Creative Staff
Story: Hiroshi Sakurazaka
Translation: Joseph Reeder
What They Say
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?
Previously published as “All You Need is Kill.”
Technical:
Being that this is the movie tie-in addition, the big change here is the cover. Outside of the obvious title change, we also get what seems like a movie poster as the front cover. For what it’s worth it’s still a decent looking cover, though the “now a major motion picture” bubble junks it up a little. The back cover treats us to a quote, a movie slogan, and ton of crap related to the movie in addition to the usual synopsis. Paper quality feels solid, honorifics aren’t used, and the text reads smoothly, even doing a good job of maintaining culturally specific terms while making sure they don’t confuse a casual reader. Anything related to the movie also mercifully stays away from the innards of the book, meaning it’s still “All You Need is Kill” where it counts, and isn’t at all tarnished. This is obviously the somewhat classless movie tie-in edition meant to pull in people who saw the film, but if you’re looking to save a few bucks and don’t mind the cover, this is still a perfectly respectable version to pick up.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Private Keiji Kiriya is a man who has found himself face to face with the alien Mimic menace that has been tearing apart mankind in a brutal war. Though his Jacket affords him great strength, and he has had military training, the heat of battle proves too much for him. As he lay dying, he musters up all his strength to at least bring down one foe alongside him. Before the angel of death can take him away, the star soldier known as the Full Metal Bitch, Rita Vrataski, decides to stay with him until he dies, making small talk about green tea along the way. With the last of his strength, Keiji takes out one final Mimic that stands out to him before blacking out.
Rather than death though, it’s his bunk from the day before that greets him. Through some experimentation, Keiji discovers that he’s trapped in a loop where if he dies, he wakes up back here, one day before the battle. It doesn’t take long before he gets sick of facing his own inevitable death and tries to desert instead. Though he makes it to the nearby city, he soon finds himself dead by way of Mimics regardless. Realizing that he’s trapped completely, Keiji marks a number representing the loops he’s made on the back of his hand, and starts working to become as good as it takes to make it out of battle with the monstrous Mimics alive.
Through training with the tough Sergeant Ferrell and repeated battles to the death, Keiji steadily improves till he realizes that he needs a better weapon. Taking inspiration from the Full Metal Bitch, he sneaks into the American base and meets with Rita’s mechanic Shasta in order to gain a battle axe, a weapon that will never run out of ammo. He continues to improve until he reaches the level of a trained killing machine. It is then that he finally spots the Mimic that killed him the first time and focuses on killing it, leading Rita to reveal she also knows of the loops.
Will Rita and Keiji be able to use their combined experience to finally turn the tide of battle, or will the Mimics prove too deadly and crafty a foe to overcome by the hand of man?
In Summary
With a perfect pace, plenty of action, and a unique plot, this book makes for a fantastic read. The twists are timed well, making sure that things never fall too far into routine. The danger of becoming overly repetitive is also avoided, carefully balancing the old and the new to drag the reader into Keiji’s mindset. There’s also a lovely duality between Rita and Keiji. Though there certainly are a handful of other named characters, the focus is clearly, almost solely, on them and their predicament. Rather than some broad focus on the fate of humanity, the book focuses on the struggle of a single man, and it’s definitely better off for it. The only question readers should be asking themselves is if they want to pick up this edition or the original “All You Need is Kill,” as this is a book that absolutely deserves to be read.
Content Grade: A
Art Grade: N/A
Packaging Grade: B
Text/Translation Grade: A-
Age Rating: 16+
Released By: Viz Media
Release Date: May 20th, 2014
MSRP: $7.99