Get ready for the next… anime?! Netflix has announced that the long-running Tekken fighting game series by Bandai Namco will be getting its first animated series. Set to release worldwide in 2022, Tekken Bloodline will follow the storyline of Jin Kazama as he trains to become a son worthy of the Kazama and Heihachi legacies.
What to expect from the Tekken Bloodline anime series
In the first animated series from the 3D fighting game TEKKEN, Jin Kazama goes on a heroic mission leading to the ultimate battle — the King of Iron Fist Tournament.
TEKKEN: BLOODLINE comes to Netflix worldwide in 2022. pic.twitter.com/D4tU0LiKOk
— Netflix Geeked (@NetflixGeeked) March 19, 2022
According to the official description of the trailer on YouTube, it would seem that Tekken Bloodline will generally follow the storyline of Tekken 3, with the trailer showing off several scenes of Jin’s origin story:
“Power is everything.” Jin Kazama learned the family self-defense arts, Kazama-Style Traditional Martial Arts, from his mother at an early age. Even so, he was powerless when a monstrous evil suddenly appeared, destroying everything dear to him, changing his life forever. Angry at himself for being unable to stop it, Jin vowed revenge and sought absolute power to exact it. His quest will lead to the ultimate battle on a global stage — The King of Iron Fist Tournament.
The trailer also teases other characters like Paul Phoenix, Ogre, Leroy Smith, Jun Kazama, Heihachi Mishima, Kazuya Mishima, and King. (I will be disappointed if I don’t see King do a twenty-second grapple chain combo.)
While this is the first animated series for Tekken, it’s not the first time the fighting game franchise has been adapted in anime form. If anything, Tekken Bloodline hopes to clear the lingering bitter aftertaste of Tekken The Motion Picture, a 1998 movie that followed the storyline of Kazuya Mishima. Unfortunately, according to rankings on Anime News Network, Tekken The Motion Picture ranks as one of the worst ten animes ever made.
Neither the 2011 animated film Tekken Blood Vengeance nor the 2009 live-action film Tekken were well-received by fans or critics, either. Let’s hope that the only way for Tekken Bloodline to go is up from here.
In other news, A Plague Tale is also becoming a TV series, and Gran Turismo 7 is still getting review-bombed even after going back online.
