ANNECY 2025: All You Need is Kill - Review - Skwigly Animation Magazine

ANNECY 2025: All You Need is Kill – Review

18 July 2025 // Reviews (Film)

Kenichiro Akimoto makes his debut with an action time loop romance film bursting with spectacle and emotions.

Hiroshi Sakurazaka and Yoshioshi Abe’s beloved novel All You Need Is Kill returns for another explosive adaptation, previous iterations including a manga and the 2014 blockbuster movie Edge of Tomorrow. Kenichiro Akimoto brings his own spin to the Groundhog Day story as he makes his directorial feature debut to dynamic effect, only possible through animation – and the style of anime. The immediate strength of his story comes from boosting his main character Rita (Ai Mikami) to unseen heights with a captivating arc that is as crucial to the film as its visual appeal.

All You Need is Kill is unlike other iterations, straight away the story takes shape in a world that reflects the pandemic period. There’s no militia ready to assemble and take on the aliens on the frontlines. Everything plays out from the perspective of a 17 year old girl, where a mysterious Alien plant called Darol spreads across the planet like a parasite swallowing its prey from the inside. The unknown specimen emits strong electromagnetic signals that radiate across the world and sends the population into a frenzy, spiralling humanity into confusion and chaos. A year later, people have learned to get on with their day and pretend that the plant does not exist, unaware of the tragedy that befalls Rita who bears the weight of the world on her shoulders.

Everything seems normal for the isolated teenager, until Darol awakens and spews out a legion of parasitic creatures from its stalk. Unbeknownst to Rita, these Parasites are targeting her to her death and there comes the end of Rita’s story as her life is taken, bloodying the screen.

Immediately we are transported back to where we started as Rita wakes up in torment, wondering what she experienced until it finally clicks – her nightmare is her reality.

Kenichiro provides the story with urgency as Rita tries to play catch up with each day that passes, find ways to relive it differently and warn her peers of what that lies ahead. But nobody listens.

A story of tragedy and romantic possibilities

While Rita’s perspective takes up the film, All You Need is Kill feels grand yet personal to the lead. Kenichiro creates imagery of isolation, the deep blue sea and flashes of the past with her family to communicate Rita’s loneliness and trauma that plunges her into depression. Providing the audience with an emotional core to invest in Rita’s world.

But the meat of the story comes when it is revealed that there is another time looper. Going to the same school, a young boy named Kenji finds himself in a similar position to our heroine. The action chooses to only focus on the two characters, eventually teaming up as they search for a way out of their never ending day. Rita and Kenji’s dynamic progresses from one of animosity to companionship, as they gain an understanding of one another.

The action is a major strength of the film, rendered like video game boss fights with the element of customising designs through the mechanical suits. Rita and Kenji even train to be better at using weapons during combat, memorising every movement of the enemy, like a gamer restarting from a checkpoint. It gives the story desperation and spectacle that allows 4°c to embrace their free flowing style.

Despite all these elements, All You Need is Kill at heart remains Rita’s story. Kenichiro focuses on her loneliness through the time loops, tracing her feelings to long before Darol stepped foot on Earth. By making her relationship with Kenji authentic, Rita’s coming of age is a profound rumination of a young girl fighting her trauma, overcoming the existential isolation she has experienced for many years and how she can be able to carry on with her life, despite the hardships she has faced.

Overall, All You Need is Kill is an exciting entry that stands on its own. While it struggles with its scale by the final act, it is a respectable attempt as a modern iteration that promises thrilling action sequences and beautiful animation on celluloid. What brings it together is Rita’s journey embedded into the story and serves as an affecting depiction of loneliness and moving forward from trauma.

All You Need is Kill Premiered on 9th June at Annecy International Animation Film Festival.