"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.
(Source: Netflix)
Tekken: Bloodline is one of those shows that if you don't
already have some knowledge on the background of it, it
might seem very bland and sometimes even completely out of
place. _welcome to my review on the newest Netflix anime
original (Spoiler Free)_ _it's my first review on any series
to date so keep that in mind and bare with me. ^__^_ ~~~
~~~ as I said before, the more you have knowledge of the
series the more you gonna enjoy it. as of myself, I barely
have any knowledge of this series (characters, story, lore
.etc) and the only information that I have is from tekken 3
game that I played on mobile about 10 years ago. So I just
familiar with some of the characters, even if it's just by
their looks. So I'm gonna breakdown some aspects of the show
mostly based on the anime itself. #~~~__animation__~~~ first
of all i'll start with the animation so that I don't waste
any time if someone want to leave here. The characters are
mostly CGI and it's because most of the show is about hand
to hand combat but there is a feeling to it's action that
don't really throw you off the show because there are some
elements in the visuals that seems like 2d animation and
combined with camera movement makes it kind of unique on
it's own. for instant the animation on the faces are mostly
2d (I think cause it seems like it) and cgi makes it way
more like the games and fans of the games will most likely
love it. (_to add to it, it feels like a completely
justified artistic choice and not because the lack of
budget_) i'd say background art and camera work is one of
the strongest aspects in the show. #~~~__story__~~~ i'm not
really going to talk about this section cause it's a spoiler
free review after all but i'll say don't expect too much
from it _the show mostly want to get to the fights as soon
as possible and therefor it's really fast paced for showing
the events._ #~~~__characters__~~~ _characters are mostly
here for people to recognize them and this only works for
people who played the games._ sometimes it feels like they
don't introduce new characters properly and we don't really
sympathize with them or they're in some of the shots that
you might or might not know them. the show mostly focuses on
the main character and tries to characterize his ideals and
therefor there's no room for developing other characters.
and if I had to specify it I would've said, 6 episode of
anime with 20 minute runtime is not nearly enough for it to
have this many cast of different characters at once. ~~~
~~~ overall it's a solid show if you don't expect too much
from it. maybe sometimes the cgi looks wacky but it really
helps the camera movement in the fights to be way more
impactful to watch. I hope you all enjoyed the review. have
a nice day. ✪ ω ✪
**Overview** Clocking in at around 3 hours total for the entire series, Tekken: Bloodline is an easy Netflix anime to spend an evening watching, loosely understanding, and taking in its mixed to solid level of animation. Outside of that... you may struggle to enjoy it, especially if you aren't a fan of the now 3-decade established fighting game series. **The Main Points** Tekken: Bloodline uses the third instalment of the Tekken franchise as the basis for the show, with lead protagonist **Jin Kazama**'s story of entering the King of Iron Fist providing the central storyline. The show features Jin's coming-of-age story, initially formed by unseen tragedy and continued with his quest to become stronger and, ultimately, complete the goal of winning the King of Iron Fist tournament - a knockout-based tournament featuring the best fighters from around the world. This is all whilst his power-hungry grandfather - **Heihachi Mishima** - tests Kazama's strength and willpower in order to unlock his truly fearsome potential. Jin fights a host of combatants, but his true aim is to find and slay the demon Ogre.  In the short time it has, Bloodline does well to flesh out Jin's character direction; classic morality choices, establishing friendships, guidance of more experienced fighters - the typical stuff you'd expect to see in a Shounen. It does feel a little cookie-cutter, but it doesn't do anything wrong - just nothing particularly new. The show does a better job of developing Jin's grandfather Heihachi, and makes sure the character doesn't fall too deeply into the classic hard-as-nails tutor trope without establishing him as a force in other ways - something true to the source material. Along the way, you'll see some of the other Tekken staple fighters in Bloodline, but in just 6 episodes, it's very difficult for any of them to provide any substance outside of fans having the _"oh hey it's [Insert fighter name here]!"_. This is probably the biggest issue with Tekken: Bloodline as a Tekken fan; with such an eclectic and large roster that Tekken boasts, it's a shame that we only get any development of 2 or 3 characters, some of which can be very surface level stuff.  This is paired with the somewhat middling animation, particularly in the fight scenes. In 2022, the level of detail and choreography in anime fights is at an all-time high, so Tekken: Bloodline's more meticulous and careful fight scene offering could be seen as slow and, often times, lazy. Tekken as a game, in all fairness, is quite slow and methodical, and that gameplay is adapted pace-for-pace, for better or for worse. Outside of the fights, the modelling and graphic detail of the show is wonderful, but the animation is a little mixed. I do think this is a bit of a problem with anime in general, so it's not something I would hold against Tekken: Bloodline too strongly. **How to improve - 3 simple steps** One thing I'd like to do in my anime reviews is to suggest three (3) simple improvements I would've liked to see in the show. I'm not an animator or writer, so do take this all with a pinch of salt! - **More episodes** - I mean, this is a given for a 6 episode show. A lot of the character development gripes could have been dealt with had the writers been given more episodes and time to flesh out the other fighters, the relationships of those outside of Jin's circle, and more time for fights. - **Jin's character traits** - Jin is very, very plain. I appreciate the idea of making a main character somewhat non-specific so a watcher can try to relate to them more, but it does hurt the development of said character. Jin really falls into this for me - I would've liked to see more of his personality outside of brooding kid who wants to get stronger. - **Antagonist focus** - the main antagonist in Tekken: Bloodline, Ogre, could've really done with more of a focus. The character needed far more time on screen in all aspects so the viewer could grow to hate them in the same way Jin does, but we don't really get that opportunity. Unfortunately, it makes Ogre a very boring villain, who is a villain for nothing more than "I've hurt you and also I'm green and strong".  **Final Thoughts** On a personal note, I'm a huge fan of the stories and lore in the Tekken franchise - from the wacky to the wonderful. As a show, I couldn't help but smile when you see the same hit-confirm effects reflected in fight scenes within Bloodline, or seeing the interactions between some of the characters, as menial or minimal as they are at times. Tekken: Bloodline has its flaws and doesn't really break any new ground for those who have watched mainstream Shounen, but as an entry-level anime for those newer to the genre or for those well-versed with the game series, it hits the spots it should. And for those who are fans of the Tekken series, it's better than the 90's motion picture. Any improvement is still improvement, right?