Edge of Tomorrow (Movie Tie-in Edition): All You Need Is Kill

In the legendary "time loop" movie, Groundhog Day, Phil Conners (played by Bill Murray) wakes up every day to the above scenario. The same day. Every day. He's angry, at first, at not getting out of Punxsutawney, then disbelieves. He goes through the gamut of emotions as he tries to figure out what to do about the time loop he is caught in. He commits a variety of crimes, puts the make on all the attractive women, kills himself--a number of ways-- and is rude and assaultive to people. Eventually, Phil gains experience, knowledge, and skills (ice carving, speaking French, playing the piano, etc.), but most important, he learns how to care for others. Then, the perfect day and the time loop ends.SHORT SYNOPSIS OF THE BOOK: The Edge of Tomorrow by Hiroshi Sakurazaka involves just such a time loop. Publishers have told us that Keiji Kiriya is one of many new "green" recruits who have been shoved into battle armor and put on a transport to the battle zone. Keiji's day goes horribly wrong, and he is killed in battle...or is he? When he wakes up the next morning, he believes he merely dreamed the whole, horrible nightmare about his death. Then he meets the touted savior of humanity--"The Full Metal Bitch," Rita Vrataski, AKA, The Valkyrie. The only question is, is she the answer to his escape, or is she his imminent death? Here's a little addition to the short synopsis. Entertainment Weekly's Summer Movie Preview, April 18-25, Double Issue #'s 1307 & 1308, page 56, has an article about the upcoming movie, Edge of Tomorrow. It reveals that Cruise's character crosses a general and gets sent to the front lines; of course, it's different from the book. It also discloses that the reason that the alien's are winning the war is because they "...'can replay the day over and over again until they figure out how to win,' says director Doug Liman ([who also directed] Mr. & Mrs. Smith.)."MY FAVORITE QUOTE: Rita had often wondered what the world would be like if there were a machine that could definitively measure the sum of a person's potential. If DNA determined a person's height or the shape of their face, why not their less obvious traits too? Our fathers and mothers...ultimately every individual was the product of the blood that flowed in the veins of those who came before. An impartial machine could read that information and assign a value to it, as simple as measuring height or weight. What if someone who had the potential to discover a formula to unlock the mysteries of the universe wanted to become a pulp fiction writer? What if someone who had the potential to create unparalleled gastronomic delicacies had his heart set on civil engineering? There is what we desire to do, and what we are able to do. When these two things don't coincide, which path should we pursue to find happiness? (Edge of Tomorrow; p. 148.) Rita appears to ponder philosophical issues as if she had choices in her life spread upon a platter or buffet from which she can pick and choose. Rita's talents, e.g. being a mimic killing machine, may not coincide with what she wanted as a child, but perhaps what she really wants is a deeper and more meaningful dream than whether or not to play horseshoes or become an actor and cry on cue. I'll leave that for you to decide. See p. 255 about "choices." Another aspect of this quote that I like is that it alludes to one of the book's themes--dreams. Dreams are something we have at night--like many do in this book. Dreams are also something we have when we aspire to something bigger or better or more lovely in our lives. Something we want for ourselves...or others. Then, there are things called "daydreams;" Tom Cruise seems to wonder, at least at first, if it is something he has been doing. And, finally, in this book we also have somewhat of a mystery about dreams that surrounds the mimics and the human race. You can find out what that is if you read the book.WHAT I THINK ABOUT THE BOOK: I've mentioned one motif in the book, so far, dreams. Let's take a brief look at a couple more. I thought this was a fun one when I spotted it: the color green. The first time Rita speaks to Keiji, she asks him, "Is it true the green tea they serve in Japan at the end of your meal comes free?" (p.21). The topic of green tea comes up a number of times in the book. Keiji also talks about being various shades of green (Oh, yes...and he has green eyes.). He says, "If I was tea-green now, I must have been lime-green back then (when he had enlisted) (p.52). Here's one I like, "These green-horns didn't know what it was to walk the razor's edge between life and death" (p.127). And, of course, the ocean: "The water off the coast had turned a livid green" (p.227). Why "livid?" (You'll see.) And, on the last page of the book, we have the following: "A small colony of blue-green mold bobbled on the surface of the coffee." Nice metaphor. Seen in an abstract collection, these quotes mean little, but when you read the book pay attention to them and you'll soon see why they are important. In fact, color, in general, helps set tone in the book. Think about Rita's red armor and red skies, brown coffee and earth, green tea and green recruits (and bloated frogs), blue skies and Keiji's blue armor. Look at all the mentions of color as you read the book and pay attention to what is going on when the color is mentioned. Second, it was notable that Bill Murray, in Groundhog Day, woke up to a radio playing music and then the D.J.s giving a short weather forecast about the cold weather. In Hiroshi Sakurazaka's book, All You Need is Kill (and the retitled book-to-movie edition, Edge of Tomorrow) Keiji wakes up everyday the same way, too. That is, Keiji's paperback book was on his pillow next to him. He hears a radio on the bunk above him playing rock music, and then the "DJ's over-caffeinated voice chirping away with the weather forecast...Clear and sunny out here on the islands, same as yesterday, with a UV warning for the afternoon. Watch out for those sunburns!" (p.26). The rest of the time loop is the same too--until or unless--Keiji makes a change in the routine. Then he gets a different result. The only problem with that is that it all resets back to the way it was the day before--everyone forgetting or not knowing about the previous interactions. Everyone, that is, except for Keiji. The two major differences between the two stories are 1. Rita Vrataski knows about the time loop because she's experienced it, and 2. Keiji must die every day (Bill Murray, it seems, had a variety of options). Oh, yes, Keiji keeps track of his "iterations" (or rebirths) by writing the number days that have passed on his hand--apparently, everything doesn't reset back to 0. I also like the theme of "mimic." We, of course, have the aliens who are called, "Mimics." And then, throughout the book, we see evidence of one person "mimic-ing" another. Notably, when Keiji (AKA, Cage in the movie) mimic's Rita Vrataski's fighting style and strategy. Just one other little "aside," here. I think it is funny that the woman Keiji is attracted to and interacts with in the time loop's name is "Rita." In Groundhog Day, Bill Murray pines away for a "Rita," as well. Very funny with even the names being the same! Finally, I've seen the trailer for the movie and noted a number of differences between the book and movie that are quite apparent. The first is our protagonist's name. In the book, it is Keiji Kiriya (a Japanese name). In the movie it is Cage. On page 261 of the book Keiji says that someone had scratched on to the breastplate of his armor the term "Cage." But he understood--"That was how the Americans pronounced my name." Apparently, that's how they came up with the name for Tom Cruise's character in the movie. Also, all the troops in the movie appear to be white and/or American. I'd say it was racially motivated, but I doubt it is. More than likely, it was a move motivated by money--wanting a really big name actor to be a big box office draw and make lots of money for all those financing the movie. If you could cast the movie with a Japanese actor, who would it be?RECOMMENDATIONS AND RATING FOR:All You Need Is Kill (also titled as book-to-movie)-Edge of Tomorrow by Hiroshi Sakurazaka. The Action/Sci-fi movie is rated PG-13 by the MPAA movie guidelines (from IMDb [18]), obviously, due to violence, blood, and death shown on screen. I would, likewise, caution all parents to follow these guidelines in screening books for your children. For all adults, who are of a mature age, and not given to a sensitive nature, this book, graphic novel, and movie, should be a blast. I am looking forward to seeing it, myself. This book was one of the easiest books to rate that I have ever reviewed. I LOVED the book! The action was in there, the plot intriguing, suspenseful 'til the end, love, sex, killing, mayhem, alien invasion, fight to the death, jumping out of aircraft, bombs and explosions...it has it all. WOW! I can hardly wait for the movie. Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt and Bill Paxton, here I come. This book gets 5 stars--WELL EARNED! Congratulations to Hiroshi Sakurazaka on writing a GREAT book. This book will be a sci-fi classic, undoubtedly.

Absolutely love this book and the manga. One of the best science fiction stories out there. Fun characters and battles.

In the legendary "time loop" movie, Groundhog Day, Phil Conners (played by Bill Murray) wakes up every day to the above scenario. The same day. Every day. He's angry, at first, at not getting out of Punxsutawney, then disbelieves. He goes through the gamut of emotions as he tries to figure out what to do about the time loop he is caught in. He commits a variety of crimes, puts the make on all the attractive women, kills himself--a number of ways-- and is rude and assaultive to people. Eventually, Phil gains experience, knowledge, and skills (ice carving, speaking French, playing the piano, etc.), but most important, he learns how to care for others. Then, the perfect day and the time loop ends.SHORT SYNOPSIS OF THE BOOK: The Edge of Tomorrow by Hiroshi Sakurazaka involves just such a time loop. Publishers have told us that Keiji Kiriya is one of many new "green" recruits who have been shoved into battle armor and put on a transport to the battle zone. Keiji's day goes horribly wrong, and he is killed in battle...or is he? When he wakes up the next morning, he believes he merely dreamed the whole, horrible nightmare about his death. Then he meets the touted savior of humanity--"The Full Metal Bitch," Rita Vrataski, AKA, The Valkyrie. The only question is, is she the answer to his escape, or is she his imminent death? Here's a little addition to the short synopsis. Entertainment Weekly's Summer Movie Preview, April 18-25, Double Issue #'s 1307 & 1308, page 56, has an article about the upcoming movie, Edge of Tomorrow. It reveals that Cruise's character crosses a general and gets sent to the front lines; of course, it's different from the book. It also discloses that the reason that the alien's are winning the war is because they "...'can replay the day over and over again until they figure out how to win,' says director Doug Liman ([who also directed] Mr. & Mrs. Smith.)."MY FAVORITE QUOTE: Rita had often wondered what the world would be like if there were a machine that could definitively measure the sum of a person's potential. If DNA determined a person's height or the shape of their face, why not their less obvious traits too? Our fathers and mothers...ultimately every individual was the product of the blood that flowed in the veins of those who came before. An impartial machine could read that information and assign a value to it, as simple as measuring height or weight. What if someone who had the potential to discover a formula to unlock the mysteries of the universe wanted to become a pulp fiction writer? What if someone who had the potential to create unparalleled gastronomic delicacies had his heart set on civil engineering? There is what we desire to do, and what we are able to do. When these two things don't coincide, which path should we pursue to find happiness? (Edge of Tomorrow; p. 148.) Rita appears to ponder philosophical issues as if she had choices in her life spread upon a platter or buffet from which she can pick and choose. Rita's talents, e.g. being a mimic killing machine, may not coincide with what she wanted as a child, but perhaps what she really wants is a deeper and more meaningful dream than whether or not to play horseshoes or become an actor and cry on cue. I'll leave that for you to decide. See p. 255 about "choices." Another aspect of this quote that I like is that it alludes to one of the book's themes--dreams. Dreams are something we have at night--like many do in this book. Dreams are also something we have when we aspire to something bigger or better or more lovely in our lives. Something we want for ourselves...or others. Then, there are things called "daydreams;" Tom Cruise seems to wonder, at least at first, if it is something he has been doing. And, finally, in this book we also have somewhat of a mystery about dreams that surrounds the mimics and the human race. You can find out what that is if you read the book.WHAT I THINK ABOUT THE BOOK: I've mentioned one motif in the book, so far, dreams. Let's take a brief look at a couple more. I thought this was a fun one when I spotted it: the color green. The first time Rita speaks to Keiji, she asks him, "Is it true the green tea they serve in Japan at the end of your meal comes free?" (p.21). The topic of green tea comes up a number of times in the book. Keiji also talks about being various shades of green (Oh, yes...and he has green eyes.). He says, "If I was tea-green now, I must have been lime-green back then (when he had enlisted) (p.52). Here's one I like, "These green-horns didn't know what it was to walk the razor's edge between life and death" (p.127). And, of course, the ocean: "The water off the coast had turned a livid green" (p.227). Why "livid?" (You'll see.) And, on the last page of the book, we have the following: "A small colony of blue-green mold bobbled on the surface of the coffee." Nice metaphor. Seen in an abstract collection, these quotes mean little, but when you read the book pay attention to them and you'll soon see why they are important. In fact, color, in general, helps set tone in the book. Think about Rita's red armor and red skies, brown coffee and earth, green tea and green recruits (and bloated frogs), blue skies and Keiji's blue armor. Look at all the mentions of color as you read the book and pay attention to what is going on when the color is mentioned. Second, it was notable that Bill Murray, in Groundhog Day, woke up to a radio playing music and then the D.J.s giving a short weather forecast about the cold weather. In Hiroshi Sakurazaka's book, All You Need is Kill (and the retitled book-to-movie edition, Edge of Tomorrow) Keiji wakes up everyday the same way, too. That is, Keiji's paperback book was on his pillow next to him. He hears a radio on the bunk above him playing rock music, and then the "DJ's over-caffeinated voice chirping away with the weather forecast...Clear and sunny out here on the islands, same as yesterday, with a UV warning for the afternoon. Watch out for those sunburns!" (p.26). The rest of the time loop is the same too--until or unless--Keiji makes a change in the routine. Then he gets a different result. The only problem with that is that it all resets back to the way it was the day before--everyone forgetting or not knowing about the previous interactions. Everyone, that is, except for Keiji. The two major differences between the two stories are 1. Rita Vrataski knows about the time loop because she's experienced it, and 2. Keiji must die every day (Bill Murray, it seems, had a variety of options). Oh, yes, Keiji keeps track of his "iterations" (or rebirths) by writing the number days that have passed on his hand--apparently, everything doesn't reset back to 0. I also like the theme of "mimic." We, of course, have the aliens who are called, "Mimics." And then, throughout the book, we see evidence of one person "mimic-ing" another. Notably, when Keiji (AKA, Cage in the movie) mimic's Rita Vrataski's fighting style and strategy. Just one other little "aside," here. I think it is funny that the woman Keiji is attracted to and interacts with in the time loop's name is "Rita." In Groundhog Day, Bill Murray pines away for a "Rita," as well. Very funny with even the names being the same! Finally, I've seen the trailer for the movie and noted a number of differences between the book and movie that are quite apparent. The first is our protagonist's name. In the book, it is Keiji Kiriya (a Japanese name). In the movie it is Cage. On page 261 of the book Keiji says that someone had scratched on to the breastplate of his armor the term "Cage." But he understood--"That was how the Americans pronounced my name." Apparently, that's how they came up with the name for Tom Cruise's character in the movie. Also, all the troops in the movie appear to be white and/or American. I'd say it was racially motivated, but I doubt it is. More than likely, it was a move motivated by money--wanting a really big name actor to be a big box office draw and make lots of money for all those financing the movie. If you could cast the movie with a Japanese actor, who would it be?RECOMMENDATIONS AND RATING FOR:All You Need Is Kill (also titled as book-to-movie)-Edge of Tomorrow by Hiroshi Sakurazaka. The Action/Sci-fi movie is rated PG-13 by the MPAA movie guidelines (from IMDb [18]), obviously, due to violence, blood, and death shown on screen. I would, likewise, caution all parents to follow these guidelines in screening books for your children. For all adults, who are of a mature age, and not given to a sensitive nature, this book, graphic novel, and movie, should be a blast. I am looking forward to seeing it, myself. This book was one of the easiest books to rate that I have ever reviewed. I LOVED the book! The action was in there, the plot intriguing, suspenseful 'til the end, love, sex, killing, mayhem, alien invasion, fight to the death, jumping out of aircraft, bombs and explosions...it has it all. WOW! I can hardly wait for the movie. Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt and Bill Paxton, here I come. This book gets 5 stars--WELL EARNED! Congratulations to Hiroshi Sakurazaka on writing a GREAT book. This book will be a sci-fi classic, undoubtedly.

I am so glad I finally got to finish this book! Not going to lie, I only found out about it from the movie. BUT I never saw the movie so I put it off until I read the book. Not knowing what to expect, I can't wait to see this visually!! I never really could get a clear image of what the mimics looked like in my mind but something like a blobby starfish is all I could come up with.The ending was a bit more tragic than I was hoping for but that made it exciting and not a perfect bow happy ending.Great read!

This book was a joy to read from start to finish. From the visceral depictions of combat to the language, to the masterful way the groundhog~esq story was handled, this book had me hooked. Which is saying something after how many books I've read, and how few keep my attention.I was also pleasantly surprised that although this book spawned a major motion picture(Edge of Tomorrow), it isn't a carbon copy. And I wouldn't say that either depiction was necessarily better than the other. They were both good, in their own right.

It goes like this - I'd watched Oblivion and despite its flaws rate it as the best cinema so far this year (2013). I got the blu-ray and listened to the excellent commentary by Tom Cruise and Joseph Kosinski, which led me see what Tom was currently working on, which IMDB told me was a movie called the 'Edge of Tomorrow', based on a Japanese novel called 'All you need is Kill'. There was barely anything online for the movie so I checked out the book on Amazon. It had been translated into english. Three minutes later I turned the first page. It's not a long book, about 230 pages. I started reading Friday night, slept a couple of hours and started reading again Saturday morning. Finished it a few hours later. It was so good and so clever, my first impulse was to read it over again.Keiji is a rookie soldier fighting for the Japanese army in a global future war against an alien invading force. A war now decades old against an alien enemy called 'Mimics', far superior than human armies. The alliance of nations have joined forces not only in combat but in developing technologies, the height of which are armoured 'jackets', suits worn by male and female soldiers alike, that bring them closer to the physical characteristics of the invading 'mimics'. Having been trained to the peak of his physical capabilities Keiji is propelled into combat for the first time and instantly fatally wounded. Realising he is going to die he makes a last effort to kill the nearest mimic to him. He is torn to pieces and then wakes up in bed, thirty hours before he died. He dies just as quickly that day too and wakes up in the same bed. Realising he has become trapped in a time loop Keiji determines to become the best soldier he can, so that he may survive and live out the day.In a word: fantastic. There is of course a similarity in the structure to Jake Gyllenhaal's 'Source Code' but this book predates that. I wouldn't be surprised if AYNIK was the inspiration for Source Code. The quality of the story for me is that it introduces wild concepts to crank up the tension but come the end there are no loose ends. Everything is explained, our understanding of the time loop becomes a vital part of the ongoing story. The story has a real sense of humanity laced with the action and sci-fi. I'm not a sci-fi guy generally but this was so grounded in a progression of the human story, great action and character, there was not a line or page that wasn't totally captivating. The invention is just superb.What didn't I like? Absolutely nothing. I did struggle to fully imagine the mimics - a cross between a starfish and a bloated frog - but that was it. All in all if you like sci-fi, time travel, action or originality, then check this out. Very highly recommended. Can't wait to see the movie.I hope this was helpful.

Reading the blurb about this book I wasn't sure whether to give it a try or not. I was worried that it was going to be too far towards the `nerdy' end of the sci-fi spectrum. I don't like too much waffle about technical data, and things like the history of the design changes of the equipment used. Too many made up words for futuristic or alien paraphernalia just make the whole thing incredibly boring as far as I'm concerned. However, after reading the available sample I downloaded it straight away and loved every page of it.The story is not really unique in any way. I suppose it could be described as Groundhog Day in a war against alien invaders. It is written in a way that makes it all seem fresh and original though. The main plot revolves around a Japanese soldier who dies in a battle and then wakes up to relive the last thirty hours repeatedly. Each time he goes through this loop he has the opportunity to try and figure what he needs to do and learn new skills and tactics to take on through to the next loop. He also discovers someone along the way who can sympathise with what he is going through.It has been said that video games played a part in the idea behind the story and I can see how. You may charge into a video game scenario all guns blazing, only to get killed by a bad guy. But you can reload from the last save point and try again, hopefully having learned from the previous mistake... A bit like travelling back in time.The alien invaders don't take over too much of the story. Just enough is said about them to know where they came from, what they are doing and what they are capable of. This is a good thing as it means you are in the company of the lead character throughout the book, getting to know him, like him, and feel sorry for him, itching to know what he is going to do next, and willing him to learn more about what he needs to do. It also means that there is not too much of the waffle with made up technical jargon I mentioned before.When using time travel in books and films it has to be done well in order for the story to work. If it isn't then you risk the fan boys pouncing on every little detail and ripping it to shreds. Well they won't be jumping on this one. The theory behind the story holds strong and there doesn't appear to be any point where you may be left thinking something along the lines of, "Hang on! How did he send his own father back in time to become his father?", a la Terminator, (I know it's still a great film but hopefully you get my point).As I was reading the book I couldn't help but think, "I bet they make a film of this." It turns out someone already is and it will star Tom Cruise (so it's changed already then, as Mr Cruise is not very Japanese). Hopefully, they do it justice though, instead of turning it into a dumbed down, "God bless America. Aren't we fantastic for saving the world yet again," load of rubbish. This book deserves recognition for being a clever story, not just a load of explosions, special effects, and a big name actor.

You could summarise this book as being a cross between Groundhog Day and Starship Troopers. Kenji is our main character and he is entering his first battle against the invading alien force. He dies and the re-awakens 30 hours before the battle. He is then forced to relive the battle again and again.Soon to be made into a Hollywood Film (renamed Edge of Tomorrow and starring Tom Cruise) this is a short but intriguing novel. It tells its story well and gradually unfolds the drama of the repeating battles without going into each trip rounds the cycle. I enjoyed the whole premise and yes it might start like Groundhog Day but it soon becomes its own entity and all the better for it. I felt myself struggling occasionally with the usual paradoxes of time travel but the narrative and story are given a momentum by the entire concept that keeps you reading and hoping Kenji can find tomorrow. The conclusion is something I enjoyed and after reading this I'm interested in the film but also in the author. Sci-fi fans will be well rewarded by this book.

If you have seen the film Edge of Tomorrow - don’t be put off. This is the book it is based on but the book is different and the ending is very different. I loved the film but as usual the book is better. Read it and give it some time - you’ll find yourself rereading it.

Well, almost as good as the film, I can't believe I had not read this book earlier, I am big fan of the film but obviously had failed to do my research as I did not realise it was based on a book, this book helps give some background to the story that the film didn't and obviously to suit Hollywood the characters became Americans predominantly, a good read that enhanced the viewing experience