All You Need Is Kill (manga)

by Ryosuke Takeuchi, Hiroshi Sakurazaka (Created by), Yoshitoshi Abe, Takeshi Obata (Illustrator)

Overview

When the alien Mimics invade, Keiji Kiriya is just one of many recruits shoved into a suit of battle armor called a Jacket and sent out to kill. Keiji dies on the battlefield, only to be reborn each morning to fight and die again and again. On his 158th iteration, he gets a message from a mysterious ally—the female soldier known as the Full Metal Bitch. Is she the key to Keiji's escape or his final death?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781421576015
Publisher:	VIZ Media LLC
Publication date:	11/04/2014
Series:	All You Need is Kill (manga) , #1
Pages:	550
Sales rank:	72,613
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.50(d)

About the Author

Takeshi Obata was born in 1969 in Niigata, Japan, and is the artist of the wildly popular SHONEN JUMP title Hikaru no Go, which won the 2003 Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize: Shinsei "New Hope" award and the 2000 Shogakukan Manga award. Obata is also the artist of Arabian Majin Bokentan Lamp Lamp, Ayatsuri Sakon, Cyborg Jichan G., and the smash hit manga Death Note. All You Need Is Kill is his latest work following the hugely successful series Bakuman.

Editorial Reviews

01/12/2015
Sakurazaka, award-winning author of numerous Japanese sci fi novels, and Takeshi Obata, artist of best-selling Death Note fame, team up for this one-volume omnibus manga adaptation of Sakurazaka's original novel, from which the Tom Cruise film The Edge of Tomorrow was loosely taken. Keiji Kiriya is a new recruit to a mech-wearing special unit of the United Defense Force, a multi-national effort set up to save the world from an alien invasion of brutal spike-ball-like creatures named Mimics. However, after his first battle he finds himself in a seemingly endless day-long time loop that concludes each time he dies. Striving to find the exit but stay alive through ever-increasing swarms of Mimics, Keiji soon becomes battle-hardened. The scope of the manga is smaller than the movie's, and sports a different, nostalgic ending that is not entirely satisfying. But the story's priorities along the way are appropriately different: Keiji's romance with superstar soldier Rita Vrataski is in focus, as is the emotional toll of repeating the same day for half a year. Obata's high-performance graphics show Keiji's deterioration to stunning effect and Takeuchi's storyboards keep things moving along cleanly and quickly. Overall, this book feels like a classic sci-fi novel much more than its movie counterpart, but it'll appeal to its target audience all the same. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

02/01/2015
Gr 9 Up—Based on Sakurazaka's novel, which served as the basis for the science-fiction movie Edge of Tomorrow, this manga was available digitally as two volumes, and is now released in this ominbus print edition. Live, die, repeat. Earth has been invaded by aliens known as Mimics. The fate of humanity rests with the United Defense Force. Suiting up in battle armor called a jacket, soldier Keiji Kiriya prepares to deploy on his first combat assignment, alongside the elite U.S. Special Forces lead by Rita Vrataski. During the battle, Keiji dies. He wakes up to the day before his death, only to go out into battle and die again. His memories intact, Keiji realizes that he is trapped in a time loop where his death is seemingly inevitable, "like hitting the reset button on a video game." To save the human race, Keiji must solve the mysterious connection between himself, Rita, and the Mimics. The writing is compelling as the plot moves between fast-paced military action and reflective, philosophical moments. The tone is intense as characters are pushed to the limits, mentally, emotionally, and physically. Obata's stunning artwork offers textured designs of mechanized suits and weaponry, exciting battle sequences, and expressive human characters. Black-and-white images reflect the pain and brutality of warfare without being gratuitous. The illustrations heighten the dramatic beats of the narrative. VERDICT A complex manga that's highly recommended for fans of science fiction, the Edge of Tomorrow film, strong female characters, and video games.—June Shimonishi, Torrance Public Library, CA

School Library Journal