Netflix has dropped a trailer for an upcoming anime adaptation of the fighting game series Tekken, which is due to release sometime this year.
Tekken: Bloodline appears to take place between Tekken 2 and Tekken 3, focusing on Jin Kazama after his life is turned upside-down when Ogre attacks his home and his mother, Jun. The whole debacle sends him to his grandfather Heihachi Mishima and will undoubtedly culminate in Jin entering the classic King of Iron Fist Tournament similar to the third game’s storyline. Some classic Tekken characters are seen in the trailer like Paul and King, but the anime’s also integrating some characters introduced in later games such as Tekken 7’s Leroy Smith.
It’s not the first time Tekken has dabbled in adaptations of its games. A live-action Tekken movie released in 2009, a movie so dire even the game’s creator Katsuhiro Harada said he wanted nothing to do with it. It also holds a 0% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes, which makes it even more surprising that the film then got a direct-to-DVD sequel in 2014. There was also Tekken: Blood Vengence, a 2011 3D animated film that was released to little fanfare. There’s even been an anime adaptation already cooked up in the form of 1998’s Tekken: The Motion Picture, which again didn’t do much to garner praise from fans.
I’m far more confident for Netflix’s anime adaptation though, and it seems like I’m not the only one. The YouTube comments seem fairly hype for it, praising the art direction and return of Ogre, a character who’s been absent from the games for a little while now. Netflix also seems to be doing a pretty good job at handling adaptations of beloved videogames—League of Legends’ Arcane series was a breakout hit last year, while The Witcher continues to be a popular show for the streaming service. We just won’t talk about that Resident Evil adaptation.
