All You Need Is Kill — Live. Die. Repeat. goes anime in 2026

Live. Die. Repeat.

I was intrigued by the title when the publisher sent me a copy back in 2014.  All You Need is Kill.  The first English translation of Hiroshi Sakurazaka’s 2004 Japanese military science fiction novel introduced the world to one of this century’s most memorable science fiction heroines–Rita Vrataski.  In my review of the book here at borg, I couldn’t have guessed the movie adaptation with Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, and Bill Paxton would rise to the top of the list of the best loved science fiction movies of the first quarter of the century.  The book was different, but the core was something unique.  The story of the book and movie with that memorable phrase “Live. Die. Repeat.” is not over.  Kaiji Kiriya and super soldier Rita Vrataski are coming to theaters in anime form in January, following the live-action blockbuster, manga and graphic novel versions.

Studio 4°C returns to the original source material, this time through the viewpoint of Rita, stuck in a time loop where she dies over and over until she encounters a shy man named Cage–Kaiji in Japanese–who is also living the same repeated existence.  Together they pool their knowledge to fight off an alien invasion.  And GKIDS Films is bringing the movie to the U.S.  Check out this trailer for the new anime All You Need is Kill:

Sakuraska’s novel conjured elements from some of the best of classic science fiction.  It’s a great look at day-to-day military encounters, with real world elements from Sun Tzu’s The Art of War, Richard Marcinko’s Rogue Warrior, Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game, and Robert Heinlein’s Starship Troopers.  It has its own thought-provoking “warning-sign” messages found in classics like Logan’s Run and THX-1138, that adversity in the face of certain doom as in Pacific Rim, and the “what the heck is going on” feel from any number of Philip K. Dick short stories (“Paycheck” and “We Can Remember it for You Wholesale” come to mind).  It also borrows a lot from the endless onslaught of future military video games—it helps to know the author’s background is in information technology and is an avid gamer.

As the movie’s tagline revealed, the now iconic Groundhog Day time-loop plays a part in the story.  Searching for what role the time-loop plays is the real quest Sakurazaka takes readers through.  Each new year seems to bring a new take on that sci-fi story device (discussed here at borg back in 2011).  If you’re stuck repeating the events of a single period of time, can you ever hope to break free from it?  What do you do in the meantime?  The time-loop element is pervasive even in the future world of the novel—Keiji loosely recounts once watching Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore’s time-loop comedy 50 First Dates, which finds Barrymore’s character with amnesia every morning so she must start each day all over again.

The movie adaptation Edge of Tomorrow, reviewed here, was in our Top 5 of the best movies of the past decade here at borg.  The novel All You Need is Kill is available here from Amazon, the manga here, and the graphic novel here.  Directed by Kenichiro Akimoto, the new anime All You Need is Kill comes to theaters January 16, 2026.  Watch the Fathom Events website for updates on screenings.

C.J. Bunce / Editor / borg