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Alternative Titles

Synonyms: Edge of Tomorrow

Japanese: All You Need Is Kill

Information

Type: Manga

Volumes: 2

Chapters: 17

Status: Finished

Published: Jan 9, 2014 to May 29, 2014

Genres: Action, Sci-Fi

Themes: Military, Time Travel

Demographic: Seinen

Serialization: Young Jump

Authors: Obata, Takeshi (Art), Sakurazaka, Hiroshi (Story), Takeuchi, Ryousuke (Story)

Statistics

Score: 7.76¹ (scored by 72,518 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #1450²

² based on the top manga page. Please note that 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #88

Members: 135,248

Favorites: 2,965

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Reviews

Filtered Results: 35 / 38

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Jul 4, 2015

Shioxus

Recommended

If you've read some of my other reviews, you know one concept that interests me is that of immortality. Time looping is another concept I find enthralling. It's almost like being immortal, except you live the same time period over and over again. In some ways, I feel this could be even worse than immortality, since usually the situation that is repeated is an unpleasant one.

Before we dive into the story, I'd like to mention the artwork. It's absolutely top notch. Every panel has a painstaking amount of detail, from the character designs, to the suits, to the environments. Obata Takeshi is responsible for ...

Jun 10, 2014

Hentaicheg

Recommended

The manga is now finished, so it's the time to make a review based on full read through and here is what I ended up with:

Story - as far as story and concept goes, I think that's the weakest aspect of this manga..
Concept of the story is pretty much a continued session of 'loops' of the exact same time period happening. Some people who maybe have just started with reading manga may find it innovating, but it really isn't, as such concept was used in numerous manga series already.
Story itself was a bit disappointing too - the story is based on the light novel, ...

Jul 27, 2015

Keatle

Recommended

Japanese light novels (novels with illustrations that normally target the young-adult demographic) are widely popular, in Japan, that is. Sadly, most of these novels are never properly translated and fans have to use fan-translations. All You Need is Kill is an exception to this ruler, even receiving a manga adaptation and Hollywood movie adaptation.

All You Need is Kill is the manga adaptation of the science-fiction light novel of the same name. While the original novel was released in 2004, the manga adaptation was made one decade later, to coincide with the release of the movie adaptation, Edge of Tomorrow. While the original story was created ... and written by Hiroshi Sakurazaka, the manga adaptation was penned by Ryōsuke Takeuchi (ST&RS) and illustrated by Takeshi Obata, who normally works with Tsugumi Ohba and did the art of Death Note and Bakuman.

All You Need is Kill takes one of my favorite ideas of science-fiction, the time-loop, and puts it in a militaristic setting. While it is not exactly a new idea, it is brilliantly approached and used. The effects of the loop are fairly evident to Keiji, who learns a bit more with each iteration, but also descends further in despair. The only "but" is that some more iterations could have been adapted to better get the impression of Keiji's slow evolution.Despite that, the pacing is fine as it is. The other protagonist, who understands the first protagonist's situation, is properly introduced and brings something new to the story. This protagonist's presence also makes this entertaining story into a more emotional one. This gives a fairly decent amount of depth to it, making it much more enjoyable than it first seems.

Because of the nature of the story and its small "size", the side characters are not really explored. The relationship of the two protagonists is predictable and a bit cheesy, but not boring. The final touch of it is hugely emotional and only happens because of a fairly interesting and logical twist.

The art by Takeshi Obata is pretty great and full of details, but perhaps a bit too full. It doesn't pack any punches in showing the dismembered bodies of soldiers and aliens and also captures pretty well the atmosphere of a chaotic battleground. People with weak stomachs may wish to avoid All You Need is Kill, as it is pretty visceral.

I enjoyed it greatly, because of my love for time-loops, but also because All You Need is Kill was much more than it first seemed.

Fans of science-fiction might want to give it a try, as well as fans of the military genre. Also, if you want an emotional story, but that also has great action, All You Need is Kill is a nice option. Now, if you dislike time-loops, you will probably hate it.

Feb 11, 2014

jose21

Recommended

Preliminary (Unknown/17 chp)

Some years ago, I found myself bored and searching for something good to read. While I was looking online for something similar to the "Forever War" and " The groundhog day," I came across this book, which story wonderfully mixes the time loops of "the groundhog day" with the war against some nonhuman beings of the "Forever war". I wasn't really expecting something that great, but I was proven wrong.

The story is really well written; I really enjoy reading it. The main concept of the manga is having a time loop during a battle that is taking place between the human race and some kind ...

Feb 25, 2017

Chinaz

Recommended

AUNIK, All You Need is Kill - Manga vs Motion Picture

If you've read some of the personal information, you know that I usually like to complete some of the author's works to fully enjoy the experience of that certain mangaka. In this particular case, I will dive into one of the most famous works of Obata Takeshi: All You Need Is Kill.
This little unique story uses immortality and time loops to build the setting, which is something very interesting due to the fact that, in some cases, it is very rare to find stories like this.

Before I dive into the concrete story, I'd like to ... mention that this manga was sold in many languages and it was published very quickly, making it one of the most international mangas volumes ever made. That is something that I find unique and wonderful at the same time because proves that Japanese manga is not only sold within Japan.

All You Need Is Kil (or simply AUNIK) kinda reminds me of American comics because the way the environments are expressed. The character designs and the detail are one of the best things that you will ever read and as some people will say, it is done by the same author that did Death Note, Bakuman and/or more recently Platinum End. But the story has nothing interesting beyond the loops and the immortality, in fact, this story is pretty basic, to begin with. The looping it's the main reason to read it, no spoilers for those who have not read yet but the main protagonist slowly learned how to used and the reader too, along with him. There are many ways to use it and the main protagonist chooses one of them.

As for the main character, he is the definition of a "military bored soldier" and that's basically how things work from there. There are other characters which personally should have appeared more often but that's a personal opinion like the mechanic girl named Shasta Raylle or the cantina girl named Rachel Kisaragi, for example (I personally think that both Rachel and Shasta are one of the most beautiful well-designed characters that Takeshi Obata ever made so far). In response to this, not all characters are equal and that's a shame, unfortunately. However, Keiji (the main protagonist) finds Rita (the main heroine) but we never find much about this characters anyway because this has a small plot with very limited characterization and development and that's the weakest aspect of this manga. The artwork is just very detailed and overall is amazing, as usual of Obata.

I'd recommend this manga for people who like very little stories, Obata works or even to try something new, just don't get your expectations too high because it will go to be not worth it.
Read this manga as something new or eventually buy it, like this you will love it for sure.

Story: 8 | Art: 10 | Character: 9 | Enjoyment: 8
Score: 8

Personal Note: This manga took two months to be complete in Portugal and this review is based on the Portuguese edition.

Mar 6, 2015

iron2590

Recommended

I bought the two volumes of All You Need is Kill as soon as they were for sale. The moment I heard the ST&RS author and Takeshi Obata were gonna be in charge of the manga adaptation, I knew this was a must buy.

I just wanna clarify that as of this moment, I have not read the original "All You Need Is Kill" novel, so I'm just gonna be talking about the manga and won't make any comparison with the original work.

I gave the story an 7/10. The story itself is pretty good, it hooks you up as soon as you start reading. The script ... was really well done, and it's not predictable at all. Explanations are very clear and allow you to understand the background of the story better, to the point were you start making your own theories. There's a great combination of action, drama and a bit of romance. I think you can even include a tragedy tag. The main problem I have with the story is the pacing. The first half of the story develops at a relatively slow pace, while the second half goes a lot faster. I would've preferred a normal pace, and maybe the authors would've been able to fit a few more details. Also, I'm sure once you finish reading the series, you're gonna want a sequel. To a certain extent, at the end you feel as if the story was only a prequel to what's really gonna come.

As for the art, there's not much to say. It's Takeshi Obata we're talking about. You can expect some high quality extremely detailed character drawings. The details are so good, that at times you don't even need dialogues to know how the characters are feeling. Action scenes were so well drawn, that they make you feel as if you were part of the battle. There's not a single complain I can make about the art. I gave it a 10/10.

Talking about the characters, the cast is small, which makes it easier to remember all character names. There's two main characters, one male and one female, and both of them are given proper development. You can see how both of them grow as the story moves on. As for the secondary characters, there's no need for them to have any character development. Their job is only to support the main characters and give them guidance or a reason to improve. I gave the characters an 8/10 just because I felt the story would've been more intense if we had known a bit about the past of the male MC.

I gave the enjoyment a 9/10. This should've been a 10/10, but I think there's always a space to improve. I enjoyed this manga so much that I read it completely in a few hours. As I said in the beginning of my review, this story hooks you up with the first few pages and keeps you interested until the end. While you're reading this, you'll feel excited, sad and even confused at moments. If a story is capable of doing this, it must be an enjoyable story.

My final grade is a 9/10. The series is really good and quick to read. It made me want to read the original novel, and I think I'll do it. The same goes for the movie, I'll probably watch it very soon. In conclusion, I totally recommend this series. Seriously, you should read it! Hope this review is helpful!

Jun 9, 2024

Nivo3041

Not Recommended

One of the most compelling thing about manga as a medium resides in its capacity to convey the story conjugating between what is shown and what is told to the lector... You can make the same argument about every other media really, but there is something in the black and white panels, the moderated exposition compared to western comic and how the drawing is different from how scenes are portrayed in anime or animated shows. It's always incredible when you feel like you're being told a story from the manga itself instead of the author talking directly to you... Right? Well, you see, that's one ... of the most heavy sins that I think literature can do as a whole; novels and manga being the ones that most fall under this, how things are told. "All you need is kill" is a manga adaptation from the light novel of the same name written by Sakurazaka Hiroshi, and I think every problem in this manga could be explained by this fact, and adaptation that didn't know how to make the transition from a light novel to a manga.

"All you need is kill" follows the story of Keiji, a soldier stuck in a war against alien monstrosities called "mimics" who destroy everything they come across as just how those creatures are just really, really hard to kill and ruthless in killing people. He goes in his day normally as Vrataski, the elite of the elite, comes to their base... So yeah shit happens and Keiji dies... A lot... But a whole lot, poor guy didn't catch a break in any chapter of the whole manga. I've heard the novel was well-received and praised, thus making it into a manga adaptation.
You see, when Ryousuke Takeuchi made the storyboard to this manga, it seems like it didn't sink in the idea of explaining things from a visual angle and with a more orthodox narrative of a novel in a medium that is not a novel: the exposition feels bad and rushed, I don't know what were we supposed to go from chapter 1: The mental downfall of the protagonist? An atmospheric manga about war? And action and frenetic work to gobble ourselves in its viscera? I don't know, and the manga don't know it either. In the first chapter everything feels so scripted to the point of being unnatural, we're being told about everything happening in the world because the narrator just fills us in with every word he can muster until we're exhausted... It's not that is dense or anything special because it comes as a simple war premise, but is just that it doesn't take advantage of the setting to make anything appealing, the setting and every character's main traits are told to us in the most straightforward way possible in that we don't even get to explore character's mentality: Keiji, Yonabaru and Shasta doesn't feel human at all, the only point of the first character was to show how our protagonist becomes a killing machine whose all he need is to kill (no fucking way...), but how the protagonist is going insane is just nos attractive for the lector, why? Because as the setting and characterization is poorly presented, as being too unnatural making it for us to feel the raw pain and desperation feels like out of nowhere, and it just doesn't concern us at all.

The characters are also kinda... Lacking? I don't know, it's not like I don't exactly know, is just that there is so little to say about them. Everyone here's just have dialogue concerning the battlefield and mimics, it just feels soulless that the narrator tell us everything, from every one of Keiji's loops and then having the character talking about more battle and more killing feels redundant, few moments are when character talk about themselves honestly without the use of such a straightforward dialogue and even those moments just feel so short compared to all the narration doing the work of over exposition in the world building, I just don't see a moment when characters are really themselves, I would understand if this were just a manga directed towards fighting and being almost like a gore fest, but even the action scenes have a weird paneling in which actions scenes don't feel frenetic neither interesting nor including anything charming neither crude about it. Just showing our protagonist dying and dying over and over isn't enough for me to make it frenetic or interesting, it just goes from start to finish without doing nothing in between.

And the main dynamic isn't that interesting neither, it isn't awful nor terrible, but it just feels shallow and made up in the last chapters, they build a relationship made from an understanding and interlinked pain no one has ever felt: the pain of coming back from death, to hours before you died. As it seems like an interesting dynamic, due to the little screen time we can't really grasp the feelings of neither of our main duo (letting aside that all the other character aren't relevant at all) but its the closer we are to get humanity from this adaptation.

The art is good, I like the drawing and expressions when the protagonist died, sadly it wasn't used as good as it could due to the try of iterative narration to not make us bored from those aspects, which is a weird choice, why would you skip some moments from your story while also keeping everything related to the worldbuilding and characterization to a narrator? Is just like a mess of dissonances between narratives that just makes no sense when we analyze the pacing of the series alongside the cohesion between chapters, its like if they are so far away because we never see the journey to reach them, we just see the story progressing so straightforward that it just cast everything aside to tell us a story in the most mundane way possible, it's not that it is awful but just feels incomplete, the ending of one chapter and the continuation of the next feels so anticlimactic that I just enjoyed some of the art with some actions scenes... The ending itself just felt like an excuse to make it more tragic, with such an asspull of explanation that I couldn't bring myself to feel bad for our main cast.

Well, it seems everything about this manga was bad in my eyes, that's not true. The art is great, some expressions are well-defined, the actions scenes aren't that bad either and at least the manga try to make a meaningful interaction between our main cast (although it mostly falls apart). But I won't say this is good because I feel like the core and essence of what this could have been got lost some place between the narrative; bad character, a downright awful narrative with just one dimensional characters with boring dialogue and a weird progression is what comes to mind when remembering this work... I love media about war, because it shows tragedy in such a realist yet with also an excuse to make everything to dense and heavy to the lector, even better if you add dark fantasy or sci-fi elements as the fear to the unknown and body horror are my main dish when it comes to uncomfortable and horrid moments... But this one just doesn't get it, this one just glorifies and rejoices in its own little world of dying again and again and again with too little relevant in my mind to keep it near my memories, a missed attempt and a forgettable work at this caliber it is sad to see yet make us appreciate literature and story telling as a whole.

Jan 22, 2017

sai_chan

Recommended

take a long time reading & enjoying each page !
story :
it's kind of a known story about the humanity fighting against aliens , but the aliens here are Mimics and the humanity are a good training army .
but what make it special is the way things going , and the END was satisfied as much as I expect it to be , even though you can't tell what the next action is .
.
art :
every page is an amazing piece of art , it took me a few minutes to turn the page , the ability of drawing war scenes and the fighting moves makes ...

Jun 5, 2017

MasonOcker

Recommended

Honestly, I haven't enjoyed a manga this much since... well... Doubt. This series had so much dark and gritty enjoyment to be had out of it's premise that I actually fully read the entire thing in the space of just a few hours. Each dark moment that occurred in the series was legitimately intense for each of the characters involved. The primary conflict of the series was captivating and extremely captivating.

The art style of the series was beautiful, which is to be expected from such a veteran as Takeshi Obata. Each of the character designs represented in the series were unique in their own way, ... and were honest to the character they represented. The backgrounds used in the series were quite pretty, and they complimented the foreground artistry just as well. And finally, the action scenes throughout the series were dark, yet intensely surreal and vivid. I could honestly not take my eyes off the pages during these sequences.

Each of the characters in the series aside from a few were each interesting in their own light, and every single one of them were likable to some extent. I wished that would've enveloped into some of the side characters in the story just a tad more, but that's alright since they decided to focus more on the primary objective. Our main protagonists, Kiriya Keiji and Rita Vrataski were both very captivating based on their development and story arcs. Our male protagonist, Keiji, is a likable person with genuine emotions. The development of a scared, worried soldier who is unaware of the future to a badass hero was quite a beautiful thing to see. Not only this, but his main contemporary, Rita, was just as developed as he was. Her backstory was (while conventional) heartbreaking to see, and it gave you a bit of insight on the character and her motivations. Not only were these characters great on their own, but the brief bond that they shared in the series was genuine and real. I wish it had more time to be polished, but hey, I'll take what we got.

Finally, the story of this series was incredibly serious, but oddly motivational. This tone of serious trauma that occurred in each of the characters represented was legitimately hard to see, but it was so incredibly real. It made me feel genuine emotions toward each of the characters that were explored upon in the story, and it made me wish to read it again to feel what I felt the first time around. This story was captivating enough to get me to read it in one night, so does that say anything?

However, what bogs this otherwise brilliant manga down a huge peg for me is... unfortunately... the incredibly rushed ending. It broke me in half to see the story wrapped up in such an unprofessional matter, that I almost considered stopping just to sulk in how poorly it was executed. Yes, it was one issue. However, this one problem knocks this series that was on it's own fantastic down a whole grade point. I'm sorry, but it just had to be said.

Overall, though this series' ending sucked ass, the rest of the manga was absolutely fantastic. If you like kickass series' in the shounen genre, then this is definitely up your alley. Give it a try, you won't regret it.

Nov 10, 2016

pastelakuma

Recommended

So I only just finished this manga and i binge read it in 2 hours. My friend said I should read it and so he gave me the book. As you can see the artist is Takeshi Obata who i'm a big fan of and i love his work especially in death note. The characters are well plotted and the artwork is truly amazing. The story line is well thought out and if anyone knows that there is an anime of this please tell me! i really enjoyed the book as it was so creative. The book is a sc-fi kind of book and ...

Feb 25, 2016

Yakkululz

Recommended

Making a review on a 17 chapters manga is kind of a challenge, for with the slightest spoil, you end up revealing a significant part of the show. And to me, this manga is best appreciated when knowing nothing of it and discovering its content page by page. A point of view not shared by other reviewers of “All you need is kill” at the moment. As such, if you are satisfied what you will have read in this review, I would like to advise you not to read the other reviews before reading the manga. This may sound terribly arrogant, but ...

Nov 15, 2023

hexashadow13

Mixed Feelings

tl;dr: A manga carried by having a really interesting core concept, but that overall feels like a waste of potential.

This manga is an adaptation of a novel that was also adapted into a Hollywood film, though the film is quite a bit different from the novel and manga. The central premise is that humanity is in a war against a mysterious alien force dubbed Mimics, and in the midst of that a soldier named Keiji learns that he loops back 30 or so hours upon death. It’s a very interesting concept and the first volume uses it really well. It fleshes out Keiji’s panic and ...

Jul 3, 2022

ZangBang

Mixed Feelings

All You Need is Kill tries to experiment with the idea of time loop, which is already a pretty overdone idea in the si-fi genre, and sadly not even this manga succeeds in using it in a fresh and original way. The story doesn't focus on the concept of time loop itself but rather the psychological burden that the victims of the time loop have to bear, and its mental consequences. It is a captivating idea on paper, but in practice that is an internal turmoil that we only hear about from the narrator in a very cold and plain way, rather than seeing it ...

May 13, 2020

Yuri_Cobaia

Recommended

In the battle for Tokyo, Keiji Kiriya - a young Japanese soldier from the exoskeleton squad - is brutally murdered by the Mimics - alien fleas bigger than a horse ... In the battle for Tokyo, Keiji Kiriya- a young Japanese soldier from the exoskeleton squad - is brutally murdered by the Mimics - alien fleas bigger than a horse ... In the battle for Tokyo ... WAIT! Hasn't this happened before?
This is exactly the plot for ALL YOU NEED IS KILL!

The hero lives in a constant loop from the day before his death and must do everything to change his fatal future. In just ...

Apr 29, 2020

Rasukix

Recommended

This is the first manga I have read so I thought I'd leave a review for other beginners like myself.

Story (7/10): The story is good but not great, regardless of if you have any form of spoilers it remains predictable throughout the majority of the chapters. However, just because it's predictable doesn't mean it's not enjoyable.

Art (8/10): The art is superb but won't leave you starstruck. Some panels feel illegible at times, mainly the large battle scenes due to the level of detail. Part of me wishes we had more scenery shown to us, but it's also nice that we can form our own individual ...

Jul 23, 2019

Crushervice

Recommended

It is a very engaging and well-developed science fiction story with an ending that left me satisfied, I liked it, although they could have put some more things that I will not say by spoiler, but they are only details, and it contains a good dose of action with the excellent Obate-sensei drawing.They will not regret reading it, or at least giving it a chance. One of the things I would like to see in the future, and that is very unlikely, is to see an animated film of the work (Since an anime would be to extend the work), but I doubt that will ...

May 26, 2019

GrimmChicken

Recommended

All You Need Is Kill is a short yet interesting dive into a concept that really deserves more attention and further exploration of its story elements from its author.

Coming off as "It's too short but it's very good" after reading this Manga I was sadly left wanting more than what I was left with.

A few flaws happen throughout the story and a few elements presented don't come across as fully thought out or entirely believable though that can be easily forgiven for its unique concept and short story that can be completed in a single sitting.

I could easily see myself recommending this short story to ...

Sep 18, 2017

the_cat_of_nimes

Recommended

All you need is kill is a manga from 2014 based on a novel from 2004. The story of the original novel was also made into a film called "Edge of tomorrow" in 2014 as well. The story is about Keiji who once he dies, is brought back to life 30 hours before his death at the hands of an alien monster called a mimic. It is his duty to try and discover why he keeps getting resurrected and to stop the war.

The art is by Takeshi Obata, responsible for the character art of Death Note. While overall it looks fantastic, there are time's I ...

Mar 19, 2018

RoxRobstah

Recommended

Fairly solid, short and sweet action manga.

I don't have much to say about what's good about this manga. It executes its time loop premise very well. The drama, action, and character moments are all there. The most notable strong point would probably be Takeshi Obata's outstanding art, especially when the manga shifts into more intense scenes with glorious detail in shading (although the character designs are way too similar to Bakuman).

So anyone looking for a quick, satisfying read that does almost everything right should try reading this.

Otherwise, while the execution is top-notch, the manga's concept is kind of weak. It suffers a little from ...

Dec 25, 2019

Joel_Loiselle

Recommended

I found this title in a comic shop after watching "Edge of Tomorrow (2014)" and was curious about how similar the plot was. This one is not something everyone will enjoy, the story doesn't make all the promises a Hollywood film does, and won't tie everything off with a bow, but if you're okay with that It's worth the read. While some themes are the same as the movie the execution and writing are different.

The plot will take you through a journey where the main characters will sacrifice everything about their personality is worn away other than their will to live and save their planet, ...