‘All You Need Is Kill’ Review – Anime Adaptation Leaves You Wondering “Why?”

Based on the 2004 light novel of the same name by Hiroshi Sakurazaka, All You Need is Kill is a hyper-animated spectacle that teases more than it tells. The story was adapted into a graphic novel and film in 2014. The latter, being led by Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt and called Edge of Tomorrow, with the tagline: Live. Die. Repeat. For the film, this remained just a simple phrase to get you into the story; for the animation, it became the entire story.

Set in the year 20XX, All You Need Is Kill follows the story of Rita, an isolated young woman volunteering to help rebuild Japan after the mysterious appearance of a massive alien flower known as “Darol.” When Darol unexpectedly erupts, unleashing monstrous creatures that kill everything in sight, Rita is caught in the destruction—and killed. But then she wakes up again. And again. And again. Caught in a time loop with no end in sight, Rita fights the same day repeatedly in the hopes of finding a solution or a way to escape the loop once and for all.

All You Need Is Kill has a blended animation style that flows effortlessly between 3D Animation and computer graphics. This, along with the sci-fi setting and anime-inspired motion pulls, is deliberately done to immerse the viewer in this strange and intense world. This choice can come off either as intentionally playful or misguided and amateurish, depending on how you look at it. On one hand, it shows a talent for craft and animation, but other times can come across as though the animation is the only thing that’s relevant when it shouldn’t be. The motion pulls can be a little too frequent, which can come off a little needless and choppy, but if it’s an animation style you’re not used to seeing, it does add an element to the film that feels fresh.

The more glaring issue is the runtime. Coming in at just under 90 minutes, the film gives little time to explain anything that it does. Darol randomly appears; no one knows why. Rita gets stuck in a time loop for some reason. Later, we meet up with Keiji, another person who’s been trapped in the same time loop with Rita this whole time, which we learn resets every time either one of them dies. However, none of this is ever explained or interrogated; it just is. Because we’re armed with so little information by the time we approach the final battle with Darol, the story only has enough time to give us the detailed back stories of both of our main characters. While this definitely does flesh out the characters a bit more, it still ends up leaving a lot of questions unanswered.

Once the conclusion is reached as to how to end the time loop, it comes across as an answer that at least one of our protagonists knew from the beginning. So, while All You Need Is Kill is a catchy title with some impressive animated and fight sequences, it ultimately doesn’t say much about anything. Given its stylized sci-fi setting and the creative liberties they had at their fingertips, there really should’ve been more to go off of here. Perhaps some clarity on what Darol means or its mission, or why it created a time loop, or why it had to be Rita to destroy it, or how she was able to destroy it at all?  Sadly, none of these questions get answered here, and the film lacks a lot of substance because of it. There’s a sense that the animators wanted to lean more into a more human aspect of the story towards the end, but it comes up a bit too late to be significant. 

Unfortunately, All You Need Is Kill doesn’t quite know what story it wants to tell, so as a viewer, you’re mostly left confused. If there’s more to add to the story, it could really be intriguing, but as it stands right now, it feels incomplete. Luckily, this is a story that has already had a successful adaptation, and while you can enjoy this one for the stylish and inventive animation, a stronger story exists elsewhere.

All You Need Is Kill is currently playing in select theaters courtesy of GKIDS.