is a Japanese author of

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

and fantasy

light novel A light novel (, Hepburn: ''raito noberu'') is a style of young adult novel primarily targeting high school and middle school students. The term "light novel" is a ''wasei-eigo'', or a Japanese term formed from words in the English languag ...

s. He is best known for his novel ''

All You Need Is Kill ''All You Need Is Kill'' is a Japanese science fiction light novel by Hiroshi Sakurazaka with illustrations by Yoshitoshi Abe. The book was published in Japanese by Shueisha under their Super Dash Bunko imprint in December 2004, and was late ...

'', which formed the basis of the film ''

Edge of Tomorrow ''Edge of Tomorrow'' (also known as ''Live Die Repeat: Edge of Tomorrow'') is a 2014 American science fiction action film starring Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt with Bill Paxton and Brendan Gleeson in supporting roles. Directed by Doug Liman with ...

'', starring

Tom Cruise Thomas Cruise Mapother IV (born July 3, 1962), known professionally as Tom Cruise, is an American actor and producer. One of the world's highest-paid actors, he has received various accolades, including an Honorary Palme d'Or and three Gol ...

and

Emily Blunt Emily Olivia Leah Blunt (born 23 February 1983) is a British actress. She is the recipient of several accolades, including a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award, in addition to nominations for three British Academy Film Awards. ...

Life and career

Sakurazaka originally began in a career in IT. He made his literary debut in 2002 at the second Super Dash Novel Rookie of the Year Award with ''Mahō tsukai no netto'' (), which was later published in December 2003 under the name ''

Yoku Wakaru Gendai Mahō is a Japanese light novel series by, and the debut work of, Hiroshi Sakurazaka, with illustrations by Miki Miyashita. As of March 25, 2009, six volumes have been published by Shueisha under their Super Dash Bunko imprint (trade name), impri ...

''. This work has subsequently been expanded into a series of

s and has been made into an anime. In 2004 he was presented the S-F Magazine Readers Award's best short story award for "The Saitama Chain Saw Massacre". His 2004 novel ''

'' received high praise from other authors in Japan and has been published in English by

Viz Media VIZ Media LLC is an American manga publisher, anime distributor and entertainment company headquartered in San Francisco, California. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ M ...

. Sakurazaka has an interest in

computer A computer is a machine that can be programmed to Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as C ...

s and

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

s. He is knowledgeable about computer culture, can program in

Perl Perl is a family of two high-level, general-purpose, interpreted, dynamic programming languages. "Perl" refers to Perl 5, but from 2000 to 2019 it also referred to its redesigned "sister language", Perl 6, before the latter's name was offici ...

, is able to use specialized

text editor A text editor is a type of computer program that edits plain text. Such programs are sometimes known as "notepad" software (e.g. Windows Notepad). Text editors are provided with operating systems and software development packages, and can be us ...

s such as

Meadow A meadow ( ) is an open habitat, or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non-woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as these areas maintain an open character. Meadows may be naturally occurring or artifi ...

, and can typeset in

TeX Tex may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tex (nickname), a list of people and fictional characters with the nickname * Joe Tex (1933–1982), stage name of American soul singer Joseph Arrington Jr. Entertainment * ''Tex'', the Italian ...

. He has collaborated with

cultural critic A cultural critic is a critic of a given culture, usually as a whole. Cultural criticism has significant overlap with social and cultural theory. While such criticism is simply part of the self-consciousness of the culture, the social positions of ...

Hiroki Azuma (born May 9, 1971) is a Japanese cultural critic, novelist, and philosopher. He is the co-founder and former director of Genron, an independent institute in Tokyo, Japan. Biography Azuma was born in Mitaka, Tokyo. Azuma received his PhD in ...

on the works and and has written a critique of

Yasutaka Tsutsui is a Japanese novelist, science fiction author, and actor. His ''Yumenokizaka bunkiten'' won the Tanizaki Prize in 1987. He has also won the 1981 Izumi Kyoka award, the 1989 Kawabata Yasunari award, and the 1992 Nihon SF Taisho Award. Writing ...

's novel ''Dancing Vanity''.

Film adaptation

Sakurazaka's novel ''All You Need Is Kill'' was optioned by

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

Based upon the story, the screenplay was written by

Dante Harper Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: '' ...

and

Joby Harold Joby Harold is an English screenwriter, producer and director who runs Safehouse Pictures with his producing partner, Tory Tunnell. The company was co-founded in 2005. Career Harold's latest projects are the upcoming films ''Space Mountain' ...

with a working title ''We Mortals Are''. Originally

Brad Pitt William Bradley Pitt (born December 18, 1963) is an American actor and film producer. He is the recipient of various accolades, including two Academy Awards, a British Academy Film Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award. ...

was approached to play the lead, but he had conflicts with other films for which Warner wanted him. In October 2011,

began talks for the project to be directed by

Doug Liman Douglas Eric Liman (; born July 24, 1965) is an American film director and producer. He is known for directing the films '' Swingers'' (1996), '' Go'' (1999), '' The Bourne Identity'' (2002), '' Mr. & Mrs. Smith'' (2005), ''Jumper'' (2008), ''Edg ...

. In June 2014 the movie premiered with the title ''

''.

Awards

*2004: S-F Magazine Readers Award Best Short Story for ** English translation of this short story was included in the anthology ''Hanzai Japan'' ( Haikasoru, 2015).

Bibliography

* ''

'' (2004; ); English translation: ''All You Need Is Kill'' (2009; ), retitled mass-market paperback edition: ''Edge of Tomorrow'' (2014) * (2005); Revised: (2014); (English version contains a short story (2010). Revised Japanese version included the same short.) (2010; ) * (2008) (co-written with

)

Yoku Wakaru Gendai Mahō series

* (2003; ) ** Revised version: (2008; ) * (2004; ) * (2004; ) * (2005; ) * (2005; ) * (2009; )

References

*
Entry
in

The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction ''The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction'' (SFE) is an English language reference work on science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and f ...

External links

Hiroshi Sakurazaka
manga works in Media Arts Database 1970 births Living people Japanese science fiction writers {{japan-writer-stub