Aaron Ploof
What would it be like if life were like a video game? If, when you made a mistake, you could reset time? Now imagine being forced to do this, time and time again, with the whole weight of the world on your shoulders. With no one else but you stuck in the loop. Could you hold on to hope? Would you try to warn others? And if you did find someone else, how would you react? This is the situation our hero finds herself in in this Groundhog Day-like animated action sci-fi.
All You Need is Kill, an adaptation of the Japanese novel that inspired Edge of Tomorrow, manages to tell this intriguing story while also handling some equally intriguing themes. The movie touches upon the importance of human connection, friendship, and facing reality in overwhelming times. The animation that tells this story is beautiful and fluid, as well as awe-inspiring and intense.
All You Need is Kill takes place in a slightly far-off future. Its protagonist is a young girl named Rita (Ai Mikami). Rita comes from an abusive home, and ever since one particularly painful incident, has always felt “submerged.” She’s been struggling to come up for air but has not been given any reprieve. She wants change, change of a tremendous sort.
When Darol, an extraterrestrial plant, crash-lands on Earth, she believes she has gotten her wish. However, nothing changes for her, and even though she volunteers with a group to study the alien, she continually cuts herself off from the outside world. She keeps to herself, drowning out any form of human contact.
One day, when Rita is out in the field, Darol violently awakens. With its blooming come countless alien monsters, erupting from its vegetation and attacking all of the researchers. Even with their military fighter jackets, they are no match for the alien life forms. Rita is killed after making contact with one of them.
But something strange happens. Instead of passing off into lifelessness, Rita awakens with a start, back in her bed, reliving the events of the previous day. At first, she chalks it up to a dream, but with everything playing out the same way, she realizes she’s living the same day over and over. She starts jotting down the day’s number on her hand, and it’s not long before it reaches double digits.
Her initial reactions to the repetition in the day waver between hope and despair, as she attempts to build her confidence with her jacket suit and find a way to take on the monsters. Yet time and time again, she’s met with defeat. Even a suicide attempt by submersion in water fails to succeed. Can she ever escape? Maybe not by herself, but perhaps she’ll find a friend…
That friend is Keiji (Natsuke Hanae), who appears to be trapped in the same time loop as Rita. Keiji is a shy individual who doesn’t believe in his own self-worth. Anytime he’s uncomfortable, his reaction is to laugh the tension off. His strength, however, lies in his knowledge of mechanics, especially the suits that Rita wears. While he’s reluctant to join Rita in the field, he manages to help her from behind, of all things, a computer screen. He’s also an avid video gamer, which ties thematically to the situation that the friends find themselves in.
The presence of another human who is experiencing the same phenomenon as Rita allows her to release her pent-up emotions and escape the metaphorical lake of her “submersion.” Similarly, as Rita grows closer to Keiji, Keiji grows to live life with more courage. He learns to approach their situation more realistically and not retreat to his defense mechanisms. Ultimately, he even gains the courage to join Rita in battle.
The relationship between these two characters summarizes the film’s main theme: that companionship and friendship are vital aspects of the human condition. By forming relationships, people are able to bring out each other’s strengths and work on their weaknesses. Only doing this will Keiji and Rita have any hope of escaping the loop they have found themselves in. And only by doing that will they manage to save Earth and all of humanity.
That’s a lot of pressure for both Keiji and Rita. One can imagine that their journey will be filled with heartache and pain as they reset time and time again. While there is some pathos here, there is also a large helping of comedy that lightens the mood whenever the tension gets too high.
The actors who bring these characters’ emotions to life are both in top form. Both of these actors have full-fledged careers. If you’re familiar with Japanese television, you may have seen Rita’s voice actor, Ai Mikami, in Yu Yu Hakusho (2023). You might also recognize Natsuke Hanae as the voice of Okarun in Dandadan.
The voice acting is held up by wonderful and striking animation that mixes 2D traditional anime with 3D. The effect is wonderful, creating a world that you will easily find yourself believing. The fight scenes are animated flawlessly, and the enemies that are fought are both frightening and awe-inspiring. Both their horror and their beauty portray the duality of life, another theme of the film.
This is a rather minor complaint about the film, but Rita’s attempts to stop the time loop by herself before she met Keiji may have dragged on a bit too long. The movie is only 86 minutes, but it didn’t seem to hit its stride until after Keiji was introduced.
Still, what is here is excellent. I wouldn’t mind getting stuck in a video game like loop, watching this one over multiple times and learning more each time I viewed it. Having a friend along wouldn’t hurt either. There’s a treasure trove of wealth here, just like a video game loot box.
All You Need is Kill is definitely worth seeing on the big screen in all its animated glory and authentic emotion. What’s even more impressive though, is that this is the director’s (Kenichiro Akimoto) first film. All You Need is Kill earns a high recommendation.
