All You Need Is Kill Anime Film Review: A Time Loop of Trauma, Combat & Redemption

All You Need Is Kill anime film reimagines the source material through Rita’s perspective. With unique visuals and emotional depth, it offers a bold retelling even if not all its risks pay off. 🌀 REVIEW: All You Need Is Kill (Anime Film)

Studio 4°C’s latest anime film puts a fresh, emotional spin on All You Need Is Kill, this time through the eyes of Rita Vrataski, not Keiji. Directed by Kenichiro Akimoto and written by Yuichiro Kido, it trades the blockbuster polish of Edge of Tomorrow for something darker, weirder—and far more introspective.

💥 A massive alien tree named Darol bursts into Earth’s reality. Rita, a quiet young tech, gets caught in a time loop after ingesting monster blood. From there, it’s a familiar but emotionally resonant loop of combat, death, and rebirth. But beneath the mechs and monsters is a story about isolation, grief, and transformation.

🎨 Visually, it’s striking—think oil-slick color palettes, scratchy cel-shaded linework, and Tekkonkinkreet-like surrealism. Editing plays with resets in stylish ways—watch as Rita's steps across timelines blend into a single, confident march forward.

🎮 The "video game" comparisons are spelled out too obviously (one character literally says it), and the ending stumbles, pulling agency away from Rita in favor of a clumsy twist involving Keiji. But the first two acts are gripping, especially in how they explore Rita’s trauma and growth.

🗣 Verdict: Visually bold and emotionally ambitious, All You Need Is Kill is a mixed but memorable adaptation. A flawed but compelling reset of a well-worn loop.