TEKKEN:BLOODLINE SERIES REVIEW

⚡️ TEKKEN : BLOODLINE NETFLIX ⚡️

Growing up, the Tekken games were a big part of my childhood. Although I was never  a expert in the very difficult game, I remember being intrigued by the story. It was my first introduction to fighting games and the character endings provided a unique storytelling experience.

I remember being fascinated by the character arc of Jin Kazama. He’s struggle with cursed blood alongside a strong moral ethic created an interesting personality. Although, in his natural state Jin tries to do good, when provoked he gets taken over by the gene and turns destructive.

As a teenager, facing bullies at school and growing up in a rough neighbourhood. I felt I was able to relate to some of the challengers faced by Jin in his arc.

However, after Tekken 5 the franchise took a huge nosedive from a plot line perspective. Recycled motives, parody personalities and an endlessly tiring struggle. Jin loses his human side and for a lot of moments it is difficult to separate him from his evil father.

Tekken 8 becomes the staple for all Jin fans as its entire premise revolves around Jins journey towards defeating Kazuya. At the same time, it ends with a happy ending for Jin who break the bloodline curse and defeats his father . Although, there are certain elements I would have wanted different. It was nice to see some form of an ending for Jin from a franchise that avoids character conclusions like covid-19.

Now, I understand this series was made prior to Tekken 8, so the events from above will probably be irrelevant. However, wanted to give a quick summary of how I am familiar with the series and how this may affect my review.

🌳 Episode 1-  3/5  ⭐️⭐️ ⭐️🌳

We see the episode kicks off with Jin Kazama’s life in a remote village with his mother. I really liked the crisp and clean animation style used. It’s also cool to see moves from the game being used in the fighting sequences.  

Jin comes across much more relatable than the games, especially during his encounter with the bullies. However, there are a lot of scenes where he’s expressions show him really overwhelmed, which is a little out of character.

We don’t really get enough character development for a first episode. Especially for people who may be unfamiliar with the franchise. This is a little frustrating as I feel they could have spent time giving Jin a stronger backstory that was primarily missing in the games.  

Also, it’s disappointing to not see an overview of Jun’s relationship with Kazuya. Jun’s fight scene and her sacrifice was executed well and it gave Jin a purpose to leave his village.

His initial introduction to Heihachi is rushed and unexplained. However, we did get to see Heihachi test Jin’s strength and push his buttons. It would be interesting to see his alternate reason for helping Jin later on in the story. Especially, as he has been one of the primary antagonists of the series.

🥋 Episode 2 🥋

2/5

⭐️⭐️

Jin starts his intense training with Heihachi so he can get revenge on ogre. This whole episode looked like a training montage from the rocky movie. Lots of repetitive moments with Heihachi constantly kicking jin’s butt and boasting about the Mishima style being better than the Kazama. It was strange for Heihachi to not mention Kazuya or for Jin not to bring up the fact he doesn’t know his dad.

Jin comes across as very passive and wooden until the end. This was contradictory to the his hot-headed nature in the previous episode. It would have been really interesting to see Jin lash out at Heihachi, especially when he insults his mother’s fighting style.

We see short mute clips of Jin training with his cannon rival Howorang and going school with his cannon love interest Ling Xiayou. This was disappointing as I would have much rather seen the process of Jin creating these new friendships rather than the training scenes.

I liked the symbolism of Jin’s reason of wanting the flame design on his trousers. My favourite scenes In this episode was Jin’s fight with Heihachi’s guest and when Jin beats Heihachi and destroys the second lantern.

The symbolism was well executed and you see shades of the cursed blood as well as a darker side to Jin. It would have been interesting if Heihachi mistook Jin for Kazuya during their last battle, as a result he opts to end it early.

🏟️ Episode- 3 🏟️

5/5

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This episode delves into the some of the gaps the previous episode didn’t address. Jin is introduced to Kazuya through news articles and then with discussions with the other competitors. Jin also learns about his cursed blood and the real power he possesses. This was really important, especially for viewers who may not be familiar with the Tekken storyline.

I liked the fact that we get to see Jin interact with some of the other characters.  I liked Paul’s laid back but tough attitude and found his interactions with Jin to be wholesome. I also liked Jin’s scuffle with Leroy in the hallway.

I would have liked to see more of the motives for the characters for wanting to win. However, this maybe disclosed in the next episodes.

We get a better understanding of how Heihachi is using Jin to capture the ogres power. Am really interested in seeing the fight sequences and the match ups in the king of iron fist tournament.

⚡️ Episode 4 ⚡️

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4/5

The king of iron fist tournament kicks off withJin against Leroy, Nina against Xiayou and then Jin against Howorang. I am finding the repeated ominous message in the introduction a little confusing and hope we get an eventual explanation.

My favourite match was definitely Jin against Leroy as Leroy was prepared to go above and beyond to win. Leroy eventually fracturing his leg was a cold but realistic conclusion to their battle.

It was interesting seeing Jin’s response to him causing real physical harm for the first time to a fighter. It would have been better if Leroy had told Jin the reason he wanted to get back at Heihachi. Only for Heihachis goons to have him then captured.

Nina and Ling Xiayou’s match was also exhilarating and competitive. However, it was a little unrealistic for a high schooler to beat a trained assassin.It would have been better if Nina decided to use knockout gas, which has her disqualified. Or she had been given orders by Heihachi to lose on purpose so Jin would have to face his love interest.

Howorang against Jin was great to see, especially for those who are fans of the rivalry between the two in the games. However, I felt that the fight could have been more competitive given that they’ve fought before and he knows Jins moves.

I would have liked to see Heihachi act as a wind up merchant for Jin and purposefully press his buttons during the matches. For example, forcing him to only use his arms against Howorang or face disqualification. Or lying to Jin about Leroy being responsible for creating the ogre. As a result, Jin takes their battle too far.

Although I enjoyed the fights  I think there should have been three rounds, just so that we could see more action. In the game, each character has a special power move that causes the most damage. It would have been nice if this was declared during the fight sequences.

It was confusing to see no crowds at the arena which you would expect for a fighting tournament.

Although the is the protagonist, I think they made Jin a little too strong compared to the other fighters. However, this may change as he faces stronger opponents in the last two episodes.

👹 Episode 5 👹  

4/5

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

It was a nice moment between Xiayou and Jin when he sees her in the hospital. I found the scene of King appearing in the doorway a little strange. Particularly as it didn’t lead to any altercations later on. It would have been better had King been cheating somehow or it was Ogre disguised as King.

Julia revealing to Jin that Heihachi was the reason for ogre being released wasn’t fully explained. Would have been better had she told Jin that her mother was forced to work on creating ogre for Heihachi. But the experiment went wrong and Ogre escaped.

King definitely gave Jin his first competitive fight. Heihachi announcing that he would be the surprise final fight was expected if you’re familiar with the Tekken Arc. Jin using his mother’s fighting style against Heihachi was cool to see.

However, it was pretty obvious that Jin would beat Heihachi based on when they faced off earlier and their battles in the game.

We see Jin get more and more angrier but we don’t really see him lose control yet. Would have been better had Heihachi done more to push Jins buttons then telling him he is or he’s not Mishima. Which we’ve seen him doing for most of  the second episode.

I liked the scene of Jin beckoning Heihachi over like Jun called the ogre when fighting him.

Episode 6

3/5

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Jin begins his third gruelling fight with Ogre’s sudden arrival. It would have been better if Heihachi fights alongside Jin to beat Ogre. However, when he turns into true ogre, Heihachi departs on his helicopter leaving Jin to fight true ogre alone.

It was nice for the other challengers to also help Jin defeat true ogre. However, it was unfortunate to not see King and Nina also assisting them in beating him.

The battle seen was filled with endless flashbacks of the previous episodes. Although I understood the reason as the producers wanted to make it appear that Jin’s memories were spurring him forward. It lasted way too long and I would have appreciated seeing more of the actual fighting.

I was very confused as to why Heihachi didn’t execute his plan of having the ogre locked in to the chamber. Heihachi shooting Jin was a shocking development and a pivotal moment. Especially, as Jin appears the ultimate victor.

However, the reaction of the other fighters was underwhelming other than Xiayou. There could have really been an emotional moment as Jin had sacrificed himself to defeat ogre.

Jin attacking Heihachi in his new form and then sparing his life was a nod to the ending of Tekken 4. Would have been nice to see Jin let his friends know that it isn’t safe for him to continue his journey with them before flying off.

Tekken Bloodline

21/30

70%

Best episodes:

Episode 3

Episode 5

Worst Episode:

Episode 2

Final thoughts:

Anyone who is a fan of Anime from 90’s and 2000’s will find familiar sequences and characters in this short series. Each episode is packed with enough action and plot-twist’s to keep the viewers engaged.

At the same time, there is a lack of development for supporting characters . You have to be a big Jin fan to enjoy it as the storyline of other characters are left on the backburner. There’s also a lot of scenes that will have people unfamiliar with the game scratching their heads.

The series mainly takes inspiration from the storyline of Tekken 3. It was a real shame that we don’t get to see the introduction of Kazuya other than during some flashback scenes.

Overall, Tekken dips its toes into a new industry by creating a solid storyline from a very popular gaming franchise. However,  despite this new venture,” Tekken:Bloodline” still tries to appeal to gamers familiar with the Tekken Lore.

There is a lack of relatability amongst the characters as there’s just not enough screentime for viewers to develop a stronger connection. After finishing watching the final episode, you feel like there are episodes that you’ve skipped in the series.

Overall, in comparison to previous Tekken movies, “Tekken:Bloodline” was definitely my favourite. I don’t have any major issues with the animation style or fighting sequences. The story finishes on a cliffhanger and a second season is definitely needed to patch up a few plotholes.

However, given Tekken’s history on abandoning previous film/tv projects related to the series. I have a gut feeling that producers won’t be making a second season. The series wasn’t popular on Netflix and reviews have been mixed. However, trailers and clips have been well received on social media garnering millions of views.

I think this series was created as a promotional tool for Tekken 8 which was delayed in release and whose story had a strong focus on Jin. If we do see another season, it’s likely we will be waiting a number of years until the next Tekken installnent. If there isn’t a second season, then the series ends with lots of question marks hanging over it.

It would have been better if “Tekken:bloodline” was created as a spin-off series where Jin Kazama attends the academy of iron Fist to learn martial arts. However, being the grandson of the headmaster, Heihachi he gets a lot of unwanted attention from other students.

As a result, he bands together with Xiayou and Howorang to create the “Kazama resistance”, in honour of his mother. A group of rebel fighters who sucessfully stand up to the bullies at the academy.

However, students start showing up to the academy badly hurt and injured. Word spreads of a super fighter using the Mishima fighting style to seriously injure students.

At the academy, Jin becomes a primeSuspect and is expelled. In order to prove his innocence he enters the annual king of iron fist tournament hosted by the headmaster, Heihachi in secret in hopes of unmasking the assailant.

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