All You Need Is Kill (film)
A soldier trapped in a time loop fights an alien plant.
All You Need Is Kill is a 2025 Japanese animated science fiction action film. It adapts Hiroshi Sakurazaka’s 2004 novel and is the second film version of that story, after the American live-action film *Edge of Tomorrow*. The movie was produced by Warner Bros. Japan, animated by Studio 4°C, and directed by Kenichiro Akimoto in his first feature film as director.
The film first screened on June 9, 2025, at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival. It opened in Japanese theaters on January 9, 2026, and was released in North American theaters by GKIDS on January 16, 2026.
The story follows Rita Vrataski, a young soldier in the United Defense Force (UDF). The UDF is sent to study Darol, a giant alien plant that landed on Earth a year earlier and has remained inactive. On the anniversary of its arrival, Darol suddenly grows violent vegetation that attacks the soldiers. Rita is killed, but wakes up again that same morning, trapped in a time loop.
After dying two more times to the alien plants, Rita tries to escape the loop by deserting and by drowning herself, but neither works. She decides to fight Darol, even though no one else shares her experience and no one believes her when she explains it. Over many loops, she becomes a better fighter, but the loop resets twice even though she did not die.
She then meets Keiji Kiriya, another UDF soldier who is also stuck in the loop and has been watching her attempts. They figure out that the loop resets when either of them dies, because they were both present when a specific type of alien with time-manipulating abilities was killed just before Rita’s death. They think killing that alien again might break the loop.
Rita and Keiji succeed in killing that alien, but the loop continues as before. As a last option, they contact UDF scientist Shasta Ray, who explains that Darol is trying to wipe out humanity and is slowly absorbing both of them into itself through the loop. They may have only one or two more chances before they are fully assimilated.
They climb Darol to strike its core. Keiji realizes he is being absorbed first and insists he must be sacrificed to defeat Darol, but Rita wants them both to survive. She kills Darol, which breaks the loop. The next morning, Darol is dead, and no one except Rita remembers how it happened.
Rita believes Keiji died when he was absorbed and is devastated.
Quick Facts
- Director
- Kenichiro Akimoto
- Screenplay
- Yūichirō Kido
- Based On
- All You Need Is Kill · Hiroshi Sakurazaka
- Producer
- Eiko Tanaka
- Starring
- Ai Mikami / Natsuki Hanae / Kana Hanazawa / Hiccorohee · ja · ヒコロヒー / Mō Chūgakusei · ja · もう中学生
- Music
- Yasuhiro Maeda
- Studio
- Studio 4°C / Warner Bros. Japan
- Distributor
- Warner Bros. Pictures
- Released
- 9 June 2025 · 2025 Annecy International Animation Film Festival · 2026 · 1 · 9 · Japan
- Runtime
- 82 minutes
- Country
- Japan
- Language
- Japanese
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
The film is based on Hiroshi Sakurazaka's 2004 novel and is the second film adaptation, following the American live-action production Edge of Tomorrow. It was produced by Warner Bros. Japan and animated by Studio 4°C, with Kenichiro Akimoto making his feature directorial debut. The film premiered on June 9, 2025, during the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, and opened in Japanese theaters on January 9, 2026, with a North American release by GKIDS on January 16, 2026.
The plot follows Rita Vrataski, a young soldier in the United Defense Force (UDF), who is sent to study Darol, an enormous extraterrestrial plant that landed on Earth one year prior. When Darol sprouts monstrous vegetation that attacks the UDF, Rita is killed but awakens in a time loop. After repeated deaths, she discovers another soldier, Keiji Kiriya, also trapped in the loop. They learn that a specific alien with time-manipulating abilities causes the reset, and that Darol is assimilating them. Rita ultimately kills Darol, breaking the loop, and Keiji survives but without memory of their shared experiences.
Reader's Guide
All You Need Is Kill is notable as the second film adaptation of Hiroshi Sakurazaka's 2004 novel, following the American live-action production Edge of Tomorrow. It marks the feature directorial debut of Kenichiro Akimoto and was produced by Warner Bros. Japan with animation by Studio 4°C. The film premiered at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in June 2025, a prestigious venue for animated works, and received a theatrical release in Japan in January 2026, followed by a North American release by GKIDS a week later. Critical reception was generally favorable, with an 83% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes from 41 critics and a Metacritic score of 64 out of 100, indicating mixed to positive reviews. The film's significance lies in its animated retelling of a story previously adapted as a live-action Hollywood film, offering a different artistic interpretation through Japanese animation. Its plot explores themes of isolation, sacrifice, and the struggle against an alien entity that manipulates time, with a resolution that leaves one protagonist without memory of the ordeal.
Did You Know?
- The film was directed by Kenichiro Akimoto in his feature directorial debut.
- On Rotten Tomatoes, 83% of 41 critics' reviews were positive.
More in Military Science Fiction Films 1-24
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced