originally published in Japanese (Shueisha) under the Super Dash Bunko imprint, Ryosuke Takeuchi wrote the manage adaptation which was serialized in Shueisha’s Weekly Young Jump magazine in 2014 (January to May) with illustrations by Takeshi Obata (“Death Note,” 2003-2004). Nick Mamatas wrote the North American version which was illustrated by Lee Ferguson. I wonder why  the Obata illustrations weren’t use, but I digress. Directed by Doug Liman (“Mr. & Mrs. Smith,” 2005)  and written by Christopher McQuarrie (“The Usual Suspects,” 1995) and the writing team of Jez and John-Henry Butterworth (“Fair Game,” 2010), the film changes the name of the protagonist to Major William Cage (Tom Cruise).

Cruise’s Cage hasn’t found his heroic mojo. He’s a public affairs officer who used to run a PR company. He’d prefer to spin anything from the news on the front of a war in continental Europe against an alien race known as the Mimics to General Brigham’s (Brendan Gleeson) successful or failed campaign. But the general has something entirely different in mind. He wants to send Cage to the front.

Since the Mimics landed in Germany, they’ve conquered most of Europe and killed millions, forcing humanity to form a global military alliance known as the United Defense Force (UDF). When Cage attempts to blackmail Brigham to avoid covering the frontline offensive from the frontline, he ends up busted down to private, given a false identity and sent to the military base at Heathrow Airport to join J squad in the invasion. Under Master Sergeant Farell (Bill Paxton), Cage gets 24-hours humiliation, but is quickly sent to the front. While he survives the landing, he doesn’t live long. Using a Claymore mine to kill what he later learns is an “Alpha,” he dies bathed in the Mimic’s blood.

Then he suddenly awakens at Heathrow to relive yesterday. He attempts to warn about the futility of the invasion, but fails and dies and returns to Heathrow soon after each death to begin the loop again. With each time loop, he survives a little bit longer, until during one loop, he meets Sergeant Rita Vrataski (Emily Blunt), a celebrated hero from the one victory, the Battle of Verdun While attempting to save her, she realizes that he has seen the future and tells him to find her during his next loop.

Vrataski then tells him that she was once caught in a loop after being covered in Alpha Mimic blood. That’s how she was able to emerge victorious in Verdun. She lost her ability after she was given blood transfusions. She introduces Cage to Dr. Carter (Noah Taylor). Carter explains that the aliens are really one superorganism. The Omega Mimic controls all of the Mimics but there are also Alpha Mimics and then an Alpha Mimic dies, the Omega resets and starts a loops so that it can change its strategies. As they begin another loop, Cage and Vrataski attempt to get to the Omega. They gradually realize that the victory at Verdun was a set up. Believing it is possible to win, the UDF has overcommitted to this offensive action of invading France.

Yet there’s another problem holding Cage back. He’s been training with Vrastaski and begins to have personal feelings despite her aloof and often abrupt manner. He’s unwilling to continue on one course because he always sees her die. He decides to change his strategy which gets him further toward a solution, but he’s requires J-Company to believe and support him.

I wish this script had included a Japanese actor in a lead role. There’s a Masayoshi Handea listed as playing Takeda, but this isn’t a main role. Japan and even China (no mention of Korea) don’t take a leading role in the solution despite the original inspiration coming from a Japanese author.

Despite the numerous loops and intertwined stories, I was able to keep track of things and that’s a credit to the writing team and the directing.

All You Need Is Kill 

The 2025 anime returns the characters to their original names, but while the protagonist in the original story was Keiji Kiriya (キリヤ・ケイジ), here it is Rita Vrataski  (リタ・ヴラタスキ).  With a pageboy haircut that doesn’t really suit her wildly wavy red hair and piercing green eyes, Vrataski (Ai Mikami), is a loner who doesn’t eat with others and doesn’t always eat a healthy meal. She starts out as a rather ordinary soldier but soon finds herself mysteriously caught in a time loop. She begins to improve her fighting techniques and use different weapons but eventually, she comes to realize that there is someone spying on her.

After investigating, she meets Keiji Kiriya who has been helping her all along by making improvements in her powered exoskeleton among other things. Kiriya has access to computer and together, Kiriya and Vrataski take each time loop to learn and strategize with the shy and awkward Kiriya, learning how to become a better soldier. Together, they struggle against the Mimics (ギタイ, gitai) as they begin to depend upon each other and learn more about their past lives.

While in the live-action film, the Mimics reminded me of brittle stars mutated and learning how to travel from Warner Bros.’ Tasmanian Devil, the aliens in “All You Need Is Kill,” remind me both of the “Little Shop of Horrors” and the “Mean Green Mother from Outer Space” and the Demogorgon from the Netflix TV series “Stranger Things.”

Under the direction of Ken’ichirō Akimoto and Yukinori Nakamura with a script by Yūichirō Kido (plus credit to the original source writer Hiroshi Sakurazaka), we see Kiriya as a shy, socially awkward guy who is paired with a woman who began as an aloof, anti-social drudge and how the circumstances and their partnership turns them into heroes.  Their character arcs and the progression of their relationship was well written and the direction gives this enough time to breath between the intense action scenes. The art direction by Tomotaka Kubo, Takanori Nakajima and Juni Ōkubo is a looser style than you’d find in the Transformers, but that gives this tale both whimsy and distance from reality.

“All You Need Is Kill” had its world premiere at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in June 2025. Its North American premiere was at the Animation Is Film Festival in October 2025. It is scheduled for release in Japan, 9 January 2026 and in the US on 16 January 2026.