You might be surprised to hear that the latest Tom Cruise science-fiction epic, "Edge of Tomorrow," which hit theaters here recently, has a Japanese pedigree. It is based on the short novel "All You Need is Kill" by award-winning author Hiroshi Sakurazaka.
First published in Japan 10 years ago and adapted by Ryosuke Takeuchi and Takeshi Obata into a serialized manga earlier this year, it centers on Keiji Kiriya, a soldier battling an invasion of Earth by a powerful race of aliens known as Mimics. Kiriya is quickly slain on the battlefield, only to come back to life and relive the same day in a pattern that repeats over and over. His only hope of escape from this existential loop lies in a stranger he encounters in the war zone — a peerless female warrior known as the Full Metal Bitch.
The book was translated into English for a 2009 release, and was republished in April as "Edge of Tomorrow" to tie in with the film. An English-language graphic novel based on the book, separate from the Japanese manga, was released in May.